Washington, D.C.

In late February, I made my last trip to visit our North Dakota legislators on Capitol Hill in my capacity as North Dakota Wing Commander for Civil Air Patrol. During my tenure, I’ve made the trip to D.C. each February. Until this year, it was cloudy, dreary, and rainy. This year, as our contingent walked from the Senate office building complex to the House of Representatives office complex, even though it was quite cold, it was a beautiful day. As we walked by the Library of Congress, I had to stop and capture a cellpic of this beautiful exterior.

The interior is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. For more details on the library and to see some of the beautiful interior, look here. The Great Hall with its ornate ceiling, large columns and arches, and grand staircase is nothing short of spectacular. The dedicated congressional library building opened in 1897.

The photo was captured on a Samsung S7 cellphone. The image will likely be the last photo of Washington D.C. taken with the cell phone’s camera. The phone actually belongs to Civil Air Patrol. It was assigned to me when I assumed the job of Commander, and it’s served me well. The glass case is shattered on the back, it’s barely held together by the protective case that apparently didn’t provide full protection at some time when I dropped it. The battery is in constant state of needing a recharge, lasting less than 3 hours on a charge. Our wing’s new Commander will take over in early April and he will be assigned a new phone with a new number. This phone will be taken out of service.

About the photo: On a beautiful sunny afternoon, I had to step around several tour buses parked across the street to get a clear view of the building. The bright sunlight allowed the camera to provide an automatic shutter speed of 1/3800 sec. at f/1.8. The ISO of 50 allowed a noise free image that I tweaked using Adobe Lightroom. If your browser supports it, you can click on the image above for a better view.

John Steiner