Photos from Around the Lou

Most of the time when you see pictures around St. Louis you see pictures of the Arch, Busch Stadium, Forest Park and other iconic venues. Today I thought I would take a few pictures minutes away from these landmarks. Some of the areas of St. Louis look like post WWII Europe. Maybe a few pictures can shine the light on some areas that can be improved on. St. Louis is a wonderful city.

I took a few pictures and they are all posted on flickr.

Reggae Concert at Forest Park History Museum

Seems like there is always something cool going on at Forest Park. Today this cool reggae band was playing in front of the History Museum. Awesome reggae music! I wish I could have stayed all night. The band was great the crowd was fun and it was one jammin time.

See all the pics on my flickr!

Photo Shoot with Kristen at Old Town St. Charles

I am certainly learning some cool places in the St. Louis area. Today Kristen picked a great location in St. Charles. Old town St. Charles has some really nice views and to top it off, its right by the river.

Kristen was awesome to work with as before. She really has an enthusiasm that shows through the lens. We covered a lot of ground on a beautiful evening. From the river to the downtown area. We even took a few pictures with only the aid of the street lights.

I never thought a hobby could be so fun and satisfying. The last picture taken after dark has to be the best picture that I have ever taken...so far.

Check out the entire shoot on my flickr!

Photo Shoot with Tracy at Mastodon State Park

I don't think I have ever been south of Butler Hill Road, however if you keep heading south on 55 you will run into Mastodon State Park. Honestly we didn't see the Mastodon statue nor did we see any fossils but we did get in some really good shots!

Tracy is a very nice and fun person. She also brought her very darling granddaughter, who also was very comfortable in front of the lens.

Today was a really nice day, not too hot but between the shade of the trees and the flashes of sun light, it made for a challenging shoot. Thank you for such an awesome shoot!

If you want to see all the pictures you can check out my flickr stream.

My Personal Favorite

IMG_9249, a photo by plsleet on Flickr.

I'm always amazed at which picture gets the most hits and which ones are my favorites. I really like this picture, the dramatic sky vs. the dramatic pose.

Photo Shoot with Amy at Forest Park

I just finished an awesome photo shoot with Amy at the Pavillion in Forest Park. Amy had a great attitude and was very easy to work with. It really didn't feel like that I took over 100 pictures!

The weather had been sunny all day long, but wouldn't you know it that it started raining right in the middle of our shoot. But that didn't matter we kept at it. It was worth it because right at the end of our shoot the sun came out and gave us a spectacular sunset.

You can see the entire photo shoot on flickr!

My New Lens

IMG_9066, a photo by plsleet on Flickr.

My dear sister was kind enough to help me get a Canon EF 24-105mm lens. I love the crystal clear clarity of this lens. If you look closely you can see stars. This picture was taken after sunset. You can even see the streaks from the cars coming and going. I am going to have lots of fun with this lens. It's like having a brand new camera!

Sunset in Missouri

IMG_8963, a photo by plsleet on Flickr.

I took this picture while I was driving to Kansas City from St. Louis. I love sunsets. I also love the orange colors in the sky.

Marshall

IMG_5184, a photo by plsleet on Flickr.

Here is my big time senior in high school and home teaching companion.

Samuel

Samuel, a photo by plsleet on Flickr.

I took this picture of Samuel this past summer at Green Pines Elementary School. Now he is a freshman in High School. There is a cool tool on flickr that lets me edit my pictures right on flickr.

The Bird...

IMG_5589, a photo by plsleet on Flickr.

I took this picture last summer. This bird would fly away and come back. So I just waited a while for him to settle down. This was the result.

Photo Shoot with Kristen at Forest Park

Yesterday I had fun shooting a family with a very energetic young man. Today I had just as much fun shooting a very energetic young woman. Kristen is very enthusiastic and easy to work with. We tried as much as possible to stay away from overly posed shots and to keep things moving. She didn't require much coaching. It was obvious that she had done some modeling in the past.

Although the lighting was not 100% optimal, it was not hot. So we were able to enjoy the shoot. The best scene of the entire shoot was not captured on film, however. In order to get Kristen on the wall out side the art museum she used her fathers back as a foot stool. Good thing she took off the stilettos 1st!

By the end of the shoot we need to use a little flash however we were still able to get some really good shots.

You can see the entire shoot on my flickr site.

Thanks Kristen for an awesome and fun shoot at Forest Park.

Photo Shoot with the Kelly's

Just got back from a really fun photo shoot with the Kelly family! We all met at Twin Pine Park in Ballwin. This little park is tucked away and a little hard to find. However it was worth it. There were some really terrific views around the little lake and play area.

The Kelly family, consists of Cortney, Pat, 3 year old Clayton and 10 month old AnnaRose. Clayton was one big ball of energy. I had the most fun trying to keep up with him. Near the end I was able to get a near professional level portrait shot with a young man in motion.

We didn't pose any shots. We just went with the flow. I was pouring sweat but had a blast. Special thanks to the Kelly's!

You can check out the entire shoot on my flickr site!

Six's Performance at Club Fubar

Yesterday was my first indoor performance shoot. It was particularly challenging because of the poor lighting condition along with the number of people that were sometimes blocking or in the shot. However it was a really fun time.

Six has an excellent voice...and that is an understatement. She is also part of a group that has a R&B flavor. She has very good stage presence. I think the rest of the group needed to be choreographed a little better. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if she has some solo career soon. The other singers in the group were good and also had talent.

I only heard the performers before Six, they were all rap and hip hop. Maybe I'm getting old, but I was not too crazy about hearing a 12 year old boy cursing. As a result, we all left shortly after Six's performance. All in all it was an excellent night and a fun shoot!

SIX the Jazz Singer!

Six is a jazz singer and has a performance at Fubar at 7:00pm on August 14th, so she contacted me to take a few pictures so that she can make a few flyers and put some promotion on her website.

I used an old reliable location in Forest Park right by the Art Museum. Six was very fun to work with and has a great personality.

I am looking forward to hearing her sing! You can also check out Six at her web site. I will be taking a few pictures at her performance, now how cool is that.

Check out the entire photo shoot here!

Photo Shoot for Bluebird Jeans at Union Station

Today I was joined by Stephanie and Coty for a fantastic photo shoot. Anna at Bluebird Denim contacted us and asked if we would shoot a few of their outfits. We absolutely obliged.

At the beginning of the week it was very hot so we decided to opt for an indoor location. I decided on Union Station in downtown St. Louis. Unfortunately I would not recommend Union Station for any future photo shoot due to the unfriendly security and aggressive pan handlers.

We had a great time because it wasn't hot and Stephanie and Coty are just great to work with. Blue Bird Denim also provided us some awesome clothes!!

Check out the entire photo shoot here!

Sallie Photo Shoot @ Forest Park

I wanted to experiment with converting some pictures to black and white. I also played a little bit with the white balance. Sallie has been a very willing person for a quick picture or two. This was a relatively quick but fun shoot down closer to the Grand Basin in Forest Park in St. Louis.

Check out the entire shoot here....