Travel Photography – Seek out the unusual

Last weekend I went to Washington DC with my local camera club and, as some of the attendees were new to DC, we mainly covered the popular sites that I have visited many times before. So how to take something new that I could upload to my stock portfolio? The answer for me was to seek out the unusual view of those places that have been covered in thousands of images already. While not many of my readers will visit Washington, you can apply the same thinking when next you visit a tourist destination – by all means get the standard pictures, especially if the lighting is great, but look for something that provides a buyer with a different slant. Remember that buyers are looking for something a bit different to those postcard images as well.

My first was the White House – security is all the rage these days with fence climbers scaling the metal fencing and so a focus on the new enlarged security cordon and the sign could be used next time there is an incident there:

The background is out of focus to increase the prominence of the sign. Next we walked along the Mall to 

the Federal Reserve. Often in the news, but security is tighter there as well:

And Washington in summer is very busy with tourists – even the bikes for rent are gone:

A bit of the beaten track is Albert Einstein – plenty of copy space and with lighting that focuses on the statue. This one will be editorial:

Sticking with the editorial theme, everyone knows this statue but getting tourists taking photos of it is a bit different:

President Lincoln is next. Most views are from the front – a side view has some interest as he looks out onto the Mall:

After walking 8 miles we were ready for a break, but getting back to DC in the evening is always worthwhile. Here is a reflection of the Washington Monument at sunset in the windows of the new African American Museum:

And then a view from the reflecting pool in front of the museum:

Finally, after an early start at 4am for the sunset over the city (which was OK but nothing special), a different take on the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in Arlington Cemetery. This could be used for more military type purposes (I hope!).

From that first day, I ended up with 45 images to submit to the agencies, including some “arty” ones for Fine Art America:

Not bad from a city that I know well and have photographed many times before.