World War II Memorial (03)

You know how I love to play with my 10mm to get weird and unique wiiiiiiideeeee shots! :-) Here's an example. This was taken just after dawn (about 20 minutes after sun-up). The sun was behind me, slightly to the right. I loved the clouds that were coming across the sky. They quickly disappeared. By 45 minutes later, the sky was clear of any clouds, and the humidity and gross heat set in. I was the only person at the monument from about 5:00 to about 7:00. On a Saturday!! I was so psyched!

 

What are your thoughts?

Any comments or ratings are appreciated! :-)

Lou Ann, I like a lot the wide lens angle and timing! the angle has a strong flow of lines, the light on the other hand is soft, and the vlue sky as well are creating the right spirite of the memorial, I like the way you have cropped it, very well done.

So,this is the new addition. Beautiful. Got to go there again.

Nice work with the wide angle, Lou Ann. I also like the Lincoln Memorial lit up in the distance, as well as the other contrasts of natural and artificial lighting. The strong diagonals in the foreground are also very interesting.

 

Shooting wide sure makes the Lincoln Memorial appear to be very long ways off.

 

--Lannie

Thanks all. Lannie - no artificial lighting here. The flood lights were off by this time. And, the Lincoln really isn't too close - I would say about three quarters of a mile....?

Lou Ann, I don't know why I made reference to "contrasts of natural and artificial lighting." That was probably a carryover in my thinking from your other shots of the memorial. I should have made reference to the contrasts between the areas that are lit by the sun and those areas that are not. It still makes for good contrast. This is a special time of day for shooting, as is dusk. I didn't think about this being a morning shot, but the fact that the eastern side of the Lincoln Memorial is lit proves that it is. I also see from a map of the mall that this memorial is west of the Washington Monument but east of the Lincoln Memorial, at the eastern end of the reflecting pool. Seeing your pics reminded me that I have not visited D.C. in a very long time. Now I shall have to visit this memorial.

 

I wonder how wide your zoom was when you shot this. I did check the maps also for distance, and the distance from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial is (if I remember correctly) almost two miles. I had not remembered it being that far, and so your guess of 3/4 miles from here to the Lincoln Memorial sounds about right. That is why I was wondering about just how wide you shot this, that and the fact that I am still not very good at knowing a priori which lens to bring with me to get desired effects at wide angle.

 

--Lannie

Lannie - my lens was at 10mm for this shot. I typically carry my three zoom lenses with me most of the time - 10-22mm; 28-135mm; and 75-300mm - to cover a wide variety of possibilities. A friend is borrowing my 50mm/1.8, but I'll soon have that back and will be using it as well for the very wide aperture when needed.

 

I often park along the river near the Lincoln Memorial and take a brisk walk from there, past the Lincoln and then Washington, along the Mall all the way to the Capitol and then back again, including at the end a jog up the steps of the Lincoln and a reading of the Gettysburg address before making my way back to my car. That takes me about an hour and a half, which for my pace, is about 5 miles. Thus, knowing that this memorial isn't really halfway between the Lincoln and Capitol, I figured about 3/4 mile. LOL! Mathematician I will always be!!