Here, in the presence of Washington and Lincoln...a photo for Veterans Day

...from a photographer's notebook

Honoring Those Who Served, No.2    ©Steve Ember

Depending on your screen resolution and the size at which the photo displays, you may not make out all the words. So let me set them out below.

HERE IN THE PRESENCE OF WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN,

ONE THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FATHER AND THE OTHER

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY PRESERVER OF OUR NATION,

WE HONOR THOSE TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICANS WHO

TOOK UP THE STRUGGLE DURING THE SECOND WORLD

WAR AND MADE THE SACRIFICES TO PERPETUATE

THE GIFT OUR FOREFATHERS ENTRUSTED TO US:

A NATION CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY AND JUSTICE.

If you are not familiar with the setting of the World War Two Memorial, the first line of the inscription refers to its location in line with the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The Washington Monument rises on the National Mall behind and across 17^th Street from the photographer.

In the right lighting, and with the fountains that rise from the pool alive, the Memorial is a stunning sight, whether by day or, my favorite time, from twilight to nightfall. But, no matter the lighting, when one considers the heroism and sacrifice this place between Washington and Jefferson honors and symbolizes, it is never anything less than inspiring.

Cody, a photographer friend, had kindly loaned me the very highly regarded Zeiss Biogon T* f/2.8 21mm wide angle lens to try out on my “new” Contax G2 rangefinder camera.

The “mission” I had set out for myself was to shoot some rolls of film using motifs that would favor the things a very wide angle lens is best at doing. Aside from certain techniques of perspective that such lenses can do, there is also the extremely long depth of focus that can be attained with such optics.

So, on this day, with a roll of Ilford Pan F+50 in the G2, I chose my subjects accordingly.

In this case, the challenge was to see if, positioned immediately in front of the dedication tablet at the entrance to the Memorial, the lens could maintain both it and the distant Lincoln Memorial, as well as everything in between, in sharp focus.

On this particular wintry afternoon, in January 2013, the factors that would make for a photographer’s delight were not present.  The sky was rather flat and, as a result of a technical issue, the fountains were not in operation. But that was all right, as those conditions led me toward a composition that hopefully allows the eloquence of the inscription to set off the rest of the frame's content.

If you’d like to see the photo in higher definition, as well as another photograph at the World War Two Memorial, please click here. 

To those who've served, my respects on this Veterans Day.

And thank you, Cody, for introducing me to this exquisite lens.

©2014 Steve Ember