There's a really cool exhibit at Artspace 105 in Homestead. Entitled, "Through Our Eyes: Life As Seen By Young People With Special Needs" the exhibition features photographs taken by five people, age 6 to 20, who have disabilities.
It gives one an idea of the perspective of these young people. The kids pointed their cameras at what is important in their lives - family, pets, and friends.
Photography can offer a window into others lives in a way that other mediums cannot.
Joe
www.joeappelphotography.com
...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
Duquesne's Melquan Bolding dunks over Rhode Island's Lamonte Ulmer during their Big Ten game at the Palumbo Center last Sunday.
Nothing special to add about the picture except that it's been a long time since I shot a basketball game, so I was a little nervous. This was Duquesne's first basket of the game and I guess my reflexes are still pretty good because the action happened fast and I was able to time it and get the shot in focus, too.
Joe
www.joeappelphotography.com
For those of you suffering through the cold end of February here in the north, well, I'm sorry.My wife and I took the kids to Florida for a week, and the weather couldn't have been nicer.
Since we were on vacation I didn't take any gear besides my wife's Sony point-and-shoot. But when I saw the rainbow above my kids playing in the surf I couldn't resist:
After a couple of days at Disney, we went to Daytona Beach. The Southeast Center for Photo/Graphic Studies is where I went to school to learn photography. The school is now a part of Daytona State College.
One of my classmates, Tariq Hamid, is teaching there now. It was my privilege to be able to speak to his and my old professor Eric Breitenbach's classes. I learned my trade back in the days of film and darkrooms, and was really impressed with the ability of the students to shoot assignments and have them critiqued in real time thanks to digital technology.
Afterwards I checked out the Southeast Museum of Photography's exhibition of documentary photographer Alex Harris' photos from Cuba. Really inspirational stuff.
It's good to be back. I'm energized, but a little tired. Tomorrow night I'll be photographing the Fleetwood Mac concert. Stop back to see those photos.
www.joeappelphotography.com
This is a rare event that needed to be documented.
My kid likes his hair long and we're indulgent parents, but sometimes the mop needs a trim. Stephanie did such a great job on Wyatt that I got one too!
www.joeappelphotography.com
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
Check out the current edition magazine Pittsburgh Wedding Essentials which features a few of my photos in an article about fall weddings.
Fall in Pittsburgh is a great time to have a wedding. The trees changing colors can offer a spectacular backdrop and the temperatures are usually a lot more comfortable than the middle of the summer.
Congratulations to Allison and Brennan for having their photos chosen for the article. They did a great job planning and decorating for their wedding. The weather meant that they had to change some plans on the fly, but they handled that so well that I don't think anybody really noticed.
It was such a lovely wedding that I made my own copy of their album (look back 4 posts). Give me a call if you'd like to see it.
http://www.joeappelphotography.com
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
So if you plan your wedding for December you might want to have a pair of boots available for the formals. And while your at it check Victoria's Secret for some thermal underwear;-)
I shot my last wedding of 2008 on Saturday and I'm pretty excited about the images.
You can get four seasons in a single weekend around here and the season du jour was WINTER!!!
Allison and Jeremy were such good sports and really into the idea of being out in the cold and snow for a photo session - poor Allison was rethinking the wisdom of open-toed shoes after a few minutes! They've totally earned their honeymoon in Hawaii.
Springwood is a beautiful setting for a wedding - I've got some shots from a fall wedding in the galleries on the website - and the grounds are just as wonderful when covered in snow.
Inside is quite beautiful, too. The place is decorated for Christmas, so there were lots of strings of lights which give off a really soft quality of light - perfect for a portrait:
Check out the catchlights in their eyes - there's a thousand little dots of light!
What a great way to close out the year. Thanks Allison and Jeremy.
Joe
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop wrote an outstanding article for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review this weekend. It deals with the process of selecting locations for wedding photos.
I'm proud to have cooperated with my friend and colleague Justin Merriman to come up with a list of tips for wedding photos.
A big thanks goes out to Liz and Marc Allemang and Jessica and Siggy Pehel for agreeing to be interviewed for the article. You can check out their pictures by following the link I posted in the first paragraph.
I've really been blown away by the weather and dramatic skies this summer. A few weeks ago I posted a shot at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts that featured storm clouds rolling in. This weekend it was blue skies punctuated by clouds.
I look forward to seeing what weather mother nature provides, it's definitely a source of inspiration.
I find it a privilege to be able to document in pictures the day when a couple enters into marriage. Family is the most important thing we've got and a wedding strengthens and enlarges those ties. It's a day filled with emotions and beauty and I approach it with reverence as well as a sense of humor.
My way of working is unobtrusive. After all, it’s your day and you are the center of attention. Couples are often surprised by the many candid moments in their photos given the fact that they really didn’t notice that I was taking their picture.
That's the essence of photojournalism. It's a philosophy and a way of working, not just a style of shooting pictures. I tell clients that once they become used to my presence they'll find that they and their guests will go about their day without being concerned that their photo is being taken. That's when the best "moments" reveal themselves.
As a photojournalist it’s my job to tell the story of your day. From the time you prepare, to the ceremony, and through the reception I’ll be there to capture the memories you will treasure forever. In addition, I’ll work with you to get those important portraits, and photos of the wedding party and your family.
Unlike many photographers who claim to be wedding photojournalists, I am a working photojournalist. I do it every day and have been since 1992. My work appears daily in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and has appeared in many magazines and newspapers including: Rolling Stone, USA Today, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Palm Beach Post, the New York Daily News, the ABA Journal, Highlights, Motorcyclist, Road Racer X, Sport Rider, Super Street Bike, and many others. My photographs have received recognition and awards on the state, local, and national levels.
