The National Mall at Night.

Normally, I am a big chicken!  When I go to a large city, like Washington, DC, I want to get out of town before night falls.

But last night, Annette and I tried and experiment.  We left after work and went in to Washington, DC.

DC is only 1 1/2 hours from Hagerstown, where I work.  So, my thoughts were,  if we left at 5:00, we could be on the mall by 6:30 and try to capture the great evening light through sunset and into the twilight.

Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go astray.

We had to stop and get gas and something to eat.  So that took time.

We were going to eat in the car, but we were in our little, two-seat convertible and the limited room would make eating a feat.  So we stopped at the rest area and had a little picnic.  That took time.

Last night was right in the middle of the Cherry Blossom Festival, so we figured that there would be a lot of people downtown and that there would not be a lot of parking, so we dicided to take the Metro.  We got off of the highway at Shady Grove and some how missed the turn to the Metro.  So that took time.

Then we go back on the highway and went to Rockville.  At the Rockville Metro station, I pulled into the drop off area and had to circle around again to get to the correct parking lot.  So that took time.

Then the Metro is slower than driving a car at 70 mph, so that took time.

Last night the sun set at 7:24.  We came up out of the Smithsonian Metro stop at just a few minutes before 8:00!  I remember coming up the escalator into the open and looking up.  The sky was such a deep, rich blue!  Unfortunately, that meant that the sunset was gone.

But we did our best.  We got some shots of the capital and of the Washington monument.  But we did not go to the tidal basin, where the most abundant cherry blossoms are.

We briefly talked to another photographer, with his camera on a tripod and he said to make sure we got the two planets in the picture.  I don't know where the two planets were, but his camera was pointed towards the Washington Monument with only two "lights" in the sky.  So I assume that they are the planets.  (I hope you astronomy buffs can forgive my ignorance!)

Washington Monument with the planets

Annette recently got an early birthday present for me; an 11-22mm lens.  So I had to try it out.  I used the lens in this next picture and, even though I was quite close to the monument, I was able to get it all in the frame.  Oh!  And I got the planets, too!

Wide angle shot of the Washington Monument

 Photographer's trade-off:  To get the exposure I had to choose between two choices:
1.  Using a high ISO, which would allow a faster shutter speed to freeze the flags, but would also add noise/grain to the image.
2.  Using a lower ISO and a longer shutter speed, which would reduce the noise but would show the flags as blurry.
Obviously, I chose the latter.  Another photographer may choose differently.

These next two pictures are very similar, so you have a choice.  Let me know which one you like best.

The first one tells a little bit more of a story.  You will notice that there is a large truck coming up the dirt walking path on the mall.  That seemed unusual to me.  As I watched his progress, I found out that he was delivering supplies for the set up of an installation for the crowds that are still coming to the Cherry Blossom Festival.

The second one is a little tighter shot and keeps most of the people out of the frame.

We didn't leave the mall until 10:00.  Because we had to take the Metro (at the same time that a Capitals hockey game let out) and had to stop and pick up my car at work, we didn't get home until nearly 1:00 a.m.!  I'm getting too old for late nights!

Mom's Birthday Gathering

I looked forward to it for weeks!  It went by so quickly and now it is gone.

On March 11, 2012, my family got together to celebrate my mother's birthday.  It was so great to see my brothers and sisters and their family.

I remembered looking back through photos of family gatherings from the past and how much those times meant to me, so I made the effort to get everyone outside for a group photo.

Although it is a snapshot, it still means a lot to me, and I hope it means a lot to them.

Members of the Clayton E. Garthwaite Clan

By the way, my mother's birthday present from 46 years ago was present this day.    (That's my brother, the taller guy in the blue shirt towards the left.)   Happy Birthday, Bundy!!! 

Although I counted 24 people in the picture above, there were at least a dozen more missing, including my two boys!

Then Annette took the camera and had some fun with the little kids.  Haven was very expressive, as you can see in the two pictures below.

Say what?!?!?

But the time flew.  We only had four hours together, but I will look at the pictures and remember it a long time.

Carlisle at Night

Looking back through my catalog of images, I see that the last time that Annette and I were out shooting was the beginning of November.  That's three months of photographic inactivity!  Wow!

Last night we finally decided to shoot and it felt good.

The Harrisburg Camera Club is trying a themed competition for the March event.  The them is outside night photography.  Fortunately, they set up a photo shoot to give an opportunity to get out with fellow shooters and get a night shot.

The venue was downtown Carlisle.  It makes an impact when 12 or so tripod toting people wander through the town pointing their cameras at everything in sight.  Some guys asked some of the group who we were and what we were doing.  He said we were the talk of the town!

Here are a couple of the shots that I took.  They are vastly different!

Speaking of different, no wonder they say that two photographers shooting side by side will come up with very different shots of the same subject, when I go three very different shots and I am only one photographer.

Downtown Carlisle on the Square

I had to wait a while to get this shot.  I did not want any cars coming toward me.  Their lights would have been way too bright!  But I did want cars going away or crossing in front of me so that I could capture the streaks.

Abstract Neon at Night

The abstract pictures that I took last night were actually the most fun! I need to do more!

Bar Light

I usually do not do photojournalistic type of stuff.  But I liked the light fixture and the lettering is an indicator of the times.  You know...It wasn't that long ago that a person could smoke in any bar or restaurant.  Restaurants had Smoking and Non-Smoking sections.  Now it is a selling point that you can smoke in this bar.

Shadows and Light in Harrisburg

This past Sunday, Annette and I joined a group from the Harrisburg Camera Club on a photo shoot in downtown Harrisburg.  Annette and I were running behind so we joined the group after they had made their way up State Street and were moving toward North Street.

It is difficult for me to see pictures of the city.  I guess I can't see the forest for the trees?!?!?!  So I choose to concentrate on details.  You'll see what I mean in some of the photos below.

We were lucky on Sunday in that we were on North Street at the right time of the day at the right time of the year so that the sun was in line with the street and raked across the front facade of the buildings.

Here are some pictures from the outing.

In the picture above I was trying to capture the shadows of the vines and the tenement appearance of the building (my apologies to the owner of the building!).

 In this picture, the sunlight was almost parallel to the surface of the grate.  The damaged part that was pushed out, caught the light and created a shadow.  With the light raking along the surface, even the small flakes of paint cast a shadow.

Can you imagine what this is???  It's a mundane object.  But isn't it cool the way the light rakes across the object and the little bumps cast long shadows?

I think everybody at the photo shoot took a picture similar to this!  But the light was so fascinating!  I liked that the sun was just hidden by the wall and created a glow around the edge of the building.  I like the way the sun was almost parallel to the ceiling and painted it with a special light.  I liked the way the texture of the stones in the column cast shadows.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Until next time...

Anderson Mill

Earlier this year, the president of the Harrisburg Camera Club was looking for suggestions for photo field trips.  Before I could think, I opened my mouth and said that Annette and I had always wanted to spend some time at the Anderson Grist Mill.  He took that innocent comment to mean that I was volunteering to arrange for the photo shoot.  So, I did.

On October 9, 2011, Annette and I hosted the Harrisburg Camera Club at the Anderson Grist Mill.  Everyone seemed genuinely excited to see all of the fascinating, old-fashioned items in the mill.  There were so many things.  There were so many textures, shadows and patterns.

Because of the way the mill is squeezed between the creek and the road, it was difficult to get an overall view of the mill.  So we concentrated on getting details.  Here are a few detail shots of mine.

Shaker Gears

 I don't know the name of the machine that these gears were part of, but the vertical shaft going out of the top of the picture turned an eccentric wheel that shook the ground grain.  I assume it was some sort of sifter.

Chain Drive

Elevator Cup

 I innocently called a strap with cups that moves the grain in a vertical direction a conveyor.  I was quickly corrected.  To move the grain in a vertical direction an elevator is used.  To move it in a horizontal direction, a conveyor is used.  Even though they are both made from the same components and the only difference is their orientation!  Live and learn...

The Tool Room

 I played around in this room for quite a while.  I wanted to get the exposure such that I could see the scenery outside and the inside would look like it was lit by the window.  It was easier said than done.

First the window exposure had to be right.  The amount of light coming through the window can't be changed, so I dealt with it first.

Then light had to be added to the wall of tools.  That was tricky.  First I experimented with on-camera flash at various output levels and pointed in various directions.  Then I tried off-camera flash at various levels.  I even tried a reflector to reflect sunlight from the window behind the camera on to the tools.

Wooden Gear Teeth

 This is fascinating to me.  Wooden gear teeth!  How did they carry the load?  Why didn't they break?

But on the other hand...

• Wooden gear teeth are much quieter.  
• Wooden gear teeth can be replaced relatively easily.
• Wood was readily available.

The Side of the Mill

Another thing that truly fascinated me was the ingenuity that went in to the design of the building and the workings of the mill.  I assume that the men were faced with a lack of money, lack of steel components but were blessed with an abundance of wood.  All of the chutes and ladders and walls and structure of the mill were made from wood.  There were some steel or iron components, but they were only used where they had to be used.

I believe that each mill is unique.  Sure, the designer/builder could visit other mills to see how they were built, but each mill site has its own set of constraints.  The designer/builder would have to use his experience and intelligence to make the new mill the best it could be at the new site.

This is much like photography.  The photographer must use his experience, what he has observed in other photographs and his intelligence to make an image that is new and is the best it can be.

Get out there and shoot!

Assateague Sunrise

In the middle of September, Annette and I took my mother to Assateague, as we have a few times before.

One of the great things about the trip was that even though it was raining for the entire time back home, the weather in Assateague, Chincoteague and Ocean City was OK.  It was overcast but no rain that stopped us from doing anything.

Each of the two mornings we were there, Annette and I got out of bed early and headed to the beach for sunrise.  However, because of the aforementioned weather, the sunrises were not spectacular.  But we tried our best to make some worthwhile images.

Assateague Sunrise Panorama 

Notice the handicap accessible viewing platform on the right.  Mom was very interested in the platform because my sister's ex-husband had gotten married there just a few weeks earlier.  It is a beautiful setting.

Sunrise Beach Expanse

 This shot shows the emptiness of the beach at that hour of the day.  If you are looking for a picture without people, get up early!

Sunrise Beach Strollers

Well...You can't avoid people altogether!  However, this early-morning couple add a sense of scale to the image.

Expansive Sunrise Sky

In this image, the wide-angle lens helps gives a sense of wide open space that is textured by the clouds.

Boardwalk to the Sea

In all of these images, I was experimenting with the capabilities of Annette's new wide angle (10-22mm) lens.  Sometimes a new pieces of equipment will give you a new way of seeing.

Get out there and shoot!

Experimenting with Fall

Annette and I are in the midst of a long weekend.  We travelled to Bath County in Virginia to enoy the fall colors and to see how well we can capture them in photographs.

It turns out that we are not doing a very good job capturing the beauty of fall.  We see the beauty all around us, but when we view our images, it's just not the same.  Landscape photography is more difficult than it looks!

At one stop we made, we were trying to capture a barn in the valley against the backdrop of the fall colors on the mountain.  But, alas, we were five minutes too late.  The barn was in teh shadow of the mountain on the other side of the valley.  Still, I tried to take the picture, but in my haste, I didn't check my settings and the shutter speed was too slow.  I got a blurry mess!

But the next day, I was shooting from the deck of the house where we are staying and I remembered that.  This time I did it on purpose.  I made some abstracts of the fall colors.

Early morning fall abstract

Tree abstract in Fall

I found that the shutter speed is important.  The shutter was open for a longer period of time in the first image than in the second.  You can tell because the lines stretch farther and there is less detail.  There is obviously more detail in the trees of the second image, which was made with a shorter shutter speed.  Experiment until you find the speed that lets you obtain the image you have envisioned.

 If you want the trees to show up as an element in the image, you must move the camera in the same orientation as the trees.  In other words, I moved the camera up and down.

Another experiment, is to modify the colors in post production.  There are so many presets that you can experiment to your heart's content.

After you apply the preset, you can modify the image with the sliders  for saturation, blacks, exposure, etc.

Check out these weird images of the Humpback Covered Bridge near Covington, VA.

Humpback Bridge in Yellows with Blue Sky

Isn't it weird how the image still has a blue sky?

Humpback Bridge in Sepia

Old time sepia color for an old time bridge.

Some experiments work.  Some do not.  The important thing is that we get out there, use our imagination, make images and continue to grow!