Finding new to the old

"During a news conference on North Fulton Avenue, Mayor Sheila Dixon, who has made cleaning up the city a priority, said, "We're going to deliver this message to the public in any way that we can. Don't make your trash everybody else's problem.""

The phrase 'press conference' isn't anything new to a journalist. There is no avoiding them, as it's news, and I found myself at one last week.

There is never much different about a press conference. Aside from a different environment, the elements are always there:

Television station cameramen. Check. Other media. Check. Lectern. Check. Speaker. Check. Speakers entourage. Check. Microphone. Check.

It's a cookie cutter assignment and the best option to avoid the pedestrian speaker, well, speaking, image is to follow the golden rule to arrive early and stay late.

The press conference I was at last week involved: "launching the next step in what is expected to be a larger media campaign, Baltimore officials said that they will soon emblazon trash trucks and garbage cans with new slogans intended to reduce littering," stated sun reporter, John Fritze, in an article last week.

The campaign is more edgy than past anti-litter efforts. One sign pictures a bedraggled rat hunched over text, "He loves when you put your trash out too early." Another sign, to be posted on trash cans, says, "Pick up the litter, lift up the city."

So what did that mean for me? First of all, trying to incorporate these trendy, eye-catching signs during the press conference.

Having arrived far too early, I tried to find what type of shot I wanted, while I captured the public eying some of the new banners pasted on the trash trucks.

The rat caught my eye, so I assumed it would catch the readers eye, especially on a green truck. Not to mention, I've seen Baltimore City rats and they're the size of small cats. One passerby even said, "they got dat rat perfect, man."

But as per usual, Dixon was not the only one on stage and my plan was foiled. So I opted to get the typical conference images and then take advantage of the truck parked in the street.

Throwing on my wide-angle, I hopped up onto the bumper of the pick-up truck and shot the conference how it's intended to be seen - for the media. All the normal elements.

While the image that was published is certainly not a portfolio image, it informs the reader.

I even got an e-mail from a friend whom said: "You captured [the press conference] perfectly: a contrived, staged non-event with the TV cameras, the stage and the employees with the look of "what are we here for?""

I got a laugh out of it, but I still stuck around hoping for something different after I made the art I thought worked. You know, that brief interacting between the Mayor and someone else where I could still tell the story.

While the above may not clearly identify Dixon or tell the story, it was what I saw of the event. Trashmen dragged to the event to stand there, Dixon wanting approval and the slogans.

They're always a challenge, but it's always fun and refreshing to come up with something unique from them.

Summer camp tickin' away

"Ashley Madden, 16, is helped over "The Beam" during a team effort rope course."

There is nothing that makes me miss childhood like visiting a summer camp. Whether it's a general camp with kayaking, swimming and climbing, or a sports camp - The carefree lifestyle of a kid is the summer I desire.

When young, we had little to no responsibilities aside from grade school. When summer rolled into town, those minimal responsibilities vanished and life was simple. Sleep, play, eat, swim. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Fortunately, I got to experience at least one camp each summer. Whether I wanted to or not, I was shipped out to soccer, lacrosse or climbing camp. I'll admit I never really wanted to go the first day. However, I loved it all week and didn't want to go home at the end of the week. All I really wanted was some better food by the following Saturday.

It's been eons since I've been to week-long camp, and everytime I visit one, I want to tell these kids to enjoy every minute they have there.

In the past two weeks I've visited three camps while on assignment. The first one I visited had the most memories for myself.

I was sent to photograph a new building in Harford County on the 4-H campgrounds. Not only were the grounds close to home, but I had gone there for lacrosse camp a couple times while in middle school.

I bumped into old teachers whom help run the camp and fellow coaches from high school. But aside from the personal, I reminisced of my fun times had there. The hot nights sleeping, the thrilling games, the nervous hours not wanting to box other camp mates between practices, and of course, the horrible food.

Later in the week, I was sent to a different camp for inner city children who wanted to get off the city streets for summer. They signed up with the help of a family member or mentor and got paid to help restore the areas surround the park.

While working seems like the last thing a kid would want to do, these kids were excited to get to be with others like themselves that wanted to get off the streets and learn some skills that could help them later in life.

The last camp was my dream camp. Boats, climbing, swimming, zip-lines, biking, and more. Camp Lett's was celebrating over 100 years and the older campers were learning leadership by participating in team building challenges.

But as you may or may not know, any camp, working students, sprinting lacrosse players or canoing campers, is generally located in forest areas. And yes, my name is synonymous with the word tick. As in the disease transmitting insect.

To keep it short, I had Lyme Disease last year and it was no fun. So one could only begin to think what is this guy doing in the woods? I figured, OK why not, send me anywhere, it was a one time thing. But go figure, I picked two of those suckers, no pun intended, off me last week.

I got joked on in jest by some of the other staffers when I told them I found ticks on me, but I learned my lesson last year, I am lucky to have found these two ticks.

And now that I know these insects like my blood, I got some bug repellent.

Odd how all my years in the forest I never got bit by a tick, yet, now whenever I go back into a wooded area that's all I can think about. Ticks, ticks and more ticks.

Hold on grandma, Wii!

"Bill Boucher, 80, of Clarksville attempts to knock down remaining pins as he plays Wii bowling at the Bain Center in Columbia against Barbara Ray, sitting, Tuesday, July 15. The Wii bowling games were organized by the Department of Recreation and Parks seniors programs manager."

Wii. Wii've never played it. Wii probably never will. My car my for Wiieels.

OK. Enough of the nonsense. But it's not the end of Wii - Nintendo Wii.

Last week I heard "Weeeeee" as I made my way out for the day. It was a reference to get my attention. My morning assignment for the next day was shooting a group of seniors that play Nintendo Wii as a mode of exercise every Tuesday.

Though the story was endearing, at the same time I was thinking how much heart pumping movement can you really get from the game system?

I can attest that I've played it once. I was horrible, however, that cannot go to say that the select beverages I was drinking at the time didn't hinder my ability to return a serve playing tennis or bowl a perfect score while bowling. Darnay crushed me.

On my way to the Bain Center I began thinking of what I was about to experience. Would I really be witnessing grandmothers and grandfathers screaming "Wii" and jumping around like Tom Cruise on Oprah, or would they be a bunch of confused old folk like my parents and an iPod.

Personally, I know I could never envision my grandmother playing a video game, ever. Why? Because my mother just started using e-mail last week. Conversely, that doesn't go to say all elders (Mom, you're not old... if you're even reading) are not up to speed with technological advancements.

When I arrived and walked through the sliding-doors the energy level was about the same as when my alarm clock went off at 6:15 a.m. - half asleep and dull.

Then out popped a couple smiling elders with their game faces on and video game controllers in their hands. Signs adorned the hall pointing out today was Wii day. I was hoping one would say, "Today, Wii play." No such luck.

The TV was small, but the competition was fierce. Although only four players showed up, the room got quiet each time someone went to bowl and all eyes glued to the TV. Yes, even the "dog on wheels." And no, the dog wasn't on wheels. That's just what they called the horse great pyrenees.

One particular woman was really good and was beating everyone. She looked like me playing sports. No smiles, all business. She did break the barrier and flash a couple smirks as the others started getting better and better.

Most of them told me they enjoyed it because when they used to bowl, they would get tired of the heavy bowling balls. However, one man still got winded playing the virtual version.

It was a fun little assignment that I feared wouldn't be very visual if they were playing on a small TV.

I am glad I stepped back and saw the assignment differently than when I first arrived and made some nice images of the seniors playing something new to them, yet, just another gaming console to me.

Ride in darkness, outer space

"Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel into space, speaks to 50 campers from SciGirls, the Maryland Science Center's camp for girls ages 11-13."

Every assignment has at the very least one challenge. If you ask any photographer what their biggest challenge is on a normal basis, it's always going to be the same - Light.

Since photography is the art of writing with light, or as I say capturing light, or any number of other definitions, I really got put to the test Monday afternoon.

On my way back from Washington, D.C., I was called to shoot Sally Ride. The name sounded familiar, but to be honest, it took me a moment to realize who she was.

The standalone art featured Senator Barbara Mikulski hosting Dr. Ride, yes, America’s first female astronaut to launch into space, at an event with 50 campers at the Maryland Science Center’s camp for girls ages 11-13, designed and taught by young women.

Having a small hidden interest in the outer, untraveled regions of the universe known as space, I was pretty amped to, at the very least, get to hear Dr. Ride speak on her experiences. I mean who wouldn't want to go to outer space?

Anyways, I knew I would be challenged as it was a standalone and we were hoping she would be interacting with children rather than stand behind a lectern.

No such luck and my challenge didn't end there.

Since media needed to be in place at 2:00 p.m., they stuffed us in a fairly nice lit part of the Baltimore Science Center where there were tons of astronaut props and cool pictures, videos. They would have made for a logical connecting graphic if Dr. Ride planned to interact with others in this room.

Notice "would have" in that last sentence. So again, no such luck. The action would be taking place in the room next to it.

I started think, "OK, what else could go wrong?" Then I walked into the room - total darkness. I am talking ISO 6400 1/80 @ f/2.8, if that.

There were two tiny lights on the lectern, a glowing, spinning globe in the center of the room and an overhead projector spilling a little bit of light on the children in the front row.

Lucky for me, I had two friends. My camera and the television cameraman.

My D3 was up to the task. Quick focusing in dark conditions, somewhat nice looking images, even at 6400 ISO, and overall a nice camera to work with in the outer space called the Science Center.

The television camera guy at one point used his on-camera light to shine on Dr. Ride's face, giving me my small (read: less than 30 seconds) window of time to make my only below 3200 ISO tight portrait.

Once I snagged the tight image of Dr. Ride, as per usual, I opted to go for the less literal image.

I made my way behind everyone, and got a rare glimpse of what Dr. Ride may have seen from the space craft. Darkness, home, which we call Earth and stars.

Darkness worked, but I cannot say I was happy with it the entire time. I loved the effect I got from the lights on the ceiling and cameraman's recording light, which could resemble plants and stars. Just one way to approach an assignment differently.

In unrelated news, this past weekend I got great photo play in the Saturday and Sunday editions of The Sun. Last week I had great assignments and they all finally ran, so I'll be posting a couple of them this week.

And I am sorry if I keep bringing up The Sun, but I am having a blast and everyone here is awesome.

As close to Beijing as I'll ever get

"U.S. Olympic Whitewater team member Benn Fraker of Charlotte, Nc., flips back over after losing control of his kayak during a whitewater slalom practice run. The team held their final tuneup before Beijing at Adventure Sports Center International in McHenry, Md., Wednesday, July 16."

My trip odometer read 204 miles and my wrist watch showed three-hours and 10 minutes. As I sat in the parking lot at Adventure Sports Center International in McHenry, Md., I thought only 6,680 more miles to Beijing.

Briefing through the photo assignments of the week on Monday, I got urged to try and scoop up the U.S. Olympic Whitewater team tuneup one last time before Beijing.

Olympics? Practice? In Maryland? I was going to jump all over it, as the closest I'd get to Beijing would be reading about local town hero Michael Phelps in the sports section.

I didn't have much time to look deeply into the assignment, as at that very moment I was handed the in-house phone and on the line with the assignment editor. He didn't give me a definitive answer at that time, but everyone in the photo area said that I would probably get it.

I brushed it off assuming one the staffed sports veterans would get to cover what could be one of the last few Olympic stories before the start of the summer games.

Then on Tuesday morning, I got word that my name had been placed on the assignment. I couldn't have been happier. My first sports assignment and that I was given this dominant assignment so early in my internship.

However, there was a catch. The assignment was far out west, on the western tip of the state and over three-hours away. While the practice started at 9:00 a.m., meaning I had to set my alarm clock for 4:00 a.m., I was still super excited that they had trust in me to shoot the assignment.

The night before I made sure I had all my gear and everything was fully charged. I made some food, threw it in a cooler and went to bed awaiting the trip to McHenry, Md.

Following the boring drive through what some may call mountains (I've been to Colorado many times, they have "mountains") I finally arrived. I had done some research on the whitewater team, but mostly on Adventure Sports Center International, which is home to the world’s only mountain-top whitewater course. Yeah, it was man-made.

Once I got settled and closed my jaw following my amazement with this man-made river that sat atop a ski resort, I began shooting.

I met up with the writer and found that I only really needed images of U.S. Olympian kayaker Scott Parsons of Bethesda, Md.

He and his teammates, including pictured Benn Fraker, were running through their final tuneup before Beijing.

Parsons is going into the Summer Games ranked ninth in the world. At the Athens Olympics, he placed sixth.

For a little under an hour, Parsons and Fraker made runs down the top half of the course. I used everything from a pole remote camera, an underwater point-and-shoot, to the paper's 200-400mm lens for panning images and other lenses to get some photos for the paper.

The day was perfect and I was really happy with my take on the assignment. I wish it would have lasted longer though. I also wish I could have made some passes myself and that I would have remembered to charge my underwater Canon G9, too.

The pictures ended up on the Saturday and Sunday front sports page and I couldn't have asked for a better sports assignment. It was nothing I've ever done before, and the opportunity to get such an assignment was a great experience.

Black Thursday: Save the Sun

"Dressed in black, nearly 200 people gathered outside The Baltimore Sun Thursday to protest 100 job cuts at the company. The rally was a show of force that will not affect the outcome of events to come, but that leaders hope demonstrated to the community what it is losing."

As a determined, motivated photojournalist and intern photographer at The Baltimore Sun, it's tragic to see the the damage Sam Zell is doing to the world of journalism, especially The Tribune Company as a whole.

Having grown up in Baltimore, reading and viewing the paper daily, and putting everything I have into becoming a staffed photojournalist somewhere in the world after college, I supported the cause by wearing a black polo shirt.

Catching the end of the rally after getting to The Sun following a morning assignment, I could do nothing but feel the heartbreak, sadness, anger, and array of mixed feelings of every reporter, editor, photographer, designer, and everyone else supporting the fight.

I could elaborate my personal views of all the turmoil Zell has caused, the state of the industry, alas I shouldn't.

Ants go marching

"As the clouds diminish throughout the area and the sun begins to shine, a pack of mountain bikers zip through Loch Raven Reservoir on Monday morning."

Ants go marching is the song, but in this instance to saying ants go munching suits the story.

Sometimes things fall through and after driving to my lone morning assignment, I came to find out that the grandparents and grandchild summer camp had been canceled due to lack of participants.

Shucks. While not the be all of photo assignments in the world, having something to look forward to when you get out of bed is always a motivator.

Nothing excited me more than knowing I have a laid out story in front of me where I can preconceive what I may or may not be facing when I get there. How will I tell the story? Who will be there? Will there be nice light? A few, short of a thousand, of things that race through my mind.

Instead of shooting this standalone piece I was resorted to calling the assignment desk to see if there was anything else was left open to shoot. Negative.

I started to make my way back in, hawking side streets for wild art or in simpler terms a feature. For those reading...ahem...mom... a feature is basically a photo with no real story attached, a standalone photo in the paper. Think fluffy kittens and a young child eating melted ice cream on a hot day. Or maybe fluffy kittens eating ice cream?

Anyways, I came up short and was hoping to either hang out with one of the photogs on one of their assignments or have a story come up in which I'd be sent back out to shoot. Nope.

Well, that was three strikes, and in my world Monday, that meant finding a weather feature. The sun had began to break through the clouds and I was challenged in jest by another photog to see whom could come up with a better feature.

Since he was going to be covering places in the city, I opted to try the county.

I sped drove to Loch Raven, hoping to find someone outside doing something, anything. After finding one fishermen on a bridge, who I've seen a few short of a million times, but never stopped to shoot or talk to, I geared my attention to the park itself.

There it was. Nice light. No shoes. Clear water. Layered with leaves. I started to shoot frames of another fishermen at Loch Raven Reservoir.

But as I stood there chatting with my subject, something bit me on my neck. OK, I thought, probably a random bug. Then another. And again and again.

Then I realized I was backed up against a couple leaves on a branch, but when I went to swipe away what ever I thought was on my neck, my hand returned to my vision to see hundreds of ants in my palm.

It struck me that the tree I was next to and brushing up against was littered with little black ants and now these tiny insects were all on my neck, biting me and crawling down the back of shirt.

Without hesitation I ripped off my shirts and shook them out. The fisherman probably thought I was: a pervert, hot or simply insane. Whatever he thought, I could have cared less, I just needed to get out of the the park with my couple features.

Overall, aside from the ants, I had fun searching for some features. Next time I'll probably stay downtown as I wasted a lot of time driving to and around the county.

There are far too many people and things that inspire me downtown to leave it when in a bind for art.

Running of the brides

"Rory Newcomer of Leesburg, Va., squeezes into a wedding dress as hundreds of brides-to-be and their friends sort through discounted dresses at Filene's Basement in Towson Friday morning."

I just finished the first week of my internship at The Baltimore Sun and closed out the week with a pretty cool assignment: Running of the Brides.

Hundreds of brides-to-be and their helpers lined up during the night to be among the first in line when Filene's Basement opened for their annual, one-day sale of wedding gowns.

Each bride was hoping to find the wedding gown of her dreams at a drastically reduced price, as more than 1600 gowns from designer and famous name bridal houses were priced with an average savings of 71-percent to 95-percent.

Being a fairly early assignment, I arrived to the department store in Towson around 6:45 a.m. and started combing the crowd for wildly excited brides-to-be.

Since the doors didn't open until 8 a.m. I walked up and down the line a few times chatting with those half awake like myself and those whom looked like they drank 45 cups of coffee.

Around opening time, I made my way inside and tested out the exposure of the store and readied my other camera.

After the doors opened the herds of women, and some Fiancés, sprinted through the store and grabbed any dress they could, not knowing the type or size. They then bared it all as they tried them on directly in the middle of the store.

The dressing room numbers were extremely limited and all these women had in mind was finding the perfect dress.

During their search, they guarded their own pile of dresses and made trades with other brides-to-be. It was like being at a fast paced auction.

The toughest part was tracking down those in my images to match their face with a correct name. But overall it was one of the craziest, fast actioned assignments other than sports I've been on in a couple months.

As for The Sun, I am learning a lot and having a blast. Everyone is super supportive and helpful. I cannot wait to be back on tomorrow morning.

I've made a small Soundslides (without sound, and I need to update to the newest version) of some of my favorite images. Until I work on widening my blog, so one will fit and images will be larger, click here to see those photos.

Going downtown

"As a afternoon thunderstorm approaches downtown Baltimore and a light rain begins to fall as woman runs to her car trunk to fetch her umbrella on E. Baltimore St. Wednesday, July 9."

As odd as it may sound, I could spend hours on end roaming random streets in any city.

Unlike the old saying that states a mechanic has a junky car because when he gets home the last thing he wants to do is work on another car, much less his own - I do like taking pictures when off the clock.

It's a way of life.

Speaking of trekking city sidewalks, I've been downtown everyday this week. Typically when freelancing I didn't need to file all of my images in a city office. I just transmitted the half a dozen photos and went on my way.

But now that I am considered a staffer, I am continuing the tradition of archiving, in this case photos. It's also a good place to get some feedback and just get to know those I am working with a little better.

Also, since the heart of the paper is Baltimore, I've been shooting mostly in the city this week.

I grew up in the rural area of Harford County; cows, corn and barns. But I can say I know the city fairly well since my father would take us to the inner harbor and to watch Blast, no I mean Spirit, no well, I guess I was right with Blast, games. We even made it to the brief AHL Bandits game in which it was my first AM Track ride, but that's a different story.

Anyways, seeing through the ramblings of my writing, being in the city has me excited. I love to see how different areas of the state work. Each habitat is unique and people interact differently depending where you go in the world. Baltimore City is a different world than Jarrettsville.

I love to see the neighoods and how a single street light can divide two vast areas of town.

Maybe I haven't had the courage to walk the streets with my cameras yet, but I know there are a lot of people inhabiting Baltimore that inspire me in one way or another on each block.

I think it was back in high school when I saw a photo story of a photographer whom followed a violent gang in New York City. I was fascinated that this group allowed him into their lives. The images he got just made me want to know more and their story.

Since then, I've always wished to get that sort of opportunity in the mean streets of Baltimore. The closest I've ever got to that is "The Wire." In addition, I've never walked the sidewalks of Baltimore more than 10 minutes.

I always see so many features and interesting people when I am driving downtown, especially now. This week I've actually been pulling over and shooting what catches my eye between assignments.

The downside is I have to stay in my car because parking is a ridiculous.

I know I;ll be out finding features for print this summer and one day I'll get the strength to go out and shoot more of the city for a longer period of time. Hopefully by the end of the summer.

Into the mix

"After receiving Medical Assitance for her husband, Alanna Boulis, left, Therese McIntyre of Baltimore Healthcare, center, and Gov. Martin O'Malley, smile during a news conference focusing on an expansion of the state's health insurance program in the AARP offices in Baltimore, Monday. The program took effect July 1."

Monday started my much anticipated summer internship with The Baltimore Sun. I've been looking forward to this day since I found out I'd be getting to join the Tribune Company.

The night before was like the night before Christmas. I barely slept and I was excited, yet nervous for my first official day. I had no idea what to expect.

After getting signed in I was introduced to the other editors and the staff photographers that we're on and in the newsroom.

I've bumped into more than half of the staffers while freelancing, and it seemed like those I had not met before were working Monday. It was awesome to finally put a face with their name and pictures.

Everyone is very welcoming and friendly and I hope to learn a lot from them.

Being an intern I assumed I would be doing some ride alongs the first few days, however, they threw me right into the mix. If I wasn't nervous enough having it be my first day, I was put to the test with my first assignment.

The assignment itself was at noon and featured Gov. Martin O'Malley speaking during a news conference focusing on an expansion of the state's health insurance program, which took effect July 1.

Since I had time to burn, I was shown their filing system and some technical stuff with the computers.

Around 11 a.m. I decided to head down the street, about six blocks, and see what I'd be dealing with.

A typical press conference, the small room was boiling hot as it was jam-packed with TV station cameras and loads of people patiently awaiting the Governor.

I marked my spot and waited and waited. As per usual it started late and I sweating. Then it finally started. All went well and I had plenty of time to get back to the office and move the images from there.

After shooting my first assignment on Tuesday, I headed back to the office to see my first image ran as a standalone with the cutline suffix Sun photo by Patrick Smith/July 7, 2008. I've dreamed of seeing my name in The Sun for years.

It's been an awesome first two days. I know this great opportunity will be very beneficial to my career and cannot wait to get the chance to see how the other staffers work, learn a great deal and make some telling photographs along the way.

The above is an outtake from my first assignment.

Focus Fogal

"Overloaded with beach essentials, a man treks through the inlet sand toward the parking lot in Ocean City, Md. on Tuesday, July 1."

My eyes continually race across my computer screen, busy like a clogged artery. They are heavy and my head spinning into a confused state like five-year-old in a jet plane cockpit.

It finally hit me this afternoon that not only have I not been to an Optomotrist in more than 10 years, but that I may very well need some form of eye correction.

When I was in the first grade I remember visiting the local eye doctor. He sat me down and screened my vision with the obligatory lettered chart. Read line four aloud.

I cannot recall what my vision was, however, I do remember the photograph that is buried deep in the family photos of me standing my parent's living room in my gray Jarrettsville soccer jersey gleaming ear-to-ear like I had just been injected with too much morphine following a painful surgery.

No idea why I'd be smiling, the picture displayed my true inner geek. Conversely, the glasses that had once occupied my face in the image were now overlaying someone else's eyeballs.

The glasses were worn maybe for about a week. I had thought I was the coolest, most intellectual eight-year-old this side of Harford County, but I guess when I got to school I was in my own right mind the biggest dork this side of the first grade.

Those wired framed, bi-glassed forms of correction ended up being gently placed in the pharmacy bin of donated eye wear.

Fast forward some 15 years later. My vision, while I believe to be top notch, needs some help. Of recent, prolonged computer time leaves me feeling fatigued and life looking slightly blurred.

Amid the other problems, getting glasses and possibly contacts do not seem to bother me. I am hoping that a nice set of lenses, be glass or silicone hydrogels, will help me out in some capacity.

It's odd how when you're younger you're worried about being called four-eyes or Fogal. Side note: is that why Fogal, a la McLovin, from "Super Bad" was called Fogal? Because he wore glasses? Bifocals? Bifogals?

Nonetheless, I'd kill to have my current vision problems vanish no matter what it takes.

I'd wear two drinking glasses tied around my head with rope at this point to make some sort of correction and my vision therapeutic again.

Well, I am only prolonging my exposure to my computer by writing this post and editing more images from the beach. I should get my sleep as I start at The Baltimore Sun tomorrow as a photo intern for the rest of the summer.

I've been "looking" forward to this day since April. A bit anxious, yet more eager, I cannot wait.

Same place, new vantage

"Casting a line out into Assawoman Bay, a gentleman hopes to snag a fish before the sun completely sets over Ocean City, Md., Wednesday evening."

Going to a location over and over, staying at the same place and visiting the same places gets redundant. But going to the same place and changing your location can give you an entirely different vantage point.

Thus is true with my short trip to Ocean City, Md. this week.

With only a couple day left of my summer vacation before I am working probably almost everyday, I opted to jet down to the beach with Kate's family until Saturday.

The difference in this trip though is our location. Typically I stay near the middle of the city on 99th Street ocean side. This time we are stationed way south on the bay side on 3rd Street.

The difference is very unique and I find myself discovering a lot of small businesses and other fascinating landmarks I never knew about. And people. Did I mention people? Always interesting people near the boardwalk.

I finally got the chance to do somethings I've never done before, like walk out of the inlet rock-jetti, shoot the sunset on the bay and sit on the beach by the boardwalk.

While these may not sound all too exciting to the average person, doing something different is always fun.

To make it even more edge of your seat exciting, I took only my D3 and 50mm f/1.4 to get a same feel to my images. For some reason I haven't used my 50 and 85 fixed lenses much, but ever since getting back to full-frame, these two have been two of my favorite lenses again.

Now, my Internet keeps surging in and out in my current location so I am going to cut this post short. I'll try and update when I find a better location.

Until then, check out my other images that I am trying to get up by clicking here.