U.S. Capitol and Flag THF40824

U.S. Capitol THF40859

U.S. Capitol THFE00083

U.S. Capitol THF49562

U.S. Capitol Summer THF40876

U.S. Capitol THF40890

U.S. Capitol THF40915

U.S. Capitol THF40667

U.S. Capitol THF40871

U.S. Capitol Dome THF40831

U.S. Capitol THF40937

U.S. Capitol THF18902

U.S. Capitol THF40912

U.S. Capitol THF46829

U.S. Capitol Sunrise THFE04222

U.S. Capitol THFE03048

U.S. Capitol and Iwo Jima THF18902

U.S. Capitol THFE03006

U.S. Capitol THF49830

	Capitol Front

Front Entrance

A tree-lined avenue once lead to the plaza at the east entrance to the Capitol. This is a hand-held shot with 200mm lens, because I didn't have a tripod permit for the Capitol this dawn. So I sat in the (closed) street and steadied the lens with my knee. Fortunately the image came out very sharp, and was one of the first 13 x 19" prints that I made on the Epson 1280. This vantage point is now closed off due to a massive construction project on the east grounds. When they complete the new visitor's center, and dust off the Capitol, I'm sure they will restore the grounds. #03582: Canon EOS-3, 70-200/4.0 lens at 200mm, Kodak Gold 200

Capitol Southeast View

Capitol View from the Southeast

A gorgeous late-spring morning can accentuate the beauty in any scene, but the extraordinary U. S. Capitol hardly needs any help. The best vantage points are close to the building, because of trees and barricades further back. So I took this hand-held using a 20mm lens... no tripod is needed on a bright scene with such a wide angle lens. Looking up to include the full dome makes the building appear to "lean" toward the dome. Such perspective distortion can be corrected in PhotoShop, or avoided by using a 24mm tilt-shift "perspective control" lens. #03591: Canon EOS-3, 20mm/2.8 lens, Kodak Gold 200

Capitol North Side

North View

North of the Capitol toward Union Station is a pleasant park including a carillon and a series of fountains. This image is taken just after sunrise while sitting on the sidewalk and propping the 70-200mm lens on my knee. I had to hurry and didn't want to set up a tripod, because my car had parked itself in a reserved spot. All of the street parking places (though mostly empty) are reserved for officials at all times -- even at 05:30 on a summer Sunday morning when Congress is out of session. #03566: Canon EOS-3, 70-200/4.0 lens, Kodak Gold 200

Capitol Sunrise

Capitol Sunrise from Virginia

On a hazy fall morning, the sun appears half-hidden by the atmosphere. The sun moves quickly, or rather, the earth turns quickly. #18943: Canon EOS-1Ds, 500mm/4 lens 2X (1000mm), ISO 100, f/16 for 1/6 sec

Mall Sunrise

Framing a shot of the sun or moon at 1000mm requires anticipation: place the camera so that the sun will be in the desired position a few seconds later. One must guess at the trajectory of the sun (or moon), since they move at a steep angle - not straight up. Set the tripod, frame the shot, focus, meter, and let the sun move into the exact spot.

These two shots are taken from the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) in Virginia. Fortunately, it has a short hill that allows one to move the camera position up or down a bit, and side-to-side a lot. You can see that the foreground trees (bottom of image, on the Virginia side of the Potomac) have moved as I changed position between shots. On some mornings, the sky will be more clear and the sun will be too bright for this shot. I could wish that it was more clear this day, but I like the moodiness of these two scenes. #18948: Canon EOS-1Ds, 500mm/4 lens, ISO 100, f/16 for 1/13 sec