Thursday, September 13, 2012

The Dangers of being a Travel Photographer

I was standing in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. when I took this photograph between honking cars and speeding bicyclists. I was arrested by the local police because they considered my tripod a dangerous weapon. I was handed over to the Department of Homeland Security, interrogated and labeled as an “enemy combatant” ready to be renditioned to Guantanamo Bay.

That wasn’t even the bad part.

My poor Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera was scanned, swabbed and fingered by some unsavory guys wearing pink shoes, purple smocks and white gloves.

I finally yelled out from the top of my lungs, “Photography is not a crime!” and handed them a copy of this:

Find out your rights as a photographer by clicking this link

They put a black bag over my face and forced me into some vehicle. After an hour or so I was then thrown out of the vehicle and found myself in some place called Freedom Plaza back on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Yes, it’s tough being a travel photographer.

I also have a wild imagination.

None of this is true (but this could be the next Dan Brown novel) with the exception that I really was on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. taking this photograph from Freedom Plaza.

This is a great location to photograph the U.S. Capitol with a city view. It looks like I’m standing in the middle of the road, but actually Pennsylvania Avenue takes a slight bend where the plaza is at so you have a direct view of the Capitol with the traffic coming straight toward you.

If for some reason when you come back to my blog and it hasn’t been updated for a while, then you’ll know the U.S. government has really temporarily relocated me to Guantanamo Bay!

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

A City of Monuments, Memorials and Criminals

It’s been about two months since I returned from my amazing journey in Southeast Asia, but that does not mean I have stopped traveling. Since my return I have traveled to Chicago, Wisconsin and the nation’s capitol Washington, D.C. where I was all last week.

So let me give you a warm welcome to Washington, D.C. otherwise known as the District of Criminals!

I have a confession...I am a recovering political junkie. I use to eat, sleep and talk politics, but thankfully Washington, D.C. cured me of that. The crime, corruption, graft...and I'm just talking about the halls of Congress! Apart from that, Washington, D.C. is a wonderful city, especially if you can squeeze in a visit between its frigid winters and humid summers. Unfortunately, for me that seems like the only time I visit Washington, D.C.

For Washington, D.C. and its politicians it is all about access. Thankfully, for tourists you have free access to all the monuments, memorials, Smithsonian Museums and even the zoo! As a result, you may want to try to squeeze in as much as possible on your visit.

So here’s a photograph where I squeezed in three in one!

Three icons most people recognize of Washington, D.C.: The Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument and The United States Capitol. I took this shot in front of the Netherlands Carillon. What and where is that you may ask? It's right next to the Iwo Jima Marine Memorial which is across from D.C. in Arlington, Virginia.

If you take a trip to the nation's capitol just watch out for your wallets, not from the street thieves, but rather from the members of Congress who are full of bloated promises and quick with a phony smile.

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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