Tuesday, December 30, 2014

2014 Year in Photos

Drying
Every year a I try my best to select two photos from each month to make my "Year in Photos". I just finished up - and you can view the 2014 Year in Photos right HERE. Since I've always only posted digital photos in the 'Review' I started a tradition of sharing a few of my favorite analogue photos on the post that announces the Year in Review - that would be this post!
So enjoy a filmy trip down memory lane with me, won't ya?

Monday, December 29, 2014

Ridge Line Ruins

Wagon "The hilly Schumacher Trail provides a closer look at some of Summit County's most pristine scenery." - Summit Metro Parks

Ok - lots of woods yes...but turning of the Valley link trail and towards the Schumacher trail I decided to climb a hill and walk the ridgeline and found something different. Looking into the valley below I noticed a shattered windowpane - I turned around and saw some bricks and bottles. Further inspection led me to an old foundation - then an old road, then more foundations, bottles, car parts, refrigerators and old toys. I've explored old foundations near the river before(here and here) but this was the first time I've noticed how many more structures there once were. My guess is that there were two roads running from Cuyahoga Street to Merriman at some point. Much of this land was donated to the parks by Sherman and Mary Schumacher in 1968 and more acquired later(from Valley View Golf Club?)

Sunday, December 28, 2014

The Return of Ghostman & Sandman

Ghostman & Sandman Drummer Greg Boyd was able to reunite his onetime Cincinnati band 'Ghostman & Sandman' for a couple of area shows - I brought my camera to the Thursday's show on Friday. The last time I saw them play was in January of 2009(photos). 'Ghostman' play there own, unique brand of surf rock - it was a blast as usual. I enjoyed the two openers as well - 'Ancestral Pearls' and the jangly, spastic Shit-Box Jimmy.
Thursday's was lit like a darkroom - dim and red - so I did my best to blend some bounced flash with the light I was given. After attempting some settings combos I hit my stride, got some good photos, and enjoyed a great night. Between the Cleveland-friends and Holidays-crowd there were a lot of great people to catch up with also....

Friday, December 26, 2014

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Akron2Akron

Firestone Elementary A little while back the Knight Foundation sponsored an Akron2Detroit trip to tour some neighborhoods to see what was working and what the challenges were. When the group returned they started doing the same thing but here at home. They ended up deciding to open it up to the public and held the first Akron2Akron neighborhood tour in Firestone Park on Saturday. Rick Stockburger led the way starting from the Firestone Park Community Center which is right across from the elementary school. We took a walk through the residential neighborhood, to the Bridgestone Technical Center, The Library, The Aster Business District and grabbed some drinks after at Park Place Pub.

Friday, December 19, 2014

Night at the Museum

Missile Toe Missile Toe, "The World's Greatest Christmas Band," takes your favorite Christmas songs and turns them into punk rock rave-ups. I always love seeing them and it was cool in the Museum - I'm glad they had them play in the front under the glass atrium - as you can see in the photos it was a really great setting. I also love that the Museum has good, local beers on tap - I had an Elevator Winter Warmer and a Thirsty Dog Citra Dog. 
Missile Toe has a few shows left this season - check out their facebook page. I haven't made it for a few years but there is something about seeing them on Christmas - this year's show is at the Matinee - I'm making it a point to be there.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Emma & Tony

Emma and Tony Emma and Tony, two friends of mine who I know through Laura, got married over the weekend. I always know there is going to be a paid wedding photographer at these things and everyone else will be snapping like crazy with their cellphones - but I still can't resist getting a few good shots with my gear. My goal this to not intrude on the professional guy's turf too much- so I tried to limit myself.
Anyways - Tony and Emma are awesome and we all had a great time - I wish them the best of luck!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Instant Christmas, Instant Classics

Sips
Laura and I have developed a Christmas tree decorating tradition over the last few years - it involves drinking Corsendonk Christmas Ale, listening to the album 'Once Upon a Christmas' by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, and a wood fire in the fireplace. When we were at the Eastman House in Rochester, NY about a year ago we picked up a Hanging Polaroid Mobile in the gift shop - so we thought it would be fun to shoot a Pack of 990 film in my Spectra 2 and hang the Polaroids as a decoration.  These are the scans of the Polaroids - "Instant Christmas, Instant Classics".

Sunday, December 7, 2014

A Christmas Story House

A Christmas Story House
I was finally starting to feel better after being sick all week so Laura decided to take me on a surprise date that she had planned. We started off in Tremont at "A Christmas Story House & Museum". Neither of us had ever been there before - and I think it is a duty of any Northeast Ohioan to make the pilgrimage. Its well known that the movie was initially a flop and caught steam and became a cult classic later - but I can't remember it ever not being a part of my Christmas's. Maybe it is the local connections - my Dad always telling us he was in Higbees when the Santa Set was up - or having friends who's parents were in the Revere High School marching band when they were in the parade scene in Public Square etc.
The neighborhood(only a few blocks off 14th in Tremont) was a little hectic on a Saturday a few week before Christmas. Neighbors sell parking spaces but we decided to find a space on the street and walk a little. If you go its worth noting that you need to buy a ticket from the gift shop across the street before you get in line - we found out by asking the couple in front of us. I think we probably waited about 30-45 minutes to get in - but I that is to be expected - and even though they are open year around this is the time of year we wanted to be there.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Its A Sweater!

Sweaters If you don't know where the reference in the title comes from you should probably drop what you're doing and go watch "Three Amigos" - and perhaps examine what other poor decisions led you to this point in your life in general.
Anywho, I've been sick all week so I decided I should stay inside today and work on a few things. I worked on fixing some coding things with the website and blog, like getting the links to Instagram and Pinterest to be live. I started an Instagram account a few weeks ago - but I don't use it in the truest form as I don't have an iphone or android - I downloaded a android emulator called BlueStacks. I mostly got it so I can follow friends and people on Instagram but I do post some stuff there too - you can follow me here. Hopefully soon Sprint will get a phone that I want and I can use apps for real.
My Pinterest page is here if you are interested in that kind of thing.
After working on all that boring stuff I had to get away from the computer for a while - so I set up some lights and shot a few photo ideas I had - the above sweater image being one. I like the texture and lighting I achieved - but should have gotten the shirts more even and straight. A friend just suggested using some lengths of pvc inside them - a great idea.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Black Friday

Dad Black Friday is always one of my favorite days - but not because I do serious shopping - because my family and I head to Cleveland and drink our Black Friday. This year we decided to start out at Hofbrauhaus to try and beat the large crowds that have been showing up since it opened recently. When we got there it was nearly empty but when we left there was already a line to get in. After drinks and food we headed over to the West Side Market and then on to Nano Brew. We used to always stop in Great Lakes for a Christmas Ale but with all the little ones it is usually too crowded to bother. After a brief nap back at home we headed downtown Akron for the Tree Lighting and fireworks - which seem to get better every year. A full day - Laura and I were in bed not much later than 9 o'clock.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Shake it like a...

Wrestling
I have been hanging onto a few packs of Polaroid 990 film for Spectra Cameras that I scored in a camera bag at the thrift store a few years ago. I decided it would be fun to bring a pack to my parents' on Thanksgiving and see what kind of reaction it would get from the kids. I wasn't sure if being used to digital it would seem lame - or if they would be impressed by a physical photograph. Before dinner I gathered them up and loaded the camera - but the darkslide did not eject - even though we could hear it trying. My nephew pulled out his phone and we watched a youtube video to make sure we were loading it right(it had been a while). After a few more attempts of putting the film in then taking it back out I decided the first photo would have to be sacrificed - I pulled the dark slide out with my knife, loaded the camera again, took a shot, and the first Polaroid ejected(with nothing on it of course).

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Spring Thaw

Filed View Or so it felt yesterday afternoon on the Dogwood Trail at Sand Run Park.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Deck the Hall 2014

Lights! Last night my Dad took the whole family to the preview of "Deck the Hall 2014" at Stan Hywet Hall. The Manor House was decorated with the theme of "Christmas Around the World" - each room a different country. I didn't shot any photos of the rooms because the last time I was here for this event I got busted after taking this photo. The outside is one of the biggest holiday lighting displays in Northeast Ohio and it is really beautiful. I usually like to wait to do Christmas-y things until after Thanksgiving - but with the cold weather and snow on the ground this was a worthwhile exception.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Riding on the Metro

Downtown Transit Center Yesterday morning I had a job to shoot at the "Downtown Transit Center". I needed to be there early to catch the buses lines up and have the best chance of catching the ones I needed to photograph. It was freezing outside but I was appropriately bundled up. When people see the way I layer up in the winter I often get the, "you must be really cold!" -the opposite is true,  "I'm warm - that is why I dressed like this". Watching people walk to their buses in a hoodie and sweatpants blew my mind...
Anyways, as the sun rose there was some great light and views from the bus stop - so instead of waiting in the warm station for the right buses to show I made use of the light for some more of my famous Akron Landscapes...

Sunday, November 16, 2014

The Beyonders CD Release Show

The Beyonders Saturday night The Beyonders put together a show for the release of their first CD. They played with Cleveland power pop band Herzog and Akron surf band The Kahuna Kings. I've been friends with Beyonders' guitar player Dave Rich since I used to play in bands and at this point I could probably put together a real nice photo book of his musical projects over the years. In fact it is pretty much how I learned to shoot concert photography...

Saturday, November 15, 2014

First Snow

Ledges Trail II Laura and I decided to get a couple more of our hikes in for the Fall Hiking Spree today. It was clear as a bell in Akron as we headed out to Twinsburg to do our first hike on the Ledges Trail at Liberty Park. I don't know what I was thinking by wearing a pair of tennis shoes - there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground at the top of Summit County. I watched on TV and Facebook the heavy, lake effect snow falling up North the previous evening but for some reason it didn't register with us. Anyways - I was able to keep my feet fairly dry and it made for a beautiful hike. I always enjoy the snow for a while - and it was pretty today - come March it will be a different story.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Maize Valley Birthday

Craft Brew
I took Laura to Maize Valley Market and Winery for her birthday. Maize Valley is a 750 acre family farm and winery that also has a produce market, gift shop, home baked goods, food and now a brewery. I had wanted to get down there(Hartville) while the weather was still nice but we ran out of time. The seating area has a coffee shop feel, some tables and couches with a fireplace, you order your beer, wine and food at the bar/register and your food is then brought to your table. We each ordered sandwiches with pasta sides and were impressed with both. The beer was very good as well - had a unique flavor. My favorites were the Imperial Brown and IPA - Laura ordered their Christmas beer twice.  We also had the red rye and amber ales which were solid too.  

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Cleveland, OH

Playhouse Square Laura and I take to heart the old phrase, "be a tourist in your own town" - but use it a little more regionally. With that in mind we decided to get a hotel in Cleveland near Playhouse Square and enjoy a couple of days of activities up North. We first tried a couple of brew-pub-only-offerings at Great Lakes Brewing - but as usual it was too busy to try and get a table. So we headed across the street to Market Garden and had a beer and an appetizer. Next we moved on to Platform Beer Co. I've wanted to get up and visit Platform since they opened this Summer. I've done photography work for the owner's other business, The Cleveland Brew Shop, and had been following their progress on social media with the new brewery since it was in the planning stages. They did not disappoint.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

2014 Dave Lieberth Community Vision Award

Dave Lieberth Community Vision Award This morning Leadership Akron had a breakfast celebrating their 30 years - and gave my Dad the second Dave Lieberth Community Vision Award. The morning started with mingling and a breakfast - followed by speeches interspersed with video clips(put together really nicely by Wasted Talent Media). Some of my Dad's friends and colleagues spoke about him and Leadership Akron. Then Mark Scheffler road a a rickshaw out with Dave Lieberth in the back - who pressed a button on a boombox and a curtain fell and Revolution Pie launched into 'I wanna Hold Your Hand' while Akron leaders started biking around the Knight Center. It was really cool - they gave my Dad a bike and he rode off with them. My Dad is a big oldies fan and bike enthusiast so it was a great way to end the morning. Not to mention the 500 hundred friendly faces and the parade of people telling me how much they respect Dad. My whole family left the event beaming.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Time Lapse Editing

I've always thought time lapse photography was pretty cool when done right - and now I've been seeing a lot more because many new phones and cameras have intervalometers built in specifically for time lapses. So when I had to order a few pieces of gear I decided to tack on a $20 Vivitar intervalometer for my two Canons. I was thinking it might be cool to shoot some time lapses at events I photograph.  
For my first attempt I did something simple - I just set it up in my office while I edited the photos from Child Guidance and Family Services' Vices and Virtues event I shot at Fairlawn Country Club on Saturday. This is roughly three hours of processing condensed down into a little over a minute - I shot at four second intervals. There is no editing to speak of here - I just threw the photos in Photoshop and had it work its magic(added a little bit of music from my old band too). I have a few specific ideas of things I want to try next that will be (hopefully) far more interesting but its nice to know everything works.  
By the way - if you have a fast enough connection you can watch in 4k.  

Sunday, November 2, 2014

2014 Halloween Charity Ball

2014 Halloween Charity Ball On Friday night I photographed the 2014 Halloween Charity Ball at The Tangier benefiting Victim Assistance Program & The Akron Rotary Camp. There were two rooms at the party: the VIP room was in the Cabaret - and had a more relaxed atmosphere with a band playing, good food and high-end drink, the main room was the more uptempo dance party and costume contest. Both had well-taken-advantage-of open bars and everyone really seemed to be having a blast(me included). I roamed and shot photos in both spaces and covered the costume contest - which was a lot of fun. I have a small selection of some of my favorite shots from the night here and i put a large gallery with a few hundred photos on the events website.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Cats

Laura and Coco "Laura and Coco"
Ok, so I set up to take a self-portrait for a post I wanted to write - Laura got home from work and I had her stand in while I took test shots. Somehow it degenerated into portraits of us and our cats - all five of them(in fairness I had two and Laura had three before we moved in together). 
Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

The Camera Collection

Polaroid SX-70 Model 2 Today I photographed a few of my most recent camera acquisitions and I decided I would update and finally finish my camera page. Well, hours later and I'm not even close to done with the website. I've added a bunch of cameras and worked on the behind the scenes html that will organize and make the collection searchable and categorized by make - but I still have a ways to go. I guess I'd forgotten how many camera I have and how time consuming writing code can be. Anyways - you can check the progress with the link on the right of the page and I will update you when I finally do finish it - hopefully soon.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Frosty Big Bend

Golden Hour on the Towpath Sunday morning I had run my first road race in years and when I woke up on Monday I was extremely sore. I figured I'd head down to my usual spot, Big Bend, and walk for a while on the Towpath to try and stretch out. Of course I brought my camera and I'm glad I did. I've shot at Big Bend tons of times now but one of the great things about Ohio is places almost never look the same way twice. This morning the sun was rising and burning through the fog and everything was gleaming and frost covered. I took photos from the same angles I had before but the different weather, season, and time of day made them look different. Sometimes it can be boring shooting the same things over again - times like this it is exciting.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Family Carvings

Guts Tonight my parents had everyone over to eat dinner, carve pumpkins, and taste some beers they picked up on a recent trip. Laura and mine came out the best, of course, but don't tell everyone else.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Trailing @ Munroe Falls

Leaves and Lake When shooting photos like the above one - I usually end up with the view in the photos below. Always trailing - and jogging to catch up. I bet this is a familiar scene for anyone that loves to take pictures...

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Main Street Modern II

Awesome Chairs
I spent the day down in Canton shooting furniture and smalls at Main Street Modern. We shot tons of stuff - here are a few different views of the day. Saturday will be their last retail day of the season - they will be open from 10-3 - so if you like mid-century modern furniture or other funky antiques(everything from Deco to Mod and beyond) check them out.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Plateau Trail

Forest Color Yesterday afternoon I knew that I wanted to go for a reasonably long hike in the Valley - but I also knew that it would be swarmed with people. I decided to park at the Valley Picnic Area on Riverview Road and pick up the Plateau & Oak Hill Trails. It was a good call as I only passed a few other hikers...
I've talked to a few people about the colors this Fall - I can't tell if I forget every year how amazing it is - or if the colors are just more spectacular this year. Either way its a struggle for me to stay indoors right now - even when I have work to get done...

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Telephone

Mom and Laura From Wikipedia:
"Chinese whispers (or telephone in the United States) is a game played around the world, in which one person whispers a message to another, which is passed through a line of people until the last player announces the message to the entire group. Errors typically accumulate in the retellings, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly, and often amusingly, from the one uttered by the first. Reasons for changes include anxiousness or impatience, erroneous corrections, and that some players may deliberately alter what is being said to guarantee a changed message by the end of the line.

The game is often played by children as a party game or in the playground. It is often invoked as a metaphor for cumulative error, especially the inaccuracies as rumours or gossip spread, or, more generally, for the unreliability of human recollection or even oral traditions."

Did anyone else ever call this "Chinese Whispers"? I had never heard that before.

Shot on Kodak Gold with my Pentax K1000 - I developed it with a C41 Press Kit.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Springfield Bog

Lighted Path This afternoon I went for a hike at the Springfield Bog and although the park opened in 2011 this was my first time there. The park is an old farm field that has a couple of bogs and is being returned to prairie land - the trail is basically a large loop around the field. I know this doesn't sound too exciting but being there with all the fall color I found it quite beautiful. The sun was dodging in and out from behind the clouds which could really make for some cool lighting on the fall foliage. A few different times I found myself standing in the same place for a while just waiting for the light to hit. The hike improved all the more when the Goodyear Blimp(or "The Blimp" as we say in Akron) flew overhead. After my hike I drove through the surrounding countryside and the colors were beyond spectacular.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Medium Format Fall

Big Bend Last week I decided I wanted to try and capture some fall colors with the beautiful film Kodak Ektar 100. I didn't have too much time though so I loaded up the Fuji GSW690III and headed down to nearby Big Bend and shot a roll. When I was taking these photos I thought I captured something pretty special - but after developing them I felt like they were only OK. Its definitely easier catching Fall with digital - but I've gone out with my Canon and thought I did quite well until I returned home and saw them on the screen too. Autumn colors are just so awesome I guess anything less than magical perfection is a letdown in photography... for me anyways...

Monday, October 13, 2014

Fall Fun

Fall Hiking Spree A few Fridays ago Laura and I continued our quest to complete the 'Fall Hiking Spree' out at Silver Creek Metro Park. Afterwards we stopped by Rittman Orchards. I had my Pentax K1000 loaded with Kodak Gold 400 with me to document it all...

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Akron Craft Beer Festival 2014

Akron Craft Beer Festival 2014 Last night Laura and I attended the 'Akron Craft Beer Festival' at the Civic Theatre. Neither of us had ever been to a beer fest before so we only had a rough idea of what to expect. You grab a tasting glass as you enter and get to sample as many of the 51 different beers by the 23 different breweries represented as you want. Each brewery had their own table and was pouring roughly 2 oz. samples mostly from bottles. Highlights were BrewDog, LaTrappe, Dieu du Ciel, and MadTree - but everything we tried was pretty darn good(except for Ohio Brewing - but that goes without saying). The Fest was all over the theatre - the main area was the lobby but they had beers upstairs too - it was nice to be able to take in how beautiful The Civic really is(especially with beer in hand). There were "free" appetizers and heavier fare available for purchase.The also debuted a 45 minute documentary about craft breweries that was interesting - although Laura was a little upset about the lack of women in the movie(there was one). It could feel a little chaotic with all those thirsty drinkers roaming everywhere but all in all we had a blast. I definitely see returning in future years...

Friday, October 10, 2014

Color Fog

Drying Today I developed 4 more rolls of color negative film. The last roll seemed to be a bit "fogged" which got me to thinking about if I'll ever do this again. I don't really save or lose money doing it, the lab I use costs almost the same, and there is no real creative advantage - you only hope to do it as well as the lab would(and you worry about being super meticulous with temperatures, timing, and chemical consistency). I guess I'm just not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze - I'm not that huge of a color film user to begin with(says the guy who just invested in a color film kickstarter) - the only benifit is the satisfaction of doing it myself. I guess if my lab goes out of business or I was doing a project that involved shooting a bunch of rolls in a brief period of time this would be worth it - anyways - I'm glad I tried it out and know how to do it.
Obviously I'll be posting lots of color film shots this next week....

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Only Place

Indigo Lake Study #75 This morning I woke up and went for an early jog - I watched the blood moon eclipse over West Akron. While running down Aqueduct a large buck with a big set of horns burst out and ran next to me for a few seconds - I let out an audible "woah!!". As I returned home the moon was fully eclipsed. I showered, got dressed, and headed to the Valley. While driving down Riverview the Steam Engine No. 765 (which I thought had left town weeks ago) raced down the tracks. I parked and walked to Indigo Lake where a bald eagle was diving and swooping over the lake as the last of the fog burned off.  I got none of that on film - but I shot and enjoyed a beautiful magic hour walk anyways.
Northeast Ohio in October - nothing better - home.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Akron Explorer

Bridge
I went out to shoot a specific building for a job one evening last week in Downtown. I thought I was going to have the perfect light but when I arrived at the building I realized the light was on the side that had no facade. It was going to have to be a morning shot.  I've since invested in an app for my tablet that shows me exactly where the light will fall on a place at a given time and date - and I got my photo on Sunday morning aided by it. Anyways - not one to waste good light I pulled out my Minolta X-700 loaded with Foma Fomapan 100 and went walking and shooting.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Around East Fourth

Euclid Avenue "Euclid Avenue"
About a month ago some friends and I went up to Cleveland to see a concert at the House of Blues(terrible venue by the way) and decided to make more of a trip out of it by getting dinner and drinks before hand. The House of Blues has a no DSLR policy so I didn't even bother bringing my Canon just to have it sit in a trunk on the streets of Cleveland. So I brought two film cameras - a point and shoot with color film to shoot my friends and my Minolta X-700 with Foma Fomapan 100 to shoot whatever else. The light was just right to stop and snap a few black and white photos of the area as we walked to a few different places before the show.....

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Akron Marathon 2014

Waiting to Start
I had a press pass for the finish at the Akron Marathon this year because I was shooting for ReWorks to help promote their effort to make the Marathon a zero waste event. Since I had some friends running I decided to get there early and document more of the overall event. I arrived around 6:15 - I wanted to make sure I could get decent parking, watch some warm-up activity, and be in good position for the 7am start. I then made my way down to high street and watched the leaders and some of my friends pass(at roughly the 3.5 mile mark) before heading down to the stadium to get to work. The buzz, excitement, and action in Canal Park was awesome. I was able to alternate between getting the images I needed for the job and cheering my friends across the finish.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Home Light

Morning Windows Sometimes I stand out in the cold for hours to get some great light, and sometime I set up lots of heavy strobes for the same reasons - but today I just walked into my bedroom to get some socks....

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

In Good Light

Ummmm? Sometimes you're not sure what you are shooting - but you make it look good anyways!
(Today's Work)

Monday, September 22, 2014

Last Summer Weekend

Ralph's Carnage What perfect weather for the 'last official weekend of Summer'. On Friday I had a fire with some friends, on Saturday I wandered around the Porch Rokr Festival in Highland Square, and on Sunday I had Laura's company picnic and then got a nice hike in that evening. I love Fall, but we all know, it goes way too fast....

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Another Morning in the Woods

Morning Path I've always had a preference for sunrises to sunsets - but I've been too busy with work to get out in the morning much lately. I decided I had to do it this morning. I headed north on the Towpath from Boston and turned around at Jaite and took the Valley Bridle Trail back just as the sun was coming over the side of the Valley...

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Custom Frames

Grow Your OwnThis is the start of my new series based on objects I collect, reuse, save, or find in the woods.  In other words - the things that make Laura say, "What are you ever going to do with that?"  I've had this idea in my mind for a while and this is kind of my brain storming/test shots.  I definitely figured out the lighting style I want to use...  I just think the overall concept needs some work.    

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Weekend Things

Johnny Cake
I started off the weekend at the Emily Davis Gallery for the closing reception of 'Never Not Working: The Art and Influence of John Puglia' which included a silent auction - I picked up a few pieces. It was great to see such a strong turn out again to remember John - it was probably even better attended than the opening.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Main Street Modern

Mid-Century Modern
I usually don't post too much of my professional work here but I wanted to give my new clients a plug. I started shooting the inventory for the Canton business Main Street Modern, Ohio's largest Mid-Century Modern furniture dealer. I'm photographing their furniture that will be for sale online and also for a few of their affiliate vendors and partnerships. They are open to the public for retail sales on Saturdays from 10-3. Its one of those gigs where I need to be careful - they have so much cool stuff I could easily see myself walking out of there on trade and never getting paid!
I should have some more interesting news coming out of this deal very soon - I'll have photos and details about that at the appropriate time.  

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Catawba Island(Road Trip IV)

Black IPA With it seemingly switching to Fall over night I figured I better wrap up my 'End Of Summer Road Trip series' - before I'm no longer in the mood to look at Summer-y photos... we left off with Laura an I driving down the road after having our brake lines repaired....
Heading down Route 2 East you pass farms, orchards, and lake related businesses but everything is dominated by the gigantic cooling tower of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Plant - it was in this looming shadow that we decided on our next destination - Catawba Island Brewing. The small brewery and tasting room aren't actually on Catawba Island but right before you would turn off to get there. We walked in and bellied up to the bar and discussed the selections with bartender - when the words "its a black IPA" came out of his mouth Laura cut him off and ordered one of those - which was an excellent choice because it was one of the best we had ever tasted.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The Fall Hiking Spree

Chuckery Summit MetroParks' Fall Hiking Spree is really nostalgic for me - for years my family(including my Grandma) all participated in it together. The fall air, the cookouts, the beautiful trails - they were all missed and left behind when I went to college. Later work(especially the farm) made it hard for me to complete the Spree - but last year Laura and I finished my first one since the 90's. Not that I need an excuse to get into the woods - but it is nice to have a goal and a specific place to go. This evening we started the 2014 Hiking Spree at the Chuckery...we were talking about how green everything is - but by the time we finish most of the leaves will be gone...

Monday, September 8, 2014

Random Analogue

Pan Film Here are a few random leftover photos from my last two rolls of film. They didn't fit with my other blogs, but I liked them and wanted to share them with my legions of adoring fans... enjoy.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Heirloom Tomatoes

Heirloom Tomatoes Martha Stewart Living is an amazing magazine - for the photography. I've flipped through it over at my parent's house multiple times - and she/or her editor is sparing no expense visually. I always particularly notice the food photography - be it the garden items or the cooked dishes - the lighting is always spot on perfect. Food photography is something I haven't messed around with too often - I always think of trying it after I cook something - but eating my dish warm usually wins out. So last week after I picked some tomatoes I decided to try and shoot them - the results came out really average. I emailed a copy to my friend Rick, a retired photographer, and he gave me advice in the way he often does, by asking "Why?" "Why that background?" "Why the pasta?" "Why is this there?" etc. So today after picking some heirlooms I decided to try again....and above is the result. Its definitely better but I still don't think its Martha Level yet.
- but there are more tomatoes ripening on the vine....