Autumn Color - When Nature Just Isn't Good Enough

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When natural autumn colors just don't give your photo enough of a kick in the pants, we recommend going HDR with Photomatix Pro, a fun tool for digital camera crazies. Your humble servant left his mark in this image, taken in Forest Park.

WHAT'S ON EVERYONE'S MIND IN THIS COUNTRY: our future, as they say, hangs in the balance Tuesday. Damn. the Light Side of the Force better pull this one off.

TOMORROW: let's do another HDR. They make my MacBook sing. Maybe it will blow a kiss of good luck to Barak.

BY THE WAY, since I skipped the books Theme Day, PJ of Pensacola Daily Photo asks what I've been reading. Well, not as much as I'd like. This DPB addiction has some bad effects, like sucking up time I could use for other purposes and it's run down my book consumption. Having said that, I'm bouncing among The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow, about the science and math of statistics for the educated general reader, particularly how much of what we consider to be causal connection can be clearly ascribed to simple chance; the stupifyingly brilliant Salman Rushdie's latest novel, The Enchantress of Florence; and the quirkiest, most orginal little book of short stories you may ever run across, Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino, in which the formative events of the universe, from the Big Bang to the separation of the Earth and Moon, are described as events in the lives of creatures with no vowels in their names, some of whom are as small as subatomic particles. So, you kinda get the drift of the nickname.

Soldiers Memorial, in Color

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It was a warm, sunny First of November in St. Louis. I went back to the Soldiers Memorial to shoot some more in the lingering Golden Hour we get in the northern hemisphere from November to February. The light was gorgeous. As it turned out, I got into this techie toy thing. I don't use my wide angle lens enough so I screwed it on. Then I started shooting HDRs - handheld, not on a tripod, which is a bit daring. Then I started playing with the results in Photoshop. Photoshop CS 4 arrived a couple of days ago but I still have to learn what's new and different before putting it to use.

WHAT'S SNOOZING: almost all of the United States, since our stupid new extended daylight savings time ended early this morning, the exception being Arizona, which doesn't use it at all. I think that's fine. Japan doesn't have DST and no one feels deprived. Spring forward, Fall back.

TOMORROW: I dunno. Would you be interested in another day of this topic? There are more images. I did get some good HDRs of fall foliage in Forest Park on Saturday afternoon if that's of interest.

BY THE WAY, Virginia of Birmingham Daily Photo suggested I see what these pictures look like in black & white. Not bad. You can see those versions here.

More Sculpture At the Soldiers Memorial

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I didn't get around to shooting any book or bookstores so more detail from St. Louis' neglected Soldiers Memorial Here's another section and a larger part. I like the overblown but muscular and self-confident style of the sculpture, so typical of American public art during the Depression. This horse would be banned from all sports competition today for whatever it must be taking but it exudes power, a feeling the country needed when it was down and out.

WHAT I BOUGHT ONLINE TODAY: opera tickets for Valentine's Day, while we're on a little winter getaway. It's The Magic Flute. Not really romantic but sweet, charming and uplifting. Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja...

TOMORROW: not sure. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend here so I may shoot this building some more.

Soldiers Memorial

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I'm going to do a little series on the Soldiers Memorial downtown. It is a city block of stone dedicated to St. Louis' dead from World War I. The design is simple, based on a Greco-Roman temple. Inside is an interesting museum of WW I stuff; I've never seen anyone in there with me. The stairways on the long sides of the building are flanked by monumental sculptures in a Depression-era style, part Art Deco, part WPA monumental force. I like the place a lot but it is generally ignored by the public.

WHAT I'M DOING: better. Consciousness is migrating from Asia to North America.
TOMORROW: I'm not doing the theme day. We'll have some more of this interesting, overlooked building.

Thursday Arch Series

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A sure sign that I have been repatriated: the return of the Thursday Arch Series. This shot was taken lying flat on my back in the grass under the apex of the big hoop. Notice how the windows on the observation deck angle out and down - you can look straight at the grass below if vertigo is not a problem for you.

Gradually getting my body clock reset. Got to get out on the street this weekend and start photographing my city again.

WHAT I HAVE NOT FINISHED DOING: unpacking. Our bedroom floor is a mess.
TOMORROW: strength and stone.

We've Flown Back Home

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It was a long day in the air yesterday, from Tokyo to Dallas-Fort Worth to St. Louis. Now we're back home, heavily jet lagged, but with American comfort food, The Daily Show and Colbert Report, and our own (soft!) bed. Everything went well on the trip - no late airplanes, no getting on the wrong Japanese train, no accidents. Perhaps by this weekend I'll write more detailed notes about our experience in Japan. One thing I can say quickly: we have never visited a country where we were more warmly and courteously received by everyone we met.

This photo above was taken from the ferry departing Niigata for Sado Island, posted here to represent our journey home.

Enjoying Japan but yearning for St. Louis

WHAT I'M FEELING RIGHT NOW: disoriented.
TOMORROW: back to The Lou and, um, probably the Thursday Arch Series.

STL DPB On The Road: Tokyo And Home

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Back in Tokyo on Monday and home on Tuesday. We stayed in the bustling Sinjuku district. The west side of the enormous railroad station is all sleek office towers, including the striking Tokyo Municipal Government Center. The east side is crazy with department stores and teeming with alleys full of restaurants, bars and pachinko parlors, as pictured above. We went to an Indian restaurant for a respite from icky squishy fishy things. The chicken sag was terrific. Ooh, and maybe steak on the plane ride home.

On Tuesday morning in Tokyo, Monday night in the US, we head for Narita Airport and the long flight to Dallas-Fort Worth. A connection to St. Louis and then home. And melt into a soft American bed. We had a fabulous time but I'm off futons forever.