St. Louis next week

[decolady]

I'll be staying in downtown St. Louis for a conference next week. In addition

to the Arch, I plan on a trip to the botanical gardens (Chihuly exhibit is

there) and the FLLW Usonian house. I like to do architectural and nature shots.

Is Union Station worth visiting? Besides things listed in the <a

href='http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00G0Ns&tag='>April

St. Louis thread</a>, are there some other suggestions? I'll have a couple of

days at my disposal.<div></div>

[orsippus]

Rebecca,

 

It's been many years since I lived in St. Louis, but don't think things have changed that much...

 

Union Station has been completely renovated and is cool to look at. It's close enough to downtown (and St. Louis is relatively easy to get around) that it's worth a look if you're down shooting the arch. In addition, you may want to look at the area around the old Busch Stadium site and Laclede's Landing for old warehouse-type buildings. A little farther afield, west of town, are some neat older buildings. I'd recommend just driving around.

 

In addition, the part of town known as the Central West End (out by Kingshighway) has a lot of older residential buildings with cool architecture. Ditto for the University City area. Forest Park (in the same general area) has the Art Museum, Zoo (both free I think) and other nice shots. Grant's Farm (where the Budweiser clydesdales are raised - grantsfarm.com) is free and a site for nice nature shots.

 

Enjoy! I hope to get there soon myself.

 

EO

[decolady]

Thanks so much for your suggestions. I'd like to visit some of the older residential neighborhoods and the Clysdales for sure.

 

Becky

[johnw436]

I hope I haven't responded too late!

 

If you go to St. Louis it would be a travesty to miss out on the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica. Probably one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the US. Certainly one of the most photo-friendly. You can even bring in your tripod.

 

Go early so you can make sure to squeeze in between masses. I think the daily mass is at 11am, not sure if there's a 9am during the week or not. Obviously you can't photograph during mass, but any other time is fine with them. Count on a tripod and 8 second exposures at f11 at 400 asa.

 

Check my portfolio for pics of the cathedral. Don't judge the cathedral based on my pics, they're crappy scans from my Epson flatbed. The prints are jaw-dropping... I just haven't learned how to capture that from the negative with my scanner.

 

Have a great trip!

 

If you get time, take the Anheuser Busch Brewery Tour if you're into industrial photos. If you are a birder, go see the eagles nesting on the river between St. Louis and Alton, Ill. If you like trains, the Museum of Transportation is heaven. If you like animals, check out Grant's Farm. (Home of Ulysses S. Grant) The St. Louis zoo is one of the best FREE zoos to be seen.

 

The arch is cool for about half and hour and downtown basically blows for photography.