Sleeping in and amazing brunch marked my last day in DC. Can’t think of a better way.
這趟DC之旅用睡到飽加早午餐收尾。
Category Archives for Washington, D.C.
DC Cherry Blossoms: Schweinebraten and Spring at the U.S. Capitol
My third day in DC turned out to be a day of cherry blossoms plus gourmet sandwiches. I had German fusion Argentine sandwiches for lunch and Spanish tapas-sized sandwiches from 100 Montaditos for dinner. Great food and amazing companies outweighed the blossoms.
在DC的第三天意外變成櫻花與高檔三明治日，中午是德風阿根廷三明治，晚餐是100 Montaditos西班牙三明治，食物和朋友比這天的日出和櫻花厲害一百倍。
DC Cherry Blossoms: Photographing the Tidal Basin at Dawn
This Instagram caption said it well: “After today, I’m convinced that the Tidal Basin is actually a portal to an alternate universe where thousands of people come together at sunrise to shed their miserable morning demeanor.” ─ @rayhayhurst
DC Cherry Blossoms: Best Spots and Best Time to Shoot 華府櫻花攝影不負責攻略
The National Mall in DC has the deception effect that Las Vegas Strip has, just in a smaller scale. In the open area of and near the Mall, every landmark seems walkable. On a nice day with plenty of time, walking is indeed the best way to get around. But under the heat in the muggy August or when you are in a rush, getting from the Lincoln Memorial to the visitor center of the Capitol on foot would not be quite feasible. Tidal Basin is the same. It actually takes some time to walk around the basin. If lighting and timing are important to you, you might want to know exactly where and when to be to get good pictures.
華府的國家廣場(the Mall)跟拉斯維加斯一樣有騙人效果，什麼都看起來很近但其實要走很久，DC當然不像拉斯維加斯大道一棟飯店就是一公里半這麼誇張，大部分景點也真的都走得到，但熱死人的夏天或者趕時間的時候，真的不會想要從林肯紀念堂走到國會山莊。潮汐湖(Tidal Basin)也是一樣的道理，如果要拍照、要追求某個時間點或特定的光線，真的很需要知道該在什麼時候去哪。
Washington National Cathedral in Cherry Blossom Season
In addition to places near the National Mall, the Washington National Cathedral is a fun place to photograph.
除了the Mall附近的景點之外，華盛頓國家大教堂也很值得去拍。
DC Cherry Blossoms: The U.S. Capitol
Tidal Basin was packed this morning while the sunrise was very uneventful. I was disappointed that I missed an opportunity to capture a blue jay in pale pink cherry blossoms.
DC Cherry Blossoms: Sunrise at the Tidal Basin 華府日出櫻花
This was taken with my iPhone two days after cherry blossoms reached the Puffy White Stage.
HDR Experiments: Washington National Cathedral
HDR Experiments: Library of Congress and U.S. Capitol
I finally got Photomatrix! (Thank you dad!) Haven’t gotten any chance to take bracketed photos to make a real HDR, but I could not wait and threw in single photos in to try out the software. I love HDR architecture. The first photo I threw in the software of course was one of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The original photo was from my trip to D.C. last August. (To those who are not photo nerds, HDR means high-dynamic-range imaging. In plain English, that means to bring details out of a real scene from direct sunlight to the dark shadow, um, based on my amateur understanding anyway.)
我終於有Photomatrix了！目前還沒機會出去拍用來HDR的照片，但迫不急待隨便丟了一些單張照片進去跑，一直覺得HDR拿來做建築最美，所以第一張丟進去的就是華盛頓的國會圖書館，原始照片是去年八月去華府的時候拍的。(HDR是高動態範圍影像，用業餘不負責的白話來說就是把整個實景從陽光直射的地方到暗暗陰影的地方的細節都帶出來。)
Mission Capitol Christmas Tree Failed 失敗的國會聖誕樹
Having a camera makes me do crazy things sometimes. Like getting up at 5 in the morning just to try my luck with sunrise. Or making a trip to D.C. to try something different with the Capitol Christmas Tree. But, I failed this time.
有相機之後偶爾會做些瘋狂事，譬如說早上五點起來為了看看會不會運氣好有漂亮日出，或者特地跑到華府為了用小道具拍不一樣的國會聖誕樹。但結果很不幸失敗了。
Near and Far 