-- Central Photo Company, a family-owned photography company serving Washington, DC since 1919, continues to provide organized panoramic group portrait services for visitors at the U.S. Capitol and landmark sites across the city. The company photographs groups ranging from five to 3,000 people, helping school tours, families, associations, and corporate teams leave Washington with a professionally composed record of their shared visit.
Photo Courtesy of Central Photo Company
For visitors weighing things to do in Washington, DC, a group photograph at the foot of the Capitol dome has become a familiar stop between museums, monuments, and the next line on an itinerary. For more than a century, Central Photo Company has ushered groups into a single, composed frame at that very location. Among the company’s group photography locations in DC, the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial has become the flagship setting for its Signature Panoramic service.
Central Photo Company photographs groups across Washington, DC, including at the Capitol grounds, Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, Marine Corps War Memorial, commonly known as Iwo Jima, Jefferson Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. The company serves more than 100,000 people annually through its landmark group-photography services. Last year, its groups arrived from 36 states on 1,850 buses, with many visitors participating as part of school field trips.
Washington, DC welcomed 27.2 million visitors in 2025, its third consecutive record year, according to Destination DC. For the school groups, families, associations, and corporate teams traveling through the capital, a group portrait at the Capitol turns a packed day into one shared record that can live on in yearbooks, photo albums, classrooms, offices, and homes.
One Frame, Hundreds of People
A group photo may sound straightforward until the group includes hundreds of eighth-grade students with a Smithsonian museum visit scheduled before noon. Central Photo Company is structured to manage that scale. The company holds permits, meets buses at Garfield Circle, guides groups onto the grounds, and arranges participants from the front row to the back.
The process is designed to produce one panoramic group portrait in approximately 15 minutes. Instead of dividing the group into multiple photos, Central Photo Company composes the entire gathering in one frame. The crew positions participants so they can remain visible and ensures that groups leave with a photograph tied to the historic setting beneath the Capitol dome.
The service has been refined over more than a century, making it a regular itinerary stop for many tour operators. For these groups, the portrait becomes more than a temporary activity. It is a lasting keepsake of the trip and a useful record for students, parents, teachers, and future travelers.
Why the Grant Memorial Stands Out
Central Photo Company photographs at major landmarks across the city, including the Lincoln Memorial’s marble steps, the Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin, the Washington Monument grounds, the Stone of Hope at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the Marine Corps War Memorial across the river.
Each location has a distinct backdrop, but the steps below the Capitol at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial have become the company’s signature group-photo setting. Situated at the base of the Capitol and just beyond the busiest visitor paths, the memorial gives large groups space to organize and hold the frame.
The stairs naturally tier a crowd into clear rows, and Central Photo Company’s team manages the final composition so faces remain visible. The crew balances each side of the group below the Capitol dome and accounts for the perspective of a wide panoramic frame.
Central Photo Company is also associated with the Runner feature, a longstanding panoramic tradition in which one person runs behind the group from one end to the other during the camera sweep. Moving quickly enough allows the runner to appear at both ends of the completed photograph. The company’s technique has been noted by the Library of Congress.
The Grant Memorial’s bronze cavalry, reflecting pools, and symmetrical view of the Capitol dome create a distinctive visual setting. The location provides both a prominent Washington backdrop and an organized foreground that can accommodate hundreds of people. It remains a less obvious stop for many casual visitors, which helps groups complete their portrait session without the congestion found at some of the city’s busiest landmarks.
The setting also changes with the seasons. Spring portraits can capture the atmosphere of cherry blossom season, while the sharper light of autumn produces a different visual impression. Each group leaves with an image shaped by both the place and the timing of its visit.
Built Into the DC Day
Central Photo Company’s sessions are designed to fit the schedule groups already have in Washington, DC. Most portraits are completed quickly enough to fit between a Capitol tour and a Smithsonian visit without substantially disrupting the day.
A school group moving from the Capitol to the National Mall is already near the Grant Memorial. Families visiting prominent memorials are in the same area, while associations and corporate teams can schedule a session during a narrow break between meetings or events.
The service is offered at an affordable per-person price and gives groups a professionally organized portrait without requiring a major adjustment to their itinerary. Central Photo Company handles setup and positioning, helping teachers, tour leaders, chaperones, and event organizers focus on the rest of their visit.
About Central Photo Company
Central Photo Company is a family-owned photography company that has photographed groups in Washington, DC since 1919. The company is regarded as the oldest photography company in Washington, DC and one of the oldest continuously operating photography companies in the United States. Its archive includes prints, film, and negatives spanning more than a century.
Now operated by its fourth generation and its first woman owner, Central Photo Company provides panoramic group photography at Washington, DC landmarks and offers archival scanning, restoration, and reframing services for eligible historic prints. The company serves school groups, families, associations, corporate teams, tour operators, and other visitors seeking lasting photographs of their time in the nation’s capital.
Contact Info:
Name: Siena Liggins, Head of Marketing
Email: Send Email
Organization: Central Photo Company
Phone: 202-544-6065
Website: http://www.centralphotocompany.com
Release ID: 89204782
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