Currently viewing the tag: "Old Buildings"

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

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

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The Flower Tower

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While walking around the Mall in Washington, I was given a tour of the flower gardens behind “The Castle”, the Smithsonian Administration Building.  It was raining slightly, but that just added to the excitement and challenge of photographing all the wonderful buildings, monuments and statues.

The_Flower_Tower

Stone House

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Walking the battlefield at Manassas was amazing and intriguing.  Seeing the construction of houses at the time, at least the Henry House and Stone House, made me see how simple people lived back then.  It is hard to imagine that there would have been no cars here or airplanes zooming overhead.  I have heard that there is a lot of problem with development encroaching on this battlefield.  I can believe it.  Just south of the battlefield, you go from major suburban development to pristine woods and late 19th century farmland.

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The Barn

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This barn is just outside Cartersville Georgia.  I have been intrigued with this and still can’t figure out what happened to the bottom.  Why would there be no bottom.  It doesn’t even seem like the front is level with the ground, so getting into it has to be a pain.  Huh, some of the things I think of…

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Old Building

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I have been looking at this building for several years now.  Every time I saw it, I never had my camera with me.  Yeah, I know that is a shock.  And I see this quite frequently.  Finally, I made a special trip just to take these photos.  I will go back again some time and try to take some more.  Maybe this time it won’t take several years.

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Barn on a Hill

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Okay. So a while back, I received my first digital SLR. It took about 5 minutes for me to completely fall in love with photography. I have never been the artistic type, and, at first, my camera was purely technical. However, if I was not already married, I would have a hard time putting the camera down. Now I just have a hard time finding the time to teach her how to use the camera when I am not.

So, with introductions done, I begin the journey sharing with you my photography and the joys I have received from “behind the lens”.

I live near a major metropolitan area, but find myself continually drawn to old structures, buildings and landscapes. One of these days my wife will learn to stop complaining when it takes me too long to drive home.

Barn on a Hill

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