St. Louis Energized: Photographing St. Louis

In a post this last fall, I said that I intended for this site to continue to be more of a written blog than a photoblog. Although that remains true, the fact that I have been spending an inordinate amount of my spare time these last few months taking photographs around St. Louis means that I have had very little time to write. Luckily, the days are starting to get longer so I soon will have more time. (I'm obviously joking, but I swear I had someone say that to me once).

St. Louis is a never-ending source of inspiration for an aspiring photographer. I could (and do) spend hours on end exploring and photographing the city's distinct and diverse neighborhoods, beautiful parks, and riverfront (including, of course, the magnificent Arch).

One of my primary (non-work/non-family) goals of 2011 is to continue to capture and share scenes from the city. I find the creation of photographs to be incredibly fulfilling in its own right, but my interest in photography goes beyond that. For me (a non-native St. Louisan), photographing St. Louis has become my way to really see the city, to get a better sense of its myriad neighborhoods, and to get a self-taught history lesson about the subjects I am photographing. I hope to greatly increase the breadth and depth of my subjects in the upcoming year.

Here are some of my favorite photographs from the last few months. As always, my apologies to my followers on Twitter and Flickr who likely have seen some or all of these before. I hope to better integrate this site with those accounts in the near future.

"Fountain in the Ruins"
The faux ruins and fountain pond at Tower Grove Park.
Created by park founder Henry Shaw in 1872/73,
and restored in summer 2010.

"Flurries"
Snow blows outside the World's Fair Pavilion in St. Louis' Forest Park.

"Missouri Tall Grass Redux"
The historic Eads Bridge. The sculpture in the foreground is
"Missouri Tall Grass" by Robin Murez (1999), commissioned by
The Laclede's Landing Foundation (Commercial and Historic Area
Public Art Program).

"Winter Morning at Grand Basin"
On a recent snowy morning, with the Saint Louis Art Museum
in the background.

"Trolley to the Museum"
A 2.2-mile electric-hybrid trolley line is scheduled to be completed
in fall 2012, running from the western end of the Delmar Loop to
the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park (via DeBaliviere).
For ADA-accessibility reasons, replica streetcars will be used
rather than this heritage Peter Witt vehicle.

"Locomotion"
Looking east from St. Louis' Jefferson Avenue.

"Cold Steel"
The Gateway Arch on a frigid January morning.

"Dusk on Jefferson Avenue"
A view to the southwest from St. Louis' Jefferson Avenue, at dusk.

"Another Man's Treasure"
In the basement of Retro 101 on one of St. Louis' best streets, Cherokee Street.

"Downtown at Dawn"
Downtown St. Louis, shortly before sunrise.

"Outside the Cage"
This flower appeared to be trying to escape the World's Fair Flight
Cage at the St. Louis Zoo, photographed from outside the Zoo.