presque isle state park

On Saturday I went to Eerie, PA with my nature photography class. We photographed at Presque Isle state park, which is right on the lake and a very beautiful place. Unfortunately we were unlucky with the weather, and it was an unexciting overcast day, with some rain and snow. This made most of my pictures turn out with low contrast. It also made the sand, water and sky shades of gray, and so difficult to make look interesting in our pictures. So I tried to focus on textures, patterns, water-drops, and any visually stimulating subjects I could find. Because I could not take beautiful beach with snow photographs, I hoped that by eliminating most of the bleakness and monotone I might make more interesting pictures. What do you think?

downtown nature

 

 That the arrow points North was about the extent of my knowledge on how to use a compass before yesterday. But in my nature photography class, we learned how to navigate using a compass, degree directions, and landmarks. I worked in a group with my classmates and friends, Karen and Amy (also fantastic photographers). We got very confused several times, but since we were navigating downtown Pittsburgh, Point State Park, and the North Shore, we managed to follow the directions given by our instructor.

  Unfortunately, it was an overcast day, so it was difficult to get good lighting. There was also not very much nature along out path, or within the city. Patches of moss, a few trees, grass, geese, and a few other random bits of foliage were just about our only subject options.

   In some of the images I took I tried to incorporate the city, and show urban nature. Others I composed the photographs so as to eliminate buildings, parking lots, cars, and other city objects. My favorite pictures from this walk were the ones in which I excluded the city, either through framing, angle, or focus. I picked these three photographs because I like the shapes and simple colors. I converted the image of the dried and cracked dirt to black and white from the original browns. The image of the tree branches and seeds was already mostly monotone, I only increased the contrast and black a little to emphasize the curving lines of the branches and eliminate distracting details. I barely edited the photo of the red branches. I really like the simplicity of the single leaf, the lines, and the bright color on the soft background.

   What do you think of these photos, and urban nature photography?

Pittsburgh Food Not Bombs

Pittsburgh Food Not Bombs is a non-profit organizations that strives to help the hungry and raise awareness of the enormous waste caused in the current system.

Marshall Mangler

Participants in the Marshall Mangler 50k, 22.5k, and 8k, races run and walk through North Park.  The races began early in the morning of Sunday, Nov. 13 and continued through the afternoon.

election day, nov 8 2011

Natalie & Larry Kaplan voted in Shadyside on Nov. 8, 2011. Larry, who has voted for 62 years, said “I would like to see things improve, I do not like to see the two parties fighting, I wish there would be more consensus.”

Chris Weis, who voted in Shadyside on Nov. 8, 2011, would like to see more large corporations actually pay federal taxes instead of getting money from the federal government. He would also like more people to vote, and said, “voting is our civic duty, I have never missed election day.” 

Andy Parker has been voting since he was 18-years-old, and voted in Shadyside on Nov. 8, 2011. He hopes to see change in the library tax after this election, but think voting is always important, and said, “it’s important to be engaged with the voting process, it is every citizens duty.”

Michael A. Della Vecchia, a common pleas court judge, and his wife Elizabeth Della Vecchia voted in Shadyside on Nov. 8, 2011. “We vote in every election, it is the greatest right you have in a democracy, everyone should vote,” Michael said.

Christopher Hahn, who voted in Shadyside on Nov. 8, 2011, was born in South Africa and came to the U.S. in 1981. He was most concerned with the funding of the library, and said, “I always vote, it is important. How else can you ensure how you are governed?”

Alfred Blustein voted in Shadyside on Nov. 8, 2011. “I think it is everyone’s obligation to vote, I have been fulfilling my obligation since I was old enough,” he said. “It is important to have a say in who runs our government.”

Environmental Portraits

Stephen Grebinski, media specialist at Point Park University, familiarized himself with the school's darkroom during his first day of work, on October 24, 2011. He began his undergraduate degree, from Pitt, as a film major, but because of the “defining moments” and “time relationship” he became more interested in photography.

PPU concert

Jazz singer Carolyn Perteete performed in the Point Park University ballroom on Thursday, October 13, 2011. There was free food for students, and other fun activities including caricature drawings. This events was part of Point Park's weekly concert series.