I knew going into it that there would be other visitors besides birds. So I hung it where I thought it would be most inaccessible. Turns out, I was spot on. It was very cool, though, to see animal intelligence at work.
One-A-Day
365 Photo Challenge
Museum
“I went to the museum where they had all the heads and arms from the statues that are in all the other museums.”
– Steven Wright
I shot some images for a local hotel’s website and they wanted me to shoot some “local flair” images. With all the images I shot, I completely forgot to shoot this one. The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. | Order a print of this image.
Rainy Day
Everybody’s going to have their slumps. Whatever you’re into, you’re gonna have a slump. I had recently slipped into my own slump and wasn’t actually shooting anything new there for a while. Wasn’t pushing my creativeness at all. Until I found this rainy-day project. The hard part wasn’t the slump (it, too, shall pass). It wasn’t the lighting or the set up. It wasn’t any of those things.
The hardest part?
Choosing my favorites.
What a fun rainy-day project. | Order a print of this image from my newest gallery.
Active
“Shame on you if you chose to stay inside if your day resembled anything like this.”
– Shaun Galang
Yet another bike-ride photo.
Always Stop and Take The Picture
These days I don’t turn down many opportunities to shoot. It was a nice day and the clouds were just right and, like always, I had my cameras with me.
Daniel Morgan Middle School in Winchester, VA.
First Responder
I had to call 911 today. And not the kind of call where you’re driving by an accident well after it’s happened and you call just to make sure they know about it. I was the actual first responder. Now, I understand that this kind of thing happens all the time. I’m not naive. This is the first time, however, that it’s really ever happened to me. I’ve seen accidents and been involved in an accident (dislocated my elbow in a wrestling match in high school), but I’ve never actually been the one on the phone with the 911 operator taking instructions until the real first responders arrive.
I didn’t even really realize what was happening at first, but before I knew it I had my phone out and was head-long into a conversation with the operator. Holy crap! And all those things I learned in all the first aid/CPR classes I’ve taken came rushing right back (and in the proper order, too). I was pretty happy about that.
When it was all said and done, though, I had some thoughts on the situation:
- All I can think of now is “how is she doing?”
- There needs to be a quick-dial emergency option on the iPhone (or any smart phone for that matter). So many features and apps can be buried inside a smartphone these days so it would be nice to have that option if, and when, you need it.
- Perhaps some sort of option for the person who calls 911 so they can decompress afterwards. There’s no way that the situation I saw today was the worst it gets so I’m sure that some people who call 911 could use someone to talk to afterwards – considering how pumped up I was.
- That part in the movies and TV shows where somebody inevitably shouts to the crowd of people “back up, give her some space,” that’s pretty accurate.
- How’s she doing?
And there had to be at least somebody on scene who looked up and thought “now who’s that insensitive jerk who’s taking the picture?” That’s my therapy I suppose.
Parks & Recreation
It’s cool when life comes full circle. I worked at Frederick County Parks and Recreation when I moved to Winchester about 14 years ago, but moved on to a new career. Now I get to bring that new career back to FCPRD as I create some new media content for them. It’s gonna be a fun summer.
Clearbrook Park is just north of Winchester, VA and, along with some awesome walking trails, boasts a vintage caboose. | Order a print of this image.
Hansom Cab
Cab is a shortening of cabriolet, reflecting the design of the carriage. It replaced the hackney carriage as a vehicle for hire; with the introduction of clockwork mechanical taximeters to measure fares, the name became taxicab.
You’re gonna use this piece of information in a conversation some day. Winning!
The Hansom Cab – designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York. Now you know.
1,000-Word Essay
No words. I have no words. Technically speaking, however, this is a 1,000 word essay, right?
My 1,000-word essay.
364
That would be how many days until our last high school graduation, but who’s counting? Oh, that’s right, our daughter is.
There’s only one time that you can get a photo of the front of Handley High School without the football goal posts in the shot – graduation. So I got plenty just to have them.
Sharp
“A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that ‘individuality’ is the key to success.”
– Robert Orben
I’m certainly in a position where the saying “use it or lose it” plays a huge factor. This blog, if anything, is helping me stay sharp and practice my craft. Every once in a while I get the urge to do something a little “wonky” with my images – just for fun. Enjoy.
In honor of all the graduates from Handley this weekend. | Order a print of this image.
Kent Room
“Baseball is like church. Many attend few understand.”
– Leo Durocher
There’s quite a bit of history in the churches of Old Town Winchester. Here’s a neat article on the Old Town Winchester site. | Order a print of this image.
Right Place/Right Time
“Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter.”
– Ansel Adams
Storms always provide some great image opportunities. Of course, they present a good deal of danger as well.
Senioritis
And so it begins. The last couple of weeks before my daughter is high school senior. The one thing she’s really looking forward to is the senior cafeteria. I’ve walked by this space countless number of times and never really knew what it was. According to my wife (and anybody who attended Handley High School pre-21st Century), this space used to be classrooms. Hopefully I’ll be allowed to roam through the hallways this summer and shoot more of this building – I’ve always wanted to.
A multi-purpose space at John Handley High School. | Order a print of this image.
Memorial
A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers and woods, it is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.
– George William Curtis
One of the many flags that adorn the Shenandoah Memorial Park near Winchester on Memorial Day.
My Best Camera
I pretty much take my cameras everywhere these days, but there are specific situations where my big cameras won’t work. Namely, my bike rides. I have, however, adopted the popular saying among photographers “My best camera is the one I have with me.” This is actually an iPhoneography book and app, FYI. I just really want to go back now and shoot this properly.
A one-shot HDR from an iPhone.
Travel
I took this picture yesterday and was just playing around. Anybody who knows me knows that I usually have my cameras with me and I’m taking random shots of just about anything. I may never use the image. I may use it as a background. I may use only part of the image. Regardless of how I use it, it’s in the digital filing cabinet forever. This image was never intended to be anything other than, well a test shot while I was just playing around with settings. I started looking at it , though, and it just jumped out at me as some sort of car ad. The big clear front windshield, the nice motion blur going down the road. It’s a car ad, right? At least that’s what it was screaming at me. It’s funny how some final images started out as throw-aways.
It really demonstrates my “tip of the day” – DO NOT DELETE IMAGES IN CAMERA! Stop fumbling around on vacation, or on the shoot, or at an event with the images you just shot trying to determine what’s good and what’s not. There are really only two things I use my digital viewfinder for: 1) checking for correct exposure and 2) helping me compose a shot (my 60D with it’s articulating viewfinder helps tremendously with this one). Well, make that three. I also use it to access my camera’s menu system.
With memory cards as cheap as they are these days you’ll have plenty of room on the card. Review your images when you get home. While you’re at the event/game/party/wedding or whatever it is you’re shooting – Just shoot.
Sometimes a concept will just smack you right in the face.
OG Winchester
“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”
– Robert Frost
Apparently my family is very fond of The Olive Garden these days. It’s not uncommon for us to be there late at night even after they’re closing down. It’s nice feeling when you can, occasionally, just let loose and be stupid. And we get stupid. But it’s now been twice this week. I’m sure the wait staff cringe when they see us coming now.
Last ones out.
Go Play
Remember when you were a kid? What were some of the toys that kept you busy for hours? Do you remember? I do. Boy how the world has changed.
So many people are connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and so and so on and so on. Yeah, you get it.
I had lunch with a friend recently who posed the question “How do you turn this around?” He was, of course, referring to the culture of today where youth have lost touch with the simple fun of imagination and “traditional” play. My answer, in short – I’m not sure you can. Times have certainly changed from when I was a kid. I left the house in the morning, stayed out all day and came back in time for dinner. No mobile devices, cell phones, video games – sounds a little like Gilligan’s Island, not a single luxury.
Technology is going to keep advancing and today’s society is going to do its best to keep up. This is just how it is right now. So for all those people who have shunned technology, it might just be time to embrace it and see if you can use it to harness that youthful imagination that’s chomping at the bit. Oh, it’s in there. For those who are interested, I lead a team in a youth initiative when I worked in Loudoun County. I encourage you to look it up and learn about it – First Lego League.
Of course, you could always just install a bouncy castle in your house and just have at it – That’s how we roll at First Presbyterian Church.
What do you do when the children’s choir picnic gets rained out? You don’t cancel! You move it indoors.
Cedarmeade Studios 