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