Kodak Moment

This image makes me laugh. Without intending to, it resembles the types of photographs used in those 1970s Kodak camera and film print ads. The brightness of the rising sun cast an eerie glow over the river and its inhabitants, making the image look more dated and antiquated.

Autumn Road

Here's a an autumn moment of zen. Looking at roads like this one, lined with trees full of brilliantly-colored leaves, makes me want to get in a car and just drive for hours.

If I could describe serenity, it would be sitting on a deserted beach watching the ocean waves or driving along a tree lined road like this one during autumn. Both scenarios are so peaceful and calming. Not going to lie, I could use one of those trips right now.

All of the Colors of Sunrise

From the piers of the Washington Sailing Marina, the sunrise is pretty impressive. At one point, before the sun appeared above the horizon, it seemed as if every color in the color spectrum appeared across the sky. Between the sky and the water, there was a splattering of blues, purples, pinks, yellows and oranges.

Jesus Duck?

Once the horrible weather that battered the Northeast this weekend cleared, I took a long drive along George Washington Memorial Parkway at sunrise to photograph what remained of autumn's leaves. Along the way towards Mount Vernon at the end of the parkway, I discovered Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve.

As a quietly photographed the swimming ducks and geese in the Potomac River which borders the preserve, I noticed this duck standing in the water. It must have been standing on some submerged land, but to the naked eye, the duck appeared to be standing on water.

When I showed this photograph to a friend, she exclaimed, "It looks like Jesus duck!" Although I'm not convinced that I witnessed a miraculous occurrence on Sunday morning, this duck does deserve some credit. Seeming to walk on water is quite an interesting feat, don't you think?

Dual Nature

This moment was a little creepy. While I love the Muppets and puppets in general, I prefer not to see their handlers at the same time.

If the performer is really good at becoming visible. yet invisible as the puppet's handler, as in the Broadway musical, Avenue Q, then I'm fine. But, when the handler's presence or actions draw my attention away from the puppet and focuses on them instead, I find it unsettling.

As you can tell from this photograph, the puppet handler's appearance and similarity to his puppet is very strange. In person and in this photograph, my eye is drawn to him and not his friendlier looking puppet. During the parade of costumes before the High Heel Race, I wish that the puppet spoke more than the handler. I'm confident that Jim Henson would have agreed with me.

Playing Dress Up

Boy, do people love to dress up. To be honest, I'm not a fan myself. While I love to get into fancier clothes or wear flashier jewelry for a night on the town, I don't enjoy donning costumes and playing characters. After years of dance recitals, you would imagine that I would be used to that routine, but I think the experience actually created this aversion to playing dress up.

Although I don't dress up for costume parties or Halloween often, I do love when others do, especially if their costumes and adopted personas are creative and inventive. Each Tuesday before Halloween, I look forward to the annual High Heel Race in Dupont Circle. Every year, the runners never fail to impress me with their costume tributes to American pop culture.

High Heel Race competitors' costumes usually reflect the dreams and desires of our pop culture-obsessed society. For all the typical Lady Gagas, Amy Winehouses and Pan Am flight attendants in this year's race -- which celebrated its 25th anniversary last week -- there were more imaginative entries, such as these mermaids "swimming" with fisherman.

Practicing my night photography at the race, I was so disappointed that many of my photos didn't come out until I saw this one. I love how the blurriness of light perfectly depicts the dreaminess of these racers. Even if the image was in sharper focus, I don't think I would have liked it more than this final composition.

Today's photography lesson -- Don't delete photos on your camera. Wait until you upload and see them on a larger screen before deleting. Sometimes, the small LCD monitor on our digital cameras fail to reveal the possibilities of a so-so photograph. I'm glad I waited and didn't rashly delete this one from my camera during the race.

Air Force Memorial in the Distance

What I love most about the United States Air Force Memorial, seen in the distance from the terrace of the Kennedy Center in today's photograph, is its depiction of motion. It is quite unusual for a stationary structure to appear as if it is moving. The memorial's three spires seem to reach into the air while still weighted to the ground.

It is such a great allegory for the Air Force. Instead of just celebrating its past, the memorial design illustrates its intention to move boldly into the future, staying ground and yet still reaching for the sky. It is well-placed in the Washington, DC area skyline.

American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 140 patents Charles F. Kettering once said,

The opportunities of man are limited only by his imagination. But so few have imagination that there are ten thousand fiddlers to one composer.

Hopefully, this memorial will be a reminder to those who work in the nation's capital that we are only limited by our imagination to create change. If we stay focused, the sky is the limit for taking action to improve the lives of millions.