world war ii memorial

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It’s been a while since I’ve had an update blog post. Mostly because I didn’t have much to update on. However, I was going through my catalog the other day and realized I have some images that I wanted to share!

Since coming back from New Hampshire, I tried my best to capture the fall colors around the Washington DC area. Even though Washington DC is a city, there are still some great places to go to see fall colors! All the different shades of red, yellow, and orange make me so happy. So this is a compilation of the images I’ve created from mid-October to the very end of November.

Shenandoah Sunrise

It was my friend, Larry and I’s 4th year anniversary of capturing the sunrise in Shenandoah National Park in the autumn time. I love this tradition. Mostly because it’s fun to reminisce on our friendship. Each year we go has been extremely different. But there has always been one thing in common, awesome fall colors!

This time around, we were lucky to get some fog. It was crazy because the entire time we were driving to and from Shenandoah, there was a lot of fog. So when we got to the top of the mountain, it was really cool to see it from above. They kind of look like spider webs!

Mt Vernon Trail Sunrise

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This image was taken on the same day as this one. When I first arrived at the reflecting pool about 45 minutes before sunrise, I saw that the World War II memorial was beautifully lit with the fountain flowing. So I got busy trying to capture the image I had imagined in my head. After 10 minutes of being there, the fountains turned off at the World War II memorial. It was unfortunate because the image I had imagined had to do with the fountains. So I shifted my focus on photographing the Atlantic side of the memorial.  But then I didn’t even notice that the Pacific side was glowing with color! It was one of those mornings when I seemed to be a little off with everything but oh well. I was glad I went out either way.

So when I finally noticed the color, I ran with my tripod inside the memorial. You may see that I caught a little bit of the remaining color, but it was pretty much gone by the time I set my camera back up. Either way, I still think the reflection turned out so nice and crisp.

I should look up the fountain schedule thou. It was so weird that they turned it off at sunrise. I wonder when they turn it back on?

My camera settings for this image are F5 at 1/16th sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 35mm prime lens.

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I’ve had this one particular image in my mind for the past week but it’s not this. I sort of, kind of captured it yesterday morning with this image, but it didn’t turn out exactly like how I wanted. So you may be seeing more of of the World War II Memorial in the near future until I get it right 🙂

But for now, I like the way this turned out.

It was a cold morning with no wind. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool water was so still, it looked like a mirror. I really love how reflective it was, especially in the trees. They look so tall and sort of spooky, but I think it works because they bring the attention down to the memorial and the bicyclist riding by.

My camera settings for this image are F5 at 1/200th sec and ISO 4000 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

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Happy Halloween!

To be honest, I’m not really a spooky type of person. LOL. I don’t like scary movies or going to haunted houses. I prefer funny movies and pumpkin flavored treats. I’m more into the holiday for the chocolates and dressing up. But I also think Halloween is fun because it’s sort of the unofficial kick-off to the holiday season for me. And I’m all about the other holidays! 🙂

This is probably as spooky as I’m going to get. LOL. A nice orangey sunset at the WWII memorial on the National Mall. Taken at the same time I captured this image, I just love the reflection of the sky.

So if you do go out tonight, I hope you have a fun and safe Halloween! Save some Crunch bars for me!

My camera settings for this image are f4.5 at 1/60th sec and ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm.

 

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#TBT to that one amazingly orange sunset in Washington DC over the summer. It seriously came out of nowhere and I’m so glad I was at the right place at the right time to capture it.

I think it’s amazing that I was able to capture only one person in this image. Especially since this was created during sunset and there’s usually a ton of people all over the National Mall. The World War II memorial is probably one of the busiest out of them all. So with no one even in the background is a complete shock. With that sky, I’m surprised I couldn’t capture more people stopping to enjoy the clouds.

PS do people even do throwback Thursdays (TBT) anymore? LOL.

My camera settings for this image was F4.5 at 1/40th sec and ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide-angle lens.

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After 3 years of repair work, the Washington Monument finally reopened. I was so excited to get back up there, I had only been once before – the last time it reopened. LOL.

So I heard a rumor that it was actually staying open until 9 pm the first week that it was opened. I had to jump on this opportunity as fast as I could because it will be difficult to get sunset views like that ever again. There’s a possibility that it could happen again in November when the sunset is closer to 5 pm (the regular closing time), but to be able to take my time and take images as I please, I wanted to get up there asap.

From now until October 15th, you will have to go in the morning to line up and get tickets at the Monument for the same day. After the 15th, it can be done online. But waking up early in the morning never stood in my way. I arrived around 6:45 am and I was about 20th in line. Luckily, you can request what time you want to go up and so I got it for 6:30 pm.

It was a cloudless day but the sun was still glowing all over the city. Obviously, I spent most of my time in the window facing east. I love this view of the WWII memorial with my long lens. It’s so interesting to see all the people and what they are doing… from above 🙂

My camera settings for this image are F10 at 1/40th sec and ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm lens.