Last week I found myself at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Usually when I wake up for sunrise, I don’t have a real plan of where I’m going to go. I just go where the wind takes me but on this particular day as soon as I parked my car, I knew exactly where I was going. It was around this time 6 years ago when I captured this image of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I’ve always wanted to go back when the wreaths are laid and I knew that this was my chance.
Unfortunately, I did not get the same light as I did 6 years ago but the wreaths were beautiful. You can’t help but feel thankful for all the names on this wall and their sacrifice. Then it led me to think about our current military and how some of them aren’t able to be home for the holidays. Even some our neighbors who have to work around the clock, just to serve like doctors, nurses, even postal workers. Thank you all so much.
In order to capture this image differently, I tried a new perspective. I basically placed my camera on the ground and wanted to get a nice line of wreaths in the shot. I like the way that it turned out but I can’t help staring at the reflections of the trees behind them on the wall. I love how they look so small and I think this is a real interesting point of view.
I’m not sure how long these wreaths stay at the memorial or even Arlington Cemetery. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to photograph them again in more light.
Thanks again to all those who serve and happy holidays to everyone.
My camera settings for this image is F4 at 0.3 sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom