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