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

Oops

Oops, just looked and it was April when I lasted posted here. Between my Facebook photography page and Flickr I just forget to post here. Will have to try to do better.

Fabulous Fox Theater

Fabulous Fox Theater, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Been a while since I've posted here. I upload my photos to my Facebook page but forget about the blog. So here is a shot from the Fabulous Fox Theater last weekend. This shot was also picked as a Consumerist.com photo of the week.

Mountain Lion

Mountain Lion, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

A shot of a Mountain Lion from the Fete de Glace ice carving competition in St. Charles Missouri yesterday. All of the sculptures were incredible. I don't know who won as it would have been a difficult choice. All of the artists were incredibly skilled and the effort to create these works of art is just amazing. More photos of the festival on my Flickr page.

The USS Inaugural (again)

019 - USS Inaugural, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

A fellow photographer and I went down to take a look at the USS Inaugural again this morning. Based upon what I had read I figured the salvage company would have started cutting her up. Much to our surprise nothing had happened yet so we walked down and got some closeups of the ship. I had hoped to the first time we had gone down but the weather sucked. Today was perfect though the ground and sand were a bit wet. I can't imagine they'll wait too much longer before they cut her up though in case the river starts rising.

USS Inaugural

013 - USS Inaugural, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Took my wife and son down to see the Inaugural today before she is cut up for scrap. With the river being so low right now it's finally financially and physically feasible to salvage the ship. A sad ending to the ship but better than just rusting away to nothing in the river I suppose.

Fog

009 - Fog, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Day 9 of my 365 project. Lots of fog this morning as the warm rain melted the snow that we've had on the ground.

UFO Invasion

005 - UFO, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Day 5.

Daleks Exterminate!

004 - Exterminate, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Day 4.

Day 3

003 - Cookie, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Cookie for Day 3.

The TARDIS

002 - TARDIS, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Day 2 of 365.

And the New Year begins

001 - Bald Eagle in a tree, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

And for the third time I'm starting a 365 project. Failed the first two times but I'm determined to make it this time. So here is photo #1, taken on 1 January.

Relaxing

Relaxing, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Been a while since I've posted on the blog here. This shot is of Trumpeter Swans at the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, across the Mississippi River from Alton.

On Break

On Break Black and White, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Took part in the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk this last Saturday in Alton. These 4 workers were on their break and I had to capture it. A classic scene.

Leaf and water drop

Leaf and water drop, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Took a nice walk at the Watershed Nature Center in Edwardsville this morning. The water drop on this leaf caught my eye. Thought the shot came out pretty well.

Blue & Yellow

Blue & Yellow, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

The wife and I took a drive up the Great River Road from Alton to Grafton yesterday. We stopped at the Loading Dock in Grafton for lunch. I really liked the contrast between the yellow chairs and the blue counter in the place.

Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith

Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Senior Airman Smith was killed in action in Afghanistan. He was awarded the Silver Star which was given to his family. The word hero is thrown about too much but in this case it is deserved. May he rest in peace.

Smile

Smile, a photo by matneym on Flickr.

Another of my photos made The Consumerist's Friday Flickr Finds.

http://consumerist.com/2012/08/consumerist-friday-flickr-finds-161.html