Capitol Hill Walkabout

Monday is typically a good day to drive in to town for a morning walk. The other reason is to take photos for the weekly 52Frames photo challenge. I didn’t have high hopes for the photo challenge because the subject is “portrait” and I wasn’t in the mood to find a stranger to pose, and we didn’t come across anyone that looked like they might like to participate. So instead we just enjoyed the walk and I took photos of random things. We parked in our old neighborhood and walked the walk we took for thirteen years. The vegetable garden at the Library of Congress was growing tall already. It was very quiet at the Capitol - except at the visitor center entrance. There was barely anyone in sight in a panoramic shot. There was a large school group posing for photos. The ducks were out and about in the reflecting pool. Since it was getting quite warm we decided to make it a short excursion, stopping inside the US Botanic garden. There are always new orchids on display as well as other favorites throughout the outside gardens. There was what looked to be a pineapple plant at the Bartholdi fountain gardens, along with the vegetable garden with the Capitol building in the background. We trudged back to the car just in time to hit the two mile mark. We are never disappointed visiting the old neighborhood. 

Vegetable Gardens in the Most Unlikely Places

We lived on Capitol Hill for thirteen years. I worked at the Library of Congress for ten years. Since we moved to northern Virginia five years ago we visit our old neighborhood at least once a week. On Monday we found a place to park near our old condo and started our walk towards the Capitol. It always seems funny to run in to large vegetable gardens outside of the Library of Congress Madison Building. We saw it being planted a couple of weeks ago. Now it’s already sprouting. Another place that has a very large outdoor vegetable garden is Bartholdi Park - a part of the US Botanic Garden. For some reason it just looks odd to see greens and such growing with the US Capitol Building in the background. This year in front of the US Botanic Garden building are raised garden beds contributed by school and other groups. The crops are shared locally at a variety of places for the underserved and otherwise. It’s such a joy to see all of these gardens consistently doing well and cared for by the professional staffs of the architect of the Capitol. We always enjoy our morning walks in the city. And it’s all so familiar! 

52Frames Abstract Weekly Photo Challenge

The subject for the 52Frames photo challenge this week was “abstract.” Apparently there are several types of abstract, but I always tend to go with my gut. And I have learned a lot of new techniques since joining this online group. So we drove in to town last week and I just started taking photos of things using the “live” option on my iPhone. That way, any of the photos could be turned in to long exposure while editing. The Capitol steps were one option. The waterfountain spray was another. Then there were all the ducks splashing about. The water sprays in front of the National gallery of art are always nice and with a great deal of editing the photo became even more interesting. I am not happy with a single photo so I spend a lot of time creating composites - using several images to make one. The coneflowers at the US botanic garden were a great subject too. But the rounded glass windows and faux stream and waterfalls at the Smithsonian American Indian Museum turned out the best. I used two layers and converted one in to a negative which created some lovely dramatic colors. Then a second layer was superimposed at a different level and crop. I liked the end result even though I’m not sure it meets the criteria. I guess I’ll find out this week if it was a good choice. 

Happy Father’s Day

My dad was a very quiet guy. But he also provided for his family and I always appreciated what he did for us. He passed away on Father’s Day nine years ago. So I would never have an excuse to forget him - not that I ever would. He really liked taking photos with his very complex camera that I am sorry I didn’t keep. This is a rare photo that my mom took of me and my brother and my dad way back when in New England. It’s one of my favorites. We were playing with something related to that camera. Happy Father’s Day! 

Stacking Rocks in the Park

It started a few months ago. We were taking a morning walk in the neighborhood park and at the point after crossing one of the foot bridges there was a stack of rocks. This stack of three very large racks were carefully balanced on a cut off tree trunk. Someone had to have constructed this small “tower” - but who? These are very heavy rocks. Then a bit later all of the rocks were on the ground. Someone must have knocked them down. Then later, the rocks were stacked in a different configuration again on the cut off trunk. Then they were knocked down again. It started to be the name of the game - someone stacked and balanced the rocks; someone else came through and knocked the structure all down. Yesterday the rocks were stacked again. Today the rocks - and the stump - were on the ground. Perhaps it was a message to stop doing it for safety reasons. I could definitely see some small person getting injured doing this folly. It will be interesting to see what happens next. I guess we will find out on our next visit. 

52Frames Line From a Song Photo Trending

I am hoping g to keep in this “winning streak!” About seven weeks ago a fellow 52Frames framer commented on my photo that it was trending on the main page website. Since I don’t regularly check the main page I discovered something I didn’t know about. Since then I have been making it a habit to check the 52Frames site daily. This week the new album with the subject “line from a song” came out in Tuesday like it does every week. On Wednesday my photo was trending again. It’s really cool because there are usually 2500-3000 photos entered every week. So this week makes seven weeks in a row that my photo was trending at some time during the week. And it stayed trending for the better part of the day. Since it’s a dynamic feature it changes up every so often but I don’t know what the criteria is. Nevertheless I am always thrilled to see when this happens. Unfortunately my photo has not ever been selected in the top three, but it has been selected five times in the top 52, and a couple of times on the instagram site. What I find most intriguing is that fellow framers are now asking me about a couple of my techniques including how I use bubbles and also some framing options. I am not a photographer but I love taking photos and I love making composite photos even more. So I am tickled every week if I see my photo trending. It’s a fun hobby to have and keeps me busy and connected to people all over the world. 

City Wild Life Duck Watch

It is true. You see ducks all over Capitol Hill. They are in the reflecting ponds by the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII Memorial and the American Indian Museum. They are everywhere else too. And they must have nests all over the city. There are even ramps built on the ponds so the ducklings are able to navigate the steep inclines. And at this time of the year the ducklings may have a hard go of it. So it was with interest that we watched the city wild life duck watch people sitting at the Capitol reflecting pool. They had dispersed food and all of the ducks were paying a lot of attention. One of the staff had a very large net in her hands and inside was a little duckling. I think they try to find any injured birds as there was also a small cage there. Or perhaps they were banding their legs to study growth and other interesting things. The program also “educates residents and building managers as to how they can help Mallard families and make unsuitable nesting sites less appealing to mother mallards.” I guess the goal is to help any trapped duckling find a source of open water for food and protection and in general watch for the well being of the duck families.