philly

I was invited out to take in an Adam Arcuragi & The Lupine Chorale Society show by the people at Noise Racket. I got a chance to listen to his latest album, I Am Become Joy, before heading to the show and I really got into it. Philly-based Arcuragi has a soaring voice with a twinge of sorrow; there's ache in there and I can hear it. The bike ride over to World Cafe Live is a nice one from the Italian Market, but with a pack of camera gear on my back, not so much. It was nice to settle into my seat and sip on a cold one.

The seven-piece band switched up through their set, changing up tempos along the way.

The upstairs space at WCL is an odd one. Part bar, part performance space, part overpriced restaurant. And it's just so clean. It's simultaneously awesome, weird and horrible at the same time.

Arcuragi pounced around the stage for the entire set. Feet stomping, head shaking, hair flying all over the place.

Arcuragi is currently on tour with Cameron McGill & What Army and they're making their way to McGill's stomping grounds—Chicago. McGill opened up for Arcuragi and here are a few shots from his set.

You can take a listen to McGill's new album, It's A Beast here.

The two bands are on their way to Chicago right now for McGill's release party on the 29th. They'll be in Akron on the 26th, Detroit the 27th, Grand Rapids the 28th and Rockford, IL the 30th.

Here's to live music!

And on a random note, I ran into my friend Denison Witmer who was there to see McGill play (they were staying at his house that night). He's a wonderful performer with thoughtful lyrics. He'll be playing at World Cafe Live May 7. Check out some songs from his recent tour here.

The photos in 1200px glory

I spent an hour with Ganga Bastola and her four children in an overgrown lot deep in South Phily [by 7/Snyder] for a Grid Magazine shoot last month for a story on Bhutanese and Burmese refugees getting access to plots of land to use as gardens. I was told that Ganga might be wearing a colorful outfit and might bring some cool seeds from her native Bhutan. 0 for 2, but we still made it work. Above is Ganga with Adam Forbes, the farm manager for the Nationalities Servie Center who is on board for the project.

Here are the shots from the shoot I liked the most and at the bottom of the post is a link to the article online.

A slideshow of the images on flickr in all their 1200px glory if you click below.

I went to The Flash Bus Tour '11 and all I got was this hat. Well, actually, the hat was already mine, but I did get some sweet signatures. And a bag full of awesome schwag. And a head full of knowledge. So, actually, I got a ton!

I signed up for The Flash Bus's Philly stop the day the tickets went on sale. 9.01a is the timestamp on my receipt; the tickets went on sale at 9a. I've never waited in line for concert tickets, Black Friday or a new pair of Jordans. But I got up on my day off, plastic at the ready, and pounced like a groupie. I was really excited to see Joe McNally and David Hobby on stage talking shop. I can't remember exactly how long I've been a constant reader of Strobist as I've gone back through to the beginning and read back to whenever I first found it, let's say early 2007. I've enjoyed McNally's photos in countless publications before I knew who McNally was. I was one of those kids with bookshelves lined yellow full of National Geographic. I used to hate using flash. Hobby made me work and learn to love it in a fun DIY way. McNally takes small strobe photography and injects some steroids into the mix. The two of them, with their willingness to share their processes with the masses, have helped me become a better photog. I'm not scared of new situations—I look forward to the challenges.

I sat with my buddies Kevin and Jilly aka The Nu Mod Squad

My geeky ass got there hours ahead of time and snagged us some nice seats front and center. I could've reached out and grabbed McNally's mic pack as he walked by me throughout the afternoon session. But Hobby was up first with a really cool slideshow on how he builds his manual mode, Pocket Wizard-fired strobes. It was mostly stuff I had seen on the blog already, but awesome to see scenario one after another live in his voice. I was especially inspired by his HoCo360 work. I've been wanting to do a massive portrait project similar to that [or the NYT 1 in 8 Million project] here in Philly for ages. Tiiiiiiiiiiiime! His passion for shooting and highlighting local talent really hit a chord with me. I hope to finally start my big local portrait project this year.

His use of grid spots was something that finally clicked for me as he talked through the process. Placement of the grid spot right on the ground – genius [and totally practical]! I gotta get me one of those 1/8" grids to use on shoots.

In the afternoon McNally took the stage for a TTL demonstration using his assistants and people from the audience as models. I'm assuming it was like attending one of his many workshops, but watching it all happen instead of taking part in it. I found it fun to watch, but not as informative as Hobby's slideshow. I think his pace was thrown off by people in the crowd who, for whatever reason, couldn't wrap their minds around how some of the camera controls worked. Unfortunately, a dozen people asked the same 2 questions about how the master flash works and how global control changes work. I think McNally was peeved and I couldn't blame him. He's a better man than me though and explained each time. I would've jumped off stage and smacked people upside their heads with a Super Clamp. Thank you Joe, for putting up with some of the Philly area's very own numnutses!

There was a lot of information thrown out over the course of the day and I'm not sure how well I would've taken it all in without the several years of built up knowledge I had going into the event. Thankfully, their websites have loads of lessons and their DVD sets have tons of lessons one can watch at their own pace. This was the first conference I've ever been to and it was an interesting experience. I'm not sure I'd attend another one like this with 400 people and a too wide ranging scope of camera knowledge. But the smaller groups tend to be destination-based and loads of money I think would be better spent in some strategic gear upgrades. But what do I know, I've never been to one of those cool workshops!

Thank you David and Joe and the incredible crew which made the Flash Bus Tour '11 happen.

Clark Park, situated just south of Baltimore Ave between 43rd and 45th Sts is a great spot serving as an anchor for much of West Philly. It's three part structure gives everyone ample space to stretch out their limbs bipedal or not. There's just so much going on at any given time, but come springtime, it's bursting at the seams. I went out there last weekend to check out the West Philly Tool Library's tool sale and passed through Clark Park a couple times. I saw lots of stuff going on and it's not even close to its peak. So let's start off with the horses. I think there were four of them. There was one woman and a few kids tending to them as they happily munched on the early green grass afoot. I think they were giving rides to the neighborhood kids.

The LARP tag. Oh man. I had heard of this for years and even saw the beginnings of it before. But this was the first time I saw it in full run. Young and old together in melée. Some had fashioned shields and even a bow and arrow. I have no idea what the rules are as to who can have a shield or not or why one wouldn't do so.

The farmers market at Clark Park is year round, but get there before 2p or this is what you'll be greeted with: farmers packing it up to head back home. I always run into a bunch of people I know when I get my ass out to the Clark Park market and it's always so fun to catch up at the markets. There's a certain camaraderie that exists there. Love it.

And then there's the ride back across the river on the trolley. I dread the 34 trolley. I had to ride it out to 50th St for an old job. It is, by far, the most infrequently running trolley there is. Why?!

If you're up early reading this post on a Saturday morning. Get out to Clark Park and poke around. The northern end of the park is currently fenced off though. They're redoing the park. Hopefully it'll be all ready for the spring and summer.

I just got word of a cool band coming to town later this month [after they hit up the behemouth that is SXSW as a featured "band to watch"] called Little Tybee. Play the video above (Nero) to get a feel for their sound and their personality. It's a great single take video. If you like their stuff, come out to see them March 27th at The Fire. Below, you can play Nero and Passion Seekers. Take a listen…

Little Tybee by Paper Garden Records

I'll be down at the show taking shots of the Atlanta based group courtesy of Paper Garden Records.

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show is underway. About 250,000 people will pass through the Convention Center by Sunday and the area around Reading Terminal Market is just about a no-fly zone for locals. But for those looking for acres of plants and garden-related things, it's heaven. Get your tickets here.

I'm back working for my friends at It's Cactus / Beyond Borders and their colorful, prize-winning booth of Haitian steel drum artwork. It's fantastic stuff made from 55 gallon steel oil drums. All the work is done by hand and the company is Fair Trade certified. The sculptures are indoor/outdoor pieces so they can go anywhere. They're light so you don't need a masonry wall or crazy anchors to mount them. If you're headed to the PIFS, booth 315 is not to be missed. I'll be there Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.

The bed of prize winning flowers. Here's a lady taking a look at some two-tone tulips.

Here's a crappy shot of the bonsai tree booth. They're incredible to look at. These miniature trees which are 40-70 years old are so cool to look at.

The City Harvest exhibit was a tantalizingly tasty look at what's in store for all of us this spring which is just around the corner. They had Swiss chard, kale, cauliflower, peppers and other veggies.

The American Boxwood Society's booth implores us to Save the Boxwood

The US National Arboretum is proposing the "de-accession" of several important collections including the Boxwood, the Glenn Dale Azalea, the Hemerocallis and the Daffodil Collections. The decision to destroy these collections will cause irreparable damage in the loss of extremely important horticultural resources, which are invaluable in the study and research of these historically important plants

* Update: The USNA has put a hold on the de-accession of the Boxwood and Azalea Collections thanks to a major contribution by the Friends of the National Arboretum. Unfortunately, this does not mean that the collections are safe, we now have a brief window in which to raise the funds to secure their safety. Your support is more important than ever, become a member today and help protect the boxwood.

The blooming exhibit at the back had some cool looking flowers in tight arrangements.

Back on the sales side of things, there was everything under the sun/soil. Bulbs of gorgeous flowers to-be and starter plants like these Brazilian firecracker peppers.

A selection of seeds at another vendor.

The cross section of people at an event this large is always interesting to see. People all decked out in berets celebrating the Paris in the Spring theme all over the place. I saw people with Eiffel Tower broaches and necklaces. Mardi Gras beads around some peoples' necks. The amount of hair spray used to keep all that poofed hair in place could probably kill most of the plants if they got too close.

There's the under construction new home for the Barnes Museum over on 20th & The Parkway. I walked by it on Saturday and was surprised at the progress. I guess I'm not up that way very often and haven't paid much attention to it when I am up that way. But I was on foot this time, as opposed to whizzing by on bike, and I stopped and gawked for a bit.

I really want to get to the museum in the 'burbs before it's too late. Not much time left.

I was walking by Farm to City's Saturday Rittenhouse Square farmers market and saw these cool terrariums by 4mula. I can't find any info on them other than this cool site which is for the company which sells other things. I guess this is a new thing for them.

Anybody know more about these things?

I've been a fan of Bill Cunningham's NY Times pieces for some time now. His shots of people decked out in some demanding-to-be-photographed clothes are always entertaining. They're a visual time capsule of style or anti-style of the times.

The film, Bill Cunningham New York opens March 16th in NYC and according to the site, April 1 in Philly. Check out some of his recent audio slideshows here.

I wanna get a bunch of things done in 2011 like…

• Redoing my portfolio site
• Shoot more film
• Learn how to do a wall flip
• Volunteer more
• Shoot more street portraits
• Blog more
• Try baking some bread
• Finally start canning

Among other things.