Last week one of my student’s moms came in to create a special gift for the Communications student teacher as a farewell present on her last day of student teaching. The timing of it fell on Friday afternoon when they were scheduled for Art class and they asked if it would be okay and I agreed it would be fun to see an artist at work. ( I think she is going to return for Career Day, too)
Michele Johnson is the owner of 7 Heirs Body Art Co/ 7 Heirs Media and was telling us about how she was doing body art painting during the Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears concerts, drawing a crowd as concertgoers looked on at her work. It is true, she is quick and creative and the design appears rapidly and beautifully and the addition of jewels tops it off. The students gave a nice round of applause and it took no time at all!
Have an event and need some pizazz, call Michelle 412. 586.5006 or email her – kristal_klere(at)yahoo(dot)com
My grandfather wore hats. So did my dad. My sons and son-in-law all enjoy wearing hats. My grandsons sport baseball caps. My cousin Jim loves hats and I know my friend E’s husband collects them. I have purchased hats to cheer myself in winter. To provide shade in summer.
I walked by Goorin Bros. storefront on Monday and went in, learning that their first hat was sold off a horse cart in Pittsburgh PA in 1895 (according to the story on their website). I live in Pittsburgh so this caught my attention. The woman behind the counter was coaxing a flattened straw hat back to life after a shot of steam. She showed me the old tractor seats that are now stools in the store. I was waiting for my sister to complete some work and walking around the West Village, exploring. The photo of the exterior on Monday had the cellar metal doors open so I went back Tuesday afternoon and took another. The door was open and there was a young man sporting a hat behind the counter. I asked if I could take his photo and he said okay, (as I’m sure tourists ask all the time) So this is Ryan selling some very cool hats. Jessica, I will photograph you next time!
The store interior. Check out the white tri-cornerd hat, although it seemed rounded corners so I am sure there is an official name for it.
I wonder what this job would be like? I wish I had purchased a wood carving but the one on display was so large. This is from a summer visit to Croatia. As I remember this village was in Istria but I can’t remember which one it was.
Similar colors. A friend emailed to let me know that the once silver Civic Arena/Mellon Arena roof looked completely red so I drove downtown to capture the progress of the demolition.
I drove to the Strip on a most crowded holiday shopping day. It was Saturday afternoon in the Strip District and I saw a sign painter was painting above the crowded sidewalks. I realized I walked under a ladder. Didn’t think I was superstitious but when I saw this photo for the people at work series, I remembered a tinge of concern. It makes sense to not walk under a ladder as a bucket of paint could spill on you or you could hit the ladder and knock someone off. Need to do some research but not tonight.
I can tell you that the scent of grilled veggies and shrimp was inviting but I’d just eaten lunch. ; – (
Zucchini strips on the left. Grilled shrimp on the right.
Four Canon Digital SLR cameras shooting about 900 frames an hour ( with the kit lenses) mounted on gigapans and mounted on a long panel, attached to a tripod with a super duper car type battery-
and the results will make up a 10,000 frames which will be combined in a time lapse video. We will be able to see it at some point!
-and here is the story how this came to be on the blog today.
After school I was hightailing it up to Mount Washington to do a shoot for an engaged couple. On the way up the mountain at the top, I saw some camera equipment and a huge tripod. The guy manning it started to wave to me and then jog to keep up with my car as I slowed to a red light atop Grandview Ave. It was a former teacher of mine, Dror Yaron, now at Carnegie Mellon. I had taken one of his early Gigapan classes at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. {Here is the link to one of the gigapans I shot in 2008.}
I said , “I have to go shoot an engaged couple at the Duquesne Incline platform”, and he said, “Stop back here after that.”
As it turned out the couple couldn’t make it and so I parked close to the spot Dror was and walked down the sidewalk of McArdle Roadway, high above the Monongahela River.
In a few minutes the Senior Systems Scientist Randy Sargent and another CMU Robotics team member Anne Wright (forgive me Anne I didn’t get your title but remembered the “e”) arrived on the scene.
Randy had been there since 5 AM and planned to shoot until 11 PM. Oh my.
It was really cold, too. They were taking turns with the equipment. Later on I returned at 10 during the Steelers game just to document the commitment to the project. Randy had donned the ski gloves at that point.
I asked Randy about what he wanted to do when he was a child and he said he always liked to build things. EVERYTHING. Not just lego but pieces of scrap lumber from construction sites. I find that interesting how people are guided on a path to their current work.
Dror Yaron, Anne Wright, Randy Sargent
With the moonRandy checks the battery and equipmentHeinz Field turned on the lights to get ready for the night game against Cleveland.
Sunset was at 4:53 PM on Thursday the 8th of December.
Randy and Anne after ten, the temperature really dropped!
Here is the link to the site to learn more about the projects and the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
Mr. Johnny Liakos has worked here at the Weiner Stand for MORE than fifty years. Here is an articleon him and the famous hot dog stand in downtown Roanaoke, Virginia. I was photographing him through the side glass window, reflection and all and he motioned for me to come on in and photograph him. Seriously. And he stood there waiting for me, interrupting the flow of bun and dogs for a full minute.
People at work series. From the archives. Outside the coliseum. There was a cool Roman temple of Augustusthere I have posted before. Put back together like a jigsaw puzzle.
People at work. What an amazing place. A field trip for photo class Wednesday night. Craig and Kurt were most hospitable. And you never saw so many bicycles in your life. Steamers for handlebars, baskets, reflectors, headlamps, tires, gears, seats. You name it. Anything and EVERYTHING for a bicycle. Whatever you want? It is there! Craig has been collecting bikes for 30 years and just put this place together in the last three months. WOW is all we could say. Holy Bikes! The four bikes on the wall are Bowden Spacelander bikes made of fiberglass designed in 1948. There are very few in the world and here were FOUR together !!!
Saturday morning I drove down to the Strip District of the city to purchase items for the cookie table for the wedding. Ingredients; pistachios, hazelnuts, almond paste, Portuguese Pignoli Nuts, anise seed,fig jam, and some doilies for the cookie trays. Stopped by the Steeler Nation T-shirt display and told the proprietor his shirts were being worn in Zagreb. I bought them last year. We struck up a conversation and before you know it, Mr. Lenny Moranopened his a guitar case and showed me where Tom Petty had signed it T.P. and then had a well-worn leaflet autographed by Muhammed Ali. Turns out Lenny is a songwriter as well as a Steeler Nation T-shirt entrepreneur. If you’re from Pittsburgh you might have heard his Rock’n the Igloo! Check out his burghnationtees. He had a tablet with wireless capability and I was able to show him the post of the Steelers slide show where he was featured last January. Lenny had placed Steelers folding chairs to save a parking spot for a couple of nuns who came and set up a table to sell Advent wreaths. It was a nice morning. He graciously consented (I hadn’t asked last January) to be on the blog. Thanks Mr. Lenny Moran.
