4.1.2021CUFPhotographed an abandoned house in Clifton Heights today for CHCURC. While on the walk up to the porch, the neighbors’ beer can folk art caught my eye. The inclusion of the cans into the architecture of the house they share is nice. These cast-away vessels once held the essence of a young college student’s off-campus experience and have since fused with the place that facilitated nights (and probably days) of fun. Together, each puzzle piece is like a raised flag reminding passersby of what being a late-teen/early-twenty-something American going to college is all about. I mean, speaking for others here—I went to community college and was too busy playing Mortal Kombat and reading Star Wars comics when I was 20 years old because of course I had to be counter-culture in the lamest ways imaginable.

4.2.21A Hamilton BarnDrove out to Hamilton today to photograph a barn for the owner of a sizable piece of land. The barn is going the way of the dodo soon and will be replaced by a new home, and the owner wanted photos of it before it was demolished. I really liked this tree in their yard and wanted to incorporate it into at least one of the photos.

4.3.21Matt’s RenoMatt owns a building at Lang and Clifton in OTR that he’s been slowly renovating over the years. He’s done the majority of the demo work already and is about ready to bring contractors in to starting getting it into a livable state. He’s going to put an apartment on the first floor and add a split second/third story apartment above it where he plans to live. I visited his space a couple years ago when it still had walls up, so seeing it open and largely ready for the next step is neat.

4.4.21Time For a CutMyrtle is afraid of going to the groomer, so we’ve taken to cutting her floof ourselves. It’s work, but it also saves us $400 a year. Worth it.

4.5.21Pooch PerchI took four photos while on a walk today that I could’ve used for today’s entry. One was of the engine of a CSX train passing underneath me as I walked across the Washington Bridge, one was of an orange stray cat behind a chainlink fence, and another was a view of spring as seen on Poplar Street. However, this is the one I chose because it combines two things I love: old neighborhood architecture and a big old goofy dog. He/she was watching us as we walked by his house because Myrtle was with us. I love that he/she has a little vantage point from which to smell and see the world around him/her.

4.6.21The Coveted ShotReturning to this 8th Street house for a night shot was a good idea. The client wanted it, and considering how beautiful it is at night, I am glad to have captured it in this well-lit state. However, this isn’t the coveted shot mentioned in the title; I got my first dose of Moderna today, beginning the process of raising my defenses to COVID. My arm is sore from the needle, but aside from that, I am feeling 100% fine. Science is truly amazing.

4.7.21A Necessary ReturnYesterday, I came back from getting my vaccine along this route. The scene at this intersection was so splendid, I felt compelled to return this morning to try and capture it. The spring trees with the morning light on the building made for a sight to behold. However, after parking nearby and making my way to this spot, a man sat on a bench in front of the bar and I didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable if I pointed a camera at him. He seemed hyper-aware of his surroundings, and I felt self-conscious. I ended up waiting about 20 minutes before he got up and left, at which point this stupid truck rolled into frame.

4.8.21Tim & KimPhotographed an abandoned house in Clifton today. Whenever I do these, I hate doing the basements. They’re always creepy, dark, and I never know what to expect down there. I cannot stress how much I hate doing basements. There was a house in Avondale that I shot once for The Port years ago that had a basement that was the creepiest one I’d ever seen; a bed frame without box springs or a mattress and a mirror nearby with “help” scratched into it. Like something out of a fucking nightmare. It didn’t seem real. I didn’t even photograph it because it disturbed me so much. Anyway, the basement today wasn’t nearly as bad thanks to all the natural light that filtered into it thanks to windows and a pair of blown down doors, but I still didn’t like doing it. Loads of bricks were stacked in rows that lead to a darkened back area that I didn’t linger in while down there. Rubble was piled up in a corner (pictured) and I saw this little romantic scrawling on one of the load-bearing pillars. It was a bright spot in an otherwise dreary scene.

4.9.21Motor CityWent to Detroit. Will be here until Sunday.

4.10.21Lee PlazaWe drove around and hit a ton of Detroit neighborhoods today. We saw the breadth of Detroit’s personality; the shiny mansions once inhabited by legendary Motown singers in Boston-Edison, the vacant and burned out homes in northeast Detroit, the slowly revitalizing central business district, and much else in between. One stop on the trip was at Lee Plaza—one of Detroit’s tallest abandoned buildings.

4.11.21Boblo Island Amusement ParkCanada is closed to visitors at the moment, so we did not cross into Windsor from Detroit. However, on the ride home, we took a bridge over to Grosse Isle to look at what’s left of the Boblo Island Amusement Park on Bois Blanc Island, Ontario. You can still see the Sky Tower.

4.12.21New GlassAfter reviewing my photos from this weekend, I was a little let down by the clarity of the images. Blurry, out of focus, and they had a general haze to them I haven’t noticed before. Then again, I’m shooting with primes more often than zooms these days, but when I travel, I like the ability to switch focal lengths on the fly for more diverse compositions. The 24-120mm workhorse I used this weekend was the kit lens I bought with my D750 years ago. Its lost tension in the focusing ring and VR doesn’t seem to work as well as it used to, and after years of use, it’s also speckled with dust under its many layers of glass. So I bit the bullet today and got my first Z-mount lens: a Nikkor 24-200mm. It’s not a fixed ƒ/4 like the previous, but I cannot stress how much faster it focuses and how much better the colors and clarity is on a RAW image. It’s near-prime with how sharp the image is. Not needing to use the FTZ adaptor cuts down on the physical profile of an already compact mirrorless camera, too, making this a great option when I want to carry it around with me every day (or on trips). When I got the lens, I took it out in the Procam parking lot to snap its first frame, spotted this old truck at the very back of the lot, and took a photo.

4.13.21Foiled PlansWent to the old incinerator, but the trail was closed. Considered hopping the fence, but it wasn’t really worth risking it. I don’t know why it’s closed, but if it’s for safety reasons, it’d be better not to discover them the hard way. Anyway, it still looked good from afar.

4.14.21A New SpotCody asked us to go to dinner with him, so we met at The Standard in Covington. We’ve been meaning to check this place out for awhile. The food was excellent, the patio was spacious and comfortable, and the soundtrack was perfect. Also, anything this close to elevated train tracks is 100% in my book.

4.15.21Under PressureWhile on a walk in Newport today, I came across these two firefighters (assuming they are, at least) checking the water pressure of a fire hydrant. They absolutely soaked one section of the roundabout and traffic stopped until they wrenched it closed again. In other news, it speaks volumes about my dull day that THIS is the most exciting thing I encountered

4.16.21Cat In the PackThis cat is named Annie and she was taking a ride via a special mesh-walled pack her owner had strapped to her chest. I saw her at the Art Climb while doing a photoshoot for the Cincinnati Art Museum. Everyone stopped to say hello and pet her, so I started snapping while Annie’s little head was peeking out of the bag. She’s 11 years old and she and her owner apparently just moved nearby.

4.17.21Polka Dot AlleyWe joined a group of Bellevue neighbors this morning to repaint Polka Dot Alley. The turnout was great considering how early it was on a Saturday with the threat of rain looming in the forecast. We met new neighbors and I documented the event for the purposes of letting others know that these fine folks care about Bellevue’s beautification and upkeep in hopes that it inspires them to volunteer in the future. Civic pride in the neighborhood is high already, it seems.

4.18.21Blissfully NaiveI’m living in two worlds at the moment. One in which I am in Bellevue, walking to get coffee in the morning, admiring cats sunbathing in second-story windows, going to outdoor parties in a freshly painted polka dot alley and drinking beer while meeting neighbors who like Star Wars as much as I do, and emptying $2 bags of mulch over dirt to make our little garden of inedible backyard plants look spiffy as Myrtle lays in the grass and supervises. The other is the world I’m haunted by every time I access the internet. I cannot tell if there were two or three mass shootings today. There may have been more. Add that to what’s happening with police departments around the country and you have yourself one hell of a horrifying reality.

4.19.21Have You Seen Me?There’s a song by The Weakerthans called Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure about a cat who is lost and cannot “remember the sound that [her owner] found for [her].” The sound she refers to is her name. It’s the only song that’s ever made me cry. I teared up a little typing this just thinking about it.

4.20.21A Walk In the Cloudless SkyHello from the top of Findlay Market. I needed to get a photo of The Columns for Jake and Miriam, and they set it up so I could climb a ladder and get on top of the catwalk. The trips up and down weren’t really that bad because the ladder was right next to the building. What actually scares me is what the verdict will be in this killer cop trial in Minnesota. This post took a left turn harder than either of us expected.

4.21.21Soul-Soothing WorkSince becoming unemployed, I do not think I’ve worked harder than I have in the last several months. Today I had three photoshoots back to back, including one at the Art Museum. I was hired to make photos on the Art Climb with models for their marketing purposes. Though it snowed, we still managed to make colorful, lively photos together. After that, I worked on getting images at two restaurants for Fort Thomas Matters. I got to photograph food and people again—two things I haven’t done professionally in a little bit. While I never cared to shoot food, it was honestly refreshing to get to take a stab at it again, and it reminded me that maybe my insecurities about what I can’t do are largely unfounded.

4.22.21Back to ItToday I shot more food and staff members of restaurants in Fort Thomas. They offered me all of this food, but I had to turn it down because I had two more places to shoot after this one. The burger looked delicious. The food was from Midway Cafe.

4.23.21Yard WorkMy only job fell through due to the overcast weather, so I spent the afternoon doing yard work. I cleaned out the alley of all the tree droppings, dead leaves, seed pods, and wet detritus from the last month. I pulled weeds and filled half a giant trashcan with everything. The result was a fresh walkway for the mailman.

4.24.21Good Night, Hard MorningAshley went to the Avenue with Chelsea and Myrtle last night and drank six pints of the good stuff. She felt terrible when she woke up but was able to keep everything down by about 4 PM. Myrtle loved hanging out with her mom all day.

4.25.21Clean Laundry Down on the FarmCody’s architectural firm redid this Bob Evans and he hates it. He said the choice to keep the roofline and color the same was at the request of the client who argued that it would make the place more memorable. I 1000% agree with the client. Laundromats and Bob Evans’ are pretty dull on their own, but combined? Big UTBAPH energy and I’m here for it.

4.26.21Empty Houses and PodcastsI had to return to the empty Forest Avenue house to reshoot it since the landscaping had been improved since January. Photographing empty houses is my favorite because I can put in an AirPod and listen to a podcast while I work. I popped on a new podcast I hadn’t yet heard—one about strange occurrences and semi-spooky stories. You know, the stuff I like so much but rarely get to appreciate because the production quality in that genre of podcast is by and large so horrible (Glynn Washington’s Spooked aside). Anyway, the hosts got right to it and didn’t bother introducing themselves beyond their names. Their urgency to get to the topic at hand is largely what hooked me; they didn’t linger on what happened that week or attempt humor for 10 minutes before doing an ad and then finally getting on with it at the 15 minute mark. I’m horribly picky about getting into new podcasts, often unsubscribing after an episode or two because the host(s) did something small that seems inexcusable. “There are so many other shows worth listening to, why am I wasting time with this?” I’ll say before promptly not trying a new show for another month. Anyway, I think I’ve found an alright one that doesn’t waste my time with filler talk and dull banter, but I’m not naming it in case I end up bailing on it in a week.

4.28.21A Neon VisitorFound this gorgeous male luna moth hanging upside down on the ceiling of our porch today. I’ve never seen on in the wild before. This thing is massive. Ashley was understandably terrified of him, but I got out there with a tripod and zoom lens to get as close to him as I could without disturbing him. You can actually see the fluff on his body and wings.

4.28.21Surprise WindowI photographed Sacred Heart Church at Taylor and Division today just for fun and wrote about it here. This tiny stained glass window on the second floor cast the coolest red hue on the wall.

4.29.21WastedDay 850 was a waste. My 10 AM photoshoot was cancelled on account of the rain, so I laid in bed with my stupid phone until 10 AM. Then, I shaved my head, unloaded the dishwasher, and laid on the couch looking at my phone. At some point I got up and snapped this picture walking in the rain to the post office to drop off a piece of mail for Ashley. Couch-sitting resumed, and before I knew it, it was 6 PM and Family Feud was on. I ate some food and fell asleep on the couch until 8:15 PM when we had to go to the grocery store because we’re literally out of everything. I didn’t even check my email until 9:45 PM. Maybe I needed an extremely lazy day like this? I don’t know. I cannot remember the last time I didn't do anything all day. I don’t feel good about it.

4.30.21The Bay Horse Is BackOver a year ago, the Bay Horse, my favorite bar in Cincinnati, shut its doors because of COVID. Today, it reopened, so a big chunk of the old Bay Horse crew got together to celebrate with schooners. I was out until 2 AM if that tells you anything about how the night went. It was incredibly fun.