Oh Christmas Tree

Focus, young man!

I remember a friend once asked me to take a picture of the tree that my boys and I had just decorated for Christmas. I muttered something about Christmas tree pictures never come out good. You just can't do them justice.

I should have said pictures of MY trees don't come out good.

I've shot a few Christmas trees so far this season. The blur above is the Christmas tree in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress' Thomas Jefferson Building. After running out of ideas. I just put my camera focus on manual and pushed it as far out of focus as possible. I was being silly at the time, but I liked it as an artsy abstract. See the photos.

Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse

The current Thomas Point light is arguably the most widely recognized lighthouse in Maryland and is the only screw-pile light on the Chesapeake Bay still in its original location.

I didn't recognize it however, because despite my many trips to Annapolis over the past 15 years, I didn't even know the lighthouse existed. I was strolling up the pier in the Annapolis Harbor when I saw a sign offering a boat ride to Thomas Point Shoal. It was a beautiful day, so I thought there's got to be a good photo when there's a lighthouse involved.

It was late in the afternoon when we sailed up to and around the lighthouse. I got a number of shots from every angle. I even got a backlit shot that I thought would never work. (Keep your expectations very low.)

We sailed under the Bay Bridge and past a new Navy submarine that had just been christened. A great day overall, and I got a couple images I really like. See the photos.