Below are a few photos from the St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day on March 31, 2011.

Kyle McClellan with the world-famous Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales before the ceremonies.

Even the Clydesdales want to get a look at Stan Musial when he arrives!

Governor Nixon, County Executive Dooley and Mayor Slay greet Stan Musial.

Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Stan Musial waves to the crowd.

Cardinals Hall of Famers greet new player Lance Berkman.

An eagle from the World Bird Sanctuary.

For years the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park has brought Eagles and other rare birds to important games at the stadium.  One popular activity is when they release an eagle high in the outfield.  Fans then watch as it circles the stadium and lands with his trainer in the middle of the field.  The trainer swings something in a circle when the bird is in flight.  I assume it is food!  You can find out more about the World Bird Sanctuary here.

The eagle with his trainer after landing on the field.

Both Jim Edmonds and his son threw out ceremonial first pitches.

Jim Edmonds shares a moment with Tony LaRussa.

The Cardinals warm-up before the first pitch of the game.

These are just some of the photos I shot at the Opening Day festivities.  Be sure to check out the next issue of the Cardinals Magazine for more photos.  It can be found on news stands around St. Louis or by going to their website.

Circus Flora recently performed with the St. Louis Symphony at Powell Hall.  Circus acts combined with wonderful music and the elegance of Powell Hall made for an amazing experience.  Channel 9, the local PBS station, filmed the event and will be broadcasting a special on March 21st.  They used one of my photos for the cover of their member magazine.  You can see it below, along with other photos from the performance.  Circus Flora under the big top returns to St. Louis in June.

PBS Channel 9 Cover

Last fall I photographed various potential cover photos for the annual Visitor’s Guide published by the St. Louis Convention and Visitor’s Commission.  Below is the final result for the 2011 edition.  In fact, this was my 5th year in a row for having the cover of the SLCVC Visitor’s Guide.  You can see the others below as well.  And a big thanks to Steve Wood at the SLCVC for using my photography for many, many years!

2011: Faust Park Carousel

2010: Chuck Barry and Nelly

2009: Albert Pujols

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of my clients and Spring Training is here.  I am starting to think about shooting the 2011 season for the team. One of my goals each year is to create unique and interesting views of the game. Below are a few favorite photos from 2010.

Jaime Garcia

Colby Rasmus

Brendan Ryan

Yadier Molina

Colby Rasmus

Albert Pujols

Trever Miller

Tony LaRussa

Colby Rasmus

Adam Wainwright

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina

The St. Louis Town Planner hired me to photograph the cover of their 2011 calendar.  They wanted to feature Citygarden, an urban sculpture garden in downtown St. Louis.  I initially shot photos during the day and they were fine.  However, I wanted to give my client some choices, so I went back and shot at dusk.  The fountains spray water to various patterns day and night, with the element of colored lights coming into play at dusk.  This photo was the final choice for the calendar cover.

Citygarden in St. Louis

For those interested, here is a link to the Citygarden website: http://www.citygardenstl.org

I recently photographed two executives from Isle of Capri Casinos for Teradata Magazine.  Teradata is a technology trade magazine.  The shoot took place at the Isle of Capri headquarters, in a room where they test slot machines.  Here are two of my favorite photos from the shoot.

As some of you know, I am a big fan of open wheel racing.  I follow IndyCar and Formula 1.  IndyCar races are primarily in the US and Canada, while Formula 1 races are around the world.  I have photographed IndyCar racing in the past at several locations, including Miami, Indianapolis and St. Louis.  I would not mind shooting more IndyCar racing, so I approached a couple of teams this past spring.  I was fortunate that my  first choice for a team to shoot, HVM Racing, had me photograph them in action at the Iowa Speedway race.  The driver for the team is Simona De Silvestro.  This is her first year racing in the IndyCar series and truly has talent.  All things considered, she is racing better than Danica Patrick (who is in her 6th season!).  Another measure of her skill is the competition for IndyCar rookie of the year.  She is one of the top contenders for that honor.  So, you may be hearing more of Simona in the future.  She is the real deal!

Below are some photos from my shoot for the team.

Simona's car is prepared in the garage.

The car is rolled toward pit lane.

The car on Iowa pit lane before the race.

Simona De Silvestro talks with friends.

Simona racing on the 7/8 mile Iowa Speedway track.

Simona makes a pit stop.

Here are some links that may be of interest to you:

Simona De Silvestro

HVM Racing

IndyCar

Formula One