Washington DC

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/y22...n/b78c410d.jpg



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

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/4024f1bf.jpg



Marine Two, again

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/55f769d4.jpg



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

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/e9c4f697.jpg



The first VH-60N I've seen!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/d0ac991b.jpg



The US Capitol

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/a042ed1a.jpg



DCA Tower

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/e90895c6.jpg


The White House

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/3cb35202.jpg

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.

nice shots

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)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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)

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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?

Thanks for the comments, flyboy 28 and AirtrafficController!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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/y22...n/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/y22...n/2e225ec3.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/ecdd3709.jpg


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

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/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/y22...n/1ecac089.jpg


The most of the front I could get:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...n/68a3f273.jpg

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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chris102

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.

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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

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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by moose135

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!

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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!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chris102

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. :?

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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

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.

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!

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