Christmas at the Capitol

During the past 10 years or so, I've visited Pierre, South Dakota for Christmas.  It's quite unique in many ways and if you've never been there over Christmas, you might just want to check it out.  I guess it's just been one of those things I take for granted.  Pierre truly is a beautiful place, especially over the holidays.  This year there was no snow, a rare event, so I took the opportunity to take a bunch of photos of the Capitol, both inside and out.  Enjoy.

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The Capitol is decked out with dozens of Christmas trees every year.  It's quite a sight.

AJ loved it!

The beautiful features of the capital ceiling mended nicely with the holiday decor.

Here's a wide angle shot from the balcony.

Each tree is decorated in fine detail.

Here's another shot from above.  You'll notice that colorful reflective snowflakes are hung from the ceiling to really add to the trees.

I really like this angle..had to grab a shot!

Self portrait.

One of thousands of ornaments inside the Capitol.

AJ enjoyed seeing all the ornaments.

This was a mesmerizing view...I just love how the snowflake turned perfectly to center the composition of this photo.

I couldn't resist transforming this shot to a black and white.

The next day it was time to capture the action happening outside the capitol.

Yep, there were some geese.

A LOT of geese.  (And ducks.)

And they were hungry.

So were the fish!

This is a composited HDR photo. I like how it turned out.

One of these birds is different than the rest.  Can you see it?  I call him Waldo.

Soon, the birds were swarming from every direction.  It's quite a scene.

I went to the other side of Capitol Lake to get a different angle.

A black and white that really captured the essence of the Capitol, in my opinion.

I know nothing about birds and how they communicate, but something made them all suddenly turn and travel in the same direction.  It was rather strange.

This composition is one I had in my head from the beginning.  I'm just glad the geese cooperated.

I liked how these ducks were having a little gathering out of the water.  I had to sneak around quietly so they would stay put.

I *think they say every bird has a mate for life.  Perhaps these are mates?

My patience was rewarded with this shot.

Birds are quite incredible creatures.

And then....geese came from behind me to join the hundreds (maybe thousands) already on Capitol Lake.

Again, I couldn't resist black and white.

The Capitol was under attack ;-)