The Great Snow Storm of 2010 (Part One)

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.

Baseball in January: NatsFest 2010

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.

New Nationals catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez:



Fans checking out a gallery of presidential first pitches:



Ryan Zimmerman's Gold Glove (L) and the man himself:



General Manager Mike Rizzo at the first of 4 Q&A sessions:



Finally, pitcher John Lannan and outfielder Nyjer Morgan:

Absolute Vengeance at Growlers

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?

A Minute In The Life: Take2

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!

DC Rollergirls doubleheader at the Armory

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.

A few more pictures from the Wale video shoot

EDIT: To check out some more photos, as well as a bunch taken by two other photographers, head over to Brightest Young Things. As always, more can be found on Flickr as well.

Shooting the video for Wale's "Pretty Girls"

I don't typically like putting up "preview" posts, but I wanted to give a little sneak peak into what was a very fun and interesting shoot. I spent the evening at Bella Faccia Studios in DC for the production of Wale's video for "Pretty Girls," a single off of his new album, Attention Deficit. Quite the show, let me tell you.

A few more pictures will be posted after the weekend, and I'm sure I'll link to the story on Brightest Young Things when it's posted, but for now, enjoy these two shots (of rather prominent NFL running backs, who both make cameos in the video).

First, Wale and Clinton Portis of the Washington Redskins...



... and now Wale and Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens.

Cooking with MJLphoto: braised short ribs

2010 No Pants Metro Ride

For the 9th year in a row, a group called Improv Everywhere organized their "No Pants" subway ride, which took place today in DC and in a number of cities around the world. I was informed via e-mail of the Washington gathering just a few hours before it happened, but luckily, I had little else going on and was able to head down to L'Enfant Plaza and document the shenanigans.

So what is the No Pants Ride? Basically speaking, it's a chance for people to get together, hop on their local transit system and drop trou. They then ride around for an hour or so between stations, transferring a few times to make sure they get some quality platform time in as well.

There are only two rules for the day, as far as I could tell:

1) If any law enforcement or authority figure asks you to put your pants back on, you should happily oblige and 2) If a fellow rider or bystander inquires as to why you're riding pantsless, you should act as though you have no idea what they're talking about and go about your business.

Needless to say, the group was met with quite a few stares. A few pictures are below, which can also be found on DCist, and there are some more on Flickr. Enjoy!

The organizer of the DC No Pants Metro Ride is interviewed by local media (there were probably 20 photographers and at least 5 video cameras rolling throughout the afternoon):



The organizer addressing the crowd before departure:



Heading down into the Metro system (Why the bear costume? Not so sure. Apparently it had something to do with cuddling.):



The time to lose the pants has arrived:



My favorite shot of the day:





Most people either didn't think much of it or thought it was funny. The people in this car were amused, but they also had no clue what was going on (despite asking a few participants what the deal was):

The Roots at the 9:30 Club

On the 29th and 30th of December, Philadelphia's own legendary Roots crew helped the 9:30 Club round out the decade with two sold-out shows. I was in attendance on Wednesday night, witnessing first-hand the hip-hop septet and its entertaining live presence. It was a great way to finish off the year, and an even better way to start celebrating the arrival of the 10s.

A few more pictures can be found on Flickr, and a short review of the show can be found on DCist.













PLEASE DO NOT RE-USE THESE PHOTOS WITHOUT PERMISSION.