Posts Tagged ‘College Park’

Colonial Pipeline River Cleanup

Trey from Anasoctia Riverkeeper speaking about cleanup efforts ©TimeLine Media
Trey from Anasoctia Riverkeeper speaking about cleanup efforts ©TimeLine Media

College Park, Maryland

Last fall, I photographed the corporate clean up event in College Park, Maryland for Colonial Pipeline. On this occasion, a group from the company met with Trey from Anacostia Riverkeeper, a non-profit organization. Their aim is to preserve and restore the Anacostia River, an important waterway throughout Washington, DC, and Maryland.

River Cleanup

This afternoon, the group received an education on the efforts of Anacostia Riverkeeper to improve the river. Outreach efforts with the goal of cleaner waters include lectures, and hands on workshops. Overall the goal is to have a clean river that the community can enjoy.

Colonial Pipeline River Cleanup group in College Park, MD ©TimeLine Media
Colonial Pipeline River Cleanup group in College Park, MD ©TimeLine Media

I was surprised at the amount of trash that was pulled from the river while they walked the river banks. Surrounded by fallen leaves, most of this trash was hidden from view. So, at first look, I did not think there was much to do. After finding some trash, volunteers separated the items by type. It became apparent how big this job would be. However, starting with this many volunteer on this small section is a start.

Trash Collection

From old food wrappers, bottles, and balls that had strayed from the nearby recreation area, they were removed and sorted. Additionally, there were some larger items that they removed. These included an old car seat, entire bags full of other garage, and a hose from a fire truck! As you can see from the photos, this required many people to bring out from riverbed! When a bag was full, it was weighed.

Sorting the garbage removed from the Anacostia river tributary ©TimeLine Media
Sorting the garbage removed from the Anacostia river tributary ©TimeLine Media

Overall, I was impressed with the volunteers from Colonial Pipeline. They donned the water-safe gear, gloves, and grabbing implements. Then they put in a lot of work to find trash. Although it was cold outside, they moved quickly. Afterwards they brought all the trash together! After weighing the debris, they pulled out 500 pounds! Being a beautiful park, you would not have expected that much. Afterwards, they were properly disposed at nearby bins.

Colonial Pipeline team with trash they removed from the Anacostia River ©TimeLine Media
©TimeLine Media

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703-864-8208

Updating Headshots – Tech Tuesday

College Park, Maryland

Last week, I was booked for an assignment for updating headshots on location. This is yet another different kind of photography project that has its own challenges compared to the events I have been covering lately. In one sense, I had a lot of time to setup for this shoot arriving early at the location, with plenty of time to situate myself before anyone had arrived. You can make a portrait lighting setup as simple or as complicated as you want, but this was a very special event, so I brought out all the big guns. I setup the on-site studio with 4 monolight flashes. If you were following me on Twitter or Instagram, I sent out photos after I had set everything up.

Headshot portrait setup for updating headshots - ©TimeLine Media
Headshot portrait setup – ©TimeLine Media

This setup made it very easy to make headshots for everyone quickly which was the goal. The organizers were expecting 300 attendees, so I did not want to have a line of people that did not have the opportunity to get a photo at the end of the night. Having lots of lights setup correctly before the first photo was taken was essential to making as many photos happen as possible. Having a dedicated light meter on hand to measure the output from the flashes ensured that everything was setup right where it needed to be – from the placement of the posing chair, to the kicker light that would separate the subjects from the background.

Mobile Lighting Setup

Using a hand-held meter really reduced the amount of “test shots” I needed to make with the camera. When I took the first shot after metering everything manually, the lights were ready to go! I was so happy with the setup, and I hope that the people that came in for their new portraits like the results. Thanks to the University of Maryland University College Alumni Association for having me provide this service for them. I had a great time with their recent graduates, and made some awesome photos of them! If you need updated head shot portraits for commercial work or social networking, please let me know. I had a great time making these portraits, and would love to make more for you if you need. Tell me – would you trust this man to make your portrait? 🙂

Updating Headshots portrait setup for self portrait - ©TimeLine Media
Headshot portrait setup for self portrait – ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208