Washington, D.C. - October 11 to 13, 2003

Text and Photography by Sassan Sanei

All images copyright © 2003 Sassan Sanei.

Many of the night pictures on this page used a technique called layer compositing. Because of the extreme range of subject brightness, capturing detail in both shadow and highlight areas on a single frame is impossible. Therefore, I used a tripod and made two (sometimes three) separate exposures, then later combined the most appropriately exposed section of each exposure into a single frame. The result is an image that retains detail in dark and bright areas, for example foliage (dark) and Capitol dome (light).


Various views of the Capitol:




The Washington Monument:




The White House. The second picture is detail from the rooftop - who is the sniper aiming at?



Field note: This shot was handheld. I was prevented from using my tripod at this location by a rather burly man in an official-looking uniform. National security, you see. "But sir, don't you realize that by forcing me to take a blurry picture, you're letting the terrorists win?!"


180 degree panorama of the Capitol area.



You may need to scroll right to see the entire picture


The following pictures were made in the vicinity of the Smithsonian Institution:



All images copyright © 2003 Sassan Sanei.