Taking advantage of one of the first beautiful (and somewhat warm) days of the year, my wife and I decided to bike across the river into Virginia, swinging past Arlington Cemetery and stopping at the Marine Corps War Memorial, known by many as the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Below are a few shots taken earlier today...
On Saturday night, State Radio played the second of two sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club in DC, and yours truly was there to (try and) capture the atmosphere. Below are some of my shots from the night, and while it may not be easy to see in this set, the lighting for the first 3 songs was mostly comprised of a series of strobes, which made for some difficult conditions.
To try and combat some of the intense brightness, I've chosen to edit a few using a black + white treatment, something I rarely do. Let me know what you think in the comments.
A few more pictures can be found on Flickr, and a brief review over on DCist.
Yesterday afternoon, in the Chinatown section of downtown DC, hundreds gathered to celebrate the Chinese New Year and usher in the Year of the Tiger. Fireworks, fortune cookies, presentations and performances were plentiful, as people took to the streets to take in the sights and sounds of a cultural tradition that takes place in cities throughout the world.
Below are some pictures, a few of which were also posted on DCist.
The crowds were pretty impressive, with nearly every stoop along H Street packed with people trying to get a better view of the parade.
Vendors capitalized on the celebration as well, selling silly string, "firework" noise makers and confetti canons.
Here also are two videos that I took during the celebration, the first of the lighting of thousands of fireworks and the second of a traditional dragon dance.
And finally, a shot that has absolutely nothing to do with the Chinese New Year, but rather one I thought was humorous enough to post. Perhaps plumbing is in his future?
Part II of the Snowpocalypse began hitting yesterday evening, but most reports had the majority of precipitation falling early this morning and throughout the day. The meteorologists were correct -- they've been pretty damn accurate this winter, haven't they? -- as things were pretty quiet last night but are now right back to blizzard-like conditions. The wind is howling, the snow is seemingly attacking from all directions and accumulations are creeping yet again.
Below is a video taken from the balcony of our apartment earlier today. Enjoy.*
* From the comfort of your living room, preferably.
The Snowpocalypse... Snowmageddon... The Snotorious BIG... Alexander Snovechkin...
Whatever you want to call it, there's no denying the cold hard facts: the DC Metro area got hit hard by Mother Nature yet again over the weekend, as close to 30" blanketed the region and wreaked havoc on roads, trees and power lines. It was the second major storm of the season, and it turns out it was only part one of the weather system moving through the area -- reports are showing that anywhere from 8 to 24 more inches are going to drop starting tomorrow.
I headed out on Saturday afternoon for a quick jaunt around the neighborhood, trying to capture a sense of what the conditions were like for those who didn't experience the beast that was (and is) the Abominable Snowstorm.
I'm no expert, but I can't imagine being buried under wet, heavy snow is very good for a bicycle (or two).
After we'd had enough walking around, my wife and I were heading back towards our apartment when a fire engine sped by and stopped just at the end of the next block. We kept walking and didn't think much of it until more trucks began to arrive and firefighters with full gear prepared to enter a building.
There were no signs of smoke or anything out of the ordinary, but being naturally curious, I decided it was worth it to stick around for a few minutes to document the scene.
While nobody moved with much urgency, more than a few firefighters entered the building while a hook and ladder was fully extended and the entire block was secured with trucks on each corner.
The DCFD also had 3 hoses connected to nearby hydrants -- one a full block away -- but none of them were actually pumping water.
After about 15 minutes, those that entered the building began to come out, the hook and ladder that was extended was lowered and a few of the trucks on the scene pulled away. I'm not sure if it was a training exercise or what -- while I can imagine they'd want to get experience in all conditions, it seemed like a tremendous waste of resources -- but the scene began to clear out almost as quickly as it unfolded.
I never did find out what happened, so if you were hoping for a crazy rescue story, I do apologize. As relieving as it was to find out everything was OK, I'll be honest... part of me wanted to document a raging inferno. Maybe next time.
This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to hang out at Nationals Park for an event the Major League Baseball team holds every winter called NatsFest, a chance for fans to meet players, check out the stadium, ask questions of management and essentially get psyched for the upcoming season.
Despite a brief snowfall the day/night before and pretty damn cold temperatures, fans came out in droves to tour the facilities and greet a few of the new faces in town. Some pictures are below, with more on Flickr and DCist.
I'm also testing out a new feature on this blog called Lightbox, which allows people to click on images and view them larger. I don't plan on using it for everything, as I like the size of the images the way they are... but for something like a panoramic shot, I think it's a pretty sweet addition to the site.
With that, click on the composite of Nationals Park (covered in snow!) below for a better view.
Last Saturday night, after talking about it for at least a year, I finally took the opportunity to see a friend's band called Absolute Vengeance. The show was at a small venue/bar in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and while the music isn't necessarily my speed, the show itself was great, as the guys in the band are certainly talented.
Shooting at a smaller venue typically means low light, and this show was no exception. The conditions weren't ideal, but I think I was able to get a few decent shots. As always, more can be found on Flickr.
I also took the opportunity during this show to attempt a new shooting style, using a longer exposure with a "rear" flash (which essentially means the camera waits until the shutter is about to close before it fires the flash). I've seen images taken in a similar fashion and the results can be pretty sweet, and since most larger venues do not allow the use of a flash, I thought I would try it out here.
As you can see, I wasn't too successful (this was the best of 20 or 30 shots I took this way). I left the shutter open entirely too long and I couldn't find the right combination of exposure, ISO and flash speed. Hopefully I'll have another opportunity (and more time) to test this out in the future. Practice makes perfect, right?
Most people that read/visit/follow this blog have probably already heard about A Minute In The Life, but I believe an official introduction is in order.
In June of 2007, I organized a "simultaneous photography project" -- long story short, I sent an e-mail out to everyone in my address book, asking them to take a picture at the same time on a pre-determined date and send the results to me. I also asked them to tell everyone they knew, as I wanted to increase the chances of unique and diverse submissions.
When it was all said and done, I ended up receiving over 230 pictures from the United States and abroad, prompting me to put together a book of select images. The project, in other words, was a success. That was almost 3 years ago, so I decided it was time to do it again...
A Minute In The Life: Take2 will take place on Saturday, March 20th at 2:00pm Eastern Time. For more details, be sure to click here or on the new tab in the sidebar. Hope you can participate, and if you like the idea and want to tell your friends, spreading the word would be much appreciated.
In other news, I'll have at least 2 new photo posts this week, one of a friend's band I saw last Saturday night and another of a few hours spent with the Washington Nationals. Stay tuned!
Last Saturday, my wife and I decided to see what all the fuss was about and head to a roller derby match at the DC Armory, home to 3 District teams under the main outfit the DC Rollergirls. Having never been to a roller derby before, neither of us were familiar with the logistics of the game (who could do what, how points were scored, etc.) -- all we knew was that, from what people told us, the bouts were quite entertaining.
When we got to the Armory, I was glad to see that spectators were allowed to sit just beyond the edge of the track and, more importantly, that there was an open spot just big enough for the two of us. Without this spot, these pictures would be pretty awful, as even sitting within crashing distance made for difficult shooting conditions with my prime 30mm lens.
With that, here are a few pictures from the opening bout featuring the Cherry Blossom Bombshells vs. the visiting Harrisonburg (Va.) Rocktown Rollers.
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