Weekend Roundup

Twas a good, busy, and fun weekend but I only actually photographed about half of the events we attended.

On Friday we stopped by Locktoberfest at the Mustill Store - a benefit for the Cascade Locks Park Association. We then continued down the Towpath and met up at Blimp City Bike & Hike for the October Moonride. After the Moonride we rode to Thursdays to see a show(I only photographed the band Ghostman & Sandman). On Saturday we went to E.J. Thomas to see the Akron Symphony(no cameras allowed) and then on to Musica to see Pat Sweany(who was amazing as always). Sunday was pumpkin carving night at my parents house(a fall tradition). Below is a mess of photos to check out.

Halloween Bike Party

Last night was the October edition of Bike Party Akron - costumes suggested but not required. We cruised all over town ringing our bells and yelling "Bike Party!" It was a great turnout for a chilly evening - and the rain held off until right at the end.

Silver Creek in Autumn

Sunday was such a beautiful Fall day. My family decided to go on a Fall Hiking Spree hike at Silver Creek and cook out afterwords.
I guess I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Summit Lake Sunset

Last evening I went for a bike ride on the Towpath. I had it in my head that maybe I would get some good magic hour, fall foliage photos. As it turned out I was a little late for that - but I did happen to catch an amazing sky at sunset from the boardwalk over the lake. Here are a few of my "faves".

Rainy Day in Peninsula

On Saturday I stopped at the Farmers' Market in Howe Meadow for coffee and a snack, perused the Peninsula Flea Market, had lunch and a beer at The Winking Lizard, and went for a hike along the Towpath. I knew the Nickel Plate Road No.765 was in town and while walking I heard the steam whistle - I ran to get myself in place for a shot I had long thought about. The above photo is on the train bridge over the Cuyahoga by Deep Lock Quarry. A blue sky would have been nice but I still think it came out decent. Steam engines are obviously man's coolest invention.

500 Plates

On Sunday afternoon I had lunch with 499 of my closest friends on the Akron Innerbelt. San Francisco artist Hunter Franks had come up with the idea of 500 Plates - lunch on the Inner Belt with music by the Admirables and a chance to discuss the future of the freeway when it closes next spring. Plates with recipes from all 22 Akron neighborhoods were given away with tote bags. The Knight Foundation funded the event. I wasn't there to shoot but to enjoy the day, meet people, and talk - but I shot anyways....

Bike Party!

The Akron Bike Party is a group ride that takes place the third Friday of every month. Last night's ride focused on the Akron Art Prize - we made stops at all of the gallery locations(well, everyone else did - I was only able to ride the first half because of other obligations). The rides are easy and family friendly - we ring our bells, play music, and yell "Bike Party!"...and more importantly meet new friends in the biking community.

Analog Summer Leftovers

Here we a have an assortment of analog photos from the summer - I'm finishing clearing the deck to make room for autumn images. These shots didn't really fit anywhere else so I'm going to place them here for your viewing pleasure...

A Walk On The Beach

One morning on vacation I decided to take a walk on the beach with my Minolta X-700 loaded with Rollei Retro 80 film. When I returned to Ohio I developed them in Kodak HC-110 dilution e. The combination(along with a red filter on my Rokkor lens) made for some nice contrasty photos.

Beach in Color

I took a vacation with my family about a month ago to South Carolina - and I limited myself to only bringing four cameras(and using three). These are the photos I took with my Pentax K1000 and expired Fuji Velvia 50 slide film. My friends over at Akron Commercial Color Lab developed these for me. Even though the Velvia was expired its beautiful colors still came out well. I do love this film...

Goldblum Painting Party

I stopped by Musica last night to take some photos of the "I'm Pretty Fly : A Jeff Goldblum Portrait Painting pARTy" that Jennifer Davis was hosting. Sara is helping Musica program more events besides their regular concerts. Jennifer walked participants through the process of painting the iconic actor with oil on canvas. The portraits came out pretty great as you can see!

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).