Wednesdays in Washington, DC

The Washington Monument.

Wednesdays in Washington, DC

The U.S. Capitol.

Wednesdays in Washington,DC

Like the National World War II Memorial (see my 05-30-12 post), the Air Force Memorial is one the newer memorials in Washington, DC.  The Memorial was dedicated on October 14, 2006.  Here are a few other photos I took of the Memorial:

As you can see, the Memorial features three stainless steel spires that soar upward.  The spires represent flight and "the flying spirit" of the Air Force and "evoke the image of the precision 'bomb burst maneuver' performed by the Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Team."

Wednesdays in Washington, DC

Since I've gone with themed-posts on Mondays and Tuesdays, I thought I might as well extend them to Wednesdays too.

As I indicated in my 04-22-12 post, I was in Washington DC recently.  While I was there, I had the opportunity to get out and do some shooting.

These are a couple of photos of the White House from the Hay-Adams Hotel (whose slogan is "Where nothing is overlooked except the White House").  The first photo was shot near dusk and the second was shot after the sun had set.

9/11 Memorial - Part 3

As I indicated in my 01-16-12 post, I stayed at the Millenium Hilton shortly before the 9/11 attacks.  I recently had the opportunity to stay there again and was fortunate to have a room that overlooked the 9/11 Memorial.

More Abstract New York

The flag from the side of the Times Square Recruiting Station.

Abstract New York Continues

This is a continuation of my abstract photos shot in NYC.  Here's a fire engine coming at you.

Abstract Times Square

In most cases when you take a picture, you want to hold the camera as still as possible.  To ensure that you get a sharp photo, you might even use a tripod.  But as I indicate in my 12-24-11 post (Abstract Photography - Part 1), there are times when you don't want everything to be sharp and in focus.

To keep things from being in focus, photographers will often employ one of a number of different techniques that involve moving the camera while the photo is being taken.  These techniques include kinetic photography, camera tossing and a new one I just recently heard about called intentional camera movement photography.  Regardless of the method used, they all seem to achieve essentially the same result.

The photos above were all taken in Times Square.  As a matter of fact, they were all taken from exactly the same vantage point.  The only real difference was how the motion of the camera was manipulated during each exposure.

For each of these photos, the camera shutter was held open for 1/3 of a second.  Normally when you take pictures, you won't keep the shutter open for more than 1/60 of a second.  When I shoot basketball as an example, I try never to shoot any "slower" than 1/640 of a second.  If the court is bright enough, I'd actually prefer to shoot at 1/1000 of a second.

New York Stock Exchange - Part 3

Another holiday view of the New York Stock Exchange.  Here's a link to some information about the history of the NYSE.  (I actually like all of my NYSE photos better than the one they chose for the history page.)

World Trade Center - 9/11 Memorial

I had the opportunity to visit the 9/11 Memorial on September 23, 2011.  This was less than two weeks after it opened.  Tickets are free (but you have to make a small donation) and have to be ordered online.

This is the 9/11 Memorial Museum.  It's still under construction at this time.

The building in the center of this picture (with the light blue lettering) is The Hilton Millenium hotel. Emily, Dave Ayoub and I were in NYC to see the U.S. Open (tennis) in 2001 and stayed at this hotel just a week before the attacks.

Staten Island Ferry

As I promised (threatened?) a week ago, here are some Staten Island Ferry photos.  If you follow the link to website, you'll find a section entitled "A Few Ferry Facts".  As you read the "facts", you'll notice most of them are about accidents and crashes.  Not exactly what I would want to be putting out there for the commuting public.

I have visiting NYC for more than 25 years, but this last December was actually the first time I rode the ferry.  It was a quick trip (30 minutes) between Manhattan and Staten Island.  The highlight of the trip is being able to the Statue of Liberty.  Check out this very cool Statue of Liberty link.

The picture above is of the ferry's Manhattan terminal.

One of the ferries heading into the Manhattan terminal.

An abstract photo of one of the ferries traveling from Manhattan to Staten Island taken from a ferry traveling the other direction.

New York Stock Exchange - Part 2

Whenever I'm in New York, it seems as if I'm always staying in the Financial District.  Being in the Financial District, I'm never far away from Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange.

As I promised in my post of a week ago, here are a couple more views of the NYSE; one taken during the day and one at night.  The night shot was taken with a wide angle lens with the camera set on a tripod because of the low light.  Due to the low light, the shutter had to left open for a few seconds and you can tell this by the movement in the flags at the bottom of the picture.

Abstract New York

Here are a couple of abstract shoots (low light, no tripod available and shooting from a moving object) of lower Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry.  More about the Staten Island Ferry (and more related photos) in future posts.

New York Stock Exchange

As I pointed out in my 12-25-11 post, the red building behind the Christmas tree was the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE").  Well, here it is.  After the year we've had in 2011, I guess red is a pretty appropriate color.

As you can see here, low light photography doesn't always have to abstract.  To shoot in low light (particularly at night), you really have to make us of a tripod.  More images (both day and night) of the NYSE to follow in upcoming posts.

The Last Abstract Christmas Trees (I Promise!)

Finally got to have Christmas with Emily and her boyfriend, Rick.  We celebrated at Sam's house. I only had my point and shoot  camera, and being at night, there wasn't enough light (and I really hate using a flash).  So what did I do?  Yes, I shot abstracts of the Christmas tree (see below). This is the same tree that was featured in my 12-24-11 postings.  

Abstract Christmas Trees

The interesting/challenging thing about shooting abstracts is you never know what you're going to get.  The two pictures above are prime examples.  While not significantly different, I'm hoping you can see the differences (and the differences from yesterday's Christmas tree photo which was taken in the same sequence).

I usually prefer my abstract shots to retain enough detail so you can tell what the original subject matter was.  That's why I selected the picture I did yesterday; I'm pretty sure everybody could tell it was a Christmas tree.  I think it's less obvious in these photos.

Another Christmas Tree

This is my abstract rendering of the Christmas tree at the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). The NYSE is the building in red in the background.  More photos of the NYSE to follow.

Merry Christmas!

This photo was taken at this year's Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular.

Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular - Part 2

The Christmas Spectacular routine the Rockettes are best know for is when they dress like toy soldiers, are shot by a cannon and execute a controlled fall.  (There are 30+ Rockettes.)  Here are a few pictures from that routine taken both this year and in 2007.

Abstract Photography - Part 1 (of Many)

Even before sports photography, my earliest interest in photography was probably of taking photos at night and manipulating light sources (usually neon lights and car lights back then) to produce abstract images.

I use the term "abstract" to cover a broad range of my photos though.  I use "abstract" to describe any photo where I've manipulated the camera to produce an image that would not otherwise normally exist.  In some of my abstract images, you can still see some identifiable details while in others you can't (the latter would probably be closer to the true definition of "abstract").

Many times I shoot abstract pictures to create a sense of motion.  I've had a great deal of success doing this at drum corps shows (examples to follow later).  I create most of my abstract images by manipulating a zoom lens during a long exposure (often more than second in length). Sometimes I use a tripod for these shots and sometimes not.   I'm not sure if there is a term or multiple terms to describe the technique(s) I use.

Two techniques used by other photographers (but not me) to create abstract images are kinetic photography and camera tossing.  There's even a blog about camera tossing.  (I guess there's a blog for everything!)  Also, here's an interesting article about camera tossing.  As explained in the article (along with accompanying videos), not only is camera tossing used to capture abstract images, but at least one photographer is using camera tossing to take non-abstract group photos.

The three images above were all taken of the same subject (and I think these photos would clearly be considered abstract).  Care to venture a guess as to what the subject of the photos was?  The current holiday season should offer a clue.