Signs

Dry cleaner on the corner of Georgia and Rittenhouse: They Martinize!

Yesterday's 2.3 mile walk took me along Georgia Avenue and past a number of signs on shops and in bus shelters. Here are just two of the 24 pictures I took before my batteries died, dang it all! I also had my first run in with the po-po (police), as the kids around here call them. I was taking pictures outside the offices for the Metropolitan Police Department's District 4 offices, when an officer came out and informed me that taking pictures of MPD facilities was a security concern and prohibited. Even though I was standing on a public sidewalk, I was gently admonished to refrain from any future picture taking.

Radio/dispatch tower behind the MPD-4D station

My point in taking the picture of the MPD-4D was to capture the radio/dispatch tower behind the building. When I first moved to my neighborhood, I hated that thing. I thought it was ugly and an eyesore. Over time, though, it's grown on me and I'm always looking for new ways to capture it. This photo is just one more perspective on what I now deem a cool tower and one of my favorite landmarks to look for on the D.C. horizon. To see other instances of this tower, go here, here, here, here, and here.

To see a few more of the signs I snapped yesterday, as well as one or two other things that caught my eye, visit Standing Room Only.


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 07/08

Towering

Dispatch Tower, Brightwood Park, 4D Metropolitan Police Department Precinct

Located on the back lot of the Metropolitan Police Department's (MPD) Fourth District (4D) precinct is this radio dispatch tower. I refer to it as the Eiffel Tower of D.C. It stands on the District's second highest point in the city and provides radio dispatch coverage to D.C.'s first responders. Up close, it's not that striking, but from a distance, it can be rather pretty.

Zip: 20012

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential (Janet M. Kincaid, 06/07)

Starry, Starry Night

Metropolitan Police Department Dispatch Tower

During the lunar eclipse on Wednesday night, I tried my hand at photographing the moon, but my camera just wasn't up to the challenge. It's a fabulous little point-and-shoot from Canon and I love it, but it's not good for things like clear, full moon pictures (like these or these or these.)

The Tower is Blue: Starring William Holden, David Niven, and Maggie McNamara...
Oh, wait. I'm mixing up my movie titles.

However, all was not lost. As I stood on the corner of 9th and Peabody freezing my gluteus maximus off, I turned my attention briefly from the vanishing moon to the Metropolitan Police Department dispatch tower on Georgia Avenue and captured a lovely, but rather dull shot. (That would be the first picture at the top in this little collection, just so's ya know.)

Homer! Don't you think it's time to take down the Christmas lights already? It's nearly March!

I played with it a little in my photo editing software and came up with three other versions that are a little more interesting. (Amazingly, my camera didn't do a very good job of photographing the moon, but it did a great job of picking up the stars! Go figure! To see the stars, click on the pictures and they'll open as larger images.)

Doesn't this look like an old photo out of an issue of National Geographic from the 1930s or earlier?
(Or am I just flattering myself?)

I can't decide which of the three edited pictures I like best, so I decided just to post them all and let you decide!


Photo copyrights: D.C. Confidential

Skywatch

MPD Dispatch Tower reaches for the sky

Out walking yesterday, I realized again just how fond I've grown of the Metropolitan Police Department's dispatch tower on Georgia Avenue. It can be seen in upper Northwest Washington from as far away as the U.S. Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. It's a point of reference in this part of D.C. and, combined with yesterday's blue skies and gauzy clouds, it makes a perfect subject for Skywatch Friday.

To view more than 300 submissions to this growing, global phenomenon, go here.

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

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

Fiery

Clouds on fire

MPD Dispatch Tower and Moon at Sunset

Silhouetted tree and sunset clouds

Last night, I looked out the window and realized we were about to have a really great sunset. When you live in an urban setting, it's often a challenge to find a vantage point that will allow you to capture nature's fireworks. Still, I managed. I literally ran out to the car, jumped in, and sped off to Fort Stevens Park--about five blocks from where I live. On the way, I managed to get off a few shots of the sun setting the clouds on fire. When I arrived at Fort Stevens, I happened to look behind and noticed not only was the sun making the clouds a lovely pink-orange color, but the moon was up. Here are a few shots of Sunday's sunset.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 3/08

Two Things Challenge: Parallel / Perpendicular

Parallel: Train tracks frame a beautiful, clear blue sky.

This week's 2 Things Challenge was Parallel / Perpendicular. Here are my interpretations. The first photo was taken as I was walking home from Takoma Park, Maryland. This is the divided bridge for Metro (our subway transit system) and CSX and MARC (a commerce carrier and the Maryland long-distance commuter rail, respectively.) I thought this was a good example of Parallel.

Perpendicular was a little harder than I expected. I thought about cheating and posting an archived picture of Cape Hatteras (NC) Lighthouse or Point Arena (CA) Lighthouse, but that didn't seem fair. Then I thought about posting another picture of the Georgia Avenue MPD Dispatch Tower, but I've posted several pictures of that already. Or the Washington Monument, but that seemed to easy and obvious. (And apparently overdone. I didn't realize I'd posted this many pictures of the WaMo.) Plus, I used that memorial for last week's challenge. So, I got off my lazy duff, took a walk, and here's the result: street lamps!

Perpendicular: Street lamp on the George Washington Memorial Parkway

I had several street lamps I photographed, but I liked this one best because it had perpendicular going on several times. Or am I stretching beyond belief?

Parallel columns on a perpendicular plain: Perfect!

Then I took this photo last Sunday, which I was going to include in my entry about the National Gallery of Art, but I already had enough pictures going on there. This is a fountain of Mercury, the Messenger God, on the main floor of the West Building of the NGA. I thought this captured both Parallel and Perpendicular perfectly!

If you'd like to participate in a fun, weekly challenge, check out 2 Things Challenge.

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

The Force...

Luuuuuke... I'm your faaaaaaatherrr...

Today's entry is for my cousin Karl's son, Kelten. Apparently Kelten is a HUGE Star Wars fan. If memory serves me correctly, when we were kids, my brother and sister and I, Karl, his older brother Peter, and our cousins John and Arlene all went to see Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in some theater in Salt Lake City. (I can see the theater in my minds' eye, but I can't remember where it is.) Karl, as I recall, was a pretty big Star Wars fan. It would seems he's passed that fan-love on to his son.

This is a bobblehead Darth Vader I picked up the other night at Target. My original plan was to mount it on the dashboard of my car, but I haven't gotten 'round to that so I brought it into the house the other day. Last night, I set it up in the window ledge, turned off all the lights, got out my laser pointer, and starting messing with time exposures. This is one of the images I got out of my goofing around. The backdrop is the tree in the backyard with light supplied by the street lamp in the alley. The tower to the right is one of the Metropolitan Police Department's dispatch towers.

May the Force Be With You, Kelten!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08