flash me!

looks like an eyedropper

Originally uploaded by philliefan99

You don’t need a gigantic super-fast lens, a tripod, bright studio lights, or other fancy (i.e., expensive) equipment to capture gravity-driven water droplets. Just use the lowest ISO setting, a fairly high f-stop, and a flash, and you can get a sharp split-second image of falling water, too.

red moon rising

red domerise

Originally uploaded by philliefan99

This weekend, a blood-red full moon (the Corn Moon, and not the popular Harvest Moon this year) rose almost due east, as is customary in March and September. Standing near the Washington Monument, the moon rose over the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol on 9/5. If you believe in omens, Congress returns to work on Tuesday, and the ongoing and over-pressurized health care debate will consume the legislature this fall.

Hopefully, it won’t be a bloodbath. But a whole bunch of people are coming to DC next weekend…

farewell to an underrated statesman

A lot of what we knew about Ted Kennedy was given to us through the tabloid news media. Chappaquidick, alcoholism, womanizing — these were just a few of the demons that he fought throughout his life and career. To many conservatives, he was not exactly beloved. But if you have a disability, are a minority, or earn a low wage, you can thank Teddy for taking up your cause for a better life. I choose to remember him as someone who spent his life devoted to helping those whose voices are not always heard. He may have not had the same mythical stature as his brothers John and Bobby, but he managed to accomplish a lot more than they could in their too-short lives.

water arch

Pershing Park has a drinking fountain that’s always running. The result is a pool of water on the pavement. Seems like a big waste of water that the National Park Service should fix sometime, but of course there simply is no money available.

I wonder if it’ll still be on when it gets cold in a few months. Potentially cool for pics, but not so good for the pipes.

do I creep you out?

Due to its location near the White House and other popular landmarks, Pershing Park attracts a lot of tourists. And the occasional shirtless guy with a computer.

hail to the seahawks

Ospreys look a lot like common gulls from a distance. But up close, their distinctive plumage and flight signature are quite unmistakeable. Conservation efforts have brought the osprey back from the brink on this continent, and we’re all the greater for it.

Newsflash: Obama <3 his BlackBerry

This is the third time I’ve seen President Obama’s motorcade leaving or returning to the White House, not including the Inaugural Parade. Normally, the President waves to the crowds of people gathered on the curb. This time, however, Obama did what a lot of us non-Presidential folks do — fooled around with his BlackBerry as he enjoyed a short ride to a town hall meeting downtown.

4…3…2…1…

I’ve seen many a skateboarder trying stunts and tricks around town, and more often than not they don’t make clean landings. Just like this guy. But, to his credit, he does points for getting big air over the short steps at Pershing Park. Who says white men can’t jump?

rain, rain…don’t go away?

This shower was funky — at one point, the Capitol was almost clear while I was getting dumped on 14 blocks away at Freedom Plaza. While I prefer dry weather for shooting, sometimes rain provides opportunities to catch something interesting.

when the moon didn’t seem so far away

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

-President John F. Kennedy, 9/12/1962, Rice University, Houston, Texas

Hopefully, it won’t take another 40 years for us to go back to the moon…and beyond.