Washington DC

[Chris102]

Here are some photos I took in Washington last week with my Canon XT.
Please leave me some comments - I'd love to hear what you think! :D

The Vice President's Helicopter, Marine Two, with a plane (US Airways Airbus?) departing from DCA. (I have a lot more of Marine Two - I took about 20-30 of it taking off and flying overhead)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/b78c410d.jpg



Marine Two (Nice coincidence that I got the stobe light)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/4024f1bf.jpg



Marine Two, again

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/55f769d4.jpg



Anacostia Naval Station's Presidential Helicopter facility, with a VH-3D taking off.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/e9c4f697.jpg



The first VH-60N I've seen!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/d0ac991b.jpg



The US Capitol

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/a042ed1a.jpg



DCA Tower

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/e90895c6.jpg


The White House

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/3cb35202.jpg

[flyboy 28]

Nice! The White House shot looks great.

Did you get any DCA spotting in? I was there once in the spring but I didn't get any photos.

[AirtrafficController]

nice shots

[lijk604]

how did you get that close of a White House shot without the Secret Squirells jumping you?
Hell if you can get that close to the "President's house" why are we getting harassed photographing aircraft? (Rhetorical question)

[moose135]

how did you get that close of a White House shot without the Secret Squirells jumping you?
Hell if you can get that close to the "President's house" why are we getting harassed photographing aircraft? (Rhetorical question)

Looks like he was up next to the fence on the north side of the building. Here's I shot I took from Lafayette Park - you can see the sidewalk & fence. They don't allow vehicles on the street in front, and there are plenty of police, Secret Service (plain-clothes and uniformed) and other security (seen and unseen) in the area.

http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/85860808-L.jpg

Great shots, Chris. I love shooting in DC, it's a great city for photography. Were you able to do any night shooting while you were there?

[Chris102]

Thanks for the comments, flyboy 28 and AirtrafficController!


Nice! The White House shot looks great.

Did you get any DCA spotting in? I was there once in the spring but I didn't get any photos.

No, I don't think I would have been even able to figure out how to get there :lol:
The only photos I could get were approaches over the Potomac - I was on a boat, so the photos I got are of the underside of the planes, like this one:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/74ddcee8.jpg


Thanks, moose! I like your shot of the White House - I tried taking one like yours, but with cloudy weather, the huge crowd in the park, and kids hanging from the fence, my photo didn't turn out :(

I didn't do too much night shooting - There's some ordinence that you can't use a tripod in a public place :? so I had to be careful when I used it.

But I did get some night photos:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/2e225ec3.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/ecdd3709.jpg


Here's one from my trip in January, with an IS lens.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/3e45308c.jpg


I really like Washington, too. The worst part of it though is the tourists standing in the photos.

My goal for Washington was to get a picture of the Vice President's Residence, but they have it surrounded by trees so that you can't see it. I did get a photo of the back of the Residence in January, but it wasn't what I wanted.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/1ecac089.jpg


The most of the front I could get:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/CDolan/68a3f273.jpg

[nwafan20]

Nice shots, Washington DC was a cool city, I was there in 2006.

How many protesters were there in front of the white house when you were there? It seems like no matter the president, there are at least a few there at all times.

[moose135]

I didn't do too much night shooting - There's some ordinence that you can't use a tripod in a public place :? so I had to be careful when I used it.

Since when? I was there in October 2005, and took a ton of night photos, all over the Mall and surrounding monuments, including the White House, and never had anyone look twice at my tripod. I was up by the Capitol Building during the day, and the police wouldn't let someone bring a tripod in, although a monopod was allowed, so I assumed it had something to do with causing an obstruction with a tripod set up.

There were lots of people shooting with tripods around the Mall at night - the city lives to be photographed at night!

http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/85860791-L.jpg

http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/85864193-L.jpg http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/85863912-L.jpg

[Mateo]

Supposedly, if you're using a tripod, you're a commercial photographer, and thus need prior approval do take photos of public buildings for commercial use. As far as I know, that's only a Capitol Police restriction, and only applies in the immediate Capitol Hill area where they have jurisdiction. Pretty much everywhere else in the monumental core is US Park Police, and I don't think they have a tripod rule.

Just a quick thing to note in your picture of the Capitol building - the House side doesn't have a flag (not in session), and the Senate flag is at half-staff, presumably due to the death of Senator Thomas of Wyoming, which was June 4.

[Chris102]

Since when? I was there in October 2005, and took a ton of night photos, all over the Mall and surrounding monuments, including the White House, and never had anyone look twice at my tripod. I was up by the Capitol Building during the day, and the police wouldn't let someone bring a tripod in, although a monopod was allowed, so I assumed it had something to do with causing an obstruction with a tripod set up.

There were lots of people shooting with tripods around the Mall at night - the city lives to be photographed at night!



Great shots! I love the first one!

Next time I'm in Washington I'll have to try that angle. Did you take that one from across the river in Arlington?

I think my night photos were taken too late at night. :?

As Mateo said, it's a Capitol Police law about the tripod, but actually it was the USSS Uniformed Division outside the White House who told me I couldn't use the tripod.

My next trip is New York in late July. I'm hoping I'll be there, and not have a change in plans like last time!

I'm looking through my NY photo books for some ideas for my photos. :D
I'll be in town Wednesday, July 25 - hopefully Trump will be home!

[moose135]

Great shots! I love the first one!

Next time I'm in Washington I'll have to try that angle. Did you take that one from across the river in Arlington?

I think my night photos were taken too late at night. :?

Thanks, Chris. Yes, the first one was taken across the river, near the Iwo Jima Memorial. If you are facing DC at the memorial, there is a large field to your right (south). There were 3 or 4 other guys with big lenses and tripods set up that night, so I knew I had found a good spot :wink:

Here's a link to a Google map of the location
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8& ... 40169&z=15 (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&om=1&hl=en&msa=0&msid=118296850977100630111.000001135c1fda31c8f41&ll=38.888561,-77.059736&spn=0.016669,0.040169&z=15)

I don't know that there is a "too late at night" for shooting. Yes, the first one was taken shortly after sunset, but I was out until Midnight a couple of nights shooting.

[cancidas]

very cool shots. i'll be heading down there on thursday, just for the day. i'd love to take a trip down and do some night shooting though!

[spottingforever]

The Best place for KDCA shots is at gravelly point its off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway