IMG_0053
Apr, 2015Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
White House, South Lawn, Washington, DC.Time
Washington, DC had a late-season snowstorm on the afternoon and early evening of March 4, 2015. The snow stopped falling just after sunset. As I live in downtown DC, I went out after dark to photograph some of the sights in DC under a fresh blanket of snow. The photo was taken on March 4, 2015 at 6:50pm.Lighting
No lighting was used at all. The photo was taken using just ambient light from the city plus the lights on at the White House. The snow acted as a sort of reflector, reflecting just enough light that I could get this shot handheld.Equipment
I used a Canon G7X. Handheld, no tripod. The Canon's image stabilization is really great, and I was able to get a crisp 0.3 second exposure at f/2.8 and ISO 125.Inspiration
I love nighttime photography. I wanted to get a photo of the White House that's different than the thousands of others that are taken every day. I was the only person out that evening, and I was able to take my time, compose the shot, and make it perfect.Editing
I shoot RAW, and used Lightroom 5.7.1 to tone down the highlights a little and convert the photo to black & white, which I thought fit the mood better than the color original.In my camera bag
The Canon G7X is my primary walk-around and travel camera. I will sometimes bring an extra battery, but that's it. One's eye for composition and designing the photo in your head is more important than having the most gear. The G7X is a wonderful tool to help me capture the shot I see in my head. Plus, it's small, light, and unobtrusive, with a large sensor and great resolution.Feedback
Spend more time seeing the shot in your head than actually shooting it. Pretend you still use film and that you don't have unlimited clicks of the shutter to get it right. This shot was one-and-done for me. I didn't take a second shot. Finally, learn how to use your camera's settings and features; never shoot in automatic mode!
