Spring Moon

The beautiful late-19th Century Compton Hill Water Tower and the reservoir beside it have been out of use for decades. You can climb the 196 steps to the top on the first Saturday of the month, April through October. It was open into the evening last night so people could see the rising of the spring full moon. The observation deck was packed, the shots could have been better, but this will do.  
                                                              

It's That Time

It's April and it should be spring. But it's been chilly and yesterday the wind howled and it rained off and on all day. There ought to be color all over the place but there's just a few precocious daffodils and a couple of kinds of early blooming trees but mostly the earth is dark wet, thawed but cold and muddy. There wasn't anything worth shooting in Citygarden but the sky was doing a dark cloud then clear thing so I went to a favorite place in Forest Park and this is what I found. It reminded me of those old lines:

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

                          

Only The Hole Is Left

South Jefferson and Crittenden in Benton Park.  So much of the southeast quadrant of the city is spotty, with areas of preservation and rehabilitation mixed with decay. In many places you can see the mix within a single block. The last owners of this shop really tried hard but they just didn't make it.

The name is puzzling, There is a California Avenue on the South Side but it's five blocks away. Do they make better donuts on the Left Coast?                              

Truth In Advertising

Well, enough of me and back to The Lou. Here's a bar at Gravois and Ohio on the South Side. Lonely? Need human warmth without commitment?  Short term solutions, as well as Busch Bavarian beer (Budweiser's cheapie sibling), served here. Patronage will not improve your karma.                                   

CDP Theme Day: Shy Self Portrait (Parts 1 and 2)

It's the first of the month and City Daily Photo bloggers are challenged to come up with images for theme day. For April it's shy self portraits. More than a little April Fool's Day feel to it.

No, I am not depressed. I'm just always looking for something different on theme day. (My favorite is this one from the first year of STL DPB.) So no shadows, silhouettes or funny masks. I came up with a couple of variations.

The first one was taken at home, on a tripod with a timer. (Triggertrap for IOS and Android is the most awesome photography app ever.)  Just sitting by a window with soft, overcast light. Those of you who have met me know that I have rheumatoid arthritis. I neither draw attention to it or conceal it but it gets noticed.

The second photo is an iPhone selfie using the Plastiq Camera app. (I actually went out and bought a selfie stick for this. I am so ashamed.) It takes Lomo or Holga-like color images. Then I further degraded it in Photoshop. I dunno, a little cheesy. If you like it, fine.

You can view obscure representations of City Daily Photo members around the world here.
                                 

With Open Mouths

Koi at the Japanese section of the botanical garden. There is a vending machine on a bridge over this pond where people can buy food pellets. Now koi are not as dumb as they look. They have learned to congregate under the dispenser with open mouths rising from the water, probably getting some direct hits over the years.                              

Wonders Of The Plant Kingdom

Something else I found at the Climatron Saturday. I didn't check the name card but it looked like some kind of lily, maybe.  Mrs. C is the botanist around this house. I hardly know a lily from a liverwort.

My black and white flower photography is always inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe, one of my photography heroes. (Selection of his floral work here.) I could never dream of approaching that level unless I got a 4 X 5 view camera (mmm, one of those Mamiyas that cost as much as a small car, with some Zeiss lenses thrown in), an actual studio (no place to put one in my small house) and stuck my finger in an electric socket to re-arrange my neurons.