FINESTRA

Welcome to my blog!

Why Finestra? It's the Italian word for window, which allows light to come in. The camera's aperture does the same thing. Some say the "F" in "F-stop" comes from finestra.

Finestra will provide  a brief look at some of my images.... and, occasionally, a window into my thoughts and reflections.         Enjoy!

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) listen attentively as Frances Haugen testifies against Facebook, her former employer.

- Donovan Marks

October 2, Washington, DC -- Partisans on either side of the abortion divide face off in front of the Supreme Court, under the watchful eyes of  Capitol Police, some in riot gear. 

- Donovan Marks

On the 20th anniversay of 9/11, three Vietnam veterans visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.

-Donovan Marks

August 28, Washington DC - Protesters and marchers gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on the 58th anniversary of the "March on Washington."  The rally was one of many events held that day to secure/preserve voting rights for all.

-Donovan Marks

January 2021

Jan 12, Washington DC - Members of the New Jersey National Guard arrive at the Capitol to provide additional security. Last week Wednesday, pro-Trump rioters stormed the building in an attempted takeover of Congress.

-- Donovan Marks

October 2020

The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington, preaches to confirmation candidates from the Washington Diocese, over which she presides. The service was held outdoors to facilitate social distancing.

As I made this photo, I was reminded of another event almost 20 years earlier, when another woman who had risen through the ranks to the top office in the diocese, also found herself preaching under a tree, albeit under very different circumstances. On a Sunday morning in late spring 2001, the Rt. Rev. Jane Dixon, Bishop Pro Tempore of Washington, was barred from preaching at Christ Church, in Accokeek, Maryland, a parish over which she presided, because of her outspoken support and advocacy for the ordination of women and gay priests. Undaunted, she took her message outside along with about half the congregation.

-Donovan Marks

September, 2020

Following a private service in the rotunda, the body of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is carried down the steps of the Capitol, flanked by the women of Congress.

- Donovan Marks

July 2020

I went down to Black Lives Matter Plaza, Washington DC, to fulfill my duty: documenting this pivotal moment in American history.

As a large group of protesters marched and chanted near the White House, I noticed a contingent of bicycle cops had gathered with purpose near the corner of 16th & K Streets. Eventually, they would move into the crowd and arrest a protester; it seems they knew he would have been there and seized the opportunity to arrest him. As they waited for the command, I caught some of them standing next to this Starbucks sign.

- Donovan Marks

April 2020

Washington, DC April 12, 2020 - Coronvirus warnings and restrictions meant empty pews at Washington National Cathedral, even on Easter Sunday.

- Donovan Marks

March 2016

Why Finestra? It is the Italian word for window, which allows light to come in. The camera's aperture does the same thing. By some accounts the "F" in "F-stop" comes from finestra.

The aperture controls how much light gets into the camera to create the image; it also controls how much of said image will be in focus; we call this depth of field. As we look at photos our eyes are instinctively drawn to what is brightest and/or what is in focus; so the photographer controls  what the viewer will look at first by controlling the depth of field in the photo!

Try it. As you look at photos, make a mental note of what you noticed first.

-Donovan Marks