Gone Girl Premier + SEMo Travel Story

So for those of us that are either from SEMo-South East Missouri (I am) or love a good drama (I do), we are just a few weeks away from the Gillian Flynn Gone Girl premiere. What’s the connection to SEMo? The movie, and star Ben Affleck, filmed in Cape Girardeau, my home town. Our travels were a couple of months ago, and right before we left, my wife Amy Bertrand decided to change the angle of the story and include a general SEMo travel story with the Gone Girl premiere – If you are going to Cape for the opening, look at the other things to do too!  Be sure to see her official travel story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, but here, we’ll talk a bit about some of the pictures that were in the paper and a couple of stories behind taking them. Also, to follow me live on these trips, you’ll want to follow Twitter @LuxePhotoSTL and Instagram @LuxePhotoSTL.

Above: The Bollinger Mill State Historic Site, built in 1867. Mill + museum is inside and it’s pretty interesting to see the history behind the mill. Trying to find a good angle of the mill but get the bridge included was a bit tough. I tried shooting from different angles and settled on this shot to submit.

Above: I spent most of my time trying to photograph this bridge. It’s just awesome. The old wood and metal bolts. The tunnel light coming through. I didn’t even mind all the spiders and webs around (well, I did a little). This is also where I got a pretty cool photo of myself, posted on Instagram.

Above: Inside the mill. Lot’s of big gears and turny things. As with all of our travel stories, the photo editors want to see people involved. Our problem is we usually are at these locations when no one is there. It’s just the way it works out. I had to wait around a while and finally someone else came in. Then it’s a waiting game to take a shot with them in the background without looking creepy or suspicious. That’s why I usually strike up a conversation with people most times.

Above: The Bollinger County Museum of Natural History in Marble Hill. I had no idea what to expect as we drove out of Cape Girardeau into areas I’ve never really travelled to before. I was quite surprised and very impressed with this museum. Anything with dinosaurs and fossils, you can’t go wrong. On top of that, the two ladies working there that day were full of information and super friendly. They even let me have access to shoot inside the lab as long as I was careful. Shh.

Above: Inside the lab. Tools of the trade of a paleontologist. Looks like being at the dentist. The amount of careful work that has to be done is quite impressive. We did our own dino dig in Wyoming during our Yellowstone Trip, and to see where our plastered fossils end up is pretty neat.

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Above: Looking down is just as beautiful and looking up. The reflections in the water were so colorful. Lighting was perfect. It was almost like walking on mirrors.

Above: Lamberts – “Home of the throwed rolls” – Sikeston, Mo. Food was amazing. You get plenty. And while everyone was eating, I’m following this poor guy around trying to get just the right “throwed roll” shot. At one point the guy just laughed and said, “do you want me to just throw and stand still?”

Above: Hunter-Dawson house in New Madrid, Mo. Now I don’t know about other typical guys, but I actually like going to these historical homes. I didn’t used to. Nope. But now, I think I appreciate the history and heritage. The beauty of these old homes. The great thing again, we were by ourselves so I could just take my time taking pics. Setting up the tripod. Taking more pics. Detail shots are my favorite.

Above: my favorite shot within the house. I loved the story (read in in the Post-Dispatch link) and the detail here that most will miss is the date that is scratched into the glass the year the young girl Ella was engaged. I kind of like this picture also for bringing all the themes together with SEMo and Gone Girl with the wrap around porch and empty rocker.

Above: These older homes – as beautiful as they are – are kind of creepy as well. Maybe it’s just me. When we went into the kids’ room, the toys really stood out. I thought the horse was kind of scary. When I think of haunted houses, these are the houses I think of.

Above: Shooting down the spiral staircase. I spent WAY too much time trying to get this shot and setting up the tripod. And to be honest, it looked much cooler in person than what I was able to capture in the camera.