This fantastic traffic shot by Flickr user dougvansant.com (that's some crafty advertising, isn't it?) has great light and movement, and just the right angle to bring it all together. The comment left by Eye Captain, "Wow," pretty much sums it up. Taken on film. Just kidding! This was taken with Nikon D80 using a 28x80mm lens.

Here they come, photos from the fleeting moment in D.C. where the flowers begin to bloom and are gone before you know it. Flickr user e.teel took this photo of an interesting flower outside the National Cathedral and its pollinating companion. Go out and enjoy them now before they all wilt under the smothering heat of summer.

As anyone who's been to an opening reception can tell you, people-watching in art galleries is often more common than checking out the art itself. Flickr user c00lmarie observed these two at the Hirshhorn walking back and forth, back and forth, trying to figure out just what the heck this thing is. EXIF.

The installation is actually a piece by Robert Irwin, part of Refract, Reflect, Project that opened February 15. Irwin would love these guys' reactions to Untitled, which is a large disk illuminated on opposing sides, meant to create shadows that distort the viewers concept of space. See the show at the Hirshhorn until April 8.

Now this is a killer photo. Flickr user zachstern's infrared filter and choice cropping gives this whole scene a surreal look, turning the Washington Monument from a washed out obelisk to an interestingly marbled and massive backdrop for the characters meandering somewhat strangely down below. EXIF.

Another interesting photo is brought to you today by behemoth condo buildings. Flickr user krwaltondc gives the David and Goliath perspective to this little hold-out pizza joint facing down the developing giants on either side on Massachusetts Avenue. EXIF.

One of our favorite flower portrait takers, Flickr user maxedaperture, tagged this beautiful photo for us yesterday. The macro work on the pollen and the wrinkles in the petals is fantastic, and the bright colors make me want to head over to Montrose Park in Georgetown for a crocus of my very own.

Flickr user IntangibleArts caught some demolition in process over at 14th Street and Florida Avenue NW yesterday. As he notes, the giant Comcast satellite cluster that's been occupying the corner was mowed down to celebrate the announcement for yet another behemoth condo building, joining the many that line 14th from U Street to Columbia Heights these days. However you feel about condos, a little demo is always fun to watch, and you might be able to catch the tail end of bulldozers today — they were still going at it on my way to work this morning, moving the rest of the satellite parts from the corner into the huge mangled mess you see here.

We can't wait to see Flickr fill up with sunny, colorful spring images – a few of you have already headed over to the U.S. Botanical Garden for some pre-gaming – but we couldn't help but post at least one more cold, wintery image. Flickr user LaTur found the perfect ambiance for this creepy and isolating night shot. EXIF.

Flickr user SweetJen34 recently started submitting photos to the DCist pool, practicing her skills by participating in a Flickr group for theme-based street photography. Every week there's a new theme, then the members comment on each other's photos and vote on the week's best capture. SweetJen34 is certainly giving them a run for their money with shots like this, as well as the other interesting and sometimes compelling images in her photostream. EXIF.

Flickr user philliefan_99 is a photographer after my own heart with this image of the crescent moon and Venus in the evening sky. If the sky had just been a smidgen darker, Mercury would have been bright enough to be seen below our more poisonous sister planet. Still, this is a great skyline exposure, with the mild blue swath of sky the ideal canvas for the relatively tiny astronomical objects. Since this photo was taken January 30 20, you won't quite find the same sky if you step out tonight. Mercury has fallen back to an early dawn schedule, but you'll still be able to see Venus just a little higher in the western sky in the first hour after sunset.

Let's not mince words: Today is your LAST DAY to see DCist Exposed! Stop by Warehouse tonight, grab a beer and check out the gallery while it's still filled with work by our talented photographers. We've heard a steady stream of folks have been into see the show all week, so a hearty thank you to those who've checked it out, and we hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to contact heather [at] dcist [dot] com by tonight to purchase one of these fine images.

Much like yesterday's photo, this one struck us as being that perfect capture of people at home in their environments. Flickr user The Skipping Hippy took this photo of Harry the Manager in his domain at Chick & Ruth's Delly in Annapolis, MD. Even better, the bright, cheery colors and the view down the length of the diner add a great feel to it. EXIF.

The Skipping Hippy was at the DCist Exposed opening reception last Friday — were you? If not (or if you need to see the exhibit in relative peace), you've only got two more days to stop by Warehouse and check it out. Don't forget all the fabulous pieces on the third floor, and should any of them get the urge to hop off the wall and into your shopping bag, send an email to heather [at] dcist [dot] com for purchasing information (but leave the photo on the wall!).

This photo by Flickr user xtol7 is almost as great as the story that accompanies it:

I stopped to take a few photos of these kids playing basketball at a park in Adams Morgan. They spotted me after a few minutes and motioned me over. "Take our pictures!" I stuck around and shot photos of them shooting layups and fooling around. After over a hundred photos, they crowded around me and we looked at the all the shots--playing them back quickly, like a mini movie. Without a word, they assembled into a final group pose, and gave me their email addresses. "Send us the pictures!"

We noticed new contributor Oblivious Dude popping up in our photo pool with some amazing shots. This take on the Building Museum at sunset is especially nice, but take a minute to browse through his photostream and you'll see this is a guy who really knows how to capture colors.

Want to contribute to our photo pool? If you don't have a Flickr account, sign up for free, add yourself to our DCist Photo pool, then select your images to send to the group. Please also tag them "dcist" and with anything else that appears in the photo ("parking meter" "Adams Morgan"), which makes it easy for us to find shots for our news posts every day. To keep from flooding the pool, please tag no more than three images per day.

Maybe next year you'll find yourself in DCist Exposed 2008 — until then, be sure to check out our ongoing exhibit at Warehouse, open noon 5 p.m. to midnight, until March 16. Contact heather [at] dcist [dot] com if you'd like to purchase any of these great photos.

We already gave you the quick and dirty. In summary: DCist Exposed was, we'll oh-so-humbly claim, a resounding success. Of course, with talent like this and a fantastic venue like Warehouse, it would have been impossible to go wrong. We're overwhelmed with the wonderful things you've had to say about the show, and more importantly, the awe expressed at such hidden talents we had lurking in our city. DCist will no doubt be looking to repeat this event, especially in light of comments that Exposed should be a model for online communities interacting and supporting each other in real life.

Finally, we want to give a special thanks to the companies that helped make this show come together. First and foremost, thanks to Apex in Alexandria, for not only giving our photographers an amazing deal on framing, but doing such a professional job so quickly — one photographer told us they framed his photo while he waited. In the framing business, these guys are top notch. Even without our special group price, these guys are the best deal in town, so we hope you'll patronize them for all your framing needs. We'd also like to again thank Molly and Paul Ruppert at Warehouse for taking a chance on our little show and hanging everything so beautifully, and remaining calm while hundreds and hundreds of people trampled their gallery. Thank you also to Crumpler, for providing the awesome bags for our raffle, and Flickr's Samer Farha for donating some great Reuters photography books as well.

We'll stop with the talking now and just give you the photographic evidence. There are still a handful of photographs available, so please contact heather [at] dcist [dot] com for purchasing information. The show runs at Warehouse through March 16, so if you didn't make it to the reception, go check it out this week!

Big thanks to everyone who navigated the crowd to join us, including all the photographers who we finally got to meet face-to-face. We'd also like to welcome to our humble site all the folks who heard about the show by word-of-mouth and are now surely to become faithful readers.

Everyone here at DCist is thrilled that the community has been so enthusiastic about this idea — and after the many, many inquiries we heard last night about the "next show," we can almost assuredly say DCist Exposed will be back again to showcase our local, amazing talent.

Don't forget, all this beautiful, DC-loving art work is for sale, so contact heather [at] dcist [dot] com for purchasing information, and support these folks who so generously let us use their work, and are certainly all stars on the rise.

Photo by andertho

Remember back in December when we thought outloud, "Hey, do you think we could, like, pull off a photography show? Will people even be interested? Can this possibly end well?"

The answer to all three turns out to be Hell, Yes.

We can't tell you much fun we've had putting DCist Exposed together, from looking through all your amazing entries, to watching the photographers get so excited about seeing their work professionally framed for the first time. If there's anything we've confirmed, it's that this town is full of some serious talent — we could have filled the gallery three times over with the number of quality entries we received. As it is, we're so proud to be displaying the work of these 38 photographers, almost all of whom are showing their work for the very first time.

Many folks have told us that it was the outlet through DCist that got them back into photography — and indeed, we've watched many of you go from being the occassional contributor to talented photographers with eyes honed from months of practice. This warms our collective heart to no end.

We hope you'll join us tonight to meet the photographers and enjoy their work. DCist Exposed is intended to showcase the city and surrounding area the way DCist.com does — through the eyes of the people who live and work here. In a city too often seen purely as a collection of federal government buildings or a destination for tourists, these photographers have captured the local music, art, architecture, and urban surroundings that give Washington, D.C. its unique cultural vibrancy.

Don't forget, in order to help pay gallery costs, we're selling $5 raffle tickets for some ridiculously awesome photography bags by Crumpler, and three sweet photography books by Reuters, generously donated by Samer Farha. See his photo tonight when it all goes down, along with photos by a nameless yeast, xtol7, and Hoffmann, at Warehouse, 1017-21 7th Street NW (Mt. Vernon Metro) from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. And if you can't make it tonight, remember, the show will be up through March 16.

Photo in poster is Gloomy Night by okvaughan. If you'd like to purchase this or any of the DCist Exposed photos, please see me at the reception or email heather [at] dcist [dot] com.

Only two days until the big show at Warehouse. Come out and see Flickr users wageslaves and epmd show off their amazing work. If you're interested in purchasing one of their prints or another photo in the show, contact heather [at] dcist [dot] com.

We usually like to leave all your great Metro shots for our top notch transportation coverage, but every once in awhile we have to sneak one into Photo of the Day. Flickr user khvafl, a new contributor to the DCist pool, caught (or, missed?) this train as it whizzed by. Let's pull another quote from the commenters, shall we? Flickr user andertho says, "superb isolation of forms, great light, and excellent use of motion." EXIF.

He knows what he's talking about, too. Check out his photo at DCist Exposed this Friday at Warehouse, along with some other folks with keen eyes on D.C., outdoor_type and furcafe.

Have you noticed Flickr user {ryan} in the photostream lately? He's really been banging out some incredible photos, like the one you see here. Not only is the tone an excellent complement to the architecture (he even titles the photo echoes of the gilded age) but the generous swath of sky just gives it that free, wide open feeling. Check out his photostream for more great work. EXIF.

You know who else we love? Dottiebobottie. Though it's only a rumor we have a fan club for her (we keep getting stuck on the handshake). She'll be joining the talented c00lmarie on Friday at DCist Exposed at Warehouse. Click the links for details. If you'd like to purchase either of their photos or something else in the show, contact heather [at] dcist [dot] com.

Flickr user yospyn took this energy charged shot of a tree on Sugarloaf Mountain. Check out the photo for his technical description, and consider maxedaperture's comment: "I feel like I just fell out of the tree and I'm wondering how long it will be before someone finds me and takes me to the ER."

Speaking of maxedaperture, did you know that bad boy has two photographs in DCist Exposed? But where, when and why is this show? We'll let him tell you. If you're interested in purchasing his photos or any others that will be hanging at the Warehouse come Friday, please contact heather [at] dcist [dot] com for more information.

The snow may all be melted on the streets, but it's not yet gone in our hearts on our charge coupled devices. Flickr user Hoffmann took this perfectly exposed, black & white shot on the streets of D.C., though it looks like it might be a still from the introductory scene in an old movie. Just a warning: Don't read the comments on his photo unless you enjoy overplayed early 1990s pop songs stuck in your head All Damn Day. Arrgg. EXIF.

DottieboBottie has been taking wonderful shots of rusty manhole covers and fire hydrants for some time now, but we were struck by the color contrast of this shot of a damaged Long Fence sign. Another great example of making the ordinary extraordinary. EXIF.