Time Lapse of Full Moon rise over DC 2012

While I was photographing the Full Moon rise over DC yesterday, I tried something new.  I set up a second camera set to take a picture every 20 seconds.  I then used the timeline function in Photoshop CS6 to create this time lapse video.  With it, you can, in 5 seconds, watch 45 minutes of clouds moving across DC.  If you blink, you'll miss the moon as it was only visible for 4 or 5 minutes, the rest of time it was obscured by clouds.  Next time I try this, I'll use an interval of 5 or 10 seconds instead of 20.

Full Moon over DC -- Sept 2012

I ventured down to DC to capture the full moon rise over Washington DC this evening.  The full moon in Sept usually lines up nicely with the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and Capitol building, creating a wonderful shot.  I was hesitant to make the trip because of all the clouds, and it was quite cloudy so that we couldn't see the moon until about 15 minutes after it rose.  Thankfully, the moon peaked out from behind the clouds for a few minutes.

As I said in my post last year, the best place to capture this image is from in front of the Netherlands Carillon

Update:  Check out my next post where I show a 5 second time lapse video of the moon rise

Lorton Prison

Today, I went to prison.  Well, that is to say, I joined a group organized by Corey Hilz to photograph Lorton Prison.  Lorton, located in Fairfax County, VA, was a Washington D.C. Reformatory in operation from 1916 to 2001.  The abandoned buildings are in various states of decay.  

Some interesting artifacts were left in the dormitories.  Presumably, this milk carton is 11 years old.

Wall Art

Wall Art

 The prison is separated into what appeared to be a minimum security section, with dormitory style rooms, and a maximum security section with the traditional cell blocks.  I was surprised by the smallness of those cell blocks and could only imagine how hot they would be during the Virginia summer.

Decaying infrastructure

Paint was pealing for almost all the walls and ceilings

Labor Day Weekend at VMI

Stonewall Jackson and the setting sun

Over Labor Day weekend, I returned to one of my favorite photographic subjects, the Virginia Military Institute located in Lexington, VA. It was fun watching the upper class cadets start to mold the new cadets into VMI citizen soldiers.  The sky was cloudy or overcast for most of the weekend, so I focused most of my shots before sunrise or after sunset to capture the "blue" sky rather than a white overcast.

Jackson Memorial Hall

Virginia Military Institute

Cadet Battery

A "Rat" gets some extra instruction

Morning Formation

St. Louis Arch

While in St. Louis last weekend for a friend's wedding, I took the opportunity to capture some photos of the St Louis Arch.  Officially called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the stainless steel arch is an amazing piece of architecture.  The arch soars into the sky 630 feet, 75 feet taller than the Washington Monument.  At night, the stainless steel structure shines in the dark as it reflects the lights of St Louis.

Also at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is the Old Court House where, in 1847, Dred Scott sued for his freedom from slavery; an event that hastened the beginning of the Civil War.  The Courthouse is currently undergoing some reconstruction.

St Louis Old Courthouse and Arch

Wedding Guest

I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of a friend this past weekend.   Unlike the wedding I shot as an assistant photographer in September, this time I was only a guest. Still, I couldn't resist taking my camera along to capture some images of the decor.  My compliments to the bride and her family for doing a beautiful job setting up for the wedding and reception.

The bride had placed disposable cameras at all the tables in the reception hall, along with a card of suggested shots to capture -- a great idea

2012 HEARTS Graduation

2012 HEARTS Graduating Class

I had the pleasure of photographing the graduation ceremony for the HEARTS homeschool group.  The graduates and their families made this an incredibly fun experience.  I've selected a few of the pictures for this post, and about a third of them for the video.  Graduates will receive a DVD with many more images.  If you are not a graduate and would like a copy, please contact me.

The background music on the video is a song called "Speechless" by Taylor Hart.

More images are visible on a slideshow on my webpage.  Click on "event photos" on the left after following the link.  A special thanks to Randy Ihara for helping me photograph the graduation.

2012 TECH Banquet

TECH 2012 Seniors

The TECH homeschool Banquet is always a joy to photograph and this year was no exception.   You can view all the images by going to my webpage, www.radiantviewphotography.com, and click on "Event Photos" on the left.

Here's a slideshow video of most of the pictures.  The background music is called "Speechless" by Taylor Hart.

You may order a DVD of all the images from the banquet using the PayPal button below.

Franciscan Monastery Field Session

I went on a Photography Field Session hosted by Corey Hilz at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C. earlier today.  Corey is an excellent and very patient instructor and I enjoyed the opportunity to explore a new photography destination.  Due to the early spring we are having in the mid-Atlantic states, we missed the peak of the tulip blooms, but we still found lots to things to photograph, in addition to a few remaining tulips.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and I look forward to your comments.