Tag: postaday2011

Panoramic Time Lapse Gigapan on McArdle Roadway

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 moon
Randy checks the battery and equipment
Heinz 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.

by Categories: People at Work, Photography, Pittsburgh RiversTags: , , , , , , , , 13 Comments

Olga Melynchek Muraska’s Nut Horn Recipe Baked by her Daughter

My cell rang as I was in the check out at Giant Eagle. I was buying cheese and crackers and Clementines for the Photography Class reception that started in a little over an hour. Marianne said that she was baking her mother’s recipe for nut horns right then if I wanted to photograph them.  She had made the dough the night before and refrigerated it.

I looked at the time. It was 4:44.

I was in the South Side but figured I could drive to the West End and then make it to the North Side for the last class/reception.

Make the dough the night before and refrigerate
Confectioner's sugar!

When I got there she had three pans of the cookies in different stages, just like a cooking show.

I started shooting to tell the story of the making of her mother’s recipe.  I was amazed to find out that is confectioner’s sugar on the board where she rolls them out.  Not flour!

The recipe says Nut Crescents but Olga always called them Nut Horns.

Marianne gave me a half dozen in a ziploc bag. Delicious.  Remembering Christmases past.

Here is the recipe.

Remembering Olga link.

by Categories: Baking, Photography, Tribute to a FriendTags: , , , , , , , 25 Comments

My College Friend’s Son (and his team- ALL ARE KINGS) Created an iOS Game

If someone said to me, “create an iOS  game”, I would not now where to begin.  I received an email (Homer, Alaska) from my friend Lisa and her husband Dave, telling me about their son’s team’s new game Forerunner.  I went and downloaded and it is a woman who is the runner.  I played it and only got a few torches lit so my score will not be listed here but I liked the graphics, the fast pace and found it visually appealing. I am also into young people following their dreams and accomplishing goals.  I think that is admirable.  Determination and discipline are two characteristics I know were necessary. Anyway I asked Christopher if he would like me to blog the news of Forerunner’s Debut and so here he is today’s guest blogger, right under my photo of the game.

The screen of Forerunner on my iPhone, resting atop my bag of knitting.

“Hey this is Chris from All Are Kings.  We’d like to take a moment to talk about our new iOS game, Forerunner.  As much as it is a normal game with running, jumping, and collecting coins, Forerunner is also project about color and contrast.  We chose a silhouette style with bright, monochromatic backgrounds for maximum visual impact.  The player explores five different worlds, each with its own color and theme.  The game is free with six levels and an endless “run-forever” mode, but you can unlock all 25 levels for 99 cents.  Thanks!”

The Story:

It is the end of an age, and the world is in decline. Only the revitalizing power of the phoenix can make it new again. A lone runner is sent on a holy mission; to light the fires of 25 sacred shrines littered across the five lands. Only when all the fires are lit can the phoenix be summoned and the world remade.

“It’s like Aladdin meets the Olympics,” – playtester comment 

A shot of All Are Kings- will add photo credit when I learn who shot the group

About Us

Developer: All Are Kings

Balraj Basi, Chris Ellington, Jarrett McKenna, Justin Nichols, Remi Storms, Jared Wuerzburger

“We are an independent development team. We originally met as students, and our origins range from Mexico to Alaska. After working contract gigs at game studios such as Relic and Electronic Arts, we came back together and decided to take a risk. Forerunner is our first game as a group. We are excited to share it with the world, and hopefully make a little money.”

You can download FORERUNNER  by clicking here. Play it and then write a review.

by Categories: Guest Blog, PhotographyTags: , , , , , 8 Comments

So a friend called up and asked, “Where Are You?………..”

……..meaning she thought I might be in Ohio visiting the family but I said ” I am running errands (returning containers that held delicious cookies for the cookie table) in Swissvale and then across the Monongahela to West Mifflin, dropping something off at Aunt Linda’s…” and she invited me to drop by since I was close to her home in Edgewood.  And when I got there, this is what was awaiting my arrival. Two colorful plates of a variety of fruit and some smoked gouda cheese triangles.  Mmmmmmm. Lucky me.  We got a chance to catch up and exchange a few school stories and relive Laura and James’ wedding weekend.  The fruit was refreshing and delicious.  It was a relaxing and unexpected treat.  Good to have good friends!

by Categories: Cooking and Eating, photo of the day, PhotographyTags: , , , , , 13 Comments

The Most People I’ve Photographed at One Time

Somehow I got the whole congregation in the frame.   Maybe I needed a wider lens for so many in a group shot  but it didn’t matter. Pastor Karen Garland  is seated to the right of front and center.  She asked for this shot  and everyone gathered together.  This is her congregation. They felt the love and squeezed in together, getting rid of the air!  I stood on a chair.  This is the fifth year I’ve photographed the Zion Apostolic Assembly Christmas Dinner.  Tonight it was at the Churchill Country Club.  There was a choir, mimes, preaching, gift baskets and a good dinner and dessert.    My friend Yvette invites me every year.  Their  church is in McKeesport. It was a former Catholic church and has a beautiful stained glass window of a saint but the name escapes me for them moment.One time I went there and shot a wedding. They do a lot of good for many.  Tutoring, Boys to Men and Girls to Women Youth Programs. It is an honor to be invited to share the evening together and I know they appreciate the photos I shoot.

Pastor Karen Garland and the Zion Apostolic Assembly of McKeesport, PA
phone
by Categories: photo of the day, PhotographyTags: , , , , , 26 Comments

Night Neon & the Double-Wide Grill

Friday night music was great at the Club Cafe on the South Side. I loved the contrast of the neon’s warm colors of Jack’s and cool blue neon of Club Cafe.  I know the “e” is missing but I liked the image of Jack’s going around the corner so I chose this one.   I took this shot from across the street as we left to go home.

But wait, we didn’t go right home-

Even though we were exhausted, R invited us to go to the Double-Wide Grill where the onion rings satisfy that deep urge to eat something not really good for you but doesn’t it taste great. (seem to be doing a lot of that type of eating lately)  You know I have a thing for old service stations and auto mechanics, right?  The old fashioned kind. I did not photograph the food.  Hmmmm.  But you get a feel for the place.

And when we left I took a shot from the outside and the old gas tank had the amount 37 cents on it.  Remember that price per gallon?

Jack's Bar at the corner of Carson and South 12th Street, Southside
Order a basket of onion rings and enjoy!
Vintage gas pump with the 37 cent price- remember when???
A close-up in case your eyes (like mine) couldn't see the 37!

by Categories: Night Light in the CityTags: , , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments

Tug, Barges and Carrie Furnace on the Monongahela River- Autumn Afternoon

After school I drove down the slopes to the flats and headed to Homestead to buy a special cable for an external hard drive so I could retrieve a summer photo for Erika.

I turned onto Waterfront Road towards Best Buy and saw the late afternoon light reflected and warm the rusting metal across the Mon. Pulled over and stood on top of a guard rail to capture the sinking light on the Carrie Furnace, remnants of Homestead Steel Works  and then I heard the tug and saw it pushing the barges up the river.  It was a mighty scene on the river and the limitations of photography or my ability to capture it thoroughly, the seeing and feeling it, became clear once again.

The Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation sponsors tours but the last one was October 15th so will have to wait until 2012.

If you want to get a real feel for the Blast Furnaces and the incredible history, interviews with employees  and historical photographs I recommend watching at least video # 1 at this website.  I especially liked the man reading the last names of the workers he found in some type of log at the site. He spoke of reading obituaries of workers who gave 30-40 years of hard work for the Homestead Steel Works What a compilation of footage of Carrie Furnace.  Closed in 1986.

by Categories: Photography, Pittsburgh Photos, Pittsburgh RiversTags: , , , , , , , , , 13 Comments

“Suburban 2-Step” Songwriter at Club Cafe – Live – Friday Dec 2nd- Pittsburgh PA

If you want to hear some good music in Pittsburgh this Friday night, head down to the Club Cafe on South 12th Street for the Early Show.

 Christopher Mark Jones– Songwriter will be performing with the band.  You might remember two of his tracks from his Heartland Variations CD were featured in the poet bio I filmed- Michael Wurster: CIty Books Session.

Christopher’s new CD Suburban 2-Step will be released in Spring 2012.

Eve Goodman will be performing with John Caldwell, too.

You can listen to some samples here and also see another photograph I shot of Christopher.  Tickets are $10 at the door. Show is 7-9 PM.

by Categories: Music, Pittsburgh PhotosTags: , , , , , , 5 Comments

NYC Signage Captured by my Sister

One of my favorite things is to receive a photo from someone.  They saw it and thought of me and the blog or just saw it and thought it was something I would like to see too.   Mary sent me this one and when I asked she said I could use it she said okay.

Just yesterday Rufus was writing about the last of the neighbor’s fresh tomatoes.   He was concocting the great looking shrimp tacos. He mentioned being told about a mystery ingredient for their growing so well and his neighbor has horses. Hmmmmm.  My sister sent this sign two days before. Seemed like a good link to a similar topic.  Horse #@%*!  In Pittsburgh there are signs about dog owners being responsible for picking up after their dogs and if not a $300 fine will be charged. I have never seen a ticket issued and I live across the street from the park.

But this is not about dogs and their irresponsible after they do their business. This is about the sign my sister found in New York City and photographed and sent to me.  It is about wondering the size of bag/container one would need to do such a task.  And wondering where they put the matter once it is cleaned up.  And what the price of a fine might be in New York City if someone did not comply.

by Categories: Guest Blog, Photography, SignageTags: , , , , , , 15 Comments