Saurabh redeemed part of his birthday gift last night for a photography course teaching him how to take photographs of the monuments in the night. I went with him for the ride. I have always wanted to go to see the monuments in the night, and this was a good excuse. I took a book 'coz I figured I would get bored with all the million photos they'd take.
We met the instructor, David Luria, in front of the World War II Memorial. There was a class of 17 students that day. The first thing he taught them was how to make moving cars and people disappear from your photo. It is pretty darn cool what a tripod and increased shutter speeds can accomplish.
Making people disappear - If you look closely on the bottom right corner you can see the person's feet. The rest of him is gone! I picked a photo with feet showing up to prove the disappearing act! :)After, they took photos of the Washington Monument, they moved on to the fountains in the WWII Memorial. At the WWII Memorial, I grabbed a seat and another lady who also had come along for the ride joined me. Reading was put to one side and Jill and I conversed for the remaining 3 hours of this class. She and her husband Pete had moved to DC from Cambridge about 9 months back for a total for 3ish years in the US.
The WWII Memorial looked absolutely gorgeous in the night, with the water and the lights. I LOVED it. (I am going to have a hard time picking a photo for the blog)
World War II Memorial with the Lincoln Memorial in the background
The class then moved onto a ramp in the WWII Memorial. Jill and I were busy talking, we checked on them one moment, and the next they were gone! Luckily Saurabh called me and we caught up with them at the Korean War Memorial. The Korean War Memorial is very interesting. The soldiers are captured as if in combat. They are all lit from below by a single source. David told them, that if they take photos in black and white the statues look like real people. However, in colour they look like statues.
World War II Memorial from the Ramp
Korean War Memorial
From there, the troop headed to the Lincoln Memorial to take photos of the memorial, the man himself and the reflecting pool. The reflection in the reflecting pool at night is simply gorgeous. Last night was also windless, thereby making the water still and creating perfect reflections.
Lincoln!!
When the evening started we saw no moon in the sky, however, by the time we got to the Lincoln Memorial the moon was rising and was an orangish-red ball. It looked stunning!!!
Red Moon!!!! + Washington Monument + Capitol + Reflecting Pool
Once they had their fill of photos at the Lincoln Memorial, we headed to the Vietnam Memorial. There, they took photos of the 3 soldiers. It was past 11 by then, so David left. A few students headed by themselves to the Einstein Memorial where the class was supposed to end. I had never actually been to this memorial before though I had passed by it many times on foot and in a car. It's an excellent memorial and I love how they have done Einstein's Celestial Map on the base of the memorial.
Vietnam War Memorial
Einstein Memorial + Me!!!!We got done by around 11:20 and headed home then.
-photo credits go to Saurabh :)
