west wing

Before Christmas, we were treated to a tour of the West Wing of the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by a climber friend. It was pretty awesome seeing parts of the working White House that few see in person. Too bad my camera wasn't allowed to capture too many of them!
 (ISO 1600, f/1.8, 1/80s)

structured

Columns were first used by the ancient Greeks as an architectural element. In case you haven't noticed, they're all over D.C.
(ISO 800, f/5.6, 4/5s)

march madness

If psychics truly had extra-sensory perception, don't you think more people would employ them to fill out their tournament brackets? Mine's a mess; how about yours?

(ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/400s)

dupont circle

Prepared with my tripod, I was able to get some pretty cool long exposure shots. One guy stopped to ask us in Thomas Circle, "What are you shooting video of?"

"Nothing. These aren't video cameras."
(ISO 200, f/22.0, 5.0s)

perfect combination?

We walked over to Kramer Books in Dupont Circle to check out the neon sign and get some cool pictures of it. There happened to be a guy standing in the window wearing a red down jacket. Perfectly complementary to the neon, right? I couldn't get a focused shot to look the way I wanted. Bokeh won this round!
(ISO 800, f/8.0, 1/15s)

thomas circle

This is closer to the goal of the evening. Our last batch of shots from the berm of the National City Christian Church were uninspiring in camera. One small setting change in Lightroom made all the difference in the world.
(ISO 200, f/22.0, 2.5s)

panning

Long exposures were the goal of the night. Tripods are nice, but sometimes an old-school panning shot turns out awesome.
(ISO 800, f/10.0, 1/2s)

q street northwest

Half-hearted plans turned into another photosafari adventure with a friend of mine. It's always interesting to see how two different perspectives can make the same subject look entirely different.
(ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/20s)

vanishing point

When I was in elementary school, we learned about vanishing points in art class. They came up again in high school when we learned how to do three-dimensional elevations of our designs in drafting class. I enjoy trying to capture them with my camera, but the lines often curve. With Lightroom, it's a one-click fix to correct barrel  distortion on my cheap kit lens and make shots like this look more polished. If only I'd been able to get on the other side of the glass here!
(ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/5s)

tilted politics

I'll refrain from making any disparaging remarks about our nation's lawmakers as a caption. I will go on the record and say that it's really hard to do so.
(ISO 200, f/10.0, 1/100s)

trumped

Donald Trump recently purchased the Old Post Office Pavilion with the intent of turning it into a hotel. At first, I was aghast at the possibility of him ruining such a beautiful building. As I read more about it, there's not much he can do to the exterior of the building since it's a National Historic Landmark, and he has to keep access to the clock tower open to the public. Looking at this picture, I think the interior would make a striking hotel. I hope I can afford to stay there someday!
(ISO 800, f/5.0, 1/60s)

lightroom lessons

All my photographer friends have been telling me since I first bought my D60 that I should be shooting in RAW. It took the Lightroom 4 Beta for me to finally make that leap. Now all I need is some memory because I foresee my hard drive filling up much faster!
(ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/320s)

sitting, waiting, wishing

On Christmas Eve, we took my parents to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in the District. While we wandered around, this pacing stranger nervously kept checking his cell phone for messages. It wasn't very warm out, and he was decked out for something important. After we'd walked to our car, we drove past him and his possible new fiancee walking past the Tidal Basin, both with impossibly large smiles. Mazel tov!

(ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/500s)

deuteronomy 30:19

I call Heaven and Earth to witness this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing, and curse. Choose life--that you and your offspring shall live.
(ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/320s)

a few days late

I don't often post pictures of my friends or family on this blog, but I think this one is called for. My dear friends Bubba & Liz were expecting when we went for a walk in the woods at Rock Creek Park in the District. The fall colors were beautiful. This week, they welcomed their son to the world with open arms. Congratulations!
(ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/30s)

contrast

Composing a shot of an alley on an overcast day to get proper exposure wasn't as easy as I expected it to be. Nothing I'll frame, but it turned out pretty nice with the contrast between the two walls.

mr. smith's

I had no shot at getting this shot without pedestrians. Well, I guess I could've used a neutral density filter at sunset, but I wasn't about to go there with a roll of film. I'll try that when I'm a bit more confident in my film technique.

dixie liquors

Dixie Liquors on M Street Northwest in Georgetown has been open since 1934. I have closer stores to my home across the river, but I always thought this building would be photogenic. It took me a while to get this shot sans pedestrians or cars.

(ISO 100, f/?, 1/?s)

drum major

There's a bit of controversy regarding one of the quotes inscribed on the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the Tidal Basin. It was abridged, and made Dr. King sound a bit arrogant to some. The full context of the quote in question is, "Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter." 


This photo was the final shot on my roll of black and white. I'll be posting more of them this week. Enjoy!

ghostly stars

According to the plaque nearby, each of the 4,048 golden stars at the National World War II Memorial represents 100 Americans who died in that war. This photo only represents about 15,000 of the dead.

Chilling.

(ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/200s)