Washington DC

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African American Civil War Memorial

The African American Civil War Memorial, along with the African American Civil War Museum across the street, memorializes nearly 220,000 members of the United States Colored Troops involvement in the American Civil War.

Exhibits in the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington DC

African American Civil War Museum

The African American Civil War Museum is dedicated to preserving and telling the stories of the United States Colored Troops involvement in the American Civil War.

Saucer Magnolias in bloom at the Enid A. Haupt Garden

How-to Guide | Saucer Magnolias at the Smithsonian Castle

I took this photo last spring during the very brief blooming of the tulip magnolias (or saucer magnolias) in Washington DC. They’re one of the spring’s first dramatic blooming varieties in the DC area, usually beating the more famous cherry blossoms by a couple of weeks.

DC Cherry Blossom Watch Update: April 11, 2018

Japanese Lantern at the Tidal Basin

Sitting on the banks of the Tidal Basin amongst the famous Japanese cherry blossoms, the Japanese Lantern dates back to the middle of the 17th century and has been here since 1954.

DC Cherry Blossom Watch Update: April 12, 2018

Japanese Pagoda

The 17th century Japanese Pagoda is nestled amongst the famous cherry blossoms on the banks of the Tidal Basin in Washington DC.

Navy-Merchant Marine Memorial with Red Tulips

Navy-Merchant Marine Memorial

The Navy-Merchant Marine Memorial, featuring a large, evocative aluminum sculpture of a cresting wave and seagulls in flight, sits on Columbia Island on the Arlington side of the Potomac.

Simon Bolivar Statue Silhouette Framed by Branches

Simon Bolivar Statue

The Simon Bolivar Statue in Foggy Bottom in Washington DC is dedicated to the Latin American revolutionary.

Cuban Friendship Urn in Washington DC

Cuban Friendship Urn

The Cuban Friendship Urn is not the most impressive landmark you’ll find in Washington DC, but it does have an interesting story behind it.

Robert Taft Memorial and Carillon in Washingotn DC

Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon

Mr Republican has his own Carillon. Senator Robert Taft had a long political career and had connections–he was a former Speaker and was President William Howard Taft’s oldest son–but the arch conservative is best remembered as an leading opponent of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Theodore Roosevelt Memorial with Plane and Sun

Theodore Roosevelt Memorial

It’s entirely appropriate that the memorial dedicated to Teddy Roosevelt is a little unkempt. America’s 26th president was famously a champion of the environment and an avid hunter and outdoorsman. But his memorial isn’t well known.

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Sackler Gallery

The Sackler Gallery joins the Freer Gallery of Art to form the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art for the United States of America.

184-163645732 First Division Monument in Washington DC.

First Division Monument

The First Division Monument, standing in President’s Park next to the White House and in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, is dedicated to those who served and died in the First Division of the American Expeditionary Forces.

Moongate Garden

Moongate Garden

Hidden away behind the Smithsonian Castle, the Moongate Garden is a small oasis of calm inspired by Temple of Heaven Garden in Beijing.

Smithsonian Castle, Washington DC

Smithsonian Castle

The Smithsonian Castle looks like it should housing exotic treasures. But it doesn’t really–at least, not many and not any more. The Smithsonian now sprawls across 19 different facilities, but this is the original building.

185-154133825 Freer Gallery of Art Peacock Room Wide Shot.

Freer Gallery of Art

Originally opened in 1923 to display the collections of Charles Lang Freer, the Freer Gallery has since been merged with the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery to form the National Museum of Asian Art for the United States of America.

Exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington DC

National Museum of African Art

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, out the back of the Smithsonian Castle, showcases ancient and modern African art.

Photo of Smithsonian American Art and Portraiture Museum Interior Courtyard

Smithsonian American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery

The Reynolds Center, in the heart of downtown Washington DC, combines two museums in one: it houses both the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. It has paintings, sculptures, photos, and drawings ranging from classical oil paintings to folk art to modern art.

Photo of Berlin Wall at the Newseum

Newseum

The Newseum is a celebration of Freedom of the Press, featuring exhibits focusing on print, radio, and television media. It also features exhibits of superb photography, a section of the Berlin Wall, and a large collection of historic newspapers.

Photo of National Aquarium Tropical Reef

National Aquarium in Washington DC

While it’s not especially well known even to locals, the original National Aquarium is still in the heart of downtown Washington DC. It’s nowhere near the biggest public aquarium in the United States, but it is the oldest. And it’s in a place you would never expect.

MLK Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr National Memorial

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, in tribute to the celebrated Civil Rights leader, is now open on the banks of the Tidal Basin opposite the Jefferson Memorial.

Sunrise at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

DC Henge

First there was Stonehenge. There there was Manhattan-henge. Now there’s DC-henge.

US Supreme Court building on a clear day

US Supreme Court

Sitting across the street from the US Capitol Building, the Supreme Court houses the judicial branch of the United States federal government. It’s in an appropriately grand building built in the mid-1930s and fronted by imposing classical marble columns.

Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington DC

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

If there’s a combination that can draw the museum crowds almost as much as spaceships and airplanes, it’s dinosaurs and whopping huge diamonds. And having a life-size elephant just inside the main entrance doesn’t hurt either.

National Arboretum Capitol Columns

National Arboretum

The National Arboretum makes for a pleasant park, but its official mission is education and research. With 446 acres and 9.5 miles of meandering roads, it’s laid out as a very large park with paddocks, forested areas, ponds, and groves, lots of groves.

Main Hall of Union Station Washington DC

Union Station

It’s not just any old train station that can be the venue for a black-tie presidential inaugural ball. But the lavish Union Station, not far from the US Capitol Building, is one of the few that does. It’s an impressive blend of form and function.

US Capitol Building at night panorama

US Capitol Building’s Exterior

The U.S. Capitol Building is one of Washington DC’s most distinctive buildings. In fact, you’d be surprised how many tourists find the building so recognizable and in such a conspicuous location that they assume it must be the White House.

National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC houses one of the finest collections of paintings and sculptures in the world. On permanent display are works by Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Raphael, Botticelli, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Goya, Manet, Monet, Rodin, Degas, and many, many more.

Washington Monument Reflected on the Tidal Basin Predawn

Washington Monument

For what is really just a big, stone tower you’d expect the Washington Monument to be a boring thing to take photos of. But this isn’t just any old tower and happens to be near some of the world’s great landmarks, making for a bunch of ways and vantage points to get some interesting shots.

Blue Crabs from the Chesapeake Bay

Maine Avenue Fish Market

The Maine Avenue Fish Market on Washington DC’s Southwest Waterfront is the oldest continually operating outdoor fish market in the United States.

White House in the Snow

The White House

As both the home and office of the President of the United States, the White House is probably the most widely recognized building in Washington DC.

Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Winter Mists Reflection

Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool does what it does best very well indeed, providing some great photographic opportunities for capturing reflections of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument.

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Arlington Memorial Bridge

Arlington Memorial Bridge runs across the Potomac from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery, one of six bridges connecting Virginia with the District of Columbia.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

The FDR Memorial, on the western bank of the Tidal Basin, is dedicated to the 32nd president but also features the twin challenges that defined the era: the Great Depression and the Second World War.

Albert Einstein Memorial

The Einstein Memorial, featuring a 21-foot, stylized bronze statue of physicist Albert Einstein, sits in a grove of holly and elm trees on the Constitution Avenue side of the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences.

George Mason Memorial Reflection in Washington DC

George Mason Memorial

Tucked away between the Jefferson Memorial and the 14th Street Bridge, the George Mason Memorial commemorates one of the lesser known founding fathers and Virginia plantation owner, George Mason.

World War One Memorial in the Snow

District of Columbia World War I Memorial

The World War I Memorial near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool isn’t well known or much visited. It has been neglected and forgotten for decades but in the past few years has gotten some long-overdue attention.

Korean War Veterans Memorial Reflection, Washington DC

Korean War Veterans Memorial

The Korean War Veterans Memorial, unveiled in 1992, consists of several elements designed by different people and groups. It has a triangular footprint with the main elements being “The Column” consisting of 19 stainless steel solders, each over 7 feet tall.

Vietnam Memorial, Washington DC, at Sunrise

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial memorializes Americans who served and died in the Vietnam War. The reflective wall, in particular, offers some interesting photo opportunities.

Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally USA Flag

Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally

Every Memorial Day weekend, thousands of motorbike-riding military veterans descend on Washington DC for the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally.

Sunrise at the Lincoln Memorial During the Equinox

Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is one of the grandest and most distinctive of Washington’s monuments. Anchoring the western end of the National Mall and framed by the Reflecting Pool, it’s an outsized tribute to an American president who played an outsized role in America’s history: Abraham Lincoln.