On the Eve of New Year’s Eve
12/30/09 My nieces Fiona and Maura with my fierce dog Jenny on the road up to the fields on Ryan Farm.
‘09 Photo Year In Review: #7. July 2009
Here are some of my favorite photos from July 2009.
07/12/09 Jen Corey is crowned Miss DC 2009.
07/27/09 “Dog Day Afternoon” is projected on the National Mall as part of the annual “Screen on the Green” festival.
07/08/09 Anna Kournikova hosts the Bloomberg Kids Tennis Clinic at the Kastles Stadium court.
07/02/09 “The Gentleman” on the left competes against “The Mouth of the South” on the right at “Z-Burger’s First Annual Burger Eating Championship.”
07/15/09 Playboy Playmate of the Year and vegetarian Jayde Nicole and Playmate Jo Garcia at a PETA veggie dog give-away on Capitol Hill.
07/10/09 Barbie convention at Marriott Wardman Park hotel.
07/24/09 Dome of St. Matthew’s Cathedral reflected in office building windows.
07/26/09 Marie-Alice at my Summer Open Studio shoot.
07/15/09 DC Mayor Adrian Fenty attends ribbon cutting ceremony for Park Place Apartments on Georgia Avenue.
07/04/09 Melanie and Anson wed on the 4th of July at the Whistling Straits golf course on the shores of Lake Michigan.
07/12/09 Last call at legendary Georgetown watering hole Nathan’s on their last day after 40 years. There were 2 TV sat trucks sitting outside when the fire department showed up. I went to Billy Martin’s instead.
07/21/09 Models laughing and eating.
07/23/09 The remains of a house in my neighborhood which blew up on the 4th of July.
07/14/09 Bastille Day bash and “French Maid” relay race in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of DC
‘09 Photo Year In Review: #6. June 2009
Here are some of my favorite photos from June 2009.
06/09/09 Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe leaves the polling place early in the morning with his family after casting his vote in the Democratic primary. He was defeated by Creigh Deeds.
06/08/09 Roxana
A chipmunk killed by my fierce dog Jenny in my backyard.
06/14/09 The dunk-the-burger-in-water-before-you-bite method deployed at Hard Rock Cafe’s “Top Guns Legendary Burger Eating Contest.”
06/10/09 My new niece Delia.
‘09 Photo Year In Review: #5. May 2009
Here are some of my favorite photos from May 2009.
05/24/09 Wide-mouthed Bass my nephew Paddy caught in the pond on Ryan Farm over Memorial Day weekend.
05/01/09 Groom Neil Agarwal arrives at the Mayflower Hotel on his wedding day. More photos here.
05/09/09 My nephew Eamonn at his brother Declan’s 1st Holy Communion.
05/14/09 Actor Alain Chabat plays Napoleon in “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.” Photos from the premiere at the National Air and Space Museum here.
05/16/09 Rachel Alexander in the post parade before winning the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes. She was the 1st female to win the race in 85 years.
05/09/09 White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel gets some advice from Caroline at the Cap File after-party following the 2009 White House Correspondent’s Dinner.
‘09 Photo Year In Review: #4. April 2009
Here are some of my favorite images from April 2009.
I started SnarkInfested back in April and without doubt the biggest number of hits I get to my photo blog every day is from people searching the term “Redskins Cheerleaders” and finding the pictures I took of the Redskins’ cheerleader tryouts on 04/05/09. The number of hits also spike after Redskins’ games.
04/16/09 Lead singer Brent Smith during an acoustic performance by his band Shinedown at Hard Rock Cafe Washington, D.C.
Portrait of E.
Tidal Basin and Cherry Blossoms.
Portrait of Salsabil
04/07/09 Michelle Obama statue unveiled at Madame Tussauds, Washington D.C.
04/22/09 Dionne helped me out for a shoot at Highland Park.
04/12/09 My niece Maura hunting for eggs on Easter.
Rachael at my April Open Studio shoot.
04/11/09 Indrid had a booze-filled squirtgun at her Roaring 20′s party.
Christie at my April Open Studio shoot.
‘09 Photo Year In Review: #3. March 2009
Here’s some of my favorite images from March 2009:
03/05/09 The longtime Redskins’ broadcast team of Sam Huff, Frank Herzog and Sony Jergensen share a laugh at a tribute to DC radio/TV broadcasting legend Andy Ockershausen (the man who teamed them up).
03/18/09 10-year old Mikayla Minnig, from Downey, California gets a hug from her mom after her testimony about living with Arthritis before the House Appropriations Labor HHS Committee.
03/11/09 Birthday party for my friends Kate, Vicky and Sarah
03/17/09 My nephew Eamonn on St. Patrick’s Day.
03/17/09 Circus parade through the streets of DC.
03/29/09 Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D NY) stumps with congressional candidate Scott Murphy at the Country View Diner in Troy, NY.
03/26/09 Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation addresses the Government Leaders Forum – Americas.
03/07/09 Portrait of Sadé.
‘09 Photo Year In Review: #2. February 2009
Some of my favorite moments from February of ’09:
02/07/09 The ref rushes in and ends a fight during the 2nd annual Belfast-Beltway boxing matches at the Westin Hotel ballroom in Washington, DC. The event brings Protestant and Catholic boys who train together in a gym in Belfast to fight boxers from the DC area. Some of my images from this night ran in the North Belfast News . . .
An event I’ve shot for the 3rd year in a row is NEA’s Read Across America Day.
02/26/09 These kids from Mars Lane Elementary school in Baltimore are anxiously awaiting the arrival of The Cat In The Hat.
02/16/09 Deer path crossing the dirt road up to the fields on Ryan Farm.
02/02/09 Portrait of Jess.
02/06/09 Homeless man on NY Ave and H St.
02/04/09 Miss America 2009 Katie Stam dons her crown before the start of the Washington Press Club Foundation’s 65th annual Congressional Dinner at the Ritz Carlton.
Red Chimney Bird
12/21/09 My brother Tim and I purchased the house we’re in back in ’06. We’ve never used the fireplace before and I thought it being “the darkest evening of the year” and all that tonight would be a good time to have our inaugural conflagration. I opened up the chimney flu and down fell a bird carcass.
[Click on the photo to see how bright red it was. My blog often dilutes the color of my images, annoyingly.]
A really creepy looking mummified bird carcass. I could almost hear the sinister choir chanting Latin from The Omen soundtrack as I looked at it. He must have been trapped when the previous owner capped the top of the chimney most likely many years ago. Is it a crow? The beak seems long enough but he’s been dyed red by brick dust.
At first I thought I’d do with it what I do with every small critter my fierce dog Jenny kills and throw it in the neighbor’s yard but now I wonder should I put it in a shoebox and mail it off as an anonymous gift or hang it on the Christmas tree?
Rockettes!
12/19/09 Merry Christmas from Santa and the Radio City Rockettes [and their security guy Vinny] from the lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn on 14th & H. The Rockettes were in town to perform in The Radio City Spectacular at Verizon Center.
Blizzard Bridge
12/19/09 11:oo am Taft Bridge in the snow.
’09 Photo Year In Review: #1. January 2009
12/18/09 I thought I’d take a quick jog down memory lane and post some of the favorite photos I shot in 2009. The big story in January was the obviously the inauguration of America’s first African American president, Barack Obama. My images from that event are somewhat tangential as I’d been hired to shoot the inaugural parade and the parties but not the swear-in at the Capitol. I was actually happy about this because I’d photographed the swear-ins in 2001 and 2005 and the weather conditions were absolutely miserable. There was freezing rain in ’01 and one of my Nikons actually froze (it didn’t start working again until I put it in front of a heater for an hour or so). The ’05 swear-in was sunny but sub zero. I was able to stay a bit warmer this year because I could duck inside heated buildings. I started work on Inauguration Day at 5 am to photograph marchers loading into buses to take part in the parade. The group I was shooting finally marched past me down Pennsylvania Ave. at 5 pm, just as it got dark. It struck me that the crowds along the route were very calm and not as wildly jubilant as downtown DC was on election night. They were not so much celebrating as paying witness.
01/13/09 Setting up folding chairs on the West front lawn of the U.S. Capitol in preparation for the Inaugural next Tuesday.
01/20/09 Vendor sleeping in a tent at dawn on Inauguration Day. His t-shirt stand was on 16th Street close to the White House.
01/20/09 The Ambassador of Canada (white hair) waves at the new President of the United States (in the limo top right) from the steps of the Canadian Embassy with an honor guard of Mounties.
01/20/09 Actress Glenn Close playing backgammon in the Game Room at the Google Inaugural Ball
01/20/09 DJ at the Google Inaugural Ball.
Actress Jessica Alba at the Declare Yourself Inauguration kick-off event on 01/18/09.
01/19/09 Actor Toby McQuire gets choked up by Rep. John Lewis’ speech at Service Nation breakfast.
Just as important to me as my news and feature images of Washington are my personal photos. Here’s a couple from January . . .
My friends Jade and Indrid wrestling among the coats at the Ryan Bros. “Yes, U Can” U Street Champagne Cocktail Party on 01/16. Props to Jade for keeping her champagne flute upright during the brawl. She did not spill a drop.
Snowy scene on my family’s farm in Upstate NY.
Heathen no more! The baptism of my nephew Eamonn Thomas on the 25th of January in the Year Of Our Lord 2009. That’s my brother Mike and his wife Beth holding their nephew and godson.
From my January Open Studio shoot . . .
Portrait of Andrea.
Portrait of Claudia
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
12/13/09 Holiday photo shoot with world famous model Sakinah.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
12/12/09 Procession on a cold but sunny Saturday through the streets of DC from the Shrine of the Sacred Heart on 16th St. & Park Rd to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The boy is dressed as St. Juan Diego, the poor Indian to whom Mary appeared to in 1531.
Mariachi before the start of Mass at the Basilica.
Goldilocks, the 3 Bears and Tim
12/10/09 KJ, Tim and bears at the US Chamber of Commerce Christmas party.
The Uptown
12/09/09 The Uptown Theater on Connecticut Avenue is Washington, DC’s best movie theater. An art deco gem built in 1936, the Uptown is often used by the studios for movie premieres. My experience shooting the low key screening of Invictus last week got me thinking about some of the fun movie openings I’ve shot at the Uptown over the years.
[Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith look at the screaming fans lining the opposite side of the street for the premiere of Enemy of The State in 1998.]
[Eager fans sleeping in line outside the Uptown for the premiere of the first Star Wars movie in 15 years - The Phantom Menace in 1999.]
[ Al Pacino at the premiere of The Insider in November 1999.]
[Actress Ashley Judd blows off an autograph seeker on her way into an advance screening of her movie "De-lovely" at The Uptown in '04.]
[Director Michael Moore at the Fahrenheit 09/11 premiere in '04. The faces in this frame remind me of a Hieronymus Bosch painting.]
[Nicolas Cage on the red carpet for Windtalkers in 2002.]
Dance Floor
12/05/09 Scenes from the dance floor at the Smithsonian Young Benefactor’s 2oth annual Jolly Holiday party last night at the Smithsonian Castle.
Born In The USA
12/04/09 Tai Shan (tie-SHON), the first surviving giant panda born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in 2005, will be sent to the People’s Republic of China in early 2010, as stipulated in the [really poorly drafted] agreement between the zoo and the Chinese government. He’s clearly not happy about the whole thing.
Just to make the whole situation more maudlin, the zoo further announced that Tai Shan, whose name means “peaceful mountain” in Chinese, “will be trained to enter and calmly remain in a specially designed crate for his flight to China.” I suggest sending back a large rabid raccoon instead and pretending not to know what they are talking about when the Chinese complain. Surely that would be the mature way of dealing with this debacle.
[Tai Shan is eating a block of frozen juice with chunks of apples inside.]
Santa Claus Meet and Greet
12/03/09 Guess who showed up at the Hilton Garden Inn reception following the National Christmas Tree Lighting? Jolly Old St. Nick – that’s who. Were people happy to see him? Judging from the little boy who jumped into his arms to hug him, I’d say so.
