29/52 - Photo Project 2013

It was one of those weeks... not a lot was taken, but at least the taking was good. This week's choices - flowery macro or urban decay. In honor of its sad, but imminent demolition, Cupples 7 wins:



Almost everything else in this warehouse complex was successfully saved and renovated but Cupples 7 was neglected until the city got cranky and is taking matters into their own hands.

Close second - Queen Anne's lace:




Honestly - at the end of the Project, I might flip-flop them... but I stand by my decision today - even with my sleep-deprived mind.

28/52 - Photo Project 2013

It was a very quiet photographic week for me, but on Saturday, I had not one, but TWO photo meet-ups. One at the early part of the day, and the other in the late, very warm afternoon. And they couldn't be more different. The early one was Concordia Seminary - which has gorgeous gothic architecture. I want to go back when I'm not hurried by the fact that someone called in sick at work. I wasn't really focused.

The other was with Photo Flood St Louis, and that was exploring the Hill. I'm pleased with the images that came from it despite me not feeling top notch (both tired, dehydrated and not loving the intense sun). I will say that when in the shade, it was a perfectly lovely afternoon... but that sun was a bit brutal.

This is the winner for the week, a peek in the gates of AlfaPet (formerly the location of Magic Chef):



A close second, is this random weed against the red of the overpass:



Hopefully this next week is more prolific. And the next two weeks I will have NO problem - hopefully I don't run out of memory cards!!

27/52 - Photo Project 2013

It's been a slow week - both at work, and on the picture-taking front. I went to the Eads Bridge at the last minute on Thursday to take photos, but I didn't have my settings the way I wanted them and my pictures turned out not great.

So last night, I went to my new favorite location to see fireworks in St. Louis and took photos there. It didn't hurt that my friends from Circus Kaput were keeping everyone entertained and decorated, etc.

Here's my favorite fireworks photo... check the rest of them out here in my set, "Sixth of July".



And the close runners up:

   



Hopefully this upcoming week will provide more opportunities...

Urban Decay in St. Louis - Wright/Arcade

The great/bad thing about St. Louis is that there are many beautiful buildings that sit abandoned. In the case of this one, it had been abandoned for awhile (early 80s?) and had a recent attempt at rehab which came to a screeching halt when the company (Pyramid) collapsed. Arcade has a new buyer and hopefully will get rehabbed to its former glory soon.

The thing about the Arcade in its current state is that it is beautiful in its decay, yet I can't wait to see it back to what it was. What we call the Arcade building is actually two buildings connected with each other. The Wright building was built in 1906, and the Arcade building was built in 1919 and wraps around the existing Wright building. Inside, there are several floors that are not exactly at the same height and have small sets of stairs inbetween. A lot of the floors have beautiful white marble walls. The Arcade building had ground level stores and shops with a Gothic vaulted ceiling as well as a variety of other offices upstairs. Ranging from jewelers to a radio station to a law-oriented printing office. There seemed to be small factories, a music store, several doctor's offices and that's all we could tell from the 9 stories that hadn't been internally demo'd and stripped down to its bare bones.

I recently got a chance to tour the building prior to the new rehab attempt and I jumped at it. It was worth totally worth it, as you can see from the pictures.

To see all 133 photos from the set, check it out here. I really encourage you to do so, this is just a smattering of the gorgeous beauty within those walls.

                                   


                                                    

Can you believe it? You can see the potential, right? I cannot wait to see the finished product.

26/52 - Photo Project 2013

I can't believe it - halfway there... where in the daylights did this year go???  I finally got the chance to tour the newly renovated Central Library in downtown St. Louis. I can honestly say that I'd never been to this library before, but now that I have been... I want to go again. It is simply gorgeous... and our tour guide was fabulous. There is so much rich history in the building - and some of the smallest details are wonderful. Libraries are true treasures, yes?

I've been taking a lot of photos lately, so I need to play catch up soon!