HLI PhotoNotes Volume 2 Issue 5 July 2004

Published by Hankins-Lawrence Images, LLC of Bethesda, Maryland

http://www.hankinslawrenceimages.com

Table of Contents

1. Summertime

2. Tips for Taking Photos of Monuments

3. On the WWW: Clear Sky Clock

4. Subscription Information

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1. Summertime

We hope all of you have been having a wonderful summer. We’ve been doing some traveling – and of course photography.

Earlier in the month, we spent some time in New England, taking photos of some of the light houses in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Plus a little time up on Cape Cod. One of the challenges of travel photography is figuring out what to go look for – and then actually finding it. Fortunately, we found a few good websites – and a good map book. If we only could have found a way to change the weather – things would have been perfect.

Now we’re back home in the DC area – dealing with the heat, humidity and thunderstorms. We’d about going down to the Mall to do some sunrise photography this morning. Fortunately, I checked the Clear Sky Clock – and saw that it would be heavily overcast. So now we’re thinking about the full moon this evening perhaps at the Jefferson Memorial.

Have a great summer.

Patty & Bill

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2) Tips for Taking Photos of Monuments

By Patty Hankins & Bill Lawrence

Recently, we’ve been taking advantage of the weather to update our photos of some of the local monuments. The metro Washington, DC area is one of the top places for monument photography, but many places have their memorable monuments. We thought this month we would suggest a few tips for monument photography.

Our focus tends to be on outdoor monuments, and we apply many well-known techniques from landscape photography to monuments. Below are a few things that we have found helpful.

1) Be respectful. Don’t go tromping through the landscaping to get the ideal shot, or digging up the flowers planting your tripod. Don’t expect everyone to clear out of your way by putting your tripod up in the middle of a crowd mid-day. Know what the local regulations are on photography, using a tripod, and where you are and aren’t allowed to be. Being obnoxious is a good way to get asked to leave by the local security, and makes people less likely to cooperate with future photographers.

2) Go early. Take a look at some of our monument photos in the web version of this article. Many of them were taken before 6:00 AM, and some of them were taken before sunrise (this of course assumes that the monument you’re visiting allows people there that early). We’ve gone to monuments on the Mall at DC at 4:30 in the morning, and essentially had them to ourselves. Sunrise is a wonderful time to catch distinctively shaped monuments in silhouette or near-silhouette, and the early morning golden light shortly after sunrise can give dramatic light and texture to stone or metal monuments. Sunset would do equally well as sunrise from a lighting standpoint (in the opposite direction), but you may have to deal with crowds, depending on the area. Use Ephemeris or other software, or the local weather service to find out when sunrise is.

3) Bring a tripod. Especially if you are shooting in the dark or sunrise/sunset photos, a tripod will be helpful. If tripods aren’t allowed, consider a beanbag, or put your camera on a rock, banister, garbage can, etc. to brace it (MAKE SURE it is a secure place to put your camera – there is nothing like watching little parts of your camera rolling away as it falls off and smashes to pieces on the ground). If necessary, use high ISO film/digital setting and brace yourself against a wall while taking the photo. Be careful setting up a tripod in crowded settings, and know whether they are permitted (e.g. you will NOT be permitted to set up a tripod on the National Capitol grounds unless you have a permit – and the Capitol police don’t seem to know where to get a permit when you ask them).

4) Try to get some unusual angles and such. Get something other than the cliché shots. Don’t worry about getting the cliché shots (they aren’t that cliché if you don’t have them…), but try and get some close-ups of interesting details, or an angle that strikes you as interesting.

5) Plan your visit. Know when you can get in to the monuments. Know where the parking spaces are (trying to find parking spaces at 4:00 AM is tough – there’s no one around to ask).

6) Don’t forget to have fun, and see the sights while you’re there!

You can see a few examples of our monument photos on the web version of the article.

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3. On the WWW: Clear Sky Clock

by Patty Hankins & Bill Lawrence

Have you ever tried to decide if you should get up early for sunrise photography – but were concerned that the sky would be full of clouds? A few clouds can really add color and interest to a sunrise. But a heavy cloud cover can mean there’s nothing to see and nothing to photograph.

One tool that can help you figure out what the cloud cover will be like is the Clear Sky Clock Home page at http://cleardarksky.com/csk/ The site was developed for amateur astronomers – but photographers will find it useful. It provides cloud cover predictions for the next 24 hours.

From the Clear Sky Clock home page are links to cloud cover forecasts for Canada, Mexico and the United States.

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4. Subscription information

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