Fuzzy

Fuzzy

I'm fighting a head cold, so I feel sort of like this picture of the tunnel that leads people from a public parking lot near the Pentagon to the 9/11 Memorial at the same. What I can't decide is, do I like the photo better in color or black and white. What do you think?

The Cold War

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 02/09

Five / Seven

Self-portrait : Photographer at year's end

As we countdown to the new year tonight, I've been thinking about the last year and my adventures in photography. When I started this blog in 2007, my intention was to post a photo-a-day of Washington, D.C., and its surrounding environs. As time has progressed, I've managed mostly to do that and I'm pleased that I have. But what I've enjoyed more is a) how my eye for crafting a picture has developed, b) the response I've had to some of my work, and c) the talented people I've met along the way. That said, here are five things I've learned as a result of seeing life through a lens and seven photographers who inspire my work.

1. Everything is a potential picture.
How you frame it is what makes it noteworthy.

2. I'm more creative and artistic than I thought I was.

3. Inspiration is best when shared.

4. Including people in pictures makes them more interesting.

5. Even if your family doesn't like having their picture taken, take them.
You'll never regret it.

*****

The insight doesn't stop there. Here are seven photographers from around the blogosphere who inspire my work. For fun, I've added some side-by-side comparisons.

Ramsey at Fog Bay

Fog Bay was one of the first photography blogs I ever came across. In addition to breathtaking photos from around the Bay Area, Ramsey's format is one I adopted for my photo blog: photos and information about the city I currently call home. The added bonus of his blog: It's mostly about San Francisco, a city I love like no other.

San Francisco's Tranamerica Pyramid and Flat Iron Building
on Broadway, as captured by Ramsey of Fog Bay. Seeing an icon
in a new light inspires my photographs of some of Washington's
better known, but often poorly photographed sites.

Debi Cates at Odessa Photo-a-Day

I can't remember how I found Debi's blog, but I praise the heavens that I did! Debi has the most exquisite eye and can turn something so seemingly banal to the rest of us into art. These two photos (here and here) are currently among my favorites.

The intricacy of simplicity as captured in Debi's photo of a set of smokestacks gives pause
and has trained my eye to see the potential in things I might otherwise walk through or by
and never bother to photograph, like the breezeway at National Cathedral.

Rob at Twin Cities Daily Photo

Rob's twilight and night photography and his ability to crop and frame continually leave me in awe. His photos are often exceptional and high-quality. On top of that, he has the cutest dog in photobloggerdom! Case in point here and here, among others. Also, he likes Pink Martini, therefore that makes him extra cool.

Taking photos after the bright light of day has faded often eluded me until I started reading Rob's blog.
His use of the "golden hour" has created some stunning results and is a technique I've learned and
put to good use, I think. Striped Sunset is a fine example of Rob's skill with low light.

Maya at Maya Photography

Like Rob, Maya also has a great eye for cropping and framing, but she also has the ability to see the potential for a great picture where someone else (namely me) would be annoyed by some something or other supposedly blocking or obscuring the thing I want to photograph. Case in point: the first photo in this series. Maya is also the first photoblogger I've met in person. I hope I get to meet and shoot photos with some more of you in 2009.

Maya's photo of Seattle's EMP through winter trees took my breath away when I saw it on her blog.
I was hanging out with her the day she took this picture and it's one I completely missed because
the trees were a distraction. In my narrow mind, at least. After seeing this picture, I realized what
I was missing and decided to try a whole new approach when photographing this year's
Festival of Lights at the Washington Mormon Temple.

Virginia at Birmingham Daily Photo and Paris Through My Lens

Virginia is the one to credit for pushing me to photograph strangers. While my sister says I can make friends with a rock (the other day, she upgraded that and said, I "could make friends with a cactus, while the rest of [my family] would be too afraid to approach the prickly bastard"), photographing strangers is a challenge for me. Doing the 100 Strangers series has pushed me out of my comfort zone and opened a whole new area of photography for me. I also love watching VJ's eye and photography evolve. And, I've had the pleasure of speaking with her on the phone on several occasions. She is quintessentially Southern and an absolute kick in the pants, bless her heart!

Pushing me to photograph strangers has resulted in meeting people and having conversations I
wouldn't otherwise. Virginia's beautiful portraits of strangers she meets, like this mother and her son
in the airport in Paris, are moving and nudge me to create what I hope are meaningful portraits, too.

Bob at Saint Louis Daily Photo and Gateway Arch

Bob's photos of gritty, midwestern, not-quite-southern Saint Louis are incredible, but it is his pictures of the iconic Gateway Arch by Eero Saarinen that blow me away. His ability to capture, recapture, and capture again an allegedly average metropolitan tourist attraction is stunning. As I photograph typical attractions in D.C., I try to find new ways of presenting what would otherwise be ho-hum monuments and every time I step in front of one to photograph it, I ask myself, "How would Bob shoot this?"

Seeing the Gateway Arch from as many angles as possible provides infinite possibilities. Bob's ability to
capture this monument-to-architecture inspired me to find unique ways of photographing what I
otherwise felt was a dull monument--the U.S. Air Force Memorial. The result? I now love this memorial.

Nic at London Daily Nature Photo

Finally, Nic of London Daily Nature Photo. First of all, Nic's photos are beautiful--well-composed and brilliantly executed--and second, he was gracious enough to share a tip or two on how to approach and photograph wild things that flit and fly. I always appreciate a gracious photographer.

Nic's fine eye and patience for photographing nature--especially things that don't sit still for long--
has gone a long way toward improving my ability to photograph flighty things.

So there you have it! Those are the five things I've learned in the last year looking through a lens and seven photographers who inspire my eye. Thank you to everyone who visits D.C. Confidential and thank you to those of you--named and unnamed--who inspire me!

Happy New Year and here's to some great photography in 2009!

Photo copyrights: Janet (Self-Portrait and Bald Eagle), Ramsey (TransAmerica Tower), Debi (Imaginary Place in Reality), Rob (Striped Sunset), Maya (EMP), Virginia (Mother and Son), Bob (The Skinny), and Nic (Chaffinch). Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Lights in Bokeh

Bokeh : Festival of Lights : Kensington, MD

These are a couple more pictures from the Festival of Lights I featured yesterday. I took these photos by removing the wide angle attachment on my camera and using the macro feature. I think they're kind of fun!

Hexagonal Rainbow : Festival of Lights : Kensington, MD

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 12/08

Portrait Sitting

My client in a totally unscripted, spontaneous moment.
This ended up being her favorite picture and is the one she's now using on her site.

As many of you know, I recently decided to go into business for myself. Most of my work involves writing and editing, but sometimes I have a client with a request outside of those skills. Case in point: today's photos feature a client of mine who needed a new head shot for her website. She's a very successful, independent lobbyist and paper industry expert, but the picture she originally had on her site made her look like a criminal. (Seriously.) She called me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would come over to her offices downtown and take pictures she could use on her site.

We used a table lamp set on the floor to give us some side lighting,
which resulted in a picture that had sort of a magazine feel and quality to it.
We both liked this picture a lot, but it is definitely posed and less spontaneous.

I'd never done anything like this before, but I'm always game for a challenge, so I told her I'd do it. These three pictures are some of the results of that portrait session. Even though I don't have professional equipment and even though we improvised with the available lighting, both my client and I were pleased with the outcome.

This picture is similar to the one above,
but just a touch darker and, obviously, in black and white.

I have to give a shout-out to a friend for giving me pointers on how to pose people and to a freelance graphic designer I use to work with who Photoshopped an annoying plug out of the pictures that I totally missed while I was doing this shoot. I learned a lot and I really appreciated the opportunity to explore and expand my photo skills.

Thank you, Grace, Maya, and Judi!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08

KABOOM! KABOOM!

Rockets Red Glare : Fireworks on the National Mall : Lincoln Memorial

I vacillated whether to brave the weather, traffic, the crowds, and security this year in order to see the annual fireworks show on the National Mall. At around 7:00 I decided, what the heck! I've really wanted to take fireworks pictures and now that I have a good tripod, I didn't want to miss an opportunity. So, I drove from my neighborhood in tippy-top NW DC down to 15th and R Streets NW and parked. Then I walked nearly 2.5 miles to Memorial Bridge and the back side of the Lincoln Memorial where I set up my tripod and camera and got ready for the action to start. Here are the results of my first time taking pictures of fireworks (with appropriate equipment) and succeeding!

Bombs Bursting in Air : Fireworks on the National Mall : Lincoln Memorial

True Blue, All-American Fireworks : National Mall : Lincoln Memorial

Yee haw! : Fireworks on the National Mall : Lincoln Memorial

Hope everyone had a fun and safe July 4th!

Just For Fun

Random, macro flower shot :
Seventh-Day Adventist Church : Takoma Park, Maryland

These photos don't really have a purpose or any special information. They're just random objects I shot while I was out shooting other, more specific things over the last week or so. Enjoy!

Bridge No. DC 1133 :
George Washington Memorial Parkway : Arlington County, Virginia

Accidental shutter release captures reflection in my car :
Outside My House : Washington, D.C.

Flattened fork as litter :
Corner of 8th and Van Buren : Washington, D.C.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 6/08

Modern

Taken outside the museum's largest restaurant, Cascade Café.
I loved this older woman who was so engrossed in her book over the
din and clatter of diners, shoppers, and visitors.

Yesterday's entry featured pictures from the West Building of the National Gallery of Art. Today's entry highlights the East Building, which houses the contemporary and modern collections. Opened in 1978, the East Building was a gift from the children of Andrew Mellon. It includes works from artists like Picasso, Matisse, Pollock, Warhol, and Calder, to name a few.

L: Colorful people, colorful art.
R: Alexander Calder's giant mobile in the main hall of the East Building.
(Click on images to enlarge.)

Currently, the gallery is host to a special exhibit of treasures from Afghanistan, which I will be featuring tomorrow, as well as an exhibit of photos by photographer Richard Misrach and a collection of paintings and photographs called In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet.

L: Walking through the tunnel from the West Building to the East Building.
R: Visitors emerge out of the tunnel into the East Building.
(Click on images to enlarge.)

Designed by I.M. Pei, the East Building it is an airy, bright structure with vast exhibit halls and a subterranean structure that allows visitors to pass from the West Building to the East Building without going outside and crossing busy city streets. With the exception of pictures I took of Alexander Calder's enormous mobile, I decided to stretch myself a little and use the museum and its visitors as my subjects and create my own art. This collection of photographs is the result!

In today's world of cell phones, Blackberry's, and electronic wizardry,
these phone booths seem outdated. Perhaps the East Building
should donate them to the West Building?

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential.

Classical

Close up of a marble sculpture, National Gallery of Art

In 1937, a joint resolution of Congress accepted a magnanimous financial donation from industrial magnate and philanthropist Andrew Mellon and created the National Gallery of Art. Mellon, an avid art collector and connoisseur, promised his impressive collection to the United States and convinced many of his contemporaries to donate their collections. As a result, art from the collections of Armand Hammer, the Kress Family, Joseph Widener, Chester Dale, and many others is housed in this grand temple to classical painting and sculpture spanning many centuries.

Triptych: A Day at the Museum.
Visitor's enjoy the art of Mary Cassett and Vincent Van Gogh.
(Click on images to enlarge.)

The museum is not a part of the Smithsonian museum system, but it is, like its counterpart, a national treasure. The museum is made up of three components: the West Building, which houses classical art and was completed in 1941; the East Building, which houses modern and contemporary art and was completed in 1978; and a sculpture garden to the west of the original building, which opened in 1999. Like the Smithsonians, the NGA is free.

L: A painter recreates the work of an earlier artist.
R: My favorite painting in the entire museum: Albert Bierstadt's Lake Lucerne.

The West Building was designed by architect John Russell Pope. He was also the architect for the train station in Richmond, Virginia, the Scottish Rite 33' Supreme Council in Washington, and would later go on to design the Jefferson Memorial in the Tidal Basin. Visitors can see works from Renoir, Degas, Monet, Manet, Stuart, Cassett, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and da Vinci, to name but a very few. The collections include 13th century Italian art all the way up to 19th century American art. If you want to see art that rivals some of Europe's finest collections, the National Gallery of Art is a must-see when you come to Washington.

The National Gallery of Art, West Building

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 6/08

Striking

MPD Dispatch Tower from Fort Stevens

About a week ago, we had a storm system move through that included some pretty spectacular lightning and a couple of scary tornados. I've always wanted to photograph lightning, so when last night's storm rolled through, I got in the car, drove over to Fort Stevens, parked, set the camera on the dashboard, and started taking timed exposures.

Lightning in black and white

Out of 38 timed shots, these are the two best. About four more photos have a hint of lightning in them and the rest have none at all. I've obviously got a long way to go in figuring out how to properly photograph this natural phenomenon!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 6/08

Two Things Challenge: Symmetrical / Abstract

Symmetrical bathroom fixtures

This week's Two Things Challenge was Symmetrical / Abstract. Here are my interpretations. The first is the sink in my bathroom. The faucet and bowl are from IKEA. I like the symmetry of these fixtures, so it worked well for this part of the challenge. At least, I think it did!

The new atrium at the National Portrait Gallery:
Abstract sunroof creates abstract light creates abstract art.

The second photo is one I took on Friday when I was out with friends. We went to the National Gallery of Art to see a special exhibit I'll be posting in a few days. On the way back to Metro, we stopped at the National Portrait Gallery so I could take a picture of the recently restored and renovated Atrium. The new atrium includes a water feature that is very popular with parents as a cooling and diversion station for their kids. Unfortunately, we were there around COB and missed all the kids. More importantly, though, it features a very abstract sunroof, which I thought was appropriate for the challenge!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 6/08

Macro!

Afternoon snack up close!

For my birthday this year, a few friends gave me Amazon.com gift cards (always a good, safe bet for me!) As I have more books than I can leaf through, I tried to find something a little more practical. I stewed for a week or so and finally, one morning as I was waking, it came to me: accessories.

Detail on a decorative platter I bought at
100% Mexico on 14th Street a couple of years ago.

For those who wonder, I shoot all my photos with a Canon A630 PowerShot POS 8.0 MegaPixels. Nothing overly fancy or bulky, but certainly a bit limited in its abilities. For example, I have been exasperated to no end at macro-type shots I've taken of flowers and trees and the like, only to have the thing I thought I was focusing on not be the thing that showed up in focus when I later downloaded my photos.

Close-up of a bowl of shells and agates
I have in a glass bowl on my coffee table.

So, I hopped out of bed a week or so ago, dug out my gift cards, logged into Amazon.com, and found an accessory set for the Canon A630 that included a dual macro/wide-angle lens, a telephoto lens, three filters, a pocket tripod, a standard tripod, a cleaning kit, and a camera bag. And all for less than $90! (Which was perfect, because I only had $100 in gift cards.) I clicked "Buy" and then waited like a kid waits for Christmas.

Clover in the front yard. Must be time to mow!
The best part, though? The flowers are in focus! Woo hoo!

My accessories arrived on Tuesday and I've been fiddling around with them off and on this week. The one accessory I'm the happiest with at the moment is the macro lens. And here for your viewing and my bragging pleasure are some random examples of things I've been able to photograph up-close-and-personal with positive effect! I may not be shooting with top-of-the-line equipment right now, but I think I'm getting pretty good results with what I do have. Besides, I still have a lot to learn before graduating to a serious DSLR and all the really super expensive components that go with the same. In short, I'm very, very happy with the range of photos I'm now going to be able to create with my new toys!

A big thank you to my friends who made this possible! THANK YOU!!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 6/08