Unforgettable

Well today was pretty awesome I must say. I didn't even see this man before I met Chrissy. I decided to go the Whitehouse today in hopes of something crazy happening, but it was very slow when I got there. I mean there was some news reporters there and some normal tourists, but I seen Chrissy and complimented her Nikon, which brought me to see this man, Elijah. She said there was a man with a crazy beard, but she was nervous to ask him for the photo. So we both went over and got a picture of him and Chrissy even got a picture with him, a definite laugh out loud moment. Elijah has been traveling all over for the past 34 years and it is what he loves to do and wants with his life. Things started to pick up a few hours later with all kinds of interesting people. We got pictures of a mandolin player named Peter, who seemed concerned about cutting his beard when he seen the pictures Chrissy took of him, but he loved his mandolin. Another man that we seen was this man that believes that there is only one God, Allah. He literally prayed for 30 minutes multiple times, which included kissing the ground, hand motions, and some singing here and there. Somebody gave this man an American flag and he took it, but soon after it was gone. There was also this man that went around telling all religions to separate and get together to stay away from the Pagan people because they will kill you, that went on for hours. And there were the Pagans, who believe in Gods and Goddesses and that every rock, tree, well pretty much everything has a spirit to them. I don't know much about them, but judging by the first impressions I got, it was a little to different, especially because of the 7' tall man in leather guarding the group by walking in a circle around them. This man looked as if he was dressed to fight in the 1800s. It was a great time and Chrissy was pretty awesome.

-George Schweigart Photography

Quite a Storm

Last Sunday we had quite a lightning storm and luckily I was able to take some shots. I took well over 200 photos that night, but I suppose hard work paid off in a way. This photograph will be published in the Arlington Connection on May 4th. This is a big deal for me, mainly because getting myself in the newspaper for photography was one of my goals in life. It doesn't get checked off the list, however, because I want this feeling everyday. Eventually my pictures WILL be in the Washington Post, mark my words. I was hoping to be posting a photo of a man that lives in front of the Whitehouse, but this task will be quite difficult. I talked with the man about what I do with photography and school and he said, "success will not be possible for your generation because you all take pictures with your mind, not your heart". We are entitled to our opinions, but his guess is quite off. 

Good Day

-George Schweigart Photography

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today it is my mom's birthday. It stinks that I can't be home to tell her but I guess a cell phone will have to do. Thanks for being my mom all these years. If you are wondering, yes, this is on a roof. I could of easily fell off the edge as you can see, but it is so beautiful up there. This is actually the roof of my apartment building and I think it is quite a view. Once I get my tripod I will be able to get some great shots I hope. This photo was taken using my camera and a flashlight. So for those of you back home, this doesn't look like Galeton does it?

-George Schweigart

Not This Year Steelers

Well I don't have a photo for you today because I just sat in the apartment awaiting Superbowl 45. The Steelers unfortunately didn't pull out a win to the Packers. The funny thing is is all the people on facebook that cheer for Green Bay when they don't watch football and never liked the Packers until they made it to the Superbowl. I have always been a Steelers fan so I didn't jump on a bandwagon. The halftime show was pretty good, not great, just good.  There will always be a next year Steelers.

-George Schweigart

Chinatown!!

I didn't plan on doing anything today, but then my roommate asked me if I wanted to go to Chinatown in DC. Well, the obvious answer was yes and I am glad it was. This isn't "the" Chinatown but it was one of them plus they were celebrating the new year. It was hard enough getting on the metro because we sprinted so we didn't miss it and when we were getting off of the metro in Chinatown the metro doors started to close on us but we held them long enough so they would open back up. We ate at Chinatown Express Restaurant, which looked like a small place from the inside but was like three floors up. It was hard enough for us to find a seat and when the waitress found us one she asked us to get up and find another seat so it wasn't so crowded. Before we ordered there was hot tea already at our table. I am pretty sure that this tea was the best tea I have had in awhile. I decided to order the Duck Roasted Rice and a side of Wonton Soup. The duck was delicious and hard to describe the taste. I guess I would say that it tasted like chicken with a sweet taste, and it was a smoother-layered type of meat. The Wonton Soup was basically three noodles that resembled a Perogi, except it was filled with pork, and it was in a hot broth with some vegetables. To be honest it smelled like a men's locker room with the smell of body odor, but don't let your nose judge the taste because the soup was delicious. All of this was a little over 10 dollars, totally worth it. After eating we went into urban outfitters to look at clothes that was overpriced, and then we seen a Chinese dragon dancing on the sidewalk, and a homeless man playing "drums" with pails and a stick. From Chinatown we walked to the White House which was beautiful at night and a first for my roommate. From the White House we walked to the Washington Monument, touched it, and then went to the Lincoln Memorial and discovered there is a museum sort of thing under the memorial about President Lincoln and many photos. Not a bad night for a Saturday, my only complaint would be that my legs are tired.

-George Schweigart

Washington Auto Show

Today I went to the Washington Auto Show and let me tell you, it was amazing. I am in love with cars, but only the ones with a real design and it has to have some horsepower to get my attention. On the top is a Mercedes Benz SLS with a price tag of over $200,000 this car is gorgeous. With a 6.3 V8 and a top speed nearing 200 mph this car have well over 500 horsepower. Another cool feature to this SLS is the butterfly doors, meaning this car can FLY!!! This next car is the car I came to the show to see. 2012 Mustang Boss 302 with over 400 horsepower. The price tag on this car can range form $30,000-$50,000. It has the 5.0 liter 32 valve engine and as you can see it is pure muscle. The public wasn't able to sit in either of these magnificent vehicles, but they were great to look at. This auto show will be open until February 6 on Sunday and tickets are $12. There are hundreds of cars there some being the "green" vehicles and then some being the true muscle cars. Earlier this week Snooki, Randy Orton, and Big Show were in attendance there. It was amazing looking at these great vehicles.

-George Schweigart

Tourists

I took this photo to signify the tourism in Washington DC. I think there are more tourists in DC than there are people living here. I can't believe I live in a city like this. As you can see there are two people taking pictures with the Washington Monument in the backround. And yes, I am inside the Lincoln Memorial, you guessed it! I like how the people frame the tourist attraction itself.

thanks

-George Schweigart

The White House

Yes it is the White House, but what odd to me is that there isn't a ton of people protesting for a right or something else to protest about, but I think that this is an interesting picture that signifies the protection for President Obama and the White House. As I mentioned in an earlier post I wanted to find a certain homeless man, bad news, he hasn't been there this winter. Maybe the man doesn't like the cold and found a warmer place. But trust me, when the warm weather strikes I will be back there again looking for the man.

Have a good day

-George Schweigart

What A Long Day

 Today was really long I must say, mainly because I walked from Arlington to the middle of DC. I was looking for this homeless man but yet again he wasn't there. I could see the Washington Monument from there so I decided to walk towards it until I was there. At the Lincoln Memorial I was hoping that the Reflecting Pool wasn't frozen, but even worse it was drained and fenced off. So I took pictures anyway, but it still stinks that it was fenced off. I think I got a nice photograph of the Monument and I hope to be able to get tickets so I can go to the top of it. There is a story with this squirrel aside from me having fun photographing him. He crawled all over me and I thought it was cool, but some lady came up to me and said, "you know thats a rat and it will bite you, and I don't want to give you a band-aid when he bites". If he bit me I think it would of been worth it because I have some good shots of this squirrel. This last photo was pretty much the end of the day with a gorgeous sunset. As I got back to my apartment I heard a bunch of noise. That noise was a bunch of people protesting for higher wages. There were cops and ambulances also there just too make sure everything doesn't get out of hand. All in all this was a great day, tiring, but one awesome day. I will give another go at finding the homeless man I am looking for tomorrow if I am up for it.

thanks for viewing

have a great day

-George Schweigart

What A Setting

Kind of a boring day for me today, I didn't even go anywhere. I decided to just chill in the apartment. Good thing the blinds were open because I wouldn't of seen this beautiful scene. My plan is to get up in the morning early to head down to the Smithsonian's and maybe some other attractions. No worries, my best friend, canon rebel T2i, will be by my side.

thanks

-george schweigart

Love the Weather

Finally!! It started to really snow, we have lost electric 2 times so far and its still snowing. A city covered in white is beautiful, but when it comes to driving it may not be so fun. As you can see, it is coming down hard. I hope it snows enough that i won't have classes. We had class today, but got off like 30 minutes early because of the snow. The metro was PACKED and there was hardly enough breathing room. At our metro there was an old man with an amp rocking out on guitar. I wish I had some money on me but I spent all that to be able to ride the metro and do my laundry. I guess we are supposed to get more snow on friday, so maybe I can get a nice snowy shot in the daytime. 

Have a great day!

-George Schweigart

Waiting.........

Its always busy around here! I waited for like 2 hours for the homeless guy to come back to his spot, but I didn't get so lucky. Only time and determination will get me that photograph of him if he lets me. All his stuff was there. He has a bike with a bag on the front of it, some tarps, and maybe a few clothes. Really, how does this man survive with the weather the way it is. He sleeps on the ground without any padding or anything. Warmth? Well maybe the tarps will so something, but I did not see a blanket. But as I was waiting on this bridge I decided to take some pictures while I waited. I walked towards Georgetown, almost got hit by a car, seen another homeless guy get mad because some lady wouldn't give him money, and was freezing. In the city, people are terrible drivers and finding a good one out of the thousands would be like "finding a needle in a haystack". I enjoy the large numbers of people walking in every direction, all the car horns, and people yelling and trying to sell you things. I just can't believe that I am living here. People come here to visit this great place and I get to wake up to it everyday. It is overwhelming and every day on my way to the metro I still can't believe it. Tomorrow is a new day and I plan on going to the WhiteHouse, Washington Monument, and some other stops along the way. 

Thanks for viewing

-George Schweigart

The Buildings!!!!

I love showing you more and more of the cfity as the days go on. I am not sure I want to go home after this. I wouldn't mind if I end up living here either when I graduate. There are a ton of people living here in DC, but they all are different I guess. Hopefully soon I will have a car here because I really miss it. But when it comes to traveling inside the city I think the metro is the quickest and possibly cheapest way to get around. I don't exactly know what building this is, but it looks preey cool with the way it is shaped. 

Thanks for viewing.

-George Schweigart

Can't get enough......

This city is big so I decided to go for an HDR image. During class we got another opportunity to take some more pictures, and I took about 60 that I kept. The city is so gorgeous around sunset.

-george schweigart

This City

It has so many things to photograph. This is in Arlington and it is a few blocks away from the AI of Washington. I have no clue what these buildings are except massive and beautiful. I'm used to seeing barns and old farmhouses but now I have a slight adjustment. Each building here has its own special design that makes them different from each other. Our professor told us to go outside and take some shots to put together for a panoramic photograph, but I decided to take some photos as well. It was sunset and I plan to take many photos during this time of day because everything will be even more gorgeous for that "perfect picture". This was the most I did today aside from attending class. The plans for this weekend........is to get a photograph of a homeless guy. Yes, a homeless guy and I know right where to find him. A year ago I seen this man and he kind of resembled Santa with that crazy beard, and I wanted to interview him and get his story so bad. I am hoping to at least get a photograph of him and for him not to say no to me when I ask. Learning his life story would also be another goal to a successful day. Have a great day.

-George Schweigart

Rossyln Metro Mall

This is a total jump from out in the middle of nowhere to a mall underground by the metro. There are so many things going on all around everyday. The back of a BMW exploded a few days ago, you wouldn't hear anything like that where I am from. The worst thing that would happen would be maybe be a cow getting loose or someone losing a cat. Its just crazy and I love it. It keeps life interesting and with me being a photographer, there are many photos to be taken everyday. 

-george schweigart

Means of Transportation

I have figured out the metro, it isnt hard at all. Its just crazy that it is underground. This is how I get back and forth to school everyday and it is quite an experience. Its isn't two expensive to ride, couple dollars there and back for me, but dont miss your stop because you will be riding for awhile. I have not experienced missing a stop, but I know i eventually will know what it is like. It sucks when class gets over at 4:30 and you have to board the metro. Let me tell ya, it is quite packed and if you are polite and let people go ahead of you, chances are that you will be catching the next train because people here will gladly take that spot you give them. Riding shoulder to shoulder for 15 minutes on a metro and having to stand up is quite uncomfortable and you will soon be ready to get off before you get on. But through all the tunnels that seem like a maze to me, and all of the escalators, I think I have figured out the metro lines enough to get where I am going.

-George Schweigart

My View

First full day in Washington DC for me. I can't believe this is where I am going to school. I am attending the Art Institute of Washington. I really like it so far, even though its my first day. I had to learn the metro pretty quick because you do not want to miss your stop. It is a total change for me, from Galeton to Washington DC. Just thought I would start out with an intro to Washington DC for me today.

-George Schweigart