When I heard that one of our last remaining St. Louis Institutions was for sale I was very alarmed because I didn't have a stock shot of its headquarters! This afternoon I drove to the brewery and took some test shots with my Leica pocket rocket. I have to say I like this one, but I will return this evening (if it isn't pouring down rain) to see if I can find the more interesting light.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
They don't even have a rototiller
While driving around the Washington, D.C. area last Saturday I happened upon the Claude Moore Colonial Farm. According to the brochure, visitors step back in tome to the year 1771.
Costumed interpreters portray a fictional family of that era and they remain in character while you visit with them, which is a little wierd, but one gets used to it after a while.
Since I've put out a big garden this year I was most interested in the family garden. I found two young ladies hacking away with weeds using nothing but a hand sickle and their brute strength to pull the weeds from the roots. One of the ladies explained that the Viginia Colony has received a lot of rain this spring which has put them behind in weeding the garden.
I asked if they had a horse or donkey or mule to work the garden. They do not. Once the weeds are pulled the till the soil with hoes. That was an awfully big garden plot to have to hoe, but it looked like they were doing a good job. They told me rocks are the most bountiful crop from the garden. Carrots and peas come in a close second.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
How do these things happen?
Yesterday I spent an enjoyable afternoon walking along the miles and miles of waterfront in Baltimore, MD, feasting my eyes on more houseboats, cabin cruisers and sailboats that I've ever seen in one place. Then I turned the corner and saw this sight and I'm sure there's a sad story behind the picture.
Once a reporter always a reporter. I am asking myself:
WHO did this? It look like somebody drove this boat ontop of a submerged piling and when the tide went down and it punched a hole in the bottom.
WHAT went wrong? One can only speculate
WHEN did it happen? It looks like this wreck has been sitting there for a while.
WHERE? Along the Baltimore waterfront, obviously
WHY? Was the captain drunk? Unfamiliar with the water hazzards?
HOW? It probably wasn't very difficult to get into this predicament.
Forgot to take a "before" picture
I was so hungry that I didn't take a picture of the Maryland crabs before I ate them. The light wasn't this good when I started eating them anyway. You get the idea.
Proof that President Bush is not Dumb
My photo gigs at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins went off without a hitch. Today I had a little time to do some sight-seeing in the D.C. area where I found this sign. A lot of people I know think President Bush is not very smart. If he's so dumb, why would they name an Intelligence Center after him?
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Amtrak on the bridge
Since the weather has warmed up quite at bit I've been out bike riding a lot more. One of my favorite routes is on the riverfront trail starting in Downtown St. Louis. Maintained by Trailnet this is an 11 mile paved path that goes to the old Chain of Rock bridge. This is usually an excellent venue for towboat spotting and as I was waiting for a towboat to get into view I turned around in time to see an Amtrak train eastbound over the Merchant's railroad bridge. I rode under the bridge maybe five minutes before I took the picture and had I know the passenger train was coming I would've stayed to get a closeup shot.
Friday, May 16, 2008
I did not take a picture of Howard Stern
And I had a good chance yesterday.
Graduation season at Chappell Graduation Photography is in full-swing. In fact I've been pretty busy at it this week. Yesterday morning I was on a job unpacking my equipment and happened to look up as a tall lanky gentleman walked right past me. It was THE Howard Stern! So there I am with two fancy company cameras and I decided not to take a picture of him. I figured I was getting paid to take pictures of graduates, not Howard, who's daughter graduated from this particular midwestern university, sometimes referred to as the Harvard on the Mississippi River. Or is it the Yale on the Mississippi River? I don't remember. I'll have to ask my wife, who is a graduate of this prestigous institution.
Amazingly, just about everyone else left him alone too. He sat in the bleachers with two young women, who looked like they might be family. Not sure. I heard a lot of people whispering, "OH WOW! LOOK! HOWARD STERN!" But as far as I could tell no one asked for his autograph.
Next week I'm off to the East Coast for two graduation ceremonies in Baltimore-Washington area.
And the weather is warming up so maybe I can get out this afternoon and get some pictures for this blog.
Graduation season at Chappell Graduation Photography is in full-swing. In fact I've been pretty busy at it this week. Yesterday morning I was on a job unpacking my equipment and happened to look up as a tall lanky gentleman walked right past me. It was THE Howard Stern! So there I am with two fancy company cameras and I decided not to take a picture of him. I figured I was getting paid to take pictures of graduates, not Howard, who's daughter graduated from this particular midwestern university, sometimes referred to as the Harvard on the Mississippi River. Or is it the Yale on the Mississippi River? I don't remember. I'll have to ask my wife, who is a graduate of this prestigous institution.
Amazingly, just about everyone else left him alone too. He sat in the bleachers with two young women, who looked like they might be family. Not sure. I heard a lot of people whispering, "OH WOW! LOOK! HOWARD STERN!" But as far as I could tell no one asked for his autograph.
Next week I'm off to the East Coast for two graduation ceremonies in Baltimore-Washington area.
And the weather is warming up so maybe I can get out this afternoon and get some pictures for this blog.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Coffin Maker
There's a difference between a coffin and a casket these days. Coffins aren't used much, but there are still craftsmen building them. Here's a clip about one from Kentucky.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
If I would win the lottery
I was over on the East side last week (Not THAT East side, but East of the Mississippi River) and I bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket.
I did not win. But what if I had?
We've probably all made mental lists of what we'd do or buy if we won the lottery. Give it away, buy a mansion, fancy car, take vacations, etc. It all seems pretty vague to me. I thought it would be interesting to make a list of the first things I would buy once I hit the big numbers.
Let's take the multi-state Mega Millions. As of today the jackpot is roughly $166 Million. The government is going to confiscate most of it, to lets say I'm left with $41 million. My purchases would be the following, in order as listed:
1) A Leica M-8 Camera with a good 50mm lens to start. That'll run about $10,000 leaving me with $40,990,000.
2) A West Wight Potter 19 Sailboat. I love to sail and have ridden on several sailboats but never have actually handled a sailboat. I hear the Potter is a good starter boat so that's the one I would get. With all the options, including a trailer, this one would run about $19,234.51, leaving me with $40,970,765.49.
3) I'd need an appropriate vehicle to transport my boat. I would probably get a Jeep product, possibly a Jeep Liberty, like the one shown in the link. I even like the color. The MSRP on this model is $29,480, but I'm not sure if it includes the towing package. It can't be that much more. So I'm left with $40,941,285.49. Of course my wife is already looking for a new vehicle so I estimate she would spend about $30,000 on the high end, leaving me with $40,911,285.49.
It should also be noted that I don't know if I would buy the boat and trailer first, or the SUV to tow it. Which comes first; the SUV or the boat? Sort of a chicken or the egg deal, don't you think?
4) Where to sail? For the past few years my wife and I have vacationed on the Gulf Coast at Orange Beach, Alabama. We normally stay at the Sleep Inn right on the beach and right next door to The Breakers condo complex. It looks like a nice enough place to me and it is right accross the street from Hazel's Seafood Restaurant. The dinner buffet is incredible. I wouldn't want to buy Hazel's, but a two-bedroom beachfront unit at The Breakers is going for about $500,000. That would leave me with $40,411,285.49.
5) Again, number four and five here might have to be interchangable. Do you buy a permanant vacation home first, or make arrangements to berth your sailboat? Either way I've seen lots of marianas in the area and am fond of Bear Point Marina. It has a good location in the bay and a good restaurant. The website doesn't show the slip rental pices, but the rates include water, electricity, basic cable TV and wireless internet. I'm going to guess for a boat the size of a P19 this will cost around $700 per month (that's estimating on the high end I think), or $8,400 for the year, leaving me $40,402,885.49.
6) I have no problem staying in the house we live in now. It's in a nice neighborhood, but on the smallish side. But being that I'd have almost $40 and a half million dollars left over I think a new house is in order. Nothing too extravagent, though. I think a nice new house in the Monroe County area of Illinois would run about $600,000, leaving me with $39,802,885.49.
7) Of the orignial $41,000,000, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't give at least 10 percent to charity. That would be roughly $4,100,000. Instead of having people showing up at my doorstep I would split this money between my church and my wife's church. That's $2,050,000 apice. I'd say each church could keep $500,000 for themselves, but the rest they would have to figure out how to give it away to charity, and they'd have a year to do it.
8) I think I would actually want to finish my mortuary school studies (which don't fully start until this fall). That will cost another $8,000, including tuition fees and books. Leaving me with $35,694,885.49.
9) Of course the bulk of that would have to be invested in order to maintain the new lifestyle. I would guess $20,000,000 invested with the hope of a conservative annual yeild of five percent would give us a comfortable $1 million a year in income. That leaves $15,694,885.40 still to spend!
This lottery winning business is going to be hard work!
I did not win. But what if I had?
We've probably all made mental lists of what we'd do or buy if we won the lottery. Give it away, buy a mansion, fancy car, take vacations, etc. It all seems pretty vague to me. I thought it would be interesting to make a list of the first things I would buy once I hit the big numbers.
Let's take the multi-state Mega Millions. As of today the jackpot is roughly $166 Million. The government is going to confiscate most of it, to lets say I'm left with $41 million. My purchases would be the following, in order as listed:
1) A Leica M-8 Camera with a good 50mm lens to start. That'll run about $10,000 leaving me with $40,990,000.
2) A West Wight Potter 19 Sailboat. I love to sail and have ridden on several sailboats but never have actually handled a sailboat. I hear the Potter is a good starter boat so that's the one I would get. With all the options, including a trailer, this one would run about $19,234.51, leaving me with $40,970,765.49.
3) I'd need an appropriate vehicle to transport my boat. I would probably get a Jeep product, possibly a Jeep Liberty, like the one shown in the link. I even like the color. The MSRP on this model is $29,480, but I'm not sure if it includes the towing package. It can't be that much more. So I'm left with $40,941,285.49. Of course my wife is already looking for a new vehicle so I estimate she would spend about $30,000 on the high end, leaving me with $40,911,285.49.
It should also be noted that I don't know if I would buy the boat and trailer first, or the SUV to tow it. Which comes first; the SUV or the boat? Sort of a chicken or the egg deal, don't you think?
4) Where to sail? For the past few years my wife and I have vacationed on the Gulf Coast at Orange Beach, Alabama. We normally stay at the Sleep Inn right on the beach and right next door to The Breakers condo complex. It looks like a nice enough place to me and it is right accross the street from Hazel's Seafood Restaurant. The dinner buffet is incredible. I wouldn't want to buy Hazel's, but a two-bedroom beachfront unit at The Breakers is going for about $500,000. That would leave me with $40,411,285.49.
5) Again, number four and five here might have to be interchangable. Do you buy a permanant vacation home first, or make arrangements to berth your sailboat? Either way I've seen lots of marianas in the area and am fond of Bear Point Marina. It has a good location in the bay and a good restaurant. The website doesn't show the slip rental pices, but the rates include water, electricity, basic cable TV and wireless internet. I'm going to guess for a boat the size of a P19 this will cost around $700 per month (that's estimating on the high end I think), or $8,400 for the year, leaving me $40,402,885.49.
6) I have no problem staying in the house we live in now. It's in a nice neighborhood, but on the smallish side. But being that I'd have almost $40 and a half million dollars left over I think a new house is in order. Nothing too extravagent, though. I think a nice new house in the Monroe County area of Illinois would run about $600,000, leaving me with $39,802,885.49.
7) Of the orignial $41,000,000, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't give at least 10 percent to charity. That would be roughly $4,100,000. Instead of having people showing up at my doorstep I would split this money between my church and my wife's church. That's $2,050,000 apice. I'd say each church could keep $500,000 for themselves, but the rest they would have to figure out how to give it away to charity, and they'd have a year to do it.
8) I think I would actually want to finish my mortuary school studies (which don't fully start until this fall). That will cost another $8,000, including tuition fees and books. Leaving me with $35,694,885.49.
9) Of course the bulk of that would have to be invested in order to maintain the new lifestyle. I would guess $20,000,000 invested with the hope of a conservative annual yeild of five percent would give us a comfortable $1 million a year in income. That leaves $15,694,885.40 still to spend!
This lottery winning business is going to be hard work!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Making up for lost time.
Not a well composed shot of Ted Drewes, but hopefully it gives one the idea of the activity there the evening of Mothers' Day. This summer I do plan on going back to get "the" Ted Drewes shot that every St. Louis photographer has. I just don't have it yet.
Lettuce pray.....
.... that my garden grows well. In between the downpours I managed to transplant lettuce, tomatoes and red cabbage this morning. I have room for more, so another trip to Soulard Market is planned for later this week.
Who can resist a kitten
In spite of what it might look like, I was not squeezing the daylights out of this little kitten. There are six or seven of these little furballs frolicking at the farm. They are tame, too.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Darth HIllary
Here's a little YouTube creation someone forwarded to me. It's one of the best I've seen.
Oh, here's something interesting
These letters are a hoot! I haven't gotten one in a long time so I thought I'd share the latest.
ATTN:DEAREST ONE OF GOD I am the above named person from Kuwait. I am married to Mr.Abram Morgan, who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2004. We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Before his death we were both born again Christian. Since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $2. 5 Million (Two Million Five Hundred U.S. Dollars) in the bank here in Abidjan in suspense account. Presently, the fund is still with the bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that i have serious sickness which is cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church or individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavour that the house of God is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband’s efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death hence i know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the Lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I don’t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband’s relatives is around me always I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank here in Abidjan. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the Lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and Truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life. Contact me on the above e-mail address for more information’s, any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another church or individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein. Hoping to receive yourreply.Remain blessed in the Lord. Yours in Christ, Mrs susan morgan
__________________________________________________Do You Yahoo!?En finir avec le spam? Yahoo! Mail vous offre la meilleure protection possible contre les messages non sollicités http://mail.yahoo.fr Yahoo! Mail
ATTN:DEAREST ONE OF GOD I am the above named person from Kuwait. I am married to Mr.Abram Morgan, who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2004. We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Before his death we were both born again Christian. Since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $2. 5 Million (Two Million Five Hundred U.S. Dollars) in the bank here in Abidjan in suspense account. Presently, the fund is still with the bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that i have serious sickness which is cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church or individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavour that the house of God is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband’s efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death hence i know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the Lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I don’t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband’s relatives is around me always I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank here in Abidjan. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the Lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and Truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life. Contact me on the above e-mail address for more information’s, any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another church or individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein. Hoping to receive yourreply.Remain blessed in the Lord. Yours in Christ, Mrs susan morgan
__________________________________________________Do You Yahoo!?En finir avec le spam? Yahoo! Mail vous offre la meilleure protection possible contre les messages non sollicités http://mail.yahoo.fr Yahoo! Mail
No pictures, nor 1,000 words
My cucumber plants are drowning and I can't get into the garden to plant anything else. Yes, it has been raining here for what seems like the last week and a half. But I'm optimistic that it'll dry out soon. Nonetheless I'm going to have to cheat a bit on the garden. This morning I went to Soulard Market and bought tomato plants, which is okay. Most tomato growers I know don't start their own tomatos. But, I also bought some cabbage and lettuce plants simply because I didn't sew my own cabbage and lettuce in time. That's cheating, I know.
I don't know when I'll get out for some recreational photography. I have one shot in the Leica, but its hardly worth downloading. I'll be busy on Saturday photographing three graduation ceremonies at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and the weather report is not looking good for Sunday.
So, keep checking regularly for updates.
I don't know when I'll get out for some recreational photography. I have one shot in the Leica, but its hardly worth downloading. I'll be busy on Saturday photographing three graduation ceremonies at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and the weather report is not looking good for Sunday.
So, keep checking regularly for updates.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
No updates?
It is still raining! I haven't mastered taking good pictures in the rain, thus no updates. Hopefully soon though.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Tulips part II
This is a variation of the tulip shot posted earlier and without any desaturation. No post processing here
Communion from the Archbishop of the Sudan
It doesn't matter who administers communion in church as long as its from a qualified priest or minister. Therefore cannot say I was honored to receive communion this morning from the Most Rev. Daniel Deng Bul Yak, Anglican Archbishop of the Sudan. The Archbishop was a guest at the Diocese of Missouri's 118th annual Flower Festival and the 11 a.m. Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown St. Louis. (The Cubs are in town and traffic was already a mess when we left the festival).
Bonnie Anderson, president of The Episcopal Church House of Deputies (the lay branch of the legilslative government of The Episcopal Church) was the featured speaker.
While the U.S. branch of Anglicanism manifested through The Episcopal Church and the its schismatic brethren is distracted by silliniess, Archbishop Bul Yak has to contend with real problems in his country.
He will be preaching at the 10 a.m. Sunday Service at Trinity Church in the Central West End on May 4.
More tulips
As promised/threatened, more flower pictures. I added a watercolor filter to this composition. And like almost all my pictures, I think it is pretty good.
Chihuly in the Garden
This is one of my favorite Dale Cihuly pieces on permanent display at the Missouri Botanical Garden. And I think its a good composition.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Koi meet a greedy duck
I shot this little vid during our trip to the Botanical Garden. I'm surprised the Koi don't eat the duck.
Flower photos
I avoid as much as possible taking flower pictures for the simple reason that any Bozo with a camera can take pretty pictures of flowers. And when you start taking pictures of flowers you can't stop.
I was at the Missouri Botanical Garden late this afternoon and there's pretty much nothing but flowers. However, I desaturated these tulips for an interesting effect.
So, I warn you, dear blog reader, that more flower fotos are in store for the coming days.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
A flashback
I'm suffering from insomnia this morning. In an attempt to bore myself to sleep I've been going through some of my older shots. It's not working.
This is one of more than 700 photos I took between 2004 and 2006 while the new Bush Stadium was built in St. Louis.
Third version of the trees
This is another version of the shot in the woods from last weekend and of which I've posted two versions this week. On this one I played with the saturation, blued up the sky a bit and ran it through the paint stroke filter in PhotShop. I like this one the best.
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