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Tag Archives: night

three.

Aren’t vacations great? The only problem with visiting interesting locales, though, is the temptation to squeeze in as many sights as possible. Sometimes my vacations end up being as tiring as a regular work week, what with all the activity! That was the case when we visited DC late last year. So much to see, so little energy. Lots of history to take in, not enough hours in the day. Number 3 on my little countdown is one of the most photographed and famous buildings in America: The Capital.

the real usc
the real usc

To be honest, this shot took me completely by surprise. I had been by here earlier in the day and taken a few, but nothing too spectacular came up. After taking a tour of both sides of congress, we came back out and started to head off to call it a day when Kare asked me if I wanted to get any more pictures of the front of the building. I sort of shrugged my shoulders and said, “Well, I already took a few so I don’t need more, but why not…” And boom, the magic hour hit – dusk. Just the right amount of cloud cover, just the right amount of fading light, and to top it all off – almost nobody around. Boy, what a difference a few hours makes. Just goes to show ya – there’s no substitute for patience (though honestly in this case, I had none and just got lucky) and good light.

It also helps when buildings and monuments are well-lit at night specifically for viewing:

jefferson
Jefferson Memorial

lincoln
Lincoln

Oh, also in case you were interested, this is what the inside of the dome looks like in the Capital building. Easily could have made my countdown, but I figured 1 DC picture is enough:

The Dome

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four.

Ah, the sights, smells, and sweetness of Hawaii. How can you go and not bring your camera? No surprise then, that there are two photos from the islands in my informal top ten. This time we’re looking at an early night/after dusk shot taken on the Big Island of the lava flow from Kīlauea. We got a chance to visit the prolific volcano back in 2008 after its crater explosion, including some incredible night-time viewing of its encounter with the ocean. Fun fact: The NPS estimates that as of January 1994, 491 acres of new land had been added to the island via lava flow. Unsurprisingly, ocean-front real estate near the lava flows go for ridiculously low prices, often selling for the price of a car!

firewater
firewater

The exposure here is a nice, long 13 seconds – long enough to capture the billowy plume of smoke/steam in a sort of dreamy state as it moved, and long enough to capture both the fiery lava and the white stars. I particularly love how the glow of the lava reflects off of the steam, creating rich orange with deep black shadows – that’s contrast and depth, baby! Still, the sight is so fantastic that you’ve got to see it for yourself. Most photos simply don’t do it justice.

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