Going Underground

On Sunday we met up with DCUE at Dupont Circle to go underground. We'd managed to get permission to go down and photograph the old trolley lines, a place that few people in DC know about, let alone have visited. There have been many suggestions to convert it to an art gallery, bike park and for a short time there was a food court down there. Here is a brief history of Dupont Underground.
We all met up and walked down the ramp into the tunnel going under Dupont Circle, cars whizzing past and passers by looking at us wonderingly. There was a door at the bottom which our guide unlocked and as we all traipsed through, I thought, so this is what it must've felt like on Platform 9 3/4 in the Harry Potter books as they passed through the wall leaving the Muggles behind..
It was pitch black inside and we all huddled together tightly clutching our flashlights as we listened to our guide's instructions. We were given the choice of having a few lights turned on or being left in the dark and using our own light for photographs. We all chorused together that yes, we'd like some light please.
Once he had thrown the light switch we all got down to business, extending tripods, connecting shutter release cables and rummaging for alternative forms of lighting. This was a great opportunity to play with light and we all did our own thing but coming together occasionally to work as a group.

Jason patiently posing for me.

I used a colored flashlight to paint some walls or the floor.

This was one person walking towards me with their flashlight in hand while I kept the shutter open.

In the old food court area I found this room, completely dark, but with a microphone, so I set up a self portrait.

Another self portrait with the lighting set up by Jason.

We had a great time being creative in the tunnels and our guide left us to our own devices, just meeting us at the end. We promised to set up a Flickr set for him so he could take any of the photos he wanted. Afterwards Emily and I decided to stroll around Dupont for a bit. Of course we found a bar and sat in the window, having a great time people watching as we sipped our beers.

It was fun photographing people as they walked by and after our drinks we walked back to the circle where we continued to photograph folks.

We found a great little book store which I was really pleased to see was jumping with customers. I can't accept that books will eventually be all electronic and refuse to buy a Kindle or something similar. Nothing will ever be able to compete with the weight of a good book in your hand, the pleasure of turning the next page or the smell of the print. And obviously these folks shared my sentiments, preferring the lure of a good publication than a digital screen or TV.
And so another weekend ended but I have to mention for those of you who e-mailed me wondering where last weekend's wedding photos are, they won't be published here on my blog. They were extremely pleased with the photos but didn't want the publicity so asked me not to publish any of them. Sorry...

Wine Making & a Walk in the Woods

On Saturday I met with Emily and Jason at a brewing shop near DC. Emily was wanting to start brewing beer and I wanted to resume my wine making, something I had done a lot of in England. I could pretty much make wine out of anything back then, with usually around 10 gallons bubbling away at one time in various parts of the house, and had once competed against a pub landlord to see who could produce the best Elderberry wine. The pub locals were given samples and mine won. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find elderberries here but I can make many of my old wines here quite easily so I needed to stock up on the equipment and chemicals.

With our purchases from the shop and a trip to Lowes, we had everything we needed to start and so planned a tasting session closer to Christmas. I'm going to kick off with a pear wine, a feisty fermenter which will keep me on my toes in the early stages but which should produce a pleasant dry wine within a month. 

Very pleased with our purchases we then went to a local park for a hike. It actually turned out to be a casual stroll as we were too busy chatting and taking photos to concentrate on striding through the miles. But the lighting was wonderful and the fall colors vibrant so we enjoyed our 'hike' through the woods.

It didn't take too long before the tummies were grumbling and thoughts turned to beer and food, and God Bless Jason and his Cotton Socks, he'd only gone and brought supplies with him. He had beers as well as crackers with slices of cheese already on them. We enjoyed our heavenly snack leaning up against the cars and smiled through the scowls of a woman walking her dog past us. A neighbor came over to talk or rather moan loudly about his beaver problems. They were chomping through his trees and he meant to deal with the issue immediately, and so we were rather amused when he returned about 30 minutes later loaded with bags. This ex sniper from Vietnam had bought a paintball machine, trip lighting and a fog horn. He planned on sitting in his darkened lounge and waiting for his victims to arrive. I rather thought there might be some arm to arm combat that might be worth us hanging around to watch but Meadow House and Kota were calling so as dusk fell we said our goodbyes until the next day. As another adventure beckoned...

Autmn Hike

My friends Pam and Sue got married in a DC church on Saturday, and asked me to photograph their wedding. Since I did this as an official engagement, I cannot blog about the day or post any photos until I have handed over their copies, so I will post some photos of their happy day a little later.
On Sunday morning I woke up and saw a frost outside. I snuggled back into bed then thought about all the pretty frost patterns that were out there waiting for my camera lens, so I jumped up just dragging on a pair of boots over my jim jams and a jacket. Kota and I trotted outside and I although I was full of eager ideas of what I would photograph, I couldn't see a damn thing. My eyes were streaming from the cold and as soon as I started to focus on something, a tear would fall and block my viewfinder. I snapped a few photos and then gave up gracefully, choosing to go back indoors and wake up instead with a hot cup of tea.

But a few of the photos came out OK and the holly berries cheered me up as I thought of them on my windowsill over Christmas.

Kota playing with a balloon I brought home from the wedding. I loved the colors, for some reason reminding me of Marillion's harlequin...A Fish fan would maybe understand.
I got ready as I was meeting Emily, Jason and Leah, Emily's roommate for a hike. We were hiking near Chapman Mill, not too far from me so it was wonderful not to be doing so much driving today and the weather was perfect for a hike. It took me a little while to decide on clothing though, I must've taken my jacket on and off a dozen times. We met close to the mill and made a beeline for the building. May as well get a little exploring in.

We clambered over parts of it but I was happy when we got on the trail. I wasn't really interested in old buildings today, this was a day for autumnal photos of leaves and trees, dappled light and fall colors, and enjoying the crunching of a soft brown carpet underfoot.

OK, so we found an old house but I'm only posting one photo!

We climbed to the peak and sat on the edges of the rock platform drinking in the beautiful vista.

Turkey vultures hovered and ducked above us and the sun beat down. We munched on nuts, brie and crackers and simply just enjoyed being outside on such a perfect day.

We walked about 7 miles with quite a bit of elevation and I thoroughly enjoyed our hike, hardly having been out like this in the past year. Even though we'd had quite a day of exercise I felt relaxed and satisfied. We rambled back to our cars where Jason impressed us all by pulling out chilled beers. He had an old newspaper from 1944 which was a gem to read through, noting the war stories, adverts and classifieds.

As the sun dropped, so did the temperature, so we said our farewells along with promises of future hikes and I drove home to Meadow House and an early night.