It’s been a minute since I’ve posted anything to ThruMyLens. Over a year actually. It seems like photo reviews and photo journalism like this website are going the way of the Dodo bird. That’s OK – this site has always been a creative outlet for me and a labor of love. I miss this kind of content – both creating and consuming it. So I’ll be making a concerted effort to increase my activity here.

Last year I changed jobs (after working 15 years for one company) – my new employer is headquartered in the DC area. So I find myself making quite a few trips out that way these days. Last fall I extended one such business trip and spent a few day being a tourist int he Capitol area – something I hadn’t done since I was 19 when I won a scholarship to attend the Student Symposium for the Study of the Presidency. So I really looked forward to again experience the art and majesty of the monuments and architecture in. Washington D.C.

GEAR CHECK – WHAT PHOTO GEAR DID I BRING?

These days I’m very much trying to grow as a photographer. Trying to be more creative…more intentional…experimenting. So I brought my camera backpack and gear on the trip. I knew I’d be walking quite a bit each day so I wanted to save weight. I brought my Canon R5, along with the Canon “holy trinity” of lenses – the RF 15-35 f2.8, the RF 24-70 f2.8, and the RF 70-200 2.8. I considered also bring my Canon R6 body as well as some other prime lenses but ultimately just didn’t want to schlep all that around DC every day. I was not disappointed in my decision. Most of these photos (80%) were taken with the RF 15-35 f2.8, and I was thrilled because I normally don’t often use the lens. The lion’s share of the remaining 20% of the photos I took were taken with the RF 70-200 f2.8. I also brought a couple of K&F Concepts 77mm variable ND filters for the 70-200. More on that later.  For schleping the gear around, I broguth my coveted PGYTech OneMo 22l backpack.  It was a GREAT choice.  You can see a review of this backpack on the ThruMyLens YouTube channel by clicking HERE.

In no particular order, here is a collection of my favorites.  Click on any of them to see a larger version.

 

Some shots I took the next day starting with a bucket list experience for me – experiencing sunrise on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial:

This was easily my favorite photo of the trip.  Here’s a couple of BTS photos:

The famous “I Have A Dream” inscription on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  It’s starting to fade and is a bit tough to read.  “I HAVE A DREAM MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.  THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM AUGUST 28, 1963.”:

This is the front of the US Capital building.  The opposite side is where several outdoor Presidential inaugurations have taken place and was under construction during my visit. 

US Supreme Court building. 

I spent two full days photographing in Washington D.C. and don’t feel like I scratched the surface of capturing the city.  It’s easily my favorite city to photograph in the world.   Similarly, there are so many fantastic museums in D.C.  I visited just a few:

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History:

East Building of the National Gallery of Art:

Perhaps my favorite museum was the National Air and Space Museum – Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center:

This museum houses three of my favorite aircraft.  First, the SR-71 Blackbird.  I’ve seen it several times at the US Museum of the Air Force locally at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, but it’s always a thrill:

This museum is also home for the Space Shuttle Discovery – so cool to see one up close:

  Finally, I got to see a Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde.  Hopefully one day we’ll once again have a commercial super sonic aircraft in service:

Hope you enjoyed the photo tour!