Early Morning Cherry Blossom Photowalk 2010

Time to prove how much you love photography.

Last year local photog Shawn Duffy organized this walk and it turned out to be a great success. This year he’s allowing Photowalk DC to organize it. For some examples of the kind of shots available you can view last year’s event at Shawn’s Early Morning Cherry Blossom Photowalk/ Flickr group and my event wrap-up post.

PhotoWalk Details

We’ll meet up at 5:30 am in the parking lot of the Tidal Basin Boat House. From there we can find our spots, set up our tripods, share a cup of coffee and some conversation while waiting for sunrise (which happens at 6:25).

From our experience last year the crowds will start appearing around 7:00. After the early morning sun fades we can then break up in smaller groups and take a walk around the Tidal Basin to shoot different perspectives of the cherry trees.

Register

You can register on the Facebook event page or leave a comment here.

Bloom Dates

Bloom Watch released the following information AFTER we set our date.

Average Peak Bloom Date: April 4
2010 Peak Bloom Date Forecast: April 3 through April 8
2010 Blooming Period: March 31 through April 11

We’ve decided to keep our date instead of moving it up one week so that we do not conflict with Easter Sunday.   There should be plenty of blooms left on the branches for our outing.  Who knows, with our crazy weather this year we may see another crazy cold front which may delay the blooms for us.

If you would like to join in a group the previous weekend at the start of peak blooms, the Washington Photography Meetup Group is hosting the Photowalk: Cherry Blossoms @ night on April 3rd.

I’m looking forward to seeing shots from both events.

8 Ways to Participate in the DC Area Photography Community

I was recently asked by a local photographer about our community and how he could become more involved.  I was tongue-tied for a second before I answered.  To me this has become habit and something I don’t really think about anymore.  So I stopped and gathered my thoughts on the matter and sent him back a list of some low hanging fruit ways of getting involved in our community.  I’ve taken that original email and expanded it below in the hope that it will offer some suggestions to you.

1. Blog

This is the no-brainer portion of the list.  Create a blog or photoblog and get your photos out there.  A quick search of Google will provide you with a plethora of resources on the how-to’s of blogging so I won’t cover that.

For your first blog, the technology behind it should not be the main factor.  Whether its a hosted solution like Blogger, Wordpress.com, Posterous or your own self-hosted site using Joomla, Wordpress or a Flash solution doesn’t matter as long as its one you can work with.  What matters is getting a site up and running so you have somewhere to refer people to view your work.

Once you have your blog/photoblog up and running send out requests for link exchanges with some local photographers that run their own sites.  To get a jump on finding these people look to the right of this article to my Blogroll and you’ll find quite a few.  You can also find more listed on the photo pages of my photoblog.  Also consider submitting your site to a local blog directory such as DCBlogs.

2. Use a Photo Gallery Service

The most well known service of this type would be Flickr.  While Flickr is a worldwide service it provides local community support as well.  Search for Flickr groups using keywords that interest you or a local neighborhood to see whats available and then join a few.  You can also search their photo pool by tags to find photographers in your area that you can add as contacts.

Other services include Picasa and SmugMug, both of which provide ways to both promote yourself to a community and find local photographers to interface with.

3. Use Twitter and Facebook

Quite a few local photographers are active on Twitter and use it as a platform to share not only their works but the efforts of other photographers that impress them.  If you’re new to Twitter you can find many of DC’s photographers on my list of DC Area Photographers (if you don’t find yourself on my list let me know).  The fun part about Twitter lists is that they are ever growing.  Click a name from my list and chances are good they have a similar list with some different names  on it.

Facebook is an awesome way to show off your photography.  You can link your blog articles, Flickr uploads, or even upload a shot directly into Facebook to appear on your wall updates.  If you pursuing commercial photography consider making a Facebook fan page and inviting your friends to join.  There are also many local photography groups available (I’ll cover one of them in a few).

4. Contribute to Photoblogging DC

No, we’re not talking about contributing money but some photos instead.  PhotoBlogging DC (PBDC) is a site focused on displaying the works of some of the Greater DC Area’s talented photographers.  Their contributors include both professionals and enthusiasts.  If you’d like to become one of PBDC’s contributors you can reach them on Twitter or email the editors with a link to your online portfolio.

5. DCist and WeLoveDC

DCist and WeLoveDC are local blogs that cover the various happenings around town including politics, art, food and whatever else tickles their fancy.  Both blogs include user submitted photographs on many of their articles.  DCist has a Photo of the Day article while WeLoveDC has a Weekend Flashback that displays photos from their readers.  You can submit your photos to them by using their Flickr groups found at DCist Photos and We <3 DC.  Of course you’ll need a Flick account to do this.

6. Take a Photowalk Around DC

One of the best ways to interact with fellow photographers is to go on a photowalk.  Photowalk DC is a Facebook group with currently over 160 members.  They hold events on a monthly basis during the good weather months with some ad hoc walks scheduled in between.  Events are announced on Facebook and here on this blog.

Many local photographer’s like Rob Jones and  Shawn Duffy organize their own photowalks as well so keep your eyes open on Twitter and Facebook for these opportunities.

7. Meetup

Meetup.com is a great place to find photography clubs and events.  The Washington Photography Meetup Group has over 2,100 members and is extremely active with monthly meetups and more.  Another interesting meetup group is the When Everyone Else is Working Photography Meetup Group.  Their events occur Mon-Fri at different times of the day to try and accommodate as many people as possible.

8. Interact

No matter how many of the previous 7 items you choose to use, the most important step in becoming involved in DC photography is to interact with the rest of the community.  Leave comments on blogs/photoblogs, Flickr, photowalk wrapups, Twitter and Facebook.  Support the community and let them know you appreciate them and it will be returned.

This is the short list as there are many ways to interact with the DC photography community.  What would you add to this list?  I would greatly appreciate your comments.

Ninjas vs Pirates Invades DC

This past weekend Sherri and I attended an epic battle between…well…evil and evil.  The nation’s capital was the battleground chosen by the silent but deadly Ninja clans and the equally deadly but sometimes vulgar and always rum-drunk Pirate crews.  Ninja vs Pirates was on!

Sherri and I chose our sides, she joined the crew, me the clan.  She even dressed for the occasion which I enjoyed very much as she makes quite the vision in lace and knee high boots.

The evil forces faced off in feats of skill to show off their killing proficiency by participating in games such as Simon Says, Tug-of-War and Capture the Flag.  In the end it was a draw.  As the sides gathered their wounded and retreated to safer ground they both vowed to meet next year and continue the blood feud.

I can’t wait.

Lets get the pirate photos out of the way first…

Ok, enough of that…now on to the elusive Ninjas (btw, I risked life and limb to obtain these extremely rare photos of real live Ninjas).

Wrapup – Photowalk DC at National Archives and Chinatown

Another great time was had by members of Photowalk DC last Sunday in DC.  Thanks to all the great photographers that came out.

Here’s some shots from the day that were added to our Flickr group:

And finally I leave you with this shot of me doing what’s necessary to get the shot (If anyone asks me I’ll swear that wall was at least 20 feet tall)

Photowalk DC – National Archives and Chinese New Year Parade

Announcing our first Photowalk DC event for 2010

Event: Photowalk at the National Archives and the Chinese New Year Parade, Sunday Feburary 21, 2010 12:00 – 5:00

Part One – National Archives (Noon to ~1:30)

February 24th marks the last day that photography will be allowed in the National Archives. This photowalk is a chance for us to take advantage of the time left.  We’ll group up at noon on the steps of the National Archives (700 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest) and spend the next hour or so inside.  The Archives are easily accessible by Metro using the Archives – Navy Memorial – Penn Quarter stop on the Green Line.

Please come with a good attitude, some reverence for the documents we’ll be seeing, and a fast lens. I usually like to visit the locations of our photowalks beforehand but the weather lately has not allowed me to so my intel and times may be off some.  From the images I’ve seen inside the Archives there are places with very low light.  While photography is allowed until the 24th, flash is never allowed inside so please be sure to disable yours. I’d recommend a fast lens if you have it.  I will have an extra Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II I can loan to someone.

While public photography, or the lack thereof,  is a hot button issue for some please leave your opinions at the door on this one (we can all blog our opinions about it later).  There are good arguments on both sides concerning the National Archives decision.  I’d rather we spend our effort on this walk having a good time, getting some great photographs and dodge any drama.  Please remember the staff we’ll encounter at the Archives were probably not involved in the decision and are just following their instructions.

Part Two – The Hike (1:30 – 2:00)

After our visit to the Archives we’ll head North to Chinatown.  There are two options and we can make our decision during the walk based on weather conditions.  First we can walk, its a short 5 block route up 7th Street.  Metro is the second option taking the Archives – Navy Memorial – Penn Quarter station one stop up the Green Line to Gallery Place – Chinatown stop.

Part Three – Chinese New Years Parade, The Year of the Tiger (2:00 – 5:00)

The Chinese New Year festival is hosted by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association which is comprised of 30 Chinese-American organizations throughout the Greater Washington, DC area. This celebration is a symbolic of spring and it is tradition to wear red to ward off evil spirits.

The festival takes place in the heart of DC’s Chinatown and it includes an exciting parade, the Chinese Lion and Dragon Dances, as well as a five-story high firecracker that will be ignited at 3:45 p.m. According to the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce’s website, more than 4,000 red packets with key chain or lucky money will be given away during the parade.

The parade runs down H Street between 6th and 8th Street.

Part Four – The Wrap-up (5:00 – ?)

Those of us that want to stick around and share a drink or dinner we’ll find someplace nearby.  Expect good conversation and plenty of chimping.  There are plenty of restaurants in the area to choose from.

RSVP

Photowalk DC is open to all level of photographers, from point and shooters to professionals.  We enjoy a great group of regulars at each event and welcome all new comers.  Please consider joining our group on Facebook.

To register for this event you can leave a comment here or respond via our event page on Facebook.

Route Map

View Photowalk DC Feb 2010 Event in a larger map