Tag Archives: Speaker of the House

Smithsonian Candidate #3…From The Speaker’s Balcony

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I am thinking of entering the Smithsonian Photo Contest even though I have zero chance of winning. I say that not to denigrate my ability as a photographer, but each category already has over 50,000 entries. Sure a lot of them are crap but some, well follow the link above and see for yourself. Also you can only submit work from 1/1/2016 until the present and all works with people must have a model release.

If you are familiar with any of my work (e.g. Moment and Souls) you probably realize I don’t have a lot of model releases.

Fortunately I do have some images that may qualify in other categories and will be publishing some here to see if you feel they quality. Please comment and let me know your thoughts. This was taken from The Speakers Balcony of The Us Capitol. It kind of reflects the mood of the country.

To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.

From The Speakers Balcony

Scenic Views Candidate #2–View From The Speaker’s Gallery

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I am going to be posting images that I may have posted before with a candidate # thereby collecting a list of what I feel would be likely candidates to print for a gallery show of new images of only digital photography. Right now I am reviewing images that are scenic in nature. This is Washington D.C. as seen from The Speaker’s Balcony of the U.S. Capitol

To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.

Candidate #2--The Speaker's Balcony

Speaker’s Balcony HDR Redux

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I have been experimenting a lot with Google’s NIK Collection photo editing tools. Previously I have created HDR images by using auto bracketing on my camera and combining the images with Adobe Lightroom. However, The Nik Collection offers editing tools that are pretty effective.

The advantage of HDR is the increase of detail and color adjustment in the image. I still feel that auto bracketing offers more detail because it actually changes the size of the image. The Adobe Lightroom auto combine also has a powerful de-ghosting procedure that allows you to take HDR images without the use of a tripod. However as you can see from the two images below, the NIK tool also increases detail without a dramatic increase in image size.

Not all images are improved by the HDR process and I am not sure if this image actually benefits although the change is dramatic. What’s your opinion? Comments are truly appreciated.

To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.

From The Speakers Balcony

From The Speakers Balcony

HDR Redux

HDR Redux

Storm Clouds Over The Capitol

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The U.S.Capitol is currently being renovated inside and out. They are working hard to have it ready for the inauguration next January. Too bad few inside the building are working at anything except making themselves richer and being errand boys for the lobbyists that own them. Sigh. Sorry, I really do try to keep politics off this blog.

The building is beautiful and so is its history. This is an HDR merge photo of the exterior front.

To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.

Storm Clouds over the Capitol

Storm Clouds over the Capitol

The Washington Monument

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Washington D.C. has a lot of wonderful monuments. The Lincoln and Jefferson are fantastic and so are the newer monuments. However, The Washington Monument is our Eiffel Tower and iconic of our democracy. It is also fitting since George Washington was the father of our country. Not just because he was the first President.

People wanted George Washington to be King but he said we had just worked to overthrow a King and we didn’t need another. People wanted him to rule the country as a General but he resigned his commission and insisted that the Military and The Government had to be separate. Along with Jefferson and many others he developed our Constitution and resigned his Army commission to become our first President. In his final speech he warned us about political parties and oligarchy. Too bad we didn’t listen.

To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.

The Washington Monument

The Washington Monument

The Speaker’s Balcony

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On our recent visit to The Nation’s Capitol we were given a personal tour of Congress by an aide to Representative Pat Tiberi (R-OH). Our own Senator never answered our request and my great nephew arranged for the tour. I want to thank Mr. Tiberi’s office for arranging the tour on such short notice. I learned that if you want to visit go through your Representative or Senator rather than arrange a tour on your own.

There are many perks for doing this. Your group will be small, it was just myself and my wife. Your tour guide can save you hours in line. If Congress is not in session you will be allowed on the floor of Congress. You can only do this with a personal guide. It was really inspiring to sit in on one the chairs and have the view that congress has when listening to the State of The Union. Also the Representative from your home district will be knowledgeable about your state and the history as it relates to the Capitol.

You will be allowed to visit The Speaker’s Gallery which offers one of the best views of Washington DC. This is where the Speaker of the House can sit outside and enjoy a private lunch with his colleagues or a cigar. This is the view that the third most powerful person in our government enjoys every day.

To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.

The Speaker's Balcony

The Speaker’s Balcony