A brand new baby, a frisky puppy, and great friends lured the mutts and me down to St. Louis for the long holiday weekend.  Besides a few photo sessions, there wasn’t much on the docket, other than spending time with old friends.  And yes, they’re all old compared to me. 

Since this is my old stomping grounds, the tourist attractions aren’t my thing- But, if you can map out your trip to avoid certain crime infested areas, the Lou is a fantastic family vacation spot!  The zoo is awesome, and FREE, which increases its awesome factor exponentially.   You don’t even have to lower your standards to drink the beer to make the free Budweiser tour a must-do activity!  My niece and nephew always loved going to see the horsies and the doggies.  Pro tip- there’s a short version of the tour only including the Clydesdales and Dalmatians to make it family friendly.   Cardinals, Blues, Forrest Park, the Arch, City Museum… the list of attractions is quite impressive for such a small city. 

So those are the things YOU should do in STL… but as a seasoned vet, I spent my time eating and drinking good wine with even better friends.  The newest member of my St Louis family is Sir Remington Spire-Johnson of Chesterfield.  Just kidding.  His name is Remington—Remy for short—but it’s such a regal name that it needs more syllables. 

All in all, it was a fun weekend catching up on the Dirty Dirty gossip, teaching Mollie how to drink red wine, and closet shopping at Beth’s. 

Photography

On a beautifully sunny afternoon, the sun can sometimes present a challenge.  When the sun is overhead, the shadows produced are harsh and straight down, which just looks crappy.  The contrast in shade to light is harsh and unpleasing.  If at all possible, look for shade to eliminate this effect.  Doing so means you will eliminate most of the directional light as well, creating a flat image, so it’s important to look for natural light reflectors to angle the sun into the shade.   Images above shot on D7000 using 24-70mm f/2.8 lens at ISO 100, Aperture set between f/2.8-3.2, Shutter Speed between 1/250-1/400.