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.

Cherry Blossoms at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

This morning I joined over twenty other photographers from the Loudoun Photo Club for a field trip to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens to capture the blooming Cherry Blossoms.  We had beautiful weather.  Here are a few of the images I captured.  I would appreciate any comments.

Winter Snow Revolt

Composite of multiple exposures while rotating the camera

Like many in Northern Virginia, I was caught in the traffic snarl during yesterday's "Thunder Snow Storm."  I have never experienced anything quite like it before and don't want to again -- and I was more fortunate than some.  For those not in the area, the precipitation started just as some people were being released early from work (around 3pm).  It changed quickly from rain to sleet to wet heavy snow with snowfall rates of 2-3 inches per hour.   The combination of the sudden flux of traffic and the snow brought traffic to a dead stop.  The snowplows were useless because the roads were clogged with immobile cars.  Basically, I left work at 4:30pm and was in standstill traffic for the next five and half hours.  Finally at 10pm I was able to turn onto a side street back towards my office.  I was only about a mile away, but it took me another 30 minutes.  I spent the night in my office and went home in the morning around 6am.  I passed over a dozen cars that had been abandoned, either because they were hopelessly stuck or had run out of gas.  I heard on the news that it took some people 10-12 hours to make it home.  Completely unreal.

Lensbaby trio

While the snow on the trees was pretty, I just couldn't bring myself to take any pictures of it after that experience.  So, after I got home, I revolted against the colorless snow, went to the grocery store and bought a bouquet of flowers.  I spent much of the day photographing the flowers using either a Lensbaby or a Canon 70-200 F/2.8 with a 55mm extension tube.  The extension tube allows a closer focusing distance (~12 inches) than the 70-200 normally allows (1.4 m).

Bed of pink

Reaching for the light

I hope you will join me in revolting against the winter snow and find something colorful to help you remember that spring is less than 2 months away.