National Arboretum

In early September we went to the National Arboretum in Washington DC. For photos of the kids and a few other things we did/saw, click HERE. It's very lovely; we didn't walk around very much; many of these photos were taken from the tram ride around the Aboretum.

Very Victorian

At the end of September we went to NJ for Evan's grandmother's funeral. The service was lovely, and afterwards we went to the Milleridge Restaurant on Long Island. Lynn had gone there with her parents for years growing up, so she felt it was the appropriate place to have a family gathering to remember Gram. It's a fascinating place - room upon room filled with neat old decorations (and neat old people!).

Sunset on the Sound

I just posted on my family blog some photos I took of the kids playing in the Albemarle Sound at sunset. I wanted to share my favorite sunset photos as well.

Outer Banks beach photos II

Last month we returned once again to the Outer Banks. Just before our trip I received my present to myself for having a good year at work - this lens, recommended by a friend. I hadn't really had a chance to play with it before the trip, so of course a couple of hours on the beach was a perfect opportunity to take some photos.

Blue moon

On August 31 there was a blue moon; for those who don't know (and I did not!), there are typically 3 full moons in 3 months (yes, we all know that, Abbe!). However, periodically there is a 4th full moon within that 3 month period, and that happened at the end of August this year. It won't happen again until 2015. I didn't want to miss the opportunity for some nighttime photography.

"Old" things

I think I've mentioned before on here that I'm part of a group on Facebook called "The Weekly Photo Project". I was invited in by a friend back in the spring; when I joined, there were only about 10 people in the group, and now with everyone inviting others in, we're up to about 70 people. The idea is that each week there's a new topic, and everyone submits a photo that they feel fits that topic. The person who chooses the topic picks their winner (based on whatever personal criteria they're looking for), and then that winner chooses the topic & winner for the next week. I've been participating since week 5; we're now on week 35. I've only failed to submit twice (once because I ran out of time, and once because I had no inspiration) - it's a lot of fun to see what everyone comes up with!


While at my parents in August, the theme for that week was "Old Fashioned".

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Sometimes my job takes me to some very fun places! At the end of July I met with a group who works at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in DC and uses our software. They asked if I'd provide them with a refresher training for their study, and I was happy to oblige as they in turn gave me an "official" visitor pass to the museum for the rest of the day. Not only did this mean I didn't have to deal with security on the way in, but I also got the employee discount on the IMAX movie that evening, was able to walk around and explore the museum kid-free, and didn't have to pay admission to the Butterfly Pavilion! Definitely worth it.

President Obama

On August 2, 2012, President Obama came to Leesburg as part of his campaign speech tour. It was insanely hot, poorly organized, and we were outside for about 4 hours waiting for a 30 minute speech...but despite all of that I'm really glad that I went - the man can give a fantastic speech, and we're happy to help support him in whatever way we can.

Family portraits at the beach

On our very last night in the Outer Banks last month, I wanted to head down to the beach after dinner and take some photos at sunset. However, upon our arrival at the beach access we were told by people leaving the beach that the flies were really bad, so we chose not to venture all the way down. Instead, we stopped at the gazebo at the top of the dune and took some photos from there.

UVA shirt photo shoot

My friends and I had the idea while at the beach last month to dress all of our children in the same Virginia shirts and take some photos. Because one friend already had two orange shirts for the boys, we decided to do boys in orange and girls in white. All 7 children were quite cooperative, and let us get these great shots.

The little things

I know this is going to be incredibly cheesy, but sometimes I'm reminded to just slow down and let myself notice the beauty around me. Yesterday when I left work, I took the time to look up and saw the sun behind this cloud...and it was beautiful. So I thought I'd share with you my moment of awe at Nature's beauty.

Note: photo is untouched in any way, and was taken on my iPhone using Camera+

Outer Banks beach photos

While the vast majority of photos that I took while on vacation at the Outer Banks last month were of our children, I did manage to get a few nice ones of the scenery around us. Here are my favorites.

Telephoto lens + condensation = art!

I encountered a "problem" while we were at the Outer Banks at the beginning of July that I had not yet experienced: because my telephoto lens was primarily kept inside of my camera bag, in the air conditioning, when I went to pull it out on the beach the lenses (internal and external) were covered with condensation! When I took the first few pics I saw that they were a little faded, but didn't realize the condensation was to blame; it was only on the second day I did this that I really noticed it. So, while the photos are faded/slightly blurry, I actually like how they came out - I like the slightly old fashioned feel!

Downtown Leesburg

A couple of weeks ago I met my friend Debra in downtown Leesburg to take some photos. She's an amateur photographer like myself, and we've been discussing doing something like this for a while. I was glad we finally had the time to spend a couple of hours walking around. We originally wanted to go into the "country" outside of Leesburg, but that was in the spring - we're now thinking we'll leave that until the fall when the leaves change, as that will make for more beautiful photos. For our first outing, we focused on the beauty of downtown Leesburg. Debra has a photography blog as well; if you want to see her photos, click here

Beach Sky

We spent the week of July 4th at the Outer Banks, NC. I've got well over 600 photos from our 10 day vacation, so I'm trying to organize them as best as I can. One of the things I photographed during the week (when not taking photos of the kids!) was the sky.

Our little dancer

About five weeks ago my daughter had her second dance recital. Her teacher had organized professional photo shoots for all of the dancers, but unfortunately I was unable to make it to either of the designated dates so we couldn't take part. I figured - why not try to take some shots of her in her costume myself? And as I love using natural light, I thought that doing it outdoors would be a lot of fun.

After the rain

Last week a very large thunderstorm came through Leesburg. It didn't last very long, but we were hopeful that it would break the awful heat and humidity we had for the previous few days (for the most part it did). When the storm broke, I could see the sun shining through the clouds into our backyard and didn't want to miss the opportunity to snap a few pictures. 

In the woods

On the first Saturday in June, I took the kids over to what we call the "dinosaur park" in Ashburn, VA. I think the real name is just Ashburn Park, but as all of the playground equipment is shaped like various dinosaurs, we like our name better. One of the coolest things about the park is that it's not just a playground - there's a very nice walking path that extends quite far through the woods, as we discovered that day!

Clouds

The weather here in VA (and I think around most of the East coast, if not the country as a whole) has been pretty all over the place this June - cold like March/April one day, burning hot the next. We've had some pretty big storms come through as well. One plus of this crazy weather is that the clouds have been absolutely breathtaking. What's even more impressive is that all of these photos except one were taken with my iPhone (Camera+ app). I guess that goes to show that you don't absolutely need a digital SLR to take a good photo - just a good eye and interesting subject!

Black and white NYC

On Memorial Day weekend, my family spent a day in NYC. As I mentioned in my previous post, I had taken a number of black & white photos that weekend due to that being the subject of my weekly photo project on Facebook. When I got home and went through the photos, I realized how many B&W photos I truly had taken! As I think it makes for a unique way of looking at modern Manhattan, I thought I'd add put my favorites here.