Today is World Photography Day. A date likely selected by an industry trade organization as a way to sell more camera gear.

But that doesn’t matter. I really don’t need an excuse to inflict more of my photographs on the internet.

I haven’t worked on any specific projects since the NYC trip last June, so these are just a few favorite images from my wanderings around this area over the past couple of months. With a reminder that everything I want to show the world is on my gallery site.

Beginning with the picture at the top, taken for a class in which I was learning to use some of the technology in my camera that I rarely touch, like the manual use of shutter speed. This blurred shot of a Metro train is not the best example but I was happy with the results.

Another from my classwork is an attempt at exercising my artsy side. This uses a camera filter that preserves one color (red in this case) and turns the rest of the image to black and white. The assignment was not as easy as I expected and also something I need to work on.

There’s always something interesting to photograph on Saturday mornings at the Old Town Alexandria Farmers’ Market. We always have a few street musicians, but one playing a vibraphone was new to me. The gentleman’s music was very good. Always leave a tip for the good ones.

From another morning walk, these rather creepy heads looking out the window of a beauty school in Arlington, with some interesting reflections. Could be the setting for a B-grade horror flick.

Finally, any time you visit the National Gallery of Art, you can find an artist or two practicing their craft by reproducing one of the works on display. Look closely and you’ll see that this gentleman also has an iPad on his easel. It appears he’s using it to get a closer look at the original painting than would normally be allowed by the guards.