Monday, May 25, 2009

America the Beautiful


O beautiful, for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine!

We have found a new Memorial Day tradition that we loved...DC at sunrise.  We arrived in DC about 6:00am, caught some gorgeous shots of the sunrise, and got to see the WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and Korean War Memorials all before 8:00 and well before all the crowds arrived.   It was probably the most meaningful Memorial Day we've ever had. 


Thank you to all the men and women who have fought to protect our freedoms over the years.   
We honor you this day.

Happy Memorial Day!


Make sure you check out I [Heart] Faces this week for lots more silhouettes.

46 comments:

Steve-Rosanna said...

Wow! Stunning picture.

How appropriate on Memorial Day.

Thanks for sharing.

Love, Dad-Mom

The Giles said...

What a beautiful picture!

Andrea said...

What a cool tradition!!

Unknown said...

I LOVE that silhouette picture, especially with the Monument in the background! Are you going to enter that in I heart faces??

K said...

I LOVE the picture! Hope we can join you in that tradition next year! (o:

Anonymous said...

great tribute to our heroes!! have a great memorial day!

Andie said...

Wowie, wow, wow!!!! AWESOME.

Jenny Plumb said...

I absolutely love this photo. Stunning, and it stirs something in me.

tiarastantrums said...

THIS is beautiful

the monkeys' mama said...

love this post, love this picture! great work!

Annette said...

So last night Jaremie and I were thinking of what we were going to do today (Memorial Day), and I thought to myself, "I bet Lara and her family is going to do something cool in DC". Sure enough!

I must say this is one of your best photos. I really like the compositions of it. I also have a thing for flags, love them. So nice work in getting the flag. Nice sky, too.

Unknown said...

What a wonderful tradition! Such a special way to remember the men and woman who have fought and died for our country! Very beautiful!

Karyn said...

Though there will be many images incorporating the Flag on Memorial Day, your effort to achieve sunrise in DC is superlative; the Washington Monument and Capitol Building in the background really cements your composition. Definitely a favorite!

Taylor said...

Perfect tribute to Memorial Day! Beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Great pic and great post.

B Dad

Carrie said...

What an awesome shot and wonderful tribute! A great tradition!

A Family Completed... said...

What a wonderful way to celebrate Memorial day. The tranqulity of the sunrise and visiting all the memorial's before all the crowds. I love it. Love this shot also.

Mamí♥Picture said...

Wow, It is a Beautiful Picture!
You have a Lovely Blog...
Thanks for sharing!

tiff(threeringcircus) said...

Just stunning.

Corey~living and loving said...

WOW! what a wonderful morning you had. stunning shot. perfect in every way. wonderful framing.

Unknown said...

THis is my FAVORITE! Everything in the shot is PERFECT, super job.. hope you hang this one up!

Anonymous said...

This photo is amazing. Truly an inspirational memory and message. Thanks so much for sharing, and may God continue to bless our Troops.

Deanne said...

What a great idea. If we ever do end up back there, that might be a tradition we adopt!

aspiritofsimplicity said...

Beautiful photo. And, what a great idea.

Michelle said...

great shot! Love the memorial in the background

Carmen said...

Great shot! beautiful picture and nice story to go with it....

Karen@THPhotography said...

I am in LOVE with this picture. Can I post a link to it on my site?

AJ said...

Wow. I love your picture and the idea of seeing those fantastic memorials at sunrise. Thank you for sharing!

angie {the arthur clan} said...

What a beautiful way to commemorate this important day. Wonderful!

~Angie
co-founder of I ♥ Faces

JenJ said...

GREAT idea!

Melanie said...

I enjoy the composition of this photograph.

Foursons said...

That is beautiful, gave me chills.

Anonymous said...

That is a gorgeous shot! TFS

Mandi said...

What a special shot. I really like this one!

Puna said...

This is beautiful.

Through My Own Lens said...

WOW!!! Def one of my favs so far! Great job and perfect for this weekend...what a fun new tradition!

AngelaCate said...

Breathtaking! What a wonderful capture...that's like a once in a blue moon kind of photo!!

Rebecca said...

what a neat tradition and so smart of you to leave nice and early!!

LOVE your entry. It's breathtaking and definately one of my favorites! Great job!!!!
~Becca

Penelope said...

What an amazing post! I love the picture, and how appropriately it goes along with Memorial Day!

Sarah said...

Hmmm...wow. I really like that it's in DC and you can see the memorial in the background. Beautiful shot...beautiful moment!

Julie Ball said...

Wow - how incredible, beautiful, and moving! That should be on a DC visitor's guide or something - though maybe you don't want to give away your secret of visiting at sunrise?! Thanks for checking out my photo too! :)

julie @ mom by faith

Rosetta said...

Sweet setting. Love this shot.

Stefan said...

DC on Memorial Day is a marvelous venue at any time, but the idea of capturing it at sunrise is special.

Amazing composition. Thank you for sharing.

Kelowna said...

A winner. Good post.

K said...

I'm feeling kind of mad right now. Is it possible for a professional photographer not to win???? Seriously?!

Matthew said...

I honestly think that the judge must have skipped this one or didn't realize that was the Washington Monument and the Capitol in the background or something. This is an AMAZING shot!!! AMAZING!!!!