Are my photos for sale?

While all of my photographs are copyrighted, they are available for non-exclusive licensing and I also sell large size prints. Contact me via email at greg.jones.design@icloud.com for pricing info.

Welcome

to my personal blog. Here I post examples of my photography and writing. I specialize in making unique and highly detailed photographs. Notice I said making and not taking. Yes I take photos but a lot of time and work is involved in pushing and punishing the pixels in my images to achieve the look I like.

Please feel free make comments about any of my words or photos. I enjoy constructive critiques, learning about locations to shoot or photography techniques. Click on the "Share Article" link to share any of my photos via Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Want to use one of my posts in your own blog? No problem, but please make sure it links back to the original post here and do the right thing and give me credit. Don't copy my words, crop the images, remove the watermarks or claim my work as your own. This has happened more times than I can count so I've had to report copyright violations to ISP's and regrettably the violators blog is usually taken down.

Can't we all just get along?

Entries in Washington DC (70)

Thursday
Oct152020

Long Drive From Washington DC

Kathy and I arrived in Washington DC on the Amtrak Cardinal train from Chicago around 6:30pm Wednesday. We walked to our hotel, dropped off our bags and went back out to find something to eat. We were shocked at how empty Washington's Union Station was. I think Covid 19 has taken a terrible toll on the businesses that once filled the main waiting room and the other retail areas. We found something to eat, took it back to our room, ate, took showers and went to sleep. We had to pickup our rental car at Reagan National Airport at 7:00am this morning. Other than a real lack of customer service at the Alamo car rental counter, getting the car was uneventful. We drove to Maryland to pickup my wife's brother who is riding with us all the way back to California along Route 66. We made it all the way to Dayton Ohio where we will stay tonight and visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force in the morning.

While we didn't have time to take photos in Washington during our short visit, here are a couple from previous visits.

Tuesday
Nov192013

The View From Here

This is the Great Hall inside the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, Washington DC. It's a pretty impressive space. Kathy and I visited it on a whim, walking over from the US Capitol Building after taking the tour there. As you can see it was packed with tourists. Next time I want to be there when they open. No tripods allowed so this was taken by balancing the camera on the marble railing that surrounds the perimeter of the hall. Built in 1890, this building is one of the most beautiful places I've seen in DC.

Monday
Sep092013

Woodly Park Zoo Station


This is the Woodly Park Zoo metro station in Washington DC. I have always found the architecture of DC's metro stations to be interesting and very worthy of a photo or two. While the stations are nice,it can be a little disconcerting when an express train blasts through the station without stopping or seeming to slow down. You can kind of see one on the right side of the photo. Just look for the semi-transparent blur.
Monday
Sep092013

Multiverse

Just prior to Kathy and I traveling to Washington DC, I had been reading a very interesting book about Hugh Everett's "Many-Worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics. One of the concepts the reader has to wrap his or her head around is that of the existence of a multiverse, where there isn't a single universe but instead an infinite number of them which are constantly splitting. One where you ate breakfast in the morning and one where you didn't, one where you posted a photo of an interesting art installation and one where you didn't and on and on. Anyway, there are many Smithsonian art museums but on the National Mall there are two that have a walkway between them which is located below ground level. At some point a very interesting art exhibit called "multiverse" was installed. It consists of thousands of LED lights that race around making patterns that are really compelling. You can walk the length of this tunnel or ride on one of two moving sidewalk conveyor belt thingies like the two guys in the photo are doing.
Thursday
Jul042013

Self Evident Truths


Thomas Jefferson was only 33 years old when he became the principal author of the declaration of independence. That along with being the third president of the United States makes for a pretty impressive resume. Pictured here is the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. Beautifully situated at the edge the tidal basin and surrounded by cherry blossom trees which bloom to life each April, this memorial which is housed in a pantheon like domed structure is not a sight to be missed. The walls contain excerpts of Jefferson's most notable writings including an one from the declaration of independence.

Wednesday
Jul042012

Our flag's unfurled to every breeze from dawn to setting sun

Marine Corps Memorial - Washington DC

Tuesday
Jun122012

Silverplate


Silverplate, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

I have read that even with the accute raw material shortages and rationing that went on during WWII, anything needed for the Manhattan project was was delivered on a silver platter. It was understood that if the United States failed to create a working atomic bomb before the Germans or the Japanese we would likely lose the war. Within the Manhattan project, nothing was given a higher priority than the special modifications that were needed to be made to standard B-29 bombers which would enable them to drop atomic weapons. For that reason these modifications were code named "Silverplate". Pictured here and preserved for history is the Enola Gay which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan, the effects of which probably killed between 90,000 and 166,000 people while helping to end WWII and probably saving 1 million American lives.

Monday
Jun042012

Space Race


Space Race, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

In the 1960's and 70's the United States and the Soviet Union were trying their best to outdo one another with feats in outer space. This hall at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, features many artifacts from this time period.

Monday
Jan162012

In the Name of Love


In the Name of Love, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

When Kathy and I visited Washington D.C. in October of last year, one of the things we wanted to see was the Dr. Martin Luther King National Memorial which at the time, had been built but not yet dedicated. The sculpture of Dr. King faces the Tidal Basin. He seems to be gazing directly at the Jefferson Memorial which is quite fitting. The black stone wall that surrounds the memorial has been etched with famous writings of the slain civil rights leader. Kathy asked one of the visitor guides if we could use our tripods - fully expecting them to say no but the answer we got was "sure, go ahead". Wow! This must be the only memorial in Washington that allows tripods.

Tuesday
Oct252011

Smithsonian Castle, West Wing

This is the West wing of the Smithsonian Castle which is located on the national mall in Washington DC. Designed by architect James Renwick Jr. this impressive space was originally envisioned as a lecture hall. With its abundant natural light it was also considered to be ideal for use as an art gallery. Today it holds a wide variety of exhibits from the Smithsonian's vast collection.

This is a 10 shot HDR shot with my new fisheye lens. I used my gorillapod to stabilize the camera and was hoping the guard wouldn't come in and stop me. The smithonian generally does not allow tripods in their museums.