The Washington Monument under rehab 9.5 years ago

That scaffolding looks like it was purpose built, how tall is the monument?

 

WOW!, coming from a part of the UK where there are no tall buildings I really cannot comprehend something that tall, thanks Roger

 

Nice work Roger. Do you have any photos of it all lit up at night?

When I did an internship at the Smithsonian NMAI construction office, my boss showed me some pictures taken from inside the scaffolding. He scored a tour that included a climb to the top of the scaffolding, and even had a photo of himself next to the aluminum cap.

 

Next time you're in DC, try to leave plenty of time to shoot the monuments at night. They upgraded all of the lighting which makes it much better for photography. They also added more light stands farther back at all of the monuments so the tops don't get so dark anymore

 

Great shots guys!

I've lived in the northeast all my life and have yet to see Washington DC~

I've driven *past* it plenty of times, usually on our way to FL :

 

Thanks ColleenMarie. You really should try go visit DC sometime, there are lots of photo opportunities... I like going down there in the spring before tourist season and before the humidity gets bad

 

I hear ya Michael!

I'd looove to go during the Cherry blossom festival, I hear it's very pretty~

 

It is incredible during peak bloom. But timing peak bloom is very tough... The festival is two weeks long but the true peak bloom only lasts a couple of days (depending on the weather). NPS forecasts the bloom here but they can only give a fairly accurate window starting 16-21 days out. But if you get the timing right and have great weather, you can get some nice shots...

 

Two more:

 

Those shots are amazing! We'll be spending a couple of days in DC this summer (we have to visit the in-laws in Maine...long drive from JAX!) with our kids. We haven't been since our honeymoon back in 1995...and I carried my 35mm Mamiya back then. I'll try to dig out some of my pictures from then and scan them. I have some pretty nice pictures at Arlington and the Air and Space museum, If I remember correctly.

 

Beautiful again Michael...and thank you for that info!

 

Thanks guys! You're welcome ColleenMarie. Here's one more. This one is my all time favorite cherry blossom shot even though I took it with my old manual focus Minolta X700 on Kodak Gold 100. The scan doesn't do it justice...



...what I'd give to catch that scene again with my D700...