Recap of the Weekend

Light Up Night Recap

Awesome turn out at Light Up Night. I really enjoyed every aspect of the night. The night had so many photographic moments it was almost overwhelming. The night had gingerbread houses, reindeer, and ice skaters. I couldn't have asked for a more fun filled and packed night.


Feel free to post your thoughts on the night and add photos!!

Photo Spotlight

Winter Garden










I love PPG's Winter Garden. I honestly can't get enough of it. Even when its not in season I am in there having lunch with my friends. But for the Holidays they out do themselves. Here are a couple of gingerbread houses that were built for the holidays.

Feel free to post your gingerbread houses on here!

Santa's of the World

Highlights from the Winter Garden.

Like I have mentioned a couple of times before I love the PPG winter garden. During the Christmas holiday they display figures of the Santa's from around the world. This is awesome because its a filled with facts about each Santa and gives a depiction of what they look like. For people that live here and see this every year this might be old news, but for some reason I love it each and every Christmas season.  For these photographs I tried to mess around with things. I used the light to dramatically depict each Santa in a different way. I also tried to get different angles for each one. Try out some of these options and let me know what you come up with. So get over to the winter garden and let me know what you think.

Feel free to post your own photographs or comment on the ones above.

photography

Special Event

Light Up Night

 Light up night is almost here! Not being from the Pittsburgh area I had no idea what this night would consist of. It is a great family oriented evening that includes fun activities all over the downtown area to celebrate the Holidays.  Here is a list of some of the special events that will be going on during the light up night weekend. 


 Friday, November 19, 2010


Northwest Savings Bank Market Square Stage

• CAPA Choir Ensemble – 4 p.m.
• Al Dowe and Etta Cox Trio – 4:30 p.m.
• No Bad JuJu – 6 p.m.
• The Stickers – 7:45 p.m.

Bridge Party Stage (Clemente Bridge)
The following groups will rock this unique party over the Allegheny River

• The Granati Brothers – 4 p.m.
• Johnny Angel and the Halos – 6 p.m.
• Donny Iris and the Cruisers – 8 p.m.

Celebrate the Sights from Mount Washington; 5 - 10 p.m. 
Shiloh Street, Visit http://www.vuplus.org

• Enjoy Santa Claus at Shiloh Street Parking Plaza
• Rich Patrick Celtic Duo at the First Niagra Stage
• Dan and Jason Krivanek Holiday CD launch at the Grandview Stage
• Costumed characters, balloon artists, cariactures, business holiday specials and activities

One Oxford Centre; 5:45 – 9 p.m.
Fourth and Grant Street, (412) 391-5300
For more information, visit http://www.shopoxford.com

• Annual Tree Lighting by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl
• Rick Gallagher Trio performing holiday musical selections at 6 p.m.  in the Main Atrium
• Santa Claus arrives to hear children’s holiday wishes
• Free Horse-drawn carriage rides around Downtown by Mike Wertz of Caustelot Farms. Pick-up and drop-off on Fourth Avenue
• Live reindeer will be on display in the outside plaza
• Children’s activities, including face painting, balloon art, sand art and caricatures
• Gingerbread Lane—see this magnificent display of handmade gingerbread houses made by a local chef in the Main Lobby
• Live musical entertainment following Rick Gallagher Trio
• Have your picture taken with Santa Claus made into a magnet

Saturday, November 20, 2010

PPG Place Holiday Cheer; Noon - 5 p.m.
For details, visit www.ppgplace.com

• The Rink at PPG Place celebrates its 10^th Anniversary with a MASCOT SKATE and a variety of holiday fun; Noon - 2 p.m.
• Enjoy the delightful musical “HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR” show by Karen Prunzik’s Broadway Performing Arts; PPG Place Plaza, 2 - 3 p.m.
• A variety of musical favorites by THE GOOD GUYS; Food Court, Two PPG Plaza, 1 - 5 p.m.
• The Food Court at Two PPG Place will be open from Noon - 9 p.m.  
    

Festive Fun at Fifth Avenue Place; 1 – 5 p.m.
For details, visit www.fifthavenueplacepa.com
Continue the festivities with an afternoon of live music, shopping and fun! 
Got gifts?  Get started on your holiday shopping and earn a FREE Fifth Avenue Place Gift Certificate with qualifying retail purchases.  Redeem receipts from 12 p.m. – close in the Center Court.
Games, Prizes, Live Music & Fun!  Get in the holiday spirit with face painting and play cornhole to win a light-up necklace. Enjoy the sounds of the season with live music as you help Toon Brian create a huge comic of the North Pole.

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These are just a few of the events that will be taking place on Light Up Night. This is a great opportunity to take some fantastic photographs. So make sure you take advantage of this opportunity.
Also don't be afraid to take pictures of all the people who will be there, document the moment.

Feel free to post your photographs or anything you have about Light Up Night on here.

Photo Spotlight

FOOD!

With Thanksgiving coming up I thought it would fun to photograph some food! I love food with the deepest passion! So photographing it always seems like the best idea to me. I will most likely be posting a lot of photographs that involve food in the next couple of weeks.

The best way to photograph food I think is to get close. Get as close as you can to whatever it is and show the details of everything.

Also photograph people eating the food, especially kids. This will make the food look even better and show the fun side of the food. 

Also photograph the whoever made the food if you can. Especially if they are in the kitchen this will make an interesting portrait.

Embrace the color of different foods. This will draw the viewer into the photograph.

Here are a few people taking some really great food photographs.


http://www.christinapeters.com/

http://www.mattphotographs.com/


http://www.smithphoto.com/



Feel free to post your food pictures on here!

Photograph Hotspot

Eliza Furnace Trail

 

The Eliza Furnace Trail is a segment of the almost complete 37-mile Three Rivers Heritage Trail, which is conveniently located and used by commuters, walkers, bikers, joggers, and skaters of all ages. This is a popular trail that offers a unique view of various city bridges, landmarks, and views of downtown. This Eliza Furnace Trail begins at the parking lot on Swineburne Street, following the former alignment of the once heavily traveled Baltimore and Ohio rail line. Its eastern end connects to the Panther Hollow Trail (which leads to Schenley Park), and its western end will eventually connect to Point State Park.

Read more at Trails.com: Eliza Furnace Trail | Pittsburgh 

 Info from Trails.com

Not only is this a great place to take photographs of the river, people biking  or just people in general. It has fantastic graffiti along portions of the trail. It creates a great urban jungle feel that would make great back drops for portraits. 

Weekend Events!!

Friday Night Live
Jacksons Restaurant-Rotisserie-Bar (Southpointe)  

11/12/2010 7pm

Experience a wonderful evening of terrific acoustic-style music performed by some of the region's finest artists.

For more information, call (724) 743-5005.

Pittsburgh Penguins Hockey
CONSOL Energy Center 
11/12/2010 7pm

The Pittsburgh Penguins, winners of three Stanley Cup championships, hit the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Founded in 1967, the Penguins were one of the first expansion teams during the National Hockey League's original expansion from six to twelve teams.

For tickets, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.

Salsa Friday
Cabaret At Theater Square 
11/12/2010

The city's best Salsa disc jockeys heat up the cabaret's dance floor.

Popular across Latin America, salsa music and dance incorporates multiple styles and variations. Dip, spin and dance your way all night long.

Admission to this age 21+ event is $5 at the door and includes a free dance lesson. For more information, call (412) 456-6666.

Run For The Wounded Warrior
North Park
11/13/2010 8:30am

Take part in this exciting 5K and 5 mile walk/run fundraiser to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization that works to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women.

Presented by the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, which provides research funding, sponsored innovative professional training and education programs for scientists, students and the public-at-large and championed the regenerative medicine field. For more information, call (412) 624-5518.

Yellowbook Polar Bear Birthday
Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium 
11/13/2010 11am

Join the zoo to celebrate the birthdays of their polar bears, Koda and Nuka.

Kids will make special crafts, enjoy entertianment, receive a frozen treat and learn how to help polar bears.

This event is sponsored by Yellow Book, a telephone directory company. For more information, call Gabby Boldizar at (412) 365-2532.

Information from Pittsburgh Post Gazette event list.

Check This out

Silver Eye Center

Silver Eye Center for Photography is the only organization in Western Pennsylvania dedicated solely to the understanding, appreciation, education and promotion of photography as an art form and as an expressive form of visual communication. We feature four premier exhibitions each year in the Main Gallery, monthly exhibitions in our New Works Gallery and four exhibitions a year on the New Works Gallery Online. Exhibitions are enriched with lectures, panel discussions, workshops, portfolio reviews, interactive gallery tours, video screenings and more.

Silver Eye Center for Photography
1015 East Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Telephone: 412.431.1810
Fax: 412.431.5777
info@silvereye.org

NEW GALLERY HOURS:
Tuesday through Saturday, Noon until 6 p.m.
Admission is free. 

http://www.silvereye.org/programs.htm

Main Gallery: September 7 - November 13

Spectra: New Abstract Photography

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 11, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Spectra: New Abstract Photography presents recent work by five contemporary artists — Christopher Bucklow, Ellen Carey, Mariah Robertson, Jonathan Lewis and Jason Salavon — each of whom explore the richness of photographic color materials and abstraction from a variety of formal and conceptual perspectives.

The guest curator is Lisa Kurzner, an independent curator and photo historian based in Cleveland, Ohio.

This exhibition is generously supported by the Allegheny Regional Asset District, The Grable Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Anonymous, and Silver Eye members.

New Works Gallery Online: November 1 - December 31, 2010 - Volume 27
Features: Leonard Correa, Tustin, CA; John Flatz, South Strabane, PA ; Laurie Lambrecht, New York, NY; Eric White, New York, NY

All information listed is from http://www.silvereye.org/programs.htm

Let me know what you think. I'm interested in hearing everyone's opinions on this. 

Focus In

Dogs



This is Syd a friend's dog. She is a crazy character who loves the camera and having her photo taken. The crazy part about Syd is that she is blind. She hears the shutter of the camera she comes running. She is a model at heart.

Dogs are great to photograph because you never know what they will do next. It keeps the photographs interesting and fun. It also makes an easy and fun project.

With Syd I made sure I got close, she is a small dog but I wanted to make her look big in her small world.  I also wanted to use natural colors with her. Her fur is a light brown so I didn't  want to draw to much attention away from her.
           

I also didn't interfere with anything she was doing. I just followed her around on my hands in knees.

Here are a few other people who love photographing Dogs.
Erin Vey

 http://www.dogphotography.com/

http://www.scruffydogphotography.com/

http://ohmydogphoto.com/



Here are a few tips from Digital Photography School

                        1. Use Natural Light

                                        2. Keep the Eyes Sharp

   3. Go to Them

4. Give Value to their Character

5. Go Macro

6. Surprise Them

7. Schedule your Session

8. Be Patient

9. Experiment

So go ahead and get out there and photograph some animals. Feel Free to post your animal photographs on here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekend Events

Before I leave I want to make sure you guys have something to do if you can't get out of the city this weekend. Here's the weekend list of things that are going on in the city. Be sure to check one out and post your photographs on here.

Friday In The Forest
Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens 

Three Rivers Thunder Drum Circle
Istanbul Grille  11/5/2010 7pm

DIY: A Revolution In Handicrafts
Society For Contemporary Craft 

9/10/2010 through 3/26/2011 

Spectra: New Abstract Photography
Silver Eye Center For Photography  

9/7/2010 through 11/13/2010

Wings

National Aviary  

10/9/2010 through 5/15/2011

A Retrospective: Photographs Of Pittsburgh

Irma Freeman Center For Imagination  

10/2/2010 through 11/20/2010

Attack Theatre's Game Night Plus


Pittsburgh Opera Building 

11/6/2010 8pm

Get out of Pittsburgh

Hello Philadelphia!

http://www.ams-net.org/philadelphia/

I'm leaving for Philadelphia in less then 24 hours. My camera batteries are charging as I type and I'm planning on using every memory card I have. 

Everyone needs a break from the same stuff everyday, so my suggestion is get out of Pittsburgh whenever you can.

Take a small trip out of the area and photograph everything you can. It will get your creative juices flowing and give you a great chance to discover some great places outside of Pittsburgh.

I'm orginally from around that area so I will be familiar with everything, but I haven't been back in over a year. This is also a great benifit to my photographs I will be taking because I will want to remember everything I do.

I will be posting some photographs some time next week. I will try and post while I am there to show you some of the images I come across. 

Make sure you embrace the city every time you leave and when you return. Just have fun with your camera!

Phipps Conservatory

Like I mentioned before I went to Phipps over the weekend, which was awesome!

Here is a slide show of what I came across at Phipps.  Feel free to go to Phipps and take your own photos and post them here.