top of the washington monument

All photos available for print and licensing >

So my favorite view from the Washington Monument was definitely facing west with views of the World War II Memorial, Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial. It may have been because we were there around sunset and obviously you want to be facing west, but it was the Reflecting Pool that kept on catching my eye. I couldn’t believe how still and peaceful the water looked. It literally looked like glass from above.

But out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an airplane flying by in the sky and you could see it in the reflecting pool. It was the coolest thing ever. Luckily, at that time of the night, there’s pretty much an airplane that flys by ever ten minutes. So I just waited a bit for another one to come and tried my best to capture it in the reflection.

I also love seeing all the traffic around the memorial and into Arlington, Virginia. GAH I love these elevated views. Can’t wait to go up in the Washington Monument again to capture some more!

If you have any questions about getting tickets or what it’s like up there, please feel free to let me know. I’m currently writing a guide that will explain the process.

My camera settings for this image are F4.5 at 1/30th sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

All photos available for print and licensing >

If you’ve never been to the top of the Washington Monument, you need to. It’s a whole new perspective on the city that you won’t get anywhere else. At 555 ft, you can basically see EVERYTHING. For instance, I saw the basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Nationals Park, Virginia, Maryland… EVERYTHING. It’s very cool.

This image was taken at the windows facing north with views of the White House, The Ellipse, and so many more buildings behind it. They are small windows and at each of the windows, there’s a little platform for what I’m guessing for children to stand on so they can see out the window. So if you’re really tall, you may have to crouch down a bit.

In case you were wondering, each direction of the Monument only has two windows so there is a good chance that you may have to wait a bit before you get to see the view. But the part that I love most is that there are plaques underneath them pointing out all the major landmarks. It’s so interesting to look at the plaques and then look out the window to realize what you’re actually looking at. It’s so interesting to see how each of the places related to each other from such a high point of view.

These were just two people looking out the window, contemplating their view. I love how the man has his hand near his mouth to create that curve in his wrist. I don’t know, something about it made this image so interesting. Also, you may notice the smudge. Yes, the windows could use a bit of cleaning…

My camera settings for this image is F10 at 1/125th sec and ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.