Marka's Meanderings in Photos

Turnpike Midway

2012-01-22T08:59:00.000-05:00

Breakfast in DC

2012-01-14T07:41:00.000-05:00

A quick snapshot from my breakfast in DC at a great little coffeehouse/diner/bar called Open City. Service was quick, the staff friendly, and the food very good and reasonably priced. Have a great Day!

Sunshiny Day

2012-01-12T14:27:00.001-05:00

I'm not used to having such a bright sunshiny day with near sixty degree temperatures in January.

Sometimes I Just Don't Ask . . .

2012-01-08T19:19:00.000-05:00

Meet the Team Night

2012-01-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

Meet the Team Night was a little over a month ago. As you can most likely tell from the three photographs below, the swimmers and I had a fun-filled time. It was good to see that a majority of the returning swimmers recognized me, and it quickly became apparent that they were as comfortable around my camera carrying self as ever. This swim season will be filled with great swims and a fair collection of fun, wacky, and only slightly embarrassing photographs.

Dance Team

2011-12-10T10:01:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks back I did a quick photoshoot with the hometown high school dance team. A great group of girls, about half of whom know me from photographing dance shows for the local dance studio. It made for an interesting and fun time, as they were all outgoing and had a fairly good idea of what they wanted to do as far as poses are concerned. I wound up with a number of good photographs, and this is one of my favorites.

Faces

2011-11-19T11:40:00.000-05:00

It's always enjoyable to photograph kids. Give them time to get accustomed to your presence, and they will completely forget you're there. And when that happens, it becomes possible to photograph facial expressions like these.

My apologies for the lack of posts the last three months or so. I took a bit of a mental break, but it's good to be back. Cheers!

Lighting Up The Night

2011-08-26T20:38:00.000-04:00

Lighting up the night for graduation, at least before lightning forced us all inside.

Graduation Seating

2011-08-24T19:29:00.000-04:00

These folks had the best seats in the house from which to watch graduation.

The Guitarist

2011-08-16T17:38:00.000-04:00

Flower Girl

2011-08-13T20:32:00.002-04:00

Kids make such great faces, especially at weddings.

Untitled

2011-08-09T20:42:00.000-04:00

The nonverbals in this photograph can be taken a number of different ways. I'm curious as to what words others would put with this photograph.

Dance Show 2

2011-08-04T20:38:00.000-04:00

A few more (possibly) familiar characters are at it again:

Dance Show 1

2011-07-28T19:33:00.000-04:00

These are just three of the hundreds of photographs I kept from a dance show back in May. I had more selected, but decided on these mainly for the facial expressions.

Expression

2011-07-19T19:03:00.000-04:00

The expression on this dancer's face happened to catch my eye as I was browsing through some photographs.

Mirror Portrait

2011-07-14T20:39:00.000-04:00

This appears to be a traditionally photographed portrait. However, it is not. This portrait was actually taken indirectly using a mirror. I think it came out quite well, considering the series of photographs this one is taken from was not planned at all.

Kate

2011-07-11T19:51:00.000-04:00

This is one of the swimmers I got to talking with at the District Meet this past year. Kate was competing in the 200 Freestyle, and finished with a time of just over two minutes. Even after talking with her for a bit, she was hard to pick out among all the other swimmers due to her small size.

Sarah

2011-07-08T20:07:00.000-04:00

Sarah's primary event this past season was the 100 backstroke. While this photograph was not taken during that event, it is from her backstroke leg of the Medley Relay at districts.

Thoughtful

2011-07-06T20:42:00.000-04:00

A thoughtful pause. This one occurring during extended individual warm-ups for the District Swim Meet.

Gettin' Splashed

2011-07-03T20:27:00.000-04:00

The main peril in counting for any distance swimming event, outside of making sure the count is correct, is that of getting splashed. The general assumption that counters operate under is that if they were dry before the race started, they'll be wet by the time it's over. Flip turns and fast swimmers tend to make this assumption a reality.

How'd I Do?

2011-07-01T21:06:00.000-04:00

This is the first thing nearly every swimmer does after finishing a race. Take a look at the clock to get your official time and see how you did. In this case, he dropped about two seconds off his previous personal best.

New PR

2011-06-30T20:35:00.000-04:00

A young lady's reaction after setting a new personal record in the 100 breaststroke at last season's championship league meet.

Take Our Picture!

2011-06-28T20:05:00.000-04:00

Crazy swimmers, but I was happy to oblige.

Friends

2011-06-26T20:51:00.000-04:00

Some friends cheering on a fellow swimmer during her district qualification meet. With friends like these... well... there's never a dull moment.

Brendon

2011-06-23T20:55:00.000-04:00

Brendon was a freshman on the team this past year. He's a good swimmer, and once we refine his technique and get some muscle mass on him, I can easily see him specializing in either breastroke or distance freestyle. Though I am biased, because those are the two things I specialized in when I swim in high school. I look forward to seeing his progress this during the next high school swim season.

Talking Hands

2011-06-21T20:03:00.001-04:00

There are those that talk with their hands, there are those that talk to others with their hands, and then there are those that talk to themselves with their hands:

Samantha

2011-06-17T19:47:00.000-04:00

Samantha was one of the seniors on the local high school team that I had the pleasure of photographing during the season. An excellent swimmer, Sam is also a natural in front of the camera, whether she realized I was taking photographs or not. Due to shoulder trouble, which plagues many swimmers, she didn't swim quite as much or always get certain events, so I didn't get quite as many good photographs of her competing as I did during warm-ups and around the deck.

These are three of my favorites. I especially like the second photograph, as I took it without looking over my shoulder, hoping that I'd be able to get good focus and composition. I think it came out really well.

Karen & Caitlin

2011-06-15T20:09:00.000-04:00

These two young ladies dance at the same studio as my sister. The photographs were taken back in January during the rehearsal of the group's swing number prior to the local Sports Night event. Both Karen & Caitlin are accomplished dancers and teachers.

Candid Portrait

2011-06-13T15:09:00.002-04:00

This portrait was taken during the Annual Lodge Banquet and is a photograph of one of the new lodge officers.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 200.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1400

Dance

2011-06-09T22:27:00.000-04:00

These are my four favorite photographs from two dance shows that I photographed back in early January. All were taken with the 70-200 VR (which is fast becoming my favorite lens in spite of its weight).

Dance Rehearsal

2011-05-31T20:53:00.000-04:00

A young dancer preparing to practice with her class on stage in preparation for the upcoming dance show.

Flash: Used
Focal Length: 35.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/1.8
ISO: 1100
Exposure: -2.00

Katie

2011-05-26T19:55:00.000-04:00

Katie, during a moment of contemplation before the start of her race.

Janelle

2011-05-20T20:08:00.000-04:00

Janelle the Thespian, once again:

Flash: Used
Focal Length: 35.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 100

The Fearsome Foursome . . .

2011-05-11T20:33:00.000-04:00

. . . . . at least that's what they call themselves

Flash: Used
Focal Length: 35.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 100

Leaping

2011-05-08T19:57:00.000-04:00

A dancer leaping during the rehearsal for one of the numbers performed last Christmas Eve.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 70.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/25
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1600

Almost Done

2011-05-07T20:40:00.000-04:00

On the last leg of the race:

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 70.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1600

Coach Howley

2011-05-05T20:49:00.000-04:00

I swam for Coach Howley for a number of years, at both the club and high school levels. He's a great guy who has his own set of idiosyncrasies (don't we all?). I have quite a few great memories from swimming back then. As crazy as he seemed at times, I've learned alot from him, and we still run across each other at different times during the swim season.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 70.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1600

Big Turn

2011-05-04T20:37:00.000-04:00

This young man is a pretty good breaststroker, but his turns are much larger that what they really need to be. One of the goals in an open turn is to stay fairly low in the water, not to lift yourself half out of it.

Lars & DJ

2011-05-03T20:39:00.000-04:00

The exposures on these two photographs were horribly off, mainly due to odd lighting. Pools tend to not have the best lighting for photography, and the water tends to throw light everywhere, which is hard to continually account for during a swim meet. So instead of deleting them, I thought I'd play around instead. I like the result.

Realization

2011-05-01T19:57:00.000-04:00

The realization that a hard dry-land workout after a hard swim practice is really tough.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 200.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/13
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 1600

Over the Creek

2011-04-30T20:22:00.000-04:00

I was playing with DOF and selective focus when I took this photograph of an old stone bridge over I creek that I ran across whilst out exploring in Central PA this past fall.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 52.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/2.5
ISO: 100

More Sunday Bridges from around the blogosphere.

Bored?

2011-04-29T20:30:00.000-04:00

Some were bored, others were amusing themselves...

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 200.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/80
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 1600

Low-Light Fun

2011-04-28T19:55:00.000-04:00

Just having some fun with handheld low-light photography.

DJ Mike

2011-04-27T20:04:00.000-04:00

DJ Mike gettin' ready to spin some tunes at a college dance.

Flash: Used
Focal Length: 52.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/4.8
ISO: 110

Hannah

2011-04-25T20:33:00.000-04:00

Just a quick, off-hand snapshot I took of Jake's sister.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 18.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 200

CY Homecoming

2011-04-24T20:07:00.000-04:00

As promised, here some photographs of the lovely pair (taken by yours truly, of course!). Jake was a good sport, as we traipsed across the golf course in search of good backgrounds. We even had a few golfers wait for us to finish with photographs before continuing their round. The two of them had a great time that evening.

Cora

2011-04-23T21:15:00.000-04:00

I took these three photographs last fall. My sister was on her way to attend a homecoming event with a friend of hers from church. I'll have some photographs of the two of them up tomorrow.

Not a Self Portrait

2011-04-22T20:29:00.000-04:00

Nothing more than two photographers, each taking a photograph of the other.

More Weekend Reflections from around the blogosphere.

The View

2011-04-21T20:41:00.000-04:00

Travis' family owns the land from which these photographs were taken. I don't recall exactly how the land is divided among them, but Travis is planning to build a house with this view out the front window some day. Not hard to see why, is it?

Rolling Home

2011-04-20T20:56:00.000-04:00

Just a couple of photographs from the trip back to the hill with a view, which I shall share with everyone come tomorrow.

Travis

2011-04-19T18:17:00.000-04:00

This here is Travis, a great guy with a vision all his own. He's kinda crazy, but then again, I'm the one taking photographs of his exploits, so what's that say about me? Anywho, here he is:

Rolling On

2011-04-18T19:31:00.000-04:00

Three photographs taken on the way to the first location for the truck photoshoot. These were all taken while rolling down the highway at about 65 MPH. :)

The Truck

2011-04-14T20:15:00.000-04:00

Remember the preview from the other day? Here a few photographs of just the truck.

Ready? Jump!

2011-04-13T19:50:00.000-04:00

We wound up entertaining ourselves, and everyone else, during a break in the program. It was quite amusing to watch, but we were having fun.

Three Dancers

2011-04-12T19:55:00.000-04:00

This one was taken the same day that Lara was photographed.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 18.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/160
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 100

Lara

2011-04-11T16:37:00.000-04:00

This photograph was taken on a bright, sunny day, much like today, actually.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 18.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/7.1
ISO: 100

Preview

2011-04-10T09:19:00.001-04:00

This is just a quick preview of photographs to come from a photoshoot I did with a couple buddies last fall. And yes, we're crazy, but we sure had fun!

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 18.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 100

More Sunday Bridges from around the blogosphere.

It's Bright Out Here

2011-04-08T18:30:00.000-04:00

This was taken on one of last year's wonderful fall days. Though Mom & Dad came prepared for the sunshine, the daughter didn't have sunglasses handy. Oh well. It's bright out here, ain't it?

More Weekend Reflections from around the blogosphere.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 200.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/400
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 100

Jeff & Bill

2011-04-07T20:14:00.000-04:00

Meet Jeff & Bill. Jeff is the Lodge Advisor for the Sasquesahanough OA Lodge. Bill works for the local council as an Assistant Camp Ranger.

Oh the stories that could be told about these two.

T-Bone

2011-04-06T20:14:00.000-04:00

This is T-Bone in the last inning of the ball-game. He had an awesome time. Can you tell?

Flash: Used
Focal Length: 70.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 100

Wide-Eyed Portrait

2011-04-05T19:31:00.000-04:00

This young lady was sitting in front of me at the baseball game. Every once in awhile she'd turn around with those wide eyes of hers, and I finally got a good photograph of her.

Flash: Used
Focal Length: 112.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 100

Put a Ring on It

2011-03-31T19:21:00.000-04:00

Somewhere between planned & spontaneous was the result which gave us this performance during the baseball game.

The Crack of the Bat

2011-03-30T21:06:00.000-04:00

I was at a minor league baseball game awhile back, and it was the first time I was at a ball-game with my camera in hand. So I figured that I'd try my hand at baseball photography. Once I got the hang of the timing, I wound up with a few photographs that I thought were fairly good. This is one of them, and the only one of decent quality where I managed to keep the baseball in the frame.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 135.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 500

PS - I've since gotten a faster lens (the 70-200 VR), which would have been helpful at the ball-game to keep shutter speeds up and apertures down.

Dancers

2011-03-29T20:13:00.000-04:00

Three quick photographs from the rehearsal before their performances during the local minor league team's baseball game. These are from last year, as the ballpark isn't quite open yet.

The Girls

The Guys

The Gang

Lara

2011-03-28T20:06:00.000-04:00

Even though Lara has known me for several years, and is quite knowledgeable of the fact that I bring my camera with me to dance performances, she still manages to walk in front of me. This is a photograph of her trying to scoot quickly past me as I'm taking photographs of the guys in the background.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 28.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/160
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 100

The Expanse

2011-03-27T19:12:00.000-04:00

This view is of the roof supports for the Gilpin's Falls Covered Bridge.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 35.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/1.8
ISO: 360

Finale

2011-03-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

The closing arena show included lots of glow sticks,

was headlined by Switchfoot,

and ended with more fireworks!

Co-Workers

2011-03-23T19:46:00.000-04:00

I'm somewhat reluctant to admit this, but those are some of the people I worked with at the Jamboree. Notice how everyone else is sitting down, except the Aquatics staff. If nothing else, they were having fun and amusing themselves. Because havin' fun is a big part of Scouting.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 200.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 200

Fly Over

2011-03-22T20:45:00.000-04:00

The fly over to kick off the arena show.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 20.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/400
Aperture: f/10.00
ISO: 100

Water

2011-03-21T20:08:00.000-04:00

In years past there have been concerns about the heat, humidity, and availability of water at the arena shows under various sets of circumstances. The Health & Safety people at the Jamboree were not about to let history repeat itself if they could help it.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 70.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/320
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 100

Archer

2011-03-20T20:18:00.000-04:00

The young man in these photographs is Archer. At the Jamboree, I was part of the Aquatic staff, and had the privilege of watching Archer most every morning. It is somewhat difficult to tell from the photographs, but Archer is afflicted with cerebral palsy. His life has been lived almost exclusively from a wheelchair. The Jamboree was a turning point for Archer.

Nearly every morning, his father would bring Archer down to the pools for some time in the water before we opened up to the rest of the participants. Two of our staff members worked with Archer. His progress over the course of the week was absolutely incredible. At the beginning of the week, Archer had never swam unassisted, never floated unassisted, and never stood upright on his own two feet unassisted. Working as a staff, we were able to keep Archer's progress in the water largely to ourselves, which also allowed his father to have some time to himself.

By the end of the Jamboree, Archer could swim the width of the pool and could float. Most importantly of all, Archer was able to stand in the chest-high water entirely unassisted and on his own! When Archer demonstrated all this, his father was in tears. And there was nary a dry eye among the staff. It had been arranged for a few of the individuals who had donated the money for the pools to be on hand that morning, and for them, seeing Archer do these things for the first time in his life made the associated costs pale in comparison.

What you see below is Archer throwing his life jack over the side of the pool, and his great smile afterwards. Well done Archer!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2011-03-19T21:15:00.000-04:00

This is the view through the restored Gilpin's Falls Covered Bridge. Behind where I took this photograph is a fence, which did not look nearly as nice as looking this direction. I like the character of this photograph in B&W, even though the original is colour. A view looking the other direction can be found here, and I was able to hide the fence in that one.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 35.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/320
Aperture: f/9.0
ISO: 100

Stadium Lights

2011-03-18T19:37:00.000-04:00

These two sets of stadium lights are from the ballpark of the local minor league team, and were taken last August.

More Weekend Reflections from around the blogosphere.

Jambo People

2011-03-17T20:06:00.000-04:00

A couple of photographs of some of the people at the Jamboree. A few worked in Aquatics/Swimming with me, and others are people I saw whilst I was out and about.

Fire Extinguisher

2011-03-16T19:39:00.000-04:00

I was browsing my way though one of the exhibits at the Jamboree, when something caught my eye. I'm not really sure why it did, but I thought it would make an interesting photograph. So I photographed a fire extinguisher. Maybe it was the extremely customized and official hanger that caught my attention.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 18.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 1600

Tired

2011-03-15T20:04:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you run across someone who is so tired, that they're stretched out on the inflatable couch in the middle of the exhibit. Sweet dreams!

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 24.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 180

The Moon

2011-03-14T20:25:00.000-04:00

This photograph was taken last summer, at the end of my first day at the National Boy Scout Jamboree, and is presented exactly as taken. The camera was hand-held, and I had to take two or three test photographs to get settings dialed in correctly. If I would have brought my tripod along, I'd have given star-trails a try as well. Technical information is below.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 200.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 100
Exposure bias: -5.00

Joints

2011-03-13T20:18:00.000-04:00

Three more photographs from the series on Gilpin's Falls.

More Sunday Bridges from across the blogosphere can be found here.

Shades

2011-03-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

More Weekend Reflections from around the blogosphere.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 90.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.3
ISO: 125

A Wedding Sunset

2011-03-11T20:37:00.000-05:00

This ends the wedding series I've been posting, and it conveniently fits right in with SkyWatch Friday. Be sure to visit SWF for more wonderful skies from across the globe!

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 105.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/800
Aperture: f/9.0
ISO: 100

Candid

2011-03-10T19:29:00.000-05:00

A quick, off-hand, candid snapshot from a wedding reception.

Flash: Used
Focal Length: 18.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 100

Here It Comes

2011-03-09T20:24:00.000-05:00

Flash: Used
Focal Length: 52.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Aperture: f/4.8
ISO: 100

Bouquet v2

2011-03-08T19:59:00.000-05:00

Flash: Used
Focal Length: 105.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 180

Bouquet

2011-03-03T20:57:00.000-05:00

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 200.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 1600

Second Thoughts?

2011-03-02T20:22:00.000-05:00

Every time I look at this photograph I chuckle, as it proves (for me at least) the advantage of being the second shooter at an event (such as a wedding). The usual wedding photographs were being taken be the professional photographer, who was standing in the aisle and had everyone pose at the front of the sanctuary. I was standing on a chair off to the side of the photographer. This gave me the ability to have a different vantage point. Additionally, because I did not have to concern myself with getting people posed, I was able to photograph "the moments in between the moments," as I call them. This is probably my favorite photograph from the wedding, the expressions are priceless!

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 62.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/50
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 1600

Brothers

2011-03-01T19:35:00.000-05:00

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 105.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 1600

Just Married

2011-02-28T19:42:00.000-05:00

The newly-weds being taken for a quick spin after the wedding.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 150.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 160

Joe

2011-02-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

Joe was the best man at his brother's wedding.

Siding & Flooring

2011-02-26T09:06:00.001-05:00

. . . from Gilpin's Falls:

More Sunday Bridges from around the blogosphere.

Shuttered Sunset

2011-02-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

More Weekend Reflections from around the blogosphere.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 70.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 100

Fireworks

2011-02-24T21:47:00.000-05:00

Unperturbed

2011-02-23T19:16:00.000-05:00

I happened to catch this little guy looking like nothing in the world could bother him.

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 130.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/80
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 1600

Tuba

2011-02-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 56.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 110

Shaggy on a Leash

2011-02-21T18:38:00.000-05:00

I think this dog was the happiest person in the parade, probably because it knew it was going for a treat at Rita's afterwards!

Flash: Not Used
Focal Length: 105.0mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 320

Gilpin's Woodwork

2011-02-19T19:43:00.000-05:00

More Sunday Bridges from around the blogosphere.

Minibikes

2011-02-17T18:48:00.000-05:00

Parade People

2011-02-16T18:52:00.000-05:00

Twirling

2011-02-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

1941 Plymouth

2011-02-14T19:26:00.000-05:00

1951 Studebaker

2011-02-13T19:38:00.000-05:00