Washington Post Video

Washington wakes up to Winter Solstice

Night turns to day as the sun rises over Washington on the shortest day of the calendar year - the winter solstice. (Dec. 22) (Evelio Contreras / The Washington Post)

When Dave Beard, the Post’s sitewide engagement editor, told me about a project he was working on about the Winter’s Solstice I was eager to see what I could contribute. The Post sent out its photographers to capture what it was like to see the shortest day of the calendar year and we also gathered photos from readers and viewers.

I talked to one of my editors, Jonathan Forysthe about a good place to shoot the sunrise. He suggested Gravelly Point on the George Washington Parkway. It’s got a great view of the National Mall and the Capitol across the Potomac. The park is also next to Reagan National Airport.

I showed up before dawn to set up a Canon 60D and a Canon 5D Mark II focusing on the Washington Monument and the Potomac River to produce two separate time lapses.

One of the cool things about sunrise shots is the sky turns to light before the sun actually shows up. So, in essence, you are shooting for two moments. I knew the sun would rise to my right and to my left I saw the Washington Monument and chose that to show the sky turn from black to light.

In between, I used another camera to shoot a lot of detail shots like autumn leaves and the reflection of the monument in the rippling water while I was filming the sky change to show the mood of the place.

Every few minutes or so, I noticed a plane would take off from Reagan. There were also birds flying in the sky. I wanted to show how flight could be seen as a transition point for folks like the winter solstice can be for the seasons. It became my “character” in this short visual piece.

Before I left the parkway, I noticed a pair of fisherman on one of the riverbanks set up fishing poles. I thought this was a nice way to end the piece to highlight the calm feeling I had shooting the Winter’s Solstice.

For me, shooting the sunrise felt like a smooth, simple transition, like the solstice, one that would have happened without little notice if you didn’t wake up to see it. I like moments like that, one where the light patterns – and the mood – had shifted.

—Evelio Contreras /The Washington Post

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Best of Post Video Week: Uniquely Washington

This week we’re highlighting the best video created by our VJs and producers in 2011. Each day we’ll be posting one video from each and all of our talented staff. Consider it a holiday gift from us to you! We’re kicking it off with stories uniquely Washingtonian—U Street, Arlington Cemetery, Mambo Sauce and even a trip to a Washington outside of the District, watch it all below:

Night lives: Bob Taylor, nighttime photographer (by Evelio Contreras)

Bob Taylor, 81, carries a Polaroid camera near Adams Morgan and U Street bars on weekend nights. He does portrait shots for $5 and tells people why it’s important to “get a picture.”

Chess grandmaster plays 30 games simultaneously (by Ben de la Cruz and Puja Bhalerao)

Thirty students from the District, Maryland and Virginia played against Maurice Ashley, the first African-American chess grandmaster, at the same time. The exhibition was part of a fundraiser for the U.S. Chess Center in D.C.

The city’s sauce (by Whitney Shefte)

Mumbo sauce, also known as mambo sauce, can be found in carryout restaurants throughout Washington. It is a staple for many residents in D.C. and part of a completely unknown subculture to others.

A private car, with a private view (Produced by Kristen Boghosian)

Chuck Jensen is one of only a handful of people that own their own train car. He rents out the nearly century-old heavyweight Pullman observation car for private trips, but mostly uses it to vacation across the country with his family.

A catalog of grieving at Arlington Cemetery (by AJ Chavar)

The U.S. Army Center of Military History collects and catalogs items of interest left at graves in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery where soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. For the past two years, a team of U.S. Military curators visits the section every Wednesday to archive the mementos left on graves.

Shutdown averted (Produced by Jayne Orenstein)

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein talks about how the GOP and Democrats came to an agreement despite contentious rhetoric on both sides of the debt ceiling debate and how the United States was able to avoid default.

The View from Washington, Ga. (By Alexandra Garcia and Ben de la Cruz)

In Washington, a town of 4,000 in rural Georgia, the 2011 campaign for mayor became a contest rife with tension. (Photos)

Best of Post Video Week: Uniquely Washington