Darkness and Structure

I am going to break this last set up into time chunks.

So I am starting off with the Capitol Museum.

In the many times I had been to Sacramento, I had never walked the extra 2 blocks to see this building.

The building was pretty big, much bigger than I realized.  I actually had to cross the street to get the first shot.  It was later afternoon so I had lots of shadows and darkness.  I still like the pictures I got even though slightly crooked.

A bit away from the Capitol Museum was the California Peace Officers' Memorial.

Photographing copper statues is tough business.  They were under trees and the afternoon light was pretty dark where I was.  So the two here are the best ones I could get, I am much happier with the second one.  I tried flash and all it did was blind me!  Stupid shiny statues trying to hurt my eyes.

I took a quick detour for a walk and a bite to eat.  While I ate it got much darker and I decided to try and take pictures at the night.  I have a problem with having an unsteady hand and not too keen on camera settings.  

 This one turned out slightly crooked and a tad blurry.  Best I could do since I didn't really find anything I could rest the camera or myself on to get it any steadier.  (Thanks for that pro tip Tom!)

 An even blurrier picture of the side of the Capitol Museum. 

The three above were on my walk back to my hotel.  Sacramento was a lot grungier than the last time I visited.  Since I was alone I figured it would be safer to head on back to the safety of my hotel.

Then the final afternoon I took shots.  I didn't get so many as the first day because I ended up prancing about the World Peace Rose Garden and meeting co-workers for an after dinner drink.

This was near a side entrance to the convention center I was at for work.  I happened to catch it on my way back to the hotel before adventuring out for the afternoon.  I decided I liked the fountain so much I made my way all the way back to the convention center just to take a picture of it.  I really like it!

 The two shots above were taken at the Vietnam Memorial.  These statues were surrounded by 22 giant black panels inscribed with the names of Californians that died or are still missing from Vietnam.  You can see the black monolith (or rather a part of it) in my previous post. 

I thought this was really touching.  It's breaks a city ordinance and I figured I would capture the image.  At the Vietnam Memorial there are signs that prohibit leaving flowers or candles in remembrance at the memorial.  I can see why they don't want it done (clean up and what not) but someone still decided a flower was needed at the memorial.  Just the one single red rose.  The statue is of a soldier reading a letter from mom and dad.  Very touching.

Not a fan of this picture.  It's the entrance to the World Peace Rose Garden.  The sun again was my enemy!  I think I could have been a bit more patient and maybe would have been able to get a better shot.  I like the fountain far off in the background though.

Here is my final attempt at a photo in the darkness.  It was night time and I was at a brewery for dinner so I snapped this picture of the beer kettles at River City Brewing Company.

I really liked how the indoor lights played off of the shiny kettles.  Not the greatest picture on Earth but pretty good for how shaky my hands always are.  

Thoughts, comments and criticism is much appreciated.  This concludes my trip to Sacramento, later this month I go down to Anaheim.  Hope to snap some worthier pictures there.