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

Notes from Portland Magazine's Winterguide 2010

Happy New Year 2010! I'd like to give a teaser to this year's Winterguide issue. The cover isn't mine, but I thought I'd include it anyway, as I really like it. Below are images that I took for this issue, whether or not they were used. (Some were, some weren't. . .) The first two are from Fishbones American Grill, in Lewiston's beautifully restored Bates Mill complex.

The next four images come from Stephen Harvey's beautiful, recently restored 1970s home on 107 Vaughan Street. I had a wonderful time that snowy morning, photographing almost all of the rooms in this modern house.



Finally, I'll end with one image from my shoot at Port City Music Hall. This place has had an endless variety of musicians of all different types perform on-stage since they opened in the Spring of 2008.
Anyhow, I hope you'll check out Winterguide 2010. If you'd like to see more of the photos from the 107 Vaughan Street shoot, please check out my Architectural gallery on smugmug: Click Here

Best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year! Cindy

Portraits from Portland Magazine in 2009

MPBN's lovely Suzanne Nance and Yo Yo Ma in March 2009. . .
Portland's Poet Laureate, Cafe Review founder and publishing editor, Steve Luttrell with dog Digger. . . (October 2009)
Portland Police Chief James Craig (above and below with children from the East End Community School in September 2009)
The immortal Robert Indiana (in front of one of his sculptures and paintings)
Writer Dayton Duncan and Documentarist Ken Burns at Merrill Auditorium, August 2009. . .
England's Dame Gillian Weir, Organist, and Portland's wonderful municipal organist, Ray Kornils (March 2009)
And my favorite portrait from 2009: Portland Ovations Director, Aimee Petrin and MPBN's Suzanne Nance, welcoming Mr. Yo Yo Ma to Portland!
Thanks for looking! Cindy

New Foodtography--Sweets and Treats for the Holidays

Happy Holidays everyone!

My website has been updated!

Lots of recent images have been updated on my website. All of the galleries have something new and they are all at the beginning of each gallery, so you won't have to scroll to the end. Check them out here: CFW Photography

Happy Chanukah 2009!

New Images in my Stockfood Portfolio!

Click Here to visit my Stockfood Portfolio where you'll see my 12 new images! Happy Thanksgiving!

Some recent architecture shots

I don't think I have ever been inside Maine's beautiful State House before last week. If I had, I must have done so in a fugue state because I'm sure I would have remembered how beautiful the Rotunda (above) is. I did a 15 image vertical panorama of it to show the majesty of that beautiful dome above the elegance of the Rotunda itself.
Just to give you perspective, above is a picture of the Rotunda from the outside. Many of you have probably seen it.
Above is a shot from the gallery in the Maine House of Representatives. And below, another picture looking up into the dome above the Rotunda. Wish I could have been allowed to climb all the way to the top and take pictures looking down, but I have found that generally, when one isn't allowed to do such things, there are probably fairly good reasons for that, such as the risk of fallingtripod, camera and all, to land on the marble floor over 100 feet below as suited Representatives and Senators click back and forth in their fancy shoes. . .
Below, are two shots of the museum of Maine animals in the basement of the building. I really like the way they used granite, which is such a Maine rock.

Here is a panorama of 12 vertical images of the Maine House of representatives, below:
The light was on the other side of the building when I took this 5 image panorama of the Senate House, below:
And a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to photograph a grand old Victorian Estate in Kennebunk that is currently up for sale, The Hartley Lord Estate, on 65 acres. This is the view from the roof, or widow's walk:
The front of the house (a 5 image horizontal panorama)
The front hallway, a 12 image horizontal panorama:
The grand dining room, which is my favorite room, a 12 image horizontal panorama:
The master bedroom--I can't get enough of these elegant old canopy-type beds, can you? And the real estate agent from Sotheby's Legacy Properties in Kennebunk, Rick Griffin, very helpfully lit a fire in the fireplaces of both this bedroom and the dining room for the vertical perspective panorama I took.
The back of the house. Such a beautiful day. . .
The carriage house, as viewed from under the side portico:
The pigeon-blood pantry or bar, below, a 10 image vertical panorama. The magenta colored paint on the walls was literally made with pigeon's blood, hence its name. The current owner, Robin Bernstein, told me that they have yet to find a color that can completely match it, due to the nature of the paint, and they have therefore left it intact, with the cracks and crazes in its finish, rather than ruin that interesting bit of history.
A 12 image vertical shot of the dining room, and my favorite image of the day:
I honestly think I would feel very intimidated, eating in a dining room like this. I'd be afraid I'd scratch the table or spill water on it or something. . .
And finally, above, is a panoramic shot I took yesterday at Evergreen Cemetery's beautiful little stone chapel. I used my newly recalibrated 12-24mm ultra wide lens. I've always wanted to take an interesting picture of this chapel. Next, I'm going to try to get in touch with whoever controls the chapel to see if I can get inside to get some panoramic shots.

Thanks for looking as always! And please feel free to click on the Follow Me link to become a follower of the blog. One final note: I am going back to the black background layout as I think it displays pictures a lot better. Sorry to be so wishy washy, but it truly all is a work in progress, as usual!