The Washington Monument, designed in the simple shape of an ancient Egyptian obelisk, was built in honour of George Washington. Constructed between 1848 and 1884 it was the tallest structure in the world at the time of completion, until the construction of the Eiffel Tower in France in 1889. The monument however remains the world's tallest stone structure standing 554 feet 7 11/32 inches (169.046 m) tall.
It has an aluminum apex, which at the time of casting was the largest piece of aluminum in the world with Aluminum being relatively unknown having a value similar to silver. The slight change in shading of the marble at 46m (150ft) came from a halt in construction between 1854 and 1877 due to lack of funds and the civil war with construction eventually resuming from a different source of stone. National Mall, Washington DC, United States of America.
I took this shot with a Canon EOS 6D and a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II prime at ISO 100, f/22 and 1s exposure time.
Image taken by and remains the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com