Mark Tegethoff
Photography & Design

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Fall in Rock Creek Park

Brandon and Lindsey are two great friends of ours, so when Brandon asked if I would take some family portraits for them, I didn’t hesitate to say “yes”. The fact that Brandon is frequent companion for various photo walks, and a collaborator on our work with 202.photos, sealed it.

When scheduling the shoot, Brandon was quick to suggest a part of Rock Creek Park that I was not familiar with: Peirce Mill. Built in 1829 by Isaac Pierce, the mill was incorporated by Congress into Rock Creek Park in 1890, and operational until 1897. It served briefly in the 1920s as a tea room, and in 1936 the National Park Service restored the mill and its grounds to its historic layout, which is how it appears today.

The mid-October Saturday morning we chose for the shoot was a bit on the chilly side, the mill and its surrounding park land served as a picturesque setting for a session with this wonderful family. Taking into account the weather and the kids’ appetite for being outside, we made the most of our time, aiming to complete the shoot in a brief, but fruitful 30 minutes.

I’m quite happy with how these images turned out, though with subjects as photogenic as these, I’ll admit that the credit goes to Brandon, Lindsey, and their two kids for making the shoot a success. I hope they enjoy their images as much as I enjoyed spending the morning behind the camera with them.

SessionsMark TegethoffPhotography, Family
iPhone XS: Why It’s A Whole New Camera

From one half of the team behind my favorite iPhone camera app, Halide, comes an in-depth breakdown of what's changed in the new iPhone's camera. Sebastiaan talks about the strengths and weaknesses of the new camera (and its Smart HDR feature), as well as what they're doing to make sure that Halide continues to be one of the platform's leading camera apps.

Mark TegethoffPhotography, Technology
Olympus 25mm f/1.2 PRO

2 years ago, Olympus announced (and subsequently released) its first lens with an f/1.2 maximum aperture, the M.Zuiko ED 25mm f1.2 PRO. I added this lens to my bag about a year ago, partially on the recommendation of Marius Masalar.

It has not disappointed.

Its images are unlike anything I've ever been able to create before. Olympus describes the rendering of the out-of-focus areas as "feathered" bokeh, which is about an apt of a description as any. Check out Marius's review here.

LinksMark TegethoffPhotography
The Martins

Memorial Day weekend is widely considered the unofficial start of summer, and this one was particularly special.

I had the distinct honor and pleasure to be asked by my sister, Lisa, and her husband, Drew, to make some portraits of them ahead of the arrival of their first child. We battled the heat and humidity of a swampy DC afternoon to beat the threat of afternoon storms, finding some nice locations in Old Town Alexandria.

Lisa & Drew were wonderful subjects, and I am glad I was able to help them capture a part of this special time in their lives.

I can’t wait to meet the newest member of the family in the coming months!

SessionsMark TegethoffMaternity, 202 Photo, Photography
Cherry Blossoms
Cherry Blossoms

Midway through March, Erica, Brandon, and I decided it was time to end our hiatus, and get together for an early morning of fun with cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin. While I was able to find some good light and make some nice images, it wasn't the smoothly executed meetup that we might have otherwise expected...

An outing that was originally scheduled for late March shifted at least twice due to weather and bloom delays (turns out we hit "peak bloom" perfectly!). The morning itself was quite chilly, and despite being April, I found myself pulling my long johns out of the closet for (hopefully) one last time. I arrived first, and found Brandon without incident. Unfortunately though, we ended up in a bit of cell service dead zone, and Erica had trouble finding us. Once she found us, Erica quickly realized that she had forgotten to bring a fully-charged camera battery, and to add to that, her phone battery was almost dead (luckily she was able to get a few choice shots before the juice ran out).

All was not lost though, as the three of us enjoyed our first photographic get together in quite some time, and some memorable images were captured.

VignettesMark TegethoffPhotography, DC, 202 Photo
2017
2017

March has become April, the weather has continued to be rather grim here in DC, and my camera has not been nearly as active as I'd like it to be. This has led to a good bit of creative reflection on my last year behind the camera, and post that has been more than a little bit overdue.

A Reflection

By any metric, 2017 was my most fulfilling yet as a photographer. Among other things, I...

  • Took photos in 9 different states (FL, GA, IL, MD, ME, NJ, SC, TX, and VA), as well as DC
  • Stepped foot in, and pressed my cameras' shutters in 4 countries outside of the states(UK, Iceland, France, and Spain).
  • Released for free, a good number of photos on Unsplash, with some very good results.
  • Partnered with a couple of close friends to launch 202 Photos, a family-centric portrait & lifestyle photographic collective.
  • Embarked on a major revamp of this website.
  • Worked collaboratively on a DC-centric photography project.

What follows are a few of my favorite images from 2017. They each have some sort of story behind them, and I hope speak to my strengths as a photographer.

Bahía de La Concha

Taken from Monte Urgull in San Sebastián, Spain on October 9, 2017.

Taken from Monte Urgull in San Sebastián, Spain on October 9, 2017.

This photo was my favorite thing I captured in 2017, and it speaks to everything that I loved about San Sebastián. It was taken mid-day during a hike up Monte Urgull. The pastel colors evoke the calm, relaxing vibe of the city, and the beautiful, delicate nature of the cuisine. The rolling mountains that fade into the background make the city feel apart from time and space, as if it lives in another world. I implore anyone and everyone to visit the city, and experience a true gem.

Bay Bridge

Taken from Sandy Point Beach in Chesapeake Bay, MD on February 11.

Taken from Sandy Point Beach in Chesapeake Bay, MD on February 11.

Early in 2017, Sandy Point beach was among the first photographic excursions of the year. We hoped to capture a sunset, but the clouds didn't cooperate. Instead, the sky faded from day to dusk with an incredible gradient of blue and purple. I pulled myself from my comfort zone to deploy a tripod for a longer exposure, and was lucky to find, that not only was I able to capture the details of the bridge, the beautiful colors of the sky, but also the twinkling reflection of one of the bridge's lights on the bay.

Photographer & Horse

Taken in Rangarvallasysla, Iceland on February 19.

Taken in Rangarvallasysla, Iceland on February 19.

Iceland was a beautiful country to have a camera in. It is unlike just about anywhere else in the world, and it's no wonder that so many photographers flock here every year. This image was particularly special, as it came after a long day of being chased by fog and drizzle. As our group made its way back across the Southern coast to Reykjavík, we decided to make a pit stop to photograph some of the beautiful Icelandic horses or "puppies" as Erica (pictured) called them. The combination of the contrasting subjects one either side of the frame, as well as the intersecting lines of the environment brought a certain visual interest to the scene that I was looking for, and the day's weather gave me a color palette and mood that spoke to our experience.

Alice Smith & Citizen Cope

Taken from the Kogod Courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC on June 17.

Taken from the Kogod Courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC on June 17.

I've always admired photographers that were able to capture emotion and atmosphere at live events. I've not had the opportunity to practice in these types of environments that I'd like, but a free concert in the National Portrait Gallery's Kogod Courtyard gave me the perfect opportunity. I snapped quite a few images of both Alice Smith, and the headliner, Citizen Cope, but this image of the two spoke to the emotions that they share. The joy of two people that love to perform, performing with the one that they love was infectious. I think this moment, a shared looked stolen between verses, captures these two performers in the perfect moment.

Bass Harbor Light

Taken in Bass Harbor, ME on August 3.

Taken in Bass Harbor, ME on August 3.

This image was pulled from my Mainecation story, and speaks not only to moment it was captured itself, but to the process of finding this image within the capture. The evening in question, we had hoped to watch the sunset over the water near the Bass Harbor Light. When we arrived, we found, both a tide that was uncooperative, but also a larger crowd of fell sunset-enjoyers had joined us. I made snapped a few images, but decided to mostly just enjoy the moment, and ignore that we had not quite gotten what we hoped for photographically. Once home, I found, that rather than an underexposed, worthless image, I instead had captured a gorgeously dramatic pink sky contrasted with a dark, dramatic foreground surrounding the Bass Harbor Light. I was amazed at the detail I was able to pull out what I thought was a ruined image.

Eclipse

Taken from my back patio in Alexandria, VA on August 21.

Taken from my back patio in Alexandria, VA on August 21.

On August 21st, in the the United States, we were treated to a rare treat: an eclipse! I had not planned on taking any photographs of the event, as DC was only going to about 81% of the way to totality. On the fateful day, however, I decided last minute to fashion an extra pair of eclipse glasses into a makeshift camera filter. I had no expectation of getting a usable photo, but decide to take a photo every 10 minutes or so leading up to the eclipse. I could not have been happier to discuss that my amateurish rig worked, and worked about as well as I might've hoped. The series gave me the opportunity to experiment with creating the composite series that you see above.

Holiday on Bond

Taken from Bond Street in London, England on December 12.

Taken from Bond Street in London, England on December 12.

My final selection from 2018 is from a December evening in London. It was my first time visiting the city during the festive season, and this image was a perfect encapsulation of the evening. While I could point to the iconic doubledecker buses, the busy shoppers on the sidewalks, or the brightly lit storefronts, instead I'll never forget the lighting displays. A challenge to photograph, and a beauty to see, these lights were everywhere. This particular composition stuck with me, as the lit globes appear over the foreground, and eventually converge into a sea of light in the background.

Looking Ahead

I'm very proud of all my photographic output for the year, but I can't help but be greedy to do more. I'd like to challenge myself to find new subjects, new stories, and a unique perspective to photograph. As look ahead, some personal goals for 2018 will include things like...

  • Learning how to use and control light from artificial sources to enhance my photography of people and objects/products.
  • Take more photos of the mundane; the moments and bits of light that happen every day, and are worth capturing.
  • Adding something new to my creative repertoire. I enjoy the "story" format for my travelogues, but I'd like for at least some of my photography to be a little less driven by linear story, and more by something abstract or intentional.
  • Continue the hard work of improving my criticality over my own work, and only sharing those things that deserve to be shared.

These goals are pretty lofty, so I don't expect to get "all the way there" with them. I do hope though, that this time next year, I can write a similar post, with a similar happiness with my output, and a whole new set of areas to improve.

PostsMark TegethoffPhotography
New in Darkroom: Depth Editing, Extended-Range RAW Editing & App-Wide Refinements
New in Darkroom: Depth Editing, Extended-Range RAW Editing & App-Wide Refinements

Darkroom is my go-to editing app on the iPhone 8 Plus. The newest update introduces some truly magical editing capabilites for Portrait Mode photos. In addition to new filters that use the depth information of a portrait mode photo, the update has also given us editing tools for independently controlling the brightness, saturation, and blur characteristics of the foreground and background. I couldn't recommend this app more highly.

On the left is a normal portrait mode photo I took of my dog, Lucy. On the right, the same shot, but with one of Darkroom's P400 Portrait filter applied (along with some tweaks to the background blur itself).

Again, on the left, a normal portrait mode photo I took of my breakfast one morning. On the right, that same shot, but with P100 (and various tweaks) applied.

This update is simply another in a long line of great updates to this application. I can't wait to see what's next.

Links, PostsMark TegethoffTechnology, Photography