SIUE Cougar

SIUE Cougar, a photo by Mike Matney Photography on Flickr.

On my quest for more birthday cakes we went to SIUE. Once I got a shot of the cake I decided to take this shot of the SIUE Cougar. The sky added a dramatic flare to the photo.

Hungry!

The little birds are out in full force today looking for food. With all the sleet and snow we are getting here in the St. Louis area they are having a rough time. I've fed them once and will have to again this afternoon.

Birthday Cake

I knew they were going to put one of the STL250 birthday cakes at the base, and they finally did. I noticed it Wednesday afternoon when I left work. I would have carried my camera but it has been too cold to leave it in the truck all day. So today I made a trip to get a shot before the weather turns on us tonight. I love having the C141B in the background. It is a beautiful plane and makes a nice backdrop.

 

#stl250 #stl #airforce #illinois #stlouis

The Arch

Arch monster, a photo by Mike Matney Photography on Flickr.

I love taking photos of the Arch but am always trying to get a new take on it. Something that doesn't look like every other vacation photo of the Arch out there. I think I succeeded with this one.

#stlarch #stl #stlouis #arch #gatewayarch #missouri

Bear & Bull

Bear & Bull, a photo by Mike Matney Photography on Flickr.

Last weekend I participated in the Rocky Mountain School of Photography weekend in St. Louis. It was two days of photography instruction and I learned a lot. On Sunday as we walked down to Pi to grab some lunch I saw this statue. It is one of those little things that you would miss as you drive downtown but when you're walking you can't. There is so much to see in St. Louis and I can't wait for the warmer weather to get over and explore some more.

#stl #stlouis #statue #stifel #downtown
Via Flickr:
Downtown St. Louis.

Happy President's Day!

Happy President's Day everyone. Since I have the day off the wife and I drove up to Alton to visit a store, only to find it closed! Not sure if it was because of the freezing rain we had this morning or that they were just closed for the holiday. Regardless leaving empty handed we drove across the Clark Bridge to visit the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Not much open water but we did see a few Trumpeter Swans and other water fowl. On the way back to Illinois I pulled off to the side to get a shot of the Clark Bridge in the fog.

Clark Bridge in the fog.

Now what? Trumpeter Swans at the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary.

The Bridge is open

Saturday the the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge had its ribbon cutting. The public was invited to walk across and experience it before it opened for traffic on Sunday. I wasn't going to go but am glad I did. I was able to get this shot looking up at one of the towers. I doubt I would ever be able to do that again as there is no pedestrian walk way on it. The bridge is part of Interstate 70 across the Mississippi River from Missouri to Illinois and vice versa. It is a beautiful structure and it is set up to be lit at night. I am sure there will be some beautiful nightime shots of it and the Arch here in the near future.

Bald Eagles

One of the great things about living along the Mississippi River is when the Bald Eagles come to winter in the St. Louis area. The bitter cold weather had the river frozen up so the eagles are quite active hunting for fish and gulls. This eagle was unsuccessful in attacking some gulls and flew right over me on his way back to a tree to take a break.

Man Down!!!

Man Down, a photo by Mike Matney Photography on Flickr.

Been a while since I posted on the ol' blog here. The title of this photo is "Man Down". Poor Mr. Sun but it has been that kind of winter here in the St. Louis region. I plan to start posting more photos here, even if no one is reading this. I completed my 365 project last year but will be trying to take my photography to a different level this year. So with that being said I'm off to watch some TV and relax. #sun #winter #stlwx #photography