Street Photography in Washington DC

Union Station connects Washington to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, and local street photographer Robert Trejo calls it the perfect place to combine busy travelers with architecture. He suggests working both the entrances and the hall inside. The vaulted hall throws big shapes of light on sunny mornings. Stand at the edge of a light patch and wait for a traveler with a bag to cross it. Outside, the plaza faces the Capitol dome. The building is private property with security, so keep a tripod folded and move on if asked.

The blocks around the Friendship Archway at 7th and H Streets hold the Gallery Place Metro, the arena, the National Portrait Gallery and a lot of restaurants. Trejo calls it heavily congested with foot traffic and recommends the latter part of the day, when you get more variety of people and better shadows. Event nights at the arena bring crowds in team jerseys. Use the arch as a frame, or stand at the Metro escalators on 7th Street and catch people rising into the light. It is loud and busy after dark, so keep your bag closed.

This is the office core of downtown, and Trejo's pick for a spot without tourists. He suggests walking a two or three block radius around International Square at 19th and K, near Farragut Square, and working it around noon when the lunch crowd pours out. The office towers create hard shadows and narrow lanes of light across the sidewalks. Look for one person in a suit crossing a bright gap between buildings. Farragut Square itself fills with people eating at lunch on warm days. Guards may approach you near building entrances. You can photograph from the public sidewalk.

The National Mall runs from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, and the monuments pull tourists and protesters all year. Skip the postcard. Photograph the groups posing on the Lincoln steps, or joggers passing the Reflecting Pool. Sunrise is quieter and the light comes from behind the Capitol end. At sunset the steps fill up and figures silhouette against the sky. Late March to early April brings the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin, and huge crowds with them. Expect a long walk between monuments and little shade in summer.

Improve Photography calls the area around Dupont Circle ripe with photo possibilities and great people watching. The circle is a small park with a marble fountain in the middle, ringed by traffic, with bookstores and cafes on the streets around it. People sit on the fountain rim and cut across on their way to the Metro. Sit a while and let people forget you. Late afternoon light filters through the trees. Embassy Row runs up Massachusetts Avenue nearby; photographing embassies from the sidewalk is generally fine, but guards may watch you closely.

U Street was once called Black Broadway, and it still has the Lincoln Theatre and Ben's Chili Bowl among a long run of clubs. Improve Photography describes it as a vibrant area with lots of colorful people and buildings. 14th Street crosses it with more bars and sidewalk cafes. Murals of cultural icons cover the walls around both streets. Come in the evening, when the neon comes on and the sidewalks fill. Put a mural behind a passerby and wait for a gesture. Weekend nights get crowded and rowdy late, so shoot early in the night.

Meridian Hill Park, also called Malcolm X Park, is a 12 acre terraced park between 15th and 16th Streets with a 13 step cascading fountain. On Sunday afternoons in warm weather a drum circle gathers on the upper level, with dancers and families around it. Arrive mid afternoon and the circle gives you gesture and faces lit by low sun through the trees. Photograph the dancers, not just the drummers. Some regulars know they are being watched and some don't want to be. Ask before a close shot.

Georgetown's waterfront park runs along the Potomac below K Street, with wide steps and views of the Key Bridge. M Street above it is a busy shopping strip with brick row houses. Evenings bring couples and dog walkers to the river, and rowers pass in the morning. Bruce Stambaugh photographed here during Georgetown Glow, a winter lighting festival. I'd come at sunset, when the light comes straight up the river, and frame people on the steps against the water. The waterfront can flood after heavy rain, so check before you go.