FAILURE - AND SUCCESS

We scouted traffic online before heading out yesterday morning. Traffic on the Interstate running south from St. Louis appeared to be in gridlock. We decided to head east into Illinois, stopping at a large truck stop parking lot about 55 miles / 88 km away. Plenty of room. I set up the tripod and got lots of ordinary photos of the moon gradually covering the sun.

Just after I took this shot the plate that connects the camera to tripod's ball head decided to come loose. It was the critical moment. I couldn't get it tightened fast enough to get the eclipse filter off the lens for totality. No images of it at all. So I put the camera aside and just looked. I saw the diamond ring effect. The sky was less black than seven years ago, more like sapphire. The wind calmed considerably but the temperature didn't seem to drop that much. Instead of making images, I had the experience.

Most important of all, my granddaughter, Ellie, was spellbound. It was the most fascinating experience of her young life.                     

STL DPB IS NOT IN IRELAND

Belfast, Maine, is twenty minutes up the coast from camera camp. It is surprisingly big for this area and it's hard to guess what supports it. There is a fishing port but it's not like the big trawlers are coming in and out. There is no university, no significant factories. Maybe a little lumber - Maine has more trees than anybody in their right mind would need. Our little class stopped there on our way to points farther north.

 

We worked pretty hard. My Apple Watch, if you can trust it, says that I had more than double my daily quota of exercise. I'm pooped but there are two more days to go.           

I GOT IT, SORT OF

The weather was perfect in St. Louis last night to view the planetary conjunction. The family went out for a look, me carrying a camera and tripod. Now, I know nothing about astronomical photography and may not have proper equipment. At least I got a picture with a little horizon and separation between Jupiter and Saturn.

The second photo is severely cropped. What is that diagonal series of reddish dots? Research by ever-alert Mrs. C confirms that they are moons of Jupiter: Ganymede, Io and Callisto. Lucky catch! See https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/how-to-see-jupiters-moons

PANDEMIC IN SPRINGTIME - SIGNS IN THE SIDEWALK

Found along a walkway in Forest Park next to each other. Some people visiting the park were staying safe while others were careless. The writing below is a bit of scrawl but we think it says "Follow Photography Friend 816 on Insta [gram?]. I don't do Instagram. Maybe a user can check it out and report back.

To my Midwestern eye, the words look like they are being sucked into the top of a tornado. I have seen a tornado once in my life, from the 23rd floor of an office building while it was crossing the Mississippi a safe distance away. It was awesome in the most traditional sense of the word.     

HOW'S YER EPIPHYTE?

Well, our big St. Patrick's Day parade, always held on the preceding Saturday, is off. So is the small, crazier one held on the day itself. Minor problem given the big picture these days, but there is a scarcity of photo material as well as toilet paper. (None of that in the local Target today.)

But the orchid show is still on at the botanical garden. I went by myself last Sunday and may go back with Mrs. C, depending on how strictly we're social spacing. Pretty photographs are not usually my thing but these are irresistible. It's counter-intuitive but carefully made B&Ws produce some of the most intense images. No question that the monochrome flower pictures of Robert Mapplethorpe are a big influence.

       

WHAT BECAME OF PHOTOGRAPHY

The St. Louis Art Museum has a wildly popular event at this time of year called Art In Bloom. Thirty master flower arrangers are invited to create a piece in response to one  of the artworks. The results are striking. The show is Friday to Sunday, as long as the flowers will last, and on weekend afternoons it's just mobbed.

The museum had a members-only viewing early this morning. Mrs. C and I went at opening time and it was already busy. What struck me were the scores of people taking pictures on their phones. I was the only person staggering around with two fancy camera bodies, one of which had an f2.8 telephoto lens that is so heavy I thought I was dragging a fire hose. Not that you can't take good pictures on a phone. I use my phone camera, too. It's just that some of us keep up this snobby sense of craft.

Many pictures of the flowers to come. There's a political event downtown Saturday morning - Missouri and some other states have primaries on Tuesday -  that I want to shoot.       

THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE

Sorry no post yesterday. Way too much work interfering with the finer things in life. But who remembers that old song? It sounds pretty corny today but it's a cultural artifact.

The performance of Circus Flora ended with a long performance by the trapeze artists. Some of the stunts seemed to border on the reckless but they pulled off each one with precision. This is a so-so picture of them. I wish I had, and had permission to use, a tripod. I wish I had brought my heavy f2.8 telephoto lens instead of my lighter f4. I wish I knew more about color correction in Photoshop. Still, there is a bit of the flavor here.

           

City Daily Photo Theme Day - Me

There is plenty more to come from New York but it's the first of the month and City Daily Photo theme day. There aren't a lot of photos with me in front of the lens. Most of them are for an online class or some exercise I set for myself. These pix are a few years old. The top one is full lawyer battle dress. The second is quiet and shows what RA has done to my hands. Then there is the double arch joke picture on my Facebook page. 

The theme makes me think of one of my favorite photographers, Cindy Sherman, who photographs herself over and over in a myriad of different personas. You can be whoever you want in an image.

To see other City Daily Photo bloggers portray themselves, click here.

STL DP At 11 - What A Workout

Today is Saint Louis Daily Photo's eleventh anniversary. I have not posted every single day but I've come pretty close. It should reach 4,000 posts in less than three weeks. From one point of view, it's been as much work as this nut-job exercise class doing push-ups off a platform in Forest Park. 

Why do I keep doing it? Other excellent City Daily Photo Blogs have come and gone. Maybe I need a creative outlet, or an alternative activity since I'm really tired of working. Maybe it's because I have come to enjoy photography so much and welcome the push to keep at it. Maybe it is the CDP colleagues from Paris to Perth, Berlin to Birmingham, we've become friends with and, in many cases, met. They are all good reasons.

I regret that my comments on friends' blogs have dropped off. It is a combination of things. An unrelenting work load. (I've been trying like crazy to cut down to part time and it's just not happening - I own the law practice.) Family obligations - as some of you may have inferred, Ellie lives with us half time and she is always my first priority. And maybe just getting older. But, in any case, thank you for your visits, your comments, your Facebook notes, your friendship and chance to enjoy your wonderful images.        

The Best Teacher Ever

I went through 19 years of formal education plus innumerable classes, programs and seminars in later years. Over all that time, one teacher stands out as the best I've ever had, Bobbi Lane. She is a professional photographer and educator based near Boston. Ten years ago, I took her intensive week-long course in portrait photography at the Maine Media Workshops, where  I've received most of my training. She blew me away. I learned more than I can describe. To use a common expression, the program took my photography to a new level and, in some ways, changed my life.

She was in St. Louis last night doing a program on portrait lighting sponsored by Fujifilm cameras. It was such a delight to see her again. If you are serious about photography and ever have a chance to take one of her workshops, you owe it to yourself to go.      

At The Nelson-Atkins

The temperature was one hundred degrees when we pulled into Kansas City yesterday afternoon. The wind itself was hot, not a bit refreshing. We were grateful that the Nelson-Atkins, KC's excellent art museum, had an underground garage.

We think it is one of America's best regional museums. Its photography section beats the heck out of what we have at home. Hallmark Cards, based here, had a spectacular collection of 6,500 images it donated to the museum a few years ago. The main current exhibition was about the photographers who worked for the government during the Depression. Most prominent were the images of Dorothea Lange, including one of the most famous and heart breaking pictures in the history of photography.     

Through The Lens Of St. Louis

There is a wonderful show through later this month at the Central Branch of the St. Louis Public Library. You get the idea from the sign. Its theme is our photographic heritage from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Well worth a visit if you are around here.

 

The second picture is of the library's Great Hall. The exhibit is around the walls and in display cases in front of them.                                      

Scary Snake

We saw this just beside a trail at the Desert Botanical Garden. I don't run away screaming from snakes (with the possible exception of a deadly pit viper) but I keep my distance. Locals told me that this was a king snake and not poisonous. Not for me to do any tests.

Below, the raison d'être for all of this.                                     

Seventh Anniversary

Today is STL DPB's seventh anniversary. This is the 2,550th post. What did I get myself into?

I've made some wonderful friends, received exceptional hospitality and seen corners of the world I would never have otherwise known. I almost never read a book anymore, frequently falling asleep over my laptop. My photography and Photoshop skills are better. I've met so many interesting St. Louisans and become far more intimate with my adopted city. It has taken thousands of hours I could have spent doing something else.

Worth it? Hard question. It's addictive to find something you're reasonably good at that gets you praise.

                                  

Soaked

There are lots more cake pictures around and we'll get back to that. But it's pouring so I thought I'd post this, shot a few days ago. Gloomy. Look closely at the sign. Do the authorities really want people to explore St. Louis today?

PS: there is an occasion today that calls for a theme song.

PPS: okay, I openly admit that I, um, appropriated the following from a Facebook post by Virginia. However, whether single, married or in a relationship, photographers may find it fall out of your chair funny. I did. And non-photographers probably won't get it at all. 

                                

An The Winner Is...

David McWhirter, above left, won the photographer of the year award at Seen 2013. It was well deserved. He is prolific and very talented, working in a variety of styles.  He took first in 11 of 30-odd categories. I heard something about him being a judge at Seen 2014, which would clear the way for some of us back in the pack.

There were some lessons for me to learn from this year's show: work more slowly. Think more, press the shutter less. Very hard things for me to do since I spend my work days reacting as fast as I can to a barrage of stimuli. It doesn't foster contemplation.            

Seen 2013

Seen 2014 (or year of your choice) is the big year end photography show and contest at Studio Altius. The opening reception and awards ceremony was Saturday night. David Cerven, above, the owner and impresario, presided. The irrepressible Shawna Ventimiglia is in the bottom picture.

I did okay but other years have been better. I won the photojournalism and humor categories, which were notable for their lack of competition. The PJ category is up and down the center of the middle shot, the top and bottom ones being mine. The prize went to this one. I got the humor award for this. Nothing in the top ten.

There was some awfully good work in the show. Now, to qualify as a photography judge you need to have a few screws lose and a thick skin. (Same for the legal profession.) Everyone knows that. The show's judge's taste sometimes ran to the well-made conventional. Particularly in two categories (which I will not name), the prizes were awarded to technically superb, perfectly-executed, um, well . . . (yes, this is my occasional rant), one an emotional manipulation and the other as banal a topic as you might hope to find. Moral: be true to your own artistic vision but work on your technique.          

Another Opening Of Another Show

We have an awfully nice artists' cooperative and gallery called Soulard Art Market. They have monthly shows in which I occasionally participate. Nobody ever buys my stuff. It's either too weird or too expensive. I've got, um, certain standards, print with high quality ink and paper and use acid-free mats and UV resistant acrylic. You get what you pay for, except nobody wants to pay that much.

There are three of my pieces in the show (this, this and this) that opened Friday night. The theme was From The Pavement, anything to do with the streets. The man in the top picture is studying my work (buy it, dammit, buy it!). Madeleine went to her first art show. We'll have more about her reaction to the exhibits in tomorrow's Madeleine Monday after some colorful subjects.                   

Essentials

Two things I can't do without for very long. From the Art Institute of Chicago.       

A Photographer's Reflection: Then and Now

February 2000 - Pilgrims In The Ganges

December 2012 - 42nd Street, New York City

This week is one of City Daily Photo's new "festivals," officially called Navel Gazing. It's about our members introspections on their progress as photographers.

My wife and I had a film SLR camera years ago, a Yashica (remember that?). I played around with it, taking one terrible picture after another, no idea what I was doing.

The first consumer digital cameras came out in 1999 and I bought a good one for the time, a Sony DSC-D700, in anticipation of a trip to India and Nepal. It took 1.5 megapixel, 1344 X 1024 pixel images at 72 dpi, and I certainly used auto mode. A wonder then, a toy now. But it was so liberating to have no cost to push the button, to record everything that caught my eye. People liked the results. I was hooked.

Roll forward 13 years. I've had the benefit of some real training at the Maine Media Workshops. Fortune has been kind and I've been able to get professional-quality equipment. Now I use manual or semi-manual modes, know the difference between an f stop and my elbow, use a flash competently (I was so clueless until I took Bobbi Lane and Arlene Collins' courses in lighting and flash technique, such brilliant photographers and teachers) and know what to do in low light at high ISO on a camera that can handle it. And then there were the wonders of Photoshop. My skills are still limited but I know how to make a good photograph better.

The second picture is recent work, taken on an Olympus E-M5 (those little things are amazing). It pulls lots of that learning and experience together. Not that the first shot is bad. People told me I had a good eye. Now photography is my passion. I wish I could get rid of the stupid day job and become a real photographer.

See more photographic journeys from City Daily Photo members here.