Bringing Home Great Photo Memories From the Nation's Capital

For anyone who'd like to spend a couple of days in a great American city with the idea of returning home with some really good photographs as treasured mementos, it's pretty difficult to come up with a better choice than Washington, D.C. Most any season of year is fine, but there's no better time to go than during the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, which this year occurs during the five weeks beginning March 20 and ending April 27.

With the trees in full pink-and-white bloom and special events popping up all over, the festival celebrates the special way Washington welcomes spring. This year is extra-special because it marks the 100th anniversary of Tokyo's gift of 3,000 cherry trees to our nation's capital from Japan's.

Washington and the surrounding area are notorious for traffic any time of year, and cherry-blossom time is even worse. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for visiting Washington's leading sites and capturing good photographic images to take home.

— Stay in the city. Sure, you could stay in the suburbs and commute to the sites using the area's excellent Metro subway, but in town beats that hands-down. Park your car at your hotel and keep it parked. In addition to the increased traffic, it's next to impossible to find a good parking space during this time. The Metro and cabs are the way to get around without any great hassle.

— If you want to bring home some great photos of your Washington visit, deciding which sites to visit is only part of what you need to plan. Try to visit during each site's photographic peak time of day. Photography is all about capturing light, and an iconic Washington view that looks fantastic in a photograph created at a time of day when the sun is in the ideal position can look flat and dull if created at a time of day when that's not the case.

— Plan to do your photo shooting during the hours pros do — during the couple of hours of early morning light and the couple hours of late afternoon light . You can spend the rest of the time doing your sightseeing.

— Get to the Lincoln Memorial before sunrise. Position yourself at the base of the memorial or up close to the Lincoln reflecting pool. Making sure you use a tripod, frame the view of the Washington Monument and the distant dome of the U.S. Capitol Building. Most likely the image you capture will include some great colors in the sky.

— Go up inside the Lincoln Memorial while the dawn light coming from the east is casting great shadows on the gigantic statue of Lincoln. The use of a tripod is not permitted, but a monopod is OK. Most likely you will need to shoot at a high ISO number. This is a spot where taking your time and trying lots of different angles, including close-ups, can yield impressive results. Shooting at dawn here has the added advantage that you could well be the only one there besides the park rangers on duty.

— From the Lincoln Memorial it's an easy walk to some more great photos at both the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the World War II Memorial. Early to mid-afternoon is a time to capture images of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the White House, and it's an easy stroll from there to position yourself at the northwest grounds of the Washington Monument for some nice cherry-blossom framed images of the monument.

— From there head to the Jefferson Memorial but resist the temptation to photograph it from the north side of the Tidal Basin at this time of day and instead go all the way around and shoot from its south side aiming east. For the classic Jefferson Memorial and cherry-blossom photo, position yourself early morning somewhere along the north side of the Tidal Basin. You can also get some fine images inside the Jefferson Memorial at most times of the day.

— Early to midmorning is a good time to shoot the U.S. Capitol Building, positioning yourself east and shooting west. Just steps away is the Supreme Court Building. Late afternoon is a good time to shoot the Capitol Building from its southwest and west side. Then as the sun sets shoot from the Capitol a vista of the distant Washington Monument. You will likely capture some great colors in the sky then, too. After that, shoot the lighted-up Capitol Building from across the Capitol Reflecting Pool.

— Before your visit, read "Photographing Washington, D.C., Digital Field Guide" by John Healey (www.wiley.com ). This will help you map out a plan of your own for capturing these and the other major attractions of Washington.

WHEN YOU GO

A solid estimate of when the cherry blossoms are likely to be at their peak can be found at the website of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org. This site is also the go-to place for information about festival-related events.

Washington has an abundance of hotel and motel rooms in all price ranges, but for Cherry Blossom Festival time it's important to book as early as you can. A great in-close choice that enables you to walk easily and quickly from your hotel room to a Metro connection is the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City: www.ritzcarlton.com or 703-415-5000 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 703-415-5000 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

There are plenty of good travel guides to Washington, D.C., but none is better than Fodor's.

(set image) tad021212adAP.jpg (end image) (set caption) Dawn breaks on the gigantic statue of Abraham Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Photo courtesy of Fred J. Eckert. (end caption)

(set image2) tad021212bdAP.jpg (end image2) (set caption2) Cherry blossom time is the best time of year to photograph Washington, D.C. This view captures the Washington Monument. Photo courtesy of Fred J. Eckert. (end caption2)

(set image3) tad021212cdAP.jpg (end image3) (set caption3) The U.S. Capitol Building, home to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, makes for a spectacular photo in the best light. Photo courtesy of Fred J. Eckert. (end caption3)

Fred J. Eckert is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.