In 1974 I bought my first telephoto lens. It was a Vivitar 135mm lens and actually not very good so later in the year I bought a Nikon 200mm lens. It was good enough however to take this picture of The Grateful Dead at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in 1973. You can see other concert images on my commercial site by clicking here.
Grateful Dead Pittsburgh 1974
I was listening to some Quicksilver Messenger Service the other day and thought of this picture. One of the first photojournalistic images I ever took. It was taken at Music Festival at Pitt Stadium in 1973 called the One World Festival of Music. Quicksilver was sitting in the stands listening to Billy Preston when I grabbed this picture of Dino Valenti stealing a kiss. You can buy a print of this image by clicking here or wait for my new book, “Just a Kiss”.
Caught in the Act
Continuing with this week’s anniversary celebration of my first year of blogging, this was originally published in February 0f 2012.
I had the privilege of being a journalist on the original 1978 “Dawn of the Dead” and have offered some of the behind the scenes images for sale on my commercial site. I don’t have too many of Gaelyn Ross who was the pretty blonde star of the movie. She was hard to get to unless she was in a shot since every male extra and crew member on the set were acting like male dogs. It turns out she became a pretty good documentary filmmaker who made Killing Kasztner in 2008 among others. Here she is being filmed byy Michael Gornick in a scene form Dawn of the Dead 1978.You can buy a print of this image on my commercial gallery by clicking here.
Gaelyn Ross
This is another image from Dawn of the Dead (1978) that I have never published before. It took some time to resolve the reflection issue from the fountain. After they did, a crew member takes a light reading right before the action started for the scene. Buy this one or see other images from my Zombie collection at my commercial portfolio by clicking here.
Light reading at the fountain
One of the best parts of covering “Dawn of the Dead” for Pittsburgh Magazine was getting to watch the make up and special effects people at work. Film making can sometimes be boring, but there was no downtime in watching Zavini and his crew create Zombies and other disgusting stuff. These folks were all artists,upbeat and fun to watch. It also helped that this was done early in the evening, by three in the morning everyone looked like a zombie, make up or not. Buy this one or see other images from my Zombie collection at my commercial portfolio by clicking here.
Zombie Master Tom Zavini
Five hundred years from now when music historians study the music of the twentieth century they will probably compare Zappa to Bach and Mozart of previous centuries. He was a consummate guitarist but more importantly an excellent composer. He composed “songs” but what sets him apart was his ability to compose complex music in the tradition of the old masters. “The Big Swifty” is an example of this which he played at the Syria Masque decades ago. Buy a print or T-Shirt and see other images at my music gallery by clicking here.
Zappa Jams Pittsburgh
In honor to the great football game yesterday against our arch rivals the “Old Browns”, I wanted to honor Pittsburgh today. We moved from Cleveland to Pittsburgh when I was ten and no matter where I have lived since, Pittsburgh is my home town. We plan to move back next year and maybe actually GO to some Steelers games. You can buy a print of this image at my commercial gallery by clicking here.
Da Burgh!
We are looking to move back home to Pittsburgh soon. We haven’t lived there since 1978 although we have visited many times to see family and friends. There is a reason that Pittsburgh is frequently listed as one of the best places to live in recent years. Low real estate costs, reasonable taxes, one of the best medical centers and solid public transportation to list just a few. It is also a very clean city. People frequently see Pittsburgh as viewed from the North Side where you can see the confluence of the rivers. This is a more pedestrian view from the South Side with the deck of the Gateway Party Liner in the foreground. You can buy a print of this image on my commercial gallery by clicking here.
Pittsburgh from the Southside
It was 1973 and I only had one lens for my new Nikon F3 camera. We were sitting in the stands at a rock festival at the University of Pittsburgh stadium when I noticed Dino Valenti from Quicksilver Messenger Service sitting in the stands right behind me. They were scheduled to go on later in the day and were watching and listening to Billy Preston as we were. I turned and snapped this picture which was the first photojournalistic image I ever took. You can buy a print of this image at my commercial gallery by clicking here.
Caught in The Act
Larry Coryell is an amazing guitarist. We have been fortunate to see him a few times with other bands and as an acoustic solo artist. Here he is at the Stanley Theather in Pittsburgh in 1974 warming up the crowd for Stanley Clarke. You can see other concert images and buy a print of this one by clicking here.
Larry Coryell at the Stanley Theater 1974
Imagery Photography 