Woke Up, It Was a Foggy Morning
In The Early Morning Fog
My sister and I were on the phone and she had just asked me about my seeing things to photograph and am I always on the lookout for a good photo and I said I think I take fewer pictures now, that I am not obsessing about getting a decent shot blah blah blah and THEN-
And when I got to the red light at the end of the Liberty Bridge before the tunnel, I saw the fog enveloping the PPG building except for the pointy towers peeking through.
I opened the back window and took a quick shot.
On the way to school the next day I didn’t get a red light so no photo.
Day three! A red light and another quick pick of the city without the fog.
Sure Sign It’s Spring
Bloomfield Bridge Tuesday afternoon waiting at the red light I looked next to me and saw a vision.
Top down on a shiny brightly colored convertible.
A definite change in the weather and I took it as a sure sign that Spring is finally here. (it’s a Murano by Nissan).
Weekly Photo Challenge: A Day in My Life
The challenge came out Friday but this day is Saturday night til Sunday night- Easter! Not an ordinary day.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Neighborhood
Phoneography special. The weekly photo challenge I have been talking about it for days. Unable to do it for a variety of reasons. Out of town. Too dark. Many people shoot with their phones. All day, everyday. Don’t think much of it, the photos sit and take up space. They have them in the phone and that’s about it.
This is just a snippet.
Tonight Steve drove us over to Shadyside for 1/2 price burger night at Shady Grove. I’ve added some shots around town I already had in the phone. This is not an attractive time of year to showcase where I live. If you want to see Pittsburgh at it’s best you can check out Francine in Retirement of Frizz in Germany. I take photos of Pittsburgh frequently. This is a collection of the everyday. The Historical Marker is where musician Billy Eckstine lived in my neighborhood.
The snowy park is the neighborhood I live in Highland Park. There are 80 neighborhoods in our city. The edges of neighborhoods are where I drive through everyday to school and across the bridge, over the Monongahela. I’ve thrown in a few you’ve seen before just to round out the gallery.
Last Wednesday’s view of the Highland Park Entrance. The second one is what my driveway looked like! It’s all gone now.
You Can Submit a Photo of a Photo to Dear Photograph
Today I received an email from my son’s FIL, Donald, about a photo concept and website- take a picture of an old photograph in the same location where it was taken. He must have seen it and knew it would be something I would enjoy looking at. Boy, I’ll say……………..
The website is Dear Photograph and now that I’ve gone and read about it all, I must be the last to hear about it.
Dear Photograph is all over the news. It was even on the TODAY show. There’s a book of photographs using this concept that the young author/photographer Taylor Jones has authored. Simple and satisfying. Touching and fun.
So I looked at what was done and thought I would dig out a few photographs and give it a try. I just skimmed the tip of the iceberg as I limited my search to one box and a single framed photo – the one of the family in front of the house is Fall 1991, the year we moved into the house. Laura was in the third grade, Matthew fifth and Mark a Sophomore in HS.
And then I tried it. I found it tricky to hold up the photo and shoot with one hand. These are shot with the iPhone camera. I’m sure with a bit of balancing and practice the outcome could be improved but it was fun and I enjoyed trying to capture the photo of the photo.
Here are the results. Thank you Taylor Jones for the cool inspiration. I know the blogging community probably knows all about you and your website already but I’m glad Donald sent me the link to your website this morning. See what you can come up with using your old photographs. Having moved9 times in 16 years, there are a lot of photos of places I can’t return to and take the shot.
My pans have changed a bit from the Farberware to the All-Clad. Not totally but the rack is the same. Different stove. I still have the vase, too.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections
This week’s challenge is reflections and to see more responses to the challenge, click here
Pignolis- An Heirloom Recipe from a Friend’s Mother
The one thing I can tell you is, don’t mess around with the confectioner’s sugar amount as it is needed to make the cookie take shape!
Parchment paper is key, too.
You can see I should have put this recipe in a plastic sleeve. It is well used and always appreciated. People devour them.
Thinking of how wonderful it is that Esther was so generous to share her hand written recipe at least twenty years ago. Her daughter, Diana, will take her iPad to show her this post on Tuesday as we have no school due to the storm winds and rain predictions. I called and asked if it would be okay to post and Diana said, “Yes” so thank you Diana and her mother, Esther.
I baked these for Laura’s wedding last year and made them for the House Concert for my gluten-free friend.
(Smidge, this recipe is for you, too!)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette
The wordpress weekly photo challenge is Silhouette. When I hear that word I think of the little black paper cut- outs of children’s profiles mounted in a black oval frame. They used to be popular and hanging in homes. But yesterday I was photographing this display of bras created for October- Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The wind was brisk and it started to rain. The bras hung on a metal tree sculpture at American Eagle campus on the South Side, Pittsburgh, were blowing like flags. This photo is unretouched and is in color but looks black and white without any adjustments.
Last year there were thousands of bras strung across the adjacent Hot Metal Bridge which I posted.
A reminder to schedule a an overdue mammogram.
A time to think of all of those who battle this disease, family and friends we know and love.
And a snippet of video to show the wind and rain effect on the scene…
Bras in the Wind
Sculptor Paul Roger-Bloche Mother and Child Statue
On the way back from getting coffee with a colleague last Thursday, before the evening session of Open House, S. showed me this statue. Today I returned to photograph it in the sinking October sunlight.
As I drove home, I was thinking about a mother’s love for her child after spending a little time photographing the sculpture.
One block from school - Paul Roger-Bloche bronze sculpture,
L’Enfant,
created 1899.
Overbrook Boulevard and Ravilla Street intersection.
Here’s a link to the story about how Boy Scout Troop 224 rediscovered this statue beneath vegetation, when just the head was showing through. 
South Side Storefront Sign- Get Thee to Munhall
It was the color that attracted me. Not that the colors are particularly attractive but definitely made me turn my head to get a better look and see why so purple? Complementary colors collide.
I have put Too Groovy Pop Culture Toys on my list of places to visit. I see they have a FB page.
Retro Storefront- Men’s Shop
New views on the way to school.
Brownsville Road, Mt. Oliver (which is a “borough surrounded entirely by the city of Pittsburgh.”)
How the Weather Changed at the HS Football Game in a Blink
Friday afternoon, Cupples Field on the South Side, right after school.
I went to my first High School football game in years!
The flag flew at half staff. (There is a site that lists notifications to fly the flag at half staff.)
One minute it was blue sky and fluffy white clouds, the sun catching the gold dome of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Church on West Carson Street.
A wind came up and the rain began to spit. The temperature dropped. The sky got dark.
I’d taken cameras for students to take photos outside of the classroom. It was time to head home!
I Swear This ’57 Chevy Has a Face
(At least I think it’s a 1957 from the images I could find on google.
If you think I’m wrong, let me know)
You can see why they made the Pixar movie CARS. Two eyes and a nose and a mouth are perfect and lend themselves to being humanized, animated and given the ability to talk.
Just in case you need a little something to keep you busy on weekends.
It’s only a mile from my house and I keep seeing her look at me when I drive by. Cars are female, right? Like boats? (Except in the movie CARS there are a lot of guy cars) But do you still hear comments like, “She’s a real beaut!” or ” I got her up about seventy on the straightaway.” when referring to a car. How did boats and cars get designated female and is that something old fashioned that is totally out of style? Here’s some debate I was able to find on the subject at English Forums.
Lone Protestor on a Rainy Saturday Afternoon
Definition from Free Dictionary
| pro·test v.
pro·test·ed, pro·test·ing, pro·tests v.tr. 1. To object to, especially in a formal statement.
2. To promise or affirm with earnest solemnity\
3. Law To declare (a bill) dishonored or refused.
4. Archaic To proclaim or make known
v.intr. 1. To express strong objection.
2. To make an earnest avowal or affirmation.
n. 1. A formal declaration of disapproval or objection issued by a concerned person, group, or organization. 2. An individual or collective gesture or display of disapproval. |
As I sat at the light at the corner of Penn Avenue and Highland, I heard a couple of horns blowing and I thought, huh? I’d run to the bank and the store.
And then the light turned from red to green, I had to keep moving so there was no chance for a closer shot.
Then I noticed the lone protestor in the rain. His placard said- Honk Stop U.S. War ( and something else at the bottom but couldn’t decipher in the rush),
He was putting up an umbrella. No time to get out my good camera. The phone was charging in the console and I lifted it and took one frame. Had to drive.
There was something stark and incredibly poignant about this solitary figure standing in the rain with his sign. I wondered if he had a family member in the service, somewhere in harms way. Wants them home. I was still thinking about him today.
Just this week I’d talked to the classes about the purposes of photography. Today my purpose is to document. Document what I witnessed. A man whose convictions and beliefs are so strong that discomfort and getting rained upon did not deter his effort.
People think one person can’t be effective in doing anything to create change.
Maybe so, but it doesn’t stop this man from trying, standing up for what he believes “with earnest solemnity”
50 Years of Soup Cans Flying Off the Shelves
So what’s all the fuss about soup? It’s the cans, man. Fiftieth Anniversary Limited-Edition soup cans.
The article I read said the special soup cans would be available at Target (and only Target, what’s up with that?) on Saturday, September 2nd.
Andy Warhol? Pittsburgh? Tomato soup cans with colorful labels and a pic of Andy himself?
I thought they’d be a nice addition to the classroom, a conversation piece, honoring our native son- Andy Warhol. Laura said they could be planters or pencil holders. I had the poster of the giant tomato soup can in my art room for years. I had in mind to get some although I didn’t rush right out the first day they were available.
This is the shelf display on Sunday morning September 3rd. Another shopper was stocking up and putting cans in his cart. I know now that he must have been frustrated when he went to make his purchase.
There was a sign that there would be a limit on the numbers of cans you could buy but did not specify the particulars or numbers.
Maybe that’s changed by now but when I got to the checkout, the cashier told me that I could buy two of each color. Hmmm. She took two away and put them under the counter and I was left with 5 cans to buy. I asked Steve if he went to Target to look for them and buy a few more as I thought they would be great gifts.
A great souvenir. (and 75 cents!!) Steve went and bought six cans. One of the colors was already gone. There were a lot of cans that were dented and the label was ripped so he left them on the shelf. I wish they weren’t a pop top on the can as they are more likely to be opened by a student who wants to have some fun.
Not long ago, I read an article about the amount of sugar and sodium in a can of tomato soup and that no one should really be eating it but it tastes like childhood to me. Especially when paired with a toasted cheese sandwich in the winter. My mother made the whole wheat sandwiches open-face in the broiler- no grilled cheese for me as a kid, just toasted. I also like to put extra sharp cheddar cheese in the bottom of the bowl so when you pour the hot soup on top it melts……
But I digress…..
The 11 AM shot of the shelf display- iPhone shots today. Just one so no chance to get it sharper as you’ll see in the later photo. I am wondering how they are selling in other parts of the country.
To read more about Campbell’s Soup Cans and Andy Warhol‘s art depicting them, click
And the cans on the shelf at home
I returned to the Target store to pick up photos I took from last week’s 9th grade orientation and thought I would check up on canned soup sales. Here is what I found when I went to look.
The shelf at 5:00 PM Sunday the third of September
Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban
I could sift through thousands of urban photographs for this week’s challenge: urban.
There are the suburban shots of the family in my file folders, too.
Choosing a cohesive urban series was my personal challenge. The most searched term on my blog and a true urban image is NYC Rooftops at Night which I posted in 2009.
I live and work in the city of Pittsburgh, driving across bridges and past demolitions, playgrounds and chain link fences. There are skyscrapers and empty lots. When I visit my sister in lower Manhattan there are hundreds more images to shoot and file. And why not throw in a couple from Zagreb where Matthew lives?
So much for a cohesive series. Here are my urban selections for this week’s challenge. A couple will be familiar if you’ve followed me for more than a year.
One hundred other bloggers interpretations of URBAN
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « e-Shibin
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Fenland Photos
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Flickr Comments
- Weekly Photo Challenge – Urban | Chittle Chattle
- Weekly Photo Challenge – Urban | Chittle Chattle
- Le città e il gioco. 2. | Empire of Lights
- Photos by the Dog of a Depressed Woman « Broken Light: A Photography Collective
- WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : URBAN « beyond toxicity
- Weekly Photo Challenge – Urban | Just Snaps
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban – Downtown Oak Hill, Alabama | Humbled Pie
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban – Joy and Woe
- Urbanizando el tiempo « La Mandraka
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Pictures for Froghopper
- Weekly Photo Challenge; Urban « So where’s the snow?
- Urban Energy « the thirdeyeworld
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Wind Against Current
- Weekly Photo Challenge: My Urban Garden | Cardinal Guzman
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « britten
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Figments of a DuTchess
- Urbaunite « bukaningrat ™
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « A year in the Life
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « MaanKind
- Weekly Photo Challenge – Urbane | Canoe Communications
- weekly photo challenge: urban « A Meditative Journey with Saldage
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Efrata Denny Saputra Yunus
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Four Deer Oak
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « matt_pic’s
- Weekly Photo Challenge: URBAN « iñigo boy
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Lucid Gypsy
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Lydia Street
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | A barbaric YAWP across the Web
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « picture-bandit
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Disorderly Chickadee
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « A Happy and Beautiful World
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Picturing England
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Children’s Books & More
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | StandingStill
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « danajoward
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | efahmi.info
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban «
- Weekly Photo Challenge – Urban « Tacts Blog
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Capture the Moment
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Healthcare Updates
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Merge | Thrifty Finn
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Ohm Sweet Ohm
- faux statue « primo piano
- Urban Flowers (aka Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban) | One Not Alone.
- Weekly Photo Challenge: The Red Door « Shelf Life of a Bookseller
- WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : URBAN « 2012 – ON THE BENCH
- WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : URBAN « 2012 – ON THE BENCH
- Two Awesome WordPress Themes For $29 [Deals] | Open Knowledge
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Carra Design
- WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: URBAN – A slice of Metro Manila « mywordwall
- One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish « Detours by Deepali
- Weekly Photo Challenge – Urban « mtlawleyshire
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | perceptionsofareluctanthomemaker
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « DesignHouse9
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Lonely Travelog
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Bams’ Blog
- Weekly Photo Challenge theme ‘Urban’ | Campanulla Della Anna
- Dreaming under the trees « mein27 photoblog
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « JahsWorld
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | My Sardinian Life | La Mia Vita Sarda
- The bride in the city…City Explo[it/r]ation, a WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge |
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Project 365 Challenge in 2012
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | R Shad
- Challenge photo – Urbain – Paris-Plages « Paris en photographies
- urban human « i don’t understand the cattle
- Pont Neuf – urbain « Paris en photographies
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Julie Dawn Fox in Portugal
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Rois
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « miljoanne
- Weekly Photo Challenge : Urban « Cheryl Andrews
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Insanity at its best!
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Emma’s life unravel
- weekly photo challenge: urban « monkeymuesli
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Last Train to QVille
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Monochrome
- Weekly photo challenge ~ Urban | holistic complications
- The Barrio Of Kitsch « The Urge To Wander
- weekly photo challenge : urban | bodhisattvaintraining
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Mirth and Motivation
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | The Blog Farm – A Growing Blog Community
- Urban Silhouettes « Ink.
- weekly photo challenge : urban (part 2) | bodhisattvaintraining
- Weekly Photo Challenge:http://humbledpie.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/this-mornings-commute-across-tampa-bay/ | Humbled Pie
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Olivia May Photography
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Becca’s Photo Blog
- Photos Galore! Travel Photo of the Year Contest, Travel Theme – Silhouette, Weekly Photo Challenge – Urban | newsofthetimes
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban Leiden « What’s (in) the picture?
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Wanderings of an Elusive Mind
- Urbanite | Beyond the Brush
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Stephen Kelly Creative
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | The Retiring Sort
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Chronicles of Illusions
- Urban Rooftops « Broken Light: A Photography Collective
- ER, BAN REALLY AWFUL RHYMES? | Colonialist’s Blog
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban « Zain’s Pix & Text
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Photography Journal Blog
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban | Autumn in Bruge
Somewhere Under a Rainbow
The neighborhood is Shadyside.
Almost to Walnut Street along Shady Avenue, I had to stop and pull over.
A summer cloudburst, along with the sun appearing in the western sky- rainbow!
I’m sure the image could be tweaked a bit to darken the colors, but this is just as it was. The building is Calvary Church Parish Hall on the left, the church on the right. The 50mm 1.2 L lens was on the camera.
When a Dog Smiles at the Camera
You have to take a picture. I asked the owner’s permission. She looked as if she had just been on a run or about to go on one with some friends.
His name is Oliver!
Oliver is a Heinz 57 mutt and he was smiling for the camera!
He’s six months old and has that puppy energy and enthusiasm. What a happy guy.
I’d just come out of the end of the year faculty meeting/gathering at the Hofbrauhaus on the edge of South Side Works near the riverfront trail.
So thanks Oliver (and your owner also- sorry I didn’t get your name)
I know Murphy smiles for the camera, too.
What a great personality! 
Locker Contents
Wednesday is the last day with students- Friday the last day of school for the year.
Green-Tipped Straightneck- Organic Baby Squash
Bought from the Farmer’s Market in East Liberty Monday afternoon. In haste. It started to pour. Will get the name of the vendor next week!
Green-tipped straightneck squash and a few baby zucchini. I liked the green-tips which looked as if the squash ends were dipped in green paint.
Fresh Baked Pies on Handmade Ceramic Pie Stands at the Farmer’s Market
(I am posting this with our dear friend Rob in mind . You might remember he guest blogged for National Pie Day when he was a pie judge)
Okay, I posted the donut for National Donut Day and then yesterday’s baked goods upgrade of the elegant French macarons.
Today it is the fresh baked pies. Fresh Baked Pies from Annie Oakley’s Kitchen that is!
Meet Annie the owner of Annie Oakley’s Kitchen and her sister-in-law Christa, who is a pie apprentice. They were sporting company shirts and aprons and selling delicious looking pies at the South Side Farmer’s Market on Carson Street.
I loved that they had a box of forks so you could dig right in after purchase.
Annie the pie maker on the left and Christa (sister-in-law) the pie apprentice on the right.
And Mom, Bryna, is the ceramicist who created the pie/cake stands for the display. She also makes ceramic pie plates for sale.
What a fun booth they had set up in the Farmer’s Market on Carson Street. They are at the Whitehall Farmer’s Market on Mondays.
I sampled the apple butter which she sells on ETSY for just $4 a jar.
I bought two small strawberry rhubarb pies for $5 which was a sweet deal.
A Day to Remember
A neighbor’s display in his yard. Each flag has a metal marker of a different war. Too many wars.
Happy Birthday Mark
Love you, Ma
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