A year in pictures...

I've not always been the best blogger this year but I vow to improve - heck, I'll have a brand new subject to take photos of come March!

As a response to a posted challenge on the photography board I frequent, I've assembled my year in review photo set.  It was a bit tricky because there were a few months in there where we had only one folder of photos!

Here goes nothing:

January - Hiking in Shenandoah National Park

February - Baby Shower #1 for my cousin-in-law, Jessica

March -My pasty white feet on their first foray in flip flops after a long winter.  Shot while in Miami, FL.

April - Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom festival

May - My first foray into TTV.  This was the lavender outside in my garden.

June - Trip to Germany and Switzerland.  Two weeks in the most amazing settings!

July - Surprise! We're expecting!

August - Macie, our Vizsla, was having a good time this day.

September - Last backpack trip for a while (18 weeks pg) to Yosemite National Park.  Fletcher Lake in the picture.

October - Jesse and Jessica's wedding (cousin and cousin in law).  Great pic of the family (yes, we're that strange)

November - Nephew B hamming it up for the camera

December - 30 weeks pregnant, home made maternity shots done in our foyer.

Absentee Blogger...

So, at this point I'm likely somewhere high in the Swiss Alps enjoying the fresh air and my new camera! We're one week into our two week Germany/Switzerland trip and likely have filled at least half of the 10GB of memory we'd taken with us. I thought I'd put together a post or two for while I'm gone to keep everyone entertained. Rest assured, there are lots of great pics coming once we get back in the States!

The image below was taken after Mark's V-ball tourney on the banks of the Potomac river. I didnt have the tripod but instead used the wall to the right of me as a balance. I've processed it a bit to bring out the colors of the night. It was such a cool moon!

Again, i'm not a huge fan of overprocessing but this one is sooo cool! I just love the purple hue it's taken and the reflection of the street lights on the water. This one took a few shots to get right because I didn't have my remote (which meant i had to touch the camera to fire it. That small movement can cause enough blur in the pic to ruin it). Luckly I found the timer feature and that worked out just peachy.

Lightroom Filters ahoy...

Some of the shots from last week were just blah so I decided to try to spice them up. I've never been one for over processed images but to tell you the truth, you can only see the Washington Monument so many times before you need a change.

I think the dark blue hue to the image gives it that vintage look and just enough pop. So not everyone will love it but I'm kind of digging it.

The chariot guy below sits on either side of the bridge right next to Lincoln. He's kind of neat and bronzy without altering but the blue again gave it a different perspective. It took an ordinary pic take at the totally wrong time of day and gave it something extra. Both of the above filters came from A Girl in Love. These two in particular are the "don't wear the ring" preset.

This one I can't remember what one exactly I used. I think it was another Girl in Love but I'm not positive. I was intrigued by the signature on the soliders leg at the Korean Memorial. I've walked past these guys many times and this time for some reason the signature just stood out at me - dunno why.

Anyways, the next two weeks worth of blogs will be from things past. I'm going on a vacation but couldnt deprive all 4 of you that read this so I'll schedule a few posts up so you have something to read in the mean time.

Memorial...

I spent today at Mark's volleyball tourney in downtown DC (where they took 2nd btw!). During the time between pool play and play offs I decided to walk from the courts over to the monuments (a 10 min walk). Since I had the new camera with me I figured it'd be a good way to waste time:)

Since I only had about an hour, I stayed to the one end of the reflecting pool up by Lincoln, Korean, and Vietnam Memorials. While I was passing through the Korean memorial and taking pictures of the hauntingly life like statues, I saw this bandanna tied to the chains.

Printed on the digital camo was the Soldiers Creed. The line that struck me the most is pictured here in the center of the frame, "I will never leave a fallen comrade". This was just one of 10 or so temporary memorials placed in front of the statues.

I'm always overwhelmed when I visit that area. Those memorials can never make up for what so many have lost but it does help us to remember that there are real heros in our midst and that those heros are ordinary men and women sacrifice everything for our freedom. I don't ever think we can thank them enough - but we can certainly keep on trying.

Random bits...

I was going back though some older images to find ones to play with and found these. When I took them I had every intention of seeing what I could do with them in Lightroom. Some took more work than others.

The one above is a grate at the World War II memorial in DC. I just thought it was cool the star in the star in the metal. This didn't take much work as it was already pretty aged and interesting. I just adjusted the contrast and color to make it pop a little more.

The flags above didn't get much either. Just a little darkening around the edge to pull your eye to the center and a bit of sharpening. These are around the Washington Monument.

Now this guy I had all kinds of fun with. My nephew K loves (LOVES!!!) trains. Any kind of train, it doesn't matter so when we took him on the Metro he was in heaven. Now, the light was pretty harsh on his little face but a little toying with the exposure and a nice antique filter turned this otherwise blown out picture into something interesting.

I'm starting to get the hang of Lightroom I think. But then again, just as I get comfortable, I find a tutorial on something else that I want to try and then have to go find a picture to try it on!

Cherry Blossoms....

This past weekend was a fun one for us! Lots of birthdays in the family and a raging Cherry Blossom Festival down in DC meant we had house guests!

We took the kids down on the train and navigated our way through the throngs of people all trying to admire the thousands of cherry trees planted all around the tidal basin in D.C.

Well, with trying to keep track of two little ones and 5 other adults coupled with the thousands of people that just always seemed to be where I wanted to be it was hard to get a shot off but I think I managed a few that came out well.

I think next time we do this, Mark and I will head down during the week first thing in the morning or late in the evening to try for better light and less crowds. Although, we couldn't have asked for a better day! Blue bird skys and plenty of sun.

Presidential palace...

In honor of the inauguration, I give you President Obama's living quarters at the White House (before security chased me away)

Remembering them...

The Vietnam Memorial is both a sobering and awe inspiring structure. Walking the path along the walls and reading the names of those that gave their life is an emotional experience. Seeing the notes to loved ones now gone and the flowers and artifacts really drives home the fact that these were real people with real families and not just names on a slab of granite. I can't help but tear up at these sights yet feel a warmth in my heart that they will always be remembered for the heroic commitment they made to their country.

I wonder if they'll ever erect a memorial for all the lives given in todays war on terror?

If you're the pray'n type, say an extra one for the men and women that are serving their country today and those that have served in the past. It's a very heroic and selfless act to put yourself in danger to better the world for those around you.

Where's Spring??

Friends,

I had a wonderful post for everyone and blogger so wonderfully errored out and deleted it! I'll try again but this will not nearly be the same masterpiece as I had previously - bummer.

We've failed to keep this blog updated as we'd intended. We've been so busy with our normal lives that we've ignored our photography lives. We're back however, so have no fear! I intend to use this blog more often and we'll see how that goes.

We've not done much adventuring lately as we've been in a state of flux. In the last 6 months we've moved cross country and purchased a house and now are in the process of remodeling it! Needless to say, it's been a busy few. We've had a few nice trips however, Washington DC is beautiful and has many areas that are very photogenic! We've got oodles of pics of the Washington Monument and the new WWII reflecting pool and fountains as well as pics from the Vietnam and Korean Memorials. As the weeks pass we find more and more to photography and hopefully soon will get a chance to post it all to our site - HTTP://www.kloepping.com .

Later I'll have a post for you on our reivew of the newest 'prosumer' cameras. We've had alot of family and friends rush out to buy them as upgrades to their point and shoots and since we've done so much research, they turned to us! I'll post that on Monday when I'm back at my other PC.

For now, I'm going to watch as the snow blankets the ground the day before Easter! Where's Spring??!