Summer Arch

Sunday was a day you could have ordered out of a catalog, to use an old expression, with the Arch surrounded by the expressions of summer. And it pays to keep a wide angle lens in your bag.

Horizon

If you look at the Arch from the side, the very top has the most gentle of curves. You notice the slope when you are in the observation deck inside the top but it's no big deal. Then, as you move down the leg, things go downhill in a hurry, to borrow an expression. When you stand at the foot, you see a horizon part way up, like the way the earth drops away on the ocean.

Magic Mirror

I've been neglectful of this blog, although I do get something posted on St. Louis Daily Photo every day. It's not that I've lost interest in the Arch but rather that my time is spread so thin. Taking and editing the pictures themselves has become a compulsion. Everything gets shot in RAW, everything has to be sorted, all the final choices get edited in Photoshop. It's become compulsive. Maybe I should look for a local chapter of Photographers Anonymous. Hi, my name is Bob and I'm a photographer.

Anyway, I got back by the monument over the weekend, trying to slow down and think. The result was a series of Lensbaby shots about the surface of the metal and how it interacts with what's right around it. My friend Lisa, a painter and photographer who is working in Morocco these days, said that this image felt like a childhood memory. I hope it has some sense of wonder.

Summer Sky Arch

This photo has a similar look to the one posted today on my St. Louis Daily Photo Blog but this one is an HDR. It gives more detail and dynamic range than you might otherwise get. The image sort of looks like an avalanche is about to engulf the monument.

Peek Over The Wall

A more traditional, if that's the right word, HDR, with slightly garish color and big tonal contrast. I have mixed feelings about these in color. They are eye-catching but loud. There's a black and white version of this photo on Flickr here. You can see which you prefer.

The bad thing about shooting the Arch from the new overlook in Illinois are the eight damnable high voltage lines that run right through the middle of your picture. In many of the previous photos from this location I have Photoshopped them out. It's a slow, tedious process. I decided to leave then alone this time.

Soft Touch

Nice light. More Lensbaby. What else is there to say? Well, maybe that this was shot from Eads Bridge.

From The East Side

This is from the same series of photos as today's post on St. Louis Daily Photo Blog. St. Louisans refer to all the Illinois suburbs as the East Side. This is obviously an HDR. When you look at views like this it's hard to accept that the Arch is exactly as wide as it it tall. It's true, though.

As mentioned today on St. Louis Daily Photo, the much-anticipated overlook in East St. Louis, Illinois, opposite the Arch opens on Saturday. It could lead to a repetitive motion injury of my right index finger.

A Gamble

St. Louis factoid: this place is awash with casinos. There are three in sight of the Arch. This billboard rises from the parking lot of one of them in Illinois opposite the monument. It advertises that it has the loosest slot machines in the whole country (that is, the highest payout percentage) but it's still a bad bet.

Lightening

This is an old photo, taken almost four years ago. I was just starting to explore the monument, trying to find different ways to look at it. This is the north leg reflecting the afternoon sun, creating a streak down the stainless steel.

OOPS - Thursday mid-morning: I just noticed that I posted this picture in March. Oh, well. Better get some new material this weekend.

Long Time No See

I'm sorry that posts here have been so infrequent. There are a dwindling number of Arch photos in the inventory and I haven't had time to shoot there in weeks. Finally got by last Saturday.

Another problem is finding a fresh approach. Thousands of snaps over the last few years, a hundred and something posted here and on St. Louis Daily Photo Blog and what's new to say? Photographic technique offers options. The original of this image, shot from Eads Bridge, looked pretty mundane. With a little Photoshop razzmatazz, there's something worth looking at.