Historic Post Office Headquarters

Sometimes cameras capture the darnedest things.  In this case, it caught an old building in an old light without having to fiddle with any adjustments or edits.  Look up, notice, pull the phone out of the pocket, and bammo!  Great shot of an old building.  Now the home of the Trump Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, I think we can all agree that regardless of how you feel about the former president, this is a great photo.

Shot with an iPhone 11, I'm quite pleased to put this photo on display to all 2 people who visit this photoblog.

 

Beauty in Simplicity

While the previous post on the Library of Congress's Jefferson Building showcased beauty found in complexity, this image demonstrates beauty in simplicity.  This was and is intended to be a quick snapshot to show a few of my friends one among many tunnels connecting the various buildings on Capitol Hill, but a few of them pointed out how much they liked it.  I took a closer look, and I have to agree.

Taken with an iPhone 8s Plus this demonstrates that beauty can be found everywhere if you just pay attention.

Library of Congress, Jefferson Building

As best as I can, I try to make lighting adjustments to my photos that match what my mind's eye saw, not necessarily what the light sensors on the camera detected.  So I do make adjustments.  And when I make those adjustments, what was already there usually becomes much more evident.  In this case, there are several layers of depth that are visible simply by tracking the colors.  What is really cool in this image - something I didn't plan, but certainly did notice later - is that the pillars in the foreground seem to be serving as the foundation of the picture, and holding it up at the same time.  Framing!

Shot with an iPhone 8s Plus, I love this image for its complexity and beauty.  Also, this is the first photo I've posted on this blog where I did some proper photoshop work to get some (several) tourists out of the shot (there's the disclaimer for any real photographers out there who might stumble across this and see evidence of image manipulation...which you can see if you look really closely).

Jefferson

Going to the Jefferson Memorial to get a good image for me is a bit like going to the refrigerator repeatedly throughout the day hoping each time I'll find something enticing that I didn't notice the time before.  The troubles I have is when I'm at the monument, I'm sorta on an island occupied almost entirely by the deceptively large monument.  And if I want to shoot from across the Tidal Basin, I need a much better telephoto lens than what I've got.  But some weeks ago I took a portrait of a friend of mine at the monument and it really turned out well, so I know something up close can turn out well.

I shot this with my iPhone 8s Plus, then fiddled a bit with the basic color adjustments available on the phone's native software.  While a few people have wondered if the pillars were lit up with green lights, it was just the minor adjustments I made that brought out the four layers of coloring that I love so much about this image.  I also took the exact same image with my Canon SLR, and played with the colors on it as well; and was completely unsuccessful in coming up with anything as dynamic, yet "real" looking, as this one.

Looking Up

The National Portrait Gallery is one of the underrated museums in the Smithsonian Institution, and is most likely skipped because it's not on the Mall.  I've noted this before but in this town it is important to pause amidst all of the iconic buildings, monuments, display pieces, and artwork and look around at the items that do not have interpretive signs.  This gem is only noticeable if you look up in a certain wing of the Portrait Gallery.  You'll rarely be disappointed looking up in this building.

Taken with an iPhone 8s Plus, this image now adorns my phone's background.

The Temple

It can be difficult photographing something that has been shot by everyone who sees it, and coming up with an image that is yet somehow still interesting.  It can also be difficult when the image you take lacks the pop that your naked eye sees.  But as I was pulling out of the parking lot of this magnificent building and glanced out of my driver's side window at this jaw dropping edifice dedicated to the worship of God, I saw the gleaming white marble against the deep cobalt blue of the sky.  I slowed down, put the car in park, got out, and took a shot.  The image in the view finder somehow lacked the pop that my eyes could see, but a little auto-enhance function in the software seemed to find what the default settings could not - the perfect image.

Shot with an iPhone 6s Plus, I'm usually not a fan of the "enhance" function as it seems to, more often than not, enhance the image away from what the naked eye actually sees.  In this case, the slightest of changes in lighting actually worked the way I hoped it would in revealing the Temple and sky as it really was.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral

I read about this place as I followed the beloved Peggy Noonan's writings.  The few times I've been in NYC, I've walked past this 5th Avenue landmark only to find it behind scaffolding and construction drapery.  While I assumed it was still open for business, I always figured that the last thing the people going in there to worship was the distraction of tourists to add to the carnage of construction/restoration.  But, on this recent occasion, with the scaffolding down, the front doors flung open, and the swarms of tourists poking their heads inside, I chose to poke my camera in, too, to snap a quick shot.

Taken with an iPhone 6s Plus, Saint Patricks is a place of worship and holiness to many, a lovely building to others.  Either way, I'm glad I got this shot to add to my scrapbook.