I’m a jaded Washingtonian. I’ve lived in DC for so long that I no longer notice things like the Washington Monument and the White House. They are just there, part of the scenery.
I had some time to kill before a happy hour downtown. I wandered into the Portrait Gallery, which is open until 7. While walking through the museum, I noticed that the lights had been turned down low in the courtyard. I had to investigate.
Museum staff were setting up for a dinner and adjusting the light levels. Spotlights were turned off and on, blue gels were placed over lights and the overhead lights were turned down and then back up.
That’s when I got this picture. In it you can see the silhouettes of museum-goers in a lone spotlight, the red tables set up for the dinner and the glimmer of the lights in the glass canopy, which look a little like stars in the firmament. It’s an iPhone pic, one of the first with my new iPhone 5 – I was impressed that it could capture such a dark scene.
I literally saw the Portrait Gallery in a different light. The courtyard looked fresh and new in the darkness. One magical moment watching the lights wax and wane and I became de-jaded.
