Roxborough Inauguration Ball 2009

We gathered last Tuesday at Rob and Joanie's place for our own Inauguration Ball...Roxborough Style. Kristen squeezed into an old bridesmaids dress and I got to dress up for something other than a working wedding. Ann Marie stole the show with her 3 dollar Good Will gown. We had Obama chili and sweet potato pie with champagne. Anne Marie and Joanie did a lot of work for this election canvassing neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia so it was time to celebrate. Now I guess its time to fix what is broke..and there's a whole lot of broke out there.

Eagles on Ice

Thanks for your text messages of condolence. I was indeed crying myself a river while most of you were enjoying another trip to the Super Bowl. After several years of the same program I have the experience to know that the sun does indeed rise again in Philadelphia. A lot of talk this past week about team legacy and Mcnabb and Reid. It's unfortunate that this team will be remembered for their epic losses when it really mattered. This was actually a pretty cool season that had surprising longevity. Last nights game was the whole eagles season in one game. Bad start, comeback, lead and coming up short and giving it away. Incosistency. In some ways I don't see why this same team can't come back and jockey themselves into position to contend again next year. Truth is a young Defense let this one slip away and that D should only get better. That's about all the optimisim I have in me right now. I'm not calling for Reid or Mcnabb's head on a platter, though if the team decided to go in a new direction, I wouldn't be surprised or terribly dissapointed. File it under, been there- done that. They will have a hard off-season. The microscope just got bigger. I'm tired of reading the same story and watching the same big game. It's a different football tradition in this town when compared to Pittsburgh. Even if Pittsburgh loses yesterday or in two weeks, it's another successful season and you have the tradition that allows the fans continued hope and joy for next season regardless. Not the same here, not when you've lost 5 huge games in 8 years. It is what it is. The phillies took the curse off the cities shoulders, so it's gotta be the team itself that needs some maintenance.

Anyway, I'll stop feeling sorry for myself by the Super Bowl. I'll be here watching the Boss at halftime and serving up platters of sour grapes for friends and family. It's gonna be a cold cold week in Philadelphia. Good luck good people of Pittsburgh and enjoy your two week party, I wish we could have made it a state-wide bash. I'm going to go watch my Phillies DVDs now. Pitchers and catchers report in 25 days and 21 hours.

New Years with Seneca and Ryder

We spent New Years in State College with Kristen's Cousin and his wife, Jeff and Lisa. I shot their wedding this past summer and we've been to the Happy Valley a number of times over the past couple years to visit. We like hanging out with these guys, but I think it's also good for our soul to get out of Philly and lose the attitude for a couple of days. It's just a different pace that reminds me of all those years I lived in Indiana, PA.

Also visiting were Jeff and Lisa's friends, Rich and Lynn. They have 5 year old twins known as Ryder and Seneca. Jeff and Lisa have been big fans of these kids since the day they were born. We'd heard plenty of stories, but it was pretty cool to hang out with these two for a couple days.

I like kids, I like photographing kids. Kids generally like me, and kids always like getting their picture taken.
(except wedding portraits) The joke of the weekend was something that Seneca said to her parents the first night. She said, "Jim is crazy, he likes to do what we do, except he's not a kid". Funny stuff. These two were seriously fun though. I kept waiting for their perfect disposition to flutter, but it never did. They are just really good kids who seem to like being really good kids. Ryder is the ladies man. He used to be best buds with Jeff, but now he's moved onto Lisa. Seneca just rolls her eyes as Ryder talks about the beautiful ladies.

It was a pretty simple New Years, Happy-Valley-Style. We went down to College Ave to check out the ice sculptures, reindeer and ice ramp. It was seriously about 5 degrees so our tour was brisk. The rest of the time was games, hot chocolate, football and cards.

New years day the guys took a hike with the dogs. I love these shots of Ryder running through the woods. I grew up in the country before moving to the mean streets of Wilkes-Barre. I used to spend entire days out in the woods with my dog. The light, long shadows, leading lines and a little mystery... My favorite shots of the weekend and exactly the kinds of images I like to make from time to time.

Neil Young at the Spectrum

I'm a little backed up on my blog postings. I had a lot of wedding work to finish up. I'm up to my eyeballs in pictures and some fun stuff and I have some postings/pictures that I plan to get up here in the next couple days.

In December we saw Neil Young at the Spectrum. Kristen and I had tickets on the floor which usually means you can get as close as you want depending on how early you get there. We didn't get there too early but still ended up a row or two back. As usual I took my point and shoot camera, A Canon G10. This is my 5th Canon point and shoot and my third of the G-series. (I've sold the previous 4 to my friends) These days I'm more into grabbing a full clip/song and posting it on Youtube. (Here's the clip from this show)

I've gotten away from shooting pictures because I usually find it too frustrating. We've been up close and personal for a lot of shows and I've made some nice pictures, but I'm always thinking of the shots I could get if I had my real gear....and proper access. Half of the time I'm doing this on the sly and hoping that nobody takes my camera. I'm finding these days that most of the venues have come to the conclusion that they've lost this battle. Everyone has a 2-3 megapixel on their camera. Everyone is shooting their crappy pictures and nobody is too worried about it.

Now my camera is pretty good, but I'm still so limited by the light and space. Usually when I get home and weed through my soft pictures I can find a couple that I'm happy with. Here are a few of Neil Young from that night. It was a great show and I have to admit being a little star struck when ol' Neil trotted out on the stage. I mean that was Neil freakin' Young.