Can we keep a running collection of good, high-quality photos comparing the two inaugurals? Because I'm watching the stream on CNN (muted, can't stand hearing the guy) and wow ... does it look so much more sparse today! But I don't just want that to be my confirmation bias...

From what I have been able to recall (so that Donnie doesn't try to blame the weather for low turnout), it was 18F the day Obama was inaugurated. Right now at 12:16 it's 48F in DC, with maybe a little light rain (I don't see many umbrellas up, but I live in the DC area and know that they banned almost all types of umbrellas).

Anyway, here's a photo from behind the inaugural podium in 2009 - and people stretch as far as the eye can see: Here's a shot of the people in 2009 from the inaugural podium, stretching all the way back as far as the eye can see: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CzjKa6cUcAAsLrl.jpg

But, shots at low angles can be deceptive. Overheads are better.

Looking at these photos from the Boston Globe - you can see it's pretty packed solid all the way to the Washington Monument: http://archive.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/the_inauguration_of_president.html

In the few overhead shots I've been seeing on CNN so far ... it doesn't seem to be anywhere near as crowded.

Let's keep a collection of HQ images here (and please be clear if they are photos from the Inauguration itself, or from the Inaugural concert yesterday - which apparently was also pretty sparse).