Blog

The official photo blog of J. David Buerk Photography.

A Retirement Farewell for Bob Laubach

This past March, Bob Laubach, Photography Lab Manager at Northern Virginia Community College for the last 15 years, retired after a lifelong career in photography. My time in the photo lab in NVCC over a decade ago now lasted only a year, but like many students taking photography classes in Alexandria I came to know Bob very quickly, and have kept in touch ever since. And while I didn’t end up taking the Large Format Photography course he taught while I was in college, I did attend a Large Format Film workshop with him in Great Falls.

Bob is an infinite source of photographic knowledge; it doesn’t matter if you’ve known him 10 minutes or 10 years, if you spend just 5 minutes with Bob, you’ll still wind up learning something you never knew before. A proud graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, Bob would frequently tell insider tales of Kodak and their operations, also headquartered in Rochester.

On his final day managing the photo lab in Alexandria, Bob’s family, friends, and former students from multiple generations gathered to celebrate his retirement. Fellow longtime photography professors of Northern Virginia Community College’s presented Bob with a placard honoring Bob’s lasting impact on the Photography Department, establishing the darkroom and naming it after him as the Bob Laubach Film Processing Lab.

I captured pictures during my time at Bob’s retirement party, and am including a few highlights below. I also have the full set I captured online and available for viewing and download in this gallery.

A few photos I captured with Bob in 2011, several years after I had moved on from the NVCC photo lab:

It was wonderful to once again also see Page and Aya, professors who I’ll never forget their impact on my career in photography. Like Bob, I’ve remained in touch with Page and Aya since my time learning at NOVA’s Photography Department, and they are two professors I’ll never forget. I took numerous courses with both Page and Aya, who collectively taught me how to process and print film, but there are two that stand out especially to me:

Aya’s Digital Photo Editing course helped me become more comfortable with Photoshop, an endlessly powerful tool I knew nothing about at the time but now rely on every day, and to better understand colorspace and print workflows; a vital skill that, again I use every day, but remains seamless and invisible to the people and businesses I work with.
Page’s Photojournalism & Ethics course undeniably shaped how I interpret and create multimedia; the responsible capture, editing, and dissemination of photojournalism this course underscored continues to influence how I capture and edit every live event I shoot, from intimate weddings to multinational brand PR activations - there is not a single time I’ve worked on a project intended for publication that this course hasn’t crossed my mind.

Most people have teachers or professors who are formative in some way or another, and Page and Aya are unquestionably two who shaped my approach to photography.

Portia and Nick: Married October 2nd, 2021

Just as Summer was drawing to a close and Autumn was beginning to shift the trees’ colors warmer, Portia and Nick, accompanied by their family and friends, gathered at the quaint Ballenger Farm in Hamilton, Virginia to say “I do” and dance the night away celebrating tying the knot.

The farm has free range chickens, much to the entertainment of younger guests, and a lucky black barn cat that wants allllll the cuddles - he even curled up in my lap for a few minutes while I was on the ground capturing a low angle! The chickens; oh my goodness, I just have to say, I captured a photo that ranks among those I’m most proud of in recent time during Portia and Nick’s ceremony - the free range chickens freely roamed, including one keen to be included in the wedding, photobombing the readings! Truly one of my most favorite captures at a wedding in years, and it’s a great example of how I approach weddings and all events with a photojournalistic eye and mindset.

As night fell on the dinner party, Portia and Nick shared their first dance under the stars to a medley sung by a close friend to wish the newlyweds well as they start a new chapter together. Afterwards, everyone retired to the patio to dance and enjoy drinks and dessert.

SARS-CoV-2 - Then & Now (2021)

At the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (2020), I documented impacts at several locations. This past Spring (2021), I returned to those same spots to capture how things have changed in a year’s time.

An Important Note About Timing

Although I’m posting this Then & Now in late Summer, all of the “Now” photos in this post were captured in April and May of 2021, to compare to those images from “Then” in the same months of 2020. I’ve been behind in posting to my Blog and social media accounts, so although I captured and edited these photos earlier in the year with the intention of posting immediately, work and life got in the way and I’m catching up and sharing this comparison with you now.

Please keep this in mind, as some things have changed, locations have updated even further, and more retailers have reopened in the months between these pictures being captured in Spring, 2021, and being posted in late Summer, 2021. Because of this gap and the rapidly changing landscape in the midst of COVID-19, pictures in this post from 2021 may already be out of date and not accurately represent current operating status - please refer to the appropriate respective website or physical location for the most up-to-date information.

In my original 2020 posts, I documented the shelves at numerous local retailers, but I’m not including a Then & Now comparison for these in this post because this is a well-documented difference everyone witnessed to some extent or another.

Fairfax County Neighborhoods

In 2020, I captured several local playgrounds which had been closed following national, state, and county level guidance and executive orders closing parks. Although orders to close were mandated by Governors, state health departments, and local governance and property owners alike, many people flagrantly disobeyed, tearing down barriers and signage to access parkspaces and playgrounds.

*A closed Fairfax County playground in Spring, 2020.*

Today, these parks and playgrounds have been reopened, the barricades removed, and temporary signs replaced with permanent signage displaying rules for use including social distancing, and waivers of liability.

*A reopened Fairfax County playground in Spring, 2021.*

Airports

Washington Dulles International Airport

Airports across the World were hit hard as travel became unsafe and oftentimes impossible with sweeping flight cancellations and suspension of air service for many carriers.

Washington Dulles International Airport was hit especially hard as almost all international travel was halted for the majority of 2020. At the Main Terminal, the normally bustling Departure Level had no cars present whatsoever. Inside, all ticket counter stanchions had been stowed to open up a the freshly cleaned terrazzo floor. All but one security checkpoint was closed due to so few travelers passing through and needing to be screened. An eerie silence filled the spacious building as background music had been turned off to save on licensing fees, and the only people present were a handful of employees. Only the drone of HVAC filled the space.

With very few flights scheduled, FIDS screens were replaced with guidance on proper handwashing techniques. Social distancing signage was hastily printed and posted on Travelers Aid desks, but the now-ubiquitous 6ft spaced floor stickers were only present at the lower level Starbucks. No guidance on masking was posted anywhere at this very early point in the pandemic, although I was already wearing an N95 at this time.

Downstairs, the Arrivals level was somehow even more vacant. Signage pointed United employees to a dedicated temperature screening area, mandatory for each employee to visit prior to starting their workday; remember, this was even before COVID testing had been developed, let alone rolled out en masse. At the time of photography, this screening station was unstaffed, as vacant as the rest of the lower level.

*Washington Dulles International Airport in Spring, 2020. Security checkpoints close and passengers are scarce as airlines suspend operations at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.*

Today the departure level is once again bustling, with traffic wrapping all around the “racetrack” in the afternoons (although this isn’t shown at the time I photographed this follow-up set), and passengers crowding the interior during morning and afternoon banks such that social distancing is frequently an impossible task. International air travel has resumed along many air routes Dulles serves, and in some cases new domestic and international routes have been added in as demand has changed - the entire aviation landscape has shifted in a year’s time.

FIDS are still not completely filled like they were pre-pandemic, but are well above the 50% mark once again, with the dead space now showing directions to retailers that are currently operating. On all entranceways, permanent signage has been added displaying that all persons entering are required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status.

The lower level was even busier, with visitors once again awaiting loved ones aboard resumed international flights, and passengers gathering their luggage from baggage claims. Mirroring the social distancing stickers placed on the Departure level floors at ticket counters, each baggage claim how has decals asking travelers not to crowd around the belts as luggage arrives.

*Washington Dulles International Airport in Spring, 2021. Security checkpoints reopen and passengers return as most airlines resume operations in 2021.*

Ronald Reagan National Airport

When SARS-CoV-2 surged in Spring of 2020, DCA was similarly impacted. Upon arriving, the first indication that this wouldn’t be a normal airport experience was the empty parking garage. Inside, National Hall wasn’t strictly vacant like at IAD, however the only people present were employees. Airlines that had suspended operations had dire messages reading “Closed due to COVID-19” displayed on their check-in counters.

All information desks were closed, with signage simply stating Shopping & Dining retail hours had been adjusted, but with no further details. On a nearby column, a “COVID-19 Hand Sanitizer” dispenser was placed, and nearby ad space instead displayed messages encouraging social distancing as a lone unmasked passenger walked by.

*Ronald Reagan National Airport in Spring, 2020. Passengers are scarce as airlines suspend operations at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.*

Since DCA is a smaller and much more densely laid out airport, it was even more visually apparent seeing all concessions closed together, many still decorated for the Cherry Blossom Festival which had come and gone several months prior. Many showed evidence of their hurried closure, with signs hastily printed and posted crooked on storefronts. Some had more permanent signage on display. Most had no signage at all, including some which had just newly opened several months before the pandemic.

*Ronald Reagan National Airport in Spring, 2020. Restaurants and retailers close as a safety precaution and as required by law at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.*

Most striking was the closure of security checkpoints and the entire concourse behind them. As many airlines cancelled flights, operations were consolidated to other terminals, cutting back on manpower to screen passengers and maintain sections of the airport. Stanchions were stowed away opening up the terrazzo floor’s design in the sunlight as CDC guidance displayed overhead promoting proper hand-washing.

*Ronald Reagan National Airport in Spring, 2020. Security checkpoints close as airlines suspend operations at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.*

Today, DCA’s parking garages are almost as difficult to find a spot in as before the pandemic, and National Hall is once again filled with people; masked passengers trickle in to departures, and flock through terminals as flights arrive. Some airlines are still not operating, though most have resumed operations or are near original operating capacity; some have even added new routes. Check-in desk signage has been updated to the much more succinct and less ominous “Closed.”

Travelers Aid desks have reopened, with the early-pandemic signage replaced by airport-wide mask usage advisories. Some things have remained the same; hand sanitizer stations are still present and still branded with COVID-19 labels, and some of the original social distancing signage remains - that was good advice from the beginning.

*Ronald Reagan National Airport in Spring, 2021. Passengers return as most airlines resume operations in 2021.*

Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons, some of the retail stores and restaurants have not reopened. Some that have remained closed still bear the same printed paper signage, though someone has come along to straighten or update the “temporary” notices. Others, sadly, are completely gone a year later; vacant and awaiting a new tenant. Since I’ve worked closely with the concessions programs at IAD and DCA for almost the last decade, photographing every single store and restaurant at both airports, the sweeping closures have been truly saddening to see, but it’s hope inspiring to see the majority of concessionaires one again open and serving passengers after witnessing last year’s necessary pause in operations.

*Ronald Reagan National Airport in Spring, 2021. Most restaurants and retailers reopen, though some remain closed for a variety of reasons in 2021.*

Most concessions, however, have reopened, and construction has completed on an entirely new terminal with new concessions gradually opening inside it the rest of this year. At Terminal C, which was closed in 2020, the TSA screening checkpoint has reopened in 2021, with the same CDC hand-washing signage still cycling overhead as passengers stroll toward their flights. The picture below was taken just one day before the new Terminal C expansion was opened for public flight operations, so the dustwall shown below is now open to public at time of writing.

Inside the new 14 gate Terminal C expansion, departure boards are filling up quickly as the new gates are already being utilized by American flights.

*Ronald Reagan National Airport in Spring, 2021. Security checkpoints reopen and passengers return as airlines resume operations in 2020.*

XpresSpa & XpresCheck

The XpresSpa & XpresCheck retail space merit a closer look. This is a location I didn’t specifically capture last year because when I captured my Before pictures in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, XpresSpa hadn’t transformed into the clinical testing chain it would become later in 2020.

XpresSpa opened at DCA in 2015, offering massage, mani / pedi, and other relaxing services to pamper yourself before or after a stressful flight. The interior featured massage chairs, manicure stations, and two private massage suites, as well as cosmetics and personal care items for sale.

*These images were photographed in 2015 upon XpresSpa’s opening for marketing and press release purposes.*

Today, the entire XpresSpa has pivoted their business to COVID-19 testing, and rebranded as XpresCheck. In 2020, XpresSpa had locations at 80 airports across the nation; flash forward a year, and only two XpresSpas are currently open - all others have closed or converted to one of the 13 XpresCheck COVID-19 testing clinics located at 11 US airports. XpresCheck at Reagan National is equipped to handle 300 tests per day, and 500 per day at Dulles. At $250 for a Rapid PCR Test, the move that took a mere 75 days to execute from inception to deployment not only saved the brand in a year where the personal care industry was upended by the need to social distance, but in fact is more profitable, even with less than 1/5th the locations.

*These images were photographed in March, 2021 upon XpresCheck’s opening for marketing and press release purposes.*

Inside, XpresCheck has 4 private screening rooms, and offers Rapid Molecular NAAT Tests, Standard Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Tests, and Rapid PCR Testing.

Rapid tests are processed on-site, with results delivered within an hour; crucial for travelers en route to national hotspots and foreign countries with entry requirements including negative COVID-19 tests.

Like at DCA, the XpresCheck testing clinic at Washington Dulles International Airport is also pre-security, so individuals do not need a ticket to be screened for COVID-19.

*XpresCheck at Washington Dulles International Airport, Spring, 2021.*

Final Thoughts

Everyone can agree that 2020 was not a normal year; the pandemic changed everything in Spring, 2020, but a year later, although the World is different, it has adapted and risen to the challenge. 2021 has shown that although change can be big and fast, and things may be different, we can achieve and overcome almost anything with a bit of time and ingenuity, even if things aren’t quite what we imagined a year prior. Just like the shelves at our local supermarkets that were once empty, in 2021 the World has adapted and created solutions to 2020 problems.

A Day at the Newseum

Well, more like two days at the Newseum if we’re being accurate.

If you’re tired of being cooped up at home, unable to go out and enjoy the museums, and you missed out on visiting the Newseum, the post I’m sharing with you today is especially for you.

On the last day of the decade, December 31st, 2019, the Newseum, a product of the Freedom Forum, permanently closed the doors of its Pennsylvania Avenue home. The Newseum, open for a total of 22 years, demonstrated through interactive and rotating exhibits the importance of press freedom and fairness in reporting. Exhibits spanning watershed moments of history to current events showed the importance of journalism ethics, the pitfalls of censorship, and the dangers journalists can face in performing their duties. The Newseum illustrated the United States’ First Amendment’s five core values in real-world applications and infringements.

Until this December, my only experience with the Newseum was to attend a screening of the 2011 film “Documented” and subsequent panel discussion with director and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas in 2014, and the Nikon Z7 release event with Nikon President and CEO Yasuyuki Okamoto in 2018; this is to say, I’d only visited the Newseum’s atrium and auditorium for private events - none of the exhibits, as the museum was closed.

When I heard the Newseum was closing its doors, selling the building to Johns Hopkins University due to financial constraints, I made sure not to miss it any longer. Touring the Newseum was something I’d wanted to do with friends or a date for years, but invariably it always got put off; “we’ll do it later this year.” No more - across two days in December I explored the Newseum from top to bottom, like the Guggenheim, the way it was originally built and intended to be toured (this being said, my photos of the exhibits below are not necessarily arranged in order from top to bottom since these photos span across two full days, and I revisited some exhibits the second day).

I truly enjoyed every minute of the Newseum, and wish I’d simply said “no more” and visited solo much sooner than I did. Even with two full days of visiting and taking in the thousands of displays, I still missed so much of the specimens and their captions on exhibit. It is my utmost hope that the Freedom Forum will find a new, sustainable, third and final location for the Newseum and all its exhibits; the Newseum is one of, if not the most, culturally significant museum I have ever visited, because of its perpetual relevance - news breaks every day. In the last months I’ve thought about the Newseum almost daily, wondering what to be made of the systemic targeting, attacks, and arrests of credentialed media by police across the US, including just a few blocks away in Lafayette Square. I can’t help but wonder how the US’ ranking of Press Freedom on the Newseum’s Press Freedom Map has changed even in the few months since the Newseum’s doors closed. And with the ongoing pervasiveness of “fake news” and anti-science conspiracy theories being perpetuated by presidential candidates in an election year, the Newseum feels more relevant than ever now that it’s gone.

“First they came for the journalists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a journalist — we have no idea what they did after that.”
-Arleen Myers Fields’ adaptation of Martin Niemöller’s “First They Came…”

Below are highlights of my visits to the Newseum’s many exhibits; I have not included captions for these photos, as there is too much relevant information about each to properly bestow in a timely fashion. I did, however, as I frequently do visiting any museum like this, capture images of many of the museum’s own description panels. If you would like to see the full gallery of my two days of touring the Newseum, including more exhibits and artifacts, along with the museum’s captions, you can view the full gallery here.

Bonus: Newseum Restroom Misprinted Headlines

Perhaps a nod to the tradition of placing flyers in restrooms and newspapers (especially sports sections) above urinals, the Newseum’s restrooms are speckled with tiles bearing misprinted headlines, poorly phrased captions, and awkward apologetic corrections.

Best of 2019

2019 was quite an odd year. Its unusual helter-skelter pace sometimes made me doubt my photographic skills, but the year continually provided new opportunities to refresh my creative energies, whether that meant braving sub-zero wind chills in unfamiliar cities, or trying new lighting and editing techniques while on commercial assignments. This annual year-in-review wrap-up helps to fuel my creative energies for 2020, and a new decade of capturing the world around me. I’m all set for the new year - let’s capture 2020 together.

As the Earth transits its Moon, a crescent shape is left illuminated prior to the total lunar eclipse during a “supermoon,” January 20th, 2019.

The newly released mirrorless full-frame Canon EOS R in the snow, with a Lubitel 2 75mm f/4.5 lens modified to EF mount.

2019’s first snowfall; a light dusting in the DC region.

An airport employee demonstrates the proper method to clean up blood and bodily fluid spills in a safety and security fair for airport employees at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois.

Milwaukee River one week after a “polar vortex” brought record low temperatures of -21ºF with a windchill of -40º. The temperature at time of this picture was 13ºF with a wind chill of -7º. The extreme cold snap claimed 22 lives.

In downtown Milwaukee, a cheese mart offers rotating samples of hundreds of local cheeses.

The bottling and packaging equipment line at Lakefront Brewery, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Mew, the mythical 151st Pokémon, straps in for a flight in Economy Plus.

Above Chicago, icebergs on Lake Michigan are visible for miles one week after a “polar vortex” brought record low temperatures of -23ºF with a windchill of -52º to the city. A maximum temperature of -10ºF set a record for lowest daily high temperatu… — Above Chicago, icebergs on Lake Michigan are visible for miles one week after a “polar vortex” brought record low temperatures of -23ºF with a windchill of -52º to the city. A maximum temperature of -10ºF set a record for lowest daily high temperature. The extreme cold snap claimed 22 lives.

A nuclear power station vents steam and creates a shadow onto the eastern waters of Lake Michigan.

In stark contrast to the mid-west’s severe Winter, the DC region experiences unusually warm February weather. A woman walks by a Fredericksburg brewery’s mural in the premature Spring temperatures.

Details of a two-year-old orchid at the end of peak bloom.