Street Photography : U Street and Shaw - Washington, DC

Personal work. Man, I've stayed away from this for a while. After a series of weddings and engagement shoots, I felt the need to bring it back to another thing I enjoy - street photography. In a sense street photography is like shooting a wedding - lighting scenarios change and anticipating moments. Street photography gives me a chance to interact with strangers too, some folks shy away from the camera and others jump right in wanting their photo to be taken. For me, I always ask permission to take someones photo. I know others who don't and thats fine too. 

Here are some photos made with my Nikon D700 using a 50mm 1.4. I shot these photos on U Street along with Akins Lawal who was shooting film with his Contax 645 Medium Format camera. Let me know if you figure out the story I tried to tell here. Enjoy!

Family Time at Meridian Hill Park | Washington, DC

I still love film!

Here are more photos from the same roll of Kodak Portra 160 using the Canon F-1 film camera. Arlene and I discovered Meridian Hill Park in DC on our way to friends house in Maryland. It's a great place for hanging out and a spot for a future engagement shoot.

Here are some random photos I took of Roman, Arl and the park. I didn't have a lens hood on my lens, hence the sun flares. I didn't like the effect particularly in these photos.

Random photos of the park. I like the sign the best.

Dad's old Canon F-1 Film Camera

This weekend I dusted off my dad's old Canon F-1 film camera that he gave to me last year. The thought of shooting this camera was something special, since he used it to capture moments of me and my siblings growing up. The Canon F-1 is 100% manual, meaning no auto-focus or metering - nothing. The light meter didn't work so I used my light meter app on my iPhone to figure out the proper exposure. I never shot with it, so I made a few shots 2 to 3 stops over-exposed at f 1.4 using Kodak Portra 160. Needless to say I was happy with the results and had to post these two photos. I plan to post more from this roll later this week.

I will definitely use this camera more often and I hope one day I'll be able to pass it along to one of my boys.

New York City - Brooklyn Bridge & Time Square

Here are few photos I made from a quick trip to NYC to see family. These were shot with my Nikon D700 and a 35mm prime.

Family Time | Middleburg, VA

This is why I do what I do.

Spent this afternoon at Chrysalis Vineyard in Middleburg, VA, and had a picnic in winter!  Chrysalis is family friendly and has an area where the kids can run around while the parents enjoy some wine. We picked up some cheese at the Home Farm Store in Middleburg, then chilled at Chrysalis.

The photos below were made with my Nikon D700 using a 85mm prime lens.