Stepping back in time a different way

If you have ever visited this site before, you may notice that I take a lot of pictures of military reenactments.  I have a page of links dedicated to just that.  There is something very fascinating to me about people living, if only for a weekend, a lifestyle from the past.  I just love taking pictures of that.  This past weekend offered me a chance to do it again, but this time it was different.  There wasn't any guns, wool uniforms or which side is which.  It was about artists and swing music.  Some friends of mine belong to a group of artists know as Dr. Sketchy Cleveland Anti-Art School.  They were invited to take part of another event being held this weekend in Cleveland called the All Balboa Weekend, which like at a reenactment, people get dressed up in the fashions of the period.  But this type of reenactment is different. Replace the uniforms and camp life with snazzy outfits and some really cool swing music.  So how did we get to do this, you might ask?  You see, my wife used to draw.  Pretty much in the same way I used to take black and white images and develop them in my basement.  Our friend, (and astounding artist, Craig), invited Denise to come up and draw with the group and for me to bring my camera along to capture the event.  He even gave me a fancy fedora hat with a "Press" tag in it to wear.  Denise was a little concerned about feeling out of place with the Sketchy folks having not done it in a while.  But almost right away you could see that spark ignite in her eye and she drew the entire time and loved it.  I was so happy to see that come alive in her again.

So the idea was for the artists to draw models that were also attendees of the Balboa event.  Dressed in their finest wear, the models would stand or sit for 15 minutes at a time while the group drew them.  It really was fascinating to watch as each one of the artists drew what they saw.  And made it great for me because I had multiple things to take pictures of.  Truly, a great night.

Link to the full set of images here.

The world of HDR

Thought I would give HDR another try today.  Takes some patients and a lot of tries.  I'm happy with these two.  The others ones didn't turn out as great as I wanted.  But, like everything else, it's a constant learning process.  And a fun one.

Summer Storm

Love this shot I grabbed with my iPhone on the way home from work today.

Century Village Civil War Festival

This past weekend we loaded up the family truckster and headed up to Burton, OH to witness the Century Village Civil War Festival at the Geauga County Historical Society's Century Village.  We stopped by last year after the event had finished and were sad that we missed it.  But this year, we were sure to have it on our schedule.  Another excellent location for living historians to take over for a weekend and tell the story of the life and times during America's Civil War.  One of the things I like to capture when I walk around a reenactment is not just the battle, but how life must have been for not only the solider, but also their families.  This weekend gave me a couple great opportunities to capture that aspect as well.  Another thing that I loved about the weekend was where the event was located.  Century Village is right on the rim of a hillside and provides for an excellent backdrop.  A must see if you are in the Northeast Ohio area.

You can view the entire set of images via the link below:

Century Village Civil War Festival 2012

Cultered like cottage chesse.

This weekends adventures in photography led us to the Cleveland Museum of Art.  My wife and daughter, along with some friends of ours, wanted to go see the Rembrandt exhibit that is currently going on there.  Myself on the other hand didn't feel like spending the cost of admission to see it. 
I admit it.  I'm not that much into art.  But that changed.  One of our friends who is a professor of humanities at a local college, didn't go in to the special exhibit either and offered to take me and my camera on the same tour he gives his students when they travel there.  I was up for it and off we went.  And I am really glad I did.  There are some beautiful works of art at the museum and also some incredible bits of history.  And from our conversations along the way, I learned some things and it gave me a deeper appreciate for what I was looking at.  So, bravo Professor,(soon to be Doctor), Williams.  It was most educational.