People from Up High
This was shot from inside the St. Louis Arch in August of 2006. Despite the majorly scratched windows and the camera being a cheap Polaroid digital point & ...
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This was shot from inside the St. Louis Arch in August of 2006. Despite the majorly scratched windows and the camera being a cheap Polaroid digital point & shoot, this is still one of my personal favorite photos!
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Aug, 2015Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Photography Is Art Project
Runner Up in Las Vegas Giveaway
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 22
Contest Finalist in Creative Moments Photo Contest
Amateur Winner Looking Down Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Looking Down Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken from the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis back in 2006. I was excited about this trip because I had been fascinated with the Arch and its construction when I was younger.Time
It was late afternoon when this was shot. The park had a nice crowd spread throughout.Lighting
The sun was starting to go down and the the area below was shaded by the city.Equipment
This was shot with my first digital camera: a Polaroid x530 point & shoot with the Foveon x3 sensor. This unique sensor (the same type used in Sigma cameras) captures colors in a different manner from typical camera sensors, but with some rather big drawbacks. The camera had terrible low-light threshold and anything shot on ISO 400 or higher was incredibly noisy. Since I had no tripod with me and no other way to stabilize the camera, this was not going to be an easy shot.Inspiration
Being at the top of the Arch was something I had wanted to experience since I had first learned about it as a child. I had seen the crowd enjoying a free concert while I was approaching the Arch, yet it wasn't until I saw it from that height that I was able to appreciate the beauty of it.Editing
Some basic contrast, sharpness and color saturation adjustments. The main thing I did in post was to crop this out of a larger scene. Several factors made this a very difficult shot to get: the odd angle of the windows in the arch, the fact that the scene was directly below me, and the camera's terrible viewscreen (like REALLY bad). I couldn't see the actually composition, or whether it was even in focus, so I had to stay zoomed out more than I would have liked so I wouldn't accidentally cut out the actual scene I was going for.In my camera bag
It depends. If I'm going into the city or a local park/garden, I'll carry my Canon 5D Mk 4 with the 100mm Macro L and possibly my 16-35mm L. If I'm travelling, I usually bring the 16-35mm L and my 100-400mm L.Feedback
I never feel like I have good advice for other photographers as I find I am still learning after 25 years. The one thing that I can think of is: be patient! Sometimes you just have to wait for the shot to be just "right". For instance, I had several shots in which the crowd was too uneven on one side but after about 10 minutes (and SEVERAL photos), it finally balanced out. Fortunately, it doesn't seem as if they have a limit on how long you can be at the top of the Arch.
