Sunset at the Monument

Do you ever plan your compositions ahead of time, for the shots you know you want to take?  I mean, way ahead of time, like before you ever get to the scene?  Or do you "wing it", so to speak, based on what you find at the scene?  I tend to do both, but more often than not I find myself winging it.

This is one of those cases where I was sorta winging it.  It's pretty much a given that if you are in Washington, DC that you are going to try and get a shot of the Washington Monument, right?  The truth is though, the structure does not lend itself to a great shot.  It's tall and skinny, and it's fairly open around it.  So how do you compose something like that?  In this shot I was actually walking back to find the rental car, and happened to turn around, and well....this is what I saw.  Click.

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