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Friday, June 29, 2012

Washington, D.C., Early Morning, Part III -- NE Projects

This is part 3 of my early morning trip to DC last weekend.  After leaving the Anacostia Park, I headed toward RFK Stadium, former home to the Washington Redskins.  
On the way to the stadium, right nearby, I passed Eastern High School.  I'm sure I've known many former students or 'should have been students, but dropped out' in my career-field.  Anyway, this is a pretty cool looking school...
RFK Stadium which appears to now be the home of a soccer team.



The projects seem to be a nice, quiet, safe place at 7am!!!!
Saw just a little bit of razor wire and just a few bars on windows!!


Like playing Monopoly!
Inter-spaced with the public housing there are little pockets of really nicely kept townhouses.
I took this pic driving by and as I passed, I noticed a guy jump up and look at me.  Looking at this pic, you can see him to the right watching me taking his picture!  Oh well, if your yard looks like this, you should expect people to look at it and take pics. 
Again, there are some really nice houses in this area too...

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Washington, D.C., Early Morning, Part II -- Anacostia Park

These shots were taken in and around the Anacostia Park which is across the river from the Navy Yard. (YES, the hookers are in this part!!!)

USS Barry at the Navy Yard.  This destroyer took part in the Cuban Quarantine during the Cuban Missile Crisis!
Anyone thinking about getting a dog, Rescue Greyhounds are awesome and are great with kids!!!
Nationals Stadium from across the Anacostia River.
Grafitti under the Frederick-Douglas Bridge (South Capitol St. SE)
Frederick-Douglas Bridge.
Sadly, the water of the Anacostia River appears worse than that of the Potomac.
I always look for shots of the sunrise and sunset.
Railroad drawbridge over the river.
This is just sad.  Welcome to our nations capitol......
This is actually the same river with minimal visible garbage.  It was hard to find a trash-free area to get this shot.
Goose brawl!!


OK, I just had to do this...........
A duck walks into a pharmacy and says, "Do you have any chapstick? "
Yeah, then what?!?!
When the pharmacist hands it to him, the duck replies, "Thanks, just put it on my bill." 
You quack me up!!!!!!
Hookers at 6am!!! There is nothing near here and the area is quite isolated. I saw a few people walking and a couple cars, but nobody who looked like the type who would frequent these ladies (IF they were in fact ladies!!!!)
Next up will be the projects and misc stuff, then on to the White House...........

Monday, June 25, 2012

Canon T3i, Converting to an 18-270mm Tamron Lens

As much as I'm enjoying this new photography thing, one thing that consistently frustrates me is the need to change out lenses.  I hate carrying a bag with a spare lens so more often than not, I've been finding myself just dealing with whichever lens I have on the camera. 

Not anymore!  I decided to break down and get an "all-in-one" type lens.  I got a Tamron 18-270mm, which came complete with lens hood, UV filter and polarizer.  Previously, I had 18-55mm and a 55-250mm lenses so right off the bat  I get a little more zoom.  Additionally, the previous lenses were 58mm while the Tamron is 62.  It has Vibration Compensation which is Tamron's answer to Canon's Image Stabilization.

Below are my first couple shots, at 18mm and 270mm to show the difference.








This lens can focus on objects 19.3 inches away.  I can get much closer than with a Canon lens.
So far so good, but time will tell........

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Washington, D.C., Early Morning, Part I -- The Wharf

This weekend I decided to go to DC early in the morning to get some shots of the city before, and as it came alive.  I travel in to town each day for work, but rarely get to just look around and enjoy the sights.  I always enjoy areas that are frequently busy; during their off-times.  This trip was no exception.  I spent several hours in town, starting with the harbor area, traveling south through Anacostia Park along the river, moving around  past RFK Stadium to the projects of NW DC, then ending up in the heart of it all, at the White House.  I thought this made for a nice, eclectic visit. As seems to be my habit, I'll break the trip into several different photo blogs to separate the various different areas.   Oh, and I saw 6am hookers!!!!!  Got the pics to prove it!!!!!!


Just Southeast of DC's Tidal Basin, leading into the Anacostia River is a harbor area containing The Maine Avenue Fish Market, or just The Wharf.  The fish market is the oldest, continuously operating fish market in the US (since 1805).   I thought 5:45 am on a Saturday morning would be a nice time to visit with no people!  I was right!!!!!  

Also, I don't typically use additional editing on my pics other than cropping and darkness/brightness adjustments, but for this series, I'm using the Lomography Effect.  just wanted to do something different...







Looking West across the bay.


I followed instructions and went that way...
...and found some benches!  Score!!!!!!
Ships in the harbor.  If you look at the back, center of the pic, you can see the early morning sun lighting up the National Harbor.
The water is so still early in the morning....