Tag: washington d.c.

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getting the perfect shot

Re-post November 2011

One of the great things owning a Leica M9 and 50mm summilux is the ability to shoot in the dark.  For most, this is only possible with the use of a flash.  Personally, I try to shoot without one as much as possible because I like natural lighting.  Shooting at low apertures such as 1.4 allows for shooting in almost complete darkness (the leica noctilux is probably the only one that truly will allow you to do this).  It is much more difficult to focus, prevent blur, and you have to shoot at high ISO’s.  Fortunately, the M9 can perform this at 1000, 1500, and even 2500 ISO.  Unfortunately, I typically don’t like color pics at this high of ISO therefore I always change them to black and white.  The noise at these high ISO’s add to the quality of black and white.

A friend of mine, Hiro Shibuya (he was my chief resident when I was a first year) and I were recently in Washington D.C. for a conference and decided to spend some time sight seeing and taking pictures.  We were at the Lincoln Memorial and he was trying to get that perfect picture and I caught him in the act.  In this instance, him being out of focus works because of the sense of movement the viewer gets.  This was probably one of my favorite pics.

You can view Hiro’s pictures here.

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the fallen

Most of the time when I post pictures they are not pre-planned.  I sit and go through the thousands of pictures I’v taken and I try to find something that is interesting, tells a story, or has some sentimental value.  Often times it’s hard to find the “one” picture I want to post.

The picture I’m posting today, was taken last fall at Arlington National Cemetery.  It was a beautiful late fall afternoon and a friend and I came across this large tree with many fallen yellow leaves.  The contrast between the green grass, yellow leaves, and headstones was remarkable.  It’s hard to call a cemetery beautiful, especially one like our National Cemetery but I’m sure most would agree that it is a great place to pay respect to our fallen.

ISO 160 1/360 f/2.0 28mm summicron

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Washington Monument

It can be a challenge trying to capture shots that are different than others, especially when shooting in popular tourist attractions.  Every time I travel to places like Washington D.C. I take the traditional tourist shots but also try to capture a different perspective.

A friend and I were at the Lincoln Memorial taking pictures and I noticed this couple looking onward towards the Washington Memorial and I snuck up behind them and capture this shot.  I was shooting without a tripod in darkness and was only able to capture this because I was using my 50mm summilux (shot at f/1.4).

ISO 1600 1/12 f/1.4 50mm summilux

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Pay our respect

Approximately 20 years ago my family vacationed in Washington D.C.  My greatest memories of that vacation was visiting Arlington National Cemetery.  Even though I was only about 10 years old, I knew of President John F. Kennedy very well and I can still remember the impact it had when I walked up to his grave and saw the eternal flame.   I also remember watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.  I was very intrigued how “in sync” the guards were (remember I was only 10).

Recently, I traveled back to Arlington National Cemetery and many of those memories returned.  Although  saddened to visit the graves of those who sacrificed their lives for our country, I believe it’s necessary for us to visit and pay our respects.

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