Missile Toe @ The Museum

On Thursday the "World's Greatest Christmas Brand" brought their show to the Akron Art Museum. Seeing Missile Toe perform at various places around town is one of my favorite Holiday traditions. You should make it one of yours. They play tonight at The Empire Concert Club and on Christmas Night at The Matinee.

Deck the Hall

On Sunday night my family and I went to Stan Hywet Hall to see their Christmas Light displays. The outside grounds are decked out in lights and the rooms of the Manor House are decorated too. Christmas Ale and ginger bread cookies were for sale - and even though the weather hasn't gotten me much in the mood for Christmas this night at Stan Hywet sure did.

Akron2Akron: Christmas History Walk

On Saturday evening Joanna Wilson led an Akron2Akron walk exploring the history of retail, Christmas displays in Downtown. Half of it took a little imagination and half of the history was still there. Being that South Howard street was demolished(as well as the original commercial district) Joanna's descriptions had to take you there. On the Southern side of Downtown the window displays have been recreated in some of the original department store windows(the former Polsky's and O'Neil's) as well as in the Mayflower. 

Pittsburgh on Foot

On Saturday I drove out to Pittsburgh to take Sara to her job at the Holiday Market downtown. She is working for a German glass blower she met who used to have a booth at the Christkindl market here in Akron. I spent the better part of two days walking the streets of Pittsburgh shooting photos and learning the lay of the land. Here is a selection of those....

Museum Snaps

Checking out NEO GEO at the museum today.

Thanksgiving Weekend Part I

Thanksgiving Weekend was a whirlwind of bars, beers, bands, breweries, some work, friends & family. I do love being out and about but right now it feels pretty nice to be working at my desk. Here are some photos from the hectic and fun, extended weekend.

KNR Turkey Give Away

Kisling, Nestico & Redick (KNR) hosted its third annual KNR Turkey Giveaway and Coats & Cans for Kids drive on November 20th, 2015, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. To receive a free Butterball turkey people lined up to donate a non-perishable food item to benefit the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank or a gently used coat to benefit The Salvation Army of Summit County. This year’s Turkey Giveaway was the biggest ever. Cleveland 19 News, the ESPN Street Team, students, athletes, and band members from Kenmore High School, the KNR Turkey, and Santa Claus joined KNR and Cleveland 19 News to kick off the giving season. It was a great event -here are some shots.

That One Time Downtown(III)

On Thursday I made it to UnCorked Wine Bar for the Akron-centric story telling series -That One Time Downtown - this month featured Chris Butler, Francisca Ugalde and Mike Gould. Chris(Tin Huey, Waitresses) told a story about re-acquiring his vintage Vox teardrop guitar. Mike(an Akron police officer) talked about the speeches he gives to Akron Public school Children. Fran(a local artist) discussed her artistic journey including some recent commission works she has done in and around downtown. 

This is the third venue for the event - the first one on the lawn at Cascade was great in the sun - but Uncorked worked well too(drinks!)

The Mighty Soul Night

Last Saturday some friends and I went to The Mighty Soul Night - a night of DJs playing vinyl records. The Djs were El Prezidente, Ben Crazy, Forrest Getem Gump, and Dennis Oliver on drums with special guest Roger Riddle. The Soul Night is always a blast but this one was especially fun with a better turn out and more dancing than last month. These are held at UnCorked Wine Bar and there is no cover - the next one is on December 19th - you can bet we'll be there again - you should be too. Something a little different is always a good thing.

Royal Docks Brewing

It was another great weekend full of things to do in and around Akron. On Saturday alone Sara and I attended three events. Here are some photo from our stop at Royal Docks Brewing in Canton, OH(not far from the airport).

Ektar in Autumn

Kodak Ektar 100 is probably the most beautiful C-41 film still on the market - and even better when used in the 120mm format. I shot a roll in the Fuji GSW690III, a massive rangefinder camera that makes 6x9 negatives(you only get 8 shots per roll at that size!). Fall is the perfect time for Ektar and its saturated colors - not to mention the lovely dynamic range this film gets you. I shot the roll over three different hikes in the Summit Metro Parks. Between having to use an external light meter(there isn't one in the Fuji), the slow process of manual focusing, and knowing you only have a handful of photographs to make you really slow down and choose your compositions wisely. For anyone who likes to photograph and didn't grow up in the analog era I would highly recommend trying out a film camera at least a few times - you'd be amazed at the way it changes how you shoot and your thought process behind it.

Make Art Not Waste

ReWorks and the Summit ArtSpace selected twelve artists to take discarded latex paint and turn it into works of art. They had three days to create in the studio and the works were then displayed on Friday night in the Project Gallery of the ArSpace in conjunction with the November ArtWalk. I stopped by and photographed the artists while they were working and then again at the opening. The paintings were really cool and all very different. The artists and ReWorks split the profits from sales of the paintings - Reworks will use their half to educate the public on proper ways to dispose of latex paint.

Lieberth Community Vision Award

Earlier today I shot the "Dave Lieberth Community Vision Award" Brian Moore was this year's recipient. The award honors a Leadership Akron Class member who has made a significant contribution to the Akron community. Each year the breakfast is tailored to the tastes of the recipient. Brian is a music and Disney fan and singers in costume wandered into the room and sang throughout the program. The event is famous for its big send-off which included an Elton John impersonator this year.

Bonus Day

Its been quite a while since we've had a first week in November like this....and I couldn't sit inside all day. I hopped in my car and drove to The Ledges at Virginia Kendall. How could I not? Here are some late-day-sun photos from my excursion.

Goodyear Metro Park

Yesterday Fran, Sara, and I all had work to do - but none of us could resist the chance to get out in the sunshine for a bit. We drove to Goodyear Metro Park for a hike and to take in the fading fall foliage. As everyone from Ohio knows - you can't waste these bonus sunny, warm days.

Halloween Charity Ball

On Friday I had the opportunity to photograph the 12th Annual Halloween Charity Ball at the Tangier. $35,000 was raised for two charities, Life Is Good No Matter What and Empowering Scholars Project. The party is a blast - open bar, food, costume contest, a DJ and a band - plenty of dancing.

Fall Color

It seems to me that the peak of Autumn color came a little later this year - but boy is it amazing outside right now. Here are a few snaps of it from the last few days.

Weekend Roundup

Twas a good, busy, and fun weekend but I only actually photographed about half of the events we attended.

On Friday we stopped by Locktoberfest at the Mustill Store - a benefit for the Cascade Locks Park Association. We then continued down the Towpath and met up at Blimp City Bike & Hike for the October Moonride. After the Moonride we rode to Thursdays to see a show(I only photographed the band Ghostman & Sandman). On Saturday we went to E.J. Thomas to see the Akron Symphony(no cameras allowed) and then on to Musica to see Pat Sweany(who was amazing as always). Sunday was pumpkin carving night at my parents house(a fall tradition). Below is a mess of photos to check out.

Halloween Bike Party

Last night was the October edition of Bike Party Akron - costumes suggested but not required. We cruised all over town ringing our bells and yelling "Bike Party!" It was a great turnout for a chilly evening - and the rain held off until right at the end.

Silver Creek in Autumn

Sunday was such a beautiful Fall day. My family decided to go on a Fall Hiking Spree hike at Silver Creek and cook out afterwords.
I guess I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Summit Lake Sunset

Last evening I went for a bike ride on the Towpath. I had it in my head that maybe I would get some good magic hour, fall foliage photos. As it turned out I was a little late for that - but I did happen to catch an amazing sky at sunset from the boardwalk over the lake. Here are a few of my "faves".

Rainy Day in Peninsula

On Saturday I stopped at the Farmers' Market in Howe Meadow for coffee and a snack, perused the Peninsula Flea Market, had lunch and a beer at The Winking Lizard, and went for a hike along the Towpath. I knew the Nickel Plate Road No.765 was in town and while walking I heard the steam whistle - I ran to get myself in place for a shot I had long thought about. The above photo is on the train bridge over the Cuyahoga by Deep Lock Quarry. A blue sky would have been nice but I still think it came out decent. Steam engines are obviously man's coolest invention.

500 Plates

On Sunday afternoon I had lunch with 499 of my closest friends on the Akron Innerbelt. San Francisco artist Hunter Franks had come up with the idea of 500 Plates - lunch on the Inner Belt with music by the Admirables and a chance to discuss the future of the freeway when it closes next spring. Plates with recipes from all 22 Akron neighborhoods were given away with tote bags. The Knight Foundation funded the event. I wasn't there to shoot but to enjoy the day, meet people, and talk - but I shot anyways....

Bike Party!

The Akron Bike Party is a group ride that takes place the third Friday of every month. Last night's ride focused on the Akron Art Prize - we made stops at all of the gallery locations(well, everyone else did - I was only able to ride the first half because of other obligations). The rides are easy and family friendly - we ring our bells, play music, and yell "Bike Party!"...and more importantly meet new friends in the biking community.

Analog Summer Leftovers

Here we a have an assortment of analog photos from the summer - I'm finishing clearing the deck to make room for autumn images. These shots didn't really fit anywhere else so I'm going to place them here for your viewing pleasure...

A Walk On The Beach

One morning on vacation I decided to take a walk on the beach with my Minolta X-700 loaded with Rollei Retro 80 film. When I returned to Ohio I developed them in Kodak HC-110 dilution e. The combination(along with a red filter on my Rokkor lens) made for some nice contrasty photos.

Beach in Color

I took a vacation with my family about a month ago to South Carolina - and I limited myself to only bringing four cameras(and using three). These are the photos I took with my Pentax K1000 and expired Fuji Velvia 50 slide film. My friends over at Akron Commercial Color Lab developed these for me. Even though the Velvia was expired its beautiful colors still came out well. I do love this film...

Goldblum Painting Party

I stopped by Musica last night to take some photos of the "I'm Pretty Fly : A Jeff Goldblum Portrait Painting pARTy" that Jennifer Davis was hosting. Sara is helping Musica program more events besides their regular concerts. Jennifer walked participants through the process of painting the iconic actor with oil on canvas. The portraits came out pretty great as you can see!

Cleveland Ride

Yesterday these three gentlemen and myself decided to ride from the Northside Station in Akron to the West 25th area in Cleveland. We ride every Wednesday night and had been talking about making this ride happen all Summer. The other guys took some great cell phone photos/video and posted them to instagram. You can check out our Summer of riding by searching the hash tag #RubberCityRatz.

Woody's Beach Party

On Saturday night my friend Woody hosted a beach party. Grilling, Wes DJing, Tough Shits & Shitbox Jimmy playing - it was a blast. Beach balls in the air, summer clothes, and booze....what more could you ask for? 

TorchBearers Signature Event

Being the official photographer for the Torchbearers(a young professional group in Akron) has had its perks as in getting me to interesting places. Shooting their Summer Signature event on a perfect evening on the Portage Lakes at the Rotary Camp was no exception. The TB's are almost always getting something done - there events are usually about business or helping out the community - this event though was about having a little fun. A margarita machine, cookout and boat rides. I like shooting anything - I don't mind lighting machines in dirty factories - but nights like this are always an extra awesome part of the job.

Arts2Youth

My friend Rick asked me to participate in his United Way Sponsored event #Art2Youth. It was a week long program that aimed to get gets involved with the arts and fight the so-called #SummerSlide. I participated in the two days involving photography - naturally. The kids were given film cameras and roll of film to shoot. Three other photographer and myself helped the kids load the cameras and gave them some pointers on how/what to shoot. Of course I shot myself a roll of film too(above photo). It was a really good time. I then came back a couple days later when the film was developed and the kids put posters together and presented them to each other.

Square Records 12th

Last night I went to Musica to see the Square Records 12th Anniversary Show. Faith Mountain kicked things off - a younger band that was well received. They were really rocking and can really play - its always nice to see some fresh blood in the music scene. Dan Melchior played next - he built up fuzzy layers with his guitar and loop pedal. Originally from near London he is a fairly recent Akron arrival. Beaten Awake reunited to close out the show and were awesome as always. They didn't play an overly long set but covered most of my favorites.

Growing Up Akron

On Friday I shot the annual Growing Up Akron event, which is a fundraiser for Child Guidance and Family Solutions and is held at Thirsty Dog Brewing. The weather and location were perfect - you can see how much people are enjoying themselves in the photos. There is food from multiple local restaurants - Nuevo, SkyWay, Swensons, Mustard Seed, Gino's, Retro Dog etc. - not to mention more Thirsty Dog Beer than you can shake a stick at. Roxymoron provided the musical entertainment, people wore their favorite Akron gear, there was cornhole and general mingling with a great crowd.

If you haven't been you should strongly consider attending next year. Come for the beer & fun - leave happy knowing you supported a great cause.

Life's a Beach

My family took a vacation last week to Isle of Palm, S.C. - a barrier island by Charleston. We spent a lot of time on the beach and in the ocean - it was great to see the ocean through the eyes of my nieces and nephews. I also had my bike with me and went on a few solo rides checking out some of the historic sites and scenery with my film cameras(those posts soon). Charleston is a great city - it is amazing how well preserved it is. This is a vacation spot I would definitely return to - there are a lot of things that we/I didn't even have time for(such as Fort Sumter).

Evening Hike

Sometimes I just feel like heading out into the woods and taking pretty pictures. I haven't done that enough this summer. Last evening I decided it was time - so I left my hectic week behind for a short hike at Virginia Kendall.

Demolition in Morning Light

I had made some good memories in this building in its various incarnations - a few Mexican Restaurants & Molly Brown's - so when I ran past yesterday morning and saw it mostly demolished I grabbed my camera. The light was perfect for some demo photos. The vacant building next to it was just starting to be torn down - and The Happening Lounge was going to be next. There is lots of talk about what is going to happen to State Road's iconic "Happening Lounge" sign. I hope someone snags it.

Akron2Akron with David Giffels

On Saturday David Giffels led a walking tour in Downtown Akron. He highlighted landmarks and stories from his book, 'The Hard Way on Purpose'. David's fond memories of coming of age in Akron are when most people remember Akron at its lowest - closed storefronts & abandoned buildings - pretty much a ghost town. The book is required reading for anyone from Akron, the Midwest, "the Rustbelt" or anyone interested in the Rustbelt. There was a post-tour reception on the roof of The Lockview where David hung out, talked and signed books.

Another great afternoon in Downtown Akron.

Torchbearers at Wingfoot Lake

Last night I went to Goodyear's Wingfoot Lake Blimp Hangar to photograph the Torchbearer's general membership meeting. It was obviously a pretty cool spot to have it. Before the meeting there was a guided tour of the facility. 

For the record - the Goodyear Blimps are not in the large black Airdock that Lockheed Martin owns by the Rubber Bowl - Wingfoot Lake is in Suffield.

Weekend in Ann Arbor

Last weekend Rick and I went up to Ann Arbor, Michigan to help out his niece and her husband with a few tasks around their new house. During the day we worked but on Friday and Saturday went out and explored the city a bit. I had no idea Ann Arbor was a city of over 100,000 people - from some reason I always imagined it as a little college town along the lines of Kent. It is actually a bustling place with lots to see. The artfest also happened to be going on which was really cool. Here are a couple photos I took while out for dinners and drinks.

Beer, Bikes, & Blues

On Wednesday a few friends and I try to get together for a ride - whoever shows up by the designated time is welcome(good turnout this week). Generally we meet at 69 Taps and pick a direction to head - we decided to ride out to Barberton. It was such a beautiful evening - crossing Summit Lake was pretty amazing - I was able to pull out my camera and snap a few photos.

Moon Ride

On Friday night I rode my bike into the Valley to go on Blimp City Bike and Hike's 'Moon Ride'. The above group left shortly after 8 heading South down the Towpath towards Akron. Along the way different parts of the group decided to stop or break off at different points. Some of us made the decision to ride out and get a drink at Old 97 on Kenmore Boulevard - and Freddy showed us a new way to get there which was quite interesting.

Bikes and beers - my new favorite way to make friends.

Ribbin and Ridin'

Last evening was so beautiful I had to get out. I rode my bike over to the Akron Art Museum's 'Downtown at Dusk' and took in some tunes. I've always been a fan of this event - sitting outside and drinking some Thirsty Dog beer and checking out the galleries(which happen to be free on Thursdays). As the sun was getting low in the sky I decided to head over to Main Street and check out the Ribfest. My friend Eric then met me for a couple cold ones at Baxter's.
Oh yeah - but there is never anything going on in Akron.
Which reminds me - I need to start getting ready for the Moon Ride at Blimp City Bike & Hike tonight.

Ansco No. 2

I loaded a roll of Kodak TMax 100 in my old Ansco No.2 box camera and took a couple of walks to test it out about a month or two back. I finally developed the film(in HC-110(b) and got it scanned and uploaded last week. I shot with a Lomo, from the hip type attitude. As you can see the camera clearly had some light-leaks and the lens, like many box cameras, is only sharp in the center - which when used right can be pretty cool. Also the camera needs to be held quite still - I'm guessing it must have a shutter around 1/50th. No matter what the outcome I always enjoy shooting a "new" vintage camera from my collection.

Akron Bike Party

Last Friday I participated in my first Akron Bike Party. I had heard about the every-third-Friday-of-the-month event but this was the first time my schedule allowed me to join. I rode down to Lock 3(the starting point) with my friend Woody. The theme this month was "glam" and some people dressed up and wore make-up, colorful boas were passed out, and glam-rock boomed from a speaker on a trailer. The destination was the original Strickland's by the old airdock. The ride was at a more leisurely pace than I'm used to - but that made it easy to make new friends and take in the sites(and some photos). I'll definitely be returning in the future.

Danstravaganza Night #2

The first night of ticket sales for Danstravaganza(previous post) went so well that a second show was added at Musica. This was more of a straight up rock and roll show than overall event. It was the same three bands rocking a smaller venue - and the night was again a blast.

Danstravaganza Night #1

Danstravaganza was a benefit concert at The Tangier - the goal was to build a running track at the school Dan Van Auken taught at before he passed away from cancer last year. Dan was an avid runner and much loved by his students, family and all of his many friends. Three bands that are no longer together reunited to raise money and many items were donated and auctioned off. The event was hosted by Stephen Bishop. It was a great evening to benefit the memory of an amazing man.

Houseguest

On Tuesday evening I shot a few photos of Houseguest. They were getting ready to practice for their first shows in a few years - shows that will raise toward the building of a running track to be enjoyed by future generations of Wadsworth students in honor of friend Dan VanAuken who died of cancer last year. The goal was to have some new photos for the article about the concerts in today's Enjoy section of the Beacon Journal. Unfortunately I guess we missed the deadline - as they used a photo I took of the band 7 years ago(which happened to be one of the first "real" photo shoots I had ever done). Oh well, it was still good to see everyone together again. There are still some tickets available for the show on Sunday at Musica - 'Drummer' and 'The Man I Fell In Love With' are the other two bands - should be awesome. I will be there both nights photographing(I pretty much taught myself how to shoot live concerts at Houseguest shows).

Detroit Part One

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to document the Torchbearers Akron trip to Detroit - I'll have more about that fascinating experience in the next blog. Here I am posting some of the photos I had the chance to take when we had a bit of free time during the action packed trip. We were only there for a couple of days - but you'd find that hard to believe seeing all the pictures I took. I hadn't been to Detroit since 2003 or 04 - and I was so surprised by what I saw. Yes - the famous post-apocalyptic scenes still exist there - but the downtown area has been transformed and is bustling. More commentary later - here are some photos.

Pittsburgh, PA

After visiting the Flight 93 National Memorial we drove into Pittsburgh to catch a Pirates game. We roamed around the area near PNC Park for a while, snapping photos, and having a few drinks before heading into the game. I've always enjoyed visiting this city - I wish we had a little more time here.