Snow Covered Iwo Jima Memorial

A collage of images of the Marine Corps War Memorial covered in snow.

In my last post, I wrote a little about my semester in Washington, D.C.  Since one post can’t do it justice, I’ve decided to show you some more photos from my time in the city.

At the end of my residence in D.C., my parents and two younger brothers came to help me move out and see the sights.  I had a busy couple of days planned before I needed to move out of my townhouse, but the weather had another idea.  The night my family got in, Friday, December 18, we went out to dinner and when we left the restaurant, the ground was already covered in snow.  I’m sure you all remember hearing about the massive snow storm that hit the northeast right before Christmas – this was that storm.  Over the next two days, D.C. was dumped with 16.5 inches of snow – which allowed my family and I an almost private tour of the Capitol.  We managed to see some of the city, but for the most part, we were snowed in.  It was an incredibly memorable experience.

On the Sunday after the snow stopped, we began our trek back to Ohio.  But first, we made a pit stop at the Marine Corps War Memorial, or the Iwo Jima Memorial as many know it.  My grandfather was a Marine in the Pacific in World War II and I wanted to get some photos of the memorial to give him for Christmas.  Lucky for me, the snow-covered monument gave me some very unique shots.  Above is what the collage I gave him looked like.  I like these views of the memorial because it allows a deeper study of each aspect of the statue.  From the look my grandpa gave me, I know he enjoyed it too.

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Foggy Night Walk of D.C.

Foggy Capitol

During the my last weeks in Washington, DC, a few friends from high school and college came to visit.  On their first night in the city, I took them on a night walk of the monuments.  I lived on Capitol Hill, so the fog wasn’t as thick at my house, but as we walked down toward the Mall, it got more and more dense.  The fog was so thick down by the Washington Monument that we couldn’t see the monument until we were right across the street from it.  Even then, we couldn’t see the top.  I had never seen a night like it.  It gave an eerie feeling to the night walk and suddenly the Mall that I felt so comfortable in became an unknown world.  It was an experience I’ll never forget and I was so glad we picked that night to go out.

This photo is from that walk.  Since the Capitol Building is on the top of the Hill, the fog wasn’t quite as dense as further down the Mall, allowing me to see the entire building.  I used my GorillaPod to steady the camera and because the light was so low, I used an aperture of f-4.5.

I love how the fog gives it a blurry, faded look.  I think the lighting of the building and the fog accurately portray the feeling of that night.  I also like how the angle of the shot shows the imposing nature of the building.  I walked by the Capitol every day while I lived in D.C. so I have many great memories tied to this photograph.