John Baggaley Photography: The Capitol during the Snowpocalypse

East front of the Capitol at night during the Snowpocalypse.

On December 19, 2009, a large storm dumped 14 inches of snow on Washington, DC. This storm was nicknamed the "Snowpocalypse" and was the first of 3 major blizzards to hit Washington, DC, during the winter of 2009-2010. (The other 2 storms are known as "Snowmageddon" and "Snoverkill".)

At about 1:30 in the morning and again at dawn, I set out in the Snowpocalypse to photograph the Capitol. I shot most of the photos at a wide angle with my Nikon D90 and 16-85mm VR. Because my camera isn’t weather proof, I kept it wrapped in a shower cap. I removed the shower cap just briefly to reveal the lens. Unfortunately, the snow was coming down pretty hard and the wind blew the snow into my lens. As a result, you can see flare on some of the photos.

You may notice that in some of the photos you can see lights on in the Capitol. The Senate was in session all night long. The Democrats were hoping to pass the Senate version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act before Christmas.

West front of the Capitol at night with the annual Capitol Christmas tree during the Snowpocalypse

East front of the Capitol at night during the Snowpocalypse: the lights are on in the Capitol as the Senate works all night to pass the defense appropriations bill. The Senate needed to pass the defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate will have enough time to pass the Senate version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act before Christmas.

East front of the Capitol at sunrise just after the Snowpocalypse: the lights are on and the Senate has worked all night to pass the Defense appropriations bill. The Senate needed to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly so that the Senate would have enough time to pass the Senate version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act before Christmas.