‍10.26.25: Inside the rotunda

Visitors walk through the rotunda under the dome of the Texas capitol building in Austin, Texas.

‍In photography, sometimes shooting a familiar scene from different perspectives makes interesting images. And many times, it takes a wide angle lens to get those perspectives.

‍A few years ago we visited the Texas Capitol while in Austin to see our son. It's a massive building, the largest in square footage of all state capitols, with a massive rotunda under a towering dome similar to what can be found in most state capitols.

‍I took a number of photos as we passed through the rotunda and wandered the hallways, but the shots were little more than typical tourist snapshots. Then, on the second trip through the rotunda, I took some time to concentrate on the architecture, looking for angles that would give me some usable images.

‍The first opportunity was obvious after I looked straight up at the dome. After waiting for other visitors to move away, I positioned myself on the star marking the center of the rotunda floor, pointed the camera with an extreme wide angle zoom lens (set at 10 millimeters) straight up and knew immediately that the photo would be a keeper. When seen through the camera's viewfinder, the concentric circles formed by walkways around the rotunda and the patterns created by lighting on the dome provided an abstract feel to the image.

‍I’ve used that photo before, but it isn’t this photo.

‍After capturing the “straight up” shot I started looking around the rotunda for other angles where I could get interesting photos of the dome. 

‍I turned the camera horizontal and looked at the dome again. I was no longer dead center under the dome. This time I saw a large oval surrounding the multiple levels of the dome. So I used the same extreme wide angle lens, still set at 10 millimeters,  and took another shot.

‍I’ve used that photo before, but it still isn’t this one.

‍I then took a few steps back. Using the same extreme wide angle lens, still set at 10 millimeters, I tilted the camera slightly upward and then captured a vertical scene that showed everything from people standing on the rotunda floor all the way up to the interior of the dome. 

‍That’s this image.

‍Same subject, same lens, slightly different positions, three very different images.

‍That’s photography.