You looking at me?

Took this at on the tail end of our Artscape visit this summer. They sell alcohol at this event as the guy on the right can attest to. Not the cleanest shot I know, but I am surprised that I even got this. You see, as we were walking back to our car, we came upon this situation you see in the photo above and Rachael’s (she is on the far left) mom Lisa basically dared me to get this shot for obvious reasons. I, however knew that it was not illegal to photograph the police in Baltimore plus I really wanted the shot so I raised my camera and about midway through me pressing the shutter button, I had doubts. Was Lisa right? “Oh well, too late now” I thought. I finished the shot and quickly dropped my camera. Then I got a little pissed at myself for chickening out and not getting anymore shots. All of this happened so fast that I just knew that the one shot I got was either going to be blurry or a shot of my feet. It wasn’t until I got home and uploaded the photos that I saw what I captured. About two weeks later, a local radio program just happened to discuss this very topic. On the program was a councilman from the city of Baltimore who stated that doing what I did was completely legal in the city. Ha! Imagine that.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 85 1.2 L, ISO 160, 1/80 @ f/2.8

The masked artist

I took this shot of an street artist at Baltimore’s Artscape this summer. I totally dug his outfit and the fact that he looked like some sort of masked avenger just waiting for some crime to happen.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 85 1.2 L, ISO 320, 1/1600 @ f/5.6

Ruin

One of the many things I like to do when out shooting is to explore abandoned structures that leave little if any clues to their former existence. The trouble is that with a full-time work schedule, it can be hard to find the time to do so. There are two Photographers David and Brandon who do this very well among others. If you haven’t checked out their work yet, I highly suggest you do so. Anyway, I was at work one day when I heard a story on a local radio program about an abandoned mill house on the C&O canal that belonged to a quarry that cut the red sandstone used in many homes and landmarks here including the Smithsonian’s castle building. As the story goes, red sandstone basically fell out of favor (for the life of me I don’t know why), and in 1900, the quarry was shut down. This meant that the mill house was closed as well. As one can imagine, the mill house fell in serious disrepair. In fact, there is nothing left but the stone walls and even some of those are falling apart. Upon hearing this story I realized that this mill is close to my home, so getting there shouldn’t be a problem. Wrong. After about a three hour search which, included driving, walking the canal from lock to lock, asking anyone on the trail for mile marker 23, and jump off the trail looking for any red sandstone structure I could find, I finally found the ruins of the mill house. From my perspective, what is left of the house is absolutely beautiful. I spent a few hours here on an overcast and rain threatening day, and intend to return back in the fall when the leaves on the trees that have matured inside the old building start to display their wonderful fall colors. I decided to post a photo in B/W this time, but will have a color version posted later.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 24-70 2.8 L, ISO 100, 0.5 @ f/8

Jump

I took this shot of Rachael while riding in their boat on the Potomac river earlier this summer. As some of you who have followed this blog for some time know, Rachael is a dancer and in this shot she was demonstrating a technique known in dancing circles as a C-jump. This photo hurts my back just to even look at it. This girl is amazing.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 24-70 2.8 L, ISO 160, 1/2000 @ f/3.5

Bed for one

I think it’s kind of funny how I keep catching the different animals claiming their rights to this doll’s bed. First the cats, and then Noah. Now I guess it’s Sia’s turn.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 24-70 2.8 L, ISO 3200, 1/250 @ f/3.2

Violets lock

I work in the construction industry and I have my own company. I also have been into photography for a very long time. Does the two ever conflict with each other? Immensely. With the economy being what it is, especially in our industry, I am fortunate to keep very busy, so where there’s work, I take it. This comes with a price though. Since I am always fearful of business drying up, I work a lot of hours, and unfortunately to the sacrifice of my photography. Not to worry though, as I have learned to take whatever limited time I have and make the best of it. The other day I had the whole day to myself minus an appointment with a client. I had decided to get out with my camera and get some shooting in. One thing I have learned over the years is that when you have time off for shooting, try not to hit too many places just because your time limited, or you will wind up with nothing.

That is when I decided to head down to Violets lock on the C&O canal. It is a great place for shooting and all I have to do is walk in a straight line and come back. I was pretty happy with this scenario and as I drove down the highway to meet my customer, I kept a mental note of the possible spots for me to get some good photos. Fate, as it seems, had other plans. Right before I got to the job site , the client called and changed the appointment to late in the afternoon, which for me meant that instead of  getting my meeting done early and having the rest of the afternoon to myself, I really only had a couple of hours to get to the lock, snap a few photos, meet the client, and then try to get back on the highway before rush hour fully kicks in.

I decided not whine about it and proceed with the new plan. As soon as I got to the canal, for some reason, my brain just froze. I just stood there with no clue of what to shoot even though I have been here a million times. As I walked the canal I kept having this mental block the whole way and therefore, shot nothing. My time at the canal was winding down and that’s when I came across the large rock you see in the photo above. That’s when I realized that I wouldn’t let something like time keep me from my goal. I set my gear up and kept shooting just this one rock until it was time to go. Total shooting time was about twenty minutes. After I got home and uploaded the shots, I found that I was quite happy with what I had accomplished for such a short period of time.

The truth is that at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what gear you have (although I am the first to admit I obsess over mine), or how much time you are given to accomplish your task, it is up the the person behind the camera that makes the shot and no one else.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 85 1.2 L, ISO 100, 1/200 @ f/8

The hand of Optimus

I was going to post this photo last spring when I shot it, but as usual, time got the best of me. Then I remembered that fellow blogger Brandon had mentioned in my last post “Facade” that he wanted the face sculpture in his front lawn, to which I agree. This is another piece I would add to my collection. This hand sits in front of the D.C. public library.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 24-70 2.8 L, ISO 160,1/320 @ f/8

Facade

This giant face stands in front of the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, MD. It was on display during the Baltimore Artscape, and to be honest, I don’t know if it’s a permanent installation. I first noticed it when we arrived at the opera house for a dance performance (see previous post), and at the time, I only saw the back of it which, obviously is empty. After we entered the lobby we soon realized that it would be a while before the performance. Rachael and I took the opportunity to get back out and explore what Artscape had to offer while Her mom and Sheila waited inside in the A/C. When we got back, we were passing the face from the front when out of the corner of my eye I swore I saw this thing look at me. I stopped to get a closer look and sure enough, the face was making all kinds of gestures at me: rolling it’s eyes, moving it’s lips and the like. That’s when I looked down and noticed an array of mechanical switches lined up in a semi circle with children furiously pushing the levers in all directions. As it turns out, the switches allowed a person to control different features of the face. Of course Rachael and I had to get in on the act, and we went crazy.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 85 1.2 L, ISO 100, 1/320 @ f/11

Looking up at the Lyric

One of the many reasons we went to the Baltimore Artscape last sunday was to attend a free performance of the Koresh Dance Company from Philidelphia at the Lyric Opera House here in Baltimore. Every time I go to an old theater I have a habit of getting shots of the ceiling. In fact it’s always the first thing I do, which is a good thing because my shots of the dancers (fantastic performance) were ruined by some girl with a fat head. I initially thought my shots were fine, that is until I got home and found that almost all of my shots of the performance were rendered useless by this big fuzzy black spot on the left side of the frame. Oh well, at least I got this shot of the ceiling.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 85 1.2 L, ISO 640, 1/100 @ f/2.5

Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church

The other morning Sheila informed me that her, Lisa, and Rachael were going to an arts festival in Baltimore called Artscape, and on the spur of the moment asked if I wanted to go. For those of you who don’t know, Artscape is the biggest free arts festival in the United States, and is held in Baltimore every summer. I thought about it for a moment, and decided that I would go. When we got to Baltimore, the conversation in the car quickly turned to the subject of the architecture of the city. Slick clean high rises mixed with old and beautiful buildings. The church in the photo above falls into the latter. It is victorian gothic to be exact and was built in 1872. The church is located in the Mount Vernon section of the city, which has a roundabout in the middle. You can see this beautiful church from blocks away and as you approach the roundabout where the church is located, it’s towering size just impresses you. Lisa let me out of the car to get a shot of this church as parking is a bit of an issue in this area, and I grabbed what shots I could, and hopped back into the car so we could get to our destination. On a side note, I cut this shot off at just above the door for a reason: there is a bus stop right in front of the church and I did not want the people waiting for the bus in my shot.

Canon 5D mark II, EF 24-70 2.8 L, ISO 100, 1/320 @ f/7.1