northern virginia

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Virginia was issued the initial stay at home order on March 30th, 2020 due to the Coronavirus. It didn’t come as a surprise but it was still something that I had to mentally prepare for. Honestly, one of my first thoughts about it all was, “How am I going to go and take pictures?” Not only is photography fun for me, but it is my way of exploring places, finding stories, and expressing myself. In the past, the longest I had ever gone without taking pictures was a week. I already knew the stay at home order was going to be tough.

The world was a rapidly changing place and I was craving to capture it. Here’s are the images I created in the first two months:

Cherry Blossoms

Covid-19 really started being a concern in the Washington DC area just before the cherry blossom season. We had an unusually mild, dry winter that allowed the cherry blossoms to bloom a bit earlier in the year than they usually do. So I was excited to be able to visit the Tidal Basin with a bit less of a crowd since travel was in the process of slowing down and social distancing was starting to become a new term. I tried to go as much as I could until it started to get too crowded. When it got to be too much, I decided to just stay home and be happy with the images I was able to create. My logic was to take as many pictures as I could until it got to be unsafe and then spend quarantine editing them.

Weekdays at sunrise are really the best times to visit the Tidal Basin during cherry blossom season, Coronavirus or not.

The last day I was at the Tidal Basin when it started to get a little too crowded

The cherry blossom trees are smaller at the Washington Monument, but still just as beautiful. I tried capturing a few images from there since it’s a larger area to roam.

Cherry blossom trees are seen from the George Mason Memorial

Mt Vernon Trail/Georgetown

That weekend, Andrew and I decided that we should try to get out “one last time” before we had to stay home. We decided that the Mount Vernon trail would be a good place to go and stretch our legs. Andrew walked Frankie on the trail which allowed me to take my camera and capture a few images as well.

Considering the stay at home order was placed the very next day, I’m so glad we did this. It was a foggy morning and the trail was not as crowded as it usually is. We parked our car at Gravelly Point and headed towards the Navy Merchant Marine Memorial.

At the cherry blossom peak bloom, but the pink flowers came out a little hazy in the fog.

(L) A quick stop in Georgetown along the Key Bridge. (R) Views of the Washington Memorials are seen all along the Mount Vernon Trail.

Vienna Metro

So this is where my real pandemic images begin. It had been about 1.5-2 weeks since our walk on the Mount Vernon trail and I was going crazy. I had never purposely taken such a long break from taking pictures, and it was not making me feel good. I was really craving creativity, seeing what this new world looked like, and just to walk around with my camera. So I started locally. I mean really local since I live within a few blocks from the metro. I figured with public transportation being at an all-time low, it was probably the safest and most isolated I would ever see it.

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The Mount Vernon Trail is one of the best places to go for those who enjoy being active outdoors but doesn’t want to deal with the crowds in Washington DC. The 17 miles trail spans from Rosslyn, VA to President George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon but along the way provides some of the best views of the nation’s capital and then some. The trail itself is protected by the National Park Service and can be accessed year-round from 6 am- 10 pm.

Here’s a great map of the trail.

For a majority of the time, the trail is sandwiched between the Potomac River and the George Washington Parkway.  This makes it really easy to hop on and off the trail at any given point. But it also provides some very beautiful waterfront views.  In other words, you don’t have to walk the entire 17 miles in order to see the best of the best, here are some personal favorite points of interests and places where you can hop on and off the trail:

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The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Arlington Memorial Bridge are seen from the Mount Vernon Trail in the middle of autumn.

Theodore Roosevelt Island

(L) the footbridge leading to Theodore Roosevelt Island (R) Theodore Roosevelt statue

Let’s start with one of my favorite places along the Mount Vernon Trail, Theodore Roosevelt Island. A great place to begin your outdoor adventure. I love it because it’s not like any other place along the trail. Park your car in the parking lot and cross the footbridge. You’ll be greeted by Theodore Roosevelt himself. Walk within the island for a bit more solitude than you would get along the Mount Vernon Trail. No bikes are allowed on the island but there’s a bike rack by the bridge so you can leave your bike and walk 🙂

Once you are back on the Mount Vernon Trail, you will see beautiful willow trees, and about half a mile away from Roosevelt island, you’ll start seeing some of the best views of the Washington DC Memorials. Its one of the only places where you can actually see the top 3 landmarks (Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the US Capitol) all lined up in a row. There is not one spot, in particular, you should go to see them. The more you walk, the more the perspectives will change and the view from across the Potomac River is like no other. If you walk a little further, you’ll start seeing the Thomas Jefferson Memorial as well. Enjoy these views or the memorials anywhere from Roosevelt Island to the Navy Merchant Marine Memorial.

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July 4th firework celebration

If you can, my favorite time to go here is on July 4th for the firework show. You basically get front row seats all along this part of the trail so you don’t really have to go early to claim your spot. If you do decide to go, then driving/parking may be a hassle. The best way to do it is to take the metro and get on and off at the Rosslyn stop. It’s a little more than half a mile walk but you’ll be saving so much more time by using the public transportation route. I have been on the George Washington Parkway when there are fireworks and cars will literally stop in the middle of the road to watch it. At that point, traffic gets super backed up!

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After I created this image, I ended up walking around the Tidal Basin a little more and didn’t like what I was getting. Once the sun started to come up a bit, the sky started to get less foggy and I was feeling less inspired. So I ended up just walking back to my car and driving home. On my way home, I noticed the fog getting heavier and heavier. I wished that there was more fog like that around the city.

But in the suburbs of Virginia, it was fantastic. When I turned into our neighborhood, I ended up driving past Andrew as he was taking Frankie on his morning walk. So I parked my car, grabbed my camera and asked if we could all walk down this trail behind our neighborhood. It’s just a small walking path that is hard to notice, but I knew with all the bare trees, it would give off this really cool, spooky vibe.

Luckily, Frankie is the easiest model to work with. And by the time I saw him, he was already almost done with his walk so he was tired. When I told him to “sit”, he literally just stood there and didn’t move. So I took his leash off and snapped a few pictures of him real quick.

My camera settings for this image are F4 at 1/500th sec and ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

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We’re forecasted to get some snow this weekend! I’m not going to be a naysayer this time and say it won’t happen because I really hope it does! This time I’m hoping for a significant amount of snow. LOL. *crosses fingers for manifestation*

Throwback to last week when it did snow. It was only a little bit and it didn’t even stick for more than 24 hours but I’m so glad it at least stayed for a beautiful sunrise. I was in Manassas, Virginia. I really wanted to fly my drone for a bit to see what I could capture. But when I saw the pinks in the sky start to show up, my drone started running out of battery. It was ok because I just landed it for a little bit and pulled out my Sony camera to shoot some landscape images. After capturing a few images with my regular camera, I changed the battery on my drone and went straight back up. In the end, it all worked out.

My camera settings for this image are F7.1 at 1/500th sec and ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

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As many times as I’ve mentioned my friend, Larry on the blog, I’ve finally taken a picture of him! LOL, sort of. This was taken from the Altaire rooftop in Arlington, VA. We were actually leaving the rooftop when he was a few steps ahead of me. I saw him walk past this divider, I told him to stop, and act like he was taking a picture. I think this turned out cooler than I had imagined! I loved how the silhouette turned out.

Also really looking forward to going to New York this weekend. Besides PhotoPlus, I plan on just shooting a lot around the city. So this is basically what I’ll be looking like if I were a guy with a backward hat on. LOL.

Let me know if you’ll be in New York this weekend too!

My camera settings for this image are F6.3 at 1/800th sec and ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

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Finally! That time of year again 🙂 It’s finally starting to feel like autumn in the DC area with the crispy air. Morning walks with Frankie are requiring a light jacket and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s got me thinking about Shenandoah National Park and surrounding areas to go on the hunt for some color and I’ve already started a to-do list. But in the meantime, I’ve been checking things out locally. Right now, it’s still looking kinda green with a little color but I’m keeping a close eye on it.

This image isn’t technically fall color because these were just yellow plants in front of Netherlands Carillon and I photographed them in 80-degree weather but it reminds me of the type of images the season will bring 🙂 To be completely honest, this reminds of the yellow brick road leading to the Emerald City. LOL.

Either way, autumn color here I come! I’m hyped!

My camera settings for this image is F8 at 1/1000th sec and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm