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).