Two views of the National Cathedral at night. I took these the night I went to the Cathedral for a walking tour of the grounds. The first image shows the central tower, scaffolding in place, which is there to further the restoration of the earthquake damage from 2011. Yes, it’s been almost seven years since the earthquake and they’re still not done with the restoration. The reason the restoration is taking so long, budget issues aside, is that the cathedral was built with traditional techniques – there’s no structural steel inside. It’s all stone blocks tied together with iron bow-ties. It could have been a much bigger disaster and the entire tower could have collapsed, but the tonnage of the bronze bells acted as a counterweight and stabilized the structure.

No, that’s not dust from the scan in the image – those are the beginnings of star trails from the two and a half minute exposure.

I actually like the color balance being impure the way it is here – it adds to the drama of the scene. And since there’s mixed lighting sources (tungsten/incandescent, sodium-vapor, and possibly fluorescent) all in the same scene, it’s a huge credit to the Kodak Portra 400 that I was able to bring it in like this without major manipulation. For those who are wondering, these were shot with my Mama RZ67 and the 110mm f2.8 lens.