Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Luxuries

The Luxuries
Last night I went to the Matinee in Highland Square to see my friends' band The Luxuries play. It was the first time I've seen them and I was impressed.  Though I've played with Pete(singer) and Wes(drummer) it was my first time in a crowd watching the two of them in a band together.  
The LuxuriesThe Luxuries
Because I've shot so many bands at The Matinee I don't need to worry about my settings too much. I usually go with an ISO of 200, a shutter of 1/125, and bounce my flash of the ceiling at full power - I adjust my aperture for exposure. I like this because I can concentrate on catching a cool moment instead of worrying about the technical side of things.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Bus Stop Kids

Bus Stop Kids
On Monday my niece and nephews had the opportunity to be 'Bus Stop Kids' for WKYC 3 Cleveland. On the evening news when they do the morning weather report they will show footage of the kids in outfits appropriate for the weather. They shoot different groups of kids all day and then show them randomly throughout the Winter.
Celebrities
I went up to shoot some photos for my brother who couldn't make it. It turned out to be a pretty cool trip - after the shoot we were given a tour of the station's studios, control rooms, and news room. The camera man who was shooting was extremely friendly and interesting. We got to talking about DSLR's that shoot video(because he saw my 7D) - he told me that they have been using Canon 5d mkII's for some of their footage and have been getting great results.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Pipe Study #1 & #2

Pipe Study #1
Today I gave my friend a lift to a job interview on Kenmore Blvd. I had my camera with me(like always) and decided I should find some shots for the blog. I looked around, walked a bit - just a bunch of boring brick and concrete block buildings on a cloudy day. I was convinced that if I was a good photographer I could make something around there into art of some kind. These were my two best attempts.
Pipe Study #2
Success?

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Terra Vista

Hit the Brakes
Rusty cars/trucks, disintegrating farm implements, old cemeteries, overgrown hiking trails, stone foundations - if any of this stuff peaks your interest you should check out the Terra Vista Site in the Cuyahoga Valley. The Park considers the site historical for its remains of an Early Woodland Indian village - a 1975 excavation found many artifacts. You would have to be with an expert to identify what they consider the Indian Village though - plowing, mining, and vandalism have seriously damaged the site.
Tinker's Creek Cemetery
I was more interested in the old cemetery - which is known as Tinker's Creek Cemetery, Old Indian Cemetery, Hillside Cemetery, Pilgerruh Cemetery and Terra Vista Cemetery. Pilgerruh, which is German for “Pilgrim’s Rest,” was a name that came from a brief Moravian settlement in the area - but most the graves are from the Canal Era and there is supposedly a unmarked mass grave of Irish Canal workers too. It seems as if an illness must have swept the area in 1844 because many of the tomb stones are from this date - regardless of family. Only a 1/5 of of the burials listed for the site still have grave markers.
BoneyardDrive Wheel
We also found the remnants of someones farm/back yard. There where various farm implements, an old truck sinking into the ground, and most amazingly a late 50's Mercury in a collapsed garage.
We didn't pass another person on our hike and the trail sometimes becomes hard to locate - in other words a great hiking spot...

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Antiquing in Amish Country

Antique Mall
On Tuesday Laura and I decided to go on a drive through the country in the general direction of Amish Country. We pretty much just grabbed an Ohio road map and took off. After a scenic drive past the farms and barns we ended up in Berlin, Oh which bills itself as "The Heart of Amish Country". We grabbed lunch and stopped in the Antique Mall. I snapped the below photo and was promptly busted for shooting pictures.
Inside the Antique Mall

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Gabe Schray @ Musica

Gabe Schray
On Saturday night I went to see Gabe Schray perform at Musica and to see the opening of 'Visual Music' upstairs in the We Gallery. The photography exhibit in the We Gallery is a must for any Northeast Ohio Rock and Roll fans.
I shot the photos of gabe using my 50mm lens and only natural light - this was a departure from my normal concert photography style using my wide angle lens and flash(es).

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Fall in my Yard

The Fallen
This morning I tried to get up and catch some of the morning sunrise in my yard. I didn't get out as early I wanted (it was COLD) but I still caught some good light. I was shooting everything with my 50mm lens wide open(f/1.8). It made some of the photos look a little soft but I love the background blur I get at that stop.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Light Fantastic

New Morning
This morning I woke up to the revelation that I didn't have to go to work. I walked out of my room towards the bathroom... "what in the F! why are all the lights on!" ....then it hit me - this is what my apartment looks like when the sun is shinning through the windows. I know it sounds stupid, but I haven't seen my apartment in the morning light for over 5 months. I left when it was dark - I got home when it was dark. After putting the coffee on I got my camera and explored my new morning world.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Brown/Bender Farm

Brown-Bender Barn
While we were working in our Southernmost field(Bender South) this season I noticed the park pouring thousands of dollars into the restoration of the barn across Akron-Peninsula. It is a large 3 story barn that was built by the son of legendary counterfeiter Jim Brown. Jim Brown owned a tavern in Boston Twp.(still standing across from Boston Mills) and was arrested multiple times for his scams and counterfeiting. There is a legend that he robbed the San Fransisco Mint and buried the gold somewhere in the Valley and died before telling anyone the location(he died from a fall on a canal boat).
I wanted to get a good photo from the other side of the barn to show its large size but I would have needed my wide angle lens to fit it.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Barn Dust

Dust Rays
This evening Dave, Johnny and I were organizing and cleaning up the old Red Barn. We were sweeping the floor when I realized the cool way the light was shinning between the barn's siding. Johnny said I should go grab my camera - I did. I took this with a 3.2 second exposure at f/22. I wanted to try out more settings but I was working......so I just snapped a few shots and got back to the sweeping......

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Fall Sunrise

With our later "Fall Hours" starting today at the farm instead of sleeping in(a bit) I went out and shot some photos. I rarely get good fall color pictures because of work and I decided to change that. I shot these at what we call "The Big Field" this morning. Its a field near the Everett Road Covered Bridge(below) in the Summit County Metro Parks.
Everett Road Covered Bridge
In the Fall we plant oats the fields where we harvested our sweet corn. Below are the oats I spread sprouting.
Oats at Sunrise

Monday, October 11, 2010

Sunrise Pumpkins

Dave
This is Dave putting out pumpkins this morning - even though we are done with sweet corn at the farm there is still plenty of Fall work to do until we close on Halloween.


I had my camera with me hoping to catch a certain photo with the early morning light, but unfortunately it didn't work out. I'm going to try again tomorrow.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Last Load 2010

Corn Crew
Today we picked the last load of sweet corn for the season at Szalay's Farm. The 'last load' day is always a big one - long , hard hours go into corn season and its always a proud moment and a relief to be done. The above photo is of Johnny Szalay, me, and Dave Gottas - the full time 7 day a week corn crew. Below is the whole Saturday crew.
Last Load 2010

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Allis-Chalmers WD

Allis-Chalmers WD
I snapped this photo of a early 50's Allis-Chalmers WD at a produce auction near Lodi. Antique tractors are pretty popular photographic material - and I see why - they look sweet.
In the Beacon a while back there was an article on a man who carved old tractors. He was putting down modern tractors for their air conditioning, radios and the like. A few weeks ago John Szalay was telling me about some of the old Olivers they used to use on the farm. He said, "Man, most of the time you felt like you where working harder than the tractor." Fifties tractors look great - I'll take the cab and the air on our John Deere 7830 any day though.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Hidden History: Built to Last

Yellow Creek Culvert (west side)
I was trying to research the age of some of the old barns and houses in the Cuyahoga Valley one evening when I stumbled upon a website that seems to be an inventory of all the federally owned structures in the National Park. Most pages have the construction dates, historical significance, and a photo of the site - its a treasure trove for a local history nerd like me.
One site that instantly intrigued me was titled, "Yellow Creek Culvert (O. & E. Canal)". I looked at the photo and realized I was driving over something historic everyday that I didn't even know was there.
from the website:
"Constructed in 1844, the state built the Yellow Creek Culvert. Prior to that time, the O&E Canal crossed Yellow Creek by means of an embankment. Silt deposits from the creek frequently clogged the canal causing the necessity of a culvert. The Yellow Creek Culvert functioned for the remainder of the canal's operational life and was not rehabilitated during the early 1900s. During the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration built Riverview road south from Everett destroying the canal basin in this section."
Yellow Creek Culvert(east side)
Two days ago I took the afternoon off work and stopped to snap these photos.  The culvert is right by the Bath Road/Riverview Road intersection - you won't even notice it from the street.  
 More from the website:
"The Yellow Creek Culvert is a semicircular arch culvert constructed of cut sandstone blocks.The culvert's east headwall is formed by voussoirs creating an arch. The keystone of the arch is plainfaced and extends slighltly beyond the voussoirs. The west headwall contains the same treatment as the east but has been extended in height, possibly during the construction of Riverview Road."
They didn't mess around when the built things back in the day.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Cranz Barns

Cranz Barns
These barns were part of the Cranz Farm that existed prior to the creation of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. They are on Ira Road next to Old Trail School, which itself sits on former corn fields that the Cranz's donated to the school. At Szalay's we farm one of the former Cranz fields on a lease from the park. The farm was originally founded by the Hammond's in 1810 who were contemporaries of the Hales(Hale Farm etc).
One interesting thing about working at Szalay's is learning the first-hand history of the Valley from the 1930's on. Szalay's land is made up of many former farms and I have a few more posts planned on some of them...

Monday, August 30, 2010

Sweet Corn Sunrise

Sweet Corn Sunrise
This photo was taken in the Feedler Long Rows at Szalay's Farm (where I work in the Summer). After Labor Day things should start to mellow out for me a bit and I'll be able to return to photography and this website....