Althouse: A Lincoln sunrise.

October 17, 2025

A Lincoln sunrise.

Write what you want!

Compare this other shot, taken 10 seconds later:

I didn't do anything different, but it seems as though the iPhone seemed to get involved and go all AI on the picture. What do you think?

26 comments:

tcrosse said...: He has yet to stand up.; 10/17/25, 11:35 AM
n.n said...: Oh, say can you see,
By the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight's last gleaming
...
That our Lincoln statue was still there.; 10/17/25, 11:36 AM
Original Mike said...: Looks like the phone "opened up the aperture", or whatever the electronic equivalent is.; 10/17/25, 11:41 AM
tim maguire said...: My phone has gotten more aggressive about pushing filters and adjustments. I almost always say no, I'll take it as I found it. Sometimes it overrules me and does it anyway.; 10/17/25, 11:41 AM
Kai Akker said...: Don't know how the precious metals will fare longer-term, but the stocks look dicey, to say the least. Longest chart of Newmont shows triple top over the last 25 years. XAU is down almost 8% today. Party over for the goldies?; 10/17/25, 11:42 AM
Ann Althouse said...: It could be something I did, which is frame the second one with less sky. With less light from the sky to deal with, it chose an adjustment that brought out more of the dark things in the lower half.; 10/17/25, 11:44 AM
Eva Marie said...: I googled Lincoln statues: most of them sitting or standing next to a chair. Teddy Roosevelt: usually on a horse.; 10/17/25, 11:52 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: I like the picture. Unfortunately, the ugly white buildings and cranes spoil the view. Imagine if it was just a tree lined Blvd with classy low level buildings.; 10/17/25, 12:01 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Great photo.
I almost said 'shot'.
Oops.; 10/17/25, 12:02 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: You don't statues of Lincoln on a horse because - judging by the pictures - he looked ridiculous.; 10/17/25, 12:03 PM
Art in LA said...: In your 2nd image, you zoomed in a little bit or used sneaker zoom and backed up a few steps to take the picture. Backlit shots like this probably confuse the exposure meter.

For a setting like this, I'd probably tap on Abe's back to let the phone know to expose there.; 10/17/25, 12:15 PM
Big Mike said...: RCOCEAN II said...

You don't statues [sic] of Lincoln on a horse because - judging by the pictures - he looked ridiculous.

Lincoln didn’t ride a horse. When he wasn’t riding in a carriage his favorite mount was a large mule.* Confederates sang a mocking song that contrasted Jefferson Davis on a “big white horse” while Lincoln rode a mule.
_______________
* Autocorrect finally stopped changing this word to “mile.”; 10/17/25, 12:25 PM
Dave Begley said...: I won my case in the NE Supreme Court today!; 10/17/25, 12:34 PM
rehajm said...: well done Begs!; 10/17/25, 12:42 PM
rehajm said...: The Thomas Ball Emancipation statue in Boston depicted Lincoln’s tall frame standing above a crouching slave. When viewed from behind and thru the lens of half a bottle of wine from Grill 23 many women see Lincoln as posed in position bj…

…btw the flowers in the four pediment urns? That was me…; 10/17/25, 12:49 PM
Lloyd W. Robertson said...: We enjoyed an overnight in Madison years ago, when we lived in MN. Lincoln on one hill, looking down, a long downhill into the main commercial street, kind of typical student and faculty businesses, then uphill a bit to the Capitol. Lovely. There was a demo on, and when I asked what it was about, a person said "I don't know, it's always something." Years before wokeism. Sen. Paul Simon of Ilinois was running for Pres, and he gave a speech at the Capitol. No not that Paul Simon, you young whippersnappers. What? You've never heard of either of them? Alas, my new girlfriend doesn't even know who Aretha Franklin is. Or was.; 10/17/25, 12:59 PM
Paddy O said...: Congrats, Dave!; 10/17/25, 1:03 PM
Original Mike said...: "It could be something I did, which is frame the second one with less sky. With less light from the sky to deal with, it chose an adjustment that brought out more of the dark things in the lower "

That'll do it. Exposure meters on cameras have been doing that since the beginning, although there are settings (using a restricted metering region), that will supersede it.; 10/17/25, 1:04 PM
Original Mike said...: Congratulations, Dave.; 10/17/25, 1:05 PM
mikeski said...: There was a demo on, and when I asked what it was about, a person said "I don't know, it's always something."

My son lived pretty much right across the street from the UN. On more than one occasion while hanging out there with him, I asked him if it was "always this loud?"

He replied that, pretty much, yeah it was and he had managed to become inured to it to the point that he didn't even hear the commotion anymore.

Similarly, my wife grew up on Long Island, in the flight path for Kennedy Airport. Visiting her parents' house, I asked her how she could stand the content planes overhead. She looked at me and replied "wow, I haven't even thought about that in years. I don't hear it at all."; 10/17/25, 1:08 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Just finished American Brutus. Michael Kauffman's account of John Wilkes Booth and the events around the Lincoln assassination. I'm floored by how well researched the book is. 140 years after the fact and Kauffman provides an almost hour-by-hour recounting of events. Clearly there was Warren Commission-levels of documentation at the time.

It's also impossible to ignore how exactly the rhetoric of these Confederate sympathizer Democrats regarding Lincoln mirrors the rhetoric of the today's Democrats regarding Trump.; 10/17/25, 1:17 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Exclusive: U.S. Navy warship holding survivors from strike on Caribbean vessel, sources say ~ Reuters

This is potentially a massive story. Did DOJ plan for survivors? Do they have sufficient evidence to prosecute? What is US jurisdiction to prosecute? Where will they go next? When is their court date? Will they be indicted? Held at Gitmo? Returned to Venezuela? Be Epsteined?

Can’t wait to see the evidence at their trial now, since summary execution failed. There will be a trial with evidence, right?; 10/17/25, 1:17 PM
Dave Begley said...: But I lost my civil rights case in the Nebraska federal court. I'm appealing to the 8th Circuit.; 10/17/25, 1:25 PM
jim5301 said...: Trump said “fuck” at the press conference today. I think this is the first time. I don’t give a fuck but it would make a good trivia question.; 10/17/25, 1:39 PM
Rabel said...: Click on the image then click on "Show EXIF" and you'll see the settings. The darker picture doubled the shutter speed. And some other stuff I don't understand.; 10/17/25, 1:45 PM
Rabel said...: Second time. How did you miss the first?; 10/17/25, 1:46 PM