Springtime in Maryland

It’s been a long winter.  A seriously long winter.  A cold, snowy, unbearably long winter.  We’ve had three historic snow storms this winter, and have had something in the area of 80″ of total snowfall, which dwarfs our normal 30″ of snow.  In mid-February, we had two storms drop a total of 50″ of snow in the space of just a few days, leaving 10+ foot drifts across the major highways nearby, and closing schools for over a week.  Needless to say, snow has been on the ground most of the winter, and most of my photographs have had ice and snow in them.

So, when the weather changed last week, and we had a stretch of sunny, 60+ degree days, it was more than welcome.  The snow is finally gone, the grass is greening up, the tree buds are opening, and most importantly, the first flowers of the spring are starting to open.  I can’t tell you how great it is to take photos, and not have ice or snow dominating them.  After the weekend’s rain, the next five days are looking great – sunshine and temperatures in the 60s.  This is why Spring is my favorite time of year.

Crocuses - Up Close and Personal

Pansies

Pansies

The Mike O’Meara Show is back…

Not related to photography, but it is of interest to me, so…

For fans of the Mike O’Meara show, which was taken off of WJFK in DC (and other stations nationally) when the station switched format earlier this year, there is good news.  The show is back, and available in Podcast form here:

http://www.mikeomearashow.com/

The whole gang is back, including Robb and Buzz.  The show is great, and sounds exactly like it did at WJFK, with great content and production values.  Hopefully, the gang make it back onto more radio stations over time, and do well in their new endeavor.  Be sure to check out the podcasts on their site.

My new Photo-A-Day Site…

In order to keep myself motivated to do more shooting during the new year, I’ve set up a new web site where I post one or two photos each day.  Please check it out, and let me know what you think:

SnapView: http://snapview.wordpress.com/

Merry Christmas!!!

Hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday with family and friends!

Festive

Happiness

Mmmmm... Cookies!

Click for more photos from my SmugMug!

Sunny and 75 degrees on November 8?!?

Great day to go to Joe’s Crab Shack, and eat outside!  Fantastic early November day – it felt more like September than November, which is fine with me.  I grabbed a couple of shots that kind of capture the warmth of the day.

One of the eateries at The Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg, MD

Quite a few folks eating lunch outside on this November afternoon.

The outside patio at Joe's Crab Shack (Gaithersburg, MD)

Photos from our Trip to Tennessee

I finally got around to uploading photos from our trip to Tennessee.  I’ll post a few here, but the rest of them can be found at:

 

http://chriswhite.zenfolio.com/p553136739

 

I’ll be posting a lot more from the Tennessee trip in the next couple of days, including shots from Ripley’s Aquarium, as well as more from Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

The Great Smokey Mountains (as seen from our cabin)

Downtown Gatlinburg

Sheri and Becca, enjoying the hot tub at our cabin

Some of my Favorite Photos from this Past Spring and Summer

As we head towards winter, and its accompanying cold weather, I thought it might be nice to post a few shots from summer, to remind myself that winter won’t last forever, and that the fun and sun of summer will be with us again before we know it.  Even though we lost some of our summer to bad weather, and Sheri’s fight with a nasty virus that hung on forever, we still had a great time.

Ocean City, MD

Scavenger of the Beach (Ocean City, MD)

Gone Fishing (North Beach, MD)

Mom & Dad (North Beach, MD)

Becca (Washington, DC)

Lauren (Washington, DC)

Mom & Dad (Washington, DC)

Tulips (Washington, DC)

Sheri (My beautiful wife, being silly in Baltimore, MD)

Lauren & Becca (Charlestown, WV)

Lauren (Baltimore, MD)

An Early New Years Resolution (kind of)…

Even though we’re only part way through November, I’ve decided to make a more concerted effort to keep my blog up-to-date, as well as to try to capture images every day.  As part of this, I’ve changed the blog look and feel, and also plan to build out the blog a bit more.  So, we’ll see how this goes.

To kick things off with the new, improved blog, I decided to post this shot of Becca from the other day; the camera truly loves her!  For those interested, this was taken with the Canon 5D Mark II, and the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 (200mm, f/2.8), with a little fill flash to give her face and eyes a little life.

My 52 Week Project (which is actually only 19 weeks)

In order to continue to push my photographic skills further, I’m engaged in a 52 week project, where I shoot, process and post at least one or two shots a week.  However, I started this rather late in the year, hence the “19-Weeks” subtitle.  With work, it can be tough to find the time, but I figure it’s a worthwhile effort, especially with fall just around the corner. You can access my “52 Week” gallery here:

http://cwhite.smugmug.com/Photography/52-Weeks/9392269_FcdMH/1/640427512_jjbff

A couple of recent shots from my 52-Week gallery:

Macro flower shot

Interesting sign outside a local church

Back to School – Back Too Soon

It’s that time of year again, when children from all parts of the country feel that impending sense of doom, commonly called back-to-school.  As if it’s not bad enough that the days are getting shorter, and winter is getting closer, school administrators seem intent on slicing off even more of our summer, by having school start the last week of AUGUST.  Whatever happened to school starting after Labor Day?  We at least had the last week of August, and the first few days of September to properly mourn the loss of the warm season; now, the body of summer is barely cold before we’re burying it in the ground, and welcoming fall to take it’s place.

The girls headed back to school today, armed with new book bags, lunch boxes, clothes and various school supplies.  This year is a little different, because both girls are advancing into new schools, with Becca storming into middle school, and Lauren marching in as a new high school freshman.  Even though they were both a little nervous about the new school situation, I think they were also excited.  Lauren has already been involved in the high school marching band practices, so she’s especially excited.

Becca, looking up from organizing her book bag before school

Lauren, practically giddy with excitement

Yay! Almost time for the bus!!

Lauren is especially stoked about the new school year, not so much for the academic challenges, but because she has joined the high school marching band, and will take part in ceremonies at football games, and in various competitions.  We saw the marching band practicing at it’s last summer practice a couple of weeks ago, and I must say that they are all looking very good, even at this early point in the year.  Watching Lauren out on the field, marching in step with the rest of the band, it’s pretty clear that she is not only enjoying herself, but also making new friends, which is helpful when starting out in high school.  I already have a few photos posted from the final summer band practice, and am planning to add more during the next several months as the band entertains at games, and in competition.  The photos can be found here:

http://cwhite.smugmug.com/School/Brunswick-High-Railroader-Band/9295801_K7R6t/1/621287923_bmohN

Brunswick High Railroader Band

That’s about it for now.  I’ll be posting more regularly, now that school is back in session.  Stay tuned.