Bumbershoot

Last month I was invited to Bumbershoot Aerial Arts for their student showcase.

It was a wonderful show of acrobatics from both the students and their teachers.

The acts were full of comedy and beauty both on and off the ground.

The photos can't do justice to watching the movements of these performers in person.

I recommend checking them out to find out when you can see a performance. Student show or otherwise.

Or even take a class and learn to do it yourself.

Bumbershoot offers a variety of classes and they're open to anyone. Adults and children. They even have a free trapeze lesson for those curious but uncertain.

I may check it out myself. I may also fall down a lot.

http://www.thebumbershoot.com/

Arch Rival Roller Girls

I've been meaning to go see some roller derby for I don't even know how long. Finally the other night I got my butt out to Queeny Park to check it out.

The first bout was between the M-80s and the Rebel Skate Alliance.

(RSA has some of my favorite skater names. Stabby McCutcha, The Oregon Betrayal...I love it)

The M-80s won.

I may be able to give a little more insight to the bout itself as there seemed to be a play by play going on constantly. However no matter where I was in the whole place I couldn't understand a word those guys were saying. It sounded like they were broadcasting from down the street or something. On the plus side, you can grab a booklet that goes into great detail about the game and the players so you can follow along yourself just fine even if you showed up not knowing anything about the sport.

The second bout was between the Stunt Devils and the Smashinistas. The Stunt Devils killed it mainly because their jammers were sneaky fast little things and would slip right on through. I thought it was a more entertaining bout to watch even though it was a bit of a blow out. There was more action going on. 

You can find out more info about them here.

Dead Art Studios

The other day I was at a friend’s house where he works on some very interesting and I assume fairly unique art and was compelled to take some photos.

The process is the part I find most interesting. These are flesh-eating beetles working on the last bits of things that were once alive.

Most of LJ's art involves things that were once alive. Displaying skeletons, creative taxidermy, snake skin jewelry, etc.  

Working on a "devil deer"

Right now you can find him on facebook but he should be getting an etsy sometime as well. Check it out. I'm sure the stuff can only get more interesting.

Home Town Pride

21^st Century Burlesque’s top 50 of 2011 recently came out and as I spend probably too much time following links and watching videos I think about how we are probably pretty spoiled here in St. Louis. Any show I could go see at just about any time around here has performers just as good as the best on the list. Several have made the list but even those that aren’t yet as recognized or even new to the game perform with real quality.

In 2010 I took a trip to New Orleans. My travel companions and myself went out to see a burlesque show and band one night we were there. Our overall take on it was that it was ok but not great. Kinda meh. We didn’t do a lot of research and it’s understandable to figure we happened across an amateur show. The thing is though, that wont happen in St. Louis. I’m not entirely sure why, but there is an incredible community here. I suspect it might have something to do with the Van Ella Studio. All the new performers seem to go through there and a lot of those that have been around a while teach or spend time there. I don’t think there is anything stopping people from just putting on a show, but no one seems to want to do that outside of the community.

The result is that if you’re seeing someone perform for the first time it’s amongst a show full of veterans. They’re all so supportive of each other and as the audience, we really reap the benefits. 



Emma's 1 Month Photos

One month and one week to be exact.

And she did great! Emma & her sister Anna are both so easy to take pictures of. She slept through some, woke up for some, but never fussed.

Robots Invade Our Living Room

Tiny cardboard robots.

The Wedding at Milton

My previous post talks about the bridal portraits we did for this wedding. Now here is the wedding itself.

As the photographer I had the privilege of witnessing Joel & Meredith's ceremony. Something otherwise reserved for only a few close family members. It was one of the most touching and personal ceremonies I've seen yet.

Because they live in a school that's being remodeled for various uses there was no need to find an event space elsewhere. It just meant priority was placed on getting the areas they would use up & ready before working on anything else.

 

 
Just because the ceremony was intimate doesn't mean everyone else they care about was left out. The next day they had a party where many more were invited. This is something I've seen happening much more lately. If my personal experience stands for anything the new trend is to split up the ceremony and reception into two days. I would be hard pressed to call this particular day two a reception though. There were no typical wedding reception events. No first dances or bouquet tosses. What it had was BBQ, pinatas, contests, a bonfire, fireworks, etc. A very appropriate celebration for two of the most creative people I know.