Washington D.C - My thoughts on the Lincoln Memorial and traveling 'light'
My iphone image of the Lincoln Memorial
So I recently had the pleasure of visiting the nations capitol for a few days last weekend and I had a blast! It was great to take a break from uni assignments and immerse myself in a new city for a few days. Washington D.C reminds me a lot of London in terms of the layout of the streets and buildings architecture. After a long evening of travelling I arrived at the hostel around 2.00am and I was up and out taking photographs as the sun rose at 6:30am. My first destination was the Lincoln Memorial. As I walked up to it I was amazed by the sheer size of the monument. I stood there for a while just embracing the scale and intricate details of the design before I started to take any photographs. I was really glad that I arrived early for two reasons; the first was because I ended up being the only person that was there and the second was because the sunlight at that time was absolutely breathtaking as it slowly rose higher and higher in the sky (see image above).
I really like the above image of the pillars in the foreground and the Washington Monument in the background. This is primarily because of the way the light was falling on the ground, it created crisp passages and pathways of light amongst the strong dark shadows.
Here are a few of the images I captured during my time in D.C:
What was in my camera bag for d.c?
So I actually decided to travel 'light' on this trip. I only ended up bringing 10 photography items, (which may seem like a lot, but it's much less than than usual) I took;
1. My iphone - which I used way more than I expected to because it was so convenient.
2. My Canon 60d.
3. My Canon 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Ultra Wide Angle Lens - which I used for a handful of photographs.
4. My Canon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens - That I used for a grand total of ZERO images!
5. My Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 - Which stayed on my 60d the most.
6. My Black Rapid RS7 Strap - Which was very helpful as usual, it was never off my shoulder!
7. Spare SD Memory Cards - Just in case
8. 5 Batteries - You can never have enough.
9. 1 Battery Charger - I was thinking that I should've brought another but it was fine.
10. Neutral Density Filters - They let me use my Sigma lens wide open when it was bright.
So in conclusion, next time I go to a similar destination I'll consider leaving my 18-135mm lens at home to free up some space. When I originally packed my bag it was difficult to leave so much out but it was totally worth it in the long run and my bag wasn't to heavy as a result.
I hope you have a great week!
