Taking a walk through downtown Baltimore on a cold, rainy winter night is an experience that gets you as close to a "The Wire" mood as it gets. (And in the improbable case you haven't seen that show, do it now. Go.) Baltimore downtown is one of those places where every building seems to have history, a story to tell. This place isn't fake, it's real. And the steam coming out of the sewage system, incandescant street lamps, police cars at every corner ... all this does a great job of creating an eerie atmosphere.

In case you're interested in technicalities ... the night pictures were taken with a D300 and 35/1.8 lens.

Baltimore during the day has lots of atmosphere, too. To get to first picture below with the graffiti on the wall, one has to climb onto an abandoned parking lot that was closed to the public.