wbeem's photostream  

You’ve probably seen this view of The White House from Pennsylvania Avenue a thousand times before. It’s an iconic scene and I wanted my own little take on it, just as so many others before me. During the walk up the street, I was wondering if the view would work out or not. It seemed like they were preparing for some event (which turned out to be a blues concert including Mick Jagger). There are plenty of uniformed Secret Service officers around, but I was more worried whether I’d walk into some group of protestors. Fortunately, it didn’t happen.

I got to the fence and started looking for my spot, slowly walking and looking through the iron bars. I already knew the fountain would be off-center of the White House, but I don’t know who to blame for that visual faux pas. Then I just setup my tripod, leaned it against the fence, and hit the shutter. As my frames were clicking off, one of the Secret Service officers approached me to say I couldn’t use my tripod there. By the time he finished, I had all of my exposures. I apologized for my error. Honestly, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t surprised. He was pretty cool about it, letting me know that there wasn’t any problem using the tripod on Pennsylvania Avenue (since traffic is blocked off there), or back in Lafayette Square.

After I got my shot, I headed up the avenue to Old Ebbitt Grill, had a great lunch, and pondered the rest of my day. Sometimes you really can just take a click and go.

Like many other communities, we have a local group of photographers & models who meet regularly to get to know each other. I started attending last summer and so did Justin, the model in this photo. He looks a bit different than he did in his suit & tie last time around. I never knew he was inked up like that when I first met him.

Please visit the blog at williambeem.com

I joined some friends to photograph the sunrise in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom yesterday morning. Disney had a promotion for Leap Day to stay open 24 hours. While spending the entire day there didn’t interest me, a sunrise shot is a unique opportunity that doesn’t really come about very often.

The weather didn’t quite cooperate with what we planned, but I got something else that is also unique & rare – a shot of the castle through the fog. There were plenty of other photographers lined of to take this photo and most of them were grumbling. I was actually very happy, though. That early morning fog provided plenty of different moody shots in the park, at least until the sun came up. Then it was just another overcast day – with lingering fog.

Please visit the blog at williambeem.com

This sunset photo of the Virgin river leading up to The Watchman was one of the last things I shot on my trip to Zion National Park a few weeks ago. It’s just a peaceful way to end your day. You have the quiet of a canyon, only interrupted by the babbling river below and a few shutter clicks. Another photographer or two came up to shoot the same scene, but we didn’t really talk that much. Each of us just enjoyed watching the light fall and made our clicks as things continued to get better.

Would that every day could end like this one.

Please visit the blog at williambeem.com

This is the Old Supreme Court Chamber inside the U.S. Capitol Building. It took a very long time before the court could successfully argue to get its own building. Until that time, they met in this chamber. Some of the most historically important cases before the U.S. Supreme Court took place here. John Quincy Adams argued the Amistad case here, as was the Dred Scott case.

I really debated whether to show this photo or not. It has a bit of noise because I had to resort to a rather high ISO, but my love for the room itself won out. The room has great ambience and I asked if I could use my tripod here, but the Capitol Police are no longer providing tripod permits to visitors. You either need to be credentialed media or working for the Capitol in some capacity. So, I cranked up my ISO, opened my aperture, and slowly exhaled as I snapped off my shots.

Please visit the blog at williambeem.com