Tag Archives: Fountains

Super Moon: Always Have a Plan B

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Spoiler Alert:  There will be no moon photograph in this post; hence you will have to skip down several paragraphs if you just want to see the pictures.

Last week, the weather forecasters and other media were touting the so-called “Super Moon” that would be rising as a full moon on Monday evening.  I am always looking  for images that have a full moon nicely aligned with one of the iconic scenes in Washington, DC but a quick check of the details on time and placement were not encouraging.   The moonrise was timed to occur about 10 minutes before the sunset, so the moon would be pretty high before the deep blue twilight colors would be at their best. The best location seemed to be at the Tidal Basin with the moon coming up adjacent to the Jefferson Memorial but the placement wasn’t ideal.  But, you never know for sure, so it’s best to show up just in case.

But clouds began to appear in the afternoon, so prospects were getting dimmer by the minute. But one of the benefits of the location is that the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial is right along that side of the Tidal Basin and I had been intending to check some evening to see if the fountains were running and illuminated.  This would be Plan B.

Arriving at the Tidal Basin, it was quickly obvious that the media’s flogging of the Super Moon story had the expected effect: At least 3 dozen tripods were strung along the sidewalk of the Tidal Basin, with their cameras all pointed at the Jefferson Memorial.  But for a change, there was no consensus on where the best spot would be.  I joined the group closest to the Memorial (about 6 shooters) and checked The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) app which confirmed this was the best spot.

With 15 minutes to go, I strolled about 100 yards up the sidewalk where a larger group had congregated (seeking safety in numbers?).  Here TPE was saying the moon would rise way off to the left of the Memorial while the PhotoPils app indicated the moon would be much closer to the Memorial and if it was right, this was the place to be. What to do? Well, the clouds looked really bad, there was a very nice bench right next to my tripod, the other photographers were friendly, and the FDR Memorial  fountains were only a 2-minute walk away.  The bench tipped the decision.

Ten minutes after the scheduled rise, one of the other shooters pointed out a faint pink circle almost completely covered by the clouds and it was way over to the left, exactly where TPE had predicted.  But it didn’t matter because it was hardly visible and soon was completely gone from view.  While my neighbors picked up their gear and started to migrate toward the other spot, I chose Plan B and went directly to the FDR Memorial.

The image below is a quick pick from the night’s take but I was pretty happy with all of the results.  It turns out that the light is very nice during a brief period of 10-20 minutes after sunset.  After that, the lighting tends to blow out and detail in the rocks becomes difficult to pull out.  The Memorial is loaded with fountains so this implies a number of future visits will be rewarding.

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FDR Memorial Fountain (2 seconds at f/16, lens at 38 mm)

When finished with the fountains, it seemed appropriate to check on the folks who had cast their fate with the moon.  It is entirely possible that there was a spectacular moment while I was away, but the scene below indicates that nothing was going on at 8:35.  It seemed best not to ask.

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Jefferson Memorial at Twilight

Washington, DC—August Scouting Report

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Breaking News:  Local readers, photographers or not, should take into account that this coming Monday to Wednesday (August 4-6) could be somewhat chaotic in downtown Washington as the leaders of 40- 50 African nations will be here for a summit meeting.

OK, back to our normal programming:

Yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to zip down to the city and check out the status of possible shooting locations.  The weather was cloudy and it looked like we might get a shower or two, so the prospects for actually stopping and doing some serious photography seemed remote.  I almost didn’t take my camera, but a Little Voice said: “You might be sorry.”

As it turned out, the Little Voice was right.  My first stop was Union Station which is still undergoing a massive interior renovation started months ago.  The first sight when you walk in the front entrance is a mass of scaffolding, huge tarpaulins, and netting to protect pedestrians from falling debris.  (See image below)

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 Union Station Washington, DC Under Renovation

But then I turned left and I was already glad that I had brought the camera. The west wing of the Waiting Area was free of construction and the station’s famous centurions were on duty and alert.  Be aware, however, that there is a strict prohibition on tripods at Union Station, so one needs a high ISO and a wide aperture, especially on a cloudy day. (Technical Data: hand held Nikon D800E with 24-70mm f/2.8 lens extended to 45mm; Exposure 1/125th sec @f2.8, EV= -0.67, ISO 800).  Three images, photomerged.

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 The Centurions of Union Station

Over at the Supreme Court, a new repair project has just begun.  The Capitol Police officer on duty told me that this set of scaffolding had just gone up this week.

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 Yet Another Renovation at the Supreme Court

Next stop: The U.S. Capitol Building.  The long awaited and much-needed repair of the Capitol Dome is now underway and the scaffolding is being erected now.  On the positive side, Congress is on recess and the shallow reflecting pools on the eastern plaza have been repaired and the water is running again (See image below).

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 US Capitol, East Plaza

 Photographers that want to include the dome will have to accept the presence of scaffolding for perhaps the next two years.  (See the list of the end of this post for details on the situation around the Capitol.)  But there is a positive side: it makes one think about different approaches as exemplified by the image below.

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The US Capitol, View from South Side

 And down the hill on the western side of the Capitol, the flowers around the base of the James Garfield statue are looking great.  I couldn’t resist this image, even with the scaffolding in full view.

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James A. Garfield Statue and US Capitol

 The following summarizes my observations on the drive:

Good news:

  • A lot of the fountains are running, including those in front of the American History Museum, the Library of Congress (Court of Neptune), Senate Garage Fountains, Supreme Court fountains, the Bartholdi Park fountain, the Haupt Fountains on Constitution Avenue across from the German Friendship Garden and most of those at the World War II Memorial (But see the Bad News Below).
  • Almost all of the scaffolding has been removed from the renovation project at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building. (But see the Bad News below)
  • The eastern plaza of the US Capitol Building is no longer a parking lot (as it was on Thursday) for Congressional VIPS as they have departed for the August recess. The reflection pools surrounding the two main skylights for the underground visitor center are back up and running and there must have been a bump up in the gardening budget because the flowers around the Capitol are looking better than I have seen in a long time.
  • The National Park Service Tulip Library, located near the Tidal Basin at Independence Avenue and Maine Avenue, is well past the tulip season. But the annuals that were planted after the tulip bulbs were removed are looking good.  And it appears that an ugly wooden fence right across the street (ruining any possibility of combining these flowers with the Washington Monument) is in the process of being removed.  I have been hating this fence since I first saw it 7 years ago.

Bad news:

  • The work on the western wall (Freedom Wall) of the World War II Memorial is still not completed.
  • Although the renovation of the Arts and Industries Building is complete, there are no plans to open it due to a lack of funds. So there may be some minor gates and barriers to prevent people from entering the space.
  • The US Capitol dome project includes a large construction support zone on the northwest sector of the grounds and a lot of netting inside the dome. Tours are still ongoing.
  • The Supreme Court front entrance now has scaffolding for a new project.
  • The impressively tall fountain (name unknown to me) at the intersection of 20th and C St. NW is not running.
  • And, not surprisingly, the Columbus Fountain at Union Station continues its 10-year-plus streak of neglect, despite a recent renovation of the entire plaza surrounding it.

Paris: View from the Eiffel Tower

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Apologies for the temporary lapse in Paris imagery. But although I wasn’t writing, I was taking pictures.  Now the journey is over and there is ample time to look at some of the highlights. 

The Eiffel Tower dominates the Paris skyline and sooner or later one must brave the crowds of tourists and view the city from above.  The forecast called for scattered thunderstorms and it seemed that maybe I could get lucky.  Interesting clouds on the horizon, cowardly tourists choose other options.  But there were a lot of brave tourists that night and it was about an hour before we made it to the elevator and began the ascent.

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We arrived on the second level, about 380 feet above the street about an hour before twilight and there were some dark clouds on the horizon.  The scene looked promising. But then I saw the fountains of Trocadero were running at full power and to say that I was upset is putting it mildly.  I have been trying to capture those fountains up close for years and they are never running when I show up.  As the image above shows, the central cannons shoot a massive stream of water a distance of more than 150 feet.  But here I was, about a half mile away and almost 400 feet above them.  Five minutes later, the fountains shut down.

However, one must accept what one is given and perhaps there would be something else in store for that evening. As it turned out, good things did happen.  As the image below shows, the predicted thunderstorms appeared but in the distance. So we were treated to a lightning and thunderstorm display while remaining completely dry.  I don’t have one of those devices that senses lightning, but I did take one shot just as a bolt flashed in the distance.

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The skyscrapers in the distance intrigued me.  I was told it was the area known as “La Defense” and I thought that it might be an interesting place to explore.  Stay tuned…….

Scouting Report: April 15, 2014

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The Cherry Blossoms are gone, the lunar eclipse was hidden by clouds this morning and it’s been raining all day.  So what better way to keep on the move than to make a scouting run into the city?  It’s that time of year when the fountains scattered around the Washington National Mall are being turned on.  Three weeks ago, only the World War II Memorial was operating.  But now many of them are running; of the nine that I checked, seven are happily pumping out the spray.

 

News Flash:   We interrupt this post to announce that one of my images was selected for “Monochrome Madness,” an event produced by Australian photographer Leanne Cole, a professional photographer in Melbourne whose blog has over 23,000 followers.  You can see her post with the 44 selected images here.  Now back to our regularly scheduled post on Washington, DC fountains.

 

 Fountains Currently Running

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 Navy Memorial Fountain, National Archives in Background

 Navy Memorial (Pennsylvania Avenue between 8th and 9th Street NW):  This is one of the better fountains in the city, and can’t be easier to photograph.  You are steps away from a Metro entrance, benches are plentiful, and an excellent French boulangerie  (Paul Bakery)  is on the west side of the plaza.

Supreme Court   (1st Street NW, across from the Capitol Building): The two small fountains on the north and south sides of the front plaza are now running.  While not very impressive, any photo that includes the basins looks much better now than when they are empty.

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Court of Neptune Fountain, Library of Congress

 Court of Neptune Fountain (1st Street SW, across from the Capitol Building): New York sculptor Roland Hinton Perry was only 27 years old when he completed the fountain in 1898, when the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress was opened.  This is not your average fountain and the physicality of the scene is quite dramatic when the water is running.  The nearby Capitol South  Metro Station is a short walk of two blocks.

Image Senate Fountain at Night

Senate Fountain  (opposite the intersection of Louisiana Avenue NW and North Capitol Street NW): This is one of the few (perhaps only) fountains in the city with a variable color lighting system).  Boasting a view of the Senate side of the US Capitol, it provides a number of photo opportunities in the evening light.  The Union Station Metro stop is within easy walking distance.

Japanese American Patriotism Memorial: (Directly opposite the Senate Fountain in a small triangular park between Louisiana Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, and D Street NW):  Technically this is not a fountain, but a flowing pool which is the principal feature of the park.  Dedicated only ten years ago, it recognizes the mistake made by the US in the forcible placement of more than 110,000 Japanese Americans into ten internment camps.

National Museum of the American Indian (Intersection of Maryland Avenue and Independence Avenue SW ):  The fountain is located on the northwest corner of the museum with the water cascading over large boulders and flowing along a channel on the north side of the building.  The Federal Center Metro Station is about 3 blocks to the south.

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Moonrise, World War II Memorial

 World War II Memorial   (17th Street between Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue):  The fountains are now running although they are turned off sometime during the night and resume operating just before dawn.  However, the repair project at the west end of the Memorial is still unfinished.  As a result, the two waterfalls on either side of Freedom Wall are still dry.   Even so, this memorial offers more photo opportunities than any of the others on this list.  No nearby Metro Station.

Fountains Still Dry

Banneker Fountain (South end of the L’Enfant Plaza on 10th Street SW):  Probably the least well known site on this list, the 30-foot tall column of water (when operating) is the central feature of the Benjamin Banneker Park.  Banneker was an African American who had a role in the original surveys that eventually resulted in the layout of the city of Washington.  However, the historical evidence is unclear on the specific details.  The small park, designed by landscape architect Dan Kiley was constructed in 1967.  Kiley is currently being featured in a major retrospective of his work at the National Building Museum.  The L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station is about 5 blocks to the northeast.

Bartholdi Fountain (Across Independence Avenue SW from the US Botanical Garden):  This fountain is the central feature of a small park maintained by the US Botanical Garden,  It was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi who is better known as the creator of the Statue of Liberty.  I will write a separate post on this fountain when the water is turned on.

I expect that both the Bartholdi and Banneker fountains will be running within a few weeks.  Stay tuned…