Frederick Emch  


Missouri National Veterans Memorial by Frederick Emch

January 2026 - Missouri National Veterans Memorial

About the Image(s)

I went to the Missouri National Veterans Memorial and was taking shots of this great perspective of the wall with the backlit flags and I used an f22 aperture to get the starburst. With this shot I saw these women looking at the names of the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.

I used a tripod with a Canon EOS 60D with a 15-85mm lens at 16mm, ISO 800, 1/250sec, f22.


4 comments posted




Alan Lichtenstein   Alan Lichtenstein
Very good capture. The starburst situated at the top of the memorial with the bursts projecting down adds to the mystique of the image. The reflections of the people in the memorial are clear and add to the quality of the image. All in all, this is a very good example of how to backlight an image for maximum impact.   Posted: 01/11/2026 08:26:38
Frederick Emch   Frederick Emch
Thank you for your kind comments!   Posted: 01/14/2026 10:26:40



Jen Fawkes   Jen Fawkes
(Group 4)
Hello Fred, to me this has the potential to be a strong HI image, as memorials, and images that reflect history always generate strong emotions. Given the flags above I did work out what the story might be. Unfortunately I cannot see what the women are actually looking at and all I see is their reflection. The starburst is probably irrelevant for PJ but would be considered a nice additive in other divisions. Just remember that PJ is all about the story not the pictorial quality or the clever things we can achieve. I might suggest this could be stronger if you had moved to the left (ignored the starburst) and focused on the area of the wall the women were looking at.   Posted: 01/12/2026 23:29:52
Frederick Emch   Frederick Emch
Thank you for your comments!
I agree with all your comments. This aligns to the decision process I sometimes go through - getting in close to highlight the story and emotions or backing away and showing more context.
I love the image, and I think it may do well in some other divisions.   Posted: 01/14/2026 10:34:38



 

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