Saturday, December 12, 2009
Brittany & Brandon's Wedding
Brittany & Brandon were married on October 11 in Altavista, Virginia at the Avoca Museum. I was honored that they asked me to be their photographer and I got to travel with my family to a part of the country I've never been to before. It was a beautiful location and a true challenge on a bright, sunny afternoon.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Our Trip to Washington DC and Virginia
We landed at the Baltimore Airport on the evening of October 3rd. With suitcases and belongings in hand, we grabbed a bus to take us to the closest Metro stop, about a half hour away. Metro was impressive but we needed help figuring out the system and pay station. Once you understand it, it's very easy to navigate your way to anyplace in the city. Our stop on the red line was "Adams-Morgan" and this is what we saw:
This "escalator to heaven" ascends to another platform with another, yet shorter, escalator to street level.
Our hotel, the Omni Shorham was just a block away from there. Pretty fancy for these folks from Oregon, and that's pronounced "Orygone".
During our stay, we learned that the Beatles stayed here, Sinatra and others stars performed here, "No Way Out" and "The Pelican Brief" were filmed here, and Clinton's Inaugural Ball was held here. It was a great place to stay.
We dropped our bags in our room and went on a quest for food. The hotel restaurant was very elegant and priced to match it's fine cuisine. We wanted something a bit simpler and were pointed to a spot across the street called the "Open City Diner". This shot is from inside looking back toward the Omni Shorham.
This place was always busy, had great food and a great variety of food and we ended up eating most of our meals here.
Day 1
The next day, we headed for the Eastern Market - similar to Portland's Saturday Market and a farmer's market combined. It's been in continuous operation since 1873.
From there we took Metro back toward the White House and started walking the streets of DC.
I had to get at least one shot of a Metro station. I love the light, design and converging lines.
This street corner caught my attention because of the many colors and variety of architectural styles.
Lydia and Quinn posing in front of the White House.
From there we walked around to the back of the White House, which is no short path. We had to pass around the Treasury building and saw more interesting sites on the city streets. I enjoyed all the different architecture in DC and of course took pictures of the buildings that grabbed my attention, as well as statues - they're everywhere!
Finally, the President's back yard.
The Washington Monument was our next destination, easily seen from the White House and a great landmark for navigating around the area.
The late afternoon sun was casting great light on some of the buildings as we walked East on the mall for awhile.
This is the Smithsonian Castle with James Smithson out front.
The museum of Natural History.
As the sun was starting to go down we moved West toward the Lincoln Memorial. I thought there might be a good sunset behind the memorial.
Nice clouds!
The Washington Monument in full.
The WWII Memorial.
This was taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was pure chance that we were there on the evening of an early moonrise. The shot below was also from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, but in the opposite direction.
It was a very long day and a lot of walking. Lydia and Quinn, both suffering from colds, were exhausted and hungry but did well with putting up with my seemingly endless picture taking.
Day 2
First stop, the National Portrait Gallery.
This is a portrait of Murray Gellman done by Andrew Tift in 2004. It's acrylic on canvas and the detail is amazingly photo realistic. Being an art major, I've painted portraits using this technique - just not as amazing as this.
Quinn admiring the famous painting, "The Sierra Nevada in California" by Albert Bierstadt.
This part of the museum has a painted portrait of every president. I shot this one because it's so different than any of the others. It was painted by Elaine de Kooning, abstract expressionist and wife of Willem de Kooning.
Onward to the Natural History Museum, then a walk East on the Mall to the Capitol building.
Day 3
Lydia decided to go to the American History Museum while Quinn went with me to the Jefferson Memorial and the National Air and Space Museum.
Day 4
Our last day in DC was spent at the National Zoo, then we drove South into Virginia and stayed in Williamsburg.
A Meerkat.
A new addition to the zoo - a baby gorilla. Mom and baby are sleeping in a hammock and can't be seen. I had to stand on a short ledge and hold the camera above my head at arm's length to blindly take this shot.
Such character!
Day 5
Historic Jamestowne. This is the site of the first permanent English settlement in America. Archaeologists are currently excavating the area.
We took a stroll through Colonial Williamsburg in the late afternoon.
Thomas Jefferson's summer home at Poplar Forest.
This "escalator to heaven" ascends to another platform with another, yet shorter, escalator to street level.
Our hotel, the Omni Shorham was just a block away from there. Pretty fancy for these folks from Oregon, and that's pronounced "Orygone".
During our stay, we learned that the Beatles stayed here, Sinatra and others stars performed here, "No Way Out" and "The Pelican Brief" were filmed here, and Clinton's Inaugural Ball was held here. It was a great place to stay.
We dropped our bags in our room and went on a quest for food. The hotel restaurant was very elegant and priced to match it's fine cuisine. We wanted something a bit simpler and were pointed to a spot across the street called the "Open City Diner". This shot is from inside looking back toward the Omni Shorham.
This place was always busy, had great food and a great variety of food and we ended up eating most of our meals here.
Day 1
The next day, we headed for the Eastern Market - similar to Portland's Saturday Market and a farmer's market combined. It's been in continuous operation since 1873.
From there we took Metro back toward the White House and started walking the streets of DC.
I had to get at least one shot of a Metro station. I love the light, design and converging lines.
This street corner caught my attention because of the many colors and variety of architectural styles.
Lydia and Quinn posing in front of the White House.
From there we walked around to the back of the White House, which is no short path. We had to pass around the Treasury building and saw more interesting sites on the city streets. I enjoyed all the different architecture in DC and of course took pictures of the buildings that grabbed my attention, as well as statues - they're everywhere!
Finally, the President's back yard.
The Washington Monument was our next destination, easily seen from the White House and a great landmark for navigating around the area.
The late afternoon sun was casting great light on some of the buildings as we walked East on the mall for awhile.
This is the Smithsonian Castle with James Smithson out front.
The museum of Natural History.
As the sun was starting to go down we moved West toward the Lincoln Memorial. I thought there might be a good sunset behind the memorial.
Nice clouds!
The Washington Monument in full.
The WWII Memorial.
This was taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was pure chance that we were there on the evening of an early moonrise. The shot below was also from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, but in the opposite direction.
It was a very long day and a lot of walking. Lydia and Quinn, both suffering from colds, were exhausted and hungry but did well with putting up with my seemingly endless picture taking.
Day 2
First stop, the National Portrait Gallery.
This is a portrait of Murray Gellman done by Andrew Tift in 2004. It's acrylic on canvas and the detail is amazingly photo realistic. Being an art major, I've painted portraits using this technique - just not as amazing as this.
Quinn admiring the famous painting, "The Sierra Nevada in California" by Albert Bierstadt.
This part of the museum has a painted portrait of every president. I shot this one because it's so different than any of the others. It was painted by Elaine de Kooning, abstract expressionist and wife of Willem de Kooning.
Onward to the Natural History Museum, then a walk East on the Mall to the Capitol building.
Day 3
Lydia decided to go to the American History Museum while Quinn went with me to the Jefferson Memorial and the National Air and Space Museum.
Day 4
Our last day in DC was spent at the National Zoo, then we drove South into Virginia and stayed in Williamsburg.
A Meerkat.
A new addition to the zoo - a baby gorilla. Mom and baby are sleeping in a hammock and can't be seen. I had to stand on a short ledge and hold the camera above my head at arm's length to blindly take this shot.
Such character!
Day 5
Historic Jamestowne. This is the site of the first permanent English settlement in America. Archaeologists are currently excavating the area.
We took a stroll through Colonial Williamsburg in the late afternoon.
Thomas Jefferson's summer home at Poplar Forest.
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