THE LAST OF THE ICE, FOR NOW

 

 

These images are getting a little old but I have to get out on the street and find something new to see. This is one of the several fountains in the Grand Basin in Forest Park, the formal body of water below the art museum. I don't think they stay on all year long but it was pretty cold when this was taken. At what point do the outlets freeze over?             

TRAFFIC

If paddle boarding isn't for you, the most common aquatic activity on the Grand Basin is paddle boating. Lots of people rent them when the weather is fine  and, as you can see, there can be a bit of a jam. Mrs. C and I took Ellie out on one earlier this summer. I don't think I'd done that since college and I want to tell you it is a lot of work. These things are not exactly streamlined and, as pilots on the Mississippi learned, the paddles are far less efficient than propellers.

The live performance weekend of the St. Lou Fringe starts tonight and I'll be shooting my first two shows. Locals, you owe it to yourself to check it out. https://www.stlouisfringe.com/. Performances continue through Sunday. As of next week, people will be able to view on demand last weekend's virtual performances.                 

LIGHT SHOW

There is a balustrade surrounding much of the Grand Basin in Forest Park. You can see a bit of it in Monday's post. It's just molded concrete but it creates an elegant feel. Hardly necessary for safety, since the water is so shallow but it looks good in late afternoon light.        

I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT'S DONE

I am not a graceful person. No athletic ability whatever and a shaky sense of balance, particularly with years of off-and-on spine problems. Geez, I need a railing to go up and down stairs and couldn't do a yoga pose on one foot to save my life.

Swimming isn't allowed in the Grand Basin in Forest Park but they have paddle boats, kayaks and paddle boards like these. It's a mystery to me how people stay upright and dry. I even have a friend in New Orleans who putts around the bayous on one while dodging the alligators. There aren't any alligators in St. Louis (check back in a few decades) but I'd rather walk the perimeter than float the center.            

SUMMERTIME, AND THE LIVING IS EASY

Back in the local jurisdiction, as one of our City Daily colleagues might say. The weather this weekend has been flat-out gorgeous for high summer in the heartland. Warm but not hot, modest humidity and gorgeous late afternoon light. This is along the Grand Basin in Forest Park, a legacy from the 1904 World's Fair. We used to be somebody, to paraphrase Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront.                  

ANOTHER APPROACH

Yesterday was gray and freakishly cool in The Lou so I didn't get out to shoot new stuff. That led me to dip back into the first experimental batch of infrared pictures. They can make for  interesting monochrome. This is part of the Grand Basin in Forest Park, looking at Art Hill and the art museum. The hill looks like it is covered with  snow, and, indeed, it is our town's premier sledding venue. To the naked eye it is rich green at this time of year but, again, we are seeing the intense IR reflectivity of anything containing chlorophyll.                                         

THAW

This picture was taken about noon yesterday at the top of Art Hill in Forest Park (called that because the art museum is, um, at the top of it). The body of water is known as the Grand Basin. The temperature was about 60 F / 15.5 C, way different from what I mentioned a week ago. You can see that there is still a thin veneer of ice except around the fountains. And they remained on during the coldest weather.            

WHEN YOU GOT NOTHING YOU GOT NOTHING TO LOSE

At least photographically, to use the words of Bob Dylan (https://youtu.be/UskDupcLM0M). Over the last couple of days I went out walking in Forest Park and our large botanical garden looking for something to shoot. There were a few morsels. This is on the path around the Grand Basin in the park. Do you really need a mask on a bicycle with no one else around?            

Photo Experiment

For most of the last five months I've set aside my trusty - and heavy - Canon 5D Mark III and have been using new equipment. The Canon was getting to be too much weight for my old neck, shoulders and back. I wanted something lighter that would maintain image quality. An old teacher recommended the Fujifilm X-T2.

It's pretty cool. Although it uses an ASP-C sensor (not full sized), I think the image quality is better than the Canon. An interesting feature is that it can emulate many Fujifilm film looks. They have developed many over the years. This picture of the Grand Basin in Forest Park emulates their Acros black and white film, with the addition of a red filter. I like it.

Early flight to New York this morning. Something very unusual to do outside of the city itself tomorrow. Reports by Sunday.

Fool On The Hill

He was sitting on the wall under the great statue of St. Louis, gazing through the fog down Art Hill to the Grand Basin. I walked by under the wall, taking pictures. I said hi. He said hi. I asked him what he had with him. A glass chess set and a volume of Aristotle, he said. I asked if I could take his picture. He said sure. I did, said thanks, and then walked away with a tune in my head.          

Chill

 

People hanging out in and around the Grand Lagoon in Forest Park on a freakishly warm winter day. The area is so big you can't cover it all in a photo except with an aerial shot (like this). We earthbound photographers have to go for details.                                         

Hey, Salman Rushdie is in town. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is doing a stage version of Shalimar The Clown this spring. He will be speaking about it this afternoon and we have tickets. I'm a big Rushdie fan and I think I've read all his novels, currently on his most recent, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Days (which is to say, a thousand and one nights). Hope they allow photographs.       

 

Another View Of Sunset

Yesterday's photo was taken from about where those people are standing at the center-right. This is facing the other direction, looking down Art Hill, in the last minutes before sunset. Blue and gold.
               

Girl On The Run

From where, to where? The scene is the end of the Grand Basin in Forest Park, opposite the Art Museum, just after sunset.

This is one of STL's primo spots for wedding pictures when the light is better. I think this young woman was part of a very small wedding party. She walked over to my right, had a look around, then ran back to the left. Who knows why.                  

NYC In Exile

I changed educational venues from the Bronx to mid-town St. Louis in September 1967. It was a bit of a shock. After a few days, my thoughts were something like, "Oh my Gawd, I'm stuck in the provinces!" and started wondering if I could transfer back to NYU. I got over it. 

Still, we ex New Yorkers are all over. This young woman could be a student at nearby Washington University. Lots of us there. My sister attended WU. When I, the oldest of four, went to college a thousand miles from home, my mother thought her children hated her. When the next sibling, 18 months younger than me, went to the other big school across town, she was sure. (The younger two stayed in the Northeast.)

The scene here is the walk beside the Grand Lagoon in Forest Park. Art Hill and the St. Louis Art Museum are in the back.