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Followers of Harold Camping are expecting tomorrow to be a pretty exciting day. Tomorrow, according to some who claim to be in the know, the Apocalypse will arrive.  As predicted by the currently-incredibly-slammed familyradio.com, and reported just about everywhere, it’s the umpteenth prediction of the second coming.  It should come as no surprise to any [...]

… you will get to pick six flavors of Diet Coke, but apparently only three of Coke Zero. Meanwhile, in case you missed it, Zero is the new Diet.  Or perhaps the new Lite.  As in: {Coke, Sprite, Mr. Pibb, Fanta,Powerade} Zero.   Fortunately for those fearing menu overload, first you only pick one of [...]

3 guesses who the undesirable demographic is here, and the first two don’t count.    Kids should be staying at home playing Playstation, I guess.    If you want to bike to Whole Foods (directly behind me) to get groceries, you are not following The Rules.  Use Your Car.

Shot a great game, except for those times when the trees would leap out in front of my disc, sending it careening (again) into the undergrowth.  What a great way to spend a late summer Friday afternoon!

How many times in how many math classes did someone tell me, “numbers are the universal language?” It doesn’t, however, generally seem to meet language requirements for graduation. Occasionally there’s the fun reason: “Well, you can compute batting averages…..”  and I certainly do arithmetic with my camera- nothing fancy, just doubling and halving exposure value [...]

Waiting outside while my son finished up a program at Hayfield on Thursday night.  People were out jogging and walking the track, and Little League U-14 playoffs were taking place on the baseball diamond.

Stag beetles are nocturnal- in the past, when we’ve found them on our screen door in the morning, they tend to do the same thing as this one does: not move. Against the bright green mesh top of the bean sprout jar, it doesn’t look quite as twiglike as it must think it does. By [...]

This little guy and its sibling have been hopping around our side yard the past couple of days… our neighbor said he’s seen him perched on our A/C unit. I dare say, there’s probably quieter places to hang out. I get the sneaking suspicion, between the two of them and the hovering, scolding parents, I’m [...]

Spring arrived late, this year, but arrive it did.   The grass has once again started to grow- and the unoccupied houses in subdivisions are again more recognizable as such- even as the houses become slightly less visible.

Photos from the “Defend the Constitution” gun rights rally.  Gravelly Point, Arlington, VA,  4/19/2010.  Several dozen protesters gathered with holstered pistols and unloaded rifles, defending against threats which they believe erode their second amendment rights.

Many, many track & field photos to go through from last night’s portion of the Lake Braddock Invitational this weekend– but here’s a fun one.

TPGR, 1977-2010.

Although rampant antisocial flamage is probably the biggest reason more blogs are disallowing comments, spam posting is definitely in the running.  Both are symptoms of people not having infinite hours in the day to police an increasing population of spammers and trolls.  A comment on my most recent blog post- consisting of one photo of a [...]

When a house is foreclosed– or abandoned– or just plain unwanted— nobody shovels the front walk. When only one house across the street from us was empty, it was a bit easier to go around with the camera and shoot foreclosures as it is now that there are two empty houses facing us- the whole [...]

Some shots from the Maryland side of Great Falls, at the Chesapeake and Ohio NHP.

Here are a few more shots from December’s blizzard- finally enough snow on the ground to take the cross-country skis out!

With it getting up into the 50′s and a clear sunny sky this morning, we thought it would be a good idea to get outside, and get some sunlight on the back of our retinae, and hit the trail around Huntley Meadows Park. At the visitors’ center, we added our log of a king rail [...]

Record snowfall for the DC area in December today. The former record had been 12″, informal readings in my yard were almost 19″ at around 4:30pm. You say there’s a car under there, huh? Hmm.

Some more Things On Cars seen in a parking lot near you… Don’t tell my Mom, but here it is, 1:30 in the afternoon, and I am pointing my camera directly into the sun. Boy, those clouds are full of snow.  I confess to being just a tad amazed it wasn’t snowing yet! Here’s something [...]

Stop Signs and Sunsets…. clearly this post is brought to us today by the letter ‘S.’ Here are some signs you can see strolling around Beacon Center. If you’re in a car, you might have trouble reading them.  Likewise from my blog post.  But while you’d have to stop and get out of your car [...]

While some schools are still in VHSL football playoffs, my fall sports season has wrapped up.   Here are some feature shot highlights from the 2009 fall sports season: Sometimes I get lucky and stumble on demonstration games at the half! They’re always a blast for everyone- me, players, fans. I love all the interactions between [...]

We get weather on the east coast, too…. We just get the obstructed-view seats. What’s the treasure at the end of your rainbow? At mine, there’s going to be an end to all this road construction!

I can only imagine the carts, sneaking out after the stores have closed, rumbling around to the back, throwing a clandestine party when nobody’s looking.  I have a suspicion who brought the party hats!  All I can say is, must’ve been a heck of a weekend! [reminder, unless explicitly stated otherwise, all post content © [...]

Lancaster County, PA- Tuesday afternoon was a great day for a drive.    I went to see some covered bridges and hopefully some fall colors to go with them.   First stop: Schenck’s Mill Covered Bridge, north of Columbia.  I checked out the lines of sight and sunlight angles from both sides of the bridge, [...]

The Centreville Wildcats were the first on the scoreboard first at South County last night, bumped chests, and got penalized for “excessive celebration.”   Shortly thereafter, the South County Stallions answered with a TD and a chest bump of their own.  They, too, were penalized for “excessive celebration.”   “Excessive Celebration” falls under the category of “Unsportsmanlike [...]

I really do love the sky this time of year!  Found on a car antenna in a parking lot this week.

Hybla Valley, Virginia

In August of 1983, I hiked the B&O rail line from Arlington Road in Bethesda all the way into Georgetown.   A couple of years later, the line was revived as the Capital Crescent Trail .  This August, in 2009, my son and I pedaled a shorter stretch of it- only from River Road to Fletcher’s Boathouse. [...]

My neighbor’s yard had a couple of visitors this morning: Curiously, they were unthrilled with The Big Eye (TM) (Nikon f/2.8 80-200mm zoom) staring at them.  While they didn’t tell me per se what they were doing there, I’m thinking it had something to do with breakfast. Today, coincidentally, marks the beginning of “you may [...]

I’d like to introduce Shuttermecki Photography’s newest member, a lighting assistant who arrived by minivan, today: Her primary job will to be to stand still when I feel like experimenting with different lighting arrangements.  Secondary tasks are to remain calm and unaffected if I take a little long or accidentally shine studio halogens or mirrored [...]

Shopping cart in the middle of Springfield Plaza’s parking lot after yesterday’s rain.

This young man’s been staring iconically at me from my photo archive of late as I’ve been sorting, organizing, moving images around. 2009′s funky weather aside,  August generally isn’t hotter than July along the Eastern Seaboard.  But September’s in sight, the memory of February’s cold and damp has been burned away, and the end of [...]

My hubby and I walked the Woodrow Wilson Bridge ped/bike lane today.  We’ve biked the bridge a few times since it opened to non-cars this spring,  but walking gives you a different perspective.   I was surprised to see the number of spiders making their homes along the railings- in part because both day and [...]

Just an administrative note-in an attempt to consolidate content, I’ve pulled over the posts from the old blog. At this point, I’ve cleaned up tags and categories, but there is still some layout work to finish up, as well as consolidating the actual images. If earlier posts look flaky, please drop me a note and [...]

This week, we went to Cunningham Falls State Park in Thurmont, Md.   Here are the falls!  With a 78 foot drop, the park states they’re the tallest falls in Maryland. I spent a lot of time walking around the base of the falls… first over here… then over there… trying to find the best angle.   [...]

There are days I think we can all get behind these sentiments! Unfortunately, this isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning.  Friday, Fairfax County set up signs for construction around the S. King’s Highway/Harrison Lane interchange.  Sounds like construction could start as early as Monday!

“A picture is taken at 1/125th of a second. What do you know of a photographer’s work? A hundred pictures, let’s say a hundred and twenty-five – well that’s a body of work. That comes to all told – 1 second. Let’s say more like two hundred and fifty photographs – that would be a [...]

Overnight, a water main broke on Telegraph Road. Telegraph’s just two lanes along here, but it’s a major thoroughfare for many subdivisions to the south. It’s a horrid choice of road for closures. All day long, cars spilled the banks of Franconia Rd. gushing through the residential detour that flowed around the work. Two little [...]

Preparation for road widening continues: Two down, one to go. The electric has moved; today the cable is moving onto the newer poles.  Only phone lines will remain after the cable has been cut over.

The Potomac Freight yard in Alexandria was once a primary terminus for northbound rail freight. Much of the track has been pulled out and replaced by shopping and higher-end housing, save for the lone RF&P line carrying freight, Amtrak and VRE commuter trains across the 14th street bridge into DC. North of Old Town, a [...]

Save the remaining Chuck. E. Cheese, the Plaza at Penn Daw has been pretty empty lately- as has the parking lot! But while the property owner, developers, neighbors and county officials go ’round and round trying to figure out what to do with the property, at least some people could go ’round and ’round for [...]

To those of you who travel South King’s Highway daily- those for whom Harrison Lane is the most convienient only way between Springfield and Richmond Highway for 8 miles south: HEADS UP. You may wish to find another way to get there. It’s about to get ugly.  Consider learning a different route. Soon. Not that we [...]

…I don’t really think “enough pollen to be considered a paint job” was what they had in mind.

When you only have a small spot for gardening, ok, maybe you might find yourself paying perhaps a little too much attention to the few plants one actually has. Ooh, check it out! We’re gonna have currants!! Ok.  The birds are going to have currants. Whether we do, too remains to be seen. Fortunately, we’ve [...]

When my neighbor’s house is foreclosed… … they are not likely to use the front door for a while. The neighbors to this house on Harrison Lane don’t know what happened to the people living here- one day, several months ago, they were just gone. “NOTICE TO OCCUPANT: **CASH FOR KEYS** This property is in [...]

New grass sprouts and a flowering pear blooms by the retaining pond taking runoff from the Golds Gym and Hybla Valley Shopping Center parking lots. It’s been gorgeous lately, and I’ve been pleasantly distracted by everything blooming around here. Unless it’s raining, there’s far less incentive to sit in front of the computer and process [...]

Not QUITE there yet… But almost all the permits have vanished from the door! Only a NOTICE, for an alcohol license application remains. Black flats of shrink-wrapped goodies arrived today! Pots? Pans? Mysterious pasta-creating-devices! Chairs inside are ready to go, but the patio dining isn’t totally together yet. That’s ok, it’s still a bit chilly [...]

When my neighbor’s house is foreclosed on- Adults who own the mortgage foreclose when other adults, for a variety of reasons, are no longer able to make payments. The effects of the foreclosure are not going to always just be restricted to those adults.

It’s time to check in on the ‘Noodles and Company’ again.   Here we are, Center Parking Lot: Major changes have happened- the wood around the big doors has been replaced with shiny redness.Serious permit action (permittance?) on the door.  Electrical, plumbing, fire. The request for an ABC license that was there before. Of course, [...]

When my neighbor’s house is foreclosed upon… My neighbor is far less likely to mow the lawn. Banks are not property managers. Perhaps the bank that’s foreclosed on a property has contracted out to a property manager, who in turn maintains many properties.  Many, MANY properties. They’re not as likely to care how my neighbor’s [...]

Fairfax County Police decorated The Parkway with festive orange cones and cheerful yellow streamers yesterday afternoon, while Dominion Electric workers donned yellow vests and hats designed specifically for the occasion.    If you were in a car anywhere near my neighborhood, you probably saw the backups firsthand, even if you weren’t forced to turn back. [...]

What’s lurking out there this week?  As usual, click to embiggen the photos… at least, a little bit bigger! Noodles and Company in Hybla Valley hasn’t made a lot of visible external progress- but they have done some work on what looks to be the new front door. Lest you confuse the construction for someone leaving, they’ve [...]

Noodles and Company are moving in to Hybla Valley, replacing the long-empty restaurant space formerly held by Just Fresh. I’m betting they’ll have more success than the previous tenants for a couple of reasons, both having to do with comfort. First, comfort food seems to be “in” these days, [1] as do places not as [...]

Nerf heart arrow found adhered to a car in the Hybla Valley shopping center parking lot. So, was there a passenger back there at the time, or could nerf-cupid be a better aim at highway speeds? Inquring minds want to know. (And if you had one– whose car and which seat would you stick it [...]

Monday, Feb. 2, 2009: It’s very unlikely that Berkshire Bill saw his shadow. To the best of our knowledge, he’s still hibernating. Well, to be fair, I have no idea what he was seeing in his little groundhog dreamland, but I doubt he was worried about shadows. We have a groundhog who has held a [...]

Continuing along one of the lines from the last post, “just ’cause we have a road doesn’t mean we want you to use it…” I pulled out a couple shots from about a year ago, Feb. 2008. The top one is Centreville, Virginia- across the street from the parking lot of far from the Centreville [...]

Despite Franconia-Springfield Metro’s clearly being designed for cars, cars, buses and more cars, I’m reassured to see that someone thought maybe, one day, pedestrians might use it. They do. There are plenty of new apartment buildings near the Metro Station, and at rush hour, I’ll see vast herds of pedestrians migrating over the 7900 off-ramp. [...]

Generous George has been decorating his house big-time for Christmas for twenty years, now, fully establishing himself as a local landmark. As in, “You know the house with all the Christmas Lights?” and you can say it in June, and everyone knows exactly which house you mean. Each year, his house sports a boggling number [...]

The Fairfax Connector comes up Harrison lane and passes within a couple blocks of my house. But the intersection there is too narrow to safely put in a bus stop. So it’s a bit over a half a mile hike to the bus stop. The one that comes within a couple blocks of my house [...]

What’s become known as “Black Friday,” — not when the country runs out of money so much as the country runs out to SPEND money.  This year, plenty of people took part in the festivities, and I went out to see.  But instead of taking the “good” camera, I took my Lomo fisheye for a [...]

Every neighborhood has that one over-the-top house that goes nuts for Christmas, has every blinking light imaginable, and can be seen with the naked eye from the International Space Station. Generally, though, those houses just pop out for Christmas, and the days, weeks, months leading up to it. One of the things I find intriguing [...]

New Crosswalk lights go up at Beacon Hill and Fort Hunt roads.

…that people haven’t made it outside recently only because they’re still trying to get a handle on all those buttons! One day, we’ll find the one that unlocks the back door, I just know it!

The soccer field. What would suburbia be without it? For about 8 weeks in the spring and again in the fall, Grist Mill Park swarms with soccer players- games going on all day Saturday, and practices on just about every weekday. Then there are the baseball leagues, the adult soccer leagues, that last longer, and [...]

“Future site of trail“ Sprawl: the suburbs creeping ever further outwards. Rapid growth: sprawl outpacing capacity for infrastructure, such as main roads, water and sewer, schools, fire departments. It’s how cities grow. There’s initial growth at the core, then new growth layering successively around it. A group of people new to an area aren’t likely [...]

Last week, cables appeared, strung across my street- one almost in front of our house, one up the street, closest the uphill end of our street. Our street’s always been a cut-through for people who just don’t have time to wait at the stoplight about a block away. The main roads that people are supposed [...]

I figure this is as good a place to start this blog with as any other, so here we go. Welcome to Suburbia. Loose definitions apply, Originally uploaded by AnneBPhoto In this photo, we find ourselves in Reston, Virginia–a fully planned suburban community, far more thought out and extensive than my own subdivision. If you [...]

“A picture is taken at 1/125th of a second. What do you know of a photographer’s work? A hundred pictures, let’s say a hundred and twenty-five – well that’s a body of work. That comes to all told – 1 second. Let’s say more like two hundred and fifty photographs – that would be a [...]

Just an administrative note-in an attempt to consolidate content, I’ve pulled over the posts from the old blog. At this point, I’ve cleaned up tags and categories, but there is still some layout work to finish up, as well as consolidating the actual images. If earlier posts look flaky, please drop me a note and [...]

I’d like to introduce Shuttermecki Photography’s newest member, a lighting assistant who arrived by minivan, today: Her primary job will to be to stand still when I feel like experimenting with different lighting arrangements.  Secondary tasks are to remain calm and unaffected if I take a little long or accidentally shine studio halogens or mirrored [...]

Although rampant antisocial flamage is probably the biggest reason more blogs are disallowing comments, spam posting is definitely in the running.  Both are symptoms of people not having infinite hours in the day to police an increasing population of spammers and trolls.  A comment on my most recent blog post- consisting of one photo of a [...]

I figure this is as good a place to start this blog with as any other, so here we go. Welcome to Suburbia. Loose definitions apply, Originally uploaded by AnneBPhoto In this photo, we find ourselves in Reston, Virginia–a fully planned suburban community, far more thought out and extensive than my own subdivision. If you [...]

Last week, cables appeared, strung across my street- one almost in front of our house, one up the street, closest the uphill end of our street. Our street’s always been a cut-through for people who just don’t have time to wait at the stoplight about a block away. The main roads that people are supposed [...]

“Future site of trail“ Sprawl: the suburbs creeping ever further outwards. Rapid growth: sprawl outpacing capacity for infrastructure, such as main roads, water and sewer, schools, fire departments. It’s how cities grow. There’s initial growth at the core, then new growth layering successively around it. A group of people new to an area aren’t likely [...]

The soccer field. What would suburbia be without it? For about 8 weeks in the spring and again in the fall, Grist Mill Park swarms with soccer players- games going on all day Saturday, and practices on just about every weekday. Then there are the baseball leagues, the adult soccer leagues, that last longer, and [...]

…that people haven’t made it outside recently only because they’re still trying to get a handle on all those buttons! One day, we’ll find the one that unlocks the back door, I just know it!

New Crosswalk lights go up at Beacon Hill and Fort Hunt roads.

Every neighborhood has that one over-the-top house that goes nuts for Christmas, has every blinking light imaginable, and can be seen with the naked eye from the International Space Station. Generally, though, those houses just pop out for Christmas, and the days, weeks, months leading up to it. One of the things I find intriguing [...]

What’s become known as “Black Friday,” — not when the country runs out of money so much as the country runs out to SPEND money.  This year, plenty of people took part in the festivities, and I went out to see.  But instead of taking the “good” camera, I took my Lomo fisheye for a [...]

The Fairfax Connector comes up Harrison lane and passes within a couple blocks of my house. But the intersection there is too narrow to safely put in a bus stop. So it’s a bit over a half a mile hike to the bus stop. The one that comes within a couple blocks of my house [...]

Generous George has been decorating his house big-time for Christmas for twenty years, now, fully establishing himself as a local landmark. As in, “You know the house with all the Christmas Lights?” and you can say it in June, and everyone knows exactly which house you mean. Each year, his house sports a boggling number [...]

Despite Franconia-Springfield Metro’s clearly being designed for cars, cars, buses and more cars, I’m reassured to see that someone thought maybe, one day, pedestrians might use it. They do. There are plenty of new apartment buildings near the Metro Station, and at rush hour, I’ll see vast herds of pedestrians migrating over the 7900 off-ramp. [...]

Continuing along one of the lines from the last post, “just ’cause we have a road doesn’t mean we want you to use it…” I pulled out a couple shots from about a year ago, Feb. 2008. The top one is Centreville, Virginia- across the street from the parking lot of far from the Centreville [...]

Monday, Feb. 2, 2009: It’s very unlikely that Berkshire Bill saw his shadow. To the best of our knowledge, he’s still hibernating. Well, to be fair, I have no idea what he was seeing in his little groundhog dreamland, but I doubt he was worried about shadows. We have a groundhog who has held a [...]

Nerf heart arrow found adhered to a car in the Hybla Valley shopping center parking lot. So, was there a passenger back there at the time, or could nerf-cupid be a better aim at highway speeds? Inquring minds want to know. (And if you had one– whose car and which seat would you stick it [...]

Noodles and Company are moving in to Hybla Valley, replacing the long-empty restaurant space formerly held by Just Fresh. I’m betting they’ll have more success than the previous tenants for a couple of reasons, both having to do with comfort. First, comfort food seems to be “in” these days, [1] as do places not as [...]

What’s lurking out there this week?  As usual, click to embiggen the photos… at least, a little bit bigger! Noodles and Company in Hybla Valley hasn’t made a lot of visible external progress- but they have done some work on what looks to be the new front door. Lest you confuse the construction for someone leaving, they’ve [...]

Fairfax County Police decorated The Parkway with festive orange cones and cheerful yellow streamers yesterday afternoon, while Dominion Electric workers donned yellow vests and hats designed specifically for the occasion.    If you were in a car anywhere near my neighborhood, you probably saw the backups firsthand, even if you weren’t forced to turn back. [...]

When my neighbor’s house is foreclosed upon… My neighbor is far less likely to mow the lawn. Banks are not property managers. Perhaps the bank that’s foreclosed on a property has contracted out to a property manager, who in turn maintains many properties.  Many, MANY properties. They’re not as likely to care how my neighbor’s [...]

It’s time to check in on the ‘Noodles and Company’ again.   Here we are, Center Parking Lot: Major changes have happened- the wood around the big doors has been replaced with shiny redness.Serious permit action (permittance?) on the door.  Electrical, plumbing, fire. The request for an ABC license that was there before. Of course, [...]

When my neighbor’s house is foreclosed on- Adults who own the mortgage foreclose when other adults, for a variety of reasons, are no longer able to make payments. The effects of the foreclosure are not going to always just be restricted to those adults.

Not QUITE there yet… But almost all the permits have vanished from the door! Only a NOTICE, for an alcohol license application remains. Black flats of shrink-wrapped goodies arrived today! Pots? Pans? Mysterious pasta-creating-devices! Chairs inside are ready to go, but the patio dining isn’t totally together yet. That’s ok, it’s still a bit chilly [...]

New grass sprouts and a flowering pear blooms by the retaining pond taking runoff from the Golds Gym and Hybla Valley Shopping Center parking lots. It’s been gorgeous lately, and I’ve been pleasantly distracted by everything blooming around here. Unless it’s raining, there’s far less incentive to sit in front of the computer and process [...]

When my neighbor’s house is foreclosed… … they are not likely to use the front door for a while. The neighbors to this house on Harrison Lane don’t know what happened to the people living here- one day, several months ago, they were just gone. “NOTICE TO OCCUPANT: **CASH FOR KEYS** This property is in [...]

When you only have a small spot for gardening, ok, maybe you might find yourself paying perhaps a little too much attention to the few plants one actually has. Ooh, check it out! We’re gonna have currants!! Ok.  The birds are going to have currants. Whether we do, too remains to be seen. Fortunately, we’ve [...]

…I don’t really think “enough pollen to be considered a paint job” was what they had in mind.

To those of you who travel South King’s Highway daily- those for whom Harrison Lane is the most convienient only way between Springfield and Richmond Highway for 8 miles south: HEADS UP. You may wish to find another way to get there. It’s about to get ugly.  Consider learning a different route. Soon. Not that we [...]

Save the remaining Chuck. E. Cheese, the Plaza at Penn Daw has been pretty empty lately- as has the parking lot! But while the property owner, developers, neighbors and county officials go ’round and round trying to figure out what to do with the property, at least some people could go ’round and ’round for [...]

The Potomac Freight yard in Alexandria was once a primary terminus for northbound rail freight. Much of the track has been pulled out and replaced by shopping and higher-end housing, save for the lone RF&P line carrying freight, Amtrak and VRE commuter trains across the 14th street bridge into DC. North of Old Town, a [...]

Preparation for road widening continues: Two down, one to go. The electric has moved; today the cable is moving onto the newer poles.  Only phone lines will remain after the cable has been cut over.

Overnight, a water main broke on Telegraph Road. Telegraph’s just two lanes along here, but it’s a major thoroughfare for many subdivisions to the south. It’s a horrid choice of road for closures. All day long, cars spilled the banks of Franconia Rd. gushing through the residential detour that flowed around the work. Two little [...]

There are days I think we can all get behind these sentiments! Unfortunately, this isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning.  Friday, Fairfax County set up signs for construction around the S. King’s Highway/Harrison Lane interchange.  Sounds like construction could start as early as Monday!

Shopping cart in the middle of Springfield Plaza’s parking lot after yesterday’s rain.

My neighbor’s yard had a couple of visitors this morning: Curiously, they were unthrilled with The Big Eye (TM) (Nikon f/2.8 80-200mm zoom) staring at them.  While they didn’t tell me per se what they were doing there, I’m thinking it had something to do with breakfast. Today, coincidentally, marks the beginning of “you may [...]

In August of 1983, I hiked the B&O rail line from Arlington Road in Bethesda all the way into Georgetown.   A couple of years later, the line was revived as the Capital Crescent Trail .  This August, in 2009, my son and I pedaled a shorter stretch of it- only from River Road to Fletcher’s Boathouse. [...]

Hybla Valley, Virginia

I really do love the sky this time of year!  Found on a car antenna in a parking lot this week.

The Centreville Wildcats were the first on the scoreboard first at South County last night, bumped chests, and got penalized for “excessive celebration.”   Shortly thereafter, the South County Stallions answered with a TD and a chest bump of their own.  They, too, were penalized for “excessive celebration.”   “Excessive Celebration” falls under the category of “Unsportsmanlike [...]

I can only imagine the carts, sneaking out after the stores have closed, rumbling around to the back, throwing a clandestine party when nobody’s looking.  I have a suspicion who brought the party hats!  All I can say is, must’ve been a heck of a weekend! [reminder, unless explicitly stated otherwise, all post content © [...]

We get weather on the east coast, too…. We just get the obstructed-view seats. What’s the treasure at the end of your rainbow? At mine, there’s going to be an end to all this road construction!

Stop Signs and Sunsets…. clearly this post is brought to us today by the letter ‘S.’ Here are some signs you can see strolling around Beacon Center. If you’re in a car, you might have trouble reading them.  Likewise from my blog post.  But while you’d have to stop and get out of your car [...]

Some more Things On Cars seen in a parking lot near you… Don’t tell my Mom, but here it is, 1:30 in the afternoon, and I am pointing my camera directly into the sun. Boy, those clouds are full of snow.  I confess to being just a tad amazed it wasn’t snowing yet! Here’s something [...]

Record snowfall for the DC area in December today. The former record had been 12″, informal readings in my yard were almost 19″ at around 4:30pm. You say there’s a car under there, huh? Hmm.

With it getting up into the 50′s and a clear sunny sky this morning, we thought it would be a good idea to get outside, and get some sunlight on the back of our retinae, and hit the trail around Huntley Meadows Park. At the visitors’ center, we added our log of a king rail [...]

Here are a few more shots from December’s blizzard- finally enough snow on the ground to take the cross-country skis out!

When a house is foreclosed– or abandoned– or just plain unwanted— nobody shovels the front walk. When only one house across the street from us was empty, it was a bit easier to go around with the camera and shoot foreclosures as it is now that there are two empty houses facing us- the whole [...]

Spring arrived late, this year, but arrive it did.   The grass has once again started to grow- and the unoccupied houses in subdivisions are again more recognizable as such- even as the houses become slightly less visible.

This little guy and its sibling have been hopping around our side yard the past couple of days… our neighbor said he’s seen him perched on our A/C unit. I dare say, there’s probably quieter places to hang out. I get the sneaking suspicion, between the two of them and the hovering, scolding parents, I’m [...]

Stag beetles are nocturnal- in the past, when we’ve found them on our screen door in the morning, they tend to do the same thing as this one does: not move. Against the bright green mesh top of the bean sprout jar, it doesn’t look quite as twiglike as it must think it does. By [...]

Waiting outside while my son finished up a program at Hayfield on Thursday night.  People were out jogging and walking the track, and Little League U-14 playoffs were taking place on the baseball diamond.

How many times in how many math classes did someone tell me, “numbers are the universal language?” It doesn’t, however, generally seem to meet language requirements for graduation. Occasionally there’s the fun reason: “Well, you can compute batting averages…..”  and I certainly do arithmetic with my camera- nothing fancy, just doubling and halving exposure value [...]

Shot a great game, except for those times when the trees would leap out in front of my disc, sending it careening (again) into the undergrowth.  What a great way to spend a late summer Friday afternoon!

3 guesses who the undesirable demographic is here, and the first two don’t count.    Kids should be staying at home playing Playstation, I guess.    If you want to bike to Whole Foods (directly behind me) to get groceries, you are not following The Rules.  Use Your Car.

… you will get to pick six flavors of Diet Coke, but apparently only three of Coke Zero. Meanwhile, in case you missed it, Zero is the new Diet.  Or perhaps the new Lite.  As in: {Coke, Sprite, Mr. Pibb, Fanta,Powerade} Zero.   Fortunately for those fearing menu overload, first you only pick one of [...]

Followers of Harold Camping are expecting tomorrow to be a pretty exciting day. Tomorrow, according to some who claim to be in the know, the Apocalypse will arrive.  As predicted by the currently-incredibly-slammed familyradio.com, and reported just about everywhere, it’s the umpteenth prediction of the second coming.  It should come as no surprise to any [...]

This week, we went to Cunningham Falls State Park in Thurmont, Md.   Here are the falls!  With a 78 foot drop, the park states they’re the tallest falls in Maryland. I spent a lot of time walking around the base of the falls… first over here… then over there… trying to find the best angle.   [...]

My hubby and I walked the Woodrow Wilson Bridge ped/bike lane today.  We’ve biked the bridge a few times since it opened to non-cars this spring,  but walking gives you a different perspective.   I was surprised to see the number of spiders making their homes along the railings- in part because both day and [...]

This young man’s been staring iconically at me from my photo archive of late as I’ve been sorting, organizing, moving images around. 2009′s funky weather aside,  August generally isn’t hotter than July along the Eastern Seaboard.  But September’s in sight, the memory of February’s cold and damp has been burned away, and the end of [...]

In August of 1983, I hiked the B&O rail line from Arlington Road in Bethesda all the way into Georgetown.   A couple of years later, the line was revived as the Capital Crescent Trail .  This August, in 2009, my son and I pedaled a shorter stretch of it- only from River Road to Fletcher’s Boathouse. [...]

Lancaster County, PA- Tuesday afternoon was a great day for a drive.    I went to see some covered bridges and hopefully some fall colors to go with them.   First stop: Schenck’s Mill Covered Bridge, north of Columbia.  I checked out the lines of sight and sunlight angles from both sides of the bridge, [...]

With it getting up into the 50′s and a clear sunny sky this morning, we thought it would be a good idea to get outside, and get some sunlight on the back of our retinae, and hit the trail around Huntley Meadows Park. At the visitors’ center, we added our log of a king rail [...]

Some shots from the Maryland side of Great Falls, at the Chesapeake and Ohio NHP.

Shot a great game, except for those times when the trees would leap out in front of my disc, sending it careening (again) into the undergrowth.  What a great way to spend a late summer Friday afternoon!

TPGR, 1977-2010.

This week, we went to Cunningham Falls State Park in Thurmont, Md.   Here are the falls!  With a 78 foot drop, the park states they’re the tallest falls in Maryland. I spent a lot of time walking around the base of the falls… first over here… then over there… trying to find the best angle.   [...]

I’d like to introduce Shuttermecki Photography’s newest member, a lighting assistant who arrived by minivan, today: Her primary job will to be to stand still when I feel like experimenting with different lighting arrangements.  Secondary tasks are to remain calm and unaffected if I take a little long or accidentally shine studio halogens or mirrored [...]

The Centreville Wildcats were the first on the scoreboard first at South County last night, bumped chests, and got penalized for “excessive celebration.”   Shortly thereafter, the South County Stallions answered with a TD and a chest bump of their own.  They, too, were penalized for “excessive celebration.”   “Excessive Celebration” falls under the category of “Unsportsmanlike [...]

Lancaster County, PA- Tuesday afternoon was a great day for a drive.    I went to see some covered bridges and hopefully some fall colors to go with them.   First stop: Schenck’s Mill Covered Bridge, north of Columbia.  I checked out the lines of sight and sunlight angles from both sides of the bridge, [...]

Photos from the “Defend the Constitution” gun rights rally.  Gravelly Point, Arlington, VA,  4/19/2010.  Several dozen protesters gathered with holstered pistols and unloaded rifles, defending against threats which they believe erode their second amendment rights.

The Centreville Wildcats were the first on the scoreboard first at South County last night, bumped chests, and got penalized for “excessive celebration.”   Shortly thereafter, the South County Stallions answered with a TD and a chest bump of their own.  They, too, were penalized for “excessive celebration.”   “Excessive Celebration” falls under the category of “Unsportsmanlike [...]

While some schools are still in VHSL football playoffs, my fall sports season has wrapped up.   Here are some feature shot highlights from the 2009 fall sports season: Sometimes I get lucky and stumble on demonstration games at the half! They’re always a blast for everyone- me, players, fans. I love all the interactions between [...]

Many, many track & field photos to go through from last night’s portion of the Lake Braddock Invitational this weekend– but here’s a fun one.