Dusk at the National Mall
On the Sept 22, we were supposed to get a beautiful harvest moon rising over the Capitol and then across the National Mall. This supposedly happens only twice a year, so when weather prevented me from getting the shot, I was very disappointed. (See my 9/23 blog entry.) However, I had heard that the moonrise changes only a half a degree or so each day. So, I figured that just two days later I should be able to get a very similar shot.
Unfortunately, since the sky is so large, a mere 1 degree can make a really big difference. When I went to the Washington Monument on Sept 24, we still had a harvest moon and it was gorgeous, but it rose over a bunch of trees—nowhere near the Capitol. Nonetheless, another night out on the Mall at sunset is never wasted. I got some great shots from the Washington Monument of the Lincoln Memorial. I used a telephoto lens to take this shot. A telephoto lens compresses things, reducing the apparent distance between objects. Here you can see Arlington, Virginia, which looks like it’s right behind the Lincoln Memorial rather than being completely on the other side of the Potomac River. You can also see that the very long Reflecting Pool looks very short.
I love the purple in the following two photos. I suppose that I have a special affinity for evening shots. I love how at night, the lighting can be quite dramatic.
I think you can only get these deep blue skies at dusk. I really like it. Return to Old Rag MountainLast weekend, I returned to Old Rag Mountain. I went there last year at about the same time. My purpose then was primarily social. However, my purpose was a bit different this time, viz. I planned to scout out locations for a visit in October. It was a solo trek. I would really like to visit Old Rag in October when the leaves have changed. I should be able to get some wonderful early morning panorama shots of the fall foliage. However, when shooting landscapes at sunrise, there isn’t any time to wonder around looking for good vistas, the light changes too quickly to waste time. So, last weekend I figured that it would be good to visit Old Rag and scout out all the good vistas and make note of the timing of my ascent. This way, I’ll be prepared when I visit again in October. So, last weekend I got up at 3:30 am and departed at 4:00 am for Sperryville, Virginia. I arrived at the lower parking lot for Old Rag at 6:00. Dawn was at 6:30 and sunrise was at 7:00. Since the peak is only part-way into the 8.5 mile trail loop, I figured that I might hike fast and get to the peak by sunrise. Armed with a headlamp I picked up at REI, I set out hiking by myself in the dark. And boy was the hike tough! To get to the peak, you have to hike over the Ridge Trail, a 3 mile rock scramble! I’m in decent physical condition, but even so, I found the trail difficult. Not only is the rock scramble 3 miles long, but it includes 2,200 feet of elevation gain. That’s like climbing the stairs to the top floor of a 220 story skyscraper! And if that isn’t hard enough, I was carrying a lot of photography gear, including my enormous Gitzo series 3 tripod. In the photo below, you can see 3 peaks off in the distance. The furthest peak is the peak of Old Rag Mountain. I was already winded when I took this photo and the trail looked daunting. Well, I missed the sunrise. The trail took way too long and was much too challenging for me to hike in a mere 1 hour. Instead, it took me 3 hours to get to peak. I arrived at 9 am. I think I could have made it in closer to 2 hours, but when I realized that I wasn’t going to make it in time for the sunrise, I made a few stops to take photos along the way. And I’m glad that I did. I really love this photo of mist rising over Shenandoah—I took it about a third of the way into the rock scramble. When I got to the peak of the mountain, I was greeted with an incredible sight—and I don’t mean the vista, which was also incredible. A group of 10 or 15 students from Old Dominion University carried a pink leather love-seat to the top of the mountain and perched it on top of a boulder to watch the sunrise. The pink couch was completely out of place. I might as well have seen a pink elephant. I was stunned when I saw it. Actually, I was out of breath from the hike. And these kids carried a couch up the side of the mountain! They started hiking at 4 am in the dark—and I thought I started early! They were hoping to catch the sunrise as well, but barely missed it. I chatted with them for a while. I was so impressed by their feat. And they were very friendly, offering me an opportunity to sit on the couch for a while, but I declined. (You might guess why by looking at the photos.) However, what was most impressive to me wasn’t that they were able to carry the couch up the mountain, but that they actually carried it back down with them! Last weekend’s hike was fun and very challenging. However, next time when I go in October, I will have to get up even earlier. While the sun will rise a bit later, I now know that 3:30 am just isn’t going to cut it. And yes, landscape photography is hard . . . really hard. Harvest Moon
Yesterday, on the day before the vernal equinox, I met up with the DC Social Flickr group to photograph the harvest moon. We met up at the Lincoln Memorial. Our intent was to capture the harvest moon rising above the Capitol and the Washington Monument.
This was my first time meeting up with the DC Social Flickr group. I really enjoyed meeting everyone. However, the photography was a bit disappointing. Clouds covered the horizon, preventing us from getting any photos of the moon over the Capitol until it rose fairly high in the sky.
I had really high hopes for the night. I’ve seen some really dramatic photos of harvest moons in DC. But alas, the weather was not cooperating.
I do like the photos that I got yesterday. However, they just aren’t what I was trying for. Perhaps I’ll make another trip out onto the Mall later this week. However, the window of opportunity is short. There are only two harvest moons each year. The next one is in March. Huntley Meadows
On my first visit, I was fascinated with the dragonflies.  
Huntley Meadows is most famous for its wildlife--primarily birds. The ducks (or are these geese?) were my closest targets. The proximity was important because the longest lens I own is only 300mm--the minimum focal length for birding is largely considered to be 400mm. 
But a relatively short lens wasn’t my only difficulty. The sun was setting behind cloud cover, resulting in heavy glare on the water. I tried using a polarizer to fight the glare, but the polarizer only exasperated my third problem, viz. that the light was fading and my telephoto lens isn’t very fast (doesn’t have a very large aperture). The polarizer couldn’t eliminate all the glare and only cut down on the amount of light I was collecting. So, I tried to make the best of it by accepting the glare and going for a high-key look. 
Here’s my attempt to add a little color. 
Besides ducks (or geese), Huntley Meadows also features herons. This guy looked great, but I couldn’t get close. I had to crop quite a bit on this one. 
On my second visit, I caught the sunset without cloud cover and this time the egrets decided to cooperate. 
Of course, that’s just relative. Without a long lens, there’s no way I would have been able to get close without wading into the water. So I tried to get creative again. This time, I decided to focus on the light and the empty area of the water around the birds. 
I hope you like my photos. Feel free to check them out on Flickr and send me an email or leave a comment below. Edit (9/3/2010): Let’s throw in a nice photo of a butterfly just for good measure. 
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Rain
I got up early Wednesday morning to visit the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. I had hoped to shoot waterlilies at sunrise. Unfortunately, DC got hit hard with a massive rainstorm. Forecasters were warning of flash floods.
At first, I figured I’d have to reschedule. However, I wasn’t dissuaded. I figured that the rain might make for some unique photos and I wasn’t disappointed. The waterlilies were stunning. 
I was also impressed with the lotus flowers. 
Besides the flowers, I found a number of birds. I was able to get fairly close to this heron. 
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