It’s the end of fall and time to take the hounds into the empty fields. The Three Creek Basset pack will spend weekends from now until April honing their tracking skills. This is an opportunity to get out, enjoy the Fall weather and fresh air.
Loop Trolley on the Run
After years of Development, cost overruns and delays, the “Loop Trolley” begins it second day of full runs.The trolley runs from Forest Park’s History Museum to the University City Loop Area (Delamr Loop). On this day, it was packed with people and the Loop was buzzing. One day I will have to take a ride….
Basset Hounds
Many of our Sunday afternoons are spent in St. Charles County watching these hounds demonstrate their tracking skills. They are part of Three Creek Bassets, a professional pack of Basset Hounds that compete nationally.
Their short powerful legs allow them to forage through dense brush where rabbits hide. Their goal is to track the rabbits as long a possible but this is the rabbits home turf. They lead the Bassets on a rowdy chase but eventually lose them. Everyone has good time!
Fall Walk
Fall in St. Louis never disappointing. This is an area in Chesterfield Valley just above Spirit of St. Louis Airport. I have walked past this tree several times in the fall and it has always been amazing. So is the walk. This is a Plateau between the lower part of the valley and Wild Horse Creek Rd. and it is a very steep climb!
Ha Ha Tonka Ruins
Lightroom just came out with a new HDR, Panorama merge feature so I thought I would test it out. This a photo taken several years ago and thought it would be perfect for a test of this feature. The photo is in two sections, left and right. Each section is 5 shots taken at 5 different exposures for a total of 10 photos. After the merge everything could be adjusted to give the right effect. As you can see, it turned out nicely.
I needed to do the photo in two sections because, directly behind me is a sheer cliff ending in the Lake of the Ozarks about 100 feet below. In order to use sunlight effects, I had to shoot from this side of the building and was limited on how far away I could get from the building due to the cliff. The sun being on the other side of the building meant I had to use HDR to eliminate harsh shadows.
The subject is an abandoned home overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks. Not too long after it was built, a fire destroyed the home and it was finally abandoned. The State of Missouri inherited the property, preserved the ruins and called it Ha HA Tonka park.
B-29
One of the most technologically advanced airplanes of World War 2, the B-29 had many new features, including guns that could be fired by remote control. Two crew areas, fore and aft, were pressurized and connected by a long tube over the bomb bays, allowing crew members to crawl between them. The tail gunner had a separate pressurized area that could only be entered or left at altitudes that did not require pressurization.
The B-29 was also the world’s heaviest production plane because of increases in range, bomb load and defensive requirements.
The Hunt
The Basset Hound was bred to hunt. Its keen nose and short stature are suited to small-game hunting on foot. As hunting has declined in popularity, many Bassets have lost their age-old skills. There are a few groups that promote hunting with Basset Hounds. The American Hunting Basset Association and the Basset Hound Club of America has been the most active in promoting the use of Bassets for rabbit hunting.
Hunting with Basset Hounds when with an organization such as the American Hunting Basset Association or the Basset Hound Club of America do not involve the killing of any animals. These organizations are merely testing the Basset Hound’s skills at tracking/trailing a rabbit’s scent.
Peacock showing his stuff
The color of the Peacock looks like the photo is poorly processes but the electric plumage is real. This was a great background for this bird to show his stuff.
Overlook
View from St, Charles County overlooking St. Louis County in Missouri. This is a HDR image that is commonly made by taking three photos of the same scene, each at different shutter speeds. The result is a bright, medium, and dark photo, based on the amount of light that got through the lens. A software process then combines all the photos to bring details to the shadows and highlights both. See my HDR Tutorial to see how this process works.
Peacocks
Peacocks at a farm in St. Charles County. Peacocks are not native to the United States but can live well in the area. While they do not make good pets, keeping them on a farm or large estate works well.
Great Rivers Imaging 