Washington DC

Living in the Washington DC area, the arrival of cherry blossom season means the beginning of spring, warmer weather, and one of my favorite times of year to go out to create images. I try to go as much as I can and early morning is always the best bet. There are fewer people and more available parking 🙂

This year’s cherry blossom season has come and gone and it felt like it went by in a blink of an eye. The weather in March was all over the place with nice warm days and cold snowy days so it was nice to see the flowers finally bloom. It felt like all the days that I went out to photograph were very cloudy. The silver lining to clouds meant that when the sun would peek through them, it created this beautiful glow on the flowers. This was the moment I was living for.

I have been photographing the cherry blossoms for almost 10 years now and each year is still very exciting. Obviously, I love photographing the typical scenes: cherry blossoms with the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, and just the flowers themselves.

I also like trying to photograph the images that tell the unique story of that year. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of going to the same location and photographing the flowers in the same way, but I tried my best to do things differently this year. That meant parking my car in a different location (other than Ohio Dr) standing a little further back in the grassy areas instead of the sidewalk, and basically, letting life unfold in front of me instead of rushing to find the shot.

The first morning I went out to the Tidal Basin had a bit of fog presunrise. As I was walking from my car to the trees, I couldn’t help but capture the way that it was glowing in the lights of the Washington Monument.

But I found the most fun just standing back and people watching. Since I was there in the early mornings, the light varied each day and as the time went on.

Another way that I tried to make this year different was by switching up my gear. My go-to lens is usually the 70-200mm telephoto lens. I just love the compression that I get from this lens but for some reason, was not feeling it this time around. I had my 50mm prime on for 90% of the time.

Click here to read more

All photos available for print and licensing >

My genesis NFT drop.

The whole metaverse is new and intimidating. But it’s something I have an interest in and wanted to learn more about so what better way than to dive in.

When it came time to sit down to really look at my body of work, there are a few that stood out as favorites. That is when I came up with Purple Hour. I realized purple was such a common theme in my work. Not intentionally but it was just the way that I saw a beautiful sunrise, flashes of lightning, or reflections in a piece of glass.  It reminds me that it is ok to just sit down and be present to what is going on around the world. That things don’t always have to be rushed.

I’m excited to mint these pieces of art that mean so much to me. Each one has a back story that brings back so many memories of patience and persistence. And looking at them as a whole makes me emotional, especially since becoming a new mom. It reminds me of a time when I had less worry and could concentrate on making something just for me.

So to introduce my genesis collection, I thought I’d write a little backstory to each of these images:

Click here to read more

All photos available for print and licensing >

Hi,

Long time no speak. Sorry about that and I hope it’s never this long again. My world got rocked at the end of August and just now finding the time to sit down and be thoughtful of my life in the past few months.

To sum things up, I had my baby almost 2 months premature. What started out as a regular visit to my doctors, ended up being a 10-day stay in the hospital and delivering at 33 weeks and 1 day. Little baby Tony spent 3 weeks in the NICU but we’re all doing great now. Bringing him home was the happiest but also one of the scariest days of my life. How am I responsible for this little baby?

In general, motherhood has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. Everything in my life changed immediately and my priorities shifted massively. For the first two months, every week seemed like it brought a new challenge or something I was not aware of. Whether it’s questioning if he’s getting enough to eat, if he’s sleeping enough, or even if he’s sleeping too much? I was not prepared for how much I’d love this little boy but how much I’d worry about him all at the same time. My life turned into doomsday scrolling on google at 3 am all while looking at pictures of him on my phone missing him and crying about how much I loved him. The emotions after labor are nuts!

After a while, I started to feel like I was losing myself. I hadn’t picked up the camera in weeks and I missed being able to wander without having to worry about anything else.

Then one day I got a message that my friend, Andy was leaving DC. A group of people was getting together for one last sunrise with him. As soon as I read it, I knew I had to go. It was a clear sky but it still brought all kinds of drama with the sky column and fog. I’m grateful for this outing because it made me realize that it is still possible to go out to shoot, even with a baby. So from that point on, I told myself that I would try my best to go out at least once a week to shoot.

Click here to read more

All photos available for print and licensing >

Attending a professional sports game is thrilling. There’s nothing like rooting on the home team along with good drinks, tasty snacks, and being in a crowd of hundreds cheering on your favorite team. And one of my favorite parts is being able to photograph the entire event.

Here are a few things I do to make sure I come home with some great sports photography shots: 

First things first, when attending a professional sporting event, make sure to check the rules: Is professional camera equipment allowed? How will you carry it? Are backpacks allowed? 

Research the venue or ask people you know who have been to games before. Ive been to several arenas where they are very strict on backpacks or professional cameras are totally not allowed. If that is the case, then a good old mobile photography will have to do. However, if they are only strict about backpacks, I just have my camera around my neck and a little sling bag to carry one extra lens and additional accessories I may need. Keep it light and minimal to prevent any problems.

Camera Equipment

If there are no lens restrictions, I recommend bringing at least a 200mm lens.  My 70-200mm is usually on my camera the entire time. Especially when you’re up in the stands, a 200mm will bring you in nice and tight into the action. I also love a good wide-angle. The wide-angle shots are great for some context and give your viewer a sense of where you are and how big the event is. The 16-35mm wide-angle is usually in my sling bag and brought out only a few times.

Go Early and Get a Feel for the Environment 

If possible, I like to go at least 30 minutes to an hour before the start of a game. That way I have time to wander the venue and check things out. Sometimes if you go that early, you can even go to different sections than your tickets and check out the vantage point from different spots. There can also be some possible backdrops for photos you may have never noticed. Taking your time is key to photography.

When I went to the CitiOpen in Rock Creek Park, Washington DC, I didn’t anticipate being able to watch players practice prior to their actual match. Otherwise, I would have not have been able to get such close-up shots of Rafael Nadal which was very exciting to capture.

Click here to read more

All photos available for print and licensing >

Happy 4th of July! This was the first year I watched the show from Netherlands Carillon in Arlington, VA, rented a lens for the event, and the weather conditions worked perfectly in our favor. I don’t think I could have asked for a better way to celebrate Independence Day.

The fireworks prep started a few weeks prior to the 4th. I wanted to do something special this year since I missed out on photographing the fireworks last year. So I decided that I would rent the 200-600mm lens again from lensrentals.com.  I like renting from them because they are a small business and I’ve had nothing but good experiences with them. They have a selection of gear and prices that are comparable to other gear rental companies I’ve seen so why not.

iPhone 11 plus PAN-orama of Netherlands Carillon waiting for fireworks

I set the delivery date for July 2nd, figuring I could spend the weekend with the lens and then return it after the holiday. I should have thought about the fact that it was a holiday and shipping things may be delayed. I kept on checking my tracking and the final update said that it wasn’t going to be delivered until July 5th. I was really bummed out and sent an email to lensrentals.com and they were super accommodating with options that would work for both of us.

But that still left me wanting a lens for the 4th. Then I remembered my friend, Larry owns the lens. Fortunately, he had no plans of using it over the weekend and let me borrow it.

On the actual day of the fourth, I met up with my friends Michael and Virginia at Netherlands Carillon. Netherlands Carillon is just an iconic place to go in Arlington, Virginia that will give you amazing views of the top three landmarks of Washington DC, the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the US Capitol. The show was going to start at 9:09 but we had all planned to be there around 6 pm. Luckily we were early enough to find a great spot. At that time, there were a few spots available but if we got there any later, it probably would have been a lot more difficult. The good photo spots were filling up fast.

Not only did Larry let me borrow the 200-600mm lens, but he also lent me his 1.4 teleconverter. All I had to do was mount the teleconverter in between my camera and lens and I was able to zoom from 600mm to 840mm at F8. It was incredible how much more detail it allowed.

At first, the lens had image stabilization off, even using a remote and a tripod, it got a little shake in the images. I assumed it was the teleconverter so I took it off but I was still getting it. I think the 200-600mm lens is just so heavy that no matter what, there was going to be a little shake, especially considering it doesn’t mount directly onto the tripod. It has to be mounted with the lens foot. So I turned my image stabilization back on and all the images turned out super sharp. Luckily there were a few small neighborhood fireworks that were going off before the show that I could practice a little bit to make sure everything was how I needed it to be.

I did not use the teleconverter for the actual show because I thought that would have been too much zoom. The 200-600mm was perfect for some really compressed, tight shots of the monuments. It helped me create a variety of images that I would have not otherwise been able to capture.

Click here to read more

All photos available for print and licensing >

In this guide, I will show you all the best places to photograph the July 4th fireworks in Washington DC.

Plus if you have never photographed fireworks before, I’ll give you some of my top tips to make sure you get your best shot.

So, let’s get crackin’… (pun intended)…

Independence Day

Independence day is the perfect excuse to enjoy the outdoors, eat some barbeque, and show off your patriotism. Or stay home all day in the air conditioning and watch the 1996 movie, Independence Day with Will Smith. LOL Either way you wish to celebrate, it’s my favorite summer holiday because I LOVE photographing the fireworks. They are always so beautiful and exciting to watch.

Since July is approaching quickly, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about where to shoot the fireworks around the National Mall and surrounding areas.

The fireworks usually launch from the edge of the Reflecting Pool near the WWII Memorial. With that in mind, there are multiple great locations to photograph them from. So here are the best places to shoot the fireworks in Washington DC with views of the memorials:

Views of the Washington Monument

Sitting in front of the Lincoln Memorial is a location I discovered in 2018. I figured with the massive firework attendance that it would be difficult to find a good spot in such a limited space between the Lincoln Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, but to my surprise, it didn’t turn out to be too bad. It helped that I was by myself shooting so I was able to squeeze into the second row along the edge of the reflecting pool. I was right in the center of the reflecting pool so it felt like the fireworks were taking off right in front of my face. I even felt shrapnel fall on me the entire time. It was so fun! LOL.

I 100% recommended this location as my number 1 pick of best places to photograph the Washington DC fireworks. However, if you’re going with a group of people, I’d recommend going as early as possible to get a good spot.

Camera settings for these images (L) F5.6 at 1/10th of a second ISO 160 (R) F5.6 at 1 second ISO 160. Both captured with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm lens.

It’s funny the way that the city is laid out because while you’re walking around, you may not realize that the Washington Monument is actually on top of a little hill. I didn’t think it made that big of a difference for fireworks but sitting on the lawn around the Monument gives you a much lower perspective.

I captured this image in 2013 while the Washington Monument was still under construction. I figured the scaffolding could add some interest. To snag this spot, I got there 3-4 hours before the fireworks started but I was surprised that there was still plenty of room for a later arrival.

Had I gone a little further back and to the right a bit, I think it would have been nice to capture the fireworks directly behind the Washington Monument. Maybe something to consider in the future.

Fireworks on the National Mall

Camera settings for this image is F6.3 at 1 second and ISO 100

Click here to read more