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Embassy Row Photowalk

Wouldn't a European vacation be nice right about now?  Wouldn't traveling to countries like Ireland, the UK, Greece, Italy and others be a welcome break in your life? You'd think so but with the threats of swine flu, worldwide economic depression, high terrorism alerts and other scary things looming on the horizon travel almost anywhere outside the US is not high on our agendas.

Now what if I told you that you could visit these countries right here in the heart of DC?  And what if I said you could do it all in one day?  Pique your interest yet?

On May 9th the countries of the European Union are holding an open house in their embassies across DC.

...take a rare behind-the-scenes look at the European Embassies, many of which are among Washington's historic and architectural treasures. Each Embassy offers a unique program featuring the country's cuisine, its music and special events. In 2008, more than 50,000 visitors experienced the diversity and richness of European culture during the EU Open House.

Sherri and I thought that this would be a good opportunity for a photowalk.  We attended this event last year and had a lot of fun while capturing some nice images both inside and outside of the embassies.  We're looking forward to visiting a few new countries this year and reaquainting with some we toured last year.

We'll meet at the statue in the center of Dupont Circle at 9:30am. Early birds can meet us there at 9:00 to share some Krispy Kreme donuts we'll provide (there's a Starbucks across the street too).  Once everyone arrives, probably between 9:45 and 10:00, we'll head north along Massachusetts Avenue.  There are a number of embassies participating but unfortunately we can't make them all.  Last year we noticed that most people were able to tour 6 to 8 in a day, I think we made 6.

I've posted the embassies (see map below) we will try to make this year though there are many more participating on our route near Sheridan Circle.  You can find the complete list here.  I expect that this will be a loose photowalk with many of us breaking up into groups.  This event will be like DisneyLand, you just can't see everything in one day so I don't want to stop anyone from visiting an embassy I may not have listed.

We'll proceed up Massachusetts Ave, stopping by various embassies for tours and snacks and ending at the British Embassy.  There are quite a few interesting sites along the route that we can snap as well. Many of the embassies provide complimentary food and drink representative of their culture along with bottled water.

Make sure you bring identification and try to avoid bringing large bags or backpacks as all embassies will be conducting security checks.  There are some that will not allow photography inside, like the Netherlands, and we can skip those.  I'll try to provide a list of the embassies with this restriction beforehand.  At any rate we'll need to bring a limited amount of equipment.

At the end of the route, there is a bus provided for the tours that can return you to Dupont Circle.

Sherri and I are looking forward to seeing you out there.  Please leave a comment here or sign up on our Facebook event page if you plan to attend.  There is also a Flickr group for this walk so join up.

Here is a map of the route with some of the embassies marked along the way.


View Embassy Row Photowalk in a larger map

A Year Ago

Last night I realized it was just over a year ago that I purchased my Canon Powershot S5IS.  That was the start of an intense hobby that has taken over any free time I might have. My life, and my bank account, has never been the same.

My wife received her point and shoot the previous Christmas and we had already spent many a Saturday searching for photo subjects.  I had always carried an interest in photography but never invested any real money, or time, into it.  We had owned various small point and shoot cameras over the years, both film and digital.  This was the first time we both had our own cameras and were able to expand our knowledge and enjoyment of them.  It didn’t take long for us to both upgrade, her from a Kodak Z812IS to the Canon S5 (yes, we own two of them) and me to a Canon XS DSLR.

It hit me I should go back and see the photos from my first day to see if I’ve improved any in 12 months.  I remember after buying the camera Sherri and I went to Lowes in Dulles to look at the flowers.  I was shooting anything and everything I could find, the flowers, people, the sky, even the lemon from my tea at dinner.  I was like a kid with a new toy…well I guess that was true minus the kid part.

If you ever run out of inspiration stop and take some time to look at your old shots.  It might remind you why you enjoy this hobby.

After 12 months and almost 10k shutter clicks some of my favorites are still from that first day.  Here’s a few of them:

It would be great if you shared some of your first shots in the comments. Don’t be shy!

Tags: Canon S5IS, Digital Photography, Kodak Z812IS Zoom

A Day at the National Zoo

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I spent the afternoon at the National Zoo.  We had the pleasure of our son on this outing, something that rarely occurs but is always welcome.  With the kids growing up and finding their own pursuits we hardly ever get three of us together, virtually never get all four of us out.  Sherri and I really treasure these times though and this was no exception.  Here’s a few of my favorite photos from that day.

Tags: family, National Zoo, washington dc

A Missed Opportunity, A Lesson Learned

Last night around 10:00 I decided to cool off by taking a drive with the windows down.  While going over the toll road I noticed a strong lightning storm off in the east which looked like it was directly over DC.  It was the type of lightning that a photographer dreams of with strong dramatic bolts, not just clouds that glow.  I decided to try and race into DC to see what kind of shot I could get with it.

It normally takes me around 20-30 minutes without traffic to get onto Constitution Avenue from Reston and I made good time.  Unfortunately I decided to try a shot from the Virginia side first from the USMC Memorial.  The storm was too far to the south to get a good shot of it and the memorials.  That wasted about 15 minutes.

I drove into DC and parked around 18th Street on Constitution, walked about 3 blocks east along the tidal basin and found a good spot to capture the ever decreasing lightning with the Washington Monument in the foreground.  Of course I didn’t have a tripod (never have it when I need it) so I found a lightpost to brace against.  It took me a few shots to get the settings I wanted and finally settled on a 1 second exposure at f/3.5.

So now I’m ready to capture the shot.  The whole time I’m driving, taking a USMC Memorial detour, parking, finding the right spot and getting my settings down the lighting is occurring.  AS SOON AS I’m ready to take my first shot….NOTHING!  Nothing for 30 minutes.  I took over 100 shots waiting and hoping for that brilliant stunning shot. Nothing.  Fate decided to tempt me, then tease me, then ultimately disappoint me.  When I finally decided to give in and head home I tried really hard not to look back.  It would have killed me to see another lightning bolt.

If I had succeeded I would have an image to brag about but that was not the case this outing.  The drive home found me discouraged and angry but confused about who or what to be angry with.  This morning finds me in better spirits and able to wrap it up as a learning experience.  I did realize that a little as a few months ago I would have just set the camera to P mode.  It would have taken me at least 10 minutes to figure out the right manual settings then, if I could have figured them out at all.  This trip it took me all of 1 minute, I think I had the settings I wanted after 4 tries.

The lesson I’m walking away with is one every photographer has heard at least once.  You will never capture that perfect image if you don’t press the button.  It may take a few attempts, ok maybe A LOT of attempts, but it will happen.  Next time I’ll know where to go and what to do.  There’s a possible thunderstorm tonight so who knows, maybe lighting will strike the same spot twice.

Here’s one of the images from last night.  The open space to the right of the monument was where the majority of the lightning was occurring when I got to DC.  By the way, I’ve got around 100 of these shots if you want one

Tags: lesson learned, lightning, never give up, washington dc

PaW 2009 Week 15 – Jetskiing the Potomac

Camera specs; Canon EOS Rebel XS fitted with a Canon EF-S 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens, f11 @ 1/30 a second, ISO 200 at 56mm, hand held.

Taken during a river cruise on the Potomac River.

Tags: Digital Photography, jetski, PAW 2009, photo a week, photography project, Potomac River, washington dc