The National Cathedral

I was actually on the hunt for the Darth Vader "gargoyle" that was built into the Cathedral somewhere high up on the structure.  I never did find it with my telephoto, but did spend a lovely evening walking around the outside grounds of the National Cathedral, shooting images while listening to a choral presentation from the inside uplift me while I was about my task.

Taken with a Canon Rebel XS with the stock lens, I found the process of scouting out a good angle as rewarding as it was to get a decent shot of a building that is surprisingly difficult for me to shoot.

The Challenges of Iwo Jima

Despite your urges to go see Iwo Jima at night, don't do it unless you go early in the morning.  The tour buses parading around the loop, dropping off throngs of senior citizens, disinterested high school students, and folks from the world around make it nearly impossible to get to the grounds, take a clean photo, and get out. Just below the frame of this photo are probably a couple of hundred students looking at everything around them except for the monument that not only honors the achievement at Iwo Jima, but also the Marine Corps in general.  But their annoying presence forced me to take a photo that doesn't look like every other Iwo Jima image that comes up on a Google search.

Taken with a Canon Rebel XS with the stock lens, this photo could not have been pulled off without those annoying teens who brought to mind the words of the snooty Maitre D' in Ferris Bueller's Day Off: "I weep for the future."

The Basement History Walked Through

I love this building.  I always have.  From the first day I walked into it I felt a sense of awe that hasn't worn off a bit.  Yes, the air conditioning is terrible in the summer, the heating is dodgy at best in the winter, and the windows are as drafty as a screen door.  But the bathrooms have marble stalls, the ceilings are high and stately, it is the closest to the Capitol Building of the three Senate Office Buildings (SOBs), and down this corridor walked five US Senators destined to become US Presidents: Warren G. Harding, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon.  The history is here in the red bricks, the waxed floors, and the old pipes.  The Russell Senate Office Building.  

Taken with an iPhone 5s, this image is not about the color, the framing, or even the emptiness of this usually bustling hallway.  It's about the history found in the otherwise unremarkable hallway that thousands of tourists now walk down with Senate interns on their way to the soulless Capitol Building Visitor's Center.  I hope the interns take a few minutes to talk about the mighty Russell.

Apotheosis of Abraham Lincoln

I try only to post one photo per shoot on this blog.  This photo is a landscaped version, and I had it up on my work computer's wallpaper.  Co-workers would stop and view it, I'd show them my portrait version as well, and they all liked this one much better.  They all (seasoned and hardened veterans of the Washington, DC scene) remarked at how different the monument looks when empty.  Indeed, none of them have ever seen this location empty; and I had made other late night treks to the monument with my camera, only to find the place packed by visitors as if it were noon-day.

Originally I chose the portrait-oriented version because I just couldn't get Lincoln's glow in this version to tone down enough to reveal the texture of the statue.  So, I just gave up and left it alone.  But, upon consideration, the glow seems to give Lincoln a god-like presence in the "temple" that bears his name.  Seems appropriate.

Taken with a Canon Rebel XS with the stock lens on a lamentable tripod, my experience with this photo reminds me that sometimes it takes the perspective of others to help me see what was always there in front of me - a winner.

Lincoln's Glow

The occasional snow storm in DC allows a photographer to get some amazing shots of snow blown monuments...if said photographer knows what s/he's doing.  That is not the case with this photographer.  But, as is often the case in life, when one door closes, another opens if you pause for a moment and consider your options.  Blowing snow provided for a barren monument and a puddle on the floor.  Opportunity struck and I captured the image.  Lincoln with the thought bubble above his head, and a halo of light surrounding him.

Taken with a Canon Rebel XS with the stock lens on a tripod that's beginning to fail me, I count the umpteenth snow storm this winter as a blessing.