Written by Keith on February 7th, 2010
Laumeier Sculpture Park
It was a cold and overcast day at Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis, Missouri. Snow had fallen a week or so previous, and there were just some remnants of the snow left.
This happy fellow is a sculpture built into the ground, with steps surrounding it to provide a place to sit and contemplate. The snow and the trampled footsteps all around add some texture to the ‘face’.
The mostly overcast skies provided good light with manageable shadows – you can still see shadows in the face, but they are not as sharp as they would be on a bright sunny day, and they add texture and depth in this case. This photo was taken for 1/200th second at f/11 (ISO 200), using a focal length of 60 mm.
Laumeier Sculpture Park
This next photo shows a massive sculpture – filling a large area and serving as a focal point for many of the sculptures in the park. It is clearly winter, with none of the green foliage to set off the bright red tubing.
The scale is indicated by the trees in the background. While they are a ways off, it is still apparent that this sculpture dominates the landscape. This photo was taken for 1/400th second at f/11 (ISO 200), using a focal length of 35 mm – a fairly wide angle focal length necessary to capture the entire sculpture.
To see more pictures taken at Laumeier Sculpture Park, click here.
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Written by Keith on November 23rd, 2009
Frosted Leaf
My picture of the month for October 2009 is this frost-encrusted autumn leaf taken at Brown Deer Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Early morning walks in Fall are great for finding scenes like this. In this case, there was a frost overnight, but often you’ll find heavy dew glistening in the morning sunlight that can create beautiful closeups.
To see pictures of the month from previous months, click here.
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Written by Keith on November 22nd, 2009
Bird in Silhouette
Recently, I revisited the Busch Conservation Area, a vast nature preserve that is abundant with wildlife, lakes, and forests.
On this morning, I got there before the sun was up – there was fog on the water and the leaves had not yet turned their vibrant colors.
I was not the first to arrive, however, as there were a number of people in canoes and small boats fishing on the water. As the sun started to rise, the fog started to burn off of the water, leaving a bright, reflective surface saturated with color.
The dew was heavy as it glistened from the grass and hung to the silk lines of a spider’s web.
Below are some of the pictures that I took on that early October morning.
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Written by Keith on November 9th, 2009
The Gateway Arch
I’ve been in St. Louis now for 3 months, so it’s time to share a couple of photos of the Gateway Arch (whose full name is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Gateway Arch).
The Arch was designed by Eero Saarinen, built in 1947, and stands 630 feet tall. Standing under the arch you get a sense of how amazing it really is. And riding the elevator up the arch is even more amazing as you sit in the specially designed elevator cars that rotate as they travel up the arch. The rotation is needed to keep you upright as the cars travel along the curvature of the arch.
The observation room at the top of the arch is only seven feet wide, but 65 feet long. Rows of windows on either side provide a clear and long distance view both east and west of the Mississippi.
I was there on a bright, sunny day late in the afternoon. The arch looms over a pond that was perfectly still on this particular day.
The Gateway Arch
While the arch lends itself to a portrait (vertical) layout, the natural surroundings provide enough visual framing to allow for a landscape (horizontal) layout.
On a warm summer day, the park is crawling with tourists as they descend below the arch to visit the museum and board the elevators to the observation room.
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Written by Keith on November 8th, 2009
Brown Deer Boat House
The fall colors have come and gone, with colder weather starting to move in. Today’s pictures were taken several weeks ago, just as the trees were turning different shades of red and yellow.
This is a picture of the boat house (seen in the distance) at Brown Deer Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The boat house is located on a pond, and in the early morning light, the pond is still and the scene is saturated with warm sun light.
On this particular morning, it was just warming up from an overnight frost.
Frosted Leaf
This leaf had fallen from its tree, and what attracted my attention was the frost around its edge. The blades of grass also display the overnight frost.
The colors of the leaf make a nice contrast against the deeper green of the grass. Ideally, this should be shot with a tripod, since there’s a lot of magnification and the early morning light restricts how much light hits the camera’s sensor. This picture was taken with a image stabilizing lens so I was able to get away without a tripod. The picture was taken for 1/40 second at f/6.3 (ISO 200) with a 300 mm focal length.
Fall Goose
Finally, there was also wildlife in the park enjoying the morning sun. This is one of the many geese that inhabit the park.
The goose is framed against the saturated hues of the reflection of fall colors in the waters of the pond. The light ripples in the water give the picture the feel of a watercolor painting.
While the fall colors have disappeared with the leaves on the trees, the changing seasons provide lots of opportunities for the many divergent views of nature.
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