A New Break

The web hosting service I had been using for Radiant View Photography sent me an email a few weeks ago that they were going out of business.  So since I had to find a new service anyway, I took the opportunity to change the website name to something simpler.  Unfortunately not shorter, but simpler.  My new website is called TimPenningtonPhotography.com.  Hopefully easy to remember.  I hope you will check out my new site.  A photo blog is integrated into my new website.  

West Virginia Photography Workshop with Corey Hilz

Elakala Falls

This past weekend, I participated in a photography workshop hosted by Corey Hilz in the Canaan Valley region of West Virginia.  Corey did an excellent job leading the workshop and providing instruction to the participants in composition and image processing techniques.  The last session consisted of a critique session of selected images from each participant.  Corey's critiques were very helpful in helping us see areas the images needed improvement and also the possibilities with the right image processing applied.

Sunrise at Dolly Sods

This post includes a small selection of the images I captured during the weekend.  Enjoy.

Cascades around Douglas Falls

Sunset at Lindy Point

Douglas Falls

Canaan Valley State Park

2013 HEARTS Graduation

Class of 2013, HEARTS Homeschool

I had the pleasure this year of photographing the 2013 HEARTS Homeschool Graduation Ceremony.  Just as last year, the graduates made this an very fun experience.  I've selected a few of the pictures to post here.  All the images can be viewed on my website, on the navigation bar on the left, click "event photos" and then the link for the 2013 HEARTS Graduation Ceremony.  Graduates will receive a DVD with all the images.  If you are not a graduate and would like a copy, you can also order a copy of the DVD from my website.

A special thanks to Lynne and Eric Watkiss for helping me photograph this special event.

Anxious for the graduation speaker to finish

Easter Balance

Balance

Easter seems like a good time to post this image.  Hope you enjoy and Happy Easter.

Full Moon over DC, Part 2, Feb 2013

I recently posted a few images I took of the full moon as it rose over Washington, D.C.  Now that I've had a little time to process some of the images, I've developed a multiple exposure image and a time lapse video showing the progression of the full moon as it rose of the National Mall.  

Multiple Exposure of Full Moon rising over Washington, D.C., Feb 2013

As always, I look forward to reading your comments.

Full Moon over DC - Feb 2013

Beautiful night to capture the Full Moon Rise over DC this evening.  One of the clearest nights to capture this event in several years.  

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