Coming into DC's National Airport.

Different perspective.

So I was making photographs out on the landing light pier just south of the airport. Earsplitting passes overhead of jets on their final approach. The sun was at a good angle, casting the planes shadows right next to the pier. Took two attempts to get a good clean shot. (boy, are they really moving!) 

Self Portrait

Went down to the train station last night to do a little scoping out of a potential location shoot. Knowing full well there wouldn't be a lot of people milling about at that time of night I'd have to be my own "human element" in the test photos. I took various shots from many viewpoints and now have a good idea about what I want for the next visit. (Mostly, I'd like some inclement weather! Is it ever going to freaking snow this year?)

Anyway, I usually don't bother showing test images, but I kinda liked this one:

And yes... I totally got lucky on my positioning there. But what the hell, I'll take it!

Cheers.

Underneath The City.

In darkened, inapparent places. Maintenance to be done.

Reflections

"The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival." -- Aristotle

Night

"I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does."  ~Jorge Luis Borges

Chiaroscuro

A goodly amount of contrast, semi-interesting shapes, a little life and texture; photographs are found... even at a Starbucks patio.

Pleasant Discoveries.

Walked out the door this morning, about to head off to Chesapeake beach for a short photo shoot of a water treatment plant (Yes...I know, you're jealous!) but for some reason decided to first take a look in the backyard. Sometimes I'll see deer back there. Birds, of course. Occasionally a fox--ah, make that rarely a fox. (I've seen one!) Whatever it was, I took a short stroll across the deck and saw this.

Pretty cool, eh? Nice light. Strong shadows. Interesting lines. Sometimes it just comes together. Good luck, chance, serendipity...whatever. When you see these kinds of things, make that extra effort to capture it. It's worth it.

Peace.

Interesting Light.

This is my pal Bob. We're enjoying a few pints at the Dubliner in DC with our better halves. That dappled look is from the pub lights reflecting off the Guinness mirror on the wall behind me. I waited for him to move just enough so the light was over his eye, then clicked away.

Keep your photography eyes open. Cool light is everywhere.

Shadow and Silhouette

Take advantage of shadows. They add drama to the photo, depth. I was at the Lincoln Memorial and saw how the shadows were being thrown against the walls by these massive Roman columns. So I walked around a bit until I found a spot where I thought could make a nice photograph.

As I was setting up for the shot I heard the footsteps of somebody coming around the corner. So I just waited...when this stranger steps into the picture it turns an otherwise nice, kind of abstract photo into a dramatic scene with a human element.

Shadows and silhouettes... gotta love 'em!

Shadows.

In 'Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors' Carl Sagan describes a tremendous event: "An immense mass of gas and dust is swiftly collapsing under its own weight, spinning ever faster, transforming itself from a turbulent, chaotic cloud into what seems to be a distinct, orderly thin disk. Its exact center smolders a dull, cherry red. Watch from on high, above the disk, for a hundred million years and you will see the central mass grow whiter and more brilliant, until, after a couple abortive and incomplete attempts, it bursts into radiance, a sustained thermonuclear fire. The Sun is born." And roughly 5 billion years later this "sustained thermonuclear fire" shines in through my venetian blinded window and allows me to make a funky photograph!