Iwo Jima Memorial

I have been trying for some time now to get some nice shots of the Marine Corps "Iwo Jima" Memorial. There have been so many photos taken of the place that it is hard to come up with something new. I have been looking for nice skys and interesting light to help out.

Here is some of what I have so far, what do you think about the photos, color and light?

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Originally Posted by MB1

I have been trying for some time now to get some nice shots of the Marine Corps "Iwo Jima" Memorial. There have been so many photos taken of the place that it is hard to come up with something new. I have been looking for nice skys and interesting light to help out.

Here is some of what I have so far, what do you think about the photos, color and light?

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Wow, that sunset shot is terrific. I like that the stutue is in silhouette but there is color in the flag. I think it needs a light straightening to have the Washington monument stand straight. The others are also very good but I think that the cloud(vapor trail?) to the left of the left of the flagpole distracts.

Oh now that is cool. Clicking on the link I was expecting to see a photo that just any tourist coulda taken, but instead these came up. The first one is especially cool. Thats a nice angle; you're able to see DC in the background, yet you didn't have to add on a whole lot of empty space to have it there. The light's good too--enough where they aren't a complete silhouette. As for the other two, the second seems a bit washed out (as if perhaps you did only a brightness filter on it). Third is pretty good, yet it'd be nice if the sky was a little bit less blue higher up in the photo--i like the colors best lower down. The guy on the right stands out especially against the sky.

I guess I wasn't sure what to expect either, there's so many shots of monuments that it's hard to do something different than what's been done so many times before.

The second shot is the one that really got me. It gives you enough of the story to know what's going on here, great lighting and composition too. Red, white with the blue sky - well done! The only thing is that it would be nice if the rope to raise the flag was around the other side of the pole - but not much you can do about that...

First shot is good too - but keep trying it until you get a really spectacular once-a-year type of sunset behind it. Third one I like as well, but maybe better with a really heavy overcast sky behind it.

I think this has to be one of the hardest subjects to photograph as a silhouette. The figures don't present a strong sens of form based on it's outline. There's just too much going on to make the silhouette recogniseable.

Probably the only way to do it would be to use lighting/flash.
Max Lyons has a good example...
http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/cg....jpg&gallery=0

Perhaps it'll give you some ideas.

I like the sunset though. Good contrast against the statues. Probably requires a bit of lighting to show the form of the statues a little more. I think you should crop out the other buildings though because it detracts from your subject and they don't particularly add to the subject's interest - other than for context. Perhaps another should you could do would be to layer the statue against the building backdrop with a high tele.

Just my thoughts...

Nice job. I like #1 best. Does it seem to you that it's tilted just a touch so that the Washington monumnet is leaning, or is that just me?

I am an early riser.

The point about the Washington Monument being a little off is a good one, thanks. I tilted the photo a bit to get the horizon level and missed that I was turning the Washington Monument into a leaning tower.

I'll keep fooling around with the ideas noted here, everyone has been a big help.