"Making the most of lightweight lenses when traveling" by Robert G Allen (websites: www.rga-photos.com and www.ProImage-Photo.com):
The alarm clock went off at 3:30AM. As soon as I awoke, I thought about the conversation my wife and I had with an airline pilot the prior evening while we were riding in the elevator together. He overheard our idea about taking some photos of the monuments and other major attractions in the Washington D.C. area. Our original plans entailed going to the attractions late in the evening to get the monuments during the golden light and hopefully avoid the crowds that are there during the day. The airline pilot (who sounded like he travels to Washington D.C. often) suggested the opposite. He said to really see the sites around Washington D.C. without the crowds and in good light, you must rise way before dawn. We heeded his advice. The next morning, my wife and I dragged each other out of bed and were in the taxi by 4:00 AM heading down to the Lincoln and Washington Memorials in complete darkness. After getting up this early, we were hoping the pilot was right!
I was in Washington D.C. for a 4-day conference related to my day job (accountant in Boise, Idaho). I tacked on a few more personal days making our visit around a week in length. Because I was there mainly on business, photography was not my primary objective. However, since I don’t visit D.C very often, I didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to photograph around the District area, at least the major tourist attractions.
