The Biggest Box

I had a portrait coming into the studio on Saturday morning and my Friday night was free - so I decided to set up and take some test shots. I had just been covering an event where a portrait photographer was using a light modifier that I hadn't used before but remembered seeing somewhere in the studio. Before I ever found that I found gear bags with two other very cool things - one was a massive 6 foot soft box. I didn't know we had one that big. Next I found a strip box that was 8 feet long! I forgot about what I was originally looking for and started to put these together.

Front Street

When I woke up this morning and saw some sun and checked the temperature I decided I had to get out for a little bit before spending the rest of the day behind the computer. So I grabbed my bike and camera and rode down to Front Street to check out the (now open) road where the pedestrian mall was. They did a nice job on the design and I do believe the district will take off. There was a lot of places to lock my bike but my one gripe would be that it doesn't look like there will be dedicated bike lanes - the street is quite narrow. I know this should slow traffic but I also know how impatient drivers are with bikes - and even though it will only save them a matter of seconds they will try to squeeze by.

French Food

Erin and I have been trying to make a point of having a nice date on the third Thursday of each month or #thirdthursday. I've been interested in trying more French food so she took us to L’Albatros in Cleveland. I had some fantastic duck confit and Erin had crispy chicken livers that were great too. Unfortunately the Collision Bend Saison I drank wasn't very good... The dinning room was full with reservations so we ate in the bar - which I probably prefer anyways. It was pretty dark and I didn't want to be staring into my camera anyways - but I couldn't help myself and had to snap a couple of shots...

Iced

Late yesterday afternoon I decided to take a break and go for a hike on my usual route - over the High Level Bridge and down into the Gorge. I figured I could get some cool photos with the sun and the snow. Unfortunately I didn't get very far before I was slipping everywhere and had fallen down twice. I looked down the icy path and realized this wasn't going to be any fun. So I snapped a few bridge photos and headed for a walk around my neighborhood.

Erin

I was setting up senior portraits for some friends last week and Erin happened to be around to be my test model. This is my standard two light(in soft boxes) set up. The one one the left set at a lower power to create a little shading. Simple, quick and effective.

Farmer's Rail

Erin and I went and checked out the new butcher shop that Brunty Farms opened - The Farmer's Rail. Its on Cleveland-Massillon Road in Bath in the building that used to be the Flower Hutch. The shop specializes in selling meats & eggs that were raised on their two farms. The also supplement with products that are locally sourced or of high quality. We picked up some jerky, salmon, butter & other accouterments. It looks like the place is off to a great start as it was quite crowded.

I bought my Thanksgiving Turkey from Brunty and have been eating their sausages and other meats from the Countryside Conservancy Farmers' Market for a few years - so it is nice to see them have such a great storefront.

Snow Ride

Otis at Dirty River Bicycle Works convinced me that I could rider in the snow after I had all but given up. He sold me some steel studded tires for my old Trek mountain bike....and I was blown away at the difference they make. Last night I went out for a snowy ride on the Towpath with my friend Ben to try them out again. They are really amazing - its great not to be limited in my winter riding anymore.

This is a short video I made last night in Summit Lake with my GoPro on my seat post to demonstrate. I uploaded this directly to Blogger and I'm not sure why the html to change the size of the player won't work - but it has the option to make it full screen - so click that!.

The Show is Back

This is the first Fitzwater Photography Show I've made since last Spring. Making these kinds of videos is a strange thing for me - I really like making videos and sharing my opinions but I really hate being on camera. I only watch these while I'm editing and to check the upload and then I can never look at them again. As I've said in the blog and on the show before, though, is that if I didn't force myself to do this kind of thing I would have never learned how to do audio and video - which now makes up a nice percentage of my business.

Anyways - this is a little ramble about how happy I still am with the purchase of my Canon 5D mark IV a year ago.

Squirt Gun

I had a glass artist coming into the studio who has a specific way he like things shot. I've worked with him a few times so I know he likes minimal highlights on the objects and a gradient on the backdrop. It had been a little while since I photographed his stuff so I decided to set up a couple test shots while I waited for him to arrive. This squirt gun suited my needs as a stand in. The trick for these, I've found, is to back light the art with a couple of grid spots. 

I also shot some real challenging glass sculptures for the Akron Art Prize last Summer - it takes some doing - but when you get it right it can look pretty amazing. I'll put together a post with some of that stuff in the near future. Today I bought some new hard drives and I'm working on reorganizing my files...

Local Brew

I had been hoping to get to Local Brew in the Northside Marketplace this weekend for their grand opening - they had a few special Thirsty Dog beers that I wanted to try. I ended up working on Friday & Saturday night so I didn't make it....but this morning Erin suggested we go and check out their Bloody Mary Bar. The bartenders poured the booze and ice and then we got to choose the mixes, spices and other accouterments. I also tried the Thirsty Dog Pineapple IPA. Being so early we didn't try out the other new Thirsty Dog - and Imperial Siberian Night with Bent Tree Coffee - it was 12% alcohol.

Free Coffee

I stopped by my favorite coffee shop, Akron Coffee Roasters, this morning to capture some photos for the owner, Albert - interior shots for their website. What I didn't know is that Eva would be standing out on High Street passing out free coffee to commuters to promote their new drip coffee that will be available from 7-9 am on weekdays. It was freezing. They are crazy. Anyways - I had to take a few snaps.

Boston

My friend Eric moved to Boston a little over a month ago and has been trying to find work and re-establish himself in a new city. His girlfriend, Martha, contacted me about visiting on his birthday as a surprise. It worked out that I didn't have any shoots that weekend and I was able to find a really cheap flight on Jet Blue. He was quite surprised(confused) when he walked into the coffee shop she dropped me at saw me there! I think I might have caught it on video. 

We had a great few days hanging out and even though we got around a lot I didn't take a ton of photos. Grey winter days just aren't the best for city photos and it was also nice to just enjoy the time and not always worry about getting a great shot. That is often hard for me to do - but it also gives me an excuse to come back and visit when everything is green.

Countryside @ Platform

Platform Beer Co. in Cleveland has been hosting a series of Non-Profit Tuesdays where a dollar of each house beer sold goes to a certain local non-profit. Last night the benefiting organization was Countryside Conservancy - which is a partner of the Cuyahoga Valley that manages the 11 Valley farms and puts on Farmers' Markets. I rode up with Erin and Serena who both work there - I'm sure they figured I'm a good bet for anything where the amount of beer consumed directly raises cash.

eBay Comes to Akron

On Friday eBay's CEO and a chunk of their team came to Akron to announce the Retail Revival program that is being tested first here. I was lucky to be contacted by the PR team and I covered the Press Conference that was held with the city and the panel afterwords. There were also tours of the Northside MarketPlace and chats with eBay vendors and small businesses. There was a lot of action and it was a fun day. I'm still trying to understand the exactly how this program will work but the gist seems to be that eBay will invest resources in teaching local businesses how to use their platform effectively - and that Akron will get a special website and marketing push.

Laughing with the Snow Angels

On Friday night I photographed a charity event benefiting the Akron Snow Angels. From the website, "Akron Snow Angels spreads warmth and connects with the most vulnerable in our community by providing basic essentials and fostering compassionate friendships while inspiring others to do the same." - I've volunteered and photographed multiple events with the Snow Angels that involve directly putting item into the hands of those who need them. This event was different being a fundraiser for the organization instead of a direct action event - there were three amateur comedians and two pros(also drinks and food). Above is my friend Greg doing his first stand-up routine ever!

Hair Cut/Grid Shots

Yesterday I got my hair done at Apothaclaire in Downtown Akron. I have some photo shoots with them coming up and it was decided I should represent appropriately. Which was a good idea since I probably haven't had a proper haircut in over a decade. When I got home I decided to set up some lights and get a good shot of their work.

Sledding with the GoPro

I met my family at Virginia Kendall on Monday to go sled riding. I brought the GoPro Hero 5 Black with me and shot a bunch of videos. For this cut I tried to make it as dramatic as possible. I think it would be fun to recut with an entirely different vibe - mostly as an exercise in video editing...

Hop Tree Brewing

After our hike(yesterday's post) Erin and I drove into Hudson to check out the new Hop Tree Brewing. The place is a little off the beaten path(not downtown) in a kind of industrial park. The space is pretty massive for a new brewery. There is a variety of seating in the tasting room - the bar, couches, booths, high tops, and a communal table that would be great for large parties. There is also a kitchen and we split a Cuban and pickled egg. Both were fantastic and Erin loved that the sandwiches came with potato pancakes. They had ten beers on draft and everything we tried was solid - our favorite being the brown ale with Kent's Bent Tree Coffee.