Experiences & Fun Stuff Archives - Page 8 of 9

Things I learned in Washington DC

Posted on September 4, 2014September 28, 2023 by Tressie

Better late than never – here are the things I learned in Washington DC when my family and I visited in July!

1. If you leave your Facebook locations on and post a photo of your kid making a face at Applebee’s, a friend in the area might message you and say “hey, I wanna come see you!!” Excuse the crappy phone photos – I loved catching up with Sarah 🙂

2. If the White House is going to have an event that dictates tourists can’t get anywhere near it, it will be on the only day we are there to visit it.

3. Secret Service men are not allowed to pose. They will however, pretend like they don’t see you while you take their picture.

4. If a friend recommends a museum that you have never heard of, you should go – it may end up being the highlight of the trip! At the National Museum of Crime and Punishment you will see the history of crime, current crime, how to commit crime, famous criminals, how to investigate and solve crimes, and the history of punishing crime. You can look for clues in a “crime scene”, sit in on the “autopsy”, and crack a safe…as well as sit in a driving simulation, and hold a gun in a shoot out simulation. I probably shouldn’t tell you that I shot at one of the victims….oops.

Also, heat seeking cameras may expose you. We’ll just make this picture real small.

5. Don’t ever visit landmarks without taking at least one forced perspective shot. I found these gems on the camera that Riley was using.

6. The Lincoln Memorial is a great place for a photo of daddy and Robby.

7. The water is a lot dirtier than I expected it to be, but if you change the color in photoshop you can still get a pretty reflection.

8. The National Museum of Natural History is pretty awesome.

9. No matter how much history or how many monuments, your kids may just want to take pictures of ducks. Or in the case of Alex, rocks.

Which one of these rocks captures your attention? Just curious.

10. I like to take pictures.

11. Regardless of where you are, it’s a great place to make memories, and no matter how much time you think you have, it will go much, much too quickly!!!

Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor

Posted on May 27, 2014September 28, 2023 by Tressie

What better way to spend time on Memorial Weekend than with fellow photographers at Matthaei Botanical Gardens? It was beautiful, and what a great place to look for critters and practice “seeing” details.

Our first friendly visits were with geese, frogs, turtles and a muskrat.

We were kinda hoping that the mama goose would bite Brian, but we weren’t that lucky. She just hustled her babies away.

After the critters, we concentrated on color, texture and tiny details.

One of my favorites of the day 🙂

And my partners in crime, Kiah and Brian.

Suggestions for our next outing? I’m all ears!

The Windy City – Chicago Rocks

Posted on November 12, 2013September 28, 2023 by Tressie

The view from my hotel room

The last weekend in October, I left my family for a short trip to Chicago. The “official” purpose of the trip was the Zenfolio Zoom Tour, where I would learn about all kinds of ways to make my website better. Hopefully in the next few months I will be implementing what I learned.

“Unofficially”, I wanted to take pictures in Chicago and visit with my dear friend Vicki.

I signed up for a workshop with John Batdorff, to walk the streets of Chicago and to see it from the perspective of a resident. I was not disappointed – no only did John show me lots of cool places to shoot, I learned a lot about shooting subjects that do not have eyes. This is a struggle for me you know.

With John, I practiced seeing in black and white – spotting patterns within a scene or subject, and thinking about black and white conversions while I shoot. I am by no means a landscape or architectural photographer, but I love how learning an unfamiliar type of photography can bring so many ideas and inspiration to the type of photography that I DO shoot. And it was FUN. Between shooting locations John and I chit chatted about our families, our photography, and very interesting things like the difference between a Booty Call and a Butt Dial. But that’s a story for a different day.

Don’t forget to look up!!

A bonus Chicago tip from John: The Ghirardelli store gives out a free chocolate to each person that walks in. Dessert on John! (don’t worry, I won’t tell everyone you’re a cheap date)

Lunch with Vicki, shopping on the Miracle Mile, and some street performances rounded out the trip. (Vicki I won’t tell the story about how you mailed post cards to my girls 4 years after they were written…love you xo)

I think I need to do this more often…

Even the pigeons were cold

Yay for beautiful friendships…

I love St. Louis!

Posted on March 14, 2013September 28, 2023 by Tressie

This post was originally published on January 17, 2010 on my Tressie Davis Photography blog. Since I am no longer blogging there, I thought I would re-share some of my favorite posts here. I have edited a few things (like the layout of the photos), but the story is the same.
Enjoy!

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In January of 2010 I was required to travel for business (my day job), and while most times I would protest, I have to admit that this was a pretty awesome trip. We flew in to St Louis (my boss and I), and since I had never been there before we took the opportunity to wander around and enjoy every spare minute until we had to make the two hour trip to our hotel in Marion, IL. First stop was Union Station – recommended by a co-worker that knew I had visited Michigan Central Station in Detroit, I wanted to see what St. Louis had done with their precious bit of history – I was so enthralled, I asked to have my reservation for my last night switched to the Marriott that is there now. More on that later…

We arrived at the famous Arch just before sundown, the perfect time for pictures! I barely noticed the wind and 15 below wind chill…I suppose I will never live down the fact that I was lying in the snow to get some of the pics…

Fast forward through the business part of my trip, and on my last night I drove back to Union Station. Some of you are familiar with my exciting exploration of the abandoned Michigan Central Station last spring – if you have not seen it already, be sure to check out the MCS blog post HERE.

St. Loui s Union Station and Michigan Central Station have a similar history, Union Station in operation from 1894 – 1978 and MCS in operation from 1913 (after the previous MCS burned) – 1988; both stations closing with the decline of rail travel. Both stations fell into ruin, but this is where the similarities end. While Michigan Central Station remains empty and dilapidated, victim to thieves and vandals, St. Louis Union station was re-opened in 1985 after a 150 million dollar renovation. And there lies my excitement…

The outside of St. Louis Union Station looks like a castle, with a 280 foot clock tower. (in comparison to the 18 storey/230 foot Michigan Central Station). Walking in, I saw all that Michigan Central Station should be. Having experienced both buildings, the contrast was striking – in St. Louis a precious bit of history restored and saved, in Detroit our history forgotten and left in ruin. I wandered and explored St. Louis Union Station, trying to capture similar images of the restored station that I had previously taken of MCS. The great room is a grand expanse of beautifully detailed arches and stained glass windows, the tile and romanesque decor exactly what I would imagine it was in 1894. Arched doorways and columned balconies, intricate carving on the walls and columns, period statues – everywhere I looked there was more to see. In the shopping center portion of the building, Trompe-l’œil adorned the walls in sharp contrast to the graffitti seen at MCS. The photos I am posting here do not do the beauty of this building justice. Be sure to check out the pics at the bottom of this blog post – there are some comparisons to photos taken in MCS.

I was fortunate to be able to stay overnight in this exceptionally striking and historic building, and greatly enjoyed the hospitality of all of the folks that work there – everyone excited to talk about the beautiful structure and the history behind it, as well as the current struggles to keep this saved bit of history open and operating. I am hoping that with the upturn in the economy, St. Louis Union station will continue to operate, grow and prosper.

And…just a tiny bit more sight seeing before I headed for the airport. To the other side of the river to photograph the city, then back to the Arch for a trip to the top. Whew – all that AND business completed.

I LOVE ST. LOUIS!

A comparison of the two stations:

The exterior – St. Louis Union Station on top, MCS below
Graffitti vs Trompe-l’œil and Interior Halls

Great Room

Can you tell I like Train Stations? What bits of history do you love?