R. Chase Tralka Photography

Worldwide Photowalk: Georgetown Style

Chase — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:46:46 +0000

Yesterday was Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk. I was fortunate enough to be able to sign up for a walk in the Georgetown district of Washington, DC. Not only is Georgetown an unbelievably interesting neighborhood, but our walk leader is well known photography author and instructor Jeff Revell. Our walk group had an excellent mix of people participating; a few guys who were pro shooters (including a cool food photographer, Michael Palmer), some people with point and shoots, guys like myself who weren’t pros but serious, and even a few kids. In all we had a good time, I got to chat with a lot of people, talk some photography, and just enjoy the heat (which was brutal). 5 of the 6 shots I’ve got up here today are in 4×5 format, I always like trying things a little bit different, and thinking about framing my shots with a different aspect ratio is an easy way to do so. But enough yammering, here are the others from the day.

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I’ve got a special bonus shot from this weekend too. On Friday night I went into the city to see Dave Matthews Band play at the Nationals Stadium. The concert was excellent, and I was in some excellent company. Unfortunately, all I had in terms of photo gear was my cell phone so this shot isn’t great, but I like it enough.

Fourth of July on Nantucket

Chase — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:34:48 +0000

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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Weekend in D.C.

Chase — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 01:29:17 +0000

On Friday night, my dad and sister came down to D.C. After I got done with work I went into the city and met them at the Nationals – White Sox baseball game. We were lucky because Stephen Strasburg, the Nationals young phenom, was scheduled to be on the hill. True to form, he was excellent, throwing 10 strikeouts and allowing only 1 run. Unfortunately for the Nationals, Gavin Floyd also pitched well, going 8 innings and also allowing only 1 run. The game ended up going into extra innings and the White Sox won on a throwing error in the 11th inning. It was a good night of baseball. Our seats were pretty good, but not close enough that I wasn’t wishing for a lens longer than 200mm, but that’s life.

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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DC United vs. AC Milan

Chase — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:31:26 +0000

Last night, Jake and I went to the DC United – AC Milan friendly at RFK Stadium in DC. The match was an international friendly and Jake and I (and pretty much everyone else) fully expected AC Milan to beat the pants off of the Screaming Eagles. Much to our surprise, United scored first, and then followed that up with another goal. They went into halftime up 2-0, and then scored again in the 2nd half to go up 3-0. But Milan came back with 2 goals by Missimo Oddo (one off of a penalty kick) to make the match interesting. DC United ended up holding on to take the match 3-2. It was a fun time, and our seats weren’t too terrible, so I was able to get some pretty decent shots. The rest are below.

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Air and Space Museum

Chase — Mon, 24 May 2010 01:17:51 +0000

I moved down to McLean, Virginia yesterday for the summer. Today I went into Washington, D.C. for the afternoon mainly because I haven’t been to D.C. since my senior year of high school. I didn’t really have any specific plans, but ended up wandering the Mall and went into the Air and Space museum. I wasn’t really there for photography and only ended up taking 7 pictures (must be a new record low for me), but I liked this one, so I thought I’d share it. I will definitely be adding to these as the summer goes on, so keep an eye out!