The Iwo Jima Marine Corps Memorial
The recipe for this kind of shot is pretty simple. Get out of bed at Oh-Dark-Thirty and be at the location an hour before sunrise with your camera mounted on a tripod. Why so early? Because the light is more dramatic before the sun actually rises. That’s why you need to be there before the the Earth rotates into full view of the sun’s black body radiation. You just want the stuff on the fringe with long wavelengths, right? It’s also because the sun sets on the other side, and the background would then be a 7-11 and some nondescript buildings. Kinda sucks just to think about that angle. It also sucks to have to wake up and be on the move before the Marines get up, but sometimes that’s just the way it is.
Don’t worry, they caught up with me by the time I made it down to the Lincoln Memorial.