From St. Louis with Love An arch consists of two weaknesses which, leaning one against the other, make a strength - Leonardo Da Vinci St. Louis hosts one of the grandest Jul 4th celebrations. With the fair, food carts, live band, fireworks all under the majestic arch – it cannot get any better. To top it off, the show continues for 3 days around Jul 4th. Shooting fireworks is fun. But including a sense of surrounding and the mood really makes it even more interesting. This shot of the Seattle space needle with fireworks is one of my favorites. So when I learnt about the Arch and fireworks, started digging around with Google earth and TPE for potential spots. After some planning decided on the location – some accessible spot from the other side of the the river, across the railway tracks and as close to the water as possible. Later learnt that due to the security it would be impossible to get to this location during the Jul 4th weekend. Oh well, may be some other time. As a plan B decided to check out the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and the view of the Arch from the observation platform. The views were good, except for the power line. Hopefully it does not become synonymous with the city skyline ! As the show progressed , the direction of the wind was not in favor and the smoke started hindering. Was not very satisfied with the shots from this spot. There was not enough lighting on the Arch itself. May be I was still stuck up on the river side spot. My friend did get a lovely shot from here, so may be, it was just me ;-) The next day we decided to head right under the arch. Built at 630 feet and with 900 tons of stainless steel – Gateway Arch - is the tallest national monument within the United States. Standing beneath it gives a sense of awe and humility. None of the pictures does justice to its grandeur. One really need to be there to experience its size. About the shot - The original plan was to check out the reflecting pools and see if the fireworks would compliment the composition. Unfortunately both the pools were filled with algae, not ideal for reflections. After scouting the location settled for this view. Being much closer to the arch, the surrounding lights beautifully reflected on the metallic surface. The colors of blue & red along with symbolic stripes makes this shot iconic for me, especially being shot on ID4 celebrations ! It was cool to get the burst of the heart too. I love it when a plan comes together, even if it was not a primary plan :) P.S: Check this out for more cool information and history of the Gateway Arch.
Super Moon Lighthouse Super moon, Blue moon, Pink moon, Harvest moon – are all nothing but whimsy media terms. Believe me, there is nothing super about the super moon. I am definitely not an expert at shooting the moon. I have captured the moon in the past, but am still learning. One thing that helps in getting a captivating shot is to capture the moon when it is low - real low - on the horizon. The other is to include a foreground subject to get a scale of reference. Just make sure you far away from the foreground subject and shoot with a really really long long lens [ beg borrow or steal, just get the longest lens you can :) ]. Shooting with the long lens helps actuate the size of the farther object (in this case the moon) by playing with your mind. As with the below shot or this example of the sunset. It becomes much more obvious in this shot by Photographer Alessandro Della Bella. This evening the weather was playing hide and seek. It was supposed to be clear. Then it was all overcast. After lot of deliberation, decided to drive out to the planned spot. It was still an hour or so more for the moon to come up. It was still drizzling. Decided it would be a nice evening walk, if not anything else. Just around the time of the moon rise, the clouds had cleared a bit, but the the horizon was still overcast and hazy. What is the fun if everything goes as planning right :) After suspenseful wait the moon decided to show up – just at the right spot. At the end it was all worth it. Yes - there is nothing super about the super moon. Actually - every full moon is indeed super. What do you say ?!!!
Bowl Of Fire - Twilight @ Crater Lake The Rim Drive – a 33 miles gorgeous and scenic highway circumventing the crater lake - make it an ideal place for enjoying both sun rise or sun set. There are tons of pull-outs to get off the road and see the lake. Be it the view points right on the road or the hikes out or the off road trails the views are equally amazing. This particular view is one of my favorite – so open and expansive - you can see the Phantom Island on the left , Wizard island towards center. The foreground with minimal vegetation and brittle soil, highlights the volcanic past. To add to all this, the sun decided to stage a grand drama that evening :) ‘Bowl of Fire’ – an attempt at capturing that moment, that grandeur to share with you !!!
