Christmas is no longer sneaking up on us. It is flying straight at us with the laser like precision of a Tom Brady pass. With just a few days left, I am hustling to finish processing my Christmas themed photography. In order to dedicate more time to processing, I will be brief.
The first photograph in this post (the National Christmas Tree and the White House at night) was a terribly difficult shot to get. As I mentioned in the post “Christmas in Washington DC-US Capitol at Night” the conditions were not great; very cold and 15+ knot winds. Windy conditions are always a challenge when shooting long exposures. In this case it was exaggerated further because this shot was taken at a 400mm focal length (Canon EF 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L which, BTW I am selling…send me a note if you are interested). To get this unobstructed shot, I had to set up at the base of the Washington Monument, and use every bit of the 400mm focal length.
If you are unclear why use of the 400mm introduces a new level of difficulty , I will explain. At such a long focal length, it takes only a small amount of camera movement to shift what you see through the lens. At 400mm, If I move the camera just a few degrees, the White House would no longer be in the frame. With a 17mm wide angle lens, I could move the camera nearly 80 degrees and still have the White House in the frame. In summary, at 400mm, just a tiny bit of camera shake (wind, flapping cable or camera strap, shutter movement, or even breathing) would make the photograph unusable.
I still have a few more groups of photos to post before Christmas. Visit again soon, and enjoy the rest of the photographs.
Have fun, and go make some great photography.
Craig
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