Halloween in Regent Square Part 3

This is the third in a series of my neighborhood at Halloween. There is no doubt that a friendly competition exists between some of the houses in the Square. This house though is always the house to beat. First of all it is without any decoration a beautiful house. I understand that the owner teaches design at a Pittsburgh University which clearly provides an advantage. I talked to this lady working on the man in black and she told me this year’s theme was the tooth fairy in search of a mate.

I plan to do some video of these houses at night and this one will be at the top of the list so stay tuned.

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Halloween in Regent Square

Halloween in Regent Square

Halloween in Regent Square

Halloween in Regent Square

Halloween in Regent Square Part2

Regent Square is a great family neighborhood in Pittsburgh where we make our home. Its great year round. Spring brings beautiful gardens and magnificent trees. Summer means block parties and The Run Around The Square. But fall brings Halloween and I have never lived in a community that embraces this holiday so fully.

I am continuing to scout the neighborhood thinking I might have to do a video to really capture the scene. Here are a couple of more from this week.

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Halloween In Regent Square

Halloween In Regent Square

Halloween in Regent Square Part 1

Regent Square is a great family neighborhood in Pittsburgh where we make our home. Its great year round. Spring brings beautiful gardens and magnificent trees. Summer means block parties and The Run Around The Square. But fall brings Halloween and I have never lived in a community that embraces this holiday so fully.

As I walk my dog around the neighborhood I will try to capture the craziness. Here are a couple form this week.

To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.

Halloween in Regent Square

Halloween in Regent Square

Zappa at The Pittsburgh Syria Mosque May 5, 1973

I have my comercial store with Red Bubble. Last year Red Bubble removed some of my work of Jerry Garcia saying the Garcia Family Trust had complained. I argued that I took the photographs of Jerry Garcia in a Public Venue and the ticket only restricted video recordings. I was protected by copyright law. Red Bubble intervened on my behalf and they agreed to allow my images to remain on the site for printed work but not for merchandise. Copyright law protects my original photography but doesn’t give me the right to manufacture t-shirts with my image. Only the original image is protected.

Now the Zappa Family Trust has filed a complaint and I expect a similar outcome. However so far they have only complained about two images and one t-shirt. They have not yet removed my best selling t shirt. So follow the link below to order your Zappa Hope T-Shirt today. It may not be around much longer.

The original shot for this creation was taken during the Apostrophe Tour on May 6, 1973 at Pittsburgh’s Syria Mosque licking <a href="http://clicking here.” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>here.

Zappa Hope T-Shirt

Bass Hands Revisited

Chris Wood from Medeski,Martin and Wood is one of the world’s best bass players. This was captured during “acoustic tour” in 2015 at The Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. He played three different basses during the show. When he plays the “stand up”bass the instrument seems to become part of his body.

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Bass Hands

The Joy of Golf

The legend is that Mark Twain once wrote that golf was “… a good walk ruined.” History tells us that he may not have said this at all but it has always been my opinion on golf. It seems a major investment in time and money for something that is essentially free. Golf seems to also cause a lot of anxiety and as a former country club bartender I could tell you some stories.

That said, a lot of people love the sport and for them I took this picture of a sculpture that seems to capture the joy. This is at a resort in Palm Desert California.

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The Joy of Golf

A Desert Oasis

The Palm Desert in southern California is home to Palm Springs and famous as a golf resort and winter oasis. It is also the home to Indian Canyons. It is not a national park since the park is on an Indian Reservation. In 1876 and 1877, the U.S. Federal Government created a deed in trust to the Agua Caliente people of 31,500 acres for their homeland. The tribe takes care of the park with assistance from California.

There are many different hikes and canyons and it is worth the short drive from Palm Springs to see the wonder of a desert oasis. We were there after a heavy rain and it was lush and green but also some of the trails were washed out.

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A Desert Oasis

Mountain Textures

My cousin in Los Angeles seemed confused when I told him we were planning to drive to Las Vegas for a couple of days. Oh he understood the occasional need to go to Las Vegas but couldn’t imagine why anyone in their rights mind would drive instead of fly. Especially when I told him we had done the drive before. He has lived in Los Angeles for all of his life and can’t say Desert without putting the word stinking in front of it. He looked at me with confusion when I asked him what to see in The Mojave Desert.

For me, every terrain offers unique challenges and opportunities. Every time I am in the Desert I find the photographic challenges to be unique and also rewarding. It is too bright, too stark and kind of boring. However those very features provide unique opportunities. The drive is hot and tiring but worth it as long as you never stop in Prim Nevada.

This image was taken at Red Rocks outside of Las Vegas.

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Mountain Textures

John Scofield at The August Wilson Center

Last evening we returned to the August Wilson Center to attend the closing event of the Highmark Blues and Heritage Festival. Last year we visited the center for the first time to attend the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival. We vowed to return to see a music performance and as we suspected it is a perfect venue for Jazz.

John Scofield is a master guitarist we had never seen and love his recordings with Miles Davis, Medeski, Martin and Wood and others. He was amazing and just as impressive were the musicians in his band. We had seen drummer Bill Stewart perform before with the Brecker Brothers. Vicente Archer on bass and Gerald Clayton on piano and organ also were both amazing performers. The acoustics are so wonderful we could clearly hear everything without excessive volume. This was the first Blues and Heritage Festival, we will plan to attend again next year.

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John Scofield