Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue, Iwo Jima Memorial, Arlington, VA

Okay, how's this for using my 10mm lens? Honest feedback, please ... especially Colin, Pnina & Ben - and others who use the 10-22. I'd love to hear everyones thoughts. The sun was obviously behind me. The sky was actually completely overcast about an hour later. I used a little bit of the shadow/highlight tool in PS on the statue to bring out the details. Did I include too much of the base of the statue? I wanted to get the reflection of the sun for those extra colors. Any and all input are always greatly appreciated!

Any comments or ratings are appreciated! :-)

i love this one Lou Ann! i don't have a 10 mm lens, but i think you have used it very effectively here. the colors are beautiful, and i am glad you included the base, especially the reflection of the sun. the base with the centered sculpture makes a wonderful triangular compostion. the clouds seem to be moving up away from the statue which is moving downward. the opposing forces give this a wonderful dynamic. really outstanding Lou Ann!

Lou Ann. It will not work without the base, so it is good that you have included it.nice use of the 10-22 mm .I like the vast beautiful sky, the different direction of the flug( parallell to the sky on the right side) and the figures. Good light and well seen. Do you know who is the artist? The statue is well known.

Great angle...The sky looks like it is nicely exposed, but the statue is a bit on the dark side...I would think the lighting conditions were rather difficult looking up as you were. Overall...a very nicley crafted image...just wish the statue was a bit more visible.

I have shot that thing a hundred times and this one is incredible. Was this early morning(I am guessing from the angle)??? Smooth move!!!!!!

 

That lens is awesome.

Thank you, all, for your input. I'm glad that you're *for* including the base. Yes, this was shot at sunrise, looking toward Arlington with my back to the Potomac. I didn't want to brighten the statues any more in PS for fear of making it obvious that I touched it up. But, more or less, this looks a LOT like what came out of the camera. I have a few more shots from that day that I will share with you all eventually. Thank you again!

Awesome Shot Lou Ann. The combination of wide angle and how the clouds are placed really works well. It almost seems as though the clouds parted for the flag and flag pole. Perfect angle and composition too. I wonder if you considered tweaking this just a bit to bring out some detail in the shadows.

Great work, Lou Ann! I agree with Will's raising the levels to get shadow detail though I might have left the tone a bit darker. The base anchors the shot well and also replicates something of the original photo. (Great clouds. Were you aware of the cloud when taking this shot? I find with very wide angles they can sometimes surprise me)

Thank you for including that image!! I love the idea of a statue from that image. And it took a Brit to give us that American vision. Thank you, Colin!

 

Yes, I was VERY aware of the clouds. I have discovered what wonderful skies I get from my 10mm setting if there are a few clouds. It was a fun shoot ... I have a few more from that morning that I will share eventually.

Lou Ann, apologies for intruding into your history :-). You must blame it on my strange interest in the history of photography. As I understand it Joe Rosenthal took the photo above as the event happened and.... *(see Lannie's explanation below for the correct story!). This photo became so iconic it was used to make the statue. I am always drawn to the hand of the guy at the back who has just let go of the flag pole.

 

Skies - your 10-22 loves cloud!

It's still an amazing photo ... I could sit here and study it for hours. Thank you again, Colin!

Great shot, Lou Ann.

 

Colin, this was not a staged shot in the pejorative sense, although perhaps a staged version was attempted later. Rosenthal, who shot it, died less than a month ago, and there was a good write-up in the New York Times about the whole issue. The photog said that the first flag (a smaller one) that went up was put up during the most intense fighting, so that troops all around could see that Mount Suribachi had been taken. Then it was decided later that a larger flag should go up that could be seen from all over the island and even from the U.S. warships waiting offshore. The soldiers who put the flag up were struggling with the weight of the iron pole and the flag, which was huge and whipping in the wind, and there were no retakes at the time, and so it was not staged in one sense--although perhaps you are right that were later attempts to get better shots.

 

Movies of the event show that the flag went up pretty quickly in a rather ordinary fashion, but with some real effort. The photographer got there just in time to catch this, and it did indeed become an iconic image. Fighting continued for quite a while on Iwo Jima after this event, since Japanese resistance was fierce and prolonged, and casualties were very heavy on both sides. There was nothing staged or hokey about this particular shot, except that photographers (movie and still) were notified before the raising of the second flag (this one). I am not aware of any photos of the raising of the smaller first flag, which was, as I understand it, more like a rallying cry in the middle of battle. The military were not, of course, indifferent to the propaganda/morale value of the photo, not so much to raise support for the war, but to give a boost to the American people and troops, who were by then bogged down in both Europe and the Pacific.

 

I put this right up there with the Battle of Britain in terms of both real and symbolic signifance: lives were lost, but lives were also saved.

 

I had uncles who fought in both the Atlantic/European and Pacific theaters, and one of them died under the command of General George S. Patton in southern Germany a few days before the war ended--and a day before I was born. I happen to be a pacifist, but I do recognize the extraordinary courage and tenacity of people who fight in wars--and on every side in each war, certain that the cause of his or her country is the only just one. I see them as both victims and heroes--but above all as human beings who were siimply doing what they thought that duty required at the time.

 

By the way, the photographer who shot this said that the high sun nearly overhead was responsible for the stark contrasts which created a statuary effect in the forms of the men raising the flag. His analysis indicates that he thought like a photographer/artist, not like a spokesman for the government.

 

--Lannie

Lannie, yes, I got that wrong. Thanks for the correction and interesting detail. I reckon, given the hellish conditions, it was deeply impressive both times

Wonderful photo of this memorial.

 

The heavens above this shot have a powerful effect, at least in my mind. I've never seen them facing this direction until your photo. I suddenly realized I had been trapped in a perspective and now understand we could have been facing any direction. It's the symbol of Americans, we pull together and it doesn't matter which way we're facing as we deal with important matters. Thanks for the gentle shake and opening my eyes again. ~Sky

Sky - thanks for taking a wander through my portfolio. :-) And I especially appreciate your comments on this. I am very pleased with this image. Interestingly, the sky was completely washed out in the other direction (with the Capitol and Washington Monument in the distance), so I tried shooting it this way (toward Arlington), and loved the results. Thank you again!