IAD Rainbow Approach

If you’re reading this, surely you know by now that aviation is in my bones.  A fun fact that’s less obvious about me is I like rain, especially thunderstorms; I find rain relaxing and thunderstorms exciting, beautiful, fun (though I’m notably more fearful of being struck by lightning than my stormchaser friend).

Living in IAD’s airspace is charming to me, so after a rather severe Summer storm last year, when a rainbow developed and the groundstop lifted, I was able to capture numerous aircraft in line to finally get on the ground, with the vibrant colors providing an unforgettable backdrop.

The rainbow only lasted maybe 10-15min, so only a handful of aircraft were lucky enough to dart across the perfect scene.

2023 Annapolis Irish Festival • Gaelic Storm

To kick off my birthday week, and give myself a well-needed break, I took myself to the Annapolis Irish Festival.  Having the whole day to myself with no expectations or responsibilities to others hanging over me for the day was such a refreshing sensation I can’t remember the last time I felt, and filling it by being surrounded with my own Irish heritage with a backdrop of Celtic music, my soul felt overwhelmingly unhindered happiness and freedom.

I explored the vendors for some time, mainly in search of a Claddagh ring to hold me over until I settle on options for a bespoke piece; unfortunately, shopping for rings for myself is akin to shopping for pants, because I’m between sizes, and half sizes simply aren’t stocked at such a craft fair.  After browsing, and finally getting something to eat, I settled in to enjoy some of the music more purposefully.

Bastard Bearded Irishmen

Bastard Bearded Irishmen were in the later portions of their set once I finished eating, and I took some pictures of them playing a few of their last songs of the afternoon.

They finished their set with a cover of Sweet Child o’ Mine.

Gaelic Storm

The star act of the Festival was Gaelic Storm; a Celtic band headlined by Patrick Murphy on lead vocals, accordion, and spoons, and English guitarist Steve Twigger, the two remaining original members of the band that shot to fame after being featured performing in 1997’s Titanic.  They are joined by percussionist Ryan Lacey, Peter Purvis on bagpipes and flutes, and the group’s newest member, Natalya Kay, a talented fiddler who joined the ensemble last Summer.

I admit, I’d never heard of Gaelic Storm until a few months ago when a friend in another state saw them perform at an earlier stop on this same tour, and raved to me about them.  (I also have still somehow never seen Titanic in its entirety.)  Coincidentally, the Annapolis Irish Festival had already been on my radar for several months, so between the rave review by a friend, and a sense of reclaiming a tarnished St. Patrick’s Day, I was absolutely going to make sure to see Gaelic Storm play, whether at the Annapolis Irish Festival, or the night before at Leesburg’s Tally Ho.  In the end I’m glad my festival plan ultimately came to fruition.

Suffice to say, Gaelic Storm has a new “storm chaser” (what their fans are known as). I’m not new to Celtic music; I’m a lifelong fan of The Corrs, and was lucky enough to see The Chieftains perform a few years ago, but having already previewed and enjoyed some of Gaelic Storm’s music in the weeks before their concert, I was excited to finally see them live.  As the sun set, Gaelic Storm took to the stage, and I think the pictures will do the rest.

Video

I did take some video, but wasn’t intending on focusing on video, so the audio is trash using the internal mic.  This served me well, however, because it gave me a great set of files to learn on - I’ve been teaching myself Final Cut Pro, as Adobe Premiere Pro still doesn’t have a proper DolbyVision / HDR workflow (come on Adobe, get it together; it’s been 3 years, fix your Rec. 2100 support!).

Polar Vortex Snow Squall

Some photos from this week's polar vortex snow squall, captured on the Canon EOS R using my converted Lubitel medium format lens, and fully edited on iPhone XS.

It’s single digits here with a windchill around -15ºF, but it’s colder than Antartica in Chicago this week, with a windchill of -50ºF; and guess where I’ll be next week…. I’m hoping it’s only in the single digits while I’m there.

Summer Lightning Storm

With all the storms we've had the last two weeks, I thought you might enjoy some of the prettier and more dramatic sights and sounds inclement weather can bring.  I captured this lightning storm on May 15th, 2018, the day after our most recent derecho; unfortunately the Mind Flayer did not make an appearance. #StrangerThings

DCA Planespotting - May 17th, 2018

Just like I did two weeks ago, I decided to drop into Gravelly Point after a photoshoot at DCA.  This time I only spent 10 minutes there, because it was raining, but I wanted to stop and check out the view, because it was raining.  Sometimes inclement weather can lead to more interesting action shots than a "perfect" clear day, because water vapor can condense and leave trails and vortices that add a little something extra. Sadly this was not the case that day, but I did get an interesting view through the approach lighting, and spoke with a couple who stopped on their bikes to enjoy the view and ask about my attention-grabbing lens.

I also managed to capture this arrival and departure through the approach lights; this is 400mm handheld, and I didn't bring my microphone, so just enjoy the footage for what it is :-)