I’m bad sometimes, while traveling with other people, about not wanting to spend much time on photography because I’m worried the people I’m with will get impatient with waiting for just… one… more…. shot. This is doubly true, then, with my 13 year old sister as a travel companion. I am, after all, responsible for her entertainment beyond the normal group dynamic. She also, annoyingly, seems to expect me to feed her on a semi-regular basis.

Which is what originally happened as we visited the Korean War Memorial. I snapped the picture above, was relatively happy with it, and then we walked off to find the tired young girl a snack.

Luckily for me, though, I managed to head back out later each night for some proper photography around the National Mall. As she sat in the warmth of a comfy bed watching cartoons or movies or something, I wandered back out into the cold with nothing but a beanie and an ineffective coat in the everlasting search of the perfect photo.

And, to be honest, I usually gave up long before I found that perfect shot. These from the Korean Monument were some of my favorites, though, and looking at them later made me glad I’d gone to the effort to spend some time at photography in addition to the sibling bonding we’d spend the rest of the day pursuing.