Marc Benton dot Com

#snowpocalypse time lapse video

Sherri had a great idea of setting up the tripod and snapping off photos of our back deck during the snowstorm.  We used one of our spare Powershot S5IS since we didn’t want to monopolize our main cameras.  She took photos over about a 30 hour period and I created a slideshow video in an old copy of Premier Elements.

She uploaded it to weather.com yesterday and we just received reports from friends that they saw it on the Weather Channel.  We’re thrilled.

Can you spot the falling tree?

Let us know what you think of it.

Tags: #snowpocalypse, reston, snow, time lapse, video, Virginia

Moonlight over the Potomac

Sherri and I went to see Avatar in 3-d at an IMAX theater in Alexandria only to find that it was sold out until Monday.  We ended up in Old Town playing dominos at Starbucks.  Before we left we braved the frigid temps to take a peek at the waterfront.  This moonlight was coming from this year’s Blue Moon.

This was taken hand held with a 50mm 1.4 lens.  Processed on my new ASUS Eee netbook in Lightroom.  I do not have all my plugins and add-ons loaded yet so there was no noise reduction ran against this image.

Tags: Alexandria, blue moon, boats, moonlight, night, Potomac River, Virginia, water

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

Photowalk Announcement: Arlington National Cemetery, Sept 19

Event – Photowalk DC #6

Location – Arlington National Cemetery.  Group up at the Visitor’s Center.

When – Saturday, September 19th, 2009 from 8:45am – 12:00pm

Lets gather at the Visitor’s Center starting at 8:45am.  At 9:00 we’ll move toward the Tomb of the Unknowns to view the changing of the guard at their 9:30 ceremony.  Until Sep 30th the changing of the guard occurs every 30  minutes so if we miss 9:30 we can catch the next one at 10:00.  From there we can branch out in groups around the grounds.  Just a few of the  items of interest include the Kennedy plots, Challenger Space Shuttle Memorial, and the Arlington House.

Directions – The Metro Arlington Cemetery station on the Blue Line is the best option.  If you would like to drive, directions can be found on the cemetery’s website here.

Cost – Entrance to the cemetery is free but there is a small charge for parking if you plan to drive.

Registration -  Reply on our Facebook event page or leave a comment here.

After – I’m thinking a metro ride to U Street and a couple half smokes from Ben’s Chili Bowl may be in order.

Tags: arlington national cemetery, Digital Photography, facebook, photowalk, photowalk dc, Virginia

Goodbye Summer

I know the last day of summer is September 21st but the weather here has already started tilting toward fall.  I’m not ready for 60 degree temps but guess its inevitable.  Here’s hoping the next 6 months fly by but a couple more 90+ degree days this year would be nice.

This shot was taken in June on an 80-something day at Lake Anna, VA.

Tags: and the livings easy, jetski, Lake Anna, summer fun, summertime, sunny day, Virginia