My Sunday Brunch meetup group went to the Cheesecake Factory in Providence Place Mall today. (Yeah, there's snow out there, but we still have to eat, right?) Walking out after brunch, I spotted this scene of the Rhode Island State House, brilliantly sun-lit behind these picturesque bare trees. For some reason, I find bare trees to be more photogenic than their full-foliage summer selves. Of course, my camera was in my car, which was parked on the other side of the mall. It was worth the walk there and back for this shot, though.
An interesting bit of trivia about the State House is that it is the fourth largest free standing marble dome in the world. Only the Taj Mahal, the Minnesota State Capital, and St. Peter's Basilica are larger. The building has been in several movies due to its resemblance to the US Capital. It appeared in Armistad representing the US Capital, and it was in Underdog representing the "City Hall of Capital City".
Post processing started with a standard grey scale conversion in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders followed by adaptive exposure, regions, boost black, and protect highlights. A levels adjustment and a sepia photo filter were added in PSE.
@shelldunn Thanks Michelle! I've yet to visit Paris, so I'll take your word for it. :)
@calm Thanks, Cathy. It was one of those that just came together.
@ryanarra2 Thanks, Maddie! Appreciate your stopping by. :)
@bkbinthecity Thanks, bkb. Appreciate the note.
@aponi Thanks, Kathryn!
@tigerdreamer Thanks, Karen! Was beautiful contrast to start with.