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I thought about giving the Arch series a week off because I have absolutely no recent material. However, being a slave to habit, I went digging in the archives to see what I could find. This one isn't bad. I like how the radiating lines in the grass make the Arch look like a giant sundial.
TONIGHT: I get to play art critic and photojournalist at the St. Louis opening of The Character Project photography show. Could be fun.
TOMORROW: City Daily Photo Blogs monthly theme day - shadows. Mine aren't made with visible light. Oh, and a preview of The Character Project show. Much more of that on Saturday.
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Sunday was was warm and sunny as I wandered around the Earth Day festival. I was thirsty but there was nowhere to buy just a bottle of water. The food stands all had long lines. There were a couple of bars but the only non-alcoholic beverage they sold was Red Bull. I don't quite get this product. Granted, I have never tasted it. The article cited in the link says that it would take 128 cans consumed in an hour to kill you. It originated in Thailand and was adapted for Western tastes by an Austrian businessman. Check the contents - I wouldn't drink it if I were diabetic. The entire concept runs contrary to the natural and balanced themes of Earth Day. Readers who have swilled the stuff are invited to comment.Anyhow, I eventually found a stand sponsored by the Sierra Club selling fresh-squeezed organic lemonade. Just what this photographer needed.HEY, I GOT A PRESS PASS, SORT OF: I have been contacted by a representative of The Character Project, a web site, book and touring photographic show exploring the character of Americans in pictures. Check the work on the web site - it's a knockout. The exhibit comes through St. Louis this weekend. The sponsors asked me to cover it on STL DPB. I got a VIP pass to the private opening Thursday night with permission to shoot the event. Should be on the blog Friday and Saturday.
TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series
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Every time I have attended Earth Day festivities in Forest Park there have been members of falun gong. They demonstrate their practice, as here, and talk to anyone interested about what they believe and do. It looks very peaceful, but at the same time a product of intense concentration and discipline.
WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY THAT WAS REALLY NICE: I got an email from the queen of the faeries herself, telling how much she enjoyed the pix in yesterday's post. She invited me to come to the St. Louis Renaissance Faire next month to photograph all her subjects and the other goings on - with comped tickets! Be there or be square, I say.
TOMORROW: taurus caffeinensis.
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St. Louis celebrates Earth Day in Forest Park on the Sunday after the official date. There was a big turnout. I'm all for conservation, emissions control and renewable resources. However, it seemed like every New Ager, homeopath, herbalist, spiritualist, crystal purveyor and arcane healer in town had a booth there, hawking their ideas or wares. People can believe what they like - you pays your money and you takes your choice. Me, I'm a hard science guy. Gimme a double-blind, peer reviewed study every time.
To my delight, though, I met the local fairies. There were a number of people promoting the area Renaissance Fair, which takes place in late May and early June. It's full of re-enacters, trying to live the life of 15th and 16th Century Europe. I'm fully occupied enacting the 21st Century but it sounds like a lot of fun. I've never gone because it's out in the exurbs but the Faerie Queen from this group talked me into it. Makes me want to run out and see A Midsummer Night's Dream. 
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Fooling around with HDRs again but this one is different. Usually I shoot handheld and blend three images. This was on a tripod (yes, me!) and made from seven shots, like the big boys do it. It has smoother tonal transitions while keeping the whole light-dark range.
The view is from mid-way down Art Hill in Forest Park, beneath the Art Museum, looking north toward the Grand Lagoon. It was taken with a 17 mm wide angle lens. Note the other photographer in the green shirt working off a tripod in front of me. She was shooting film. Such discipline.
TOMORROW: bunch of fairies.
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It's not crack or meth. Apparently they are talking about their hamburgers. Well, that's how I feel about White Castles. This is the tiny White Palace restaurant. The name is similar. All was explained in a post about this place last year, as well as my three or four steps removed relation to it (closer than to Kevin Bacon). See the Bonus Factoid for the details.By the way, you can just barely see the Hard Times Lounge features yesterday in the lower right corner of the bottom picture. Can you spot the tiny Budweiser sign? 
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A bar on the edge of downtown with a strong sense of propriety. Don't you 24 year olds be trying to come in here wearing a basketball jersey and your baggy pants falling off your behinds. And none of that wack crack stuff, either. They call - is it 3-0 or 5-0? - as soon as someone figures out what it means. I got no idea. In any event, it's the perfect place for people of a certain age to relax after they've lost their jobs and homes.TOMORROW: addiction.
There is a new Arch photo today on GATEWAY.
About time.
I thought about giving the Arch series a week off because I have absolutely no recent material. However, being a slave to habit, I went digging in the archives to see what I could find. This one isn't bad. I like how the radiating lines in the grass make the Arch look like a giant sundial. 
