National Zoo

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is only 40 minutes away from Laurel but I often forget just how much fun it can be.  I spent a couple of hours at the zoo this afternoon.  It was cold but the sun was shining and the cats were active.  I should have brought along my tripod.  My big 300 mm lens was hard to hold steady in the wind.

"Scared yet kid?" 

A few more shots are over on my Flickr page here.  Take a break from leftovers and go to the zoo.

October Surprise

I believe that October is the finest month to be outdoors in Maryland.  It's often sunny, usually we enjoy mild temperatures and it's always breathtakingly beautiful.   

I'm still trying to master my digital SLR camera.  So I spent an enjoyable couple of hours this Saturday afternoon at the Montpelier Mansion reading the camera's confusing manual and trying to decipher a few more controls.

I lucked upon a painting class that had moved away from their easels for lunch.  Their break gave me the opportunity to capture the paintings and their landscape subjects together.

A quick slideshow  from Montpelier afternoon is found here. Use the full screen mode for best viewing.

Enjoy October while you can, winter will be here soon.

Inner Harbor Panorama

Baltimore's Inner Harbor as seen from atop Federal Hill this morning.

I've been trying to capture a panorama of Baltimore's Inner Harbor for over a year. Each attempt brings me a little closer to a good image. This image above is made up of 8 individual shots stitched together by Adobe Photoshop's "merge" routine. If I printed it out at full size it would be well over 5 feet long.

The detail in the panorama is amazing, however there are still a few stitching artifacts visible. It's always a gamble for me to get some time to play and then to make sure that the weather and the camera cooperate for the best photograph possible.

To see the surprising level of detail available in these kind of shots, click on the full image here. Expand the image in your browser and then you should be able to scroll. Can you find a woman pushing a stroller in front of Rash Field near the yachts? How about the Hard Rock's guitar atop the old Power Plant?

Hopeful Sign of Spring

A Sunday afternoon walk along the Patuxent River. The first sign of spring? Thanks to Gary H. for pointing them out.

Does anyone know what kind of flower this is? The flowers are about 1 inch long.

Sunday Stroll in Riverfront Park

This is the little steel foot bridge fifty yards east of the Avondale Mill site in Riverfront Park. Its metal surfaces have rusted to match February's colors.

We bought a new digital camera. It has more buttons than I can possibly learn to use in a year. So if you see me walking along trying to read a manual and squinting at a camera, you'll know that I'm trying to learn a few more buttons this weekend.

Do you have any interesting pictures of people, places or incidents in or near Laurel? I'd be happy to link to them. Please contact me via g dot rick dot wilson at gmail dot com.

N.B. (You can click here for a much larger image. )