Photographers from our community have been out photographing despite the heat of summer, and have captured some great images.
Clif Burns
One afternoon at the zoo, even the animals were trying to cool off — an elephant with a dirt bath and a lioness by pouncing on a toy in the water.
Laurie Collins
(IG: dccitygirl)
Washington DC summers can be a challenge — from trying to stay cool from the sweltering heat to not being caught up in an unexpected thunderstorm. Thankfully, we have plenty of free museums to cool down in as well as having a plan to getting up early to catch summer’s beauty before the humidity catches up to you.
The National Building Museum is a great escape from the heat and an early morning visit to sunflower fields makes it all worthwhile.
Rodney Cunningham
IG: @rodneydcunningham)
This picture is meaningful to me because a storm produced two amazing rainbows, though only one is visible here. The trajectory of the incoming airplane makes you think that the plane will pierce the rainbow. If that happened, would the DC area be showered with Skittles?
This picture is meaningful to me because the trajectory of the departing plane makes you think that the plane is flying directly into the storm. In life, sometimes you have to head directly into the storm.
Joe Flood
(IG: joeflood; Website)
Here’s a couple of recent photos! First is sunrise at the Washington Monument, second is from Metrobar, where an old Metro car has been turned into bar. The drink is a Metro Fashioned.
Rama George
(IG: @therealkorofina)
MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology
The MAAT is one of my favorite museums in Lisbon. While people enjoy walking by, I am taken by its fascinating wavy-shaped roof which makes it (in my opinion at least) one of the coolest rooftops – and viewpoints – in the entire city.
Praça do Comércio, Lisbon, Portugal
If you love architecture, you’re in for a treat when visiting Lisbon! This is the Rua Augusta Arch. This landmark arch was built as a commemoration to celebrate the city’s recovery and reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake. It features several historical figures and statues, and some mythical ones which are metaphors for the Portuguese people’s strength, resilience, and achievements.
Aurelia Glenn
(IG: @glennaurelia)
Two Thai women at the food sculpture table, at the Sawasdee DC Thai festival on the National Mall. The festival, which took place on a typically muggy Washington summer day, was packed with people from all over, and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.
These are some of the many people who jumped double dutch at DC’s Juneteenth celebration. People of all ages, races, and backgrounds participated and had a blast!
Shannon Heaton
(IG: nekosandpiper)
I had the privilege of walking with a herd of reindeer at the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland last week. Reindeer were once abundant in Scotland but were hunted to extinction, until a Swiss man reintroduced them. Through a breeding program, the herd is back up to 150 roaming the mountains of the Highlands.
Cassandra Hetherington
(IG: cassandrahetherington)
Roland Johnson
(IG: millibenthic)
Gloria Jones
(IG: @glo.is.me)
For me summer is not summer without a trip to the sunflower field to photograph sunflowers!
I just got back from Seattle and I took tons of photos. I photographed Pike’s Place, the first Starbucks, Pioneer Square, the Space Needle, the Gum Wall/Alley, Alki Beach and so much more, but this Seattle seagull looking off at the ship and the Cascade Mountains in the distance is one of my favorites.
Miki Jourdan
(IG: mikijourdan; Flickr)
This summer, I have enjoyed taking photos of big orange balls in the sky, including a supermoon, and the sun shrouded by wildfire smoke.
Rob Klug
(IG: osoikame)
There’s so much to photograph in DC during the summer but my favorite will always be the Malcolm X Park Drum Circle.
Michael Landsman
(IG: @landsman_photoworks)
Swing dance at Colvin Run Dance Hall:
Afro-Latino Festival in Silver Spring:
Kemoy Liburd-Chow
(Portfolio link: https://kemoylc.myportfolio.com/)
Sandbar in Turks and Caicos islands
The immense feeling of expansiveness and abundance was tremendous while standing in the middle of the ocean on this sandbar. The mental impression of a Rumi quote was vivid – ‘you are not a drop in the ocean; you are the entire ocean in a drop’. We are energetic beings living on an amazing planet.
Planetword Museum, Washington, DC
Words, words, words everywhere! The spotlight that can never escape.
Marci Lindsay
(IG: marcislindsay; website)
July 4th was a hot one! I didn’t last all that long out in the brutal sun that day and I saw a lot of kids trying to beat the heat as well. Who’s looking forward to the fall?!
Christopher Marcum
(IG: csmarcum)
This summer was the first time I got to go to Europe since before the pandemic. It was wonderful to visit two new countries: Iceland and Switzerland. The first image is Dyrhólaey Lighthouse in Iceland. The photo was shot on 30 year old Kodak 400 black and white film. The film jammed in the cartridge during winding and the emulsion accordioned giving the photograph those eerie stripes. The second photo is a swan in front of Geneva’s le jet d’eau taken with my phone at night. It was about 90F at the time and being next to Lake Geneva was a major relief after staying in the CERN hostel with no AC during the heatwave!
Alethea Merelos
There are certainly perks to being a peal bell ringer, one of which includes watching the sunset from the Old Post Office Tower!
Angela N.
(IG: @angelaon, Flickr)
I’ve been visiting family in San Francisco and have loved the break from DC’s summer heat!
Watching the fog roll in, view from Van Ness and Geary:
El Cid Campeador, by Anna Hyatt Huntington, outside the Legion of Honor:
Van Ngo
The summer’s brutal heat and rain has me staying put as of late. However, I couldn’t resist a tiny car show nor a vintage computer swap. The attached images are of a transaction where the “buyer” got paid to take away an old Dell server. The fellow above was quite happy to make a buck and have a new used toy to tinker with. Kei cars have been a phenomenon with car enthusiast due to their cost of entry and niche. Thankfully this means we now have an outlet to see said tiny trucks, roasters and mini minivans. Part of the fun with this annual car show was the caravanning between locations. Getting kicked out of the mall felt oh so nostalgic.
Shedrick Pelt
(IG: @sdotpdotmedia, www.sdotpdotmedia.com)
Seaside: I found a little peace and alotta family on the trip.
Victoria Pickering
IG: @vpickering, Flickr)
Some of my favorite things to do every summer are to go to the Navy Concerts on the Avenue and watch as the flag ceremony sets up, and to go to the local county fairs.
Russ Rumelt
(IG: llkoolwhip)
Elizabeth Starkey
(IG: mypinterestlife)
Considering how many plans bad weather has ruined this summer, it was great luck that we had such a beautiful night on July 4th.
As a geriatric millenial, I’ve been getting a kick out of seeing all of the bands I listened to in high school in concert this past year.
Rimma Tsyhichko
From our farthest-away reader:
As I am in Western Ukraine at the moment I had a chance to visit Poland. I had two excursions. They were short but unforgettable. On the first photo there is Kraków. If you are interested in medieval Europe architecture, you should visit this amazing city. Here is Wawel Royal Castle.It’s situated upon the Vistula river. On the second photo here is an amazingly castle in Przemyśl. It’s one of the oldest towns in Poland.
Arpita Upadhyaya
Mountains in the Mist: Mount Vignemale and the surrounding range in the Pyrenees mountains emerge from clouds, dazzling with the golden light of the sun. This photo is from our hike as we ascended the ridge next to Vignemale, getting closer and closer to this gigantic mountain and its glacier.
Portal to the Clouds: At Port de Bouchara, a high pass nestled between green valleys and limestone peaks, on the border of France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains
Jeff Vincent
(IG: jeff.vers2.0, Flickr)
These two photos are from a fun getaway this July to Los Angeles: The very modern entry to The Broad, a contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue; and an eatery in the huge Grand Central Market, a fixture in the heart of LA since 1917.
What a phenomenal group of photos!!
Thanks, Nancy!
Yay!! All the photos are beautiful!!
We had a great summer of family and big skies and travel.
Thank you!
As usual, the images in your column are superb. I especially enjoy Roland Johnson’s portrait “We Shoul Talk”. The body language, tilt of the head, lifted chin, and direct stare all say I am a survivor.
We are lucky to have such great photographers!
Thank you, Gina 🙂
Thanks so much, Gina!
As always, it is an honor to be included among so many talented DC-area photographers. This collection of summer photos brought a smile to my face … many times! Congrats to all participants and that small band of colleagues responsible for this blog.
Thanks so much for contributing, Jeff!