Ordinarily, I enjoy Christmas decorations--particularly the lights. But, Christmas decorations aren't always a good thing as evidenced by my trip through the Capital Cities of the Southeast. During my visit to the Georgia State Capitol building, I wasn't permitted to enter the rotunda because workers were setting up a very large Christmas tree. During several of my visits, these trees often resulted in having areas closed off or they restricted my vantage points. It's impossible to position myself in the center of the rotunda floor to capture a symmetrical image of the inner dome if a massive tree is placed there.

In Alabama, workers were placing a large tree on the stairs of the Capitol.

Alabama State CapitolMen working on holiday decorations in front of the Alabama State Capitol building from Dexter Avenue in Montgomery, Alabama on December 3, 2014

I was told that the tree would be lit for the first time on Friday night--a day or two after I was scheduled to leave Montgomery. One night, I decided to take a photograph of the Capitol's exterior despite the dark tree:

After capturing several images, I was pleasantly surprised to see the tree light up! Unfortunately, the Capitol's dome was still dark:

Alabama State CapitolHoliday decoratoins in front of the Alabama State Capitol building from Dexter Avenue in Montgomery, Alabama on December 3, 2014 A few seconds later, the dome lit up. I captured a few bracketed long exposures while everything was lit...made a few adjustments to my settings...and began shooting some more pictures. The only problem was that the tree had gone dark during the time I was making those adjustments. Apparently, this was just a lighting test--so I guess I was fortunate to be shooting during the 30 seconds that the tree was lit that night! Here's my final image:

Alabama State CapitolHoliday decorations in front of the Alabama State Capitol building from Dexter Avenue in Montgomery, Alabama on December 3, 2014