Night Falls

I'm getting close to the end of my first full day of pictures in DC, which means I only have all of Saturday and Sunday, as well as most of Monday, left to share with you. Are you starting to realize how long this might take? Anyhow, here are a few shots of DC from atop the bluff where Arlington House is located across the Potomac in Virginia. The shot above is a panoramic of many DC landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Capitol Building and even the Jefferson Memorial. There's plenty of other stuff in there, too, but those are the highlights.

Here's the view starting at JFK's Eternal Flame, then across the Memorial Bridge, ending at the Lincoln Memorial.

Marine helicopters are constantly buzzing the skies over DC. This one wasn't actually anywhere near the Capitol Building, but from my perspective, it sure looks like it.  That's the Library of Congress to the right, the Jefferson Building, I believe.

And another view of the Memorial Bridge and the Lincoln Memorial, reflecting the last rays of the setting sun.

Emancipation

As promised, here's the other big draw in Washington, DC's Lincoln Park. Sure enough, it's a statue of Abraham Lincoln where he's symbolically freeing the slaves. This statue was planned not long after Lincoln's death, and it was paid for through donations by former slaves. Sorry about the horrible light, I don't have too much control over the sun, and didn't know which way the statue faced before I got there. Note to self-Go in the morning! It doesn't seem to have an official name, but many folks call it Emancipation from the label across the front.



I guess there's a lot of controversy about this statue and it's representation of the slave at Lincoln's feet. All I can say is that you have to look at such things as they would have appeared to the people contemporary with it's creation.

In This Temple

Here are a couple more shots of Abraham Lincoln inside his Memorial in Washington DC. I'm afraid my pictures don't convey the majesty of this larger-than-life sculpture of the President. You really have to be standing in front of him, or walk up to him from amid the loud and boisterous crowds, then suddenly all the noise around you fades away and it's just you and Mr. Lincoln. Then as you walk around, slowly the noise comes back and you're snapped out of your waking dream.

OK, so maybe it's not quite exactly like that, but it can be pretty intense. You'll just have to visit for yourself.

They seem to have cleaned him since I was there last. There was a long cobweb on his head before, and now it's gone.

The left side of the building features this transcript of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The opposite wall features the text of his second inaugural address.

The Band Plays On

One of the times I visited the Lincoln Memorial, there was an entire marching band posed on the steps. I thought they were just there to take a few pictures, but they actually played a few songs. I later saw them walking past the Vietnam Memorial, all looking very solemn carrying their instruments in one hand and their big fluffy hats in the other.

Through The Flags

I thought this was a cool view of the Lincoln Memorial I hadn't seen before. This is from way up the Mall, and all those flags are part of the ring surrounding the Washington Monument. In fact, the Washington Monument is the left edge of the picture. I suppose this is very similar to a shot I showed you from a previous trip, also shot through those flags, but looking the other way, towards the Capitol Building. Well, I thought I shared it, but I can't find it. I'll have to keep looking... Here, something like this. I think I took this on September 11th last year, so that's why the flags are at half staff.

The 2010 Calendar

After what seems like an eternity, the 2010 wall calendars arrived yesterday. Well, one of them did. And my picture of Abraham Lincoln as he appears in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC is front and center. The final picture is the one shown above. I took this on my second trip to Washington, DC, this year, late at night in the dark. I think it's a pretty powerful picture, and including the quote from his Gettysburg Address makes it more so.

We tried a few different background behind Lincoln, including this one, hoping to bring a little color into the image. But we wound up using the picture in pure black and white, even removing the little bit of wall you could see behind the statue.


My original submission for a Lincoln calendar was this wide shot of the entire memorial, but we felt it wasn't as powerful as a shot of the statue alone. Now that I have a new camera, I want to go back to DC and take all of these pictures over again...

Those of you who are new around here may want to look at the calendar picture from last year while you're here...

Lincoln In The Dark

And in case you were wondering, I didn't just shoot Mr. Lincoln in the Capitol Rotunda, I also visited him in his Memorial. Several times, in fact, but only once at night. It's an awesome sight to see his larger-than-life statue all lit up in front of you. He's visible for over a mile away as you walk up, sitting there in quiet repose. Very humbling.

In The Rotunda

While in DC, I was lucky enough to get a tour of the US Capitol Building. Inside the Rotunda, I was there at just the right time to catch Abraham Lincoln being lit by a beam of sunlight coming in through the windows high above. I think it's a pretty impressive shot, especially when you consider it was taken in a room with well over 100 yammering tourists and their tour guides who are trying to keep everyone in line, including photographers who think they can get a better shot if they move somewhere they shouldn't be.

Near And Far

Just a little demonstration here about why it's important to tell your camera what to focus on. The shot above is focused on the foreground. It's a nice shot of some purple flowers. Similar shot below, but the focus is now the background, showing you the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and The Capitol Building. Perhaps a more competent photographer than myself would have gotten everything in focus in one picture, but I doubt it.

Show-Off

Since I'm unlikely to be back in Washington DC anytime real soon, I took the best of my photos from atop the Washington Monument, and enhanced them quite a bit. These are not the same pictures as the ones I showed you a second ago, but they were taken at the same time. I zoomed in on some of the more prominent monuments, adjusted the contrast, lightened things up a little bit, cropped around the worst of the raindrops, and voila! To the West is the Lincoln Memorial.

To the South, the Jefferson Memorial.

Back East, the Capitol Building. Oh, that's the Supreme Court behind the Capitol to the left, and the Library of Congress on the right, the Thomas Jefferson Building to be exact.

And to the North, The White House. I think by law I'm not allowed to show you the roof of the White House. Even Google Earth has to blur it out. Sorry about that. Can you see that the flag atop the White House is at half-staff? Remember, I took these photos on September 11, 2009, the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Oh, in the foreground is the National Christmas Tree, inside the little round fence. I thought they brought in a new one every year, but not according to the little plaque on the ground.

North, South, East, West

One of my reasons for visiting Washington DC when I did was to attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon, site of one of the September 11th terrorist attacks. I got up early that morning, rode three different trains to get to the Pentagon station, only to find out the ceremony was for family members of the victims, invited guests and press. So I was turned away. Just as well, I guess, because it was raining cats and dogs. I decided to make the best of it, since I was up anyway, and headed on into town. But few things open in DC before 10 am, and this was around 8 am. I eventually made my way to the Washington Monument, where they begin giving out tour passes early. Because of the rain, I was able to get a pass for immediate access. These four pictures are the view from the four faces of the monument, albeit through a little rain. The picture above is looking West, over the Reflecting Pool towards the Lincoln Memorial, then across the Potomac to Arlington.

This is the Southerly view, across the Tidal Pool to the Jefferson Memorial. One of those bridges you see is for the Metro, DC's version of the subway. Coming from the airport, it pops up out of a hole in the ground right before crossing the bridge, and that's your first great view of DC. Then it drops back down into another hole, and you don't get anymore cool views from the subway.

West, down The Mall, towards The Capitol. Behind the Capitol, if you look close, is a football stadium. Is that RFK? On either side of the Mall are various Smithsonian museums, and behind those are government offices.

And looking North, you get the Ellipse, and a little white house called The White House. I wish I'd been able to get up to the top of the monument in good weather, but that didn't happen. Hopefully next time. I'll have to make that a priority.

Our American Cousin

Across the street from the house where Lincoln died is the theater where he was shot. I guess that most people assume that he also died in Ford's Theatre, but that is not the case. Anyhow, here it is. I think that's the original theater above, and there is a newer entrance, shown below. It definitely looks a little too modern to be original.

PS-For those of you that don't know, the play Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated was Our American Cousin.

Just A Little Bit Morbid

One of the things I didn't expect to see in DC was this house. After Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater (across the street), he died at this house. The US Government bought it some time later, I guess to keep it out of the hands of people who might try to make a spectacle of it. And then, they turned it into a tourist attraction.

Catching Up-Part 2

As I mentioned just a few seconds ago, I'm trying to catch up and show you my monthly calendars before the start of the new month tomorrow. This post is the pictures for February, which technically aren't late, since it's still February for another 3 hours or so... Anyhow, the shot above is a statue of Lincoln near the library in downtown Cleveland. I'm not entirely sure what Lincoln's connection to Cleveland is, but there he is. If you're wondering about the little red S&B logo, that's the company I work for. They're hanging the complete set of calendars on the wall at their various plants both in Florida and Ohio. These quite the conversation starters with the customers, except when the customers want to know why they don't have pictures of stuff we make. But that's neither here nor there. The shot below is a little blue heron looking for a spot of dinner near Ballast Point on Tampa Bay. The out-of-focus cityscape in the background is downtown Tampa, Florida, about 5 or 10 miles in the distance. Maybe I should check that, since I'm really not sure how far it is...