The Ferris Wheel at the St. Mary's County Fair

We went to the St. Mary's County Fair in Leonardtown on three different days, Sep 19-21.  One day we bumped into our friend Beth and had fun taking Ferris wheel photos together.  The larger Ferris wheel was covered in little LED lights that made fascinating patterns as the wheel was stationary or spinning.  Here are just a few of the patterns I photographed using a tripod to steady the camera in the dark at a low speed.  The colors were gorgeous!

Fair winners Sep 19-22, 2013

Congratulations to the photography winners at the St. Mary's County Fair photo photo exhibit. Adult champion was Beth Fabey for a bicycle on a street, pictorial photo.
Life in st marys champion went to Cindy Pastorius for a corn photo.
The previous County Fair champion winner was Rose Guyther with a photo of goats and sheep.
Junior Champion was a still life by Dana Schwalbe of a "Love" shadow on the sand.
Kids Champions were Halei Long for a mosaic photo with a embedded heart shape and Kaia Ganzell for a photo of a female street vendor with a child. Great job!
I was one of 3 photo judges this year for the contest.

Solomon's Offshore Grandprix boat race

We spent most of the day on Sunday September 15th on Solomon's Island watching the exciting boat races from about 12-5 pm along the boardwalk section of the Patuxent River. It was the national finals.
I photographed a red boat (623) and Cisco with the bows off the water and Cleveland Construction (green) racing by the Solomon's pier restaurant. I am sharing some interesting pictures of Wazzup (purple with yellow flames) accepting a winning checkered flag and the crazy celebration circles it made in the water afterwards.
Some of the winners included Tug It, Cisco, Wazzup, and Miss Mary Mac.
For once, the day was lovely, bright and sunny, which made for poor photos with bright overhead light and a happier crowd.
(overcast days and photos early or late in the day have better contrast)
To learn more about the race, see
http://www.solomonsrace.com/

Pops on the Potomac

I'm posting this a little later than I should for a concert on August 17th. We photographed Pops on the Potomac, conducted by Jeffrey Silberschlag from St. Mary's County, with many members of the Chesapeake Orchestra. The concert began at 7pm at the National Harbor, just outside of Washington, D.C. near large hotels and an upscale shopping district. The National Harbor's stage is basically an open area near the water with a large backdrop behind the orchestra.
As the photographer, I was in plain sight, since there was no where to "hide" from the audience. The music sounds great from up close! We're also enjoying meeting lots of musicians. The orchestra members are all nice people.
They played some wonderful movie music including the theme from "Gladiator", "Superman", "Pink Panther" and James Bond music. "Sleigh Ride", the maestro's fun summer joke was played, as well as the patriotic portion of the "1812 Overture".
The next visit for Pops on the Potomac includes the jazz band for the Christmas tree lighting on November 29, 2013, Black Friday.

Summer in Shenandoah

We took a very brief weekend trip to Shenandoah National Park and took a short hike to Black Rock summit so we could see all the rocks. We also attended a lecture on birds of prey & met a tiny eastern screech owl. When photographing animals I always focus on their eyes and try to blur out distracting backgrounds or simplify them.