Quadpod

After lugging my camera tripod a couple of miles from my hotel in DC this week, the guards at the Lincoln Memorial informed me I couldn't set it up inside the pillars where the statue is. This also happens to be the place where it is darkest, and you need a tripod so things don't get blurry.

So I had a brain wave. I extended the tripod legs out but didn't spread them open, making sort of a long monopod. But the guard immediately told me I couldn't do that either — I needed to keep my tripod off the ground.

Smart alecky time. I picked my tripod off the ground and planted it into the top of my shoe. It wasn't touching the ground any more. My guard said that was pretty creative and walked away.

So I started taking some pictures, and out of the corner of my eye I see two new guards coming at me briskly. One of them stops short a few feet away and grabs the other and says, "Wait, he's OK."

Pretty soon I look around me and there are 3 other guys with their tripods sticking into their feet.

Starry Night

I took Malcolm camping at Camp Boyhaven this weekend with his Scout troop; we had 10 boys in all.

We had great stars on Friday night, with only a few clouds. I took this picture of the Big Dipper at 11:00 after all the boys were in their tents (though the final time they got hollered at to go to sleep was at midnight).

This shot is looking up through the trees around our campsite. It's a 30 second exposure, placing the camera on a camp stool looking up, and clicking the shutter with the self-timer. If you don't see the Big Dipper right away, click on the picture to bring up the big version, then squint your eyes.

Jeff's Been Framed

Here's more from my DC trip a couple weeks back. Again, I'm in the back of a moving car doing some drive-by shooting as we circle the Jefferson Memorial. It's not an ideal way to shoot, but a couple of pictures actually turned out. I love the tree framing in this one, I need to do more of that.

Long and Winding Road

Friday on our car trip to Boston Malcolm took some pictures of the other kids in transit. What I love about these is how he tilted the camera on all of them. I'm always worried so much about keeping a straight horizon, but his approach adds a lot of energy. He took exactly one shot of each, and they all turned out good. I wish I had that kind of batting average.

Egg Hunt

The Easter Bunny set up a fun morning egg hunt. Carter, Malcolm and Claire each had to find seven eggs in their assigned color hidden around the house. Somehow Carter found all of his eggs before Malcolm. It's almost as if the Easter Bunny made Malcolm's hiding spots more tricky than his younger brother's. Imagine that.

Cherry Blossoms

The cherry blossoms may be fading, but I did get a picture of them after all. On my homeward shuttle to the airport today the driver took a shortcut around the Jefferson Memorial, and we hit a stop light at the perfect time.

Not my ideal way to shoot, inside a rocking vehicle, trying to avoid the Driver Accepts Gratuities window sticker, but I got what I came for.

Under

After dinner at Pentagon City I got dropped at the Metro to ride back to my hotel in the city. There are a million stories to tell in pictures on the Metro. It's one of my favorite places to shoot. I want to get better at candid portraits of strangers, but you have to work fast. So for now I wimp out and look for lines and reflections.

Over

DC cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin were a blowout. Most of the petals have dropped. I found one good tree but couldn't quite catch it from a moving car on the way to Thai dinner with people from work. So here's something else from sundown.

Nice Glass

I made it eight days after touching pro lenses at Photoshop World before I took the plunge and picked up a used Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 from a retiring wedding photographer on Craigslist.

Oh, and it happened to be bundled with a pro D2xs camera body, an excellent flash, a couple of flash external battery packs and more. The D2xs was Nikon's best digital camera about a year ago; it's no longer the newest model, but I don't have $4,200 to drop on a D3.

So I got it Saturday and I'm starting to learn the controls. One of the coolest features is the second shutter release — when you turn the camera 90° to take a portrait shot, there's a button right there to snap with. Nnnnnnice.

My first shoot with the new gear should be cherry blossoms in Washington, DC Thursday evening. They've already peaked but I'm hoping there will be a few left.

May The Brick Be With You

There's a sale on and Malcolm got two new Star Wars Lego sets yesterday. What a cool intersection between two of my favorite things. Malcolm's Lego room in the basement is expanding. My 1970s Legos remain in their own container and have not been mixed with these newfangled non-rectangular pieces.

Satisfied Customer

For their allowance, our kids get their age in dollars per month. Carter, age 4, has been saving up for a new $20 Lego Star Wars game for Wii. He almost had enough, so Joanie had him pick up winter ice storm sticks in the yard to make up the rest of the money he needed. He worked hard and made sure he did a good job.

Last week I took him to Target to get the game and it was so fun to see how proud he was of himself. When we got home and he put the game in, the grand Star Wars music came on, and he got the biggest smile. What a great lesson for him about working hard and saving up. Here he is in that first minute of playing.

Church on the Computer

Twice a year is our worldwide General Conference for church, so that means meetings are either on satellite or the Internet. Church on the computer is nice because you can sleep in and wear your pajamas, which we did. In celebration, here's a picture of church on the computer. I was fully dressed when I took it in Boston last week.

This Blog Brought to You by The Letter T

So I'm driving down the road in Boston when all of a sudden by the side of the road there's this 12 foot tall stainless steel wafer with a big T cut out of the center. I'm guessing it has something to do with the Tube, Boston's subway system. But it could mean something else completely. The way the traffic lights were bouncing off it in the night, I had to grab some frames. Although there's a generally a cop standing on every corner in Boston, it was late so I didn't get in trouble for stopping in the middle of the road for a couple minutes of through-the-windshield shooting.