The Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000

Windows.
Georgetown. Washington, DC. EXIF.
This photo was featured in the DCist.

Last Saturday I hauled out the Marin, packed up my camera gear, and cruised the streets of Washington DC. I was excited to use my new Lowepro CompuTrekker photo backpack, and I stupidly packed it full of everything I could.

Nikon D300, Nikon 18-200mm VR lens, Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. Nikon SB-600 flash. Check.

MacBook Pro and Bose headphones. Check.

Manfrotto tripod and ball head. Check.

All kinds of other random photog accessories. Check.

I think I used less gear when I climbed Mount Rainier in 2001. Oh well.

The first stop I made is just down the hill from where I live. Open City is a cool coffeehouse/diner/bar that is always open, and always serves breakfast. After grabbing a quick bite, I unbolted the Marin from outside of Open City and took off down Connecticut.

The photo above was taken in Georgetown. I paused at an intersection to grab a few photos of the Christmas shoppers. I had not originally noticed the Bennetton building, but I turned around and saw that ridiculous limo in front of it. I quickly pressed the shutter and got a shot. When I got home, I discovered the different colors in the windows.

I submitted my photos to the DCist photo pool on flickr, and a few days later the DCist used this shot for an About Tonight post. The interest generated by the DCist propelled “Windows” to the #2 most “interesting” photo (out of the 382) I’ve submitted to flickr. Flickr uses some strange kind of formula to determine a photo’s “interestingness.” In case you are wondering, #1 is “Ramps.” “Windows” replaced “Capitol Hill Obama Party,” which headlined an Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000 post about the 2008 Election.

I packed up all my gear and made my way through Georgetown. I passed this interesting cupcake shop that had a line of 20 people going out the door. Cupcakes? Really? I asked about this place at work, and apparently it’s a big deal here in the District. I did not stop to grab a snack, but check out Georgetown Cupcake for yourself.

It was raining and snowing pretty heavily by now. Considering how ill-equipped I was to handle these conditions, I was fortunate to stumble upon two really nice bike shops in Georgetown. I ducked into Revolution Cycles and picked up this awesome under helmet beanie thing. It gets the wind off my ears while keeping the noggin decently warm, plus it wicks. Revolution did not have much inventory left in gloves, so I hopped over to their next door neighbor, Bicycle Pro Shop, and picked up some excellent Cannondale riding gloves with Primaloft.

Francis Scott Key Memorial. EXIF.

Across the street from the bike shops is the Francis Scott Key Memorial. For this shot, I mounted the D300 and Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens on a tripod. I popped up the built in flash and set it to “Commander” mode to trigger my Nikon SB-600 flash. The SB-600 can be programmed to fire when it receives a signal from the commander module on the camera. I held the SB-600 in my left hand and pressed the shutter with my right hand. I made several shots with the flash coming from different angles.

Georgetown Canal. EXIF.

After monkeying around at the Francis Scott Key Memorial, I again packed up everything and headed down to the Georgetown Canal. I followed a path along the canal until I reached a series of dams and bridges.

Great Blue Heron. EXIF.

It was raining pretty hard by now, and I noticed a Great Blue Heron taking refuge under one of the bridges. It’s pretty surreal to see a bird like this in an urban environment.

It was tough to get a close shot of the bird from where I was, and it was under pretty dark cover beneath the bridge. I put on the 50mm f/1.8, mounted the SB-600 and dialed in f/2.8 in aperture priority mode. I posted a closer crop of this shot on flickr: Great Blue Heron [crop].

Oak Hill Cemetery. EXIF.

The canal path eventually ran into Rock Creek Parkway. I pedaled along “The Rock” until I came across Oak Hill Cemetery. I setup the tripod and made a series of shots with different lenses. To make the shot above, I plugged in 10 seconds on shutter priority. I took the camera out of auto ISO and chose 200. I did the black and white conversion in Photoshop CS4 using Calculations.

I hopped back on the bike to head home. Although I was eager to get out of the wet and warm up, my bike had other plans. Shortly after leaving the cemetery my chain snapped, forcing me to walk the last mile. Oh well. A few days later I walked it over to City Bikes in Adams Morgan. They set me up with a new chain and had me out the door in under 10 minutes.

You can check out the route I travelled using the Google Map below. I’ve marked all the relevant waypoints and photo locations.
View Larger Map