Light Stands = Bike Stands

So I really, really like to ride bicycles - as any regular reader may have noticed. Over the last few years I've collected a few vintage road bikes - none have a ton of value - I like to find them cheap then fix them up into riding condition. I'm not a retro purist and I wouldn't say that I am "restoring" them either. 

Anyways - for a work stand I had been using some clamps and a two by four on my workbench - it gets the job done but it definitely isn't the best. Every Wednesday I go on a group ride with some friends and a few were mentioning that Aldi(of all places) was selling bike work stands for only 30 bucks. I started to think I should get one - then it occurred to me - I have every kind of stand, clamp and arm possible in this studio to hold up lighting gear, cameras, and backdrops. After trying a few different pieces and parts I came up with the above solution - why didn't I think of this before!?

Akron2Akron - Goosetown

This edition of the Akron2Akron walking tours focused on the area of the city that was once known as Goosetown. It had sandstone ledges(Wolf Ledge), a German immigrant population and a stream that early Akron breweries took advantage of. The creek can still be seen in the basement of the old Burkhardt Brewery(which now houses Thirsty Dog and Aqueduct) but the ledges have long since been filled in. The German legacy is mostly in the old churches in the area. Interstate 77 did the neighborhood no favors when it came through and cut the hood in half.

Again. as with all of these walking tours, I went to spots I never would have and picked up on so many little facts about Akron's history I never would have known.

Car Parts II

A couple of years ago I started shooting for a company in downtown Akron that makes car parts - specializing in transmission crossmembers. I set up and shot at least a 1000 photos in their warehouse for their website and catalogue. They have an employee who lives near my studio so now whenever they come out with a new part(s) he stops by and drops it off here for me to shoot and picks up whatever I shot the last time. It is a perfect relationship as it allows them to keep their website current and me to do my finest product photography while keeping their costs down.
I show a lot of my event work and hobby photography on the blog - so I wanted to share more of the other type of work I do as well.

Bikes and Brews - The Video

The motion version of yesterday's post!

Bikes and Brews in PA

Erin and I decided to take Good Friday off and head on a short road trip. We stayed a little ways outside of Erie, PA at a camp ground/RV park and spent our first day on Presque Isle and then exploring the city. The next day the weather was iffy so we decided to travel around a bit - we visited a few towns and multiple breweries. I always enjoy trips on the back roads with no serious agenda.

Common Threads III

The third edition of Common Threads(a collaboration between Global Ties Akron and the Knight Foundation) was held at Jednota Lanes and focused on Akron artists. The four artists discussed what life was like as an artist in Akron. The dialogue with the audience had a focus on what could be done to help make life easier for artists and the importance of art in the community. At the end the panel broke up and bowling commenced!

ReWorks: Single Stream

Here are a few videos in a series that I made with Public Design for ReWorks. The process is the same as a I mentioned in the last post - the work I do is mostly the technical stuff.

Hip Hop 2 Health

I did the videography and editing on this video for Child Guidance & Family Solution. Being someone who has only ever used a digital workflow for video I always wonder about what a pain collaborations like must have been back in the day. I shoot and upload the raw footage for the marketing firm to view(in this case Public Design) and then also a rough cut. They come back with the edits they would like to see. When we get it right they send it to the client to see. I then make any additional edits. Finally they will send me the graphics and I drop them and the sound in and clean up the cuts and colors.
There is still a lot of work involved - but digital mixed with cloud storage is amazing.