The Familiar, Redefined

You want to take a picture of some landmark or scenery that everyone else has taken a picture of.  That’s okay.  Each picture is indeed different, to some degree or another.  The thing is, you can make something a little bit more interesting by taking the picture at different times of the day, different seasons,…

The East Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

This is one of the most interesting architectural landmarks in a city full of architectural landmarks.  The East Building of the National Gallery of Art was designed by I.M. Pei and first opened to the public in 1978.  In the second decade of the twenty first century, the museum underwent renovations and reopened to the…

Lose Yourself at the NGA in Washington, D.C.

Art museums.  Many cities have art museums.  In art, we see the best of humanity expressed through the mind and vision of artists from all over the world.  They move us, teach us, inspire us.  We see love, sorrow, joy, curiosity, madness, genius.  The art filled rooms allow us to travel to places we have…

Early Autumn in Northern Virginia

With birds continuing to migrate southward in search of warmer climes, the number of birds in local birding hotspots have increased dramatically from their summer lulls.  The larger birds, such as the osprey, egrets and herons, many of whom made the mid Atlantic their home in the warmth of summer, have left or will soon…

Fall Migration

Early fall, it turns out, is one of the best times to go birding in the Washington D.C. area.  Birds are migrating to the more temperate climes of the south.  The number of birds in the area increases temporarily and birders have a field day trying to find all these birds.  Many of the experience…

I came for the birds, but I kind of mist!

A beautiful, sunny, cool October morning was the catalyst for taking a short walk at Huntley Meadows Park in suburban Alexandria, Virginia.  Huntley is one of those hidden gems.  It has winding trails, woods, and wetlands, in a compact location in the middle of suburban Alexandria (the Fairfax County part), Virginia.  Fall migration is still…

August 21, 2017 Anno Domini

My wife likes the beach.  Every year, around her birthday, we plan a trip to the beach.  This year, the beach trip was almost certainly (and did not) happen.  For the first time in decades, a total solar eclipse was going to be visible over large swats of the continental United States.  When I first…

Ah, Wilderness!

Living in the suburbs of a major city has a lot of advantages.  There are almost too many things that you can do.  Museums in the city offer new opportunities for discovery.  There are restaurants to go to, with a sampling of cuisine from all corners of the earth.  Traveling bands of musicians fill indoor…

Seven is a Lucky Number

On the seventh day of the seventh month in the seventeenth year of this century (okay, the 7 stuff breaks down on the fourth descriptor), I was fortunate enough to have my camera and macro lens at Meadowlark Gardens.  Some of the best macro images I took over the summer (and in the last few…

Hummingbirds!

Recent images of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds taken at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia.  A great place for quiet contemplative walks, bird watching and reconnecting with yourself.  Flowers and plants galore.  A short drive from Tysons Corner, Virginia and Wolf Trap Farm Park.

Relaunch!

Three or so years ago, I started this blog with the intention of regularly posting my musings about photography and other random things that interests me.  Even with the best intentions, that never happened.  I had fifteen posts, a short burst, a brief follow-up, and then nothing.  Silence. Since the time of my last posts,…