Another Year of Cherry Blossoms

A few days ago my brother and I headed down to the Tidal Basin to take some pictures of the cherry blossoms.  Unlike last year’s clear weather, the sky was overcast and there was definitely a chill in the air.  It was a cold and breezy day.  I forgot to bring my fingerless gloves (slap my silly head) and my numb trigger finger kept pressing the shutter release button in succession that resulted in several continuous shots being captured.  Nothing Kodak worthy to publish. 

I did manage to capture these: 

 

 

We headed away from the Tidal Basin and walked towards the Mall.  We kept walking in order to get warm and stopped whenever we happened upon a photog moment:

 

We headed north and had lunch at Ming’s in Chinatown.  We had a spicy lunch special of General Tso’s Fish Filet, rice, spring roll and hot ‘n spicy soup.  It was delicious and our tummy was nice and warm.

After lunch, we retraced our steps (route) and headed south along 7th Street.  As we were crossing in the middle of the street, I glanced to my right and saw a photog moment.  For a dismal cloudy day, I enjoy seeing bright colors pop up:   

 

It was a fun filled day of photo opportunities.  The cherry blossoms were gorgeous.

 

Here’s my brother, pausing for a pose.  I kept reminding him that he needed another neck to hold his 2nd camera: 

Happy Easter Weekend!

DB came for a long weekend visit. On Friday, we got up around 4:30am and left the house around 5:10am to catch a train down to Washington, DC. We ended up at the Smithsonian station around 6:15am and took a hike over to the Tidal Basin to take pictures of the cherry blossoms in the wee early morning hours. We weren't the only ones waiting for the sun to rise.

(Nikon D40 photos)

Washington Monument in the wee hours

As we were all snapping away at the monuments and the cherry blossoms, I happened to look to my right and noticed something extremely white. It was a young lady getting her bridal pictures taken. So, naturally I took this opportunity to capture the moment.

A photog moment with a bride

As more and more folks arrived and the Tidal Basin was getting a bit crowded (joggers, walkers, and photographers), we decided we had enough and started our hike to the other monuments. We visited the WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and many sites along the way.

Lincoln Memorial

Korean War Memorial

World War II Memorial


We took pictures of the Washington Monument and the Capitol.

Washington Monument

They do exist, the Segway Tours.

Segway riders


Trees blooming around the Capitol





We grabbed some lunch at a local Thai restaurant, just south of the Capitol in a quiet neighborhood. Afterwards, we headed to the US Botanic Gardens and took pictures of their orchid collections.










My DB and I walked over 12,000 steps, covering 8 miles. Thanks to my nifty pedometer, we kept track of the distance traveled. After several hours of walking, I had experienced multiple cramps in both legs. I had to end our photo adventure. As we headed back to the Smithsonian station, we were in for a huge shock. The crowds of people, both coming and going from the train station. We were crammed into the trains like sardines. As it turned out, that Friday was the 2nd highest ridership day (900,000 riders) using the Metrorail. To go along with that astounding number, I took 600+ pictures on that same day!




The next day (Saturday), we headed over to Arlington Cemetery.













A beautiful find at Arlington Cemetery









Early Sunday (Easter) morning, we were the only early birds in downtown Manassas. Back to take more pictures. Here are pictures taken with my new Nikon D5000:

My DB with his cool Nikon (D5000)


A view in the middle of the street in downtown Manassas (D5000)


One of the old buildings that houses Okra and The Foundation Restaurant (D5000)

Local signage (D5000)

Note: the only modifications made to the my pictures: cropped and copyright added.

At the Arboretum

A few weeks ago DH and I took a trip to the National Arboretum in Washington, DC. We were on a mission to take pictures of the beautiful conifers in the Gotelli Collection. I'm still going through the hundreds of pictures we took that day.

After our photo shoot, we drove around the Arboretum and stopped at the "Columns". We came across a wonderful surprise that I wanted to share with you:

Aren't they adorable?


One of them got excited to get its picture taken that he fell over:

Chick overboard!


A quick flap and he's dried off:

Drying off


Lesson learned...keep away from the edge


Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: none

A Trip to DC

DB and I took the Metrorail into DC. I brought my flash with me, but decided not to use it. Lately, I've been intrigued with pictures taken without flash. Just normal interior daylight pictures. So, I wanted to see if I could last the whole day without using the flash. It was quite easy to do. Today was overcast/cloudy. The sun was hiding from us.

Our first stop was Union Station. There were plenty of shops and plenty of places to eat. There were a lot more folks visiting the eateries than they were shopping in the stores. Sign of the times.

Union Station was opened in 1907, but completed in 1908. In the following pictures, you will see some of the 22-karat leaf adorned ceilings. The design and architecture of this place (e.g. curves) is truly amazing.

Main Hall at Union Station


One of the side atrium entrances with shops

Another view of the ceiling with the gold leaf. Center Cafe in the middle.

Entrance to B. Smith restaurant. Known as the Presidential Suite of Union Station.


Inside the East Hall. Interesting artwork along the upper edges of the walls.

We head down to Chinatown to find a place to eat. So many restaurants have shut down over the years.

Chinatown arch

The noodle man


After lunch, we head down 7th street in search of the International Spy Museum. We eye spy it two blocks away.

It took less than 2 hours to cover this museum. All I can say is Wow! There's a lot to see, read, and take in at this museum. Of course, no photography was allowed here.

The International Spy Museum building


It was raining when we finally finished touring the Spy Museum and headed out. We ran across the street to the National Portrait Gallery Museum. We were allowed to take pictures in some of the art galleries. I decided not to take a chance and let others enjoy without the sound of the shutter release or having a flash go off.

We ventured up to the 3rd level of the museum and found a wonderful surprise, a huge hall.

National Portrait Gallery - 3rd floor entrance into the Great Hall

National Portrait Gallery Great Hall - view looking south

National Portrait Gallery Great Hall - view looking north

National Portrait Gallery Great Hall- main entrance/exit 3rd level

National Portrait Gallery - stained glass window


I still have some issues working with my 18mm-200mm lens. I've been noticing some distortion in my pictures. What I see as being straight, there's a slight curve. It appears when I take pictures around 18mm.

Camera: Nikon D40
Lens: 18mm-200mm
Flash: None
Media card used: San Disk Extreme III - 4GB