The 555-foot obelisk sits on a low hill and can be seen for many miles, especially from the air. Nothing else in the area is anywhere near this tall, and in fact there are very few structures close to the Washington Monument. For five years after completion, this was the tallest building in the world.

The Washington Monument is equally impressive by day or by night, and the Park Service has recently upgraded the lighting. Note the uneven illumination in the photo below right (from 2003).

From the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool

Washington Monument Silhouette at Dawn

Reflecting Pool at Evening Twilight

"Reflecting Puddle" during WWII Memorial Construction

Washington Monument at Twilight with the "old" lighting

Three Flags in Morning Sunlight

New Lighting

Fisheye View

Three Flags Looking Up

Ring of Flags

Ring of Flags with Capitol

Pathways at Plaza

Dramatic Clouds at Washington Monument

Washington Monument Plaza

Stone Blocks at Ground Level

Base of Washington Monument

Wide Angle View

Topping the Hill

Five Flags

Monument from Plaza

Monument Hill

White Puffy Clouds

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms

Surrounding the Tidal Basin and nearby areas are many hundreds of Japanese cherry trees that burst into blossom each spring. Normally they are photographed with the waters of the Tidal Basin or the Jefferson Memorial, but the Washington Monument is only three blocks to the north. The photo above right was taken from Independence Avenue.

"Reflecting Puddle" during WWII Memorial Construction

World War II Memorial

The famous Reflecting Pool was drained to allow construction on the World War II Memorial (seen at bottom of image). The empty pool affords rare opportunities for photo angles - without getting wet or arrested (for wading in the pool). Or the photographer can have a bit of fun naming The Reflecting Puddle as I have done here. #10181: Canon 1Ds, 70-200/2.8 lens at 80mm, ISO 100, f/8 for 1.3 sec

Sunrise in Washington

With the sun rising in the east, a long lens from a distance of 2 miles enlarges the sun relative to terrestrial objects. This exposure uses a Canon 2X teleconverter to further magnify the sun, at the expense of some optical degradation. The spot on the sun is not sensor dust - it is a sunspot.

#10216: Canon 1Ds, 500/4 lens 2X (1000mm), ISO 100, f/16 for 1/30 sec