Snowpocalypse 2009 in D.C.

Winter Wonderland in Foggy Bottom, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

The Washington, DC metro area received around 18" of snow in 24 hours this past weekend. For most of us, including myself, it was a good excuse to leave the car parked and stay home in our pajamas all day, wrapping Christmas gifts and catching up on things around the house. I did manage to bundle up and get outside for a few photos on Saturday afternoon, just as the snow was beginning to taper off. A few shots are featured here, and the full gallery is available on flickr.

Thank you to DCBlogs for including the above photo in DC Blogs Noted for December 21, 2009.

Foggy Bottom Rowhouses, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Ski D.C., originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Bike's Day Off, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Snow Jogger, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Middleburg Hunt Christmas Parade 2009

Middleburg Hunt Christmas Parade 2009, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

It was a very snowy day for the Middleburg Hunt's Christmas parade this year in downtown Middleburg, Virginia. The snow made for some beautiful scenery but also difficult photography. My Canon 40D is not fully weather-sealed, so keeping it safely dry was a challenge. It was a great morning, though... everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves despite the wet weather, and I came home with several shots I was happy with.

A couple of my favorites follow below; the full set can be viewed here.

Middleburg Hunt Christmas Parade 2009, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Middleburg Hunt Christmas Parade 2009, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

"Sand and Foam"

"Sand and Foam", originally uploaded by soleil1016.

It has been a busy fall here, and I apologize for the lack of photoblog posts. To start the holiday season off on a tranquil note, here is a shot from my recent weekend in Puerto Rico - a little stroll on the beach sounds pretty nice right now, to work off all that turkey I ate last week!

EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Late day sun at Pike Place Market

Late day sun at Pike Place Market, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Finally finished editing most of my photos from my trip back to Washington last month. This photo of the streets around Seattle's Pike Place market has some crazy lens flare (intentional), but I like the effect. Shot with the XSi and EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens.

EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Meet Lacey!

Lacey, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Lacey is my family's new Australian Shepherd pup. Unfortunately, she is growing up clear across the country in Washington state, but I did get to spend a couple of weeks with her while she was still in the young puppy stage. What a cutie.

I took a number of portraits of her, but I love the way her eyes jump out at you in this shot. I used Adobe Lightroom for most of the post-processing, applying the "Aged Photo" effect for the sepia conversion.

EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Lens: EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 400

"Old Waffle Shop" a Finalist in the Washingtonian contest!

Old Waffle Shop, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

My photo "Old Waffle Shop", which features the classic 1950s diner in Penn Quarter located across the street from Ford's Theater (site of Lincoln's assassination), is a finalist in the July "Best Photo" contest at Washingtonian magazine. If it wins, it will be published in the September issue!

Please place your vote by July 31, 2009 at http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/13093.html

Thanks!

---

Thank you also to FamousDC for the shout-out on July 21!

Fourth of July Fireworks in Washington, DC

Fourth of July 2009 in Washington, D.C., originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I set a goal for myself that this year I would get some real photos of the Fourth of July celebration at the National Mall. I met up with some fellow DC photographers, Phil and Brian, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, where we set up our tripods a couple hours in advance and waited for the big show to begin. It was well worth the effort! I've seen a number of fireworks shows in my life and I have to say the DC spectacle tops them all, at least in terms of incredible scenery. It was pretty special to be here for the holiday.

Fourth of July 2009 in Washington, D.C., originally uploaded by soleil1016.

More photos can be seen at my Zenfolio site, where you can also order prints. Full slideshow follows below.



Thank you to DCBlogs for the spot in July 7th's DCBlogs Noted!

Lazy summer afternoon

Lazy summer afternoon, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

This group of teenagers was kicking back on the Chicago waterfront on a pleasantly warm June afternoon. I like the desaturated color version, but I tried a black & white conversion that is appealing to me, as well. Any preference?

We are all keeping our fingers crossed for a clear and not-too-hot Fourth of July weekend here in DC, void of the severe thunderstorms and steamy afternoons that we've seen over the past few weeks.

2009 Budweiser Upperville Jumper Classic

2009 Budweiser Upperville Jumper Classic, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I was happy to make it out for the Grand Prix at the Upperville horse show this year, despite taking the LSAT exam on the following day! It was sunny and 80 degrees (about 20 degrees cooler than last year, phew), which made for a beautiful afternoon, but I think heavy rain earlier in the week unfortunately kept a lot of folks from competing who might otherwise have been there. The class had only 18 entries and was finished in one hour without a jump-off (which is the jumper version of a tie breaker).

Full slide show follows below. If slide show fails to load, photos can be found here.

Heart of Magnolia

Heart of magnolia, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

A week full of showers and gray weather needs a little spot of color! This magnolia was one of many blooming back in April at the National Arboretum in D.C.

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Yosemite Valley

Yosemite valley, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Just back from a whirlwind weekend in Yosemite. Between all the wedding celebrations, I only had time to get in a couple short hikes - mostly in the southern section of the park, around Wawona. I think I saw more fancy cameras than wildlife! I was blown away by the natural beauty of the place, though I don't think I will try to visit on a Memorial Day weekend again. There were just hoards of people everywhere. I look forward to making a return trip during a quieter time of year, when I can spend more time on photography and less time sitting in traffic. =) I still managed to get a few photos that I'm happy with, including a couple of the Yosemite valley as seen from the "tunnel view". Hard to mess up a shot of a landscape like this!

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi (with the EF-S 10-22mm lens)
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/9.0
Focal Length: 19 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Mare with newborn foal

Hug in B&W, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I am off to Yosemite National Park in California this Memorial Day weekend for a wedding, and hope to bring some great pictures back to DC with me to share next week. Until then, I'll leave you with this beautiful moment between a mare and her hours-old filly. I've since captured quite a few shots of this foal, now about a month old, some of which can be seen here.

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/3200 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 191 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Cherry Blossom Festival Photography Exhibition

Fallen blossom, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

A photo of mine was a winner in the Yelp DC Cherry Blossom Photography contest and will be on display at the TangySweet in Dupont Circle for the entire month of May. All of the featured photographs are available for purchase. Please stop by and check it out - it's a great excuse to have some tasty frozen yogurt while you're there!

The "official" opening of the show will be on Thursday, May 14th, from 6:30-9:00pm.

Exhibition details:
Yelp DC Cherry Blossom Photo Contest
TangySweet Yogurt Bar
2029 P Street NW (Dupont Circle area)
Washington, DC
May 1-31, 2009

Middleburg Spring Races

Two-horse race, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I spent a beautiful sunny afternoon watching the spring steeplechase races in Middleburg, Virginia last Saturday. Our picnic spot was right on the rail just before the turn to the finish line, which made for some exciting duels down the stretch home and plenty of great photo opportunities. I did a little experimenting with panning as well; the most successful attempt was probably the photo above, taken with an exposure of 1/60 second.

A few more of my favorite shots follow below.

Middleburg Spring Races 2009, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Streamlined, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

The final turn, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Facing Off

Facing off, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

This was taken during a performance by the Capitol Area Budokai club during the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival earlier this month. I don't know much (anything) about martial arts, but I've been told that this sword fighting discipline is called Kendo and the swords are Katanas. It was interesting to watch!

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Blossoms in Blue

Blossoms in blue, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I spent an afternoon wandering the National Arboretum recently and found all kinds of fun things to take pictures of. The variety of spring flowers were perfect subjects for my 100mm macro lens.

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Love beneath the cherry blossoms

Love beneath the cherry blossoms, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I'm way behind in getting the nearly 1,000 photos I took last weekend processed and uploaded. So far, though, this one stands out as a favorite of mine. This couple was having a sunrise photo shoot at the Tidal Basin - I hope they got some good ones! If you happen to recognize them, let me know and I will email them a copy. =)

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Deserted alley

Alley, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I came across this empty back alley in Georgetown the other day. Georgetown is full of these little crannies and you never know what (or who) you'll find. For being an "upscale" part of town, there's some shady business in these parts!

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Stroll along the C&O Canal

Stroll along the C&O Canal, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Spring has officially arrived in D.C. with the kick-off of the 2009 cherry blossom festival last weekend. On Saturday, rather than braving the cherry blossom crowds around the tidal basin, I took a walk around Georgetown on a misty afternoon and spotted this couple out for a leisurely walk along the C&O canal towpath.

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Meet "Hanalei"

Hanalei at one week, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Hanalei is the newest addition at the farm where I help out on weekends. She is quite a bold little filly, curious about everything... including my big camera! I'm sure this isn't the last you'll see of her on my blog, especially since she is such a willing subject.

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/3200 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 116 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Pollen season

Pollen, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I've been having fun playing around with my new macro lens, the EF 100mm f/2.8 USM. Manual focus is much more difficult than I remember and makes for many frames to get the shot I'm looking for. (This is actually a spider plant in my apartment - I was home with the flu yesterday and took advantage of being stuck inside by taking a closer look at some of my friendly houseplants!)

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Umbrellas Up

Umbrellas Up, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Took this on a rainy night last March in Dupont Circle with my trusty Canon Powershot A620 and liked how it came out. Not sure I would have been so keen on setting my SLR down on the wet pavement!

Beautiful day for a stroll

Stepping out, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

After receiving several inches of snow last week, combined with wind chills well below freezing, the DC area was treated to an early dose of spring this weekend when it warmed up to 70 degrees. This mare is due to foal in about a month, and she took advantage of her first bath of spring by instantly rolling in the dirt and getting herself even dirtier than she was to begin with. She looked pretty pleased with herself.

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/2000)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Tracks in a frozen field

Tracks in a frozen field, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

With temperatures headed towards 70 degrees this weekend, it looks like spring is officially on the way. It will be easy to forget that just a few days ago, we had six inches of snow on the ground and a wind chill below zero...

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/13.0
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Snow Day on the National Mall

National Mall snowman, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

DC received about six inches of snow from this week's end-of-winter storm... what a way to welcome in March! Unfortunately, most of the people I know still had to make it into work, albeit with a couple hours grace. Snow days just aren't what they used to be in grade school. After I got out of the office, though, I had time to wander down to the National Mall and get some fun wintry pictures - this is really the only major snowfall we've had here this year!

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 1/4000 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 125

Beautiful Butterfly

Beautiful butterfly, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

A little spot of color on a cold wintery day. The butterflies are now part of a permanent installation at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 640

DCist Exposed opens tomorrow!

2009 DCist Exposed Photography Show, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

If you are in the D.C. area tomorrow night (Friday, Feb. 20th), please stop by the Gallery at Flashpoint at 916 G Street between 5-9pm to check out the opening of the 2009 DCist Exposed photography show! Admission is free, with complimentary wine and snacks. If you can't make it tomorrow evening, the exhibition will be on through March 7 (more information here). My photo of the Waffle Shop (featured in the poster above) is in the exhibition, along with 44 other incredible shots. All of the art is for sale at reasonable prices, too, if you're looking to add some photography to your home.

Hope to see you there!

Heavy with blooms

Heavy with blooms, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I took this with the XSi and the "nifty fifty" - or EF 50mm f/1.8 lens. A little playing around with Adobe Lightroom yielded this final product. My two orchid plants are both in the middle of their long winter blooming season. I'm pretty proud of myself for not killing either plant over the last year!

Outgoing

Outgoing, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

This was one of the first photos I took with my Rebel XSi. I still think it's one of my favorite shots of the D.C. metro. Believe it or not, this was handheld (1/15s) - that in-lens image stabilization really helps!

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 23 mm
ISO Speed: 800

Shadow Play

Ren in shadow, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

A good friend of mine owns several Friesian horses, who are the most willing and friendly subjects! This is Ren. He's a matched pair for Mick, her other gelding.

EXIF:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Just a few last shots from Inauguration weekend...

Fist-pumping excitement, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I couldn't resist sharing just a few more random photos from inauguration weekend. I promise, no more after this!

Ponies and porta-potties, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Third-place winner in the Washington City Paper's inauguration photo contest.

Obama Cupcake - yum!, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Red velvet cupcake from Baked and Wired in Georgetown.

Presidential Inauguration 2009: Faces in the Crowd

Cheering above the crowd, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I don't think I've ever seen so many happy faces in one place! Here are just a few of the smiles from inauguration weekend.

Big Smile, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

One face in a sea of many, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Shoulder dancing, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Happiness, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

Presidential Inauguration 2009: Inaugural Parade

President Obama approaches!, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

I was one of the fortunate few who got through to Ticketmaster and was able to get bleacher seat tickets for the inaugural parade. Even with a place to sit, it was a very chilly 6 hours between when I showed up in the morning (10am - I had to work a few hours from home that morning and nearly missed making it through security!!) and when the parade actually started (a bit past 4 pm - only 1+ hour late). My feet took the brunt of the cold, and by the time the President passed, I was happy to go warm up at home and watch the rest of the parade on TV! Still, it was exciting to be there and feel the energy of the crowd. I have a great deal of respect for the folks who showed up at the crack of dawn to claim their little piece of sidewalk and were tough enough to wait the entire day just to see President Obama pass by. That's dedication!

The Obamamobile!, originally uploaded by soleil1016.

President Obama and daughter Malia, originally uploaded by soleil1016.