This is the first in a series of six posts featuring my photographs of the 2009 Patriot Day activities at Fort McHenry. The series will post Wednesdays through October 28, with a set of three images each time. Also on October 28th, a new Patriot Day page containing the complete set of eighteen photos will post. (Click images for larger views.)
Patriot Day I
September 12, 2009
Copyright © 2009 Jim Sizemore.
Doodlemeister's Weblog 
Great photos, looking forward to the montage. Would love a narrative as well . . .
Thanks for the comment, Shirley. Glad you enjoyed the photos. I’ve decided to let the images speak for themselves because I want some parts of the blog to be purely visual. Not having a narrative is another way to encourage interactivity. If folks make specific requests for more information on a given image, or set of images, I’ll be happy to respond in detail. What would you like to know?
I liked the colors, especially in the second photo. Would like to see the subjects doing something rather than posing for the camera.
It’s true that in many of the Fort McHenry photos the people are simply looking at the camera. (In this set that’s true of all three.) But I like that. The way I think of it is that they are doing more than just posing; they are connecting not with the camera but with the viewer, eye-to-eye. And the careful composition of the image is also doing something in terms of good design—shape/size relationships, etc. Also, whenever possible, I try to have something going on in the background to create more than one level of activity (e.g., the flag and fort behind the officers). Knowing that I actually think about this stuff, perhaps you’ll like some of the later images in the series better. In any case, Susan, I really like your comments because they give me an opportunity to explain (justify?) myself.