RadiantView PhotoBlog

Arlington National Cementery Christmas Wreaths

After several years of trying, my schedule finally allowed me to participate in the Wreaths Across America wreath laying event at Arlington National Cemetery last Saturday (12 Dec).  I was amazed at the out pouring of people who came to remember those who paid the ultimate price in the service to our nation.  Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company, Harrington, Maine, donated over 15,000 holiday wreaths that were placed on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery by a huge mass of volunteers.  I only got to place 3 wreaths before they were all distributed.   Based on that, my crude estimate is there were three-to-five thousand volunteers at this event.

I hope you enjoy these pictures and you will consider going to this or a similar event next year.  They have them at cemeteries all over the nation.  A list can be found on the Wreaths Across America site.  More images from the wreath laying event are on my Flickr site.

Wreaths Across America

Wreaths Across America

Full Moon rising over VMI Old Barracks

Full Moon Rise over VMI Old Barracks

My family decided to take advantage of the long Labor Day weekend and visit special friends in Lexington, Virginia.  Since this would cause me to miss the full moon rise over DC, I did some quick research on Google Maps and figured out where I needed to stand so I could capture the full moon rising over the Old Barracks of the Virginia Military Institute.

My daughter and I got to post about 30 minutes before moonrise to allow us plenty of time to setup.  I used the time to capture a series of images to create a panoramic of Old Barracks, New Barracks and the “New New” Barracks which was completed this past year.  Once I get it the series of images processed into a panoramic, it will replace the image currently in the panoramic gallery of my web page.

Full Moonrise over VMI Old Barracks

As it turned out, we had a 15 minutes or so longer than I expected.  When you capture the moonrise over DC from the US Marine Corps Memorial, you are essentially looking down on the city.  So, you see the moon almost immediately when it breaks the horizon.  At VMI, the moon came up behind Old Barracks, so we had to wait another 15 minutes before we could actually see it from our position on the Parade Ground.

Full moonrise over VMI Old Barracks

Capturing the full moon over Barracks proved to be a little more challenging than in DC for a couple reasons.  One, the front of Barracks is not as well lit as the monuments in DC.  Two, this combined with the 15 minute delay between moonrise over the horizon and moonrise over Barracks further increased the intensity range between a good exposure of the moon and a good exposure of barracks.  Nevertheless, I was pleased with a few of the captures.

VMI Parade

VMI’s 1st Parade of the 2009-2010 year

Another photographic opportunity presented itself when I learned that the 1st parade of VMI’s 2009-2010 school year was scheduled for the morning after the full moonrise.  My wife and youngest daughter joined me to watch the parade.  They seemed to enjoy it and I was glad to be a  spectator taking pictures rather than standing in the ranks as I was many years ago.  A few more images from the parade can be seen on my Flickr page.

Any guesses why this image is titled "five demerits"

I chose my last image for a couple reasons.  One, you will not find another image like it from a parade by any other military school, including West Point.  Why?  Because VMI, being the only military school in the U.S. to fight as a unit during combat, is the only school authorized to “fix Bayonets” during a parade.  It’s also interesting for another reason.  One of the cadets in this image deserves five demerits.   Any guesses why? You can click on the image for a larger view.  I hope to hear from you.