Gothic Style Churches

 St. Rochs which was built in 1922 with its elegant octagonal bell tower stands out over the houses. The Gothic style resembles near by Washington University 

 The rear of the church is very plain other then the stain glass windows in the back. In comparison to the front it seems that it was a completely different building.

 This is the school house that is part of the church and has grades 1- 8. The top floor use to be used for mass before the church was built.

 The spire of  Saints Peter and Paul is the tallest in the Soulard area.

The black things on the outside of the church are called buttresses. They are found on many European Gothic cathedrals.

 The is the front of the Second Baptist Church that is now abandoned. It is surprising that the circular stain glass is still intact.

 This has a Gothic influence in the architecture. Since this is not a catholic church the layout is not that same as Gothic style catholic churches.

 With no one there to do up keep in the cloister the signs of neglect Are shown. Ivy begins to overtake the tower weds and plants are over grown.

At one point this church was beautiful and now the inside is barren. There is still an elegant stair case standing.

Inside the other end the walls are in worst shape and are starting to fall apart.

The only signs of life are the birds that stop to sit on top of the cross.

NCA Cheer Nationals 4/9-4/12

After a long 12 hr. drive we finally arrive in Daytona FL. and were Restless

as the first person steps off the Bus.

When we finally get into our hotel room nothing is more relaxing then the sight of the beach.

After and exhausting trip we had practice that we had to attend before our preliminaries.

 We needed to take a break and relax our minds before preliminaries. Without that blue tag we were unable to practice or compete.

This is what happens when you give the girls next door permission to use your bathroom.

IT is a busy time at the hotels while people Double checking to make sure we have all of our things we need for preliminaries. 

We were in walking distance to all the places we needed to go to for cheer and dance. This sidewalk was packed with cheerleaders and dancers the entire time we were there.

As people are leaving to go to the main stage and coming in to start their warm up. we are listening to our music and going over last minute details before we change in our uniform.

There are many different team that were at Daytona. We had the fewest guys in co-ed intermediate II .

This is what we worked so hard for to show Daytona who were are. 

The fate of the teams are decided by these people. The see things that not many people will notice happened in a routine.

During the routine coaches and alternates get a special viewing area to watch their team.

When we get judged  they look at our timing and form.

Another part in judging is difficulty in stunts. Stunts with only two people are the most difficult.

After teams were done competing many headed down to the beach to take team pictures.

After all is said and done there needed to be sometime to relax. We also needed to keep a good attitude and  have some fun.

Botanical Garden 4/17

 In one of the green houses they had a waterfall that you can walk underneath and they had tropical plants in there.

These were glass statues that they had in there that looking like birds.

There were many exotic flowers that they had trough out the green house that I have never seen before.

When I was a little kid my parents had one of these plants in our house. 

Once again hanging out in the back of the group in our field trips I came across this lizard relaxing on top of a water dish.

This was an Asian garden I believe. I like the architecture of the gazebo that was in there.

This is another picture of some more glass work that they had in the gardens. This one is made to look like flowers on top of the arch.

After a harsh winter there were some flowers that managed to grow outside.

Elk Park 4/8

When we first started on the hike to look for the elks we had to walk around the lake which was a great view. At first we were not sure if we were going to see any elk. 

Some of my classmates were walking up the hill to take pictures of them. I was able to get a picture of them watching everyone walking up the hill.

This from when i started to walk up the hill and they have spotted me. I just barely stepped off the road and on to the dirt, this shows that they have very good hearing.

I managed to get closer to them this is when my friend got closer to them then any of us wanted to go. It looked like they were starting to get startled.

This is the picture and you can barely see the bull elk in the middle bottom. He had no interest in us taking pictures and he was only concerned with eating.

When a few of us were hanging behind the group we came across this little snake slithering through the leaves. For how chilly it was outside it was very energetic.

After our hike and in our drive out in our cars we past  a part where they had buffalo. 

Class Lecture 4/1

An exclusive photo in a men's club by Paul D'Amato

One that I really remember for m Professors Grafos' lecture was connections. Good photographers are able to gain access to areas that not everyone can get into. With exclusive access one can get unique pictures.

Cross Gesture by Gina Grafos

Professor Grafos Cross Gesture shoot gave me a new perspective on photography. I learned that photography does not have to be pictures of stuff you come across.

Homeless Shelter 3/18

A painting 

The common room

 

A Statue of Jesus

We took a trip to a homeless shelter where got to see the day facility for the people. This was not a what many people think a homeless shelter looks like. this was a place that would care for about 20 individuals and help them get back on their feet. The top left picture is part of a painting in a room in the building which was of a play ground. This place gets a lot of kids that go through there. The statue of Jesus picture show this place is part of a church. It is sponsored by a religious group, The Sisters of Divine Providence. The pictures of the common room bellow and top right show that they have an area where the kids that are there and the parents can relax and watch television like everyone else.

The Common room from a different angle

A Kids Drawing of Starry Night

 The picture above of Starry Night was hanging on the refrigerator like you would find in any home. this just show that people here were effected by the economy and ended up loosing their house and need help getting back up. The two pictures bellow show things that were donated to them. So it shows those old electronics that you have no need for that do not work there are other people out there that could use it.

Donated PlayStation

Donated Supplies