Category Archives: Places

Thoughts and photos from various places in the world.

Places

Washington DC panoramic

In May of 2007, I happened to be at the top of the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, VA. That hotel has the most amazing view of DC and Arlington from its ballroom, which sits right on top of it and has floor to ceiling windows.

I also just happened to have a video camera and tripod with me (ahem), and took some footage of the DC skyline, the Key Bridge, and the Potomac River. That footage sat around on my computer till last week, when I finally had the time to edit it properly and to work on a soundtrack for the video.

This video is the result. You can download it below, or view it at Vimeo or YouTube. (The soundtrack doesn’t sound as good at YouTube, their compression isn’t that great.)

➡ Download Washington DC Panoramic (720×540, MOV, 2:16)

By the way, I took this photo that same evening, from the roof of the building. The hospitality manager was a really nice guy and he let me go up and spend about 15 minutes taking photos up there.

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Places

Life, as I want to know it

Life, as I want to know it

Early morning just outside a forest near Natural Bridge, VA.

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Places

Green heron chicks in the parking lot

Guess what I saw in the parking lot at work? Fledging green heron chicks [reference]. (My thanks to Jorge for identifying them properly.)

I’d noticed the herons flying in and out at times during the past few months, but never even heard or saw the chicks before this, so I didn’t know they’d nested there. Around lunchtime, my colleagues told me they’d seen them, and even showed me photos they took with their cellphones, so I went outside and took a few of my own with my DSLR.

There weren’t just one or two, but six or seven of these little green heron chicks, standing about in the parking lot, unsure of themselves, eyeing me warily, wondering what I wanted to do with them. I guess it was their time to get weaned, so their parents either kicked them out of the nest, or they jumped out by themselves.

According to Wikipedia, they leave the nest at 16 days of age, and can’t fully fend for themselves until they’re 30-35 days of age. This means they’re going to be vulnerable to predators until then, and may even die of starvation if they can’t figure out how to get their food.

Photos taken in McLean, VA. Here’s hoping they’ll make it!

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Places

A particularly gloomy night

A night in recent memory featured an almost-full moon and gloomy skies. I took photos. It looked like something out of a scary movie. I used the digital zoom on my camera in order to get closer to the moon, and this means some of the photos aren’t as clear as they should be. Still, I think they’re interesting.

Photos taken in North Bethesda, MD.

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Places

A job I do not want

A tower crane was recently set up close to where we live, in North Bethesda, MD. As I looked at it one day, I saw people walking on its arm, and from here, they looked as small as ants (see photos below). Can you imagine having a job like that? I think it would definitely qualify as a hazardous occupation, especially in light of the recent crane collapses.

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