Washington DC

With just a day to get in some Washington DC time we decided to take the Metro to the Mall and check out a couple of Smithsonian museums.  We hoped to get to the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, perhaps a photograph of Congress, and the Washington Memorial.  We got it all in!  The real draw, however, was the photography display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History of the 2017 Windham Smith Rice winners.  Enjoy the sights while comfortably cool in your recliner (hint: we walked A LOT).

The Mall was very crowded.  People commented to us that the weather had been terrible all week and people were ready to 'get out'.

A huge crowd outside the Lincoln Memorial.

More crowded inside the Memorial.

Ceiling tile at the Lincoln Memorial.

A compressed image taken from Lincoln's Memorial across the mall, putting the Washington Memorial in front of the Capitol.

Inside the Smithsonian Castle is an interactive 'map' of the Mall and the locations of all the Smithsonian Museums.

In honor of James Smithson, founder of the Smithsonian Institute.

There were long lines at all of the museums.  Entry into any of the museums is free, but everyone goes through a security check that rivals the TSA check points, but without the body scanners.

This is a photograph of a Northern Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi) at Kidney Point in the Falkland Islands. It was taken by Denise Ippolito from Brielle, NJ.  Canon 7D Mark II; 70-200mm f2.8 IS II USM lens; 2x III extender at 400mm; 1/640 sec at f7.1; ISO 500; hand held.

I smiled while thinking of Jiwa.  This is a Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii), living in Bali, Indonesia.  The photograph was taken by Andrew Nuryono of Surabaya, Indonesia.  Nikon D300; 70-300mm f2.8G ED VR lens at 160mm; 1-500 sec at f2.8; ISO 400; hand held.

This leopard (panthera pardus) was fishing in the Savuet Channel, Botswana.  Image captured by James Giffort of Maun, Botswana.  He wrote: "After trying without success for two years, I was determined to capture the remarkable sight of a leopard fishing.  Due to poor rains, the previously flowing Savute Channel started to recede rapidly, leaving catfish stranded in isolated pools of water.  I got the shot I was after as this female jumped into a muddy pool, plunged her head deep into the water and emerged clasping a writhing fish."  Canon 1D Mark IV; 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens; I/1250 sec at f/7.1; ISO 400; hand-held with bean bag.

Each museum is different architecturally.  They are all wonderful and impressive.

Lobby of the Smithsonian Museum for Natural History.

We walked through the Butterfly Pavilion.

Looking across the Mall at the Smithsonian Castle.

More crowds!!  Long lines!!  Entry to Museum of Air and Space.

According to the sign next to this display, balloon-inspired hair and clothing were all the rage in the final years of the 18th century. Artisans created jewelry, hats, needle cases, snuff boxes, wall hangings, clocks, furniture and much more to attract they eye and empty the pocketbook of customers.

Then the businessman gets off the plane and has dinner at Hooters!

That explains it!!

At the entrance of the Vietnam Memorial.

An average Coney Dog on a bench along the Mall afforded us lunch, some rest time and a great opportunity to just watch the crowd. You cannot cover even just the Washington DC Mall in one day!  We capitalized on the time we had by taking the Metro.  That way we did not worry about where to park.  We got off the Metro a short block from the Smithsonian Castle.  You can ride a bus from one end of the Mall to the other, hop on and off for just a dollar a pop! 

Metro Map.  We took the Orange route from Vienna to the Mall.  it was clean, safe, efficient and pricey (but worth it).

Shenandoah National Park

The Park's brochure starts off with a statement, "Mountaintops have always beckoned humans.  To stand at the top - to see as far as the eye allows, to take in the vastness of our world - is to be awed and humbled and inspired all at once."  A great description of the way we felt as we traveled on Skyline Drive.

Both times we visited the Park we were blessed with mostly cloudy skies.  Sometimes a light rain passed overhead.

Again from the brochure, "From the beginning, national park planners, capitalizing on the popularity of motor cars, called for Shenandoah's 'greatest single feature' to be a sky-line drive on which motorists could enjoy a leisurely drive through the Blue Ridge and where they could experience the awe and inspiration of magnificent views."

At every turn, even without a pull-out to check for a vast view, we kept saying, "Oh my gosh, look at this lushness!"

Wildflowers start blooming in May at lower elevations.  By mid-summer they are in full bloom along the ridge.

Interpretive signs like this one were found all along the route.  I have dubbed this summer as a great, ongoing history lesson!

So why are these mountains called Blue Ridge Mountains?  Hmmmmm . . . .

These bare patches are rock rivers flowing down the mountainside at a very slow pace.  They are called 'talus' and they form when the freeze and thaw cycle breaks off pieces of exposed bedrock.  Over time, weathering breaks the larger chunks into smaller pieces which continue flowing downhill.  Once the rocks stop moving, soil accumulates and plants can take root.

Are you thinking, perhaps, that you have seen this scene before?  Me too.

Once in a while you must leave the lure of vast horizons and focus, instead, of the small miracles that line your path.

This is Black Hollow Waterfalls where I had a specific composition in mind that required a few steps onto rocks to get a better vantage point.  This is where I slipped and gave my camera a bath it did not care for at all!  I have since replaced it but my feeling of being so foolish lingers . . .

Black Hollow Falls is on the Doyles River.

Smaller waterfalls are found along the path to the larger Black Hollow Waterfall.

For the rest of our stay in Virginia I would be using my iPhone or my Nikon Df to take photographs.

Reminded me of Oak Creek below Cathedral Rock.

It was interesting how having only the iPhone with me changed the way I looked for images to capture.  The iPhone 7 Plus is a pretty dang good device for macro photography!  This one is fo Alaina.

Karen loves red!  A brown bear cub had been spotted in the area, surely feasting on these ripening berries.  Unfortunately, we did not see the cub.

As we examine the balance between development and preservation, it is may be useful to remember what John Muir wrote in 1914, "Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find that going to the mountains is going home; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life."

Eclipse

We scouted for two days and selected the Battlefield in Lexington to be the spot where we hoped to photograph the 2017 solar eclipse events.  Happy to share.

We arrived very early and were fortunate to be the first ones on the site.

With hours of waiting ahead of us, we looked for other interesting things to photograph.  There were quite a few of these very small mushrooms.

At this point the sun was shining and in spite of very good evidence that a a pretty good storm was headed our way, people continued to arrive and set up chairs, tents, and food.

A group of astronomers arrived early and set up right on top of the small hill.  They cordoned off some lanes and it was their hope that people would come up and see the sun through their telescopes.  I would certainly have been one of them.  Alas, the weather really deteriorated, the rain moved in and they moved on to Higginsville in search of a better place.

About an hour and a half before the eclipse was to start, the storm moved in!  Many people retreated to their cars (we did).  It rained hard for about ten minutes and then sprinkled for a bit after that.

But, as you know, there are die-hards in every crowd!  These folks toughed it out.  I returned just as the rain let up to document their commitment.  We could see a bit of blue to the west and were ever so hopeful that we would have sun breaking through the clouds in time to fully see the eclipse.

People started returning as soon as the rain let up.  It was still very overcast and the field was very wet for those who had chosen to bring blankets to sit on.  Nothing seemed to deter the excitement.

Finally, the sun came out and the eclipse started.  This was a common scene.  People were either looking up or on their phone.  The lady on the right had brought her dog and its leash is what she is holding.  The gentleman on the far left never moved.  He may have slept through the entire event!

Minutes before totality it got much cooler and the whole place became darker.  But, unlike a sunset which has a side reference point of light and color from light to dark, this darkening was much, much faster and it was evenly distributed.

Just before totality.

Taken a minute later than the image above, this photograph shows the eerie colors that show up on the horizon.  But, unlike a sunset, these colors surround you on the horizon.  Then, they too disappeared into greater darkness.

Darkness.

Taken with a Nikon D810, at 260mm with a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 with a 1.4 tele-converter.  Develop adjustments in Lightroom: highlight slider -25, white +15, black -4, clarity 10, no saturation or vibrancy, red luminance -24 and magenta -27.  Note: the highlight slider very much affects the size of the white corona surrounding the moon.  I picked a value that looked realistic based on what I was seeing through my glasses.

Three prominences!!!  WOW

The Diamond Ring.  This ring-like image occurs right at a split second before complete totality end.  Same metadata and adjustments.  All of these images were taken with the camera hand-held.

 A bigger diamond for you, my dear!  I decided this was a good time to stop photographing just in case I would ruin my lens (or my eyesight).

Just as Totality ended.

After totality ended, people started leaving.  But many stayed behind to watch the second half of the show.