Pridefest Parade

The last weekend of June brings the annual St. Louis Pridefest and parade. The parade itself is a candy store for photographers. Everybody's friendly, everybody loves to have their picture taken and everybody's out there. Now, I'm as straight as the shortest distance between two points. I'm walking around bristling with photo equipment and wearing a wedding ring. No problem - it's all warm and fun. If I walk up to someone and say, "Wow, that looks great! Okay if I take your picture?" the subject strikes a pose, then asks for my card. I got enough blog material yesterday to keep me going until we all get sick of it.

The person in this photo is, well, some kind of nun. The red name tag reads "Novice Sister Kristi Kreams, Abbess, Gateway Sisters of Indulgence, St. Louis MO." Looks like the good sisters have their convent ranks confused. (Notice how I deftly avoided the use of gender-specific pronouns in this paragraph?)

Photography tip: if you want to shoot a parade, go early wnd walk around the staging area. Plenty of room to compose your shots, everybody is standing still, you get to chat people up and then they all want to be converted into pixels.

TOMORROW: My most obscure Theme Day post so far.

Water World

The Mississippi is dropping very slowly. This was shot yesterday from Eads Bridge at mid-river. Bank to bank, the water is probably at least a mile, maybe 2 km wide. There was still barge traffic until a few days ago. None now. The current is wicked.

TOMORROW: Pride commeth...

Dr. Mandelbrot, I Presume?

This is a bit of fun with the huge video sign outside of Lumiere Place casino. It doesn't look like this to your eye. What you see on the street resembles a television screen. But have you ever tried to photograph a TV screen? I did not not get a response to my request for technical comments yesterday about what causes this effect but my guess is that it's the fast scrolling video refresh of the image. (Expert advice still solicited.)

So what we get in camera is a crazy sci-fi effect, a molten color skin that resembles (or may actually consist of) fractals, as defined by Benoît Mandelbrot. Alien meets The Matrix meets 2001 meets "there's a sucker born every minute." The casinos are glad of the last part.

TOMORROW: Still a lot of water.

Hazard

I've mentioned that our town has a bunch of casino-hotels. The newest and most opulent is Lumiere Place. It's got a Four Seasons hotel in it. It's got a couple of preposterously expensive restaurants and some downscale ones for the masses. We ate at their pan-Asian restaurant for our annual Stupid Bowl dinner out his year. (creatively named Asia) Won't be returning. Oh, and the architecture is ugly. There will be a photo of that some time.

Their newest feature is a giant video advertising sign, the kind you see at American sports stadiums or along the Las Vegas Strip. It's smack on the main highway that runs from downtown to the airport and on to Kansay City, really in your face. This picture has stirred some controversy: an attractive young lady in a hotel bedroom, holding up a slinky negligee. The shopping bag on the bed is from L'ove [sic], the casino's, um, kinky boutique. (But as Tina Turner says, what's love for to do with it? BTW, Tina spent her adolescence here in STL.). See picture below. The display is said to be causing traffic problems on the highway.

I love the weird color effect of photos of the sign. The image is clear to the human eye but the colors are crazy and distorted in the click of a camera shutter. If anyone knows the technical reason for this, please tell us.

TOMORROW: special effects

Thursday Arch Series

Shot at mid-day in cloudless summer sun. I metered for the metal skin, making the clear sky a dark shade of blue. It brings out interesting patterns in the surface. The Arch looks smooth at a distance but there are many subtle irregularities.

TOMORROW: Danger on the highway. danger in your wallet.

Bull's Eye

The Second Ammendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." We have been vehemently arguing about what that means for more than two centuries. Some Americans feel that gun ownership is a most fundamental right. The late actor Charlton Heston, for many years the president of the National Rifle Association, once said that "I'll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands." Other Americans, including the members of this household, are horrified by our country's gun culture.

The place in these photos is very plain. It makes its presence and purpose clear but there are no windows to reveal what happens inside. What's your view on who should have guns and under what circumstances?

Tomorrow: Thursday Arch Series

Bicycle Race

Unlike our lucky CDPB colleagues in places like Paris and New York, I have to get out on the streets every weekend looking for material to feed this monster. So I went out cruising Sunday, taking local roads through Webster Groves, the suburb where I live, into the city proper and ran across this. Eeeerkk, into a parking lot and whip out camera bag. I have no experience in sports photography. This is what I came up with - could have been sharper. Keep that shutter speed fast.

TOMORROW: Bull's eye.