They say pets and their owners often start to look alike

Whaddya think?

Sweetie and Nina

New Look

This theme is “Widely.” What do you think?

At the Natural History Museum

Part of the Smithsonian, the Natural History Museum on the National Mall is a must-see. There is no admission charge to any of the Smithsonian museums, so get yourself to Washington DC and you are good to go. Word of advice: Allow yourself lots of time to explore!

The greeter.

There is so much going on in this simple photograph!

The view from the front.

Good Luck, Mr. President – UPDATED

It is Inauguration Day in the United States.

For all the silliness of the election season, and regardless of the winner, I like inauguration day and the peaceful transition of power it symbolizes (or in this case, the assent of the people to the continuation of the current administration). I’ve got a number of friends who are there and I hope they have a great time.

I took these shots of the White House last March. You can see the lights on in the Oval Office and I wonder if they are on all the time, or only when the President is in residence. I’m pretty sure President Obama was in D.C. at the time, so seeing the lights on was kind of cool.

UPDATED to add: Okay, now I’m feeling rather foolish. I’ve been operating under the misapprehension that the Oval Office is located in the White House. It is not. It is located in the West Wing, a separate building on the White House grounds.

Take Three

I’m finally going through my photos I took in Washington, DC last spring. Nik Color Efex Pro has some pre-loaded recipes and I’ve also created some of my own, so I took this shot I took of the Smithsonian Castle and gave it a couple of different treatments. (Click on images for larger version)

“Soft Landscape”

Vintage (my recipe) and Detail Extractor:

This last one uses the Warm Sunset recipe and Extreme Detail Extractor filter. I really like this one. It looks more like painting than a photograph.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond (Take 2)

Moonrise: Just a sliver, far beyond.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond

My photo for this week’s photo challenge.

Hwy 95A – Lyon County, NV

Black on Black

This was a bit of a challenge and something I’ll keep working on: Shooting a black dog against a black background! I got a second flash (Nissin Mark II Di866) which I am now using as the master to the Canon 430 EX II.

Key light to camera left (Nissin) through white umbrella. Fill light (Canon) to the right of Nina with soft box above and behind her for rim lighting.