Shake it like a...

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).

Spring Thaw

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

Deck the Hall 2014

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.

Riding on the Metro

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...

The Beyonders CD Release Show

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...

First Snow

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.

Maize Valley Birthday

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.  

Cleveland, OH

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.

2014 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.

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.  

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.