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Saturday, April 21 - 4:30pm - Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial, Washington Monument, and Lady Bird Johnson Park - Washington, DC

I remember back in high school when I took 9th grade photography class.  Probably the best elective I ever took in all my schooling, and I wasted it when I was 14.  Oh well.  I do remember the time I spilled a whole bunch of fixer on myself, then passed out in second period because of the fumes.  Well, honestly, I don’t remember a lot of that.  It’s hazy.

Anyways, one of the lessons I remember from that class was repetition.  Parallel lines, repeating elements, things like that all make good photos.  Draws in the viewer’s eye and stuff.  So I decided to take a few photos like that while walking around the Mall Saturday.  Tell me what you think.  First come the explanations, then come the photos.  Enjoy.

1. A Whole Mess of Tulips at Lady Bird Johnson Park - I actually walked past this flowerbed twice before walking back to take a photo.  All of the tulips looked huge, the flowers were wide open, and they were all pointed right at the sun.  It looked pretty cool.  I took a few shots, but I like this (slightly cropped) one the best as the flowers fill the whole frame.  The big green patch in the center isn’t so hot, but I didn’t want to touch the flowers.  They’re on federal property, you know.

2. The Back of the Lincoln Memorial - sometimes you can walk on the backside of the Lincoln, sometimes you can’t.  It probably has to do with the amount of park police around.  I thought the shadows of the columns were interesting on this one, and how they cast repetitive shadows on the already repetitive wall.  I turned this one to black and white because I thought it looked classier that way.

3 & 4.  Half-Staff Flags at the Washington Monument - the flags were at half-staff for the Virginia Tech shooting.  As soon as I heard about the flags going down through Sunday, I wanted to get a picture from the Monument as you have a slew of flags there and it just looks more…I dunno…impactful?  I know that’s not a word.  The first picture is from the west side, and you can see the Lincoln Memorial in the distance.  See how the flags move down from top left, drawing the eye? The second is from the east side, looking at the Capitol.  I like how you can see the shadow of a flag in the foreground.  I don’t like that doofus in the orange shirt who wouldn’t get out of my way.

5. Washington Monument and the Crescent Moon - That freaking monument makes any normal blue sky look awesome.  If you look closely, you’ll see a sliver of moon.  Again, repetitiveness of the bricks, heading up the picture and away from the viewer.

6. Kids at the Korean War Memorial - Okay, this has nothing to do with repetition.  I just happened to catch these kids before they got yelled at by their parents.  And I really like taking pictures with reflections.  Just looks cool.

The title is from the song "Come Down" by Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Saturday March 31 & Tuesday April 3, 2007 - National Mall, Tidal Basin & Hains Point, NW & SW Washington DC

It’s Cherry Blossom time here in the Nation’s Capital.  It’s a party to mark the blooming of trees given to us by Japan in between the two times in the late 19th/early 20th centuries when we weren’t fighting with each other.  A few trees turned into a whole slew of trees.  I think there’s something like 1,900 of them around the Tidal Basin, with many more scattered around the District.  They’re really pretty, and the light up the entire area in color amid the muted greens and grays of early spring.  51 weeks of the year, Washington is known for its white marble.  For one week, it’s all about the white and pink blossoms.  Pretty cool.

After a fun Saturday working at the news factory, I hopped on my bike and went downtown.  It was in the 60s, sunny, and the crowds were out in force.  You had the locals, the semi-locals (people day-tripping from the outer ‘burbs), the spring breakers, and tons of Asian tourists who are drawn by the blossoms (although I can’t imagine that’s the only reason to visit DC from Osaka or Kobe - but what do I know about Japan?).  It was amazingly beautiful on this March morning.  The sun was trying its best to heat up the cool air.  The crowds were rubbing their bleary sleep-addled eyes to enjoy the color.  And despite predictions, the Cherry Blossoms were blooming a little earlier than expected.  It was pretty neat.  The crowds bunch up around the Tidal Basin, but some of the more beautiful trees are actually along East Potomac Park/Hains Point/Ohio Drive.  It’s a hike, and most people don’t know how to drive there.  But there are hundreds of trees to check out.  Pink ones, white ones, drooping ones, perky ones, and a few rare kinds which the Washington Post pointed out but for the life of me I couldn’t find.

Below are a few more pictures.  Here are their descriptions:

1. Standing in front of the Jefferson Memorial, looking across the Tidal Basin at the Washington Monument.  You can see the contrast in color between the regular trees and the cherry blossoms.  And people don’t realize how tiring it can be pedaling into the middle of the basin, and then having to get back.

2. I found some white blossoms and pink blossoms overlapping, with the sun lighting them from behind.  Do you think it worked?  I’m not so sure.

3. The arm part of "The Awakening," a statue at Hains Point.  It’s pretty cool.  And that "X" in the clouds - no clue how that popped up.  Maybe some contrails.  It’s cool.

4. A couple taking in the scenery.  The dog (which you can see kind of on the left side) moved just before I took this picture.  Foolish dog. 

5. Damn, that Monument photographs well.  Nice blue sky too.

6. There was some kind of anti-circumcision protest going on on the Capitol lawn Tuesday.  I really don’t know what it’s all about, because circumcision is generally decided upon before a young boy knows about his wang.  The protest did catch the attention of a field trip full of 10th graders.  I overheard one teacher say, "This will be the only thing they remember from the trip."  And it’s true.

Title is from the song "Daydreamin’" by Lupe Fiasco and Jill Scott.

Saturday, March 31 - 10:30am - C&O Canal Lock 1, NW Washington DC

My grandmother passed away last week.  She was my dad’s mom.  I have never been as close to that side of the family as I am to my mom’s side.  But while going for an outdoor adventure downtown Saturday, I snapped this picture where the C&O Canal meets Rock Creek.  Grandma & Granddad Muttart loved the C&O Canal.  They thought it was neat, a great piece of American history, and a well-preserved piece of nostalgia.  I didn’t realize that until I was older, and realized people dug a 185 mile canal to connect the Potomac River to the Ohio River (the canal only made it part of the way - going to Cumberland, MD instead of Pittsburgh, PA).  The Grandparents Muttart got to see most of the canal, most of which is now a park parallel to the Potomac River through Maryland and DC.  I guess when you get to a certain age, it’s just fun to check out stuff like that.  What else do you have to do?

If I were the artistic type and artsy type, I would tell you I took this picture at the end of the Canal because while the canal ends, the water keeps going - from the locks down into Rock Creek, which goes into the Potomac, which goes into the Chesapeake, which goes into the Atlantic.  The symbolism is nice - while a life may end, it keeps going on to the next stage.  A life could be taken through the canal, but now it’s just part of the water, going on to the next stage.  But I didn’t really intend to do that - I just thought it up while in the car the next day.  I’ll best remember Grandma Muttart’s devious smile - it’s like she knew she shouldn’t smile, but couldn’t help it, so it was doubly good.  Plus her name, Marita.  It means "little sea."  Always thought that was pretty.