Non-Linear

I saw a photo of this atrium on a Washington DC tour book. I showed it to Kathy and she said "I know where that is, National Portrait Gallery." We were staying not too far away so we visited. The evening was really nice, with cool temperatures and the undulating atrium roof was spectacular. The locals seem to hang out here, buying coffee and pastries and chatting one another up. Kathy is sitting on a planter on the left patiently waiting for me to finish shooting some photos and video. The "no tripods" rule is in full force here so to get this shot, I had to hold my camera over my head and press it firmly against a wall while shooting 3 frames for this HDR composite. I was able to hold it perfectly still and it worked just fine. After walking around the nearly empty galleries, we walked to a local restaurant in the fading light and had dinner.

Woodly Park Zoo Station

This is the Woodly Park Zoo metro station in Washington DC. I have always found the architecture of DC's metro stations to be interesting and very worthy of a photo or two. While the stations are nice,it can be a little disconcerting when an express train blasts through the station without stopping or seeming to slow down. You can kind of see one on the right side of the photo. Just look for the semi-transparent blur.

Multiverse

Just prior to Kathy and I traveling to Washington DC, I had been reading a very interesting book about Hugh Everett's "Many-Worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics. One of the concepts the reader has to wrap his or her head around is that of the existence of a multiverse, where there isn't a single universe but instead an infinite number of them which are constantly splitting. One where you ate breakfast in the morning and one where you didn't, one where you posted a photo of an interesting art installation and one where you didn't and on and on. Anyway, there are many Smithsonian art museums but on the National Mall there are two that have a walkway between them which is located below ground level. At some point a very interesting art exhibit called "multiverse" was installed. It consists of thousands of LED lights that race around making patterns that are really compelling. You can walk the length of this tunnel or ride on one of two moving sidewalk conveyor belt thingies like the two guys in the photo are doing.

Drinko-de-Mayo

I was in Boston in June 2012 for the HOW Design Conference. My coworkers and I had the opportunity of touring several local design studios. It was interesting to see the work each developed, their clients and design aesthetic. While touring Stoltze Design I saw this cool paper cutout for what seemed to be a promotional piece for a celebration called “Drinko De Mayo”. Pretty cool and funny.

Fenway Park Sunset

Fenway Park Sunset, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I was in Boston for the How Conference and had the opportunity to go a Red Sox game at Fenway park. I really like going to baseball games because I like the vibe, the excitement and the stadiums. I actually like all that much more than the actual game being played which I rarely pay attention to.

In this case, I was just amazed at Fenway Park itself. As my coworkers and I approached the stadium I was thinking if not for the lighting and banners, it would have been tough to identify it as a ballpark. From the outside, Fenway looks just like another brick factory in a neighborhood full of them.

Once we were inside the park, there was quite a bit of confusion regarding where we were sitting. I didn't care. I had decided I was going to spend every minute I could exploring the place and seeing if I could sneak into a few places not necessarily open to the public.

I found I could walk into an area that required another type of ticket, quickly fire off a few HDR sequences before a staff member came by and asked to see my ticket. I usually just apoligized for my confusion and stalled for time if my camera was still exposing frames.

This image was taken from a nice viewpoint over looking center field. The sunset and clouds that day were spectacular. It was a hot and humid day so the departure of the sun was a welcome event.

I took over 600 photos at Fenway that day so I'll be posting more sooner or later.

The Phantom of the Midway

The Phantom of the Midway, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I decided to take my neice Alexandra and her boyfriend Josh to San Diego for the weekend. We had a great time on the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum in San Diego harbor. I have been to the Midway a few times before, but this time we explored parts of the ship I had never seen including Pri-Fly and the Bridge.

I was sorry to hear the fireworks display in the bay went so badly this year. Nobody hurt but I understand all of the fireworks went off at once and the show was over in 12 seconds. Apparently about a thousand people had paid for viewing spots on the Midway's flight deck.

Pictured behind us in this fisheye / facebook style shot is an F4 Phantom II fighter / bomber which like all of the aircraft on the Midway has been wonderfully restored. A great day and a lot of fun.

Gotham City Blues

Gotham City Blues, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

This is the First Church of Christ - Scientist in Boston again. This shot was taken during the blue hour just before darkness fell. Rain was falling intermittently, the security guards were keeping a close eye on me. They were just out of the shot on the left during this sequence. Two different guards asked me what I was doing there. I told them I was enjoying the fine Boston weather and waiting for the bat signal to appear in the forboding clouds above.

Our flag's unfurled to every breeze from dawn to setting sun

Our flag's unfurled to every breeze from dawn to setting sun, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Marine Corps Memorial - Washington DC

Reign On Me

Reign On Me, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I had just bailed out of a session at the "HOW Design Live" conference because the instructor began spouting his liberal political views. Not just the odd comment either. He started preaching his particular view of how things should be and seemingly forgot the topic of the class. This actually happened to me twice during HOW.

Anyway, upon entering the hallway at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, I immediately noticed that the lighting outside looked baleful. As I approached the floor to ceiling windows in front of me, I could see more and more of a huge storm cloud that was advancing on the building I was in. I could clearly see it was dumping rain in the area of Fenway Park about 3/4 of a mile away. I saw several bolts of lightning flash from somewhere within this towering and churning mass. I began shooting hand held HDR sequences when a brilliant flash momentarily blinded me followed just a second later with the loudest thunderclap I had ever heard. A split-second later It seemed that every car alarm in the area was wailing in unison. The streets were suddenly flooded with water and convention center security began moving everyone away from the windows. Less than 10 minutes later, the worst of this storm had moved on leaving the buildings, trees, and streets completely drenched and full of reflections. It was time for dinner and I was ready to walk around and make a few more images.

Don't you forget about me

Don't you forget about me, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I had spotted this cool old fire house from the windows of the Hynes Convention Center during my first day in Boston. Later that evening my work colleague Mike and I walked over so I could make a few HDR sequences of it. It turned out we were just in time for the end of the blue hour. Fifteen minutes later I was taking photographs of the Apple Store down the street and all color had left the sky. The firehouse was massive and once housed a police station. It was opened on February 20, 1888. If this had been built in Los Angeles, the city council would have long since declared it an eye sore, had it torn down and replaced with a parking lot.