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Besides being practical and useful doorways are also very symbolic and full of wonder as you are forced to contemplate what lies on the other side? Is there something at which to marvel or detest? Anticipation or hesitation all these emotions can be shown in one simple shot of a doorway so of course if it’s simple then I have to complicate it, and so that’s just what I did for this weeks theme.
Our State Capitol Building (arguably one of the prettiest in the nation!) has been on my “Shoot List” for quite some time now and besides being in a few of my panoramas I haven’t really made any shots of it, I had in mind a shot with the setting sun peaking through the many columns that surround the building, it would be perfect… except that my memory of how those columns were placed along the building and their actual placement were not in agreement at all, I mean it wasn’t even close! “Simple” and I just don’t get along, so I had to explore and experiment a little to find some shots. It just so happened that a new wildfire had started just to the south west of Salt Lake City and the smoke column had blown far enough to impact the sunset this evening and I made as much use of it as I could. I ended up exploring the north side of the Capitol Building somewhere I’ve never been before and found this shot that was a poor substitute for my original idea, but as close as I could get.
Usually you see shots of the Capitol building from the south side as it has a wide open expanse of lawn and a great view of the wonderful architecture of the Capitol, this day however there was a concert on the south steps so my view was limited to the north and east & west sides. I’m kind of glad that it was blocked as I had to explore lesser known views.
From the top of the steps on the south side you could see the “Patch Springs Wildfire” and the smoke column responsible for the amazing color we had during the sunset.
The view on the East side completes our tour…
Leaving Capitol Hill I still wasn’t sure I had caught the essence of “Doorways” so I stopped by a small alley I’ve photographed before and has a red door that I thought would make a good subject.
All these shots I had to grab quickly as I had a security guard walking my way and since I didn’t have my tripod with me (it was in the trunk) I used my camera strap and a crumpled soda can as a make shift tripod. The low angle really makes these shots work. And the guard ended up being really cool especially once I explained the 52 week challenge to him and had shown him some of the shots I had taken.
I appreciate you taking some time to walk with me around the Capitol and down a grungy alley and hope you enjoyed the images.
Happy Shooting!
Howard