Winter Dawn at the CapitolEarly on a cold, winter morning, snow covers the grounds of the west front of the United States Capitol.

Winter hit us here in Washington, D.C., and on Monday and Tuesday it actually snowed! I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I got up well before dawn and visited the Capitol. Because of the overcast skies, I didn't get much of a sunrise, but in the early dawn, I did get some brief color.

Snow and traffic lights at the CapitolSnow covered streets lead up to the United States Capitol on a cold winter morning in Washington, D.C.

I spent some time taking photos of the area around the Capitol. Unfortunately, I had to cut things short because of freezing rain. While I didn't get to spend as much time shooting as I would have liked, I did get this pretty photo of the National Mall:

Snow covered trees on the National MallSnow blankets the National Mall on a cold winter morning in Washington, D.C.

I think the following photo gives you an idea of just how early I was out there shooting. It was awfully cold.

Clearing snow for CongressEarly in the morning, an employee of the Architect of the Capitol clears snow from the grounds of the United States Capitol using a small tractor/snowplow.

Hopefully we get some more snow this season. I have some other locations I'd like to shoot as well.