Mackenzie and Matt

Here are a few photos from Mackenzie and Matt's wedding last Saturday.

The Mansion, south of Butler, was a great place to take pictures. Look at that room! The couple descended a grand staircase as they were introduced, then went straight into their first dance. A dramatic entrance, to be sure.

The checkerboard marble tile on the floor and the crown moulding in the round room provided some strong graphic elements that I really like in black and white:

Outside in the garden:

On the back patio:

In front of The Mansion:

This place is a photographer's paradise. In addition to the scenes above, there are extensive grounds with mature trees and a well-maintained lawn to photograph in. It also helps to have a terrific couple!

I'll definitely be posting more as I progress through the edit.

Joe

Farewell

The events over the last few days have been pretty emotional. The entire city of Pittsburgh has mourned the tragic deaths of Officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle, and Paul Sciullo.

I can't begin to imagine the depths of grief that their families feel. This photo I took of Stephen Mayhle's young daughter Jennifer leaving the memorial at the City-County Building is a photo I hope to never have to take again.



It's a poignant reminder of the risk that police officers assume while protecting our communities.

Joe

Tragic Loss for Pittsburgh

There are times that words can't express the sorrow that accompanies tragedies like the one that occurred last Saturday.

With much gratitude for their service, we mourn the passing of Officers Paul J. Sciullo II, 36, Stephen J. Mayhle, 29, and Eric G. Kelly, 41.



Joe

Beautiful Days

Sure it's still kind of chilly at night, but you know Spring is here when paddlers and rowers begin to take to the rivers.

Keegan Fuller, of Gibsonia, was paddling his touring kayak on the Allegheny River near Millvale Riverfront Park last week.



I was loving the specular highlights of the sun reflecting off of the water.

Joe

www.joeappelphotography.com

If you want to live to be old and wise...

...first you have to be young and foolish:-P

I was walking through Frick Park the other day when I came across Max Loewenstein jumping his mountain bike off of the cliffs above Tranquility Trail.



He's a really nice kid who thought nothing of dropping 7 feet off of a cliff on his bicycle.

The light was so crappy that I decided to use a couple of remote flashes to give the photo some texture. I set one flash off camera to the left to illuminate Max and another below the cliff so that it wouldn't be lost in dark shadows.

The result was pretty cool light which, combined with some good timing, made for an interesting picture.

Joe
www.joeappelphotography.com

The Fog

Funny weather yesterday here in Pittsburgh. It was warm and a little rainy, but the rivers are still a bit cold which made for some interesting fog on the Ohio River. It was fun shooting these scenes because it was almost like I had the city to myself. The only other living thing I encountered was a very nasty-sounding Rottweiler that was guarding the marina in the shot below:


Joe
www.joeappelphotography.com

DJ E-Z Lou

Unless I'm shooting a wedding, I can be found at home most Saturday nights. My nights of pub crawling and dancing in clubs are long gone. Call it a function of having kids, or maybe I'm just getting old - whatever.

A few Saturday evenings ago I was at The Smiling Moose Lounge on the South Side of Pittsburgh to photograph Lou Ortego, a.k.a. DJ E-Z Lou. Instantly I was transported back to the 1980's as Lou spun hits from The Clash, The Cure, and Depeche Mode while kids danced or hung out sipping beer and smoking clove cigarettes.












Here's a link to a slideshow with more images.

So if you're in the mood for a night of dancing and carousing 1980's-style be sure to check out DJ E-Z Lou's show on Saturday nights.

www.joeappelphotography.com

Strike!

This image of bowler Timothy Pfeifer was shot for Robert Morris University's Foundations Magazine. The story is about athletes participating in sports that are less heralded than football or basketball. Pfeifer, a member of the RMU bowling team, is nationally ranked.

The fun thing about this shot was having the freedom to spread out a little bit without worrying about other bowlers. Bowling alleys are difficult to photograph in. The lanes are brightly lit while the area leading up to the line much darker.

I used three lights for this shot. A main light in an umbrella illuminated Tim from camera left. I positioned another flash to rim light the pins since I wanted them to be separated from the background.

After reviewing the image on the back of my camera I felt that Tim needed a little lighting on the opposite side from the main light. I duct-taped a drink menu in front of the flash to shield the light from spreading into the foreground. That really made the image pop.

All I had to do was time my shot so that the ball was just striking the pins. Easier said than done because I was sitting in the alley about 10 feet behind the pins. The author of the article, Mark Houser, was standing off camera to kick the ball to the gutter before it hit me.




Equipment: Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200/2.8 lens, 3 Nikon SB-800 flashes fired by CyberSync radio triggers.

www.joeappelphotography.com

Super Victory

Super Bowl Champions - this picture of James Harrison kind of says it all. What a great victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Pittsburgh Police said that something like 300,000 people showed up for the victory parade.

I talked to one lady who arrived on scene at 5:30AM to get a good seat for the parade, which started at noon. The high on Tuesday was 27-degrees!

http://www.joeappelphotography.com

Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go!

Superbowl frenzy has set upon Pittsburgh and the Steeler Nation. I was happy to have had the opportunity to photograph the AFC Championship game last Sunday.

I hope Hines gets back to full health soon. For sure we need him.





It was fun to listen to Ben and Troy talk about the game afterwards.





http://www.joeappelphotography.com

Squirrel Hill Fire

The Burton Hirsch funeral home caught fire early on Saturday morning. Nobody was inside (no, no corpses either) and by the time the fire department got on scene the fire was too involved and deep in the structure for them to safely go inside to fight it.

So they let the building burn for several hours, making sure that none of the nearby buildings caught fire.

Lots of residents of Squirrel Hill spent time watching the fire. Including these young guys. I saw the hats and the snow and knew that there was a photo. All I had to do was find the right moment and angle.



The blaze finally got to the point where firefighters were able to put it out using aerial ladder trucks.

http://www.joeappelphotography.com

New Album

I just got an album from Finao for a customer and thought I'd post some quick photos of it. A 14x14 Finao ONE album with SilkTones! cover - I'm really blown away by it.



Here's the spine:


The customer chose the creased print option, so the spreads are an expansive 14" tall by 28" wide.





The leather spine in "Drifter" really compliments the "Lion's Gate" silk brocade. What a super book of memories of this couple's wedding day.

Hair Raising Election Night

It's been two weeks since one of the most exciting election nights I've ever covered.

In both 2000 and 2008 I was at the IBEW hall on the South Side for the Democratic party election night shindig.

What a difference in atmosphere.

2000:


2008:

Let There Be Light

OK, so sometimes I can act like I'm jaded.

A few days ago I got the assignment to photograph the test run of Casa Magica's lighting of the Cathedral of Learning. I really wasn't expecting much, but when I arrived it was like "Hey, wow! That's cool!"




If you have the opportunity I highly recommend you go by the Cathedral between now and November 20, as part of the Pittsburgh 250 Festival of Lights.

"I see fireworks every time we kiss."

Give the groom Kirk credit, it had to be said. He delivered the line with a straight face, too:-)

PNC Park is far from an ordinary place to get married. But I've got to say that the staff were really helpful, the guests had a lot of fun, and there are many great places to take photos. Especially if there are fireworks!

Now, if the Pirates could only manage a winning season...

Stormy Weather

We've had some pretty strong storms around Pittsburgh lately, and yesterday was no exception.

I was with Vanessa and Warren, with their wedding party in tow, at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts shooting some formals during the cocktail hour of the reception as a heavy storm blew in. With one eye on the front rolling towards us I shot a couple of group photos when we decided it would be best to go indoors.

We were walking into the building when I looked up at the sky and was struck with just how dramatic it looked against the yellow of the building.

Luckily, we had time for a couple of shots before the rain came.