Spring Flowers on the Range

Colleen sent me this photo she took at the range from a few years ago. The plant is a native orchid called "Showy Orchis" or Galearis spectabilis. I actually remember quite clearly the day we saw the blooms when were shooting and she stopped to take some pictures.

The blooms appear in April and May. I don't recall seeing the plants last time I was at the range, so I wonder if they survived some recent range renovations. Perhaps I'll just have to go shooting after work today to check it out.

Spring "Flowers" on the Range

While looking through photos for a previous post, I was struck by the similarities of these pictures. Colleen captured the Dogwood blossoms at the range. The target "blossoms" were created during the same outing.

Hey, I Know That Door!

WTOP Radio in Washington, DC is doing their annual "Top 10 Best of Washington" survey of local beers. (Go vote.) I noticed the picture they used for Lost Rhino Brewery was the picture I took for my Face Plant IPA review. Investigating further, I was thrilled to discover they apparently got the photo from the Lost Rhino Facebook page, where it is (currently) the brewery's profile pic. Cool.

I used to worry about getting a proper picture for a beer post. But getting that perfect photo delayed getting to the drinking of the beer, which was the purpose in the first place. So I started setting the beer on the kitchen table for a quick snapshot. Over the years, I've taken hundreds of beer photos on that spot. A friend who's often present when I open a new beer calls it the "classic Musings beer shot."

It must be okay, as I've seen the easily recognizable pictures pop up in many places. Local stops such as Blue & Gray Brewery, Park Lane Tavern and Capital Ale House have used the pics in email or Facebook campaigns. Likes.com grabbed one for their 20 Best Beers of the World list. I've seen the photos used other places online, but I haven't kept track of them. 

Those might be the most photographed french doors in Fredericksburg!

Saving the Beer - Reaction Time

There's something about this photo that keeps drawing me back to look again. Look at everything going on here, especially the recoil reaction of the crowd. Now look at the guy at the center right. That's a one-handed grab of the bat, and he doesn't spill his beer! Granted this is a split-second view of the action, but it sure is impressive.

See "Sign him up! Fan catches bat, saves beer" at the Seattle Times photographers' blog for the complete story behind the photo.

Photo by David Goldman