Pictures Of 2010

Here, in chronological order, are a few of my favorite images from my camera in 2010.

You might have seen a couple of them in Shoulblog or Facebook,, but most are published here for the first time.

As always, click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

We had a snowstorm early in January, and on the 11th I took the opportunity to walk around the Arch grounds and take some snow pictures. I liked this one both because of all of the geometry, but also because those guys apparently have a lot of work to do. If you’re not familiar with these steps that go up the hill from the river, they are (I’m guessing here) maybe 50 yards wide at the base, and probably more than 100 yards wide at the top. I suppose the shovelers’ plan was just to clear a path along the edge there, but I think they should shovel the steps all the way across, don’t you?

The same day, I managed to snap this one from the sidewalk along Leonor K. Sullivan Blvd. It looks more deep-country than it actually is; look carefully, and you can see those same Arch steps in the background. Both of these pictures look like they’re black-and white, but they are definitely color — there’s just not much color on a snowy day.

In March, Daisy, our Parson Russell Terrier, tore a claw on her foot, and had to wear the cone for a day or so. She didn’t like it of course, and of course, it didn’t prove to be much of an obstacle to her efforts to chew the bandage off her foot within about 12 hours. But in the meantime, I got a picture of her ultimate canine humiliation. I haven’t written much about Daisy here, but she’ll show up in Shoulblog more in 2011.

Here are some politicians on a bridge. This was in April, when the Missouri and Illinois DOTs held a joint “groundbreaking” ceremony for construction of the new I-70 bridge across the Mississippi River. The ceremony was held on Eads Bridge, and the fake shovels-into-the-ground schtick was replaced by the dignitaries combing two piles of dirt — supposedly one from Illinois and one from Missouri — into one pile. Anyway, before that, all of the politicians had to have their say. In this shot, Sen. Kit Bond is speaking; to his right are Rep. Russ Carnahan and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. To his right, among others, are Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jerry Costell0. Kind of caught the entire Midwest political spectrum here.

More geometry. This is taken from the observation platform at the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis, which I visited for the first time in April. Great views of the city and of the Gateway Geyser.

In June, my wife, Jean, our son  Jim and I went to Springfield, Mo., for an orientation for Jim at Missouri State University, where he started attending in the fall, leaving home for the first time . There’s a statue of a large bear — the MSU mascot — in the middle of campus, and even though you can’t see much of the bear in this picture, it made for a nice backdrop for a picture of Jim and Jean.

2010 saw the return of the air show to Fair St. Louis, the city’s annual July 4 festival on the Arch grounds. The nice thing for downtown workers is that the day before the fair opens, the air show pilots get a chance to practice their maneuvers over the Mississippi River. It’s a bonus for downtown workers, who get to watch without having to endure the crowds that show up for the weekend fair. (If you missed them the first time, there are a few more pictures here.)

I love what you can do when you stop down a telephoto lens and point it at a sunrise or a sunset, particularly one over water. This was at Lake Michigan from Michigan City, Ind., in August.

In late September, my work took me to Boston for a meeting of the National Waterways Conference. One of the highlights of the meeting was a full-moon cruise in Boston Harbor. I got to experiment a little, and this photograph resulted. (Looking at the two photos above, I guess you can see the kinds of things I love to photograph the most. Two very similar scenes, one of the sun and one of the moon, both reflected on large bodies of water.)

After the meeting was over, I took  a ferry out to Provincetown, Mass., for a one-night visit to the town where my brother Jim lived. I wrote about that trip here. The photograph on the left, the three towers, is a retake of one my  brother Phil took on a trip there at least 30 years ago. Several people in Provincetown told me how much the town has changed. This view, though, is pretty much the same as it was three decades ago. The picture on the right shows that moon again, and Provincetown’s Pilgrim Monument.

My son Mike played his last season of high school soccer this fall. He’s No. 10 in this picture, leaving a player from arch-rival Kirkwood on the ground behind him.

Christmas day in St. Louis. After a nice, wet snowstorm on Christmas Eve, the snow clung to every tree branch and every twig for a long time. This is the ornamental crabapple tree in our front yard. Our year in St. Louis was nearly bookended by snowstorms.

After Christmas, we drove to the Denver area to visit Jean’s brother’s family. Denver, surprisingly, had had less snow than St. Louis this winter, so we were able to take some nice hikes while there. This panorama shot shows her brother Don on a rock up the mountain from where they live in Conifer. (All of these pictures are best viewed by clicking on them to see larger versions; that especially applies to this one.)

Don and his family  live fairly close to Red Rocks, the site of some great geological formations and a fantastic amphitheater. We toured the amphitheater and the museum below it, which highlights the many bands — including the Beatles! — who have played there over the years. That rock is probably at least a hundred feet high. My son Andrew, apparently, is taller.

So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed these pictures, and will come back to see some more in 2011!