Post Number One Thousand

On February 2 of 2012 I started this blog with this very same image. This image of Captain Beefheart at the Pittsburgh Syria Mosque is very special to me. It was the first time I was every back stage while a band performed. It was my first color print. I took it during my first year of photography with my first Nikon camera. It was the first image I posted to my commercial online site. It was my first online sale. It was also the first image I ever had stolen and unfortunately has been used on a few bootleg recordings.

I thought it was fitting for repost today. I started this blog as a way to express myself mostly through my images but also through commentary on things I like. I have kept it mostly non political and about my favorite subject; photography. The blog has helped achieve some small success with my novel and other books but I mostly keep posting because I find it enjoyable and challenging.Thanks to all my followers around the world and the people that have purchased my products. Hope you will stay tuned for the next 1000!

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Zoothorn Rollo with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

Zoothorn Rollo with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

Strange Birdfellows

Recently I posted an image of a Flamingo Squabble at the Highland Park Zoo in Pittsburgh. All the flamingos, maybe a dozen in all, were engaged with one another but off to the side was one flamingo all by himself. There were also a few blue herons together but one was also estranged and hung out near the solitary flamingo. Were these two pals ostracized from society for some unknown avian crime? Guess I will never know.

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Strange Birdfellow

Strange Birdfellow

Gerrit Cole

Last week I saw Gerrit Cole, The Pittsburgh Ace pitch for the second time of the season. The first time he pitched amazing! He had absolute control, 11 strike outs but made a throwing error that scored two runs and lost the game. Last week he struggled. He couldn’t throw a strike out but the team scored enough runs for Mark Melancon to get the save. Baseball is a funny game. Cole is a really good pitcher and saw I him on television hit a homer and double in the same game. I had doubts about our Buccos in the beginning of the year but really like the way they are playing right now.

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

Gerrit Cole

Gerrit Cole

Pittsburgh Giraffe

These long legged animals are amazing and unique. No other animal comes close to being this tall or having such a log neck. You might confuse a panther with a cougar, a wolf with a coyote but Giraffes are unique among all the mammals. This one was taken in the habitat at the Highland Park Zoo in Pittsburgh PA.

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

Pittsburgh Giraffe

Pittsburgh Giraffe

Safe at Second

Last week we went to two really good baseball games. I haven’t been to so many games since I was a kid and we have been enjoying our time in PNC Park. Last week Gregory Polanco was called out at second on a pick off play. It was the first game this year that I took my camera to a game. When Clint Hurdle challenged the play, I knew and so did anyone else sitting next to me in Section 4 that he was safe.

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

Safe at Second

Safe at Second

Pittsburgh–Mon View

I have been going through images I have uploaded to my blog but not published. Some I look at and have no idea why I never published them. This one I understand though, it is not taken from a Disney Photo Spot. If you have every been to any disney park, you know there are certain places with a Kodak sign identifying the perfect place to take a picture of Cinderella’s castle or Space Mountain. That way everybody’s photo book looks identical except for the grinning people blocking the view.

Pittsburgh has a couple of these. One is from the riverwalk along the North Shore of the Allegheny and the other is from the top of Mount Washington showing the confluence of the three rivers. This one was rejected because it is the dirty old Monongahela River. Except the steel mills are gone, the river has been cleaned up and people actually fish in it now. Sure there are still the barges and the trains running beside it. It is not the money shot but all and all not a bad view of our fair city.

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Mon View

Mon View

Run Around the Square

This year I am happy to serve on the board of Run Around The Square which is a 5K race and fun run in the Regent Square neighborhood of Pittsburgh. It is also in my opinion the best race of its kind in Pittsburgh. Now Pittsburgh has a lot of footraces including the Pittsburgh Marathon. However in our race you get to run through Frick Park and with musicians entertaining the runners along the route. At the end of the race there are free hot dogs, soft drinks and beer in Fern Hollow. It’s kind of of hard to top that and the hot dogs are from D’s SixPax and Dogz our very own Hot Dog emporium.

I will probably be writing about this a lot during the year but registration has just opened for the race which takes place on nAugust 27. To register for the 5K or the one mile fun run (with or without your dog), follow this link.

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

Along the route in Frick Park

Along the route in Frick Park

Rembrandt Tulip

This is a special tulip, it almost looks like a painting hence the name. When we moved into our new house in Pittsburgh last year we vowed to add 100’s of bulbs each year to make each spring special. This was the first year with a feast of spring blooms and next year promises to be even better.

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

Rembrandt Tulip

Rembrandt Tulip

White Orchid

I am starting to edit my backlog of images and found this white orchid that I took in January at The Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. Orchids are appreciated anytime but in the dead of Winter when it is seven degrees they are even more beautiful.

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Winter Joy

Winter Joy

Big Bird

When I think about large birds I think of condors, pelicans, eagles and the albatross. I forget about the ostrich. Yes it is a bird but it does not fly. Thank god! They can weigh up to 400 pounds and be up to 9 feet tall. Can you image a sky full of these?

They can also sprint at almost 45 miles per hour according to the National Geographic. They are weird but fun to watch. They have a strange gait and when they sprint they make your jaw drop. They share a large habitat in the Highland Park Zoo of Pittsburgh where this picture was taken.

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

Big Bird

Big Bird