Reply #22: Heres some crowd estimating using the picture and simple arithmetic (70k people)

[ThomWV]

The Reflecting Pool is 2,029 feet long and 167 feet wide. If you look at the crowd and compare it to the area of the pool you may agree with my estimate that the crowd appears to be about twice the size of the pool, including the people who are between the pool and the trees (both sides), those visible and presumed to be under the trees to the right of the photo, and those out in the open on the left. You will notice that the crowds on the left and right sides of the photo thin out in the foreground

Because the crowds are thin I am going to estimate that there is one person per every 10 square feet, in a close room there might be one person for every 5 square feet, so I think the estimate of one per ten is very conservative and in fact may result in an inflated estimate, but that's OK.

So now we can make an estimate. First we multiply 2,029x167 to find out how large the pool is, then we multiply that by 2 because the crowd is about twice the size of the pool, then we divide the resultant number by 10 to account for one person for every 10 square feet.

To that and you get a conservative estimate of just under 70,000 (67,686) people in the picture.

Please find fault with this estimate if you like, but if you do please refine it with a better number.