Key Memorial Chapel

Named in memory of Francis Scott Key who lays nearby. I was out for some hobby photography this afternoon. My assignment was shapes and to focus on how they work together. One of the examples in the course was a church with three progressively higher piedmonts and a steeple and directly behind them a peaked mountaintop in the background. We have no towering mountains here, but I think this may be the only building in town where I could get three piedmonts in one shot. The buttresses remind me of our church in Beattyville. Using the iPhone4s standard camera, I was not able to get the exposure and the a good sized cloud passed over the EV dropped from 15 to 14. I exposed on the stone and since there was no hard shadow I was able to make this very nice shot. The inscription reads built 1911 "christened" 1998. I wonder if the funerals before 1998 are legit as well as the commendation to rest. Christening normally refers to baptisms in my tradition, where as dedications refer to objects. I wonder what heretic christened this -- for all have been labeled such by those who consider themselves to be the true church at one time or another
http://www.mountolivetcemeteryinc.com/



ps: I shopped at Target today and while waiting for the photo lab clerk a young lady came up beside me and I could not help but notice writ large on her gray Tee shirt in bold black was "GOOD GRAMMAR IS SEXY". Hmmm It always helps in grammar when we use words according to their standard English usage. Or at the very least an acceptable usage. So in pondering whether some minister might have "christianized" this beautiful old chapel by some act akin to sprinkling holy water and some blessing of word invoking some politically correct god, I decided to consult the dictionary. To "christen is used for a baptism of a human and the "first use naming" of an object--such as when some VIP breaks a bottle of champaign over the bow of a ship. Lord knows what they did in this chapel in 1998 to "christen it". Not at all in good taste I think. I've no doubt when it was rightly dedicated in 1911 all that should have been done was done

http://i.word.com/idictionary/christened

Mobilis

Hitching Post

Frederick. Downtown residential area. Folks here about take pride in preserving the historic appearance of neighborhoods. This hitching post likely dates from the period before the Rebellion.   In this shot I opened up the aperture to about f1.4 to throw the background out of focus but positioned myself a little below the post at an angle where the door in the background would give context (Nikon FE 50mm f1.4 AI --Fuji Xtra 200)

Mobilis

Foggy Bottom

Baker Park and Carroll Creek Bottom. Bell Tower
I got this back the other day from some of my winter shots. It was the pick of the litter and is the most artistic of my photographs of this area so far. The sun is in the upper right area of the tree
I suspect framing from this angle was a challenge and so I had to sacrifice the tree top and include a bit of distracting pavement.
(equipment handheld FE Nikon and 200 ASA Fuji supra 50mm 1.4 Ai lens Captured from the 4x6 print for the www with iPhone4s)

Signs, Signs, Everywhere are Signs

Enough said. One of the more succinct street signs I've seen of late. This man is John Wojmowaki. A survivor. See his story and a comment here SorryPope.com

Montrose Walk and Park.

The old townhouses in Washington and Georgetown are quite a joy to visit. Today I am trying to find an entrance to Oak Hill Cemeter,y but all the gates are locked and I've yet to find an entrance. My search brought me to this area of Montrose. The park was set aside in 1915, but I suspect the townhouses are somewhat older. Next to Montrose is Rock Creek Park.

The original Spotsylvania Courthouse

Lees Headquarters

"May 12-18, 1864. Between the armies of Lee and Grant is unmatched for its display of unyielding heroism and devotion to duty and principle. Here thousands of valorous men, fighting with bayonets and clubbed muskets, wrote their imperishable epitaph." UDC 1927
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Spotsylvania_Court_House

Mobilis

Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse

Lee made his headquarters on this ground. Plaque reads: "May 12-18, 1864. Between the armies of Lee and Grant is unmatched for its display of unyielding heroism and devotion to duty and principle. Here thousands of valorous men, fighting with bayonets and clubbed muskets, wrote their imperishable epitaph." UDC 1927
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Spotsylvania_Court_House