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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

Date:	Saturday, April 10, 2010
Time:	5:30am – 9:30am
Location:	1526 Maine Ave, Washington DC

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.

Tags: cherry blossom, Jefferson Memorial, photowalk, photowalk dc, Potomac River, tidal basin, washington dc

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)

Tags: Chinatown, Chinese New Year Parade, National Archives, photowalk, photowalk dc, washington dc

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

Tags: Chinatown, Chinese New Year Parade, National Archives, photowalk, photowalk dc, washington dc

More Photos from Arlington National Cemetery

A few more of my photos from the PhotowalkDC event at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday, September 19, 2009.

Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown

Tombstones I found interesting including my childhood hero Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, actor Lee Marvin, and one of the many headstones marked as Unknown.  Boyington was a USMC WWII Ace in the Pacific and a Medal of Honor receipient.  He is probably best known from the 1970s tv show Baa Baa Black Sheep which was based on his memoirs.  I was surprised by the humble gravestone of Lee Marvin who is extremely well known and enjoyed a large fan base in the 60s and 70s from his movies.  Marvin is probably best known for his roles in The Dirty Dozen and Cat Ballou which he won an Oscar for.

John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

Tags: arlington national cemetery, eternal flame, grave marker, gravestone, headstone, lee marvin, pappy boyington, photowalk, tomb of the unknown

Photowalk Wrapup: Arlington National Cemetery

18 local photographers met up this Saturday to participate in the PhotowalkDC event at Arlington National Cemetery.  We enjoyed great weather, something we seem to have good luck with during our events (I hope I haven’t cursed us now).

After grouping up at the visitor center at 9:00am we spent the next three hours touring the 200 acres of the cemetery.  The area is quite large and I would guess we covered less than 2/3 of it.

I’ve included 2 my photos below followed by some submitted by other attendees either through our Flickr group or on the Facebook event page.

Thanks to everyone that attended.

From Mitchell Sacks

From Danielle Jetton.

From Sherri Benton (bluedot11).

From Edmund Joe.

From Elanor Anne Wainscott.

From George Brett.

From Neal Jacob.

Tags: arlington national cemetery, headstone, photowalk, photowalkdc, respect, sacrifice, Virginia, washington dc