[Bob in St. Louis]

Took the family to the St. Louis Arch the other day.
For those of you that don't know, it's officially called the > Jefferson National Expansion Memorial <  <--- link.

It's 630' tall and if memory serves, is the tallest manmade National Monument.

All pics taken with a D5100 and the kit 15 VR lens and a Nikkor 55-200 lens.


















The Illinois view over the Mississippi River, due East.







The view west over the city of St. Louis, including The Old Courthouse and Busch Stadium.












The view looking straight down, 630 feet.

[PeteG]

Bob,
Nice pictures, been awhile since I’ve been there. I think I see my old neighborhood (Bethalto, Ill).

[gooberdude]

East St Louis never looked so good!!

I spent a # of yrs taking urban landscape photos from a helicopter pad atop a 700' tall skyscraper while living in chicago.  The toughest part, for me, was making sure the horizon was level.

[Bob in St. Louis]

The toughest part, for me, was making sure the horizon was level.

Oh crap....
Thanks for telling me that. I didn't notice until you said something. 

Actually, the position you have to get yourself into when peering out of those tiny window is pretty rough. Being level was the furthest thing on my mind. 

[gooberdude]

I wasn't bagging on you!  Its a really common issue that seems to get worse when you are up high enough to capture the curvature of the earth.  Your photos rock for being indoors behind glass, especially of the stadium. 

I was always outside while in chicago, and windspeed doubles every few hundred feet vertical.  The best shots I got were just before a storm & the gusts would be over 50 mph.  try concentrating on the horizon when you're worried about being blown off a skyscraper. 

As a kid, one of my best friends' uncle's had a killer job: he replaced the light that sits on top of the arch. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

I've wondered for years how much it pays to change that lightbulb.

The other issue I had was shooting through the old tinted glass that kids have smeared up with their slimy little fingers. That's kinda nasty. I was aiming though the cleaner parts of the glass. 

But that still doesn't compare to being blown off a skyscraper. 

Would like to see some of your pics sometime.
Bob

[gooberdude]

A few years ago St Louis magazine did a cover story on the guy who does it now.  Pretty sure he's the chief maintenance engineer for the arch.  The cover shot was cool, probably taken by a helicopter.  He has to wear a full rope climbing harness to get up there.

I have several thousand shots atop the skyscraper.  670' tall & right on Lake Michigan, Lakeshore Drive.  It sits east of most of the downtown bldgs, jutting out towards navy pier.  I kept a camera & tri pod in my office.  An amazing panorama & vantage point for many yrs.  I have about 10 of the better shots framed up in my place, and the rest on a harddrive somewhere.  Oh, and I finally got back in.   

What would be cool is to plant a time lapse camera on the skyscraper roof & let it run a few days, then put it together like you did your chicago drive home on I-55 a few months ago.  Just to watch the clouds roll by at that height is something else.

[Bob in St. Louis]

What would be cool is to plant a time lapse camera on the skyscraper roof & let it run a few days, then put it together like you did your chicago drive home on I-55 a few months ago.  Just to watch the clouds roll by at that height is something else.

If only I knew somebody that would allow me on top of the building. 

[gooberdude]

Back in the day this woulda been easy.  Plus, I could've used the film to rent more apartments!     

Even though I live 5 minutes from the Arch, i haven't been on the grounds in years.  Are the 2 smaller riverboats just entertainment boats, like for booze cruises??

At first i thought one was the old McDonalds boat (or was it Burger King?), but then i remembered it crashed into a bridge or something a while back. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

The two riverboats are just an excuse to get drunk and float up and down the river. 
The yellow helicopter "chasing" them provides rides up and down the riverfront.

I didn't notice the McDonalds and Burger King barges. I think they're gone, as is the Robert E. Lee boat.

Bob

[bside123]

Hi Bob,

Here's one that I snapped a couple of years back. Last week for some reason, I just started using it as my avatar. I've done a lot of traveling, and to this day, the St. Louis Arch remains as one of my favorite monuments in the entire world. I love to look at it under any condition, e.g., day, night, sun, rain, etc., and I never tire of seeing it. That makes for "good" art in my book.

[Scott F.]

Hiya Bob,

Nice pics



(disclaimer...not my pics)

My dad ran the crane on the south leg of the Arch. The keystone piece is said to have the names engraved with all of the people who worked on the project. I think I've got some construction pics in the family photo archives somewhere. He also ran the cranes for the Pet Milk Building,



the Stadium parking lots east and west along with a few more that fill the skyline of downtown StL.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Excellent picture Brian! Post more if you've got some.
The nice thing about the Arch is that it's not only "good" art, it's easy too.
From any angle, with about any lighting, it can make for some great photos.

Scott, I LOVE those old Arch construction pics. Yea, if you can find them, post them.
Would be nice to see some from a private collection instead of the ones seen in the media.


Bob