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On the same day that I was looking down at times square, I was also looking up. I took this image about 30 minutes before that other one from the rooftop bar and I was actually on solid ground for this one. HAHA.

I’ve always wanted an image like this from times square. The buildings are just so massive all around you that I knew there was a way. For some reason, I’ve found it really difficult to capture in the past. I guess all I needed were just some dark cloudy skies and birds flying above me all at the right moment. Patiences is obviously key in photography. But I really like this image because it just feels like a big hug from the buildings. Everyone all at once, “awwwww”.

Without my 16-35mm wide angle lens, I would not have been able to capture all of it. But now that I’m looking at the image again, I wish I would have gotten lower to capture it. If I was kneeling down on the ground, I think I would have been able to capture much more of the buildings on the edges and maybe would have been able to fill in some of the spaces in between? Who knows. Either way, I’m happy with the way this one turned out. There was a fair amount of lens correcting that went into this. I also like how the cloudy skies give the buildings a mood of darkness. Usually when you visit times square, all you see are the lights. It’s like a totally different view.

Which makes me think, if I didn’t tell you that this was times square, would you have been able to guess the location?

My camera settings for this image are F/8 at 1/60th of a second ISO 400.

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So funny story. Remember how yesterday I said that the cherry blossom won’t be peaking this year? I was wrong. I wrote that post way to soon because guess what?! Only half the cherry blossoms were really effected by the snow last week. It’s like a huge sigh of relief. I really look forward to this time of year every year and I really didn’t want to miss out on it this time. So for the last 50% of the cherry blossoms remaining, they’re expected peak date is now March 22-25th which is only a few days from now!!!

I went out Sunday morning to meet up with a local instagram group called, Walk with Locals. I had been to some of their events before but this was their one year birthday so I had to go. I hate missin’ out on a good time. Even though it was wet, rainy, and snowing, there was an impressive amount of people who showed up at sunrise. We walked around the tidal basin but I kind of stayed in the back of the crowd. Eventually I was the only one walking by myself when I saw this duck.

Its not uncommon to see ducks in DC, especially around the water. But this one was actually on the sidewalk. So I approached him slowly and calmly and he didn’t seem to mind me at all. We then started having our own little photoshoot. I intentionally got low so I could try to get the “cherry blossoms”, Washington Monument, and duck all in one frame. My settings were  F6.3 1/100th of a second ISO 400 with my 16-35mm wide angle lens. I had to bump up my ISO high even though we were outdoors because I didn’t want any motion from the duck. It was so very grey and dark, it was difficult to get a fast enough shutter speed to make sure everything was sharp.

Anyways, Happy Birthday Walk with Locals! You guys are awesome.

And you know what else is awesome? Cherry Blossoms! I’ll be out there shooting. And if you are too, come say hi!

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It finally happened! I went to the Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum. It was so beautiful. So much more than I thought it was going to be. So let me break it down for you:

The Bad: One of the rooms was temporarily closed 🙁 Turns out someone was trying to take a selfie and broke one of the pumpkins. We were not allowed in that room and who knows how long it will be closed for. Secondly, all the other rooms were timed. We were only allowed in each for 20-30seconds. Hardly enough time to composite a descent image. I felt like I was rushed the whole time I was there. I’d love an opportunity to take my time and really be thoughtful with what I’m doing. More than that, I’d love to have time to really have it all sink in and appreciate what I’m really looking at.

The Good: Everything else!! Its hard to believe one person created such a beautiful, thought provoking exhibit. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The creativity and just pure magic of it all was so captivating. I’m really looking forward to going a couple more times before it leaves DC.

This room was unique compared to the others. It was the only room where it was light. All the others were really dark and I believe all those mushroom-y things on the bottom are made out of cotton. So in total there were 6 rooms. We were only allowed to see 5 but every single one of them have mirrored walls so it looks like you’re experiencing an infinite amount of space. Pretty cool if you ask me.

What’s also crazy is that this was my very first time inside the Hirshhorn. After this visit, it made me want to go back and see the rest of the museum. If it’s as awesome as this exhibit, I know I’m going to love it.