Moonrise over the Ocean

The moon was almost full (a waning gibbous) and rose over the ocean on the last night of my family's vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Moonrise over the Atlantic
Two exposures superimposed in Photoshop to capture both the pink glow and moon detail

Sequence of a Cloud Passing over the Moon
(This and the next series of photos)

Going Behind

Hidden

Coming Out

One Last Shot

Sunset

The sky looked particularly spectacular around sunset last week. This was the gorgeous view from my window:

Butterfly

Model Butterfly,
Looking right at the camera

Kogod Courtyard

During senior week, my friend Steph and I went to one of our favorite spaces in DC, the Kogod Courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum, to sketch and enjoy an afternoon.

Kogod Courtyard

Sketching

Walking in the Water

Light and Shadows

Shadows and Reflections

Footprints along the Water Scrims

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Before graduation, I took my parents to some of my favorite monuments in DC. The first one we stopped at was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The VVM is my favorite monument, and I've photographed it many times before. This time, I wanted to focus on people and the idea of gradual descent into the earth.

Self Portrait - The point where I was first fully below the ground surface.

Reflection, moments of solitude even in a crowd.

The apex

Reflections at the apex

Finding a name

Tactile Architecture

Initial descent

Sculpture Garden

I took these photos at the Sculpture Garden a couple of weeks ago. Finally had the chance to sort through and edit them.

Towards the National Archives

Duck splashing down in the water

Ducks, towards the Hirshorn Museum

Fountain

Duck

Threshold, small fountains

Full-on Fountains

The Secret Garden

While walking from the Library of Congress to Chinatown, my friend Steph and I discovered a little resting place nearby the Capitol. It was a brick grotto with trickling fountains, a place to sit and rehydrate. (5/5/12: Found out that this place is called The Summerhouse and was designed by Olmstead in the late 19th century)

Double Framing

Perforations

Gate, Individual Seats

Trickling Water

Bird Bath

Fountain

Space Shuttle Discovery's Final Flight

At 7am today, Space Shuttle Discovery, mounted on a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida to land in Washington, DC's Dulles International Airport. Discovery will replace Enterprise as the shuttle on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center. I was lucky enough to make it down to the National Mall in time to see the shuttle fly over the monuments before it landed at Dulles.

Passersby stopping to snap photos on their iPhones

Discovery's last flight

Flying past the Capitol.
Check out all the people on the Capitol Steps gathered to watch the Shuttle.
I will also forever hate that white car in the foreground. At least it wasn't bright red.

Heading East past the Washington Monument

Flying over the Smithsonian Castle

Dome Structure on Campus

These are my better photos from an in-class assignment to photograph a recently constructed wooden dome installation on campus in as many different ways as we could think of.

I realized afterwards that my white balance was set to fluorescent from the last time I had used my camera. None of these photos were edited in Photoshop; that really crisp blue is just the result of my camera settings.

Dandelions growing around the structure

Framing through the openings

Our class taking photos

Camera close to the ground

Dome on the the Dome

Framing the Basilica

Week 10 Assignment: Light and Shadow as Subject Matter

Shadow:

Tree Shadow on a Wall

Arlington Cemetery
Foreground subject matter separated from the background by being in shadow

Alternating Shadowy and Light Areas from Foreground to Background

Petals "raining" outside Hannan Hall

From previous posts:

Mary's Garden

Single Blossom

Light:

Basilica Apse

FDR Memorial at Night
This was taken with my point-and-shoot, since I didn't take my DSLR with me at the time.
However, I think it captures the idea of light as subject matter well, so I decided to post it.

Shadow Frames, but the Focus is the Daylit Midground Area with the Headstones and Trees

Direct Light Draws Focus towards Portico Window

Direct Light Creates a Focus

From previous post:

Statue of Mary and Baby Jesus