Saturday, January 9, 2010

US Capitol and Library of Congress Panoramas

This is a 15 image handheld panorama I took when I had a tour of the United States Capitol Building
last week. It was taken at f/5.6 (a very wide open lens for detailed architectural shots--I normally like to use a much smaller aperture like f/16.) What an amazing building; truly gorgeous. I wish I'd been able to use a tripod, but they have SO many people going through on tours at one time (for instance, my tour alone was comprised of at least 50 people, and there were 4 or 5 other tours going on at the same time. After reading Dan Brown's new book that takes place largely in Washington, D.C., I really wanted to see the places he'd written about. Unfortunately, you can't wander around in the Rotunda as you can in the Library of Congress halls and rooms. The painting on the ceiling is called The Apotheosis of Washington, or the deification (becoming a god) of President Washington.
This is a panoramic detail of one of the hallway ceilings leading to the Library of Congress, where one can wander around and absorb all of the interesting paintings and sculpture and architecture. It is so ornate, I was just loving this place.
The view below the ceiling:
This is a very warped panoramic version of the Hall of Statuary, but as I had to stand in an awkward place and take it handheld, this is whatcha get!
The Grand Hall before the Library of Congress. I couldn't take any pictures in the little (approx. 12'x20') room you get to stand in to view the incredibly gorgeous library itself. It is round and all of the stacks seem to head off from each of the floors in this amazing building in spokes. I am trying to get in touch with the Library of Congress to possibly get permission to come in with a tripod when I visit in February to take actual panorams of the library. More to come on that, I hope. . .
The Apotheosis of Washington a bit closer:
I still have many detail shots I need to process, but these are the panoramas I took that I wanted to share with you for now. Best wishes to you all, Cindy

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Cindy

Cindy
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