Tag Archives: lincoln

Presidential Cars

The Henry Ford includes a selection of presidential automobiles.  These all seem to have been Lincolns, unlike the current vehicle which is a Cadillac.  While the style has evolved over time, there are common themes.  The need to be seen and the requirements of the Secret Service to ride along show on the cars.  The most recent Lincoln was the car replaced by the current vehicle.  It has a folding rear bumper that agents can stand on and a pop up handrail for the them to hold on to.  The older vehicles have less of a security element.  The assassination of Kennedy changed all of that of course.

Lincoln Memorial

Continuing the Washington tour, we headed to the Lincoln Memorial.  This one isn’t an unfamiliar subject and there is only so much you can do that is new.  I was also a little constrained by the time of day we were there but enough of the excuses.  I still got a few shots of the memorial as we looked around.  It is an impressive structure and very popular.  Consequently, there are a lot of people there at almost any time of day.

With so many people there, you are not often going to get the chance to have the scene clear of people so you make the best of it.  I figured I would go as wide as possible in order to make the people less prominent in the shots.  Whether this really worked or not, I am not sure.  I also decided to do a panorama inside the building to try and get the wide shot without the distortion the fish-eye can bring.

That didn’t stop me playing with the fish as well.  It certainly provides a different look at some things but the large amount of vertical references really shows the distortion.  Still, it was worth a try.

Spring Shows Up!

The Chicago weather has been pretty cool and damp so far and spring was not showing much sign of appearing.  I often forget that we are quite far north here and the spring does not become apparent until a little later than I was used to.  However, we had a day the other day that broke the mold.  After lots of dull days, it was sunny and in the high 80s.  What the hell is that all about?

A nice day and lots of light – time to go wandering in the park.  Lincoln Park is always worth a visit on a nice day – and I was obviously not alone in this conclusion!  There is the zoo but the ponds in the park also have a fair amount of wildlife so there is always something to take a look at.

The bird life is always active so I got a lot of shots of ducks and geese.  At this time of year, romance is in the air so the birds seem to spend half the time fighting with each other!  There were also a few turtles basking in the sun so they were fun to take a look at.  I did walk through the zoo and got a few shots there but mainly it was stuff in the rest of the park.  Here are a few samples.  Need to get some more practice in given how many shots were not as intended but that is the point I guess…