St. Louis Arch

I was in St. Louis two weeks ago visiting my son and speaking to a class at Washington University on entrepreneurship. We did a bit of sightseeing and went to the Arch. It's a challenge to photograph an iconic monument in a unique way - a quick search on Flickr will reveal over 83,000 photos of the arch that people have bothered to tag.

I'm happy with what I was able to get. These are four of the ~140 shots I took - including views from the top that never seem to work as well as really being there.

These first two are abstacts based on the curve of the arch. Most people who shoot similar angles tend not to turn them 'sideways.'

This third photo is a typical angle, but I like the contrast between the sides of the arch, the sky and clouds. Thank you polarizing filter.

In this final image I teased the arch, hiding behind the trees rather than laying it out there.

NAMM 2011 Photos

The annual pilgrimage to NAMM has passed on by, my favorite pix have been up on Flickr for a couple weeks, and now finally the website gets them.

It was especially fun noticing Alan Parsons on the exhibit floor selling his new "Art & Science of Sound Recording" DVD set. If you want to meet real Guitar Gods and other Rock Heroes, NAMM is a great place to do it, but it usually involves standing in long autograph lines in one of their sponsors' booths. If you wanted to meet Alan, a simple "hi" worked well; he was selling his own product and was happy to talk about it without the long line.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="This photographer looked like a pro, so I paid attention to what he was doing. After he was done I took a quick shot from the same position - Yikes! Alan Parsons staring right over Alan Parsons' head. I hope that isn't what he was really planning."][/caption]

There isn't too much that's more fun than Barenaked Ladies in concert, and they did a long set in the Taylor Guitars suite. Taylor consistently provides a great show with a mix of established and new talent in their suite. The room only holds a few hundred people standing so it feels intimate even if you're in the back of the room. And where else can you noodle around on some of the world's best guitars in between sets?

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="A couple of Ladies having a great time on stage."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="333" caption="Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies"][/caption]

I blogged about Night Ranger last year, and they delivered again in 2011. I'll admit that I didn't miss the Nuge sitting in with them for a Damn Yankees set.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Jack and Joel of Night Ranger"][/caption]

This is a band that still rocks hard. They are all lead singers and incredible musicians. But nothing says Rock 'n' Roll like knowing how to fling your hair, and Joel Hoekstra is a master.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="If you're going to shred, use your head."][/caption]