I recently returned to the Lincoln Monument for another sunrise during the spring equinox. I really enjoy photographing this event, because it truly is about “light and landscapes”. My first time was in March 2019 and featured beautiful clouds during twilight behind the Washington Monument, followed by wonderful orange and golden light on Lincoln. It was very windy and there were actually waves breaking in the reflecting pool, ruling out any reflections on the water. However, on this morning in 2021 (Part II), the sky was cloudless and the reflecting pool was flat calm. I decided to photograph this Lincoln sunrise looking across the reflecting pool in order to include a reflection in the images.
During twilight, the monument remains illuminated, framed by soft blues tones, and the white statue of Lincoln stands out nicely. The windows of buildings in the background were nicely reflecting red light from the horizon behind me where the sun was preparing to rise. This vantage point is at the far end of the reflecting pool next to the World War II Memorial. Unlike the crowded steps of Lincoln, there was only one other photographer with me at this spot, a bonus in the midst of a pandemic. While I was using a 100-400 mm lens for these images, this shot was taken at 176 mm and a 70-200 mm lens would also work well from this spot.
The monument’s lighting is turned off just before sunrise, and the interior chamber goes completely dark. The equinox, however, is tailor-made for sunrises at the eastward-facing Lincoln Monument. As the sun rises at this time of the year due east (approx 090 degrees) on the horizon, the interior chamber is directly lit with an intense orange glow, and for a short time Lincoln himself is completely free of shadows.
As the sun continues to rise on the horizon, the entire scene is bathed in warm golden tones, and the sun’s reflection creates a starburst of light on the glass building in the background. Zooming in a bit to 250 mm creates a bit of an alternate composition, which emphasizes the details and golden lighting in the reflection and on the statue of Lincoln.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this Washington DC right of passage for photographers. I specifically selected these three images to show how the sunrise light changes and transforms this sacred American landscape every year at this time on the astronomical calendar. You can see more images taken from inside of the interior chamber by visiting my gallery at Lincoln at the Spring Equinox.
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