From the monthly archives: "May 2011"

The Cliffs

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This is probably one of the coolest buildings in the District.  I don’t know, but I think I have said that about all of them.  Well, at least they are all intriguing.  I was told this building was designed to look like the Pueblo cliff homes.  The landscaping was all natural too.  Really, they had wetlands, woodlands, all kinds of lands represented outside the building.  The inside was amazing as well.  I will share a photo of that too soon.  I thought this turned out pretty good for three bracketed images handheld.

The_Cliffs

Flower Petals for the Lady

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Today’s photo comes once again from the garden behind the “Castle” in Washington D.C.  I absolutely loved this place.  I wish I had taken more time to explore and photograph.  All the photos from here were sans tripod.  Maybe soon, I will be able to return and finish my exploration of this wonderfully photographic area.

I am fascinated with medieval times, castle, knights…you know, all that stuff.  Some of my favorite books revolve around this time period.  If you have not read Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series or George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, they are a must.  While exploring the garden, I came across this pond.  There were no flowers.  Yeah, unusual for a flower garden.  But there were no flowers any where near.  However, there were flower petals in the middle of this pond.  I could have taken hundreds of photos of this one thing it intrigued me so much, but, alas, I was unable to do so.  I settled on one…or maybe two…okay somewhere in the several range.

Flower_Petals_for_the_Lady

The Capital

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So, running around the National Mall must include a photo of our esteemed national capital building.  This building is huge.  Architecturally I think this may be one of the prettiest buildings in the area.  On the other hand, I must qualify that by saying I did not even have the slightest chance to visit this area to the extent I wanted to.  In fact, I have been told that the prettiest building is actually the Library of Congress.

The_Capital

Art World

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This was from the sunken monument garden on the Mall in Washington D.C.  If you don’t know it is there, it is very easy to miss.  In fact, I would never have found it with out a guide.  Even when you get into the garden, you must explore every twist and turn or you will miss some very interesting pieces.

This one is near the entrance to the garden and it was just a very unique view.  I really enjoyed the alignment of the two pieces.

Art_World

The Blackbird

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I think I am going to go through old photos tomorrow, if I have time.  I really enjoy going through my old stuff.  I think I have some where in the neighborhood of 40,000 (of course that is a ballpark figure) images.  It is neat looking back over the different techniques I have learned and how it has shaped my photographic vision.

I had so much fun in Washington D.C. and especially at the Udvar-Hazy center.  How many places can you go where yo can see a full space shuttle, SR-71 Blackbird, Concord, the Enola Gay and hundreds of other airplanes.  I did not have enough time and was running all over the place to take in all that I wanted to see.  Next time, I am going to take a day to just look and plan a photographic trip, then the next day I will execute the plan, which will immediately proceed to fall apart at first contact.

All of the photos I managed to take here were off-hand.  Talk about a challenge.

The_Blackbird

The Pond

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Is that a miniature tree?  I don’t know.  Maybe that is a giant flower?  Do you see the Cheshire Cat?  Maybe there is an army of cards or the Queen of Hearts is around the corner.  So, do I need to take the red pill or the blue?  Is this all real, or really all?  Do you ever sit around and question why?  Why do we drive on the right side, or is it the left?  Why is green, green–or is it blue to me?

I think the world has lost a very important thing.  Critical thinking.  I am beginning to think my generation was the turning point.  We have been spoon fed everything through the television, internet, etc.

Can you say flash backs to Alice in Wonderland or The Matrix?  Why?  Why did Robert Frost write “The Road not Taken”?  What does it mean?  What is the meaning behind Charles Dickens Oliver Twist?  It is amazing how there can be so many different meanings in classics, but there is nothing in most of what is written today?  Or is it just going to take several hundred years to understand what is being written?  Sometimes I think the word just mean what is written.  In a former life, I wrote poetry.  I shared one with a college professor once and they tried to dig for meaning in it.  But, as the artist I thought “it is what it is”.  Now I am not so sure.

Don’t take anything at face value.  Ask why.

The_Pond

The Hidden Pool

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This pool is hidden in the gardens behind the “Castle” on the National Mall in Washington D.C.  The garden is fantastic and a little mysterious.  Every turn you go around opens new vistas.  I thought this one was particularly cool because in the middle of a flower garden, there is a pool with no flowers around it.  Not for a long way.  I will explain more about that later.  The other reason this garden is so cool is that it sits on top of several levels of museum.  I don’t remember which museum is under the garden because it was closed by the time I made it here.  However this museum is big enough that they have a tractor trailer truck entrance that is large enough they can drive in, turn around, then drive out.  Simply amazing!

Hidden_Pool

Flowers on the Mall

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I don’t remember the name of this building.  However, these flowers are just between the Air and Space Museum and the unknown building.  The unknown building is between the Air and Space Museum and the “Castle” (Smithsonian Administration building).  All the flowers in this area are beautiful.  I hope to make it back when I have more than a few hours to spend exploring the National Mall.  I only took about 500 photos while I was there this time.  Definitely not enough to do this area justice.

If you look close enough, you can see the rain drops.

Flowers_on_the_Mall

No Admittance

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I love to drive around and look for interesting angles on buildings.  When I came across this, I was amazed at the complexity of the statement here.

Now, not many people will get what is actually being said.  On the face, it just says “No Admittance”.  However, upon close examination…

It says: There is no admittance to this building.  Why, you ask?  Because, if you make it past the vines, then you have to deal with the outrageous amount of rust–let’s just say “tetanus shot”–and we all know what corrosion does, so if you make it to the top of the stairs, after a lengthy trip to the hospital, excruciating lock-jaw, and probably painful recovery, then who knows, this thing may actually fall down…

I’m just saying.

So, now that you made it to the top, assuming it hasn’t fallen yet, you survived the painful lock-jaw, and the vines did not tangle your feet causing you to strike your head on the awful rust covered contraption, (Did I say “tetanus shot” yet?) you must get the door open, keeping in mind that this whole time, it says “No Admittance”.

I wonder why that is there…never mind.

Where was I?  …oh yeah, opening the door, yes.  Now you have to open the door–at least this part is easy.  Right, it’s attached to a brick wall.  Of course you don’t have to worry about that huge gap in the wall just past the door.  Surely the building won’t fall down.  Right?

Okay, now to the second part of the statement on the wall, “Authorized Personnel Only”.  Is it just me, or is there something wrong there too?

“Authorized Personnel”… Who are they?  They must be like superheroes or some such.  Just think, they have to be able to make it past the killer vines, up the rusted, corroded, falling down steps…after a lengthy painful trip to the hospital for an excruciating case of lock-jaw, which most likely took them forever to overcome…and just barely make it back for the final assault on the door, which may not even open, even though it is attached to a brick wall…which they don’t even know will remain standing. …Or did they just go through the gap, which is in the wall of the building, holding the door, that should not fall down.  Right?

Am I the only person who thinks like this, or is there something wrong with me?  Comments related to professional help can be placed in the comments section at the bottom of this post, on my Facebook page–by the way, if were not friends yet, just ask–or both.

I sure hope you were amused by the previous, in depth, evaluation of this photo, but I know what you really want to see is the photo, not what I write.

No_Admittance

If you enjoyed this, like it, digg it, tweet it, stumble it, etc……

Sunrise at the Gate

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It is hard to believe that it could be this beautiful less than a mile from where an EF-3 tornado hit the night before.  I had no idea what damage was just across the horizon.  Literally just across this horizon.  I went to bed at about 2 AM because I had to make sure the last tornado was out of the area.  After I was sure it was clear, I went out to see if anyone in the immediate area needed help.  I would have been much latter going to bed, but unfortunately, I drove away from where the tornado actually hit.  I took some photos from the area I would have gone and will post them later.

I have decided to use Flickr for my gallery at the moment.  Don’t forget to check out that page also.

Sunrise_at_the_Gate

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