One night in St. Louis

This past weekend, I spent one night in St. Louis…well, Edwardsville, Ill. to be precise.

I have a good friend from that area, Stacie, and to combine seeing her over the summer with me getting to see St. Louis for the first time, we scheduled an outing!

We scheduled around the MUNY’s showings (via Wikipedia, “short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, it is an outdoor musical amphitheater, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. The theater seats 11,000 people with approximately 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first come, first served basis.”) and this year, Les Misérables was one of the showings, so we planned around when it was to be performed. Though we were in the nosebleeds, I got a taste of what it was, so now I can watch the movie and understand it better.

But earlier in the day, we spent some quality time with the Arch, because, it’s the Arch. There was a ball game happening, but that conflicted with Le Mis.

Images are mainly of the Arch and surroundings.

The next morning, we had a nice, hearty breakfast at Fiona’s. Their food was inexpensive and quite filling. I had a corned beef skillet (included hashed potatoes, 3 eggs, and toast), and for $5.99, it was one of the few meals on my travels in which I did not finish the whole thing. It was THAT filling (at least if you know of my eating potential).

Before I move on, I just want to have a web thank you to Stacie and her family for allowing me to spend a night!

Road trip to Montello, Wisc.

This road trip was with some old friends (and made some new friends in the process).

I had not been on this road trip since 2009 simply due to some choices I made in my life. But without the deep story, since you’re here with the photos, I’m just glad to have the friends I do have. Despite any choices they may have disagreed with in the past, they’ve accepted me back in their lives (and on this trip). For example, I had not seen or talk to Paige in 1273 days (her computer told her the last time it was backed up, which was also the last time I hung out with her). But on this trip, you would not have figured it was that long since we last hung out.

Making images is a constant process. And though some may see it as work, in the end, it’s documentation and making (and photographically keeping) those memories. It’ll never end and will also be accepted.

Also, in addition to the images from my dSLR, I instagrammed many images straight from my iPhone. You can view them here:

After hanging with my friends (old and new) on the second night, I strayed outside to take some photos of the sky, since it would be away from Chicagoland or Champaign. Had I surveyed the area a little more, or had it not been a lot of private property, I would’ve ventured to the lake. But after 30 minutes or so, I felt I spooked some neighbors with my flashlight (to make sure no animals would be out to get me or anything), so I packed up for the night.

Also, Paige, Erin, and Rachel took some of the photos (obviously the ones picturing me, at least) just to let y’all know.

Oh, and I (or we all, rather) learned that the first crease from the bottom of a Meijer brand red cups (think of the red Solo cups) is the equivalent of 3 fluid ounces, or 89 mL.

Enjoy!

(Also, any of the starry sky images can be purchased! Contact me for details.)

(this image is a composite. I messed around with stacking and editing a smart object, which helped in accentuating the Milky Way)

Composited star trails.

2013 Roadtrip No. 2

I was once again fortunate to be able to photograph at USTA Nationals for TNT Pix. This year, it was in Ft. Lauderdale.

I’ll see what I can do about acquiring some favorite images that I took at the actual competition, but I have a few snaps from the drive down where we visited Metropolis, Ill. after noticing a sign for it, and the one night I brought my camera (sadly not the tripod) to the beach and tried my hand at my camera’s in-camera HDR feature. I didn’t realize at the time that the HDR outputted jpg, or that I didn’t save the original images that contributed to the HDR.

Since then, I’ve fallen in love with the imagery it outputs, so I shall post a little more of what it can do.

Also, in addition to the images from my dSLR, I instagrammed many images straight from my iPhone. You can view them here:

And my “boss” John Konstantaras also posted some instagrams (we both used the #USTANat13, unfortunately, no one else seemed to catch on) at his instagram here:

Share some love all around!

ps. photos of me with Superman were taken by Josh Coles.

AND of course, I got myself a panorama of the skyline! It’s not fully the best, because I did it in the hotel through glass by the elevators

(thank you, Josh, for taking this photo for me) since I didn’t want to take my gear out of the hotel due to quite the humid air, tiredness, and having to make the trek atop a large bridge (yes, you give a little, you get a little), but I’m pretty satisfied with the end result nonetheless.
(Click the image to see larger)

With a little will, the way can go a long way. Yes, that is my tiger beach towel.

I met some new friends (Marcy, Aran, Courtney, Ryan, Tracy, and Debbie just to name a few) this year, and hope to be able to photograph next year in Louisville, Ky. and see these new friends again, and hopefully meet even more!

The USTA has some great people, and I’ve been honored to be accepted by these people.