Flora Borealis

https://greatrivers.smugmug.com/Galleries/Missouri-Botanical-Garden/i-GmkbqxT/A

This is part of an interesting event at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis called Flora Borealis. The “Garden” installed laser light shows along their winding paths and added speakers for a sound experience along the paths.

This is a flower projected onto the side of an old home on the grounds. It is actually part of a video where you watch the flower open and then merge into something else. The laser projection is so good that you cannot tell what is real and what is not.

This looks like daylight but this was take at night. I will post a few more of these over the next few days.

Cold Night on Beale

Beale Street

Beale Street in Memphis. Home of BB King’s Blues Club, Tater Red’s Lucky Mojos, Pork with an attitude and much more! This was a cold night in February so not very crowded.

This was a single shot photo taken at a high ISO. Great street to photograph with all of the neon signs.

Watching Dogs

It looks like this could be a scene in the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. However, this is a better known hotel in Memphis. This is the lobby of the famous Peabody Hotel. On the right is Elvis’ tailor and on the left is where the famous ducks swim in the fountain. This hallway is where the ducks march to catch the elevator to their penthouse suite.

Perhaps these dogs are waiting for them….

Sunset on Lake Minocqua

Minocqua, WI

The iconic boathouses of Lake Minocqua create the character of the area. The lake is well known for its sport fishing. Also, the lake surrounds the town of Minocqua making the boathouses a major source of activity.

Photographing the boathouses is best done by boat but a lot of good scenes can be captured from the shores. I took this photo while on my way to dinner by water.

 

Minocqua Trestle

Minocqua, WI

One hot summer afternoon in 1954 I was bundled onto a waiting train in St. Louis’ iconic Union Station. By noon the next day I was crossing this trestle leading to Minoqua, Wisconsin’s station. This was the beginning of my love of this small town in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Minoqua is an Island City (town) surrounded by Lake Minoqua and lined with rustic boathouses.

In the early days the area was frequented by movie stars, U.S. Presidents and eccentric millionaires. Earlier it was a hideout for gangsters like Al Capone or John Dillinger. People did not travel by car but “went into town” or visited friends by boat. Today I visit to relax, walk my dogs on the Bearskin Trail (the Trestle and railroad beds are now part of a trail system) and dine at one of the area’s Supper Clubs. Some still have bullet holes from shoot outs between the gangsters and FBI.

This is a tree shot HDR photo processed in Lightroom and Photomatix. Click here to see my photos of Minoqua’s boathouses. Click here to see the the town and the Northwoods.

Ha Ha Tonka Castle

These ruins are part of Ha Ha Tonka State Park near Camdenton, Missouri.

Not really a castle but more of a mansion, this structure was built in 1904 by a wealthy St. Louisan. The owner did not live to see it completed. Over time it fell in disrepair and was eventually sold by his family. In 1942 the main structure and others around it were destroyed by fire.

This is a difficult photo to capture because directly behind me is the edge of a bluff with about a 150 foot drop. To get the photo, a tripod was used and then 5 pictures were taken of the left side of the building at different exposures and then 5 of the right. There is a special function in Lightroom that will combine all of the photos into one RAW file so it can then be edited in Aurora HDR.

DOC

B-29 Superfortress "DOC"

Doc is a B-29 Superfortress and one of 1,644 manufactured in Wichita during World War II. Since 1987 when Tony Mazzolini found Doc on sitting and rotting away in the Mojave Desert, plans have been in the works to restore the historic warbird to flying status to serve as a flying museum.

Over the past 15+ years, hundreds of volunteers have worked on Doc and the restoration project. Skilled workers and retirees from Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems, veterans, active duty military and others wanting to honor those who served, have spent tens of thousands of hours on Doc’s restoration. Countless individuals and organizations also made financial and in-kind contributions to keep the project going. Below is a brief timeline of Doc’s military service and the restoration effort.

This photo was taken at Spirit of St. Louis Air Show in St. Louis County.

Hornet

F-18

The business end of a F/A-18 Hornet. Designed and built by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, Missouri. This aircraft serves both on land and aircraft carrier. If you drive near Lambert Field (Lambert International Airport) you might see the Hornet’s doing test flights.

A friend was a manger for the development of F/A-18. When asked what that meant, he indicated that he was in charge of the left wingtip….. There must have been a huge team required to develop the aircraft.

 

F-16

F-16

Just feet from the runway, a crowd watches this F-16 as it does a “touch and go” on the runway. St. Louis County has revised its fantastic air show at Spirit of St. Louis Airport with two days of amazing displays.

I like this photo since you can get a sense of the power and speed of the aircraft from heat trail behind it. There was a lot of noise that day.

Another Red Door

Old St. Charles

I had a red door in a previous post so this is “Another Red Door” and another alley shot in St. Charles, MO. This is actually near an entrance to an antique shop hidden away off Main Street.

This is a three shot HDR photo edited to enhance the color while giving it a kind of fuzzy look