Silhouettes and reflections in Portland. 

     I love all of the different elements here. The standard laying brick interrupted by the circular brick framing the black metal figure of the vaguely Greco/Roman woman. And to top it all off, the graffiti scribbled across her forehead. For some reason I can't look away.

     Street scenes and reflections in Portland.

     And I'm back! Sorry for the half year long hiatus! Since then I have completely organized, keyworded, and rated all of my pictures. That's right, all 44,000 or so. I have also done a fair bit of traveling and can't wait to get back to posting.
     This week's Black and White is of my lovely friend Andrea in the Japanese Gardens in Portland, Oregon. More to come!

     While I was in San Fransisco we took a little day trip north to Sonoma County for some wine tastings. On the way we stopped at Muir Woods, a national park 12 miles north of the city. It is a small redwood forest, and is utterly breathtaking. 
     We arrived mid morning after the early morning rain had stopped. The air was still damp and clean and drops fell occasionally from the leaves. It was the smell though that most impacted me, it was so beautiful. An almost floral, fresh evergreen type sent. I wanted to bottle it and take it with me. As we walked among the trees and mist rose, the sun streamed through the branches. It was timeless and magical.

     I've been awol for weeks but now I'm back! Luckily, it was mostly for fun reasons. For a couple weeks I was visiting friends in LA and San Fransisco, and soaking up lots of good times. There will be some posts on those adventures in the weeks to come. For this week's black and white I've picked a photo of my lovely friend Alexis, whom I stayed with while I was in LA. This was our first morning, out at a delicious little coffee shop called Cantina. 

     The weekend before last I volunteered as a photographer for Art All Night here in DC. It's an art festival that takes place all over the city, all night long. I saw paintings and drawings, sculptures, dancers, musicians, performers and everything in between. I took a lot a fun pictures. One of my favorite black and whites from the night is today's black and white of the week. Here is a fire dancer performing well past midnight at North Capitol Street.

     I went to shoot the supermoon on Sunday at the Kennedy Center. I brought my longest lens and my tripod, just not my tripod plate. That was sitting on my desk at home. Whoops! I was still able to capture the full moon, but not the full eclipse. It was really an amazing sight though, and I'm glad I saw it with my own eyes.

     My Aunt Mary has run Juilleret's restaurant in Charlevoix, Michigan for 28 years. At the end of this season she will be retiring. Before the restaurant closed I was able to shadow her on a typical day, starting at 4:30 am. This week's black and white is from that series, and it is one of my very favorites. Stay tuned this weekend for the whole series!

     I recently acquired a macro lens and have been having fun with it. As my sister will tell anyone, when I first opened the box I mounted it on my camera and looked for any small objects in sight. The closest happened to be little figurines on my sister's desk, so I immediately got as close to them with my lens as possible. This meant however, that I was essentially laying on top of Kristine who at the time was seated at her desk. She was not too pleased with the set up. Anyway, the point is I have been taking lots of super up close photos, though now with a little more regard for my surroundings. 
     This week's black & white is with that wonderful lens, and of my sister's engagement ring. It is super lovely and I hope I was able to catch a little bit of the sparkle it gives off in person.

     This weekend I went to Philly to visit my sister Kristine and her fiancé Matt. The main purpose was to take their engagement pictures! We (that is Kristine and I), had so much fun and Matt put up with us very nicely. (He's a keeper, lol.) It happened to be a long weekend so we also got to go to an arboretum nearby, and go out one night on Main St in Manayunk. I had a great time, and was so happy to see their new and first real place together. This week's B&W is from the arboretum, but stay tuned for some of the engagement pictures!

     I've been spending a fair amount of time on the National Mall lately, and of course, taking a fair few pictures. While most tourist only really see the National Mall when they visit Washington DC, too many locals don't take advantage of it, and this is sad on both accounts. DC has so much more to offer than just the National Mall, but it is an amazing place and I'm happy to get the chance to frequent it. 

     The best time to go is at odd hours and weird days, when the place isn't swamped with tourist. So super early hours during the summer, or just visit it in the off season. This also means that besides missing the crowds, you also miss the incredible heat and humidity that DC can throw at you. At these times you can find a nice place to sit and soak in the monuments and memorials. I find it always leaves me feeling calmer and more humble, and I love it.

     This week's black and white shows one of those nice quite moments on the Mall. Enjoy!

     I know I have fallen completely behind on posting, but this week I do in fact finally have a black and white of the week! Last week I was home visiting, and made a little trip up to my Aunt's house in Michigan. I took a lot of photos of my Aunt Mary and her restaurant because it is, sadly, closing. There will be more of those to come!
     But I wanted to take a chance to post this photo of my Aunt Pam, who I only made it into a few frames of this trip (in comparison to Mary) but who I am wonderfully close to.
     Stay tuned for more Alaska posts and Michigan!

     I laughed out loud when I saw this on the street. Had to take a picture. Everyone is different and that is a really amazing and wonderful thing.

     This Monday I woke at 5 am to walk down to the Lincoln Memorial to shoot the sun rise over the district. It's a really beautiful, powerful and peaceful sight. The city is quietly awake already but not overtly. The birds are happily chirping away, cars with headlights shining glide down the streets. Locals run in the Mall and up the Lincoln stairs in the hours around dawn, before the workday starts. 
     In the time before the sun broke the horizon I took some photos of the Memorial itself. I think that this is my favorite one. Lincoln is normally surrounded by visitors during the day, so it's rather a different experience getting to approach him alone. The sense of reverence is at it's hight at this hour, and I don't think you can help but be moved.

     Mom and child.

     I love the way black and white makes you think and look more at light and shape than a color photograph. It has a wonderful quality to it that I am always drawn to. Here is one such photo. A metro escalator.