Photography lesson in Charlottesville

About 3 weeks ago I spent two days in Charlottesville, VA - the weather was stunningly beautiful while there, and I took my camera with me in hopes of being able to get some photos taken. Luckily I was able to shoot at both UVA and on the Downtown Mall.

Enchanted Forest

While in Wageningen, NL we stayed at the hotel pictured below - the Nol in't Bosch. The decorations inside were very pseudo-Victorian, but not where it mattered (e.g. bathrooms, which were quite modern). I didn't get many photos of the inside, but managed to get a couple of neat shots of the outside.

Canals in Amsterdam

I posted previously on my family blog a few photos from my two days in Amsterdam, and some explanations  for the places we went are there. I thought here I'd just show my favorite photos of the canals in Amsterdam (and a few other sites)...enjoy!

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.