Apr 24, 2013

Training to fight fire in Howard County

Jen Rynda 0 Comment Maryland, The Baltimore Sun ellicott city, fire, Howard County Fire Department, Maryland

I can’t speak for all photographers, but taking photos of a raging fire has a firm position on my “photos I’d love to take” bucket list.

The caveat being that no one gets hurt.

Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph and shoot video of the Howard County Fire Department’s controlled demolition burn in Ellicott City, Md. Trainees worked with instructors to control and observe how fires travel through a home. It was interesting to see how the trainees worked together and kept their cool through an extremely hot situation. I’m not quite sure how they manage to move so quickly in their heavy clothes and heavier gear (and here I thought my tripod was heavy!).

Photographing the trainees and burning homes was a memorable experience and while they were practicing their skills, I was too… Just in case I ever do get that bucket list photo.

Apr 23, 2013

Ferrari hybrid makes a stop in Paris

Robert Hamilton 0 Comment The Baltimore Sun, World Ferrari, Geneva, LaFerrari, Paris

19 photos

The Ferrari hybrid known as LaFerrari made it’s debut in Geneva and recently was unveiled in Paris. The name has been controversial with automotive aficionados, who see the label as a break from the rich past of the great Italian car maker. The LaFerrari production will be limited to 499 copies, which will make it quite the collectors item for the rich and famous.

Apr 22, 2013

The artistry of Lania D’Agostino

Algerina Perna 0 Comment Entertainment, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun D'Agostino Studios, Linda D'Agostino, mannequins, oils, sculpting

23 photos

Dreams, jackrabbits, male/female figures -these and more- are the stuff of Lania D’Agostino’s artwork. Resin, plaster, oils, wood and metal are just a few materials that D’Agostino employs masterfully in her art which include drawings, paintings, and sculpture. She makes life cast figures using a multi-step casting process she developed. Because the first step in the process begins with an actual person, she says, “it captures all the wonderful variations of what people call faults in the skin.”

April 18 Photo Brief: A white lion cub hangs out, hairdressing art in the Ukraine and spring flooding in Illinois

Apr 18, 2013

April 18 Photo Brief: A white lion cub hangs out, hairdressing art in the Ukraine and spring flooding in Illinois

Robert Hamilton 0 Comment Daily Brief, The Baltimore Sun art, Austria, Bangladesh, floods, France, Ganges, Gaza City, Germany, gymnastics, Hindu, Mexico, Monte Carlo, President Obama, rhino, Romania, Ukraine

17 photos

A white lion cub makes his debut in France, an international hairdressing art show in Kiev, spring rains cause flooding in areas around Chicago and more in today’s daily brief.

Longtime Orioles usher Charlie Zill, battling lung cancer, honored at first-pitch ceremony, 7th-inning stretch

Apr 18, 2013

Longtime Orioles usher Charlie Zill, battling lung cancer, honored at first-pitch ceremony, 7th-inning stretch

Steve Earley 1 Comment Maryland, Sports, The Baltimore Sun 7th inning stretch, Baltimore Orioles, baseball, cancer, charlie zill, health, MLB, Oriole Park, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Orioles

8 photos

Battling lung cancer, Charlie Zill, the longtime Orioles usher celebrated by fans for dressing up in overalls and “Zillbilly” teeth and twirling a fake orange fiddle during the 7th-inning-stretch playing of “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” just wanted to attend one more game. Wednesday night, he got that and more, throwing out the ceremonial pitch prior to the Orioles’ contest with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Inside Fort Carroll, an abandoned citadel on the Patapsco

Apr 13, 2013

Inside Fort Carroll, an abandoned citadel on the Patapsco

Tim Swift 6 Comments From the Vault, Maryland, Retrospective, The Baltimore Sun Fort Carroll

28 photos

Fort Carroll is an abandoned 19th-century military installation in the Patapsco River. Development proposals, both public and private, have fallen through over the years, and the island has been overrun by thousands of birds. But members of the family that owns Fort Carroll, a 3.45-acre island that lies southeast of the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge, still have hopes for it.

Spring blooms at Sherwood Gardens through the years

Apr 13, 2013

Spring blooms at Sherwood Gardens through the years

Tim Swift 2 Comments From the Vault, Maryland, Retrospective, The Baltimore Sun Guilford, sherwood gardens, tulips

35 photos

Sherwood Gardens dates to the mid-1920s, when John W. Sherwood and his wife, Mary Franklin, began planting flower beds with cuttings of boxwoods and other specimens they had collected from the neglected gardens of Colonial estates in Southern Maryland, to fill in bare spots they could see from the house. On a May day in 1930, Sherwood stepped off his back porch and found himself surrounded by hundreds of people. “They were all strangers and they were wandering all over his Guilford estate looking at his flowers,” said a 1957 article in The Sunday Sun Magazine. Since then, blooms at Sherwood Gardens have been a Baltimore tradition.

Today, the Guilford Association, which plants approximately 80,000 bulbs, still maintains Sherwood’s tradition of digging up this season’s bulbs and replacing them. Typically peak bloom occurs the last week of April through the first week in May depending on weather conditions, according the Guilford Association.

Charm City Roller Girls: glam, glitter and bruises

Apr 12, 2013

Charm City Roller Girls: glam, glitter and bruises

Amy Davis 0 Comment Maryland, Sports, The Baltimore Sun Charm City Roller Girls, Clarence "Du" Burns Arena, Philadelphia Independence Dolls, Roller Derby, skating, Women's Flat Track Derby Association

20 photos

The Charm City Roller Girls roller derby team is used to bruises, fractures, sprains, tears, and all manner of pain. This is the price derby athletes willingly pay for the exhilaration of the sport. Women undergo a grueling 10-week boot camp to learn the basics before trying out for the league. It may take more than a year of mastering further skills to be drafted to a team. Roller Girls train hard for long hours to stay in shape, improve, and avoid injuries.

April 11 Photo Brief: Lindsey Vonn cheers on Tiger at the Masters, Tom Cruise visits fans on Hollywood Boulevard and a vigil in DC against gun violence

Apr 11, 2013

April 11 Photo Brief: Lindsey Vonn cheers on Tiger at the Masters, Tom Cruise visits fans on Hollywood Boulevard and a vigil in DC against gun violence

Robert Hamilton 0 Comment Daily Brief, The Baltimore Sun Adelina Sotnikova, Arnold Palmer, Australia, Bermeo, Bogota, Colombia, Emma Mulholland, fashion, France, French swimming championships, Germany, gun violence, Hollywood, India, Kashmir, Lindsey Vonn, Marathon des Sables, Masters Golf Tournament, Moroccan Sahara, North Korea, Palestinian, pelicans, Seoul, South Korea, Spain, Tiger Wood, Tokyo, Tom Cruise, Venezuela, Washington DC

18 photos

Professional skier Lindsey Vonn watches her boyfriend Tiger Woods on the first day of the Masters Golf Tournament, Tom Cruise stops to talk with fans on Hollywood Boulevard during the opening of his new movie “Oblivion,” volunteers place crosses on the Capitol mall to symbolize victims of gun violence and more in today’s daily brief.

Adventures in Underwater Photography: Diving the coral reefs of Belize

Apr 11, 2013

Adventures in Underwater Photography: Diving the coral reefs of Belize

Olivia Hubert-Allen 1 Comment The Baltimore Sun Belize, GoPro, underwater photography

1 Video

A scuba diving trip in Belize seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to try my hand at underwater photography. But not all of us can hit a home-run on the first swing. I bring back some murky video, and a handful of lessons learned for other beginners looking to jump in and shoot.