Tag Archives: Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Today Live

Appearances, Pittsburgh, Uncategorized,
IMG_67221
On the set of Pittsburgh Today Live with Heather Abraham

What a week it has been! Aside from the incredible weather that we’ve had in Pittsburgh and all of the unique capture opportunities that’s presented, I was asked mid-week if I would be interested in appearing on a well respected Pittsburgh morning show, Pittsburgh Today Live, on Friday morning. I was surprised, to say the least! Even with the short notice, I couldn’t pass up this wonderful opportunity. I accepted, passed along my info, and prepared to be “on the television”.

I was asked to provide some of my favorite images of Pittsburgh, a few wedding shots that used the city as a background, and if I had any, images of me photographing in “extreme situations”. Apparently, the info that I “go to extremes” to get some of my shots was passed along to the producer. (Thanks, Nate!) I pulled together some of my recent favorites, got a few shots from my fellow Photogs Derek Dibrell, Dan Thompson, and Kevin Crivelli that supported the above claim.

Friday morning came and as I drove into the KDKA studio I admit to being a bit nervous. I exited the Ft. Pitt Tunnel to see thick fog right on the river. My immediate thought was if I could grab a few shots before I had to go on. The struggle to fight that urge was absolutely real. I made the right decision and headed into the studio. I met the producer, Jill, and went over what the host, Heather Abraham, and I would chat about. I also got to meet two other guests appearing with me, Linda and Rich of North Hills Genealogists. Talking with them calmed my nerves tremendously. (Thanks to both of you for that!) When the tech came to walk me onto the set, I took a deep breath and reminded myself to “just talk about what you know.. what you love about photography”.

The set was amazing. It was several setups (couches, an an anchor desk, and two stools in front of a video wall), surrounded by cameras on remotely operated armatures that moved with instructions from the booth. I was directed to sit on one of the stools wile the previous segment wrapped up. I watched a camera disengage from shooting the couch area and move over to aim at me. Thought of the Terminator franchise popped into my head. Once the previous segment ended, Heather came over and introduced herself and we chatted for a minute or so while they were in commercial. We received the countdown to return from commercial and then I was on live television.

It was a wonderful experience and I’m immensely grateful for all of the support that friends and family have shown, humbled by the whole opportunity, and driven to continue on this path that I’ve chosen! Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments and congratulations!

March 18, 2016

Picture A Day Project,

Pittsburgh At Two-Hundred

I wanted to do something special to celebrate Pittsburgh’s 200th birthday. I couldn’t think of anything more special than capturing the entirety of the city from above. It has always been a bucket list item to photograph from an airplane. When an opportunity became available, I was thrilled to make it happen on Pittsburgh’s birthday. The only hitch was the weather. It was plenty warm, no rain, lovely clouds, but strong winds. When I spoke with my pilot friend, he asked, “You want to give this a try?”. I jumped in the car and headed to the airport. “It will be bumpy” was what he said. I climbed into the 1941 two seater cub and prepared for takeoff. The flight into the city was as advertised. I had a huge grin on my face the entire time. The city grew in size as we approached. It really is a shining jewel of the Appalachians.  We made a few loops around the city at about 800′ and I shot away. It was quite a thrill to see the city that I love from this angle. Happy Birthday, Pittsburgh. You look great for 200!

Pittsburgh At Two-Hundred
Pittsburgh At Two-Hundred

High above the streets of Pittsburgh!

Pittsburgh, ,

I am always looking for new angles to photograph the city of Pittsburgh. If you look at my catalog, you’d think that there weren’t any angles left to cover, but I’m constantly finding new and exciting places to view the skyline. One that has evaded me for a long, long time is a rooftop. Many, many property owners want nothing to do with people being on their rooftops. I can understand. It is a HUGE liability to let someone wander around, even supervised, some 400’+ above the busy street below. I get it. Not unlike trying to get a job without experience, there are few ways to prove your abilities to handle the situation. Well, someone finally let me experience my first Pittsburgh rooftop, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to show you what I captured.

Down The Ohio River
Down The Ohio River
The Many Routes Of The Ft. Pitt Bridge
The Many Routes Of The Ft. Pitt Bridge

The roof of Fifth Avenue Place (also known as the Highmark Building) is situated closer to the Point than many other buildings, so you can get a good view of downtown.

High Above Liberty
High Above Liberty
The Tall Ones At Dawn
The Tall Ones At Dawn

Seeing things from this height puts a lot into perspective (no pun intended). The rooftop is 450′ above the street below and there aren’t any tall buildings within a few blocks. It gives a GREAT view of the rest of the city.

Reflections From High Places
Reflections From High Places

The block of time I was given started at 7am and ran until noon, but I only used up 2 hours. The sun at that time of day, especially in the summer, gets harsh fairly quickly and the images loose their “pop” when lit directly above.

The House Of 57
The House Of 57
Up River
Up River

My friend Dave, a fellow photographer, and a member of security bounced back and forth from one viewing angle to another, attempting to catch as much of the “good light” as possible.

Roberto And His Shadow
Roberto And His Shadow

The view straight down the building was amazing and terrifying at the same time.

Casting A Long Shadow
Casting A Long Shadow

Seeing the courtyard of PPG Place and Market Square from above was very interesting. Bravo to the designers for creating such beautiful spaces that can be appreciated from such different angles.

Urban Camoflauge
Urban Camoflauge
Market Square From A Giant
Market Square From A Giant

The one drawback to shooting from the roof of a building is that you can’t easily showcase it. Fifth Avenue Place is such a beautiful and unique building. I attempted to capture it as best I could with my ultrawide lens.

At The Highmark
At The Highmark
Rooftop Selfie
Rooftop Selfie

As the sun rose higher, the atmospheric conditions began to set in and add a haze to anything in the distance. Also, the heavy rains from days prior muddied the usually clear(er) Allegheny river.

Pirate Park
Pirate Park
So Many Bridges
So Many Bridges

All in all, I am very happy with what I was able to capture. I am extremely grateful to the people that permitted me the humbling opportunity to see the city I love from a new perspective.  This 51 image panorama is one of my favorite shots of Pittsburgh.

A City To Love From Such Great Heights
A City To Love From Such Great Heights

Panoramas of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh,

I love capturing images of Pittsburgh. That should be apparent from seeing my work catalog. Sometimes it takes a different technique to fit everything into one frame. To overcome this, I have adopted a technique that allows me to shoot multiple overlapping frames and stitch them together into one image.  It is a technical and time consuming task, but is personally rewarding when it comes together well.

June 4th was a perfect day to capture the city in this manner. I first went to Grandview Park and caught the soft warm sunlight on the city from the hill at the top of the park. There were many power lines to remove, which made this one frustrating.  This panorama is comprised of 11 images.

The View From Grandview
The View From Grandview

The next spot I visited was Mt. Washington next to the Monongahela Incline. The light was more direct and not filtered through the clouds as much. I planned to get all of downtown in the final shot, but saw how good the South Side looked in the light, so I ended up including it. This one is 21 individual frames.

Steel City Afternoon
Steel City Afternoon

I can’t get over how photogenic this city can be!