Light on The Land

I had a gig in Cleveland at the Great Lakes Science Center - there was some perfect light on the city from there so I had to snap a few photos. After the gig there was a perfect magic hour followed by a pretty sunset. I hung around, got some dinner at the newish BrewDog and took more photos.

Bike Packing Shake Down

A few snaps from an over-night bike trip we did down the Simon-Kenton Trail. Cyclotherapy in Springfield, OH had booked a group campsite and it was fun to meet new and old friends there at John Bryan State Park. I didn't take a ton of still photos but did make a video which is linked at the bottom of this post.

The Market

Erin and I made our first trip of the year to the Countryside Farmer's Market in the Cuyahoga Valley yesterday. Here are a few photos that I snapped.

Jake's Rocks

A few friend invited us out to Jake's Rocks for the weekend. It is a primitive camping and mountain biking park in the Allegheny National Forest. It sits up on a mountain at a bend in the river and had some amazing overlooks. We did a lot of riding and also experienced every kind of spring weather there is. Waking up one morning with snow covering our tents. The riding and camping were still great but I definitely want to come back and ride in the summer.

Light at the Museum

I had an event to shoot on Thursday evening at the Akron Art Museum. All day had been pretty dreary but the sun popped out not long before it set and I had to take a moment to capture the light shining through the museum.

Party Size Cycling

A friend in New Jersey sells some cool cycling swag under the name "Party Size Cycling". When I got my latest order I decided to take some selfies in the studio to help promote it. Fun stuff.

Working in Charlotte

Babcox Media in Fairlwan invited me back to help film the second season of Auto Pros on the Road. Last year we filmed in Louisville and this year we headed down to Charlotte. We had a bigger crew this time as well - three cameras, a sound guy and the two hosts. I shot video with my Canon R5 but also took some behind the scenes stills. In the week we were there we shot hours and hours of footage and I shot over 800 photos. Here is a selection of my favorites from the on location shots to some exploring the area. I also did a little bit of exploring on my own.

Dinner PARTY

After my shoot at Akronym(last post) I rode over to my friend Ryan's in another part of Downtown Akron. Ryan and his girlfriends Ping were hosting a seafood dinner party that they had planned with Erin. The food and company were awesome and after some natural wines it turned into a full on dance party. It was great to be back to fun like this.

Big Brews in Akron

On Saturday afternoon I photographed the Barrel-Aged beer fest at Akronym Brewing. A number of breweries were there pouring their high octane brews. These strong craft beers were also paired with tasty little cakes. It was my kind of photo gig - here is a selection of a few of my favorite photos.

January Things

Here is a little photo dump of some January photos that I hadn't shared yet. Most were taken while out filming YouTube videos. I can't remember a month like that - 3 big winter storms in a row. It has been pretty but I'm also ready for Spring!

Tallahassee, FL

A friend of mine gave me a call a week ago Tuesday and asked what I was doing over the weekend. My schedule was fairly free. He said there was a gig he got asked to do on that Friday but he already had a shoot ....but it was in Tallahassee, Florida! Thursday afternoon I found myself on my way to FL. The video shoot took up the first half of Friday and then I was free(besides checking in on my files uploading). Late Friday afternoon I grabbed a rental bike(Giant Revolt) and explored the city a bit and grabbing some food and beers. I was super surprised to find out the capitol city is actually quite hilly - especially compared to the rest of Florida. Saturday morning I was up early and off on a rail trail to St. Marks. I ended up also hitting some gravel/dirt & mountain biking trails. It was nearly record breaking cold(32F when I left) but it was still nice to be somewhere without 2 feet of snow on the ground). The bike had to be back at the shop at 4:30 so the rest of the trip was on foot or in a Lyft and I flew out Sunday at 3:30. It was a great little get-a-way all in all and the job more than covered it.

Ice Ice Gorge

The part of the Gorge in the downtown Cuyahoga Falls usually puts on a nice show in the winter when the weather conditions are right. It was actually quite a tourist destination over a century ago. I rode my bike down to capture a few photos of the icicles and snow earlier today. Not the perfect light for this but a few still looked pretty cool.

Outside Birthday

With the omicron surge we celebrated Brad's Bday socially distanced and on the bikes for the second year in a row. This year we rode out to Taca Tontos in Kent and drank some beers outside while waiting for our food which we then took to MadCap Brewing. MadCap has their side room with lots of space with a German Beer Hall feeling. Lastly we made a quick stop at Missing Falls Brewing who also have a side room with space. Another year of making the best of a strange situation. The light was great for photos again though!

Yeti Squad Ride for Bob

On the Sunday Yeti Squad shop ride that Dirty River Bicycle Works hosts we remembered a friend who passed away from Covid complications last week. We went to one of his favorite spots to ride and also to our/his favorite stealth beer spot. We had a toast and told some stories. Bob was a great guy that I have never heard a single bad word about. He will be missed by the Northeast Ohio cycling community - and I can't imagine what his close friends and family are going through. I didn't take a ton of photos but have a video of the ride at the end of this post.

Asterisk Opening

My friend Ben(and often riding buddy) had an art opening at Asterisk Coffee Bar in Cuyahoga Falls on Saturday. They were photos that he has taken while out exploring on his bike. Lots of great images of the abandoned and off-the-beaten-path parts of the Akron area. Ben has shown me a lot of these places and it seems we follow the same abandoned RR tracks and routes as the graffiti artists and homeless. Anyways - get down to Asterisk for a coffee drink or an adult beverage and check out the show - it is worth it.

Drive By Moms at Birchwood Supply Co.

On Saturday evening Jason at Birchwood held an open house at his shop above Bounce downtown Akron. Jason builds custom furniture and sells vintage wares. At 8PM our buddy Greg played with his new band Drive By Blessing of the Moms. Only having some string lights on to set the mood I grabbed a flashlight from Jason and wrapped it in a shop towel to get a bit of light on the band(mostly Greg) and with the ridiculous low light abilities of the Canon R5 was able to get some good photos. It was a fun night hanging out with friends in an awesome space.

The Queers at the Rumba Cafe

 

A couple friends hit me up saying they had tickets to see one of our favorite bands from when we were younger down in Columbus - they had an Air BNB, the ride and everything planned - I just had to hop in the car. The band rocked but it was even better to hang out with some friends I don't spend enough time with. It was a quick over-nighter but totally worth it. I only snapped a few photos in these tough lighting conditions but some still turned out pretty decent. 

Krampus Kross: The Ohio State Championships

On Sunday I rode out to Camp Manatoc in the Cuyahoga Valley to watch some cyclocross racing. I didn't make it for the earliest races but still saw a lot of great action on a very challenging course. The weekly Yeti Ride from Dirty River Bicycle Works also rolled out to the races so I got to hang with a lot of friends from there and a few of the Yeti's jumped into the last race. One of the bike shop's reps actually won the Ohio State Championship so that was cool too. Cyclocross is a lot of fun to watch live - I'm kind of bummed the local season is over.