Volunteers
We’re getting close to go-time on WMC Fest, and we’re still looking for volunteers. While there’s work to be done in all aspects of the festival, I’m personally responsible for making sure that we have quality photos and video of the whole weekend.
So why would you want to volunteer your time for WMC Fest? Well…
It’s Fun.
If you’re worried that volunteering means you’ll miss all the good stuff, don’t be. Shifts are short, so you’re not “stuck” in any one space for the whole day. Last year I opted to cover the speakers all weekend, and got to hear some AMAZING presentations while I worked.
Meet Cool People.
This isn’t exactly exclusive to volunteering, since you’ll meet great people anyway. But I got to hang out behind the scenes a lot as a volunteer, and spend some time with the folks that make the festival happen.
It’s Good for Your Portfolio.
Believe me, I’m the LAST person on the planet to pull a “it’s good exposure” on you. What I will say is that you’re guaranteed to have opportunities to shoot some really cool stuff. Last year I got to shoot things like Aaron Draplin planting the Puerto Rican flag onstage, a rainbow parade, live bands, and a breakdance battle.
Support WMC Fest.
WMC Fest is a unique festival and community event, and it’s something that I’m proud to be a part of. I saw first hand last year how much volunteers are needed to keep everything running smoothly. This year, I’m seeing first hand how all of the money going to the festival is getting put back into it, and making it better.
Get in Free.
While this is probably the most reasonably priced festival I know of, free stuff is still pretty great. Put in four hours taking photos or shooting video for the event, and you can hang out the rest of that day for free (plus, you get a t-shirt. And since it’s a design festival, you know it’ll be an awesome t-shirt.)
Where Do I Sign Up?
If you’re looking to volunteer for our photo or video crew, email me at info@mooreclick.com. If you want to volunteer for other positions, you can sign up here. Also, if you’re local-ish to Cleveland, we’re having a volunteer orientation at Go Media on May 23rd at 6:00. You can find out more or RSVP on the Facebook event page.
Pittsburgh
I spent a day just wandering around downtown, taking photos a few years back. I made this little collage, and sent it over to Troy DeShano, for his Collab Friday project.
He also had a painting sent in by TJ Walsh. You can see what Troy came up with on his site.
love stINKS
So last night, I got to hang out with the Commonwealth Press crew, and do some printmaking. I haven’t screenprinted anything myself since sophomore year of college (so… 2002ish?). Luckily, the boys did all the hard work, and all I had to do was decide what kind of paper I wanted and pull a little ink.
Lisa from Sapling Press gave us the run down on how to use the letterpress. I’m sort of in love with letterpress, and I’m fairly sure that if I had access to one of these machines, I’d never get anything else done (but I would have just the NICEST to-do lists).
They also had a woodblock print set up, which is a little more in my wheelhouse.
I met some awesome new people, Dan Rugh gave me a hard time, and I went home with some pretty sweet hand-made valentines. If you want to know when they’re throwing another shindig, you can keep up with Commonwealth and/or Sapling Press on the Twitters. More photos, as usual, on the Facebook.
Between the Buried and Me
Update: You can now order prints of these photos for Between the Buried and Me, Animals as Leaders, or Tesseract.
I’ve seen these guys a handful of times (earlier this year, in Cleveland, with Opeth, etc). They’re really amazing live.
The other bands on their tour, I’d never seen live. Actually, I hadn’t even really heard any of their music before now, but they both have a really interesting sound.
Tesseract was on first:
Then Animals as Leaders. Honestly, I got so distracted watching these guys that I kind of forgot to shoot for a minute.
As always, there are more photos on Facebook and on mooreclick.com/live.
AP Tour
Update: You can now order prints of these photos for Four Year Strong, Gallows, Title Fight, The Swellers, or Sharks.
So instead of going out shopping on Black Friday this year, I headed up to Altar Bar for the AP Tour.
Four Year Strong did an acoustic set before the show for a handful of fans, and Alan got into the holiday spirit.
They also did a very much non-acoustic set.
Some of the other bands got in on the fun – I think this is the bassist from Sharks?
Gallows’ singer decided to hang out with the crowd, and I Hail Mary’d this shot.
It was a crowd surfing kind of night.
Also on the bill was Title Fight…
…The Swellers…
…and Sharks
More photos are up at www.mooreclick.com/live and on Facebook.
Signals Midwest / Shady Ave Split at Ormsby
Update: You can order prints from this show.
This is probably the most fun I’ve had at a show in a long time, so many thanks again to the Signals Midwest guys for hooking this up. I spent most of my time in high school and college in venues just like this, except everyone was in terrible grindcore bands then. Since we were from the boonies, we only made it up to Pittsburgh for big shows (well, if Laga qualifies as big), and this was my first time hanging out at 222 Ormsby.
These guys are no stranger to the area, though, and Max told me how Ormsby was the first place they ever played out of state. They’ve been talking about doing this split with Shady Ave for three years now, and finally made it happen. It seemed like about three years worth of pent up celebrating.
More photos, as usual, on the Facebook. You can check out Signals Midwest on the web, or watch their video on Alternative Press.
Thrice at the Rex
Update: You can now order prints of these photos, for Thrice, La Dispute, O’Brother, or Moving Mountains.
Thrice played at The Rex in Pittsburgh on October 21 with La Dispute, O’Brother, and Moving Mountains. Really hot, really loud, and really great set list.
Dustin’s also been doing acoustic sets after the show to benefit Invisible Children, and I was able to get some photos and video from that.
As always, there are more on Facebook and on Iron City Rocks.
Learning GigaPan
Last week, I got to go hang out with the outreach crew, and learn to use the GigaPan set up. You’ve probably seen something on this project before – generally people are most familiar with the inauguration photo. I’ve babbled on this blog about my interests in combining art and science before, so you can see where this project is right up my alley.
We didn’t have much time to play with the gear, and this was the most interesting thing I could find within the confines of the building. I give you an extremely detailed photo of somebody’s bicycle.
The Misfits at Altar Bar
Update: You can now order prints of these photos, from The Misfits, August Ruins, The Catastrophe, or October’s Children.
I shot a show last Friday for ironcityrocks.com at Altar Bar in Pittsburgh, PA. It’s rare anymore that I like all the bands on a bill, but these guys were all pretty great.
First up, Children of October
And, of course, The Misfits
More photos are up at ironcityrocks.com and on my site.
Get in touch at info@mooreclick.com.
Vintage Baseball, Murrysville Edition
The boys are are at it again – this time they had a small tournament in Murrysville, PA.
There are more on Facebook and on Pictage.
Ride the Lightning
We spent a week on vacation in Deep Creek, Maryland. While we were there, we got a pretty gnarly storm. A reasonable person would keep their ass in the house during such a storm. But my brother says to me, “You can’t photograph lightning.” So now I’m standing on the deck, in the rain, like a jagoff, and yes, Luke, you can photograph lightning.
Pics or it didn’t happen.
Oh, yes he did.
Around Thanksgiving last year, John announced that he was going to grow a handlebar mustache for vintage baseball. He’d been growing out the full beard since then, and just shaved it down to the ‘stache yesterday. I’ve been mocking him relentlessly ever since. Because I’m a terrible wife. Our friends are concerned he may tie me to some railroad tracks. It’s cool, though, the guys in his Judas Priest cover band really like it. Okay, seriously, I’m done.
I also did a few portraits for him, since he’s decided that he’s never, ever doing this again.
Sadly, I had to miss the exhibition today, but I did send the camera with John. Hopefully, he got a few shots of the guys in action. I’m sure the ‘stache looks awesome with his uniform.
There are, of course, more of these on Facebook.
Max Damage on Ice
I made it out to see Max Damage vs. End Zone at the Ice Mine in Connellsville.
You can’t sit down just because you’re losing.
John could play hockey in the 1970s with that ‘stache.
Mini Product Shots
One of the projects I worked on at Fireman was taking photos for an options menu for Mini of Pittsburgh. Although, when Paul kept saying he needed Mini product shots, I thought he meant he had some very small items to photograph. At any rate, the layout they did is lovely, and I’m glad I could contribute to it. It’s also good to know that if this IT thing doesn’t work out for the husband, he’s got his career as a t-shirt model to fall back on.
Make a Custom Brush for Your Watermark
In case you missed it, new post on The Photoletariat.
“Like many necessary tasks, uploading your photos to your blog can be tedious: after a while, all that resizing, tagging, and watermarking gets old.
But there are lots of ways to make this process more efficient, and one of my favorites involves making your watermark a custom brush. Custom brushes give you more flexibility (color, size, placement, etc.), and you can watermark your images in a fraction of a second. Plus, it’s really easy.”
Branding 101
I wrote an article on branding for The Photoletariat:
“A brand isn’t pretty decoration, it’s a pattern of behavior. It’s the way a person feels about a product or service. This feeling about you, and your business, influences their purchasing decisions. It determines whether or not they trust you and, ultimately, whether or not they hire you. For most photographers, you are your brand. Everything you do, from how you respond to inquiries to how you act at a photo shoot, communicates the character of your brand. So how can you get the most out of your brand?”
NYC Street Shots
We spent a good chunk of our weekend just walking around the city.
And here’s a bunch of Elmos. That poor woman looks terrified.
Yes, mother, I stood in the street to get this shot.
St. Patrick’s. I took a million photos of this place the first time I came up to New York in 2001, to see Blind Guardian.
We ate lunch at McDonald’s, because we’re terrible New Yorkers.
Haters gonna hate.
Wait, ever? Crap.
American Idiot’s 300th Show
I’ve never been to a Broadway musical. I’ve been to some that have trickled down to Pittsburgh, and got to see The Phantom at Pantages in Toronto, but never actually on Broadway. Somehow, I doubt they’re usually like this (our playbills came with a reminder that “Now is the time to use the restroom, NOT during the ballad”). Sadly, I didn’t get any shots of the place – the St. James is a great little theater – but I did get a few of the outside, and of the cast.
We apparently made it up to the 300th show, which included Billie Joe Armstrong playing St. Jimmy. I’d read mixed reviews on it, but I loved the show. Lori made fun of me for probably being the only one trying to get the cellist’s autograph at the end, but the string arrangements… good God.
We stayed after for autographs, and it was kind of a madhouse.
Somewhere in this photo is a very tiny Rebecca Naomi Jones.
I didn’t envy this man’s job, which consisted of saying “You can’t block the road guys, come on” every 8 seconds.
The man himself.
With the security guard we befriended. Apparently, he used to be a pro soccer player, and Lori got his autograph.
Wallace Smith. This guy was fantastic, and super polite. Actually, the whole cast was much nicer than I’d have been to a bunch of screaming loons.
Trying to match up names with tiny playbill photos for these ones, so I’m not positive on all of them. Theater nerds, help me out here.
Possibly Miguel Cervantes.
Gerard Canonico and Chase Peacock?
Stark Sands and Theo Stockman
Signed playbill, and Mr. Al Pacino.
When we saw that The Merchant of Venice was across the street, we kept joking that maybe we’d see Pacino. After the crowd dispersed, we started walking up the street and noticed everyone going nuts outside of the theater. We were pretty sure it was him, but couldn’t see him on the other side of an enormous SUV. So he hopped up into the car, and waved to the folks across the street. I’d already put the camera away, but luckily I’m a pretty quick shot. I also yelled “Hoo-ah!” at him, proving that I really shouldn’t be allowed out in public.
It turned out to be a great night, and a great show. Seriously, go see it.
The Met, The Empire State Building, and Delta’s shenanigans
I realize that three weeks doesn’t qualify as “soon.” As is usually the case, personal photos got back-burnered while I worked on some other projects. For those of you not following me on the Twitter or elsewhere on the internet, a friend and I hiked it up to the Big Apple just after New Year’s.
The whole trip went really well, except for the part involving planes (thank you, Delta). We got into, and out of, the city later than expected. Still, we had plenty of time to check out the Met.
It was full of art students, which I imagine is the case most weekends. On the right, a stained glass piece that used to hang in the Tiffany show room.
They had a huge Egyptian section, which Lori was in love with.
Please do not fist bump the artwork.
Also on my list of things I’ve never done, even though this is my fourth trip to NYC, the Empire State Building. We’d walked past it, on at least one of those trips, but I’ve never been to the top.
I think the folks that work there get tired of giving the same instructions all day long. One of them told us, “Vaya con Dios” when we got into the elevator. Not funny, sir.
Windy and terrifying.
Oh, and cold. Try not to be jealous of my hat.
Since Lori’s man is really into FDNY, we hit up a local fire house and some shop called Fire Zone to take some shots.
Protesters, although I didn’t catch what they were protesting.
We came up after what was apparently the first of many snowstorms to hit New York, so the sidewalks were a bit of a mess.
Next up, my first Broadway musical and street shots. As always, there are more photos on Facebook.
Winter Classic 2011
We were lucky enough to snag tickets for this, and spent our New Year’s tailgating and watching outdoor hockey.
We met up with some friends tailgating under the bridge. I didn’t get a decent shot of it (the D40 doesn’t focus as well in low light as the 300), but the guys next to us had turned the bed of their pick-up into a hot tub.
We decided that next time we grill steaks, we will bring actual steak knives. John’s really putting his back into it.
John, modeling our new toques.
The view from our seats.
More quality hats.
This section was way more organized for the Canadian flag than for the American one.
The loss was disappointing, but that was really the only low-note for the day. Still incredibly cool to see.
Deck Hockey
The boys also play in a deck league at Bill’s. These are from July, in case you were worried that John had shaved that awesome beard of his.
I tend to shoot the refs, too.
Maximum Damage
A few hockey shots I took over the summer. The tricky thing about shooting ice hockey in the summer is that the glass fogs up. Which makes it hard to get sharp photos. Still, I managed to get a few that I liked.
The boys play up at Southpointe, where the Pens practice.
Renfest 2010
Summers are busy around here. Editing wedding photos takes up most of my time, so I’ve gotten a serious backlog of personal photos that I’m just now getting to. My family goes to the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival every year, and it’s always a good time. The food’s great, I get to buy jewelry, and someone’s usually breathing fire (or juggling fire, these people like fire).
The German brothers, with Terry Bradshaw. Hulk Hogan?
We ran into some friends that dress for the event, so I had to get a few shots of them.
This is the face my brother makes when I pick up a camera.
My cousin Emily with a unicorn, of course.
Our king and queen for the day.
