Rotunda

Nikon D3000, 10.5mm, 1/30, f/2.8, ISO 360

In pursuit of a photo for the “Law” section of The Photographer’s Sketchbook splash page, Ken and I made a safari to the capitol building in Topeka. The image I had in mind was something close to the shot above.

My original vision was a shot from squarely under the exact center of the dome. But as you can see if you look closely, this shot is slightly off center. I shot this from the second floor, leaning over the balcony rail, rather than from the ground floor.

Upon arriving at the capitol, I discovered two problems with my original scheme.

Nikon D3000, 10.5mm, 1/30, f/2.8, ISO 560

First, on Jan. 2 the building’s Christmas decorations were still up, including a huge tree right where I’d planned to stand to get the shot. No huge catastrophe. Topeka isn’t 1000 miles away. Go back and try again later, right?

Sadly, the second obstacle was a bigger challenge. From the first floor, the second floor balcony makes a hole far narrower than I’d anticipated. So even if I’d gotten to the exact spot I had in mind, the resulting picture would have been more featureless ceiling than beautiful dome.

Thus I got the best results not standing under it looking up but from the side, standing on one of the fourth floor balconies.

Nikon D3000, 10.5mm, 1/30, f/2.8, ISO 320