Old Town

The river town of St. Charles has revitalized their downtown by refurbishing their old buildings. Now they have many great restaurants, wineries, antique shops and  much more. Here is one of their old buildings restored into a gift shop.

Old St. Charles

Daisies

During our recent visit to Michigan, we stayed in a little community called Wequetonsing. Most of the homes there faced Lake Michigan so I would get up early to walk along the road between the homes and the lakes. This is an amazing place with well maintained homes (cottages) and beautiful landscaping. This is stylized photo of some of the homes.

St. Louis Courthouse

Last week I took the opportunity to visit St. Louis’ downtown area at dusk. Usually I am there for a sporting event or some other occasion and do not have the opportunity to take photos like this or the one before it. Since it is after sundown (dark), it takes time to scout a location, setup a tripod and then take the photo. A shot like this can take two or three minutes to capture.

City Garden Fountain

St. Louis installed a fun little park in their downtown area called City Garden. This is a sculpture park with all kinds of statues, water features and interactive devices. Here is a scene of a computerized fountain with the city court building in the background.

Sailboats

To get good photos you have to get up early to get nice light and color. Here I was up early walking along the lake and was able to catch the early sunlight breaking through the clouds and reflecting off the sailboats. Also, water is usually calmer in the morning making a more interesting photo.

This morning the sun broke through the clouds and it was a sunny day.

Old Courthouse

My home town of St. Louis, MO has many interesting places to visit. Later this week I will be visiting the downtown area around City Garden, a wonderful sculpture park. Last time I was there it rained but that just added to the atmosphere. However, hopefully the weather will be a little better because there is much more to see.

The Critics

This is a photo I took about four years ago in St. Louis’ City Garden, a sculpture park in the downtown area. The critics are my two Basset Hounds, Lolly and Clementine.

This park is full of interesting things to photograph. I will be returning later this week, watch here for the results.

Five Mile Creek School House

If you drive in rural areas you can still find one room schoolhouses. Here is a well maintained example in northern Michigan. Interestingly the school yard is now a vineyard for a neighboring winery. Click on the photo to enlarge.