Air India at Washington Dulles International Airport

On a warm, drizzly Summer morning, Air India's inaugural flight between Delhi, India, and Washington, DC landed at Washington Dulles International Airport, greeted by a delegation from the Embassy of India, distinguished guests, and a crowd of media who gathered alongside the runway. Upon landing, the 777-200LR was welcomed with a ceremonial water arch, and the aircraft blessed upon arriving to its gate.

Following refreshments, a press conference commenced with performances of Jana Gana Mana and The Star-Spangled Banner, national anthems of India and the United States, and a traditional Indian dance. Speakers included Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, Ambassador of India to the United States His Excellency Navtej Sarna, Air India’s Chairman Ashwani Lohani, and representatives from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to include Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Margaret McKeough, and Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Jerome Davis. After remarks from each of the speakers, a ceremonial cake cutting and exchange of gifts was enjoyed by the distinguished guests.

After the festivities, I made my way onto the ramp for one more aircraft walk around, and finally onto the runway to watch Air India’s flight depart Dulles for the first time on it’s new non-stop route back to Indira Gandhi International Airport. Luckily the weather had cleared up during the press conference and the skies were now blue with heavy bands of clouds quickly moving across the horizon, creating additional dramatic effect for Air India’s first departure.

Air India IAD 9.jpg — *We don't believe in walls;*
*we believe in bridges.*

Terry McAuliffe, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia

Smithsonian National Zoological Park: August, 2016

Continuing with my focus on closing out personal projects from 2016, here are photos from a trip to the National Zoo. This was only the second time I've been to DC's Zoo (I've been to the St. Louis Zoo many times), and I actually barely remember my first time, which was in middle school. The only thing I remember from that field trip was we had to do some lame scavenger hunt, and we finished at the prairie dogs before getting back onto the bus. This trip was much more enjoyable, however I STILL have not seen a panda, and this trip was on Bao Bao, Bei Bei, and Tian Tian's birthday; I saw the cake but not the pandas! Same goes for the elephants; the exhibit was completely open, but the elephants were nowhere to be found.

I thought the most fascinating birds were the Roseate spoonbills, which apparently are very common in Central America, and into parts of the US' Gulf Coast. These guys were not very intimidated and would freely walk close by.

End of Summer

Luck just wasn't on my side this year to go to the Maryland Renn Faire; one weekend I tried to go, it happened to be the first time the faire closed for weather conditions in a decade, and then the following weekend parking filled up and the began turning people away. When this happened, Annapolis was the obvious choice; same weekend as the boat show, although I spent more time in art galleries and spice shops than checking out floating money pits.

After perusing Annapolis, the Bay was calling out - since I've been doing a fair share of video work lately, I was inspired to snag some footage and flex my creative muscle a bit.

Senior Savannah - Portraits in Virginia Horse Country

For the longest time horses have fascinated me, but I've never had the chance to go riding (yet). So, each time I am near horses I am some combination of awestruck by their majestic nature and jealous of the people who get to ride them frequently.

Savannah takes that a step further, since she not only rides horses, but has several years of training under her belt so she may compete in equestrian show jumping and dressage events. As we waited for a missing part of her riding uniform, Savannah showed me how she grooms and prepares her horse before a ride, and told me about what the high school is like these days - Savannah will be a Senior at my (high school) alma mater beginning this September, and is a member of the Class of 2017.

We didn't photograph any jumps because it was becoming too dark to safely perform any.

Rachel and Andrew: Married May 31st, 2015

You might remember Rachel and Andrew from their snowy engagement session with their two beautiful horses. Now you will remember them for their lovely southern-style summer wedding, right on the Potomac River. The weather held out all day for a breezy outdoor ceremony and bright barn reception with a live band to keep the party kicking.

Rachel and Andrew are avid wine and scotch aficionados (yay!), and even incorporated their love of good spirits into their big day; the ring bearer was more of a flask bearer, and their favorite bottles were available for everyone to enjoy at the reception.