Gravelly Point Fall Family Portraits

The expansive greenery and waterfront at Gravelly Point in Arlington, Virginia, provides a picturesque backdrop for portrait photography with its stunning views of the iconic Washington, D.C., skyline.  The proximity to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport adds a unique and dynamic element to the shots, capturing the energy and movement of planes taking off and landing against the cityscape.

Take a moment to enjoy some recent family portraits I captured this past fall for this family’s Christmas cards, and a small set of senior portraits for their graduating avgeek soon heading off to college.

Best of 2020

Let’s just say it: 2020 sucked. For everyone. At moments the year flew by, at many others the year seemed endless. But 2021 is upon us, and although for many, myself included, it meant more time at home than out in public, I still captured perspectives of this year the World will never forget.

It’s unsurprising that many of my photographs in this year’s Best of 2020 are barren of people, and those that do have people are individuals or small family groups. I quickly enacted a number of COVID-19 best-practices that meet or exceed those required by Virginia law, and have strived to maintain the safety of not only myself and my vulnerable family members, but those of my clients. Because of the unprecedented reduction in assignments this year, particularly of commercial clients due to the cancellation of events, a greater portion of this year’s Best Of consists of personal work, but you’ll see that although it’s personal work, much of it is relatable and has affected everyone in some way or another.

Here’s to 2021 redeeming all the hardship, loss, and overwhelming disappointment 2020 inflicted on the World. May these pictures put 2020 to rest, and may your 2021 be filled with joy and prosperity.

A “barn find” Porsche on display at the 2020 Washington Auto Show.

A Foggy February morning in Northern Virginia.

Toilet paper became scarce in early March as shifts in the supply chain shifted from commercial to retail bathroom supplies, while more population working from home, and public fear incited hoarding, drove demand, emptying store shelves of basic cleaning supplies for months.

Hand sanitizer, gloves, surgical masks, and N95 respirators became nearly impossible to come in Spring. By Summer, the market was flooded with price gouged, counterfeit, or unregulated KN95 masks, antibacterial sanitizing wipes, and hand sanitizer.

At Ronald Reagan National Airport, nearly all concessions closed indefinitely due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

At Ronald Reagan National Airport, airlines cancelled all flights indefinitely for the safety of passengers, and due to low demand while citizens quarantined in place.

Inside Ronald Reagan National Airport’s nearly empty National Hall, a COVID-19 branded hand sanitizer station is affixed to a shuttered Information Desk.

As air travel all but halted, entire terminals of airports were shuttered. With fewer travelers, ad spaces receive fewer impressions, leading to marketing campaigns to be rolled back or cancelled entirely. Above a closed terminal at Ronald Reagan National Airport, a digital ad site displays a creative encouraging proper hand-washing technique in place of normally cycling ad campaigns.

"Black Lives Matter" blazed several neighborhood trailheads, but were defaced with the arguably racist "All Lives Matter," then subsequently corrected back to BLM during the height of nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

In Northern Virginia, many parks and playgrounds were closed by guerrilla citizens even before executive orders explicitly closed such facilities. Meanwhile, other inhabitants ripped away barriers or ignored HOA shutdown orders, creating a kind of suburban anarchy.

Jack Zarinsky, CFP, walks into his office in Fairfax City, Virginia.

Jack Zarinsky, CFP, speaks into a microphone while recording for his podcast.

A Polaroid of pickerel hyacinth growing at Ellanor C. Lawrence Pond.

Erik and Jennifer walk in a lavender field on their wedding day, June 27th, 2020. Many engaged couples had to delay or downsize their 2020 wedding due to COVID-19 safety and legality of gatherings.

Polaroid of Alyssa McGuire carrying an elephant ear plant at Merrifield Garden Center, Centreville, Virginia. Alyssa’s favorite animal is the elephant, and as a self-proclaimed “crazy plant lady,” she chose a Colocasia to add to her Rhode Island garden. Alyssa drove from Providence to Memphis, stopping in Washington, DC for a week, to care for her aging grandparents who struggled to get supplies and home maintenance during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

At Washington Dulles International Airport, a health supply kiosk is shuttered inside a deserted terminal.

Rubin and Madonna stand on the ramp at Washington Dulles International Airport with the historic ATCT and taxiing aircraft behind them after Rubin proposed to Madonna minutes prior at the gate they first met.

Elizabeth laughs at James’ jokes during their July engagement session. James and Elizabeth planned for a Spring engagement session coinciding with the April Cherry Blossom Festival, but this became unsafe and illegal as DC enacted executive orders that made visiting the Tidal Basin legally impossible, while the National Park Service feuded with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser by continuing to sell photography permits. Meanwhile in Virginia, early executive orders explicitly closed or kept open specific businesses, but failed to provide operating guidance for unlisted non-essential businesses, forcing many people, like Elizabeth and James, to postpone scheduled sessions.

Lily pads float at Ellanor C. Lawrence Pond, seen through an antique Lubitel 2 medium format lens converted to work on Canon EOS mount cameras, shot on an EOS R mirrorless camera.

The Cumberbatch family poses among the Autumn leaves during their family portrait session in Sterling, Virginia.

J. David Buerk, owner and photographer of J. David Buerk - Photography poses in a werewolf mask and gloves, holding an authentic rusty scythe on Halloween in Fairfax, Virginia. Despite ample candy and decorations, not a single trick-or-treater showed due to COVID-19 scaring off young goblins and ghouls.

Kevin drops to one knee and asks Rhoda to marry him at a snow-covered Stone Tower Winery.

With vines in the background, Rhoda places her hand on Kevin’s chest to display her engagement ring minutes after saying “yes” atop a snow covered hill at Stone Tower Winery.

The sun shines on the steering wheel of an Infiniti G37 S 6MT coupe’s steering wheel.

A handmade, artisan designed and crafted embossed leather journal cover with pewter clasp, featuring a flourishing acanthus leaf pattern. I first spotted this journal five years ago at the Renwick Gallery, and have regretted not getting it at the time, and had been unable to find the creator until recently. To my surprise, it is still available, and the maker even has an Amazon storefront now, with limited supply available. My most loved Christmas gift this year, this beautiful, naturey journal in my favorite color holds the notebook I’ve been using for years, and will hold future notebooks as this one nears filling, fitting perfectly into my daily leather Tumi backpack.

The Cumberbatch Family

Fall came a little late this year, but that just meant we got an extra blast of warm for a little longer.  The Cumberbatch Family went out to enjoy the changing colors before all the leaves fall and Winter takes hold.  After checking out the swingset and playing tag, the kids decided to grab bundles of leaves and make their own fall by the waterfront. Tons of Fall fun to last until next Autumn!

2015 Film Scans

You guys, I’m super excited! I found some rolls of old, expired film laying around that I’d never gotten developed, so I sent them to the wonderful folks at The Find Lab last week and I just got the scans back!

I had no idea what was on them, but it turns out I shot 3 rolls on the same weekend in October, 2015. These rolls were all expired Kodak Gold given to me to kill off, and were definitely underexposed even though they were all shot at speed; I’m not quite sure why they were underexposed for this reason. Kodak Gold isn’t the best film in the World, and I prefer the soft teal hues of Fuji 400H as opposed to the oversaturated warm tones Kodak films tend to have.

Katie’s Cars and Coffee: October 24th, 2015

Saturday morning I went to Katie’s Cars and Coffee and shot the show on film. I have a hunch I used the 35mm f/1.4L for the whole show and most of the next day in Shenandoah, but I’m not 100%. It was a foreign invasion, with offerings from France, Germany, England, and Japan.

These photos are available for print and download here.

Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive

The next day was the annual trip to Shenandoah National Park to take in Skyline Drive - this part I shot on film and digital.

I wish I could remember what trail we hiked while there. When the wind chill is bearable and we have the time we often go hiking during our annual trip. This was my first trip to Skyline Drive with my new car, and we spent most of our time there photographing all our cars. This was the first and only time Jake, Patrick, and I had our cars together on Skyline Drive, so the majority of my digital pictures were of the cars, and I used the film for nature and landscape photography. I used a mix of lenses, but I can say for sure the first photo was shot using the TS-E 90mm f/2.8.

These photos are available for print and download here.

Bayard and Margaret: Engaged

This October has been the busiest month for me all year (if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know what I’ve been up to and all the places I’ve been the last few weeks). I am very glad, however, that I was able to get October started by spending an evening with Bay and Maggie photographing their engagement in downtown Alexandria.

You might remember Bay and Maggie from their July 4th airport proposal as Margaret arrived home from a stay overseas. Bay and Maggie met at William and Mary, and now call Alexandria, portions of which closely resemble Williamsburg, home. With the beautiful cobblestone streets and lines of lights, the old city is warm and beautiful even on a cool evening as dusk rolls in.

These two are just adorkable and I love it.