Snow Angels - Christmas in July

The Akron Snow Angels are a group that works to help the homeless by providing necessities on the spot. Most of their missions take place during the cold months but for the third year there was also a Christmas in July event. Essentials were passed out and a free lunch was provided - the big guy in the red suit also showed up to deliver school supplies to children.

A Roll of Tri-X

I started this roll of Kodak Tri-X in my Minolta X-700 sometime last winter. I took it on a few hikes, out to PA, and finished it back at the studio. I've been shooting more film this summer - I just need to get around to developing it(and getting the color developed). I also just received some new Italian monochrome film from a Kickstarter I invested in - I'm excited to see what that will look like. In other words, stay tuned for more analog.

Finger Lakes Video

Here is my latest road trip video - the first containing drone footage! The couple of opening shots are actually from the first two times I ever flew the drone - it is on beginner mode and I haven't changed any of the default settings from the camera. It wasn't that hard to fly - albeit a little nerve wracking. I'm sure it will get easier - and I'll dive into the menus to improve the footage.
The trip was awesome and the rest of the video is a mix of GoPro footage and 5DmkIV footage.

Finger Lakes Reunion

I spent the Fourth of July Weekend in the Finger Lakes for the second year in a row. It was a kind of anniversary/reunion for Kyle and Getta's reception last year and a group of us rented the same house. We enjoyed some great sightseeing, swimming, hiking, beer & wine tastings, and some good chill time with a great group of people. This was my third time in the Finger Lakes and I feel like there is still plenty more to discover - I love this region of the country.  

Open Streets Akron

The Knight Foundation along with the City of Akron and other sponsors hosted an Open Streets event on Sunday. The idea is to close streets to automobile traffic to allow pedestrians and bikes to explore the streets from a different perspective. There were all kinds of activities along the way. The route had parts of Kenmore BLVD and Firestone Park joined by the Towpath around Summit Lake. It was quite windy but otherwise a perfect day.

Akron2Akron - Parks of West Akron

The City's planning director, Jason Segendy, led a walking tour in the Wallhaven area focusing on the parks in the neighborhood. He discussed their history, current use, and possible plans for the future or improvement. He also said he considered it a little of a fact finding mission to see what the people on the walk thought about them. It made for an interesting walk, discussion and back and forth. It was a beautiful day to learn about another part of our city and meet other interesting-ed people.

Common Threads - Middlebury

The latest in the monthly Common Threads series focused on Middlebury - getting to know the people who live and work there - or both. Middlebury faces many challenges - years of decline, overbuilt main thoroughfares, a Waste Management Transfer Station and more. But there is hope and energy in the neighborhood. We met in Compass Coffee which is part of The Well - one of the positive things happening in the area. Greg Milo started the conversation but turned it over to Zac Kohl to facilitate - he is the Executive Director of The Well CDC.

As always Common Threads goal is to bring people from diverse backgrounds to have a open discussion - the events are a collaboration between the Knight Foundation and Global Ties Akron.

Road Trip Vid!

Another one of my wildly popular road trip videos.

Beers, Bikes and a Tipi!

Last weekend Erin and I took a road trip to Southeastern Ohio. Erin found a couple unique places for us to stay near bike paths and breweries. I captured a lot of our biking with my GoPro - hopefully I'll get to that soon. Before we went I also decided to just take one lens with me - my Canon 24mm f/1.4L. I didn't want to have all kinds of gear on the bike and thought this would be a fun way to challenge myself.

Grow Green Compost Giveaway

Reworks gave away 8 cubic yards of food scrap compost to 6 community gardens this week. There was an application process and then the winners were randomly selected. One of Reworks' goals is to reduce food scraps ending up in landfills and this helps demonstrate one of the much better uses for all those fruit peels and veggie stems. It was pretty cool to get to check out these gardens. This is the kind of shoot that makes me love my job - getting to work with the passionate people at Reworks and meeting the great people who were enthusiastic about receiving this product.

Marathon Weekend Vid

This is my Marathon weekend video - kind of in the vlog style.

Akrun & Crawl

I shot the Akrun & Crawl hosted by Torchbearers on Saturday evening. For the second year they held it at night as a 'glow run' with glow sticks, lights and DJs on the course. I didn't stick around for too much of the "crawl" part of the event as I was running in the Cleveland Half--Marathon the next day.

Common Threads: North Hill

This episode of the monthly Common Threads took place at the North Hill Library and focused on the diverse people of the North Hill neighborhood. The intimate group led to an interesting and free-flowing conversation. After the conversation we wandered over to the Exchange House for a reception with food from the Western Fruit Basket. We were also treated to a short play that was coordinated with the Gum Dip Theatre.

Night at the Races

Last Saturday night my family attended a fundraiser for WABL(West Akron Baseball League). It was a 'Night at the Races' event where you can bet on pre-recorded horse races. There was also a silent auction, 50/50 raffle, other games, wine pull, Swenson's Food Truck, drinks and more. It was a fun time and you don't feel bad about gambling ....for a good cause.

Brewed

Last Sunday morning Akron Coffee Roasters and HiHo Brewing put on a joint tasting. We started with some tastes of coffee and then moved on to beers infused with that coffee. Albert explained the coffee's origin, processing and brewing method and then Jon discusses the special beers he had brewed for the event. There were also local pastries - sweet with the coffee and savory with the beer.

More Shiny Things

I recently started photographing for a new company in town that makes extrusion machines and their parts. Being that I shoot for another company in the business I wanted to do something to set the two apart. Usually I shoot product photography with a long lens and even use Photoshop to keep things square. In this case I decided to use my 35mm lens, use high-key lighting and more dramatic angles for effect.

Jane's Walk Weekend

Last weekend I attended and photographed three of the Akron Jane's Walks. Jane's Walks take place all over the world and describe themselves as, "...a movement of free, citizen-led walking tours inspired by Jane Jacobs. The walks get people to tell stories about their communities, explore their cities, and connect with neighbors.". The three I attended were: Main Street Revitalization(about the Tiger Grant to update Main), Ohio & Erie Canal(about the Cascade Locks and Mustill Store area), and My City Was Gone(about the Rock and Roll History of Akron). Akron2Akron Neighborhood Walking Tours collaborated on many of the walks. I would have liked to attend even more but my schedule didn't allow for it.

PechaKucha

PechaKucha is a quarterly speaker series where each speaker gets 20 slides and 20 seconds to talk about each. It's a cool format and I've thoroughly enjoyed everyone of them - this was episode VII. The location is always different and Greystone Hall had the perfect atmosphere. I wasn't working - I just snapped a few photos from my balcony seat. If you haven't attended one yet I strongly recommend that you do - and they sell out - so follow them on Facebook so you can grab a ticket when they announce the next one.