Sunrise at the Tidal Basin offers many opportunities for a landscape photographer. For one, one encounters a very nice perspective when facing due east, where the sun and moon rise and color in the sky would appear on days when weather will allow it. Also, it provides a very nice view towards the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument. Lastly, the Tidal Basin itself is a great compositional element – a fast shutter speed can render very nice textures and distorted reflections and a long exposure can reflect the sky like a mirror.

Yesterday morning, the high clouds lit up just enough on either side of the frame. I used a long exposure to reflect this same drama in the water. I actually had to tone down the color due to some white balance warming that inevitably comes while using (supposedly NEUTRAL, but not really) neutral density filters.

This image, as well as all others on my website, is available to purchase as an image license or stock image of Washington DC or for print.