Danielle is the Director of Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest. Her vision is to create a healthy, attractive and safe urban forest by inspiring and engaging citizens to maintain, plant and protect trees. She is also one of my closest friends and has given me several opportunities to photograph her projects which has lead to other opportunities such as shooting for The Sprout Fund. She needed some new environmental portraits taken and asked to me stop by, so I decided to share her with my blog audience. We started our photo session out back in the tree nursery she developed at “Friends” on 5427 Penn Ave. Danielle plants and maintains trees all over the city of Pittsburgh. She teaches people to become a “Tree Tender” As a matter of fact, Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest boasts 750 tree tenders in 63 neighborhood in the city of Pittsburgh! “It’s cute,” she says “Tree maintenance is sexy!” “Tree tending” is a truly fun and satisfying work. Danielle is also producing Arbor Aid on Friday, October 29th. This fundraiser features over fifty artists who will make art from the city’s fallen trees. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s Friends of the Urban Forest; be sure to check them out and get involved!
Rachel -I love this. What a beautiful girl with a beautiful vision!
Tracy-My baby cousin has become such an exciting, loving, caring, warm and beautiful woman with the vision to get things done……
I love you Dani xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Nate and Jamie are an adorable couple and I love working with them. We had to break their sessions into 2 separate times due to time constrains. You might remember their first shoot at Hartwood Acres? Monday we shot in the city. I love these photos and want to thank Nate and Jamie for their patience in waiting between sessions. I am so excited for their wedding this October in Shadyside, see ya soon and enjoy!
Florist: Erin Hoey of Cindy Essers
Special thanks to Erin for the help on short notice!
* This blog post contains animation and may take a few extra minutes to download. THANK YOU!
Wood Street Galleries continues to bring the best, most memorable, high-tech installation to the Pittsburgh Arts Community. It is the gem of the Gallery Crawl, which happens 3 times a year in the cultural district of downtown Pittsburgh. If you have never been to Wood Street Galleries, let this be your inaugural visit. These installations are brilliant, and the energy they created in people was amazing to witness! Which makes this show one of the best I have seen at Wood Street . Thank you Murray and your staff for making these amazing shows happen!
First up is Canadian Artist Luc Courchesne demonstrating his work called, “Where are you?” Visitors steer their way through virtual landscapes stretching around them in all directions. From within an inverted dome where they are provided with an iPhone to navigate. They experience immersion and invited to play with the scale of things around them. “Where are you” uses the Pano-scope 360 invented by Courchesne to simplify the authoring and delivery of visual immersive experiences.
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Next up is Belgium Artist Lawrence Malstaf with “Nemo Observatorium” Styrofoam beads are blown around in a big transparent PVC cylinder by 5 strong fans. Visitors can their place in the armchair at the middle or observe from the outside. The chair is the “eye of the storm,” its calm and safe. Spectacular at first site, this installation turns out to mesmerize like a kind of meditation machine. One can follow the seemingly cyclic patterns, focus on the different layers of 3D pixels. One could call it a training device, challenging the visitor to stay centered and find peace in a fast changing environment.
This work was fascinating and it was thrilling to watch the people respond to it, seen here is the Artist Lawrence Malstaf inside his creation.
Check out this quick slide-show of the reactions to this amazing installation.
French Artist Airan Kang fashion books out of fiber optics within plastic cases. Each text is an immaterial presence in light and color that is future realized in the space of imagination. Kang’s virutal library was created in homage to the books of philosophers, poets and novelists that are sources of inspiration.
“Shadow for Heisenberg” by Chicago Artist Jim Campbell. Every time viewers approach the case to appease their curiosity or desire for contemplation, the glass fogs up, leaving the viewers frustrated and unable to see the object of desire.
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Lastly, British Artist Mike Stokes “Long After Tonight.” Long after tonight documents a re-creation of a Northern Soul night staged at St Salvador’s Church in Dundee, Scotland – parts of which housed some of the city’s first dance events of this kind during the early 1970’s. Northern Soul is a term used to describe the dislocation of obscure up-tempo African-American soul music to the north of England during the sixties and seventies. ‘Northern’ nights became extremely popular events where fans gathered in discreet communal places and dance halls for all-night dance sessions.
Peter and Kellie hired me to photograph Konstantine when he was just four weeks old. Now, he is seven months old and getting Baptized! Peter said to me, “Your our official photographer.” I love that title because the more I work with a family, I become a part of them.
Most people think photography is only a wedding or a few school portraits, but once you find a photographer you love, their style and technique, can produce a stunning collection for that family. The work is consistent over the years and holds up well against time. Think of the heirloom you can hand down to your children someday, “Here is your life, in one book!”
Thank you Peter and Kellie for being so very kind to me and Congratulations! Konstantine is such a ham!!!!!
Nicole Klimis Nikolaides -Joey these pictures are AMAZING!!! U did it again!!!! : ) Like my brother said,“Your our official photographer.” I can not wait to use you for my “future” family pictures and events. Absolutely beautiful!
admin-Thank you Nicole! I enjoy working with your families!!! THANK YOU!
Kellie Klimis -Joey,
These pictures are fabulous!! Peter and I are continually amazed with the beauty and uniqueness of your work! You are for sure “our official photographer”. Thank you so much for providing us with gorgeous pictures of our baby!!
Kellie and Peter
admin-Great to hear from you Kelllie! You have a beautiful family and I enjoy spending time over there : )
Last time I saw Nick and Rachel, it was on the L- Train in Chicago. We had spent the day playing in the street of Chicago shooting their engagement session! Now, it was Akron, Ohio, and time for their wedding at the amazing Stan Hywet Mansion. These photo’s speak for themselves about the class and elegance of this wedding.
Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, Ohio is a National Historic Landmark. The 65-room Tudor-style mansion was built in 1912 by Goodyear Rubber Company founder, F.A. Seiberling and his wife Gertrude. Today, the gracious mansion and elaborate gardens are open to the public. The site also hosts a variety of special events throughout the year. Stan Hywet is named for the Old English words for “hewn stone,” not a person as commonly believed. The 65-room Tudor Revival mansion was designed by Cleveland architect, Charles Sumner Schneider after several mansions in Britain. The manor house took four years to complete at a cost of $150,000.
The ceremony was held at the well house, which is at the end of a magnificent 150 yard birch row and truly spectacular for weddings. The long dramatic decent keeps the guest in anticipation of the bride and wedding party. Outdoor weddings are magical because they capture all the beauty of nature as a cathedral in itself.
The cocktail hour was held just outside the reception area called, “the well.” Here are a few captured by my assistant Ben.
The hundred year old english garden is the real gem of the property. This is the best view, walking through the long, dark corridor that reveals this gorgeous space.
I love the warmth of the orange light in this space. Rachel hired Event- Lights for the reception. Custom lighting can totally transform an ordinary venue into the extraordinary!
Formal exit, many clients forget this traditional method to exit your party! It’s such a great way to finish your night and say goodbye to your guests. It makes a great photo opportunity too. Rachel did the sparkler exit and some quick advice, you want to use the JUMBO sparklers as seen here, regular sparklers burn out too quick. Special thank you to Nick and Rachel for bringing to Chicago and Akron to capture these magical moments.
Vendors:
Venue: Akron, Oh Stan Hywet Hall
Lighting: Canton, Oh Event Lighting
Catering: Acme Fresh Northeast Ohio
Band: Scott Jazz Quartet
A little side note: You might remember I pointed out in their engagement post that Nick is a Cowboys fan, well his Dad made a cute little sign for me at the wedding…..HA HA, I Love it!
Rachel (the bride) -Joey! These look amazing! I thought the wedding turned out to be beautiful but these pictures are beyond that, they are truly magical. I’m so glad to have these wonderful memories preserved in the amazing images you produced. Nick and I had so much fun with you both in Chicago and Akron. We felt completely comfortable with you, and it may sound strange, but the intimacy you sought to capture in your pictures drew us closer together as a couple during the shoots. Thank you. Please come visit us in Chicago any time.
Potential Clients: If you are considering booking Joey, do it NOW! We loved all our vendors, but Joey was someone we wouldn’t trade for anybody. He was easy to get along with, fun to shoot with, easy to communicate with, and produced amazing images of our most special moments. He was affirming during the shoots, which made us calm and I’m sure produced more natural images. And he gave us tons of helpful direction with setting up and how to pose, etc. I’ve heard horror stories from friends about their wedding photographers so do yourself a favor and book Joey. I promise you will not regret it. Feel free to ask Joey for my contact info if you want me to answer any questions about our experience, but if you can’t tell, we have been thrilled every step of the way!
Mother of the bride -Joey, these are totally amazing! Thank you for capturing my daughter’s wedding so perfectly. Not only are you talented but you were so fun! I can’t wait to see the rest and I can’t wait to hire you again when my other daughter gets married.
admin-Im So flattered and honored at the same time by feedback and comments like these! WOW! This is why I do the work, and pour everything into it. I love making people this excited!!! Thank you so much Rachel, I will plan a visit back to Chicago, maybe even this year? We have to catch a game at Wrigley Field.
Mrs. Neftzer, I would love to work for your family again, everyone was extremely kind to us! THANK YOU!
Jamie -These images are some of my personal favorites that you’ve taken, Joey! This location couldn’t have been better shot by anyone else, I truly believe that.
Jamie Gainer
Lisa Seiberling-Howdy! My name is lisa seiberling. Frank Seiberling was my Great- uncle. I’m too young(43HAHA!) to have ever met uncle frank since he passed away before I was born.I just wanted to tell you how wonderful I think your pictures are! NICE!! ( I hope that I can get married there too, someday soon!) My boyfriend is a procrastinator though! Ohwell! Anyway, I was just loooking around on this crazy computer for info to buy a painting of the mansion, but I can’t remember the name of the artist who does them. My parents have one & I suppose I’ll just have to call & ask them who she is! (It’s a woman who does them & she always paints a dog in the yard of her pics of the mansion. Anyway, congratulations to you both! I envy you, because I want to get married there as well!! SOMEDAY!! (Maybe if I lie a little & tell him the mansions going to be inherited to me someday!) HA! Yeah, right! OH< also, if you happen to think of the name of that artist & if you have time, could you write me back & tell me?? THANK YOU, LISA SEIBERLING
admin-Hi Lisa! Thanks for your comment! I didnt get to use the inside of the mansion because of another wedding being held at the same time. So I didnt see the painting your speaking of, but if you get married there, give me a call!!!
Evelyn Katsourakis -The sparklers exit is phenomenal! But my favorite part of this wedding is definitely the P*nguins Suck and Ste*lers Suck signs! Bravo!
Kobee -may I ask which month was this wedding in? thank you
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Rachel - I love this. What a beautiful girl with a beautiful vision!
Tracy - My baby cousin has become such an exciting, loving, caring, warm and beautiful woman with the vision to get things done……
I love you Dani xoxoxoxoxoxoxo