Snow Day!!!

Well, yesterday it snowed and snowed.  My kids had the day off and hit the neighborhood slopes hard.  I had a great time photographing them and just watching them play and build

ramps, pipelines, and rails in the woods next to the house.  It is refreshing to see the guys get away from the xbox and get the fresh air we all need.  I know I NEEDED some fresh air...

The play time was a great break for my oldest son, Michael who has been hitting the books hard prepping for his SAT's and my younger son, Tyler, who enjoys trying to keep up with Michael and friends Zach and Tommy, as they trick out death defying acts on their snowboards.

Ahh... to be young and have muscles and bones that recover quickly....Enjoy the day!

Art for Art sake...

Besides being a very cool classic rock song by 10cc, check out this performance art in Grand Central Station in New York.  Gotta love it...

GRAND CENTRAL STATION VIDEO

Thanks to my old high school friend, Barb Zolli for forwarding this to me.  I miss you Barb!

Throw me a friggin bone...

So In October of 2007  I started this blog. The biggest reason for doing this was I figured it could drive some traffic to my Pittsburgh Photographer website, www.markbolster.com.

However, it has been fun writing about things that I might not normally discuss and showing images that might not make it on my photography portfolio website.  The hardest part is just keeping up on a daily basis while I'm trying to get work done for my photography business.

My dilemma is this...is there anyone out there in cyberspace that is actually reading this blog?? So far I have had a grand total of 2 comments. Not even from any family members!  If you stumbled upon this site PLEASE leave me a comment. Good, bad, indifferent. I don't care. I'm lonely. I need to feel the love. Do it today knowing you have made me feel better about myself.
Do it often. Let me know what you'd like to see or discuss. I'm doing this because I enjoy talking photography.

If you have any questions about the photography business in Pittsburgh, or just want to talk tech stuff, I'd be happy to give my two centavos.

Speaking of plastic camera photography...

Those crazy hipster kids, Meg and Jack White from the White Stripes have joined up with the LOMOGRAPHY website which is now selling "limited edition" sets of the Meg White Diana camera and Jack White Holga.  The Meg White version comes with a "ring flash", funky spiral red color filter, fancy packaging, and a photo book of Diana images.  All for $180.00.  If this sounds like way too much money for the Chinese camera that sold for about $5.00 in the 60's you're probably right.  But I guess that is the cost of having company with rich rock stars....

The website is currently selling new, "plain jane" Diana's for $50.00.  And no...the optics aren't any better on the more expensive camera.  If you are looking for optical quality, then you simply don't understand the zen of plastic cameras.

I've always been partial to the Diana instead of the Holga.  The Holga almost seems too "sharp" to me.  If you find an original Diana for sale, make sure that it will take 120 film, since many were manufactured to take 620 film which is no longer produced.  For you digital people who vowed never to shoot with film again, there is always the Lens Baby, which unfortunately is getting more expensive and sharper which goes against everything I love about plastic cameras.

New showing of New York Diana camera images

Good to be back writing...I've been extremely busy the last 3 weeks working on the King Pharmaceuticals annual report and traveling pretty heavy.  The shoot went well and the design of the annual by Taylor and Ives, from New York is really clean and I think one of the better books we've done yet.  The shoot was special because I've been working with senior designer, Trevor Paccione, for a number of years on this project, but yet had never had the opportunity to actually meet him in person.  Art direction was done by way of comps and pdf's.  Trevor went to all the sessions, and it was helpful having an extra set of eyes on the set and his suggestions were almost always spot on.  It is great working with an experienced designer who knows the pitfalls of corporate photography and understands the politics and people who are involved.

Having the designer travel and visit the facilities that I shoot in is also positive, in that he learned more about what I'm up against logistically scouting for fresh shooting environments.

Saturday, Feb. 9  The Bellevue Barbershop will be having another creative night party. Featured will be my toned, black and white Diana camera photos of New York City.  The photos are street photography in the purest form.  Subject matter is the streets of Manhattan and  Coney Island.

Aaron Stubna, owner of the shop works hard to promote local artists and promotes Bellevue

as the next upcoming hot neighborhood.  Try to stop by Saturday evening for some vino, food, music, and good conversation in a very unique setting for a photo show.  Be sure to say hello to me!

The images shown are part of the show.  If you can't make it to the show, you can see the images here: Diana Camera

Winter Light, Oxford Center- 2007

No story, just a picture today. The towers remind me of a graph chart that shows what the stock market has been doing as of late....:-(
Been busy shooting and working on the King Pharmaceuticals annual report. I'll have more to write when I get some free time. Stay warm!

Couple of landscapes to start the New Year...

I hope everyone had a fun holiday! I've hit the ground running after the break and have been quite busy. Sales of the book,
Pittsburgh: A Photographic Portrait are still going strong. Annual report season is in swing, and I have estimates out on a couple of really interesting projects that I can't give details on yet.

My gallery show from the book is currently hanging at The Vault coffee shop at in Brighton Heights. Stop by for the best expresso in town and take a look at the photos. I'll be doing a separate article on this blog with some pictures of the Vault in the near future, so stay tuned.