On Friday night, legendary rock group the Eagles performed at the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State. Though the tickets were expensive and the target audience not quite in line with the groups style, the BJC was almost entirely filled. Granted, the Eagles do have one of only two 29 time platinum albums (over 29 million albums sold, holy moly!), so I think they could probably fill any venue anywhere.

The shooting was not great, they stuck us back of house, over a hundred feet from the stage. Luckily, Andy Colwell was there to save the day again, lending me his backup 70-200m f/2.8 lens and a 1.4x teleconverter, and even let me take a spin with his 300mm f/2.8 (with the tele), so I was still able to pull some keepers out of the gig. They are, as always, below.

Note: Check out picture #3 in the slideshow, I’ve been experimenting with a cinematic crop ratio (2.39:1), similar to what movies are displayed in at theaters, TVs display at 16:9, which is a little taller. I got this idea from a story that ran on Scott Kelby’s blog a few weeks ago. Let me know what you think!

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On Friday I made the long and arduous trek from my apartment in West Falls Church to Nantucket for the weekend. The trip involved 2 metro lines, a regional train, a shuttle bus, an airplane, an overnight stay at a hotel in Providence, a car and a ferry. The trip was worth it though. Nantucket is probably my favorite place on the planet, and getting to see all the family and our friends was great. The weather was awesome too, cooler than anywhere on the mainland (and definitely cooler than here in D.C.). The weekend consisted of sitting on the beach, going to barbecues and watching fireworks. In all, an excellent way to spend my holiday weekend.

I was able to take some fireworks shots, I think they turned out pretty well, I hope you enjoy them.

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After the game we went back downtown and spent the night in the city. The next morning we wandered around the city for a bit and went to the National Museum of American History. The Smithsonian Institue museums are some of my favorite places in the city and the American History museum is in the top 3. So that was good fun, unfortunately, they don’t allow photography of the Star Spangled Banner, which is the premier exhibit in the museum. Plus, since I was with my family, I didn’t have quite the photo opportunities that I would have liked, but maybe I’ll go back sometime. After Dad and sister went home,  I went to the Library of Congress, which is definitely my new favorite building in DC. The amount of detail in the ornamentation of that building is unbelievable, but I went as a “researcher” and wasn’t allowed to bring a camera in. So I’ll have to go back as a visitor and take the tour so I can get some shots.

Anywho, that was a long post. Here are the pictures.

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Last night was Last Stop, put on by the UPUA and the Lion 90.7FM. The outdoor concert festival was the second one to visit the HUB lawn this spring, the other being Movin’ On. Last Stop definitely had bigger acts perform, with Titus Andronicus, Matt and Kim, Fabolous and State Radio performing. The weather was also much better for Last Stop than Movin’ On. They really couldn’t have asked for better weather, high 70′s and no wind. The crowd was unbelievable, they estimated 10,000 people were there. Because the acts we so varied there was a large variety of people in attendance. My two favorite performances were Matt and Kim, who provided a really fun upbeat set and State Radio, who started slow but got the whole crowd rocking by the end of their set. Following State Radio was Fabolous, who acted as though he were Jay-Z or Kanye West and brought body guards and required Last Stop committee members to form a human wall to protect him. Honestly, I’ve only ever heard one of his songs, but must of the crowd seemed to know who he was. I guess I’m just out of the loop when it comes to rap music. He caused all kinds of problems though due to his late arrival, State Radio was supposed to be the closer, and had to move their set up for Fabolous. Regardless of the logistical issues, the event was a ton of fun, and I think I got some pretty good shots out of it. As always, they are below.

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