Exposed DC

for the love of DC photography

2018 Best in Show Winner: Mac Blessen

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Mac Blessen – Untitled

Today we have the third Best in Show prize winner from the 12th Annual Exposed DC Photography Show, which opens this Friday night. Five distinguished photographers were each invited to choose a favorite image from this year’s exhibit to be awarded a Best in Show award. Each winning photographer will receive a $100 cash prize, sponsored by Union 206 Studio. Advanced tickets for our opening reception are still available, so grab yours now to see all 40 images in the exhibit, meet featured photographers, and celebrate local photography with us.

For our third winning photo we have “Untitled” by Mac Blessen, selected by judge Sanjay Suchak. Suchak wrote, “It’s a quintessential street photo in my opinion. One that calls to mind a classic Robert Frank image from the book ‘The Americans.’ He had an appreciation for photographing scenes where the subject’s face is obscured. I just love thinking about what the story is behind this image and the occasional awkwardness that occurs when people work together.”

You can see more of Blessen’s photographs on his website.

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Sanjay Suchak  is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated photographer and multimedia storyteller based in Charlottesville, Virginia and working around the world. He is the photographer for the University of Virginia and focuses on higher education storytelling as well as music photography. He has photographed The Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band, and various music festivals and has been published in The Washington Post, NPR, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic Traveler, and USA Today.

Friday Links

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Being a panda is hard work by Brian Allen
Being a panda is hard work by Brian Allen

Plenty of links to love this week: A new photo blog by an Exposed DC photographer, the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winners, and the VP joins Instagram. Enjoy!

Night Sky Photography for Beginners

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Blue Hour Moonrise by Pablo Benavente
Blue Hour Moonrise by Pablo Benavente

When you think of astrophotography, you probably think of mind-blowing Hubble images, but you don’t need a billion dollar space telescope to image the night sky. In fact, most hobby photographers have all they need already in their bag, or can cheaply rent from a local camera shop. And right now you have a unique opportunity to get started. Comet ISON has been visible with the naked eye just before dawn for the last few days, and may get even brighter before it reaches perihelion, its closest point to the sun as it swings around, on November 28. If ISON manages to survive its close encounter, you might get a second chance to catch it in camera over Thanksgiving weekend.

Here’s some history about Comet ISON, discovered in September 2012, its current status, and where you can find it in the sky.

Or try your hand at night sky photography almost anytime with the moon, which was full on Sunday night and will start to reveal its shadowy craters as it wanes for the next couple weeks. To get you started on your first night sky shoot, we asked some practiced local photographers, Phil Yabut, Brett Davis, Brian Mosley, Pablo Benavente, and Exposed’s Sanjay Suchak for their advice.

Exposed: What do you like to photograph in the night sky? 

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