Tag Archives: washington dc

Washington DC from A Cessna 172

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It’s not a view many people get to see nowadays and it requires a great deal of paper work, patience and luck. But when it all comes together, it is still way cool to fly over Washington DC.

This is the view looking west at the National Mall and the various museums and galleries. Capitol Building, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial are easy to make out. Supreme Court, Native American Museum are visible. And that big group of red roof buildings on the right? That’s Federal Triangle, part of the Pennsylvania Ave. National Historical Site.

Love this city!

 

Downtown Washington DC aerial view. Looking west.

Kenyan-born Socialist Democratically re-elected President United States

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Dear Mr. President,

Now that the voting is done. Now that the counting is complete (Florida, WTF! Again?). Now that every television commercial will not be a political ad. Now that those fatuous concerns about birth certificates and college transcripts are stuffed where they belong. Can we finally start a serious conversation about climate change?

That’d be great.

Thanks.

 

american flags at the rally for sanity, 2010

Farm Fresh in The City

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A lady checks the produce stand at Magruder's in NW Washington, DC.

There’s just something about strolling through a produce stand on a crisp Autumn day. Watching the customers as they carefully examine the various tubers, fruits and vegetables. The murmur of neighbors and acquaintances, “What are you preparing for tonight? Is that a squash? What is a “goard”, anyway?”

Of course, textures and colors attract as well.

Instagram

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Couple with smart phones on DC metro.

Recently I’ve noticed a new “hashtag” in the Instagram universe: #nofilter.

Ironically, when you come across that hashtag and click on it, you see that a great many of the thousands of images actually do have a “filter” applied. So I’m not sure everybody is getting the point of that particular hashtag. But that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is to point out that there is no such thing as “no filter.” Even a straight-out-of-the-camera image from a $5,000 dSLR has a “filter” applied. Whether you own a Nikon or a Canon, a Droid or an iPhone; whether you apply one of the built in treatments within Instagram or use Photoshop CS5 or LightRoom3 or 4 or the Camera Bag app…”filters” are all over the place. Different algorithms for different cameras will render red, green and blue differently, also color saturation, contrast and white-balance. No matter the camera, the moment you depress the shutter reality is altered. A “filter” is applied.

Instagram and similar apps offer pre-made treatments making it easy for you to give your image the look you’d like. Some are subtle, some are over-the-top. And some people get unnecessarily exercised over these things. They think that everyone 20 years down the road will “regret” ever using things like Instagram or Hipstamatic. Can’t say that I agree. In fact, whether you’re a pro or a hobbyist, no matter the camera or the app, knock yourself out. Ignore the curmudgeons.

Experiment. Explore. Enjoy.