National Mall Sunset

- Looking west from the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington DC towards the Lincoln Memorial shortly after sunset. The 30 minutes after sunset there is a very special time called "Civil Twilight" when there is still some light in the sky. The sky starts to turn a deep blue or purple in color. This special time is very short lived but cherished by photographers for city scenes. Canon 7D, 5 seconds @ f/22, ISO 100, 70mm focal length and mounted on a tripod.

For the People

- "government of the people, by the people, for the people" is Abraham Lincoln's famous phase from the Gettysburg Address. Here the Lincoln Memorial floats in darkness as hundreds still visit at 11:00 PM on a beautiful summer night. Canon 7D, 2 seconds @ f/8.0, ISO 100 mounted on a tripod. The epitaph above Abraham Lincoln's statue reads:

IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER

360 View

- The Donald D. Engen Tower at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is an observation tower providing a 360 degree bird's eye view of Washington Dulles International Airport and the surrounding area. As you can see view is impressive but so is the tower room itself. Canon 7D, 1/125 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 100, 8mm fish eye lens.

Meet Crew

- This is "Crew" he is a four month old golden retriever destined to be a guide dog for the blind. We spent yesterday in historic Leesburg Virginia with Crew and his puppy raiser Irene Esch. Crew was wearing his guide dog in training vest while visiting many shops with us and even joined us for lunch in a small restaurant with live music. I was amazed at how focused he was and how good he behaved the entire day. Navigating in tight crowed antique shops and resisting the attention everyone was wanting to give him. He won't begin his official guide dog training until he is at least one year old, but we could tell he's going to make someone a great guide dog. Canon G11, 1/640 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 400.

Starburst

- My water glass at lunch today produced this really cool star burst pattern of light on a great old butcher's block table. Canon G11, 1/10 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800, in macro mode.

Three Alone

- The bronze sculpture entitled the "Three Servicemen" stands a short distance from the Wall as part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The three statues stand alone looking towards the Wall and the names of their 58,272 lost comrades. Canon 7D, 5 secs @ f/8.0, ISO 400 converted to black and white.

Blackbird Fly

- Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
By Lennon and McCartney from the Beatles White Album

SR-71 at the Smithsonian Air & Space Center at Dulles Airport. Canon 7D, 1/15 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 800.