Service with a :-) # 2 of 100

It's really a shame I can't remember her name, but she was such a pleasant and sunny person, I knew she had to be my next stranger. At the Cold Stone Creamery, she greeted EVERYONE with a smile and fun banter. I tried to capture just a little of that spirit. 

This is second stranger posted for my 100 Strangers Project. You can find out more about this project at www.100strangers.com/

Wings of Fancy

Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD, holds a butterfly exhibit (I think annually) called Wings of Fancy. I'd been there before -- at least four cameras ago. :-) The exhibit is held in a building that feels like a green house with swarms of butterflies. You can tell they are not from the "wild" because they have absolutely no fear of humans. They land on your head, arms, face even. It's just a beautiful scene. I managed to capture a few here and there.  :-)  See the photos.

Mr. Perry Grant, #1 of 100

I saw that my friend Mary was working on a 100 Strangers project that looked kind of cool. The concept is for photographers to find 100 strangers to befriend and shoot street portraits. It's a good chance to meet interesting people and improve your photography.

My first outing was at the National Mall on Earth Day. I found 12 strangers, from which I needed to pick one for my first post. I settled on Perry Grant, who was sitting on a bench that bordered the Mall. We had a pretty short conversation about nothing special, but it seemed he appreciated my stopping by. It was one of my more satisfying meetings of the day, so I chose him as my first stranger.

National Arboretum

Our Shutterbug Excursions group spent an early Springtime morning in the National Arboretum. Apparently peak season was delayed by about 10 days, but the flowers still blossomed for us.

Ellicott City

A number of my Shutterbug Excursions members keep mentioning that historic Ellicott City, MD, is a great place to take pictures. We haven't gotten around to scheduling a trip, but I did want to see what all the hype was about.

I enjoy quaint little towns like EC. There was a literal Main Street, complete with shops, cafe's, and an old style train station. And of course, the obscure photograph or two.

Mooooo

Ok, so my parents and my sister live in Houston.... out in the middle of nowhere. Here's proof. I was going back and forth between their homes, and I kept passing the same cow pastures. It's a yucky day, and the cows are mildly interesting. After several trips, I couldn't help myself. I had to stop and shoot a few frames. See the photos.

Tiara & Sean

I love photographing people, so I was really looking forward to my shoot with Tiara and Sean. We went out to Glen Echo Park, MD...a great location for portraits. Tiara and Sean were playful and just naturals in front of the camera. These are a couple of my favs.

Snow Day

Six inches of snow equals a snow day in the Washington, D.C., area. The kids were off and restless, so I took my youngest to Annapolis for an hour or so to play in the snow. Annapolis has great architecture, but the snow gave it a whole different character. See the photos.

Where Rosa sat

I was enjoying a Heritage Program performance at my kids' school tonight when one of the classes re-enacted Rosa Parks' historic act of defiance. It reminded me of a trip I took to The Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. One of the exhibits is the exact bus Rosa Parks rode on her historic trip in 1955. The bus has been restored to its original condition, so I couldn't resist taking a picture in the seat where Rosa sat.

The Awakening National Harbor

Our last Shutterbug Excursion took us to National Harbor. I never thought I'd volunteer to go anywhere at dawn on a weekend, but there we all were...at Prince George's County's latest destination. National Harbor is home to a statue called The Awakening....a 100-foot depiction of a giant embedded in the earth struggling to free himself. Great photo opportunity for early morning shutterbugs. See the photos.

Inauguration Tuesday

This Tuesday, I took the adventure of attending the Inauguration of Barack Obama to president of the United States.

I started at 6:30 am thinking I would get a jump on the crowds. Coming out of the Metro Station, I quickly realized that a million of my closest friends felt the same way, and the crowds were elbow to elbow all the way in and throughout the day.

From my vantage point, we could see a small silhouette of Barack Obama on the stage, and thanks to my zoom lens, I could get a little closer.

Other than the event, I was moved by the sea of humanity the stretched behind and before me, so that's what most of my pictures captured. See the photos.

The Pre-Inauguration hype

The Inauguration is two days away, so I took my sons down to the National Mall to see up close where everything would happen. I told them there was no way they would get up close on Tuesday, but I want them to have some idea where things were happening when they saw it on TV.

The energy of the week was already pretty high. The networks were set up and doing live broadcasts from the Mall, so we did our share of gawking. In the freezing cold, we made our way up the Mall to the Capitol, where he Inauguration would happen. It was pretty cool, actually. See the photos.

The National Cathedral

Every now and then I like to take a test run on a location I plan to use for a Shutterbug Excursion. I'd been threatening to take the group to the National Cathedral during the winter, but I'd never really been there.

I'm glad I took the trip. The cathedral was as majestic as I'd imagined. Inside, the architecture and stained glass was really a work of art. I tried to get a few shots to document that I was there. I'm looking forward to some even better ones when I take the group. See the Photos.