A Different Perspective (on view through Jan. 27, 2025)
1. Pittsburgh Above the Fog, Mount Washington, PA 2022
Originally set out to capture fog on the rivers this morning, but it was so thick and the sun was out in the distance making the fog appear really bright. The photo I had in mind wasn’t working. With it being so bright, I decided to drive up to the overlooks on Mount Washington and go above the fog. The scene from up there was very different and made it look like the city was floating above the clouds (much like Cloud City on the planet Bespin for Star Wars fans) with some nice lighting from the sun being so low on the horizon.
2. Night Lights in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 2016
A long exposure of Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington printed on metal. This angle captures the traffic between the bridges in a way that shows it coming directly at the viewer (or going away) before turning off in a number of directions. It took many attempts to have vehicles going in all directions in the 15 seconds or so the image was recording. It was also important to capture the image during “blue hour” (before sunrise or after sunset when the sky is more blue than black) to make the reds and oranges stand out. The bridges depicted are the Fort Pitt Bridge (lower left) and the Fort Duquesne Bridge (middle).
(This photo was featured in the “#pixburgh: A Photographic Experience” exhibition at the Heinz History Center in 2016-2017)
3. Before the Bloodmoon Sets, Pittsburgh, PA 2022
Taken in the early morning during a lunar eclipse, the blood moon is setting behind the Roberto Clemente Bridge and PNC Park as the sun was rising. This image was captured over 10 seconds (a long exposure) which allows for more light to be captured than what is visible to the naked eye. The subtle ambient light helped give color to the bridge and windows within PNC Park. Postprocessing in Adobe Lightroom was used to further brighten the image.
4. Branching Out, B-Y Park, Trafford, PA 2022
Showcasing the bright white branches of this tree during winter required overcast conditions, melting snow, and very little wind. The branches are emphasized by flying the drone as closely to the tree as possible while directly overhead. This angle gives the image a “neural” looking appearance.
5. Springtime on Craig Street, Oakland, PA 2024
I found this bookstore perfectly lit and situated next to a blossoming tree with the Cathedral of Learning (University of Pittsburgh) in the background. The Adobe Lightroom filter used on this scene was one I personally made, and shifted the hue of the blue color channel to more a cyan and decreased the contrast in the darker areas, giving a more cinematic look to the image. This photo inspired me to research and purchase a full spectrum converted camera since many have asked if it was captured in infrared, which it was not.
(This image was accepted to the 15th Annual Mister Fred Rogers Fine Arts Juried Exhibition at the Latrobe Art Center in 2024)
6. Lava and Water, Oakmont, PA 2024
This reflection scene caught my eye in the Allegheny River below the Hulton Bridge. I originally went to photograph a sunset, but it never materialized.
The leaves in the photo are a little further away from the bank of the river, allowing some space for the tree trunks to reflect off the surface of the water giving the illusion of the trees having their leaves.
The image had post processing on the colors, mainly increasing the saturation and adjusting the tint. A couple spot edits were done (burning, dodging, and one spot with a cloning brush), but the scene is one exposure taken with my camera and largely unedited aside from heavily manipulating the colors and toning.
7. Steel and Glass Colored Pencils, Pittsburgh, PA 2024
In late summer, the sun sets to the correct angle of PPG Building and every once in a while, the color will fill the sky and reflect off of the building. This particular day the clouds were in the exact right place to allow the building to look two-toned. The color of the sky was fortunately pink and makes the warm, yellow lights in the glass spires stand out, giving the illusion of ‘a bunch of colored pencils’ as people have pointed out. Note: I would typically use a circular polarizer for this shot to minimize the glare, but the use of a circular polarizer was purposely avoided so the stadium lights of PNC Park could reflect off of the glass and give the image more depth and texture.
(This image was accepted to the 15th Annual Mister Fred Rogers Fine Arts Juried Exhibition at the Latrobe Art Center in 2024)
8. After the Sunset on Beach 8,
Presque Isle State Park, Erie, PA 2023
The soft lighting after a late September sunset in Presque Isle State Park located in Erie, Pennsylvania. If you look closely, you can see seagulls resting on the jetty as day turns to night.
(This image was accepted into the Westmoreland Art Nationals in 2024)
9. Fall at Riverside Park, Oakmont, PA 2023
Taken directly overhead Riverside Park in Oakmont with a drone. The colors of the fall really pop against the green walking track and playground equipment. Some people see a face when looking at the image, while others see a nice fall scene. When the image was taken, I just appreciated the structure of the track and the messiness of the leave as well as the balance between the colors.
(This photo won the photography category at the Westmoreland Art and Heritage Festival in 2023)
10. Order Through Chaos, Beaver Lake Nature Center, Baldwinsville, NY 2024
Just outside of Syracuse, New York, Beaver Lake Nature Center has miles of nature trails, a large lake, and as seen here, a bog trail. This perspective captured my attention because of how dense the vegetation is (in early April, there is no foliage—only branches and limbs) and how the walkway drove right through. I wanted the scene to appear almost as it did to me, so this image was captured at 30mm, which is close to what the eye sees.
11. Morning’s Embrace, Murrysville, PA 2021
The goal of this image was to capture the topography of the Laurel Highlands with enough fog to obscure parts of the image while allowing other areas to be revealed. Captured after sunrise, the image shows the warmth of the morning moving in and the coldness of night dissipating.
(This image was featured in The Westmoreland Museum of American Art as part of the “Westmoreland Photographers Society: Scenes of Laurel Highlands” in 2022)
12. Homewood Tunnel Art, Homewood, PA 2024
A biker races by a colorful mural with interesting architecture during an Open Streets event in Homewood. The contrast between vibrant and dull, new and old, and fast and slow are among the elements I attempted to capture.
13. High Rise Reflections, Pittsburgh, PA 2024
The bright vibrant colors of a summer sunset being reflected off of a high-rise apartment building in downtown Pittsburgh create a colorful and compartmentalized look into the many different units. I wanted a colorful sunset to give the image life and to create another, more abstract dimension.
14. Snow-covered Trailers, Fairfield Township, PA, 2022
By taking to the sky, the bright, bold colors of the trailers were minimized by the recent snowfall, letting the arrangement dominate the composition in a nearly abstract way. Photographing from above with a drone also captured the pattern and repetition of the trailers.
(This image was featured in The Westmoreland Museum of American Art as part of the “Westmoreland Photographers Society: Scenes of Laurel Highlands” in 2022)
15. Sunset on the Dunes, White Sands National Park, Alamogordo, NM 2014
After driving 7 miles into the park and climbing atop a roughly 40-foot gypsum sand dune, there are still seemingly countless miles of dunes ahead. I perched myself on top of the dune for over an hour waiting to see what formations the wind would make, or what color the sunset might be. Every once in a while, I would have to pull my feet out from sinking in the sand and becoming part of the dune. In this scene, I really tried to capture the serenity and scale of the dune field, and wanted a burst of color from the sunset (and the small outbuilding) to contrast the stark white of the sand.
16. Sunset at the Cliffs, Sunset Cliffs, San Diego, CA 2016
That was the first time I saw the sunset at the Pacific Ocean. In 2016, I had driven all the way there to visit my girlfriend (now wife) at a conference in San Diego. I remember being amazed at how many people were there all quietly waiting around the park for the sunset. There were surfers at the bottom of the cliffs most waiting on the waves and a few catching the surf (if you look closely, you can see some in the water).
The thing I liked most about the scene was how massive the cliffs and the ocean felt and how small the people looked. It gave me such a sense of awe that I wanted to capture all of that in a single frame. I waited for the sun to touch the horizon to get the lowest possible angle so it would really illuminate the cliffs and give some nice, deep shadows on the rocks near the water.
17. Tunnel People, Armstrong Tunnel, Pittsburgh, PA 2022
Taken during an event known as "Open Streets" where roads are closed off to vehicular traffic for a few hours so people can walk, bike, run, or otherwise enjoy the roads typically off limits to pedestrian traffic.
This photo was an idea of mine since the route was announced. The Armstrong Tunnel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is unique in the sense that it has a bend in it. My goal was to capture the strong backlighting near the curve of the tunnel and have silhouettes coming toward the camera. I took several frames, but liked the spacing between the subjects in this one as well as the variety of figures (most notable the one with a large hat).
18. Springtime in Lawrenceville, Lawrenceville, PA 2023
When driving on Butler Street, there’s a red building that always catches my eye. In the springtime, the mural and the red bricks of the building pop just a little bit more with the tree next to it is blossoming. The white of the tree offsets the bright red brick creating a nice balance between the two elements.
19. Echoed Orange, Pittsburgh, PA 2024
Taken along the Allegheny River Walk while trying out a new, lighter tripod before a trip to California. This photo was taken before the sun crossed the above the hills on the horizon, but after sunrise. The perfect amount of light was hitting the Roberto Clemente Bridge to create a nice, moody cityscape.
I used a variable neutral density filter (Lee Filters 6-9 stop VND) and set the exposure time for 30 seconds to help smooth out the water and the lighting.
20. The Ice Shard, Lake Erie, Erie, PA 2014
A photo of an ice shard while laying down on a frozen Lake Erie around sunset. The temperature remained under freezing for long enough in 2014 that nearly the entire lake had frozen over. It looked something you wouldn’t expect to see in Pennsylvania—sharp ice shards, huge snow drifts where the jetties used to be, whipping wind, and flat as far as the eye could see (past the jetties at least). I liked this single piece of ice sticking out of the frozen lake, it was more rounded than the others and almost looked like a heart in an area full of sharp, pointed ice shards. The orange sunset also helps to convey the warmth in an otherwise cold scene.
21. Slopes and Flats, Southside Slopes, Pittsburgh, PA 2023
The many different colors of the houses and roofs give a very patchwork look. The image is of the Southside Flats (taken from the Southside Slopes). The overcast conditions allowed for nice, even lighting to the scene, allowing the shapes and colors to really take center stage.
22. Alcoa Building Sunrise, Pittsburgh, PA 2022
Taken the same morning as “Before the Bloodmoon Sets” after the eclipse was no longer visible. The sunrise reflecting off of the glass gives an interesting illusion on most days, this morning it looked very much like an American Flag.
23. Floor 7 in Andy’s Building, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA 2024
When visiting buildings, I like to check the stairwells for any interesting lighting or compositions. This stairwell had many different textures as well as frosted windows with very soft lighting. About halfway down, the lighting changes to more darker tones where the shadows from other buildings were blocking much of the light. To emphasize the depth, a 16mm prime lens was used.
24. Reflecting Life, PPG Place, Pittsburgh, PA 2021
What really captured my attention was the strong, hard geometric lines of PPG Place being juxtaposed by the soft, organic texture of the tree. Capturing in black and white limits the visual distractions in the reflections in the glass and puts the focus directly on the tree.
25. Look Up Before Going Inside, Pittsburgh, PA 2020
While many buildings have strong geometric figures, this corner stood out to be because of its simplicity and symmetry. While the Steel Building is often captured in a way that showcases its height or its facade. The symmetry and the lines of the Steel Building’s entrance often go unnoticed, but make for a great abstract image.
26. Cherry Blossoms on the Allegheny, Pittsburgh, PA 2020
One of my first photo outings during the pandemic was in April 2020 along the Allegheny River photographing the cherry blossoms on a Sunday morning. Several people had the same idea and there were more photographers than I had ever seen in that location.
Typically, I would compose a shot of the bridge between the cherry blossoms, but due to the sheer number of people, I chose to photograph from a different angle. I stuck around for the sun to pop out, and really liked how the blossoms and the bridge balance out each other. A slight pink filter was used to enhance the softness of the image.
27. Esoog, Pittsburgh, PA 2024
‘Esoog’ is goose spelled backwards. Technically, its title was ‘ǝsooפ’ but I quickly learned that title is quite a pain to type, so it became Esoog. The photo is of a goose swimming along the Allegheny River shortly after sunrise. The bridge in the reflection is the Andy Warhol Bridge. The reason for the title is that the image is actually upside down. The ‘real’ goose is the one on the bottom. For the image to work, it required a specific time of year at sunrise and for the water to be relatively still. And of course, a goose.
(This image won an award of merit at the 15th Annual Mister Fred Rogers Fine Arts Juried Exhibition at the Latrobe Art Center in 2024)
28. The Backlit Tree, Boyce Park, Plum, PA 2020
The sunrise in this location didn't go as expected due to a patch of fog hanging over the field. However, the soft lighting and rising sun gave a very nice backlighting effect on the tree and cause it to almost look as if it was glowing in person.
(This photo won the 2023 Friends of Boyce Park photo contest in the professional category)
29. Under the Ginkgo Trees, Allegheny Commons Park, Pittsburgh, PA 2024
Infrared image (720nm). For years, I have visited and photographed the ginkgo trees at Allegheny Commons Park. They’re one of the last vestiges of fall in the Pittsburgh area, with their bright yellow leaves typically lasting until early to mid-November. This angle shows the leading lines of train tracks and gives a sense of depth to the image. The 720nm filter was chosen to help soften the harsh early afternoon lighting, transforming the scene into a soft, almost wintery looking landscape.
30. The Hippie Van in Sausalito, Sausalito, CA 2024
Infrared image (720nm). Much like “Under the Ginkgo Trees,” I was looking to transform a scene with hard shadows and lots of colors into a softer, more intimate black and white scene. The way the old Volkswagen was parked under the trees had a sense of calmness to it. Almost looking like a scene from a movie. The tree canopy nicely framed the van and the leaves show up as white (leaves were still green in person) when being captured in infrared with a 720nm filter.
31. Weathered Graffiti, Carrie Furnace, Rankin, PA 2024
Years of graffitied brick and the subsequent weathering give character to this wall. I was fortunate enough to tour the area on an overcast day, which allowed for softer, more even lighting to capture exterior shots around the facility. This image was rotated 90 degrees because it felt more aesthetically pleasing. The bottom part of the image are the exterior bricks and the top part is where a doorway had been sealed and cracked.