250 cakes of St. Louis 1

#1 – Location: Compton Hill Water Tower, Artist: Genevieve Esson

OK, so I have criticized the cakes. I do wish that the powers that be had chosen a more St. Louisian symbol than a birthday cake to celebrate the city's 250th anniversary. It's easy to criticize though, and who cares about my opinion of a project I had zero involvement in? Really, with 250-unique cakes placed in 250-significant locations in the greater St. Louis area, the scale and execution of this display is impressive.

There is an opportunity here too for a photoblogger. For me, there are several good reasons to take as many cake photos as I can over the coming year including:

1. Exploration – I have not been to all of the locations where cakes are displayed. They make a convenient excuse to tour the nooks and crannies of the city.

2. Practice, practice, practice – While the cakes aren't moving targets they have so far proved to be a challenge to photograph well. Lighting is often unfavorable, the space is often tight, and how exactly does one keep a theme interesting if it goes on very long? 

3. Health and Fitness – Many of my non-professional pursuits are hedonistic in nature. Photographing these cakes requires no food or drink and likely will require a great deal of walking and cycling.

4. Experiences – Nine of the ten cakes I'm posting today were photographed yesterday during a 25-mile bike ride. During that ride I was yelled at by security (thanks to photo #4) and received racist catcalls after photographing a cake by a Martin Luther King statue (photo #8 – yeah, the irony was not lost on me). While these weren't positive experiences, they certainly gave me more perspective than a day of sitting on the couch. 

5. Convenient Blog Fodder – Self explanatory.

I don't have a specific number of cakes or schedule for cake photography in mind. I doubt, however, that photographing all 250 will be attainable. For one, 250 is a large number and I have >40-hour-a-week day job. You'll notice, on top of the time and effort it takes to visit the sites, my current preference for post processing is fairly work intensive. Also, a few of the cakes are placed indoors or might not be accessible to public photographers. For example, I technically wasn't allowed to photograph #4 and I've already encountered one cake that I was only able to photograph through Venetian blinds. 

So, we'll see where this goes. 

#2 – Location: Left Bank Books, Artist: Peat Wollaeger

#3 – Location: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, Artist: Laura Weinrich

#4– Location: St. Louis Children's Hospital, Artist: April Morrison

#5 – Location: Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, Artist: Martha Clark and Sarah Scott

#6 – Location: Missouri History Museum, Artist: Thomas Sleet

#7 – Location: The Sheldon, Artist: The Sheldon

#8 – Location: Fountain Park / MLK Statue, Artist: Screwed Arts Collective

#9 – Location: Fabulous Fox Theatre, Artist: Rick Monrotus

#10 – Location: Washington University School of Medicine, Artist: April Morrison