The White House in Autumn, Washington, DC

Here's another shot from the same day as the previous two uploads. Again, there was a slight overcast that made most of my skies worthless in these images. For this one, I used my 10-22mm lens and crouched down low to the ground. Is the foreground too overwhelming for the entire photo? What other thoughts do you have?

Any comments or ratings are appreciated! :-)

Interesting shot: A distant White House, cut off from the rest of the world. Can't be more symbolic!

Claude's comment says it all, Lou Ann (technically and politically!). Your photo really portrays a sense of aloneness. Love the dried leaves in the foreground, a wonderful sense of depth and distance. Best regards, Chris

Nice shot Lou Ann. Claude & Chris have said the most, so I just say "Congrats". Best regards from Sweden!

Well done, the others have said it all.

A very nice composition, Lou Ann! Best regards, Ruud.

Hi, Lou Ann,

 

I think the B&W treatment here works very well, as does the angle. And, of course, there is a little clearer path to the White House in fall. Also like the placement of the WH in the frame. Nicely done,

 

Best Regards,

 

Barry

Isn't that little 10-22mm lens great? You just gotta remember to keep your feet outta the picture. (I have to suck in my belly or put on a clean t-shirt.) I thought I was the only one who bought one. The foreground just guides your eye right up to the subject. I like that half the windows are black and the other half white. Just the way the Prez sees things. Now tell me, as you were crouching low, sticking a black object through the wrought iron fence, adjusting buttons, how many troopers converged on you?

Thanks, ya'll, for the comments! I honestly thought that no one would like this shot. I have absolutely NO objectivity about my own work, huh? :-)

William - I LOVE my 10-22!! I got it in April. You're definitely not the only one. I was inspired to purchase it by Colin Caron - he still has some of those shots in his portfolio. I've also been encouraged along the way using my 10-22 by other PN'ers like Pnina Evental, and Ben Anderson. They've also got 10-22 shots here and there throughout their portfolios. Check out their stuff. :-)

And, YES, I have to be careful of what I catch IN the frame with that lens!! LOL!! The first time I used it, I was in Colorado (Garden of the Gods park). I was trying to take a shot with the lens at 10mm, and I kept seeing this black thing in the bottom of the frame. When I would take the camera away from my eye, I didn't see anything black that might be in the frame. Then when I put the camera back up to my eye, there was the black thing again. It turns out that it was my camera case. Haha!! I have definitely caught my feet in the frame a few times, too. Such fun! :-)

Nice bit of ultra wide technique, Lou Ann! What does the colour version look like? Incidentally I find the 17-40 and 5D combination is in some ways not so good as the 10-22 and 300D I used to have. Here I like the composition with the White House placed at top right and the nice arching tree. How close can you get before you attract attention from the security guards?

First of all, here's a context shot. You can see how close (or not so close) that the fencing is to the house. It's enough above eye-level that I wouldn't be able to get the shot *over* the fence. (Maybe Yao Ming could....) These shots were taken really early ... like 6:00 a.m. (sorry, Colin - you've told me how you feel about my early hours!) There were very FEW people around ... except a couple of capitol security police (with a car parked in the street (closed to traffic) immediately behind me ... and a protester sleeping in a homemade shelter surrounded by anti-Bush-policy signs. I'm sure that the police were watching me closely. I was sticking my lenses between the rungs of the fence ... and the 10-22 didn't really fit. LOL!! It's 77mm wide, and all of the shots I used with that lens were taken at a severe angle (like this one). I'm laughing just remembering it. :-)

Here's the color version you asked for, Colin. I just couldn't find it in myself to *like* the washed out sky. You know how I love skies!! :-)

Lou Ann, you really used your 10-22 to its advantage! I like both of your last images taken with it. which FL between the 10-22 did you use?I like the B/W here and the crop you did.

 

Thanks as well for your recommendation, you have to add Colin as well ;-)), he was MY inspiration to buy this lens....

I prefer the b&w shot over the color version. Seems more isolated, which is funny considering how visible this building really is!

Yes, I agree about the sky. Maybe an ND grad could have worked here to bring out the sky detail but it might have caused as many problems as it solved! I find it works best on cloudy skies.

Thanks, Colin - there wasn't even any detail in the overcast. The clouds had no interest ... just a fine sheer white...... :-(

Nice photo. I like how you got down low and used a wide angle, it makes for a unique and dramatic photo. Well done.

 

(By the way, I am a former Western NYer too and live in N. VA -- originally from Roch.)