The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park is part of the forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is located outside Aptos, California. The park was named for Nisene Marks, a passionate nature lover and the mother of a Salinas farming family.

Physician Assistant, Arthur Cerami provides heath care to a small rural community in Mathias, West Virginia.

Hanging out with R. Lee Ermey on his ranch in California, 2002. American actor and voice actor, R. Lee Ermey, achieved fame when he played Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Ermey was also a United States Marine Corps staff sergeant and an honorary gunnery sergeant.

Founded in 2008 by singer/songwriter Justin Trawick, "The 9 Songwriter Series" is a touring songwriter collective and live show based in Washington, DC.

LAKE STATION, Ind. — This hard-luck town just south of Chicago is weighing a decision confronting many small and midsize cities with shrinking populations and chronic budget deficits: whether to sell the public water system to a for-profit corporation. From the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/towns-sell-their-public-water-systems--and-come-to-regret-it/2017/07/07/6ec5b8d6-4bc6-11e7-bc1b-fddbd8359dee_story.html?utm_term=.4ca1cfbba128

Couples dance the Tango on Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC TANGO ON FREEDOM PLAZA Sundays from 7 to 10 through September. Freedom Plaza, Pennsylvania Avenue NW at 14th Street.

Thousands of demonstrators gather for a May Day rally in Washington, DC, USA 01 May 2017. Labor Day or May Day is observed all over the world on the first day of the May to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers and fight for laborers rights.

Crowds massed in the US capital and around the world to support science and to show opposition to President Donald J. Trump's threats of budget cuts to agencies funding scientists' work. At the March for Science, demonstrators gathered on The National Mall to support science and to send a message to policymakers who are ignoring fact and research in areas such as climate change.

ayoi Kusama Exhibit at the Hirshhorn Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist and writer.

The Women’s March and its Sister Marches is a worldwide protest on 21 January, 2017, in support of women’s rights and other causes including immigration reform, health care, evenvironmental issues, LGBTQ rights, racial justice and worker rights. The protests were timed to follow the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States. It is the largest one-day protest in US History. The march drew more than 500,000 in Washington, DC.

Day of the Dead celebration in the Kogod Courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC

City of Alexandria's 267th Birthday Celebration at Oronoco Bay Park in Alexandria, Virginia

Oye I lived in the Los Angeles area for about ten years. On the rare cold day when the thermometer would dip to the low 60s it was nice to roll out of bed throw on some shorts and head out to a nearby taqueria (usually only a 45 min drive via SoCal freeways). There I would often find some workers before they headed off to their jobs. Sadly I never developed a fondness for the taste of menudo. But that didn’t stop me from ordering it and then adding plenty of salsa muy picante which is a good way to sweat a cold from the inside out. It was another treat to hear a mariachi belting out some traditional ranchero music. #LA #SoCal #mariachi #photojournalism #leica #film

Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) announces his priorities as the Chairperson of the Committee on Education for 2015 during an open house held at the John A. Wilson Building. There are many priorities for the Committee that Grosso will address including the following: family and community engagement; attendance and truancy; mental and behavioral health; early childhood education; school discipline practices; post-secondary and workforce readiness; out of school childcare; and teacher retention.

The 2015 Inauguration ceremonies of the District of Columbia. Muriel Bowser is sworn-in as the District of Columbia's seventh mayor. Bowser is the second woman and second youngest person to lead the nation's capital. Karl Racine is sworn-in as the District of Columbia’s attorney general. He is the first AG to be elected into the position. Previously his office was appointed by the sitting mayor.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), joined by 21 U.S. and international organizations, holds a rally at the White House to stand with women and girls raped in conflict at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 9. The rally is part of the Break Barriers campaign, launched last December. Break Barriers calls on President Obama to take executive action on correct implementation of the Helms Amendment and allow U.S. funding for abortion services overseas for women raped in conflict, and globally, in cases of rape, incest and life endangerment. The rally is the culmination of events that took place over the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence and will take place on the eve of International Human Rights Day. The Helms Amendment, a decades-old provision, forbids the U.S. to "pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning," but does not prohibit U.S. foreign assistance in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment. Despite the distinction, lack of clarity around the implementation of Helms has served as a barrier to safe abortion services for women and girls, including those raped in conflict. U.S. voters support executive action to ensure funding for safe abortion in cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment. A January 2014 poll found that 57% of U.S. voters favor such action. Since the Syrian conflict began, the most extensive form of violence women and girls there face is sexual violence, including rape. At the U.N. in September, President Obama acknowledged that "mothers, sisters, and daughters have been subjected to rape as a weapon of war." This call to action has been supported by former USAID Administrator Brian Atwood, more than 30 US faith-based leaders, and a diverse coalition of NGOs.

Not much research has been done on plastic pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. Executive director of Trash Free Maryland, Julie Lawson, organized a 4 day expedition of Chesapeake Bay. Lawson brought together plastic pollution experts, educators, policy advocates, environmentalists and journalists to collect water and sediment samples and study the Chesapeake Bay waterway. 5 Gyres Institute, renowned for research voyages across the oceans, was on board to help discover what’s out there. For four days, the crew sailed Chesapeake Bay on the Obtuse, captained by Chris Charbonneau, dragging a manta trawl taking samples. Those samples were sent to Florida Atlantic University for analysis. “I predicted that we wouldn’t find much. I was wrong.” said Jeff Corbin EPA senior advisor on the Chesapeake Bay and Anacostia river. A significant amount of microbeads were in the samples. Microbeads are polyethylene microspheres that are widely used in cosmetics, skin care and personal care industries and has become a substantial environmental concern.

While serving in Afghanistan as a machine gun operatorin the marines in September 2009 the humvee Marine Corporal Joshua Himan was traveling in was hit by an explosive device. The 27 year old Himan was paralyzed from the waist down. Before deploying to a war zone, like many soldiers Himan would have preferred to die on the battlefield than come home disabled. After spending18 months in rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center Himan says he's happy to be alive.

French Chanteuse Adele Jacques sings favorite French classics as part of her Paris Loves LA show in Pasadena, California.

Artist James Griffith in his studio in Altadena, California. I spent a few hours in James's studio, watching him, photographing him,and talking. At the time of this portrait James was coming to the end of a series of landscape paintings. I have to say normally I am not enthralled by landscape paintings or photography for that matter. It's not that I don't appreciate the beauty of the works but I almost always feel as if I'm not getting any message from the artist. Yes, it's beautiful but isn't the landscape itself the real work of art? Maybe my philistine tastes will eventually evolve enough for me to appreciate these types of work. But James had made all of these paintings as if looking through a sheet of plastic. I was mesmerized and you can see some of the works at this archive (http://jamesgriffithpainting.com/archive/) on his website. What caused him to make these paintings? He told me that he was out hiking in the forest and was into this hike for a couple of hours when he suddenly and literally came upon a wall of plastic sheeting. Now I know many people and I would include myself who would have a more typical reaction. James figured that the plastic had been put there for some reason but now was, perhaps no longer need. Instead of dismissing this, he takes what he sees to make a painting with layers of meaning. James says it best in his artist statement about this series, "it was at once stunningly beautiful and appalling…. I knew I was looking at a form that could express the problems i wanted to explore in paint". For James it would not be the simple and obvious good (nature) vs evil (man) but he would produce several works of depth. As I was wrapping up my visit and portrait session… and I love this, James was already excited about what would become his next series. He showed me what looked like dirty brown goop and it had a strong smell of petrol. It was tar. He showed me a couple of "paintings" that he had painted with the tar. But he wasn't satisfied with how the tar worked as paint. But he was excited about figuring how how to use it and all the meanings that would layered into the paintings. He collects this tar from pit #91 from the well known La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles just 20 miles from his home. He eventually figured out how to use the tar and started painting birds and other animals using this primordial goo which of course, came from plants and animals millions of years ago adds obvious meaning. But James goes further and uses pollen, volcanic glass, copper sulfate and even human ashes to add layers and layers in almost an archeological study of meaning. http://jamesgriffithpainting.com

Kani Xiong is a tattoo artist in Appleton, Wisconsin

I had the privilege of spending an afternoon with one of MLB greatest hitters, Hall-of-Famer Tony Gywnn and his family at their Poway, California home. Gywnn was a meticulous craftsman and student of the game. He spent endless hours of extra batting practice perfecting his swing. At home, he pioneered the use of video in examining his at-bat performance. He spent his entire career with the San Diego Padres and is affectionally known as Mr Padre by fans in San Diego.

Bread for the City and Jen Vaupel are bringing quality healthcare to thousands of needy in the District of Columbia. Along with medical care, Bread for the City also provides vulnerable D.C. residents with comprehensive food, clothing, legal and social services in an atmosphere of dignity and respect. Clients pay nothing.

A vigil is held for Ruby Whitfield at new Samaritan Baptist Church in Washington DC. Whitfield was struck and killed by a driver of a speeding SUV. The driver of the SUV Joel Bromwell was later arrested and charged with driving under the influence.

Casey Miller took a bike trip across the country a few years ago and it transformed him. It dawned on him that a trip like the one the took might be the perfect solution for some war veterans who might need a transformative experience to help them return to civilian life. So pretty much on his own he started The Long Road Home Project. I won't go into all the details here but it's definitely worth reading about at the official website: http://longroadhomeproject.com/ He and five veterans completed the first 4200 mile trek across the nation. Here are a few photos from one day of that long road home which ended here in Washington, DC.

Army Captain Patrick Horan undergoes physical therapy at Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation in Pomona, California. Horan suffered multiple injuries including a traumatic brain injury while serving in Iraq in 2007.