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Washington DC is ideal for sunrise photography.

I’ve lived in the area my whole life and been photographing the National Mall for over 8 years. I’ve pretty much been to every one of these places at least 20 times. So I compiled the top 7 best spots to make your trip to the Nation’s capital easier to navigate.

I’ve done all the research for you so you can just get out there and shoot. Here’s everything you need to know to capture a stunning sunrise in Washington DC:

How to Prepare for Sunrise

I love the alignment of where the sun rises among the monuments as opposed to where the sun sets from. It gives off this amazing warm glow on the memorials that’s hard to get at sunset. Plus there is this overwhelming feeling of peace and calm in a city that’s usually hustling and bustling during the day. At sunrise you’re more likely to get images with no one in them while at sunset it’s nearly impossible.

Don’t worry though even if no one else is around, park police have the memorials under constant surveillance which makes this one of the safest places to be in DC at night. If anything bad should happen, help will not be far away.

I typically try to arrive at my sunrise location about 30 minutes before the sun actually rises. That way you will see all the great predawn colors in the sky. Dress according to the weather and grab a coffee, you won’t regret it.

For the serious photographers out there, you may be wondering about tripods. For the most part they are not allowed. However if you’re photographing sunrise and there is no one else around, you could probably get away with it. I think the biggest concern is when the memorials are crowded and other people may trip over the legs. Out of all the times I’ve been out for sunrise (trust me it’s way more than I can count), I have been asked to put it away once while I was at the Lincoln Memorial. All other times other than sunrise at any of the memorials, it’s pretty much out of the question.

The United States Capitol is slightly different. Technically, it’s not the National Mall so the same rules don’t apply as they do at the memorials. There is way more security there and I’ve heard conflicting rules about tripods. The last time I spoke to a Capitol Policeman about it, he said they are allowed. However since then I’ve heard of photographer friends being asked to put it away. It seems like there is no right or wrong answer so I would just take your tripod if you want and just be respectful when photographing the grounds. The worst that will happen is that someone will ask you to put it away.

One last thing to note, I wrote a book all about photographing Washington DC. It’s called Snap DC: Your Guide to taking Extraordinary Photos of the National Mall and Beyond… and it is available on Amazon. So if you are interested in seeing more of Washington DC than just the sunrise, click here to check it out.  As an added bonus I created a 1, 3, and 5 day sample photo itinerary for your trip to Washington DC, click here to download my ideal schedule.

Now on to that sunrise…

You Can’t Go Wrong with the Reflecting Pool

In my opinion, the Reflecting Pool is the ultimate sunrise location in Washington DC.  It’s the most iconic and it is the place that I tell everyone they must go to if they have never been to the national mall and especially at sunrise. It’s the center of 4 great landmarks all within a central area. A one stop shop if you will.

Click here to read more

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Happy Happy New Year!!! YAYAYAYAY!!!! 2018!

In 2017, I set a goal to travel for photo at least once a season. Mission accomplished. Here are my favorite travel images from 2017 in chronological order.

Click on the pictures to read my original blog post.

hofn, beach, sunrise, water, black sand, iceland, south east, town, Höfn í Hornafirði, fishing town, mountains, fog, clouds,

Iceland, you beautiful country. I love you. I’ll see you again soon, k?

black sand beach, reynisfjara, vik, iceland, travel, europe, western europe, nordic, socks, waterproof, waves, how to dress, cold, beach,

Captured in the middle of the day with my 10-stop neutral density filter. I love that thing. I keep it in my camera bag at all times.

iceland, vik, south iceland, black sand beach, sea stacks, birds, waves, water, cold, europe, travel, blue, mood, rocks, nordic, island, viking,

Took this one just a few hours after the previous image but on the other side of the sea stacks. Crazy how the different point of view changes so much.

iceland, travel, horses, icelandic, island, travel, wind, winter, rain, airplane, golden circle, Reykjavik, fences, road trip, driving, short, hairy, 16-35mm, wide angle, 70-200mm, zoom, sony

One of my favorite parts about Iceland, the horses! They’re so sweet.

I’m not sure if you noticed or not but once I got back from Iceland, I decided to work on my blog even more. Yes, I still post new images every weekday, but I’m taking the time out to write longer and more thoughtful blog posts. I just thought that an interesting change from this trip that I wanted to note.

meadowlark botanical gardens, nova parks, northern virginia, vienna, va, koi fish, gazebo, pond, blossoms, spring, flowers, cherry blossoms, koi, japanese fish, swim, bread, feed, food, outdoors, afternoon, walk, stroll, visit, see, camera settings, motion,

I captured this image in Virginia at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. That counts as travel, right? My favorite part of this image is that little ripple the fish on top is making with his tail.

utah, moab, arches national park, devils garden, trail, trail head, rock formations, sunrise, shrubs, nature, landscape, mighty 5, hikes, research, plan, travel, vacation, southwest, america, usa, national park,

Arches National Park in Utah. This was one of the first images I captured at sunrise. I just love how the sun burst balances out the red rocks on the right hand side.

colorado, co, visit, travel, rocky mountain national park, antonios pizza, estes park, sunset, dinner, pizza, hike, trail, lake, sprague, tripod, camera settings, neutral density, nd, filter, tripod, reflection, mountains

I fell in love in the spring and it was with Colorado. Man o man, I gotta go back in 2018.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, co, travel, visit, sprague lake, sunset, mountains, trees, national park, trails, hike,

Rocky National Park is one of my favorites. It’s so hard to take a bad picture.

Falling Springs, Covington, VA, virginia, road trip, cross country, waterfall, landscape, blue water, rest stop, rest area, water, trees, leaves, branches, east coast, america, hike, rope swing, summer

The beginning of our epic cross country road trip. That was one adventure that I’ll never forget.

covington, va, virginia, road trip, travel, visit, waterfall, views, summer, swim, hot, alleghany county,

Taken on a tripod and a 10 second timer. I must have looked crazy constantly running back and forth in my flip flops. LOL oh well. Wasn’t the first time.

Saguaro, cactus, national park, tucson, arizona, mountain district, signal hill trail, east end, mountain district, cactus forest drive, desert, landscape, foreground, green, heat wave, photographer, photography, sunset

My first time seeing saguaro cactuses in real life. They are amazingly beautiful and so big. Now that I think of it, I should of taken another self portrait like I did in the previous image here.

Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, sunrise, maine, bar harbor, north atlantic, east coast, highest point, october, chilly, wind, weather, temperature, clouds, clear sky, photographer, photo, photography, visit, national park

Visited Maine for the first time in October. I love how spacious and airy this image is.

Bass Harbor Head Light, acadia national park, maine, east coast, sunrise, neutral density filter, long exposure, climb, tripod, sony, a7ii, southwest, blue hill bay, mount desert island,

It was hard to find this perspective but once I did, it was totally worth the early morning wake up call and the climb down slippery rocks.

That’s it. Those were my favorite travel images of 2017. Can’t wait to capture even more in the new year.
In case you missed it, I did the same thing with just Washington DC photos. Click here to check them out.

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This is going to be a 3 part series that will be going on my blog for the next 3 days. Why 3 days? Because I shot so many images this year and I love them all but I can’t choose one absolute favorite. I think I ended up with at least 30 absolute favorites. It’s like how do you choose your favorite pizza delivery place? Who knows! They’re all so great, delicious and you like them all for different reasons. That’s the same thing with this!

Part 1: Travel

So here are my 10 favorite images from travel in 2016. I am SO lucky that I was able to travel to Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean this past year. Like is this really my life?

In order of when I visited these amazing places, here are my favorite travel images of 2016. Woop Woop!
Click the image to find the original blog post and the story behind it.

electronic megastore, japan, akihabara, escalators, electronics, camera, electric town, shopping district, manga, computer goods,

The electronic Super Store in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan. You could spend hours in this one place and I think I did. Obviously, most of my time was spent on the photography floor. Yes, that’s right. A whole floor devoted to photography!

shinjuku, gyoen, national garden, asia, tokyo, japan, garden, park, shibuya, green, water, pond, monochrom, popular parks, walk

One of my favorite places in the city of Tokyo, Shinjuku Gyoen. I love all the variations of green in this image.

Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto, vermilion torii gates, shinto, japan, kimono, girls, walking, light, Senbon Torii, gate, shrine, girls

This image definietly took a lot of patience. It was that decisive moment that Henri Cartier-Bresson talks about.

motorcycle, bike, hello kitty, bicycle, japan, asia, black, street, pink, garage,

The contrast of these two bikes in Tokyo cracks me up. I can imagine these two riding down the road together having the best time.

st john, cinnamon bay, trunk bay, beach, palm tree, rocks, white sand, clear water, virgin islands, usvi, caribbean, travel, beach bum

OMG Can we please go back? St John was like heaven on earth.

st thomas, virgin islands, margaritaville, jimmy buffet, sunrise, morning, beach, umbrella, chairs, ocean, caribbean, usvi

This was taken at the resort we were staying at, Margaritaville. I didn’t have any margaritas but I had plenty of vodka. They should change the name to Vodkaville 🙂

st john, virgin islands, usvi, caribbean, territory, travel, beach, clear water, blue water, island, clouds, boat, visit, visit, cinnamon bay

YES to all the above

ft lauderdale, south florida, beach, seaweed, ocean, atlantic, america, florida, fl, seagulls, sunrise, walk, shore, peace, calm, water, sand

In August, Andrew and I spent a long weekend in Ft Lauderdale. It was a great end of summer get away.

london, england, parliment, sunset, thames river, united kingdom, palace of westminster, house of lords, house of commons, meeting place, sunset, central london, british polictics, royal palace, night, car trails,

Oh Snap! Don’t you love it when big buses pass you by while taking a long exposure. They always create the coolest lines with their lights.

la sagrada familia, Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, gaudi, roman catholic church, barcelona, spain, interior, architecture, holy family, Antoni Gaudí,

La Sagrada Familia: The most awe-inspiring interior I’ve ever seen. My girlfriends and I made a pact to come back to Barcelona in 10 years when to see this place when  it’s all complete.

 

So there it is. My top 10 travel images for 2016. What did you guys think? Come back to the blog for the next two days for more of my favorites.