O, Christmas tree!
Park Road & 13th Street
Monroe Street & 10th Street
Park Road & 13th Street
Park Road & 13th Street
Women Photojournalists of Washington
My dear friend Abby at the Women Photojournalists of Washington exhibit opening at Honfleur Gallery in early November (I know – this post is way overdue!)
Miss Allison, photographer extraordinaire and super running buddy!
After the gallery opening, Jenna, Amanda and I took off to photograph as part of FOTOweek DC’s late-night photo contest. A few dozen Native Americans from across the United States set up teepees on the Mall to bring attention to their request for a Native American veterans day.
Crawling through the grass for a shot.
Amanda in “The Blair Witch Photo Project,” as Jenna said.
Warming up with jazz at Columbia Station in Adams Morgan.
Jenna’s happy with her late-night Jumbo Slice (which later fueled dancing at Madam’s Organ.)
Samantha + John get hitched!
One of the first things you notice about Samantha and John is how much they make each other smile and laugh. We’re talking constant smiles and laughter! This, of course, made it an extra-special joy to photograph their wedding at the gorgeous Tabard Inn in Washington DC yesterday.
Samantha and John are the kind of confident, laid-back people who don’t let much get them down, which is why the rain on their wedding day didn’t bother them. They’re also the kind of people who are up for anything, which is how we ended up riding the carousel on the National Mall on a rainy Saturday afternoon. John walked up to the ticket guy, who looked up and around and said, “Brides always ride free”–as if he’d seen this hundreds of times before. But it was the first time for us and apparently the first time for a couple dozen amused tourists who snapped pictures of Samantha and John. The ride was so much fun! I admit I got dizzy, but it was worth it.
Thanks, Samantha and John, for allowing me to document the start of your marriage! I hope you two have an awesome honeymoon. See you when you return to DC!
Women Photojournalists of Washington exhibit during FotoWeek DC
The photographs in this slideshow are part of “Launch,” the Women Photojournalists of Washington‘s 2nd annual juried exhibit. (Can you guess which picture is mine? Hint: it’s kind of a patriotic photograph.) If you’re in the DC area, be sure to come to our opening reception at Honfleur Gallery on Saturday, November 7, right at the start of FotoWeek DC.
I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll still not be able to blow your (solar) house down
BeauSoleil, the University of Louisiana-Lafayette’s entry into the Solar Decathlon competition in Washington DC
Imagine a completely self-sufficient house strong enough to withstand another Hurricane Katrina. Students at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette did imagine it — and then built it with locally-available materials and solar technology. This year their house — named BeauSoleil, “sunshine” in Cajun French — is part of the Solar Decathlon competition in Washington DC, where it is on display with 19 other 100% solar-run homes built by university students from around the world.
According to a recent survey commissioned by the Solar Energy Industries Association, 92% of Americans think it’s important for the United States to develop solar technologies. About half are currently thinking of adding solar options to their homes or businesses. This means homes like the BeauSoleil potentially have a market in the U.S.
Gretchen Lacombe-Vanicor, the BeauSoleil team project manager, told a crowd waiting to tour the home that every student who helped design BeauSoleil felt a strong, personal attachment to the project: they’re all Louisiana natives and many experienced Katrina. Building a home that would still be standing after a Category 5 hurricane was of tantamount importance to them, she said. Also important? Using locally-available materials, such as cypress wood, running the home on solar power (39 solar panels, to be exact) and creating a home design that reflected Cajun culture’s emphasis on family, friends and food (gumbo, to be exact.)
I visited the BeauSoleil with a friend on Saturday, and while the building and design are beautiful, I wonder how feasible the house is as a mass-produced home. The BeauSoleil website says this home would cost between $120,00o to $150,000. That’s not bad but the house is small at under 800 square feet (per Solar Decathlon rules) and felt even smaller due to inefficient use of space. Despite several windows that faced south, the BeauSoleil was not bright. Even if a potential consumer were incredibly motivated to buy a 100% solar-powered home, the University of Louisiana-Lafayette team would likely have to make a few changes to the house for it to be marketable.
The BeauSoleil and other Solar Decathlon homes will be open for free tours again from Oct. 15-18.
Inside the BeauSoleil
People touring the BeauSoleil look up at the ceiling. My friend Bobbie DiPasquale is in the center of the picture.
Cajun welcome mat
Small flower and herb garden built into the BeauSoleil’s siding
The BeauSoleil reflected in a pool of plants indigenous to Louisiana
Note: A slightly different version of this post also appears on the Planet Forward-George Washington University blog page.
Family History: Mom
Many years ago, my Mom and Sister Chrispina were postulants at a convent in Seoul. Now Sister Chrispina is studying English in Washington DC, not far from my house. “What was my Mom like when she was younger?” I asked her. “Your Mom always said she wanted to fly, like this, with her arms,” said Sister Chrispina. “She wanted to fly all around the world!” It seemed an impossible dream at the time, coming as my Mom did from a poor family in a country still recovering from war. But my Mom has been around the world many times over. So has Sister Chrispina. This past weekend, they met for the first time in seven years. I hope they have many more opportunities to strengthen their friendship while Sister Chrispina is in the United States.
Airports around the world
Shenyang, China
What I love about an airport is knowing I could end up anywhere in the world from there. Sometimes, on my way to my gate, I stop and read the departure monitors. I like imagining where I would travel if I weren’t heading to my current destination: “Buenos Aires would be fun; I’ve never been there. Cleveland would be like another world. Plus I could visit the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Oooooh – Singapore! I could visit Sooz and Barry. Well, maybe next year. I should go to my gate now.”
The second thing I love about an airport is watching the people. Before 9/11 kept non-passengers from going to airline gates, I used to hang out at National Airport in Washington DC and watch people walk out of those tubular disembarking hallways and into their loved ones’ arms. Or not. Sometimes people came out, looked around for someone who wasn’t there and walked out to the main terminal halls. Budding writer that I was, I wrote down descriptions of these reunions (or non-reunions) and built short story scenes around what I saw.
In the past couple months I’ve spent a lot of time in airports. Which means I’ve also taken a lot of pictures in airports: the people, the buildings, the atmosphere. Some airports are like art museums, with sculptures and paintings and light displays (I’m thinking Detroit.) Some airports are like shopping malls, with people milling about the duty-free stores, picking out chocolates and perfumes and trinkets they don’t really need (I’m thinking Seoul-Incheon and London Heathrow.) It’s all incredibly fascinating. And so I’ve decided to start a photo essay on airports. Looking at the photographs I’ve posted, it seems that right now I’m interested in the architecture and the color in airports but I don’t really have a theme or an idea where this will lead me. We’ll see.
Detroit, USA
Detroit, USA
Seoul-Incheon, South Korea
Washington DC, USA
Massage by Marissa Gandelman
If you live in DC and you need a massage then you really should consider getting a massage from my friend Marissa. Everyone I’ve recommended to her has loved her. Marissa’s professional, caring and most of all, knowledgeable. And until the end of September, she’s offering 60-minute package specials.
These are some photographs I shot for her website earlier this year. I had a fun afternoon photographing three models in the beautiful window light of Marissa’s massage studio. Ahhh….revisiting these pictures makes me want a massage.
Vivi and Giovanni in National Airport
There I was, about to eat a fig bar before catching my flight to Boston at Reagan National Airport in DC, when a couple asked me to photograph them with their iPhone. Giovanni was heading to Miami. Maybe Vivi was going with him? I don’t remember. I do remember their lovely meeting story (I collect them, after all) but I won’t share it here because I don’t have permission. Vivi and Giovanni exuded happiness and playfulness and love and optimism. They were just so fun to photograph! I’m glad we crossed paths for a few minutes on Friday. Bonus realization from this impromptu shoot: National Airport is a fantastic location for engagement and wedding pictures.
Bicycling around Washington DC
She waited for the light to turn, the setting sun casting a long shadow in front of her.
Nineteen seconds, eighteen seconds, seventeen seconds….
The crosswalk light counted down the time left before plodding pedestrians would start annoying drivers. She usually ran through low-trafficked intersections like this when she was on her bike. Something told her to wait out this light.
Thirteen seconds, twelve seconds, eleven seconds….
No oncoming cars. No people. Just a lone bicyclist heading north. Even from this distance it was easy to see he rode a bike with ridiculously large handlebars, the kind that should have pink streamers flowing out of them. He looked like he belonged at the beach: no helmet, open shirt, flip flops. She wondered what he cradled in his right arm. Dinner? Books?
Five seconds, four seconds….
She looked at him. He looked at her. They locked eyes and smiled.
One second….
American University journalism students blog about….me
One of the things I love almost as much as creating stories, taking pictures and shooting video is teaching. As one of my professor friends says, teaching is not only a way to impart knowledge but a way for a piece of you to live on in your students – and in the world – after you’re gone. A good teacher and his or her lessons will stay with you forever.
This is all just a long-winded and slightly sentimental way for me to say that I had a blast teaching photojournalism and Photoshop basics today at American University’s School of Communication journalism boot camp for new journalism grad students. All three dozen students are required to blog about each day of boot camp like it’s a news story, which means there are pictures and more pictures (a funny one here) and video and word stories and bits of written stories about….me.
I felt so weird being on the other side of the camera/video camera/microphone (though it’s not the first time.) Right at the start of class there was this funny, paparazzi-like moment when seven or eight students stood up almost in unison to take pictures of me talking. My first thought was: whoa! My second thought was: at least they’re standing up instead of sitting down to take this picture! And now, having seen the pictures and the video of me talking, my third thought is: I need to improve my posture. Ha!
Anyway, the students were all fantastic. They asked a ton of good questions, especially about photojournalism ethics. The few students I had the chance to talk with one-on-one are thoughtful and hopeful about the stories they’ll be telling during grad school. I’m heartened to see so many eager people entering the profession, especially at such a difficult time in the industry. I hope I’ll run into them all again someday.
Urban gardening in DC
I knew I had to meet Ed Bruske, a pretty well-known urban gardener here in Washington DC, when I read a short bio of him that said he was “in the process of turning his front yard into an edible landscape.” An edible landscape! Just what would that look like in the middle of the city?
This morning I had the pleasure of finding out. Since 2005, Ed has raised vegetables, herbs and flowers in his front yard. This summer’s crop includes beans, tomatoes, garlic, okra and kale. “You can grow just about anything in the city and that may come as a surprise to people,” he said. “The vegetables and fruits that we grow don’t know where they are. They don’t really care. As long as they’re getting enough sun and enough nutrients out of the soil, they’re perfectly happy.” Neighbors haven’t always been happy about his mini farm in the city (“embarrassing” and a “feeding ground” for rats are just two descriptions posted by a commenter on Ed’s blog in 2007). But he said sentiment has recently been more positive, especially since Michelle Obama planted a White House garden.
Ed said his garden was the catalyst for a lifestyle change for him, his wife and his nine-year-old daughter. The family recycles or composts almost everything. Ed even collects his neighbors’ grass clippings and fallen leaves for the compost pile. In one week the family sometimes doesn’t throw away enough refuse to fill a kitchen-size trash bag. “We’re deeply involved and conscious now of where the things that we consume go and changed our lifestyle accordingly.”
The garden and the lifestyle changes that have come with it remind Ed of his childhood in the suburbs of Chicago, where his father tended rhubarbs, strawberries and tomatoes in their backyard. “I have those actual memories of being a kid with a salt shaker, sitting in the tomato patch, eating tomatoes fresh off the vine. Those memories were kind of vivid to me and this [the garden] kind of brought it back.”
(An aside for the photographers/videographers out there reading this: Earlier in the morning, I was just pulling my cameras out of my bag and missed a shot of Ed eating tomatoes fresh off his own vines. He didn’t do it again the whole time I followed him before our formal interview. Then Ed told me this vignette about being a kid and eating tomatoes and I was even more bummed I missed the tomato shot. I only hoped it would happen again. In my last ten minutes with Ed, I shadowed him around the compost pile and through the garden and you can imagine how thrilled I felt when he reached out and ate a couple small tomatoes off his vine. This time I was ready with my video camera. The lesson? Patience, patience, patience; humans are repetitive beings. Especially when tasty tomatoes are involved.)
What a great morning! I’m definitely not a green thumb but I feel inspired to try growing a plant or two at home. A big thanks to Ed for sharing his time, his garden and his knowledge with me.
Women Photojournalists of Washington (WPOW)
I’m treasurer of this pretty awesome and inspiring group called the Women Photojournalists of Washington. We held our quarterly membership meeting this past Sunday.
Top picture: Jenna Isaacson Pfueller listens to our panelists talk about balancing work and family.
Middle picture: Our speakers were (left to right) Karen Kasmauski, Juana Arias, Mary Calvert, Annie Griffiths Belt, Aude Guerrucci and Barbara Salisbury.
Bottom picture: Our meetings are fun!
Flying!
Just another day in DC: here I am flying over 9th & H St. this morning. (Photograph by Leslie Sargent)
Leslie and I had a FANTASTIC time at Trapeze School today! I felt like I was back in my competitive gymnast days. Our 10-person class started with a 15-minute primer on how to hold the metal bar and the importance of listening to directions. Then, just like that, we were climbing up to the 23-foot high trapeze platform one at a time to swing and flip. The scariest part was leaning off the platform to grab the bar. An instructor held on to my safety belt while I reached for the bar. Then he said, “Ready….hep!” and I jumped off. Wheeeee! I’m not sure what I’m doing in the picture above: either getting ready to pull my legs up so I can hang or getting ready to do a back flip dismount. I regret that I didn’t bring one of my professional cameras. Next time I will. Yes, I’m going back!
(Photographs below, from top: Leslie reaching for the bar, me after being caught, the catcher.)
Jen and Josh – married!
While photographing Jen and Josh’s small wedding near the Jefferson Memorial yesterday, I have to admit I teared up a bit. From the moment these two chatted at a work happy hour last summer, they wanted to spend every moment together, listening to each other and learning more about each other. Jen’s independence, energy and athleticism appealed to Josh. Josh, meanwhile, came as a complete surprise to Jen; I think she might have described him as coming out of left field. Their love is palpable.
After the ceremony, Jen, Josh and I cruised around downtown DC in a 1963 Bentley – a sweet ride for sure – taking pictures in front of the Washington Monument and the Capitol. (The last picture in this blog post, the one of them leaning against the car, is one of my favorites from the day.) They just couldn’t stop laughing and smiling at each other! Every once in a while some tourist or passerby would start humming the Wedding March, which of course caused more laughter and smiling.
Jen and Josh held their reception dinner at the Tabard Inn, near Dupont Circle. Let me tell you this place is a photographer’s dream. It’s elegant with beautiful colors, interesting decorations and tons of natural light. The staff is friendly and accommodating. From now on I’ll be recommending the Tabard to brides and grooms looking for a cozy reception site.
Thanks for letting me be part of your day, Jen and Josh. Have fun in Italy and talk to you when you’re back!
Perfect
DC has been incredibly beautiful these past two days, deliciously warm and sparkly and clear, like life is perfect.
A penny saved is a penny earned
Tonight I continued working on my story about Leslie, the woman who collects change she finds on the street. After more than two years of doing this, she’s got her search method down pat.
- Walk near parking meters, street curbs and bus stops; people are likely to drop change there and not have time to pick it up.
- When scanning dirt, look for something perfectly round since “nothing in nature is perfectly round,” she says.
- Be willing to step out in traffic but remember to watch for oncoming cars.
As a photographer I consider myself a fairly observant and aware person but I’m telling you, Leslie has hawk eyes. There were times she’d yelp in delight over spying a penny and I wouldn’t see it until she held it in her hand. Clearly, this is an acquired skill.
Leslie’s intake this evening: 32 cents. Plus, I found a penny, too! I have to admit I was pretty excited.
What do you talk about with cab drivers?
I rarely take cabs, but when I do, it’s usually because I’m loaded down with camera and video equipment. Inevitably, the cab driver asks me if I’m a photographer, which leads to him (and it’s always a him) asking me about what lens he should be using or what went wrong when he took this one picture or “please explain again about the inverse relationship between the f-stop number and the amount of light coming into the camera.” (This last one was from a cab driver a few weeks ago).
I love these conversations! In a small way, these men let me inside their lives. I learn something about them that other passengers – at least, those passengers not lugging around a tripod and lighting gear and cameras – might never know. I help these men learn a little bit more about photography, which I love, of course! And I get reminded that everyone has lives and interests outside of work; sometimes this is hard to remember since what we do for money tends to define who we are in society.
Today I waited and waited in the cold rain for a cab to take me from near my office in downtown DC up to American University, where I was slated to talk about and help students edit multimedia projects. (Thanks for having me, Angie!) Finally, an empty cab pulled up to the curb. At first the driver mistook my tripod, in its black bag, for a violin. Once we established I work as a photographer and videographer, his eyes lit up. “I’m working on a project with all my old VHS videos,” he said with a slight Caribbean accent. He launched into the story of his latest endeavor: digitizing his collection, stripping the sound from his many videos and replacing the sound with music.
We talked about software options. I finally recommended Final Cut Express. He said the price seemed reasonable and the tools seemed powerful. I wanted to ask him about the videos and why he’s undertaking this huge project but I didn’t get the chance. We arrived at my destination. “Good luck with the videos!” I said as I climbed out of the cab and scrambled to gather my stuff in the rain. “Thanks for your help!” he called back. I hope his project works out.
Blossoming
It’s spring in DC, which means one thing: cherry blossoms! Seems half the East Coast descended upon the city today to walk amongst these beautiful pink flowers. My mom and dad came up for a visit from Virginia, and the three of us braved the 30 mph winds and the huge crowds, though looking at these pictures you might think we had the whole place to ourselves! My dad said he felt like he was walking through snowdrifts except all the snow was permanently suspended above us. It was gorgeous!
Ummm….I won!
I’m not a bragger but I have to share the good news! The photograph above will be exhibited at the Newseum along with 99 other winning pictures from the Fotobama photography contest. It will also be published in a book later this year. I’m excited!
I made this picture right after the “We Are One” concert, which was the Saturday Sunday before Inauguration Day. For just a moment, several people in the crowd turned to stare at the snipers on top of the Old Executive Office Building at 17th St. and E St.
I like this picture, yet I have to admit I’m not sure why the judges picked it over the other two photographs I entered in the contest. This has pleasing light. A subtle moment. A curiosity factor, for sure. Maybe I’ll understand better when I attend the opening reception in early May. Perhaps this picture works well with the other winning pictures to tell the story of President Obama’s election and inauguration?
Anyway….yippeee! And don’t let me forget a big THANKS to Allison for helping me edit my contest entry!
Pennies from heaven
How many times have you seen a penny or a dime on the ground and not picked it up? If you’re like me, probably hundreds of times, which means we’ve passed up hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars in free money during our lifetimes!
Leslie, an awesome woman I met when she modeled for a photo shoot I recently did, never passes up a penny. In fact, she tells me she can see them stuck at the bottom of street grates (more about that in a minute), melted into summer streets and buried in dirt. In December 2006, Leslie made a New Year’s resolution to pick up all the change she found lying around. She collected $76.80 in found money in 2007, $148.48 in 2008 and she’s up to $28.33 for 2009. She’s got friends and family giving her their found money for the penny project, as she calls it; sometimes they even text her when they find change in the street: QUARTER! When she tells strangers about her project, they remember; one man she met at a business conference recently mailed her a penny he found.
“This has changed the way I live my life,” she said. “When I’m going somewhere, I can take the bus…or I can walk and probably find pennies. To me, the application to real life is, how many small good things in your life are you overlooking?”
I love this attitude about life! Which is why I’ve started a story on Leslie and her pennies. She wants to use the money she collects to start a non-profit organization that teaches financial literacy to kids or helps military veterans (she’s a West Point graduate). We’re going to hang out again soon so I can witness her eagle eye for loose change. She told me she once crouched over a shallow street grate, chopsticks in hand, to fish out $1.83 she saw in there.
(P.S. The cat picture at the end has nothing do with this story. I just like the photograph!)
(Above: That's me photographing while snowshoeing through a snowstorm. Picture by