Capitol Christmas
Every Year, I take a shot of the Capitol Christmas Tree from the same location from across the Reflecting Pool.
Every Year, I take a shot of the Capitol Christmas Tree from the same location from across the Reflecting Pool.
Read less
Read less
NIKON D810
Aperture f/16 ISO 125 Shutter 15/1 Focal Length 32/1 
Washington, District of Columbia, US
Dec, 2020Views
1944
Likes
Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Curator's Selection
Top Shot Award 21
People's Choice in Capture Reflections Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Capture Reflections Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Photo Contest Volume19
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Genius
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
Every year, I take a photo of the Capitol Christmas Tree from the very same spot from across the reflecting pool. Over the years, this was the best photo by far.Time
This photo was taken after work at around 7pm. I didn’t take my tripod with me, so I place my camera on the ground and shot a long exposure. Camera Settings: Aperture Priority at F16. Why I didn’t use a tripod? Unless you’re working media or have a film permit, tripods aren’t allowed for use on Capitol Grounds.Lighting
It was a long exposure shot. I shot this at f16 Aperture Priority with my ISO at 160 or so.Equipment
This was shot on a Nikon 810 with 24/70 Lens 2.8. No other equipment was used.Inspiration
This all started about 10 years ago where I take a wide shot of the Capitol and the tree every year, soon after the Christmas tree is lit for the first time.Editing
My edits are pretty basic. I start off in Lightroom and play around with the sliders and Tone Curve to create an image I think looks good. Environment of the scene obviously plays a key role on how I shoot and edit a photo. Then I go into Photoshop and tweak the Luminosity, Color, and Contrast.In my camera bag
I don’t have too much in my bag. Nikon 810. 3 lens's: Nikon 24/70 2.8, Nikon 14-24 2.8, and Nikon 85 1.8. The 24/70 is my workhorse lens. Also in my bag, a couple of filters and my tripod.Feedback
For me, what’s the environment of the scene goes a long way on how I shoot something and what settings I use on the camera. When it comes to Night Long Exposures I use Aperture Priority on about 90% of my shots. My ISO is usually at 100, but I’ll raise it up depending on the scene. I manually focus my shot using the Live View feature on my camera. Finally, you have to have patience to get the shot you want.
