The Beyonders CD Release Show

Saturday night The Beyonders put together a show for the release of their first CD. They played with Cleveland power pop band Herzog and Akron surf band The Kahuna Kings. I've been friends with Beyonders' guitar player Dave Rich since I used to play in bands and at this point I could probably put together a real nice photo book of his musical projects over the years. In fact it is pretty much how I learned to shoot concert photography...

First Snow

Laura and I decided to get a couple more of our hikes in for the Fall Hiking Spree today. It was clear as a bell in Akron as we headed out to Twinsburg to do our first hike on the Ledges Trail at Liberty Park. I don't know what I was thinking by wearing a pair of tennis shoes - there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground at the top of Summit County. I watched on TV and Facebook the heavy, lake effect snow falling up North the previous evening but for some reason it didn't register with us. Anyways - I was able to keep my feet fairly dry and it made for a beautiful hike. I always enjoy the snow for a while - and it was pretty today - come March it will be a different story.

Maize Valley Birthday

I took Laura to Maize Valley Market and Winery for her birthday. Maize Valley is a 750 acre family farm and winery that also has a produce market, gift shop, home baked goods, food and now a brewery. I had wanted to get down there(Hartville) while the weather was still nice but we ran out of time. The seating area has a coffee shop feel, some tables and couches with a fireplace, you order your beer, wine and food at the bar/register and your food is then brought to your table. We each ordered sandwiches with pasta sides and were impressed with both. The beer was very good as well - had a unique flavor. My favorites were the Imperial Brown and IPA - Laura ordered their Christmas beer twice.  We also had the red rye and amber ales which were solid too.  

Cleveland, OH

Laura and I take to heart the old phrase, "be a tourist in your own town" - but use it a little more regionally. With that in mind we decided to get a hotel in Cleveland near Playhouse Square and enjoy a couple of days of activities up North. We first tried a couple of brew-pub-only-offerings at Great Lakes Brewing - but as usual it was too busy to try and get a table. So we headed across the street to Market Garden and had a beer and an appetizer. Next we moved on to Platform Beer Co. I've wanted to get up and visit Platform since they opened this Summer. I've done photography work for the owner's other business, The Cleveland Brew Shop, and had been following their progress on social media with the new brewery since it was in the planning stages. They did not disappoint.

2014 Dave Lieberth Community Vision Award

This morning Leadership Akron had a breakfast celebrating their 30 years - and gave my Dad the second Dave Lieberth Community Vision Award. The morning started with mingling and a breakfast - followed by speeches interspersed with video clips(put together really nicely by Wasted Talent Media). Some of my Dad's friends and colleagues spoke about him and Leadership Akron. Then Mark Scheffler road a a rickshaw out with Dave Lieberth in the back - who pressed a button on a boombox and a curtain fell and Revolution Pie launched into 'I wanna Hold Your Hand' while Akron leaders started biking around the Knight Center. It was really cool - they gave my Dad a bike and he rode off with them. My Dad is a big oldies fan and bike enthusiast so it was a great way to end the morning. Not to mention the 500 hundred friendly faces and the parade of people telling me how much they respect Dad. My whole family left the event beaming.

Time Lapse Editing

I've always thought time lapse photography was pretty cool when done right - and now I've been seeing a lot more because many new phones and cameras have intervalometers built in specifically for time lapses. So when I had to order a few pieces of gear I decided to tack on a $20 Vivitar intervalometer for my two Canons. I was thinking it might be cool to shoot some time lapses at events I photograph.  

For my first attempt I did something simple - I just set it up in my office while I edited the photos from Child Guidance and Family Services' Vices and Virtues event I shot at Fairlawn Country Club on Saturday. This is roughly three hours of processing condensed down into a little over a minute - I shot at four second intervals. There is no editing to speak of here - I just threw the photos in Photoshop and had it work its magic(added a little bit of music from my old band too). I have a few specific ideas of things I want to try next that will be (hopefully) far more interesting but its nice to know everything works.  
By the way - if you have a fast enough connection you can watch in 4k.  

2014 Halloween Charity Ball

On Friday night I photographed the 2014 Halloween Charity Ball at The Tangier benefiting Victim Assistance Program & The Akron Rotary Camp. There were two rooms at the party: the VIP room was in the Cabaret - and had a more relaxed atmosphere with a band playing, good food and high-end drink, the main room was the more uptempo dance party and costume contest. Both had well-taken-advantage-of open bars and everyone really seemed to be having a blast(me included). I roamed and shot photos in both spaces and covered the costume contest - which was a lot of fun. I have a small selection of some of my favorite shots from the night here and i put a large gallery with a few hundred photos on the events website.

Cats

"Laura and Coco"

Ok, so I set up to take a self-portrait for a post I wanted to write - Laura got home from work and I had her stand in while I took test shots. Somehow it degenerated into portraits of us and our cats - all five of them(in fairness I had two and Laura had three before we moved in together). 

Happy Halloween!

The Camera Collection

Today I photographed a few of my most recent camera acquisitions and I decided I would update and finally finish my camera page. Well, hours later and I'm not even close to done with the website. I've added a bunch of cameras and worked on the behind the scenes html that will organize and make the collection searchable and categorized by make - but I still have a ways to go. I guess I'd forgotten how many camera I have and how time consuming writing code can be. Anyways - you can check the progress with the link on the right of the page and I will update you when I finally do finish it - hopefully soon.

Frosty Big Bend

Sunday morning I had run my first road race in years and when I woke up on Monday I was extremely sore. I figured I'd head down to my usual spot, Big Bend, and walk for a while on the Towpath to try and stretch out. Of course I brought my camera and I'm glad I did. I've shot at Big Bend tons of times now but one of the great things about Ohio is places almost never look the same way twice. This morning the sun was rising and burning through the fog and everything was gleaming and frost covered. I took photos from the same angles I had before but the different weather, season, and time of day made them look different. Sometimes it can be boring shooting the same things over again - times like this it is exciting.

Family Carvings

Tonight my parents had everyone over to eat dinner, carve pumpkins, and taste some beers they picked up on a recent trip. Laura and mine came out the best, of course, but don't tell everyone else.

Trailing @ Munroe Falls

When shooting photos like the above one - I usually end up with the view in the photos below. Always trailing - and jogging to catch up. I bet this is a familiar scene for anyone that loves to take pictures...

Main Street Modern II

I spent the day down in Canton shooting furniture and smalls at Main Street Modern. We shot tons of stuff - here are a few different views of the day. Saturday will be their last retail day of the season - they will be open from 10-3 - so if you like mid-century modern furniture or other funky antiques(everything from Deco to Mod and beyond) check them out.

Plateau Trail

Yesterday afternoon I knew that I wanted to go for a reasonably long hike in the Valley - but I also knew that it would be swarmed with people. I decided to park at the Valley Picnic Area on Riverview Road and pick up the Plateau & Oak Hill Trails. It was a good call as I only passed a few other hikers...

I've talked to a few people about the colors this Fall - I can't tell if I forget every year how amazing it is - or if the colors are just more spectacular this year. Either way its a struggle for me to stay indoors right now - even when I have work to get done...

Telephone

From Wikipedia:
"Chinese whispers (or telephone in the United States) is a game played around the world, in which one person whispers a message to another, which is passed through a line of people until the last player announces the message to the entire group. Errors typically accumulate in the retellings, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly, and often amusingly, from the one uttered by the first. Reasons for changes include anxiousness or impatience, erroneous corrections, and that some players may deliberately alter what is being said to guarantee a changed message by the end of the line.

The game is often played by children as a party game or in the playground. It is often invoked as a metaphor for cumulative error, especially the inaccuracies as rumours or gossip spread, or, more generally, for the unreliability of human recollection or even oral traditions."

Did anyone else ever call this "Chinese Whispers"? I had never heard that before.

Shot on Kodak Gold with my Pentax K1000 - I developed it with a C41 Press Kit.

Springfield Bog

This afternoon I went for a hike at the Springfield Bog and although the park opened in 2011 this was my first time there. The park is an old farm field that has a couple of bogs and is being returned to prairie land - the trail is basically a large loop around the field. I know this doesn't sound too exciting but being there with all the fall color I found it quite beautiful. The sun was dodging in and out from behind the clouds which could really make for some cool lighting on the fall foliage. A few different times I found myself standing in the same place for a while just waiting for the light to hit. The hike improved all the more when the Goodyear Blimp(or "The Blimp" as we say in Akron) flew overhead. After my hike I drove through the surrounding countryside and the colors were beyond spectacular.

Medium Format Fall

Last week I decided I wanted to try and capture some fall colors with the beautiful film Kodak Ektar 100. I didn't have too much time though so I loaded up the Fuji GSW690III and headed down to nearby Big Bend and shot a roll. When I was taking these photos I thought I captured something pretty special - but after developing them I felt like they were only OK. Its definitely easier catching Fall with digital - but I've gone out with my Canon and thought I did quite well until I returned home and saw them on the screen too. Autumn colors are just so awesome I guess anything less than magical perfection is a letdown in photography... for me anyways...

Fall Fun

A few Fridays ago Laura and I continued our quest to complete the 'Fall Hiking Spree' out at Silver Creek Metro Park. Afterwards we stopped by Rittman Orchards. I had my Pentax K1000 loaded with Kodak Gold 400 with me to document it all...