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"Blue Mass" Honors Police Killed In The Line Of Duty - Washington, D.C.

Members of the D.C. Police Department Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band play their instruments outside of St. Patrick Church after the 'Blue Mass' to mark the beginning of National Police Week in Washington, D.C. The name of the Mass comes from the "blue" color of their uniforms. I attended this special Mass where police officers prayed for their fallen comrades and for their own safety in the line of duty.

The week of May 15 transforms Washington, D.C. into one of the safest cities in thew world. Why? Because National Police Week, which occurs each year during the week in which May 15 falls, recognizes the service and sacrifice of U.S. law enforcement. Established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others. Tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on the nation's capitol to participate in a number of planned events which honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

Uploaded on May 20, 2013 | Map

151 views / 3 favorites / 7 comments

Political Storms bursts over Washington, DC

People accuse me of “Photoshopping” my photographs. That’s crazy! All my photographs are SOOAA, that is “straight out of Apple Aperture.”

I was walking in Lafayette Square, a public park located directly north of the White House, in Washington, DC last week. I noticed these cumulus clouds and composed a couple of photographs. I know this is Washington, DC where everything is an illusion, but I pulled no magic tricks in post-production. I simply increased the contrast and bumped up the vibrancy. Mother nature gets all the credit for this one.

It has been a roller coaster week here in the nation’s capitol. Scandals have burst over the political weather front from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) limiting free speech to the Justice Department spying on reporter’s phone records.

I guess my “Photoshopping,” I mean my SOOAA skills, aren’t the only scandals brewing in Washington, DC.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

Uploaded on May 19, 2013 | Map

408 views / 29 favorites / 44 comments

Good Morning Vietnam!

Or should I say good morning Washington, DC! Actually, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is only about 1,000 feet from where I photographed this so I wasn’t too far from a “Vietnam” theme.

The ugly looking obelisk with the scaffolding is the Washington Monument which has been under construction since the August 2011 earthquake. If you are planning a trip to the Nation’s capitol soon, be warned that construction will not be completed until sometime in 2014. That’s really a bummer because everywhere you take a photograph in Washington, DC it seems the Washington Monument is always in the background.

I got up early this particular morning because in the spring and summer the sunrise runs parallel to the Lincoln Memorial (rising near the Washington Monument) and bathes the statue of Mr. Lincoln in warm, soft light. As you can see from my photograph that didn’t happen, so I had to settle for this lonely jogger running along the Reflecting Pool.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

Uploaded on May 14, 2013 | Map

433 views / 39 favorites / 44 comments

Painting the renewal of spring and the ephemeral nature of life - cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC

"The only thing that could spoil a day was people. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

“No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of spring.”
Samuel Johnson

"I had always planned to make a large painting of the early spring, when the first leaves are at the bottom of the trees, and they seem to float in space in a wonderful way. But the arrival of spring can't be done in one picture."
David Hockney

“Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'”
Robin Williams

A local artist paints the arrival of spring of the pale-pink cherry blossoms in bloom along the Tidal Basin in the nation’s capitol of Washington, DC.

Spring is here and it is time to party!

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

Uploaded on May 12, 2013 | Map

539 views / 44 favorites / 42 comments

Rite of Spring - Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC

Walk, run, or bike to see the annual cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC.

The cherry trees were a gift from Japan in 1912 as a commemoration for the 1854 Treaty of Peace and Amity which officially established formal relations between the two countries.

The Yoshino Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC only bloom in the spring and the window of opportunity is very small. I photographed this on a Monday when the cherry blossoms were beginning to peak and by that Friday night strong winds blew most of them off the trees. As with any once-a-year photographic opportunity, it can be very crowded with people, especially at sunrise.

The most photogenic groups of cherry blossoms are located around the Tidal Basin which is a man-made inlet adjacent to the Potomac River. That morning hordes of photographers, tourists and fitness enthusiasts were jockeying for position to get a view of the pink cherry blossoms.

It took me over 1,000 hours in Photoshop to clone out all the pesky people in the background to get this lone biker in the scene, or actually, I secured a presidential order to keep everybody back at least 500 feet from my shot or I simply waited until this lone biker walked under this cherry blossom branch where I was camping out with my Canon 5D Mark II.

What story do you believe?

Happy Travels!

Uploaded on May 7, 2013 | Map

457 views / 33 favorites / 47 comments