Late last year, a thick foggy morning motivated me to get out of the house. Landscape or nature photography is not my forte. However, a foggy Great Falls has been on my list to shoot for a while. Unlike other areas, we generally do not have very foggy days often. On this occasion, the warm morning temperature created a thick inversion over the entire northern Virginia area. So, I got in my car and looked for a place to make some photos.
When I arrived at Great Falls Park, I knew that this would be a perfect morning for photos. Walking through the parking lot, and the park trails, the fog was still hanging in the air. I was excited about getting to the edge of the falls however, the walk through the park was just as inspiring.
Finally arriving at the edge of the falls, I propped my camera on a tripod. Though it was not very bright with the thick fog and early morning light, I put on an ND filter. This smoothed out the motion of the water, and made for some nice prints later!
Last April, I accompanied my wife on a trip to Tampa, Florida. In a previous post, I talked about the trip out of DCA south to Florida. I have never been to Tampa before, and this was a great opportunity to see a new city for me. From my research before arriving, I did see that they had a nice downtown with some large buildings that I hoped to get in photos while I was there.
During the day, my wife was at a convention to earn some continuing education credits. I had some photography projects to work on that I had on my laptop. Despite not being at home, I can do most of my work remotely. Thanks to readily available internet and fast laptop computers! While my wife was out, I walked around downtown Tampa and saw a lot of interesting sights.
The NHL Tampa Bay Lightning were in the middle of a playoff run! When I approached a building near city hall, I saw a ladder fire engine lifting the mayor up high into the sky! He revealed a “Go Bolts” banner on the side of the building. That was a fortunate event to run into!
Tampa is a very walkable city. From our hotel, we could walk along the Hillsborough River down to the Convention Center and Amalie Arena where the Lighting play. Walking around the arena area, we found a nice parking garage with a beautiful panoramic view of downtown. Because it was a quiet night in the city without any games being played in the arena, we spent some time getting some nice photos of the tall skyscrapers. I really enjoyed the short time we had to explore this area of Florida!
Earlier this year, we took a plane out of and back to Reagan National Airport. I accompanied my wife on a business trip. Since I can work remotely, it was a good opportunity for me to visit a new city. While I did have some photography work, I did find some time to go make some new images while there.
The first location on our trip was not far from home. Reagan National is the closest airport to downtown Washington, DC. During the time from checking in with the airline and boarding, the airport has a lot of possibilities to make architecture photos. The largest and most popular photos are made in the main terminal with its Jeffersonian Domes and long promenade.
Additionally, there is another great spot in the former Terminal A. Now, this section is a Conference Center and Historic Lobby as it no longer functions as a place for passengers to board airplanes. I have photographed some events in this space which is a showcase area for the DC area.
The large panoramic window provides a beautiful view of the airfield, the Potomac River, and shores of Maryland. Who doesn’t enjoy viewing planes as they take off or land? Maybe it heightens the anxiety for nervous flyers – lol!
On the flight back from the trip the good weather provided more opportunities for photos out of the window. The challenging approach to the airport follows the path of the Potomac River. On one side you may see the familiar sites of Washington, DC from the air, but this side I had view of Tysons, Arlington, and the Pentagon in Virginia.
All of these are so familiar to me from the ground but are really photo worthy from above. The fleeting time that you have above the area makes you hit the camera trigger much faster knowing there is no time to review them. It’s really time to spray and pray!
