It's a Wizarding World

Tucked neatly between Honeydukes and Dogweed & Deathwood, across the street from the Owl Post and the Dragon Challenge, lies the best place to have lunch, Three Broomsticks? The Orlando street is a peculiar combination of Hogsmead, Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Castle, but with hundreds of people streaming through, one hardly as time to analyze. The excitement of those around you combines with your own and a child-like wonder finds your eyes

A sip of Butterbeer, pass the Pumpkin Juice, break me off a piece of that English pastey. This is the place where books come to life.

Our Version of a Lantern Walk

It was the last weekend of the Cherry Blossom festival here in DC this past weekend. My roommate and I set out at Noon for a blossom filled day celebrating these beautiful trees. This day, we hoped, would culminate at a Lantern Walk around the Tidal Basin around the Jefferson Memorial. Now when someone says "lanterns," especially after hearing about the lantern lighting ceremony, we assumed we would be lead around the basin through lanterns or to a grove of lanterns. Basically. we were imagining that glowing scene from Tangled. Massive amounts of lanterns. This, as you can probably guess, was not correct. And I will now concede that this expectation was unrealistic but still, lame. These walks "Lantern Walks" consisted of following a guide holding a single lantern around the basin. No grove, no multiple lanterns of any kind.

While this could be seen as a set back. We took it in stride and walked the other way around the basin, creating a tour of our own. Sadly not filled with lanterns, but had some beautiful glowing shots of the monuments, which made it worth it.

Confession: I'm an Addict

When I heard that my family was going to be taking my little sister to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I knew I had to be there. Not because it would be a chance to see my family for the first time in months. Not because they were going to be visiting the sunny state of Florida. But because I needed to see, touch and experience a world that, until that point, I had been separated from by either screen or page. You see, I, am a Harry Potter addict.

I feel no sense of shame or bashfulness about this fact. It is something I have come to embrace about myself and something that has punctuated my life with many of its highlights. From the Half Blood Prince book release in Oxford, England to dressing up to the Deathly Hallows release in Wisconsin, I have had a wonderful time studding my childhood, and now early adulthood, with the characters of that series. But nothing has come close to the joy I felt upon rounding the bend in the Island of Adventure path and seeing the Hogwarts Castle rise up from below the treetops. My heart skipped a beat, my breath quickened and my trigger finger flashed to my camera. I have a feeling the next couple of posts will be sharing a few of my many favorite.

Enjoy the magic.

Scenic Stops

I find it funny how often a person elation at getting out of the gosh dang car when on a long car ride translates into the photos that they take at those stops. Even their shutter trigger fingers are happy to be stretched outside of clicking the "Next" arrow on the iPod or "Play" on the DVD player.

Here are two shots from my recent East coast car rides. I may not mind long car rides but it appears as though my shutter finger and photographic eye certainly did. Happy to be back on nonmoving ground once more.

Musing on Museums

Museums are very underrated when it comes to taking pictures.

Not that there are never pictures taken in a museum, in that respect they are one of the most popular places to take pictures. But in photography circles (not that I consider myself to be in anyway a professional/real photographer), there seem to be a common belief that nothing original, wonderfully odd or awe inspiring can be captured when a 2,000 year old piece of bronze or stone is the subject. People are an entirely different matter however. The faces one makes when viewing history are most certainly worth being captured. People watching, as any photographer knows, makes for excellent subject matter.
But that's beside the point

I believe museums are wonderful places for photographic oddities. I do have a thing for shadows, and museums have great relief lighting, so that could be part of it. But in my opinion, there really is nothing quite like a calm stroll through a large hall, searching out moments to snap.

A Jacket-less February Day

It is an absolutely beautiful day here...in the middle of February. Not complaining in the least, on the contrary, I'm taking this opportunity to revisit another beautiful night here in DC. You may not recognize these particular stops around the Mall, but any guesses?

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather sweeping the country. Have a wonderful night.

Let's Go, Linked Arm in Arm

I could really go for a night walk around Prague right now. Where it's just warm enough to wander with a light jacket, a good friend and no map. Anyone up for catching the next plane out of here? I know this great pub just off the 3, 9, 14 and 24 tram lines at Vodičkova...