4.1.23The Temperature DeceptionThe day began with mild temps and sunshine. A trip back to the house was needed after walking a block and realizing it was too warm for a jacket. We walked down to Roebling Books in Dayton and I got Lil’s delicious lox bagel (extremely happy it’s back) since Unataza isn’t open on Saturdays. Then, as the day went on, the wind whipped up and the sunshine went away. The air cooled and jackets went back on. The sunglasses I’d had on earlier slowly became a hindrance as the day darkened. While I don’t normally enjoy complaining about the weather, I was discouraged that my planned day of fixing up the yard and feeling the warmth of spring’s sun on my back was dashed by the grey of winter that hasn’t yet fully left the party.

4.3.23Streaming All the ThingsDropped in to help Steve with a quick project and checked out his homemade podcast studio. The soundboard has all his clips and the audio from the three mics record seamlessly on whatever software he’s using to edit the show. He records video during the show for a YouTube component, too, and has animated graphics and overlays he deploys to enhance its look. I’ve been listening to podcasts for a long, long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen a friend mine put together something so professional to make one. While he was showing me the ropes of his setup, I couldn’t get over how great the framing was when sitting in the second chair. I asked him to take a portrait and we came up with this one.

4.4.23UBBCIt’s been years since I’ve ridden with the Urban Basin Bicycle Club, but tonight I hopped on my bike and met them in Washington Park. We rolled around Queensgate, the West End, and Brighton before heading back to Over-the-Rhine and going our separate ways. It was a perfect night for a ride and I’m glad I didn’t let it go to waste by staying home. It wore me out so thoroughly, I am fighting to keep my eyes open as I commit this to text.

4.5.23Cats/DogsWe are a one-car household, which translates to “when Ashley needs the car, I’m out of luck.” Today was one of those days. I knew the weather was going to turn on me, but I cycled into the shop anyway since I didn’t have a choice. The tornado watch led into a powerful cold front that wafted into town in the afternoon and dumped buckets of rain on into the evening.

4.6.23A Tale of Two HousesRebecca had a great little one-story shotgun house on Short Pershing in Covington for me to photograph this morning. Short Pershing is a really strange street because it’s almost totally hidden from the rest of the *paved* street grid of the neighborhood. You have to slowly sneak down brick streets that feel more like alleys to even get to it, and when you do, you can’t believe it’s an actual street because it’s so tucked away. The house was recently renovated and will be perfect for a single person or a couple. Because the weather was grey, I went back for a night shot (pictured). Unfortunately, my day peaked on Short Pershing. Later in the afternoon, I was tasked with photographing a house deeper in KY. When I got there, the house gave me a strange and uncomfortable feeling. I went in and couldn’t immediately figure out the lights. When I did, they buzzed and flickered to life in unsightly fluorescent boxes on the ceiling with completely mismatched hues. The air smelled like the house was lived in and dirty despite being freshly cleaned. The kitchen had been updated but everything else was horribly dated. My hyper-sensitivity to how lighting makes a room feel was short circuited by how poorly this house was lit room to room overall. A relentless sense of despair and loneliness tickled my spine, and I kept looking over my shoulder between shutter clicks. I didn’t spend an extra second longer than I needed inside, opting instead to put away my gear outside by the car. Later, after hours of wondering about the house and why it creeped me out so thoroughly, I did a little Googling and discovered it recently served as a religious meeting place.

4.7.23CarrieHad business with Nation Kitchen & Bar this morning. It was fun getting to make some new images for a restaurant I genuinely enjoy. Did my usual thing and shot the space in a polished way, then focused on some decor detail shots. Carrie Nation, infamous stick-in-the-mud, had a lot of radical ideas about drinking and practiced property damage in order to force her opinion on others. Thankfully, there are fewer people today like her. It amuses me that the Westwood location has a giant, back-lit version of her on the wall. Imagine her outrage if she knew her name was associated with a place where alcohol is happily served.

4.8.23A Long, Productive DayMy camera collected dust for most of the day while I gardened and spent hours working on my house. It’s been almost three years since we bought our home in Bellevue and something about spring and warm weather make me want to be outside digging in the dirt to make look as nice as possible. When the sunburn set in and our backs and hands ached from a long day’s work, we called up some friends and walked over to Hofbräuhaus for dinner and several obnoxious steins of beer. I took this singular photo on our walk back. We hit up Darkness and then had a really good bonfire in our backyard. Being productive by day and then having low key hang outs in the evening is my preferred Saturday, I think.

4.9.23Easter BearIt’s spring and the Christian icon (not Myrtle) has a holiday again.

4.10.23Vibrant Spring EveningAn evening walk with Myrtle and a colorful scene on Covert Run. Not much more to say about it, really.

4.11.23Toilet TimeYears ago, I met these two at The Drinkery for a meeting about producing content for a local website a news station hired them to run. As they both moved on, I took their places. After years apart, we’re finally back working together on stuff and it’s just as fun as ever. We’re working on an established brand unlike what we’ve worked on in the past, so it’s had a few challenges, but I think we’ll find the voice and figure out the direction soon enough. Anyway, there was a bathroom in the building and it had three freshly installed toilets without dividers between them, so we thought it would be funny if we took our first selfie in years while sitting on them. The post-photo giggling lasted all day.

4.12.23New ViewFrom the Ida Street Bridge looking west down Wareham Drive. The Adams Edge Apartments in the foreground changed this familiar view since the last time I photographed it. Honestly, I think it adds positively to the scene overall. Before there was a building there, medium-sized trees sat on the bend. While uprooting trees isn’t my favorite thing, I think this particular view benefits from it.

4.13.23Jerry’s with JustinHe had the night off, so I asked him to have a drink or two with me at Jerry’s. Looking forward to traveling with him in a few weeks.

4.14.23Galactic CantinaDespite overwhelming crowds, Steve and I managed to get into the Star Wars bar behind the comic book store at Findlay Market. Ashley and Erica went with us, but they merely went for our sake (bless them). The bar was fine; it replaced a Harry Potter concept, which I never visited as I’m not into that series. The drinks at the Star Wars bar were colorful and goofy, bordering on what you’d find at a tiki bar. The decor looks pretty good from across the room, but it doesn’t stand up particularly well close up. Regardless, it’s a fun themed bar and I like that it exists for the limited time it’ll be there. It’s highly unlikely, but if the space ends up being Trek themed sometime in the future, I will probably be very excited about it.

4.15.23Baeten’s NurseryAshley and I joined the Bellevue beautification volunteers this morning to weed and clean up a couple of public spaces near our home. It took about four hours, but we managed to get quite a bit done while meeting new neighbors who care about keeping the parks nice. Then, after we’d finished helping them, we took a trip to Union, KY to check out Baeten’s Nursery—a family-owned flower and plant shop someone recommended to me. Ashley’s favorite spring and summer hobby is gardening and expressing her artistic vision through landscaping, so she had a field day scouring the 13 greenhouses for new items to spruce up our yard. We spent the rest of the afternoon as we started the day: plunging hands into earth and planting what we’d acquired from the nursery. After a long productive day, we closed out the relaxing evening with porch beers with some friends who happened to be nearby.

4.16.23Hard Streamin’Madison, Steve, and Chris of the podcast Steaming Things. We did a photoshoot this afternoon in which we made headshots, reaction shots (for YouTube videos), studio shots, and did a style shoot that showcased the show merch. It was a load of fun and outside my comfort zone, which I think is helpful for professional growth.

4.17.23Best of BellevueMayor Cleves, one of the nicest dudes on the planet, threw a party for all of the CityBeat Best of Cincinnati winners who live in Bellevue tonight. He cooked up pizza in his brick oven and made sure his fridge was stocked full of drinks for everyone who attended. City council members joined our ranks in the mayor’s finished basement to show support for the already sizable crowd. I got to hang out with neighbors and met a few new faces behind the businesses I frequent regularly. The mayor handed out medals to all the winners after a nice speech about how proud he is that little old Bellevue made such a splash in CityBeat’s annual event. It made me very thankful to be part of a close-knit community of creative, genuinely wonderful people who care about the neighborhood and make it better with the piece they contribute to it. Pictured are the guys who made Bellevue Barbershop #1 in Cincinnati as voted by readers. Travis, the guy on the far right, is my barber who nominated me for photography; I owe him for ultimately even being invited to this party.

4.18.23My Stupid InuuryFor three days, I’ve been quietly dealing with a knee injury that’s made walking nearly impossible without slowly hobbling around like a dork. On Saturday I did a load of physical work that, I think, resulted in over stressing a tendon on the side of my knee. By the end of Sunday I could barely walk, and Monday was no better. I made the bad decision to limp to the mayor’s house party yesterday under the guise that I am tough and can do it, but in reality it was stupid to push it like that. Fearing I’ll hurt myself further, I went to Urgent Care today. Doc prescribed pain meds, crutches, and worst of all: rest. As an active person with shit to do, I can’t stand sitting around and not riding my bike or going on walks with Myrtle in the evening. And the crutches, which I’ve never used before, have not only made me acutely aware of how small the doorways and halls are in my house, but were also over double the price of a normal set because I needed the tall person’s version. Gripes aside, I have a trip to California planned for next month and need to be 100% for that. Rehabbing this knee is top priority. This year I’ve been hurt or sick every month so far and I’m tired of not operating at max capacity.

4.19.23KitJustin stopped by to drop off his Contax RX to me. He’s letting me borrow it for the California trip we have planned in a few weeks. The Nikon Z fc and the Contax RX with these two lenses are the only cameras I’m bringing because I don’t want to overburden myself with too much gear. Over the years I’ve traveled, I’ve learned a variety of gear isn’t useful 98% of the time and to pack less.

4.20.23Vesper InstituteA portrait of the historic building the Vesper Institute calls home in Fairfax, caddy corner from the Mainliner. I removed all the power lines and utilities to give the viewer an unobstructed view of the property. Whenever the editing is finished and the final product is free of garish horizontal lines, it always looks so much nicer. Side note: my knee is feeling much better and I’m able to walk without crutches again, albeit a little slowly up and down stairs. Not trying to toot my horn, but I rebounded faster than I thought I would.

4.21.23A Box With Jack In ItThere’s a more obvious title to this photo of Travis’ cat, Jack, enjoying the inside of a box on the counter, but I’m not going to take that low-hanging fruit for once in my life. I’d been looking forward to seeing Travis and eating his famous ribs all week, and this little guy and his brother, Jonas, put on an adorable show throughout the evening. Rob and John joined us for dinner, and the four of us tucked into the most amazing ribs I’ve eaten since the last time I ate Travis’ ribs on a boat in rural Kentucky years ago. Dude knows how to cook. After dinner, we sat around drinking beer until eventually we started bumming around with random instruments he had in the house. That led to an impromptu jam session in the basement where I saw first-hand how insanely talented John and Travis are at playing guitar and drums respectively. I knew they were in bands before I knew them, but I didn’t fully understand the scope of their talent until they demonstrated it. So not only is Travis a phenomenal photographer and chef, but he’s also a top-tier musician—a real jack-of-all-trades (not in the box!).

4.22.23Maysville, KYThough my plan to plant trees with the Bellevue beautification group was thwarted by my knee recovery, I still managed to fill the day with worthwhile content. Seeking the opportunity to go somewhere for the day, Ashley and I loaded Myrtle into the car and headed out to Maysville, KY for a little light exploration in the charming river city. It’s been on my list of places to visit for years but I’d never gotten around to it until today. Between the gorgeous architecture and friendliness of the residents we met while there, we plan to return at some point to enjoy it again. We hit up Augusta on the way home, but the threat of rain and cooling temperatures resulted in an abbreviated visit. We’ll get back there on a warmer, drier day at some point, too.

4.23.23“Take My Picture So I Can See It”She didn’t end up buying the hat.

4.24.23Transit TreatsCool trolley bus sitting in a driveway in Newport. I looked it up on StreetFoodFinder and it doesn’t look like it’ll be back Downtown until Taste of Cincinnati, and then again during Pride in June after that. It’s a bummer because I want to eat what’s inside this vehicle and would prefer not to wait.

4.25.23Adobe’s Denoise AIAdobe released an update this week that added a feature that utilizes AI to denoise a raw image. It uses machine learning to interpolate RGB patterns which then renders a digital negative that looks far smoother than the original raw file without sacrificing sharpness. Honestly, I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it’s incredible. I never go above 10000 ISO when photographing events because I’ve always found the crispness isn’t worth the grain. But with this new feature baked into Lightroom, I’m able to shoot as high as 12800 (and maybe higher) to make sure I lock in a subject’s edges without worrying as much about the static in the image. In the example above, the AI-enhanced version on the right not only denoised and sharpened a few features, but it also re-saturated the amber color in the gentleman’s glasses. The result doesn’t look artificial, either. The lighting in Netherland Plaza’s Hall of Mirrors, while wonderful in person, is horrible for photographers trying to snap moving people faster than 1/25th of a second without resorting to a high ISO setting. Now, with Denoise AI, I can worry less about the technical side of things and focus more on capturing a moment. There’s so much more to say about it, but just look at the image above for proof of the feature’s quality.

4.26.23I Cannot Explain ThisI cannot explain this strange scene in someone’s yard on Taylor.

4.27.23In SituWent to Luminaut’s office today to do a headshot and managed to get a photo of the refinished table Single Batch recently completed. It looked awesome in the shop when I photographed it the first time, but seeing it in the space with chairs around it was even nicer.

4.28.23Simple DIY Organization SolutionAshley wanted a solution to organizing part of her earring collection. The thin poplar boards with holes sit wedged within the grooves of the trim pieces. All of it was glued together once properly cut and fitted. She can pop the pins of the earrings through any of the holes in any configuration she wants and move things around as she adds new sets. The backs snap onto the pins from the reverse side to keep them anchored to the board. The board is hung with a wire that sits on a hook so I can be easily spun around to remove the backs of the earrings when she wants to take a pair off the board or add them back to it. She decided she didn’t want the poplar stained or finished in any way because she was concerned the chemicals would negatively impact the finish of the earrings.

4.20.23Two TulipsTwo tulips, alone in an entire yard, propping each other up. On 6th Avenue in Dayton, KY.

4.30.23Cincinnati Southern RailwayIt’s been a busy weekend. Invited friends over for a porch hang that devolved into watching reruns of the Jerry Springer show ‘Baggage’ by the end of the night. Then met up with many of those same friends the next day at Asian Food Fest on Court Street. I drank one of the most delicious beers I’ve had recently (Rhinegeist’s Wowie Colada) and ate a profoundly delicious coconut bun from Youyu. After that, Tiffany was in town so we went out to Trophy Pizza and roped Justin into the evening while he was working. This morning, I met up with them again at a coffee shop in Madisonville before linking up with Travis later in the afternoon for an impromptu photo walk around Ludlow. Here’s a photo of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad—still the only city-owned interstate railroad in the country as of this writing.