Bill and I went into DC last night to photograph some of the Christmas light displays in the city. As usual – construction and security added a few new twists to our photography plans.

We started out at Union Station. The plan was a photo of the front of Union Station – with all three wreaths. You can imagine our surprise when we discovered major construction at Union Station. They’ve placed 8 foot barrier walls all along the front of the station. So instead of a photo of the full front of the station – we went for a cropped panoramic view this year.

(c) 2007 William Lawrence

Next stop was the tree over the U.S. Capitol building. This year’s tree is from Vermont. As usual – it’s a gorgeous tree.

Photographing the tree at the Capitol is always a challenge. You aren’t allowed to use a tripod on the Capitol grounds without a permit that you have to apply for in advance- and it’s the same permit for a single photographer wanting to use a tripod as for a major film crew. Needless to say – we don’t bother getting a permit. Having had enough encounters with the Capitol police – anything we take on the Capitol grounds is done hand held.

Fortunately – there was a handy snow fence pole that Bill could use to brace the camera for some close in shots of the tree and the Capitol Dome. This photo was shot at ISO 800 – before you shoot all your photos at this high of an ISO – do a few test shots to see how much noise you get with your camera at higher ISOs.

(c) 2007 William Lawrence

We wanted to take some photos of the tree using the tripod – which means getting off of the Capitol grounds. Once you cross First St, NW – you are on the National Mall, which is administered by the National Park Service. On the side of the Grant Memorial facing the Capitol, there are some great places to photograph the tree and the Capitol from, including some places to brace your camera or set up your tripod.

None of the Park Rangers we’ve met at any of the memorials on the Mall have ever given us a hard time about using a tripod, only one Park Police officer has ever made us stop using a tripod on the Mall. We had no problem using a tripod from the Grant Memorial last night to get a wide angle view of the Capitol and the tree.

(c) 2007 William Lawrence

Our final stop was at the Embassy of Australia. For several years, they have put up the cutest light display in the city. This year – was no exception.

(c) 2007 William Lawrence

When we’ve seen the Australian lights in the past, the display was only the kangaroos (complete with the red nose on the lead kangaroo). A recent addition is the surfing Santa.

The Embassy of Australia is located at 1601 Massachusetts Ave, NW – just off of Scott Circle. There’s a nice little traffic island between Mass Ave and Scott Circle with an unobstructed view of the lights. You can set up your tripod there so you aren’t taking your photos from the middle of the street.

We hope you enjoy viewing our Christmas lights in DC photos as much as we enjoyed taking them.