This Friday May 8, WWII planes are flying over the National Mall. To enjoy the sky parade, Exposed DC is hosting an event around the Jefferson Memorial. Photographing airplanes flying in the sky can be complicated—timing is everything. To help anyone bringing their camera down to the Mall, I asked aviation photography expert, Chris Williams, who also taught our Knowledge Commons class at Gravelly Point last fall, a few questions about his craft and to share a few tips about capturing great aeronautical images.
Free Photography Classes with Exposed + KCDC
Exposed DC has an exciting new opportunity for photographers! We’re partnering with Knowledge Commons DC, “a free school for thinkers, doers, and tinkerers – taught anywhere, by anyone, for everyone.” We’ve sought out some of our most talented contributors to teach a series of photography classes sponsored by Exposed DC. We’ll have three classes in KCDC’s September 2014 session, and we’ll have more in a special Exposed DC intersession later this fall. (Note: Classes are one day; you’ll have two opportunities for each type of class.) Registration for September will begin shortly – we’ll add those links when we have them, but you can save the date now for the following great learning opportunities:
Street Portraiture with Jim Darling
- Students will learn how to approach strangers in public and take their portrait. We’ll go over fundamentals of portraiture, how to pick a subject, tips to approaching a stranger and asking to take their picture, and composing a great shot. After the discussion, the class will hit the streets to try out what they’ve learned.
- Location: WeWork Chinatown
- Wednesday, Sept. 10, 6:30-8:30pm (registration opens Tue., Sept 2) and Tuesday, Sept. 16, 6:30-8:30pm. (registration opens Mon., Sept 8)
Street Photography with Gerry Suchy
- This course will explore the fundamentals of street photography, its history and how it is different from other types of photography. After a brief discussion of the nature and practice of street photography. I will lead a group of “wanna be” street photographers on a photo walk, pointing out likely subjects and how best to capture that image. The course will require that the student have and be comfortable using a digital or film camera. The person signing up for this course will be someone wanting to stretch her/his creative legs in the area of candid photography in search of the “decisive moment.”
- Location: Union Station, 2nd floor, top of spiral staircase
- Saturday, Sept. 20, 10am-12pm (registration opens Fri., Sept 12); Saturday, Sept. 27, 10am-12pm (registration opens Fri., Sept 19).
Photographing Airplanes at Gravelly Point with Chris Williams
- Our class will take photographs of aircraft on takeoff and approach at Reagan National Airport from Gravelly Point. We’ll go through different techniques to create images of aircraft, discuss what lenses to use, appropriate shutter speeds, creating depth of field, and how to be creative with an everyday scene in Washington D.C. Any type of camera is fine as long as you’re reasonably comfortable with it.
- Location: Gravelly Point (those metroing will meet at Crystal City and walk over together)
- Tuesday, Sept. 2, 6:30-8:30pm (registration opens Mon., Aug 25); Saturday, Sept. 6, 6:30-8:30pm (registration opens Fri., Aug 29).
How Was This Year’s FotoWeekDC Festival?
FotoWeekDC just closed its sixth annual international photography festival last weekend. Like any large event that tries to be inclusive of an entire community, it has both lovers and haters. One common complaint – that it didn’t focus enough on local photography – was addressed this year with FotoNOMA, which hosted work from a number of D.C. groups like InstantDC and the STRATA Collective. No one can get to all the exhibits, lectures, and workshops that FotoWeekDC offers each year, so we asked some of you what your favorite – and least favorite – parts were:
I loved the whole FotoNOMA exhibition, but I think the women from WPOW had many strong images the invoked a lot emotion. And the Private Moon in America series from photographer Leonid Tishkov was brilliant! I also loved the images from the photographers from Strata Collective.