Monday, Monday

This morning I was interviewed by Katrina Perkosky for a new alternative newspaper that will be launching in the Johnstown area in a few months. She wanted to discuss my "Abandoned" project and a bit about my work in general. Before she left, I also made her portrait for "100".

The photographer for the paper was Jacob Koestler and I also grabbed a photo of him taking a photo of me taking a photo of him taking... (yeah, I could run that joke into the ground forever). I'll post more about the article when it goes to print.

More from Abandoned

Yesterday I went to Johnstown to do some shooting for "Abandoned". The weather was terrible, but I needed to do some shooting in the city because a publication from Johnstown is going to be interviewing me next week and I needed something to talk about. While there, I found an amazing house that I'll blog about later today, but there were lots of other cool ones too.

More from Abandoned

Over the past 2 weeks I've found a few new houses and buildings to photograph for Abandoned. Here are some of my favorites.

100 - Larry

This morning I went to the flea market at the Hi Way Drive-In in Latrobe for the first time this year. Next to watching movies, going to the flea market is my favorite past time and despite today being a rather dreary day, I wasn't going to miss it.

As I explored one of the aisles, I noticed Larry selling Native American knick knacks. I thought he had a great look so I told him about "100" and he posed for a few photos.

100 - Kolt

I met Kolt a few months ago and he really liked the idea for "100" and wanted to be part of it. He plays lead guitar for the band Inside Out and this evening they happened to be playing at Mel's, a local club in Somerset.I sent him a message to see if we could meet up before the show and he happily obliged.

Abandoned & Alone

Yesterday the sky was filled with clouds, the kind of clouds that make for great photographs. Having clouds in the sky always makes for better photos than a crystal clear sky or (worst case scenario) a dismal overcast sky.

When I noticed the great sky, I had to stop and take some photos of a tree that stands alone in a field. I always thought the tree was interesting in its solitude and the dramatic sky lent itself to a nice composition.

Today the sky was pretty much crystal clear when I was driving around, but when I spotted an old, rusted out truck standing beside an abandoned house, I knew I had to photograph the scene and I think it turned out pretty nice.

Abandoned - North Star Inn

I read in the Daily American last week that the owner of the North Star Inn in Hooversville is going to have the building torn down. Now, I admit that I never heard of the place before reading the article, but apparently it's a "blight" on the town and residents have been wanting it down for years. The idea of an abandoned hotel was pretty darn cool so I figured I'd better get my butt over to Hooversville before the wrecking ball arrived and the hotel was turned into a pile of rubble.

The old hotel was pretty impressive. Signs on the outside walls read "Condemned" and "No Trespassing", which actually just fueled my desire to climb inside via one of the many broken windows on the first floor. But seeing as how a dozen or so residents were chilling outside and within view, I relegated myself to taking photos of the exterior.

Abandoned - Color or B&W?

The past few weeks I've photographed several new buildings for the Abandoned project. This weekend I was processing the newest shots and I ran into a bit of a mental stumbling block. I'm torn between whether to keep the images in color or convert them to black and white.

As a photographer, I've always loved black & white images. To me, they just feel more like art. But viewing these photographs in color, I realized that the color images sometimes do more to tell the story of the buildings. I'm almost leaning toward keeping everything in color. I guess it's really not a big deal at this point in the process, as I keep the originals of every shot, but I always tend to get caught up in the minutia. I'm posting this set in color to show some variety. I have also realized that I really, really hate stray power lines that are impossible to shoot around.

Anyway, here are a bunch of shots from the past couple weeks. Leave me a comment and let me know whether you prefer color or black & white.

The house in the last shot was especially interesting to me. I remember the house from years ago. We used to see it from the highway when we took my grandmother to the shopping mall in Lavale, Maryland. From the road, you could clearly see that it was abandoned but it was in pretty good condition. The windows were intact and I would always see cats sitting by them, soaking up the sun. I sort of imaged the house to be a feline version of Watership Down and assumed there must have been dozens of cats roaming around inside the giant, old house. When I went to photograph it, it had been years since I passed by. I was sad to see the house is now, quite literally, falling down. It was a beautiful building. And I wonder where all the cats have gone...

Limited Edition Prints now available

For a limited time, I'm offering prints of two of my favorite abandoned buildings for sale.

16x20 Prints of "The Homestead" and "The Clubhouse" are available for $100 each. This is the first edition for both pieces and they will be signed and numbered with a limited edition of 50 of each print. The pieces are printed on fine grade Kodak Professional Endura Supra Luster Photo Paper. The pieces are unframed and as you will see on the images below, there is room to have them matted before being framed. The pieces will appear exactly as they do on the below images (minus the copyright notice, of course).

Either piece can be ordered by visiting the Prints page on my Fine Art Site. Please contact me with any questions.

Abandoned - The Clubhouse

My longtime blog readers will remember the first time I visited The Clubhouse, way back in December of 2006. Back then, the building was in far from good condition. A fire had burned out much of the upper floor and water ran through to the first floor. But, aside from that, it was a gorgeous building and one that appeared to be structurally sound.

I made another trip to The Clubhouse on Thursday and was saddened to find it in terrible condition. The entire front roof had collapsed inwards and the left side of the upper floor had also fallen in. I don't know whether it was the strain from a winter's worth of snow or if the old building was simply nearing it's end, but finding it like that really bummed me out. I guess for all of these glorious, forgotten structures are on borrowed time.

Anyone want to be a part of my 100 project?

I haven't had the chance to photograph anyone for 100 in the past several weeks and the lack of progress is driving me batty. In case you're new to the blog, the 100 project is something I've been working on for about a year now. I'm shooting portraits of 200 different men and women from ages 1 through 100. So, upon completion, there will be a different person for each year.

If anyone is interested in being a part of the project, please let me know and be sure to check out some of the photos from 100 on my collection page.

Abandoned Places - 4

I found some great, new abandoned places today. I'm always fascinated at the variety of places left to rot under the strain of the elements. I've seen a lot of very large homes, and today also found a community center. On the other end of the spectrum was a "house" that was one of the strangest structures I've ever seen. I think, at one time, it was the "trailer" part of a tractor trailer, but someone converted it into a house of sorts. Windows were cut in the sides and a ramshackle roof was weighted down with old tires. It's definitely one of a kind.

Abandoned Places - 3

Yesterday I visited a few more abandoned buildings. Later in the day the sunlight was pretty harsh and gave some wicked shadows, so I have 3 spots I need to shoot in the morning light, but some of the places turned out pretty good. I'm especially in love with the first house in this blog entry. The shots aren't necessarily the best, but the structure of this house is just stunning. The stone walls are so thick! I swear, you could take the walls and build a new house there if you wanted to and had the money. If it's still there in a few years, maybe I'll do just that. I need to find out who, if anyone, owns it though...

Much to my delight, several blog readers have comments on the "Abandoned" photos and many have contacted me asking if I was going to offer prints for sale. I actually am, and those prints will soon be listed on my art page. I'm unsure what sizes people are interested in, so feel free to comment with ideas and/or suggestions. I might do signed, limited editions of larger print sizes
if there's a call for it. I'm also planning on pitching the collection to book publishers when I feel it's "finished". That won't be for several months, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Anyway, here are the most recent photos.

New abandoned buildings

Yesterday I decided to hit some back roads in search of more abandoned buildings and was lucky enough to find a few. I don't think any are quite as cool as the farmhouse, but they're still pretty neat.

I've decided to make a collection of these images and will be pursuing it throughout the year. I think it'll be a really cool project.

Abandoned Farmhouse

This afternoon Sharon and I were driving down some of the back roads and enjoying the sunny weather. We've both got a bad case of spring fever and just wanted to spend some time outside. I had taken my cameras and new wide angle lens with me, hoping for the chance to take some photos.

As we drove, I realized that we were close to an abandoned farmhouse that I'd seen a few times over the years. I decided to head in that direction and as we reached it I pulled the Jeep to the side of the road and switched on the four ways.

The old farmhouse loomed ominously on the small hillside. Five leafless trees stood in front of it but in the barren days of winter they did nothing to conceal the houses' presence. At one point in time, someone had wrapped the front porch in plastic. Over the years, the steady whipping of the wind saw the plastic become tattered, almost shredded and the result was a facade that looked almost like giant sharp teeth. The entire house leaned slightly to one side, sinking askew into the soft ground.

The rear of the house wasn't as ominous - or impressive. Layers of siding peeled away in places, almost like rings in a tree stump revealing it's age. Behind the house, a pool of water, filled with muck and mud, hollowed out the ground. The brick chimney could be seen easier from here, crumbling from years of exposure to the weather. The back door was gone, in its place a sheet of plywood in surprisingly good condition. The water made approaching the rear of the building impossible.

I circled around to the front of the house. I didn't bring my flashes with me so I knew going inside would be pointless. I started back to the Jeep, but noticed the very loud sound of running water, seeming to come from inside the house. I somewhat tentatively approached the red basement door and pushed it slightly with my boot. A scared rabbit bounced away, startling me a bit. I pushed the door a bit further with no result. Satisfied that I wasn't two seconds away from becoming the victim of a hockey mask wearing, machete wielding madman (or more realistically a wild animal), I kicked the door open the rest of the way.

Peering into the darkness, it looked like a normal enough basement from what I could see. I didn't step inside, but far in the distance I could see daylight shining through the rear wall of the foundation. Water was gushing inside, the water from the pond in the back. The water was filling the basement floor, at least an inch or two deep. Hopefully I'll make it back in the coming weeks and I'll remember to bring a flashlight and a flash for the camera so I can explore and photograph the interiors of this dwelling that time forgot.

Model Shoot - Heather

Yesterday I had another modeling session, this time with Heather. In her set, she was playing a "hunter" so we started off the shoot in camo and hunting gear. I'm so thrilled with how it came out and wish I could share more photos, but I need to keep everything "PG" for the blog. I'll try to get some profiled on my art site as soon as possible and I'll post an update then.

100 - 26

During the model "shoot out" on Friday, I found time to make a new portrait for "100". Jason's wife was one of the models and I thought he had a great look. During some downtime while the girls worked on make-up, I told Jason about the project and we did an impromptu shot.

Shoot out - 5 models and one tired photographer

A little while ago I had a model shoot with Gidgette. At the time she mentioned that she had several friends who wanted to attend a shoot so we started work in setting everything up. Initially, we were planning on having 1 or 2 other photographers attend to make the best use of everyone's time, but on such short notice no other photographers could make it, so I ended up shooting for 5 different models over a period of 6 hours.

At the end of the shoot, I was exhausted. I shot as many images as we do at most weddings, never mind hauling all of the gear from location to location, up and down staircases, through the snow, etc. Whew, I'm still sore. That said, the shoot was a lot of fun and I met some really, really cool people and I wanted to share some of the photos.

The Hunter

Gidgette's modeling photos

Tuesday I met with Gidgette and her friend to shoot some modeling photos. It was snowing and freezing cold, but Gidgette was a real trooper and we took some terrific photos. I'm only posting a small sampling here as I know I have blog readers of all ages and I try to keep everything as "PG" as possible. When I have my art site redesigned later this month, I'll post some more shots from the session. We're also planning a big model shoot next Friday so I know we'll have tons of cool new shots then.

100-39

This morning I was scouting locations for an upcoming modeling shoot when I saw a gentleman with a great look walking beside the street. I turned the car around and pulled into a nearby business to wait for him. Once he arrived I introduced myself and told him about "100". His name was Michael and smiled somewhat shyly as I told him I loved his look and would like to make his portrait. He agreed and I made the best use of the light from overcast sky as I shot several photos.

Afterwards, we chatted for a bit. He was new to town and was hoping to find work here and he is currently homeless. Micheal felt he was led to Somerset for a reason and seems optimistic for the future. As we parted ways, he left me with "God bless", a smile and a wave. It was truly a joy to meet him and share his company, even if it was for only a few minutes.

Amaya's Boudoir Photos

Yesterday I met with Amaya to shoot her boudoir photos. I was thrilled with how great the shoot went and with all of the incredible portraits that resulted. Amaya gave me permission to post the photos, and I tried to keep all of the blog shots to PG13-ish in nature. We also did some fine art shots that I'll be featuring on my art website sometime after the New Year.

Just a note that if any clients or potential clients are interested in commissioning me to shoot their boudoir photos, my schedule is pretty flexible in Jan/Feb so we can easily get photos finished in time for Valentine's Day gifts. Also, no boudoir shots are posted on the website without the clients' full consent.

Larissa & Brandon's Maternity Photos

As mentioned in a blog a few weeks ago, I've been looking for a couple that was "expecting" to photograph for some maternity photos. Larissa contacted me and we quickly clicked. It was obvious she wanted something artistic and that's exactly how I wanted to tackle the photos, rather than in a more traditional "Sears Portrait" kind of way. Her hubby Brandon also agreed to pose for the shots and this morning I had an awesome time working with this cool couple.

I had a really hard time choosing which photos to post on the blog as we got so many amazing photos. Brandon and Larissa are planning on another shoot around January and I already have new ideas to try out. Additionally, I'm still looking for one or two more families who want some "artsy" maternity shots so if you're interested, send me an email.

100 - 19

A few weeks ago I met Sydney on MySpace and told her about 100. She checked out my blog and liked the portraits I've been shooting for the project, so I told her the next time I was in Johnstown that we'd meet up and do a shoot. Well, today I was in Johnstown (I went to see The Mist, which was pretty good but not quite as good as I'd hoped) and after the movie we met up for the shoot. I had a lot of fun making her portrait and I think she's a terrific addition to the growing collection.

New Project: "On Life" series

On Life is easily the most ambitious project I've decided to tackle thus far. It will be a multi-part series of photos chronicling several different phases and aspects of life. Currently, I have 3 different parts planned - "On Birth", "On Love" and "On Dying". The titles are pretty self explanatory, but I'll go ahead and discuss them further anyway.

"On Birth" - As the title implies, the photos will be chronicling the process of birth, such as the expectant mother, a newborn infant, the family with their new addition, etc. I'm looking for several participants so please contact me if you're interested.

"On Love" - This series will cover everything from grade school crushes and teenage romances to couples tying the knot and throughout their lives as married people. Obviously I won't have any trouble finding married couples, but the other couples in love might be more challenging to find and photograph.

"On Dying" - I know this sounds morbid and perhaps it is, but death is part of life. I anticipate that this will be a hard series to shoot, both emotionally and in terms of finding willing participants. But, as in the book "Tuesdays With Morrie", I feel people who are nearing the end of their lives have a special kind of wisdom and peace that no one else has and that deserves to be documented.

As always, I'll post more about the projects on the blog and on my Art site (which should be fully functioning within few weeks).

New Project: Fading Away

In the past, I've mentioned my grandmother's struggles with Alzheimer's Disease. Over the past several years, we've watched helplessly as she had everything stolen from her - her memory, her personality, her dignity, her freedom. Seeing her fight the losing battle against this disease, and seeing the effect it's had on our family, has been crushing.

I've recently began making portraits of my grandmother, and those photos have inspired me to produce Fading Away. I'm hoping to find several other families whose loved ones have been afflicted with Alzheimer's and who will allow me to meet with them, photograph their loved one, and tell that person's story. Our society looks at Alzheimer's Disease as "forgetfulness". Most people know it causes a person to lose their memory, but don't understand the other effects of the disease. Through Fading Away, I want to help educate people about this disease, which is on the precipice of becoming an epidemic (by age 80, fully one half of all people will have been afflicted with Alzheimer's). I also hope that, by telling the stories of people who have had their lives stolen from them by the illness, that I can put a face on the illness and help further research toward finding a cure.

New Projects for 2008 and beyond

As 2007 nears its end, I find myself filled with ideas for new photography projects to keep my busy in 2008 and the years beyond. While I know my business often keeps me busier than I can handle, I still am constantly looking for new ideas to explore and new people to photograph. I'll be posting separate blogs for each, and if you're interested in any of them please contact me.

New Art Project: Our Generation

I'm currently in the planning stages for my winter art project, which I'm currently calling "Our Generation". In the project, I'll be shooting portraits of men and women from ages 18-21. Ideally, I'd like to photograph 50 people in this age range and gets a nice variety to celebrate all of the different personalities that the generation has to offer. If this first set is a success, I'd like to photograph different young adults every year, chronically how our society changes through the years. I'm really excited about the project and hope to get started in December.

If you're interested or know someone who is, just send me an email.