Photo Weekend at the National Shrine

Saturday, after presenting my thoughts on composition and light in photography, at the Baltimore Camera Club Camera School, I headed to DC to meet up with a few iPhone photo friends. The weather was very stormy and traveling down the BW parkway was very dark. I know I shouldn't have, but when traffic slowed I grabbed a quick Hipsta shot out the front window. The light from the storm was that strange combo of dark and bright. After meeting up at Union Station, we visited the National Shrine. The rain was very heavy and we were chased inside. I really should explore around town more..this is a beautiful cathedral and I am sorry to say I have never visited. Not carrying a tripod I was hand holding the iPhone, inside making some shots. We entered the cathedral on the Crypt church level and being soaked by the drenching rain I decided to just sit for a few minutes and absorb the space. I noticed as I sat that there was an artists display of plaster works on the stations of the cross and I liked the way the display lights illuminuted the works so I made some shots there. I processed these in the MonoPhix app to get the B&W conversions, then I took the images into Iris and added some texture layers to give them a look.

 

Often when I visit a place such as a museum or historical landmark, I try to find subjects that really speak to the purpose and presence I feel in the place. The memorial candles were lit and glowing in many places through out creating beautiful additional light.

This man stood for most of the mass exactly where the light from the cathedral met the darker hallway, as if he was afraid to cross over the line between the light and dark intersection.

Iphone: Sometimes, Less is more! App~MonoPhix

CameraPlusPro: MonoPhix app~PhotoStudio~Vignette~Frame

Left the beach today around 12:30 and headed north on Rt 1 toward the marshes, Prime Hook, Port Mahaon Road and Bombay Hook.. then home. I could not believe that the temperature today rose to 80 degrees as the day wore on. I made a few shots from the Jeep with the iPhone. The wind was so strong all day that I could barely hold the phone still enough for the shutter to pop with the anti-shake turned on. I would never have gotten any clear bird shots with a big lens today because the wind was whipping. I did spot a flock of Big Blue Herons in a cove in Bombay Hook, but they were too far away..even still it was very cool to see them. So I rode through the marsh and made some landscape shots. The big sky, the barren grasslands, the glistening water and the rotting piers of Port Mahon, made for some easy shots sitting higher in the Jeep.

 CaleraPlusPro: MonoPhix app~PhotoStudio~Vignette~Frame

SlowShutter: MonoPhix app~PhotoStudio~Vignette~Frame

CameraPlusPro~MonoPhix app~PhotoStudio~Vignette~Frame

Slow Shutter MonoPhix app~PhotoStudio~Vignette~Frame

iPhone at the Beach: About making pictures......

Apps: Bracket Mode: iCameraHDR: Crop'n'Frame

Yesterday, I had some errands to run which took me a little inland, and while there I rode around the back roads of Sussex County, some not even on the Garmen, through the flat lands of Southern Delaware. This area is about the beach or the farms..not much in between.  Some of the farms are grand but most tend to be old and in need of maintenance. The history of the area lies in farming and raising chickens....with some dairy. The lower shore area is home to The Broiler Chicken Industry.  Many small chicken farmers have gone out of the business and abandoned chicken houses populate the areas farms. Sussex County Delaware, was the birthplace of the broiler chicken industry, and produces more chickens than any other county in the United States. It is home to the headquarters of 3 of the Top 20 broiler producing companies in the country. DuPont is also a big employer in the town of Seaford. Once you are out of the beach communities the area is somewhat depressed; a great place for some grunge work if you can get to it. The farms sit back off the roads for the most part and there is little room to pull off because of the many and deep drainage ditches. I was however able to get a few shots with the iPhone. I grabbed lunch on the go and as I sat in the Jeep I noticed that quite possibly the picture on the Garmen was the best one of the day...Pointing due east toward the Atlantic Ocean....being there! Sometimes its not about the pictures....its about just being there. The weather was variable, sometimes rain, sometimes overcast, sometimes sunny. I made a swipe as a storm was passing out to sea, with the SlowShutter app as I was heading North to do some more errands. I finished the day in Prime Hook Marsh and loved how the marsh reeds had been blown into a marvelous accumulation of winter debris creating texture against the shoreline. It was a great day!

Apps: Braclet Mode: iCameraHDR; PicGrunger: Crop'n'Frame

Apps: SlowShutter:PhotoFX

Apps: CameraPlusPro:MonoPhix: PhotoStudio