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John Caplis Photography

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Sunrise over the National Mall During the Spring Equinox

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The Spring Equinox is a special time for photographers in the Washington, D.C. area.  This is due to the east-west alignment of the National Mall and the sun rising due east and setting due west on the horizon during the spring and fall equinoxes,.   The Netherlands Carilion Bell Tower at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Virginia is a well known photo spot for photographing the full moon when it rises due east on the horizon over the National Mall, due to its spectacular view that features an alignment of the Mall’s most iconic landmarks.  This same principle applies here for sunrises on the days leading up to and immediately after the equinox.  I recently made a trip down to this spot on March 23, 2025 to photograph the morning twilight and sunrise behind the U.S. Capitol.   

The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) screenshot showing times for civil twilight (6:40 am) and sunrise (7:07 am at 87 degrees on the horizon) and the alignment of the sunrise (gold line) with landmarks on the National Mall.  

 

Once I arrived at the Bell Tower, I went to shoot a quick image of the beautiful twilight sky over the National Mall.  I like this particular spot due to the good separation and spacing between the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, at the Capitol dome.

Morning Twilight, 6:30 am, 270 mm.   What a beautiful red sky against the well lit landmarks!

 

I then used the Augmented Reality tool in the Photopills app to fine tune my location in front of the bell tower for the sunrise.  I had to move about thirty feet to the left from my twilight location to make sure the sun first appeared slightly to the left of the Capitol.   This new location closed the spacing between the landmarks, but gave enough space that the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument were just beginning to overlap.  More importantly, it ensured the sun would begin to rise on the left edge of the Capitol dome.

Pointing the camera in my iphone toward the National Mall,, I was able to see where the sun would be rising in relationship to the landmarks in the scene from where I set my camera up using the Photopills app.  From where I set up my camera (you can see my lens at the bottom of the image), the sun should follow the diagonal line and rise somewhere between Washington Monument and the Capitol.  Keeping my fingers crossed as there can be a small margin of error between what your phone shows and the exact location where things actually happen, but its pretty close.

 

The following is my series of images for the sunrise over the U.S. Capitol!   The first three images are a combination of two exposures for the overall scene and the sun’s disc.   

The sun appears! 7:08 am  

 

7:09 am.    Love the sun bursting through the windows of the Capitol dome.

 

7:11 am

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7:14 am.    I was surprised that most of the other photographers had already packed up and were leaving when I took this image. It is a single shot exposed to give a smooth transition from the sun to the rest of the scene, which makes most everything else appear dark, creating a nice contrast of shadowy silhouettes and highlights in the trees.

 

I love how the light and colors change over such a short period of time between twilight and sunrise.

 

 

 

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March Worm Full Moon Rises Over the National Mall

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Worm Full Moon Over the National Mall

 

The full moon in March is sometimes referred to as the “Worm Moon”.   As the last full moon of winter, it signifies the transition from winter to spring, coming two weeks before the spring equinox.  It’s named for the thawing ground, as new worm tracks can now be seen in the soil.   For members of the Christian faith, it is also called the “Lenten” moon, and signifies the fasting season of Lent that precedes the Easter.  In this image, the Worm Full Moon rises over the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, with light streaks from passing cars on the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which spans the Potomac River and connects the District of Columbia with Northern Virginia.  This image also captures another notable event on the National Mall, as the Capitol building is surrounded by scaffolding while the building exterior undergoes renovations.  

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Sunset at the Lincoln Memorial during the Fall Equinox

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I recently planned a photo trip to capture sunset and twilight images of the Lincoln Memorial around the fall equinox.   I chose this period because the sun would be setting due west on the horizon almost directly behind the Memorial as seen from the opposite end of the Reflection Pool.  I set up my tripod, along with three other photographers who evidently had a similar idea, at the edge of Reflection Pool in front of the World War II Memorial.  I decided to use a Canon 70-200 mm L IS USM II lens to get the proper framing and perspective for the image on my Canon R5 mirrorless camera.

 

Based on my research using The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) app, the sun would go down on this evening (September 19, 2021)  right over the top of the Memorial. 

 

The red pin is my tripod location, and the two orange lines represents the sun’s position and elevation on the horizon at the chosen moment on the timeline (thin line), and the sun’s position at sunset (thick line).   TPE showed the sun at 270 degrees North and an elevation of 1.5 degrees above the horizon for the start of sunset.  As you can see below, this made for a beautiful image as the sun dropped partially below the Memorial’s roof line at just the right moment!  I stopped the lens down to f18 to get sunburst as the sun slid half way behind the memorial.   

 

 

The sunset images were rather difficult to expose due to the intense light of the sun and the backlit cloud layer.   I had to take a second shot later on in the sunset-twilight sequence (when the light was more even) which was used to restore the shadow areas of the Memorial.  

 

 

As the sun slipped below the horizon at the right edge of the Memorial, more colors exploded into the sky from the backlit clouds above the horizon.

 

 

This sunset image features a second exposure of the Memorial, taken about twenty minutes later that captured lighting on the front exterior of the building and statue of Lincoln.  Portions of this second image were blended to restore detail in the deeply shadowed areas of the sunset image.  

 

 

As sunset turned into twilight, having the sun set directly behind the Memorial resulted in some nice residual colors in the sky as the light faded and day turned to night.  

 

 

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The Lincoln Monument At Sunrise During the Spring Equinox – Part II

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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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Shooting the Moon over the National Mall

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A rite of passage for landscape photographers in the D.C. area is capturing the moonrise over the National Mall.   A favorite location for this is in front of the Netherlands Carillon Bell Tower between the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.   From this spot, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol all align into one photo.    Catching the moonrise over this alignment in the evening sky only happens twice a year (once in the spring and once in the fall).   The moon must rise just shy of due east on the horizon during twilight.  Getting this image takes planning, patience, and a bit of good luck.   This spring (my fourth attempt over a number of years), the weather gods finally smiled upon me.   There was a light haze on the horizon which quickly became thick clouds higher in the sky.   While I thought this would ruin any chances of getting a good capture, on this night, it actually created some fantastic conditions for colors in the moon that only lasted for a brief moment before the whole show disappeared behind the clouds.  

 

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Photographing Lincoln at the Spring Equinox

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Every year around the spring equinox, an excellent photographic opportunity arises at the Lincoln Memorial. The spring equinox marks the end of winter and the first day of Spring. The sun is directly above the equator, the sun rises due east on the horizon. Inside the Memorial, a large statue of Lincoln faces east, staring out across the reflecting pool toward the Washington Monument.

 

The statue, pictured above, is shown in its normal lighting during periods of darkness, which is also stunning in its appearance. During the day, the statue only receives indirect sunlight and is largely shaded by the roof of the Memorial. During the spring equinox, the sun rises in the east (090 Degrees True on the horizon) directly behind the Washington Monument. Here is a screen print from the The Photographer’s Ephemeris, showing the alignment of the sunrise (yellow line), the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

 

 

This alignment provides for nice opportunities to make sunrise photos with the silhouette of the Washington Monument.  On calm mornings, you can also get great color from the sunrise in the reflection pool.  On the morning of the photo below, it was a very windy morning, and no reflection was possible.  Still, it was a beautiful sunrise.  As you can see, there was also a small window above the horizon with no clouds, which becomes important for photographing Lincoln.

 

The real photographic opportunity is in making elusive images of the Lincoln statue bathed in the golden light of sunrise, framed by the shadows of the massive pillars being projected onto the wall behind Lincoln.  This lighting is only possible during the week on either side of the equinox, on days when you have no clouds low on the horizon to the east.  It only lasts for the short period when the sun is low and rising just over the horizon. As the sun gains elevation, the top of the statue is quickly and increasingly cast into shadow. You also must time the shifting of the shadows of the pillars, which can also cover the face of Lincoln as the sun moves north to south on the horizon as it rises. But when everything lines up just right, the images you can make of Lincoln are beautiful.  The light can be intense as the sun first appears over the horizon, creating an orange glow throughout the inner chamber and on Lincoln himself.  As the sun continues to rise, the light turns from orange to gold.  I have to think Lincoln would enjoy knowing his likeness is a witness to a new beginning everyday over the city that is the national capital of the Union he fought so resolutely to preserve.

 

 

 

You can view more images of this event in my Lincoln Sunrise at the Equinox gallery.

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