Although Chihuly's pieces looked fabulous in lights, I almost would have preferred a day trip to Phipps Conservatory. Phipps is part of his "Gardens and Glass" installment, showcased at many conservatories and botanical gardens around the country. His work is cool and the way he creates is extraordinary, but I really was aiming to immerse myself in plants. With such low lighting on the plants and no tripod (Phipps does not allow them), it was virtually impossible to get a shot I liked.

Anyway, I kept seeing this enormous chandelier in all of the ads and papers and wanted to show a different perspective:

Ok, so you're not going to let me have a tripod?
Fine, I'm going to lie on your floor.

Oh and one final note on Dale Chihuly: Any dude with an eye patch is ok by me. Although, based on his insanity and medium of choice, it leaves you asking, "How does he not have two?"

To put this shot in perspective, the building pictured stands at least two blocks behind where I was standing, requiring about 30 panels to encompass the whole reflection. The finish on the glass plates of the building in front of me and the angle at which I was standing created this interesting reflection. These shots are cool too because the building itself already provides a grid and all you need to do is find the right composition for your eye. Also, had the sky been blue (and not filled with lovely Pittsburgh haze), this would have been an entirely different shot.


Enough of the the serious photo talk, let's delve into how easy it is to amuse me:

"First off, do you prefer film or digital?"

"Uh, mostly cameras... I figure to take a real photograph, you need a camera... I did one shoot where I didn't use a camera. I got some amazing images... but it's hard. I've never had to concentrate so much."

Photographer humor courtesy of Shasta

In order to improve Market Square's reputation, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership needed to come up with ideas that would attract both natives and tourists alike to the area. What makes more sense than 10,000 water balloons? Yeah, I don't know either.

After the battle cries had ceased, I was walking back to the car only to spot this chick going to her secret stash of ammo. Naturally, I followed her and am still laughing about how (dare I say it?) cute these two were.

This was the biggest urban water balloon fight I have ever seen - wait, it's the only urban water balloon fight I've ever seen, but holy cow it was hysterical.

It was a war zone. Literal, taped-off war zone. To be honest, I was there and cannot account for 90% of the water in this picture. Can someone please explain how water balloons can have that much of an explosive impact?

Regardless, the fact that it was a "city-approved water-balloon fight" makes me love Pittsburgh all the more. Hands down one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

"I never trust a girl who doesn't like icing."

I really find that to be an invalid assessment of trustworthiness, but whatever. For the record, I had no intention of offending the cupcake.

The Pittsburgh Blues Festival held at Hartwood Acres Friday through Sunday showcased many of the country's coolest blues groups. Not only was the weather perfect, but the musicians were, well everyone knows how I feel about musicians. I found a little soft spot for a Louisiana musician named Eric Lindell and his band, so I encourage everyone to check him out.

www.ericlindellband.com

www.myspace.com/ericlindell

I apologize for having an incorrect link posted a little earlier - cheerleader moment.

I really really enjoy musicians.

"Heartbreak, loneliness, despair and you can dance to it"

The blues are an extraordinary phenomenon in the musical world. No matter what, by nature of the blues being what they are, you know you will never be short-changed because of the energy and experience it takes to write good tunes. They are one of very few genres that allow you to take the very saddest of the human condition and turn it into a lil dance. When it comes down to it, I think the blues are a perfect cure for the blues. Life got that musician down and what did he do? He wrote an awesome song.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that the only pictures I'm posting of the entire festival are of Eric and his band. That's how much I enjoyed these guys.

There is so much about Pittsburgh that I love, but one of my favorite (non-music related) hot spots is definitely the Strip District. Aside from the original Primanti Bros., the Strip offers a collection of ethnic markets (Sunseri's meatball subs? Eccellente.) and the freshest foods in the city. Although I do like food a great deal, I find the most enjoyable thing about this area is the consistently genuine conversation. Apart from my experiences, just watch Penn Ave. on a Saturday morning and you will see a street full of complete strangers delightfully engaged with one another, behaving like old friends. I don't know why that is undervalued elsewhere, but I've had some of the best conversations with noodle-makers, florists, grocers and meat-packers - having never met any of them previously. Knowing why and how they do what they do is a passionate confirmation of dedication and loyalty that I don't come across often and seek out all too much. And yes, I'm sure it's not always easy, hell I know it isn't always easy, but they continue with it anyway. And that, my friends, is love, which sometimes seems like stupidity, though somewhere in me, I know it's far from it.

All this over a picture of corn.

"What, you couldn't fit the Statue of Liberty in there too? A copy of the Declaration of Independence? A Bald Eagle? C'mon the eagle was doable."

Interesting how my impromptu run to the roof of Matt's building created a more patriotic image from post-Pirate game fireworks than from the overzealously red fireworks of July 4th.

So, I thought that I was just going to fight a speeding ticket in Williamsport, but somehow I ended up at a carnival in Brooklyn. Who knew?

Believe it or not, it's actually a pretty sweet story having very little to do with the picture of creepy carnival characters. I just like the colors under the cheap fluorescent light.

Giant orange slicker, makeshift camera rain gear - I looked ridiculous photographing flowers in a torrential downpour.

Fireworks from Matt's roof downtown was certainly a new July 4th perspective for me. Although we couldn't really see the fireworks shot from PPG, the ones from the barges lit up the horizon of buildings in front of us.

The WYEP Summer Festival was sweet. That's really all I need to say, but I'll give you three reasons why, just for good measure: 1. The stage was positioned perfectly in front of the city, 2. The guys let me crawl around on stage during the shows and 3. Let's be serious, where is my favorite place to be in the entire world? That's right - in front of a thumping speaker with a camera.

I call this shot, "Al and the Bridge" - pretty original huh?

I normally don't do this, but this picture obviously wasn't taken by me. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, though I think this one is worth more than that.

How 'bout that Cameron Crowe.

Oh hey Sinead.

WYEP hosted its 10th annual World Cafe taping session at the Warhol Museum on June 22nd and 23rd. Hosted by David Dye, the tapings of Jon Check, Kim Richey, The Ike Reilly Assassination, moe. and Sinead O'Connor will be aired nationally in July. Check out www.npr.org for more information.

I didn't post pictures of all the sessions, so if interested:

www.joncheck.com (not only does he have a great soulful voice, but he happens to be the sweetest kid in the world)
www.kimrichey.com

Caroline played so beautifully that for the first time since 7th grade I wished I still had my cello.

Chuck Garvey of moe. at the World Cafe taping Friday night.

Probably the best full-band acoustic jam session I've ever heard. I really cannot get over it. Rob Derhak and Al Schnier of moe. (Do I add another period?? hmmm ...)

www.moe.org

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Mr. Ike Reilly!

www.ikereilly.com

Between each World Cafe taping session at the Warhol Museum, I had an hour to explore the life and works of Andy Warhol. The last time I was in this museum (close to 10 years ago), I can tell you that I didn't really get Mr. Warhol and I can, with confidence, say that I still have no idea what ran through that man's head on a daily basis. Cool place though . . . and, as expected, I spent a lot of time playing with the "silver clouds" that Matt describes as "instant kid". Although everyone knows that I don't need much provoking, everyone who entered, no matter how old, ran around like there was not a care in the world. I think that's the art in that room.

"I like boring things." - Andy Warhol

Hopping the tour to Cleveland was one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time. Playing at the House of Blues with Ari Hest and Julian Velard, the Damnwells, as usual, rocked a stellar show.

As you can imagine, three days of nothing but solid rock music generated way too many images to post. Despite not being able to post everything, I was, however, delighted to learn that multiple band members share my affinity for Scrabble.

In any case, I tried to post images that got away from some of my earlier stuff, but still embodied that "great show" vibe. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn't. All I know is that I shot both shows with only a 50mm (again) and that this shot of Alex needed to be posted.

Do yourself a favor and check these guys out: www.thedamnwells.com, www.arihest.com, www.julianvelard.com

Ted and Matt. I'll think of a caption later.

The Damnwells were in town last Tuesday to play the Rex Theatre and to make my life infinitely better.

(Dave Chernis - guitarist, Alex Dezen - lead singer, Matt Hammon - drummer, Ted Hudson - bassist)

It was probably Dave's tuning skills that enabled him to play in "no less than 567 bands" before joining the Damnwells.

Carlo and I finally went out did what we had been planning to do for a long time: a shoot of one of our favorite cities. Starting on East Ohio Street, we visited the coolest camera shop in Pittsburgh - Bernie's Photo Center. These guys know everything about cameras, so I'm sure you can imagine how often I frequent it. Just go in and ask for Frank - tell him I sent you, haha.

Then we hit the North Shore, the cultural district (with an impromptu outdoor jazz concert by Heinz Hall and a delicious Thai dinner) and Mt. Washington by way of the Duquesne Incline. Finally coming full circle at the end of our six-hour shoot, we went back to the North Shore to capture the city at night from a different angle. Carlo has some beautiful shots because by this time I was already walking on my hands and doing cartwheels on benches. Carlo, however, stayed very professional.

The evening turned into one of my favorite memories of Pittsburgh, but really, no surprise there.

Shot: Baseball game at PNC Park from Mt. Washington

The West End Bridge from the west side of Station Square.

Ginnie Springs is one of the only dive locations in the country that allows open-water divers into the cavern at the bottom of this spring. This was one of the many locations we experienced while diving in Florida and I am happy to report that there were zero snake sightings.

I knew going into this trip that a 50mm just wasn't going to cut it, but fortunately, one of Lee's cronies on the Virgina monument by Seminary Ridge happened to be moderately photogenic . . .

note to self: buy a wider lens.

Most people tell me I'm lame, but standing where Lincoln stood on November 19, 1863 was cool . . . certainly an important part of my Gettysburg trip. I think my elementary school history teachers would be proud.

Trivia: Did you know that there is only one photograph of Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address? Apparently none of the photographers were prepared for such a short speech (272 words, I think . . . depending on which version you feel he actually delivered) and due to the lengthy process of setting up, most everyone missed the shot.

As I always say, when in doubt, take a picture of Julia and Matt.

Taking a break from the competition, Diane and Jake show the crowd some of their salsa moves during the "fun dance" portion of the show.

I'm titling this photo, "Even After a Million Years, You'll Still be the Best", for not so obvious reasons, but nevertheless, it's pretty sweet that the lens flare ended up on the bristles of the cosmetic brush.

Assisting on a fashion shoot in NYC? A spring break well spent I think.

Tangoing with photo illustration.

Will Hoge and his rock band from Nashville made a stop at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh this past Saturday on their way home from NYC. Unfortunately, because of the stage set-up and limited mobility, the shots of the remaining band members were less than great. However, knowing that Will was animated enough to visually carry the show, I wasn't worried at all.

If you've never seen these guys live, you should check them out. www.willhoge.com

I decided to take a chance by shooting the whole show with a 50mm prime lens, hoping to come up with a slightly different perspective than usual. When you have no other options, the one thing you do have forces you to be insightful. Why? Because there is no easy shot. In my experience, this technique often works out for the better.

I want one, no wait, need one.

So . . . Will moves faster than my autofocus.

Harmonica, guitar, great gritty voice. Rockin.

I could make a joke about a bat, but I'm not going to.

Penn State's Casey Sandy is the top-ranked pommel horse competitor in the nation. Oh, and his nickname is "Superman" . . . go figure.

Sometimes, the best pictures don't have faces. (Greg Joseph, bassist for the Clarks)

Amazing how a few guys in Converse sneakers and jeans can captivate an audience.

Dave is certainly enjoying his coffee.

Since there wasn't a lot of room to move around, I figured it was a nice chance to snap some close-ups. Fortunately for the photographer, Rob's hand has more energy than most people have in their bodies.

Dave Minarik on the drums for the Clarks.

Rob James of the Clarks at last Thursday's show at Penn State.