I grew up at the end or after the counter culture movement and while the youth of that time were a catalyst for social change, I don’t think there’s been a time in our history where the youth of today has had such an influence on our culture, politics and business.
The Internet has contracted the world, allowing worldwide communication and collaboration that wasn’t available just a short few years ago. Blogs are overtaking the print media, politicians are reaching prominence through the Internet - The Obama Youtube effect - and companies started in a college dorm - Microsoft, Apple, Google and Facebook are changing the way we do business, all driven by today’s youth.
I photographed Drew’s senior portrait a couple of weeks ago. He’s a fascinating young guy with a wide variety of interests from ceramic art to Parkour.
We started with some photos for grandma around the house and then went off to the playground to shoot what totally freaked me out, Drew’s interest in an extreme sport or martial art, something which is difficult to categorize.
I’ve seen Parkour in movies, like the latest Bruce - we go to the same barber - Willis’s movie, but I didn’t have a name for it… it’s moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using the abilities of the human body.
Drew discovered Parkour on the Internet and has since been involved with an international team with international sponsors.
This is an extremely hazardous activity requiring a high level of training and commitment. In other words, don’t try this at home.
This morning’s wake-up weather was ugly, to say the least. As much as I would have liked to stay inside, I knew that I would pay for that luxury in the end. Because if Jack (our 9 year old Lab) doesn’t get his morning walk, he drives us insane with the incessant need to go outside every 45 minutes. If he gets a decent walk on the other hand, he sleeps all day long. Typically, we walk around the neighborhood. Today I felt the urge to venture a little further, so I grabbed the camera, the leash and the car keys and headed to the bike path along the Allegheny River. The end result was that we were both soaked to the bone, but Jack was filthy, happy and very tired. For what it’s worth, here are the results from my camera!
I’m in the process of getting ready for our wedding - Erin and Dave. We’re really looking forward to their day.
It’s a little mantra that I go through, starting the day before - preparing all of our equipment - charging batteries, cleaning lenses, checking cards, listing some notes about all the important people, getting directions and loading the GPS - it’s a several hour process.
On wedding day, I really try clear my mind - hit the jacuzzi tub, do a little meditation (OK, a nap) - all preparation for “being in the moment” for 10 to 12 hours.
Before heading out, I thought I would do a quick photo tip for the week - many of you will take your cameras out this weekend, photograph the kids or maybe some of the beautiful spring colors.
So, my photo tip of the week is to get your images out of the camera or phone and into print. In the days of digital photography, so many priceless photographs are being lost.
There was something magical about getting a roll of film back from the lab. While you have the immediacy from digital images, some of the magic is gone and there’s a tendency to forget how treasured these images might be, years down the road.
We had to laugh; just after our trip and blog post about our trip to Fallingwater, we came across this photograph of our trip 8 years ago with the kids to Fallingwater, a quick snap with an inexpensive point and shoot - in retrospect, maybe not such a good place to take the kids and I think those expressions tell the story, which might have colored my impression of the house.
Here’s a photo of yours truly from, well, a few decades ago.
So the photo assignment for the weekend is to take your camera or media card to your local Ritz Camera or better yet, upload them to the consumer division of our professional lab - Mpix and make some prints of your photographs. I’ve found Mpix to be the highest quality online lab - they use professional papers and print to high standards.
With today’s papers and technologies, prints will last a generation or two before showing signs of fading, longer if you place them in an archival photo album. Unless you have a state of the art professional printer using pigment based, archival inks, I don’t suggest making prints on your home printer, unless just for fun - it’s much more expensive and consumer printed papers and inks will show signs of fading in less than a year.
Have fun!
We sure do miss Lydia! My sisters have been taking turns traveling to Pittsburgh to help care for my Mom, whose health is failing her.
With all the sadness and heartache that has wrought, there has been one constant bright spot - Visits from Lydia.
Six years after what we thought was the birth of the last of my mother’s 21 grandchildren, along came this pleasant surprise! With most of my sister’s & brother’s kids being closer in age to college than kindergarten, we were expecting a bundle of joy to come from the next generation!
We are having a blast with her!
Lydia and her Mom, Marie went back home to Wisconsin (land of the cheeseheads, but we’ve forgiven them) after a long weekend visit. We sure do miss Lydia. Oh, and Marie, we miss you too!
In a rare moment, (between school and rowing practice for Kate and a photo shoot and office work for me), Kate and I found a few minutes to stroll down one of my favorite streets in Pittsburgh. Unassuming at any other time of the year, in the spring this little lane bursts into color when the Forsythia bloom.
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Check it out!
Thanks to Kate for modeling for me! Barb
It was such a beautiful day on Friday and needing to take a day off and refresh the batteries, we hit the highway and headed up to the mountains.
It had been a while since I had toured Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece - considered to be the best work of architecture in America, created for the Kaufmann family in 1935.
I remember that the last time I had toured Fallingwater, maybe 10 years ago; I had the feeling the house and furnishings were a bit austere. But, this time, everything felt fresh and contemporary, a tribute to Wright’s visionary genius and an example of organic architecture.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed Fallingwater at the age of 67, which began the most productive part of his career. He completed 400 commissions after the age of 70 - so there’s hope!
Ohiopyle is just down the road - a popular area for white water rafting, kayaking and biking. If you haven’t had a chance to visit, it’s a great getaway destination for a weekend with motel lodging or camping. There’ s a very cool bed and breakfast in Confluence, a 10 mile ride along the bike trail.
I grew up in Uniontown, so I spent a lot of time in the mountains and at Ohiopyle. One of my favorite spots was a part of the park which we called “the shoot”, an area of rapids that you can ride through on your rear. This time of year, the water is high and it’s too dangerous, even for the dedicated thrill seekers.
Cucumber Falls was the last visit of the day - it’s a beautiful and very rugged area of the park - you can walk behind the falls for some fun or just enjoy the area.
I had the chance to photograph an engagement session with Dina and DJ there a few years ago - it took a few bruises and hacks to get into position.
It was a fantastic day trip - for further information about Fallingwater and the tremendous work of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy along with the history of Ohiopyle, you can check out these sites. Falling Water Ohiopyle
I’m very excited that our new wedding website is now live. In-Vision Studio is the link to our entry page or you can go directly to our wedding website here: In-Vision Studio Weddings.
The site is going to evolve in the coming months with the addition of some cool video, new galleries, additional information and links, and the integration of our senior site.
It was so hard to choose from hundreds of beautiful weddings and wonderful couples. Rather than just show a portfolio of individual images, I wanted to include a number of photographs from each wedding story. But, we do plan to add a new gallery soon - “moments in time” with a number of images from different weddings.
I hope you enjoy our new website! Please let me know what you think and especially if you’re having any problems viewing the site.
Steve
Julie, one of our brides from 2005, was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disabling disease which attacks the central nervous system. Julie is doing great - there are new therapies available and she is undergoing treatment, but there is no cure.
If you’re like me, you have frustrating days where you might lose a little perspective of what’s really important. Barb and I have had defining moments in our life -our daughter Kate’s near fatal accident and the violent death of Barb’s step father ; these rocky times of our life have brought us closer, made us stronger and given us a little different perspective. But, I still have those “weighty” days….. and I’m really going to work hard to try to limit them.
With Julie in mind along with our friend Steve who is in the later stages of the disease, I’ll be walking to create a world free of MS at the Pittsburgh Walk MS, Heinz Field on April 20, 2008.
Please consider sponsoring my walk with a donation to the Multiple Sclerosis Society which will help fight this difficult disease.
You can sponsor my walk here: Pittsburgh Walk MS
or search for Stephen Barry
Barb and I wish Julie continued good health.
We missed Olivia’s high school senior portrait - she’s been living in quite a few places around the country - but had a chance to photograph her college senior portraits last week.
Barb and I had a lot of fun with her, wandering around campus. She’s bright, articulate and as I’m sure you can tell from her photographs, bubbling with personality.
I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. It’s absolutely beautiful outside - I took Jack for a walk and I’m going to try to stay away from the computer and enjoy the fresh air this afternoon. Barb and I are still “buzzing” from yesterday’s wedding and the start of the season. We had the best time with Shalini and Jim and their friends and family. I’ll have some pictures to share after they return from Hawaii - we’ll be thinking about you.
I’ve been having such a hard time with this gallery’s selections for our new website. I wanted to feature some of our 2008 couples (we have quite a few engagement sessions yet to come) along with a few of my favorites. But, I feel like I missed so many, some weddings of which are archived after completing their albums.
It’s been great fun looking through our files and reminiscing. Barb and I have been so fortunate to have met such terrific people, many of whom we still keep in touch with - through new jobs, moves and babies. We’d love to hear from everyone - drop us an email or note on Facebook.
Thanks to Nicole, one of our brides featured here, for providing the background music.
