The Chief Source Photography

Death of a Church

2012-04-08T09:37:00.001-05:00

Many churches in Akron are experiencing the same trend: dwindling attendance and too much unused building space. Some denominations are leaning toward consolidation.

When I spoke with Rev. Ron Shultz of Family of Faith last summer, he mentioned the selling of The Church of the Good Shepherd building on Main Street. He told me that McDonald's had purchased the land and the sale poured loads of cash into his coffers. He wanted to use that new wealth to reach out into the community from the Family of Faith church on E. Market.

Fast forward ahead a few months, and I found myself inside the discarded church on Main. Within was a maze of dilapidated dreariness. From behind the alter where the organ pipes once stood, to the enormous basement area, to the balcony and the five scattered and forgotten pianos, this exploration was surreal.

Akron Fire Department Station 4

2012-04-07T21:07:00.006-05:00

"Sometimes ya just gotta try something different for something different to happen."--Vegan Fortune Cookie.

So there we were, dismantling Church of the Good Shepherd, when the Firefighters at Station 4 asked us if we wanted to go up the ladder. We said yes.

You'll notice in the "skyline" picture the number 4 built into the Fire Station structure.

In the picture below, my buddy rides up the ladder with St. Mary's in the distance.

Super Tuesday Voters!

2012-03-06T16:37:00.000-05:00

8C Representing!!

Through the Tunnel

2012-02-25T00:52:00.002-05:00

Along the Towpath...

Signs of Life 2012

2012-02-22T15:36:00.000-05:00

I've done this post for four years now - the difference this year is it came one month early.

All of the other posts are about the excitement of Spring after a long, hard Ohio Winter....not this year.

Negative Attention

2012-01-28T17:21:00.000-05:00

This...

Gets you this...

Shot with a Minolta X-700 and Tri-X 400 film - developed in HC-110.

Mama Don't Take My Tri-X Away

2012-01-19T22:46:00.001-05:00

Kodak filed for Chapter 11 today - everyone knew it was coming but its still kind of a bummer.

The story is well covered on my favorite blog, The Online Photographer.

Corrected Follies

2012-01-16T23:02:00.001-05:00

My friend Gabe(who has appeared here many times) had a record release party at Square Records on Friday night. Square records is a pretty lousy place to shoot photos(florescent lighting, beige ceiling, wall blocking half the view) so I decided to mess around in Photoshop to give the pictures something interesting. The above shot is what I consider a happy accident!

Midnight in Akron

2012-01-14T14:21:00.000-05:00

I snapped this while crossing West Market Street on my way back from the RedBox on Thursday night - the beginning of the storm. I've been working on digital black and whites a lot lately and I really liked how this conversion came out. The most important thing(I find) is to shoot something that is conducive to a monochromatic shot in the first place....sound obvious but....

Nice Catch

2012-01-13T08:12:00.007-05:00

Behold the Ring Flash Adapter. It is an adapter that clips over a flash unit on camera. The flash shoots light into the top and it bounces down into the ring creating the round light. The photo above was my first shot out of the box. At only $40, this knock off is a much less expensive alternative to the name brand Ray Flash, which will set you back $200.

Catch light or catchlight is a photography term used to describe either the specular highlight in a subject's eye from a light source, or the light source itself. The shape of the catchlight in the subject's eye is naturally the shape of the light source.

Tim and I spend about two hours tinkering with various light setups. This photo of Tim was lit only with the ring flash and is unedited in photoshop. As long as you get very close to your subject, the light is really remarkable. It is some of the smoothest light for skin I've ever shot with. There are a couple drawbacks. First, it is cumbersome and really only practical for studio or location shooting. Second, your flash loses a lot of power as the light bounces down into the ring. This unit is really only good for portraits taken up close. Finally, the closeness to the subject will definitely make them shy and uncomfortable. But, whatever... our friends are going to have to get over it because the light is too good. We are excited to get the ring flash out of my basement and will be posting results soon.

Ring Flash Portrait

2012-01-12T18:43:00.004-05:00

Last night Kyle and I got together to mess around with a couple of new 'toys' we bought. I got a new lens(Canon 17-55mm f/2.8) and he had got a Photojojo Ring Flash Adapter. We placed the ring flash on my Canon 580exII and then set up two 430ex flashes 45 degrees back on each side for some highlights. We shot at 17mm and got in real close to achieve the "ring" catch-lights in the eyes. We were quite proud of our set-up.
I used a high-pass filter in Photoshop for sharpening and effect and really thought it complimented the lighting.

I think I need to get myself one of these Photojojo contraptions...

One of the photos Kyle took of me.

Button Brush Trail

2012-01-08T20:28:00.001-05:00

On the way back from an estate sale in Aurora we stopped for a hike at Liberty Park - neither Laura nor I had ever been there before. We hiked the 1.6 mile Button Brush Trail which follows an old oil well access road. Most of the trail was wet and muddy which made the small bridges(above) kinda humorous. While it was a peaceful and secluded-feeling trail I assume it would be a much prettier hike in the Summer or Fall....

Bridge Reflection

2012-01-05T22:19:00.002-05:00

I've posted pictures of the Everett Road Covered Bridge multiple times - but I really like the impressionist painting look of the bridge reflected in Furnace Run. The photo was really flat straight off my camera so I added a lot of contrast and saturation in Camera Raw. I also flipped the photo upside down. Dig.

Rust and Weeds

2012-01-03T18:55:00.003-05:00

Do photographs of old tractors rusting away in weeds ever go out-of-style? I don't think so. This is one of the Szalay's old tractors, an Oliver 770 Row Crop, now rotting on private property(an estranged family member's land). Oliver's were the tractors of choice for many farmers before being bought up by White Motor of Cleveland, eventually cheapened, and then discontinued(White itself filed for bankruptcy in the 80's). They were known for being simple and extremely reliable. I hadn't been back to look at this one for seven years and expected it to be just a 'pile of tractor' by now. It has sat in this spot for over 20 years after being "in service" for the previous 20. What a shame....

A look at 2011

2012-01-01T20:11:00.005-05:00

These are some of my favorite photos that I took last year in chronological order.

Pit-Pad

2011-12-31T15:16:00.010-05:00

With our Christmas bonuses, we traveled to Pittsburgh for a day. Clouds hung heavy and spurted a few yule- sprinkles, but we didn't let that gloom ruin our few hours.

We started our afternoon at the Quiet Storm, a fantastic vegan-friendly joint, just a ways down Penn Ave. The slop of red potatoes tasted brilliant.

We walked off our large lunch through the bazaarish Penn Avenue. Pittsburgh faithfuls sported their black and yellow, and Steelers songs rang from some storefronts. Included in the store mix were some rather interesting food stores, such as the one that offered dried cod, a Scandinavian picnic delicacy.

The city center sported a very busy skating rink, not much larger than Lock 3. Students' gingerbread houses lined the way to the rink. Nearby, in the very scenic Pittsburgh square, we found the coffee shop we were looking for, Nicholas Coffee. Although the guys were nearly too friendly, we enjoyed the selections of teas and coffees, and it helped us to warm our way back home.

The pic's are all iPod photos.

Holiday Bokeh

2011-12-23T08:35:00.003-05:00

A Friday Night

2011-12-22T10:42:00.003-05:00

Taken before heading out in Akron last Friday.

Christmas 1861

2011-12-13T23:23:00.009-05:00

It was very cold as our group of newly acquainted strangers walked across the frozen path under bright moonlight. We had gathered at night to experience Christmas in the year 1861 at Hale Farm. Our tour took us to meet the townspeople and hear their story of how they were impacted by war, how they felt about their neighbors, and their plans for Christmas. I tried not to think of this South Park episode. It was part theater, lots of history, and all lit by candle light and heated by logs burning in open hearths. In order to respect the time period, they did not allow flash photography. All of these photos (except the polaroid) were taken handheld with 1-2 seconds of exposure. I find the ghostly effect fits well.

Infamy

2011-12-07T22:57:00.001-05:00

A photo of my 48 star flag, the kind that would have flown on "the day that will live in infamy", in honor of the Greatest Generation on the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Turkey Bowl 2011

2011-12-01T23:16:00.001-05:00

Played annually at Schneider Park in West Akron

"Are ya blind or something?!?!"

2011-11-21T10:12:00.000-05:00

One of the worst officiated games I've ever seen....

Perkins Stone Mansion Haunted Tour

2011-11-20T00:26:00.006-05:00

This past Friday, Artcetera hosted a social and haunted tour of the Perkins Stone Mansion. The mansion is located on Copley Road and is home to the Summit County Historical Society. It was a flashlights and camera flash tour in the dark lead by staff who told stories in each room. The house, original furniture, and Akron history was all very cool. The tour guides did a good job of keeping the tour interesting. Most of the furniture is original or from the period the home was built when Portage Trail was the border to the wild west. Unlike a museum tour, you get to walk through each room and see things up close. It was fun getting to inspect some of the old artifacts like a quilt from the 1800's with a flashlight.

I hate so be a spoiler, but the ghost stories were pretty lame. Most of them are a variation on someone seeing a person in a window or in a room, but then when the police came there was no one there. Supposedly psychics have come to the house and sensed energy. They also call dust spots on photographs "orbs" and cite them as signs of ghosts. "People frequently catch the spirits in photographs." While my eyes rolled, my girlfriend snapped countless photos feeling she had discovered a gift as some sort of ghost whisperer. Regardless, it was fun to move room to room and see the place. I'd recommend taking a tour sometime.

Old San Juan

2011-11-18T11:37:00.006-05:00

We spent our last day in Puerto Rico wandering around Old San Juan - the 16th century, Spanish Colonial city. Most of Old San Juan is still walled and it is book-ended by two historic forts. We walked through the blue cobblestone streets to Fort San Felipe del Morro. Laura commented that we could have spent a whole day just there. We then followed the old city walls along the ocean to Fort San Cristóbal. We had a beer and some Puerto Rican food at a restaurant, grabbed some souvenirs for friends in a shop, then had to be off to the airport - and we felt we only scratched the surface.

Most of the buildings in Old San Juan are original and anything new has been built in the Spanish colonial style - they now mostly house restaurants, bars, and shops on their lower levels - and even though its definitely a tourist hot spot it doesn't feel overwhelmingly touristy.

Fort San Felipe del Morro from the outside.

...from the inside

more San Felipe del Morro

Typical architecture in Old San Juan.

Inside Fort San Cristobal.
More Puerto Rico vacations pictures here.

Ohio Statehouse

2011-11-17T17:07:00.007-05:00

I worked for one academic quarter as a Ohio Senate page while I was in college. My time there made me very fond of the capital building. Anytime I visit downtown Columbus, I try to stop by to walk the halls and visit the Ohio Senate chambers.