Baltimore Basilica

Today's photo is of the first cathedral in the United States, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is located in Baltimore, Maryland (the official website can be seen by visiting this link). I am quite surprised at how "plain" the interior of the cathedral was, I expected to see intricate details and artwork when I went inside. It was built in the early 1800s, but was closed from 2004-2006 for extensive renovations to return the cathedral to its original design. I would imagine that if you were able to visit the cathedral during the 1800s it would look pretty similar to how it does today.

I asked if I could take shots from the balcony, but was told it was closed, so I set up the tripod in the middle of the fairly empty cathedral and took a few shots. I processed it using Color Efex and Viveza, tweaking the coloring to bring the white colors out a bit more than they did through the HDR processing. I purposely kept the white a little gray to give a slightly older look to the photo, and I think it is a pretty accurate representation of the Baltimore Basilica.

As always, questions and/or comments are very much appreciated, and you can click on the image to view it in a few other sizes.

Baltimore Basilica