Pixels on the Wall - A Photographer's Thoughts, Images and Musings

Team CardioSmart 2012 Edition

David — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:11:32 +0000

Brief Recap of Team CardioSmart I am proud and honored to be part of Team CardioSmart and for the efforts that our team has put forth these past 4 years. We started with a small team at the Tour de Shore in Salisbury, MD in 2008. As those of us that participated remember, it was brutally hot with temperatures in the low 100’s. It was so hot that the pavement was crackling under our tires. Only 1 of us made it to the finish line for the full century ride. Beginning in 2009, the event was combined with the Challenge Walk and renamed the Chesapeake Challenge and moved to Chestertown, MD. In 2009, Team CardioSmart was named “Rookie Team of the Year” and was also recognized for having both bike and walk teams. Team CardioSmart was back last year with a smaller team and while a difficult year due to the economy and a smaller team, we were still able to raise a significant amount of money for the Maryland Chapter of National MS Society. For the two-day event, Team CardioSmart rode and walked a total of 1,546 miles. This is the equivalent of traveling from Washington, DC to Denver [...]

2011 Worldwide Photo Walk

David — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 15:52:41 +0000

Yesterday I participated in the 4th Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk co-sponsored by Adobe. There were 1100+ walks scheduled with nearly 30,000 photo walkers. It was a dreary, wet and cool day in Frederick. There we probably about 20 or so brave souls that met at The Green Turtle. The walk was led by Paul Lambert. Paul provided a route for us to follow that led us around parts of downtown Frederick. We walked around, dodging the occasional drizzle, capturing the sites of downtown Frederick. I, as usual, focused on the abstract, the pattern and the textures. I hadn’t walked around downtown Frederick in quite a while. There is always something new to see and capture. Below is a set of images I captured from the day. As usual, the colors are much more vibrant prior to compressing for upload and on a color calibrated monitor. You know what to do — click on one! Let me know what you think. Which one is your favorite?

Chesapeake Challenge Update

David — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:16:31 +0000

A Big THANK YOU FROM & TO Team CardioSmart Thank you for supporting Team CardioSmart in its efforts this year with the 2011 MS Chesapeake Challenge. The Chesapeake Challenge combines two events, Bike MS and Challenge Walk MS. The Challenge Walk is one of the premier endurance walking events in the country and Bike MS is one of the best cycling events in the state. I am proud and honored to be part of Team CardioSmart and for the efforts that our team has put forth these past 4 years. We started with a small team at the Tour de Shore in Salisbury, MD in 2008. As those of us that participated remember, it was brutally hot with temperatures in the low 100′s. It was so hot that the pavement was crackling under our tires. Only 1 of us made it to the finish line for the full century ride. Beginning in 2009, the event was combined with the Challenge Walk and renamed the Chesapeake Challenge and moved to Chestertown, MD. In 2009, Team CardioSmart was named “Rookie Team of the Year” and was also recognized for having both bike and walk teams. Team CardioSmart was back last year with [...]

Team CardioSmart May Update

David — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:19:12 +0000

Below is an update for May 2011.

Final Day: Florence and The Trip Home

David — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:28:28 +0000

Easter Sunday myself and most of the boys attended a 7:00am mass at a local church in Montecatini. The service was nice and the boys commented on how they could follow along with service despite the language difference as the services were very similar to what they are used to a home. A short walk back to the hotel for breakfast at 8:30 then boarded the bus a little after 9am for our ride to Florence. The bus ride took a little less than an hour. The driver dropped us off, along with El(oise), at the Firenze (Florence) train station. We walked together through the station and into the center of Florence to get our bearings and to set the meeting point and time for our short guided tour. We walked past the Duomo and the Republic square. Simply amazing and gorgeous. The sense of history of what we were seeing and where we were walking was truly incredible. One of the boys commented that “this place is legitimate”. I thought to myself that “legitimate” was an appropriate response to being in a city that was the center of Europe politically, religiously and culturally during the Renaissance. We were now [...]

Day 7 – Montecatini and Final Match

David — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:05:49 +0000

Today, Saturday, is a free day until the boys’ final match this evening. Breakfast was anytime before 9AM. After that, the boys were free until lunch at 12:30 back at the hotel. I headed out around 9AM to walk around Montecatini as did the boys. Nice town with lots of clothing shops. I wandered around and bumped into most everyone else around 11AM at the local soccer store. Of course I did! 30 minutes later we all dropped a few Euros and headed out our separate ways until lunch. Lunch was very good. Pasta, salad, roasted chicked and bread. Oh yeah, and wine. I have had more wine in the past few days than I have had in the past few years – not very much but still more. Today’s was a red wine. After lunch we identified the local church that is only a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Myself and several of the boys will attend the local Easter service tomorrow morning at 7AM. Then breakfast at the hotel before we head to Florence for the day. The final match against the Rinascita Doccia Soccer Club, about 45 minutes from our hotel, did not have the outcome [...]

Day 6 – Training and Off to Montecatini Terme

David — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:15:32 +0000

Wakeup call today at 7am. Really? Really? Breakfast and off to training at 8:30am. A brief walk for me on the beach before lunch while the boys are at training. After all, I may never have the opportunity to walk on the shore of the Adriatic Sea again. Sports news alert! Major upset today in the world of Futsal! Coach Cappuccino (aka Jamie) goes down to Team Messi (aka Coach Lane). The finals go to penalty kicks where in the 6th round Messi Junior (aka Lee) puts it in the net. Obviously, today’s training consisted of a futsal tournament for a change up in the routine. Lunch, this Good Friday, was pasta, salad and a lightly breaded and fried cod. Dessert was a chocolate pastry that too was good. The boys enjoyed lunch and were able to relax for an hour or so after the meal. About half of them slept while the other half played cards or listened to music. The bus arrived a little after 2PM and we were loaded and on our way by 2:20 or so. Next stop Montecatini Terme just outside Florence. It is very nice having a private bus to ourselves. We can stretch [...]

Day 5 – Laundry Day, Match #3 and Serie B

David — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 08:42:16 +0000

This morning we were able to sleep in — 8AM!! Breakfast first and then the boys had their training session with a second Italian guest coach. I did not attend the training session as I went to the Chioggia Thursday open air market. The boys said the training was good and better than yesterday’s training. The Italian coach was a little more relaxed and the translation from Italian to English by our tour manager (Eloise) was much easier. While the boys were at their training, I headed down to the Thursday open-air market in Chioggia. The market was very crowded with stalls and tables lining both sides of the street. There was everything for sale; food, clothes, toys, perfume, blankets, shoes, everything. People come from all over the region for this market as it is one of the largest markets. I walked around looking for photographic images. I turned off of the main street down a side alley where i noticed flowers for sale. I had expected to see much more flowers, fruit, vegetable stands but I didn’t see them. When I got to the end of the alley, to my right was a large red tent or canopy. I [...]

Day 4 – Burano, Training and Match #2

David — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 06:59:27 +0000

Today I woke early and heading off to do some photography on the island of Burano. While in Italy, do as the Italians do! I awoke at 05:30 and caught the “autobus” to Venezia (Venice) at 06:00 right outside our hotel. I boarded the bus and purchased the fare. It was a very nice bus and appeared to be a commuter bus as it was filled with folks heading to work. It was about an hour ride to the stop I wanted to go in Venice. 50 minutes into the ride I asked a very nice older Italian woman sitting next to me if she could confirm that it was indeed the right “autobus” to Piazzalle Roma (the transportation center in Venice). She confirmed with a “Si” and “finish” (meaning the end of the line). After getting off of the bus in Venice, I made my way to the Information/Ticket booth and purchased a 12 hour pass for both the Vapporeto (boat) and the bus. After a short walk I was off to Burano by way of Fondamenta Nuove. The boats are extremely efficient and run like clockwork (at least they did today). It was about a 20 minute boat [...]

Tuesday – Venice and Game #1

David — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:08:38 +0000

It was a busy day today. It is 11:30PM so I will make today’s post a short one, but wanted to write something today and share a few images. We visited Venice today via boat from near the hotel. We left the dock at about 9:00am. It was about 1 1/2 hours each way. We all enjoyed a 2 hour tour of the San Marco (St. Marks) square, the Rialto Bridge and then had only about 1 hour of free time, as we had to catch a bus back for tonights match. Venice was very crowded but it was impressive to be there and “see” the history. The team seemed to enjoy it as well. I wish I had hours to explore and “get lost” on the island, but soccer calls… We arrived back at the hotel around 3:30PM and departed for the match at 4:30PM. It was about an hour ride and after warmups the match began at 6:30PM. The pitch was nice and each team had a locker room – the team seemed to enjoy that amenity, especially at half time. The opponent today was the professional club along with some other select players as they prepare for [...]