photo52

Camping on Assateague Island in Maryland.

Last time I was let loose with  bunch of wild horses, I was 6 and on one of many family road trips to Wyoming where my Grandmother lived. I remember a horse chasing my father back to the car for a roll of his minty fresh lifesavers. Dad fought “hard” but the horse got what he wanted, along with some of our lunch. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to fed the wild animals my lunch, but they were bigger and very persistent.

Fast forward to last weekend, and I finally got to go to Assateague Island to see the ponies. The weather was perfect, the ponies were pretty and the kayaking was divine. Note: book the campsite well in advance, bring A LOT of strong bug spray and make sure the ponies don’t follow you back to your campsite. (You’ll see when you scroll down…)

Out on the marshes.

Ponies showing off their backside.

"Wild" pony drinking out of the campground water faucet.

FYI: Find the campground dumpster the first night and put your trash in it. It's not good for ponies to eat people food.

Just a little county fair, summer fun….

Prince William County Fair in Virginia.

Awesome. What would Annie (my dog) do with this?

No thank you. But looks like she's having fun!

King Kong and Sponge Bob.

Poor kid didn't know how to dismount Dumbo.

I’m headed to Maine on Saturday for a week-long multimedia workshop, the Portland Art Festival and sitting by the lake. So, you may not hear from me for a little while….but I’ll have lots to share when I return. Enjoy the last part of summer!

How many people out there dream of just doing their own thing? Being your own boss. Make the photographs you want to make. Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, in an effort to make that happen I’ve decided to give this a try. I will be selling my archival photographic prints at the Portland Art Festival on August 28 from 9-4 along with about 300 local and regional artists. I’ve enjoyed printing my work and I’m excited to show it. The goal here is to have some fun, see if this could be another outlet for my work and of course, another source of income. Here’s a preview of the prints that will be on display. All of the photographs will be from my personal project on Water.

Images from Maine, Virginia and Mexico.

If you’re in the area on the 28th, stop by and see me!

Afternoon Annie

My little personality-packed Boston Terrier, Annie, has been a favorite of editors and FotoWeek DC volunteers for some time now. Her welfare, not mine, is the first question I get from many of these admirers. “Hi Hannele! How’s Annie??”  I don’t mind at all, in fact I love telling people about her. It makes me happy. She has this ability to make grumpy people smile and children scream with excitement. It’s good to be a dog. Especially a quirky, cute one. For Annie’s photo story, go to her gallery on my website.

The Potomac River at Sunrise.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and have been able to witness beautiful sunrises like this one.

Get out of bed, you won’t regret it :)

A sunken boat rests in the marshlands of Tangier Island.

This week I ventured out to Tangier Island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay to see the place that Captain John Smith named in the 1600’s. Long before Smith “founded” it, the island was home to a large population of Native Americans and you can still find arrowheads there today. I didn’t,  but they say you can. The island is really made up of several small islands or marshlands that are connected by small bridges and most people get around by golf carts or bicycles. Fishing is certainly the main industry and the region is known worldwide for their production of soft shelled crabs. I found the place pretty surreal. It could have been in part to the overcast day and the golf carts everywhere. As I walked around I couldn’t imagine living there year-round like 600 people do. It’s pretty remote. Quiet. Maybe a little lonely. Isolated. Then again, everyday a few cruise ships drop off passengers for a few hours and the town becomes an interesting mix of tourists, golf carts and the locals…

Hoistin's Bridge was a traditional spot of couples to court. Etiquette said that only 3 couples could use the bridge at one time.

Another view from Hoistin's Bridge.

Colorful crab pots waiting to go back out into the Chesapeake Bay.

I'll be honest. I have no idea what these are. Anyone?

A typical street scene on Tangier. I love the NASCAR driver on the Coke machine.

Boat moorings at the edge of town and yes, another golf cart...

A Tangier Island landscape.

Fishing at Fountainhead Park

Happy Father’s Day to all the special Dads out there. Especially to my awesome Dad :)

Ice boating. Feb 2010

Occoquan Reservoir #3, 2010.

I love every aspect of this personal project. It gets me back out on the water, which is where I naturally love to be. It’s ingrained in some way. On the water. Near the water. With the water. In the water. It has also helped to give me a little more focus on what my photographic purpose could be…

With all of the horrifying news coming from the Gulf of Mexico these days, I feel that this project is even more important than me getting to play in a kayak. It’s made me realize that I’d like to take it a step further and do some good. Make a difference. Educate people and help fund conservation projects. Because we humans need water. Clean water. As a photographer, I’ve been searching for that cause, that purpose for years and it was right in front of me the whole time. This cause is a natural fit for me. So please, if you have any suggestions or places that you think I should check out, let me know. This project will be long term.

For now, I will be donating a percentage of my print sales to help clean up the gulf.

Let’s hope they can plug that hole soon….

Occoquan Reservoir #2, 2010.

Occoquan Reservoir #1, 2010.

Thank you rain and warm sun, the garden isn't dead yet!

So back in March I decided I wanted to start a vegetable garden. My first. I’ve always done some container tomatoes and herbs but this year, it was time to dig in the dirt and get serious. I started my seedlings and watched them grow about 2-3 inches high and then stop. Nope, they were not going to grow anymore. They were done. Ok, fine. So I headed off to the farmer’s market and spent less than $20 for tomato, pepper, nasturtium, mint, and basil plants. Hooray. The rest I’m growing from seed and seems to be going pretty good. Well, except when a little Boston Terrier named Murray gets in there and steps all over the broccoli.  I could have done without that….

The summer squash plant that will likely take over the entire garden and the nasturtiums.

Couldn't get rid of my containers, tomatoes and basil. yum.

Members of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard place flags at Arlington National Cemetery.

This week I had the honor to photograph the “Flags In” ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. More than 1,000 service men and women take part in this 62 year old tradition that was established by the 3rd U.S. Infantry; The Old Guard. Flags are placed at every gravestone in the cemetery, totaling 260,000 flags. It was truly a humbling experience and I encourage you to pay your respects to all of the service men and women this Memorial Day weekend.

A member of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard places flags at Arlington National Cemetery.

Members of the Army 3rd US Infantry Regiment place flags at Arlington National Cemetery.

A member of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard places flags at Arlington National Cemetery.

Members of the Army 3rd US Infantry Regiment place a flag at the grave of an Iraqi War casualty.

The sun lights up a row of markers in the late afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery.

Have a safe and respectful Memorial Day.