12/19/09 11:oo am  Taft Bridge in the snow.

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

12/13/09 Holiday photo shoot with world famous model Sakinah.

12/12/09 Procession on a cold but sunny Saturday through the streets of DC from the Shrine of the Sacred Heart on 16^th 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.

12/11/09 On the C&O Canal towpath in Georgetown.

12/10/09 KJ, Tim and bears at the US Chamber of Commerce Christmas party.

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.]

12/05/09 As seen from the Ellipse.