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After my drone batteries died, I hopped back in my car and started driving around a bit to see if I could find more spots to pull over and take pictures. Unfortunately, it was still early in the morning and there weren’t a lot of places where the roads had been cleared.

Fortunately, as I was about to give up and U turn it back home, I found a couple of these guys. It reminded me of being in Iceland. While we were visiting, we would always pull over all the time to check out the horses but in Iceland, they are wild. This guy obviously belonged to people and it seemed like he was used to visitors. As soon as I stood in front of their fence, a couple of horses spotted me and started walking over. They looked like they wanted some treats, unfortunately, I had none or else I would have given all my treats to them.

I love the way this portrait turned out. So unexpected but so fun to capture.

My camera settings for this image are F7.1 at 1/800th sec and ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm.

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I’ve already started to scout out cherry blossom trees for next year. I’m committing to the idea of photographing the cherry blossom trees around the city and staying away from the Tidal Basin. I’m sad I came up with the idea too late to do it this year because it was such a great bloom, but at least it has given me time to think about other locations.

For example, Hains Point. It’s just east of the Tidal Basin and you sort of get the same feels as being at the basin since they are close to the water, but I really liked this location because there were a variety of cherry blossom trees. In this image you can see the Yoshino trees that you see at the Tidal Basin, but then you also get the weeping cherry blossoms as well as a peek of the Kwanzan trees. I love the variety of whites and pinks and it’s a great location for some cherry blossom portraits. The flowers are just as abundant if not more but it just doesn’t have as many people around.

When I was there I saw at least 3 photoshoots going on with professional photographers on a Saturday morning but these two girls had the right idea. From the moment I got there, they were having a blast with their own photoshoot. It reminded me of things my girlfriends and I would do when we’re on a trip together. Just having so much fun doing crazy things to get a fun shot. But I think the pulled out perspective really gives you an idea of just how much is blossoming in the area. I loved the rows and rows of trees.

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/125th sec and ISO 2000 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

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Right before I left for Las Vegas, all my winter dreams came true. We finally got a decent amount of snow in the Washington DC area that I was able to photograph. I think one of my favorite things about photographing the snow in the national mall is the white on white that you get from the snow with the memorials. It just makes everything look so calm and monochromatic. The only way that you can tell that this is a color image is from the street signs. LOL.

The best part is that the snow doesn’t stop people from getting out there and exploring. You know what, I even saw runners and bikers on bicycles out in the snow. You can never say that the people in Washington DC aren’t dedicated. LOL.

This is an image that I’ve been planning for a while now. I’ve actually taken quite a few images from this spot but I don’t know if I’ve ever published any of them. They’ve never been exactly what I’ve been looking for. But in this particular image, I love all the snow on the ground with the tire tracks that are acting like leading lines directly to the side of the Lincoln Memorial. I saw those people crossing and purposely waited for them to be in the middle. I guess just a small detail that makes the image just a little more interesting. I love how it adds a little bit of scale as well.

Even though it just lasted one day, I’m glad I was finally able to capture some this winter season 🙂 But to be honest, I’m about ready for spring now.

My camera settings for this image is with my Sony A7II F4.0 at 1/2000th sec and ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm ultra zoom lens.

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Happy Friday! I’m so excited for the weekend because Andrew, Frankie and I along with our cousins will be traveling to southern California to spend the first few days of the new year on the west coast. I am loving how this is becoming our annual tradition. As you may know, I love California. There’s just something about the atmosphere that is so chill and relaxing. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the new year. Plus it’s going to be considerably warmer there. *Praise hands emoji*

The first part of the trip will be spent in Joshua Tree National Park. We got this cute airbnb that has a really nice yard. I know Frankie will love it. Please let me know if you have been and have any recommendations for what to do there. It will be all of ours first time in the park and really looking forward to some fresh air.

The rest of the time will be spent in San Diego. I plan on capturing all the sunrises and sunsets I can but also catching up with friends that we haven’t seen in a year. Since our trip last year, I have definitely learned the types of images that I want to capture while in SoCal. I’m so looking forward to exploring even more.

Honestly, 2018 was one of the best years ever. Of course there were some lows but the highs were super high. Does that even make sense? LOL oh well, all that means is that I’m really looking forward to 2019 and all that it’s going to bring. I have blog posts scheduled to go out for while I’m gone but if you’d like to keep up with our adventures, definitely follow me on instagram. I’ll post a lot of stories on there and maybe some pics along the way 🙂

That’s me on the airplane flying away from the cold. LOL.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/30th sec and ISO 100 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

 

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The second day of spring and we finally get some snow. So funny how that happened. But I welcome you, snow with open arms although you should have come last week. But it’s whatever. I’ll take what I can get.

I was so excited to get out there and shoot. I’ve been waiting for this day for about 3 months now and it finally happened. I met up with my friend, Paul, and we decided to head over to the US Capitol and check out the scene around there. I had seen some people posting images of the Capitol dome and cherry blossoms so I wanted to see if we could find them to see what they looked like in the snow. Mission accomplished. I’ll post an image of them soon.

After walking around for a while, Paul and I headed to the Rayburn House Office Building to warm up a bit and use the facilities since the US Capitol was closed. While walking around I noticed a whole bunch of men in suits looking at me. Then I realized, oh, they must be looking at my sweater that said “Mo’ Money Mo’ Puppies”. Which I feel like is a great motto to live by.

So as we were walking out I spotted this beautiful puddle right outside of the building. I knew I had to capture this image quickly because I really wanted to have a pop of color and the red taxi cab was driving by. I love how it turned out and it was totally by luck.

One good thing about this snow is that it should not effect the cherry blossoms. One bad thing about the snow is that it may kill off the magnolias that were already starting to bloom 🙁 That makes me so sad. I didn’t get a really good opportunity to photograph them.

Next year, magnolias. For sure.

My camera settings for this image is F11 at 1/125th of a second at ISO 200 with my 16-35mm wide angle lens and Sony A7II.

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I didn’t take this image this past Saturday, I took it a couple years ago but it is still one of my favorite snow images I’ve taken.  There are so many things going on in this image but its still so simple. I love the white on white tonality. I also really enjoy how you can barely see the Washington Monument. But my favorite part is seeing the little bit of reflection on the floor surface of the Lincoln Memorial with the little puddles of water and snow blocking the entirety. I think it’s little details like that make the image so interesting to look at.

But what do you think? Would you rather have one more good blanket of snow? or are you ready for spring flowers? I think I could go for one more snow day. But please keep it in February. I don’t want them messing with the Cherry Blossoms again like it did last year.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/125th of a second at ISO 100 with my Canon 5D Mark II and 24-105mm lens. LOL I told you this was an older image. You know because I shot this on my Canon.

Which is funny because recently I’ve had quite a few people asking me about switching camera brands. To be honest, I love my Sony and I can’t imagine ever going back to Canon. No offense to Canon but that camera is just a beast. Its so big and bulky and after a while it just got to be too much to carry around on my back. I’m so happy with Sony. I love how easy and free I feel with my camera now. I really can’t imagine shooting with any other camera other than a mirrorless one. I’m hooked!