Archive: Photography
Photography: Sunset Storm
This is a panorama of three photos pasted together to show a wide view of a storm that approached Washington Wednesday evening, just before sunset. The Tidal Basin is in the foreground. On Wednesday evening, I was in Arlington watching my son's swim team compete in one of our area's...
By Kevin Ambrose | July 12, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (1)
Photography: Fireworks Over Iwo Jima
By Ian Livingston and Kevin Ambrose The first fireworks of the undelayed Washington, D.C. show last night. By Ian Livingston The saying goes "great minds think alike", and if at all true, then hopefully it is good news for us. Out of the roughly half-million people attending D.C. fourth of...
By Capital Weather Gang | July 5, 2008; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (11)
Photography: Storm Chasing the Tidal Basin
A combination of sheet lightning and lightning bolts sets an artistic backdrop for the Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin during Monday evening's storms. This photo was taken on the west side of the Tidal Basin. Storm chasing in our area is particularly challenging due to the traffic and the obscured...
By Kevin Ambrose | July 3, 2008; 01:30 PM ET | Comments (4)
Photography: Judging Weather Photos
Photo entries in the 2008 Weatherwise photo contest. A week ago last Thursday, I was one of the judges in the Weatherwise annual photo contest. Other judges included Bob Ryan, Chief Meteorologist of WRC-TV, and Doyle Rice, Chief Weather Editor of USA Today. We judged dozens of impressive photos of...
By Kevin Ambrose | July 1, 2008; 06:30 PM ET | Comments (2)
Photoshopping the Weather
Is this photograph fake or real? Credit: Unknown. Fake or real? As pointed out by PBS, it's a question being asked about more and more pictures in this age of digital photography and advanced image editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop. It turns out that weather photos are often the...
By Steve Tracton | June 26, 2008; 01:00 PM ET | Comments (8)
Photography: D.C.'s Double Rainbow Connection
From Old Town, Alexandria, Va.: Capital Weather Gang visitor Alex produced this stunning composition. See full size. Between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. yesterday evening, many area residents gazing at the sky caught sight of a full, towering double rainbow. In addition to the amazing shot above, keep reading to see...
By Jason Samenow | June 24, 2008; 12:15 PM ET | Comments (13)
Photography: Air Force Memorial Lightning
A thunderstorm develops west of the Air Force Memorial Sunday Evening. A quick storm chase Sunday evening produced one of my more interesting lightning photos. The above photo shows a developing, but short-lived thunderstorm that developed over eastern Fairfax County, west of the Air Force Memorial. The Air Force Memorial...
By Kevin Ambrose | June 23, 2008; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (3)
Photography: Saturday's Severe Storm
A plane approaching National Airport passes in front of a severe thunderstorm at 8:15 p.m. On Saturday evening, environmental conditions perfectly aligned for the development of isolated severe storms that impacted parts of the metro area. An outflow boundary, a "mini" cold front that formed from the spreading of thunderstorm-cooled...
By Ian Livingston | June 22, 2008; 11:45 AM ET | Comments (9)
Photography: Rudin's Rainbows
A double rainbow as seen from a rooftop in Dupont Circle Wednesday at 6 p.m. By Steve Rudin. Steve Rudin, a broadcast meteorologist working at WJLA (ABC-7) and News Channel 8, captured some beautiful rainbow images as sunshine interacted with showers Wednesday evening. He kindly contributed several to the Capital...
By Capital Weather Gang | June 21, 2008; 11:30 AM ET | Comments (5)
Photography: Tidal Basin Storm Clouds
A shelf or roll cloud associated with a thunderstorm Monday night moves quickly north of D.C. The cold front that blasted through the D.C. area Monday night was accompanied by some scattered, fast-moving thunderstorms. The above photo, which I took from the Jefferson Memorial, shows a shelf or roll cloud...
By Kevin Ambrose | June 19, 2008; 07:15 PM ET | Comments (6)
Refreshed Without Power
The tree that closed Vale Road and cut the power to my home in Oakton, VA. We just got power restored yesterday morning after being without electricity for two nights due to the first storm that blew through on Wednesday. Losing power can be quite frustrating, of course, and I...
By Kevin Ambrose | June 7, 2008; 05:00 AM ET | Comments (8)
Recap: June 4 Severe Weather Outbreak
A historic severe weather outbreak for the area One of several large limbs that fell in Dupont Circle during "Round One" of severe weather. Once the numbers are finalized, June 4, 2008 may go down in the books as one of the more active severe weather days the D.C. region...
By Ian Livingston | June 5, 2008; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (38)
Photography: Tornado or Shelf Cloud?
An ominous cloud near Springfield, Va. I was driving home from a soccer game yesterday afternoon as the sky began to darken to the west. As I drove over the mixing bowl, I got a good view of an impressive thunderstorm. As I continued west a few miles I took...
By Kevin Ambrose | June 1, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (8)
Photography: Weather for the Frogs?
A frog peers out from a flooded yard. Heavy rain and storms a couple weeks ago may have caused some inconveniences with our spring activities, but the wildlife in our area seems to be adapting just fine to the wet weather. Keep reading for more photos and commentary. See our...
By Kevin Ambrose | May 29, 2008; 06:50 PM ET | Comments (4)
Photography: Great Falls in Flood Stage
Flood Watch tonight as more rain approaches The Potomac River peaked just over flood stage at Great Falls on Tuesday at 2 p.m. When I arrived at Great Falls National Park Tuesday afternoon, the parking lot was over half full and a steady stream of visitors moved up the trail...
By Kevin Ambrose | May 15, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (9)
Photography: A Fine Day for Fishing
Tuesday was a beautiful day for sailing and fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. The weather Tuesday on the Chesapeake Bay was beautiful. The temperature is usually much cooler on the open water of the bay during the spring because the bay's water temperature is still quite cool this time of...
By Kevin Ambrose | May 10, 2008; 03:00 PM ET | Comments (8)
Photography: Lincoln's Duck and Lincoln Sunset
A lone duck rests motionless on the Reflecting Pool Thursday evening. Photography often reminds me of fishing in that some luck is typically involved. With Thursday evening's photo shoot, my good luck arrived in the form of a duck that posed motionless on the reflection of the Lincoln Memorial, giving...
By Kevin Ambrose | April 27, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (8)
Photography: D.C. Sunrise & Potomac Moonset
Sunrise with the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument, 6:34 a.m. Saturday morning. This past Saturday morning, with good sky conditions for viewing and photographing, moonset and sunrise in the D.C. area occurred about an hour apart. I'd like to say that I knew about the timing in advance and planned...
By Kevin Ambrose | April 25, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Photography: Falling Blossoms & Spring Scenes
Cherry blossoms fall with help from the wind Sunday in Oakton, Va. Some people are sad to see the cherry blossoms go, but this 10-year-old boy delights in the blizzard of blossom petals that fell with the strong breezes on Sunday in Oakton, Va. The wind followed a cold front...
By Kevin Ambrose | April 15, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (4)
Photography: A Blooming Good Time
Capital Weather Gang photographers join forces By Ian Livingston -- A man enjoys the cherry blossoms. With all the unsettled weather recently, I focused on last Wednesday as a great opportunity for a photo shoot down at the Tidal Basin while the blossoms were at peak. It was a weekday,...
By Ian Livingston | April 6, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (6)
Photography: Glorious Cherry Blossom Sunrise
The sun rises yesterday behind the Jefferson Memorial as cherry blossoms hit peak bloom. Let me start by saying I seriously dislike waking up at 4:30 a.m. to shoot sunrises -- I'm just not a morning person. But after seeing yesterday's sunrise with the cherry blossoms at their peak against...
By Kevin Ambrose | April 3, 2008; 11:25 AM ET | Comments (7)
Photography: Cherry Blossoms by Night
Cherry blossoms approach peak bloom at the Tidal Basin Sunday evening Having missed this weekend's Cherry Blossom festival kick-off due to a mini-vacation, I took a trip down to D.C. Sunday evening to try out my new camera and external flash. Let me begin by saying that I would highly...
By Kevin Ambrose | March 31, 2008; 07:00 PM ET | Comments (11)
Photography: Flying High as Spring Blossoms
1/640 second exposure at f/6.3 and ISO 160 Saturday marked the beginning of the two week long National Cherry Blossom Festival. With trees along the Tidal Basin nearing peak bloom, the massive crowd was treated to a somewhat chilly late March day that offered variable sunshine under passing high clouds....
By Ian Livingston | March 30, 2008; 06:00 PM ET | Comments (4)
Photography: Dusk at the Georgetown Waterfront
7:27 p.m., 10 second exposure at f/10 and ISO 100 A week ago yesterday, I grabbed my gear hoping to capture images of the waning dusk light at the Georgetown Waterfront. On the way, I stopped to smell and shoot some budding spring flowers. When I finally reached my...
By Ian Livingston | March 23, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (6)
The Superstorm of March 13, 1993
Ski-sailing by the Washington Monument, March 14, 1993. Washington Weather I will always remember the weather forecast issued on March 12, 1993 for the storm expected to hit the East Coast the following day. It was the first time I ever heard a blizzard warning issued for Washington, D.C. The...
By Kevin Ambrose | March 16, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (23)
Photography: Cloud Art
Have you ever seen clouds that race across the moon at night? On the night of Feb. 20, clouds from a departing storm system moved quickly across the sky as the full moon headed toward a total eclipse. I had fun playing with timed exposures that night, using the...
By Kevin Ambrose | March 6, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (9)
Photography: Vietnam Memorial & Reflecting Pool
Sunrise, March 2, 2008 Settings: Olympus C8080WZ, F7, 4 seconds, ISO 50 I made the trip to DC this morning for a photo shoot of the Vietnam Memorial and Reflecting Pool at sunrise. The two landmarks are close enough together so that I can capture both at sunrise, with just...
By Kevin Ambrose | March 2, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (18)
Photography: Monumental Eclipse
Eclipse at the Washington Monument, February 20, 2008 The eclipse begins: F7, 6 seconds, ISO 100 I was part of a small group of photographers last night trying to capture an image of the full eclipse, with the context of the Washington Monument in the foreground. I learned my lesson...
By Kevin Ambrose | February 21, 2008; 02:55 PM ET | Comments (14)
Photography: Clouds Break for Lunar Show
Lunar eclipse headed towards totality Wednesday's Alberta Clipper threatened to ruin local lunar eclipse viewing opportunities -- our last chance to see a total one here until December 2010. Instead, and almost on queue, clouds began breaking across the region just as the show got underway. By 9:30 pm, when...
By Ian Livingston | February 21, 2008; 11:20 AM ET | Comments (1)
Jefferson Dawn
Dawn at the Jefferson Memorial, February 16, 2008 The Jefferson Memorial at Dawn: F7, 2.5 seconds, ISO 100, 6:25AM I awoke Saturday morning at 5 AM for a sunrise shoot with the Jefferson Memorial as my target. The sunrise continues to occur earlier each day, now at 6:59 AM, eight...
By Kevin Ambrose | February 18, 2008; 05:30 PM ET | Comments (9)
Photography: Sunrise Squall
A Squall Shows its Color A vigorous squall near Warrenton, VA, Sunday 7:01 AM. I photographed an interesting sunrise sequence Sunday morning as a vigorous squall, defined as a sudden onset of strong winds often accompanied by brief storminess, moved to the northeast of Warrenton, VA. The squall followed yesterday...
By Kevin Ambrose | February 11, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (10)
Photography: Virga Dawn
A cloudy Saturday morning f/7, 2.5 second exposure, ISO 100 at 6:45am, sunrise was 7:07. When I left to photograph DC early this morning the radar showed precipitation moving into the area, but no rain was actually hitting the ground. That phenomenon is classified as virga, precipitation that falls from...
By Kevin Ambrose | February 9, 2008; 07:30 PM ET | Comments (4)
"Blue Hour" Photography at the Capitol
Settings: f/10, 4 second exposure at ISO 200. Saturday's high temperature of 51 degrees at Reagan National Airport was seven degrees higher than the average for the date and presented a great opportunity for some mid-winter blue hour photography. And just what is the blue hour? It is the window...
By Ian Livingston | February 4, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (6)
The Great Knickerbocker Snowstorm of 1922
86 years ago today, the big one hit... Digging out during the record-breaking Knickerbocker snowstorm, January 28, 1922. From NOAA Library. When I was a young kid back in the 1970s there was a neighbor we called "Old Man Bean" who would tell us stories about an amazing snowstorm that...
By Kevin Ambrose | January 28, 2008; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (14)
Clipper Sunrise
A sunrise view of the Washington Monument Thursday morning as clouds from an approaching clipper, a weather system originating from Canada, move into the area. Note, the setting moon, which was full two days earlier. Clipper systems usually produce fantastic sunrises and light snowfalls, but this clipper was a...
By Kevin Ambrose | January 26, 2008; 04:45 AM ET | Comments (1)
For the Love of Snow
Sledding Sunday in Fairfax County. As an adult I still love snow. I know I'm in good company judging from the comments on this blog and other weather Web sites. I'm rather happy that I've held onto my love for snow although I sometimes question why, particularly when I'm stuck...
By Kevin Ambrose | January 21, 2008; 01:45 PM ET | Comments (18)
Photography: Fun in the Snow
Thursday's snow was perfect for sledding and snowmen, especially for Washington area kids who have not seen much snow this winter. I photographed some neighborhood scenes in western Fairfax County, where there was almost 4" of snow. The snow turned to rain and sleet about 4pm, but the kids...
By Kevin Ambrose | January 18, 2008; 04:45 AM ET | Email a Comment
Photography: Downtown DC in Heavy Snow
As the snow poured down just before the lunch hour I grabbed my camera and headed out into the elements to see what the situation was on the ground. Upon exiting the building where I work downtown, I was greeted by moderate to occasionally heavy snow. Here are a few...
By Ian Livingston | January 17, 2008; 02:20 PM ET | Comments (3)
Squall Chasing and a Sun Pillar
I know it's a bad winter for snow when I need to chase a squall to try to get a good snow photo. What made the situation worse is that I could not catch up to the darn squalls, they moved too fast. It kind of reminded me of...
By Kevin Ambrose | January 16, 2008; 09:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Twelve Years Ago, After the Storm
Today marks the 12 year anniversary of my very first storm photo shoot of Washington, D.C. At that time, a series of snowstorms, including the Blizzard of 1996, had just dumped over two feet of snow across the D.C. area and I wanted to take some photos to document...
By Kevin Ambrose | January 14, 2008; 01:30 PM ET | Comments (26)
The Mystery Cloud
KISS or Contrails? Kevin's cloud photo post this morning inspired some interesting creativity among the site's visitors. I think the most original explanation was submitted by Curtis, who said: Folks, that's the universal signal for a pending KISS concert. It works similarly to the mechanism the Commissioner used to summon...
By Steve Scolnik | January 10, 2008; 07:28 PM ET | Comments (10)
What Caused this Cloud Formation?
Sunset over Fairfax, January 8. At 5:15pm on Tuesday I noticed an odd cloud formation in the sky. I took a photograph and have posted it above. Can anyone explain this cloud formation and what may have caused its shape? Please comment. Steve will publish some of the best and/or...
By Kevin Ambrose | January 10, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (25)
Photography: Snowless Sunrise
Sunrise at the reflecting pool, January 5. The alarm sounded at 5:30am Saturday morning and I slowly got out of bed to check the infrared satellite and water vapor loops on my computer. I find that satellite imagery is the best tool to forecast cloud cover, which ultimately determines a...
By Kevin Ambrose | January 8, 2008; 04:30 AM ET | Comments (4)
