Hidden Gems

When photographing the monuments and public buildings in Washington, DC, we most often gravitate to the locations that are best known, such as the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. But there are many potential subjects that are less well known that offer opportunities for a strong image. The photo above is a case in point.

The Arlington Hemicycle is located in plain sight at the end of Memorial Drive, the main approach to Arlington National Cemetery. The site is accessible at any time of day and the security guards who occasionally pass by do not seem to mind the use of a tripod. The Hemicycle and Memorial Drive are actually key elements of the overall design of Arlington Memorial Bridge and were built as a single project, completed in 1932. The Bridge axis, angled southwesterly from the east west Mall axis, continues with Memorial Drive as it crosses the Boundary Channel Bridge to entrance of the Cemetery. There it terminates at the Arlington Hemicycle, originally intended as the ceremonial gateway to Arlington National Cemetery, with Arlington House rising as the focal point on the hill above. In 1997, the semicircular wall was adapted to incorporate the Women in Military Service Memorial. To get a sense of the overall design, go to the following link (http://wikimapia.org/4936837/Arlington-Memorial-Bridge), which includes an impressive aerial photograph of the entire site. Use your mouse to navigate the image.

I had found the structure a few days earlier when I was scouting possible shooting locations at the Cemetery. The image above shows the effects of the golden light of an early summer morning (taken last July). It actually is a combination of seven separate images “stitched” together using the Photomerge routine in Photoshop CS3. I set up the tripod in a low perspective to emphasize the reflections in the pool. I was there perhaps five minutes, taking a total of eleven images.

Technical data: I used a Nikon D-200 with an 18-200 mm lens, set at 18mm. The seven exposures were exposed at ISO 400 with slightly different apertures and shutter speeds. A typical exposure was f/9 at 1/250th second.