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The official photo blog of J. David Buerk Photography.

Rhode Island & Boston: Summer 2021

My close friend Alyssa and I have had a variably ongoing tradition of visiting one another to get up to some kind of local adventures most Summers.  Most recently Alyssa stopped by DC in 2020 while traveling to take care of her grandparents who needed help during the height of the pandemic, and this past Summer of 2021, since everyone finally had access to a vaccine and cases were at a record low since the start, I visited Alyssa and Megan for 10 days in beautiful Rhode Island.

Since this trip was quite long, and included numerous locations and photoshoots, I am breaking this post up into days and major locations, and including highlights linking back to dedicated posts I’ve already posted.

Be sure to see my highlight video of selected clips from this trip, found at the end of this post or at this link on YouTube. Or see the full Vlog on YouTube.

Black Tom Island, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, & Manhattan

Like my last trip to Rhode Island in 2018, I chose to drive, both due to the safety risks of flying, and the logistical ease of having my car on hand.  With a new pair of Maui Jims in my signature color, a new dashcam installed, and Ginny, my plush Corgi Alyssa sent me earlier in the year, riding shotgun, I had my car freshly ceramic tinted the day before leaving, which made the Summer heat and sun much more bearable with the extended drive - a light smoky look, I regret not having my black car with black interior tinted the day I bought it in 2015.  Unfortunately, I was traveling on 4th of July weekend, which meant my ~7-8hr drive ended up being about 16hrs thanks to traffic the first half and severe weather from New York forward.

Approaching New York, I was driving on the border of a massive rainstorm the length of the Eastern seaboard, whose bands were spaced out like fingers but I somehow was able to outrun just enough to arrive at my traditional halfway stopping point of the Jersey shore overlooking Manhattan, this time at Black Tom Island.  The pavement was drenched from a band that had gone through probably not long before I arrived, and I knew from watching radar I didn’t have much time to go get a glimpse of The Statue of Liberty - this was my first time at this park, so while I knew I *should* be able to spot it, I wasn’t sure how great the view would be.

Black Tom Island’s park seemed very nice, or at least it would be when the facilities are open - I suspect the visitor center was a pandemic closure, but given the nasty weather the only people out and about were two couples dropping in to take a quick selfie with Lady Liberty like I was, and a runner so saturated he looked as though he’d just arisen from the Hudson.  Black Tom Island is a part of Liberty State Park I’d like to visit more in detail knowing a bit more of the history behind it - the site of the Black Tom Explosion in 1916, German spies set fire to the Lehigh Valley Munitions Depot housing 2,000,000 lbs of artillery shells and 100,000 lbs of TNT to be shipped to Russian and British allies during WWI.  The sabotaged stockpile detonated, destroying the manmade island, launching debris into the skin of The Statue of Liberty and buildings over a mile away, shattering windows up to 25mi away, registering 5.5 on the Richter Scale, being felt as far away as Philadelphia and heard as far as Baltimore.

The incident resulted in creation of The Espionage Act of 1917, and later would later be used by FDR as justification for the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.  Today the site of the explosion is marked with a circle of flags with Lady Liberty holding her damaged and now restored torch high above her head, perhaps peeking over her shoulder at blast site.

I hurried to the Hudson’s shore to get a peek at the Statue of Liberty, Manhattan, and maybe Ellis Island before the storm caught back up to me.  I was lucky; I got there just in time to see Manhattan become completely enveloped in a wall of rain reminiscent of a disaster movie in a matter of a minute.  Ellis Island was visible but not discernible.  I didn’t wait to see Lady Liberty, parallel to my unsheltered position, to also be consumed.  I had another traveler (apparently also from DC on their way up to New England) quickly take my picture, shot a few Polaroids, and sprinted the 1/4mi back to the car as heavy raindrops began pelting me - it had been drizzling the entire time, but it was about to get serious again.

By time I got to my car the rain was just picking up; I spent only 10min at the park.  This would be the weather I’d drive in for the next ~8 hours on a trip that would normally only require 4; a long day of driving non-stop without even eating anything more than my morning coffee that would result in a migraine the next day after finally arriving.

Alyssa, Megan, and myself all grumpily went straight to bed once I finally got there and collapsed from a long day of hurry up and wait.  Isla quickly became my new best friend and kept me cozy and cuddled on Megacouch™ that was my bed for the trip every night.  The next morning I met Nova, who I’d only Facetimed with up to this point, and once my migraine had subsided enough that light and sound weren’t cracking my skull open, Megan and I got weird in her new plague reaper outfit.  I also might have accidentally scared a few people wearing this mask while walking around in a few spots that required masks - Megan and I share a love of dark humor and literally morbid curiosities.  We had several ideas for photoshoots with this getup, but didn’t have the time to pursue them, and had higher photoshoot priorities.

Slatersville

I’ve learned over the years that the best trips only have loosely laid plans; you need to be able to follow your heart, not an itinerary.  Rhode Island, and all of New England for that matter, has rich and interesting history, whether local or regionally.  Most days on this trip I started like most days at home, by knocking out a run - I kept them short to only 5Ks on the road, and this time had a running buddy: Isla, who is a bundle of energy.  None of us were sure how she’d do running that long a distance; our first few times out I stopped variably to give her a check-in and rest, but over the course of a few days I’d worked her up to the full 5K distance non-stop, and she did great!  After just a few runs she had even learned the new commands, “let’s go” to speed up, “slow down,” and most critically “cross” for knowing when I was deeming it safe for us to cross roads and crosswalks - she’s a very smart pupper, and I miss my running buddy after coming back home!

Typical of New England Summers, there were numerous dreary days, which I of course enjoy my fair share of, and they work perfectly for some of the photoshoot ideas Megan and I had bouncing around.  Once my headache cleared more, we set out to go scouting for some of the steampunk and vintage shoot locations.  This actually would have been a perfect day to shoot on, but neither of us were in the mood for more than just some casual exploration.

Fun fact; I hint at it in the Victorian Trenchcoat Photoshoot’s post, but on the other side of this wall Megan climbed onto and lay atop was this piece of power gathering equipment leftover from the textile mill’s spillway - the water rushing through was very loud and very dangerous, so I’m still surprised she scaled up, laid down, and closed her eyes without hesitation.

On another day, I went walking with Alyssa, some of her neighbors, and the puppers on a play-date-walk around Slatersville; I’d seen much of the small village from my runs, but certainly not all of it, such as the nearby reservoir’s feed into the mill’s spillway above about ½mi away where Isla and the other puppers like to go swimming before the current picks up.

That evening Megan and I went out stormchasing, one of two times we rushed out to try and catch lightning.  This is something we both do in our respective hometowns during the thunderstormy Summer months, but was the first time we’ve had the chance to go do it together, not just frantically texting each other about storms in our area.  As it turns out, we both have very different methods of photographing storms and capturing lightning photography; although my method is more traditional, I have to give the aptly named “@thestorm_witch” the win here, because she routinely catches more lighting more aesthetically than I do.  Don’t tell her I admitted she’s better than me LOL.

Independence Day

On The 4th of July I went with Alyssa to her mom’s for a BBQ and birthday party for one of the kids; not only were most of Alyssa’s family who I’ve come to know over the years were there, but also quite a few of Alyssa’s friends, which was nice to see again after 3 years.  This was also my first time seeing Hennessy, her sister’s pit who fell in love with me in 2018 just as much as Isla this 2021 - I have a reputation of stealing the hearts of everyone else’s pets 💁🏼‍♂️  Between the two, it turned into a flight of who would be my lap dog during the picnic, but since Hennessy has gotten a bit older, chubby, and lazy, Isla won this fight.  Alyssa brought her albino bunny Ghost, who was fed by some of the fascinated kids when he wasn’t exploring her garden and nibbling on the veggies ready for harvest.

After the party, a group of us met up to make smores and drink around a firepit after a dip in the hottub as fireworks went off in different directions around us.

Megan: Steampunk Textile Mill

The next day Megan and I shot our first session together inside the textile mill, which had some equipment leftover and restored for display; perfect for the steampunk vibe we were after.  This was Megan’s first time modeling in over 5 years, and her first time in a corset, so I’m glad she was comfortable entrusting me with photographing her and jumping back into modeling with me.

A few highlights are below, but you can see the full set and a more detailed description of our concept on this post dedicated to the shoot.

Paddleboards and Kayaks

For several months Alyssa had been excited about the inflatable paddleboard she had gotten a deal on, and this day was a great opportunity to give it a shot.  I enjoyed some kayak time along Saunderstown’s Narrow River while Alyssa quickly got the hang of her board - she has the goal of getting Isla to be comfortable riding along with her, but her first time on a paddleboard isn’t the time for that - the pupper stayed home.  Even I gave the paddleboard a shot after Alyssa was done, though it was beginning to deflate and become a bit floppy, but I am still impressed at how similar to a fully rigid paddleboard it is.

Wickford

After a day on the water, it was time to head over to nearby Wickford for drinks and lobstah rolls at Wickford on the Water.  Most of the shops in downtown Wickford were already closed for the day so while I walked around and took pictures with my Canon, so I came back a few days later to do some shopping with only my Polaroid.

Newport

After Wickford, I head over to Newport solo in search of sunset and to see what the nightlife was like this time around - I parked in the same spot I did 3 years prior, and walked Thames Street like I did in 2018.  None of the boutiques were open; just the touristy oceanwear stores that don’t offer the individualized type of gifts I was on the hunt for.  I wanted dessert; perhaps a drink, but definitely ice cream - there was a gelato place I popped into as a nightcap in 2018, and to my delight it was still there and one of the few places also still open at this hour.  A fitting tradition I’ve come to develop in this city.

Megan: Victorian Trenchcoat

This day we’d awaited foggy weather, and jumped at the fog offered this morning before the sun rose enough to burn it off.  The fog provided the perfect atmosphere to match the damp ruins of the old textile mill, a setting matched to the Victorian trenchcoat Megan and timeless makeup Megan sported for this photoshoot.

Enjoy some highlights below, but be sure to visit the dedicated post for more of the images we created during this shoot.  For this shoot I also brought my Polaroid and captured some true beauty in imperfection.

Boston

One of the biggest plans I had for this trip was visiting Boston.  I technically had been before, back in 2000, the same trip that I shot my September, 2000 photo of the World Trade Center which I revisited and replicated in 2018 on my last roadtrip up to New England.  But my only memory of Boston besides seeing The Old North Church is riding my Razer scooter through a busy market, one I remember as being Chinatown, but after this trip I must wonder if it was the Boston Public Market I walked through first thing upon arriving in the city.

Immediately after wrapping the Victorian Trenchcoat shoot, only taking the time to offload the pictures, I zipped off solo the hour drive to Boston, dropping my car next to Quincy Market to grab a lobstah roll before starting my explorations.  Passing through the Boston Public Market, I spotted Union Oyster House, noting it as a possible dinner option for later.

After some chowdah and lobstah, I began my exploration.  Like how I explore most new cities, I didn’t have any firm destinations - I happened upon nearby Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park and took in Union Wharf on my way up to The North End, where The Old North Church is located among a number of cemeteries.

Entering The North End, I was drawn down down Hanover by the residential architecture, and stumbled upon the All Saints Way alleyway shrine in Boston’s little Italy.  Owned by resident Peter Baldassari, this little known odditiy is a collection of photos, statues, prayer cards, and holy objects collected throughout his life, and partially on display in the private alleyway outside his home.  2021 has unironically been my year for Atlas Obscura, because I visited Centralia, a Pennsylvania ghost town expected to burn for the next 250 years, just a few months prior to this trip, and here I am visiting another registry in the Atlas Obscura.

But wait, there’s more!  After walking through Paul Revere Mall and The Old North Church’s grounds, I, again accidentally, stumbled onto the Skinny House, AKA The Spite House, another Atlas Obscura entry.  This 10 foot wide, 30 foot deep 4 story rowhouse is the result of a feud between two brothers following an inheritance / land-rights dispute after the Civil War.  One brother, arriving home from the Civil War prior to his brother, built a home on the site; when his brother returned later and felt the land leftover in the inheritance had been disproportionally taken, the Skinny House was built out of spite to block the first brother’s access and daylight exposure to his home and business.  Today the Spite House remains the skinniest house in Boston; the historic building is privately owned and occupied, and not open to public.

I walked by The Old North Church, but without plans to actually tour it - I couldn’t have if I wanted to anyway; it was closed.

Unfortunately all the cemeteries in Boston had also just closed by this time; 4PM is very early, but my understanding is the time is set this way to deter vandalism of the gravestones dating back hundreds of years, so the graveyards always close at least an hour before sunset no matter the status of Daylight Savings Time - this reasoning needs a citation to confirm, however.

I was still able to see into the many cemeteries I passed by, and poke my camera through the fencing to get better views.

Continuing on, I made my way to Converse - Lovejoy Wharf and crossed the bridge with the intention of visiting The Charlestown Bells, but the entire dock this musical public art installation is located on was closed for construction.

Since that was a bust, I decided to check out Paul Revere Park.  I didn’t think this was really the type of thing I was looking for, but I was thinking of heading the general direction of Bunker Hill, so it was worth popping into.  I’m glad I did, because it offered a great view of the city, including TD Garden and Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge.

Since this was a bit of a breather and I was figuring out where to go from here, I found that Bunker Hill, like the cemeteries, was also closed for the day, and there wasn’t anything else in that direction I was drawn to - I’m sure I’d have found something fun that way on my exploration, but I like having a general direction in mind, even if I don’t necessarily make it to the destination I choose to head toward.  I shifted my focus toward MIT, Southwest of my current location, and figured it might be interesting to walk through.  This lead to my favorite happy accident of my entire trip.

Crossing the North Bank pedestrian bridge, I wasn’t sure I’d made the right call, but when I got to the other side of the water under I-93, I knew I’d accidentally made an even better call than I could have planned.  The Lynch Family Skatepark came into view, and it was hopping.  After watching from the bridge for a few minutes, I made my way over to get a closer look.

The skatepark is one of only a handful in all of Boston, and is the result of a non-profit that built it was part of a waterway restoration project 6 years ago.  The park clearly attracts skaters of all ages and skill levels, from kids on their first set of rollerblades to adults older than me tearing up the bowls on skateboards.  BMXers and scooters also dropped in for some action in the brightly graffitied bowls and ramps with street art applied.  Looking through historical photos, the park was totally barren of color and art until recently, and I’m glad they now allow, or at least don’t seem to enforce, graffiti rules or removal, if any.  Like Centralia’s Graffiti Highway, the colorful expression through art and messages is important, beautiful, and hurts nobody.  Here is provides a beautifully textured backdrop for skaters’ athleticism.

I perched myself in a visible, but out-of-the-way position on the lip of the largest and most skated bowls, and captured skaters as they dropped in and let ‘er rip.  Several even made sure to incorporate paths and tricks up close to my spot for me to catch, and even came by to check out what my results were.

I spent almost an hour hanging out, watching, seeing what I could see, and enjoying the chill vibe here.  It’s stumbling onto awesome spots and experiences like this, through pure accidental luck while, that I love about aimlessly exploring new cities like this.

At this point it was getting toward the golden hour, and I didn’t want to be *too* far from my starting point once night fell; I have no problem staying out in a new city after dark (I actually enjoy it), I just didn’t feel like needing to hail a cab to get back to my start like I did on one of my Chicago trips - another time.  I scrubbed MIT and decided to go see the original Cheers pub, but without intention of eating there; not only do I prefer to avoid obvious tourist traps, but also looking at their menu beforehand, all they serve is crappy, super basic bar food and light beers - not worth eating there, especially if there’s a wait, which of course there was a line waiting outside when I did eventually get there.

Making a loop, I skipped the West End entirely and cut through Massachusetts General Hospital, which I didn’t mind because I love medicine and beautiful architecture.

I made my way through Beacon Hill, which I’d have liked to have spent more time in shopping and dining, however, like my time in Wickford, all the shops I was interested in visiting were already closed for the day.  Instead, I started ducking down interesting looking sidestreets to take in the historic architecture and househunt in this expensive residential area.

Exiting onto the famed Beacon Street, I poked my head into Cheers to at least see the interior for myself, and snapped a few pictures of the exterior before crossing into the Boston Public Garden across the street.

Boston Public Garden was a non-rushed shortcut for me on my way back to Downtown for dinner.  I made my way generally toward the other side, enjoying the scenery along the way.

After passing by another (closed) cemetery, I was drawn by Emerson College’s pretty buildings, and followed some interesting looking sidestreets.  This ended up landing me in Boston’s theater district, which I didn’t even know existed.  As the sun was just setting, I was here at the perfect time to capture all the colorful blinking lights with dusk’s vibrance in the sky.

Quincy Market had far fewer people on the plaza by time I made it back, and after some casual looking at my dinner options, I decided Union Oyster House was my spot - I had been curious since I laid my eyes on it at the beginning of my day, and it offered some of my favorite foods: oysters, seafood, and cocktails.

Oof, it hit the spot.  At this point, I was pretty beat from the day, and done with exploring, but I wasn’t done with the city.  I decided to walk around and find bar to see what the Boston nightlife is like.  I found myself a few blocks away at Lucca, a fine Italian offering whose entire front was open to enjoy the nice weather and music from their bar illuminated a dim pink.  I had several sidecars with my oysters and seafood platter at dinner, and switched to martinis to round out my evening.

Chill Day: Bunny Grooming, Farmer’s Market, Wright’s Dairy Farm

Although I was busiest, touring Boston, the day prior, everyone was on board for a day of leisure.  Alyssa groomed Ghost al fresco while Megan and I poked around with our cameras.

Next we head over to pick up Alyssa’s order from her farmer’s market, and said hi to the goats before heading over to Wright’s Dairy Farm (which you can see pictures of from my 2018 trip) for fresh ice cream, and to pick up a cornucopia of treats.  On the way back, we picked up pizzas and played shuffleboard for the night.

Last Day, Departure, Darien

My last day in town was another workday for both Alyssa and Megan; I grabbed lunch with Megan, then head back to load my car and hang out with Alyssa and Isla for a few hours before needing to hit the road.  Isla made it *very* clear she wanted to come home with me, but alas, all I brought home were some paw prints, fur, and part of a bouquet Alyssa assembled and placed in my cupholder to deliver to my mom.

The drive back home was MUCH easier than the drive up a week prior; I hit no traffic and no weather.  Around dusk I was getting hungry and decided to pull off at a convenient exit in Connecticut.  I parked at a Starbucks and opened my phone to see what local flavors were around and open - I lucked out, because I was in the mood for a burger, and had parked across the street from Burgers, Shakes, & Fries, and it was one of the few places still open in this small town.  Walking over is when I realized exactly *where* I was - this was Darien, Connecticut, which wouldn’t normally be notable except one of my best friends grew up here.  After sitting down and ordering my cholesterol special with extra onions and a side of onion rings, I texted my friend Patrick to let him know where I was and get his childhood home’s address - it was only 5min away.

After inhaling that delicious burger, I went for a quick walk along Darien’s Main Street.  The sun was setting and everything was closed, but this I expected, and wasn’t set on shopping anyway.

After documenting a very patinaed Chevy across from my car, I head over to Patrick’s childhood home to document it as night fell, because I knew he’d appreciate seeing it and it wasn’t out of my way at all.

After this I set back on my way South to DC, with a mostly uneventful late-night drive the entire way; how I’m used to this trip going.  This time I skipped stopping to view Manhattan, as I counted Darien as my mid-trip stop this time around.

Highlight Vlog

See highlighted video clips in this video below, or watch the full Vlog on YouTube.

I don’t know when the next time I’ll be returning to New England will be, but I do want to make sure to get out to Salem next time around!

Christmas in St. Louis, 2017

As many of you know, much of my family lives in St. Louis, Missouri.  As always, I took along my camera, however given my still-recovering knee I brought it with no intentions of photographing anything in particular; my plan was to sit and let it heal, and that's largely what I did.  I did, however, shoot some photos as I saw them, so I'm including some highlights of my trip here.

Before I could leave town, however, I had to find someone to care for the bonsai Alyssa gave me.  I may have decorated it beforehand though...

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Roadtripping there led to I-70 to visit with Bernie and Natalie in Indianapolis while there was clear weather along the Northern route.  First though was a stop at a West Virginia rest area with an overlook of the carved-through mountain.  This mountain pass is usually completely coated in shimmering ice by December, so it was a new sight to see its bare rock in direct sunlight.

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Next stop was seeing Bernie and Natalie at a Steak N Shake not far from their home in Indianapolis.  Interestingly, we've done this enough times that some of the wait staff recognize us now, and gave us free coffee for the road.  Can you say *you're* a regular at a restaurant 600 miles away?

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Upon arrival in St. Louis I may have decorated my hotel room...

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I've developed somewhat of a tradition of taking my cousin Carrie's kids out each year to see the latest Star Wars.  This year, however, I had been doing a bit of punking and when they asked me when we were going to see The Last Jedi I told Ryan and Alex I'd already seen it a few days earlier (true).  "But we always go!"  Sarcastically feigning pain, "Ow, my knee *really* hurts...  I don't think I can see it..."

And then I started in on the mix of spoilers:  Han Solo dies!  Luke drinks green milk fresh from a teat... then he tickles Rey's hand with a leaf!  It's just like Battlestar Galactica except there's no whiteboard!  Kylo Ren kills Han Solo, and boy oh boy do I have some bad news for you about Carrie Fisher... BOOM!!!  *feigns gasping for air*

Obviously you wouldn't know what of that is true or false unless you've seen the movie; little did they know it's all true... but with a 2 ton asterisk on the end, and none of it is central to the plot.  Also little did they know I'd already bought the tickets.  So, Christmas morning came and I'd given them a Christmas card simply signed "Han Solo dies!!!" inside, with the tickets to Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi in 3D for the next day.  The reaction of them realizing what it was was pretty worth it.

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Fast forward a few days to my mom's birthday, and we're all sitting around my grandpa's kitchen table visiting with him.  He's 98, and last year I gave him prints of some aerial photos I've taken, and pictures of me taking some of them; he's always been intrigued by flight, and is always asking what kind of aviation stuff I'm taking pictures of, so it was a fitting gift - I think he lives vicariously through me a little since I've been on some flights he didn't even get to experience in the Army.  This year I accidentally left this year's new prints at the hotel on Christmas, so I instead gave him the prints a few days later; it was for the best - he was more awake and focused than on Christmas with all the tiring activity.

This part really made my day - this is my 98 year old grandfather reading an article on AirlineGeeks.com profiling me and my marketing photography work in the aviation industry.  Here is my only remaining grandparent soaking in every word of an article about me.  His only question was "what is a Plane Pull?"  I showed him pictures and explained the charity event.

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This was almost a two week trip, but it flew right by, and as you've seen I don't have too terribly many photos to share from it due to my own preference of rehabbing my knee (12-weeks post MPFL Reconstruction surgery as of that week), and extreme caution to avoid ice and any slippery footing; St. Louis always harsher, more annoying Winters than DC - almost every day it is in the teens or single digits, accompanied by freezing rain, snow, or sleet.  There were only ~2 days of the entire stay that didn't have some kind of Winter precipitation - not a welcome sight for post-op knee safety, even if at 12 weeks my gracilis tendon has *in theory* fused with my bones and become a new ligament.

That same Winter weather was tracking North, so the I-64 Southern route was the obvious choice to return to DC.  St. Louis has a lot of decay in certain areas; I find it beautiful, although those aren't areas I would recommend going on a touristy photo-walk unless you're an experienced urban explorer (I am not).  The highway out of town takes you straight past some of these spots, so I always love seeing the decaying abandoned industrial buildings leaving St. Louis and into Illinois.

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Later, in Kentucky, one of the rest areas just a few miles from the Woodford Reserve Distillery had a display of Kentucky Whiskey memorabilia and selections from local vineyards.  I'm much more of a scotch person, but I think I'd really enjoy visiting the Woodford Reserve Distillery.

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Finally, some sights heading into Louisville, Kentucky; it's always seemed like it would be a really cool city to explore and perhaps even live in, but I've never understood why a city most famous for its baseball bats only has a AAA team which feeds into an Ohio team.

I've seen a few sitting in parking lots, but I've mostly only seen these when I visit the Infiniti dealer for service; this is the first time I've spotted a CV37 generation Infiniti Q60 driving on the road.  I do kinda like it, but it still just seems like a mashup of BMW 4 Series / Mazda 6 / Honda Accord to me; in other words, as a whole, unoriginal.  There is also the glaring omission of a manual transmission option.  I'll spare you the full car review, but I have quite a few complaints about the interior as well.  That all said, it's still a really sharp looking car.

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Hands down my favorite sight along I-64 is this oil refinery; the steam is always distinctive and visible for miles, and between the steam clouds and thousands of sodium lamps, it's roadside industrial Christmas.  This is the first time I've ever seen them burning off excess gas; the industrial candle lit the lumbering overhead plumes even brighter, adding depth with its flicker.

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That night, while editing some photos, I again felt compelled to decorate my hotel room; these AA powered Christmas lights are the best $7 I spent all of 2017!  They served as the perfect nightlight while editing that evening (the room lamps were all just too bright), and the perfect warmup in my groggy, pre-coffee state the next morning.

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By morning the band of snow in the North had swirled down and reached an arm down to the I-64 corridor; the <1" of accumulation was welcome in comparison to the >36" the same storm had dropped in a matter of hours North in Pennsylvania overnight.

West Virginia's capital building has always drawn me to visit, but I still haven't had the chance.  It looks very beautiful, from the quick glimpses you spot it passing through Charleston.

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Alyssa in DC: 2016

I must admit to having an (arguably) bad habit; I place my personal photography behind my work photography.  That's not a bad thing; the bad thing is how far behind I place my own work.  In something that's become almost as much a tradition as a Summer vacation with Alyssa, this is the second time in a row I've taken more than 8 months to edit the photos I shot on Alyssa's trip to DC.

This time around I insisted that we take things a little slower than the previous year; doing something every single day for a week in 2015 really wore me out, so 2016 was a more relaxed trip.  Plus, that allowed us to catch some of the Rio Olympic Games!

We didn't do anything worthy of photos the first two days (it was mostly spent fixing her computer), so this blog starts on Day 3!

Day 3: Luray Caverns • Skyline Drive • Stony Man Mountain

Luray Caverns, Luray, Virginia

Alyssa is always jealous of my hiking pictures when she sees them, so we always plan at least one hike when she's here; since I thought Luray Caverns would be something she'd enjoy, I planned our entire day in the Shenandoah Valley, starting with Luray Caverns.

It'd been a few years since I'd been to Luray Caverns, but of course Alyssa had never been.  Things have clearly changed since the last time I'd visited; of all the times I've visited, I've never actually been given a tour before.  Actually, I've never even had to stand in line to get in.  Every time I've been you've just paid for entry and you're given free reign to walk around the cavern at your own pace.  Not this time though; we actually had to wait in line, and once inside we were part of a guided tour with around 30 people.

A very different experience than my previous visits, but still enjoyable.  I've previously taken the audio tour, but I found the guided tour more educational and much more enjoyable.  The only reason I can guess for getting a guided tour this time and not my other visits is this is the only time I've been to Luray Caverns during Summer, which is of course peak tourism season, plus all those students are out of school and available to intern at the Caverns.

Something that really, REALLY bothered me was that the intern bringing up the caboose of the group had a serious disrespect for the nature and longevity of Luray's formations.  On several occasions I spotted him touching the stalagmites and stalactites with his bare hands.  He clearly knew he wasn't supposed to be doing it because he stopped when he noticed me watching him and our eyes met.  Incredibly disrespectful to the 64 acre underground natural phenomenon.  Just touching the mineral deposits that compose the stalagmites and stalactites leaves skin oil and other contaminants that halts their growth.  Currently most of the formations in Luray Caverns grow at a rate of 1" every 120 years, but that permanently stops when contaminants destroy the fragile conditions required for the formations to grow.  It has been argued that it's bad that (a small) part of the caverns has been opened to the public - I mostly disagree with this because I think more-or-less sacrificing only a small portion of the cavern is the best way to display and educate the public about the natural phenomonon.  That being said, it makes me angry that Luray Caverns staff themselves can be found palming the formations and at one point even dragging his palm against the wall while walking.

But let's get back to some positive.  Luray Caverns is home to The Great Stalagpipe Organ.  Although it's called an organ, the instrument is actually a lithophone; that is, a percussion instrument using rock to create tones.  The "organ" was designed and installed by Leland W. Sprinkle, who found two in-tune formations, and shaved down an additional 35, to create the instrument with 37 notes spread across 3.5 acres, making it the world's largest musical instrument.  Each limestone formation is fitted with an electrically actuated rubber mallet and electric pickup (similar to an acoustic-electric guitar pickup), and the tones are amplified through a PA system.  Performances of the organ are live, but automated / pre-arranged just like a player piano.  The organ keyboard itself is locked-out except for special occasions such as weddings and other events.  The Great Stalagpipe Organ can be heard on Pepe Deluxé's album Queen of the Wave played by Paul Malmström.

The organ has a playlist of songs it can play at random; here is my video of the organ playing during our visit.  If you know the name and composer of the song, please let me know in the comments!

Stony Man Mountain

Next stop was Stony Man Mountain.  You of course have to take Skyline Drive to get there, so I hopped on at the Thorton Gap entrance, and more or less drove South to the trailhead, stopping here and there for the occasional overlook; I've seen pretty much all of them, but Alyssa of course hasn't seen any.

Years ago I hiked Little Stony Man, so when we went up Stony Man I was very surprised how much shorter and easier the trail was to get to the summit.  Stony Man's summit trail is pretty much a straight shot up the mountain, taking very little effort or time from the parking lot.  The trail is lightyears easier than the Maryland Heights Trail in Harper's Ferry I took Alyssa to in 2015 - that one's difficulty, despite my warning her, really caught her off-guard.  This one was much easier than I'd planned on.  Beautiful overlook at the top, and by chance we found some cool rocks on the edge of the trail that made for some awesome outdoorsy portraits as the fog began to roll into the valley below us.

And thanks to Alyssa for catching this photo of me.  (Edits are mine.)

Skyline Drive

We still had a few hours of daylight left, and before continuing South on Skyline drive, we dropped in on the nearby Skyland Lodge to check out the gift shop if anything caught Alyssa's eye - I eyeballed a marbled coffee mug that I ended up getting a few months later during my annual Fall trip along Skyline Drive.

We went for a leisurely drive as the fog got thicker, running through the gears with the windows down in the beautiful, and surprisingly dry, weather that day.  I've never seen fog on Skyline Drive before (maybe because I've only visited in Fall before this?), and between that, the thick tree cover, and golden setting sun, it was a very surreal drive back by time we decided to turn around and head back.  I insisted on stopping at one overlook just after sunset to catch a cool toned photo of my car - it's much easier to do this sort of thing in the Summer when there are practically no other people and cars to contend with.

Day 4: International Spy Museum • National Portrait Gallery • PostSecret: The Power of a Postcard at The National Postal Museum • Washington Nationals vs San Francisco Giants

International Spy Museum

Oh, the International Spy Museum.  A museum I've walked past more times than I can count, yet had never visited.  I'd even been to the now-closed-for-relocation Crime & Punishment museum, which, by the way, I can't recommend enough.  Day 4 was the longest day of our adventures because we squeezed the most in, beginning with a reservation to Operation Spy at the International Spy Museum... unfortunately we arrived 2 minutes late, and they wouldn't let us into that or rebook us to a later time even being 2 minutes late!  With a little, um, prompting... they at least refunded us.  The day didn't start off very well, but that was the only hiccup for the rest of the day.  We did get into the rest of the museum, and frankly I'd like to go back, because even after spending hours exploring, I'm pretty sure I still didn't see everything or get to read and learn as much as I'd like since it was packed with Summer tourism.

The second half of the museum is whatever rotating exhibit they have visiting; it was the spy tech from the James Bond universe.  Really cool stuff, being a Bond fan as most people are.  The only suggestion I'd make is better separation between fact and fiction; all of the "artifacts" are fictional, and I'd have enjoyed seeing more explanation of how the fictional items tie into factual technologies; there was a little bit of that, but I was still left with a little unease knowing that a lot of the people visiting probably thought some of the movie props were real-world artifacts.  Awesome Bond collection exhibit nonetheless.

National Portrait Gallery

Next we went a few blocks over to what has always been my favorite museum in DC; the National Portrait Gallery.  I unfortunately missed the portrait of Colbert over the water fountain a few years back, but one of my couples was fortunate enough to see it; that's actually where James popped Danielle the question!

PostSecret: The Power of a Postcard at The National Postal Museum

We spent a good portion of time in the National Portrait Gallery, but we didn't dilly dally too much since I was making sure we had enough time to make it to the National Postal Museum.  Visiting here was a complete surprise for Alyssa, because I'd eagerly been awaiting the exhibit's opening, and I had purposely never mentioned it, waiting for Alyssa to get into town before seeing it.

I've followed PostSecret since Frank Warren began the project from his Germantown home in 2005.  I don't look up the newest secrets every Sunday they are posted, but I do read them once or twice a month; Feedly catches everything for me to read later on.

For the uninitiated, PostSecret doesn't need much more introduction than this: people across the World anonymously send in handmade postcards bearing their secrets and their souls.  Usually the cards have original artwork or photographs, other times they're relevant imagery that highlights location or timing.  And on some occasions, entire items are mailed, such as wedding rings, dolls, and other mementos leftover from past relationships and events.  (Full Disclosure: The Museum of Broken Relationships in LA is in my top five of locations I want to visit on the West Coast.)  Mailing a secret is an outlet to creatively share your secret when you may not have the strength or ability to share it with anyone else.  PostSecret quickly amassed a worldwide following and subsequent support community, as it unites everyone with their own personal struggles through shared humanity.

Fun fact: every single postcard Frank has ever received, all 500,000, was present at the exhibit.  So, if you've ever sent in a secret, you can rest assured it is somewhere in the photograph below...

I captured most of the secrets on display, and I've included a small gallery of some select secrets you can scroll through and read below.

Washington Nationals vs San Francisco Giants

After a long day of museum hopping, it was time to sit back and relax with some half-smokes and "doughboys" at Nats Park.  I neglected to tell Alyssa that I'd gotten us seats in the N-A-T-S-NATS-NATS-NATS-WOO! section.  The Nats beat the Giants 5-1, so section 313's reaction caught her off guard the first run or two.  Those were pretty great seats, right on the rail.  That said, the only seats I've had at Nats park I didn't like were in the outfield; Nats Park provides a great view of the game pretty much anywhere you sit, regardless of level.

After the game we went over to check out who was playing at The Bullpen on Half Street.  People were playing soccer, inspired by the Rio Olympics, in front of Jeff from Accounting performing.

Day 6: Imran and Hina's Wedding • Brine Oyster Bar

Imran and Hina's Wedding

The next morning was Imran and Hina's wedding in Virginia; the weekend before I'd been in Houston for their wedding based there.  The wedding here was much smaller as usual.  I just relaxed and enjoyed with Jake and Alyssa; I'd referred Imran to Eddie early that year to shoot his wedding.

Imran Hina Wedding.jpg

Brine Oyster Bar

After the wedding, Jake, Alyssa, Eddie, and I head over to Brine in Mosaic District and met up with Loreal for our own little wedding after-party.  I ended up trying raw oysters for the first time, and found that I love them.  I'd had steamed oysters plenty of times, but never found a raw bar I trusted and been in the mood to try it at the same time until then.  I'm looking forward to next time I get them; maybe the next time Natalie is in town we'll have to go back to the oyster bar in National Harbor since that's the place we first met each other.

Some fun backstory here is that at this point Eddie had been brainstorming his proposal to Loreal with me.  He pretty much had it planned out at this point, and just an hour earlier while shooting the wedding, he pulled me aside to show me a picture of the ring he had for her.  He popped the question a few weeks later on a trip to Hawaii, and the rest is history!  Now I’m hearing all the wedding planning brainstorming lol.

Day 7: Stone Tower Winery • Departure

Stone Tower Winery

For Alyssa's last day, I *had* to take her to a winery.  She'd been begging me the entire trip, and we kept putting it off and putting it off.  So with just a few hours before her flight, we made it happen; I took her to my favorite winery around here, which also happens to be probably the classiest and closest to a Napa vineyard in the Northern Virginia Region (Potomac Point Winery is a very, very close second in my book, if you're curious).  Alyssa's the biggest lightweight I've ever met, so after just a tasting she's tipsy in all these pictures.

But give her just one glass of wine on top of the tasting and she was... super-tipsy?  Tipsy enough that she zapped herself on an electric fence while petting the horses in a neighboring pasture.  At least she wasn't naming them like Patrick famously named the goats at Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn...

Departure

I did a stupid on the way to the airport.  Alyssa had gotten a wine glass from Stone Tower to take home with her; it was wrapped up, placed "safely" on the back floorboard where nothing could get to it.  Well, after Alyssa was done scrolling through the pictures on my camera, I reached back and dropped my camera onto the back floorboard... where "nothing can get to it!"  *CLINK!*  Well at least it sounded pretty when I shattered it!

Stone Tower's wineglasses are oversized, laser cut and engraved, and most importantly for this story, they're crystal.  I don't know of any other vineyard that uses crystal wine glasses.  The winery was closed; there was no time to go back even if they were open.  I told her to relax; I had one of their glasses at home and I ended up mailing it to her... along with the bag of broken wine glass shards, just to screw with her.

The sun set as we arrived to the airport.  We got there early enough to get dinner before her flight began boarding - I think I've turned her on to Five Guys - I'm a bad influence I guess.

Alyssa has a bit of a granola obsession, which I learned the first time she came (I was finding granola wrappers and crumbs in my car a month after she'd left 2015!) but this year wasn't as bad.  I still found granola!... but at least everything I found was unopened, and the crumbs were relegated to the passenger side leg bolster.  Improvement!

Who knows what our next set of adventures will be, but I'm looking forward to them!

Christmas in St. Louis 2016

Not every year, but most years, my parents and I travel to St. Louis to visit our family; most of my extended family is from and lives in St. Louis, Missouri - as a result, St. Louis is something of a second home to me.  This year was no different, especially as my last remaining grandparent pushes past 96 years old.

Since this is more of a family trip, I'll be sharing some highlights of the trip.  I think the most logical way to do this is to break it up by day, since every day holds a different event.

Last Photoshoot of the Year

A lot of what I do for the Airports' concessions program is documenting events and brand activation.  This is exactly what I did for my last three photoshoots of the year... with Santa Claus.

After completing that and some photos of new retailers, I popped in to the Airport Managers Office (I used to work in this office at Dulles) to wish all my friend there a Merry Christmas before I left town the next day.  In Dennis' office (this actually used to be my physical office), I found a giant photo of Dennis' head that was apparently left over from some pranks - I had to get a picture with it.

I haven't determined yet if the head is from a picture I shot - my hunch is that it is :-) &nbsp;This joke head will mean the most to folks in the Dulles aviation community

I haven't determined yet if the head is from a picture I shot - my hunch is that it is :-)  This joke head will mean the most to folks in the Dulles aviation community

Arrival

Usually the trip by car has poor weather and slow pacing, but the weather is unseasonably warm and dry, and the trip was made in 15hrs non-stop (barring gas / bathroom breaks and driver swaps), making it one of the rare time the journey was made non-stop on the way there.

In the middle of nowhere Illinois I woke up from a nap and looked out the window to see the most stars I've ever seen all at once in my entire life.  Light pollution really is a shame, and even though I travel this route almost every year, I've never seen such a clear sky - usually the sky is threatening snow this time of year.  The biggest reason I moved to a 1D X years ago (rather than the 5D Mark III at the time) is its incredible low-light abilities.  On a whim, I tried shooting the stars from a moving car.  Even though I really dislike the 24-105mm f/4 IS USM lens (for reasons I may get into in another blog post - I only purchased it to do video work earlier this year), I've found it to be the most versatile zoom lens I've used... so despite its many shortcomings and my many frustrations with it, it is a good travel lens; this is what I brought with me on this trip.

The one thing that does shine on this lens it the image stabilizer, which allowed me to shoot 1 second exposures handheld wide open at ISO 51,200 to capture the stars.  Remember, this is from the backseat of a car going 80MPH - the image stabilizer combined with the fantastic sensor of the 1D X allowed me to really push the limits of what is possible; I ended up with a pretty good picture considering I did it under the most adverse conditions for night sky photography.

1D X • EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM • 24mm •&nbsp;1s • f/4 • ISO 51,200

1D X • EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM • 24mm • 1s • f/4 • ISO 51,200

Christmas Eve

It's been quite a few years since my family attended Christmas Eve mass; as my parents and relatives age, it's made more sense to choose an earlier vigil mass time.  Christmas (Eve) mass with my family at All Saints Catholic Church in St. Peters, Missouri is a tradition I look forward to every year because how beautiful the small church always is at Christmas.  This is the church where my parents were married, I was baptized, and most funerals in my family have taken place. The priest who celebrated this mass actually knows my family very well, since he visits my grandfather (who was a eucharistic minister for this parish until he aged to a point where he can no longer leave home).

Christmas Day

Christmas in my family always works out pretty conveniently.  My mom's side has always had Christmas in the morning (after Christmas lunch), and my Dad's side has always traditionally had Christmas in the evening (after Christmas dinner).  This works great, because it means we can attend both Christmas gatherings without missing any of the festivities from both sides of my family.

My grandfather on my mom's side has always been fascinated with flight, although he never got a pilot's license; he's like me in that sense (though I hope to one day).  He sees all the stuff I get to do with aviation and in a way lives vicariously through me.  This year, someone showed him video from my glider flights, and he's been asking for prints of the photos ever since; this Christmas I brought him prints of the glider flights, plus photos from other helicopter flights and my trip in a hot air balloon.  My cousin's kid Alex always loves to take pictures with my camera, so I asked him to get pictures of my and my grandfather together.

I always let him play with my camera, so here is a small selection of ones Alex shot on my camera.  I of course edited these for color to match my own eye, but he's pretty good - no other edits were needed.

Next was Christmas for my Dad's side, at my Aunt Diane's.

My cousin Scott has a new 3 month old puppy, Danica (named after Danica Patrick, of course; Scott is a huge NASCAR fan).  She's a sweet Jack Russell Terrier with energy abound; she made friends with my cousin Sarah's dog Oliver, and the two dogs played non-stop all day.

So here is me with all my cousins on my Dad's side.

Mom's Birthday

My mom's birthday is right by Christmas, so traditionally it marks our last day in town so she can celebrate her birthday with family.  This year, like the last prior few, has been more subdued, and more-so focused spending time with my grandfather, whose age is beginning to catch up with him; that hasn't stopped his sense of humor though.

Departure

The trip back home was pretty regular, and we actually made spectacular time.  During a stop I watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen in my entire life... ruined by gas station and power line sprawl.  And conditions were great until they weren't hitting a snowstorm bounding in the mountains of West Virginia; you'll have to watch the video for that.  We did make it home safely and in still in record time for the return trip... I still prefer flying this trip though.

Video Footage

Something I've done a bit more work with over the last year, as you may know, is video; as a result, I've been incorporating video into my personal work a little bit more as well.  Some pretty cool footage of the West Virginia snowstorm at the tail end!