The Rhode Island State House by Frank Grace
What you are looking at is the interior of the Rhode Island State House. This is a "vertorama" (like a panorama but going up instead of across) that consists of 35 exposures all wrapped up into one HDR image. I literally thought I had zero chance of being able to photograph the interior of this magnificent building because it is a government place and all. Usually they don't let photographers in places like this, at least from my personal experience. So I walked in and asked the state trooper if I could and he said "come on over and do your thing". So I went past the body magnetic scanner and put my camera bag/tripod through the x-ray and I was in. It was awesome. The place is crazy beautiful. Now for some history: "The current State House is Rhode Island's seventh state house and the second in Providence after the Old Rhode Island State House. It was designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White and constructed from 1895 to 1904. The Rhode Island State House is composed of 327,000 cubic feet of white Georgia marble, 15 million bricks, and 1,309 short tons of iron floor beams. The dome of the State House is the fourth-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world, after St. Peter's Basilica, the Minnesota State Capitol, and the Taj Mahal. On top of the dome is a gold-covered bronze statue of the Independent Man, originally named "Hope." The statue, weighing more than 500 pounds, is 11 feet and stands 278 feet above the ground. Independent Man represents freedom and independence and alludes to the independent spirit which led Roger Williams to settle and establish Providence and later Rhode Island. The chamber of the Rhode Island Senate is located in the east wing of the building while the chamber of the Rhode Island House of Representatives is located in the west wing. Other notable rooms in the State House include the rotunda (beneath the dome), the State Library (north end), and the State Room (south end). The State Room is an entrance area for the office of the Governor and contains a full-scale portrait of George Washington by Rhode Island native Gilbert Stuart. This room is also where the Governor has press conferences and bill signings at the State House. One of the first public buildings to use electricity, the Rhode Island State House is lit by 109 floodlights and two searchlights at night. Inside the State House is carved marble. Over the pillared porticoes are quotations and historical chronologies of Rhode Island. Throughout the rotunda are battle flags, statues, and guns representing the state's military past. In the center of the rotunda, under the marble dome, is a brass replica of the state seal." Source: http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/FactFig/
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