Continuing my series of images captured on last week’s photowalk along Grand Avenue in Phoenix AZ:

One of the most talked-about sites along Grand Avenue for the past year has been the construction project at the Light of the World church.   This Christian non-denominational church is building a new sanctuary with a domed roof to accommodate the larger crowds at their services.  The structure is clearly visible from Interstate 10, and people who were unfamiliar with the church were starting to get concerned that someone was building a mosque.  The church members, who are providing the volunteer labor to build the new sanctuary, were concerned about a possible backlash.  They had to erect signs on the side of the building, visible from the freeway, assuring the passers-by that they were, indeed, a Christian organization.  So sad that it has to be that way.

Anyway, when were were on our photowalk, I stopped to take some shots of the exterior of the building.  As I was trying to get a good angle to capture the golden flame scupture on top of the bell tower, we were approached by one of the young construction workers who asked if we would like to take some pictures.  I assumed that he was going to help me get a better angle on the flame, but instead he led us right back into the interior of the construction site.  I was really surprised that we were allowed to go inside, but I didn’t waste any time in shooting a series of bracketed photos from five or six different positions around the inside of the structure.

As I was shooting, I saw several other construction workers talking to Andy, and when I got back around to them I found that, sure enough, we really weren’t supposed to be in there.  I sure hope the young guy didn’t get into any trouble for bringing us in!  They were all very polite and informative, and they invited us to come back when the construction is done to see the results.  And I’m sure we will!

So, sometimes it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time….and here’s what I saw inside the unfinished dome:

Shot with my Nikon D5000, kit lens (18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6), tripod-mounted. HDR processed from three bracketed images in Photomatix, Paintshop Photo Pro X3 and Topaz Adjust/DeNoise. The orange “ghosting” on the stairs would be the project foreman coming down to talk to Andy about how we really shouldn’t be in there.  I decided to leave it in as a reminder!