Pittsburgh

Recently, I had the distinct privilege of visiting the offices of VisitPittsburgh, the travel and tourism bureau of our fair city. I was invited there as part of the city's "Art on the Walls" program, which saw a number of my photographs put on public display within VisitPittsburgh's offices. It was truly a great honor, and an exciting time for me! Being me though, I had to bring my camera along for the ride up to the 28th floor of the Highmark Building (Fifth Avenue Place), where just out the window from the festivities was this stunner of a view. I can only imagine the wonderful things seen on a daily basis by those working at VisitPittsburgh....and so, that's what I did.

One of my favorite places in the entire city is along the Roberto Clemente Bridge, seen here trapped in winter's icy grip; it was an unusually bitter, brisk and frosty morning in Pittsburgh; the temperatures had dropped low enough that barely anybody could be seen out walking, and hardly any cars were even traveling the bridge at the time. Steam rose from the city in the distance, and the frozen Allegheny River can be seen below, with almost arctic-looking skies overhead.

"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness" - Carl Jung This photo was taken one bright, sunny Saturday afternoon after visiting Pittsburgh's annual Regatta; I was walking through the city with my brother, headed back to the car, when I caught the sunlight hitting PNC Tower, Pittsburgh's newest skyscraper. The sunlight seemed to brilliantly reflect the blue sky and clouds...except for the section of the building that curved away into darkness. I mulled over it for quite some time, knowing that this felt representative of something important. This building would not be whole were it not for both its aspects; the happy and the sad. The same can be said for all of us, as Mr. Jung aptly described.

The last of my series of cherry blossom photographs, taken with our fair city in the background. Yet again, I marvel at the sights our city offers, and just how easy it makes things to get a photograph that I can feel truly proud of. I hope you enjoy the sights as much as I did!

I was in Downtown Pittsburgh (Or dahntahn as we say!), standing outside of Heinz Hall to go and see the Legend of Zelda orchestral concert, and I was waiting for some friends to arrive at the concert hall before the show. I'd also brought my camera with me, because I knew how beautiful that concert hall was on the inside, but I didn't count on it being so pretty outside! I looked up, and saw these two buildings down the street from where I stood. I pulled out my camera, took three quick bracketed shots, and hoped that they'd turn out later on, all compiled into a pretty HDR picture...Turns out, they did! I just love the deep, deep blues on that building on the left, as compared to the reddish-orange hues of the one to the right, and all set off by the top of that tree that peeks up from the bottom. It's quite colorful, quite lovely, and I'm quite happy I took this photo!

Sometimes, I get an idea stuck in my head...but I don't know why it's there. Maybe it's there simply because I believe I can do it. I want to test myself, and see how far I can stretch the limits of reality, using the only artistic medium I know. I want to take pieces of old photographs and make something interesting and new with them...and that's exactly what I did here. Why exactly is the Cathedral of Learning perched silently on a floating island above the city? Why are there waterfalls on this forested island leaking into the ether? What exactly is going on here? I leave that to you to decide.

I have yet to really take a great photograph of the place where I call home; suburbia. I love where I live, the Monroeville area that is just to the east of downtown Pittsburgh proper, far enough to be out of the city limits but close enough to still be considered a part of the 'burgh! This photo really makes me happy though, as it shows off, once and for all, just how wonderfully beautiful the sunsets can be here. Even with all the cars, even with all the hustle and bustle, and the enormity of the famous Monroeville Mall (Featured in the original Dawn of the Dead) behind me, there are still scenes of beauty like this one to be had! I'm starting to like autumn more and more, if only for the pretty sights like this! :)

On our sojourn through a frozen Pittsburgh, we passed by a spot beneath one of the three yellow bridges, where on warmer days one might find kayaks slipping into the waters of the Allegheny River. On that day however, the sloped concrete platform that would have let kayakers easily access the river was coated with snow, and bled seamlessly into the ice to the point where it was difficult to tell where one began, and the other ended. My brother made his way down this slippery slope, to the very edge of the river, and looked out upon the scene.

I have always wanted to go downtown for photographs, especially this time of year. Just recently, I finally got my chance! What you see here is the beautiful, cheer-soaked neogothic glass walls of Pittsburgh's PPG Plaza decorated for the Christmas season. In the center sits an enormous Christmas tree, positioned in the center of an ice skating rink, lights strung all about in celebration of this, the most wondrous time of the year. The air was so cold, the sky that wintry gray it tends to be during a Pennsylvania winter, and yet there were dozens of people skating 'round the giant tree, having the time of their lives. The PPG Complex itself is one of Pittsburgh's defining features; you would be hard-pressed to find a structure like it anywhere else on Earth. The complex consists of six buildings within a 5.5 acre area, all centered around One PPG Place, a 40-story spike of steel and glass to serve as home to the Pittsburgh Plate Glass company. To give a sense of just how much glass was used here, the main building alone is adorned with 19,750 sheets of reflective plate glass! Every year, PPG sets up this Christmas scene, and gives Pittsburghers a place to commune while the snow falls. Now, if only I knew how to skate, I'd have joined in on the fun!

Guess what time it is? Christmas Time, indeed! :) Just recently, I had the pleasure of taking a trip downtown to the beautiful PPG Plaza, where I have wanted to take photographs for years on end now; I finally got my chance! This photograph in particular was taken of a gorgeous clock, adorned with a simple red bow, the iconic Fifth Avenue Plaze (Highmark Building) looming in the background. The day was cold and bitter, the skies gray and wintry...but it didn't dampen the spirits of the area any. Christmas carols were sung nearby, and the area had been transformed into a Christmas Village, complete with small, wooden buildings housing everything from Celtic and German Christmas trinkets and ornaments, to streudel and Santa's Workshop. There was even a spot nearby for buying fresh Christmas pine trees; the scent of streudel and pine hung so heavenly in the bitter air....This is what Christmas is all about here in Pittsburgh, and so now I offer a little slice of it to you. :) Merry Christmas, everyone!

These monolithic structures are almost all that remains of one of America's most important steel mills; the Homestead Steel Works, constructed by Andrew Carnegie in 1881. Here we see these giant smokestacks wreathed in snow, the rest of the world blotted out...This is Pittsburgh's memory of steel.

We drove around the frozen city, trying to find an ideal place to sidle up to the ice-smothered Allegheny River, and get us some great-looking photographs...and that's when we found this little roundabout dead end, next to PNC Park, with an overlook of the city and a No Parking sign nearby. We decided to sneak out of the car, and try to take a picture, while leaning up against the metal railing; it was cold enough that even my dry hands were freezing onto the metal. But then, we saw a security guard approach us. We had expected him to try and shoo us away from the No Parking area, but were pleasantly surprised when even he pulled a cell phone out, and joined us in taking a photograph of this beautiful, ice-choked view of our frozen city, wreathed in fiery-looking steam and clouds.

We were driving in a convertible Mini Cooper that night, just headed to find a nice place to hang out, and enjoy the beautiful weather. I had my camera with me, and on our way to the summit of Mt. Washington, the sky had already acquired this incredible and surreal glow. My finger ITCHED so much; I wanted to let the camera go crazy, seeing a sky like the one that hung right above me. But there were so many bridges, so many obstructions, power lines, and other objects in the way that spoiled the splendor of such a sky. Then, as we got to the top of the mountain, overlooking the city of Pittsburgh, I saw my moment through the windshield. I held up my camera, the shutter clicked, and now you can see what I saw, too! :)

The sun was setting over the city of Pittsburgh, as my family and I made our way to a nearby restaurant in Station Square, in celebration of my brother's 25th birthday. Having brought my camera with me, I caught this beautiful view of the city out from the side of the parking garage; the view entranced me. Later on, after the meal was eaten and the festivities were over, I looked at the photograph and the golden tint of the setting sun was what caught my eye most; I had to claim it, and push to the front for all to see; black and gold is in a Pittsburgher's blood, anyway! The only colors in this photo are shades of natural gold from the sunset, with the rest being purely black and white. I think the results speak for themselves!

Clouds can flow like water, and on this morning I saw it with my own eyes, as cloud cover replaced the Monongahela River in its entirety. I'd never quite seen anything like it before, and this is coming from a guy who'd seen this very same river solidified into ice. What a magical morning! It's sights like this that make me all too happy to, on occasion, be a morning person.

Toward the end of July 2012, I went with some friends to Heinz Hall, in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. We were going to see the Pittsburgh Symphony perform live music from Nintendo's "Legend of Zelda" games, and in anticipation of the sights, I brought my camera. Heinz Hall is an ornately decorated theater hall originally built in 1927, much of the theater covered with gold leaf and ornate crystal chandeliers like the one seen here, right above the seat I had gotten for the night's show. Someone had to put that thing together, and the idea of assembling so much crystal in such a delicate fashion makes my head spin!