Washington D.C.

Stash

I am going to be in D.C. in late May. As a first time visitor, I had these visions of going out in the evening and getting some night shots of all the monuments. It's what every tourist does right? But then, I was reading about the crime and the need to be very secure. How do you protect yourselves when going out at night? :scratch
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Don

JohnBiggs

Stash wrote:

I am going to be in D.C. in late May. As a first time visitor, I had these visions of going out in the evening and getting some night shots of all the monuments. It's what every tourist does right? But then, I was reading about the crime and the need to be very secure. How do you protect yourselves when going out at night?
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Don

I travel in packs.

angevin1

Stash wrote:

I am going to be in D.C. in late May. As a first time visitor, I had these visions of going out in the evening and getting some night shots of all the monuments. It's what every tourist does right? But then, I was reading about the crime and the need to be very secure. How do you protect yourselves when going out at night?
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Don

I never gave it too much thought. but then we took our bikes in and rode them at night. There was very little foot traffic in the dark parts at night, but, then we were on Bikes too. It is a darn nice place to see at night.

traveling in packs is a good idea if you can, but I saw piles of couples just doing their thing without a care in the world it appeared to me~

Bon voyage~

Stash

Thanks guys, my original plan was to just go off with the two of us. Some feedback I get, is that as long as we stay in the park areas they are well patrolled and safe. Other feedback tells us that we are nuts to go out after dark with our equipment. So combining the two, we feel we are safe as long as we don't go out.
Because of our home location, this is not a trip we will make often if ever again. Gotta do it while we can.:ivar

Any other hints or tips or advice is appreciated.

Don

angevin1

Stash wrote:

Thanks guys, my original plan was to just go off with the two of us. Some feedback I get, is that as long as we stay in the park areas they are well patrolled and safe. Other feedback tells us that we are nuts to go out after dark with our equipment. So combining the two, we feel we are safe as long as we don't go out.
Because of our home location, this is not a trip we will make often if ever again. Gotta do it while we can.:ivar

Any other hints or tips or advice is appreciated.

Don

We had bags, tripods and lenses already mounted and ready to go. We got there at about 8pm and stayed until 1 or 1:30 in the a.m. The ONLY people that said anything to us untoward or bothered us at all, were the guards at the Capitol Building and the guards at the Washington Monument & Lincoln Mem. Spewing rules for photography: "You can't do this, you can't do that!"
That was a PITA, but we just kept to the rules and kept shooting and playing and riding and enjoying ourselves.

Granted I did give riff-raff some thought when we would go down into darkly lit areas, but instead of going down the foot paths, we took to the streets and sailed: bikes, bags, tripods and all~

Even at 1 in the morning it was difficult to get a Shot of the Linc mem without peeps in the way.

Some rules we broke then followed:

1. No setting up tripods within the chains at the Washington Mem.

2. No tripods in the Linc mem. or on the steps there.

3. No setting up tripods in front of the Capitol building.

that last one was weird! I mean there wasn't a soul in sight, cept me and the five-0 who came over in his blacked out suit and warned me away. Since he said I could take my bike and roll it up to the Capitol, I did so, and the guards up there didn't seem to give a hoot, so I did like I saw, and set up my tripod there....Awesome place~

The bikes were nice simply because if you've never been there, D.C. can wear your feet down just walking btw memorials. I knew that having lived and worked there, but we walked anyway during the day. But when we took the bikes back, we were able to get back and forth so quickly and easily and when we were done at 2 a.m., we weren't tired. We parked in the basin, like many many families had done and had our bikes in the back of our van.

There are plenty of bike rental places there too.

I did get some awesome shots.

first one here was right before five-0 found me


This one taken across the pond.


Lastly, from The WM:


The light is on in the cupola (SIC?) due to a night session of Congress. Judge Sotomayor's vetting was taking place. And even though we know that I took slow captures, it really is lit up like this.

Have fun~

pwp

Definitely, be careful. Travel in packs if at all possible. I never take a tripod into DC anymore. It just attracts unsavory attention from thugs AND the cops. Makes long exposures a little more difficult, but forces you to get creative.

The last few years, even "couples" haven't been safe from attacks in plainview on the National Mall. Many have been mugged or worse. If possible, travel with more than 2 people. I'd also suggest a night tour. Several of the companies offer monument tours at night. Check with the front desk at your hotel....they can offer helpful advice.

Don't forget to see Arlington and definitely see Georgetown while you are here!

schmoo

No advice, but
Dude. Wow. People in the shot even after 1 AM? That's hardcore tourism

I have to say that while I lived 45 minutes away from DC for 11 years of my life, I rarely ever shot down there unless family or friends were visiting and wanted to go sightseeing. Especially after 9/11, the security guards would blow my irritation levels off the charts. I know they're doing their job and it's better to be safe than sorry, but still.

angevin - You got some great keepers and it sounds like you had a good time!

angevin1

schmoo wrote:

Dude. Wow. People in the shot even after 1 AM? That's hardcore tourism

I have to say that while I lived 45 minutes away from DC for 11 years of my life, I rarely ever shot down there unless family or friends were visiting and wanted to go sightseeing. Especially after 9/11, the security guards would blow my irritation levels off the charts. I know they're doing their job and it's better to be safe than sorry, but still.

angevin - You got some great keepers and it sounds like you had a good time!

Thanks Kindly Schmoo~:D We did have fun, no doubt. And you're dead-on on my observations, only folks bothering other folks was the Guards. The streets seemed esp heavily patrolled too.

Notice in my shots is a full moon as well...still no riff-raff that I saw, and no, I didn't look in the mirror!

BuddyLee

Don't over worry.
Not saying this is the best way to think, but I've never been afraid or even uncomfortable in the area's of the Mall and Monuments in DC. But, I have lived here all my life.

I would use the same caution as in any city in the world. Be aware of your surroundings.

Good luck and enjoy the city. It's beautiful at all hours. Good luck finding an angle that others have not.

Stash

Thanks again folks. Lots to think about, but I'm feeling more comfortable!

JimKarczewski

Never had problems shooting there, early morning, late night, all weird hours of the morning.. lol. Then again, I'm a big boy and the smart thieves know better. (FYI, at 6'9" and looking like a football linebacker, does have it's advantages, just not when you fly. lol)

firststring74

Stash, when are you coming? There is a local photog group that arranges trips that might be going out, I would have to look at their site.

EZPZ

angevin1 wrote: »

We had bags, tripods and lenses already mounted and ready to go. We got there at about 8pm and stayed until 1 or 1:30 in the a.m. The ONLY people that said anything to us untoward or bothered us at all, were the guards at the Capitol Building and the guards at the Washington Monument & Lincoln Mem. Spewing rules for photography: "You can't do this, you can't do that!"
That was a PITA, but we just kept to the rules and kept shooting and playing and riding and enjoying ourselves.

Granted I did give riff-raff some thought when we would go down into darkly lit areas, but instead of going down the foot paths, we took to the streets and sailed: bikes, bags, tripods and all~

Even at 1 in the morning it was difficult to get a Shot of the Linc mem without peeps in the way.

Some rules we broke then followed:

1. No setting up tripods within the chains at the Washington Mem.

2. No tripods in the Linc mem. or on the steps there.

3. No setting up tripods in front of the Capitol building.

that last one was weird! I mean there wasn't a soul in sight, cept me and the five-0 who came over in his blacked out suit and warned me away. Since he said I could take my bike and roll it up to the Capitol, I did so, and the guards up there didn't seem to give a hoot, so I did like I saw, and set up my tripod there....Awesome place~

The bikes were nice simply because if you've never been there, D.C. can wear your feet down just walking btw memorials. I knew that having lived and worked there, but we walked anyway during the day. But when we took the bikes back, we were able to get back and forth so quickly and easily and when we were done at 2 a.m., we weren't tired. We parked in the basin, like many many families had done and had our bikes in the back of our van.

There are plenty of bike rental places there too.

I did get some awesome shots.

first one here was right before five-0 found me


This one taken across the pond.


Lastly, from The WM:


The light is on in the cupola (SIC?) due to a night session of Congress. Judge Sotomayor's vetting was taking place. And even though we know that I took slow captures, it really is lit up like this.

Have fun~

Nice TomWise. Good stories too. Maybe I'll have some when I get back from Italy.

concord977

I live in the DC area and especially enjoy night photography downtown. I've posted a couple batches of photos in these forums which you can see here:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=163936

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=168017

You should not have much concern about crime anywhere between the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol, or from the Washington Monument north to the White House. (see map below .. the area outlined in red has good security and a fair amount of tourists well past 2:00am).

Contrary to rumors, tripods are commonly allowed around the area with the following 2 exceptions:

a) not permitted at the top of the Lincoln Memorial directly beside his statue - but they are permitted on the steps and anywhere in front of the memorial itself.

b) not permitted on Pennsylvania Avenue directly in front of the White House unless permission is obtained from the Secret Service who have guard stations at 15th & 17th streets.

If you want a guide or a fellow photog to join you, feel free to contact me via the personal message function here. I go down there often and need to go again soon. I can also provide you with an annotated map showing some good shooting & parking locations.

esc2476

I just moved to the area and would be interested in going with a group to do some night DC photography.

red_zone

My favorite pic from the last inauguration - well patrolled, indeed!

I live here and go down to the mall often, many times at night. You need to be careful if you want to go the urban explorer route and end up in Northeast or away from the National Mall, but really it shouldn't be a problem downtown, there's always a security presence. I've never attracted much attention from the security folks for having a camera, but I've also not done a lot of night shooting w/ tripod. Time to get on that... Eric, PM sent.