Walking in St. Louis

The Old Courthouse

Cory wanted to go meet a friend he made through online gaming so we found ourselves half an hour from St. Louis this weekend.

Old Courthouse interior, low light photography conditions

Wayne and I visited St. Louis for our 17th anniversary...10 years ago.  Not much has changed, except they are doing some work on the Jefferson Expansion Memorial (more commonly known as The Arch) and the site is looking a bit messy.

Having been here before I wasn't too disappointed and Cory was happy just to walk around with his friend and catch Pokemon on his phone.

I dashed back and forth across the intersections getting a few architectural shots.

No interior shots because the federal buildings are usually closed on the weekends.

I didn't have much time to explore, but it was to revisit a city and see it from a different perspective a decade later.

All the pictures were shot with my new wide angle lens, Canon - EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM, and this one will be a keeper! At last!  All of these were straight out of the camera  and the lens was a great price at $280, quiet motor for video, and super lightweight.  It also seems to have less perspective distortion from bottom to top for architectural shots than when I used the 10-22mm, which I did not want to replace at a cost of $649 for how I felt it performed.  Only downside is it will not perform as well in lower light but who cares for the price difference?  So now my "kit" is complete until I decide I'm okay with a heavier lens.

Even with a wide angle lens it would be hard to get all of City Hall from street level in a single shot, it does sit on 6 acres after all.  Built in 1898 it was inspired by the City Hall of Paris.  Maybe someday I'll be back again and get a peek inside, I'm sure it is magnificent.

Just down the road is another impressive building, the 120 year old Union Station.

Once the largest and busiest rail station in the world, it has been renovated and smartly repurposed, housing a hotel, retaurants and when we were here a decade ago a mall.  Now it is under construction again and next year will contain a train park and in 2018 an aquarium too!

I've never been here at night when the fountains are lit up, but I'm guessing it makes the guy above look less grumpy.

I don't know if anything could make this guy look cheerful!