OK, here is the best I can do with one night's work. I took a series of pictures from my lower perch on Grant's statue (45 mins later I climbed higher). I panned from North (my left) to South (my right), then stitched the pictures together tonight. Here are the caveats:
- The two lions appear to be angled in towards the Capitol, but their pedestals are actually parallel. The distortion is because this is a 180 degree sweep from my left to my right.
- It took a few seconds between each picture as I steadied myself. As a result, the trees moved in the breeze and people shifted position, making a 1-to-1 alignment impossible. I used structures and low shrubs as the best yardsticks for alignment. I left the rough edges as-is.
- The populace extends far offscreen to the left and right. I checked my photos -- it took me about 45 full minutes to walk from Constitution Ave to the centerline (Grant's statue is about centerline from the Capitol). The density of this crowd makes 4th of July on the lawn at the Hatch Shell in Boston look like the Sahara - we often spent time standing still as NO ONE MOVED.
- From Grant's statue to the Capitol, and from Constitution Av to Independence Ave, is an area covered by probably 100,000 people (based on Park Service estimates of population density during inauguration, which is nice organized seating).
- Behind me (behind Grant's statue and around the reflecting pool), extending out to 3rd Ave, also from Constitution Ave to Independence Ave, is probably another 140,000.
And here's his picture:
I'll have to disagree with countertop - that looks like it could be over 200K people.That is all.
7 comments:
Another pic from high angle.
http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=6500
Beck was saying on the radio Uni. of Indiana has calculated 1.7 million in the crowd.
Video
http://qik.com/video/2869170
I just don't buy the whole "60-70K" estimate.
Gillette Stadium holds ~ 60K people. That's not even CLOSE to the center of that area. There's at least 150K in the picture alone.
Freedomworks has an amazing panoramic shot take it looks like from the Capitol building. I can't share it because they will be selling it as a photo or poster to raise money to offset the costs of the march, but once you see it you will KNOW there were more then 70,000 people there, and more then 200,000-300,000 as well.
Oh, and Sci-fi, if you were one of the ones riding Grant's horse, there is a chance I have a pic of you taken from up near the stage.
Opppsie. I just noticed the pic Mad Saint Jack linked to is the same soopersekrit Michael Beck photo for Freedomworks as I was sent by one of the people on stage, just with a different caption.
Mopar-
I was never up at the literal top (on the horse -- in fact, I didn't know people were even up there). I was up on the cornice/ledge that surrounds the base. The picture in JayG's "Rally Update #6" really is me. I got up there around 3:00-ish, after standing on the marble steps (about 3ft lower) at the base of the pedestal from 1:00-3:00.
You can use those times/locations to determine where I was when you were taking pictures. If you have any pictures of Grant's statue from 1-4pm, let me know.
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