Sim-Ma-Tree

Symmetry in photography is one the most evocative tools of composition. It lends the eye to seek the comforts of line and formation. This particular image not only gives us that symmetry or repitition that we often seek in images but in our daily lives as well. There is the added bonus of this particular image of having some color to it as well. The color gives it some added distinction to somewhat repetitive lines.

"ARKY - TEX - CHUR"

Upon reading and viewing the images of a friend, I have been frequenting the Pulitzer Museum. It’s a wonderful photographic exposition of contemporary art. While you are not allowed to photograph the pieces of art that are exhibited there, the building itself is a gloriously rich expose of shape, line, and shadow. I wanted to post one after converting it to black and white. I feel it gives it an added architectural dimension. Here are three images of the inside.

Sunrise....Sunset

After a rather long wait....we got a glorious evening for some stunning sunsets. Sunsets are always fun to shoot and even more fun to play with in photoshop. I must have taken 60 images of the sky two days ago. I was sorely tempted to really go "crazy" with adjusting the saturation and vibrance in these images but alas....the purity of my soul had to leave them alone and only make some subtle changes in contrast and highlights. For your viewing pleasure.

HDR not FDR!!

I'm offering 3 images today again that were shot and processed using High Dynamic Range. I'm increasingly becoming absorbed with this type of processing. It offers such a dynamic (pardon the play on words) characterization of the original with such rather austere highlights and shadows. And while the Grain Elevator isn't "sharp", I believe the blurriness of the image again gives it another architectural dimension if not ethereal quality. I also thought it might be best to show you the original images before the HDR process to give you something to compare it too. The smaller image is the original.

"OH Barn It"

Another posting today....my gosh, two in one day. I found this old barn on my way to Babler yesterday and I'm finding old deserted barns quite a treat to photograph and reflect on. I wonder (as they've seen their better days as this one has) how many cows, horses, chickens walked its floors over the years. How many barn cats were born there. Did it provide shelter for its masters' farm implements and the always proverbial....how many rolls in the hay did it witness??
This image was shot and processed using HDR.

"Buds' Out and the Dogs are Barkin"

Finally got a sunny and I was able to venture out to a most oft visited place in the past but haven't been there in several years-Babler State Park. It always brings back memories of high school graduation picnics, romping with now deceased dogs, and other special people.
The Red Bud trees are really in their splendor now and won't be for much longer. They are really a delight to witness their color. The Dogwoods are now starting to "bark" as I say. It's my description of their budding out. I have a lovely Dogwood in my front yard that is just now budding. It will soon bud and be gone only to show its green foliage for the remainder of the season.
"Open up your eyes and see the brand new day,
Clear blue skies and brightly shining sun,
Open up your ears and hear the breezes say
Everything that's cold and gray is gone
Open up your hands and feel the rain come on down,
Taste the wind and smell the flowers sweet perfume,
Open up your mind and let the light shine in,
The Earth has been reborn and life goes on......"

WE MIGHT BE GETTING CLOSER

I thought if I added some partly sunny cloud formations I might be able to chase away the dreary days. We're supposed to have some partly sunny days tomorrow.

The quote for today comes from the noted American poet-Anne Bradstreet, who was considered to be the first American poet back in the early 1600's.

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

I THOUGHT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SPRING!!

If you follow St. Louis weather at all, you know it can change at the drop of a hat. Well, here it is the 13th of April and we've got chilly, rainy, gloomy weather. When we should be outside planting, weeding, moving the lawn, we're inside huddled by the fire, making hot chocolate and gazing outside longing for those hazy, crazy days of summer. But then again, if you know anything about St. Louis weather, our summers can be brutal. We can have those 90+ days with humidity in the 90's making the temperature feel much hotter than what it is. So, in the long haul, we can't be satisfied. We complain about the cold in the winter and we complain about the heat in the summer. Ahhh, but we have our Cardinals and our beer, well, we have our Cardinals and now InBev has our beer!!!

Here's a pic that I'm hoping will jinx the gloom and doom of our current weather pattern and bring on those bright, sunny days. And, by the way, a special happy birthday to a friend.

Easter

As I have posted last year about the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis; we are quite fortunate to have such a beautiful structure in our city. I will not be attending Easter services there this year as I have recently been attending service at my former parish-Little Flower in Richmond Heights. It to is a domed church as well and I will be posting some photos of it in the near future as I never recently appreciated it for all the years I attended the school and served mass there as an altar boy. Like the Cathedral, I am finding Little Flower church a truly magnificent structure architecturally and photographically. At the time it was constructed, (in 1949) it was I believe the 7th largest dome in the world. I have posted a pic of it from their website.

In the meantime, here are some additional photos of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and my wishes for you at this Easter 2009 is that in your spirituality you connect in some way with your Creator.

Gerry's Place

This is Gerry's Place if you haven't figured it out yet. I really am captivated by this place. It has many of the aspects that photographers look for in shooting. It has some architectural dimension with the arched garage doors and the rectangular ones as well. It certainly has texture with the peeling paint and oil stained parking lot. It has a great deal of character with the wooden display sign and it's rapidly decaying name set. And certainly the face of the building with the structural cracks and additional chipped paint gives one the idea that it's just about ready for the wrecking ball. But wrecking ball it's not for as many times that I've been by this building on the weekends, I happened to drive by during the week once and found it to be a bustling little auto repair shop. It was full of cars that were awaiting their time in the shop for whatever repair they were in need of. Some day I'll have to walk into the shop and see if it's interior is as colorful as its exterior.

I shot this is in HDR, a process that I am increasingly finding another "art" form.

Did You Decide.....Live or Memorex??

Photoshop is a really powerful tool as you can attest by this image. If you looked at the original from April 1st and thought, "how did he capture that eagle flying over that red barn with such a beautiful sky with those clouds?" Well, here's how it's done. You can see that the image has multiple layers with each being added at a different time. The top is the original image without any alterations. Then we have the red barn with the white house added. The eagle is added next The next layer that is added is the sky with clouds. The clouds are given a bit of contrast and saturation to enhance them.

You may never look at a photograph again without wondering if there has been some kind of "doctoring" to it. You can rest assured that any Hollywood photo of your favorite star has been retouched. Maybe with the exception of Joan Rivers or Phyllis Diller.....they've had so much plastic surgery, retouching isn't necessary. If they'd smile their faces would crack.

APRIL FOOLS

Beings today is the first of April and typically the day we refer to as April Fools Day. The origin of the day is somewhat obscure. There is one thought that the first modern holiday was celebrated soon after the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar; the term referred to someone who still adhered to the Julian Calendar. Another belief was that in pre-Christian cultures, May Day was celebrated as the first day of summer and signaled the spring planting season. A person who began their spring planting on April 1st was considered the "April Fool" because they were thought to be pre-mature. Whatever your belief most of us have had the proverbial prank played on us. Hopefully, we have been good natured about it being the "fall guy" and haven't retaliated in too drastic of manner. The photo I've chosen for today "could" very well be one of an April Fool prank. Look closely at it and determine if it is "live, or memorex".