Ok back again.
What a city, and what a strange city in some ways! Quite different from the other American cities I've visited.
To sum up the overall feeling it left me with in inadequately few words: It feels somehow more artificial and constructed than other US cities, without that being a wholly bad thing necessarily.
General tips:
Plan ahead as much as possible. This is not a hugely discoverable city. What is there, is fairly well documented online and in literature, and either blindingly obvious from the street, or almost seemingly hidden away on purpose.
There is a lot of distance to cover and such an enormous amount to see that it is easy to get lost in few things, use whole days on those and miss other stuff that would have been equally or more interesting.
Find out what you want to experience and how long you are willing to spend, and then try to stick to that plan.
Unlike for example NY, London, Rome, Amsterdam Stockholm or Copenhagen there is little point in just randomly wandering around for a day or three.
There are precious few small, secret, charming or whimsical places to discover.
Also don't waste time on Georgetown. It's a very standard shopping street with standard pricing and standard brands.
Also, if you under any circumstance want to get up in the Washington Monument,
book ahead.
Standing in line in the early morning for hours on end, in random weather (freezing in my case, even with lots of warm clothes) to secure a ticket is not fun, and is a needless waste of time.
It was worth it in the end, but only just. The view is somewhat obstructed by tiny scratched, dirty windows. But its
is a beautiful view and a fun and aweinspiring overall experience.
The visual impression of the monument and history of it, is one of the greatest experiences from the trip.
You can spend two thirds of your time there walking, because of the huge swathes of not a lot happening between hotspots.
Rent a bike from day one.
Don't try to use electric scooters since:
A. The streets are not very friendly towards them (lots of construction working and gabs/cracks).
B. They will quickly run up a bill exceeding other transportation.
C. They are almost impossible to get rid of anywhere near points of interest due to no-park zones.
Failing the courage or ability to bike, use the Metro system, which is fairly well functioning, but doesn't cover the last mile problem.
Some of those early stations are wonderful examples of brutalist concrete architecture and an attraction in themselves.
Film photography related tips:
I visited the store District Camera that does C41 day to day B&W week to week.
They have a small selection of used gear for standard prices and a tonne of filters for good prices (don't buy the Minolta Autocord. The shutter hangs).
A guy bought a Contax T2 for $2000 while I was in there. Nuts! But probably heartening for the future of film.
Sadly never made it to Pro Photo (simply not enough time since I wasn't in the neighbourhood with time to spare at any point).
The draconian post nine eleven security measurements is getting worse and worse here almost eighteen years later, and that has a special impact on film photographers.
I by principle will not put film through an X-ray machine, if it can at all be avoided.
The museum grade scanners especially, I have bad experiences with.
In Rome I had film severely fogged by having it put through a couple of machines.
The staffs handling of you bags in DC and items also at times could have been gentler.
Don't bring your most treasured gear.
Some of them a very nice and use discretion, while others are just crass grumpy wages laves.
Don't count on being able to get a hand check for film if you encounter an X-ray machine.
The only places I encounter with X-ray machines however, where Air and Space Museum and The Washington Monument.
I asked at the Washington Monument and since the staff are mostly rangers and the pressure isn't on to the same degree, they where very open to hand checking film.
Airport was no problem and the 3D scanners had not been installed yet.
There is a fantastic exhibition on the National Gallery, called Eye of the Sun, covering the years in photography before films arrival.
Lots of interesting and priceless original daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, wet plate collodion, cyanotypes etc.
They are very interesting and worthwhile to look at in real life, but only there till the first of December.
There is also a smaller exhibition of historical lunar photographs. Some of them nineteenth century stereo recordings.
https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2019/eye-sun-nineteenth-century-photos.html
https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2019/century-of-lunar-photographs-1850s-apollo-11.html
