Three-Day Weekend Safari Package in Washington, DC

DC has it all: statues, monuments to the nation’s history, churches, museums, a classic airport, wild animals, and a wide variety of architectural styles.

So, Washington Photo Safari, one of the nation’s oldest and largest photography training programs, has designed a three-day photography package that provides basic training in travel photography and includes all the major iconic memorials by day and by night, an afternoon at the National Museum of American History an early morning safari at the Smithsonian National Zoo, and an insider’s view of Reagan Washington National Airport’s classic Terminal A.

We have planned the three-day itinerary with special regard to people coming from out of town, allowing them to arrive in DC on Friday by noon check into a hotel and get to the first nighttime safari at the Tidal Basin, and then depart on late Sunday afternoon after a story-telling photo safari at the National Museum of American History

Day 1: Friday
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm (February date) / 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm (July date) – The Tidal Basin at Night. One of the best ways to see the most famous and historic monuments on the National Mall is through the viewfinder of your own tripod-mounted camera at twilight and at night, guided by professional architectural photographer E. David Luria who takes you to the FDR and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorials and the classic view of the Jefferson Memorial reflected in the waters of the Tidal Basin. ($89)

Day 2: Saturday
9:40 am to 1:15 pm – This is an opportunity to participate in our most popular safari, Monuments and Memorials, which instructor E. David Luria begins with a 40-minute orientation on travel photography techniques in Lafayette Park, followed by picture-taking at the White House. We then go by car to the National Mall for daytime shots of the Albert Einstein Memorial, and the Lincoln, Korea and Vietnam Memorials by day, ending up inside Union Station to discuss interior photography without flash or tripod and how to use slow shutter speeds to make moving people disappear or turn them into ghosts! (Transportation from site to site is provided by Washington Photo Safari.) ($99)

5:30 pm to 7:30 pm (February date) / 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm (July date) – DCA’s Terminal A at Twilight: A highlight of this three-day series gives you exclusive “insider and outsider access” with tripods to the classic Terminal A of Reagan Washington National Airport in the golden hour of late afternoon and the blue hour of twilight. Led by architectural photographer E. David Luria, this safari guides you to the huge picture window with the sun casting golden light on the buildings across the Potomac River, followed by the deep blue sky that follows sunset. David also teaches you how to make all the moving passengers in the large atrium of Terminal A disappear with slow shutter speeds, and how to do “panning” shots of airplane takeoffs and landings that create motion-blurred backgrounds. It ends in the iconic Art Deco hallways, some “zooming while shooting” experiments in the underground passageway linking Terminal A to its garage, and, finally, nighttime views of the entire airport from the parking garage roof of Terminal A. ($89)

Here are samples of the views you will get in this airport safari:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123745666@N04/albums/72177720295824161

Tripods are allowed

Day 3: Sunday
7:45 am to 10 am – Sunday features an early-morning visit to the Smithsonian National Zoo, led by animal photography specialist Julie Gould, who knows where and when to get the best pictures of the tigers, the lemurs, the birds, the apes, and the panda bears, all of whom prefer to come outside in the cooler morning hours. For this safari you will want to bring your longest telephoto lens and a tripod or monopod If you are planning a trip to Africa or other wildlife destinations, this safari will give you many tips on wild animal photography. ($99)

2:00pm to 4:00 pm: Story telling Photography at the American History Museum

Her face says it all: “You can make me sit in this segregated part of this train, but you can’t break my spirit.” She is a middle-aged African-American passenger on a railroad car in the 1920’s, her face is proud, resolute, her head is high, her lips are tight, her hands firmly clasped around the purse on her lap, as if to say: “Someday, one day, I hope we will be able to sit anywhere we want…”

She is a life-sized figure in the “America On The Move” exhibit at the National Museum of American History, and her face makes a GREAT story-telling image that you can learn to capture in your camera.

She is one of hundreds of figures in this museum, where you can learn how to take beautiful story-telling pictures WITHOUT flash by joining us on this special safari inside the one of the most interesting museums in town: the National Museum of American History. ($89)

This safari is especially designed for clients wishing to improve their photojournalism skills, taking pictures of people in ways that tell a story. This museum offers several exhibits with life-size figures in unique historical situations, such as the history of transportation in America gallery entitled “America On The Move.”, and the large exhibit that highlights US military history.

Accompanied by professional event photographer E. David Luria, you will receive instruction on composition, getting low and close to tell stories that have impact, choice of white balance, choice of lenses, use of filters, how to cope with unique lighting situations without flash, how to use your equipment to capture exhibits, paintings, sculpture, dioramas and other works of art with the existing low light. ($89)

Book all 5 safaris together at $399 and get 15% off of the full $465 retail price!