For the past several years, we’ve lived in a beautiful community in North Bethesda, MD, called Grosvenor Park. The community was built inside a forest that stretches from Bethesda to Rockville. This is a video recorded in that forest, on the shore of a brook that makes its way through the community, in the summer of 2008.
The nature that surrounded us while we lived there was a constant source of inspiration and relaxation for us. I wrote and posted photos taken in Grosvenor Park in the past, too. If you’d like to see more, here’s where you can start:
Acapella, a Romanian choral group, gave a Christmas concert at Margarethenkirche (St. Margaret’s Church) in Medias, Romania, on December 12, 2009. They were accompanied on the organ by Remus Henning, an organist of international renown.
I recorded most of the songs on my cameraphone and embedded the video below.
You can also watch this video on YouTube in three parts (part 1, part 2, part 3).
The songs/carol selections were as follows:
Ave Maria
Vestea Nasterii
O, Ce Veste Minunata
Stille Nacht
Joy to the World
Steaua Sus Rasare
Noi in Seara de Craciun
Mos Craciun
Panis Angelicus
Trei Crai de la Rasarit
Sus Boieri
O, Tannenbaum
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Cantec Bavarez
Colo-n Susu
Deck the Halls
O, Du Froliche
Adeste Fideles
Other concerts I attended at St. Margaret’s church this year were:
Every year, the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, DC, puts on a great Christmas show that features toy trains. These aren’t your average toy trains, like my own set, but large-scale Lionel model trains, made of metal, lit up inside, painted carefully, running on metal tracks. The decor is also special. They put together a different setting to showcase the trains each year, built around a particular theme. The year that I filmed the train show, they’d put together a mountain terrain with tracks hugging the mountainside, going through tunnels inside the mountains, passing by waterfalls and little mountain towns, and crossing long suspended bridges overhead. The video you see below was recorded on December 1, 2007, and you can watch it on Youtube or here.
This year, the Holiday Magic show runs from November 26, 2009 through January 10th, 2010. If you’re in DC, don’t miss it. It’s held in the Conservatory East Gallery and Garden Court. Here’s what the US Botanic Garden says about this year’s show:
The U.S. Botanic Garden’s National Mall and fanciful garden-train exhibits have become a beloved Washington tradition, and this year we’re serving up even more magic with larger and more amazing displays made of plant-based natural materials. You’ll find an enchanted storybook garden with trains popping in and out of a landscape that now includes Snow White’s cottage and the Owl and the Pussycat’s beautiful pea green boat. Our exhibit of the National Mall landmarks is up to date this season with the Obama children’s swing set and another new addition: the National Museum of the American Indian. Again this year, one of Washington’s largest indoor holiday trees will tower over pools of colorful poinsettias and other holiday plants. The whole family will enjoy the children’s plant hunt, which will take visitors through our collections in search of particularly “magical” plants.
For more information about the US Botanic Garden, you may view a gallery of photos I took inside, or you can visit their website.
This is a short, side-by-side video comparison of the two affordable EF 50mm lenses from Canon: the 50mm f/1.4 and f/1.8 lenses. I had them both, set them on a table, and compared them to each other, looking at their weight, size, lenses, and handling. You might find this interesting if you’re into photography. My conclusion was that both are great, but if you haven’t got the money for the f/1.4 lens (and I’m not even going to mention the f/1.2 lens, because that’s out of my budget), then get the f/1.8 lens, it’s a great bargain for the price.
You can see the video on blip.tv or on YouTube. Believe it or not, I shot this review back in November of 2007 and only got around to posting it now. I’ve got quite a backlog in terms of processing and editing some of my media…
I used the 50mm f/1.4 lens extensively. I have almost 11,000 photos in my library taken with it. I used it to take landscapes while in the Austrian Alps, and even though I complained about it afterward, it’s still my go-to lens for lots of tasks such as portraits, still life, night shots and more. Here are just a few photos taken with it.
These two 50mm lenses are available for purchase from Amazon or B&H Photo:
Updated 11/02/2018: This video now has over 25,000,000 views. Thank you!
My wife gave me this great little train set as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. I thought it’d be fun to film it in action one day, and when I edited the video, I looked for the right kind of music for some time. The end result was worth it though, and it sets the mood for the upcoming holiday season. Enjoy!
You can watch the video here or on YouTube. The soundtrack for the video is called “Choo Choo Train” by Daffy Dave.
from Amazon
from Amazon
