The Real Deal-Stephen Strasburg's debut for the Washington Nationals

Above shot with Nikon D3S, 200-400 VR, 16 2.8 Fish, Lexar Media
All images (c) 2010 Jeffrey Snyder

Standing room only, Cheers like never before, the "MUST ATTEND" event of the year...Washington National's rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg began his MLB career with 14 Strikeout's...YES, Fourteen in 6 innings, a club record. The Nationals came back from behind to win the game 5-2, with Strassburg's record now at 1-0. It was quite the evening, kinda brought back memories of the old Senators when I was a kid...

Images from the Archive - Round 2

Images originally shot on Fuji RDP100 Slide Film, Nikon F3 or F100 probably
ALL images (c) Jeffrey Snyder

Here we are, Round 2 from my archive--

These were photographed on June 8, 1991, practically 19 years ago to the day. I remember hearing that all of these Military Aircraft were going to land on the Mall, so I made a few calls and found out it was scheduled for dawn, so up I was prior to the "crack of dawn", and on my way downtown. I saw a bunch of shooters that I knew, so I parked nearby was drinking coffee waiting with them. At one point, we heard a rumble, and it seemed as if the buildings were shaking, which they were....It was the Harrier approaching from miles away, which then dropped vertically to the ground.
This scene in my images will never happen again, at least hopefully so. Seeing Harrier's and Huey's coming around the Capitol Building was a sight that I'll never forget.

Here's the What & Why's of that memorable day:
"8 June - Operation Welcome Home paid tribute to every service member who went to Southwest Asia in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Some 1,800 Marines, 14 pieces of major equipment, and 19 aircraft participated in the Desert Storm National Victory Parade in Washington, D.C. that was led by General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander of the U.S. Central Command and Desert Storm forces. Marines from the I Marine Expeditionary Force and all its major subordinate commands marched in the parade reviewed by the Commander in Chief, President George Bush. In addition to the parade, Marines manned over 30 pieces of equipment on display for public viewing on the Mall in Washington. "

Images from the Archives - Round 1

ALL IMAGES (C) Jeffrey Snyder
All Images shot with some Nikon Body, prob my old EL2 & a 70-150 E on Ektachrome Film

Found myself plugging in a scanner that I hadn't seen in years...Low & behold it still worked, tho had to download drivers, & get an adapter to be able to plug it into the iMac...

So over time I'll be posting some of my collection of images from the past.

Today I begin with Bruce Springsteen. Had this box of slides on my desk for ages, but hadn't really look at them. Most of these that I'm posting are from the November 1978 at the Capital Center in Landover, MD, which is now rubble. The image of Bruce in the striped shirt is also from the CC, but, a few years later. Keep in mind that these were shot on shitty Ektachrome, hand held, some with the camera over my head, hence the blur...Even a bit blurry, I look at these and I can remember every second of these shows, and hear them. There's nothing quite like being up by the stage when the E Street Band is rockin it, & for many of us, we still crave that feeling, even 32 years later

Hope you enjoy....Round 2 to follow soon

21st Annual Memorial Day Concert - Dress Rehearsal

Actesses A.J Cook and Blythe Danner

Actors Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna

Lionel Richie

Margi & I headed downtown for the dress rehearsal of Sunday's 21st Annual Memorial Day Concert, on the west lawn of the US Capitol. Turned out to be a gorgeous evening with no humidity. Many of the actual performers skipped the rehearsal, like Brad Paisley, Kelli O'Hara & Yolanda Adams, but here's a few images of those that did appear.

McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area

All images: Nikon D3S, 200-400 AFS-VR

I was up early this morning, so around 5:45 in decided to head over to McKee-Beshers Wildlife Refuge to shoot Blue Heron. It's still early spring, and the water levels are not very high in the swamps, so naturally I didn't see one...It's so quiet out there, all you hear are the birds and frogs screaming, and I mean SCREAMING. One day I should record the sounds, it's eery loud...Came across the family of Geese, and PaPa Goose wasn't very happy with me being there...We had words, but all he did was stick out his tongue and hiss..Saw these birds with blue backs, and had to fire off some frames, turns out they are Tree Swallows (thank you Moose)

Central Park North, NYC

Nikon Coolpix S8000

Nikon D3S, 16 2.8 Fisheye

Nikon Coolpix S8000

Nikon D3S, 70-200 2.8 AF VRII

Nikon D3S, 16.28 Fisheye

Walked the northern end of Central Park yesterday with Moose Peterson for an Adorama/Nikon all day workshop. We had a blast from 8:30- 4:30, starting at 105th & 5th, and made our way down to 81st & Central Park West. Great group of people with lots of enthusiasm & great questions all day. Northern Woods, the forest where the waterfalls is, is a truly unique place, as you'd never know that you're smack dab in the middle of New York City. Moose's wife Sharon, Stefanie Cross (Moose's Asst) were with us as well as Nikon's Mike Lopez & Chris Knapp . It's not only a fun day, but educational as well, always learning how to fine tune the craft.
Besides the D3S, I was doing some shooting with the new Nikon Coolpix S8000. Awesome images, incredibly sharp, and easy to carry, gets my 5 star review.

Woody is at it again!

So, I'm working in my home office, and I look out, and who do I see? My friend, Woody Woodpecker...Kinda funny, he looks at me through the window, and starts to sing/chirp. As soon as I stand up, he takes off, so in order to capture him, I have the D3S w/ 200-400 mounted on the Flashpoint CF Tripod aimed at him. As soon as he lands on the branch, watching the window, i hit the shutter and fire off 40+ frames to get him.
Kinda fun toying with the bird...btw, the holes he making in the dead branch are leaving piles of wood chips on the ground, and the hole is perfectly round, quite amazing!

Caps-Canadiens Game 5

Montreal's 1st goal in Game 5 of the series...Goal-Cam View...Fired via Pocket Wizard remotes from the Zamboni corner...cool huh?

Our Washington Capitals should have wrapped this series up with the Montreal Canadiens, but...They looked lackluster, and like 1/2 the team didn't show up to play. We lost 2-1, with the only goal scored by Ovie. I was firing the "Goal Cam" via Pocket Wizard remotes, so just a few game images from this one. Had a great place to watch the game, just off the glass in the Zamboni corner of the ice...

Nationals Opening Day 2010

Hey, where's my beer?

It was a gorgeous day at National Park in DC yesterday for the home opener. That's about all it was since the Nationals lost to the World Champion Phillies 11-1, oh well....President Obama threw out the 1st pitch, in what is a tradition in DC for our President to have that honor.
Opening day always brings back fond memories for me. As a kid, I vividly remember going to every Washington Senator's opening day with my grandfather, and, being able to skip school. Maybe it because I was a kid then, but the home opener has always been a "big deal". Frank "Hondo" Howard, Paul Casanova, Eddie Brinkman & Don Zimmer, are a few of the names that pop up in my head..Baseball was "it" for a kid then, we ate, slept, and woke to baseball. Having a transistor radio hidden under my pillow to listen to the late night games was the norm...Now, my head sees the pillow, and I strike out.

Cherry Blossoms around the Tidal Basin

Woke up this morning to hear that the Cherry Blossoms in DC were at peak bloom...It happened to be a spectacular day here in the Washington area, 80 & sunny with no humidity whatsoever. David & I headed down before noon, not the best time I know, but we managed to make some nice images. Enjoy, thanks for looking..

PSW Orlando

Photoshop World in Orlando last week was wild...1000's of attendees in classes that lasted from early morning through the evenings. Adorama's booth in the Expo was crazy busy, and it was great to meet so many of you! I had the opportunity to tag along on the annual Pre-Con Photo Safari with Moose Peterson & Joe McNally, both of whom are crazy in their own rite, but also two of the most talented photographers in the world. The group of 65 traveled from Orlando to Tampa/Ybor City to do some street shooting, as well as visit some cool locations for shoots. 1st stop was the Ybor Museum, where we watched two "Master Cigar Rollers" roll their own, then off to the famed Columbia Restaurant for a lighting demo & shoot. Had a great time with the gang as always!!

Next stop, Photoshop World Las Vegas...See you there in September!

Here's a quick handheld video from the Columbia Restaurant
Nikon D3S, 24-70 AFS

College Hoops Double Header Game 2 - American Univ vs Lafayette

So, I'm tagging along with Mitchell for Game 2 of the day....We head uptown to the campus of American University to the Bender Arena for the AU vs Lafayette game. My first time there, and its a really nice facility, except the gym is dark, like junior high school dark. Had to bump ISO to 5000-6400 to get decent images, which is certainly not a problem for the D3S to handle. All in all a fun day of shooting, without being under any pressure whatsoever....nice!