O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife

O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

Manny and I were on the National Mall in Washington D.C. near the U.S. Capital Building when we realized that the sunset that evening was going to be absolutely stunning. We started walking as fast as we could (pulling our rolling camera backpacks behind us), towards the Washington Monument. I spotted a cab driving down the National Mall and flagged him. He drove us over to the grassy knoll just across the street from the Monument. I paid the driver and he helped us get our bags out of the taxi's trunk. We scrambled up the hill, setup our tripods and started shooting before this spectacular sunset had vanished. You will never realize how quickly the sun sets unless you take the time to watch one.

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Korean War Memorial, originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher.

19 United States soldiers on a night patrol

Kathy and I were walking around Washington D.C. on what would prove to be our longest day there. We had started out fairly early walking from our hotel over to the National Cathedral and then walked around the Smithsonian museums for quite a while. We both had our cameras of course and we took turns carrying our tripod which came in handy as the sun went down and darkness closed in. We walked from Union Station, along the mall all the way to the base of the Lincoln Memorial. Once there, it was Kathy's idea to walk over to the Korean War Veterans Memorial. 

It was very striking and a little sad. Several of the figures of the soldiers seemed to have haunted or frightened looks on their faces. But they were brave. They answered not only their nations call, but helped another country facing aggression. 

Taking photos here was a little challenging. There were just too many people milling around to risk setting up a tripod as somebody might trip on a leg and get hurt. I decided to use my gorilla pod, and just wrapped the legs around one of the metal poles that supported the chains that surround the memorial. This worked pretty well, with the longest exposures being 30 seconds long and still very sharp.

A plaque near the memorial reads "Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met."