NBM House and Home

Yesterday I needed to clear my head a bit before meeting a friend of mine in Eastern Market, so I decided to swing by the National Building Museum. I didn't have any particular exhibits in mind, but I've never known the NBM to disappoint. By chance I came across the House & Home exhibit. At first glance it didn't seem like much; some displays of rooms and such. The detailed models of city and country residential structures were interesting. But the real magic was toward the end.

Imagine an issue of Dwell magazine that's 10 feet tall and consists of nothing more than full page images of beautiful, modern homes and apartments. Now instead of still images, imagine video, constantly alternating between each side of the magazine, showing people living in the homes, along with some Helvetica-like music. It really was enthralling.

On top of that, one the dwellings featured in the video was MICA's very own Gateway building. My picture above doesn't really do it justice.

If you're in the area of the National Building Museum or the Gateway building, I suggest you take 30 minutes and check them out. You won't be disappointed.

Awesome Batch

You know it's a good sign when your scanned film comes back from the lab, and the CD jacket has "Awesome batch!" handwritten on it. Needless to say, this required immediate attention. Here are some of the highlights, including semi-recent trips to Philadelphia, DC, and Baltimore.

















I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend.

FotoWeekDC

Just a quick post to remind everyone that FotoWeekDC starts this weekend. If you live in the Baltimore/DC area, you owe it to yourself to head down and check out some of the great lectures and exhibitions. It's also great to be around other people who love photography. We see plenty of photo-enthusiasm online, but physically being there takes it to a whole new level. I hope you can make it.

National Gallery of Art

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art is a work of art unto itself. It's confusing as all-get-out to navigate, but its hard to beat as a photogenic open space to explore. These are some pictures I took with my Xpan on a cold weekend last January. I.M. Pei's fractal-like application of triangles throughout this structure is brilliant. And with the free admission, you get way more than you pay for. Also, they allow shoulder (camera) bags, but not backpacks. Last time I was at NGA, they made me check my backpack, but this time they didn't care about my camera bag. They just said not to put it over my back. Maybe they're worried about people backing into works of art inadvertently. In any case, make sure you stop in next time you're in DC.

Playing Catch-Up

Ok, so let's see if we can do a little catching up here...

We stumbled across the Continental restaurant (pictured above) while we were looking for breakfast on our trip to Philly last month. This picture only partially captures the awesomeness of the decor. The food was also great. Highly recommended.

More recently (like yesterday) we went down to the Newseum. It's been on my todo list for quite some time, so I'm glad we went. The tickets were a bit pricey, but they've got a pretty impressive collection of exhibits. They're big on timelines and multimedia, which makes sense. Their collection of old newspapers and Pulitzer prize photographs was also impressive, as was the view over Pennsylvania Avenue. I also enjoyed the Walter Iooss exhibit, which is only there until the end of March, unfortunately. The food court was clearly an afterthought. Also worth noting is that the tickets are good for two days, so if you're in DC for a weekend or something, don't feel like you need to do the whole thing at once.

Also worth checking out is Cameron Booth's redesign of the DC Metro map. If history is any indicator, he will be ignored by the powers that be, but let's hope I'm wrong. His interstate highway map is also cool.

On the camera gear side of things, I've discovered that the framelines don't change in my Xpan when I put on my new 90mm lens. Now I often find the viewfinder half-way between the 45 and 90mm frameline windows, so something is clearly loose or broken. I have to tilt the camera to the right to get the 45mm window to fall back into place. Needless to say, I was disappointed, especially since the camera was fixed and CLA'ed last June. I've contacted Hasselblad in NJ, so hopefully they'll cover it. We'll see.

Weekend Update

Just wanted to share some more Xpan shots from the batch that came back from NCPS. I also tried out the new 90/4 down at the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art yesterday; some great I.M. Pei architecture to admire. I just hope my hand-held shots are steady enough.









Also, the Nikon FA thing was a bust. I put the new battery in, but the shutter jams on every other frame. The only way to unjam it is to switch into M250 (mechanical 1/250 mode). Luckily I didn't put any film in before testing it out. Switching the camera back and forth out of mechanical mode may be making the problem worse for all I know. I'd consider getting it repaired, but I can get a used one in excellent condition for about $120, which is probably less than the cost of a repair. I think I'd much rather have the classic workhorse F3 anyway. Now that's a camera you can go out into the middle of nowhere with.

Botanical 50

I've been meaning to slap the 50/1.8 (thrifty-fifty) back onto the 5D for a while. Lately it seems like I've been shooting everything with the 24-105/4, but there's no substitute for getting back to basics. Yesterday I took the opportunity at the United States Botanical Garden. By using the 5D's monochrome Picture Style with a red (digital) filter, I was able to bring out some of the contrasty patterns in the plants. I can only imagine what could be done with a real macro lens.

The botanical garden is often overlooked in DC, but it's worth a quick stop. It's not that large, but has a great variety of plants and environments. I was expecting it to be deathly hot inside in the middle of summer (i.e. greenhouse effect), but it was surprisingly pleasant, especially in the dehumidified desert section.

National Building Museum

Made a stop at the National Building Museum yesterday. I'd been once in early 2005, and I've been meaning to go back ever since. This time I was shooting with a 17mm lens and a full-frame camera. Last time I was there, I had a 20mm lens on my trusty D2H; not what I could call ultra-wide. Even without a wide lens though, it's still got some great patterns and repetition that are just begging to be photographed. The daylight pours in through the building's enormous windows too, so you won't be hurting for photons.

We also had the good fortune of catching the museum's photography exhibits for Philip Trager and Camilo José Vergara. Trager's architectural photography was excellent, and the prints were very well executed. Vergara's exhibit of storefront churches was less about form and composition, and more about interesting subjects. Both are worth checking out.

Most tourists and locals completely miss the National Building Museum. If you find yourself in DC, you need to make a stop. It's just a few blocks north of the National Gallery of Art and the National Mall, so it's an easy (and safe) walk.

Hurry Up for Robert Frank

So I know this is late notice, but tomorrow is the last day to see Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. I stumbled upon it today while studying the architecture of the East Building by I.M. Pei. A very pleasant surprise indeed.

It's vastly easier to appreciate a photographer's work when properly presented; printed from the original negatives, matted, framed, and properly lit. Sure you can see it on the interweb or in a book, but it's surprisingly better when it's the real deal.

Go see it! Even if you're not all that into street photography, you'll enjoy it. The exhibition is on the west end of the West Building.

More info on Robert Frank

Also, I snagged this shot with my Xpan before going through the tunnel from the confusing East Building to the West Building.