Tag: Missouri

21 Mar

Climbing “Below the Bridge” to Capture This Photograph Was Worth It

Mark / Black & White / / 0 Comments

In the St.Louis region we do not get snow with any frequency or consistency. Unlike living up north, it is a special occurrence when it happens and I usually try to find a way to photographically take advantage of the opportunity. In one of those special mornings, I went out driving around the Illinois side of the St.Louis area exploring for places to shoot. In the area of Lebanon, Illinois I passed over a highway bridge located close to a railroad bridge. I pulled over and made my way under the highway bridge, and through a significant amount of mud, I line up this photograph just right. By the time I got back to my car, I was covered in mud from slipping and sliding and drudging through it all.

In the early morning after a fresh snowfall, the snow remains on each individual branch but only for a short time. Soon after it melts quickly and completely changes the overall image of the landscape. The contrast of the branches in black & white with the white snow gives an added depth to the branches into the proceeding distance. The stillness of the creek water also gives a sheer glass appearance. This is one of my most popular photographs and is easily my wife’s favorite as well. I love this photograph because it is a constant reminder that struggling to a location to get that one photograph you can only envision in your mind can so be worth it, because once you’ve got it, its yours and moments like that never last long.
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18 Mar

Experimentation is “The Gateway” to Great Photography

Mark / Architecture, History / / 0 Comments

The St.Louis “Gateway” Arch in St.Louis, Missouri is easily one of the most photographed locations and objects in the St.Louis region. With it being so massive, it offers a challenge in trying to devise a unique way of capturing an image of it without the use of any aircraft. I spent an afternoon experimenting with angles, reflections, and exposure with this image being the result.

With this perspective it almost appeared like a futuristic racetrack shooting into the sky. If it weren’t for the faint clouds captured above, one might not even recognize this was a photograph pointed skyward. The lines of the seams on the metal plates of the arch add some interesting depth of field, as the blue sky reflects giving the steel a cool blue appearance.
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14 Mar

Shadows and Lines Can Lead You to a “Dark Alley”

Mark / Architecture / / 0 Comments

Another photograph I captured in the early 2000’s during a walk through South St.Louis resulted with this image ending in a “Dark Alley.” During this time I experimented alot with adding slight color to my black and white photographs in an effort to completely change the atmosphere. The original photo had more light colored bricks with lots of shadow.

The result was this cool blue image detailed enough to capture each brick, while giving this oppressive feeling of being completely surrounded. Is it a sanatarium? Is it some government building? I wanted to leave the viewer with a more imposing, sinister feeling with this photograph.
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07 Mar

Ghostly Silhouettes in the “Rear Window”

Mark / Architecture, Black & White, History / / 0 Comments

Like my previous post “Long Hall” I was exploring some old buildings in downtown St.Louis with my return to the area. “Rear Window” was my experimenting with perspective with textures like broken glass and angles.

The frosted glass made for some unique silhouetting in the distance, along with the contrast of one clear plate of glass. The cracks in the glass and old window frame also created more stark contrast to the frosted white array. This is another example of some of my earlier work with digital photography.
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05 Mar

Capturing the Depth of the “Long Hall”

Mark / Architecture, Black & White / / 0 Comments

In 2004 I returned to the St.Louis region and was living on the Illinois side. Whenever I got the chance I would explore some of the old buildings of downtown St.Louis. Wandering into a hallway I’m not sure I was allowed to be, I captured this “Long Hall.” It was part of a skywalk system between two buildings. The white brick and the frosted glass windows offered a great contrast with the black window frames and black door at the end of the hall. I always love to capture strong depth-of-field in order to have the viewer truly be drawn into the photograph.

This was also one of my first photographs captured with a digital camera, the Nikon E4500. With its rotating lens it provided alot of ease in capturing interesting angles that were more challenging with other cameras. Though the megapixels sizes it captured had limitations I did not have with film, it was a fun camera for my first digital.
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05 Jan

Hermann, Missouri Postcards Now Available at Missouri’s Trading Post

Mark / Postcards, Shop / / 0 Comments

I am happy to announce that my new Hermann, Missouri postcards are now up for sale at Missouri’s Trading Post in downtown Hermann, Missouri. I want to give a special thanks to Ruthie Roberts for providing some of her selling space at the Trading Post, where I am able to display a few versions of Hermann, Missouri postcards.

Hermann, Missouri postcards on display at Missouri's Trading Post.

My wife and I have been big fans of Hermann, Missouri for several years, since we began exploring Missouri wines when we started dating. I am now finally in a position to capture and share the wonder beauty and history that Hermann, Missouri has to offer. Each postcard features a picturesque image of Hermann, with the back of the postcard featuring some bit of Hermann you may not have known. With a stamp and your personal note, they are ready for mailing. This postcard project that I began last November has been a fun and fascinating project with the opportunity to learn more about Hermann, its history, and its people.

For example did you know where Hermann, Missouri attributes its name?
From the postcard:

“In the year A.D. 9 the warrior Hermann, then known as Arminius, led an army of the northern Europeans to oppose a Roman intrusion in their homeland. In the ensuing Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, the annihilation of three Roman legions by Hermann’s army has led historians to describe the battle as having changed the course of civilization. The City of Hermann proudly recognizes this hero as its namesake.”

If you have a shop in Hermann, Missouri and would like to feature some of these historic postcards in your store, you can contact me on my website. More Hermann, Missouri postcard designs will be available soon, with Missouri postcards coming this Spring.
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