Lincoln Memorial at Dawn

The Lincoln Memorial is in Washington DC. It sits at the western end of the capitol mall. I've passed it hundreds of times on the way to/from business in DC. It's a cool spot to visit because it's an impressive building with an impressive statue and it's right next to the Korean War Memorial and Vietnam War Memorial. It's like a 3-for-1 in a single trip.

Lincoln Memorial

I haven't tried to photograph it much. There's always a crowd and I don't like a lot of people in my photos. I've lived nearby for a long time; I've had lots of time to photograph the monuments; I'm just not interested. There are millions of photos taken of them all the time. There's nothing new.

Well, actually there is something new. I admire the work of David Coleman (https://cherryblossomwatch.com/photography-tips/) and Pete Souza (https://www.petesouza.com/). Both of them have photos online that show the Lincoln statue in beautiful dawn sunlight. The sun lights the statue this way only around the equinoxes, that is, for a few days before/after the first day of Spring and Fall. And you need perfect weather conditions: no clouds in the east at dawn. The memorial is oriented with the opening to the chamber facing east, and the pillars usually cast shadows on the statue. But this time of year there's an unobstructed shaft of light shining right on Lincoln at dawn.

We're in a long string of no rain and few clouds. Perfect weather. It's the equinox. Perfect timing. I went to the Lincoln Memorial at dawn. I set up by the reflecting pool and shot toward the statue. Too many people in the way.

Then I went into the chamber and started shooting. It's so large that it's hard to get a flattering shot of the whole statue from that close, so I went for tight head shots.

My favorite is this silhouette showing the face in profile, illuminated by the golden light, with the dark unlit chamber wall as a background.