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A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967284586-KYT454SNZEED2J7UQAF1/NZF_3647.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967288521-QPMKVJJTDC49U2NH7QQR/NZF_3744.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967295930-70IOJREL5FXREOUNIBHA/NZF_3830.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967296983-LY3VHEZBXPYKQSUAXBQN/NZF_3835.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967301666-SYGD4H9XIAILLTHFKXWQ/NZF_3856.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967305262-SKXUIB3PXQRWTJBR8DCH/NZF_3935.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967306498-W1EYNXINZ5M4IRZSPPXI/NZF_4038.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967314543-SIBMQU37DB2FSZ0ABHGW/NZF_4055.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967315376-8JWGJQJ5DHC0UIVM3Q9S/NZF_4071.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967324286-K28VHP6URY7BY9V2ZL5R/NZF_4150-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967323386-1P9YOR7R4UY7A0XPOJ04/NZF_4278.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967330536-LXAYUSKTPCLVR9V6YDH4/NZF_4376.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967331321-LKNU4K49Y5L9HNEE7N3H/NZF_4407.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967337769-BJTXBO6WX2YUSKMPKC2F/NZF_4424-Pano-Pano.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967341696-2BIZEZJIOKUHWPTD59KL/NZF_4829.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967347459-6BBZNVM6V8AOB7LBDOTO/NZF_4834.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967352259-0NP3WQEQET7102U72GXJ/NZF_5242.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967356121-GVS0BC2KV9BZ2721RQBR/NZF_6167.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967356972-3QNOQRROJ09XL1WOGDSE/NZF_7022.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967360046-NJ4WXIW6MNOYBIJLGTYX/NZF_7124.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967361998-QEAT1YNZET7MHHVKZSRV/NZF_7148.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967363193-ZNUYJ1KTCEQWXL4QK6FO/NZF_7190.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967369070-UFV6MA0V2BYTYEI5J274/NZF_7566.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967371639-T29UKRXHCHP38HPS3WFF/NZF_9080.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967372893-4799GVVQN50GNYF9XS3U/NZF_9200.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967375032-7AODOJARVLDU04KGIBMQ/NZF_9487.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967377345-FIXJOAKIGL249NHE8KDN/Rediscovered+Treasures+-+Phil+Armstrong+-50.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967382353-OVX0OZFUN9WCRMPCV0VD/Rob+Headshots-2.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967385513-BWD8K2CK7N9OWL0YEKQN/Shahzia+Mural+Progress+-+Phil+Armstrong+-142.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967396827-XFWW5NLCNCYENDSU8VFG/Streaming+Things+at+The+Lodge.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967405512-M9YLJ4DLFKXYGQV60B6R/The+Children%27s+Theatre+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768967400687-PPQV4TI0VD4NHQ9OWMB9/Test-661-Edit.jpg blog - A Nod To My Vanishing Thirties http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2024/8/16/summer-of-24-trip-series-boston-9ybez monthly 0.5 2024-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/3e822434-fe9d-49dd-aae7-a9424146e329/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-112.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/42d239d9-c08f-4324-9e32-44c31cee0119/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-59.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out All aboard the B train at North Station! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723926536852-0QU83A9PETQGCUX0VURL/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-54.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723926536854-S3QP3M9H6NQK2L6G1XBD/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-55.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/be3a5ed3-8de2-4b29-917e-f2f6f04d2600/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-53.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out We only had to use the subway a couple times, so we bought the minimum amount we needed instead of going full Charlie Card. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/11eaa2f4-fc23-4300-b111-9f6a4acdab49/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-56.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Stairs up to the street from the subway platform. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1112c2d2-15c3-424c-8e41-affb7b124a67/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-57.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out The train to Fenway arrives at the station for us to board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/218756c1-07c4-4982-b11a-67bd85136a98/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-60.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Detail of a subway car at the station. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/856f7776-4f7d-4947-afca-cdcd0e157542/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-58.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Regardless of the city, I never feel comfortable taking a photo while riding. I worry someone will think I'm being a creep when I just want to capture an image of the design of the car inside. I chose this moment because the car was relatively empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/38ff26d7-b86a-4955-ae5d-1126ea3bd4bd/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-61.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out A prominent corner in Boston's North End neighborhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941367262-8407952P4I5RTPRQWD6S/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-63.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941367512-VPL1GFGM4K5NYV934K0U/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-64.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/e6548b8b-b8d5-44b6-b682-a521a67878ef/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-66.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Fenway's signage is fantastic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/ce990dfd-2eab-43c0-b4ad-9c56abed30f7/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-74.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out I really dig Fenway Green and Red Sox Red as a color scheme. Instantly recognizable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/29ea3e3e-9e02-4a6f-94c2-699a40c41627/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-71.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out A view of Gate B with statues of former Red Sox players. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941800825-LAIL192BGRBQBFSWJ64G/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-65.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941800824-3FHFF0DJNOUGCXAUZ2RK/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-67.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941805171-SOHALE1FE2UNM7TDT72G/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-68.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941805350-UP5WV32AFUHKZ1MPC221/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-69.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941810827-PXLPL8USML2JSKDIYMS9/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-70.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941810799-MTLHVKA0BEKAP8PDKGQD/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-73.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941817073-BF3IEF962I1LM76ZNS08/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-75.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941817072-WK8FABBMG2KF3K7DVG24/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-77.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941820252-M75BG3BN8IHUBKRTMS99/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-82.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941873025-CXJSC8VKZVEXRUYRU464/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-83.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/697d1fb3-bdd6-49b4-9417-1b62b55184a4/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-85.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out The side of Fenway with a view of Prudential Tower in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941907981-HS7PUH5P5CRO7RHPO5N0/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-72.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941908021-6PD6ENLG415JCLTJAC47/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-76.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941912238-45MIGJ6IB2MS08I0KJQS/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-78.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941912268-8Y4U6ECJEUZ83KC4UKF3/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-79.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941915842-N2KIVRFGFHXIPLYC01GI/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-80.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723941915908-4EL9YY0RC92QUDFG5W23/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-81.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723942036379-Z1HNIY509TDXSPKWNAUN/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-86.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723942036267-E62PMSMFVSJ17L9WHQAN/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-87.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/c9143309-4c7d-478a-8c13-4a87f741bb95/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-89.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out I just liked this juxtaposition. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/a8530a6e-fdee-4baa-9bb5-046796893fc5/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-90.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Really neat old firehouse with beautiful, chunky dimensions and round arched bays for firetrucks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723943443767-XNOQCS59AQ2383GJJH93/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-92.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723943443768-RF2VL32VVX86MAK1PG6G/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-93.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/b6ace335-7539-458d-b322-fc7d19d4e428/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-94.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out The trip down some steps to go up an elevator to the highest observation in Boston. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/b87c2d30-aa3f-42f1-9db0-3c013cb7953d/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-103.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out You can see for miles from the top floor of the tower. There was no time limit on how long you were allowed to stay on the observation deck once you were up there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723944017741-F9WLK74T3D552Z8NNTGK/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-95.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723944018616-6UM1H332K0KXDG7HD2AT/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-96.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723944022082-FDB9IFK82PI1JMLIMXDW/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-97.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723944022795-SLEFSLE53XMCVMEFN4P0/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-98.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723944027457-QNWJLHIS2F482MMVOPS3/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-99.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723944027451-KK0H3D2XDENL5JOK9ZQO/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-100.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723944031813-41Z7K8Z1Y8KFI4D3WB4G/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-101.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723944031740-QNCVBNHOQRZ40T04KNL4/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-102.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1bfa9c29-9055-47bf-8685-c34967af586f/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-105.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Below the top floor, we enjoyed an open air observation deck with glass walls. This seemed to be the more popular level. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723946351234-8VJQ4GK6EF52F9VH8Z5P/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-107.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723946351710-CG8A1MHU4PF151251U0R/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-104.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723946353441-TEJDO26A77CN4GRVLC3A/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-106.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/d01b9d08-da9b-4286-b4be-3d37cf34f14e/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-108.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out No caption needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/c2df5f90-2572-4350-8f14-b02da8e635a2/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-91.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Seen on our walk to Newbury Street: a historic building with a decidedly less attractive fourth story added to the top of it. They put all their effort into utility over aesthetics. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1c9e8ea3-f9ef-4541-8903-5a942e996130/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-109.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out I was smitten with this diminutive bar wedged into the side of a brutalist parking garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/67697b63-8a75-44a6-a73c-a709b4ce8fb0/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-111.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Boutiques, big brand retailers, restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries, and service-based businesses among others occupy many blocks of Newbury Street, making it a popular destination for locals and visitors alike. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724163977295-HI1QYBZO0XIAKSQ5J0SM/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-114.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724163977968-XY9RZUQ8QSWYK51K5W6L/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-115.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724163981599-57Y5L88Q7T3KTI6QW7LS/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-116.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724163981951-HKT5WR387UM1AAT8WQKD/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-117.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724163987245-X8JHY173A3M3SZLINKHZ/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-118.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724163987518-DQMBWKQHVXEWJ1S8DK64/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-120.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/9e812a52-55a2-4b1d-9939-ef67806fce8d/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-112.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Casual life on Newbury Street in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724164214549-7IUKHZ0BM1P9LGYQMD42/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-110.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724164215565-5QG1GNTA5VVCXY98AHQQ/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-121.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724164217842-FQOID6M4JD53E4ACSBSE/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-119.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/4f89af70-ee27-4527-af75-5d82a8d97c7f/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-113.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Standing in the middle of the street to take a photo without fear of getting hit by a car rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/b45ded38-63ac-4458-9f65-588ba9dcdc1f/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-122.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out This is the only image of food I will put in this series. I started the trip with a hot lobster roll. It was probably the best one I had on the entire trip because it was my first of the week and I would grow slightly tired of them by the end of the trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/690089ad-a1d7-4d1b-a962-d70ef388cc8a/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-123.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out An ornate, grand staircase leading up to the second level in the McKim Building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724165100804-NZCX1HF90OYP1UW9D80J/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-124.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724165100828-LCRXNUZY7QY0CAXDHZ5Y/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-125.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724165105793-SQ9K85WFNM495G0EGNJH/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-126.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724165105789-5FQXQN2FKQTYF6VCJQ65/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-131.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/87cbc557-d4d7-4e31-9708-7944e5a501ee/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-134.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out There's no shortage of texture in this space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724165442677-JLJCUL38O1WSE6H4DVIU/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-127.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724165443519-P7FS4SRKM0WDSLL1DVQB/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-128.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724165446746-W2OTE2X2QETGUDVM7PGO/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-129.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724165447279-HK9365TE66CFBQKLZQWC/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-130.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/035a0f30-ff8f-4b4e-b590-01ba5b861b87/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-132.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out There's something about lamps with translucent green shades that I love so much. It's a classic look for a library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/cd4a4a5d-be84-4707-8731-b72ab9f246e9/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-133.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out If you're a student studying in this space, be prepared to have your photo taken. The line of tourists waiting to get images in this room was long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/0517ad2e-aa96-42d9-b86c-16c4660864a6/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-137.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out The Boston skyline from Fan Pier Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/f001bdfd-ee91-4e7e-835b-c7c7fb41c5b5/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-135.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out This bridge looked like it had been closed for a long while. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/fcd97470-a919-413b-9a4a-43d1902901ac/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-136.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out A happy doodle enjoys a boat ride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/9ffe6832-bc0c-49d0-9b8d-999b49564696/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-138.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out "It says it's going to miss us." "I don't think that's right..." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/0c29cfe1-9fe7-4e5e-bdb8-cd8b414c2f3e/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-139.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out A shot of the skyline with the Inner Harbor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/f27f40a5-d416-40ce-bf2b-5ae39b23ea5d/IMG_9594.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Union Oyster House claim to be the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the country (established 1826). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/40b13a55-5e03-4e2f-9d54-ff81a5c5e974/IMG_9596.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out The copyright on the design of this placemat is from 1975. I assume they've been using this same one for nearly 50 years, and I love that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/61323985-c983-4535-86e5-e803aca70923/IMG_9612.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/fe2a4e48-adcd-4c69-bd25-e6d9a6fe4eef/IMG_9604.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/481edcc5-da0d-45db-bfe7-231becd07389/IMG_9613.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2024/8/16/summer-of-24-trip-series-boston monthly 0.5 2024-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/e23fdfa1-0c39-4e79-b6d7-16040db2334f/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/5a16dea2-0999-4fed-9cd7-bb6188b1b4a7/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-6.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out A prominent corner in Boston's North End neighborhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/4ca5c5a7-3578-41ae-ac44-e28da3da32ae/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-3.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Old North Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824012575-JG7R857KRGDR1A3ZP7B0/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-12.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824012576-11I3TEL79WC0XN8G4DKO/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-5.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824017726-DXMSMXKBAJX5PN8FAA20/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824018025-0Y3XNIUOIP8QKI60H26O/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-2.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/7fd0fdad-909f-4392-9a8e-3956bb17eb49/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-8.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out The North End is hilly, with tight streets, very old architecture, and Italian-American personality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824183422-BMSUK3JK3YQDU946XXOE/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-7.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824182777-KHHJ2YTAPT8BJQRU9YCS/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-9.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/ed8b877c-f0f2-4b9d-808b-8d315408204b/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-11.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out A rollerblader zips past the line in front of Regina's. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/82ad7b68-e4eb-45c2-9df6-a59a2b2f2f76/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-10.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Since we sat at the bar, I got a glimpse of how the pizza's made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824645114-K7GT1OD1Y1JZQLH4BIV5/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824644413-59MXEP8YJBWCUMHGA44N/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-15.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824846741-8UKA3NC647PCLGURSKPE/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-13.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824847051-FL3ROXBLFMY3VX2JGZE8/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-21.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723824849529-TNV86E5W3LR77HKRB0YN/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-25.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/a0a52b60-38ee-4e5a-ad0c-4067c1dfed1d/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-19.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out The crowd outside Mike's Pastry is no joke. Be prepared to stand in line for delicious baked goods and sweets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723825335392-POOPPDV19OFMLQJ7PCTG/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-16.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723825335764-RF3HRM5QZ19G04IP3C5U/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-17.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723825437013-JKKV4L0GM0OIJQF98H0K/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-18.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723825436717-JFZKHKJ5OPN5E5B2IRL8/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-20.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/f5e65ddc-1e06-4820-9448-fc55521df68f/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-23.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out A beautiful corner just up the street from the Paul Revere House. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723825507558-BK00EV1UK810Q3283WN0/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-22.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723825507653-OIFXR1FOAMWET2QQY1HT/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-27.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/cf031210-802d-45ce-81db-a36ead26994d/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-26.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Downtown Boston as seen from the edge of the North End. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/69584609-3959-456c-9182-10d1460db863/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-28.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Outdoor market with loads of fruits and vegetables for sale. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/9f53d171-d466-4232-97b1-863a4acca0ca/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-29.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Another scene from that same market. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/a8c62de9-2d07-4010-9593-886769201920/NZF_5771-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out The exterior of Union Oyster House, the country's oldest restaurant, from later that evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723826379354-8FLQ7TFXV9UVOQZMCOFA/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-31.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723826379352-4GXYXOUNOC9CDR429GPK/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-32.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/8e8a0779-5193-4878-8589-e01a18d33ec5/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-44.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out A truly ugly and interesting city hall. I'm very much into this monstrosity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723826559464-J0OCUPNF2ULFVYKCQEY4/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-35.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723826559582-CIUJBICJTN7B4RR3SQQQ/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-45.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/8a4c671f-1e1b-4b80-b813-45d0fb90b188/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-140.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Another shot of it in better light the day we left. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/b4a07e86-f9bb-42d6-bd3a-23915faad668/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-141.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Person for scale. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/b98bcdd6-0166-4c04-aaf0-315aedd2d6cf/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-34.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Fanueil Hall, or as my aggressively marketed-to brain wants to call it, "FanDuel Hall." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/d7883edb-83e2-40f3-8bcc-6c333c515713/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-36.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Quincy Market exterior. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/528fb783-eb2f-4e4d-b862-2d91fa99f39a/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-37.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Quincy Market interior. Ashley got a delicious juice while in here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723829055029-GBIQK52UQGI0IVI5DFX9/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-38.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723829055241-8DNJ7HYB2G8QK1P2BEAT/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-39.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723829059851-UO4ZC51C40WCSVQFPUS4/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-40.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723829059912-RTTI5CKWNUYVQMLUZKDB/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-43.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/d73e7fb9-5917-44aa-ab96-26e4d4d98868/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-42.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Old City Hall, built between 1862 and 1865. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/df4d7d87-b011-4ba1-8f11-3cf0b2bfad39/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-48.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out The entrance to the Orpheum Theatre hopes we have a great summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723829769147-YHYGT7A4UQED4BNE8Z1R/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-47.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723829769713-Z64MVMKS0LFUWGJZCO6W/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-49.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723829774092-73DV30W0T23DYI6XZV41/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-50.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723829774555-7NPLSFMS4S72BPS2EK7B/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-52.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/61339a2b-d354-47cd-a914-8004f902c809/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-51.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out A view of the Custom House Tower through a foreground of red brick low rises. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/5c24a3f4-307c-4554-b9c5-2c84ff211079/Boston+-+Phil+Armstrong-46.jpg blog - Summer Trip Series: Boston, Day 1 - Make it stand out Embrace, a sculpture by Hank Willis Thomas that attracted negative attention despite its positive subject when it was unveiled. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2024/8/1/p3bx6dbuh5nog37cxwtfiyjdlqgu5a monthly 0.5 2024-08-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/935ae5b8-8010-41de-afb2-1b03ff92469a/Screenshot+2024-08-16+at+11.46.30%E2%80%AFAM.png blog - Tiki Nite: A Retro-Inspired Intro - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2023/6/1/the-carnegie-library-that-middletownnot-danforgot monthly 0.5 2023-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/5d434ac3-e1fe-441a-8bbe-d2ed3cd82506/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-56.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/cfe568cc-8427-49be-b226-c4bb4e538b71/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-153.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out Above: Exterior of the building. It’s been vacant for nearly 15 years, and the weather has taken its toll on the building. Note the ADA-accessible ramp to the right. Below: Close-ups of the library from different perspectives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101266769-MLEXZSRKIM11XS437FQT/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-147.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101265771-B2PSIFXMRI559WB5JZ9W/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-148.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101270318-BWMSYNHFVFWQ0OI79006/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-146.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101844268-CSISQNL74N3IW7KMQONX/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-117.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/cd923b48-5548-4be7-9240-463b2c45eac7/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-89.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out Above: The main section of the library, looking toward and through the front door (visible in the lower middle of the image). Below: Staircase details to the second floor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101060129-P2V8M3WYCTD4NPCSV5L0/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-68.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101060452-ZLPEMH19SU4CCK397NNA/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101065223-8CS7WSLY8QGJ7SRRQ3VG/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-72.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101111867-XOLIOD80BPUZ5CR7YIEY/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-94.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101113533-JVIOEQNO21KHBEG8NFCF/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-123.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101171655-YFOX3V580UY5FGJKDZE7/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-95.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/b6f08233-a619-4ffa-b299-99bdc2b2c6b1/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-135.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out Above: Original iron railing and banister leading down to the basement level. Below: The ornate details in the stairwell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101501514-FMQKWQ3LYJGT8BNH2D4O/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-103.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101501752-38SMHVTCGKX4B4DVMA6Q/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-136.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101509855-PFRR0PVJKGTO4JTVE357/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-137.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101512388-N1T28MQ7QOJNWYRF9S0A/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-140.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/f7bfc217-1cc8-4ba9-994f-95baafa394e4/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-99.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out Above: The top floor looking up through the rafters toward the half-moon window on the facade of the library. Below: Details within that room, including intricate brickwork and leftover original plaster. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101713089-3NAY6I1V8Y5MLN90Z0UL/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-98.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101695488-S5930VL8EJYXANVN93F1/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-132.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689101695464-BU3YTSWAY7NDB81ZDGZK/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-133.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/6886e3e1-fccb-4bfc-b343-a254a4eec11e/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-93.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out A dumbwaiter stands across from a short set of stairs leading to a doorway that overlooks the main hall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/9143b3f6-0d0d-40e6-8db7-1be3a1080c67/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-130.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out It is believed that this is the only remaining original glass shade for the ceiling light fixtures in the main hall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/7c74a5de-046b-46a7-8a34-324be525fe94/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-104.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out Above: Stairs leading to the basement level of the building. Below: Other rooms in the basement. Several of them are very large. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689102192272-P34J4SKSAQAWL9ZUOH4B/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-101.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689102192677-HHR1GHJB958ZRSC13JZE/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-111.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689102200813-CKC5R9C7G257TK566EMV/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-113.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689102201435-Z95ZYU1Q9SBT2C766TH3/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-141.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/67fa1355-54cb-49d1-ada4-fefa6a1c8322/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-76.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out In the back of the building on the first floor, the empty stacks can be found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/527cac4c-077c-4c94-b4f1-e688163179a3/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-81.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out More of the former stacks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/534ba1e9-9597-44af-bd94-eaacc135e7c9/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-126.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out If you look up while in the stacks, you can see the original marble floor panels that separate the two floors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/8a7b0d54-5b6d-4e66-b0de-db455af4b83f/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-60.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out Above: The front room of the library, just beyond the front door. Below: Window details in three rooms of the building. One of the windows in the main hall still has some of its glass and a sun shade. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689102741615-XXVT3TTP5JSJMU21YD65/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-122.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689102742782-5ZV9O9XTADMU7HCBORZL/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-125.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689102746438-WV8ZDM8AI2ZUXL9KWY9U/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-128.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/580d303d-991f-4598-a829-902471fe035f/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-114.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out A small, tiled bathroom in the basement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/f85f8a92-42f2-4b86-8c67-5470a9d976fc/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-91.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out The roof on the back side of the building has been punched with holes over the years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/a31d47a9-3ef7-406a-b6f5-cd80f9797086/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-83.jpg blog - The Carnegie Library that Middletown Forgot - Make it stand out The main section of the library, looking toward and through the front door (visible in the middle of the image). http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2023/7/10/the-city-of-the-century-that-dissolved-over-time monthly 0.5 2023-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1fd95ebc-df71-4865-8df2-91c4b8219885/ZFC_6903-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out A streetlight in Gary, IN stands on a corner next to a crumbling home. Blight like this is a relatively common sight depending on the block. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/9c33b9a5-db1e-4fc2-abe4-e6551eca45cb/ZFC_6901-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out A house engulfed in weeds and greenery after years of neglect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/9e0c5a89-71c9-4d3b-91e6-4bb34857210a/ZFC_6929-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out A series of abandoned historic Edison row houses line the end of a block in Gary. The Edison house was unique in that it utilized poured concrete molds to quickly build housing for the booming population. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/6b57b55c-1f8c-47a2-9d5a-7aeb4c4f9257/ZFC_6998-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out The Palace Theater at 791 Broadway was built in 1925 and closed in 1972. At this point, the once-grand theater has been vacant longer than it was ever open. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/e57bc3d0-c3f4-4380-a3d2-01add47114ed/ZFC_6939-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out An empty school at the corner of W 21st Ave and Pierce Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/631f8def-5c47-4b5e-a376-ebd8b7e950cb/ZFC_7000-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out A senior living center that’s still in business. It has 2.8 stars and 12 reviews on Google. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1d96a7b9-a80b-44cf-9f26-0d339f4d7c66/ZFC_6917-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out The Fillmore Apartments building may have been home to dozens of steelworkers and their families when it was built in the early 1920s. Apartments.com lists the property rating of this roofless, abandoned building at 4 out of 5 (“great”). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/2034792e-ded2-4031-a1d9-49fa1f23d600/ZFC_6912-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Another series of abandoned historic Edison row houses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/6eed39e9-d216-409f-9dcb-6e6b5c2c64d2/ZFC_6865-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out It’s unclear if this enormous building on Broadway in downtown Gary is abandoned or just empty. Note the lack of people on the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/c6f3488b-dffc-4fd1-a0b1-b0667ee97ab1/ZFC_6898-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Detail on the array of signs that advertise businesses that do not appear to still be in operation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/94678737-ce6f-4ee4-b573-2fd8e69f2108/ZFC_6856-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out The back of Emerson High School. Built in 1909, the school was designed by St. Louis architect William Ittner. In the late-1920s, several Black students were permitted to attend the school, prompting boycotts by the white student body. As a result, another school would later be built specifically for Black children to maintain segregation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/bf445ca9-5dac-4a3f-bf24-fbb950d196f8/ZFC_6844-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out The front of Emerson High School. In 1981, enrollment was too low to keep it a high school, so it was closed and reopened one year later as a magnet school. It lasted until 2008 when it was permanently closed due to a mold issue that was too severe to fix. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/abd6cbed-a00e-4a57-8f43-309d3883d5e8/ZFC_6847-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Vandals and urban explorers have routinely gone inside the abandoned building. In 2015, the body of a teenager from Chicago was found inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/b4f8c6d7-83b8-49b0-aceb-961525348749/ZFC_6888-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Possibly Gary’s most iconic abandoned structure is the City Methodist Church downtown. Opened in 1926, the church lasted just under 50 years before closing permanently in 1975. Today, the church is open to the elements and tattered beyond repair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689040569923-DJDQ166ZKOD3WTJG1NEE/ZFC_6875-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689040571111-JBHIJOFX4R49B0HZYLBY/ZFC_6878-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689040580172-WZET56GOHF6SVDIJ1ET1/ZFC_6880-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689040581000-QLJVVF6D38BPWPBPEAPR/ZFC_6883-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689040589669-Q7BZBRKTH4M4F4CXYDS0/ZFC_6886-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689040590408-GH3G2ROYRTZ90SDF6C6Z/ZFC_6877-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/dd61efec-6b39-4f5f-986c-98d4f280522b/ZFC_6870-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out A mural on the side of a building downtown. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689040764281-HFUAOZBKNGD386GAEMR9/ZFC_6866-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689040763426-7X4HC4HPINVAWLYAYASA/ZFC_6868-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/ecad652f-bdb0-4435-b655-254cd22ee6f2/ZFC_6933-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out These houses looked to be freshly vacated. They still have glass in the window frames on the second story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/29256238-a8ee-46c8-b8a6-acbce5283ef4/ZFC_6832-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Miller Beach, annexed by Gary in 1918, has a modest and tidy retail corridor along Lake Street. There’s even a raised bike lane in front of this dry cleaner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/fa6c0297-2ed4-4b3c-9bb4-88bd3cad9371/ZFC_6827-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Above: A sign with an uplifting message to visitors. Below: Other points of interest in Miller Beach. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689041782370-3UFI3W9FVK6I4M33HHU4/ZFC_6831-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689041783371-DODP87ULVW482IQHN646/ZFC_6822-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689041787949-BJJMAH4DX4UKL1DG46N0/ZFC_6830-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/635e163c-bc25-4de8-a02f-836cebf0d04c/ZFC_7018-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Gary is also right next to Indiana Dunes National Park—a nice place to experience the beach and a hazy view of Chicago over the lake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/3600aeb6-d3e8-453c-a58a-73b169424b9b/ZFC_6969-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Above: The Roosevelt Auto Service Diagnostic Center, listed as permanently closed online, caught my eye because of the brilliant midcentury modern design of the building. Below: Other angles on the same building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689042195766-C1GQHJ0J60RZK2NF3FD2/ZFC_6972-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689042196119-MI1TZT7AHJU2A2MSC3GS/ZFC_6974-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/4cc00b02-c329-401f-94b9-8127ab73c53a/ZFC_6921-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Above: The enormous Knights of Columbus Building (1926) at Madison and 5th Avenue. A listing online says the building is now home to 119 apartments. Below: Detail on the building and a church across the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689042926020-7MC4C808WQ3UUUD03J7R/ZFC_6920-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689042927673-3GTY5CV7WO6801UP1XO7/ZFC_6925-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/cec5af00-ea66-42b0-b017-f08832b53caa/ZFC_6908-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out The Police Department of Gary sits right up against several empty buildings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/17625016-96a7-4e28-83d0-6eee1dd42a70/ZFC_6977-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Unclear if this is still an operating motel. I did not park in rear. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/4d8159be-ff98-4315-b842-62a9d393fd4d/ZFC_6959-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Looking toward the back of a set of bleachers that overlook the overgrown and abandoned track and field of Roosevelt HS. The corner of Jackson Street and W 23rd Ave. The immaculate Jackson Family Home is directly behind me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/86b65c94-ec5d-4fbd-b6c5-f06b4b328c2c/ZFC_6963-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out When several Black students were permitted to attend all-white Emerson High School, protests erupted and prompted the building of a separate school to avoid integration. Theodore Roosevelt High School (pictured) was designed by St. Louis architect William Ittner and dedicated in 1931 as an all-Black K-12 school. It closed indefinitely in 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/94fba459-a914-4f06-b4d8-534ef1e6472a/ZFC_6938-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out A corner in Gary filled with occupied apartments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/86bfcc21-2824-40f9-91ab-4ebeea05c965/ZFC_6930-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Long-abandoned row houses can be found immediately across the street from homes that are maintained and occupied. The blight in Gary isn’t localized to one part of town. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/b98c6d6a-37f0-4227-a28f-9b45013b9ddd/ZFC_6950-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Above: The Jackson Family Home is where pop-star and controversial figure Michael Jackson grew up. The house is well-maintained and perfectly landscaped compared to the condition of the neighborhood around it. It is surrounded by a fence that allows visitors to view the home from the street. Below: More of the home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689085309010-7B149WRV0I9CO4OUHC79/ZFC_6956-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689085312945-VDJYP486BXRSURUGFG60/ZFC_6955-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689085316506-EYKZU757BY2ORCO1C8RN/ZFC_6952-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689085322393-YPN3P2MQ1XGUZ5OUC9HY/ZFC_6951-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689085324408-R9X5JXHTFJ95H5R2PRWA/ZFC_6949-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/9b237313-54fc-444f-bd96-75f564474ec5/ZFC_6848-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Above: A cursory online search reveals that Gary is home to 21 abandoned schools. Spaulding Elementary School, right around the corner from Emerson, is one of them. Below: More of Spaulding. I did not enter the building; the windows on the first floor are just completely gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689103583195-QU3AN9S5WCZ0B5VI193U/ZFC_6850-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689103583416-OLVJHCP48C9RY6VODDGS/ZFC_6854-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/4d34a0f0-b792-45cb-8eb0-c4591ca7b130/ZFC_7003-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Above: Arman’s has both an excellent sign and 4.6 stars with over 400 reviews on Google. Below: Assorted empty buildings throughout Gary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689104635650-VPMII27L6V1S716L58GP/ZFC_6899-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689104632523-EOKKGCTYZ5LDJC02MKO7/ZFC_6919-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689104641501-PJ72CXVORT8Z7ZTF88DY/ZFC_6926-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689104645647-2PU2A2C8DJI9S1QPEY3Y/ZFC_6961-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/5e31740c-6101-4b44-874e-35381f4f37ba/ZFC_6983-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out There’s no indication of what the restaurant that used to be here was called. The sign at the bottom of the panel says “Polish sausage, hot dogs, hamburgers.” I wonder if they were good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/874e2000-a934-4e27-bba9-de92d3c38fe0/ZFC_6976-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out Great sign for this laundromat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/23e1c141-8867-4086-9900-64643c5aef53/ZFC_6975-Enhanced-NR.jpg blog - The City of the Century Was Forged In Steel Before Many Deserted It - Make it stand out An empty building with graffiti that reads: “JENNY’S MOVED TO INSIDE 5350 BROADWAY THE CITY MALL.” http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/9/17/loving-amp-hating-ilford-hp5-plus monthly 0.5 2021-09-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631927961195-FY5R8J6ZUD86JB6DA5VZ/18520033.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Court and Vine, Central Business District https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928019759-M84SUTLX149LMBEMWEM8/000026050013.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Race and Liberty, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928078377-TJ4BR3B027Z2D9Q7OCWT/18520012.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Looking north on Main Street, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928363598-A71IYJQKLLCNQPB9ENMF/000026050009.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out A group of women order drinks from the bar at PINS, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928412999-U9FWTOIR0NTT4N60OFIY/000026050015.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out A fire hydrant with a sticker. I don’t remember taking this photo or which neighborhood I was in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928526405-1B16I0U3QXCHVLHRK2B8/000026050018.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Annie leads Charlie past the Dunlap Cafe, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928965998-97NLNJ78Y7KNVS82TG5W/18520036.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Colby Alley, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928657368-AWOYC3X8TTRGGJ6DAQUI/18520024.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out A study in contrasts, Central Business District https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928732524-3U804Z1EME5727J7YHE5/000026050023.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Race Street, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928777036-77GG1Q87ZFLOYM7S1T1V/18520019.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Berry Avenue, Bellevue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928815241-14EGF0Q986P4EHJ66YT5/000026050007.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Court Street, Central Business District https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631928866154-MUT3IQOD0PR8V9NNLS3N/18520039.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Ashley in our former apartment, Central Business District https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929123095-R77XAFE1U050HL4LPITK/18520004.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Looking south on Main Street, Central Business District https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929207730-HKZ7BDO2S2YH3L3MYG34/000026050012.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Washington Park with Music Hall in the background, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929259223-MT529XOOJTUA5N322JT9/000026050025.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Findlay Street, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929302117-YE5JNBTPN1LN7UUZPP3H/18520023.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out E 3rd Street, Central Business District https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929344171-TKDO0LCWO0LOP49T0ATD/000026050020.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out A man walks alone on Race Street, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929383073-7TP5BFCBZ10HMV9PBP6O/18520022.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Yeatman’s Cove at the edge of the Ohio River, Central Business District https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929458913-RAWWP8QWGX85LE2YUCA6/000026050003.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Findlay Market on a busy Sunday morning, Over-the-Rhine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929604991-GU7QLJFYHFBE3WDDIBNB/18520021.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out An autumn pumpkin sits on a porch, Bellevue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929693911-WN56QF75HV651TDDSRS3/18520025.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Butler Street, Central Business District https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929873125-O7391PZ4DNI174CVN06U/18520027.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out E 5th Street, Central Business District https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631929899068-TK5IBJA568F80WX4NURP/000026050017.jpg blog - Loving &amp; Hating Ilford HP5 Plus - Make it stand out Dunlap Cafe, Over-the-Rhine http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/9/9/a-trip-to-vegas-the-final-day monthly 0.5 2021-09-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121874776-B18HQA13A1O7TW7OQQ2A/IMG_1800.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631120756153-XCOD353B9Z8ASITYD9EH/IMG_1756.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day - Make it stand out Inside Peppermill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631120802722-AYMUTZ4OX6BT70QKAI23/IMG_1754.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day - Make it stand out The lounge and bar area https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631120868784-9NV1ETXXFHW3X670KFMZ/IMG_2356.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day - Make it stand out Our photo together https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121060739-AB9JEBSFFWDSU0SJQE10/IMG_1814.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121055759-5AO2OO2W9A2Z559MJBQ3/IMG_1769.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121056018-2Y5OZYPDZE8OQ0J30ZFB/IMG_1774.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121059953-A2KT133KQTTN9B8X9TM5/IMG_1803.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121099157-VMV52V3PWTWB4RM9OJ86/IMG_1781.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121141504-0FMGZCZ47S5FFG1L4AQL/IMG_1800.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121201925-6P2XZULAI7CZ1MW294AM/IMG_1799.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121235398-G442VRQLCUWZBT9T5ZFV/IMG_1815.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121285161-ZUY4IIDOII9IKX6FMFVW/IMG_1770.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121286109-KLECYE5WLUZOKVCF7C3K/IMG_1777.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121290129-5MP86WWKEI2VKSY0X8HW/IMG_1783.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121290745-AX3FYDPZY4XMHGBN64ZE/IMG_1784.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121293955-UV6KBV0PTKC5UIMWPHVA/IMG_1785.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121294457-OXVN4NMZMH08OPL3PSVA/IMG_1788.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121394385-Y4B4FYH81IVPU70ECP17/IMG_1789.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121395583-4DGIJ4U02K47H9XHQO31/IMG_1791.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631121440685-QHZN0KYNS9BG25WJ2R0D/IMG_1806.jpg blog - A Trip to Vegas: The Final Day - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/9/7/a-trip-to-las-vegas-day-3 monthly 0.5 2021-09-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064908196-TS530W667LMM7IP8Q23C/NZ6_2340.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631048983035-I9L8EXRF28GV55KEJHJJ/NZ6_2085.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Justin and his hat take a photo of Lake Meade in the distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049034170-9K3XJ1IR358WPIM2DSOF/NZ6_2079.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049034273-J2VOJGS1DAQZ6P4IQV5J/NZ6_2083.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049298038-ENYUZ59W3T6LSSM8X06W/NZ6_2089.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out The route to get up to the bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049341652-T7KPNCQCFS21WF83BUG8/NZ6_2107.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049341654-KKGJQ0P19OWEWQDQWJ8Z/NZ6_2105.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049367004-M7SGIXV35H8NCDXPP6AF/NZ6_2095-Pano.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out The mighty Hoover Dam. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049573177-HHL7M7PASJ6O0UHUXZFQ/NZ6_2100.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049577411-TAXD0L5FCYP7D1VHV6I0/NZ6_2101.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049623031-843VFT1JO79EAVDXJO9X/IMG_1709.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Looking down from the bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631050510671-B9ZF3SGZAUUGAILV7L70/NZ6_2122-Pano.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Seven-panel panorama of Lake Meade. Not great for viewing on a phone. Best viewed on desktop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049942309-VZH0DDLAC5O82UR4P38X/NZ6_2124.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049942308-BMG60ARSE6NLB0NPJSQX/NZ6_2128.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631049987662-JMRE59370Q2GVNGYLIL0/NZ6_2132.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Travis, Justin & hat, and Rob at Lake Meade. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062290374-YBFSIL6DAENRXRUXS93X/NZ6_2149.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out The silhouettes of two visitors can be seen taking photos from the shade inside the Valley of Fire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062346287-J58J372XI0A6EVUOXPFL/NZ6_2138.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062346679-HF9GSYTEOGI80IU0N40H/NZ6_2169.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062370713-4NCUX90594J6RVHDJS26/NZ6_2186.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062370617-7P3A55ESEGZV2SIUCW8E/NZ6_2255.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062408080-0KA1K14N7PB35I1A4Q9N/NZ6_2245.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out A covered picnic area inside the Valley of Fire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062508105-BR79ZWOBSWKZHR09NH8V/NZ6_2283.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out A winding road led us through the Valley of Fire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062609923-HM6E9XOODNVSMEH9P0UJ/NZ6_2136.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062610428-LGVG7JEDME00SSKOKN1C/NZ6_2165.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062620107-HUXBQZ03VJAX1ND1TRCI/NZ6_2264.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062620641-YDMCG1MVEKCVP60EV2O7/NZ6_2280.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062745419-0EJVSJ3TD0S6RS54E1Z6/NZ6_2281.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Justin stops to take in the scene before snapping a photo. It is unclear where the hat went. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062813607-2KCDURE5O6FC4XM5EQOC/NZ6_2282.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Travis kneels and sets up what is assuredly a good composition for a shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631062958162-8Y3U91LG6E3YI4K1O7GT/NZ6_2259.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Rob climbs the rocks to get a photo on his Mitsubishi 3000 (inside joke). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063026301-XCE0SQZFQSJHL31KGQBP/NZ6_2240.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out I doubt these are air-conditioned, and as such, can only imagine how bad they must smell inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063329621-WYEQZ3UR9CFPJH1G4X3E/NZ6_2293.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out The parking lot for Tacos El Gordo featured an out-of-service gas pump awning that was fenced off. Cars parked around the fence’s perimeter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063734577-21H3WI2GDFIDK7JTM6UD/NZ6_2329.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063777049-2LV8XH4HAUUCE5DQ6RUM/NZ6_2298.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063781972-5KVSZWTWNHVY1DA88TUI/NZ6_2327.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063788942-TOFE9NPPMFGYR6AEW3SX/NZ6_2347.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063789410-1MFYFTINZ1UYSTMB9RUR/NZ6_2322.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063858288-PKZBYLU2O06P4L3WRBL5/NZ6_2340.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Justin & hat and Rob in the foreground, Nick and Travis in the background https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063926304-YJ8PNFWMPUM2R50FJBK1/NZ6_2319.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Some pepto bismo-biles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631063995189-CRNN22U231UNTALOMJJ2/NZ6_2307.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Faded signs aplenty https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064046213-1JUE5CLHNWWJZZJP8YTO/NZ6_2303.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064049503-CC7XBOQOL1U170WWHT1M/NZ6_2310.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064050121-292VSXVQPSXZ8KLN2BKJ/NZ6_2316.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064055107-19VAG1J6WLWXNL37CVZR/NZ6_2311.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064055120-LNZH3JP5O2KWTY7665M1/NZ6_2318.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064058299-TJSJI0JG49I8A9J5KTND/NZ6_2342.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064339224-24BG34YJLTK8D9AU9886/NZ6_2349.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064340244-J3ARF108F97ENHNJ94OB/NZ6_2348.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064625811-PV84JZG4NN8X1W6RG2IA/IMG_1747.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064625041-IYZAI5CM9J1KTIVO8ILJ/IMG_1742.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631065337672-PANL00B63E23HA134UVW/IMG_1726.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Vegas Vickie with her moving leg inside Circa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064420347-RL94SE7QRYS85SBJF10S/IMG_1735.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out A view of Las Vegas from the Legacy Club. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064499157-WRZMRDKYUZU5CICNC1QY/IMG_1731.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064500750-Q7ZNTRALBEPQ3957QH7Z/IMG_1730.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064506911-AVQUY9ARKC0GNOGA36WM/IMG_1738.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064573250-NFKRLGCMKL3ZFYPUBMP6/NZ6_2361.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out The Las Vegas skyline. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631064677517-75P9KF9H2X4XXJFB7GA7/IMG_1748.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3 - Make it stand out Dinner was here. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/7/29/a-trip-to-las-vegas-day-2 monthly 0.5 2021-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627611735471-VXFNVHU58S5H51YTD9BB/Untitled-174.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587822552-D69D2LT5IAV3KX35R7FX/Untitled-30.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The approach to Seven Magic Mountains. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587861204-KUWP89SN3FW15FF9PB9H/Untitled-27.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Three-panel panorama (best viewed on a desktop). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587927979-J3NJIXRJZCSFA08Q6HWC/Untitled-23.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587929058-66H5KRKKF0M2NHSKCGNM/Untitled-26.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587933942-NS1TSGEABGHV0DYNULSQ/Untitled-28.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587935031-3QNH60J2DF1KYCPKRTZ8/Untitled-29.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588074191-L8WJOP89Q71QL75TIJWU/Untitled-21.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Travis, Rob, and Justin on the edge of the site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588025330-SMUNUZBKR0LH26AMR0DM/Untitled-22.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588026213-SCD6UXLFYLDAGK0IA1O0/Untitled-25.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586534070-6IPX9VHSACH416HJJK9B/Untitled-19.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out You can see the iconic LO-GAS sign from I-15 in California. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586630987-I37YO5R87M2H4NG9I4CK/Untitled-20.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586630508-Z33BSTX44PZ5ANS5PD3L/Untitled-18.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586677667-17M2PRYQBAKBUP5KV874/Untitled-17.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The gas station section of the site is heavily graffitied and has been ravaged by visitors over many years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587174098-A9FA0NTXNDKXUM5N2AMD/Untitled-08.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Travis sets up a shot on a tripod next to the old gas station. It looks like a fifth wheel was once parked under the awning and has since been burned to rubble. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587274031-8RR2YEIBXJRM1LZODAL5/Untitled-05.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The remaining pumps at the gas station. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586765313-U97YTKKTQYM6ARRBTKHK/Untitled-16.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The diner is similarly beaten up. If you explore photos others have taken over the years, you’ll see the incremental changes that have occurred over time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586923368-ZQWGXFWC9S6XGTHWJZ9M/Untitled-14.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586923605-12P7LDQO85A4VGV1H3L8/Untitled-15.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586930805-XLOIDIJ1A528MS0AYTFL/Untitled-06.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586936502-9RPT599XVIL9XJ8RNC1U/Untitled-09.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627586995627-GVF6TQ08ZMB6KVQRFR3R/Untitled-12.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The inside of the diner is a communal canvas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587074683-Q2WD0UUDT6NU8M99WKGA/Untitled-10.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627587075422-JTV4AJ1J2BOLWUAYYVZD/Untitled-11.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588406649-8JB033YJXL456VIT12HS/Untitled-36.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out This place was wild. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588461192-8Y2SIPSS95OKQKA8LJOS/Untitled-32.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588463779-UD7TSMJYB86VEG9H4XZD/Untitled-37.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588462414-XBK225MU26DHZE0XPZ2Z/Untitled-33.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588464642-MFD163FSTXU7DKJ93KHL/Untitled-39.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588518895-7MX47N9E6QDKMZGWQG1R/Untitled-31.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Thanks, I hate it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588562854-TMYVR4JGPBXRD4DTAV0X/Untitled-34.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588564370-25PW231N3P65AFI3CTV4/Untitled-41.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588563345-2VZDJ4GJTO1QHUTBZ3BL/Untitled-35.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627588964510-L42VMXXV6D4TJJWWJN79/Untitled-42.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The most photogenic side of Arne’s Royal Hawaiian Motel, in my opinion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589044956-XR1O1XDB22I9A9RXECVD/Untitled-45.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The rooms have been empty for over a decade. Well, at least in theory they’ve been empty… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589234396-KDK83DJKX38EG5T2MJRQ/Untitled-51.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The topped trees really add a little je ne sais quoi to this scene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589154648-5BZ64HM0AR89906QZLWV/Untitled-44.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589159725-LLI5M5TMCL9CIO8881PJ/Untitled-46.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589160742-81JGXYU4BPUSAX7P6OZF/Untitled-47.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589162889-FWRXDVKTWD563J2M5VZ0/Untitled-48.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589434903-15KWALE4IBI6OOWNS2RI/Untitled-49.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The world’s largest thermometer can be seen in the distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589707351-4YS40MQJCJS6P1HMYWEH/Untitled-53.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The original site of Del Taco at 38434 E Yermo Rd. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589759494-TBDG7BJ570I5INRV8Z30/Untitled-55.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out An abandoned gas station with a train sitting behind it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589807922-73JI9L3RGIIE1QGSINBP/Untitled-54.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589809532-91ZR7M8I82WHUHY0VE2A/Untitled-56.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627589850537-YTCXHM8HLJQZNBBNUGL3/Untitled-52.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out An ad by the road advertises Peggy Sue’s 50s Diner. In the background, “CALICO” can be see written in the hills. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590061748-7T79VM9NDVEM93SLZ9VE/Untitled-65.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Old vehicles can be seen parked under an awning in Ludlow, CA. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590095699-QPQN865UW61F1RHKU0K3/Untitled-66.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590095787-1W10ACIJPIST14KQZUZK/Untitled-67.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590187126-J0RGJG4FZQQMFW43PO92/Untitled-62.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out What appears to be a former gas station with a cool shape in Ludlow, CA. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590296094-OVWB8ICAKN5PM7Q3I4JQ/Untitled-60.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out I kept out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590405470-VRYORFMXTIW56NIPNLPC/Untitled-57.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590405469-6TYUHBIF3RR4U2W2XC5P/Untitled-63.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590448815-WSC9615GBZ10BLDP7Q0M/Untitled-59.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Travis changes film from the back of the rental car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590667117-W06RA5BLJSP35M5P21ZC/Untitled-58.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627590666911-LCHMZFWLHD5M58XCI4LP/Untitled-61.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591121622-4TROX33AOZLLL1SK91B6/Untitled-68.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The path to the observation area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591167884-9E4T1CZ1II6K8H5KSNNU/Untitled-70.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out A lot of volcanic rock with mountains in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591245603-PE515A9TXJ96GC4ZZE4A/Untitled-69.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out As we were leaving, we could see rain off to the west. It was coming the way we were going, and we wanted to get photos of our next location before it got there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627612177665-X8Y1VJTN8GQ8H7PZ23WT/Untitled-174.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Roy’s Motel & Cafe as seen in 2021. Rain was moving in from the right of frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591686116-GJFPPJOD49KCEA9WHM9S/Untitled-85.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The cabin where people once stayed overnight can be seen here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591728175-TS5LF7BAB4VWJA5OCUBR/Untitled-83.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Roy’s was once an extremely popular stop along Route 66. The construction of I-40 severely impacted its relevance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592096037-FT6LFPQ9W7ZKQVL83YYJ/Untitled-84.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The Post Office across the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591813848-Q5OUNVHJQ7LK2EAA1JYY/Untitled-82.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The iconic sign just before the storm hit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591883019-SZP7S47A77DSQI00X5KL/Untitled-79.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Travis stands undercover at one of the locked cabins before joining me inside my own unlocked cabin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591944790-EC04YL2IA8I38Q58D1LC/Untitled-77.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591944344-OJGU9LMUYMAT73U6PYFX/Untitled-76.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627591989929-3B45JC3TIDVJUAB8Q5P2/Untitled-78.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The sign through the broken glass of the cabin while the rain pours outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592189977-YG17S43WHPCYLN61OIYZ/Untitled-75.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Roy’s pumps the gas for you. It is not cheap to fill up there, either… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592147114-GOH94RRQJVMYEVB7UNKJ/Untitled-74.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Justin, Rob, and Travis under the gas station awning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592249192-BSVOINRWUREXR5S0WJHG/Untitled-73.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Travis runs through the rain to get the car so no one’s camera gear gets wet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592381231-N8RKERBE86S5WJGAF43P/Untitled-92.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592381209-KBL196436CJ5I77OICOZ/Untitled-91.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592403661-QA22DAIGT7G9WQEJYRM4/Untitled-90.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out I love burros. They are adorable and beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592479018-RLHXTO1KMGXGK32211OC/Untitled-89.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out “Hullo. We are burros.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592453734-2GH4IX3ITMXO2XUNU278/Untitled-88.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592454091-B9SOYF5ND9U2A4ECE6NV/Untitled-87.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592813333-K94UJ45TNMVDBH9Q532E/Untitled-113.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Oatman Theatre with a burro munching on something out front. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592900617-YR2EL8C2YNT5LDEXSJY1/Untitled-107.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592901067-S0LB9PDETHNTHLGIM92N/Untitled-114.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592904283-WALLC2GT5IN50EXMJQK9/Untitled-116.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592904579-BUGD22BTNOUOSV3NHYKA/Untitled-118.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592908629-NBUGCYCGN3D0W941HD2W/Untitled-122.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592908640-B8UC077PS3HX0G2RMUOC/Untitled-123.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592911109-H1N3RMV6TQE0LM3LV7MZ/Untitled-124.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627592911777-JA4CD4QK37T1D74B3JCO/Untitled-126.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627593012493-1B3JZYZDWY0A2TYLHP5F/Untitled-115.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627593106612-L57PDY8EU9M9LQS3K060/Untitled-111.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607459699-OC69E94LOH2EPDB1GX8L/Untitled-109.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The finest Dos Equis I’ve ever had in Oatman, AZ is served here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607524989-7QTXO1NS9E6GC72YALBW/Untitled-110.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607524988-KVR9P5HQPQ2C5MYV8X08/Untitled-108.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607716146-0YE7P2VM4OQNZWK9IGFV/Untitled-127.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The only rule at Judy’s. Kinda wanted to break it just for kicks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607616506-KPJGW71RDGKQT74BYQOA/Untitled-103.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Established 1902. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607651837-TUFEWWD4PK3OG3MHI8FL/Untitled-100.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607654293-2P6UDLY2SUUUGG9Z1IPS/Untitled-101.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607665742-6ORGQZC6UFTBK85HWV83/Untitled-120.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607667702-IYLZW60E2BQRELO1CSOX/Untitled-121.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607670004-CA5OAESY0PEHQD2MKTWF/Untitled-125.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607671966-7DN6XBCYE2XHXFHK2HJ9/Untitled-117.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607673703-PEOJ5QEDR2MNVD96HXQY/Untitled-106.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607676167-3MOTZYX6H20GQZQSHTXL/Untitled-102.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607816489-FQXQVTT0Q52D00Q3LMDQ/Untitled-104.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The burros will come right up to you. I pet many of them on their head and they sniffed my hand for food. The dishwasher at the Oatman Hotel said not to pet them from behind. I would imagine because you’d run the risk of getting kicked that way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607932204-WJHYB7502AMP6UA80Q5T/Untitled-105.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Two people on a tandem bike randomly roll through Oatman while we were there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627607999696-R7OXVF3BM0JEVOK84IPR/Untitled-112.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Burros hang out in the street across from Judy’s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608074442-7KMJ8FFZX2Q23YL5DK5R/Untitled-119.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608062478-Y35L3D5T1X5OVSLS935J/Untitled-094.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608065448-ULVJFN024OQJZM7HH21T/Untitled-095.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608066934-PIYY8DDKO6SUAPLVMUNS/Untitled-096.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608069785-LV5Z4WBPD3RLTNAG28JC/Untitled-097.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608071295-FO46JAJP351XOP2E6AFN/Untitled-098.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608074438-71W9XH0EBGBB7PF3PMD9/Untitled-099.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608061669-88UM2Q202JJIO2KLQC1D/Untitled-093.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608426698-UO1XWWET6VE72PHXT9BE/Untitled-128.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out You’ve seen this sign before. We all have. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608555536-9S1Q4OSYIMULU0GIMPGV/Untitled-136.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608555848-RI6XLSSCST5Q9I1DBV4X/Untitled-131.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608560786-DMR91LSVMUD73BX5WIEN/Untitled-132.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608560596-MX45VKRZ2FJ5GA5YXF89/Untitled-133.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608563480-WVTGRO2KMPKIUR857QUY/Untitled-134.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608584842-3TUJ3DF7M7ETG3TWKHVD/Untitled-138.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608625463-N8JAD9OSXGZI2EYHAD0K/Untitled-130.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Plaza Hotel & Casino on Main Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608714797-HGC01TYZKSRFCY0YV31C/Untitled-135.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608714795-7A202015RC3CS0HXDZ2M/Untitled-137.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608828938-QD90PM96XTUGZK8WP02X/Untitled-139.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608989432-6UNV068JYTC8E8CUDDQC/Untitled-140.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608989433-5DEK0OXJZ46VHIAVSF03/Untitled-141.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608997686-JC7LX7E087CI1OUTIB8Z/Untitled-142.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627608997307-JBUFO4XZGH46O6WPKXZW/Untitled-143.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609005377-N5WZDVXUQNY0S9YGUCF5/Untitled-144.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609005602-L81ENRFERXZRE0MC0HG9/Untitled-145.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609195516-YBHR17TZCFY4VEG8H7X2/Untitled-153.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Street performers recognize each other and fist bump immediately after. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609253178-F1Y93WBGRG32KN47SQ9P/Untitled-152.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Zipliners fly at fast speeds from one end of the Fremont Experience to the other. Everything is covered by a ceiling of LEDs. It honestly looked like loads of fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609361194-SXIQJYK7AU98D60V5WHI/Untitled-146.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609361193-MN5V204OSVK0H371D6L3/Untitled-148.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609369304-HGAUSVZXLTDYCHAQ9D80/Untitled-149.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609369490-B2GFAUKQYF14HPEL9PDC/Untitled-150.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627610466402-YT1CYW6RRFOCO3IMEIEW/Untitled-167.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627610466365-KSOH25BW1OULP22G2IZ2/Untitled-168.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609420529-CF5KQBEESQEY0YW8OZD1/Untitled-147.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out Justin took many photos inside the Fremont Experience, as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609587046-RYHXC6WWB6ZO19JAZ2IS/Untitled-151.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out $8.99 prime rib seems…suspicious… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609470373-L1U8U1WJWFF37HSMSLH5/Untitled-146.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out I really cannot put this place into words or effectively capture it in photo. You just need to see it for yourself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609919376-Q34PIWNYMW6IQY3Q9H3N/Untitled-166.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The beginning of the Fremont East District. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609996283-YH13IF1JPBLX4IW3WY8L/Untitled-154.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609996797-8I9NPERNNFV9115FYBWS/Untitled-156.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627609999305-Q9T53B3C6P79497OO61R/Untitled-158.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627610000543-ZX41X8O53C91AEL6VTMS/Untitled-162.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627610001811-2G3KSG9MOH3KY989FOPL/Untitled-164.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627610003130-3RDT075B2D71MH1ZKSD6/Untitled-165.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627610076942-P9WCJI05M63YRM1M2U4R/Untitled-157.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out The further you go into Fremont East, the better the signs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627610124961-D9MH5J13K1596EKN02TI/Untitled-161.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 - Make it stand out People dressed up for a night on the town, apparently. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627610178123-2GR2EPEK09G0J1GW2L2E/Untitled-159.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627610178418-SS969Y03TUYB9OY2ACZU/Untitled-160.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2 http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/7/26/a-trip-to-vegas monthly 0.5 2021-07-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627353067747-ZRVYKOLVGBOHSYYHE9BC/NZ6_1336.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627354494861-5MB0WWOKDY2Z29L5D6I3/NZ6_1195.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Wynn Las Vegas on S. Las Vegas Blvd https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627354643717-YNCJWUJ0G48H04TQXASU/NZ6_1190.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Double decker bus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627354644160-O8VDRWS8AYQMF0GY34LY/NZ6_1228.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627354724144-DB4SJXR2BFFOVRXE6QKS/NZ6_1197.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Fashion Show Shopping Mall on S. Las Vegas Blvd https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627354864211-6SURNYNLCZNIFBKJFG13/IMG_1609.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627354867250-FN7CL4SWB7A36ZXNEYJQ/IMG_1631.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627354922489-TYE0HV1HVV1KB1GACODR/IMG_1593.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out I really enjoyed the artistic element of Vegas. Not everything was up my alley, but this moving carousel made of flowers was extremely impressive and a great example of Vegas’ more wholesome over-the-top showiness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627355126338-9JSEV6TOTKIITK2FML4P/IMG_1611.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out The Venetian was a lot of fun to walk through. Also, maybe the best place to walk on a hot day. I could’ve spent more time wandering around there if I had the chance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627355307650-8VKTRU6ZR48L683Q2M87/IMG_1618.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627355308129-1RHX59VEZICM372HWXJ7/IMG_1622.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627355311471-KJF9F862XNKCTHJ2CZV6/IMG_1625.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627355312096-972ZMLQ78YQK8XDKMBU5/IMG_1626.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396199754-NDLDC5NLY17C3B6UE1ME/NZ6_1210.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Outside of the Venetian. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396237285-9FNKQDJZ1G191RQNP7NA/NZ6_1205.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396237794-R2XL91TNPJKVBZHFI8DI/NZ6_1206.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396075343-GTIMTJGPPKF9QXJ6V2T5/NZ6_1194.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out You will never see a more concentrated amount of ads in one place than Las Vegas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396397923-LNR1MGILG88TOP956KG8/NZ6_1227.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Justin takes a photo of his surroundings. I am very eager to see what he and Travis shot on this trip once they get their film developed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396456341-OCJN1UVVNYPTECDIYNKJ/NZ6_1235.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396456649-L481RA8YRANO8CNB2XW1/NZ6_1238.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396521745-SXFTVVVQ13CO4PV3F9UI/NZ6_1240.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396523750-E3CTJ68V50YRU1C2TZLV/NZ6_1247.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397087377-EXYDO29F04XI5PVE77HJ/NZ6_1326.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out I didn’t try Las Vegas’ best friend chicken, sadly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397170862-4SGRQVL44JTZ5W7QJ2ZM/NZ6_1223.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397170864-0Y06WYMYO6X6QZX64AO2/NZ6_1253.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397212546-7YNP2TS3WX88HXW9YGIA/NZ6_1268.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397212061-L6UJ0QWBQ123PFPTHI9C/NZ6_1342.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397262446-3GYKEKQ9ACJYI229COWY/NZ6_1336.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Las Vegas is as much a feast for the eyes as it is a capitalist’s dream. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397382932-VA1I5A671OTZUJXRDLZR/NZ6_1274.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397383466-S7E9NIHAEBZROY50R4FO/NZ6_1327.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396610388-W3GPJHC5Y8ZI0273XJ9G/NZ6_1261.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Caesar’s Palace against a stormy sky. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396673717-T1HB7LGYDE0NH2ZXNRMS/IMG_1647.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396674086-17EURLNK69VUN2RF1VVT/NZ6_1267.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396731207-FAWEVD8GF4ZGQ7ZQC1X3/NZ6_1296.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out A relatively calm part of the fountain show in front of the Bellagio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396798732-A29GBEP4AEGUEA5UXPSO/NZ6_1289.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Hundreds gathered along the edge of the water to watch the show at 3:00 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396855467-JAKBWU7C7EM690OPT1MV/NZ6_1317.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Fountain onlookers take photos and videos on their phones. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627396970257-GFM3B6U02GOBE73Z0UQ1/NZ6_1325.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out There was no shortage of drama during the fountain show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627399489718-38I20ZZUB9JG03LMURXF/IMG_1650.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out A shot of the view through dirty glass from my hotel room. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627399277725-EAU1FBQIQCJ2SD69QAG6/NZ6_1356.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out The flamboyant and fun Rio sign. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627399342529-ZHQA87T1RQ7YRC6LZ52S/NZ6_1372.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627399374421-CEUCICNGPIEPNODL8BYM/NZ6_1375.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627399639159-NI7LGEG5OAVI35DFWDIR/NZ6_1363-HDR.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out A view from the top of the parking garage at the Rio. The moon was just beginning to show up over the skyscrapers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397523822-W7J74MB9ZUFKXZD1C8R9/NZ6_1392.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out We didn’t get to eat here. That didn’t stop us from photographing the exterior, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397590650-9LBSILGKZJE9SE5X9MV6/NZ6_1394.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397589544-59ZDBCJY8RDT0ZCDLSFP/NZ6_1387-HDR.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397694736-F2GVVL9HNXSRGIH1EHNQ/NZ6_1398.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out A view of The Strat from the Arts District. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397774595-UNOF7LSCMRMLVGMX5H5D/NZ6_1424.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Inside the Golden Tiki—a brilliantly designed tiki bar with no shortage of colorful decor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397924079-U237FSAR1MY2BB898FMW/NZ6_1403.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out Travis and Rob got mixed drinks that were set on fire before they were served. The spectacle of lighting them was impressive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627397954289-VSGQPID5MZKAYFWTETA7/NZ6_1426.jpg blog - A Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1 - Make it stand out A DJ spinning retro remixes was at the Golden Tiki the night we went. One dude in the bar was happily dancing by himself much to the enjoyment of the other patrons. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/6/25/small-thoughts-amp-little-things-compiled monthly 0.5 2021-06-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624635473125-8CONF2VB5356W5RCYZTO/Untitled_Artwork.png blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624628980938-27CAG66XBN1GNTR7D64C/IMG_0971.jpeg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624630414993-Z1DWJNK8L8U872PK5W10/uploads_2F1528143363722-wjd6x99tbnt-9941b9dfcc8018483d298669a1d6a0f6_2FHaunted_Show%2BTile_Panoply_2018.png blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624631808939-2VWHEM04EG1PVNEJ21M1/NZ6_4989.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624631869994-TZ4B5XZXBLBV7N2LYFYU/NZ6_4991.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624631869993-T5BT3B1G6J8CXC1ZYR3J/NZ6_4992.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624631907884-XAWWIQNFTQ1S6TL72JWF/NZ6_4993.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624631952021-2B6LXAJUQ0YPCP36Y0G0/NZ6_4990.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624631954852-GX9NQAGG99YH5HSCTO52/NZ6_4995.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624632500879-A28S3CW4YRAFKGP18ADQ/IMG_0811.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624632502671-GV0L2SJZ2PF2HO91DEQL/NZ6_4289-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624632510284-L4CWP7K66WNAVX7PJYCL/NZ6_4304-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624632512392-5T1WEIZNKEKSRQ0V50GB/NZ6_4315-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624632521761-W8BCE6SOKTL7L3DCR4D9/NZ6_4333-HDR-Edit.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624632529700-Y0P33R842VMEW2NBJK71/NZ6_4381-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624633121643-CGET921Z07YCGFX8VFVH/Screen+Shot+2021-06-17+at+12.56.05+PM.png blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624633119649-A0CM9U6N0KEWT7OF3FV0/Screen+Shot+2021-06-17+at+1.26.02+PM.png blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624633431011-OA1K5AA61SS15J5TEF89/RoadID+-+Hub%2BWeber+-+20210617+-10.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 2 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/6/14/tenement-life-north-of-liberty-walking-tour monthly 0.5 2021-06-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623775119288-IHDAJ27UB35JCZEQKBCR/NZ6_4038.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623693681715-AD8Z1MPE9ERF19AAPJXE/NZ6_4075.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out The tour began at Findlay Market on the Elm Street side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623693800568-CFM9CSU99FQZNDTIKV9N/20210613-NZ6_4076.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out Because women were excluded from entering the saloons and bars the men frequented, they would gather in courtyards instead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623693882111-VKJBAUNVV91C2TMM9HNN/20210613-NZ6_4077.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out You can see the outline of where a multiple-toilet privy once connected to a neighboring building. This is now a parking pad and a back yard for a single-family home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623695072051-TIFVUNGNJT377Y1H3XCL/tenement-backyard-and-privy-hamilton-county-ohio.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out An example of a single-toilet privy (not in Cincinnati, but same concept). Photo by Carl Mydans, Library of Congress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623695628328-DC2GVJ0B1IOTCZHHAIJW/2600-cass-883d49.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out Woman with umbrella, 1910. Photo from the collection of the Missouri History Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623693974040-7GJE392ILDCN0TZOMTB2/20210613-IMG_0682-Edit.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out An example of a “hyphen” on Pleasant Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623694060725-BH1EYJ98UF3W8HA6BT61/20210613-NZ6_4079.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out An example of a tenement building with attic windows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623694150444-8NYJ2JXUDJ1CS83E721D/20210613-NZ6_4080.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out Attic windows above the third story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623694207126-KXMQVXJ4LZN2DZZJSCVP/20210613-NZ6_4081.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out When looking at this tenement building, two visual clues hint at its past. First, the lack of windows and visible scar on its south side indicates that a building once stood directly next to it and has since been demolished. Second, the number of chimneys is a strong visual representation of how many apartments were once housed within the tenement building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623694420468-RGK1WBSSKTUGH9FTGYSP/20210613-NZ6_4083.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out An example of a Race Street building with a metal facade. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623694529043-YYNA58WD8CGMGP1Q1DYQ/20210613-NZ6_4091.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out The OTR Museum’s future home. To get the full story about its history, you should take the tour! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623694633574-L6SN40XV791THMV9HUN2/20141025-DSC_0116-2.jpg blog - Tenement Life North of Liberty Walking Tour - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/6/10/indian-barbeque-comfort-hawaiian-authentic-creole-and-more-inside-the-new-and-upcoming-oakley-kitchen monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623381299818-CAFSX3FQDNYAC1K1TU4F/NZ6_3983.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Make it stand out The building is recognizable by its colorful mural by Danny Gamble. ADDRESS: 3715 Madison Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45209 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623381415278-JGZD4XWXC9JK1O44R6EI/NZ6_3986.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623381443227-755FAPQRBZNRBYGTYMUI/NZ6_3984.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382102372-YN16CIS00KHT3XEQLTIK/NZ6_3833.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Chef Jeffery Harris https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382075476-F48DHL99AGEVQY7FZ6WK/NZ6_3936.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382156184-36L6UMTKI04BSKZRZMD5/NZ6_3865.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Cici Benedett and Vinny Benedett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382153995-KAIIXGRZ506ZZKQBWFLG/NZ6_3859.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Onolicious sign https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382151820-N9TMPCKXGRUK6LVZJIHK/NZ6_3852.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Musubi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382156851-DM52Z5LI0KLIK2HTEZH8/NZ6_3867.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Lanikai Lumpia with garlic pepper vinegar sauce https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382361935-4JWGXWHMHKJGXX34OVX7/NZ6_3883.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Chef Chris Davis and Chef De Cuisine Aaron Booth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382582959-HSYWJFX3YH6W7L2WW8J9/NZ6_3934.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Loakley sign https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382360870-TBKJJ0JPXOCOTLTX14VC/NZ6_3881.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Homemade pasta https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382529678-CO1IT5V8XTN2IA82NOOW/NZ6_3888.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Chef Ibtisam Masto and daughter Asmaa Masto https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382530234-II6PLQOLD3B65YPZ2OOJ/NZ6_3932.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623383158970-D7BZYSK7YO0W9KG1V0LF/NZ6_3930.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Chefs Jeffery Miller and Derek Dos Anjou https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382781741-VDMDVHQCI01VCZ7B5F38/NZ6_3906.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Chef Derek Dos Anjou https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384481273-FOC46RREKVR560XBU7HS/NZ6_3928.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Huli Huli Chicken https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382786863-53YY2LAVUV9SMOLI2R2Q/NZ6_3931.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Parts & Labor sign https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623382782652-L1TG9AJT7LDYN42JBGGY/NZ6_3905.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Bar detail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384216258-IO3XV18HAL0PQJWUGY9I/NZ6_3922.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Shannon Mullins, kitchen manager, and Chloe Lorenz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384216935-E77V2K8RR61SS1JAAL4A/Padrino+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Menu items I originally shot for Fort Thomas Matters https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384604642-K4TGF3CCDW6P8N88Z2BG/NZ6_3947.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384457490-Q7JV5QVXL0ERDTEUKJFS/NZ6_3954.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Devray King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384459378-5M4GS808HNDXM9DNIEDL/NZ6_3850.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Chris James and Devray King https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384715646-OQT9I019YAD5NFWQYIUZ/NZ6_3971.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384844250-8YFRTJ8RZF7UYB4YETOK/NZ6_3966.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384845356-NAK3LHTIMXPZQ3GDHHW8/NZ6_3935.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623385687327-YEL0Y89ZU7EB04GDBZ56/NZ6_3924.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623384946654-CV8EQBQ4NILPNVEMORPN/NZ6_3975.jpg blog - Indian Barbeque, Comfort Hawaiian, Authentic Creole, and More Inside the New and Upcoming Oakley Kitchen - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/6/4/small-thoughts-vol-1 monthly 0.5 2021-06-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623775602743-5NA3FO19KVO9SRJQIZ2V/NZ6_4038-Edit.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622853062887-YHFB8HECX6FNTMXW9NTY/IMG_1370.PNG blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622948821652-CWR79JM2MXS0N9X614LT/break.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622909525381-ZIUI11GOJRLREA8QSSNQ/melane-einzig-september-11th-new-york-2001-web.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Photo by Melanie Einzig https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622949032075-O6603AZSUWXJGAKZ3TAF/break.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910408952-7HND4VJSXXBCNDD7GK9S/NZ6_1763-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910409949-IMLP1A4POVK5AI3H6DBL/NZ6_1766-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910415979-MCSVQSWV2POEL7DIWVNE/NZ6_1846-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910420392-58GY9AQRN66CNKNMV53L/NZ6_1929-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910416909-G8I3C1T2NZZI1UN2NT4P/NZ6_1854-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910423961-AU6MYNHM874RM24I714Q/NZ6_1945-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910405248-QCKJXFF2L0R70QVXURE8/NZ6_1730-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910405733-C57HDCHNR4B019W7NKQB/NZ6_1754-HDR-Edit.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910413096-HNDOX9EM8CBFJD91TM30/NZ6_1801-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910413875-ZZTVBXKYQFZRGD1Q57U6/NZ6_1816-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910420106-HK56DBHE2J0DBEGNO3L9/NZ6_1913-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910423954-C25CMZKO62Z4B39K7I4P/NZ6_1966.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910427846-HURH48F2S24QWI24R7EJ/NZ6_2003-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622910430324-C716DOB7HL9Y17F6052V/NZ6_2074-HDR.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622949158673-PJFICZ6F8RYOOY2361Y5/break.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622949227189-RZO258N9AME059RMGRBZ/break.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622953082996-5ES6WPOSTFTPYR3CWZ0O/NZ6_3309.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622953239854-I4L1PURQTKMN3U01XED1/break.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622954555659-2QOUX3GT7GJZHERNKDD9/Screen+Shot+2021-06-06+at+12.24.26+AM.png blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Photo by Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622954836005-GFFJLP6XPHL9B7P8W30Z/break.jpg blog - Small Thoughts &amp; Little Things, Compiled: Volume 1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/5/27/exploring-one-of-the-last-remnants-of-a-well-known-ohio-ghost-town monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623775766903-WTQFSJ1O9I7JQUR74KB2/NZ6_4038-Edit+copy.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622166294773-ULJS0NEK5PPLGAT66CAJ/20210527-NZ6_1652.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622166552840-VGVHQZQ1J8YE3VATI62O/20210527-NZ6_1642.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622166678165-YVIVCPAFVGDSVO4FN3T2/20210527-NZ6_1640.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622166676870-GEZ6LKFOQRXYQTM1EAXW/20210527-NZ6_1641.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622167259825-5S8LRZ6ERV7U4UQ20PXX/Screen+Shot+2021-05-27+at+6.14.43+PM.png blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Google Maps overhead view of the area. From the parking area to the mouth of the tunnel is approximately 750 feet. Use the foot bridge to cross over Raccoon Creek. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622166912616-7PJ100MD6DP4IRJ1Z1HD/20210527-NZ6_1636.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622167380843-KVYYE72FEHKX3E0TSNA4/20210527-NZ6_1554.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622167380715-JZNDNCUMS5R5MN8UIIZH/20210527-NZ6_1555.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622167390104-IGG7JCXCUDR7PHJ8G1Y4/20210527-NZ6_1631.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622167384490-6VULL5IL1I7ROEOOSTJB/20210527-NZ6_1556.jpg blog - 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Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622167873469-COBQBPUO9R5F17CPHIOQ/20210527-NZ6_1624.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622167874336-44VOSMTL949H2SARWK8A/20210527-NZ6_1621.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168014277-EQZLVWKTEO4AXL4SDUFR/20210527-NZ6_1613.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168087383-7HMG6LDWW0J1MDT3UREV/20210527-NZ6_1610.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168191673-2LS1I5CJ7RRKSBJMU9JP/20210527-NZ6_1568.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168724787-JGNBXOSUQV7UU26W49QN/20210527-NZ6_1608-HDR.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168728090-IK5X1P33UVYAP0FBAFRT/20210527-NZ6_1614.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168703405-R10NHTD7SSCLCS79R52D/20210527-NZ6_1569.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168711216-9NKPV34MHI1EHNWFT2OD/20210527-NZ6_1573.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168717302-JXGO0N2KRUEDXDH9X5KF/20210527-NZ6_1600.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168717334-F3SSMPU7KMQZNJH1P7XP/20210527-NZ6_1599.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168711213-RN0NNWBBK67LZWLUOYU9/20210527-NZ6_1598.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168724415-9RL9T3AUICHH4L39OZPS/20210527-NZ6_1603.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622168703570-9DUFENZUOXRS8MVAD75P/20210527-NZ6_1561.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170121621-6CTDQ3RF1OHJCUSXMAK1/20210527-NZ6_1597.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169391864-W8NPQQDSS2B8S8EERD25/20210527-NZ6_1575.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169450890-P70VVZ56D266DU1CG6XR/20210527-NZ6_1592.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169482917-XG1MIF07GPYGH1ZN6TRH/20210527-NZ6_1595.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169491714-A8O293TXYM7C9ATCDS8G/20210527-NZ6_1597.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169483705-MLQPYWC3WKP63JK7RPKX/20210527-NZ6_1596.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169450902-9YC37MHYOWOKL6MEH129/20210527-NZ6_1581-HDR.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169437959-H818K1EY7O81RV6VS598/20210527-NZ6_1574.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169437956-ZNJJ5F1GIOXL8SO49TTG/20210527-NZ6_1578.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169467746-E24HI8KASPN1YYR0JIQW/20210527-NZ6_1594.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622169467988-K3W2VW4AOE5UM6OHQBTJ/20210527-NZ6_1593.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170027258-P0X6FDO5DGLVU1DUUE4D/20210527-NZ6_1589.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Self portrait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170059161-9SPJKHPXN0RBV2BVWOTT/20210527-NZ6_1588.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out The keystone with a broken “1903.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170212566-NYCDWVVEOAY6GVM2GOF1/20210527-NZ6_1602.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out The others who joined me a little while after I got there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170560735-EEM2GPWCJ467J5RWSX4Z/20210527-NZ6_1675.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170620979-ZF5BGDMI58PHYVWWQM5D/20210527-NZ6_1679.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170621305-G1FV2K1PX3B38MUZ6FQW/20210527-NZ6_1681.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170629689-E80X6DWNEARMW3SVK8K7/20210527-NZ6_1683.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170629692-JM66Q4Q8KS6RKU75E62E/20210527-NZ6_1685.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170635547-JK31XLPR7JOS9Z1FYBFD/20210527-NZ6_1686.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170636209-I7646WOSWHD8O4AVDEJW/20210527-NZ6_1687.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170642989-ILQEJZNPPMY6Z6BPQ0S7/20210527-NZ6_1690.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170642989-03ZRJF33UC3V5HQ1V6C7/20210527-NZ6_1698.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170654762-OESHJMOESCQ27GU1LERY/20210527-NZ6_1691.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622170650679-XSOHH71P300GG5R1TB5B/20210527-NZ6_1697.jpg blog - Exploring One of the Last Remnants of a Well-Known Ohio Ghost Town http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/5/12/a-tour-of-the-john-r-green-lofts monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620875158690-YZ1Q8VUZ02PKCB3129TA/IMG_9066.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out The new John R. Green Lofts at the corner of 6th and Bakewell Streets in Covington, KY. Designed by M+A Architects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620875662476-PZWA1JOMVUEFMHT21I7S/NZ6_0461-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out The Queen City as seen from JRG Lofts in Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876292972-1XBKQGK4UBZUZPD3EZY6/NZ6_0467-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876292111-8JCKU7SC430HBPSIASAY/NZ6_0466-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620875927452-SAFMX4H3WAC9J2Y5SCMC/NZ6_0463-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Both new and old Covington as seen from the JRG Lofts rooftop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876072657-FC81IK0WVLZXS27A7EEC/NZ6_0385-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876073288-5AGZKCRVDB834ZQDN2DQ/NZ6_0388-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876122815-4VFSXBWCCI1VS14DEOT3/NZ6_0364-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out The rooftop has a panoramic view of Covington and Downtown Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876162676-5I3D8SVUOHKMCL51T6D3/NZ6_0367-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876163675-10WCIGR7RIUIXMMJMSWP/NZ6_0370-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876228293-CPJ51W5I7YCVDR3QWRLH/NZ6_0382-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876201663-9EPSG3JECQK05LJ740M8/NZ6_0376-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876358823-DXFLTH7CZWGJXH4R9C9U/NZ6_0340-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out The Club Lounge with a great view from east to west. Notice the Brent Spence Bridge is covered at the moment for maintenance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876392060-GOZL72CDHO9LIO9L6QYY/NZ6_0361-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876391464-49OGUEA8PJ1ZNZCDMKY6/NZ6_0451-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876436363-LVGT3NA7HEQMWNAVAPQ1/NZ6_0457-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876503778-LNWMV5S99YMXD3DR905P/NZ6_0348-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620878427168-YA3A3BKJ5RP0OYUD1RZH/NZ6_0446-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620878425222-0M8UV4SSVC8SP9EJK62Z/NZ6_0447-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620878425733-0N90Q37NSWVXZGK965UQ/NZ6_0450-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876600914-R3MTFG45DJ9PQFOL4KY2/NZ6_0415-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876680035-MW296MQYX8M0YHZ6FUBJ/NZ6_0418-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876758101-T9Y530IQL7D7O2KMEV5C/NZ6_0424-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876759855-EDPL32O5H2J00OIB7R8T/NZ6_0437-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876827544-MVNN24P56U3P2NFT1YOU/NZ6_0403-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876872463-7JTLQ4MVBDLR1UQTO3JF/NZ6_0409-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876871766-3EIG6CQC8MF4B6GKX52P/NZ6_0406-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877057328-JSM6QSUU2YK8RJXMLRE7/NZ6_0442-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877057572-ORS5BLZ1B27YHJQ8QDEO/NZ6_0445-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620876961380-1F8CIFH1V6JQVT7VW518/NZ6_0400-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877014400-MHDDFJQYBSKH3V0XG7JN/NZ6_0427-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877014814-4KTKBUUHJA1F31K4L8WU/NZ6_0430-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877016358-JQFECZG5SF64KHDS7RX4/NZ6_0431-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877012298-G4WUY7WNN2E6C94I5BML/NZ6_0394-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877137779-KJ1FIOLOIN26QI7LCO9R/NZ6_0454-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out The parking garage is located below phase two and three, which are still under construction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877487869-E3FGD5G0C4D77GFTO3VJ/NZ6_0468-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Part of the first-floor lobby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620878297280-ZRKJXYJUJFD01WN8SKJ1/NZ6_0469-HDR-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877532902-EC01SVJP94SLILA3JLO0/NZ6_0339-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877626436-3K1R7UT3PACSNZ7B5A9S/IMG_9576-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out The exterior of the completed phase one in daylight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877657814-ZNUSZSKCQPW2T7IWLXA7/IMG_9577-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out While the majority of the JRG Lofts is new construction, the original 19th Century John R. Green Company building, from which the lofts take their name, was spared demolition and incorporated into the design. Faded ads for the former purveyor of school supplies remains on the building. Hub + Weber, LLC is acting as the project architect for this space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877792641-7KZNOQ6CJ92C6O0UJFD8/NZ6_0334-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877792642-L8N3XOL0ZB9MPD7FU64I/NZ6_0479-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620877794715-GJI6ZC261FO4IS43Z4QA/NZ6_0484-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620878018833-QWXYIACUL82XL1WEAG7K/IMG_9564-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Phase three construction as seen from 7th Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620878102246-RM93XAUR0DFJNBXFXCZW/IMG_9566-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Phase three construction as seen from 7th Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620878200639-N4OK9XB3AL6K94SUIS3S/IMG_9568-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts - Make it stand out Phase three construction as seen from Bakewell Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620878174494-12O7T5KXQCWZINLERH3R/IMG_9571-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620878175238-59WQEO6I6SLSCAMKJ923/IMG_9572-2.jpg blog - A Tour of the John R. Green Lofts http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/5/14/promowest-pavilion-at-ovation-newport-kentucky monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620965192225-CBV82OZY2MDH1UKT6NJS/NZ6_0627-HDR.jpg blog - A Standing Ovation For Newport's New Premiere Music Venue - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/5/10/an-old-friend monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620704308221-L3AZ7DXTC48IT1FS57RT/IMG_9527-2.jpg blog - An Old Friend? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/5/3/fc-cincinnatis-new-soccer-stadium monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620071568031-832DKFL9ADAEZOOLKNB7/IMG_9353.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End The view looking north east from right below the KMK Law Terrace. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620071714362-J9NKD5KB6IAGVDALLFEB/NZ6_9421-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End Standing in the center of the pitch looking south. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620071879642-N76GVKIYW6WX5X2U2SVT/NZ6_9851-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End The concourse is filled with local restaurants, like LaRosa’s, Skyline, Frisch’s, and other lesser-known restaurants (Rhine Roost, Queen City Eats, Wing and Rings, a Gomez stand, etc.) A few views of the field in different settings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073100778-M6VT2IYVUZG5Y8FT7PKX/NZ6_9817-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073077655-YF3TDUMSTIA0ZJD9952L/IMG_9357.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073093921-HI0FKGA2MXCSI5KSXLXL/NZ6_9646-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073086570-40SL6ITHT9KUOV7LTMWT/IMG_9361.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073100426-SPELHT54TQ25VKGC3NCO/NZ6_9807-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073105975-DQL8FNY488ENBOGBI1GQ/NZ6_9867-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073106335-JGEWRHDDODGFQD56N5DW/NZ6_9888-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073402044-Z6UFAMUDRQR7VE88SQDH/NZ6_9541-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073406175-Z14X293M1MGX809K4UA4/NZ6_9550.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073407683-CMAMY4P2YKBHORQW8CGF/NZ6_9882-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073400750-FMIE6F180E1ZXFSDKS3N/NZ6_9535-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073624275-WGMZ04OUY0CN0TG1DU5T/NZ6_9469-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073625138-JEPJXBC1R5MV5ZQMP3ZV/NZ6_9475-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073631185-W0IZBA251XBICNEMSJL1/NZ6_9478-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073635070-7WIH4KETAHD3M4QXX1OI/NZ6_9487-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073636523-ZOR10GJHSY3T9GR78LR8/NZ6_9493.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073642136-2EVWXUX8XEF1GXS7DF35/NZ6_9556.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073642294-7AIYTSC2PJT9PK1EI90Y/NZ6_9802.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073647901-37HP3B5FPA4K3JPVEBJC/NZ6_9803.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073649671-BCVPK0KXQH5Y8RRIFMH2/NZ6_9813.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073655563-3JUI93QV6E0BHJ2XI7BA/NZ6_9814.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073656538-86UHDVHF05RX0XDRZ021/NZ6_9823-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073662407-RXJSGY1DI8Y5U8NMM299/NZ6_9829-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073668393-0LYZA9EJ85DH8C3R0F0A/NZ6_9848-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073669061-HYKOXUZPK3NBIP8HSRLI/NZ6_9863-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073673648-0QPS6C7CYILBWEUSM6Q9/NZ6_9866.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620073675643-ZSQROTAPIPPRNC1KEK0Z/NZ6_9879-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074828009-EBTO72PKWVO8Y0QH9MN7/NZ6_9523-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End Ronny captures a shot looking west. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074678576-TZPS5HZY8GWS16GPJNYP/NZ6_9460-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074682532-DTUSQ2YMYBZ2WMIN4NSE/NZ6_9562-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074682537-WFNMMSKDFC7NGS4W7Q9U/NZ6_9640-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074685696-YUGDD0NAKGN6WDLZACRV/NZ6_9684-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074686489-HB4767EH9YOZ4S1EYGQZ/NZ6_9687.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074692108-411CKBPEK6FA2UP7ZK7S/NZ6_9789.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074692073-F5VC4QS60QV7U5HFOQ0R/NZ6_9794-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074697209-HVKESP0HI6QSVHC0FMQA/NZ6_9810-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074698753-ADVDUNNHW3SMSACMS4BB/NZ6_9860-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074122679-9UNIG0ZGZ76YEKYXSWOY/NZ6_9574-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074123973-GR4TW8V70QR5Q59PVE65/NZ6_9577-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074129380-Y6YVMXGHRPPID1VOPT5Y/NZ6_9583-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074130544-L3LGB1AVD1JEK5RODNC4/NZ6_9586-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074135837-55Z57DXKWU61XCFQH3JT/NZ6_9595-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074136812-H63VRIB3ZQH97B6ABK8I/NZ6_9601-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074140584-QS2PDEPGYM404QER9OFZ/NZ6_9607-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074142034-24FXCKRSYO9HBVDETWTS/NZ6_9620.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074148681-DZV82INX89D75X645X64/NZ6_9621.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074310376-EGA9AEUUEW9M5FWJ8XFX/NZ6_9385-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074312251-MAWZMH4VGICQY1HHYTC0/NZ6_9397-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074314613-TRVD9QIX7NMLNJB0RHIV/NZ6_9409-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074316222-PVVBBPYBM07O81S20CKX/NZ6_9415-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074319773-2NC1W53WR1EJMSPPU5Z5/NZ6_9418-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074320491-W1TEYQ3KY08RBVSQ3O4G/NZ6_9427-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074498423-L088D471G04HIASJ051U/NZ6_9490-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074499338-UYGQBYWHX5Q89FJWI9ST/NZ6_9496.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074504678-RVLP2PZUK69N7UI4FGL1/NZ6_9505-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074505421-OTU488BYMZC8LFYHEF6S/NZ6_9508-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074508300-I41ALLFEZ2HEIYYK92Q5/NZ6_9517-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074511851-RLPUTBZOT8G1UGOAPTZV/NZ6_9526-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074513893-XWBNLBGOXMTY1764EDQA/NZ6_9797-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074517233-230MB8FH70862U7G4J91/NZ6_9800.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074519983-N16LS6UWP9CBHVGHPDV0/NZ6_9801.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074526130-AK6ZFDXGZ8IJMD974MWK/NZ6_9838-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620074526431-X9RWLJVK9BO4S70KUXJ2/NZ6_9873-HDR.jpg blog - Inside FC Cincinnati's New Soccer Stadium in the West End http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/4/28/a-visit-to-sacred-heart-church monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623776102019-ZS1ADP1FX609ZFTYK5CW/NZ6_4038-Edit+copy.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653891754-U1B06E35YYM94LXI4I1A/NZ6_7110-HDR.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653897983-073CNVZDN1DSCBDZ80HR/NZ6_7139-HDR.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653894648-OGI423EKIM047HBNLELA/NZ6_7125-HDR.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653892335-XHJJA1NYVJNM41M28FFC/NZ6_7117-HDR.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653887484-PAFYM5OVES7ZX9SQ2613/NZ6_7099-HDR.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653888425-NE1X62QNNDZ8PP436D5H/NZ6_7103-HDR.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653905977-3MCJI8YVS2OUCTJ79XSA/NZ6_7149.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653902238-4J5PK5K9G405PH9VJ63B/NZ6_7140.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653896957-TYZAFYUE5QKDCOXYL21G/NZ6_7136-HDR.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653905513-H8O7I9KFUWPWZOJ5KY0B/NZ6_7142.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653907798-WJXDTSDW3OOAX8XHWSDH/NZ6_7153.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619653902307-WLK0REOFPE0NPMXJWUD7/NZ6_7141.jpg blog - A Visit to Sacred Heart Church http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2021/3/26/v5bta2a784gpn1ywhwp2z8k6daf86i monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786158910-3YUNV6BTOSY1O3JHAIJE/NZ6_2354-Pano.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert 1118 Lee Street, photographed on March 24th using a manual PC-Nikkor lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786388084-ALD6EFOIME5D3MPLBM7S/NZ6_2376-HDR.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786393826-NVB6I4BVKO25NVW56AGB/NZ6_2457-HDR.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786435814-VI8CDVCOP1M46IC7DB0C/NZ6_2446-HDR.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786393825-5VFGI6NO1SNWPFUDG9CX/NZ6_2471-HDR.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786578103-PS7JGHCMCBL9HKUKEEEA/NZ6_2494.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786573643-0LRD1A8PS6VL55M42LD6/NZ6_2465-HDR.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786574093-0JKZZQ957P92APC4HZAX/NZ6_2479-HDR.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786577385-E32PE034KSEA5MMNNH2Y/NZ6_2481-HDR.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786849343-Q5MSAUVL2TSQPW75NIUO/NZ6_2447-HDR.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786847129-G3B2VR2ODRCMNOIP8GET/NZ6_2463-HDR.jpg blog - A Stunning Covert Convert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616786683297-PKA3UOT8PH9ONO1A66F8/NZ6_2356-HDR.jpg blog - 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Four Accomplishments https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609425575679-ND7F247YV3O5KUDECZR9/Untitled_Artwork+2.jpg blog - Four Accomplishments https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609425576607-4CUEAZ3QVMUYU5IOS0KB/Untitled_Artwork+3.jpg blog - Four Accomplishments https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609425579743-F9ZMHSWDVXC5M6COQWEY/Untitled_Artwork+4.jpg blog - Four Accomplishments http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2020/11/9/bereft-of-balkes monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623776808223-ZNH9VZ4OIDU6T2HMOX3K/NZ6_4038-Edit+copy.jpg blog - Bereft of Balke's - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604959236942-FY3F9EDFWBW0T2BOYKG0/newport2282.jpg blog - Bereft of Balke's https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604960203607-57XYIFU3550TCHH120N1/81c5698980fb15693075cf40ecd07f36.jpg blog - Bereft of Balke's https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604959275422-10MF6SFJQMNSSCLOQIZ3/Sanborn+1910.png blog - Bereft of Balke's 1910 Sanborn map https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604959407734-LZBET73B4LMBOL5ITHR9/DSC_1256.jpg blog - Bereft of Balke's The city moved its offices out of Balke’s Opera House to 348 Taylor Avenue in 1912. This is what the building looks like today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604959641727-BYSOBDPLM6I49K1J9BHX/july+1922.png blog - Bereft of Balke's Caldwell Overall Co. ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer, July 1922 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604960310340-LO2YSYMMYMLPDZPKZNX1/beforeafter.jpg blog - Bereft of Balke's https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604959914515-I61GC2ZBVVE9UUAIE6RJ/000028540005.jpg blog - Bereft of Balke's Instead of Balke’s Opera House, we have Gravett’s Auto Body. As seen on Kodak Ultramax 35mm film in July, 2020. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2020/7/20/from-the-ground-up monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595278624451-9UBVSL68M1VLX4JN1WHE/NZ6_9635-Pano.jpg blog - From the Ground Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595278198023-G7MSPDJTXYYQV6CZF3TP/NZ6_9590.jpg blog - From the Ground Up Our lovely little house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595278306457-WFD8EHMELO5AR9TMU6RZ/IMG_4700.jpg blog - From the Ground Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595278305153-UPCKG5FXW2STEJG8KV39/IMG_4810.jpg blog - From the Ground Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595278309576-4HVBBQL1TNMPMMOAE44H/IMG_4919.jpg blog - From the Ground Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595278396462-SCIJE6K6169FM1F4V2HR/1.jpg blog - From the Ground Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595278396210-BHK71MRWT9TO4G5QD2J6/2.jpg blog - From the Ground Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595278407711-USZZRDQF4JBB3ZIQ3B7C/3.jpg blog - From the Ground Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595278408659-KPFQIY5L3VBR1SYBSYYE/4.jpg blog - From the Ground Up http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2020/5/1/freelance-photography monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623776941242-GRJJXUNSAWQM29QN44J1/NZ6_4038-Edit+copy.jpg blog - Freelance Photography - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345349386-GPHL0UVD3SMQGSQ4TFHB/Hotel+Covington+-+Phil+Armstrong+-60.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345344448-WKECVZ9FQJ8VY8TVOX9A/NZ6_7127-HDR.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345343339-3RUOOIT8UZVVKO1SFC6B/NZ6_4403-HDR.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345351364-9JKV84U6EB1FY1E29CEC/35+W+8th+St.+%28Road+ID%29+-+P+Armstrong+-28.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345424654-O3KZRN2FXO0OJ05SGI8V/750_1123.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345424874-BEIOY7RMDEW035JXQWJJ/750_5740.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588346166872-56HIHW1KZMS1BRPJYD09/Hotel+Covington+-+Phil+Armstrong+-18.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345433163-FHEMUOGOLMQ9IPQLD7KT/NZ6_9626.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345462854-JF5UY4OHWXT1USRZKD2U/750_0026-HDR-Edit.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345463565-ESL7B0S8SDSHKGT9V1JR/750_1814-HDR.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345468863-1Y14B420H82R3TTIH490/750_3875-HDR.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345469205-M8GEF1CEGJ9KKS91DQAS/1203+Main+Street+Ste+400+-+Phil+Armstrong-18.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345507178-WG4U1OC98A57WJ8WFFK9/750_2630-HDR.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345506148-UGOKKRCQ7JRCTHWMYN6S/750_3890.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345515765-WHVVZ5F6WFSB3CXKEXS7/NZ6_6754.jpg blog - Freelance Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588345515886-VX8MU5GLF3HSRLDV4GT1/NZ6_7103-HDR-Edit.jpg blog - Freelance Photography http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2020/4/30/my-diy-grid monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588280738113-D8L2522KH828Z3Q9BA7B/NZ6_9465.jpg blog - Need Photography Equipment? Try the DIY Route A still from the video we filmed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588280855299-UGHST3WMIY72RCKKMC6R/EVsDwFDXkAUi4TQ.jpeg blog - Need Photography Equipment? Try the DIY Route Note the shirt draped over the studio light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588280939368-R0P7JQQTY6PQV29SJDZV/IMG_0146.jpg blog - Need Photography Equipment? Try the DIY Route https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588280955127-RAOAY97M5MNWJTZRPHQM/IMG_6200.jpg blog - Need Photography Equipment? Try the DIY Route https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588280938123-CN31ASB52XXXOTSZZ18I/IMG_4359.jpg blog - Need Photography Equipment? Try the DIY Route https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588281032947-2MRIGYAGUV7043NV03KC/IMG_0591.jpg blog - Need Photography Equipment? 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Try the DIY Route https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588281134919-3UV5LHE4TBMWGAFND1JD/IMG_1964.jpg blog - Need Photography Equipment? Try the DIY Route https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588281203745-NDKL1RTZXE8GX2NYPORO/IMG_8431.jpg blog - Need Photography Equipment? Try the DIY Route https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588281229367-Z65O7XCT3YI0AGJ80OXN/no+grid.jpeg blog - Need Photography Equipment? Try the DIY Route https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588281229902-1CGW4W1ZJFWHYHGLZ63E/grid.jpeg blog - Need Photography Equipment? Try the DIY Route http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2019/12/13/my-first-year-of-film monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623777225343-AQV3BBK16OLA8A6IJ7MS/NZ6_4038-Edit+copy.jpg blog - My First Year of Film - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576250051784-XTGTP26G7F2VQZAJY8U5/IMG_0725.jpeg blog - My First Year of Film https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576250048793-RZJX4LS1M4A2XYB7ZX64/IMG_0726.jpeg blog - My First Year of Film https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581535826740-ERXAEXI3ATDA6G7DL4LM/000336910028.jpg blog - My First Year of Film https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581535467672-WA5E26KXFB90ZSWHG287/26110026.jpg blog - My First Year of Film https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581535557386-O9AJNBLTZ6LL4WINATCG/31760014.jpg blog - 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A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563331683123-HFDCTN6BI1VT9YBDGJVG/NZ6_0237.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563331683626-9Y75ML23V5FWY13EJDNX/NZ6_0238.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563331672051-AR2QNA56W3OLVIX8J5BO/IMG_6179.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563331671548-6CACUGCBAG8ZSLO30TY6/IMG_6176.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563331679680-6ZRLIC94CGT0NBC8RGXD/IMG_6184.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563331675175-H1QOEX2HBSXQQFIR058I/IMG_6181.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563333355297-1O97EZI2DMKB7UT3M9SB/NZ6_0333.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563333355070-DFABA5WLAH29K1TEIF8C/NZ6_0338.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563333367955-1M9H6H21BDOCLGI9S5O1/NZ6_0342.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563333373488-979GHHBRR0FPN4VA3BS3/NZ6_0348.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563333367776-5E5YIEX1XR29T06CJIJ9/NZ6_0346.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563333374016-M5KEPU53FI9MK8MT4EOM/NZ6_0347.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563334032914-HE3VUTQNMQ22UNZE07PE/NZ6_0371.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563334032587-BHN8X9AD43NTRFZZ1AYC/NZ6_0374.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563334039330-T97A0YTUVIL8N3VH4322/IMG_6189.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563334038944-N68XACLCF86069J51NA7/NZ6_0375.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563334041202-94JOSKUM8BQTAGAAPC9C/IMG_6197.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563334518783-49PAO06257I1OZSJ7D28/NZ6_0356.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563334519534-44BD023TFL7OG5Z6H4C0/NZ6_0357.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335115612-U3P2272SXHISM5BYO76Q/NZ6_0368.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335109805-HITQJ4Q5K4K6VY9U5RSN/NZ6_0359.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335113544-TG82UZ6KWTA7523QD9WS/NZ6_0367.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335113221-43WAT2IOIRI25VKWHQEZ/NZ6_0366.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563336527662-2CRMAI9VT1DKUUF3JLVN/NZ6_0393.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563336536844-0I7189XOD1L8ZR72Z2F0/NZ6_0398-HDR.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563336532610-9PKKGTIT3XWW6VH4Q53P/NZ6_0397.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563336546639-NK26NOX021HV0H7QXC1Y/NZ6_0403.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563336551428-VUMJEJKZ7EZ0X0I3X5BI/NZ6_0405.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563336556121-QV9MD4H4825E1GR6NSGJ/NZ6_0408.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563336561298-H5VH9ZOZV0JWS6RA7UEW/NZ6_0413.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563336561739-G48WLDVD2BJ910BX1IUQ/NZ6_0414.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563336565140-LJZ03RX5SU87RMZD3Y6C/NZ6_0418.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563337538789-09UI7RMG5BU7HIGDVCS4/NZ6_0468.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563337500593-LDZP43E3UA13BBPDMQC9/NZ6_0454.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563337522925-ECMOO5AM01QYAVKYVV8K/NZ6_0461.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563337489422-BCYD7WFPMNXVM7DN1HVG/NZ6_0450.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563337514074-KW5MURVUZ2Z91S68DHHH/NZ6_0459.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563337536227-99EQ3KHLBKFXQCKY4L5W/NZ6_0467.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563337494896-KS125378SC1P7V7KICY4/NZ6_0453.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563337513250-WREPXBLT6ELTBRDYZ6B6/NZ6_0458.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563337529528-B5E3RWL62WROFDIVG5D3/NZ6_0464.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335316398-U6A70ZV5U7CR3YQP4Q6I/NZ6_0472.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335316476-355G10965A51LFM5BBN5/NZ6_0471.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335320501-AOS863RGS6CPGYZNVCNN/NZ6_0474.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335320733-G4IWR28X376NB0ZMAOY5/NZ6_0476.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335637124-6FY0R52JBJ88UFYFOJZ7/IMG_6236.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335628451-A5SI8KX2PZLJDOSIQRX0/IMG_6233.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335628335-KA9NAHBNGC58I4Q5C373/IMG_6231.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1563335633142-8XNZABYBFF8OT8JUC6OX/IMG_6234.jpg blog - A Trip to Pittsburgh http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2019/6/20/a-close-call-with-a-reckless-semi-driver monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1561056945198-6BV6K07FBPS3LOA4DV9C/Screen+Shot+2019-06-20+at+2.54.52+PM.png blog - A Close Call With a Reckless Semi-Driver The intersection I visited to capture an image I thought would be interesting. (Image courtesy of Google Earth) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1561058290395-RLQP7SAVFY4WK2450Z8L/NZ6_6667.jpg blog - A Close Call With a Reckless Semi-Driver The lackluster photo that really puts the “meh” in Mehring Way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1561058456685-MAX9EFCIV777ACZ1KBD5/Screen+Shot+2019-06-20+at+3.20.22+PM.png blog - A Close Call With a Reckless Semi-Driver The bridge where the semi passed me. I was heading to the red marker. (Image courtesy of Google Earth) http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2019/3/6/foray-into-film monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623777745820-IHQZAR1PDTNPI6O0BSOZ/20190306-000336910021.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924239638-VQBS9BB6DGY0IK79RWTL/000336910024.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - 4th Street looking west My old apartment building, Lytle Tower, sits just beyond the Western & Southern building on 4th Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924147757-7061HBFBZF601T5I4MRA/000336910028.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Pillars to the Roebling Bridge Inside an unfinished parking structure at the Banks looking southeast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924169130-TRVZKM9SN9KUF16F98OG/000336910027.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Skystar Cabins The Skystar Ferris Wheel cabins. The light leak (or at least I think it’s a light leak) is prominent here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924278445-82BZ5KKOWZUSX5P7WJ2S/000336910009.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Myrtle on the stairs Myrtle waits for me so climb the stairs to go back inside our apartment building on Broadway Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924108369-7DBU0JMRKDSXGC453TQ7/000336910031.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Times-Star and firehouse The firehouse at 9th and Broadway in the foreground with the former Times-Star building in the background on a sunny day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924229405-FQQB6QHZ03BDG7TGQ8P9/000336910023.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Showboat and Belle of Cincinnati One of the last days the Showboat Majestic was at the Public Landing. Accompanied by the Belle of Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924190540-8AZ8FI9V91D9VYYQ6DMW/000336910025.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - 3rd and Main Streets The collection of 19th century buildings at the corner of 3rd and Main Streets. I shot this to make it intentionally seem like it’s from another era. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924104537-AH8IHWCLDB3CB7TZ7P33/000336910033.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Living room My living room. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924195878-5VQPJSTMO217DSEWXG5C/000336910015.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Rookwood Staircase A beautiful staircase made of Rookwood tile inside a former Cincinnati Bell switching station that was built in the 1920s in Westwood. It’s now a theater. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924126773-CB1IIDVISIOI4NFA16FL/000336910032.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Sleepy Myrtle Taking a little nap in the chair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924208239-9QP2RMJB77ELDTRYYVDZ/000336910018.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - P&amp;G Gardens One of the trellised walkways in the garden. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924217138-UBIWUOZ34420TTU0V350/000336910019.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Broadway Street The former District 2 police station on Broadway Street during the afternoon on a weekday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924131175-7YKA6GD8ZRQKZV0ITKVX/000336910030.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - 9th Street Just east of Main Street on 9th Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924267859-344FR97O6U1T9CBHPVJF/000336910011.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Baum Street Baum Street in Mt. Adams as seen from a rooftop on Broadway Street using a 250mm zoom lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924151865-O6QCBFO66LO10WNVB3XP/000336910029.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - The Citadel The Citadel on 8th Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924247612-410LNTIFBLSP8GSLXBWS/000336910014.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Rooftop Myrtle She started standing up after telling her to sit and stay. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924173564-I08NJCZPCVIDCBL6M092/000336910026.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - 3rd and Main Streets 3rd and Main Streets looking northeast during a weekday afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924259475-Z0RDXGFFAKDB06B2ZHOG/000336910012.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Mt. Auburn Liberty Hill in Mt. Auburn as seen from a rooftop on Broadway Street using a 250mm zoom lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924286940-DHF6IMDA42MXDF25WILU/000336910007.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Mt. Adams Mt. Adams as seen from a rooftop on Broadway Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924301757-1NOSU81XS7DSHHICT0L2/000336910005.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Flat Iron Broadway’s Flat Iron building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924308975-GCH7K846WUXZDX5TX1US/000336910001.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - Ashley and Myrtle This was the first photo made on the roll. I wanted the first photo to be of these two. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1551924315515-YHCW0UUZCHOXNGIGGOX6/000336910021.jpg blog - A Foray Into Film - The Belle of Cincinnati The Belle of Cincinnati moored at the Public Landing. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2018/11/18/union-terminal-cincinnati-museum-center-cincinnati-ohio-art-deco-projection-mapping-light-show-landor-associates-grand-reopening monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1543417714766-L5NZRZGOY9HB0LOVVR7J/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-155.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572027810-5LVO2RHOVRKWDJ8GSNL5/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-1.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572702237-GK9CR6R6Q7BT1N31KIAC/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-155.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572282686-ET7FC8ES4FBJCDHIP5UC/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-62.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572457361-O88GFSAJ61UKD8SZ72WD/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-99.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572676158-AHLG5A89TCDJ2M3GWWPZ/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-149.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572043708-BU8VCDYBD70AQX56UR6S/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-6.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572648602-0TZCAVR2SYGFDSZ5KP31/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-142.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572575289-5G9Q7IETWR19Y131HP7A/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-127.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572692671-G5X3YHVJIXZ2LTT1HGAE/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-152.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572027810-ENKO4VFAF8MEM40AETQK/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-2.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572429157-MXJ6YTQVH7TYV7YBCJED/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-93.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572291182-YY06IE30QLQIL9QG99BA/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-64.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572035161-QM7MB06TC9X0FZJ2QF2G/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-3.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572687022-IPVSMFD4I4HP19AZXSW8/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-151.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572035451-BH33528GQPZ78E09XO6N/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-4.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572694592-5UWQHTXR0X9ONGJ47OIU/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-153.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572043234-YIHOOKI1X32LDE4XDC5Q/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-5.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572050642-VZLS85XPQIV5L1EOY9NC/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-7.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572051346-Y3LK3Y9IG4G53LW8P9KY/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-8.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572076103-QFLJY30GUE56LMMHEAUV/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-14.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572110268-ET0XER6AHDW7UGIY204F/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-21.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572274736-415XPSMIC1IXOOZFYXKI/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-60.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572282279-QD772VJNI2E3HSVCW4KD/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-61.jpg blog - The Many Faces of Union Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1542572290598-NW49IFWQD09SXLH1NKER/Union+Terminal+Landor+Projection+%28for+web%29-63.jpg blog - 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http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2016/5/15/derrick-braziel monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623778925244-6B4MNPOGKIBTF46P7PKH/NZ6_4038-Edit+copy.jpg blog - Derrick Braziel - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2016/5/2/nighttoday monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623779022103-EK5728Y8DHQW98C80ZKQ/NZ6_4038-Edit+copy.jpg blog - nighttoday - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1462246481495-FPPA7AVU9F3DSEJ0TR0J/image-asset.jpeg blog - nighttoday http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2016/3/13/save-the-denni monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1457901689478-9GN8KCPYJAFP4T6KEHBG/image-asset.png blog - Save the Dennison Hotel (Updated) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1457902297126-OOD6WXIH550OK8O4OCAT/IMG_2561.JPG blog - Save the Dennison Hotel (Updated) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1457902446530-35MMJQFS5RFKAROEMDLR/Untitled2+copy.png blog - Save the Dennison Hotel (Updated) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1457902441088-7XW6UG5DWFTR5WIKAL6M/IMG_2593.JPG blog - Save the Dennison Hotel (Updated) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1457902530187-AFWXEE8DJ1G5AQ5KRV7M/IMG_2595.JPG blog - Save the Dennison Hotel (Updated) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1457902636887-ITLG5HYIRX9D0U2PSMHN/IMG_2596.JPG blog - Save the Dennison Hotel (Updated) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1457902714359-426SYFMOWFIBMOQGYMYE/IMG_2632.JPG blog - Save the Dennison Hotel (Updated) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1457902801831-RHKQHQKHZ2WA5VN43CCC/Screen+Shot+2016-03-13+at+1.13.54+PM.png blog - Save the Dennison Hotel (Updated) http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2016/4/10/the-spirit-of-anna-sinton-taft monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1460261589895-AP2UHQI919RAWKAEIHO8/image-asset.jpeg blog - The Spirit of Anna Sinton Taft http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2016/2/14/western-hills-water-pump-station monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623779288212-QBECKNK28I2YXVIN7VOV/DSC_0093-HDR.jpg blog - What Good Water's Worth - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455477485722-7M45SZ88TJGRJKN6Y5UX/100.jpg blog - What Good Water's Worth The old Western Hills pump station, 1907. It was located on Queen City Avenue. [6] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455478297899-R4ZMF460AXWK9GNSTWHK/150.jpg blog - What Good Water's Worth The new Western Hills Pump Station being constructed in the mid-1930s. [6] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455478103462-YVH5H1D57UJTQT56I3T0/image-asset.jpeg blog - What Good Water's Worth A comparison of where the old pump station was located in relation to the newly built station. Current day image courtesy of Google Maps. [6] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455479162241-OOVMVI4N4JHB96ZENPWZ/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+2.40.35+PM.jpg blog - What Good Water's Worth Headline (with photos) from the Cincinnati Enquirer. Click the headline to see the full article. [7] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455479386342-OVU6I4Z433574PUHCSIH/image-asset.png blog - What Good Water's Worth "No snogging by the water pump allowed!" -City Manager https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455485522309-1R0H0A62G4XL3W6CPY1J/Pump+Station+4.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455485624499-R1SFXN08JMDZ5OZV8FLP/Pump+Station+3.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455485525347-QJXLMAXCWXFO8CBN6YGJ/Pump+Station+1.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455485719434-0F8MM3ZYOVP381AR7801/Pump+Station+19.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455485718718-O451XEDHLGL52D1M47V4/Pump+Station+18.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455486323861-ZJ43K2P9FCQX3HKVN37S/Pump+Station+8.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455486055998-9HVBN6F4CNK56ONYOPAV/Pump+Station+6.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455486318846-IDKNGLJL27J2T9KIMY4L/Pump+Station+10.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455486166036-4LUY44R15WT8RW9ZPEXX/Pump+Station+12.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455486192877-RH68UKB9DSK4MVJX8HP4/Pump+Station+13.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455486280698-EVYVUGJ3BHQQG9QQ1IJZ/Pump+Station+9.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455486346874-MWDCTR4UEHKULXCSN5P9/Pump+Station+7.png blog - What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455494283374-R40K2TEJDNUL0BOCUFQP/image-asset.png blog - What Good Water's Worth The entirety of the pump room. The entrance sits to the left and the control room (not pictured for security reasons) sits off to the right. 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What Good Water's Worth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1455493968067-D09EM01VRFHFZ9CSEXND/image-asset.png blog - What Good Water's Worth An inscription of a quote from Lord George Gordon Bryon, an English poet from the early 19th century, etched into the limestone left of the front entrance. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2016/2/6/brick-otr-vignette monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623779857436-M44V0G7S09PAE5B4HR3C/NZ6_4038-Edit.jpg blog - Brick OTR Vignette - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2016/1/31/apertures-and-hounds monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623779957662-GFRWPEMIBT3T3G0WAMKX/Screen+Shot+2021-06-15+at+1.58.56+PM.png blog - Wide Apertures and Fluffy Pups - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1454294989098-NKQO17632YI60DMK3VF4/DSC_0141-Edit.jpg blog - 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Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405240598-45Y9CAWVEFAA3W0PSNLL/11312267_1662605670638035_1263663626_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405241311-Z175MSGKVZ5GJCQP8H1H/11328418_840667472689597_88011327_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405241540-MSC654SZU5SHCOBP871D/11358184_828836397192238_2066416610_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405241940-FD60WNGV877HWQDVU0AC/11371134_1614349065504477_1155729141_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405242339-55IT1GB7UQZBDEZ6OC6K/11372103_832228333480411_1086275600_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405242961-ZQBMO7PZ72803MB0J4HP/11380982_739583172834846_886227967_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405242941-ZMZGFZ33NKTW117UEKKA/11417326_1465953633718234_489537318_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405243439-UPM7HJX8D67JUJM727I0/11809639_856756364400430_1449477316_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405243737-GMF66EXHA0X4IIHWDAD6/11821317_1468102413512106_895059549_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405244358-CAYJJCL39TKTG1YRNMXX/11849359_404374466424284_322230058_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405244411-WGQ13C0CESVRXBL4UVNB/11849883_727037594068248_915693745_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405245055-F4MQ8YICEO7DE25SSCTU/11084617_1584593205123923_2043358100_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405244921-0AIL99YGWWS0821BIYPX/11085164_825419094178193_914843081_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405245857-D1C8EN9AS2WZ0I22ZZ81/11111296_353649888164669_1046346684_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405245952-X1LWM5BY60SHYLFHW071/11116834_429185113916894_298453690_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441405246979-WYY6S64H39A73TP53AQM/11137816_1609317332643407_2024969291_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403884677-2LY4A9IJK7GKVXFBUJGM/11356764_442037742640249_901548397_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403886227-VIMPV7X8EQR7F90RGQ1L/11363868_937465189627853_1663662363_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403885410-GDE9E0KE13GJZ3LGLKY4/11371955_681575941944002_580609370_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403885897-JH5AMMCGQO13H766V700/11372230_1436882906618323_1648106570_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403886523-UEGQBUSM1IK8Z0S0CRDV/11373562_1504660973157464_169464264_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403886948-FL8LE2IVNGJZSP9DL8W0/11379072_934442139946358_989386028_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403887970-OE8CQLYWC86Q0T58YQPE/11380780_1584416481780713_780690517_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403887925-94YM8ACLGWJEJR084IJ9/11430213_1637520089820591_2115369189_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403888538-MP5HJ3QG6O91WCHWTBVN/11809847_1640925802843301_1011884258_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403888482-4WCQW4PSXMSY3NJNQ9PT/11881804_1672879779615119_1448158769_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403889368-YU0US8NRPRWF7RZA452Y/11017581_342039279325112_515343084_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403889317-RT1ELGI7QHVJTT45IB0W/11055508_482943685206373_567001831_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403889918-CA6PN3RYICOQNPCT69EO/11055823_877437738964064_1177316015_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403890185-7NSRDGE9F7IN4UJ4I1KM/11085040_1589919274613672_1051701548_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403891145-J9NFL6GNHF5ZAY5KT0G5/11098412_1386324135027673_814639639_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403891117-S4IA9D7JSIX0FPSK2ZKW/11116872_1424155251222453_1114024526_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403891986-0FZWHBI7VWZ5O5WCCYD8/11208069_461620967329536_2117248011_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403892863-VN2WPKO123X5C7BQY1FM/11230457_1447998688830998_2145971615_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403893057-0YSRPDWZX1VP2U4NCVWT/11244965_991269597550048_1540209639_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403894312-WLTYB3C46MIA609JLZ9P/11245863_558194807651650_1533626607_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403894179-FG0LUGHD9HIO9GKMJFT4/11254236_1097407680276596_995683829_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403894460-TOMBZY1CYLR5P34PPKO5/11287885_643957675738414_1923938827_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403895449-JQIDENQZFSSJBMUEE4CO/11324466_1682937775270816_1737021717_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403895466-XMK78BCM581CRKJTSY81/11335071_842667285810320_1893776307_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403896376-5UNDXS3UQEJ1SNRE9X43/11337198_462424863934572_588299672_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403896149-WZERVHB9USNVYB5N40A1/11352436_456406631229333_372539383_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403897669-NSJT8JFS8KANHF64P59A/10251319_494341500729333_1864829860_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403897927-WQFD7OLZ4P27Z4VTMH25/10424523_378542368992193_606346964_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403898612-EFP8S9IZO7QE21FBW7AZ/10838375_1547062412217405_135339225_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403898504-0OIY7Z5L22CBQD17A84X/10838658_750104691744753_153159176_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403899348-EPE0UKI4OXJTUD5LTULL/10844154_622789127844074_1483160611_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403899864-SDBXO7H6QCFG8B0HB6VY/10848090_1484627971860467_468348976_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403900110-AOF1IQ4443O4TKTTM468/10881865_360993244073016_2090939372_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403901327-USE4FV53ZM3TLGS498WL/10890539_852140698192516_2022368753_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403901467-3Y36MDJILFYZK45ULAEN/10899394_785617831485962_466629231_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403902294-JOB8XKDYI55I8BXB644U/10903602_832522360142182_1079389157_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403902466-DGU5KKP08W1PHEVADVEX/10903780_801289626609675_2142457245_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403903593-VNSBXLOCV2WSV1EE663N/10932491_1484773268488573_1648277966_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403904167-6Y4GMH0ZR73J9I4JJOH0/10948485_874693992580884_2145382560_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403906222-DC8HVSCMFTSPWANW7KKP/10954763_1376806819287353_147276680_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403906192-3PE5VY54LZN903LRCFR7/10979626_439338989553691_1826281974_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403907180-EQQ6B5DHHART65782NZ9/10983695_931344733565386_760971417_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403907133-LDUVFSZHVFCCGMN21T78/10986291_726941557423867_1082380277_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403908194-FARN63L1K2URJQH746LP/10995210_649995901773345_197604520_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441403908211-G26AGKM0GW0XQNPOO09F/10727591_1543563449250792_132853492_n.jpg blog - Emily, found. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2015/9/2/remember-the-wesley-chapel monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441170158456-4Q9I0WPONRLVFD3B4NOT/image-asset.jpeg blog - Remember the Wesley Chapel Illustration of Wesley Chapel from "Vanishing Cincinnati" by David and Barbara Day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1441170336212-2DBPF6B7GBISRNA9UL6C/image-asset.jpeg blog - Remember the Wesley Chapel http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2015/8/30/portrait-of-henry-teel monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1440984701085-RKRR93US39SMYZA8YH2H/image-asset.png blog - Portrait of Henry Teel "Let’s be sensible about this. I put a lot of things into my work which are very personal to me. So how can the public feel these things? I think most people get to my work through the back door. They’re attracted by the realism and they sense the emotion and the abstraction — and eventually, I hope, they get their own powerful emotion.” -Andrew Wyeth http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2015/8/27/how-to-treat-an-introvert monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1440729424840-DAQYE0N91EZXFNJLU9GI/image-asset.jpeg blog - How to Treat an Introvert Source: Google. Just search How to Care for Introverts. No, I won't do it for you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1440731750117-PLQTZNBU8CPJTJ5CYXNX/CNA8m-uW8AAx_41.jpg blog - How to Treat an Introvert https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1440731750166-O4QVMCAITQ1J02JYGKV6/CM2pbx8WwAA4Qzv.jpg blog - How to Treat an Introvert http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2015/8/21/crows monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1440211943304-M59A752VVMQZSS57YGK2/image-asset.jpeg blog - Crows http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2015/8/20/onward-and-upward monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1440128168311-ESPVRPRP6IP827W6ZG3D/DSC_0031-Edit-Edit.jpg blog - Someone Has to Love the Broadway Hotel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1440125592360-MV64TEEWQLI4MZCG5IC4/image-asset.jpeg blog - Someone Has to Love the Broadway Hotel Old photo of the Broadway Hotel (southeast corner). It's so weird that I can literally see my windows in this picture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1440122425859-63OT3NDLEWLMQXMY2UYC/image-asset.jpeg blog - Someone Has to Love the Broadway Hotel Sitting at my desk reading 'Vanishing Cincinnati' to soft music in the old Broadway Hotel. Heaven. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2015/8/17/rhinegeist-tour monthly 0.5 2021-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439849469100-TPBT1B152973WS1ON4ZY/image-asset.jpeg blog - Rhinegeist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439850085637-4D961YBIOHOVQNHORUVL/image-asset.jpeg blog - Rhinegeist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439850731799-9A1B1EX2KZLWHKF1EW1S/image-asset.jpeg blog - Rhinegeist A bit blurry due to long exposure. Courtney and Nathan enjoying a beer on the roof. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439855828050-K7KO3I0CSA01YR8WOZRE/DSC_0193-Edit.jpg blog - Rhinegeist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439855833110-C0H0V0OIRUGVG43237NW/DSC_0124.jpg blog - Rhinegeist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439855845835-44PJZV4TJRGNCQ7JT30N/DSC_0195.jpg blog - Rhinegeist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439854310379-GWR7DU3TN2IDC9GZPFTN/DSC_0184+copy+2.jpg blog - Rhinegeist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439854330919-TN0U3CL4BUI22WV6MHSF/DSC_0194+copy.jpg blog - Rhinegeist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439854450238-433BS84FIZPQ5LU9W39G/DSC_0111+copy+2.jpg blog - Rhinegeist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1439854336307-6GTV8XEE47Q9782A2239/DSC_0178+copy+2.jpg blog - 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8.1.19 A Quiet Spot for the Night https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084130010-OE1U307FLT5G5EY9UC24/750_1482.jpg aug-2019 - 8.1.19 A Quiet Spot for the Night https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084137856-JX0BWKAUPCULK16D48H3/IMG_6920.jpg aug-2019 - 8.2.19 Eighth Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084154781-FQW7SSFEQTTOWCFCLP1Q/NZ6_1631.jpg aug-2019 - 8.3.19 Evening on Elm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084137858-W9F0F74KAMYD5QILD5HR/IMG_6973.jpg aug-2019 - 8.4.19 Moment of Silence (For Dayton) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084140784-4YF1SPIQ1OPE02JU24AM/IMG_6997.jpg aug-2019 - 8.5.19 Gateway Sculpture, 1992 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084155660-W3XTIR9ANUVICUI54PVZ/NZ6_1872.jpg aug-2019 - 8.6.19 A Fairfield Avenue Cocktail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084159169-IP4BWR1A0DEY3D8GMCTJ/NZ6_1912.jpg aug-2019 - 8.7.19 Court-Appointed Vanishing Point https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084159961-2JJDQZ15MD8MJ0YAO886/NZ6_2061.jpg aug-2019 - 8.8.19 Leaving the Hardware Store https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084165731-AD6LFUP5KLGE3VIM1MVD/NZ6_2123.jpg aug-2019 - 8.9.10 No Color Adjustment https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084130043-5B6TYF1HMAGUCEC26XXN/750_1779.jpg aug-2019 - 8.10.19 1940s Fly Over https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084163361-IOXSQK1IQ98LWAZ88URP/NZ6_2516.jpg aug-2019 - 8.11.19 A Father Provides https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084165496-Z7DM9MWZBBBXZCHMZ3PX/NZ6_2524.jpg aug-2019 - 8.12.19 Ocean View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084169065-URJOZZTLHQZJ0QMRT1LN/NZ6_2596.jpg aug-2019 - 8.13.19 Oven Mishaps Make For Good Atmosphere https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084171676-67A0DI8JAR3L51OL9IUH/NZ6_2743.jpg aug-2019 - 8.14.19 Quiet Evening at the End of Piatt Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084174653-W55DUT22BNHFOYL039FA/NZ6_3026.jpg aug-2019 - 8.15.19 Downward Spiral https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084142856-SJSR12ALDNL4VD0YTCZM/IMG_7276.jpg aug-2019 - 8.16.19 Sunrise https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084143961-HMFN83QZ98PMBA9MROK9/IMG_7315.jpg aug-2019 - 8.17.19 Definitely a Zonk Behind This One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084146494-53G0DMAOGZNADCCEYM47/IMG_7332.jpg aug-2019 - 8.18.19 Newsboy's Entrance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084146081-86QI0J7YX2EFTJC96DZS/IMG_7344.jpg aug-2019 - 8.19.19 “OH YEAH!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084176856-JZTGHYREOXMO7167LYBT/NZ6_3242.jpg aug-2019 - 8.20.19 Sunshine Through the Rain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084134042-704AQJ4PGQEE97M1CX7G/750_2139.jpg aug-2019 - 8.21.19 Bloom Haus Rhapsody Bouquet in an Office https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084177496-GWTDQ8CIFMURDDNGF7ND/NZ6_3697.jpg aug-2019 - 8.22.19 Your Earliest Memories https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084180190-ETXWI1PVM1QMVBBLADP0/NZ6_3784.jpg aug-2019 - 8.23.19 Paul Grether on His Roof https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084150740-KJEJJWQUOLE83BW8AHHO/IMG_7474.jpg aug-2019 - 8.24.19 Hullo There https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084136253-A0P2Z03G7T7Q26T6T7J3/750_2272.jpg aug-2019 - 8.25.19 Forest Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084180190-LDJPZ06SNQH6R127P118/NZ6_4045-Edit.jpg aug-2019 - 8.26.19 Dandelions or Something https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084183516-2ZK5ABBDI7VPPWMFPV6T/NZ6_4181-HDR.jpg aug-2019 - 8.27.19 Transformative Years Within These Walls https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084184735-U36GNY4FLKPHW21VDPQ5/NZ6_4245-HDR.jpg aug-2019 - 8.28.19 West Fifteenth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084186690-RC63MUCI6CMC6L4OAVZK/NZ6_4258.jpg aug-2019 - 8.29.19 Stop the Scroll/Be Better to Yourself https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084188327-05LJN2MNI4CE4CBVMKSJ/NZ6_4300.jpg aug-2019 - 8.30.19 11th Floor Balcony https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084151870-IRNGDUDTU581NIANY133/IMG_7598.jpg aug-2019 - 8.31.19 Berry Street http://www.philarmstrongart.com/nov-2019 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069029877-GA45DGW400TTZ14OWYD0/NZ6_2469.jpg nov-2019 - 11.1.19 Penelope Waits https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069029877-GA45DGW400TTZ14OWYD0/NZ6_2469.jpg nov-2019 - 11.1.19 Penelope Waits https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069026288-7T2JLX4V8X1ICAMRRBIX/IMG_9327.jpg nov-2019 - 11.2.19 13th at Race https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069029836-O2C0YR84S3MHXCANM85E/IMG_9343.jpg nov-2019 - 11.3.19 Bon Voyage! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069034031-5JTY265LHTX82M539VJV/NZ6_2617.jpg nov-2019 - 11.4.19 Roomette With a View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069034719-R66APUYI13SA04QNYJAL/NZ6_3000.jpg nov-2019 - 11.5.19 The L https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069037689-2LD5BU9WVD9GQA5WDPTO/NZ6_3596.jpg nov-2019 - 11.6.19 Link Light Rail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069041650-LOHX7ULIS1U0WHW59G3O/NZ6_3855.jpg nov-2019 - 11.7.19 Mount Rainier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069042562-1ZRG917MYDZ9KLVXHAMS/NZ6_4212.jpg nov-2019 - 11.8.19 Morning In Seattle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069046500-STENC8C38L395HWU2JDC/NZ6_5119.jpg nov-2019 - 11.9.19 King Street Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069049518-SN9GBCCRNVPRWH6KPU8U/NZ6_5322.jpg nov-2019 - 11.10.19 Burnside and Harvey Milk Streets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069050129-3VGZT93558FG9TYWEE0K/NZ6_5493.jpg nov-2019 - 11.11.19 A City of Roses https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069016283-4Q39EXNPF2XEJ4PYIO06/IMG_0310.jpg nov-2019 - 11.12.19 The Legend’s Replacement https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069056066-ZSAKTZ039W8N4BUSYUYV/NZ6_5765.jpg nov-2019 - 11.13.19 We Missed You So Much https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069053158-RW4QXU9AQK9BP3P72OKD/NZ6_5777.jpg nov-2019 - 11.14.19 "You're Not Allowed to Take a Photo of That. This is Private Property." – a Paul Blart Securitas Guy to Me, Someone with a Camera and Tripod on a Public Sidewalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069015137-54BZ74BUKLE31E55HU30/IMG_0384.jpg nov-2019 - 11.15.19 Night On Elm Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069056113-WKNRVON09VLNN81N0X3D/NZ6_6398.jpg nov-2019 - 11.16.19 Ashley Made Some Sort of Pomegranate Gin Drink https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069021057-27KIG17GTARZPING4PLB/IMG_0401.jpg nov-2019 - 11.17.19 Life Imitates Car https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069061612-A026E50DN7UVXSG8NK49/NZ6_6406.jpg nov-2019 - 11.18.19 My Little Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069060366-1EQB1SPRVA9WF7L0IKUI/NZ6_6428.jpg nov-2019 - 11.19.19 Cycle Closet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069006292-FJ5VTGML7OIA58VWIJ3M/750_4578.jpg nov-2019 - 11.20.19 Elk Lick House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069019814-LLDA42GB4DRBNL7ARN24/IMG_0426.jpg nov-2019 - 11.21.19 The Natural Geometry of Mt. Auburn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069066731-EWQGTJBRQ6KM3HDLY9NS/NZ6_6586.jpg nov-2019 - 11.22.19 IMAX Pre-Show https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069066731-S8I362JYJTO5U6MZIT1P/NZ6_7009-HDR.jpg nov-2019 - 11.23.19 A Really, Really Big Closet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069070774-KQC3ZGRKACTZ138FSD8D/NZ6_7209.jpg nov-2019 - 11.24.19 Incandescent Spheres https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069005672-S72OL612EZRJCPO6W3PV/0B499871-1CB3-41C2-A675-970BA5EBA057.jpg nov-2019 - 11.25.19 An Enviable Corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069024794-KB4L840QFBIZYDOY05WZ/IMG_0522.jpg nov-2019 - 11.26.19 1986 VW Westfalia on Main Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069070815-URQ4T9MAGZ2DR9UN44NK/NZ6_7490.jpg nov-2019 - 11.27.19 Did Not Pass Go and Didn't Collect $200 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069010306-TLEZXGZY1LIS10ONSH7A/750_4956.jpg nov-2019 - 11.28.19 A Mob of Racers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575083167452-3W8117YRLV7X9GCF0D4B/NZ6_7942-Edit.jpg nov-2019 - 11.29.19 Putting Up the Tree https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575170788149-VR6CNZLFBL9ZHRWWCEI3/NZ6_7955-Edit.jpg nov-2019 - 11.30.19 Steve's House Is Mega-Haunted https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070436710-I5YCP934PVOYNGI7JB5Q/IMG_0590.jpeg nov-2019 - 11.29.19 http://www.philarmstrongart.com/sep-2019 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074728952-8UCHHFT23MTRPISCZNL7/NZ6_4823.jpg sep-2019 - 9.1.19 Labor Day 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074728952-8UCHHFT23MTRPISCZNL7/NZ6_4823.jpg sep-2019 - 9.1.19 Labor Day 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074730361-1XF8DZAW4BZ6ADIP70VJ/NZ6_4886.jpg sep-2019 - 9.2.19 Night Window https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074733359-8QGI84GMIONTS7Z782KM/NZ6_4906.jpg sep-2019 - 9.3.19 From the 16th Story Ledge of the Times-Star https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074703838-SAQPA2KUMQ6KVN1O6OVW/IMG_8042.jpg sep-2019 - 9.4.19 The Worst Part of Sickness is a Day of Lost Productivity https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074707563-EGJR2VAFDC7HOBXLLXRP/IMG_8046.jpg sep-2019 - 9.5.19 I Want to Feel Better https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074699328-PWG6NK01R285793N5V6H/750_3021.jpg sep-2019 - 9.6.19 We Are Quarantined https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074711517-EX2FGI4NK2R48PBWF2SC/IMG_8064.jpg sep-2019 - 9.7.19 Bleak https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074733321-OQEICM5K92L3N9RX8UD2/NZ6_4979.jpg sep-2019 - 9.8.19 Goodbye, Weekend of Lovely Weather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074735388-VI19ORX9LBP0QAAALGJW/NZ6_5010.jpg sep-2019 - 9.9.19 Let’s Burn This Virus Out of My Lungs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074739131-EJ99ZI3EPCKRNUN5SM4L/NZ6_5030.jpg sep-2019 - 9.10.19 Making Progress https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074741920-YZSKEYTXHQAEVSMLAZ9O/NZ6_5532.jpg sep-2019 - 9.11.19 James Wilson: A True Ninja Warrior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074743716-J5T1TTJVWP2GVA91IKQ0/NZ6_5792.jpg sep-2019 - 9.12.19 A Peaceful Evening on 12th https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074711915-HAC3LRAHF6CDJMXXABWY/IMG_8151.jpg sep-2019 - 9.13.19 YWCA In the Evening https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074744696-GON2SBVGOD9G5ZB5622K/NZ6_7014.jpg sep-2019 - 9.14.19 Shot a Wedding Today https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074715187-EJDRP3WIWJKX11VRYDPD/IMG_8175.jpg sep-2019 - 9.15.19 Underwater Amateur Photography (1986) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074747981-W1K45FX0WWURUELU6KS2/NZ6_7056.jpg sep-2019 - 9.16.19 "I'll Print This Out and Call It 'SpEciAL dELiVeRy' and Sell It at Findlay Market" -Ronny Salerno https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074718949-36XNVNRSYT20VK3VB8W0/IMG_8205.jpg sep-2019 - 9.17.19 Simple Truth Organic® https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074748790-OISV0TFVG341BZXCK87P/NZ6_7320.jpg sep-2019 - 9.18.19 Bailey, a Good Doodle Boy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074752921-OJFCP8BC38YDPSYYHO4L/NZ6_7353.jpg sep-2019 - 9.19.19 Happily Curious https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074753178-F4EST492SODVKP9ZFRZF/NZ6_7667.jpg sep-2019 - 9.20.19 It’s Getting Real https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074757310-WBGP5Q5NE6YOHXO0AYJ6/NZ6_7818.jpg sep-2019 - 9.21.19 The Last to Lower the Stein https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074720534-J8M4A4VHQ6G5O0F4HIG3/IMG_8328-2.jpg sep-2019 - 9.21.19 Old Burlington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074724560-FMFMGW4YD2G3U8RPM23R/IMG_8352.jpg sep-2019 - 9.23.19 House on the Hill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074726690-THWORK0WEHGV5KZQYQEA/IMG_8385.jpg sep-2019 - 9.24.19 Evening Succulents https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074704212-DPZ51UJKAJ1UN6I1L425/IMG_0105.jpg sep-2019 - 9.25.19 An Ivory Mammoth on Court Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074699731-BH9DW6PSWIIN1DBVQ7QK/DSC_9777.jpg sep-2019 - 9.26.19 Don’t Forget to Sign His Card https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074756365-3K17WURWZMO8HRG5MOH3/NZ6_8124.jpg sep-2019 - 9.27.19 Changes Slowly Coming Around to Covington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074759459-F6GS3XWT6NE4H6E0GSCM/NZ6_8136-Edit.jpg sep-2019 - 9.28.19 Daily Life Kit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074763508-Y0SP8O5LHPME5PXAYAZF/NZ6_8167.jpg sep-2019 - 9.29.19 Looks Like Fall (Doesn’t Feel Like It) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074763779-8MOQJF7EDDQJAYNQFPAR/NZ6_8209.jpg sep-2019 - 9.30.19 An iPhone Packed With Significantly More Technology Still Can’t Take You to the Moon http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jan-2019 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084964888-XF18UKCOM2256DK0PSOI/20190101.jpg jan-2019 - 1.1.19 Lemon cypress on a Broadway Street windowsill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084964888-XF18UKCOM2256DK0PSOI/20190101.jpg jan-2019 - 1.1.19 Lemon cypress on a Broadway Street windowsill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084965711-6AJ4NEF480G9PT4JHVTD/20190102.jpg jan-2019 - 1.2.19 An Abandoned Truck Collects Municipal Litter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084969082-17FNTTPTO0CNVYWT2JLI/20190103.jpg jan-2019 - 1.3.19 Mountain Settlement in January https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084970289-3NWHVFHDYHW9SZI7P95P/20190104.jpg jan-2019 - 1.4.19 Nothing Graeter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084975589-BGNHJV5I76GTBO6VEOTM/20190105.jpg jan-2019 - 1.5.19 Pretty Nice Precipice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084975792-HT0X4VU6F8JIR7PSV5ZG/20190106.jpg jan-2019 - 1.6.19 It’s Saul Good https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084980173-2INL0ER240E6QEYD8ZVO/20190107.jpg jan-2019 - 1.7.19 Celebrate Victories of All Sizes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084981789-EHDSLP1Z30HSYERFMHVT/20190108.jpg jan-2019 - 1.8.19 Top Shelf Literature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084984911-D16INYMLBS7V8RCX1GS0/20190109.jpg jan-2019 - 1.9.19 Crane's Corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084988219-R9UD52F2TOITNSUA0YPX/20190110.jpg jan-2019 - 1.10.19 Still Hanging In There https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084989228-VBO7O0H2P44HHH6WN394/20190111.jpg jan-2019 - 1.11.19 Port Holy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084991185-65D4TIBFD0QWPJ3WL1Y4/20190112.jpg jan-2019 - 1.12.19 Puppet Pins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084995215-4IEZR5NHYUVU9XP3C5A6/20190113.jpg jan-2019 - 1.13.19 Transition https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084996095-1XQXR3ELODVG62X0ABAY/20190114.jpg jan-2019 - 1.14.19 A Bit of a Fixer-Upper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084999286-D5Z2DOTB60RY3QVMQ250/20190115.jpg jan-2019 - 1.15.19 A Mann Seeks to Save An Icon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085001253-GHUJXJTBJ9GUVKJDYUPR/20190116.jpg jan-2019 - 1.16.19 A Rookwood Way Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085008738-ZFLNAB2HSC44VLSLSLLK/20190117.jpg jan-2019 - 1.17.19 Pay the Toll https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085008872-A9QUOUIV6B6EG0OL4E5U/20190118.jpg jan-2019 - 1.18.19 Complementary Signage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085013033-JTO7XT2WBLCTC2AA5EOV/20190119.jpg jan-2019 - 1.19.19 I Think I’ll Stay on the Couch… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085014247-QA7I0WW8B3A5HUYRPNAS/20190120.jpg jan-2019 - 1.20.19 A Quiet Suburb https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085019410-C0EO6TVWRMLHHAN0LZA9/20190121.jpg jan-2019 - 1.21.19 Vultures to a Carbohydrate Corpse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085019544-VXVXZIXKG25MHMA9LGKX/20190122.jpg jan-2019 - 1.22.19 Did I Turn Off the Oven? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085024714-ECTCBVPMAKNV2YI2FZXX/20190123.jpg jan-2019 - 1.23.19 Isolated https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085024894-ZJPQN6TC5PWPYJPLK3Y2/20190124.jpg jan-2019 - 1.24.19 Wally Eyes the Bullseye https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085030876-F7JGB7OT5ZE6DEJ7XLKJ/20190125.jpg jan-2019 - 1.25.19 Monitor Off, Coat On, Elevator Down https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085028716-WQV899JS65QA5WC4ZQD4/20190126.jpg jan-2019 - 1.26.19 Fire and Porcelain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085033639-QNQTMNKRSPM8LPZLORUX/20190127.jpg jan-2019 - 1.27.19 Isolated (Pt. 2) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085033775-FWKJ7H6BSLDMIWG4ZVO8/20190128.jpg jan-2019 - 1.28.19 In the Spotlight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085041652-K1AY59CBUM36EUE59WTY/20190129.jpg jan-2019 - 1.29.19 Liberty Looks Deceptively Small From Here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085039767-BU5LXRC3KTGY7O64Y81P/20190130.jpg jan-2019 - 1.30.19 Diorama https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085044072-VRZLA7YNFG3BT06YBQ95/20190131.jpg jan-2019 - 1.31.19 Warm Light on a Cold Morning http://www.philarmstrongart.com/oct-2019 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070637685-CZ59O5OJ9L8VU0HPHW93/IMG_8501-2.jpg oct-2019 - 10.1.19 The Grass-Lover Has Logged On https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070637685-CZ59O5OJ9L8VU0HPHW93/IMG_8501-2.jpg oct-2019 - 10.1.19 The Grass-Lover Has Logged On https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070702001-YUL17QPXPKVG9S2ZBR5R/Studio+Session-014.jpg oct-2019 - 10.2.19 Photographing My Skeletons In the Closet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070638472-1JF2FFIGR8Q1J60E4EAS/IMG_8556.jpg oct-2019 - 10.3.19 A Bustling Downtown Corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070682084-4OEX2V26EIOQ0Z8P9LFZ/NZ6_8243.jpg oct-2019 - 10.4.19 Finding New Ways to See the World https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070685486-20665OASLT95E5Z42Z4D/NZ6_8249.jpg oct-2019 - 10.5.19 Silhouettes to Flowers Was a Good Move https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070641361-DF0RQSB8J04LF1Q1E33E/IMG_8638.jpg oct-2019 - 10.6.19 My Wife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070633168-7IB78NWC73DFAIYWT158/750_3633.jpg oct-2019 - 10.7.19 Endless Thank Yous Incoming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070684129-NFPTTYO47SWA55DZ6M4M/NZ6_8252.jpg oct-2019 - 10.8.19 Misty Mountain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070687268-Q25TGD0XZ6UE76GYSNH9/NZ6_8408.jpg oct-2019 - 10.9.19 A Perfect Fall Evening https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070691109-3FO0HZPWTPNV4UCZ07N0/NZ6_8878.jpg oct-2019 - 10.10.19 Right Before the Cops Crashed the Party https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070694694-ZVPC92MR441SE0R6DP1N/NZ6_9159.jpg oct-2019 - 10.11.19 Foiled Again! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070695544-9L9A2H20RPITXLQ5T0LI/NZ6_9292.jpg oct-2019 - 10.12.19 The 1980s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070700814-IMLYC08XDZ1215UHR0I3/NZ6_9773.jpg oct-2019 - 10.13.19 A Helpful Guide https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070645060-KAFSI2M7FO54K1XDGO2S/IMG_8864-2.jpg oct-2019 - 10.14.19 Manhole Cover Detail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070700028-S7PVVVJT7I42G6MUFACH/NZ6_9989.jpg oct-2019 - 10.15.19 An Invisible Man Sittin' in Your Chair, Who Ya Gonna Call https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070666256-I97NSYE52OGJ58GTXZDI/NZ6_0108.jpg oct-2019 - 10.16.19 Molly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070646012-CH18XTJEYHSX4F4XRWRA/IMG_8955.jpg oct-2019 - 10.17.19 Alms & Doepke https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070670794-ICSCXDMWEOHOB5LRBMPX/NZ6_1605.jpg oct-2019 - 10.18.19 Pete Coleman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070650648-7X06M7RPSXXSDOCI9N1L/IMG_8999.jpg oct-2019 - 10.19.19 Like a Million Bucks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070651275-VEEFNV7QMOQQ0F2VNNJ6/IMG_9008.jpg oct-2019 - 10.20.19 Bellevue Looking Very Belle Today https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070633630-DVUHESAD5UWUWRPDBRGS/DSC_9922.jpg oct-2019 - 10.21.19 Grim Modeler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070653756-J7G9TVJFDTBNJCXLGS7D/IMG_9033.jpg oct-2019 - 10.22.19 Beer: Two Conversations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070671053-VIUW42IM47X16T9Y6LUR/NZ6_1929.jpg oct-2019 - 10.23.19 Pies & Pints & Puppy Pecks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070673181-83DSK8QKUN5FFZOHPOYE/NZ6_1985.jpg oct-2019 - 10.24.19 Hey, Pumpkin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070655610-3PHC0GKNSE8MD5ULD64X/IMG_9074.jpg oct-2019 - 10.25.19 Mercantile Building, October 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070675590-ACDMAQI4EKE1MQXVJEW2/NZ6_1996-Edit.jpg oct-2019 - 10.26.19 One Way https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070658538-Y1T5I7QZH4VRTYURZEJ3/IMG_9100.jpg oct-2019 - 10.27.19 Washington Pork https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070679263-86NUA61V6H8E645DY51F/NZ6_2141.jpg oct-2019 - 10.28.19 Washington Perch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070680928-KR33T1MG2A93P2ZRVWVN/NZ6_2360.jpg oct-2019 - 10.29.19 Myrtini https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070661690-HCT4X3TL1J9FL9PMU06X/IMG_9183.jpg oct-2019 - 10.30.19 Settling For Less Than Deserved https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070665904-SN8LCVZVJVUB2NQIF150/IMG_9217.jpg oct-2019 - 10.31.19 Glad I Wore Boots... http://www.philarmstrongart.com/feb-2019 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085508537-WY2OK0HPKNEKWWY3R71O/20190201.jpg feb-2019 - 2.1.19 Mr. McClorey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085508537-WY2OK0HPKNEKWWY3R71O/20190201.jpg feb-2019 - 2.1.19 Mr. McClorey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085507660-3GFQJBSMSPXZ7IHKZ63Z/20190202.jpg feb-2019 - 2.2.19 Have a Seat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085515027-8I7VOUG6H78AQEFILIIB/20190203.jpg feb-2019 - 2.3.19 Helluva “Stoop” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085515830-MLFHALHWTEM35WLIA490/20190204.jpg feb-2019 - 2.4.19 Sunrise on the Saxony https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085519208-X2PSZMPH6A35D2OALL38/20190205.jpg feb-2019 - 2.5.19 Misty Night on Ida Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085519754-NJH9O0A6707EGBA25XIE/20190206.jpg feb-2019 - 2.6.19 Out of Focus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085523975-F04OLCGMUFQMH3ESVIU4/20190207.jpg feb-2019 - 2.7.19 Spirited Spirits https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085525729-YUBWFMWYY19NGLNG410R/20190208.jpg feb-2019 - 2.8.19 Airbnb with a View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085530056-KOEIQ6J78MP7TJ9AQ6VZ/20190209.jpg feb-2019 - 2.9.19 Broadway to Elm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085532241-1ZTGAC6OU89O3NF1M0KQ/20190210.jpg feb-2019 - 2.10.19 A Snowy Not-so-Purple Purple People Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085536076-25YARLQ1K11DHN49FU3U/20190211.jpg feb-2019 - 2.11.19 Who's There? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085536279-CO39LM9X7JK012MB0NE0/20190212.jpg feb-2019 - 2.12.19 The Eastman Kodak Co. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085544299-ASQXE64AM3SSUI4BDRB1/20190213.jpg feb-2019 - 2.13.19 Office-Turned-Sick Day :( https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085545310-41YC0N9RDGTQDCL0XOU8/20190214.jpg feb-2019 - 2.14.19 Sunset Fetch in Lytle Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085548999-R280BT02VUSYANAUT8TS/20190215.jpg feb-2019 - 2.15.19 My Favorite Bar I Never Get to Go to (Because My Fiancee Doesn't Like It) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085551064-KF1S0KVNBL67HEZ9W707/20190216.jpg feb-2019 - 2.16.19 A Disagreement Ruffles Feathers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085556194-4EKTCB67CIXTJTGXMCC0/20190217.jpg feb-2019 - 2.17.19 Storytime https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085555321-FAM683EJMJ45RPO8P8FM/20190218.jpg feb-2019 - 2.18.19 Back in Business https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085562196-UL2T15ZNLIYMSR8B93IS/20190219.jpg feb-2019 - 2.19.19 17 Years of Friendship https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085562545-LSNJF1JK0FEK27T9FCNN/20190220.jpg feb-2019 - 2.20.19 Glossy and Vertical https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085567313-SSZX463159N8CLTYD8WQ/20190221.jpg feb-2019 - 2.21.19 Four Friends at the Bar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085569836-6IZ66WW0NJVPHGFUVP0M/20190222.jpg feb-2019 - 2.22.19 An Early 20th Century Firing Range https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085572822-4SOC3GQEPG9QR9VO62AK/20190223.jpg feb-2019 - 2.23.19 Blustery Night on Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085574526-8855NU0VLKSE4YAKEN2E/20190224.jpg feb-2019 - 2.24.19 Before Dog/After Dog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085578380-UJXEH8PKO1V3AVFLFSCP/20190225.jpg feb-2019 - 2.25.19 Head Toward the Light! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085578238-HCL0S1A0DI6RN9J0JQZJ/20190226.jpg feb-2019 - 2.26.19 Tangerine Rain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085581598-FYBQMOHO6VYZYSCEJ72O/20190227.jpg feb-2019 - 2.27.19 A Cheerio's Fate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085582202-NBTJW0SOPU34EKOZ55FW/20190228.jpg feb-2019 - 2.28.19 Celebrate National Chili Day http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jul-2019 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092196987-03X7QC0OZSJZ47A9N91L/NZ6_9004.jpg jul-2019 - 7.1.19 Mt. Auburn Cable Power House (1886-1902) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092196987-03X7QC0OZSJZ47A9N91L/NZ6_9004.jpg jul-2019 - 7.1.19 Mt. Auburn Cable Power House (1886-1902) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092199245-NB4BNEW15WUV15PU4T37/NZ6_9026-Edit.jpg jul-2019 - 7.2.19 An Extremely Normal Person Does a Daily Project Despite Having Nothing Interesting to Photograph https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092201461-0QWEMB1LYWLG2WHCLCP9/NZ6_9033-Edit.jpg jul-2019 - 7.3.19 9 Estelle Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092204025-96FN4GVRQDL2R4YJ4MQP/NZ6_9566.jpg jul-2019 - 7.4.19 A Cautious Observer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092146888-PEBK1ST28W5SEVMIMWQC/IMG_5884.jpg jul-2019 - 7.5.19 Fly Ball https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092150905-TDEPI2Z0LE37YSRGPXE2/IMG_5992.jpg jul-2019 - 7.6.19 A Sweltering Day on the Ohio River https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092205565-GFU6SQBMBFSSU6N3LL91/NZ6_9754.jpg jul-2019 - 7.7.19 Light Speed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092209053-TZ1O5V2J352550FT34UW/NZ6_9783.jpg jul-2019 - 7.8.19 Hills Don't Stop Me Any Longer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092209936-PQRHEEYIJDEP6EFRD1DP/NZ6_9819.jpg jul-2019 - 7.9.19 Relax in This Good Seat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092153002-9A1Y4LQPC9WPVHLFFVM8/IMG_6097.jpg jul-2019 - 7.10.19 Industry on Dalton Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092211912-AW5IGDMCJ5JAL88ECAAF/NZ6_9833.jpg jul-2019 - 7.11.19 I've Been Working On Something All Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092212947-NRFF8GFN6A8SMBANZDQ9/NZ6_9901.jpg jul-2019 - 7.12.19 Generations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092173618-SHIPC1BW4WXM824LHKVU/NZ6_0367.jpg jul-2019 - 7.13.19 Shiloh Street Shops https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092177888-K9PBTBU57NH3ET0LJZLA/NZ6_0413.jpg jul-2019 - 7.14.19 Delivery at Burnham’s Penn Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092179609-OCZWY4TK7FMC2LBDZS5L/NZ6_0492.jpg jul-2019 - 7.15.19 Retro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092182356-TXJ4NSSIIF9F6YNRLG2H/NZ6_0532-HDR-2.jpg jul-2019 - 7.16.19 Urban Archaeology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092155698-2JDEV279HFAFTW2WW5AH/IMG_6287.jpg jul-2019 - 7.17.19 Rain’s Gone, Everyone Can Come Back Out Now https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092146851-0XFN9B1WR3JQURZ27O6L/750_1394.jpg jul-2019 - 7.18.19 Rookenwood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092184756-3I6JMPVDPKPQGGRJBM23/NZ6_0816.jpg jul-2019 - 7.19.19 Atrium Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092158105-713FQYTYB2UL2U4IJASQ/IMG_6329.jpg jul-2019 - 7.20.19 Hell Is Real https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092159122-JMPM35UUIB3VYHZ620SA/IMG_6393.jpg jul-2019 - 7.21.19 “Shake Me Like a Polaroid Picture” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092187424-N12R77TRJLAQ4LRS3JDW/NZ6_1003.jpg jul-2019 - 7.22.19 Everything's Coming Together https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092162469-IHYDI5ZCPG6C719VQCN0/IMG_6422.jpg jul-2019 - 7.23.19 John Evans? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092164690-15SH79ER3AGT710ZTZZM/IMG_6452.jpg jul-2019 - 7.24.19 Little Old Court Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092187965-L3ITHGBUOQ1ZER1BXHPF/NZ6_1306.jpg jul-2019 - 7.25.19 July https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092191269-N8ZV96BVRZUAZBDH2IMH/NZ6_1411.jpg jul-2019 - 7.26.19 Morning Flower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092191419-IP4NO334UKQUB48SXLA6/NZ6_1485.jpg jul-2019 - 7.27.19 500-Foot Hike Up the Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092168199-9OSCI91D3H5DMA9OHEC0/IMG_6806.jpg jul-2019 - 7.28.19 Obligatory Group Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092169175-KMFGCF0UZ7KSDRYE395F/IMG_6845.jpg jul-2019 - 7.29.19 Storm’s a Brewin’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092195431-SSRDM0L661JBR6H07L3O/NZ6_1488.jpg jul-2019 - 7.30.19 What Dem Debate? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092171662-8SK0V4U6C69KEW6MFQHF/IMG_6866.jpg jul-2019 - 7.31.19 No Word Yet If the Reds Have Traded Net Grasshopper http://www.philarmstrongart.com/apr-2019 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087394448-MOF0X0AXAOIRW04ZEQVL/20190401.jpg apr-2019 - 4.1.19 Two Stacks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087394448-MOF0X0AXAOIRW04ZEQVL/20190401.jpg apr-2019 - 4.1.19 Two Stacks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087395930-C7BEL84TMO9HE44AATD7/20190402.jpg apr-2019 - 4.2.19 Vertical Cross Section https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087402814-TV2TA18ET0JQP242P6LZ/20190403.jpg apr-2019 - 4.3.19 An Unexpected Find Today https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087399277-1VEOZKH7OY526GOT9NT5/20190404.jpg apr-2019 - 4.4.19 Finally Feels Like Patio Weather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087402227-NVRL9X6R7OPA1JOJPRWW/20190405.jpg apr-2019 - 4.5.19 The Sun Made a Late Appearance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087406958-4MNS9SQ0FF205VDVZHYQ/20190406.jpg apr-2019 - 4.6.19 No Greater Entry Than Times-Star's https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087409823-89DU6H9EDQOHFALW998R/20190407.jpg apr-2019 - 4.7.19 A Moment of Sunshine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087410427-LHNL5BNLTJGXJ5GVYTCA/20190408.jpg apr-2019 - 4.8.19 Le Doodle Sérieux (Hon Hon Hon) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087415233-4V32RKMVWGTDRUZ9VKCX/20190409.jpg apr-2019 - 4.9.19 This One Belonged to the Reds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087414985-30IH8LVPYPGJQLIGOL85/20190410.jpg apr-2019 - 4.10.19 The Sweet Song of a Cardinal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087418834-A6U9ZVJGCHQ4FEC8EZ64/20190411.jpg apr-2019 - 4.11.19 A Brilliantly Lit Corner of Main Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087418754-T6BJR1VVGEPXI1C0P3XO/20190412.jpg apr-2019 - 4.12.19 River Bird https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087421836-Q86VO0YHRMODT89DMVOV/20190413.jpg apr-2019 - 4.13.19 Pileated Woodpecker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087420684-VIPOEBRLDIMQN5MG5HY3/20190414.jpg apr-2019 - 4.14.19 I Didn’t Expect It to Barf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087423973-7Q3GWYI2B5F9R64SR9VY/20190415.jpg apr-2019 - 4.15.19 Evening Walk Down a Sidewalk-less Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087427039-X460DCVZ6P3RUC0R8E4N/20190416.jpg apr-2019 - 4.16.19 A Baby Burrowing Owl Says 'Hello' https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087430048-C5DK4SBHNF5YL0YOQ0VE/20190417.jpg apr-2019 - 4.17.19 The Whistlepig of Fort Washington Way https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087431618-ZW30F09PQP411Q5124SH/20190418.jpg apr-2019 - 4.18.19 The Norwood Mashup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087389821-FMN57TXTADH71YVPMUKX/750_9551-2.jpg apr-2019 - 4.19.19 My Reading Nook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087439706-6DM2YX6R4RE0ZVQ5QD2S/IMG_3223.jpg apr-2019 - 4.20.19 Oddfellows https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087390175-AL0KFNGJBPY9ZS4OARJB/750_9630.jpg apr-2019 - 4.21.19 Polarizing Filter = Natural Saturation Boost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087392696-71878WQCAHH1PUOBOBF8/750_9648.jpg apr-2019 - 4.22.19 A Plum Good Evening https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087434192-E7N8P59M4N3SOYSGM0VS/DSC_9580.jpg apr-2019 - 4.23.19 American Music https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087437263-ANZ04Q1TWTT6XQDHVUAY/DSC_9637.jpg apr-2019 - 4.24.19 Hello Up There https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087437701-W3PFXQ983XALROPI0C22/DSC_9643.jpg apr-2019 - 4.25.19 Cancelled Pop-Up Parties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087440733-ME6GA3QHR6FG272DQD7R/IMG_3350.jpg apr-2019 - 4.26.19 View From a Rooftop https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087443197-PV0RLIKJWQBN61LFV5M0/IMG_3365.jpg apr-2019 - 4.27.19 Malls Are Alive and Well https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087443963-KVCM5YZ518NJXSG08MRY/IMG_3374.jpg apr-2019 - 4.28.19 Still Life on Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087387135-Y9WC9WOZV50IMYDZYRAD/750_0051.jpg apr-2019 - 4.29.19 A Well-Read Volkswagen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087386723-RJVVP69FJ2DF1UJSMT7Y/750_0154.jpg apr-2019 - 4.30.19 Jay is Lit http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jun-2019 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091322354-7B59GRL4XNCTY04ZS321/NZ6_4398.jpg jun-2019 - 6.1.19 “Just Take the Damn Photo So I Can Go Sniff the Flowers” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091322354-7B59GRL4XNCTY04ZS321/NZ6_4398.jpg jun-2019 - 6.1.19 “Just Take the Damn Photo So I Can Go Sniff the Flowers” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091325544-9HV130NR1E5IUHOK0X73/NZ6_4446.jpg jun-2019 - 6.2.19 Frugality Rocks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091293489-FJFIDJXLPZ25I3VHZUXE/IMG_4436.jpg jun-2019 - 6.3.19 Vine and 15th Streets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091327877-1LIOC5XPCNW75Z6E1NM9/NZ6_4624.jpg jun-2019 - 6.4.19 LUV2SCOOT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091335230-V7SWB38TI0GG5W5MRET8/NZ6_4806.jpg jun-2019 - 6.5.19 Untitled https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091293626-6YPVY8ENJAN3RCJPID85/IMG_4586.jpg jun-2019 - 6.6.19 Just a Sliver https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091335230-Z0ZLO8OL4JC0QQW92X6J/NZ6_4833.jpg jun-2019 - 6.7.19 Fine Dining https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091342429-SLZKPLDK6ARTW25G1KBY/NZ6_5000.jpg jun-2019 - 6.8.19 Clipped Wings & Beautiful Things https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091341816-GBYFUM6T4X3Z7NS99NCE/NZ6_5310.jpg jun-2019 - 6.9.19 Indigo Bunting https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091349141-I1EDPJAJJY6GIYQF84YV/NZ6_5806.jpg jun-2019 - 6.10.19 A Seventh Sunset https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091351159-Z9RM6YZVWRHH90TRH59S/NZ6_5861.jpg jun-2019 - 6.11.19 Basement Dweller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091287416-512NQMJ4481ZXAEWCB8L/Brunswick+Building+-+Phil+Armstrong+-45.jpg jun-2019 - 6.12.19 Neglect https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091354528-204GIHO8WIWHRE9K605F/NZ6_6145.jpg jun-2019 - 6.13.19 Goodbye, Hudepohl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091359327-M373KEC27DXTA7QXBR99/NZ6_6161.jpg jun-2019 - 6.14.19 Mural Makers White a Wall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091356672-5RMY44P3QFTL130RP3K3/NZ6_6573.jpg jun-2019 - 6.15.19 Mt. Adams Lighthouse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091298743-QZU9MD3SZV3H9UFAJQ01/IMG_4813.jpg jun-2019 - 6.16.19 Tune It Out and Refocus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091286031-19LNCPU9JEP2IBG2G0JK/750_1286.jpg jun-2019 - 6.17.19 No Shortage of Shapes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091304615-NGGZTSHY36XE2WDZYIVU/IMG_4882.jpg jun-2019 - 6.18.19 From the Shade https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091364731-SRFIRI4VYNZS3PXEAJW5/NZ6_6720.jpg jun-2019 - 6.19.19 Overlooking Queensgate Rails https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091367159-VHMD6UMTV13KEZNM8ORY/NZ6_6787.jpg jun-2019 - 6.20.19 Infinite Portabilities https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091372272-K3NEWXPWPMF2XPHJMAHZ/NZ6_7002.jpg jun-2019 - 6.21.19 Equality Rises on City Hall’s Flagstaff https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091372136-992GL10APXHZWRMIOLW4/NZ6_7835.jpg jun-2019 - 6.22.19 “HAY WAT U GOT THER FREN” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091377463-2BJVW0MOZAZIY40GJVYF/NZ6_8763.jpg jun-2019 - 6.23.19 A Bumbling Pollinator https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091310279-ACIXRK8642LT2M1JVM1C/IMG_5612.jpg jun-2019 - 6.24.19 Verdant https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091380227-J03WX1QPMKLEZ2P0289U/NZ6_8809.jpg jun-2019 - 6.25.19 Colossus in the Distance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091311391-3IBR7MFNC7GWGFHHT3CM/IMG_5689.jpg jun-2019 - 6.26.19 Harper Sunset https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091317643-VW35VRGAHD12Z1L91WCL/IMG_5713.jpg jun-2019 - 6.27.19 Fairfield Mrkt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091320613-UA2M80LYBKR3YVXP5S33/IMG_5747.jpg jun-2019 - 6.28.19 View Level https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091383413-D6HXJI2X05ZLP4MV16UG/NZ6_8968.jpg jun-2019 - 6.29.19 Opa! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091384997-U72X84Z1R83KE55PH4WI/NZ6_8997.jpg jun-2019 - 6.30.19 Responding http://www.philarmstrongart.com/mar-2019 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086698221-GXYUG72TS37KXCGDL36Q/20190301.jpg mar-2019 - 3.1.19 The Mayor's Here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086698221-GXYUG72TS37KXCGDL36Q/20190301.jpg mar-2019 - 3.1.19 The Mayor's Here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086698533-B5UIT083T26IJI7C8FO9/20190302.jpg mar-2019 - 3.2.19 Woodward Lights Its New Marquee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086700684-EGENXGEIPEF1YQLJP8DT/20190303.jpg mar-2019 - 3.3.19 Dua-effects https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086701443-XG4B3HFXKD5T13N1V51L/20190304.jpg mar-2019 - 3.4.19 Morning on Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086704717-83UUJ8OLLQ462HCLZGV8/20190305.jpg mar-2019 - 3.5.19 Eggleston's Lit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086705311-3XA8SU4YHMDPTG6YYGWU/20190306.jpg mar-2019 - 3.6.19 Golden Hour at My Desk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086708615-6VDADOTVTRC7UU9H33YI/20190307.jpg mar-2019 - 3.7.19 Mosaic Climbing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086710747-AHD9QE9POGJCA214QT9P/20190308.jpg mar-2019 - 3.8.19 Our Tiny Home for the Night https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086713840-NDIM4FLAJD3GEB4AXBRN/20190309.jpg mar-2019 - 3.9.19 Upper Falls of Old Man's Cave https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086715571-CTJN3ZJLL7BIRFF3CLXL/20190310.jpg mar-2019 - 3.10.19 Alone in Ash Cave https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086718318-NGHLBYJ7LUCK5WOCIH6Y/20190311.jpg mar-2019 - 3.11.19 This is a Pizza Joint, I Promise https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086720289-S05MS93DC14KTUY334KS/20190312.jpg mar-2019 - 3.12.19 A Donation for Donors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086721964-MQGQ3RMFMGJHE5SY6VN6/20190313.jpg mar-2019 - 3.13.19 Ninth at Golden Hour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086723971-POH26HEDKYS24H73BFZH/20190314.jpg mar-2019 - 3.14.19 I Don't Even Know If This Is in Focus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086726068-NTGMZ9KHSVU70Q3B9BTJ/20190315.jpg mar-2019 - 3.15.19 Firemen Gather on the Roof Across the Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086727466-W0ITIE5Y0HG21DNQIB1J/20190316.jpg mar-2019 - 3.16.19 A Framed, Westerly View Down 7th Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086729877-T59XBC08MLWR448F0YXS/20190317.jpg mar-2019 - 3.17.19 Lakeman Upon Congress Run Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086731980-HNRJCGWS5F0Y4HQM60XW/20190318.jpg mar-2019 - 3.18.19 The Crown Jewel of the Courthouse's 6th Floor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086735326-DHJE6SUOLRJFQ49EOGT4/20190319.jpg mar-2019 - 3.19.19 A Nice Walk Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086735071-USJ3M67F7QI20WH4HWMV/20190320.jpg mar-2019 - 3.20.19 This Wasn't Even the Best Thing on the Menu, Either! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086739070-TQU14G463CXK1QSOKMM6/20190321.jpg mar-2019 - 3.21.19 A Quiet Evening on Fountain Square in the 1940s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086738924-UJYRM481R9SFRZUJ4SHR/20190322.jpg mar-2019 - 3.22.19 We Unexpectedly Had to Move Today (But Just Down the Hall!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086743048-I7GE27YJ5EDV62BZOYJP/20190323.jpg mar-2019 - 3.23.19 Enjoy the Arts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086742161-Z46YO3K8YZ0ZOYNKL3N8/20190324.jpg mar-2019 - 3.24.19 Long Week, Longer Shadows https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086746341-UQLOU5U6T263PCKMFPJF/20190325.jpg mar-2019 - 3.25.19 The Lighting Was Nice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086746491-FA8YF5DHBTUSYI90KBKK/20190326.jpg mar-2019 - 3.26.19 Jon Newberry, Wiedemann Brewery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086748707-W044E25T68ALC56JBLGN/20190327.jpg mar-2019 - 3.27.19 Nighttime on Dorsey Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086751712-T3QZTSV9FYE9TC3KWSLG/20190328.jpg mar-2019 - 3.28.19 A Century of Celebration https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086751868-TL76GH6YC3MR7Q8RBO2E/20190329.jpg mar-2019 - 3.29.19 A Slice of Cincinnati https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086756302-PUWV7J681JI76X534HWY/20190330.jpg mar-2019 - 3.30.19 Incline Arts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086757598-SOAB5VX31FS8T39X76UM/20190331.jpg mar-2019 - 3.31.19 The Georgie Reach http://www.philarmstrongart.com/may-2019 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090118195-V6ZAWTVVBCXSGN8NWHU3/750_0164.jpg may-2019 - 5.1.19 “Take My Picture!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090118195-V6ZAWTVVBCXSGN8NWHU3/750_0164.jpg may-2019 - 5.1.19 “Take My Picture!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090122717-MLSUZFSOU6ZTO8NOA4VC/APC_0028-hdr.jpg may-2019 - 5.2.19 Rainy Afternoon Indoors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090122539-7IDU0HM149TDN8GAUV24/IMG_3447.jpg may-2019 - 5.3.19 Can’t Shoot Well When Walking a Dog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090115645-03FLD6NSV9JK9PUPD065/750_0504-Edit.jpg may-2019 - 5.4.19 Vanishing Points https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090118831-IZBPW33LE0KD1EJSDJ84/750_0741.jpg may-2019 - 5.5.19 The Flying Pig Dropped Her Carrots https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090127692-S74Q0L7N2UHOAETZCQRR/IMG_3508.jpg may-2019 - 5.6.19 Smithall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090154986-8AGKYIA02P0HF4KMT1HM/NZ6_0718-HDR.jpg may-2019 - 5.7.19 Anyone Know How to Fly This Thing? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090151449-A5ABRL6GHKUFL6OVA58X/NZ6_5+08.jpg may-2019 - 5.8.19 Flatirons Remind Me of Bullet Trains https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090158390-UIET5GL9KWF4YHN9CA5M/NZ6_1109-Edit.jpg may-2019 - 5.9.19 Not My Wine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090160931-JRAOEZSJTP00W2PEFB3Z/NZ6_1303.jpg may-2019 - 5.10.19 HBD Cody! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090127692-8RUVN1LN5U2Z5WSW4Z61/IMG_3582.jpg may-2019 - 5.11.19 Scene From a Historic Market https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090133439-0VLCKNC4FWDKKYXGWCDC/IMG_3608.jpg may-2019 - 5.12.19 Not a Target Ad https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090163408-93JQA87KW4536XWZZ7RL/NZ6_1374.jpg may-2019 - 5.13.19 Grade & Gradient https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090133818-03ELIZO0Y1V4007MTOTX/IMG_3625.jpg may-2019 - 5.14.19 Milking that Corporate Timeclock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090140160-ARH059FE3CHF8IUG26VI/IMG_3649.jpg may-2019 - 5.15.19 Upper Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090137379-BLZE27ZW62Z6IMEHRRL2/IMG_3678.jpg may-2019 - 5.16.19 Justin Kohl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090163752-DVH08KXJQZ6VFKEP1V9U/NZ6_1762-HDR.jpg may-2019 - 5.17.19 15th Street, Newport https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090169458-U4PHD4WKMZ1ZUD8A2TFM/NZ6_2243.jpg may-2019 - 5.18.19 Peeking Pit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090151840-U94E8EI8RYOABSUNC9GM/NZ6_5+19.jpg may-2019 - 5.19.19 Silhouette of a Genius https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090169381-MZP4DOR851ZKMD4BRQUP/NZ6_2791-HDR.jpg may-2019 - 5.20.19 Verona's Courtyard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090174019-7VWGAQKZLGJXVONKHMCW/NZ6_2823-HDR.jpg may-2019 - 5.21.19 Moerlein's Stairs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090173050-Y35EDI50XT2V8VLT9PX8/NZ6_2893.jpg may-2019 - 5.22.19 A Return to 15th Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090141066-FUF6OWOXS9SGTYT6BOUG/IMG_3839.jpg may-2019 - 5.23.19 Rain Delay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090175699-5Z21PJG9GVH8VIZTJ4UQ/NZ6_2917.jpg may-2019 - 5.24.19 Night Shower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090145271-F0B8KCJAB6KHHN9OCCWU/IMG_3895.jpg may-2019 - 5.25.19 River Basin Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090156600-ECPBFQHX4UE8QBPU1HNF/NZ6_5+26.jpg may-2019 - 5.26.19 Serpentine Sunbather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090146064-CB8SHCRUK75TDU48N0XL/IMG_3932.jpg may-2019 - 5.27.19 A Good Stack https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090149472-IG09F6KJM1MG5ZNX1IK7/IMG_3964.jpg may-2019 - 5.28.19 Bedtime Cuddles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090179081-EG6S36N89UMGPUEV5NA2/NZ6_3975.jpg may-2019 - 5.29.19 Walking Home from Friends' House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090150329-71JGR0XX1HQVRHMM6R2J/IMG_4003.jpg may-2019 - 5.30.19 Schwartzlerno Does Sports Page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090180261-Z2RX8VMUTRHAXA894YXG/NZ6_4249.jpg may-2019 - 5.31.19 Fringe Begins http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dec-2019 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575229874481-JI073TNXP8N1UUQ8DTRK/NZ6_8141.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.1.19 Squaring Up the Squirrel We went to the Cincinnati Nature Center, and while I continuously failed to capture the birds I wanted, this squirrel posed long enough to offer his/her portrait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575229874481-JI073TNXP8N1UUQ8DTRK/NZ6_8141.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.1.19 Squaring Up the Squirrel We went to the Cincinnati Nature Center, and while I continuously failed to capture the birds I wanted, this squirrel posed long enough to offer his/her portrait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575326116018-MZ7EPDVH67P5EVIZXEUL/IMG_0620.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.2.19 Might Want To Get That Looked At I was sitting in my chair when I heard someone wreck their bumper on a sign on the street below. I threw open the window and looked down to see the damaged car before it left the area. It was raining at the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575394291508-9Z4D8PP6U6T9F38D5OC5/NZ6_8285.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.3.19 Wispy Trail Using a Speedlight and a very fast shutter speed, I blew out a candle and photographed the smoke trail. In total, I think I made around 50 attempts before settling on this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575514222760-OMULIHVGDBPQHWZLKSO6/IMG_0649.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.4.19 Our Evening Haunt I met up with Wally and Ronny at the Bay Horse Cafe for $4 schooners of Hudy Delight. The Bay Horse is our go-to bar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575559569168-UEDOCKAZRR6BVMSNLGWJ/NZ6_8493.jpg dec-2019 - 12.5.19 An Emerald Newport Chevy While walking down Monmouth Street, I came across a green truck parked with a brick under its tire. The light was nice and the color popped, so I took a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575690229976-68551PCNS32VHE5EJCRE/DSC_0156.jpg dec-2019 - 12.6.19 I Wish This Thing Actually Worked Using two tripods, I photographed the viewfinder of an old Duaflex that had framed a Christmas scene in my home. I wish I could get it working again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575776491406-XS1RIDKC72TLH2XW73SO/DSC_0160.jpg dec-2019 - 12.7.19 Dogs Weren't Allowed Up Here While at Braxton Brewery with Travis and Aaron, we looked out onto the street below from the rooftop deck. This was part of the scenery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575846672101-XPJDNFRC67TSINJ2NU54/NZ6_8546.jpg dec-2019 - 12.8.19 Rail Dog at QCR We went to Queen City Radio and enjoyed walking Myrtle with all the other dogs to the Woodward Theatre. The pups were decked out in festive apparel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575928726762-LPXQ2XAJKYOKRC4JHWDB/NZ6_8836-Edit.jpg dec-2019 - 12.9.19 Christmas Flowers Using blue construction paper, I set up a bulb of amaryllis and tried to capture the contrast between the two colors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576029896097-T9651GLECFU3A2G7PM05/NZ6_8930.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.10.19 The Madison I had a shoot at Handzy in Covington, and after that was finished, I wandered up Madison to document the Madison Theatre. The street was unnervingly surprisingly desolate that day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576095490643-9SH484Z5M7TKETPATFC0/NZ6_9094.jpg dec-2019 - 12.11.19 A Portrait of Ray Ball I met with Ray at Awakenings in Hyde Park to interview her about her career and success as a self-made entrepreneur. She kindly posed for a portrait at the end of the interview. She’s a kind person with an immense amount of drive to succeed, and I admire her greatly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576169537315-3AJDEP1BQFKO25GYEZOP/IMG_0713.jpg dec-2019 - 12.12.19 Winter Corridor While using the Skywalk over Walnut Street to get to the Mercantile Library, I stopped to capture the street below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576292227264-7DY6EBFOTW3WK2ME51K3/Christian+Village+Mt.+Healthy+Guardian+Center+for+Memory+Support-35.jpg dec-2019 - 12.13.19 One in an 11 Hour Project Luminaut hired me to photograph the 3rd floor of a nursing home they renovated. This is a vignette from that shoot. While I only spent 2.5 hours on-site, I spent the rest of the day editing and tweaking them, ending on the 11th hour from first shutter click to final “all done” completion email. The fact that I turned the entire job around on the same day was a point of pride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576362737533-TSBJKXXG0E36ZIE2RXPM/NZ6_9304.jpg dec-2019 - 12.14.19 Luna We were at my parents’ house and my sister’s dog, Luna, was all dressed up for Christmas. I made her portrait in front of the Christmas tree. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576448412925-WK7D09BHXMP39WMZXRTG/DSC_0190.jpg dec-2019 - 12.15.19 Morning Walk We were walking to Urbana Cafe and cut through JACK Casino’s front “yard.” While Myrtle was doing her business in the grass, I noticed these two approaching from across the lawn. I had the Nikon 1 J5 with the 110mm lens around my neck, so I zoomed in to flatten the distance and capture the ornate buildings many feet behind them as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576551636289-JSBNHJ42TJ0B3KYK1DS2/NZ6_9356.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.16.19 With a Fresh Pack of SX-70 My father’s old Polaroid Land Camera. From what I’ve read, it looks to have come out in 1978. It uses sonar to adjust focus and instantly spits out a photo after it’s taken. He gave it to me after I discovered it in a cabinet in his office. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much success using it as it’s very difficult to get a decent photo with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576632859224-WE9JOFBC7Q4D805DMC6B/NZ6_9362.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.17.19 The Court/Broadway Flatiron I had a meeting at Coffee Emporium at 2 PM, so I left my apartment and headed north. The flatiron by my home is a regular sight on the route, so I stopped to capture it. A man is seen exiting the building at the exact moment I hit the shutter I didn’t see him in the moment, so his presence was a pleasant surprise when I got the photo into Lightroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576716457321-NQBOLM798YFESU5YT1IK/image-asset.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.18.19 Central Parkway at Dusk While waiting to enter 1010 On The Rhine to attend their resident holiday party (we aren’t residents, we’re just friendly with the Rookwood Properties staff), I stopped on the 9th floor and captured the sunset in all its warm, purple and orange beauty. It was that perfect time of day when everyone is moving and the city feels alive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576763140020-7X8XMS3OR11K9IM3UVBO/image-asset.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.19.19 Brilliant Morning Sunlight As I left my apartment building this morning to drop off Myrtle at daycare down the street, I marveled at the sunlight down Eggleston Avenue. Upon returning, I raced upstairs and grabbed my Z6 with the Tamron 150-600 and went out to the corner of Eggleston and Reedy. While I received some looks (it’s not easy being inconspicuous with a lens that size), I posted up for about 10 minutes and captured what I could. A man crossed the street at one point, offering the perfect opportunity and composition, but I missed focus because my hands were so cold. It was 18ºF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576877474665-J8E9LTK5Z1GAMNNEEPG3/DSC_0238.jpg dec-2019 - 12.20.19 Teddy Bear Plant Detail The afternoon sun was hitting the Teddy Bear Plant on our windowsill in a good way as I sat in a chair across from it. I got a tripod out and set up the Nikon 1 J5 to get a close-up before the light disappeared. It’s called a Teddy Bear plant because it feels furry to the touch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576967678219-5PSNNKPVXQCU29AOND6R/IMG_0845.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.21.19 Bad Haircut Ashley and I went to see her grandparents in Florence, KY today, and in an effort to avoid subjecting myself to another moment of Fox News at an unreasonable volume, I took Myrtle on a long walk around the neighborhood. We found this tree along the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577031153307-2ZV9ZQL5D7THS6HLV9AA/image-asset.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.22.19 Building Pendleton On our way back from Urbana Cafe, we stopped to observe crews working on the new development at 12th and Sycamore. Many excavators were onsite unearthing old bricks and rubble from the land beneath them. It was the most active construction site I think I’ve personally ever seen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577114862622-78ZMVMBGNFAJWG8FETT4/image-asset.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.23.19 A Desolate, Sun-Kissed Park ‘Twas the Monday before Christmas and all through city, not a worker was present—abysmal was density. Downtown was quiet, almost deafeningly so, everyone is off, but to work I must go… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577226669726-ZI23VRJ9NWO750CXOQAN/image-asset.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.24.19 ‘Twas the Evening Before Christmas We weren’t allowed to take Myrtle to Ashley’s family Christmas celebration, so we went on a nice long walk to exercise her before leaving her alone for the night. Our walk led us to the western side of Downtown where most of the natural sunlight hangs out in that 4 to 5 PM hour. I used my little Nikon 1 J5 to zoom in on the Waldo and Covenant First Presbyterian because together they looked nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577331875557-VKMFX1PQHZBJDB6F6DUM/IMG_0900.jpg dec-2019 - 12.25.19 “The Light Looks Good On These Cookies” I didn’t try today. I took my film camera, I took the Nikon 1 J5, and I didn’t use either one when I was at my parents’ for Christmas. Today was all about relaxation (aside from, you know, having to log onto work, of course). While standing in their dining room between breakfast and dinner, the light streamed across the table and illuminated this plate of cookies. Dad made fun of me for unwrapping them briefly to get a quick photo. Like I said, I didn’t try today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577421911057-HS59S8DBCLXCY19GA7ZG/NZ6_9697.jpg dec-2019 - 12.26.19 If You Blur Your Eyes, It Resembles an Aquarium It was 11:30 PM. My flash wasn’t working properly. I was on a time crunch. I looked up and noticed the Christmas lights looked pleasant on the plants and nickel finish of the floor lamp. The combination of the blue glow outside, the upward trajectory of the lights in bokeh, and the long, slender plant reminded me of a fish tank bubbling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577509543157-9L33UFTPAVXUUM7QTFCH/NZ6_9700.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.27.19 A Good Snoot Just playing with my wide angle lens with the dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577585571809-TEOSIOGPOGWF23ZJQ4Z5/DSC_0322.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.28.19 Building Bigger Every Year This morning was foggy and unseasonably warm. I took Myrtle outside and we ended up walking the streets to admire the city shrouded in fog. The air was as still as Downtown was quiet. It felt like we were stealing a look at our neighborhood before it was ready to get out of bed. The new development at 7th and Main enveloped the few remaining buildings on the east side of the street from this angle, much like the fog that surrounded all of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577675614890-EOGO3HEB04XVHSD4BFR1/DSC_0386.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.29.19 There’s No Place Like Home Street It was a miserable day, weather-wise. While driving around running an errand, I asked Ashley to head up to Home Street in Newport. I’d seen the view from a backyard on 15th Street months before, but since that’s private property, I wanted to find a public place to get that great Newport/Cincinnati view. While it wasn’t pretty, it was still a good view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577759146604-6A2C1YTD8F0ON1TZMUJE/NZ6_9769.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.30.19 Work In Progress I photograph the same three buildings every month for someone while they’re being renovated. The idea is to show the progress of the renovation as it happens. This one in Over-the-Rhine was empty when I entered it this afternoon; work crews were apparently off today. It was a little spooky being in there alone, especially since I’m used to being there with at least one worker and our region was experiencing heavy winds today. I didn’t spend an extra second than I had to inside the property. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577805101757-QB9CJMW771Q99S9Z8KWY/image-asset.jpeg dec-2019 - 12.31.19 The Final Piece of the Puzzle When People’s Liberty finished its five-year campaign, Eric Avner reached out to ask if he could purchase this photo of the Roebling Bridge during BLINK for use in making custom puzzles as gifts for foundation partners. I gave him the photo, and weeks later he texted to ask if I was around. We met up and he gifted me one of the puzzles as thanks for letting him use the image. His thoughtfulness turned into two evenings of solo puzzle-building, and this morning I placed the final piece under studio lights. Because this is the first fully completed year of the Daily Photo Project, I thought it was an appropriate way to symbolically mark the occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576715613109-S3NLMJI4XAANDRNUVJHO/NZ6_9391.jpg dec-2019 http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos daily 0.75 2025-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575948345027-H23651PIIZTNUPDIUSDV/750_2375.jpg daily photos http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos/lsz7jj4e48ex742-mjhbk-82gnl-bn6ff-6mg8y-jthkx-ykgrs-x4fpa-z2t6w-partm-xa7dw-t3erk-6gm37-893l6-h229g-sb557-3gaj4-fxxcy-pbbsz-dl9rc-a7fs4-fl52f-kgxat-tnkg4-czejl-tjndd-s9fa5-4cj5h monthly 0.5 2026-04-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1c2ff469-a7a3-47c5-af33-23f455ad9a78/DSC_2197.jpg daily photos - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos/lsz7jj4e48ex742-mjhbk-82gnl-bn6ff-6mg8y-jthkx-ykgrs-x4fpa-z2t6w-partm-xa7dw-t3erk-6gm37-893l6-h229g-sb557-3gaj4-fxxcy-pbbsz-dl9rc-a7fs4-fl52f-kgxat-tnkg4-czejl-tjndd-s9fa5 monthly 0.5 2026-04-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/f96eb2c7-edf7-4592-a6ae-c196661bf984/NZ9_3530-HDR+copy.jpg daily photos - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos/lsz7jj4e48ex742-mjhbk-82gnl-bn6ff-6mg8y-jthkx-ykgrs-x4fpa-z2t6w-partm-xa7dw-t3erk-6gm37-893l6-h229g-sb557-3gaj4-fxxcy-pbbsz-dl9rc-a7fs4-fl52f-kgxat-tnkg4-czejl-tjndd monthly 0.5 2026-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774981709072-C546QG89LUIA6N4UF6KP/IMG_7763.jpg daily photos - 3.1.26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774981710406-LZ01YUC54XVTXZGWJ0X2/Artist+Mike+Agricola+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily photos - 3.2.26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774981717970-AES5HPRX1MDHXGPWUCYN/IMG_7838.jpg daily photos - 3.3.26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774981702647-EVOG5L5P44NNEKSDEM29/Art+of+Collecting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg daily photos - 3.4.26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774981747839-744JZK4GN8JVGNXI563F/NZF_0406-2.jpg daily photos - 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3.28.26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774981734144-X5P77HIJVW8ZAUP7E0T1/IMG_8032.jpg daily photos - 3.29.26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774981736893-7V80V4PO7W21IZGPXTRF/IMG_8040.jpg daily photos - 3.30.26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774981739010-NRMJ4YPB5GB7FO37QCFS/NZ9_3327-Edit.jpg daily photos - 3.31.26 http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jan-2020 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577922017922-C14UT9HHCO249G4CKJCL/NZ6_9870.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.1.20 (un)Happy Tabby This little cat was chilling on a chair on someone’s porch in Bellevue. After I got it into Lightroom, I noticed his/her expression. Not sure if he/she was irritated or indifferent about me taking the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577922017922-C14UT9HHCO249G4CKJCL/NZ6_9870.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.1.20 (un)Happy Tabby This little cat was chilling on a chair on someone’s porch in Bellevue. After I got it into Lightroom, I noticed his/her expression. Not sure if he/she was irritated or indifferent about me taking the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578014423714-SCEAU1IJO5BG6P07DQOV/NZ6_9973.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.2.20 Mooie and Chewie I visited the Rising Sun History Museum in Rising Sun, IN today. While it has two historic boats and many artifacts that tell the tale of Rising Sun’s history, it was this two-headed, taxidermied calf that stuck with me most. I do not care for taxidermy; it’s horrible and awkward, and the two-headed calf was no exception. I didn’t get a photo of the didactic panel next to it for some reason, but I believe it said it was born in 1988 in Madison, IN on a July day. The calf only lived for 45 minutes before passing. Why it’s in a museum in Rising Sun is something I’ll continue wondering forever. It had to be today’s photo because it made me so uncomfortable. According to the director of the museum, the pair were named Mooie and Chewie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578087423628-ZHQC02TSXLUN9TINTTSN/NZ6_0056.jpg jan-2020 - 1.3.20 Rotolo Means ‘Roll’ in Italian Did a shoot at Rotolo, a bowling alley and bar/restaurant at Newport On the Levee this afternoon. During the shoot, I assumed I was doing a poor job primarily because I couldn’t find the right angles on the time crunch while fiddling with my tripod. My frustration with myself culminated in sweating through my jacket, fumbling with my gear, and generally looking like I barely knew what I was doing. After spilling the contents of the card into Lightroom, I all but confirmed my suspicions. I have a long way to go before I can consider myself good at what I do. This bowling ball photo isn’t what I’d hoped it would be. It is what it is, I suppose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578199579711-WT3YZ88M01U32UXBFGVL/750_5287.jpg jan-2020 - 1.4.20 Inclined to Enjoy This View Travis and I went out tonight to grab shots of the city skyline from various angles after dark. We went to the Price Hill Incline District to get the east-facing angle of the west side of Downtown with the C I N C I N N A T I sign at one point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578280658081-QOYTN09SLCCKCCMU10UJ/NZ6_0536.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.5.20 We Just Want It to Snow! Snow Banks at the Banks brought snow-based attractions to the riverfront using artificial and man-made snow. Every half hour, fans on Freedom Way blew (what looks to be) globs of soap into the air, creating a blizzard-like effect. While I was photographing the fan, a little boy wandered over and stuck out his tongue as if to catch one of the “snowflakes.” I saw him grimace for a second at one point—I imagine soapy “snow” (snoawp?) wouldn’t be tasty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578349387379-X8UF05KTVT9Z2OK6RS68/NZ6_0632.jpg jan-2020 - 1.6.20 A Court Street Sunset It’s amazing how sharp a prime lens is compared to a zoom lens. I shot this with a 50mm prime. The detail in full resolution is very nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578432035426-7BNR2LFF40DO3EFT6IQD/IMG_3242.jpg jan-2020 - 1.7.20 My Friend Maria I took photos of Tower Room A inside the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal this afternoon for a story on the place, and my friend Maria let me into the space. The lighting was great, so I asked her if I could get a photo. She agreed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578528714359-Q6EU95AGY7OHEIFMNQFH/NZ6_0776.jpg jan-2020 - 1.8.20 The Lady Before Lady Liberty I got word that one of the prototypes for the Statue of Liberty was in Cincinnati, so I drove to Oakley to check it out. The 4-foot-tall statue was made in the same foundry (Alvoiron) as the actual full-sized statue, but this one was made to be a lamp. Though it’s marked “#24,” there are only eight known to exist. The date on the base says 1875, but the curator told me this one was forged in 1878. It’s made of zinc and copper to mimic bronze. It’s hollow so wiring could be threaded up through the base to power the glass globe that would’ve sat on top of the torch. A replacement piece was made in the 1980s to cover the top since the glass was gone. I photographed it on film, as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578595864470-B8OZBUF1W4WKQ51WBJNJ/IMG_1120.jpg jan-2020 - 1.9.20 Home Sweet Home Went up to the 11th floor of the William Howard Taft Center this afternoon for a job and caught a glimpse of my apartment from up high. I can see my desk from this angle. As I write this, I need only look up from my screen to see where I was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578689108042-2FL6WOO19KLKBYTUB4ZV/IMG_1163.jpg jan-2020 - 1.10.20 This Is the Way They’ve ripped up a healthy portion of Fountain Square to reconfigure its layout. In the 5/3rd tunnel, a smaller tunnel of scaffolding was erected with signs that point to various attractions. I was there to scope out the 5/3rd Banking Museum to the right of the frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578778211450-VJZL1MY2SLEU5FM31TYF/Light+Trial-062-Edit.jpg jan-2020 - 1.11.20 A Helping Hand Photoshop offers tutorials on how to do different effects, and this week there’s a tutorial on how to do neon. They used a raised hand in black and white and built a triangle around it using the effect. I thought it might be fun to follow the tutorial and give it a go. It took some work, but I got the lighting just right on my hand and added the after effects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578882576779-71LTCJXFVA4LOVHTVYZW/NZ6_1059-Edit.jpg jan-2020 - 1.12.20 Drip! I put a Lume Cube 2.0 into the sink, turned on the faucet ever so slightly to create a rhythmic, steady drip, and rapid-fired away. This is a combination of two exposures put together. I cannot imagine trying to do this with film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578918596551-VX5PTQ4F35X94P1R06SC/IMG_6737.jpg jan-2020 - 1.13.20 I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me An edited version of the photo of the day from December 27th, 2019 makes a return in the form of my desktop background. I believe this is the first time a photo of the day has been featured (kind of) twice. It always cracks me up when I see all three screens like this, and with it being 6:55 AM on a Monday, I cannot think of a better way to start my week than with a laugh. Also: look at that pretty little pup’s snoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579059260132-CP2T4APTEKP2P116O4YS/NZ6_1439-HDR.jpg jan-2020 - 1.14.20 Glammed-Up On Greenup Today I had a real estate shoot on Greenup Street in Covington. It took me all day because I had to go back three times to get what I needed. The realtor needs the photos as soon as possible, so I spent the majority of the day shooting/processing them in between other life things. It's been an extremely long day and I'm afraid I may be getting sick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579135261563-3OKJM4U0PX56X2D31UEV/750_5300.jpg jan-2020 - 1.15.20 Museum Dolls I checked out the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Fashion Archives today for a piece I’m working on for the site. While the archives were fully stocked with compressed storage containers that moved at the touch of a button, there were mannequins in a corner of the room that were unconcealed. These mannequins were designed to be the standard size of 18th- and 19th-century women. I did not realize women from those centuries differed so greatly in size from modern-day women, but apparently the garments the museum has in its collection were made to fit a specific type of body that mannequins post-1915 do not illustrate. Because there are so many garments in the collection, the museum needs an army of these mannequins should they ever put them on display. I would guess there were around 50 of them total standing neatly in phalanx formation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579229160677-MYU4XTW4ZK0602ZPY0S0/IMG_0599.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.16.20 I visited Dixie Union Station this afternoon for a story on the Mason store. It sells miniature trains, both new and old, to casual and hardcore train set hobbyists around the region, as well as internationally. It’s an extremely cool store to visit because of how specific it is about its craft. Randy, one of the employees of the store, was sitting in a back room fixing up a train component with new wheel parts while I was there. His little maintenance room was cozy and calming; I could see myself gladly spending hours in that space working on hobby trains if I were in his position. Sometimes I wish I could rid myself of my internet-based job and just settle down with something simpler that’s more aligned with my introverted nature. Then again, I wouldn’t have met Randy and seen this room if I didn’t do what I do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579286501567-42LAE1UCXYP38OB54P6V/IMG_1318.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.17.20 Some Serious Scaffolding Myrtle was getting groomed neared Findlay Market, so I worked in Deeper Roots for a couple hours, got lunch at the Market, then took this photo of a building that’s under construction while in the parking lot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579374837574-YGHIDSKO6VYMOSE2RM1M/IMG_1343.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.18.20 Dead on a Hill We were in Fort Thomas burning some time before a scheduled haircut and dropped by a dying antique mall. Across the street was a cemetery on a dramatic hill that seemed to foreshadow the inevitable closure of the nearby mall. Because the scene was so bleak, I waited for a particularly bright vehicle to roll into frame before hitting the shutter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579488374169-6YO54YZTX4EFGLCFOPVD/IMG_1390.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.19.20 It Is So Cold The feels-like temperature is 4°F tonight. I’d forgotten what 4°F feels like. I was moody and uninspired today, so we made this last-minute photo on the way back into the warmth of the building. I plan to sleep and reset immediately after publishing this (at 9:50 PM). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579582130582-FI15YOXP9HYRJFN7RQDN/image-asset.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.20.20 Steve Shoots the Shooters I worked with RESLV this evening for six hours doing behind-the-scenes photography while they filmed a commercial. Steve was there filming content while everything was happening. I didn’t feel comfortable sharing any of the production stills from tonight without permission, but this photo of Steve doesn’t give anything away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579633032873-2ZO5FXPKZJBCSYZODD1W/NZ6_3050.jpg jan-2020 - 1.21.20 Self Portrait I have entered my mid-Thirties and I’m quietly anxious about it. Well, I guess not-so-quietly anxious now that I’ve committed that feeling to this description. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579737996839-1SDXBVY856C4GCUGJ7A4/IMG_1455.jpg jan-2020 - 1.22.20 Perfect Perspective A flag ceremony that involved Steve Chabot took me inside the Hamilton County Courthouse this morning. After that, did a little extra photo work for Judge Marsh, then saw myself out. On the way out of her courtroom, I stopped and made this photo of Central Parkway and the Alms & Doepke Building across the street. Because I was on the third floor, the perspective didn’t need to be adjusted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579839481886-2FT01IH1G8AF03VHD6PR/image-asset.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.23.20 Bourbon and Bites Tonight I shot an event at the American Sign Museum in Camp Washington called Bourbon and Bites. It was a tour of the museum with stops for breaks to enjoy New Riff bourbon with food by The Phoenix. Before the tour began, I went into the main room and got the classic photo everyone enjoys getting when they’re there. I used a very small handheld tripod and set my ISO as low as it would go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579924634081-SR9YR31RTBP2VFSRX32Y/NZ6_3522.jpg jan-2020 - 1.24.20 Juvenile Court Since I started working at 10 AM this morning to now (11 PM), I have been working non-stop on freelance projects while squeezing in Refined between tasks when I can. It has been an incredibly long day. One of my jobs was to document Judge John Meyer William’s courtroom and personal office for Hamilton County. I met with the judge in his office, learned about him and his family history with the building, and made the best photos I could with the small amount of time I had to do it. I would prefer to publish a photo of his office here, but I do not feel comfortable doing that without permission and will instead publish this depersonalized courtroom photo in its place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579987801196-GMOK6ARFRH86TWEQRH9W/NZ6_3545.jpg jan-2020 - 1.25.20 Taking My Own Advice I wrote a piece that published today on Refined about things to do in Cincinnati when the weather sucks, and one of those list items was to visit Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park. Ashley’s mother is in town for the weekend and (surprise!) the weather is atrocious, so we all got in the car and headed up to the conservatory to enjoy the plants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580089159689-YI6PGJJ3YV5D1SIWK6CE/image-asset.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.26.20 Dave’s Happy About Cake We celebrated Dave’s birthday today. He’s Ashley’s grandfather and he’s 78 on Tuesday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580177979346-G17G9FAS7AUUVFDV757Q/IMG_1524.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.27.20 Domestic Still Life Another very long day at the laptop in both my home office and up at WKRC. Didn’t have much time to do anything else but work on Refined stuff. It is 9:15 PM and I’m exhausted. This is a scene from my home at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580266184975-V747F2H2JGZZ5VN6JO76/image-asset.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.28.20 Mesa Loca Luminaut hired me to photograph Mesa Loca in Hyde Park—a restaurant they worked on that recently opened within the last few months. It replaced Cock & Bull when that closed a while back. Stupid me forgot my memory card to the Z6 after setting up and had to run home, grab it, then run back. It was very unprofessional. No matter how long I do something, I’m always reminded of how far I still have to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580352254210-QR7WDU8YWRSJ0SUY7S74/IMG_0710.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.29.20 Get the Mail After we take Myrtle out for her final potty break for the night, we tell her to “go get the mail” and she runs to the mail room. I snapped Ashley and Myrtle coming out of the mail room along with Extremely Unfriendly Dude getting into the elevator with a Bird scooter? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580413055284-15W19FFE7TFGJP06U8IB/IMG_1549.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.30.20 Desolate Elm Street My monthly project takes me up to Findlay Market and the surrounding area, and as I walked past this stretch of Elm Street, I decided to document the completely vacant scene across the street. I liked how the colors of the mural stand in stark contrast to the off-white paint of the building behind it. I wish I’d gotten a body in frame, and I wish I’d taken this on film, but digital and empty are fine alternatives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580496591815-PCKV83A0FDKMZELCOLIW/IMG_1723.jpg jan-2020 - 1.31.20 Going Up They removed the corner banner from the side of our apartment building using a hydraulic bucket. Myrtle went a little nuts at first when she saw someone at eye level, which I can’t blame her for since we live several stories from the street. I set up my phone on the ledge and used my Apple Watch from the other room to get a photo of the worker ascending. I have mixed feelings about doing it this way; clearly I felt uncomfortable just taking his photo normally, which suggests I feel like it’s wrong to capture his image without consent. On the other hand, his face is distorted from all the rain spots on the window, and he’s just outside my living room window, so his being so close to my personal space might give me permission to take his photo? I’m posting it so I must not feel it’s more wrong than right. If you have any feelings on this, I’d like to hear them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579374488772-1OUPD7JXUQU0EFOS0DNA/IMG_1343.jpeg jan-2020 - 1.18.20 Dead on a Hill We were in Fort Thomas burning some time before a scheduled haircut and dropped by a dying antique mall. Across the street was a cemetery on a dramatic hill that seemed to foreshadow the inevitable closure of the nearby mall. Because the scene was so bleak, I waited for a particularly bright vehicle to roll into frame before hitting the shutter. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/feb-2020 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580596227495-HO9LDUYFZGPCYZ71HU9G/NZ6_4395.jpg feb-2020 - 2.1.20 A Quick Nip I covered the Polar Plunge in Bellevue this morning. People jumped into a freezing cold pool of brown water to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Special Olympics. One team was dressed as Harry Potter characters; their Hermione was an older dude in a wig. I was keeping an eye on him because I knew he was bound to do something hilarious at some point, and that constant surveillance proved worthwile at this specific point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580596227495-HO9LDUYFZGPCYZ71HU9G/NZ6_4395.jpg feb-2020 - 2.1.20 A Quick Nip I covered the Polar Plunge in Bellevue this morning. People jumped into a freezing cold pool of brown water to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Special Olympics. One team was dressed as Harry Potter characters; their Hermione was an older dude in a wig. I was keeping an eye on him because I knew he was bound to do something hilarious at some point, and that constant surveillance proved worthwile at this specific point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580688774161-KT6ID7KXBJV0670P824Z/NZ6_5583-2.jpg feb-2020 - 2.2.20 Shillito Lofts Exterior I photographed Shillito Lofts back in December but haven’t had a chance to get a proper exterior due to the weather. Luckily, today was the most gorgeous day we’ve had in what feels like a year. Getting out early, I caught some mid-morning sunlight and pieced together 10 different images to create this composite with people, buses, and a car to make it feel like a livelier corner than it typically is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580785321399-NVKECH5F4KXYPQQIDSD2/IMG_1804.jpg feb-2020 - 2.3.20 Cornerstone I spent a lot of my day on 4th Street. Worked at a free coworking space during the morning and early afternoon, had lunch at Saigon Subs & Rolls, then continued working at the Mercantile Library before walking home. It felt great to put headphones in, wear a light jacket in 60ºF weather, and go about my business. I felt like I did when I first moved to the city back in 2013; those were some extraordinary times. I took photos of the 4th and Race development, but I didn’t end up liking them as much as this photo of the cornerstone of The Reserve. The font (specifically the ‘9’) is excellent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580862847048-JS8ZBE45DDW2FYEADXIZ/NZ6_5815.jpg feb-2020 - 2.4.20 That Tricky Fountain Square Smoking Grate For years, I’ve wanted to capture a bus blowing through the smoking grate across from Fountain Square. When I see it happen, I’m never ready for it. Today, I was passing the Square during rush hour and the grate was puffing like smokestack working overtime. I shot this moment when the Southbank Shuttle breached the wall of smoke, and while I think it’s fine, it’s not the exact image I was going for. If it were going faster, the effect would’ve been better, but this was when it was slowly accelerating from a complete stop. Maybe one day I’ll properly post up and get the shot I really want. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580931237256-3BEIFFZWVXW8QPL2ONYE/NZ6_5837.jpg feb-2020 - 2.5.20 Sharp Alley Found myself inside 57 E. McMicken this afternoon for work, and enjoyed this view straight up Sharp Alley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581043587946-1AYVCEWX1PZPFMPRENDW/NZ6_6124-Edit.jpg feb-2020 - 2.6.20 Pig and Brad From a lifestyle shoot I did earlier this evening for Towne Properties. Pig is the French Bulldog. Her little cute self didn’t want to stay put for very long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581124677260-2T73W82JO54G94TUESUQ/IMG_4774.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.7.20 Taft Museum I had a job at the Taft Museum today and took its photo before I left because the lighting was good. That’s it, that’s the description. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581217634385-YEIG3SUJZKYDEUF77YPS/IMG_1906.jpg feb-2020 - 2.8.20 Wintry Rio We visited my parents today because we haven’t seen them in about 3 weeks. I am not feeling well, so one of the only photos I took today was this one of Rio staring out the window. She was quietly low-growling during this because she thought I was trying to tell her there was a deer outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581296303532-FLUCCD404WDK0MEYSRKV/IMG_1928.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.9.20 Yearning to Be Outside Don’t worry, she got her time at the park (and got sufficiently muddy, too). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581386974771-5KL42TFLB066QRGRKKBR/NZ6_6483-Edit.jpg feb-2020 - 2.10.20 Night Composite I wanted to make this photo but waiting for a bus, a car, and positioning myself correctly in frame was all but impossible, so I did them all individually and brought it into Photoshop to piece it all together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581478400703-KKLVRVOVMNI8KRGP1MRA/IMG_1995.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.11.20 USPS at Crane Factory Most of my creative energy went towards creating and refining a logo for a friend’s upcoming side gig, then creating a Valentine’s Day eCard for social media for work. As such, this was the only interesting photo I made all day. I liked this moment because everything was so perfectly aligned without much effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581559188141-1L8PLQA02BQ3HRY4S8LC/IMG_0728.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.12.20 Smug Ronny Disco I used my Lume Cube in the Bay Horse to light this portrait of Ronny, who was once referred to as Smug Ronny Disco on Twitter by some guy who didn’t like him. We enjoy having schooners here and I wanted to capture that feeling at least once. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581636765195-BLVSATQ7KEPWC9U9JB6Z/IMG_2012.jpg feb-2020 - 2.13.20 Mini Me As I was driving back from interviewing the Graeter family (yes, that Graeter family) about their Victorian house in EWH, I passed this house on the corner with a miniature version of itself at the sidewalk. I turned the car around, parked, and went to photograph the two side by side because I thought it was amusing. The miniature house is a Little Free Library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581718572333-979RU1BOYQ9TPNC34B22/NZ6_6515-HDR-Edit.jpg feb-2020 - 2.14.20 Valentine’s Daylight THE SUN CAME OUT TODAY. THE SUN CAME OUT TODAY. LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL LIGHT FROM THE SUN. IT HAS BEEN SO GREY HERE FOR SO LONG. MY KITCHEN LOOKED BEAUTIFUL SO I HAD TO CAPTURE MY FAVORITE CORNER OF IT. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581804359236-54MHI07BP1XHVQEL52O6/IMG_2046.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.15.20 Bob Brumberg A candid portrait of Bob Brumberg at 3 Points Urban Brewery. Only natural light bouncing off the windows from Alumni Lofts across 13th was used to light his face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581892922635-NNJQWUESHVMJYK7GVUXH/NZ6_6634.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.16.20 Pre-Yoga Sit-‘N-Soak Before walking to yoga, she sat in the chair soaking up the sun. I had an umbrella set up to the right of her and took a photo. The warm light from the west and the white light from the east through the glass table and transparent chairs combined to give the scene an ethereal look. Something about it reminds me of a painting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581996564825-95RKWKBCLS8ZQOUX3GUM/DSC_0607-Edit.jpg feb-2020 - 2.17.20 A Foray Into Faux Earlier today, the weather was unseasonably lovely. So lovely, in fact, I made the correct choice to walk to Mt. Auburn instead of drive so I could enjoy the city at my own pace. If I need to go to the office, I might as well enjoy the journey when it’s warm enough. On the way back, clouds had overtaken the sky, foiling whatever late-evening plans I had to take photos of key components along the skyline. The Monastery was one of my subjects as I walked along the length of Liberty Hill, just before making it to the City Steps. After I got it into my computer, I didn’t like how flat and dull the light was. In color, it just wasn’t doing it for me. I took it into Photoshop and did a little filtering/layering with creative effects to produce a false vintage look with randomized specks and faux-scratches on the “film.” Because there is very little in the way of modernity in the original photo, the edit worked well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582083130859-IR0KXOXTYSF8ZWPFCMMM/image-asset.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.18.20 GYROS Dixie Chili in Newport has my favorite poster for any food in the entire world. Yes, that’s an oddly specific category for a “favorite” thing, but it’s true. I would love to have a copy of this for my office. It reminds me of a background image in a movie that’s meant to subconsciously invoke sentiment without directly advertising for a specific brand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582168083218-PG9Z0V056RPMLN4SD7HG/NZ6_6885.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.19.20 Modern Man Justin has this great little MCM-styled home in White Oak, so tonight I went out with all my equipment to try my hand at some serious lifestyle portraiture. We both had a fun time creating a 1960s feel for this shoot. I’m really happy with how these turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582257967563-QC8H27MZ61575UER1YDI/IMG_2203.jpg feb-2020 - 2.20.20 The Beast Awaits Her Treat How does one follow a successful, hours-long vintage lifestyle photoshoot? By taking a moody iPhone photo of their dog awaiting a treat in the kitchen because the light was dramatic and good, of course. I’m still very proud of yesterday’s photo, so whatever I made today was inevitably going to fall short of it. But creating every day means sometimes failing upward—which, in my opinion, is just the scenic route to success. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582342146370-3ZUV9GRKLJJQJ33I390Q/IMG_2223.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.21.20 The Homies Breakfast for dinner on MainStrasse courtesy of Cody. The crew for the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582430023700-Z7JZDSMEAA2TWQKMVK2W/NZ6_7118.jpg feb-2020 - 2.22.20 Awaitin’ the Bacon We haven’t been to B&A since BLINK last year, so we took the pup on a walk and stopped by for a bite. As is custom for B&A visits, Myrtle gets a piece of bacon from the window after we order. If a place involves a treat of some sort, she’s forever obsessed with it, so B&A is one of her favorite spots. This was actually taken after she got her piece of bacon; she just knew there was more of it behind the glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582505544490-5WYDIG92V4QF97V1E3YY/NZ6_7123.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.23.20 12th and Main Streets, OTR Crappy light out today. This striking yellow sportsmobile stood out against the dark blue paint job of Platform. The person who owns this car was probably eating at Louvino behind me when I took the photo. I wonder if they saw me stop to capture it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582601923372-UN0N5N6WLC720GU2FJ4W/NZ6_7145.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.24.20 Haunted Artifact I have an old camera sitting on the shelf that I cannot use, so I sat it upright and used a little pendant light that goes on Myrtle’s collar on the end of a bungee cord to create the “electricity” effect. I lit the right side with 4% light from a Lumecube and the other side was lit by my iPad on a stand several feet away. 30-second shutter at f/6.3. There’s really no point to this; I just wanted to play around with a long exposure and got a Ghostbuster-y result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582687491141-ZRXAD3Y8I74JO6T1WBU5/DSC_0622.jpg feb-2020 - 2.25.20 Rainy Evening on Broadway The rain cast this wonderful fog all over the city tonight, bouncing all that light back onto the streets and buildings below. I went up to the roof with my J5 and caught this vertical sliver of Broadway and Sycamore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582772996368-2LH5EX61AS5MW7GJGDW4/NZ6_7149.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.26.20 Procreate Project I’ve been spending more time recently drawing and painting in Procreate, which ultimately leaves me less time to be behind the lens. Today I had a little time and wanted to paint a photo I made last night for the sole purpose of painting it later. This is a photo of the finished product on my desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582844961157-73EB477MV6J3W927PNTF/NZ6_7162.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.27.20 Raise the Roof A building I photograph every month is growing upward. This month, a temporary staircase was added, so I was able to get up on the (original) roof to photograph the progress. As I lined up this shot, the sun poked through the clouds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582990923355-D22GXC4JRWF7VR5Q1EHN/IMG_2291.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.28.20 Cincinnati is Good Here is a photo of a car that someone graffiti’d. Happy Bockfest! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583039056768-3X79VJM40PNLNZKHLODR/DSC_0660.jpeg feb-2020 - 2.29.20 Formerly Bremen Street As we walked to Bockfest Hall from the Race/Liberty streetcar station, we passed Republic Street. I’ve always liked how Macy’s sort of ends Republic in the distance. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/mar-2020 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583123170130-SNN887G5IQZBPWKP430R/NZ6_8048-HDR-Pano.jpg mar-2020 - 3.1.20 New PC Lens The image of my living room above is 9814 x 5690 pixels at a near-16 x 8 aspect ratio. The reason it’s so huge and oddly shaped is because it’s a 16-image HDR panorama using a Nikon Nikkor 35mm ƒ/2.8 PC manual focus lens. I got the old, used lens at Procam earlier today while I was in the shop buying a new speedlight (Godox V860). My favorite salesperson, Pete, caught me right on the way out the door and let me slap it on my Z6. Being someone who's always wanted a shift lens, the $175 price tag was a steal compared to the modern $2500 glass I was pricing months ago. After messing around with it, I’ve determined it’s probably my favorite lens to mess around with even though it’s more difficult and time-consuming to use because it’s not auto-focusing and a little wonky to adjust. Using it to create crisp panoramas like the one above is extremely fun; I relish the moment when I can use this for work to create something truly special. Also, Lightroom took about a half hour to preview and render this single image, so it will not be a process I rely on for every image I make using this method. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583123170130-SNN887G5IQZBPWKP430R/NZ6_8048-HDR-Pano.jpg mar-2020 - 3.1.20 New PC Lens The image of my living room above is 9814 x 5690 pixels at a near-16 x 8 aspect ratio. The reason it’s so huge and oddly shaped is because it’s a 16-image HDR panorama using a Nikon Nikkor 35mm ƒ/2.8 PC manual focus lens. I got the old, used lens at Procam earlier today while I was in the shop buying a new speedlight (Godox V860). My favorite salesperson, Pete, caught me right on the way out the door and let me slap it on my Z6. Being someone who's always wanted a shift lens, the $175 price tag was a steal compared to the modern $2500 glass I was pricing months ago. After messing around with it, I’ve determined it’s probably my favorite lens to mess around with even though it’s more difficult and time-consuming to use because it’s not auto-focusing and a little wonky to adjust. Using it to create crisp panoramas like the one above is extremely fun; I relish the moment when I can use this for work to create something truly special. Also, Lightroom took about a half hour to preview and render this single image, so it will not be a process I rely on for every image I make using this method. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583205524363-9U3FRG53LXD3ZU32KEOM/IMG_0818.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.2.20 Panorama Playing around with the shift lens, I created a three-photo pano of the street outside from my 4th-floor apartment. This was far less work to put together than the previous night’s image. I’m hoping to get out with my tripod this weekend to do more shift photography. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583269002587-QZKGILBWJG569D5JNRE0/NZ6_8084-2.jpg mar-2020 - 3.3.20 Worsh 'Em I made a poster earlier, the style of which is inspired by British WWII-era propaganda I found online. I figured modernizing it would be a good way to get the message out about the current issue the world is facing together: coronavirus and how handwashing is a great way to slow its spread. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583411172411-98Q8KFXCNDWIBOLERXQN/NZ6_8111.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.4.20 The Traction Building I had to ask a Fifth Third guard if I could set up my tripod and take a photo of the Traction Building from the Skywalk. He said the Skywalk is a public walkway maintained by Fifth Third and that I’d normally need written permission, but this time was fine so long as I don’t photograph Fifth Third. The last time I set up a tripod on the Skywalk was before the shooting in 2018, so I suppose security measures have tightened. Understandably so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583466784227-3J8PTC5QUSK72KI9N0RW/IMG_2443.jpg mar-2020 - 3.5.20 A Skee-Baller Waits Aaron and I went up to Holiday Spirits tonight to get falafel and ran into Ronny (of course) while there. Ronny manages a skee-ball league that plays out of that bar, which is essentially just a bunch of dudes who see who can hit the largest scores while recording them in a book with the words “fuck it” on the front. While paying the machine to release the nine balls required to play a round of skee-ball, he sat on the lane that’s out of order (which we played on for free until a mechanic came and ruined the run) and I snapped this photo on my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583553998731-QP3HZ3U1I5VNRM1VHB7O/NZ6_8398.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.6.20 A Kitchen Did a freelance shoot in Springdale today. Not really much else to say about it, to be honest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583610126941-7K5ZYVV8V8OBMVB5DFNH/NZ6_8457.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.7.20 Big Bison We went to Big Bone Lick this morning to hike and see the bison. Unfortunately, the bison were scattered behind a series of fences that ruined any possible clear line of sight, so I had to shoot extremely tight at the widest aperture possible to get around seeing the fuzz of an out-of-focus strand of metal lightening a section of each frame. This was one of the only photos where the fence wasn’t obstructing the middle of the shot. The bison looks mean, but they were very calm and surprisingly quiet for being so big. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583719684406-KH4U66E35ZGCCN4KR3TJ/IMG_2487.jpg mar-2020 - 3.8.20 An Inexplicable Love The weather today was incredible; high 60s with clear skies and constant sunshine from sun up to sundown. We took a walk with the pup and while coming back to the apartment, we passed this scene on 8th Street. It’s just an ugly fence next to a wall bearing a two-tone paint job and yellow alphanumeric remnants. Due to its proximity to home, it’s nothing I haven’t seen a hundred times before, and for some reason, I’ve always noticed it when walking past. Today I decided I would take its photo. The sunlight and shadow and all the textures just make me feel good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583790062109-J6CNMU8ARTSO4ZHUYJ8E/DSC_0717-Edit.jpg mar-2020 - 3.9.20 Training Day We live across the street from a firehouse, which often results in unique opportunities to see the men in action when they test equipment and practice…firemen stuff. Today, a few of them raised the ladder to their own rooftop. One man was in full firefighting gear and lugged a chainsaw up four stories. My office window looks directly onto 9th Street, so I always have my Nikon 1 J5 set up on a small tripod for quick capture should something happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583855217778-ZOS3VSIH0C2EC5IELSBA/IMG_2505.jpg mar-2020 - 3.10.20 Don’t Be A-Freight of Vibrancy Kent Lofts in Bellevue, KY is a historic rehab of an old 26,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that will house 65 apartments and one hotel room (for residents’ guests). I toured it today for work and only took a few photos as it’s still under heavy construction. As most modern projects go, it’s a lot of white and grey to make the spaces neutral, but at the end of this hall was an incredibly colorful freight elevator door. The striking red on green caught my eye and I had to get a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583960245892-KF17QTY4KTH16T78D2NF/750_6817-Edit.jpg mar-2020 - 3.11.20 Corona Contingency Plan The virus is spreading. People are panicking. Events are canceling, schools are vacating, and the Governor of Ohio is suggesting people do not congregate to help slow the spread. We are in a state of emergency as of today. My job, while internet-based, is contingent on people going out to experience the city. Because there will be people staying home, I thought I should put together a piece about things you can do at home—but with a local slant. I put together a list of three local history blogs I enjoy and made this image the header. The screen is Photoshopped with the daily photo from February 17th. Without this daily photo project, I doubt I would’ve had that image on file and ready to use. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584065677553-KERBWNPF8AB4VUZKLNQE/Adjustments.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.12.20 Inventory Check Nothing says “living in 2020” like taking inventory of all available medical supplies in the house along with their expiration dates and sending a photo to your spouse so they can get what we need from the store. This is an actual photo I took earlier this afternoon and sent to Ashley. It wasn’t meant to be my photo of the day, but I can’t think of another image that would better encapsulate the anxiety we all feel today surrounding the pandemic that’s occurring at the moment. I marked the expiration dates in post on an iPad. It’s been a long, weird, distracting day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584158928480-U8L4JN7EX1QR10EXIKIO/IMG_2547.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.13.20 Virus Food I hate that today’s photo is the inside of my freezer. It’s boring and dumb, but it’s the only photo I took today. I took it at 11:56 PM. All of this is to say: it was a stressful day that lasted far too long. The news of the encroaching virus is giving me incredible anxiety. It’s an enemy I can’t see and can’t ensure I’ll avoid. It could be in me right now while I infect my wife and friends. None of us will know until next week. And we’re all expected to keep living life as normally as possible. I’m having trouble seeing what that should look like at this point. With every museum closure, event cancellation, and new breaking news story, my anxiety intensifies. Society is slowly shutting itself down to slow the spread of this thing. Our freezer will keep us fed for a little bit before we have to go back to the store—social distancing is crucial at this point. I hope tomorrow I feel more stable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584205869665-ZMDUBOQEP4YS75KOSQOU/Adjustments.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.14.20 Early Voting Friends, Ashley, and I all drove to the Board of Elections to vote early this afternoon. There, campaign volunteers are relegated to a small area to hold up signs and yell the names of the politicians they support. We walked past them and I turned around and took a quick photo. Everyone was nice. It was actually refreshing to see smiling faces surrounding an election instead of anger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584327717872-M20USTEQ0VRDNU52YM4Z/NZ6_8640.jpg mar-2020 - 3.15.20 Goodbye, US Playing Card Co. It's been a mental struggle to get through every day since the outbreak came to Ohio. Restaurants and bars are now closed. You can get carryout, but no one is allowed to congregate indoors at those places any longer. While this sounds like oppression, it's not—our local government is just trying to stop COVID from spreading, and I appreciate the drastic measures they're taking. Anyway, I got out for an hour with a friend today and that helped clear my head for a bit. We photographed two buildings that are slated for demolition. This one is the former home to US Playing Card Co. It's a damn shame it has to come down; the tower will remain, but everything else will go. Even though preservation efforts in Cincinnati seem like they're continually on the rise, we're reminded of how far we still need to go when you realize a beauty like this will soon be reduced to dust. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584412280938-SSWDGW4DURC99MHGKGAN/IMG_9060.jpg mar-2020 - 3.16.20 The Emptiest Dog Park Kentucky followed suit and closed all bars and restaurants today to limit people from congregating. The Fed imposed a ban of 10 or more people in the same place. The city imposed a 6-foot distance law to keep people out of each other’s orbit. This whole thing is absolutely psychotic. I spent the entire day on calls trying to get content created for Refined because so much of our programming fell by the wayside. Finally got a chance to take Myrtle to the park in the evening and we saw three people the whole time. It was eerie and horrible. I want this nightmare to end. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584498383296-GO2D0O79RIV5GKI41GIH/IMG_2584.JPG mar-2020 - 3.17.20 Pooetry When you got-a-go on the go but there is no one to tow you to and fro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584583766926-ID0I7GX063AC43E48F6G/IMG_2602.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.18.20 WFH Ashley is now working from home. Things are getting worse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584669192236-9T5X9UB950L0RS0GNCZO/IMG_2620.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.19.20 Hard Day Today was a hard day. From the lingering horror of the spreading virus and mentally grappling with our new quality of life to a scare with a tornado warning tonight that forced my wife into a full-on panic in the basement garage, I am beyond drained in this moment. Add to the fact that I do not feel physically well, and you have one bad day. Maybe tomorrow will feel semi-normal again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584758398353-61ZORV5M65OS95W449TF/IMG_2634.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.20.20 An Empty Place I had a better day today because I didn’t read the news. The dull ache at the base of my heart that pulled up through the base of my back was reduced significantly. I know it’s because of stress; I’ve never felt a physical reaction quite like that from stress before. I finished work at 3 PM and walked to the hardware store to buy 200 disposable latex gloves. My anxiety was high walking in there because it’s a small shop and the staff are generally older. Had to maneuver the aisles to make sure I didn’t get too close to anyone. As I passed the hardware store on the lonely walk home, I peered into the Goodyear at the corner of 9th and Sycamore. Usually there are mechanics working in the garage, but today it was totally empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584844081616-VUIN0O9IPQ8H7QWP3S9H/NZ6_8668.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.21.20 The Public To get my mind off what’s happening in the world, I watched The Public tonight. I know I’m several years late to the party, but I enjoyed it. Several scenes took place under the skywalk and I needed only look out my living room window to see where it was filmed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584931971574-K23N10GS5NK5PLG3Z94E/DSC_0761.jpg mar-2020 - 3.22.20 The Outside The threat of COVID-19 has us sheltering in place every day. We do not hang out with others because it is not recommended to do so. However, we are allowed to go outside so long as we keep our distance from others. Myrtle has been taking it especially hard because we are not going to the dog park as often. Today, though, we went to P&G’s east lawn and played ball for about 20 minutes. She was incredibly happy to get out and run around for awhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584991334590-0Q484QHBNJJZ834AJKJE/IMG_2663.jpg mar-2020 - 3.23.20 Man in the Yellow Jacket I went to the store earlier and it was extremely stressful. Almost no one seemed concerned about keeping their distance, save for the two people in the store who had masks on. I held my breath so much, I felt dizzy by the end of the trip. After I put away all my groceries in the back of the car, I took a moment to breathe in the fresh air from the edge of the parking garage. A man in a yellow jacket was walking down the alley all alone across the street; yellow, the color of caution, was a reminder that I need to stay safe during this whole ordeal lest I contract the sickness and become hospitalized. Losing that much time and money, not to mention endangering my family and my own health, isn’t something I want or need. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585102052475-OQUSYDM9BIP685204VR9/DSC_0766.jpg mar-2020 - 3.24.20 Urban Life I spent the evening watching TV to relax. Had a little bit of a meltdown earlier this morning over the whole virus situation. Decided to treat the rest of the day with kid gloves and get back to doing stuff that relaxes me. Made this photo moments ago from the window behind my desk. I like that little corner so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585188593054-1XWRYHI4YS9OGXH1GFLQ/DSC_0777.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.25.20 Hard Boiled Just a closeup on some hard boiled eggs because the sunlight was coming straight into the kitchen and lit them up in a way I thought looked pretty. There’s not a whole lot going on day to day here, guys. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585274040099-86PYBPYIMU9NHLWNZ3OY/IMG_2781.JPG mar-2020 - 3.26.20 Neighbors We do not have neighbors across the hall. It’s an Airbnb. Tonight we heard someone go through the door and I instinctively went over to look through the peephole to see if I could catch a glimpse. Then I realized that I’m just very eager to have an interaction with a neighbor. It’s been over a week since I’ve seen anyone in our building besides one person who was taking their dog out at the same time I was outside with Myrtle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585344083136-LWXNVM37CFFGDDOT1W44/IMG_2801.jpg mar-2020 - 3.27.20 Standing in the Sliver Myrtle and I took a walk this afternoon to stretch our legs in the nice weather. As we came home, we passed under the overpass. The light was nice, so I aligned myself in the sliver of sunlight and took a photo. No one was around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585437171435-OSH3K81HTDEVP5MPKF11/NZ6_8733.jpg mar-2020 - 3.28.20 Layover I was trying to take a photo of the plane when a bird perfectly crossed its path. Unfortunately, the bird was out of focus for the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585538667093-5IGAM8XMVZKIF33SJW4J/image-asset.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.29.20 Bicentennial Corner The weather was beautiful, so we took a long walk through Mt. Adams and Bicentennial Commons this morning. Lots of people were out, but we managed to cross the street and avoid coming into contact with everyone we could. I liked this particular spot in the park because of the yellow/blue combination. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585623919578-OEN5HCXC8VGERCUZMRUQ/image-asset.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.30.20 Barnard’s Lincoln Walked down to Lytle Park this afternoon and took every possible photograph imaginable of the Abe Lincoln statue for a history piece I’m doing for Refined. This is one of the frames I liked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585703906158-YWDII65GWI0XE9YUQIOX/IMG_2845.jpeg mar-2020 - 3.31.20 I Had the Meats If you’re reading this, I hope you understand that I am in a creative funk at the moment. It’s not something I’m proud of, and, quite frankly, I’m having trouble getting a grip on it. Since Coronavirus took over the world, I haven’t felt like playing with lights and coming up with unique content. I haven’t wanted to go out and photograph the city. I don’t want to do anything but sit on my ass and eat bad foods to temporarily feel better. I won’t say I’m depressed because I know what that feels like, and this isn’t quite to that level, but I am without a doubt struggling creatively. I feel like I’m rummaging for hard, barely warm curly fry dandruff at the bottom of the sleeve. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585772519710-6LSKQ352BFVTUVK2HQ5Z/image-asset.jpeg mar-2020 - 4.1.20 April Fooler This isn’t a Photoshopped image. This is, in fact, a digital double exposure. I was reading the April issue of Digital Photographer last night, and in it, there’s an interview with a guy who talks about doing digital double exposures fully in-camera without editing them in post. I thought it would be neat to give it a serious go (traditionally, I’ve never been interested), so I thought of this concept and planned to do it the next day. After seeing the final result, I felt better about myself creatively; yesterday I talked about the nasty creative rut I’ve been in due to the global pandemic. This little boost of excitement this afternoon was all I needed to remind me that it’s just a phase and it, too, shall pass. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/apr-2020 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585773243899-1OM257O8229AJW58LBQF/image-asset.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.1.20 April Fooler This isn’t a Photoshopped image. This is, in fact, a digital double exposure. I was reading the April issue of Digital Photographer last night, and in it, there’s an interview with a guy who talks about doing digital double exposures fully in-camera without editing them in post. I thought it would be neat to give it a serious go (traditionally, I’ve never been interested), so I thought of this concept and planned to do it the next day. After seeing the final result, I felt better about myself creatively; yesterday I talked about the nasty creative rut I’ve been in due to the global pandemic. This little boost of excitement this afternoon was all I needed to remind me that it’s just a phase and it, too, shall pass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585773243899-1OM257O8229AJW58LBQF/image-asset.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.1.20 April Fooler This isn’t a Photoshopped image. This is, in fact, a digital double exposure. I was reading the April issue of Digital Photographer last night, and in it, there’s an interview with a guy who talks about doing digital double exposures fully in-camera without editing them in post. I thought it would be neat to give it a serious go (traditionally, I’ve never been interested), so I thought of this concept and planned to do it the next day. After seeing the final result, I felt better about myself creatively; yesterday I talked about the nasty creative rut I’ve been in due to the global pandemic. This little boost of excitement this afternoon was all I needed to remind me that it’s just a phase and it, too, shall pass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585879626073-4IFOQSK6DUCCL289CGB4/IMG_2921.jpg apr-2020 - 4.2.20 Do Not Enter Scarcely a person was on the street this evening, save for a roving band of teens clearly unconcerned with social distancing. We walked the dog up 7th Street and took in the barrenness around us, stopping from time to time to read the closed signs on every business along our route. We came across this cleverly placed street sign next to the folded bowling alley. The purple and orange framed by the columns with the street sign accidentally prohibiting us from going into either alleys was irresistible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585968091034-CSW85P4O6KV8L2R4SX6B/NZ6_9020.jpg apr-2020 - 4.3.20 A Short Story Another in-camera double exposure, this time about the fact that I shaved my head this week. I never enjoy taking photos of myself because it’s such a pain in the ass, but I really like how this one turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586051464646-3691OFFO2EMKBH0YKFI5/IMG_2988.jpg apr-2020 - 4.4.20 O Fallon Avenue Hill We took the pup to Bellevue Beach Park today to get a little walking in and ended up wandering the neighborhood for a while, moving out of the way of others to ensure we didn’t infect them. I took the 35mm film camera with me and snapped nearly the whole roll without realizing it. After we got back in the car, we drove up O Fallon Avenue to see a house that was on the market (way out of our price range) and ended up climbing an incredible hill that had a fantastic view of the city at the top. On our way back down, I stopped the car, took my last photo on the roll, snapped one on digital (this one), and we drove home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586143497146-ODL7RWQMS0ZE83CIP7H1/NZ6_9042.jpg apr-2020 - 4.5.20 Get Low Took Myrtle to Lytle Park and tossed ball with her for about 30 minutes. She had a blast. Captured a few of her moves. We still can’t see anyone or do anything because of the pandemic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586229742813-BTAX2BB5490FCXDH8D9L/NZ6_9074-HDR.jpg apr-2020 - 4.6.20 Productivity Spent nearly the whole day here. I am here now. Took a few hours to watch TV with Ashley earlier, but I am here otherwise. Just figured I should document my workspace. It’s cozier than it looks in this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586309812423-NCI8MS1SOQXD0G8UEGD8/NZ6_9150.jpg apr-2020 - 4.7.20 Pink Supermoon From Price Hill I planned to photograph tonight’s pink supermoon from the rooftop before someone I know suggested the Price Hill Incline District. It was a total “duh” moment. We drove up to the park, I planted my tripod in place and snapped a few frames as it slowly materialized from behind clouds on the horizon. As it rose, it increased in luminosity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586399189799-DZPYWCQYCWPK1S2L7CFM/Adjustments.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.8.20 Gotta See What’s Happening Ashley was trying to see what the street construction noise was all about. Myrtle looked on, confused. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586480905922-ZOOTUU1UZNSJKXP694HY/750_6840.jpg apr-2020 - 4.9.20 A Classic View Went to five overlooks today for a ‘Best Views of Cincinnati’ piece for work. This one is from Mt. Adams. I’ve always loved getting the Times-Star and City Hall in the same frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586573813939-35JBMJD5LROKKU523KXO/DSC_0882.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.10.20 Emptiness While taking a walk with Myrtle this afternoon (she’s struggling with not having anything to do), we went our usual route under the highway ramps and came upon this scene. It’s one I’ve seen many times before, and even more so lately, but something about it today just felt extra desolate. The world feels remarkably devoid of activity right now because of the pandemic. Like we’re all holding our breath for a second too long under water, wishing we could dowse the burning sensation building at the back of our throats with a cool gasp of air but having to hold it in for a little longer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586659519493-LGYGTD8XY8TDO51EQFAZ/IMG_3074.jpg apr-2020 - 4.11.20 Taft’s Message On an evening walk, we made our way past the Taft Theatre with its COVID-19-inspired message laid out across its backlit marquee. There was no one on the street but us and a few cars. I hate the stillness of Downtown right now. Even though the virus hasn’t infected me, this emptiness certainly has. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586740579622-GTMJN87FU4SWIV2853XQ/IMG_3108.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.12.20 Into Nature! We went to the Cincinnati Nature Center this morning to get a break from home. It was nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586827057932-B8266NCE07VNQS4HXMZD/DSC_0936.jpg apr-2020 - 4.13.20 Road Work They’re resurfacing Broadway from 4th to Eggleston since there aren’t cars on the road now. It’s loud, it’s nearly constant, and it’s right below our west-facing windows. We took a walk up and down Broadway to get a sense of what they’re doing. Tonight we’re going to pretend like we’re on vacation and sleep in the guest bedroom because it’s on the north side of the building away from Broadway. They’re still working out there as of 9:15 PM, so we don’t know how late it’s going to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586913223277-05WITPBWXNV0D3OL6YFE/NZ6_9228.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.14.20 History Uncovered All of yesterday’s roadwork on Broadway uncovered the history of the street beneath it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587006069620-4D169MBCGW4ATXCBKFD8/NZ6_9465.jpg apr-2020 - 4.15.20 Working From Home Ashley needed to record herself talking about her gym for a video, so I set up some fun lighting (there may have been a toaster oven grate involved) and went to great lengths to make it look and sound professional. While the audio needed some work, I am super pleased with how the visuals turned out. This is a test still from the production. I honestly looked forward to doing this all day and it was incredibly fun to have a vision in my head come to life after figuring out how to do it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587094709847-JM6TIMWZQA2BLG1UGQGY/IMG_3224.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.16.20 DIY Tonight I made a custom honeycomb grid to fit over my cheap studio lights. Using black duct tape, I cobbled together a series of sticky loops and tried my best to form them to the size of the light. It’s not pretty, but it does a fairly good job considering A) I’ve never made one before, and B) it’s just a bunch of tape stuck together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587174986112-MM7YI3P9F5HZU4UA5ABA/Adjustments.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.17.20 Migraine Party Ashley had a migraine so we made her a little tent that cut the light, and Myrtle wanted in. I stuck my phone under the covers and got this sweet scene. Ashley knew what I was doing when I was doing it, she just had her eyes closed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587309034794-9WXJSR7IG3KTEJOGU2CR/NZ6_9557-2.jpg apr-2020 - 4.18.20 We Went Camping We wanted to switch things up, so we put up the tent in the living room, surrounded it with houseplants, and did a little photo shoot. It’s been a long quarantine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587347193477-TLR0WPGNVY7KP0MGM88O/IMG_3291.jpg apr-2020 - 4.19.20 A Good Sunset It was a rainy, grey day today, but the sunset was really nice. I’ve found my mood is an almost 1:1 match with the weather now since there’s little to do indoors that we haven’t already done. Being outside, even if we’re away from others, is still better than sitting around inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587436218511-0T73ENJ3IZJ34FTD0GD6/IMG_3301.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.20.20 Spring on Spring Took the dog on a walk through Pendleton this morning. This is Spring Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587517812199-WS1KM4XYND9U1WHQ86L7/NZ6_9586.jpg apr-2020 - 4.21.20 The Girls I realize this month has been mainly photos of Ashley and Myrtle, but there’s not a LOT happening during this quarantine except the occasional walk through a largely empty city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587581471746-ZJDQ875ZZ1BVURE4B0N8/NZ6_9679-Edit.jpg apr-2020 - 4.22.20 Standing With Myself Five exposures Photoshopped together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587697751617-U9OMB90GX3HMNIQXF3X1/NZ6_9786-Edit.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.23.20 Flower Shoot Today was an exceptionally grey, wet day, so I set up some lights and made colorful photos of flowers. This is one of the photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587757493814-0MNQFTG3P4K9HK3RSCZI/750_6992.jpg apr-2020 - 4.24.20 Findlay Vacant Lunchtime at Findlay Market on a Friday during a pandemic. Saw about 35 people in the whole place, not including workers. About half had masks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587871553091-ZVDPG05KL6U0ASXKIWFY/IMG_3515.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.25.20 Not My Art We packed a picnic basket and went to Lytle Park to eat under a tree and enjoy the weather while it was sunny. While there, Ashley made this little organic configuration and I thought it was cute. It was the only photo I made the whole day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587955682098-XVQIYETS1854T9T0GZ9G/IMG_3518.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.26.20 Sniffing Around New Trails Disregarding the forecast, we all put on rain jackets and drove to Tower Park in Fort Thomas. It was a first for Myrtle and I. The three of us walked along muddy trails without seeing a single person the whole time. As it turns out, rain is the ultimate social distancing agent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588040896846-VX7VBCS2GYVS2Q6LV6TD/image-asset.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.27.20 Thick Fog Around the Art Museum When we woke up this morning, a thick fog had totally shrouded the basin and limited visibility. You could barely see past Main Street from the living room. As the sun rose, the fog began to burn off, revealing landmarks that had been hidden moments earlier. As the Cincinnati Art Museum crept into view, I got a photo of its tower just above the tree line with a zoom lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588127367599-DTJGSHQ7XCO20EWI95YS/B98FCC9D-38CE-4AC5-9387-783F6BF8C6A2.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.28.20 Trailer Art Went to Florence, KY to do a shoot this afternoon and this trailer was nearby. While they were making the food for the shoot, I went over and got a photo of it. It’s a trailer they’ve painted to advertise another business associated with the restaurant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588209935970-WJ3X0Q1EWJT543T12AMO/NZ6_0068.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.29.20 Lavender Shade It was 5 PM. My work day had officially hit the time at which a beer was acceptable. After pulling a Shade out of the fridge, I turned to set it on the counter and snap the tab back. As I swiveled to place the can, a vase of these purple and yellow flowers caught my eye. I held the can up to the arrangement and realized they’d make a good couple. Grabbing my Lume Cube and flash with a purple gel, I set everything in the other room together on a marble slab. The flash shot upward behind the can and flowers and the Lume Cube provided soft white light that I swept back and forth during the 2-second exposure to eliminate aggressive shadowing. This was the result. After spending so much time last week on a flower shot, this one’s brevity really made the whole process so much more fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588302160423-MY36OWZH3XJFCUXFDNA0/IMG_3618.jpeg apr-2020 - 4.30.20 The Bike Room I spent too much of the day working on Refined and wrapping up loose ends on personal projects, and I forgot to make a photo of the day until the very end. While taking the dog outside for her last trip of the night, I photographed the bike room that faces Eggleston Avenue. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/may-2020 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588392000336-TPOR33RMP66UVUTJT681/image-asset.jpeg may-2020 - 5.1.20 Bedinger Street The street that feels like an alley right by our home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588392000336-TPOR33RMP66UVUTJT681/image-asset.jpeg may-2020 - 5.1.20 Bedinger Street The street that feels like an alley right by our home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588553321149-1IRORUYA8K8KWVXF3N1I/NZ6_0428.jpg may-2020 - 5.2.20 House on the Hill Seeking a break in routine and needing to get out of the city for a night to do something new, we went east to Ripley, OH to camp on Vince’s farm that he shares with other dudes. The farmhouse was shrouded in darkness, so I set up a tripod and took a 3-minute exposure while running a Lumecube through the scene to create the light trail. The fire nearby, which barely illuminated the side of the house, came alive during the long exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588553320753-WJOV14OZKPDRBNF20UR2/NZ6_0462-Edit.jpg may-2020 - 5.3.20 Five Trees Vince’s farm sits atop a pretty high hill and has great lines of sight to distant places. Far off in the distance were these five trees on someone’s property. Using my longest zoom lens and a tripod, I waited for a break in the clouds before snapping this. There was a very low, very thin wire that cut through the bottom right of the image, so I removed that in post and brightened the whole thing up so it looked a little more vibrant. I didn’t alter the composition beyond removing the wire. I loved how clean and minimalist it is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588643771270-A9V0E58RM0M7XZZTB3OS/NZ6_0500.jpg may-2020 - 5.4.20 A WWII Enthusiast Patrick McCue, a local WWII enthusiast and photographer, sent me a text about coming down to the Times-Star to take a photo of himself in uniform for the anniversary of VE Day on May 8th. Seeing an opportunity to do something creative, I asked if I could help him. He agreed, and I brought lighting accessories so he didn’t have to. We set up the shot he had in mind and together we took a photo. The photo above isn’t that photo; after we made the picture he wanted, I asked him to pose in front of the doors of the Times-Star so I could get a portrait. I used an umbrella on the left and a gold reflector on the right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588724560969-QW45OW767ZSPQJMYMA4L/IMG_3729.jpeg may-2020 - 5.5.20 How Many Does It Take? One. It takes one in a bucket. That’s how many. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588822003882-I9FBAD7MRNL1UXRFM8IA/IMG_3756.jpeg may-2020 - 5.6.20 A Blue House In Pendleton. Just thought it looked nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588908593636-UNZG81MMJFWA2NPXNY89/IMG_3783.jpg may-2020 - 5.7.20 Dom and Judi I took my bike to Spun last week for new brakes and a tune up, and got it back today. It’s like a brand new bike; new handles, new chain, new shifter, new brakes, and a revived motivation to get out and run it around town. The bike hadn’t been serviced since I bought it in 2012 when I was still living in Mt. Washington, so it needed a lot of work. Dom and Judi, pictured, run Spun. They’re not letting anyone in the shop right now because of COVID and ask customers to knock on the door and wait on the sidewalk for service. I paid them over the phone so we didn’t even have to hand a credit card between each other. Seeing them take this seriously makes me happy. Before I left, I asked if I could get a photo of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588995609353-V51VA89QHKDS6LUIB2M5/NZ6_1004.jpg may-2020 - 5.8.20 Flor and Alex Today I had a quick little shoot and interview with Flor and Alex at Sitwell’s Act II in Clifton for work. They’re doing their best to offer the customers food and drinks by way of carryout, curbside pickup, and delivery to areas within a ten minute drive from the coffee house and restaurant. I made a portrait of them for the feature and like it enough to make it today’s photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589077778582-BNKR6DY8KL5MVRUK6011/NZ6_1150.jpg may-2020 - 5.9.20 Art Climb Took my bike up to the corner of Eden Park and Gilbert this morning to get photos of the Art Museum’s new staircase, the Art Climb. Having nowhere to lock up my bike, I carried it by hand all the way up the stairs to the top where I knew the Art Museum had bike racks available. After securing the bike, I walked up and down the staircase with a 24-120mm and a wide angle to get shots of it. Later on, after the sun went down, I returned to see it lit up. The whole thing looks really good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589169494121-AZZOI3KLQMSCBYGGX68F/Adjustments.jpeg may-2020 - 5.10.20 In the Moment I was in the moment the entire day and didn’t take a single photo except for this one. Tomorrow will be more interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589247185052-A1G302GG7G8T5UG4ASP7/DSC_1039.jpeg may-2020 - 5.11.20 House Hunters This is our lives now. Just constantly looking at the Realtor and Zillow app, trying to find a suitable house to move into at the end of the year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589329642273-14MGCBOWP0CCPT9UWY74/NZ6_1473.jpg may-2020 - 5.12.20 Laura Lane I did listing photos for this cute little house in Norwood earlier this afternoon. I used the PC lens from the street to get this upright angle from its best side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589399948205-PVPX9AI8ADDYH2M8FIOS/NZ6_1490.jpg may-2020 - 5.13.20 Life in Quarantine Trying to document the simple things in life during quarantine. It's important to document my space as I won't be here forever and might want to look back on it from time to time. This is my spot in the living room when Ashley and I relax in the evening. There’s a weird draft in this spot that I can’t figure out, but it’s fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589514858928-IBE4CETURST36ZZR2GK2/IMG_3939.jpg may-2020 - 5.14.20 Struts We looked at a house in Covington today. We’re not buying it, but we liked it. On our way back, we stopped and I snapped this photo from a Taco Bell parking lot. I just liked the way the city was framed between the sun-lit train track struts. Too bad I didn’t have my proper camera with me. Also, I’ve taken an intentional photo every day for 500 days at this point. Proud of this milestone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589597555151-D5I37420QJIIS3A26PF1/NZ6_1500.jpg may-2020 - 5.15.20 Being Anti-Social Five minutes and 12 seconds. That's how long this long exposure is. And, as you can see, about five cars rolled through the intersection that entire time. It's a Friday night without anyone in the lot below waving at the jail. Three 20-somethings crank a Drake song in the black parked car and scream the entire time. An invisible neighbor walks his dogs up and around the red PAY HERE station, but you'd never know it by looking at the photo. I was going to go to the roof, but dreaded the thought of not being alone; if quarantine has done anything for me, it's undoubtedly enabled excuses for my natural inclination to avoid others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589687162799-9IV8Z99AL0X15J2QMN34/image-asset.jpeg may-2020 - 5.16.20 Binoculars I had an idea in my head for a photo and it didn’t work. It’s late. I have to go draw a dog for charity before bed. This is the best I could do with limited time. I didn’t mean for this to turn out so…patriotic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589754564842-H0Z5NXASGTSXZG3D4OU4/NZ6_1585.jpg may-2020 - 5.17.20 Flood Walk We loaded the dog in the car this morning and drove to the Dayton flood wall. The humidity was a particular challenge considering just a few days ago we were in long pants and jackets. Along the wall, which is really more of a hump with a paved path at its summit, we could see both sides of Dayton: the older, grittier side with dilapidated chain link fences and pools filled with green, murky water, and the newer, oddly suburban side with million-plus homes along the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589855377667-B1XOOCDCQOAZQPWAFYPY/NZ6_2030.jpg may-2020 - 5.18.20 Cheer Squad I’m photographing CPS graduations all this week and next week, and tonight it rained cats and dogs through both of them. After wrapping up my gear and putting on my raincoat, I did my best and completed both shoots/submitted the photos all before 10 PM. While I don’t feel comfortable showing my best frames from either event because I haven’t shown them to the client, I can show this one: a group of enthusiastic bystanders cheering on one of their friends from the streetcar platform as they rolled by with their diploma in hand. Their excitement was impossible not to love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589943056152-XN5WMJRPSFBBXJPPLA9E/key-356-Edit-2.jpg may-2020 - 5.19.20 Clean Key I ordered one of these generic “clean keys” back in March because I was afraid to touch anything in public and it took until the end of May to get here. You can find these little tools all over the internet right now; they essentially make it possible to use keypads and open handle-operated doors without actually touching anything. They exploded onto the scene at the onset of the pandemic in the US, littering Instagram feeds for weeks. The times in which we live dictate we not handle anything we don’t have to, so this is an especially useful piece of metal and I chose to plunk down the $10 to have a little extra protection. Anyway, I threw it up in the air a bunch of times with flashes pointed in both directions and made this composite in Photoshop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590029802383-CNQRFWL0CZDAJ2D15X3P/750_7937.jpg may-2020 - 5.20.20 Popping Confetti to Celebrate Continued shooting CPS drive-thru graduations with RESLV. We did Shroder in Madisonville and Hughes STEM High School in CUF tonight. They happened concurrently, so I had to ditch Shroder after 30 minutes to get to Hughes on time. The scene was chaotic, and I felt for the organizers who seemed to be stressed, but at least the students and their friends had fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590113617837-3KYS4261Y3GYRALELMFB/750_8144.jpg may-2020 - 5.21.20 Pom-Pom Salute I shot Oyler and Taft’s graduations today. Taft’s was held at Union Terminal because construction on the FC Cincinnati stadium has taken up too much space around the school. Personally, I think this school got the best location for drive-thru graduation. Its wide-open layout was a departure from previous days’ tiny locations. Hell, even Oyler’s drive-thru grad on Hatmaker hours before Taft’s was tight. While all that extra space was great, I ran my tail off to get photos in several locations, so by the time I got back on my bike to go home, I was already winded. I don’t feel comfortable showing shots of the kids, but I thought this scene was visually interesting. The way the perspective shows the building and the people curving down and to the left was appealing to my eye. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590207648516-NN3XH40WA4LG54LYXTY8/NZ6_4362.jpg may-2020 - 5.22.20 Sundown on High School Did Gamble Montessori in Westwood and Clark Montessori in Hyde Park today. Gamble had the better venue, but Clark had the better light. Guess which series turned out better? After getting their diplomas, the kids literally rode off into the setting sun while a hundred waving hands and half as many masked ‘hoorays’ excitedly congratulated them for their achievement. I chose this photo from the series because it protects the privacy of the student and accurately showcases the pretty, warm sunlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590286393357-6SBFGH2NQQI5NL5BJHFS/IMG_3991.jpg may-2020 - 5.23.20 Tires & Tiers No graduations to photograph today. There were many cars at the jail this morning. Not sure if they’ve opened visitation again or what, but it was unusual to see so many vehicles parked there on the weekend. I always liked how this corner rose like a connectivity icon, so I took a photo with my phone in one hand and a coffee in the other. The way the cars lined up below it and the gradual rise in building height looked good together, I thought. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590377935821-IF5GLMYLVB8CINLDOHYQ/DSC_1096.jpg may-2020 - 5.24.20 Simplicity We fattened our tires and got a sunburn in Dayton and Bellevue this morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590457792744-YB4N57UMT1L069PX11VQ/DSC_1109.jpg may-2020 - 5.25.20 A Scene by the River Yeatman’s Cove and the surrounding parks were awash in people this morning. Though it was unbearably hot, we managed a lengthy walk while avoiding people as much as we could. Even the tennis courts, which are usually just a vacant memory of the late 1980s and 1990s, were packed with people batting fluorescent tennis balls back and forth. I’ve personally never witnessed that park as crowded on a non-marathon morning as it was today. It was weird; I was overjoyed to see everyone enjoying the public space, but every growing wave of excitement eventually crashed as soon as I remembered there is a pandemic actively happening around the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590547719473-4RKD1IGAIVTTNUJYTI29/750_8732.jpg may-2020 - 5.26.20 DARG STARGNOC Dater’s graduation in Western Hills was tonight. The sun was going behind a big, thick cloud and the wind was whipping the gold strands in a good way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590636489469-76ZOVH182BZNYYQWJXGG/NZ6_6016.jpg may-2020 - 5.27.20 Happy Hug At the Virtual High School graduation tonight, these three adorable kids went in for a group hug as I raised my camera to capture the crowd cheering on a student riding away in a cool old car. I didn’t even notice them when I took the photo; I just put my reticule on the crowd and snapped in an effort to get the car out of focus to visually explain how the crowd was the real show of this scene. It was only after I got it into Lightroom that I noticed the kids, and I thought it was incredibly heart-warming. No one was aware I was taking a photo except these three. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590723252772-Y98YTMEVKCD6S99A9UP1/NZ6_6938-Pano.jpg may-2020 - 5.28.20 Bellevue Lofts I have huge news to tell you, but I’m not ready to announce it to the world just yet. It’s related to this image I made today inside the new Kent Lofts in Bellevue. This was a model unit. I wish I’d had more time to properly stage it for this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590807491467-XELRWAD8QLHJ349YLHDS/750_9360.jpg may-2020 - 5.29.20 A Welcome Distraction It’s been a horrible day. You already know why. Today, though, I photographed two graduations, one of which was at Western Hills High School. I felt so good photographing the graduates, scores of smiling friends and family, and teachers. This mascot (the mustang) cheered on incoming graduates as they entered the lot. I needed that temporary distraction from reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590904058329-3XVUJN2MM13NV6CEXGH1/NZ6_8209.jpg may-2020 - 5.30.20 Staying Home After last night’s protest turned violent, small business owners boarded up their shops and restaurants this morning to prevent further damage to their property. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590982574447-PE92OXRH8N115YDZM1CA/NZ6_8242.jpg may-2020 - 5.31.20 Night Three of Protests Today, a peaceful protest at Inwood Park marched through Cincinnati and ended about 7 PM. The mayor imposed a 9 PM city-wide curfew earlier in the morning to remove as many people from the streets as possible later in the evening. Unsurprisingly, a large group of protestors remained on the street, confronting police at the steps of the courthouse. Right before 9 PM, tensions boiled over and a skirmish broke out. Hundreds scattered when tear gas was deployed on the crowd, and many ran south toward 9th Street where I could see them from my desk with a zoom lens. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jun-2020 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591061303675-XHXBR28CMK6TTHYZ7MFE/NZ6_8274.jpg jun-2020 - 6.1.20 Reunited The police are currently arresting a bunch of people on McMicken for breaking the 8 PM curfew. They even arrested a journalist by mistake, then let him go as soon as scores of people online yelled at city council, the mayor, and the police chief on Twitter. Last night, they arrested hundreds for doing the same thing, and today they were slowly released throughout the course of the day. I could see them coming out of the jail every 20 minutes or so. Ronny tweeted a photo of a man who was released from jail and I recognized him as the fiance of a freelancer who I regularly work with. The tweet said he was waiting on his fiance to be released. I kept an eye on him for 3 more hours, waiting for her to walk through the giant metal gates. Every time those gates would open and protestors were released, the crowd across the street would cheer. I got my camera ready, cracked the window so I had a clear shot and could hear the crowd, and waited. At 6:39 PM, the crowd erupted, she emerged from the jail onto the sidewalk, and I got this photo of them embracing in the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591061303675-XHXBR28CMK6TTHYZ7MFE/NZ6_8274.jpg jun-2020 - 6.1.20 Reunited The police are currently arresting a bunch of people on McMicken for breaking the 8 PM curfew. They even arrested a journalist by mistake, then let him go as soon as scores of people online yelled at city council, the mayor, and the police chief on Twitter. Last night, they arrested hundreds for doing the same thing, and today they were slowly released throughout the course of the day. I could see them coming out of the jail every 20 minutes or so. Ronny tweeted a photo of a man who was released from jail and I recognized him as the fiance of a freelancer who I regularly work with. The tweet said he was waiting on his fiance to be released. I kept an eye on him for 3 more hours, waiting for her to walk through the giant metal gates. Every time those gates would open and protestors were released, the crowd across the street would cheer. I got my camera ready, cracked the window so I had a clear shot and could hear the crowd, and waited. At 6:39 PM, the crowd erupted, she emerged from the jail onto the sidewalk, and I got this photo of them embracing in the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591149958274-FUMQZQUP3XQKBMDZSDHM/IMG_4198.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.2.20 CSX Line Just some tracks that run between Grandview and Taylor in Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591236448464-TAEWCNOQQ7I0ATCYA89F/IMG_4208.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.3.20 A Break in the Clouds I can’t tell you about this photo. Not now, at least. It’s just the only good thing happening in our lives at the moment and I feel simultaneously guilty and proud of us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591320524590-I09VFMVZP4IQHVKCZISF/750_9548.jpg jun-2020 - 6.4.20 Moline Court Had a shoot in Northside today and stopped on Moline Court before going back home. It’s always great for a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591414964457-WB9D6A6KEB5WKTEN1N05/IMG_4237.jpg jun-2020 - 6.5.20 Washington Avenue, Bellevue Took a walk with Cody, Chelsea, and Vince tonight. We wandered around the neighborhood and got ice cream. It was relaxing and much needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591504583420-PPHQ5EPAJ8CHTVXKPBD3/IMG_4265.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.6.20 Art on Main As we walked through Downtown this afternoon, I noticed Down to Mars Vintage had colorful boards on their windows. Because of the riots last week, many businesses Downtown and in Over-the-Rhine have placed boards on their windows and doors, and nearly all of them have art on them now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591584055389-SF1RH7RF9C3D2CVDK4TC/IMG_4279.jpg jun-2020 - 6.7.20 Justice for George Protests have been happening for a week and a half now, and while there was a significant amount of violence in Cincinnati last Friday, the danger from protesting dwindled over the ensuing days. Cops stopped tear-gassing people and it became safe to peacefully protest again. Today, Aaron and I went to Fountain Square to show our support of BLM and justice for every black American who has been murdered by police. Thousands of people packed the Square with signs held above their heads. I’m not photographing these protests right now because I don’t know what the etiquette is, but also just because I want to participate without photography. Pointing a camera at others can be perceived as hostile, and I do not want to make anyone uncomfortable, especially now. So, I took this one iPhone photo of the back of a sea of heads to chronicle the protest without worrying about ruining someone’s privacy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591668957007-35FJW5SPXB6T22IW7213/NZ6_8306.jpg jun-2020 - 6.8.20 A Grand View Grandview Avenue in Bellevue. I like these three identical houses a lot, and if you go up on the hill where the elementary school is, you can see this view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591755554967-K6VYKRMLQ5KC1ACTF1V9/NZ6_8422.jpg jun-2020 - 6.9.20 The Vista Shot the new Lytle Park Hotel today, and the top floor is an indoor-outdoor rooftop bar that can be adapted to the weather. Sliding doors open to let fresh air in on temperate days, and stay shut when the weather isn’t cooperating. Today they were shut because it was humid and hot. There’s an additional outdoor area beyond the glass that is always open to the elements. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591838624401-XXTEC6712RMNCT34WETJ/NZ6_8462-Pano-Edit.jpg jun-2020 - 6.10.20 The Lytle Park Hotel I went back to the Lytle Park Hotel this evening to get a better exterior and ended up with this panorama. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591923947623-SS21SL23AVXY9PLVQE59/IMG_4307.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.11.20 Weaver Detour I got coffee at BlaCk Coffee this morning, and as I was walking home, I took a detour down Weaver Alley. The sun was shining on the brick in the best way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592008948020-X2UXG3CU06TE0IM41XEU/IMG_4331.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.12.20 The Big Peach We drove south for 12 hours today on our way to Florida. The drive was long and I’m tired. Being in a car that long is tortuous, but with a pandemic happening and wanting to travel with the dog, driving is the only option. The only remotely interesting part of the drive was when we entered Atlanta for 45 minutes and got stuck in traffic. This is an iPhone photo through the windshield. It’s not a great photo, but I didn’t have many other options. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592099173341-34XYPP1KL26B52XTEGEY/NZ6_8488.jpg jun-2020 - 6.13.20 Beach Dog After what felt like a billion hours, we finally made it to Ft. Myers. Surprising no one, Myrtle got to experience the beach for the first time in her life and nearly died of excitement. Lead a water dog to the Gulf of Mexico and she’ll hop around in the sea until you literally have to reel her back in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592183585958-H3B732GJKD23G5BSKHO6/NZ6_8535.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.14.20 Calm Down, Clouds Fort Myers in the summer is a different Fort Myers than the one I’ve known in years past when we’ve gone in the spring. The torrential downpours are as intense as they are unpredictable, sneaking up on you before you have much of a chance to react to them. Thankfully, every time they’ve popped up, we were near our rental car or at the Airbnb. This was one of the moments when it wasn’t pouring buckets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592275103561-GKEW32Z91GBSHSCNTRNT/NZ6_8752.jpg jun-2020 - 6.15.20 The Fisherman During a sunset walk on the beach, I was trying to take photos of pelicans diving into the gulf without much luck when I ran across this dude fishing. I was using my Tamron 150-600mm, so it was anything but inconspicuous. I took this photo and started to walk away when his wife, who I didn’t realize was with him and nearby, made eye contact and asked if I’d taken his photo. Not knowing which way this interaction was going to go, I admitted to it and walked toward her. “Website"?” She asked. Not feeling like trying to tell her where I’d be posting this and already giving myself points for honesty to the first question, I replied, “Just a hobbyist trying to take photos of birds.” It’s wasn’t untrue, technically speaking. She seemed satisfied with that answer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592338011677-2YLH9ENVG47C792W8XAI/image-asset.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.16.20 A Fish Crow Ponders We went to the Fort Myers Pier this morning and I saw a fish crow standing on the railing. I used my 150-600mm Tamron to take a photo of it. The light reflecting off the water many feet behind it gave the photo a dreamy bokeh effect I liked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592440232256-1YVS10KPGR3222Q0T0KZ/IMG_4420.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.17.20 Beach House We left the rental beach house this morning. I took a photo on the way out. 5531 Palmetto Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592519938916-L3YIWAQKV5MWYBNQCZNR/NZ6_9147.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.19.20 Grasshopper We went to the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve this afternoon and didn’t see a single living creature except this grasshopper, a dragonfly, and a cardinal. I mean, I guess it’s at least a colorful grasshopper? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592619284512-Z72Y96RDJCAETVEOKLA6/IMG_4464.jpg jun-2020 - 6.19.20 Embassy Suites’ Sweet Atrium Last week at this time, we were staying in a Hampton Inn in Adel, GA that smelled like mothballs and had a stained toilet. This week, we’re staying at an Embassy Suites in Atlanta with a sick atrium. They upgraded us to a suite room for no extra charge and it rules. Good way to end our trip since we’ve been sleeping on small beds for the last 7 days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592661340970-DS6LPZPRCD9ZN0GC2NID/image-asset.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.20.20 One-Stop-Shop Truly a one-stop-shop here in north Georgia. Everything you could ever want in one exit off I-75. Posting this at 10 AM because it ain’t gettin’ better than this on this godforsaken drive back to Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592792508833-1RI00GPPZVX3BGXTAJHE/NZ6_9194.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.21.20 Fatigue I’m very tired. I think all the driving wore me out. I was able to have a regular full day today, but as I sat down for the evening, the fatigue swept over me. Forgot to take a single photo today, so I made this intentionally blurred image to reflect how I physically feel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592877683288-EOR69458YL6MPR4I6F2G/NZ6_9200.jpeg jun-2020 - 6.22.20 Window Painter I so desperately want to be a street photographer who captures people doing interesting things or in various emotive states, but it’s nearly impossible for me to aim a camera at a stranger, especially when they’re facing me. I captured this guy painting the shop window at 8th and Main earlier. When zoomed in, it’s hard to distinguish the year, and that’s why I gravitated toward the scene when I passed it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593004493986-P6RK9G3C17MTDGD5Y1Y0/DSC_1116.jpg jun-2020 - 6.23.20 Hello, Friend We rode our bikes over to Bellevue this evening. Our leisurely pace took us all over the non-Fairfield Avenue streets of the neighborhood. While on Center Street, Ashley heard the blowing of a train horn. We quickly legged it down Lafayette, up Grandview, and hoisted our bikes up the public steps on Taylor just in time to catch a glimpse of the engine flying through a break in the woods. For a good 10 minutes, we stood there watching it whip the trees with wind as it rumbled over the tracks, the sunlight scanning us with every boxcar gap that passed. It’s a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593052384623-WKC8BDATH078IOQSU7BR/IMG_4538.jpg jun-2020 - 6.24.20 An Urban Mask They’re building a new structure behind this facade on Elm Street, which abuts 1710 Elm Street. According to the GC, they were required to keep this historic facade intact even though the rest of the building was beyond salvaging. He says they’re going to be high-end condos. I figure they’ll become Airbnbs at some point like the rest of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593120231990-5XN8CF8N50A6F307UQFP/NZ6_9355.jpg jun-2020 - 6.25.20 The Bellevue Barbershop Packed my equipment and rode the bike over to the Bellevue Barbershop for a story this afternoon. The guys in there made it clear the barbershop was a comfortable place for men to gather and relax. It was more than just a place to get a haircut. Being someone who hasn’t stepped foot inside a salon/barbershop in months, it was personally appealing to me. I was the only one in the shop with a mask, so I don’t feel super comfortable getting my haircut just yet, but when I do, I think I’ll pay these guys a visit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593223367070-1ITCTQLWAQIHULXWIU8T/IMG_4552.jpg jun-2020 - 6.26.20 Drum Alley Drum Alley looked good this morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593312349481-IRZDUNIEAJVC306JHD7F/DSC_1137.jpg jun-2020 - 6.27.20 Lonely & Blue As I walked through the kitchen, I saw Myrtle’s blue ball sitting beneath a night light, and I couldn’t help but internally chuckle at how on-the-nose the metaphor was. It’s alone, it’s blue, and it’s surrounded by darkness under a single cone of light. Maybe it’s not funny to anyone else, but I got a kick out of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593399640192-NVD4E1B32LZJ0VH4W2E1/IMG_4577.jpg jun-2020 - 6.28.20 A Dusty Saharan Sunset Saharan dust blew over to the States this week and it made tonight’s sunset look especially nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593481884072-3EQGUHD6LT0892LAGUCV/NZ6_9587.jpg jun-2020 - 6.29.20 “CASINO” The casino is in the process of changing ownership and the previous sign was removed, so right now the building looks like it belongs as part of the scenery of an open-world video game. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593566632654-AASBYNEWKRC5NXX9G2HT/DSC_1158-Edit.jpg jun-2020 - 6.30.20 Pop-Up Showers Imminent A pop-up sprang out of nowhere this afternoon with lots of lightning and thunder. I set my camera up on interval to try to catch a bolt of lightning, but it didn’t work out. Instead, I got a few frames with activity in them and made this photo. It’s a composite of three frames. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jul-2020 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593656124905-3GVC9IEGMWIOI6NB9ONC/IMG_4600.jpg jul-2020 - 7.1.20 She Tug We were playing “who can hold onto the ball the longest.” I won. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593656124905-3GVC9IEGMWIOI6NB9ONC/IMG_4600.jpg jul-2020 - 7.1.20 She Tug We were playing “who can hold onto the ball the longest.” I won. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593745056677-BD6YKLCAONFDMXSIVB32/NZ6_9590.jpg jul-2020 - 7.2.20 Welcome to Bellevue Coming as a surprise to no one, we bought a house in Bellevue and closed on it today. Built in 1930, our little craftsman sits on a quiet street and retains much of its original character, including the original hardwood floors and stained glass windows. It has a big back yard for the dog, a huge front porch for us, and a balcony off the back of the house. We saved for years, I worked two jobs, and we finally have a place to call our own. We are thrilled to join Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593834502707-QC52WZJGM0UE23UTI1EY/IMG_4700.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.3.20 Buried Treasure We demolished the storage room to make way for the shelves and workbench I want to build down there, and in the process of removing the old thrown-together shelving, I discovered this old street sign wedges between the boards and the wall. No idea what the story is behind it or why it’s in my basement, but I’m going to hang it up in the shop once it’s built. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593952102392-38P1F9XD2L8AOBHXD4GR/IMG_4707.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.4.20 Golden Light Our new home has a stained glass window on the stairs and I absolutely love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594034536098-LF62MMG6FO2RWLC0B4KM/IMG_4714.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.5.20 Bored Doodle Over the weekend, we worked on the house non-stop. Today, Myrtle was tired and bored, so she laid down on the floor while we were up and down the stairs all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594091477216-4XRCCJBH0O9VX0M6JABY/IMG_4716.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.6.20 An Inbetween Moment Ducking into Galactic Fried Chicken to get out of a storm, I paid for our carry out and discussed the weather, the neighborhood, and chicken with the owner behind the counter. Small talk is easy for me because it’s light and serves to maintain a level of decency with others, and during a time in which the world is unpredictable and decidedly not-normal, it’s a welcome distraction. During one of the lulls in conversation, I turned around to inspect the dining room which had the feel of an old school pizza place more so than a shiny new chicken restaurant. I personally loved it because it felt comfortable. It’s a shame I won’t be able to eat inside of it for awhile since the virus is making a strong comeback. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594261780887-MBRQBEQF4MU2KJN26PXP/IMG_4734.jpg jul-2020 - 7.7.20 Just a Flower Look, I spent a LOT of time working on the house today, and I snapped this at 11:55 PM because I’d forgotten to take a photo today. Cut me some slack. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594261782003-VFM756Y8PFE4D7GVPQFD/Standard+Beer-33.jpg jul-2020 - 7.8.20 Standard Evening Shot Had to get this exterior for a freelance job, but needed to wait until the sun was setting so I could get the interior and exterior leveled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594349194285-W0SUBVY9R8BRF46ZU2XR/IMG_4763.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.9.20 Taxi! Ashley was waiting on me to return to the car with carryout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594465784417-T8F5HV8IOQK7BKIJX4BT/IMG_4783.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.10.20 Nightly Deer The quality of this image is poor, but I loved the feel of it, so that’s why I chose it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594522948744-5DR9SIPFYJ7OJBAF9JBO/IMG_4788.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.11.20 Buried Home Improvement Joke I built shelves and a workbench in my basement with my father today. It was a great experience working with dad on this project; he knows a lot about construction, and together we realized the vision I had for my personal workshop. While I’m still figuring out the smaller tool storage shelves and the electric, the hardest part—the bones—are finished. We put a bunch of screws into one 2x4 on his recommendation and I mocked him for over-building it with a note on the wood. It was covered by another 2x4 shortly after, so it’ll never be seen again unless we disassemble the bench again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594641600481-MH64YDNS5LH2RGN6PAKM/IMG_4801.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.12.20 Workshop: Built Just have to add electric to it, but the workshop is essentially completed. The corner is prepped for future expansion, but for now I’m going to leave it alone since everything I needed to put into the workshop fits on the right side. Until I get a feel for how I want to use that space, it’s going to stay blank. My dad and I put this together. It was fun to build and even more fun to see it finished. It’s consumed a lot of my time over the last week, so I’m happy it’s essentially finished and usable as a work bench now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594693250171-5Y9SVNHYJWN2N7OYVEA0/DSC_1253.jpg jul-2020 - 7.13.20 A Curious Observer While walking down Division Street in Bellevue, this little neighborhood watcher was keeping an eye on things, specifically Myrtle and another cat on the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594821305154-WW3KYCK0H4B5B5G0IQJ7/IMG_4838.jpg jul-2020 - 7.14.20 This-L-Du I saw this trailer with horses sticking their heads out of the vehicle at a stoplight. The rural element in an otherwise urban setting contrasted in a way I thought was interesting. The title for this is lifted from the decal on the trailer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594951690620-7ONUMYV6CMA35BWIGTPP/DSC_1266.jpg jul-2020 - 7.15.20 Nightly Routine Come home, brush teeth, get into bed, repeat. This is our life right now while we work on the house before we move in and avoid as many people as possible because the virus is on its way back up again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594951690651-GZ5101IKEDNBC7XIU298/NZ6_9611.jpg jul-2020 - 7.16.20 The Screecher There are these birds that fly around our house and hang out in the large tree next door. At first, I thought they were peregrine falcons, but they’re not. After a little bird IDing, I think they may be juvenile Cooper’s Hawks. Either way, they’re loud, chase each other around the street and yard, regularly land on our fence, and they’re fun to watch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595119790970-G6C8F33FGJA6J9ELX3XC/IMG_4864.jpg jul-2020 - 7.17.20 Stopping Into Ameristop There’s an Ameristop in Bellevue with a dude who knows everybody, including us now. He sells six packs of craft beer for $7.99, four flavors of ICEE, and gave Myrtle a pup cup of soft serve. We go there often now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595119789451-FYBQ2F5C0RA6J0WIPAYH/DSC_1272.jpg jul-2020 - 7.18.20 One On the Ride Home I spent the entire day working on the house. My father and I wired the workshop with electricity and removed the old toilet in the basement and plugged the drain with a stopper. The basement suddenly has an influx of house flies, so I hung old fly papers I found in the previous workshop from the ceiling. Of course, I went to three different hardware stores on top of all that, so it’s been a very, very busy day. As such, I didn’t take a single photo. Realizing I’d not yet make an effort to take a photo all day, I snagged one on the ride home over the Southgate Bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595248386536-ZRBZBX6U6RLWMCRMM1KT/IMG_4867.jpg jul-2020 - 7.19.20 A Quiet Fairfield While waiting on Ashley to get the coffees from Avenue Brew, I took a photo of the buildings across Fairfield Avenue because the sidewalks were empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595248385554-OU1288DNXO73W03JSFH3/NZ6_9614-Edit.jpg jul-2020 - 7.20.20 Bold & Beautiful This morning, I walked out of my bedroom and saw this colorful bouquet Ashley’d placed on the kitchen table. It is the most beautiful bouquet I’ve seen her bring home recently. I realize these are likely hilariously dyed with artificial coloring, but I still think they’re pretty. I set the camera up on a tripod and photo stacked 10 images into one to allow everything to come into focus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595388867801-FARO86Y7V1CJCFOFHB7O/DSC_1282.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.21.20 Newport As I was riding my bike to the house, I stopped at a stoplight and made a photo of the parking sign that directs cars to the Levee. I like it because the flood wall obscures so much of the background, making it look a little like that Windows XP background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595468587576-MJWYW7XQ3VC7I4AN8QKS/NZ6_9707.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.22.20 Mason Maria Today I visited the gallery of artist Mason Maria (David Elmer) in Reading. We had a great discussion about his discovery of art, the neighborhood, and downtown living. I documented his space and made a portrait of him in front of one of his larger pieces. The piece will run on Refined in August. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595553913184-1POBN5R2FWICY0REO3KB/NZ6_9828-Edit-2.jpg jul-2020 - 7.23.20 Donut Touch! I photographed Holtman’s Donuts’ renovated Rt. 28 location this morning for Luminaut. It looks totally different than how I remember it. The space feels much larger and has a very clean, colorful aesthetic. After capturing the space itself, we did some donut shots and I made this one with the help of one of the Luminaut architects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595729849857-WLUHPELVS12KQA8M4XO3/IMG_4953.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.24.20 Morning View This has become my regular morning view: leaving Crane’s garage and heading to our house in Bellevue. I think it’s beautiful the way the sunlight comes through the gate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595729857168-ALYUVNFTURUNKBUS1KNK/IMG_4970.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.25.20 A Good Mural Rode my bike over to the house this morning instead of driving and caught a glimpse of this mural at Central and Taylor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595814683530-JW9Z0B4EBI68FVSQQ26X/Adjustments.jpeg jul-2020 - 7.26.20 Fluffy Legs Just two cute paws. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595904160562-VH8TQ1PWSA0MYOCRDR9W/DSC_1721.jpg jul-2020 - 7.27.20 Impending Excitement There’s little that’s remarkable about this photo besides the clouds, and that exactly what makes it interesting to me. When I see clouds like this, I can’t help but feel excitement. It make even the sleepiest scene fun. Storms energize me, and seeing it slowly roll in and feeling that cold front blast through the crack in the window is all I ever really want on a hot summer day. The anticipation of a powerful, loud, lightning-filled storm is a unique feeling that doesn’t come as frequently as I wish it would, so when it does happen, I really enjoy the moments right before the rain hits and the sky begins to lighten again. That ominous, dark blue mass creeping toward me is one of my favorite pillars of summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595974408700-43T8MX4ZG6EEWC2R4JOO/NZ6_9883-HDR-Edit.jpg jul-2020 - 7.28.20 Lincrusta Staircase Photographed a 150-year-old home in Hyde Park this morning. The walls were covered in Lincrusta—a type of wall hanging the original owner of this particular home sold and made his fortune on when he was alive. As I am inclined to do, I took care photographing the staircase because it’s usually the most photogenic of the original features of an old home. This one had the holy trinity of stained glass window, original hardwood, and the Lincrusta wallpaper all around it. The lamp, while period-specific, came from a desk and was rewired by a contemporary electrician to replace the old gas line. I spent a lot of time touching the color on this one up in Photoshop to remove the natural blue light from the ivory Lincrusta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596049983644-TKL70V96GMUEMSHZRLHL/NZ6_0001.jpg jul-2020 - 7.29.20 Overlooking the West A panorama overlooking the construction at the corner of Findlay Street and Central Parkway in the West End. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596161927364-FTZDIE43N6J0FZ6KMDGK/750_9587.jpg jul-2020 - 7.30.20 Mound Avenue It’s been a grey, bad day. The news cycle, the realization that our country is spiraling in multiple categories, and the uncertainty of everything for the foreseeable future have left my brain in tatters. That manifested in an uninspired photoshoot at a church-turned-private-residence in Milford this morning. I did the job to the best of my ability, but I am overall disappointed in what I produced. This is the only photo I managed to not actively feel contempt for, and even still, it’s not one I’m overly fond of regardless of its proper lighting. Feeling uninspired lately has been the norm; I want to be out of this rut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596249188289-GJYQV7RLQN3RA3X94XPL/NZ6_0290.jpg jul-2020 - 7.31.20 Walking Washington After doing a shoot at QFit on Fairfield Ave, I wandered to Grandview by way of Washington and walked by this lovely house on the east side of the street. I liked its proportions and the pillowy clouds behind it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595468539198-VO38XVYC3HPGJB2MY8AP/NZ6_9707.jpeg jul-2020 http://www.philarmstrongart.com/august-2020 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596478176705-CIFHNEBDYDOWECQW6AAE/IMG_5017.jpg aug-2020 - 8.1.20 Thumbs Up My father comes over every Saturday to help us work on the house. This weekend, we concentrated on demolishing the horrible drop ceiling in the basement. It was a dirty job, but we got it done. Now we just have to fix all the wiring and make it look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596478176705-CIFHNEBDYDOWECQW6AAE/IMG_5017.jpg aug-2020 - 8.1.20 Thumbs Up My father comes over every Saturday to help us work on the house. This weekend, we concentrated on demolishing the horrible drop ceiling in the basement. It was a dirty job, but we got it done. Now we just have to fix all the wiring and make it look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596478177241-GH6XVJOL2P1ZWLVZ3OKI/IMG_5022.jpg aug-2020 - 8.2.20 Liftoff While in the garden center of our second home, Lowes, I found a bee pollinating a flower. Thanks to iPhone’s live photo feature, I was able to identify and freeze the pivotal liftoff moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596507614856-UT9QVY4LD02KYPLDHH6B/IMG_5039.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.3.20 Runway Lights In the bathroom at Crane, there are these tube LED lights in the bathroom. There’s a small grate on either side of the light, so I stuck my phone up to it and took a photo of the inside. I think it looks pretty cool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596678819709-I2Q00Y8HJUWBZMECPLQG/IMG_5060.jpg aug-2020 - 8.4.20 The Folder I had an idea for a folding tabletop that would make use of the utility sink’s existing space. It folds up and back to allow for an unobstructed sink or a clean surface upon which we could repot plants, give the dog a haircut, etc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596678822906-9B8S1D2Z8XX7ZM3YCRNJ/IMG_5068.jpg aug-2020 - 8.5.20 The Train I * almost * got the engine of the train going under the Washington Ave bridge today. We were driving when we heard the train about to roll through, so I jumped out and ran to the bridge, but it was already gone by the time I had my phone’s camera app up. Either way, it was cool to stand over it as it passed beneath me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596891065178-HE3UM42UFKXTWYI178OW/IMG_5078.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.6.20 Please Come Back Waiting on her mommy to return from the store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596891072527-GK6XIWQV09PLYTREWSZF/IMG_5099.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.7.20 Iconic Little Gary next to Vince’s motorcycle. A classic Bellevue image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597024423052-VNWHR9U1HH8Y8ZEYDZRO/IMG_5113.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.8.20 A Fresh Coat Just a painter doing his thing on Fairfield Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597024418556-0CNSO22ULLD9OV9HGMDM/Adjustments.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.9.20 Sleepiest Snoot zzzzzzzzzz… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597108156942-JS6522UKIL8HGI05GKJ7/IMG_5150.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.10.20 There’s Always One Eyes rolling so hard they’re in danger of falling out of my head and falling into the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597286461523-86G5YJQ37J14P62U78MX/IMG_5173.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.11.20 Corner Beaut Washington Ave and Center Street, Bellevue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597286468386-8GNQKJNUEW9J88IZO59E/IMG_5184.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.12.20 Not a Van Gogh This photo is unedited, aside from slight cropping. It is a weird iPhone photo of some yellow flower things with flash against a window that’s frosted for privacy. Combine all three elements and you get an odd visual effect that looks like a Van Gogh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597418738177-LMVCRLEK3YFJIX38250P/NZ6_2473.jpg aug-2020 - 8.13.20 The Blonde's Perspective Photographed The Blonde this afternoon. It’s the newly built 13-story apartment building at the corner of 8th and Main. It has balconies along several sides, allowing for unobstructed views of Downtown. This corner is a favorite of mine, as it’s been part of my daily life for years. Seeing it from The Blonde’s perspective 6 stories in the air was a nice change od pace. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597587395658-SN4VG0ID61G164IY8FOH/IMG_5209.jpg aug-2020 - 8.14.20 Reminiscing My mom gave me a manilla envelope of some old literature her father kept back in the 60s and 70s. Included was a spread by the Enquirer celebrating the bicentennial of the USA. This excellent bit of artwork for a Shillitos ad was included on one of the pages, and I really loved how it brought together so many Queen City classics into one image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597587395440-JW9SR8KHHGD106A68CKJ/IMG_5220.jpg aug-2020 - 8.15.20 That’s a Big NOPE I had to install a cap for the dryer ventilation pipe and that required getting to the end of the pipe under the deck (pictured with bright reflective tape on its tip). I couldn’t remove the boards with a crowbar, unfortunately, so I planned to put a tarp down and crawl up under here to get to it. Before doing that, I took a broom and brushed it below the deck to first rid the area of any cobwebs I couldn’t see, and two massive spiders wriggled out of their hiding places. I got the circ saw and cut a hole in the deck from above instead so I didn’t have to go under here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597670825100-Z1KWFE0DXHYQXM0Z3VRM/NZ6_2521.jpg aug-2020 - 8.16.20 An Evening Walk We went to get ice cream at Schnieder’s. After eating a pint (yes, a damn pint) of strawberry sherbet, we walked up Washington back to the house. I saw these two walking the alley before getting to B-List, and snapped the photo. They were walking a little dog and I liked how wholesome they looked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597757846861-0IDQXOLLVFUJOFMP70MX/IMG_5242.jpg aug-2020 - 8.17.20 Kind Graffiti It’s not every day you see graffiti that’s positive and accessible. Then again, not everywhere is Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597842962647-VXHCHLNHT1NM92UQ3VZ6/IMG_5259.jpg aug-2020 - 8.18.20 Memories We used to live there. Late-2016 to late-2018 were extremely good years. We moved into our first apartment together. We hosted parties. We traveled. We got engaged. We brought a tiny baby Myrtle home. But that place had changed by the time we left it. Management was less than great, issues with residents and their visitors arose, and the garage door was busted open and presented a major security concern. It was relatively cheap to live there for Downtown and for as much room as we were given, but our move to Crane was much needed and a smart decision. I do miss how much natural light that south-facing apartment received throughout the day, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597842961050-EMSN4AP4JRV89GCPP8IW/NZ6_2537-HDR.jpg aug-2020 - 8.19.20 New Office I moved my office over to the house. this is the corner with my desk. The windows are open and the fresh air is flowing. Nothing to hear but an AC unit on the side of the house, birds, and the occasional truck shambling down the street. I cannot believe how quiet it is in this house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598018716041-H7GU4XEK6BE53HYY01XJ/IMG_5274.jpg aug-2020 - 8.20.20 A Playful Morning I took Myrtle to the house this morning and played ball with her in the backyard while I worked on Refined at the table. The yard needs work, so there are numerous patches of dirt between the grass and weeds. Because the yard is in the shade for so long in the morning, the dew sticks around, making everything muddy. Her paws were filthy and she was happy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598053946406-Z5LK2GCR0G6PRB3Q55LJ/Haberthier+Residence-38.jpg aug-2020 - 8.21.20 Idyllic Photographed a house in a subdivision in Anderson earlier today. The backyard was enormous. This scene reminded me of being a kid, playing at the edge of the woods, and the swingset we had. Back before we all had phones, the internet was part of our daily lives, and the biggest worry you had for the day was what hour it was so you made it back home for dinner on time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598154151713-M05SZDRNGO5MVGHWHKHL/IMG_5284.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.22.20 Slowly Emptying The apartment is slowly emptying. The big stuff will be left for movers, but we are moving the smaller, more movable items ourselves. Today I moved chairs, TVs, lamps and more over to the house with help from my dad. We got back to the apartment later than expected and I took this photo from the corner of the room. You can’t see the couch, but it’s the only remaining thing in the living room. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598225128102-CEUSZ1AGBV222CAY42TT/DSC_1841.jpg aug-2020 - 8.23.20 Foote Street Looking north up Foote toward Cincinnati from Grandview in Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598326230516-V6CH425SGDYUNUJRWVPV/IMG_5311.jpeg aug-2020 - 8.24.20 An Infrequent Meeting I don’t get to hang out with Ronny and Travis as much as I’d like. The pandemic is hard, schedules are difficult to align, and moving has really dented my social life. Tonight we ate Rusconi’s Pizza, drank Brewdog, and hung out on the roof until 10:45 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598491381047-C9NQJGAPEFIOIJ0BLIDM/IMG_5324.jpg aug-2020 - 8.25.20 Looking Up Held the phone out of the car as we made the last trip of the night over the bridge to Bellevue. Almost done with this move. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598491382500-XXHWBD078WU5DMAU973C/IMG_5338.jpg aug-2020 - 8.26.20 Moving Day The construction workers, who assured us they would accommodate our moving truck days ago, unsurprisingly didn’t give a shit this morning, so we had to physically block off Ninth Street while the movers loaded the truck up with our heavy furniture. I stayed down on the street the whole time to make sure no one would tow it or anything. The entire time I was there, I was so stressed out about blocking the street that I felt sick. Thankfully, no one yelled at us and we got all the stuff to the apartment without issues. We still have our downtown address until the end of November, so we’ll be back to Crane regularly to get our mail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598579489474-BMQP23H8X4XOTZZIBMN0/NZ6_2840+9.45.03+PM.jpg aug-2020 - 8.27.20 West Eighth Though I’m on a staycation this week, I did a side job in Covington this afternoon and came back to get a night shot around 9 PM. Because of the cars and the tree, I had to set up the tripod in the street. Luckily it was a quiet night with very little traffic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598742316697-612Q0QIWN25LZG0PNC7I/35546491-8912-40A4-B7C7-C066B3B89930_1_105_c.jpg aug-2020 - 8.28.20 CSX I was taking the steps up to the house when I caught the beginning of a train rolling down the tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598847506110-3W0LCJGCE9S98NQSM0YY/IMG_5393.jpg aug-2020 - 8.29.20 A Powerful Sunset I didn’t adjust the lighting or color to this photo. That’s how it actually looked, or at least that’s how the iPhone saw it when it happened. The vibrancy of this sunset lasted only briefly, but it was a sight to behold while it happened. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598847644136-LTOTHAT5BOYVAUVSNQCQ/NZ6_2847.jpg aug-2020 - 8.30.20 Reshoots I shot this place the other day, but it was cloudy and the daylight photos didn’t turn out well. This morning, I went over and shot it again because it looked much better with a blue sky behind it. I’m glad I did because I need to turn everything into the client tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598924087733-XBJITS29QN2TFVBFRFIU/IMG_5411.jpg aug-2020 - 8.31.20 Crappy Gender Reveal? These two portable toilets were sitting at the edge of the woods in the parking lot of the Bellevue Kroger. I thought the scene looked like something from an engagement photoshoot or the precursor to a bad gender reveal. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/sep-2020 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599141734732-ZUOVHZOPBJO3JAA94S74/IMG_5424.jpg sep-2020 - 9.1.20 No Subtlety This house on Taylor Avenue has a very bright, very intense light-up American flag hanging from its porch. While walking from Steve’s house, I passed it and had to take a quick photo. I think the dude who lives there may be a MAGA chud, so I didn’t want to linger. Those people are insane as is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599141734732-ZUOVHZOPBJO3JAA94S74/IMG_5424.jpg sep-2020 - 9.1.20 No Subtlety This house on Taylor Avenue has a very bright, very intense light-up American flag hanging from its porch. While walking from Steve’s house, I passed it and had to take a quick photo. I think the dude who lives there may be a MAGA chud, so I didn’t want to linger. Those people are insane as is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599141779544-5VIMQ0ARBSBW3ZYOBOV6/NZ6_3052.jpg sep-2020 - 9.2.20 McFarland Ombre Was on McFarland to shoot an art gallery, and the building across the street stole my attention with its color palette, grit, and faded sign. Might go back and get this one on film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599243665483-393J0K8BXP0YE2A4P8GU/NZ6_3163.jpg sep-2020 - 9.3.20 Breaching the Art World Again Today I went inside the Cincinnati Art Museum for the first time since the outbreak. I got a pre-opening press opportunity to cover the Hank Willis Thomas exhibit for Refined. There was barely anyone in the museum, and everyone in the exhibit was an employee. This hiatus was the longest I’d gone without visiting the museum in a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599243665315-964A6YMETTZO303EELQC/IMG_5439.jpg sep-2020 - 9.4.20 Great Way to Start the Day I used to think a bathroom trashcan with a lid on it was the mark of “you’ve made it.” Now I believe having an east-facing window in the bathroom on a sunny morning is it. No better way to start the day than with a shower under natural light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599361976985-0B8AF47L86Z8XD7RDG0L/IMG_5452.jpeg sep-2020 - 9.5.20 As Good As It Gets I’ve been working on this basement for over two months now, and I’m finally to a place where it’s as finished as it’s going to be for a few weeks. We still need to do a painting project on the wall behind me, but the rest of the room is finished. Before, a horrible drop ceiling and buzzing fluorescent lights made up the ceiling, so I demolished all of that and exposed the natural beams. I then placed decorative trim around the top of the walls to give it a look of intentionality. I white washed all the walls so they’d stand in stark contrast to the dark 90-year old beams, and cleaned up all the wiring as best I could by notching the beams and recessing everything I could, as well as rewiring a few things. All the unnecessary wires that were no longer powering anything were removed to clean it up, and everything in the ceiling was painted dark brown to match the beams. I’m going to lay here and admire how far this room’s come for a little bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599449699160-EL6UQMGM161EBW50HEDW/NZ6_3206.jpg sep-2020 - 9.6.20 Retreat x Berry Walked over to Steve’s house to check out his basement. We’re going to work on fixing it up for him in the coming months. While there, we hung out on his balcony for a bit and I got to make a long exposure of the intersection nearby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599531534389-3HV7VCI11VDIMSBUSPEL/IMG_5505.jpeg sep-2020 - 9.7.20 New Faces on the Block While picking up Myrtle from daycare today, I got to see the newest mural on Court Street. It’s a mural of women in leadership roles who have returned to the community after being incarcerated. It’s called “Time Saved vs. Time Served.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599623684142-4UVXV104GP4CECC1QQZ1/Ludlow+Station+Platform-37.jpg sep-2020 - 9.8.20 Ludlow’s Viewing Platform Photographed the train-viewing platform in Ludlow, KY today for Hub+Weber (architecture firm). I went four times during the course of the day. The evening trip had my personal favorite light, barely beating out the after dark trip. The warm, soft glow of the evening just makes everything look its best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599706190474-43CDJL0DAPIHIL8GN8L2/NZ6_3654.jpg sep-2020 - 9.9.20 Medill Alley Photographed Medill Alley in Northside today for work. I will never get over how bad Hamilton Avenue is for speeding traffic. A lot of the reason I really don’t enjoy going to Northside is because Hamilton Avenue feels so hostile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599792123935-QGL6ZO0RFXGCUWCMJDY5/IMG_5540.jpeg sep-2020 - 9.10.20 The Trash Can Wait… Yeah, that’s gonna be a ‘no’ from me, dawg. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600032856193-G27U97CZ6SY485JQRPJ9/IMG_5544.jpeg sep-2020 - 9.11.20 Seahorse House Just an odd house on Berry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600032849426-9QO639BY4S4660D7J1OY/IMG_5557.jpeg sep-2020 - 9.12.20 Different Living I thought this side by side of these two places was an interesting juxtaposition. Just off Eden Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600131202455-EOQ370BTJOCY89UU6RJ1/IMG_5585.jpg sep-2020 - 9.13.20 Bird Book Just an antique bird book with some of my antique cameras. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600131203951-PMUC1YBCMQYN02GU4RM3/DSC_1849.jpg sep-2020 - 9.14.20 Eric & Liddy Saw them from across the street while at Darkness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600204091011-4NI2HKWO4G1YM87FFSBK/NZ6_3662.jpg sep-2020 - 9.15.20 Lil Cujo As I walked up Retreat Street, this adorable little dog watched me approach his yard. I had my camera strapped with an 85mm lens, so I stayed a little bit back and took his photo. As soon as I took one step forward after hitting the shutter, he started barking at me like I was an intruder. While he didn’t seem friendly at all, he was still the cutest dog I’d seen all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600305698839-3WTAWH40YT6ZY69PC0UQ/IMG_5613.jpg sep-2020 - 9.16.20 Not San Francisco It’s a cute pink house on Berry Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600375899139-6AIUK5M5JU6OU3HP5RDU/NZ6_3671.jpg sep-2020 - 9.17.20 Bonus Pup This pup is named Enzo. He belongs to a man I know named Micah. While walking south-bound on Main Street, just past the Bay Horse, I saw Micah sitting in his PR firm’s office through the front door. A little baby gate was put up, and as soon as I stuck my head in to say hello, I realized why. Enzo came right up to me and wanted pets, so I obliged. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600654307472-6YXQGSDS9VXXKCSHACCG/IMG_5662.jpg sep-2020 - 9.18.20 Golden Autumn Light I was playing with Myrtle in the back yard, and the light was coming through the tree next door, spackling the side of 322B with a mixture of moving shadows. I thought it was a really pretty scene, so I held the ball over my shoulder so she’d look at me. She blinked right as I took the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600654313740-O4O02VPG8WU9VB1JV5GB/IMG_5673.jpg sep-2020 - 9.19.20 Sunset on the Farm The air got noticeably colder as the sun set on the farm in Ripley, Ohio. We are staying overnight in a tent on the property. It’s the same farm we visited back in April. Camping in the cold is so much better than trying to camp in the heat of summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600654318436-LLR9XRS2JRELC3903S2G/NZ6_3752.jpg sep-2020 - 9.20.20 Sunrise on the Farm A scene from this morning, just after I left the tent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600746996365-XZZYLKBO4ZWIT1UMA5IB/IMG_5711.jpeg sep-2020 - 9.21.20 Little Aliem Foot Have you ever looked at a dog’s paw? Like, really looked at it? It’s adorable and weird at the same time. Much different from your own foot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600819623094-WUTPOSMVDSSV8YETM6QK/DSC_1883.jpg sep-2020 - 9.22.20 Dayton Flood Wall Walk Walked down to the Dayton Flood Wall to take photos for a story I’m doing on it for Refined. I liked this one a lot because it has movement, a dog, the city, gaudy single-family homes, and the elements of the trail itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600919403870-P1NL8FXQ0H4XIOXKSA3G/NZ6_3978-HDR.jpeg sep-2020 - 9.23.20 Night Session Photographed Nostalgia OTR for the architect this evening. I walked from my home, so when I got there, I was a little tired and hot. But I needed that walk to help ease my anxiety; today, it was announced that the cops who murdered Breonna Taylor would not be charged with her murder. Protests are happening around the US tonight as a result with Cincinnati among them. I’m not anxious about the protests, but rather the large swaths of humanity in this country who feel that being shot dead by police while you’re sleeping in your own bed at your own home is fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601004839283-SI8V5IA6ER8THGZD8BS7/IMG_5762.jpeg sep-2020 - 9.24.20 A Better Night Than Last Tonight was one of those great nights you couldn’t plan. We randomly hung out with our neighbors to the right of us on our porch, drank beer, swapped stories, and got to know each other. They brought their little dog over and it was really great. They seem like good people. Then, the neighbors to the left came home, Myrtle ran into the street to greet them, and we all followed. It ended up being the six of us and two dogs just hanging out on the sidewalk, talking and drinking beer on a cool autumn night. Everything wrapped up about 10 PM and we all went back inside our homes. I just feel so good knowing there are friendly people on either side of us. It was fun to hang on our little dead end street and have a drink with them. I really hope that happens again soon; that sense of community with others is healing right now. The photo of the ghost just makes me happy. His expression matches my own at the moment, and instead of going upstairs to get a proper camera, I just spontaneously whipped out my phone to get the image. Felt right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601068869187-VV110RE0AF85I3DSM60Z/NZ6_4076.jpg sep-2020 - 9.25.20 Charred History I photographed some artifacts relating to the 1884 courthouse riot this morning at the Cincinnati History and Library Archive in the bottom of Union Terminal. This is one of the books saved from the burning building. I believe the librarian mentioned it was a recorder’s book. It was obviously badly damaged in the fire, but you can still make out the script on the pages. While I do not think it’s likely the courthouse will ever burn like that again, I do feel like government upheaval is coming in some form. Though it’s foolish to think it won’t happen, I hope no one loses their life in the process. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601262480045-PINKWRKPF7CRCWHPS4MR/IMG_5775.jpg sep-2020 - 9.26.20 Peeper I won’t go into details about why this photo exists, but all I can say is this little dog will stop at nothing to see what you’re doing, even when you’re sitting down on a porcelain chair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601262493463-Z72X9PX089V8JDV8COYE/IMG_5794.jpg sep-2020 - 9.27.20 That’s the One For Sure Sometimes you see a scene and you just know it’s going to be the one to end up in this collection. When I stepped out of the parked car and laid eyes on this, I couldn’t avoid thinking about Daily Photos and how it was likely to be today’s entry. I loved all the colors, the old van, the LEGO-like building in the middle ground, and The Ascent peeking between the trees in the background. The overgrown, empty sidewalks just added even more to it. I wish I’d gotten this on film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601391095389-E0R3EJVJ08TAJ86WRE7S/IMG_5825.jpg sep-2020 - 9.28.20 Property Secured When we bought our house, the backyard was accessible through a broken, rusting, old steel gate that connected to the wooden fence. Myrtle’s ball would often slip through the bars and into the alley, and it wasn’t latchable, which meant anyone could simply walk into our yard at any time if they felt like it. While Bellevue is a safe place, we didn’t especially like that our yard had an obvious access point. So, together with my father, we replaced the old gate with a wooden one that matches (at least in profile) to the existing fence. It’s lockable and no longer allows Myrtle’s ball to slip between the cracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601438312918-G1I5NGURTDH63Y7KN4X1/IMG_5832.jpg sep-2020 - 9.29.20 DIY Wainscoting Ashley wanted modern wainscoting on the entire wall behind the bed, so I bought a bunch of strips of wood, cut them to the proper sizes, affixed them to the wavy wall with finishing nails and screws, spackled and sanded the joints and imperfections, and painted everything a medium grey. Instead of having a big, blank, white wall, it’s now textured to give it a little more character. I like how the exposed beams in the ceiling spiritually flow downward along the wall’s thin strips and end at the parquet floor. I’ve never built anything like this before, so it’s satisfying to see it all come together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601610091072-6GLAE5KM1DV6L6ERDLN9/IMG_5846.jpg sep-2020 - 9.30.20 Stairs For Manny My neighbor’s dog, Manny, cannot get up on the bed, so she asked me to make him some stairs. Here they are staged next to our guest bed. When I do a project like this, I often don’t touch my camera all day. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/oct-2020 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601610305399-IXTISJJZVGD125UC6ZF1/IMG_5916.jpg oct-2020 - 10.1.20 I See You Pretty self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601610305399-IXTISJJZVGD125UC6ZF1/IMG_5916.jpg oct-2020 - 10.1.20 I See You Pretty self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601781903518-HILHU64GVNUZ25GKBF5P/8640+Twilight+Tear+Ln+-63.jpg oct-2020 - 10.2.20 WOW. That’s what I said when I saw this master bathroom. This is from a shoot I did this afternoon for an upcoming listing (freelance gig). I am fairly certain this bathroom hasn’t been updated since the home was built in 1987. The aesthetic choices made here were made in ALL CAPS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601781902620-UIBFFGKU57L03MRO0EEL/NZ6_4917.jpg oct-2020 - 10.3.20 Train Man We went to Metamora, IN this afternoon. The little town is located on either side of an old canal and leans hard into its history with preserved 19th century architecture, retro trains, and canal boats that still operate (when there isn’t a pandemic). While there, I was taking a photo of a train when the conductor waved me over. I climbed the train, he put on a mask, and we spoke briefly about the train. He said it’s a 1942 GE 65-ton switcher (had to look that up because I couldn’t remember what he said). Volunteers run it up and down the tracks out of sheer love for the machines. His name is Chester and he’s from Dayton. He kindly posed for a portrait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601858270515-MF9G6GA0Z4H7W6K0ZSVP/NZ6_5090-HDR.jpg oct-2020 - 10.4.20 We Festive Our very spooky, seasonal house with ghost flag, pumpkins, ceramic jack-o-lanterns, and purple mums. There’s also a sign in the bedroom window that says “Boo!” but I didn’t expose for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601948306577-7IM8IAHB7O4021PBN8S5/IMG_5953.jpeg oct-2020 - 10.5.20 Just a Stencil Made a stencil for a project, used it once, decided it wasn’t what I needed. Oh well, still fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602033913487-XAUNEYGTR2EM2XYFMQSL/NZ6_5094.jpg oct-2020 - 10.6.20 1 Year When I woke up this morning, Ashley gave me my one year anniversary present: this roll of toilet paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602129205837-AZMGZ1DE6V5PE60L4DD8/NZ6_5262.jpg oct-2020 - 10.7.20 Taunting Me We bought Halloween candy for the trick or treaters too early and now the Almond Joy are taunting me. This photo’s white balance looks off, but it’s not; the yellow stained glass window behind the camera gives the room this warming effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602217665060-84E57KGKCL68PL0IHM7I/NZ6_5284.jpg oct-2020 - 10.8.20 A Thomasson My favorite Bellevue Thomasson: the missing house of lower Lafayette. I’ve been trying to photograph this piece of vestigial infrastructure for a couple of weeks now, and while I do not think I’ve captured it yet, this photo comes as close as I’ve gotten. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602382204939-DL129KWWP6ITQ7Q8ZH0E/Holtmans-24.jpg oct-2020 - 10.9.20 Donut King Went out to get exteriors of Holtman’s in Milford and the owner gave me a box of free donuts! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602382196777-WHOMS30BJAB70UDZITE8/320+Riverside+Drive-66.jpg oct-2020 - 10.10.20 Two Walkers Photographed a $2M mansion on the river this morning that has a view of the Ohio River. It sits within probably 150 feet of the river up a short slope right next to a public park. As such, there’s a lot of pedestrian traffic on the street. While setting up for a shot, two people improved the image by walking into frame outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602470338619-6LAORS3FGV5WU2GTOS6W/NZ6_6181.jpg oct-2020 - 10.11.20 Dayton’s Skyline My friend from Dayton picked me up today and we drove out to Clifton Mill in Clifton, OH. We checked out the grist mill there, walked some extremely autumn trails, then headed to Yellow Springs. There, we walked through the business district and found our way to another hiking trail that led us to the yellow spring the city’s named for. After passing by Antioch College, we then drove around Dayton, landing in the Oregon District first before heading to other neighborhoods. After a meal at Taqueria Mixteca, we drove up to Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum where I got this shot of the skyline as the sun set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602553717046-QBVVY3WZDLMXX9OKTZL5/NZ6_6393-2.jpg oct-2020 - 10.12.20 C O F F E E S I photographed 1737 Vine Street for a developer today, and while leaving, I saw an opportunity to shoot this faded ad on the north side of Elder Street. Of course, the intent was twofold: get the faded ad, but also get that Pepper Lounge Pepsi sign in the background in there, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602626452475-IMFTH4WXMHPS4RSBS5ZU/DSC_1910.jpg oct-2020 - 10.13.20 Our Paws on O'Fallon It’s a gorgeous day outside and I was feeling antsy. The dog hadn’t walked or played for a significant amount of time in days, so we went on a two-hour walk around Bellevue. As we traversed the streets, Myrtle sniffed the bushes and lunged toward tree-bound squirrels while I enjoyed everyone’s Halloween decorations. This is her on the O’Fallon bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602722174904-HUJB8EE1Q5N7F107QN5J/NZ6_6405.jpg oct-2020 - 10.14.20 Porch With a View The neighbor cut the trees back off the power lines today and now we have a little unobstructed view of a bit of Downtown from the porch. I can’t wait to see what it looks like in the winter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602816833812-G6NTY5UM5HCV3SJNIQKP/NZ6_6631.jpg oct-2020 - 10.15.20 Ready For It As soon as Halloween is over, I’m getting myself an entire pumpkin pie and eating the whole thing in one sitting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602909894930-YWGQ0XLL9999WOOEG2EN/NZ6_6930.jpg oct-2020 - 10.16.20 It Steve Doing BTS photos for Steve’s Cincy48 project this year. He caught me taking his photo for a split second and it ended up being an accidental COVID-era headshot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603079249323-DFH6FNE376YA6DRVLN3K/750_9911.jpg oct-2020 - 10.17.20 A Little Foggy On Projection These Days Steve’s doing the Cincy 48 Hour Film Festival and secured Bellevue’s Marianne Theatre as a location for filming. I snuck up to the projection booth and got a photo of it all lit up with red lights and filled with fog from a fog machine. I’d been inside the theater years ago with a camera, so I didn’t worry too much about documenting it this time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603079249861-BBC2752X9HKDJW3SBHOV/IMG_6133.jpg oct-2020 - 10.18.20 Yellow Springs I took my Z6 with me to Yellow Springs and didn’t end up taking it out of the bag the entire trip. This is with an iPhone. I was so pleased with the portrait mode on this, it ended up being my favorite photo of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603160430249-K06EUQWT67PMAU75Y4FQ/DSC_1919.jpg oct-2020 - 10.19.20 Impending Gloom We got our first taste of the overcast, rainy, generally gloomy winter that’s on the horizon. It wasn’t enjoyable last year and will certainly be worse this year due to the pandemic. Not looking forward to it at all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603248451730-V4PE8A5MA077TUAXR525/NZ6_7341.jpg oct-2020 - 10.20.20 Night On the Tracks Just a walk along the rails in the mist. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603421552803-XKZJ1RR2OUXUM2XYZ9JQ/IMG_6194.jpg oct-2020 - 10.21.20 Retreat Street Walked to Steve’s house and took a quick photo of some houses on Retreat in good light. I had a bad day so I didn’t feel much like trying today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603421550830-70IABMI934EJB2FYTG7B/NZ6_7395.jpg oct-2020 - 10.22.20 You Are Here CMC has a new permanent exhibit and part of it is this custom mural projection thing you can do. It takes your photo, you add stickers to the photo, add a filter and background, then it projects it onto the side of a “building,” which is just a black and white drawing of an inner-city scene that vaguely represents Cincinnati. This was my contribution. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603676958400-9BSKWKN2R0WRS0L9HB0D/IMG_6229.jpg oct-2020 - 10.23.20 Electric Conversation Travis and Ronny came over and sat on the porch outside. We drank beer and ate pizza while a storm rolled through. Thanks to the covered porch, we were able to hang out safely outside without getting wet. I was trying to capture a bolt of lightning while we were talking and successfully nailed one in the background thanks to iPhone’s Live Photo feature. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603676559440-YNFWKIGCFHO9549NTKH2/NZ6_7401.jpg oct-2020 - 10.24.20 Up the Hill I published a photo from this same perspective on the 1st of October, but I wanted to go back and get it at night with a tripod. I felt self-conscious with the tripod at night on the corner, but thankfully no one seemed to care. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603676560534-432PEIMVVEXQUVQJA8PN/IMG_6274.jpg oct-2020 - 10.25.20 I made a rack for our firewood. Now all I need is more firewood to fill it up. I’m going to add a cover to the top, and I may paint it, but it’s functional in its current state. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603761691274-NELD3OEBV78BJ6FJ4OZS/IMG_6285.jpeg oct-2020 - 10.26.20 Bad Day Had a shit day. Sitting in my living room relaxing and trying to unwind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603852243258-U2NEZE7DEXEZH5VMDY78/IMG_6300.jpeg oct-2020 - 10.27.20 Feeling Bad Been feeling tremendously bad lately, both mentally and physically. With the weight of the virus and the election and everything else happening in the world, it’s hard to wake up and feel anything but sorrow about all of it. On top of it all, I’ve been finding less motivation to do my work, and mistakes and errors make me ashamed of the work I do get done. It’s all been adding up and I now have this pale pallor and grey bags under my eyes. Really hoping some good news will come our way soon. Everything feels so bleak. I took this photo of myself brushing my teeth because I have no motivation to use my actual camera and wanted to document how utterly stressed I am for posterity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603936934761-26N1PSBRVFNLKXFBVXXT/Unicorn+Pumpkin-009-2.jpg oct-2020 - 10.28.20 Unicarnation Ashley didn't want to carve a pumpkin so she painted hers to look like a unicorn, made it a floral crown, and added a horn to it. She's submitting it to a work contest. Fingers crossed she wins. We took a studio photo of it for her to submit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604118420616-VKD4GRQ9IU60QEEHA1TB/IMG_6309_jpg.jpeg oct-2020 - 10.29.20 Anxiety Project I made a shelf for the plants in our bedroom because I couldn't stand to be at my desk any longer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604118428400-449ANLFPOLTRWH3D8319/NZ6_7512.jpeg oct-2020 - 10.30.20 Studio Space I toured an art studio in the West End today. Artist Spencer van der Zee gave us an interview and snowed us his work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604199223044-AWLSG5EI1RT7N61CWRHC/NZ6_7555.jpg oct-2020 - 10.31.20 The Candy Chute Halloween was perfect. The weather was the best it could be, the candy chute I made to send candy to the kids worked splendidly, sitting on the porch with snacks and tunes playing was relaxing, and seeing our neighbors out and about was so nice. We went through almost three bags of candy. Just a really good night. I needed that. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/nov-2020 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604290126822-3UP6V1G95GSDWD2527OX/IMG_6337.jpg nov-2020 - 11.1.20 A Long Walk Took Myrtle on a long walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. The wind was blowing hard but it was sunny and relatively warm for November. We ended up on the hill in Grandview at the end of the walk so she could run around like crazy for awhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604290126822-3UP6V1G95GSDWD2527OX/IMG_6337.jpg nov-2020 - 11.1.20 A Long Walk Took Myrtle on a long walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. The wind was blowing hard but it was sunny and relatively warm for November. We ended up on the hill in Grandview at the end of the walk so she could run around like crazy for awhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604377216099-GQ5DR666PZL5U4WV0JT9/IMG_6378.jpeg nov-2020 - 11.2.20 Balloon Bombed Ashley’s boss direct messaged me on Instagram late last week and asked if I could get her and Myrtle out of the house by 2 PM on Monday (today). She paid someone to “balloon bomb” our house for Ashley’s birthday. I made up an excuse about being finished with work early and took her to get nachos at Qdoba in Rookwood and then to the park. We spent about two hours away from home before returning. I didn’t know exactly what the surprise was going to be and was pretty shocked when I saw it. Ashley thought it was great. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604455219431-DZ6B65V9MJGCKC8SLFY2/DSC_1931.jpeg nov-2020 - 11.3.20 The Results Will Wait It’s election night. I’m scared out of my mind that we will keep these selfish monsters in power and show the world we are not the country we claim to be. I've already voted, though, so it's out of my hands. Until the victor is chosen, we need to wait. There's no sense in making myself sick tonight over something that's out of my hands, so I'm taking this photo of Ashley on her 32nd birthday, putting the internet away, turning off the TV, and focusing on my family. They bring me happiness and that's what I need tonight. Tomorrow I will wake up to the result of this traumatic election. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604546030565-5UHTSUZDWRF7V2YJQM63/DSC_1938.jpg nov-2020 - 11.4.20 Absolute Contempt The results of the 2020 election aren’t finalized as of this writing. It’s 10 PM. When I finally got out of bed from a bad night of sleep, I expected to see news of Joe Biden’s victory; a catastrophic Trump loss that proved the American people chose someone good over someone of vile character and proven inability to lead. Instead, I saw a minor Biden lead over Trump, both Ohio and Florida red, and the race nearly neck and neck. Then it dawned on me that half of America are truly depraved, brainwashed, racist morons who would rather Donald fucking Trump hold onto the reigns of this nation than allow a proven leader to take over. They’d rather let the guy who refuses to denounce WHITE SUPREMACY lead the United States for four more years than the guy who outright condemns them. Half of this fucking country would rather keep in power the man who has NO PLAN to combat the Coronavirus than let someone who could do better (any plan would be better than what we have now). Half of this country is disgusting and I don’t want to live here anymore. Any hope I had for the American people were dashed like this week-old jack-o-lantern on the fucking sidewalk. Even if Joe Biden lands this thing in the end, we’re never recovering from the damage Donald Trump has done to America. He’s emboldened the worst of us—which is apparently half of us—to show their true form. I cannot feel anything but contempt for America at this point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604634485811-WIH29Z38KA1F2Z358P9P/NZ6_7568.jpg nov-2020 - 11.5.20 Thursday Nights No word on who will lead our country as of tonight. It’s leaning Biden, but who knows at this point. One thing I CAN count on is this: Thursday nights at Pete’s house. Every week, Pete hosts a beer tasting in his driveway. It’s a safe way for all of us to hang out and be social without worrying so much about the virus. I can’t go every week, but whenever I do, it’s always a good time. Tonight I wanted to commemorate at least one of these nights so I took a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604700077477-1IFB8DZEEBPPP7TLPJ1K/NZ6_7586.jpg nov-2020 - 11.6.20 Econolite Traffic Control I’ll make this one short: no word yet on who’s president of the United States, though it’s still leaning Joe. All this uncertainty makes me anxious, so I took a walk and saw this gritty traffic control box I hadn’t noticed before. I liked the way the afternoon light was shining on it, exaggerating its tiny shadows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604939624382-F2L5YS39SANRUKODMC7S/NZ6_7617.jpg nov-2020 - 11.7.20 VICTORY! Joe Biden won the presidency. The redneck Trump train has derailed miserably and it’s a great relief to see a fascist pile of garbage sink into oblivion. It was announced today while we were setting up a new TV in the living room. We were so thrilled, we got a bottle of champagne out of the fridge, fired off the cork from the front porch, and went out with Chelsea to the Avenue to drink the day away. We went home at 7 PM and passed out after Biden’s victory speech. We weren’t even hung over the next day. It was a perfect Saturday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604939625056-X6K3ZKOOBXXFQ1OGXRHK/IMG_6428.jpg nov-2020 - 11.8.20 CHOO CHOO The weather was perfect today, so we worked in the yard and grilled out for dinner. I heard the train coming from Dayton, so I ran down to the steps to catch a photo of the engine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605067707423-FSSF015GDE9GJ52AEOSD/NZ6_7633.jpg nov-2020 - 11.9.20 Bereft of Balke’s See my blog post for more on this photo: https://bit.ly/3n7NRrC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605067787056-ZV503O4M8UKCHXJQS5PO/NZ6_7711.jpg nov-2020 - 11.10.20 Flow Photographed Flow Koffee + Kombucha in Newport today. The owner was nice and they serve Coffee Emporium coffee. I’ll probably go there this weekend if I need a cup of joe instead of making it at home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605150332761-RUVZJJV3W0FMOIFQB40Z/DSC_1948.jpg nov-2020 - 11.11.20 Night in the Dining Room We have a stained glass window in the dining room that’s backlit by a light under the balcony outside. I love walking into the dining room at night because the amber yellow glass casts a warm hue on part of the room, and specifically on this money tree that’s sitting on the hutch beneath it. I wanted to get a photo of it because it’s the little things like this that bring me a weird amount of happiness when I see them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605234465744-CZWGFADQT3LIH1X0MNRW/NZ6_7762.jpg nov-2020 - 11.12.20 Cookies Are Cookin’ Do I need a caption for this? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605305073025-90VUDCH24CV86SV0ZYU7/NZ6_8004.jpg nov-2020 - 11.13.20 Holiday Junction Photographed CMC’s Holiday Junction this morning. Always fun to see the trains up and running. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605419227793-BZEQ7W3HV0Z2WYGO7A3V/IMG_6464.jpeg nov-2020 - 11.14.20 Holy Meal Ashley made my favorite meal for dinner: enchiladas. She makes the best enchiladas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605507548602-ZRVUUNL4HRNK6Y1IPVTQ/NZ6_8186.jpg nov-2020 - 11.15.20 Caught In the Rain We went for a walk this morning and noticed some ominous clouds ahead. Figuring we had a better chance of making it to the Bellevue Beach Park gazebo, we hustled toward the river in hopes of avoiding getting caught in the rain. We just barely made it. The wind blew the rain through the area quickly and we only had to hang tight for about 10 minutes. I took a photo of Ashley and Myrtle as the sun started to emerge from behind the clouds again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605583918789-A5WTKE96J1F0GX4517WY/NZ6_8214.jpg nov-2020 - 11.16.20 Return to the Beach After yesterday’s neary-soggy encounter at Bellevue Beach Park, we caught a glimpse of a nice sunset from there tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605746088437-I1Z2KS92H9VZQ69KOSR6/IMG_6481.jpg nov-2020 - 11.17.20 Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 I think I may have COVID. Ashley was exposed to it last week and she’s possibly asymptomatic. I, however, am not feeling great. If this is COVID, my symptoms are light. Either way, we got a test done at a clinic tonight, and I’ll know my results in 3-5 days. Until then, I’m staying away from literally everyone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605746092095-6CMQGME1QOB5QSFTMO6A/NZ6_8230.jpg nov-2020 - 11.18.20 Mask Required Feeling a little better today, so I went on a walk with Ashley and the dog at dusk. After the walk, I felt worse, so now I’m relaxing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102343719-MWYE34SYPE27L2C710BG/IMG_6499.jpg nov-2020 - 11.19.20 Ugh I do not feel well. Spent the day on the couch and in bed. Still awaiting test results. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102340481-KD1IR6DA26BIAOJKFL2R/IMG_6503.jpg nov-2020 - 11.20.20 Shameless Satisfaction Feeling better today and learned I do not have COVID after all. Thank goodness. But the reason I took a photo of the sink is because I’ve fallen into a habit that I very much enjoy—doing dishes at night. “Enjoy” and “doing dishes” aren’t typically two things that unironically belong in the same sentence, but I’ve found clearing the sink and running the dishwasher before bed while listening to podcasts to be a centering task that puts my mind at ease as I wind down for the night. And when we wake up, all the dishes are done. It’s a win-win. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102355434-76EU9NHBG2YOAKJ8GN1A/NZ6_8239-HDR.jpg nov-2020 - 11.21.20 I caved and we put up the tree early. Fuck it, rules don’t apply this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102351935-XSTJOLMM3P29FUT5AUOS/IMG_6529.jpg nov-2020 - 11.22.20 A Girl and Her Bear Snuck a photo of this moment tonight. We’ve been doing absolutely nothing for the last 24 hours. Myrtle and Ashley were basically attached at the snoot all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606255692542-6T1TPEZLLPHQ6R64WPM4/NZ6_8241.jpg nov-2020 - 11.23.20 Sunset Took a walk before sunset and managed to snap a photo of the only bit of color in the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606256052873-RZMLM9FABVQWG125M65U/IMG_6548.jpg nov-2020 - 11.24.20 Proper Framing We took a piece of art to get framed down at Frame and Hang on the Avenue today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606366782327-XZ2CO895NB75QBEX6BLN/NZ6_8283.jpg nov-2020 - 11.25.20 Bizarre Bazaar Photographed a shop in Anderson called Bizarre Bazaar this afternoon. It’s a family-run shop full of gifts, knick knacks, and more. Very eclectic mix of stuff with loads to see. They’re heavy on Christmas stuff and this was one of the pieces I saw. The little skaters moved around on the surface of the ice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606529888653-B5PQVK8RMCXSTB660QQT/IMG_6556.jpg nov-2020 - 11.26.20 Thanksgiving For Two We didn’t go to Thanksgiving with our extended families this year because of COVID, so we bought a take-and-bake Thanksgiving meal from Arnold’s Bar & Grill. It was really good, and even though not seeing more people during a holiday was a bummer, I still had a really good Thanksgiving. It was very relaxing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606529383863-J5SLPQTYWPDYX8WR1G5P/NZ6_8379.jpg nov-2020 - 11.27.20 Christmas 2020 I take a photo of Myrtle every Christmas and we make it into a card and send it out to our friends and family. This is 2020’s photo. The fireplace isn’t actually lit, I just put a Lumecube in there with an orange gel to simulate fire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606661726413-RMRSQJL14G2U5R7GMD6K/NZ6_9217.jpg nov-2020 - 11.28.20 Shop Small Saturday We went down to the Avenue and shopped for gifts for Christmas at various stores. It was nice to know our money was going right back into the local economy and helping the mom and pop shops of Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606706491790-JJUBIPG0MOE9CVZS0XJ6/NZ6_9290.jpg nov-2020 - 11.29.20 Spectacularly Festive The Purple People Bridge is all done up for the holidays and it looks great. I kind of hope they keep the purple and white bulbs on it even off season. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606796941084-0IA758VAHN3ASNSW3CZQ/NZ6_9394.jpg nov-2020 - 11.30.20 Going Up? I took on another monthly building for Jake. Since I finished the Camp Washington property this month, I picked up another in Brighton to fill its place. It stands on the corner by itself by a private fenced-in lot. He gave me the passcode to get into the building so I could get pre-construction photos of the joint. After carefully exploring all three floors of the eerily quiet building, I dug deep to find the courage to descend into the darkened basement. This is always my least favorite thing about photographing old properties that are in the midst of transformation. With two flashlights in tow, I photographed the basement with my back to the nearest wall for security. I’m so unnerved by the dark because my subconscious cannot get rid of the feeling that I’m not alone in a place like that. Though unlikely, it’s not impossible for someone to find their way into a building and wait behind a corner, especially if they’re frightened themselves by my being there. Anyway, I stepped down into the elevator shaft and pointed upward to get this shot. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dec-2020 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606873045821-8YHC2QUH9RNXORQZFOSO/NZ6_9504-HDR.jpg dec-2020 - 12.1.20 Skywalking In the Living Room I went to see the in-progress work on the Peters Cartridge Factory apartments this morning. My favorite apartment was this one. It had a window into the old skywalk that connects to the other building across the road. They bricked over the other end of the skywalk and added a window for this unit to look into it. While it’s no longer accessible, I thought it was neat that they at least cared enough to put a window there. Who needs art on the wall when you have an interesting piece like that on the wall? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606873045821-8YHC2QUH9RNXORQZFOSO/NZ6_9504-HDR.jpg dec-2020 - 12.1.20 Skywalking In the Living Room I went to see the in-progress work on the Peters Cartridge Factory apartments this morning. My favorite apartment was this one. It had a window into the old skywalk that connects to the other building across the road. They bricked over the other end of the skywalk and added a window for this unit to look into it. While it’s no longer accessible, I thought it was neat that they at least cared enough to put a window there. Who needs art on the wall when you have an interesting piece like that on the wall? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607011178556-V2OJED5OM7MBOZVJKM83/NZ6_9561.jpg dec-2020 - 12.2.20 He Munch The neighbor behind us threw their pumpkins into their backyard for the squirrels, so I got out the 600mm Tamron and snapped a photo of one enjoying himself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607052525456-0O8HX6UD8NBCTJMN783O/IMG_6616.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.3.20 An Anniversary 3 years ago today, we let Myrtle into our home and she quickly became our world. Here’s a photo of her wanting to come inside after being on the balcony for 5 minutes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607318670468-PHQMQCHMI9XJ0QNFBF26/NZ6_9628-2-HDR.jpg dec-2020 - 12.4.20 Forest Avenue I photographed a house on Forest Avenue for a realtor today. It was built in 1989 and designed by the owner, who recently moved out of state. It has a crazy southerly view. Too bad it was a gloomy day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607318667781-MF6UO446OBYKCF3DR4E0/IMG_6634.jpg dec-2020 - 12.5.20 Ashley’s Flag Ashley loves flags, so she got a Christmas flag to put on the pole out front. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607318665075-VAWGX7MTQ5OEX3JUQWAX/IMG_6646.jpg dec-2020 - 12.6.20 Myrtle’s Big Day In Ashley has a migraine for the majority of the day and stayed in bed. Myrtle, loving the chance to snuggle with her mom, took full advantage. I tucked them in and put the sleeping mask over Myrtle’s eyes and took a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607400410895-G22SDSAH0XBXZ77666OG/DSC_1971.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.7.20 Night Stocking Just a quiet scene in the dark. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607485500803-PLD9LTXDFCBJBBUH9HWZ/NZ6_9782-HDR.jpg dec-2020 - 12.8.20 The Edgar I got an email from a friend who works for Rookwood Properties last week. She asked if I’d like to feature one of their properties on Refined. The property was Lytle Tower—the place where I spent maybe the most transformative years of my adult life. They rebranded it “The Edgar” recently with all new signage and renovated apartments, so it was worth looking into. I’d been back to Lytle several times over the years since I’d moved out, but every time I go in there, it’s just as sweet as the last time. I love that building with every ounce of my being and always will. Though I didn’t get to see my former apartment (maybe one day!), I got to photograph three units on the second, fifth, and twelfth floors. There’s something magnetizing about this place; and I may be one of the only people in the world who feels that way. It just feels like I have a special kinship with it that I don’t have anywhere else in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607615645645-RYQI6D3VI4VU879GM9GM/IMG_6675.jpg dec-2020 - 12.9.20 Weird Corner Just a weird corner of Bellevue that I frequently pass when walking to and from the Avenue. I wonder what the story is behind the tire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607615643152-U86Y7O14TMW3NXHK4NQL/IMG_6683.jpg dec-2020 - 12.10.20 Foggy Morning Went to drop Myrtle off at daycare this morning and was stunned by how foggy it was on the Kentucky side of the river. As soon as we crossed over the bridge into Cincinnati, the fog was gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607917718703-01HDFUXE3XTDUHFMYEN5/IMG_6698.jpg dec-2020 - 12.11.20 Campbell County Courthouse I’d never been inside, but we needed to get our licenses changed, so we went to the Campbell County Courthouse for the first time. However, after being stopped at the metal detectors, we were informed that we needed an appointment before being allowed to go further (COVID restriction). So even though I’ve been inside the front doors, I still don’t feel as though I’ve truly been inside yet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607917718257-4UX8EXJ4R9MV8NJMDTES/IMG_6733.jpg dec-2020 - 12.12.20 Sunset Walk We walked down to the Ameristop for provisions and took the long route home because my knee hurt too much to take the stairs. Glad we did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607917719811-SH3WWT8E62IR4UZJIU56/IMG_6739.jpg dec-2020 - 12.13.20 Art Glove Guy Oh god, I’m art glove guy now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607961716314-7X3TZENHHJA3ZQ5TBO1R/NZ6_9875-HDR.jpg dec-2020 - 12.14.20 Making WFH Work Ashley’s frequently on work calls and I’ve made the mistake of barging into her office while she’s on a call during quiet moments when no one’s talking, so I got her a little remote-controlled “ON AIR” sign that she turns on whenever she’s not to be disturbed. We used magnets to affix it to the desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608097078665-IEJL4JWGPRZOU1D5UOYC/alexis.jpg dec-2020 - 12.15.20 Extinct Birds Today I worked for the Cincinnati Museum Center to produce images for a book they intend to publish. I met Cody Hefner at the Geier Center and started off by heading to their zoology department where they had an ark of taxidermied animals. Everything from mice to full-sized lions were accounted for, as well as a huge skull and prehistoric bones. The image I needed to make had to be portrait orientation and include extinct birds. I do not remember the full names of the parakeet and warbler, but that’s a passenger pigeon in the background. Cincinnati was the final resting place for Martha, the last passenger pigeon in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608171810897-R6EL3GXOAC4SU7NNXD9G/IMG_6756.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.16.20 Ick Bad day. Feeling ill again. Taking drowsy meds and in bed by 9:30. Try again tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608267090649-TEY1ZZ806M634ZR585IB/IMG_6762_jpg.jpg dec-2020 - 12.17.20 An Observation This was perhaps the least productive day I’ve had in weeks. I worked the bare minimum then did nothing worth doing for the remainder of the day. During the hours spent waiting to go back to bed, I noticed this shape at the top of the lamp in my office. It screws onto the shade to keep it from coming off. It’s shaped vaguely like a lightbulb, though it’s smaller, coarsely textured, and opaque. In silhouette, they are the same, but in reality, they are opposites. The lightbulb is a symbol of an idea; a eureka moment. This is the symbol of my lack thereof. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608440107746-7D9F51D8E2RX6VXXBV6Y/NZ6_0094.jpg dec-2020 - 12.18.20 Duveneck The Art Museum reached out to me last-minute about covering their new Frank Duveneck exhibit. This is a bust of him in the Cincinnati Wing, which they repainted specifically for this show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608440108232-J9AD4UHXXAIJNNRSXEP9/IMG_6811.jpg dec-2020 - 12.19.20 Aimless Wanderers Ashley had errands to run by herself today, so I took the dog on a walk. Since it was just the two of us, and since we have no plans anyway, we got down to the Avenue and I decided to just keep walking. For about three hours, she and I walked through Downtown, over the Roebling, into Covington, over the Licking, through Newport, and back to Bellevue totaling over seven miles in all. It was actually really nice to just go with the flow and not worry about the destination or the time. It’s good to let yourself float through a chunk of the day on occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608523759161-ZYFDPNPWUYRSQP3LFVMC/IMG_6849.jpg dec-2020 - 12.20.20 Plant Stands I’ve been making these plant stands over the course of a week. In total, I’ve made four tall stands and one short stand. Each one has gone to a relative (or is going to go to a relative soon) as a gift. Ashley found this design online and asked me to build a couple, but after I got the hang of making the first two, I wanted to make more. I borrowed a mitre saw, a band saw, and a nail gun from my father to see if that would make the process of making them easier, and it definitely did. I’m going to figure out what it costs to make each one and build that into the price so I can cover the cost of construction and sell them for charity or something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608609268490-HE4EKD9WO42ZTF3KDGQX/IMG_6854_jpg.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.21.20 Head Scritches A really adorable kitty scratches her head on a bowl. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608733792851-8HTG7C7CZK4Z2EM2EIFX/IMG_6866.jpg dec-2020 - 12.22.20 Sun In the Heart of the Home I love all the natural light our kitchen gets in the morning. I liked this particular little vignette. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039028284-3OI4JJ159EH1QEIYNW11/IMG_6877.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.23.20 Rosie My in-laws’ dog, Rosie, is staying at our house this week. She’s very small and very cold. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039032167-JTCW6OD2A17FHDRS8V7E/IMG_6889.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.24.20 A Festive Door Just a tastefully festive door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039036043-6NV6KUFN66YDFWH90UQN/IMG_6890.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.25.20 Come Prepared Christmas requires preparation. Having a good knife on hand to tackle over-wrapped gifts is essential. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039042433-OOSWTKC6M22D1VFR89OL/IMG_6912.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.26.20 Chillin’ Ashley chilling, both figurative and literally, by a fire with a beer in hand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609119769860-219IR4VZMIEW83AAZUN1/IMG_6922.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.27.20 IT Helper Ashley’s grandfather got a wireless speaker for Christmas and can’t figure out how to set it up on his phone. To help him with phone issues, I made a holder that will hold his iPad (left plank) to point at his iPhone (right plank) when both are placed on the holder. He can then FaceTime me on the iPad and turn the camera around to point through the hole at his iPhone. Because he shakes so badly, I thought the holder would eliminate the shake and allow me to remotely help him figure out his phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609215911124-3B1DUVO25W6IOSA80RTQ/image-asset.jpeg dec-2020 - 12.28.20 Height Helper Sometimes one must build a bridge before they can dam the river. While painting the bathroom this week, I found my step ladder was too large to get into a corner of the room because the shower stall was in the way. There was no way I could get up to the corner and finish the trimming unless I had another 12 inches in height. So, in order to finish painting, I had to build a step stool that would be small enough to fit into the tight space while giving me the necessary leverage I needed. This is the stool I came up with to finish the job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609276331947-25UG2WD6HBQNDOHZ71G2/IMG_6929.jpg dec-2020 - 12.29.20 Well, Shit Car’s dead. Went to pull it out of the garage and it wouldn’t start. It sounds like it wants to start, but just won’t. We had to have a tow truck come and take it to the mechanic Downtown. With a full-to-the-brim week ahead of me, this isn’t good. I can’t Uber because of COVID, so I guess I’ll be walking everywhere. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609357542118-GZBOCCSX2AANGP9E83R0/NZ6_0133.jpg dec-2020 - 12.30.20 Sweet Little Stranger Because the car’s in the shop, I needed to walk to Mt. Adams from my home in Bellevue for work this morning. On the first leg of my trip, I came across this sweet little pup on Taylor Avenue. Her tail flipped back and forth like she wanted it to fly off her butt, instantly melting my heart. When I made eye contact with her, she started throwing her front paws down and wiggling her head—that type of dog behavior that suggests she desperately wants to be pet but is too overcome with excitement to hold it together. As I raised my camera to take her photo, she became shy and looked away. It looks like she’s stoic in the photo above, but she was anything but at the moment this was taken. Her nose touched my hand as I reached through the fence to give her a scratch on her snout and appease that mile-a-minute tail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609480693331-ROQV0A0ZJTUBHYG1MR69/NZ6_0397-HDR.jpg dec-2020 - 12.31.20 A Big Empty Building 2020 has packed its shit and is moving out. I photographed a 900K condo on Race Street and this empty building on Central Avenue. Of everything I saw today, this room with the good light was my favorite. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jan-2021 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609562366048-QXSAQASKMGD2FG713AOT/NZ6_0433.jpg jan-2021 - 1.1.21 Delayed Introduction It rained on and off the whole day as I sat in my chair plugging away at a full list of work. Myrtle went outside three times to use the bathroom; three more times than I went outside. In fact, I didn’t even shower until 2:30 PM this afternoon because there was no impetus to do so. As such, I’ve yet to be acquainted with the outside world of 2021. This is perhaps the first time in my life that I haven’t even left the house on New Years Day. Intellectually I know superstitions and looking for “signs” in unrelated facts is totally foolish, but I cannot help but wonder if today’s horrible weather and lack of interaction with the outside world isn’t indicative of how this year will go. Hopefully that’s just my quarantine brain talking aloud. Because I didn’t go anywhere, I put my camera on the roof to get an atmospheric shot of the tree next door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609562366048-QXSAQASKMGD2FG713AOT/NZ6_0433.jpg jan-2021 - 1.1.21 Delayed Introduction It rained on and off the whole day as I sat in my chair plugging away at a full list of work. Myrtle went outside three times to use the bathroom; three more times than I went outside. In fact, I didn’t even shower until 2:30 PM this afternoon because there was no impetus to do so. As such, I’ve yet to be acquainted with the outside world of 2021. This is perhaps the first time in my life that I haven’t even left the house on New Years Day. Intellectually I know superstitions and looking for “signs” in unrelated facts is totally foolish, but I cannot help but wonder if today’s horrible weather and lack of interaction with the outside world isn’t indicative of how this year will go. Hopefully that’s just my quarantine brain talking aloud. Because I didn’t go anywhere, I put my camera on the roof to get an atmospheric shot of the tree next door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609607638383-ARZIS4S6075F4QRQFTML/IMG_6969.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.2.21 As Good As It Gets We love our weekend ritual of seeking coffee outside the house. It hasn’t happened every weekend during the pandemic, but today it did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609713304128-ONCBEQFKZU91N1BKDMLJ/DSC_1975.jpg jan-2021 - 1.3.21 Accidental Accuracy I could lie and say this photo is blurry because it’s an artistic reflection of the constant cloudy weather that’s always muddying up outdoor photos, but it’s truly just a reflection of my ineptitude behind the camera this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609859657865-0UE7T0AFPG88OC9NE9WM/IMG_6993.jpg jan-2021 - 1.4.21 Un-Full-Phil-led I saw a commercial for a Papa John’s stuffed crust pizza. Against my better judgment, I fell for the marketing scheme and ordered one for carryout. I got the pizza home and ravenously devoured my first piece. The crust was the only redeeming quality as the pizza itself was largely flavorless and boring. Has Papa John’s always been terrible? Whatever the answer, I will not be getting another one. Frozen stuffed crust pizza is better than this dreck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609900395814-T3RAE8YFDQC3PSO2HVLQ/NZ6_0437.jpg jan-2021 - 1.5.21 Enchanted Artifact This brass medallion is something we pulled from an abandoned trailer in middle Kentucky years ago. Recently it received a nice cleaning with Brasso to polish off the green patina that had formed in several spots over the years. I dramatically lit it because I thought the texture and shape would make for good shadows, and it didn’t disappoint. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609983334109-Q9L916UU8BV5DVCLM4N1/NZ6_0452.jpg jan-2021 - 1.6.21 A Failed Coup A mindless hive of cultists descended on the Capitol Building today, lured by a dim insect lamp at the top. The United States' current and outgoing president decided to encourage his most loyal cultists, each with a questionable amount of grey matter between the ears (a requisite to be in the club), to march on the Capitol Building to protest the presidential election he fairly lost but refuses to admit. Unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation due to his infantile mind, he incited a mob that chose violence in an effort to stop the certification of president-elect Biden's confirmation as the 46th president of the United States. The horde clashed with security on the steps of the Capitol before eventually breaking into the building. The Capitol was evacuated. The mob lingered in the halls of the Capitol and accomplished nothing but embarrassing themselves before being removed by remaining forces. A woman was shot and killed during the assault on the building; it's unclear at this time if she was among the cultists. News organizations aren't saying it at the moment, but it's an attempted coup and should be treated as such. Afterward, to cover his own ass, the outgoing president told everyone to go home before telling him he "loved" them and that they are "special." I shudder to think what would happen if people of color showed the same amount of aggression toward the Capitol Building. This is a historic day and not in a good way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610078335903-4T8RN8GPO8CN6NTB695N/IMG_7061.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.7.21 I Can See Clearly Now When we moved into our house this summer, I was clearing out the room that would become my workshop and found these old glasses beneath the old workbench. Designed with plastic on the sides to help shield the eyes, the glasses are big and non-prescription so as to fit the face of practically anyone who wears them. Thankfully my own prescription is light enough that I can work without glasses if I want, so I cleaned them up tonight with Windex and Brasso to make them look cleaner. There are scratches on the lenses and arms, but all of the corrosion was wiped away with the dirt. I like to imagine what these glasses saw before they fell under the old workbench. I wonder how old they are and who bought and wore them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610167390573-GDFFSSY9SXDC0XJL3Q8K/IMG_7089.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.8.21 A Technological Step Up I’m not one to need the latest and greatest technology anymore, though I do like to stay semi-current. My iPhone XS served me well enough to not make me want to upgrade when subsequent models hit the market over the last couple of years. However, I upgraded to an iPhone 12 Pro this week due having upgrades available and a high trade-in value for the XS, and Ashley was still on an iPhone 7 from what felt like 20 years ago at this point. The feature I was most interested to try was Night Mode on the Pro’s camera. While not fully manual, you can set it to do long exposures if the conditions are dark enough while shooting in RAW. My bathroom has a small light in it, so I decided to try out the long exposure feature to see how well it worked. I didnt use a tripod for the 5 second exposure and was surprised by how sharp the computer ended up making the final image. I realize there’s probably some quick realignment happening in the processing of the image to account for hand shake. It was an impressive outcome for a more-complex-than-usual photo. Having come from the days of cellphone use before cameras were even included, it blows me away how great the cameras on phones have become. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610251694557-PZRV98WV69GDY6IA7S75/IMG_7094.jpg jan-2021 - 1.9.21 Special Seat Months ago, I made a wall-mounted vanity for Ashley to do her makeup and morning routine outside of our small bathroom. During that time, she was using a footstool as a chair, but the footstool was large and blocked the air duct to its right. With the temperatures dropping, this caused the flow of warm air in the room to lessen. Long story short, we looked for a chair at a ton of different places to replace the footstool and came up empty. So I built her a custom seat this afternoon using the same wood I used for the vanity. For this project, I really wanted to avoid seeing screws or nails on the finished product as much as possible. Except for some nail gun finishing nails on the legs, I achieved it while maintaining structural integrity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610338115226-WI4BY7RSU10TNXF7WFH6/IMG_7098.jpg jan-2021 - 1.10.21 Today’s Project My sister moved to Washington Courthouse, OH recently. She bought a house with many rooms for her, her significant other, and his daughter. The house needs a little updating in a few places (what homes don’t?), mainly on the cosmetic side of things. In my laundry room, I built an over-the-machine shelf to hold laundry detergent and towels. She liked the idea, so I went up to Washington Courthouse and made her a shelf of her own. The cabinet on the left side of the machines boxes in water pipes and valves—things she shouldn’t need to get to often, but will still allow her access should she need access. I designed the cabinet around the pipes to conceal them since they’re the first things you see on the wall when you walk into the room. While I wanted to do 45º cuts, my mitre saw would chew through only about seven inches, and these were 1x8 boards. Because the 45º setting wasn’t able to be mirrored on the saw/s settings, I decided to just make it easy and go with 90º cuts. Glad I did in the end because it made it far easier to make overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610415392472-C8XWFPF4USDYEMJ4OHML/NZ6_0471.jpg jan-2021 - 1.11.21 Is There a Draft in Here? I haven’t been to the barber in months. Ashley has been cutting my hair on the deck so I can avoid having my face close to someone else’s due to COVID. But it’s as frigid as can be at the moment, so cutting hair on the deck isn’t an option. Shaving my head for the second time and not worrying about getting a style right was the only logical next step. I love choosing not to have hair for a variety of reasons, but I definitely underestimated how much of a draft I’d feel just sitting in the house. The last time I did this, we were living in the apartment—a much newer, warmer space. With the exception of taking this photo (linked my phone with the camera so I could take it), I had a soft hat on all day out of necessity. Don’t shave your head in the middle of winter, kids. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610505594990-Q2BOK1MIUYYWEDSP21NC/NZ6_0475.jpg jan-2021 - 1.12.21 On the Market I photographed 111 E Elder today. It's going to stay a commercial rental space and has three interested parties according to the owner. It's relatively move-in-ready at the moment, so whoever does decide to set up shop won't have to majorly renovate it before opening their doors. Fingers crossed they can find a tenant. I don't like seeing empty storefronts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610598174883-7DRESMMX6ZK2LPJJY92I/IMG_7130.jpg jan-2021 - 1.13.21 Oddities In Dayton On a walk through Dayton, KY this morning, I passed this odd little building on the Avenue with a fun color scheme, some heavy vine action, and an odd plinth on the front lawn. Dayton is strange and filled with interesting stuff like this. I want to photograph more of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610656046641-0SP2NO099E1313MU7E0E/NZ6_0573-HDR.jpg jan-2021 - 1.14.21 Return to Forest Avenue I returned to the Forest Avenue house for updated photos this morning because the sun was shining. The realtor asked if I could go back on a sunny day to update the images because when I went last time, the sky was grey. This view is from the living room, which points due north and frames the city skyline perfectly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610769607769-C1FVEAXRCYYPQXJA4YJK/NZ6_0614.jpg jan-2021 - 1.15.21 Words to Live By Listened to the radio a lot today. There was a doctor on All Things Considered who advocated for unconditional love for family members caught up in a popular conspiracy theory whose name finds itself between the P and the R in the English alphabet. It’s easy for all of us to mock them and ridicule their decision to choose misinformation over facts, but the doctor said the best way to get through to those people isn’t to bully them or insult their intelligence. What they believe is based in emotion; the only way to combat what they believe must be done with counter emotion. Citing facts from the sources between-P-and-R claims are wrong will make your relative believe you’re a dupe who’s misinformed yourself. Offending them with accusations will make them retreat further into their madness. Accountability, she said, is with the leaders and the creators of the conspiracy who enabled this, not the family member who believed it. I’m not sure how much of what she said is believable, and thankfully I don’t know anyone personally who believes in that conspiracy, but I like the approach of unconditional love. Being a nice human makes everything better, even if just a little, tiny bit. You don’t have to fix or cure everything, but there’s never a situation where being kind isn’t helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610859174320-BFZQCJ9ZOCEEZ970M7LT/IMG_7161.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.16.21 Quiet Night I spent the majority of the day building shelf inserts for improved kitchen storage, making plant stands, and messing around with my new router. I am never truly happy these days for a variety of reasons, namely because of the pandemic and my lack of social life, but working in my workshop of little projects makes me feel better while doing them. When I have those days, though, I don’t really think about photography. So tonight, before I go to bed, I tried out the night mode on my phone and snapped a photo of the yard behind ours. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610941197980-KTMVVSNSVZ7YQ4O9VMW5/IMG_7165.jpg jan-2021 - 1.17.21 Mobile Solutions Built a combination mobile cutting station and storage rack today. Around noon, I got the idea to make what is essentially a mobile work station and put it together in the garage. Because I do the majority of my cutting with a mitre saw, I have been using sawhorses with a piece of wood as a table in the garage instead of using it on my workbench because the saw throws so much dust into the air. The garage is far easier to clean up after the job is finished due to there being very little in it, but it’s a hassle to set up the sawhorses and board every time I use the saw. This allows me to wheel my saw and tools out on one mobile cart when I need to cut without setting anything else up. Everything is contained in one unit on wheels (that lock when I need them to). And because I still don’t know how else I want to use the space in my workshop, the storage in the cart is great because I can move everything around where I want it. The flexibility and utility really improve my whole setup considerably. I may mess around and put a piece of 1x2 around the top to make the work surface look a little nicer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611023579509-C1WFZWHDV1ARAPGPSFFO/IMG_7170.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.18.21 Bird Feeder Ashley saw a bird feeder online and was going to buy it, but after looking at how basic the design was, I told her I could make it instead. So tonight I did just that. I used spare wood and plexiglass leftover from other projects to build the housing. The black chain, hook, and birdseed required a trip to Lowe’s, but overall the whole thing was cheap to make. There’s a caged suet hanging from the bottom of it, too. Just hope a squirrel doesn’t take the whole thing out. I reinforced the grip of the chain to the hook with a black zip tie, so hopefully that maintains its balance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611098551994-N274WOL3J1VN4VMIB5H4/IMG_7188.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.19.21 Midwest Winter Winter in the Midwest is a drug. It can go days, even weeks, without sustained direct sunlight, muting my soul’s chant to keep going. I want to sleep, and when I can’t sleep, I want to hide away in a windowless room to open up the possibility that maybe it’s sunny beyond those walls if I can’t see it isn’t. And then we’ll get a sunny, beautiful day that reminds me of the little things I knew I missed but didn’t realize how much I truly did. Sunlight on the bathroom wall, a patch of radiant hardwood floor, a reflection in the eyes off a glass picture on a shelf, a golden and purple sky on an old building as I take an evening walk, sunlight through the fabric of an American flag; it’s all so beautiful and I take it for granted in the summer months. Only when we’re deprived of it does it feel so potent when it returns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611204694994-24MO0SFNP8AP3JRJB652/NZ6_0653.jpg jan-2021 - 1.20.21 Return to Pride The White House and the seat of our federal government have finally been filled with adults for the first time in four years. I can fly the country’s flag on my home without feeling ashamed again, and I’m thankful for the step forward we’ve taken today. Time to get back to what’s right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611275632123-PCCAQDTGRVOYCRXEGIBZ/IMG_7215.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.21.21 I Am 35 Today I turned 35 today. Took the day off. Walked to the Honduran coffee shop. Walked the dog. Cleaned the house. Got a COVID test. Are Skyline Chili. Had lemon cake. Built a shelf for under the sink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611411678455-887E669OWVTX3TSA12YM/IMG_7236.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.22.21 Gettin’ Goetta Had to get some goetta from Eckerlin’s this morning and stopped to get a photo of the approach to Findlay since it was such a nice day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611543342243-5K5STAYOYAOJDRGJ5TGM/NZ6_0697.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.23.21 Red River Gorge We went to Red River Gorge last night and rented a cabin on the mountain. We hiked 7 miles today, then went back to the cabin to relax. This is a four minute exposure of the cabin under moonlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611543338188-GDU1MI7Y70MX3YEMSL0H/IMG_7295.jpeg jan-2021 - 1.24.21 Optimizing Existing Furniture After getting back to Cincinnati, I immediately resumed workshop activities by building a plant stand and this piece of furniture that’s made to custom fit an existing filing cabinet. The cabinet is this ugly grey thing I bought years ago that I’ve always wanted to spruce up but could never figure out exactly how to do so. Ashley throws a bunch of loose papers that need to be sorted onto the top of the filing cabinet, so I built a frame around the cabinet with tiny little half-inch slots where she can organize her loose documents that need to be filed while simultaneously providing an attractive slatted aesthetic. The structure is made more stable once the cabinet is inserted thanks to the tight fit and base board that pulls the bottom of the walls together. I also experimented with wood glue and joining dowels to avoid showing screws and nails so the whole thing would look more finished. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611584992910-QLV4RPOQYY06DJUIZ2IL/NZ6_0707.jpg jan-2021 - 1.25.21 They’ve Found It Last week, I made a bird feeder and hung it on a hook in the backyard. For days, the birds ignored it. Friday, however, they started congregating on it. And now the tree rodents have discovered it, too. They hop on the birdbath and stretch over to it, hopping up once they’ve gotten ahold of its side. Initially, I was annoyed that the squirrels were getting into the birdseed, but honestly, if it makes their little lives better, so be it. I cannot imagine being an outdoor creature with it being so cold and gloomy all the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611717732543-J40VIADIFRHBYNXWB5BE/Oakley+Fish+House-Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg jan-2021 - 1.26.21 Not a Vampire This image is actually two in one. I stood in the center of the mirror to get the foreground straight-on, then turned around and took a photo of the wall behind me. Then, in Photoshop, I removed myself from the mirror and replaced that area with the image of the reflected wall. In the end, I was able to simulate taking an impossible photo. I made this for the architect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611887325474-651VSNP91PH04LPV97RU/IMG_7325.jpg jan-2021 - 1.27.21 Repurposed Content I shot a coworking space in Brighton for work today, and in the men’s bathroom, there was a sink that was once used in a darkroom from somewhere else. It has a beautiful stained basin from all the chemicals that were flushed through it over the years. I thought it was interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611887327718-W1JJB4IANWP4JNIMCRB6/IMG_7368.jpg jan-2021 - 1.28.21 Remnants Went back to Peters Cartridge today to get photos of finished common areas for an upcoming piece on Refined, and while there, I snapped a photo of an exterior door that’s obviously no longer in use. Seeing that place teeming with life is so strange but in the best way possible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611947750632-UCVJ0FZ59S3BD40SJ2DR/NZ6_0873.jpg jan-2021 - 1.29.21 New Digs Ronny’s moving into an apartment above the Bay Horse tomorrow. I met up with him on my lunch hour and he gave me a tour of his place before everything’s moved in. We’re going to work on building him some custom shelves and such so maximize the use of his space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612137608731-ILBBM8XE4D28D95588A4/IMG_7393.jpg jan-2021 - 1.30.21 The Weasel Watch My sister’s dog, Luna, is a little wiener dog. She wanted Luna to be able to see outside at the house, so I built her this little platform with a cabinet built into the bottom. She has stairs already that will go against the left side of the cabinet. I built the cabinet to fit the dimensions of those stairs. My sister loves Lord of the Rings, so I made the door to the cabinet round, like a hobbit door. They both liked it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612137609099-R7VNJA9S6U1Y4P38C7UJ/IMG_7456.jpg jan-2021 - 1.31.21 History Revealed 3CDC purchased “the Chong building” on Race Street Downtown and started removing the brick facade. Underneath is a beautiful Victorian framework that was hidden for decades. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/feb-2021 daily 0.75 2021-03-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612234756338-ER7T0I0JSNFD82E4OLCS/IMG_7470-2.jpg feb-2021 - 2.1.21 Think Like a Proton As seen in Galactic Chicken while waiting on carryout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612234756338-ER7T0I0JSNFD82E4OLCS/IMG_7470-2.jpg feb-2021 - 2.1.21 Think Like a Proton As seen in Galactic Chicken while waiting on carryout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612280926445-0PNBGV8ABUQ3JBYNZ6W3/DSC_2075.jpg feb-2021 - 2.2.21 A Bird’s Life These starlings on a telephone wire looked pretty in the sun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612389251783-ZQOZNERIIIQ73BZQV5N9/IMG_7482.jpg feb-2021 - 2.3.21 A Stinky Visitor These stupid stink bugs keep getting into the house and flapping around quiet rooms. I scoop them up and throw them back out to winter as punishment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612553420532-UK4LUQ8T94KAS7MWSKQW/IMG_7488.jpg feb-2021 - 2.4.21 TOOL WORLD I spend too much time and money at Lowe’s, but dammit, I love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612585666512-MS4YWXOXH7IJGT5P36Y3/NZ6_1038.jpg feb-2021 - 2.5.21 Winter Sunset Returned to the house I’ve shot twice for a real estate listing to get sunset shots of the city. This house has a great view of Downtown from the backyard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612660362046-DLTL2F81RQSTNT9YPOCR/IMG_7499.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.6.21 Back to Basics I made a camera obscura today out of wood, a convex lens, and a piece of tracing paper. It was fun to see the science of transmitting an image onto a flat surface first hand in its most basic form. The viewing port is large enough to put my phone up to it and take a photo of the image it creates. The image is actually reversed in reality, but I flipped it in post to illustrate the scene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612754515568-V1YW1A7QZZQ5A2XTX8LM/IMG_7515.jpg feb-2021 - 2.7.21 Don’t Look Behind You… We took a walk and checked out the high school’s track and field area. There was a mural of a tiger punching through the wall, so we had little Myrtle sit in front of it while we took her photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612845834448-7DEQ5NHL0L6TMQ35BDMV/IMG_7540.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.8.21 Oh I was building a bird house in the workshop for the last five hours. The window in there doesn’t actually let me see clearly outside, and since it’s been dark for hours, I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening outside. I came upstairs and BOOM—at least four inches of snow and continuously falling. Myrtle wanted to go check it out with me on the porch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613015241333-RBDMM1JN0BZEHVOKNZDC/IMG_7551.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.9.21 There’s a Staircase Under Here Somewhere It snowed an ungodly amount last night. We woke up to eight inches this morning. Everything was covered. Whatever work the plows did wasn’t enough. I got out early to shovel our driveway, alley, stairs, and sidewalk. While out there, I did the neighbors’ properties as well, and one of the neighbors and I tag teamed the public staircase that leads to Taylor. I was exhausted by the end of the morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613015238012-A7G6N9W8WY7CX2EC1JD1/IMG_7593_jpg.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.10.21 Pretty Market While on a shoot near Findlay Market today, it started snowing again. This time I wasn’t at home to enjoy it. While the market was beautiful, it took me a half hour just to get from OTR to Bellevue because traffic was so slow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613190981622-W5OORYBW3TNRDAR9N4Z3/IMG_7615.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.12.21 He Chonk This massive icicle formed on the roof. Since there’s no gutter there, it dramatically grew in scale over night. I ended up shattering it later in the afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613190983683-DEV9LR51RDGQWPWL2YWA/IMG_7605.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.11.21 Miamitown I went out to Miamitown to do a piece on an art studio and stumbled upon this beautiful, dilapidated building on my way back to the car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613270673506-5O990WSYYUH1N15HVLJV/IMG_7626.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.13.21 Dropping Off I helped three different friends accomplish projects today. The first in my list was Downtown. I made a friend a few things for his apartment above the Bayhorse, and while dropping it all off at the door to take upstairs, I snapped a photo of the scene. The back of the old Fort Washington Hotel has a great faded ad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613337709906-OB23KTKNBOHNMWXGVIO0/NZ6_1200.jpg feb-2021 - 2.14.21 Only Half There I’m tired of being at my computer. Despite building a nice desk and improving what I already have, I rarely ever want to be here. What was once my hub for creativity has turned into a place that represents irritation, stagnation, and a constant reminder of my own failings. I’m burned out on several things that keep me glued to this device to the point where I relish the chance to clean a bathtub or rearrange chemicals under the kitchen sink over spending additional time in front of these screens. I’ve said before how much more satisfying building with my hands is than anything I do on the computer, but it goes even beyond that. Literally any physical activity that keeps me away from this desk is preferable. I do not know how to rekindle or refresh my passion for what I used to do. Time off merely reminds me of how much happier I am when not working at this desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613449152980-9061CAE3FUN9NABS20PK/IMG_7802.jpg feb-2021 - 2.15.21 A Surprising Adventure Today I did something that made me feel good. I left my home in Bellevue around 2:30 PM, walked Downtown, and spent the next several hours documenting the city under a level 2 snow emergency. Very few cars were on the road, and even fewer people were out walking. The city was quiet and calm, save for the frozen rain pelting me in the face the entire time. I took my Z6 and my iPhone and walked to Mt. Adams, then to Eden Park, then to Mt. Auburn and Prospect Hill, then to Over-the-Rhine, and finally to Downtown. Travis joined me for a while before heading home a couple of hours later. Ronny and Egypt said hello and walked with me for a couple of blocks, too. I visited many major landmarks: Music Hall, Fountain Square, GABP, and finally the Roebling Bridge, where I snapped an accidentally eerie photo of a woman who looks like a ghost trudging through the snow in the foreground. Without her, this photo would be less impactful, so thank you, random woman, for conspiring to make this image better. Overall, I walked about 9 miles over 5 hours. My beard was a solid sheet of ice by the time I hobbled up my front steps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613618738765-BECPCH0IF7PMK2AFNNPQ/IMG_7860.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.16.21 Snow-Covered Just a shot from our bedroom. Love the untouched snow on all the roofs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613618736041-IJM5Q7ZRLC64YTMM202U/IMG_7883.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.17.21 Persistent This bastard has been my project all week. I knock him down, he re-forms. Repeat the process every day. Only rising temps will rid us of him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613883121289-WWUL1OB8X6RTUC6CAQ29/IMG_7905.jpg feb-2021 - 2.18.21 Landing Confirmed Watched NASA’s Perseverance land on Mars while I worked this afternoon. Seeing the scientists and engineers erupt into excitement upon confirmation that it was safe on the surface was so fun to see. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613883124072-UHD3YMS4IZ9K613ZE1WY/IMG_7927.jpg feb-2021 - 2.19.21 Snowy Sunset Just a nice winter scene in Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613883126851-68K82BTM5R42CCM2OAQ0/IMG_7938.jpg feb-2021 - 2.20.21 ReUse Center We went to South Fairmount today to get a couple of old metal cabinets for a project we’re putting together, and the ReUse Center is truly something to behold in person. I will be spending more time here in the near future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613963734545-UFXRIXTVDDOENULL9ADB/IMG_7965.jpeg feb-2021 - 2.21.21 New Point of Interest Yesterday’s trip to the ReUse Center was today’s DIY project. I stood these metal cabinets up and affixed them to two long 2x4s, which were then screwed into the wall. Then I made a little base upon which both cabinets sit so as to place all of the weight on the legs of the base instead of the wall. I raised the whole thing up off the floor to avoid it getting wet in the event the house ever floods. We’re building a stockpile of emergency items, such as a wind-up radio and water, in the event we lose power for several days like the people of Texas did this past week. I do not expect the entire cabinet to be filled with emergency items, but it’s a good thing to have handy in the event anything happens. We also put a ton of magnets on the front and sides of it to dress it up a little. We’re both happy with how it turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614142028256-UDB0F5LCS2B9XGMOR5PH/Bi%27%27s+Funwheel-1.jpg feb-2021 - 2.22.21 Bill’s Funwheel Local 91.7 WVXU broadcaster Bill Rinehart has a catchphrase he frequently uses while doing the news in the late afternoon. He announces debris in the road when it impairs traffic in a signature way that many who listen enjoy. It’s become a running joke with listeners of the station, so I spent a couple days building a wheel with some of the things that could (and have) been in the road. I painted little illustrations on each pie piece and wood-burned his catchphrase into the base. Colored pencil was used to do the news chevron at the bottom, and a white paint pen was used to do the lettering on either side of it. I will give it to him tomorrow. Hope he likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614142028255-E9D1HSNI2MHGN7JJ2TPZ/IMG_8016.jpg feb-2021 - 2.23.21 Cincinnati Weather A few days ago, you couldn’t walk on the sidewalks because of all the snow and ice. Nearly all of it’s gone because of rising temperatures. We decided to take the dog down to Darkness, drink a couple beers, and enjoy the mild weather while we have it. I didn’t end up taking a single photo with my camera because we lost light too quickly. Looking very forward to spring and summer when we can be outdoors more often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488080810-J4FWYB302LZU66N8CS0W/IMG_8033.jpg feb-2021 - 2.24.21 Around the Bend Had to go get some exteriors of these apartments for an upcoming piece and waited until the streetcar rounded the corner to add a little motion to the otherwise static image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488080453-39D09Q85IKN903U03TC6/IMG_8123.jpg feb-2021 - 2.25.21 A Trip to the Museum I went to both the Taft Museum and CAM today to photograph two different exhibits for an upcoming piece on Refined. Ericka met me there and is writing both pieces. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488083429-MVEYPYXNB9KS4CKR314C/NZ6_1429.jpg feb-2021 - 2.26.21 Goodnight Moon Room Months of relentless nostalgic feelings led me to a truly remarkable quirk of NKY today. I should wait until the piece is up, but I can't help it: a bookstore has a room dedicated to Goodnight Moon & it's set up almost exactly like it is in the book. It's been here for 30 years. If I had children, I would take them here after reading them the book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488082426-LZD2XYZIPC5WQ3GAW5OJ/IMG_8190.jpg feb-2021 - 2.27.21 Stop For Coffee Deeper Roots opened a new spot on West Fourth Downtown, so we stopped in to get a cup before our eye appointments. I really can’t wait to spend time hanging out in here once COVID is no longer a constant threat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614565319659-U4YMDT5N3RIRTZ87UROP/IMG_8200.jpg feb-2021 - 2.28.21 Keeping My Spot Warm For Me Early this morning, at 12:49 AM, I went to get into bed and Myrtle was sleeping in my spot like a human. She was using my pillow for her head and everything. She knows the drill, though, so as soon as I made my way over to her, she got up and moved. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/mar-2021 daily 0.75 2021-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895173273-MZD5F9M53N551OAJXTRU/IMG_8213.jpg mar-2021 - 3.1.21 Art With Heat Messed around with the wood-burning pen for a little bit in the workshop this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895173273-MZD5F9M53N551OAJXTRU/IMG_8213.jpg mar-2021 - 3.1.21 Art With Heat Messed around with the wood-burning pen for a little bit in the workshop this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895174387-LKBELJQZQ3YHVQFDZAK5/IMG_8214.jpg mar-2021 - 3.2.21 The Little Things I really love when the sun streams into the living room through the stained glass windows and catches the tip of the plant on the mantle. It’s those little things that make the every day beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895183486-JDYOFQCD66C39TCM7W4F/IMG_8228.jpg mar-2021 - 3.3.21 High Water The river’s up. It was to be expected, though. With all the snow and rain we’ve had, it’s a wonder it didn’t flood sooner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614909039573-9R0N0L8XYDMP05OQF6OU/IMG_8245.jpeg mar-2021 - 3.4.21 Moment of Zen Woke up to sunshine. That was about as good as it got today. Pictured is sunset. This afternoon, I had some news come my way that I can’t talk about here, but needless to say it was less than positive. Feeling like I need a nice long rest to just figure things out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614998868337-3VTY5OKF2AIGY2Y89QMO/IMG_8266.jpeg mar-2021 - 3.5.21 Hard Reset Today was a horrible day. Need to reset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615092984733-ZPJLPTYWL8MZ5N4D504W/IMG_8282.jpeg mar-2021 - 3.6.21 Little Details Got coffee at Deeper Roots this morning. Along the path of walking there, I noticed this little series of details on the south side of Fourth Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615421996502-W34DBCH5225EVY38VL6B/IMG_8308.jpg mar-2021 - 3.7.21 My Girls The girls’ wholesome ritual before bed every night: Ashley gets into bed and Myrtle sits on her. After a long day of napping, it’s all Myrtle wants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615421996495-ZE1PKEFM1USKB5QLHFQ2/NZ6_1694-HDR.jpg mar-2021 - 3.8.21 Lee Street I photographed the inside (and outside) of this 3-unit house in Covington for a realtor. I did the interior yesterday and made morning/night shots today. It’s in a spot with a lot of electrical wire and posts blocking an otherwise clear line of sight, but I like the way it looks at night with all the elements together. The warm streetlight really makes the whiteness of the bulbs inside look extra cool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615422000050-GC48ZYY41WP6KRGLRMW7/IMG_8318.jpg mar-2021 - 3.9.21 Ross Street This reminds me of the Family Matters opening for some reason. It feels appropriately “neighborhood-y,” with old houses on an old street in an old part of the area by the river. With the sun going down, it just makes me think of summer and how nice it’ll be when sunsets like this happen at 8:30 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615422001268-ZMKBJQ4WPCR5II62M89H/IMG_8341.jpg mar-2021 - 3.10.21 Chris Glass Chris is endlessly fascinating to me. He’s incredibly good at photography and design—so much so, it makes me wonder what I need to do to reach a level even remotely close to where he is. I love talking to him because he’s able to make me think about concepts in new ways I really haven’t before. Today, we talked about memory (among many things) and how we both struggle with recalling specifics like names and the like, and how our respective daily photo projects are a guide to coaxing those memories back. I told him about how I struggle remembering the plot of movies and shows, and he talked about how my brain might be compartmentalizing that information in a way that suggests it’s not as important as other things. That actually never occurred to me, and it made me feel a little better about my poor memory overall. Perhaps I can’t remember most of <insert movie here> because it’s not as important to me as remembering the time I went into the Cincinnati subway with permission from City Hall. I always come away from our conversations feeling inspired. Not many others do that for me like Chris. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615479463280-IITPWTAWJT2SEGMEYBW2/IMG_8342.jpg mar-2021 - 3.11.21 The Price of Good Light Went to Urbana to get my cup of coffee this morning. Ashley and Myrtle went along for the ride. As we walked back to our car, we strode up 13th Street and I saw this beautifully lit scene. I kept walking. “Fuck it, I don’t have anywhere to be right now” popped into my head, and I turned around to snap a quick photo. When the sun’s low on the horizon, it makes inner city buildings look exquisite. All it cost me was 10 steps backward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615823219951-WW6CR7037AVX14RB8FTM/NZ6_2020.jpg mar-2021 - 3.12.21 Jake I’ve been working with Jake on a project for a year and a half, and it’s finally coming to an end soon. While on the job today, his family dropped by. Watching him interact with his girls was heartwarming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615823131374-AW5V4NN3LR21SHO90XUJ/IMG_8364.jpg mar-2021 - 3.13.21 Relearning Social Events I went to an outdoor wedding for a couple I didn’t know tonight. Ashley went to high school with the bride, but they live in DC, so I’ve never met her. The wedding was difficult for me because after a year of not being around a large gathering of people all at once, it was nigh impossible to quiet the alarm bells in my brain and relax. The noise coupled with the social expectations of being present and engaged was too much for me. I retreated to the bathroom stall once to get a moment alone, and another time I just went outside to calm my nerves. I was thrilled to go home after it was socially acceptable so I could decompress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615823267235-M0EKBH2I0EHH74O3CMUW/IMG_8368.jpg mar-2021 - 3.14.21 Julian & Kokenge Company, Then & Now While at the Taft Museum of Art, at the Walk This Way exhibit, I saw this postcard of the Julian & Kokenge Company from around 1906. The description read: “In 1906, Cincinnati was abuzz with talk of the new factory built by Julian & Kokenge, makers of ladies’ fine shoes. Constructed at the corner of Fourth and Lawrence Streets and catty-corner to Lytle Park, it was one of the most modern plants in the city. … The Julian & Kokenge building towered over the two-story Literary Club nearby, as it still does today.” After leaving the museum, I walked over and found a similar vantage point to showcase how it has (and hasn’t changed) in a hundred years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616030589109-S45X2QMYRB3ZUY55SUAH/IMG_8383.jpg mar-2021 - 3.15.21 Great-Great Grandparents I do not remember what my grandmother (Sherry) told me their names were, and for that I feel ashamed. Let’s call them John and Jane. What I do remember is Sherry telling me that these were her paternal grandparents and that she wasn’t sure if it was an arranged marriage or not. According to Sherry, Jane wasn’t happy in the marriage and often told Irma, Sherry’s mother and my great grandmother, that she wished she’d never gotten married. This would apparently upset Irma greatly because of what it implied about her own existence. When John died in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918—an event that has received increased attention over the last year—Sherry said that Jane was angry that she was left with two children and no one to bring home the bacon. It’s such an odd thing to think these two may never have been truly happy together in their time, and perhaps this was one of the only times in their lives that their photograph was taken. Was this their wedding day? Where did they go to have their photo taken? Who was the photographer behind the lens? There are so many questions that will never be answered about these two. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616030602434-40MMFBDUW223MUB6KEQ9/IMG_8393.jpg mar-2021 - 3.16.21 Porch Hangs Erica and Tyler are in from DC. They’re staying with Erica’s mother, Sue, in Florence. Because they are good people and we do not get to see them enough, they were kind enough to come over and sit with us (from a safe distance) on the porch. They brought Louie, their adorable little hound dog who quivered in fear both times the train roared by. We ate pizza, drank beer, and talked about everything from our daily lives to politics until the sun went down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616030604699-ZXQDME1N4R8RFGNIUFQW/IMG_8421.jpg mar-2021 - 3.17.21 Trying Not to Let It Get To Me The last time I’ll ever see my office at Local 12. Today I cleaned out what little remained in this room. The depressing manifest included two dead plants, a heavily worked PC keyboard from 2008 that unexpectedly retired in 2020, some files from four years ago, all three thank you cards I ever received, four press lanyards, a business card holder without relevant business cards to hold, a thermos with pre-pandemic water in it, and a pen. I left the station mug. Before I exited, I looked at my whiteboard with goals I’d written in black marker in 2018. Each goal was a number: 2 million, 2.5 million, 3 million, 3.5 million, 4 million. Every one of them was crossed out in red. I’d achieved great things with this publication even if SBG didn’t agree. Sales wasn’t my priority; I did my part of the job, and I did it with everything I had in me. It was part of my identity. What Sales failed to do isn’t a failure I share. Recognizing that is crucial to getting over this. While they may still be involved, they’ve lost the soul that made Cincinnati Refined what it was up until recently—Katie, the freelancers, myself, and the trust we gained from our readers along the way. I’ll never root against them, but decency doesn’t come with an obligation to root for everyone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616462530535-U96JET3LQ9KB06KPVSD9/NZ6_2144.jpg mar-2021 - 3.18.21 Relieved of Duty Because there is too much to say here, I wrote about it in this blog post: https://bit.ly/3cMxNbf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616462529038-JWH45SBF5OX7801BB8YI/IMG_8508.jpg mar-2021 - 3.19.21 A Beautiful Door Today’s a new day. I’m striking out on my own. No more page views to worry about. No more corporate entity letting me work myself into being laid off without warning. Today I did a freelance job at Findlay Market and passed this beautiful door at 1830 Race Street. Like it was ripped from a castle or something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616365564962-ELNAC4DB837WKJ04KKHZ/IMG_8513.jpg mar-2021 - 3.20.21 Every Hour’s Golden Hour We have a yellow stained glass window on the staircase that I can never get enough of. Every time the light hits it (usually in the morning), I admire the warm glow it produces on the stairs and wall below it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616365566629-T8XUG5W85O09LCGNV6PY/IMG_8544.jpg mar-2021 - 3.21.21 Doin’ It Myself Working in the yard is cathartic. After two trips to Lowe’s and absolutely roasting the top of my head because I keep forgetting I am bald now, I successfully completed two outdoor projects and I feel satisfied. One of the projects isn’t photogenic, but this one—a fire pit I dug and constructed in the back yard—is. We had a metal fire cage that was left by the previous owner, but the bottom rusted out after the last bonfire, so I junked it and made this. Going to test it out tomorrow, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616462113131-G08VOK0Y21RPRXVBZ5TK/1010+Community+Room+%26+Roof+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg mar-2021 - 3.22.21 Rooftop Shoot I was hired by GBBN to make a few photos of people on the rooftop at 1010 On the Rhine this evening. My contact, the other “Cincy Phil” on Instagram, gathered several people from the GBBN office to be the people in the photos. When we got there, a woman was reading her book and Phil asked her if she’d like to participate in the photoshoot. She agreed, and we made photos with her and the others in various places around the rooftop to showcase its splendor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616541700999-AIZRD917LH1C2UFZ7CR7/summer+fanny+pack-035-Edit.jpeg mar-2021 - 3.23.21 Summer Ready Bought a fanny pack with credit we had left over at REI. I don’t like putting my wallet, keys, and phone in my pocket during the summer, and when I don’t have a camera bag, I have to suck it up. First-world problems, I know. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to compile a few items and make a little spread. I digitally enhanced basically everything in this photo to make it look better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616727429217-7VG6CM6VI0KBBOXKKQRF/NZ6_2339-Pano.jpg mar-2021 - 3.24.21 Old Married Couple I have no evidence to prove it, but this pair on 8th Street in Covington will likely not stay in this condition for long. Seems like it’s a street seeing some change, and with that change will likely come a remodel for these. Glad I got ‘em before they got a fresh coat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616727427057-W6XCMO9D9OV10LVOMTOK/NZ6_2477-HDR.jpg mar-2021 - 3.25.21 Lee Street I spent the entire day working on a single photoshoot. This house on Lee Street is going on the market soon, so I did exteriors yesterday while it was nice before returning to do the interior today. I cannot tell you how much color correction I had to do this this one. Blue, natural light and warm incandescent lighting make for a headache in post, but when it’s all done, it’s worth it. Really pumped to send these to the owner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616823742704-R37VIUXIXKVB2WB0AKHA/IMG_8636.jpeg mar-2021 - 3.26.21 Pretzel Snoot Just having fun with pretzels and wide angle camera mode. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616888828738-ZVCOX4CCSUBUU0P0GHNY/IMG_8658.jpeg mar-2021 - 3.27.21 Evening Light Light on the mantle. Not feeling great at the moment. Rio died today. She was an old dog but she went suddenly downhill over the last week and my parents had to put her down after exhausting several medicines and treatments. It was clear she was never going to get better. I know her suffering and my parents’ suffering is over, but it still sucks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616950949766-I68SOE66Z8XGFNN22GFW/IMG_8665.jpeg mar-2021 - 3.28.21 Clothesline Laundry Myrtle ate a stick and barfed all over the bed the next morning. Our comforter and a big blanket of hers took the brunt of it. Both were too big for our washing machine, so a trip to the laundromat was needed. I had to take a photo on the sly because it’s a small place and everyone in there was maskless. I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617243317343-AAZYJUTTBP9T6SQCYSFW/IMG_8681.jpg mar-2021 - 3.29.21 The Tailored Man Another job in Findlay Market this morning. Mondays at the market are weird without all the shoppers. It was a ghost town occupied only by city workers and clean-up personnel. As I walked back to my parked car, I stopped to admire The Tailored Man. I’ve always liked this one because it doesn’t look like its taller neighbors. The half-round terracotta roof tiles give the squat little building an exotic look. The well-worn mural on the side stands in stark contrast to the newer ArtWorks murals on nearby structures, giving it a wholly different vibe than its neighbors. With morning light baking on its facade, it looks wonderful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617243322334-5VYNWTPX94PCXB1JNHKM/NZ6_2915-HDR-Edit.jpg mar-2021 - 3.30.21 Wallace Shot this home in Wallace Woods today for Rebecca. It was apparently built in the early 1910s. It feels nice to have color in photos again, and that purple tree next to the house couldn’t have looked better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617243317346-0BYHAGOF8U0K8Y0N51ZA/IMG_8689.jpg mar-2021 - 3.31.21 The Columns Jake and Miriam wanted to get cracking on The Columns’ Instagram account, so today I did their first post (@thecolumnscincy). I shared a few in-process photos of it and posted it to my own channels to drive people to it. Hopefully they find my involvement beneficial to growing their audience. I think this place is going to be a big deal for weddings and gatherings once it’s open. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/apr-2021 daily 0.75 2021-05-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617301100521-XMGJL7Z6NDNGW7R9J6IK/IMG_8692.jpg apr-2021 - 4.1.2021 CUF Photographed 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617301100521-XMGJL7Z6NDNGW7R9J6IK/IMG_8692.jpg apr-2021 - 4.1.2021 CUF Photographed 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617414219450-APZQH7X68786WMQSHIQX/NZ6_3113.jpg apr-2021 - 4.2.21 A Hamilton Barn Drove 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617508896219-R91YS7DUPHXC8CGG7WD8/NZ6_3226.jpg apr-2021 - 4.3.21 Matt’s Reno Matt 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617577078121-QNC1280R5YF502OE4TS3/IMG_8737.jpeg apr-2021 - 4.4.21 Time For a Cut Myrtle 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617676755038-W97YQ9KPWKN1O1PGAHBD/NZ6_3428.jpg apr-2021 - 4.5.21 Pooch Perch I 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617761203734-8DMQJFPB70YW74B3PR5L/NZ6_3458-HDR-2.jpg apr-2021 - 4.6.21 The Coveted Shot Returning 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617932408997-NPZL69RB8DCGUNOVZNL6/NZ6_3470.jpg apr-2021 - 4.7.21 A Necessary Return Yesterday, 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617932409270-TN0F4N2B2G7SB1U4CZVW/NZ6_3556.jpg apr-2021 - 4.8.21 Tim & Kim Photographed 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618060252198-V1CG3TJ09K9KE7S7ELWS/NZ6_3907.jpeg apr-2021 - 4.9.21 Motor City Went to Detroit. Will be here until Sunday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618251481941-868YS6FBV0OSKMFZHU6L/NZ6_3964.jpg apr-2021 - 4.10.21 Lee Plaza We 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618251482517-D2T39L4I90K3GN4WIZH8/NZ6_4115.jpg apr-2021 - 4.11.21 Boblo Island Amusement Park Canada 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618285590445-AOWBRQ28XN4TZ8M5YV68/NZ6_4147.jpg apr-2021 - 4.12.21 New Glass After 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618369671537-781VDN9484BTGW1S24FB/NZ6_4210.jpg apr-2021 - 4.13.21 Foiled Plans Went 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618505494409-ZJ4G0ESYGFGZZ5OFTWW6/NZ6_4318.jpg apr-2021 - 4.14.21 A New Spot Cody 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618521451366-M8P0HC71ZMSEXIICDQ49/NZ6_4351.jpg apr-2021 - 4.15.21 Under Pressure While 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 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618627226098-O304ZSOABB612UGYV15J/NZ6_4635.jpg apr-2021 - 4.16.21 Cat In the Pack This 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618714107173-LMWWWN2DJ7YERFVDMGXZ/NZ6_5005.jpeg apr-2021 - 4.17.21 Polka Dot Alley We 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618798215401-XOYJ6I5LTFY3GZFWOSOX/NZ6_5032-2.jpg apr-2021 - 4.18.21 Blissfully Naive I’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618879358183-5M77E775AC9HYZII7ZGO/NZ6_5214.jpg apr-2021 - 4.19.21 Have 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618948648242-A3WUY58GD4EA90I1E9XT/NZ6_5275-HDR.jpg apr-2021 - 4.20.21 A Walk In the Cloudless Sky Hello 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619054976310-59I7IVHFGYUJO8E8X0Z5/NZ6_5321.jpg apr-2021 - 4.21.21 Soul-Soothing Work Since 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404825624-Z1DWWD39EKQWMIB3WH0B/Midway+Cafe+-+Phil+Armstrong-9.jpg apr-2021 - 4.22.21 Back to It Today 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404821427-4BOZ9WHKVNC8PNQ8SH41/IMG_9214.jpg apr-2021 - 4.23.21 Yard Work My 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404821428-JQY1EOCDWXK6QQMHW10I/IMG_9223.jpg apr-2021 - 4.24.21 Good Night, Hard Morning Ashley 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404824282-E1QRDYVE7U0H8NAL8AO5/IMG_9236.jpg apr-2021 - 4.25.21 Clean Laundry Down on the Farm Cody’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619488625531-5211OJUWPZALQQB5OMMO/20210426-NZ6_6966-HDR.jpg apr-2021 - 4.26.21 Empty Houses and Podcasts I 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619618891554-LSSB9K3DJQ3P070JGCY1/NZ6_7086-Edit.jpg apr-2021 - 4.28.21 A Neon Visitor Found 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619656577585-83KZOFE033TFE4STGEMQ/NZ6_7120-HDR.jpg apr-2021 - 4.28.21 Surprise Window I 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619748451776-XVNJNMCK8Y7NOGXBYJQP/IMG_9320.jpg apr-2021 - 4.29.21 Wasted Day 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619927651929-DRP8COW9XJVH28ROTPGE/IMG_9329.jpg apr-2021 - 4.30.21 The Bay Horse Is Back Over 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. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/may-2021 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619927728523-TO2YIP8B9BC4ZE5G4M31/NZ6_9288.jpg may-2021 - 5.1.21 West End Pride Had the opportunity to photograph FC Cincinnati Foundation’s West End Pride teams kick the soccer ball around inside FC Cincinnati’s new stadium this afternoon and evening. Ronny needed help photographing this event because he broke his arm weeks ago, so I said I’d fill in. It was a volunteer gig, but I don’t mind because the work was so enjoyable. Seeing the kids have a good time running up and down the field and just generally being kids about all of it made the day fun. At the end of the evening, after all the kids finished their games, they had a little “kick around” with preschoolers that absolutely melted my heart. It was honestly one of the cutest things I think I’ve seen lately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619927728523-TO2YIP8B9BC4ZE5G4M31/NZ6_9288.jpg may-2021 - 5.1.21 West End Pride Had the opportunity to photograph FC Cincinnati Foundation’s West End Pride teams kick the soccer ball around inside FC Cincinnati’s new stadium this afternoon and evening. Ronny needed help photographing this event because he broke his arm weeks ago, so I said I’d fill in. It was a volunteer gig, but I don’t mind because the work was so enjoyable. Seeing the kids have a good time running up and down the field and just generally being kids about all of it made the day fun. At the end of the evening, after all the kids finished their games, they had a little “kick around” with preschoolers that absolutely melted my heart. It was honestly one of the cutest things I think I’ve seen lately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620004424539-JY90TMCGWGXBB6H44AGT/NZ6_9775.jpg may-2021 - 5.2.21 An Unexpected Plus Went back to the FCC stadium this morning to photograph the inside just for fun, and they unexpectedly had a helicopter drop a bunch of tiny soccer balls onto a target on the field below. It is my understanding that it was practice for some sort of promotional event later on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620179353425-6HA5DBDPAXELX1PXK36Z/IMG_9393.jpg may-2021 - 5.3.21 The Stand-Off of the Apricot Beasts So intense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620179353741-7MMBBVPZG8TWRXAQZRKZ/IMG_9400.jpg may-2021 - 5.4.21 Fully Vaxxed My arm is sore and I’m probably going to feel poorly tomorrow, but it’s worth it. I will have another major layer of protection against this virus. Ready to get back to 100% normal sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620270835540-BHLY79238CE9X9FRMJHB/IMG_9405.jpeg may-2021 - 5.5.21 A Treat This right here is a soft serve peanut butter and chocolate ice cream from the Bellevue Ameristop. It was my late evening treat after successfully navigating some pretty bad second dose symptoms. As I slid feverishly into bed last night, the worst chills I’ve ever experienced snaked down my spine and rattled my teeth. Sleep came in 20 minute intervals, each with their own psychotic series of lights and sounds that undid any rest I might’ve received had I not been sick. My joints hurt, my head throbbed, and my strength was sapped until about 4 PM today. I’d turned the corner by about 7 PM and managed a walk and a trip to get tacos. As I write this at 11:15 PM, I feel perfectly fine. So glad my body’s working on the antibodies to this virus now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620349484938-77FVGHQLRB5NDJNCPYWI/IMG_9464.jpg may-2021 - 5.6.21 Ashley’s Mother’s Day Surprise Two months ago, Ashley’s mom told me she wanted to secretly come up for Mother’s Day. She lives in Florida, so Ashley doesn’t get to see her but a couple times a year. Even though they’re very close and talk multiple times a day on the phone, we managed to keep it a secret. Today, I covertly picked her up and we snuck her into the house without Ashley knowing. I set up my iPhone on the mantle and pressed record and called for Ashley to come downstairs. This is the still frame when she realized her mom was sitting on our couch. She was stunned and overjoyed with a few tears and many hugs. It’s one of the most heartwarming videos I’ve ever recorded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620444206135-N9ZADUNYN5HDB9B9HC3Z/IMG_9468.jpeg may-2021 - 5.7.21 This Belongs in a Museum The Wendy’s in Kenwood has this kick ass sign on the side of the building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620656586872-JXC2T00FG0F49BZDMYC2/IMG_9484_jpg.jpg may-2021 - 5.8.21 Maggie Ashley’s boss asked her to take her dog out while she was out of the house all day, so we made a trip down to Union, KY. Maggie is a Newfoundland puppy and is extremely strong—so strong, Ashley couldn’t walk her. I had to take the reins of the slobbery, sweet beast. We walked down to their subdivision’s communal gazebo and I did my best to snap her photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620656587128-1WK31URZEQHCW8G48JQS/IMG_9498.jpg may-2021 - 5.9.21 Stumbled Upon I took a wrong turn in NKY earlier today and stumbled upon this mural by an acquaintance, Josh Stout. Since no one was behind me, I stopped in the middle of the road and snapped a quick photo. He and I were planning on doing a little artistic collaboration and this will be my submission, making this collaboration EXTREMELY meta for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620702992747-RVYF62OWNKGOJBTD8SLN/IMG_9527-2.jpg may-2021 - 5.10.21 An Old Friend? Wrote about this here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620768188490-BYB3XYMG7C05OKZ17JZN/NZ6_0276-HDR+copy.jpg may-2021 - 5.11.21 Before and After Had the rare opportunity to photograph both a before AND after apartment renovation situation in Dayton, OH this morning. Without revealing the name of the complex, the apartments in this community are undergoing a significant update and the owners had both empty unfinished and finished apartments ready to photograph. I tried my best to capture each image from the same general perspective to best illustrate the improvements the renovation will have on the aging units. The tricky part was wrapping my brain around finding consistency in perspective as the unfinished and finished apartments were actually mirror images of one another. I inverted the unfinished photos in post to match the finished photos so the client could see them as plainly as possible side by side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620872139444-G487ADHI2OREOEJA5UL9/IMG_9587.jpeg may-2021 - 5.12.21 Lil Clippy Ear We see this little clipped ear orange cat on this block often. Today he let me approach him and give him scratches on his head. As I was petting him, I lowered my phone and got this quick image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620965028244-GR1FBRGZXDRPSKKD52CV/NZ6_0627-HDR.jpg may-2021 - 5.13.21 Ovation Phase One Travis and I checked out PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation this evening under the UrbanCincy media credential. I wrote about it for their site, but it’s not going live until I can add the show lineup that PromoWest is releasing tomorrow. This is going to be a really great place to see a show, and I’m excited to witness how it will benefit Newport and the surrounding region once it’s alive with music. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621049136251-4M4D8D9I53BFI7J90FEJ/IMG_9679.jpeg may-2021 - 5.14.21 Self Portrait My grandmother gave me a box of my old doodles and artwork from when I was a kid. Found this one dated June 7, 1995. Perhaps a self portrait? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621281374529-3LVDUP4JKZ0503ZYDBBS/IMG_9718.jpg may-2021 - 5.15.21 Weird Fantasy While getting coffee this morning, I saw this camper parked nearby. The drapes were drawn and I wondered if someone was inside. In any case, I have a combination fantasy/loathing for these. In one way, I absolutely hate them because they’re these gas-guzzling, monstrously stupid vehicles that are expensive and bad for the environment. In another way, I absolutely want to travel in one because it has all the creature comforts I’d need to comfortably see the contiguous 48 without booking a place to stay. I will never buy one, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t take the opportunity to use one at some point in the future. Maybe if they made an electric version that had less of a carbon footprint? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621281374743-85BLEANH6SGA6RIB7316/IMG_9750.jpg may-2021 - 5.16.21 Sprinkles Sarah surprised everyone by bringing a tiny puppy to my parents’ get together this afternoon. Named Sprinkles (her step daughter’s name of choice), she’s a little dachshund puppy who largely slept the whole time were were with her. I took her outside and observed/loved on her in the grass for a little bit. She’s so cute I can’t stand it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621298171953-SOI26TTQZCO9S854RKIW/IMG_9785.jpg may-2021 - 5.17.21 Aw, Nuts A rainy, lazy Monday. Feeling a little mentally bad today because I didn’t have anything to work on (for money). I spent some time on the porch this morning and finished a book, then did some other odds and ends things to fill time. I opened the door at one point and saw a squirrel left a dug-up peanut on the stoop. Not multiple nuts or anything. Just one single nut. Anyway, highlight of the day, I guess. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621372433954-PW2AQ4522WWG80Z6U3WB/NZ6_0727.jpg may-2021 - 5.18.21 The Hunt for Hollywood Video Chris Glass (hi, Chris) posted about this abandoned Hollywood Video on his site the other day and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. While I could’ve probably just asked him the address, I wanted to see if I could figure out where it was on my own, so I searched for it on Google and found a video. The video didn’t give the address, but I figured out where it was based on clues in the background and used Google Maps to pinpoint its location. Hollywood Video was the place we frequented most often of the two big video rental stores, and seeing those little faded searchlights protruding from angular mountains brought me back a little bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621772995295-RC16ITMXL13XXTNMUSQB/NZ6_0880.jpeg may-2021 - 5.19.21 Columbus Went with Chris to Columbus today and saw lots of neighborhoods. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621772988771-SGEBG68TEV6140F5A8NH/IMG_9896.jpeg may-2021 - 5.20.21 Monochrome Echo Had a little time between a meeting and a job, so I popped up to Mt. Echo Park and snapped a photo of the skyline this morning. I chose to make it B&W in post because I thought it looked neat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621773032589-KKIY2X07RXQH3P8IOEDG/IMG_9916.jpeg may-2021 - 5.21.21 Sleepy Pup She went in the sprinkler then fell asleep on the stoop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621772984249-6POOAM6VCASITFJMACLG/NZ6_1150.jpeg may-2021 - 5.22.21 Cogswood Drive I went to Asheville and had to snap a photo of the skyline. There’s no park with an overlook that I could find, so I went up to Cogswood Drive and shot through the trees from the car. It was a little awkward as it’s just a winding residential street. I’m sure the people who live up there are sick of people like me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621994722529-WYG7K2WROYP80A8YB98Q/IMG_0007.jpg may-2021 - 5.23.21 Black Mountain Apple Maps steered us in the wrong direction and landed us in Black Mountain, about 16 miles east of Asheville. Instead of rerouting, we stayed and found a dog park, a creek, a brewery, some shopping, a dog shop, and loads of charm. I take that back, Apple Maps got us where we needed to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621994725004-VBOYDXCT2IGKWK27XOPG/NZ6_1413.jpg may-2021 - 5.24.21 Chimney Rock We went out to Chimney Rock and climbed to the top. The view was breathtaking as was the amount of tourists (like us). I ended up taking a group photo for the people in this photo with one of their phones and I’d forgotten how much joy it brings me to do that for total strangers. It’s honestly one of my favorite things in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621994722338-ZI1QE3I7DX5J3983FVPP/IMG_0144.jpg may-2021 - 5.25.21 BOY FOR HIRE Just loved this goofy ad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622078910322-RYFWJDY8JP6UMO6L4KCH/NZ6_1551.jpg may-2021 - 5.26.21 Home We’re home from our trip. It’s really good to be back. Traveling soothes the soul and opens my mind, and it always makes me appreciate home even more than I already did. No, this place doesn’t have year-round nice weather or an infinite number of dog-friendly restaurants and shops. No, this place doesn’t have mountains to climb and crystal clear lakes. We could do better about a lot of things, to be quite frank, and could learn a thing or 22 about how other cities have solved for X. But this place has my heart for an innumerable number of reasons that I’m not required to list here. So instead, here’s just one of them: the big, beautiful tree that shades our house from the sun half the day and looks positively divine against a Pepto Bismol sunset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622174797710-HELCFTPJ4NSWRZURP39U/20210527-NZ6_1568.jpg may-2021 - 5.27.21 Moonville Wrote about my day trip to Moonville on the blog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622248466468-TGACPVL57IDCNQLABH6X/NZ6_1709.jpeg may-2021 - 5.28.21 She Got Swag We bought a couch last year and it still hasn’t arrived. Because it’s going to be longer than the IKEA couch we have, we weren’t going to be able to have the floor lamp in the corner anymore, so I had an idea to get a swag light to take care of the illumination in that part of the room. It arrived and I installed it this evening. Ashley likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622340404114-IBFEEIF261CYUJ1QIUCI/IMG_0284_jpg.jpeg may-2021 - 5.29.21 Jay Jay’s in town for a speaking gig at his alma mater. We was gracious enough to let us have him for the evening, so we went to Jack Brown’s on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine for a burger. I miss having Jay local, but I’m glad he’s thriving in Philly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622514014816-6JW7ULKQP5KQ5CE7JBEW/IMG_0307.jpg may-2021 - 5.30.21 Allie & Travis’ Wedding I’m writing this the day after the wedding because I was too busy having a blast at it last night. Loads of friends together and laughing, drinking, and by the end of the night dancing. I do not dance, but I took many videos of it on my phone and will relive the happy chaos for years to come. While I wish I could go back and relive the night again, I am glad it’s over for one selfish reason—this octagon I built for their backdrop no longer has the ability to give me nightmares. You see, Allie asked me if I would build them an octagon to serve as their backdrop for their ceremony months before the wedding. They’d hang flowers on it and it would hold a special meaning that was personal to them. Seeing the opportunity to help friends, I agreed. However, after months of stressing over the design and fearing it could possibly collapse under its own weight, I was ready to be rid of that anxiety once I knew the scary part was over. It now is, and I’m happy to report it stood proudly and served its purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622514014666-9YRS89GPVE78582BFQMC/NZ6_1929-HDR.jpg may-2021 - 5.31.21 Stained Glass on Wallace Avenue I spent a long time photographing this house in Wallace Woods today. It has a magnificent stained glass window on the staircase. The whole landing glows with this handsome amber hue. The listing should go live tomorrow. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jun-2021 daily 0.75 2021-07-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622653166498-SGQ31QY80TB9MVGA3KTD/BTS+DeLorean+Shoot+-+20210601+-19.jpg jun-2021 - 6.1.21 DeLorean Shoot Ryan Lewis, a filmmaker I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few times over the last couple of years, reached out to me about doing a little behind-the-scenes photos on a shoot he was doing in Over-the-Rhine this afternoon. The set involved a DeLorean done up to look like the time machine from Back to the Future. I cannot reveal the client or product, and unfortunately this film isn’t intended for public consumption, but it was fun for the hour and a half I was there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622653166498-SGQ31QY80TB9MVGA3KTD/BTS+DeLorean+Shoot+-+20210601+-19.jpg jun-2021 - 6.1.21 DeLorean Shoot Ryan Lewis, a filmmaker I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few times over the last couple of years, reached out to me about doing a little behind-the-scenes photos on a shoot he was doing in Over-the-Rhine this afternoon. The set involved a DeLorean done up to look like the time machine from Back to the Future. I cannot reveal the client or product, and unfortunately this film isn’t intended for public consumption, but it was fun for the hour and a half I was there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622772891527-TRYFY5TGBOAERK0IL2AI/IMG_0364.jpg jun-2021 - 6.2.21 Finished Lettering Awhile back, I made and had printed a custom decal to go on my workshop door. The idea was to make this door look like the door to a detective’s office in a film noir movie (I cut a piece of plexiglass and frosted it with an after-market “ripple” decal to act as the “glass”). The lettering was black, and after fitting it to the door, I didn’t like that I couldn’t easily see it against the dark background. So, instead of ordering a new one, I gingerly hand painted every black letter with white acrylic paint instead while listening to a podcast. I like this result better. Did I mention I’m unemployed? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622772890141-25XA20SXP6IOZ0GX48QH/cards-051-Edit-2.jpg jun-2021 - 6.3.21 New Cards I needed to print something out. Seeking to knock two things out at once, I went to the Campbell County Library and got my library card there before using the printer. This was my first time back inside a library in over a year, and I missed being in a space dedicated to the three ‘Rs: reading, researching, and relaxing. I wanted to stay in that space and inquired about their local history and genealogy department. The librarian told me the Kenton County Library had all their resources and that Campbell had gotten rid of theirs. So I went to the Kenton County Library and got a card there before poking around on their computers for a bit. I made this photo by suspending the cards with fishing line and tape then digitally removing the line in Photoshop. Did I mention I’m unemployed? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622955019738-7D11MLIOKGSW30S0W7YI/IMG_0400.jpg jun-2021 - 6.4.21 Found One In the backyard. First one I’ve seen in Bellevue. Myrtle wanted to sniff it, so I let her and she didn’t try to eat it. Thankful my snooty dog doesn’t have a taste for these bugs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622955019661-LS2AK3TA9AF2SL7V0D1E/NZ6_3227.jpg jun-2021 - 6.5.21 “HAY, GUYS.” Saw this dog on Pleasant Street today. He was woofing at us because Myrtle was there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623163873977-K9NFXOWPNJXFU49Q1LGN/IMG_0452.jpeg jun-2021 - 6.6.21 Pool Pawty Ashley bought Myrtle a little pool to cool off in this summer. Quinn, Steve’s dog, came over and we had a little cookout on the deck before we rip it up in the next couple weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623163876143-CJRKIWBPTCUWEVM7YC42/IMG_0468.jpeg jun-2021 - 6.7.21 A New Low I had the evening to myself as Ashley was at a fancy work dinner Downtown. To balance our lives, I sought out fast food that she likely wouldn’t be thrilled to eat. I went to the Jack in the Box in Pleasant Ridge because I always want it to be good but it rarely ever is. After a disappointing burger, I continued my quest for bad food and went to White Castle for the 1921 Slider. These were much better and improved my evening of poor choices in food, though the success of washing the Jack in the Box out of my mouth was short-lived as I sat staring at two Diet Cokes in differently branded cups. I don’t think I’ve gone through two drive thrus back to back like this. I am 35 years old and should know better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623289820608-XTALXWG3CL60W9G2L3AX/IMG_0479.jpeg jun-2021 - 6.8.2021 Lucius Q it wasn’t either of our first time back in a restaurant, but it was our first time as just us. We went to Lucius Q—the place that catered our wedding. I got the Fuego and she got the nachos with the veggie mix. It was just as good as we remembered it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623289824510-C43CG7BTWP8NMD6KQ6XN/NZ6_3817.jpeg jun-2021 - 6.9.2021 Risk Vs. Reward I hate that I took a chance behind the wheel, aiming my camera with one hand through the passenger window while going at least 50 on a two-lane road in Carrollton, KY. I hate that I see so much good shit while driving and have no way to safely pull over to get a photo. And I hate that this dangerous thing I did ended up getting me the exact image I wanted, reinforcing the bad behavior. Sure, we can pretend I’ll never do it again as I have too many times already, but we both know that’s be a lie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623386085124-FB334UQ2ZSMO4BVWLLMS/NZ6_3999.jpg jun-2021 - 6.10.21 Baby Deer Ashley was losing her mind because this fawn across the street was separated from her mom by the flimsiest fence known to man. The fawn figured out how to get in by walking a little further to gate. Mama deer was keeping her eye on me while I snapped photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623475766478-ZJ3YPHMN480BAK2AQ78Y/IMG_0604.jpg jun-2021 - 6.11.21 ATOBTTR Mike got us tickets to the Reds game tonight. It was our first time back inside the park since the 2019 season. In fact, it was my first game since Marty’s last. I wasn’t even married back then! Anyway, I took a photo of Votto and Suarez fist bumping, a photo of my friends with the fireworks behind them, and several slice-of-life photos in the park, but none of them were as fun as this extremely goofy moment when the leaning tower of plastic cups made its way down to our seats to retrieve its next length. If you can believe it, this was only about half the size it would eventually become. It was all over Twitter tonight and I’m sure it made its way to other platforms. Tip of the hat to you, cup people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623642223006-ZBJGP2XO1WZUPRBK5A0V/NZ6_4021.jpg jun-2021 - 6.12.21 Court Street Plaza Opening The ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Court Street Plaza was this morning. We were baking in the sun (it’s a LOT of concrete), so we sat under the shade with Myrtle and enjoyed Diet Cokes from Avril Bleh’s outdoor stand. As I people-watched with my pop, I saw one of my favorite strangers. I hadn’t seen him in over a year and worried if he was okay. He briefly chatted with us and pet Myrtle, then walked over to a nearby couple with their dog. I want his life story, but I don’t want to impose. I’ve spoken to him several times, but I never want to make him feel like I want something from him, so I let him choose when he wants to talk. It’s always pleasure when I do get to see and speak with him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623642223789-DD6KEBH1SJZLTMU6K355/NZ6_4091.jpg jun-2021 - 6.13.21 Northern Liberties Tour The OTR Museum reached out to me a few weeks ago about taking their Northern Liberties Tour. I’ll have a blog recap in the coming week about it. Essentially, it’s a small group tour with information about tenement life north of Liberty Street with fun facts about German culture and how Over-the-Rhine came to be. The price of the ticket goes to fund the OTR Museum’s ongoing fundraising goal to open the museum at some point in (what seems like) the distant future. Hopefully I’m wrong about that and it’ll open sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623733069437-DOQJK4H4BRUU1V2ZCPUS/20210614-IMG_0704.jpg jun-2021 - 6.14.21 Unexpected Hike I waited until the evening to work in the yard. The air was considerably cooler and had a nice breeze to it, unlike the last two days. After pushing the manual mower over my tiny lawn, we gave Myrtle a back porch hose bath that went surprisingly well and much faster than trying to wash her in the tub. To avoid having a wet dog in the house, we took her on a walk to let the air dry her as much as possible. After walking a few blocks, we realized we were being followed by Chelsea and Vince. The four of us wandered around Bellevue together, checking in at Bellevue Beach Park before heading over to the Dayton flood wall. It was there that I snapped a photo of this charming sign for Queen City Riverboats. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623808913379-2Y5NBYFIBGKS620TPZG8/IMG_0712.jpg jun-2021 - 6.15.21 Bellevue Blueberry Meghal always posts in the Bellevue Facebook page which soft serve ice cream he has in stock for the day. When it’s a good flavor, it goes fast. The blueberry soft serve is one of those flavors. Thankfully, I got a cone to finish off the evening before it was gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623898728451-V0RTI8JUDH3G0EROVTB3/NZ6_4236.jpg jun-2021 - 6.16.21 Observations While Lounging I photographed RoadID’s new headquarters in Covington today for Hub + Weber, but I chose this photograph of a tight crop of my home’s staircase because it was ever more memorable (to me) than today’s job. While laying on the couch trying hard to lift my eyelids every so often, I noticed the sun was pouring through the staircase’s yellow stained glass window. The light was hitting the back of the spindles on the staircase in such a way that I couldn't discern the negative space between them from the solid, white spindle at first glance. In this photo, the ombre yellow is the back of the spindle, the darker space to the right of each is the side of the spindle, and the whitest white space is the negative space. I grabbed my Z6 nearby and zoomed in on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623938356325-1D5OANCGOHNS4J1L2NPR/NZ6_4284-Edit.jpg jun-2021 - 6.17.21 Saying ‘Hello’ to Breakfast Ghost Don’t know why I made this. I have been doing this for 900 days in a row. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624048197296-YVFKIGNFV5ALHERDOQSH/NZ6_4897-2.jpg jun-2021 - 6.18.21 The Hustle Four photoshoots today. Three real estate, one lifestyle for a local publication. For being “unemployed,” I am working a lot today. This was from one of the shoots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624234625413-R5FJAR9YEE3281CST4GN/IMG_0866-2.jpg jun-2021 - 6.19.21 Demo Day We spent the entire day demolishing the old deck. I ran a chainsaw through many of the floor boards with help from my father and Steve. My mother and Ashley took away the scrap and put it in the dumpster we rented and placed in the alley. We made the final cut at around 8:30 PM—just before we lost too much light. I have a few more things to do to clear the way before we begin building the new deck, but I think the hard part is over. I am sore already. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624234624691-D8FTP26SNFN288A3LRL1/IMG_0882.jpg jun-2021 - 6.20.21 Holding Sprinkles My body feels like it’s 90 years old from yesterday’s demo day, but I wasn’t sore enough to bend down and pick this sweet little puppy up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624324752818-31H8AIJIFOEPRZ8Q8AOY/NZ6_4971-HDR-Edit.jpg jun-2021 - 6.21.21 M1 Back in early May, my 2018 MacBook Pro wouldn’t seemingly hold a charge for any substantial length of time. Since I usually work with it docked, I hadn’t noticed. So, seeing an opportunity to improve my situation, I went to Apple, talked with them about trade-in value, and decided to upgrade to the new Apple M1 iMac. I got it in green because I love nature and thought it would contrast nicely with the pine desk (and everyone else wants that blasted yellow one anyway). The screen is substantially better than the second one I had running with my laptop, so I just nixed the dedicated second screen all together and plan to sidecar my iPad when I really need the extra screen real estate. This is a photo of my setup now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624421881339-KU0W4LEG3N6YOF5I91OY/NZ6_5177.jpg jun-2021 - 6.22.21 Cleveland I met Chris in Columbus and together we went to Cleveland for the day. We stopped off in Sugarcreek and saw some of Amish country along the way. Chris isn’t a fan of Cleveland in general, but I like it well enough. Riding the red line to Ohio City from Tower City Center was a highlight, as well as seeing the Cleveland Arcade, which is now a Hyatt (pictured). I think it would be cool to go back for a weekend and see more of it relatively soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624497704764-59WKCSGECH3X62YBNIZA/LAS+-+Ron+Jones+Quartet+-+Phil+Armstrong+-21.jpg jun-2021 - 6.23.21 Ron Jones Quartet The Longworth Anderson Series tapped me to photograph their events for the year. The first one I shot was this evening at campSITE in Camp Washington. The Ron Jones Quartet played in the bandstand to dozens of people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624584074782-G2VEIVKKVNAW0ZDHQUM2/IMG_0970.jpeg jun-2021 - 6.24.21 A Tall Platter For a Mighty Dog My sister rescued a full-grown German Shepard recently. As she’s used to having dachshunds, this is her first dog of a larger size. As such, she needed a tall platform so the dog wouldn’t have to eat off the floor and to raise the food out of snoot range of the dachshunds. I told her I’d make her one if she gave me dimensions. I haven’t been woodworking as much lately because the price of wood has skyrocketed due to the pandemic, so it was fun to dig into an afternoon project again. Every piece of wood is a scrap piece I had lying around from previous jobs, and I didn’t use any nails or screws in order to preserve the smooth aesthetic. Connector dowels and wood glue are keeping it together. I also got to use my router, which makes every project more fun by default. The plan is to use stain left over from the last project to give it a handsome, dark brown color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624848595545-VDAXO5HW565N4XJ7LBMB/IMG_0978.jpg jun-2021 - 6.25.21 The TPS Hotel Luminaut, an architecture firm I regularly work with, tapped me to photograph the new TPS Hotel at 7th and Race Streets. We went into the Kinley across the street to get a quick photo. This isn’t one I’ll probably turn in, but the perspective was absolutely perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624848591653-O06X3JFFP1FCBQ2CY69O/Streaming+Things+Couch+Reactions+-+Phil+Armstrong+-44.jpg jun-2021 - 6.26.21 Streaming Things My friend Steve (left) produces a local podcast about films and TV shows you can stream on any number of services. He wanted to get some promotional photo content together for social media and whatnot, so I photographed the three-man crew before and during their regular Saturday night recording. It was a load of fun and I would love to do more podcast photography (not a phrase I’d ever thought I’d type). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624848592259-E67JNI5K2KM1SPN58AWA/IMG_1028.jpg jun-2021 - 6.27.21 The Levee’s Changed Long story short, I am not feeling like myself lately. Today, especially. My meds aren’t handing me the easy-breezy 24 hours I’d hoped they would, and I’m considering asking my doctor to increase my dosage. One thing I’ve found in the past to help get me out of a funk is to go for a walk. Ashley suggested we check out what’s changed at the Levee, so we took a stroll through the outdoor area with Myrtle. I was impressed with how the box park elevates the attractiveness and utility of that specific part of the Levee, and it got me thinking about how much better THIS Newport on the Levee is compared to the one of the last decade (and prior). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624969775160-U72S6QITLC127F8B6RZ2/NZ6_7348-HDR.jpg jun-2021 - 6.28.21 Airbnb Work Photographed three Airbnbs. The AC wasn’t on in the one pictured and I had a really hard time focusing on the work because it reached almost 90ºF today. I tried fiddling with the gauge to bump up the air, but it’s digital and I couldn’t figure it out. It was a beautiful Airbnb regardless of how it felt in that moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625017676043-2CRT86L5HM1GKA2U5JL5/IMG_1064.jpg jun-2021 - 6.29.21 The Gift That Keeps on Giving One evening in 2014, I went to the Pendleton Art Center for Final Friday. While there, I looked out of a window on the 6th or 7th floor and saw a beautiful sunset with Cincinnati in the background. I got out my phone and took a photo. Years later, as I gained some followers on Instagram, a company called SOURCE Cincinnati reached out to me about purchasing imagery for their marketing purposes. I sold them that photo and several others. Over the years, I’ve seen the photo pop up again and again on media promoting the city, and it never fails to give me a little kick whenever I stumble across it in the wild. Today, I was waiting on tacos at Mazunte and saw it on a Spanish language paper near the entrance. Someone told me it’s on a billboard on I-75. I really would like to get a photo of that if I can. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625109368573-TYY22P0X70HZN1WTLTFB/NZ6_7479.jpeg jun-2021 - 6.30.21 The Gift That Keeps on Giving Pt. 2 “Someone told me it’s on a billboard on I-75. I really would like to get a photo of that if I can,” I said in yesterday’s caption. I wasted no time getting that photo. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jul-2021 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625193037456-49I10GWHPNVOFEUA3IW8/NZ6_7669-HDR.jpg jul-2021 - 7.1.21 Brighton A good corner of Brighton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625193037456-49I10GWHPNVOFEUA3IW8/NZ6_7669-HDR.jpg jul-2021 - 7.1.21 Brighton A good corner of Brighton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625275453943-YXNF9ASZMY5QJDU57BPB/NZ6_7747.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.2.21 Silver Grove Dari Bar I helped dig holes and fill them with wood and cement all day. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful and I’m not too tired from it. I think the key is drinking lots of water and taking a rejuvenating shower afterward. Despite needing to build a deck, I also need to do my photo jobs, though. One of the jobs involves the Silver Grove Dairy Bar. I went out to it this evening to get a few shots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625349393036-YRCEOE455XZE9R1RSPRH/NZ6_7885-HDR-Edit.jpg jul-2021 - 7.3.21 Disappearing Camera in Northside Job in Northside this morning before getting back to work on the deck. It’s a beautiful renovation on Cherry Street. I had to get this done today because the couple sold the house and will be transferring keys to the new owners early next week. They wanted to document all the fine work they did, and fine work it is. I don’t know what the new owners paid for it, but I can imagine it’d be well out of my own price range. I did my patented disappearing camera trick for this bathroom photo. When it works, it’s very satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625461706899-WTE4NQ7LG4BFKO96X2ZS/NZ6_8149.jpg jul-2021 - 7.4.21 A Gift From the Past Ashley’s grandfather, Ray, gave us some old artifacts and family heirlooms this week while he’s been popping over to check out the deck construction. Today he gave me an envelope with a 1941 Reds schedule inside. The folded piece of paper is old and fragile, and I can’t help but imagine the tree that was cut down so many years ago to make it. On the reverse side is an advertisement for a restaurant that once stood at 9 East Eighth Street—a building that no longer exists and has been replaced by a parking lot across the street from the Public Library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625535011930-HRRKNIA7BF775AINLGYD/IMG_1118.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.5.21 Hidey Hole I took precisely one photo today, and it was this one. I am tired in every conceivable way at the moment and just don’t have it in me to do anything more. Despite my mental and physical fatigue, I am worried about Myrtle. She is suddenly very sensitive to firework noise and has been having a rough go of it the last week. To mitigate her stress, I tried building her a bed full of blankets in our tiny closet. I then draped another blanket over her to make her feel more enclosed and cozy. Thankfully, this little hovel of hers seems to be helping soothe her anxiety. Last night she stayed in this spot after being coaxed out of the basement and seemingly got some sleep. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625623188546-9M2RV6FEAROG892SPPGS/Pep.jpg jul-2021 - 7.6.21 Brushley Day five of deck-building. It should be usable tomorrow if everything goes according to plan. Anyway, I needed to do some quick portrait stuff for my in-laws and Ashley was my stand-in while she got ready to go to dinner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625706422778-074CLRC51X6ERRHASKCQ/NZ6_8162.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.7.21 An Interesting Juxtaposition I have been photographing the TPS Hotel for Luminaut on and off for weeks now. Today I needed to get some exteriors for them, and zoomed in on the transition between the massive infill and the older building. Personally, I love what they did with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625797940767-CQAPH8YJSBD9P8SNGEYR/IMG_1190.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.8.21 Sitting In Darkness On My New Deck After seven days, a few minor injuries, and endless sweat followed by rejuvenating showers, I have built a free-standing deck off the back of my house with help from my father-in-law and my father. Today I added the railings and topped them with solar lights, finalizing the deck’s aesthetic (for now). I need to wait a few months before I can stain the wood the same color as the grey composite boards on the floor. Anyway, I still have to build another piece that stands next to the deck, so a full photo of everything is still incoming and this little sliver is all I’m willing to share for the moment. I took this with my iPhone in what looked to my eye to be near total darkness, and somehow that little palm computer lightened it enough to make it a decent, albeit grainy, image overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626093837292-3OQP54OIRTRA77UO7XA6/LAS%2520-%2520The%2520Newbees%2520-%2520Phil%2520Armstrong%2520-14.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.9.21 The Newbees [The original caption to this photo was lost] I shot the Newbees show at Union Hall tonight. It was the smallest show I’ve ever been to. They sounded really good regardless of the audience size. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626093706952-OV26R5EXVC0RJN0BDESN/IMG_1226.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.10.21 Laying Sod [The original caption for this photo was lost] I laid a bunch of sod yesterday and it looks great. I hope it takes. The area where I put it was dug up for the deck construction and looked awful before the sod went in. Myrtle, of course, loves it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626093835807-1TLP6O18I7L6CETA3H87/IMG_1262.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.11.21 Bellevue Ameristop There was a lobster roll food truck in the parking lot of Ameristop today. As far as I can tell, it is the first time that parking lot has seen a food truck. And based on the way people reacted to it, the truck was a huge success. I waited a half hour for a Maine-style lobster roll before getting to enjoy it. The wait was worth it and I hope they do this again. After I ate my roll, I went into the Ameristop and got ice cream from Meghal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626143485467-VYND2JJU1M6ZLEYO7X1Q/NZ6_9094.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.12.21 Alternate Modes of Transportation When I arrived in Denver, I relished the chance to ride into the city on the train. The route ended at the beautiful Union Station. The area was bustling with activity, though I don’t know how much of that was due to the All-Star Game that’s also happening at the same time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626302791791-4NQUG48OAVKNJTL1TK1V/NZ6_9476.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.13.21 Not the Skyline I Wanted While doing my job in Highland, I was on the 14th floor when I happened to catch a view of the city below. I took my shot and was pleased that at least I got the outline, but it’s not the skyline shot I wanted. The haze was so bad, you couldn’t even see the mountains. I guess this just means I’ll need to come back again with Ashley during non-wildfire season. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626303124849-PL1RLWOQBP5DINVN1307/NZ6_9640.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.14.21 The L Line Rode the L Line from 25th & Welton back into downtown this morning. Much like our own Cincinnati streetcar, it was nice to hop on and relax while I made it around town. I liked this specific shot because I caught a bike in frame with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626452893645-U3IERVSMISM72SLASQAQ/NZ6_9783-Edit.jpg jul-2021 - 7.15.21 Dusk For the architect. Several frames edited and merged into one with Photoshop’s sky replacement adding additional mood. I don’t usually like doing this much processing, but marketing photography is different from conventional documentation. Polish is harder to achieve in the real world, especially in an uncontrolled environment, thus it requires an increased level of attention in post-production. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626489500137-VI5FZPUKUWRGZ1Y31NU5/IMG_1526.jpg jul-2021 - 7.16.21 Constant Incoming Anxiety A storm was rolling in behind me when I took this quick photo on my phone. The wind was blowing so hard at certain points, I almost dropped my phone. Clutching it tighter in my hand, I waited for some people to meet me at ICON. There, they’d go over photoshoot details for a Foo Fighters concert I’ll be photographing soon. It’s going to be a long day and I’m going to be on my feet for all of it, so I’m wary of the assignment. This happens constantly—I accept a job, then I get extreme anxiety about it leading up to the day while making sure I do not communicate that feeling to anyone else. I know I am capable of doing this job because I’ve done stuff like this countless times before. I know event photography is within my wheelhouse, but even though I intellectually know it to be true, there’s a part of my brain that just doesn’t allow me to feel comfortable about any of it. It wants to tell me I’m going to fail this time. Then, I do the job and the client is pleased, I get my invoice, and life goes on. Repeat cycle. I’m not certain I’ll ever get over feeling this way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626660501643-9E4FXTDOME4LGW7MNL9O/NZ6_0171-2.jpg jul-2021 - 7.17.21 JCC Had a job at the JCC tonight. I don’t really feel like talking about it. Amid the chaos of running around trying to snap candid moments of well-dressed people laughing, I stopped to get a photograph of this section of the outdoor courtyard. I like the script on the sign and the shape of the building behind it. Reminds me of Crosley Tower in a way. I generally find non-Christian iconography and architecture to be more interesting, but I wonder if that’s a grass-is-always-greener bias. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626660501197-OYHKDQFG9YF66X1PBYM7/IMG_1537.jpg jul-2021 - 7.18.21 Wiener Ramp My sister’s wiener dog, Luna, is having back trouble. According to her, she’s not acting like her usual self and has noticed she doesn’t do certain things that would otherwise place strain on her back, like sitting upright to beg for treats. She lives in a ranch style house but has two steps leading off her back door to the patio where the dogs run through to get to the backyard. Luna is having trouble navigating those steps, so she asked me to build her a little ramp. I used two 1x6 planks and some leftover plywood she had in her shed for the base, then used a 1x2 with a dowel rod for a railing (to visually guide her down the ramp). I also cut up a rubber outdoor mat into strips and fastened it to the surface to give her traction. Luna understood immediately how to use it and stopped doing the stairs within moments of the “grand opening" of the ramp. It turned out well and I’m glad she doesn’t have to place undue stress on her back any longer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626746615913-NGTA8QG3SI10YIUAOF6U/IMG_1553.jpg jul-2021 - 7.19.21 Unwell Last night, I felt something creeping up on me somewhere in my subconscious. This morning, I woke up feeling unwell. Not physically, but mentally. I got on social media and it ramped up that feeling ten fold, forcing me to delete whatever I had on my phone entirely to get away from it. For the rest of the day, I stayed analog—a strategy I use from time to time to mend myself when I feel this way. I worked in my workshop, chainsaw’d an old wooden pallet, handled some household chores and organizational tasks, and cancelled my only photoshoot so I could lay on the couch, eat pizza, drink beer, and watch Star Trek. As the evening wore on and the sun subsided, I burned a bunch of cardboard I had collected in my basement. Something in me at the moment is extremely anti-social and anxious, and I wish I knew why my chemical imbalance causes this. I feel like a crazy hermit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626835755259-HQ202EH2CUVIK0FYMTHH/IMG_1565.jpg jul-2021 - 7.20.21 Solo Work My mood from yesterday carried over into today, but I made an effort to be more social through electronic mediums. Anyway, I spent the day figuring out a few upcoming jobs, sweating over not receiving return emails, and wondering if I know what I’m doing with my career. Then I proceeded to eat Gold Star in my car before shooting an incredibly gorgeous Airbnb at 7 PM in Over-the-Rhine by myself. The image is from that shoot. Also, the richest person in the world spent a colossal amount of money to fuel his ego with an 11-minute sub-orbit flight instead of using that money for literally any other useful, benevolent purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626892555049-6HRM4SVOOXA0P7SV1RVQ/Casio-010-Edit-2.jpg jul-2021 - 7.21.21 Dumbing It Down In the last six months, I’ve grown weary of always being connected. My best days are when I choose to avoid the Internet for the majority of my waking hours, and I slowly started to realize that wearing a smart watch kept me further connected. Text messages, emails, calls—my wrist would buzz all day. It started to wear on me mentally. Then, after I updated to the iOS 15 beta and my watch fell out of sync with my phone, I decided I’d had enough. This was my chance to return to a time when my wrist was merely a timepiece and not a computer. I bought this $20 Casio that looks almost identical to a watch I wore as a kid and it came in the mail today. It tells time, has a stopwatch, an alarm, and gives me the date. It’s all I need and all I want. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627051973884-RDTXOG5ZGR49ASWRBURY/NZ6_1336.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.22.21 The Strip Filling my eyeballs with as much optical cotton candy as is legally permitted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627115474258-NR1KP4YF0P3EKZH3YYQ7/NZ6_1766.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.23.21 Oatman’s Burros We drove from Las Vegas into California to see some interesting roadside locales, many of which were abandoned. The high temperature of the morning reached somewhere around 107ºF, and it’s reasonable to assume it was higher when we stopped in Ludlow in the middle of the afternoon. At several stops, I could feel the heat cooking the bottoms of my shoes when I stepped out onto the blacktop. As the evening crept closer, we headed south into Arizona and stopped in an old former mining town called Oatman. While the town is primarily focused on tourism based on its history, wandering donkeys are a big part of its charm. We weren’t even fully in Oatman the first time we ran across the friendly souls standing in the middle of the street to stop traffic and sniff around for food. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627223009298-NYUSN6Y32XROPZPEWM78/NZ6_2245.jpeg jul-2021 - 7.24.21 Valley of Fire We piled into the rental car and headed out to see Hoover Dam this morning. From the bridge above it, I marveled at its size and tried to photograph it in a way that really highlighted its magnitude. From there, we drove deep into the Valley of Fire. I was struck by the vibrancy of the rocks and the dramatic shapes they took over the countless number of years they were formed. It was hot, and I am glad we had the fortune of an air-conditioned vehicle to keep us comfortable between stops; I cannot imagine how the hikers fared on their own air-conditioned-less walks through the park. The landscape was unlike anything I’d seen with my own eyes—the PNW certainly didn’t have a desert when I was out west last time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627344576344-IYCGKR3EBO5VZT4M9YL6/IMG_1781.jpg jul-2021 - 7.25.21 Neon Museum It was a slower day today than it has been over the last several days. With half our party having returned home, Justin and I worked in a coffee shop for a bit before finally heading to the Neon Museum in Downtown Las Vegas. Similar to the American Sign Museum back home, it features a collection of old signs in various states of preservation. Some light up and look generally well kept while others are rusted out and leaning against larger signs. The whole museum is outdoors and didn’t allow professional cameras inside, so I resorted to taking photos on my phone before it overheated in the sun and shut down. Also, one of the employees at the museum saw my Donatos shirt and revealed he’s originally from Dayton, OH. We had a reasonably long chat (in the shade) about Ohio and how he got to Las Vegas (his wife found a work opportunity here). We ate at Del Taco before heading back to the hotel at around 6 PM. I am incredibly tired. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627491262963-N75BAUQO49FNCP9VG6CH/Untitled-1.jpg jul-2021 - 7.27.21 Event Work Shot an event for a company in a place for money today. This is the only photo I’m probably allowed to share from it because it doesn’t identify anyone or the company. If you’ve been here, you’ll know the venue. It went well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627525245572-G67U7EGMD1JJ4J7OYJEQ/NZ6_3963.jpg jul-2021 - 7.28.21 ICON’s First Show I made better photos than this tonight, but I think this is the only one I can technically share since it’s outside the venue. Long story short, GBBN hired me to do a lifestyle shoot of everyone using the space on the first show night. For reasons, I couldn’t shoot while the band was onstage, so I had to get what I could while I had the chance. This wasn’t communicated to us beforehand, so it was a little disheartening. Since I wasn’t allowed to shoot after the band started, I just left. I don’t really care about Foo Fighters as is, and I really wanted chili, so I biked home on a RedBike and stopped at Gold Star. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627612937480-9DNL1SRH26BMYUWM51GM/IMG_1845.jpg jul-2021 - 7.29.21 The Fruits of Today’s Labor My iCal was totally free today for the first time in weeks. Instead of napping, I spent the entire day putting together the second installment of my Las Vegas trip series. I only left the house to walk the dog and get pepperoni for a homemade pizza. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/aug-2021 daily 0.75 2021-09-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801239142-ND0HCSSSC35QTHOHOXUU/Untitled-191.jpg aug-2021 - 8.1.21 New Spaces We checked out the new space at Eden Park this morning after getting coffee from Unataza. If you walk this loop five times, it equals a mile. There’s a little bridge over a small pond, a gazebo, a basketball court, and a play area for kids. It’s mostly straw at the moment, but I can visualize what it’ll look like in a few years’ time, and I’m sure it’ll look great. Overall good use of this space compared to the empty field that preceded it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801239142-ND0HCSSSC35QTHOHOXUU/Untitled-191.jpg aug-2021 - 8.1.21 New Spaces We checked out the new space at Eden Park this morning after getting coffee from Unataza. If you walk this loop five times, it equals a mile. There’s a little bridge over a small pond, a gazebo, a basketball court, and a play area for kids. It’s mostly straw at the moment, but I can visualize what it’ll look like in a few years’ time, and I’m sure it’ll look great. Overall good use of this space compared to the empty field that preceded it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801239485-CCDH2SZ4TG76B4PEYKXI/Untitled-192.jpg aug-2021 - 8.2.21 Car Wash Northern Kentucky has a lot of really good stuff like this. Too new to be retro, but too crusty to look new. I’m carrying my mirrorless around with me less and less these days since I use it full time for work now, and I’m thankful my iPhone will at least shoot in RAW. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801244250-UL4V7Q53FHLQ9HP8X3WZ/Untitled-193.jpg aug-2021 - 8.3.21 A Cup Had dinner with Katie, my former colleague, and her fiancée. We talked about what we’re doing post-publishing life and how we navigated our being laid off. She told me about how immediately after we were let go, Local 12 hired someone to fill her position. My first reaction, I admit, was quiet fury. How dare they get rid of us and have the balls to hire someone new into her position like that. It was a slap in the face. Then, after the initial shock wore off, I remembered what someone said to me Friday night in reference to this new era of Refined: “It’s…not good.” They told me this while at the Five Points show I was photographing, and at the time it largely fell on deaf ears. I didn’t care to hear about the site; I haven’t even returned to it since March 9th, and unfollowed it on all channels. But hearing about her position being filled juxtaposed with what that person said to me, I realized everything was fine for us. I realized what Local 12 did was throw away something good and hired individuals to ride the coattails of the success we earned so they can produce sub-par content driven by the Sales team. Not having my name attached to something that lame is a major relief. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801244249-7WCIYIVY9SEQ9EW0H62Y/Untitled-194.jpg aug-2021 - 8.4.21 A Little Party I photographed a small gathering at the Art Museum tonight. The artists of Future Retrieval had a meet and greet and a dozen people showed up. They mostly stayed in the courtyard, thank god. My flash was dead and it wouldn’t have helped me anyway because I couldn’t use it in the gallery due to the no flash photography policy. This ended up being an unintentional long exposure due to how dim it was in the exhibit. I didn’t feel like shooting at 10000 ISO, so I went with 1250 with a 1/4 sec shutter. Had to prop up on the corner of a door frame to ensure it was sharp enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801469654-A2YCPD1U1M7QGPYT53WP/IMG_1926.jpeg aug-2021 - 8.5.21 Yard “Helper” Little baby doodle girl has been in the yard with me for the last two days while I built the raised flower bed. She thinks that by placing her ball directly in the path of where I’m working, I will play fetch with her. Well, jokes on me because I throw that thing whenever it’s in the way, and she gets what she wants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801249419-0YCRDVWGQHGG8VY3D4Q1/Untitled-195.jpg aug-2021 - 8.6.21 First Friday Met up with some old coworkers at Darkness and had many beers before retiring to my house a few blocks south to continue the party on the deck. It was First Friday in Bellevue, which means there was a greater number of people roaming the Avenue. It’s always so nice to see so many people out and about. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801249420-0ZP0FCH16OHMTD7R4XIH/Untitled-196.jpg aug-2021 - 8.7.21 80s Night at Bircus Jenny, one of my old coworkers who I met up with last night (left in photo), is in an 80s cover band. They played at Bircus tonight, so we all went to go see her do her thing. I was unaware of how awesome Bircus had grown over the years since I was last there. It was a load of fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801254480-YWVU8MT43W410GI6VB45/Untitled-197.jpg aug-2021 - 8.8.21 Stricker’s Grove We went to Stricker’s Grove with some friends today. Drank my weight in tiny cups of Mountain Dew, won at mini-golf, ate a green snow cone, rode the Tornado twice, and finished off a roll of film. All of it for $15, too. Good day overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801254484-N2CM9PSXEWL5V3XWJODM/Untitled-198.jpg aug-2021 - 8.9.21 Dusty Evening There’s something about summer skies when they’re like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801503161-MYUIGH2AY4AZ6WLM7S2Z/NZ6_6381-HDR-Edit.jpg aug-2021 - 8.10.21 Ingalls Years ago, I would sit in Bruegger’s Bagels in the Ingalls Building on Sunday mornings and drink my coffee with the paper. Today, I downed a coffee on the sidewalk and photographed it as a boutique hotel. I think it’s been about 6 years since I last stepped foot inside the world’s first reinforced concrete skyscraper. Luminaut hired me to photograph their finished work inside the hotel, starting with the common areas. The staircase was probably my favorite feature due to its gradual upward curve around the hanging chandelier. They did a tremendously good job combining Ingalls’ original architecture with a modern aesthetic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801234929-F6FSEK6X0ZKED6QHK6M9/Untitled-190.jpg aug-2021 - 8.11.21 Late Bloomer This monstrosity was left hanging on the underside of the porch. It’s so alarmingly large, I thought it was a tarantula at first glance. While I haven’t seen Brood X cicadas in well over a month at this point, there is still a cicada presence around these parts. I am guessing this is one of those seasonal, annual ones that’s unassociated with the 17-year emergence. Either way, they missed the party. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628818358185-FV6FJXUBOQWLW94QLRFV/Untitled-200.jpg aug-2021 - 8.12.21 It’s Too Hot Out Here After spending most of the day indoors due to excessive heat and humidity, Ashley and I went out on the deck after the sun went down just to exercise the dog. While outside, we noticed a massive cloud seizing with lightning in the far distance. Seeing no storms on the weather radar, we assumed this was the result of heat lightning. I’d already brought my camera down to get a photo of the moon, so I started firing at the cloud hoping to score a well-lit frame. Somewhere in those 400 shutter clicks, I got what I came for. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628910735156-QLLUZQ6DENJIP9U84THX/Untitled-201.jpg aug-2021 - 8.13.21 A Curious Friend This little stray let me pet her tonight. She reminded me of a cat we had for a couple of days when I was very young. My parents found a little black kitten outside our house during a big storm and brought her inside to keep her safe. They called her Stormy at the time, presumably because either my sister or I wanted to name her. We ended up giving her away to someone because half of us are allergic to cats, but she made enough of an impression on my young mind that I still think about her to this day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629080177821-5QDUYOZYKNC0DQQ5G2LU/IMG_2034.jpeg aug-2021 - 8.14.21 Boba Bottom “There is no greater joy than having two layers of popping boba at the bottom of your cup.” -Abraham Lincoln https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629080590647-0BMOLL275SHX6FP46V6H/IMG_2075.jpeg aug-2021 - 8.15.21 Community Service I started the day scaling my neighbor’s house to climb in her window so I could unlock her door for her. The day then proceeded to be filled with yard work, but not my own—Ashley and I cleared the neglected, empty lot across the street if the tall grass and overgrown weeds. I also repaired the old fence so it stood upright and removed what felt like miles of vines that had snaked their way through the chain links over the years. I then mowed my neighbor’s lawn and trimmed around the landscaping, burning through three rechargeable batteries to so do. I am tired but in such a way that feels really good. It feels nice to feel useful in a community. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629249098753-8I5QQ4EZG3OYYNCM0GJX/IMG_2080.jpeg aug-2021 - 8.16.21 Waiting Patiently The scene whenever Ashley leaves the car. If there’s an open window, Myrtle’s head will be through it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629249418631-SXUNV3G6TJ2N0UOOUK77/IMG_2087.jpeg aug-2021 - 8.17.21 Routing New Grooves I got a commission to make a thing for someone and I got to use my router. This was a plunge cut I’ve never done until today. It doesn’t look like much, and really it isn’t much, but it took some work to line it up properly and build a suitable fence to keep the router stable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629340367541-I82CNFWKQX3QX75CA6DQ/NZ6_7143-HDR.jpg aug-2021 - 8.18.21 My Grandfather’s Collection My dad and I drove out to see my grandfather today. It's been years since I'd seen him, and it was great to reconnect. He has an incredible collection of milk bottles in a room above his garage that he's been working on for over 30 years. There are bottles from farms in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and many other states, including a bottle from Honolulu, where he lived for two years. His collection had bottles from as far away as England, the paper caps that used to keep them sealed, and various other bits of paraphernalia relating to the industry. It's one of the most unique collections I've seen. Three generations of Armstrong men sat in that room and discussed various topics for a while before heading downstairs to check out his workshop—an addition I don't remember from the last time I was at his house in the late-90s/early-2000s. It was a great afternoon overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629471111480-2OPVWG42XOGV9F0SHEDV/Untitled-206.jpg aug-2021 - 8.19.21 Every Piece Is Important Ashley had a fancy work dinner at Jeff Ruby’s tonight, leaving myself and the dog to figure out our night together. Following tradition, that means I order a pizza and give the occasional pepperoni to Myrtle while watching TV. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629631748789-JAQ9ZDQOXUNTM23MFZ82/Untitled-208.jpg aug-2021 - 8.20.21 Backdrops Kendal Floral paid me to create large images for three backdrops they were going to put up during the Wellness Festival at Smale Park. I used Adobe’s Super Resolution feature to get them as large as possible and sent them the files to pass along to their printer. While the warmth of the images looks a little cooler than I’d intended, they turned out good overall. I was surprised by how sharp they were at that size. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629631747107-UAQCR82CY3DWQYP2I0YB/Untitled-207.jpg aug-2021 - 8.21.21 Oneonta Train Station Chelsea and Vince got married along the river at the Inn at Oneonta tonight. After the cake was cut and everyone started dancing, that was my cue to begin an hours long solo journey around the property to check out what I could find. Little sitting areas were scattered throughout and tucked away in places one might miss if they weren’t looking carefully. It was easy to get turned around until I got the lay of the land. The highlight for me was this old train station that stood directly opposite the reception area. The inside left a lot to be desired, but it was still interesting to check out. I ended up sitting on the station platform until everyone was finished. Being the designed driver isn’t the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629688474116-MZQ9J8CO8K5ZAQW98EG5/NZ6_7845.jpg aug-2021 - 8.22.21 Tremendous Prep Work Despite staying out late at the wedding last night, I had a bright and early 8 AM shoot at ICON at Smale Park. GBBN wanted photos of crews offloading for a show, and they set up a time to photograph Brad Paisley’s load-in. While the Foo Fighters’ security were difficult to work with, Paisley’s didn’t have nearly as many restrictions, making it considerably easier to do my job. I stood in the sun for two and a half hours photographing people offload semis, put lights together, video boards, string cables and chains from the rafters above, and various other show-related activities. In the time I was there, the stage went from relatively empty to almost completely filled. According to a crew member, most of the people there were locals hired to set up the show by Paisley’s crew. It’s amazing how many hands it takes to set up something like this. I understand why tickets to big shows have high price tags now that it’s obvious how many people it takes to make it happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629775276700-MFKB0YYFA11AECVQQ2GR/IMG_2178.jpeg aug-2021 - 8.23.212 Productive Days Aren’t Always Photographic Some days you wake up early to photograph crews unloading multiple semis worth of AV equipment for a well-known artist, and other days you spend all day editing images of a three-story condo you shot days ago only have time to take a picture of your bathroom. This isn’t an image anyone but I will look at twice, and that’s fine. Every time I walk into the kitchen at the end of the night to place my glass into the sink and head up to bed, I catch a glimpse of this room—the one I spent Christmas of last year lightly renovating—and it makes me feel accomplished in a very small way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629860100237-P44JGBP1ZGP87T0YQQ2A/The+Pitch+Cincy+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg aug-2021 - 8.24.21 The Pitch Cincy Working with Luminaut is so satisfying because even though their expectations are high, the challenging jobs they give me end up leveling up my knowledge of architectural photography faster than anything else I do. They gave me their rendering and I recreated it as closely as I could, then I spent time cleaning it up in Photoshop. I remove a lot of small stuff from images like this when I get it into my computer just to give it an extra clean look before I give it to them, but this one took a little extra effort to get right because the screens above the bar were not on when I took the photo. The process of digitally adding the images, which I pulled from my archive to get around any licensing issues, was easy despite taking time. The job took me the entire day to shoot and process, but I got it done and sent it back to them already. When I’m able to turn something around in a little over 12 hours, it’s very satisfying; the client gets what they need quickly and I get to clear it from my job queue without sacrificing quality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630010189552-T7PSS0WJDOU3DQ94ZWYT/NZ6_8178.jpg aug-2021 - 8.25.21 A Familiar Billboard While headed out of Downtown this morning, I noticed a billboard with an image I made for the Cincinnati Art Museum. It will always be a little awesome to see something I worked on blown up and printed this large. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284583906-UA9AR56QLFXPZ2S2Y45Z/IMG_2206.jpg aug-2021 - 8.26.21 IRL Mods I’ve always wanted a magazine rack to hold the issues I’m currently reading. Instead of getting one, I end up stacking them on my bedside table where I’d rather place my water at night. While looking online for a design I could make with wood, I came upon a Wayfair entry that had the above side table with a U-shaped bit attached to the legs. I already had that exact table sans U-shaped bit, so I modified the one I had to match the one I saw online using scrap wood and leftover grey paint. I also put my iPad into it at night since the charger is nearby. The satisfaction of making something 200% more functional while scratching a builder itch without purchasing anything additional cannot be overstated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284585044-VKYNNJ99LN695Y2FP4KT/IMG_2220.jpg aug-2021 - 8.27.21 Late Evening Dari Run At the start of summer, I was made aware of the Silver Grove Dari Bar by way of an assignment from Fort Thomas Matters. Our empty fridge left us with little choice but to seek out food tonight, and as it was raining buckets, the car was the only option. Not wanting to hit a drive thru, we opted to revisit the drive-in Dari Bar and had burgers, fries, fried cheesy hash browns, and a cherry shake. The bad weather staved off most of the clientele for the night, leaving us as one of only a handful of cars there to get food. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284592612-MJ35BZFKNLQ4OGU31WSE/NZ6_8201.jpg aug-2021 - 8.28.21 She Went Swimming! Myrtle went swimming in a hidden watering hole in Mariemont today. She was so happy, she cried as she held her stick in her jaws and paddled back to us. Never have I ever seen a dog love swimming as much as she does. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284599510-E3VHCUTZ8SMVRLTNCGW1/IMG_2246-Edit+copy.jpg aug-2021 - 8.29.21 Upgraded Teleconferencing Background Since moving into our home a year ago, I’ve done little to my office besides reworking my desk. Today, I changed the wall directly behind me to be more colorful and visually interesting. It took 2.5 coats of paint and one pine board with a couple of brackets to get it to where I wanted it. While the second visual doesn’t adequately capture it, the room is darker and has more of a lounge vibe to it after the sun goes down. I envision this space being better suited to late-night Star Trek episodes and reading in my chair than it was before, as well as a better background for when I need to hop on a teleconferencing call. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630468576773-UWYQCX1K4JSR6R72YHRS/1+Alexander+Circle+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg aug-2021 - 8.30.21 1 Alexander Circle Photographed 1 Alexander Circle in Fort Thomas today. Essentially a mansion, the property was in a very bad state until a developer swooped in to fix it up. Among the many features that make it appealing, its abundance of pocket doors is the quality I think I’m attracted to most. It’s too big of a house for me, but if I could take a few of these pocket doors and put them in my own home, I would. Photographing them is always a little awkward, but I’ve found that going at them at an angle and removing about 20% of the door from the frame is effective in showcasing its purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630468577998-7SH1RO5UXEBJDIN37EOJ/IMG_2262.jpg aug-2021 - 8.31.21 Brand Management No matter how boring it is today, always photograph brands on shelves for tomorrow. Some of the best photos I’ve seen are ones that include logos from bygone eras and forgotten products. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/sep-2021 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630547265535-OI7HU6YBCPGNZBRWX5OH/NZ6_8890-Edit-3.jpg sep-2021 - 9.1.21 Local Guide When I have downtime, I like to hop on Google and review businesses and places I’ve been. Whether it be a small coffee shop or a well-known landmark, if I’ve been there and had an experience worth remembering, I will likely write about it and include photos. The reason I do this is to boost the places and small businesses I like with positive reviews so the owners feel good and hopefully get additional customers. Sure, I’ve written a few reviews that weren’t glowing, but those are the exception to the rule. Simply leaving a Google review can help or hurt a small business in a big way, especially if you add to a cacophony of like-minded reviewers. Because of this diligent pursuit of opining online, Google sent me a little pin to commemorate my contributions. I’m often unaware of what I will review before I write about it, and often forget what I’ve reviewed in the past until I go back and look at my contributions. To illustrate this point, I made this photo using the pin itself. The “man” faces away from the frame where the viewer cannot see to represent my own inability to guess what I’ll review next. The long shadow is representative of one’s ability to cast a relatively big impression on a small business when they review it on Google. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630547265535-OI7HU6YBCPGNZBRWX5OH/NZ6_8890-Edit-3.jpg sep-2021 - 9.1.21 Local Guide When I have downtime, I like to hop on Google and review businesses and places I’ve been. Whether it be a small coffee shop or a well-known landmark, if I’ve been there and had an experience worth remembering, I will likely write about it and include photos. The reason I do this is to boost the places and small businesses I like with positive reviews so the owners feel good and hopefully get additional customers. Sure, I’ve written a few reviews that weren’t glowing, but those are the exception to the rule. Simply leaving a Google review can help or hurt a small business in a big way, especially if you add to a cacophony of like-minded reviewers. Because of this diligent pursuit of opining online, Google sent me a little pin to commemorate my contributions. I’m often unaware of what I will review before I write about it, and often forget what I’ve reviewed in the past until I go back and look at my contributions. To illustrate this point, I made this photo using the pin itself. The “man” faces away from the frame where the viewer cannot see to represent my own inability to guess what I’ll review next. The long shadow is representative of one’s ability to cast a relatively big impression on a small business when they review it on Google. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630639062551-5GHLSP1RLNBVSCXTBYT2/1%2520Alexander%2520Circle%2520-%2520Phil%2520Armstrong%2520-94.jpeg sep-2021 - 9.2.21 Reshoots I returned to the mansion in Fort Thomas today for reshoots. The stager apparently didn’t satisfy the realtors’ expectations, so some rooms were redecorated and new photos were required. There wasn’t much to stage in the master bathroom, but I did miss taking a photo of the pocket door up there the first time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630720439331-GNLJY3BH3N7M31RFSTZU/NZ6_9243.jpg sep-2021 - 9.3.21 Aerial Surprise First Friday in Bellevue was dog-themed this month. While a few places had offerings for dogs, the overall event was relatively lackluster. We still enjoyed a burger and beer while out, and we saw some people Ashley knew, so it was worth it. We decided to just walk home and have a beer on our porch once we were satisfied we’d gotten everything out of the event we wanted. On our walk home, we saw a cat at the top of a roof, then realized there were others hanging out up there, too. In total, we saw four kittens hanging out up there. It looks like they get up there by way of a tall fence next to a lower roof at the back of the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630897709732-UY2JXE8ZKLMIB2MAM5IM/LAS+-+Meshell+Ndegeocello+-+Phil+Armstrong+-117.jpg sep-2021 - 9.4.21 Longworth-Anderson Series Shot a pre-show cocktail hour and some of the show itself at Memorial Hall. The lighting in the lobby on the first floor was atrocious enough to make me work double time to get a single image in focus and crisp enough to pass along to the client. Not a fun one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630897707596-IPHIKUN94H5VJXTC0XP3/NZ6_0424.jpg sep-2021 - 9.5.21 A Pleasant Surprise There were no Labor Day fireworks on the river in 2020, so we didn’t know if the house we moved into had a view of them. This year, while avoiding crowds, we figured we’d stay home and answer that question. The worst we could do is not see them for one year. We were pleasantly surprised that we could, indeed, see them after all. We often remark how much we love our house, but tonight it was the gift that kept on giving. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631039342042-8PLM8MZXX4J80WHNH541/IMG_2334.jpg sep-2021 - 9.6.21 Bender Mountain For Labor Day, we got up early and went out to Bender Mountain in Delhi for a hike. Since neither of us had been before, it was a new experience that led us through the woods and along trails of varying levels of difficulty. While not the best-maintained preserve we’ve been to, it was great to explore uncharted territory with Myrtle. This woman was meditating at what seemed to be the highest point on the hill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631066204017-TNBGOXUGCLT1353VWZSB/IMG_2350.jpg sep-2021 - 9.7.21 Summer Nights with the Girls Since buying our home in Bellevue, one of my favorite things is to sit with Ashley and Myrtle on the porch in the evenings. We drink beer or have ice cream and watch passersby as they come up and down the steps. Deer and rabbits frolic and forage before settling down for sleep in the empty lot’s tall grass across the street. The wind gently rustles the leaves above and around us while lightly spinning our hanging ferns. I often lay on the swinging bench while Ashley sprawls out on the couch. We don’t work on the porch. We don’t worry about anything on the porch. The porch is just our little space to watch the sunset and bask in the moment sans-responsibilities. It’s our own little corner of the world with a view of downtown in the distance, and it’s perfect for us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631152314487-OA95FVKJF2JUEGYTUJPT/NZ6_0542.jpg sep-2021 - 9.8.21 Lafayette Bloom’s Empty A job took me over to the West End this afternoon. After doing what needed done, I took a stroll up Baymiller to get fresh photos of the school there. Lafayette Bloom was never my school when I was the right age to attend it, but it’s one I feel a connection to despite our lack of personal history. When I first started exploring the West End, it was the crown jewel of places that intrigued me. How could such a massive, architecturally beautiful building designed barely a hundred years earlier be so devoid of life today? The reasons, from what I’ve read, are many, and it officially closed its doors to what little students remained in 2006 after attempting to stay open from originally shutting down in 2000. Now it just sits waiting for either redevelopment, demolition, or years of continued neglect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631213316415-G03R01P2WKKGZHSDYBBE/G90+Engineering+Machine+Photo+-6.jpg sep-2021 - 9.9.21 Machine-Like Precision I was hired to photograph a machine that makes pins for a well-known device. The machine’s newness needed to be captured before it becomes scratched and greasy through daily operation. Using the method of photo stacking, I hit every point of focus from the tip of the ramp to the back of the drill and layered it all in Photoshop. I positioned the metal pins at several points along the ramp using heavy magnets stuck to the underside of the ramp to keep them still while giving the impression of a downward slide without the motion blur that would call for a higher ISO to get right. The shot took awhile to set up, but I’m really happy with the end result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631331190284-J7CEUTAT2FYKMCG0EOX8/IMG_2430.jpeg sep-2021 - 9.10.21 Untitled Armstrong Projects My neighbor fosters dogs. When the shelter she works with has dogs who need homes, they contact her to see if she can take them in. Yesterday she received a call about a four month-old puppy, and when she went to pick her up, a box of seven very young dachshund/beagle puppies came in while she was there. Seeing no other choice, my neighbor took them in with the intention of finding them homes. My parents, who lost their dog in March, have been considering if they wanted to get a new dog, and seeing an opportunity to put one of these puppies into a good home, I asked them if they were interested. Much to my surprise, they wanted TWO puppies—one to keep the other company! They came over this evening to meet the litter and picked these two little girls out from the pack. They’re thinking of naming them Lilly and Rosa, but that could change. We’re going to take them to my parents’ house on Sunday where they’ll stay. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631414006582-SD3UN363CQ63PJQJIN5Q/IMG_2472.jpg sep-2021 - 9.11.21 Intention My intention was to spend today doing things that made life worth living. Small things that mean a lot, like walking Myrtle with Ashley down by the river and getting coffee from two different shops in the morning. Methodically scouring the Cincinnati ReUse Center and buying hardware for future projects I haven’t yet started for a low price. And, of course, picking up Steve and going to my sister’s house for a birthday party for her 10 year old dog in Washington Courthouse. I barely looked at the internet, nor did I listen to much radio or watch any TV specials—there’s no chance any of it would make me feel good. I acknowledged what today was in private and proceeded to not let it define the rest of the day for me. In this photo, Myrtle and Kiran, my sister’s step-daughter, posed along the fence. Both of them are adorable and filled my day with happiness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631504278264-N162ZZ4B67DY00W9O1Q0/IMG_2482.jpg sep-2021 - 9.12.21 A Familiar-ish Face Dog and cat photos end up being my photo of the day so often because they are always a delight. This one came up to me while on a walk this morning. I gave him/her a little attention and moved along after snapping a quick photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631590541925-17LRJ0RDPANBHQQPUHGG/PCFA+-+Phil+Armstrong+-66-2.jpg sep-2021 - 9.13.21 Five In One Five images of cyclists enjoying the Loveland Bike Trail shopped into one image by the Peters Cartridge Factory Apartments. Before I was finished gathering the necessary material to make this composite, a woman came up and told me she was going to call the police on me for taking photos of “nude people in their apartment.” She was kidding, thankfully, and just needed help removing her bike from the rack on the back of her car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631848137077-XXGWEZFHPRZD7OUJGFQ1/NZ6_1882.jpg sep-2021 - 9.14.21 Seen Better Days Photographed a place today that at one time looked to be a beautiful, magnificent house built for a single family. Today, it’s subdivided into multiple apartments. While the apartment I photographed left much to be desired, it did have a few touches of character that I thought were pretty, such as the floor in the bedroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631848117439-GV805CI4JT2Q5YEA74Q0/IMG_2551.jpg sep-2021 - 9.15.21 Decisions, Decisions… Myrtle and I sat on the floor and played with a bunch of her toys while we watched TV tonight. I gotta train her to put all this crap away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631848123179-I8WESEGV9TULPZH0MOOK/LAS+-+Watkins+Family+Hour+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg sep-2021 - 9.16.21 Fat Head My shot list included getting images of the food and drink at the event tonight. Instead of shooting it in the tub, I asked the bartender to hold up a can for a more interesting composition. Fat Head’s is a Cleveland-based brewery that started in a little saloon in Pittsburgh in 1992. Ironically, today’s photo is #992! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631930695217-XRJ4VADEMK8MNV85GSEY/IMG_2571.jpg sep-2021 - 9.17.21 The Evening Express We took a walk up O’Fallon hill this evening to catch a glimpse of Cincinnati at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful but I wasn’t able to properly capture it because I left my damn memory card in the computer, rendering my Z6 useless. Instead, I opted for a grainy image on my phone. On the way down, we crossed over the Van Voast bridge and I caught the train rolling through. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632107100526-1I5C1CO1SLI626CI6DFZ/Ericka%27s+Wedding+at+Spring+Grove-45-2.jpg sep-2021 - 9.18.21 Ericka’s Elopement Ericka, a friend I used to work with regularly when I ran Refined, eloped with her fiancé, Jared. They got married in Spring Grove Cemetery in a hidden spot I didn’t even know existed until I got there. I don’t normally photograph weddings, but I agreed to photograph hers because it was so relaxed. It was literally just myself and the person marrying them. Afterward, we took a few photos around the area. I think I was there for 20 minutes total. Fastest wedding ever. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632107100741-8EF55BPFRIIJ4ATRSYOY/IMG_2589.jpg sep-2021 - 9.19.21 What’s Not There I have a tendency to maximize a space’s efficiency. Having lived in small spaces for the majority of my adult life, it’s been necessary to utilize every nook and cranny if I want to hold onto my things without cluttering it up. When we bought the house, we suddenly had double the amount of room to fill with our lives—and things. I put an heirloom side table into this small corner next to my office door when we moved in. The little table fit perfectly and became a rendezvous point for my wallet, face masks, magazines, AirPods, and other mobile essentials throughout the day. As many times as I’d clean it off to avoid it looking messy, my items would respawn the next day. Today I took a long, hard look at that table and wondered if I truly needed it there. Having determined I didn’t, the table went into the closet. The corner was meant to be empty. It’s meant to be a zone where clutter won’t exist and the path from the hallway into the office is less obstructed than before. I placed emptiness in this corner the same way I did a side table. It’s an intentional absence that adds to the overall aesthetic and vibe of the room the same way a painting on the wall or a chair would. It is intentional, intangible, functional decor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632362954574-C6FIDE58CX564XDE52OK/Christ+the+King+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg sep-2021 - 9.20.21 Overcast Shoot Did some exteriors for Luminaut of an addition they made for a church in Mt. Lookout. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast and there’s a good chance I’ll need to reshoot it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632362961161-4Z9D1C466ZDK8ULWFQZS/Luminaut+Office+Photo+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg sep-2021 - 9.21.21 The Nauts Luminaut office photo taken inside the Courtyard Marriott, which they designed. This was the fun take. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632362954569-3CGUZV00ELUYHHFDLG2X/IMG_2622.jpg sep-2021 - 9.22.21 Bayhorse Reunion Met up with Travis, Ronny, and Justin tonight for a couple of beers at the Bayhorse. Had to convert this to B&W because the lighting in the back room isn’t ideal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632456207966-I87MK9FZL8XL9JLCA2Q7/IMG_2632.jpeg sep-2021 - 9.23.21 Undergrowth I have a tendency to look down at my shoes when not moving. If I didn’t, I’m not sure I would’ve noticed this trapped sewer plant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632542701805-K901JKYIQNBOGPCQM65K/NZ6_4402.jpg sep-2021 - 9.24.21 Number Error I spent the day thinking it was a milestone for the daily photo project. I thought today was going to be my 1000th post. Another image was supposed to mark that special occasion after carefully considering what I should do halfway through the evening and making the trek up a hill to capture it. But after I’d made both the post and the image, I realized I’d messed up the count somewhere along the way and today was actually only day 998. I’m honestly embarrassed that anyone may have seen it through an RSS feed that snatched it before it was deleted. But I figure it’s best to be up front about failures like that, so now you know. Here’s a sunflower from a trip to a farm I went to today. I lit it with a flash so I could get the face of it while backlit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632631302549-LY7GJ488130DICY0UNEX/NZ6_5496.jpg sep-2021 - 9.25.21 Iconic Work Night Spent over 5 hours shooting at ICON tonight for GBBN. Show shoots are usually kind of a tough thing for me to do because the lighting is all over the place and crowds can be unpredictable, but everything about tonight was good. I had a great time shooting this space with show goers in it while two excellent bands provided the soundtrack to the evening. This was one of my final photos of the night. The group pictured wanted their photo taken together. I was running an interval at the time and let it take their photo then cancelled the interval, but not before miming my finger on the shutter. One guy caught on and yelled, “he faked it!” Of course, he was right, but I was delighted to prove him wrong since the interval actually did take their photo, just seconds before I mimed it. One of the girls snapped my LCD screen with her phone to “save” the image. It was all pretty funny—both the situation and proving that guy wrong even though he was technically, kind of right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632708985436-K7LCO3373YO5XL8YHS0J/NZ6_4421-HDR.jpg sep-2021 - 9.26.21 One Thousand Days I made a photo today using a split diopter that I thought was fun and creative. However, I didn’t choose it for today’s photo. The image you see here was made two days earlier, when I thought I was on day 1000. However, I realized I had miscounted somewhere along the way, and instead I was only on day 998. The intentionality was there, but my accounting was not. I still made a photo today and preserved my daily goal, it just won’t be seen here. This image was made for day 1000, and I cannot let my accounting error ruin that. I chose this scene for two reasons. First, the inaugural daily photo was taken from my window in the city at night, and I wanted to pay homage to that image by incorporating the city after dark. Secondly, I wanted to invite my new home into this moment in my life. By filling the frame half with Cincinnati and half with Bellevue, I feel like both places are equally represented. No matter who comes into or leaves my life, no matter what my career looks like, no matter the state of my mental or physical health, and no matter what life throws at me, I know I get to make a photo. Much is different today than it was over two and a half years ago, but this daily photo project has been one of the only reassuring constants in an ever-changing world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633014904357-GTBWUZNITT4MQ3XTLCH2/IMG_2718.jpg sep-2021 - 9.27.21 Sleepy Girls My parents’ puppies are staying with us overnight. This is them cuddled up in a corner of their crate. They always have to be cuddling with each other when they’re resting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633014898630-AX1EOO17ZOX1NKJ1CBPT/217+E+26th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg sep-2021 - 9.28.21 A 1928 Beauty I’m shooting this Covington house tomorrow. Due to a tight deadline, I needed to get night photos of it tonight. I did a quick walkthrough and it was gorgeous with loads of character intact. It would be easy to gut this house and white box it, but they didn’t, and I really love how much century-old charm is still has. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633014898466-F78B11PYHYBVA5NH2773/217+E+26th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg sep-2021 - 9.29.21 Phone Booth Shower Last night, I published a photo of a house I was going to shoot the next day. This is from that house. There’s a lone shower in the hallway, apart from the nearby bathroom, which has a shower of its own. I photographed it this way to illustrate how it’s just in the middle of a hallway instead of inside a bathroom. I’m guessing there was a layout change sometime during the course of history that alienated this shower from the original bathroom because I cannot imagine why it would be placed here otherwise. Regardless, I think this is the thing I love the most about this house. This isn’t something I’ve ever seen during my years of photographing old homes, and I’m fairly certain I will not see this again. Because of its peculiar placement in the hallway, it has the vibe of a phone booth over a shower. Personally, I think the tile is both inside and out is spectacular. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633209943313-DIK50UBC0RAJ1BM5OE6N/IMG_2732.jpg sep-2021 Miscalculations I wanted to build an upright rolling cabinet that could slide under my bench. The design is simple and I was able to use a fair amount of scrap wood to cut down on the cost. However, after I’d assembled it and rolled it up to the edge of the bench, I missed the mark by a half inch. Normally I’d be irritated with myself, but it made me laugh aloud. After taking this photo, I flipped it over and rethought the mounting situation to lower it just enough to fit. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/oct-2021 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647292989-64VUE0PMZUHPYVMTY2GZ/NZ6_6246.jpg oct-2021 - 10.1.21 First Friday in the River Town Tonight was First Friday in Bellevue. Obviously Halloween themed this month, loads of kids and parents were out and about gathering free candy from boutique owners and other small businesses. I went to the top of The Fairfield Venues for a moment to get a shot from up there during sunset, and though the streets don’t look crowded in the photo, they were bustling within the hour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647292989-64VUE0PMZUHPYVMTY2GZ/NZ6_6246.jpg oct-2021 - 10.1.21 First Friday in the River Town Tonight was First Friday in Bellevue. Obviously Halloween themed this month, loads of kids and parents were out and about gathering free candy from boutique owners and other small businesses. I went to the top of The Fairfield Venues for a moment to get a shot from up there during sunset, and though the streets don’t look crowded in the photo, they were bustling within the hour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647299123-AQMML1EH2DET81K935KI/NZ6_6255.jpg oct-2021 - 10.2.21 Train Wreck of a Trip to Metamora Last year, we went to Metamora during Canal Days & it was one of those magical autumn experiences that I looked forward to recreating this year. I placed it on my calendar weeks in advance to ensure we didn’t miss it. Between the trains, the canal, the easy-going people and cute little shops, and all-around pleasant vibe of the place, I’d hoped to have a similar experience this year with the photogenic scenery. That, sadly, wasn’t in the cards. Today we went and it was truly awful. It was uncomfortably crowded to the point where simply walking was stressful, especially since we had Myrtle in tow. The boats in the canal and scenic vignettes we enjoyed last year were replaced by tents of cheap sunglasses and trump shit in every direction. It felt like a crowded county fair in the middle of aggressive, conservative nowhere instead of the peaceful little canal town we enjoyed so much last year. It was a total letdown and we didn’t spend more than an hour before we decided it wasn’t worth staying and left. On the way out, I got to take this photo of a very slow-moving train, which was nice. If we ever go back to Metamora, it won’t be during this unfortunate festival. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647292603-W1KFXQL77D1GFMZQE423/IMG_2771.jpg oct-2021 - 10.3.21 Night Walk Plainly and simply put: we took a walk around the neighborhood at night. Nothing else to it than that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647298881-HU1RWXAKR4HCMGJMO2CX/NZ6_6277.jpg oct-2021 - 10.4.21 New Spots I didn’t drink coffee here today, but I plan to soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647301627-SL2QLUE03A4ZHCKJUENX/NZ6_6337.jpg oct-2021 - 10.5.21 Schmetterling We ate breakfast outside in this little garden cafe called The Birds Nest in Nashville, IN. Butterflies and bees hopped from flower to flower as we sipped coffee and Myrtle sat patiently for a bit of our leftovers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647303267-B7D8H7COHIKDFCKHP60A/NZ6_6510.jpg oct-2021 - 10.6.21 Bloomington’s Fountain Square In the afternoon, Bloomington became our unintended destination. We ate fries and enjoyed a flight of beer at The Tap before further exploring the area. Bloomington’s Fountain Square is pretty architecturally interesting with loads of 19th and early-20th Century buildings surrounding the Monroe County Courthouse. Ashley shopped at a place called Lola’s, and we went inside a sporting goods store that gave Myrtle the biggest piece of beef jerky she could handle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647305577-0TQ0PWTG4HTAVK4DJRCA/NZ6_6549.jpg oct-2021 - 10.7.21 Columbus’ Churches Eliel Saarinen’s First Christian Church in Columbus, IN is depicted in today’s photo. Before driving back home, we stopped in Columbus, IN—a city known for its wealth of unique Modernist architecture by several prominent architects throughout the last 100 years. I paid for a map of the area at the Visitor’s Center before heading out on foot to see several of the city’s iconic buildings. The doors on this church are so boldly different than any other I’ve seen, yet it’s of the WWII era. Saarinen’s unique design speaks to the timelessness of the structure, bolstering the reputation the city’s earned as a place of such profoundly interesting architecture. We only spent a few hours in Columbus before heading home, but it won’t be the last time I visit; I’d like to do a guided tour next time and get deeper perspective on each of these places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004918204-LOI9X34EEJFNSY0Q086U/IMG_2833.jpg oct-2021 - 10.9.21 Wild Night at Riverside Marina Even though I took this photo on the Friday the 8th, I am writing this caption on 10th for a good reason. Ashley and I went out with our neighbors and ended up drinking ourselves into oblivion like we haven’t done in years. I don’t remember waving goodbye to my own car still parked in the lot as we got a ride home, but I’m sure I did it. We had an incredible night…until we got home… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004919380-FIULLT6R74HGF13U5MML/NZ6_6990.jpg oct-2021 - 10.9.21 Oof Friday night’s wild ride abruptly turned vomitous® by the time we got home. While I managed to keep my booze down, Ashley was not so lucky. I’ll spare you the details because they’re pretty bad. I ended up walking back to the bar in the morning because I didn’t feel physically able to ride my bike, and I do not think I’ve struggled with a 3.5 mile walk more in my life. The heat and duration of the walk allowed my body to sweat out whatever remaining Patron and Blue Moon I had flowing through my system. When I finally pulled the car into the garage, I celebrated by promptly going back to bed, where Ashley had been between bouts of explosive runs to the bathroom. Together, we popped Advils and drank Pedialyte packets for the rest of the day. I managed to get over my hangover in the mid-afternoon, but Ashley was out for the count until the next day. I don’t think either of us will touch alcohol again for a week or two… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004918485-69TIV8AFN69OY4D12MUE/lego%2Bstudio%2Bsession%2B-%2Bbat%2Blords%2Bcastle%2B1997%2B-12.jpg oct-2021 - 10.10.21 New Way to Play Weeks ago, I hastily gathered all the Lego I still had from my childhood at my parents’ house and brought it to my own home. While I loved the idea of building old sets I’d purchased in the 90s, I struggled with what I’d do with the sets once they were built. I don’t have the old desire to play with them, and I don’t have a desire to necessarily build them all to display them. So after some thought, I realized I could “play” with them by practicing studio photography and Photoshop—something constructive in addition to fun. I found a database of set directions online and put together a set I got for Christmas in 1997. It’s a tall castle with a dungeon in the tower. Shining a book light through the windows and using photo stacking, I created a scene inside the dungeon then added effects in post to give it the ambiance I wanted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004924915-M3PMHDEBLT1GMION5QZP/NZ6_7112.jpg oct-2021 - 10.11.21 Julie, Your Ride’s Here I wonder what the backstory is to this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634100676261-RRV4H4KQSROCBEGCZKE7/lego+studio+session+-+pirates+ambush+1997+-1.jpg oct-2021 - 10.12.21 The Treasure Hunter’s End After building a large white backdrop studio table out of scrap wood last weekend, I’ve been looking forward taking product photos of various things to sharpen my skills with Photoshop. I researched another Lego set that I had as a kid, built it, modified it, then came up with a little story scene. The set, called Pirate’s Ambush, is from 1997, and depicts a two-tower arrangement with a dropping net in the middle on the original box. The pirates sit atop the structure, and the Spaniard (?) sits in the boat, ready to be ambushed. The scene I came up with is similar, though there’s additional danger in the water and the perspective is more dramatic. I lit the scene with a Lumecube on one side, arranged some warm lighting from the other side, and photo stacked 35 images. In Photoshop, I overlaid the background with an image I made years ago of the sun over the ocean and added clouds from another image from that same area. I then cleaned up several imperfections in the bricks, touched up the edges, added gleaming light to multiple surfaces, and added a static animation effect to the gator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634330935999-CHCDM6JY5BWY7CQI7101/IMG_2874.jpg oct-2021 - 10.13.21 Little Olive We had dinner at the Germans’ house tonight. Their little dog, Olive, is a chihuahua mixed with a pug. She’s super sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634330936009-5EXO34W899H4PVXDMBPX/IMG_2884.jpg oct-2021 - 10.14.21 Mobile Studio Moved the studio setup from the finished side of the basement to the unfinished side, right next to my workshop. I figured it would be easier and out of the way there. I had to move a few things around to get the bikes that were in this corner out of the way, but I’m glad I finally have a little corner within which I can do my thing. I think I will end up needing to cut a bigger piece of plywood for the base at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634330943648-AIZX4ZQ5LRIFRHYWJB9J/NZ6_7704-Edit.jpg oct-2021 - 10.15.21 Faux Commercial To bolster my portfolio with new product work, I decided to start using the studio on objects I have lying around the house. Apple has some of the best product shots, but it’s clear they use digital rendering instead of actual photography to make them. However, I wanted to create something Apple-like, so I got my iPad out, suspended the Pencil at an angle using fishing line, and photo stacked it all in post to create this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634526156988-PFPLNT7PRMYWQPHBWRT0/IMG_2922.jpeg oct-2021 - 10.16.21 Darkened Memorial Hall Ever wonder what Memorial Hall looks like with most of its lights off? Here you go. Using the iPhone’s low light mode, I was still able to get a pretty bright image, but in reality, the scene was quite dark. Save for the light coming in from the other hall and the windows, everything was turned off for the performance just beyond the curtains. I thought it looked pretty neat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634526309301-3BEMSEIAGA28KMO7J3MH/IMG_2927.jpeg oct-2021 - 10.17.21 Rocking Chair Portrait We were sitting in the bedroom for a moment and I liked the light coming in through the window. You can see Myrtle in the foreground waiting for our next move. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634617628613-735RB1ALNCNAJ4WZ1FUU/lego+studio+sessions+-+flower+bouquet-1.jpg oct-2021 - 10.18.21 Flower Bouquet Ashley’s Lego bouquet with a little bee I improvised. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634695481065-EUJTSJJJ3KI3VELID1D7/NZ6_8266.jpg oct-2021 - 10.19.21 Alternate Ways to Communicate When your spouse is on a work call and they can’t look at their phone, you get creative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634825693699-PXQ8JF1QI84K3SJBPVGH/400+E+13th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-22.jpg oct-2021 - 10.20.21 13th Street A view looking west on 13th Street. From a job I did today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635066180731-GE9IK4FYKUP3OUADJVG5/26+W+15th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg oct-2021 - 10.21.21 Street Art A section of 15th Street between Goose Alley and Race Street is closed to cars. It’s painted with a series of bright, colorful shapes and has tables outside of B&A Kitchen. While no one else was enjoying the space when I took this photo, I certainly was. I was there to shoot two AirBnbs and wanted to get a few shots of the surrounding area because, in my opinion, it added to the value of staying in that location. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635066180643-FNN8W0VQAFCDP670AVUS/IMG_2968.jpg oct-2021 - 10.22.21 A Soggy, Beautiful Night Ashley and I tried several times to hang out with friends tonight, but everyone was busy. So instead, we sat in the car and had burgers from Bebo on Court Street. Wanting to hang with Myrtle, she came along for the ride and licked at the air as we scarfed down our food. I didn’t expect a whole lot from the restaurant, but it was decent. The value vs. the quality and quantity of food we got was good. Though it was misting outside at the time, we parked and took a nice walk through Over-the-Rhine, eventually settling in for a beer at The Porch in Washington Park. As we went to leave, I thought this scene was particularly beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635066183158-R4VSSI32STNWN8REA0EC/IMG_2983.jpg oct-2021 - 10.23.21 Petri’s The girls and I went to Nomad for coffee and breakfast this morning. Afterward, we did a little quick shopping on the Avenue and found ourselves inside a floral shop called Petri’s. I’d never been inside before today. We purchased a few small things including a plant Ashley wanted and some potting soil. They let Myrtle come inside the shop instead of making us wait outside while Ashley did her shopping. She always likes sniffing around and checking things out. A business that allows me to bring my pup inside always increases its return-ability. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635124645849-6CHJYTCDGRBBC06VMJ64/IMG_3039.jpg oct-2021 - 10.24.21 Dealer of Destruction Chris asked me the other day, “when will I see you again?” We resolved to spend some time together today, in Dayton. Ashley and I went up at noon and met him at a delicious restaurant in the Oregon District called Lily’s. After eating, the rain drove us indoors to the free Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum. Inside, we looked at everything from the Wright Brothers’ first airplane to more modern ones, like the stealth B-2 bomber. The WWII section was the most familiar of the war planes to me, but that’s not saying a lot; I do not know my model designations well. I knew a few of them, like the plane that dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki, but I got a pretty fresh education overall. The space section had some really neat stuff, and we got to tour several presidential planes, including the one LBJ was on when he took the oath of office after JFK’s assassination. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635196010361-6PPUQ87QV0PIMW4IDA9J/soundcore+q30.jpg oct-2021 - 10.25.21 Soundcore Q30 As someone who uses earplugs to sleep and earbuds for work, I have grown weary of shoving objects into my ears to aid in my daily routine. And as someone who isn’t an audiophile and cannot tell a high-end set of speakers from a consumer brand when they aren’t placed side by side, I don’t require the biggest and best equipment to listen to podcasts. Therefore, I bought myself a set of over-the-ear headphones that are under $100. Some research online suggested the Soundcore Q30 headphones were among the finest pair for the right price. Naturally, I wanted to photograph them on my white background soon after opening the box and digitally manipulated the image in Photoshop later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635278455047-YNFF4ADPLGZU0REM85ST/NZ6_9211-Edit.jpg oct-2021 - 10.26.21 Toothpaste Trial Feeling the stress of uncertainty with several jobs and waiting on information about the logistics of each one, I decided to do some work around the house to keep myself occupied. After completing my tasks, I wanted to practice some additional product photography. I’ve already done several electronics, so I set my sights on something more mundane. I photographed the tube and toothbrush simultaneously, then added toothpaste in post. The background was also edited from the default white. There was no point to any of this besides just trying out new things and adding work to a growing portfolio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635377004017-MRQIIFGT7XP801PEJ0C0/NZ6_9836.jpg oct-2021 - 10.27.21 Old Work Anew Had a long shoot at JRG Lofts today. Worked from 10:30 AM to 5 PM. As I was knocking out their shot list, I wandered into their mailroom to see a picture I knew would be hanging on the wall. In July 2016, I took a photo of the Roebling Bridge during Golden Hour. I recently sold the image to a designer who had it printed and framed for placement in the JRG Lofts mailroom. It was nice to see something I made five years ago take on a new life in a new place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635684484576-55KLSIRSXDN736WJ17SW/IMG_3073.jpg oct-2021 - 10.28.21 Forgetting to Do the Homework I spent the entire day editing photos from yesterday’s job. I still have days of work ahead of me, honestly. It’s a huge project that will require an unusually high amount of touching up. As such, I didn’t even think about Photo of the Day until about 11:45 PM. Like a bad student, I quickly took a photo of the closest thing to me when I realized I hadn’t completed the day’s assignment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635684487724-PWJ50D1BM9FF4HS6WUC2/IMG_3082.jpg oct-2021 - 10.29.31 Chateau Spooky Saw this house on Dunlap Street and thought it was excellent. Best Halloween decor in Over-the-Rhine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635684488395-1N4ZH15AZ3BU5UPFBYTA/IMG_3103.jpg oct-2021 - 10.30.21 Manny’s Crazy Eyes Forgive the quality of this photo; it is a still from a video of Manny, the neighbor’s dog, playing with Myrtle in our front yard. Still plugging away with editing the JRG Lofts project, I’ve had little time to do anything else for any length of time, so I’ve been unable to get a very good image in the past few days. I loved Manny’s crazy eyes in this, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988132766-KQ5UV8S35NV1SDLNEXL1/IMG_3115.jpg oct-2021 - 10.31.21 Sarah’s Halloween Wedding Along with mom, dad, my grandmother, and Ashley, I rode to Hocking Hills to a cabin on the precipice of a ravine for Sarah’s wedding to Kyle. It was very relaxed and we ate some great lasagne. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/nov-2021 daily 0.75 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988003944-FPJGIR7ZSFCBXOZTKG1K/Kelsey+%26+Max-12.jpg nov-2021 - 11.1.21 Max and Kelsey’s Announcement My neighbors, Max and Kelsey, are from Kansas. To announce their pregnancy to their friends back home on social media, I worked with them to get a pleasant few images. We went down to the riverfront in Newport and snapped several photos with the city in the background. Manny, the dog featured just a few days ago in this daily photo project, made an appearance in a cute bib. We had a good time and it was nice to get out of my photo-bubble for once. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988003944-FPJGIR7ZSFCBXOZTKG1K/Kelsey+%26+Max-12.jpg nov-2021 - 11.1.21 Max and Kelsey’s Announcement My neighbors, Max and Kelsey, are from Kansas. To announce their pregnancy to their friends back home on social media, I worked with them to get a pleasant few images. We went down to the riverfront in Newport and snapped several photos with the city in the background. Manny, the dog featured just a few days ago in this daily photo project, made an appearance in a cute bib. We had a good time and it was nice to get out of my photo-bubble for once. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988006083-A079B349ABTN7QFTUUBI/NZ6_0554-HDR-Edit-Edit-2.jpg nov-2021 - 11.2.21 Night Market While the rest of Cincinnati went to Lucius Q to congratulate Aftab Pureval on his election win, I was quietly doing a job just opposite the market. This image is a composite. The shutter speed to get low ISO detail in the market was too slow for the streetcar, so I bumped it up to a higher ISO and speed when it rolled by, then combined the two in post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988003443-NX1RG0D9D48RJ5TSS2OI/IMG_3146-2.jpg nov-2021 - 11.3.21 HBD Ashley She’s 33 today. Her mom and I made her a cake! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342867898-ILOIJVC7AKDKB6C2UQDR/254+Mohawk+-+Phil+Armstrong-62.jpg nov-2021 - 11.4.21 Haunted Terlet Photographing some soon-to-be-renovated buildings in Over-the-Rhine for a client. The building’s are stabilized but still pretty rough around the edges. One I shot today was almost entirely dark inside its back half, so I had to use my flashlight to get some of the shots. When I poke my head around one of the corners, I saw this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342867966-O6UV6VS40O37DR5KN4J1/IMG_3165.jpg nov-2021 - 11.5.21 Muralized Ashley stood in front of one of the new murals on the side of the Kroger HQ building downtown. We went to Teak for dinner and she had a lackluster meal, sadly. She was really looking forward to it and everything. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342871704-01FAOSY1YM82NP6FTYPJ/IMG_3182.jpg nov-2021 - 11.6.21 Antler Jealousy Myrtle and Fletcher each wanted the antlers to chew on. Fletcher had them for the majority of the time, but when he wasn’t looking, Myrtle swooped in to claim them for herself. As she was chewing, Fletcher was nearby while trying not to let on that he was eagerly waiting for her to drop them. They both refuse to take them from the other when they’re actively chewing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342872295-4ULR7H4202JMWXCB6GEC/NZ6_1311.jpg nov-2021 - 11.7.21 City in the Clouds On our weekly walk to Unataza this morning, fog had settled in the river valley and made for some interesting views. This little section of building caught my eye as it appeared to come directly out of the clouds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636515678761-VDDRCB4Y5Y2WCHVOBT9B/230+Covington+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-65.jpg nov-2021 - 11.8.21 Covington Avenue Shot this lovely house at the end of a stretch of Covington Avenue tonight for a realtor. The inside was even nicer than the outside. I got really lucky with that sunset, too. One of the best shoots I’ve had in awhile because the house didn’t require Photoshopping extraneous elements out of the rooms or recoloring walls/ceilings. The whole thing was set up and decorated perfectly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636515678764-XR9FFXDTLKGRXBRD7JTA/John+Hiatt+and+The+Jerry+Douglas+Band+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg nov-2021 - 11.9.21 The Unknown Artist Shot a pre-show and stage show for the Longworth Anderson Series tonight at Memorial Hall. As always, a musician set up in the first floor lobby area while everyone mingled with their pizza and drinks. I didn’t catch his name (I’ve emailed my contact to get that info), but this was one of the few frames with flash and I’m pleased with how it turned out. I don’t normally like flooding a crowded room with flash when covering an event because it’s jarring to a lot of people, so I use it conservatively. Memorial Hall’s first floor is horrible for event photography, making the choice to resist spamming flash difficult. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636694032914-LIM4TQ7ZK1A51S3P60G6/The+Lofts+%28Rookwood+Properties%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg nov-2021 - 11.10.21 Fiery Foliage Went to Crescent Springs for a job this morning and I saw this extremely red tree. Against the blue sky, I thought it was magnificent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636694031461-86HHGW1RDIB20V6WA6BM/IMG_3226.jpg nov-2021 - 11.11.21 Facepalm After falling in love with DS9, I decided to watch TNG. Unfortunately, my obsession with completionism prevents me from skipping to the good seasons, so I’m currently choking down the first one. Despite seeing Armin Shimmerman in an early episode, as well as Colm Meany in small support roles, I haven’t seen an episode yet that’s given me any sense of understanding the appeal of TNG, but everyone says it’s the “best Star Trek” so I’m going to stick with it. Once Riker grows a beard, it’ll be smooth sailing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118179726-OMM9OHOOWJNN1OVS24QQ/Crescent+Ridge+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-58.jpg nov-2021 - 11.12.21 Odd Job Had an odd job today. I was tasked with photographing an apartment community, but it wasn’t a bougie, new development or that I typically get. Just a simple, honest apartment complex with little-to-no frills. About the only thing I could do to make it look even remotely above average was shoot across the lake at these trees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118185533-0J2NXKH859D7ZIEUJAJ1/LAS+-+Shake+%26+Holla+Tour+-+Phil+Armstrong+-76.jpg nov-2021 - 11.13.21 Final LAS of the Year Shot my final Longworth-Anderson Series concert of the year. It was the most energetic one I shot in 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118179244-QO8AWKW9HTRL9QMMIS3X/IMG_3264.jpg nov-2021 - 11.14.21 Fletcher’s Back We got to watch Fletcher overnight. He’s such a sweet little dog. Super affectionate and playful, and he gets along with Myrtle well. They played together, slept near each other, and cuddled with Ashley together. I wish he was our dog! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118183289-P1F17WRSRFVRY69U7YXE/IMG_3297.jpg nov-2021 - 11.15.21 A New Project In An Old Place The city hired me to make something creative for First Friday, and it’s a doozie. I spent the last few days designing it based on their original idea by mapping out every piece in Procreate and putting together an extensive PDF that I can both give to others and reference for the build. Since my home is too small for the build, they’ve given me a key to do what I need inside the old Marianne Theater on the Avenue. Every time I enter, I have to walk into blackness (no windows—it’s a movie theater) in order to get upstairs to the breaker box on the second level. Once there, I can turn on the string lights they’ve haphazardly strung through the main areas of the theater. Those brief series of moments when I have to willingly step into pitch blackness inside that massive auditorium to make my way to the stairs in order to throw the switch to turn everything on, a little part of me fears that I’ll see something or someone waiting around a corner. I try not to let the imaginary monster chase me up the stairs as I did when I was a kid, but I’d be lying if I said I made it a leisurely climb. That fear of the dark, though muted in adulthood, never truly went away for me. As soon as I hear the switch snap in the metal box and see the string lights flicker to life, the fear immediately dissipates and I resist scoffing at my own foolishness, knowing full well that I will repeat the process tomorrow. I go back downstairs and look around the room—one that’s seen better days—and I marvel at its tired, neglected beauty before taking drill to screw and hitting play on another episode of Heavyweight to drown out the lonely stillness of that place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118183297-714PA7D81IUKF1AJC40F/IMG_3324.jpg nov-2021 - 11.16.21 Progress I’m not ready to reveal the master plan just yet, but I can share the progress. Working alone inside the old theater, I have a frame and the front cladding on, but I still have much to do. I have a job at noon tomorrow, which will cut into my project time, but I plan on finishing the carpentry within the next few days. Then, I need to paint and shingle it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546146204-5AQQ0BPOCAEJ45X5NQXR/IMG_3340.jpg nov-2021 - 11.17.21 Nice Night for a Walk It was a warm, windy night—perfect conditions for a dog walk. The light from the moon, ever-muddied by the comparatively simple camera of a smartphone, lit the streets when streetlights were too far spaced apart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546146055-7M3S2ENREAMYT4IP2O6D/IMG_3378.jpg nov-2021 - 11.18.21 Team Puppy I chose Team Puppy. Together, we battled the mighty Myrtle for rag-rope supremacy. I don’t remember who won because I was too busy trying to get a photo of it all in relatively low light conditions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546139619-EC96RNZN83G888SY4EDG/The+Dublin+Defense+-+Phil+Armstrong+-12.jpg nov-2021 - 11.19.21 The Dublin Defense Fighting a headache and weary from a day of physical labor down at the Marianne Theater, I went to see my friend’s 80s cover band at Bircus and snapped photos for them. I hope she likes them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546139701-W8ZFFSKTAY4B44O1PFET/Glendale+Lyceum+Event+-+11.20.21+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg nov-2021 - 11.20.21 At the Glendale Lyceum There was a 1920s-style, bootlegger-themed, black-tie event at the Glendale Lyceum tonight. I was hired to photograph part of the night for those hosting. Before everyone arrived, I snapped a few photos of the space because it was so beautifully arranged. Once everyone started arriving, it was immediately apparently I’d underdressed. I guess I missed the memo about what to wear. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637547165396-GVKMH8LZSBDN164E3FGD/IMG_3431.jpg nov-2021 - 11.21.21 Sinus Infection? It’s not COVID. It’s probably a sinus infection. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637634508694-VRC8SHE2TCAEU497EY4E/IMG_3439.jpg nov-2021 - 11.22.21 Therapy Bear Feeling poorly, I rested on the couch today to regain my health for the rest of the week. As a result, little Myrtle cuddled up with me for a bit when she was finished trying to get me to play tug-of-war with her. It was nice not working on anything for a day. It is 9:30 PM as I write this, and I’m feeling better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110048456-WXO65VCNO53OB3WJ6XG0/IMG_3454.jpg nov-2021 - 11.23.21 Hidden Things in the Courthouse There’s a railing under this staircase in Courthouse for two reasons. First, it’s there to protect someone bonking their head on the underside of the staircase. Second, and more interestingly, it’s there to keep people off the floor because it’s hollow beneath. This is where one of the failed Cincinnati Subway staircases once emerged from the floor. It was bricked up long ago for obvious reasons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110048880-HVLIUS008IKOK7Y91KMU/IMG_3485.jpg nov-2021 - 11.24.21 Let There Be Light Adding lights to the structure today. One step closer to completion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110052710-JQ3X18NWRLE4QRS4QYNF/IMG_3497_jpg.jpg nov-2021 - 11.25.21 Covington on Thanksgiving Steve didn’t have a plate for Thanksgiving due to COVID exposure, so we brought him one. His street looks best at night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110052701-NPXA26I1UTQDI854PPM7/IMG_3510.jpg nov-2021 - 11.26.21 Tree’s Up The day after Thanksgiving can only mean one thing: Christmas decorating time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110054395-635H2EUEZNXTDAQI2B42/IMG_3520.jpg nov-2021 - 11.27.21 Our Little Family Just a scene from the staircase. The painted plaque was given to my parents when they were married in 1984. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638245754055-R1OFVF2IOQ8E6V8Q9WDA/IMG_3531.jpg nov-2021 - 11.28.21 Paint Day Myself, Ashley, and others all piled into the Marianne to paint the structure today. While 90% of it is finished, I still need to worry about a few small areas. And then there’s the matter of disassembly and transportation to the location on the Avenue. I am looking forward to making something small in my workshop again… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638246005814-08TMMZS7HZIPMZGX5FQP/NZ6_6324.jpg nov-2021 - 11.29.21 Accidental Portrait I shot two apartments and two houses today. I was setting up a shot in one of the bathrooms when I misfired and got myself in the mirror. As I write this, my knees and back are sore from getting down on the floor to achieve the proper camera level, but it is my eyes that truly need rest. The faster I finish this caption, the faster I can go to bed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638936121274-2N1QETSJLRWNJLTZ71O1/IMG_3560.jpg nov-2021 - 11.30.21 DIY Flight Boards With us both fully vaccinated and with nearly all of our friends and family following suit, we're gearing up to have people over more often inside since the weather is cooling down. Dinner parties in mind, we thought it would be fun to bring a little brewery hospitality to our own kitchen by making our own flight boards and getting a bunch of unique beer to share with guests when they come over. This is the first of four I plan to make. The edges are routed on the top and bottom, as well as the holes for the flight glasses to add better grip and style. It's unstained in this photo, but I plan to use leftover stains from past projects to give each one a different color. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dec-2021 daily 0.75 2022-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935767031-2EXPG53W4INUGR167SE1/IMG_3592.jpg dec-2021 - 12.1.21 Color and Angles Spent the day inside the Marianne Theater building the second of the placemaking projects: an outdoor chalkboard. This is a zoomed photo of a section of the board from behind. I just liked the starkness of the colors. The ceiling in there is a beautiful dusty yellow and I caught it from just the right angle to not see any of its details besides color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935767031-2EXPG53W4INUGR167SE1/IMG_3592.jpg dec-2021 - 12.1.21 Color and Angles Spent the day inside the Marianne Theater building the second of the placemaking projects: an outdoor chalkboard. This is a zoomed photo of a section of the board from behind. I just liked the starkness of the colors. The ceiling in there is a beautiful dusty yellow and I caught it from just the right angle to not see any of its details besides color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935767633-UAUGAIPN7T39Y7VFGG2R/IMG_3607.jpg dec-2021 - 12.2.21 Mr. Slug Just a slug sliding down the edge of a stone step. I like the shape and translucency of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935770242-RK5HBQYCARW2FF6MTJN9/IMG_3639.jpg dec-2021 - 12.3.21 Big Friday Night What a day! I was able to remove and install my two placemaking projects with help from city council members and others. First, I disassembled the chalkboard and reassembled it under the marquee of the Marianne. A volunteer decorated it with garland and painted sticks. Then I disassembled the InVue structure and had to move it a few blocks away using the Mayor's personal truck. We reassembled it on the front lawn of one of the Mayor's properties that faces the Avenue. Took me pretty much the entire day to get it all broken down, moved, and set back up, but it was worth it. The way this little city comes together in such a personal way to accomplish something stands out as one of the best things about living here. There's no divide between residents and local government; everyone knows each other, likes each other, and helps each other. Ashley and Myrtle joined me on the Avenue after dark and we drank a few beers at Darkness, went over to a friend's house, then met some new people who live in the neighborhood who seem cool. Before calling it a night, Ashley added what brings her joy to the chalkboard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935774509-9LWYG84YBQVIDGHR9YDU/Marlene%27s+Baby+Shower+-+12.4.21+-89.jpg dec-2021 - 12.4.21 Westin Shower I shot a baby shower for someone I know today. First I've ever done. It was a little stressful because she's a highly skilled photographer with many years in the business who knows her shit, and I didn't want to let her down. Unfortunately, the room everyone was in had horrible mismatched fluorescent lighting with a bold beam of natural light streaming through the doorway, so it was difficult to find the right angle on everything. I ended up dual-wielding with a 35mm and an 85mm and opened the aperture between ƒ/1.8 and 2.2 for most shots just to make sure they were crisp in that dark space. I think they turned out alright overall, but I'm nervous about sending them to her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935771543-FBG6RE3MD5SUR6OSPKIR/Lacey+and+Jordan+Christmas+-+12.5.21+-1.jpg dec-2021 - 12.5.21 Parks' Christmas Photo My neighbors asked if I would do their Christmas card photo with their son and five dogs. While it took a little effort to wrangle the pups and keep the little guy happy, I think it turned out well. They were pleased with the set, and that's really what matters most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935776012-J4C557M1WZZFS18XGYY9/NZ6_8183-Edit.jpg dec-2021 - 12.6.21 We've Done This Five Years In a Row It's Myrtle's Christmas photo time! I actually comped her into this scene; the background was shot at a low-grain ISO 50 and she's at a high-grain ISO 4000. Flash wasn't getting me the effect I wanted, so to preserve the glow of the tree, I shot the scene without her at ƒ/11 ISO 50 first, then shot it again with the faster, grainer setting to make sure she was sharp. I then layered both images and pulled her and a bit of the bed into the low-grain image to create the desired image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935777474-UF6E0DUHRCRY9ZK1S0LI/NZ6_8210.jpg dec-2021 - 12.7.21 InVue Finally got a photo of the InVue structure I made over the last two weeks with Ashley and Myrtle tonight. You stand where the 'i' is to become part of the message. Bellevue's social media hashtag is #InVue. It's just supposed to be a fun little interactive public piece that both represents Bellevue and presents a photo op. I may do a blog post about making it at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639108699539-V3DHNXL7ERNHEK8J55M4/NZ6_8366-HDR.jpg dec-2021 - 12.8.21 Clinging to Autumn Had a couple of jobs Downtown today. One was on 12th Street. The top floor has a tremendous view. You can’t see a lot of it in this photo, but it snowed overnight, casting rooftops and shaded areas in a nice white powder. It was cold enough to keep the majority of it around until afternoon, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639108688550-56CZT904HIJ6PADIFX6V/NZ6_8408-HDR.jpg dec-2021 - 12.9.21 DIY Organization When I first started making things in the workshop, I made a quick little two-half shoe rack that ended up being crooked. I pegged the plywood wall with screws to hold and hang bike supplies, bungee cords, and other miscellaneous items, too. I didn’t like the way it looked and wanted to make something more finished—more permanent and functional. Over the weekend, I made this organizer with built-in shoe rack to make better use of the space. It’s far cleaner and functional than what was there, and I got to play around with making cabinets, which I’m still trying to perfect (they’re hard). The right side of the unit also has a single key hook and a small shelf; this is where I will now put my wallet and keys since I always leave them upstairs and have to backtrack to get them before going into the garage. This feature alone will save me hours over the course of my lifetime, I’m sure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639243851136-U23645KLSI7FV1ACKYUE/IMG_3704.jpg dec-2021 - 12.10.21 Affordable Luxury I installed a bidet on the upstairs toilet. It doesn’t require a separate power source, nor does it have the bells and whistles of the finest bidets one would find in a luxurious AirBnb begging for easy five-star reviews. Instead, it’s a simple add-on with two settings and works like a charm. Its simplicity is the best thing about it, really. At the low, low price of $40, even a middle-class guy like me can feel like a rich person with elevated hygiene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639500689053-P184F8D808E5HCF7MZ41/IMG_3708.jpg dec-2021 - 12.11.21 Night on Vine Street We attended a surprise birthday party for a friend on the third floor of the Color Building on Vine Street tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639500690538-7IGGA7UL94A36GUP9YBY/IMG_3717.jpg dec-2021 - 12.12.21 The Puppies There is no away team for the crew of the USS Puppy. The crew of this ship share coordinates at all times. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639500691468-KXU1UFOGJU6UJTUR43C8/NZ6_8571.jpg dec-2021 - 12.13.21 It’ll Do For Now I’m not a “car guy.” In my adult life, I don’t think I’ve coveted a single car. Sure, I like some more than others, like that little Smart Car or various electric vehicles that would make me feel less guilty to drive, but they’re not my passion. They are, however, something Ashley thinks about. She’s not ready to go full electric, and she really loves camping, so she talked me into trading in our 10-year-old Hyundai for a new Subaru Crosstrek. There’s a tent that attaches to the back of it that will make camping more comfortable and spacious. I’m looking forward to going out West with it next year, if we have the time off to do so. Anyway, we don’t actually get the car for another two months due to the supply chain woes everyone’s facing, so I got her a little ornament for the tree of the exact car in the same color to hold her over until then. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639596877823-BJNSK8CQZZIEOY6UPWV8/Memorial+Hall+Improvements+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg dec-2021 - 12.14.21 Improvements I was tasked with highlighting a few improvements made to Memorial Hall, one of which is the lighting on the stairs. My mission was two-fold: highlight the feature and show how it interacts with the building. For this composition, I figured it would be good to have a direct line of sight on a light strip in the foreground and while simultaneously showing the effect of the strip in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101548701-CWH1R3C0UI3BH7FW24BO/Art+Museum+Event+12.15.21+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg dec-2021 - 12.15.21 New Exhibitions I shot the opening of a new exhibit at the Art Museum tonight. There were quite a few people mingling in the lobby and in the exhibition hall before casually making their way to the hallway with the two spiral staircases. Food and drink were served over live music. It was a pleasant event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101548817-1IKKUB6VQCPOUC8XZNRQ/IMG_3772.jpg dec-2021 - 12.16.21 My Camera Case The upright cabinet fits into a nook in my office. I have battery powered lights on three of the shelves to illuminate the lenses, bodies, and assorted photographic accouterments that I only turn on when I need them. I took this photo with my phone because everything else that COULD take a photo is in this case. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101550446-MHURLUS3WLGIZS5VXVNL/IMG_3777.jpg dec-2021 - 12.17.21 Poorly Continuing the tradition of taking a photo of the beautiful translucent pills I take when I’m ill. Hoping this is a 24-hour bug and nothing more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101551692-61JK9ZZR5EYEAGS0B99H/IMG_3781.jpg dec-2021 - 12.18.21 Surprise Cookies Allie and Travis stopped by to drop of Christmas cookies! I am feeling much better than I did yesterday, so I had a couple. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101552409-T906SUF6QXMWTAU9VY9I/IMG_3796.jpg dec-2021 - 12.19.21 Off Limits We are watching Ashley’s aunt’s dog, Fletcher, for several days. We also had friends come over with their dog, Louie, for dinner. The dog count tonight was three. To avoid losing any of them, I closed all of the doors upstairs then realized I’d never closed all the doors up there before. It looked strange to see everything shut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101553595-63RECMWBBEM0430Y73IU/IMG_3804.jpg dec-2021 - 12.20.21 Atop His Perch If he’s not sitting on my lap with his chin precariously close to the steering wheel, Fletcher likes to perch at the opposite end of the vehicle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559443445-D9QK1NB77G510YSFHD68/IMG_3829.jpg dec-2021 - 12.21.21 Buddies Our last full day with Fletcher. He and Myrtle get along well enough to hang out on the couch together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559437952-QFG0I7J2D0YYL99WF38W/IMG_3850.jpg dec-2021 - 12.22.21 The Pains of Inlaying Building a very large cabinet for a friend. The dimensions he gave me are non-standard, so I had to glue several boards together end to end in order to make each side large enough. I don’t want to add anything to the profile of the wood, so in order to strengthen the entire structure, I inlaid a thin strip of wood perpendicular to the seams as I would a normal structural cross piece. The trench was dug with a plunge router and finished with wood fill where the inlaid piece of structural wood didn’t fit perfectly snug. It’s a lot of work and I don’t particularly love doing it, but it will make the whole side sturdier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559457981-YAW7EVW1PG20S66S3TBR/IMG_3856.jpg dec-2021 - 12.23.21 Long Day In the Shop I am happiest when by myself in my shop. Something about it just puts me at peace. I listen to my podcasts while I work and lose track of time before Ashley ends up calling me. Sometimes I feel guilty that this is where I feel my best because it’s so solitary and anti-social, but I am an introvert at heart and being productive in a space I can completely control without outside interference is the purest dose of dopamine I get. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559460461-IBKZG9UFAK2RLXS5G3MA/IMG_3863.jpg dec-2021 - 12.24.21 Couple of New Dogs Saw two dogs I’d never met before tonight. They are both very sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559470661-48SA77D9ZWHR12DHF9M8/IMG_3893.jpg dec-2021 - 12.25.21 The Weirdest Christmas I power washed the entry to my home in a t-shirt, then drove north through a minor thunderstorm to my sister’s house. This doesn’t feel like Christmas in the Midwest. Scientists say the climate of the world is changing—growing hotter with every passing year—and today strongly suggested they’re right. How could anyone not think about it when the biggest winter holiday of the year feels more like a temperate beach day than a winter wonderland? With the impending heating of the planet at the back of my mind, this rainbow was bittersweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559576737-GHTB82G4M2D8SFRGR8NU/IMG_3941.jpg dec-2021 - 12.26.21 Porch Cooking Ashley was gifted a propane camping stove for Christmas because we plan on camping more over the upcoming year. The grill being the only experience we have with gas-powered units, we thought we’d give it a test drive tonight by cooking dinner on the porch in the seasonable weather. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640707274528-T3JTQDD6OG2MYZ51V1K9/IMG_3951.jpg dec-2021 - 12.27.21 Bleakness We went to a park in Alexandria this morning to walk Myrtle and get some fresh air. The weather, though overcast and ugly, was surprisingly warm again, making my jean jacket all but unnecessary after a few meters of an uphill hike. We came upon this body of water that’s surrounded by hills—one of which is a low dam wall. The leafless trees emerged from the green-tinted water in an interesting way, and the sideways hourglass of the landscape made for a nice symmetrical, natural image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640995349516-H6GPFCUPQDPHRH4J3HK6/NZ6_9381.jpg dec-2021 - 12.28.21 Harper’s Weekly, 1884 This is a photo of the front page of an original Harper’s Weekly that published in 1884 after the riot in Cincinnati that took down the Courthouse. I was given this paper to photograph for a client. It’s not often that I get to handle something so incredibly old, and I was stunned at how well-preserved it was considering its age. It’s remarkable how old papers like this offered such vivid illustrations of the subjects they tackled. Can you imaging commissioning original artwork of this quality for a weekly publication today? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640995346688-LRKX86LB7Y1QH18O62PD/Mont+Michel+-+2+combo.jpg dec-2021 - 12.29.21 Mont Michel Rookwood Properties is a client I’ve consistently worked with over the years. Back in 2019, they hired me to photograph every one of their properties around the Cincinnati area, and later brought me back to photograph before/afters of the apartments they’re renovating. I shot Mont Michel in Clifton back in May, and today I returned to get post-renovation photos from the same angles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640995350530-IVZ4CTYCTCKC5OXRY56C/NZ6_9580-Edit.jpg dec-2021 - 12.30.21 The Subway Entrance That Never Was I am working with Hamilton County to document areas of the Courthouse for a history book that one of the judges is putting together. One of the areas is the basement where, behind a large HVAC system, sits a bricked-over doorway that supposedly leads into the abandoned Cincinnati subway system. While the subway tunnels, as I understand it, never extended as far down as the Courthouse, the building was apparently designed to usher people to and from the nearest platform to the street above. Riders would depart the subway here, go up a series of stairs that would’ve been located in the dark corner of the bottom image, and emerge in the lobby in the top image. The staircase would’ve come up where the gold railings are today (they’ve been since tiled over). The bottom image is a composite of four images stuck together; that corner of the basement is dark, so I lit it with my Lume Cube in four different, then spliced each image together in post. I’m going to contact an acquaintance who knows a lot about the subway and see if he can validate the info above after the new year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641085897823-SZE0787HZSYH0SWYHY2Q/NZ6_9605-HDR.jpg dec-2021 - 12.31.21 The Porch To avoid getting COVID, we stayed in again this NYE. Our plans for a bonfire with friends had to be cancelled because of the threat of rain, sadly. However, I told Ashley we shouldn’t let the end of the year slide by us this time, so we sat on the porch and watched the ball drop with a few beers. Myrtle was terrified because fireworks were being launched around us. Goodbye, 2021. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jan-2022 daily 0.75 2022-02-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641085930511-ML7GPATVRA7AKGXOUXNM/NZ6_9614.jpg jan-2022 - 1.1.22 Rene and Cody Rene is in town from Germany. He, Cody, Chelsea, and Vince stopped by for a porch hang. It’s nice to see Rene and to see Cody so happy. A good start to 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641085930511-ML7GPATVRA7AKGXOUXNM/NZ6_9614.jpg jan-2022 - 1.1.22 Rene and Cody Rene is in town from Germany. He, Cody, Chelsea, and Vince stopped by for a porch hang. It’s nice to see Rene and to see Cody so happy. A good start to 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641161122686-3L4EIGDE3PMI2BKMOQ36/NZ6_9625-Edit.jpg jan-2022 - 1.2.22 A Quick Refresh Though I’ve already talked about my DIY flight boards on here, I took a new photograph of them for a project I put the finishing touches on today. Photo-stacked six images together. Hopefully the project brings about a new start for 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641250293406-LSA0H0DXTJG00E6W195D/NZ6_9638.jpg jan-2022 - 1.3.22 An Evening Walk It was the first sunny, nice day we’ve had in ages, so Myrtle and I took a little walk through the neighborhood. At one point, we entered an area I hadn’t walked before and followed the road to the end where Tom Rechtin stands. The parking lot has a decent view of the city, and with this old car (don’t ask, I don’t know what it is) parked in the foreground, I thought it made for a fine photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641352787906-WK2V4O1HXBJYXF6X7J9M/NZ6_9704-Edit.jpg jan-2022 - 1.4.22 The Garage Shot a rentable space in Dayton, KY today almost a year to the date of the last time I shot it. This time, I focused on getting images for the owners. The space offers technology solutions to both virtual and in-person meetings (among other things), and to illustrate that fact, I took this shot trio to showcase some of the equipment available. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641492385879-7XVJNXYS8WZOZ80U45OE/NZ6_0193.jpg jan-2022 - 1.5.22 Xing Did a shoot today in Reading and it took me over the I&O train tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641585174735-YL0YODXYQ360RVDR91Y4/NZ6_0208.jpg jan-2022 - 1.6.22 Thursday Spent the day mostly indoors because the weather was so cold. When snow started falling later in the afternoon, my interest in leaving the house froze completely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641585259006-GGCA55YW8DIIHMTGWNJO/NZ6_0348.jpg jan-2022 - 1.7.22 Return to Roebling I don’t remember the last time I walked in the middle of the bridge, but today I had a quick, frigid job that took me out onto its grated decking. After taking a few photos for the client I was working with, I snapped one for myself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641841987882-37U5XL80XJXI4M5B1DFR/IMG_4060.jpg jan-2022 - 1.8.22 A Cold Beckon Gave a little knock to the fishes beneath this frozen lake to make sure they were still swishing around and successfully resisted the urge to walk out onto the ice, not because it was dangerous (it was), but because the view ten feet forward wouldn’t be dramatically different from that along the shore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641841987581-MO45ABR1FF1ZL833WMI6/IMG_4084.jpg jan-2022 - 1.9.22 A Man’s Memories Ashley’s grandfather is understandably sentimental about his family. From the early 1960s until the 1990s, he documented the same events many did during their lives: birthdays, Christmas, vacations, military service, etc. He shot a lot of it on 35mm color slides and has shoeboxes of memories stacked in a closet. This year for Christmas, he was gifted an illuminator. We set it up and used the tiniest magnifying glass to inspect these tiny celluloid fragments of his past. I am going to help him digitize each of these slides so he can view them on his iPad, so I took a stack home with me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641852527023-PHN5Q377KIYLF5MIPQPS/NZ6_0575.jpg jan-2022 - 1.10.22 Over-Engineering At Its Dumbest Long-story short, I made a little wooden glare shield that balances on the top of my iMac because the desk light interferes with it. The picture is hazy and contrast looks like it is turned way down due to the glare from the light. Sure, a post-it would’ve done the trick, but where’s the fun in that? I used some scrap in the workshop and made a little rounded shield with an arm that juts off the back and connects to a counter balance weight. I stained it and added a coat of polyurethane to it just to make this ridiculously over-engineered solution “pretty.” Knowing me, I will probably come up with another design in a month and redo the whole thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641962354763-QMNFXLN64QR0YEZR97S1/NZ6_0625.jpg jan-2022 - 1.11.22 Something New of Something Old Ashley’s grandfather gave me a bunch of his old 35mm color slides he shot in the early 60s not because I asked for them, but rather because giving them to me was the alternative to throwing them in the trash. The stack of about 50 slides aren’t his treasured memories—they were the rejects in the shoebox that holds 60 years of images. I took them because the thought of them rotting in a landfill made me crazy, and also because I wanted to see if I could come up with a decent way to digitally “scan” them. Today, using my ever-useful scrap pile, I built a crude apparatus to hold a single slide over a light source, clamped it to my workbench, and added three magnification diopters to the end of a 35mm lens to achieve a good macro focus. With a remote shutter snaking off the tripoded camera so I didn’t disrupt the static setup with every snap, I began “scanning” his slides. Once into a rhythm, I got through the pile in minutes. Afterward, I started looking for compositions that would make for fun double exposures and made this new image from two separate events in two different years. The top image looked to be a faux Wild West town. The bottom appears to be from Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295293509-4UK5F80PUXX4LLEDWMCU/NZ6_0655.jpg jan-2022 - 1.12.22 Covington Cross Section Seeing different decades of interesting, beautiful architecture in one frame is why this view appealed to me so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295288897-X9D6WBVBBJSJRMTZQHLD/Cobblestone+OTR+-+Phil+Armstrong+-215.jpg jan-2022 - 1.13.22 Voted Best Cocktail Photographed Cobblestone OTR this morning for the owner. They wanted new photos of the space as well as some promotional images of a margarita that was voted the best in city by CityBeat last year. It was nice to get to try my hand at arranging and lighting drinks again. I think this one was the result of 9 stacked images to achieve the perfect level of focus from front to back of glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295288943-L82EFOC3L9SL1S5VSS2M/IMG_4241.jpg jan-2022 - 1.14.22 Re-Racking Feeling the emotional toll of this pandemic tonight. I feel like I may be the only person on Earth who doesn’t have a pre-existing condition that’s making a concerted effort to stay home to avoid getting and spreading COVID at this point. The amount of FOMO I have at the moment has risen past levels I didn’t previously think could be surpassed, but here we are. Tonight I spent my Friday night listening to podcasts and building a new organizing rack tailored to the hand tools I use most often. Would I rather be out with friends? Yeah. But unfortunately I have jobs to do and I cannot get them done, and subsequently get paid, if I contract this thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295293083-73SYJBRK8LPI50WLGK2N/NZ6_0970.jpg jan-2022 - 1.15.22 Mammoth In the Backyard It’s rare you get a juxtaposition this extreme. Newport, E 2nd Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642428253683-B7VRV797RY3Q2YD5M4DR/2F236C87-20E6-48F8-9B75-E136D6BB719D.jpeg jan-2022 - 1.16.22 Two Hour Update Ashley wanted to spruce up the landing that leads to the basement, by the alley door. She saw an image on Pinterest of a green lower wall and a wallpapered upper wall separated by a raw board with coat hooks. We already had the green paint from the bathroom renovation we did in December 2020, and the coat hooks were previously attached to the white piece of trim that was already there. All we had to do was buy a single board and the wallpaper. I’ve never wallpapered before, and I grossly underestimated how difficult it is to do, especially when the pattern goes down to the edges and lining the seams up perfectly is essential to making it look good. As a result, I don’t know if I want to wallpaper anything ever again; that little bit of wall was so unpleasant to work with, it turned me off of doing it in the future. You don’t realize how not-flat your wall is until you try to add a pattern to it. The whole thing took two hours from the left image to the right image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642479282661-9Y1IOT7WG2HW8S085B2M/IMG_4272.jpeg jan-2022 - 1.17.22 New Year, New Direction Today I started a new part-time job with Single Batch Designs in Covington. They primarily make custom high quality wood furniture inside a shop on Scott Street. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying building as an amateur for the last year or so, and instead of pursuing another job doing what I’ve already done in the past, I wanted to take my career in a new direction. I’m still going to be doing freelance photography every week, but I’m going to make learning from and assisting professional woodworkers a bigger past of my routine. Working with my hands has been something I’ve really valued since getting into DIY projects around the house, and it makes sense to fill my time doing more of it while getting a paycheck for it. I really like the owner, John, and his co-worker, Joe, already. Both of them seem like affable, easy-going dudes who have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to their craft. To say I’m excited about what we’ll make together is an understatement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642697928121-PXP87ZL1GNKJ5XGWWP7N/3102+Rogers+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-245.jpg jan-2022 - 1.18.22 This Old House A photo of an old house that appealed to me while on a real estate photo job in Covington. I liked the flakiness of the white paint and the brilliant blue accent colors. It wasn’t clear if the house was occupied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642697928124-HRYKBB93855VEV6R2KA3/IMG_4299.jpg jan-2022 - 1.19.22 Sanding Down Familiar Tables Spent the morning and early afternoon sanding down some tables from Elusive Cow—a restaurant down the street from my house. We’ve probably sat at each of these tables before while drinking $2 beers on Thursdays and scarfing down loaded nachos and fries. I learned a lot about sandpaper grit levels and proper sanding techniques, which I then applied to another personal project when I got home this evening. I’ve only been there two days so far, and already I’ve learned a lot. Really cannot wait to get back to the shop next Monday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642734551895-OMZ1EC66SUZ3HH1TGAEE/Crescent+Ridge+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-91.jpg jan-2022 - 1.20.22 Garden Apartments Real estate photography for basic suburban garden apartment complexes isn’t as glamorous as some of the other shoots I get to do, but it’s a good way to make a little money while keeping the editing skills sharp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642800002226-36QXOJPKNG64K1Y6XJVU/NZ6_1405-Edit-2.jpg jan-2022 - 1.21.22 Self-Replicating Been wanting to try out a composite on the stairs. I couldn’t get it all tack sharp and in focus even at ƒ/22, but you can only do so much when photographing yourself alone. I am 36 today and will probably spend another year at home instead of with friends because of this pandemic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591258755-GAUFLZW1ZS2W79M63DZI/IMG_4331.jpg jan-2022 - 1.22.22 New Relevance Thank you, phonebook-makers, for sending me a phonebook. It is very handy for catching errant drips of paint when I’m putting the finishing touches on a project. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591260700-RWNHBUVRNGC6J258DGPX/IMG_4339.jpg jan-2022 - 1.23.22 Key Rack Justin gave me the idea to make a MCM-inspired key rack for his home. So as a trial run, I made one for our own home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591261234-EQY93LS9EQ3CC08I5LLG/IMG_4356.jpg jan-2022 - 1.24.22 ‘69 Chevy Single Batch Designs has a neat old truck they use for moving big slabs of wood around. Today, we moved a big piece from the basement to the main floor for processing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591251245-1WCEG7CASPTJO8LF1NQU/NZ6_1781.jpg jan-2022 - 1.25.22 Cincy From Newport Found a new view of the city from Newport today while on a job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591262618-2S0NHRMQQBITLLV9KY5N/IMG_4397.jpg jan-2022 - 1.26.22 Finished Product A finished Indonesian Monkey Pod table. We’re driving it to Jacksonville, FL over the weekend in a couple of weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591258183-NYRZ21MCZ25M22ZOQ7SR/Cobblestone+OTR+-+Phil+Armstrong+-242.jpg jan-2022 - 1.27.22 12th and Race at Night From a job I did tonight at Cobblestone OTR. I love whenever the streetcar rolls into frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591254482-MWUTDE75MO7BSNIFWZQB/IMG_4430.jpg jan-2022 - 1.28.22 Cutest Care Package My sister’s step-daughter sent me a care package for my birthday last week. Included was fake poop (to fool me), a dollar (to buy myself something nice), chocolate coal (because I’m naughty), her school photo, a picture she drew, and a teddy bear to help me in my workshop. This is maybe the cutest thing in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591255053-E9B4MHSO7XMN63DM846P/MercLib+-+January+2022+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg jan-2022 - 1.29.22 The Stacks Had a shoot at the Mercantile Library today. The spiral staircase makes me dizzy, but I managed to situate the tripod on the steps and do a panorama of the stacks using my trust old manual PC lens. The aspect ratio is weird because of that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591250741-J64BU2Y0QZXUJ56OEMPI/NZ6_2420-2.jpg jan-2022 - 1.30.22 One of Those Days Having one of those days where I feel very disconnected from society. I wouldn’t voice this opinion anywhere online but here, but I’m not interested in football and considering what’s happening with the home team at the moment, I feel even more lost for not having any enthusiasm for it. I do not muster fake emotions well, so I cannot pretend I’m excited by it. It’s great for Cincinnati, it’s great for my dad who’s been a fan for over 30 years, and it’s nice to see so many are pleased and having a good time, but I don’t feel anything for it otherwise. I honestly think this pandemic and the social barriers its presented over the last two years has broken me in deeper ways than I realize, and this current situation is bringing that to a head in a very clear and troubling way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643728651578-2I5SRYMWLEH8EMJVDN6N/IMG_4465.jpg jan-2022 - 1.31.22 Flaming Away the Bubbles Had a really great day in the shop. Spent a lot of time doing resin touch-ups on a piece of (what I think is) walnut. The cracks in this piece are so faint and small, I had to lay a perimeter of hot glue around the cracked areas before filling it with resin. The hot glue cures and creates a ‘dam’ of sorts, allowing the resin to pool up over the surface of the crack without spreading far from the affected area before eventually finding its way down into the hairline crevasse. As the resin sinks into the wood, the air trapped within bubbles to the surface. A blowtorch is used to pop them and smooth out the surface of the resin while it hardens. This part of the woodworking process feels less like work and more like art. Everything about it really scratches an itch I didn’t realize I had until I started doing it. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/feb-2022 daily 0.75 2022-03-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643775760135-P34FAXSC22RT9E2SCDPY/IMG_4481.jpg feb-2022 - 2.1.22 Some Things Never Change At 14, I started working at Meijer. I did it for three years straight—practically a lifetime to a teenager’s developing, stupid brain. I made barely any money, made a lot more friends, earned a couple enemies, learned how to drive a car in the parking lot, met my first girlfriend and did first-girlfriend stuff in that same car, learned how to navigate messy interpersonal relationships, and lived the normal life of a suburban teen hell-bent on figuring himself out in that airplane hangar of a superstore. While I didn’t go back to my home store tonight, I visited another location that looked almost identical to it even though it’s been 22 years since I first clocked in. This hilariously out-dated sign still hangs proudly (?) from the ceiling as if to reassert Meijer’s grasp on modernity. Even though I was only in there for one item, walking through the aisles, it still managed to conjure unconscious hints of every conceivable emotion within me simply because when I originally forged my relationship with it, I was feeling the full spectrum constantly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643775760135-P34FAXSC22RT9E2SCDPY/IMG_4481.jpg feb-2022 - 2.1.22 Some Things Never Change At 14, I started working at Meijer. I did it for three years straight—practically a lifetime to a teenager’s developing, stupid brain. I made barely any money, made a lot more friends, earned a couple enemies, learned how to drive a car in the parking lot, met my first girlfriend and did first-girlfriend stuff in that same car, learned how to navigate messy interpersonal relationships, and lived the normal life of a suburban teen hell-bent on figuring himself out in that airplane hangar of a superstore. While I didn’t go back to my home store tonight, I visited another location that looked almost identical to it even though it’s been 22 years since I first clocked in. This hilariously out-dated sign still hangs proudly (?) from the ceiling as if to reassert Meijer’s grasp on modernity. Even though I was only in there for one item, walking through the aisles, it still managed to conjure unconscious hints of every conceivable emotion within me simply because when I originally forged my relationship with it, I was feeling the full spectrum constantly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643929114567-L42P0JGCNIPRHDE2QU3B/Monkey+Pod+Table+-+February+2022+-+Phil+Armstrong+-34.jpg feb-2022 - 2.2.22 Low ISO, High Grain The monkey pod table Single Batch Designs recently finished was in need of some high-resolution photos taken before being shipped to Jacksonville. I did my thing for about an hour and made some quality content for use on the website and Etsy shop. This one, a study of the grain on the most intricate part of the table, is probably my favorite of the bunch; I had to cover the area with a piece of plywood clamped between two ladders and several packing blankets before being able to get the glare off it for the photo, and lit it by bouncing flash off the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643929113331-HYWRYO7AI17JOII4ORNA/NZ6_2672.jpg feb-2022 - 2.3.22 Nope. It has been sleeting the entire day. Thankfully, both of my appointments were cancelled so I didn’t have to brave the roads in these conditions. While I don’t like to not leave the house for an entire day, I keep telling myself that I’m doing my civic duty by staying home so as to not become a burden to others. I intentionally focused this shot on the pillars to make the background in the “frame” out of focus to emphasize that staying in was my intention today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289005156-MTU72UNLA7RC7CVWRZNY/IMG_4537.jpg feb-2022 - 2.4.22 Snow Trek Having to make it to the shop this morning wasn’t as easy as usual. After yesterday’s colossally obnoxious weather event, it snowed several inches, compounding the ice problem with a thick layer of heavy powder. Not having much faith in my car’s ability to navigate the roads, I decided to hoof it through Bellevue, Newport, and Covington on foot. The walk is 3.1 miles from my home, and it took me about an hour to get there. As expected, the roads and sidewalks were horrible, and I was glad I didn’t take the car out of the garage. Crossing the MLK bridge between Newport and Covington was the worst part because I had to walk in the street due to snow piles on the sidewalk. I left the shop later on and walked back home, making the journey a satisfying 6.2 miles round trip. It felt great to get some physical exercise like that in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289016308-N671N1V3V1RMJ0N2YFVK/knobs+vertical+copy.jpg feb-2022 - 2.5.22 Polishing My Knob I refinished the garage door’s knob and plate hardware this afternoon. Years of dirt, oil, and grime had marred the steel considerably, leaving otherwise functional decor in a less-than-appealing state. I gave them a CLR bath, scrubbed them with wire brushes, and polished them off with Brasso. Even did the screws! This is a before and after. I’m going to be doing this to all of the door hardware that’s original to the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289005616-01QYTH1ICG3770EZ71AB/IMG_4582.jpg feb-2022 - 2.6.22 Skeletal Remains Yesterday’s DIY project spurred another one today, this time with the bathroom door hardware. I got a little ambitious and pulled the old mortise lock out of the door, too, just to see how it operated. Upon removal of the top plate, I noticed a loose piece of metal stuck in the lock and realized it was the tip of the skeleton key. It looks like someone many years ago snapped the key in the lock and no one bothered to remove the tip from the hole. That’s honestly awesome for me because now I have the template for making a new one, which I intend to do once I get a blank skeleton key. Looking forward to trying to recreate it and make this a usable lock again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289008642-SA47RNN8R4I7Y1E2Z49Q/IMG_4622.jpg feb-2022 - 2.7.22 NKY Transit Ashley rides the 12 bus home on Mondays. I was nearby her stop when she was being dropped off. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805769221-8N5IAQ2DYU0P8LJ3NGSH/LAS+-+Anais+Mitchel+-+Phil+Armstrong-35.jpg feb-2022 - 2.8.22 Back to Memorial Hall The LAS series fired up again, so it was back to Memorial Hall for the first show of the year. They bands sounded good, and the crowd was noticeably younger this time around. If there was a show to see in this series, I think I would’ve chosen this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805763787-7HLA33QYCBIGMP2GIX2B/IMG_4640.jpg feb-2022 - 2.9.22 Minor Prep I modified a simple wooden box that we got in the mail for a delivered item so it can serve as a cheap and easy tool chest for the car. Sometimes when I’m out, I run into a situation where I need a tool of some sort and I just don’t have the right one. Since I have spares in the workshop, I threw the more commonly used tools into the chest that might be useful later. It will probably get a few more before it goes to the trunk of the car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805764217-J12FD08MDUISXRFJTETS/IMG_4656.jpg feb-2022 - 2.10.22 College Hill The old Hollywood Theatre in College Hill. Had a shoot out nearby there today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805773517-JVR5DGHJKGKU64TL2CPQ/NZ6_3339-HDR-Edit.jpg feb-2022 - 2.11.22 Delivered! We started the van at 4:15 AM and hit the road by 4:30. Joe and I drove this monkey pod table from the shop in Covington to Amelia Island—a sleepy coastal city about a half hour outside of Jacksonville, Florida. Though we didn’t get there until 7 PM, the trip was pretty easy despite being hung up in traffic a few times and seeing the end of a high speed chase in Atlanta. Joe and I talked the entire time and I got to know his story about life in Scotland as well as what he’s been doing the last few years here in America. He took the first leg of the trip before I took over and hauled us the rest of the way. John and Brittany met us at the client’s property to help unload the table, which took two hours from parking the van to pulling out of the driveway. It was a long day, but we finished it with a pint and a plate at a beachside restaurant near the hotel they’d booked for us. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I didn’t wake up until 7 AM the next morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805778495-PP5O95706BHR87SJ2U4S/NZ6_3375-HDR.jpg feb-2022 - 2.12.22 Amelia Island Despite the leftover fatigue from yesterday’s long day, I awoke early to walk the beach just outside my hotel for a half hour. There were few people around, the air was about 60ºF, the sea lapped peacefully at the shoreline, and I empathized with the people who go south for winter in that moment. I like looking at, smelling, listening to, and absorbing the beach just shy of actually going into the ocean. I met up with the rest of the crew and we walked to a Cuban coffee shop for a cup and a breakfast empanada. We did a little quick sight-seeing around town before hopping in the van for the return trip back to Covington at noon. Instead of going back through Atlanta during rush hour, we rerouted through South Carolina. It snowed as we made our way through the Blue Ridge Mountains in the dark, and the air returned to a familiar stinging iciness the closer we got to home. Joe and I rolled into the shop at 2 AM, deposited the van, and each went home. Bed rarely looked so nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644806333086-ZHKDW8LQYHQP6W8L7BLX/IMG_4707.jpg feb-2022 - 2.13.22 Diseased Brain Joe mentioned that Menard’s has a good lumber yard while we were driving yesterday. Having never been to one, I put a pin in that and resolved to visit one when I got back home. I woke up in a funk I couldn’t shake—likely partially due to residual fatigue from driving and socializing so much over the course of the previous two days, and likely because I have a diseased brain that sometimes can’t think or act like a normal, positive person without medication. Anyway, instead of joining the city in the communal celebration happening, I decided to take this stupid brain to Menard’s for a bit and check out that lumber yard. Joe wasn’t wrong about it. When I got home, I felt ill and I’ve been sort of haunting the house doing little things here and there to keep myself busy until inevitably passing out sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow I will feel better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158840998-SAMB55WGM29C9YXBUOSA/IMG_4722.jpg feb-2022 - 2.14.22 Accidental Plans Ashley and I don’t care about or celebrate Valentine’s Day, so we didn’t have plans to go out to eat tonight. In fact, I stayed home from work today because I was feeling under the weather (it’s not COVID), resulting in even less of a chance of doing anything special. After feeling better, I decided I needed to be productive and got cracking on some household projects I’ve been meaning to do, one of which was snaking the shower drain to improve drainage. In the midst of that process, I discovered a plumbing issue that resulted in having to cut water at the main to the entire house until I could fix it. Long story short, we went out to eat because the house didn’t have running water for awhile and we both needed to use the bathroom. Another romantic one for us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158736858-OKHJT74R2WEQZE645OYZ/IMG_4739.jpg feb-2022 - 2.15.22 The Crosstrek Honestly, I’m not a car guy. Sure, I like to look at some older cars and admire the design of neat concept cars from past and present, but almost nothing gets me excited about standard vehicles. Like football, it just doesn’t hit me the same way as others. That said, owning a new car with all the features of a new car in 2022 is…something to behold. I don’t actively dislike getting into the car anymore. We traded in the Elantra for a new 2022 Subaru Crosstrek, which we picked up today after ordering it in December of last year. We plan to use this vehicle to travel the US and camp where we can with Myrtle when we get the opportunity to do so. Its first big trip will be to Philadelphia and DC this spring. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158737477-UPUINC5CHG145VCQYO3E/IMG_4764.jpg feb-2022 - 2.16.22 The Perfect Bagel Sandwich Sorry for the food post. Lil’s Bagels on Greenup Street has this wicked good bagel sandwich called The Lil. It’s an everything bagel with lox, chive spread, capers, red onion, and fresh dill. It’s one of those menu items that I think about even when I’m not hungry because it’s so delicious. I don’t know who originally figured out this wonderful combination of flavors, but if I ever do, I’ll be sure to eat another one in their honor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158739522-9SZ80WS7QASQFVV9WM3R/IMG_4776.jpg feb-2022 - 2.17.22 Destructive Downpour Steve’s had a really rough go of it lately. Today, he discovered his car’s wiper blades weren’t working and had to Uber to work since it was raining. I picked him up at 5 PM so he didn’t have to Uber back, and while on our ride home, the rain started coming down with increased severity. Thankfully, we’d already exited the highway and made it to the streets of Bellevue when it happened. Then, after several minutes of wet hell reigning down on the car, the storm eased and we watched rivers of brown water gush violently down the sidewalks and through intersections, finding their way into sewer grates and holes in the ground. A little up the road, we saw the very old retaining wall by the elementary school had collapsed under the deluge of rain water. It was especially unnerving because those steps to the left of it are where I sometimes take Myrtle to play off leash to let her run. I hope we don’t have rains like this going forward… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645331073152-Q6CNQWPHUN8DAYTAHM7T/IMG_4791.jpg feb-2022 - 2.18.22 Dissatisfied I’m trying to prep for tomorrow’s big shoot and this one will not leave me alone. She’s already been walked, fed, exercised, and gone on a car ride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645331075195-75KMIAY1Q9B5VNEDZKU3/NZ6_3508-HDR.jpg feb-2022 - 2.19.22 Boardroom Had a pretty big shoot out in West Chester today. This isn’t the final edit for this particular image, but it’s close. I’m going back to it tomorrow to do exteriors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645406933763-EZIJPENW8SE7CMOGEFT6/NZ6_3730-2.jpg feb-2022 - 2.20.22 Two Good Jobs Legit nothing makes me happier than doing photos or building something for someone. That feeling of being useful in ways I know how has become more and more crucial to maintaining a positive daily mood. And today I got to do both. Our neighbors had their son baptized this morning at the Catholic church down the street and asked if I’d document the ceremony. They’re great people with big hearts, so it was more a treat for me than anything else, plus I got to spend some time observing a culture I wouldn’t normally get to see. Their little baby is cute and seemed interested in my camera’s flash, which made it easy to get him to look up at me no matter what was happening. Then, I went up to my sister’s house and built some basic shelving in her garage with my dad so she has more storage. It felt really good just to spend a day doing projects like that. If I didn’t have to worry about making money, I would just do this type of thing every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645676117173-DMH7DJAEMLAMEIBAQCH7/IMG_4815.jpg feb-2022 - 2.21.22 Got the Bike Out It was warm today. So warm, it became a bike-to-work situation. Having not ridden my folding bike for over a year, I had to literally dust it off and pull it out of storage. Took me 20 minutes to get to work, and aside from the bridge over the Licking River, the ride went well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645676115502-P7DOLVI5VL6HG0NZHAYM/504+E+12th+-+Neat+Suites+-+Phil+Armsrtrong+-2.jpg feb-2022 - 2.22.22 AirBNB Day The rain cancelled one of my morning shoots, but I managed to keep the other two on the schedule. Shot two AirBNBs—one in Pendleton and one in Covington—for the same company. The one pictured was on the third and fourth floors of a building on 12th Street in Pendleton. It had five beds in it, three of which looked to be queen-sized. The place was decorated well and had nearly everything one could want in an urban dwelling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645676115380-W9QK2U65GE0NLPOK2F7S/CAM+Event+2.23.22+-+Phil+Armsrtrong+-63.jpg feb-2022 - 2.23.22 Little Jobs Before Invasion We were able to ship four of five pieces of countertops back to a job site for a high-profile client. I spent the morning sanding the remaining trim pieces while Joe sprayed lacquer on the rest. Then, I had to shoot an event at the Cincinnati Art Museum tonight. Two hours photographing people in nice dresses and suits and the new exhibits upstairs. I got home to process everything and checked the global news to see if anything was happening in Ukraine, and it sadly looks like everything’s kicking off. Can’t really believe this is happening. Feeling tremendously sad for the people of that country while also selfishly feeling fortunate we do not border Russia. Not looking forward to reading about how this will unfold in the coming days/weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645933192220-YMFLUU03KTBV425Z2PGI/NZ6_4602-Edit.jpg feb-2022 - 2.24.22 Langsam Had a shoot in UC’s Langsam library for a client today. We staged photos. I’m not usually a director, but occasionally it’s fun to do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645933184190-BDBKVAVB568NC3CPTS00/IMG_4845.jpg feb-2022 - 2.25.22 Wrong way! I took a similar photo back in the early days of camera phones but lost it to the ether at some point. Had to pick up a table in a small town east of Detroit and bring it back the same day. 8 hours in the van in total. Michigan was about 10 degrees colder than NKY. A nice guy named Bill who I’d not met until we hopped in the van together shared my love of 90s ska and punk, so we listened to that and we ate at a drive-in A&W. Not a bad day of work overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645933190960-MUBZVNE59MTT6ZJJFRS7/NZ6_4630.jpg feb-2022 - 2.26.22 Not a Banksy Spongejoe isn’t my jam, but I like that someone turned this hunk of concrete into him. Covington is good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631013434-TBL2JAJJHSQCJGUQD2CN/1707+Pleasant+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg feb-2022 - 2.27.22 And They Don’t Stop Coming I had three shoots today—a Sunday. After a very, very busy week and weekend, I’m pretty tired. This image may look pretty straightforward, but it isn’t. Good interior photography accounts for all the clashing light sources both within and from outside. Inside light is generally orange/yellow, and outside light always registers blue. To make the image look “correct,” you have to manually adjust the white balance for each surface, which takes a lot of masking. Thankfully, almost everything on-trend is black and white, so the edits are a little less complicated. Regardless, one image can take upwards of a half hour to manually correct, and that’s why professionals in this field charge what they do; it’s not about simply taking a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631014663-EX2MAYJ20FGLOU0O65AR/IMG_4881.jpg feb-2022 - 2.28.22 15th and Scott This building is less than a block from the shop. The light was hitting it just right on my bike ride home. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/mar-2022 daily 0.75 2022-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631203510-LBXXOHODBG7X3O8O2Z7Q/NZ6_5305.jpg mar-2022 - 3.1.22 Hoops From a quick trip over to Covington for a client. Thought the juxtaposition of the backboard and hoop with Covington’s and downtown’s tallest was nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631203510-LBXXOHODBG7X3O8O2Z7Q/NZ6_5305.jpg mar-2022 - 3.1.22 Hoops From a quick trip over to Covington for a client. Thought the juxtaposition of the backboard and hoop with Covington’s and downtown’s tallest was nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631188607-ENENR18HUNVW415HWASL/IMG_4959_jpg.jpg mar-2022 - 3.2.22 Welding We had to make some feet for the massive drum sander, so Joe and I gathered some scrap in the shop. Joe welded each piece together and I filmed/photographed it for Single Batch’s Instagram. Continually impressed with how the iPhone 12 Pro can shoot RAW images that actually look halfway decent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631190951-YXA255HFCRBHDTXAAWNY/IMG_5012.jpg mar-2022 - 3.3.22 Impromptu Chris Visit I scheduled a job with a client in Dayton, so I told Chris I’d meet him for dinner that evening. As the date approached, however, the client ended up cancelling the shoot. I still went up (with Ashley) to have dinner and drinks with him, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631193112-3J120LTMPKURFID9KC42/IMG_5024.jpg mar-2022 - 3.4.22 Bockfest Returns After skipping 2021, Bockfest made its return. We met up with friends at The Drinkery and took our bock beer-filled cups out to the sidewalk to watch the parade. It seemed like the parade this year was shorter than usual, but it wasn’t a problem—we just went back to drinking indoors as soon as we could. This was the first Bockfest I haven’t shot (that was actually held) since 2015 or so. It felt weird and liberating not to be working it. It ended up being a very fun night overall, which I didn’t know I truly needed after the insanely packed last two weeks I’d had with work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631188830-TVLHYGKV3Y4GSL2F7S8L/411+Rawson+Woods+Lane+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg mar-2022 - 3.5.22 MCM Real Estate Fighting a low-grade hangover from the evening before, I summoned all my strength and presentability and went to Clifton to shoot a beautiful MCM house that overlooked a bird sanctuary. While I generally do not find these homes especially comfortable or homey, this one stood out as the exception to the rule. I could understand why someone would want to live here beyond simply appreciating the Usonian design. It was more than the prestige of the architect—more than a photogenic talking point. It felt good in there. I still maintain that the mood of houses of this type are inherently dependent on the outside environment, and since we had a staggeringly warm and beautiful day today, I attribute at least half of that feeling to the weather. The double-edged sword hit right this time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631193122-T38LKVM2HOOP14D75SKL/IMG_5042.jpg mar-2022 - 3.6.22 A Bit Off For the first time in weeks, I didn’t have to do a shoot, go to the shop, or have plans with anyone. Today, I finally had a day to catch up on the projects that’ve been waiting for me for what feels like forever. As an introvert, I relish these days because I get to be productive in ways that satisfy my soul. As a result, I only took one photo today: this frustratingly crooked little building in Dayton, KY while getting my Sunday coffee. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646802914764-VPU4ES7NLWX5WLNXIR0Q/411+Rawson+Woods+Lane+-+Phil+Armstrong+-57.jpg mar-2022 - 3.7.22 Return to Rawson I returned to that lovely Usonian house to get photos of it lit up at night. As one would expect, the backyard had the best view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646802915104-32OPA735N8QE3M1DMFIM/425+Wallace+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-123.jpg mar-2022 - 3.8.22 Statement Piece The forecast was cloudy, and my 3 PM shoot was “95% sure to be cancelled” because of it. As such, I took to meeting friends for street hot dogs and a cup of coffee afterward. When I saw the sun peeking through the clouds around 1:30, I knew that 5% would come back into the fold, and sure enough, I got the call that we were back on—from 2 to 4 PM instead. Fleeing friends in a hurry, I managed to make it to the property relatively on time. We had about two hours of sun for the shoot, so I moved quickly. The 19th century house was large and full of photogenic details, one of which was this incredible stained glass window that straddled the landings on the central staircase. Though some would consider the wallpaper busy, I personally loved how unabashedly bold it was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646882079768-JCF4KOW8P9DRP7ZQTRKC/425+Wallace+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-148.jpg mar-2022 - 3.9.22 Another Day, Another Night Shoot Returned to yesterday’s house to get night shots for the listing. What stood out to me most was how visible the stars were during a minute long exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480342239-L9D945T89N5IDF191PL0/7+W+7th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1007.jpg mar-2022 - 3.10.22 Pining for Z9 Did a shoot this morning in [redacted] for [redacted], which offered up some new angles on old favorites. Specifically, I got to see the Provident Camera ad from eye level for the first time. The artist, Gus Holthaus, signed his work in the lower left of the ad if you look closely. I shoot with Nikon myself and have been quietly salivating over the new Nikon Z9 each day since it was announced. This ad did nothing to mitigate that persistence of thought. The camera is upwards of $5K, so it’s not something I can just go get without some serious saving first. My Z6 will have to do for now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480341946-7V5YGQ6ET5RTS6ZZEP47/IMG_5124.jpg mar-2022 - 3.11.22 Walknuckles Years ago, an arborist friend of mine, Vince, showed me a pair of wooden knuckle dusters he carved out of the remains of a felled tree. While I’m not predisposed to violence, I AM predisposed to appreciating complicated hand-made shapes, so the image of those knuckles burned itself into my brain. Since learning more about woodworking, I decided to try my hand at making my own set this even using some walnut scrap. They’ll never be used in the traditional sense, but I enjoyed figuring out how to shape them using a combination of power and hand tools. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480345362-FSDAJIIGM7YWH0G8TNXA/IMG_5147.jpg mar-2022 - 3.12.22 Chisholm For President Netflix are shooting a TV show based on Shirley Chisholm in Cincinnati. As such, period-specific vehicles and signage are scattered around town. Today, they were setting up to film on Court Street near Vine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480345362-1SR4XBRU364WBUQBT75W/IMG_5176.jpg mar-2022 - 3.13.22 Birthday Boy Dad turned another year older on Friday, so we had a small get together for him at his house. His cake had blue frosting and fish-shaped sprinkles. This will be the last birthday of his that we’ll celebrate in Milford as they’re planning to move house to Morrow this summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480347876-NKZRYJHK3S926G9BELEW/IMG_5182.jpg mar-2022 - 3.14.22 Cat. Cat. I’m a kitty cat. And I meow, meow, meow. And I meow, meow, meow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480240668-W3K70ZFKMLKX6VY2SVDU/3979AEDB-2163-454E-A9BB-CF6D2F90FD47.PNG mar-2022 - 3.15.22 The Best Day Oddly had the entire day off. No photo jobs, no shop work, nothing to catch up on. Nothing. So, instead of staying inside all day, I hopped on my bike and rode around town. I left my house in Bellevue and went down Riverside Drive to Columbia Tusculum. From there, I went up into Hyde Park and hopped on Wasson Way, then rode the path from end to end. I hit up Xavier University, East Walnut Hills, Eden Park, rode to Over-the-Rhine, went Downtown, then headed back over the Purple People Bridge before going home. I couldn’t decide on which photo from the day I wanted to post here, so I made a little collage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480232756-PO2ZUHEE49NUPEFSSXNN/IMG_5255.jpg mar-2022 - 3.16.22 Perfect Light Incoming spring has given me perfect weather, and DST has given me perfect light in the living room. I just love the way the sun comes into this room at this time of day. The whole corner glows. The clock’s wrong in the photo; it’s actually 7:10 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979304862-BE8BYCBT37MTKBDUWMJ2/NZ6_6733-Edit.jpg mar-2022 - 3.17.22 Empty Had a job down in Williamstown, Kentucky this morning. About 45 minutes south of home, it’s a small town with a blink-and-you-miss-it retail corridor, some quaint homes, and this seemingly abandoned church. I’m certain there is more to it than that, though—I only saw a brief sliver before heading back to Cincinnati after my job was finished. On the way out of Williamstown, I stopped at a gas station to purchase a drink for the road and fill up my tank. Since I was going to have to go inside to get the drink, I chose the “pay inside” option at the pump, but the attendant didn’t turn it on for me. Confused about what was happening at the pump, I went in and got the drink from the cooler then headed to the counter to pre-pay instead. The attendant looked me dead in the eyes and said, “I’m not turning on that pump for you. I don’t know who you are and I can’t be too careful these days.” He eventually turned it on for me after I put $20 on the pump. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979304856-1Z600PUE8QSXZOS3RDVN/NZ6_6889-HDR-2.jpg mar-2022 - 3.18.22 1986 Avion We went up to Hocking Hills for a weekend away. We’re staying in this updated 1986 Avion trailer on someone’s property. They rent it out through Airbnb, and it was considerably cheaper than nearby cabins (and, quite frankly, more fun). Sadly, we learned the pipes burst on the way up, so we don’t have running water. It’s not a big deal, though. We brought a five-gallon container. Hopefully the rain stays away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979310876-EVCJPCHDKM83BH8N2KUU/NZ6_6953.jpg mar-2022 - 3.19.22 Trails New and Old We hiked Hocking Hills’ trails and saw several sights familiar to us from our last trip up, as well as a few others that were new to us. The rained stayed away in the morning, but started up around mid-afternoon. It continued through to the evening, ruining our plans to make a bonfire, cook our dinner over it, and roast s’mores. Instead, we managed with the help of the Avion’s stovetop. It always seems to do this when we come here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979310433-ADLHN5TWM1QEKV6SS51B/NZ6_6994.jpg mar-2022 - 3.20.22 Ash Cave Ash Cave was the last hike we did before returning to Cincinnati the last time we came to Hocking Hills. Repeating that itinerary, we’ve unintentionally made it tradition. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979306605-K8HX942U1DJ0IK7ZOD2Q/IMG_5331.jpg mar-2022 - 3.21.22 Equalizing Woke up and felt strange before realizing we didn’t get to Unataza yesterday, as our Sunday routine dictates, because we were traveling back from Hocking Hills. This morning, I stopped in for a cup before going into the shop. Felt better after having it. It’s all psychological and I recognize it as such. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648006667713-S6B8WNS5V13G0A10SPZI/CAM+Event+3.22.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg mar-2022 - 3.22.22 Strike a Pose Former Senator Eric Kearney mimicked the pose in the portrait during tonight’s Cincinnati Art Museum event. I got a photo of Jan Michele, the current Vice Mayor of Cincinnati to whom he’s also married, in a separate photo right after this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648269119546-CHX7SS4K2NWEIHL4HFHK/IMG_5375.jpg mar-2022 - 3.23.22 Spring is Trying Spring is desperately trying to happen. Today was beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648269118732-GECDCH5QWAZAK4AAC7O5/IMG_5385.jpg mar-2022 - 3.24.22 Court Parked in the garage for my afternoon shoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648269121467-K700RVKGZYXQZFK9CR0Q/ZFC_0019-2.jpg mar-2022 - 3.25.22 First Thing’s First I bought a new camera for work. Having been a fan of my Nikon Z6 for a couple years now, I wanted to stick with the Z series, so I added the Nikon Z fc to my lineup. It gallivants as a fusion of retro style with modern capabilities and runs on the proprietary Nikon software I’ve gotten very used to learning over the course of the last ten years. I chose this model because I thought it would be helpful to have a second mirrorless I could rely on without breaking the bank. It’ll allow me to avoid running my Z6 workhorse to death when possible, and will fit well on my other side when dual wielding at events. It’s smaller than my Z6 (cropped sensor), it’ll take the glass I already have in my case, it’s extremely lightweight, and fits into a small bag better than almost every other camera I own. One of the first proper photos I made with it is this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648567435880-NYD6DCVRF6366XCDQV09/ZFC_0062.jpg mar-2022 - 3.26.22 Spring is Still Trying It’s 40 degrees in late March. For some reason, it feels much, much colder. Perhaps it’s because we had a few extremely nice days prior to now and got into the mindset of warm weather as the default. We were wrong. I sincerely hope our flowers and all the blooms around town don’t die from freeze. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648567437907-8PRBKYRM59M17Q8KS136/IMG_5440.jpg mar-2022 - 3.27.22 Where Careers Went to Die After a northern-suburb food tour with some friends concluded, we schlepped over to the nearly abandoned Forest Fair Mall. Inside, we stealthily took photos despite the security guard’s warnings. While it was never my first mall of choice due to its proximity to Milford, it was a place I went to fairly often in its heyday and on into its slow decline. I think the last time I went there for actual shopping was around 2008 or so. The mall had a Showcase Cinemas inside that was infamous within the company for being the place where management careers went to die. Having been part of the management structure of that company for a time, I remember the camaraderie shared between the local cinema managers—with the exception of Forest Fair. I could name the managers at all other local theaters, but not this one. It was a social abyss. Before Rave Cinemas bought Showcase, I was told the only reason Forest Fair was still an active theater was simply because they weren’t paying rent. It was presumably able to break even only because the mall so desperately didn’t wish to see another tenant leave. It’s my understanding that the final days of that cinema occurred before the Rave acquisition took place, and it makes sense seeing as how nothing inside has the Rave branding. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648567441278-I8HJPQOFRI8Z013C8PCK/IMG_5491.jpg mar-2022 - 3.28.22 Saturation +100 We oiled some butcher boards at the shop today, and I liked this one the best. It’s a collection of different tree species glued together. After applying the oil, the colors come alive as if you just artificially upped the color saturation in Photoshop. The strip of purple heart on the left edge is the most striking species in this board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648606172319-UP0H7OJQA4UVQJBI67HB/SPUN+4033+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg mar-2022 - 3.29.22 SPUN’s New Home Judi at SPUN asked if I’d photograph their new shop for their website, so I went over to Northside to check it out. It looks amazing. Visual overload in the best way imaginable; there are no muted colors or minimalist sensibilities here. Dominic had a vision for the space and absolutely knocked it out of the park. You’d be hard pressed to find a bolder bike shop from an aesthetic perspective than this place. I spent hours photographing little details such as the Day of the Dead skull within the gear above. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648780438786-93CM6GF0VKS59MPS0DS0/ZFC_0113.jpg mar-2022 - 3.30.22 A Perfect Evening on the Ave After Ashley got off work, we walked down to the Avenue with Myrtle because the weather was so nice. While we don’t drink during the week very often, we popped into Darkness for a pint and a plate and ran into some friends sitting outside. We joined them and had a really good impromptu hang-out that lasted until the sun went down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648780437486-VHKNMT40B5RXJWFIHVFU/819+Greer+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg mar-2022 - 3.31.22 Timesink This morning I photographed a house in Covington for a listing. Because the skies were grey and unattractive, it made photographing the home particularly challenging. Some people think overcast is best for indoor photography, but I disagree completely. My favorite sessions include loads of sunlight streaming through the windows to make rooms feel warm and inviting. This image of the staircase, despite having no windows in frame, was heavily affected by the light from outside. So much so, I had to manually repaint the walls and desaturate the spindles to make it look true to form. It took probably 40 minutes from start to finish to finalize this one photo—which will likely be passed by quickly as people scroll through the gallery—but I enjoy spending time on images that aren’t usually in those standard galleries. In my mind, the oddball photos few would take time to shoot and edit are the ones that make prospective buyers subconsciously flag the home as unique. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/apr-2022 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648854837013-FOFTQJNXLZ234BULT0A1/ZFC_0138-2.jpg apr-2022 - 4.1.22 Weakest Link Bad self-esteem day. One day after a client paid me a priceless compliment, I am feeling pretty low about myself. I made small mistakes today at the shop that are still driving me crazy even though they aren’t big deals in the grand scheme of things. From not sanding a piece properly and having my coworker show me what I did wrong in front of the new guy to stupidly hitting my head on the swinging door while trying to vacuum up the wide belt, I just always feel like the weakest link even though I genuinely am trying to give it my 100%. I feel like the weakest link in a lot of areas in my life, and I wish I were better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648854837013-FOFTQJNXLZ234BULT0A1/ZFC_0138-2.jpg apr-2022 - 4.1.22 Weakest Link Bad self-esteem day. One day after a client paid me a priceless compliment, I am feeling pretty low about myself. I made small mistakes today at the shop that are still driving me crazy even though they aren’t big deals in the grand scheme of things. From not sanding a piece properly and having my coworker show me what I did wrong in front of the new guy to stupidly hitting my head on the swinging door while trying to vacuum up the wide belt, I just always feel like the weakest link even though I genuinely am trying to give it my 100%. I feel like the weakest link in a lot of areas in my life, and I wish I were better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247145333-KBX2DVCYHR3C2ZWRD9CZ/ZFC_0153.jpg apr-2022 - 4.2.22 Saturday Walk The corner of Division and Washington, Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247144832-DRE6J54FV6V807EMJV8A/ZFC_0162.jpg apr-2022 - 4.3.22 Sunday Walk Fairfield Avenue, Dayton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247147063-KNZH3DN7CLNHUD6CFNCI/ZFC_0172.jpg apr-2022 - 4.4.22 Monday Walk Washington Avenue, Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247677475-NPL3ZPVFB7SL26V7GS6V/ZFC_0210.jpg apr-2022 - 4.5.22 Tuesday Walk Blue/orange lighting in the wild. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649732598933-6EV5NYU225NRQTGFXKHN/IMG_5561.jpg apr-2022 - 4.6.22 Wednesday Walk Really looking forward to planting our gardens this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649732600051-7Y8YZCFQQ1V41UDB3IOV/ZFC_0220.jpg apr-2022 - 4.7.22 Thursday Walk A stranger on a bike with a speaker playing music stopped a few feet in front of me to look at this view. I think he was curious about why I was taking a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649732601925-8XAIF0DKQL456SBLZ2EJ/ZFC_0221.jpg apr-2022 - 4.8.22 Friday Walk Covington, midday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649734126815-6Z5O99QAYLDO6K5O4222/1302+Main+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg apr-2022 - 4.9.22 Surrealism I’m now entering a point in my career where I am being paid to shoot houses I’ve already shot years ago because ownership has changed hands. This feels wild to me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649734127062-ZV1P33AFF24STEZUU2MZ/ZFC_0258-Edit.jpg apr-2022 - 4.10.22 Simplicity I wanted to shoot a scene with ambiguous meaning. Something two people can end on different meanings while looking at the same photo. It’s minimal, but I think there’s enough there to tell a story or convey meaning. The tall/short elements at either end of the staircase, two of which are separated and two joined. The lower third as contrasted with the higher third. The flock of birds. The simple color palette. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649734128567-DRT9UGSNDLKJ8LC4HXJ0/ZFC_0302.jpg apr-2022 - 4.11.22 Return Visitor A little black cat has begun claiming our porch every night. So much so, we’ve laid out towels for her so she’s warm. She’ll wait until after the sun goes down to cozy up on a cushion and clean her fur before curling into a ball to sleep. Every night, it’s kind of like Christmas Eve as a child—we eagerly wait for this mysterious cat to pay us a visit as if she were Santa Claus. Since it’s not set in stone what time she’ll arrive, usually a few fruitless trips to the window take place before we see her. When we do, there’s an exhilarating hushed excitement that sweeps over us… because there’s a cat on the porch. I’m not saying it makes sense to be this delighted by a stray cat wandering into our little corner of the world, but it’s very much a real part of my nightly routine now, and I’m cherishing it while it lasts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379429079-ZXU8BGLICO1M7KW6VT7M/IMG_5594.jpg apr-2022 - 4.12.22 Climbing Man A squirrel navigates a partition jungle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379432204-HSB0JKTQSXCQ2R7J19XO/IMG_5605.jpg apr-2022 - 4.13.22 It’s Always This Way Needed to make a fix on the fly. Dug into the emergency toolbox I keep in the car and prematurely patted myself on the back for being prepared. Of course, the T20 was missing—that’s the one I needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379429083-YN8VL6Q7ZWOXVAQY9I27/318+W+6th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-71.jpg apr-2022 - 4.14.22 Remy I shot a beautiful house on 6th Street in Covington today. There, an 8-month-old doodle named Remy lived. He and I were unsurprisingly obsessed with each other, and though I wanted to make him the centerpiece of every listing photo, I had to play by the (dumb) rules and make sure he wasn’t in any of them. That didn’t stop me from taking a few outtakes, however. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379426825-HZML71TMVOIO1S4P97DZ/67173322142__38E032B3-E99F-45D4-9D69-DB9B97A793C1.jpg apr-2022 - 4.15.22 Bill & Phil Bill and I took the Sprinter up to Michigan and back today to deliver a table to a client. We cranked the punk and hardcore we loved in our late-teens and early-twenties the whole way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379432508-ULEAXGQ1HREEG4IHWHC4/IMG_5644.jpg apr-2022 - 4.16.22 Steve’s Improv Troupe Steve is taking improv classes. He successfully completed his 201 course and did a show with his troupe. Proud of him! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379435242-K1DQPTZ94MDQ00TVL3XA/IMG_5649.jpg apr-2022 - 4.17.22 Grand Plans Ashley has decided we are participating in three local farmer’s markets this summer. Her plan is to have me build and finish a series of hand made plant stands (pictured) and flight boards to sell. I made a prototype today and have notes about what I will do differently going forward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379435466-U4U5GWAXH2YZRKKFBH6X/IMG_5656.jpg apr-2022 - 4.18.22 Snail’s Eye View Myrtle goes crazy whenever I come home from being out. Sometimes I lay on the floor and just let her lick my face to get it out of her system. While on the floor this particular time, I took a photo after I mentioned a treat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650416555558-21S9Q1UCRP2QHULKKKFY/NZ6_8878.jpg apr-2022 - 4.19.22 Tuesday Coffee When our work schedules allow it, Justin, Travis, Ronny, and I get together for midday coffee at a local coffee place. Today, we got together at Urbana in Pendleton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650591799590-3YO3GWHUR0XG7D02WC1J/IMG_5678.jpg apr-2022 - 4.20.22 Preservation? A friend asked me to build him a step stool using wood that was pulled from his house. The house was built in the 19th century, and the wood he gave me is presumably from the 1800s. None of the pieces he had were milled to any workable degree, especially for finished furniture. The hole-filled pieces, still covered in bark, were riddled with old nails buried deep into their edges. After carefully planing each piece down to a workable size, I had to address the unavoidable cracks, holes, and inclusions leftover. One of the support planks had a massive hole after the knot fell out of it during processing, and because every piece of the buffalo needs to be used for this project, there was no cutting it short to avoid the hole. As such, I created a form around the edges and poured clear resin into the hole, then let it dry over night. After sanding it all down, the hole is properly plugged and acts as a translucent, sturdy feature instead of an obstacle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650591800553-N73MGATHOA5OZSWJK2VM/ZFC_0445.jpg apr-2022 - 4.21.22 Shelby Street and the Unnamed Alley We wanted to take Myrtle on a nice walk this evening but sought a change of scenery. As such, we drove over to Covington to walk Riverside Drive and its adjacent streets. I always liked the bend at the Licking River where Riverside becomes Shelby, as well as this beautifully imperfect brick-lined alley that isn’t named on Google Maps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650769744906-8BR2BAWSZSNYM48GFK56/IMG_5735.jpg apr-2022 - 4.22.22 Explosive Ride After getting home around 10:30 PM, I decided to take the bike out for the first time in weeks since the weather was so wonderful. Approaching the Purple People Bridge, I noticed all the lights were off, which was strange since it’s usually lit at night for the pedestrians who use it to cross between NKY and Cincinnati. As soon as I took notice of the lights, fireworks began across the water— routine Friday night fireworks after a Reds home game. I stopped to take a photo when I could see the barge on the water actively launching them opposite Smale Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650769744594-XAR9F7YF6QMJSBBY680B/IMG_5746.jpg apr-2022 - 4.23.22 Refining My Space I’d been planning to replace my desk for months. Figuring I could make one of my own for about $250, I went to the store and priced all the wood I’d need as well as the metal required to keep it together underneath. The plan to make my own desk from scratch was so set in stone, I was just waiting to find the time to start on it…which is why I ended up finding a kit online for $250 and bought that one instead. Time is my most valuable commodity, and with all the woodworking projects I have lined up at the moment for family and friends, I have none to spare for my own. But I’m not complaining because I really like this desk over my old one, and it only took an hour and a half to assemble out of the box. (It’s melamine with a veneer, but it’s surprisingly sturdy and attractive despite not being solid wood all the way through.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650851932239-1L33RRHU2PAEKPV8BXYH/ZFC_0473.jpg apr-2022 - 4.24.22 The Hunt Ashley, Cody, and I went to the Burlington Antique Show this morning. It being the first show of the year, there were quite a few really great pieces for sale, including an incredible 1940s cedar chest in pristine condition that we ended up picking up for our bedroom. While I didn’t go to the show with anything specific in mind, I kept an eye out for photography equipment, but didn’t run into too many things. The above photo and a beat up Minolta were about it. Regardless, we still saw an abundance of eclectic stuff during a perfect weather day before loading the Subaru absolutely full of ours and Cody’s treasures. While the show next month will likely not be as fruitful, I’m still looking forward to returning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651117032277-RPWW7SQSOXSJSZM8R45Y/IMG_5794.jpg apr-2022 - 4.25.22 Demonstration Mike and Maria came over to retrieve the step stool I spent two months making for them using wood they gave me that was originally part of the first floor structural joists in their mid-1800s house on Court Street. Thankfully, Mike posed for a demonstration photo before leaving. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651117034817-3AA3PPBN8OLY72TWLWW9/NZ6_9022.jpg apr-2022 - 4.26.22 Ault Park I hadn’t been back to Ault Park in awhile. A client asked to do headshots in the park at 9 AM, so while I waited for them to arrive, I snapped a few quick photos to make sure my settings were correct and everything was ready for the shoot. This was the first image of the day—the headshots are more interesting, but I don’t want to share those since I don’t have their permission. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651117058539-2CYX9GMH272KPZXIEG8E/NZ6_9603.jpg apr-2022 - 4.27.22 Noticed Something New Across Grant Street from Memorial Hall. For some reason never noticed that boarded up outdoor staircase before. In other news, really pleased to see green on trees again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651196523157-GYK4IWZY1FEXTPXSMQZA/The+Foundry+-+Phil+Armstrong-8.jpg apr-2022 - 4.28.22 Bringing Renderings to Life Architectural photography is my favorite version of what I do. It’s slow and methodical, technical and precise, and rewarding when it works and frustrating when you haven’t cracked the right perspective. GBBN hired me to do some work inside and out of 3CDC’s newest project, The Foundry. Formerly a Macy’s department store, book shop, and restaurant, it’s now office space for Deloitte with a few other tenants that are still in the process of building out their space. While the exterior has yet to be finished, I was tasked with coming up with a suitable shot of the building sans-box trucks. I waited almost a half hour for one to move to start getting photos. This is actually a composite of about six images of people spliced together to get the right balance of pedestrians with minimal overlap. Overall, I like how it reads like a render an architect would send to publications as proof of concept, except everything in the shot exists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651628803807-BBJWT5QFRD7K0Y9G1YBH/IMG_5822.jpg apr-2022 - 4.29.22 The Henrys Katie, my former coworker, married her fiancé, Ryan, at the Monastery in Mt. Adams tonight. Hiring Katie back in 2018 to help me run Cincinnati Refined was the best professional decision of my career at that publication. I could not have asked for a better person to do her job, and seeing her enjoy her happy day with her partner was heartwarming. While I didn’t get to talk to her at the wedding, I’m really looking forward to having dinner with them when they get back from their honeymoon. She sat us at a table with Rob Braun, Sheila Grey, and Bob Herzog, so I got to catch up with all of them again, which really made me feel better about everything that happened with…everything. I specifically talked to Bob about Star Wars and we realized we have the exact same opinions about the franchise, hot takes and otherwise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651628803805-1NEEOYDOHV55QNVCDJFG/IMG_5828.jpg apr-2022 - 4.30.22 Leveling Up It weighed a total of 113 lbs, and getting into the back of the Subaru wasn’t exactly easy, but I finally got the tool I’ve so desperately wanted for two years: a table saw. After researching online, I went with the DeWalt 10” contractor saw with the fold-up rolling stand. I messed around with it all day. My neighbor who always brings us unsolicited delicious pie was curious about what all the commotion was, so I made her a plant stand after ripping a 1x10 piece of pine into strips, which I couldn’t have done without the saw. I wish I could spend every day making stuff for my friends in my garage, honestly. It’s soul-soothing. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/may-2022 daily 0.75 2022-06-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629209774-3NM6JIBX9L3GJY78PVQ9/IMG_5861.jpg may-2022 - 5.1.22 Perspective I was asked to photograph a wedding proposal in Twin Lakes Park, just north of Eden Park, this late-afternoon. The client was going to stop into the park with his girlfriend after a quick jaunt through Krohn Conservatory. Forgetting how well-attended and lively Twin Lakes Park gets during nice days, I rediscovered how barbecues, loud music, and a perpetual cloud of marijuana fills the park with a jubilance you don’t find in neighboring Eden Park while sitting on a bench waiting for them to arrive. While the vibe was one of easy-going good times, it didn’t fit the romantic setting he desired when he popped the question. When the client realized the mood of the park contrasted with his plan, he diverted us to Eden Park instead. I like this photo because the quiet serenity in frame belies the party happening all around me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629209774-3NM6JIBX9L3GJY78PVQ9/IMG_5861.jpg may-2022 - 5.1.22 Perspective I was asked to photograph a wedding proposal in Twin Lakes Park, just north of Eden Park, this late-afternoon. The client was going to stop into the park with his girlfriend after a quick jaunt through Krohn Conservatory. Forgetting how well-attended and lively Twin Lakes Park gets during nice days, I rediscovered how barbecues, loud music, and a perpetual cloud of marijuana fills the park with a jubilance you don’t find in neighboring Eden Park while sitting on a bench waiting for them to arrive. While the vibe was one of easy-going good times, it didn’t fit the romantic setting he desired when he popped the question. When the client realized the mood of the park contrasted with his plan, he diverted us to Eden Park instead. I like this photo because the quiet serenity in frame belies the party happening all around me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629210711-5CZCL2GRRNJC612UFT7F/IMG_5876.jpg may-2022 - 5.2.22 Finished Piece I did minimal work on this piece in the shop. It’s a reclaimed bench top with a resin insert within which old tools were delicately placed and suspended. The clients, who have a home in Cincinnati, are bigger deals than the ones we usually get, so everything had to be just right for this one. It took over a month to set the tools, get the resin poured just right, and polish it to a near-flawless sheen. It will be delivered tomorrow. Hoping they choose me to photograph their home when the contractors finish up their work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629212981-NJNBR3BVTFM5BDK6Y4AO/IMG_5892.jpg may-2022 - 5.3.22 Narrowing Boundaries It stormed on and off all day. Both of my shoots were cancelled as a result. I don’t often get political with these daily uploads, but likely anyone reading this is probably also politically progressive, so strap in for a moment. There’s been some pretty horrific news coming out of Washington today about possibly overturning a 50-year-old Supreme Court decision, which will ultimately limit the freedoms of women to govern their own bodies if it comes to pass. It’s shameful, disgusting, and hypocritical of the crowd who protested and cried when it came to vaccine mandates to legalize this type of repression. It fills me with anger to see a handful people at the top of the government control such an intimate, personal choice billions of people in this country should be entitled to make for themselves. Conservatives and the dusty crypt keepers running this country drive me absolutely crazy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651719416239-P1MGN9VXJUGFQ8ZM8O6Z/IMG_5937.jpg may-2022 - 5.4.22 Modern Approach to Avian Dining I built a bird feeder last year for our yard that’s done well to keep our feathered friends’ appetites at bay (when we remember to fill it). However, time and harsh weather haven’t been kind to it, and since that original build, I’ve learned much about proper sanding techniques as well as how to better stain and seal wood for outdoor use. With the recent acquisition of the table saw, it felt necessary to try again. Taking inspiration from a contemporary design I found on Amazon, I put together this simple little feeder and hung it from the eaves over the back door. With the added protection from rain and two coats of polyurethane, I’m more confident that this one will last longer than last year’s. Then again, if I get to build a new bird feeder every year and play with new designs, I won’t be upset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651804505753-8APPKP2IR4WN9ND8VSJO/NZ6_0683.jpg may-2022 - 5.5.22 Cinco Left a Cinco de Mayo party to shoot another one down the street. This was my favorite image from the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324348019-W3M9DYUQKIKM5QIFGK68/Heart+Ball+Decor+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg may-2022 - 5.6.22 Heart Ball Worked a dirty day in the wood shop then changed clothes and immediately went to the Duke Energy Convention Center to photograph the glitzy decor of the Heart Ball for a client. This is one of my favorite types of assignments because it’s so damn easy. Just get in, enjoy the decor without the pomp and circumstance (or really any lengthy human contact), and move along home before the whole thing starts. When you spend all day socializing as an introvert who struggles with basic interpersonal relationships as a result of a long pandemic, these types of assignments are perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324356083-XPPJLAKBM2AKFQ5W11Y9/910+Russell+Street-+Phil+Armstrong+-25.jpg may-2022 - 5.7.22 White Balance: Impossible Shot this house in Covington this morning. It was absolutely impossible to balance in post. I used flash to maintain true colors, and even still I managed not to properly balance the colors. This was as close as I could get; the blue outside light, the hot orange chandelier light, the multi-colored stained glass window, and the bold wallpaper made for an impossible task. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324348918-5LDG6NQL9T3D418AWWO8/IMG_5991.jpg may-2022 - 5.8.22 Always WIth Her Ball One of Myrtle’s favorite things is chasing her ball in the back yard. I didn’t want a huge yard to mow when we were looking to buy a house, but I wanted enough grass so she could frolic and play with ease. Every time I push the mower around, she finds a way to place the ball in the path of the blades so I kick it out of the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324352532-XPOR7TJZEOZM6TYBSA4V/IMG_6022.jpg may-2022 - 5.9.22 Bark in the Park We went to Bark in the Park with Justin and Annie tonight. The pups walked the field before the start of the game, past adoring fans (all 20 of them) and a consummate amount of press feverishly snapping photos from the press trench (is that what it’s called?). We had a great time overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324352927-E8JKKHEMQYAFFR30AQOJ/NZ6_1508.jpg may-2022 - 5.10.22 Testing Testing 123 Had to do a big group photo on the Memorial Hall stage this afternoon. Making people wait while I fiddle with settings on my camera is a nightmare scenario, so I got there early, put boundary tape down on the floor, and did a few test photos to make sure I had everything situated before placing them on stage. Having no one to photograph, I stepped in front of the lens to see how the lighting would look when the flash fired. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324356789-Z01LPR87N8FY441N91GK/ZFC_1308.jpg may-2022 - 5.11.22 Tigerfest Bellevue Plaza is currently filled with carnival rides, games, and food kiosks at the moment. I like seeing that big empty parking lot filled with fun for a few days. Relieves the dullness of that corner of the neighborhood regardless of how you feel about pop-up carnivals. As the sun was setting, a brilliant red and purple sky glowed in the distance, painting a perfect back drop for the showcase of blinking lights and backlit signs. It’s impossible to deny the charm of a hot evening at a carnival. I was getting flashes of childhood emotion left and right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932743516-H6OYEWJKDGZO3WBMNN5R/3638+Amberson+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-28.jpg may-2022 - 5.12.22 Little Details This morning’s job took me to an Airbnb in Oakley. While the house was nice enough, I didn’t get to do many detail shots that I really enjoyed. This is the only one that I really like enough to consider adding to my daily photo archive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932745212-JS0GGVIUS698SCDVZ83W/Art+in+Bloom+-+Phil+Armstrong+-137.jpg may-2022 - 5.13.22 The Treefolk The Cincinnati Art Museum hired me to shoot a gala to kick off Art in Bloom this evening. The usual CAM crowd was there—people I’ve photographed many times before, all dressed in new outfits. I have proof of that detail, after all. These tree people, standing probably 9 feet tall on stilts, blew me away. Every time they lumbered toward me down one of CAM’s cavernous hallways, I couldn’t help but marvel at the illusion they’d put together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932747821-PLYQ2ARM3I8TLUV5C3QU/Art+In+Bloom+Outdoor+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-37.jpg may-2022 - 5.14.22 Party on the Steps An outdoor event at the Art Climb brought a steady amount of people out of the museum to enjoy a DJ, some food trucks, and a good climb down the Cincinnati Art Museum’s front stoop. Little ones made their own potted flower arrangements to the left while adults paid Esoteric Brewing to pour them a cold one six feet to the right. There wasn’t a lot in the way of candids to get, so I gathered courage to ask people for posed portraits to satisfy my photo contract with the museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932751264-OVKEEIC2R5ETIFG94YRA/IMG_6145.jpg may-2022 - 5.15.22 Manny We’re watching Manny for the weekend so our neighbors can return to their home in Kansas for one of their graduations from med school. He found the snoot hole I cut in the fence for Myrtle, who still doesn’t seemingly care that much about its existence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932747840-Q1YGVMXDA6XVDB949J9B/Art+Museum+Exhibit+GBBN+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3-2.jpg may-2022 - 5.16.22 Art Museum: Round 4 Lest you believe I work part time at the Art Museum, this shoot wasn’t for CAM but rather for GBBN. They had a hand in designing this exhibit and wanted to document it for their portfolio. To showcase the size and scale of the space, we placed models on different planes and in various states of activity: sitting, standing, and motion. I used to dread using models for shoots because I’m as good a director as Worf is as Chief of Security on the Enterprise-D, but I’ve come around on it over the last couple of years. It was my fourth day in a row at CAM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932751221-0K6DOKTNYHAHCFYAU8WQ/IMG_6182_jpg.jpg may-2022 - 5.17.22 Unataza Reopens My favorite coffee shop, Unataza Coffee, moved across the street to a bigger, better space that was formerly occupied by Purple Poulet. Ale, the owner, and Katie, one of the baristas, were there and welcomed us when we went in for a latte. I’m really impressed with the new shop’s communal possibilities as it can now seat so many more people than the previous location. Also, this is a small thing but it faces south, allowing direct morning sunlight to fill the front of the shop which always makes a coffee shop feel special to me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932753010-V9QZ72T1EQ5NGOIH10GA/IMG_6209.jpg may-2022 - 5.18.22 Z9 Buying a new camera is always a special, exciting thing. Not long ago, I picked up a Nikon Zfc as my second shooter and everyday carry due to its small size and reliability. Normally, that would be it for me for a year or two, but the opportunity to buy a Nikon Z9 presented itself and I jumped on it. I’d been hitting the upper limit of what my Z6 could do for me over the last couple years, feeling the edges of its capabilities most doing event photography. Seeing as how that’s become a larger part of my work life and since I am doing freelance as my career now, my small business needed the next logical step before it could produce better work. The Z9 is weirdly hard to buy at the moment; Nikon isn’t cranking them out like they have other camera bodies in the past. My (dare I say) friend, Peter, at Procam let me join a wait list, which paid off today. Having messed around in settings for a few hours and dabbled with the dynamics of the perpendicular grip, I can honestly say this is by far the beefiest camera I’ve ever used let alone owned. Also, I’m good on buying new bodies for a long, long time now. Its maiden voyage will be in a house in Covington tomorrow for a listing. I think we’re going to make good stuff together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653014253950-GVNTJQJSZBVIM8JB0EOV/DSC_0594-Edit-2.jpg may-2022 - 5.19.22 Spring Storm The plan was to get night shots of a house I photographed earlier today, but that didn’t happen because a massive storm blew into town. Storms, when not tornadoes, are one of the most exciting, enjoyable natural phenomenons. I have a vivid memory of being young and sitting on the porch with my dad while watching what I thought back then was the biggest storm I’d ever seen, but without any fear. I was filled with nothing but wonder and the nervous excitement of climbing a hill on a rollercoaster. That positive childhood memory influenced my affection for most storms from that point on. Now that I have a home with a covered porch, I relive that excitement whenever the skies open up. Tonight’s tempest was the definition of the word; high winds, torrential downpours, and nary a darkened corner of the sky for more than a few seconds at a time. It was raucous, it was dramatic, and it was everything I like about non-threatening storms. Seeing an opportunity to test out the Z9, I freehanded it, firing in bursts to get a glowing frame with the treeline and streetlight within it. Of course, as soon as I stopped firing to check my levels, a perfect bolt appeared right where I was previously shooting, and I cursed myself for not being clairvoyant enough to capture it. I tried in vain for about 15 more minutes to see if it would return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969162510-KWIDSP9O3ESW6NBL47T3/ZFC_1560-Edit.jpg may-2022 - 5.20.22 Break Time! Whenever I feel tired and worn out, I take a break from the internet and it sorts me out without fail. Something about being totally in the moment alone with your thoughts and actions while disconnected from the global discourse is restorative, and frankly novel, in prescribed doses. I’ve been working a lot recently, and it’s time I log off for a little break from the web—including posting the daily photo project. I’m still going to do the daily photo, but I’m going to hold onto them until I’m finished with this break and post them all at once. If you’re reading this in the archive, you won’t notice, but if there’s anyone out there who reads this daily, you’ll be seeing the above image for a little bit. I promise not to do more than 10 days. Going to spend a little time reading, seeing people, and recharging. Au revoir! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968989680-MFP0ZHSS937QAR1HQZVD/ZFC_1647.jpg may-2022 - 5.21.22 A Day in PGH We’re going on a road trip. First stop: Pittsburgh! We went to PGH a couple years ago before the pandemic and found it to be particularly enjoyable. I wanted to stop by the Episode I vending machine up in Mount Washington while visiting, so we took the incline up the hill and my wife questioned her marriage vows when she saw the reason I dragged her to this place. I have a funny-ish story about the vending machine, but I’m going to blog about it when I get the chance. We finished the night with a walk around Point State Park and a random nap in the grass simply because we were tired. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968993483-NDX947RO8T0832Q9ZW0Y/ZFC_1675.jpg may-2022 - 5.22.22 Adieu to the Strip We only planned to be in Pittsburgh for a day before venturing on to Philadelphia. Before leaving the city completely, we had breakfast at a diner on the The Strip before wandering around for a little bit. Unfortunately, our early-riser nature meant almost nothing was open, save for a few shops. I sent my father, a diehard Bengals fan, this photo and asked him if he needed anything from the store while I was out. He asked for a Terrible Towel for post-bathroom cleanup. Classic dad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968994455-6XV2GTJD1WD14HFWEAQZ/ZFC_2024.jpg may-2022 - 5.23.22 Full Day in Philly We’ve never been to Philly before. After two different friends from Cincinnati relocated there over the years, we decided now’s the time to make the trip. While we arrived yesterday, today was our first full day in the city. After riding the metro and walking over 30K steps through Old City, Center City, and South Philly, we managed to get a glimpse of the skyline from the South Street Bridge before heading back for dinner. Though the weather was perfect and made traipsing around Philly a relative breeze, we still welcomed our showers and beds by the night’s end. We’re staying with our friends, Jay and Lauren, in their home near the Tacker-Morris station in South Philly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968999521-IHTT1YCK69GIZ5200J7E/ZFC_2152.jpg may-2022 - 5.24.22 Markets, Metro Rides, and More The day started with a trip to see City Hall and nearby Love Park. From there, we walked over to Reading Terminal Market and ate a bunch of stuff, including a roast pork. I think the cheesesteak we ate at Jim’s in South Philly yesterday was better than Philadelphia’s porcine sandwich underdog, but I still enjoyed it regardless. We then met up with our friend, Tiffany, in Rittenhouse Square and she took us over to West Philly via the South Street Bridge. We saw her alma mater, rode the metro all the way to the western boundary of the city, then walked to her apartment to see where she lived. Her neighborhood has a different vibe than South Philly, but that’s not a critique. The city is full of character depending on which neighborhood you’re in. We also managed to find time to sit in the grass in a park, though we didn’t sleep in it like we did in Pittsburgh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968999971-6TEUIUGH2SRJZ1ZWI9VY/ZFC_2351.jpg may-2022 - 5.25.22 Eastern State Penitentiary We did a LOT today, but I’ll stick to talking about the best thing for this post. Everyone takes this photo inside Eastern State because it gives the viewer a proper sense of scale, a look at the current state of the building, and conveys the inherent eeriness of a long-shuttered hell hole where inmates suffered for over 150 years. I think this is the most memorable museum I’ve ever been to (yes, recognizing the recency bias, but the statement holds). We put on headphones and tuned our on-demand radios to the narration—something I’ve never done in a museum or other attraction before. That method of personal storytelling is super effective at completely immersing the visitor in the history of the space. We spent a couple hours scouring the halls of this dreadful-yet-alluring artifact of American history; I shot many photos throughout the place because it was so hauntingly photogenic. It’s easily the best attraction we’ve seen so far in Philadelphia. I find it hard to believe anything will beat it on this trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969005260-UEQTPO2Y28ASNQ3O8OGN/ZFC_2636.jpg may-2022 - 5.26.22 Philly > Annapolis > DC Bidding our Philly friends goodbye early in the day, we set out toward DC to meet up with other friends who live there. On the way, we detoured to Annapolis and did a trolley tour of the city to get a sense of what it’s all about (mainly a naval academy, but also some George Washington-era stuff). The weather wasn’t ideal, but it didn’t rain, so it could’ve been worse. I ate a really good crab cake at a restaurant a block away from the harbor, and the town has a very wealthy coastal feel to it (or at least the parts we visited). We only spent about three hours in Annapolis before moving onto DC. It’s a fine place to visit once, but I don’t think I need to see Annapolis again in this lifetime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969005247-UCFM02VRF94ECJCNX4BO/ZFC_2746.jpg may-2022 - 5.27.22 Surprise Villain We arrived in DC late yesterday. Today we shook our fists at the grey, dull skies that threatened rain and tried to find interesting indoor things to do. Though I’m not religious, I enjoy seeing inside houses of worship, mainly as an appreciator of elaborately designed spaces that can’t reasonably be recreated today due to the cost of labor and materials. The National Cathedral ticked all the boxes. We wandered around taking photos and admiring all the fine details both inside and out. If you look closely through all of the religious iconography and standard flourishes common in Catholic architecture, you’ll see surprisingly fun stuff scattered throughout. I found a little vignette of a cat eyeballing mice, both carved in stone, in a dimly lit corner of the cathedral. Some column toppers outside had interesting faces and characters doing different things, like a squirrel fighting off birds for a nut. Also, on the exterior, several grotesques were added high above the ground—including DARTH VADER’S HEAD. Google it and read about why he’s up there. Seeing a pop-culture icon jutting off a cathedral of this size and importance blew my mind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969010835-2PNYEZWEPFA4NABSD30S/ZFC_2803.jpg may-2022 - 5.28.22 Very American We walked down to the National Mall from our friends’ apartment to see the Capitol. We’d not been since 2016, but the last time we were there, it was covered in scaffolding. I got my photo of it unobstructed from the other side, but I prefer this photo because it speaks to what it’s actually like being there. If you’re not bombarded by tie dye USA shirts or weed print bucket hats, you get the American food and pop vendor. When in Rome! The man in the trailer sold me a 16-oz Diet Coke for $3. No, I didn’t try the food, but if I were hungry enough, I would’ve definitely gotten a hot dog. We did a bunch of other good stuff today, including seeing a botanical garden, the Library of Congress, a cat on a leash, and the DC Metro (not in that order). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969011292-7CLER719V6TGUZCS2TT0/IMG_6517.jpg may-2022 - 5.29.22 The Long Drive Home After traveling many miles and spending over a week seeing cities while visiting friends, it was time for us to return home. This trip was incredible; we got to see old friends, a brand new city, and revisit favorites we’ve been to before. Not only that, but staying offline and in the moment was restorative in way’s I’d forgotten. I feel like a new man coming back to Cincinnati. This was the only photo I took all day because I drove straight home from DC. It’s of the coffee shop we visited before heading out on the road, and I only took it because I like reviewing everything on Google no matter how small a part it played on my day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969015163-UQBW5EPT7APSTL8DGU02/IMG_6528.jpg may-2022 - 5.30.22 Playing Catch-Up We slept in this morning. Apparently traveling takes it outta you. Still, we saw the start to our day around 9 AM, which included a trip to the hardware store for a few things. While we were on our trip, our yard got a little out of control, so we spent the day cleaning it up and adding some new landscaping, including this bed of boxwoods and other plants to delineate where our front yard is in relation to our neighbors’. We don’t know who’s moving in next, and a fence seems aggressive, so this felt like an aesthetically pleasing and tasteful way to say, “I take care of this part and you do that bit.” The heat and physical labor was uncomfortable yet satisfying. We drank a lot of beer and cocktails on the trip and it felt good to just sweat everything out while replacing it with water. By the end of the day, we had a freshly cared for yard, a sunburn, and some light soreness in our muscles to go along with our pride for what we’ve built. It’s good to be back home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654134573985-KLAHMRPA648875EN3SPH/Baymiller+Slaughterhouse+-+Phil+Armstrong+-78.jpg may-2022 - 5.31.22 I’m Off Beef I photographed a former slaughterhouse in the West End this afternoon. The client is going to gut it and make it into something new—probably a warehouse space with accompanying second floor offices. According to him, they’d already gotten in and removed some of the gnarlier stuff before it was my time to come in, but it was a difficult shoot nonetheless. I am omnivorous, but after seeing the kill room with left over infrastructure, I think I’m going to stop eating beef entirely. It was hard to think about before I saw everything, but this shoot may have done me in permanently. In two hours, a lifetime of willful ignorance was almost entirely undone. It’s not that there were bodies left or anything in that room, but the outlines of cleanup and processing were still visible, and I found myself thinking hard about what these creatures’ last moments were like in that horrible room. To date, I do not think I’ve ever photographed a place that’s seen more intentional death than that one. I’m not willing to say I will be 100% able to resist eating a burger in the future, but I will 100% struggle with it knowing that a place like this is where cows meet their fate. Anyway, I didn’t want to spring a gruesome photo on you, but I didn’t want to archive something devoid of the reality of that place, either. This feels like the proper balance between the two. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jun-2022 daily 0.75 2022-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654134650967-BHBU3AEKNCOD87SMM4QA/IMG_6561.jpg jun-2022 - 6.1.2022 No Loafing A much lighter sign than the one in yesterday’s image. We were walking on Taylor Avenue this evening when I looked up and saw this very old sign. In faded letters, it reads “NO LOAFING $25 REWARD for information leading to arrest & conviction of anyone defacing or damaging this property.” It’s located on the front of 348 Taylor Avenue—a building I read was once Bellevue Town Hall (and mentioned in this blog post). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654134650967-BHBU3AEKNCOD87SMM4QA/IMG_6561.jpg jun-2022 - 6.1.2022 No Loafing A much lighter sign than the one in yesterday’s image. We were walking on Taylor Avenue this evening when I looked up and saw this very old sign. In faded letters, it reads “NO LOAFING $25 REWARD for information leading to arrest & conviction of anyone defacing or damaging this property.” It’s located on the front of 348 Taylor Avenue—a building I read was once Bellevue Town Hall (and mentioned in this blog post). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482365118-2QDP2IGZ1Z6MPVMNN5VH/231+Grove+-+Phil+Armstrong+-30.jpg jun-2022 - 6.2.22 Unexpected Win In my haste to get out of the door to my morning shoot, I left the connector plate for my tripod at home, rendering it useless. To make matters worse, the skies opened up on my drive to the Wyoming house. Without a stable platform from which to shoot in a darker-than-normal atmosphere, I started sweating. Would I be able to successfully get my shots without shooting with obnoxious grain? I normally shoot at ISO 32 and bracket my shots for later HDR conversion, but I would have to do it all handheld. It wasn’t ideal. However, I’m pleased to say the shoot ended up being really good. The Z9 is unstoppable. I managed to keep every shot between ISO 1000 and 2500, and the combinations even with all that grain weren’t glaringly fuzzy when I got it into Lightroom. I unexpectedly proved to myself that a tripod, while very much preferred for listing photography, isn’t actually necessary for these quick house shoots. That opens the door to a faster workflow, which I wouldn’t have been brave enough to test out had I not been forced to do so. Still, I will continue to use my tripod when I have it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482245539-BXBRH43TEUZ7QCZ75Z0P/IMG_6567.jpg jun-2022 - 6.3.22 Yin and Yang When I awoke this morning, I was totally deaf in my left ear. It feels like I have an ear plug buried deep in my ear canal that I can’t remove, but the ear itself is free of debris; I confirmed this with an unplanned doctor visit late this morning. He said it’s clean in there, but suspects I have blockage in a tube somewhere in my head. For my troubles, he prescribed me a hearty dose of antibiotics to kill whatever’s in there and reopen the blocked passage. The good news, though, is that Judy made me a WHOLE RHUBARB PIE THIS MORNING. She’s made this pie in the past, and I believe with every tastebud on my tongue that it’s the best one I’ve ever had. Reader, I wish you could taste this thing. Our symbiotic neighbor relationship—one in which I help her with her house and yard while she makes me pies—is my favorite thing about living on our street. Thankfully, my ear being totally blocked doesn’t affect my sense of taste. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482220628-X4N81B10GQ5U8SVK4XA8/IMG_6570.jpg jun-2022 - 6.4.22 HOE of KY Sometimes you take only one photo a day and it ends up being an image you took because you’re immature and thought it was funny. And then it becomes catalogued in your very personal and important photo project, cementing your immaturity forever. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482219706-8KC17FMB8V3FCTHC41VI/NZ9_3421.jpg jun-2022 - 6.5.22 The Moat In 1884, the verdict of a murder trial turned the city upside down and an angry mob burned down the courthouse. After a replacement courthouse was built and stood standing for a couple of decades, it was torn down to make way for a more permanent structure—the one we still use today. Keeping in mind what happened to the courthouse of 1884, the redesign built in defenses that would all but ensure the new courthouse wouldn’t meet the same fiery fate. Ornamental balustrades on an elevated plaza would give the high ground to soldiers firing at mobs, narrow outdoor walkways several stories above the street on the building would give line of sight and extended range for rifle fire, bars over windows on the street level protected against forced entry, and sunken moats were built on two sides of the building to prevent short ladders from being placed there. The building is as much a monument to fear of the public as it is a center of justice. You can still see the moats and other defensive elements of its architecture today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654573759092-8OAT30H9T9HPI6MWOP6Z/IMG_6581.jpg jun-2022 - 6.6.22 Switching Back to Stereo Last Friday, I mentioned going randomly deaf in my left ear and seeking the help of a doctor to figure out what was going on. Long story short, the doc, who graced me with his presence for maybe 60 seconds total, was lazy and threw pills at me when he should’ve seen I had something in my ear blocking the canal. After three days of being deaf, I decided to try Debrox again late last night, and lo and behold, a piece of a clay ear plug I tried months ago flushed out of my ear (that’s a long story and not worth elaborating here). As soon as it came out, I swear I could hear stardust in space scattering across an asteroid a thousand lightyears away. My left AirPod’s leave of absence ended and was called back to join the right pod for duty on the front lines today. The joy of being able to simply hear in stereo again surprised me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654655564532-7YXMK5R7208W3CBHOP1T/Art+Museum+Event+6.7.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-18.jpg jun-2022 - 6.7.22 3D Tracking Nikon’s 3D tracking detection isn’t something I’ve used until the Z9. While it’s been embedded in the system since at least the D750 (or at least that was my first Nikon to have it), it never clicked with me until seeing it in action on the Z9. This photo is a completely unedited JPG straight out of the camera. Truly couldn’t be happier to be shooting with equipment capable of producing something this surreal in low light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654871386696-4BGHP426GHNI32UZFN8Q/ZFC_3009-Pano-Edit.jpg jun-2022 - 6.8.22 Delivery to Rochester Drove this beautiful piece of West African khaya up to Rochester for a client. The trip was surprisingly quick, clocking in at around 8 hours. Bill and I unloaded the van, leveled it on the rug, dusted it off, and I took a photo of it in the space for John’s website/Instagram. After the job was done, Bill and I sought out a Rochester garbage plate (Google it) and stayed at a weird little roadside hotel that was recently converted to a Best Western. Overall, it was a nice day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654871388161-8FBPI7DJUG8WUTQR1PWX/ZFC_3039-Pano.jpg jun-2022 - 6.9.22 While You’re Up There While in Rochester, we were also tasked with getting photos of a previous woodworking project John had delivered at some point in the past. Because the Z fc has a cropped sensor, I had to do a three-panel pano and merge in Lightroom to get all of the table into one shot. As such, the aspect ratio isn’t what I’d normally go for, but it’s fine for John’s purposes. On the way back, we detoured and stopped in PGH to pick up building materials for the shop, ate a Primanti Bros. sandwich, and got back to Cincy around 8:30 PM. It was a LONG day of driving, but a good one. I would like to be done traveling for a little bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655091874302-PH8H1UN2724WB8M5KWIF/IMG_6660.jpg jun-2022 - 6.10.22 Everything Is Alright I’ve spent the majority of my life not liking going to shows for myriad reasons, but when my friend Mike told me Motion City Soundtrack were going to be playing the entirety of Commit This To Memory at Bogarts, I threw my reservations to the wind (and took some meds to lower my anxiety). Mike and Steve went with me and we spent the evening enjoying the songs we loved when we were 18 all over again. The show was incredible and I’m wondering if maybe I just need to A) only go to see the bands I love instead of bands I don’t know or care about, B) stand in the back with a beer, and C) just go with Mike and Steve since they’re on the same page. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655091877732-KVY3N5JW1180THPWZD8F/IMG_6670.jpg jun-2022 - 6.11.22 Attention Needed Ashley is out of town, so I’m single dog-dadding at the moment. Our upcoming farmer’s market material isn’t going to build itself, so I spent the day working on making the components for 15 plant stands while Myrtle slept on the porch alone. Having worked many hours below her toiling away in the garage, I eventually felt horrible about not spending more time with her, so we went on a nice walk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655091877512-JAW0I6NAJ4TNGNSTOOGT/NZ9_5116-2.jpg jun-2022 - 6.12.22 Birding House finches are trying desperately to roost in my ferns. This morning, Myrtle and I went out on the porch with coffee and a podcast and I photographed them on electrical wires as they stared me down, unsure of what I was doing in *their* space. It felt good to use the 600mm again; I haven’t had a reason to bust out that lens in a long time. Really need to get back into birding. It’s so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655221000837-7E7U2ECR8A182LN728YK/IMG_6708.jpg jun-2022 - 6.13.22 Subterranean Safety After sweating out a full 5 lbs of water from riding my bike to and from the shop, I showered and made an easy ravioli meal before sitting down with Myrtle on the couch. As the TV played an episode of Star Trek: Discovery, I practically inhaled my meal while transfixed on the story playing out on screen. I didn’t notice how dark it was getting outside nor Myrtle’s attention to the windows. At some point, the wind blew the porch ferns enough to catch my eye and I suddenly realized we were on the precipice of a big weather event. As is the custom, the porch became my perch upon which to feel the cold front wipe away the thick stickiness of the day until the threat of being struck my lightning made it untenable. I was only inside for a brief time before the power went out and Myrtle retreated to the basement. I joined her with battery powered lanterns until the storm passed. We were without power for a couple hours before it popped back on—something I’ve not experienced in our house in the two years we’ve lived here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655220918741-S6ENNY71X1535ZVYUL9N/IMG_6718.jpg jun-2022 - 6.14.22 Dogs Toilet I love wholesome graffiti. The drawing of the happy dog face sealed the deal for me. Posting this early in my day because it will certainly not get any better than this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655352856419-UWLM3YNXB6Y1FQR4XOAS/IMG_6730.jpg jun-2022 - 6.15.22 A Fruitful Harvest If there’s one good thing to come out of this diabolical heatwave, it’s this. My garden is growing and ripening at an accelerated rate. I gave everything a drink and plucked this tomato when I got home from the shop. It’s stem mates aren’t far behind. Growing your own food is deliciously satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693712697-GIMZI3V6QFV4VQ0GC29Z/NZ9_6201.jpg jun-2022 - 6.16.22 Lo-Fi I tie up/hide ugly wires when doing real estate photos. While shooting a place in Covington this afternoon, I had to use my watch to keep hold of a bundle because I forgot my twist ties and the cords were laying all over the floor. There’s a first time for everything! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693716592-SGFCBJPX0LRMSP89HKB3/IMG_6750.jpg jun-2022 - 6.17.22 One Last Go Our wonderful neighbors, Max and Kelsey, are moving back to Kansas City in a week. As physicians, where they get placed after school is based upon where doctors are needed. They put in for Wichita and got KC. We knew the day would come when they’d be moving from the day we met them; it was always their intention to be closer to their parents after finishing school and residency in Cincinnati. Their son was born here, so they have a special connection to this place and promise they’ll return some day. We promised them we’d go see them in KC at some point in the near future, too. To savor their in-person friendship, we got together with them and another neighbor couple to have one last night out together. The night ended with drinking hard seltzers until late, all of our dogs co-mingling, laughing and being as raucous as we wanted since everyone who lived around us was there on our porch. Nights like these—the ones where a little bit of the neighborhood hangs out together—are the ones I remember most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693716589-EB1EXK23VC854HJJLF3O/IMG_6759.jpg jun-2022 - 6.18.22 Lucky Says ‘Hello’ Good old Lucky. He’s 14 years old and will wander up the street to sniff every stoop whenever he gets out of Lacey and Jordan’s house. He was checking me out earlier this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693720258-2TMLIU29TAD0IEQQ1BG8/Riverview+Animal+Hospital+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg jun-2022 - 6.19.22 Riverview Animal Hospital Spent the last two days working on materials for our upcoming farmer’s market and did little in the way of serious photography. After seeing my father for dad-day, I had to go get a photo of the new animal hospital down on Donnermeyer for the architect. I shopped out the telephone pole shadows and overhead wires to give it a cleaner look. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655811386237-2ZXHRD0MGK8KHILMDDUO/NZ9_6338.jpg jun-2022 - 6.20.22 Unexpected Half Day iCal told me I had a full day of work, but I had a hunch something was off. I texted my morning client to casually confirm our appointment and they cancelled last minute due to a positive COVID test. Praising myself for having good instincts, already parked and settled downtown, and having sent the dog to daycare for the morning, I had a little time before my next shoot. No sense in going home. I’d brought my half-read library book with me, it’s due date today, and decided maybe instead of giving up on it, I’d read a chapter or two more. It wasn’t an overly good book, so I didn’t have much interest in finishing it, but I had nothing else to do until my next appointment. I sat in Ziegler Park while dogs occasionally ran up to drop a snoot on my arm as their owners yelled apologies from across the lawn and recalled their pooches with the toss of a ball the opposite way. Walkers lapped my perch and a few mothers with strollers stopped to rest under the shade tree I’d commandeered while I finished the other half the book. Much to my surprise, I liked it well enough to consider reading the next book in the series. The photo is from 15th and Vine Street—my second shoot of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655865744625-LN4HAB4J3FHLEV4SLQZQ/NZ9_6694.jpg jun-2022 - 6.21.22 Limited Years ago, Arcadia Publishing approached me about possibly writing a book about historic Cincinnati hotels. At the time, I was very into researching Cincinnati’s downtown legends like the Sinton and the Gibson and had quite a bit of surface research completed. While we ultimately decided not to pursue working together, my love of hotels remains. In Hamilton, a group is rehabbing an enormous former paper mill building into a hotel and mixed-use space and hired me to come up to photograph the areas that are customer-facing and ready for business. The three historic buildings comprise a whopping 1.2 million square feet in total, a fraction of which I saw this afternoon. The hotel is still under construction, but rooms are presently available to rent in key areas. The event space and retail/restaurant/brewery spaces are incoming but should be completed within the next couple of months I’m told. While the shoot was formulaic and unfortunately didn’t give me much latitude for creativity, it was nice to see an old building saved and modernized for hospitality instead of demolished for a new build. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430049099-DL6JJ6T2MUZGZE08EQO1/NZ9_6922.jpg jun-2022 - 6.22.22 Alien Landscapes We have a load of rough sawn wood in the shop at the moment for a big job for a multi-national corporation headquartered in Manhattan. We intend to work it into finished product over the course of the next two months. One of the pieces has a bit of live edge that looks like an alien landscape, and I couldn’t help but imagine Commander Riker standing at the edge of one of these cliffs and yelling “ANYBODY” into the echo-y cavern below. I wanted to do a focus-stacked image, but I didn’t set the step depth correctly, so I couldn’t manufacture the finished image the way I wanted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430050640-H11GV8TKWEK31ET8R31T/NZ9_7073.jpg jun-2022 - 6.23.22 Alice OTR Alice OTR had its soft opening tonight. One of the owners, Seth, invited me to grab a few photos of the space. Four years ago, I took photos of it before it was a bar, so I lined up my shots with the previous ones to illustrated how far it has come. Seems like it’ll be a good place to enjoy a weekend night on Main Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430053374-8LEU5MFGNJQIKZFDG2LZ/IMG_6882.jpg jun-2022 - 6.24.22 Needed Calm After a Historically Bad Day After women in the United States of America were stripped of their right to choose what to do with their bodies by five pathetic conservative assholes in Washington DC today, I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. It’s sickening that we’re living in a regressive country led by a minority of Christians who feel it necessary to foist their religious beliefs on the entire population despite crying like babies whenever others don’t want to. “Separation of church of state” is the biggest lie I’ve ever been told. Bunch of sickening, lizard-brained hypocrites who believe a magical man in the sky means half the population shouldn’t have a say in what to do with their own bodies. Anyway, we had a dinner date with neighbors on the schedule, so we kept our plans in an effort to feel something besides despair for the evening. The night ended with drinks on their porch. That calm was medicine I didn’t know I needed until I got it. I won’t stop feeling angry about what’s happening in our country, but for a few hours, I could get away from my frustration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430055094-C3631A304B6RVS2KYIBO/ZFC_3047-2.jpg jun-2022 - 6.25.22 A Good Distraction Went to a dog party. Not feeling overly social from the news of yesterday, I took a jazz gummy and drank a few beers to put myself at ease. The party was a good distraction for another night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430059132-UJXZFR27NYVYBGEMMPRM/IMG_6907.jpg jun-2022 - 6.26.22 Partied Too Hard Myrtle played so hard at the dog party last night, she wanted to rest on the floor of Unataza this morning instead of begging for treats. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430060105-2AWCPTQHQ8NH68GY2X45/IMG_6920.jpg jun-2022 - 6.27.22 The AA Bike Lane Not really sure where the AA Highway ends and Licking Pike/Lowell Street begins, but there’s a bike lane on it. Convenient if traveling between Covington and Newport. I use it to get to and from the wood shop. It’s unprotected, but I feel better using it than cycling in traffic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656559632322-X3QF7XHO0NI83O0CIF9B/IMG_6926.jpg jun-2022 - 6.28.22 Made in Bellevue We’re preparing to participate in our first local farmer’s market. I’m building 15 plant stands and 18 flight boards to sell at the Bellevue Beach Park on July 17th. Each item will be branded with this custom text. It’s taken a month of my spare time to cut the pieces for 15 plant stands (several of which have been stained and assembled), and I haven’t even started on the flight boards yet. It’s going to be a long month, but I’m determined to build it all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656559633497-412OSDUWLNEHDMBE3QW3/ZFC_3142.jpg jun-2022 - 6.29.22 4 to 4 I have never seen FCC win a game and tonight they made sure I kept the tradition alive with a tie. We went with Maria and Mike—they have season tickets and were gracious enough to bring us. Despite being not-a-sportsman, I yelled myself hoarse because the game was so close. Of all the games I’ve been to (which is, like, five) I think this one was the most exciting overall. I managed to get a few frames with my Nikon Z fc while there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657680225197-PFY4UM5NLTKLVI4ILFWT/Fourth%2Band%2BWalnut%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-5.jpg jun-2022 - 6.30.22 Fourth & Walnut The owners of Fourth & Walnut Center plan to turn the Daniel Burnham-designed former office tower into apartments. They asked me to get a few exteriors. The tricky thing about getting exteriors of tall high-rises in the business district is the angle; no wide angle lens has the perspective control able to get a good architectural shot from the street at that close of a distance. So converging lines keep converging. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jul-2022 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886466-LPJ2FZDLMIHZACHK0978/NZ9_7505-2.jpg jul-2022 - 7.1.22 A Very Long Day Today was a very, very long day. I thought I was waking up early to drive a finished table to the mountains in North Carolina, but instead the table wasn’t finished and the crew had to spend the first half of the day sorting that out. What was once an 8 AM departure turned into a 4 PM, and after working a full day in the shop, the last thing I really wanted to do was carefully drive a $16K piece of eucalyptus six hours south. Luckily, John decided to drive the whole way and paid little attention to the speed limit, ensuring my sustained heart rate of a thousand beats per minute for the duration of the drive. Long story short, it was a stressful ride that culminated in a somewhat dangerous climb up a dirt and gravel road in the pitch black mountains at 11 PM, but we were also served homemade surf & turf, and that lifted our spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886466-LPJ2FZDLMIHZACHK0978/NZ9_7505-2.jpg jul-2022 - 7.1.22 A Very Long Day Today was a very, very long day. I thought I was waking up early to drive a finished table to the mountains in North Carolina, but instead the table wasn’t finished and the crew had to spend the first half of the day sorting that out. What was once an 8 AM departure turned into a 4 PM, and after working a full day in the shop, the last thing I really wanted to do was carefully drive a $16K piece of eucalyptus six hours south. Luckily, John decided to drive the whole way and paid little attention to the speed limit, ensuring my sustained heart rate of a thousand beats per minute for the duration of the drive. Long story short, it was a stressful ride that culminated in a somewhat dangerous climb up a dirt and gravel road in the pitch black mountains at 11 PM, but we were also served homemade surf & turf, and that lifted our spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886719-NY7G46BX5P0ZJYOTXVCT/NZ9_7556-HDR-2.jpg jul-2022 - 7.2.22 Eucalyptus: Delivered The table we delivered to North Carolina in its space inside the home. The customers were happy with how it turned out and John got to absorb their compliments in person for a change. It looks really nice in the room they chose. Anyway, I drove all the way back to Cincinnati alone and enjoyed the slower pace, lighter van, and six straight hours of podcasts without interruption. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679883907-WPDSJZSFQSLWDL05H8AT/IMG_7008.jpg jul-2022 - 7.3.22 Scaredy Pups Justin, Annie, and Charlie came over this evening for a nice cookout and porch hang. Charlie, their pup, is also very afraid of fireworks, so when the neighborhood began launching them at 6 PM, both dogs went downstairs to get away from the noise. We built Myrtle a little tent to keep her cozy and safe, but Charlie wanted his own space by the washing machine. Poor pups. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679884175-3YXYW7AQDEMAWAONVHPY/IMG_7050.jpg jul-2022 - 7.4.22 Boom! Allie and Travis moved into a beautiful 4-story building on 12th Street recently. They invited us over to see their new place, and for dinner and deck hangs (they have two rooftop decks). The enormous, relatively recently rehabbed house is beautiful, and they’re slowly filling it with new furniture to make it even more comfortable. Really, truly happy for them. I was having a horrible mental health day, so I took a larger-than-normal jazz gummy, loaded up on beer, and did my best to be a normal person while enjoying the pleasant evening air with my friends. A semi-professional firework show sprang up a block away, which we were able to watch from a great vantage point after a hurried climb up the stairs to the top roof deck. Wish I’d brought my Z fc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679884765-T4OTX678QXAG2UXUW72Y/IMG_7094.jpg jul-2022 - 7.5.22 Good Corner Coffee and quiet and sunlight and air-purifiers. Just a good corner of the desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886090-3RL3RNQPU93DY7GY26BW/Joseph%2BUrban%2BExhibit%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-22.jpg jul-2022 - 7.6.22 Joseph Urban Shot the Joseph Urban exhibit opening at the Cincinnati Art Museum tonight. I got to get a few clean shots with a tripod of the space before everyone came in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679887064-TFYSLR5MSHOPNYMWZV1Z/Tuco%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-12.jpg jul-2022 - 7.7.22 Tuco’s Margarita Went out to see Justin’s new taco and margarita place in Harrison. I shot the space and made this image of a margarita on the bar. The red neon lights across the dining area reflected off the high gloss countertop making for a neat effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679884994-NGSR5WKN6AZ09RDA96E2/IMG_7126.jpg jul-2022 - 7.8.22 Shitty Chives & Onion Found this bag with a dead wasp marked “Chives & Onion” in the shop today. Not sure what it’s about, but it was weird enough that I had to take a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679885441-Z7IU52U8YC1DTG0DSU2V/IMG_7135.jpg jul-2022 - 7.9.22 Killing Time Our errand run turned into a visit to Ault Park because we were up too early to actually do any of the errands. We literally had to burn an hour, so we just hiked around in the misty rain for awhile. The weather was horrible the rest of the day, so I spent the majority of it building flight boards for next weekend’s show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679883238-VB1GCNSW0HBO3HXYX4HS/1183%2BTorreys%2BDr%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-1b-2-2.jpg jul-2022 - 7.10.22 Torreys Drive I shot this house with a crazy good view of Covington and Downtown throughout the day. I did the primary interior photos early in the morning and came back for a Golden Hour shot of the view. Thankfully the unit was empty and staged so I didn’t have to coordinate with the owner. Whoever buys this place will have one helluva place to drink a cup of coffee in the morning and enjoy a beer in the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679885921-XZV8QHAE9YDMQF5LQTHD/IMG_7156.jpg jul-2022 - 7.11.22 Stand-In Had a weirdly hard day at the shop and didn’t take any photos except this one of my little trio of small cacti on the windowsill in the bathroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679883369-Z3LFZKBKGN59IE7JC85W/1864%2BLeona%2BDr%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong-16.jpg jul-2022 - 7.12.22 Cozy Covedale This morning’s job took me over to Covedale. The modest midcentury house has a little screen-in back patio with a sofa, some chairs, and a TV. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657947198464-K3MK3R5N3F0ONGFTAQNH/IMG_7171.jpg jul-2022 - 7.13.22 Longboat The 11th Street Bridge between Newport and Covington is the literal and figurative hump of my ride between my house and the wood shop. Between the severity of the incline and the speed at which traffic flies by me as I’m pushing myself to make it up and over, it’s the moment in the ride I mentally prepare for as soon as I leave my driveway. Occasionally, I’ll find reason to stop at the peak of the hump because of something interesting on the river below. While riding over it this morning, I heard shouting and stopped to see what was happening. As it turns out, several longboats of rowers were making their way north toward the delta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657947198466-EFE06VRG0PMCVZCTUXCZ/Tuco%27s+Cantina+-+Phil+Armstrong-15.jpg jul-2022 - 7.14.22 Tacos Make Everything Alright Got stood up at my morning shoot. Followed the college rule where you wait 20 minutes for the professor to show up before acknowledging you did your due diligence and leaving without a second to spare. The client texted to apologize later, but I moved on with my other jobs and didn’t go back. Time is simultaneously the most valuable and scarce resource I have, and I don’t appreciate wasting it. Oddly enough, I recognized in retrospect that the universe was seemingly trying to send me a message before I showed up for the shoot: I couldn’t pay to park through the EZ Park app or at the meter for unknown reasons, so I chanced a ticket. As parking fees are non-refundable, I got out of needlessly spending $3. My final shoot of the day was at Justin’s new taco and marg place in Harrison, OH. Failing to nab an interesting photo of the queso, I asked one of his servers to lend a hand for an “action shot” to liven it up a little. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657947200482-ETS3R10ZID1QHDK0O4T4/IMG_7212.jpg jul-2022 - 7.15.22 Sample Stains Feeling like a friggin’ wood stain advertisement end cap over here. Ashley thinks our impending farmers market presence will yield a level of business we aren't prepared for, so she’s going to take custom orders for customers who don’t snag one of the existing plant stands and/or flight boards before they sell out. While I’m not as optimistic about the demand for our goods, I indulged her and made a display board of the stains we’ll offer if someone wants to order one. Of course, these custom orders are in addition to the goods I will have to make to replenish our supply for the August and September shows. I also have to build a crib for my incoming niece at some point before September. Will I ever have free time again? Will I ever be social with friends and escape the confines of my garage? Will we fail to sell any of this stuff and end up embarrassed about ourselves? Only time will tell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462623602-BOX0WG512ATSXTUBDV5A/IMG_7243.jpg jul-2022 - 7.16.22 Good Night Out Hung out with the NKY crew tonight on the Avenue. Our lack of sobriety made the horrible forecast for tomorrow’s market a little less awful. I have a feeling we will either be selling in the rain or not at all. Fingers crossed it doesn’t get cancelled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462623781-PMZ94EMK8NACTMU6Q425/IMG_7262.jpg jul-2022 - 7.17.22 Alternate Plans When we woke up to thunder and lightning, we knew the farmer’s market was cancelled. Then an email confirmed it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad. As much of a pain in the ass this whole thing has been to prep for, I was really looking forward to sitting with a coffee and being present while Ashley sold all the work. Instead, we had a whole day open up, so I reorganized the workshop to fit my table saw and got the router table up off the floor. I also cleared a few shelves for future tool purchases. Also tried out the phone holder I mounted months ago that was intended to be used for a timelapse I never ended up doing. Do I still look young? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462627254-D8QVYA00YK8ET4ROZ1TU/IMG_7265.jpg jul-2022 - 7.18.22 Leaving My Mark I have no idea why the quality of this image is so bad. Anyway, I scratched a Starfleet badge into resin before sanding it off. It’s the only photo I took all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462628214-KQPQ5QBRBZC14JFQAX3T/1415+Vine+Street+Apt+401+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg jul-2022 - 7.19.22 Parvis Lofts Two AirBnBs today. Both tiny. This one was in the Parvis Lofts building on the 1400 block of Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine. I lived alone in a place this tiny for years and loved it, but I can’t help but feel like having a house with several rooms is more to my taste these days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462631146-SM6U4YQCDXB6C9JZJ91X/IMG_7346.jpg jul-2022 - 7.20.22 Surprise Storm It was late. I was reading something on my phone when I noticed a flicker from the window beside me. Looking up, I gazed hard into the mottled texture of the privacy glass and saw a flash beyond it. Then another. And another. The irregular strobe of the lightning storm to the north bounced bright light off the house behind ours and had caught my attention. Per the standing rule, to the porch I went. Light off, butt in chair, eyes wide to the sky. Bolt after bolt illuminated the clouds above in a silent, stunning display. I sat there in the humidity and insects and watched the whole system crackle and burn its way from west to east for about a half hour. It was one of those magical, unexpected natural phenomenons that only happen on a summer night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462633903-LZY2KME224493MYO5R5J/Blome+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg jul-2022 - 7.21.22 Heatwave Yesterday’s heatwave continued into today, albeit slightly less aggressively. Work took me out early to a mansion in Indian Hill to photograph an outdoor patio that included a very nice pool. Luminaut did the whole thing and needed shots of the space for their portfolio. The water looked so refreshing when contrasted with the summer heat, I almost fantasized about what it would be like to get in. Almost. Fun fact about me: I haven’t been in a pool in 22 years. The last time was sometime around late 2000 when we had to swim in Phys Ed during freshman year of high school. The horrible awkwardness of stripping down in front of peers—both boys and girls—was enough to turn me off of ever going to a pool party for the rest of my life. I am a land-lover in the truest sense of the word. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803933960-52OQIUWZDSK1EK5OZM3O/IMG_7396.jpg jul-2022 - 7.22.22 Questioning My Choices I got a “You up?” text around midnight from a buddy who lives in Columbus. He was in town and wanted to drop by. I was, indeed, still up after spending the evening working on a custom set of flight boards for a friend, so I went out on the porch to await his arrival. Meanwhile, little doodle bear sat with her ball and wondered why the hell I was on the porch in the wee hours of the morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803934395-BAAR8FVGYK762T9PZ4EA/IMG_7411.jpg jul-2022 - 7.23.22 Hendrix We had an impromptu play date with Myrtle’s dog friends at Fido Field this morning. Hendrix, this dappled dachshund, is always a friendly little dude and will run up to you for a scratch under his snoot if you crouch down near him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803937902-CRI443BHXKCJPGEHX9VH/IMG_7422.jpg jul-2022 - 7.24.22 Bellevue Farmer’s Market WOW, what a day! The farmer’s market down at Bellevue Beach Park was a smashing success. This being our first ever time as a vendor, we really didn’t know what to expect. After a sweaty setup and some fumbling around with the presentation (did I mention it was hot already?), we sold through all of the plant stands and half of the flight boards by the end of the day. Loads of pre-orders came in, too, from people who wanted to buy specific things in stains and sizes we’d already sold. All in all, we made probably triple what we spent to do this and got to enjoy interacting with our neighbors and friends who dropped by to support us. Our next market is in three weeks which means I will be spending beaucoup time in the shop banging out more stands and possibly a few new items to see if they’re in demand. It was one of the best Sundays I’ve had in a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803938034-0U4Z0OS9K2XXXNA71BOK/IMG_7441.jpg jul-2022 - 7.25.22 Neglected Desk There’s a growing pile of mail I need to address on my desk. So much of my time has been spent behind the table saw, I’ve barely sat down at the computer. In fact, last time I spent any time here was Thursday of last week when I had to review photo work for Luminaut. It’s a strange feeling to be disconnecting from digital work in favor of the analog, but it’s certainly not a bad thing. I used to occasionally disconnect to give myself a break, but those breaks have quietly strong-armed themselves into a regularity that borders on routine at this point. Considering how much better I feel on days when I don’t doom scroll morning, noon, and night, perhaps I’ve subconsciously grounded myself from the internet on occasion as a self-preservation measure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327673116-YAU9BMVYETM6VR7OLQQ8/2455+W+McMicken+-+Phil+Armstrong+-31.jpg jul-2022 - 7.26.22 Dilapidated and Sad Shot two vacant properties today: one in CUF and another in northern Over-the-Rhine. Both were in bad shape, but the one on McMicken was worse for wear (pictured). I used to spend time a block away from the building about 10 years ago because I knew someone who lived there. Not a lot has changed in that time. The basement had a crumbling wooden cooler from the turn of the century that leaned heavily to one side in the thick, black darkness. Aside from that feature, a few old fireplaces, and some staircases that lead into nothingness, the building was pretty empty. It seems to have good bones, though. The other building—a multistory apartment building on Ravine—had been empty for a decade and not updated since probably the early 90s. It was also the first time I photographed an abandoned space that had suffered a fire; one of the top floor units was charred and black with soot. Finger streaks could be seen on the walls and the call box by the front door was melted and warped. It honestly gave me the willies seeing the place trapped in that state. I photographed the space as fast as possible to get out of there and didn’t look back. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327674245-YR2J3RKJFLKD8DJ5O294/NZ9_0441.jpg jul-2022 - 7.27.22 Solar Powered What I thought would be a milk-run shoot of a house in Fort Wright ended up being a milk-run shoot of a house in Fort Wright that also had solar panels mounted to the roof. I’ve been doing this for years and haven’t once been able to include a feature image of roof-mounted solar panels. All houses should have this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327676525-VYSCYENZ58UQIL92NP35/Maketewa+Country+Club+-+Phil+Armstrong+-35.jpg jul-2022 - 7.28.22 FOUR! I’m working with an interior designer on custom artwork for a local country club. She has a plan for the images she wants and has tasked me with executing her vision. While I’m a hired gun for this sort of thing, I prefer to be given the latitude to be creative when I can be, and so far she’s been amenable to that within the state parameters. This particular day saw a tournament of golfers converge on 18 holes around 1 PM at the club. Beforehand, the players warm up by swatting golf balls into the distance from a spacious, manicured practice range. Having never shot golf before, today I learned that courses like this lend themselves well to high-contrast low shots. As the hills rise to meet the sky, I can seek out a low perspective to enhance the drama of that juxtaposition when a player is in frame. Also, while I was crouched, a groundhog spilled out of the bushes behind me, realized I was about four feet from him, and sauntered quickly away. I got a photo of the little guy, too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327677220-H4N2S308621GQGKQ574D/IMG_7519.jpg jul-2022 - 7.29.22 Grote One of my oldest friends, Mike Grote, came down and walked to Tuba Baking Co. with Ashley and I. We enjoyed the German-inspired menu, walked it back off on the trip home, then spent the evening under the glow of the porch string lights. Our discussion covered everything from what we used to do back in high school to looking up a friend’s former house on Zillow to see if there were any interior photos from a past sale (there were). It was a good night. Mike’s a good dude. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327680049-18JM3BYJZ80RG7PWNHDO/BBRiverboat+-+Phil+Armstrong+-20.jpg jul-2022 - 7.30.22 River Cruise If I didn’t already have too many irons in the fire already, I agreed to write a sponsored piece for Link NKY to make sure I added another one. The piece will be about BB Riverboats’ river tours and my experience going on one as a NKY resident. The owners granted me two complimentary tickets to do the Sightseeing & Music Tour this evening, so I naturally took Ashley with me. This isn’t the platform upon which I am paid to tell you about the tour, but I will say the weather tonight was absolutely perfect for riding on a boat on the river. The sunset was even more incredible as we approached the dock at 9:15 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327681503-8BIVSCKVBPMDC7AMW3Y3/2247+Genevieve+Dr+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg jul-2022 - 7.31.22 An Underestimated Beaut Someone new reached out to me about shooting a rental in Covington. The house, a modest 1960s ranch, was just past the Peaselburg sub-neighborhood of Covington and up a hill. I didn’t know anything about this house before I walked in, and considering how beautiful it ended up being, I thoroughly enjoyed opening the door to the surprise. Whenever I get to go hard on decor photos, it’s a satisfying shoot. This one, staged by a woman named Kathleen whose work I’ve shot before, was the perfect amount of photogenic. The 1960s house coupled with today’s MCM-inspired, on-trend decor made for easy, enjoyable compositions that I hope will catch the eye of a prospective renter for the client. I got positive feedback after I sent her the finished gallery. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/aug-2022 daily 0.75 2022-09-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659403531255-2639Z60UH8ENHG7WKKCK/IMG_7579.jpg aug-2022 - 8.1.22 The Buck Stopped There There’s a buck that hangs out around our house. He trots around in the woods nearby, occasionally walking the public steps to get to the hole in the chainlink fence that leads to an empty lot next to the nearby train tracks. He eats the fruit from the tree and grazes on who knows what in the tall grass while two babies frolic (yes, frolic) around and play with each other. His antlers, both dull and furry with only a few points, set him apart from the many females who hang out with him. I saw him resting under an evergreen with a baby deer yesterday evening and got his photo with my Z9. Today’s capture was with my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659403531255-2639Z60UH8ENHG7WKKCK/IMG_7579.jpg aug-2022 - 8.1.22 The Buck Stopped There There’s a buck that hangs out around our house. He trots around in the woods nearby, occasionally walking the public steps to get to the hole in the chainlink fence that leads to an empty lot next to the nearby train tracks. He eats the fruit from the tree and grazes on who knows what in the tall grass while two babies frolic (yes, frolic) around and play with each other. His antlers, both dull and furry with only a few points, set him apart from the many females who hang out with him. I saw him resting under an evergreen with a baby deer yesterday evening and got his photo with my Z9. Today’s capture was with my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659578304653-IG0K28VM1SF95TIY6NM9/750_4794-HDR-Edit.jpg aug-2022 - 8.2.22 Four Years Apart Have I ever done a before/after for the daily photo? The daily photo bible states I cannot post an old photo in place of a new one, a film photo from a different day, a digital illustration, or a screenshot of something, but what about an old shot along with a new shot? I think it counts. The top image is from the first floor of the flat iron building at the top of Sycamore Hill in Mt. Auburn, and the bottom image is what it looks like today. The building is now home to a cafe called (you’d never guess) Flatiron Cafe. I originally shot it in August of 2018 when The Port stabilized it. It’s really cool to see a preservation success story like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659578678225-HO7PPMR7A8QTTZVG1CKM/IMG_7616.jpg aug-2022 - 8.3.22 Resin Coasters Tried out something new. Broke apart a sliver or walnut, made a form, and submerged the shards into clear resin. Waited 24 hours for the resin to cure, broke the form, rounded the edges, and polished it smooth. Might make more at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659672183541-0Z251Y3PHMTYG6410TZE/NZ9_2584.jpg aug-2022 - 8.4.22 Catalogued It’s generally not difficult to aim a wide angle lens at a room and get a shot that conveys what the space is about. It’s useful when depicting the interior of a place in a matter-of-fact way, and if you play with the angle through micro-adjustments, you can come up with really nice, artful photos of that space. Personally, I find using a telephoto more challenging and rewarding when it comes to real estate. I use one when I’m through with the wide angle shots and need to concentrate on lifestyle/decor content. It’s great for little vignettes that speak to the interior design more than the architecture, though there’s always room to capture both simultaneously if you find a good angle to do so. This is mostly a decor shot geared toward a feeling of cleanliness and style more than anything else. I have a lot to learn about styling scenes, but I’m usually trying my best to make photos worthy of a furniture catalogue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659796953537-6I4T6XF31TG86EDUEBN1/ZFC_3265.jpg aug-2022 - 8.5.22 Do Not Pet Every intention I had of getting work done for the upcoming farmer’s market was dashed when I realized 1) it was First Friday on the Avenue, and 2) I had the entire day tomorrow to work on it, meaning I didn’t need to toil alone in the shop tonight after all. We joined our neighbors and walked to the festivities, enjoyed a few drinks and some food, and hit a couple of bars on the wall back home. This little dog, who looks cute enough, was growling at me while I stood nearby his yard at one of the bars. Using my most soothing voice, I tried to reassure him I wasn’t a threat and began to offer my hand as an olive branch to peace before he bared his teeth and I understood he was dialed to only protect his yard. There would be no petting this adorable little bear trap this day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659849714357-W99FI25JU3SWGARQZHN7/Screen+Shot+2022-08-07+at+1.08.24+AM.jpg aug-2022 - 7.6.22 True Believer Today’s checklist: Provided tech support to Ashley’s grandfather. Drank a cup of coffee from my favorite mug. Hand-sanded vertical plant stand legs. Listened to the Bouncing Souls’ first four albums. Built a crude drying rack for stained plant stand components. Ate two bacon double stacks and chicken nuggets from Wendy’s. Applied pre-stain conditioner to components and double checked pre-orders. Successfully stained 12 stands using six different finishes. Went to Lowe’s for another can of English Chestnut. Finished listening to the rest of the Bouncing Souls’ discography. Toyed with wood glue versus CA glue + activator to see which would hold better (settled on a mix of the two). Cleaned up shop and watched Star Trek: Voyager The Killing Game, Parts 1 & 2. Finished the evening watching a video of a chaotic 2005 Bouncing Souls show on YouTube. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659927856838-3VEPF936G4UJIRJW0SKO/ZFC_3280-2.jpg aug-2022 - 8.7.22 Rad Find The plan was to work a half day at the shop today because our big Pfizer job is nearing its deadline and there’s some concern about our ability to meet it on time. But Ashley was having an emotional day, and seeing how upset she was, I didn’t feel right leaving her all alone at home with nothing to do on a Sunday. I texted John and told him I’d do overtime tomorrow in order to have today off and he understood. We loaded up the pup and went to a couple of parks before randomly stumbling upon a walkway that led to a public pool in Covington filled with dogs. It was the final day of the season for the pool, so the pool staff pulled a reverse-Baha Men and let the dogs in. Myrtle, being part fish, dragged us around to the entrance to get inside and hop in the pool. Needless to say she had the time of her short little life fetching ball in the water with all the others. It was a boatload of fun watching all the dogs do their thing and seeing Myrtle having a blast. On the walk back, I stopped to get a shot of my unironic favorite Covington building (pictured). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660096999439-DPMJ6112UI0ZSLAGVZZK/IMG_7688.jpg aug-2022 - 8.8.22 15 Hours Bourbon at the 13 hour mark. Pizza delivery sometime thereafter. A round of High Lifes and Nespresso coffee at 14 hours. It was a long, productive day at the wood shop. Our big Manhattan project is due Friday with quite a bit of work left to finish. John, Joe, and I took the last chopper out of the jungle at 11 PM, hours after the others had pushed the limits of putting their marriages and relationships with their children at risk by staying late to get it done. Three measuring cups—once destined to briefly hold resin before melting from an inevitable exothermic reaction—found themselves a more glamorous fate by holding ice cold pours of Old Forester to be cheers’d by three exhausted, dust-covered men. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660097002646-I6QP6AUTF4A3IPTJ6LBP/1625+Mansfield+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg aug-2022 - 8.9.22 A Very Odd Coincidence Something strange happened today. As usual, I found myself on Twitter this morning and saw a photo I made years ago included in a semi-viral tweet about Cincinnati. The photo was of four colorful row houses at the base of Prospect Hill lined up neatly with the city in the background. I considered interacting with the tweet and pointing out that, yet again, my work has been divorced of credit, but decided to move on with my day. The account was one of those high-follower, faceless reposters that subsides on making inane claims solely for engagement. It wasn’t really worth the effort, and after yesterday’s 15-hour day, I was spent. Also, it’s Twitter; who gives a shit. Anyway, a long story short, I went about my shoots for the day and ended up in Prospect Hill for my final assignment before heading home. It was then I realized that the house I needed to photograph for the owner was, in fact, one of the same houses in that semi-viral tweet from earlier that day. It was a fantastically weird coincidence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660187420403-3XQ3DQMSPFLWSR2ICRJR/IMG_7696.jpeg aug-2022 - 8.10.22 Thief! Something (or someone?) has found the tomatoes. Our ripest candidate was stolen from its bed sometime in the night, and this grizzly murder scene was left for us to discover. Suspects so far: the squirrel, the raccoon, a very nimble deer able to hop privacy fences, a vegetarian cat, and me in a hungry fugue state. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660278829338-RW099UE4NZYOBJ6QOOW1/IMG_7700.jpg aug-2022 - 8.11.22 A Cooler Drop Visited the Dalton Street Post Office for the first time in awhile. It took me a year, but I finally finished a roll of film that needed to be mailed out for developing. First full roll I’ve finished since summer of last year. My schedule has been too full of actual photo work for clients over the last year and I haven’t focused on analog photography for myself as a result. I don’t like putting rolls of film in outdoor mailboxes during extreme temperature months for obvious reasons, so I went to Dalton Street to make sure the drop was cool. I could simply drop it off at the post office down the street from my house, but Dalton is just too much fun to visit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660371725315-GK5D7PWZ84X6M8O6I36A/Art+Museum+Event+8.12.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-86.jpg aug-2022 - 8.12.22 Pones Rode my bike up to the Art Museum this evening to photograph an event. I got there early to ensure I had enough time to cool down and clean myself up after riding up the hill (Ashley had the car and I wasn’t willing to pay $26 for a Lyft). Adequately cooled and with my Z9 slung over my shoulder, I hit the Grand Hall floor to document the evening. No speakers, no special exhibits, and no presentations tonight. Just gaiety and food and 1920s attire. Four dancers from Pones, a local performing arts group, circled the main hall before making their way to the courtyard. The low light inside wasn’t great for capturing their movements, so their move outdoors was beneficial for my task. I met Kim, one of the dancers later on, and she said they intentionally hammed it up for the camera, which in turn made for better photos. I’m not a dancer, but the joy they wore on their faces while dancing was intoxicating. Caught myself grinning ear to ear because they all seemed to be having the most amount of fun out of everyone at the party. Also, tonight was the first time I shot an entire event not in RAW format. I went fully JPG and trusted myself with the settings instead of relying on the safety net of the latitude RAW provides for post-production. It turned out great, and I didn’t have enormous files to sift through afterward. I think I’ll be shooting in that smaller file size more often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660533929421-Y05WK9MIGV117KPIIIIZ/NZ9_5483-Enhanced.jpg aug-2022 - 8.13.22 Surprises “Woah, I think there’s a groundhog eating an apple over there,” Ashley said, kneeling with her elbows on the windowsill, eyes behind binoculars pointed at the wooded lot across the street from our house. I ran to get the Tamron and quickly assembled my rig, propping it up on the frame of the window without a screen for added vibration reduction. It was a cute little surprise that made the afternoon special. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660533929707-5TAGUWG7ORMU492BYMD3/IMG_7739.jpg aug-2022 - 8.14.22 Old Habits Yesterday I got a surprise text from my neighbor, Kevin Wright, asking if I wanted to have a few drinks on his porch that evening. With cheese coneys and a bottle of Uncle Nearest in hand, we ate and drank Highlifes and bourbon until 2 AM. His Boston-born neighbah, Charlie, wandered over at some point and we talked about everything from what our lives were like as kids to raising a new generation as adults (they’re both fathers). We also talked about something that I don’t talk enough about on here: how the pandemic has caused many of us to suffer from, at times, debilitating anxiety. While I don’t have panic attacks, I am really, really struggling with being social at the moment. The pandemic feels like it unraveled the years of work I did to come out of my introverted comfort zone and be someone people wanted to be around. Occasionally I can set the anxiety aside, but porch hangs are more my lane than crowded bars at the moment. I hide away in my house and build things in the workshop by myself, then I come upstairs long after Ashley went to bed to play this dumb Star Trek game on my computer like I’m 17 again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660842931484-RNCLD9S4RT4L2L5CR1A7/207+Garrard+Street+%28Exteriors%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-30.jpg aug-2022 - 8.15.22 Wringing Out the Schedule I need to go to South Bend and Ann Arbor tomorrow for work. Luminaut hired me to photograph a few projects they recently completed. So naturally, I’m getting my rental car, gear, and bag ready while also working a full day at the wood shop before doing a quick shoot in Covington this evening for Rebecca. Absolutely every minute of today has been filled with something to do and it feels like I’m wringing out a bone dry wash cloth to get even a single drop of water out of it at this point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660842941985-K77L2HUTY2O4F2F2L4G8/ZFC_3342.jpg aug-2022 - 8.16.22 The Graduate As previously mentioned, I went to South Bend to do some photography for Luminaut. After shooting the renovated facility and packing up the rental, the trip extended over to Ann Arbor where I stayed the night in preparation to shoot two facilities nearby in the morning. They booked my hotel for me in advance—I stayed at The Graduate on E Huron Street. The hotel has a turn-of-the-20th-century-college theme to it that makes for a great mix of style and sophistication while remaining comfortable and fun. If you ever have a trip planned near or in Ann Arbor, I highly recommend this hotel. I don’t always enjoy drinking in the evenings as my default activity like many others do, but I still managed to check out the hotel bar off the lobby. These booths were absolutely perfect. Sadly, my hotel stay was only for one night. Were it required, I would’ve enjoyed staying another night to bask in the opulence of the hotel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660842942613-BWM72S526I01YYPRTYYU/NZ9_5953-HDR-Edit.jpg aug-2022 - 8.17.22 Finding the Right Angle The day consisted of shooting two final facilities for Luminaut in Ann Arbor, one of which had this lovely card game room adjacent to a small bar area. I had to figure out a way to show both areas together while finding a way to illustrate their relative separateness. This angle—one that shows the card table in the foreground and the bar area in the mid and backgrounds while the patterned chairs and color palette tied them together—seemed to make for the best composition. After finishing up with both facilities, I drove back to Cincinnati and collapsed on my couch around 7 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660884087925-I4AZ8LQKEGPMUZYJKDTD/ZFC_3386.jpg aug-2022 - 8.18.22 Crumbling Labyrinth Monmouth Street in Newport has this series of concrete staircases between 11th and 12th Streets on either side of the busy road. I haven’t done any research on them, but they look to be of WPA-era construction. I think they’re beautiful, personally, but they’ve been so neglected and forgotten that they’re almost useless at this point. The staircases either rise directly into chainlink fences to keep people from using them or they lead to sidewalks that end without a convenient way back down on the other side. The overhead lights built into the structure are rusted out, and several pieces of its concrete construction have seen better days. It’s clear that over the years intentional efforts have been made to discourage their use entirely, and instead of removing them, they exist as inefficient vestiges from a different time. The sidewalk next to each staircase is the only serviceable feature to get you from one block to the next. I’m going to try to find photos of it during its heyday when the stairs still led somewhere and the lighting worked. I bet it was gorgeous. It’s a shame we can’t care for pedestrian infrastructure the way we do cars. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660968389188-JWA21HH2VB8CRKQLH5H6/IMG_8167.jpg aug-2022 - 8.19.22 Quiet On the Set Steve needed help building and hanging custom sound panels in the podcast studio he’s developing in his second room. We made the frames in my garage last week, he upholstered and stuffed them with insulation, and tonight we carefully attached them to the wall. I’m not an audio engineer, but when you walk into a room with sound deadening panels, you feel it. His show, Streaming Things, took off like a rocket when he and his cohosts recently reviewed every episode of the latest season of Stranger Things. Due to their newfound popularity (they broke the top 250 of all shows on iTunes last month), they’ve made some pretty serious money and have reinvested it into making the show sound even better. I’ve been friends with Steve for nearly 20 years, and over the decades I imagined it would only be a matter of time before his talents took him into the limelight on a global scale. It’s nice to see it finally happen for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661274211554-04BLUJVRMS00RZJDSOOE/IMG_8173.jpg aug-2022 - 8.20.22 Zablong-Gone I never ate here. Heard it wasn’t very good. And yet, before the pandemic, it always looked relatively busy during the work week. Guessing the pandemic killed it. The name sounds like an action word in colorful lettering within a spiky bubble layered behind a hero in a cowl in a retro comic book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661274212940-IFHZX777KMICMFYL0HS2/IMG_8206.jpg aug-2022 - 8.21.22 Drenched We went for a long walk this evening and got absolutely soaked through when a rainstorm popped up before we could get home. The one time we don’t check the weather app first, it bites us. It was uncomfortable at first, but after giving up on any attempt to stay dry, we embraced the shower and enjoyed it (or at least Myrtle and I did). Ashley’s smile says “yay” but her furrowed brow says “I hate this.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661274214028-O27RSWZKCJ0WRXSNBAHU/IMG_8215-2.jpg aug-2022 - 8.22.22 iPhone’s Macro Setting A few weeks ago I got a new iPhone 13 Pro and didn’t realize it comes with a macro camera setting until I accidentally activated it at work. I’ve always wanted to buy a macro lens for my Nikon, but the applications for it are minimal. Can’t justify the spend. Anyway, I watched a YouTube video of a guy getting his ears cleaned in a parlor in Chinatown (NYC) last night and it was more satisfying than I could've possibly imagined, so I went back to using q-tips again even though I know it’s bad for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661437632158-GZIHYI7EAOJPFEJHE0Q2/3536+Vine+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-17.jpg aug-2022 - 8.23.22 Right Frame of Mind I really like this podcast about the supernatural that’s hosted by Glynn Washington of Snap Judgment. While I don’t believe in any of it, I get a genuine thrill listening to ghost stories from people who believe them. While I was shooting this old-house-turned-new-Airbnb in Avondale today, I started listening to an episode about a scary ghost in an old house that terrorized a family and I had to switch over to another show. It was spooking me out too much. I guess you don’t have to believe to be creeped out! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661437632640-WGXYV188ZNUK5Y98DN52/IMG_8244.jpg aug-2022 - 8.24.22 Cookout To celebrate the hard work and end to the big NYC job, the guys at the shop had a cookout on the driveway. We smoked meats, fried a chicken, and dined on various hearty sides before digging into coconut cake and fried sweets for dessert. I fought a food coma for nearly two hours before finally driving home and collapsing on the couch in exhaustion. I didn’t get a good photo of the food because I was too hungry to stop and capture it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661565073971-Y48JZ0JF0HYMPY0U3440/ZFC_3408.jpg aug-2022 - 8.25.22 New View A relatively long walk up Lincoln while dodging deer with the dog along the way. My barber, Travis, told me it was a good view a couple months ago, but I didn’t see it for myself until recently when I drove down from Ft. Thomas. He was right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661565074698-EV0ER0FQ4H5JZMPGL51W/ZFC_3411.jpg aug-2022 - 8.26.22 Tuba Tuba Baking Co. in Dayton, KY had a special tonight that’s lentil Cincinnati chili with onions and cheese over spatzle and it’s incredible. Best veggie chili I’ve had. It’s basically a fancy 3-way. We ate in the biergarten while a man in lederhosen played the accordion and sang in German. I could’ve eaten another whole plate of the spatzle, if I’m honest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661733222440-NGV8ZA1CP3HQRI8I7HFC/IMG_8286.jpg aug-2022 - 8.27.22 The Bus We had plans downtown and rode the newly reinstated Southbank Shuttle. TANK, much like Metro, has infrequent service on regular routes, but the Southbank Shuttle does a loop every 15 minutes between Covington, Newport, and Bellevue. It’s handy because it’s only a dollar and we can get to the city’s core in no time flat. Much better than driving and parking, honestly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661733230296-TBAQVVCLJ352VZGWOTJY/key+holder.jpg aug-2022 - 8.28.22 New Offerings We have one final farmer’s market next month, and I’m honestly a little tired of making plant stands. As such, I’m trying to come up with some new ideas for the next show. This door-side item holder was relatively simple to make and I think I’m going to make three of them for the next show. They’re made from oak, so it’s better wood stock than the pine I normally use to make stuff. The only issue is I will need to sell them for a little more because the price of the wood is higher. I thought the rounded edges on the platform and the shelf over the wood dowels gave it more personality than a simple plank with pre-made metal hooks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662090867911-Y2XB8HYYLOH1KZIHD0FS/ZFC_3424.jpg aug-2022 - 8.30.22 Butternut I photographed this place months ago in the morning and didn’t care for how the light was hitting it when reviewing the images. Since I’d gone to Queensgate yesterday, I was reminded to return to Butternut to get the same photo but in evening light instead. The result was better this time around. It only has a single 11-year-old review on Yelp. Ted S. gave it one star because his wife's hamburger buns molded before Independence Day. "The outlet refunded her money, but the damage was done," he wrote. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662090867339-1170CXG8MJSKXTLC2L6T/IMG_8359.jpg aug-2022 - 8.31.22 Being “Quiet” Ashley had a very important phone call this evening, so it was my job to keep this monster silent and away from her so she could focus. We went upstairs and played with toys on the rug while the sun set. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/sep-2022 daily 0.75 2022-10-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662091119776-L6FMH0LUH7Q0YSHM2Y6N/NZ9_8069-HDR-Edit.jpg sep-2022 - 9.1.22 Invisible Makeover Union Terminal was lit up teal tonight for the start of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. They posted this overly spectacular, edited image on their Instagram announcing the fun lighting, and while I didn’t believe it was going to be as amazing as the post suggested, I thought it could be cool to photograph. When I got to the museum, though, the lighting was extremely subtle to the naked eye—I almost didn’t stop to take the photo because it was so minimal and faint. There was a different hue to the building, but it wasn’t like the projection mapping project they did for a week back in 2019. I debated whether or not to even bother taking photos, but seeing as how I’d made the trip and had my gear with me, I reasoned it was worth taking a few shots. Thankfully, the long exposures brightened the color in a way my eye couldn’t see in person. Despite that, I didn't think they'd turn out while I was on site, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got them into a computer later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662091119776-L6FMH0LUH7Q0YSHM2Y6N/NZ9_8069-HDR-Edit.jpg sep-2022 - 9.1.22 Invisible Makeover Union Terminal was lit up teal tonight for the start of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. They posted this overly spectacular, edited image on their Instagram announcing the fun lighting, and while I didn’t believe it was going to be as amazing as the post suggested, I thought it could be cool to photograph. When I got to the museum, though, the lighting was extremely subtle to the naked eye—I almost didn’t stop to take the photo because it was so minimal and faint. There was a different hue to the building, but it wasn’t like the projection mapping project they did for a week back in 2019. I debated whether or not to even bother taking photos, but seeing as how I’d made the trip and had my gear with me, I reasoned it was worth taking a few shots. Thankfully, the long exposures brightened the color in a way my eye couldn’t see in person. Despite that, I didn't think they'd turn out while I was on site, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got them into a computer later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489755979-XK4P8HJN96P21JB59XBP/NZ9_8102-HDR.jpg sep-2022 - 9.2.22 Old Work, New Photos John and his former business partner made these metal room dividers with built in pocket doors for Tano Bistro in Loveland a few years back. We’re trying to update his website with new photos of past projects to help showcase his body of work in order to attract new clientele. We did a few different angles, but I think I like this one the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489755340-OSALUWPD3GNLL55TYV21/IMG_8438.jpg sep-2022 - 9.3.22 Party On the Ave Catherine’s birthday is tomorrow, so we went out and drank on the Avenue to celebrate. I played ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ on TouchTunes and Ashley had a billion craft beers. Once leaving the Avenue, a group of us decided to walk the alleys to The B List where we would resume drinking. Kevin, my neighbor up the street, expressed his desire to not keep going, but we begged him to follow us. He obliged, and while walking the darkened streets to get to the next bar, he said, “When was the last time you were ghosted?” Fueled by several beers up to that point, I replied “2014” and didn’t think twice about it until I looked back and Kevin had completely vanished. It was one of the smoothest quiet exits I’ve ever seen anyone do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489757621-S9TI3D2LGBDEVGV5MU3R/IMG_8453.jpg sep-2022 - 9.4.22 A Nook There’s very little to say about this image aside from this is where I prefer to sit and read. I neglected my photographic duties in favor of spending the majority of the day building in the garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489759935-KM7PFIN8I0GQF4LRZWES/IMG_8459.jpg sep-2022 - 9.5.22 Jazz +50% Ashley got a bunch of festive plants from a supplier earlier this year that had a bunch of non-floral decor stuffed into each pot. Loving stupid little lights like this, I snagged them from the plant and hid them away in my workshop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869294372-3ALZCEVFS67NNLVKDUBL/ZFC_3435-Pano.jpg sep-2022 - 9.6.22 Good Ride Moment We walked to Dixie Chili for gyros but I wasn’t finished enjoying the beautiful weather. After arriving back home, the urge to hop on my bike hit me and I soon found myself pedaling north toward the river. After whizzing around the neighborhood for a bit, the sun began to set. There’s a little dead end at the end of Lafayette where you can get this great view. Thankfully I had the wisdom to bring my Nikon Z fc with me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869300062-WPFM7QBUEZYGDQA032TR/IMG_8499.jpg sep-2022 - 9.7.22 TRAIN! Always like seeing a train, even when it’s stopped on the tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869300194-8C3XHW62DL8OH8VN8C47/IMG_8522.jpg sep-2022 - 9.8.22 Ipe Table We delivered a nice outdoor ipe table to a Single Batch Designs client this afternoon. We had to deliver it in pieces because, when assembled, the table was too heavy to lift without devoting substantial people power to the delivery. And of course it had to be delivered to the roof of the garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869293338-HBXXG5RMLKTA2U7IH0BG/IMG_8577.jpg sep-2022 - 9.9.22 The Littlest Kroger I thought the Bellevue Kroger was small, but I think the one on Madison Ave in Covington takes the cake. It’s not as nice as other Kroger stores, but it DOES have some fun artwork on the exterior. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869286875-8KQW6V1HD5HBASDATG8H/ZFC_3449.jpg sep-2022 - 9.10.22 The Stray The plan was to talk about how I have assembled all the necessary technology to do movie nights in my back yard using a projector and how excited I am about that prospect. I was going to talk about how I had Steve over and we tested it out by watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. But instead, I am going to talk about this extremely cute stray I saw on a walk today. She just kept rolling around begging for pets. I obliged, of course. I’m not a monster! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663040080716-XKQTXEM5NN4P49316OSU/IMG_8605.jpg sep-2022 - 9.11.22 What’s Over There? Summers on the porch are a staple of our home. It rained today, and though I managed to stay in the garage making stuff for the upcoming farmer’s market for the majority of the day, I found a little time to spend on the porch in the evening when the sun came back out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663040082492-F0T9MAPW2QW4F9TMQ5OM/IMG_8625.jpg sep-2022 - 9.12.22 H&H Joe and I went over to Hierophany & Hedge today to figure out some specs for woodwork we’ll be doing both inside and out of the shop. The owners are super friendly and outlined what they needed inside their truly incredible shop. Have you been inside this place? The level of detail and love that went into designing this place is unreal. While my interests in fiction generally skew toward starships and the future, this shop made me reminisce about playing old school RPGs when I was younger and the fun those fantasy worlds brought me at the time. Seeing their passion so vividly represented in a thoughtful, cinematic space endeared them to me despite not knowing them personally. What they’ve built is a creative’s dream. NKY is lucky to have such a unique store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663295208028-8MZ1Y3EKHM9B0R14LPAZ/Opportunity+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg sep-2022 - 9.13.22 Opportunity House My friend Cody and his architectural firm recently renovated a dorm for NKY called Opportunity House. I don’t have all the specifics, but the dorm is reserved for students who meet a certain financial criteria. There’s 16 mini apartments in the building with a communal space on the lower level (pictured). I dug the primary color scheme and finishes that are friendly to college-age students. The apartments themselves were honestly way nicer than anything my friends lived in when I was in school. His firm, Hub+Weber, did a great job modernizing a horrible, dark building into an inviting, comfortable space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663295207746-1IPV9B3UMGTBQ5X5IWZP/NZ9_9117-HDR.jpg sep-2022 - 9.14.22 Rooftop Perspective I’m working with a designer in Mt. Adams to capture her space during Golden Hour. I plan to revisit the space multiple times throughout different seasons to capture as much of it as possible. This is the rooftop. It goes without saying how incredible the view was. You should see the rest of the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663295208813-X85QPKYRM4CYF1VLIUNC/NZ9_9311.jpg sep-2022 - 9.15.22 Backward Arby’s Sure, the law office was nice and I was hired to photograph it, but I really wanted to get an action scene of the street below from this perspective. While no one was paying attention, I snapped one. People in Bellevue complained about this Arby’s originally because a parking lot didn’t separate the front door from the street and it became known colloquially as the Backward Arby’s. I’m unsure if form-based code makes this location still “controversial.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663432126918-GRYTXQ9V5EMYRLLCWQNH/NZ9_9482.jpg sep-2022 - 9.16.22 An Accident I think this adequately represents where I am at the moment. After working all day at the shop then going to shoot a show at Memorial Hall, this accidental frame while the camera dangled off to my side sums it up. I’m pretty tired after this busy week and mistakes are bound to happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896305318-ANA0O98DAFEFJ26BG569/ZFC_3457.jpg sep-2022 - 9.17.22 Re-Exploring We wanted a low-key night that involved some exercise with the dog, so we walked Eden Park. Then, when we got home, I went for a nice night ride on the Dayton Levee wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896301380-GWA0NVAG1RKOXALF1O96/IMG_8706.jpg sep-2022 - 9.18.22 Bonnie This Scottish highland mini cow was at the Bellevue Farmer’s Market while we were there today. She was as soft as she looks. We didn’t sell out, and I think we maybe sold the least amount of stuff this month, so I guess that first show was a bit of a fluke. Overall, I’m glad we did it, but I’m relived it’s over. A break from making those stands is much needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896305786-725SPE4JOCVAKA02XM73/CAM+Event+9.19.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-92.jpg sep-2022 - 9.19.22 Urban Deer Tonight’s Art Museum event was more of the same, but upon leaving, I noticed three deer roaming through the landscaping at the top of the front drive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896309165-5UVYANM61E8AHC8DIE99/IMG_8775.jpg sep-2022 - 9.20.22 She’s Injured Little Myrtle hurt her paw playing the other day and she’s still recovering. She’s been on the couch or in bed for most of her days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896315638-XRBIHK7XWUDZ24ZPDUQI/ZFC_3467-Edit.jpg sep-2022 - 9.21.22 Stephen King’s The Mist While taking Ashley to work this morning, a thick fog reduced visibility to a degree I haven’t seen in awhile. After dropping her off, I went back and got my bike and headed down to the river to get photos of the USS Nightmare while it was shrouded in the mist for an upcoming piece I wrote for Link NKY. While there, I took some other photos of the scene; I like this one specifically. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896315838-8GESA4Z63QA8G0Y32OBI/ZFC_3484.jpg sep-2022 - 9.22.22 First Day of Autumn A little double exposure to kick off the autumn season. I absolutely love this time of year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664161512920-HKI63D1TX4HN2145RWSP/ZFC_3498.jpg sep-2022 - 9.23.22 Maple Table We made this simple maple table for a local law firm. The table’s different from the other stuff we’ve made because it features two data centers equipped with ethernet, USB, HDMI, and a few other plugs on either end. I wasn’t sure how it’d look when we finally put them in, but I think it looks decent overall. The convenience of having those power sources will be great when people need to present with laptops and whatnot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664161513130-SBNHUT222151IG7JVUSU/IMG_8859.jpg sep-2022 - 9.24.22 Drink With a Vue We went to Drink With a Vue with some of our neighbors, and it was one of the best nights I think I’ve had in a long while. Not only did we support our neighborhood’s beautification group by buying a ticket to the event, but we also got to drink beer and eat food with friends in a picturesque setting in our own neighborhood on the river. The way the event coordinators had the tree lit up while illuminated riverboats quietly floated by as the sun went down…it all seemed like a dream at times. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in awhile, either. We all clicked in a really great way. No awkwardness or egos or drama. Just a really good time with friendly, fun people. We went to two afterparties and continued drinking before stumbling home, chugging a liquid IV, and hoping we wouldn’t feel as if we overshot our house and passed out on the train tracks the next day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664161517674-02A5XJWJ9ISDT1N6WJ9R/IMG_8889.jpg sep-2022 - 9.25.22 Ye Olde Foote Church House I can’t believe this old church on Foote is a house. It’s wild to me that anyone lives in a whole ass church. Of course, if given the opportunity and if I were in the market, I would totally live in an old church house. That belfry would be my private study, I imagine. The front door, which rises well above the street, looks mean though. Might have to come up with a way to soften the angry “eyebrows” of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664287869708-DKGIFV7Q7UQYK7FP8K8V/NZ9_2182-Edit.jpg sep-2022 - 9.26.22 Poplar Table Took photos of this beautiful poplar coffee table the woodworkers at Single Batch Designs made. It’s made from reclaimed poplar and features repurposed elevator shaft hardware on the sides. We delivered it to the client immediately after photos were finished. She was thrilled with how it came out. It doesn’t phase some of the older guys at the shop, but I get a kick out of it when the client loves a thing we made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664506044995-0J21UDOGIHLB3WEM7B3P/216+E+Liberty+Street+%231+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg sep-2022 - 9.27.22 A “Cool” Solution There’s a building on Liberty Street that apparently once housed a butcher at street level. Inside, an overly ornate wooden cooler decorated with tile and mirror and frosted windows was once used to store the freshly butchered meat. A scale for weighing (and presumably pricing) the meat still hangs from the side. Recently, the owner renovated the front room and the room with the cooler into a single-bedroom Airbnb and turned the old cooler into the bathroom! Instead of meat, it now stores a sink, shower, and toilet accessible by the original door on the side. I’ve seen a dozen of these old coolers in other buildings both occupied and abandoned, but I’ve never seen one repurposed like this. Above is a door opened/door closed comparison. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664506044995-P9BU9PSJ82UVF179K7MH/IMG_8957.jpg sep-2022 - 9.28.22 M. Bohlke Corp John and I took the van to Bohlke’s in Fairfield today. We were picking up an order of sapele and managed to take a quick stroll though the enormous airplane hangar of carefully stacked wood. This place has hundreds of millions of dollars of product inside—everything from affordable boards someone like me would be able to purchase to staggeringly expensive species that cost upwards of $100 per board foot due to their scarcity and desirability. The sheer size of this place was surreal. The whole time I was aware that my fledgling knowledge of woodworking probably didn’t permit me to fully appreciate everything I was seeing inside, but regardless of that ignorance, I was awestruck. Even with neat piles arranged just so, you could still easily drive a truck down the aisles. They’ve been in business since the late-60s and have managed to become one of the biggest purveyors of wood in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664506079236-XG1612YKBH6RKI8K72TX/IMG_8963.jpg sep-2022 - 9.29.22 Tyler Saw my friend Tyler today. He’s an extremely talented illustrator who recently worked on a project for one of the biggest companies on the planet. I won’t talk more about that here because it’s not my news to share, but I’m proud to know him and thankful he met up with me to catch up over coffee. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665266069377-QO6S3U4Y1NV4BMONSY6Q/IMG_8974.jpg sep-2022 - 9.30.22 <Pause> Over the next few days, I’ll be taking photos but waiting to publish them here until probably mid-week. Taking a short break from the internet. See you soon. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/oct-2022 daily 0.75 2022-11-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330207417-D9PVSFE6E40T5N2URJQE/IMG_8984.jpg oct-2022 - 10.1.22 Journey Ahead I haven’t mentioned it here until now because it’s been an evolving situation over the last few days, but it’s time to commit it to this record. Hurricane Ian devastated my in-laws’ city of Fort Myers the other day. They’re physically alright, but they’re in need of help. Their house was badly damaged by wind and water, their vehicles were totaled by an insane storm surge, and they have a lot to fix and figure out both for themselves and for their neighbors. Long story short, we’re flying into Miami, gathering supplies and a rental car for them, and driving to them tomorrow. The next five days are likely going to be rather difficult. The photo is of a Georgian suburb as we flew into Atlanta for a layover. I do not remember taking this photo. I’m not bringing a proper camera because I’m there to work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330207417-D9PVSFE6E40T5N2URJQE/IMG_8984.jpg oct-2022 - 10.1.22 Journey Ahead I haven’t mentioned it here until now because it’s been an evolving situation over the last few days, but it’s time to commit it to this record. Hurricane Ian devastated my in-laws’ city of Fort Myers the other day. They’re physically alright, but they’re in need of help. Their house was badly damaged by wind and water, their vehicles were totaled by an insane storm surge, and they have a lot to fix and figure out both for themselves and for their neighbors. Long story short, we’re flying into Miami, gathering supplies and a rental car for them, and driving to them tomorrow. The next five days are likely going to be rather difficult. The photo is of a Georgian suburb as we flew into Atlanta for a layover. I do not remember taking this photo. I’m not bringing a proper camera because I’m there to work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330208738-SM4VDZKX8KR7OBMIOGCI/IMG_8991.jpg oct-2022 - 10.2.22 Necessary Repairs We drove to Fort Myers early in the morning. Ashley knows some people in Miami who very graciously gathered supplies for us before we headed out—gasoline cans, food, bottled drinks, batteries, etc. We loaded up the rental and sped toward the devastated city with a pit in our stomachs. The two hour trip went quickly until we finally reached the outskirts of Fort Myers where stop lights failed to direct traffic and piles of debris lined the cleared roads. The closer we got, the more mangled the buildings and signs. There seemed to be no pattern to the destruction; a McDonalds sign would be shredded to ribbons right next to a car wash with only a little roof damage, followed by an RV park that clearly wasn’t reopening any time soon. It took us 30 minutes to drive six miles to their house because of the unstable traffic flow. When we finally got there, we immediately got to work on cleaning up the yard, tarping the damaged roof, and assisting elderly neighbors with their own homes. The only good thing about this horrific storm is it decided to hit in late September and not the middle of July when the temperature is at its peak. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330211178-68EBH1N1UPNCOKO2KSD7/IMG_9016.jpg oct-2022 - 10.3.22 A Day of Tireless Errands We spent the day ripping baseboards off the walls and drilling holes in the drywall to force circulating air through it. They got almost an inch of water during the peak of the storm surge and water was still puddled behind the walls. I am thankful they replaced all their flooring with ceramic tile last year because this would’ve been so much worse with any other flooring material, especially carpet. We saw plenty of homes with soaking wet, putrid rolls of carpet stashed by the street. We delivered goods to a couple in need who got six feet of water in their home, had to shore up some contractural stuff with Hertz, and ran to the hardware store to replace the power tools they lost in the flood. It was a long, hard day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330211794-NYZN7PW7MABN66WOUH3Q/IMG_9037.jpg oct-2022 - 10.4.22 Another Long Day There’s little else to say that I haven’t already said in previous posts. More errands and work on the house. More people in need to stop and help and sort out. They have a generator powering theirs and their two neighbors’ fridges, and the fans are still blowing on the walls to try and dry them out, but there is no grid power. We’re doing laundry in a bucket on the driveway while Chinook helicopters fly large storage containers to and from Fort Myers Beach—the epicenter of the devastation. We’re just waiting on insurance adjusters, grid power to kick back on, and so many other things we can’t control. Tomorrow we leave this place and head back to Cincinnati. I hope we don’t leave them stranded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330212893-Q9O9OJAX4A9LE248LZBC/IMG_9099.jpg oct-2022 - 10.5.22 Goodbye, Fort Myers We’re tired. We’re also going home. Because there was little else for us to do to my in-laws’ house this morning, we took them to Naples to eat lunch in a restaurant in an effort to claw back a little normalcy after a terrible week. It was more for their peace of mind than our own. We said our goodbyes to Fort Myers, picked up a lift from Naples to Miami, and flew home on a direct flight to CVG. I know this will sound dramatic, but it felt a bit like the end scene of Jurassic Park when they’re all helicoptering off the island with the nightmare behind them. Thankfully, two hours after we left, they got grid power back and their home would start to feel somewhat normal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330214159-NNIIFI1RPH6FR2JFCN2W/IMG_9189.jpg oct-2022 - 10.6.22 Anniversary Safely back in Cincinnati, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary with a huge dinner at Walt’s Hitching Post. The bread (pictured) is the stuff of dreams. I’m certain, if there is such a place, they serve this in Heaven. We ate so much (not just bread, other menu items), we barely made it home before going to bed and passing out around 9 PM. After the week we had, we needed to catch up on sleep. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330216372-77KDM6S8A6Z2ZBIA8LW8/NZ9_3127-Edit.jpg oct-2022 - 10.7.22 Routine Resumed The crisp autumn air felt so good on my bike ride into the wood shop today. Pedaling through an old neighborhood decked out in Halloween decor while making my way toward a job I enjoy was something else. It was so nice to be back in town. I felt thoroughly satisfied when I arrived on Scott Street in Covington and greeted my coworkers. I felt like I hadn’t been there in ages even though it had only been a week. Joe finished the credenza he was building so I took some shots of it in the “studio.” This one had drawers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665331282582-PJPRCEZDY113Q9WM55U4/ZFC_3594.jpg oct-2022 - 10.8.22 Big Bone Lick Buffalo We went to Big Bone Lick State Park this morning to see the buffalo that live there. The last time we went was March 7th, 2020. I got a much better photo that time (you can see it in the archive if you navigate back to that day). They were too far away this time and I only had a 28-200mm on hand. That said, I got to see a baby buffalo! He settled down into the spot next to his father immediately after this photo was taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665331283663-WXKIEQHA2JFJJVH9AV91/ZFC_3612.jpg oct-2022 - 10.9.22 Five Years Old Myrtle is five years old today. I love this little creature more than most people. She’s a constant source of hilarity, companionship, sweetness, and fun. As is custom, we made a little birthday portrait before heading out for the day. Also, Tiffany and Steven get married tonight! Looking forward to that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665452790928-171OD2GZMDWV5V77Q9BS/IMG_9249.jpg oct-2022 - 10.10.22 Gutierrez Deli John and I delivered a credenza to a client then slipped over to Gutierrez Deli for burritos. Stores like this—the ones with barely any organization and piles of produce stacked on top of carts on either side of tight, cozy aisles—are my favorite. They’re such a refreshing change from the impersonal, sterile, highly-efficient supermarkets we’ve grown to accept as normal. I got a bag of Cheetos torciditos (cheese with a hint of chili behind them) and a pina colada aloe drink with my burrito. Whatever the burrito lacked in seasoning it made up for in quantity. There was no leaving Gutierrez Deli with a stomach half-filled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665541759470-O62N9016OHPM4RJZID86/IMG_9288.jpg oct-2022 - 10.11.22 That Time Eyeball Lights Made Me Feel Good When I was little, Halloween was one of the most exciting times of the year. My otherwise neutral environment grew more colorful as the calendar marched steadily toward October 31st—the leaves blushed, porch decor went wild, and the evening light changed in a way I couldn’t explain. October ushered in an atmosphere of cartoonish fun with just a dash of fear sprinkled in for good measure. Fear of the little-too-scary mask in the pop-up Halloween store. Fear of the impending winter. Fear of this new school thing that I didn’t entirely enjoy for reasons. Subconsciously micro-dosing fear was energizing, though. While I slow cooked in the Halloween broth that was blow-up skeletons and plastic jack-o-lantern buckets from McDonalds, I planned my costume for The Big Night® at the end of the month and hoped to hell the weather held out so I didn’t have to wear that fucking coat over it. The grim reaper does NOT look good in a puffy blue winter coat! While I haven’t trick-or-treated for many years, I still feel a pang of that familiar fearful excitement this time of year when I see certain decorations, and I absolutely love when it happens. For half of a fraction of a millisecond, I feel the childhood wonder that grown-up Phil doesn’t experience anymore. These little eyeball lights—an innocuous enough Halloween decoration—got me tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665873338462-1XUEPJSIWCL7WE78DAAG/NZ9_3477.jpg oct-2022 - 10.12.22 Bass Summer Kodama plays bass with Ada Lea at Memorial Hall on Wednesday, October 12th. The band performed about six songs before Calexico took the stage. Photographed for the Longworth-Anderson Series. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665873339284-0IDGNLFF2U5PGWRYNJMA/John+Arthur+Flats+Ribbon-Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg oct-2022 - 10.13.22 Glass Sighting There’s a standing rule for this photo project: if the day’s activities involve crossing paths with Chris Glass, he must be included in that day’s published photo. He’s the only other person I know who’s committed to a daily photo project, and I read his website religiously (chrisglass.com). I ran into him organically at the ribbon-cutting for the new John Arthur Flats in Northside today. Yes, BLINK returns tonight after a three year hiatus, but I like Chris more than BLINK. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665873342398-HE3UMMPV094LKLGO7YKN/NZ9_4875.jpg oct-2022 - 10.14.22 BLINK 2022 I think the experience of BLINK 2022 is best summed up by this quote from Zan McQuade on Instagram: “I walked 6 miles to see some art but honestly it was too many people and not enough art.” I’ve been out in it both nights so far, and the American Building’s projection is the only one that really stands out to me. I don’t want to be negative about the festival on social media, but her quote is perfect. I believe, at this point, BLINK is a festival of diminishing returns. The first year was absolutely incredible and one of my favorite nights I’ve ever had in the city happened that first evening. I photographed the hell out of the first and second years, even selling images to create an official BLINK book, but this year I just haven’t really found much worth shooting aside from this. A lot of it is derivative and not as clever as previous years or simply retreads of previous years’ content. And there are noticeable absences, like the Roebling Bridge not being lit up in any BLINK way. There are a few projections that simply lay animations over murals that don’t seemingly pay any attention to the contours of the mural itself, and there are issues with drone shows being late and projections not even happening (re: the Kenner mural on Court Street). I’ve seen all that OTR and Downtown have to offer, so tomorrow night I will check out Covington’s collection of projections and hope those are better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665016440-E9F3CF2T1OIBEZE67ND3/NZ9_5097.jpg oct-2022 - 10.15.22 Saturday Night Blinking Covington didn’t offer anything better, really, with the exception of Mother of God Church. That projection was easily the best one of BLINK 2022 (even better than my pick for favorite from the previous night). However, what Covington lacked in blow-your-mind-Blinkness it made up for in being more chilled out than downtown and OTR, which is why Myrtle joined us for our adventure. A random lady gave us a glow stick for her to wear, we got coffee and hot chocolate, and ended the night by sitting at Covington Landing and watching the drone show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665040132-QJ0F83D96GUSFGBGVP0P/IMG_9407.jpg oct-2022 - 10.16.22 Solo Jazz Italian Ice I saw this while at a stoplight in Morrow, OH. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665069242-C42457MYLNJ3G0JMI2WT/IMG_9413.jpg oct-2022 - 10.17.22 Album Art? I feel like if you slapped an explicit tag on this image, it would make for a satisfactory album cover. Also, it was 11:50-something and I realized I’d not bothered to make an image that day while laying bed. Not my most inspired, but it’s honest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665043105-B0CD0S74DY453DNWUYE4/NZ9_5160.jpg oct-2022 - 10.18.22 Forgotten Office I went back to the former slaughterhouse on Baymiller today to get updated photos for the client. This abandoned office looks exactly the same as it did when I visited in May. I doubt anyone’s even walked into it since I was last there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665046068-LN6DQE0GGVXC9TWHRASY/IMG_9422.jpg oct-2022 - 10.19.22 Colossal Hassle It took seven men to carry a 12-foot-long maple table up five flights of stairs, myself included. We made a custom conference table for a client in the Republic Bank building in Covington for their new office space they’re building out. And that wasn’t the only thing we carefully lugged up the stairs: a smaller conference table and two side tables also made the long trip up to the top. Of course the elevator had to be broken. In a moment of quiet rest to catch my breath, I took advantage of the view and snapped a few photos. I will likely never be up here again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665070972-0WS5OJTFMB1FYDBZMUZ9/IMG_9436.jpg oct-2022 - 10.20.22 Flower Pressing Ashley’s been collecting and pressing flowers recently. She started putting flowers onto paper and into frames tonight for the first time. I really like this new hobby of hers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665084725-RN3AG8XSA54CTXOR6HUH/IMG_9457.jpg oct-2022 - 10.21.22 Long Day, Longer Cornstalks We delivered a bunch of mahogany tables we made in the shop to Fifty West Brewing during the day. That evening, I went to Memorial Hall and had a bad experience with the volunteer staff there while shooting a show for the concert organizer. Then, I hung out in a corn field. It was a helluva full and weird day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665103573-RE1ZJ2EC2TQ7I1ML38XB/IMG_9468.jpg oct-2022 - 10.22.22 The Wall Been wanting to do this for months and finally got to execute on the idea. I designed and built a retaining wall in my front yard using old railroad ties today. My dad came down and helped me haul bags of gravel and rock from the store as well as lift the 200-pound timbers into place. He had to leave in the early afternoon, so I finished it up on my own. It took pretty much the entire day to get it level, secured, and stacked in the photo above. I only really ran into one issue while building it, but a longer drill bit solved that and it all came together rather elegantly afterward. It’s sturdy, secured with a deadman, leaves room for gas line access, and elevates the front yard for future plantings (this week’s project). I’ve hated our ragged front yard for months, so finally getting a chance to build this wall and take the first step toward getting rid of all the useless grass is so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665107547-9006BJ10IML29TO30HPV/Sharon+Woods+-+Phil+Armstrong+-85.jpg oct-2022 - 10.23.22 Sharon Woods Sharon Woods in autumn is some of the best fall foliage I've seen this year. This year's season has been among the best in recent memory. I took a boatload of photos in the park, so choosing just one for this project was tough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665109173-4P7BBGUHQ60ZPNL6XO7Q/ZFC_3636.jpg oct-2022 - 10.24.22 A Walk Through Newport We walked through East Newport this evening to get a little exercise in with the dog while searching for a place to eat. The autumnal sights and smells didn’t disappoint. Ever the sucker for Halloween decorations, I enjoyed the creepy moving animatronic on the roof of this gorgeous house. There are a dozen other photos from the walk I wish I could share here, but this is the one for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666756540734-KBIMW2X0FW6R09HIHJ36/DSC_6339.jpg oct-2022 - 10.25.22 Bold Shooting a space with fun colors and bold patterns is so much more fun than documenting empty rooms. Sure, it’s harder and takes longer to properly white balance, but the results are always better. If you’re flipping a house or want to showcase a rental, always stage it if it’s within budget. I can’t think of a time when leaving it empty is better for photos. People’s imaginations aren’t always up to your own, and seeing a furnished space can make the difference for a prospective buyer or renter. With the right designer or someone with an eye for decor, a good room becomes great. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103954786-51DGHASXKKWLYSBXNS26/IMG_9572.jpg oct-2022 - 10.26.22 Newport’s Frankenstein I don’t know what this is, but it’s a monstrosity. Saw it while walking to work today and had to take a photo. RIP to what was probably a beautiful building at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103945961-GEYIJOFAXWW1HFLV3EMB/A+New+View+-+Phil+Armstrong+-81.jpg oct-2022 - 10.27.22 Party at the Art Museum Shot another event at the Art Museum tonight. This one was localized in the Great Hall, aka my nemesis. It’s very hard to photograph people in this space because it’s naturally dimly lit, so I’m often shooting as wide open as possible at 10,000 ISO. And the ceiling is so high up that it’s almost impossible to bounce enough light for portraits with flash. The only time I have any luck is when I can bounce it off the wall. That said, if I’m trying to photograph someone in the middle of the room, forget it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103956972-61703L0GC5GW356LWK6R/IMG_9607.jpg oct-2022 - 10.28.22 Phil’s Ill In case you didn’t get the title, it’s “ill.” As in: I am unwell. Truth be told, I started feeling ill two days ago and managed to take enough meds to get through the Art Museum event last night, but only barely. My energy is gone, but a COVID test returns a negative result. Had to cancel today’s work and focus on resting. As such, I phoned it in today with this project. Forgive me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103960069-IHS5IRC18V0QQEMH0IJB/The+Lone+Below+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg oct-2022 - 10.29.22 Final Curtain Call Tonight was the final Longworth-Anderson show at Memorial Hall for the year. It was also my final shoot for them. I’ve been doing work with the organization for two years, and after this last year, I’m ready to move onto other things. It’s been a pleasure working with them, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I like shooting shows at this venue, but I’m tired of the formula. With it being the same thing every time, I don’t look forward to doing it anymore. I’m not a fan of repetition in life in general. And I’ve missed things I’ve wanted to go to this year as a result of having to shoot these shows (like the BLINK bike ride and a free show at Cincy Shakes). I’m really looking forward to reducing the amount of nights I work and being more available for events I want to go. I think it’ll help guide me back to a healthier work/life balance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667314617311-Q9NPO4GMJF7ZO5CH6Q4Z/IMG_9627.jpg oct-2022 - 10.30.22 Update to the Wall The grass in the front yard is gone, replaced by plantings and pinestraw. Though it took a few days over two weekends to complete, I’m very satisfied by what we’ve managed to create here, and I’m so glad we did this ourselves instead of waiting for and paying a landscaper to do it for us. No longer will I have to look at a patchy front yard devoid of purpose; it’s now something I take personal pride in and it will be home for pollinators in the spring while improving the overall first impression of the house. I sat on the wall and drank a beer in quiet victory after everything was planted and done. It feels truly wonderful to make changes to your home without having to ask permission or wait on someone to do the work for you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667314632959-9PMYRP86QE2Y1C2A71Z2/ZFC_3665.jpg oct-2022 - 10.31.22 Happy Halloween! We had about 35 kids show up this year and I actually ran out of candy by 7:30. Note to self: don’t start giving out handfuls until 7:15 at the earliest. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/nov-2022 daily 0.75 2022-12-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667612543138-YVYQIB0P5WUW6X692DX5/HaNoBe+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg nov-2022 - 11.1.22 HaNoBe Apts Worked with GBBN today to photograph a couple of model units inside College Hill’s new HaNoBe Apartments building. GBBN always likes to add people to their photos, so we had a few different people using the spaces in a way that illustrates “living” without it looking cheesy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667612543138-YVYQIB0P5WUW6X692DX5/HaNoBe+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg nov-2022 - 11.1.22 HaNoBe Apts Worked with GBBN today to photograph a couple of model units inside College Hill’s new HaNoBe Apartments building. GBBN always likes to add people to their photos, so we had a few different people using the spaces in a way that illustrates “living” without it looking cheesy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667612722313-TANYDRSBG4RV5B0JO2G9/IMG_9671.jpg nov-2022 - 11.2.22 Ipe Flights I was given a design for a quick and easy flight board and tasked with making 25 of them for a cidery in Norwood that’s yet to open. I made the prototype today and will be building the rest this weekend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667704437797-RLEC08231AM0VFN4CB6M/ZFC_3672.jpg nov-2022 - 11.3.22 HBD Ashley She’s successfully entered her mid-30s and there are great things on the horizon. One thing is she’s quitting the job she hates so she can start fresh somewhere else, I’m very happy for her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667704439848-DJ5SMT56FAT5CJD019X5/IMG_9680.jpg nov-2022 - 11.4.22 Morning Over the River While riding my bike into the shop today, I was rolling through the parking garage in Bellevue when I was struck by the wonderful view over the river. The stillness of the water coupled with the warm tones of autumn and morning light was perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667704447379-7REC1IIPNDJ2N5SDV4H3/myrtle+mayor.jpg nov-2022 - 11.5.22 Root for Snoot! I’m allowing myself Photoshopped images so long as they were made that day. Ashley’s parents are in town and we were joking about political yard sign slogans. Someone came up with “root for snoot” as Myrtle’s slogan were she to run for pawffice. (One of Myrtle’s thousands of nicknames is Snoot). I couldn’t get the image of a vintage-style political poster featuring Myrtle’s disembodied head out of my mind , so I threw something together to scratch the itch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667877138046-FLIU5RZXHSNAAGW423ZT/IMG_9697.jpg nov-2022 - 11.6.22 A Full Day I saw friends from Philadelphia, ate outdoors at a good restaurant, walked Myrtle in the sun, helped a neighbor install a push-in fence, rode my bike to see other friends, frequented a few pubs and rooftops, then did an absolutely glorious night ride through Downtown and Covington to help a coworker at the shop before riding home with a drained headlamp on my bike. It was a phenomenal day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667877138567-ZKMQQVSYIF39XDXOQ3IY/DSC_9463-2.jpg nov-2022 - 11.7.22 Install Day Last night, a friend asked me how work was going and I was able to say with a straight face that I genuinely love it. While photography has been my regular thing for years, I’ve also been working with Single Batch Designs for the last 11 months. Every day I wake up and get to go to that shop, I enjoy it. I get to work with talented and likable dudes who make incredible things, and then we get to deliver them to the client with pride. This photo is from today’s install. From left: Joe, Brad, John, and Joe. Not pictured: Anthony and Keith. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668090562542-O75UV5HCHU6KS52A8GD0/DSC_9677-Edit.jpg nov-2022 - 11.8.22 Hyde Park Cozy Photographed an apartment building with something like six units in it in Hyde Park. It had that beautiful mix of 1930s style with a hefty dose of coziness. Warm wood floors, loads of ornate trim (but not too ornate), cute little nooks to sit in, and miniature versions of areas usually reserved for large homes, like a dedicated foyer. The whole place just made me feel warm and welcome. I get the same feeling from my house, but if I were single and living alone in one of these units, my natural inclination to be a recluse would become unstoppable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668090561864-WSKQO28JE9NULA5ZOXR2/IMG_9767.jpg nov-2022 - 11.9.22 Careful Restoration We’ve been working on and off to restore the wooden facade of Hierophany & Hedge in Covington for about two weeks. After only a couple of years, the storefront has taken a beating from the weather, as did the opposite side that faces Braxton. It’s taken a lot of sanding, stain, and varnish to get it looking great again, and even a few passersby have commented on how nice it looks. We’re trying to get it all done before the unseasonably warm autumn we’ve had scrams for good, so the process has been challenging. Personally, I find this work satisfying, though I can imagine how much harder it would be if it were done in the middle of summer or winter. The whole thing should be finished within the next week or so. I decided to place a sepia filter on this one because I thought it looked good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668366937678-U6MZTHV0W1XGSLZWXZBG/DSC_0048-Edit.jpg nov-2022 - 11.10.22 Bethesda Hospitals aren’t generally a place I prefer spending my time. I will likely live some of my worst days, if not the remaining days, of my life in one. That’s sadly yet to come. Today’s shoot led me to Bethesda North where a new area was renovated for…hospital things. Truthfully, I don’t know much about medical wings and their uses, so I just made the photos I needed and didn’t ask questions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668366942876-WGZ2ZFBBA0DAIYSRAGOD/DSC_0857.jpg nov-2022 - 11.11.22 CAM Gala After spending the day battling what I think was food poisoning, I managed to take enough meds and drink enough water to drag myself to photograph CAM’s annual gala. The museum was absolutely decked out in colorful decor. It’s honestly never looked better. Each area had a different color and the Great Hall was a mix of them all. Dinner was served to guests, they had a DJ at the top of the stairs doing his thing, and waitstaff walked around offering drinks and treats throughout the evening. After a cursory review of the photos of the evening, I am satisfied that I covered the night adequately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668486255248-6MO3UHW6QSAC34V3COCS/IMG_9806.jpg nov-2022 - 11.12.22 Important Hardware Store Development She has discovered that Lowe’s has clothes now. This was a bigger news story than the fact that it practically blizzard-ed today. Or that my shoot this evening started by me overhearing an attendee say the work I did for them last year was horrible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668486255246-18H3NYV5DXFTBAS5ZCOA/IMG_9816.jpg nov-2022 - 11.13.22 Patience is a Myr-tue Chose this photo solely for the title pun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668486257528-A8DVFHWGRBLBL3GWI20A/IMG_9834.jpg nov-2022 Macro View of Childhood If you recognize this, you were probably told to stop looking at it lest you ruin your vision. I recently picked up a small tube TV from a friend as my toxic impulse for nostalgia yearned for something from before. The familiar gummy button, the high frequency tone upon it powering on, the static that prickles your finger tips when you wipe away dust from the corner of the convex glass; all of it part and parcel of using supremely outdated but effortlessly charming technology. No cold efficiency, unparalleled visual fidelity, or Borg-like connectivity. Just warm, fuzzy, blissfully dumb 240p. The flag from a time when I didn’t give a shit about anything but what these little micro lights synchronized for my entertainment. When I stare into it now, I feel a little bit of that carefree feeling again, lest I continue to ruin my vision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668658156147-7JMJ80DYVTQ1JEKDTEPV/NZ9_2811-2.jpg nov-2022 - 11.15.22 Plan B The plan was to hook a Roku up to this old TV so I could watch Star Trek the way I remember originally seeing it. However, no modern Roku apparently supports a 4:3 ratio. I successfully got it to work using an HDMI to AV adapter, but the feed is squished and dark. Unwatchable, sadly. But I was determined to make this TV work for me regardless. Plan B was to dust off my childhood PlayStation and see if I couldn’t have a little fun that way. I found all five games I still had for it and fired it up. The disc drive is a little louder than I remember it being, but only at startup. Honestly, playing Mega Man 8 on this thing is so much more wholesome and enjoyable than I ever realized it could be. (Also, yes, I lit this with green and purple for effect.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668658156288-DVTJTGBEAMYXP7IN7IQ7/IMG_9847.jpg nov-2022 - 11.16.22 Welding A shot of Anthony welding. I hid my eyes behind my phone’s screen to protect my vision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668745276331-D6505NZQJZ6OUUHO5CM6/DSC_2876.jpg nov-2022 - 11.17.22 Bi-Lighting I wanted to play around with dramatically lighting something tonight before bed. I didn’t spend the time to figure out the shadows, though, and I should’ve done better about dusting it off before lighting it. My Lume Cube (yellow) is great when I can match the output on my off-camera strobe (purple), but finding that point between is tricky sometimes. Because I’ve been working so much and because I’ve always wanted two flashes for better ways to light things this way, I actually ordered a new flash. When paired with the other one and set to the right receiver channel, I should be able to fire both at the same time. Looking forward to trying some portraits and coming up with easier ways to dynamically light objects for effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178932008-L7W9X4U20XHVR1V0XJ53/IMG_9872.jpg nov-2022 - 11.18.22 Finished Products If you go to Northwood Cider Co. and get a flight, you’ll be serves four small glasses on one of the flight boards I made for them. Had I been told the proper glass size, the grooves would’ve actually fit the glasses, too. Regardless, it was cool going up to the bar top we made and installed, ordering a flight from the barkeep who has no idea of my relationship to this place, and enjoying some beverages on finished work that I did alone on a mild, windy Saturday several weeks ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178933325-ZLHT17SVD4Z4HQQAAIXX/IMG_9877.jpg nov-2022 - 11.19.22 Alternate Use I turned our inoperable fireplace into a cozy little nook for plants after cleaning out the soot and grime and installing a grow light to the flue hatch. Since it’s unusable in its current state and we have no intention to use it for gas or wood-burning logs, it made sense to turn it into something useful. I’m pretty happy with the end result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178934562-J169V3OTUSJG8SVSA6JC/IMG_9900.jpg nov-2022 - 11.20.22 Impossible-to-Erase Tree I love it when nature has a chokehold on human development, no matter how small it is. There’s an electrical wire on Ward Ave with two bits of tree lumped around it. Obviously the tree grew around the wire over the years and when the tree was removed, the pierced sections of branches couldn’t be safely discarded without potentially damaging the wire in the process. Seeing no other route but to avoid a headache down the line, the lumps of branches were left in place to rot on the wire 20 feet above the sidewalk. Normally the remnants of a felled tree are a stump in the ground. This tree did things differently. On the plus side, this is an all-natural and accidental way to keep ice from collecting on the wire during snowstorms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178936711-H6CL0KS20UF9J8FXOL4A/IMG_9916.jpg nov-2022 - 11.21.22 Night Ball Ashley’s on something like five medications at the moment to solve a sinus and chest congestion issue, so instead of taking up space in the bed (and listening to her hack up a lung/blow her nose all night), we agreed that I would sleep downstairs on the couch to give us both a chance to have the best possible night of sleep. After tucking Myrtle into her dog bed and settling into the couch for the night, I closed my eyes and drifted toward slumber. I heard Myrtle stir and move around a bit, then go still. It was typical of her behavior, so I dismissed it. After a few minutes of not hearing anything, though, I got the feeling I was being watched. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw before me a blanket-draped Myrtle with a ball in her mouth staring intently. It was clearly NOT bedtime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178939338-K0CZJQ4H2UBV6U80DBJR/305+Overton+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg nov-2022 - 11.22.22 The Details 305 Overton Street in Newport was one of two of my assignments today. The owner apparently recently passed away and a relative, the executor of her will, is selling the property. East Newport is one of the nicer areas of NKY, so I don’t expect it to last long once it hits MLS. It needs work, and there’s a lot to update bathroom/kitchen-wise, but the thing it has in spades is old-house beauty. While the fireplaces in this house are designed more like altars of worship than places to burn wood for warmth, there’s a fair amount of positively jaw-dropping stained glass on the first and second floors. The second story room in the front (pictured) had the most stained glass contained to one area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669260626929-JRIK38L498HDROWN7FZQ/DSC_3380-Edit-Edit-2.jpg nov-2022 - 11.23.22 Little White-Wall Lies One of my favorite things to do is fake the number of items or people in a single frame. We only had one stool for this table shoot, but I moved it around the scene and spliced it all together in post to get what you see here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669516612262-3YM0KJZFHOT135OOZF49/IMG_9965.jpg nov-2022 - 11.24.22 New Addition to the Pack My sister had a baby recently. This was our first family gathering with her present. She’s very cute and doesn’t really fuss at all. I’m really interested to see who she becomes as she grows up and starts developing her own identity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669516613775-QJAOXIQMNJOFP6NSUBUB/IMG_0007.jpg nov-2022 - 11.25.22 Ash for Ash Vince gave me two rough pieces of ash a few months back and I’ve been meaning to find a project for them. Ashley came up with an idea for the kitchen, so I sanded them down, attached them into an L configuration, routed a channel for a piece of 1/8th inch steel underneath them to give the joint added strength, and routed the edges. Both pieces were stained and treated with Danish oil, and now it’s drying. Also, I have to keep taking Dayquil or else I feel like I’ve been hit by a train. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669516615910-6V02BT38KJYSKL8KR9FX/ZFC_3692.jpg nov-2022 - 11.26.22 First Annual Christmas Tree As I understand it, Bellevue had to take down a pine tree in one of the parks and instead of pitching it, they put it up on the Avenue and decorated it for Christmas. It’s the first annual Christmas tree for the city, which implies this will become a yearly tradition. I imagine future trees will come from elsewhere, but it’s neat that Bellevue’s first tree was grown locally and has been part of the city for years. It’s really cute and I love that they did this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669697116389-ITETCV0FCD988TLB6DNE/IMG_0062.jpg nov-2022 - 11.27.22 Milestone Achieved This isn’t going to look like much, but it’s a big deal to me. While cutting straight lines and finding angles is hard, it’s even harder to make a decent curve in woodworking let alone a circular shape. Having no lathe to turn wood on, I’ve been weary about trying to cut something circular lest I ruin a good piece of wood. But tonight, after making a frame for Ashley, I decided to give it a whirl. Using the bandsaw, I cut a really good oval out of this block of wood. Relief cuts helped along the way, and after getting the rough shape, I proceeded to sand the sides down and route the edges to give it a nice, smooth surface on all three sides. Overall, the process went easier than I’d thought it would and it’s emboldened me to keep doing it. This will eventually become the top of a step stool once I make legs for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669697122498-NQ2JSWXM9P6T9N6SMWZW/DSC_3436-Edit.jpg nov-2022 - 11.28.22 Just Having Fun On the 17th of this month, I mentioned my desire to have fun lighting objects with gels from two sides. My new flash came in and works well with the one I was using previously. Using a transmitter that sits in the hot shoe atop my Z9, I can fire both strobes simultaneously, each with a different colored gel loaded on them. Tonight, I wanted to experiment with it a little more so I grabbed a miniature Genius of Water statue I have on the shelf and tried lighting it multiple ways. This activity is so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669868404366-WGJFCEFJXZMAX3M5QZ35/324+W+7th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg nov-2022 - 11.29.22 Moving On There’s a man living on 7th Street in Covington who is moving to another, much larger home in a nearby neighborhood with his significant other. He didn’t give me all the details, nor did I ask for them, but he made it clear he was going to miss his bachelor pad. He’s bummed he won’t be close to the bars and nightlife he said he conveniently frequented while living in his house. I actually know the house he’s moving to (I shot that one too, oddly enough), but I think my attempts to speak highly about where he’s moving hit like a “you’ll get over it” to the widow at her husband’s funeral. I’m sure it’ll pass for him, but deep down I understood what he was going through. I’ll always have a soft spot for my old 4th Street apartment—my final residence before cohabitation. When a place is yours, it hits different. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669868405065-JTY8LYKDN2407D758DBT/IMG_0117-Edit.jpg nov-2022 - 11.30.22 The Worst Part of My Ride The 11th Street Bridge in Covington sucks. I hate riding it every time I go into the shop. There was a high-profile killing of a bicyclist on it this past summer that rocked the community and spurred interest in reclaiming one of the four lanes of traffic for a protected bike lane. While that will not come to pass for awhile, I have to ride on the lone sidewalk to get as far away from the +40mph drivers as possible. When someone else is riding the opposite direction or someone’s walking, I have to get off and walk my bike to get past them, sometimes on the shoulder to allow enough room. Of course, this bad bridge is preferable to Covington’s other bridge on 4th Street. That one’s somehow even more aggressive to anything that isn’t a car. Is it too much to ask for a single, safe way for cyclists to cross the Licking River? http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dec-2022 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669952357624-HL4CZR857Q7A07GGVYVK/2235+Jo+Ann+Place-+Phil+Armstrong+-23.jpg dec-2022 - 12.1.22 Vampiring Again Practicing the mirror trick again on yet another little house in the area. I think I do the mirror trick on about two out three places I shoot now. Didn’t even bother with a second image for the camera replacement on this one; it was clean enough to remove without much effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669952357624-HL4CZR857Q7A07GGVYVK/2235+Jo+Ann+Place-+Phil+Armstrong+-23.jpg dec-2022 - 12.1.22 Vampiring Again Practicing the mirror trick again on yet another little house in the area. I think I do the mirror trick on about two out three places I shoot now. Didn’t even bother with a second image for the camera replacement on this one; it was clean enough to remove without much effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670211197941-XCO9Z1RZY43T6E6K1RJ1/DSC_4075-Edit.jpg dec-2022 - 12.2.22 Clones I had an all-day shoot in Hamilton, OH today that didn’t go as planned. The details aren’t interesting and can be spared for the sake of this entry, but know it was not I who was unprepared for the shoot. Anyway, while waiting for people to show up to pose for a few shots, I tested my flash to see how it would illuminate bodies in different positions in the room. The end result of this preparation combined with boredom is what you see above. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389085142-DQIS1P1X3XIW21SJ115L/IMG_0181.jpeg dec-2022 - 12.3.22 Never Not Pretty One of the greatest privileges of my life is having fresh cut flowers in our home at any given time. Because of Ashley’s role in the floral world, we’re always endowed with a fresh bouquet somewhere in the house. The flowers won’t last forever, nor will this privilege, so I’m enjoying it while it lasts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389079616-XYCI231TMYJCDK9DM0WC/IMG_0182.jpeg dec-2022 - 12.4.22 Beginning to Look a Lot Like…You Know Eclectic Christmas trees, a Santa that’s older than almost everyone I know, and a blurry iPhone photo because I spent the day working with my hands and not my camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389081998-XAGV3MZMYL34V0RMHLH9/ZFC_3727-Edit.jpeg dec-2022 - 12.5.22 Sapele Mahogany Swing Joe and Joe made this handsome outdoor swing out of sapele mahogany. It was finished today and we strung it up for photos before shipping out to the client later this week. The chains are rated for a much heavier load and look a little proportionally goofy, but that will change when it gets to the customer. No, I didn’t try it out; if the button on my pants or something left a scratch, I’d never forgive myself for making an avoidable and pointless mistake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389087591-35GTMXHPE9HBCR0XRWGQ/IMG_0218.jpeg dec-2022 - 12.6.22 Design & Plan & Build Against my better judgment, I’ve agreed to do a carpentry project for a video production company in Norwood. They need four floating, ornate walls to use as backdrops for an upcoming shoot later this month which means planning and building needs to happen ASAP. My build days are next week, so today I’ve been sketching out schematics and measurements, figuring out the budget and materials list, and compiling it all for the client. As the rain pours loudly right outside my window, I sit quietly with schematics on my iPad, eating pizza and downing Coke, Deep Space Nine playing in the other room, and a sense that this will be a fun portfolio piece once it’s all done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670465041730-FQSFH8BH82228SDCCWHF/DSC_4226-Edit.jpg dec-2022 - 12.7.22 Myrtle Christmas 2022 Tonight marks the sixth year we’ve done a Myrtle Christmas card photo. The placement of the tree is different this year, but the spirit is the same. I don’t think I’ll ever top the composition of the 2020 photo, but I like the way this one is lit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162215664-GZ8I0PZ4K2XMC73ATMZV/209+6th+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong-44-2.jpg dec-2022 - 12.8.22 A Beautiful Sconce I shot a beautiful house in Dayton, KY today that had a load of gorgeous old house features, including this darling wall sconce in the hallway upstairs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162216095-TZONXHEEJG0L7JCOUYMB/IMG_0303.jpg dec-2022 - 12.9.22 Fresh Coat I have a grey metal filing cabinet for important documents that bore me to death. Over the years, the cabinet has been dented and scratched during its many moves. It’s not overly attractive, and after growing tired of seeing an ugly grey cabinet in the office, I painted it white. Thin coats dry quickly, so I managed to do it all in one evening. It looks far better now than it ever did in grey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162218883-L9AWWXSU6YPEKIBRY62Z/IMG_0284.jpg dec-2022 - 12.10.22 Holiday Bright Ride Having missed the 2022 Blink communal ride, I vowed to make sure I didn’t miss the holiday version. While it made me a little nervous riding around the basin during the height of traffic on a Saturday night, being in a big group was a lot of fun. It was also Santacon, so everywhere was packed with drunken Santas who largely cheered us on from the sidewalks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162220185-32DG48I5JU88BIJWF8WD/IMG_0299.jpg dec-2022 - 12.11.22 Found a 4 in the Wild The title says it all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162221452-YIK21BKXU0EAKBCEESDQ/IMG_0309.jpg dec-2022 - 12.12.22 Ice Cream Time She got to sit in the front seat since Ashley’s on a work trip. This is a look of confusion. Truth be told, I had her up front because I had a bunch of tools taking up the back and boot, so this was the only available seat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162222795-VRU96UO0SFHRSGY02WLH/IMG_0312.jpg dec-2022 - 12.13.22 Floating Wall Progress Last year, I did a carpentry project for the City of Bellevue and worked on a big structure inside an abandoned theater for a week. This year, I’m building floating walls to use as stylish backdrops for RESLV, a local video company (that also employs Steve), and I’m building it in the garage of their historic firehouse-turned-office. I got all four frames finished and one face put together, but there’s still a lot of work left to do. I’ll resume building on Thursday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162228440-3F95693V870JFK6G8G6L/NZ9_5436.jpg dec-2022 - 12.14.22 A Long, Crazy Day Myrtle went to daycare, I went to the wood shop for the final time this year, we had our work party at Elusive Cow and B-List, then I went to the Art Museum and shot the opening of the new Bollywood exhibit, then I went to the mayor of Bellevue’s house for a gathering because I was appointed to the Code Enforcement Board earlier that night, then I went to a friend’s house for late-night beers before going home at midnight and collapsing in a heap of exhaustion. It was an insane day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162227599-O09GPO71H8WWUBVHT2JY/IMG_0334.jpg dec-2022 - 12.15.22 Ready For Color Because Myrtle’s in daycare, I woke up and went straight to RESLV to keep working on the floating wall project. It’s a massive load off my conscience when I know she’s not at home by herself and bored. I worked from about 9 AM until 7:30 PM on these walls and made it to a good stopping point before cleaning up my mess and heading home. I’ll paint them tomorrow and move them upstairs to the video studio. Will sleep very well tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671504624765-4V9TEJKJFWDY31JA7GIU/IMG_0336.jpg dec-2022 - 12.16.22 Hansman’s Sometimes when I go to Unataza, I continue further east to Hansman’s where I grab a hot biscuit/egg/cheese/sausage or goetta sandwich out of the warmer for a couple of of bucks. It’s by no means a healthy breakfast but it hits the spot, and it’s very close to what I always envisioned a perfect quick neighborhood breakfast could be. Sometimes the biscuits are fresh and crispy. Other times they’re softer from sitting in the warmer. Make sure to always read the label to confirm the one you’ve grabbed has cheese. For less than $3, you can’t go wrong. Oh, and while I’m not a start-the-morning-with-a-donut kind of guy, I have been swayed a few times by what’s behind the counter glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671504624708-00QADLYHT396T67FL5M5/IMG_0370.jpg dec-2022 - 12.17.22 Christmas Parties I took a break from working today and instead ran errands all over town before going to two different Christmas parties. Both were a lot of fun, and I wish I could’ve split myself in two to enjoy each more fully. At one point, we played a drinking card game that was so raucous and fun, I wondered why it wasn’t part of every gathering with friends. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671504627253-SXSSHVRLDIM45XZYI4EL/IMG_0379.jpg dec-2022 - 12.18.22 Yet to Descend From what I’ve read online, there is a tradition where all the people and animals in a Nativity scene sit and stare at an empty cradle until December 25th. On that day, a tiny baby JC is added to complete the Biblical scene. The Nativity miniature we had in our house as kids just had the the baby glued into the cradle already, so this tradition was new to me. While at Ashley’s grandparents’ house, I noticed their baby wasn’t in the cradle yet and it made me laugh that he just has to jazz-hands at the ceiling for an entire month one floor up from where he will eventually land. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671505289794-AEHCQ71Q1YPEQJ27XE6F/IMG_0380.jpg dec-2022 - 12.19.22 Project Complete It took me two extra days, but I got them done. The floating walls are in the studio, painted, and ready for use. Happy with how they turned out and quietly excited to see them in action at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856706170-XGHH9XN21DY9TJTY4RY0/IMG_0394.jpg dec-2022 - 12.20.22 Over the River and Through the Bridge To a Christmas party we go. (I wasn’t driving.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856706879-PPRX2D5BPSPHCA6Q2D43/2201+Reading+Road+Unit+2+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg dec-2022 - 12.21.22 Still Moment During a Busy Day Three rentals today, all for the same client. The big house in Mount Auburn was my favorite, and the two apartments on Reading Road were nice enough. I always like seeing what decor the owners choose to tchotchke up the joint. Didn’t think much of this shot when I took it, but after getting it into Lightroom later, the color stood out to me. Also did the rest of my Christmas shopping, so I’m ready for a bourbon and egg nog to wind this day down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856708190-3DFINXL96F88U1A2YF6J/IMG_0436.jpg dec-2022 - 12.22.22 Impending Cold There’s a colossal winter storm raging outdoors at the moment. Thankfully, we retrieved Ashley’s mom from the airport before the blizzard made roads impassable. I don’t like cutting it close like that. The best thing one can do during a weather event is stay put inside and keep off the roads. One less potential headache for emergency crews. Anyway, we outran the fast-approaching snowflakes and made it home safely, and now we’re waiting for subzero conditions to turn our home into a delicate fortress of warmth that could topple any moment if the power decides to go out. Earlier today, I thought the approaching storm was sort of exciting. I’ve since changed my tune. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856711697-F9R361ZZ22NH9QYJ1EJQ/ZFC_3746.jpg dec-2022 - 12.23.22 -20ºF I was outside for a total of 2 minutes today. The flag pole had been torn from its screws in the brick by the 50 mph winds, so I had to take it the rest of the way off the column to keep it from banging about. Everything is covered in snow—including our covered porch—but that’s not the issue. With the windchill, it feels like -20ºF out right now (without, it’s -1ºF). While outside for that brief time, I felt my nose hairs freeze and my mustache harden with ice. Continually blinking away the sting of the cold, my lungs lightly burned every time I took a breath. Though the sun was shining brightly, I don’t think I’ve ever felt cold like that in my life. I went back inside and worked on photo editing for the rest of the day. As I write this, we haven’t lost power (knock on wood), but our water pressure is very low. I think there’s a water main issue somewhere up the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671989927229-3PCRVAG698Y2DXHD72SN/IMG_0442.jpg dec-2022 - 12.24.22 Neighborhood Announcement A neighbor on our street has a proclamation. He’s fed up with this cold, and for once, I don’t blame him. While I wouldn’t choose Florida, I wouldn’t mind being in a warmer place at the moment. Honestly, this Christmas kinda sucks, and I don’t think it’s solely because of the storm. I am fortunately/unfortunately someone who enjoys their regular life, and this week disrupts that with obligations based in social traditions for the sake of a figure I do not worship and a religion I do not follow. I know the holiday season is more than that, but aside from seeing my family for an evening, I do not enjoy this time of year overall. It’s not sappy Hallmark thing for me like it is for others. I recognize my flaw of wanting to be contrarian by default, and maybe it’s partially that which makes me feel this way, but I can’t say for sure. Just feeling overwhelmingly detached and introverted this year—more so than other years. And with every passing year, Christmas kind of becomes more depressing as people’s lives change, their opinions grow stronger, they pass away, they get divorced, and other factors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672022870235-WFKAU4F6S5MBL3ZCEBJT/ZFC_3778.jpg dec-2022 - 12.25.22 Sisters Kiran and Esmeray on Christmas night (my sister’s kids). Esmeray is a very relaxed baby, and Kiran is all personality. I get it when people say “this is a very fun age” because Kiran says some of the funniest stuff without even meaning to, and she says it so innocently. She one time called lasagne “crazy pizza” and it makes me laugh every time I think about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627878925-NEH4HN5AE489SCPOL7TJ/IMG_0485.jpg dec-2022 - 12.26.22 The Floor It feels amazing to lay on the floor sometimes. Just flattening my back out and completely at rest. This view doesn’t last long before a doodle dog wanders over delighted to see someone beneath her default height. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627879330-ILMOAQOSRV3N4IXD0AR0/IMG_0496.jpg dec-2022 - 12.27.22 True Lies Kevin and I walked down to The Garage in Dayton and had a private showing of True Lies over beer and Taqueria Nogal takeout. I’d never seen it before and he swore it was worth a watch. He wasn’t wrong—truly fun and stupid and exactly what I wanted. It’s a shame James Cameron didn’t let his hair down more with fun movies like that instead of going the ultra-serious route. Was walked back home just before midnight and enjoyed a quiet stroll through the neighborhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627539228-MVBWXHV29MN80NN0TZ0R/IMG_0504.JPG dec-2022 - 12.28.22 Toys Were Us Took a trip out to Xenia to check out a lumber yard and then wandered around to a few other shops I’ve been meaning to check out before landing at Rockler in Tri-County. Beside Rockler is a big empty former Toys R Us. The contrast of the missing sign held my gaze for awhile. It’s sad to see a rejection of fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627882900-5FMM76SGO8DCGWCWGIK1/IMG_0518.jpg dec-2022 - 12.29.22 Mobile Countertops Testing an idea I had for increasing the amount of counter space when we have company. I made an L-shaped countertop that we can simply place over the existing structures to better serve dishes when we have people over for a meal or potluck. Since our kitchen is little, making use of every available inch is crucial. The doorway it blocks is the path to the basement, which guests have no reason to access. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627884279-0XCBNHD773JUOP18QBWJ/IMG_0544.jpg dec-2022 - 12.30.22 Party Night! Rene’s in from Germany, so we got the gang together for cards and drinks and general merriment! I need to be better at taking real photos of people instead of bad forward-facing camera photos on a timer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672629323788-JCR18FUMCHIW4OB4ZRA6/ZFC_3808-2.jpg dec-2022 - 12.31.22 Calendar Reset We went to a neighbor’s house for light bites and a beer. We then met up with Steve and his new girlfriend downtown for Mexican. Then we met up with Justin and Annie and the rest of their crew for drinks at Fifty Fifty Gin Club to ring in the new year. While there, Justin asked me if I would be a groomsman in his wedding. Of course I said yes. He’s one of the best people I know. I’m honored to be part of his and Annie’s upcoming day, and it was a perfect way to end the year. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jan-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672631628200-RCM8EDI8Z3TUXE3Z6TID/DSC_6948-Edit.jpg jan-2023 - 1.1.23 Four Years: Complete No one cares about this, but yesterday I completed four full years of this daily photo project. That’s 1461 photos over as many days. It’s been a rewarding daily exercise wandering around trying to figure out what to shoot each day and pair it with a journal of thoughts, feelings, and/or brief recounting of events. (Note: I didn’t journal for the first eleven months of 2019 as the photos only existed on Twitter at that time and later migrated to this archive in December of that year when I knew I wanted to keep it going.) It is cliche to say something like “so much life has been lived in the last four years” and talk about COVID and marriage and moving and all that, so I won’t. Today’s photo was the result of hopping on my bike in search of something interesting to photograph after a day of being cooped up building a cross cut sled for my table saw in my garage. 9th and Elm Streets is a photogenic corner from a certain perspective. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672631628200-RCM8EDI8Z3TUXE3Z6TID/DSC_6948-Edit.jpg jan-2023 - 1.1.23 Four Years: Complete No one cares about this, but yesterday I completed four full years of this daily photo project. That’s 1461 photos over as many days. It’s been a rewarding daily exercise wandering around trying to figure out what to shoot each day and pair it with a journal of thoughts, feelings, and/or brief recounting of events. (Note: I didn’t journal for the first eleven months of 2019 as the photos only existed on Twitter at that time and later migrated to this archive in December of that year when I knew I wanted to keep it going.) It is cliche to say something like “so much life has been lived in the last four years” and talk about COVID and marriage and moving and all that, so I won’t. Today’s photo was the result of hopping on my bike in search of something interesting to photograph after a day of being cooped up building a cross cut sled for my table saw in my garage. 9th and Elm Streets is a photogenic corner from a certain perspective. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672754966817-CCSATTOFBJH210QTP58T/DSC_6962-HDR-2.jpg jan-2023 - 1.2.23 Quiet Ride It was another fine night to hop on the bike and go for a ride. “Avoid Downtown because of the game,” Ashley warned. Not heeding her warning at all, I went directly Downtown and didn’t see much in the way of activity above 6th Street. It’s so odd how one corner of the core can be bustling, and then you go one more street north and it just deadens to silence. While many would find this sort of thing unappealing, I live for it. One of my favorite things about not living in a popular American city is how you can find relative peace in the urban core if you know where to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673016759065-1R7J6ZF30MOT06U1Q90Q/ZFC_3878-Pano-2.jpg jan-2023 - 1.3.23 Saint Bernard Church Rode around Dayton, KY this evening. Here’s Saint Bernard Church. The lighting on it coupled with the rich muddiness of a freshly drained sky was too good to roll past without stopping for a photo. According to its website, this is the third church built (1914) on this spot. The parish outgrew the first one and the second one was destroyed by flood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673016758802-6K1DWL92PZF477HJWSGJ/IMG_0623.jpg jan-2023 - 1.4.23 Going Screenless After some deliberation and realizing that every place to sit faced one direction (toward a screen), I moved the TV out of the living room entirely. I want the living room to be a place to relax without everyone having to stare into the corner. The result is a more inviting, more conversation-inducing, overall better place where we can sit with others and talk without a screen taking up a fifth of the space. (I’m in the process of configuring a media room elsewhere in the house.) Shaking the convention of a TV being the centerpiece of a room has not only made our space feel bigger, but also sets the social tone that room deserves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673015640503-BNEE6LTMHFZGYKIAENDS/ZFC_3906.jpg jan-2023 - 1.5.23 Final Piece of the Puzzle Ashley’s been working on a vintage flower poster puzzle over the last few days. I initially resisted doing any of it for some reason, but eventually the call to place a few pieces overcame me and I ended up doing quite a bit of it. I’m not a total monster, though, so I left the final piece for her to place and we made this dramatic photo to document its completion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364453286-1SB5BZDR9EV11BLYT43R/IMG_0662.jpg jan-2023 - 1.6.23 The Coziest Patio in Cincy Mt. Adams is just fine. It has great views of the surrounding area, it’s a challenging hike (in a good way) depending on the street, and its close proximity to Eden Park is probably its highlight feature. As far as dining and drinking goes, however, it leaves a lot to be desired. That said, probably the coziest bar in the entire city is Blind Lemon’s. I’ve never been to Blind Lemon in the summertime because it’s always been a winter bar in my mind, and because of its unintentional seasonal exclusivity, it’s a personal treat. The Blind Bailey’s (Bailey’s, coffee, cocoa) is light on booze and a great way to end the night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364453069-WG4XJMCGJV8IG88F258M/IMG_0668.jpg jan-2023 - 1.7.23 Lost Treasures of Cincinnati Currently reading Amy E. Brownlee’s ‘Lost Treasures of Cincinnati’ whenever I have a moment to sit down on the couch. It’s full of info about long-gone places that used to speckle our urban landscape. The biggest gut-punch was a blurb on Sixty Second Shops: a series of hamburger stands that existed near every streetcar stop and served what we commonly know now to be Frisch’s Big Boy’s signature burger without the branding. And these shops were open 24 hours a day, too. TAKE ME BACK. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364457083-KIVBBV8S7D4C4YM7J499/ZFC_3911.jpg jan-2023 - 1.8.23 Moxy If you’re local, this image will likely be burned into your screen before long because everyone will be posting it. Moxy, a new bakery and coffee shop in Findlay Market, has a beautiful and small space right next to The Columns on the south side of the market, and this view is the stand-out angle in mine and many others’ opinions. They serve Urbana Coffee and make their own sweet and savory baked goods in the shop. It’s really good and I plan to go back often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364456364-2MNW9DULTH9Q4LI8ARBL/ZFC_3931.jpg jan-2023 - 1.9.23 Return to the Shop I haven’t been in the woodshop in Covington for weeks due to the holidays and building its website last week, but today I returned. It was really nice to be back in there with John and Anthony doing odd jobs around the space to prep for all the work we’ll be doing over the next few months. I never stopped building and doing woodworking during my time off, so I didn’t feel out of practice, but my legs at the end of the day were sore from all the stairs and lifting and running around. The pain was of the pleasant variety, though. I think about this all the time, but it hit me especially hard when I got home: I don’t think I will ever choose to go back to a desk job if I can help it. Physically working all day brings me a level of satisfaction I just don’t get at a desk. Of course, my mind could change at some point, but that’s how I feel at this moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708684029-UXH1EERQTT3IEUUF2Q05/IMG_0690.jpg jan-2023 - 1.10.23 Technology is Rad Myrtle and I went on a night walk this evening to stretch our legs. I took my camera and tripod with me so I could find today’s photo while walking the neighborhood. I found something I liked, got my tripod set up, mounted the camera, and aimed toward my subject when I realized I’d left the memory card at home. I quickly searched my bag to see if past Phil was kind enough to future proof this type of situation, but he hadn’t. On the way back to the house, I stopped and took this image on my phone without a tripod. The scene was dark enough that I couldn’t see half the details this image later revealed while I was there taking it, and I’m now marveling at the technology baked into my iPhone. I’ve probably said it several times before on previous images, but I am routinely impressed by how far phone cameras have come since my first camera phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708687180-JCDLB9SSBZEAJMOLAGXG/IMG_0693.jpg jan-2023 - 1.11.23 Covington’s Architecture The wood shop is a block away from the Madison Road Kroger in Covington. Sometimes I walk over to it to get food for lunch. While on my way back, I stopped to admire this beauty across the street. Covington has a great deal of beautiful old houses that rival Cincinnati’s stock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708691304-Y5FEYYIS62Z2KOWHGN13/IMG_0714.jpg jan-2023 - 1.12.23 Woodburn Exchange Single Batch Designs has the commission for a hanging steel structure inside the upcoming Woodburn Exchange. Today we made templates based on where the bolts are currently hung from the ceiling. Those bolts will be the connection points for the structure. The project was over my head (literally and figuratively), but Joe knew what he was doing, and that’s what ultimately matters. I provided physical assistance and little else; this project hasn’t been something I’ve been involved with, so I know next to nothing about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708691429-8D34XEW1KEVOBN2ZJ41S/IMG_0728.jpg jan-2023 - 1.13.23 The Power of Saddlebags Because I’m using my bike more and more, I needed a way to transport my dailies to and from my destinations without strapping them to my back every time. Saddlebags were the answer. I was able to stuff everything I needed into the two pockets and ride to work unencumbered this morning. It was really nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168238758-ZDL8EQVQEU8LQMGAE0Y8/DSC_3943-2.jpg jan-2023 - 1.14.23 Fresca Went out with Travis and Rob tonight. We hit up a load of bars and places of interest outside the core, including Hi-Mark in the East End. I really liked this corner with the vintage Fresca sign. We played skeeball and moved around to a few other places before heading back downtown to meet up with Justin on a very raucous Main Street at The Drinkery for likely one of the last weekends we’ll have at that place before it becomes a new bar. Shutting down a place like that and staying after the lights come on is such an odd feeling; there’s no Semisonic or fanfare for a job well done staying out this late. The party just abruptly stops and everyone shuffles out without a backing track. Picked up my bike from Travis’ and rode home in the 24ºF early morning air. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. I think that was because having a good night out with the guys warms the heart in ways I can’t get in any other fashion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168193197-LT4I3WNHF2LX0UEBGUHN/IMG_0750.jpg jan-2023 - 1.15.23 Assistant Wood Handler My neighbors asked if I would build them a porch gate like the one I have on my porch, so I went to Home Depot to pick up a couple of 2x4s. Since they’re eight feet long, they have to stretch from the back hatch through to the front seats. At one point, Ashley squealed as she looked in the back seat. Turning around, I wasn’t prepared for the cuteness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168193350-MNM5ED5RL1Y5BB8NBAKZ/IMG_0759.jpg jan-2023 - 1.16.23 Staying HBO Current Steve has a podcast called Streaming Things in which he and his co-hosts talk about the movies and TV shows they’re streaming week to week. I don’t often listen anymore because I never know what they’re talking about since I spend 99% of my movie/TV show time watching old Star Trek, but today I decided I’d watch HBOs new apocalyptic drama The Last of Us to stay current with the podcast. This series is brutal and hard to stomach because of the amount of trauma it deals with. It started as a video game in 2013, released a sequel years later, and is now being adapted for TV. I played both games in years past, so I’m familiar with the story already, and I think that’s why this is a hard watch. 10 minutes into the show, I could feel my chest tightening and the anxiety washing over me. Not-so-fun fact: at the start of the pandemic when everyone was asked to stay inside, I downloaded the first one again as something I could do to pass time, and I couldn’t have picked a worse story to devour during the uncertainty of a real-world viral plague. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168210456-7J65VC5AF0UH4F4E6OR6/DSC_3972.jpg jan-2023 - 1.17.23 Golden Hour in Newport After a day of photoshoots downtown, I raced home in perfect weather and got Myrtle out of the house. We took a walk to Reser Bicycle Outfitters to get chain oil then made our way back home before dark. It was nice to stretch our legs together. (Ashley’s in Miami for work.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168201641-OCBUHUYAM257RA18JXDJ/IMG_0797.jpg jan-2023 - 1.18.23 Free Pallet Among the many great things about Covington is its consistency of being an excellent place for free junk removal. While we place free items on the sidewalk for others, it’s actually nice for us to see something cumbersome removed without any effort on our part. Our trash becomes someone else’s treasure. In this case, a Mega Pallet probably contains at least a couple hundred bucks of lumber that we will not use, and instead of trashing it or burning it, someone else might find it useful. I’m not in the shop tomorrow, but I suspect Mega Pallet will have been re-homed by Friday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530893562-STGKJZ1R66PDDN0H40H7/IMG_0814.jpg jan-2023 - 1.19.23 A Short Window Working from home today was hard not because of the workload but because of the beautiful weather we were experiencing in the middle of January. I made mental plans to walk Myrtle and ride my bike after work in the spring-like air. It was going to be great—until I checked my weather app. Spring weather also brings spring storms, and we were due for a round of heavies around 3 PM. Deciding work could wait, I put Myrtle’s collar on and we set out on a pleasant hour long walk around the neighborhood. It felt amazing to be out without a jacket on. Within a half hour of us returning home, the sky darkened and started pouring rain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530894526-ZBKZNP0BL2WTMGTQQCRK/DSC_3987.jpg jan-2023 - 1.20.23 Milton’s Paul and Kristen were in town, so a small group got together for drinks. We ended the night upstairs at Milton’s, pumping token after token into Touchtunes from our phones and playing ridiculous songs to lightly troll everyone downstairs. Until about the time we left, we had the whole floor to ourselves. It was really nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530898765-VWZWVSEECVRTHYO7J0GD/DSC_4023.jpg jan-2023 - 1.21.23 Wise Guys I turned 37 today. The exciting part is I got to check out the movie set they’re putting up on 8th Street. The movie’s called ‘Wise Guys’ and stars Robert DeNiro. As far as I can tell, it’s set in the 50s or early 60s. False storefronts went up over Arnold’s, Algin, and John Schneider’s building across the street. Period-specific cars filled the parking lot across from The Renaissance, which look amazing against the backdrop of a preserved Cincinnati. I get why they film mid-century flicks here. Let’s hope the movie itself is decent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530898767-ZHK83NSL07QMEXNQSF9R/IMG_0915.jpg jan-2023 - 1.22.23 I Did Nothing Today Here’s a photo of part of a metal picture I have hanging on my wall. It snowed like hell over night, but I didn’t get any photos of it today. Instead, I did nothing. I sat around, watched TV, and waited for the new episode of The Last of Us to hit my feed. I cannot remember the last time I did so little in a single day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530901559-KQZAUA95TXKK3QZGEBIP/DSC_4041.jpg jan-2023 - 1.23.23 Punk Rock Kitchenette Last summer I cleaned and organized the kitchenette at the shop. I made a shelf for our mugs and such so we could keep the counter clear for use and put away anything that wasn’t used regularly. To encourage my coworkers to maintain the space, I made a modest “NO CLUTTER” sign. Surprisingly, they verbally committed to keeping it clean. Sometimes all it takes is a reset to kick us into better habit-forming behaviors, right? Well, that same sign has since been graffitied and buried in what it exists to dispel. I tried! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674790121732-HIG7JIB29BVDV988JY06/IMG_0934.jpg jan-2023 - 1.24.23 Alterations To complete our TV room in the finished side of the basement, we bought a sleeper couch to replace the queen bed that was down there. But when the delivery people came, we discovered the couch was too wide to fit through the second door. At least it got INTO the house, though? Defeated in the moment, I told the men to drop it off on the unfinished side and let me deal with it. After some brainstorming, I removed 10 inches of wall and part of the door frame to get it into place. So yeah, the couch is nice, but now I have to rebuild part of the wall and door frame… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674790123184-7LMCCIBVWFUXB8YFB1BE/DSC_4056.jpg jan-2023 - 1.25.23 (Usually Correct) Assumptions My car does this thing where it guesses where I’m going and pre-loads directions when I get in and engage Apple CarPlay. Unataza is almost always its guess on weekdays, and nails it every time on Sundays. It’s scary how AI recognizes life patterns and then holds the mirror up to your gobsmacked face in chilling-yet-helpful ways like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674790124373-GT2WI3Y4QZBC3OJZ3WNG/IMG_0966.jpg jan-2023 - 1.26.23 Local Government I was nominated for and voted onto the Bellevue Code Enforcement Board late last year. Tonight was my first official meeting (they gave me a little name card and everything). This marks my first foray into local government. While I cannot say I’ve ever envisioned this path for myself, this position kind of snuck up on me and I took it as a way to be more involved in our city. I have no aspirations for Council or anything, but I figured I could maybe be of some use in this small capacity. The highlight of the meeting was taking the Kentucky Judicial Oath of Office which ends with a hilarious bit about promising not to duel anyone: “I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within this State nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second in carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God.” Also, I walked nearly 11 miles and 21,000 steps today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675024398756-NMVYAQI34OXJQ6UPIJLO/IMG_1005.jpg jan-2023 - 1.27.23 In For the Evening Had a pretty stressful day at work. Came home, changed, cracked a beer, and sat on the couch with Myrtle all night. Normally I’d be out on a Friday evening, but tonight I just wanted to quietly rest with a little Star Trek, carryout, and this fluffy creature who likes being covered in blankets like a baby. (Because that’s what she is.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675024400740-VH872ZN7A3B9VPX3150P/DSC_4065-2.jpg jan-2023 - 1.28.23 Incredible Exercise Day Since I started wearing a smart watch again to motivate me into exercise, I’ve begun filling my hours with walks and rides in order to see my stats improve. I guess I love data more than actually being healthy in this moment, but I’ll take it. After walking 3.5 miles in the morning, I set out on a 20 mile bike ride in the afternoon. The weather was incredibly mild and sunny, making for perfect ride conditions all around. I zipped through Dayton, KY before heading over the bridge to ride to the East End, back downtown, over to Queensgate, and back over the bridge to Newport. I stopped for photos along the route and saw a friend on his bike down by the river. After putting my bike away for the day, I felt absolutely unstoppable instead of tired. The physical and mental high I had after that ride is one of the greatest feelings I’ve had in a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675182761876-RVC1TTS2A5D4V6NQKW65/IMG_1028.jpg jan-2023 - 1.29.23 81 His birthday party was overshadowed by the football game, so while half the eyes in the room were glued to a TV in the corner, we celebrated Ashley’s grandfather’s 81st birthday. No one likes the cake he asks for every year except me and him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675182764138-Y63RKL67EVA7NLM4Z8KZ/IMG_1038-2.jpg jan-2023 - 1.30.23 Walking Along Scott Street I spend half my week at 15th and Scott Streets in Covington. On days I don’t pack a lunch, I will go out in search of a place to grab a bite. Since motivating myself with a smart watch again, I’ve been walking to get food more often and record my path. Unfortunately, that usually means having to walk about a mile north to the area around Hotel Covington to get anything quick and easy. Along the route are many old buildings in various conditions; many are dilapidated and in need of repair while others are in good shape. I’m instinctively drawn to the more rundown due to their unique visual flavor, but it’s a double-edged sword. I wish they were in better shape overall and the people who lived there weren’t subjected to poor living conditions. I don’t make a habit of photographing places in poor conditions if I think someone is currently living there because I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Since this one looked freshly vacated judging by the boards on all the openings, I didn’t think it would hurt to get a quick snapshot. It’s a beautiful building despite its current state and at one time I’m sure it was a desirable place to live for many. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675223601867-2JQR9CR7KJ512YWC93WC/DSC_7698-HDR.jpg jan-2023 - 1.31.23 Oakland No, not the Oakland Roman Mars describes as having a beautiful downtown. Oakland Avenue in Covington. I shot this house for my favorite realtor, Rebecca, today. It’ll hit the market on Thursday, I think. Shooting exteriors in the winter here is so difficult and today’s grey skies didn’t help the overall look of every shot, but I did my best. Aside from rigging the whole place with massive temperature controlled lights pointing into the house from the outside to create artificial sunlight, there’s little I can do about the lackluster conditions of the day. With a little post-production work on them, they feel warmer and more like how the house would feel during a not-as-grey day. Hoping my part of this process helps them sell it within their preferred timeline. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/feb-2023 daily 0.75 2023-03-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675365900281-VQDSRBGJQC6FKBNS2KK1/NZ9_8760.jpg feb-2023 - 2.1.23 The Reward For Muscling Through It While helping flip a heavy slab of wood at the shop today, I tweaked my back to the point where standing and walking was too much and had to drive home to lie down. This isn’t the first time this has happened, but the thing that worried me most was that I had an event to shoot at the Art Museum later in the evening. I laid flat and rested for the rest of the afternoon and managed to feel better enough to hobble my way through the event and get the job done. I think I managed to keep it together without anyone knowing, but there’s no way to be sure. Anyway, while there, I stumbled upon this incredible piece by artist Emily Brock entitled ‘Deli—Going to Lunch” (1991). According to text, it’s a “slumped, cast blown and lampworked glass” sculpture of a recently vacated deli counter. I initially marveled at the technical beauty of the piece before considering the point the text below it made about the scene appearing hauntingly empty. The table looks freshly used, complete with a napkin on the floor, with a discarded apron on the floor behind the counter, but everything else seems to be perfectly in place. After reading that, I briefly imagined it being within The Last of Us’ fictional world on outbreak day and enjoyed the idea that two disparate works of art could be accidentally linked by head cannon like that. That was my reward for sucking it up and working the event despite the physical pain and discomfort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675365900281-VQDSRBGJQC6FKBNS2KK1/NZ9_8760.jpg feb-2023 - 2.1.23 The Reward For Muscling Through It While helping flip a heavy slab of wood at the shop today, I tweaked my back to the point where standing and walking was too much and had to drive home to lie down. This isn’t the first time this has happened, but the thing that worried me most was that I had an event to shoot at the Art Museum later in the evening. I laid flat and rested for the rest of the afternoon and managed to feel better enough to hobble my way through the event and get the job done. I think I managed to keep it together without anyone knowing, but there’s no way to be sure. Anyway, while there, I stumbled upon this incredible piece by artist Emily Brock entitled ‘Deli—Going to Lunch” (1991). According to text, it’s a “slumped, cast blown and lampworked glass” sculpture of a recently vacated deli counter. I initially marveled at the technical beauty of the piece before considering the point the text below it made about the scene appearing hauntingly empty. The table looks freshly used, complete with a napkin on the floor, with a discarded apron on the floor behind the counter, but everything else seems to be perfectly in place. After reading that, I briefly imagined it being within The Last of Us’ fictional world on outbreak day and enjoyed the idea that two disparate works of art could be accidentally linked by head cannon like that. That was my reward for sucking it up and working the event despite the physical pain and discomfort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675526506449-488EDMLUI4OHW0S6V946/IMG_1060.jpeg feb-2023 - 2.2.23 Ill-Advised Walk Woke up with the pain in my back still screaming at me, so I had to make the unfortunate call to delay today’s shoot to next week. Ashley’s on a work trip, though, so Myrtle looks to me for food and nourishment (and entertainment). While I can walk, and while it doesn’t cause me great harm in the moment to do so, I pay for it later. I took her on a slow walk around the neighborhood to stretch her legs and I think she appreciated it. Ordered a pizza when I got home, watched Star Trek: First Contact and an episode of TNG before going to bed. Tomorrow I see a doctor for this and I hope it helps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675526508736-WLDF2UOV97JJOIWR4QJC/IMG_1076.jpeg feb-2023 - 2.3.23 The Doctor Day two and a half of this back pain. Went to see a chiropractor in Alexandria and the waiting room was perfect. Between the fake plant casting a shadow on the ceiling to the tropical fluorescent light inserts, the wallpaper, framed photos, and stack of magazines, I felt transported straight back to the 90s. It was comforting in all the right ways. The doctor gave me some info on what’s happening with my back and adjusted my spine. I felt surprisingly great after the visit, but then I took Myrtle on a long walk down by the riverfront and regretted it later. I am unable to sit and chill with ease. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675794348316-QNUOQP8WHNYRG101XYG4/IMG_1099.jpg feb-2023 - 2.4.23 Getting Back Out There I decided to go out tonight with friends for a few drinks after being largely sedentary at my house for the last few days. The night ended at cozy Jerry’s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675794348650-L8BKGNU3KP07W2VZCFUI/IMG_1105.jpg feb-2023 - 2.5.23 She’s Onboard Despite wearing an Apple Watch years ago and deciding to go back to it recently, it took Ashley’s boss flashing one on her wrist to persuade Ashley it was time to get one, too. As we approached the glass mouth of the well-lit Apple cave, I had the sad realization that I am not cool enough to influence my wife. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675794351094-HTO4ARCBLAF1W3LHXGO8/IMG_1113.jpg feb-2023 - 2.6.23 Charles My back is feeling better, but I’ve contracted flu. I wish I had a better photo for the day because it’s an important one. I learned late yesterday that my grandfather passed away the night I was out with friends. He and I reconnected briefly back in 2021 (August 18th) after a long time without contact and went out to dinner once after that a little while later. It was nice seeing him and catching up on what he’s been up to over the years. Honestly, it meant a lot to me that we could get together and carry on after so many years apart. But I never felt I really knew him well as an adult; most of our time spent together was when I was young and still figuring out the world. I have vivid, positive memories of being with him through my childhood, and I’m grateful for those times. When he was present and engaged, he was a fun and interesting guy. One of the flaws of Armstrong men is our predisposition to find the path that requires the least amount of interpersonal conflict, which sometimes isn’t the best route. I won’t go into why my dad and I didn’t have a regular relationship with him here, but it goes without saying that the three of us clicked pretty well that day in his garage in 2021. Unfortunately that would be the last time three generations of Armstrong men would be together in the same place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250569069-U8YDQAONNVFY843DZTZZ/IMG_1114.jpg feb-2023 - 2.7.23 Clay & Leah Had a video meeting with Clay and Leah today in what would be the first time the three of us sat and talked in real time “face to face” in years. I’ve obviously had a great deal of contact with each of them individually over the years, but this was the first time since 2016 the three of us got together at the same time. We talked about some work we’ll be tag-teaming for Clay’s business and reminisced briefly on our days at CR. I owe these two a great deal for believing in me way back in mid-2016 when they got me involved in CR. It changed the trajectory of my career and life for the better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250571945-MHVBAQ1ZSC1MGKN9F6W4/IMG_1128.jpg feb-2023 - 2.8.23 The Search For a Fridge Today’s big task involved finding a cheap replacement fridge for the shop. John and I took the van out to a few reuse places and settled on a simple 6-foot tall $200 white fridge from Building Value in Northside. Pictured is the Reuse Center in South Fairmount, which never fails to be photogenic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250564814-HSTNR2SHDP6LNHE6OF06/DSC_4162.jpg feb-2023 - 2.9.23 Mandrake Ashley and I are headed on a dual work trip to Columbus and Indianapolis over the next two days. She has stores to visit and I have a shoot just outside of Indy, but we’re going to squeeze in some fun while at it. Today we went to Columbus and I met up with Chris at North Market across from our hotel while she took the rental car to go do her thing. He and I bopped around town taking photos and swapping opinions on everything from what’s happening in current Star Trek shows to making a comprehensive list of every country he’s visited (95 and counting). We ended up at the Mandrake Rooftop for cocktails and caught the sun going down. There was already a wind advisory in place due to a front moving through the region, but on the 10th level it was even windier. If not for the camera’s wrist strap hugging my arm tightly, I don’t think I would’ve attempted to raise my gear into the air to clear the perimeter glass to get this shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250565326-C6N460BVV3PRYRAXEFTN/DSC_4187.jpg feb-2023 - 2.10.23 Bottleworks & More Indy was our destination on day two. We checked into the Le Meridien downtown and Ashley went off to check stores while I walked around. It was a grey, ugly morning, so an indoor activity was first on my list. I walked Circle Center Mall next to our hotel and lamented its starkly obvious decline in the face of today’s digital retail revolution. Despite some recognizable brands and stores, it’s largely filled with one-off salons, trinket stores with forgettable names, an empty Regal Theater lobby, and a surprisingly active food court. If you’re reading this, you’re most likely my age or older and understand first hand what malls once felt like and how sad it is to see them gasp for air like this. Anyway, both the Soldiers & Sailors Monument and Indiana War Memorial were both closed, so I checked out Indy’s City Market (not great) before heading to Mass Ave (fine) and ending up at the Bottleworks Hotel and The Garage Food Hall (very good). Later, we had several fruity cocktails at Inferno Room in Indy’s Fountain Square neighborhood (also good) and called it an early night around 10 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250568291-6FBZJ2UXRSQLGP1B7TCI/DSC_4221.jpg feb-2023 - 2.11.23 Pizza & Libations Remember when I said this was a dual work trip and then I spent the last two days messing around while Ashley visited stores? Today was my day to shine. On our way out of Indy, we went south to Bargersville so I could photograph a bar back and overhead surround that Single Batch made. Because I wasn’t involved in this project, I don’t know the details of how it was installed, but John needed photos of it for his portfolio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250573292-YNE8P7XE02P5AURMZVS1/IMG_1275.jpg feb-2023 - 2.12.23 22K Steps I walked all over NKY and downtown today for a mix of business and pleasure. My shin muscles are barking at me, but it felt good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676338461160-IV24N182FA1I2V8I9M05/DSC_4235-2.jpg feb-2023 - 2.13.23 Trophy Pizza Justin’s brand new pizza place, Trophy Pizza, in Evendale opened within the last week. He’s been working on it for awhile now and it’s so good to see his business busy and thriving already. It sells NYC-style slices you can eat in the dining room or take to go, and you can also order whole pies (as well as several other menu items). It’s delicious and I’m not saying that just because he’s a good friend. Get yourself over to Trophy Pizza and taste it for yourself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037293708-ZSWFZ2L6Z3T0QICO4P4U/IMG_1323.jpg feb-2023 - 2.14.23 In Need of TLC This part of Central Parkway has always been a mess. A variety of beat up cars have been parked prominently in view of the Parkway in the past, though right now there doesn’t seem to be any behind the rickety old chain link fence. There used to be a “support troops” above the pro-police sign, but I guess that’s gone now. I imagine the owner of this unsightly property had a falling out with the US Army (or more likely it just blew off the building). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037294062-S9LH89ZKW2CGE63NU0XH/IMG_1328.jpg feb-2023 - 2.15.23 The Truck John’s confident in this old beater’s ability to maintain modern highway speeds and not explode. I, however, am less so. I admit I know next to nothing about cars nor do I really care about them beyond choice models‘ aesthetics and their ability to make travel easier, so maybe my fear of this ‘69 Chevy somethingorother is illogical. Regardless, it didn’t break down or explode on the highway and we got what we needed with fewer than 10 Boomers asking us if John would sell it to them, so overall it was an easy trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037297246-U03CQR7DI1TJWXSOUB3Y/IMG_1358.jpg feb-2023 - 2.16.23 Plant Wall We rearranged our bedroom furniture and changed up the layout, resulting in a very barren wall. Today I got the components for simple shelving and installed everything so she could decorate with plants. The wall adds a whole new level of coziness to the room, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037298615-QIQSZJOZT46APQ4RKF4Z/FpNvGLUXEAQQ4pT.jpg feb-2023 - 2.17.23 The Only Opera I Like It was a stressful day on site at the Woodburn Exchange installing metalwork. Even though Joe did the majority of the heavy stuff, I was trying my best not to let my worry show as we hoisted precious steel into the air with rickety crank lifts. Keeping that stress bottled for the sake of getting it done without issue took its toll on my nerves, so when I got home, I just wanted to go to Elusive Cow, sit at the bar, enjoy a beer and some food, and go home. Some Bellevue neighbors came in part way through our meal at the bar and sat next to us, which was nice. We chatted for a bit before Ashley and I continued on our way. As we walked home, I remembered Schneider’s was selling their famous Opera Creams and went in for a 1/2 pound box. As a bonus, the owner gave us two freshly made cherry cordial opera creams for free. “They’re still cooling, so save them for Sunday,” he said. “They’ll taste their best if you wait two days.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037305614-5S6LE5NZOB58U01THTQ4/IMG_1382.jpg feb-2023 - 2.18.23 Mittenfest We went to Mittenfest today and the only photo I took was this one. We went with Steve and Erica even though neither of them especially enjoy beer. They were good sports about it and we still had a wonderful time. And any time we can bring little Myrtle to an event, it’s a good one. The amount of people in the park was honestly astonishing; I didn’t expect a February event like this to be so well-attended. Then again, it was the picture of beautiful weather. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037308265-G9NZU212WZX6YMZ36OYK/1124+Holman+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong-1.jpg feb-2023 - 2.19.23 “Microphone Check, One, Two, What Is This?” Had to set up a step-and-repeat without a backdrop for an event I shot at the Kenwood Country Club tonight. Whenever I have to do this, I arrive early to figure out the lighting so I don’t have to waste anyone’s time when they step into Phil’s Photo Zone®. This was the test shot for that setup. I don’t feel comfortable sharing any of the photos from the actual event itself since it was a private affair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037315507-959IU5HA5C6QD8P7IWDY/IMG_1397.jpg feb-2023 - 2.20.23 Austinburg Covington has all these little sub-neighborhoods with their own signage and boundaries. From Austinburg to Peaselburg and all the other little pockets of identity scattered throughout NKY’s massive riverside neighborhood, I feel like I could walk all of it and still not see enough. I work closest to Austinburg, and while out on a lunch-time walk, I wandered past its mosaic-tiled sign about two blocks up from the shop. In a perfect world where I had infinite time to do everything I wanted, finding and cataloging every neighborhood and sub-neighborhood sign would be a fun photo project. I’ve had the idea for years to do it with Cincinnati, and I even started doing it at one point, but the sheer number to find and photograph as well as the size of the area I’d have to cover would take me longer than I’d like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037315680-4WKVRQTFVSR943QN454A/DSC_0004-Edit.jpg feb-2023 - 2.21.23 Not Enough Clays I’m in the process of creating a group photo for the medical practice Clay works for, but the tricky thing is getting nine very busy doctors into a space at the same time. So, in order to make a seamless group photo with schedules that never align, I’m going to photograph nine people at different times over two sessions with the same lighting and splice each of them into the same photo in a different position. Clay was my stand-in for this process and I made this test composite as proof of concept. While I’m not new to crafting this type of image, the stakes are far higher for this than they’ve ever been and I need to make sure I get this right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677121894889-XDEBET407UT18VQR5T8U/IMG_1427.jpg feb-2023 - 2.22.23 Infinity Rose Apparently this rose will last indefinitely. Ashley got it in Miami. If I remember (the critical part of this), I will check back in on this rose a year from today to see if this infinity rose has, indeed, lasted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677208380760-YS9OL25SKSQM1A7QHXLG/DSC_4241.jpg feb-2023 - 2.23.23 Beautiful Day for a Ride After my second shoot of the day was cancelled by the client, I made the executive decision to not be inside for the remainder of the day. It was too beautiful to waste it indoors. Vince and I met up at Yeatman’s Cove and rode around Cincinnati, tagging the end of Mill Creek before heading northward to Northside and continuing on through Spring Grove Cemetery. We checked out a greenhouse his buddy maintains nearby, ate a blood orange straight off the tree, and headed back to Northside Yacht Club for a beer before riding the evening light home to Bellevue. In all, I did 27.5 miles and it felt amazing. I wish I could do long rides in perfect weather every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556392545-ENXTZ5N6I0LY6VVMSE9D/Sam%27s+Proposal+-+Phil+Armstrong-2.jpg feb-2023 - 2.24.23 A Proposal Sam (kneeling) proposed to Sophie at the edge of Smale Park tonight. He asked me to photograph the moment for him, so I sat in the dark far enough away that she wouldn’t see me and snapped several frames the moment he popped the question. Sam is Steve’s good buddy from college and I know him primarily through Steve, but I’m thankful he felt comfortable enough in our friendship through association to ask for my help capturing this moment for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556392546-RDD9CPCW8WXO3JE9ZYFT/IMG_1478.jpg feb-2023 - 2.25.23 The Last Moment of Sobriety I am writing this entry two days after the day in which this photo was taken because Saturday night wreaked havoc on my liver to an obnoxious degree. Kevin organized a movie night that started with a bunch of guys from the neighborhood meeting up for drinks at several bars before our 8:30 PM showing at the theater. The back of Miller’s Fill In has this amazing duckpin bowling machine from the Stone Age that we played for awhile before heading onto our next location. It would be the last thing I’d see and do before being unable to walk a straight line for the remainder of the evening. We laughed our asses off at Bridgeview, reclined with triple bourbons during a movie about a cocaine bear, stumbled upon margaritas just before closing time, and narrowly lost to strangers in a rousing game of doubles’ billiards in Bellevue’s smokiest bar before essentially crawling back to Grandview Avenue where we all lived. It was one of those nights where it felt like it just went on forever and ended with a bang commensurate with the rest of the evening. My body, not wanting to ruin a good time and being extremely cool about it, waited until the next day to have a talk with me about my choices. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556395338-6JHMWOUPBBS8T5SJ19ML/IMG_1483.jpg feb-2023 - 2.26.23 The Only Relief Here’s a picture of Myrtle looking radiant in the back seat of the car, hoping we give her a taste of a burger. Ashley took me to get Wendy’s because I was hungover from last night’s Cocaine Bear bonanza and I needed fast food to absorb whatever was making my stomach feel like it was navigating the ocean during a hurricane. I lost an entire day to self-inflicted sickness but the night before was amazing, so it was worth 24 hours of blech. Myrtle, in all her fluffy splendor, temporarily took my mind off my illness and recklessness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556395777-M76304RT2T8PFGTHJEB0/IMG_1489.jpg feb-2023 - 2.27.23 Weirdos The statues flanking the main staircase of the Scottish Rites building on Madison Ave in Covington are the goofiest sphinxes I’ve ever seen. They have these Art Deco bodies with heads that don’t seem to match. Their strange style leaps out at me every time I walk past and look at the building. Scottish Masons and their organizations remain a mystery that I could probably just read up on and understand more fully, but whenever I do my brain completely zones out and I get lost in alternate thought. It may be that I’m just simply not interested in the subject. Regardless, these weirdos are totally up my alley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677644328592-3WTU3IG6OGVX6KA13LRS/Group+Photo+%28sRGB%29-2.jpg feb-2023 - 2.28.23 Solitary Group Photo I’m proud of this photo for a specific reason. On the surface, it just looks like a regular group photo of nine people dressed identically against a neutral architectural backdrop. But here’s the thing: none of these people were in the room together when I took their photo. Every one of them was alone in the room. Because of conflicting schedules, we couldn’t get anyone together at the same time, so I set up lights and a tripod and had each of them come in and pose in nine different positions during several blocks of time over two weeks. Then, in post-production, I composed them all together to create the group photo. I’m still tweaking it, so this isn’t the final version just yet, but it’s very close. I’ve done this in the past with myself in various poses for fun, but this is the first time I’ve used that practice professionally. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/mar-2023 daily 0.75 2023-04-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056514874-CELBFPJJDTCSO6MSD73Z/IMG_1521.jpg mar-2023 - 3.1.23 A Haiku The weather’s divine Stretched legs, sniffing everything Sunset with a view https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056514874-CELBFPJJDTCSO6MSD73Z/IMG_1521.jpg mar-2023 - 3.1.23 A Haiku The weather’s divine Stretched legs, sniffing everything Sunset with a view https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056515900-S2TLDL4P368Z9AFH6PVV/IMG_1529.jpg mar-2023 - 3.2.23 A Thomasson Bellevue has a boatload of “Thomassons”—leftover bits of architecture that once served a purpose but have been made obsolete by redesign or demolition of the structure they originally serviced. These types of clues about the built history of a place are really fascinating. Clearly these steps once led up to a house that’s no longer there and now they angle up to the broad side of a fence without a gate. They serve no purpose, but they remain like a scar on the landscape, reminding passersby of what was once there. The coolest thing about these artifacts from a different time is they aren’t intentionally created in the form they eventually assume. An authentic Thomasson is only the byproduct of change, progress, tragedy, and/or mistakes. That misdirected intentionality is weird and uncommon and, as I said, really fascinating to me. While not beloved and protected like many historic buildings, I believe these obsolete relics from the past add a gargantuan amount of flavor to a place since they cannot be authentically replicated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056518703-ZMTEP2B3DUTMILTP2BV2/IMG_1540.jpg mar-2023 - 3.3.23 The Start of a Bad Day I’m writing this entry on Sunday the 5th because Friday into Saturday wasn’t ideal. At 4 PM on Friday, we delivered tables to Fifty West despite inclement weather and had to unload everything in the pouring rain and assemble it all under a tent that wanted to blow away with every strong gust of wind. While I internally disagreed with the timeline of delivery, I wasn’t in charge and quietly did what I needed to in order to get the job done. Assembly of the tables took longer than I expected, and I was released about 6 PM—well past the time I was supposed to be at the pub with my buds for Bockfest. On the way home, Ashley informed me that we lost power due to the storm and we were one of 13 people in all of Bellevue without it. Feeling no sense of solidarity and realizing I would have to stay home in the dark so as to not abandon my dog alone in a pitch black house during high winds, I shriveled into frustration. Though Bockfest was cancelled for the evening, I felt an incredible sense of FOMO as my friends still (rightly) enjoyed going out. My clothes were soaked, my spirit was dashed, and the uncertainty of when electric would return forced an early bedtime. There was no point in prolonging this bad day further and I looked forward to hopefully getting power back by morning. (I didn’t get it until late Saturday.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056520327-R9KIVX9KTR7K8GS5DM1E/DSC_4253.jpg mar-2023 - 3.4.23 Bockfest I’ll quickly skim over the bad bits and get to the good stuff. Woke up, no power, no shower, no productivity like I’d planned, and ended up going to Bockfest to try to enjoy the festival despite the previous night’s foiled plans. Met up with Travis and Allie with bock beer in hand, ate a big pretzel, and absorbed more friends into the outdoor party as they trickled into Findlay Playground over the afternoon. The day shift folks went home around 5 PM while the rest of us hit up Kanji for dinner (pictured). I didn’t mean for this photo to be a long exposure when I set it up, but I like the accidental effect regardless. It reminds me of how a memory sometimes appears as it’s rendering the finer details in my head. Chris is flipping me off as Rob takes a drink of his beer. Travis stands up off his stool, other Rob turns to face the camera, and Ronny continues telling a story, oblivious to the prolonged shutter snap. Spending quality time with these dudes honestly made up for the previous days’ misfortunes and I felt a lot better. We stayed out late into the next morning and I walked home to avoid paying $30 for ride share. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678112305015-3PN17F66GS5XSR3IJV6L/IMG_1561.jpg mar-2023 - 3.5.23 6th Street at the DECC “Old Cincinnati” to me isn’t Over-the-Rhine’s well-preserved architecture. It’s not 4th Street’s enduring role as a channel of M-F business, nor is it the riverfront’s refusal to move on from riverboat iconography. “Old Cincinnati” to me is more that 1960s-1990s aesthetic that can still be found all over Downtown. It’s what I remember most from being down here as a child. The convention center is a good example of that outdated and untrendy visual style. The surrounding area still has bits and pieces of that era stand, too, from the cerulean blue Skywalk system maps that are hilariously incorrect as of 2023 to faded indoor and outdoor artwork, like Shapes Park. While it’s an eyesore to most, I personally find it endearing. Yes, nostalgia is a toxic impulse and I know my love of these outdated things is fueled almost entirely by it, but I cannot deny my feelings. When I see that style in other cities, I don’t have the same love for it. It’s recognizable, but it’s devoid of the emotion I feel for it when it’s in Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678217316689-KTQC6MWEZ14A5Y6832R0/IMG_1568.jpg mar-2023 - 3.6.23 Marco’s Market I’ve purchased unwanted but enjoyable beef jerky just to meet the $5 amount for a Diet Coke in this place. It’s as you’d expect it to be inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678246309547-2WE93PTRHHVRHJO5G6TE/The+Rye+-+Unit+E+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg mar-2023 - 3.7.23 No One’s Around I saw a guy I know at Bockfest on Saturday. During our conversation, he described himself as an “extroverted introvert.” What he means is he’s able to be social and have a good time with others, but his natural inclination is to hang by himself. That resonated with me as I knew this was also true for my own personality. Anyway, while I feel like my shoot at The Rye for Rookwood Properties went well, I only spoke to one person face to face all day. Very few people live in the building at this point, so I didn’t run into a soul while inside. Ashley’s in California for work, I only spoke to three people over text, and even on my walk with Myrtle this evening the streets were light with pedestrians. This image, which was taken at noon on 7th Street, is even devoid of life. It just seemed like I was floating through the world totally alone for hours. I’d been fighting a weird anxiety all day brought on by mistakes I’d made within the first hour of being awake, but as I sat with my thoughts about everything later on, it struck me that the anxiety was more likely caused by loneliness. I didn’t recognize it initially because I rarely feel that emotion. Maybe I’m less an extroverted introvert and more an extroverted part-time introvert after all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638739664-XZANUETCQXVM6SDZHIIG/IMG_1642.jpg mar-2023 - 3.8.23 The Relentless Sickness of 2023 Not sure what’s happening, but I feel like I’ve been sick more this year than the last several combined and it’s only March. I missed work today as a result of severe body aches, fatigue, and fever with coughing and nose-blowing as attending symptoms. Yesterday I had a sneaking suspicion something was coming, so I went to the store and got fruit, meds, and Gatorade to ward off the coming illness. I feel like a third Ohio train derailed and launched over the river onto my face. The photo is of an apple I weakly consumed after splitting it with a handy slicing tool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638740342-IM3ZOEO6QNUK1Y9TZ9KZ/IMG_1650.jpg mar-2023 - 3.9.23 Inner Light Since Ashley’s gone and I’ve only left the bed to re-medicate and re-hydrate, Myrtle is itching to do anything but rest. I feel horrible for her because I know she’s antsy, but I literally cannot move around for very long before getting exhausted and feeling worse. So as I sit and watch Captain Picard experience a lifetime on Kataan over the course of 25 minutes in order to preserve a lost people’s history and culture, she stares at me with her ball in her mouth, silently begging for a toss. I gave in at some point, but in my weakened state, it led to a strained muscle before having to go back to resting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638742255-LGDVWB9INRI9YDNMNURR/IMG_1652.jpg mar-2023 - 3.10.23 On the Mend I don’t have a test to use to confirm, but I think this was COVID. The body aches lasted three days—something I’ve never had happen before. This would explain the symptoms, too. If this was COVID, this would be the first time I’ve experienced it all pandemic. It’s very on-brand for me to be late to the party on most things, so getting it way after it’s popular isn’t shocking. Drawing back the blinds to see outside, I was thankful a beautiful spring day wasn’t taunting me as I laid recovering. Thankfully, by midday I’d gotten a large amount of my strength back and the body aches disappeared. Think I’m on the mend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638743037-E8Z7PBGCXKN4O6XBYZUG/IMG_1660.jpg mar-2023 - 3.11.23 The Outside I’m 80% back to normal today and managed to get outside for a bit. I did a little bit of yard work, cleaned the kitchen, and worked on some small stuff in the basement before becoming winded and having to sit down. I took it easy the rest of the day. This will be the last time I talk about this specific stupid sickness on here. I’m tired of it demanding my attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678674832315-62NP0EVMXXJ4VRV3KUNA/DSC_4257.jpg mar-2023 - 3.12.23 Season Finale Today was a lazy day of couch-sitting and TV-watching as I build strength to return to the shop tomorrow. Because the weather was cold and dreary, the choice to do nothing was made easier. I watched the Last of Us season finale and was surprisingly lukewarm on it. I don’t really know what I was expecting; I’m familiar with the source material, and it stayed true to that, but with a runtime of not even 45 minutes, it didn’t quite scratch the itch like I thought it would. Quantity doesn’t mean quality, but I can’t help but think maybe a little extra meat on the episode’s bones would’ve helped guide it into A+ territory. I hopped on Reddit soon after watching it to see what everyone else thought, and only a few have mentioned being disappointed by the short episode. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678843932517-HUTDQZRASTRW6RIQDP6F/DS9-143-Edit+copy.jpg mar-2023 - 3.13.23 Tiny Wormhole Protector A couple years ago, I got this Deep Space Nine ornament for my Christmas tree. I liked it so much, I kept it in my office after the tree went back in its box. It’s detailed enough that I thought it could pass for the “real thing” at first glance if placed under the right lighting conditions. I set up a tripod and off-camera flash and proceeded to toss it into the air 128 times before I finally got a frame I liked. Now if I could just figure out a good way to put a wormhole, some color definition, and maybe a sliver of Bajor peeking into frame without digitally editing them in, maybe I can go back in time and work with the model makers and directors of photography to work on an actual episode. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678844646627-XDHTWC1UT3CVIOUXLZ1T/DSC_1538-HDR.jpg mar-2023 - 3.14.23 Return to Spooky Nook Business took me out to Hamilton where I photographed a hotel, a sporting complex, and a mixed use space for Spooky Nook today. I worked with them mid-last year to create images for their hotel, but additional photos of two other spaces needed to be handled for that side of the project. The sporting complex, in addition to a massive food court, fitness center, arcade, and additional undeveloped space featured two enormous gymnasiums—one that was 90,000 square feet and another that was a whopping 100,000 square feet. The bigger of the two had 14 basketball courts lined back to back with a second story observation deck. The gym was so large, we had to keep triggering the automated lights by running to the other side of the floor because they were on short timers to keep as energy efficient as possible. Their website claims it’s the largest sports complex in the nation and second-largest convention center in Ohio, and after seeing it in person, I believe it. As the buildings were once home to the Champion Paper Mill, it’s still a very industrial space despite the renovations that’ve taken place over the last five years. If you ever find yourself in Hamilton, you’d do well to check this place out. As far as adaptive reuse goes, this one’s pretty wild. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367971862-SYVF9ZOFH9KZG8B91E5D/Roberto+Lugo+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-72.jpg mar-2023 - 3.15.23 Roberto Lugo The Cincinnati Art Museum’s artist in residence at the moment is Roberto Lugo, a well-known and respected potter, social activist, and educator from Philadelphia. An event in his honor was held this evening in the Great Hall and adjacent gallery. While photographing the event for the museum, I was lucky enough to grab a quick portrait of Roberto while he wears a CAM hoodie in his workshop during his time in Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367977800-QJ6RMH225Y72XTZ5C517/2243+Francis+Ln+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg mar-2023 - 3.16.23 Francis Lane I worry quite often about what I’m doing with my photography on a week to week basis. I don’t get to walk around for hours as a hobby photographer because I have so much on my plate each day. Taking care of work, catching up on house projects, running errands, taking care of the dog, exercising, being social, and so many other things cut into that time I used to have. It worries me that I’m not feeding my soul with photography as often as I used to. But a large part of that worry is greatly minimized when I’m able photograph someone else’s project, give them the images, and they confirm they’re pleased with what I’ve done. A simple “we’re happy with these” is all it takes to remind myself that even though my career’s changed over the years and I don’t have the life I used to, I’m still able to do something genuinely useful for somebody else. In this case, I feel good about delicately capturing the work and effort two people put into transforming an old house with outdated finishes into something new. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367975085-O72LFQQIWI3DZMLBF3SH/IMG_1690.jpg mar-2023 - 3.17.23 St. Patrick’s Day St. Patrick’s Day is the Santacon of late winter and going out to popular bars on the holiday isn’t something I overly enjoy. Despite that, in an effort to be social and accommodating, I drank Irish beer and went to the B-List with coworkers during the day. I enjoyed their company but didn’t especially dig being in the bar with the standard St. Patrick’s Day crowd. I could feel myself slowly shutting down during the course of the day, so I briefly sought refuge in the bathroom to have a minute to myself so I could plan a graceful way to leave—ironically, the opposite of an Irish goodbye. This photo is from when I stood studying the graffiti by the toilet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367978145-UY3MEPG5HO5MZ1OCBBQ8/The+Rye+-+Common+Areas+-+Phil+Armstrong+-82.jpg mar-2023 - 3.18.23 A Model Pup Continued my photo work at The Rye this morning. I needed to get a photo of the dog wash station, but I thought it would be better to have someone model it for the image. Found the perfect little furry face for the job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367975100-HWA4F3PW27P6WV2I3ZVL/IMG_1704.jpg mar-2023 - 3.19.23 Meatball Meatball is the Unataza Coffee mascot as far as I’m concerned. He’s almost always there on the weekend when we go in for our weekly coffee and breakfast. It’s to the point now where when I walk in, he sees me and stands up because he knows I’m going to come right over to pet him. He’s a sweet little guy with a handsome wardrobe and I love him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367972133-XNBATGHORCSTXQJUKTB9/IMG_1711-2.jpg mar-2023 - 3.20.23 Sunshine It’s always so wonderful when I come down the stairs in the morning and the room is filled with sunshine. The bay window in our dining room lets in loads of morning light and it’s one of the best things about our house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679542290119-5T5XSG9J3A6ZFKLG7IY2/IMG_1720.jpg mar-2023 - 3.21.23 Enjoy This Neon I didn’t have a burger, but I did have a delicious carne asada rice bowl. Met up with the guys for a little vacation planning in May at Bebo’s on Court Street. We’re going to San Francisco before making our way down to LA. It should be a very fun trip and I’m excited to see new places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679542289491-4BKUHC7MHP5P54LRI1J1/IMG_1747.jpg mar-2023 - 3.22.23 Trestle Bridge Buddy On today’s dog walk, we stumbled upon a herd of deer on the public steps. They scattered in two directions when they saw us: one group went back into the thick of the woods while the others leapt onto the train tracks to avoid us. The train track group wandered toward the trestle bridge to put further distance between us, so we quickly made our way down the stairs to avoid making them more anxious. After we’d descended the stairs, the deer confirmed we were no longer a threat and backtracked to the steps. The “caboose” of the procession of deer made her way over to the edge of the trestle bridge before joining the rest and gave us a hard stare from above. I figured at least one of them would eyeball us from the high ground and made sure I was in place when they wandered into frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679719582828-6LFEI1VPRSC17ZBL4SDE/The+Rye+Ribbon+Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg mar-2023 - 3.23.23 The Rye Ribbon Cutting A photo of my friend, Annie, shaking hands with the mayor of Cincinnati, Aftab Pureval, as Rookwood Properties president Fred Kanter stands in the background. The official dedication of downtown’s newest apartment building, The Rye, was held today and a ceremonial ribbon cutting took place in the lounge on the first floor. Food and rye whiskey were served one floor above in apartment 205—one of the largest units with a great view of the corner of 7th and Main Streets. Quite a few people came out to celebrate the building’s transformation and take a tour of several floors and units. In other news, I managed to accidentally utilize a wide variety of different travel methods in a single day: I drove my car, took a bus, used ride share, rode my bike, and walked a bunch to get everywhere I needed to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679719582863-2CF5PNGL6SD59HAJ620Y/DSC_4263-Edit.jpg mar-2023 - 3.24.23 Ash Table This ash table will be sent to a home in Wisconsin. One of the few round tables we’ve done while I’ve worked in this shop. I was going to post one of the detail shots I like better than this overall view, but I think the overall view is critical to appreciating the details in the long run. Without context, the details don’t have the same punch. We reinforced this particular piece with three c-channel steel beams countersunk into the bottom of the piece, which will prevent it from cupping/warping. I actually learned about that exact issue the hard way when I made that mobile counter top late last year out of ash; it warped almost instantly and I had to harvest some thin steel from my old desk legs to provide support. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679877943890-6T6FUNOYO6VEA4U0WRRM/IMG_1799.jpg mar-2023 - 3.25.23 Sunset Perch She likes to sit on our bed and look out the window at the people walking by. This evening, while I went up and down the stairs working on an office project, she sat and stared out the window at the street below. She folds her paws, cuddles up between pillows, and simply exists in a comfortable, safe space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679877945330-6NG1UWFF0UUUVRY7K8Q8/DSC_4354-2.jpg mar-2023 - 3.26.23 Built-Ins For the longest time, I’ve wanted to turn this weird little unusable nook in my office into built-in shelving. Yesterday, I finally did it. Measuring and cutting pieces was surprisingly difficult because the wall, in typical old house fashion, isn’t at all straight any way you measure it. Cutting the custom pieces (no right angles) for each level took hours of fine tuning until they managed to fit snugly in place. I cut a 1-inch hole at the back of each shelf so electronic cables could be run through the levels without showing in the front. Painted them the same color as the walls so they blended in. I’m happy with how they turned out and glad to have this project behind me. Also, I like having the TV within view for those heavy editing and exporting days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679971641905-STBKPLDSE2XHU8CQBJOG/DSC_4365.jpg mar-2023 - 3.27.23 The High Ground It’s not unusual to see a cat on a walk where I live. Strays will lay on the sidewalk and only move if you have a curious dog with you. Outdoor cats who belong to someone in the neighborhood strut around with their collars on and act like you’re in their way (they aren’t wrong). No matter what’s wrapped around their neck or whether the tips of their ears are still intact, cats are everywhere all the time stalking the streets of Bellevue. This evening, as I walked Myrtle down Taylor toward the park, I heard meowing. Looking around, I didn’t immediately see where the sound was coming from. Every porch was empty, but the meowing continued, growing louder with every step. I craned my neck to see up into tall bushes, then arched down to see if there was a cat in the landscaping. As the meowing grew louder, I became more deliberate in my search and equally unnerved that the phantom meowing seemingly belonged to no one. Then, as the meowing crescendoed, I stopped in my tracks and jokingly looked upward in desperation despite the absurdity of the situation. To my surprise and amusement, peering back at me over the gutter above was a black, fluffy cat jabbering away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680235553367-61RDSGVGMTRJO57JL0PI/DSC_4401-HDR-Edit.jpg mar-2023 - 3.29.23 The 2nd Best Photographer in Cincinnati, Says CityBeat Travis, my barber, submitted me for CityBeat’s Best of Cincinnati annual voting event this year. I didn’t know he was doing it, and when he asked me if I was going to vote for myself in the Best Photographer category, I didn’t know what he meant. He explained and I thanked him for being kind enough to do that despite my personal belief that I don’t belong in the top three in that category considering the monumental talent around this city. When I saw Catie was in the running, I made the decision to vote for her because she’s wonderful at what she does. Of course, I threw myself a vote every few days just to prevent myself from receiving an embarrassing single digit total by the end. After voting closed and over a month passed, I’d honestly forgotten all about it until, while working in the shop today, John yelled from his office, “Cincy Phil, number two photographer in Best of Cincinnati.” I thought he was joking, so I asked him to show me. When he did, I couldn’t believe my luck. There are so many photographers I’d put well ahead in that category (namely all of my friends), but I’m going to just be thankful and enjoy this moment of recognition, however misguided it may be. It feels great to be surprised like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680235519130-E1FJUUM3WZ43FNFLTDZD/DSC_4023-HDR.jpg mar-2023 - 3.30.23 Impromptu H&H James from Hierophany & Hedge reached out to me yesterday about doing a few quick photos of the shop for an online travel guide listing. After doing headshots at Luminaut and before heading to Welcome House for Hub+Weber, I squeezed in the trip to H&H for a quick little showcase of the space and its visually complex wares. I cannot begin to describe how fun it is to photograph a place like this. The whole day could be allocated to making images in this space and I’d still not be able to get everything I’d want. He said they’ll want a longer, more formal shoot down the line, so I’m looking forward to returning at some point. He and Jordan are such passionate, interesting, visionary people. It’s always a pleasure getting to talk to them and work on their projects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680482917247-9VXOATTNQ9TJK97PTVFL/DSC_4410-2.jpg mar-2023 - 3.31.23 End of an Era I didn’t plan to go out this Friday, but Justin mentioned it was his last day co-owning The Drinkery, so I couldn’t help but brave the stormy weather and go spend some time with him and the others in the space one final time. After the bar became increasingly crowded after midnight, we ended up wandering around before ending at Youyu in the Hard Rock Casino. The food was surprisingly good—I’d never eaten there before. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/apr-2023 daily 0.75 2023-05-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680482757684-P65AKKWM879T9RSULJF5/DSC_4410-2.jpg apr-2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680482757684-P65AKKWM879T9RSULJF5/DSC_4410-2.jpg apr-2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680482757684-AVX2LITCFKBJI80U5T0L/DSC_4413.jpg apr-2023 - 4.1.23 The Temperature Deception The 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680483956717-8Q2DPGGBDQRK4KXP1V92/IMG_1934.jpg apr-2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680575496795-M0VRLFCW6HUZ7IRP8ATR/DSC_4480.jpg apr-2023 - 4.3.23 Streaming All the Things Dropped 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680659211156-M1SJJO016UACE9QLLY9O/DSC_4507-Edit.jpg apr-2023 - 4.4.23 UBBC It’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680839567291-P8QWBRKX9U94D9ICZ6NS/IMG_1971.jpg apr-2023 - 4.5.23 Cats/Dogs We 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680839567950-2QUKGAYB34SN0SJF6HBB/DSC_4428-HDR-Edit.jpg apr-2023 - 4.6.23 A Tale of Two Houses Rebecca 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680925891082-U3ITSERTNMV9JZAEACWC/Nation+Kitchen+%26+Bar+Westwood+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg apr-2023 - 4.7.23 Carrie Had 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681177697568-WBA6DFQDNZYK4UFNPW1M/IMG_2010.jpg apr-2023 - 4.8.23 A Long, Productive Day My 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681177699615-XCP2GGSBWZMS8JFSY4SE/IMG_2035_jpg.jpg apr-2023 - 4.9.23 Easter Bear It’s spring and the Christian icon (not Myrtle) has a holiday again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681353749382-50MS1ZA0ATHRR1JR7NRA/IMG_2111.jpg apr-2023 - 4.10.23 Vibrant Spring Evening An evening walk with Myrtle and a colorful scene on Covert Run. Not much more to say about it, really. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681353751121-0D8I76QEZFFVOULJI0AO/IMG_2083.jpg apr-2023 - 4.11.23 Toilet Time Years 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681353752634-166ORGPJ0YWD30Z8TNKX/DSC_4568-2.jpg apr-2023 - 4.12.23 New View From 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752072231-3P2Q6ACWNTZNMOER7852/IMG_2127.jpg apr-2023 - 4.13.23 Jerry’s with Justin He 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752072808-CJDEHJ0JPEJ0EPQCRXBL/IMG_2137.jpg apr-2023 - 4.14.23 Galactic Cantina Despite 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752075520-7MDXCRU04MM3HQ7ZORW1/IMG_2169.jpg apr-2023 - 4.15.23 Baeten’s Nursery Ashley 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752076284-Y7RSCRPPXOAOEIZSWB13/DSC_5813.jpg apr-2023 - 4.16.23 Hard 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681946998649-ZJ5N9IQJFQR86PYE2GII/DD21A51B-7C99-431E-BFC1-570778DF4560.jpeg apr-2023 - 4.17.23 Best of Bellevue Mayor 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681946998919-ZF6OJUTEDMF2VJI7ZYZW/F17CAAAD-BCF4-48F1-B0FB-36657B079A52.jpeg apr-2023 - 4.18.23 My Stupid Inuury For 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681947007521-HKGUE33YENJDLS54DCUJ/NZ9_6816.jpg apr-2023 - 4.19.23 Kit Justin 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388915505-G6MWVO49C9NXR3OVECLA/NZ9_6829-Edit-2.jpg apr-2023 - 4.20.23 Vesper Institute A 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388909886-44DFNE77OPZ045UCZC2V/IMG_2229.jpg apr-2023 - 4.21.23 A Box With Jack In It There’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!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388906634-NZY3EVLQ8BDQ98A91I4C/DSC_4585.jpg apr-2023 - 4.22.23 Maysville, KY Though 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388913545-LFZEJXSAEK334N3M7279/IMG_2287.jpg apr-2023 - 4.23.23 “Take My Picture So I Can See It” She didn’t end up buying the hat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388913286-DGPIB5TBH8OO7MOML7MJ/DSC_4670-Enhanced-NR.jpg apr-2023 - 4.24.23 Transit Treats Cool 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682896590651-NHKLKF18AB6WCHR13TXP/Screen+Shot+2023-04-25+at+11.17.07+PM.png apr-2023 - 4.25.23 Adobe’s Denoise AI Adobe 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682896582747-3YH61QQLL3XQFN68FOXS/DSC_4690-Enhanced-NR.jpg apr-2023 - 4.26.23 I Cannot Explain This I cannot explain this strange scene in someone’s yard on Taylor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682897055024-98HJQIQ7MXBSL7OBKLW4/DSC_8483-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg apr-2023 - 4.27.23 In Situ Went 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682900981255-OCVRML2XVVI7LHH2P0LY/DSC_4778-Enhanced-NR.jpg apr-2023 - 4.28.23 Simple DIY Organization Solution Ashley 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682904543385-9JREUZMC8XL9Q40PRAWV/DSC_4692-Enhanced-NR.jpg apr-2023 - 4.20.23 Two Tulips Two tulips, alone in an entire yard, propping each other up. On 6th Avenue in Dayton, KY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682904544911-R3KGL1APD433H40JWJJC/DSC_4761.jpg apr-2023 - 4.30.23 Cincinnati Southern Railway It’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. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/may2023 daily 0.75 2023-06-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683081165370-679IOB02LHUR7VJ6FACO/IMG_2370.jpg may-2023 - 5.1.23 Milkshakes It’s adorable the way she sits and waits for any interaction with the drive-thru attendant. Sometimes it works out in her favor. Other times she’s ignored. Tonight, she was offered a hot dog at Gold Star when we went to get milkshakes, but I told them she’d already had dinner. I’m a horrible wingman for this dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683081165370-679IOB02LHUR7VJ6FACO/IMG_2370.jpg may-2023 - 5.1.23 Milkshakes It’s adorable the way she sits and waits for any interaction with the drive-thru attendant. Sometimes it works out in her favor. Other times she’s ignored. Tonight, she was offered a hot dog at Gold Star when we went to get milkshakes, but I told them she’d already had dinner. I’m a horrible wingman for this dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683081166232-UPJUE0O18EADN0ZV8LUN/PonderRose-Enhanced-SR-2.jpg may-2023 - 5.2.23 Not a Real Ad I can’t remember how it came up exactly, but I made a joke to Travis the other day about how Ponderosa should’ve sold rosé wine and branded it PonderRosé. It’s not a great joke, I know. Couldn’t get it out of my head (there’s not a lot of space in there), so in my off hours today, I decided to make a print ad for this fictional product. To start, I used Adobe Firefly’s generative AI to produce “a bottle of rosé with two glasses next to it on a beige back drop” and then took it into Photoshop from there. I looked at old print ads from the 1980s, watched a few Ponderosa commercials on YouTube, and determined I’d go with the Ponderosa tagline and logo from 1986. From there, I chose a proper font, mimicked text placement I saw on a few other ads from around that time, and copied a second tagline verbatim from a 1986 ad for Ponderosa to add to the bottom in a different font. After all that, I added some artificial grain, lowered contrast, played with the curve, and manually blurred the whole thing 10% to make it look aged. Now my stupid and pointless vision is reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683252707908-DKCNB5Y96NCLX2NC8L1T/DSC_8756-Enhanced-NR.jpg may-2023 - 5.3.23 Good Shadows Man, I love fire escape shadows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683252707871-7HHVDTK4ZLCEKCNP1EOB/IMG_2384.jpg may-2023 - 5.4.23 A Cat That Made Me Gasp This cat made me gasp. What an insanely beautiful creature. I also love how her (taking a guess she’s a girl) fluff ever so slightly hangs over the edge of the platform. Her little apricot nose on the bed of soft white fur makes for an adorable combination. I would’ve loved to have given her a little scratch on her striped head, but she was on someone’s porch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683368482507-NXC0TCQ7OGOLOHDJR0CQ/IMG_2399.jpg may-2023 - 5.5.23 Kiran’s 7! My niece turned 7 yesterday. We went to HBH and sat outside in the beautiful weather to celebrate. Then we all went back to our house and she got a Slip ‘N Slide and some glitter markers for the occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258630453-QTYIZ3SOX5WXVKCXP4G4/ZFC_4932-Edit.jpg may-2023 - 5.6.23 California: Day 1 For Justin’s bachelor party, Travis planned a trip for everyone to California—specifically San Francisco. Justin wasn’t due to fly in until late tomorrow, so Travis, Ronny, and I flew out by ourselves and started exploring the city. Staying in Cole Valley, we had our options of nearby neighborhoods to check out. Since there was a film store in the Castro District, we walked down and explored that area first. The vintage streetcars that run up and down Market Street obviously caught my eye. The whole neighborhood feels alive with loads of people walking around on the street, riding bikes and MUNI, and skateboarding. Oddly enough, there were cars on the street driving around without people in them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258618696-ZD1KQPY7XRYBN1B4XZD6/ZFC_5296.jpg may-2023 - 5.7.23 California: Day 2 San Francisco is the prettiest city I’ve visited. I’m sure there are European cities I’ve not visited that would take the cake, but in terms of domestic travel, SF is the most beautiful. We hiked up to Twin Peaks for an aerial view of the city before walking down to Noe Valley and Mission for a burrito. We checked out Salesforce park and rode the gondola, wandered past the Ferry Building, saw these painted ladies from Alamo Square Park (there’s a dog in one of the top windows if you look closely), and had dinner/drinks in Haight-Ashbury afterward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258618794-O0FXRNX292NKHXQBGMLK/ZFC_5349.jpg may-2023 - 5.8.23 California: Day 3 With Justin finally in tow, we hit up numerous parts of the city. Since he hadn’t seen Castro yet, we did that first (pictured), then rode MUNI downtown to the Ferry Building. Side note: SF’s MUNI is the cleanest public transit I’ve ridden—maybe even cleaner than DCs. We rode a streetcar up to Fisherman’s Warf and snapped photos of Alcatraz, the seals, and everything in-between. While there, I got my In-N-Out fix, we walked up to Lombard Street, and back down before catching a ride to Haight-Ashbury. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258622728-ZPV5FXTUI7Y7MS0QSUTL/ZFC_5778.jpg may-2023 - 5.9.23 California: Day 4 Big day today. We checked out Chinatown, which was incredible, before heading over to Little Italy for pizza. I snapped the bulk of my photos for the day in Chinatown because everything there was so gorgeous. I debated making one of those photos today’s image, but what we did later was too important to not feature: The Golden Gate Bridge. It’s uncommon for me to be truly gobsmacked by a man-made structure these days as I’ve seen many truly gorgeous and impressive structures, but GG got me. It’s unlike any bridge I’ve personally seen. No, it’s not the longest or tallest I’ve seen, but for some reason it feels like it’s the most striking I’ve personally seen. Maybe it’s because it’s been so thoroughly featured in pop culture? Regardless, viewing it from the Presidio and then again from Battery Spencer across the bay on the other side is a top-notch experience. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258623028-7QRIMPQ6QSAJ4WH95DJM/ZFC_5881.jpg may-2023 - 5.10.23 California: Day 5 We took BART over to Oakland to check a little bit of that city out. The morning was overcast and Oakland isn’t the beauty queen SF is, so I didn’t take many photos for the first half of the day. Eventually, as we sat at a lightly Star Trek-themed brewery and waited for Rob to join our party, the sun came out and we made our way into downtown where I saw this marvelous old theater. We went back to SF, had dinner at House of Prime Rib, drank a few beers at a couple of bars, then went back to the Airbnb to prep for our departure on the PCH the following day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258626792-Y34PT7R1T1W2FGA9KBUK/ZFC_6086-Pano.jpg may-2023 - 5.11.23 California: Day 6 We awoke early and Travis picked up the rental car for our trip south to Los Angeles. Breakfast was at the Pacifica Taco Bell Cantina (highly recommended). We stopped along the route to admire the view a few times before eventually stopping in Santa Cruz for a little amusement park fun for an hour. The century-old boardwalk right on the coast was filled with rollercoasters and other rides, as well as a full arcade and carnival game kiosks. The Great Dipper, the coaster on the boardwalk, was a surprisingly fun ride. We briefly stopped in Monterey after that, then traveled further south on the PCH to Bixby Creek Bridge in Big Sur. Mountains on the beach—what more can I say? It was incredible. We spent a good deal of time there snapping photos and soaking up the view. We had drinks at Nepenthe, back-tracked to Monterey for dinner, then took the 101 down to Morro Bay (part of the PCH was closed due to landslides) where our next Airbnb waited for us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258626739-O56EHDXTZH7GGZZFHWJP/ZFC_6226.jpg may-2023 - 5.12.23 California: Day 7 After coffee in Morro Bay and breakfast at The Madonna Inn, we traveled onward along the PCH and stopped in Solvang, a Danish architecture-filled city. Apparently near the beginning of the 20th century, a group of Danish-Americans sought to recreate the small town in their image and started adding the distinct Danish architecture right after WWII. The result is a tourist attraction today. Very few of its residents are actually Danish, however. After we left Solvang, we headed straight for Los Angeles hoping to catch a glimpse of the sunset in a prominent place before it disappeared for the day. We managed to find a place in Santa Monica with a relatively decent view, had dinner at Dear John’s in Culver City, and drinks at Tiki-Ti in Los Feliz. Sadly, I couldn’t spend more time in LA due to my 6 AM flight the next day, and since it was 1 AM by the time we were leaving the tiki bar, I decided to go straight to the airport. My California trip was coming to a close. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258629525-4D11GQ13KE9R9RL6Q0CX/ZFC_6289-Enhanced-NR.jpg may-2023 - 5.13.23 California: Day 8 After the guys dropped me off at LAX at 1:30 AM, I quickly realized that TSA wasn’t open and I couldn’t get to my gate to post up and sleep a few hours before my flight. What few seats LAX had before each terminal were taken by sleeping passengers draped in hoodies and blankets, some snoring. I tried finding a place on the hard floor to post up, but I couldn’t sleep. Instead, I wandered around the airport, taking photos of the drop off areas and the Theme Building at the front (pictured). Around 4 AM, TSA opened and I groggily went through. I began to feel the effects of having been up for over 20 hours at that point. A man loudly snorting snot back up into his nose every 3 seconds kept me from hanging out at my gate, so I continued to wander around until boarding. I flew into Charlotte, got some food, and rode another plane to CVG. Myrtle was enthusiastic about seeing me after a week apart, and Ashley was happy to see me, too. I managed to stay up until 10 PM that evening, inching my consecutive waking hours up over the 40 hour mark. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed up for so long at one time in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258634418-VC2PUNISFLZ02DPU4RMS/IMG_2775.jpg may-2023 - 5.14.23 Back to Life After sleeping in to take a bit of the edge off the previous day’s record-breaking wakefest, I got to work on some house projects that needed doing before hosting a Mother’s Day gathering. After everyone left, I began the dreaded process of sectioning off the back yard so we can plant grass seed in the spots where it never properly grew. Though half the yard is off limits for Myrtle at the moment, I’m hoping the new grass will pop up quickly and we can use 100% of it again. You can’t really see the spots from this image, but they’re there. Now to keep the birds and squirrels off the seed before it can take root! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258631666-EVDE6BBD5BQFPTTDDYU6/IMG_2781.jpg may-2023 - 5.15.23 Much-Needed Playtime Love playing with this little monster. We bought her a new frisbee then took her to two parks to play with it this evening. I missed her while I was on my trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684291107534-AEVIMU939AL972POA96K/IMG_2817.jpg may-2023 - 5.16.23 Iridescent Shapes One of those aftermarket window clings during a sunset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684422960182-SBIHU46RZTWOW0FCW328/IMG_2823.jpg may-2023 - 5.17.23 Travel Ready Up until now, I’ve used a backpack to carry my gear to and from shoots. While it’s worked out well for me, it became a bit of an issue when I got my Z9. In short: the Z9 is large enough that putting it in the bag is a hassle. Justin picked up a Pelican case for his gear for our California trip and I liked how he was able to consolidate his gear into one hard shell to keep it safe and organized during transport. So instead of dealing with the hassle of the bag for my shoots, I’ve converted to storing my most commonly used camera gear in a hard case, though mine’s a $100 knock-off from Harbor Freight instead of a proper Pelican brand. The pull-apart foam was relatively easy to adjust for each piece, though I wish I’d had some practice before I started getting into it. There are a few things I would’ve done differently in retrospect when setting up this case, but it’s good for now. I can always order new foam if I need to redo the configuration. It’s small enough that it’ll fit in an overhead on a plane but big enough that I fit everything plus a 24-200 telephoto under Godox flash on the left. If only I could’ve gotten my tripod in it… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684461597575-G51J7ONVCGRCUUXU4M9H/DSC_9307-HDR.jpg may-2023 - 5.18.23 Another One Tom Covert does incredible renovations. Every time he texts me with a new house he’s ready to have photographed for a listing, I make sure I’m available because they’re always so, so good. He likes to purchase dilapidated houses no one wants and spends time remaking them into glorious dream homes. I photographed his first project on Philadelphia years ago for the publication, and since then I’ve had the privilege of working with him on all his other projects when they’re ready. This one, located on 8th Street just off Mainstrasse, is his newest flip. This bathroom was probably my favorite part of the redesign. He’s a preservationist at heart and spends time making sure the hardware and other elements of the build are custom and usually historic. In this particular house, he was able to salvage the majority of the original wood floors. For the planks he had to replace, he salvaged old wood from other historic properties he’s worked on and integrated them into this property’s renovation to match the era and aesthetic. I really appreciate that level of care and attention to detail from someone flipping homes, especially on this level. This property was in bad shape (it’s right next to his last project—see daily photo entry from 4.6.21) when I saw it last. Now, it’s ready to hit the market for hundreds of thousands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684640536934-0B6KSLLEN186EG1XKLHQ/IMG_2852.jpg may-2023 - 5.19.23 Deprivation Streak Continues This isn’t an interesting fact, but it’s the only thing I feel like mentioning at the moment. It’s been 23 years since the last time I put on swim shorts and got into a pool. Even then, I was forced to get in if I wanted to pass physical education. Maybe it was the awkwardness of stripping down during a pivotal teenage year in front of the opposite sex. Or maybe it was enduring aggressive towel whippings in the locker room from peers I didn’t want to be around in the first place. Probably a bit of both, if I’m honest. Regardless, it put me off being in bodies of water and I haven’t had a desire to do it again since. Next time I’m in a bad mood and need to divulge another strong opinion, I’ll commit my hot take about the beach and boat culture to this archive to further solidify my reputation as a land-loving curmudgeon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684640538439-M76VM9QJVL5T7431CQA7/IMG_2865.jpg may-2023 - 5.20.23 Oops! It was one of those days where the daily photo project got away from me and the only image I have to show for it is this one: a throwaway snap of a tree I was trying to identify using Apple’s onboard plant identification tool in Photos. (It’s a Japanese tree lilac, apparently.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048919243-PN5VWHRGV58Q821WOGTM/DSC_0499-Enhanced-NR.jpg may-2023 - 5.21.23 Class of 2023 From 11 AM until 8 PM, I photographed graduation parties. Needless to say, I feel like a hollow skeleton typing this entry; reviewing over 3,100 images will be tomorrow’s task. The two people who hired me to photograph their events are very kind and I like working with them, though I wish I had a day between the parties. It’s a lot to manage memory card and battery-wise, as well as physically. When the day was done and I’d packed my gear into the car, I lowered the windows and cranked some ska like I was a teen again as I hit the freeway. Working around newly graduated high schoolers made me feel youthful by association, I suppose. As I reflected back on the day’s work, I realized the people I was tasked with photographing were likely born in 2005—the year after I donned a mortar board and accepted my own high school diploma. It’s surreal to think I’ve aged this much in what seems like such a short time. It will never get easier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048923413-2XK5M1LF8UDID78YCF37/IMG_2909.jpg may-2023 - 5.22.23 Always Go Inside Needed to mail something after attending a meeting with a client in the West End, so I dropped by the Dalton Street Post Office. I never use these post office mailboxes in the parking lot because going inside the building is quick, easy, and far more beautiful than this drive-up shelter. While inside, I thought I’d throw together a little highlight reel of the building’s attractive Art Deco features and post it to the Internet, which people seemed to like. I hope it inspires at least one person to ditch the parking lot for a trip inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048919788-UBT2MD5WSVHDPS9QRZYO/DSC_2355-HDR.jpg may-2023 - 5.23.23 Grand Ballroom Ashley’s in Miami for work and my knee is experiencing another wave of pain from the injury I sustained last month. It wasn’t an ideal day to leave the dog home alone for long hours while hobbling around inside the massive Spooky Nook events center in Hamilton, but duty called. They needed shots of their ballrooms, conference spaces, and some other stuff. I do not think I will ever be finished photographing this space for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048923455-OHAXY7BGYHVX6M55C8XQ/200+W+Pike+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-37.jpg may-2023 - 5.24.23 200 W Pike Hub+Weber Architects are moving out of their home at 200 W Pike Street in Covington. I’d been in their office many times over the last several years for both work and pleasure (Cody works there), but this time I wasn’t photographing something for them; I was photographing the office for the owner of the building so he can list it. Rebecca, the realtor, tapped me on the shoulder last week and scheduled a post-workday shoot of the space and the other offices located inside the building. It’s hard to believe I will likely never have another night to enjoy a beer under the abandoned train platform behind the building, but all good things come to an end. I hope whoever buys the property takes care of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330555116-VL7Z9F7I4NL4XPM9OFL7/IMG_2975.jpg may-2023 - 5.25.23 Art By Friends Steven and Tiffany made some really cool linocut pieces and sent them to me! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330555766-DQBGZK9NG9XIDW50ZSZL/200+W+Pike+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-59.jpg may-2023 - 5.26.23 Listing Photo Insurance Awhile back I learned an invaluable lesson when it comes to listing photography: dramatic night shots are always a good idea. Not every place looks great at night, and it may not always be worth it, but when a place has the right lighting, you gotta go back for it. 200 W Pike is one of those places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330556964-0A5DTTDPXZ3WJGZNGFH6/ZFC_6511-Enhanced-NR.jpg may-2023 - 5.27.23 Trying New Things We rode our bikes down to Manhattan Harbor Marina and drank beer/ate fried food next to the river. While I don’t think it’s going to be my local weekly haunt, it was nice to switch things up and hang out in a place we’re not used to frequenting. We watched dozens of boats dock at and depart from the pier near our table while a cover band played hits from the last 40 years through speakers deafeningly loud enough to almost completely drown out table conversation. When the dock began rhythmically undulating beneath us and the string lights over our heads jostled about due to number of people dancing, we figured our time at the marina had come to an end. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330565340-GOD7Q18XEYU7SQFAXKRS/DSC_2748-HDR.jpg may-2023 - 5.28.23 The Balcony It’s a great night for a little TV on the balcony (while a concerned dog keeps an eye on things). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685586899911-FOY298M1WWXD6BLBO5KB/IMG_3054.jpg may-2023 - 5.29.23 Summer’s Here It’s Memorial Day. I went to two parties: one in the morning where I took this picture of John’s dog, Gus, enjoying the splash pad, and another in the evening where half of us wore black shirts for some reason (unplanned) and I used wide angle mode on my iPhone to take a bad photo of the group. Ashley and I rode bikes, drank beer, and enjoyed the first day of summer with friends. What I really want to talk about here, though, is that Squarespace now offers generative text by filling out a brief prompt about your subject. For kicks, I had it create text about this image using details I fed it. What it wrote was grammatically correct and read perfectly fine, but it wasn’t the tone I wanted at all. In fact, it was so sugary sweet and patriotic, it made me a little sick. After the initial revulsion had passed, I found comfort knowing the machine cannot reach into my head. Yet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685586898881-1T6OZZK4MI9WXZWK81OX/ZFC_6591-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg may-2023 - 5.30.23 Never Stay In the Hotel Flew to Denver early this morning for a shoot. Luminaut sent me out two years ago in July to shoot some stuff they designed, and I returned today to capture the work that’s been done since. The shoot went surprisingly quickly and I found myself with the entire afternoon and evening to wander Denver with no agenda. The increased altitude coupled with having not gotten much rest the night before and stormy-looking skies had me dragging my feet on urban exploration. Staying in Highlands was the right call—it’s a cool neighborhood that’s walkable and has great views of the city, and I didn’t want to waste it napping at the hotel. Long story short, I managed a hybrid schedule of resting in the hotel room and going out to snap some photos and explore the area on and off through the day. In the evening, I took a walk over to LoDo from Highlands via a really neat pedestrian bridge and checked out the beautiful Commons Park, wandered over the Millennium Bridge, and eventually ended up at Union Station to watch the trains. Had I let fatigue win, I wouldn’t have experienced any of that and I would’ve missed out on the best photo opportunities I’d gotten that day. As I followed the setting sun back to the hotel with a rapidly dying camera battery, I thanked my gut for urging me out of the hotel. There’ll be time to sleep later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685586897943-LUM9F0UOON7HH2UHXR1Z/IMG_3140.jpg may-2023 - 5.31.23 Weirdest Date Ever? As I was coming back from my work trip to Denver today, Ashley was leaving for Dallas for her work trip. Oddly enough, we were in CVG at the same time going opposite ways. I suggested we meet and eat a Bloomin Onion at the airport Outback Steakhouse as a joke. It was the “petals” version, meaning it wasn’t presented in the typical outward bloom configuration, but it tasted the same. This is probably our weirdest date in the eight years we’ve been together. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jun-2023 daily 0.75 2023-07-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685668312500-H2RJBLJ30P3JOSUJ81LG/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-135.jpg jun-2023 - 6.1.23 Middletown’s Carnegie Occasionally I get to photograph historic places that have been forgotten, abandoned, and left to rot. Photographing these spaces is always a mixed bag for me; while I love capturing an old space after its heyday and before further transformation, it’s also incredibly sad that these places have been neglected. Tack on the varying threat of physical harm while navigating these spaces as well as the rush of excitement and it’s a rollercoaster of emotion every time. Today, I photographed the empty Carnegie Library in Middletown for its owner, an affable architect who had big plans for it up until recently. While it’s in less than stellar shape, I could tell the owner worked to mitigate the ailing condition of this place. This one wasn’t left to rot when it came under his possession. He cares about every inch of it and has a vision for what it can be one day despite it all. Regardless, he’s selling it after five years of trying and failing to convince the city to help him get it off the ground. His passion for this building is commensurate with the hurt in his voice when he speaks of selling it. Despite his efforts and thorough plans to breathe life back into this important piece of built history, he’s concluded he’s no longer the one to do it. I appreciate people like him—people who care about the past and seek to preserve a piece of it so the future can be a little brighter. I truly wish it had worked out for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685668312500-H2RJBLJ30P3JOSUJ81LG/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-135.jpg jun-2023 - 6.1.23 Middletown’s Carnegie Occasionally I get to photograph historic places that have been forgotten, abandoned, and left to rot. Photographing these spaces is always a mixed bag for me; while I love capturing an old space after its heyday and before further transformation, it’s also incredibly sad that these places have been neglected. Tack on the varying threat of physical harm while navigating these spaces as well as the rush of excitement and it’s a rollercoaster of emotion every time. Today, I photographed the empty Carnegie Library in Middletown for its owner, an affable architect who had big plans for it up until recently. While it’s in less than stellar shape, I could tell the owner worked to mitigate the ailing condition of this place. This one wasn’t left to rot when it came under his possession. He cares about every inch of it and has a vision for what it can be one day despite it all. Regardless, he’s selling it after five years of trying and failing to convince the city to help him get it off the ground. His passion for this building is commensurate with the hurt in his voice when he speaks of selling it. Despite his efforts and thorough plans to breathe life back into this important piece of built history, he’s concluded he’s no longer the one to do it. I appreciate people like him—people who care about the past and seek to preserve a piece of it so the future can be a little brighter. I truly wish it had worked out for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016817189-VXYQ0LFC1BVTCENO3KJJ/IMG_3170.jpg jun-2023 - 6.2.23 Tiffany & Justin Justin and Annie get married tomorrow. Tonight was the rehearsal and dinner at The Columns—a place I photographed nearly every month over the course of two years during its development. It was really nice to get to enjoy it as a guest for once. Anyway, Tiffany and Justin (pictured) are two of my best friends and getting a photo of them together in their respective elements was a great little bonus today. As a groomsman in the wedding, I’m really looking forward to being even a tiny part of Justin and Annie’s big day while we party with our friends. Tiffany and Steven are staying with us at our house, making the whole weekend even more fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016817810-HFQ4909NAAAXD4TH2OKB/IMG_3183.jpg jun-2023 - 6.3.23 Mr. Kohl Justin is a married man! All the groomsmen got together mid-morning at Netherland Plaza to get suited up, drink bourbon, and take photos with Justin on his wedding day. As we approached go-time for the ceremony, we cleared our heads, got into position, and stood like statues off to the side while Justin and Annie were legally and spiritually joined on the altar by her Rabbi brother. Afterward, we gathered in the reception hall and had an absolute blast raising Justin and Annie into the ceiling during the Hora dance. The wedding was by far the most lavish, energetic, and fun wedding I think I’ve ever attended, and knowing I got to be a special part of it was truly an incredible feeling. By the end of the night, with my aching body fighting fatigue, I collapsed into bed happy and satisfied that all of Justin and Annie’s friends and family were able to give them the day they’ve wanted for so long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016820698-B67PGUGPIY3KJS1DQ2F7/IMG_3186.jpg jun-2023 - 6.4.23 One More Round at the Netherland A post-wedding brunch was held in the Continental Room the next morning. We groggily took our house guests to Unataza (that Sunday ritual is important) before heading over to the Netherland one last time. After breakfast, Tiffany and Steven’s plane failed to arrive, rerouting them back to our house for one more evening. Sitting on the porch with a pizza and good friends until the sun goes down is a top-three activity, in my opinion. I was so wrapped up in being present with them, I actually forgot to take a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016815257-03HTFDV77DY7AQGT68GC/DSC_3770-Enhanced-NR-Edit-2.jpg jun-2023 - 6.5.23 Canadian Wildfires Reuters reports the wildfires spreading through Canada are on track to be the worst the country has ever experienced. 120,000 people have been displaced at the time of this writing, and thousands more are under evacuation orders. Quebec, northeast of Ohio, is experiencing the worst of the fires. They’re so intense, we’re seeing smoke from all the way up north travel down to us. That smoke thickens the sky with a heavy haze and morphs the sun into a dim, red glowing orb you can stare at directly without hurting your eyes. I truly feel awful for everyone directly affected up there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601406607-ZQWVF0OYRGO3GHTBAS0G/ZFC_6615.jpg jun-2023 - 6.6.23 Little Known Garden I still need to hit this place up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601403186-HCMM0XOVA7VRPFJ5W65Y/DSC_4512-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg jun-2023 - 6.7.23 Lingering Haze The air quality is still pretty abysmal here. After photographing an event at CAM, I rushed home, got Myrtle, and we drove up to 15th Street in Newport to check out the view before it disappeared for the evening. I figured it would look wild. It would later grow dimmer and redder as it sunk into the horizon. I tried getting over to another vantage point before it went down, but there wasn’t enough time. If you’re worried you don’t have enough time to catch the sunset in a specific location, you were too late 10 minutes ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601400211-U6ARPSXI6QV2RY4L1CCK/ZFC_6625.jpg jun-2023 - 6.8.23 River City Sunset Some good light bouncing off The Fairfield tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601406363-E13F9TGI3QD7RFYIE55A/IMG_3263.jpg jun-2023 - 6.9.23 Congrats, Keith & Marissa Keith and Marissa did the coolest thing I’ve seen at a wedding lately: they told the officiant to ask everyone to put away their phones for the ceremony. It was awesome and so much more enjoyable than watching friends get married through cousin Bridget’s, neighbor Larry’s, and Aunt Petuna’s video app raised high into the air despite the fact that a professional photographer is paid to document the event. They also had these cute custom drink stirrers made with their cat’s face on them. It makes me retroactively regret not doing this for my own wedding years ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601400041-DVHS1BQK9RL01UKU1IEF/ZFC_6637.jpg jun-2023 - 6.10.23 Tarbell Sighting Met up with friends in Northside today for a photo walk. We got coffee at Collective, walked around the neighborhood a bit, had a less-than-stellar but not wholly unexpected experience with a rude barista at <redacted> who seemed to really dislike us for some reason, and ended up with beer and loaded fries at NSYC before heading home. Oh, and we saw Jim Tarbell en route to Ruth’s. Good morning and afternoon overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601403469-TMRJ2I4R58A3P20KNJET/Art+Amplified+-+Phil+Armstrong-216.jpg jun-2023 - 6.11.23 Art Amplified ArtWorks hired me to photograph their first annual Art Amplified event that took place over the course of a whole day around Over-the-Rhine. Live painting and drawing, music, and dancing at Alice, drinks and yoga at Somerset, dinner at Somerhaus with Wildweed in the kitchen and Revel on the wine, and a glorious post-sunset projection show by Brave Berlin. Dan and I climbed up to the neighboring Roadtripper’s roof for the projection and accompanying photo and only left when it began raining around 10 PM. While it was a long 12-hour day, I had a blast working with good people and photographing a fun, colorful, memorable event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686709723766-UOG0J9OIPUETHUANKKKH/IMG_3371-2.jpg jun-2023 - 6.12.23 So Dramatique Monday ennui has returned for the most pampered, spoiled labradoodle in the Greater Cincinnati Area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686709726084-MF6T9G9L2YM1RVYLEBVV/ZFC_6675-Enhanced-NR.jpg jun-2023 - 6.13.23 A Wild Bush Void Appears It’s been a day of cats in Bellevue. Saw this little one on my walk to the coffee shop this morning, and then a chatty orange guy wandered up on our porch and taunted Myrtle behind the storm door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141033529-O7D46ITZ31PQH2311Z7B/ZFC_6714-Enhanced-NR.jpg jun-2023 - 6.14.23 She’ll Beg a Food Truck Miller’s Fill-Inn, which was recently purchased and renamed to The Fill-Inn, had a food truck parked beside it over the last few days. We went down for burritos and quesadillas and Myrtle, in a move that surprised even me, begged at the window of the truck. We’ve been to countless food trucks with her over the years but I’ve never seen her sit beside the window like she did with this truck. Apparently she really liked the smell of the food they were cooking. To be fair, the food was exceptional and I totally understand her determination to try to cop a scrap from it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141024975-J86NMLV5OIZIU6PBN2GZ/IMG_3506.jpg jun-2023 - 6.15.23 Podcasting Steve invited me onto his podcast, Streaming Things, to discuss the first episode of season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We’ll be recording a show every week recapping new SNW episodes as they air, and the show we record will drop the day after. He’s not only doing SNW with me, though. His schedule is so full at the moment with shows to watch and cover that he has to organize them on a large calendar on the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141030237-GMB8AV2P1LMB9ZQQ72OA/IMG_3521.jpg jun-2023 - 6.16.23 Factory 52 While in Norwood for something else, I went over to Factory 52 to scope it out for an upcoming job. I hadn’t been there since Travis and I photographed the soon-to-be-demolished buildings back in March of 2020—the last thing we did together before all hell broke loose. The whole area is impressive with a popular brewery, a food hall that’s going in nearby on the property, retail shops, and plenty of walkable areas with card sculptures and colorful murals. I want to go back to enjoy it instead of just doing recon soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141025293-94WKTWVJFLCTBYWOPV0N/Cooper+Group-+Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg jun-2023 - 6.17.23 Chipotle Evolves Maybe this isn’t anything new, but I didn’t realize Chipotle was putting in drive-throughs for pick-up orders until today. This one, a new location, is in Pleasant Ridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141037377-WI342J92B8ME5WFLBVA2/ZFC_6763-2.jpg jun-2023 - 6.18.23 Rescuing Beauty After working outside all day and riding our bikes (even with Myrtle!) around town, we ventured down to the train tracks to pick these brilliant red flowers that sprang up at the edge of the gravel. Ashley’s been eyeing them for a week from the bridge above that leads us to our street. “I need to get down there and see what those are soon,” she’d say. Today was the day. She took them home, put them in a glass milk pint, and staged them on the dining table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687234664452-UIWQJAF8XKBELZRHSNBX/ZFC_6782-Enhanced-NR.jpg jun-2023 - 6.19.23 Single Exposure Didn’t leave the house today. Enough desk work kept me busy. Got as far as the porch before deciding today wasn’t a day to interact with the world beyond. I used the rain to justify being a hermit and thanked it for giving my garden a free drink and my water bill a break. This slower pace and insularity contrasts heavily with the previous few weeks but is by no means unwelcome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687406562537-2Z4SFP02QAQDQSMJCX9U/IMG_3602.jpg jun-2023 - 6.20.23 Most Important Origin Work took me two streets over from the childhood house I consider to be the most important of my life. If ever a physical place could be infused with my memories, this modest little place at the end of a cul-de-sac on the east side of Cincinnati could scarcely contain the volume I keep with me today. With the exception of the first few months, I spent seven years of my life under this roof learning everything from how to walk to how to play. We moved out of it in 1993, but this place—more so than anywhere else my parents moved us—was always home to me. It’s where I played my first Nintendo, rode my first bike, saw my first baby bunny, picked up my first cicada, got my first insect sting, met my only sibling, made my first friend, rode my first school bus, suffered my first illness, ate my first gummy shark, saw my first movie, and the place where I remember feeling joy for the first time. I remember learning how morning light could pass through a translucent Lego brick and cast a colored shadow on the baseboard in the hallway—the same hallway that, at night, was the scariest route from the kitchen to the bathroom while invisible monsters nipped at my heels, always one step from “getting me.” I remember the nook by the china cabinet that I’d stand in and wait for my mom to come out of the bathroom in the morning so we could eat breakfast. I remember watching Nick at Night on the cabinet TV downstairs, the smell of my dad’s electric train set in the corner, and reading a book about dinosaurs at night in my room. The back yard was enormous and the street was never-ending in length to my child’s mind. It was, for a time, the center of my universe. When I walked that same street today, it felt remarkably tiny. My universe has greatly expanded in 30 years. It was comforting to see the house is in good shape and taken care of. Maybe one day I will get the chance to walk through it again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687406562188-A3NSJ7PEIEOGT18XGYWZ/NZ9_7084-Enhanced-NR.jpg jun-2023 - 6.21.23 Chihuly The show-stopping Chihuly sculpture, Rio Delle Torreselle Chandelier, suspended above the front desk at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Every time I see it, I cannot help imagining how anxiety-inducing the install was for this beautiful, fragile work of art. There has to be someone in that museum who can retell the story about that process. Apparently it’s dusted once a year by two conservationists working from either side of the piece. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829868525-WHPMC9P96IN6ZDMGXWVL/IMG_3620.jpg jun-2023 - 6.22.23 Rest in Peace As I sat down across from Steve in the podcast studio, I placed my phone with the Notes app already on the screen in the cradle across from the microphone. Headphones went on, I adjusted the glass of wine on the coaster in front of me, and Steve’s finger hovered over the bright red ‘record’ button on the control panel. It was in that moment that I saw a notification that Ashley was calling. I was not prepared for the sounds that would come from the other end of the line. Every time I asked her what was happening, I grew exponentially more panicked when she couldn’t coherently express the reason for the sorrow she was experiencing. After a grueling eternity of confusion and fear, she momentarily overcame her sobs to tell me one of her relatives unexpectedly died—someone she’d seen merely 24 hours prior at another relative’s funeral. Podcasting was no longer on the itinerary. Instead, we focused on easing her grief. A UDF milkshake. Some funny dog videos on Instagram. Listening, not talking. An early bed time. Linda was a great person and one of my favorites from Ashley’s side of the family. She never had a bad thing to say about anybody. She was always pleasant. Always kind, never rude or in a bad mood. Always lighthearted. She didn’t seemingly buy into the bullshit others tried feeding her, and she lived life in a way that makes a lot of sense to me. We will miss her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829865053-MLTKLSAHJQ1S49W33Z7E/ZFC_6784.jpg jun-2023 - 6.23.23 The Jackalope Does anyone remember how America’s Funniest People had a supremely unfunny bit that involved Dave Coulier doing a little voice for a character called the Jackalope? Its catchphrase was something akin to “fast as fast can be, you’ll never catch me!” Anyway, I cannot see rabbits with antlers without thinking of it and I will probably take that to my grave. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829865249-1J9C47Q7MHL2JWT6AEY3/ZFC_6794-Enhanced-NR.jpg jun-2023 - 6.24.23 Schwartz’s Point We finally went to a show with a group of friends at Schwartz’s Point tonight. After a nice dinner at Kanji, we all walked over to claim our reservation and began chipping away at the drink minimum. I like jazz well enough, but it’s not something I turn on when I want to focus on the music. It’s always been pleasant background noise. But as I watched the drummer use various instruments to make different sounds at intervals I couldn’t anticipate, and as the upright bass player picked away at nearly silent strings in an irregular fashion, I felt myself appreciate the genre more than I had before. That said, every jazz song begins sounding different from the one played before it prior to becoming completely indistinguishable from the others by the end. I do not have an ear for it, but I do like it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829870387-FNVDAXQ06UJHRI0H3AF0/ZFC_7052-Edit.jpg jun-2023 - 6.25.23 Day Trip “Are you up for a day trip?” Chris asked over text. I absolutely was. Our destination: Gary, Indiana—birthplace of the Jackson Five, home to one of the largest steel manufacturers in the country, and once known in newspaper headlines as ‘the murder capital of the United States.’ If you know little about Gary, read up on it. The tale of its seemingly overnight founding, its rise to prominence in the 1960s, and its eventual slide into population decline and urban decay due to myriad factors is a tragic one. You can find articles online as recently as last year saying it’s the most depressing place to live in the country despite once being a place people poured into looking for work. Yes, Gary has work to do before it can reclaim its mantle as a desirable place to live. But according to Chris, someone who has visited many times over the last few decades, it’s looking a little better than it did before. The statistic that always fueled my curiosity about Gary was how 20% of it is abandoned—a number I can’t confirm but sadly seems accurate after having driven through a large swath of it. I’m not someone who breaks into abandoned places for photos, but I do like photographing these forgotten and neglected places from the sidewalk. I’m debating whether or not I should do a blog post about the city and what I saw, but I want to make sure I’m respectful about it. After seeing Gary, we popped up to Chicago for a couple hours before heading home. This pleasant little scene of kids tossing football with Chicago in the far distance across Lake Michigan at Rainbow Beach Park was the surprise frame I didn’t expect to get today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184695456-OGB7OFBDY7YDFB22KB1A/IMG_3703.jpg jun-2023 - 6.26.23 No More Concessions There are signs that say we’re not allowed to walk our dog around Bellevue High School’s football field, but we did it anyway. Considering the state of the track, the rusting equipment on the weedy field, and the neglected buildings, I don’t think our dog is going to have a negative impact on this place. It’s a shame it’s been left to rot like this; especially since it’s still actively used every year. There just isn’t money allocated to address it. Hell, the football program this past year was in danger of dissolving. I didn’t grow up here and don’t know what it looked like 20+ years ago when I would’ve been in high school, but I imagine it was better than it is today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184706043-A20QQB0O7BMC9HILLCEX/ZFC_7144.jpg jun-2023 - 6.27.23 Riding With the UBBC It is my estimation that riding bikes with someone you like is the best way to experience being on a bicycle. It’s even better when your respective paces match each other and no extra effort is made to keep up on either side. When I ride with Bob and the UBBC, I get to experience that feeling. Though the air was becoming polluted with Quebec smoke, the UBBC still met in Washington Park and set course for Eli’s BBQ in the East End. The leisurely ride was pleasantly unburdened by the usual cavalcade of drivers hell-bent on making our ride more dangerous than it should be. Leading the pack, Bob and I discussed everything from bike rides to friends to the pros and cons of social media and everything in between. Of course, the BBQ at Eli’s was a highlight, too. And bonus: I think I’ve finally found the best way to use my Nikon while riding. It involves a lot of blind firing and timing, but the treat of later discovering what I managed to catch on the ride is a novelty worth repeating. I split off and took the Purple People Bridge back over to NKY on our way back, burning my lungs with the worsening air as I picked up the pace in a rush to get home to see Myrtle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184695456-DJANO3IYROYWRMPMF8X0/IMG_3741.jpg jun-2023 - 6.28.23 Visibility Issues As mentioned in yesterday’s post, the air quality in our region is growing worse. In fact, it didn’t even seem this bad a month ago when the fires smoked us out the first time. The news said Chicago had the worst air quality of any city in the world yesterday; I’m betting Cincinnati is up there today. Normally I’d plan to stay indoors on a day like this and rely on the luxury of breathing central air, but I had to leave to assist Justin with taking his first professional headshot for someone in West Chester. Afterward, he treated me to Trophy Pizza and I went home to avoid being out in the air any longer. Before heading back, I stopped on O’Fallon to observe the visibility to downtown. As you can see, it’s not good. With thousands of fans coming to Cincinnati for the outdoor Taylor Swift shows this weekend, I’m worried the air quality will still be horrible. That is obviously the secondary concern. The fires in Canada, not the smoke in Cincinnati, is the biggest issue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184701248-7GEB410JX8ZP3C1IH3ZZ/ZFC_7156-Enhanced-NR.jpg jun-2023 - 6.29.23 Swiftly Approaching Cincinnati is gearing up for a Taylor Swift two-day visit at Paycor Stadium. As such, Taylor-mania is in full force. Bellevue even renamed Taylor Avenue temporarily to give her a nod. I knew she was one of the biggest acts of the modern age, but I don’t think Cincinnati’s had this big a performer visit since Paul McCartney played GABP in 2011. I have no opinion on Taylor Swift, but I’m genuinely happy so many are jazzed about her visit. It’s good to see people excited about something fun, and the economic impact she’ll bring to the region is wonderful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184702917-TDUBCK9VXRTRV70EV4KH/NZ9_2316-Enhanced-NR.jpg jun-2023 - 6.30.23 The Full Spectrum The day began with a job photographing a dental implant presentation given by a Brooklyn surgeon in a classroom on the east side. The day ended with a rowdy, fun-filled drag performance in Eden Park. It’s a pain in the ass sometimes, but being a freelance photographer is a load of fun on days like this. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jul2023 daily 0.75 2023-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688267585494-DJJ3H9M9YTBY99VCO8KT/ZFC_7280.jpg jul-2023 - 7.1.23 Soiled Safe Space We took Myrtle to Hueston Woods this morning so she could swim in the lake. Unfortunately, it rained this morning and the beach turned into grainy mud. Myrtle didn’t care, though. Every time she ran into the water to retrieve her frisbee, she flew past Ashley and ran straight to me—the person NOT throwing the toy for her and who found dry, clean refuge on a picnic blanket in the nearby grass. Uncomfortable in her water-logged state, a vigorous shake followed as did a few expletives from yours truly. My safe space had been compromised. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688267585494-DJJ3H9M9YTBY99VCO8KT/ZFC_7280.jpg jul-2023 - 7.1.23 Soiled Safe Space We took Myrtle to Hueston Woods this morning so she could swim in the lake. Unfortunately, it rained this morning and the beach turned into grainy mud. Myrtle didn’t care, though. Every time she ran into the water to retrieve her frisbee, she flew past Ashley and ran straight to me—the person NOT throwing the toy for her and who found dry, clean refuge on a picnic blanket in the nearby grass. Uncomfortable in her water-logged state, a vigorous shake followed as did a few expletives from yours truly. My safe space had been compromised. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615666602-J523J12XRCDS12RUTIDI/IMG_3848.jpg jul-2023 - 7.2.23 Dog Friend We went to a baby shower and Ashley became this dog’s BFF by the end of the night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615670968-CQ33L1FOUHRGIXD258OQ/IMG_3854.jpg jul-2023 - 7.3.23 Hamburbers and Sandwiches Went over to RESLV to give Steve a hand on a project and came across this door a block away. Need to go back and see if this is an active restaurant or a remnant from another time. (NOTE: I didn’t mean to misspell hamburgers in the title, but that’s how it was originally published, so that’s how it will remain.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615671183-R7SOZXCDG35CT1JSCUHK/IMG_3895.jpg jul-2023 - 7.4.23 Fireworks With Friends Travis and Allie hosted a great Fourth of July gathering this evening. We lit sparklers on the roof and twirled them around to celebrate freedom or whatever. It was a great time and I’m lucky to have so many good people in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615675424-ZU2M4NE09JUGILY37DXP/ZFC_7461-Enhanced-NR.jpg jul-2023 - 7.5.23 Turning Point I’ll make this brief because I’m already sick of talking about it. Monday, while I was helping Steve, my knee finally decided to call it quits. I’d been having trouble for months, but this time it was fully done. I’m in constant pain unless I’m standing (yes, standing). If I lay down, it aches. Unless I sit at the edge of the seat, a shooting pain goes up my leg. The x-ray reveals nothing beyond “it’s not arthritis” but the ortho doc says he thinks it’s a torn meniscus. Whether surgery is in my future is TBD. Starting physical therapy next week and returning for another visit in three weeks. Being unable to live normally is awful. No bike rides. Can’t drive without horrible pain. Can’t take a walk with Myrtle. Can’t do stairs well. And losing a large portion of the money I’ve worked so hard this year to make to meet the deductible has me in the dumps. Really hope this thing can be solved sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688734324922-SESYU4IH432CQFO7JKVK/NZ9_2705-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg jul-2023 - 7.6.23 A Little Help For a Little One Steve’s dog, Pippin, had major back surgery a few months ago. As a result, Pippin can no longer jump up on the couch or do stairs. As a little dog, everything is too high for him and he needs help. When I was over there the other day, Steve kept having to lift him up on the couch when he wanted to sit with us. This little dog ramp I made should solve this issue. I had almost all of the materials already on hand, so with the exception of the cheap carpet (which I have loads more of), I didn’t spend an additional dime on this project. Standing doesn’t hurt my leg nearly as bad as sitting, so finding a project that I can work on that won’t stress the knee is critical right now. Maybe I’ll make more of these at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688915231396-YQWX7QQMECRWI52EAJQ0/ZFC_7494.jpeg jul-2023 - 7.7.23 Stunning Sunset On the River We met up with my father’s cousin, Justin, and his partner, Bill, for dinner at the new Cuban joint on the Levee. It’s called Amador and it’s owned/operated by the Pesola Group—same people responsible for Revolution Rotisserie and Milkman. Long story short, the food and ambiance were equally fantastic. Highly recommend you check it out regardless if you’ve had Cuban-inspired cuisine or not. The view of downtown from the dining room makes the interior pop, especially at sunset. Afterward, we got a couple of mixed drinks from one of the bars in the box park and enjoyed the scene pictured. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688915234311-CQZ0JMTD06BE43QPI8ZB/ZFC_7665-Enhanced-NR.jpeg jul-2023 - 7.8.23 Night Out Bad decisions were made. Or were they? Should I be going out on a Saturday night and putting added stress on this knee? Should I be ordering drinks when I’m on meds? Should I be spending money on food and drink when I have impending medical bills? No, I probably shouldn’t. The alternative, responsible thing would be to stay home and ice this joint in solitude. But making bad decisions is relative. What I gained—a fun, memorable night out with friends—is worth more to me than the alternative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197937186-VQEVBD6L6RMY3Z4G5I4N/ZFC_7669-Enhanced-NR.jpg jul-2023 - 7.9.23 Ya Love To See It Ashley and Allie went to the Post Malone show, so Travis and I decided to hit up a few places while we waited to pick them back up. Wandering Monsters in Anderson had its grand opening this weekend. After a flight of beer there, we drove over to Factory 52. It being Sunday night, though, everything was closed—except for one place. I never thought I’d see Jeni’s in Cincinnati. With UDF and Graeter’s reigning supreme in the local ice cream department, it seemed unthinkable a challenger would dare try to scoop out a piece of the market. People were lined up around the building for it, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197936941-7CDIHILHR30EVUVSRJUK/ZFC_7670.jpg jul-2023 - 7.10.23 The Loyal I didn’t go on a walk tonight; it was more of a slow hobble. The knee is fractionally better than before, and I got a little too confident about it, so I took the dog on a hobble. The last two blocks were painful. Photographed the outside Bellevue’s dive bar on Foote, The Loyal Cafe. It was recently forced to comply with the no-smoking ordinance the city passed. I’ll check it out at some point now that I don’t have to inhale an ashtray while inside. It always stank from the outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197943343-3IGKIHHZ42WS87CZHRDE/ZFC_7702-Enhanced-NR+copy.jpg jul-2023 - 7.11.23 Jake at Binski’s Met up with Jake, Ronny, and Rob at Binski’s in Camp Washington tonight. Great bar, will return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197944997-8TD0DLZPB0MZSRSZROJQ/112B+Winding+Way+-+Phil+Armstrong-10.jpg jul-2023 - 7.12.23 Devou Dwelling It’s gotten noticeably hotter over the last 24 hours. After sweating through my shirt taking photos of the community pool, I photographed this condo in Devou Park for Rebecca’s listing. It doesn’t have a city view, but the view of the woods is nice. It’s a two bed, one bath with a balcony and garage space. I like the lofted ceiling and high windows that draw in extra natural light to fill the living room. The accent wall really takes the room up a notch, too. This was my first job while managing knee pain and it went alright. I think I can do this without too much trouble. Photographing events, though, will probably be a lot harder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689452806234-DOLE34PS4O3WYVMJQEQC/DSC_3083-HDR.jpg jul-2023 - 7.13.23 Four Stories A four-story house in Mt. Adams with a good view of Over-the-Rhine needed photographing. The building, likely built in the 1800s, had been heavily modified to support more modern living. The humidity outside was brutal, increasingly invading the house the higher I climbed the staircase. It’s a good reminder that, despite technological advancements in micro-climate control, nature will always find a way to get you. Also, my knee has made noticeable strides in getting better today. Even managed to walk the dog (slowly) for a few blocks. Feels good to be seeing progress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689452745434-0667SW3Y920TCSMUEXNK/DSC_3673+copy.jpg jul-2023 - 7.14.23 Two Decades of Great Signage Since moving across the river three years ago, I’ve been meaning to photograph two unique signs in Highland Heights: La Ru Lanes and E-Jay Plaza. The former looks like it was designed and built in the 60s, and the latter looks like it could belong to either the late-80s or early-90s. I honestly don’t know which one I like more. They might be equally as appealing to me but for different reasons. La Ru has two things I love: blinking carnival bulbs and MCM geometry. The bulbs on the acute triangle remind me of being a kid and running around Kings Island at night, riding as many rides as possible before crossing the never-ending parking lot to find Dad at the pick up area reading a book under the cab’s dim, yellow dome light. And the bulging, unevenly lit rectangle with big, plastic lettering reminds me of when I’d go out to change the theater’s marquee as an early 20-something. E-Jay has two things I love: cool blue and hot orange neon, and that signature squiggle inherent in that era’s aesthetic. Maybe it’s revisionist history, but I feel like that Memphis Design/Solo Jazz style of loud, squiggly colors and shapes were crucial to making childhood in the 90s feel so visually unique. Every era has its aesthetic, and while that one could be argued as garish and might prove unpopular after the 90s revival moment we’re experiencing fades, I’ll always have a soft spot for it. Pardon my nostalgia. I haven’t verbally talked to anyone but Myrtle in almost two days (Ashley’s out of town again). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689702442065-RR639GGNZA67YRKWSUJZ/ZFC_7715-2.jpg jul-2023 - 7.15.23 Chestnut Street Cemetery While on a walk with Myrtle, I revisited the Chestnut Street Cemetery: the oldest Jewish cemetery both in Cincinnati and west of the Allegheny Mountains. It’s one street over from the Betts House—Cincinnati’s oldest surviving structure. About 100 people are interred in this small, fenced-in corner of the West End. It’s also believed that Joe Jonas from Plymouth, England, was the first Jewish settler in Cincinnati. I don’t know why he died in Mobile, Alabama. The cemetery is truly a blink-and-you-miss-it phenomenon. The headstones are old, weathered, and hidden behind a stone wall. The only way to see them is from the corner. A double-sided historic marker with information about the cemetery stands just outside the fenced section. I knew it was here from spending so much time on Clark Street about 10 years ago, but I never photographed it until today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689702435904-YO6IYFKVS8P7NZYHWDXI/IMG_4160.jpg jul-2023 - 7.16.23 Fixing Past Mistakes If you go back to the January 24th entry of this year, I mentioned having to remove part of the basement wall to move the new sleeper couch I bought into the room. It wasn’t the best solution at the time, but it had to be done. Today, with the help of my father-in-law, we reframed the doorway and added two bifold doors to separate the finished and unfinished sides of the basement. I still need to add trim and paint/stain everything, but the hard part is over. I didn’t have time to take many photos, but I wanted to spotlight my miter saw; this MVP helped me cut and complete this project. Without it, the job would’ve been much harder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689702436103-UYKKLLNQ3SK2AFSW54NC/DSC_3875-Enhanced-NR.jpg jul-2023 - 7.17.23 Getting Lucky Whoever said a black cat crossing your path is bad luck clearly didn’t appreciate how adorable black cats are. This little one was at the end of the alley before coming nearer to me when I pspsps’d at them a few times. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135274404-W6WC6IHJG6KXIR64G5B1/IMG_4188.jpg jul-2023 - 7.18.23 Obligatory Bee-On-Flower-in-Summer Photo This bee was unconcerned about the close proximity of my iPhone’s camera while taking its photo. I think it was too lost in the sauce to notice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135274709-Y8ND0IVD7SYIKS4S0F8Z/IMG_4203.jpg jul-2023 - 7.19.23 MRI Got an MRI done on my knee. They had me change into paper shorts, gave me headphones, and slid me 80% of the way into a noisy tube for 30 minutes. The white noise I had them play wasn't loud enough to mask the sounds of the machine, but it did help a bit. In fact, I was so comfortable that I kept fighting the urge to fall asleep so I wouldn't twitch and ruin the image. I could look out the window for "entertainment" because my head wasn't inside the machine. Still, I wish they'd given me a magazine or something to read. Anyway, I didn't take any photos because I wasn't allowed to have anything in the room with me. Here's the waiting room where they were playing King of Queens on a TV in the corner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135281716-9HY73P51SAYZX7ROSE53/Pride+Mural+BTS+-+Phil+Armstrong-47.jpg jul-2023 - 7.20.23 Love Birds ArtWorks is in the process of creating an elevated Pride-themed mural above Queen City Radio, and they brought me along to photograph the process for them. I climbed a couple of stories of scaffolding to get up on the bar's roof, and from there, I climbed more scaffolding to photograph the artists doing their thing. Choosing just one photo for this project was challenging because almost every frame was filled with an abundance of color and positivity. I chose this one because I couldn't believe these adorable pigeons were "kissing" just like the muralized people in the background. It was also challenging to choose a photo of the day today because we went to Travis and Allie's house later that evening to watch the Ludacris show on the lawn of Hard Rock Casino from their rooftop. The view from that height offered a perfect, almost completely unobstructed look at the stage. I took my Tamron 150-600 with me and got a few decent shots of the performance. If you don't pay to see a show and manage to see it from outside the venue, does that still count as "going to see Ludacris?" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135277630-H8V2RYJIP2MN5B8PWTCM/IMG_4290.jpg jul-2023 - 7.21.23 Vingt-Trois et Moi My sister did 23andMe and got me thinking about how my own results might turn out compared to hers. So I paid $100 to spit into this tube! I will report back in a few weeks when I get my results. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135279590-Y7OYUMDRPET9WMSP42E3/IMG_4304.jpg jul-2023 - 7.22.23 Barbie Fever The marketing campaign for the Barbie movie is honestly impressive. I cannot think of a film with such a weird and powerful push to get people into theaters in a while. In contrast to Oppenheimer, the film is seemingly unserious about itself, though still very serious about making big box office numbers on opening weekend. It’s pretty fun to see little pop-up photo boxes and memes being shared for this lighthearted affair. While I’m neither opposed to seeing it nor willing to spend the money on a ticket, I figured I’d commemorate this particular moment in pop culture by photographing my favorite Barbie-pink house on Berry Street that’s totally unaffiliated with the studio and accidentally prescient at this moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690387465236-2B7EEKJC3Q8DQHPQKJZT/ZFC_7755.jpg jul-2023 - 7.23.23 Where Are All the Butterflies? Is it just me or do you see fewer butterflies these days? Maybe I’m misremembering, but I recall seeing far more of them every year than I do now. When I see them in the wild now, it honestly stops me in my tracks because they’re no longer a common sight. One of the big reasons we ripped out the grass in our front yard last year was to plant flowers and create a pollinator sanctuary to hopefully attract more bees and butterflies. While this one wasn’t in my front yard, I hope to see more of them this summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690387475091-X30044NBFBVM912WUYHX/slammer-180-Edit.jpg jul-2023 - 7.24.23 Guilt-Free Pog The first thing I ever remember stealing as a kid was a pog with a cat face on it. Little cardboard discs with graphics on them were all the rage in the early- and mid-nineties. Instead of baseball cards, we saved money for this stupid game. Sometimes kids would even gamble with them, though I never did because no one cared enough about taking my pogs. I stole that cat pog from a friend down the street. It was so desirable because I had very few "official" pogs of my own compared to my friends (I cut up shoeboxes and drew the artwork on my pogs to build my library early on). Stealing that pog filled me with a tremendous amount of guilt, though. Every time I looked at that tiny cat face, it made me sick. Those adorable kitty eyes that initially made me take it eventually filled me with a sinking feeling in my gut and made playing with it unbearable. Whenever a slammer exploded a stack and the cat pog bounced free of the pile, I was judged anew. And I knew I deserved it. The cat pog that "fell off the back of a truck" eventually bounced its way into the garbage can so I could avoid continuing to feel guilt. I told this story to Tiffany and Steven last month, and they sent me this holographic cat slammer (it's surprisingly heavy!) they found on eBay as a joke. To me, though, it's the guilt-free version of that childhood treasure, and I unironically love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690387465349-XZNTRI173O7ZHK8HWW4I/County+Garage+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong-18.jpg jul-2023 - 7.25.23 New View They’re building a tall parking garage by Findlay Market at the moment. As it goes up, so too does a south-facing ArtWorks mural. Working alongside the apprentices and the project coordinators, I photographed the progress from the multi-story scaffolding erected next to the wall. It was my job to document the process for ArtWorks, but I couldn’t help but grab a quick skyline shot from a new perspective at the top of the scaffolding. As someone with a relatively healthy fear of heights (don’t come at me with an ‘actually, it’s a fear of falling’), being up that high without much to keep me from falling over the edge was a bit scary. The best part about this is once the garage is open, everyone can get up here and get the same shot. I’m going to try to get one at night next time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773767456-WOXPOT53FUQHWW25YY4M/IMG_4496.jpg jul-2023 - 7.26.23 Libel Is it libel if I take a photo of graffiti someone else did and publish it? While throwing something away next to the coffee shop, this caught my eye. I won’t speculate further. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773786139-QXY074NC1YSUSOZ5OP5F/IMG_4494_jpg.jpg jul-2023 - 7.27.23 Tiki Night Tiki night at Japp’s with Travis and Rob. It began thunderstorming pretty fiercely as I was leaving. Thankfully Ashley came to pick me up so I didn’t have to manage a streetcar and a bus in the rain without an umbrella. The lightining was spectacular! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773786135-XCJT3VYG4GKJIKFBJ9WX/IMG_4504.jpg jul-2023 - 7.28.23 Blurry Malort Shot Blurry malort shot both because it’s out of focus and because my vision blurred from the foul taste when I took this shot. Binski’s does it in a clean ashtray (never used except for malort), making it awkward to take. Pretty sure a quarter of it landed in my beard instead of my mouth. A bunch of us gathered for Lammi’s birthday and drank Old Style and High Lifes while laughing about bad toilet experiences and playing dominoes. Eventually, the majority of the group landed at Camp Washington Chili for a late-night meal. I took precisely one photo because I was enjoying myself too much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773747435-6X5RKOD7JYPLROX54VZJ/IMG_4516.jpg jul-2023 - 7.29.23 Surprise Visit From An Angel Ashley, Maria, Kenzie, and Aaron went to the 50 Cent show at Riverbend, so Mike (husband of Maria) and I hung out while we waited to pick them back up. We smoked cigars, ate sushi, listened to a mix of 80s/90s hip-hop and punk, and were about to hit up the barcade on Walnut before the ladies summoned us back to the river to collect them. After picking them up, we went to Kenzie and Aaron’s house for a nightcap and saw this beautiful cat on the shed next door. She emerged from the darkness and sat pretty up there for us to gawk at her. At one point, she came close enough that I could pet her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773759746-17N06OUH18U0PXA95I5T/ZFC_7787.jpg jul-2023 - 7.30.23 The Empty Speedway While at Binski’s Friday night, Travis and Ronny discussed going down to the Kentucky Speedway to photograph it for a story Ronny’s putting together. With one of Ronny’s friends, Matt, in tow, we went down early-ish in the morning before it got too unbearably hot and wandered around outside the fence. I’ve never been interested in racing like this, but seeing the speedway essentially abandoned. While it’s clear someone is still cutting the grass around the speedway, it’s also apparent this is no longer a place where people come together to watch an event. I don’t know all the specifics of the place, but I imagine everything I need to know will be in Ronny’s upcoming piece about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690911010261-C7NZKAUEE7G01PN5KKOI/ZFC_7817.jpg jul-2023 - 7.31.23 The Old Switcheroo While at Friendship Park, this engine roared slowly down the track before stopping shy of the switch. The man pictured climbed down, pulled the lever, and another man still inside the engine inched forward. It parked briefly in the middle of the driveway cars use to enter the park parking lot. Successfully switched over, the engine reversed and went onto the other set of tracks that run parallel to the set it had just ridden and proceeded back from whence it came. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/aug2023 daily 0.75 2023-09-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691001829311-8L3MZOWH1MZJXR3AH2OJ/ZFC_7836.jpg aug-2023 - 8.1.23 Familiar Fourth Street “Home” has been talked about a lot during this project over the last few years. From seeing my childhood home in Eastgate to photos within my current home and everywhere in between, I have strong connections to physical places and locations that mean something to me. Fourth Street is one of them. It’s where I moved when I decided to become an urban dweller. It’s the street where I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. It’s where I met Ashley. It’s where I used to work before making a huge career shift. It’s where I learned photography. It’s the street that also, unfortunately, saw some of the hardest days of my life. Fourth Street was the chrysalis where I found my wings. That place just feels so right to me. It’s not the busiest street downtown, nor is it the quietest, and it boasts everything from museums to restaurants to parks to high-rise living to coffee shops and bars. But very few care about it as a destination because it’s not Vine Street in OTR or 6th Street two blocks away. There are few things more personal and beautiful to me than when the summer sun sets and casts its Golden Hour light on Fourth Street. While I no longer have an address at the corner of Fourth and Broadway, I still feel tremendous comfort there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691001829311-8L3MZOWH1MZJXR3AH2OJ/ZFC_7836.jpg aug-2023 - 8.1.23 Familiar Fourth Street “Home” has been talked about a lot during this project over the last few years. From seeing my childhood home in Eastgate to photos within my current home and everywhere in between, I have strong connections to physical places and locations that mean something to me. Fourth Street is one of them. It’s where I moved when I decided to become an urban dweller. It’s the street where I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. It’s where I met Ashley. It’s where I used to work before making a huge career shift. It’s where I learned photography. It’s the street that also, unfortunately, saw some of the hardest days of my life. Fourth Street was the chrysalis where I found my wings. That place just feels so right to me. It’s not the busiest street downtown, nor is it the quietest, and it boasts everything from museums to restaurants to parks to high-rise living to coffee shops and bars. But very few care about it as a destination because it’s not Vine Street in OTR or 6th Street two blocks away. There are few things more personal and beautiful to me than when the summer sun sets and casts its Golden Hour light on Fourth Street. While I no longer have an address at the corner of Fourth and Broadway, I still feel tremendous comfort there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691092190820-080DXNUD6BCCZ4WE865H/drinks.jpg aug-2023 - 8.2.23 Alive & Well Aaron with Hickory Wald contacted me about photographing their new Clifton bar, Alive & Well, on Telford. I photographed exceptionally colorful cocktails for their marketing purposes as well as the bar itself before their friends and family night event today. Not pictured: a cocktail made with Graeter’s raspberry sorbet that I must return for. It looked delicious. I’m going back tomorrow to do night shots of the space. I will most likely choose one of those as my photo of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423970703-OFCDYV30AQJM3TPBBXK7/Alive+%26+Well+-+Phil+Armstrong-43.jpg aug-2023 - 8.3.23 Alive & Well: Part II As promised, here’s the evening photo of the outside of Alive & Well. I returned around 9 PM and photographed the outside before doing some lifestyle shots of people in the bar with drinks inside. Truth be told, this particular shoot made me nervous; lifestyle isn’t my strong suit, especially when the parameters of the shoot require approaching strangers and asking them to pose for manufactured candids. That said, I think I did an adequate job, and all that’s left to do now is to send them to the client. Hopefully they are satisfied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423943310-IRA7USDCSWIK2JSFI6YW/IMG_4599.jpg aug-2023 - 8.4.23 Dinwiddie Is No Longer Thinkin’ Arby’s While headed to Indiana Dunes State Park for the weekend, I saw this abandoned Arby’s off the exit in Dinwiddie, IN. The lighting was perfect at the time, so I pulled over for a quick photo. I didn’t inspect it closely enough to determine how long it’s been empty, but the building looks to be in generally good shape. The style is that of the older aesthetic I’m most familiar with from the 90s and early 2000s. Modern Arby’s are boxy and have the look of every other fast food chain. I miss the days when these brands had specific building styles that became synonymous with their logo. Pizza Hut’s style was so iconic, the blog Used to Be a Pizza Hut is dedicated to documenting their reuse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423943589-X2PVNKKC6UOR5CIPY9JW/ZFC_7870-Enhanced-NR.jpg aug-2023 - 8.5.23 Rained-Out Weekender We planned a beach day where I sit under an umbrella and Ashley and Myrtle swim in Lake Michigan. We got to do that for about an hour and a half before a storm slowly crept into the area and gently forced everyone off the beach. Myrtle enjoyed her time playing in the lake despite the brevity of her visit. We spent the rest of the day driving around, trying to find something to do with a dog that wasn’t outside. We managed to find one restaurant with covered outdoor seating that allowed dogs. Truth be told, the weather ruined the whole day, and I’m not pleased. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423947268-LZOMYS7SFCSD55W5T0E6/ZFC_7879-Enhanced-NR.jpg aug-2023 - 8.6.23 We’ll Try Again Later I thought I’d get shots of sandy dunes tufted with wisps of long grass and twisted, skinny trees under cerulean skies. I thought I could photograph the lake with Chicago’s skyline in the distance. All of that would’ve been possible had it not rained almost the entire time. One of the only times it didn’t completely soak us was this morning. Though it drizzled, we managed a short walk along the Portage Lakefront Park & Riverwalk before hiking a trail further southwest at West Beach. Myrtle got to hop into the lake for a bit and get one last swim in before we accepted the fact that additional incoming rain meant driving home was the only logical option. Though this trip to Lake Michigan left much to be desired, we will try again in autumn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762246729-Z6JW00BZWC83Y45WV1KX/IMG_4654.jpg aug-2023 - 8.7.23 Indecisive Skies The sky couldn’t figure out whether or not to rain today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762253340-OMTAIABU0OFBVEO7Q0U2/IMG_4668.jpg aug-2023 - 8.8.23 Real Adults Now Our solid wood bed frame with a headboard was delivered today. I haven’t had a proper bed frame since I was a child. For my entire adult life, I’ve slept on a metal frame with box springs and no headboard. It was perfectly fine, but deciding to upgrade the bed makes being in it all the more relaxing (and looks nicer, too). It sits about 10 inches lower than it previously was, and though I thought that would take some getting used to, I ended up preferring it closer to the floor. I’ve already smashed my shin into the corner of it because I’m not used to it sticking out that far. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762247432-UH31GBZJ0SOHC17Y4BPN/Baymiller+Slaughterhouse+-+Phil+Armstrong+-20.jpg aug-2023 - 8.9.23 Sun In An Empty Room Self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762254538-DHI45322XXD6P6INHNN5/ZFC_7988.jpg aug-2023 - 8.10.23 Triple XXX Family Restaurant After finishing a photoshoot for Luminaut in Lafayette, Indiana, I stopped by Triple XXX Family Restaurant before returning home. Claiming to be the oldest-operating drive-in restaurant in Indiana and the last of the original Triple XXX Thirst Stations in the US and Canada, the diner is a Purdue staple that goes back generations. As soon as I posted it to my Instagram story, a dozen people replied with their own high praise and positive experiences. It opened in 1929 as a simple root beer stand, then added a food menu later as it grew in popularity. The building changed over the decades and evolved into what it looks like today, complete with neon signage on the roof and thick, plastic, backlit signage hanging off the corner. I had the Duane Purvis burger—a regular cheeseburger with peanut butter slathered over the patty—and two frosty mugs of root beer. The burger was incredible, but the root beer was the best I’ve ever had. I wish this place were closer to my home because there’s nothing more refreshing on a hot day than that glass of root beer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692039904391-K1TAQ74VBJIPEZRAUZDV/ZFC_8001.jpg aug-2023 - 8.11.23 An Actual Sunset I lightly raged about fake skies in real estate listings recently on Threads. This trend where photographers take daylight photos and then someone else replaces the sky with an obnoxious mismatched sunset is weird. Speaking to two other real estate photogs, they do the on-site work and then another company “improves” the images for the realtor by implementing bad HDR and replacing the sky with more dramatic options that don’t correspond with the lighting in the original image. Look, I realize most people do not care about the way these listings look online, and I’m not actually upset about it, but it does blow my mind that anyone would think they look good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692039898869-2DV67UHEIWP9H38BKRK7/IMG_4719.jpg aug-2023 - 8.12.23 3D Wooden Map Got this incredible 3D wood map of Cincy and NKY made by Creative Cypress Co. at the City Flea this morning. Maps are so neat and I appreciate how this one adds another dimension to such a familiar place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692039900405-UX5STZP0KNUNSTE7O9NA/IMG_4732.jpg aug-2023 - 8.13.23 Faded Ad While in Harrison, OH today, I saw this faded ad in a shop window and liked how it contrasted with the vibrant flowers in the foreground. I wonder when this photo was taken, where it was taken, and what their lives are like today. Based on the fashion and the aesthetic of the card, I bet I was roughly their same age when this was made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692118999516-X8JM5GGLD3Y38IXEBD5P/ZFC_8007-Edit.jpg aug-2023 - 8.14.23 14-30mm Z-Mount Since 2017, I’ve used the same f-mount Tokina wide-angle lens for nearly all of my architectural and real estate photography. It was a relatively inexpensive lens that returned solid results in many situations and enabled frames that were otherwise impossible with the 24mm. It’s served me well and helped me build my portfolio and small business considerably over the last several years. Today, I upgraded. The Nikkor S-Line, optimized for full-frame cameras, offers a slim form factor with superior optics, so I went with the 14-30mm f/4 wide angle. Since it has the same mount shared with the Z9, I no longer have to use the adaptor, reducing the overall physical size and weight of the camera. I’m really happy with the images it produces so far. The sharpness at the edges of the frame is noticeably better than the Tokina I was using. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631799568-1ZDCRPOYSH0H72TY4Q06/IMG_4741.jpg aug-2023 - 8.15.23 Empty I was meeting some friends at Binski’s at 7 PM, and when I walked into the bar, the entire place was empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631799130-NMLE6GPMTKT8G70PRCTX/Bellbrook+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg aug-2023 - 8.16.23 Bellbrook Went on an up-and-back roadtrip with Luminaut to photograph a senior care center in Rochester, MI. The center, four hours from home and about 30 minutes outside Detroit, was freshly renovated with Luminaut’s vision for each space. Pictured is the main seating area next to the lobby where residents can put together puzzles, socialize, and relax after a meal at the adjacent food hall. The 15-hour work day was a long one, but I had a good time overall. Traveling for work, regardless if I stay the night somewhere or not, is almost always fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631800453-VR7WVEI442QF3ZSS1SAL/IMG_4763.jpg aug-2023 - 8.17.23 Glowing Sky An evening walk with Myrtle led to this beautiful, glowing sky. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631802044-MMYVB05NBVFVLQDPNA0T/The+Fill-In+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg aug-2023 - 8.18.23 The Fill-Inn Did a little lifestyle photography for The Fill-Inn in Bellevue. The owners recently purchased the dive bar from the previous owner and want to promote it as a place to watch Bengals games and hang out. From pool to a vintage bowling machine to a golf video game, it has quite a few little games to play during commercial breaks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631800953-A8I0ZTTANFVEM2VVRYRH/IMG_4801.jpg aug-2023 - 8.19.23 Jurassic Birthday Steve’s been my friend for 20 years. We formally met and became buds in the summer of 2003 when we went with a mutual friend to King’s Island. Shortly after that, we stayed close and remained in each other’s orbit for two decades. Steve went through a few big life changes over the last several years. Changes that, frankly, weren’t easy on him. But over the previous year, he’s found joy and success in various ways and seems happier now than he has been. His significant other, Erica, wanted to surprise him with a birthday party for their one-year together. I offered my backyard as the venue and suggested we screen Jurassic Park (one of Steve’s favorite movies) using the projector. She bought a bunch of dinosaur-themed decorations, bought all the food and drinks, invited a few people, and we set it up without him knowing. Everyone successfully surprised him, and between the food, drink, company, and entertainment, Steve had a great night. I did a terrible job documenting everything because I was too into enjoying the party, so please accept this grainy screenshot from a video I took that evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692802940416-RS318D30KSBHXIMYGR27/ZFC_8013.jpg aug-2023 - 8.20.23 Social Obligations: Fulfilled After last night’s party, breakfast with friends, and a visit from my family this afternoon, I was ready to go to bed at 5 PM. An introvert like me can only do so much before he becomes too exhausted to keep going. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692802940061-UYRKA4G01I758NV9CTZ7/IMG_4818.jpg aug-2023 - 8.21.23 Play? Any time I rest on the couch, I get some sort of toy in my face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692802941357-S9CD1JLM1GDTBVWF85N7/ZFC_8018.jpg aug-2023 - 8.22.23 QCR Sign Myrtle and I went for a walk despite the heat. She hadn’t done anything all day, and I hadn’t left the house since Sunday, so it was time to get out and stretch our legs. When we have no destination, I let her lead the walk. She makes it up as she goes, choosing whichever path has the most intriguing smells at that moment (and, I noticed, whichever has the most shade). She led us down to the river where Queen City Riverboats are moored. This old sign is fun. Sadly, after putting in about a mile and a half of walking, my knee started to ache. First time in weeks it has been in pain. I will need to take it easier tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692840340109-0MKXIGUK75CU3JEIM681/IMG_4841_jpg.jpg aug-2023 - 8.23.23 I’m Sorry, Mind and Body Little Caesar’s makes a pretzel crust pizza so I had one DoorDashed to my house because I am a pig who likes eating trash, apparently. After that, I watched Star Trek V (the one where they fight God and Spock pinches a horse) with Myrtle. Truly not taking care of my body or mind tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692923170233-1N59B7EO8Z3A2WGFAW4T/NZ9_0376.jpg aug-2023 - 8.24.23 Popping Boba I ordered from Poke Hut tonight and treated myself to a little boba tea. Eating all the leftover boba in one big go at the end is akin to peeling the white icing off a bunch of Oreos and stacking them into one mega-Oreo. The way light passes through these delicious blueberry fruit juice balls was beautiful, so I laid them out on a plate and flooded them with flash from one side. Afterward, I enjoyed them all at once. In retrospect, it looks like these boba balls are heading toward the light! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433176035-7ZYBNSPI8P7ZIH2X7C13/ZFC_8023-HDR.jpg aug-2023 - 8.25.23 View of the Roebling The guys and I stopped by the rooftop bar at the AC Hotel at the Banks this evening for a beer. The conversation, drinks, and view were top-notch. Also, the BBQ Chicken place down on the west side of 4th Street is great. Hope they stick around because I plan on going back. Give it a visit if you’re in town. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433164950-9UNBCO7AWYVKSZCF37K9/IMG_4901.jpg aug-2023 - 8.26.23 FCC Wins It! Maria and Mike took us to a soccer game this evening. While FCC lost to Miami a few days before, they kicked NYC’s butt in this game 3-0. Within the first few minutes, Cincinnati scored a goal and scored twice more in the second half. They’re now 16-3-3 in the league. The game was a load of fun despite not following soccer any other time of the year. I keep telling myself that I need to try to really dig my claws into a local sporting team, but I always end up just watching Star Trek or something instead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433175960-BPPMI4QC33L4OFSTCBZ6/Pride+Mural+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-48.jpg aug-2023 - 8.27.23 Love Wins ArtWorks’ ‘Love Wins’ mural was recently completed and a dedication party was held at Queen City Radio this afternoon. Designed by Matthew Dayler (left) of Chroma Projects, the mural was painted by 12 apprentices joined by 20 P&G employees under the instruction of Daniel Baker (right) and Orion Inez. I photographed the party for ArtWorks and got another chance to get up on the roof of the building so I could get some footage of the details up close. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433163286-1GM86LXPUMT8CJEKOO7Y/142+Peete+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg aug-2023 - 8.28.23 Peete Street Petite Photographed an adorable <600 square foot home on Pete Street in Over-the-Rhine this afternoon. The house was built in 2017 and features one loft bedroom, a finished basement, two full bathrooms, a patio area, and a driveway. The kitchen (pictured) was my favorite room in the house for obvious reasons. This house isn’t for someone with loads of stuff. Ideally, this place is for a minimalist or someone who doesn’t have a bunch of material objects. I think I could’ve lived here comfortably before I met Ashley, but I don’t think I could do it now with another person and a dog in my life. There’s something so appealing to me about small spaces like this, especially when they’re beautiful and modern. While my apartment on 4th Street wasn’t this modern, it was a little smaller than this place and I lived comfortably there for years. This will be a long-term rental that the owners plan to put on the market shortly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433181881-O6JKDS4X3VDVMMAR6LHE/ZFC_8037-Enhanced-NR.jpg aug-2023 - 8.29.23 Murmuration I was attempting to photograph the new mural going in by Sycamore Place Lofts when a sizable murmuration of birds flew into frame from behind it. It’s nice when nature helps make a straight-forward image better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693445761573-6L4MRZDTTI9XTICXCY6W/ZFC_8051-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg aug-2023 - 8.30.23 M2 Air As my surgery date inches closer, so too does my worry about how I will work from my desk. I have a nice iMac and a great iPad Pro that take care of almost everything I need, but in order to keep my leg elevated post-op, I will need to work from the couch or from bed. And the work I’ll be doing exists largely in Adobe Premiere Pro, which iPad cannot run. To ensure I do not miss out on work, I picked up a MacBook Air with the M2 chip that will allow me to work from wherever without limitation. I didn’t necessarily WANT another MacBook after ditching my old one for the iMac, but now that I am fully mobile without limitations on what I can use application-wise, it is a relief. Tiffany and Steven, who recently moved to San Jose because he got a job at Apple, were able to get me their employee discount on it. I really appreciate them being so kind and helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887292093-6LMZACBOER0HR0ENDRIK/ZFC_8310-Enhanced-NR.jpg aug-2023 - 8.31.23 The Biggest Surprise After Ashley and I landed in LaGuardia Airport and met up with Aaron and Chris, we went to our Airbnb in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood and dropped off our luggage. After that, we started what will be a four-day excursion through NYC. I won’t outline the entire trip in these daily posts; I’m going to publish an actual blog post about the whole trip sometime after it’s over. NYC is the last major US city that I’ve been planning to visit but haven’t gotten to yet. Honestly, I’ll be glad when this trip is over so people stop exclaiming, “WHAT!? YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO NEW YORK?” like I just revealed I’m an alien from another dimension. Nothing about NYC is surprising to me. The culture, the aesthetic, the pros and cons—all of it has been documented in excruciating detail by generations of Americans and visitors for decades. Walking through Park Slope was lovely and matched the image I had of it in my head perfectly. I’m glad I visited Brooklyn Heights, took that iconic shot of the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo, walked to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge, saw Wall Street, the Oculus, the 9/11 memorial, and gazed out for miles from atop One World Trade during sunset. I’m thankful to have stepped foot in Times Square at night and seen the billboards, the impossibly long lines at street vendor carts, and ridden both the air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned subway trains. All of it, while absolutely awesome to experience firsthand, was unsurprising. However, the only thing that truly surprised me was Grand Central Station. As a teenager, I had an oversized black and white photo of the station taken in probably the 40s on my wall. I knew Grand Central was beautiful, but seeing it with my own eyes was unreal. It was more grand, more jaw-dropping, more enormous, more everything. It totally blew me away and I didn’t expect that to be the thing that got me during my first trip to New York. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/sep2023 daily 0.75 2023-10-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887458860-V5DDIE5OG5JC9KJ3FQVH/ZFC_8726.jpg sep-2023 - 9.1.23 Bustin’: It Makes Me Feel Good I cannot begin to describe how much good shit I saw today. From climbing the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty to eating pizza in the East Village, walking the mammoth streets of SOHO to eating one of the finest cannoli I’ve ever had in Little Italy, it was a very full day. Manhattan’s Chinatown is one of the most fun and photogenic places I’ve ever photographed, and walking the Highline to the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere made for one helluva night. But the thing I adored most today was checking off something I’ve had pinned for awhile in Tribeca: Hook & Ladder 8, otherwise known as the Ghostbusters firehouse. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters were two of my earliest childhood fascinations. While both were centered in New York, the Ghostbusters’ firehouse was something I really wanted to see. Today, I got that chance. Not only did I get to see and photograph it from all sides, but I also bought a shirt and a sticker from a firefighter who tends to a merch board under a small Ghostbusters shrine within the first 10 feet of the entrance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887458860-V5DDIE5OG5JC9KJ3FQVH/ZFC_8726.jpg sep-2023 - 9.1.23 Bustin’: It Makes Me Feel Good I cannot begin to describe how much good shit I saw today. From climbing the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty to eating pizza in the East Village, walking the mammoth streets of SOHO to eating one of the finest cannoli I’ve ever had in Little Italy, it was a very full day. Manhattan’s Chinatown is one of the most fun and photogenic places I’ve ever photographed, and walking the Highline to the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere made for one helluva night. But the thing I adored most today was checking off something I’ve had pinned for awhile in Tribeca: Hook & Ladder 8, otherwise known as the Ghostbusters firehouse. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters were two of my earliest childhood fascinations. While both were centered in New York, the Ghostbusters’ firehouse was something I really wanted to see. Today, I got that chance. Not only did I get to see and photograph it from all sides, but I also bought a shirt and a sticker from a firefighter who tends to a merch board under a small Ghostbusters shrine within the first 10 feet of the entrance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887458853-GICTFXPBL01FVE9GH5OY/ZFC_9161-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2023 - 9.2.23 Entertaining Tourists After Chris, Aaron, and Ashley decided to get a second massage in Manhattan’s Chinatown, we headed to Union Square before walking through the Flatiron District and Gramercy Park, then up 5th Avenue. We saw 30 Rock, I flipped off Trump Tower, ate some mediocre street food, and we found our way to Central Park before Ashley needed to lay down in the grass to rest her aching back from the previous two days of walking a total of nearly 30 miles. The plan was to walk the park to Harlem, but it wasn’t in the cards for Ashley. While in the park, I saw a boatload of activity from bubble blowers to rollerbladers, musicians, photoshoots, and more. Despite everyone doing borderline crazy activities in public, they remained practically invisible and oblivious to everyone around them. This woman was riding a Segway around the Bethesda Fountain plaza trying to put this snake over people’s shoulders. I never saw her take any money from anyone, so I really don’t know what the end goal was for this. People-watching in New York is unparalleled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887467516-TZMZHTUEL3FRUQ1HRVUJ/ZFC_9268-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2023 - 9.3.23 Subterranean Retail We’d spent enough time in Manhattan on this trip already, so we checked out Williamsburg before heading east toward Queens. Jackson Heights, which has been dubbed “the most culturally diverse neighborhood in New York, if not on the planet” by the NYT, was incredible to visit due primarily to how different it felt from the other areas we’d visited thus far. It was all street vendors, local markets, textile dealers, fruit stands, and I didn’t hear a word of English from anyone outside our group the entire time I was walking around. It was truly awesome. One of the things I like about Queens is how much of it boasts elevated railroad tracks. The subway is great, but it’s fun to get to look out at the neighborhood below when riding. However, we stumbled upon these subterranean shops within one of the stations (I forget which one) and I thought it was extraordinarily cool that retail like this survives and thrives despite being totally invisible from street level. After leaving Jackson Heights, we ended up meeting Paul and Kristen in the quiet, almost suburban neighborhood of Forest Hills before heading to Flushing for dinner and then Kew Gardens to see Paul’s house. The subway trip back to Brooklyn was a little bit of a hot, disgusting nightmare, and I’ve never felt more relieved to take a shower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887466567-UN6QAAZCLR1JSM4TQD01/ZFC_9334-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2023 - 9.4.23 Departing LaGuardia Our trip to NYC came to an end this morning. Chris flew home around noon, so Aaron and Ashley and I went to a cafe for a little bit before Ubering to LaGuardia for a 2:30 PM return flight to Cincinnati. As the plane took off, I was delighted to see that the city could be seen from my side of the plane. Though shooting through greasy thick glass doesn’t make for the best image, I’m happy I got to see the city one last time from the air. This was an incredibly fun and fulfilling trip. Counting down the days I get to go back and dig deeper into more of the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289097227-R7U68AAPJ79ZPT35861X/IMG_5268.jpg sep-2023 - 9.5.23 An Oddity We went to Fresh Thyme to do the big shop and I noticed the carts have a little cup holder at the ‘nose’ of the cart. I’m guessing this is so you can enjoy a beverage while shopping, but it makes me think the design assumes you’ll be towing the cart instead of pushing it? Why else would the cup holder be at the opposite end of the vessel from where the driver is supposed to propel it? Is this even a cup holder or something else? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289085514-SSTSO60DFBY1CICMHARC/DSC_2277-Edit.jpg sep-2023 - 9.6.23 Lifestyle Photography Back to work today. Did a photoshoot with a local architect this morning at UC. The task was to capture the food court in action with students doing their thing in different spaces. While this is largely unedited and needs a load of additional touching up, it’s indicative of the goal of this project. I have a lot of work ahead of me with this shoot. Since almost no one in the food court was aware of what we were trying to do, it was difficult to get it perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289086159-5HFQJJD2ER0OHIOQFIHD/IMG_5305.jpg sep-2023 - 9.7.23 Can’t Win Them All Met up with Travis at Binski’s for a little happy hour hang that turned into an 11 PM Camp Washington Chili run. We discussed NYC and the greatness of Chris Glass (hello if you’re reading this, Chris). Rob and Jake (Dust Village) joined later on. It was a good time in a good bar. Also, I recently learned a guy I’ve hung out with in group settings over the years doesn’t like me! I don’t see him much anymore due to past drama with mutual friends, and I’m 99% certain I haven’t done anything personally to earn his ire, but it was interesting to know there is someone out there with this feeling. I’ve been told it’s more of a him-problem than it is a me-problem. You can’t win them all. I suppose I will do my best to avoid contact going forward since it’s unwanted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289089935-A332BLJNNRVR6F1I69K1/IMG_5312.jpg sep-2023 - 9.8.23 That Bad Arcade Game You Always Play Ashley, Travis, Ronny, and I went out to a few bars and one restaurant in Over-the-Rhine before landing at Level 1—the barcade that replaced 16-Bit. We landed at the Turtles arcade game that I’ve played many times for the last 30+ years and always forget is not good. Nostalgia is a helluva drug. We liked this game as kids, but it isn't very good. The last few times I’ve run into it in arcades, I merrily take the controls, ready to relive childhood only to quickly remember how bad it actually is. On coin operation, I rarely made it to scene 2 before my turtle died, and, quarter-less, I was forced to walk away. These machines were programmed to eat coins with floppy hitboxes and confusion-inducing overcrowding of enemies on screen. Since Level 1 has it on free play mode, we kept smashing the credit button for lives and it didn’t matter. After 30 minutes of slapping two buttons and moving a joystick around, dying 300 times, and walking away to get a beer only to return to discover our turtles were still alive, we beat the game. The ending was wholly unsatisfying, of course. But that cityscape on the controller panel is so good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694380931448-ERXVZU8V3Q8T5FOCK783/ZFC_9407-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg sep-2023 - 9.9.23 1820 Vine I led friends from La Ofrenda to Somerset and stopped at the corner of McMicken and Vine. I’ve always admired this flatiron building but haven’t been able to get a photo I really like of it before. When the firetruck started inching closer into frame, I knew this was my chance. The oddly shaped sign jutting from the side of the building used to say “GROCERY” at the top and “OHIO LOTTERY” at the bottom with a bottle of Coca-Cola in between. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694404173420-V44KZNJ1MAPIDWURMUK6/ZFC_9478.jpg sep-2023 - 9.10.23 Stark Street The weather was exceptional for a bike ride this evening. Having added new stickers to my bike that I’d acquired over the last couple of months, I wanted to get out and enjoy the exercise before the doc cuts me open next week. I initially felt discomfort while riding in that leg, but after about 15 minutes of pedaling, it quieted down enough. With the Zfc in my bag, I set out across NKY and eventually found my way to Cincinnati. Took a circuitous route fueled entirely by whichever direction had the least amount of traffic and best scenery in that moment. Saw three classic cars parked on three different streets. Before heading home, I made a stop at the Square to refill my water bottle and marvel at how good I felt physically and mentally. I think this is why dogs like to play so hard; when you physically exercise, you feel so much better in every way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694486822096-3YXGAKI3QWUPS812OTBB/The+Lofts+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55.jpg sep-2023 - 9.11.23 Sit Down What a day. Let me get the less-than-good news out of the way first. My main client owes me a considerable amount of money from unpaid invoices from the last several months and it's causing me some financial stress as a result. Then, I managed to muck up my shoot schedule for another client today and showed up at the wrong property at the wrong time, causing a level of professional embarrassment I didn’t expect to endure this afternoon. Finally, after stressing about money and looking the fool, some rude teens on the street mocked my bald spot—a physical issue I have no control over and about which I’m very insecure—while I was walking into the post office and minding my own business. I do not get emotional often, but today’s onslaught of stresses and insecurities really managed to pry open something I wasn’t expecting to confront. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694566921542-Q31M07JHCWLU9UNV6GKW/NZ9_2612-HDR-Edit.jpg sep-2023 - 9.12.23 Yard & Company’s New Digs Kevin asked me to photograph Yard & Company’s new home base on Pleasant Street. It has some neat features their designer included, like this ‘portal’ between rooms. The colorful, industrial space is versatile in utility with loads of room to spread out and work or convene for meetings. There’s also a flex space with a garage door that opens up to the street behind the muralized sliding barn doors in the background of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074291095-055YWHPQGCG1EZQTD86Y/IMG_5414.jpg sep-2023 - 9.13.23 That Feeling When… …you’re an orange ball and a big grizzly bear is about to chomp on you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074290320-STOU0BS3AY92CM5HXFYC/ZFC_9521.jpg sep-2023 - 9.14.23 Shut ‘Er Down This week has been an unusually difficult one—money stresses, incorrect schedules, hurt feelings, and two divorce announcements in the family (not Ashley and I). To top it off, a pipe burst in my basement this morning! Hopefully that’s the encore to the shit show. Here’s the artist formerly known as The Chong bathed in Golden Hour light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074195549-EMMPSAUSHVRFV22WPQ06/IMG_5465.jpg sep-2023 - 9.15.21 Pizza Hunting Ashley, a work-from-home employee, was sitting on the porch doing the aforementioned work from the comfort of the porch when I heard her say, “Oh yeah, that’s the one I want. Dr. Dre.” Thinking she was celebrating the end of the workweek early with a classic hip-hop album or playlist, I looked up to see which she was about to play. Neither. She was researching which Dewey’s pizza she wanted that evening… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074195650-ZEDDGZ8EVZ18QJU03Y93/IMG_5513.jpg sep-2023 - 9.16.23 Final Bike Ride For a Little Bit Erica retrieved her bike from her previous household last week and posted about wanting to ride. We made a plan to convince our significant others, Steve and Ashley, to join us and scheduled a ride along the bike trail starting at Lunken Airport. From there, we’d ride straight to Fifty West for burgers and drinks before returning to Lunken and never touching a city street with car traffic. It was SO FUN. They are not avid riders, so we took it slow and steady. Steve rented an electric Red Bike as he was the only one who didn’t own a bike. The path wound through the woods, over the glistening river, and I used the Beechmont connector for the first time since it was built (pictured). The trail had minimal bicycle and pedestrian traffic along the way. I’m used to having to watch my back for cars and had forgotten how peaceful a trail ride could be. I also forgot how soon the sun has begun to set as summer winds down. We ended up having to ride through the night back to Lunken. My lights were bright enough to lead the way, and Steve’s Red Bike also did a decent job of illuminating our path, so it wasn’t difficult. We probably weren’t supposed to be on the trail after dark, but it was still a load of fun riding with three people I genuinely love to pieces. (Riding bikes with Steve specifically was an unofficial bucket list item for me.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074202697-KACC9DPZT3KCTEJJ8C7A/IMG_5556.jpg sep-2023 - 9.17.23 Garden Spider After volunteering to hold a 5-foot python over my shoulder at the farmer’s market in the park this morning, we visited Mom and Dad’s house. Myrtle swam in their community pool as it was the final day of the season, and was open to dogs, too. While in their backyard, I saw this wicked garden spider perched in the middle of a web it made between two bushes. Getting close enough to take a macro photo of it required a level of bravery I’m unaccustomed to having. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074203275-C91PCGHCNIGZPXV17UOL/IMG_5562.jpg sep-2023 - 9.18.23 Incapacitated For a Bit “It’ll be either a quick recovery or you’ll be off your feet for six weeks,” the doc told me in July when he set up my surgery date. “It depends on what procedure we need to do, and we can’t know that until we get in there." Thankfully, I will be back on my feet within probably a week due to it being the “easy” procedure. Glad this is over. I haven’t had surgery since 1995. It was strange getting undressed, putting on surgical clothing, and having my knee shaved. Getting the IV placed and having to quietly (re: anxiously) wait to be wheeled into operating room #9 was uncomfortable, too. It was strange being physically strapped to the bed, my arms spread, and watching masked strangers stare down into my eyes as they administered the anesthesia, waiting for me to fade. Unlike the first time I was put under, it didn’t happen in the blink of an eye; I felt a minor passage of time while in that state. Despite it all, it went as smoothly as possible, and I’m thankful to be over this hump. I’ll be on my couch trying not to be extremely online if you need me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695241276714-8PDB07IQFTCWMGGYABQX/IMG_5580.jpg sep-2023 - 9.19.23 Creative Solutions Never underestimate the usefulness of a high-quality shirt with a breast pocket, especially when you do not have available hands to transport items between rooms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695418582611-MMISVRJ98ZJCC2MMCX4Q/IMG_5588.jpg sep-2023 - 9.20.23 My Nemesis I lived in mid-rise buildings with elevators for years. Would’ve been nice to have this procedure done then and not now when everything is separated by these pesky things. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695418582611-M5U5FPCZYIKJ35SZ3DY7/IMG_5598.jpg sep-2023 - 9.21.23 Playtime Ashley left for Key West today, so it’s me and Myrt for the rest of the week and weekend. As I’m still couch-ridden and largely immobile, Myrtle has become extra stir crazy. I put a blanket over her and she got up, turned around, and started blindly trying to bite my hand. As you can tell from her expression, she was in a silly mood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695418585744-IRL2HGZUS6M4XAJ1WBLF/IMG_5603.jpg sep-2023 - 9.22.23 Sorry I apologize for the dip in quality of this project over the last week. Very little is happening right now. My family came down today, but I forgot to take a photo. I could talk about the unusual-for-me amount of TV shows and movies I’m watching, but that’s probably not worth reading. This project will likely be boring over the next couple weeks unless recovery speeds up a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695669802824-85PB5EG53DJ182Y15HBY/IMG_5619.jpg sep-2023 - 9.23.23 The Porch The porch is effortlessly zen during comfortable sunset evenings. With the beautiful weather today, it wasn't easy to want to stay inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695669801980-OZK2X1OW3G8UM97TKREX/IMG_5673.jpg sep-2023 - 9.24.23 Geode Esme, my niece, had her first birthday party today. Steve drove me up to my sister’s house in Washington Courthouse to celebrate. While there, Kiran, my other niece, cracked open some fresh geodes and wanted to show me. She is so sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695997982626-LZBONUI43KEMXOF4BTZD/ZFC_9614.jpg sep-2023 - 9.25.23 The Culprit Doc took pictures while inside my knee last week and assures me this little piece of the meniscus was the culprit. He trimmed it off, allowing the rest of the meniscus to avoid tearing further. I think this is the most intimate image of myself I’ve ever put on the internet. Yes, I spot-lit the printout and took a photo of it. No, I have nothing more interesting to photograph at the moment. Yes, I did spend a few minutes fussing over the blown-out portions of this image thinking I had my camera settings wrong when, in fact, the original image featured peaked highlights already. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695997983399-97GWE37ZEYDS3FMKUD22/IMG_5684.jpg sep-2023 - 9.26.23 Ellie the Podcaster Steve wanted to podcast about No One Will Save You, and since the WGA is finished striking, we are apparently allowed to talk about it on-air. Ellie joined us for the majority of the show. It made the whole experience 200% cuter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695997986260-IDSHXRSM56HPHBY84ZTT/ZFC_9566.jpg sep-2023 - 9.27.23 Cat Walk Myrtle has been extremely bored lately. We toss ball in the backyard, but it’s not enough. She wants to explore, sniff, and walk around the neighborhood. After a few PT sessions and some ibuprofen, I felt strong enough to try walking down to the Avenue and back with her. Of course, it’s not a selfless act; I really wanted to get out of the house and hopefully photograph something other than a box of cereal. Along the walk, this cat came out of the bushes and meowed for pets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696023047190-JJQ654197KUNNX7LUYVK/ZFC_9577-Enhanced-NR-Edit-2.jpg sep-2023 - 9.28.23 Good Burl After PT this morning, I stopped by the shop to photograph a table John and the boys finished. This walnut burl “cookie” has been in the shop since last summer, so it’s kind of wild that it’s finally finished. It was for a client who was in no rush, apparently. They had some difficulty finishing it but finally figured it out. I think they said this will be an entry table for a foyer in someone’s house. Imagine: a foyer with enough space for a bespoke piece of furniture like this. Ah, to be wealthy… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696363924888-4VIWA9RA1E9PV5GKHHFA/ZFC_9619-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2023 - 9.29.23 Night On Vine Went and checked out Bee’s OTR—the new BBQ spot from Madisonville that went into the former Pontiac space on Vine Street. My expectations were somewhere in the middle range as I expected it to be good but not blow my mind. I was pleased to discover it exceeded my expectations. Afterward, we wandered over to Lost & Found. Along the way, I took a photo of the Cincinnati Color Building which I’ve found ironically named since it was painted beige after being white for as long as I remember it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696363926035-W9SHEV3RN8YUQJIXKDSV/ZFC_9628-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2023 - 9.30.23 September 30th It’s my favorite month of the year. We put up decorations the day before. Also, I rode an electric RedBike home tonight from downtown and it was perfectly fine. I think I’m successfully good to ride now. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/oct2023 daily 0.75 2023-11-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696364427316-1KBGM71DYEFS7JCLJGWW/ZFC_9630.jpg oct-2023 - 10.1.23 Porch Decor Put the Grim Reaper out on the porch this year next to the string lights. Thought the contrasts on its face were neat! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696364427316-1KBGM71DYEFS7JCLJGWW/ZFC_9630.jpg oct-2023 - 10.1.23 Porch Decor Put the Grim Reaper out on the porch this year next to the string lights. Thought the contrasts on its face were neat! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696364428175-RIT7KRK2SSDK3YWIJA0M/ZFC_9634.jpg oct-2023 - 10.2.23 East Row Walk I walked almost three miles this evening. From my home to the East Row in Newport and back. It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on that part of Newport as autumn begins because the trees start turning quicker than you’d think, and catching them at their peak is a simple pleasure I look forward to every year. Though the trees have yet to really turn, this odd piece of architecture stood out to me while perusing the neighborhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696795986978-DC5EGCLHCNN3PNBRKAP2/IMG_5731.jpg oct-2023 - 10.3.23 Vintage Halloween Chelsea and Vince have this incredible vintage molded-plastic statue in their front yard. She said it once belonged to her grandfather. We have almost no extra storage space for Halloween or any other seasonal decor, but if I found this in the wild for a reasonable price, I wouldn’t think twice about getting it and finding a place for it in the basement for 11 months out of the year. It’s just too fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696795995553-GQI29FKGZKKUVBLPG7R8/ZFC_9646.jpg oct-2023 - 10.4.23 Quiet Block We’ve been eating at home a lot lately to save money and be healthier. Ashley got this fantastic cookbook written by an influencer she follows on Instagram, and his recipes are wonderful. Nothing we’ve eaten out of this cookbook yet has been anything but delicious. That said, we do crave the opportunity to go out to eat. Tonight, we walked down to the Avenue, found a bench, and waited for Chelsea to join us on our walk to Los Potros—a Mexican joint that opened up over the summer in Dayton. I wasn’t inspired to photograph anything at the restaurant, but I liked looking at this corner as we waited on the bench. It was busier than this photo suggests; I just waited for a split second of emptiness to get my frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696795989529-08YL9W02A4NK1M5LVMQQ/IMG_5746.jpg oct-2023 - 10.5.23 Shop Small I think I’m in a little bit of a creative funk. I haven’t found a lot to photograph lately that’s not Myrtle. I hope I'll figure this out as I get back to physical photoshoots for work. Whenever this happens, I remember all the other times it’s happened and feel relieved that it will eventually pass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696796000035-QLV60AKRAOT679NBT62A/ZFC_9676-Enhanced-NR.jpg oct-2023 - 10.6.23 Fall Fest Remember two days ago when I posted a photo of the empty street corner? This photo from tonight is one block south of that corner. Scores of people showed up to Bellevue’s Fall Fest for drinks, food, live music, hay rides for kids, and local goods vendors. Even beyond this closed-off portion of Washington Street, the sidewalks were packed with people wandering from shop to shop and bar to bar, many with DORA cups in hand. It was heartening to see so many come out, and I’m not sure I can think of another time when Bellevue was this busy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696796004593-HC68TB93CMFYOO9QJ2GL/ZFC_9681-Enhanced-NR.jpg oct-2023 - 10.7.23 Halloween House I cannot remember the last time I had nothing to do on a Saturday night. Ashley was out, and after texting three friends to see if they wanted to get together without any success, it was time to stay in and catch up on some of my shows. But being someone who cannot sit still and has had an abundance of sitting still time lately, I needed to get out. With fully pressurized bike tires and safety lights glowing brightly on the front and back of my bike, I set out to ride to one of my favorite Halloween locations: The J.C. Baum House. The owners started putting up a killer Halloween display a few years ago, and ever since seeing it for the first time, I’ve made a mental note to return to see it each year. As expected, this year’s display was incredible. From the oversized monsters to the dynamic, colorful lighting, I’ve seen no other house in the area that does Halloween as lavishly and fun as this one. None of it is gory and horrifying. It’s tongue-in-cheek without being goofy. I hope whoever lives here does this for years to come. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696815805410-8MHJULM1EH6IRXM8GUNW/NZ9_3610-2.jpg oct-2023 - 10.8.23 Autumn Is Finally Here The weather’s cooled, the leaves are falling, and the smell of bonfires fills the air all around the neighborhood. I hope this season lasts as long as possible before winter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696900585777-E2885UUEIPCDL52YR0BQ/Untitled-1.jpg oct-2023 - 10.9.23 6 Years Old She went to Pets Mart and got two treats, then she got a pup cup and a little bit of chicken at the drive-thru, then we went on a walk and ran around the empty lot up the street. Not a bad birthday celebration for this little pup! Glad I got the top image when I did because the bottom image more accurately illustrates her mood this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919992285-UABPOQOSA27RN90XBAK7/NZ9_5044-Enhanced-NR.jpg oct-2023 - 10.10.23 Skyline Shot GBBN sent me to Louisville this morning for a shoot inside a hospital. We only had two hours to get everything we needed before we had to be out, and today was the last day possible to get in and grab photos before they started using the space full-time. Despite the pressure to get it right in so little time, I think we did well overall. Afterward, I headed toward downtown and stopped at Royals Hot Chicken for a tasty sandwich and mac and cheese in a neighborhood called NuLu. I haven’t looked it up at the time of this writing, but I suspect it’s one of those marketing terms used to rebrand a gentrifying area. Despite the few times I've visited, I didn’t have a skyline shot of Louisville. Before heading home, I drove across the bridge and stopped at Ashland Park on the Jeffersonville side for a photo. Unfortunately, it was noon, so the lighting wasn’t ideal. I don’t think Louisville has an especially impressive skyline compared to nearby cities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914241423-BAMP2SXOGXWQ5X03VA13/207+Sterrett+-+Phil+Armstrong+-191.jpg oct-2023 - 10.11.23 Back At It It’s been a little bit since I’ve done a proper real estate listing photo shoot. Rebecca needed this beauty in Wallace Woods photographed, so I did my thing and returned later for a night shot. I’ve adopted a new-to-me thing recently where, instead of increasing clarity on my shots, I actually reduce it by -10 to give elements a slightly ethereal glow. This image benefitted from it, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697920014800-9GAWOCIEGY2XB3X6A2W6/NZ9_5529.jpg oct-2023 - 10.12.23 Yard’s 5-Year Anniversary Yard & Co. made it five years and built a new headquarters on Pleasant Street recently. This evening was the celebration for both the anniversary and the new digs. The party was well attended despite what this image suggests; I got an early start photographing it then shifted from documentarian to party-goer as more and more people showed up. Half of Bellevue’s local government showed up (Kevin and Joe are Bellevuians) which was nice to see. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914262710-M4HQGJMMUHYVPIT1N4G2/IMG_5867.jpg oct-2023 - 10.13.23 Friday the 13th We were supposed to camp this evening, but forecasted rain convinced us otherwise. It was a bit of a relief for me. Ashley’s the only one between the two of us who wants to sleep outside. Knowing I had a bed waiting for me at the end of the evening was a nice feeling. Instead, we went to Chelsea and Vince’s house for a bonfire in 80-degree weather and ate Indian food. We successfully made it back to the house without getting rained on, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914275281-DF0LE9SIHDKC822AFDI3/IMG_5940.jpg oct-2023 - 10.14.23 Happy Birthday, Annie My friend Annie had a 35th birthday party at her house this evening. It was 1960s-themed, so I wore a suit, broke out the old Raybans, and did my best to fit in. Everyone else was dressed much more period-appropriate than I did, including Ashley. The party was a lot of fun. They had an open bar with a bartender who kept making me tiki drinks and Old Fashioneds all night. Dessert was a delicious cake of some sort. Overall, it was one of the best birthday parties I’ve attended in the last several years. While I usually scoff at costume parties like this (I hate buying stuff I’ll only use once), it ended up being uniquely memorable, and I get why switching things up this way elevates the experience. While I’m not yet ready to reveal it, the fun of this costume party has emboldened me to construct another one for two more parties later this month. It’s going to be much more elaborate than simply putting on a suit… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914182470-FTD2YAVXK6MD6V5NOHAO/IMG_5946-2.jpg oct-2023 - 10.15.23 Sunday Brunch Went to brunch with friends this morning. One of them is moving to Germany to be with his partner, and that partner is currently in town one last time before the move. We had brunch at Alcove on Vine Street. I guess I should’ve photographed them this one final time, but I think that would’ve made me feel a sense of loss. I know I’ll see them both again, and I’m genuinely happy they are finally going to be together permanently, but I am quietly sad I will see less of them going forward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914108578-GOCIBTBAXZ3W9C0GEDQD/IMG_5950.jpg oct-2023 - 10.16.23 Secret Project There are two Halloween parties I’m scheduled to attend at the end of the month. To participate, I’m building a costume out of wood. If I can make it work the way I want it to, I think it’ll look pretty awesome and make people laugh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914108335-54ZXHI4D19K7FIVHLGK3/IMG_5967.jpg oct-2023 - 10.17.23 Needy Ashley’s out of town on a work trip, so this one is extra needy. We throw ball, play tug with her toys, and I give her endless pets, but it’s never enough. Unless I direct her to go lay down, she will just stand and stare at me like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919956958-ADCX9SWGLS5NTIJUPYU6/IMG_5973.jpg oct-2023 - 10.18.23 Ashamed of Myself Had an errand to run in Oakley and was influenced enough by some guy on Instagram to want to try the Burger King Ghost Pepper Whopper—you know, the one with the orange bun and black sesame seeds for Halloween. But, to my surprise, the east side of Cincinnati within the loop appears to be a Burger King dead zone, so I opted for nearby Swenson’s instead. Long story short, my meal wasn’t great, and after eating a sub-par burger, I didn’t feel remotely sated. That stupid orange bun Whopper was still weighing heavily on my mind. My urge to try it hadn’t been distracted by throwing the Swenson’s stick in the other direction. Knowing Ashley was out of town and no one would notice, I resolved to drive to a Burger King, get a second dinner, and finally scratch the itch. It wasn’t good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697920010922-UEUF44XZX8F2NWR4KTSI/NZ9_6593-2.jpg oct-2023 - 10.19.23 Thanks, Dumb Luck Steve and I drove to Nashville to work with his video production company on a piece about a family with an important story about Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I won’t go into the story's details here, but it’s a good one and I’m excited to see how the video turns out when it’s finished. After filming the family all evening, we decided to go down to the river to get b-roll of Nashville’s downtown with the drone. When we arrived, weather conditions weren’t optimal, so he postponed the flight. Under spitting rain and flashes of lightning, it wasn’t a good idea to risk the drone for a night shot. But since we were already there, I thought I’d get a quick night shot from the pedestrian bridge. It wasn’t clear when I’d be back in Nashville again, and this seemed like a good photo op. I set up rather quickly and programmed a 13-second exposure on manual. Removed my hat and placed it over the camera's body to keep it out of the rain, hit the shutter, and squinted through the tiny drops that began collecting on my glasses. I turned to talk to Steve for a second and thought I saw a flash in the distance out of the corner of my eye. The sudden realization that I might’ve just gotten something special struck me like a jolt of electricity. When the exposure was finished and the screen refreshed with the latest image, I couldn’t believe what I’d accidentally gotten. I wish I could say I’d planned this and figured the storm in the distance would yield the perfect image-maker at that moment, but my ambitions weren’t that high. I’ve only been a photographer for about a decade, and I’ve rarely gotten lightning in any images during that time. It’s hard enough to time it right, but making it fit perfectly into a composition that makes sense is even more complicated. This is one of my favorite images I’ve ever made, and I have dumb luck to thank for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919976802-SHZY73TEJRU2C8PYJRMC/NZ9_7429.jpg oct-2023 - 10.20.23 Kentucky Stonehenge Steve and I stayed the night in Nashville, woke up early to do more filming, and began the journey back to Cincinnati around midday. Along the way, we decided to stop in Munfordsville, KY, to see something called “Kentucky Stonehenge.” We briefly looked at the Google listing but didn’t want to ruin the surprise. It seemed more fun to know it existed without knowing any details beyond the address. Since it was along the route home, it made sense to stop and check it out. After all, stopping for roadside attractions in small towns is the hallmark of an American road trip. When we got there, Kentucky Stonehenge revealed itself to be situated in someone’s yard. Feeling a bit awkward and like we were intruding, I questioned our decision to stop but ultimately ignored my reservations about it. Steve parked the van next to the hand-made “parking” sign and what I can only describe as a donations urn. Apparently, this unique place was built at some point by a man who passed away in 2022. According to a news report detailing his passing, the builder said he was initially told by God to build a cross out of rocks, then moved on to building Stonehenge sometime thereafter. The domain for Kentucky Stonehenge is no longer active, unfortunately, so I don’t know the entire history of the place. All I know is WNKY reported that it took him five years to build it, he was very interested in rocks (obviously), and the Facebook page for Kentucky Stonehenge was created in 2013. Anyway, check it out if you’re ever passing by Munsfordville. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919938744-NLOPGTJ084Q1IVQGMMEJ/IMG_6057.jpg oct-2023 - 10.21.23 Leo’s and Dominoes Sometime after seeing Kentucky Stonehenge, Ronny texted to say he and the guys were going to Uncle Leo’s to play Dominos and drink beer into the wee hours of the morning. Though exhausted from traveling and working over the last two days, I am not accustomed to saying “no” to friends when spontaneous plans arise. Since my folks were watching Myrtle and Ashley was still away, it seemed like a perfect night to go out without any responsibility. Hopped in the car, picked up a Crave Clutch of White Castle sliders, and hit up Leo’s. We played 20 rounds of Dominoes late enough into the night that this image was taken sometime around 1 AM—two hours before I’d eventually go home. Though the image was spiritually October 20th, the time code makes it an October 21st photo. I’m counting it as such. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279635799-RD7I9L4Q4EFTW9G1OQN3/ZFC_9744-HDR.jpg oct-2023 - 10.22.23 Work Prep Got a late start today. Yesterday, I avoided being social and just worked on some projects around the house while I had it entirely to myself. My costume is coming along, finished some leftover photo work, and repaired something for my sister. After Friday’s nearly 23-hour day, I was ready for some downtime. Today was much the same. I have to go to Indy tomorrow to do headshots for an entire office of architects, so I devised a plan: use my laptop and tether the camera straight to it so I can show everyone their headshot before they leave. Ideally, this will ensure everyone comes away from the experience feeling like they contributed and had some creative influence on the process. The tether method allows me to show them a live feed of what the camera sees and how their headshot will turn out after taking it. Hopefully, that means they will be satisfied with how they look overall. Loaded up the cart with all my gear, and ready to get this done tomorrow. Fingers crossed, this process goes smoothly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279632919-QTQDYQV6791QM92DNVM9/ZFC_9753-HDR.jpg oct-2023 - 10.23.23 Successful Process Showing everyone their headshot as they were taken proved to be a success. One person complimented the setup and was vocal about how much she liked seeing the headshots live. That went a long way to getting people loosened up and comfortable enough to be themselves and not worry about what they’ll look like later. Many asked to do several versions before getting the one they wanted, tweaking their poses bit by bit until they found a frame they liked. Only three people didn’t seem overly enthused about the results, but I chalk that up to them not enjoying getting their photo taken more than anything else. The best part? When I got home, all the images were loaded and ready to make final adjustments. All rejected frames were removed, and only the flagged images were saved. The process cut down on time, ensured people were as satisfied as possible with their headshots, and allowed delivery of these final images to the client later that evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279630478-SQXZ2A8ZSPX6QK6PWIPY/IMG_6103.jpg oct-2023 - 10.24.23 Wally Lunch Met up with Wally for lunch and he took me by his studio at Curiosity on Main Street. We chatted about tech and process, eventually ending up on the differences between DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro. Their office is moving next year and Wally’s pumped about how the new studio space will be set up, so he made this foam diorama to scale as a way to visualize where everything will go. “Better than drawing it out,” he said. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279637045-GCYGIMP1ROE44JGR3RFK/ZFC_9738.jpg oct-2023 - 10.25.23 Costumes “Can I take your picture?” “Sure!” (Snap) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691477114-8M8ROKG5T4XT39B12NA2/ZFC_9760.jpg oct-2023 - 10.26.23 Egypt It was the final Tiki Night of the year (and apparently for the foreseeable future) at Japp’s this evening. Travis, Rob, and I met up for some tropical cocktails and, through the deployment of mutual friends texting him, coaxed Ronny out to meet us. He brought his very sweet and happy little dog, Egypt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691470794-YCB0DKI6B868GIR32TZI/IMG_6131.jpg oct-2023 - 10.27.23 Bob’s Not a Dog Guy We went to a Cincinnati-themed costume party at Caitlyn and Brendan’s house in CUF this evening. Everyone had creative costumes that alluded to several Cincinnati things, from brands to murals and more. My costume was a cumbersome Carew Tower outfit that involved a 2D version of the building with a hole my face could poke through and shoulder straps on the opposite side that I wore as a reverse backpack. Bob and Erin-Marie joined the party at some point in the night, and Caitlyn’s pup (dressed as a cheese coney) stood patiently by Bob’s feet as he snacked. Bob is unabashedly not-a-dog-person, making the moment even funnier to me. I wish I’d gotten a clearer photo of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691477151-8DHIS1RIF9306X00SFOV/IMG_6161.jpg oct-2023 - 10.28.23 Halloween Shenanigans What an evening! Mike and Maria hosted a killer party at their place, complete with spooky decor and loads of food and drink. Everyone showed up in costume and had a blast, including us. I made use of my Carew Tower for the second night in a row, which probably covers the cost of making it at this point. As the night descended into increasingly un-sober silliness, we made the collective decision to head out to Longfellow to finish out the evening. Mike dressed as Leatherface. Before the evening was through, Maria managed to snag his mask and try it on for size. I would be willing to bet money she doesn’t remember taking this grainy photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691564502-DCYAKD5RG5NU90LSUHK9/IMG_6167.jpg oct-2023 - 10.29.23 Sky Roof Sights Just a moment during my day when I looked up and saw something out of the ordinary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698692163101-QN4AL24LAG0YI7YVARSN/NZ9_8410.jpg oct-2023 - 10.30.23 Truly Unnerving Photographed a doctor training session this morning. They were using these dummies as a way to get the hang of doing CPR and fitting breathing apparatuses. I find them unnaturally creepy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698893797918-X8WMZ10KT4AABHB2IF7F/ZFC_9766-Enhanced-NR.jpg oct-2023 - 10.31.23 Only Treats, No Tricks It was something like 40ºF outside, but dammit, I passed out candy to any kid brave enough to wander through the unseasonable cold. Ashley and Myrtle shivered on the porch above while I stood at the base of the stoop with the bowl of treats so no one had to climb up to us (and risk tripping in a costume). We only had about 30 people show up this year due to the weather. That means I need to eat half a bowl of Snickers, Almond Joy, and Twix for the next month. My life’s so hard. Thus ends another Halloween. I’m sad to see it go this year—more so than usual. This month’s busy schedule makes me feel like I didn’t soak it in like I have in the past. There’s always next year. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/nov2023 daily 0.75 2023-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698894745990-KDSD67O07ZN2HM4BTRLS/Screenshot+2023-11-01+at+11.02.14%E2%80%AFPM.png nov-2023 - 11.1.23 Gambled and Lost “Are you okay with the cars in the foreground of this shot? I don’t want to sink time into the Photoshop if I have to return for another shot,” I asked the architect over email. Usually I get a response rather quickly, but it’d been 30 minutes with no reply. Energized and ready to move forward, my impatience told me to go ahead and start removing all power lines, poles, and shadows. This would be one of the more challenging jobs I’ve done lately, so I thought that if I got started ASAP, I could get it back to the client sooner. Three hours later, at around the 80% finished mark, the architect replied and said they weren’t into the red car. Having gambled and looking more and more like I was going to lose hours of productivity, I tried changing the color of the red car so it would disappear more into the bottom of the frame. No dice. I’ll have to return and get a new image entirely. I’m wondering if I can’t splice a new car over the existing car, though. It’ll be tough, but I’m up for the challenge… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698894745990-KDSD67O07ZN2HM4BTRLS/Screenshot+2023-11-01+at+11.02.14%E2%80%AFPM.png nov-2023 - 11.1.23 Gambled and Lost “Are you okay with the cars in the foreground of this shot? I don’t want to sink time into the Photoshop if I have to return for another shot,” I asked the architect over email. Usually I get a response rather quickly, but it’d been 30 minutes with no reply. Energized and ready to move forward, my impatience told me to go ahead and start removing all power lines, poles, and shadows. This would be one of the more challenging jobs I’ve done lately, so I thought that if I got started ASAP, I could get it back to the client sooner. Three hours later, at around the 80% finished mark, the architect replied and said they weren’t into the red car. Having gambled and looking more and more like I was going to lose hours of productivity, I tried changing the color of the red car so it would disappear more into the bottom of the frame. No dice. I’ll have to return and get a new image entirely. I’m wondering if I can’t splice a new car over the existing car, though. It’ll be tough, but I’m up for the challenge… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480286651-UKR0AHDLDM0ZWV8JH2LI/ZFC_9779.jpg nov-2023 - 11.2.23 RIP As seen in Linden Grove Cemetery in Covington. I needed to photograph a storefront with very specific lighting, but the sun wasn’t in the right position when I made it over there. To burn some time until I could take the photo, I rode around the city and enjoyed the fresh air. This was taken during that hour and a half of aimless exploration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480280674-WFIZO2UPGPPEBVFY2RBD/IMG_6255.jpg nov-2023 - 11.3.23 3 Years of Scrap It’s Ashley’s birthday. We went out to eat at Nada then came back to the house for a bon fire. I had 5 buckets of offcuts and scrap from woodworking projects over the years that were taking up space in my workshop. They met a fiery end in the pit and fueled our evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480287017-5Z6O2OJKRLAYRR2UU26K/NZ9_9707.jpg nov-2023 - 11.4.23 Oops! Sometimes you don’t have a remarkable image for the day and all you have to post is an accidental long exposure of something indistinguishable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480283493-TB4MF4VHUP8QX0PJBKFD/IMG_6262.jpg nov-2023 - 11.5.23 Toy Bin For a Dog I’m making Myrtle a new toy bin for the living room. The basket we have for her now is too deep for her to get at the toys at the bottom. This stylish trough will spread the toys out and the shallow container will be better for reaching toys at the bottom. I’m making it out of poplar and pre-made wooden legs I got on Amazon (didn’t feel like trying and failing to make legs this time). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480280252-9LVCTRXLX4LKHIACIRPU/H%26H+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg nov-2023 - 11.6.23 Updated Night Shot The fine folks at H&H wanted refreshed images of their storefront for the media. I did Golden Hour the other day, and tonight I stopped by to get night shots with the store lit from within. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480289681-CMHZCBKJQM2V8558OOYL/IMG_6295.jpg nov-2023 - 11.7.23 It’s Been Awhile Having no ability to record audio at a professional level and needing to figure that out before next week, I decided to pick up a set of Rode Wireless Pro mics. Not wishing to wait for delivery, this gave me the opportunity to go to Microcenter—a store that’s been around for as long as I can remember and still thoroughly enjoy. I cannot tell if Microcenter is self-aware or not, but its aesthetic inside and out screams late-90s to me. While it carries modern products, the inside of the store still feels like it’s trapped during the age of dial-up, Windows 95, Sega Genesis, and off-white CRT monitors that will inevitably flicker and buzz at some point. I genuinely love being able to pick up tech while getting a subtle dose of nostalgia during the ride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699589881415-I7TDTDY94173H66NA401/NZ9_1611.png nov-2023 - 11.8.23 Four Men Three men lean in around a circular table to listen to a story a fourth man is telling. Seconds later, everyone erupts into laughter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699589874461-6A7BZ2CHICC4HQHQAJW5/ZFC_9851-Edit.jpg nov-2023 - 11.9.23 Rode Wireless Pro I finally have good lavalier mics. Going to be using them this weekend for a video shoot inside a grocery store. Combining them with DaVinci Resolve, I feel confident I can make something slick for the client. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172585598-2YVC4IB3D2DLYY6W92I2/IMG_6314.jpg nov-2023 - 11.10.23 Second Story Second Story in Covington is a great bar that I want to return to more often. I’m short on words at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172598866-CKUPZMKZIOVJ3OFXO42X/ZFC_9907.jpg nov-2023 - 11.11.23 La Grange Ashley and I went to La Grange, KY this morning. She saw an article about it recently in Southern Living and thought it looked cute. She knew I would be interested in it because a freight train runs right along it’s Main Street. We took Myrtle with us and were surprised to learn every shop we went into allowed dogs inside—a small luxury we appreciate immensely. The local mercantile clerk said trains run through town on average about 12 times a day. At the time we spoke to her, she said we were “due for one” since she hadn’t seen one for several hours. Eagerly awaiting the photo opportunity a train passing through town would offer, I plotted the corner I’d run to when I heard the distant wail of its horn. We were there for three and a half hours. No train ever came. I couldn’t believe our luck. Guess we’ll just have to go back. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172595161-84X1I6C46LB2EBPQ02SI/NZ9_2013.jpg nov-2023 - 11.12.23 Video-Making and the Floral World I guess I’m a professional videographer now. A prominent floral supplier (not Ashley’s company) hired me to co-direct and film a floral-based video for them using a display at the Newport Kroger store. The video will be used internally for training purposes. While it certainly won’t be interesting to many, I hope whoever watches it will find it helpful and engaging for the 60 seconds we aim to cut together. It's a tiny little project, and I’m thankful I get to work on something bite-sized to kick off this new career angle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172585548-J5LTIPPDQW3U39G1HRC4/IMG_6405.jpg nov-2023 - 11.13.23 Video-Making and the Mural World Worked on finishing the first draft of a two-minute mini-documentary about the Cincinnati Pride mural ArtWorks made over the summer. I photographed the process months ago and recorded video while there. Using interviews with horrible audio from the dedication ceremony in September, I was able to put together a decent little video about it for ArtWorks. Waiting to hear back about further edits. I made the jump from Adobe Premiere Pro to DaVinci Resolve recently. After speaking with professionals in the industry, it’s clear many are either Premiere die-hards or making the jump to Resolve. Very few contemporary videographers and editors I’ve spoken to are using Final Cut any longer. The ones who are tell me they’re eyeballing their strategy to transition to Resolve. Before I get more into this, I decided I should probably hoist sails the way the industry’s blowing to make it easier on myself down the road. The best thing about Resolve is it’s a one-time fee of $300 for the full software without a monthly charge. Remember when using software wasn’t based on a subscription service? While there is a learning curve, I’m finding the all-in-one software remarkably easier to use overall than Premiere. I’ve already been able to create effects in Resolve that I couldn’t begin to tell you how to make in Premiere. This faster pipeline to make better, more polished content faster only reinforces my desire to keep using it. The amount of YouTube tutorials available, too, has been very helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172588959-0XEK17KL86EVA6VQ94KL/IMG_6407.jpg nov-2023 - 11.14.23 Never Did This Before There are moments when we can say for certainty that we haven’t done something before, and that novelty makes us pause to appreciate uncharted territory, however mundane it may be. Placing a sealed bottle of red wine in the cup holder of the car is one of those times for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172595391-UMXZ3O1MJK5MRLNO3CUR/NZ9_2042.jpg nov-2023 - 11.15.23 The Bellevue Hill Park ‘N Tag The pavilion in Bellevue Hill Park is looking far more colorful than normal. I’m of two minds about this. On one hand, I think graffiti is an art form that enhances a space or wall considerably when done well. There are many examples of photogenic graffitied walls and buildings throughout the world that I appreciate. On the other hand, this specific mid-century pavilion was beautiful already without spray paint, and the graffiti here doesn’t do it for me at all. I wonder if anyone’s planning to remove this or if this will remain a canvas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593952182-RXO1XINVV0R9BRRB003T/CUF+Murals+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg nov-2023 - 11.16.23 Murals in CUF A client needs photos of several newer murals around CUF, so I went out on foot to grab as many as I could. The light wasn’t right for a couple of them, but I think this one turned out well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593951700-I62HSD2OZOT05PJIN0KO/CAM+Gala+2023+-+Phil+Armstrong+-241.jpg nov-2023 - 11.17.23 CAM Gala 2023 What a night! The Art Museum had me photograph their annual end-of-year gala again. This year, I brought along a second shooter, Justin, to assist with coverage. The 2023’s theme was ‘We’ll Always Have Paris.’ The approach to the Great Hall (the one with the Steinberg mural) had street lamps with warm, flickering bulbs and two artificial trees that felt like they belonged on either side of a city street. A mime (pictured) wandered through the crowd and interacted in ways you’d imagine, often making an effort to photo-bomb my portraits. A man playing accordion in a beret slowly made his way through all the rooms, filling each one with Parisian tunes. Everyone was in great spirits and no one turned down the chance to be photographed. We worked for five and a half hours, capturing everything we could. As usual, the Great Hall is difficult to photograph due to its high ceilings that don’t bounce flash as easily as other rooms, but I think we still managed to gather a healthy gallery of images the museum will like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593958946-6BK2JW9LQ70G9LMX4SW1/IMG_6452-2.jpg nov-2023 - 11.18.23 Nailed By Buttonz I spent the entire day processing and editing CAM photos from last night. Tonight, though, we went to Kiki in College Hill to get ramen. This is a few doors down. I wonder if the goat was actually at the photoshoot or if it was edited in later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593962857-3UVWA012X5KYJN1S6R1L/ZFC_9963.jpg nov-2023 - 11.19.23 Out For a Walk CAM photos from Friday were still in need of processing, so I spent a good deal of the day doing that. Feeling bad for a very bored Myrtle, we did make time to walk her and get her out of the house. We’ve been treating her with kid gloves lately due to her still healing after her surgery. She wants to play and rough house, but we’re not taking a chance on her opening up that wound and having to return to the vet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593963486-V8BASV5P6UV0SPZDWIHL/ZFC_9999-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg nov-2023 - 11.20.23 The Antiques We have this antique phone desk in my dining room that we placed an old rotary phone on. It’s not plugged in, nor does it have a wire any longer. It’s a color we liked (guessing it was manufactured in the 70s?), and thought it would look nice on this desk as a piece of idle decor. We found the phone at an antique show a couple of years ago, and the desk is a piece of furniture my grandmother once had in her hallway. I remember doing my math homework on it once when I was young. I like furniture that exists to serve a need that no longer exists. Even cordless phones were popularized in the 80s. The concept of needing a place to sit down where the telephone had to stay, while not something alien to my generation, is still wild. (We had a rotary in our household up until the 2000s.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700594470650-U335IWDA9IFNZAHLMVG9/ZFC_9976-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg nov-2023 - 11.21.23 Lego Orchid Ashley got a neat Lego orchid for her birthday. I saw Chris Glass using construction paper as a simple mobile backdrop in Spring Grove Cemetery years ago, so I attribute learning the technique to him. He is inadvertently the creative director of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187966364-ZB31VU3GYEV6SVUCRKJQ/Sigma+Chi+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg nov-2023 - 11.22.23 Frat House This image took me somewhere around 3 hours to fully touch up. Removing conduit and utilities, track lighting installed in the wrong place, and color correcting using over ten different masks made crafting this particular shot a long, arduous task. All in all, I’m pleased with how it turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187970782-LRTLBZ55N5M31VSUKJ4Z/IMG_6499.jpg nov-2023 - 11.24.23 Made a Turkey I was in charge of acquiring, cooking, and serving the turkey this year. For my first time ever, I think it went pretty well. I’m notoriously bad at cooking anything, so the fact that I managed to produce a decent turkey was a small miracle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187974018-J50R7WDIRQGV6NWN7DZY/IMG_6508.jpg nov-2023 - 11.25.23 Rosemary Margarita Ashley made a rosemary margarita for a get-together we had this evening at our house. It was so pretty, I thought it should be commemorated with a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187966425-QUB89PAVRTTV6AR3ZIEC/ZFC_0005.jpg nov-2023 - 11.25.23 Pub Mix Contest Allie and Travis hosted a party in which everyone made their own pub mixes, and attendees could give each a try. The mixes ranged from savory to sweet, with some spicier than others. I couldn’t decide whether I preferred the savory or sweet mixes more, honestly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187971572-K919KPTLOXBD120AMC3T/IMG_6515.jpg nov-2023 - 11.26.23 Picture This Took this sign as a directive. Also, I do not feel well, and I’m going to bed early. Think I caught a bug over the weekend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187975134-WLUDQ0DA0DISRBIWN8OM/IMG_6523.jpg nov-2023 - 11.27.23 Snoot Stand A nasty cold took me out late last night and kept me in bed for the first half of the day before I managed to get downstairs to the couch. I had to cancel work and focus on recovery. Between bouts of heavy eyelids and sinus pressure, I watched TV and threw the many toys Myrtle delivered to the edge of the cushion beside me. When Ashley joined me on the couch, Myrtle decided snuggle time was more important than playtime. I sometimes like to put my hand beneath her chin and hold her little head up. She lay with her head in my hand for 15 minutes before I could no longer support her weight and gently let her go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701488851192-6WFWRZSDUQE93AHJ0ZG2/IMG_6530.jpg nov-2023 - 11.28.23 Fell Off a Cliff Despite feeling well enough to sit at my desk and hammer out a half day of work, I started feeling absolutely horrible around 6 PM and made the decision to go to bed early. Fever kicked in, body aches, constant coughing and nose-blowing. The only reprieve I found from the symptoms was a video on YouTube where a guy built a log cabin under a large rock using only an axe, a saw, and some nails. Ashley decided to sleep in the basement to keep herself out of range of my coughing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701488850558-1PVXQNO5DE61HN2ER1A5/IMG_6540.jpg nov-2023 - 11.29.23 Sleeping Buddy Last night’s sleep, if you could call it that, was awful. Fever dreams kept me waking up every 30 minutes or so, and my chest felt like it was on fire when I coughed. When dawn arrived, I managed to relax enough that I could get about an hour of sleep. Spent the rest of the day in bed and on the couch with no work done. Ashley didn’t fare well in the basement and wanted the bedroom again, so we swapped places. Myrtle, in a surprising move, decided to sleep with me this evening. I think she can tell something’s wrong. Need to kick this thing before an event I need to shoot Friday night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701488795617-9L0FYSS9D7QPUHUTHN0I/IMG_6541.jpg nov-2023 - 11.30.23 Bland Meal Fruit and vegetables? Check. Carbohydrates and protein? Check. Hydration? Check. This is possibly the healthiest meal I’ve eaten as of late, and since I taste nothing anyway due to this virus, the urge to eat anything fattening and delicious is wholly unappealing. I did go to the doctor today and get prednisone for whatever’s attacking me. They COVID tested me again and it’s negative. Starting to feel like I have a handle on this thing now. Should be good for tomorrow’s event. I sat in front of the TV and watched three hours of Bar Rescue, ate my Bland Meal, and went downstairs for another night in the basement. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dec2023 daily 0.75 2024-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701489219259-0MVRSUTDAB0TOO8M0XAH/NZ9_7645.jpg dec-2023 - 12.1.23 Back In the Saddle The steroids the doctor gave me, coupled with some supplemental OTC meds, got me back to 80% of my old self. I was able to make it to the event in Walnut Hills after all. I masked up to ensure I didn’t spread anything to anyone else and had a good time interacting with real people again. The event was at ArtWorks’ V2 gallery on McMillan and featured a collection of young artists’ works. They spoke about who they were and what inspired their art, then ended with an open floor of people checking it all out. It felt nice to get back into it after a week at home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701489219259-0MVRSUTDAB0TOO8M0XAH/NZ9_7645.jpg dec-2023 - 12.1.23 Back In the Saddle The steroids the doctor gave me, coupled with some supplemental OTC meds, got me back to 80% of my old self. I was able to make it to the event in Walnut Hills after all. I masked up to ensure I didn’t spread anything to anyone else and had a good time interacting with real people again. The event was at ArtWorks’ V2 gallery on McMillan and featured a collection of young artists’ works. They spoke about who they were and what inspired their art, then ended with an open floor of people checking it all out. It felt nice to get back into it after a week at home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920114408-0EZWIYGA3YSSLZIHGVPK/ZFC_0010-HDR.jpg dec-2023 - 12.2.23 Ralphie Ornament Our friends, Maria and Mike, have been part of our lives essentially since we got Myrtle. Maria has a dog boarding and daycare business that she runs out of their home downtown, and Mike works for MedVet. When we got Myrtle back in 2017, we wanted to socialize her with other dogs but in a smaller, more controlled setting than a regular daycare. Maria was the perfect person to offer that service as she only watched five dogs at a time. A couple of years ago, after the passing of their dog Bella, they adopted a sweet little Norwich Terrier called Ralphie. He’s an absolutely adorable and playful little pup with an aggressively cute head-to-body ratio who Myrtle loves to rough house when they’re together. Ralphie’s their only dog at the moment, so to thank them for being hugely important people in Myrtle’s life, I made them a little wood-burned ornament of Ralphie for their tree. The backing he’s glued onto is a combo of walnut, maple, and poplar. We put a message on the reverse side for them and Ashley will be giving it to them when she drops off Myrtle for a night of boarding (we’re both going on separate work trips). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920120373-85J6MIQ2BMNI8N9C5L9Z/Millersburg+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg dec-2023 - 12.3.23 Arrival In Millersburg A work trip took me to Millersburg, KY today. I was hired by Yard & Co. to accompany them on an excursion where they met with an architect from Seattle in Millersburg to discuss the development of a pocket neighborhood within the ailing small town. We got there as the sun was going down and took a quick walk down to the village green—their version of the town square. Tonight I will photograph a Christmas event at the local inn. Tomorrow I will walk the majority of Millersburg and photograph anything of architectural interest. The footprint is small and won’t take longer than a couple of hours. After that, I’ll be heading to Paris, KY before eventually ending in Bardstown by nightfall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920118359-4HOCU4QBG1YDU6543SZ2/Millersburg+-+Phil+Armstrong+-95.jpg dec-2023 - 12.4.23 Central KY The morning started in Millersburg. I stayed at the Mustard Seed Inn last night and was tasked with photographing the city’s architectural makeup when I got up. Though I have many examples of beautiful old architecture in the town, this image of a man driving this old tractor resonated most with me. Right after I snapped the photo, he raised what looked to be a liquor bottle to his mouth and took a swig. After two hours of documentation, my work partner, Chris, and I drove to Paris, KY, where we documented Main Street and some surrounding areas. While there, I ran across a rental store called Movieland with an extremely faded storefront. The posters in the front windows advertised movies from 2017, hinting that it likely closed that year. When I looked inside, tidy racks of DVDs appeared frozen in time as if the closure was sudden. Paris had a statue of Secretariat, a cheap-looking Eiffel Tower monument, and a building with a plaque that claimed it was “the world’s tallest three-story building.” After leaving Paris and returning to Millersburg to rendezvous with the rest of the team, we headed to Bardstown. The crew found their way to a bourbon bar, then a tavern, then back to another bar before heading to the Motor Inn, where we had a reservation for the night. I’m still not feeling well and cannot taste anything, so to let my body recover, I drank water and ate salad. The Motor Inn wraps around a central pool and common area. Once they were checked in, everyone went out and built a fire and continued to enjoy a bottle of bourbon. Sadly, I called it a night because of my lingering sickness and didn’t join them. Instead, I drained my head of about 10 lbs of snot and tried falling asleep between coughing fits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920118165-7WW5FFY6MLNY9OPD3S24/Midway+-+Phil+Armstrong+-24.jpg dec-2023 - 12.5.23 More Central KY We woke up in Bardstown, got breakfast, and documented the historic district on foot. After several hours, we got in the rental and headed to Danville. In Danville, the crew got what they described as the best donut they’d ever had (I didn’t partake once again because I still could not taste anything), and we walked around checking out its historic district’s commercial corridor and surrounding residential streets. We also took a shortcut through a cemetery with an array of headstones with some of the boldest designs I’d seen outside of Spring Grove Cemetery. Once finished in Danville, we drove to Midway. Much like La Grange, Midway features a rail line that bisects their historic downtown area, though less tightly than La Grange. I asked the barista at the coffee shop how often it rolls through, and she said “about every hour.” While walking and documenting Midway, I kept listening for an approaching train. I walked further up the hill into the residential part of Midway and photographed several houses and historic buildings. I still hadn’t heard or seen the train when I got back downtown. The evening had arrived, and our trip back to Cincinnati was in order. As soon as we left, the other car of Yard people said the train came through. I’m beginning to think I’m cursed when it comes to seeing trains in small KY cities. Once back in Cincinnati, we all went to Alcove and had one final meal together before going our separate ways. It was a great trip full of fun, easy photography that I enjoyed, a boatload of genuine laughs, and two very nice overnight stays in comfortable, alternative accommodations. That said, I’m looking forward to sleeping in my bed, not having to excuse myself every 12 seconds to blow my nose, and letting my social battery recharge by not saying a word to anyone for 24 hours. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920114812-1YH3PZEYLYJ36ZKDUCUL/ZFC_0030-Enhanced-NR.jpg dec-2023 - 12.6.23 Myrtle Christmas 2023 Ashley’s on a work trip, so it’s just me and Myrt. We hadn’t yet done her Christmas card photo, and with the big day rapidly approaching, it was up to me to handle it alone this year. I was having trouble coming up with a different concept from previous years. While sitting on the couch brainstorming and watching Bar Rescue, Myrtle walked over to the toy bin I made her a few weeks ago and got out one of her toys. The idea came to me at that moment. She’s been a good girl all year, and that toy bin was just large enough (and sturdy enough) to hold her. After a handful of Cheerios and some quick training, she got up in the bin. I surrounded her with toys, found a static winter image on YouTube, and took my shot. Submitted it to the printer and should get them all later this week. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438863167-X3VJQVWLH4EDL6EKC2J1/IMG_6643.jpg dec-2023 - 12.7.23 Stoplight Entertainment Whenever I’m in the car, I plug my phone into the dash with a 6-inch cable to stream audio and enable Carplay. I never want to be distracted while driving, and the cable prevents me from fiddling with my phone because it’s too short to move around. Occasionally, though, I unplug it for a photo. While at a stoplight today, I saw this dog in the car behind me. It’s not a good photo, but it was a nice moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438869823-VXWLM03CEU41U3F7WTGD/NZ9_8653-Enhanced-NR-HDR-Edit.jpg dec-2023 - 12.8.23 6th and Main Christmas at the corner of 6th and Main downtown. This handsome building has been home to several things over the years, but I think Richter & Phillips is doing the best job of highlighting its architectural features by continually lighting it up every December. During the holiday season, the wreaths emblazoned into the facade above the second-floor windows feel especially festive, and I love the way they’ve strung the three strands of lights between them like ribbons. Lining the perimeter of each window and the bottom of the roofline is an excellent touch, as well. I look forward to seeing this every year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438868853-EGBHIMUSWXAE81OI78WM/ZFC_0035.jpg dec-2023 - 12.9.23 Leaf Jail Maximum security prison for only the most unbe-leaf-ably horrible offenders. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438863317-HI40GZYTNM54PX7QAY0M/IMG_6687.jpg dec-2023 - 12.10.23 Ding-Dongs Went over to my parents’ house to see them and work on refinishing a used crib my sister bought on Facebook marketplace for $25. The person who sold it to her lived within 2 miles of my house, making me the designated crib-transporter since my sister lives an hour north and has enough on her plate. While at my parents’ house, these two ding-dongs sat patiently on the downstairs steps waiting for me to finish and come back upstairs to pet and play with them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007475842-AA4L0P2P7TNEKQ4D3WM2/Screenshot+2023-12-13+at+3.23.39%E2%80%AFPM.png dec-2023 - 12.11.23 Unflattering Surveillance This is kind of a weird entry. I didn’t take this photo directly, but I am responsible for it. For a while now, I’ve wanted to place outdoor cameras in several spots around our house to keep an eye on the porch, backyard, and alley because I like the option of having a record if I ever need it. After months of on-and-off research and YouTube reviews of several brands, I decided to bite the bullet on a bundle deal of Arlo Pro 4 cameras from Best Buy that wirelessly connect to Wi-Fi and are powered by rechargeable batteries. They’re not the latest models Arlo offers, but the price for the number of cameras and batteries was right. After charging them, finding the optimal positions, and installing the mounting plate, I brought each one online. Doing so was as easy as putting a battery in and adding it to the network via the Arlo app. Once added, I adjusted the settings to record when needed. A ‘feed’ tab in the app collects moments of activity based on those settings and stores clips for 30 days. While reviewing the feed, I screenshot the first moments the porch camera came online. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007475440-SLXMYA6M6ZFOO5Y53USB/121+E+15th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-41.jpg dec-2023 - 12.12.23 The Narrow Staircase Rebecca, the realtor I work with, had me photograph 121 E 15th Street in Covington this evening. When I arrived at 4 PM, the light outside was already fading. I quickly got what I could and moved indoors to grab interiors with what little light we still had. The house is old. The owner says he found it on a Sanborn map from the 1860s, which would probably make it pre-Civil War. Rebecca has a local researcher looking into its history for the listing, so I will learn more later this week. The house has been updated since it was built and retains very little original character today—except this gnarly staircase leading to an unlit, dusty attic space. The staircase is narrow, only widening to about 16 inches at most. For the photo, I used my phone’s flashlight to lighten it up and give it definition. It makes a 90-degree left turn up to the attic space, which rises to a reasonable standing height. I didn’t photograph the attic as I had to finish my job with the light I still had, but it was creepy. It’s interesting to think about all the people who’ve climbed these stairs over the long lifespan of this building. All the kids who might’ve played up there and/or were likely too afraid to. All the owners who stored their seasonal decorations at the top of the steps and had to wander up with a flashlight to retrieve them each year. All the cats that found their way inside and realized this was a secret space where no one would bother them. Also, did I mention this opens up to the primary bedroom? The headboard of the bed is against this wall. Not at all unnerving! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007477606-EBQ0BX61UNF03HPD8P33/Clearly+Indigenous+Opening-+Phil+Armstrong+-96-2.jpg dec-2023 - 12.13.23 Indigenous Dancers The Cincinnati Art Museum’s latest exhibit, Clearly Indigenous, showcases a collection of Native American glass artwork. To memorialize opening night, organizers brought in indigenous dancers to perform in the Great Hall. Three people dressed in traditional Native American attire performed to the sound of chanting and rhythmic drum beating. As I was so caught up in making sure the images were focused and I had my composition right, I missed the title of the chanting man. However, something he said during his speech struck me. He said that as the dancers perform, their vibrations find their way deep into the soil. Those vibrations connect with the mycelium network, granting positive effects to the earth. He speculated that the land beneath the Cincinnati Art Museum hasn’t had this healing touch in a long time. As I watched them perform, I couldn’t help but feel like I was witnessing something truly special—maybe even more special than I currently understand it to be. While I photographed this performer at f/4, I wasn’t satisfied with the level of bokeh. Her dress clashed too much with the audience behind her. To give it a more f/2.8 look, I utilized Adobe’s Lens Blur feature to increase the contrast a little bit more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007470321-XNF6FWD7EYVTR6ZFUTLL/Rookwood+Holiday+Party+2023+-+Phil+Armstrong+-75.jpg dec-2023 - 12.14.23 Holiday Parties That Aren’t My Own Annie asked if I would photograph the Rookwood holiday party this year. I always like working for them when the chance arises. Their party this year was held at Velocity Esports, which was most recently Rotolo, at Newport on the Levee. Everyone ate and hung out, bowled as much as they wanted, and bought raffle tickets for prize baskets. There was an awards ceremony to honor several spectacular employees, as well as a rundown of a few bits of news the company had for future projects. I stayed for a little over two hours, got my shots, then made my way out. While on the walk home, I couldn’t help but think about how the freelance career path is an oddly lonely one at times. Sure, I get to work with loads of people throughout the year and I’m never truly working by myself when I’m doing events, real estate, architecture, or headshots. But the holiday party isn’t something I get to do anymore. While the corporate job I had years ago nixed the after-hours party in favor of a cheap long lunch hour in a conference room, it was still nice to have a brief window of time when everyone would stop working and just hang out together. If I were a Rookwood employee, I would’ve enjoyed going to Velocity with my coworkers and spending an afternoon together. It’s probably a grass-is-always-greener thing, but it bummed me out a little thinking that I haven’t had that in several years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703008915515-96TEZEGVQQSC73EK55T0/NZ9_2017-Enhanced-NR.jpg dec-2023 - 12.15.23 A Polaroid Instance ArtWorks’ Harmonies: Mural Studio Gallery opening was held tonight at Bricker Graydon on Main Street. Young artists’ works were hung around the perimeter of the space and open to the public to come in and check out. Someone there was using a Polaroid instant camera to the delight of the artists and their friends/families. Maybe I should get one and offer this to clients? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703008917047-1LDPEI3Q04A9AU9LQKXT/ZFC_0073-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg dec-2023 - 12.16.23 Christmas Drinks Ashley and Chelsea had an idea to make special Christmas drinks. I was tasked with riding to Party Source and loading up a backpack full of 750ml bottles of various spirits and mixers to deliver to them. While the drink they planned didn’t aesthetically work out the way they wanted, they still had a good time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703029293741-VVQ0K5HO0CPIYVC74LD3/IMG_6762.jpg dec-2023 - 12.17.23 Dark Skies While heading for coffee, the sky looked dark and scary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703029293786-M3RVJL8H1O1SPT6L016Q/IMG_6774.jpg dec-2023 - 12.18.23 Case Reorganization Back in May, I bought a hard case for my essential work equipment. The foam it came with was scored in a grid pattern so you can pull it apart in the shape you wanted. Fast forward seven months and the pull-apart foam that came with the case wasn’t holding its original shape. The custom voids I’d created for each piece of equipment had begun to take on a life of their own against my wishes. I wanted to redo my case but didn’t want to use that flimsy pull-apart foam again, so I got a denser, non-scored block to work with. It required manually cutting the shapes I wanted, but it looks and feels much better than before. It should withstand wear and tear for longer than the other foam. By storing the Z9 body apart from the lenses, I could get a third lens in the box without leaving anything out from before. The result is better organization, additional capacity, and an overall cleaner case that suits my operation better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781477310-UK53U29NZSLIOZZJJIE8/ZFC_0080-Enhanced-NR.jpg dec-2023 - 12.19.23 Main Street Glow Just a quiet scene on Main Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781481048-DY3BVP05JTNZPAJ4VYLM/NZ9_2080-Edit.jpg dec-2023 - 12.20.23 Game Table Composite Single Batch built an awesome custom game table for a client and needed photos for their portfolio before it left the shop. The reason this fairly simple composition is interesting (to me) is because so much of it was pieced together later in Photoshop. The wood rails and the beer were actually in place for the photo. I only had a sample of the green felt, so I placed it beneath the beer. After I got home, I brought the green felt to the edges of the table, took a photo of a royal flush from the same angle, and found a pair of die online. Shadows were added, the lighting values were adjusted until they looked right, and I added a little tinge of red to the shadow of the die. Improvising like this is fun. When you don’t have everything for the shoot, it’s an exciting challenge to figure out how to add it later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781492031-LR77441EX0J1FQNG3JBK/ZFC_0091.jpg dec-2023 - 12.21.23 Errands With a View We had to run to the Zoning & Planning office inside the Campbell County Admin Building on Monmouth to submit an application to have our fence replaced with a new one. I usually hate doing this sort of thing, but the view from the third floor makes the trip more bearable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781486932-Z25GWOWWX8ECF5934ST6/IMG_6826.jpg dec-2023 - 12.22.23 Horror Santa Found this dirty, cybernetically enhanced Santa at the antique mall. I didn’t buy it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781483486-LVA53P8VBLDCSJAP3NDD/ZFC_0105.jpg dec-2023 - 12.23.23 Morning Walk Through Eden Park It was a nice morning, so we got coffee and went for a stroll through Eden Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703854970489-TFSPTHCCHWC55AVMVOF9/ZFC_0107.jpg dec-2023 - 12.24.23 Little Library Find I don’t know why, but the “Revised Edition” made me laugh. I’m imagining a critical piece of info was omitted in the original version, ultimately leading to the deaths of millions of Bonsai trees, and the publisher had to run another printing to save leafy lives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703854971199-IRZF0ENS81322UV3A53P/IMG_6868.jpg dec-2023 - 12.25.23 The Attic Christmas at my sister’s house devolved into climbing a ladder and peering into the attic to see what was up there after she said she’d never had the courage to do so. Short answer: nothing fun. A lot of insulation, a roll of carpet, and some bifold doors that hadn’t seen the light of day in years. I’m considering shopping in a creepy man deep in the background and texting her with some version of “I was looking at those photos again and didn’t notice this guy at the time.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704121562863-JPQ5Q8WX9OAKJAZ2S6QV/IMG_6875.jpg dec-2023 - 12.26.23 Clear Coat I’ve been wanting to free up space on the landing of the stairs to the basement. It has a mishmash of stuff that doesn’t aesthetically go together but serves a purpose. I made this shoe rack with a drawer to replace all of it and make that corner look more presentable overall. The design is based on a Wayfair listing, and I slightly altered the look of the drawer by adding a knob and staining it a dark espresso instead of keeping it yellow pine. When making stuff solely for my home, I don’t care about design theft. The dimensions are custom to the corner I intend to place it in, and it adds more shoe storage for Ashley’s collection by adding another shelf and expanding the width another six inches. I finished it with a protective clear coat and set it on the porch to dry. It’s still wet in this photo, so it will look less glossy and more even later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704121564130-GYAVCPGU9AUTR8GPU4CU/ZFC_0109-Enhanced-NR.jpg dec-2023 - 12.27.23 Good Corner For a Plastic Plant The new shoe rack I talked about in yesterday’s post is dry and ready for placement on the landing. After loading it up with all of Ashley’s shoes, we looked for something decorative to place on the top shelf. While there’s a door to the alley with a window next to it that we never open, we’re not certain a plant would survive in that spot. Thankfully, Ashley’s Lego orchid is low maintenance and works well in that corner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704121563954-62KWQYX15REYKMXTIUG2/NZ9_2134-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg dec-2023 - 12.28.23 Neewer Grip The Nikon subreddit clued me into the Neewer Z fc grip a few weeks ago. It improves the camera's ergonomics by adding a little bump-out on the shutter side to improve grip and an Arca mount on the bottom. The mount also adds several screw holes for mounting accessories such as video lights and external microphones. While I love my Z fc as my everyday camera, my only complaint has been how easily it is to drop. I usually wear a wrist or neck strap when I use it because the older-style body is flat enough that I often don’t trust my own grip on it. While I’ve yet to drop it, my heart skipped a beat several times when it came close. The mount takes care of this issue by better filling my palm and adding weight to the entire body thanks to its metal construction. And while I value a camera’s optics over its physical aesthetic, I don’t think the grip detracts from how the body looks. In fact, after putting it on, it’s challenging to imagine the Z fc without the bump-out now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704159096799-D6BWNIBF0ZZWOFQQ03LY/IMG_6912.jpg dec-2023 - 12.29.23 Perimeter Enhancement When we bought our house, the backyard was surrounded by a rotting, worn-out fence. Over the course of the last three years, it only grew worse. Bits of the bottom on the alley side began turning green and crumbled apart. The old gate sagged and barely saw any use due to its poor placement. I never managed to get one of the panels back into place after removing it when we had materials dropped off for our deck project years ago. The entire thing was nearing the end of its natural life. It’s apparently a slow time for fencing companies. After accepting a quote, we were shocked when they fit us in before the end of the year. They ripped down the old fence in less than an hour and spent the rest of the day casually destroying the yard and giving the vertical 4x4s concrete shoes. They say this will be finished tomorrow, but I’m skeptical. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704159100263-DZMSKRO6SSZ1817UJE3V/ZFC_0227-Enhanced-NR.jpg dec-2023 - 12.30.23 Second Christmas My sister’s stepdaughter didn’t have Christmas with us this year. To make up for it, we did Christmas together a week later. Ashley and I went all in on her gifts and got her a light-up Razor scooter, a Barbie Dream Boat, and some other smaller gifts. She seemed pretty excited by all of it. Watching a kid open presents and temporarily lose their minds with excitement is a special joy. I fondly remember that feeling from when I was a kid. Not sure I’ve felt it since. Ashley helped her put together the boat during a quieter moment. It was adorable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704159094861-0ERL8SZGMFZYJX0V2WI2/IMG_6963.jpg dec-2023 - 12.31.23 Five Years I’ve officially kept this daily photo project going for five years as of tonight. It started as a Twitter project and morphed into something that later moved entirely to this site. I gave every photo a name from the start, but I didn’t start journaling with each one until December 1 of that first year when I knew I’d have room to give each image additional context. Feeling a mix of pride and hopelessness at the moment about it. Looking back on everything I did and experienced through those years, it’s easy to ignore the dangerousness of the rose-tinted glasses through which I view them. Did life peak already, or does it just seem that way? The pandemic and being laid off aside, I’ve had some incredible times since I started this. Sticking with a project for five years like this feels like an accomplishment, but it’s also a sad reminder that those moments were fleeting. Allie and Travis graciously hosted a party to ring in the New Year. Here’s a Polaroid of me holding a plate of cheese balls from the evening; imagine the cheese balls are all the photos I’ve put on this site for the last five years, and it makes some kind of sense. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jan2024 daily 0.75 2024-02-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704205935076-006CVURKTZMVYEDNMMZL/ZFC_0304-HDR.jpg jan-2024 - 1.1.24 Quiet Loss A friend who's been extremely important to me for many years seems less interested in our friendship these days. Somewhere along the way last year, I think something shifted. I can't pinpoint what happened or why. Regardless, I believe I’m slipping into a depression over it. I haven't felt this kind of loss and sadness in ten years. Waking up sick to my stomach about it every day sucks. The only thing that really helps is being around other people and Ashley. The last thing I want is to make this worse by approaching them about it. I genuinely love them and never want to upset them. But I also can't keep muscling through pangs of nausea every day as the texts and DMs I sent to spur conversation about common interests or inquiring about when we can get together are left on read while their social media feed updates regularly. It doesn’t take a scholar to understand what’s the priority. Writing this out and publishing it here helps me process my feelings. It eases the pressure of sorting through everything in my head. I’m going to try not to mention this again here, but please bear with me while I navigate this. I’m not myself without them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704205935076-006CVURKTZMVYEDNMMZL/ZFC_0304-HDR.jpg jan-2024 - 1.1.24 Quiet Loss A friend who's been extremely important to me for many years seems less interested in our friendship these days. Somewhere along the way last year, I think something shifted. I can't pinpoint what happened or why. Regardless, I believe I’m slipping into a depression over it. I haven't felt this kind of loss and sadness in ten years. Waking up sick to my stomach about it every day sucks. The only thing that really helps is being around other people and Ashley. The last thing I want is to make this worse by approaching them about it. I genuinely love them and never want to upset them. But I also can't keep muscling through pangs of nausea every day as the texts and DMs I sent to spur conversation about common interests or inquiring about when we can get together are left on read while their social media feed updates regularly. It doesn’t take a scholar to understand what’s the priority. Writing this out and publishing it here helps me process my feelings. It eases the pressure of sorting through everything in my head. I’m going to try not to mention this again here, but please bear with me while I navigate this. I’m not myself without them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704243997152-XR1Q1GZOSGEL7E4LJTDO/ZFC_0312-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.2.24 Bath Time Liters of last year’s grime circled the drain so this pooch could have a fresh scent for the new year. All clean and neat now. She’s the sweetest little dog. Last night, as I lie awake in bed, she cuddled up to me, plopped down in the crook of my neck, and proceeded to lick my forehead for about 10 minutes. I read somewhere that dogs do this because it reminds them of being a puppy. No idea if that’s what Myrtle thinks, but I let her do it when I know I’ll be showering in short order. And truth be told, it was comforting to have a small creature give me her undivided attention for a few minutes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704398545682-MO4DKSQPR5S2RLDYBJYS/GBBN+-+TriHealth+BNorth-046-HDR-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.3.24 First Shoot of ‘24 It felt really, really great to get back to photographing places for people today. Getting out of the house and distracting myself with work and a new location was hugely beneficial. GBBN did more work at TriHealth Bethesda North and needed photos for their portfolio before it opened to staff and the public. The spaces are what you’d expect in a modern hospital, but the design team ratcheted up the lighting and finishes without going overboard in several key areas. I don’t know how they’d describe this style, but to me, it felt like a fusion of Scandinavian design and a hint of the USS Enterprise, especially in areas with a central desk. This image doesn’t precisely illustrate that description well, but it was the easiest to edit and publish for today’s post. We planned to do a one-point of this space, but I suggested we pivot to two-point for a more interesting shot. With consensus reached, I did a clean version and placed the models. Blended the two in post for a finished image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704423533654-U3O40WCQ1YDLAZOR623A/NZ9_2301-HDR-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.4.24 Mirror Trick: Revisited In the world of rental and real estate photography, the person behind the lens is often left uncredited. This doesn’t bother me personally because the paycheck and the satisfaction of doing the work are all I ever want. The only time I ever get a nod is when something hits the media and the realtor or owner is kind enough to include my name. Elusive credit aside, one thing I do as a sort of signature is what you see above. I take a photo straight into a mirror, then remove the camera afterward in Photoshop. I imagine most people will scroll past it without noticing, but my goal is to get at least one person to stop and wonder about it for a minute. There are other photographers doing the same work will take the shot just below the bottom of the mirror frame, and I don’t blame them. Sometimes, I don’t bother with it myself. It’s a lot of extra work for no monetary benefit. But this is the only way I’ve found to inject my own personality into an otherwise straightforward and rigid corner of the industry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704517280065-CCKLNRM81LDAK6HPOV3Y/814+Madison+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg jan-2024 - 1.5.24 Will Work For Art My office is in the process of being rearranged for the 40th time, though not to the degree it has been in previous years. It is just too tempting not to move things around to feel a sense of excitement about its freshness. One of the biggest things I’m excited about, besides once again having a corner with a lounge chair where I can read, is the chance to fill half a wall with art I’ve yet to procure. In the meantime, I’m putting in the hours to fund this initiative. Today I put down the video work for a couple hours and did a very quick and easy job on Madison for a developer—an empty storefront in need of quality photos for its listing. I plan to spend every penny I earn doing this quick job on artwork. Instead of going out tonight, I stayed in and processed all the photos so I could get them back to the client ASAP. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704686736495-0BG66Z7KBGZJZHZX8O69/ZFC_0337-Enhanced-NR-3.jpg jan-2024 - 1.6.24 We Were Promised Snow It’s an exciting time before the first snowfall of the season. When meteorologists name the storm, it’s even more exciting. For the last several days, they said we’d be getting at least an inch starting in the early hours of the morning. The promise of waking up to snow-covered rooftops, railings, and trees loomed large in my imagination, as was the promise that the streets were too warm for it to impede travel. That, to me, is the perfect winter storm. But when I woke this morning, the familiar grey of January, complete with its signature wet dullness, met my disappointed gaze. The meteorologists were right about one thing: the streets were decidedly too warm to hold snow. We took Ashley’s grandfather to Union Terminal to see the model trains and watch the Omnimax film about the Rocky Mountain Express. Seeing the snow-covered miniature was about as close as I’d get to real winter today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704687329564-DY5UPQRKEJXHYLPOISQK/IMG_7026.jpg jan-2024 - 1.7.24 A Tale of Two Jungles Apathetic about the Bengals as I am, a trip to Jungle Jim’s during their final home game proved successful. Normally, a trip to this place (the original Fairfield location) on a weekend could be reasonably categorized as pre-meditated self-harm, but going during a football game or other major local event thinned the crowd such that it was bearable. Still, as a rule, no matter where you stand in Jungle Jim’s, you are most certainly in the way. We got out of the store with a load of good food and wine for less than $80. The bargain aisle with items about to reach their sell-by date was an essential stop. Among several great finds, we snagged a yardstick-length baguette for a dollar from that section. I think we’re going to make it a habit to visit at least once a month instead of once a year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704763268652-QFYRR5WPQNUCSZ48GX9Z/ZFC_0350-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.8.24 Over-Engineering Simple Solutions My Godox flash and Z9 battery chargers sit side by side on a table in my office. The Godox charger (left) can stay plugged in without a battery with no issue, but if there’s no battery on the Z9 charger (right), the base makes an annoying rhythmic clicking sound when plugged in. As such, I have to either unplug it at the outlet or disconnect the cord from the base and risk losing it down the back of the table, which always happens. I managed to keep them together using a twist tie for a while, but that was inelegant. I needed the satisfaction of wasting an hour or two fixing the issue. Could this first-world problem be solved by playing with my tools? Of course, it could. This square piece of Bastogne walnut had been collecting dust in my scrap pile for two years. It was the perfect specimen to act as the decorative base that would solve my problem and also prove, yet again, that saving scrap proves useful at some point. I traced the profile of the Z9 charger, added an extra 10mm to the length, and carefully spent an hour delicately routing a channel a half-inch deep for it to sit within. Then, I switched to a smaller bit and routed a channel for the cord off the back. The channel is tight on the profile of the cord, holding it firmly in place. That extra 10mm allows the base to slide away and toward the cord within the confines of the channel, disconnecting and reconnecting it without it moving or dropping behind the table. I also routed a spot for the Godox charger because why not. Rounded the corners for decoration, softened the edges, and sanded it to a buttery smooth grit. Now I have a custom, dedicated charging station instead of a twist tie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704893776411-U4FRRPQKGX41ZGF1XP6Z/NZ9_2531.jpg jan-2024 - 1.9.24 The Shell Rebecca said she had a shell of a house for me to photograph for an upcoming listing. “It’ll take you 20 minutes,” she said. No stranger to shooting vacant places, I’m not used to shooting houses in that condition for her. She usually sets me loose on expensive houses that are either magazine-worthy or could be magazine-worthy if given some updates. The shell was located on Greer Street in Covington. I’d shot a couple of other places on Greer over the years, but none in this condition. It was as she described: stripped down to the original beams with natural gaps in the original wooden slats to the outside. Plywood patched several busted windows and shored up deadly gaps in the floor. The ceilings were high and airy on the first level; I could easily imagine how a spiral staircase would be the centerpiece of the front room if a renovation included it. While on the second level, I looked down at the floorboards and noticed inked text on an old piece of paper. I pulled it out and discovered a small mass of old pieces of newspaper featuring ads and articles, ripped to shreds but still legible. The fonts looked like what the Enquirer used for several decades in the middle 20th century, the shoes and top hat seemed to be from around that era, and the bus looked like it was from the ‘40s. I googled the “Brownie 620” (more commonly written out as Brownie Six 20, I discovered later), and all but confirmed these were probably from the late 1940s. It was only after getting home and looking at the scraps on the bigger screen that I noticed the "1948” near the left side tear on the shoe ad. I thought it was notable that 75 years ago, a camera flash’s selling point was that it “enables you to take pictures indoors as simply as snapshots outside,” and there I was aiming an advanced optical computer at this old ad for defunct tech while indoors and without flash. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704933939920-MJID9C3MZOJDMOC12AB9/ZFC_0351-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.10.24 Clean Slate When I updated to an iPhone 15 Pro earlier this month, I brought all my iPhone 13 Pro baggage with me. Normally, I’m good about offloading my photos and videos onto an external drive, but I got away from it over the last year. The annoying “your iCloud storage is full” message was driving me nuts enough to sit down and just transfer everything. It feels great to have a totally clean phone with the possibility of filling it up again with brand-new images I’ve yet to make. After offloading everything, I went down a rabbit hole of watching old videos I took of friends and family from 10 years ago that I saved on the drive. Instead of feeling good that I’d captured all that I did, I fixated on the fact that I didn’t record more. Maybe this year I’ll spend more time recording my surroundings in addition to photographing them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705080894857-IIEJ6EY7DND2DXF84OBM/NZ9_2708-Edit-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.11.24 School With a View Hub+Weber did the 3rd-floor renovation of Newport Central Catholic. While it isn’t 100% ready and requires a return trip this upcoming Monday, we took advantage of the good weather (hard to come by this time of year) and got a few staged shots around the lingering construction that included the absolutely incredible view. Had the views from my own high school been this breathtaking and not of woods and a parking lot, I’m fairly certain my GPA would’ve been far worse as I’d have surely spent the majority of class daydreaming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705189811752-2U49P8LMT79KAR1MSP1O/ZFC_0353.jpg jan-2024 - 1.12.24 Afterthought to Hold a Coffee I needed a very small side table to set my drink on next to my chair, so I went down to the workshop, dug through my scrap, and found a nice chunk of monkey pod and a plank of red oak. I cut them into circles on the band saw, beveled the edges with a 45-degree router bit, sanded everything to a nice smoothness, drilled a hole in each piece, and stuck a dowel between them. Added a medium stain so the oak would better match the monkey pod, and finished it with Danish oil. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705372727299-THN1FMZFQC8B19U5UKE6/IMG_7087.jpg jan-2024 - 1.13.24 The Night of the Tree The forecast called for high winds as a winter storm approached the Midwest. When I went to bed, I opted not to turn on the white noise so I could keep an ear on what what happening outside. My relationship with violent wind has never been a good one; it’s always scared me to varying degrees, and deep down, I think I had a feeling something was going to happen. Around 1:30 AM, I awoke to still silence. Feeling more comfortable with the seemingly calmer situation outside, I reached to turn on the white noise. Within a second of my reach, I saw a bright flash and felt an enormous bang from next door. I swore it hit me in the head for a split second. The power instantly went out. Ashley awoke and asked worriedly, “What was that?” To be honest, I thought our neighbor’s house got hit by lightning. I got up to check the house by iPhone flashlight. When I got to the front window, I looked out and saw a flashlight bouncing over branches I didn’t recognize in a place I’m not used to seeing them at the end of the street. Suddenly it hit me: the old, impossibly tall tree next door had fallen. I went outside and saw my neighbor already out with a flashlight. The wind picked up, and flurries of snow swirled around downed wires and a heavy transformer on the sidewalk—the reason we no longer had power. That wasn’t lightning, I heard; it was the flash of electrical systems being brutally severed from the pole as the tree barrelled toward Earth. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and no private property suffered significant damage. The tree had fallen on a sign and a chainlink fence and barely crossed the train tracks. Emergency crews responded. Duke came out hours later and got our power back on. A train loudly obliterated the dead wood on the tracks around 3 AM without losing momentum. I slept for maybe 2 hours overall. The next morning, I surveyed the damage. The tree was blocking the public steps, but aside from that, it wasn’t posing much of a threat. It was the talk of the street all day. I’m going to have an abundance of firewood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705372726042-TW21IEF8T9R54KH6DSO2/IMG_7137.jpg jan-2024 - 1.14.24 Needy Puppy The chaos of the tree falling might’ve given Myrtle temporary trauma. She watched in confusion and fear from the storm door window as Ashley and I were out in the street during strange hours the night before and couldn’t relax until the following morning. Ashley’s unfettered anxiety about the situation was also contagious to our empathetic dog. She spent yesterday and today more clingy than usual. I couldn’t sit without her periodically coming up for reassurance that everything was okay. This is an observation, not a complaint. It’s no trouble soothing a fearful dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705373084846-MLRUJWQ7DQ1P4XIDLTGR/Hub%2BWeber+NCC-019-HDR-Edit-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.15.24 Return to Class We returned to Newport Central Catholic to get additional classroom shots for Hub+Weber this morning. This image is comprised of eight different frames using a combo of focus stacking and HDR. Every pixel in frame was adjusted to reflect optimal color and exposure in order to come up with a highly polished photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705523579553-AF2LQYSXMWCKWLB8SI9M/Kemba+Branch-109-HDR-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.16.24 Vine Street Kemba 16 Points Solutions combined two different storefronts on Vine Street into one space for Kemba Credit Union. Their existing branch on Vine Street, a few doors up from this space, will be moving to this new address within the coming weeks. The time was right to get in and grab photos before IT installed 50 miles of computer wire that I’d inevitably have to Photoshop out. The space was perfectly clean and arranged, which cut down on the shoot time considerably. I also didn’t have anyone forgetting that photos are being taken and walking into every shot (a more common occurrence than you’d think on most shoots). Oddly enough, the color scheme for this project looks similar to that of the school I posted yesterday. Same architect, so I guess there’s a reason. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889536202-ZFMLL4CKPV3PRME1LL6S/IMG_7170-2.jpg jan-2024 - 1.17.24 Splitting Logs at Sunset Grabbed some of the leftover tree from the street, cut it with a chainsaw, and split the logs with an axe before filling up the rest of the wood rack. By the time I was finished, the sun was beginning to set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889536197-W2SYBC2JK2HJVZ4KKWVY/IMG_7184-2.jpg jan-2024 - 1.18.24 Nary a Granule Wasted Bellevue Animal Hospital made sure only the width of their storefront was properly salted. The narrowness of the deliberate dispersal pattern made me laugh. Absolutely no one will be slipping here unless they step one inch outside of this exact profile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889540463-NJHWIDEZ06SXPC1ZXE9H/IMG_7204-2.jpg jan-2024 - 1.19.24 iBirding I set up a semi-elaborate way to watch the birds using my iPhone, a tripod, and my Apple Watch. While the image quality leaves a lot to be desired, I still think it’s a nice scene overall. Fun little experiment using ones and zeros! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889541305-M0LPIEYDV9Y624022PE4/IMG_7274-2.jpg jan-2024 - 1.20.24 Western Bowl We went with friends to Western Bowl for a few games of ten-pin. Everyone, with the exception of Brendan, was bad at it to various degrees. I don’t think anyone scored above 100 except him. The guys did better than the girls, but not significantly. The alley itself was great mainly due to its unchanged decor. It seemed to be in various states of disarray depending on where you looked, but the late ‘80s and early ‘90s aesthetic persists in key corners. Some very fun neon behind glass block was a standout, as was the carpeting and locker areas. I’d like to go back sometime with a proper camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889545463-W9LW1WXMUF5TVX7KF9XZ/ZFC_0508-2.jpg jan-2024 - 1.21.24 38 For whatever reason, I get sad around my birthday. Yesterday, I felt it growing, and today, the feeling peaked. When I woke up, I had no desire to talk to anyone or do anything. The thought of staying in bed and sleeping until tomorrow was more attractive than any other activity. But I knew I couldn’t do that. The texts were already coming through, and I should be lucky to have anyone remember let alone care enough to acknowledge it. Anyway, I won’t go into all that here. Just recognizing the feeling so I can move on from it. I knew my melancholy would prevent me from doing anything photographically interesting, so I forced myself up to an irresistible and familiar perch with a camera in my bag. Tomorrow will be better, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239306220-H6CX8OZ3RX58GYU1Z36N/NCC+-+Phil+Armstrong+-17.jpg jan-2024 - 1.22.24 When Patience Pays Off I returned to NCC for Hub+Weber one final time to get the remaining images they needed without construction hampering every shot. This time, I got there after school had let out for the day. The goal for this final round of photos was to capture a sunset in the new corner classroom and adjoining communal study area. Tanner from H+W met me there at 4 PM. We did a few other shots on the list during the waning hours of the afternoon, but our efficiency led us to post up without anything to do for about an hour before sunset. It wasn’t a big deal; I set up my phone and ran a 4K timelapse into my 2 TB SSD while we waited. Finally, as the sun set on a perfect winter day, it illuminated the city and the rooms with a beautiful golden glow. I was glad we waited. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239312067-0JU14MDJF1M5FGSWNJJS/NZ9_2838.jpg jan-2024 - 1.23.24 Important Flower Business Sunshine Bouquet had more videos for me to film for Kroger. I met them at the Newport store this rainy, miserable evening. We did a few how-to videos for the floral employees. Talmadge had planned every shot, so I just had to execute his vision. We did a piece on color-blocking displays (pictured), among other things. Overall, I think it went well using a combination of the Z9 and my iPhone 15 Pro recording ProRes to the SSD. I feel more confident about videography now that I’ve done it a bit and have good enough tools to do the work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239310852-2CZ8PPIJUFCMX4SMWWHB/NZ9_2861-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.24.24 Metal Tables A custom metal table Single Batch Designs made for a client in Las Vegas. John said he’s not driving it out there. It’ll be third-party shipped there this week. Seems like a missed opportunity to go to Vegas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239306221-RHM8I54XD6O4DBQ9CFPD/IMG_7338.jpg jan-2024 - 1.25.24 Office Buddy It’s been raining for days, and everything’s sopping wet. Even the porch, which is totally under cover, is damp all over. Despite the rain, the air is warm enough to crack the windows, letting in much-needed fresh air. All my work was at my desk today. Myrtle had a very lazy, very boring day as a result. She was so bored she got up in my chair and stared at me for about an hour toward the end of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706499186986-POGRP3XN71Q5E650C5UY/NZ9_3023-Enhanced-NR.jpg jan-2024 - 1.26.24 V2 Gallery and a Night Out Went up to Walnut Hills to photograph a gallery opening for ArtWorks. Afterward, I met Ashley, Chelsea, and Vince at the new food hall at the Levee, and I was honestly impressed with it. The burger I got from Four Mile Pig was excellent. The bar made me a lackluster drink, and the service still had some kinks to work out, but if they manage to get those two things fixed, I think it’ll last. At least, I hope it lasts. The more food halls, the better. Afterward, we walked to a brewery and went to Coaches before finishing the night at The Fill Inn. We did our usual four games of bowling on the 1969 Champagne bowling machine, and the girls did Shania Twain on karaoke. I recorded all of it on VHS-C with my family’s old camcorder and plan to digitize it tomorrow during my downtime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706499188243-BV82AFMDR5HX14ZB7HDI/ZFC_0544-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg jan-2024 - 1.27.24 Worth the Hangover Hungover today. We had too much fun last night. To make matters worse, Ashley scheduled an annual vet visit for Myrtle at 8 AM on a Saturday morning. As I summoned every ounce of will power to not lay down on the check-up table and close my eyes as the doctor told us all about our beloved dog’s health, I fantasized about the moment I’d get home, undress, and get back into bed to sleep this off. When I awoke in the afternoon after living the dream, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. No big deal, though; we had planned to stay in, save money, and relax inside. The cold, blustery, rainy night worsened as the evening went on, reinforcing our decision not to bother going out. I connected the camcorder to the TV, loaded old tapes Ashley’s family recorded in the early 90s, and we enjoyed laughing at how Ashley tried to get the spotlight from her younger brother (a toddler at the time), and was routinely scolded for it. The photo is of the myriad digital storage options I have sitting in my desk at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706499196483-00PS9ACDCCTUN8AJ6NV4/ZFC_0537-Enhanced-NR.jpg jan-2024 - 1.28.24 Nostalgia for Sumer Reading One summer, when I was young, I spent summer nights reading Goosebumps stories in my bedroom under a booklight after my parents thought I’d gone to sleep. The streetlight from the cul-de-sac outside let in a little extra light, and I remember laying on my stomach close enough to the window to feel the breeze gently passing through. To add even more sugar to this sweet memory, what seemed like thousands of fireflies off at the edge of the woods across the street blinked in a chaotic and calming pattern, totally out of sync with the chorus of crickets and a few frogs echoing in surround sound. It was one of those things that, even in the moment, felt special, and I still think about it often all these years later. When I accidentally stumbled upon this scene tonight, that memory came back once more. No, I wasn’t reading in my bed in my parents’ house in 1995, nor was it summer or firefly season, but the lighting was very similar. Were it not totally weird, I’d return to that house, stand on the porch, and take a photo toward the street during the summer months to more accurately capture that feeling again. This will have to do, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706637456468-TUJ75PMEY2IRFBGCHB78/ZFC_0662.jpg jan-2024 - 1.29.24 Plugs Every variation of cable in my office, individually photographed and edited together. (I didn’t leave the house today.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707086177814-JTIXEVXLVITLF9SQEE6M/IMG_7392.jpg jan-2024 - 1.30.24 Unknown Store It rained all day again. I had to go to Harbor Freight to pick something up. This store was next to it. I have no idea what this place sells, and I’m not going to Google it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707086430280-L18T3UBAWWR9W0EI1INS/IMG_7395.jpg jan-2024 - 1.31.24 Memento When the tree next door fell, our neighbors asked if I could cross-section one of the larger branches for them. They wanted to use it as a centerpiece for their table and as a memento of what was once right outside their living room window. I cut it, sanded it, and finished it with Danish Oil. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/feb2024 daily 0.75 2024-03-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707094009217-P6KQ036O0HNJP4UHORQX/IMG_7433.jpg feb-2024 - 2.1.24 Sleeping’s Dangerous Now Woke up with a stabbing pain in my neck near my clavicle. No idea what I did in my sleep to deserve this, but hoo-boy. It’s not a pain I’m familiar with in that area, and apparently every muscle connected to my neck, chest, and shoulder requires that area to move around. It hurts to type this if my body shifts even an inch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707094009217-P6KQ036O0HNJP4UHORQX/IMG_7433.jpg feb-2024 - 2.1.24 Sleeping’s Dangerous Now Woke up with a stabbing pain in my neck near my clavicle. No idea what I did in my sleep to deserve this, but hoo-boy. It’s not a pain I’m familiar with in that area, and apparently every muscle connected to my neck, chest, and shoulder requires that area to move around. It hurts to type this if my body shifts even an inch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707094780211-8RN5P9QJKDOOZMO1VX4R/Oswalt-046-HDR.jpg feb-2024 - 2.2.24 Unused Unused still from a job I did this morning. We realized only after we arranged the scene and snapped the frame that neither the architect nor construction company had anything to do with it. We were effectively showcasing someone else’s work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707146091145-JD8B9LC743T3XUV5NPBQ/ZFC_0578-Enhanced-NR.jpg feb-2024 - 2.3.24 ‘90s Party Maria and Mike threw a ‘90s & early-2000s-themed party tonight at their place. Everyone dressed in “retro” clothes, danced, smoked, drank, and had a good time. I found a purple/green flannel with a colorfully embroidered Cincinnati t-shirt at the vintage shop down on the avenue for the occasion. As I’m not a dancer, nor did I particularly feel like losing my ability to drive home, I focused on photography and videography for the night. I recorded the night on tape with my camcorder and shot a few frames on my Nikon throughout the night. The video was particularly fun to watch afterward as it looked authentic to the time period. Maybe at some point I’ll throw together a VHS highlight reel from all the different events I’ve recorded and will record this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707334922188-XUQRWT7SI0KO5EWPUXXP/ZFC_0611-Enhanced-NR.jpg feb-2024 - 2.4.24 Pizza Ding-A-Ling Went with Travis and Ronny to Connersville to eat at Mr. Pizza (aka Pizza King). Its gimmick is you sit in a booth and order menu items using a landline that connects to the kitchen instead of having someone take your order in person at the table. The pizza was fine. It's not bad, but there's nothing to write home about, either. I won’t be craving it like I do other pizzas. Honestly, the best thing I had was some Texas toast with cheese and garlic on top. Afterward, we photographed some old train cars and an engine that looked like it was straight out of the 1800s rusting on the side of the road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707334921500-IZIHTIO95L9ROZS6YR1U/ZFC_0652-Enhanced-NR.jpg feb-2024 - 2.5.24 New-to-Me Perspective A realtor called me about photographing a house near my own. In fact, it’s just three streets east. I won’t be photographing the interior due to scheduling conflicts associated with the moving list date, but I managed to get them three night shots from the top deck of the place. It was fun to see the city from a slightly different perspective. I like how the homes in the foreground are prominent in the lower half of the frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707334925253-OLM530ZP8R497RFCZZ4V/ZFC_0694.jpg feb-2024 - 2.6.24 Sunset Walk Myrtle and I took a walk right after work before the sun set. As we neared the river, the sunlight was growing warmer and more dramatic. Knowing she’d like to run around in the grass, we headed closer to the river’s edge to a secluded patch of grass. It’s not a popular walking spot, making this a perfect place to let her off leash for a little energetic dog time. I snapped a few shots and liked how this one came out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707405658931-PXWS9ZV1G531ZSJ7XYP5/NZ9_5355-Enhanced-NR.jpg feb-2024 - 2.7.24 Reptilian Guest Photographed a dinner tonight at the Cincinnati Art Museum that featured, among other speakers, Thane Maynard, the director of the Cincinnati Zoo. He brought a tiny alligator called Cruncher (I think?) with him to show attendees. It’s funny how adults attending a formal dinner quickly give up all pretenses and slip into their inner child at the sight of an animal. It was cute to see everyone so enamored by a relatively calm alligator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707838048061-PSZCXOAWA60CWMP978T0/Valentines+Day+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg feb-2024 - 2.8.24 Flat Lay A flat lay I photographed for Luminaut. They intend to post it for Valentine’s Day on their social channels. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707841497166-EZEQOMTXFZEUEXHG5MKL/GBBN+%28TriHealth+8th+Floor%29-149-Edit.jpg feb-2024 - 2.9.24 Hospital Photography Worked with GBBN on more photos of the renovation of the 8th floor of Bethesda North today. Contrary to what this photo suggests, it was still under construction and required quite a bit of piecing together/Photoshopping elements out to make a clean final photo. I still have work to do on this one, but it’s 90% there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707841996275-JDZHGRRU5TK85W94N3WC/IMG_7506.jpg feb-2024 - 2.10.24 EconoPark Ashley needed to be picked up from CVG after her multi-day work trip. Passed this on the way to the Shell station to get gas and had to snap a quick photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707841997692-4E1VH2CQXQ4E3Z7H461H/IMG_7509.jpg feb-2024 - 2.11.24 Uninspired We went to a boring park in Cold Spring that surrounded a lake behind a Cracker Barrel, and there was nothing else to look at besides this gazebo. I knew this would probably be my only option for an interesting photo of the day. Sadly, it’s not that interesting, and only after getting onto the publishing platform did I realize that I’ve shot everything very symmetrically over the last four days. Need to break the habit and get more creative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707843293307-8TGTYP195SM0JBCP7H1H/IMG_7552.jpg feb-2024 - 2.12.24 Sad State One of my greatest regrets regarding documentary photography is not properly getting into it before Carew Tower’s mall was turned into a garage. I didn’t really understand how to photograph a space properly until about 2014, and by that point, the mall was closed. But I’d walked through it frequently and eaten there a dozen times before its closing, and I remember its bleak emptiness fondly for some strange reason. Back in 2012, I used to walk the Skywalk every day on my lunch hour. I knew every little shop and restaurant along the two disconnected routes. They were familiar places I seldom went into, but I relied on them for some strange sort of stability during a challenging and uncertain time in my life. The Carew Tower and the many shops and places to eat were my favorite leg of the journey because it felt like the most “alive” part of the daily Skywalk journey. Hathaway’s Diner, Radio Shack, Auntie Anne’s, Smoothie King, Appointments, the I Love Cincinnati Shop, Back Rubs by Mary, Morton’s, Elite Nails, TJ Maxx, the food court with its multi-story skylit atrium, and so many other little things about it made that stretch feel unique. Barely any of those places are still there. The Skywalks are largely closed; the last connection built in the mid-90s between the Carew Tower and Macy’s was demolished during the pandemic. I didn’t appreciate any of this to the degree I should’ve at the time because I was so overwhelmed with sadness, but through rose-tinted glasses, I miss them. It makes me sad that the Tower is so empty today. It wasn’t even “bustling” when I frequented it daily, but comparatively, it was. I could go on and on about all my specific memories of it, but I’ll end it with this one. Maybe my fondest memory of the mall was the moment I found a piece of art that I just had to have behind a pane of glass in what I believe was a former Foot Locker. It was a painting of the Cincinnati skyline by a local artist with a space in the Pendleton Art Center. I emailed her about it and met her on the mall's second floor to buy it. She wrapped it up for me, and I took it home on the bus. The massive piece was wedged carefully between my knees as I sat at the back of the 30x express bus to Mt. Washington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707868184916-LW0UKGF1NSNYDSVQ6YTA/ZFC_1511.jpg feb-2024 - 2.13.24 The Yellow Truck Apparently, when I was little, I told my relatives at one point that I wanted to own a yellow truck when I grew up. Not a yellow dump truck, but a yellow pick-up truck. I probably meant an early ‘90s Ford Ranger because that’s the model my dad drove, but I can’t help but wonder if little Phil would’ve seen this vehicle and liked it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708012154509-5P9V9N44J5X2A1RKBDGT/ZFC_1519-2.jpg feb-2024 - 2.14.24 Meaningless When an inanimate object tells a sad story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708391349694-5YK723QA348X28B6FY8B/IMG_7628.jpg feb-2024 - 2.15.24 Lint In today’s modern age, just about everyone has a camera in their pocket. As such, the inside of pockets have never been better documented. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708391527613-IMMZ9V7F0A589D703DIR/IMG_7603.jpg feb-2024 - 2.16.24 Cyclones Game It’s been a minute since I’ve gone to a Cyclones game. They lost, but it was fun to watch regardless. We Googled how much the average player makes per season in the ECHL, and it’s shockingly low. I spent the rest of the game thinking about how these men make ends meet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708393077922-RPQ6142TPKCKSG50DVXH/ZFC_1565.jpg feb-2024 - 2.17.24 Weekender About a month ago, we planned a weekend away with the dog. Asheville is always a great option because the city and surrounding area are so dog-friendly, and with numerous outdoor hikes, it’s the perfect setting for a weekend full of fun. Pictured is the Grove Arcade in the center of Asheville’s urban core; it’s filled with shopping and dining, a brewery, apartments, and offices, and an adjoining outdoor area usually full of market vendors when the weather’s warm. We took Myrtle to the brewery for a pint, then wandered around the area to see what we could find food-wise. We’d planned for the cold weather but didn’t factor in the wind. Most covered patios already had people with dogs, so finding a place that wasn’t so crowded and out of the wind was key. We returned to Pack’s Tavern—a place we’d been to on our last trip—for dinner, and it was the perfect warm place to sit down with Myrtle and not bother anyone. We plan to hike tomorrow, hit up a few places for food and drink, and check out the River Arts District. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708393080938-EHSVUXM329O4TBQGY510/ZFC_1749.jpg feb-2024 - 2.18.24 River Arts District We’d planned to hike Mt. Pisgah, but the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway is closed mainly due to mudslides and snow, preventing us from getting to the desired trailhead. We wanted a hike with some sort of vista since winter isn’t the prettiest time of year to trek through the woods, so we opted to return to Chimney Rock as we did during our last visit. While some of it was closed due to falling ice, we still managed to climb to the top and get a good look at the surrounding area. Afterward, we played with Myrtle in the creek, checked out some shops, and then had a delicious glass of wine in the sun. After that, we returned to Asheville and wandered around its River Arts District. RAD for short, the River Arts District is a photogenic, industrial part of AVL that feels like a combination of Smale Park, Northside, and Camp Washington (if I had to draw a Cincinnati equivalent). It’s full of graffiti, loads of art studios/shops, and a pretty robust skate park in one corner. It’s bisected by train tracks and seems like it’s growing based on the massive new apartment buildings popping up around the area. Pictured is a telephone pole by the skate park with the most shoes on wires I’ve ever seen in one place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708393085558-NFJ3OQR4CBECGJI9J84J/ZFC_1803.jpg feb-2024 - 2.19.24 Temporarily Closed We stayed one exit down from downtown to save a little money on this trip. Instead of staying in a hotel for over $200 a night in the core, we found a four-star option for a total of $300 for two nights eight minutes away. Since AVL is a car city and we’d be using our car to get around anyway, it made sense to save on lodging. Anyway, this place (which I won’t mention through text to avoid SEO, and I’ll explain why in a minute) was a quarter mile down the hill from us. It’s temporarily closed while a chain that specializes in buying one-of-a-kind, run-down motor inns across the US renovates it. Built in the 1930s, it’s been a staple of the city’s tourism culture for nearly 100 years. I read the new owner plans to save the neon and characteristic signs, remove 10 rooms to accomodate a new communal space, and aims to do all of this by spring of this year. Based on how empty it was, I do not see that timeline happening. The reason I’m not naming it to avoid search results is because I wasn’t supposed to be on the property taking photos. I saw the D3 eating up solar energy and blinking its blue police light up by the office, but I didn’t really pay it much attention. Then, it suddenly activated and blasted its speakers about trespassing and my being recorded. I’d already gotten my shots at that point, so I simply walked back off the property. I don’t expect anything to come of it, but better safe than sorry. By the way, does anyone know what this aesthetic is called? It’s like a 1960s/1970s rustic kitsch that often toes the line between mid-century camping culture, Tudor architecture, and with a touch of medieval English style that used to be more popular in past decades. Thick wooden beams, chunky stone, yellow mottled glass in metal squared light fixtures, stucco walls, etc. Parts of Kings Island used to have this look back when I was young. I’ve always adored it and am at a loss for what to call it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708524476825-RCENF0LCFRT2QWYOL3VR/IMG_7690.jpg feb-2024 - 2.20.24 Norwood’s Wacky Police Station It will never not amuse me that Norwood’s police station looks like a Lego set from the ‘80s that doesn’t actually exist. I feel like I should, at some point, build this virtually in Bricklink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708612080809-GZ7R2ON0A9RB9DAMD21N/ZFC_1950.jpg feb-2024 - 2.21.24 Doodle Delivery During today’s warm and seasonable afternoon, I opened the back door to allow the screen door to let in some fresh air. I was toying with my camera in the dining room when I heard Myrtle start huffing and puffing outside. Curious, I got up and walked over to see the mailman delivering my mail. She wanted a treat from him, so she jumped up on the fence to make herself known. I opened the screen and snapped a photo at the moment of treat delivery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154379876-VQ1KK2Y6TYUUTUZYUZU7/CNU+-+2.22.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg feb-2024 - 2.22.24 CNU Charrettes The Congress of New Urbanism hired me to film and photograph “charrettes” taking place in Norwood, Camp Washington, Xenia, and Amelia over the next few weeks. The purpose of these meetings is to have out-of-town architects and urban planners meet with local officials in each community to develop plans for projects such as bike lanes (for Norwood). During that process, the meetings welcome individuals from the community to drop in and give their input to better align the projects with what residents want/need. I’ve been filming and photographing Norwood’s events all week, and today is the final day I’m working on it before I ship off to Palm Springs tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154386049-WYJK9T2YI1O8J29L22LI/ZFC_2017-Enhanced-NR.jpg feb-2024 - 2.23.24 Palm Springs Justin’s 40th birthday led a group of us out to Palm Springs, CA, this weekend. He is a Midcentury Modern fan obsessed with Southern California, so he wanted to spend his special day somewhere he’d love with his friends. As I’ve only seen 8,000 photos of that one house with that one car with that one mountain in the background and never been to PS myself, I went in gleefully blind. I find it more fun to go to a place with no expectations and experience it without knowing everything about it, especially when it’s a trip that isn’t about me picking the itinerary. The flight in was nice, my hotel (The Cole) is perfect for what I need, and it’s within walking distance of Justin’s nearby Airbnb. I met up with everyone around 2 PM; we went to an open house and then walked to dinner and drinks afterward. My first impression of PS was good! The desert landscape with a beautiful mountain backdrop? Gorgeous. The abundance of midcentury architecture is lovely to see, though I’m finding it’s not hitting me quite like I thought it would. I initially thought it was just because everything is MCM here and style fatigue was the culprit, but I didn’t feel that way walking past identical brownstones all over Brooklyn. Maybe I just prefer the dense verticality of late 19th/early 20th-century architecture over one-story suburban single families built after WWII? Regardless, it’s a postcard-pretty city with many old cars and a palpable feeling that the 1960s never truly left. I can see why Justin likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154385605-MPNVE7VEMCO0CNXNQFV0/ZFC_2030.jpg feb-2024 - 2.25.24 L3 It’s Justin’s 40th birthday! We met up and walked around a rich neighborhood full of perfectly manicured MCM houses, and Justin got to photograph a bunch of places he’s been itching to get on film for a while. There was some time by the pool, too, but I didn’t get in due to the usual insecurity reasons. Before I met up with everyone this morning, I walked to get coffee and came across this hilariously named hotel. I still cannot believe this is a real hotel. Also, PS is less walkable in the area where I’m staying than I thought. While there are sidewalks in some places, the streets are often 45 mph, and sometimes the sidewalks just end without warning, forcing you to either walk in an unmaintained dirt lot or on the street itself. None of the neighborhoods have sidewalks, either. I keep having this experience where I think I can let my guard down, but then I have to walk in the street for a block as a Porsche races past at an obnoxious speed. The more I stay in PS, the more it feels like Fort Myers in the sense that there’s very little density of housing (maybe even less), it isn’t overly pedestrian-friendly, it has as many parking lots as it does single-family houses, and appears to be mostly a suburban retirement community. That said, I still prefer it over Fort Myers due to the better landscape and architecture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154389957-AIOAD4T0QOSUXTU0YCL3/ZFC_2056.jpg feb-2024 - 2.25.24 A Reminder While walking another rich neighborhood filled with houses that could easily be featured on the front of Architectural Digest, I started to wonder if I liked MCM at all. Logically, I know I do. But emotionally, I wasn’t connecting with it. I’m at the mecca of this architectural style, and I feel as though I’ve seen it all before. It didn’t give me that sense of wonder I normally get. Analyzing this as I walked through the neighborhood, I realized that contrast is key. The sign pictured above was the only thing I saw in any of these neighborhoods that added any contrast. When everything is perfect and manicured, none of it feels authentic. It all feels more like a movie set than an actual place. And with very few people out walking or on their porches, these neighborhoods felt soulless to me despite being in an aesthetically pleasing setting. But maybe that’s the point of Palm Springs? It’s a place where people go to relax in solitude compared to LA, not necessarily a place where community is the focus. It’s a place where you get scolded by a woman in a visor for being “too loud” while having a conversation at the community pool at 3 PM on a Saturday (that actually happened). Regardless, I’m just glad Justin is having fun in this place and his birthday is going well. That’s all that truly matters to me on this trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154380077-2S01KSM0NBMGSSFTTZBP/IMG_7773.jpg feb-2024 - 2.26.24 Rollercoaster Travel Day I’m writing this entry a day later than the intended date. Honestly, I had a rollercoaster of a day traveling back to Cincinnati. PSP, the Palm Springs airport, was nice to fly into, but it wasn’t nice when leaving. Between lousy cell service, a lack of seating and dining areas, gates sequestered into tiny rooms with crowds blocking the doors to those rooms, and wifi that wouldn’t even reach the pictured grassy area in the middle of this small airport, it’s a bad place to wait for a plane. My delayed flight meant I had 30 minutes to catch my connection at DFW that evening. To say I was worried is an understatement. The gate I was flying into was two terminals over from where I needed to leave. However, I think what happened next could be considered in some circles as karma at play. As I boarded, I saw an older man sitting beside his wife in my window seat. I asked him to check his ticket, and he revealed he was supposed to be in the middle seat across the aisle. They all started slowly getting up, and I realized I had to just let him keep the seat. If I sucked it up and sat in that middle seat instead, we could speed up boarding and take off faster. I told him I’d move to his seat instead. I think this is where I earned enough good karma to make the connection. My new seatmates thanked me and said I was a good person. They welcomed me into their row. The older man thanked me, as did the nearby flight attendant. My seatmates asked me about my tight connection, and I explained my stressful situation. When we landed, the guy next to me on the aisle immediately stood and let me out. They all wished me luck, and a few others in rows ahead of me who heard my situation back in PSP let me past them, too. Then, I looked at my app and realized my departure gate had moved to the same terminal I was arriving at, thoroughly cutting down on the time it’d take to make the connection. The gratitude I felt at that moment for everyone who helped me, as well as that stroke of good fortune, was immeasurable. I still had to run like hell to make the flight, but I didn’t have to spend the night curled up in a corner in Dallas. I’ve never been happier to get onto a plane in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154935826-2YUIORU1PVNUX2K8SV86/CNU+-+2.27.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg feb-2024 - 2.27.24 Back to Reality Today was good. I managed to get home around 1 AM this morning after yesterday’s long travel day and slept well in my own bed. I got coffee at my favorite little shop and enjoyed the overcast skies and spring-like temps. I know I’m in the minority, but I love where I live and always feel good when I get to come home. Travel is amazing, and I always want to go see other places, but I do not experience the despair so many feel when they return home. Work took me to Xenia where I filmed and photographed planners for CNU. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709320390597-79XNAI8LK9RL5392I78B/Whitfield+Lovell+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-85.jpg feb-2024 - 2.28.29 Accidental Collaboration While photographing the new Whitfield Lovell opening at the Cincinnati Art Museum tonight, I was trying to get a photo of this man observing the work. Right before I snapped the photo, though, he turned around and moved into place, sort of bridging the art on the wall with the 3D space we were in. I liked the way his face turned the same way as the other portraits on the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709322295499-TGRY045EB22Z8P46SPW7/NZ9_9828.jpg feb-2024 - 2.29.24 Xenia’s Hannaford There’s a reason the Greene County Courthouse in Xenia, OH, looks so much like Cincinnati’s City Hall: it was designed by the same architect, Samuel Hannaford. It was completed in 1902 and has stood at the corner of Main and Detroit Streets ever since. Getting a clean photo of this building is challenging due to overhead utilities, but this view offered a relatively unobstructed view. I don’t know if I’ve ever written about this on here before, but I have an extreme phobia of tornadoes. To me, Xenia has and always will be the city flattened in 1974 during the Super Outbreak. It scares me to such a degree that I cannot even look at a photo of the tornado itself without my blood running cold and my heart rate ramping up. While searching for a map of the storm's path that day, I had to stop because seeing a black and white photo in my periphery or through my fingers blocking the image from view like a child watching a scary movie was too much. It’s a real phobia, and I cannot explain why it afflicts me since I’ve never been a victim of one personally. The reason I searched for something so anxiety-inducing was because I wanted to get an idea of how close it came to damaging this building that day. I can imagine people in the tower looking out at the black, deadly, giant monstrosity swirling in the distance before racing down to the lowest level for shelter and hoping their lives would be spared. The storm that day was rated F5 on the Fujita scale—among the largest in size and fastest in speed in recorded history. The fear those people must’ve felt in that moment shakes me to my core when I think about being in their position. It’s been well over 40 years since that day, and I know Xenia is more than its distant tragedy. But like any mention of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii or the World Trade Center in Manhattan, it’s hard not to instantly think of the worst thing you’ve heard about that place. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/mar2024 daily 0.75 2024-04-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512801041-VV441V05ZR61X05ZTXD0/IMG_7794.jpg mar-2024 - 3.1.24 Went to Ruby’s I’ve lived in Cincinnati my entire life and had never been to Jeff Ruby’s. I appreciate a good meal, but I don’t believe the more you pay for a meal, the better it is. This experience was great because I confirmed what I already suspected: it is a delicious steak with equally good sides, but it’s not worth the price you pay for any of it. The entire meal was excellent, and I definitely appreciated the experience of eating here, but I never need to return on my own dime. I do not need hype or the illusion of status to properly season a cut of meat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512801041-VV441V05ZR61X05ZTXD0/IMG_7794.jpg mar-2024 - 3.1.24 Went to Ruby’s I’ve lived in Cincinnati my entire life and had never been to Jeff Ruby’s. I appreciate a good meal, but I don’t believe the more you pay for a meal, the better it is. This experience was great because I confirmed what I already suspected: it is a delicious steak with equally good sides, but it’s not worth the price you pay for any of it. The entire meal was excellent, and I definitely appreciated the experience of eating here, but I never need to return on my own dime. I do not need hype or the illusion of status to properly season a cut of meat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512801304-1QTZDV7Y9NB89JHWSJ1G/ZFC_2233.jpg mar-2024 - 3.2.24 It’s John Yung’s World… …we’re just living in it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512803967-RQ9OY0S6WT5JWYLUFXT8/ZFC_2235.jpg mar-2024 - 3.3.24 Solid Improvement When we left for coffee this morning, the area was foggier than I’ve seen it in a while. It was hard to see even two blocks forward from where we stood. The sun was nowhere to be found, the air was cool, and it looked to be another gloomy winter day suffocating the traces of spring we’ve had lately. Flash forward to about 3 PM and I emerged from Steve’s windowless basement apartment after spending 5 hours in his podcast studio to find the sky was crystal clear and blue, the air was warmer than I thought possible for this time of year, and I was very late to the beautiful spring day party. Solid improvement! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179351689-CV2QQAGH1T6W8PEQR0JY/ZFC_2261.jpg mar-2024 - 3.4.24 Statehouse From Above Stopped in Columbus on my way to Ann Arbor for work. Saw Chris. He took me up to the top of the tallest skyscraper in the city with 360 views of the entire area. You can even faintly see the Appalachian Mountains from that vantage point. I thought this was a neat look at the Statehouse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179343658-HLGYJ5RYGR7T02OIBLW6/IMG_7835.jpg mar-2024 - 3.5.24 Passing Through Ypsilanti Population 21,464 as of 2008. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179344568-A3YWVNYIGKHAMZ9QY47K/IMG_7858.jpg mar-2024 - 3.6.24 The People Have Spoken Everyone wants it. Even the coffee shop poll results say so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179348668-QUJLS36PZ7QUYGFJ63QX/IMG_7893.jpg mar-2024 - 3.7.24 “This Is Better Than Real Bowling” Quote by Ronny Salerno at The Fill-Inn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179341831-22INIR1N3RRGMSCHK9UR/512+W+7th+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg mar-2024 - 3.8.24 Vampire From a real estate shoot I did today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710295448183-T6SWSUCBWJXZMJ6Q0A6G/ZFC_2345-Enhanced-NR.jpg mar-2024 - 3.9.24 Tiki Night Travis and Allie hosted a tiki night at their house this evening. Travis made a menu of tiki drinks and proceeded to play bartender all evening much to all of our delight. The fluffy banana he made me (three separate times) was honestly one of the best tiki drinks I’ve had. It was the perfect amount of creamy, sweet, and boozy. I took a very grainy 12800-ISO photo of the group and ran it through Adobe’s AI denoise feature to help clean it up, but it still didn’t turn out great. I’ve found that the smaller the person’s face is in the image and the higher the grain, the more the details start to get totally lost in the AI denoise and replaced with plastic-y approximations that make familiar faces horrifying. After a few iterations, I settled on less correction and more grain to find a decent balance. I’m still routinely blown away denoise works as well as it does. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710295443989-KPL56SDUKZ9APNWNX9SM/635+Sixth+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-46.jpg mar-2024 - 3.10.24 New Apartments Orleans Development recently renovated the building at the corner of 6th and Berry Streets in Dayton, KY. They put a handful of apartments into the upper floors, including two lofts that divide a prior “great room” that the building originally featured on the second floor. Looking at the windows from the exterior gives you a feel for how tall those apartments are. They hired me to photograph three units in the building and get some exteriors as well. I went in the morning and evening to get a few different options with different lighting. I wish the sun were further south to give the avenue-facing side more direct, hard lighting, but it is what it is. Maybe I’ll go back in the summer and see if the lighting is markedly different just for fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710295443251-TP5T180EK0DKYJ8TXNLS/IMG_7907.jpg mar-2024 - 3.11.24 Girling Around I have number of photos of Ashley and Chelsey inspecting each others’ eyes over the years for some reason. Often times they’re helping each other put in eye drops. Tonight, I added to my strange collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774970439-BEJQKFZN2HV8EWHGFSY2/Untitled-1.jpg mar-2024 - 3.12.24 Algin’s New Look I went to Algin to buy a chair for my office. As soon as I walked in, I ran into Alan, the owner. He’s always been an affable, genuinely pleasant guy to talk to. We wasted no time touring the multi-story building's current layout. While much of it looks as good as ever, a few things changed on the upper floors. Most notably, the floor that used to have a billion used chairs collected from shuttered offices and schools looks totally different. I took the image on the top back in 2015. Now, it’s a showroom for Algin’s live edge, exotic slabs. They’re unfinished, and that’s the point: they sell to those who want to finish them in their own shops. Usually, I wouldn’t publish an old photo for this daily photo project, but I think the before/after here is especially interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774962716-B8RLPRQZ7QTWOLMNB5NI/512+W+7th+-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg mar-2024 - 3.13.24 Magnolia Not sure this will make the listing, but it was too pretty not to snap a photo while photographing a house earlier today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774968901-UJOC5KDV3ACR3EQFYA4H/Kemba+Blue+Ash+%28Before%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-29.jpg mar-2024 - 3.14.24 Old Vault 16 Point Solutions plans to renovate an old 1980s US Bank in Blue Ash. Before starting demolition of the interior, though, they had me come out and document it so we could do a nice before-and-after comparison once it’s finished. The building itself is pretty unremarkable, but I always like seeing a vault. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774987664-LAGUW19RN82W0AKX14ML/ZFC_2377.jpg mar-2024 - 3.15.24 Old Vault We've been trying to get more into wine lately since Ashley has grown mildly allergic to craft beer. It was fitting that we return to the winery where we got married at the end of 2019—right before the pandemic kicked off. Helps that it's one of the most photogenic places in the neighborhood. This is a view of the street from the second-floor window. The hazing at the top isn’t an editing choice; the pane of glass caused the distortion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774965746-YT3O8BSGQZ8RFAPJ3MF9/IMG_7957.jpg mar-2024 - 3.16.24 Building a Bench Ashley has been talking about a potting bench since we moved into the house in 2020. This year, I’m determined to make it a reality. After battling back a ridiculous onslaught of pop-up ads on a DIY blog, I downloaded plans for an elaborate 7’x8’x2.5’ bench with storage on the bottom, an awning on top, and a slatted backing. It all stands on eight stone pavers with river rock covering the ground beneath for adequate drainage. Long story short, I worked basically all day on acquiring materials and building what you see here. This bench will also double as a serving station when we have backyard parties. Once finished, I think this thing will be a hugely functional addition to the house. I wish I had more time to finish it. We’d planned to go out later, but I started feeling mega sore after stopping for the day. I guess I haven’t been regularly working the muscles required to assemble this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774985019-TF298B48RCA9C6IIUYNL/ZFC_2393.jpg mar-2024 - 3.17.24 BK A Portrait of BK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710966575840-2DRLB676LNWWM5NMCTPJ/IMG_8020_jpg.jpg mar-2024 - 3.18.24 Appreciating Artistry A few years ago, we found this beautiful 1940s cedar chest with its original tag inside at an antique show in Burlington. We got it for $100. It’s very well maintained though not pristine, adding character to the piece overall. Someone stuck wheels on it at some point, but I don’t think that was a bad decision (the thing weighs something). Anyway, sometimes I look over at it and marvel at the artistry it took to put it together. The angles of the wood, the waterfall edge, the details in the handle on the lift. It’s all so good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710966575916-0VIRJCOFJK5A8ZDPMMN9/IMG_7986.jpg mar-2024 - 3.19.24 Patiently Waiting Myrt hurt her paw today while playing with her puppy friends. We’re going to have to take her to the vet tomorrow to get it looked at. She’s not showing any signs of distress, but it’s pretty bad. We have it wrapped up so she doesn’t lick it. Ashley was out doing her pilates class and Myrtle sat patiently on our bed waiting for her to return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710966580346-Q2BHVL580I0MXNFXK6NG/ZFC_2405-Edit.jpg mar-2024 - 3.20.24 Sign Garden Had a small photo job at Cincinnati's American Sign Museum this morning. Took a moment on the way out to really appreciate the magnificence of its "sign garden" on the side of the building. This place is such a neat, special attraction in our city. I like that they have intentionally left gaps in the metal skeleton for future additions. I wonder how this overall display will change in the coming years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711140943038-L4Q61ETEVRVJQEKPHEHG/ArtWorks+Bond+Hill+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong+-59.jpg mar-2024 - 3.21.24 Building Community Together ArtWorks and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission dedicated three new murals inside the Bond Hill Community Center today. Artist Ciara LeRoy (pictured) designed all three murals and produced them with help from ArtWorks apprentices. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478449233-S0NWAJRH22KNU5SAPYIB/IMG_8043.jpg mar-2024 - 3.22.24 Big Old Baby The face of a dog who knows we’re about to leave her alone on a Friday night. It’s almost enough to want to stay in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478449233-HND4RJZCV04NZ1AY36HT/IMG_8058.jpg mar-2024 - 3.23.24 Kawa One of my favorite restaurants we went to on our honeymoon was this little conveyor belt sushi place somewhere near our hotel in Seattle. Since then, I’ve wanted to go back to a conveyor belt sushi place, but Cincinnati hasn’t traditionally had one, and I just didn’t look for any when in other cities. Thankfully, that changed recently when Kawa Revolving Sushi opened on Montgomery Road. Long story short, I loved this place. The novelty of the conveyor belt in the booth, the little monorail and semi-truck that drives around on top delivering special dishes, the robots that deliver drinks to your table; all of it was splendidly fun and unique. I ate way more than I should’ve, and aside from whatever a “dofu skin” is, I enjoyed every plate I grabbed off the belt. The revolving sushi model’s strength is its immediacy of delivery and small portions that encourage variety. Ashley said the bathrooms were straight out of a horror movie, but the restaurant itself was clean and neat. Half of me is annoyed this is 30 minutes away from home, and the other half is glad it is so I don’t spend all my money there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478453736-AOU1WCHMEMO5F1YA2XDL/IMG_8063.jpg mar-2024 - 3.24.24 Build’s Done Continuing on from my photo post from the 16th, I’ve finished the build of the bench. All that’s left to do is paint, stain, and shingle it at this point. And also add rocks below it. Hopefully I can get to that soon. I wish I could say I was totally happy with it, but there are some squaring issues that make me want to pull out my hair. Regardless, the bench is level. I guess that’s something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478454095-KGRVTAAEIBXLHQURS602/NZ9_3274.jpg mar-2024 - 3.26.24 Vince Two massive trees have fallen around our house over the last three years. Each time one comes down and misses something (or someone), I think about how lucky we are that it missed us. The neighbors have a massive tree in their backyard that hangs over our yard in addition to theirs. Since the last tree fell in January, we’ve been nervous about this one, and so have they. It’s extremely tall and sways heavily during high winds, especially since the one that fell in January blocked much of the westerly winds. I’m not sure we’d be unscathed if it decided to fall. Vince is an arborist, so I told my neighbors about him and how he could probably remove some of the height to greatly reduce the chance of something bad happening. They heeded the warning and hired him to remove the branches that could impact our properties. I took some photos of him from my office balcony while he did his thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711678400478-OF96TAP4B6DNVHABBBJN/IMG_8082.jpg mar-2024 - 3.26.24 Who Ya Gonna Call? Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was fun, but it didn’t hit me the way Afterlife (2021) did. Bill and I saw it this evening at the AMC in Newport. The last time I hung out with him was to see the previous movie. I think we’ve unintentionally made a tradition that I hope will continue with another GB movie in the future. Please, more of this series with this cast. Didn’t take any photos today except this image of the standee for the movie. I loved being on standee building duty when I worked for Showcase years ago. Like Lego, the instructions for the builds were fun to page through and piece together bit by bit. When we got one that had a lot of complicated geometry and layering to it, I always appreciated the artistry of the design more than the simple flat standees. Someone had to figure out the origami of placing tabs in specific places to fit into slots on other parts to create something with dimension and make the printed images pop enough to entice someone to plop down $12.50 for a ticket. I remember building one with a werewolf that was wildly complicated; maybe it was Van Helsing? Or some other monster movie that’s been forgotten? Either way, it looked incredible after it was built despite being for a movie that probably didn’t break box office records. The thing you don’t realize until you’ve spent hours building a complicated standee is how dry your hands get by the end. It’s essential to moisturize afterward to avoid them cracking and bleeding. This Frozen Empire standee, while not overly complicated, was a good shape. Back in September, I visited the firehouse in Tribeca that the Ghostbusters use for exterior shots and it was a special part of that trip for me. I liked that this standee mimicked the architecture of that building. I couldn’t tell if the lights were supposed to light up or not. And, of course, Slimer and Ecto-1 are on it. That improves anything, in my opinion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711678397782-01UNJYDDS8IHGESDLY0A/Aqua+on+the+Levee+Unit+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg mar-2024 - 3.27.24 Aqua Photographed an apartment in Aqua on the Levee today. Nothing more to say about it than that, really. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711678397783-HRFFGYJRR6IYQDTUQY3B/Aqua+on+the+Levee+Unit+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg mar-2024 - 3.28.24 People On Peculiar Perches Mike and I attended Opening Day. We walked over the bridge, watched some of the parade, then went to the game. It was honestly the best Opening Day I think I’ve had in a long time, if not ever. I didn’t take a boatload of photos of the parade, but I was struck by the creative ways some people found to elevate their line of sight over a very crowded Fifth Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539156080-IHHLHORDZ3CNQF3BM95M/Sawdust+-+Phil+Armstrong+-88.jpg mar-2024 - 3.29.24 Daniel My Friday was crazy with two events and one house to photograph. While on my first event of the night, I ran into Daniel at ArtWorks’ V2 Gallery in Walnut Hills. Took his photo, drove him over to the CAC for another event, then went up to CAM to photograph Art After Dark before calling it an evening. We’re planning to ride bikes together soon! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539158311-R2WVM23UR3CJ923A9TEX/Art+Possible+Ohio+3.30.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-68.jpg mar-2024 - 3.30.24 Art Possible Ohio After shooting Art After Dark for the museum last night, I returned this afternoon to photograph an event organized by Art Possible Ohio—an organization that works “with artists of all ages who have disabilities to advocate for accessibility and inclusivity, advance careers in the creative sector, build community, and improve the academic achievement of Ohio’s students through arts integration,” as their website says. CAM has a great exhibit at the moment called “Accessible Expressions Ohio” that showcases work from artists from around the state, and this specific event was to celebrate and recognize everyone who was involved in making that exhibit a reality, including the artists themselves. This band (pictured) performed in the gallery beside the new exhibit for a couple of hours, as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539154386-6KJ63JDEANT3VGTTZAZI/IMG_8142.jpg mar-2024 - 3.31.24 Leaf Head A leaf fell off one of our plants. I rested it gently on her head. She waited patiently for the photo. She’s a great dog. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/apr2024 daily 0.75 2024-05-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539283580-WL6PTBBJGQYQ5KVRPXCN/861+Belle+Ridge+Loop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg apr-2024 - 4.1.24 Belle Ridge Photographed a designer house in Bellevue off Covert Run. These are new builds that utilize high end finishes and fixtures with a modern-inspired architectural style and the ability to modify the house to include an elevator into the floor plan later if the owner wishes. The green marble island and backsplash with the stained poplar woodwork were especially eye-catching and something I haven’t seen before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539283580-WL6PTBBJGQYQ5KVRPXCN/861+Belle+Ridge+Loop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg apr-2024 - 4.1.24 Belle Ridge Photographed a designer house in Bellevue off Covert Run. These are new builds that utilize high end finishes and fixtures with a modern-inspired architectural style and the ability to modify the house to include an elevator into the floor plan later if the owner wishes. The green marble island and backsplash with the stained poplar woodwork were especially eye-catching and something I haven’t seen before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539283226-MUN7XVKOKRDKUQ60GGJB/IMG_8129.jpg apr-2024 - 4.2.24 Hunkering Down When the NWS warns the country several days in advance that weather conditions will be severe, it’s not a good sign. On Sunday, we started hearing rumblings about how bad it could get on Tuesday evening. On Monday, the threat persisted. By this morning, both local and national meteorologists were stressing how bad the 5-6 PM hour could be for Cincinnati. I began charging my devices, moving critical paperwork and hard drives to a safe location in the basement, prepping our storm shelter area in my workshop, and battening down the hatches on the porch and deck. By noon, I was more or less ready for it. At 5 PM, we turned the TV to one of the local news stations to keep tabs on the storm as it filtered into the area. It didn’t hit us until about 5:30 or so, and Ashley and Myrtle eventually made their way to the basement when it started getting rough outside. I stayed upstairs and watched as the street outside turned to a river with the buckets of rain we received all at once. It was tense for about 15 minutes, but the storm passed faster than I thought it would. Afterward, a brilliant sunset lit up the front of the house. We walked to the B-List for a post-storm drink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669753687-2DLLS83T81FHZ4AJ3J0D/ZFC_3345.jpg apr-2024 - 4.3.24 AM Leafy-o It’s that time of year when the AM radio-capable device finds a more accessible location in the office since the MLB makes it impossible to watch games without spending a bunch of money. This year, though, it has to share space with a houseplant who has agreed to share its 8”x8” area of the credenza. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669754403-AXIMS2RXGMVRAQL8A62O/6139+Plymouth+-+4.4.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-14.jpg apr-2024 - 4.4.24 K A R A T E When I lived in Mt. Washington, I entertained the idea of learning karate for all but 12 seconds before laughing at the idea of myself in a gi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669759970-HJZGMNHVXKEN77NGDBHL/IMG_8226.jpg apr-2024 - 4.5.24 New Mug Given to me as a gift by a friend of a friend. It kind of resembles my Zfc! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669763846-3L3IEBXIX1A2KESYGC1Q/ZFC_3297-Enhanced-NR.jpg apr-2024 - 4.6.24 Game Show Battle Room There’s this really fun attraction in Sharonville right now called Game Show Battle Room. It’s in the same complex as Microcenter. You and your people split into teams and play renamed-for-legal-reasons versions of Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, Price is Right, and Plinko. The room is led by a professional host, it has a producer manning the lights, music, scoreboard, and game screen, and each team competes to earn the most points across all four games. The whole thing lasts an hour. We played guys vs girls and had an absolute blast. The girls beat us by a single point in a truly neck-and-neck game of skill and luck. We held our own for the majority of the game, but a game-winning Plinko disc drop by Rachel at the very end put the girls over the top and earned them the trophy. It was honestly so much fun and I’m already ready to go back for another game. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669760803-0EANCQO0FL6SNFD2QBHI/IMG_8194_jpg.jpg apr-2024 - 4.7.24 Lunar Capitalism One of my favorite things is when makeshift markets pop up in parking lots and along roadsides to shill topical wares in an effort to squeeze a few coins out of an event, especially when it’s for something like an eclipse. Part of me desperately wants to support them because they’re dumb and schlocky, but the other part of me almost always says ‘no.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712673185586-C79MEVS764RGVIQVIB6C/ZFC_3343-Enhanced-NR+10.27.51%E2%80%AFAM.jpg apr-2024 - 4.8.24 Totality Witnessing a cosmic event with boots on Earth isn’t something that happens many times in one’s life. While this wasn’t my first eclipse (I documented the 2017 one in a blog post), this was my first time seeing it from within the full shadow. I can’t accurately describe how strange and beautiful it was, but I can say that it was something I’ll never forget. We decided to go up to Hueston Woods—the place where Myrtle’s swam and played several times—to see the eclipse. The news warned of horrible traffic, so we left at 8 AM. That turned out to be well before everyone else left, apparently. When we arrived at 9 AM, practically no one was there. We set up camp out of the back of our car, poured a couple of mimosas, and waited patiently for darkness. People trickled into the park until about 3 PM when we noticed it was quieter than it had been. No cars were running and everyone was in position, glasses on, staring up at the sky. “It's an orange moon!” A bespectacled little girl said to her mother who replied to her in a language I didn’t recognize. People from around the world came to the path of totality to see this. It was awe-inspiring. I set up a camera to shoot at a 10-second interval and pointed it toward where Ashley and I would be (we put Myrtle in the car with the windows down). Since I didn’t have a filter for my camera, I didn’t bother shooting the eclipse itself until totality. An hour leading up to the eclipse, we felt like we had ever-darkening sunglasses on. When darkness finally fell, the ground looked like it rippled and a cool wind rushed through the woods. The horizon looked like sunset and the void where the sun should be looked wild. It was in that moment that I understood why ancient civilizations without an understanding of this brand of science would be concerned. I stopped the interval and took a photo at 40mm during totality next to a tree to give the composition something unique. Three whole minutes. That’s all it was. But I will say there was more emotion and excitement in that three minutes than many others I’ve had in my life. I’m not sure I’ll ever see another one of these in my lifetime, so I’m thankful I experienced this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713229031726-47Q6HCLD176W1L1CTXUG/861+Belle+Ridge+Loop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-60.jpg apr-2024 - 4.9.24 Outer Glow Photographed one of those high-end Bellevue houses at night for the listing because it had special exterior lighting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231528792-01SZZ6EZ39ZC2BPF8OB2/New+Acquisitions+4.10.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-35.jpg apr-2024 - 4.10.24 New Acquisitions New acquisitions arrived at CAM recently and the curators hosted an event for Founders members. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231524272-BT8VBVN6JT26DWQYIKOB/IMG_8235.jpg apr-2024 - 4.11.24 Liberty Hill Went to record a quick interview with John Yung for a CNU project up at his house. The way these streets ramp up the hill at such a steep grade is reminiscent of the way so much of San Francisco looks. Of course I dig it, but I also wonder how accessible any of these homes are if they’re accessible at all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231524272-2H00P2IKDHSHU383KYO6/IMG_8246.jpg apr-2024 - 4.12.24 Fruit Stripe It wasn’t often that we got sugary gum as kids, but when we did, I remember absolutely loving Fruit Stripe gum. The cartoon zebra on the package, the green-yellow-red packaging, the aroma released straight out of the paper wrap, the way it folded effortlessly when it was fresh and the way it shattered like chalk when it wasn’t; it was a whole experience. Even talking about it right now is making my mouth water. It lost flavor within about 10 chomps, but those 10 chomps were magical. I have a memory of standing in the middle of the back yard during summer, staring at the tree line in the distance, chewing this gum while my dad mows the grass. All of that is to say this rainbow reminded me of that gum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231528792-AEMST9XTX8V2YKKQFNQQ/IMG_8284.jpg apr-2024 - 4.13.24 Staining and Painting Phew! The potting bench and outdoor bar top is almost finished. Spent a long time staining and painting this sucker today before going to Travis and Allie’s for a tiki drink night where I shot film and recorded on VHS, removing the ability to post anything from that here. I got dirty and gross, but I think it’s turning out well. Also need another row of shingles since the pack I bought was barely short. I also need to add rocks to the base to help with drainage and keep the contents inside the cabinets up off the dirt beneath. The finish line is ahead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713233530657-ZSYEN47YZHLBWJLOVB1E/IMG_8260.jpg apr-2024 - 4.14.24 Sunday Evening The only images I made today were on a roll of Kodak I’m trying to finish, so I quickly documented my Sunday evening. Ashley’s back in Minneapolis for work, so it’s just me and this little fluffy nerd. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713233531212-SRA7AY1N5MPD8F4DQ7IX/ZFC_3467-Enhanced-NR.jpg apr-2024 - 4.15.24 Skyline Jay Jay’s in from Philly. He came in a few nights ago and we made lunch plans at the 4th Street Skyline. He got a 5-way with a coney all the way. I got my 4-coney all the way standard. We caught up and it was nice to see him again. He’s getting a second dog this summer! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713491685577-SE6PC24RQ9T716D6RX7W/220+Wallace+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-41.jpg apr-2024 - 4.16.24 220 Wallace Today’s real estate job was straightforward enough, but I think the thing that keeps me coming back to the exteriors is the perfect lighting and the feeling that we’re at peak spring at the moment. Spring feels like it’s fully shaken off the lasting tendrils of winter that keep snaking back into the forecast, and photographing the pastel yellow house under a brilliant blue sky while lightly sweating reinforced it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713491685053-IDJGUC1J1JV199IMJX34/IMG_8323.jpg apr-2024 - 4.17.24 Born From Awkwardness I went over to Steve’s house to watch a movie. He planned ahead and DoorDashed wings for the time I’d arrive. When I got there, the Dasher was in the process of ringing his doorbell to complete the drop. Instead of awkwardly interrupting the exchange by standing behind the Dasher, I ducked around the corner of Steve’s building to burn 60 seconds and let that transaction complete itself. The only reason this image exists is because of my awkwardness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713491689173-VJDHIVA8AKWBCLIT5C92/NZ9_8803.jpg apr-2024 - 4.18.24 Purple People Perspective I had a shoot at Aqua on the Levee this morning, and while photographing the rooftop communal space, I snapped a photo of the Purple People Bridge from a perspective I’ve never seen before. It’s always a thrill to get up in the air and photograph something you know well from a new vantage point. Side note: I hope they figure out which paint swatch works best soon so they can finish repainting the bridge. It’ll look incredible once fully lavender’d. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713818631117-UG2Q68PG88JRJGTJT1RS/IMG_8322.jpg apr-2024 - 4.19.24 Rum for President The only acceptable version of this sign. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713818634697-KJ588NS8H4GOF4Y4D4WH/ZFC_3504-Enhanced-NR.jpg apr-2024 - 4.20.24 Evening Game We went with Chelsea and Vince to the game this evening. Before walking over, though, we hit up The Galley at the Levee—the food hall and bar they opened late last year. The cheesesteak I got was delicious (with actual wiz!), as were the mixed drinks we all ordered. After a day spent working in the yard in the sun, it was nice to sit and relax in the sun with the promise of a baseball game we were sure to win ahead in the schedule for the evening. After we got there and found our seats, we stayed put for about 6 innings before abandoning our seats for hot dogs. We watched as a food service worker accidentally dropped what was probably $100 in nacho chips out in the fan zone, get visibly angry, and storm away with what remained in the plastic container before another worker casually walked up and started sweeping the pile into a tiny dust bin. Before leaving, I stopped at the pro shop and bought a hoodie to help keep me warm for the rest of the game and the long walk home. It was a good day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713818630965-KB8UMS1ICBRM03Q5HW8S/IMG_8369.jpg apr-2024 - 4.21.24 Profitable Ride The unmistakable yellow-green of crumpled US currency flashed by in a blur as I kept my eyes glued to the pavement looking for pot holes beneath my wheels. I quickly weighed whether or not traffic was heavy enough to double back and get it before ramping both wheels up onto the curb and speeding back to the spot, hoping what I saw was real and still there. I thought it was a five at first, but was delighted to discover it was four times more. Without thinking, and worried someone would yell at me for stopping in the street, I pocketed the crumple and raced home. When I got there, I looked at it again to confirm what I found was real. Myrtle wanted to inspect, too. It pays to ride your bike! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714072513686-TQ29A6GNI1VM8N24DAQW/ZFC_3519.jpg apr-2024 - 4.22.24 Mycelial Network Yesterday while drinking bourbon on the porch, Kevin told me about a park up the street that I didn’t know about. Tonight I persuaded Ashley to walk up there. We scoured the trails with an off-leash Myrtle, found a wooden bridge, a clearing with deer, and an orange tennis ball that Myrtle enjoyed chasing. It made for a good Earth Day evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714072513075-X8DTNMF8UH9DPTILBAI8/IMG_8391.jpg apr-2024 - 4.23.24 Purple Reward My photoshoot got pushed to tomorrow, so I spent the day working in the garden. I removed more grass from the left side of the yard and planted tulip bulbs for next year, transplanted some small greens, and put a large purple smoke bush in the corner of the yard where our compost bin used to be. I also laid down more pine straw in the front yard, mowed the little bit of grass we have, and edged it all with the trimmer after moving fresh compost to the raised vegetable and spice bed. While I was working in the yard, my purple clematis bloomed a second time. It felt like a little reward for taking care of everything. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714072517587-LTPMH5OFT10PK4NLRKD1/801+Mt.+Hope+-+Phil+Armstrong+-29.jpg apr-2024 - 4.24.24 Mt. Hope Photographed the third floor of this beautiful building in Price Hill. It’s one block west of Oldenview Park and shares the spectacular view of Downtown from the turret. The day was full of sunshine and blue skies, making for better images and a more enjoyable afternoon when reviewing everything later on the computer. When spring shows up after months of working around grey skies and naked trees, it’s a creative relief. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407759016-K9EOG1GZGMQ622D7XM0G/Art+In+Bloom+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-98.jpg apr-2024 - 4.25.24 Return of Art In Bloom Every two years, Art in Bloom returns to the Cincinnati Art Museum. The exhibit pairs custom floral arrangements with selected works of art on display throughout various galleries in the museum, all made by creatives in Cincinnati and beyond. With well over 50 arrangements scattered throughout two floors of the building, there’s a lot of new brand stuff to enjoy paired with artwork you’ve seen on display before. Prior to the show’s opening to the public on Friday, the museum held a private event to kick everything off. In addition to food, drink, a live band, costumed dancers (pictured), and access to the entire building to see the show early, invitees got to see the entire exhibit looking its absolute best—these are floral arrangements, afterall, wither slowly with every passing hour. To my untrained eye, I likely won’t notice, but to Ashley’s, I’m sure it will be. We plan to see it together on Saturday morning before Asian Food Fest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407763871-XDSIVKGH3J3YODQW32P1/NZ9_1330-Enhanced-NR.jpg apr-2024 - 4.26.24 Changing of the Guard To celebrate the Red Door Project’s 10th anniversary, the initiative was passed on to ArtWorks during a ceremony at the Art Academy’s SITE1212 that involved the literal red door being handed to ArtWorks’ CEO, Colleen Houston. While I’ve never participated in Red Door due to a lack of believing in my own work, I was able to support it by purchasing one of my friends’ prints during a show a couple years after it kicked off. It’s a great way to pick up something unique and original when you’re looking to jazz up a room. The show’s founder, Barabara, received a bouquet of flowers as well as a beautiful turnover cake (get it?) that Dominique made for the occasion. I spent about an hour and a half grabbing stills of people hugging, cheersing, admiring the artwork that was up for bids, and the ceremonial hand-over. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407764058-FM38FDAE0TVF1BJKW4IZ/ZFC_3620.jpg apr-2024 - 4.27.24 Market Morning We spent the morning eating breakfast at Goose & Elder, perusing the market, drinking coffee, climbing the steps to the Art Museum for Art In Bloom, then went to Asian Food Fest with friends in the early afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407758733-OY4X8NL1B0TQWFPCU7IE/IMG_8408.jpg apr-2024 - 4.28.24 First Cookout of 2024 Worked in the yard for most of the day planting new plants and flowers in the garden, as well as getting our tomatoes and herbs into the raised beds. By evening, we were ready to break in the new outdoor bar with a proper cookout. Chelsea and Vince dropped by with an appetizer and some delicious homemade slaw. We cooked hot dogs, mets, and brats to go along with maple-bacon baked beans and a macaroni and cheese recipe I came up with a few years ago. The bar was big enough to hold everything with ease, and dishing up was easier than it ever was indoors. Really glad we have this amenity in the back yard now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714408000432-VXIPX65J5MJUCN2PH1YN/ZFC_3653.jpg apr-2024 - 4.29.24 Vinny da Climbah Vince was hired by the city to take down a massive tree that’s causing issues to nearby infrastructure. It’s a shame this beautiful tree has to go, but I get it. After watching two trees narrowly miss my own house after falling during the last 3 years, I don’t blame anyone for wanting to be proactive. Since it’s about a block and a half from my house, I walked down to check it out after hearing the chainsaws buzzing in the distance from my office. As I approached the scene, he was in the perfect position for a good contrast-y photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714661398235-T9TM1NMWUQWZEH5ON9DS/Z9Tether008.jpg apr-2024 - 4.30.24 The Photo Worth $3000 A photo of the moment I began to realize I was about to save myself $3000. No, this isn’t staged. Back in September of last year, I got a Macbook Air with the M2 chip to use as my mobile editor and “big” screen in the field. Using Lightroom Classic’s tethering option, I’d take a photo and it would blow into the editor so the client could view what I was seeing on the bigger screen. The only problem is the laptop could barely handle Lightroom Classic without beach balling with every action. When you have to make the client wait for your laptop to do a basic task, it’s not a great look. It was obvious I needed more than 8gb of RAM (or as Apple now calls it: Unified Memory). A quick trip to Apple’s website to look at what a MacBook Pro with a beefed-up M3 chip cost resulted in a thousand-yard stare. I weighed my financial options. It was possible, but I’d be hurting afterward. Flash forward to a couple hours of research later and I loaded NX Tether—a tethering software designed for Nikon cameras by the company itself—to my Macbook Air. I took my first test shot (pictured) and it ran flawlessly without any hiccups. Blowing it into NX Studio, the software’s companion editor, was smooth as silk and nearly instant. I didn’t need to used Lightroom Classic at all. I could keep my $3000. NX Tether and Studio completely solved my issue for free. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/may2024 daily 0.75 2024-06-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714661474405-7JGV968YA74GQ2VYZ7WC/IMG_8441.jpg may-2024 - 5.1.24 One Stop Shop She wanted a bottle of rose to drink on the porch this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714661474405-7JGV968YA74GQ2VYZ7WC/IMG_8441.jpg may-2024 - 5.1.24 One Stop Shop She wanted a bottle of rose to drink on the porch this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011371025-GNEQHXAT3VNILHDV1PW3/Last+Scouts+at+MOTR+5.2.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-66.jpg may-2024 - 5.2.24 The Last Scouts Travis’ new band, The Last Scouts, played their inaugural show at MOTR tonight. They did a solid 45 minutes and sounded awesome. The stage was tight and getting photos of Travis was tricky, but I managed to optically scooch between the frontmen for a few Trav-focused frames. Looking forward to their next show at the Oxford Wine & Craft Beer Festival on June 1. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011371058-BPX9JA8VVD4KGK7S17I0/ZFC_4563-Enhanced-NR.jpg may-2024 - 5.3.24 Brendan’s Night Out Brendan and Caitlynn are getting married in 8 days. The girls went out and did karaoke, so we went out with Brendan for a short photo walk, Camp Washington Chili pizza at Taglio (to die for), and drinks at Level One (formerly 16-Bit) to wrap up the evening. It’s impossibly hard to get a crisp image without resorting to unimaginable grain in an arcade, but Adobe Denoise worked its magic and turned out a decent version of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011376763-AQ90VSV9TM3PKSSG75NR/IMG_8467.jpg may-2024 - 5.4.24 Backyard Romps Kiran’s 8th birthday is today. To celebrate, everyone came down to our house for a backyard gathering complete with pizza, fizzy drinks, and a pinata filled with candy for the birthday girl. I was so concerned about having everything in place, I didn’t take many photos. The pinata was strung on a string at the end of a pole that I held up, so I couldn’t get any photos of that, either. I did capture this sweet moment where Esmeray, Kiran, and my mom were playing together, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011375559-SBEVBWV2GYE7F6ZQ46U0/ZFC_4566-Enhanced-NR.jpg may-2024 - 5.5.24 De Mayo of the Cinco Variety For Cinco de Mayo, we walked down to Los Potros and dined/drank on their exquisite patio. For the first time ever, it was nearly full—a phenomenon I haven’t personally seen this restaurant experience. The energy was much improved with people around. Afterward, we walked a little further into Dayton before casually making our way to the B-List for a night cap (or two). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715130245929-4J8ZAJQ6VT52ZL9KPRQP/IMG_8486.jpg may-2024 - 5.6.24 Don’t Get Up, Myrt “I’m not getting out of this bed unless the promise of cheese or throwing ball is on the table.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715444060367-2TP3CU6JURWTQM215TPU/327+Elm+Street+Unit+3+-+Phil+Armstrong+-4.jpg may-2024 - 5.7.24 Shoot Before the Storm I had to photograph two Airbnb units in Ludlow today. While there, I got an alert that the weather was about to take a turn; a huge storm with a bright red front on the radar was incoming. My car was parked two blocks away and it didn’t look like I was going to finish before it hit my location, so I went and moved the car right up behind the building in the alley just beyond the door you see in this image. It wasn’t exactly a proper parking spot, but I took a chance anyway. Just as the final frames were in motion, I looked west out of the window and saw a navy blue wall of clouds in the distance. Lightning and thunder began, and the window of time I had to finish was just about up. As I loaded my gear into the car mere feet from the door, rain began pouring in buckets. The drive home was chaotic and slow with visibility not much greater than a single block in some instances. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715444066097-JGPHQZSJOV0PG2VWJUTH/Shanghai+to+Ohio+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-59.jpg may-2024 - 5.8.24 From Shanghai to Ohio From Shanghai to Ohio: Woo Chong Yung opened tonight at the Cincinnati Art Museum to a small, intimate crowd. There were four performances beforehand, one of which involved this sword master. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715444062648-3SQKR20TLL5Y60H33MZG/Ronny+and+Egypt+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg may-2024 - 5.9.24 Ronny and Egypt A portrait of Ronny and Egypt in front of what remains of the mural on the side of Holiday Spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055368409-WRDGULS8T24ZK2SS1YM1/IMG_8586.jpg may-2024 - 5.10.24 Good Light After visiting Studio Kroner for Brad Davis’ art show, I saw this scene across the street and thought it was photogenic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055366616-3U3JMCXQNBJZ1HG48F0J/IMG_8605.jpg may-2024 - 5.11.24 Calm Before the Party We stopped by The Lodge in Dayton, KY this morning to check out a pop-up farmer’s market. I dug the eclectic decor on the way out the door. Tonight is Caitlyn and Brendan’s wedding. It’s going to be a load of fun with good friends. Cannot wait to celebrate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055368612-738BDDJPPHW80XAVBYHK/IMG_8644.jpg may-2024 - 5.12.24 Legendary Hangover This grainy image taken at 12x on my iPhone from within a moving vehicle is the best I can do in my current state. I am extremely nauseous and want to lie still for an eternity. However, it’s Mother’s Day, and I have a mother to visit. Apparently, if you combine an open bar with endless cabernet and friends getting married, I have no choice but to let loose and over-indulge. The wedding was so fun. I don’t remember getting home or anything about the end of the night, but everything leading up to it was incredible. While on the way to mom’s house—with Ashley at the wheel and a 5-gallon bucket wedged between my legs—I saw this blimp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055363927-H9X2R4CQGJ2ZPR2XKKTH/Yard+Party+5.13.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg may-2024 - 5.13.24 CNU Yard Party Congress for the New Urbanism is holding its annual conference in Cincinnati this week, and to kick off the festivities, Yard & Co. hosted a party at its headquarters on Pleasant Street. I was originally scheduled to photograph two of the three days of CNU’s events, but about an hour before I went to photograph this party for Yard, I received an email from them saying they “accidentally hired someone else” and that I wouldn’t be needed. So now I have two days open with no work this week. I’ll keep my real opinion about working with CNU out of print, but all I’ll say here is that I won’t be working with them again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055363287-6OLKXBPPMD28PQZG28D4/IMG_8677.jpg may-2024 - 5.14.24 XTREME FASHIONS I don’t know if there’s an architectural term for it, but I love how this corner shop has a little detached display case in lieu of a structural pillar with a walkway separating it from the front door. It’s xtremely unique and fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055862264-3MHC87JQ530XO0H1L2PQ/IMG_8687.jpg may-2024 - 5.15.24 Building a Mountain Had to go to Home Depot for something and stopped to marvel at the colossal mound of dirt across the highway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716169153196-W2FKSEYF3SD28K6D967C/IMG_8773-2.jpg may-2024 - 5.16.24 Dahlia Work took me to an early-childhood school in Anderson where I was tasked with capturing the way adorable little kids play on the playground for a creative agency. It’s not something I’m used to doing, but I treated it like any other event and the photos turned out nicely, I think. I shouldn’t share any of those images here for privacy reasons, but rest assured I got about 10 frames out of the hundreds that I took that I think are great. It’s hard to keep them in focus, but it’s not difficult to capture pure, innocent joy. Super thankful I got to work on that project. So here’s a freshly watered dahlia in my backyard instead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390372839-RDG8CD9VS9R9EFBVV6R1/IMG_8791.jpg may-2024 - 5.17.24 Evening Surprise In January, a large tree fell in our neighbor’s side yard. I documented it in this daily photo project at the time (the date was the 13th), and despite crews cleaning up the street that weekend, the bulk of the tree lay across the public steps for months afterward. It screamed, “We cannot possibly impede people turning around on this dead-end street in their cars, but everyone who uses the sidewalk and steps can be patient.” It's not a great look for the city, to be honest. Anyway, that was winter. It’s late spring now. As the sun’s arc slowly changes as the year wears on, so do the highlights and shadows in my home. We used to get sun through this amber-colored window on the steps in the morning when the sun would illuminate the alley. Now that the tree in the neighbor’s side yard is gone, we get a glorious encore in the evening. It’s so beautiful to me. My mood has always been susceptible to change based on the lighting in the room I’m in. This is like a concentrated injection of serotonin straight into whatever lobe of my brain is feeling poorly at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390371974-M8RH4XGEDJ1L1W0CS7E9/ZFC_4658.jpg may-2024 - 5.18.24 Perennial Event This morning, the vacant lot across the street from my house hosted an awesome pop-up. Local artist Devan Horton assembled a seed planting and painting event that included coffee, art, live music, and local plants for sale. She infused paper with flower seeds before the event, and people would paint whatever they wanted before planting the seeds in the lot. I used to try my best to maintain this vacant lot in past years, but I was the only one doing it and couldn’t keep it up. I’m so glad someone else took some initiative and got permission to do something with it. I popped down for a coffee, and Ashley painted/planted. We sat on the porch from 9 AM to 4 PM, enjoying the festivities. It was a treat to listen to music and wave to neighbors (and meet new ones) so close to home. If I'm honest, I would love to see this lot programmed regularly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390369992-JVTYQXQFD38ZJ44HVZXR/ZFC_4681.jpg may-2024 - 5.19.24 FPV Flying Steve needed to practice flying an Avata 2 drone, so we went to Devou Park, found a quiet spot, and fired it up. He needs to master it before a job in June for a big client. The benefit of an FPV drone is how precise it can be flown, allowing dynamic and fast recording from perspectives only tiny drones can offer. To practice precise flying, he flew it between our legs a few times, around tree trunks, and between us as we sat at a picnic table. If I were ever to get a drone and acquire a license, I think I’d like one of these. They’re so small and easy compared to other drones. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390364821-86OBUES0KMRGFRJBD9U0/1001+Russell+St+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55.jpg may-2024 - 5.20.24 Seminary Square From a real estate shoot in Seminary Square today. There were two lovely cats and a good dog inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390363941-756LWNHH8Q9LY3BYJ2N8/IMG_8815_jpg.jpg may-2024 - 5.21.24 Pendleton Slice The morning was surprisingly sweltering for spring. I went out to photograph murals for ArtWorks and snapped this photo on the way back to my car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716489752015-XYWEMCLON947Y7E27EN4/IMG_8840.jpg may-2024 - 5.22.24 Planning Stage We’re planning a New England vacation this August. This first stop is Boston. I spent hours looking stuff up and figuring out what we could do in a day and a half there before realizing that a return trip was required. There’s no way to even remotely scratch the surface of a city that size in such a short amount of time. We went to a wine tasting at Merchant’s Club later in the evening. Our planning efforts followed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716563186543-TYSM8CBDA4GYHZHPD9W9/NZF_0023-Enhanced-NR.jpg may-2024 - 5.23.24 B&W Mode Nikon put a B&W option on the mode dial of the Nikon Zf (full frame version). Figuring I'd use it once and dismiss it as gimmick, I was thoroughly surprised when I didn't want to stop using it. Especially on overcast days, seeing images in monochrome as they're snapped kind of wedged a new layer of vitality into photography for me. The best part: if shooting RAW, images retain all color info behind the preview, so if you decide you want to re-colorize them, you can. Due to this novelty, I’ll probably be posting more B&W images. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996069594-1V8SGX49ZG4DE6UMWEV9/NZF_0902.jpg may-2024 - 5.24.24 Sunset on the August Ferry We took the ferry from Higginsport over to Augusta tonight to eat and drink at Beehive Tavern. We didn’t have to take the ferry, but it was a picturesque evening on the water and seemed like a fun idea. After arriving on the southern shore minutes before one of the last rides of the evening, I turned to face the boat one more time and snapped a photo of others loading up to head north. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996072232-1LKTNU367IV82IHOI3E3/NZF_0937.jpg may-2024 - 5.25.24 The Ripley Sticks Last night, we went to Augusta, and today, we went out to Ripley—a relatively tiny blip in the sticks in Ohio. Vince co-owns a farm out there with acres of land, some of which is shrouded in forest. We packed up our camping gear, loaded Myrtle into the car, and ventured out over grassy hills until we found our spot at the edge of the woods. We met up with Vince and Chelsea, set up camp, placed fold-out chairs around the fire, and began slamming Pacificos like we’d just returned from war. Homemade burgers eventually made their way to our plates, followed by brownies. We saw loads of stars and a rising moon that looked bigger and more orange than usual. By midnight, we were all tired enough to climb into our tents, fire up the battery-operated fan for white noise and air circulation, and saw logs until morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996070566-S50ZTAZK11DU4C7ZQO4G/NZF_1035.jpg may-2024 - 5.26.24 Hidden Rot-Gut After waking up in the woods, we boarded a UTV to explore the area further and check out some different vantage points. With Vince at the wheel, we snaked around the property, exploring the ruins of 1800s single-room schoolhouses, secluded hand-built log cabins, and other areas of interest. At one point, we came upon an old stone carving engraved with a crow that almost resembled a tall headstone. Though it wasn’t to mark a person's grave, it was a marker to remember a fellowship of forest lovers. At the base of the marker was a stone box with a flat rock on top. Vince lifted the rock, revealing a deep cavity with an old bottle of bourbon bearing a weathered label. “We all know this is here,” Vince said, talking about everyone who co-owns the property. Even still, the look of the bourbon and the condition of the bottle didn’t fill me with confidence that it was potable. Vince proved me wrong, however. He unscrewed the cap, carefully eased the bottle back, took a swig, and blinked at the ground a few times while holding back a grimace. He returned the bottle to its hiding spot, hopped back aboard the UTV, and we headed back to the campsite. He suffered no ill effects from the drink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996065650-PWJA84LHJGJYPTMJEP6A/NZF_1057.jpg may-2024 - 5.27.24 Overlook After returning from our overnight in the country, I felt the urge to enjoy urbanity from the comfort of my bike. With no destination and impulsively choosing when and where to go as I approached every corner, I eventually found myself bypassing the blockade at the top of the Brighton Approach and riding down as far as possible to this point. I’d never gotten a photo of this place before tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996065318-TNTL122SGUQZ2T8DZV6B/NZF_1059.jpg may-2024 - 5.28.24 Porch Cats This B&W mode on the Nikon Zf is too fun. I haven’t shot many color images lately as a result. This novelty may pass sooner than later, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts. It just makes viewing the world a little weirder; familiar things look and feel different in real time, adding a level of freshness I didn’t realize I needed until I saw it. Seeing these scenes through the EVF in B&W is even better than the stills themselves. There’s just something special about it. Monochrome cats, unsurprisingly, look great in monochrome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537562810-S8NZ7GP55N12PLX3Q5QP/NZF_1062.jpg may-2024 - 5.28.24 Peeking Through Down by the tracks, from the public steps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537566586-FSQRDGQSTUW8KGUWRIIF/Z9Tether154.jpg may-2024 - 5.29.24 Portrait of a Doodle Had a hard day today. Lost my biggest client due to them pivoting away from what I was working on in favor of something less labor intensive. Stuff they can do on their own. It’s not a good feeling. But there’s a possible portrait job on the horizon that I’m aiming for, and it requires some pretty dramatic lighting, so I tested out a new setup in my basement to see if I could make it work. Taking my own portrait is difficult, so I had fluff ball sit in for me. I like doing this style of bold, color-rich, contrast-y portraits. They feel very late-90s to me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537567200-82HG3F8HSNSY33D1RT03/NZF_1102.jpg may-2024 - 5.30.24 Paddock Hills Mural Photographed for ArtWorks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537562577-FLDNBL67P5U98TPTT2F8/Z9Tether390_01-Enhanced-NR.jpg may-2024 - 5.31.24 Practice Makes Portrait More portrait practice, this time on people! Erica (pictured) and others stood in for a few snaps so I could figure out the lighting for this possible upcoming gig. I would normally move the key light to fill more of the face, but the example image they provided was lit more like this. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jun2024 daily 0.75 2024-07-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624031900-9A8O8DPQ2L03PZ9MPL5B/NZF_1124-2.jpg jun-2024 - 6.1.24 A Wet Oxford Beer & Wine Festival Travis’ band, The Last Scouts, played a show on a much larger stage than their first gig at MOTR. This one was in Oxford, OH at the Craft Beer & Wine Festival. They sounded great, as usual. It rained on and off the whole time we were there, so I didn’t grab many photos, sadly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624031900-9A8O8DPQ2L03PZ9MPL5B/NZF_1124-2.jpg jun-2024 - 6.1.24 A Wet Oxford Beer & Wine Festival Travis’ band, The Last Scouts, played a show on a much larger stage than their first gig at MOTR. This one was in Oxford, OH at the Craft Beer & Wine Festival. They sounded great, as usual. It rained on and off the whole time we were there, so I didn’t grab many photos, sadly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624028503-DHS59X5ZMJ89CVQ41HTB/NZF_1287.jpg jun-2024 - 6.2.24 Combining Two Hobbies Into One Tiffany and Steven randomly sent me this Lego camera set. It was such a pleasant surprise. I cleared my evening to build it and had an enjoyable hour of relaxation snapping together bricks and listening to a podcast about ghosts. Finally got around to photographing it on the white backdrop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624028516-Z0TLV9Y34VAJA12IBEJP/1734+E+Boat+Run+Road+-+Phil+Armstrong+-39.jpg jun-2024 - 6.3.24 Airbnb Decor Just some decor from an Airbnb I photographed today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624021652-EXMSD6N7Z5EEJ3DD1I8A/NZF_1255-2.jpg jun-2024 - 6.4.24 Riverwalk The work I had lined up for today fell through. Seems to be happening more and more lately. Hopefully my luck will turn around sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624021107-Q6IGQIWXK7F5LBE772H8/NZF_1341.jpg jun-2024 - 6.5.24 A Slow Dismantling of Something Huge A few months back, I treated myself to the enormous 40-inch-long Lego Saturn V rocket. It was the first set I’d bought in probably 20 years. Putting it together was a joy; even though I could’ve totally knocked the whole thing out in one night, I spaced the experience out over a few days. I took photos of it in stages today. The way the Saturn V rocket broke apart in stages to reach the moon was wild. The set does a good job highlighting each of these stages in the build, and that thoughtfulness was one of the reasons I was drawn to it. The disposable sections worked so hard for such a brief time, designed to be cast aside after use. They just kept getting smaller and smaller, providing stepping stones into space until humanity achieved what was thought to be impossible for ages. Long story short, I feel like the Saturn V rocket breaking apart at the moment. It’s been another truly frustrating day of cancellations. From canceled doctor visits to losing that portrait job to someone else that I was banking on later this month, I am feeling increasingly small while careening into unfamiliar territory. I just hope that there will be something big that will make this rough trip worthwhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291791239-0K698QRNF40GVJ1VA85C/IMG_9032.jpg jun-2024 - 6.6.24 Oops This project has been dour lately due to myriad career-based issues. It will turn around eventually, but I’m still in the thick of it for now. If there are any regular readers out there, hang tight while I navigate everything. After a successful photoshoot for Model Group this morning, I went home and mentally prepped to photograph an event at a local museum this evening. When I got there, I set up, talked to staff, and started doing my thing. Then, someone came up and asked if I was certain I was supposed to photograph the event. Questioning myself, I quickly checked my email and realized I had the date wrong. Tonight wasn’t my night. They invited me to stay and enjoy the exhibit, but I was too embarrassed. I went home. When I got through the garage door, Myrtle greeted me, and I sat down on the floor to give her a few good pets. Then, I lay down and observed the ceiling for a while. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291792446-TAQ28TGG15PEC2LDFMQV/IMG_9035.jpg jun-2024 - 6.7.24 Full Day A lot happened today. I started working as an assistant to a local photographer I admire. Her studio is in Mohawk. I ran a few errands for her, including going to Kenwood to pick up a brand-new M3 MacBook Pro for her. Watching someone with a different process do their thing in a controlled space is fascinating. I learned a lot about how she lights her subjects, and I’m interested in learning more as I continue working with her whenever she needs me. Unfortunately, I blasted my head on a door about an hour into the job. The knot on my forehead stings to the touch, but the skin didn’t break. The slight headache doesn’t seem to be serious enough to seek medical attention, though. Anyway, when I got home, I took Myrtle on a walk. As we made our way up the street, I noticed the open lot where she likes to run was dug up, and the large magnolia tree that stood on the corner was gone. I guess they’re beginning construction up there. I think we’re both disappointed that she can’t enjoy the lot anymore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291798731-0V14PCBCKSD9DS6DDW38/IMG_9045.jpg jun-2024 - 6.8.24 R&R After briefly getting a few things done around the house, fatigue overtook me, and the head injury I received yesterday seems a bit worse than I thought. I have a minor sensitivity to blinking light, and I cannot explain why I’m so sapped for energy. Of course the knot hurts, but that’s to be expected. The plan to celebrate a friend’s birthday tonight wasn’t in the cards for me. I texted her and apologized for canceling, and explained my situation. She was understanding, of course. The rest of the evening was spent laying on the couch, watching TV and resting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291794059-OIRH12307VBGOM0YOSBM/NZF_1380.jpg jun-2024 - 6.9.24 Went On a Walk My head is on the mend. Ashley thinks it’s a mild concussion, but I don’t. Anyway, I think I’ll be back in working order by tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291798730-MGOU0MDDTAN7KZARL5NP/711+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-32.jpg jun-2024 - 6.10.24 Texture I’m still feeling slightly exhausted due to the head thing, but I was well enough to photograph two spaces today. One was an elegant, beautifully decorated condo full of natural sunlight in Covington. The other was a dark, empty, dilapidated former law office (pictured). I liked the texture and color of the second floor. The owner said her father, who passed away in April, once ran his firm in this building. After he retired, he would infrequently come to the building to do desk work, but it was otherwise empty and unmaintained for about 20 years. As I considered my age and how quickly time passes, I realized this space was likely in good condition the year I graduated high school in 2004. In what still feels like a short amount of time, it took a dive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291796788-D245GO3KZ7B0RADJ11XN/IMG_9088.jpg jun-2024 - 6.11.24 Dumb Project I’m building something very dumb for Kevin. It’s a board that holds a single beer on top and suspends three beers beneath it using lid snaps screwed into the bottom. He saw someone make it on Instagram and asked if I’d make him one using materials found in his garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291796042-88KZ3N1S7H7C628ABPDV/NZF_1620.jpg jun-2024 - 6.12.24 New Baby My nephew was born on Monday. They took him home last night, so we visited him for the first time tonight. I snapped a few photos, marveled at the tininess of a 3-day-old baby, and played with Kiran and Esmeray. Kiran took a moment to feed and gently bounce her baby brother when he fussed. It was very sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256641730-36RHMJAAYA2F3DZDIQXB/Img005.jpg jun-2024 - 6.13.24 Green Friend This is the Zf I’ve been shooting with lately. It is all black by default, but I chose to go with the moss green variant to give it a little personality and separate it aesthetically from my other bodies. Plus, I really just love green equipment (my iMac is also green). I really loved the contrast of the silver and black of the Zfc, so I wanted something similar for this camera. Overall, I’m super happy with how this thing handles. It has all the character I loved about the Zfc with the functionality of a full-fledged Z-series camera. It’s not a substitute for the Z9, but I feel like it’s the perfect companion. I’ve used it multiple times as a second body when shooting events, and it’s served me better than I could’ve imagined. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256651509-Q6IZY3I6BTN3FX8JM3AK/NZF_2630.jpg jun-2024 - 6.14.24 Central Parkway A scene from Central Parkway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256647679-ZPBAYZ3LCAZ9WCJP72QP/NZF_1716_0866-Enhanced-NR.jpg jun-2024 - 6.15.24 Can't Pass Up Good Light We’ve been keeping the blinds closed in the evenings lately so our bedroom isn’t sweltering by the end of the day. While walking past the doorway this evening, I caught a glimpse of the room lit with filtered golden hour light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256646447-FR6WKX9Z8OXOYF7NRZ42/NZF_1684_0874-Enhanced-NR.jpg jun-2024 - 6.16.24 Deer Have Returned It’s been awhile since the deer have been seen hanging out across the street in the vacant lot. Tonight, though, this doe made a comfortable little spot for herself near the tree line and sat quietly in the shade. I haven’t used my Tamron 150-600mm in a long time, but I slapped it on the Zf and snapped a few frames. After using S-series Nikon glass, and after fiddling with this Tamron lens for years, I just have to face facts that it’s just never going to be as sharp as I want. That’s okay, though. It’s a hobby lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256649694-JKZ65RM3D2HAWXWNGSJW/NZF_1731.jpg jun-2024 - 6.17.24 Queensgate A shot looking east on Gest Street toward downtown from Queensgate. This pocket of fast food and USPS mail vans surrounded by barbed wire fencing with faded skyscrapers in the background caught my eye. You can see the smog and heat advisory in this photo if you look long enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256643184-XWRA8IM9SD465D415VKF/NZF_1362.jpg jun-2024 - 6.18.24 Beauty in Simplicity I thought this sewer grate surrounded by lush vegetation was strikingly beautiful. Something about the muted, warm metal colors contrasting against the soft, verdant leaves that envelope it. Maybe this isn’t relatable, but I stood and looked at it for longer than normal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261288310-1GHB7ZBF9AXBZXJWT6ME/ArtWorks+Office%2C+2460+Gilbert+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg jun-2024 - 6.19.24 1000 & 1 Colors ArtWorks are moving to a new building on Gilbert Avenue in Walnut Hills. They’ve been renovating it for some time now, and they wanted a quick in-process shot of the exterior (and some interiors). I stood in the median and got a decent shot straight on without any cars. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261287936-Q2WFW8NFWV1J8V898L6K/ArtWorks+Findlay+Garage+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-38.jpg jun-2024 - 6.20.24 Hand Models Dean Zaidan, owner and founder of Dean's Mediterranean, and Nicole Holloway, Findlay Market Center Associate, each have a literal hand in the creation of this mural by Greta McLain at 1810 Logan Street in Cincinnati. The artist used their hands as models for this beautiful new four-story piece a block from the market. Photographed today for ArtWorks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261350275-VSCSBNLF55EIR8SRMBAP/NZF_2627.jpg jun-2024 - 6.21.24 Salvation Army While on an errand run to Kroger, I stopped and admired the view from the parking garage. Also, I kind of love the Salvation Army building’s exterior. It doesn’t look like anything else in the neighborhood near it. Hope it sticks around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261292358-88RNT5KI7IXNLWEEOVIR/IMG_9143.jpg jun-2024 - 6.22.24 River of Tears Ashley and I went to Roebling Books this morning for coffee and a breakfast sandwich. As we sat down, Rock Neelly (pictured) approached us and introduced himself as a local author whose novel was for sale. He outlined a thriller set in Cincinnati that sounded interesting, and since I’m currently between books, I thought it made sense to pick it up. Then I briefly explained my daily photo thing and asked if he’d be my subject for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261293053-10BB09BZN4UVHLFNU61L/IMG_9167.jpg jun-2024 - 6.23.24 Remembering My Friends This photo has nothing to do with what I want to talk about. I just didn’t know what else to photograph to mark a 20-year anniversary of a tragedy. On June 23rd, 2004, four of my friends were in a car accident in New York. Two of them, Tyler and Craig, succumbed to their injuries and passed away. Ryan survived, but was badly hurt and spent a long time in recovery. Mark walked away from the crash because he was the only one who had a seatbelt on at the time. We’d just graduated high school. To kick off summer vacation, they all went on a trip together. They asked me to go with them, but I didn’t due to working a summer job. It was the first time I’d ever lost anyone I was truly close to, and it was nearly impossible to process that loss in a mature, adult way. Being 18 and largely a dumb teenager, I did my best to understand and manage my grief, but it was confusing and horrible in a way I can’t really describe. Some of the extended friend group stuck together for a while because I imagine none of us wanted to be alone with how we felt. But after the initial shock became a “normal” part of our reality, I started feeling guilt and shame for not being better and more present during that time. That shame never left and it still ties my stomach into knots as I write this. The details of the days afterward are a collage of awful snapshots. Visiting their families and seeing them weep, participating in their funerals, asking Mark about the specifics of what happened at his house when he finally made it back, visiting Ryan after he was moved out of the ICU, looking up at the stars and trying to find meaning in any of it. After the first few years, I stopped talking about it on social media because it felt attention-seeking and shameful, exacerbating my perpetual feeling of guilt. I didn’t want to make it personal in a large public forum. Sometimes I worry my lack of public acknowledgment will be perceived as forgetting about them, but I have to remind myself that everyone processes loss in their own way. Some want to shine a spotlight on it for others to see, and others prefer to quietly observe. This is a quiet space for me and the only place I feel some measure of comfort speaking about it. Thinking of everyone today. I miss Tyler and Craig. None of us will ever know who they would’ve grown up to be. I am supremely ashamed of myself for not keeping up relationships with Ryan, Mark, or Tyler and Craig’s families. I think about all of them often despite being an awful individual. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858840650-F8G1DGI6J0EAAY7RUZH7/NZF_2686-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg jun-2024 - 6.24.24 The Highway A view of I-471 from Highland Avenue bridge, looking toward downtown. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858841139-K3BO1YD1XV155MGFZQ9Q/NZF_2710-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg jun-2024 - 6.25.24 Dining Room Tables Popped into Single Batch to photograph some new tables they created. I like the darker one in the foreground the best. It has a really nice round bevel on the underside that separates it from the 90º angle the other one has. I also really like the contrasting stripe of the wood on the leg. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858848146-E7GAGEVL7BS4WNNF8VGU/NZF_3109-Pano.jpg jun-2024 - 6.26.24 A Moment Too Beautiful Couldn’t believe how beautiful this moment was upon leaving the Art Museum this evening. I had to stop and park for it. I made a larger panoramic photo of it, but this 16x9 slice showcases the main highlights of the full image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858848225-J6KHGA24DC6GNK3UM486/NZF_3128.jpg jun-2024 - 6.27.24 Naivety Myrtle in her element. She ran around this field and had a blast before laying down to catch her breath. I’m very sad and stressed at the moment about the state of my country, but seeing her enjoy her off-leash freedom without a care in the world was the moment of reprieve I desperately needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858853013-ADWW3Q5M9EPQV8V8K847/NZF_3152.jpg jun-2024 - 6.28.24 Coffee With Justin Justin and I met up this morning for coffee at Collective Espresso in Newport. I wanted to check out the custom soft shutter release buttons that he put on his cameras because I’m thinking of outfitting my Zf with one but needed to see how they felt in person. I think they add comfort to the snap, but I’m not sure I have the money at the moment to drop on a frivolous purchase. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858855777-C2G10NBX8D1NEZ0PDRG5/Summer+Fundraiser+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-128.jpg jun-2024 - 6.29.24 The Importance of Community Reading the news and posts from people online has driven me into a very fearful place. I’m not sure I fully grasp the severity of our situation in this country at the moment, but I’m growing sicker over it. I had to photograph another event at the Art Museum tonight. 30 minutes before going in, I had a panic attack because of this boiling fear. It was difficult pulling myself together enough to continue with work, but I managed. As soon as I went in and started seeing people having fun and smiling, the anxiety I felt subsided. It's astonishing how good for the psyche it is to just be in the same space as a bunch of other happy people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858853292-WEQ0C856F4LXXW3OMJ0C/NZF_3561.jpg jun-2024 - 6.30.24 Riverside The weather was too exquisite to not enjoy a bike ride this evening. I am still quietly grappling with the dredged up grief of the 20th anniversary of my friends passing away (see last Sunday’s post), as well as fighting back the terror I feel as a result of the developing current political situation in our country. This bike ride was an attempt to exercise and get my mind off all of it. I paused here because I thought the image of these two sitting together by the river without a soul in sight was a moment of authentic zen. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jul2024 daily 0.75 2024-08-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719971737647-QPKAFR7TFB556YQ7MXQU/NZF_3578.jpg jul-2024 - 7.1.24 Purple People Preventer The Purple People Bridge, my personal favorite access to Downtown on bike and on foot, has been closed on the Cincinnati side for weeks due to debris that fell from one of the struts. This has happened before, and the bridge reopened fairly quickly last time, so I’m hoping for the same this time. Instead of taking this bridge, I have to use the Taylor-Southgate Bridge and hope it isn’t full of pedestrians when crossing. It’s much harder to navigate around people and dogs in a space like that than it is the wide deck of the PPB. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719971737647-QPKAFR7TFB556YQ7MXQU/NZF_3578.jpg jul-2024 - 7.1.24 Purple People Preventer The Purple People Bridge, my personal favorite access to Downtown on bike and on foot, has been closed on the Cincinnati side for weeks due to debris that fell from one of the struts. This has happened before, and the bridge reopened fairly quickly last time, so I’m hoping for the same this time. Instead of taking this bridge, I have to use the Taylor-Southgate Bridge and hope it isn’t full of pedestrians when crossing. It’s much harder to navigate around people and dogs in a space like that than it is the wide deck of the PPB. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719971737301-165VRIYZI5W98A7Q45JJ/NZF_3584-HDR.jpg jul-2024 - 7.2.24 Four Years Four years ago today, we closed on our house. Besides the workshop I built before we moved in, my office was the first room I started putting together. There’s actually a photo of this room from almost the same exact perspective from August 19th, 2020 in the archive if you care to see how much it’s changed. My desk moved from the corner and sits on the left wall today. A lounge chair with a gallery wall backdrop (that I’m still building) now occupies that space. I just added to the collection a print of a painting of Deep Space Nine by Jenny Johnson, and a photo of a Saturn V rocket (photographer listed as NASA) on the launchpad at dawn from the late 1960s. There have been other changes, but they’re all out of frame and no one actually cares about this but me. Cheers to four years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448159571-BEPLJUFP51FJTG3Y7DFA/IMG_9265.jpg jul-2024 - 7.3.24 Malt-Makers We went to the wine night at Merchant’s Club and then to Vince and Chels’ house for homemade malts. This scene looks like it’s a staged stock photo, but it’s not. I love that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448147393-17TTKCDXUOF4RZKZES14/IMG_9267.jpg jul-2024 - 7.4.24 Sleeping Giant I took this photo of the AF-10 Twin that I’ve yet to load with film to send to a friend, but I never sent it. This Fourth of July feels scary and sad; I contemplated going to Northside for the parade but didn’t go. There is a parallel between intentions and lack of follow-through that I’m just now realizing as I type this. Later on in the day, we had an impromptu cookout with a few people and that felt nice. I only shot film, so I have nothing to show from that event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448179526-ZKH0APY5M5ZZ0CZ2ZLA4/Z9Tether539.jpg jul-2024 - 7.5.24 Practice Justin and I have a shoot next Thursday for a children’s product line. Before we do the shoot, however, I needed to get a white seamless, two c-stands, and figure out how to light it. I brought everything over to his place and we practiced how we think it will go based on what we know of the product. The closest thing we could find in his house to the product we’d be shooting was this dog toy. He stood in as my model for the test shots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448173841-PAJMNY7VY77OP48TW444/NZF_3702.jpg jul-2024 - 7.6.24 Good Moment After playing around with a large-format camera with the guys, we met up with our wives and proceeded to day drink at various places around Over-the-Rhine. It was a perfect day to be out and about. I caught this brief moment by chance and love how it feels. It’s also special to me because I was using a fully manual SLR 35mm PC lens strapped to my Zf with an adaptor, so the fact that I caught it in focus is a minor miracle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448159161-JV1V2LCRU3PMFVRU511Y/NZF_4017.jpg jul-2024 - 7.7.24 Bass Island To make up for being out of the house yesterday for an extended period, we spent the day playing and hanging out with Myrtle. She was extra antsy this morning after a weekend of less-than-usual activity, so to wear her out, we took her to do her favorite activity: swimming. Bass Island, the part of the Little Miami River behind 50 West, is always a good spot to toss a toy and let her paddle around. It’s good for me, too, because I can stay completely dry while watching her do her thing. Ashley said the water felt amazing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177886839-I3J7I02LG45OE3YW16DY/CityBlock+Cincinnati+-+Phil+Armstrong-18-Edit.jpg jul-2024 - 7.8.24 CityBlock Went out to the west side today. CityBlock, a Brooklyn-based outfit placing new clinics all over the US, brought their first location to Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177877372-0LTG9PCKMCD9YQ6PDTXQ/ArtWorks+-+7.9.24+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg jul-2024 - 7.9.24 Muralin' A still from a scene on 12th Street where ArtWorks apprentices are painting an enormous Jerry Springer mural. I was about four or five stories up some scaffolding photographing the apprentices for the organization. It took some getting used to the height, and even though I overcame my sky-legs after about 10 minutes, I wasn’t ever fully comfortable being up that high. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177883056-DV3LNX3YE3UG5NR45ZH9/ArtWorks+-+7.10.24+-+Phil+Armstrong-13.jpg jul-2024 - 7.10.24 Interior Designing Went out to a warehouse in Camp Washington today to document ArtWorks apprentices working on the early stages of an offsite mural. From what I understand, they will be doing this particular piece on a transferable surface, then it will be transported and installed at the site after it’s completed. They do this when the site is unsafe for muralists due to traffic, overhead power lines, or other unavoidable obstacles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177887213-W45ESQDRIUDK7TTHWVIU/Bloomie+Final+-+Phil+Armstrong-7.jpg jul-2024 - 7.11.24 Bloomie I did a proper studio shoot today. A friend of friend owns The Calm Caterpillar, a brand that offers products and techniques to help calm children at home and school. Some of their products include Calmee, a large plush caterpillar that’s designed to stretch while a child breathes in and out, and the upcoming Bloomie, a handheld plush that also helps with breathing techniques to assist with overcoming big emotions. This was the first time I’d ever worked on product with young models. Aside from a few technical hiccups, I think the session went really well, and I hope I get to do this again for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177882971-U1YWTM7I6PZFF0XR93E6/ArtWorks+Kroger+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong-1.jpg jul-2024 - 7.12.24 Kroger Mural A new mural inside Kroger HQ. Photographed for ArtWorks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177877548-0PCJOUP55YIWBR484549/509+Short+Pershing+-+Phil+Armstrong-18.jpg jul-2024 - 7.13.24 Short Pershing I had to photograph a house in Covington, but I thought it would show better at night than during the day because of all the unique lamps throughout the house. The owner agreed, so I went over to the house around 10 PM and spent two and a half hours on it. The house was staged and unoccupied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002913958-IRRJ1LLXOTN3HDQEQH0B/NZF_4248.jpg jul-2024 - 7.14.24 Miniature Things Chelsea and Vince are out of town. They asked if we would come over and feed their cats once a day. I forgot about this miniature squirrel and basket they have on their windowsill, and it made me laugh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002915733-KT7Z3IBQMAR7KGU89BKP/NZF_4254.jpg jul-2024 - 7.15.24 Morning on Fourth Assisting in the studio this week. I won’t be working on anything for my portfolio, but I will try to keep the daily photo thing interesting regardless. Then again, it’s debatable whether or not I’ve achieved seven days of good posting outside a vacation in years. I went into the studio this morning an hour early by accident. Holding a rapidly emptying cup of iced latte, it made sense to go get another one from Deeper Roots on Fourth Street. I love this particular block specifically because, if you look to the south side of the street, I don’t imagine it looks markedly different than it did half a century ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002911427-28VDPN3EVOHNB8W38SRX/NZF_4245.jpg jul-2024 - 7.16.24 Flora Found this large mushroom while on a walk. I had a 35mm Zuiko strapped to my Z f using an adaptor that converts OM lenses to the Z mount. It’s fully manual, but with focus peaking turned on, I can get a pretty decent image if I spend extra time fussing with it. It is not practical compared to using a regular autofocus lens, but it does force slower, more deliberate frames, and that exercise is enjoyable from time to time. Plus, the lens itself is physically heavy and beautiful, so I like how it feels in hand despite having inferior efficiency. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002916731-5VZULA4379ATIH9F94Q5/NZF_4263.jpg jul-2024 - 7.17.24 Art of Transitions I’ve had work down on this block on and off for years, and even though the steps always reek of urine, I love how they offer a nice transition between two differently elevated streets. The artwork that’s popped up there is a bonus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002912886-TZAG61Y16A2NU2EA22BV/IMG_9416.jpg jul-2024 - 7.18.24 Central Parkway Bike Lane Some people hate how the bike lane ramps up on the sidewalk along this stretch of Central Parkway, but I think it’s the most enjoyable part of the ride. I wish they would find a way to do this more often; it’s not fun riding in traffic, and if it doesn’t impede pedestrians, that’s a win-win. Being off the street, away from cars, and on a bike path separate from the sidewalk is optimal, in my opinion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002918244-4SOYJ728RO1RLA6J5FIU/NZF_4277.jpg jul-2024 - 7.19.24 End-of-Week Corndog Neither of us felt like making the meal kit in the fridge, so we went down to the Silver Grove Dari Bar, counted our coins, and bought what we could with the money we had. I am pleased to say the corndogs were delicious. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004081357-XCPDE48BQSD3U3B4KEZ8/34+W+Crittenden+Ave-Covington%2C+KY%2C+United+States+-+Phil+Armstrong-12.jpg jul-2024 - 7.20.24 Easy Work Photographed a house for a listing this morning, and the owners staged it beautifully. It was so perfect, I didn’t move anything in any of the rooms to make them look better. They just had it all sorted before I showed up. That attention to detail and considerate preparation was greatly appreciated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004091333-1BALIEI17UFGSWNTTB2L/Bellevue+Farmer%27s+Market+-+Phil+Armstrong-10.jpg jul-2024 - 7.21.24 Bellevue Farmer's Market First market of the year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004096854-NS02XST4JKUA9RGQXSKZ/PWMA+Dayton+-+Phil+Armstrong-+2a.jpg jul-2024 - 7.22.24 Dayton Office Drove up to Dayton for a photoshoot in a freshly renovated office for an interior designer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004123428-76TD76XTSBFNSN2CHYO5/NZF_4479.JPG jul-2024 - 7.23.24 World Famous Tower Tree On the drive back from a job in Indy, I saw a VISIT GREENSBURG billboard that advertised the “world famous tower tree.” Small town oddities are among my favorite things, so I detoured. Back in 1870, residents noticed a tree growing out of the roof of the courthouse tower. That tree was removed, but another one started growing on the southwest side. The city apparently leaned into the weird charm of the situation, and made it a thing. It’s a Mulberry tree that’s been there for a century now. I love the iconography they’ve chosen for their signage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004129742-2BP65SF3XUJ3EWP2JMNQ/Bellevue+Olympics+-+Phil+Armstrong+-42-2.jpg jul-2024 - 7.24.24 The Olympics Bellevue hosted a relay race for neighborhood kids at the beach park this evening to kick off the Paris Olympics. I’ve been working with the city to get them new images for the website, so I joined to document the occasion. Unfortunately, about halfway through the event, the sky opened up and drenched everyone who wasn’t under the awning or gazebo. It’s funny because I think the adults were the only people irritated by the weather. All the kids were out running around with their friends in the rain without hesitation. Despite everything we teach them about how to exist and behave in our society, kids can still teach us a thing or two about living. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004136642-RI279S9ZEAMTIF4JJE8R/One+Highland+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg jul-2024 - 7.25.24 One Highland I’m working for the architect of One Highland in Fort Thomas. They wanted an image of this building at Golden Hour for their portfolio but haven’t found someone to do it how they wanted. The above image is a composite of seven frames to get all the elements in place. While none of these people were together simultaneously, they’re genuine in their placement and movements. All I did was incorporate them all into the same image to present a curated sense of liveliness. I like it because even though every element in the image is real, it has the polish of a rendering. The sky in the image was added, as well. The actual sky, while the same color and tone, was featureless and devoid of any texture. It didn’t have the drama I wished it had. To fix this, I scoured my archive and found an image I took at a Florida beach in 2017, copied it, and replaced the featureless sky with these wispy clouds. I chose this sky specifically because the angle of light was the same between them. Overall, I think it turned out well, and I really enjoy making these types of images despite the technical challenge of doing so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722536396179-O7RQ19LWBU0RNW8DLXNK/NZF_5054-Enhanced-NR.jpg jul-2024 - 7.26.24 Cheers! We went to see a comedy show in Dayton, KY and ended up drinking with friends and the owners of Tuba afterward. We did shots of Underberg—a post-drink digestif bitter—after our beer, and I memorialized the occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722536395998-M735DLLYWHX1XG2MABCA/NZF_5315-Enhanced-NR.jpg jul-2024 - 7.27.24 Tiki Nite Travis and Allie hosted a tiki drink night at their place. We had a fantastic evening with good food, drinks (of course), and laughs aplenty. I recorded much of the night on VHS and snapped photos throughout. It was difficult to choose just one image, but I think this one sums up the silliness well. Jonas the cat is very much in love with the taste of coconut creme, so everyone with a drink in their hand became a temporary curiosity to him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722536399711-C035B8M9MJJGMZCNI1HG/NZF_5360-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg jul-2024 - 7.28.24 Molting On our walk to Unataza this morning, I stopped to check out this cicada mid-molting process that landed on our stoop. I guess it was originally stuck to the brick above and had come loose at some point during the shifting weight of the bug. I’ve found discarded exoskeletons over the years, but I’ve never been able to photograph a cicada during its transformation before. Oddly enough, the day before I found some old Zeikos macro diopters hidden away in my cabinet that screw perfectly onto my 28mm lens, so I was able to get really close to this thing to capture finer details. Had I not found them beforehand, I couldn’t have taken this image the same way. The whole thing seemed like the universe planned this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722604223242-VZPYI6MTWZUWI1GBXNVS/Session-092-Edit.jpg jul-2024 - 7.29.24 CY-Z I picked up a $14 CY-Z mount converter so I could slap this Carl Zeiss 45mm on my Zf, and wanted to document it. 45mm is a fantastic focal length for street photography. I think this will be a regular combo in my bag every day despite it being a fully manual lens. The physical size of the lens coupled with the optics make for a great Zf load out. I photographed it on a white backdrop while it sat on a clear acrylic platform. I intentionally blew out the highlights to make the texture of the background and platform disappear into the background. It has an unintentional Photoshopped look to it, though. I think seeing a soft shadow on the surface would’ve added something to this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722604224030-UMAUVY7KNI01KVC8DBUJ/NZF_5431-2.jpg jul-2024 - 7.30.24 Oregon Trail? While working a job in Mt. Washington, I passed this covered wagon on the side of the road that had a FOR SALE sign on it. Unable to let go of the idea of stopping to document it, I parked in the apartment complex across the street and walked over to snap a few frames. There’s no information about why it exists and only lists a phone number. It’s not every day you see something like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722623816245-GF43Q8Z3S1SW728C1FO5/IMG_9533.jpg jul-2024 - 7.31.24 Rexy Steve finally moved in with Erica! They are renting a cute little house over in Fairfax. I’m thrilled to see them join houses and cohabitate after living apart for as long as they did. I sweatily helped them move stuff into the house, dispose of a couch, and return the U-Haul this afternoon. Among the many things moved was Rexy, Steve’s heavy dinosaur lawn ornament. It’s followed him from home to home over the years, usually outfitted in a wardrobe of rotating seasonal attire like Christmas lights on a house. Rexy even once served as a hostile message board after Steve moved into his last apartment, and a jilted ex-girlfriend, who assumed the previous resident still lived there, would leave threatening messages taped to its face. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/aug2024 daily 0.75 2024-09-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722624030282-15A0D3XIAKTR38EL5UG0/IMG_9536-2.jpg aug-2024 - 8.1.24 Decades Apart Ashley found a screw embedded into the back tire of the car this morning, so I took it downtown to the mechanic on Court Street to have it assessed and fixed. While waiting, I took a stroll around the area, stopping in for an iced latte at Coffee Emporium, checking out the new Library lobby, and snapping a few familiar frames with a relatively new camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722624030282-15A0D3XIAKTR38EL5UG0/IMG_9536-2.jpg aug-2024 - 8.1.24 Decades Apart Ashley found a screw embedded into the back tire of the car this morning, so I took it downtown to the mechanic on Court Street to have it assessed and fixed. While waiting, I took a stroll around the area, stopping in for an iced latte at Coffee Emporium, checking out the new Library lobby, and snapping a few familiar frames with a relatively new camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722627044293-SRBH56SZAKA2QHBOIST8/IMG_9556-Edit.jpg aug-2024 - 8.2.24 Travel Tetris I travel with the absolute bare minimum I need to comfortably enjoy my trip. Being physically unburdened with stuff makes moving around new places a lighthearted adventure. This past February, I took only a backpack to Palm Springs; not bothering with the overhead on those flights or rolling a bag through airports was freeing in a surprisingly exciting way. It’s dramatic, but I felt a little bit like a nomad. While I can’t get away with that level of minimalism for this upcoming excursion, I’m keeping my loadout simple. Clothes for eight days with room to spare for an extra pair of shoes. No iPad or laptop. One camera, one lens, one book to pass the time. OOO auto-reply set. A strong desire to completely unplug, including from this project. The above is all I’m taking with me. See you when I return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560776723-1BATK4HJTOP8BOAUM6W8/NZF_5715-Enhanced-NR.jpg aug-2024 - 8.3.24 Wheels Down In Boston Ashley and I are headed on a New England vacation for the next week. First stop: Boston! We’ve never been to this historic American city before despite having several friends tell us how great it is. When we arrived, we dropped off our bags at the hotel in the North End before heading out on the town to soak up the atmosphere, eat pizza, and check out some of Boston’s popular attractions. Pictured: walking through Quincy Market. Tomorrow we will be spending all day checking things out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560777579-D5Q7TSN5OCESGPP30QSG/NZF_5917.jpg aug-2024 - 8.4.24 Digging Deeper Into Boston Today’s itinerary included a stop to see Fenway, a ride to the top of Prudential Tower to check out the observation deck, shopping on Newbury Street, my first lobster roll and clam chowder of the trip, a stop to see Boston Public Library, riding the subway, walking Fan Pier Park, dodging rain drops by ducking into random pubs, and dinner at Boston’s oldest continually operating restaurant, Union Oyster House, where I had my second lobster roll and clam chowder. Afterward, we wandered back to the hotel through the North End and happened upon the kick off for an Italian-American festival/feast that honors a Catholic saint. Men in matching white shirts lifted an effigy to Saint Agrippina lined with dollar bills and carried it down to a nearby bar. The whole thing seemed like more of an Italian Bockfest celebration than a religious event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560778194-U5A315DDSMHWKLAM8WEB/NZF_6218.jpg aug-2024 - 8.5.24 On the Road to Bar Harbor We said goodbye to Boston, hopped in the rental car, and headed toward Bar Harbor in Maine. Along the way, we stopped at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire since it’s one of the only places in that entire state that touches the ocean. It was too MAGA for my taste, and the boardwalk reflected that sentiment by being trashy and devoid of anything original, so we didn’t get a magnet to commemorate the visit and instead only spent an hour there before moving on to our first stop in Maine: Nubble Lighthouse (pictured). After enjoying the rocky beach with a decidedly more sane crowd, we continued on to Bar Harbor. We ended the night with my third lobster roll and clam chowder of the trip at Galyn’s. It was getting dark when we arrived, but we still managed to check stuff out until it began raining. Tomorrow we check out Acadia National Park! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560779282-9GGEAP6DK1I2ZH8TZZJU/NZF_6458.jpg aug-2024 - 8.6.24 Acadia + Bar Harbor Bar Harbor is busy this time of year. Maine is an ideal place to go in the summer to avoid the heat, and everyone got the memo to bring their children, apparently. Crowd annoyances aside, we quickly managed to figure out the ideal itinerary: do everything early in Acadia when everyone’s still in Bar Harbor, go back to Bar Harbor in the afternoon when everyone goes to Acadia, then go back to Acadia in the evening when everyone’s tired from hiking and back in Bar Harbor. This meant early breakfasts and dinners, but we kinda loved switching things up. Neither of us are especially hardcore night owls anymore, which helped us tackle sunrise with ease. Beating crowds and wandering misty forests in relative solitude (pictured) was the perfect intro to this magical national park. We explored the town, the park, and took a great boat ride tour around the coves and narrows surrounding Mt. Desert Island. I even managed to see a few bald eagles, though my shots were from too far away to really get anything good. More on all of this in a later blog post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560779519-WB0UH3VGY7JPIERO8A1Y/NZF_7613-Enhanced-NR.jpg aug-2024 - 8.7.24 A Very Full Day We managed to the top of Cadillac Mountain by 6:30 AM for a just-after-sunrise look at the island from its highest peak. Apparently it’s so high and so fast northeast, the top of the mountain is the first place anyone in the United States can see a sunrise every day between October and March. The view was breathtaking despite how chilly it was (I was in a t-shirt because it’s August and I didn’t expect Maine to freeze my ass like that). A little later, we did a four-hour, 20-mile, bike ride tour through Acadia along the carriage pathways that Rockafeller Jr. commissioned a hundred years before. We saw loads of incredible stuff on the ride, including beaver lodges, snapping turtles, stone bridges, and stopped at several truly awe-inspiring overlooks with vistas I couldn’t properly convey in a photograph. We stopped to pick and eat wild Maine blueberries and blackberries at one point, too. After dinner, we wandered around Bar Harbor before getting in the car and driving to the other side of the island to see the Bass Harbor Head Light Station (pictured). Getting a decent image involved waiting a long time for a parking spot, then carefully climbing down boulders to the edge of the crashing sea. It was more harrowing than I anticipated, but I’m really happy I braved the terrain to get the shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560780651-6N0ODWVHRLNNP724F28C/NZF_7829.jpg aug-2024 - 8.8.24 Camden We got to know Bar Harbor pretty well over the last two and a half days of walking and driving the island. By the time we were scheduled to leave, it felt right that we’d continue on. Another day in Acadia would’ve been nice, but there was more of Maine to see. Our next stop: south to Camden. We planned to stay in Camden solely because Ashley found an absolutely incredible seaside motel with a private balcony that faced the water. We knew nothing about Camden itself; the whole reason for the stop was because the lodging was too good to pass up. After picking our jaws up off the floor when we saw our room (it was so good, I cannot wait to blog about it), we headed into Camden proper for a look around. I’d eaten more lobster rolls, fish, and various other seafoods than I could recall up to this point, and I wasn’t planning on stopping. I got another lobster roll for lunch and enjoyed it immensely. We hit up a few shops along their quaint retail corridor, pet a really cute doodle in a pet shop, had drinks at a random bar, and decided we wanted to take it easy that evening. We picked up some food at a cute little corner store and went back to the motel to enjoy the room’s balcony with a view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560781111-4HKIMCFIES2QPABWHL4B/NZF_8267-Enhanced-NR.jpg aug-2024 - 8.9.24 Journey to Portland Despite our sunrise being muddied by hurricane remnants (there’s truly no escape from Florida, even as far north as Maine), we managed to have a nice coffee on the balcony. It was REALLY hard to say goodbye to this motel when we finally checked out. Honestly, I thought Ashley was going to cry when we were packing up. We didn’t even have a full 24 hours there before we were scheduled to continue onto our final destination: Portland, Maine. Seeing a break in the rain, we briefly stopped in Pemaquid to see an old lighthouse on the edge of a cliff. The photos I got there are moody due to the misty and windy conditions. When I do my later blog post, I’ll publish some of those. We also briefly stopped in Freeport so Ashley could visit the L.L. Bean campus. I’ve never seen a town so completely fueled by the economy of a single enterprise. It was like the biggest outdoor shopping center you can think of, but instead of existing in the middle of a massive parking lot it’s built into the middle of small-town-America along a pedestrian-heavy Main Street. I can appreciate it for what it is, but driving through all that was stressful. I’m glad that was a short stop on the journey. By the time we finally arrived in Portland, the mist and fog had set upon the city. As we walked Old Port, we could barely make out ships in the distant harbor, and tops of taller buildings were obscured in cloud cover. Eventually, though, the conditions cleared and we had an overcast but pleasantly cool night to wander around. The Airbnb was nice, but I think we were still thinking about that damned motel in Camden. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560781655-31GKKXUAXQHF687YPLIF/NZF_8379.jpg aug-2024 - 8.10.24 The Final Day There was a diner a block from where we were staying in Portland called Becky’s. It’s exactly my kind of place: a no-frills greasy spoon diner once visited by Guy Fieri, relatively cheap compared to all the other restaurants we’d frequented during this trip, and a family-run affair that’s wholly local to Portland. The equation can be replicated elsewhere, but it won’t be truly be Becky’s. It was a great way to kick off our final day on vacation. While there, we bought tickets to a boat ride later that morning. After walking more of Old Port before the scheduled departure, we found our captain and ship, and boarded with a small crew of other sea-farers. In contrast to the large, modern boat we rode in Bar Harbor, this ship was tiny and old. So old, in fact, it was built in 1935 and was the oldest commercial vessel still operating in Maine (or so the captain said). There may have been another qualifier in that claim, but I didn’t catch it if there was. I loved this boat. Christened “Ruth,” it was big enough to comfortably hold all ten or so of us, and if you didn’t feel like being in direct sun for the whole trip, you could sit under the partially shaded area under its hard top toward the front of the vessel. Made of wood, loud, and lacking the ability to navigate any size wave without riding over it like a rollercoaster cart, Ruth had a feeling of authenticity that big modern ships lack. I’d never been on one like it before. After a cruise around the bay, we hopped aboard Portland’s narrow-gauge railroad for a short ride along the coast and back. The rest of the afternoon saw Portland exploration on foot, Ashley went back to the Airbnb for a nap, and I slowly burned all my skin off wandering in direct sun without sunscreen. By dinner time, we were ready to finalize the trip in a way only Ashley and I could think of: going back to that damned diner for the second time in one day. I’d eaten enough fish and lobster to keep me satisfied for the week, and a nice burger sounded too good to pass up. I hadn’t had one since we left the Midwest a week before. Becky’s, with its classic American diner menu that included lobster specials, was wholly Maine. It was wholly Portland. It was just a quiet, sure-fire delicious way to end a wonderful New England vacation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560776584-X21UJHCSS5U3NQAQ3J2F/IMG_9715.jpg aug-2024 - 8.11.24 The Spoils of Travel Whenever I go anywhere, I like to get a magnet for my fridge and a sticker for my bike. We’ve amassed a pretty sizable collection at this point, and every time I look at the side of the fridge and see all these mementos from places we’ve been, it makes me happy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723561224343-ZN6NMJ2BGHBH0E4RSSAM/401+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-6.jpg aug-2024 - 8.12.24 401 Scott Street Back to work today. I went over to this corner to photograph Orleans’ recent work. I spent hours removing stoplights from this image to give it a cleaner look. The utilities on the side are in shadow, and the focus is on the face of the building, so I didn’t bother removing those. The only thing I wish I’d had was a cloud-filled sky instead of total clarity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723681215373-FS9OQ5PMU7H9TQ807LXO/NZF_8925-Enhanced-NR.jpg aug-2024 - 8.13.24 Evening Stride Snapped this photo on the avenue while walking Myrtle. I was actually aiming for the corner to do a little slice with the sunset, but the cyclists pedaled into frame, improving it greatly. Thanks, cyclists! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723681216153-TZOCYPLE7RBTMYLT2EOJ/NZF_8946-Edit-Edit+copy.jpg aug-2024 - 8.14.24 SSD I had to get an 8Tb external SSD for file backups. It shipped to my porch while I was in the studio today. When I opened the parcel and saw a box half its size, I couldn’t believe it. Then I opened the smaller box and found this little stick that’s half the size of THAT box. It was like holding the most expensive nesting doll I’d ever seen. Anyway, I have to back up years of files onto this thing from my 8Tb external HDD to make sure I have coverage in case anything fails. My HDD has been slow and weird lately, and it has me slightly spooked. It’s going to be a long process of reviewing files, reorganizing, deleting, and figuring out how to keep them synced with the same content regularly. This isn’t my area of expertise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723916916509-AAUYRH24TXWXFGTQYQ9H/IMG_9769.jpg aug-2024 - 8.15.24 Missed Connection We’re a one-car couple. We’ve been a one-car couple for our entire relationship. In the event we both need a car, I take a bus or use ride share. The amount of money we save every year more than makes up for paying the occasional fare. Today was one of those days. Ashley dropped me off at the studio where I had a 10-hour day with Marlene. Afterward, I planned to take the 6 bus from Mohawk to downtown, then transfer to the Southbank Shuttle to get me to Bellevue where I’d walk the rest of the way home. No big deal and less than $4 to get home without having to walk the entire way. Well, it didn’t work out as I’d planned. After picking up the 6 and riding to Fountain Square, I forgot that the Southbank also has routes to Covington. I blindly got onto that bus instead of the Bellevue-bound one and realized too late that I was headed to the wrong city when I looked up from my phone at about the mid point crossing Clay Wade Bailey. So I walked 2.5 miles home from Covington instead. No AirPods, either. Just the sounds of my surroundings to keep me entertained. This image is from that walk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723916917451-208GDDULTC1XOR85WROO/IMG_9776.jpg aug-2024 - 8.16.24 Surprise Downpour While drinking an old fashioned at Rosedale, a pop-up shower drenched Over-the-Rhine, forcing everyone under cover. We uncharacteristically had Myrtle with us, so we couldn’t run inside to seek shelter. This leaky awning in the courtyard worked fine, but we still managed to get a little damp. After the storm passed, the puddle that had formed on the patio remained until a bar tender cleared the drain that was dammed up with leaves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724121541336-9JOY3HDS4KLP0VEBMA86/NZ9_5602-Enhanced-SR-2.jpg aug-2024 - 8.17.24 Liminal Space I had to go to Dayton, OH this morning to photograph a few places for a client. None of the locations were anything to write home about. Just a bunch of bland office parks that they needed documented for whatever reason. On the back of one of them, though, I found this staircase. I stopped the car and had to get a photo. It was too good to pass up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724121544294-OEMOH3YX600YIG4FF2V8/NZF_8952.jpg aug-2024 - 8.18.24 Social Battery I suffered maybe the worst nightmare I’ve ever had in my life last night. It felt so real, I wasn’t entirely convinced it didn’t happen. I got up, splashed water on my face, and tried to calm down. The rest of the night saw lesser bad dreams that continued ruining my sleep, but not to the severity of the first one. It was such a bad night, Sunday ended up being awful. We went to Unataza and I could barely muster the energy to order or be social. We then went to the Bellevue Farmer’s Market where I snapped this single photo and did my best to be friendly to familiar neighbors, but my social battery was spent. Nowhere felt right except isolating on the couch in the basement in front of the TV. We left the market pretty quickly and I did just that the rest of the day. Not a great feeling, but when you have this personality, you know when you’ve reached maximum interaction and need solitude to recover. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724121539354-F79MYMVRW5QLWVD2BG2J/DSC01211.jpg aug-2024 - 8.19.24 Optical Throwback Unearthed my old Sony Cyber-Shot from 2008 today while looking for something else. It was the first digital camera I ever bought myself. Back then, it was better than any phone camera on the market, and it had a smaller form factor than the family digital camera my dad had. I wasn’t a photographer back then, but I took it to friend gatherings, the zoo, a convention in Orlando, and other places to document momentous events. I charged the battery and took it out on a walk this evening. The image quality, as you might expect, isn’t great, but it’s also not awful. It produces images that have that early-2000s digital camera look. White balancing is hit or miss. Loads of chromatic aberration. I can’t believe the image above turned out as well as it did considering I was shooting into the sun. Myrtle rolling around in the grass during a sunset while a random dude on a gas-powered bike loudly farts by in the background. Sure, there’s no definition in the sky and it’s about as sharp as a balloon sword you’d get at the circus, but I think that’s part of this artifact’s charm. Overall, it’s a nostalgic novelty that I’m glad I accidentally rediscovered on World Photography Day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724721673006-WZK9GHSFN0A9A8EZS22O/NZF_9024.jpg aug-2024 - 8.20.24 Park Sittin' I went down to the park to take some photos for the City of Bellevue and snapped this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724721672956-VUHQ651WR9GQW985DWBK/NZF_9018.jpg aug-2024 - 8.21.24 Sticking Around Summer is approaching its end, but these sunflowers are still going strong. Time is meaningless to plants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724721674843-0G2HWI9JI5TSMBVB5XBW/NZF_9056-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg aug-2024 - 8.22.24 Swampwater Grillin' Steve and Erica kept telling us that Swampwater Grill was good. I’d avoided it for years because the name was such a turn-off, but they were right. It’s good. Plus, we all got Bahama Mamas to drink, so that’s fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725045585121-2N2V9GSWGSPSPJN4ALPJ/NZF_9078.jpg aug-2024 - 8.23.24 New Buffalo Allie, Travis, Ashley, and I all road-tripped up to New Buffalo, Michigan, for a weekend away this evening. Caitlyn and Brendan joined us later that night once they were off work. The drive there wasn’t bad because we stopped halfway at a drive-up fast food place called Mr. Weenie and ate various styles of hot dogs. Our Airbnb is spacious, with a big porch and several floors of bedrooms. The rules are strict, but it’s okay. The only one we’re breaking is smoking the weed we bought at a dispensary out on the porch. I’m looking forward to hanging out and relaxing with everyone tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725045587307-JQ7M0V6RLIOUI93YOYD9/NZF_9100.jpg aug-2024 - 8.24.24 Wandering the Beach The beach in New Buffalo isn’t huge, but it’s relatively light on crowds compared to nearby shorelines. The girls went down to relax and hang out by the water, but some Christians lightly shamed them for not getting baptized as adults when they offered. I cannot stand people who can’t mind their damned business and leave people alone. Travis, Brendan, and I wandered around the town in the heat, going into a few shops, stopping for coffee at a hotel, and checking out a view of the harbor from atop a building. We reconvened with the girls in the afternoon and spent time at the Airbnb drinking, smoking, and snacking. We went to a rooftop for dinner and enjoyed a sunset with drinks before our entrees were brought out. It was a very low-key, relaxing day. After dinner, instead of going out, we all stayed at the Airbnb and watched Matilda (1996). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725045588833-R4WTX46CSUG7JZ3VLPV2/NZF_9211.jpg aug-2024 - 8.25.24 Group Photo Allie and Travis planned to continue to Grand Rapids and Detroit, but the rest of us had to return to Cincinnati because we had to work the next day. We ate breakfast together and took this group photo with my Zf on a timer balanced on my bag on top of Travis’ car. Before we returned, the four of us stopped at Indiana Dunes and did an hour-long hike that culminated in getting ice cream from a food truck. We also randomly came across a classic Pizza Hut in Rensselaer, IN, on our drive back around lunchtime. I swear, stuffed crust pizza and breadsticks taste better under a glass Pizza Hut lamp with inverted trapezoid windows at the end of the table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725046561285-8CG9QOGWIBMUU9S6BOGR/513+Short+Pershing+-+Phil+Armstrong+-20.jpg aug-2024 - 8.26.24 513 Shot a house in Covington today with this beautiful custom stained glass transom window. The address was the same as Cincinnati’s area code. Such a cool feature. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725046561403-MYBYPRXKP0OZHH7Z6EHB/TriHealth+Liberty+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg aug-2024 - 8.27.24 TriHealth Liberty GBBN had me photograph a new unit in a new hospital in Liberty Township this morning. There weren’t windows on three of the four sides of the unit, making for easy white balancing and less post-processing. Despite the lack of natural light, though, the space felt bright and airy. Hospitals can look so sterile and sad, but this one was colorful and open with attention to thoughtful decor. I really liked this shot of the photograph wall they put together behind the central nurse’s station. The different colored borders around the tiles was a nice touch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725230774014-OQO0IXQDFZ9PPIYHB8R4/NZF_9723-Enhanced-NR.jpg aug-2024 - 8.28.24 Not Even Google Translate To lose weight and keep active in a more comfortable way, I purchased a compact treadmill online. I’ll use it on days that are too hot, days that are too cold, rainy days, and days when I’m feeling anti-social. I can watch TV while I use it, too, so maybe I’ll get fitter the more I want to mentally escape. Anyway, the instruction manual is hilariously poorly translated. It gave me a good laugh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725230772527-OTCRCV7YZIZKCB2LOQWB/NZF_9719.jpg aug-2024 - 8.29.24 Zelda II After seeing a Thread referencing someone beating Zelda II without cheats or a walkthrough, something in me desperately wanted to play it again. I couldn’t help but feel completely overwhelmed with the idea that I had to boot that stupid game up even though I never finished it in the first place. Digging through boxes of old video game stuff was tiresome, but seeing the familiar glint of that gold cartridge within the black NES game sleeve was rewarding. My childhood NES, though still in my possession, is so old that I didn’t dare try to resurrect it. I decided to use a console I bought in the early 2010s—the RetroN 3, a combination NES/SNES/Genesis player. You can pop any game from those consoles into this one, plug an original controller into one of three sides, and play it like normal. I don’t know anything about modulation, but it looks and sounds exactly like I remember it, so it’s probably close to 1:1 with the NES. The console booted up perfectly when paired with my little Philips TV that I got a while back from Lee. When the title screen and familiar music popped up in a blink, excitement washed over me. It may be the first time since the late-80s that anyone’s felt excitement concerning Zelda II. I remember my dad brought home this game from work. I think one of his coworkers gave it to him because they didn’t like it. Not having many games back then, anything new to us was exciting. We spent hours failing miserably to decipher this impenetrable, difficult cartridge and never getting very far after finding a town with invisible enemies. A quick Google suggests this game is widely hated by fans of the series, but it’s the only Zelda game I’ve ever played. Nostalgia is a toxic impulse, but one I’m willing to indulge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324811224-1K87JDP0IUTGUCNU8BZC/Art+After+Dark+8.30.24+-035.jpg aug-2024 - 8.30.24 Finesse As far as Art After Dark events go, I don’t remember any of them being as well attended as tonight’s. BlaCk OWned put together a show called Finesse, with models wearing their fall collection and strutting around a figure-eight runway. The courtyard was jam-packed with people there to see the fashion show set to a soundtrack provided by DJ Prymtime. A surprising number of other photographers were there shooting video and stills, too, which made the experience more fun. It’s always a relief when I’m not the only chicken running around with their head cut off. Once again, I went into this shoot full of anxiety, but after being in the museum for about 10 minutes, I remember looking around and knowing I was going to be okay. The pressure to do a good job, coupled with general social anxiety and fatigue from the day, had me vibrating with stress. But most of it melts away when I’m in my element. It’s wild how clearly being around others in a positive space is the solution to that bad feeling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324810662-P58Z14HURKMQ9EK5K2HG/IMG_9985.jpg aug-2024 - 8.31.24 Relocated This cactus didn’t seem to like where it was on the shelf in the bedroom, so I moved it to my office where direct sunlight is more plentiful. Hopefully it does better in its new location. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/sep2024 daily 0.75 2024-09-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324890870-CVVXXQNU4Q6YK2WL93JE/NZF_0792-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2024 - 9.1.24 Balcony Hangs I went to Caitlyn and Brendan’s house this evening to watch the WEBN fireworks show. They have a killer view overlooking essentially all of downtown from CUF. The small gathering allowed everyone to pile onto the third-floor balcony with the best view of the show when it finally kicked off. I wasn’t going to take photos of the show because I’ve done it in years past. How many shots of fireworks does one need anyway? Unsurprisingly, I still did. It was a new (to me) view of it, and I hadn’t shot the show in years. It felt right. Wedging the Zf against the railing, I let the interval timer run 1-second exposures throughout so I could enjoy the show without fiddling too much with the camera. Though I was able to make a nice final image of the show with the view, my favorite of the evening was this one: a shot of my friends together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324890870-CVVXXQNU4Q6YK2WL93JE/NZF_0792-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2024 - 9.1.24 Balcony Hangs I went to Caitlyn and Brendan’s house this evening to watch the WEBN fireworks show. They have a killer view overlooking essentially all of downtown from CUF. The small gathering allowed everyone to pile onto the third-floor balcony with the best view of the show when it finally kicked off. I wasn’t going to take photos of the show because I’ve done it in years past. How many shots of fireworks does one need anyway? Unsurprisingly, I still did. It was a new (to me) view of it, and I hadn’t shot the show in years. It felt right. Wedging the Zf against the railing, I let the interval timer run 1-second exposures throughout so I could enjoy the show without fiddling too much with the camera. Though I was able to make a nice final image of the show with the view, my favorite of the evening was this one: a shot of my friends together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725495218787-42WSLOMOJUV6WFTGTD3S/NZF_0801.jpg sep-2024 - 9.2.24 Cincinnineties Last night, Myrtle spent less-than-desirable time alone while I was at the fireworks watch party in CUF, so to make up for it, we got coffee (for me) and a biscuit (for her) and went to Friendship Park for a nice long walk. As we crossed Sawyer Point, I saw the Cincinnatus statue dressed up for the previous evening's festivities. Wearing a flannel tied around his waist, a sleeveless WEBN top, sunglasses, and holding a 2D cutout of a boombox, the familiar statue looked distinctly 'Nineties’ to mirror the show's theme. I wasn’t the only one in the park to stop to take in the sight, either. A Lycra-clad, sweaty man propped his bike up against the granite dais and raised a generic Android phone toward the scene to take a photo. A woman slowed her run and double-tapped her earbuds to pause her workout and admire the statue. After everyone decided they needed to get their cardio back up and moved along, I slithered into position for a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725496686900-ZHU5S0ES2Z5NQXFS13JT/NZF_0806.jpg sep-2024 - 9.3.24 Sunrise A view of the sunrise from my office window. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725499420595-XATI54PJ98Q1PVSPM5DN/IMG_1951.jpeg sep-2024 - 9.4.24 Appreciating Lines Do you ever see this kind of thing? How lines intersect and stay consistent across a notable distance? Do you ever notice the shapes of a place and appreciate how its proportions and features line up perfectly? Do you ever unfocus your eyes by slightly squinting and crossing them so you can better see patterns and lines in physical settings? I really appreciate the consistency of these seven homes. Almost certainly built around the same time, their details differ slightly, but they look to be of the same style overall. It’s so satisfying when you see lovely, independent architecture in abundance. Not brownstones. Not duplexes or apartment buildings. Not row houses. Those all come with a level of consistency baked into their design. These single family houses didn’t need to conform geometry, but they did and it’s special. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725836888435-M65SPYNAUW6840Y863GO/IMG_0107.jpg sep-2024 - 9.5.24 Moment of Zen I’m working in the studio for Marlene all week. When working for her, I don’t photograph much during the day unless I leave the studio to run an errand. Those days end up looking uninteresting in retrospect. But this is interesting to me. I like how the sun comes in the front window during the summer. When that tree fell this past January, it unlocked a bunch of light on the front of the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725836890252-91RQQ6X2IEJI050UBNOK/NZF_0844-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2024 - 9.6.24 Non-Alcoholics After a successful yet tiring week, we met Chelsea and Vince at their place for some Indian food and drinks—only these drinks weren’t alcoholic. Chelsea’s on some meds at the moment and isn’t mixing it with alcohol. Ashley and I are doing our best to curb our intake as part of a greater effort to lose weight and feel better. Thankfully, they had some NA beers and NA canned cocktails that were surprisingly good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725836889033-DGDFC2RE5BHTYVUQKJMU/IMG_0130.jpg sep-2024 - 9.7.24 Moths We went to Baeten’s this morning to check out their autumnal offerings. The summer pots on the porch have grown crispy and wilted as they tend to do at the end of the season. It was time to freshen things up with new varieties. It wasn’t a photo-heavy day for me. We didn’t go out, we ate dinner at home, and I sat on the couch all night. While necessary for mental and physical health, these types of days aren’t always photogenic. Thankfully, I got this photo of moths sitting atop this yellow flower at the nursery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270986170-DWFQYQ92SXION4TFSJCB/NZF_0865.jpg sep-2024 - 9.8.24 Butt's Gone The butt of the Mt. Washington building I’ve been photographing for Jake is gone. They cleaned it out and appear to be rethinking this space. I haven’t spoken to Jake about what this place will be after it’s renovated, and I love the mystery of it. I think I’ll see how long I can go without knowing anything about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270980785-Z79BD8X4PANGV2SOAU7C/IMG_0149.jpg sep-2024 - 9.9.24 Celebratory Breadstick Ashley got some excellent career news this week, so we went to Nicola’s to celebrate. She’s moving on to work for Sunshine Bouquet with her former boss from Kroger. She’s getting better pay and benefits as a result of the move. Hooray! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270984212-TBKV6PF3G8ZYJP2OB1JH/104+West+Clifton+-+Phil+Armstrong+-63.jpg sep-2024 - 9.10.24 Andrew's House Andrew Hungerford was the Director of the Know Theater for as long as I can remember. Recently, he relinquished his position there to move back to Los Angeles full-time. He and Elizabeth, his spouse, own a home in Santa Monica and have been living between worlds for years. They’re selling their OTR house that’s subdivided into four apartments and asked me to photograph it for the listing. While I was there, Andrew and I discussed Star Trek, cinema, and a variety of topics. It was great catching up with him, and his house is a beaut. I particularly liked this window on the second floor. I shot it with a very shallow depth of field because I wanted to linger on the tidy handsomeness of the poplar frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270980766-2TIOE5LJT2YT8YOJU468/IMG_0200-2.jpg sep-2024 - 9.11.24 Rural Ohio CityBlock, the Brooklyn-based clinic that opened a location in Cincinnati that I shot back in early July, is opening another location in Columbus. They asked me to photograph it before their ribbon-cutting on the 12th. I went up around 2 PM, did my thing, and began driving back after failing to find a hot dog stand that was open and worth going to for dinner. On the drive home, the sun was setting. I know I shouldn’t photograph anything while I drive, and I normally don’t, but I couldn’t help myself this one time. I took a quick iPhone picture out of the moon roof. It was just too pretty to pass up. Also, I think this is the first time I’ve ever traveled on 9/11. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270989362-868N6NPFUMB0PARLQWX4/Courthouse+-127.jpg sep-2024 - 9.12.24 Weird Day at Work I’ll explain everything, but first, I want to enjoy the absurdity of this image that I made today… …Okay, explanation: I’ve been helping a local judge with images for a book she’s writing about the history of the Hamilton County Courthouse for so long that I think it pre-dates this daily photo project. Over the years, I’ve photographed almost the entire building and made images of archival texts, images, and artifacts. I’ve seen some fantastically interesting stuff during that time. It’s been a fulfilling project for someone like me who genuinely enjoys local history. Anyway, she called me up yet again and asked if I’d photograph old photos someone made of the courthouse during its construction. “Also, I need photos of a few other items,” she said. I didn’t ask her for specifics at that point, but I never in a million years would’ve thought she meant blow-up dolls and a dildo. When I arrived, she presented me with the materials she wanted to be documented, including the promised ‘other items.’ It genuinely caught me off guard. For lack of knowing what else to do, I laughed and asked her why I needed to document these things for this book. She said she needed images of sex toys to illustrate a story about a famous court case that dealt with obscenity and the sale of adult content decades ago when that sort of thing was scandalous enough to be illegal. It made a lot more sense at that point. Then I laughed again, realizing that she had accidentally put her Amazon ‘For You’ algorithm into an excited state of confusion. She left me in the room with the archival photos, rechargeable lithium ion battery phallus, and deflated blow-up dolls (whose names were ‘Ginger’ and ‘Destiny,’ according to their cards). As I organized the materials, I set up the backdrop and snapped the above image to ensure I had a record of this very weird day at work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726451576654-HJZT5N7695XJDB4UJGZW/NZF_0875.jpg sep-2024 - 9.13.24 Moon Tree Whenever I have business in another city, I try to find something of note to experience while there—a restaurant, an oddity, or anything notable that makes the trip special. It’s important to make the most of travel, even if it’s just an hour away or for something routine. Before heading to Indianapolis early this morning, I scoured the internet for something I could see while there. I’ve been to Indy many times, but I wanted to see something new. After a couple of minutes of research, I realized the thing I needed to see was standing proudly in plain sight. I wasn’t prepared for how special it’d be seeing it up close, however. This is an extraterrestrial being on the lawn of the Indiana Statehouse. It’s one of many Moon Trees planted around the US—trees grown from seeds that went to space, orbited the moon, and were returned to Earth and planted so scientists could study their growth. In 1971, this sycamore tree accompanied the Apollo 14 crew and journeyed further from Earth than nearly every human who has ever lived. Scientists have found no discernible difference between the seeds taken to space and terrestrial seeds. But I love that they thought there could be something special about them besides their trip around Earth’s largest satellite. There’s still so much we don’t know about space, and 50 years ago, we knew even less. No one can blame them for thinking there might be something physically transformative about the journey. Standing under the shade of a tree that began its peaceful life in maybe the most romantic, hostile, outrageous way possible was an indescribable sensation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726451576756-AJEH5LUQ3ZIXAI2XCPLV/Art+Off+the+Walls+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-190.jpg sep-2024 - 9.14.24 Art Off the Walls Choosing a single image from today was almost impossible. I shot Art Off the Walls for ArtWorks at the Newport Car Barn in West Newport. The fundraising event featured silent and live auctions, food, drinks, a performance by Pones, and a dance floor that ended up being the most fun part of the evening to photograph (as usual). I made portraits in front of murals for Colleen, Jill, Jens, and Kay. I concentrated on getting candids of attendees smiling, laughing, hugging, and having a great time. I sweated through my shirt, capturing as much of the dancefloor as possible in difficult lighting conditions. I did my best not to spend all my time talking with good people I wanted to catch up with while on the job. I ran video the whole event while photographing it to create a Reel for them later. It was a crazy night, to say the least. I settled on this image because it combines so many of the elements I enjoyed from the evening: Pam Kravetz in her custom disco ball outfit, dancers in various levels of costume, the DJ in the background crushing it, the guy in the red shirt and tie who dominated the dancefloor with moves that would make David Byrne blush, and the multicolored lights filling the hazy the room with ambiance. I left shattered from fatigue yet full of creative satisfaction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726451746263-ZUHNPT5JT9EUS01HY8KU/IMG_0300.jpg sep-2024 - 9.15.24 Waiting For Coffee Title says it all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726543074205-WKXVZ34IM9L7RQNZH6O3/NZF_1548-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2024 - 9.16.24 Never Quite Getting It ArtWorks helped bring world-renowned contemporary artist Shepard Fairey to Cincinnati. He and his team are putting up a three-story mural on the side of MadTree Alcove at 15th and Vine. The whole process will take less than two days. After that, they will wheat paste around town before heading to Dayton, Columbus, and Cleveland to do the same thing. I’ve been a casual fan of Shepard’s work for as long as I remember being interested in design. From OBEY to HOPE, he’s always been in the background of very specific circles I’ve enjoyed. His bold, colorful style is instantly recognizable regardless if you know his name. I went over around 1:45 PM to get a few shots for ArtWorks. The shoot was tricky because he was on a scissor lift between two other people and bags full of discarded stencils and spray paint cans slung from either end. Getting a clear photo was difficult, and the composition wasn’t great when I did. I tried until 7:30 PM to get a good photo. I managed a few, and I think they’re fine, but I was hoping for something staged for ArtWorks’ purposes. I didn’t dare speak to him as he was busy doing the mural, and I didn’t want to get too close to the lift for fear of losing privileges on the ground. He seemed cool to me, and his taste in music was rad, but I didn’t know how far I could go before I’d get told to scram. So, I played it safe and stood at a distance most of the day. He’s the middle person toward the right side of the lift in the photo. They’d completed about 75% of the mural before I left for the day. Apparently, they’ll finish the rest tomorrow morning. He’s planning a talk at the CAC that I may attend. It’s really something to have a working artist of his caliber just doing his thing in a place I intimately know. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726712834430-CRK24Y5VO71UITTWDII0/NZF_1741.jpg sep-2024 - 9.17.24 Got It Yesterday, I spoke about how I spent hours at 15th and Vine photographing Shepard Fairey and crew painting a mural on the side of Alcove. Despite being around for hours, I hadn’t gotten a solid portrait of him because he was busy on the scissor lift spray painting. The last thing I wanted to do was approach and bother him, so I hung back the entire day. Today, though, I had a brief opportunity to photograph him on the street. I returned to the site around 10 AM to grab more images for ArtWorks, and around 11:30, they all got off the lift and walked a few blocks to the Art Academy where he had an appointment to speak with the students and faculty. During that walk, I went about a half block ahead and photographed him and his crew making their way down Vine with Jill. When they arrived at the AAC, I saw a wall of his posters along the route, recognized the opportunity, and squared up for a shot. At first, I was bummed I didn’t get him in profile, but the more I sit with it, the more I think this is a better photo overall. It’s genuine and imperfect. You can see the idea, but it’s sloppy. It’s a portrait of an artist briefly taking in his work in the medium for which it was designed. And while he’s not anonymous like other street artists, I think it’s appropriate that his identity is a mystery in this photo when considering what he does. There were other photos of him working and a few presenting at the AAC, but this is my favorite of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726712832377-A3LHY3H6FZPGZQ7MNAAJ/NZF_2053.jpg sep-2024 - 9.18.24 Bi-Color Plant Just playing around with speedlights, gels, and a white backdrop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140769614-M2LHRGON40E2IJABWDGO/NZF_1890.jpg sep-2024 - 9.19.24 The Lighting Was Good Nothing special. The lighting was just good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140764330-NPX2924BBDYX4C6VSZL4/NZF_2083.jpg sep-2024 - 9.20.24 Jerry's Justin’s a bachelor this weekend, so he came down and we went to Jerry’s Jug House for a few rounds of drinks. As he was bringing back a couple of rum-based “Cherry Cokes,” I snapped a blurry image that accidentally had every vibe of a drunken, hilarious night out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140767874-IUXZ8JFFO6NUQZ1VM2JT/NZF_2167.jpg sep-2024 - 9.21.24 Oktoberfest '24 I’ll be honest, I haven’t been to Oktoberfest in years because it’s sucked. Shuffling around sticky asphalt, bumping shoulders with every Cincinnatian possible, baking in the sun on some combination of 2nd, 3rd, or 5th Street—it’s not a recipe for a good time as far as I’m concerned. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a good time in years past, but there was a lot of overlooking the cons to enjoy the pros. It was once a tradition that, while uncomfortable and expensive, I dealt with to be part of the community, but at some point, I gave up caring about it. At best, it was a weekend where the bars I liked had lighter crowds. Caitlyn got a job with the Chamber this year, and she promised us Oktoberfest would be different primarily because of its move to Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove. She was right. We went down and met up with friends. It was a perfect setting for a festival as large as Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. It’s staggering to me that it wasn’t down here every year. The entire operation snaked along the Serpentine Wall, under the Purple People Bridge, and through the forested paths and alcoves of Bicentennial Park. Enormous tents took up space on the lawns but never felt too domineering. The natural shade from the many trees blocked the direct sun, allowing people to sit in the grass and on various bits of park infrastructure unrelated to the festival. They set up stages in areas not in the middle of the critical mass of people. The food vendors were tucked into shaded areas, as were the beer trailers, and the lines to eat and drink were rarely long enough that you felt discouraged from joining a queue. It was spread out enough that people could enjoy themselves while also not leaving wide gaps in programming, all within a beautiful, shaded, visually varied venue. It’s never felt more organic and interesting, seasoned and special. If Oktoberfest is held at the park yearly, I am excited to return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140767563-GMXWFZA4YZJHIXWNZ8MI/NZF_2249.jpg sep-2024 - 9.22.24 HBD, Unataza! Our favorite little coffee shop, Unataza, turns five this weekend. When we walked in, owner Alejandra offered us celebratory cake. Cheers to another five years! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140764337-EBRR6EABQIB6MAYM1G8U/NZF_2272.jpg sep-2024 - 9.23.24 Coke Oreos There’s this strange collab happening between Coca Cola and Oreo at the moment. Not only do we have an Oreo-flavored Coke, we also have Coke-flavored Oreos. Mark Borison, Jungle Jim’s wonderful social media and content guy, made a video about them recently, and it’s been on my brain ever since. Seeing no way to rid myself of nagging curiosity, I had to get a bottle and pack to see what was up. The verdict: both are a nice little departure from classic flavors, but they will never replace them. The drink (Zero version) is subtle enough that if you’re not paying attention, you may not immediately taste the difference. It’s without a doubt present with every sip, but if you weren’t expecting it, you might not notice for a second. The Oreos, however, hit you square in the nose as soon as you peel back the packaging. They’re undoubtedly Coke versions of the familiar sweet. I especially liked the custom designs on the red halves of the cookies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727319765398-W4EV8I0DJBS5OVIAQJD1/NZF_2313-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2024 - 9.24.24 Steps Home I use this set of public steps near my house all the time. They help me get from the end of my street to the street below and significantly reduce the time it takes to commute on foot if I need to go anywhere west. After a night out with friends, they dropped me off at the base of the steps, and I walked up to my house as usual. Sometimes I think about the relationship I have with these steps and how they’re important to others, too. I regularly see both kids and adults using them. Hell, even the deer trot up the steps from time to time. My mailman, who has lived in the area his whole life, talked about how he and his friends would run up and down the steps when they were kids, just as I see kids today using them. Painter Harland Hubbard apparently grew up a few doors away from my own back in the early 1900s, and I wonder if these steps were around for when he was still here. The railroad has been here for as long as Sanborn Maps have been around, so it’s possible the stairs have, too. It’s kind of amazing to think of how a simple piece of public infrastructure like a set of stairs can be so important to the daily lives of the people around them, and how they can be tied to fond memories for those who’ve long since moved away. If they were located in Cincinnati, they’d probably have their own Instagram account or something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727319764667-BIM0X8PMXEVHVBUHBUHE/NZ9_9464-Enhanced-NR.jpg sep-2024 - 9.25.24 Moonlit Evening A scene from this evening’s musical performance before the opening of the new Ansel Adams exhibit at the Art Museum. They hoisted a giant, illuminated moon from the ceiling in the Great Hall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661108904-J0EK05WTNB0AE7JLBE18/IMG_0485.jpg sep-2024 - 9.26.24 Non-Traditional Mike and I got up early and drove up to Chicago to see the White Sox play their final home game of the season. Neither of us is a White Sox fan, and I’d never been to Guaranteed Rate Field on the south side of Chicago, but we went mainly to see history made…only it didn’t end up that way. The White Sox were on the verge of losing more games in a single season than any other team in the history of Major League Baseball. To say their season had been a disaster is putting it lightly. Very few baseball teams have seen as poor a showing as this 2024 team in Chicago. If they’d lost to the Angels for their final home game, they’d officially set the record, and we wanted to be there for it. No, it’s not a glamorous record to hold, but it’s still significant, and we thought it would be fun to do on a random Thursday. Fortunately for the White Sox, they crushed the Angels after a staggeringly good showing in the 5th inning and managed not to set the record on their home turf. We were a little bummed we didn’t see history made today, but we also had a great time quietly rooting for them to win. Either way, we saw a historically awful team play bizarrely adequately for their final home game of the season. We ate Chicago dogs and pizza, wandered around the ballpark for a bit (pictured is the excellent view of the skyline from an upper level), found some seats on the 1st baseline that weren’t the $7 seats we purchased, and saw a bunch of White Sox fans genuinely cheer for their awful team. We hit up Portillo’s on the way out of Chicago and headed back to Cincinnati before the sunset. It was a good day that I think we’ll both remember for a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661110672-HV32TWPU51Y0698OZBDL/Art+After+Dark+9.27.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg sep-2024 - 9.27.24 Indecision I photographed Art After Dark again for the museum. There was a massive party in the Great Hall where rotating DJs on a second story balcony kept the music pumping and everyone dancing. The scene you see above is barely the start of it all; by the time I was contracturally finished at 9 PM, the entire room was shoulder to shoulder with more people coming in to join. I’ve rarely seen a showing at that magnitude. To choose a favorite frame from the evening is an impossible task. If I choose Image A, I’ll look at Images B, C, and D and think those are equally as representative of the evening, albeit in different ways. The indecision is paralyzing. So I chose the very first one on the card from the evening. I’m also choosing it for another reason. I was recently convinced by watching a few different photographers on YouTube that high ISO isn’t the enemy and should be utilized more often. I’d gotten used to using ISO 12800 as my maximum for awhile, but sometimes I needed more. I decided to amp it up to 20000 and see if Denoise could handle it. Short answer: it can so long as I keep the slider no more than 40 during enhance. This photo is an example of how previously unthinkable grain can be mitigated with Denoise in order to get a sharp shot in low light, and I’m thrilled that I have a little more latitude now to get a faster shutter in lower light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661114012-WZEWB9Q0YGFAAFPYE3XX/NZF_2787.jpg sep-2024 - 9.28.24 Wine Night We went to Chelsea and Vince’s for a wine tasting and got silly by the end of the night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661114151-QCHVSYVB1O88NLPCZDSE/NZF_2803-2.jpg sep-2024 - 9.29.24 Esmeray's 2nd Birthday Little Esmeray turned two today. We went to celebrate her birthday with everyone up at my sister’s house. After she opened her gift (The Rainbow Fish book), she brought it over to the ottoman and put it down in front of her. She was being so cute. I managed to snap a photo before she moved onto the next thing. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/oct2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495522934-RZWG0L0UGXF8E8FVQE3C/Bellevue+Barbershop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-52.jpg oct-2024 - 10.1.24 Barbershop Boys I’ve been getting my hair cut at the Bellevue Barbershop for years. There’s a reason they’re voted best shop in the region during CityBeat’s annual poll. Today, I had the pleasure of photographing these dudes for the first time. They’re the nicest, most talented crew in the biz. We did a variety of poses and portraits, and choosing just one for this project was challenging. I knew I had to go with a group shot, though. This one was my pick—a photo of them all on the stoop right before I let them know I was about to start snapping. They’re all naturally themselves, which I wanted to convey most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495522934-RZWG0L0UGXF8E8FVQE3C/Bellevue+Barbershop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-52.jpg oct-2024 - 10.1.24 Barbershop Boys I’ve been getting my hair cut at the Bellevue Barbershop for years. There’s a reason they’re voted best shop in the region during CityBeat’s annual poll. Today, I had the pleasure of photographing these dudes for the first time. They’re the nicest, most talented crew in the biz. We did a variety of poses and portraits, and choosing just one for this project was challenging. I knew I had to go with a group shot, though. This one was my pick—a photo of them all on the stoop right before I let them know I was about to start snapping. They’re all naturally themselves, which I wanted to convey most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495523206-UQU1I7MSC9U6V1BQM3QB/201+E+Clifton+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg oct-2024 - 10.2.24 Corrected Cornice I waited months to photograph this building because the new cornice wasn’t installed. Today, though, I was able to wrap it up. It looks nice! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495542254-74LPUXKCQ0PMVJR3GJEI/The+Thatcher+Ribbon-Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55.jpg oct-2024 - 10.3.24 Ribbon-Cutting Thatcher Flats in Walnut Hills had its ribbon-cutting today after an hour-long speaker event. Photographed for Pennrose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495531887-XQ56X6FG86H6ZAW6ESPZ/SBD+Metal+Tree+Table+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg oct-2024 - 10.4.24 Metal/Wood Single Batch Designs made a really interesting metal and wood table recently. The table legs on either side are shaped like tree trunks with spindly branches that snake around the slab’s edges to hold it in place. The amount of artistry involved with this piece is something I haven’t seen them attempt before. The client’s room where this will live apparently matches the aesthetic well, so I can’t wait to see it in place. I just can’t get over the craftsmanship in a piece like this. It’s totally unique in the way it’s handcrafted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495541385-8SWE09W9R154DUQ4R5JD/Streaming+Things+LIVE+%28Color%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-249.jpg oct-2024 - 10.5.24 Streaming Things LIVE Earlier this year, Steve candidly told me his New Year resolution was to host a live show for his podcast. He wanted to take the thing he’d been making for years in his home studio and perform it live on stage for as big of an audience as possible, and tonight, he did just that. He spent ten months searching for a venue, scheduling everything, and preparing the show. When he announced it to his listener base, people from around the world started planning to visit Cincinnati to see him and his cohosts do their thing. And since the base had grown so strongly around the show, they also had the benefit of meeting all their online friends in a real space. I can’t adequately describe how good it feels to see your best bud succeed in a creative endeavor on this scale. I’d only met his listener base online. Still, when I saw their faces watching him on stage, laughing at his jokes, and smiling through the whole show, I realized what he’s made and the many connections he’s inadvertently responsible for are extremely important. After the show, I joined the fans for a night out in Cincinnati. I led them on the streetcar to Rhinegeist, and from there, we went to Oddfellows and closed down the bar. None of us said our goodbyes until 3 AM. I’ve never really felt like a genuine part of the community, but after tonight, maybe they’ve accepted me into their ranks. I hope he does this again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495528162-O7L0UAK5PJ5ZPWBYN1H8/Red+Door+Hotel+Cov+-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg oct-2024 - 10.6.24 Red Door at Hotel Covington A photo of Gregory Freeman next to his photograph at Red Door Project in Hotel Covington this afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495537400-R0E5LTQ6UNMO6TCVQHR6/Self+Portrait.jpg oct-2024 - 10.7.24 Self Portrait I have a headshot job in Louisville tomorrow, so I needed to practice my lighting setup before I go down. I didn’t go the whole way with the setup because it would’ve been too much work, so I faked the otherwise pristing paper background with a wrinkly sheet that I had to edit out in post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495527177-XRLKLQ4H3HNQM428W4HT/IMG_0781.jpg oct-2024 - 10.8.24 Chicago Dogs While in Louisville, I stopped at Lonnie’s for a hot dog. When I looked on the map and realized this place was a mile from my job location, I knew I had to hit it up. The inside is a sun-bleached shrine to Chicago sports and autographed headshots. The owners weren’t rude but also weren’t friendly. It was a no-nonsense place, and the low price I paid for a hot dog, cheese fries, chips, and a drink matched everything about the atmosphere. That is to say, it’s extremely my shit. I want less polished concepts and more authentic hole-in-the-wall joints like this. I wish Lonnie’s was local because I’d be here every other day for sure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728531044128-VGD406R9QY6RYGHC780V/NZF_5079.jpg oct-2024 - 10.9.24 Birthday Puppy She turned seven today. I cannot believe this dog is SEVEN YEARS OLD. It feels like just yesterday that we brought her home. On her first birthday, I took a grainy iPhone photo of her sitting on the couch and wearing a birthday cap with a treat and candle in front of her. We were in the midst of a move, so half our stuff was packed, and she was confused about everything. I recreated that photo as best I could, sans confusion and move this time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728958203913-WRSGHJM00TZZIJN0LQ7Q/Posing+Beauty+x+Terri+Kern+-+Phil+Armstrong+-11.jpg oct-2024 - 10.10.24 Taft Museum Opening Photographed the latest exhibition opening at the Taft Museum of Art this evening. If you enjoy photography and fashion, Posing Beauty in African American Culture will be up your alley. Also, I found out this evening that Rick Sofranko reads this Daily Photo Project. Hi, Rich! It’s always so nice to run into you and Susan at these events. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135674584-YTF3MV0P9G2YK08RQSQY/IMG_0936.jpg oct-2024 - 10.11.24 Goodbye, Millennial Grey When we bought the house, the flippers painted everything grey and white—a neutral combo that’s safe when trying to appeal to unknown buyers. We lived with it for four and a half years before we finally did anything about it. We hired professionals who could do it all in a single day because of the scope of what we wanted done (the entire first floor, staircase wall, and fence). (I’m sorry, but I’m going to talk about watching paint dry in the following entry. You’ve been warned.) We weren’t prepared for how difficult it would be to see the house change colors, though. We were so used to the color scheme (or lack thereof) that seeing bright colors on the walls initially was jarring. Did we pick the wrong colors? Are we that bad at this? Or are we just not used to seeing a very familiar place visually change so drastically? At one point, as the men were painting the wall on the staircase, I quietly regretted making the decision to change any of it, burying my face in my hands and hoping it wouldn’t be as bad tomorrow as it did today. Wet paint looks worse than dried paint, I’ve learned. After a rollercoaster of emotions, I’ve settled on loving our new color scheme. It does look better dried. Our instincts were right; the bold colors we chose made the house feel more like a home. It has more personality and flavor. It feels intentionally decorated in a way I didn’t realize it didn’t before. The dining room (pictured) is my favorite. The greenish-grey we chose is a mood-setter. Since it also serves as the plant room, it feels more vibrant and alive. The living room is now ancestral gold, which for some reason photographs more green than it actually is. And the staircase, which I haven’t photographed yet, is a lovely burnt orange color that enlivens that whole side of the house. Pick bold colors and paint your walls. It absolutely rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135680014-9C18JHU3WAQ3DJ3RJ3XD/NZF_5167.jpg oct-2024 - 10.12.24 Darkness Brewing The little river town brewery that I like so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135687914-5MSAGMAVGVULVY2SJSSO/Purple+People+Bridge+-+Phil+Armstrong+-18.jpg oct-2024 - 10.13.24 Purple, People, and Bridge I had a job at the Taft Museum and the weather was wonderful, so I decided to walk over instead of drive. Image from that walk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135676107-UQHRA533Z5M6YN95YC7X/1412+Republic+%23301+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg oct-2024 - 10.14.24 On Republic Street Photographed an Airbnb in Mt. Auburn, then went to Over-the-Rhine to photograph a condo for sale in this building on Republic Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135684160-VDLZH2SMGQB91BTIO9FI/UK+Hospital+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg oct-2024 - 10.15.24 Hospital Stuff Lexington was my destination today. GBBN recently completed a renovation at a hospital on the UK campus. They wanted images for their portfolio, and since I’ve seemingly become their go-to guy for hospital stuff, they asked me to come down and capture it. We staged architects in scrubs and put them in the scene as usual. What you don’t get a sense of from this image is just how messy the floor was when we showed up. It’s still in the punchlist phase of construction, and we had to move a hefty amount of stuff out of every shot to get little slices like this clean and looking photo-ready. Honestly, though, this wasn’t even remotely the hardest instance of working around construction I’ve had to do before. It looked worse than it ended up being, thankfully. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135680960-N3CBYUM8WTPHAUI4ZE1M/Phronesis+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-33.jpg oct-2024 - 10.16.24 Phronesis Blink starts tomorrow, so everyone’s gearing up. The Library, in partnership with ArtWorks, held a dedication event for the new, permanent, light-based sculpture ‘Phronesis’ by Jen Lewin Studio out of Brooklyn, NY. The sculpture consists of eight columns that light up in non-repeating, unique patterns. Check it out next time you go to the library. They look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819155095-SKHXT442FZKLG3ASJYKA/Blink+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg oct-2024 - 10.17.24 Blink 2024 Thursday night Blink is always my favorite. It’s new again, it’s exciting to run around and see all the new and returning artwork, there’s loads of people walking the streets, and the city’s more alive than usual. While I had criticisms about the previous Blink festival, I think this one is making up for it already. One big thing they’ve done this year is close off whole streets to pedestrians and lining many of them with food trucks. It’s such a simple change, but it makes a huge difference. Bringing projection mapping back to Music Hall for the first time since Lumenocity is a highlight of this year’s festival. I love seeing it all lit up again. It brings back fond memories of standing on Race Street and looking over the fence years ago. When it moved inside Taft, everyone knew something had to change. Also, the skate park just up Pleasant Street. Pleasant Street at Liberty is probably the most alive and unique block (in Cincinnati) this year. It feels fresh compared to other Blinks. Yard & Co. has a really cool alcove to pop into there. (They’re not paying me to say this, it’s just genuinely cool.) There are some great new and returning light installations this year, too, including Crescendo in Lytle Park. It’s a mainstay every year and it rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819152164-8YFQSKFS85QN8JAFDBL3/Blink+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-35.jpg oct-2024 - 10.18.24 Blinking Twice I went out with Allie, Travis, Rob, and Rachel to see everything again tonight. We stayed Downtown but also hit up a few places in OTR. Music Hall and Cincinnatus aside, I think the projections in past years were stronger, but they’re still all very cool. I mentioned this yesterday, but one of my favorite things about Blink is how the streets are closed and pedestrians can just walk up to food trucks. Court Street had a mini-Asian Food Fest happening on the Kroger block, but across Vine Street, there were plenty of other places to grab a bite and a drink. As the sun was setting, this block looked particularly Sesame Street with all the happy people, dogs, and color lining either side of the street. Sadly, there were no muppets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819151875-EOAZRVHGUPOGYZAVVQ1Z/Blink+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-99.jpg oct-2024 - 10.19.24 Blinked Thrice The primary approach I’m taking to documenting Blink this year is different than previous festivals. During the first two years, and again for the third, I focused heavily on capturing projections and the artwork itself. This time, I’m trying to capture people and the general feeling of being there in addition to casually shooting the festival. I got my shots in past years, and I’m happy with those. Now, I want to do something different; something unique. Something I can’t recreate if I tried. This was one of those moments. I actually snapped this without looking, from the hip. This group of friends in the Pike Street Arcade set their phone up on the ground against a purse and took a selfie together. I wish I could see their shot because I loved their energy from this angle. If you know any of them, please send them this image. It represents the vibe of Blink: people having fun. No drama. No politics. No anger or fear or resentment. Just everyone walking around, eating food, waving light-up balloons, and having fun. It’s been a hearty breath of fresh air the last three days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819145933-XW820QUN76KLANYTT325/IMG_1040.jpg oct-2024 - 10.20.24 Blinked Out For the first time, I didn’t go to Blink all four nights. My social battery was spent. I couldn’t do it for a fourth night in a row. With the exception of seeing Newport briefly from the car, I saw every attraction in the 2024 lineup on foot, and got to hang out with Travis and Rob for three nights straight. It was the best time, but I needed a quiet day to myself to reenergize after being in enormous crowds the last three days. Ashley only went the first night and bailed on the rest, so I didn’t feel too bad about not attending the final evening. Instead, I spent a few hours building a TV stand for the living room. I used the legs from a coffee table I was previously using to prop up the TV and added a custom box to the top of them, raising the whole thing about 7 inches total. Stained the box the same color as the legs. I think the TV will now stand at the optimal height for viewing when sitting on the couch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819145934-05PAHAQFERL6PE7YZ43K/IMG_1052.jpg oct-2024 - 10.21.24 Foggy Morning Had to take Ashley downtown for work this morning, and stopped by the water on the way back to get a photo because the fog was so picturesque. I didn’t mean for this to be the image of the day, but thanks to the juxtaposition, it had to be the one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236578208-II4MKT1H1DCYUCK8CJIS/Cincy+Open+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg oct-2024 - 10.22.24 Cincinnati Open Mural Dedication The scene from the Cincinnati Open mural dedication this afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236584504-3XTZLFSVVMI1W7L61ZCG/IMG_1082.jpg oct-2024 - 10.23.24 Autumnal It’s beginning to feel properly autumnal outside. Normally I’m all about this time of year, and I still am, but I’m also not looking forward to winter this year. Something about it seems like it’s going to be a long one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236576847-8YJQBB6MP3XXCINMDPKT/Banter%2BBrews+10.24.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-49.jpg oct-2024 - 10.24.24 Challenging Lighting Photographed an event inside the Digital Futures buidling in Avondale early in the morning. I wasn’t prepared for how challenging the lighting would be in this space, though. Between the low can lighting in the ceiling, dark areas inbetween, and the rising sun directly behind the speaker’s podium, it was a constant battle with settings to get exposures between extremes so I had the latitude to adjust them later in Lightroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236571570-23V7NHZUHF7C0X7PKJ2D/Art+After+Dark+10.25.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-95.jpg oct-2024 - 10.25.24 Costume Party The final Art After Dark of the year was held this evening. While it wasn’t as crowded as last month’s, the museum still had a stellar showing with many attendees in creative costumes. I saw Casey (pictured) and mistook his garb for The Crow (he is actually a black and white photo). I saw the twins from The Shining, David S. Pumpkins, Mothman, the Swedish Chef, a Bob Ross with his date wearing a painting around her face, someone dressed in Starfleet command red, a guy in a hot dog suit, pirates, cowboys, one Cousin It, Cruella DeVille with dalmation, and I even found a Waldo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236585618-DRINDCF336QB89YAUF8W/NZF_8734-Enhanced-NR.jpg oct-2024 - 10.26.24 Tiki Tiki Bang Bang We wandered into a costume contest at Tike Tiki Bang Bang tonight. It was very crowded, so getting a decent shot was tricky. But I did manage to snag a slice of life while waiting for a dole whip painkiller. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236588097-1YIUY92I7HVZI6DWZQB3/NZF_8746-Enhanced-NR.jpg oct-2024 - 10.27.24 Coffee Festival Shenanigans After not going for quite a few years, I decided to go to the annual coffee festival at Music Hall this weekend. It’s held in the ballroom on the second floor every year and features a boatload of coffee and coffee-adjacent vendors worldwide. Some are local, some are from other states, and some even come from abroad to give out little samples of their brews hoping people will fall in love and buy bags of beans. There are a fair number of artists who fill in the gaps with their wares, such as pottery and apparel. This is an image from one of the cheekier tables. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236571593-2IE1S1T2LETCNL854VY3/1700+Hanfield+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg oct-2024 - 10.28.24 Hanfield Photographed a sun-filled apartment on the second story of a cute building on Hanfield in Northside this morning. The autumn leaves outside the window warmed up the room in a comforting way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730405795545-YT8XOOX9J34M2DZBX8G0/DSC01305.jpg oct-2024 - 10.29.24 Action Claw! I didn’t win anything. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730405795009-2XCJVAV7IYOTJHOG26YO/Myrtle+ghost.jpg oct-2024 - 10.30.24 Spooky Ghost! We dressed Myrtle up for Halloween. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731287945904-4FU1KKOKHTF3YE8XE2CY/IMG_1233.jpg oct-2024 - 10.31.24 Almond Joys and Blanton’s While passing out candy tonight to trick or treaters, my neighbor, Shawn, sat with me and graciously shared his bottle of Blanton’s. It’s smooth, sweet, and syrupy in the best ways. Maybe one of the best bourbon’s I’ve had. It’s going to be a pain to go back to my budget options after two glasses of this fine stuff. It paired exceptionally well with all the Almond Joys I pretended were for the kids but conveniently stole from the bucket before passing them out. Though the rain kept many away, we still had about 30 kids show up to collect, including one who said she used to live in my house. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/nov2024 daily 0.75 2024-12-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731288541514-S2WF2J5Y16TZ1MMDB22G/CAM+Gala+2024+-+6+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg nov-2024 - 11.1.24 CAM Gala 2024 While passing out candy tonight to trick or treaters, my neighbor, Shawn, sat with me and graciously shared his bottle of Blanton’s. It’s smooth, sweet, and syrupy in the best ways. Maybe one of the best bourbon’s I’ve had. It’s going to be a pain to go back to my budget options after two glasses of this fine stuff. It paired exceptionally well with all the Almond Joys I pretended were for the kids but conveniently stole from the bucket before passing them out. Though the rain kept many away, we still had about 30 kids show up to collect, including one who said she used to live in my house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731288541514-S2WF2J5Y16TZ1MMDB22G/CAM+Gala+2024+-+6+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg nov-2024 - 11.1.24 CAM Gala 2024 While passing out candy tonight to trick or treaters, my neighbor, Shawn, sat with me and graciously shared his bottle of Blanton’s. It’s smooth, sweet, and syrupy in the best ways. Maybe one of the best bourbon’s I’ve had. It’s going to be a pain to go back to my budget options after two glasses of this fine stuff. It paired exceptionally well with all the Almond Joys I pretended were for the kids but conveniently stole from the bucket before passing them out. Though the rain kept many away, we still had about 30 kids show up to collect, including one who said she used to live in my house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731289800816-BSJ34K3KYKBBKMPHCX46/IMG_1235.jpg nov-2024 - 11.2.24 Hundredths My dad always talked about how he’d like to see time measured in metric. Instead of 24 hours in a day, he envisioned a day that would start at 0 and end at 100. Within that scale would be another 100 markers, like minutes to hours. He called them “ticks and tocks” long before the video app was devised. So something like 5:02 PM could be 65.14 or whatever. I get what he’s saying. Metric makes more sense to me, too, and while ticks and tocks made his children laugh at his nerdiness, at least one of them grew up to appreciate the vision. So when I came across this clock, I scarcely believed my eyes. Was this a prototype for ticks/tocks? After googling what I knew about it and coming up empty, I eventually asked an AI language model. Sometimes I find the conversational approach with ChatGPT to be a good launching point for how to research because it gives me key words to use in googling. All of this to say I learned the hundredths scale on this clock might have been used to accurately calculate payroll, possibly in a factory or office sometime in the middle of the century. It’s easier to calculate a worker’s shift if they clocked in at 7.01 and out at 15.68. No fractions, no hassle, easy hourly rate multiplication. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731289934503-UBTCPCSSFEO8UPMR42CW/IMG_1247.jpg nov-2024 - 11.3.24 Ashley Turns 36 We went to MRBL for dinner and they brought her out a free dessert after the meal! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731290016284-MAJGSD952YGO3UX6LK1P/IMG_1282.jpg nov-2024 - 11.4.24 Forgotten It’s an increasingly rare sight to see these in the wild. I wonder when the last time this was turned on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731290020185-UJKX0PDBAPAGPFY5F9SA/IMG_1274.jpg nov-2024 - 11.5.24 Refinishing Floors Brendan asked if I would help him refinish the floors of his rental property. With the impending election wrecking havoc on my nerves, I jumped at the chance to do something with my hands for the day. The less time I spent online worried about the outcome of this thing, the better my mental health. He already sanded the majority of it with a large rental sander, but we needed to remove the old finish from the perimeter and stain everything before the end of the day. The process went well for the most part. Aside from having to stop briefly so Duke could fix a natural gas leak in the basement, we got it all sanded and stained by 4:30 PM. The Big Mac bridge’s southbound lane closure caused a long, arduous drive home despite being so close to my house. My anxiety about the election returned, fully ratcheted up. I got home, showered, and went to CVS to get both a flu and COVID vaccine. I worry what I’ll wake up to tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731290019844-KTYPDFGQOQWBSGN4ZROG/NZF_9668.jpg nov-2024 - 11.6.24 No Title/No Caption https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137184177-1Q9QRR0RMKDNWA42J7M5/IMG_1322.jpg nov-2024 - 11.7.24 No Title/No Caption https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137181693-9BO14UWIDIKMTI20I78W/NZF_9683-Enhanced-NR.jpg nov-2024 - 11.8.24 DND There’s really nothing to say that hasn’t already been said. Just know I’m ashamed of my country, ashamed to be American, and ashamed I live in a world where hate and idiocy and incompetence rule. I have little faith in the future at this point. Been offline and on DND for days and it’s keeping me sane. This is the last I’ll say about this topic because so much of my energy has been wasted on this catastrophe already. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137177474-2MENB9ES47FU6OEHCBH9/NZF_9724-Enhanced-NR.jpg nov-2024 - 11.9.24 Dinner Party The biggest downside to our house is that it’s small and not overly conducive to hosting large groups. We’ve taken steps to better host, though, and I think we’ve solved a crucial part of it by making the dining room table twice as big. By getting a fold-up table the same size as our kitchen table and situating both side by side under tablecloths, the seating expanded from six to ten with enough room to comfortably place dishes around the table. Before everything happened this week, we scheduled a Friendsgiving with a few people and hosted it this evening. We agreed to keep the conversation light, which was probably the best thing we could’ve done. We got nine people together in our little dining room to eat a meal Ashley spent the day making. It was a big win for the week. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137189424-Y9694EFCYSVWYRC1Y6C1/IMG_1303.jpg nov-2024 - 11.10.24 Moon Roof Wasn’t in a photographic mood today. Still offline and on DND mode, and loving it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137172607-FB1Q1MYLJEXFRB9PABZG/27+E+Fourth+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg nov-2024 - 11.11.24 Back To It Photographed a renovated building on 4th Street in Covington today. It’s been in the owner’s possession since January 1986 (the same month and year I was born). It was a law office for decades, but when COVID hit, most of the partners left, and he was left with a choice: keep going, sell it, or renovate it for residential use. He chose the latter. The inside looks fantastic. They did a truly outstanding job. I dare say it’s a dream house for someone like me. Google the listing (27 E 4th Street). You won’t regret it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137176716-41W4BR12QJEZYPS1P9N1/1734+E+Boat+Run+Road+%28Sunset%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg nov-2024 - 11.12.24 Country Desk From an Airbnb photoshoot I did today in New Richmond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137187521-0TAH4H2BI303TPQKBTMD/Hustle+n%E2%80%99+Bustle+%282024%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg nov-2024 - 11.13.24 Expand For Pano Drove around Cincinnati today collecting images of specific murals for ArtWorks. This one on the side of Whole Foods in Rookwood Commons was a standout due to the good lighting. (Click or tap to see the full panorama) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137171603-EP9LQ0MJQKOCJMJ1KGTT/824+Madison+Ave+%282nd+Floor%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg nov-2024 - 11.14.24 Galley Kitchen From a photoshoot today for Orleans Development. Galley kitchen with lovely green cabinets and gold hardware. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137187403-OHBG5AFL21126SMZJTU6/IIDA+Awards+11.15.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-235.jpg nov-2024 - 11.15.24 Timeless Venue I finally got to shoot an event in the rotunda at Union Terminal. It had been on my list for years, but I hadn’t gotten a chance to do it yet. Every image has a perfect background. It is truly a timeless space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138778592-DBSL1QGRH7JY69NECQ9X/Campus+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg nov-2024 - 11.16.24 Campus Dedication ArtWorks held a dedication for its new campus in Walnut Hills this evening. The public was invited to check out the new digs in the renovated historic building. The place is as functional as it is beautiful, and I love that so much care was spent bringing a vacant space back online for a new purpose. The top floor has mural and photo studios, the second floor is primarily office space for ArtWorks employees, and the first floor is arranged in such a way that future art galleries and events will be easy to host. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do going forward with this unique and fresh new headquarters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138813955-JOD4LIN4WJ8PVNLL2BRS/IMG_1346.jpg nov-2024 - 11.17.24 Taking a Stand I just really appreciated ETC’s stand at the Market today. 10/10 presentation. I bet this was fun to figure out and set up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138816940-82PPVXI7VN22QEPJUFYP/Bedroom+Wall.jpg nov-2024 - 11.18.24 Paint Your Walls After the massive success of getting rid of the Millennial grey by having the first floor painted, I’ve been thinking about how the rest of the house could improve visually. I did an accent wall in the basement that warmed up a corner considerably and added a little more fun to that space, but I felt like there was more to do. Then Ashley suggested I paint one of our bedroom walls a dark charcoal. An accent wall's ability to change a room's feel cannot be overstated. It was perfectly fine before, but it was boring. A remnant of the flippers we bought the house from years ago. Now, it’s an eye-catcher and energizes the space. Or at least I think it does. Painting a wall a dark color is always a little dicey, but this one never receives direct sunlight, so I don’t feel like it’s eating too much of the natural light during the day. Paint your walls. It rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138808973-53IQRSV9NG6XX3I8D3U9/224+E+8th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-53.jpg nov-2024 One-of-a-Kind Photographed a house for a listing today, and the owner is into custom tile. They did a whole bunch of colorful and unique tiling indoors, especially around the fireplace and in the kitchen, but I especially liked this address marker on the outside of their house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733706544685-10EGR40L6P148DIP0HC3/IMG_1401.jpg nov-2024 - 11.20.24 Whatchudoin I lay down for a moment and she decided it was a good time to seek attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733706665780-S62MOOHHHF17S9XBJ4T0/IMG_1423.jpg nov-2024 - 11.21.24 Late Night Lodging Unataza invited us to their annual Friendsgiving party again, and I actually managed to make it this year (previous years I had to work). It was held at The Lodge down the street from the coffee shop. I’d actually only ever been inside once, and just on the first floor, so it was neat to see the rest of it during Johnny’s tour. I didn’t take many photos today, but I did snap this moment upstairs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733706959230-4W4UZZ2QBI8X9Q8PJ557/Revelance+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg nov-2024 - 11.22.24 Revelance Worked with MA Design today to make some polished architectural photos of a project they worked on out in Mason, right by Sonder Brewing. Named Revelance, the two-story building was transformed from a simple gym to a mixed-use property with office space, an event space, a commercial kitchen and dining room, a first-floor bar, a bourbon and cigar room, and a virtual golf room. Oh, and there’s a robot barista right by the front door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707300402-K791NS72N89RKTZTSAYQ/IMG_1467.jpg nov-2024 - 11.23.24 Hanging Artwork Travis and Allie got a photo for framed for their dining room, so I helped him hang it this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707450761-BYMRJLEP240I0UB9V2LE/IMG_1447.jpg nov-2024 - 11.24.24 Very Needy I’m feeling somewhat uninspired lately. For some reason, picking up my camera is a chore at the moment. This happens occasionally, and I know it’ll pass, but it’s frustrating dealing with it. This was the only one I took all day; she always has to be touching Ashley if Ashley sits down on the couch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707946593-FQ6GOKNO30QD0ZJMIRXU/IMG_1622.jpg nov-2024 - 11.25.24 Happy Being Back I'm back in the studio assisting Marlene this week. I haven’t worked with the crew in a while, so it’s nice to see everyone and continue learning through observation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707952453-G1TWUAT957I4R9DLHT3N/IMG_1624.jpg nov-2024 - 11.26.24 Little Bit of Light The days feel noticeably shorter now. Since the sun goes down around 5:30 PM, enjoying a little natural light while working inside a photo studio all day feels like a triumph. I know I’ve taken this photo (and probably posted this same perspective) before, but it’s the only semi-interesting frame from the day. Also, it took me an hour and fifteen minutes to go the four miles home this evening due to the bridge being out. They say it’ll take until March of next year before using the southbound lane is an option again. I think I will need to start experimenting with alternate routes... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733708706472-5H5GH6EBC2CANWILH0CG/IMG_1637.jpg nov-2024 - 11.27.24 HISS! Gary wasn’t actually hissing; he was meowing loudly. Vince was patting his butt, and Gary could’ve easily moved off his lap if he wanted. Instead, he acted like a tough guy who secretly wanted more attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733709893822-T1MY36DQCS7ZKVE78FMG/NZF_0986-Enhanced-NR.jpg nov-2024 - 11.28.24 Weird Thanksgiving We didn’t feel like doing family Thanksgiving this year. Instead, we let the day unfold without a plan. Around 4 PM, we hopped in the car and searched nearly empty streets for an open restaurant. I had a feeling the Chinese place in Fort Thomas that I liked (New Garden) would be open. To our delight, it was. Instead of turkey, we ate sweet and sour chicken, crab rangoon, spring rolls, and rolled our eyes at uninspired fortune cookies for dessert. We tipped way more than usual, and headed back out on the road to find an open bar. The Lytle Park Hotel was open and willing to make us cocktails, so we met Travis and Allie there for a couple of rounds before heading north to Liberty’s on Main Street to end the evening. I think the freshness and impromptu nature of this Thanksgiving stands out as one of my favorites since childhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733932818463-OCYXRWHKRF7RUCQMMXV6/IMG_1651.jpg nov-2024 - 11.29.24 Leaning Into It Ashley bought this Christmas light dog back in August to put on the porch during the Christmas season. I’ve known for years we were crazy-about-our-dog people, but this takes it to a whole new level. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933576398-LHIW6DWAIB20SIIOWT7B/NZF_1084-Enhanced-NR.jpg nov-2024 - 11.30.24 Ronny Hates Christmas For the last few years, we’ve gone to Overlook Lodge in Pleasant Ridge for their Christmas-themed drink event. Our group of friends finds a date that works for all of us, and we make a reservation to seat all of us together. It’s about an hour long, the drinks are good, and the whole thing ends up pushing me over the line for getting into the Christmas spirit. This year, Ronny and Sydney came with us. Ronny hates Christmas, but he primarily wanted to join because the rest of us went. At the end of our time slot, and to cap the event with a grand finale, a Christmas montage played on the TVs behind the bar, and light foam “snowed” from the ceiling. This frame is from that moment. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dec2024 daily 0.75 2025-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933718093-AOKTQ11VD2K5JYU82ORE/Myrtle+Christmas+2024.jpg dec-2024 - 12.1.24 Another Year, Another Christmas Photo For the last few years, we’ve gone to Overlook Lodge in Pleasant Ridge for their Christmas-themed drink event. Our group of friends finds a date that works for all of us, and we make a reservation to seat all of us together. It’s about an hour long, the drinks are good, and the whole thing ends up pushing me over the line for getting into the Christmas spirit. This year, Ronny and Sydney came with us. Ronny hates Christmas, but he primarily wanted to join because the rest of us went. At the end of our time slot, and to cap the event with a grand finale, a Christmas montage played on the TVs behind the bar, and light foam “snowed” from the ceiling. This frame is from that moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933718093-AOKTQ11VD2K5JYU82ORE/Myrtle+Christmas+2024.jpg dec-2024 - 12.1.24 Another Year, Another Christmas Photo For the last few years, we’ve gone to Overlook Lodge in Pleasant Ridge for their Christmas-themed drink event. Our group of friends finds a date that works for all of us, and we make a reservation to seat all of us together. It’s about an hour long, the drinks are good, and the whole thing ends up pushing me over the line for getting into the Christmas spirit. This year, Ronny and Sydney came with us. Ronny hates Christmas, but he primarily wanted to join because the rest of us went. At the end of our time slot, and to cap the event with a grand finale, a Christmas montage played on the TVs behind the bar, and light foam “snowed” from the ceiling. This frame is from that moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933717080-GUIMC3EI2PDIN3PJS7WK/CAM+Ground+Level+-+Phil+Armstrong+-17.jpg dec-2024 - 12.2.24 Architectural Photos For CAM CAM asked me to document their ground level for use in a media press release. I’d been in this space once before last month during the annual CAM Gala, but it was nice to get to spend some quality time carefully and methodically capturing the space. This time of year is sometimes challenging because of holiday decor. While it would’ve been acceptable to photograph the space as-is, I thought it made more sense to de-clutter each shot and prevent shackling the images to a specific season. Overall, I’m glad I did because the shots ended up being evergreen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933715832-H9EVUNSKX06AU61Z4JKK/6139+Plymouth+-+12.3.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg dec-2024 - 12.3.24 It’s 5:30 PM Looks more like 9 PM, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933713204-MDNRVFBQRSOQ1NAAX4O2/Winter%E2%80%99s+Night+Founders+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-111.jpg dec-2024 - 12.4.24 Winter’s Night Event I photographed the Winter’s Night Founder’s Event at the museum this evening. Second job at CAM this week. They did a great job dressing the place up with lights, sculptures, and performers for attendees. Here’s a photo of Rich Sofranko taking a photo for other attendees on one of their phones. Rich is a photographer himself, so they were in good hands. I swooped in behind him to get my own shot after taking this photo; thanks for setting this up for me, Rich. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933711278-CS84TV5IDHA12SLORUQ0/Volkshaus+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg dec-2024 - 12.5.24 Volkshaus Opening Volkshaus (123 E McMicken Ave) had its grand opening this evening. I was there to capture images for 8K Construction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933707726-2IBUO2C6XZLGFW65C54Y/Karissa+Morton+%28Queens+x+Kroger%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg dec-2024 - 12.6.24 Portait Work I photographed Karissa (marketing material for Kroger). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933706343-K0PNZEE9W7FMX1KEFLN7/Ground+Floor+Ribbon+Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-33.jpg dec-2024 - 12.7.24 Ground Level Opening After photographing the ground level for CAM this week, I returned to the space this morning to document their formal grand opening ceremony and discovered a very fun photo opportunity by accident. One of the main galleries has an enormous LED screen (I think it’s over 400 inches). It’s so large, I was able to make this portrait of CAM Director Cameron Kitchin speaking at the podium with nothing but the screen as a background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733934475414-LPRPVAG1A8A5ZFWT9F4J/IMG_1750.jpg dec-2024 - 12.8.24 Tree’s Up Better late than never. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933704022-SNZH62AF9ECTWREUPZJ0/NZF_1508-Edit-2.jpg dec-2024 - 12.9.24 Colombian Magnet Ashley was in Colombia all last week for work. When she came home, she brought with her this cute little magnet she bought in Bogota. Since I got new studio lights the other day, and having not taken a single photo all day for this project, I decided to set up a backdrop and make something simple. Bright orange construction paper seemed to fit the aesthetic of the magnet best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933704469-DIQDBR9ADCKN6ZIE7CH2/IMG_1770-2.jpg dec-2024 - 12.10.24 Return to the Mercantile Library The Mercantile Library reopened after a year-long renovation. The biggest change to the library is the fully functional second floor, which is made accessible by way of the new grand staircase (pictured). I’ve spent countless hours working from this library over the last decade. It’s been a great resource and place to hunker down with assignments. I plan to work from here more often now that it’s open again. Some of my favorite images I’ve ever taken were done in this space, and seeing all the parts I loved preserved while adding to it in a thoughtful way warms my heart. Despite being so old, this place feels totally reenergized and ready to serve for another century. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620812513-YSBLN8QVZ3ZHEL6S33C2/Rookwood+Holiday+Party+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg dec-2024 - 12.11.24 Liminal Space Penguin Rookwood Properties held their annual holiday party at the Zoo this year. The party included two animal encounters: one with a tortoise and another with a penguin. A few people showed interest in the tortoise, but the penguin was a huge hit. She waddled around the room trying to find enough personal space to feel comfortable. I’m not sure she ever found it despite everyone keeping an appropriate distance. The keeper with her said she’d never been in that room before, so her visible curiosity and erratic route was probably a result of being overstimulated. At one point, she left the room entirely and went into the hall for a moment for what I assume was to take a penguin breather. (Relateable.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620811006-68NEMWZTD256ZY7BOQQQ/337+Lockwood+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-32.jpg dec-2024 - 12.12.24 Do Not Disturb While photographing a house for a listing, this precious angel was sleeping soundly in a chair. Thankfully, she hopped up there on the cushion after I’d already finished in that room. I couldn’t forgive myself if I had to disturb her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620805313-2ROFPJXDS329YIWDAETV/IMG_1805.jpg dec-2024 Past Expiration The antique mall in Alexandria has several rows of glass cases with locked-up items. A lot of it is jewelry or baseball cards, glass tchotchkes of significance, pins and medals, and a variety of other higher-priced fare. Honestly, it’s the least interesting aisle in the building to me because I prefer the challenge of visually sorting through unobscured junk like a sieve scooping up a pile of river dirt looking for a nugget of precious metal. That’s the fun of going to antique malls; it’s an exercise that sometimes turns up something neat. The cases are all fruit, no labor. These vintage bottles were locked up. The Coke bottle didn’t have a tag that I could see, but after a quick online search, it looks like it may be from the ‘70s. Coke is so old, they were doing throwback promos 50 years ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620801700-ST6NPXL0I9SF2Q2SP4AJ/IMG_1818.jpg dec-2024 - 12.14.24 Rubber Band-Curious Travis and Allie held a Christmas movie night at their place. Jack and Jonas were very interested in a rubber band for a substantial portion of the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620800630-PH5M50SB3WU77VCOK1T6/IMG_1822.jpg dec-2024 - 12.15.24 Haunted Hardware I’m building something in my basement and had to make a quick run to the store. When I pulled up, the moon was ominously peeking through the clouds, evoking an October mood despite the season. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734643005023-ZQN2OBHCA60ANEFM75C4/IMG_1838.jpg dec-2024 - 12.16.24 Cheers Mario gave my regular order (latte with four shots of espresso) an unofficial name. Feels nice to have my own drink! I love this shop so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734643009578-J05VWZD66254P604LQB4/422+Riverside+Drive+-+Phil+Armstrong+-75-2.jpg dec-2024 - 12.17.24 The Pointe This house on Riverside Drive in Covington is apparently named ‘The Pointe.’ I wish I knew its history, but Googling only results in a few articles detailing a property line dispute. It sits at the confluence of the Licking River and Ohio River on the Covington side, across the street from the statue of Chief Little Turtle and John James Audubon. The owners are planning to put it on the market in the coming months, so I photographed the interior for the listing. Even though we had a lovely day of sunshine, I thought getting a few exteriors at night would make sense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734809595807-HYHZFF57OXF9PD9W0WU0/NZ9_9078-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg dec-2024 - 12.18.24 The Bench For years, I’ve had an office on the second floor where I did all my photography-based work. As I’ve grown in my career, though, I’ve acquired additional gear that has started collecting on other floors, namely the finished basement. A cart, a couple of hard cases for my commonly used kit, studio lights, backdrops, c-stands, different sized bags, straps, etc. Lugging all of this stuff up to the office doesn’t make sense since it’s regularly going back out the door through the basement, so I’ve been storing it in a tidy corner despite the limited space. I never liked that I didn’t have all of it consolidated. It felt messy and spread out even though I did my best to keep it contained. I value intentionality and defined spaces, and keeping half my stuff in a corner never felt good despite it being necessary. So, I built a bench with storage beneath to keep everything that’s not a camera in the same place. It’s still in roughly the same corner, but now it’s organized in an intentional way. The bench, with loads of good lighting, offers a large surface area to work on the computer, clean sensors and camera bodies, and compile all the small tools required for specific photo-related tasks. It provides all the same duties and functionality as my workshop around the corner minus the power tools and saw dust. When I need to build a load out for a job, I throw the case up on the bench directly under the overhead light and put together what I need. When I come home, I pop the memory card(s) out of the camera, slot the batteries on their chargers, and take only the photos upstairs to my office for processing. Everything is streamlined, organized, and optimized for my workflow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734809914250-EXOFP30G0IWGH5EV3HOD/IMG_1850.jpg dec-2024 - 12.19.24 A Not-Quite-Perfect Circle The river was so still, the reflection of this wounded bridge resulted in almost a perfect circle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734810055087-041VIGYLWR28Z386QY1Q/Bellevue+Barbershop+Santa+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8-2.jpg dec-2024 - 12.20.24 A Very Barbershop Christmas Travis from Bellevue Barbershop asked if I would volunteer as the photographer for a photo-with-Santa event he was putting on. I’ve always kind of wanted to do silly work like this since it’s outside what I normally do, so I agreed. I set up two lights: one with a soft box pointed directly at the bench to light the subjects, and another pointed at the ceiling on the other side to give the rest of the room a little bump in ambient illumination. I didn’t worry too much about composition since A) directing children I don’t know is out of my league, B) as a one-person operation, I didn’t have much time to do anything else beyond taking the photo and immediately processing it, and C) these were ultimately free photos. Using the bench for Santa to sit on was a good idea because it was heavy enough to not move, allowing a simple tripod-mounted camera to free up my hands and generate a consistent look for all photos. I tethered straight to my laptop through Lightroom, setup up an auto-edit routine so every image would look the same after it was taken, and texted/Airdropped every image right after they were taken to the parents. The system was good enough for one person to manage, and I think I did a decent job overall. We used the barbershop as the backdrop, naturally. I don’t want to post photos of people’s children, so the photo above is from the lighting and export test right before the first kids went up to get their photos taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532940700-A76MC37385F39C493VLJ/IMG_1877.jpg dec-2024 - 12.21.24 A Real Big Boy Since all the Frisch’s are closing down, I think it’s appropriate to divulge a Bellevue secret: the Loyal Burger at the Loyal Cafe is essentially a Super Big Boy with tomato added. For less than $8, it’s as much of a steal as it is an enormous, no-frills burger. The Loyal Cafe has been open for years, but I only recently started going. The interior looks like it hasn’t changed in 40 years, the bar always seems to be stocked with the same regulars, they don’t serve a drop of craft beer, and this time capsule of a bar and restaurant has food priced like its 2004 despite being so good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532939391-LKUBDV3J9H3NYM920JF1/IMG_1888.jpg dec-2024 - 12.22.24 Cat-Sitting While Travis and Allie are on holiday out west, I’m going to be watching their kitties, Jack and Jonas. I plan to visit their house twice daily to check in on them and show them some love. Since their food and water bowls are auto-filled, all I have to do is pet and play with them (aside from litterbox duties). It’s especially fun for me because I genuinely love cats. We can’t have one of our own due to Ashley’s allergies, so this will be a good chance to get some quality kitty time in without making her feel sick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532935525-278JUGQKRE8KPIH0HX4I/IMG_1922.jpg dec-2024 - 12.23.24 Cat-Sitting II: The Sequel Not a lot going on this week. I haven’t worked in days due to the holiday season, and I’m not doing much else besides building some shelves in the basement, watching the cats, and taking it easy. Here’s Jonas sitting on my lap. Jack is a little freaked out by my being there, but he’ll come around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532936374-USJ8Q15TH83YZOSHZFYL/NZF_1981.jpg dec-2024 - 12.24.24 TourBox Thoughts I’ve been using a programmable custom controller called TourBox Elite to edit photos in both Lightroom and Photoshop over the last week and a half. This device features a series of oddly shaped buttons, knobs, dials, and wheels to provide a tactile approach with haptic feedback to common tasks within each system. I use the TourBox software to map specific key commands to the TourBox’s array of inputs (like zoom in/out to the dial, or SHIFT to the button on the side), ideally matching tasks and tools to what feels most intuitive to the user. Some buttons can modify the use case for others, such as pressing up on the D-pad to bring up a drop down that the scroll wheel can navigate while the dial modifies the selected values. All of this to say: the TourBox is a physical shortcut device that maps common tasks and tools entirely to the left hand, effectively speeding up edit time and making everything easier in theory. Of course, there is a learning curve to using controllers like this, and I spent hours figuring out what to map and where to put those commands, but I think I’ve reached a point where it’s approaching second nature. I genuinely look forward to using it when in Lightroom, specifically. The ease of switching between iMac and MacBook wirelessly is a big bonus, too. I got the translucent smoke black version because it felt it was more fun than the other colors. I’ll always have a soft spot for devices with semi-transparent shells. The only thing I wish it had was a small amount of onboard memory to store custom layouts. Sometimes I slightly tweak a button’s function while on my iMac and forget to export/import the updated profile so it’s mirrored on my MacBook. If the custom layout could be stored on the controller itself, that would solve this issue. Overall, I like this controller a lot, and I think it’s worth the price (it’s currently on sale for $201). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532930572-NYN4VG5MEYU0KLC7NDJW/IMG_1973.jpg dec-2024 - 12.25.24 Welcome to Taste My niece got a grocery store playset for Christmas. In addition to plastic bananas and eggs, it came with fake goods emblazoned with bad, generic labels for things like pasta and cereal. My favorite, though, was this juice box that had a hilariously awful translation: “The nourishment is abundant, and feel a class stick! Welcome to taste!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532925762-UDDL1H7DP3ZD8TDZVP03/IMG_2013.jpg dec-2024 - 12.26.24 Rummikub Chelsea and Vince came over for Indian takeout, coconut daiquiris, and an evening of Rummikub where we all managed to win a round. I put my phone on the floor and used my Apple Watch to take a photo through the glass table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532927541-84IMU0MOAVINUDDKDDTE/NZF_1836-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg dec-2024 - 12.27.24 Lounge Scootin’ A person on a small motorized vehicle scoots past a strip club in Newport, KY one evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735580184723-QE1SISHTE49BTX6OYDJH/NZF_1851-Enhanced-NR.jpg dec-2024 - 12.28.24 Season’s Greetings While walking down Vine Street, a large RV towing a flatbed trailer rolled toward me blasting music at a loud volume. I worried it was going to be some nut job with a bad politcal opinion trying to get attention, but it ended up being a friendly guy handing out boxed menorahs and spreading Chanukah cheer. We made eye contact and he yelled to me over the music “are you Jewish?” I replied that I wasn’t, and he offered me a pamphlet about Judiasm after posing for this photo. I don’t follow any religion, so I must admit that I’m ignorant to the core of the message, but on the surface, he seemed pleasant enough. I didn’t end up reading the literature he gave me. With the Christmas tree and Bengals fervor downtown, the contrast felt notable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735670598622-J6ZWHDMYHVLT433IXKU1/ZFC_4700-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg dec-2024 - 12.29.24 Reflection The year is almost over, and as the deluge of end-of-year posts from friends and acquaintances hit the internet, I find myself paralyzed from joining them. 2024 wasn’t the worst year on a personal level, but it certainly wasn’t the best. There were some pleasant highs and some truly awful lows. The good first: my nephew was born, and we had a lovely trip to Maine. I deepened my working relationship with local architects, non-profits, and museums. We had loads of dinner and drink parties with our friends. Steve’s live show at the Woodward was a blast. I started working part-time as an assistant in a proper studio. Driving to see a White Sox game with Mike was super fun. Erica and Steve got engaged. I built some useful stuff for our house. Photographing Shepard Fairey and experiencing Blink 2024 was very enjoyable. And this year I did more event work than ever before. Now, the bad: the election is obviously the centerpiece of what’s wrong with this year. I had to go back to therapy after years of surviving on my own to battle anxiety and depression. I’m embarrassed about picking up smoking full-time again due to stress after years of being clean. I lost my biggest repeat client. My business didn’t make as much money this year due to losing that client. I’m the fattest and grossest I’ve ever felt in my life. I still don’t feel like I’ve recovered from the pandemic professionally and emotionally. Everything is so expensive now, and the future of this country and our planet has never looked worse. Hopefully next year’s end-of-year post will be brighter, though considering what’s ahead, I’m not holding my breath. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735670598416-TTRZMTSX4V9SM2ZMIP9F/NZF_1984-2.jpg dec-2024 - 12.30.24 Allen Art Everything seemingly comes with an Allen wrench these days. I save them all in a small box because I never know when I’ll need a specific size for a future project. Our door handle needed adjusting today, so I busted out the collection to find the right size. Afterward, I made a little spread for fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735777036163-K8QJSH0SXBQ3UQFSLOI1/NYE+2024-93.jpg dec-2024 - 12.31.24 Five Years Five years of the Daily Photo Project in the books. Originally a Twitter thread (RIP), the project found its permanent home here on this site 11 months after it began. Making an intentional photograph, regardless of its level of quality, has been a satisfying exercise in consistency and structure. Its unintentional benefit as a journal of life has also been rewarding; I’ve consulted the archive countless times to remember when I did something by finding the photo related to it. This photo was taken right after the stroke of midnight, but I’m counting it as the final image of 2024. We had a handful of friends over for a chill NYE party in our house that included dinner, dessert, and a variety of celebratory drinks. The cocktails were cheap, we didn’t have to fight for a booth at a crowded bar, our chances of getting sick were greatly reduced, no one got obnoxiously drunk in public, and my dedicated photo wall (pictured) ended up being more of a hit than I expected. I’m glad this is the image that marks five full years. Having so many friends in one image to cap off half a decade is a fitting tribute. Though the Daily Photo Project is a deeply personal endeavor, I find I like it best when the subject matter is about other people. A tailored portrait, a low-key hang, an adventure, a group photo, a candid, an impromptu capture of someone at an event—anything that involves people. And speaking of people, thank you to everyone who reads this when it updates. I don’t know how many of you there are, and I’m always under the assumption that no one actually reads this, but if you are out there, I want to pass along my appreciation for your interest. Here’s to five more years. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jan2025 daily 0.75 2025-02-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735853860339-9W6AQ8IJPOPOCSXC27WM/NZF_2013.jpg jan-2025 - 1.1.25 New Year, Old Hobby Years ago, I used to paint. Aside from a brief flirtation with it again in 2018, I gave it up after I got into photography because I liked the control and immediacy of that medium more than I liked the trial and error of consumable paints. It’s hard to envision something and create it without the aid of an imaging system. I envy those with a firm grasp of analog art; I wish I could do it with ease as I feel like it’s a more challenging skill to learn than others. My sister asked me if I would paint her daughter something from a cartoon she likes. I agreed and picked up my paints for the first time in years. I didn’t get far (I’m very out of practice), but I made a little progress on the sky. It’s far from finished, and I have a lot more to do, but I think it’s an adequate initial effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735853860339-9W6AQ8IJPOPOCSXC27WM/NZF_2013.jpg jan-2025 - 1.1.25 New Year, Old Hobby Years ago, I used to paint. Aside from a brief flirtation with it again in 2018, I gave it up after I got into photography because I liked the control and immediacy of that medium more than I liked the trial and error of consumable paints. It’s hard to envision something and create it without the aid of an imaging system. I envy those with a firm grasp of analog art; I wish I could do it with ease as I feel like it’s a more challenging skill to learn than others. My sister asked me if I would paint her daughter something from a cartoon she likes. I agreed and picked up my paints for the first time in years. I didn’t get far (I’m very out of practice), but I made a little progress on the sky. It’s far from finished, and I have a lot more to do, but I think it’s an adequate initial effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735853862307-FXSY9HP3TPNV12SELKC6/NZF_2087.jpg jan-2025 - 1.2.25 The ‘Returning From Lowe’s’ Perspective If I had a drone, this would’ve been photographed already. This view of Cote Brilliante in Newport, with a tiny cameo from the Wiedemann Hill Mansion juxtaposed with the Cincinnati skyline behind it, is nearly impossible to photograph accurately due to where you must stand to capture it. But that’s the thing: unfortunately, there's no good place to stand, and driving is the only option. Before you judge me, I wasn’t driving. Ashley was. I sat in the back seat of the car with a 250mm strapped to my Zf, and I burst-fired as we crossed the Grand Ave overpass—the only public spot with a direct line of sight to this. There’s an apartment building further up the hill in Fort Thomas that would likely offer the optimal frame, but I don’t have access to it. Seeing this every time I come back from Highland Heights or from the 275 loop has taunted me for years, and even though I have an image now, I don’t even think I’ve gotten the shot I want with this. But, it’s a first attempt. There’a another one of these along Columbia Parkway that’s taunted me for even longer. Maybe I’ll see if she can help me work on that one next. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557764054-6SXLFXLIHWUVUGMY5JE1/2143+Hogg+Ridge+Road+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg-43.jpg jan-2025 - 1.3.25 The Tricky Bonfire I finally got back to work today. This morning, I did a product shoot for a children’s toy brand, but I won’t share those images as they involve child models, and I don’t have permission from the client/parents. I tested my new moonlight setup to see if the results would be better than the last time around. Thankfully, the investment was worth it, and the shoot went smoothly. I think I made some solid images during the session. Excited to put the finishing touches on them and send them over. Afterward, I drove to rural Kentucky for a photo shoot at a rental. A guy I know put the place together after purchasing it last year. One of the big things he wanted to capture was this outdoor fire pit area since one of the perks of staying here is the big yard. I had to wait until the sun set to get the image he wanted, though. The brisk winds made it nearly impossible to light, so we crammed a bunch of cardboard and paper towels into the pit, lit it, and nabbed a few frames before it quickly petered out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557761003-VB7WR5MRK5XXR9OCA62O/IMG_2086_jpg.jpg jan-2025 - 1.4.25 Scuba + Steve When Ashley said she was going out with the girls, I hit up Steve and Erica to see if they wanted to get together. Their dog, Pippin, is having back issues, so instead of leaving him alone in their house, I drove out to spend some time with them. They live in Fairfax, right around the corner from the since-shuttered Frisch’s Mainliner. Nearby is a place called Tristate Scuba that I’ve always wanted to photograph at night because it has a unique neon sign in the window that lights up a large portion of the front window. It’s gorgeous, in my opinion. The way the colorful tubes illuminate the textures and surfaces of the surrounding equipment and the mannequin in the window is mesmerizing. I feel like a moth to bright light whenever I drive past it. Wanting to finally scratch that itch, I made a pit stop before going to their house to grab some photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557772552-S7UU55W4PX7HH5VSTNUU/NZ9_9433-Edit.jpg jan-2025 - 1.5.25 A Colorful Surprise Last night at Steve and Erica’s house, they presented me with this incredible gift: a custom painting of Myrtle done by Canadian artist Jordan Perkins! Steve, Erica, and Erica’s best friend, Casey, had it commissioned in October as a gift to me after I commented on how much I loved his work when I saw Erica’s portrait of her dog on their wall. Little did I know they would be scheming to gift me one of my own. Of course, I had to set up the backdrop and studio lights for a side-by-side today. I can’t thank them enough for this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557781856-NLZDPG5H1LEUYZJPJX7I/ZFC_4730-Enhanced-NR.jpg jan-2025 - 1.6.25 A Snowstorm For the Ages Over the last 24 hours, we received nearly 10 inches of snowfall. The city essentially shut down while Winter Storm Blair blanketed the Midwest with more snow than we’ve seen in one day in a long time. We’ve had some decent snowstorms over the last decade, but this one was the biggest. I am of two minds when it comes to snowfall like this. On the one hand, I love how it makes an otherwise average day exciting. It forces us to stay cozy in our homes, make a big meal, and wear sweatpants without intending to go outside. It’s a reason to slow down and enjoy existing in a space cultivated specifically for our comfort and enjoyment. There’s no pressure to go out and worry about anything. Afterward, we get to go outside with our neighbors and dig each other out, further fueling that strong sense of community that attracted us to this neighborhood years ago. Plus, it visually changes the landscape in a beautiful way. On the other hand, it presents challenges that impact the less fortunate. Those without homes and people living somewhere not adequately equipped to handle cold temperatures and 10 inches of snow suffer. People who have to go somewhere, like a vital hospital job, during a blizzard risk their lives. It impairs accessibility for people using wheelchairs and those of us who have trouble physically getting around. Not to mention the economic impact it has on struggling businesses post-holiday season. It’s a double-edged sword. I hope temperatures rise so people aren’t uncomfortable for long, and I hope road crews can clear streets and sidewalks for everyone, but I think it’s going to be a while before that happens. For now, I’m going to appreciate what I like about it and do my best to help neighbors in any way I can. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557882709-HU8ORPNOO3OSK6LA7Y4Q/IMG_2155.jpg jan-2025 - 1.7.25 A Small Sample This is a sample of how much snow we got. I measured it deeper than this on the deck, but this is still quite a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557772472-NXBP32DDV11LIKTWF588/IMG_2161.jpg jan-2025 - 1.8.25 Shoveling the Parkway Helping out at the photo studio in Mohawk for the rest of the week. It’s a pre-light day, so I’m getting tasks done before clients arrive tomorrow. One of the things on my list this morning was to shovel Central Parkway so we had parking spaces for them in front of the building. I cleared five spaces of snow and the loading zone, taking about an hour and a half to finish. About halfway through, I removed my coat and hat to keep from overheating, and my hair ended up freezing when the sweat met the cold air. I didn’t mind the workout, and I was getting paid for it, but I could’ve done without all the cars racing by at 45 mph in the lane right next to me. I kept telling myself that I hoped it would be quick if I got hit. Anyway, I took a photo of some of my work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736564085090-QI3THEY0S1K31MHESSHA/NZF_2184-HDR.jpg jan-2025 - 1.9.25 No Service I’ve been wondering about this fake Gulf station for a while. I found the owner on Facebook and tried digging up an email address to ask him about it, but no luck. I need to message him through the site if I want to easily talk to him about it. I’m debating whether or not I want to do that (I really, really hate Facebook). Based on what I read on his profile, this may be a fun retirement hobby for a guy who worked with cars. I made an uncropped version with the orange Gulf sign in the shot, but it deemphasized the snow around the gas pumps, and that’s what I liked best about the image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417563984-R3G5VWHKFWJMW27QNBI6/IMG_2215-2.jpg jan-2025 - 1.10.25 Old Reliable It snowed again. I was in Marlene’s studio all day and knew it was coming, so Ashley dropped me off with the intention of me finding my own way home. No sense in her driving back over the bridge to get me if the roads were bad. Plus, finding a place on the street amidst the ever-growing snowbanks squished up along Central Parkway is increasingly difficult. We had plans with the friend group to go to the West Side for dinner, but that was postponed due to snow. After boarding an empty bus, I took a blurry selfie and made it to Bellevue. As I jumped off the Southbank Shuttle to avoid stepping into another snow bank, I heard someone yell my name from a car. When I turned, I saw Rob and Rachel’s iconic Chevy Sonic idling right behind the bus I’d just deboarded. They were headed to the Frisch’s in Bellevue for a final visit to the chain before it closed. Since I was already halfway into the parking lot, I joined them for an impromptu Big Boy dinner, possibly for the last time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417622949-RAOC9S1YJFKE4EL4XPZN/IMG_2222.jpg jan-2025 - 1.11.25 Rural Drive The scene while driving through rural Ohio coming back from my sister’s house. Ashley was at the wheel, allowing me to take a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417800824-5XNVUOE1W2Z655E87EPZ/NZF_2211-Enhanced-NR.jpg jan-2025 - 1.12.25 I Barely Know Her! A neon sign in Ludlow, KY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418653956-5MSF47DSTQEDNFX7713R/NZ9_9650.jpg jan-2025 - 1.13.25 Frost A scene from the third story of a building I was photographing on McMicken. I thought it looked neat in B&W. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417980708-HIS8C5SL8PK7IDUBYLXI/IMG_2274.jpg jan-2025 - 1.14.25 Architectural Verticality Photographed this stack of different architectural styles while picking Myrtle up from Maria’s house today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418143994-NMH43QLHNSLU5L73QBLJ/IMG_2318.jpg jan-2025 - 1.15.25 Good Light Opportunity I couldn’t help but photograph Ollie’s and the building next to it while the light was so golden. Say what you will about winter—it has phenomenal sunsets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418338130-OBAPNYH7UGXV3NL5BABC/NZF_2255-Enhanced-NR.jpg jan-2025 - 1.16.25 He’s Got a Chickeny Ride That Beatles’ song was blaring from a speaker nearby and I couldn’t help but Weird Al the lyrics in my head while I took this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418925672-I04UT2MCMKXJQXXYN2MM/IMG_2350.jpg jan-2025 - 1.17.25 Optical Pitstop I had a job in Louisville today. The job didn’t start until noon, so I went down a couple of hours early to check some stuff out. One of the stops on my list was Murphy’s Camera on the city's east side. I didn’t buy anything, but I admired what they had. Much of the shop appeared to be a museum to old cameras. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737420428584-Y3R89W3ZTG703S1CVHB1/Alejandra-PhilArmstrong-4.jpg jan-2025 - 1.18.25 Alejandra A portrait of my friend and favorite coffee shop owner, Alejandra. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737420589186-4I323OHNZIFWQ6G99Y3W/IMG_2392-2.jpg jan-2025 - 1.19.25 TWINS! Myrtle and Maggie (Steve and Erica’s doodle) have matching 80’s-inspired sweaters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737420732871-C9LMNHWPLAMRVJX79DA8/NZ9_0572-HDR.jpg jan-2025 - 1.20.25 Incredible Mural MA Design sent me back to WAVE Foundation’s new space at the Levee to photograph two areas that includes a massive mural painted by Lusso Studios. It spans two hallways and ends in this nook, making it impossible to photograph all at once. The mural depicts beach and underwater scenes filled with marine wildlife, all intricately painted in every color of the rainbow. The attention to detail is truly astounding. If you ever have the chance to visit WAVE for any reason, ask to see this mural. It’s something else. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737600707574-DRRXQO3I2AEYKTQBVJEO/artomat.jpg jan-2025 - 1.21.25 Birthday Treat When CityBeat reported on the Art-O-Mat, I didn’t even finish reading the short article about it before I emailed ArtWorks to set up my appointment to use it. The colorful, repurposed cigarette machine is filled with mystery artwork, all at a $5 price point. You pay for a token, slot it into the machine, and pull the plunger for the desired artist. I chose an artist I didn’t know: Judy Isaksen (Never 2 Bold Art). After I made my selection, this beautiful little green block with a floral design dropped into the trough below. A nearby yellow table in the sun made for a nice contrasting background for a photo. I couldn’t decide which photo to include for today’s entry, so I made a collage instead. Also, I’m 39 today. My birthday hasn’t historically been a day I relish, but I needed something to look forward to this year. Considering everything that’s happening in the country, a self-indulgent day filled with art, cheese coneys, a haircut and beard trim, and a nice dinner out with Ashley and two of my best friends was the temporary escape I needed. I cannot believe I’m now staring down the barrel of 40. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446944204-5G8MGSBTT39IDBNKPICM/IMG_2470.jpg jan-2025 - 1.22.25 From Memory Marlene tasked me with repainting several areas in the studio. The cyc and laundry needed a fresh coat of white paint, and the client area floor needed to be repainted with a grey color that closely matched what was there. I took a chip of flaking paint off to match the color but foolishly forgot to take it with me when I left. Once at the store, I realized I didn’t have the chip and would have to match the color from memory. Matching colors has never been an easy task for me. After looking at the samples for several minutes, I guessed that this swatch most closely resembled what was there. Returning to the studio, I held my breath and placed the chip onto the swatch to see how good my visual memory was. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten it right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446968421-2BFBP6VHFTM4M2LXAV7J/Mercantile+Library+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-12.jpg jan-2025 - 1.23.25 A Portrait of John Faherty Spent the day photographing the Mercantile Library. I got there at 9 AM and spent the next several hours photographing the library itself. The renovation added a second floor that has loads of beautiful areas to sit and read, study, work, and relax within. Those were the primary areas I wanted to capture since I’d already photographed the library extensively years before. After finishing, I spent the next few hours working on what I’d shot. Around the 4 PM mark, they began opening their doors for an event that would eventually host around 600 hundred people. A band played, poetry was read, drinks were served, dancers performed, and the programming schedule for the upcoming year was revealed to excited library members. This is a portrait of Executive Director John Faherty during his first speech this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446947727-S1W36FHFIABOODDUL73P/CSO+1.24.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg jan-2025 - 1.24.25 CSO I’ve only ever photographed Music Hall’s interior twice: once during the renovation, and once after it was completed. I remember both times being somewhat rushed, getting what I could in the limited amout of time I had. Both times were for the website back in 2017—long before I understood the principles of professional architectural photography. Today, though, I got to photograph a show for Music Hall itself. I primarily concentrated on close ups of the conductor and the symphony members because that’s what was asked of me. However, I couldn’t help but go wide for a couple of shots for myself. They let me into the sound booth at one point, and I was able to snap a symmetrical angle from the second story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446951426-EK35YG5KACPKXVAZFN3Z/IMG_2509.jpg jan-2025 - 1.25.25 Not Photoshop Jay sent me a Bloomingfruits sticker that, when hit by direct sunlight through a window, produces a circular rainbow beam pattern on the wall behind it. When I took a photo of it, the image looked like I added a filter over top of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446953852-2S7J4UO75SBTM4J645M9/IMG_2533.jpg jan-2025 - 1.26.25 Baby Shower Went to Annie and Justin’s baby shower at Alcove today. They got some good stuff to help with raising their upcoming newborn, Archie. Happy for them! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446960864-QHTNWXQPP9K9D5GWV3GH/IMG_2592.jpg jan-2025 - 1.27.25 Bridge Drama A high-speed chase ended in a collision on the Brent Spence Bridge, then the suspect being pursued jumped down from the deck and onto the lower bridge structure to hide from police. They shut the entire bridge down for hours while they tried to safely remove the guy. Eventually they did, but not before someone with a live feed of the action streamed it on YouTube. The bridge drama in Cincinnati over the last several months is my least favorite thing about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446965409-JREGF3ERLG62MSCU4HW5/IMG_2594.jpg jan-2025 - 1.28.25 Goodbye, Door Our drafty, old alley door is being replaced today. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s most likely original to the house and I want to preserve it. On the other hand, it’s bad at being a good door. As mentioned previously, it’s drafty, and on sub-zero days, the cold air seeping through the frame is awful. It’s also not going to stop anyone from kicking it in if they tried. We’re having it replaced with a steel door that promises to keep both possible intruders and cold air out. I decided not to save the wood because I already don’t have storage space for it, so I’m making the executive decision to let it go. However, I did peel off the old Radio Shack sticker that someone put on it at some point. That’s too good to throw out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446980137-OFSWMGNVBE9COLC9N9AG/IMG_2610.jpg jan-2025 - 1.29.25 Floral Arrangement I’ve been in Marlene’s studio all week, so my own photography hasn’t been a priority. (I photographed a sticker on a door yesterday and my iMac screen the day before that.) Today won’t be much better. This is a floral arrangement from the shoot today that I took home to Ashley. It’s the only image I made all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446974784-HHT4VI5O3ZQVXLU1P80M/Mystery+%26+Benevolence+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg jan-2025 - 1.30.25 Mystery & Benevolence A still from my time documenting the opening of the Mystery & Benevolence exhibit at the Taft Museum this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446978565-HMRUJNETE77C7K438D2U/NZF_2460.jpg jan-2025 - 1.31.25 Unseasonably Warm In stark contrast to the month’s bitter frigidity, today felt like spring in the best way possible. We took a walk down to Darkness to enjoy a beer before meeting some friends at Loyal. I stopped to photograph the building at the corner of Taylor and Route 8; it has windows now, but I can’t help but feel annoyed that it’s not finished yet. The sidewalks are still closed. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/feb2025 daily 0.75 2025-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738542303351-QMF0TX0X4UQK03FN4KQM/Last+Scouts+2.1.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27-2.jpg feb-2025 - 2.1.25 Southgate House Revival Travis’ band, Last Scouts, performing on stage at Southgate House Revival. They added a new member after two previous members moved on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738542303351-QMF0TX0X4UQK03FN4KQM/Last+Scouts+2.1.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27-2.jpg feb-2025 - 2.1.25 Southgate House Revival Travis’ band, Last Scouts, performing on stage at Southgate House Revival. They added a new member after two previous members moved on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738543221117-8APGKQKOF7PDRWJHU974/Maria%27s+Baby+Shower+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg feb-2025 - 2.2.25 Baby Shower II: The Sequel Last Sunday, we celebrated Justin and Annie as they prepared for their newborn baby’s arrival. Archie, their son, was born healthy and happy on the final day of January. Today, we celebrated Mike and Maria as they prepare for their newborn baby’s arrival! Maria has been in our lives as long as Myrtle, actually. She’s run a doggy daycare out of her house for years, and Myrtle has been going there or seeing Maria in some capacity almost every other week for the last 7 years. Myrtle’s boarded with her when we’ve gone on vacation, Maria was her handler in our wedding, and she’s been one of our best friends for ages. Really happy for them, and excited they get to start a new chapter in their lives with their upcoming little one. It’ll feel strange not to go to another baby shower next Sunday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738641822782-QOJEJ7U4E6FR9H70NPD6/IMG_2646.JPG feb-2025 - 2.3.25 Blast From the Past My friend Caitlyn is moving to a new apartment and needs furniture to make the surprisingly large space feel like a home. She’s gotten fantastic deals on antiques from various outlets but needed a few other standard items, namely a couch. Tonight, we gave her the first couch I ever bought: one of those Karlstad IKEA couches in isunda grey. It’s the right size for her place, and we were looking for a good home for it anyway. The timing just worked out perfectly. I had that couch with me for 13 years, and I’m proud that it stayed in such good condition considering it was my main living room couch for an entire decade. I’m delighted she will be able to use it. Anyway, we helped her move the couch and a couple of other pieces of furniture into her new place this evening. While there, she gave us a tour, and I saw this on her wall. It was an interview I did with her back in 2018. We used to do interviews with local photographers every other month or so, and I chose her as one of my features at one point. I’ve never seen anything I’d written etched into brass and placed on a plaque like that before. It warmed my heart that she thought this was special enough to memorialize. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046682253-XHA9MG26FMELJ195X67M/NZF_2968-Edit-2.jpg feb-2025 - 2.4.25 Split Diopter Fun I use my split diopter so infrequently, I have to relearn its eccentricities whenever I do. It’s a weird optical element that produces a wholly unnatural effect focus-wise, but I really like its unique ability to facilitate storytelling in a single frame. I thought it would be fun to capture a body cleaning. By making the subject and action both in focus despite different depths, the viewer can easily infer what’s going on. The q-tip in hand in the background is understood to be soaked with rubbing alcohol because the other q-tips are sitting next to the bottle in the foreground. And because the diopter produces a nice bokeh on the foreground subject, there’s less of a need to worry about simplifying the background on the left half of the image in order to make the subject pop. It feels a little like an ad for rubbing alcohol in this instance. I’ve always wanted to try it with people, though. Maybe the next time I bust this thing out, I can try for something a little more poignant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046679417-ZVROD8875H5ZR9D44THZ/6139+Plymouth+-+2.5.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg feb-2025 - 2.5.25 Coming Along Most of my work this week has been at my desk, but I got to briefly go up to Mt. Washington today to make a new set of progress photos for Jake’s property that he’s flipping. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046672557-6P7B45XGISN86WZMGL36/IMG_2654.jpg feb-2025 - 2.6.25 The Tiny Fainting Couch Caitlyn bought a hilariously small fainting couch for her apartment. She didn’t realize it was so small until she went to pick it up. It’s more of a foot stool than anything. It may be a good Victorian dog bed. Either way, it’s falling apart at the legs. The connection point for the legs is broken and falling apart due to age and rough use over the years. The wood is splintered and broken, so screwing the legs into it won’t work. I need to cut out the broken wood and replace it with a new foundation piece. Reattaching the legs will be straight forward at that point because they’ll have something solid to grip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046667745-0ZW6I4573XH8KY6221I8/Test-661-Edit.jpg feb-2025 - 2.7.25 Lighting Test Aside from a slight bump in contrast and a little bit of vibrancy added, this image is unaltered. It was achieved by adding pink and yellow gels to two strobes that are pointed at a white backdrop at roughly a 45-degree angle. I intentionally didn’t light the subject (moi). When the lights fire simultaneously, they blend together and create a beautiful gradient background. I’m testing this setup because I have a portrait shoot coming up that will require a fun background like this. I’ve rented studio time up the street at The Lodge so I have more room to move lights around and give the client room to breathe. The rate is reasonable, and the space is excellent; I can’t wait to set up and start making some good stuff. I have a third light on order at the moment. I’ll need it for this shoot. I plan to light the background like it looks above and put a soft box on the subjects/eyelighter below to illuminate their faces, Once I have three studio lights, I feel like I’ll be ready to tackle just about any headshot situation. I made it work with two for a long time, but three will make everything easier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739221454808-8C905OS8WDOYEKWJJMNC/Diffuser+Tests-11-Edit-Edit.jpg feb-2025 - 2.8.25 Diffuser Test It’s been kind of blah outside, and I’ve been home more than usual. As such, I’ve been experimenting with tests of my gear (see yesterday’s post) to stay active and keep myself sharp. I decided to illustrate the effects of various diffusing materials with this one. From the way different grids focus the light at specific intervals to how different materials scatter and soften it, choosing the right element to put in front of the flash bulb is key to getting the effect you need. I think instead of using that giant soft box, I’m going to use the plastic and soft cloths for smaller subjects like this. They’re more physically manageable and seem to do the same thing at this scale. The grids are great for controlling light bleed. I’ll use them when I need to carefully light one specific part of a subject without interfering with the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739221461715-7HHO71EVU7ACDUIEX7U8/NZF_2997-Edit.jpg feb-2025 - 2.9.25 Candlestick Maker Ashley loves this local shop called Hoste in Walnut Hills. It’s full of kitchen-related wares and decor items that fit her sense of style. This morning, Hoste held a candle-painting event that Ashley and Allie attended. These are the two designs Ashley made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740065766606-NW9BZWMZLC455EM48DC4/Screenshot+2025-02-17+at+3.48.41%E2%80%AFPM.png feb-2025 - 2.10.25 8K Headshots Went over to 8K Construction’s office to do some headshots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740066382114-DTR19E0K7YPNYOM15D1U/NZF_3000.jpg feb-2025 - 2.11.25 The Cold and Frost Another product shoot I can’t share required a trip out to Indian Hill this morning. After what feels like an endless amount of snow so far this year, we were hit again with another round, albeit far less this time. It complicated the travel/loading/unloading process with all my gear, but thankfully nothing got wet or damaged. After I got home, a chill that seemed to plunge deep within my bones made sure that I would stay in the rest of the evening. Without anything photographically to share for the day, though, I knew I had to do something for this project. I stuck my camera out of the back door on a tripod and captured the cold and frost in what little light remained. The long exposure did a lot to brighten the scene up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740069105816-52VUHI0PQOI4ZKDZR0ZF/Shahzia+Sikander+Exhibit+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-96.jpg feb-2025 - 2.12.25 Sikander: Collective Behavior Tonight, the Art Museum debuted its newest exhibit, Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior. From the CAM website: “For more than three decades, Shahzia Sikander (born 1969, Lahore, Pakistan) has been reframing South Asian visual histories through a contemporary feminist perspective. Working in a variety of mediums—painting, drawing, print, digital animation, mosaic, sculpture, and glass—she reimagines the past for our present moment. Throughout her practice, she considers diasporic experiences, histories of colonialism, and Western relations with the global south and the wider Islamic world, often through the lens of gender and body politics.” Brooklyn-based Hyperallergic, a publication that covers art news, came to Cincinnati to cover the exhibition’s opening. The museum needed high-quality images for its upcoming piece and asked me to do them. After I shot the exhibit, I photographed the event that followed, which included a meet-and-greet with the artist and a talk between Shahzia and the curator, Ainsley Cameron. Choosing a photo of the day was difficult, but I settled on this one of Shahzia speaking in front of attendees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740070000967-LVHNX4YLKQNDQIR1G930/IMG_2742.jpg feb-2025 - 2.13.25 r/PerfectFit The title is misleading; despite how it looks, it wasn’t a perfect fit that would be worthy of submission on the r/PerfectFit subreddit. Caitlyn needed help picking up an antique vanity she found on Facebook Marketplace. She didn’t know the exact dimensions, but she knew it was roughly 70 inches tall. At that height, it’d fit in the Crosstrek, but I didn’t ask as many questions as I should’ve about width and depth. After following her to a remote location up a dirt road on a large hill deep in Alexandria, I saw the piece and realized it wouldn’t be as easy as I thought. I had to push the driver and passenger seats up as far as they’d go before the hatch shut. Even still, the piece pressed firmly against both the seats and back door, requiring a bit of muscle to latch it. The real test was getting into the seat and driving 20 minutes to Walnut Hills. Being 6’2”, it was challenging, to say the least. Though the piece fit perfectly snug in the entirety of the car behind me, I was not a perfect fit up front. Though painfully uncomfortable, the trip went smoothly, and we managed to lug this thing up a flight of stairs before setting it down in its final resting place in her new office. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740068587027-WUVSOK97NURDC0YAH4LQ/4024GlenwayStorefronts-PhilArmstrong-4.jpg feb-2025 - 2.14.25 Glenway Storefront 8K renovated a building on Glenway that will house a barbershop and a store with apartments above them. They asked me to come out to grab a few photos of the work as well as a portrait of each of the owners of the businesses that will occupy the storefronts on the first floor. I wish I’d gotten the name of the man in photo, but I was having issues with my speedlight and that required all of my attention at the time, and I just wanted to make sure I got the shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740070694961-KD27RBEHML751YON3PXB/Tiny+Minis-99-2.jpg feb-2025 - 2.15.25 Tiny Toothpaste Ashley had business in Columbus, Indy, and Louisville over the last few days. She forgot to pack toothpaste before she left, so she went down to the customer service desk at one of the hotels to see if they had any. They gave her the smallest toothpaste money can buy: a 0.17 oz tube weighing 5 grams. She brought home an extra tube to show me, and I thought it was hilarious. I immediately started devising a fun way to showcase this diminutive hygiene product. I placed it on Mytle’s nose and took a photo first, but I wanted to show how small it is next to similarly-sized household products almost anyone would recognize. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740071070767-E9Q55HGCZYRQ3GLAG8IE/IMG_2759.jpg feb-2025 - 2.16.25 TWUCC Saw this adorable truck with a foreign license plate parked at Lowe’s. Then, I saw the local license plate on the top right corner of the cab: TWUCC. I’m still chuckling about it hours later. If I ever bought a truck, I’d want this. Something small with an open back bed that isn’t so large that you have to climb into it. It’s perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740758580273-GY5Z7KTIG8FZXZZNYQUZ/NZF_3486-Enhanced-NR.jpg feb-2025 - 2.17.25 Macro: CRT Screen Failing to find anything interesting to photograph today, I got out a bunch of macro diopters, stacked them on top of each other, and started looking at things with textures and translucent properties to see what I could capture. I think I’ve done a close-up of a CRT screen like this before, but I don’t think I’ve done it on the A/V IN screen before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740758676841-XXVA56SDLOHAXWIIRV6G/Altura+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg feb-2025 - 2.18.25 Altura Apartments MA Design worked to reimagine a former four-story office building in Mason into a rental community called the Altura Apartments. The massive facility offers your standard new-build apartments in several floorplans named after Italian cities, loads of communal space (including the lounge pictured above), and a vast array of outdoor amenities that we didn’t shoot because there’s snow on the ground and it’s February in Ohio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740759196754-EPB9VIXR323O09Z5WNC8/Streaming+Things+Test+Shots-3.jpg feb-2025 - 2.19.25 Steve-ing Things Steve came over to help figure out a complicated lighting setup we plan to use for an upcoming shoot on Friday. We’re photographing him and his co-hosts of the Streaming Things podcast for their social media marketing. This particular shot required four lights: purple and orange on the white backdrop, a neutral white key light on the right side of his face, and a Speedlight outfitted with an orange gel to illuminate his left side. It took about two hours to set up, dial in the way we wanted, and record all the necessary settings to duplicate it later in a different space. It’s times like this that having a dedicated studio would be nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740759870413-TX5BRA2SQRKSRHXTYML9/Rob+Headshots-1.jpg feb-2025 - 2.20.25 A Portrait of Rob Rob needed a professional headshot for his job. We made this image then went out to eat wings and drink beer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740760470148-J8VV9O5H3OVDG4VUR7AS/ST+Group-1.jpg feb-2025 - 2.21.25 That’s a Wrap! Cast photo after we finished creating all the marketing images for the Streaming Things podcast. I rented out a three-hour block at The Lodge in Dayton, KY, to allow enough time to set up and take proper photos. While we didn’t get to the complicated, colorful photos Steve and I planned a couple of days ago, we did a ton of white background stuff they’ll use. All in all, it was a successful shoot. The Lodge was also a perfect space for something like this. At $30/hr, it’s affordable and convenient. I think I’ll utilize this space again in the future if I need somewhere to set up for something of this scope. Back row: Hatter, Kit, Andy, Jimmy, Alex Front row: Madison, Steve, Erica https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740761106678-MJ74VXT708LPSTF7JOBV/NZ9_5263-Enhanced-NR.jpg feb-2025 - 2.22.25 Vintage Show A couple weeks ago, I did a shoot at Vintage on Race Street for GBBN. Those shots turned out nicely, but they wanted me to return to the space when it was open so I could capture how the bar looked during a live show. Normally, architectural shoots are slow and methodical, with time to dial in settings and perfectly stage everything. This return visit was anything but normal. I brought Ashley, Allie, and Travis with me to set them up at the corner of the bar. They’d get drinks, and I’d position a tripod across from them, looking at them and beyond toward the stage. However, when we arrived, it was immediately apparent that wouldn’t happen. The bar was crowded and full, with a waiting list of 115 people (roughly two hours). The person I was told to contact about setting this up never got back to me, either. Long story short, I went back to the bar at 9 PM when the show was supposed to begin, explained to the hostess and bouncer why I was there, and did a few handheld shots over my head at a high ISO that I would later correct in post. It wasn’t what I planned, and I honestly felt bad about not being able to control the scene the way I wanted. I did the best I could, considering the situation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740761228407-OG5E23WJLRVKUH1K4YD6/NZF_3492-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg feb-2025 - 2.23.25 Macro: LCD I used the diopter set from the other day and photographed this LCD screen from as close as possible. As a kid, it always blew my mind that LCD crystals could cause visible shadows on the backdrop behind it. Polarized light will always be a little bit of a mind-blower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740762349152-24GYNOMXN5Z9LH2D7KJU/NZF_3523-Enhanced-NR.jpg feb-2025 - 2.25.25 Macro: Flower Staying with the diopter theme of late, I aimed it centimeters away from the center of a flower. I’m less interested in what’s in focus than the pillowy softness of the image around it (and the chromatic aberration that comes with filtering light through so many glass elements). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740762394226-G1RYGB6LLRPVXQ5O2DPH/Shahzia+Sikander+Painted+Windows+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg feb-2025 - 2.25.25 The Highest Compliment A couple of weeks ago, I photographed Shahzia Sikander’s new exhibit, Collective Behavior, at the Cincinnati Art Museum. She liked the images so much, she contacted me directly to do more photos for her, specifically of the painted windows she made in a separate gallery. I went to the museum today to capture those windows and a few other pieces for her. I obviously have to make money to stay alive, but it doesn’t drive me creatively. It’s not a motivator beyond sustenance and wanting to live a comfortable life. Hearing that I did a good job from a living artist of her caliber, however, has the opposite effect. It’s more motivating than anything I can think of. I thrive on the quality of work and recognition for doing a good job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740765249411-05KHGJ4AKUJDZ67WBX7I/Wayfarer+x+SBD+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg feb-2025 - 2.26.25 The Wayfarer Bar John wanted shots of the bar his shop made for Wayfarer Tavern. They did a tremendous job. I’ve eaten at this place every week since they started serving pizza, and it’s the closest thing I have to a local that isn’t Unataza Coffee a few doors up the block. If you haven’t had their pizza yet, plan a visit. You’ll be more than satisfied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740765545735-AR3VL3TR8KJYHO429ZUQ/MercantileLibrary2.27.25-PhilArmstrong-4.jpg feb-2025 - 2.27.25 The Mercantile Librarians Photo of the Mercantile Library crew for the library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740961670701-NH068TYU6XQEJJTMKHEQ/NZF_3584-Enhanced-NR.jpg feb-2025 - 2.28.25 Precipitation Retaliation The annual burning of the papier-mâché snowman to ward off bad weather for next weekend’s Bockfest celebration took place at Northern Row this evening. The Sausage Queen delivered the fatal flame to the lighter-fluid-soaked effigy, nicknamed Frothy the Snowman. It went up in about 90 seconds as the crowd clapped and recorded on their phones. Afterward, I enjoyed a hot poker in my beer as part of the celebration. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/mar2025 daily 0.75 2025-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372033056-4D6E4IE1388FPIQBZSDH/NZF_3642.jpg mar-2025 - 3.1.25 The Starway What's left of the Starway Drive-In sign (later called the Starway Fun Park). Opened in 1946 with spots for 433 cars, the Starway Drive-In was one of the first of its kind in Kentucky. As the fate of Americana drive-ins took hold over the following decades, the theatre sold in 1991, and a small amusement park opened in its place in 1994. Today, it's no longer in use; only a few original buildings remain. I ran across it on the drive between LaGrange and Frankfort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372033056-4D6E4IE1388FPIQBZSDH/NZF_3642.jpg mar-2025 - 3.1.25 The Starway What's left of the Starway Drive-In sign (later called the Starway Fun Park). Opened in 1946 with spots for 433 cars, the Starway Drive-In was one of the first of its kind in Kentucky. As the fate of Americana drive-ins took hold over the following decades, the theatre sold in 1991, and a small amusement park opened in its place in 1994. Today, it's no longer in use; only a few original buildings remain. I ran across it on the drive between LaGrange and Frankfort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372025218-586X550IIV7THYT1NJYW/NZF_3498-Enhanced-NR.jpg mar-2025 - 3.2.25 Macro: Flower II Really need to get better about coming up with creative names. Continuing the macro photo theme with my crazy diopter setup. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372037439-8KFGDYDCLYRYFK979O0K/SBD+Glass+Case+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg mar-2025 - 3.3.25 Glass Case Single Batch made this sleek glass case with remote-controlled RGB LED lights housed under an acrylic base. They did the metalwork in-house and had the glass manufactured. I’ve never seen them do work like this before, and it was a treat to get to shoot it for them. 99% of the work I did on this image was just making the walls look clean so as not to distract from the piece itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372016081-4JFUSO76IZY2YJF4G75O/824+Madison+Ave+%28Unit+4%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg mar-2025 - 3.4.25 Awaiting Tenants This is one of the stills from a shoot I did in Covington on Madison Ave earlier today. Orleans renovated a building next to its office that houses several apartments of varying sizes. This one is a shotgun-style apartment with the living room in the front, bedroom and kitchen in the middle, and bathroom in the back. The bedroom features a lot of natural morning sunlight, warm wood floors, an ornate fireplace, and beautiful old tile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372032946-GBV3KTIRGM7NFSYSBLWT/NZF_3785.jpg mar-2025 - 3.5.25 Macro: Snoot My view when she shares my pillow in the morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372024161-20SRSKNPD0VDVXA1Z7ZX/632+Russell+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-13.jpg mar-2025 - 3.6.25 Germania Hall Rebecca has a listing for a large building on Russell Street in Covington. She paid a local historian to dig up some facts about the place to tell its story and hopefully find a buyer who respects local history. Long story short, the report details its many uses, one of which was a nearly 20-year stint as Germania Hall. The Hall was a meeting place for German-Americans in the late-19th and early-20th century. Featuring a dance hall, saloon, and bowling alley, it was a place where immigrants could gather with their peers in this new country. Sadly, by the time America joined WWI, anti-German sentiment killed Germania Hall and the building underwent a shift to industrial use going forward. It wasn’t until 2015 that it was renovated into the office space it is today. Aside from the tin ceiling on the second and third floors of the main building, much of its original character has been painted over to accomodate modernity. However, I saw this little bit of faded paint on the wall for what appears to be “15¢ Beer” near the back of the second floor, harkening back to its days as a saloon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748896052-TTNAON0PLY53W8TAHK0X/NZF_3833.jpg mar-2025 - 3.7.25 Return of Bockfest My favorite annual event in Cincinnati is Bockfest for several reasons. The lighthearted, offbeat parade that kicks it off is something I look forward to every year. From the fun float designs to the strategically placed dance troupes in the lineup keep the energy high, the march has more goats and unique spirit than any other in Cincinnati. I also like that the crowds aren’t as heavy as something like the Opening Day Parade. I used to photograph it extensively years ago, but I didn’t bother the last few years. New people are covering it now, and I don’t think the internet necessarily needs my input anymore. Regardless, I still snapped a few frames when I saw someone I knew. Bob (pictured) is in it every year with the cigar club. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748879897-MJW5DTCPW0TCY2GO50OD/IMG_2936.jpg mar-2025 - 3.8.25 Metro’s Inelegant Logo Paul was in the middle of telling us how he thinks the Cincinnati Metro logo, which is essentially a sloppy blue asterisk, looks like a cat’s butthole. He provided a visual aid and kept switching back and forth between them to make his point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748899464-3LNMLLI6O0KY2EY7O5FT/NZF_3856.jpg mar-2025 - 3.9.25 Guardians of Traffic After photographing a traveling exhibit for the Cincinnati Art Museum earlier this month, the artist liked what I did so much that she asked me to photograph a companion exhibit of her work at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I threw a change of clothes in a bag, loaded up my gear, and left Cincinnati around 1 PM. When I got to Cleveland, I still had enough light to go check out something I’ve always wanted to see with my own eyes: the Guardians of Traffic on the Hope Memorial Bridge. These massive Art Deco statues stand on either side of the bridge on both ends. I parked at the market and walked about a block where I was able to stand on the sidewalk and photograph the statues with the city behind them. I knew they’d be gorgeous, but they were even more impressive in person. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748887258-7P5O74UPTPACELTJN1KT/IMG_2989.jpg mar-2025 - 3.10.25 The Horrors of OSR After completing my job in Cleveland and checking out a few other things while there, I decided to stop and tour the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield on the way home. This place has long fascinated me from an architectural and human rights perspective. It’s simultaneously an engineering marvel in the middle of Ohio that’s never been reproduced anywhere else in the world and a horror show with an awful past. I got there an hour before closing time, so I paid the fee to do a self-guided tour and speed run as much of it as possible before the cell doors locked me in for the evening (figuratively, of course). As expected, there are a lot of Shawshank Redemption references throughout the building; that’s a great movie, but I found the Hollywood connection to be the least interesting part of the building, if I’m honest. The scale and design of the former prison intrigued me the most. This place was constructed over several decades and served as a prison from the 1880s to 1990. The east wing features an atrium with six tiers of prison cells—a feature unique to OSR and not replicated anywhere else in the world. Tight, dark corridors and suspended metal staircases snake all over the cell blocks, triggering my fear of heights several times as I wandered. Every corner of this place, despite its architectural beauty, felt desolate and heavy. That’s not a nod to the paranormal; I just couldn’t shake imagining how many people suffered so close together for all those years in the darkened cells I was too superstitious to enter myself. For a large chunk of the tour, I was completely alone with this place and my racing thoughts. Though the prison is well-built and still structurally sound today, there’s no shortage of broken concrete and crumbling brick no matter which way you look. The peeling lead paint on every surface sags and flakes off from years of neglect. The metal bars designed to keep people sequestered in their cells and on the different tiers are rusted and worn from over a hundred years of physical trauma. The cells are barely maintained and tattered beyond livability—a painful reminder of why the prison was permanently closed in 1990. At one point, a guard walked by and told me about the prison's unsolvable roach problem toward the end of its lifespan, too. “It’s a little worse now, but not by much,” he said, looking hauntingly into darkened cell #40 in the east wing. It’s so many things all at once: a massive memento of a violent, crowded hellhole riddled with a century of death and human suffering, a preservation success story despite its dark past, a piece of Hollywood history, and a photogenic goldmine among many other things. Go see it if you can. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580269880-UBPZX6BWWPJCOIQOIUXN/NZF_4243.jpg mar-2025 - 3.11.25 Canceled Plans As I drove up the steep, winding driveway of the Cincinnati Art Museum, I panicked upon realizing I’d forgotten to load the CF-Express card into my Z9. I could technically try shooting this event entirely on my Zf, but that camera only had one small card loaded into it at the moment, and I feel so much more comfortable with my workhorse for situations like this. Frustrated, I mentally kicked myself for being so forgetful. It was unprofessional and stupid of me to neglect something so routine. My panic quietly turned to confusion as I crested the hill, though. Where was the familiar cadre of valets waiting in the traffic loop ahead? Why were there no cars in the lot? Was the event I was scheduled to photograph canceled, or am I ridiculously early? Checked my phone, and nothing seemed amiss. The arrival time and date were right, but the scene from the parking lot suggested otherwise. Puzzled, I unloaded my camera gear and walked up to the closed front doors. Checked my phone again to see if I’d missed some communication. Nothing. After a while, I got ahold of someone inside, and they had, in fact, canceled the event for that evening without telling me. My memory card mishap was no longer an issue, and I realized my forgetful ass would get away unscathed. Annoyed that I wasn’t getting paid that evening but relieved I’d saved face, I returned home, changed into comfier clothes, and took Myrtle on a beautiful walk by the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580284321-VUUHCONM1OW39YZUKXB1/Untitled-1.jpg mar-2025 - 3.12.25 Double Exposures Never paid much attention to the ‘Multiple Exposure’ mode on the Zf. Today, though, I played around with it, and I think it might be a nice tool to catalyze creativity when inspiration fails. You shoot two NEFs, and it automatically generates a JPEG. You can access all three files in your editing software later. Depending on the setting, the system will prioritize light and dark pixels, creating these odd mashups that feel different than traditional double exposures. The DARK setting is the one I think I like the most (bottom two images), but the ADD setting (top left) turned out the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580254217-DSEIJLGOTKTGVUFG4WQL/544+Milton+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg mar-2025 - 3.13.25 Prospect Hill’s Incredible View Shot a house on Milton Street with a really nice view today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580261719-EICL8K87E4VIKF8VJJUY/1865+Chase+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg mar-2025 - 3.14.25 Retrofit Photographed a renovated corner building on a prominent corner in Northside. The developer is one I’ve worked with in the past. It’s always interesting seeing how they take a historic structure and make it modern. One of the more unique units in the building is this first floor corner apartment that exists in what I assume would’ve been street-level retail or restaurant at one time. With the windows at the top of the wall, the dwelling maintains privacy while allowing ample natural light to fill the space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580277107-XRT546EKVWP0RDOUQYID/NZF_4340-2.jpg mar-2025 - 3.15.25 Windy Day The air was warm, and a stormfront threatened to blow into the area later in the evening. We took advantage of the spring-like conditions by going out for coffee and later to Alms Park for a walk. I snapped this photo because the drama of the sky and the swaying pine tree caught my eye. The dynamic range was too much for my camera, but it’s fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580268206-R0JFM4ZYXK2IPK9IRMI3/IMG_3062.jpg mar-2025 - 3.16.25 David Bow-Wowie Myrt sauntered into my office and stood in the rays of colorful light produced by the sticker on my window. The little line of red light across her eye reminds me of the cover of that one David Bowie album (you know, the one). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580280207-V2369VWJUNTS4PSEWMM8/NZF_4342.jpg mar-2025 - 3.17.25 Unwanted Don’t know why this chandelier was in the woods by the train tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580254572-U7WAGSMKRW8W7YUGZT8Z/509+Short+Pershing+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg mar-2025 - 3.18.25 4 of 3 on Short Pershing Not only have I photographed every house on Short Pershing in Covington, but I’ve now photographed one of those houses twice. I knew I’d likely reshoot a house at some point, but I didn’t expect it to be on the best-hidden street in NKY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580262551-J99I8OEXZJE3413G6JCO/1007DaytonStreet-PhilArmstrong-21.jpg mar-2025 - 3.19.25 Above the Bar-b-q Photographed a renovated apartment in the West End. The sign for Mom Bell’s Kitchen Bar-b-q still hangs on the side of the building. I wonder how long it’s been gone. A quick search doesn’t reveal much, sadly. A local historian wrote a little piece about it on his website but didn’t uncover anything about Mom Bell. One thing I do know is a sign was once painted above its picture windows advertising a menu item called Tim Austin Champ’s Steak Burger. You can see it on Google Streetview if you look closely. Austin was a boxer from Cincinnati who won several championships throughout the 90s before retiring in the 2000s. I don’t follow boxing, but he seems to have been a pretty big deal. I doubt I'll ever know the story behind this place without speaking to neighbors or anyone old enough to remember the West End in the 90s. Hopefully I meet someone one day who does. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743428493748-KZEEX5NWLD63DAJ5NHRY/Painted+Window+Collage.jpg mar-2025 - 3.20.25 Caesura A collage of three painted windows at the Cincinnati Art Museum by Shahzia Sikander. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743431992538-PUYVHZYYHINKGJWMFG8O/IMG_3134.jpg mar-2025 - 3.21.25 Stowaway While sitting on the couch watching TV, we heard something rustling in the plant on the fireplace mantle. Having had a bad experience with a mouse in the house the day before, we assumed another one had gotten in. With Ashley halfway up the stairs in fear, I crept over to the plant, looked inside, and was relieved to see a Lazarus lizard instead. I gently picked up the pot, took it to the porch, and waved the reptile away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432235890-8S0PPVA96A014NXC2H2H/IMG_3148.jpg mar-2025 - 3.22.25 The Girls Travis has a show at a bar in Ross, OH this evening. Ashley, Allie, Caitlyn, Rob and I all drove out to watch his band play. I didn’t take my camera this time, and I only took one photo (this one) all evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432556292-W97EDYBSPND4W9Y39GPM/IMG_3156.jpg mar-2025 - 3.23.25 (Eyeballs Emoji) She wanted my avocado toast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432619654-PZHCXVPGRLGRMPJO66VZ/20E24thSt-PhilArmstrong-17.jpg mar-2025 - 3.24.25 Small But Mighty Shot a house in Wallace Woods this morning that is small on the inside but has a huge backyard. The owner spent years converting the steep-sloping yard into a Japanese garden with cascading wooden walkways, a greenhouse, a fountain, and native Japanese plants and flowers. While it’s unfortunately not the right time of year to showcase how beautiful the garden will be in two months, I got a sense of how peaceful it will be for the future owner should they maintain it the same way. It would be a dream to step into something so well-built. I hope whoever buys it understands what they have. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432949563-40I1U60T4B5BOFHRXDPM/CANstructionPNC-PhilArmstrong-126.jpg mar-2025 - 3.25.25 CANstruction MA Design and HGC teamed up to create a CANstruction sculpture at the PNC Center this morning. They hired me to produce a time-lapse video and document the 5-hour build. Their sculpture ended up being Hot Wheels-themed, with two cars and a big flame on top. After deCANstruction, all cans will be donated to the Freestore Food Bank. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743433392571-V4CUO1Q0BVJ8EM4EHD3C/IMG_3248.jpg mar-2025 - 3.26.25 A Good Bread Shop I’m happy this bread shop went in on the Avenue last year. If you ever need good, fresh bread, you know where to get it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743433144767-QCENEIK3D7XJTT4TU7M0/8K+Opening+Day+-+Phil+Armstrong+-146.jpg mar-2025 - 3.27.25 Another Opening Day The Reds Opening Day Parade, March 27, 2025. I marched with 8K Construction and documented the crew as well as the fans along the route. Sadly, the Reds turned over a one-run lead in the 8th inning later that day and lost to the San Francisco Giants. But at least the parade was perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743433693598-YQ2K99OPT6YZ95SP0BFY/AAD+3.28.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-65.jpg mar-2025 - 3.28.25 Quiet Contemplation Photographed Art After Dark this evening. I focused on getting images the museum could use all year (not in traveling exhibits) of people enjoying the museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743434058772-7ORAXRFXKTISN5241K9J/NZF_5869.jpg mar-2025 - 3.28.25 Stalking His Prey This is Jonas’ very serious kebab-wanting face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743434072560-AAREV5I80SWMQ7DU5IBP/NZF_5878-Enhanced-NR.jpg mar-2025 - 3.30.25 Command Center It’s that time of year again: spring storms that double as tornado factories. Since last year, I’ve made a few improvements to the basement, though. I put a digital antenna on the TV to see local weather broadcasts from a safer position, and I moved my iMac downstairs to keep an eye on the porch and yard through the security cameras. All this would be useless if the power went out, but it’s pretty good otherwise. Ashley joked that I looked like a security guard in a command center watching the cameras with my can of chips. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743534156429-V0CQ7QBE5R9VHFZOM2D6/NZF_5916-Enhanced-NR-1-Edit.jpg mar-2025 - 3.31.25 The Greatest Computing Device I read an article today about how the iPad’s future may be in jeopardy thanks to rumors of an upcoming folding iPhone. It’s also rumored that this phone will expand to the size of an iPad Mini. While this new device that sounds bulkier in pocket might excite some, I can’t see moving from my 3rd Gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro for a smaller screen at this time. I’ve probably written about this on here before, but this iPad may be the best Apple product I’ve ever purchased. It’s certainly the only computing device I’ve used for seven years without feeling the need to replace it, and to say I’ve gotten my money’s worth is an understatement. To combat iPadOS updates that tend to slow down older models, I’ve stripped it of all apps save for a few (Safari, Mail, Messages, Procreate, etc). While it’s not a substitute for a real laptop, and though the battery level is roughly 82% of its original capacity, the pencil feature is the main reason I keep it in my daily rotation; I simply can’t draw on my iMac or MacBook like I can on this little iPad. So cheers to you, little iPad, for perfectly filling a niche no other device can. You’ve found your true calling among my digital tools, and until you become too slow to draw or fully bite the dust, you’ll continue to avoid the upgrade cycle. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/apr2025 daily 0.75 2025-05-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464765780-EA6N31SAY0B9O1ILUAJJ/NZF_6751.jpg apr-2025 - 4.30.25 I Also Don’t Know This Flower, But It’s Also Pretty Continuing the theme from yesterday’s post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464765780-EA6N31SAY0B9O1ILUAJJ/NZF_6751.jpg apr-2025 - 4.30.25 I Also Don’t Know This Flower, But It’s Also Pretty Continuing the theme from yesterday’s post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744139752459-ZQX9DHYGYOKWQ77T1KUE/NZF_5967-Enhanced-NR.jpg apr-2025 - 4.1.25 Post Your Desk This 27 “Apple Studio Display is my last substantial purchase for my photo business (for the foreseeable future). I think I finally have the perfect setup for my needs. The M1 iMac I bought years ago is a fantastic computer that experiences no slowdown save for when I’m trying to batch update images after an event or when I’m trying to make a complicated video in Resolve. Since I’ve been doing more events over the last few years, processing speed has become more of a necessity for getting things done efficiently. While the M1 iMac could undoubtedly do it, my M3 MacBook Pro does it faster. The MacBook was originally primarily intended for on-location tethering, but with its 36 GB of unified memory compared to the iMac’s 16 GB, I found it was the preferred computer for what I needed—it just didn’t have the size screen I preferred. Linking the Studio Display to the M3 is the fast-processing, preferred editing combo I was looking for. As a bonus, all my work is centralized on the M3 so I never have to switch files between two computers again. The M3 sits under the shelf and connects to the display using a Thunderbolt cable. Since it receives power through the same cable, I don’t have to have the power adapter plugged in. Desk components: -Studio Display -M3 MacBook Pro -TourBox Elite controller -Full Apple keyboard -Magic Mouse 2 -Personal fan -Two mood lights -Philips Hue Signe gradient floor lamp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744140200385-G6F9DZ6B724E9KMOW3R7/1818+Race+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg apr-2025 - 4.2.25 New Offices Cincinnati Development Fund’s offices are moving to the third floor of 1818 Race Street by Findlay Market. Before they move in, though, 8K Construction wanted some photos of the space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744140393204-5WOF8XYWFB5EUTKBBF4K/Cycle+Thru+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg apr-2025 - 4.3.25 Cycle Thru The Cincinnati Art Museum opened its newest exhibit, Cycle Thru, to the press today. They had me come in to take photos of the space for use in marketing. The show has several displays with bikes from different eras, such as the one pictured. Yes, that’s the Pee-Wee Herman bike. It felt nice to be there with the other press people. Reminded me of what I used to do when I worked for the website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744140967923-4NG5STJOOJPK0MP5GPG5/IMG_3431.jpg apr-2025 - 4.4.25 Perfect Vibe We went out to a couple of bars tonight, one of which was Jerry’s. I’ll never tire of how good it feels inside this place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744142185766-TN5GB1GTWYCPRY42U2DY/CAM+Kids+Day+-+3.5.25+-+Phil+Armstrong-46.jpg apr-2025 - 4.5.25 Serpentine Photographed CAM Kids Day for the museum this afternoon. Several reptiles and snakes were brought for viewing as part of the programming. I prefer not to post children to this site without permission from their parents, so this is probably the only image I can show from the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834578953-W8TBUJHLDBEMEC1FASZH/NZF_6077.jpg apr-2025 - 4.6.25 Self Portrait A different kind of front-facing camera photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834587495-33S34PSI1D7L5TM31NUA/315+Orchard+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-16.jpg apr-2025 - 4.7.25 The ADA Orchard House For nine years, I’ve worked with Rebecca on her listing photos. She’s given me the chance to shoot quite a few lovely places over that time, but there’s something about this one that really grabbed me. I’ll get to why in a second. Orchard was built in 1890, and after 125 years, it got a makeover thanks to the Center for Great Neighborhoods. Its identical twins next door were also renovated, preserving this bit of Covington’s built history. Heather (Covington Uncovered) did a great write up about 315 and the other identical shotgun houses over on her account. One of the reasons this one speaks to me is its ADA accessibility. If you look closely, you’ll see it at the sinks specifically. There’s an easy grade on the exterior that leads up to the door to the kitchen/living room, and aside from the basement, it doesn’t feature any stairs. You don’t often see renovations that have wheelchairs in mind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834588369-DR1E1QQS4UEOADN0PIGN/NZF_6023.jpg apr-2025 - 4.8.25 Zf Update This firmware 2.0 for the Nikon Zf is nuts. In addition to the JPEG recipes, which I've never used until today, you can set up your camera to automatically upload to Lightroom or Dropbox or other cloud file storage automatically. I shot this photo and it was in Lightroom on my phone in less than a minute. You could spend the day out and about with a color recipe locked and loaded, shoot all day, and review what you did in Lightroom that night without physically connecting your camera to anything. That’s pretty awesome. I think I might start shooting in JPEG with a recipe selected just to switch things up for a bit. I’ve rarely shot anything but RAW because I like the flexibility of the edit afterward, but the appeal of making the creative decision in the moment, while scary, is liberating in a way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834571461-ZOUCC83VQX5FJP486AIA/Studio+Session-070-2-2.jpg apr-2025 - 4.9.25 I Would Drive This Marlene has family in Japan. She brought me back this tiny little car during a recent trip there. She likes to guess what her friends would drive and gets them a car that fits their personality. She gave it to me and asked, “Is this a car you’d drive? I feel like this suits you.” “Yes, definitely,” I replied. I have no clue if this is a real car, but it’s my style. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834572934-MDWY0XEDCJA9PWUX1GJY/IMG_3524.jpg apr-2025 - 4.10.25 Sunbleached Grit I’ve been sick enough over the last two days that it’s caused me to go to bed early, but I’m not sick enough to stop going into the studio for work. It’s the unpleasant in between of wanting to lie still and recover from the pain and chills while being just barely well enough to respect that money doesn’t make itself. With the impending price hike of everything thanks to the president’s tariff debacle, I need every dime I can get. Yesterday was a struggle. Thanks to copious amounts of extra-strength Advil, I managed through a very long day and went to bed almost immediately when I got home. Slept for 12 hours to try to feel somewhat normal for today. Thankfully, that was a good tactic as I am slightly better today. Since it’s a studio day, though, I didn’t shoot much except for this gas station while I was at the pump. I liked the textures and faded colors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834592777-BKVN46DXLUUB54K6B285/NZF_6090.jpg apr-2025 - 4.11.25 Faux Lomo 100 The idea of film recipes for Fuji cameras once made me roll my eyes. I didn’t get it; why be fake when you could just shoot actual film? You could just as easily and authentically pick up a used camera and a roll of film and do what you want without having to fake it. Shoot digital when you want a digital look and film when you want a film look (if you have both). To some degree, I still hold this opinion, but with less passion now. After playing with the novelty of the Zf’s film recipes, I get why people use them. They’re just fun. In some ways, snapping the image with custom color science applied in the moment and living with the results is more film-like than shooting RAW and tweaking it later. I won’t say it’s a 1:1 comparison, but there’s a commonality if you boil it down to basics. Maybe this is as close as digital gets to the experience before branching out into its own thing? The thought of shooting something professionally with a film simulation doesn’t appeal to me. Still, for personal photography, it might be fun to choose a simulation for the day and run with it to try something different. I once said the B&W mode on the Zf might be a gimmick I grew out of, but I still use it from time to time. This may be the same situation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834593871-4ZI3KQGZGKDGC3UQNVJH/NZF_6110.jpg apr-2025 - 4.12.25 Dive Bar Found myself listening to a band play at The Fill Inn tonight with Travis. I wanted to test out how quickly I could snap a photo and have it show up in Lightroom using the Nikon cloud connection using my phone’s hot spot. (30 seconds) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834581264-LJLBICMJCTGQYWKM1P2O/NZF_6114.jpg apr-2025 - 4.13.25 The Coming of Spring Thus begins our annual weekly trek to Baeten’s for new plantings. It’s too early to plant annuals, but we picked up some fresh pine straw for the beds. It felt great to get outside and work in the yard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247570676-M7SCVE0JPM2SSMA69VPQ/728+Garrard+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-56.jpg apr-2025 - 4.14.25 Tucked Away on Garrard Rebecca had a neat house for me to photograph today. It backs up to the Licking River, but high enough that it won’t flood during the high conditions we recently witnessed. It’s front yard is massive, sloping downward toward the tree-lined street below. A long driveway snakes up the side and ends in a large parking pad behind it. One of the owners is apparently an arborist, so the landscaping is native, healthy, and intentional. Even though I didn’t get to photograph it at full bloom, I can tell this yard will be stunning in early summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247555400-8HMEW5A3AUUCM36U7X14/IMG_3634-Edit-Edit-2.jpg apr-2025 - 4.15.25 Surreal No idea when I'll be able to share this project, but I'm currently photographing brand product packaging with photos on it that I took, and I had to document the occasion because this is very surreal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247549994-JO9RS1X1QCGLX6NG8FXA/Art+Museum+Event+4.16.25+-+Phil+Armstrong-12.jpg apr-2025 - 4.16.25 Wine Bike Tonight’s event at CAM celebrated the opening of Cycle Thru! and Tintoretto’s Genesis—two exhibitions that the public is free to enjoy. During the event, this entertainer rode a modified bicycle with wine glasses suspended from a circular holder. The bottles were kept in holders on the front, and a crate suspended off the back behind the seat held additional glasses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247547712-0J4NJLHGHI4W5MLHZKJU/NZF_6153.jpg apr-2025 - 4.17.25 Morning Walk I’ve probably posted this scene before. Hopefully not, though. I love how this small house along Route 8 is situated mere feet away from this Family Dollar and next to another commercial building. It initially reads as spite house, but if you think about the nature of development, it’s way more likely that the commercial buildings were constructed in place of where homes similar to this one were once standing. And I should mention that I am still playing with the Nikon Zf JPEG recipes. This one is on “Kodak Gold 200.” I like how it gives the light a little extra warmth and alters the blue values accordingly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247532346-Y6V8MJ4C2VNS0Z2WNGNG/NZF_6167.jpg apr-2025 - 4.18.25 Grill Out I spent the entire day outside. The grass is cut and trimmed. The flower beds have been cleared of dead leaves from the previous fall season. New pine straw has been laid. Mulched the back beds and relaid all the edge bricks. Deep-cleaned the grill. Ashley put together the flower pots for the front and back. I tossed more ball with Myrtle than I ever have in one day. My arms and hands are sore from digging around in the Earth, and it feels amazing. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I genuinely think humans need this connection to the planet to feel right. You don’t need to farm acres of land to get it; you just need a little time to feel that soil under your nails while the sun warms your back every once in a while. The day ended with a boatload of hot dogs on that freshly cleaned grill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247522877-054DORRISRWJG7XWZJ15/NZF_6171.jpg apr-2025 - 4.19.25 Faux Lomo 100 While visiting a few breweries downtown, I tested the Lomo recipe. Besides Portra 400, I’ve shot more Lomo than any other film stock by several hundred images. That said, I don’t know what Lomo looks like with an overcast sky, so I don’t know if this is accurate. All my shots on actual film were taken in sunny or nighttime conditions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247531246-D65FJYXZRIVJBKRCPCEH/NZF_6177.jpg apr-2025 - 4.20.25 Spring in NKY I think this faux Lomo recipe makes spring really pop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745504875276-1ROFO1I21ASLGKT5YBPB/NZF_6221.jpg apr-2025 - 4.21.25 Doughnut Skip Out On West Newport It was a slow Monday afternoon, so I slapped a 40mm on my Zf, hopped on my bike, and took an aimless ride around town. Northern Kentucky has a load of interesting architecture throughout its river cities, but I concentrated on West Newport for most of this particular ride. From the old school corner markets and bars to the finely maintained historic structures, there’s no shortage of texture, color, and visually interesting vignettes in that part of the city. Every time I walk or ride through it, I swear I find something new and beautiful I’ve never seen before or appreciate something I’ve seen but largely overlooked. On one block you’ll see a row of charming, colorful 19th century one-stories and on another block you’ll see an eye-level billboard for McDonald’s in someone’s side yard. The way the sprawling streets end with the Cincinnati skyline makes it unique, too. Every block is brimful of character, grit, and weird beauty the other river cities around it can’t replicate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745504870128-9RBF8X96X90GLRJJJAWJ/NZF_6336.jpg apr-2025 - 4.22.25 Different Eras While waiting for Ashley to come out of the salon, I saw this classic car driving west on Route 8 and quickly snapped a photo without spending much time lining it up. It was later on that I noticed the driver of the classic car looked to be an older guy, and the driver of the newer car going the opposite direction looked to be a younger guy. There’s probably something to be said about the parallel between the age of our vehicles and ourselves, but I’ll let you come up with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745504872184-TY1GODN21BRR5W6DQYMZ/NZF_6356.jpg apr-2025 - 4.23.25 Queue ‘Family Matters’ Theme A bridge over train tracks connects Patterson Street from 11th to 13th Street. If you get out and walk on it, you get this unique view of downtown with West Newport in the foreground, completely obscuring the massive river between them. While I’ve taken similar shots from 15th, I’ve never done this particular vantage point before. It reminds me of the first shot of the ‘Family Matters’ intro where the camera slowly elevates to show the Winslow house in relation to Chicago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464795887-4P0HCJGDPDYJ9PF4MKUV/Art+In+Bloom+Arrangement-44.jpg apr-2025 - 5.24.25 Art In Bloom: Day 1 For the first time in a long time, the Cincinnati Art Museum put on Art In Bloom two years in a row instead of doing it every other year. I was hired to photograph every event during the four-day affair, beginning today. Art In Bloom pairs custom floral arrangements designed by floral artists in the community with existing works in the museum’s collection. This year, the works were assigned to the artists instead of letting them choose their inspiration piece. My tasks today involved photographing every arrangement next to their piece, as well as a soiree at the end of the evening. It’s really hard to choose which pairing I like best, so I’ve chosen to post one that stood out to me. M. Melissa Flohre put together this beautiful arrangement that perfectly mirrors the color palette and shape of the piece they were assigned. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464788460-L57WWF3B7Z1VS9CAXJ1T/AIB+Art+After+Dark+-+Phil+Armstrong-34.jpg apr-2025 - 4.25.25 Art In Bloom: Day 2 On day 2 of Art In Bloom, I photographed a luncheon and a sugar flower-making workshop throughout the day before ending with covering Art After Dark. In the Fountain Room, a floral bar filled with free stems of a variety of flowers were made available to eager attendees. The line stretched from the floral bar into the hallway with the Miro mural and into the Great Hall. To say it was a popular feature of AAD that evening is an understatement. I was at the museum from 9:45 AM until 7 PM. Afterward, I went to Music Hall to photograph the symphony before finally making it home around 12 hours after starting my day. It was a long one, but I got it done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464787928-60E3BOFCV2M1C4HELC8B/Tea+Party+-+Phil+Armstrong-3.jpg apr-2025 - 4.26.25 Art In Bloom: Day 3 So much happened at AIB that I couldn’t easily decide on the photo of the day. This neutral entry will have to do. The main tasks were informational lectures, a tea party, and documenting museum-goers enjoying the pairings. I managed to get out of there before dinner, resulting in a full night of playing catch up on three days’ worth of images. I’m exhausted in the best way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464777727-8NKAUCKT2NZFMFZFGUNU/Drag+Shows+-+Phil+Armstrong-152.jpg apr-2025 - 4.27.25 Art In Bloom: Day 4 Today might’ve been the craziest day of photographing this event. Shahzia was back in town to film a documentary about her work and current exhibits at both CAM and CMA. She wanted BTS shots of the production, but I also had to photograph two drag shows for the museum simultaneously. To achieve this, I kept running the stairs between Shahzia’s exhibit on the second floor and the lowest level where the drag shows were held. It was wild to switch between a quiet, contemplative exhibit with just a few people and a loud, raucous, high-energy room full of fans and performers. While a load of work, I think it was the most fun I’ve had all weekend. While I’ve photographed drag performances in the past, I relearned something today that I think is worth mentioning. If you’re a photographer and you are given the opportunity to photograph one of these shows, always make sure to photograph the audience. I know the inclination is to focus on the performers, and it’s great to get shots of them doing their thing, but I promise you’ll make some of your best material if you aim for the reactions of the people in attendance. I was smiling ear to ear while reviewing images from both shows simply because the energy and glee in every frame was contagious. To say I’m tired is an understatement, but I cannot think of four days within the last six months when I was as creatively satisfied as I am right now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464775735-NFB9MTGTJX201KAV5AU5/605+Elm+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-50.jpg apr-2025 - 4.28.25 C.P. Reeves Market While in the backyard of a house I was photographing in Ludlow, I noticed this little market. After finishing the job and packing up my equipment, I walked over to check it out. It ended up being a family-owned market with ice cream, Amish-made treats, and a floral nursery. I sped home, got Ashley, and showed her what I’d found. As expected, she loved everything about it. She ended up purchasing a load of plants and flowers for our garden and we checked out the dog-friendly market. The special thing about this place, though, is she’s actually distantly related to C.P. Reeves. Since they share a last name, she called her grandfather, and he confirmed that C.P. Reeves was his father’s cousin. Our new plan is to get eggs from this market every week because they’re the same price as the dozen you’d get from Kroger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464765618-I61Q22MIPX9OBYTNCEXG/NZF_6747.jpg apr-2025 - 4.29.25 I Don’t Know This Flower, But It’s Pretty Ashley’s in charge of choosing the flowers for the yard. Over the last five years, we’ve invested a load of time and money into filling the front and back yards with as much color and variety as possible. I don’t know what this flower is called, but it’s beautiful. Since she’s the one with the vision for how it’s all supposed to look, it’s always a surprise to me. I never know what’s going to bloom and when. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/may2025 daily 0.75 2025-06-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746465105043-144GVC8D8OXEH18O598M/IMG_3818.jpg may-2025 - 5.1.25 Castle Skateland A photoshoot that took me out to Loveland routed me past a place I haven’t seen or thought of in ages. I don’t remember how many times went here, but I have a vivid memory of playing pogs on the floor with people I can’t remember. I would actually love to check this place out again. Maybe I’ll get a pair of rollerblades for old time’s sake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746465105043-144GVC8D8OXEH18O598M/IMG_3818.jpg may-2025 - 5.1.25 Castle Skateland A photoshoot that took me out to Loveland routed me past a place I haven’t seen or thought of in ages. I don’t remember how many times went here, but I have a vivid memory of playing pogs on the floor with people I can’t remember. I would actually love to check this place out again. Maybe I’ll get a pair of rollerblades for old time’s sake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679943392-U324WZSL1EQN8PRE5NIM/NZF_7049.jpg may-2025 - 5.2.25 La-Ru Lanes We went to La-Ru Lanes with Chelsea and Vince and bowled a couple of games. The place was pretty dead. Hopefully we went on an irregularly slow night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679928436-CF20AMNMQWXOYOT552V9/IMG_3860.jpg may-2025 - 5.3.25 J+J Travis and Allie are out of the country for a bit, so I’m going to pop over to their place and check in on Jack and Jonas while they’re away. Jonas (pictured) is very friendly and always wants attention, whereas Jack is a little more discerning with his time. I have no doubt Jack will be my bud in a few days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679942037-P2INBGDSHFYDVEJGL27E/Eric+40th+Birthday-121.jpg may-2025 - 5.4.25 Star Wars Party Eric’s 40th birthday coincided with May 4th—otherwise known as Star Wars Day. Sarah put on a big party for him at the CAC, the theme of which was Star Wars. These were hired actors for the event, so I don’t know their real names, but I thought this candid moment was cute. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679929254-AUH7F86W84U3D710F8O6/IMG_3899.jpg may-2025 - 5.5.25 Working From Not-Home Visiting the cats while having the busiest month of the year isn’t a challenge when I can work away from home. Travis has the same Apple Studio Display I do, making it easy for me to bring my laptop over to his house and plug in with minimal recalibration. All I have to do is bring my Tourbox with me, and it’s almost exactly like my setup at home. Jonas is finding ways to stay within my line of sight while I’m there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680091102-F9IQVE1OPY4NO3845355/DSC_5663.jpg may-2025 - 5.6.25 Peeking Standpipe Seen while on my way out of shooting an event at the Art Museum tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680266897-I2PSXMTICRNMGW2FDZCI/IMG_3957.jpg may-2025 - 5.7.25 Sleeping Like a Person Myrtle sleeping with her head on my pillow like a person. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680411280-JMUQTXNK22Y8GXKR6USG/Perry+Construction+-+Phil+Armstrong-22.jpg may-2025 - 5.8.25 Perry Contracting I did a brand/lifestyle shoot for Perry Contracting today. I made portraits of all the staff members, candids of them working in the office, action shots in the workshop behind the front offices, decor that represents their aesthetic (pictured), and more. Thanks to everyone involved, it was a creatively satisfying, easy shoot, and I couldn’t be happier with the images we produced. I can’t wait to see their new website with all the image assets in place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680954364-C4OAHWCJ98J7Y15QFWUF/NZF_7126.jpg may-2025 - 5.9.25 The Court Street Bridge They’re replacing the Court Street bridge that crosses Gilbert with a newer one soon. Construction fences are already up, and pedestrians can no longer walk along the deck of the green-clad, vaguely Art Deco-styled part with CINCINNATI emblazoned on the side of the bridge. Mt. Adams is still accessible by way of crossing the street and walking up this crumbling staircase. I documented as much of it as I could. I’m a bit sad it’s going away. It’s not historic, but I always liked its unique design. It stood out when considering other pedestrian bridges in the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680998138-AJ7NI4RJZMWDZ24B31NJ/Art+on+the+Rise+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6654.jpg may-2025 - 5.10.25 Art on the Rise A frame from today’s Art on the Rise event at the museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747770788847-3RS0TH99K0ED4PPQPMEO/IMG_4064.jpg may-2025 - 5.11.25 Cat Sitting Jonas perched on the living room chair. Probably waiting for me to get up and give him a treat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747770875018-5XPXB4H7HCGCQTAJBITQ/Joseph+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-75.jpg may-2025 - 5.12.25 Return to Joseph House Vehr reached out recently and asked if I would provide a bid to do lifestyle images for Joseph House—a home for veterans who need a place to stay while getting back on their feet. I photographed Joseph House last year for MA Design, and Joseph House liked what I did enough to reach out again for this project. I won the bid, we planned the shots we needed for the website, and today we finished day 1 of the multi-day shoot. One of the day’s activities included this sweet therapy doodle. I got a lot of good stuff during this session. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747771168287-GSDP2FKKOSH9DVUOE7UN/Joseph+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-116.jpg may-2025 - 5.13.25 Alicia A portrait of Joseph House Executive Director Alicia Patterson. I’ve really enjoyed working with her and the rest of the staff over the last two days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747771649907-236DN4ZKN4N3CL7VYBLW/NZF_7077.jpg may-2025 - 5.14.25 Hoop Just some nice light on a basketball hoop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747771750704-I87TQ3KPVE1HE1IJOZU6/Preservation+Awards+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg may-2025 - 5.15.25 Preservation Awards After a long hiatus, I finally got to work with Cincinnati Preservation again. They held their annual Preservation Awards ceremony in Columbia-Tusculum this evening and asked me to photograph the event. The location, inside the Carnegie Library, was perfect for the evening’s festivities. I’d forgotten how many preservationists I know in the city, too, so seeing them all show up and mingle in one place was delightful. In fact, I felt very energized at this shoot because it was the perfect combination of good location, subject matter, and people. I kind of felt like I was at my best, and that felt great during a rather busy, stressful month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748614600033-D395IX88XWWG2ZLORHDC/Red+Door+Project+5.16.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-76.jpg may-2025 - 5.16.25 Red Door Project Shot Red Door for ArtWorks this evening. I haven’t been this busy with work since July 2018, when I took over as Managing Editor of the website. I’m short on words and free time, and the backlog of work to get back to clients keeps growing, but I have to grind right now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748614722647-HKYZW1C5FVS4MLY656QG/IMG_4143.jpg may-2025 - 5.17.25 The Smallest (New) Truck Ashley and I were a one-car couple for 9 years. It never made sense for us to get a second car. As Ashley works from home, her need for a vehicle has been traditionally very low. That changed recently, and we now need a second set of wheels to alleviate the stress of both needing it during the day. It made the most sense to get a second vehicle that could solve tasks we couldn’t with the one we already have; something that we could use to take our bikes to the trail, haul more than a couple of bags of mulch at a time, and move something that would otherwise be too large for the car. A small truck was the most logical option. I hate large vehicles, and every new truck is huge—or so I thought. After researching my options (including ruling out buying a 20-year-old Ford Ranger), the Hyundai Santa Cruz and the Ford Maverick seemed to be the two highest-rated options for small trucks on the market. I looked at both and decided the Hyundai packed more into the vehicle for the same price as the Ford. It drives like a car but with the hauling capacity of a truck. It looks large in the image, but it’s not. The bed is the right size with the extender cage, and the tonneau cover locks, allowing me to store my gear in the bed without it getting wet or stolen. I’m going to learn how to park it in my driveway better so it doesn’t block the sidewalk, but that will take time and practice. Honestly, I’m not a car guy, but I love this thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748616438495-R9KPIBKMDNYC0FDLBV9X/Kamrassfest+-+Phil+Armstrong+-301.jpg may-2025 - 5.18.25 Kamrassfest Shot a retirement party for Rabbi Kamrass at Music Hall this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748616708015-RO5ZJA1DOKHQKVRHKVRX/IMG_4157.jpg may-2025 - 5.19.25 Moment of Zen Had a moment to sit on the porch and drink a beer. This is the only image I made all day. Not great, but I’ve been so busy with work lately, I don’t have the motivation to shoot for myself as much as I’d like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748618587661-KE1B5N3GK7KJEYC4XB2G/A1A9A1F2-0D9B-40FF-BF04-3399283B888D_1_105_c.jpg may-2025 - 5.20.25 GOOD MORNING, DAD She’s crazy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748619491557-SN5RRZTJI7NL8KPLIS62/Childrens+Hospital+Loveland+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg may-2025 - 5.21.25 Children’s Hospital Loveland GBBN renovated an old CVS into a Children’s Hospital branch in Loveland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748621171898-V673TKW671L3TSLRXRYU/DSC_2027-HDR.jpg may-2025 - 5.22.25 Green Township Police Department Pepper Construction built a new police station in Green Township. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748621512503-SFF2HP2WODVYQYYEBJ8H/IMG_4175.jpg may-2025 - 5.23.25 Golden Hour Walk A quick photo while walking through Over-the-Rhine from Mellotone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748621968311-5RRG2RKH5HFKD1V8HOAK/IMG_4188_jpg.jpg may-2025 - 5.24.25 Myrtle Ride Now that we have the truck, we’re able to throw the bikes into the back and drive to a trail. Ashley doesn’t like to ride on the street (understandable), so this gave us a chance to also try out Myrtle’s wagon again in a controlled environment. She didn’t like it for the first bit of the ride, but eventually she got used to it and accepted the fact that she wasn’t going to be in control of her path. Once she relaxed a bit, she seemed fine. It was the first time we’ve all gone on a ride together in a long, long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748622771983-CKOP5LEKD7K626YUS3KH/IMG_4202.jpg may-2025 - 5.25.25 Fun With Salts Hosted a backyard grill-out this evening, and toward the end of the night, we threw some color-changing salts onto the fire to change its color. The camera didn’t capture it perfectly, but you get an idea of how blue and green sections of the flames became after administering the salts. I promise I will get through this creative slump soon. I am mildly burned out and picking up a camera for anything feels like work at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748622781501-5OBANLBIT5XI6V0CT27S/IMG_4216.jpg may-2025 - 5.26.25 Community Garden Over the Memorial Day weekend, I took some time off work and concentrated on riding my bike, cooking out with friends, and cleaning up a weed-ridden hill at the end of my street all while managing to get mildly sunburned in the process. The hill pictured above was full of weeds. When I say full, I mean it; the whole thing was a mess of tangled undesirable plants, loads of ivy, and a repository for broken pots and discarded rocks. To say it was a mess is an understatement. Over the last two days, Ashley, myself, Judy, and Shaun all volunteered to pull up all the weeds and plant new stuff on the hill to try to make it look more presentable. I used the broken pieces of pottery and rocks to create a barrier between the rest of the weeds and the area we cleared. Lowes had a 5 for $10 deal, so I used my new truck to go get two loads to dump on the hill. By the end of day, we stood at the end of the street, looked down at our work, itched our sunburns, and felt satisfied we made a little corner of Bellevue more beautiful. It’s not perfect, but it’s 100% better than it was. We plan to plant more stuff in the mulched areas as we get them so it will eventually be full of ferns, flowers, and other non-weeds for pollinators and people alike to enjoy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748622780041-Z03XPVGMJVULCY2IRQIZ/YWCA+-+Phil+Armstrong+-159.jpg may-2025 - 5.27.25 YWCA GBBN renovated an old building in Avondale, built an addition in the middle of it, and now it’s a place where women seeking shelter can go should they need it. This is a frame from a piece of art that hangs in the lobby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675841926-J0H4SWH5PAQAT1PUNWKE/IMG_4356.jpg may-2025 - 5.28.25 Tiny Guard Just a tiny dog in a window. (Sorry for the short captions, but my mind doesn’t have much else to say at the moment.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675838213-ENQA0J63TCBHE6YOK3CY/DSC_2447-Enhanced-NR.jpg may-2025 - 5.29.25 Self Portrait The room was well-lit and I was alone, so I stood in front of the lens. This was on the 3rd floor of the building at 4th and Scott in Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675837940-7B80CD3XU7RR70RHVL7Z/AAD+5.30.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-93.jpg may-2025 - 5.30.25 Art After Dark Shot Art After Dark again tonight. Great time, as usual! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675842219-E7JXNNPO77Z5YRS8DL1B/NZF_9050.jpg may-2025 - 5.31.25 At the Gorge We took a trip down to Red River Gorge for some hiking with the dog. We’re staying in a water-tight dome covered with plastic and fabric on the edge of a cliff. The view overlooks a valley below, and the dome has a full bathroom, kitchenette, queen sized bed, fireplace, outdoor deck, and fire pit. I’m not sure I would be comfortable in this during the winter, but during this seasonable time of year, it’s perfect. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jun2025 daily 0.75 2025-07-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675989470-4GPRRA5QX6P4PPRGX6WM/NZF_9080.jpg jun-2025 - 6.1.25 Kentucky Native Café I know I’m ten years late to the party, but I didn’t expect Kentucky Native Cafe to bring such a strong Portland/Seattle vibe to Lexington. Absolutely loved drinking a coffee here this morning. This place, and the attached florist and nursery, were so magical, it had me double-checking how long of a drive it is to Lexington and back. Definitely going to carve out time to come here multiple more times this summer (also, it’s dog-friendly!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675989470-4GPRRA5QX6P4PPRGX6WM/NZF_9080.jpg jun-2025 - 6.1.25 Kentucky Native Café I know I’m ten years late to the party, but I didn’t expect Kentucky Native Cafe to bring such a strong Portland/Seattle vibe to Lexington. Absolutely loved drinking a coffee here this morning. This place, and the attached florist and nursery, were so magical, it had me double-checking how long of a drive it is to Lexington and back. Definitely going to carve out time to come here multiple more times this summer (also, it’s dog-friendly!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749676173104-0LE63WVDHRASLJQOC9T4/2019+Freeland+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg jun-2025 - 6.2.25 Freeman Shot a house on Freeman Ave that’s going to be listed shortly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675975582-OQA8Q8MQ4IIY98T2SJ2T/411+Elm+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-44.jpg jun-2025 - 6.3.25 Cozy Kitchen There’s a house in Ludlow that’s about to be listed. The owner renovated the interior and rented it out as an Airbnb for years before deciding to sell it. On the second floor at the end of the hallway, she put in a small kitchen that I absolutely adore. It’s not a full kitchen, but for coffee, refrigerated drinks and snacks, and anything you would store on a shelf, it’s perfect. It’s essentially what you’d find in an office (no stove or oven). This would be perfect for a work-from-home person whose computer was in the room beside it. You’d essentially have no need to go downstairs during your workday with this tiny, colorful kitchenette on the second floor. I could imagine wandering down the hall at 11 PM looking for a snack, sitting at the table, and reading something on my phone. Something about it just felt so cozy and inviting. I’m rarely impressed with listings these days, but this one did it for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675976171-HMMAMOZXN8OC7HYQM8Y9/423+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-43.jpg jun-2025 - 6.4.25 Rookwood Rookwood tile fireplace in a house I photographed for a listing today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675983618-AQ2UM368JI67LXWSOY56/Crafted+World+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-21.jpg jun-2025 - 6.5.25 Crafted World Photographed the member’s opening for the new Wharton Esherick exhibit at the Taft Museum tonight. Definitely worth checking out if you can. They knocked this one out of the park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749872316205-9SQSURWCFL2JAFPAIKKW/IMG_4461.jpg jun-2025 - 6.6.25 Pride In My Neighborhood My therapist, back before she left the clinic, reminded me that there’s little I can do beyond voting/canvassing to sway the election. She always told me to “take care to clean my side of the street.” What she meant was that I only have control over my sphere of influence—all the elements of my life that I can change and improve directly. No, I can’t change the outcome of a bad election, but I can help my neighbor plant trees. I can’t suddenly change our government officials, but I can ensure I’m available to help a friend when they’re in need. I can keep my literal side of the street comfortable and inviting, but I can’t make half the country care about the lives of marginalized communities. I’ve struggled with the outcome and reality of the election since the night it was called. I’m full of anger and disbelief that the people around me would choose a regime built on hate, ignorance, fear, and violence. I’ve sunk back into a depression that I cannot shake, no matter how hard I try to distract myself. At this point, I’m just tired of constantly railing against it. I keep telling myself that I need to concentrate on “my side of the street” for the moment. Today, while on a walk, I saw this Pride flag, and it made me feel better for a moment. It was a reminder that, despite how it looks, the world still has normal, accepting, moral people in it who care about others. It’s not devoid of good people entirely; they’re just the minority. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749872630923-TOMGW4GIQP5YKQWOXR1Q/NZF_9200.jpg jun-2025 - 6.7.25 Boys Night Went out with the guys for High Lifes and wings. It felt good to push the anger I described in yesterday’s post to the back of my mind so I could spend some time laughing with good people. Because these outings are fewer and farther between than I wish they were, I find myself bummed at the end of the night when they inevitably have to end. I guess that’s a sign it’s good for the soul. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282271283-PU5GPQVG52HNLS8ALWZ4/IMG_4465.jpg jun-2025 - 6.8.25 Burger Hieroglyphics The Subaru left this tire mark in the garage, and I think it looks like a three-patty burger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282275015-WSC0ZQYBNGQRV87NM148/8K+-+Phil+Armstrong+-22.jpg jun-2025 - 6.9.25 8K Action Went over to a couple of construction sites that 8K are currently working in to grab some in-process shots of the crew doing their thing. The images will be used for marketing purposes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282272347-S3M19CM0GDTI9NAHM7UG/NZF_9275-Pano-Edit.jpg jun-2025 - 6.10.25 Daniel Carter Beard House I had a photo job over on 3rd Street in Covington. The condo wasn’t anything to speak of, but its nearby neighbor sure is. This is where the founder of the Boy Scouts, Daniel Carter Beard, once lived. If you zoom in on the historic marker on the sidewalk, it gives you more history about who “Uncle Dan” was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282276446-U6SNDBY2EPB4FVXAHZYQ/Farm+to+Table+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-129.jpg jun-2025 - 6.11.25 The Newest Exhibit I spent a LOT of time in Shahzia’s exhibit when Collective Behavior was in the Western & Southern Gallery. Even though I’ve seen many exhibitions in that space over the years, that one is freshest in my mind. Working with her and the museum over the last few months will always hold a special place in my heart. When I saw how the staff totally transformed the space in a matter of 6 weeks into something wholly different and new for ‘Farm to Table: Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism’ exhibit, I could scarcely believe Shahzia’s show was in the same room. I know they build walls and change the layout of this room over and over again. But seeing it so different was wild. The new show is great, obviously. Go see it for yourself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282264447-8G7LWJ0OPOD4MG1NWJCS/IMG_4388.jpg jun-2025 - 6.12.25 Random Beauty A view of the railing spindles on the staircase that goes upstairs, turned on its side. The terra cotta wall behind them coupled with the yellow light from the sun streaming in through the stained glass window struck me as so beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282263300-4XBEO0OEO9D415PC62PA/IMG_4384.jpg jun-2025 - 6.13.25 So Close You have to put the lettuce IN the crisper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282259800-YFU7RTZM4JKVV46FT6UY/IMG_4480.jpg jun-2025 - 6.14.25 Little Es I was showing my niece, Esmeray, herself on my Apple Watch while I tethered it to my phone. We were taking photos until she laughed and said, “Okay, that’s enough,” and ran off to pop a balloon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282259362-FXU5AQLDIUH59U8ZG32I/IMG_4484.jpg jun-2025 - 6.15.25 EAT PIZZA I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something important here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751220143210-ON08R8A7Y4DH3RCH8PDR/IMG_4516.jpg jun-2025 - 6.16.25 Shaun’s House Shaun lives in the house parallel to our backyard. I went out on the balcony to get a photo of the sky, and decided to make a quick portrait of the house itself. I’m loving how lush and green everything is right now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751220861265-MJ1BDF4N8M82IJ1JIGJN/IMG_4491.jpg jun-2025 - 6.17.25 Can of Worms When we had the alley door replaced earlier this year, they removed a chunk of the door frame where the old lock used to be. I finally repaired it with a filler piece, but it had to be painted to match everything. Long story short, when I started scraping the flaking away paint around the area so it would be smooth for the new coat, the rest of the paint started effortlessly peeling away. Removing one piece ended up lifting its neighbor, so on and so forth. Now I’m in a situation where I am stripping the entire door frame down to its raw wood finish. While this is obviously a nice way to extract more character from the originality of the house, it’s also a task I didn’t foresee doing, and I cannot help but think I’ve opened a can of worms for myself rather than fixed a problem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751220902565-2JW2341W6GMIM6VZH2OR/Farm+to+Table+Exhibition+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg jun-2025 - 6.18.25 Familiar Work Went back to CAM to slowly photograph the Farm to Table exhibit for their marketing team. I’m sure I’ve said it before on here, but I love working in this museum. Everyone is so nice, the spaces are always perfect, and I get to admire the work of artists while I create something new myself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751310986669-C7C110S74H3VXY53OINT/IMG_4507.jpg jun-2025 - 6.19.25 Surprise Dog Wash Myrtle was having a grand old time playing in the back yard with her toys and the hose when all of a sudden Ashley and her mom decided to give her a bath. As Myrtle is definitively anti-bath, I’m sure she didn’t appreciate the rollercoaster of emotions going from one activity to the next. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311166508-EGPYOQNUYFQ54MYEA6D0/IMG_4527.jpg jun-2025 - 6.20.25 Where the Tracks End While up in West Chester, I drove down a nondescript street lined with office parks. At one point, I rolled over some train tracks and instinctively looked either way. That’s when I noticed they ended in brush on one side. I know nothing about the history of these tracks, and I haven’t had time to dig into it yet, but it’s wild to see them suddenly disappear into foliage without warning. They’ve obviously been abandoned, but I wonder for how long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311520583-RM60NLPIIOMDQ0VTUPW1/IMG_4552.jpg jun-2025 - 6.21.25 Inauguration Ashley’s aunt and uncle were going to pay a hundred dollars to have their old mattress and box springs taken away to the dump. Seeing an opportunity to put the truck to the test, I suggested I come over and take care of it for them so they didn’t have to spend the money. Aside from getting mulch earlier in the summer, this is the first time I’ve used the truck for a distinctly ‘truck’ task. And I have to say it feels amazing. The dump was disgusting, but knowing we saved three figures to do it ourselves was worth it. I hope I get to use the truck again for something else like this soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311779015-TKCFTE6W3S0V02IL625O/NZF_9303.jpg jun-2025 - 6.22.25 A Scruffy Stray Just a scruffy stray cat I found hiding under a car. He/she didn’t want to be pet, but didn’t move when I got down to grab a photo—so long as I kept my distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311923767-W4FQNFX9G74KQZMATNCC/60EMcMicken300A-PhilArmstrong-7.jpg jun-2025 - 6.23.25 21 Years 21 years to date of the anniversary of a bad day. Four of my friends in high school took a road trip to Maine and two of them never made it. A third ended up in critical condition but survived. The fourth walked away because he was the only one wearing his seat belt when the crash occurred. I am sure I’ve spoken about it in the past on here, but it’s a tough date and a hard memory to revisit every year. I used to exchange texts with a few people every year on the anniversary just to let them know I’m thinking about them. I don’t remember when we stopped doing that. I don’t plan to talk about it at all today with anyone, honestly, and I’m fine with processing it alone. The core group grew up and apart, and I don’t know where their families are any longer. At this point, I’m not sure revisiting our relationships makes sense due to how much time has passed without contact. I’m not the type to post about it to social media, so I’ll commemorate it here in this personal space. Craig and Tyler, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the accident. I have no idea if we would still be friends 21 years after high school, but I wish your lives weren’t taken from you so soon. I missed you then, and I still miss you now. It’s a travesty that we couldn’t see your lives play out alongside the rest of us. Eighteen is too young to die. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751313202664-TNTY4NM1VUVHA1VW5K9V/IMG_4572.jpg jun-2025 - 6.24.25 Curiosity While standing on the stoop talking to Vince at his house, this beautiful white stray cat emerged from the greenery and sat staring at Myrtle. I crouched down and tried to coax him out, but he didn’t budge. He was keeping eyes on the dog and not paying much attention to the rest of us. After about three minutes, he retreated back into the greenery and we lost sight of him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751314690745-KB0HW2LS3BCEDE0JCKQX/Xtek+-+Phil+Armstrong+-570.jpg jun-2025 - 6.25.25 The Hottest Job I’ve Ever Had Xtek, located in Sharonville, makes huge metal parts for huge machines. The factory, originally built in the 50s, is a photographer’s dream. When they said they wanted me to come in and shoot their space and processes for artwork to hang on the wall, I could barely contain my excitement. Unfortunately, we chose to do this during the hottest heat wave we’ve had in ages. When the high is 95ºF and the feels-like temp is over 100ºF, being outdoors is a challenge. When you’re in a factory under those conditions and it doesn’t have air conditioning, the outdoors suddenly feels like the better option. And when you’re standing feet away from a 1700ºF furnace with its lid off and a glowing hot mass of metal is being extracted from it, you become acutely aware that the air around you is probably hotter than anything you’ve ever experienced. I got my shots, but not before losing every ounce of water I had left in my body. When I got home, I immediately showered and threw my clothes in the washer. It was a privilege to get to photograph this place, and I had a blast doing it, but if ever I need to go another round with it, I hope we do it in January. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751317334859-301MCOT6ANERB5U61NIJ/Shahzia+Mural+Progress+-+Phil+Armstrong+-143.jpg jun-2025 - 6.26.25 Unapologetically Beautiful Shahzia is back in town to help oversee the start of a mural she designed that will be painted on the back of a church on 9th Street. ArtWorks is undertaking the task of getting it done, so she met with the project manager and the rest of the apprentices early this morning. Due to the heatwave, they start at 8 AM and work until noon. The church hasn’t seen an active congregation in years, so they’ve staged their paints and equipment on the second floor while they climb scaffolding on the exterior to do their work. The light in this place is staggering. When it streams through the stained glass, it looks incredible. The hazy effect you see in this image is practical. Since the humidity is so intense, the change from air conditioned truck to hot outdoor air fogged up my lens such that I couldn’t use it immediately. I had to wait for the majority of it to dissipate before snapping a clear shot. I liked this frame because it’s almost completely gone save for the haziness on the left side of the lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751339558404-QH3EHIP6CHGEI9X8AMFF/Art+After+Dark+6.27.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-88.jpg jun-2025 - 6.27.25 Hilarity in the Galleries For Art After Dark this month, the museum invited six drag queens to lead tours through the galleries. The queens would vamp and make jokes about themselves and the works, keeping the tours light and fun. Several of them were genuinely cracking me up while I was photographing them doing their thing. At one point, the queen was saying something about how the world has had it with mansplaining, and she looked at me and goes, “isn’t that right, Mr. Photographer?” Without missing a beat (I’m very proud of this), I went, “Well, actually…” and raised a finger before pausing and smiling. The whole room erupted into laughter. Felt really good in the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751340176939-J3WJ86DA5HQY29KE1YYO/NZF_9761.jpg jun-2025 - 6.28.25 Doodle Whisperer We went over to Steve and Erica’s house tonight, and their doodle, Maggie, immediately cuddled up to Ashley. Maggie is normally obsessed with me when I go over, but when Ashley’s around, I’m chopped liver. Reminds me of being home with Myrtle! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751595600019-FDTRLP2SN85G6R7M1KWX/NZF_0817.jpg jun-2025 - 6.29.25 Covington Transit They leveled the IRS building, opening up a very clear line of sight to the buildings beyond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751596827829-YEG3RGAEA3M98OXO80RM/CMC+June+30+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1513.jpg jun-2025 - 6.30.25 Working at the CMC It’s been three years since I last worked for the Cincinnati Museum Center. Today, however, I got to do so again. My task was to photograph people enjoying the museum throughout the building, capturing happy faces, and experiencing a sense of wonder. I felt a little uneasy at first photographing people. I wasn’t hiding the fact that I was doing it, but I also wasn’t aiming to grab their attention, either. On the back of everyone’s ticket, there’s language that says the CMC is allowed to photograph people without needing a release. For the first half hour, I struggled to get anything good with any confidence. Eventually, I found my stride, got about 40 workable shots, and called it a day. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jul2025 daily 0.75 2025-08-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752004773340-LCDP3024A2SEZYGIRSTP/NZF_0933.jpg jul-2025 - 7.1.25 Planning Process I am building something for someone outside my home. As such, I am taking measures to really plan this one out properly by rendering it in CAD software. The build is simple, but I’d rather have something fully designed on paper before I get into it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752004773340-LCDP3024A2SEZYGIRSTP/NZF_0933.jpg jul-2025 - 7.1.25 Planning Process I am building something for someone outside my home. As such, I am taking measures to really plan this one out properly by rendering it in CAD software. The build is simple, but I’d rather have something fully designed on paper before I get into it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752005136183-J2EDNKEH4X7C0Z6IDAE4/In+This+Place+-+Phil+Armstrong-5.jpg jul-2025 - 7.2.25 Freedom Center Exhibit Photos I like that I’ve seemingly succeeded in becoming a go-to for exhibit photography for the local museums. Between the Art Museum, Taft, CMC, and Freedom Center, I’ve been fortunate to capture exhibits over the years whenever there’s a need. Today, I photographed the Freedom Center’s new traveling exhibit, Faith & (in)Justice, as well as In This Place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752006223899-49H86WUXALEVMNSCTJYY/NZF_0821.jpg jul-2025 - 7.3.25 Our Disgusting Government There’s no reality in which I support this administration, its policies, or the people in governmental positions helping to make life worse for so many in favor of the rich few. I used to have hope for the future; that optimism is gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752006877345-F8T35BVLDCUIQQM4A3C7/NZF_0873.jpg jul-2025 - 7.4.25 Setting Sun We went out to the farm to celebrate Vince’s 40th birthday. He threw a big party with a band, catered food, and launched fireworks for about 50+ people. We set up a tent in the shade of the edge of the woods and camped over night. It was hot until the sun went down, but the portable fan I brought with me took the edge off. Honestly, I thought it would be a more uncomfortable day, but it was quite pleasant. While everyone else also celebrated the birth of our country, I couldn’t help but feel like everyone was missing the point. There’s no reason to celebrate this place right now. The behavior of our government is nothing to be proud of, and I’m embarrassed to call myself American at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752006881198-VBKTW94XJ6AG0Q6QGXV4/NZF_0928.jpg jul-2025 - 7.5.25 Setting Sun The building next to Allie and Travis’ place looks beautiful in evening light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752796258561-8GEGTMQ8570CY2LDGIMZ/NZF_2633.jpg jul-2025 - 7.6.25 Psst! Just a fun find in Camp Washington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752796407942-SUJLZQ6LYI3YZH9QTIRI/IMG_4647.jpg jul-2025 - 7.7.25 The Frame I’m in construction mode, so I am neglecting photography at the moment. The only intentional image I made today is a shot of the progress on the frame of a structure I’m building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752796658576-PM65Q8JUL8U3G66B3TL1/IMG_4663.jpg jul-2025 - 7.8.25 Surprise! A couple weeks ago, I got a DM from Surprise Surprise Studios inviting me to a pre-release screening of the new Superman movie at Union Terminal. My initial reaction was that it was a scam, but after looking into it a bit more, I realized it was a legitimate invite, and seeing the movie early in the Omnimax theatre was a real possibility. I still have no Earthly idea why I was invited as I’m not an influencer and not in the media any longer. Regardless, I went to the movie, collected a swag bag of promotional materials, and watched the movie on the weirdest, warp-iest screen in Cincinnati. (One of the reasons they held a screening at Union Terminal is because the building itself is prominently featured in one scene.) The movie itself was a lot of fun; not being a Superman fan before, I dig the whole vibe of this iteration. It was great to see it early and in that weird aspect ratio, but I think I’m going to go back and see it again on a normal screen sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752797330496-6LUB3DRUD6TPMW9HY8A0/Mercantile+Apartment+Ribbon+Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong-73.jpg jul-2025 - 7.9.25 Preservation Dedication The Mercantile Building was dedicated today with a ribbon-cutting that included representatives from Model Group, the mayor and city officials, and John from the Mercantile Library among others. I photographed the event for Model Group. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752797508737-98ZTB2HULPU8IEWYLY7S/Marycrest+-+Phil+Armstrong+-28-HDR.jpg jul-2025 - 7.10.25 Proofs A pre-edited image I made today while up in Livonia, MI for Luminaut. I went up and back in one day, and while it was a tiring 8 hours on the road, I’m glad I took the job. When these are processed to their finished version, I think they’ll look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752797922809-QUJPOU16LCFXZ3DL9QN5/IMG_4698.jpg jul-2025 - 7.11.25 Paw Pile Zzzzzzz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752798417959-A51T4VZ3WW6DLETNTKV8/711+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-11+copy.jpg jul-2025 - 7.12.25 A Transformation For the Ages I shot 711 Scott Street 13 months ago (bottom), and then again today (top). The owners transformed a dilapidated, abandoned law firm into a gorgeous house that they intend to place on the market soon. To give you some idea of how vastly it’s changed, take a look at the before/after. It’s the same spot from the same angle. While I liked the previous ceiling, I also understand the desire to take it out and open it up a little better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752798782153-WTFO6EAX1FLEORCSS31X/IMG_4713.jpg jul-2025 - 7.13.25 The Frame (Part 2) Remember the frame I posted on the 7th? That was part one of a construction project. Part 2 is a frame for a vanity mirror that will be hung above it. This is the raw build lit up as seen in a bad iPhone photo (again, when in construction mode, I don’t have the capacity to do proper photography). I still need to sand and paint it, then install for Marlene. Once everything’s in place, I will post the finished product. This thing has been a bear to build, and I’ve had to construct it out at my parents’ house since they have more room. Without my dad lending a helping hand and me having a truck to bring it back to my place, I don’t know how I would’ve done this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752798858109-X3LVTZFL6ZUF5NMHAVM8/711+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-46.jpg jul-2025 - 7.14.25 Better Lighting When I did the shoot at 711 Scott the other day, Rebecca didn’t like the overhead lighting, and there wasn’t a bulb in the floor lamp in the living room. I returned today in the evening to re-shoot it after the owner put a new bulb in the lamp. It makes the room feel so much more inviting, in my opinion. Overhead can lighting is the worst. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752799334630-WEBMGX73JIWJ6SC4C9CU/Shahzia+Mural+Progress+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1740.jpg jul-2025 - 7.15.25 Progress on Shahzia’s Mural Went out for fresh images of the mural Shahzia designed. ArtWorks apprentices are really getting a lot done! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752799665371-MFDX3O3ZGOMKB4PFDAWI/ArtWorks+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2012.jpg jul-2025 - 7.16.25 Screen Printing ArtWorks has me documenting their apprentices in various locations as they work on separate projects in remote spaces. Today’s trip took me out to Norwood where they were removing glazed works from kilns, carving small figures out of clay, and screen printing intricate designs. Despite being in art club when I was young, I wasn’t a cool art kid. And even at nearly 40 years old, I still look at young artists—the same type of people who I admired back in the late-90s and early-2000s—and think they’re some of the coolest people in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752799725873-IJ224QALQHB8D9G5WP65/ArtWorks+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2066.jpg jul-2025 - 7.17.25 A Colorful Day at Work Day 3 of documenting ArtWorks artists doing their thing. This time, I went out to Camp Washington to capture what I could. This room was especially colorful, and I really liked this composition specifically. Everything I said about cool art kids yesterday applies to the cool art kids I photographed today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1753276476790-N7JNJKMLCKCWQ48573P5/NZF_3264.jpeg jul-2025 - 7.18.25 Casa Bonita Rob and Rachel signed up for a reservation for four to Casa Bonita in Denver over a year and a half ago. A few weeks back, they got the email that they could finally fulfill that reservation. Rob had mentioned it to Travis and I after he’d originally submitted their names, and we both said we were committed to joining when he received the green light. So, that’s what we did. We went to Denver for lunch at a Mexican restaurant that shares its DNA with Disneyland. Of course I watched the documentary about the place before we went. The history, the renovation, the new lease on life it received as a result of the two creators of South Park, etc. All of it was fascinating, and seeing two rich dudes dump an endless amount of money into a passion project they know will never be profitable was both satisfying and endearing. One major thing they improved with this new iteration of Casa Bonita was the food. I had the brisket nachos—they were exactly what I’d expect from a place like this. After we fulfilled our hour and fifteen minute dining spot, we wandered around the enormous space taking in all the decor and entertainment. It’s honestly too much to recount here, and I won’t do it justice anyway. It’s just a wild, wonderful place with cliff divers, singing puppets, warm and inviting caves, over-the-top live performances, and false streets that feel real among many other things. All of it stands in stark contrast to reality; leaving the safe, colorful, fantasy world of Casa Bonita and stepping back into an overcast afternoon on Colfax Street in Denver was lightly depressing. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Casa Bonita, please go. It’s an experience unlike many others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1753276479189-5YCHAPW326PAVOIM1DSW/NZF_3426.jpeg jul-2025 - 7.19.25 The Mountains After an exciting first day in Denver, we headed into the mountains to take advantage of Colorado’s defining feature. Rocky Mountain National Park ended up being an unusually busy spot, and we had to fight hard to find places to park the rental so we could get out and explore. We hiked around Sprague Lake, Bear Lake, Alberta Falls (pictured), and drove up to nearly 12,000 feet at one point to the alpine tundra. The views were understandably breathtaking (both literally and figuratively at that altitude). It was a treat to point a camera in any direction and nail the frame without much effort. I don’t think there’s anything more picturesque in nature than mountains. After a long day in the mountains, we ended up spending $5 to go into an over-100-year-old amusement park that looks like it hadn’t been updated in 60 years. They were weird about photography there, restricting us to only using our phones for images. At one point, I was told not to even use my phone. Luckily, I got what I wanted and they didn’t make me delete any of them. I’ll probably go through those at some point and put them online. It was a truly special place that I’m still in shock exists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1753277072536-TMGZM4XRUQPVHY9GBGP9/NZF_3527.jpeg jul-2025 - 7.20.25 The Long Trip Back We ate at the highly-regarded Pete’s Kitchen for breakfast. Every time I’m in another city with a 24-hour greasy spoon diner in it, I am reminded of what we don’t have back home. It’s insane that this type of restaurant isn’t commonplace everywhere. We took it easier today. Travis went to the airport around 1 PM, and Rob and Rachel and I chilled on a rooftop with craft beer until leaving for the airport at 4 PM. Our flight was originally scheduled to leave at 8 PM, but it was delayed three times and ended up leaving around 1:30 AM. To say it was a long, frustrating day at DEN is an understatement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754264421092-3LLEJDAZWD2275XGR3JJ/IMG_4998.jpg jul-2025 - 7.21.25 Technically Technically I took this after midnight in the airport while we were waiting for our plane to figure itself out, so it counts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754265126671-UOZT7HEXKAW90WNE59ZN/Cordova+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3605.jpg jul-2025 - 7.20.25 Cordova A portrait of William Cordova in front of a mural he designed. Behind him is the ArtWorks team who helped realize the mural. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754265130136-QGXVAKTFTREWS29O1LJM/2028+Russell+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-65.jpg jul-2025 - 7.23.25 The Firehouse 2028 Russell Street was built as a firehouse many years ago. While I don’t have time to fully research it at the moment, I read that it also served as a corner store, a beauty salon, and a residence prior to its current state. And by current state, I mean it’s filled with raccoon crap and enough graffiti to keep you busy reading for hours. There’s no power, so it’s completely dark inside. I had to use a flashlight to shoot this for the listing. Some of the walls are missing, you can see through the floor to the basement in a couple spots, and I’m positive I took a few lungfuls of black mold by accident. I got in before the heat really rocketed to its peak, but that didn’t stop it from being a furnace in there. It wasn’t a comfortable shoot at all. It’s going on the market for a low price with the understanding that this will require a lot of work to get it ready for habitation. I just hope whoever buys it can fix it up the way it should be. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754266426110-K96FDXE5LOTKMB9CLHMJ/The+Pointe+GBBN+-+Phil+Armstrong+-44-Edit-Edit-Edit-Edit.jpg jul-2025 - 7.24.25 The Point An unfinished composite from a shoot I did with GBBN today at The Point in CUF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754266883176-HC4HL1VMJW8J2CA1E27N/DSC_8820.jpg jul-2025 - 7.25.25 Cancan Dancers For Art After Dark this month, the museum brought down dancers from Dayton for a show. They did about five routines that included a mix of one-on-one pairings to the full troupe. One routine was a tounge-in-cheek act in which either lady was visibly trying to one-up the other. While one would dance, the other would scowl and be dismissive. The crowd ate it up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267190627-PFOETG7JQYSI4IB8YMWT/NZF_3641.jpg jul-2025 - 7.26.25 The Falls Doing the Heavy Lift Today we embarked upon a road trip that will ultimately lead us to New England with several stops along the way. Unlike last year when we went to Maine, we’re bringing along Myrtle for the ride. Our first stop is Buffalo and Niagara Falls. I’ve only ever read about and seen photos of the Falls, so this was a good opportunity to scratch it off my list. As a fan of parks and the natural beauty of the country around me, I was very excited to see them for myself. I knew the States’ side wasn’t optimal for viewing the Falls before we went, but I was still excited to see what I could from the park in New York. I also knew it would be crowded, but I wasn’t really prepared for how crowded it ended up being. To say there were a lot of people at Niagara Falls is an understatement. If you’re looking for a personal, quiet moment in nature, that ship sailed from Niagara long ago. While we had a good time walking through the park with Myrtle and dodging crowds of tourists to see what we could of the Falls, the city itself was a low-key bummer. Rundown buildings, dirty sidewalks and pedestrian infrastructure, cheap attractions you’d find at a county fairground, and an amount of loud, obnoxious cars a National Park should never experience. I’m positive there’s something in the city that’s worth experiencing outside the Falls, but I’d have to dig for it. I didn’t have that much time there to look for something worthwhile outside the Falls, and since I had Myrtle and Ashley with me it wasn’t going to happen anyway. We were there for probably 2 hours tops before we went to Buffalo to find our hotel. It’s wild that a city like Niagara—a place with so much potential to be incredible—has chosen to be a sad Vegas. Then again, maybe it’s just self-aware. It doesn’t need to be anything but what it currently is; the Falls themselves are such a grand attraction, people will come from around the world to experience it regardless of the state of the city around it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267288795-N7LKPMPI25SV6KCAXP7V/NZF_3822.jpg jul-2025 - 7.27.25 Into the Hudson Valley After an early departure from Buffalo, we drove toward our next rest spot in Hudson, NY. Along the way, however, I made three stops to photograph oddities on top of things: a large statue of a man sitting atop a five and dime in East Aurora, a tiny house on top of a factory building in Syracuse, and a large dog statue that once sat atop a factory owned by RCA (now defunct) called Nipper. We got to our Airbnb in the woods by mid-afternoon. The place was tucked into woods right next to a very active Amtrak line that saw at least one train per hour. It was a perfect spot to post up between trips up the hill to the city proper, and had room for Myrtle to run around with her ball. Hudson itself is very picturesque. Warren Street appears to be its main thoroughfare with the most shops and restaurants the city had to offer. After reading up on it a bit, it’s apparently referred to as “Williamsburg in the woods” due to all the NYCers who’ve come up and (unfortunately) gentrified Hudson. If you go off of Warren to any of the neighboring streets, you’ll see abandoned houses and boarded up buildings right next to fully renovated and well-maintained ones. It’s very clearly a city that’s been undergoing change for a time. The wealth gap is palpable in a place like this, sadly. Despite the exorbitant prices for everything, we had a good time wandering around and taking in the sights as the sun began going down. Choosing just one image from today was difficult, but I’ve landed on this one because it’s representative of my favorite block of architecture I saw in Hudson. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267393898-EF34KINJPVH69XD9U1PA/NZF_3935.jpg jul-2025 - 7.28.25 Amtrak, Olana, and More After getting coffee and breakfast, we checked out the Amtrak station in Hudson. A train bound for NYC arrived to pick up passengers while we were there. I lamented the fact Amtrak barely services Cincinnati, and when it does, only once a week at 2 AM. These trains were scheduled for NYC and Toronto among other destinations every hour this morning. It would be a dream to live in the Valley and take a 2-hour ride to Penn Station whenever desired. Hudson hadn’t fully opened up for the day, so we wandered over to Catskill for a bit, but everything was closed there, too. After seeing some wild turkey with their babies, we drove up to Olana—a historic site with an ornate, one-of-a-kind mansion designed by an artist who was part of the Hudson River School of landscape painting in the 19th century (pictured). Once we’d had our fill of Olana, we headed back into town to check out the shops that were now open. We grabbed a drink, bought a few items, then went back to the Airbnb to rest up and get out of the oppressive heat. Later on, we got pizza and ate it in Hudson’s riverfront park on a picnic table. It was a nice way to spend our final evening in the quiet, expensive little city on the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267584375-EYKBUNSVAM35LKJ2RO41/NZF_4015.jpg jul-2025 - 7.29.25 Return to Camden Last year, we were unexpectedly charmed by a town in Maine called Camden. So charmed, in fact, that we made it the centerpiece of our roadtrip this year because we wanted Myrtle to experience it with us. After leaving Hudson, we drove straight to Camden without stopping so we could have the maximum amount of time there with her. We rented a room at the same motel we did last year because it looks straight out onto Penobscot Bay. The motel was built in the 1930s—back when laws didn’t prohibit lodging from being that close to the shoreline—making it one of the only places you can rent that close to the sea. The room last year was perfect, and this year was no different. Myrtle seemed entranced by the birds and ships on the water when she sat out on the balcony overlooking the water. It was cute to watch her enjoy it in her own way. I took her outside and up on the large rocks for a bit for a closer look (pictured). We eventually went into town and shopped/ate a lobster roll/drank a blueberry beer. The town is small and quaint in a way that, while touristy, doesn’t feel trashy and cheap. Myrtle got into the bay at one point and laid down to cool off. I’m so glad she gets to enjoy Camden with us this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267758852-BHCJB15I7QK23BHQ2W8V/NZF_4038.jpg jul-2025 - 7.30.25 The Sunrise We Didn’t See Last Year When we went to Camden last year, it was foggy the morning we woke up in our motel room. As such, we didn’t get to enjoy the sunrise on the bay the way we wished we could’ve. This year, however, the weather was clear. We set an alarm for 5:20 AM, rolled out of bed, made coffee in the room, and sat in our chairs on the balcony overlooking the water with Myrtle. I shot a few photos as the sun rose. It was everything I’d hoped it would be. After getting breakfast and letting Myrtle swim at Laite Memorial Beach, we headed up to Camden Hills State Park for a view of the city. Afterward, we met a retired couple who (I think) live on their boat and bop around from port to port along the New England coast with friends. If that’s not the dream, I don’t know what is. Later on, we took Myrtle to a place called Duck Trap River where she could launch off a rocky beach into deep water to fetch her toy. We wore her out to the point where she could barely keep her eyes open in the back of the truck on the ride back to the motel. It was our final evening in Camden, so we went back to the motel room to sit on the balcony and enjoy the time we had left (and let Myrtle rest). A storm inched its way into the bay, so we sat in the dark sipping wine as it lit up the water with flashes of lightning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267915552-K7HEUUBJKHUKBY5IQBI0/NZF_4233.jpg jul-2025 - 7.31.25 Onward to Rhode Island As we tearfully said goodbye to Camden, we pressed onward to Newport, Rhode Island. The drive took about 5 hours total. The rain from last night spread a thick blanket of clouds across New England such that, when we got to Newport, the skies were still flat and dull. Having bookmarked a bunch of stuff for us to see and do on the map, we started by getting hot dogs at Wally’s Wieners on Thames Street. Thames was packed with tourists like us. Unlike Camden, though, I didn’t think it was especially nice. All the shops we saw were some version of beach t-shirt you’d find along a boardwalk in Florida, and because the city was so old, the street was tight and cramped with too many cars running through it. Justin recommended a coffee spot that we stopped to check out. It was good, but way too crowded for comfort. Finding ourselves not enjoying the experience, we sought out some other place on the island to check out. I’d read before we went that the Cliff Walk was a must-do for first time visitors. After parking the car and wandering down to the cliffside, it was immediately clear that this was what we were meant to enjoy in Newport. The Cliff Walk is exactly what it sounds like; a cliff overlooking the sea that the public can enjoy. Old mansions that once housed Vanderbilts and other old-school wealthy Americans lined the walk, providing an interesting architectural element to complement the natural beauty of the cliff. We drove Ocean Avenue, went around Brenton Point State Park, failed to visit Fort Adams State Park because a jazz festival was happening, and ended up going to Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling for dinner. The sky, which had been overcast and threatening rain all afternoon, was beginning to worsen. Exhausted from traveling and being out all day, we decided to call it an early evening and checked into the hotel room where we watched a documentary and fell asleep before 10 PM. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/aug2025 daily 0.75 2025-09-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268182486-CMZQ6P2A15D3VX9P7AYH/NZF_4281.jpg aug-2025 - 8.1.25 One Final Stop I’m sure Newport, RI has more good stuff in it to experience, but aside from the Cliff Walk, we weren’t overly impressed. We awoke to rain, further dampening our experience, and promptly left to head to our final destination: an Airbnb Airstream camper in the woods of Hedgesville, WV. The drive from Rhode Island to West Virginia broke me, honestly. I haven’t been sleeping overly well since our first night in Buffalo, and the fatigue was catching up to me. 7 hours with stop-and-go traffic sprinkled throughout ended up worsening my condition such that I had to have Ashley drive for about 30 miles at one point so I could take a 20 minute nap. We passed through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the tiniest bit of Maryland before finally arriving in West Virginia. By the end of the trip, I was seeing stars in my peripheral vision. The Airstream camper is renovated and cute inside, but as a tall person, I don’t fit into it as well as I’d like. The bathroom is going to be a problem, I fear. After taking one look at the full bed, I realized I’d be sleeping on the couch so Ashley and Myrtle can have room to rest. I wasn’t interested in going out to eat with the dog in tow, and Hedgesville is barely a city with anything in it anyway, so we opted to just go to the local grocery store for food and snacks. Because it rained, the campfire wood was still damp, making it difficult to get a fire going. We managed to get enough of one lit with shreds of sticks and bark from a nearby tree to roast some wieners before it fizzled out. I felt good about our sense of resourcefulness overall. Even despite not being fully prepared to camp, we made it work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268182486-CMZQ6P2A15D3VX9P7AYH/NZF_4281.jpg aug-2025 - 8.1.25 One Final Stop I’m sure Newport, RI has more good stuff in it to experience, but aside from the Cliff Walk, we weren’t overly impressed. We awoke to rain, further dampening our experience, and promptly left to head to our final destination: an Airbnb Airstream camper in the woods of Hedgesville, WV. The drive from Rhode Island to West Virginia broke me, honestly. I haven’t been sleeping overly well since our first night in Buffalo, and the fatigue was catching up to me. 7 hours with stop-and-go traffic sprinkled throughout ended up worsening my condition such that I had to have Ashley drive for about 30 miles at one point so I could take a 20 minute nap. We passed through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the tiniest bit of Maryland before finally arriving in West Virginia. By the end of the trip, I was seeing stars in my peripheral vision. The Airstream camper is renovated and cute inside, but as a tall person, I don’t fit into it as well as I’d like. The bathroom is going to be a problem, I fear. After taking one look at the full bed, I realized I’d be sleeping on the couch so Ashley and Myrtle can have room to rest. I wasn’t interested in going out to eat with the dog in tow, and Hedgesville is barely a city with anything in it anyway, so we opted to just go to the local grocery store for food and snacks. Because it rained, the campfire wood was still damp, making it difficult to get a fire going. We managed to get enough of one lit with shreds of sticks and bark from a nearby tree to roast some wieners before it fizzled out. I felt good about our sense of resourcefulness overall. Even despite not being fully prepared to camp, we made it work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268182160-DXLAY1LZJNL5TCQ1K01V/NZF_4376.jpg aug-2025 - 8.2.25 The Woods of West Virginia I slept like dogshit on the couch, and the shower was a puzzle I wasn’t keen to solve so early in the morning. My body needs a good night’s rest so badly, I think I’d sleep outside on the ground if it meant I could get more than an hour at a time. Might take a Benadryl before bed tonight just so I can muscle through and get some actual rest in before the long drive home tomorrow. There’s next to nothing to see or do in Hedgesville, so we went one town over to Martinsburg—the largest city in the West Virginia panhandle. Even though it has an Amtrak service and hosts the end of MARC, Maryland’s commuter rail whose Brunswick Line ends in Martinsburg, the city still feels very sleepy. We walked around its historic downtown to check out the shops and historic properties, such as the Martinsburg Roundhouse. The roundhouse is apparently the last of its kind and listed on the Register of Historic Places due to being heavily involved in a moment of the Civil War as well as the Railroad Strike of 1877. While there was very little to do in the city, I got a kick out of photographing the oldest part of downtown. The city was founded in the early years of the American Revolution and has a load of old, historic buildings charged with character. There’s no shortage of small-town beauty embedded in all the various styles, and it reminded me of several small Kentucky towns I’ve been to over the last couple years. The city sealed up an apple-shaped time capsule in 1990, so I gave that a look, too (pictured). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268189541-EBHME4UTJAUSZIS386J3/NZF_4394.jpg aug-2025 - 8.3.25 37% We got up early to embark on the long drive home. The sooner we left, the more of the afternoon we’d have to prepare for work again the next day after nine days off. Our route took us past Pittsburgh. On my list of oddities and unique things to see was the US’ steepest street—the last ‘incline’ I hadn’t yet done in that city. You’d think San Francisco would take the cake, but apparently it’s Canton Ave in PGH. I can’t full convey how thrilling it was to drive up this absurdly built, 37% grade street. I didn’t even really think before I swung into it. I set the truck on sport mode, and hit the gas without going too fast. As soon as all four tires started up the incline, I regretted it, then I felt a wave of excitement, followed by another wave of fear and panic before finally settling down into excitement again. Ashley and Myrtle clung to each other in the back seat, protesting as I inched the pedal closer and closer to the floor. I gripped the wheel tightly hoping that we’d be alright, but truck didn’t struggle for a second. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have worried; if it weren’t traversable, it wouldn’t be open to the public. I parked the car and got out to take a few photos. The stairs are a necessity to get up and down. Even though the vehicle could do it, it’d be a struggle to walk up and down without proper shoes and balance. After leaving Pittsburgh, I drove us home and we arrived by 4 PM. Ashley went to bed super early, and now I am here at my desk, plugging away at this entry and reflecting on the great roadtrip we got to enjoy over the last week with Myrtle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754359347467-9UCL2YMPESVEJ8T9639A/DSC_9066.jpg aug-2025 - 8.4.25 The District I had a shoot at The District at Deerfield this morning. It’s a new mixed use complex with loads of apartments, restaurants, bars, and future shops out near Fields Ertle. One of the fixtures is Fifty West’s new location. While up on one of the balconies, I took a photo of the space and liked how the rule of thirds worked nicely with the horizon. The property is still under construction, but I think this will be a pretty popular spot a la The Approach at Summit Park, Factory 52, or the Peters Cartridge Factory Apartments. Were I looking for suburban living with a livelier setting, this might be a decent option. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101070849-HICI4V598ASRDL7PKOS1/NZF_4396.jpg aug-2025 - 8.5.25 Hard as a Feather A metal feather-shaped hangar in the basement under dramatic lighting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101279987-KC0L0CINIJ8EEZQQGTTU/DSC_9087.jpg aug-2025 - 8.6.25 A Suburban Pool Went out to photograph some properties for Rookwood, one of which had a pool. I thought this frame with the foliage framing it looked nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101486031-AH4IQVSIB9YUJGO35UEJ/DSC_9379-HDR.jpg aug-2025 - 8.7.25 Elm Street, Ludlow A shot of Elm Street in Ludlow from the second story of a house that faces it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101641609-XL9GHU4UV3IHUOF078NL/Calm+Caterpillar+8.8.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-29.jpg aug-2025 - 8.8.25 The Thinker Eric stood in for a lighting test prior to a shoot with Calm Caterpillar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755717578243-DQQAH66D8P5RNHZ3H22F/IMG_5264.jpg aug-2025 - 8.9.25 Pool Party Ashley got a foldable pool for Myrtle, and she enjoyed it in the sun on the deck this afternoon. I am fighting a summer cold and have to miss Tiki Night at Travis and Allie’s, unfortunately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755718260068-UY9WG1T7BWNMVLCU4YWV/IMG_5293.jpg aug-2025 - 8.10.25 Monmouth at Sunset Thought the light was nice on Monmouth tonight. Wish I’d brought my Zf with me instead of using my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755719568525-Q4RHOSDOM99REJD87IF2/NZF_4424-Pano-Pano+copy.jpg aug-2025 - 8.11.25 At Least I Got a Nice Shot We watched the Reds lose to the Phillies and then couldn’t hear Snoop Dogg playing because they didn’t pipe the sound into the upper deck. It wasn’t a great outing overall, but I did manage to make a couple of panoramas with the Zf at different times of day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755719749853-TUCV9BGUOA2MREIJQKCV/14+W+5th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg aug-2025 - 8.12.25 Church For Sale Today’s listing photos were for a church in Covington. The stained glass and woodwork in the sanctuary were beautiful. The rest of it was pretty forgettable. I was in there solo the entire time, and I can’t say I felt especially comfortable being in this large, unfamiliar space alone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720019889-B6XBAD7QDAJQPHG2MF9U/0E7FA0E8-DBD9-4760-A560-0F658A50F986_1_102_o-2.jpg aug-2025 - 8.13.25 Nothing Extra I’ve never seen exactly two Lillies sprouting up from the ground without any sort of visible dirt/mulch base. I actually thought these were fake at first glance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720418427-KJYIPKBOS6J4EW4KK70T/166+Van+Voast++-+Phil+Armstrong+-44.jpg aug-2025 - 8.14.25 166 Van Voast Rebecca had me shoot 166 Van Voast in Bellevue today. There’s nothing more to say about it. If ever I return to a time when work doesn’t consume the largest part of me every day, I will try to say more in these posts. I just don’t have the motivation at present, and I feel like it’s been this way for months. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720463661-SSUC5BPVWTPBEODC9Q1L/Accessibility+Retreat+2025++-+Phil+Armstrong+-49.jpg aug-2025 - 8.15.25 Accessibility Retreat A frame from today’s Accessibility Retreat at the Cincinnati Art Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720603649-PL2U7O0PJSQQWMQX1D2U/IMG_5324.jpg aug-2025 - 8.16.25 Morning Light In Grear Alley Snapped a photo while walking up Grear Alley this morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720806563-ZUEAYVN4IHWYC8UY5PI5/IMG_5342.jpeg aug-2025 - 8.17.25 I Had No Idea I power-washed this wall years ago. Over time, it slowly gathered more and more grime, and I didn’t notice how bad it was until I hit it with the sprayer by accident while doing the stairs nearby. When I saw the bright, warm concrete surface beneath the soot and filth, I knew what I had to do. Needless to say I took care of it, and afterward it looked like a brand new wall. There’s probably a metaphor in here about regular doses of effort keeping the proverbial grime at bay so it doesn’t build up without us noticing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755721341414-GRR8MN6Y8JZ17MY8F4OT/Modern+Shelving+-+1420+Elm+%28Cincinnati%29++-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg aug-2025 - 8.18.25 Modern Shelving Modern Shelving, a San Clemente-based company, reached out recently about being their product photographer in the Cincinnati area. They assigned me a job in Over-the-Rhine, I shot the product in the house today, and turned in the photos. Currently waiting to hear back from them. Hopefully this turns into a regular gig. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756477833307-HIZJCLYF5TJRE245E1AI/IMG_5369.jpg aug-2025 - 8.19.25 Outdoor Art ‘One-Seater Concrete Tree’ by Nacho Carbonell at the Cincinnati Art Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756477947558-PMFTQCDULEJBRSBWZ3ET/IMG_5375.jpg aug-2025 - 8.20.25 Mattress Shopping Mattresses are expensive, but they’re also one of the most important things for your health, so I guess we’re spending an absurd amount of money on one of the better ones… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478136525-8CFS1RQTN9CVOKXIO3PF/DSC_2034.jpg aug-2025 - 8.21.25 Do It In Post This little miniature panther was resting outside the front of the house I had to shoot today for a listing. He didn’t seem bothered by me being there, but growled when I went in for a pet on the head. Instead of moving him from the shot, I opted to take the photo with him in it and simply clone stamp him out in Photoshop, which felt wrong to do despite it being necessary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478434387-KWTLDQI0B83YTYAQX1ME/NZF_4781.jpg aug-2025 - 8.22.25 Chicago Rules Yes, I know Navy Pier is about the most touristy thing you can do outside of taking a selfie at The Bean in Millennium Park or going to the top of Willis Sears Tower. I’d never actually been there before and only ever saw it from some other vantage point. We went up to the Windy City with Travis, Allie, and Caitlyn for the weekend. We saw a show at Second City, walked around Navy Pier and Michigan Ave, and hit up a brewery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478675120-A41V150T19TRORHXRZXT/NZF_4919.jpg aug-2025 - 8.23.25 Northwest Tower A portrait of Northwest Tower in Wicker Park, built in the late 1920s. Today it’s a hotel called The Robey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478911737-VQ6OMCVKULFDNVR6DMTO/NZF_5147-Edit.jpg aug-2025 - 8.24.25 A Wicker Park Corner As our weekend in Chicago comes to an end, we went back to Wicker Park so the girls could thrift shop again. I have no interest in second-hand pants, so I wandered around the neighborhood snapping a few frames. I liked this busy corner by the L that had loads of people and cyclists navigating the area. I’m eager to come back to Chicago when the opportunity presents itself. It’s a great city full of good stuff to check out, and I’ve barely scratched the surface. Also, it’s fun to hear people drone on about how it’s a lawless hellscape and then witness how pleasant and chill it is first-hand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548678530-H4YC63R3DE5I1KP7OE63/Art+Dinner++-+Phil+Armstrong+-171.jpg aug-2025 - 8.25.25 Art Dinner Photographed ArtWorks’ Art Dinner this evening at The Standard in Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548686784-ASYTADQ4S2SMC6T0ARRJ/IMG_5463.jpg aug-2025 - 8.26.25 Baby Announcement Mike and Jenn told me they’re having a baby tonight. I’m excited for them. They’ve been trying for awhile, and it’s finally happened. I don’t have a photo that corresponds to the announcement, so this one of the community garden on McMicken I took while photographing apartments will have to do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548858290-3S9TJOUT8V3NC6KJ4DQL/IMG_5472.jpg aug-2025 - 8.27.25 The Silhouette Whenever we’re out late, we usually come home to this scene and it makes us laugh every time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548969009-UWY36RB2KONLADALKBXO/GivaudanRestrooms-PhilArmstrong-114.jpg aug-2025 - 8.28.25 Sure, Why Not When a contractor asks you to photograph the office restrooms they did and they’re willing to pay for your time, you can’t really say no. Or at least I couldn’t. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549140697-O42TZMO313YFMGTEKS28/IMG_5489.jpg aug-2025 - 8.30.25 Groceries On Two Wheels It was a beautiful day to take the bike out and pick up a few items from the store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549624687-SUGBOCYLN3VS7JTRCXBC/DSC01385.jpg aug-2025 - 8.31.25 Kings Island Went to Kings Island for the first time during the summer season since I was in high school. It was strange going back to a place I went to so much as a kid after so long. I’m actually writing a longer blog post about it, so I’ll keep my thoughts here brief for now. I left my phone at home and just took my old 17-year-old CyberShot with me. It was so beautiful being disconnected from the wider world and living in the moment with my friends. I wish I could do this every day. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/sep2025 daily 0.75 2025-10-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549910316-3CPBP36WDOHXCHNWJ690/IMG_5520.jpeg sep-2025 - 9.1.25 Asset Creation The aforementioned camera I took to KI yesterday. Took a photo of it for the blog post I’m writing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549910316-3CPBP36WDOHXCHNWJ690/IMG_5520.jpeg sep-2025 - 9.1.25 Asset Creation The aforementioned camera I took to KI yesterday. Took a photo of it for the blog post I’m writing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549918121-YLA02BL0EEGK48X44XP8/711+Scott+Street++-+Phil+Armstrong+-105.jpg sep-2025 - 9.2.25 Return to Scott Street Night shots for a listing I shot last month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757551759645-71EKRNBP89B1Z9MRILU3/NZF_6861.jpg sep-2025 - 9.3.25 Still Life Good light in the room tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757551736145-BLLM0JJZNEUL569B9ZT8/IMG_5557.jpg sep-2025 - 9.4.25 The Frame (Part 3) Back in July, I posted photos of a frame for a vanity I was building for Marlene. Long story short, I never got around to getting a finished photo after I posted about it (check July 7 and 13th in the archives for more). I went to Maine, work was crazy after getting back, and I didn’t have another job in the studio for a little bit. Today, though, I met up with her in the studio to run around and pick up some equipment, and I finally got a finished photo of the whole thing. It’s not a great photo, but I only had a minute to snap something on my phone. I’m really proud of the way it turned out, and she said it’s made a big difference for her hair and makeup crew. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757552485779-GHZP7023LJSKS3BLPERL/RetailProcess-PhilArmstrong.jpg sep-2025 - 9.5.25 The Bridge 8K spent a year renovating a couple of blighted buildings in Evanston along Montgomery Road. The top photo is a retail space I photographed in September of 2025. The bottom is what that same exact space looks like today from as close to the same perspective as I could get it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757552680211-VTCEBW8GNAZOKUJZR3G2/NZF_6782.jpg sep-2025 - 9.6.25 Hoary Edge (Thorybes Lyciades) While photographing Art on the Rise this afternoon, I spotted a brown and orange butterfly on a caution sign. I liked how the colors were so similar to one another. Later on, I spent an embarrassing amount of time online trying and failing to identify the insect, losing way too much time looking at butterflies before realizing this was, in fact, a hoary edge moth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757553467069-H9MLM57GU8VCFUZPVG8H/IMG_5627.jpg sep-2025 - 9.7.25 False Shower I’m making a fake shower for a photoshoot and using these stick-on tiles. Never done this before. Decided to do it outside where I have more room, and the white rubbery tiles reflected the blue sky quite nicely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757553897357-8FEM6JJDHLWGW4478S51/IMG_5649.jpeg sep-2025 - 9.8.25 The Cycle All I’m doing is working. If I’m not photographing something for someone, I’m building a set for someone else. If I’m not behind a camera, I’m editing what I did behind one earlier in the day. If I’m not editing, I’m answering emails and trying to get my calendar situated. If I’m not doing that, I’m fretting about my backlog of organizational tasks I haven’t done because I’m always so strapped for time. In the off chance I get a free evening, I’m either working on house stuff or trying to catch up on something else. When I do force myself to relax, I feel guilty for doing so. This cycle of productivity is tiring. I would love to be busy, but also not getting my ass kicked every week for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757554446285-6SM6XGSZO67VK9XXTFWL/NZF_6847-Edit-Edit.jpg sep-2025 - 9.9.25 Faking It After Making It I was tasked with making a fake shower for a photoshoot. Really all we needed was an embedded shelf and two flat panels with tile. I don’t know how they’re going to be used or for what products, but I built them out of 3/4-inch thick MDF panels, stick-on tiles, and I made the shelf from scrap I had in the basement. I think they turned out well overall. I did a quick setup and shoot to get an idea of how it’ll look. I can’t wait to see how this turns out when the real shoot happens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757554569767-ECS7CWLGAXWOX951KCNA/IMG_5689.jpg sep-2025 - 9.10.25 Two Cats Just a couple of guys I saw on a walk with Myrtle after a busy day in the studio with Marlene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758897247731-66HIXE7MZF5R0TPQ16DY/IMG_5792.jpg sep-2025 - 9.11.25 Passing Through Working with Marlene this week and next week. It’s going to be a struggle to find stuff to photograph despite the fact that I’m literally in a studio all week. If you’re new here, I don’t have as much opportunity to find subjects to photograph when I’m helping in her studio. Photography of the studio is largely prohibited (understandably), and since I’m there for 10 hours a day, I have less chance to snap something interesting. The task falls to the evening when I’m off work for the day and have time to do my own thing. I snapped a photo of this corner while at a stop light. The colors on the building have long been attractive to me, and I finally caught in good light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758897266135-LWJ7GXEOJKHUKM9BXPF6/NZF_6890-Edit.jpg sep-2025 - 9.12.25 Oktoberfest Covington We ate at the revolving restaurant in Covington tonight. The food was actually better than I thought it would be. I don’t believe I’ve been in well over 10 years, and hadn’t been since childhood before that. The gimmick of a rotating restaurant wasn’t lost on me. I find that kind of thing delightful and memorable, especially on a night like tonight when the weather was beautiful and we spun around during sunset. Afterward, we wandered down to Covington’s Oktoberfest to check things out. I hadn’t been to Covington’s celebration in a long time, and I was surprised by how enjoyable the whole setup was. Streets were closed, loads of tents with various food, drink, and wares were sprinkled about the park and neighboring streets, booths with games sat illuminated at the edge of the woods (pictured), a band played on a stage, and shops along the celebration opened their doors for the evening. Honestly, though, I think the most memorable thing to me was all the people posted up on their porches. There are many private residences that abut the festival with large porches ready to host parties, and nary a homeowner or renter in the area failed to do so. With dogs on their laps and cans of beer in hand, they appeared to soak up the vibe of Oktoberfest from the comfort of cushioned couches and sturdy railings as visitors like us looked upon their fortune with envy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758898418073-6E0T2V3AVJFGMMKKO02E/IMG_5761.jpg sep-2025 - 9.13.25 Renewing My Passport I need to get my actual passport renewed. Until that happens, I’m working on this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758899671605-W0DWKTW6DN9AOUUS9SJ4/IMG_5771.jpg sep-2025 - 9.14.25 Pumpkin Patching Ashley wanted to do her annual porch pumpkin run. We’ve gone to Neltner and other farms in the past, but this year we got them from C.P. Reeves in Ludlow since we discovered that place earlier in the spring. They were shockingly cheap compared to pumpkins we’ve purchased in the past; I’m not sure why they were priced so low considering literally everything else in this country is more expensive now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758899840026-96AIW95FHU81KGUQHA17/Cincinnati+Preservation-+Phil+Armstrong+-79.jpg sep-2025 - 9.15.25 Cincinnati Preservation A group photo of the Cincinnati Preservation staff at the John Hauck Mansion on Dayton Street in the West End. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758900122247-PQL3UKOKPKHLS7F4QJQD/IMG_5789-2.jpg sep-2025 - 9.16.25 Break a Leg! Permission was granted to take this BTS photo. The shelf backdrop I made for this week’s product shoot was erected on set, and I had a moment of pride seeing the work I did under studio lights. UPDATE: The shelf shot ultimately got cut from the final roster of finished images. Hopefully it gets used in another shoot at a later time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758903801831-VTP8K9K3CV4NEEVJ991Z/Rediscovered+Treasures+-+Phil+Armstrong+-50.jpg sep-2025 - 9.17.25 Rediscovered Treasures After a long 10-hour day in the studio, I went straight up to the Art Museum to photograph the soft opening of Rediscovered Treasures prior to its public debut. As part of the opening, performers danced in flowing garments to an intimate crowd in the P&G Gallery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758904949512-BBDK8MEGRWM79PRWO6V2/IMG_5809.jpg sep-2025 - 9.18.25 Wake Up Every day I wake up, read the news, have a light panic attack about the direction our country is going, then try through gritted teeth and shot nerves to get on with my day. There’s really no other option. Either stay ill-informed and ignore this slide into fascism, or stay informed and feel ill. If you’re not upset and worried, you’re not paying enough attention. I’ve been desperately trying to keep my shit together. But when I walk down the street and see an American flag proudly hung from a pole after a day of reading about everything, I can’t imagine being anything but contemptuous at this point. Being proud of this awful moment in time is repulsive. Showing support for it by flying a flag is sickening. I’ve never been less proud to live in the United States as I am now, and the bar was already subterranean. Maybe we will one day look back on all this as just another chapter before forward progress again. Maybe this will all come to a head and we can come down from this ever-escalating high of violence and ignorance. People shooting each other, masked agents kidnapping people off the streets, sending weapons to further genocide overseas, and now talk of silencing those critical of the government should be sending shivers down everyone’s spine. Oh, I forgot, no one actually cares about any of that. Maybe we should talk about how the economy sucks, tourism has tanked, and everything costs more than it should despite false promises that it will all get cheaper. Wake the fuck up, America. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758905127746-GC6OML01KMSO2YI96O25/IMG_5821.jpg sep-2025 - 9.19.25 Absolutely Beat Ashley’s been gone all week, I’ve been working 10-hour days at the studio, and now I have retouch work to do all weekend. No Oktoberfest Zinzinnati for me this year, sadly. Took a photo of this door on the back of the Mohawk building after taking out the trash. Going to go home and try to relax a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758905319234-S2BT32UF0BPW3TOY0M44/IMG_5836.jpg sep-2025 - 9.20.25 Absolutely Bored I feel so bad for Myrtle. We’ve been on a walk, we’ve played ball a bit, and I’ve taken her to the coffee shop, but she’s so bored. She’s been by herself most of the week due to me having to work all day, and since Ashley’s been gone, she hasn’t received the same level of attention she’s used to. Since I’m at my desk today doing retouch work for Marlene, she’s once again bored. I have to get all this work done, but I feel guilty constantly about not entertaining her the way I wish I could. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758906999840-7A1VF6MH1DUCWD6SD1CH/IMG_5668.jpg sep-2025 - 9.21.25 Gear Foam After adding the 70-200 Nikkor to my kit, I needed to reconfigure my work case. The new lens was too big to stand vertically and required an updated layout. The new lens, with its fixed f/2.8 aperture, replaces the older 24-200 I used to carry with me. For event work, a faster lens was essential. The case now holds the following: Nikon Z9, Nikon Zf with either 28mm or 40mm lens attached, speedlight, one spare battery for each camera and speed light, 70-200mm, 24-70mm, 14-30mm, 2Tb SSD, USB-C cable, optical trigger, and metal case with business and SD cards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758907508068-QKJ1L07Y9I5ZRHLXXHFR/The+Vineyard+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg sep-2025 - 9.22.25 By the Book For the first time in weeks, we’re getting a lot of rain. My plants are loving it, but the downpour has me in my head. I’m not ready for overcast skies to be my daily reality again this winter. I don’t even like summer all that much, really, but this sneak peek at grey grossness has me prematurely missing sunshine. I went up to Dayton, OH to photograph some apartments for Rookwood. There really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about them; pretty run-of-the-mill job, if I’m honest. Nothing to write home about. Felt kind of nice to have an easier day after the last two weeks of non-stop work. This is pretty much the only semi-interesting shot from the whole day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758908205472-HTE9NOM97SCK8K5V0OOP/NZF_7566.jpg sep-2025 - 9.23.25 Late-Season Baseball We got coneys and went down to the river to eat them. While we sat on the bench, the Reds lost to the Pirates 4-2. Maybe one year soon we’ll make it to the World Series again. Not holding my breath, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759799170345-4GEKK4B61ZWFSCVXK0ES/IMG_5881.jpg sep-2025 - 9.24.25 Inspi-rock-tion All of them were some form of “you’re doing great, keep it up” that you’ve heard a billion times when it comes to these types of public art initiatives, but one of the rocks simply said ‘punk rock’ and had a drawing of a little face on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759799171320-1FR98ZQQ3BOQ8U92BCRP/IMG_6001.jpg sep-2025 - 9.25.25 Boldly Gourding Just a nice pumpkin setup. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759799575749-1ZNM0ZDNQ8M9PXSEWVR4/Art+After+Dark+9.26.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-46.jpg sep-2025 - 9.26.25 NIF-D I didn’t know about this dance crew until tonight when I photographed them at Art After Dark, but NIF-D performed twice in an hour in the Great Hall to a very large crowd. Managing to stay low and in front of everyone watching, I got a lot of good shots that I’m honestly very proud of considering how challenging the lighting was coupled with how quickly everyone was moving. This was my favorite frame of the evening because it accurately captured the joy of many of the performers simultaneously as the routine circles around the woman in the middle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759800201029-YMHULWRXY8F3G45QDD44/InternationalFreedomConductorAwards-PhilArmstrong-154.jpg sep-2025 - 9.27.25 IFCA Photographed the International Freedom Conductors Awards tonight. The NURFC hired me to cover the red carpet, VIP hour, and full on-stage program. Tamron Hall hosted the evening, and many musical artists such as Canadian-born singer Deborah Cox (pictured) performed in between awards. I had the privilege of sharing photo duties with another local photographer, too, which helped relieve some of the pressure to get everything totally on my own. It’s really difficult to photograph a stage show like this without disturbing anyone when it’s a place the size of the Aronoff, Music Hall, or a venue of equal proportions. I normally sneak into extreme stage left or right, get my shot, then quickly and quietly duck back out into the hall and run around to the other side, as well as find areas on upper floors to get fresh perspectives, without disturbing anyone’s viewing experience. Having someone else there and coordinating with them allowed me more time to get to the spots I needed without running myself ragged. The show went long, but staying until the end was so worth it. Everyone got up out of their seat and danced to the final act, giving me a load of opportunities for energetic, passion-fueled photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759801157218-CBMQ5MRPNC3GV9KZQKFU/IMG_5902.jpg sep-2025 - 9.28.25 Impromptu Eli’s While listening to an episode of Caleb Hearon’s ‘So True’ (hilarious show), he started talking about BBQ, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Had to go to Eli’s to scratch the itch—and scratch it did. Have you been to Eli’s lately? If not, go remind yourself why it’s the best BBQ in town. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759801489655-4NQ441I96G6T1WV0UBMD/IMG_5908.jpg sep-2025 - 9.29.25 Myrtle Mondays Ashley works almost exclusively from the porch during this time of year. Since we barely use it in the winter, we savor every moment we can when it’s still seasonable. Myrtle’s grown accustomed to napping on the porch couch all day while Ashley works, but occasionally she’ll hop up in the chair and watch the street, searching for passersby with their own dogs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802192311-SN1TIHT76S7RV4D2NU07/IMG_5913.jpg sep-2025 - 9.30.25 Accidental Vermeer Snapped a photo of this cat in a window while on my way into Unataza, and I cannot help but feel the color palate, softness, hard lighting, and weathered texture has big Dutch-masters-during-the-Renaissance vibes to it. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/oct2025 daily 0.75 2025-11-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802878488-GP3GNC06YM6N0HU6AZ1G/IMG_5922.jpeg oct-2025 - 10.1.25 This Startled Me Halloween is upon us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802878488-GP3GNC06YM6N0HU6AZ1G/IMG_5922.jpeg oct-2025 - 10.1.25 This Startled Me Halloween is upon us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759803930891-DAGZ0AZH484SP9ZK1GT8/Macys+Rookwood+-+Phil+Armstrong-71-HDR-Edit.jpg oct-2025 - 10.2.25 Macy’s Rookwood After Bed Bath & Beyond shuttered and left Rookwood, Macy’s entered the space with a non-mall concept store. Perry Contracting, who I was introduced to earlier this year while doing images for their website refresh, hired me to photograph the work they did for the Macy’s buildout. The fitting rooms were one of the main things they made for the store, so we focused on that area of the store, among others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802895013-9UEROZ1V7WD32U7TKORJ/IMG_5978.jpeg oct-2025 - 10.3.25 It’s Still Too Hot Gotta water the front garden lest it dries and shrivels up. We need rain! Guest appearance by rainbow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802893724-IPXKMCKMMUK5YN3LOYBL/NZF_0303.jpg oct-2025 - 10.4.25 Little Archie We met up with friends at Liberty’s tonight for a few drinks. Justin and Annie brought little Archie with them, and to no one’s surprise, he was a huge hit. He didn’t fuss or seem bothered by the atmosphere at all, and since they’ve already flown him to Europe and back before his first full year, I imagine there won’t be many settings this little kid will find overwhelming thanks to routine exposure to the outside world. I’m genuinely proud of them for not isolating at home with him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802899046-KKUSZ01Q9F0V4WI8IH16/VAE+-+10.5.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-4.jpg oct-2025 - 10.5.25 VAE at Memorial Hall The Vocal Arts Ensemble performed at Memorial Hall this afternoon. I was hired by Fanfare Magazine to photograph the show. Shooting well-dressed people in perfect lighting on a striking stage in a jaw-dropping theater lends itself well to good images; so good, in fact, I couldn’t choose one from the show to share here. Instead, here’s a shot I didn’t send to the client that I just liked for my own archive. After all the Longworth-Anderson shows I shot in years past, I’ve walked back and forth through this little bit of Memorial Hall countless times, and it never fails to impress me with its beauty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760636275833-5I7HV4R934O6DF8M1FKX/IMG_6016.jpg oct-2025 - 10.6.25 Black & White I’m into black and white at the moment, so I’m trying to capture things in monochrome while the mood strikes. This is a standard scene at our house, by the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760636339078-ZZ2ZFFQRPOGVRKF0C57K/IVX+Crescent+Springs+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg oct-2025 - 10.7.25 IVX From a shoot I did for a contractor today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760636990600-9PTY3XLOKWHSCC4UQQ32/Recall+Reframe+Respond+-+Phil+Armstrong+-71-2.jpg oct-2025 - 10.8.25 Recall, Reframe, Respond It was preview night at CAM for Recall, Reframe, Respond featuring artist Paul Scott. These types of events are so hard to choose from for this project because I rarely think one image encapsulates everything perfectly. There’s rarely a stand-out frame and it requires picking and choosing something general or interesting enough on its own. This was one of those nights. Do I pick a gallery shot? Speaker? Attendee looking intently at a piece behind glass? I chose this one because it was a nice moment between coworkers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760637077930-ENP7L1H2K99RLL9SBULF/Indigo+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-37.jpg oct-2025 - 10.9.25 Indigo Opening CAM last night, Taft tonight. Shot the opening of Indigo and the Art of Quiltmaking. Referencing what I said yesterday about the difficulty in choosing just one image from these types of events, I thought this photo best represented my mission while there. It showcases the space—the design, color, layout, etc.—while showing how people move through and interact with those spaces all while maintaining their anonymity. It’s as close to a rendering as possible without being generated. A slower shutter speed and a steady hand manages to freeze the motion, illustrating the dynamic relationship between the living person and static place. I also find that changing aspect ratio to something standard but different to get rid of ceilings and floors with little to no information better focuses the eye to what matters. While event photography is all about finding active moments, something like this requires planning for what’s yet to come. You set up in the place and get what you want in frame, then visualize the upcoming moment when someone walks through the door. When that vision becomes reality, you hit the shutter and you have what you came for. That process of visualization and planning, then executing on that plan, is satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760638283334-C9QNPXZ1KEWYMDCBKGTH/Calm+Corner+Kit+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg oct-2025 - 10.10.25 Calm Corner Kit Drove out to Amberley to pick up a box of products for Calm Caterpillar to photograph in my home studio. I’ve been working with Sarah on Calm Caterpillar’s product and lifestyle photography for a year and a half, and it’s been fun getting to stretch that creative muscle while seeing those very same shots end up in retail stores and online marketplaces. Because this one featured a variety of products ranging from 2D to 3D, I had to come up with a dynamic way to showcase everything. The plush products, after much fluffing, made sense to go in the back row. The booklets didn’t make sense to just place flat on the seamless, so I used a pane of glass to raise them up at an angle and preserve the natural shadows. I removed the edge of the glass in post. Overall, I’m pleased with how this turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760638920624-SF4OVS54OOD3HI5JR2BI/NZF_1837-Edit+copy.jpg oct-2025 - 10.11.25 River Roots I’m not choosing today. I refuse. Went down to the River Roots Festival about 2 hours before meeting up with friends. I shot much of it, concentrating on people and the scale of the boats. I may actually end up publishing the whole set to a blog post because it was such a photogenic afternoon. The other day I spoke about framing the shot and waiting for the right moment in the Taft Museum post. Visualizing what I wanted and waiting for that exact moment to happen instead of aiming toward something in progress. All three of these are examples of that. I waited for the boats to line up, the people to align, and motion to naturally happen. The kid, I think, spotted me with my camera and cheesed for it while running into frame. I love it because there’s little chance of identifying him, but you get that sense of childish fun regardless. I shot these in B&W on the Zf’s special setting; the late evening light made for perfect contrast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760639037518-HO86U81GK49R6SY0J0PF/NZF_1841.jpg oct-2025 - 10.12.25 New Perspective Standing on the Levee Wall will, I suppose, get you ya nearly identical perspective with the right zoom lens, but I shot this from the top deck of the Natchez as it drifted away from the Landing at 40mm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760639257966-JBG92PEXALZ1SY3ECXA6/NZF_1858.jpg oct-2025 - 10.13.25 Morning Walk I’m not happy with my body at the moment. I feel fat and gross despite knowing I am not currently obese. This weekend, as wonderful as it was, added to my growing size thanks to loads of delicious meals and many beers. The thought of going to the gym sickens me, so I’m doing what I do best: walking. It’s how I stayed thin years ago, and it’s how I will attempt to keep the pounds at bay. With my Apple Watch move goal updated, it’s a matter of making sure I burn more calories a day than I take in—which also means a diet change. Today’s coffee trip was on foot with camera in hand. If I’m going to drink and eat, I need to pay the movement tax. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760640322698-XOQBKXS8LXEELFL3SZD0/NZF_1914-HDR.jpg oct-2025 - 10.14.25 Avondale While shooting a bunch of exteriors around town for work, I photographed this old house near the corner of Reading Road and Glenwood Avenue in Avondale. I don’t remember this one being vacant when I explored the neighborhood back in the mid-2010s. After looking at it on Google Streetview, it looks like it may have been emptied out in the early 2020s. It’s sad. This house is beautiful, and I hope its boarded up windows are temporary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760640428740-ZX3FO4LJNL9HI7FBHCOC/IMG_6141.jpg oct-2025 - 10.15.25 Getting Out There Day 3 of this diet and exercise thing, and I’m walking more than I have in months. In addition to doing the treadmill in the basement right when I wake up in the morning, I’ve been sprinkling in walks with Myrtle. We did East Newport this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440296997-1OREHX2WVYWTD6LE2QPH/Fountain+of+Love+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg oct-2025 - 10.17.25 Fountain of Love Photo of the new mural on Mercer Street for ArtWorks. I covered the dedication today for them. Quite a few people showed up, and everyone was in good spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440289712-1S30WHST33IZDPAWOQCS/The+Children%27s+Theatre+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg oct-2025 - 10.17.25 The Children’s Theatre Opening This is about 10 different images composited into one for GBBN. The Children’s Theatre, located in the newly renovated Emery building, had its opening for the families of the contractors and architects who worked on the space. I had an hour to capture as many of these types of scenes as possible. To be honest, I didn’t feel great about it while I was doing it. Too many people standing around, no control over who walks where, and no ability to direct the scene. After a lot of post work, though, I sent the finished photos to GBBN and they were a lot happier with them than I was. That’s a better outcome than the inverse, I suppose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440286070-PIMB5IK905GOL2RQ2SGD/CAMGala2025Red-PhilArmstrong-139.jpg oct-2025 - 10.18.25 CAM Gala Fourth year in a row covering the CAM Gala. I had Ronny working the step-and-repeat on the red carpet while I shot the rest of the event. It was a really good night overall, and the museum was happy with the work we did. I hope I can get to 10 years covering this event for them. Working for CAM is so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440275554-HU60D4PKD59SX5U22MII/IMG_6157.jpg oct-2025 - 10.19.25 Reduced to Data After shooting a bunch of stuff last night at the CAM Gala, I took the two cards I filled and Ronny’s card and laid them on my desk to load them into the computer. It was at this point that I really stopped to look at the fruits of our labor: three little electronic chips with a bunch of ones and zeros embedded into them. It’s kind of strange when you think about how much effort you put into something and these are the physical manifestations of that work. All the years of experience and knowledge coupled with the hours of physical and mental labor you put into an evening, and it’s all represented on these three little objects. Strange. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440278456-FMYK54GEHO629HJ5QBDH/Sono+Bello+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg oct-2025 - 10.20.25 Invisible Camera Photographed a medical office for a contractor. The bathroom had an attractive sink and backlit mirror. It ended up being one of the better invisible camera photos I’ve made lately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440271796-TSK64C8ZAK0KFOHIT2FV/IMG_6186.jpg oct-2025 - 10.21.25 Peak Van I don’t know what model this van is, but I do know it rules. Not sure vans got any better than this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440266715-7BGQAS4AIDJMH2LKA14M/IMG_6189.jpg oct-2025 - 10.22.25 Carl’s Deli Stopped into the market for some stuff, and managed to make it to Carl’s Deli. First time there. Came away happy with a great sandwich. Definitely worth returning to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440263169-E8P6CXRQOHE7FLJFQ1J9/IMG_6198.jpg oct-2025 - 10.23.25 A Long Walk As I continue to work on losing weight and getting back into some sort of shape, I decided to take Myrtle on a long walk on my day off. I needed to meet up with Amy at the Mercantile Library to go over the details of the event they were holding on the 25th, so Myrtle and I took a leisurely walk from our doorstep to 4th Street. Since the building was recently converted to apartments that allow pets, Myrtle was able to visit the library for the first time. On our way back, she seemed to want to go into the park instead of back on the Purple People Bridge. We walked Sawyer Point, Yeatman’s Cove, and 95% of Friendship Park before beginning the trek back home. By the time we were passing under the autumnal canopy of East Row Newport, I could tell she was slowing down. When I looked at my watch upon arriving back home, we’d walked 10 miles over about four hours. She rested on the couch for the remainder of the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440260963-T8LXXYJNKXP338AOR0DN/Commons+Mural+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-107.jpg oct-2025 - 10.24.25 Commons Dedication Shahzia Sikander’s ‘Commons’ mural, designed by her and painted by ArtWorks apprentices, was formally dedicated this afternoon. This is a photo of all the artists involved in bringing it to life. The mural is located on the back of an old 9th Street church (the mural is visible from Court Street between Vine and Race Streets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440251408-4XENRNVAALYO99IR72V6/Niehoff+XXXVI+2025+-+Phil+Armstrong+-204.jpg oct-2025 - 10.25.25 Niehoff XXXVI Novelist Colson Whitehead speaks to a packed ballroom during the Mercantile Library’s annual Niehoff event at the Hyatt Regency. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440248053-9Y22599Y1RVS130EEKE2/Habib+Family+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg oct-2025 - 10.26.25 Family Photos I don’t normally do family portraits, but the Habibs are wonderful people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440239857-M3R8A9ZY8FYX79IQV49U/Commons+Mural+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-140.jpg oct-2025 - 10.27.25 Gold Leaf Paint A close-up of the new gold leaf paint ArtWorks used for Commons. It’s the first mural they’ve done with this type of paint. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440232327-BOL1B434VIZCEPIQLJJD/428+Van+Voast+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg oct-2025 - 10.28.25 New View While photographing a house on Van Voast for a listing, I snapped a photo of Mt. Adams from the second floor west-facing window. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440215696-EXFKCWHMUA5E0XNXD2HM/IMG_20251029_145203_771.jpg oct-2025 - 10.29.25 Insta360 Oh no. I got a 360º camera for work. You know I’m going to play with it, though. This was the first image I snapped after setting it up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440223870-7T4KFU6KKL3D8809OF2T/IMG_6306.jpg oct-2025 - 10.30.25 Relics I helped Marlene clean up and organize her studio today. Part of my task list included getting rid of some old shelves in order to put up new hooks for diffusers. When I pulled down this one, I liked the old label enough to snap a quick photo. I’ve never heard of “Melatex finish,” but it seemingly held up rather well considering the copyright date listed on the sticker is 1995. I love the stack of CDs and the Sony Walkman with headphones in the image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440220052-OUB9D73XR8XRSUBGF69D/IMG_6337.jpg oct-2025 - 10.31.25 Halloween Hot Dogs Since Halloween was on a Friday this year, we wanted to do it right. We invited friends over, I bought an inflatable hot dog costume, and I grilled hot dogs on the sidewalk for anyone who wanted one. My neighbor, Brad, works for Perfetti, so he supplied us with an enormous case of AirHeads for all the kids. While the turnout was lower than ever this year, I don’t think I’ve had this much fun on Halloween in years. Grilling hot dogs on the street with a beer in hand, seeing neighbors, and laughing with friends while Myrtle wandered around in a little bee costume absolutely ruled. Halloween is on a Saturday next year. I think we’re going to go even bigger with it by throwing a block party and blocking off the end of our street. Stay tuned! http://www.philarmstrongart.com/nov2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763427642181-SLIVVNFP7YVTYFY6VSYZ/NZF_7146.jpg nov-2025 - 11.1.25 Ashley’s Pre-Birthday Ashley’s birthday is on the 3rd. Since that falls on Monday and Mondays are generally no fun, we celebrated her today. She planned herself a 3-hour massage, but after that, it was up to me to come up with some stuff to do. Long story short, we shopped, she napped with Myrtle, and I took her out to eat with Allie and Travis at Nada. Afterward, we went over to Orchid at the Palm for a night cap. Also, the Blue Jays lost the World Series. Stupid Dodgers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763427632677-FOOQG6BKX44R70MVEMEL/NZF_7146.jpg nov-2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763427642181-SLIVVNFP7YVTYFY6VSYZ/NZF_7146.jpg nov-2025 - 11.1.25 Ashley’s Pre-Birthday Ashley’s birthday is on the 3rd. Since that falls on Monday and Mondays are generally no fun, we celebrated her today. She planned herself a 3-hour massage, but after that, it was up to me to come up with some stuff to do. Long story short, we shopped, she napped with Myrtle, and I took her out to eat with Allie and Travis at Nada. Afterward, we went over to Orchid at the Palm for a night cap. Also, the Blue Jays lost the World Series. Stupid Dodgers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429195985-YWRLYQ3TKM42P6EWCD5C/Workbench_Screenshot%281%29.jpg nov-2025 - 11.2.25 Insta360 This will likely be the first in a string of oddly panoramic and warped images made with my new Insta360 camera. I picked this up for work so I can make Matterport walkthrough videos for clients, but I suspect this will quickly become a toy that I use often for my own projects. I bought it last week without really knowing how to use it just yet. Today, though, I dug into the nitty gritty details about shooting, editing in the Insta360 software, and exporting what I’d made. I spent the whole day learning how to use it and experimenting with its features, learning a lot in the process. I feel confident I’ll be able to produce interesting work while having some fun with this thing in the coming months. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429196403-2XINYRWKFIRF9KAQM94O/IMG_6353.jpg nov-2025 - 11.3.25 Still-Life With Cat Statue As seen at Hoste in Walnut Hills. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429186693-ECTZ1IP2F8O2QLWVHV2V/IMG_6369.jpg nov-2025 - 11.4.25 Jaws Of Life There was a touch-a-truck event down at the park over the weekend, and part of that whole shebang was a jaws of life demonstration on some junked cars. The annoying part, though, was they just left the aftermath—broken glass and jagged metal and all—in the middle of the park. There was an attempt to caution tape it all off, but…well, you can see in the photo how well that went. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429186553-OGU2ZCKQK3Q2U1MOHN5K/225+Riverside+Drive+-+Phil+Armstrong+-77.jpg nov-2025 - 11.5.25 Riverside Views Shot a beautiful house on the river in Covington today. The front stoop included a large patio with several groupings of chairs and tables that overlooked the river and Cincinnati skyline. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429174113-JRS3JUB4A33FYZJLYEN7/1714+Vine+Street+1R-+Phil+Armstrong+-12.jpg nov-2025 - 11.6.25 Small Apartment on Vine Street Self-explanatory, really. No more than 400 square feet. On the 1700 block of Vine Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429174710-42ISQGIKFDWODQOTJINN/Streaming+Things+Live+2025-+Phil+Armstrong+-426.jpg nov-2025 - 11.7.25 Streaming Things Live Steve, Kit, and Andy brought a community of incredible people from around the world to Cincinnati for another Streaming Things Live show at the Woodward Theater tonight. Huge congrats to the boys, the excellent cohosts who joined them on stage, and (of course) to all the listeners (Fiends) who flew out to support them. And to top things off, Erica and Steve surprised everyone by getting married on stage with Kit and Andy officiating in front of everyone after the show! I was lucky enough to be the photographer for the event again. After the show, and after the wedding concluded, I had nearly everyone pack in tight for a massive group photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429165235-8HP65DLXZA5KSQPMVJ7V/The+Bells+%26+Symphonie+Fantastique+-+Phil+Armstrong+-114.jpg nov-2025 - 11.8.25 Sleepy Pup at Music Hall While photographing a performance, I saw this service dog sawing logs and thought it was adorable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429152408-BVIY8MZ6JTJTDVHA8UQI/NZF_9487.jpg nov-2025 - 11.9.25 BRETT! BRETT! BRETT! Erica sent me a last-minute invite to their house to hang out with the few Fiends who were still in town after the Live show this weekend. While everyone has been able to hang out together since Thursday, I’ve been busy with work and haven’t been able to really spend as much time with them as I’d like. Her invite was a chance to get one last visit in before the scatter back across the globe. One of my favorites is Brett. He’s from Sacramento, loves tiki drinks, apparently has a ska band that I’ve demanded to hear since learning about it a couple days ago, and adores cats. He’s awesome, I love hanging out with him, and I really hope to see him again sooner than next year at the inevitable follow-up live show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429157121-A4SDDGLKGGA8YSDO9Y7L/IMG_6458.jpg nov-2025 - 11.10.25 Surprise Snow Day Winter decided to drop in early despite it being peak autumn at the moment. It’s weird seeing orange and yellow leaves, pumpkins, and mums caked in a light powder. I think it looks nice, really. This is a good reminder that all these leaves will be gone this time next month, and all subsequent snow will fall upon gray and brown branches instead of a colorful canopy of leaves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429145056-VOUHOQQ55DR80CP5AJ1G/NZ9_6150.jpg nov-2025 - 11.11.25 Aurora Borealis The Northern Lights swung so far south from their usual location, we could see them with the naked eye in the city in Northern Kentucky. Apparently we’re seeing the effects of a solar storm, making the lights visible in places they don’t normally show up. They’re supposed to be just as strong tomorrow. We’re going to go out into the country to try to see them again, but under darker conditions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429144750-HGKKI0LRKX9QK9H1U6SJ/IMG_6483.jpg nov-2025 - 11.12.25 Louisville Run Well, we didn’t see the Northern Lights last night, sadly. I took my cameras out, including the Insta360 to run a timelapse, and nothing showed up. I had a job in Louisville today. It was unremarkable, save for stopping to watch a demolition crew taking down what’s left of what looked to be an old hospital at one time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429135055-NTQSPTNN5MX7O8F338ZN/50thBirthdayatPrimPhilArmstrong-54.jpg nov-2025 - 11.13.25 Barbara’s 50th Barbara hired me to photograph her 50th birthday party at Prim this evening. She managed to gather hundreds of well-known business leaders, artists, and people-about-town on a Thursday night to celebrate her milestone. That’s no small feat. Happy birthday to her! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429207968-JOVWJGY8WMM6ZGZ4SS0V/Screenshot+2025-11-16+at+9.47.51%E2%80%AFPM.png nov-2025 - 11.14.25 Revisiting Childhood Everyone left town, including Ashley. I asked Ronny if he was free since he was one of the few who didn’t. We made a plan to meet up and check out a bar in Camp Washington, but when he got in the car, the subject of Eastgate Mall randomly popped up. We quickly ditched our plans and set course for my childhood mall that I hadn’t been to in at least a decade. When we got there, it was immediately apparent that Eastgate Mall is not long for this world. Like many of its peers, it’s dying. Though Cincinnati Mills and Tricounty were reduced to rubble within the last few years, Eastgate is still intact with 34 active listed businesses in its directory. 10 years ago, I swear the mall was still half full. Eastgate was a special place to me as a kid and later as a teenager. I have fond memories being there with my parents and friends. When I was a teen, I’d go to Walden Books, Hot Topic, and EB Games every time I visited. I’d wander over to Sears and say hi to my buddy John. Mike and I got kicked out of there once for horseplay. I can’t count the number of dates I had that included walking around that place at some point in the evening. Seeing it desperately holding on today after 30+ years of it feeling alive was disheartening. I documented our walkthrough with my Insta360 wedged in my sling bag. At one point, we sat down in the food court and ate some lo mein from one of the few restaurants remaining. Afterward, we hit up a used video game store that had colorful carpet, music playing from the ceiling, and a couple of customers shuffling through the aisles. It was the only place in the entire building that we went in that had as close to a “mall” vibe as I remember. I know it’s unrealistic to hope that a place like this can return to some semblance of what it was in my memory, but I truly feel like malls dying are a huge loss for society—especially kids. I cannot imaging being a teenager and not having a third space like this. A place where I could spend as little as I wanted and still have a social, public place to hang out indoors. At this point, I’m not even sure I’m ever going to go back before it goes. There was so little to see in there, so little vitality, that the next visit will surely end up being sadder than this one. Not sure I can stomach that a second time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429130860-9IZE655KWEQHFCL3EZJ0/IMG_6548.jpg nov-2025 - 11.15.25 Myrtle’s Injured Myrtle and I went up to Kevin’s house to throw ball in the alley with his dogs, Taffy and Finn. At some point, Myrtle must’ve pulled a muscle in her leg because she started limping later on in the evening. Since this was the only activity she did all day, I assume that was the cause of the injury. She’s going to rest and take it easy the next few days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606433372-TD08AACE8BURF5AS9KO3/IMG_6584.jpg nov-2025 - 11.16.25 Trash Can Larry The cat that hangs by the door outside Hansman’s has a collar that says his name is Trash Can Larry and that he’s the Mayor of 5th Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606432106-EAKRJJ5USHC0LX2GJA2M/IMG_20251117_143823_552.jpg nov-2025 - 11.17.25 Straight Outta Treats I’m still watching Jack and Jonas. Took the 360 camera over and had some fun recording them for Travis and Allie. This still looked like an album cover. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606429851-PQ5TKFFWVR56PAKOPCHZ/ArtWorks+Dinner+11.18.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg nov-2025 - 11.18.25 Radha Lakshmi A portrait of artist Radha Lakshmi working on a collaborative piece right before an event at ArtWorks’ creative campus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606427923-S3CYXE3X3UTN3YGHDURY/Mad+Magazine+Exhibit+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-97.jpg nov-2025 - 11.19.25 Mad Magazine Exhibit Ronny helped me photograph the newest exhibit opening at the museum this evening. They needed someone to man the entrance while someone else did candids. He took on the entrance position. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606425482-SGSXWIPHWTBXQ0JI62Y5/AFP+National+Philanthropy+Day+-+Phil+Armstrong+-83.jpg nov-2025 - 11.20.25 Last-Minute Awards Daria called me yesterday about adding a last-minute shoot to my schedule this morning. It took place in the ballroom at Music Hall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606420614-VN6RW7TN3RLZ8ZNH6HKQ/Louis+Conducts+Petrushka+%28CSO5%29+-+PhilArmstrong+-50.jpg nov-2025 - 11.21.25 Louis Langrée Returns The beloved conductor took a break for a year, but his return to Cincinnati was met with an enthusiastic crowd. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606418894-K014GI6Z2F3KUGT8N344/Erica%2BSteve+11.22.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-14.jpg nov-2025 - 11.22.25 Wedding Pt. II Erica and Steve got married in front of a very, very tiny crowd in the woods of French Park this evening. I was lucky enough to be chosen to do their photos. They were “married” at the live show a couple weeks ago, but that was mainly just for fun for the friends and podcast-listeners. This one was the real deal. It was wonderful and I’m so happy for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606396339-AAZIPK77RELMQSDUAZC4/IMG_6773.jpg nov-2025 - 11.23.25 Fog on the Water Self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606411839-RHCW6KDV4EP6LSCIB030/144+Fairfield+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-43.jpg nov-2025 - 11.24.25 John’s House John’s moving, so I photographed his house for him. I really like the house, actually. Were I in the market for one, I’d buy it. One of the things l love doing most is going back for the small details after shooting all the rooms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606411599-U1W1EO5DN9S5UHXKC4CX/IMG_6780.jpg nov-2025 - 11.25.25 Illustration I’m getting back into analog art and illustration in particular. I have an itch that I haven’t quite been able to scratch lately, and I think it’s because I feel so creatively stunted. Photography is hugely important to me, both as an artist and as a professional, but because it takes up so much of my daily life, I find it exhausting at times. I’m in a private Discord for Steve’s podcast. One of the channels is based around Star Trek. One of the guys in there, Alex, drew his dream crew, and that got me itching to do something similar. I did a classic pile-of-heads illustration of my dream crew, dropped it in Discord, and a fire was lit beneath me. I felt satisfied in a way I haven’t in a while. It made me want to do more. So, I started sketching again. Myrtle is always a go-to for me, so I did this sketch in about 45 minutes this evening. It’s sloppy, but it scratched the itch again. I’m going to keep going with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606406651-Q55DL8UMO0EQ9U6YL9AT/IMG_6787.jpg nov-2025 - 11.26.25 Sketching Jack A continuation from yesterday. Did a dog, now it was time for a cat. I chose Jack. Probably going to add Jonas, his brother, beneath at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606406727-RYZA4IFN0MGX4ETPVVAW/IMG_6796.jpg nov-2025 - 11.27.25 Unusually Festive I had a moment of unusual festiveness and suggested to Ashley that we put up the tree and Christmas decor. Normally I wouldn’t do it on Thanksgiving, but here we are. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606397376-FKJRX5OT3PRR6TJ26JO5/NZF_3886.jpg nov-2025 - 11.28.25 Sorrento’s I’d never been to Sorrento’s until this evening. It was good! The neon outside was a nice touch, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606401828-O1ZUVBAFNO25PQTOTUBZ/825+Mohican+Drive+-+Phil+Armstrong+-24.jpg nov-2025 - 11.29.25 Mohican Drive Just a shot from an Airbnb shoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606401472-EPCLCMUQVFEZYPYX44KA/IMG_6823.jpg nov-2025 - 11.30.25 Ultimate Relaxation Ashley used to like watching TV in bed, but we haven’t had one in our bedroom for a long time. It’s not a large enough room for a big TV, really. To get around this, I suggested we try setting up the projector we use for outdoor movie nights on the wall for her. There’s no horizontal keystone correction on this particular projector, though. It’s temporarily rigged on a monolight stand while I have another, better projector on order from B&H. The new one will sit on the shelf by the closet and will be able to correct the angle unlike the one we currently have. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dec2025 daily 0.75 2026-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334722041-4GDDEXQ4SPLNGOWU3U72/Nights+of+Holiday+Lights+Preview-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg dec-2025 - 12.1.25 Holiday Lights Mini-Blink The Art Museum is open late every Thursday and Friday until the end of the year. To help with attendance, a custom projection-mapped show is playing on the north wall of the courtyard. The show is about 4 minutes long and plays every 15 minutes with a full soundtrack synced to the visuals. I photographed it for the museum’s marketing team this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334722041-4GDDEXQ4SPLNGOWU3U72/Nights+of+Holiday+Lights+Preview-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg dec-2025 - 12.1.25 Holiday Lights Mini-Blink The Art Museum is open late every Thursday and Friday until the end of the year. To help with attendance, a custom projection-mapped show is playing on the north wall of the courtyard. The show is about 4 minutes long and plays every 15 minutes with a full soundtrack synced to the visuals. I photographed it for the museum’s marketing team this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334736779-TBEJHR5K98EFV70S8RI0/The+Bridge+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg dec-2025 - 12.2.25 Coming Soon 8K are finishing up an apartment renovation in Evanston and needed to start listing as many apartments as possible. These are rent-controlled units that I think are quite nice, especially for the price and size. While the building is still under a lot of construction, I was able to shoot two apartments without much trouble. The rest will need to be done next month when construction has wrapped and the floors have been cleaned. Also, it snowed again. I like this type of snowfall because it’s light, doesn’t sit atop an inch of ice, and minimally impacts the roads. It’s good coverage, but we’re not all trapped in our homes. It’s beautifully fun and devoid of the worst traits of a heavier storm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334723461-O5YKI7W39VMWNOLIMXNQ/NZF_4152.jpg dec-2025 - 12.3.25 Unearthing Gameboy The sketchbook I used to have was missing. I’d looked in the art cabinet in the living room, my workshop, and on the bookcase. The only other hiding place it could’ve been was my office closet, but sorting through that mess was a can of worms I wanted kept shut. Alas, the sketchbook was important, and I knew it wouldn’t resurface on its own. I got a fresh can of Coke Zero from the fridge as a salve to soothe the pain in the ass that was to come. Taking a long, refreshing drink, I slammed the quarter-empty can down on my desk, flung open the office door, and cracked my knuckles. After a sweaty 10 minutes of lifting tote after tote, I finally found the sketchbook. Mission accomplished. Cue fireworks and Blue Angels fly-over. The worst part was yet to come, though: putting all this shit back. As I started undoing the progress I’d made, I stopped to look in a couple of totes; every Enquirer on my birthday from 1986 until 2000 my grandmother collected and gave to me, a box of tchotchkes and framed photos, and my surviving collection of retro video games from my childhood. Atop the pile in that last box was my old original Gameboy with Tetris wedged in the slot. I took it out, turned it over in my hands a few times, ran a finger over the screen, and tapped the buttons a few times. The way it felt in hand was immediately recognizable. You don’t forget the shape of a Gameboy like this. It felt lighter, though, so I checked the battery compartment: empty, thankfully. I thanked my past self for not ruining an irreplaceable object like this by carelessly leaving corroded batteries in it for decades. After putting all the totes back in the closet with one less Gameboy in them, I slapped fresh Duracells in the unit and fired it up. The familiar descending Nintendo logo sank from the top frame of the screen and settled in the middle with that iconic “coin” chime. Tetris’ theme began playing shortly thereafter, and it brought me back to sitting in the back room of my grandmother’s house—the one with the ancient TV on the rolling stand and the pull-out couch that would later have a computer in it within a few more years. She gave it to me for Christmas and I remember it being a helluva gift. I knew it was going to be my photo of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334715285-NG67FKJJ5QG4D5Q5G8HH/Myrtle+Christmas+2025.jpg dec-2025 - 12.4.25 Myrtle Christmas 2025 This is the ninth year in a row that I’ve made a Christmas photo of Myrtle to send out in holiday cards. And, to be honest, I think this one is the best we’ve ever done. Christmas 2017 she was an otherworldly cute puppy. Christmas 2020 had the best classic staging and lighting. 2023 melded my interest in woodworking into the mix by having her sit in the toy box I made for her among all her toys. 2024 was a fresh departure from tradition with a paired-down white backdrop for a more minimal approach. This year, I wanted to get creative with it. I wanted a challenge—something that would stand out and make the recipient stop and actually look at it for more than a couple seconds. I took a box, made a wooden frame out of scrap to put around it so it would keep its shape, and stapled a black piece of cloth with a slit in it to the back. Myrtle stuck her head through the slit and out of the front of the “gift box”, and the goal was to decorate each box with something different. Ashley devised a lot of the art direction within each box while I added small stuff around her work. I moved the camera around four times to achieve the different perspective per quadrant. Even though she’s a very well-trained dog, she has her limits and decided when she was done. We felt like these were the best four options of the many we tried, and I stitched everything together in Photoshop. There was absolutely no AI used for any of this; just good old-fashioned Ps. There is only one object that I added in post from a generic Google image search that wasn’t actually in any of the photos. If you email me your guess, I’ll tell you whether or not you got it right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334727464-A1PQGUR0S652K5JH48JD/NZF_4188.jpg dec-2025 - 12.5.25 Drafting Table I’m getting back into illustration so much that I went ahead and added a drafting table on the other side of the office. Having a dedicated space to draw, pin up works in progress, and come back to them when I’m able is so much better than clearing my computer desk every time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334730712-I9UPG5F61BA9IABPI58D/NZF_4196.jpg dec-2025 - 12.6.25 Let There Be Light Added under-the-shelf lighting to these shelves a couple months ago. I had every intention of photographing friends at a gathering that we had at our place today, but I was too busy living in the moment and forgot to take a single photo, so this is what I am submitting for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334712638-RP0N9MQDYDNJX7SF9RAH/IMG_6896.jpg dec-2025 - 12.7.25 Inspiration Since I’m drawing more, I’m finding it’s easier to get in the headspace of what I want to do by revisiting the works of artists whose styles I emulate closest. That’s not to say I want to copy directly their styles, but their illustrations are closest to how I prefer drawing. Since I’m still refining my approach and process, it’s nice to refresh myself on what they’ve done so I can have a more cohesive vision for what I want to do. Locally, I really love the way Caroline William drew her scenes. Barbara and David Day are also hugely influential. Additionally, old architectural drawings by Samuel Hannaford and his contemporaries are always worth looking back on. I got this book from the Ohio Bookstore years ago. It’s a collection of floorplans and sketches by George Woodward, originally printed in the late 1800s. I find them among the most beautiful sketches of houses and Victorian-era buildings I’ve seen. They’re so technical and precise. While that’s not how I prefer to work (I like Williams’ more loose approach), I can’t get over the shading in his drawings. They add so much dimension and beautifully highlight the many shapes and corners of each building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334735665-ES7PCE9ICTVW0WULANQW/NZF_4214-Edit.jpg dec-2025 - 12.8.25 Upgraded I posted about our bedroom projector on November 30th and talked about how I had an upgrade on order from B&H. Well, that projector was damaged in transit, so I had to send it back. They replaced it with another one that actually works, though. It’s a ViewSonic LX60HD. I set it up on the shelf, manually adjusted the keystones because the auto-correct feature didn’t work, and now Ashley can comfortably watch TV on the biggest “screen” in the house without needing to have anything bigger than this little box on a shelf in the room. Also, I've not had work outside the house for five days, so if this last week of images hasn’t been overly interesting, it’s because I’ve just been puttering around my house doing all my stupid little hobbies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765572979529-TQ3HMLWJOQBJ4G046W3W/IMG_20251212_154218_757-2.jpg dec-2025 - 12.9.25 Tiny Planet Workshop Thought I might throw the 360 camera in the workshop and make a tiny planet image to see how it looked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765572986635-E6PPAFCSLO77JZVK4YDZ/NZF_5019.jpg dec-2025 - 12.10.25 Hit the Lights Photographed my final event of the year at the Art Museum this evening. Attendance was great, remarks were short, and spirits were both high and flowing. As swing dancers kept the energy up, everyone was in an excellent mood sipping mixed drinks and making plates catered by the museum. I’m a bit bummed that this is the final event of the year. Every time I get to work one of these shindigs, I leave feeling really good. Maybe I’ve come to rely on it as a bit of healthy forced extroversion? Whatever I’m mentally grappling with that day is pushed to the distant background when I’m there. Since I’ve been alone a lot lately, I’ve felt disconnected and lonely to a degree I normally don’t, but when I get to go here, it fills up my tank. I’m not due back until the end of January for Art After Dark. By that point, I’ll have left my Thirties and entered a new decade. Feels weird to know this was the final event of the first half of the 2020s, and the last of an era for me personally. I shot this photo because it felt spiritually relevant; the door isn’t fully closed and locked, lights are off just beyond them, but it’s all still visible. I realized this was the last one before a couple of milestones, and that awareness felt much like the door in this scene—not quite ready to be locked, but nearly there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765574593663-F03XCV7ZQHTLQEG4R1DB/Screenshot+2025-12-12+at+4.17.59%E2%80%AFPM.png dec-2025 - 12.11.25 Scanned This may be a first for the Daily Photo Project: a screenshot of over 20 scans stitched together using Matterport for a real estate listing. Technically, this a photo of a bunch of photos I made, so I’m counting it. It looks bad from the “dollhouse” view, but the scans are fine. While I do not think scanning a home room by room is an equal substitute for good stills, I think it’s worth acknowledging as a decent way to convey the layout of a space without needing to personally visit it. These walkthroughs are nice for people who want to tour places without needing to spend the time to physically go there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766499710881-7ZQQ814JW9R8O86NIL5L/IMG_6954.jpg dec-2025 - 12.12.25 Jackson Street Just a photo I took on a walk this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766499784494-OJ82X9U7OWWZQCGVLTG7/IMG_6969.jpg dec-2025 - 12.13.25 The Great Snow Trek A winter storm rolled through the city this afternoon and evening. All in all, we figure we got about 5 inches within a few hours. The roads were treacherous to navigate, but we weren’t satisfied staying in on a Saturday night. Our insistence on living in a walkable neighborhood proved, yet again, that car-based suburban life isn’t for us. We strapped on our boots, threw on our heaviest coats and hats, and hit the streets on foot to support a few bars and restaurants that we enjoy. We trudged through the snow to Darkness Brewing first, met up with Chelsea there, then marched through falling snow to Wayfarer Tavern. After a pizza and a few drinks, we continued on to Tuba where we were the only customers at the end of the evening. I took a load of photos throughout our journey. Picking one wasn’t easy, but I think this one sums up the vibe rather well. Snowy, deserted streets, a lighted snowflake decoration illuminating the storm, cozy houses blanketed after hours of accumulation, and just a couple of friends navigating it with the promise of pizza and beer at the next stop. 10/10, great night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766500622376-7DD961RHWVONRFF6GU0W/IMG_7001.jpg dec-2025 - 12.14.25 Scammed! “Did you get stood up?” A stranger asked me as he passed. “Actually, yeah. I think I did,” I replied bewildered and shivering in the light coat I regretted wearing instead of my big winter option. Back at home, I reasoned that I was only walking from my truck to the venue for half a block–it didn’t seem worth it to bulk up for temporary discomfort. A client reached out to me back in early November about shooting their class reunion at The Transept at 6 PM on today’s date. By 6:20PM, I found myself photographing both my watch and the venue as proof of integrity. The inside was dark. No sign of life. Had it been canceled due to snow? Had it moved and no one told me? I wanted to give it 20 minutes before giving up and going home, and this photo was evidence that I was, indeed, there at the date and time if they later accused me of no-showing. With numb fingers, I hammered out an email explaining that I was here despite there being no event, and that I’d given it a reasonable amount of time before leaving. Deep down, I wanted to give them a piece of my mind for ruining my Sunday night this way, but I kept it professional. Cincinnati is a small market, and burning any bridge can lead to disaster. After I got home, I sent a text to the friend who referred the client to me. Long story short, I’d been scammed. There never was an event or real client. After reviewing the email exchange, it became obvious. I felt incredibly stupid for a few hours, but I was overall thankful that I hadn’t lost any money in the process. It was the least painful hard lesson that I could’ve learned. I was also relieved that it wasn’t just a bad person who canceled an event and didn’t tell me. I didn’t give them my bank information for a deposit like they requested, I didn’t pass up other work to do this, and the only real loss involved paying to park and standing outside for a half hour in a light jacket in 10ºF weather. Now that I know I can be scammed, I will be more vigilant in the future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766502811707-6Q2VFPV77KPXL578YPKC/IMG_7004.jpg dec-2025 - 12.15.25 Brilliant Sunset on a Bad Day We had to take Ashley’s grandfather to the hospital this morning. He’s been suffering with some stuff for a couple months now, and it’s gotten to the point where he needs professional help. Ashley was in the ER with him all day until he was given a hospital bed upstairs. I had a couple of work obligations I couldn’t miss, but I joined them afterward. We’re hoping he can get answers and treatment for his issues so he can go back home. His son gets back tomorrow, which will alleviate Ashley of sole management of his care. He’s 83 and in poor health, but we’re remaining optimistic at the moment. While on my way back to the hospital, I caught this incredible sunset in the most mundane of places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766503168460-1BV6GWHBQI4ID0MVMIS8/IMG_7008.jpg dec-2025 - 12.16.25 Bad Prognosis The prognosis for Ashley’s grandfather isn’t good. There are still more tests and procedures to be done, but as of this writing, it’s not good. I took a candid of her feeding him tonight, but I don’t want to share that image here. I also can’t get over just how cluttered this hospital is. The nurses’ desk at the center of the floor is covered in everything from computer wires and Christmas decor to oversized Stanley thermoses and more. The ceiling in this place is also noticeably lower than others, making the whole place feel suffocating to a tall person like me. Oversized rolling chairs and equipment stands litter the hallways. There always seems to be lights out no matter where you look. It feels like there’s nowhere to stand without being in someone’s way. If I ever end up in the hospital, I hope it’s never in one like this. I will not heal in a place so brimful of bad lighting and both necessary and unnecessary junk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766503759394-R889D573A6E6XQWL7Z36/IMG_7014.jpg dec-2025 - 12.17.25 Helplessness Feeling very helpless at the moment. I’m in studio all week with Marlene, and Ashley is essentially living at the hospital with her grandpa whenever she can get away from work. I want to be there, too, but I can’t due to work. I’m not sure what I would be able to do there, but it feels bad not being present. Anyway, here’s another very good winter sunset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766503941509-AFCFX07G7GPRBVZTK9EE/IMG_7025.jpg dec-2025 - 12.18.25 Wing Night Distraction The boys have had a wing night planned since before all this stuff with grandpa cropped up. After a long week of going back and forth to the hospital and working in the studio, I needed a couple hours of distraction to feel something other than dread and stress. We returned to the worst-named wing joint, Knuk-N-Futz, in Taylor Mill. If you’re looking for good and greasy, this place is it. I didn’t feel like dealing with the mess that comes with eating wings, so I went with boneless this time. No, I don’t feel bad about that decision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766504335115-GOZ5PUPXU6NOMUG3WXKC/B1A330A8-A92A-483D-8948-CD33111903E4_1_105_c-2.jpg dec-2025 - 12.19.25 Sprinkles My sister asked me to draw my niece’s dog, Sprinkles, for her for Christmas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766504470430-DPNRB92R425E0X9TPQHQ/IMG_7047.jpg dec-2025 - 12.20.25 Hospital Gift Shop One more reason I really don’t like this hospital: it has…a gift shop? I’ve been very fortunate to spend very little time in hospitals during my lifetime. As such, I don’t feel like I have a strong sense of the vibe of a place like this. Right now, Ashley’s grandfather is essentially slowly dying in this building, and this cheery gift shop at the elevator bank is a harsh tonal shift I don’t appreciate. My impression of hospitals is that they are a place of serious worry despite their intention to rehabilitate. The inclusion of this shop trying to make more money off of the stressed friends and relatives who are coming to see their loved ones feels gross to me. Also, it illustrates more of that signature clutter that I can’t stand about this place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766505167722-ECJ7MZZ32YQYFDQZEYA7/NZF_5274.jpg dec-2025 - 12.21.25 Pigeon Forge Ashley and I had a mini-vacation planned for December 21-24. With everything going on with her grandfather this week, we considered canceling it and staying home. But she needed a break from the routine, there were more people up here now to visit with him every day, and there’s honestly little we can do for him now. She decided we should stick with the original plan and go on the trip. Our final destination is a cabin in the woods just outside of Asheville, NC overlooking the French Broad River. Along the way, though, we’re stopping for a night in Pigeon Forge to both break up the drive and see a place we’ve never been to before. Pigeon Forge is honestly better than I expected. With the mountains in the distance and the overwhelming amount of tourist kitsch, it feels like bargain Vegas. I also haven’t looked this up, but I’d be willing to bet there are more go-kart tracks per capita here than anywhere else in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151639136-5E2ABNWQ52FZR88S686E/NZF_5363.jpg dec-2025 - 12.22.25 Gatlinburg I misspoke in my last entry—I have been to Pigeon Forge. When I wrote that last night, I’d forgotten and it later came back to me. Back then, we also went to Gatlinburg since it was in close proximity. We did the same thing today. From what I remember, not a whole lot has changed since the late-90s; putt-putt golf is still a major presence, there are loads of trinket and fried food shops, and it’s still just as crowded along the main drag. I liked the The Village Shops for its walkable, European-inspired architecture and winding alleyways. Though they were too expensive to ride, I thought the ski lifts looked fun, too. I was surprised by the number of ice cream shops open in winter, but I guess there’s still a demand for it. A Trump “superstore” conveniently shares a building with an adult sex shop, effectively sequestering Gatlinburg’s center of depravity while sandwiched between a “family fun parlor” and something called “Chocolate Monkey.” Even in cold, grey December, Gatliburg’s cup still runneths over with color and an undeniable vibrancy (for better or worse). To a child, the arcades and attractions must be incredible. To an adult, it felt a sliver of Orlando on a budget with National Parks nearby. I won’t say it was great or terrible. It just is what it is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151854174-VS6Z0U9CF8NDM7NDY11M/NZF_5383.jpg dec-2025 - 12.23.25 Cabin Along the River Ashley found an isolated cabin on a hill along the French Broad River in North Carolina for us to stay in for two nights. After we left Gatlinburg, we drove to a farm in the mountains where a family had built the cabin and rented it out on Airbnb. It isn’t very big, but the large outdoor wrap-around porch is nice considering it’s about 20 degrees warmer down here than it is back home. Our host dropped by to give us fresh eggs, goat milk, and she baked us a loaf of garlic bread in the shape of a heart. The furniture in this place photographs far better than it is to sit on, sadly, but at least the bed is comfortable. Overall, it’s a nice place, and I’m excited to sit and do nothing for a whole day. After her grandfather’s condition worsened, we considered canceling this trip. That was back when she and I were the only two in town who were able to take care of him and her grandmother. Since then, other family members have arrived from Florida and it’s taken the pressure off Ashley. She needed a couple days away from the hospital to de-stress. While the looming fear of him passing away hangs over everyone, there’s little we can do besides wait and hope for the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151850274-ITDRHPQT3238S4DKIWD0/NZF_5405.jpg dec-2025 - 12.24.25 Recovery After saying goodbye to our cabin, packing up the truck, and setting the GPS for home, we realized we needed coffee. With it being Christmas Eve, our options in rural Madison County were limited. A small town called Marshall was set along our route, though, and we figured that would be our best option. The winding mountain roads snaked alongside the French Broad River for miles until Marshall peeked into view on the other side of a bridge. Once downtown, it became clear our luck was running out. Most everything was closed or shuttered, save for a little mercantile beside an old-timey gas station near the opposite side of the business district. This place was devastated by hurricane Helene last year. Evidence of its recovery is obvious if you’re looking for it. For example. the house pictured was boarded up with debris strewn around it. I imagine it was a casualty of the storm and still isn’t inhabited. With the town sitting so low in the valley and directly on the river, it’s no wonder they suffered when the French Broad rose following record-breaking rainfall. We continued home through rural parts of NC and TN until finally reaching the highway. From there, it was a straight shot home. With everything going on, I had a minor existential crisis concerning mortality somewhere along the way. I finally snapped out of it when Ashley applied lotion to her hands and it made a hilariously cartoonish slathering sound that made me die laughing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151848232-C75IXH6KUY654KEJ7YCV/NZF_5425.jpg dec-2025 - 12.25.25 Christmas We visited Grandpa in the hospital this morning. It was horrible. His condition has deteriorated so severely that they’re stopping meds and moving him to hospice within the next day. Ashley is a wreck and I feel largely helpless on what to do besides be present for the family. Personally, I didn’t feel like going up to my sister’s for Christmas considering how awful we felt about all of this, but it offered us a distraction nonetheless. The kids enjoyed their gifts. It was nice seeing them open their presents and be carefree for a few hours. It temporarily got my mind off mortality, but it also unfortunately cooked up some new fears and worries unrelated to the Grandpa situation. I don’t know. This is honestly the worst Christmas I’ve ever experienced, and though it could always be worse, I’ve never had one this bad in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151846337-E8WSPALSU5UAIGW8KYSU/IMG_7088.jpg dec-2025 - 12.26.25 Tear-Down This being the worst Christmas on record, we took down all the decor tonight. We’re sick of seeing it. We lack the Christmas spirit, and we’re sick of our home pretending to be this sugary-sweet holiday thing that it’s just not this year. We didn’t exchange gifts, either. That was also a first for me. As Myrtle tore into her gift (a bag of treats), we packed everything else away and hoped for something better in 202 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151841672-95W9JICQCIU050PAUBLI/IMG_7098.jpg dec-2025 - 12.27.25 At Peace Ashley’s grandfather, David Buttelwerth, passed away just after noon today. We’d gone over to hospice to sit with him, her grandmother, and her uncle when we very gently and quietly slipped away. To say it was emotional would be an understatement. The last couple of days, he was medicated into comfort and remained unconscious. He suffered for months with back pain that eventually led us to take him to the hospital where we learned he had more going on than previously believed. Without going into details, it was an uphill battle that he couldn’t win. The only solace I take from this whole thing is that he was without pain in his final moments. Dave was with his beloved wife, son, and granddaughter when he passed, and he’s at peace now. I had the honor of knowing him for his final decade. Seeing his relationship with Ashley, it was clear he was a good man, husband, father, and grandfather. Among many things about him, I always admired how he was so focused on his hobbies—birding, puzzling, golf scorecard and stamp collecting, and when he was younger, photography. His family would sometimes give him a hard time about what he was into, but his curiosity and drive to keep his mind active and love what he loved is aspirational to me. He was quietly content and comfortable with himself in a way I hope to learn one day. I’ll miss his smirk when he’d say something sarcastic to someone in the room. I’ll think of him every time I have a Little Debbie or Hostess snack cake. Nary a puzzle will be put together without Dave on my mind. The next time I photograph a bird, I’ll think of him. Following his passing, we took her grandmother back to her condo in Florence. She was quiet and subdued in a way I’ve never seen her before. Time will tell if she’ll be alright or not. We hope she feels supported despite losing him; she has many people around to lean on should she need it. Nothing today felt appropriate for Daily Photo. The only thing I came up with was documenting Dave’s chair—the recliner that no one will dare sit in out of respect for their patriarch. It’s going to be a very hard couple of weeks while we figure out what’s next for Dave’s funeral, Grandma, and everyone who loved him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151841048-TF6I8ZTU01AN0FBGW5UR/NZF_5430.jpg dec-2025 - 12.28.25 How to Follow? How do you follow an entry like yesterday's? I don’t have a good answer, honestly. Here’s an image of my phone in the smartphone slot of a grocery cart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767323929675-IQLT3E5CUKNDYPH1F855/IMG_7106.jpg dec-2025 - 12.29.25 The Wendy’s Sunroom Found a Wendy’s that still has one of the old sunrooms. The restaurant’s been updated with new decor and such, but it still maintains this architectural feature. It lacks all of the warmth I remember it having from visiting Wendy’s in my youth, but I guess it gets points for still existing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767323928510-3E1BUA3K3UKM54RI621R/NZF_5534.jpg dec-2025 - 12.30.25 Forgotten Love Notes I think it was before I got laid off at the website when I found this book of love notes at a boutique in the suburbs. Each page has a different design with everything from a sincere quote (my least favorite) to something cheeky, often with a stupid pun (obviously my favorite). All of the pages are perforated so you can detach them from the book and give them to someone. I used to give them to Ashley around the time we bought the house. It’s kind of fun flipping through it again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767323925591-IAC3T1D5GD1L1UNF18MB/NZF_5439.jpg dec-2025 - 12.31.25 End to 2025 Overall, 2025 was a better year than others. Of course, with the end of it being so top of mind and awful, I really have to dig deep and analyze it without just the recency bias coloring my perspective of it. I made more money in 2025 than I ever have before. We went on a really good road trip with Myrtle. We met new people and maintained our strong relationships with those closest to us. I got to see my best friend bring people from around the world together for a live show he designed and then marry one of my other best friends in front of everyone. I shot so many events that I think I might be less of an architectural photographer and more of an event photographer now. I worked with a globally-recognized artist and traveled for work for her. I bought a truck that I genuinely love to drive and realized I am a small truck guy. I got to eat at Casa Bonita in Denver with my friends, and a trip to Chicago in September was a blast. It’s wild how the death of one person in your family, though, really nullifies how you feel about the year overall. I won’t keep harping on this because we still have a lot to do for it, and I know I will speak on it again within the next few days, but all I’ll say is after seeing a man die, I’ve really started seriously thinking about mortality in ways I haven’t before. Nothing is certain, we never truly know how much time we have left, and having a clear vision of what’s to come is optimistically foolish at best. So, as I leave 2025 in the past, I have to remember that I can only guess at what’s to come in 2026 and plan for it accordingly. Hopefully the next year will be as good as the last minus a repeat of that thing at the end. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/jan2026 daily 0.75 2026-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767406869762-CFPXI4RD2UWL84VC8JJH/NZF_5507.jpg jan-2026 - 1.1.26 Jack Look at the bokeh in his precious little eyes. Look at the whiskers protruding from his fluffy meat-cheeks. Look at the perfect little ears and his pink chin. He’s the most adorable kitten. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767406869762-CFPXI4RD2UWL84VC8JJH/NZF_5507.jpg jan-2026 - 1.1.26 Jack Look at the bokeh in his precious little eyes. Look at the whiskers protruding from his fluffy meat-cheeks. Look at the perfect little ears and his pink chin. He’s the most adorable kitten. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767406871660-82BA8ZT3WYBW53ZWIWKZ/NZF_6047-Edit.jpg jan-2026 - 1.2.26 Afternoon Market Photographed 8K’s newest renovation in the market. I really liked this view from the window of one of the north-facing apartments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365394299-OOWFECLSX1D0PMWM40S3/IMG_7153-2.jpg jan-2026 - 1.3.26 Rest in Peace, Dave We attended the funeral for Ashley’s grandfather, Dave, this morning at the Catholic Church he attended for the last +35 years. It was a somber occasion that ultimately allowed his closest relatives and friends to say goodbye and gave them permission to begin the grieving/healing process. When I first met him a decade ago, he was a talkative, curious man who jumped at the chance to show someone new his collection of slide film from his time stationed in Newfoundland, Canada in the late-50s. He loved a special cake that everyone (except me) hated and made eat with him on his birthday. He appreciated the little things in life, like bird watching and receiving a box of chocolate-covered cherries that he could eat while he did a 1000-piece puzzle. But I think the thing that I liked best about him is the relationship he had with Ashley. I wish his last few weeks weren’t so painful and sad, but the fact that so many people visited him in the hospital from miles away is a testament to his character and role as the loving patriarch of his family. I hope that brought him some comfort knowing so many showed up at the end of his story to see him through to whatever’s beyond. RIP, Dave Buttelwerth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365391157-X68NHQ2AKGFH4OX6YUFX/IMG_7161.jpg jan-2026 - 1.4.26 White Elephant We got invited to Unataza’s end-of-year gathering at Al Lupo in Mt. Adams. Alejandra said there’d be a white elephant exchange if we wanted to participate. Not knowing who was invited, and with 24 hours to figure it out, I figured a drawing of the place we all have a connection to made the most sense. To make it a gift, I found a small frame for it and Ashley bagged it up. Hope whoever gets it likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365389123-YYL4HGC4SCGC4A2Z218D/305+Seitz+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg jan-2026 - 1.5.26 House on Seitz From a real estate shoot I did earlier today. The view from the rooftop is phenomenal. I’ll probably publish a photo of that later this week when I return for night shots; the low, midday sun this time of year isn’t ideal when shooting south. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365371341-PTI5Q490FAGUM1QKOIER/IMG_7183.jpg jan-2026 - 1.6.26 Counting “Lasts” As I inch closer to my birthday, I can’t help but acknowledge the “lasts” of my thirties. My last NYE in my thirties, my last cookout, last time seeing so-and-so, last whatever. Today it was my last haircut. After two and a half months, I desperately needed cleaned up. It felt wonderful to walk out of the barbershop feeling lighter with that familiar cold draft along the top of my ears and neck. I caught myself becoming quietly sentimental about the hair that was left on the floor of the shop knowing it wouldn’t follow me to a new decade. It’s not a feeling I like or want, yet it occasionally happens. As absurd as I know it is, I’ve learned it’s better to let it happen and move on from it instead of trying to stop it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365385398-DS3DUXG74C4GSZ44E97T/The+Port+GBBN+-10-HDR-Edit.jpg jan-2026 - 1.7.26 The Port Worked with GBBN on photographing the work they did in Atrium II for The Port’s new offices. This was a really good shoot, and I’m excited to share the full gallery at a later date. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365380443-PKHVHP075TNUM4MZVGU2/305+Seitz+-+Phil+Armstrong+-72.jpg jan-2026 - 1.8.26 Aforementioned View As I said the other day, I needed to return to the house on Seitz to get night shots of the view from the rooftop deck. I made a 13-panel panorama that I cannot share here in full resolution. I’m trying to figure out a better way to do so. Until then, here’s the “meatiest” frame from that set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365400678-7S6RFIKL5LDGHGLJ6486/Prestige+Properties+%28MA+Design%29-57-Edit.jpg jan-2026 - 1.9.26 Prestige MA Design hired me to photograph their latest work at Prestige Properties’ head office in Oakley. This was by far the stand-out frame from the gallery. Between this and the work at The Port earlier this week, I’m really in an architectural groove. Feels amazing to get to figure out these compositions, direct them, and piece all of it together later. This one took me about an hour and a half to fully finalize. I think the end result was worth it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365371346-XDD1PUXZE6S2697KQ4K8/IMG_7233.jpg jan-2026 - 1.10.26 BBQ Mirror Went to Eli’s to meet up with Mike, Jenn, and Steve. Took a photo in the mirror of the bathroom because I thought the stickers, wallpaper, frame, scratches in its surface, and the reflected checkered floor made for a colorful, chewy composition. Posted the photo to my IG story, and Ashley replied with “fly’s down,” scaring me into frantically double-checking. I have an annoying habit of accidentally leaving it down, so it was a plausible claim. Anyway, I didn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she got me, so unless she reads this, she’ll never know. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365365203-WWJL31FLQD8VNWNPG3BL/IMG_7244.jpg jan-2026 - 1.11.26 Mall-Walking We went to the mall today to do some shopping. While there, I stopped to marvel at the beauty of the entrance to this shop. The curved glass, the tile, the hanging lights and foliage, the muted brick and warm, wooden French doors—everything just really caught my eye. I genuinely appreciated the artistry on display. In a mall filled with forgettable entrances to generic shops that I pass right by without looking twice, this one managed to stop me for a few extra seconds. Later on, I posted about appreciating this storefront to Threads, and everyone replied with some version of “this store supports <insert horrible thing here>.” It had been milkshake ducked. Not wanting to invite ridicule for not knowing its backstory, I deleted the post and moved on. After the week of news we’ve had, I can scarcely bring myself to Google a new, awful thing, so I’ll just have to take their word for it. Bad store has good front. That’s it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365364983-VI6JX9MFEQ053MQOL3PT/1564+Banklick+St+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg jan-2026 - 1.12.26 Unexpected Places While photographing apartments for Orleans in Ludlow, I got the opportunity to shoot a warehouse in Covington that’s in the process of being renovated. The four-story warehouse and surrounding former scrapyard takes up a whole block of the neighborhood and will bring 39 new units to the area. Right now the building is in the early stages of renovation, so everything is still very raw and untouched. I had a blast shooting it. If I have the chance to share more photos, I will. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997771145-7KKFR9Y3S9EAR9SGOWB0/DSC_0000-71.jpg jan-2026 - 1.13.26 Avocado Just playing with gels and an old rotary phone. It’s not that deep. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997768974-ABOC5NPPUX6I1QZ19SBH/IMG_7257.jpg jan-2026 - 1.14.26 New Hues We needed some props to be yellow for a shoot, and I’m surprisingly good at recoloring with spray paint. Why digitally shift it when an analog solution is so easy? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997767259-0P50T4AOBBV3HS1HSEBN/IMG_7267.jpg jan-2026 - 1.15.26 Running Man This is the end of an arm on a C-stand with a weight on it to help balance the beauty dish on the other end, and I thought it kind of looked like a running man. Thanks for reading this extremely high-art Daily Photo Project. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997764552-ZR1B6RWDIJ0JKD0WMVC4/DSC_0000-20.jpg jan-2026 - 1.16.25 The Necklace My grandmother passed away in March of 2005. Sometime before, she gifted me this gold necklace that belonged to my great grandfather. A note written in her hand reads: “This necklace was bought in Italy be your great-grandfather when he went to visit relatives (circa 1965)” When she gave it to me, I remember wearing it briefly before getting spooked about losing it and putting it away for the next couple decades. My teenage self didn’t need to be wearing something as valuable as this anyway. I’ve been thinking a lot about her lately (probably due to Ashley losing her grandfather) and decided to get it out again. I think I’m going to wear it for a bit again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997760208-9RQ7BOJYEYXDOORJH87W/IMG_7323.jpg jan-2026 - 1.17.26 Tim Plays Pool A portrait of my friend Tim playing pool. He sucks as it as much as I do, and I don’t think he’d argue otherwise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997764625-P2WNNOK03R3PL6471K1O/NZF_6726.jpg jan-2026 - 1.18.25 Reuse When I removed the florescent light boxes from the basement, I saved one of the plastic translucent diffusers because I thought it could be a cool object to pump light through at some point to create a unique backdrop or effect. Tried that today. I set up two speed lights with gels on them and played around with different color combos for a while. The pink/orange duo turned out really well, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997755156-MYIW0OMHS553MCQW0XH5/IMG_7349.jpg jan-2026 - 1.19.26 I Always Feel Like… …Erica and Steve and Maggie and Grant and Cameron are watching me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997750857-C64GHH91LOF49A16RR3I/DSC_0000-5.jpg jan-2026 - 1.20.26 Mid-Century Sci-Fi What little time I have at present has been spent feverishly doomscrolling before throwing my phone into another room and escaping into a book to calm my nerves. After reading Michael Crichton’s ‘Sphere’ last week (good book!), I thought I’d read another first contact story. I won’t do a book report here, but I will say that I think this is my favorite novel I’ve read in a long time. Penned in 1953, some of the language and ideals are dated, but the overall story was absolutely riveting and largely evergreen. I finished it in three sittings because it was so good. The idea that aliens could occupy Earth and force us to sort out our shit in order to live better lives for some unknown purpose that only they understand is extremely appealing right now. The concept of a loss of freedom is broached, but through a modern lens, I think I’d be willing to relinquish freedom in order to live comfortably and war-free in a post-scarcity society than continue to kid myself that I’m “free” while letting the rich minority make all the bad decisions for our species. Best $3.49 I’ve spent in a long time. And no, I’m not going to watch the SyFy original series; the trailer made it clear that the novel and the show are different from one another. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997751309-WWJ5EAK1T1N8C1DBZC2C/IMG_7365.jpg jan-2026 - 1.21.26 New Decade Today, I enter my Forties. I had a quiet day in the studio where no one knew it was my birthday, I published a blog entry about how good my Thirties were, and then went out to eat with some of my best friends later that evening. Very low-key and with little fanfare—just the way I wanted it. I’d been dreading this birthday for years. I thought I needed to do some big thing for it, like taking a trip or throwing a massive get-together. It felt momentous on a scale that made me uncomfortable. After thinking more about it, I realized that the only way I’d be happy is if I didn’t make a fuss about it. It’s not me. I didn’t want to go all out for it, and I made the choice to do what makes me feel comfortable instead. That intentional decision was in and of itself momentous to me; if I’d done something grand and indulgent, I would’ve felt like I’d lied to myself about what I actually wanted. Instead, I had three bourbon cocktails, ate a bunch of pizza, and got to hang out with people who are important to me. It’s a birthday I’ll remember long into my Fifties, Sixties, and hopefully beyond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997727262-LLS92JAFRBPQEQIHFRCU/IMG_7369.jpg jan-2026 - 1.22.26 Storm Prepping There’s a huge snowstorm coming this weekend. While many are flocking to the grocery for provisions, I went to the store to get a few new reads. If we’re going to be stuck inside for days on end, I may as well have something to pass the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997746086-Q2T5QBXMN9NEW6XI9NQ5/DSC_0000-82-HDR.jpg jan-2026 - 1.23.26 Calm Before the Storm This incoming snowstorm is forecasted to be a doozy. While I don’t like severe weather, I have to admit there is a part of me that delights in the excitement of it. I certainly don’t want to lose power, but if I get snowed in for a few days and can’t go anywhere, I think I’ll probably enjoy it. This month has been so insanely busy, a little forced downtime will be welcome. It kind of feels like the walls are closing in on us. Forecasters are constantly changing accumulation predictions for our area. There’s no telling what it’ll do for sure. We will just have to go inside and let the outside world do its thing. Hope our heat stays on, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997746316-KKZZSPHJA3014QFQSH89/IMG_7381.jpg jan-2026 - 1.24.26 Tarped I tarped my truck before the snow starts. I’m going to pull the tarp back after it stops and collect as much snow as possible in the back bed so it has weight. That will help keep the back tires in better contact with the street, providing improved traction. Plus, cleaning off the vehicle will be a lot easier if it’s not totally covered in snow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997743288-BRA7RLHKM5K70FHM91CC/IMG_7407.jpg jan-2026 - 1.25.26 The Snowstorm Arrives It snowed all night and all day. Forecasters were right—we got a TON of snow. Ashley measured over 10 inches on the back deck alone. We became stir-crazy and decided to go walking after it stopped snowing. We trudged up the middle of the plowed street with Myrtle, snoot to the ground and tail wagging, leading the way. Barely anyone was out save for the few people actively digging their cars out of the snow banks. Our walk took us further than I anticipated. The air was bitterly cold and the streets were tricky to maneuver, but thankfully none of it was as icy as expected. It’s going to be a challenge digging us out tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997742548-ROS1VZL2QVN7F24RHMTL/IMG_7417.jpg jan-2026 - 1.26.26 The Great Dig The tarp worked as expected, the ice was minimal, and the snow was heavy and in abundance. Not the worst storm we’ve had to dig out of, but definitely not a walk in the park. Thank goodness we don’t have to go anywhere today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997737281-KAEPIO1PP5AGOAGQULOB/Making+Connections+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg jan-2026 - 1.27.26 Making Connections ArtWorks finished a mural at CVG Airport and needed photos of the finished work. There are four triptychs depicting airline travel and related technology. All panels were done offsite and installed later on. They will remain at the airport for the next 12 months before being relocated to another venue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997737852-H7HWAB6PNXUMKVZ8R7PL/IMG_7427.jpg jan-2026 - 1.28.26 Abysmal Conditions Final week of work at the studio with Marlene, and the City of Cincinnati barely plowed Central Parkway. There’s nowhere to park on the street, so I had to leave the truck on a side street and hike up to the studio. Sure hope they get out here and clear some of this so we don’t have to keep trudging through the snow to get inside the rest of the week. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997730873-FJX4H4PTG9J9XWL3DR4U/DSC_0000-9.jpg jan-2026 - 1.29.26 Artist’s Interpretation I’m tired of looking at snow already. Here’s an interpretation of what it looks like when Myrtle goes outside to do her business. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997731297-GCYU1S8X42A5VYYZVL62/Slavic+Legends+-+Phil+Armstrong+-74.jpg jan-2026 - 1.30.26 Slavic Legends Conductor Oksana Lyniv and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997727304-C5KA00573YV7NSXBOUDI/IMG_7467.jpg jan-2026 - 1.31.26 ICE Out A whistle I hope to never have to use. We are living in increasingly scary times, and I’m genuinely worried about where we’re headed as a country. I stand with my fellow citizens, immigrants and all, against the tyranny of this administration and its murderous federal police. An immigrant has never negatively affected my life or the lives of anyone I know. The narrative that they are somehow all criminals who deserve to be locked up, separated from their kids, and sent away is false. I worry about being in crowds since they’re shooting protestors now, but I am ready to do what I can. History will be unkind to these scumbags, we just have to do our American duty to not let fascism take over completely. There are far more of us than there are of them. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/feb2026 daily 0.75 2026-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930628319-W0AQ7Z5W7JD0DFEOSA4O/DSC_0000-110-Edit.jpg feb-2026 - 2.1.26 Self-Portrait Set up the backdrop for something and shot a self-portrait while I was at it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930628319-W0AQ7Z5W7JD0DFEOSA4O/DSC_0000-110-Edit.jpg feb-2026 - 2.1.26 Self-Portrait Set up the backdrop for something and shot a self-portrait while I was at it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930629996-84PRPVWQZI5KJWZX9OXX/The+Bridge+-+Halls+-+Phil+Armstrong-2.jpg feb-2026 - 2.2.26 A Lovely Green Staircase Love the color 8K chose for this staircase. The preserved green tile and black and white motif work beautifully with this shade of green. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930625245-6KFRLY4X6AMHZZN2EUNB/Parker-PhilArmstrong-3.jpg feb-2026 - 2.3.26 A Quick One Perry Contracting had me photograph their work at a dentistry office this morning before the next round of snow hit the Tristate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930625134-DOK7HZRLV16FL9470RDG/IMG_7504.jpg feb-2026 - 2.4.26 Full Bars As seen walking out of the Cincinnati Art Museum this evening. I like that they’ve lit the trees so prominently along the new driveway up to the roundabout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930620175-L32PE362F1MU1R5BZOM3/336+Elm+Street+-+Apt+2++-+Phil+Armstrong-15.jpg feb-2026 - 2.5.26 Indoors and Out Had an apartment shoot this morning that took me to a building in Ludlow, KY. Two of the apartments featured lovely colorful stained glass windows (pictured) that enlivened the room considerably. With these being monochromatic, empty apartments, a bold splash of color like this adds a strong sense of character that makes the mood in the room considerably warmer and brighter than the dreary cold beyond. I managed to photograph someone crossing the street as I lined up for a straight shot on the tiny window. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930616331-33Z8Y1B4KF4I2VMZC050/Mahler+Symphony+No+4++-+Phil+Armstrong-37.jpg feb-2026 - 2.6.26 Mahler Symphony No. 4 Tabita Berglund conducts the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra through Mahler Symphony No. 4. Photographed for Fanfare Magazine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930619060-519HQB1YEYKY03OGS7Q3/IMG_7542.jpg feb-2026 - 2.7.26 Sunset On Mulberry While waiting on Lammi to come out of his house, Travis, Ronny, and I sat in the car chatting while the sun set to the west. Though it was in the single digits and uncomfortable to spend time outdoors, the warmth of that sunlight on the undisturbed areas of snow at the bottom of frame is undeniably beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268764307-2EY2SIYK5UQKOQ7JZB13/IMG_7541.jpeg feb-2026 - 2.8.26 Sketching SF Sketching buildings is tedious and I kind of hate it, but it’s the only thing I want to draw. Wish I preferred something else. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268752878-EW1V7VZI8KJGZCT6IBXQ/NZF_7618.jpg feb-2026 - 2.9.26 Bar Progress Not sure what’s going into the Plymouth Street space in Mt. Washington, but it will have a bar of some sort. I think it’s a coffee shop? Anyway, I’ve photographed the progress on this place on and off for years and it’s wild to see how far it’s come during that time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268774415-K25CZFPDC84BECIG6ES8/NZF_7624.jpg feb-2026 - 2.10.26 The Great Thaw After what feels like an eternity below freezing without a break, we randomly got a 60ºF day in February. The thaw has begun. Sidewalks have begun reemerging. The streets are no longer lumpy with ice and snow. The air doesn’t burn your lungs when breathing deep. The sun feels like it’s accomplishing something for once. We loved it so much, we went for a walk, stopped for a beer at Darkness, and ended up doing steak night with Chelsea and Vince at Hometown Heroes. It was delicious, cheap, and put me in a meat coma when I got back home. Unplanned, fun evenings like this are essential to fighting winter blues. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268771195-9SQAAGTQYVGVO2W64DU2/NZF_7632.jpg feb-2026 - 2.11.26 New Plaza Closing down Plum Street and building this plaza next to the renovated convention center is a good move. There is so much more life on this block after removing the Millennium Hotel and making use of that bit of land that was formerly fenced in for years. As I typed that, I realized how empty this photo is. Rest assured there were more people present just out of frame. I dressed improperly for my walk with Myrtle around this stretch, so I didn’t linger. I’ll check it out again once it gets a bit warmer. Curious to see how this block competes with Fountain Square for programming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268767493-DGK42S9ZTHUMO4NK6FY6/1916+Central+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-85.jpg feb-2026 - 2.12.26 Documenting Kumasi MC You’ve seen this place from Central Parkway before. The Obama mural on the south-facing side makes it instantly recognizable. This place has been empty for over a decade at the time of this writing, but before it was cleared out, it was home to the Kumasi Motorcycle Club. After a series of shootings culminated in the unsolved murder of a man outside the building in 2014, the city shut it down for good. The owner today says the club was started by some Vietnam veterans. After some time, it became a regular hang-out for neighbors. If you search for it, you’ll come across a really good Flickr album of photos of the club and who I assume are its regulars from the mid- to late-2000s. The first floor has a load of hand-painted murals on several walls and part of the ceiling as you walk in. Though a lot of the building’s interior has deteriorated and is in a state of renovation, the amateur quality of the remaining murals is endearing and gives you a sense of what the club used to feel like. The two floors above it are primed to receive new apartments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268753333-7NQNEXLCM4DAH43P3ZB0/IMG_7594.jpg feb-2026 - 2.13.26 Vitamin D Aisle 4 treats seasonal depression if you stand in it long enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268758758-HPFR4XRX0U3YT9YB4PS1/IMG_7628.jpg feb-2026 - 2.14.26 Empress Impresses I love all Cincinnati chili and don’t subscribe to the “Skyline is the only good one and everything else is an affront to God” thing half of Cincinnati pretends to believe. Honestly, when someone says Gold Star is trash and Skyline is amazing, I know their opinion can be disregarded; they need attention more than a coney. Neither Ashley nor I celebrate Valentine’s Day, especially now that Ashley’s work is so centered around it. Going to a nice restaurant on Valentine’s Day is a headache, so we normally find something alternative to do every year, if we even remember to do anything at all. This year, we decided to go to a neighborhood chili parlor figuring it wouldn’t be busy. We debated a few options before landing on Empress—the oldest still-operating of the brands with only one location left in Alexandria. The photo sums up the decor perfectly. It looks like an old Taco Bell inside, the food is delicious, and we got out of there having spent $30 total. Definitely headed back sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563703610-78SEUAN2VHNWEH6DXJ9X/IMG_7646.jpg feb-2026 - 2.15.26 Assistive Access Ashley’s grandmother has inherited her late grandfather’s iPhone. As she’s never used technology more sophisticated than a TV remote in her life, we needed a way to dumb down the smart phone for her. The reason she’s not using a plain dumb phone is because her family would like to send her photos and keep tabs on her location now that she lives alone, so this phone is necessary. There’s a setting on iPhone called Assistive Access that essentially strips down the UI to large, simple icons with limited functionality. Before turning on Assistive Access, the user chooses which apps they want to use and a few other small customization options. When activated, it looks like this. Not all apps are offered in this mode, but nearly all of the primary Apple apps are. Honestly, if I didn’t need access to several third party apps, I think this would be a great way for me to curb looking at my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563702407-V5LIWBQ10537UGKOQXJK/IMG_7650.jpg feb-2026 - 2.16.26 Repurposed I built this shoe rack for Ashley a couple years ago. In an effort to declutter the basement stair landing and make use of our alley door, we removed it from that area and relocated her shoes by mine near the garage. As such, we suddenly had a handmade shoe rack without a home. I wondered if I could make use of it in my office to hold my camera collection, and sure enough, it worked. The low profile shelves were perfect, and I’m glad I could make use of it once more even if its intended purpose was originally different. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563698545-7K9AMUC78P1FUCFGH67P/A3218723-0483-4078-AC34-FD925EFE8023.jpg feb-2026 Rebranding I’ve spent the last several days totally rebranding my business. With design help from Jake Staubitz, we came up with this logo to represent my professional work going forward. Embracing color and a serif typeface was a little scary at first, but his vision coupled with my preferred color palette ultimately ended up with something I never would’ve dreamed up myself. Of course, you’re probably looking at it like, “so what?” And you’re right. But to me—someone who’s stuck with various Helveticas for years—this is a big step in another direction. I didn’t originally want to geolocate my brand, but so much of my work is based here, so I’m leaning into it. Several of my repeat clients know me this way, and it’s snappier than my actual name. Jake’s choice of font flavorfully highlights my irregular schedule of work while maintaining a thoughtful structure overall. I like the offset nature of the ‘c’ and ‘y’, as well as the shrunken ‘i’ in both words. The tail off the bottom of the loop on the ‘p’ is fun, too, and I like that I have two primary colors as well as a monochrome option to both represent where I’ve come from and where I’m going. The logo is simultaneously professional and casual/flexible, accurately describing who I am in this field. Regarding the Pantone image, I knew I wanted my primary color to be green, but I didn’t yet know which shade. Ashley has a massive Pantone swatch set in her office cabinet that I figured I could use for direction. When I sat down with it, I flipped to the greens, and (I’m not kidding you) ‘Myrtle’ was the first one I noticed. I’m not a believer in fate, but when serendipity like that happens, I know not to ignore it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563698170-QJ236WDHQHJX9MKSHK9C/NZF_8135.jpg feb-2026 - 2.18.26 Edge Inn I liked this bar well-enough. Fine for a Miller Lite. The neon sign outside is too photogenic to ignore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563695703-OAERRCWK1SAEF935KOUE/NZF_8151.jpg feb-2026 - 2.19.26 Double Exposure Playing around with an in-camera double exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563693560-HCH319YKCSS8HOVRVYRQ/IMG_7671.jpg feb-2026 - 2.20.26 My Two Loves Chicago hot dogs and Myrtle. Does it get any better? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563689664-AYBY6O57GS20GGE4MVNP/IMG_7683.jpg feb-2026 - 2.21.26 The Kind You Find At a Second-Hand Store Because I’ve been light on work, I’ve been knocking out a lot of mundane stuff around the house that I’ve been meaning to get to for the last few years. Painting the stairwell, caulking around windows, re-laying floor tile, etc. Since I was on a roll, I figured the upstairs hallway and stairwell could use a fresh coat of paint, too. While we didn’t end up choosing ‘Prince Purple,’ for our hallway, I appreciated Behr’s attempt to avoid a lawsuit and Spirit Halloween this color. I had Raspberry Beret stuck in my head the rest of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563688436-KIVXKGHB8QWXN0U1NAV4/IMG_7695.jpg feb-2026 First Financial Center We went to the Home and Garden Show today to look at several contractors we might want to work on our house this summer. While Ashley was excited to look at the booths, I was mainly interested in seeing how the new convention center looked inside. I’m a big fan of the redesign, specifically the corner that looks out on 5th Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563686472-A4XX1EMWVGVKJI6KJFX7/IMG_7699.jpg feb-2026 - 2.23.26 CMD+Z A past owner of our house painted nearly all the trim in the house white. It kills me because I would much rather it be sealed natural wood. I’ve been considering whether or not to undo all of this without the use of paint stripper, so I’m seeing how difficult it is on a small section of the house. The spindles on our staircase were painted, but the rest of it wasn’t. I figure I’ll start here and see how it goes before committing to other areas of the house. Remove the white paint, sand it down, and reseal. I’m using a heat gun and a scraper to remove the paint in little sections at a time. It’s not a fast or easy process, but I find it oddly meditative and kind of like that it’s going to be involved. It will make the whole project sweeter when it’s finished. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563684757-A9W0CI6T20MQ1FTZ9BKL/IMG_7702.jpg feb-2026 - 2.24.26 Lombardy Just a nice doorway on West Fourth while I was getting coffee at Deeper Roots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563683185-HXXPLF70DITYDBFHULQB/3MT+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg feb-2026 - 2.25.26 3MT Photographed the Three Minute Thesis event up at UC today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563679414-EE9WLJQGLLSKXY562T79/St.+Joseph+Catholic+School+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg feb-2026 - 2.26.26 St. Joseph I’ve done a lot of lifestyle stuff for organizations and businesses, but I did my first Catholic school today. St. Joseph Catholic School in Crescent Springs needed new marketing images and asked me to work on a list of shots for them. The images they have currently all feature students who’ve moved on to high school and no longer attend their school. I photographed mass first, then went into the school to make images of kids in classrooms and doing different activities. Thankfully I had a guide with me at all times to let me know what they needed image-wise. I ended up with a gallery of about 100 images for them at the end of the day, and overall it went well. I’m posting this one because it’s back-of-head only. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563675784-M2J17F0JPH0P72L5KFV7/IMG_7749.jpg feb-2026 - 2.27.26 Late-Night Dogs And a Bar Fight Senate in Blue Ash is closing, making Holiday Spirits the last place it’ll exist going forward. I like the bar well enough, but I think I go there mainly because I can get two corn dogs for less than $10 while I drink a beer. What’s better than that? While we were there, we witnessed the beginning of a bar fight. It quickly got tense around the pool table mere feet from our group, so we closed out and left. We managed to leave before anything really happened besides the standard chest-bumping and a ready-to-strike pool cue was raised in a threatening manner. It’s a bummer when wannabe macho dudes ruin the fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563673587-FD4052A74I6TEAWZ2Y0M/Beethoven+and+Ravel+-+Phil+Armstrong+-53.jpg feb-2026 - 2.28.26 Beethoven & Ravel Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet on stage with the CSO for the evening’s Beethoven & Ravel performance at Music Hall. I noticed he played the piano with one hand only to learn later that the piece was written for Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein who lost his right arm during World War I. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/mar2026 daily 0.75 2026-03-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982654494-9I8VSQNP1LIB6WO82R2D/IMG_7763.jpg mar-2026 - 3.1.26 Anderson Ferry Rode the ferry from the airport to the Cincy side this morning. I wish we had these every few miles all along the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982654494-9I8VSQNP1LIB6WO82R2D/IMG_7763.jpg mar-2026 - 3.1.26 Anderson Ferry Rode the ferry from the airport to the Cincy side this morning. I wish we had these every few miles all along the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982653727-C5AVAE49TV44CP0VLGBL/Artist+Mike+Agricola+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg mar-2026 - 3.2.26 Portrait Work A portrait of artist Mike Agricola in his home studio in Dayton, KY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982642595-PACR77AGDXTKV2WIBXHH/IMG_7838.jpg mar-2026 - 3.3.26 Carrot Hound She goes mental over carrots. Can’t get enough of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982648429-BMCDN4WL7TYOCSK3G861/Art+of+Collecting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg mar-2026 - 3.4.26 Art of Collecting Scene from an event at the Cincinnati Art Museum this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982698193-THAUTVA13P61UL2D8RG6/NZF_0406-2.jpg mar-2026 - 3.5.26 Enterprise-D Made a card for my friend Brett’s birthday. We’re both Trekkies, so I put the D on the front of his card. I originally messed up the background, so I ended up cutting out the ship and gluing it to a different backdrop. Turned out fine, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982698557-KV4B8LJH7NV7IQBI6P37/NZF_0767.jpg mar-2026 - 3.6.26 Bockfest 2026 Met up with friends at the parade and enjoyed the first night of Bockfest. I was surprisingly warm for early March. I can’t remember the last time it was this seasonal for this event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982706163-M22VJ8MGV7TP7S426X18/NZF_0809-Edit.jpg mar-2026 - 3.7.26 Dinner Train We went to the Boathouse for dinner and I got to see the passenger train before it chugged away. First time I’ve caught it at night! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982669463-XK2L9NPBDRNPJ88SPZ17/IMG_7895.jpg mar-2026 - 3.8.26 Merch? I needed new stickers to match my new brand for my cart and equipment boxes, but the smallest amount I could order is 25. So now I have too many of these and I don’t know what to do with them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982694513-J354J4P5RV7H9ZHZS5IF/NZ9_9990.jpg mar-2026 - 3.9.26 This Place Matters As seen on Holman Street, Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982659755-RNUB2Z70KLFI112OYJZZ/IMG_7793.jpg mar-2026 - 3.10.26 Destined For Destruction The city paid Vince to clear the brush away from this pedestrian bridge that’s going to be demolished and replaced soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982659544-W66667ZGN7AAK2UPVGOG/IMG_7827.jpg mar-2026 - 3.11.26 Unicorn Party Ashley got this getup for a party she’s going to next month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982706087-923WS1I1MQTOXW4O79VN/NZF_0863.jpg mar-2026 - 3.12.26 Macro Brick Slapped a bunch of magnification diopters and took a photo of the brick on the porch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982663948-UMEYRAWXPRRGPIKFYROK/IMG_7841.jpg mar-2026 - 3.13.26 Getting Answers I have been feeling absolutely awful the last few days. Long story short, I needed a scan to see what’s going on in my abdomen. The good news: it’s nothing serious. The bad news: I don’t actually know what’s wrong with me at this moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982664286-ON1ZAQFC9SOZS3EPQ11S/IMG_7846.jpg mar-2026 - 3.14.26 Thanks, America! Felt healthy enough to briefly leave the house. Got gas in my vehicle and it’s the most I’ve spent in years. The no-new-war candidate decided that was all bullshit, and now we’re bombing the Middle East yet again. Obviously the loss of life is the main awful issue, and that shouldn’t be minimized in the least. Since half of Americans don’t seemingly understand or care about that, though, maybe spending more at the pumps will knock some sense into them. Who am I kidding? It won’t make a damn bit of difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982669567-R3AF1FDGVR5RHD1QB3WY/IMG_7877.jpg mar-2026 - 3.15.26 Porch-Sitting Actually felt a little better today and managed to get outside for a bit. At the end of the evening, we sat on the porch and watched the sunset with our novels and reading lights. I wish I could do this daily. Once it gets consistently warmer, I plan to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982715903-WJKG7LT1GFXWCC668O2O/NZF_0869.jpg mar-2026 - 3.16.26 Drip! Macro photo of a wet snoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982716759-C5FUSG1Q7LFJ64HJ5VIU/NZF_0875.jpg mar-2026 - 3.17.26 Soon-to-be-Parents This is the last time I’ll see Mike and Jenn as a childless couple. They’re scheduled to have their son in early April, though there’s a possibility of him coming sooner. Transitions in life often don’t have hard lines, and recognizing when there is one is a treat. I wanted to capture that moment before everything changes for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982686313-GLZ8OX77I81ZKYJZ6E9J/NZ9_0704.jpg mar-2026 - 3.18.26 Final Light I thought this moment at the Cincinnati Art Museum was quietly beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982723135-L4J0PLUEWLF38QVX0Z8O/NZF_0960.jpg mar-2026 - 3.19.26 Miami: Day 1 We went to Miami for Allie’s birthday. We’re staying in a big house with everyone, and Ashley and I are sharing a room with Justin. We briefly walked around a beachy area before heading to the VRBO. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982727509-XQU0KVZ5SHOD9VNDG1XE/NZF_0966.jpg mar-2026 - 3.20.26 Miami: Day 2 Interesting porch decor at this house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982730013-SOGFAQMUD5408Y3VME12/NZF_1069.jpg mar-2026 - 3.21.26 Miami: Day 3 The Art Deco District of Miami has some pretty architecture. We went to Mac’s Club Deuce and it was the best dive bar I’ve been to in a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982733533-WOVA9IMAWY7P2C29RU1C/NZF_1128.jpg mar-2026 - 3.22.26 Miami: Final Day I’m glad they’re doing this to the pumps. I complained about prices a few days ago on here, and I still don’t think this will make any difference, but I like it when MAGA is given a taste of their own dumb medicine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982673061-ASUAFDEY6MXKY2TS409Q/IMG_7949.jpg mar-2026 - 3.23.26 Missed Work I had two jobs lined up after getting back from this Miami trip, and I missed both of them due to illness. Really annoyed that I will be missing out on all that work. Not sure what’s up with me, but I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. I laid still for as much of the day as possible, watching Roku City on my side and eating handfuls of pills to make me feel better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982676841-EXJKCISXA7ATMQALQ97S/IMG_7994.jpg mar-2026 - 3.24.26 Two Days Still feeling the effects of whatever I contracted at the end of the Miami trip and taking it as easy as possible. Baseball comes back in two days; looking very forward to it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982674910-HZ6OY93VL9EM7VOR1CJW/IMG_7983.jpg mar-2026 - 3.25.26 Left the House, Saw a Clock Feeling a lot better today, thankfully. I ventured out to the Pro Shop down at the ballpark to pick up a jersey for the season. Along the way, I stopped to admire the Verdin Clock Joey Votto gifted the Reds recently. He’ll always be one of my favorites. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982645034-UB8OXUC7T3QDL0TTSHJS/8K+Opening+Day+2026-+Phil+Armstrong+-163.jpg mar-2026 - 3.26.26 Opening Day with 8K For the second year in a row, I photographed 8K Construction as they marched in the Opening Day Parade. Here’s a shot of Michael looking epic as hell on Race Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982677769-0OQEZHBM7J8TTNJDV1S4/IMG_8012.jpg mar-2026 - 3.27.26 Exhausted Reds lost on Opening Day, and I feel physically bad again. Probably going to get blood work done soon to see what’s going on in there. I jokingly have a theory it’s related to the weather as it was summer-like yesterday and today it’s back to winter, but there has to be something more going on in there. My mood is poor, as is my mental health today. This is the only photo I took all day: the jersey I bought from the Pro Shop a couple of days ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982681694-UK3S6VLQ16EL0ENSDENP/IMG_8023.jpg mar-2026 - 3.28.26 Diet Slipping I’ve been generally eating healthy over the last few weeks as I figure out why I feel so poorly all the time, but today I made an exception: I had the cheese coney pizza from Wayfarer Tavern, and it was excellent. Sitting on the porch with the fire going, pizza box on my lap, the Reds on TV, and the sun shining made for a really pleasant evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982682599-S89GN89RSMRANJS6NA3B/IMG_8032.jpg mar-2026 - 3.29.26 What’s Out There? Myrtle inspects the street from Ashley’s grandmother’s front room couch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982685138-7YVWG0I7QP864FU2ZMZP/IMG_8040.jpg mar-2026 - 3.30.26 Owen Louis Mike and Jenn had their son, Owen, yesterday morning. He came earlier than they anticipated, and everyone is healthy and happy. Mike asked if we wanted to come meet him while they were still at the hospital. I can’t believe my buddy I’ve known since we were 16 and 17 respectively has a baby now. It’s so surreal (in a good way). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982687438-WX9IZZCYCYQNX93QQCEW/NZ9_3327-Edit.jpg mar-2026 - 3.31.26 Sage and His Work Went to Single Batch to shoot some new stuff they’re shipping to Connecticut soon. Sage, one of the guys working in the shop, is an incredible metal and woodworker who repurposed a bunch of steel from a scrapyard in Cleveland into an intricate base for a height-adjustable table. The wheel on the side controls how tall the table stands, and he welded the owner’s name into the bottom of the frame for greater personalization. I set up the camera to capture the piece itself, but snapped a few quick frames early while he was wiping it down. Glad I did; I like seeing the artist with the art. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/apr2026 daily 0.75 2026-04-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1775143194654-WWB6XH8U0GQK63GE24XQ/NZ9_3530-HDR+copy.jpg apr-2026 - 4.1.26 Parallels This is not a before and after. Two different properties, in two different cities, about 3 miles apart. Both were built long before any of us were here, but they’re both in transition at present. Top: a historic house in Covington freshly stripped nearly to the studs that’s looking for a preservation-minded owner to purchase it. Bottom: a historic firehouse in Over-the-Rhine freshly renovated for life as a short term rental. I photographed them within hours of each other and was struck by their parallels despite their differences. This is partially why I love my job. I get to see both ends of the spectrum of something like this within the same hour. Tomorrow, I’ll do something different. The next day, something else. And then if I’m lucky, I’ll get to do this again at some point. That ever-changing schedule keeps me engaged despite the drawbacks that come with working for yourself. Every day being totally unique is a quality I can scarcely imagine giving up. If I get to do this the rest of my life, I don’t think I’ll ever choose to fully retire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1775143194654-WWB6XH8U0GQK63GE24XQ/NZ9_3530-HDR+copy.jpg apr-2026 - 4.1.26 Parallels This is not a before and after. Two different properties, in two different cities, about 3 miles apart. Both were built long before any of us were here, but they’re both in transition at present. Top: a historic house in Covington freshly stripped nearly to the studs that’s looking for a preservation-minded owner to purchase it. Bottom: a historic firehouse in Over-the-Rhine freshly renovated for life as a short term rental. I photographed them within hours of each other and was struck by their parallels despite their differences. This is partially why I love my job. I get to see both ends of the spectrum of something like this within the same hour. Tomorrow, I’ll do something different. The next day, something else. And then if I’m lucky, I’ll get to do this again at some point. That ever-changing schedule keeps me engaged despite the drawbacks that come with working for yourself. Every day being totally unique is a quality I can scarcely imagine giving up. If I get to do this the rest of my life, I don’t think I’ll ever choose to fully retire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1775143158936-638FM0RFLIEYLOZ11PE1/DSC_2197.jpg apr-2026 - 4.2.26 Cat Nap I received this text from Ashley: “Cat in fort.” She was on a work call and couldn’t break away, but she knew I needed to see this. Her office looks out onto the alley and back with a prime view of the fort in our neighbor’s back yard. Avoiding her laptop camera, I silently squeezed in and aimed the J5 with the longest lens I have for it and snapped the photo. It’s not even lunch time and I know nothing else will be better than this. As I write this, the cat is currently on his side snoozing in the fort with one paw stretched over the edge of the platform. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/home daily 1.0 2021-06-15 http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-oct-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070637685-CZ59O5OJ9L8VU0HPHW93/IMG_8501-2.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.1.19 The Grass-Lover Has Logged On https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070702001-YUL17QPXPKVG9S2ZBR5R/Studio+Session-014.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.2.19 Photographing My Skeletons In the Closet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070638472-1JF2FFIGR8Q1J60E4EAS/IMG_8556.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.3.19 A Bustling Downtown Corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070682084-4OEX2V26EIOQ0Z8P9LFZ/NZ6_8243.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.4.19 Finding New Ways to See the World https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070685486-20665OASLT95E5Z42Z4D/NZ6_8249.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.5.19 Silhouettes to Flowers Was a Good Move https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070641361-DF0RQSB8J04LF1Q1E33E/IMG_8638.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.6.19 My Wife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070633168-7IB78NWC73DFAIYWT158/750_3633.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.7.19 Endless Thank Yous Incoming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070684129-NFPTTYO47SWA55DZ6M4M/NZ6_8252.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.8.19 Misty Mountain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070687268-Q25TGD0XZ6UE76GYSNH9/NZ6_8408.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.9.19 A Perfect Fall Evening https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070691109-3FO0HZPWTPNV4UCZ07N0/NZ6_8878.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.10.19 Right Before the Cops Crashed the Party https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070694694-ZVPC92MR441SE0R6DP1N/NZ6_9159.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.11.19 Foiled Again! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070695544-9L9A2H20RPITXLQ5T0LI/NZ6_9292.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.12.19 The 1980s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070700814-IMLYC08XDZ1215UHR0I3/NZ6_9773.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.13.19 A Helpful Guide https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070645060-KAFSI2M7FO54K1XDGO2S/IMG_8864-2.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.14.19 Manhole Cover Detail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070700028-S7PVVVJT7I42G6MUFACH/NZ6_9989.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.15.19 An Invisible Man Sittin' in Your Chair, Who Ya Gonna Call https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070666256-I97NSYE52OGJ58GTXZDI/NZ6_0108.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.16.19 Molly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070646012-CH18XTJEYHSX4F4XRWRA/IMG_8955.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.17.19 Alms & Doepke https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070670794-ICSCXDMWEOHOB5LRBMPX/NZ6_1605.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.18.19 Pete Coleman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070650648-7X06M7RPSXXSDOCI9N1L/IMG_8999.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.19.19 Like a Million Bucks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070651275-VEEFNV7QMOQQ0F2VNNJ6/IMG_9008.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.20.19 Bellevue Looking Very Belle Today https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070633630-DVUHESAD5UWUWRPDBRGS/DSC_9922.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.21.19 Grim Modeler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070653756-J7G9TVJFDTBNJCXLGS7D/IMG_9033.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.22.19 Beer: Two Conversations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070671053-VIUW42IM47X16T9Y6LUR/NZ6_1929.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.23.19 Pies & Pints & Puppy Pecks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070673181-83DSK8QKUN5FFZOHPOYE/NZ6_1985.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.24.19 Hey, Pumpkin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070655610-3PHC0GKNSE8MD5ULD64X/IMG_9074.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.25.19 Mercantile Building, October 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070675590-ACDMAQI4EKE1MQXVJEW2/NZ6_1996-Edit.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.26.19 One Way https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070658538-Y1T5I7QZH4VRTYURZEJ3/IMG_9100.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.27.19 Washington Pork https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070679263-86NUA61V6H8E645DY51F/NZ6_2141.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.28.19 Washington Perch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070680928-KR33T1MG2A93P2ZRVWVN/NZ6_2360.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.29.19 Myrtini https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070661690-HCT4X3TL1J9FL9PMU06X/IMG_9183.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.30.19 Settling For Less Than Deserved https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070665904-SN8LCVZVJVUB2NQIF150/IMG_9217.jpg daily-photos-oct-2019 - 10.31.19 Glad I Wore Boots... http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-sep-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074728952-8UCHHFT23MTRPISCZNL7/NZ6_4823.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.1.19 Labor Day 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074730361-1XF8DZAW4BZ6ADIP70VJ/NZ6_4886.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.2.19 Night Window https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074733359-8QGI84GMIONTS7Z782KM/NZ6_4906.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.3.19 From the 16th Story Ledge of the Times-Star https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074703838-SAQPA2KUMQ6KVN1O6OVW/IMG_8042.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.4.19 The Worst Part of Sickness is a Day of Lost Productivity https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074707563-EGJR2VAFDC7HOBXLLXRP/IMG_8046.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.5.19 I Want to Feel Better https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074699328-PWG6NK01R285793N5V6H/750_3021.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.6.19 We Are Quarantined https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074711517-EX2FGI4NK2R48PBWF2SC/IMG_8064.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.7.19 Bleak https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074733321-OQEICM5K92L3N9RX8UD2/NZ6_4979.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.8.19 Goodbye, Weekend of Lovely Weather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074735388-VI19ORX9LBP0QAAALGJW/NZ6_5010.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.9.19 Let’s Burn This Virus Out of My Lungs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074739131-EJ99ZI3EPCKRNUN5SM4L/NZ6_5030.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.10.19 Making Progress https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074741920-YZSKEYTXHQAEVSMLAZ9O/NZ6_5532.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.11.19 James Wilson: A True Ninja Warrior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074743716-J5T1TTJVWP2GVA91IKQ0/NZ6_5792.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.12.19 A Peaceful Evening on 12th https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074711915-HAC3LRAHF6CDJMXXABWY/IMG_8151.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.13.19 YWCA In the Evening https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074744696-GON2SBVGOD9G5ZB5622K/NZ6_7014.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.14.19 Shot a Wedding Today https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074715187-EJDRP3WIWJKX11VRYDPD/IMG_8175.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.15.19 Underwater Amateur Photography (1986) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074747981-W1K45FX0WWURUELU6KS2/NZ6_7056.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.16.19 "I'll Print This Out and Call It 'SpEciAL dELiVeRy' and Sell It at Findlay Market" -Ronny Salerno https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074718949-36XNVNRSYT20VK3VB8W0/IMG_8205.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.17.19 Simple Truth Organic® https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074748790-OISV0TFVG341BZXCK87P/NZ6_7320.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.18.19 Bailey, a Good Doodle Boy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074752921-OJFCP8BC38YDPSYYHO4L/NZ6_7353.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.19.19 Happily Curious https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074753178-F4EST492SODVKP9ZFRZF/NZ6_7667.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.20.19 It’s Getting Real https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074757310-WBGP5Q5NE6YOHXO0AYJ6/NZ6_7818.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.21.19 The Last to Lower the Stein https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074720534-J8M4A4VHQ6G5O0F4HIG3/IMG_8328-2.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.21.19 Old Burlington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074724560-FMFMGW4YD2G3U8RPM23R/IMG_8352.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.23.19 House on the Hill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074726690-THWORK0WEHGV5KZQYQEA/IMG_8385.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.24.19 Evening Succulents https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074704212-DPZ51UJKAJ1UN6I1L425/IMG_0105.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.25.19 An Ivory Mammoth on Court Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074699731-BH9DW6PSWIIN1DBVQ7QK/DSC_9777.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.26.19 Don’t Forget to Sign His Card https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074756365-3K17WURWZMO8HRG5MOH3/NZ6_8124.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.27.19 Changes Slowly Coming Around to Covington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074759459-F6GS3XWT6NE4H6E0GSCM/NZ6_8136-Edit.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.28.19 Daily Life Kit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074763508-Y0SP8O5LHPME5PXAYAZF/NZ6_8167.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.29.19 Looks Like Fall (Doesn’t Feel Like It) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074763779-8MOQJF7EDDQJAYNQFPAR/NZ6_8209.jpg daily-photos-sep-2019 - 9.30.19 An iPhone Packed With Significantly More Technology Still Can’t Take You to the Moon http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-feb-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085508537-WY2OK0HPKNEKWWY3R71O/20190201.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.1.19 Mr. McClorey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085507660-3GFQJBSMSPXZ7IHKZ63Z/20190202.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.2.19 Have a Seat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085515027-8I7VOUG6H78AQEFILIIB/20190203.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.3.19 Helluva “Stoop” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085515830-MLFHALHWTEM35WLIA490/20190204.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.4.19 Sunrise on the Saxony https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085519208-X2PSZMPH6A35D2OALL38/20190205.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.5.19 Misty Night on Ida Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085519754-NJH9O0A6707EGBA25XIE/20190206.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.6.19 Out of Focus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085523975-F04OLCGMUFQMH3ESVIU4/20190207.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.7.19 Spirited Spirits https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085525729-YUBWFMWYY19NGLNG410R/20190208.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.8.19 Airbnb with a View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085530056-KOEIQ6J78MP7TJ9AQ6VZ/20190209.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.9.19 Broadway to Elm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085532241-1ZTGAC6OU89O3NF1M0KQ/20190210.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.10.19 A Snowy Not-so-Purple Purple People Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085536076-25YARLQ1K11DHN49FU3U/20190211.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.11.19 Who's There? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085536279-CO39LM9X7JK012MB0NE0/20190212.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.12.19 The Eastman Kodak Co. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085544299-ASQXE64AM3SSUI4BDRB1/20190213.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.13.19 Office-Turned-Sick Day :( https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085545310-41YC0N9RDGTQDCL0XOU8/20190214.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.14.19 Sunset Fetch in Lytle Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085548999-R280BT02VUSYANAUT8TS/20190215.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.15.19 My Favorite Bar I Never Get to Go to (Because My Fiancee Doesn't Like It) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085551064-KF1S0KVNBL67HEZ9W707/20190216.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.16.19 A Disagreement Ruffles Feathers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085556194-4EKTCB67CIXTJTGXMCC0/20190217.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.17.19 Storytime https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085555321-FAM683EJMJ45RPO8P8FM/20190218.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.18.19 Back in Business https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085562196-UL2T15ZNLIYMSR8B93IS/20190219.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.19.19 17 Years of Friendship https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085562545-LSNJF1JK0FEK27T9FCNN/20190220.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.20.19 Glossy and Vertical https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085567313-SSZX463159N8CLTYD8WQ/20190221.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.21.19 Four Friends at the Bar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085569836-6IZ66WW0NJVPHGFUVP0M/20190222.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.22.19 An Early 20th Century Firing Range https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085572822-4SOC3GQEPG9QR9VO62AK/20190223.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.23.19 Blustery Night on Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085574526-8855NU0VLKSE4YAKEN2E/20190224.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.24.19 Before Dog/After Dog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085578380-UJXEH8PKO1V3AVFLFSCP/20190225.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.25.19 Head Toward the Light! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085578238-HCL0S1A0DI6RN9J0JQZJ/20190226.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.26.19 Tangerine Rain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085581598-FYBQMOHO6VYZYSCEJ72O/20190227.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.27.19 A Cheerio's Fate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085582202-NBTJW0SOPU34EKOZ55FW/20190228.jpg daily-photos-feb-2019 - 2.28.19 Celebrate National Chili Day http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-aug-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084130010-OE1U307FLT5G5EY9UC24/750_1482.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.1.19 A Quiet Spot for the Night https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084137856-JX0BWKAUPCULK16D48H3/IMG_6920.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.2.19 Eighth Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084154781-FQW7SSFEQTTOWCFCLP1Q/NZ6_1631.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.3.19 Evening on Elm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084137858-W9F0F74KAMYD5QILD5HR/IMG_6973.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.4.19 Moment of Silence (For Dayton) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084140784-4YF1SPIQ1OPE02JU24AM/IMG_6997.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.5.19 Gateway Sculpture, 1992 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084155660-W3XTIR9ANUVICUI54PVZ/NZ6_1872.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.6.19 A Fairfield Avenue Cocktail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084159169-IP4BWR1A0DEY3D8GMCTJ/NZ6_1912.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.7.19 Court-Appointed Vanishing Point https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084159961-2JJDQZ15MD8MJ0YAO886/NZ6_2061.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.8.19 Leaving the Hardware Store https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084165731-AD6LFUP5KLGE3VIM1MVD/NZ6_2123.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.9.10 No Color Adjustment https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084130043-5B6TYF1HMAGUCEC26XXN/750_1779.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.10.19 1940s Fly Over https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084163361-IOXSQK1IQ98LWAZ88URP/NZ6_2516.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.11.19 A Father Provides https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084165496-Z7DM9MWZBBBXZCHMZ3PX/NZ6_2524.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.12.19 Ocean View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084169065-URJOZZTLHQZJ0QMRT1LN/NZ6_2596.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.13.19 Oven Mishaps Make For Good Atmosphere https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084171676-67A0DI8JAR3L51OL9IUH/NZ6_2743.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.14.19 Quiet Evening at the End of Piatt Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084174653-W55DUT22BNHFOYL039FA/NZ6_3026.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.15.19 Downward Spiral https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084142856-SJSR12ALDNL4VD0YTCZM/IMG_7276.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.16.19 Sunrise https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084143961-HMFN83QZ98PMBA9MROK9/IMG_7315.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.17.19 Definitely a Zonk Behind This One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084146494-53G0DMAOGZNADCCEYM47/IMG_7332.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.18.19 Newsboy's Entrance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084146081-86QI0J7YX2EFTJC96DZS/IMG_7344.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.19.19 “OH YEAH!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084176856-JZTGHYREOXMO7167LYBT/NZ6_3242.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.20.19 Sunshine Through the Rain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084134042-704AQJ4PGQEE97M1CX7G/750_2139.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.21.19 Bloom Haus Rhapsody Bouquet in an Office https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084177496-GWTDQ8CIFMURDDNGF7ND/NZ6_3697.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.22.19 Your Earliest Memories https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084180190-ETXWI1PVM1QMVBBLADP0/NZ6_3784.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.23.19 Paul Grether on His Roof https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084150740-KJEJJWQUOLE83BW8AHHO/IMG_7474.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.24.19 Hullo There https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084136253-A0P2Z03G7T7Q26T6T7J3/750_2272.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.25.19 Forest Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084180190-LDJPZ06SNQH6R127P118/NZ6_4045-Edit.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.26.19 Dandelions or Something https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084183516-2ZK5ABBDI7VPPWMFPV6T/NZ6_4181-HDR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.27.19 Transformative Years Within These Walls https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084184735-U36GNY4FLKPHW21VDPQ5/NZ6_4245-HDR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.28.19 West Fifteenth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084186690-RC63MUCI6CMC6L4OAVZK/NZ6_4258.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.29.19 Stop the Scroll/Be Better to Yourself https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084188327-05LJN2MNI4CE4CBVMKSJ/NZ6_4300.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.30.19 11th Floor Balcony https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084151870-IRNGDUDTU581NIANY133/IMG_7598.jpg daily-photos-aug-2019 - 8.31.19 Berry Street http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-nov-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069029877-GA45DGW400TTZ14OWYD0/NZ6_2469.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.1.19 Penelope Waits https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069026288-7T2JLX4V8X1ICAMRRBIX/IMG_9327.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.2.19 13th at Race https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069029836-O2C0YR84S3MHXCANM85E/IMG_9343.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.3.19 Bon Voyage! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069034031-5JTY265LHTX82M539VJV/NZ6_2617.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.4.19 Roomette With a View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069034719-R66APUYI13SA04QNYJAL/NZ6_3000.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.5.19 The L https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069037689-2LD5BU9WVD9GQA5WDPTO/NZ6_3596.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.6.19 Link Light Rail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069041650-LOHX7ULIS1U0WHW59G3O/NZ6_3855.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.7.19 Mount Rainier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069042562-1ZRG917MYDZ9KLVXHAMS/NZ6_4212.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.8.19 Morning In Seattle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069046500-STENC8C38L395HWU2JDC/NZ6_5119.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.9.19 King Street Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069049518-SN9GBCCRNVPRWH6KPU8U/NZ6_5322.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.10.19 Burnside and Harvey Milk Streets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069050129-3VGZT93558FG9TYWEE0K/NZ6_5493.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.11.19 A City of Roses https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069016283-4Q39EXNPF2XEJ4PYIO06/IMG_0310.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.12.19 The Legend’s Replacement https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069056066-ZSAKTZ039W8N4BUSYUYV/NZ6_5765.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.13.19 We Missed You So Much https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069053158-RW4QXU9AQK9BP3P72OKD/NZ6_5777.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.14.19 "You're Not Allowed to Take a Photo of That. This is Private Property." – a Paul Blart Securitas Guy to Me, Someone with a Camera and Tripod on a Public Sidewalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069015137-54BZ74BUKLE31E55HU30/IMG_0384.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.15.19 Night On Elm Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069056113-WKNRVON09VLNN81N0X3D/NZ6_6398.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.16.19 Ashley Made Some Sort of Pomegranate Gin Drink https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069021057-27KIG17GTARZPING4PLB/IMG_0401.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.17.19 Life Imitates Car https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069061612-A026E50DN7UVXSG8NK49/NZ6_6406.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.18.19 My Little Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069060366-1EQB1SPRVA9WF7L0IKUI/NZ6_6428.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.19.19 Cycle Closet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069006292-FJ5VTGML7OIA58VWIJ3M/750_4578.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.20.19 Elk Lick House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069019814-LLDA42GB4DRBNL7ARN24/IMG_0426.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.21.19 The Natural Geometry of Mt. Auburn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069066731-EWQGTJBRQ6KM3HDLY9NS/NZ6_6586.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.22.19 IMAX Pre-Show https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069066731-S8I362JYJTO5U6MZIT1P/NZ6_7009-HDR.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.23.19 A Really, Really Big Closet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069070774-KQC3ZGRKACTZ138FSD8D/NZ6_7209.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.24.19 Incandescent Spheres https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069005672-S72OL612EZRJCPO6W3PV/0B499871-1CB3-41C2-A675-970BA5EBA057.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.25.19 An Enviable Corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069024794-KB4L840QFBIZYDOY05WZ/IMG_0522.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.26.19 1986 VW Westfalia on Main Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069070815-URQ4T9MAGZ2DR9UN44NK/NZ6_7490.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.27.19 Did Not Pass Go and Didn't Collect $200 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069010306-TLEZXGZY1LIS10ONSH7A/750_4956.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.28.19 A Mob of Racers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575083167452-3W8117YRLV7X9GCF0D4B/NZ6_7942-Edit.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.29.19 Putting Up the Tree https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575170788149-VR6CNZLFBL9ZHRWWCEI3/NZ6_7955-Edit.jpg daily-photos-nov-2019 - 11.30.19 Steve's House Is Mega-Haunted http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jan-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084964888-XF18UKCOM2256DK0PSOI/20190101.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.1.19 Lemon cypress on a Broadway Street windowsill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084965711-6AJ4NEF480G9PT4JHVTD/20190102.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.2.19 An Abandoned Truck Collects Municipal Litter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084969082-17FNTTPTO0CNVYWT2JLI/20190103.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.3.19 Mountain Settlement in January https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084970289-3NWHVFHDYHW9SZI7P95P/20190104.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.4.19 Nothing Graeter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084975589-BGNHJV5I76GTBO6VEOTM/20190105.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.5.19 Pretty Nice Precipice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084975792-HT0X4VU6F8JIR7PSV5ZG/20190106.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.6.19 It’s Saul Good https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084980173-2INL0ER240E6QEYD8ZVO/20190107.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.7.19 Celebrate Victories of All Sizes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084981789-EHDSLP1Z30HSYERFMHVT/20190108.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.8.19 Top Shelf Literature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084984911-D16INYMLBS7V8RCX1GS0/20190109.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.9.19 Crane's Corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084988219-R9UD52F2TOITNSUA0YPX/20190110.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.10.19 Still Hanging In There https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084989228-VBO7O0H2P44HHH6WN394/20190111.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.11.19 Port Holy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084991185-65D4TIBFD0QWPJ3WL1Y4/20190112.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.12.19 Puppet Pins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084995215-4IEZR5NHYUVU9XP3C5A6/20190113.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.13.19 Transition https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084996095-1XQXR3ELODVG62X0ABAY/20190114.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.14.19 A Bit of a Fixer-Upper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084999286-D5Z2DOTB60RY3QVMQ250/20190115.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.15.19 A Mann Seeks to Save An Icon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085001253-GHUJXJTBJ9GUVKJDYUPR/20190116.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.16.19 A Rookwood Way Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085008738-ZFLNAB2HSC44VLSLSLLK/20190117.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.17.19 Pay the Toll https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085008872-A9QUOUIV6B6EG0OL4E5U/20190118.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.18.19 Complementary Signage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085013033-JTO7XT2WBLCTC2AA5EOV/20190119.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.19.19 I Think I’ll Stay on the Couch… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085014247-QA7I0WW8B3A5HUYRPNAS/20190120.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.20.19 A Quiet Suburb https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085019410-C0EO6TVWRMLHHAN0LZA9/20190121.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.21.19 Vultures to a Carbohydrate Corpse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085019544-VXVXZIXKG25MHMA9LGKX/20190122.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.22.19 Did I Turn Off the Oven? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085024714-ECTCBVPMAKNV2YI2FZXX/20190123.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.23.19 Isolated https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085024894-ZJPQN6TC5PWPYJPLK3Y2/20190124.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.24.19 Wally Eyes the Bullseye https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085030876-F7JGB7OT5ZE6DEJ7XLKJ/20190125.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.25.19 Monitor Off, Coat On, Elevator Down https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085028716-WQV899JS65QA5WC4ZQD4/20190126.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.26.19 Fire and Porcelain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085033639-QNQTMNKRSPM8LPZLORUX/20190127.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.27.19 Isolated (Pt. 2) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085033775-FWKJ7H6BSLDMIWG4ZVO8/20190128.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.28.19 In the Spotlight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085041652-K1AY59CBUM36EUE59WTY/20190129.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.29.19 Liberty Looks Deceptively Small From Here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085039767-BU5LXRC3KTGY7O64Y81P/20190130.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.30.19 Diorama https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085044072-VRZLA7YNFG3BT06YBQ95/20190131.jpg daily-photos-jan-2019 - 1.31.19 Warm Light on a Cold Morning http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jul-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092196987-03X7QC0OZSJZ47A9N91L/NZ6_9004.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.1.19 Mt. Auburn Cable Power House (1886-1902) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092199245-NB4BNEW15WUV15PU4T37/NZ6_9026-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.2.19 An Extremely Normal Person Does a Daily Project Despite Having Nothing Interesting to Photograph https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092201461-0QWEMB1LYWLG2WHCLCP9/NZ6_9033-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.3.19 9 Estelle Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092204025-96FN4GVRQDL2R4YJ4MQP/NZ6_9566.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.4.19 A Cautious Observer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092146888-PEBK1ST28W5SEVMIMWQC/IMG_5884.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.5.19 Fly Ball https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092150905-TDEPI2Z0LE37YSRGPXE2/IMG_5992.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.6.19 A Sweltering Day on the Ohio River https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092205565-GFU6SQBMBFSSU6N3LL91/NZ6_9754.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.7.19 Light Speed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092209053-TZ1O5V2J352550FT34UW/NZ6_9783.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.8.19 Hills Don't Stop Me Any Longer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092209936-PQRHEEYIJDEP6EFRD1DP/NZ6_9819.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.9.19 Relax in This Good Seat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092153002-9A1Y4LQPC9WPVHLFFVM8/IMG_6097.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.10.19 Industry on Dalton Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092211912-AW5IGDMCJ5JAL88ECAAF/NZ6_9833.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.11.19 I've Been Working On Something All Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092212947-NRFF8GFN6A8SMBANZDQ9/NZ6_9901.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.12.19 Generations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092173618-SHIPC1BW4WXM824LHKVU/NZ6_0367.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.13.19 Shiloh Street Shops https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092177888-K9PBTBU57NH3ET0LJZLA/NZ6_0413.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.14.19 Delivery at Burnham’s Penn Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092179609-OCZWY4TK7FMC2LBDZS5L/NZ6_0492.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.15.19 Retro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092182356-TXJ4NSSIIF9F6YNRLG2H/NZ6_0532-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.16.19 Urban Archaeology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092155698-2JDEV279HFAFTW2WW5AH/IMG_6287.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.17.19 Rain’s Gone, Everyone Can Come Back Out Now https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092146851-0XFN9B1WR3JQURZ27O6L/750_1394.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.18.19 Rookenwood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092184756-3I6JMPVDPKPQGGRJBM23/NZ6_0816.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.19.19 Atrium Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092158105-713FQYTYB2UL2U4IJASQ/IMG_6329.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.20.19 Hell Is Real https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092159122-JMPM35UUIB3VYHZ620SA/IMG_6393.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.21.19 “Shake Me Like a Polaroid Picture” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092187424-N12R77TRJLAQ4LRS3JDW/NZ6_1003.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.22.19 Everything's Coming Together https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092162469-IHYDI5ZCPG6C719VQCN0/IMG_6422.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.23.19 John Evans? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092164690-15SH79ER3AGT710ZTZZM/IMG_6452.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.24.19 Little Old Court Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092187965-L3ITHGBUOQ1ZER1BXHPF/NZ6_1306.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.25.19 July https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092191269-N8ZV96BVRZUAZBDH2IMH/NZ6_1411.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.26.19 Morning Flower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092191419-IP4NO334UKQUB48SXLA6/NZ6_1485.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.27.19 500-Foot Hike Up the Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092168199-9OSCI91D3H5DMA9OHEC0/IMG_6806.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.28.19 Obligatory Group Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092169175-KMFGCF0UZ7KSDRYE395F/IMG_6845.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.29.19 Storm’s a Brewin’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092195431-SSRDM0L661JBR6H07L3O/NZ6_1488.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.30.19 What Dem Debate? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092171662-8SK0V4U6C69KEW6MFQHF/IMG_6866.jpg daily-photos-jul-2019 - 7.31.19 No Word Yet If the Reds Have Traded Net Grasshopper http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-may-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090118195-V6ZAWTVVBCXSGN8NWHU3/750_0164.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.1.19 “Take My Picture!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090122717-MLSUZFSOU6ZTO8NOA4VC/APC_0028-hdr.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.2.19 Rainy Afternoon Indoors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090122539-7IDU0HM149TDN8GAUV24/IMG_3447.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.3.19 Can’t Shoot Well When Walking a Dog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090115645-03FLD6NSV9JK9PUPD065/750_0504-Edit.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.4.19 Vanishing Points https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090118831-IZBPW33LE0KD1EJSDJ84/750_0741.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.5.19 The Flying Pig Dropped Her Carrots https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090127692-S74Q0L7N2UHOAETZCQRR/IMG_3508.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.6.19 Smithall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090154986-8AGKYIA02P0HF4KMT1HM/NZ6_0718-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.7.19 Anyone Know How to Fly This Thing? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090151449-A5ABRL6GHKUFL6OVA58X/NZ6_5+08.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.8.19 Flatirons Remind Me of Bullet Trains https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090158390-UIET5GL9KWF4YHN9CA5M/NZ6_1109-Edit.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.9.19 Not My Wine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090160931-JRAOEZSJTP00W2PEFB3Z/NZ6_1303.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.10.19 HBD Cody! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090127692-8RUVN1LN5U2Z5WSW4Z61/IMG_3582.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.11.19 Scene From a Historic Market https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090133439-0VLCKNC4FWDKKYXGWCDC/IMG_3608.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.12.19 Not a Target Ad https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090163408-93JQA87KW4536XWZZ7RL/NZ6_1374.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.13.19 Grade & Gradient https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090133818-03ELIZO0Y1V4007MTOTX/IMG_3625.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.14.19 Milking that Corporate Timeclock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090140160-ARH059FE3CHF8IUG26VI/IMG_3649.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.15.19 Upper Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090137379-BLZE27ZW62Z6IMEHRRL2/IMG_3678.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.16.19 Justin Kohl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090163752-DVH08KXJQZ6VFKEP1V9U/NZ6_1762-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.17.19 15th Street, Newport https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090169458-U4PHD4WKMZ1ZUD8A2TFM/NZ6_2243.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.18.19 Peeking Pit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090151840-U94E8EI8RYOABSUNC9GM/NZ6_5+19.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.19.19 Silhouette of a Genius https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090169381-MZP4DOR851ZKMD4BRQUP/NZ6_2791-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.20.19 Verona's Courtyard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090174019-7VWGAQKZLGJXVONKHMCW/NZ6_2823-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.21.19 Moerlein's Stairs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090173050-Y35EDI50XT2V8VLT9PX8/NZ6_2893.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.22.19 A Return to 15th Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090141066-FUF6OWOXS9SGTYT6BOUG/IMG_3839.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.23.19 Rain Delay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090175699-5Z21PJG9GVH8VIZTJ4UQ/NZ6_2917.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.24.19 Night Shower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090145271-F0B8KCJAB6KHHN9OCCWU/IMG_3895.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.25.19 River Basin Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090156600-ECPBFQHX4UE8QBPU1HNF/NZ6_5+26.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.26.19 Serpentine Sunbather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090146064-CB8SHCRUK75TDU48N0XL/IMG_3932.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.27.19 A Good Stack https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090149472-IG09F6KJM1MG5ZNX1IK7/IMG_3964.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.28.19 Bedtime Cuddles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090179081-EG6S36N89UMGPUEV5NA2/NZ6_3975.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.29.19 Walking Home from Friends' House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090150329-71JGR0XX1HQVRHMM6R2J/IMG_4003.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.30.19 Schwartzlerno Does Sports Page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090180261-Z2RX8VMUTRHAXA894YXG/NZ6_4249.jpg daily-photos-may-2019 - 5.31.19 Fringe Begins http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-mar-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086698221-GXYUG72TS37KXCGDL36Q/20190301.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.1.19 The Mayor's Here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086698533-B5UIT083T26IJI7C8FO9/20190302.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.2.19 Woodward Lights Its New Marquee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086700684-EGENXGEIPEF1YQLJP8DT/20190303.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.3.19 Dua-effects https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086701443-XG4B3HFXKD5T13N1V51L/20190304.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.4.19 Morning on Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086704717-83UUJ8OLLQ462HCLZGV8/20190305.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.5.19 Eggleston's Lit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086705311-3XA8SU4YHMDPTG6YYGWU/20190306.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.6.19 Golden Hour at My Desk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086708615-6VDADOTVTRC7UU9H33YI/20190307.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.7.19 Mosaic Climbing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086710747-AHD9QE9POGJCA214QT9P/20190308.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.8.19 Our Tiny Home for the Night https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086713840-NDIM4FLAJD3GEB4AXBRN/20190309.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.9.19 Upper Falls of Old Man's Cave https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086715571-CTJN3ZJLL7BIRFF3CLXL/20190310.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.10.19 Alone in Ash Cave https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086718318-NGHLBYJ7LUCK5WOCIH6Y/20190311.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.11.19 This is a Pizza Joint, I Promise https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086720289-S05MS93DC14KTUY334KS/20190312.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.12.19 A Donation for Donors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086721964-MQGQ3RMFMGJHE5SY6VN6/20190313.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.13.19 Ninth at Golden Hour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086723971-POH26HEDKYS24H73BFZH/20190314.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.14.19 I Don't Even Know If This Is in Focus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086726068-NTGMZ9KHSVU70Q3B9BTJ/20190315.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.15.19 Firemen Gather on the Roof Across the Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086727466-W0ITIE5Y0HG21DNQIB1J/20190316.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.16.19 A Framed, Westerly View Down 7th Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086729877-T59XBC08MLWR448F0YXS/20190317.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.17.19 Lakeman Upon Congress Run Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086731980-HNRJCGWS5F0Y4HQM60XW/20190318.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.18.19 The Crown Jewel of the Courthouse's 6th Floor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086735326-DHJE6SUOLRJFQ49EOGT4/20190319.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.19.19 A Nice Walk Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086735071-USJ3M67F7QI20WH4HWMV/20190320.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.20.19 This Wasn't Even the Best Thing on the Menu, Either! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086739070-TQU14G463CXK1QSOKMM6/20190321.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.21.19 A Quiet Evening on Fountain Square in the 1940s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086738924-UJYRM481R9SFRZUJ4SHR/20190322.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.22.19 We Unexpectedly Had to Move Today (But Just Down the Hall!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086743048-I7GE27YJ5EDV62BZOYJP/20190323.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.23.19 Enjoy the Arts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086742161-Z46YO3K8YZ0ZOYNKL3N8/20190324.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.24.19 Long Week, Longer Shadows https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086746341-UQLOU5U6T263PCKMFPJF/20190325.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.25.19 The Lighting Was Nice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086746491-FA8YF5DHBTUSYI90KBKK/20190326.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.26.19 Jon Newberry, Wiedemann Brewery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086748707-W044E25T68ALC56JBLGN/20190327.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.27.19 Nighttime on Dorsey Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086751712-T3QZTSV9FYE9TC3KWSLG/20190328.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.28.19 A Century of Celebration https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086751868-TL76GH6YC3MR7Q8RBO2E/20190329.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.29.19 A Slice of Cincinnati https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086756302-PUWV7J681JI76X534HWY/20190330.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.30.19 Incline Arts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086757598-SOAB5VX31FS8T39X76UM/20190331.jpg daily-photos-mar-2019 - 3.31.19 The Georgie Reach http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-apr-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087394448-MOF0X0AXAOIRW04ZEQVL/20190401.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.1.19 Two Stacks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087395930-C7BEL84TMO9HE44AATD7/20190402.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.2.19 Vertical Cross Section https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087402814-TV2TA18ET0JQP242P6LZ/20190403.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.3.19 An Unexpected Find Today https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087399277-1VEOZKH7OY526GOT9NT5/20190404.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.4.19 Finally Feels Like Patio Weather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087402227-NVRL9X6R7OPA1JOJPRWW/20190405.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.5.19 The Sun Made a Late Appearance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087406958-4MNS9SQ0FF205VDVZHYQ/20190406.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.6.19 No Greater Entry Than Times-Star's https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087409823-89DU6H9EDQOHFALW998R/20190407.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.7.19 A Moment of Sunshine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087410427-LHNL5BNLTJGXJ5GVYTCA/20190408.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.8.19 Le Doodle Sérieux (Hon Hon Hon) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087415233-4V32RKMVWGTDRUZ9VKCX/20190409.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.9.19 This One Belonged to the Reds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087414985-30IH8LVPYPGJQLIGOL85/20190410.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.10.19 The Sweet Song of a Cardinal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087418834-A6U9ZVJGCHQ4FEC8EZ64/20190411.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.11.19 A Brilliantly Lit Corner of Main Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087418754-T6BJR1VVGEPXI1C0P3XO/20190412.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.12.19 River Bird https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087421836-Q86VO0YHRMODT89DMVOV/20190413.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.13.19 Pileated Woodpecker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087420684-VIPOEBRLDIMQN5MG5HY3/20190414.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.14.19 I Didn’t Expect It to Barf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087423973-7Q3GWYI2B5F9R64SR9VY/20190415.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.15.19 Evening Walk Down a Sidewalk-less Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087427039-X460DCVZ6P3RUC0R8E4N/20190416.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.16.19 A Baby Burrowing Owl Says 'Hello' https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087430048-C5DK4SBHNF5YL0YOQ0VE/20190417.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.17.19 The Whistlepig of Fort Washington Way https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087431618-ZW30F09PQP411Q5124SH/20190418.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.18.19 The Norwood Mashup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087389821-FMN57TXTADH71YVPMUKX/750_9551-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.19.19 My Reading Nook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087439706-6DM2YX6R4RE0ZVQ5QD2S/IMG_3223.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.20.19 Oddfellows https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087390175-AL0KFNGJBPY9ZS4OARJB/750_9630.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.21.19 Polarizing Filter = Natural Saturation Boost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087392696-71878WQCAHH1PUOBOBF8/750_9648.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.22.19 A Plum Good Evening https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087434192-E7N8P59M4N3SOYSGM0VS/DSC_9580.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.23.19 American Music https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087437263-ANZ04Q1TWTT6XQDHVUAY/DSC_9637.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.24.19 Hello Up There https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087437701-W3PFXQ983XALROPI0C22/DSC_9643.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.25.19 Cancelled Pop-Up Parties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087440733-ME6GA3QHR6FG272DQD7R/IMG_3350.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.26.19 View From a Rooftop https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087443197-PV0RLIKJWQBN61LFV5M0/IMG_3365.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.27.19 Malls Are Alive and Well https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087443963-KVCM5YZ518NJXSG08MRY/IMG_3374.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.28.19 Still Life on Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087387135-Y9WC9WOZV50IMYDZYRAD/750_0051.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.29.19 A Well-Read Volkswagen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087386723-RJVVP69FJ2DF1UJSMT7Y/750_0154.jpg daily-photos-apr-2019 - 4.30.19 Jay is Lit http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jun-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091322354-7B59GRL4XNCTY04ZS321/NZ6_4398.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.1.19 “Just Take the Damn Photo So I Can Go Sniff the Flowers” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091325544-9HV130NR1E5IUHOK0X73/NZ6_4446.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.2.19 Frugality Rocks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091293489-FJFIDJXLPZ25I3VHZUXE/IMG_4436.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.3.19 Vine and 15th Streets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091327877-1LIOC5XPCNW75Z6E1NM9/NZ6_4624.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.4.19 LUV2SCOOT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091335230-V7SWB38TI0GG5W5MRET8/NZ6_4806.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.5.19 Untitled https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091293626-6YPVY8ENJAN3RCJPID85/IMG_4586.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.6.19 Just a Sliver https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091335230-Z0ZLO8OL4JC0QQW92X6J/NZ6_4833.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.7.19 Fine Dining https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091342429-SLZKPLDK6ARTW25G1KBY/NZ6_5000.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.8.19 Clipped Wings & Beautiful Things https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091341816-GBYFUM6T4X3Z7NS99NCE/NZ6_5310.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.9.19 Indigo Bunting https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091349141-I1EDPJAJJY6GIYQF84YV/NZ6_5806.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.10.19 A Seventh Sunset https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091351159-Z9RM6YZVWRHH90TRH59S/NZ6_5861.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.11.19 Basement Dweller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091287416-512NQMJ4481ZXAEWCB8L/Brunswick+Building+-+Phil+Armstrong+-45.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.12.19 Neglect https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091354528-204GIHO8WIWHRE9K605F/NZ6_6145.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.13.19 Goodbye, Hudepohl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091359327-M373KEC27DXTA7QXBR99/NZ6_6161.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.14.19 Mural Makers White a Wall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091356672-5RMY44P3QFTL130RP3K3/NZ6_6573.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.15.19 Mt. Adams Lighthouse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091298743-QZU9MD3SZV3H9UFAJQ01/IMG_4813.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.16.19 Tune It Out and Refocus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091286031-19LNCPU9JEP2IBG2G0JK/750_1286.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.17.19 No Shortage of Shapes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091304615-NGGZTSHY36XE2WDZYIVU/IMG_4882.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.18.19 From the Shade https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091364731-SRFIRI4VYNZS3PXEAJW5/NZ6_6720.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.19.19 Overlooking Queensgate Rails https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091367159-VHMD6UMTV13KEZNM8ORY/NZ6_6787.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.20.19 Infinite Portabilities https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091372272-K3NEWXPWPMF2XPHJMAHZ/NZ6_7002.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.21.19 Equality Rises on City Hall’s Flagstaff https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091372136-992GL10APXHZWRMIOLW4/NZ6_7835.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.22.19 “HAY WAT U GOT THER FREN” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091377463-2BJVW0MOZAZIY40GJVYF/NZ6_8763.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.23.19 A Bumbling Pollinator https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091310279-ACIXRK8642LT2M1JVM1C/IMG_5612.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.24.19 Verdant https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091380227-J03WX1QPMKLEZ2P0289U/NZ6_8809.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.25.19 Colossus in the Distance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091311391-3IBR7MFNC7GWGFHHT3CM/IMG_5689.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.26.19 Harper Sunset https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091317643-VW35VRGAHD12Z1L91WCL/IMG_5713.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.27.19 Fairfield Mrkt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091320613-UA2M80LYBKR3YVXP5S33/IMG_5747.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.28.19 View Level https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091383413-D6HXJI2X05ZLP4MV16UG/NZ6_8968.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.29.19 Opa! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091384997-U72X84Z1R83KE55PH4WI/NZ6_8997.jpg daily-photos-jun-2019 - 6.30.19 Responding http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-dec-2019 daily 0.75 2019-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575229874481-JI073TNXP8N1UUQ8DTRK/NZ6_8141.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.1.19 Squaring Up the Squirrel We went to the Cincinnati Nature Center, and while I continuously failed to capture the birds I wanted, this squirrel posed long enough to offer his/her portrait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575326116018-MZ7EPDVH67P5EVIZXEUL/IMG_0620.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.2.19 Might Want To Get That Looked At I was sitting in my chair when I heard someone wreck their bumper on a sign on the street below. I threw open the window and looked down to see the damaged car before it left the area. It was raining at the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575394291508-9Z4D8PP6U6T9F38D5OC5/NZ6_8285.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.3.19 Wispy Trail Using a Speedlight and a very fast shutter speed, I blew out a candle and photographed the smoke trail. In total, I think I made around 50 attempts before settling on this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575514222760-OMULIHVGDBPQHWZLKSO6/IMG_0649.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.4.19 Our Evening Haunt I met up with Wally and Ronny at the Bay Horse Cafe for $4 schooners of Hudy Delight. The Bay Horse is our go-to bar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575559569168-UEDOCKAZRR6BVMSNLGWJ/NZ6_8493.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.5.19 An Emerald Newport Chevy While walking down Monmouth Street, I came across a green truck parked with a brick under its tire. The light was nice and the color popped, so I took a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575690229976-68551PCNS32VHE5EJCRE/DSC_0156.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.6.19 I Wish This Thing Actually Worked Using two tripods, I photographed the viewfinder of an old Duaflex that had framed a Christmas scene in my home. I wish I could get it working again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575776491406-XS1RIDKC72TLH2XW73SO/DSC_0160.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.7.19 Dogs Weren't Allowed Up Here While at Braxton Brewery with Travis and Aaron, we looked out onto the street below from the rooftop deck. This was part of the scenery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575846672101-XPJDNFRC67TSINJ2NU54/NZ6_8546.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.8.19 Rail Dog at QCR We went to Queen City Radio and enjoyed walking Myrtle with all the other dogs to the Woodward Theatre. The pups were decked out in festive apparel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575928726762-LPXQ2XAJKYOKRC4JHWDB/NZ6_8836-Edit.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.9.19 Christmas Flowers Using blue construction paper, I set up a bulb of amaryllis and tried to capture the contrast between the two colors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576029896097-T9651GLECFU3A2G7PM05/NZ6_8930.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.10.19 The Madison I had a shoot at Handzy in Covington, and after that was finished, I wandered up Madison to document the Madison Theatre. The street was unnervingly surprisingly desolate that day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576095490643-9SH484Z5M7TKETPATFC0/NZ6_9094.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.11.19 A Portrait of Ray Ball I met with Ray at Awakenings in Hyde Park to interview her about her career and success as a self-made entrepreneur. She kindly posed for a portrait at the end of the interview. She’s a kind person with an immense amount of drive to succeed, and I admire her greatly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576169537315-3AJDEP1BQFKO25GYEZOP/IMG_0713.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.12.19 Winter Corridor While using the Skywalk over Walnut Street to get to the Mercantile Library, I stopped to capture the street below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576292227264-7DY6EBFOTW3WK2ME51K3/Christian+Village+Mt.+Healthy+Guardian+Center+for+Memory+Support-35.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.13.19 One in an 11 Hour Project Luminaut hired me to photograph the 3rd floor of a nursing home they renovated. This is a vignette from that shoot. While I only spent 2.5 hours on-site, I spent the rest of the day editing and tweaking them, ending on the 11th hour from first shutter click to final “all done” completion email. The fact that I turned the entire job around on the same day was a point of pride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576362737533-TSBJKXXG0E36ZIE2RXPM/NZ6_9304.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.14.19 Luna We were at my parents’ house and my sister’s dog, Luna, was all dressed up for Christmas. I made her portrait in front of the Christmas tree. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576448412925-WK7D09BHXMP39WMZXRTG/DSC_0190.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.15.19 Morning Walk We were walking to Urbana Cafe and cut through JACK Casino’s front “yard.” While Myrtle was doing her business in the grass, I noticed these two approaching from across the lawn. I had the Nikon 1 J5 with the 110mm lens around my neck, so I zoomed in to flatten the distance and capture the ornate buildings many feet behind them as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576551636289-JSBNHJ42TJ0B3KYK1DS2/NZ6_9356.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.16.19 With a Fresh Pack of SX-70 My father’s old Polaroid Land Camera. From what I’ve read, it looks to have come out in 1978. It uses sonar to adjust focus and instantly spits out a photo after it’s taken. He gave it to me after I discovered it in a cabinet in his office. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much success using it as it’s very difficult to get a decent photo with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576632859224-WE9JOFBC7Q4D805DMC6B/NZ6_9362.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.17.19 The Court/Broadway Flatiron I had a meeting at Coffee Emporium at 2 PM, so I left my apartment and headed north. The flatiron by my home is a regular sight on the route, so I stopped to capture it. A man is seen exiting the building at the exact moment I hit the shutter I didn’t see him in the moment, so his presence was a pleasant surprise when I got the photo into Lightroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576716457321-NQBOLM798YFESU5YT1IK/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.18.19 Central Parkway at Dusk While waiting to enter 1010 On The Rhine to attend their resident holiday party (we aren’t residents, we’re just friendly with the Rookwood Properties staff), I stopped on the 9th floor and captured the sunset in all its warm, purple and orange beauty. It was that perfect time of day when everyone is moving and the city feels alive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576763140020-7X8XMS3OR11K9IM3UVBO/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.19.19 Brilliant Morning Sunlight As I left my apartment building this morning to drop off Myrtle at daycare down the street, I marveled at the sunlight down Eggleston Avenue. Upon returning, I raced upstairs and grabbed my Z6 with the Tamron 150-600 and went out to the corner of Eggleston and Reedy. While I received some looks (it’s not easy being inconspicuous with a lens that size), I posted up for about 10 minutes and captured what I could. A man crossed the street at one point, offering the perfect opportunity and composition, but I missed focus because my hands were so cold. It was 18ºF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576877474665-J8E9LTK5Z1GAMNNEEPG3/DSC_0238.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.20.19 Teddy Bear Plant Detail The afternoon sun was hitting the Teddy Bear Plant on our windowsill in a good way as I sat in a chair across from it. I got a tripod out and set up the Nikon 1 J5 to get a close-up before the light disappeared. It’s called a Teddy Bear plant because it feels furry to the touch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576967678219-5PSNNKPVXQCU29AOND6R/IMG_0845.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.21.19 Bad Haircut Ashley and I went to see her grandparents in Florence, KY today, and in an effort to avoid subjecting myself to another moment of Fox News at an unreasonable volume, I took Myrtle on a long walk around the neighborhood. We found this tree along the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577031153307-2ZV9ZQL5D7THS6HLV9AA/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.22.19 Building Pendleton On our way back from Urbana Cafe, we stopped to observe crews working on the new development at 12th and Sycamore. Many excavators were onsite unearthing old bricks and rubble from the land beneath them. It was the most active construction site I think I’ve personally ever seen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577114862622-78ZMVMBGNFAJWG8FETT4/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.23.19 A Desolate, Sun-Kissed Park ‘Twas the Monday before Christmas and all through city, not a worker was present—abysmal was density. Downtown was quiet, almost deafeningly so, everyone is off, but to work I must go… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577226669726-ZI23VRJ9NWO750CXOQAN/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.24.19 ‘Twas the Evening Before Christmas We weren’t allowed to take Myrtle to Ashley’s family Christmas celebration, so we went on a nice long walk to exercise her before leaving her alone for the night. Our walk led us to the western side of Downtown where most of the natural sunlight hangs out in that 4 to 5 PM hour. I used my little Nikon 1 J5 to zoom in on the Waldo and Covenant First Presbyterian because together they looked nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577331875557-VKMFX1PQHZBJDB6F6DUM/IMG_0900.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.25.19 “The Light Looks Good On These Cookies” I didn’t try today. I took my film camera, I took the Nikon 1 J5, and I didn’t use either one when I was at my parents’ for Christmas. Today was all about relaxation (aside from, you know, having to log onto work, of course). While standing in their dining room between breakfast and dinner, the light streamed across the table and illuminated this plate of cookies. Dad made fun of me for unwrapping them briefly to get a quick photo. Like I said, I didn’t try today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577421911057-HS59S8DBCLXCY19GA7ZG/NZ6_9697.jpg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.26.19 If You Blur Your Eyes, It Resembles an Aquarium It was 11:30 PM. My flash wasn’t working properly. I was on a time crunch. I looked up and noticed the Christmas lights looked pleasant on the plants and nickel finish of the floor lamp. The combination of the blue glow outside, the upward trajectory of the lights in bokeh, and the long, slender plant reminded me of a fish tank bubbling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577509543157-9L33UFTPAVXUUM7QTFCH/NZ6_9700.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.27.19 A Good Snoot Just playing with my wide angle lens with the dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577585571809-TEOSIOGPOGWF23ZJQ4Z5/DSC_0322.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.28.19 Building Bigger Every Year This morning was foggy and unseasonably warm. I took Myrtle outside and we ended up walking the streets to admire the city shrouded in fog. The air was as still as Downtown was quiet. It felt like we were stealing a look at our neighborhood before it was ready to get out of bed. The new development at 7th and Main enveloped the few remaining buildings on the east side of the street from this angle, much like the fog that surrounded all of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577675614890-EOGO3HEB04XVHSD4BFR1/DSC_0386.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.29.19 There’s No Place Like Home Street It was a miserable day, weather-wise. While driving around running an errand, I asked Ashley to head up to Home Street in Newport. I’d seen the view from a backyard on 15th Street months before, but since that’s private property, I wanted to find a public place to get that great Newport/Cincinnati view. While it wasn’t pretty, it was still a good view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577759146604-6A2C1YTD8F0ON1TZMUJE/NZ6_9769.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.30.19 Work In Progress I photograph the same three buildings every month for someone while they’re being renovated. The idea is to show the progress of the renovation as it happens. This one in Over-the-Rhine was empty when I entered it this afternoon; work crews were apparently off today. It was a little spooky being in there alone, especially since I’m used to being there with at least one worker and our region was experiencing heavy winds today. I didn’t spend an extra second than I had to inside the property. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577805101757-QB9CJMW771Q99S9Z8KWY/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2019 - 12.31.19 The Final Piece of the Puzzle When People’s Liberty finished its five-year campaign, Eric Avner reached out to ask if he could purchase this photo of the Roebling Bridge during BLINK for use in making custom puzzles as gifts for foundation partners. I gave him the photo, and weeks later he texted to ask if I was around. We met up and he gifted me one of the puzzles as thanks for letting him use the image. His thoughtfulness turned into two evenings of solo puzzle-building, and this morning I placed the final piece under studio lights. Because this is the first fully completed year of the Daily Photo Project, I thought it was an appropriate way to symbolically mark the occasion. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dailyphotosall2019 daily 0.75 2024-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084964888-XF18UKCOM2256DK0PSOI/20190101.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.1.19 Lemon cypress on a Broadway Street windowsill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084965711-6AJ4NEF480G9PT4JHVTD/20190102.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.2.19 An Abandoned Truck Collects Municipal Litter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084969082-17FNTTPTO0CNVYWT2JLI/20190103.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.3.19 Mountain Settlement in January https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084970289-3NWHVFHDYHW9SZI7P95P/20190104.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.4.19 Nothing Graeter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084975589-BGNHJV5I76GTBO6VEOTM/20190105.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.5.19 Pretty Nice Precipice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084975792-HT0X4VU6F8JIR7PSV5ZG/20190106.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.6.19 It’s Saul Good https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084980173-2INL0ER240E6QEYD8ZVO/20190107.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.7.19 Celebrate Victories of All Sizes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084981789-EHDSLP1Z30HSYERFMHVT/20190108.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.8.19 Top Shelf Literature https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084984911-D16INYMLBS7V8RCX1GS0/20190109.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.9.19 Crane's Corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084988219-R9UD52F2TOITNSUA0YPX/20190110.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.10.19 Still Hanging In There https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084989228-VBO7O0H2P44HHH6WN394/20190111.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.11.19 Port Holy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084991185-65D4TIBFD0QWPJ3WL1Y4/20190112.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.12.19 Puppet Pins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084995215-4IEZR5NHYUVU9XP3C5A6/20190113.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.13.19 Transition https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084996095-1XQXR3ELODVG62X0ABAY/20190114.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.14.19 A Bit of a Fixer-Upper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084999286-D5Z2DOTB60RY3QVMQ250/20190115.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.15.19 A Mann Seeks to Save An Icon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085001253-GHUJXJTBJ9GUVKJDYUPR/20190116.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.16.19 A Rookwood Way Up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085008738-ZFLNAB2HSC44VLSLSLLK/20190117.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.17.19 Pay the Toll https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085008872-A9QUOUIV6B6EG0OL4E5U/20190118.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.18.19 Complementary Signage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085013033-JTO7XT2WBLCTC2AA5EOV/20190119.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.19.19 I Think I’ll Stay on the Couch… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085014247-QA7I0WW8B3A5HUYRPNAS/20190120.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.20.19 A Quiet Suburb https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085019410-C0EO6TVWRMLHHAN0LZA9/20190121.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.21.19 Vultures to a Carbohydrate Corpse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085019544-VXVXZIXKG25MHMA9LGKX/20190122.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.22.19 Did I Turn Off the Oven? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085024714-ECTCBVPMAKNV2YI2FZXX/20190123.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.23.19 Isolated https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085024894-ZJPQN6TC5PWPYJPLK3Y2/20190124.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.24.19 Wally Eyes the Bullseye https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085030876-F7JGB7OT5ZE6DEJ7XLKJ/20190125.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.25.19 Monitor Off, Coat On, Elevator Down https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085028716-WQV899JS65QA5WC4ZQD4/20190126.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.26.19 Fire and Porcelain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085033639-QNQTMNKRSPM8LPZLORUX/20190127.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.27.19 Isolated (Pt. 2) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085033775-FWKJ7H6BSLDMIWG4ZVO8/20190128.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.28.19 In the Spotlight https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085041652-K1AY59CBUM36EUE59WTY/20190129.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.29.19 Liberty Looks Deceptively Small From Here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085039767-BU5LXRC3KTGY7O64Y81P/20190130.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.30.19 Diorama https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085044072-VRZLA7YNFG3BT06YBQ95/20190131.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 1.31.19 Warm Light on a Cold Morning https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085508537-WY2OK0HPKNEKWWY3R71O/20190201.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.1.19 Mr. McClorey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085507660-3GFQJBSMSPXZ7IHKZ63Z/20190202.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.2.19 Have a Seat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085515027-8I7VOUG6H78AQEFILIIB/20190203.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.3.19 Helluva “Stoop” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085515830-MLFHALHWTEM35WLIA490/20190204.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.4.19 Sunrise on the Saxony https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085519208-X2PSZMPH6A35D2OALL38/20190205.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.5.19 Misty Night on Ida Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085519754-NJH9O0A6707EGBA25XIE/20190206.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.6.19 Out of Focus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085523975-F04OLCGMUFQMH3ESVIU4/20190207.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.7.19 Spirited Spirits https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085525729-YUBWFMWYY19NGLNG410R/20190208.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.8.19 Airbnb with a View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085530056-KOEIQ6J78MP7TJ9AQ6VZ/20190209.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.9.19 Broadway to Elm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085532241-1ZTGAC6OU89O3NF1M0KQ/20190210.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.10.19 A Snowy Not-so-Purple Purple People Bridge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085536076-25YARLQ1K11DHN49FU3U/20190211.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.11.19 Who's There? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085536279-CO39LM9X7JK012MB0NE0/20190212.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.12.19 The Eastman Kodak Co. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085544299-ASQXE64AM3SSUI4BDRB1/20190213.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.13.19 Office-Turned-Sick Day :( https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085545310-41YC0N9RDGTQDCL0XOU8/20190214.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.14.19 Sunset Fetch in Lytle Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085548999-R280BT02VUSYANAUT8TS/20190215.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.15.19 My Favorite Bar I Never Get to Go to (Because My Fiancee Doesn't Like It) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085551064-KF1S0KVNBL67HEZ9W707/20190216.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.16.19 A Disagreement Ruffles Feathers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085556194-4EKTCB67CIXTJTGXMCC0/20190217.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.17.19 Storytime https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085555321-FAM683EJMJ45RPO8P8FM/20190218.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.18.19 Back in Business https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085562196-UL2T15ZNLIYMSR8B93IS/20190219.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.19.19 17 Years of Friendship https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085562545-LSNJF1JK0FEK27T9FCNN/20190220.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.20.19 Glossy and Vertical https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085567313-SSZX463159N8CLTYD8WQ/20190221.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.21.19 Four Friends at the Bar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085569836-6IZ66WW0NJVPHGFUVP0M/20190222.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.22.19 An Early 20th Century Firing Range https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085572822-4SOC3GQEPG9QR9VO62AK/20190223.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.23.19 Blustery Night on Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085574526-8855NU0VLKSE4YAKEN2E/20190224.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.24.19 Before Dog/After Dog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085578380-UJXEH8PKO1V3AVFLFSCP/20190225.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.25.19 Head Toward the Light! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085578238-HCL0S1A0DI6RN9J0JQZJ/20190226.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.26.19 Tangerine Rain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085581598-FYBQMOHO6VYZYSCEJ72O/20190227.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.27.19 A Cheerio's Fate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575085582202-NBTJW0SOPU34EKOZ55FW/20190228.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 2.28.19 Celebrate National Chili Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086698221-GXYUG72TS37KXCGDL36Q/20190301.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.1.19 The Mayor's Here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086698533-B5UIT083T26IJI7C8FO9/20190302.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.2.19 Woodward Lights Its New Marquee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086700684-EGENXGEIPEF1YQLJP8DT/20190303.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.3.19 Dua-effects https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086701443-XG4B3HFXKD5T13N1V51L/20190304.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.4.19 Morning on Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086704717-83UUJ8OLLQ462HCLZGV8/20190305.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.5.19 Eggleston's Lit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086705311-3XA8SU4YHMDPTG6YYGWU/20190306.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.6.19 Golden Hour at My Desk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086708615-6VDADOTVTRC7UU9H33YI/20190307.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.7.19 Mosaic Climbing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086710747-AHD9QE9POGJCA214QT9P/20190308.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.8.19 Our Tiny Home for the Night https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086713840-NDIM4FLAJD3GEB4AXBRN/20190309.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.9.19 Upper Falls of Old Man's Cave https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086715571-CTJN3ZJLL7BIRFF3CLXL/20190310.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.10.19 Alone in Ash Cave https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086718318-NGHLBYJ7LUCK5WOCIH6Y/20190311.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.11.19 This is a Pizza Joint, I Promise https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086720289-S05MS93DC14KTUY334KS/20190312.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.12.19 A Donation for Donors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086721964-MQGQ3RMFMGJHE5SY6VN6/20190313.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.13.19 Ninth at Golden Hour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086723971-POH26HEDKYS24H73BFZH/20190314.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.14.19 I Don't Even Know If This Is in Focus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086726068-NTGMZ9KHSVU70Q3B9BTJ/20190315.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.15.19 Firemen Gather on the Roof Across the Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086727466-W0ITIE5Y0HG21DNQIB1J/20190316.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.16.19 A Framed, Westerly View Down 7th Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086729877-T59XBC08MLWR448F0YXS/20190317.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.17.19 Lakeman Upon Congress Run Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086731980-HNRJCGWS5F0Y4HQM60XW/20190318.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.18.19 The Crown Jewel of the Courthouse's 6th Floor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086735326-DHJE6SUOLRJFQ49EOGT4/20190319.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.19.19 A Nice Walk Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086735071-USJ3M67F7QI20WH4HWMV/20190320.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.20.19 This Wasn't Even the Best Thing on the Menu, Either! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086739070-TQU14G463CXK1QSOKMM6/20190321.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.21.19 A Quiet Evening on Fountain Square in the 1940s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086738924-UJYRM481R9SFRZUJ4SHR/20190322.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.22.19 We Unexpectedly Had to Move Today (But Just Down the Hall!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086743048-I7GE27YJ5EDV62BZOYJP/20190323.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.23.19 Enjoy the Arts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086742161-Z46YO3K8YZ0ZOYNKL3N8/20190324.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.24.19 Long Week, Longer Shadows https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086746341-UQLOU5U6T263PCKMFPJF/20190325.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.25.19 The Lighting Was Nice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086746491-FA8YF5DHBTUSYI90KBKK/20190326.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.26.19 Jon Newberry, Wiedemann Brewery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086748707-W044E25T68ALC56JBLGN/20190327.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.27.19 Nighttime on Dorsey Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086751712-T3QZTSV9FYE9TC3KWSLG/20190328.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.28.19 A Century of Celebration https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086751868-TL76GH6YC3MR7Q8RBO2E/20190329.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.29.19 A Slice of Cincinnati https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086756302-PUWV7J681JI76X534HWY/20190330.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.30.19 Incline Arts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575086757598-SOAB5VX31FS8T39X76UM/20190331.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 3.31.19 The Georgie Reach https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087394448-MOF0X0AXAOIRW04ZEQVL/20190401.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.1.19 Two Stacks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087395930-C7BEL84TMO9HE44AATD7/20190402.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.2.19 Vertical Cross Section https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087402814-TV2TA18ET0JQP242P6LZ/20190403.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.3.19 An Unexpected Find Today https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087399277-1VEOZKH7OY526GOT9NT5/20190404.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.4.19 Finally Feels Like Patio Weather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087402227-NVRL9X6R7OPA1JOJPRWW/20190405.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.5.19 The Sun Made a Late Appearance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087406958-4MNS9SQ0FF205VDVZHYQ/20190406.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.6.19 No Greater Entry Than Times-Star's https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087409823-89DU6H9EDQOHFALW998R/20190407.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.7.19 A Moment of Sunshine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087410427-LHNL5BNLTJGXJ5GVYTCA/20190408.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.8.19 Le Doodle Sérieux (Hon Hon Hon) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087415233-4V32RKMVWGTDRUZ9VKCX/20190409.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.9.19 This One Belonged to the Reds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087414985-30IH8LVPYPGJQLIGOL85/20190410.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.10.19 The Sweet Song of a Cardinal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087418834-A6U9ZVJGCHQ4FEC8EZ64/20190411.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.11.19 A Brilliantly Lit Corner of Main Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087418754-T6BJR1VVGEPXI1C0P3XO/20190412.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.12.19 River Bird https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087421836-Q86VO0YHRMODT89DMVOV/20190413.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.13.19 Pileated Woodpecker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087420684-VIPOEBRLDIMQN5MG5HY3/20190414.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.14.19 I Didn’t Expect It to Barf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087423973-7Q3GWYI2B5F9R64SR9VY/20190415.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.15.19 Evening Walk Down a Sidewalk-less Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087427039-X460DCVZ6P3RUC0R8E4N/20190416.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.16.19 A Baby Burrowing Owl Says 'Hello' https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087430048-C5DK4SBHNF5YL0YOQ0VE/20190417.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.17.19 The Whistlepig of Fort Washington Way https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087431618-ZW30F09PQP411Q5124SH/20190418.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.18.19 The Norwood Mashup https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087389821-FMN57TXTADH71YVPMUKX/750_9551-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.19.19 My Reading Nook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087439706-6DM2YX6R4RE0ZVQ5QD2S/IMG_3223.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.20.19 Oddfellows https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087390175-AL0KFNGJBPY9ZS4OARJB/750_9630.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.21.19 Polarizing Filter = Natural Saturation Boost https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087392696-71878WQCAHH1PUOBOBF8/750_9648.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.22.19 A Plum Good Evening https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087434192-E7N8P59M4N3SOYSGM0VS/DSC_9580.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.23.19 American Music https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087437263-ANZ04Q1TWTT6XQDHVUAY/DSC_9637.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.24.19 Hello Up There https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087437701-W3PFXQ983XALROPI0C22/DSC_9643.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.25.19 Cancelled Pop-Up Parties https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087440733-ME6GA3QHR6FG272DQD7R/IMG_3350.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.26.19 View From a Rooftop https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087443197-PV0RLIKJWQBN61LFV5M0/IMG_3365.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.27.19 Malls Are Alive and Well https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087443963-KVCM5YZ518NJXSG08MRY/IMG_3374.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.28.19 Still Life on Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087387135-Y9WC9WOZV50IMYDZYRAD/750_0051.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.29.19 A Well-Read Volkswagen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575087386723-RJVVP69FJ2DF1UJSMT7Y/750_0154.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 4.30.19 Jay is Lit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090118195-V6ZAWTVVBCXSGN8NWHU3/750_0164.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.1.19 “Take My Picture!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090122717-MLSUZFSOU6ZTO8NOA4VC/APC_0028-hdr.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.2.19 Rainy Afternoon Indoors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090122539-7IDU0HM149TDN8GAUV24/IMG_3447.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.3.19 Can’t Shoot Well When Walking a Dog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090115645-03FLD6NSV9JK9PUPD065/750_0504-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.4.19 Vanishing Points https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090118831-IZBPW33LE0KD1EJSDJ84/750_0741.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.5.19 The Flying Pig Dropped Her Carrots https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090127692-S74Q0L7N2UHOAETZCQRR/IMG_3508.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.6.19 Smithall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090154986-8AGKYIA02P0HF4KMT1HM/NZ6_0718-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.7.19 Anyone Know How to Fly This Thing? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090151449-A5ABRL6GHKUFL6OVA58X/NZ6_5+08.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.8.19 Flatirons Remind Me of Bullet Trains https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090158390-UIET5GL9KWF4YHN9CA5M/NZ6_1109-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.9.19 Not My Wine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090160931-JRAOEZSJTP00W2PEFB3Z/NZ6_1303.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.10.19 HBD Cody! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090127692-8RUVN1LN5U2Z5WSW4Z61/IMG_3582.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.11.19 Scene From a Historic Market https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090133439-0VLCKNC4FWDKKYXGWCDC/IMG_3608.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.12.19 Not a Target Ad https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090163408-93JQA87KW4536XWZZ7RL/NZ6_1374.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.13.19 Grade & Gradient https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090133818-03ELIZO0Y1V4007MTOTX/IMG_3625.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.14.19 Milking that Corporate Timeclock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090140160-ARH059FE3CHF8IUG26VI/IMG_3649.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.15.19 Upper Broadway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090137379-BLZE27ZW62Z6IMEHRRL2/IMG_3678.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.16.19 Justin Kohl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090163752-DVH08KXJQZ6VFKEP1V9U/NZ6_1762-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.17.19 15th Street, Newport https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090169458-U4PHD4WKMZ1ZUD8A2TFM/NZ6_2243.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.18.19 Peeking Pit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090151840-U94E8EI8RYOABSUNC9GM/NZ6_5+19.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.19.19 Silhouette of a Genius https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090169381-MZP4DOR851ZKMD4BRQUP/NZ6_2791-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.20.19 Verona's Courtyard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090174019-7VWGAQKZLGJXVONKHMCW/NZ6_2823-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.21.19 Moerlein's Stairs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090173050-Y35EDI50XT2V8VLT9PX8/NZ6_2893.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.22.19 A Return to 15th Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090141066-FUF6OWOXS9SGTYT6BOUG/IMG_3839.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.23.19 Rain Delay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090175699-5Z21PJG9GVH8VIZTJ4UQ/NZ6_2917.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.24.19 Night Shower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090145271-F0B8KCJAB6KHHN9OCCWU/IMG_3895.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.25.19 River Basin Terminal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090156600-ECPBFQHX4UE8QBPU1HNF/NZ6_5+26.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.26.19 Serpentine Sunbather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090146064-CB8SHCRUK75TDU48N0XL/IMG_3932.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.27.19 A Good Stack https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090149472-IG09F6KJM1MG5ZNX1IK7/IMG_3964.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.28.19 Bedtime Cuddles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090179081-EG6S36N89UMGPUEV5NA2/NZ6_3975.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.29.19 Walking Home from Friends' House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090150329-71JGR0XX1HQVRHMM6R2J/IMG_4003.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.30.19 Schwartzlerno Does Sports Page https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575090180261-Z2RX8VMUTRHAXA894YXG/NZ6_4249.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 5.31.19 Fringe Begins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091322354-7B59GRL4XNCTY04ZS321/NZ6_4398.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.1.19 “Just Take the Damn Photo So I Can Go Sniff the Flowers” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091325544-9HV130NR1E5IUHOK0X73/NZ6_4446.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.2.19 Frugality Rocks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091293489-FJFIDJXLPZ25I3VHZUXE/IMG_4436.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.3.19 Vine and 15th Streets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091327877-1LIOC5XPCNW75Z6E1NM9/NZ6_4624.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.4.19 LUV2SCOOT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091335230-V7SWB38TI0GG5W5MRET8/NZ6_4806.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.5.19 Untitled https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091293626-6YPVY8ENJAN3RCJPID85/IMG_4586.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.6.19 Just a Sliver https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091335230-Z0ZLO8OL4JC0QQW92X6J/NZ6_4833.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.7.19 Fine Dining https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091342429-SLZKPLDK6ARTW25G1KBY/NZ6_5000.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.8.19 Clipped Wings & Beautiful Things https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091341816-GBYFUM6T4X3Z7NS99NCE/NZ6_5310.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.9.19 Indigo Bunting https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091349141-I1EDPJAJJY6GIYQF84YV/NZ6_5806.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.10.19 A Seventh Sunset https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091351159-Z9RM6YZVWRHH90TRH59S/NZ6_5861.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.11.19 Basement Dweller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091287416-512NQMJ4481ZXAEWCB8L/Brunswick+Building+-+Phil+Armstrong+-45.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.12.19 Neglect https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091354528-204GIHO8WIWHRE9K605F/NZ6_6145.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.13.19 Goodbye, Hudepohl https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091359327-M373KEC27DXTA7QXBR99/NZ6_6161.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.14.19 Mural Makers White a Wall https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091356672-5RMY44P3QFTL130RP3K3/NZ6_6573.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.15.19 Mt. Adams Lighthouse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091298743-QZU9MD3SZV3H9UFAJQ01/IMG_4813.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.16.19 Tune It Out and Refocus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091286031-19LNCPU9JEP2IBG2G0JK/750_1286.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.17.19 No Shortage of Shapes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091304615-NGGZTSHY36XE2WDZYIVU/IMG_4882.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.18.19 From the Shade https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091364731-SRFIRI4VYNZS3PXEAJW5/NZ6_6720.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.19.19 Overlooking Queensgate Rails https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091367159-VHMD6UMTV13KEZNM8ORY/NZ6_6787.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.20.19 Infinite Portabilities https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091372272-K3NEWXPWPMF2XPHJMAHZ/NZ6_7002.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.21.19 Equality Rises on City Hall’s Flagstaff https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091372136-992GL10APXHZWRMIOLW4/NZ6_7835.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.22.19 “HAY WAT U GOT THER FREN” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091377463-2BJVW0MOZAZIY40GJVYF/NZ6_8763.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.23.19 A Bumbling Pollinator https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091310279-ACIXRK8642LT2M1JVM1C/IMG_5612.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.24.19 Verdant https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091380227-J03WX1QPMKLEZ2P0289U/NZ6_8809.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.25.19 Colossus in the Distance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091311391-3IBR7MFNC7GWGFHHT3CM/IMG_5689.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.26.19 Harper Sunset https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091317643-VW35VRGAHD12Z1L91WCL/IMG_5713.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.27.19 Fairfield Mrkt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091320613-UA2M80LYBKR3YVXP5S33/IMG_5747.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.28.19 View Level https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091383413-D6HXJI2X05ZLP4MV16UG/NZ6_8968.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.29.19 Opa! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575091384997-U72X84Z1R83KE55PH4WI/NZ6_8997.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 6.30.19 Responding https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092196987-03X7QC0OZSJZ47A9N91L/NZ6_9004.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.1.19 Mt. Auburn Cable Power House (1886-1902) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092199245-NB4BNEW15WUV15PU4T37/NZ6_9026-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.2.19 An Extremely Normal Person Does a Daily Project Despite Having Nothing Interesting to Photograph https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092201461-0QWEMB1LYWLG2WHCLCP9/NZ6_9033-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.3.19 9 Estelle Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092204025-96FN4GVRQDL2R4YJ4MQP/NZ6_9566.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.4.19 A Cautious Observer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092146888-PEBK1ST28W5SEVMIMWQC/IMG_5884.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.5.19 Fly Ball https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092150905-TDEPI2Z0LE37YSRGPXE2/IMG_5992.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.6.19 A Sweltering Day on the Ohio River https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092205565-GFU6SQBMBFSSU6N3LL91/NZ6_9754.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.7.19 Light Speed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092209053-TZ1O5V2J352550FT34UW/NZ6_9783.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.8.19 Hills Don't Stop Me Any Longer https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092209936-PQRHEEYIJDEP6EFRD1DP/NZ6_9819.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.9.19 Relax in This Good Seat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092153002-9A1Y4LQPC9WPVHLFFVM8/IMG_6097.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.10.19 Industry on Dalton Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092211912-AW5IGDMCJ5JAL88ECAAF/NZ6_9833.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.11.19 I've Been Working On Something All Day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092212947-NRFF8GFN6A8SMBANZDQ9/NZ6_9901.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.12.19 Generations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092173618-SHIPC1BW4WXM824LHKVU/NZ6_0367.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.13.19 Shiloh Street Shops https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092177888-K9PBTBU57NH3ET0LJZLA/NZ6_0413.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.14.19 Delivery at Burnham’s Penn Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092179609-OCZWY4TK7FMC2LBDZS5L/NZ6_0492.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.15.19 Retro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092182356-TXJ4NSSIIF9F6YNRLG2H/NZ6_0532-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.16.19 Urban Archaeology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092155698-2JDEV279HFAFTW2WW5AH/IMG_6287.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.17.19 Rain’s Gone, Everyone Can Come Back Out Now https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092146851-0XFN9B1WR3JQURZ27O6L/750_1394.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.18.19 Rookenwood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092184756-3I6JMPVDPKPQGGRJBM23/NZ6_0816.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.19.19 Atrium Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092158105-713FQYTYB2UL2U4IJASQ/IMG_6329.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.20.19 Hell Is Real https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092159122-JMPM35UUIB3VYHZ620SA/IMG_6393.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.21.19 “Shake Me Like a Polaroid Picture” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092187424-N12R77TRJLAQ4LRS3JDW/NZ6_1003.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.22.19 Everything's Coming Together https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092162469-IHYDI5ZCPG6C719VQCN0/IMG_6422.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.23.19 John Evans? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092164690-15SH79ER3AGT710ZTZZM/IMG_6452.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.24.19 Little Old Court Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092187965-L3ITHGBUOQ1ZER1BXHPF/NZ6_1306.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.25.19 July https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092191269-N8ZV96BVRZUAZBDH2IMH/NZ6_1411.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.26.19 Morning Flower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092191419-IP4NO334UKQUB48SXLA6/NZ6_1485.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.27.19 500-Foot Hike Up the Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092168199-9OSCI91D3H5DMA9OHEC0/IMG_6806.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.28.19 Obligatory Group Photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092169175-KMFGCF0UZ7KSDRYE395F/IMG_6845.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.29.19 Storm’s a Brewin’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092195431-SSRDM0L661JBR6H07L3O/NZ6_1488.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.30.19 What Dem Debate? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575092171662-8SK0V4U6C69KEW6MFQHF/IMG_6866.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 7.31.19 No Word Yet If the Reds Have Traded Net Grasshopper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084130010-OE1U307FLT5G5EY9UC24/750_1482.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.1.19 A Quiet Spot for the Night https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084137856-JX0BWKAUPCULK16D48H3/IMG_6920.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.2.19 Eighth Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084154781-FQW7SSFEQTTOWCFCLP1Q/NZ6_1631.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.3.19 Evening on Elm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084137858-W9F0F74KAMYD5QILD5HR/IMG_6973.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.4.19 Moment of Silence (For Dayton) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084140784-4YF1SPIQ1OPE02JU24AM/IMG_6997.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.5.19 Gateway Sculpture, 1992 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084155660-W3XTIR9ANUVICUI54PVZ/NZ6_1872.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.6.19 A Fairfield Avenue Cocktail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084159169-IP4BWR1A0DEY3D8GMCTJ/NZ6_1912.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.7.19 Court-Appointed Vanishing Point https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084159961-2JJDQZ15MD8MJ0YAO886/NZ6_2061.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.8.19 Leaving the Hardware Store https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084165731-AD6LFUP5KLGE3VIM1MVD/NZ6_2123.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.9.10 No Color Adjustment https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084130043-5B6TYF1HMAGUCEC26XXN/750_1779.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.10.19 1940s Fly Over https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084163361-IOXSQK1IQ98LWAZ88URP/NZ6_2516.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.11.19 A Father Provides https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084165496-Z7DM9MWZBBBXZCHMZ3PX/NZ6_2524.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.12.19 Ocean View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084169065-URJOZZTLHQZJ0QMRT1LN/NZ6_2596.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.13.19 Oven Mishaps Make For Good Atmosphere https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084171676-67A0DI8JAR3L51OL9IUH/NZ6_2743.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.14.19 Quiet Evening at the End of Piatt Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084174653-W55DUT22BNHFOYL039FA/NZ6_3026.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.15.19 Downward Spiral https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084142856-SJSR12ALDNL4VD0YTCZM/IMG_7276.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.16.19 Sunrise https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084143961-HMFN83QZ98PMBA9MROK9/IMG_7315.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.17.19 Definitely a Zonk Behind This One https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084146494-53G0DMAOGZNADCCEYM47/IMG_7332.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.18.19 Newsboy's Entrance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084146081-86QI0J7YX2EFTJC96DZS/IMG_7344.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.19.19 “OH YEAH!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084176856-JZTGHYREOXMO7167LYBT/NZ6_3242.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.20.19 Sunshine Through the Rain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084134042-704AQJ4PGQEE97M1CX7G/750_2139.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.21.19 Bloom Haus Rhapsody Bouquet in an Office https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084177496-GWTDQ8CIFMURDDNGF7ND/NZ6_3697.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.22.19 Your Earliest Memories https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084180190-ETXWI1PVM1QMVBBLADP0/NZ6_3784.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.23.19 Paul Grether on His Roof https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084150740-KJEJJWQUOLE83BW8AHHO/IMG_7474.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.24.19 Hullo There https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084136253-A0P2Z03G7T7Q26T6T7J3/750_2272.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.25.19 Forest Park https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084180190-LDJPZ06SNQH6R127P118/NZ6_4045-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.26.19 Dandelions or Something https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084183516-2ZK5ABBDI7VPPWMFPV6T/NZ6_4181-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.27.19 Transformative Years Within These Walls https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084184735-U36GNY4FLKPHW21VDPQ5/NZ6_4245-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.28.19 West Fifteenth https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084186690-RC63MUCI6CMC6L4OAVZK/NZ6_4258.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.29.19 Stop the Scroll/Be Better to Yourself https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084188327-05LJN2MNI4CE4CBVMKSJ/NZ6_4300.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.30.19 11th Floor Balcony https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575084151870-IRNGDUDTU581NIANY133/IMG_7598.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 8.31.19 Berry Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074728952-8UCHHFT23MTRPISCZNL7/NZ6_4823.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.1.19 Labor Day 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074730361-1XF8DZAW4BZ6ADIP70VJ/NZ6_4886.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.2.19 Night Window https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074733359-8QGI84GMIONTS7Z782KM/NZ6_4906.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.3.19 From the 16th Story Ledge of the Times-Star https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074703838-SAQPA2KUMQ6KVN1O6OVW/IMG_8042.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.4.19 The Worst Part of Sickness is a Day of Lost Productivity https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074707563-EGJR2VAFDC7HOBXLLXRP/IMG_8046.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.5.19 I Want to Feel Better https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074699328-PWG6NK01R285793N5V6H/750_3021.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.6.19 We Are Quarantined https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074711517-EX2FGI4NK2R48PBWF2SC/IMG_8064.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.7.19 Bleak https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074733321-OQEICM5K92L3N9RX8UD2/NZ6_4979.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.8.19 Goodbye, Weekend of Lovely Weather https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074735388-VI19ORX9LBP0QAAALGJW/NZ6_5010.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.9.19 Let’s Burn This Virus Out of My Lungs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074739131-EJ99ZI3EPCKRNUN5SM4L/NZ6_5030.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.10.19 Making Progress https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074741920-YZSKEYTXHQAEVSMLAZ9O/NZ6_5532.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.11.19 James Wilson: A True Ninja Warrior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074743716-J5T1TTJVWP2GVA91IKQ0/NZ6_5792.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.12.19 A Peaceful Evening on 12th https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074711915-HAC3LRAHF6CDJMXXABWY/IMG_8151.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.13.19 YWCA In the Evening https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074744696-GON2SBVGOD9G5ZB5622K/NZ6_7014.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.14.19 Shot a Wedding Today https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074715187-EJDRP3WIWJKX11VRYDPD/IMG_8175.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.15.19 Underwater Amateur Photography (1986) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074747981-W1K45FX0WWURUELU6KS2/NZ6_7056.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.16.19 "I'll Print This Out and Call It 'SpEciAL dELiVeRy' and Sell It at Findlay Market" -Ronny Salerno https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074718949-36XNVNRSYT20VK3VB8W0/IMG_8205.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.17.19 Simple Truth Organic® https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074748790-OISV0TFVG341BZXCK87P/NZ6_7320.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.18.19 Bailey, a Good Doodle Boy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074752921-OJFCP8BC38YDPSYYHO4L/NZ6_7353.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.19.19 Happily Curious https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074753178-F4EST492SODVKP9ZFRZF/NZ6_7667.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.20.19 It’s Getting Real https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074757310-WBGP5Q5NE6YOHXO0AYJ6/NZ6_7818.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.21.19 The Last to Lower the Stein https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074720534-J8M4A4VHQ6G5O0F4HIG3/IMG_8328-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.21.19 Old Burlington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074724560-FMFMGW4YD2G3U8RPM23R/IMG_8352.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.23.19 House on the Hill https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074726690-THWORK0WEHGV5KZQYQEA/IMG_8385.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.24.19 Evening Succulents https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074704212-DPZ51UJKAJ1UN6I1L425/IMG_0105.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.25.19 An Ivory Mammoth on Court Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074699731-BH9DW6PSWIIN1DBVQ7QK/DSC_9777.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.26.19 Don’t Forget to Sign His Card https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074756365-3K17WURWZMO8HRG5MOH3/NZ6_8124.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.27.19 Changes Slowly Coming Around to Covington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074759459-F6GS3XWT6NE4H6E0GSCM/NZ6_8136-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.28.19 Daily Life Kit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074763508-Y0SP8O5LHPME5PXAYAZF/NZ6_8167.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.29.19 Looks Like Fall (Doesn’t Feel Like It) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575074763779-8MOQJF7EDDQJAYNQFPAR/NZ6_8209.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 9.30.19 An iPhone Packed With Significantly More Technology Still Can’t Take You to the Moon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070637685-CZ59O5OJ9L8VU0HPHW93/IMG_8501-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.1.19 The Grass-Lover Has Logged On https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070702001-YUL17QPXPKVG9S2ZBR5R/Studio+Session-014.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.2.19 Photographing My Skeletons In the Closet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070638472-1JF2FFIGR8Q1J60E4EAS/IMG_8556.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.3.19 A Bustling Downtown Corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070682084-4OEX2V26EIOQ0Z8P9LFZ/NZ6_8243.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.4.19 Finding New Ways to See the World https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070685486-20665OASLT95E5Z42Z4D/NZ6_8249.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.5.19 Silhouettes to Flowers Was a Good Move https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070641361-DF0RQSB8J04LF1Q1E33E/IMG_8638.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.6.19 My Wife https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070633168-7IB78NWC73DFAIYWT158/750_3633.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.7.19 Endless Thank Yous Incoming https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070684129-NFPTTYO47SWA55DZ6M4M/NZ6_8252.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.8.19 Misty Mountain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070687268-Q25TGD0XZ6UE76GYSNH9/NZ6_8408.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.9.19 A Perfect Fall Evening https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070691109-3FO0HZPWTPNV4UCZ07N0/NZ6_8878.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.10.19 Right Before the Cops Crashed the Party https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070694694-ZVPC92MR441SE0R6DP1N/NZ6_9159.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.11.19 Foiled Again! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070695544-9L9A2H20RPITXLQ5T0LI/NZ6_9292.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.12.19 The 1980s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070700814-IMLYC08XDZ1215UHR0I3/NZ6_9773.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.13.19 A Helpful Guide https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070645060-KAFSI2M7FO54K1XDGO2S/IMG_8864-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.14.19 Manhole Cover Detail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070700028-S7PVVVJT7I42G6MUFACH/NZ6_9989.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.15.19 An Invisible Man Sittin' in Your Chair, Who Ya Gonna Call https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070666256-I97NSYE52OGJ58GTXZDI/NZ6_0108.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.16.19 Molly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070646012-CH18XTJEYHSX4F4XRWRA/IMG_8955.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.17.19 Alms & Doepke https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070670794-ICSCXDMWEOHOB5LRBMPX/NZ6_1605.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.18.19 Pete Coleman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070650648-7X06M7RPSXXSDOCI9N1L/IMG_8999.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.19.19 Like a Million Bucks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070651275-VEEFNV7QMOQQ0F2VNNJ6/IMG_9008.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.20.19 Bellevue Looking Very Belle Today https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070633630-DVUHESAD5UWUWRPDBRGS/DSC_9922.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.21.19 Grim Modeler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070653756-J7G9TVJFDTBNJCXLGS7D/IMG_9033.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.22.19 Beer: Two Conversations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070671053-VIUW42IM47X16T9Y6LUR/NZ6_1929.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.23.19 Pies & Pints & Puppy Pecks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070673181-83DSK8QKUN5FFZOHPOYE/NZ6_1985.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.24.19 Hey, Pumpkin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070655610-3PHC0GKNSE8MD5ULD64X/IMG_9074.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.25.19 Mercantile Building, October 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070675590-ACDMAQI4EKE1MQXVJEW2/NZ6_1996-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.26.19 One Way https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070658538-Y1T5I7QZH4VRTYURZEJ3/IMG_9100.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.27.19 Washington Pork https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070679263-86NUA61V6H8E645DY51F/NZ6_2141.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.28.19 Washington Perch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070680928-KR33T1MG2A93P2ZRVWVN/NZ6_2360.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.29.19 Myrtini https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070661690-HCT4X3TL1J9FL9PMU06X/IMG_9183.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.30.19 Settling For Less Than Deserved https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575070665904-SN8LCVZVJVUB2NQIF150/IMG_9217.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 10.31.19 Glad I Wore Boots... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069029877-GA45DGW400TTZ14OWYD0/NZ6_2469.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.1.19 Penelope Waits https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069026288-7T2JLX4V8X1ICAMRRBIX/IMG_9327.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.2.19 13th at Race https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069029836-O2C0YR84S3MHXCANM85E/IMG_9343.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.3.19 Bon Voyage! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069034031-5JTY265LHTX82M539VJV/NZ6_2617.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.4.19 Roomette With a View https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069034719-R66APUYI13SA04QNYJAL/NZ6_3000.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.5.19 The L https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069037689-2LD5BU9WVD9GQA5WDPTO/NZ6_3596.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.6.19 Link Light Rail https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069041650-LOHX7ULIS1U0WHW59G3O/NZ6_3855.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.7.19 Mount Rainier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069042562-1ZRG917MYDZ9KLVXHAMS/NZ6_4212.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.8.19 Morning In Seattle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069046500-STENC8C38L395HWU2JDC/NZ6_5119.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.9.19 King Street Station https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069049518-SN9GBCCRNVPRWH6KPU8U/NZ6_5322.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.10.19 Burnside and Harvey Milk Streets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069050129-3VGZT93558FG9TYWEE0K/NZ6_5493.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.11.19 A City of Roses https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069016283-4Q39EXNPF2XEJ4PYIO06/IMG_0310.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.12.19 The Legend’s Replacement https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069056066-ZSAKTZ039W8N4BUSYUYV/NZ6_5765.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.13.19 We Missed You So Much https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069053158-RW4QXU9AQK9BP3P72OKD/NZ6_5777.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.14.19 "You're Not Allowed to Take a Photo of That. This is Private Property." – a Paul Blart Securitas Guy to Me, Someone with a Camera and Tripod on a Public Sidewalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069015137-54BZ74BUKLE31E55HU30/IMG_0384.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.15.19 Night On Elm Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069056113-WKNRVON09VLNN81N0X3D/NZ6_6398.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.16.19 Ashley Made Some Sort of Pomegranate Gin Drink https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069021057-27KIG17GTARZPING4PLB/IMG_0401.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.17.19 Life Imitates Car https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069061612-A026E50DN7UVXSG8NK49/NZ6_6406.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.18.19 My Little Family https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069060366-1EQB1SPRVA9WF7L0IKUI/NZ6_6428.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.19.19 Cycle Closet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069006292-FJ5VTGML7OIA58VWIJ3M/750_4578.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.20.19 Elk Lick House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069019814-LLDA42GB4DRBNL7ARN24/IMG_0426.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.21.19 The Natural Geometry of Mt. Auburn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069066731-EWQGTJBRQ6KM3HDLY9NS/NZ6_6586.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.22.19 IMAX Pre-Show https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069066731-S8I362JYJTO5U6MZIT1P/NZ6_7009-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.23.19 A Really, Really Big Closet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069070774-KQC3ZGRKACTZ138FSD8D/NZ6_7209.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.24.19 Incandescent Spheres https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069005672-S72OL612EZRJCPO6W3PV/0B499871-1CB3-41C2-A675-970BA5EBA057.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.25.19 An Enviable Corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069024794-KB4L840QFBIZYDOY05WZ/IMG_0522.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.26.19 1986 VW Westfalia on Main Street https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069070815-URQ4T9MAGZ2DR9UN44NK/NZ6_7490.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.27.19 Did Not Pass Go and Didn't Collect $200 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575069010306-TLEZXGZY1LIS10ONSH7A/750_4956.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.28.19 A Mob of Racers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575083167452-3W8117YRLV7X9GCF0D4B/NZ6_7942-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.29.19 Putting Up the Tree https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575170788149-VR6CNZLFBL9ZHRWWCEI3/NZ6_7955-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 11.30.19 Steve's House Is Mega-Haunted https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575229874481-JI073TNXP8N1UUQ8DTRK/NZ6_8141.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.1.19 Squaring Up the Squirrel We went to the Cincinnati Nature Center, and while I continuously failed to capture the birds I wanted, this squirrel posed long enough to offer his/her portrait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575326116018-MZ7EPDVH67P5EVIZXEUL/IMG_0620.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.2.19 Might Want To Get That Looked At I was sitting in my chair when I heard someone wreck their bumper on a sign on the street below. I threw open the window and looked down to see the damaged car before it left the area. It was raining at the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575394291508-9Z4D8PP6U6T9F38D5OC5/NZ6_8285.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.3.19 Wispy Trail Using a Speedlight and a very fast shutter speed, I blew out a candle and photographed the smoke trail. In total, I think I made around 50 attempts before settling on this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575514222760-OMULIHVGDBPQHWZLKSO6/IMG_0649.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.4.19 Our Evening Haunt I met up with Wally and Ronny at the Bay Horse Cafe for $4 schooners of Hudy Delight. The Bay Horse is our go-to bar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575559569168-UEDOCKAZRR6BVMSNLGWJ/NZ6_8493.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.5.19 An Emerald Newport Chevy While walking down Monmouth Street, I came across a green truck parked with a brick under its tire. The light was nice and the color popped, so I took a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575690229976-68551PCNS32VHE5EJCRE/DSC_0156.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.6.19 I Wish This Thing Actually Worked Using two tripods, I photographed the viewfinder of an old Duaflex that had framed a Christmas scene in my home. I wish I could get it working again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575776491406-XS1RIDKC72TLH2XW73SO/DSC_0160.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.7.19 Dogs Weren't Allowed Up Here While at Braxton Brewery with Travis and Aaron, we looked out onto the street below from the rooftop deck. This was part of the scenery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575846672101-XPJDNFRC67TSINJ2NU54/NZ6_8546.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.8.19 Rail Dog at QCR We went to Queen City Radio and enjoyed walking Myrtle with all the other dogs to the Woodward Theatre. The pups were decked out in festive apparel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1575928726762-LPXQ2XAJKYOKRC4JHWDB/NZ6_8836-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.9.19 Christmas Flowers Using blue construction paper, I set up a bulb of amaryllis and tried to capture the contrast between the two colors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576029896097-T9651GLECFU3A2G7PM05/NZ6_8930.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.10.19 The Madison I had a shoot at Handzy in Covington, and after that was finished, I wandered up Madison to document the Madison Theatre. The street was unnervingly surprisingly desolate that day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576095490643-9SH484Z5M7TKETPATFC0/NZ6_9094.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.11.19 A Portrait of Ray Ball I met with Ray at Awakenings in Hyde Park to interview her about her career and success as a self-made entrepreneur. She kindly posed for a portrait at the end of the interview. She’s a kind person with an immense amount of drive to succeed, and I admire her greatly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576169537315-3AJDEP1BQFKO25GYEZOP/IMG_0713.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.12.19 Winter Corridor While using the Skywalk over Walnut Street to get to the Mercantile Library, I stopped to capture the street below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576292227264-7DY6EBFOTW3WK2ME51K3/Christian+Village+Mt.+Healthy+Guardian+Center+for+Memory+Support-35.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.13.19 One in an 11 Hour Project Luminaut hired me to photograph the 3rd floor of a nursing home they renovated. This is a vignette from that shoot. While I only spent 2.5 hours on-site, I spent the rest of the day editing and tweaking them, ending on the 11th hour from first shutter click to final “all done” completion email. The fact that I turned the entire job around on the same day was a point of pride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576362737533-TSBJKXXG0E36ZIE2RXPM/NZ6_9304.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.14.19 Luna We were at my parents’ house and my sister’s dog, Luna, was all dressed up for Christmas. I made her portrait in front of the Christmas tree. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576448412925-WK7D09BHXMP39WMZXRTG/DSC_0190.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.15.19 Morning Walk We were walking to Urbana Cafe and cut through JACK Casino’s front “yard.” While Myrtle was doing her business in the grass, I noticed these two approaching from across the lawn. I had the Nikon 1 J5 with the 110mm lens around my neck, so I zoomed in to flatten the distance and capture the ornate buildings many feet behind them as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576551636289-JSBNHJ42TJ0B3KYK1DS2/NZ6_9356.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.16.19 With a Fresh Pack of SX-70 My father’s old Polaroid Land Camera. From what I’ve read, it looks to have come out in 1978. It uses sonar to adjust focus and instantly spits out a photo after it’s taken. He gave it to me after I discovered it in a cabinet in his office. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much success using it as it’s very difficult to get a decent photo with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576632859224-WE9JOFBC7Q4D805DMC6B/NZ6_9362.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.17.19 The Court/Broadway Flatiron I had a meeting at Coffee Emporium at 2 PM, so I left my apartment and headed north. The flatiron by my home is a regular sight on the route, so I stopped to capture it. A man is seen exiting the building at the exact moment I hit the shutter I didn’t see him in the moment, so his presence was a pleasant surprise when I got the photo into Lightroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576716457321-NQBOLM798YFESU5YT1IK/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.18.19 Central Parkway at Dusk While waiting to enter 1010 On The Rhine to attend their resident holiday party (we aren’t residents, we’re just friendly with the Rookwood Properties staff), I stopped on the 9th floor and captured the sunset in all its warm, purple and orange beauty. It was that perfect time of day when everyone is moving and the city feels alive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576763140020-7X8XMS3OR11K9IM3UVBO/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.19.19 Brilliant Morning Sunlight As I left my apartment building this morning to drop off Myrtle at daycare down the street, I marveled at the sunlight down Eggleston Avenue. Upon returning, I raced upstairs and grabbed my Z6 with the Tamron 150-600 and went out to the corner of Eggleston and Reedy. While I received some looks (it’s not easy being inconspicuous with a lens that size), I posted up for about 10 minutes and captured what I could. A man crossed the street at one point, offering the perfect opportunity and composition, but I missed focus because my hands were so cold. It was 18ºF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576877474665-J8E9LTK5Z1GAMNNEEPG3/DSC_0238.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.20.19 Teddy Bear Plant Detail The afternoon sun was hitting the Teddy Bear Plant on our windowsill in a good way as I sat in a chair across from it. I got a tripod out and set up the Nikon 1 J5 to get a close-up before the light disappeared. It’s called a Teddy Bear plant because it feels furry to the touch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1576967678219-5PSNNKPVXQCU29AOND6R/IMG_0845.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.21.19 Bad Haircut Ashley and I went to see her grandparents in Florence, KY today, and in an effort to avoid subjecting myself to another moment of Fox News at an unreasonable volume, I took Myrtle on a long walk around the neighborhood. We found this tree along the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577031153307-2ZV9ZQL5D7THS6HLV9AA/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.22.19 Building Pendleton On our way back from Urbana Cafe, we stopped to observe crews working on the new development at 12th and Sycamore. Many excavators were onsite unearthing old bricks and rubble from the land beneath them. It was the most active construction site I think I’ve personally ever seen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577114862622-78ZMVMBGNFAJWG8FETT4/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.23.19 A Desolate, Sun-Kissed Park ‘Twas the Monday before Christmas and all through city, not a worker was present—abysmal was density. Downtown was quiet, almost deafeningly so, everyone is off, but to work I must go… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577226669726-ZI23VRJ9NWO750CXOQAN/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.24.19 ‘Twas the Evening Before Christmas We weren’t allowed to take Myrtle to Ashley’s family Christmas celebration, so we went on a nice long walk to exercise her before leaving her alone for the night. Our walk led us to the western side of Downtown where most of the natural sunlight hangs out in that 4 to 5 PM hour. I used my little Nikon 1 J5 to zoom in on the Waldo and Covenant First Presbyterian because together they looked nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577331875557-VKMFX1PQHZBJDB6F6DUM/IMG_0900.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.25.19 “The Light Looks Good On These Cookies” I didn’t try today. I took my film camera, I took the Nikon 1 J5, and I didn’t use either one when I was at my parents’ for Christmas. Today was all about relaxation (aside from, you know, having to log onto work, of course). While standing in their dining room between breakfast and dinner, the light streamed across the table and illuminated this plate of cookies. Dad made fun of me for unwrapping them briefly to get a quick photo. Like I said, I didn’t try today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577421911057-HS59S8DBCLXCY19GA7ZG/NZ6_9697.jpg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.26.19 If You Blur Your Eyes, It Resembles an Aquarium It was 11:30 PM. My flash wasn’t working properly. I was on a time crunch. I looked up and noticed the Christmas lights looked pleasant on the plants and nickel finish of the floor lamp. The combination of the blue glow outside, the upward trajectory of the lights in bokeh, and the long, slender plant reminded me of a fish tank bubbling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577509543157-9L33UFTPAVXUUM7QTFCH/NZ6_9700.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.27.19 A Good Snoot Just playing with my wide angle lens with the dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577585571809-TEOSIOGPOGWF23ZJQ4Z5/DSC_0322.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.28.19 Building Bigger Every Year This morning was foggy and unseasonably warm. I took Myrtle outside and we ended up walking the streets to admire the city shrouded in fog. The air was as still as Downtown was quiet. It felt like we were stealing a look at our neighborhood before it was ready to get out of bed. The new development at 7th and Main enveloped the few remaining buildings on the east side of the street from this angle, much like the fog that surrounded all of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577675614890-EOGO3HEB04XVHSD4BFR1/DSC_0386.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.29.19 There’s No Place Like Home Street It was a miserable day, weather-wise. While driving around running an errand, I asked Ashley to head up to Home Street in Newport. I’d seen the view from a backyard on 15th Street months before, but since that’s private property, I wanted to find a public place to get that great Newport/Cincinnati view. While it wasn’t pretty, it was still a good view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577759146604-6A2C1YTD8F0ON1TZMUJE/NZ6_9769.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.30.19 Work In Progress I photograph the same three buildings every month for someone while they’re being renovated. The idea is to show the progress of the renovation as it happens. This one in Over-the-Rhine was empty when I entered it this afternoon; work crews were apparently off today. It was a little spooky being in there alone, especially since I’m used to being there with at least one worker and our region was experiencing heavy winds today. I didn’t spend an extra second than I had to inside the property. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577805101757-QB9CJMW771Q99S9Z8KWY/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2019 - 12.31.19 The Final Piece of the Puzzle When People’s Liberty finished its five-year campaign, Eric Avner reached out to ask if he could purchase this photo of the Roebling Bridge during BLINK for use in making custom puzzles as gifts for foundation partners. I gave him the photo, and weeks later he texted to ask if I was around. We met up and he gifted me one of the puzzles as thanks for letting him use the image. His thoughtfulness turned into two evenings of solo puzzle-building, and this morning I placed the final piece under studio lights. Because this is the first fully completed year of the Daily Photo Project, I thought it was an appropriate way to symbolically mark the occasion. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-all-2020 daily 0.75 2020-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577922017922-C14UT9HHCO249G4CKJCL/NZ6_9870.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.1.20 (un)Happy Tabby This little cat was chilling on a chair on someone’s porch in Bellevue. After I got it into Lightroom, I noticed his/her expression. Not sure if he/she was irritated or indifferent about me taking the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578014423714-SCEAU1IJO5BG6P07DQOV/NZ6_9973.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.2.20 Mooie and Chewie I visited the Rising Sun History Museum in Rising Sun, IN today. While it has two historic boats and many artifacts that tell the tale of Rising Sun’s history, it was this two-headed, taxidermied calf that stuck with me most. I do not care for taxidermy; it’s horrible and awkward, and the two-headed calf was no exception. I didn’t get a photo of the didactic panel next to it for some reason, but I believe it said it was born in 1988 in Madison, IN on a July day. The calf only lived for 45 minutes before passing. Why it’s in a museum in Rising Sun is something I’ll continue wondering forever. It had to be today’s photo because it made me so uncomfortable. According to the director of the museum, the pair were named Mooie and Chewie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578087423628-ZHQC02TSXLUN9TINTTSN/NZ6_0056.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.3.20 Rotolo Means ‘Roll’ in Italian Did a shoot at Rotolo, a bowling alley and bar/restaurant at Newport On the Levee this afternoon. During the shoot, I assumed I was doing a poor job primarily because I couldn’t find the right angles on the time crunch while fiddling with my tripod. My frustration with myself culminated in sweating through my jacket, fumbling with my gear, and generally looking like I barely knew what I was doing. After spilling the contents of the card into Lightroom, I all but confirmed my suspicions. I have a long way to go before I can consider myself good at what I do. This bowling ball photo isn’t what I’d hoped it would be. It is what it is, I suppose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578199579711-WT3YZ88M01U32UXBFGVL/750_5287.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.4.20 Inclined to Enjoy This View Travis and I went out tonight to grab shots of the city skyline from various angles after dark. We went to the Price Hill Incline District to get the east-facing angle of the west side of Downtown with the C I N C I N N A T I sign at one point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578280658081-QOYTN09SLCCKCCMU10UJ/NZ6_0536.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.5.20 We Just Want It to Snow! Snow Banks at the Banks brought snow-based attractions to the riverfront using artificial and man-made snow. Every half hour, fans on Freedom Way blew (what looks to be) globs of soap into the air, creating a blizzard-like effect. While I was photographing the fan, a little boy wandered over and stuck out his tongue as if to catch one of the “snowflakes.” I saw him grimace for a second at one point—I imagine soapy “snow” (snoawp?) wouldn’t be tasty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578349387379-X8UF05KTVT9Z2OK6RS68/NZ6_0632.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.6.20 A Court Street Sunset It’s amazing how sharp a prime lens is compared to a zoom lens. I shot this with a 50mm prime. The detail in full resolution is very nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578432035426-7BNR2LFF40DO3EFT6IQD/IMG_3242.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.7.20 My Friend Maria I took photos of Tower Room A inside the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal this afternoon for a story on the place, and my friend Maria let me into the space. The lighting was great, so I asked her if I could get a photo. She agreed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578528714359-Q6EU95AGY7OHEIFMNQFH/NZ6_0776.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.8.20 The Lady Before Lady Liberty I got word that one of the prototypes for the Statue of Liberty was in Cincinnati, so I drove to Oakley to check it out. The 4-foot-tall statue was made in the same foundry (Alvoiron) as the actual full-sized statue, but this one was made to be a lamp. Though it’s marked “#24,” there are only eight known to exist. The date on the base says 1875, but the curator told me this one was forged in 1878. It’s made of zinc and copper to mimic bronze. It’s hollow so wiring could be threaded up through the base to power the glass globe that would’ve sat on top of the torch. A replacement piece was made in the 1980s to cover the top since the glass was gone. I photographed it on film, as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578595864470-B8OZBUF1W4WKQ51WBJNJ/IMG_1120.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.9.20 Home Sweet Home Went up to the 11th floor of the William Howard Taft Center this afternoon for a job and caught a glimpse of my apartment from up high. I can see my desk from this angle. As I write this, I need only look up from my screen to see where I was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578689108042-2FL6WOO19KLKBYTUB4ZV/IMG_1163.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.10.20 This Is the Way They’ve ripped up a healthy portion of Fountain Square to reconfigure its layout. In the 5/3rd tunnel, a smaller tunnel of scaffolding was erected with signs that point to various attractions. I was there to scope out the 5/3rd Banking Museum to the right of the frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578778211450-VJZL1MY2SLEU5FM31TYF/Light+Trial-062-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.11.20 A Helping Hand Photoshop offers tutorials on how to do different effects, and this week there’s a tutorial on how to do neon. They used a raised hand in black and white and built a triangle around it using the effect. I thought it might be fun to follow the tutorial and give it a go. It took some work, but I got the lighting just right on my hand and added the after effects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578882576779-71LTCJXFVA4LOVHTVYZW/NZ6_1059-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.12.20 Drip! I put a Lume Cube 2.0 into the sink, turned on the faucet ever so slightly to create a rhythmic, steady drip, and rapid-fired away. This is a combination of two exposures put together. I cannot imagine trying to do this with film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578918596551-VX5PTQ4F35X94P1R06SC/IMG_6737.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.13.20 I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me An edited version of the photo of the day from December 27th, 2019 makes a return in the form of my desktop background. I believe this is the first time a photo of the day has been featured (kind of) twice. It always cracks me up when I see all three screens like this, and with it being 6:55 AM on a Monday, I cannot think of a better way to start my week than with a laugh. Also: look at that pretty little pup’s snoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579059260132-CP2T4APTEKP2P116O4YS/NZ6_1439-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.14.20 Glammed-Up On Greenup Today I had a real estate shoot on Greenup Street in Covington. It took me all day because I had to go back three times to get what I needed. The realtor needs the photos as soon as possible, so I spent the majority of the day shooting/processing them in between other life things. It's been an extremely long day and I'm afraid I may be getting sick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579135261563-3OKJM4U0PX56X2D31UEV/750_5300.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.15.20 Museum Dolls I checked out the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Fashion Archives today for a piece I’m working on for the site. While the archives were fully stocked with compressed storage containers that moved at the touch of a button, there were mannequins in a corner of the room that were unconcealed. These mannequins were designed to be the standard size of 18th- and 19th-century women. I did not realize women from those centuries differed so greatly in size from modern-day women, but apparently the garments the museum has in its collection were made to fit a specific type of body that mannequins post-1915 do not illustrate. Because there are so many garments in the collection, the museum needs an army of these mannequins should they ever put them on display. I would guess there were around 50 of them total standing neatly in phalanx formation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579229160677-MYU4XTW4ZK0602ZPY0S0/IMG_0599.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.16.20 I visited Dixie Union Station this afternoon for a story on the Mason store. It sells miniature trains, both new and old, to casual and hardcore train set hobbyists around the region, as well as internationally. It’s an extremely cool store to visit because of how specific it is about its craft. Randy, one of the employees of the store, was sitting in a back room fixing up a train component with new wheel parts while I was there. His little maintenance room was cozy and calming; I could see myself gladly spending hours in that space working on hobby trains if I were in his position. Sometimes I wish I could rid myself of my internet-based job and just settle down with something simpler that’s more aligned with my introverted nature. Then again, I wouldn’t have met Randy and seen this room if I didn’t do what I do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579286501567-42LAE1UCXYP38OB54P6V/IMG_1318.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.17.20 Some Serious Scaffolding Myrtle was getting groomed neared Findlay Market, so I worked in Deeper Roots for a couple hours, got lunch at the Market, then took this photo of a building that’s under construction while in the parking lot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579374837574-YGHIDSKO6VYMOSE2RM1M/IMG_1343.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.18.20 Dead on a Hill We were in Fort Thomas burning some time before a scheduled haircut and dropped by a dying antique mall. Across the street was a cemetery on a dramatic hill that seemed to foreshadow the inevitable closure of the nearby mall. Because the scene was so bleak, I waited for a particularly bright vehicle to roll into frame before hitting the shutter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579488374169-6YO54YZTX4EFGLCFOPVD/IMG_1390.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.19.20 It Is So Cold The feels-like temperature is 4°F tonight. I’d forgotten what 4°F feels like. I was moody and uninspired today, so we made this last-minute photo on the way back into the warmth of the building. I plan to sleep and reset immediately after publishing this (at 9:50 PM). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579582130582-FI15YOXP9HYRJFN7RQDN/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.20.20 Steve Shoots the Shooters I worked with RESLV this evening for six hours doing behind-the-scenes photography while they filmed a commercial. Steve was there filming content while everything was happening. I didn’t feel comfortable sharing any of the production stills from tonight without permission, but this photo of Steve doesn’t give anything away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579633032873-2ZO5FXPKZJBCSYZODD1W/NZ6_3050.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.21.20 Self Portrait I have entered my mid-Thirties and I’m quietly anxious about it. Well, I guess not-so-quietly anxious now that I’ve committed that feeling to this description. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579737996839-1SDXBVY856C4GCUGJ7A4/IMG_1455.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.22.20 Perfect Perspective A flag ceremony that involved Steve Chabot took me inside the Hamilton County Courthouse this morning. After that, did a little extra photo work for Judge Marsh, then saw myself out. On the way out of her courtroom, I stopped and made this photo of Central Parkway and the Alms & Doepke Building across the street. Because I was on the third floor, the perspective didn’t need to be adjusted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579839481886-2FT01IH1G8AF03VHD6PR/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.23.20 Bourbon and Bites Tonight I shot an event at the American Sign Museum in Camp Washington called Bourbon and Bites. It was a tour of the museum with stops for breaks to enjoy New Riff bourbon with food by The Phoenix. Before the tour began, I went into the main room and got the classic photo everyone enjoys getting when they’re there. I used a very small handheld tripod and set my ISO as low as it would go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579924634081-SR9YR31RTBP2VFSRX32Y/NZ6_3522.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.24.20 Juvenile Court Since I started working at 10 AM this morning to now (11 PM), I have been working non-stop on freelance projects while squeezing in Refined between tasks when I can. It has been an incredibly long day. One of my jobs was to document Judge John Meyer William’s courtroom and personal office for Hamilton County. I met with the judge in his office, learned about him and his family history with the building, and made the best photos I could with the small amount of time I had to do it. I would prefer to publish a photo of his office here, but I do not feel comfortable doing that without permission and will instead publish this depersonalized courtroom photo in its place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579987801196-GMOK6ARFRH86TWEQRH9W/NZ6_3545.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.25.20 Taking My Own Advice I wrote a piece that published today on Refined about things to do in Cincinnati when the weather sucks, and one of those list items was to visit Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park. Ashley’s mother is in town for the weekend and (surprise!) the weather is atrocious, so we all got in the car and headed up to the conservatory to enjoy the plants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580089159689-YI6PGJJ3YV5D1SIWK6CE/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.26.20 Dave’s Happy About Cake We celebrated Dave’s birthday today. He’s Ashley’s grandfather and he’s 78 on Tuesday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580177979346-G17G9FAS7AUUVFDV757Q/IMG_1524.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.27.20 Domestic Still Life Another very long day at the laptop in both my home office and up at WKRC. Didn’t have much time to do anything else but work on Refined stuff. It is 9:15 PM and I’m exhausted. This is a scene from my home at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580266184975-V747F2H2JGZZ5VN6JO76/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.28.20 Mesa Loca Luminaut hired me to photograph Mesa Loca in Hyde Park—a restaurant they worked on that recently opened within the last few months. It replaced Cock & Bull when that closed a while back. Stupid me forgot my memory card to the Z6 after setting up and had to run home, grab it, then run back. It was very unprofessional. No matter how long I do something, I’m always reminded of how far I still have to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580352254210-QR7WDU8YWRSJ0SUY7S74/IMG_0710.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.29.20 Get the Mail After we take Myrtle out for her final potty break for the night, we tell her to “go get the mail” and she runs to the mail room. I snapped Ashley and Myrtle coming out of the mail room along with Extremely Unfriendly Dude getting into the elevator with a Bird scooter? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580413055284-15W19FFE7TFGJP06U8IB/IMG_1549.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.30.20 Desolate Elm Street My monthly project takes me up to Findlay Market and the surrounding area, and as I walked past this stretch of Elm Street, I decided to document the completely vacant scene across the street. I liked how the colors of the mural stand in stark contrast to the off-white paint of the building behind it. I wish I’d gotten a body in frame, and I wish I’d taken this on film, but digital and empty are fine alternatives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580496591815-PCKV83A0FDKMZELCOLIW/IMG_1723.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 1.31.20 Going Up They removed the corner banner from the side of our apartment building using a hydraulic bucket. Myrtle went a little nuts at first when she saw someone at eye level, which I can’t blame her for since we live several stories from the street. I set up my phone on the ledge and used my Apple Watch from the other room to get a photo of the worker ascending. I have mixed feelings about doing it this way; clearly I felt uncomfortable just taking his photo normally, which suggests I feel like it’s wrong to capture his image without consent. On the other hand, his face is distorted from all the rain spots on the window, and he’s just outside my living room window, so his being so close to my personal space might give me permission to take his photo? I’m posting it so I must not feel it’s more wrong than right. If you have any feelings on this, I’d like to hear them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580596227495-HO9LDUYFZGPCYZ71HU9G/NZ6_4395.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.1.20 A Quick Nip I covered the Polar Plunge in Bellevue this morning. People jumped into a freezing cold pool of brown water to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Special Olympics. One team was dressed as Harry Potter characters; their Hermione was an older dude in a wig. I was keeping an eye on him because I knew he was bound to do something hilarious at some point, and that constant surveillance proved worthwile at this specific point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580688774161-KT6ID7KXBJV0670P824Z/NZ6_5583-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.2.20 Shillito Lofts Exterior I photographed Shillito Lofts back in December but haven’t had a chance to get a proper exterior due to the weather. Luckily, today was the most gorgeous day we’ve had in what feels like a year. Getting out early, I caught some mid-morning sunlight and pieced together 10 different images to create this composite with people, buses, and a car to make it feel like a livelier corner than it typically is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580785321399-NVKECH5F4KXYPQQIDSD2/IMG_1804.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.3.20 Cornerstone I spent a lot of my day on 4th Street. Worked at a free coworking space during the morning and early afternoon, had lunch at Saigon Subs & Rolls, then continued working at the Mercantile Library before walking home. It felt great to put headphones in, wear a light jacket in 60ºF weather, and go about my business. I felt like I did when I first moved to the city back in 2013; those were some extraordinary times. I took photos of the 4th and Race development, but I didn’t end up liking them as much as this photo of the cornerstone of The Reserve. The font (specifically the ‘9’) is excellent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580862847048-JS8ZBE45DDW2FYEADXIZ/NZ6_5815.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.4.20 That Tricky Fountain Square Smoking Grate For years, I’ve wanted to capture a bus blowing through the smoking grate across from Fountain Square. When I see it happen, I’m never ready for it. Today, I was passing the Square during rush hour and the grate was puffing like smokestack working overtime. I shot this moment when the Southbank Shuttle breached the wall of smoke, and while I think it’s fine, it’s not the exact image I was going for. If it were going faster, the effect would’ve been better, but this was when it was slowly accelerating from a complete stop. Maybe one day I’ll properly post up and get the shot I really want. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580931237256-3BEIFFZWVXW8QPL2ONYE/NZ6_5837.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.5.20 Sharp Alley Found myself inside 57 E. McMicken this afternoon for work, and enjoyed this view straight up Sharp Alley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581043587946-1AYVCEWX1PZPFMPRENDW/NZ6_6124-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.6.20 Pig and Brad From a lifestyle shoot I did earlier this evening for Towne Properties. Pig is the French Bulldog. Her little cute self didn’t want to stay put for very long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581124677260-2T73W82JO54G94TUESUQ/IMG_4774.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.7.20 Taft Museum I had a job at the Taft Museum today and took its photo before I left because the lighting was good. That’s it, that’s the description. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581217634385-YEIG3SUJZKYDEUF77YPS/IMG_1906.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.8.20 Wintry Rio We visited my parents today because we haven’t seen them in about 3 weeks. I am not feeling well, so one of the only photos I took today was this one of Rio staring out the window. She was quietly low-growling during this because she thought I was trying to tell her there was a deer outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581296303532-FLUCCD404WDK0MEYSRKV/IMG_1928.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.9.20 Yearning to Be Outside Don’t worry, she got her time at the park (and got sufficiently muddy, too). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581386974771-5KL42TFLB066QRGRKKBR/NZ6_6483-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.10.20 Night Composite I wanted to make this photo but waiting for a bus, a car, and positioning myself correctly in frame was all but impossible, so I did them all individually and brought it into Photoshop to piece it all together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581478400703-KKLVRVOVMNI8KRGP1MRA/IMG_1995.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.11.20 USPS at Crane Factory Most of my creative energy went towards creating and refining a logo for a friend’s upcoming side gig, then creating a Valentine’s Day eCard for social media for work. As such, this was the only interesting photo I made all day. I liked this moment because everything was so perfectly aligned without much effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581559188141-1L8PLQA02BQ3HRY4S8LC/IMG_0728.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.12.20 Smug Ronny Disco I used my Lume Cube in the Bay Horse to light this portrait of Ronny, who was once referred to as Smug Ronny Disco on Twitter by some guy who didn’t like him. We enjoy having schooners here and I wanted to capture that feeling at least once. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581636765195-BLVSATQ7KEPWC9U9JB6Z/IMG_2012.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.13.20 Mini Me As I was driving back from interviewing the Graeter family (yes, that Graeter family) about their Victorian house in EWH, I passed this house on the corner with a miniature version of itself at the sidewalk. I turned the car around, parked, and went to photograph the two side by side because I thought it was amusing. The miniature house is a Little Free Library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581718572333-979RU1BOYQ9TPNC34B22/NZ6_6515-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.14.20 Valentine’s Daylight THE SUN CAME OUT TODAY. THE SUN CAME OUT TODAY. LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL LIGHT FROM THE SUN. IT HAS BEEN SO GREY HERE FOR SO LONG. MY KITCHEN LOOKED BEAUTIFUL SO I HAD TO CAPTURE MY FAVORITE CORNER OF IT. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581804359236-54MHI07BP1XHVQEL52O6/IMG_2046.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.15.20 Bob Brumberg A candid portrait of Bob Brumberg at 3 Points Urban Brewery. Only natural light bouncing off the windows from Alumni Lofts across 13th was used to light his face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581892922635-NNJQWUESHVMJYK7GVUXH/NZ6_6634.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.16.20 Pre-Yoga Sit-‘N-Soak Before walking to yoga, she sat in the chair soaking up the sun. I had an umbrella set up to the right of her and took a photo. The warm light from the west and the white light from the east through the glass table and transparent chairs combined to give the scene an ethereal look. Something about it reminds me of a painting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581996564825-95RKWKBCLS8ZQOUX3GUM/DSC_0607-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.17.20 A Foray Into Faux Earlier today, the weather was unseasonably lovely. So lovely, in fact, I made the correct choice to walk to Mt. Auburn instead of drive so I could enjoy the city at my own pace. If I need to go to the office, I might as well enjoy the journey when it’s warm enough. On the way back, clouds had overtaken the sky, foiling whatever late-evening plans I had to take photos of key components along the skyline. The Monastery was one of my subjects as I walked along the length of Liberty Hill, just before making it to the City Steps. After I got it into my computer, I didn’t like how flat and dull the light was. In color, it just wasn’t doing it for me. I took it into Photoshop and did a little filtering/layering with creative effects to produce a false vintage look with randomized specks and faux-scratches on the “film.” Because there is very little in the way of modernity in the original photo, the edit worked well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582083130859-IR0KXOXTYSF8ZWPFCMMM/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.18.20 GYROS Dixie Chili in Newport has my favorite poster for any food in the entire world. Yes, that’s an oddly specific category for a “favorite” thing, but it’s true. I would love to have a copy of this for my office. It reminds me of a background image in a movie that’s meant to subconsciously invoke sentiment without directly advertising for a specific brand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582168083218-PG9Z0V056RPMLN4SD7HG/NZ6_6885.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.19.20 Modern Man Justin has this great little MCM-styled home in White Oak, so tonight I went out with all my equipment to try my hand at some serious lifestyle portraiture. We both had a fun time creating a 1960s feel for this shoot. I’m really happy with how these turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582257967563-QC8H27MZ61575UER1YDI/IMG_2203.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.20.20 The Beast Awaits Her Treat How does one follow a successful, hours-long vintage lifestyle photoshoot? By taking a moody iPhone photo of their dog awaiting a treat in the kitchen because the light was dramatic and good, of course. I’m still very proud of yesterday’s photo, so whatever I made today was inevitably going to fall short of it. But creating every day means sometimes failing upward—which, in my opinion, is just the scenic route to success. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582342146370-3ZUV9GRKLJJQJ33I390Q/IMG_2223.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.21.20 The Homies Breakfast for dinner on MainStrasse courtesy of Cody. The crew for the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582430023700-Z7JZDSMEAA2TWQKMVK2W/NZ6_7118.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.22.20 Awaitin’ the Bacon We haven’t been to B&A since BLINK last year, so we took the pup on a walk and stopped by for a bite. As is custom for B&A visits, Myrtle gets a piece of bacon from the window after we order. If a place involves a treat of some sort, she’s forever obsessed with it, so B&A is one of her favorite spots. This was actually taken after she got her piece of bacon; she just knew there was more of it behind the glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582505544490-5WYDIG92V4QF97V1E3YY/NZ6_7123.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.23.20 12th and Main Streets, OTR Crappy light out today. This striking yellow sportsmobile stood out against the dark blue paint job of Platform. The person who owns this car was probably eating at Louvino behind me when I took the photo. I wonder if they saw me stop to capture it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582601923372-UN0N5N6WLC720GU2FJ4W/NZ6_7145.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.24.20 Haunted Artifact I have an old camera sitting on the shelf that I cannot use, so I sat it upright and used a little pendant light that goes on Myrtle’s collar on the end of a bungee cord to create the “electricity” effect. I lit the right side with 4% light from a Lumecube and the other side was lit by my iPad on a stand several feet away. 30-second shutter at f/6.3. There’s really no point to this; I just wanted to play around with a long exposure and got a Ghostbuster-y result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582687491141-ZRXAD3Y8I74JO6T1WBU5/DSC_0622.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.25.20 Rainy Evening on Broadway The rain cast this wonderful fog all over the city tonight, bouncing all that light back onto the streets and buildings below. I went up to the roof with my J5 and caught this vertical sliver of Broadway and Sycamore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582772996368-2LH5EX61AS5MW7GJGDW4/NZ6_7149.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.26.20 Procreate Project I’ve been spending more time recently drawing and painting in Procreate, which ultimately leaves me less time to be behind the lens. Today I had a little time and wanted to paint a photo I made last night for the sole purpose of painting it later. This is a photo of the finished product on my desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582844961157-73EB477MV6J3W927PNTF/NZ6_7162.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.27.20 Raise the Roof A building I photograph every month is growing upward. This month, a temporary staircase was added, so I was able to get up on the (original) roof to photograph the progress. As I lined up this shot, the sun poked through the clouds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582990923355-D22GXC4JRWF7VR5Q1EHN/IMG_2291.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.28.20 Cincinnati is Good Here is a photo of a car that someone graffiti’d. Happy Bockfest! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583039056768-3X79VJM40PNLNZKHLODR/DSC_0660.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 2.29.20 Formerly Bremen Street As we walked to Bockfest Hall from the Race/Liberty streetcar station, we passed Republic Street. I’ve always liked how Macy’s sort of ends Republic in the distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583123170130-SNN887G5IQZBPWKP430R/NZ6_8048-HDR-Pano.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.1.20 New PC Lens The image of my living room above is 9814 x 5690 pixels at a near-16 x 8 aspect ratio. The reason it’s so huge and oddly shaped is because it’s a 16-image HDR panorama using a Nikon Nikkor 35mm ƒ/2.8 PC manual focus lens. I got the old, used lens at Procam earlier today while I was in the shop buying a new speedlight (Godox V860). My favorite salesperson, Pete, caught me right on the way out the door and let me slap it on my Z6. Being someone who's always wanted a shift lens, the $175 price tag was a steal compared to the modern $2500 glass I was pricing months ago. After messing around with it, I’ve determined it’s probably my favorite lens to mess around with even though it’s more difficult and time-consuming to use because it’s not auto-focusing and a little wonky to adjust. Using it to create crisp panoramas like the one above is extremely fun; I relish the moment when I can use this for work to create something truly special. Also, Lightroom took about a half hour to preview and render this single image, so it will not be a process I rely on for every image I make using this method. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583205524363-9U3FRG53LXD3ZU32KEOM/IMG_0818.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.2.20 Panorama Playing around with the shift lens, I created a three-photo pano of the street outside from my 4th-floor apartment. This was far less work to put together than the previous night’s image. I’m hoping to get out with my tripod this weekend to do more shift photography. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583269002587-QZKGILBWJG569D5JNRE0/NZ6_8084-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.3.20 Worsh 'Em I made a poster earlier, the style of which is inspired by British WWII-era propaganda I found online. I figured modernizing it would be a good way to get the message out about the current issue the world is facing together: coronavirus and how handwashing is a great way to slow its spread. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583411172411-98Q8KFXCNDWIBOLERXQN/NZ6_8111.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.4.20 The Traction Building I had to ask a Fifth Third guard if I could set up my tripod and take a photo of the Traction Building from the Skywalk. He said the Skywalk is a public walkway maintained by Fifth Third and that I’d normally need written permission, but this time was fine so long as I don’t photograph Fifth Third. The last time I set up a tripod on the Skywalk was before the shooting in 2018, so I suppose security measures have tightened. Understandably so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583466784227-3J8PTC5QUSK72KI9N0RW/IMG_2443.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.5.20 A Skee-Baller Waits Aaron and I went up to Holiday Spirits tonight to get falafel and ran into Ronny (of course) while there. Ronny manages a skee-ball league that plays out of that bar, which is essentially just a bunch of dudes who see who can hit the largest scores while recording them in a book with the words “fuck it” on the front. While paying the machine to release the nine balls required to play a round of skee-ball, he sat on the lane that’s out of order (which we played on for free until a mechanic came and ruined the run) and I snapped this photo on my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583553998731-QP3HZ3U1I5VNRM1VHB7O/NZ6_8398.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.6.20 A Kitchen Did a freelance shoot in Springdale today. Not really much else to say about it, to be honest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583610126941-7K5ZYVV8V8OBMVB5DFNH/NZ6_8457.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.7.20 Big Bison We went to Big Bone Lick this morning to hike and see the bison. Unfortunately, the bison were scattered behind a series of fences that ruined any possible clear line of sight, so I had to shoot extremely tight at the widest aperture possible to get around seeing the fuzz of an out-of-focus strand of metal lightening a section of each frame. This was one of the only photos where the fence wasn’t obstructing the middle of the shot. The bison looks mean, but they were very calm and surprisingly quiet for being so big. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583719684406-KH4U66E35ZGCCN4KR3TJ/IMG_2487.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.8.20 An Inexplicable Love The weather today was incredible; high 60s with clear skies and constant sunshine from sun up to sundown. We took a walk with the pup and while coming back to the apartment, we passed this scene on 8th Street. It’s just an ugly fence next to a wall bearing a two-tone paint job and yellow alphanumeric remnants. Due to its proximity to home, it’s nothing I haven’t seen a hundred times before, and for some reason, I’ve always noticed it when walking past. Today I decided I would take its photo. The sunlight and shadow and all the textures just make me feel good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583790062109-J6CNMU8ARTSO4ZHUYJ8E/DSC_0717-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.9.20 Training Day We live across the street from a firehouse, which often results in unique opportunities to see the men in action when they test equipment and practice…firemen stuff. Today, a few of them raised the ladder to their own rooftop. One man was in full firefighting gear and lugged a chainsaw up four stories. My office window looks directly onto 9th Street, so I always have my Nikon 1 J5 set up on a small tripod for quick capture should something happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583855217778-ZOS3VSIH0C2EC5IELSBA/IMG_2505.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.10.20 Don’t Be A-Freight of Vibrancy Kent Lofts in Bellevue, KY is a historic rehab of an old 26,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that will house 65 apartments and one hotel room (for residents’ guests). I toured it today for work and only took a few photos as it’s still under heavy construction. As most modern projects go, it’s a lot of white and grey to make the spaces neutral, but at the end of this hall was an incredibly colorful freight elevator door. The striking red on green caught my eye and I had to get a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583960245892-KF17QTY4KTH16T78D2NF/750_6817-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.11.20 Corona Contingency Plan The virus is spreading. People are panicking. Events are canceling, schools are vacating, and the Governor of Ohio is suggesting people do not congregate to help slow the spread. We are in a state of emergency as of today. My job, while internet-based, is contingent on people going out to experience the city. Because there will be people staying home, I thought I should put together a piece about things you can do at home—but with a local slant. I put together a list of three local history blogs I enjoy and made this image the header. The screen is Photoshopped with the daily photo from February 17th. Without this daily photo project, I doubt I would’ve had that image on file and ready to use. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584065677553-KERBWNPF8AB4VUZKLNQE/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.12.20 Inventory Check Nothing says “living in 2020” like taking inventory of all available medical supplies in the house along with their expiration dates and sending a photo to your spouse so they can get what we need from the store. This is an actual photo I took earlier this afternoon and sent to Ashley. It wasn’t meant to be my photo of the day, but I can’t think of another image that would better encapsulate the anxiety we all feel today surrounding the pandemic that’s occurring at the moment. I marked the expiration dates in post on an iPad. It’s been a long, weird, distracting day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584158928480-U8L4JN7EX1QR10EXIKIO/IMG_2547.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.13.20 Virus Food I hate that today’s photo is the inside of my freezer. It’s boring and dumb, but it’s the only photo I took today. I took it at 11:56 PM. All of this is to say: it was a stressful day that lasted far too long. The news of the encroaching virus is giving me incredible anxiety. It’s an enemy I can’t see and can’t ensure I’ll avoid. It could be in me right now while I infect my wife and friends. None of us will know until next week. And we’re all expected to keep living life as normally as possible. I’m having trouble seeing what that should look like at this point. With every museum closure, event cancellation, and new breaking news story, my anxiety intensifies. Society is slowly shutting itself down to slow the spread of this thing. Our freezer will keep us fed for a little bit before we have to go back to the store—social distancing is crucial at this point. I hope tomorrow I feel more stable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584205869665-ZMDUBOQEP4YS75KOSQOU/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.14.20 Early Voting Friends, Ashley, and I all drove to the Board of Elections to vote early this afternoon. There, campaign volunteers are relegated to a small area to hold up signs and yell the names of the politicians they support. We walked past them and I turned around and took a quick photo. Everyone was nice. It was actually refreshing to see smiling faces surrounding an election instead of anger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584327717872-M20USTEQ0VRDNU52YM4Z/NZ6_8640.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.15.20 Goodbye, US Playing Card Co. It's been a mental struggle to get through every day since the outbreak came to Ohio. Restaurants and bars are now closed. You can get carryout, but no one is allowed to congregate indoors at those places any longer. While this sounds like oppression, it's not—our local government is just trying to stop COVID from spreading, and I appreciate the drastic measures they're taking. Anyway, I got out for an hour with a friend today and that helped clear my head for a bit. We photographed two buildings that are slated for demolition. This one is the former home to US Playing Card Co. It's a damn shame it has to come down; the tower will remain, but everything else will go. Even though preservation efforts in Cincinnati seem like they're continually on the rise, we're reminded of how far we still need to go when you realize a beauty like this will soon be reduced to dust. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584412280938-SSWDGW4DURC99MHGKGAN/IMG_9060.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.16.20 The Emptiest Dog Park Kentucky followed suit and closed all bars and restaurants today to limit people from congregating. The Fed imposed a ban of 10 or more people in the same place. The city imposed a 6-foot distance law to keep people out of each other’s orbit. This whole thing is absolutely psychotic. I spent the entire day on calls trying to get content created for Refined because so much of our programming fell by the wayside. Finally got a chance to take Myrtle to the park in the evening and we saw three people the whole time. It was eerie and horrible. I want this nightmare to end. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584498383296-GO2D0O79RIV5GKI41GIH/IMG_2584.JPG daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.17.20 Pooetry When you got-a-go on the go but there is no one to tow you to and fro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584583766926-ID0I7GX063AC43E48F6G/IMG_2602.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.18.20 WFH Ashley is now working from home. Things are getting worse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584669192236-9T5X9UB950L0RS0GNCZO/IMG_2620.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.19.20 Hard Day Today was a hard day. From the lingering horror of the spreading virus and mentally grappling with our new quality of life to a scare with a tornado warning tonight that forced my wife into a full-on panic in the basement garage, I am beyond drained in this moment. Add to the fact that I do not feel physically well, and you have one bad day. Maybe tomorrow will feel semi-normal again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584758398353-61ZORV5M65OS95W449TF/IMG_2634.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.20.20 An Empty Place I had a better day today because I didn’t read the news. The dull ache at the base of my heart that pulled up through the base of my back was reduced significantly. I know it’s because of stress; I’ve never felt a physical reaction quite like that from stress before. I finished work at 3 PM and walked to the hardware store to buy 200 disposable latex gloves. My anxiety was high walking in there because it’s a small shop and the staff are generally older. Had to maneuver the aisles to make sure I didn’t get too close to anyone. As I passed the hardware store on the lonely walk home, I peered into the Goodyear at the corner of 9th and Sycamore. Usually there are mechanics working in the garage, but today it was totally empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584844081616-VUIN0O9IPQ8H7QWP3S9H/NZ6_8668.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.21.20 The Public To get my mind off what’s happening in the world, I watched The Public tonight. I know I’m several years late to the party, but I enjoyed it. Several scenes took place under the skywalk and I needed only look out my living room window to see where it was filmed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584931971574-K23N10GS5NK5PLG3Z94E/DSC_0761.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.22.20 The Outside The threat of COVID-19 has us sheltering in place every day. We do not hang out with others because it is not recommended to do so. However, we are allowed to go outside so long as we keep our distance from others. Myrtle has been taking it especially hard because we are not going to the dog park as often. Today, though, we went to P&G’s east lawn and played ball for about 20 minutes. She was incredibly happy to get out and run around for awhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584991334590-0Q484QHBNJJZ834AJKJE/IMG_2663.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.23.20 Man in the Yellow Jacket I went to the store earlier and it was extremely stressful. Almost no one seemed concerned about keeping their distance, save for the two people in the store who had masks on. I held my breath so much, I felt dizzy by the end of the trip. After I put away all my groceries in the back of the car, I took a moment to breathe in the fresh air from the edge of the parking garage. A man in a yellow jacket was walking down the alley all alone across the street; yellow, the color of caution, was a reminder that I need to stay safe during this whole ordeal lest I contract the sickness and become hospitalized. Losing that much time and money, not to mention endangering my family and my own health, isn’t something I want or need. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585102052475-OQUSYDM9BIP685204VR9/DSC_0766.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.24.20 Urban Life I spent the evening watching TV to relax. Had a little bit of a meltdown earlier this morning over the whole virus situation. Decided to treat the rest of the day with kid gloves and get back to doing stuff that relaxes me. Made this photo moments ago from the window behind my desk. I like that little corner so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585188593054-1XWRYHI4YS9OGXH1GFLQ/DSC_0777.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.25.20 Hard Boiled Just a closeup on some hard boiled eggs because the sunlight was coming straight into the kitchen and lit them up in a way I thought looked pretty. There’s not a whole lot going on day to day here, guys. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585274040099-86PYBPYIMU9NHLWNZ3OY/IMG_2781.JPG daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.26.20 Neighbors We do not have neighbors across the hall. It’s an Airbnb. Tonight we heard someone go through the door and I instinctively went over to look through the peephole to see if I could catch a glimpse. Then I realized that I’m just very eager to have an interaction with a neighbor. It’s been over a week since I’ve seen anyone in our building besides one person who was taking their dog out at the same time I was outside with Myrtle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585344083136-LWXNVM37CFFGDDOT1W44/IMG_2801.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.27.20 Standing in the Sliver Myrtle and I took a walk this afternoon to stretch our legs in the nice weather. As we came home, we passed under the overpass. The light was nice, so I aligned myself in the sliver of sunlight and took a photo. No one was around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585437171435-OSH3K81HTDEVP5MPKF11/NZ6_8733.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.28.20 Layover I was trying to take a photo of the plane when a bird perfectly crossed its path. Unfortunately, the bird was out of focus for the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585538667093-5IGAM8XMVZKIF33SJW4J/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.29.20 Bicentennial Corner The weather was beautiful, so we took a long walk through Mt. Adams and Bicentennial Commons this morning. Lots of people were out, but we managed to cross the street and avoid coming into contact with everyone we could. I liked this particular spot in the park because of the yellow/blue combination. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585623919578-OEN5HCXC8VGERCUZMRUQ/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.30.20 Barnard’s Lincoln Walked down to Lytle Park this afternoon and took every possible photograph imaginable of the Abe Lincoln statue for a history piece I’m doing for Refined. This is one of the frames I liked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585703906158-YWDII65GWI0XE9YUQIOX/IMG_2845.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 3.31.20 I Had the Meats If you’re reading this, I hope you understand that I am in a creative funk at the moment. It’s not something I’m proud of, and, quite frankly, I’m having trouble getting a grip on it. Since Coronavirus took over the world, I haven’t felt like playing with lights and coming up with unique content. I haven’t wanted to go out and photograph the city. I don’t want to do anything but sit on my ass and eat bad foods to temporarily feel better. I won’t say I’m depressed because I know what that feels like, and this isn’t quite to that level, but I am without a doubt struggling creatively. I feel like I’m rummaging for hard, barely warm curly fry dandruff at the bottom of the sleeve. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585773243899-1OM257O8229AJW58LBQF/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.1.20 April Fooler This isn’t a Photoshopped image. This is, in fact, a digital double exposure. I was reading the April issue of Digital Photographer last night, and in it, there’s an interview with a guy who talks about doing digital double exposures fully in-camera without editing them in post. I thought it would be neat to give it a serious go (traditionally, I’ve never been interested), so I thought of this concept and planned to do it the next day. After seeing the final result, I felt better about myself creatively; yesterday I talked about the nasty creative rut I’ve been in due to the global pandemic. This little boost of excitement this afternoon was all I needed to remind me that it’s just a phase and it, too, shall pass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585879626073-4IFOQSK6DUCCL289CGB4/IMG_2921.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.2.20 Do Not Enter Scarcely a person was on the street this evening, save for a roving band of teens clearly unconcerned with social distancing. We walked the dog up 7th Street and took in the barrenness around us, stopping from time to time to read the closed signs on every business along our route. We came across this cleverly placed street sign next to the folded bowling alley. The purple and orange framed by the columns with the street sign accidentally prohibiting us from going into either alleys was irresistible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585968091034-CSW85P4O6KV8L2R4SX6B/NZ6_9020.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.3.20 A Short Story Another in-camera double exposure, this time about the fact that I shaved my head this week. I never enjoy taking photos of myself because it’s such a pain in the ass, but I really like how this one turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586051464646-3691OFFO2EMKBH0YKFI5/IMG_2988.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.4.20 O Fallon Avenue Hill We took the pup to Bellevue Beach Park today to get a little walking in and ended up wandering the neighborhood for a while, moving out of the way of others to ensure we didn’t infect them. I took the 35mm film camera with me and snapped nearly the whole roll without realizing it. After we got back in the car, we drove up O Fallon Avenue to see a house that was on the market (way out of our price range) and ended up climbing an incredible hill that had a fantastic view of the city at the top. On our way back down, I stopped the car, took my last photo on the roll, snapped one on digital (this one), and we drove home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586143497146-ODL7RWQMS0ZE83CIP7H1/NZ6_9042.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.5.20 Get Low Took Myrtle to Lytle Park and tossed ball with her for about 30 minutes. She had a blast. Captured a few of her moves. We still can’t see anyone or do anything because of the pandemic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586229742813-BTAX2BB5490FCXDH8D9L/NZ6_9074-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.6.20 Productivity Spent nearly the whole day here. I am here now. Took a few hours to watch TV with Ashley earlier, but I am here otherwise. Just figured I should document my workspace. It’s cozier than it looks in this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586309812423-NCI8MS1SOQXD0G8UEGD8/NZ6_9150.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.7.20 Pink Supermoon From Price Hill I planned to photograph tonight’s pink supermoon from the rooftop before someone I know suggested the Price Hill Incline District. It was a total “duh” moment. We drove up to the park, I planted my tripod in place and snapped a few frames as it slowly materialized from behind clouds on the horizon. As it rose, it increased in luminosity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586399189799-DZPYWCQYCWPK1S2L7CFM/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.8.20 Gotta See What’s Happening Ashley was trying to see what the street construction noise was all about. Myrtle looked on, confused. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586480905922-ZOOTUU1UZNSJKXP694HY/750_6840.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.9.20 A Classic View Went to five overlooks today for a ‘Best Views of Cincinnati’ piece for work. This one is from Mt. Adams. I’ve always loved getting the Times-Star and City Hall in the same frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586573813939-35JBMJD5LROKKU523KXO/DSC_0882.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.10.20 Emptiness While taking a walk with Myrtle this afternoon (she’s struggling with not having anything to do), we went our usual route under the highway ramps and came upon this scene. It’s one I’ve seen many times before, and even more so lately, but something about it today just felt extra desolate. The world feels remarkably devoid of activity right now because of the pandemic. Like we’re all holding our breath for a second too long under water, wishing we could dowse the burning sensation building at the back of our throats with a cool gasp of air but having to hold it in for a little longer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586659519493-LGYGTD8XY8TDO51EQFAZ/IMG_3074.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.11.20 Taft’s Message On an evening walk, we made our way past the Taft Theatre with its COVID-19-inspired message laid out across its backlit marquee. There was no one on the street but us and a few cars. I hate the stillness of Downtown right now. Even though the virus hasn’t infected me, this emptiness certainly has. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586740579622-GTMJN87FU4SWIV2853XQ/IMG_3108.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.12.20 Into Nature! We went to the Cincinnati Nature Center this morning to get a break from home. It was nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586827057932-B8266NCE07VNQS4HXMZD/DSC_0936.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.13.20 Road Work They’re resurfacing Broadway from 4th to Eggleston since there aren’t cars on the road now. It’s loud, it’s nearly constant, and it’s right below our west-facing windows. We took a walk up and down Broadway to get a sense of what they’re doing. Tonight we’re going to pretend like we’re on vacation and sleep in the guest bedroom because it’s on the north side of the building away from Broadway. They’re still working out there as of 9:15 PM, so we don’t know how late it’s going to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586913223277-05WITPBWXNV0D3OL6YFE/NZ6_9228.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.14.20 History Uncovered All of yesterday’s roadwork on Broadway uncovered the history of the street beneath it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587006069620-4D169MBCGW4ATXCBKFD8/NZ6_9465.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.15.20 Working From Home Ashley needed to record herself talking about her gym for a video, so I set up some fun lighting (there may have been a toaster oven grate involved) and went to great lengths to make it look and sound professional. While the audio needed some work, I am super pleased with how the visuals turned out. This is a test still from the production. I honestly looked forward to doing this all day and it was incredibly fun to have a vision in my head come to life after figuring out how to do it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587094709847-JM6TIMWZQA2BLG1UGQGY/IMG_3224.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.16.20 DIY Tonight I made a custom honeycomb grid to fit over my cheap studio lights. Using black duct tape, I cobbled together a series of sticky loops and tried my best to form them to the size of the light. It’s not pretty, but it does a fairly good job considering A) I’ve never made one before, and B) it’s just a bunch of tape stuck together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587174986112-MM7YI3P9F5HZU4UA5ABA/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.17.20 Migraine Party Ashley had a migraine so we made her a little tent that cut the light, and Myrtle wanted in. I stuck my phone under the covers and got this sweet scene. Ashley knew what I was doing when I was doing it, she just had her eyes closed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587309034794-9WXJSR7IG3KTEJOGU2CR/NZ6_9557-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.18.20 We Went Camping We wanted to switch things up, so we put up the tent in the living room, surrounded it with houseplants, and did a little photo shoot. It’s been a long quarantine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587347193477-TLR0WPGNVY7KP0MGM88O/IMG_3291.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.19.20 A Good Sunset It was a rainy, grey day today, but the sunset was really nice. I’ve found my mood is an almost 1:1 match with the weather now since there’s little to do indoors that we haven’t already done. Being outside, even if we’re away from others, is still better than sitting around inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587436218511-0T73ENJ3IZJ34FTD0GD6/IMG_3301.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.20.20 Spring on Spring Took the dog on a walk through Pendleton this morning. This is Spring Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587517812199-WS1KM4XYND9U1WHQ86L7/NZ6_9586.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.21.20 The Girls I realize this month has been mainly photos of Ashley and Myrtle, but there’s not a LOT happening during this quarantine except the occasional walk through a largely empty city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587581471746-ZJDQ875ZZ1BVURE4B0N8/NZ6_9679-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.22.20 Standing With Myself Five exposures Photoshopped together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587697751617-U9OMB90GX3HMNIQXF3X1/NZ6_9786-Edit.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.23.20 Flower Shoot Today was an exceptionally grey, wet day, so I set up some lights and made colorful photos of flowers. This is one of the photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587757493814-0MNQFTG3P4K9HK3RSCZI/750_6992.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.24.20 Findlay Vacant Lunchtime at Findlay Market on a Friday during a pandemic. Saw about 35 people in the whole place, not including workers. About half had masks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587871553091-ZVDPG05KL6U0ASXKIWFY/IMG_3515.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.25.20 Not My Art We packed a picnic basket and went to Lytle Park to eat under a tree and enjoy the weather while it was sunny. While there, Ashley made this little organic configuration and I thought it was cute. It was the only photo I made the whole day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587955682098-XVQIYETS1854T9T0GZ9G/IMG_3518.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.26.20 Sniffing Around New Trails Disregarding the forecast, we all put on rain jackets and drove to Tower Park in Fort Thomas. It was a first for Myrtle and I. The three of us walked along muddy trails without seeing a single person the whole time. As it turns out, rain is the ultimate social distancing agent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588040896846-VX7VBCS2GYVS2Q6LV6TD/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.27.20 Thick Fog Around the Art Museum When we woke up this morning, a thick fog had totally shrouded the basin and limited visibility. You could barely see past Main Street from the living room. As the sun rose, the fog began to burn off, revealing landmarks that had been hidden moments earlier. As the Cincinnati Art Museum crept into view, I got a photo of its tower just above the tree line with a zoom lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588127367599-DTJGSHQ7XCO20EWI95YS/B98FCC9D-38CE-4AC5-9387-783F6BF8C6A2.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.28.20 Trailer Art Went to Florence, KY to do a shoot this afternoon and this trailer was nearby. While they were making the food for the shoot, I went over and got a photo of it. It’s a trailer they’ve painted to advertise another business associated with the restaurant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588209935970-WJ3X0Q1EWJT543T12AMO/NZ6_0068.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.29.20 Lavender Shade It was 5 PM. My work day had officially hit the time at which a beer was acceptable. After pulling a Shade out of the fridge, I turned to set it on the counter and snap the tab back. As I swiveled to place the can, a vase of these purple and yellow flowers caught my eye. I held the can up to the arrangement and realized they’d make a good couple. Grabbing my Lume Cube and flash with a purple gel, I set everything in the other room together on a marble slab. The flash shot upward behind the can and flowers and the Lume Cube provided soft white light that I swept back and forth during the 2-second exposure to eliminate aggressive shadowing. This was the result. After spending so much time last week on a flower shot, this one’s brevity really made the whole process so much more fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588302160423-MY36OWZH3XJFCUXFDNA0/IMG_3618.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 4.30.20 The Bike Room I spent too much of the day working on Refined and wrapping up loose ends on personal projects, and I forgot to make a photo of the day until the very end. While taking the dog outside for her last trip of the night, I photographed the bike room that faces Eggleston Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588392000336-TPOR33RMP66UVUTJT681/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.1.20 Bedinger Street The street that feels like an alley right by our home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588553321149-1IRORUYA8K8KWVXF3N1I/NZ6_0428.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.2.20 House on the Hill Seeking a break in routine and needing to get out of the city for a night to do something new, we went east to Ripley, OH to camp on Vince’s farm that he shares with other dudes. The farmhouse was shrouded in darkness, so I set up a tripod and took a 3-minute exposure while running a Lumecube through the scene to create the light trail. The fire nearby, which barely illuminated the side of the house, came alive during the long exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588553320753-WJOV14OZKPDRBNF20UR2/NZ6_0462-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.3.20 Five Trees Vince’s farm sits atop a pretty high hill and has great lines of sight to distant places. Far off in the distance were these five trees on someone’s property. Using my longest zoom lens and a tripod, I waited for a break in the clouds before snapping this. There was a very low, very thin wire that cut through the bottom right of the image, so I removed that in post and brightened the whole thing up so it looked a little more vibrant. I didn’t alter the composition beyond removing the wire. I loved how clean and minimalist it is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588643771270-A9V0E58RM0M7XZZTB3OS/NZ6_0500.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.4.20 A WWII Enthusiast Patrick McCue, a local WWII enthusiast and photographer, sent me a text about coming down to the Times-Star to take a photo of himself in uniform for the anniversary of VE Day on May 8th. Seeing an opportunity to do something creative, I asked if I could help him. He agreed, and I brought lighting accessories so he didn’t have to. We set up the shot he had in mind and together we took a photo. The photo above isn’t that photo; after we made the picture he wanted, I asked him to pose in front of the doors of the Times-Star so I could get a portrait. I used an umbrella on the left and a gold reflector on the right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588724560969-QW45OW767ZSPQJMYMA4L/IMG_3729.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.5.20 How Many Does It Take? One. It takes one in a bucket. That’s how many. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588822003882-I9FBAD7MRNL1UXRFM8IA/IMG_3756.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.6.20 A Blue House In Pendleton. Just thought it looked nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588908593636-UNZG81MMJFWA2NPXNY89/IMG_3783.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.7.20 Dom and Judi I took my bike to Spun last week for new brakes and a tune up, and got it back today. It’s like a brand new bike; new handles, new chain, new shifter, new brakes, and a revived motivation to get out and run it around town. The bike hadn’t been serviced since I bought it in 2012 when I was still living in Mt. Washington, so it needed a lot of work. Dom and Judi, pictured, run Spun. They’re not letting anyone in the shop right now because of COVID and ask customers to knock on the door and wait on the sidewalk for service. I paid them over the phone so we didn’t even have to hand a credit card between each other. Seeing them take this seriously makes me happy. Before I left, I asked if I could get a photo of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588995609353-V51VA89QHKDS6LUIB2M5/NZ6_1004.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.8.20 Flor and Alex Today I had a quick little shoot and interview with Flor and Alex at Sitwell’s Act II in Clifton for work. They’re doing their best to offer the customers food and drinks by way of carryout, curbside pickup, and delivery to areas within a ten minute drive from the coffee house and restaurant. I made a portrait of them for the feature and like it enough to make it today’s photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589077778582-BNKR6DY8KL5MVRUK6011/NZ6_1150.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.9.20 Art Climb Took my bike up to the corner of Eden Park and Gilbert this morning to get photos of the Art Museum’s new staircase, the Art Climb. Having nowhere to lock up my bike, I carried it by hand all the way up the stairs to the top where I knew the Art Museum had bike racks available. After securing the bike, I walked up and down the staircase with a 24-120mm and a wide angle to get shots of it. Later on, after the sun went down, I returned to see it lit up. The whole thing looks really good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589169494121-AZZOI3KLQMSCBYGGX68F/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.10.20 In the Moment I was in the moment the entire day and didn’t take a single photo except for this one. Tomorrow will be more interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589247185052-A1G302GG7G8T5UG4ASP7/DSC_1039.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.11.20 House Hunters This is our lives now. Just constantly looking at the Realtor and Zillow app, trying to find a suitable house to move into at the end of the year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589329642273-14MGCBOWP0CCPT9UWY74/NZ6_1473.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.12.20 Laura Lane I did listing photos for this cute little house in Norwood earlier this afternoon. I used the PC lens from the street to get this upright angle from its best side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589399948205-PVPX9AI8ADDYH2M8FIOS/NZ6_1490.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.13.20 Life in Quarantine Trying to document the simple things in life during quarantine. It's important to document my space as I won't be here forever and might want to look back on it from time to time. This is my spot in the living room when Ashley and I relax in the evening. There’s a weird draft in this spot that I can’t figure out, but it’s fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589514858928-IBE4CETURST36ZZR2GK2/IMG_3939.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.14.20 Struts We looked at a house in Covington today. We’re not buying it, but we liked it. On our way back, we stopped and I snapped this photo from a Taco Bell parking lot. I just liked the way the city was framed between the sun-lit train track struts. Too bad I didn’t have my proper camera with me. Also, I’ve taken an intentional photo every day for 500 days at this point. Proud of this milestone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589597555151-D5I37420QJIIS3A26PF1/NZ6_1500.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.15.20 Being Anti-Social Five minutes and 12 seconds. That's how long this long exposure is. And, as you can see, about five cars rolled through the intersection that entire time. It's a Friday night without anyone in the lot below waving at the jail. Three 20-somethings crank a Drake song in the black parked car and scream the entire time. An invisible neighbor walks his dogs up and around the red PAY HERE station, but you'd never know it by looking at the photo. I was going to go to the roof, but dreaded the thought of not being alone; if quarantine has done anything for me, it's undoubtedly enabled excuses for my natural inclination to avoid others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589687162799-9IV8Z99AL0X15J2QMN34/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.16.20 Binoculars I had an idea in my head for a photo and it didn’t work. It’s late. I have to go draw a dog for charity before bed. This is the best I could do with limited time. I didn’t mean for this to turn out so…patriotic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589754564842-H0Z5NXASGTSXZG3D4OU4/NZ6_1585.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.17.20 Flood Walk We loaded the dog in the car this morning and drove to the Dayton flood wall. The humidity was a particular challenge considering just a few days ago we were in long pants and jackets. Along the wall, which is really more of a hump with a paved path at its summit, we could see both sides of Dayton: the older, grittier side with dilapidated chain link fences and pools filled with green, murky water, and the newer, oddly suburban side with million-plus homes along the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589855377667-B1XOOCDCQOAZQPWAFYPY/NZ6_2030.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.18.20 Cheer Squad I’m photographing CPS graduations all this week and next week, and tonight it rained cats and dogs through both of them. After wrapping up my gear and putting on my raincoat, I did my best and completed both shoots/submitted the photos all before 10 PM. While I don’t feel comfortable showing my best frames from either event because I haven’t shown them to the client, I can show this one: a group of enthusiastic bystanders cheering on one of their friends from the streetcar platform as they rolled by with their diploma in hand. Their excitement was impossible not to love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589943056152-XN5WMJRPSFBBXJPPLA9E/key-356-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.19.20 Clean Key I ordered one of these generic “clean keys” back in March because I was afraid to touch anything in public and it took until the end of May to get here. You can find these little tools all over the internet right now; they essentially make it possible to use keypads and open handle-operated doors without actually touching anything. They exploded onto the scene at the onset of the pandemic in the US, littering Instagram feeds for weeks. The times in which we live dictate we not handle anything we don’t have to, so this is an especially useful piece of metal and I chose to plunk down the $10 to have a little extra protection. Anyway, I threw it up in the air a bunch of times with flashes pointed in both directions and made this composite in Photoshop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590029802383-CNQRFWL0CZDAJ2D15X3P/750_7937.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.20.20 Popping Confetti to Celebrate Continued shooting CPS drive-thru graduations with RESLV. We did Shroder in Madisonville and Hughes STEM High School in CUF tonight. They happened concurrently, so I had to ditch Shroder after 30 minutes to get to Hughes on time. The scene was chaotic, and I felt for the organizers who seemed to be stressed, but at least the students and their friends had fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590113617837-3KYS4261Y3GYRALELMFB/750_8144.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.21.20 Pom-Pom Salute I shot Oyler and Taft’s graduations today. Taft’s was held at Union Terminal because construction on the FC Cincinnati stadium has taken up too much space around the school. Personally, I think this school got the best location for drive-thru graduation. Its wide-open layout was a departure from previous days’ tiny locations. Hell, even Oyler’s drive-thru grad on Hatmaker hours before Taft’s was tight. While all that extra space was great, I ran my tail off to get photos in several locations, so by the time I got back on my bike to go home, I was already winded. I don’t feel comfortable showing shots of the kids, but I thought this scene was visually interesting. The way the perspective shows the building and the people curving down and to the left was appealing to my eye. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590207648516-NN3XH40WA4LG54LYXTY8/NZ6_4362.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.22.20 Sundown on High School Did Gamble Montessori in Westwood and Clark Montessori in Hyde Park today. Gamble had the better venue, but Clark had the better light. Guess which series turned out better? After getting their diplomas, the kids literally rode off into the setting sun while a hundred waving hands and half as many masked ‘hoorays’ excitedly congratulated them for their achievement. I chose this photo from the series because it protects the privacy of the student and accurately showcases the pretty, warm sunlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590286393357-6SBFGH2NQQI5NL5BJHFS/IMG_3991.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.23.20 Tires & Tiers No graduations to photograph today. There were many cars at the jail this morning. Not sure if they’ve opened visitation again or what, but it was unusual to see so many vehicles parked there on the weekend. I always liked how this corner rose like a connectivity icon, so I took a photo with my phone in one hand and a coffee in the other. The way the cars lined up below it and the gradual rise in building height looked good together, I thought. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590377935821-IF5GLMYLVB8CINLDOHYQ/DSC_1096.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.24.20 Simplicity We fattened our tires and got a sunburn in Dayton and Bellevue this morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590457792744-YB4N57UMT1L069PX11VQ/DSC_1109.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.25.20 A Scene by the River Yeatman’s Cove and the surrounding parks were awash in people this morning. Though it was unbearably hot, we managed a lengthy walk while avoiding people as much as we could. Even the tennis courts, which are usually just a vacant memory of the late 1980s and 1990s, were packed with people batting fluorescent tennis balls back and forth. I’ve personally never witnessed that park as crowded on a non-marathon morning as it was today. It was weird; I was overjoyed to see everyone enjoying the public space, but every growing wave of excitement eventually crashed as soon as I remembered there is a pandemic actively happening around the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590547719473-4RKD1IGAIVTTNUJYTI29/750_8732.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.26.20 DARG STARGNOC Dater’s graduation in Western Hills was tonight. The sun was going behind a big, thick cloud and the wind was whipping the gold strands in a good way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590636489469-76ZOVH182BZNYYQWJXGG/NZ6_6016.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.27.20 Happy Hug At the Virtual High School graduation tonight, these three adorable kids went in for a group hug as I raised my camera to capture the crowd cheering on a student riding away in a cool old car. I didn’t even notice them when I took the photo; I just put my reticule on the crowd and snapped in an effort to get the car out of focus to visually explain how the crowd was the real show of this scene. It was only after I got it into Lightroom that I noticed the kids, and I thought it was incredibly heart-warming. No one was aware I was taking a photo except these three. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590723252772-Y98YTMEVKCD6S99A9UP1/NZ6_6938-Pano.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.28.20 Bellevue Lofts I have huge news to tell you, but I’m not ready to announce it to the world just yet. It’s related to this image I made today inside the new Kent Lofts in Bellevue. This was a model unit. I wish I’d had more time to properly stage it for this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590807491467-XELRWAD8QLHJ349YLHDS/750_9360.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.29.20 A Welcome Distraction It’s been a horrible day. You already know why. Today, though, I photographed two graduations, one of which was at Western Hills High School. I felt so good photographing the graduates, scores of smiling friends and family, and teachers. This mascot (the mustang) cheered on incoming graduates as they entered the lot. I needed that temporary distraction from reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590904058329-3XVUJN2MM13NV6CEXGH1/NZ6_8209.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.30.20 Staying Home After last night’s protest turned violent, small business owners boarded up their shops and restaurants this morning to prevent further damage to their property. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590982574447-PE92OXRH8N115YDZM1CA/NZ6_8242.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 5.31.20 Night Three of Protests Today, a peaceful protest at Inwood Park marched through Cincinnati and ended about 7 PM. The mayor imposed a 9 PM city-wide curfew earlier in the morning to remove as many people from the streets as possible later in the evening. Unsurprisingly, a large group of protestors remained on the street, confronting police at the steps of the courthouse. Right before 9 PM, tensions boiled over and a skirmish broke out. Hundreds scattered when tear gas was deployed on the crowd, and many ran south toward 9th Street where I could see them from my desk with a zoom lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591061303675-XHXBR28CMK6TTHYZ7MFE/NZ6_8274.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.1.20 Reunited The police are currently arresting a bunch of people on McMicken for breaking the 8 PM curfew. They even arrested a journalist by mistake, then let him go as soon as scores of people online yelled at city council, the mayor, and the police chief on Twitter. Last night, they arrested hundreds for doing the same thing, and today they were slowly released throughout the course of the day. I could see them coming out of the jail every 20 minutes or so. Ronny tweeted a photo of a man who was released from jail and I recognized him as the fiance of a freelancer who I regularly work with. The tweet said he was waiting on his fiance to be released. I kept an eye on him for 3 more hours, waiting for her to walk through the giant metal gates. Every time those gates would open and protestors were released, the crowd across the street would cheer. I got my camera ready, cracked the window so I had a clear shot and could hear the crowd, and waited. At 6:39 PM, the crowd erupted, she emerged from the jail onto the sidewalk, and I got this photo of them embracing in the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591149958274-FUMQZQUP3XQKBMDZSDHM/IMG_4198.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.2.20 CSX Line Just some tracks that run between Grandview and Taylor in Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591236448464-TAEWCNOQQ7I0ATCYA89F/IMG_4208.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.3.20 A Break in the Clouds I can’t tell you about this photo. Not now, at least. It’s just the only good thing happening in our lives at the moment and I feel simultaneously guilty and proud of us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591320524590-I09VFMVZP4IQHVKCZISF/750_9548.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.4.20 Moline Court Had a shoot in Northside today and stopped on Moline Court before going back home. It’s always great for a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591414964457-WB9D6A6KEB5WKTEN1N05/IMG_4237.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.5.20 Washington Avenue, Bellevue Took a walk with Cody, Chelsea, and Vince tonight. We wandered around the neighborhood and got ice cream. It was relaxing and much needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591504583420-PPHQ5EPAJ8CHTVXKPBD3/IMG_4265.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.6.20 Art on Main As we walked through Downtown this afternoon, I noticed Down to Mars Vintage had colorful boards on their windows. Because of the riots last week, many businesses Downtown and in Over-the-Rhine have placed boards on their windows and doors, and nearly all of them have art on them now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591584055389-SF1RH7RF9C3D2CVDK4TC/IMG_4279.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.7.20 Justice for George Protests have been happening for a week and a half now, and while there was a significant amount of violence in Cincinnati last Friday, the danger from protesting dwindled over the ensuing days. Cops stopped tear-gassing people and it became safe to peacefully protest again. Today, Aaron and I went to Fountain Square to show our support of BLM and justice for every black American who has been murdered by police. Thousands of people packed the Square with signs held above their heads. I’m not photographing these protests right now because I don’t know what the etiquette is, but also just because I want to participate without photography. Pointing a camera at others can be perceived as hostile, and I do not want to make anyone uncomfortable, especially now. So, I took this one iPhone photo of the back of a sea of heads to chronicle the protest without worrying about ruining someone’s privacy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591668957007-35FJW5SPXB6T22IW7213/NZ6_8306.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.8.20 A Grand View Grandview Avenue in Bellevue. I like these three identical houses a lot, and if you go up on the hill where the elementary school is, you can see this view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591755554967-K6VYKRMLQ5KC1ACTF1V9/NZ6_8422.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.9.20 The Vista Shot the new Lytle Park Hotel today, and the top floor is an indoor-outdoor rooftop bar that can be adapted to the weather. Sliding doors open to let fresh air in on temperate days, and stay shut when the weather isn’t cooperating. Today they were shut because it was humid and hot. There’s an additional outdoor area beyond the glass that is always open to the elements. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591838624401-XXTEC6712RMNCT34WETJ/NZ6_8462-Pano-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.10.20 The Lytle Park Hotel I went back to the Lytle Park Hotel this evening to get a better exterior and ended up with this panorama. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591923947623-SS21SL23AVXY9PLVQE59/IMG_4307.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.11.20 Weaver Detour I got coffee at BlaCk Coffee this morning, and as I was walking home, I took a detour down Weaver Alley. The sun was shining on the brick in the best way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592008948020-X2UXG3CU06TE0IM41XEU/IMG_4331.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.12.20 The Big Peach We drove south for 12 hours today on our way to Florida. The drive was long and I’m tired. Being in a car that long is tortuous, but with a pandemic happening and wanting to travel with the dog, driving is the only option. The only remotely interesting part of the drive was when we entered Atlanta for 45 minutes and got stuck in traffic. This is an iPhone photo through the windshield. It’s not a great photo, but I didn’t have many other options. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592099173341-34XYPP1KL26B52XTEGEY/NZ6_8488.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.13.20 Beach Dog After what felt like a billion hours, we finally made it to Ft. Myers. Surprising no one, Myrtle got to experience the beach for the first time in her life and nearly died of excitement. Lead a water dog to the Gulf of Mexico and she’ll hop around in the sea until you literally have to reel her back in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592183585958-H3B732GJKD23G5BSKHO6/NZ6_8535.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.14.20 Calm Down, Clouds Fort Myers in the summer is a different Fort Myers than the one I’ve known in years past when we’ve gone in the spring. The torrential downpours are as intense as they are unpredictable, sneaking up on you before you have much of a chance to react to them. Thankfully, every time they’ve popped up, we were near our rental car or at the Airbnb. This was one of the moments when it wasn’t pouring buckets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592275103561-GKEW32Z91GBSHSCNTRNT/NZ6_8752.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.15.20 The Fisherman During a sunset walk on the beach, I was trying to take photos of pelicans diving into the gulf without much luck when I ran across this dude fishing. I was using my Tamron 150-600mm, so it was anything but inconspicuous. I took this photo and started to walk away when his wife, who I didn’t realize was with him and nearby, made eye contact and asked if I’d taken his photo. Not knowing which way this interaction was going to go, I admitted to it and walked toward her. “Website"?” She asked. Not feeling like trying to tell her where I’d be posting this and already giving myself points for honesty to the first question, I replied, “Just a hobbyist trying to take photos of birds.” It’s wasn’t untrue, technically speaking. She seemed satisfied with that answer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592338011677-2YLH9ENVG47C792W8XAI/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.16.20 A Fish Crow Ponders We went to the Fort Myers Pier this morning and I saw a fish crow standing on the railing. I used my 150-600mm Tamron to take a photo of it. The light reflecting off the water many feet behind it gave the photo a dreamy bokeh effect I liked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592440232256-1YVS10KPGR3222Q0T0KZ/IMG_4420.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.17.20 Beach House We left the rental beach house this morning. I took a photo on the way out. 5531 Palmetto Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592519938916-L3YIWAQKV5MWYBNQCZNR/NZ6_9147.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.19.20 Grasshopper We went to the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve this afternoon and didn’t see a single living creature except this grasshopper, a dragonfly, and a cardinal. I mean, I guess it’s at least a colorful grasshopper? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592619284512-Z72Y96RDJCAETVEOKLA6/IMG_4464.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.19.20 Embassy Suites’ Sweet Atrium Last week at this time, we were staying in a Hampton Inn in Adel, GA that smelled like mothballs and had a stained toilet. This week, we’re staying at an Embassy Suites in Atlanta with a sick atrium. They upgraded us to a suite room for no extra charge and it rules. Good way to end our trip since we’ve been sleeping on small beds for the last 7 days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592661340970-DS6LPZPRCD9ZN0GC2NID/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.20.20 One-Stop-Shop Truly a one-stop-shop here in north Georgia. Everything you could ever want in one exit off I-75. Posting this at 10 AM because it ain’t gettin’ better than this on this godforsaken drive back to Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592792508833-1RI00GPPZVX3BGXTAJHE/NZ6_9194.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.21.20 Fatigue I’m very tired. I think all the driving wore me out. I was able to have a regular full day today, but as I sat down for the evening, the fatigue swept over me. Forgot to take a single photo today, so I made this intentionally blurred image to reflect how I physically feel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592877683288-EOR69458YL6MPR4I6F2G/NZ6_9200.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.22.20 Window Painter I so desperately want to be a street photographer who captures people doing interesting things or in various emotive states, but it’s nearly impossible for me to aim a camera at a stranger, especially when they’re facing me. I captured this guy painting the shop window at 8th and Main earlier. When zoomed in, it’s hard to distinguish the year, and that’s why I gravitated toward the scene when I passed it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593004493986-P6RK9G3C17MTDGD5Y1Y0/DSC_1116.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.23.20 Hello, Friend We rode our bikes over to Bellevue this evening. Our leisurely pace took us all over the non-Fairfield Avenue streets of the neighborhood. While on Center Street, Ashley heard the blowing of a train horn. We quickly legged it down Lafayette, up Grandview, and hoisted our bikes up the public steps on Taylor just in time to catch a glimpse of the engine flying through a break in the woods. For a good 10 minutes, we stood there watching it whip the trees with wind as it rumbled over the tracks, the sunlight scanning us with every boxcar gap that passed. It’s a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593052384623-WKC8BDATH078IOQSU7BR/IMG_4538.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.24.20 An Urban Mask They’re building a new structure behind this facade on Elm Street, which abuts 1710 Elm Street. According to the GC, they were required to keep this historic facade intact even though the rest of the building was beyond salvaging. He says they’re going to be high-end condos. I figure they’ll become Airbnbs at some point like the rest of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593120231990-5XN8CF8N50A6F307UQFP/NZ6_9355.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.25.20 The Bellevue Barbershop Packed my equipment and rode the bike over to the Bellevue Barbershop for a story this afternoon. The guys in there made it clear the barbershop was a comfortable place for men to gather and relax. It was more than just a place to get a haircut. Being someone who hasn’t stepped foot inside a salon/barbershop in months, it was personally appealing to me. I was the only one in the shop with a mask, so I don’t feel super comfortable getting my haircut just yet, but when I do, I think I’ll pay these guys a visit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593223367070-1ITCTQLWAQIHULXWIU8T/IMG_4552.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.26.20 Drum Alley Drum Alley looked good this morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593312349481-IRZDUNIEAJVC306JHD7F/DSC_1137.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.27.20 Lonely & Blue As I walked through the kitchen, I saw Myrtle’s blue ball sitting beneath a night light, and I couldn’t help but internally chuckle at how on-the-nose the metaphor was. It’s alone, it’s blue, and it’s surrounded by darkness under a single cone of light. Maybe it’s not funny to anyone else, but I got a kick out of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593399640192-NVD4E1B32LZJ0VH4W2E1/IMG_4577.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.28.20 A Dusty Saharan Sunset Saharan dust blew over to the States this week and it made tonight’s sunset look especially nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593481884072-3EQGUHD6LT0892LAGUCV/NZ6_9587.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.29.20 “CASINO” The casino is in the process of changing ownership and the previous sign was removed, so right now the building looks like it belongs as part of the scenery of an open-world video game. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593566632654-AASBYNEWKRC5NXX9G2HT/DSC_1158-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 6.30.20 Pop-Up Showers Imminent A pop-up sprang out of nowhere this afternoon with lots of lightning and thunder. I set my camera up on interval to try to catch a bolt of lightning, but it didn’t work out. Instead, I got a few frames with activity in them and made this photo. It’s a composite of three frames. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593656124905-3GVC9IEGMWIOI6NB9ONC/IMG_4600.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.1.20 She Tug We were playing “who can hold onto the ball the longest.” I won. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593745056677-BD6YKLCAONFDMXSIVB32/NZ6_9590.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.2.20 Welcome to Bellevue Coming as a surprise to no one, we bought a house in Bellevue and closed on it today. Built in 1930, our little craftsman sits on a quiet street and retains much of its original character, including the original hardwood floors and stained glass windows. It has a big back yard for the dog, a huge front porch for us, and a balcony off the back of the house. We saved for years, I worked two jobs, and we finally have a place to call our own. We are thrilled to join Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593834502707-QC52WZJGM0UE23UTI1EY/IMG_4700.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.3.20 Buried Treasure We demolished the storage room to make way for the shelves and workbench I want to build down there, and in the process of removing the old thrown-together shelving, I discovered this old street sign wedges between the boards and the wall. No idea what the story is behind it or why it’s in my basement, but I’m going to hang it up in the shop once it’s built. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593952102392-38P1F9XD2L8AOBHXD4GR/IMG_4707.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.4.20 Golden Light Our new home has a stained glass window on the stairs and I absolutely love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594034536098-LF62MMG6FO2RWLC0B4KM/IMG_4714.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.5.20 Bored Doodle Over the weekend, we worked on the house non-stop. Today, Myrtle was tired and bored, so she laid down on the floor while we were up and down the stairs all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594091477216-4XRCCJBH0O9VX0M6JABY/IMG_4716.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.6.20 An Inbetween Moment Ducking into Galactic Fried Chicken to get out of a storm, I paid for our carry out and discussed the weather, the neighborhood, and chicken with the owner behind the counter. Small talk is easy for me because it’s light and serves to maintain a level of decency with others, and during a time in which the world is unpredictable and decidedly not-normal, it’s a welcome distraction. During one of the lulls in conversation, I turned around to inspect the dining room which had the feel of an old school pizza place more so than a shiny new chicken restaurant. I personally loved it because it felt comfortable. It’s a shame I won’t be able to eat inside of it for awhile since the virus is making a strong comeback. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594261780887-MBRQBEQF4MU2KJN26PXP/IMG_4734.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.7.20 Just a Flower Look, I spent a LOT of time working on the house today, and I snapped this at 11:55 PM because I’d forgotten to take a photo today. Cut me some slack. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594261782003-VFM756Y8PFE4D7GVPQFD/Standard+Beer-33.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.8.20 Standard Evening Shot Had to get this exterior for a freelance job, but needed to wait until the sun was setting so I could get the interior and exterior leveled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594349194285-W0SUBVY9R8BRF46ZU2XR/IMG_4763.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.9.20 Taxi! Ashley was waiting on me to return to the car with carryout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594465784417-T8F5HV8IOQK7BKIJX4BT/IMG_4783.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.10.20 Nightly Deer The quality of this image is poor, but I loved the feel of it, so that’s why I chose it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594522948744-5DR9SIPFYJ7OJBAF9JBO/IMG_4788.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.11.20 Buried Home Improvement Joke I built shelves and a workbench in my basement with my father today. It was a great experience working with dad on this project; he knows a lot about construction, and together we realized the vision I had for my personal workshop. While I’m still figuring out the smaller tool storage shelves and the electric, the hardest part—the bones—are finished. We put a bunch of screws into one 2x4 on his recommendation and I mocked him for over-building it with a note on the wood. It was covered by another 2x4 shortly after, so it’ll never be seen again unless we disassemble the bench again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594641600481-MH64YDNS5LH2RGN6PAKM/IMG_4801.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.12.20 Workshop: Built Just have to add electric to it, but the workshop is essentially completed. The corner is prepped for future expansion, but for now I’m going to leave it alone since everything I needed to put into the workshop fits on the right side. Until I get a feel for how I want to use that space, it’s going to stay blank. My dad and I put this together. It was fun to build and even more fun to see it finished. It’s consumed a lot of my time over the last week, so I’m happy it’s essentially finished and usable as a work bench now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594693250171-5Y9SVNHYJWN2N7OYVEA0/DSC_1253.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.13.20 A Curious Observer While walking down Division Street in Bellevue, this little neighborhood watcher was keeping an eye on things, specifically Myrtle and another cat on the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594821305154-WW3KYCK0H4B5B5G0IQJ7/IMG_4838.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.14.20 This-L-Du I saw this trailer with horses sticking their heads out of the vehicle at a stoplight. The rural element in an otherwise urban setting contrasted in a way I thought was interesting. The title for this is lifted from the decal on the trailer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594951690620-7ONUMYV6CMA35BWIGTPP/DSC_1266.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.15.20 Nightly Routine Come home, brush teeth, get into bed, repeat. This is our life right now while we work on the house before we move in and avoid as many people as possible because the virus is on its way back up again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594951690651-GZ5101IKEDNBC7XIU298/NZ6_9611.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.16.20 The Screecher There are these birds that fly around our house and hang out in the large tree next door. At first, I thought they were peregrine falcons, but they’re not. After a little bird IDing, I think they may be juvenile Cooper’s Hawks. Either way, they’re loud, chase each other around the street and yard, regularly land on our fence, and they’re fun to watch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595119790970-G6C8F33FGJA6J9ELX3XC/IMG_4864.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.17.20 Stopping Into Ameristop There’s an Ameristop in Bellevue with a dude who knows everybody, including us now. He sells six packs of craft beer for $7.99, four flavors of ICEE, and gave Myrtle a pup cup of soft serve. We go there often now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595119789451-FYBQ2F5C0RA6J0WIPAYH/DSC_1272.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.18.20 One On the Ride Home I spent the entire day working on the house. My father and I wired the workshop with electricity and removed the old toilet in the basement and plugged the drain with a stopper. The basement suddenly has an influx of house flies, so I hung old fly papers I found in the previous workshop from the ceiling. Of course, I went to three different hardware stores on top of all that, so it’s been a very, very busy day. As such, I didn’t take a single photo. Realizing I’d not yet make an effort to take a photo all day, I snagged one on the ride home over the Southgate Bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595248386536-ZRBZBX6U6RLWMCRMM1KT/IMG_4867.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.19.20 A Quiet Fairfield While waiting on Ashley to get the coffees from Avenue Brew, I took a photo of the buildings across Fairfield Avenue because the sidewalks were empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595248385554-OU1288DNXO73W03JSFH3/NZ6_9614-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.20.20 Bold & Beautiful This morning, I walked out of my bedroom and saw this colorful bouquet Ashley’d placed on the kitchen table. It is the most beautiful bouquet I’ve seen her bring home recently. I realize these are likely hilariously dyed with artificial coloring, but I still think they’re pretty. I set the camera up on a tripod and photo stacked 10 images into one to allow everything to come into focus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595388867801-FARO86Y7V1CJCFOFHB7O/DSC_1282.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.21.20 Newport As I was riding my bike to the house, I stopped at a stoplight and made a photo of the parking sign that directs cars to the Levee. I like it because the flood wall obscures so much of the background, making it look a little like that Windows XP background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595468587576-MJWYW7XQ3VC7I4AN8QKS/NZ6_9707.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.22.20 Mason Maria Today I visited the gallery of artist Mason Maria (David Elmer) in Reading. We had a great discussion about his discovery of art, the neighborhood, and downtown living. I documented his space and made a portrait of him in front of one of his larger pieces. The piece will run on Refined in August. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595553913184-1POBN5R2FWICY0REO3KB/NZ6_9828-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.23.20 Donut Touch! I photographed Holtman’s Donuts’ renovated Rt. 28 location this morning for Luminaut. It looks totally different than how I remember it. The space feels much larger and has a very clean, colorful aesthetic. After capturing the space itself, we did some donut shots and I made this one with the help of one of the Luminaut architects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595729849857-WLUHPELVS12KQA8M4XO3/IMG_4953.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.24.20 Morning View This has become my regular morning view: leaving Crane’s garage and heading to our house in Bellevue. I think it’s beautiful the way the sunlight comes through the gate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595729857168-ALYUVNFTURUNKBUS1KNK/IMG_4970.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.25.20 A Good Mural Rode my bike over to the house this morning instead of driving and caught a glimpse of this mural at Central and Taylor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595814683530-JW9Z0B4EBI68FVSQQ26X/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.26.20 Fluffy Legs Just two cute paws. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595904160562-VH8TQ1PWSA0MYOCRDR9W/DSC_1721.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.27.20 Impending Excitement There’s little that’s remarkable about this photo besides the clouds, and that exactly what makes it interesting to me. When I see clouds like this, I can’t help but feel excitement. It make even the sleepiest scene fun. Storms energize me, and seeing it slowly roll in and feeling that cold front blast through the crack in the window is all I ever really want on a hot summer day. The anticipation of a powerful, loud, lightning-filled storm is a unique feeling that doesn’t come as frequently as I wish it would, so when it does happen, I really enjoy the moments right before the rain hits and the sky begins to lighten again. That ominous, dark blue mass creeping toward me is one of my favorite pillars of summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595974408700-43T8MX4ZG6EEWC2R4JOO/NZ6_9883-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.28.20 Lincrusta Staircase Photographed a 150-year-old home in Hyde Park this morning. The walls were covered in Lincrusta—a type of wall hanging the original owner of this particular home sold and made his fortune on when he was alive. As I am inclined to do, I took care photographing the staircase because it’s usually the most photogenic of the original features of an old home. This one had the holy trinity of stained glass window, original hardwood, and the Lincrusta wallpaper all around it. The lamp, while period-specific, came from a desk and was rewired by a contemporary electrician to replace the old gas line. I spent a lot of time touching the color on this one up in Photoshop to remove the natural blue light from the ivory Lincrusta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596049983644-TKL70V96GMUEMSHZRLHL/NZ6_0001.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.29.20 Overlooking the West A panorama overlooking the construction at the corner of Findlay Street and Central Parkway in the West End. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596161927364-FTZDIE43N6J0FZ6KMDGK/750_9587.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.30.20 Mound Avenue It’s been a grey, bad day. The news cycle, the realization that our country is spiraling in multiple categories, and the uncertainty of everything for the foreseeable future have left my brain in tatters. That manifested in an uninspired photoshoot at a church-turned-private-residence in Milford this morning. I did the job to the best of my ability, but I am overall disappointed in what I produced. This is the only photo I managed to not actively feel contempt for, and even still, it’s not one I’m overly fond of regardless of its proper lighting. Feeling uninspired lately has been the norm; I want to be out of this rut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596249188289-GJYQV7RLQN3RA3X94XPL/NZ6_0290.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 7.31.20 Walking Washington After doing a shoot at QFit on Fairfield Ave, I wandered to Grandview by way of Washington and walked by this lovely house on the east side of the street. I liked its proportions and the pillowy clouds behind it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596478176705-CIFHNEBDYDOWECQW6AAE/IMG_5017.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.1.20 Thumbs Up My father comes over every Saturday to help us work on the house. This weekend, we concentrated on demolishing the horrible drop ceiling in the basement. It was a dirty job, but we got it done. Now we just have to fix all the wiring and make it look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596478177241-GH6XVJOL2P1ZWLVZ3OKI/IMG_5022.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.2.20 Liftoff While in the garden center of our second home, Lowes, I found a bee pollinating a flower. Thanks to iPhone’s live photo feature, I was able to identify and freeze the pivotal liftoff moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596507614856-UT9QVY4LD02KYPLDHH6B/IMG_5039.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.3.20 Runway Lights In the bathroom at Crane, there are these tube LED lights in the bathroom. There’s a small grate on either side of the light, so I stuck my phone up to it and took a photo of the inside. I think it looks pretty cool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596678819709-I2Q00Y8HJUWBZMECPLQG/IMG_5060.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.4.20 The Folder I had an idea for a folding tabletop that would make use of the utility sink’s existing space. It folds up and back to allow for an unobstructed sink or a clean surface upon which we could repot plants, give the dog a haircut, etc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596678822906-9B8S1D2Z8XX7ZM3YCRNJ/IMG_5068.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.5.20 The Train I * almost * got the engine of the train going under the Washington Ave bridge today. We were driving when we heard the train about to roll through, so I jumped out and ran to the bridge, but it was already gone by the time I had my phone’s camera app up. Either way, it was cool to stand over it as it passed beneath me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596891065178-HE3UM42UFKXTWYI178OW/IMG_5078.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.6.20 Please Come Back Waiting on her mommy to return from the store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596891072527-GK6XIWQV09PLYTREWSZF/IMG_5099.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.7.20 Iconic Little Gary next to Vince’s motorcycle. A classic Bellevue image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597024423052-VNWHR9U1HH8Y8ZEYDZRO/IMG_5113.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.8.20 A Fresh Coat Just a painter doing his thing on Fairfield Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597024418556-0CNSO22ULLD9OV9HGMDM/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.9.20 Sleepiest Snoot zzzzzzzzzz… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597108156942-JS6522UKIL8HGI05GKJ7/IMG_5150.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.10.20 There’s Always One Eyes rolling so hard they’re in danger of falling out of my head and falling into the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597286461523-86G5YJQ37J14P62U78MX/IMG_5173.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.11.20 Corner Beaut Washington Ave and Center Street, Bellevue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597286468386-8GNQKJNUEW9J88IZO59E/IMG_5184.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.12.20 Not a Van Gogh This photo is unedited, aside from slight cropping. It is a weird iPhone photo of some yellow flower things with flash against a window that’s frosted for privacy. Combine all three elements and you get an odd visual effect that looks like a Van Gogh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597418738177-LMVCRLEK3YFJIX38250P/NZ6_2473.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.13.20 The Blonde's Perspective Photographed The Blonde this afternoon. It’s the newly built 13-story apartment building at the corner of 8th and Main. It has balconies along several sides, allowing for unobstructed views of Downtown. This corner is a favorite of mine, as it’s been part of my daily life for years. Seeing it from The Blonde’s perspective 6 stories in the air was a nice change od pace. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597587395658-SN4VG0ID61G164IY8FOH/IMG_5209.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.14.20 Reminiscing My mom gave me a manilla envelope of some old literature her father kept back in the 60s and 70s. Included was a spread by the Enquirer celebrating the bicentennial of the USA. This excellent bit of artwork for a Shillitos ad was included on one of the pages, and I really loved how it brought together so many Queen City classics into one image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597587395440-JW9SR8KHHGD106A68CKJ/IMG_5220.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.15.20 That’s a Big NOPE I had to install a cap for the dryer ventilation pipe and that required getting to the end of the pipe under the deck (pictured with bright reflective tape on its tip). I couldn’t remove the boards with a crowbar, unfortunately, so I planned to put a tarp down and crawl up under here to get to it. Before doing that, I took a broom and brushed it below the deck to first rid the area of any cobwebs I couldn’t see, and two massive spiders wriggled out of their hiding places. I got the circ saw and cut a hole in the deck from above instead so I didn’t have to go under here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597670825100-Z1KWFE0DXHYQXM0Z3VRM/NZ6_2521.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.16.20 An Evening Walk We went to get ice cream at Schnieder’s. After eating a pint (yes, a damn pint) of strawberry sherbet, we walked up Washington back to the house. I saw these two walking the alley before getting to B-List, and snapped the photo. They were walking a little dog and I liked how wholesome they looked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597757846861-0IDQXOLLVFUJOFMP70MX/IMG_5242.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.17.20 Kind Graffiti It’s not every day you see graffiti that’s positive and accessible. Then again, not everywhere is Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597842962647-VXHCHLNHT1NM92UQ3VZ6/IMG_5259.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.18.20 Memories We used to live there. Late-2016 to late-2018 were extremely good years. We moved into our first apartment together. We hosted parties. We traveled. We got engaged. We brought a tiny baby Myrtle home. But that place had changed by the time we left it. Management was less than great, issues with residents and their visitors arose, and the garage door was busted open and presented a major security concern. It was relatively cheap to live there for Downtown and for as much room as we were given, but our move to Crane was much needed and a smart decision. I do miss how much natural light that south-facing apartment received throughout the day, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597842961050-EMSN4AP4JRV89GCPP8IW/NZ6_2537-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.19.20 New Office I moved my office over to the house. this is the corner with my desk. The windows are open and the fresh air is flowing. Nothing to hear but an AC unit on the side of the house, birds, and the occasional truck shambling down the street. I cannot believe how quiet it is in this house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598018716041-H7GU4XEK6BE53HYY01XJ/IMG_5274.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.20.20 A Playful Morning I took Myrtle to the house this morning and played ball with her in the backyard while I worked on Refined at the table. The yard needs work, so there are numerous patches of dirt between the grass and weeds. Because the yard is in the shade for so long in the morning, the dew sticks around, making everything muddy. Her paws were filthy and she was happy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598053946406-Z5LK2GCR0G6PRB3Q55LJ/Haberthier+Residence-38.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.21.20 Idyllic Photographed a house in a subdivision in Anderson earlier today. The backyard was enormous. This scene reminded me of being a kid, playing at the edge of the woods, and the swingset we had. Back before we all had phones, the internet was part of our daily lives, and the biggest worry you had for the day was what hour it was so you made it back home for dinner on time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598154151713-M05SZDRNGO5MVGHWHKHL/IMG_5284.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.22.20 Slowly Emptying The apartment is slowly emptying. The big stuff will be left for movers, but we are moving the smaller, more movable items ourselves. Today I moved chairs, TVs, lamps and more over to the house with help from my dad. We got back to the apartment later than expected and I took this photo from the corner of the room. You can’t see the couch, but it’s the only remaining thing in the living room. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598225128102-CEUSZ1AGBV222CAY42TT/DSC_1841.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.23.20 Foote Street Looking north up Foote toward Cincinnati from Grandview in Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598326230516-V6CH425SGDYUNUJRWVPV/IMG_5311.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.24.20 An Infrequent Meeting I don’t get to hang out with Ronny and Travis as much as I’d like. The pandemic is hard, schedules are difficult to align, and moving has really dented my social life. Tonight we ate Rusconi’s Pizza, drank Brewdog, and hung out on the roof until 10:45 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598491381047-C9NQJGAPEFIOIJ0BLIDM/IMG_5324.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.25.20 Looking Up Held the phone out of the car as we made the last trip of the night over the bridge to Bellevue. Almost done with this move. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598491382500-XXHWBD078WU5DMAU973C/IMG_5338.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.26.20 Moving Day The construction workers, who assured us they would accommodate our moving truck days ago, unsurprisingly didn’t give a shit this morning, so we had to physically block off Ninth Street while the movers loaded the truck up with our heavy furniture. I stayed down on the street the whole time to make sure no one would tow it or anything. The entire time I was there, I was so stressed out about blocking the street that I felt sick. Thankfully, no one yelled at us and we got all the stuff to the apartment without issues. We still have our downtown address until the end of November, so we’ll be back to Crane regularly to get our mail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598579489474-BMQP23H8X4XOTZZIBMN0/NZ6_2840+9.45.03+PM.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.27.20 West Eighth Though I’m on a staycation this week, I did a side job in Covington this afternoon and came back to get a night shot around 9 PM. Because of the cars and the tree, I had to set up the tripod in the street. Luckily it was a quiet night with very little traffic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598742316697-612Q0QIWN25LZG0PNC7I/35546491-8912-40A4-B7C7-C066B3B89930_1_105_c.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.28.20 CSX I was taking the steps up to the house when I caught the beginning of a train rolling down the tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598847506110-3W0LCJGCE9S98NQSM0YY/IMG_5393.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.29.20 A Powerful Sunset I didn’t adjust the lighting or color to this photo. That’s how it actually looked, or at least that’s how the iPhone saw it when it happened. The vibrancy of this sunset lasted only briefly, but it was a sight to behold while it happened. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598847644136-LTOTHAT5BOYVAUVSNQCQ/NZ6_2847.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.30.20 Reshoots I shot this place the other day, but it was cloudy and the daylight photos didn’t turn out well. This morning, I went over and shot it again because it looked much better with a blue sky behind it. I’m glad I did because I need to turn everything into the client tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598924087733-XBJITS29QN2TFVBFRFIU/IMG_5411.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 8.31.20 Crappy Gender Reveal? These two portable toilets were sitting at the edge of the woods in the parking lot of the Bellevue Kroger. I thought the scene looked like something from an engagement photoshoot or the precursor to a bad gender reveal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599141734732-ZUOVHZOPBJO3JAA94S74/IMG_5424.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.1.20 No Subtlety This house on Taylor Avenue has a very bright, very intense light-up American flag hanging from its porch. While walking from Steve’s house, I passed it and had to take a quick photo. I think the dude who lives there may be a MAGA chud, so I didn’t want to linger. Those people are insane as is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599141779544-5VIMQ0ARBSBW3ZYOBOV6/NZ6_3052.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.2.20 McFarland Ombre Was on McFarland to shoot an art gallery, and the building across the street stole my attention with its color palette, grit, and faded sign. Might go back and get this one on film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599243665483-393J0K8BXP0YE2A4P8GU/NZ6_3163.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.3.20 Breaching the Art World Again Today I went inside the Cincinnati Art Museum for the first time since the outbreak. I got a pre-opening press opportunity to cover the Hank Willis Thomas exhibit for Refined. There was barely anyone in the museum, and everyone in the exhibit was an employee. This hiatus was the longest I’d gone without visiting the museum in a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599243665315-964A6YMETTZO303EELQC/IMG_5439.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.4.20 Great Way to Start the Day I used to think a bathroom trashcan with a lid on it was the mark of “you’ve made it.” Now I believe having an east-facing window in the bathroom on a sunny morning is it. No better way to start the day than with a shower under natural light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599361976985-0B8AF47L86Z8XD7RDG0L/IMG_5452.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.5.20 As Good As It Gets I’ve been working on this basement for over two months now, and I’m finally to a place where it’s as finished as it’s going to be for a few weeks. We still need to do a painting project on the wall behind me, but the rest of the room is finished. Before, a horrible drop ceiling and buzzing fluorescent lights made up the ceiling, so I demolished all of that and exposed the natural beams. I then placed decorative trim around the top of the walls to give it a look of intentionality. I white washed all the walls so they’d stand in stark contrast to the dark 90-year old beams, and cleaned up all the wiring as best I could by notching the beams and recessing everything I could, as well as rewiring a few things. All the unnecessary wires that were no longer powering anything were removed to clean it up, and everything in the ceiling was painted dark brown to match the beams. I’m going to lay here and admire how far this room’s come for a little bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599449699160-EL6UQMGM161EBW50HEDW/NZ6_3206.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.6.20 Retreat x Berry Walked over to Steve’s house to check out his basement. We’re going to work on fixing it up for him in the coming months. While there, we hung out on his balcony for a bit and I got to make a long exposure of the intersection nearby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599531534389-3HV7VCI11VDIMSBUSPEL/IMG_5505.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.7.20 New Faces on the Block While picking up Myrtle from daycare today, I got to see the newest mural on Court Street. It’s a mural of women in leadership roles who have returned to the community after being incarcerated. It’s called “Time Saved vs. Time Served.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599623684142-4UVXV104GP4CECC1QQZ1/Ludlow+Station+Platform-37.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.8.20 Ludlow’s Viewing Platform Photographed the train-viewing platform in Ludlow, KY today for Hub+Weber (architecture firm). I went four times during the course of the day. The evening trip had my personal favorite light, barely beating out the after dark trip. The warm, soft glow of the evening just makes everything look its best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599706190474-43CDJL0DAPIHIL8GN8L2/NZ6_3654.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.9.20 Medill Alley Photographed Medill Alley in Northside today for work. I will never get over how bad Hamilton Avenue is for speeding traffic. A lot of the reason I really don’t enjoy going to Northside is because Hamilton Avenue feels so hostile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599792123935-QGL6ZO0RFXGCUWCMJDY5/IMG_5540.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.10.20 The Trash Can Wait… Yeah, that’s gonna be a ‘no’ from me, dawg. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600032856193-G27U97CZ6SY485JQRPJ9/IMG_5544.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.11.20 Seahorse House Just an odd house on Berry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600032849426-9QO639BY4S4660D7J1OY/IMG_5557.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.12.20 Different Living I thought this side by side of these two places was an interesting juxtaposition. Just off Eden Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600131202455-EOQ370BTJOCY89UU6RJ1/IMG_5585.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.13.20 Bird Book Just an antique bird book with some of my antique cameras. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600131203951-PMUC1YBCMQYN02GU4RM3/DSC_1849.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.14.20 Eric & Liddy Saw them from across the street while at Darkness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600204091011-4NI2HKWO4G1YM87FFSBK/NZ6_3662.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.15.20 Lil Cujo As I walked up Retreat Street, this adorable little dog watched me approach his yard. I had my camera strapped with an 85mm lens, so I stayed a little bit back and took his photo. As soon as I took one step forward after hitting the shutter, he started barking at me like I was an intruder. While he didn’t seem friendly at all, he was still the cutest dog I’d seen all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600305698839-3WTAWH40YT6ZY69PC0UQ/IMG_5613.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.16.20 Not San Francisco It’s a cute pink house on Berry Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600375899139-6AIUK5M5JU6OU3HP5RDU/NZ6_3671.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.17.20 Bonus Pup This pup is named Enzo. He belongs to a man I know named Micah. While walking south-bound on Main Street, just past the Bay Horse, I saw Micah sitting in his PR firm’s office through the front door. A little baby gate was put up, and as soon as I stuck my head in to say hello, I realized why. Enzo came right up to me and wanted pets, so I obliged. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600654307472-6YXQGSDS9VXXKCSHACCG/IMG_5662.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.18.20 Golden Autumn Light I was playing with Myrtle in the back yard, and the light was coming through the tree next door, spackling the side of 322B with a mixture of moving shadows. I thought it was a really pretty scene, so I held the ball over my shoulder so she’d look at me. She blinked right as I took the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600654313740-O4O02VPG8WU9VB1JV5GB/IMG_5673.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.19.20 Sunset on the Farm The air got noticeably colder as the sun set on the farm in Ripley, Ohio. We are staying overnight in a tent on the property. It’s the same farm we visited back in April. Camping in the cold is so much better than trying to camp in the heat of summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600654318436-LLR9XRS2JRELC3903S2G/NZ6_3752.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.20.20 Sunrise on the Farm A scene from this morning, just after I left the tent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600746996365-XZZYLKBO4ZWIT1UMA5IB/IMG_5711.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.21.20 Little Aliem Foot Have you ever looked at a dog’s paw? Like, really looked at it? It’s adorable and weird at the same time. Much different from your own foot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600819623094-WUTPOSMVDSSV8YETM6QK/DSC_1883.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.22.20 Dayton Flood Wall Walk Walked down to the Dayton Flood Wall to take photos for a story I’m doing on it for Refined. I liked this one a lot because it has movement, a dog, the city, gaudy single-family homes, and the elements of the trail itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600919403870-P1NL8FXQ0H4XIOXKSA3G/NZ6_3978-HDR.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.23.20 Night Session Photographed Nostalgia OTR for the architect this evening. I walked from my home, so when I got there, I was a little tired and hot. But I needed that walk to help ease my anxiety; today, it was announced that the cops who murdered Breonna Taylor would not be charged with her murder. Protests are happening around the US tonight as a result with Cincinnati among them. I’m not anxious about the protests, but rather the large swaths of humanity in this country who feel that being shot dead by police while you’re sleeping in your own bed at your own home is fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601004839283-SI8V5IA6ER8THGZD8BS7/IMG_5762.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.24.20 A Better Night Than Last Tonight was one of those great nights you couldn’t plan. We randomly hung out with our neighbors to the right of us on our porch, drank beer, swapped stories, and got to know each other. They brought their little dog over and it was really great. They seem like good people. Then, the neighbors to the left came home, Myrtle ran into the street to greet them, and we all followed. It ended up being the six of us and two dogs just hanging out on the sidewalk, talking and drinking beer on a cool autumn night. Everything wrapped up about 10 PM and we all went back inside our homes. I just feel so good knowing there are friendly people on either side of us. It was fun to hang on our little dead end street and have a drink with them. I really hope that happens again soon; that sense of community with others is healing right now. The photo of the ghost just makes me happy. His expression matches my own at the moment, and instead of going upstairs to get a proper camera, I just spontaneously whipped out my phone to get the image. Felt right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601068869187-VV110RE0AF85I3DSM60Z/NZ6_4076.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.25.20 Charred History I photographed some artifacts relating to the 1884 courthouse riot this morning at the Cincinnati History and Library Archive in the bottom of Union Terminal. This is one of the books saved from the burning building. I believe the librarian mentioned it was a recorder’s book. It was obviously badly damaged in the fire, but you can still make out the script on the pages. While I do not think it’s likely the courthouse will ever burn like that again, I do feel like government upheaval is coming in some form. Though it’s foolish to think it won’t happen, I hope no one loses their life in the process. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601262480045-PINKWRKPF7CRCWHPS4MR/IMG_5775.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.26.20 Peeper I won’t go into details about why this photo exists, but all I can say is this little dog will stop at nothing to see what you’re doing, even when you’re sitting down on a porcelain chair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601262493463-Z72X9PX089V8JDV8COYE/IMG_5794.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.27.20 That’s the One For Sure Sometimes you see a scene and you just know it’s going to be the one to end up in this collection. When I stepped out of the parked car and laid eyes on this, I couldn’t avoid thinking about Daily Photos and how it was likely to be today’s entry. I loved all the colors, the old van, the LEGO-like building in the middle ground, and The Ascent peeking between the trees in the background. The overgrown, empty sidewalks just added even more to it. I wish I’d gotten this on film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601391095389-E0R3EJVJ08TAJ86WRE7S/IMG_5825.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.28.20 Property Secured When we bought our house, the backyard was accessible through a broken, rusting, old steel gate that connected to the wooden fence. Myrtle’s ball would often slip through the bars and into the alley, and it wasn’t latchable, which meant anyone could simply walk into our yard at any time if they felt like it. While Bellevue is a safe place, we didn’t especially like that our yard had an obvious access point. So, together with my father, we replaced the old gate with a wooden one that matches (at least in profile) to the existing fence. It’s lockable and no longer allows Myrtle’s ball to slip between the cracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601438312918-G1I5NGURTDH63Y7KN4X1/IMG_5832.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.29.20 DIY Wainscoting Ashley wanted modern wainscoting on the entire wall behind the bed, so I bought a bunch of strips of wood, cut them to the proper sizes, affixed them to the wavy wall with finishing nails and screws, spackled and sanded the joints and imperfections, and painted everything a medium grey. Instead of having a big, blank, white wall, it’s now textured to give it a little more character. I like how the exposed beams in the ceiling spiritually flow downward along the wall’s thin strips and end at the parquet floor. I’ve never built anything like this before, so it’s satisfying to see it all come together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601610091072-6GLAE5KM1DV6L6ERDLN9/IMG_5846.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 9.30.20 Stairs For Manny My neighbor’s dog, Manny, cannot get up on the bed, so she asked me to make him some stairs. Here they are staged next to our guest bed. When I do a project like this, I often don’t touch my camera all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601610305399-IXTISJJZVGD125UC6ZF1/IMG_5916.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.1.20 I See You Pretty self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601781903518-HILHU64GVNUZ25GKBF5P/8640+Twilight+Tear+Ln+-63.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.2.20 WOW. That’s what I said when I saw this master bathroom. This is from a shoot I did this afternoon for an upcoming listing (freelance gig). I am fairly certain this bathroom hasn’t been updated since the home was built in 1987. The aesthetic choices made here were made in ALL CAPS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601781902620-UIBFFGKU57L03MRO0EEL/NZ6_4917.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.3.20 Train Man We went to Metamora, IN this afternoon. The little town is located on either side of an old canal and leans hard into its history with preserved 19th century architecture, retro trains, and canal boats that still operate (when there isn’t a pandemic). While there, I was taking a photo of a train when the conductor waved me over. I climbed the train, he put on a mask, and we spoke briefly about the train. He said it’s a 1942 GE 65-ton switcher (had to look that up because I couldn’t remember what he said). Volunteers run it up and down the tracks out of sheer love for the machines. His name is Chester and he’s from Dayton. He kindly posed for a portrait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601858270515-MF9G6GA0Z4H7W6K0ZSVP/NZ6_5090-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.4.20 We Festive Our very spooky, seasonal house with ghost flag, pumpkins, ceramic jack-o-lanterns, and purple mums. There’s also a sign in the bedroom window that says “Boo!” but I didn’t expose for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601948306577-7IM8IAHB7O4021PBN8S5/IMG_5953.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.5.20 Just a Stencil Made a stencil for a project, used it once, decided it wasn’t what I needed. Oh well, still fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602033913487-XAUNEYGTR2EM2XYFMQSL/NZ6_5094.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.6.20 1 Year When I woke up this morning, Ashley gave me my one year anniversary present: this roll of toilet paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602129205837-AZMGZ1DE6V5PE60L4DD8/NZ6_5262.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.7.20 Taunting Me We bought Halloween candy for the trick or treaters too early and now the Almond Joy are taunting me. This photo’s white balance looks off, but it’s not; the yellow stained glass window behind the camera gives the room this warming effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602217665060-84E57KGKCL68PL0IHM7I/NZ6_5284.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.8.20 A Thomasson My favorite Bellevue Thomasson: the missing house of lower Lafayette. I’ve been trying to photograph this piece of vestigial infrastructure for a couple of weeks now, and while I do not think I’ve captured it yet, this photo comes as close as I’ve gotten. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602382204939-DL129KWWP6ITQ7Q8ZH0E/Holtmans-24.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.9.20 Donut King Went out to get exteriors of Holtman’s in Milford and the owner gave me a box of free donuts! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602382196777-WHOMS30BJAB70UDZITE8/320+Riverside+Drive-66.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.10.20 Two Walkers Photographed a $2M mansion on the river this morning that has a view of the Ohio River. It sits within probably 150 feet of the river up a short slope right next to a public park. As such, there’s a lot of pedestrian traffic on the street. While setting up for a shot, two people improved the image by walking into frame outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602470338619-6LAORS3FGV5WU2GTOS6W/NZ6_6181.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.11.20 Dayton’s Skyline My friend from Dayton picked me up today and we drove out to Clifton Mill in Clifton, OH. We checked out the grist mill there, walked some extremely autumn trails, then headed to Yellow Springs. There, we walked through the business district and found our way to another hiking trail that led us to the yellow spring the city’s named for. After passing by Antioch College, we then drove around Dayton, landing in the Oregon District first before heading to other neighborhoods. After a meal at Taqueria Mixteca, we drove up to Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum where I got this shot of the skyline as the sun set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602553717046-QBVVY3WZDLMXX9OKTZL5/NZ6_6393-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.12.20 C O F F E E S I photographed 1737 Vine Street for a developer today, and while leaving, I saw an opportunity to shoot this faded ad on the north side of Elder Street. Of course, the intent was twofold: get the faded ad, but also get that Pepper Lounge Pepsi sign in the background in there, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602626452475-IMFTH4WXMHPS4RSBS5ZU/DSC_1910.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.13.20 Our Paws on O'Fallon It’s a gorgeous day outside and I was feeling antsy. The dog hadn’t walked or played for a significant amount of time in days, so we went on a two-hour walk around Bellevue. As we traversed the streets, Myrtle sniffed the bushes and lunged toward tree-bound squirrels while I enjoyed everyone’s Halloween decorations. This is her on the O’Fallon bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602722174904-HUJB8EE1Q5N7F107QN5J/NZ6_6405.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.14.20 Porch With a View The neighbor cut the trees back off the power lines today and now we have a little unobstructed view of a bit of Downtown from the porch. I can’t wait to see what it looks like in the winter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602816833812-G6NTY5UM5HCV3SJNIQKP/NZ6_6631.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.15.20 Ready For It As soon as Halloween is over, I’m getting myself an entire pumpkin pie and eating the whole thing in one sitting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602909894930-YWGQ0XLL9999WOOEG2EN/NZ6_6930.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.16.20 It Steve Doing BTS photos for Steve’s Cincy48 project this year. He caught me taking his photo for a split second and it ended up being an accidental COVID-era headshot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603079249323-DFH6FNE376YA6DRVLN3K/750_9911.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.17.20 A Little Foggy On Projection These Days Steve’s doing the Cincy 48 Hour Film Festival and secured Bellevue’s Marianne Theatre as a location for filming. I snuck up to the projection booth and got a photo of it all lit up with red lights and filled with fog from a fog machine. I’d been inside the theater years ago with a camera, so I didn’t worry too much about documenting it this time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603079249861-BBC2752X9HKDJW3SBHOV/IMG_6133.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.18.20 Yellow Springs I took my Z6 with me to Yellow Springs and didn’t end up taking it out of the bag the entire trip. This is with an iPhone. I was so pleased with the portrait mode on this, it ended up being my favorite photo of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603160430249-K06EUQWT67PMAU75Y4FQ/DSC_1919.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.19.20 Impending Gloom We got our first taste of the overcast, rainy, generally gloomy winter that’s on the horizon. It wasn’t enjoyable last year and will certainly be worse this year due to the pandemic. Not looking forward to it at all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603248451730-V4PE8A5MA077TUAXR525/NZ6_7341.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.20.20 Night On the Tracks Just a walk along the rails in the mist. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603421552803-XKZJ1RR2OUXUM2XYZ9JQ/IMG_6194.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.21.20 Retreat Street Walked to Steve’s house and took a quick photo of some houses on Retreat in good light. I had a bad day so I didn’t feel much like trying today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603421550830-70IABMI934EJB2FYTG7B/NZ6_7395.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.22.20 You Are Here CMC has a new permanent exhibit and part of it is this custom mural projection thing you can do. It takes your photo, you add stickers to the photo, add a filter and background, then it projects it onto the side of a “building,” which is just a black and white drawing of an inner-city scene that vaguely represents Cincinnati. This was my contribution. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603676958400-9BSKWKN2R0WRS0L9HB0D/IMG_6229.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.23.20 Electric Conversation Travis and Ronny came over and sat on the porch outside. We drank beer and ate pizza while a storm rolled through. Thanks to the covered porch, we were able to hang out safely outside without getting wet. I was trying to capture a bolt of lightning while we were talking and successfully nailed one in the background thanks to iPhone’s Live Photo feature. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603676559440-YNFWKIGCFHO9549NTKH2/NZ6_7401.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.24.20 Up the Hill I published a photo from this same perspective on the 1st of October, but I wanted to go back and get it at night with a tripod. I felt self-conscious with the tripod at night on the corner, but thankfully no one seemed to care. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603676560534-432PEIMVVEXQUVQJA8PN/IMG_6274.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.25.20 I made a rack for our firewood. Now all I need is more firewood to fill it up. I’m going to add a cover to the top, and I may paint it, but it’s functional in its current state. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603761691274-NELD3OEBV78BJ6FJ4OZS/IMG_6285.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.26.20 Bad Day Had a shit day. Sitting in my living room relaxing and trying to unwind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603852243258-U2NEZE7DEXEZH5VMDY78/IMG_6300.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.27.20 Feeling Bad Been feeling tremendously bad lately, both mentally and physically. With the weight of the virus and the election and everything else happening in the world, it’s hard to wake up and feel anything but sorrow about all of it. On top of it all, I’ve been finding less motivation to do my work, and mistakes and errors make me ashamed of the work I do get done. It’s all been adding up and I now have this pale pallor and grey bags under my eyes. Really hoping some good news will come our way soon. Everything feels so bleak. I took this photo of myself brushing my teeth because I have no motivation to use my actual camera and wanted to document how utterly stressed I am for posterity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603936934761-26N1PSBRVFNLKXFBVXXT/Unicorn+Pumpkin-009-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.28.20 Unicarnation Ashley didn't want to carve a pumpkin so she painted hers to look like a unicorn, made it a floral crown, and added a horn to it. She's submitting it to a work contest. Fingers crossed she wins. We took a studio photo of it for her to submit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604118420616-VKD4GRQ9IU60QEEHA1TB/IMG_6309_jpg.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.29.20 Anxiety Project I made a shelf for the plants in our bedroom because I couldn't stand to be at my desk any longer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604118428400-449ANLFPOLTRWH3D8319/NZ6_7512.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.30.20 Studio Space I toured an art studio in the West End today. Artist Spencer van der Zee gave us an interview and snowed us his work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604199223044-AWLSG5EI1RT7N61CWRHC/NZ6_7555.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 10.31.20 The Candy Chute Halloween was perfect. The weather was the best it could be, the candy chute I made to send candy to the kids worked splendidly, sitting on the porch with snacks and tunes playing was relaxing, and seeing our neighbors out and about was so nice. We went through almost three bags of candy. Just a really good night. I needed that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604290126822-3UP6V1G95GSDWD2527OX/IMG_6337.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.1.20 A Long Walk Took Myrtle on a long walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. The wind was blowing hard but it was sunny and relatively warm for November. We ended up on the hill in Grandview at the end of the walk so she could run around like crazy for awhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604377216099-GQ5DR666PZL5U4WV0JT9/IMG_6378.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.2.20 Balloon Bombed Ashley’s boss direct messaged me on Instagram late last week and asked if I could get her and Myrtle out of the house by 2 PM on Monday (today). She paid someone to “balloon bomb” our house for Ashley’s birthday. I made up an excuse about being finished with work early and took her to get nachos at Qdoba in Rookwood and then to the park. We spent about two hours away from home before returning. I didn’t know exactly what the surprise was going to be and was pretty shocked when I saw it. Ashley thought it was great. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604455219431-DZ6B65V9MJGCKC8SLFY2/DSC_1931.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.3.20 The Results Will Wait It’s election night. I’m scared out of my mind that we will keep these selfish monsters in power and show the world we are not the country we claim to be. I've already voted, though, so it's out of my hands. Until the victor is chosen, we need to wait. There's no sense in making myself sick tonight over something that's out of my hands, so I'm taking this photo of Ashley on her 32nd birthday, putting the internet away, turning off the TV, and focusing on my family. They bring me happiness and that's what I need tonight. Tomorrow I will wake up to the result of this traumatic election. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604546030565-5UHTSUZDWRF7V2YJQM63/DSC_1938.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.4.20 Absolute Contempt The results of the 2020 election aren’t finalized as of this writing. It’s 10 PM. When I finally got out of bed from a bad night of sleep, I expected to see news of Joe Biden’s victory; a catastrophic Trump loss that proved the American people chose someone good over someone of vile character and proven inability to lead. Instead, I saw a minor Biden lead over Trump, both Ohio and Florida red, and the race nearly neck and neck. Then it dawned on me that half of America are truly depraved, brainwashed, racist morons who would rather Donald fucking Trump hold onto the reigns of this nation than allow a proven leader to take over. They’d rather let the guy who refuses to denounce WHITE SUPREMACY lead the United States for four more years than the guy who outright condemns them. Half of this fucking country would rather keep in power the man who has NO PLAN to combat the Coronavirus than let someone who could do better (any plan would be better than what we have now). Half of this country is disgusting and I don’t want to live here anymore. Any hope I had for the American people were dashed like this week-old jack-o-lantern on the fucking sidewalk. Even if Joe Biden lands this thing in the end, we’re never recovering from the damage Donald Trump has done to America. He’s emboldened the worst of us—which is apparently half of us—to show their true form. I cannot feel anything but contempt for America at this point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604634485811-WIH29Z38KA1F2Z358P9P/NZ6_7568.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.5.20 Thursday Nights No word on who will lead our country as of tonight. It’s leaning Biden, but who knows at this point. One thing I CAN count on is this: Thursday nights at Pete’s house. Every week, Pete hosts a beer tasting in his driveway. It’s a safe way for all of us to hang out and be social without worrying so much about the virus. I can’t go every week, but whenever I do, it’s always a good time. Tonight I wanted to commemorate at least one of these nights so I took a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604700077477-1IFB8DZEEBPPP7TLPJ1K/NZ6_7586.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.6.20 Econolite Traffic Control I’ll make this one short: no word yet on who’s president of the United States, though it’s still leaning Joe. All this uncertainty makes me anxious, so I took a walk and saw this gritty traffic control box I hadn’t noticed before. I liked the way the afternoon light was shining on it, exaggerating its tiny shadows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604939624382-F2L5YS39SANRUKODMC7S/NZ6_7617.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.7.20 VICTORY! Joe Biden won the presidency. The redneck Trump train has derailed miserably and it’s a great relief to see a fascist pile of garbage sink into oblivion. It was announced today while we were setting up a new TV in the living room. We were so thrilled, we got a bottle of champagne out of the fridge, fired off the cork from the front porch, and went out with Chelsea to the Avenue to drink the day away. We went home at 7 PM and passed out after Biden’s victory speech. We weren’t even hung over the next day. It was a perfect Saturday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604939625056-X6K3ZKOOBXXFQ1OGXRHK/IMG_6428.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.8.20 CHOO CHOO The weather was perfect today, so we worked in the yard and grilled out for dinner. I heard the train coming from Dayton, so I ran down to the steps to catch a photo of the engine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605067707423-FSSF015GDE9GJ52AEOSD/NZ6_7633.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.9.20 Bereft of Balke’s See my blog post for more on this photo: https://bit.ly/3n7NRrC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605067787056-ZV503O4M8UKCHXJQS5PO/NZ6_7711.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.10.20 Flow Photographed Flow Koffee + Kombucha in Newport today. The owner was nice and they serve Coffee Emporium coffee. I’ll probably go there this weekend if I need a cup of joe instead of making it at home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605150332761-RUVZJJV3W0FMOIFQB40Z/DSC_1948.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.11.20 Night in the Dining Room We have a stained glass window in the dining room that’s backlit by a light under the balcony outside. I love walking into the dining room at night because the amber yellow glass casts a warm hue on part of the room, and specifically on this money tree that’s sitting on the hutch beneath it. I wanted to get a photo of it because it’s the little things like this that bring me a weird amount of happiness when I see them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605234465744-CZWGFADQT3LIH1X0MNRW/NZ6_7762.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.12.20 Cookies Are Cookin’ Do I need a caption for this? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605305073025-90VUDCH24CV86SV0ZYU7/NZ6_8004.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.13.20 Holiday Junction Photographed CMC’s Holiday Junction this morning. Always fun to see the trains up and running. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605419227793-BZEQ7W3HV0Z2WYGO7A3V/IMG_6464.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.14.20 Holy Meal Ashley made my favorite meal for dinner: enchiladas. She makes the best enchiladas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605507548602-ZRVUUNL4HRNK6Y1IPVTQ/NZ6_8186.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.15.20 Caught In the Rain We went for a walk this morning and noticed some ominous clouds ahead. Figuring we had a better chance of making it to the Bellevue Beach Park gazebo, we hustled toward the river in hopes of avoiding getting caught in the rain. We just barely made it. The wind blew the rain through the area quickly and we only had to hang tight for about 10 minutes. I took a photo of Ashley and Myrtle as the sun started to emerge from behind the clouds again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605583918789-A5WTKE96J1F0GX4517WY/NZ6_8214.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.16.20 Return to the Beach After yesterday’s neary-soggy encounter at Bellevue Beach Park, we caught a glimpse of a nice sunset from there tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605746088437-I1Z2KS92H9VZQ69KOSR6/IMG_6481.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.17.20 Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 I think I may have COVID. Ashley was exposed to it last week and she’s possibly asymptomatic. I, however, am not feeling great. If this is COVID, my symptoms are light. Either way, we got a test done at a clinic tonight, and I’ll know my results in 3-5 days. Until then, I’m staying away from literally everyone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605746092095-6CMQGME1QOB5QSFTMO6A/NZ6_8230.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.18.20 Mask Required Feeling a little better today, so I went on a walk with Ashley and the dog at dusk. After the walk, I felt worse, so now I’m relaxing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102343719-MWYE34SYPE27L2C710BG/IMG_6499.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.19.20 Ugh I do not feel well. Spent the day on the couch and in bed. Still awaiting test results. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102340481-KD1IR6DA26BIAOJKFL2R/IMG_6503.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.20.20 Shameless Satisfaction Feeling better today and learned I do not have COVID after all. Thank goodness. But the reason I took a photo of the sink is because I’ve fallen into a habit that I very much enjoy—doing dishes at night. “Enjoy” and “doing dishes” aren’t typically two things that unironically belong in the same sentence, but I’ve found clearing the sink and running the dishwasher before bed while listening to podcasts to be a centering task that puts my mind at ease as I wind down for the night. And when we wake up, all the dishes are done. It’s a win-win. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102355434-76EU9NHBG2YOAKJ8GN1A/NZ6_8239-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.21.20 I caved and we put up the tree early. Fuck it, rules don’t apply this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102351935-XSTJOLMM3P29FUT5AUOS/IMG_6529.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.22.20 A Girl and Her Bear Snuck a photo of this moment tonight. We’ve been doing absolutely nothing for the last 24 hours. Myrtle and Ashley were basically attached at the snoot all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606255692542-6T1TPEZLLPHQ6R64WPM4/NZ6_8241.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.23.20 Sunset Took a walk before sunset and managed to snap a photo of the only bit of color in the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606256052873-RZMLM9FABVQWG125M65U/IMG_6548.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.24.20 Proper Framing We took a piece of art to get framed down at Frame and Hang on the Avenue today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606366782327-XZ2CO895NB75QBEX6BLN/NZ6_8283.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.25.20 Bizarre Bazaar Photographed a shop in Anderson called Bizarre Bazaar this afternoon. It’s a family-run shop full of gifts, knick knacks, and more. Very eclectic mix of stuff with loads to see. They’re heavy on Christmas stuff and this was one of the pieces I saw. The little skaters moved around on the surface of the ice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606529888653-B5PQVK8RMCXSTB660QQT/IMG_6556.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.26.20 Thanksgiving For Two We didn’t go to Thanksgiving with our extended families this year because of COVID, so we bought a take-and-bake Thanksgiving meal from Arnold’s Bar & Grill. It was really good, and even though not seeing more people during a holiday was a bummer, I still had a really good Thanksgiving. It was very relaxing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606529383863-J5SLPQTYWPDYX8WR1G5P/NZ6_8379.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.27.20 Christmas 2020 I take a photo of Myrtle every Christmas and we make it into a card and send it out to our friends and family. This is 2020’s photo. The fireplace isn’t actually lit, I just put a Lumecube in there with an orange gel to simulate fire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606661726413-RMRSQJL14G2U5R7GMD6K/NZ6_9217.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.28.20 Shop Small Saturday We went down to the Avenue and shopped for gifts for Christmas at various stores. It was nice to know our money was going right back into the local economy and helping the mom and pop shops of Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606706491790-JJUBIPG0MOE9CVZS0XJ6/NZ6_9290.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.29.20 Spectacularly Festive The Purple People Bridge is all done up for the holidays and it looks great. I kind of hope they keep the purple and white bulbs on it even off season. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606796941084-0IA758VAHN3ASNSW3CZQ/NZ6_9394.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 11.30.20 Going Up? I took on another monthly building for Jake. Since I finished the Camp Washington property this month, I picked up another in Brighton to fill its place. It stands on the corner by itself by a private fenced-in lot. He gave me the passcode to get into the building so I could get pre-construction photos of the joint. After carefully exploring all three floors of the eerily quiet building, I dug deep to find the courage to descend into the darkened basement. This is always my least favorite thing about photographing old properties that are in the midst of transformation. With two flashlights in tow, I photographed the basement with my back to the nearest wall for security. I’m so unnerved by the dark because my subconscious cannot get rid of the feeling that I’m not alone in a place like that. Though unlikely, it’s not impossible for someone to find their way into a building and wait behind a corner, especially if they’re frightened themselves by my being there. Anyway, I stepped down into the elevator shaft and pointed upward to get this shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606873045821-8YHC2QUH9RNXORQZFOSO/NZ6_9504-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.1.20 Skywalking In the Living Room I went to see the in-progress work on the Peters Cartridge Factory apartments this morning. My favorite apartment was this one. It had a window into the old skywalk that connects to the other building across the road. They bricked over the other end of the skywalk and added a window for this unit to look into it. While it’s no longer accessible, I thought it was neat that they at least cared enough to put a window there. Who needs art on the wall when you have an interesting piece like that on the wall? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607011178556-V2OJED5OM7MBOZVJKM83/NZ6_9561.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.2.20 He Munch The neighbor behind us threw their pumpkins into their backyard for the squirrels, so I got out the 600mm Tamron and snapped a photo of one enjoying himself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607052525456-0O8HX6UD8NBCTJMN783O/IMG_6616.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.3.20 An Anniversary 3 years ago today, we let Myrtle into our home and she quickly became our world. Here’s a photo of her wanting to come inside after being on the balcony for 5 minutes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607318670468-PHQMQCHMI9XJ0QNFBF26/NZ6_9628-2-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.4.20 Forest Avenue I photographed a house on Forest Avenue for a realtor today. It was built in 1989 and designed by the owner, who recently moved out of state. It has a crazy southerly view. Too bad it was a gloomy day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607318667781-MF6UO446OBYKCF3DR4E0/IMG_6634.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.5.20 Ashley’s Flag Ashley loves flags, so she got a Christmas flag to put on the pole out front. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607318665075-VAWGX7MTQ5OEX3JUQWAX/IMG_6646.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.6.20 Myrtle’s Big Day In Ashley has a migraine for the majority of the day and stayed in bed. Myrtle, loving the chance to snuggle with her mom, took full advantage. I tucked them in and put the sleeping mask over Myrtle’s eyes and took a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607400410895-G22SDSAH0XBXZ77666OG/DSC_1971.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.7.20 Night Stocking Just a quiet scene in the dark. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607485500803-PLD9LTXDFCBJBBUH9HWZ/NZ6_9782-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.8.20 The Edgar I got an email from a friend who works for Rookwood Properties last week. She asked if I’d like to feature one of their properties on Refined. The property was Lytle Tower—the place where I spent maybe the most transformative years of my adult life. They rebranded it “The Edgar” recently with all new signage and renovated apartments, so it was worth looking into. I’d been back to Lytle several times over the years since I’d moved out, but every time I go in there, it’s just as sweet as the last time. I love that building with every ounce of my being and always will. Though I didn’t get to see my former apartment (maybe one day!), I got to photograph three units on the second, fifth, and twelfth floors. There’s something magnetizing about this place; and I may be one of the only people in the world who feels that way. It just feels like I have a special kinship with it that I don’t have anywhere else in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607615645645-RYQI6D3VI4VU879GM9GM/IMG_6675.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.9.20 Weird Corner Just a weird corner of Bellevue that I frequently pass when walking to and from the Avenue. I wonder what the story is behind the tire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607615643152-U86Y7O14TMW3NXHK4NQL/IMG_6683.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.10.20 Foggy Morning Went to drop Myrtle off at daycare this morning and was stunned by how foggy it was on the Kentucky side of the river. As soon as we crossed over the bridge into Cincinnati, the fog was gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607917718703-01HDFUXE3XTDUHFMYEN5/IMG_6698.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.11.20 Campbell County Courthouse I’d never been inside, but we needed to get our licenses changed, so we went to the Campbell County Courthouse for the first time. However, after being stopped at the metal detectors, we were informed that we needed an appointment before being allowed to go further (COVID restriction). So even though I’ve been inside the front doors, I still don’t feel as though I’ve truly been inside yet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607917718257-4UX8EXJ4R9MV8NJMDTES/IMG_6733.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.12.20 Sunset Walk We walked down to the Ameristop for provisions and took the long route home because my knee hurt too much to take the stairs. Glad we did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607917719811-SH3WWT8E62IR4UZJIU56/IMG_6739.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.13.20 Art Glove Guy Oh god, I’m art glove guy now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607961716314-7X3TZENHHJA3ZQ5TBO1R/NZ6_9875-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.14.20 Making WFH Work Ashley’s frequently on work calls and I’ve made the mistake of barging into her office while she’s on a call during quiet moments when no one’s talking, so I got her a little remote-controlled “ON AIR” sign that she turns on whenever she’s not to be disturbed. We used magnets to affix it to the desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608097078665-IEJL4JWGPRZOU1D5UOYC/alexis.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.15.20 Extinct Birds Today I worked for the Cincinnati Museum Center to produce images for a book they intend to publish. I met Cody Hefner at the Geier Center and started off by heading to their zoology department where they had an ark of taxidermied animals. Everything from mice to full-sized lions were accounted for, as well as a huge skull and prehistoric bones. The image I needed to make had to be portrait orientation and include extinct birds. I do not remember the full names of the parakeet and warbler, but that’s a passenger pigeon in the background. Cincinnati was the final resting place for Martha, the last passenger pigeon in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608171810897-R6EL3GXOAC4SU7NNXD9G/IMG_6756.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.16.20 Ick Bad day. Feeling ill again. Taking drowsy meds and in bed by 9:30. Try again tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608267090649-TEY1ZZ806M634ZR585IB/IMG_6762_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.17.20 An Observation This was perhaps the least productive day I’ve had in weeks. I worked the bare minimum then did nothing worth doing for the remainder of the day. During the hours spent waiting to go back to bed, I noticed this shape at the top of the lamp in my office. It screws onto the shade to keep it from coming off. It’s shaped vaguely like a lightbulb, though it’s smaller, coarsely textured, and opaque. In silhouette, they are the same, but in reality, they are opposites. The lightbulb is a symbol of an idea; a eureka moment. This is the symbol of my lack thereof. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608440107746-7D9F51D8E2RX6VXXBV6Y/NZ6_0094.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.18.20 Duveneck The Art Museum reached out to me last-minute about covering their new Frank Duveneck exhibit. This is a bust of him in the Cincinnati Wing, which they repainted specifically for this show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608440108232-J9AD4UHXXAIJNNRSXEP9/IMG_6811.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.19.20 Aimless Wanderers Ashley had errands to run by herself today, so I took the dog on a walk. Since it was just the two of us, and since we have no plans anyway, we got down to the Avenue and I decided to just keep walking. For about three hours, she and I walked through Downtown, over the Roebling, into Covington, over the Licking, through Newport, and back to Bellevue totaling over seven miles in all. It was actually really nice to just go with the flow and not worry about the destination or the time. It’s good to let yourself float through a chunk of the day on occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608523759161-ZYFDPNPWUYRSQP3LFVMC/IMG_6849.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.20.20 Plant Stands I’ve been making these plant stands over the course of a week. In total, I’ve made four tall stands and one short stand. Each one has gone to a relative (or is going to go to a relative soon) as a gift. Ashley found this design online and asked me to build a couple, but after I got the hang of making the first two, I wanted to make more. I borrowed a mitre saw, a band saw, and a nail gun from my father to see if that would make the process of making them easier, and it definitely did. I’m going to figure out what it costs to make each one and build that into the price so I can cover the cost of construction and sell them for charity or something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608609268490-HE4EKD9WO42ZTF3KDGQX/IMG_6854_jpg.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.21.20 Head Scritches A really adorable kitty scratches her head on a bowl. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608733792851-8HTG7C7CZK4Z2EM2EIFX/IMG_6866.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.22.20 Sun In the Heart of the Home I love all the natural light our kitchen gets in the morning. I liked this particular little vignette. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039028284-3OI4JJ159EH1QEIYNW11/IMG_6877.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.23.20 Rosie My in-laws’ dog, Rosie, is staying at our house this week. She’s very small and very cold. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039032167-JTCW6OD2A17FHDRS8V7E/IMG_6889.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.24.20 A Festive Door Just a tastefully festive door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039036043-6NV6KUFN66YDFWH90UQN/IMG_6890.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.25.20 Come Prepared Christmas requires preparation. Having a good knife on hand to tackle over-wrapped gifts is essential. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039042433-OOSWTKC6M22D1VFR89OL/IMG_6912.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.26.20 Chillin’ Ashley chilling, both figurative and literally, by a fire with a beer in hand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609119769860-219IR4VZMIEW83AAZUN1/IMG_6922.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.27.20 IT Helper Ashley’s grandfather got a wireless speaker for Christmas and can’t figure out how to set it up on his phone. To help him with phone issues, I made a holder that will hold his iPad (left plank) to point at his iPhone (right plank) when both are placed on the holder. He can then FaceTime me on the iPad and turn the camera around to point through the hole at his iPhone. Because he shakes so badly, I thought the holder would eliminate the shake and allow me to remotely help him figure out his phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609215911124-3B1DUVO25W6IOSA80RTQ/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.28.20 Height Helper Sometimes one must build a bridge before they can dam the river. While painting the bathroom this week, I found my step ladder was too large to get into a corner of the room because the shower stall was in the way. There was no way I could get up to the corner and finish the trimming unless I had another 12 inches in height. So, in order to finish painting, I had to build a step stool that would be small enough to fit into the tight space while giving me the necessary leverage I needed. This is the stool I came up with to finish the job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609276331947-25UG2WD6HBQNDOHZ71G2/IMG_6929.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.29.20 Well, Shit Car’s dead. Went to pull it out of the garage and it wouldn’t start. It sounds like it wants to start, but just won’t. We had to have a tow truck come and take it to the mechanic Downtown. With a full-to-the-brim week ahead of me, this isn’t good. I can’t Uber because of COVID, so I guess I’ll be walking everywhere. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609357542118-GZBOCCSX2AANGP9E83R0/NZ6_0133.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.30.20 Sweet Little Stranger Because the car’s in the shop, I needed to walk to Mt. Adams from my home in Bellevue for work this morning. On the first leg of my trip, I came across this sweet little pup on Taylor Avenue. Her tail flipped back and forth like she wanted it to fly off her butt, instantly melting my heart. When I made eye contact with her, she started throwing her front paws down and wiggling her head—that type of dog behavior that suggests she desperately wants to be pet but is too overcome with excitement to hold it together. As I raised my camera to take her photo, she became shy and looked away. It looks like she’s stoic in the photo above, but she was anything but at the moment this was taken. Her nose touched my hand as I reached through the fence to give her a scratch on her snout and appease that mile-a-minute tail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609480693331-ROQV0A0ZJTUBHYG1MR69/NZ6_0397-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2020 - 12.31.20 A Big Empty Building 2020 has packed its shit and is moving out. I photographed a 900K condo on Race Street and this empty building on Central Avenue. Of everything I saw today, this room with the good light was my favorite. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jan-2020 daily 0.75 2020-01-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1577922017922-C14UT9HHCO249G4CKJCL/NZ6_9870.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.1.20 (un)Happy Tabby This little cat was chilling on a chair on someone’s porch in Bellevue. After I got it into Lightroom, I noticed his/her expression. Not sure if he/she was irritated or indifferent about me taking the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578014423714-SCEAU1IJO5BG6P07DQOV/NZ6_9973.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.2.20 Mooie and Chewie I visited the Rising Sun History Museum in Rising Sun, IN today. While it has two historic boats and many artifacts that tell the tale of Rising Sun’s history, it was this two-headed, taxidermied calf that stuck with me most. I do not care for taxidermy; it’s horrible and awkward, and the two-headed calf was no exception. I didn’t get a photo of the didactic panel next to it for some reason, but I believe it said it was born in 1988 in Madison, IN on a July day. The calf only lived for 45 minutes before passing. Why it’s in a museum in Rising Sun is something I’ll continue wondering forever. It had to be today’s photo because it made me so uncomfortable. According to the director of the museum, the pair were named Mooie and Chewie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578087423628-ZHQC02TSXLUN9TINTTSN/NZ6_0056.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.3.20 Rotolo Means ‘Roll’ in Italian Did a shoot at Rotolo, a bowling alley and bar/restaurant at Newport On the Levee this afternoon. During the shoot, I assumed I was doing a poor job primarily because I couldn’t find the right angles on the time crunch while fiddling with my tripod. My frustration with myself culminated in sweating through my jacket, fumbling with my gear, and generally looking like I barely knew what I was doing. After spilling the contents of the card into Lightroom, I all but confirmed my suspicions. I have a long way to go before I can consider myself good at what I do. This bowling ball photo isn’t what I’d hoped it would be. It is what it is, I suppose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578199579711-WT3YZ88M01U32UXBFGVL/750_5287.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.4.20 Inclined to Enjoy This View Travis and I went out tonight to grab shots of the city skyline from various angles after dark. We went to the Price Hill Incline District to get the east-facing angle of the west side of Downtown with the C I N C I N N A T I sign at one point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578280658081-QOYTN09SLCCKCCMU10UJ/NZ6_0536.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.5.20 We Just Want It to Snow! Snow Banks at the Banks brought snow-based attractions to the riverfront using artificial and man-made snow. Every half hour, fans on Freedom Way blew (what looks to be) globs of soap into the air, creating a blizzard-like effect. While I was photographing the fan, a little boy wandered over and stuck out his tongue as if to catch one of the “snowflakes.” I saw him grimace for a second at one point—I imagine soapy “snow” (snoawp?) wouldn’t be tasty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578349387379-X8UF05KTVT9Z2OK6RS68/NZ6_0632.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.6.20 A Court Street Sunset It’s amazing how sharp a prime lens is compared to a zoom lens. I shot this with a 50mm prime. The detail in full resolution is very nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578432035426-7BNR2LFF40DO3EFT6IQD/IMG_3242.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.7.20 My Friend Maria I took photos of Tower Room A inside the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal this afternoon for a story on the place, and my friend Maria let me into the space. The lighting was great, so I asked her if I could get a photo. She agreed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578528714359-Q6EU95AGY7OHEIFMNQFH/NZ6_0776.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.8.20 The Lady Before Lady Liberty I got word that one of the prototypes for the Statue of Liberty was in Cincinnati, so I drove to Oakley to check it out. The 4-foot-tall statue was made in the same foundry (Alvoiron) as the actual full-sized statue, but this one was made to be a lamp. Though it’s marked “#24,” there are only eight known to exist. The date on the base says 1875, but the curator told me this one was forged in 1878. It’s made of zinc and copper to mimic bronze. It’s hollow so wiring could be threaded up through the base to power the glass globe that would’ve sat on top of the torch. A replacement piece was made in the 1980s to cover the top since the glass was gone. I photographed it on film, as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578595864470-B8OZBUF1W4WKQ51WBJNJ/IMG_1120.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.9.20 Home Sweet Home Went up to the 11th floor of the William Howard Taft Center this afternoon for a job and caught a glimpse of my apartment from up high. I can see my desk from this angle. As I write this, I need only look up from my screen to see where I was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578689108042-2FL6WOO19KLKBYTUB4ZV/IMG_1163.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.10.20 This Is the Way They’ve ripped up a healthy portion of Fountain Square to reconfigure its layout. In the 5/3rd tunnel, a smaller tunnel of scaffolding was erected with signs that point to various attractions. I was there to scope out the 5/3rd Banking Museum to the right of the frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578778211450-VJZL1MY2SLEU5FM31TYF/Light+Trial-062-Edit.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.11.20 A Helping Hand Photoshop offers tutorials on how to do different effects, and this week there’s a tutorial on how to do neon. They used a raised hand in black and white and built a triangle around it using the effect. I thought it might be fun to follow the tutorial and give it a go. It took some work, but I got the lighting just right on my hand and added the after effects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578882576779-71LTCJXFVA4LOVHTVYZW/NZ6_1059-Edit.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.12.20 Drip! I put a Lume Cube 2.0 into the sink, turned on the faucet ever so slightly to create a rhythmic, steady drip, and rapid-fired away. This is a combination of two exposures put together. I cannot imagine trying to do this with film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1578918596551-VX5PTQ4F35X94P1R06SC/IMG_6737.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.13.20 I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me An edited version of the photo of the day from December 27th, 2019 makes a return in the form of my desktop background. I believe this is the first time a photo of the day has been featured (kind of) twice. It always cracks me up when I see all three screens like this, and with it being 6:55 AM on a Monday, I cannot think of a better way to start my week than with a laugh. Also: look at that pretty little pup’s snoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579059260132-CP2T4APTEKP2P116O4YS/NZ6_1439-HDR.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.14.20 Glammed-Up On Greenup Today I had a real estate shoot on Greenup Street in Covington. It took me all day because I had to go back three times to get what I needed. The realtor needs the photos as soon as possible, so I spent the majority of the day shooting/processing them in between other life things. It's been an extremely long day and I'm afraid I may be getting sick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579135261563-3OKJM4U0PX56X2D31UEV/750_5300.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.15.20 Museum Dolls I checked out the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Fashion Archives today for a piece I’m working on for the site. While the archives were fully stocked with compressed storage containers that moved at the touch of a button, there were mannequins in a corner of the room that were unconcealed. These mannequins were designed to be the standard size of 18th- and 19th-century women. I did not realize women from those centuries differed so greatly in size from modern-day women, but apparently the garments the museum has in its collection were made to fit a specific type of body that mannequins post-1915 do not illustrate. Because there are so many garments in the collection, the museum needs an army of these mannequins should they ever put them on display. I would guess there were around 50 of them total standing neatly in phalanx formation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579229160677-MYU4XTW4ZK0602ZPY0S0/IMG_0599.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.16.20 I visited Dixie Union Station this afternoon for a story on the Mason store. It sells miniature trains, both new and old, to casual and hardcore train set hobbyists around the region, as well as internationally. It’s an extremely cool store to visit because of how specific it is about its craft. Randy, one of the employees of the store, was sitting in a back room fixing up a train component with new wheel parts while I was there. His little maintenance room was cozy and calming; I could see myself gladly spending hours in that space working on hobby trains if I were in his position. Sometimes I wish I could rid myself of my internet-based job and just settle down with something simpler that’s more aligned with my introverted nature. Then again, I wouldn’t have met Randy and seen this room if I didn’t do what I do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579286501567-42LAE1UCXYP38OB54P6V/IMG_1318.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.17.20 Some Serious Scaffolding Myrtle was getting groomed neared Findlay Market, so I worked in Deeper Roots for a couple hours, got lunch at the Market, then took this photo of a building that’s under construction while in the parking lot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579374837574-YGHIDSKO6VYMOSE2RM1M/IMG_1343.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.18.20 Dead on a Hill We were in Fort Thomas burning some time before a scheduled haircut and dropped by a dying antique mall. Across the street was a cemetery on a dramatic hill that seemed to foreshadow the inevitable closure of the nearby mall. Because the scene was so bleak, I waited for a particularly bright vehicle to roll into frame before hitting the shutter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579488374169-6YO54YZTX4EFGLCFOPVD/IMG_1390.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.19.20 It Is So Cold The feels-like temperature is 4°F tonight. I’d forgotten what 4°F feels like. I was moody and uninspired today, so we made this last-minute photo on the way back into the warmth of the building. I plan to sleep and reset immediately after publishing this (at 9:50 PM). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579582130582-FI15YOXP9HYRJFN7RQDN/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.20.20 Steve Shoots the Shooters I worked with RESLV this evening for six hours doing behind-the-scenes photography while they filmed a commercial. Steve was there filming content while everything was happening. I didn’t feel comfortable sharing any of the production stills from tonight without permission, but this photo of Steve doesn’t give anything away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579633032873-2ZO5FXPKZJBCSYZODD1W/NZ6_3050.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.21.20 Self Portrait I have entered my mid-Thirties and I’m quietly anxious about it. Well, I guess not-so-quietly anxious now that I’ve committed that feeling to this description. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579737996839-1SDXBVY856C4GCUGJ7A4/IMG_1455.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.22.20 Perfect Perspective A flag ceremony that involved Steve Chabot took me inside the Hamilton County Courthouse this morning. After that, did a little extra photo work for Judge Marsh, then saw myself out. On the way out of her courtroom, I stopped and made this photo of Central Parkway and the Alms & Doepke Building across the street. Because I was on the third floor, the perspective didn’t need to be adjusted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579839481886-2FT01IH1G8AF03VHD6PR/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.23.20 Bourbon and Bites Tonight I shot an event at the American Sign Museum in Camp Washington called Bourbon and Bites. It was a tour of the museum with stops for breaks to enjoy New Riff bourbon with food by The Phoenix. Before the tour began, I went into the main room and got the classic photo everyone enjoys getting when they’re there. I used a very small handheld tripod and set my ISO as low as it would go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579924634081-SR9YR31RTBP2VFSRX32Y/NZ6_3522.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.24.20 Juvenile Court Since I started working at 10 AM this morning to now (11 PM), I have been working non-stop on freelance projects while squeezing in Refined between tasks when I can. It has been an incredibly long day. One of my jobs was to document Judge John Meyer William’s courtroom and personal office for Hamilton County. I met with the judge in his office, learned about him and his family history with the building, and made the best photos I could with the small amount of time I had to do it. I would prefer to publish a photo of his office here, but I do not feel comfortable doing that without permission and will instead publish this depersonalized courtroom photo in its place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1579987801196-GMOK6ARFRH86TWEQRH9W/NZ6_3545.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.25.20 Taking My Own Advice I wrote a piece that published today on Refined about things to do in Cincinnati when the weather sucks, and one of those list items was to visit Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park. Ashley’s mother is in town for the weekend and (surprise!) the weather is atrocious, so we all got in the car and headed up to the conservatory to enjoy the plants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580089159689-YI6PGJJ3YV5D1SIWK6CE/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.26.20 Dave’s Happy About Cake We celebrated Dave’s birthday today. He’s Ashley’s grandfather and he’s 78 on Tuesday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580177979346-G17G9FAS7AUUVFDV757Q/IMG_1524.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.27.20 Domestic Still Life Another very long day at the laptop in both my home office and up at WKRC. Didn’t have much time to do anything else but work on Refined stuff. It is 9:15 PM and I’m exhausted. This is a scene from my home at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580266184975-V747F2H2JGZZ5VN6JO76/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.28.20 Mesa Loca Luminaut hired me to photograph Mesa Loca in Hyde Park—a restaurant they worked on that recently opened within the last few months. It replaced Cock & Bull when that closed a while back. Stupid me forgot my memory card to the Z6 after setting up and had to run home, grab it, then run back. It was very unprofessional. No matter how long I do something, I’m always reminded of how far I still have to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580352254210-QR7WDU8YWRSJ0SUY7S74/IMG_0710.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.29.20 Get the Mail After we take Myrtle out for her final potty break for the night, we tell her to “go get the mail” and she runs to the mail room. I snapped Ashley and Myrtle coming out of the mail room along with Extremely Unfriendly Dude getting into the elevator with a Bird scooter? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580413055284-15W19FFE7TFGJP06U8IB/IMG_1549.jpeg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.30.20 Desolate Elm Street My monthly project takes me up to Findlay Market and the surrounding area, and as I walked past this stretch of Elm Street, I decided to document the completely vacant scene across the street. I liked how the colors of the mural stand in stark contrast to the off-white paint of the building behind it. I wish I’d gotten a body in frame, and I wish I’d taken this on film, but digital and empty are fine alternatives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580496591815-PCKV83A0FDKMZELCOLIW/IMG_1723.jpg daily-photos-Jan-2020 - 1.31.20 Going Up They removed the corner banner from the side of our apartment building using a hydraulic bucket. Myrtle went a little nuts at first when she saw someone at eye level, which I can’t blame her for since we live several stories from the street. I set up my phone on the ledge and used my Apple Watch from the other room to get a photo of the worker ascending. I have mixed feelings about doing it this way; clearly I felt uncomfortable just taking his photo normally, which suggests I feel like it’s wrong to capture his image without consent. On the other hand, his face is distorted from all the rain spots on the window, and he’s just outside my living room window, so his being so close to my personal space might give me permission to take his photo? I’m posting it so I must not feel it’s more wrong than right. If you have any feelings on this, I’d like to hear them. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-feb-2020 daily 0.75 2020-02-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580596227495-HO9LDUYFZGPCYZ71HU9G/NZ6_4395.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.1.20 A Quick Nip I covered the Polar Plunge in Bellevue this morning. People jumped into a freezing cold pool of brown water to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Special Olympics. One team was dressed as Harry Potter characters; their Hermione was an older dude in a wig. I was keeping an eye on him because I knew he was bound to do something hilarious at some point, and that constant surveillance proved worthwile at this specific point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580688774161-KT6ID7KXBJV0670P824Z/NZ6_5583-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.2.20 Shillito Lofts Exterior I photographed Shillito Lofts back in December but haven’t had a chance to get a proper exterior due to the weather. Luckily, today was the most gorgeous day we’ve had in what feels like a year. Getting out early, I caught some mid-morning sunlight and pieced together 10 different images to create this composite with people, buses, and a car to make it feel like a livelier corner than it typically is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580785321399-NVKECH5F4KXYPQQIDSD2/IMG_1804.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.3.20 Cornerstone I spent a lot of my day on 4th Street. Worked at a free coworking space during the morning and early afternoon, had lunch at Saigon Subs & Rolls, then continued working at the Mercantile Library before walking home. It felt great to put headphones in, wear a light jacket in 60ºF weather, and go about my business. I felt like I did when I first moved to the city back in 2013; those were some extraordinary times. I took photos of the 4th and Race development, but I didn’t end up liking them as much as this photo of the cornerstone of The Reserve. The font (specifically the ‘9’) is excellent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580862847048-JS8ZBE45DDW2FYEADXIZ/NZ6_5815.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.4.20 That Tricky Fountain Square Smoking Grate For years, I’ve wanted to capture a bus blowing through the smoking grate across from Fountain Square. When I see it happen, I’m never ready for it. Today, I was passing the Square during rush hour and the grate was puffing like smokestack working overtime. I shot this moment when the Southbank Shuttle breached the wall of smoke, and while I think it’s fine, it’s not the exact image I was going for. If it were going faster, the effect would’ve been better, but this was when it was slowly accelerating from a complete stop. Maybe one day I’ll properly post up and get the shot I really want. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1580931237256-3BEIFFZWVXW8QPL2ONYE/NZ6_5837.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.5.20 Sharp Alley Found myself inside 57 E. McMicken this afternoon for work, and enjoyed this view straight up Sharp Alley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581043587946-1AYVCEWX1PZPFMPRENDW/NZ6_6124-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.6.20 Pig and Brad From a lifestyle shoot I did earlier this evening for Towne Properties. Pig is the French Bulldog. Her little cute self didn’t want to stay put for very long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581124677260-2T73W82JO54G94TUESUQ/IMG_4774.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.7.20 Taft Museum I had a job at the Taft Museum today and took its photo before I left because the lighting was good. That’s it, that’s the description. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581217634385-YEIG3SUJZKYDEUF77YPS/IMG_1906.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.8.20 Wintry Rio We visited my parents today because we haven’t seen them in about 3 weeks. I am not feeling well, so one of the only photos I took today was this one of Rio staring out the window. She was quietly low-growling during this because she thought I was trying to tell her there was a deer outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581296303532-FLUCCD404WDK0MEYSRKV/IMG_1928.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.9.20 Yearning to Be Outside Don’t worry, she got her time at the park (and got sufficiently muddy, too). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581386974771-5KL42TFLB066QRGRKKBR/NZ6_6483-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.10.20 Night Composite I wanted to make this photo but waiting for a bus, a car, and positioning myself correctly in frame was all but impossible, so I did them all individually and brought it into Photoshop to piece it all together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581478400703-KKLVRVOVMNI8KRGP1MRA/IMG_1995.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.11.20 USPS at Crane Factory Most of my creative energy went towards creating and refining a logo for a friend’s upcoming side gig, then creating a Valentine’s Day eCard for social media for work. As such, this was the only interesting photo I made all day. I liked this moment because everything was so perfectly aligned without much effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581559188141-1L8PLQA02BQ3HRY4S8LC/IMG_0728.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.12.20 Smug Ronny Disco I used my Lume Cube in the Bay Horse to light this portrait of Ronny, who was once referred to as Smug Ronny Disco on Twitter by some guy who didn’t like him. We enjoy having schooners here and I wanted to capture that feeling at least once. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581636765195-BLVSATQ7KEPWC9U9JB6Z/IMG_2012.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.13.20 Mini Me As I was driving back from interviewing the Graeter family (yes, that Graeter family) about their Victorian house in EWH, I passed this house on the corner with a miniature version of itself at the sidewalk. I turned the car around, parked, and went to photograph the two side by side because I thought it was amusing. The miniature house is a Little Free Library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581718572333-979RU1BOYQ9TPNC34B22/NZ6_6515-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.14.20 Valentine’s Daylight THE SUN CAME OUT TODAY. THE SUN CAME OUT TODAY. LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL LIGHT FROM THE SUN. IT HAS BEEN SO GREY HERE FOR SO LONG. MY KITCHEN LOOKED BEAUTIFUL SO I HAD TO CAPTURE MY FAVORITE CORNER OF IT. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581804359236-54MHI07BP1XHVQEL52O6/IMG_2046.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.15.20 Bob Brumberg A candid portrait of Bob Brumberg at 3 Points Urban Brewery. Only natural light bouncing off the windows from Alumni Lofts across 13th was used to light his face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581892922635-NNJQWUESHVMJYK7GVUXH/NZ6_6634.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.16.20 Pre-Yoga Sit-‘N-Soak Before walking to yoga, she sat in the chair soaking up the sun. I had an umbrella set up to the right of her and took a photo. The warm light from the west and the white light from the east through the glass table and transparent chairs combined to give the scene an ethereal look. Something about it reminds me of a painting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1581996564825-95RKWKBCLS8ZQOUX3GUM/DSC_0607-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.17.20 A Foray Into Faux Earlier today, the weather was unseasonably lovely. So lovely, in fact, I made the correct choice to walk to Mt. Auburn instead of drive so I could enjoy the city at my own pace. If I need to go to the office, I might as well enjoy the journey when it’s warm enough. On the way back, clouds had overtaken the sky, foiling whatever late-evening plans I had to take photos of key components along the skyline. The Monastery was one of my subjects as I walked along the length of Liberty Hill, just before making it to the City Steps. After I got it into my computer, I didn’t like how flat and dull the light was. In color, it just wasn’t doing it for me. I took it into Photoshop and did a little filtering/layering with creative effects to produce a false vintage look with randomized specks and faux-scratches on the “film.” Because there is very little in the way of modernity in the original photo, the edit worked well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582083130859-IR0KXOXTYSF8ZWPFCMMM/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.18.20 GYROS Dixie Chili in Newport has my favorite poster for any food in the entire world. Yes, that’s an oddly specific category for a “favorite” thing, but it’s true. I would love to have a copy of this for my office. It reminds me of a background image in a movie that’s meant to subconsciously invoke sentiment without directly advertising for a specific brand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582168083218-PG9Z0V056RPMLN4SD7HG/NZ6_6885.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.19.20 Modern Man Justin has this great little MCM-styled home in White Oak, so tonight I went out with all my equipment to try my hand at some serious lifestyle portraiture. We both had a fun time creating a 1960s feel for this shoot. I’m really happy with how these turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582257967563-QC8H27MZ61575UER1YDI/IMG_2203.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.20.20 The Beast Awaits Her Treat How does one follow a successful, hours-long vintage lifestyle photoshoot? By taking a moody iPhone photo of their dog awaiting a treat in the kitchen because the light was dramatic and good, of course. I’m still very proud of yesterday’s photo, so whatever I made today was inevitably going to fall short of it. But creating every day means sometimes failing upward—which, in my opinion, is just the scenic route to success. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582342146370-3ZUV9GRKLJJQJ33I390Q/IMG_2223.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.21.20 The Homies Breakfast for dinner on MainStrasse courtesy of Cody. The crew for the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582430023700-Z7JZDSMEAA2TWQKMVK2W/NZ6_7118.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.22.20 Awaitin’ the Bacon We haven’t been to B&A since BLINK last year, so we took the pup on a walk and stopped by for a bite. As is custom for B&A visits, Myrtle gets a piece of bacon from the window after we order. If a place involves a treat of some sort, she’s forever obsessed with it, so B&A is one of her favorite spots. This was actually taken after she got her piece of bacon; she just knew there was more of it behind the glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582505544490-5WYDIG92V4QF97V1E3YY/NZ6_7123.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.23.20 12th and Main Streets, OTR Crappy light out today. This striking yellow sportsmobile stood out against the dark blue paint job of Platform. The person who owns this car was probably eating at Louvino behind me when I took the photo. I wonder if they saw me stop to capture it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582601923372-UN0N5N6WLC720GU2FJ4W/NZ6_7145.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.24.20 Haunted Artifact I have an old camera sitting on the shelf that I cannot use, so I sat it upright and used a little pendant light that goes on Myrtle’s collar on the end of a bungee cord to create the “electricity” effect. I lit the right side with 4% light from a Lumecube and the other side was lit by my iPad on a stand several feet away. 30-second shutter at f/6.3. There’s really no point to this; I just wanted to play around with a long exposure and got a Ghostbuster-y result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582687491141-ZRXAD3Y8I74JO6T1WBU5/DSC_0622.jpg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.25.20 Rainy Evening on Broadway The rain cast this wonderful fog all over the city tonight, bouncing all that light back onto the streets and buildings below. I went up to the roof with my J5 and caught this vertical sliver of Broadway and Sycamore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582772996368-2LH5EX61AS5MW7GJGDW4/NZ6_7149.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.26.20 Procreate Project I’ve been spending more time recently drawing and painting in Procreate, which ultimately leaves me less time to be behind the lens. Today I had a little time and wanted to paint a photo I made last night for the sole purpose of painting it later. This is a photo of the finished product on my desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582844961157-73EB477MV6J3W927PNTF/NZ6_7162.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.27.20 Raise the Roof A building I photograph every month is growing upward. This month, a temporary staircase was added, so I was able to get up on the (original) roof to photograph the progress. As I lined up this shot, the sun poked through the clouds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1582990923355-D22GXC4JRWF7VR5Q1EHN/IMG_2291.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.28.20 Cincinnati is Good Here is a photo of a car that someone graffiti’d. Happy Bockfest! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583039056768-3X79VJM40PNLNZKHLODR/DSC_0660.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2020 - 2.29.20 Formerly Bremen Street As we walked to Bockfest Hall from the Race/Liberty streetcar station, we passed Republic Street. I’ve always liked how Macy’s sort of ends Republic in the distance. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-mar-2020 daily 0.75 2020-03-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583123170130-SNN887G5IQZBPWKP430R/NZ6_8048-HDR-Pano.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.1.20 New PC Lens The image of my living room above is 9814 x 5690 pixels at a near-16 x 8 aspect ratio. The reason it’s so huge and oddly shaped is because it’s a 16-image HDR panorama using a Nikon Nikkor 35mm ƒ/2.8 PC manual focus lens. I got the old, used lens at Procam earlier today while I was in the shop buying a new speedlight (Godox V860). My favorite salesperson, Pete, caught me right on the way out the door and let me slap it on my Z6. Being someone who's always wanted a shift lens, the $175 price tag was a steal compared to the modern $2500 glass I was pricing months ago. After messing around with it, I’ve determined it’s probably my favorite lens to mess around with even though it’s more difficult and time-consuming to use because it’s not auto-focusing and a little wonky to adjust. Using it to create crisp panoramas like the one above is extremely fun; I relish the moment when I can use this for work to create something truly special. Also, Lightroom took about a half hour to preview and render this single image, so it will not be a process I rely on for every image I make using this method. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583205524363-9U3FRG53LXD3ZU32KEOM/IMG_0818.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.2.20 Panorama Playing around with the shift lens, I created a three-photo pano of the street outside from my 4th-floor apartment. This was far less work to put together than the previous night’s image. I’m hoping to get out with my tripod this weekend to do more shift photography. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583269002587-QZKGILBWJG569D5JNRE0/NZ6_8084-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.3.20 Worsh 'Em I made a poster earlier, the style of which is inspired by British WWII-era propaganda I found online. I figured modernizing it would be a good way to get the message out about the current issue the world is facing together: coronavirus and how handwashing is a great way to slow its spread. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583411172411-98Q8KFXCNDWIBOLERXQN/NZ6_8111.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.4.20 The Traction Building I had to ask a Fifth Third guard if I could set up my tripod and take a photo of the Traction Building from the Skywalk. He said the Skywalk is a public walkway maintained by Fifth Third and that I’d normally need written permission, but this time was fine so long as I don’t photograph Fifth Third. The last time I set up a tripod on the Skywalk was before the shooting in 2018, so I suppose security measures have tightened. Understandably so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583466784227-3J8PTC5QUSK72KI9N0RW/IMG_2443.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.5.20 A Skee-Baller Waits Aaron and I went up to Holiday Spirits tonight to get falafel and ran into Ronny (of course) while there. Ronny manages a skee-ball league that plays out of that bar, which is essentially just a bunch of dudes who see who can hit the largest scores while recording them in a book with the words “fuck it” on the front. While paying the machine to release the nine balls required to play a round of skee-ball, he sat on the lane that’s out of order (which we played on for free until a mechanic came and ruined the run) and I snapped this photo on my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583553998731-QP3HZ3U1I5VNRM1VHB7O/NZ6_8398.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.6.20 A Kitchen Did a freelance shoot in Springdale today. Not really much else to say about it, to be honest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583610126941-7K5ZYVV8V8OBMVB5DFNH/NZ6_8457.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.7.20 Big Bison We went to Big Bone Lick this morning to hike and see the bison. Unfortunately, the bison were scattered behind a series of fences that ruined any possible clear line of sight, so I had to shoot extremely tight at the widest aperture possible to get around seeing the fuzz of an out-of-focus strand of metal lightening a section of each frame. This was one of the only photos where the fence wasn’t obstructing the middle of the shot. The bison looks mean, but they were very calm and surprisingly quiet for being so big. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583719684406-KH4U66E35ZGCCN4KR3TJ/IMG_2487.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.8.20 An Inexplicable Love The weather today was incredible; high 60s with clear skies and constant sunshine from sun up to sundown. We took a walk with the pup and while coming back to the apartment, we passed this scene on 8th Street. It’s just an ugly fence next to a wall bearing a two-tone paint job and yellow alphanumeric remnants. Due to its proximity to home, it’s nothing I haven’t seen a hundred times before, and for some reason, I’ve always noticed it when walking past. Today I decided I would take its photo. The sunlight and shadow and all the textures just make me feel good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583790062109-J6CNMU8ARTSO4ZHUYJ8E/DSC_0717-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.9.20 Training Day We live across the street from a firehouse, which often results in unique opportunities to see the men in action when they test equipment and practice…firemen stuff. Today, a few of them raised the ladder to their own rooftop. One man was in full firefighting gear and lugged a chainsaw up four stories. My office window looks directly onto 9th Street, so I always have my Nikon 1 J5 set up on a small tripod for quick capture should something happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583855217778-ZOS3VSIH0C2EC5IELSBA/IMG_2505.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.10.20 Don’t Be A-Freight of Vibrancy Kent Lofts in Bellevue, KY is a historic rehab of an old 26,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that will house 65 apartments and one hotel room (for residents’ guests). I toured it today for work and only took a few photos as it’s still under heavy construction. As most modern projects go, it’s a lot of white and grey to make the spaces neutral, but at the end of this hall was an incredibly colorful freight elevator door. The striking red on green caught my eye and I had to get a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1583960245892-KF17QTY4KTH16T78D2NF/750_6817-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.11.20 Corona Contingency Plan The virus is spreading. People are panicking. Events are canceling, schools are vacating, and the Governor of Ohio is suggesting people do not congregate to help slow the spread. We are in a state of emergency as of today. My job, while internet-based, is contingent on people going out to experience the city. Because there will be people staying home, I thought I should put together a piece about things you can do at home—but with a local slant. I put together a list of three local history blogs I enjoy and made this image the header. The screen is Photoshopped with the daily photo from February 17th. Without this daily photo project, I doubt I would’ve had that image on file and ready to use. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584065677553-KERBWNPF8AB4VUZKLNQE/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.12.20 Inventory Check Nothing says “living in 2020” like taking inventory of all available medical supplies in the house along with their expiration dates and sending a photo to your spouse so they can get what we need from the store. This is an actual photo I took earlier this afternoon and sent to Ashley. It wasn’t meant to be my photo of the day, but I can’t think of another image that would better encapsulate the anxiety we all feel today surrounding the pandemic that’s occurring at the moment. I marked the expiration dates in post on an iPad. It’s been a long, weird, distracting day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584158928480-U8L4JN7EX1QR10EXIKIO/IMG_2547.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.13.20 Virus Food I hate that today’s photo is the inside of my freezer. It’s boring and dumb, but it’s the only photo I took today. I took it at 11:56 PM. All of this is to say: it was a stressful day that lasted far too long. The news of the encroaching virus is giving me incredible anxiety. It’s an enemy I can’t see and can’t ensure I’ll avoid. It could be in me right now while I infect my wife and friends. None of us will know until next week. And we’re all expected to keep living life as normally as possible. I’m having trouble seeing what that should look like at this point. With every museum closure, event cancellation, and new breaking news story, my anxiety intensifies. Society is slowly shutting itself down to slow the spread of this thing. Our freezer will keep us fed for a little bit before we have to go back to the store—social distancing is crucial at this point. I hope tomorrow I feel more stable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584205869665-ZMDUBOQEP4YS75KOSQOU/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.14.20 Early Voting Friends, Ashley, and I all drove to the Board of Elections to vote early this afternoon. There, campaign volunteers are relegated to a small area to hold up signs and yell the names of the politicians they support. We walked past them and I turned around and took a quick photo. Everyone was nice. It was actually refreshing to see smiling faces surrounding an election instead of anger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584327717872-M20USTEQ0VRDNU52YM4Z/NZ6_8640.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.15.20 Goodbye, US Playing Card Co. It's been a mental struggle to get through every day since the outbreak came to Ohio. Restaurants and bars are now closed. You can get carryout, but no one is allowed to congregate indoors at those places any longer. While this sounds like oppression, it's not—our local government is just trying to stop COVID from spreading, and I appreciate the drastic measures they're taking. Anyway, I got out for an hour with a friend today and that helped clear my head for a bit. We photographed two buildings that are slated for demolition. This one is the former home to US Playing Card Co. It's a damn shame it has to come down; the tower will remain, but everything else will go. Even though preservation efforts in Cincinnati seem like they're continually on the rise, we're reminded of how far we still need to go when you realize a beauty like this will soon be reduced to dust. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584412280938-SSWDGW4DURC99MHGKGAN/IMG_9060.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.16.20 The Emptiest Dog Park Kentucky followed suit and closed all bars and restaurants today to limit people from congregating. The Fed imposed a ban of 10 or more people in the same place. The city imposed a 6-foot distance law to keep people out of each other’s orbit. This whole thing is absolutely psychotic. I spent the entire day on calls trying to get content created for Refined because so much of our programming fell by the wayside. Finally got a chance to take Myrtle to the park in the evening and we saw three people the whole time. It was eerie and horrible. I want this nightmare to end. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584498383296-GO2D0O79RIV5GKI41GIH/IMG_2584.JPG daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.17.20 Pooetry When you got-a-go on the go but there is no one to tow you to and fro https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584583766926-ID0I7GX063AC43E48F6G/IMG_2602.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.18.20 WFH Ashley is now working from home. Things are getting worse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584669192236-9T5X9UB950L0RS0GNCZO/IMG_2620.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.19.20 Hard Day Today was a hard day. From the lingering horror of the spreading virus and mentally grappling with our new quality of life to a scare with a tornado warning tonight that forced my wife into a full-on panic in the basement garage, I am beyond drained in this moment. Add to the fact that I do not feel physically well, and you have one bad day. Maybe tomorrow will feel semi-normal again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584758398353-61ZORV5M65OS95W449TF/IMG_2634.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.20.20 An Empty Place I had a better day today because I didn’t read the news. The dull ache at the base of my heart that pulled up through the base of my back was reduced significantly. I know it’s because of stress; I’ve never felt a physical reaction quite like that from stress before. I finished work at 3 PM and walked to the hardware store to buy 200 disposable latex gloves. My anxiety was high walking in there because it’s a small shop and the staff are generally older. Had to maneuver the aisles to make sure I didn’t get too close to anyone. As I passed the hardware store on the lonely walk home, I peered into the Goodyear at the corner of 9th and Sycamore. Usually there are mechanics working in the garage, but today it was totally empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584844081616-VUIN0O9IPQ8H7QWP3S9H/NZ6_8668.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.21.20 The Public To get my mind off what’s happening in the world, I watched The Public tonight. I know I’m several years late to the party, but I enjoyed it. Several scenes took place under the skywalk and I needed only look out my living room window to see where it was filmed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584931971574-K23N10GS5NK5PLG3Z94E/DSC_0761.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.22.20 The Outside The threat of COVID-19 has us sheltering in place every day. We do not hang out with others because it is not recommended to do so. However, we are allowed to go outside so long as we keep our distance from others. Myrtle has been taking it especially hard because we are not going to the dog park as often. Today, though, we went to P&G’s east lawn and played ball for about 20 minutes. She was incredibly happy to get out and run around for awhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1584991334590-0Q484QHBNJJZ834AJKJE/IMG_2663.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.23.20 Man in the Yellow Jacket I went to the store earlier and it was extremely stressful. Almost no one seemed concerned about keeping their distance, save for the two people in the store who had masks on. I held my breath so much, I felt dizzy by the end of the trip. After I put away all my groceries in the back of the car, I took a moment to breathe in the fresh air from the edge of the parking garage. A man in a yellow jacket was walking down the alley all alone across the street; yellow, the color of caution, was a reminder that I need to stay safe during this whole ordeal lest I contract the sickness and become hospitalized. Losing that much time and money, not to mention endangering my family and my own health, isn’t something I want or need. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585102052475-OQUSYDM9BIP685204VR9/DSC_0766.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.24.20 Urban Life I spent the evening watching TV to relax. Had a little bit of a meltdown earlier this morning over the whole virus situation. Decided to treat the rest of the day with kid gloves and get back to doing stuff that relaxes me. Made this photo moments ago from the window behind my desk. I like that little corner so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585188593054-1XWRYHI4YS9OGXH1GFLQ/DSC_0777.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.25.20 Hard Boiled Just a closeup on some hard boiled eggs because the sunlight was coming straight into the kitchen and lit them up in a way I thought looked pretty. There’s not a whole lot going on day to day here, guys. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585274040099-86PYBPYIMU9NHLWNZ3OY/IMG_2781.JPG daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.26.20 Neighbors We do not have neighbors across the hall. It’s an Airbnb. Tonight we heard someone go through the door and I instinctively went over to look through the peephole to see if I could catch a glimpse. Then I realized that I’m just very eager to have an interaction with a neighbor. It’s been over a week since I’ve seen anyone in our building besides one person who was taking their dog out at the same time I was outside with Myrtle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585344083136-LWXNVM37CFFGDDOT1W44/IMG_2801.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.27.20 Standing in the Sliver Myrtle and I took a walk this afternoon to stretch our legs in the nice weather. As we came home, we passed under the overpass. The light was nice, so I aligned myself in the sliver of sunlight and took a photo. No one was around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585437171435-OSH3K81HTDEVP5MPKF11/NZ6_8733.jpg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.28.20 Layover I was trying to take a photo of the plane when a bird perfectly crossed its path. Unfortunately, the bird was out of focus for the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585538667093-5IGAM8XMVZKIF33SJW4J/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.29.20 Bicentennial Corner The weather was beautiful, so we took a long walk through Mt. Adams and Bicentennial Commons this morning. Lots of people were out, but we managed to cross the street and avoid coming into contact with everyone we could. I liked this particular spot in the park because of the yellow/blue combination. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585623919578-OEN5HCXC8VGERCUZMRUQ/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.30.20 Barnard’s Lincoln Walked down to Lytle Park this afternoon and took every possible photograph imaginable of the Abe Lincoln statue for a history piece I’m doing for Refined. This is one of the frames I liked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585703906158-YWDII65GWI0XE9YUQIOX/IMG_2845.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2020 - 3.31.20 I Had the Meats If you’re reading this, I hope you understand that I am in a creative funk at the moment. It’s not something I’m proud of, and, quite frankly, I’m having trouble getting a grip on it. Since Coronavirus took over the world, I haven’t felt like playing with lights and coming up with unique content. I haven’t wanted to go out and photograph the city. I don’t want to do anything but sit on my ass and eat bad foods to temporarily feel better. I won’t say I’m depressed because I know what that feels like, and this isn’t quite to that level, but I am without a doubt struggling creatively. I feel like I’m rummaging for hard, barely warm curly fry dandruff at the bottom of the sleeve. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/about daily 0.75 2026-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/e630f725-5b49-4358-83df-65aadff6a228/DSC_0000-110-Edit.jpg about & portfolio http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-apr-2020 daily 0.75 2020-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585773243899-1OM257O8229AJW58LBQF/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.1.20 April Fooler This isn’t a Photoshopped image. This is, in fact, a digital double exposure. I was reading the April issue of Digital Photographer last night, and in it, there’s an interview with a guy who talks about doing digital double exposures fully in-camera without editing them in post. I thought it would be neat to give it a serious go (traditionally, I’ve never been interested), so I thought of this concept and planned to do it the next day. After seeing the final result, I felt better about myself creatively; yesterday I talked about the nasty creative rut I’ve been in due to the global pandemic. This little boost of excitement this afternoon was all I needed to remind me that it’s just a phase and it, too, shall pass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585879626073-4IFOQSK6DUCCL289CGB4/IMG_2921.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.2.20 Do Not Enter Scarcely a person was on the street this evening, save for a roving band of teens clearly unconcerned with social distancing. We walked the dog up 7th Street and took in the barrenness around us, stopping from time to time to read the closed signs on every business along our route. We came across this cleverly placed street sign next to the folded bowling alley. The purple and orange framed by the columns with the street sign accidentally prohibiting us from going into either alleys was irresistible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1585968091034-CSW85P4O6KV8L2R4SX6B/NZ6_9020.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.3.20 A Short Story Another in-camera double exposure, this time about the fact that I shaved my head this week. I never enjoy taking photos of myself because it’s such a pain in the ass, but I really like how this one turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586051464646-3691OFFO2EMKBH0YKFI5/IMG_2988.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.4.20 O Fallon Avenue Hill We took the pup to Bellevue Beach Park today to get a little walking in and ended up wandering the neighborhood for a while, moving out of the way of others to ensure we didn’t infect them. I took the 35mm film camera with me and snapped nearly the whole roll without realizing it. After we got back in the car, we drove up O Fallon Avenue to see a house that was on the market (way out of our price range) and ended up climbing an incredible hill that had a fantastic view of the city at the top. On our way back down, I stopped the car, took my last photo on the roll, snapped one on digital (this one), and we drove home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586143497146-ODL7RWQMS0ZE83CIP7H1/NZ6_9042.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.5.20 Get Low Took Myrtle to Lytle Park and tossed ball with her for about 30 minutes. She had a blast. Captured a few of her moves. We still can’t see anyone or do anything because of the pandemic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586229742813-BTAX2BB5490FCXDH8D9L/NZ6_9074-HDR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.6.20 Productivity Spent nearly the whole day here. I am here now. Took a few hours to watch TV with Ashley earlier, but I am here otherwise. Just figured I should document my workspace. It’s cozier than it looks in this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586309812423-NCI8MS1SOQXD0G8UEGD8/NZ6_9150.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.7.20 Pink Supermoon From Price Hill I planned to photograph tonight’s pink supermoon from the rooftop before someone I know suggested the Price Hill Incline District. It was a total “duh” moment. We drove up to the park, I planted my tripod in place and snapped a few frames as it slowly materialized from behind clouds on the horizon. As it rose, it increased in luminosity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586399189799-DZPYWCQYCWPK1S2L7CFM/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.8.20 Gotta See What’s Happening Ashley was trying to see what the street construction noise was all about. Myrtle looked on, confused. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586480905922-ZOOTUU1UZNSJKXP694HY/750_6840.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.9.20 A Classic View Went to five overlooks today for a ‘Best Views of Cincinnati’ piece for work. This one is from Mt. Adams. I’ve always loved getting the Times-Star and City Hall in the same frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586573813939-35JBMJD5LROKKU523KXO/DSC_0882.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.10.20 Emptiness While taking a walk with Myrtle this afternoon (she’s struggling with not having anything to do), we went our usual route under the highway ramps and came upon this scene. It’s one I’ve seen many times before, and even more so lately, but something about it today just felt extra desolate. The world feels remarkably devoid of activity right now because of the pandemic. Like we’re all holding our breath for a second too long under water, wishing we could dowse the burning sensation building at the back of our throats with a cool gasp of air but having to hold it in for a little longer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586659519493-LGYGTD8XY8TDO51EQFAZ/IMG_3074.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.11.20 Taft’s Message On an evening walk, we made our way past the Taft Theatre with its COVID-19-inspired message laid out across its backlit marquee. There was no one on the street but us and a few cars. I hate the stillness of Downtown right now. Even though the virus hasn’t infected me, this emptiness certainly has. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586740579622-GTMJN87FU4SWIV2853XQ/IMG_3108.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.12.20 Into Nature! We went to the Cincinnati Nature Center this morning to get a break from home. It was nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586827057932-B8266NCE07VNQS4HXMZD/DSC_0936.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.13.20 Road Work They’re resurfacing Broadway from 4th to Eggleston since there aren’t cars on the road now. It’s loud, it’s nearly constant, and it’s right below our west-facing windows. We took a walk up and down Broadway to get a sense of what they’re doing. Tonight we’re going to pretend like we’re on vacation and sleep in the guest bedroom because it’s on the north side of the building away from Broadway. They’re still working out there as of 9:15 PM, so we don’t know how late it’s going to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1586913223277-05WITPBWXNV0D3OL6YFE/NZ6_9228.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.14.20 History Uncovered All of yesterday’s roadwork on Broadway uncovered the history of the street beneath it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587006069620-4D169MBCGW4ATXCBKFD8/NZ6_9465.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.15.20 Working From Home Ashley needed to record herself talking about her gym for a video, so I set up some fun lighting (there may have been a toaster oven grate involved) and went to great lengths to make it look and sound professional. While the audio needed some work, I am super pleased with how the visuals turned out. This is a test still from the production. I honestly looked forward to doing this all day and it was incredibly fun to have a vision in my head come to life after figuring out how to do it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587094709847-JM6TIMWZQA2BLG1UGQGY/IMG_3224.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.16.20 DIY Tonight I made a custom honeycomb grid to fit over my cheap studio lights. Using black duct tape, I cobbled together a series of sticky loops and tried my best to form them to the size of the light. It’s not pretty, but it does a fairly good job considering A) I’ve never made one before, and B) it’s just a bunch of tape stuck together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587174986112-MM7YI3P9F5HZU4UA5ABA/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.17.20 Migraine Party Ashley had a migraine so we made her a little tent that cut the light, and Myrtle wanted in. I stuck my phone under the covers and got this sweet scene. Ashley knew what I was doing when I was doing it, she just had her eyes closed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587309034794-9WXJSR7IG3KTEJOGU2CR/NZ6_9557-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.18.20 We Went Camping We wanted to switch things up, so we put up the tent in the living room, surrounded it with houseplants, and did a little photo shoot. It’s been a long quarantine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587347193477-TLR0WPGNVY7KP0MGM88O/IMG_3291.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.19.20 A Good Sunset It was a rainy, grey day today, but the sunset was really nice. I’ve found my mood is an almost 1:1 match with the weather now since there’s little to do indoors that we haven’t already done. Being outside, even if we’re away from others, is still better than sitting around inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587436218511-0T73ENJ3IZJ34FTD0GD6/IMG_3301.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.20.20 Spring on Spring Took the dog on a walk through Pendleton this morning. This is Spring Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587517812199-WS1KM4XYND9U1WHQ86L7/NZ6_9586.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.21.20 The Girls I realize this month has been mainly photos of Ashley and Myrtle, but there’s not a LOT happening during this quarantine except the occasional walk through a largely empty city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587581471746-ZJDQ875ZZ1BVURE4B0N8/NZ6_9679-Edit.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.22.20 Standing With Myself Five exposures Photoshopped together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587697751617-U9OMB90GX3HMNIQXF3X1/NZ6_9786-Edit.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.23.20 Flower Shoot Today was an exceptionally grey, wet day, so I set up some lights and made colorful photos of flowers. This is one of the photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587757493814-0MNQFTG3P4K9HK3RSCZI/750_6992.jpg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.24.20 Findlay Vacant Lunchtime at Findlay Market on a Friday during a pandemic. Saw about 35 people in the whole place, not including workers. About half had masks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587871553091-ZVDPG05KL6U0ASXKIWFY/IMG_3515.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.25.20 Not My Art We packed a picnic basket and went to Lytle Park to eat under a tree and enjoy the weather while it was sunny. While there, Ashley made this little organic configuration and I thought it was cute. It was the only photo I made the whole day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1587955682098-XVQIYETS1854T9T0GZ9G/IMG_3518.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.26.20 Sniffing Around New Trails Disregarding the forecast, we all put on rain jackets and drove to Tower Park in Fort Thomas. It was a first for Myrtle and I. The three of us walked along muddy trails without seeing a single person the whole time. As it turns out, rain is the ultimate social distancing agent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588040896846-VX7VBCS2GYVS2Q6LV6TD/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.27.20 Thick Fog Around the Art Museum When we woke up this morning, a thick fog had totally shrouded the basin and limited visibility. You could barely see past Main Street from the living room. As the sun rose, the fog began to burn off, revealing landmarks that had been hidden moments earlier. As the Cincinnati Art Museum crept into view, I got a photo of its tower just above the tree line with a zoom lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588127367599-DTJGSHQ7XCO20EWI95YS/B98FCC9D-38CE-4AC5-9387-783F6BF8C6A2.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.28.20 Trailer Art Went to Florence, KY to do a shoot this afternoon and this trailer was nearby. While they were making the food for the shoot, I went over and got a photo of it. It’s a trailer they’ve painted to advertise another business associated with the restaurant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588209935970-WJ3X0Q1EWJT543T12AMO/NZ6_0068.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.29.20 Lavender Shade It was 5 PM. My work day had officially hit the time at which a beer was acceptable. After pulling a Shade out of the fridge, I turned to set it on the counter and snap the tab back. As I swiveled to place the can, a vase of these purple and yellow flowers caught my eye. I held the can up to the arrangement and realized they’d make a good couple. Grabbing my Lume Cube and flash with a purple gel, I set everything in the other room together on a marble slab. The flash shot upward behind the can and flowers and the Lume Cube provided soft white light that I swept back and forth during the 2-second exposure to eliminate aggressive shadowing. This was the result. After spending so much time last week on a flower shot, this one’s brevity really made the whole process so much more fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588302160423-MY36OWZH3XJFCUXFDNA0/IMG_3618.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2020 - 4.30.20 The Bike Room I spent too much of the day working on Refined and wrapping up loose ends on personal projects, and I forgot to make a photo of the day until the very end. While taking the dog outside for her last trip of the night, I photographed the bike room that faces Eggleston Avenue. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-may-2020 daily 0.75 2020-05-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588392000336-TPOR33RMP66UVUTJT681/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.1.20 Bedinger Street The street that feels like an alley right by our home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588553321149-1IRORUYA8K8KWVXF3N1I/NZ6_0428.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.2.20 House on the Hill Seeking a break in routine and needing to get out of the city for a night to do something new, we went east to Ripley, OH to camp on Vince’s farm that he shares with other dudes. The farmhouse was shrouded in darkness, so I set up a tripod and took a 3-minute exposure while running a Lumecube through the scene to create the light trail. The fire nearby, which barely illuminated the side of the house, came alive during the long exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588553320753-WJOV14OZKPDRBNF20UR2/NZ6_0462-Edit.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.3.20 Five Trees Vince’s farm sits atop a pretty high hill and has great lines of sight to distant places. Far off in the distance were these five trees on someone’s property. Using my longest zoom lens and a tripod, I waited for a break in the clouds before snapping this. There was a very low, very thin wire that cut through the bottom right of the image, so I removed that in post and brightened the whole thing up so it looked a little more vibrant. I didn’t alter the composition beyond removing the wire. I loved how clean and minimalist it is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588643771270-A9V0E58RM0M7XZZTB3OS/NZ6_0500.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.4.20 A WWII Enthusiast Patrick McCue, a local WWII enthusiast and photographer, sent me a text about coming down to the Times-Star to take a photo of himself in uniform for the anniversary of VE Day on May 8th. Seeing an opportunity to do something creative, I asked if I could help him. He agreed, and I brought lighting accessories so he didn’t have to. We set up the shot he had in mind and together we took a photo. The photo above isn’t that photo; after we made the picture he wanted, I asked him to pose in front of the doors of the Times-Star so I could get a portrait. I used an umbrella on the left and a gold reflector on the right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588724560969-QW45OW767ZSPQJMYMA4L/IMG_3729.jpeg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.5.20 How Many Does It Take? One. It takes one in a bucket. That’s how many. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588822003882-I9FBAD7MRNL1UXRFM8IA/IMG_3756.jpeg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.6.20 A Blue House In Pendleton. Just thought it looked nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588908593636-UNZG81MMJFWA2NPXNY89/IMG_3783.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.7.20 Dom and Judi I took my bike to Spun last week for new brakes and a tune up, and got it back today. It’s like a brand new bike; new handles, new chain, new shifter, new brakes, and a revived motivation to get out and run it around town. The bike hadn’t been serviced since I bought it in 2012 when I was still living in Mt. Washington, so it needed a lot of work. Dom and Judi, pictured, run Spun. They’re not letting anyone in the shop right now because of COVID and ask customers to knock on the door and wait on the sidewalk for service. I paid them over the phone so we didn’t even have to hand a credit card between each other. Seeing them take this seriously makes me happy. Before I left, I asked if I could get a photo of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1588995609353-V51VA89QHKDS6LUIB2M5/NZ6_1004.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.8.20 Flor and Alex Today I had a quick little shoot and interview with Flor and Alex at Sitwell’s Act II in Clifton for work. They’re doing their best to offer the customers food and drinks by way of carryout, curbside pickup, and delivery to areas within a ten minute drive from the coffee house and restaurant. I made a portrait of them for the feature and like it enough to make it today’s photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589077778582-BNKR6DY8KL5MVRUK6011/NZ6_1150.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.9.20 Art Climb Took my bike up to the corner of Eden Park and Gilbert this morning to get photos of the Art Museum’s new staircase, the Art Climb. Having nowhere to lock up my bike, I carried it by hand all the way up the stairs to the top where I knew the Art Museum had bike racks available. After securing the bike, I walked up and down the staircase with a 24-120mm and a wide angle to get shots of it. Later on, after the sun went down, I returned to see it lit up. The whole thing looks really good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589169494121-AZZOI3KLQMSCBYGGX68F/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.10.20 In the Moment I was in the moment the entire day and didn’t take a single photo except for this one. Tomorrow will be more interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589247185052-A1G302GG7G8T5UG4ASP7/DSC_1039.jpeg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.11.20 House Hunters This is our lives now. Just constantly looking at the Realtor and Zillow app, trying to find a suitable house to move into at the end of the year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589329642273-14MGCBOWP0CCPT9UWY74/NZ6_1473.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.12.20 Laura Lane I did listing photos for this cute little house in Norwood earlier this afternoon. I used the PC lens from the street to get this upright angle from its best side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589399948205-PVPX9AI8ADDYH2M8FIOS/NZ6_1490.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.13.20 Life in Quarantine Trying to document the simple things in life during quarantine. It's important to document my space as I won't be here forever and might want to look back on it from time to time. This is my spot in the living room when Ashley and I relax in the evening. There’s a weird draft in this spot that I can’t figure out, but it’s fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589514858928-IBE4CETURST36ZZR2GK2/IMG_3939.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.14.20 Struts We looked at a house in Covington today. We’re not buying it, but we liked it. On our way back, we stopped and I snapped this photo from a Taco Bell parking lot. I just liked the way the city was framed between the sun-lit train track struts. Too bad I didn’t have my proper camera with me. Also, I’ve taken an intentional photo every day for 500 days at this point. Proud of this milestone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589597555151-D5I37420QJIIS3A26PF1/NZ6_1500.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.15.20 Being Anti-Social Five minutes and 12 seconds. That's how long this long exposure is. And, as you can see, about five cars rolled through the intersection that entire time. It's a Friday night without anyone in the lot below waving at the jail. Three 20-somethings crank a Drake song in the black parked car and scream the entire time. An invisible neighbor walks his dogs up and around the red PAY HERE station, but you'd never know it by looking at the photo. I was going to go to the roof, but dreaded the thought of not being alone; if quarantine has done anything for me, it's undoubtedly enabled excuses for my natural inclination to avoid others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589687162799-9IV8Z99AL0X15J2QMN34/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.16.20 Binoculars I had an idea in my head for a photo and it didn’t work. It’s late. I have to go draw a dog for charity before bed. This is the best I could do with limited time. I didn’t mean for this to turn out so…patriotic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589754564842-H0Z5NXASGTSXZG3D4OU4/NZ6_1585.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.17.20 Flood Walk We loaded the dog in the car this morning and drove to the Dayton flood wall. The humidity was a particular challenge considering just a few days ago we were in long pants and jackets. Along the wall, which is really more of a hump with a paved path at its summit, we could see both sides of Dayton: the older, grittier side with dilapidated chain link fences and pools filled with green, murky water, and the newer, oddly suburban side with million-plus homes along the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589855377667-B1XOOCDCQOAZQPWAFYPY/NZ6_2030.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.18.20 Cheer Squad I’m photographing CPS graduations all this week and next week, and tonight it rained cats and dogs through both of them. After wrapping up my gear and putting on my raincoat, I did my best and completed both shoots/submitted the photos all before 10 PM. While I don’t feel comfortable showing my best frames from either event because I haven’t shown them to the client, I can show this one: a group of enthusiastic bystanders cheering on one of their friends from the streetcar platform as they rolled by with their diploma in hand. Their excitement was impossible not to love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1589943056152-XN5WMJRPSFBBXJPPLA9E/key-356-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.19.20 Clean Key I ordered one of these generic “clean keys” back in March because I was afraid to touch anything in public and it took until the end of May to get here. You can find these little tools all over the internet right now; they essentially make it possible to use keypads and open handle-operated doors without actually touching anything. They exploded onto the scene at the onset of the pandemic in the US, littering Instagram feeds for weeks. The times in which we live dictate we not handle anything we don’t have to, so this is an especially useful piece of metal and I chose to plunk down the $10 to have a little extra protection. Anyway, I threw it up in the air a bunch of times with flashes pointed in both directions and made this composite in Photoshop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590029802383-CNQRFWL0CZDAJ2D15X3P/750_7937.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.20.20 Popping Confetti to Celebrate Continued shooting CPS drive-thru graduations with RESLV. We did Shroder in Madisonville and Hughes STEM High School in CUF tonight. They happened concurrently, so I had to ditch Shroder after 30 minutes to get to Hughes on time. The scene was chaotic, and I felt for the organizers who seemed to be stressed, but at least the students and their friends had fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590113617837-3KYS4261Y3GYRALELMFB/750_8144.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.21.20 Pom-Pom Salute I shot Oyler and Taft’s graduations today. Taft’s was held at Union Terminal because construction on the FC Cincinnati stadium has taken up too much space around the school. Personally, I think this school got the best location for drive-thru graduation. Its wide-open layout was a departure from previous days’ tiny locations. Hell, even Oyler’s drive-thru grad on Hatmaker hours before Taft’s was tight. While all that extra space was great, I ran my tail off to get photos in several locations, so by the time I got back on my bike to go home, I was already winded. I don’t feel comfortable showing shots of the kids, but I thought this scene was visually interesting. The way the perspective shows the building and the people curving down and to the left was appealing to my eye. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590207648516-NN3XH40WA4LG54LYXTY8/NZ6_4362.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.22.20 Sundown on High School Did Gamble Montessori in Westwood and Clark Montessori in Hyde Park today. Gamble had the better venue, but Clark had the better light. Guess which series turned out better? After getting their diplomas, the kids literally rode off into the setting sun while a hundred waving hands and half as many masked ‘hoorays’ excitedly congratulated them for their achievement. I chose this photo from the series because it protects the privacy of the student and accurately showcases the pretty, warm sunlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590286393357-6SBFGH2NQQI5NL5BJHFS/IMG_3991.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.23.20 Tires & Tiers No graduations to photograph today. There were many cars at the jail this morning. Not sure if they’ve opened visitation again or what, but it was unusual to see so many vehicles parked there on the weekend. I always liked how this corner rose like a connectivity icon, so I took a photo with my phone in one hand and a coffee in the other. The way the cars lined up below it and the gradual rise in building height looked good together, I thought. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590377935821-IF5GLMYLVB8CINLDOHYQ/DSC_1096.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.24.20 Simplicity We fattened our tires and got a sunburn in Dayton and Bellevue this morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590457792744-YB4N57UMT1L069PX11VQ/DSC_1109.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.25.20 A Scene by the River Yeatman’s Cove and the surrounding parks were awash in people this morning. Though it was unbearably hot, we managed a lengthy walk while avoiding people as much as we could. Even the tennis courts, which are usually just a vacant memory of the late 1980s and 1990s, were packed with people batting fluorescent tennis balls back and forth. I’ve personally never witnessed that park as crowded on a non-marathon morning as it was today. It was weird; I was overjoyed to see everyone enjoying the public space, but every growing wave of excitement eventually crashed as soon as I remembered there is a pandemic actively happening around the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590547719473-4RKD1IGAIVTTNUJYTI29/750_8732.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.26.20 DARG STARGNOC Dater’s graduation in Western Hills was tonight. The sun was going behind a big, thick cloud and the wind was whipping the gold strands in a good way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590636489469-76ZOVH182BZNYYQWJXGG/NZ6_6016.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.27.20 Happy Hug At the Virtual High School graduation tonight, these three adorable kids went in for a group hug as I raised my camera to capture the crowd cheering on a student riding away in a cool old car. I didn’t even notice them when I took the photo; I just put my reticule on the crowd and snapped in an effort to get the car out of focus to visually explain how the crowd was the real show of this scene. It was only after I got it into Lightroom that I noticed the kids, and I thought it was incredibly heart-warming. No one was aware I was taking a photo except these three. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590723252772-Y98YTMEVKCD6S99A9UP1/NZ6_6938-Pano.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.28.20 Bellevue Lofts I have huge news to tell you, but I’m not ready to announce it to the world just yet. It’s related to this image I made today inside the new Kent Lofts in Bellevue. This was a model unit. I wish I’d had more time to properly stage it for this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590807491467-XELRWAD8QLHJ349YLHDS/750_9360.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.29.20 A Welcome Distraction It’s been a horrible day. You already know why. Today, though, I photographed two graduations, one of which was at Western Hills High School. I felt so good photographing the graduates, scores of smiling friends and family, and teachers. This mascot (the mustang) cheered on incoming graduates as they entered the lot. I needed that temporary distraction from reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590904058329-3XVUJN2MM13NV6CEXGH1/NZ6_8209.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.30.20 Staying Home After last night’s protest turned violent, small business owners boarded up their shops and restaurants this morning to prevent further damage to their property. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1590982574447-PE92OXRH8N115YDZM1CA/NZ6_8242.jpg daily-photos-may-2020 - 5.31.20 Night Three of Protests Today, a peaceful protest at Inwood Park marched through Cincinnati and ended about 7 PM. The mayor imposed a 9 PM city-wide curfew earlier in the morning to remove as many people from the streets as possible later in the evening. Unsurprisingly, a large group of protestors remained on the street, confronting police at the steps of the courthouse. Right before 9 PM, tensions boiled over and a skirmish broke out. Hundreds scattered when tear gas was deployed on the crowd, and many ran south toward 9th Street where I could see them from my desk with a zoom lens. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jun-2020 daily 0.75 2020-06-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591061303675-XHXBR28CMK6TTHYZ7MFE/NZ6_8274.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.1.20 Reunited The police are currently arresting a bunch of people on McMicken for breaking the 8 PM curfew. They even arrested a journalist by mistake, then let him go as soon as scores of people online yelled at city council, the mayor, and the police chief on Twitter. Last night, they arrested hundreds for doing the same thing, and today they were slowly released throughout the course of the day. I could see them coming out of the jail every 20 minutes or so. Ronny tweeted a photo of a man who was released from jail and I recognized him as the fiance of a freelancer who I regularly work with. The tweet said he was waiting on his fiance to be released. I kept an eye on him for 3 more hours, waiting for her to walk through the giant metal gates. Every time those gates would open and protestors were released, the crowd across the street would cheer. I got my camera ready, cracked the window so I had a clear shot and could hear the crowd, and waited. At 6:39 PM, the crowd erupted, she emerged from the jail onto the sidewalk, and I got this photo of them embracing in the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591149958274-FUMQZQUP3XQKBMDZSDHM/IMG_4198.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.2.20 CSX Line Just some tracks that run between Grandview and Taylor in Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591236448464-TAEWCNOQQ7I0ATCYA89F/IMG_4208.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.3.20 A Break in the Clouds I can’t tell you about this photo. Not now, at least. It’s just the only good thing happening in our lives at the moment and I feel simultaneously guilty and proud of us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591320524590-I09VFMVZP4IQHVKCZISF/750_9548.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.4.20 Moline Court Had a shoot in Northside today and stopped on Moline Court before going back home. It’s always great for a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591414964457-WB9D6A6KEB5WKTEN1N05/IMG_4237.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.5.20 Washington Avenue, Bellevue Took a walk with Cody, Chelsea, and Vince tonight. We wandered around the neighborhood and got ice cream. It was relaxing and much needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591504583420-PPHQ5EPAJ8CHTVXKPBD3/IMG_4265.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.6.20 Art on Main As we walked through Downtown this afternoon, I noticed Down to Mars Vintage had colorful boards on their windows. Because of the riots last week, many businesses Downtown and in Over-the-Rhine have placed boards on their windows and doors, and nearly all of them have art on them now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591584055389-SF1RH7RF9C3D2CVDK4TC/IMG_4279.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.7.20 Justice for George Protests have been happening for a week and a half now, and while there was a significant amount of violence in Cincinnati last Friday, the danger from protesting dwindled over the ensuing days. Cops stopped tear-gassing people and it became safe to peacefully protest again. Today, Aaron and I went to Fountain Square to show our support of BLM and justice for every black American who has been murdered by police. Thousands of people packed the Square with signs held above their heads. I’m not photographing these protests right now because I don’t know what the etiquette is, but also just because I want to participate without photography. Pointing a camera at others can be perceived as hostile, and I do not want to make anyone uncomfortable, especially now. So, I took this one iPhone photo of the back of a sea of heads to chronicle the protest without worrying about ruining someone’s privacy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591668957007-35FJW5SPXB6T22IW7213/NZ6_8306.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.8.20 A Grand View Grandview Avenue in Bellevue. I like these three identical houses a lot, and if you go up on the hill where the elementary school is, you can see this view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591755554967-K6VYKRMLQ5KC1ACTF1V9/NZ6_8422.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.9.20 The Vista Shot the new Lytle Park Hotel today, and the top floor is an indoor-outdoor rooftop bar that can be adapted to the weather. Sliding doors open to let fresh air in on temperate days, and stay shut when the weather isn’t cooperating. Today they were shut because it was humid and hot. There’s an additional outdoor area beyond the glass that is always open to the elements. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591838624401-XXTEC6712RMNCT34WETJ/NZ6_8462-Pano-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.10.20 The Lytle Park Hotel I went back to the Lytle Park Hotel this evening to get a better exterior and ended up with this panorama. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1591923947623-SS21SL23AVXY9PLVQE59/IMG_4307.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.11.20 Weaver Detour I got coffee at BlaCk Coffee this morning, and as I was walking home, I took a detour down Weaver Alley. The sun was shining on the brick in the best way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592008948020-X2UXG3CU06TE0IM41XEU/IMG_4331.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.12.20 The Big Peach We drove south for 12 hours today on our way to Florida. The drive was long and I’m tired. Being in a car that long is tortuous, but with a pandemic happening and wanting to travel with the dog, driving is the only option. The only remotely interesting part of the drive was when we entered Atlanta for 45 minutes and got stuck in traffic. This is an iPhone photo through the windshield. It’s not a great photo, but I didn’t have many other options. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592099173341-34XYPP1KL26B52XTEGEY/NZ6_8488.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.13.20 Beach Dog After what felt like a billion hours, we finally made it to Ft. Myers. Surprising no one, Myrtle got to experience the beach for the first time in her life and nearly died of excitement. Lead a water dog to the Gulf of Mexico and she’ll hop around in the sea until you literally have to reel her back in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592183585958-H3B732GJKD23G5BSKHO6/NZ6_8535.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.14.20 Calm Down, Clouds Fort Myers in the summer is a different Fort Myers than the one I’ve known in years past when we’ve gone in the spring. The torrential downpours are as intense as they are unpredictable, sneaking up on you before you have much of a chance to react to them. Thankfully, every time they’ve popped up, we were near our rental car or at the Airbnb. This was one of the moments when it wasn’t pouring buckets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592275103561-GKEW32Z91GBSHSCNTRNT/NZ6_8752.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.15.20 The Fisherman During a sunset walk on the beach, I was trying to take photos of pelicans diving into the gulf without much luck when I ran across this dude fishing. I was using my Tamron 150-600mm, so it was anything but inconspicuous. I took this photo and started to walk away when his wife, who I didn’t realize was with him and nearby, made eye contact and asked if I’d taken his photo. Not knowing which way this interaction was going to go, I admitted to it and walked toward her. “Website"?” She asked. Not feeling like trying to tell her where I’d be posting this and already giving myself points for honesty to the first question, I replied, “Just a hobbyist trying to take photos of birds.” It’s wasn’t untrue, technically speaking. She seemed satisfied with that answer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592338011677-2YLH9ENVG47C792W8XAI/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.16.20 A Fish Crow Ponders We went to the Fort Myers Pier this morning and I saw a fish crow standing on the railing. I used my 150-600mm Tamron to take a photo of it. The light reflecting off the water many feet behind it gave the photo a dreamy bokeh effect I liked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592440232256-1YVS10KPGR3222Q0T0KZ/IMG_4420.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.17.20 Beach House We left the rental beach house this morning. I took a photo on the way out. 5531 Palmetto Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592519938916-L3YIWAQKV5MWYBNQCZNR/NZ6_9147.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.19.20 Grasshopper We went to the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve this afternoon and didn’t see a single living creature except this grasshopper, a dragonfly, and a cardinal. I mean, I guess it’s at least a colorful grasshopper? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592619284512-Z72Y96RDJCAETVEOKLA6/IMG_4464.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.19.20 Embassy Suites’ Sweet Atrium Last week at this time, we were staying in a Hampton Inn in Adel, GA that smelled like mothballs and had a stained toilet. This week, we’re staying at an Embassy Suites in Atlanta with a sick atrium. They upgraded us to a suite room for no extra charge and it rules. Good way to end our trip since we’ve been sleeping on small beds for the last 7 days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592661340970-DS6LPZPRCD9ZN0GC2NID/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.20.20 One-Stop-Shop Truly a one-stop-shop here in north Georgia. Everything you could ever want in one exit off I-75. Posting this at 10 AM because it ain’t gettin’ better than this on this godforsaken drive back to Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592792508833-1RI00GPPZVX3BGXTAJHE/NZ6_9194.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.21.20 Fatigue I’m very tired. I think all the driving wore me out. I was able to have a regular full day today, but as I sat down for the evening, the fatigue swept over me. Forgot to take a single photo today, so I made this intentionally blurred image to reflect how I physically feel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1592877683288-EOR69458YL6MPR4I6F2G/NZ6_9200.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.22.20 Window Painter I so desperately want to be a street photographer who captures people doing interesting things or in various emotive states, but it’s nearly impossible for me to aim a camera at a stranger, especially when they’re facing me. I captured this guy painting the shop window at 8th and Main earlier. When zoomed in, it’s hard to distinguish the year, and that’s why I gravitated toward the scene when I passed it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593004493986-P6RK9G3C17MTDGD5Y1Y0/DSC_1116.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.23.20 Hello, Friend We rode our bikes over to Bellevue this evening. Our leisurely pace took us all over the non-Fairfield Avenue streets of the neighborhood. While on Center Street, Ashley heard the blowing of a train horn. We quickly legged it down Lafayette, up Grandview, and hoisted our bikes up the public steps on Taylor just in time to catch a glimpse of the engine flying through a break in the woods. For a good 10 minutes, we stood there watching it whip the trees with wind as it rumbled over the tracks, the sunlight scanning us with every boxcar gap that passed. It’s a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593052384623-WKC8BDATH078IOQSU7BR/IMG_4538.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.24.20 An Urban Mask They’re building a new structure behind this facade on Elm Street, which abuts 1710 Elm Street. According to the GC, they were required to keep this historic facade intact even though the rest of the building was beyond salvaging. He says they’re going to be high-end condos. I figure they’ll become Airbnbs at some point like the rest of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593120231990-5XN8CF8N50A6F307UQFP/NZ6_9355.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.25.20 The Bellevue Barbershop Packed my equipment and rode the bike over to the Bellevue Barbershop for a story this afternoon. The guys in there made it clear the barbershop was a comfortable place for men to gather and relax. It was more than just a place to get a haircut. Being someone who hasn’t stepped foot inside a salon/barbershop in months, it was personally appealing to me. I was the only one in the shop with a mask, so I don’t feel super comfortable getting my haircut just yet, but when I do, I think I’ll pay these guys a visit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593223367070-1ITCTQLWAQIHULXWIU8T/IMG_4552.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.26.20 Drum Alley Drum Alley looked good this morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593312349481-IRZDUNIEAJVC306JHD7F/DSC_1137.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.27.20 Lonely & Blue As I walked through the kitchen, I saw Myrtle’s blue ball sitting beneath a night light, and I couldn’t help but internally chuckle at how on-the-nose the metaphor was. It’s alone, it’s blue, and it’s surrounded by darkness under a single cone of light. Maybe it’s not funny to anyone else, but I got a kick out of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593399640192-NVD4E1B32LZJ0VH4W2E1/IMG_4577.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.28.20 A Dusty Saharan Sunset Saharan dust blew over to the States this week and it made tonight’s sunset look especially nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593481884072-3EQGUHD6LT0892LAGUCV/NZ6_9587.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.29.20 “CASINO” The casino is in the process of changing ownership and the previous sign was removed, so right now the building looks like it belongs as part of the scenery of an open-world video game. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593566632654-AASBYNEWKRC5NXX9G2HT/DSC_1158-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jun-2020 - 6.30.20 Pop-Up Showers Imminent A pop-up sprang out of nowhere this afternoon with lots of lightning and thunder. I set my camera up on interval to try to catch a bolt of lightning, but it didn’t work out. Instead, I got a few frames with activity in them and made this photo. It’s a composite of three frames. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jul-2020 daily 0.75 2020-07-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593656124905-3GVC9IEGMWIOI6NB9ONC/IMG_4600.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.1.20 She Tug We were playing “who can hold onto the ball the longest.” I won. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593745056677-BD6YKLCAONFDMXSIVB32/NZ6_9590.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.2.20 Welcome to Bellevue Coming as a surprise to no one, we bought a house in Bellevue and closed on it today. Built in 1930, our little craftsman sits on a quiet street and retains much of its original character, including the original hardwood floors and stained glass windows. It has a big back yard for the dog, a huge front porch for us, and a balcony off the back of the house. We saved for years, I worked two jobs, and we finally have a place to call our own. We are thrilled to join Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593834502707-QC52WZJGM0UE23UTI1EY/IMG_4700.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.3.20 Buried Treasure We demolished the storage room to make way for the shelves and workbench I want to build down there, and in the process of removing the old thrown-together shelving, I discovered this old street sign wedges between the boards and the wall. No idea what the story is behind it or why it’s in my basement, but I’m going to hang it up in the shop once it’s built. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1593952102392-38P1F9XD2L8AOBHXD4GR/IMG_4707.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.4.20 Golden Light Our new home has a stained glass window on the stairs and I absolutely love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594034536098-LF62MMG6FO2RWLC0B4KM/IMG_4714.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.5.20 Bored Doodle Over the weekend, we worked on the house non-stop. Today, Myrtle was tired and bored, so she laid down on the floor while we were up and down the stairs all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594091477216-4XRCCJBH0O9VX0M6JABY/IMG_4716.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.6.20 An Inbetween Moment Ducking into Galactic Fried Chicken to get out of a storm, I paid for our carry out and discussed the weather, the neighborhood, and chicken with the owner behind the counter. Small talk is easy for me because it’s light and serves to maintain a level of decency with others, and during a time in which the world is unpredictable and decidedly not-normal, it’s a welcome distraction. During one of the lulls in conversation, I turned around to inspect the dining room which had the feel of an old school pizza place more so than a shiny new chicken restaurant. I personally loved it because it felt comfortable. It’s a shame I won’t be able to eat inside of it for awhile since the virus is making a strong comeback. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594261780887-MBRQBEQF4MU2KJN26PXP/IMG_4734.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.7.20 Just a Flower Look, I spent a LOT of time working on the house today, and I snapped this at 11:55 PM because I’d forgotten to take a photo today. Cut me some slack. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594261782003-VFM756Y8PFE4D7GVPQFD/Standard+Beer-33.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.8.20 Standard Evening Shot Had to get this exterior for a freelance job, but needed to wait until the sun was setting so I could get the interior and exterior leveled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594349194285-W0SUBVY9R8BRF46ZU2XR/IMG_4763.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.9.20 Taxi! Ashley was waiting on me to return to the car with carryout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594465784417-T8F5HV8IOQK7BKIJX4BT/IMG_4783.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.10.20 Nightly Deer The quality of this image is poor, but I loved the feel of it, so that’s why I chose it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594522948744-5DR9SIPFYJ7OJBAF9JBO/IMG_4788.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.11.20 Buried Home Improvement Joke I built shelves and a workbench in my basement with my father today. It was a great experience working with dad on this project; he knows a lot about construction, and together we realized the vision I had for my personal workshop. While I’m still figuring out the smaller tool storage shelves and the electric, the hardest part—the bones—are finished. We put a bunch of screws into one 2x4 on his recommendation and I mocked him for over-building it with a note on the wood. It was covered by another 2x4 shortly after, so it’ll never be seen again unless we disassemble the bench again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594641600481-MH64YDNS5LH2RGN6PAKM/IMG_4801.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.12.20 Workshop: Built Just have to add electric to it, but the workshop is essentially completed. The corner is prepped for future expansion, but for now I’m going to leave it alone since everything I needed to put into the workshop fits on the right side. Until I get a feel for how I want to use that space, it’s going to stay blank. My dad and I put this together. It was fun to build and even more fun to see it finished. It’s consumed a lot of my time over the last week, so I’m happy it’s essentially finished and usable as a work bench now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594693250171-5Y9SVNHYJWN2N7OYVEA0/DSC_1253.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.13.20 A Curious Observer While walking down Division Street in Bellevue, this little neighborhood watcher was keeping an eye on things, specifically Myrtle and another cat on the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594821305154-WW3KYCK0H4B5B5G0IQJ7/IMG_4838.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.14.20 This-L-Du I saw this trailer with horses sticking their heads out of the vehicle at a stoplight. The rural element in an otherwise urban setting contrasted in a way I thought was interesting. The title for this is lifted from the decal on the trailer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594951690620-7ONUMYV6CMA35BWIGTPP/DSC_1266.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.15.20 Nightly Routine Come home, brush teeth, get into bed, repeat. This is our life right now while we work on the house before we move in and avoid as many people as possible because the virus is on its way back up again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1594951690651-GZ5101IKEDNBC7XIU298/NZ6_9611.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.16.20 The Screecher There are these birds that fly around our house and hang out in the large tree next door. At first, I thought they were peregrine falcons, but they’re not. After a little bird IDing, I think they may be juvenile Cooper’s Hawks. Either way, they’re loud, chase each other around the street and yard, regularly land on our fence, and they’re fun to watch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595119790970-G6C8F33FGJA6J9ELX3XC/IMG_4864.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.17.20 Stopping Into Ameristop There’s an Ameristop in Bellevue with a dude who knows everybody, including us now. He sells six packs of craft beer for $7.99, four flavors of ICEE, and gave Myrtle a pup cup of soft serve. We go there often now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595119789451-FYBQ2F5C0RA6J0WIPAYH/DSC_1272.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.18.20 One On the Ride Home I spent the entire day working on the house. My father and I wired the workshop with electricity and removed the old toilet in the basement and plugged the drain with a stopper. The basement suddenly has an influx of house flies, so I hung old fly papers I found in the previous workshop from the ceiling. Of course, I went to three different hardware stores on top of all that, so it’s been a very, very busy day. As such, I didn’t take a single photo. Realizing I’d not yet make an effort to take a photo all day, I snagged one on the ride home over the Southgate Bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595248386536-ZRBZBX6U6RLWMCRMM1KT/IMG_4867.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.19.20 A Quiet Fairfield While waiting on Ashley to get the coffees from Avenue Brew, I took a photo of the buildings across Fairfield Avenue because the sidewalks were empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595248385554-OU1288DNXO73W03JSFH3/NZ6_9614-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.20.20 Bold & Beautiful This morning, I walked out of my bedroom and saw this colorful bouquet Ashley’d placed on the kitchen table. It is the most beautiful bouquet I’ve seen her bring home recently. I realize these are likely hilariously dyed with artificial coloring, but I still think they’re pretty. I set the camera up on a tripod and photo stacked 10 images into one to allow everything to come into focus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595388867801-FARO86Y7V1CJCFOFHB7O/DSC_1282.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.21.20 Newport As I was riding my bike to the house, I stopped at a stoplight and made a photo of the parking sign that directs cars to the Levee. I like it because the flood wall obscures so much of the background, making it look a little like that Windows XP background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595468587576-MJWYW7XQ3VC7I4AN8QKS/NZ6_9707.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.22.20 Mason Maria Today I visited the gallery of artist Mason Maria (David Elmer) in Reading. We had a great discussion about his discovery of art, the neighborhood, and downtown living. I documented his space and made a portrait of him in front of one of his larger pieces. The piece will run on Refined in August. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595553913184-1POBN5R2FWICY0REO3KB/NZ6_9828-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.23.20 Donut Touch! I photographed Holtman’s Donuts’ renovated Rt. 28 location this morning for Luminaut. It looks totally different than how I remember it. The space feels much larger and has a very clean, colorful aesthetic. After capturing the space itself, we did some donut shots and I made this one with the help of one of the Luminaut architects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595729849857-WLUHPELVS12KQA8M4XO3/IMG_4953.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.24.20 Morning View This has become my regular morning view: leaving Crane’s garage and heading to our house in Bellevue. I think it’s beautiful the way the sunlight comes through the gate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595729857168-ALYUVNFTURUNKBUS1KNK/IMG_4970.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.25.20 A Good Mural Rode my bike over to the house this morning instead of driving and caught a glimpse of this mural at Central and Taylor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595814683530-JW9Z0B4EBI68FVSQQ26X/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.26.20 Fluffy Legs Just two cute paws. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595904160562-VH8TQ1PWSA0MYOCRDR9W/DSC_1721.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.27.20 Impending Excitement There’s little that’s remarkable about this photo besides the clouds, and that exactly what makes it interesting to me. When I see clouds like this, I can’t help but feel excitement. It make even the sleepiest scene fun. Storms energize me, and seeing it slowly roll in and feeling that cold front blast through the crack in the window is all I ever really want on a hot summer day. The anticipation of a powerful, loud, lightning-filled storm is a unique feeling that doesn’t come as frequently as I wish it would, so when it does happen, I really enjoy the moments right before the rain hits and the sky begins to lighten again. That ominous, dark blue mass creeping toward me is one of my favorite pillars of summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1595974408700-43T8MX4ZG6EEWC2R4JOO/NZ6_9883-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.28.20 Lincrusta Staircase Photographed a 150-year-old home in Hyde Park this morning. The walls were covered in Lincrusta—a type of wall hanging the original owner of this particular home sold and made his fortune on when he was alive. As I am inclined to do, I took care photographing the staircase because it’s usually the most photogenic of the original features of an old home. This one had the holy trinity of stained glass window, original hardwood, and the Lincrusta wallpaper all around it. The lamp, while period-specific, came from a desk and was rewired by a contemporary electrician to replace the old gas line. I spent a lot of time touching the color on this one up in Photoshop to remove the natural blue light from the ivory Lincrusta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596049983644-TKL70V96GMUEMSHZRLHL/NZ6_0001.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.29.20 Overlooking the West A panorama overlooking the construction at the corner of Findlay Street and Central Parkway in the West End. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596161927364-FTZDIE43N6J0FZ6KMDGK/750_9587.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.30.20 Mound Avenue It’s been a grey, bad day. The news cycle, the realization that our country is spiraling in multiple categories, and the uncertainty of everything for the foreseeable future have left my brain in tatters. That manifested in an uninspired photoshoot at a church-turned-private-residence in Milford this morning. I did the job to the best of my ability, but I am overall disappointed in what I produced. This is the only photo I managed to not actively feel contempt for, and even still, it’s not one I’m overly fond of regardless of its proper lighting. Feeling uninspired lately has been the norm; I want to be out of this rut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596249188289-GJYQV7RLQN3RA3X94XPL/NZ6_0290.jpg daily-photos-jul-2020 - 7.31.20 Walking Washington After doing a shoot at QFit on Fairfield Ave, I wandered to Grandview by way of Washington and walked by this lovely house on the east side of the street. I liked its proportions and the pillowy clouds behind it. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-aug-2020 daily 0.75 2020-08-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596478176705-CIFHNEBDYDOWECQW6AAE/IMG_5017.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.1.20 Thumbs Up My father comes over every Saturday to help us work on the house. This weekend, we concentrated on demolishing the horrible drop ceiling in the basement. It was a dirty job, but we got it done. Now we just have to fix all the wiring and make it look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596478177241-GH6XVJOL2P1ZWLVZ3OKI/IMG_5022.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.2.20 Liftoff While in the garden center of our second home, Lowes, I found a bee pollinating a flower. Thanks to iPhone’s live photo feature, I was able to identify and freeze the pivotal liftoff moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596507614856-UT9QVY4LD02KYPLDHH6B/IMG_5039.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.3.20 Runway Lights In the bathroom at Crane, there are these tube LED lights in the bathroom. There’s a small grate on either side of the light, so I stuck my phone up to it and took a photo of the inside. I think it looks pretty cool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596678819709-I2Q00Y8HJUWBZMECPLQG/IMG_5060.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.4.20 The Folder I had an idea for a folding tabletop that would make use of the utility sink’s existing space. It folds up and back to allow for an unobstructed sink or a clean surface upon which we could repot plants, give the dog a haircut, etc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596678822906-9B8S1D2Z8XX7ZM3YCRNJ/IMG_5068.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.5.20 The Train I * almost * got the engine of the train going under the Washington Ave bridge today. We were driving when we heard the train about to roll through, so I jumped out and ran to the bridge, but it was already gone by the time I had my phone’s camera app up. Either way, it was cool to stand over it as it passed beneath me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596891065178-HE3UM42UFKXTWYI178OW/IMG_5078.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.6.20 Please Come Back Waiting on her mommy to return from the store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1596891072527-GK6XIWQV09PLYTREWSZF/IMG_5099.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.7.20 Iconic Little Gary next to Vince’s motorcycle. A classic Bellevue image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597024423052-VNWHR9U1HH8Y8ZEYDZRO/IMG_5113.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.8.20 A Fresh Coat Just a painter doing his thing on Fairfield Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597024418556-0CNSO22ULLD9OV9HGMDM/Adjustments.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.9.20 Sleepiest Snoot zzzzzzzzzz… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597108156942-JS6522UKIL8HGI05GKJ7/IMG_5150.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.10.20 There’s Always One Eyes rolling so hard they’re in danger of falling out of my head and falling into the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597286461523-86G5YJQ37J14P62U78MX/IMG_5173.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.11.20 Corner Beaut Washington Ave and Center Street, Bellevue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597286468386-8GNQKJNUEW9J88IZO59E/IMG_5184.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.12.20 Not a Van Gogh This photo is unedited, aside from slight cropping. It is a weird iPhone photo of some yellow flower things with flash against a window that’s frosted for privacy. Combine all three elements and you get an odd visual effect that looks like a Van Gogh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597418738177-LMVCRLEK3YFJIX38250P/NZ6_2473.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.13.20 The Blonde's Perspective Photographed The Blonde this afternoon. It’s the newly built 13-story apartment building at the corner of 8th and Main. It has balconies along several sides, allowing for unobstructed views of Downtown. This corner is a favorite of mine, as it’s been part of my daily life for years. Seeing it from The Blonde’s perspective 6 stories in the air was a nice change od pace. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597587395658-SN4VG0ID61G164IY8FOH/IMG_5209.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.14.20 Reminiscing My mom gave me a manilla envelope of some old literature her father kept back in the 60s and 70s. Included was a spread by the Enquirer celebrating the bicentennial of the USA. This excellent bit of artwork for a Shillitos ad was included on one of the pages, and I really loved how it brought together so many Queen City classics into one image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597587395440-JW9SR8KHHGD106A68CKJ/IMG_5220.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.15.20 That’s a Big NOPE I had to install a cap for the dryer ventilation pipe and that required getting to the end of the pipe under the deck (pictured with bright reflective tape on its tip). I couldn’t remove the boards with a crowbar, unfortunately, so I planned to put a tarp down and crawl up under here to get to it. Before doing that, I took a broom and brushed it below the deck to first rid the area of any cobwebs I couldn’t see, and two massive spiders wriggled out of their hiding places. I got the circ saw and cut a hole in the deck from above instead so I didn’t have to go under here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597670825100-Z1KWFE0DXHYQXM0Z3VRM/NZ6_2521.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.16.20 An Evening Walk We went to get ice cream at Schnieder’s. After eating a pint (yes, a damn pint) of strawberry sherbet, we walked up Washington back to the house. I saw these two walking the alley before getting to B-List, and snapped the photo. They were walking a little dog and I liked how wholesome they looked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597757846861-0IDQXOLLVFUJOFMP70MX/IMG_5242.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.17.20 Kind Graffiti It’s not every day you see graffiti that’s positive and accessible. Then again, not everywhere is Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597842962647-VXHCHLNHT1NM92UQ3VZ6/IMG_5259.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.18.20 Memories We used to live there. Late-2016 to late-2018 were extremely good years. We moved into our first apartment together. We hosted parties. We traveled. We got engaged. We brought a tiny baby Myrtle home. But that place had changed by the time we left it. Management was less than great, issues with residents and their visitors arose, and the garage door was busted open and presented a major security concern. It was relatively cheap to live there for Downtown and for as much room as we were given, but our move to Crane was much needed and a smart decision. I do miss how much natural light that south-facing apartment received throughout the day, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1597842961050-EMSN4AP4JRV89GCPP8IW/NZ6_2537-HDR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.19.20 New Office I moved my office over to the house. this is the corner with my desk. The windows are open and the fresh air is flowing. Nothing to hear but an AC unit on the side of the house, birds, and the occasional truck shambling down the street. I cannot believe how quiet it is in this house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598018716041-H7GU4XEK6BE53HYY01XJ/IMG_5274.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.20.20 A Playful Morning I took Myrtle to the house this morning and played ball with her in the backyard while I worked on Refined at the table. The yard needs work, so there are numerous patches of dirt between the grass and weeds. Because the yard is in the shade for so long in the morning, the dew sticks around, making everything muddy. Her paws were filthy and she was happy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598053946406-Z5LK2GCR0G6PRB3Q55LJ/Haberthier+Residence-38.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.21.20 Idyllic Photographed a house in a subdivision in Anderson earlier today. The backyard was enormous. This scene reminded me of being a kid, playing at the edge of the woods, and the swingset we had. Back before we all had phones, the internet was part of our daily lives, and the biggest worry you had for the day was what hour it was so you made it back home for dinner on time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598154151713-M05SZDRNGO5MVGHWHKHL/IMG_5284.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.22.20 Slowly Emptying The apartment is slowly emptying. The big stuff will be left for movers, but we are moving the smaller, more movable items ourselves. Today I moved chairs, TVs, lamps and more over to the house with help from my dad. We got back to the apartment later than expected and I took this photo from the corner of the room. You can’t see the couch, but it’s the only remaining thing in the living room. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598225128102-CEUSZ1AGBV222CAY42TT/DSC_1841.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.23.20 Foote Street Looking north up Foote toward Cincinnati from Grandview in Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598326230516-V6CH425SGDYUNUJRWVPV/IMG_5311.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.24.20 An Infrequent Meeting I don’t get to hang out with Ronny and Travis as much as I’d like. The pandemic is hard, schedules are difficult to align, and moving has really dented my social life. Tonight we ate Rusconi’s Pizza, drank Brewdog, and hung out on the roof until 10:45 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598491381047-C9NQJGAPEFIOIJ0BLIDM/IMG_5324.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.25.20 Looking Up Held the phone out of the car as we made the last trip of the night over the bridge to Bellevue. Almost done with this move. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598491382500-XXHWBD078WU5DMAU973C/IMG_5338.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.26.20 Moving Day The construction workers, who assured us they would accommodate our moving truck days ago, unsurprisingly didn’t give a shit this morning, so we had to physically block off Ninth Street while the movers loaded the truck up with our heavy furniture. I stayed down on the street the whole time to make sure no one would tow it or anything. The entire time I was there, I was so stressed out about blocking the street that I felt sick. Thankfully, no one yelled at us and we got all the stuff to the apartment without issues. We still have our downtown address until the end of November, so we’ll be back to Crane regularly to get our mail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598579489474-BMQP23H8X4XOTZZIBMN0/NZ6_2840+9.45.03+PM.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.27.20 West Eighth Though I’m on a staycation this week, I did a side job in Covington this afternoon and came back to get a night shot around 9 PM. Because of the cars and the tree, I had to set up the tripod in the street. Luckily it was a quiet night with very little traffic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598742316697-612Q0QIWN25LZG0PNC7I/35546491-8912-40A4-B7C7-C066B3B89930_1_105_c.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.28.20 CSX I was taking the steps up to the house when I caught the beginning of a train rolling down the tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598847506110-3W0LCJGCE9S98NQSM0YY/IMG_5393.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.29.20 A Powerful Sunset I didn’t adjust the lighting or color to this photo. That’s how it actually looked, or at least that’s how the iPhone saw it when it happened. The vibrancy of this sunset lasted only briefly, but it was a sight to behold while it happened. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598847644136-LTOTHAT5BOYVAUVSNQCQ/NZ6_2847.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.30.20 Reshoots I shot this place the other day, but it was cloudy and the daylight photos didn’t turn out well. This morning, I went over and shot it again because it looked much better with a blue sky behind it. I’m glad I did because I need to turn everything into the client tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1598924087733-XBJITS29QN2TFVBFRFIU/IMG_5411.jpg daily-photos-aug-2020 - 8.31.20 Crappy Gender Reveal? These two portable toilets were sitting at the edge of the woods in the parking lot of the Bellevue Kroger. I thought the scene looked like something from an engagement photoshoot or the precursor to a bad gender reveal. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-sep-2020 daily 0.75 2020-09-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599141734732-ZUOVHZOPBJO3JAA94S74/IMG_5424.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.1.20 No Subtlety This house on Taylor Avenue has a very bright, very intense light-up American flag hanging from its porch. While walking from Steve’s house, I passed it and had to take a quick photo. I think the dude who lives there may be a MAGA chud, so I didn’t want to linger. Those people are insane as is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599141779544-5VIMQ0ARBSBW3ZYOBOV6/NZ6_3052.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.2.20 McFarland Ombre Was on McFarland to shoot an art gallery, and the building across the street stole my attention with its color palette, grit, and faded sign. Might go back and get this one on film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599243665483-393J0K8BXP0YE2A4P8GU/NZ6_3163.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.3.20 Breaching the Art World Again Today I went inside the Cincinnati Art Museum for the first time since the outbreak. I got a pre-opening press opportunity to cover the Hank Willis Thomas exhibit for Refined. There was barely anyone in the museum, and everyone in the exhibit was an employee. This hiatus was the longest I’d gone without visiting the museum in a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599243665315-964A6YMETTZO303EELQC/IMG_5439.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.4.20 Great Way to Start the Day I used to think a bathroom trashcan with a lid on it was the mark of “you’ve made it.” Now I believe having an east-facing window in the bathroom on a sunny morning is it. No better way to start the day than with a shower under natural light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599361976985-0B8AF47L86Z8XD7RDG0L/IMG_5452.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.5.20 As Good As It Gets I’ve been working on this basement for over two months now, and I’m finally to a place where it’s as finished as it’s going to be for a few weeks. We still need to do a painting project on the wall behind me, but the rest of the room is finished. Before, a horrible drop ceiling and buzzing fluorescent lights made up the ceiling, so I demolished all of that and exposed the natural beams. I then placed decorative trim around the top of the walls to give it a look of intentionality. I white washed all the walls so they’d stand in stark contrast to the dark 90-year old beams, and cleaned up all the wiring as best I could by notching the beams and recessing everything I could, as well as rewiring a few things. All the unnecessary wires that were no longer powering anything were removed to clean it up, and everything in the ceiling was painted dark brown to match the beams. I’m going to lay here and admire how far this room’s come for a little bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599449699160-EL6UQMGM161EBW50HEDW/NZ6_3206.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.6.20 Retreat x Berry Walked over to Steve’s house to check out his basement. We’re going to work on fixing it up for him in the coming months. While there, we hung out on his balcony for a bit and I got to make a long exposure of the intersection nearby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599531534389-3HV7VCI11VDIMSBUSPEL/IMG_5505.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.7.20 New Faces on the Block While picking up Myrtle from daycare today, I got to see the newest mural on Court Street. It’s a mural of women in leadership roles who have returned to the community after being incarcerated. It’s called “Time Saved vs. Time Served.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599623684142-4UVXV104GP4CECC1QQZ1/Ludlow+Station+Platform-37.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.8.20 Ludlow’s Viewing Platform Photographed the train-viewing platform in Ludlow, KY today for Hub+Weber (architecture firm). I went four times during the course of the day. The evening trip had my personal favorite light, barely beating out the after dark trip. The warm, soft glow of the evening just makes everything look its best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599706190474-43CDJL0DAPIHIL8GN8L2/NZ6_3654.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.9.20 Medill Alley Photographed Medill Alley in Northside today for work. I will never get over how bad Hamilton Avenue is for speeding traffic. A lot of the reason I really don’t enjoy going to Northside is because Hamilton Avenue feels so hostile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1599792123935-QGL6ZO0RFXGCUWCMJDY5/IMG_5540.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.10.20 The Trash Can Wait… Yeah, that’s gonna be a ‘no’ from me, dawg. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600032856193-G27U97CZ6SY485JQRPJ9/IMG_5544.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.11.20 Seahorse House Just an odd house on Berry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600032849426-9QO639BY4S4660D7J1OY/IMG_5557.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.12.20 Different Living I thought this side by side of these two places was an interesting juxtaposition. Just off Eden Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600131202455-EOQ370BTJOCY89UU6RJ1/IMG_5585.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.13.20 Bird Book Just an antique bird book with some of my antique cameras. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600131203951-PMUC1YBCMQYN02GU4RM3/DSC_1849.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.14.20 Eric & Liddy Saw them from across the street while at Darkness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600204091011-4NI2HKWO4G1YM87FFSBK/NZ6_3662.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.15.20 Lil Cujo As I walked up Retreat Street, this adorable little dog watched me approach his yard. I had my camera strapped with an 85mm lens, so I stayed a little bit back and took his photo. As soon as I took one step forward after hitting the shutter, he started barking at me like I was an intruder. While he didn’t seem friendly at all, he was still the cutest dog I’d seen all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600305698839-3WTAWH40YT6ZY69PC0UQ/IMG_5613.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.16.20 Not San Francisco It’s a cute pink house on Berry Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600375899139-6AIUK5M5JU6OU3HP5RDU/NZ6_3671.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.17.20 Bonus Pup This pup is named Enzo. He belongs to a man I know named Micah. While walking south-bound on Main Street, just past the Bay Horse, I saw Micah sitting in his PR firm’s office through the front door. A little baby gate was put up, and as soon as I stuck my head in to say hello, I realized why. Enzo came right up to me and wanted pets, so I obliged. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600654307472-6YXQGSDS9VXXKCSHACCG/IMG_5662.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.18.20 Golden Autumn Light I was playing with Myrtle in the back yard, and the light was coming through the tree next door, spackling the side of 322B with a mixture of moving shadows. I thought it was a really pretty scene, so I held the ball over my shoulder so she’d look at me. She blinked right as I took the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600654313740-O4O02VPG8WU9VB1JV5GB/IMG_5673.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.19.20 Sunset on the Farm The air got noticeably colder as the sun set on the farm in Ripley, Ohio. We are staying overnight in a tent on the property. It’s the same farm we visited back in April. Camping in the cold is so much better than trying to camp in the heat of summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600654318436-LLR9XRS2JRELC3903S2G/NZ6_3752.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.20.20 Sunrise on the Farm A scene from this morning, just after I left the tent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600746996365-XZZYLKBO4ZWIT1UMA5IB/IMG_5711.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.21.20 Little Aliem Foot Have you ever looked at a dog’s paw? Like, really looked at it? It’s adorable and weird at the same time. Much different from your own foot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600819623094-WUTPOSMVDSSV8YETM6QK/DSC_1883.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.22.20 Dayton Flood Wall Walk Walked down to the Dayton Flood Wall to take photos for a story I’m doing on it for Refined. I liked this one a lot because it has movement, a dog, the city, gaudy single-family homes, and the elements of the trail itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1600919403870-P1NL8FXQ0H4XIOXKSA3G/NZ6_3978-HDR.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.23.20 Night Session Photographed Nostalgia OTR for the architect this evening. I walked from my home, so when I got there, I was a little tired and hot. But I needed that walk to help ease my anxiety; today, it was announced that the cops who murdered Breonna Taylor would not be charged with her murder. Protests are happening around the US tonight as a result with Cincinnati among them. I’m not anxious about the protests, but rather the large swaths of humanity in this country who feel that being shot dead by police while you’re sleeping in your own bed at your own home is fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601004839283-SI8V5IA6ER8THGZD8BS7/IMG_5762.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.24.20 A Better Night Than Last Tonight was one of those great nights you couldn’t plan. We randomly hung out with our neighbors to the right of us on our porch, drank beer, swapped stories, and got to know each other. They brought their little dog over and it was really great. They seem like good people. Then, the neighbors to the left came home, Myrtle ran into the street to greet them, and we all followed. It ended up being the six of us and two dogs just hanging out on the sidewalk, talking and drinking beer on a cool autumn night. Everything wrapped up about 10 PM and we all went back inside our homes. I just feel so good knowing there are friendly people on either side of us. It was fun to hang on our little dead end street and have a drink with them. I really hope that happens again soon; that sense of community with others is healing right now. The photo of the ghost just makes me happy. His expression matches my own at the moment, and instead of going upstairs to get a proper camera, I just spontaneously whipped out my phone to get the image. Felt right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601068869187-VV110RE0AF85I3DSM60Z/NZ6_4076.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.25.20 Charred History I photographed some artifacts relating to the 1884 courthouse riot this morning at the Cincinnati History and Library Archive in the bottom of Union Terminal. This is one of the books saved from the burning building. I believe the librarian mentioned it was a recorder’s book. It was obviously badly damaged in the fire, but you can still make out the script on the pages. While I do not think it’s likely the courthouse will ever burn like that again, I do feel like government upheaval is coming in some form. Though it’s foolish to think it won’t happen, I hope no one loses their life in the process. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601262480045-PINKWRKPF7CRCWHPS4MR/IMG_5775.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.26.20 Peeper I won’t go into details about why this photo exists, but all I can say is this little dog will stop at nothing to see what you’re doing, even when you’re sitting down on a porcelain chair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601262493463-Z72X9PX089V8JDV8COYE/IMG_5794.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.27.20 That’s the One For Sure Sometimes you see a scene and you just know it’s going to be the one to end up in this collection. When I stepped out of the parked car and laid eyes on this, I couldn’t avoid thinking about Daily Photos and how it was likely to be today’s entry. I loved all the colors, the old van, the LEGO-like building in the middle ground, and The Ascent peeking between the trees in the background. The overgrown, empty sidewalks just added even more to it. I wish I’d gotten this on film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601391095389-E0R3EJVJ08TAJ86WRE7S/IMG_5825.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.28.20 Property Secured When we bought our house, the backyard was accessible through a broken, rusting, old steel gate that connected to the wooden fence. Myrtle’s ball would often slip through the bars and into the alley, and it wasn’t latchable, which meant anyone could simply walk into our yard at any time if they felt like it. While Bellevue is a safe place, we didn’t especially like that our yard had an obvious access point. So, together with my father, we replaced the old gate with a wooden one that matches (at least in profile) to the existing fence. It’s lockable and no longer allows Myrtle’s ball to slip between the cracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601438312918-G1I5NGURTDH63Y7KN4X1/IMG_5832.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.29.20 DIY Wainscoting Ashley wanted modern wainscoting on the entire wall behind the bed, so I bought a bunch of strips of wood, cut them to the proper sizes, affixed them to the wavy wall with finishing nails and screws, spackled and sanded the joints and imperfections, and painted everything a medium grey. Instead of having a big, blank, white wall, it’s now textured to give it a little more character. I like how the exposed beams in the ceiling spiritually flow downward along the wall’s thin strips and end at the parquet floor. I’ve never built anything like this before, so it’s satisfying to see it all come together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601610091072-6GLAE5KM1DV6L6ERDLN9/IMG_5846.jpg daily-photos-sep-2020 - 9.30.20 Stairs For Manny My neighbor’s dog, Manny, cannot get up on the bed, so she asked me to make him some stairs. Here they are staged next to our guest bed. When I do a project like this, I often don’t touch my camera all day. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-oct-2020 daily 0.75 2020-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601610305399-IXTISJJZVGD125UC6ZF1/IMG_5916.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.1.20 I See You Pretty self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601781903518-HILHU64GVNUZ25GKBF5P/8640+Twilight+Tear+Ln+-63.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.2.20 WOW. That’s what I said when I saw this master bathroom. This is from a shoot I did this afternoon for an upcoming listing (freelance gig). I am fairly certain this bathroom hasn’t been updated since the home was built in 1987. The aesthetic choices made here were made in ALL CAPS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601781902620-UIBFFGKU57L03MRO0EEL/NZ6_4917.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.3.20 Train Man We went to Metamora, IN this afternoon. The little town is located on either side of an old canal and leans hard into its history with preserved 19th century architecture, retro trains, and canal boats that still operate (when there isn’t a pandemic). While there, I was taking a photo of a train when the conductor waved me over. I climbed the train, he put on a mask, and we spoke briefly about the train. He said it’s a 1942 GE 65-ton switcher (had to look that up because I couldn’t remember what he said). Volunteers run it up and down the tracks out of sheer love for the machines. His name is Chester and he’s from Dayton. He kindly posed for a portrait. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601858270515-MF9G6GA0Z4H7W6K0ZSVP/NZ6_5090-HDR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.4.20 We Festive Our very spooky, seasonal house with ghost flag, pumpkins, ceramic jack-o-lanterns, and purple mums. There’s also a sign in the bedroom window that says “Boo!” but I didn’t expose for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1601948306577-7IM8IAHB7O4021PBN8S5/IMG_5953.jpeg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.5.20 Just a Stencil Made a stencil for a project, used it once, decided it wasn’t what I needed. Oh well, still fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602033913487-XAUNEYGTR2EM2XYFMQSL/NZ6_5094.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.6.20 1 Year When I woke up this morning, Ashley gave me my one year anniversary present: this roll of toilet paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602129205837-AZMGZ1DE6V5PE60L4DD8/NZ6_5262.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.7.20 Taunting Me We bought Halloween candy for the trick or treaters too early and now the Almond Joy are taunting me. This photo’s white balance looks off, but it’s not; the yellow stained glass window behind the camera gives the room this warming effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602217665060-84E57KGKCL68PL0IHM7I/NZ6_5284.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.8.20 A Thomasson My favorite Bellevue Thomasson: the missing house of lower Lafayette. I’ve been trying to photograph this piece of vestigial infrastructure for a couple of weeks now, and while I do not think I’ve captured it yet, this photo comes as close as I’ve gotten. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602382204939-DL129KWWP6ITQ7Q8ZH0E/Holtmans-24.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.9.20 Donut King Went out to get exteriors of Holtman’s in Milford and the owner gave me a box of free donuts! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602382196777-WHOMS30BJAB70UDZITE8/320+Riverside+Drive-66.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.10.20 Two Walkers Photographed a $2M mansion on the river this morning that has a view of the Ohio River. It sits within probably 150 feet of the river up a short slope right next to a public park. As such, there’s a lot of pedestrian traffic on the street. While setting up for a shot, two people improved the image by walking into frame outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602470338619-6LAORS3FGV5WU2GTOS6W/NZ6_6181.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.11.20 Dayton’s Skyline My friend from Dayton picked me up today and we drove out to Clifton Mill in Clifton, OH. We checked out the grist mill there, walked some extremely autumn trails, then headed to Yellow Springs. There, we walked through the business district and found our way to another hiking trail that led us to the yellow spring the city’s named for. After passing by Antioch College, we then drove around Dayton, landing in the Oregon District first before heading to other neighborhoods. After a meal at Taqueria Mixteca, we drove up to Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum where I got this shot of the skyline as the sun set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602553717046-QBVVY3WZDLMXX9OKTZL5/NZ6_6393-2.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.12.20 C O F F E E S I photographed 1737 Vine Street for a developer today, and while leaving, I saw an opportunity to shoot this faded ad on the north side of Elder Street. Of course, the intent was twofold: get the faded ad, but also get that Pepper Lounge Pepsi sign in the background in there, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602626452475-IMFTH4WXMHPS4RSBS5ZU/DSC_1910.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.13.20 Our Paws on O'Fallon It’s a gorgeous day outside and I was feeling antsy. The dog hadn’t walked or played for a significant amount of time in days, so we went on a two-hour walk around Bellevue. As we traversed the streets, Myrtle sniffed the bushes and lunged toward tree-bound squirrels while I enjoyed everyone’s Halloween decorations. This is her on the O’Fallon bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602722174904-HUJB8EE1Q5N7F107QN5J/NZ6_6405.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.14.20 Porch With a View The neighbor cut the trees back off the power lines today and now we have a little unobstructed view of a bit of Downtown from the porch. I can’t wait to see what it looks like in the winter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602816833812-G6NTY5UM5HCV3SJNIQKP/NZ6_6631.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.15.20 Ready For It As soon as Halloween is over, I’m getting myself an entire pumpkin pie and eating the whole thing in one sitting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1602909894930-YWGQ0XLL9999WOOEG2EN/NZ6_6930.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.16.20 It Steve Doing BTS photos for Steve’s Cincy48 project this year. He caught me taking his photo for a split second and it ended up being an accidental COVID-era headshot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603079249323-DFH6FNE376YA6DRVLN3K/750_9911.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.17.20 A Little Foggy On Projection These Days Steve’s doing the Cincy 48 Hour Film Festival and secured Bellevue’s Marianne Theatre as a location for filming. I snuck up to the projection booth and got a photo of it all lit up with red lights and filled with fog from a fog machine. I’d been inside the theater years ago with a camera, so I didn’t worry too much about documenting it this time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603079249861-BBC2752X9HKDJW3SBHOV/IMG_6133.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.18.20 Yellow Springs I took my Z6 with me to Yellow Springs and didn’t end up taking it out of the bag the entire trip. This is with an iPhone. I was so pleased with the portrait mode on this, it ended up being my favorite photo of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603160430249-K06EUQWT67PMAU75Y4FQ/DSC_1919.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.19.20 Impending Gloom We got our first taste of the overcast, rainy, generally gloomy winter that’s on the horizon. It wasn’t enjoyable last year and will certainly be worse this year due to the pandemic. Not looking forward to it at all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603248451730-V4PE8A5MA077TUAXR525/NZ6_7341.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.20.20 Night On the Tracks Just a walk along the rails in the mist. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603421552803-XKZJ1RR2OUXUM2XYZ9JQ/IMG_6194.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.21.20 Retreat Street Walked to Steve’s house and took a quick photo of some houses on Retreat in good light. I had a bad day so I didn’t feel much like trying today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603421550830-70IABMI934EJB2FYTG7B/NZ6_7395.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.22.20 You Are Here CMC has a new permanent exhibit and part of it is this custom mural projection thing you can do. It takes your photo, you add stickers to the photo, add a filter and background, then it projects it onto the side of a “building,” which is just a black and white drawing of an inner-city scene that vaguely represents Cincinnati. This was my contribution. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603676958400-9BSKWKN2R0WRS0L9HB0D/IMG_6229.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.23.20 Electric Conversation Travis and Ronny came over and sat on the porch outside. We drank beer and ate pizza while a storm rolled through. Thanks to the covered porch, we were able to hang out safely outside without getting wet. I was trying to capture a bolt of lightning while we were talking and successfully nailed one in the background thanks to iPhone’s Live Photo feature. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603676559440-YNFWKIGCFHO9549NTKH2/NZ6_7401.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.24.20 Up the Hill I published a photo from this same perspective on the 1st of October, but I wanted to go back and get it at night with a tripod. I felt self-conscious with the tripod at night on the corner, but thankfully no one seemed to care. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603676560534-432PEIMVVEXQUVQJA8PN/IMG_6274.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.25.20 I made a rack for our firewood. Now all I need is more firewood to fill it up. I’m going to add a cover to the top, and I may paint it, but it’s functional in its current state. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603761691274-NELD3OEBV78BJ6FJ4OZS/IMG_6285.jpeg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.26.20 Bad Day Had a shit day. Sitting in my living room relaxing and trying to unwind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603852243258-U2NEZE7DEXEZH5VMDY78/IMG_6300.jpeg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.27.20 Feeling Bad Been feeling tremendously bad lately, both mentally and physically. With the weight of the virus and the election and everything else happening in the world, it’s hard to wake up and feel anything but sorrow about all of it. On top of it all, I’ve been finding less motivation to do my work, and mistakes and errors make me ashamed of the work I do get done. It’s all been adding up and I now have this pale pallor and grey bags under my eyes. Really hoping some good news will come our way soon. Everything feels so bleak. I took this photo of myself brushing my teeth because I have no motivation to use my actual camera and wanted to document how utterly stressed I am for posterity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1603936934761-26N1PSBRVFNLKXFBVXXT/Unicorn+Pumpkin-009-2.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.28.20 Unicarnation Ashley didn't want to carve a pumpkin so she painted hers to look like a unicorn, made it a floral crown, and added a horn to it. She's submitting it to a work contest. Fingers crossed she wins. We took a studio photo of it for her to submit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604118420616-VKD4GRQ9IU60QEEHA1TB/IMG_6309_jpg.jpeg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.29.20 Anxiety Project I made a shelf for the plants in our bedroom because I couldn't stand to be at my desk any longer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604118428400-449ANLFPOLTRWH3D8319/NZ6_7512.jpeg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.30.20 Studio Space I toured an art studio in the West End today. Artist Spencer van der Zee gave us an interview and snowed us his work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604199223044-AWLSG5EI1RT7N61CWRHC/NZ6_7555.jpg daily-photos-oct-2020 - 10.31.20 The Candy Chute Halloween was perfect. The weather was the best it could be, the candy chute I made to send candy to the kids worked splendidly, sitting on the porch with snacks and tunes playing was relaxing, and seeing our neighbors out and about was so nice. We went through almost three bags of candy. Just a really good night. I needed that. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-nov-2020 daily 0.75 2020-11-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604290126822-3UP6V1G95GSDWD2527OX/IMG_6337.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.1.20 A Long Walk Took Myrtle on a long walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. The wind was blowing hard but it was sunny and relatively warm for November. We ended up on the hill in Grandview at the end of the walk so she could run around like crazy for awhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604377216099-GQ5DR666PZL5U4WV0JT9/IMG_6378.jpeg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.2.20 Balloon Bombed Ashley’s boss direct messaged me on Instagram late last week and asked if I could get her and Myrtle out of the house by 2 PM on Monday (today). She paid someone to “balloon bomb” our house for Ashley’s birthday. I made up an excuse about being finished with work early and took her to get nachos at Qdoba in Rookwood and then to the park. We spent about two hours away from home before returning. I didn’t know exactly what the surprise was going to be and was pretty shocked when I saw it. Ashley thought it was great. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604455219431-DZ6B65V9MJGCKC8SLFY2/DSC_1931.jpeg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.3.20 The Results Will Wait It’s election night. I’m scared out of my mind that we will keep these selfish monsters in power and show the world we are not the country we claim to be. I've already voted, though, so it's out of my hands. Until the victor is chosen, we need to wait. There's no sense in making myself sick tonight over something that's out of my hands, so I'm taking this photo of Ashley on her 32nd birthday, putting the internet away, turning off the TV, and focusing on my family. They bring me happiness and that's what I need tonight. Tomorrow I will wake up to the result of this traumatic election. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604546030565-5UHTSUZDWRF7V2YJQM63/DSC_1938.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.4.20 Absolute Contempt The results of the 2020 election aren’t finalized as of this writing. It’s 10 PM. When I finally got out of bed from a bad night of sleep, I expected to see news of Joe Biden’s victory; a catastrophic Trump loss that proved the American people chose someone good over someone of vile character and proven inability to lead. Instead, I saw a minor Biden lead over Trump, both Ohio and Florida red, and the race nearly neck and neck. Then it dawned on me that half of America are truly depraved, brainwashed, racist morons who would rather Donald fucking Trump hold onto the reigns of this nation than allow a proven leader to take over. They’d rather let the guy who refuses to denounce WHITE SUPREMACY lead the United States for four more years than the guy who outright condemns them. Half of this fucking country would rather keep in power the man who has NO PLAN to combat the Coronavirus than let someone who could do better (any plan would be better than what we have now). Half of this country is disgusting and I don’t want to live here anymore. Any hope I had for the American people were dashed like this week-old jack-o-lantern on the fucking sidewalk. Even if Joe Biden lands this thing in the end, we’re never recovering from the damage Donald Trump has done to America. He’s emboldened the worst of us—which is apparently half of us—to show their true form. I cannot feel anything but contempt for America at this point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604634485811-WIH29Z38KA1F2Z358P9P/NZ6_7568.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.5.20 Thursday Nights No word on who will lead our country as of tonight. It’s leaning Biden, but who knows at this point. One thing I CAN count on is this: Thursday nights at Pete’s house. Every week, Pete hosts a beer tasting in his driveway. It’s a safe way for all of us to hang out and be social without worrying so much about the virus. I can’t go every week, but whenever I do, it’s always a good time. Tonight I wanted to commemorate at least one of these nights so I took a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604700077477-1IFB8DZEEBPPP7TLPJ1K/NZ6_7586.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.6.20 Econolite Traffic Control I’ll make this one short: no word yet on who’s president of the United States, though it’s still leaning Joe. All this uncertainty makes me anxious, so I took a walk and saw this gritty traffic control box I hadn’t noticed before. I liked the way the afternoon light was shining on it, exaggerating its tiny shadows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604939624382-F2L5YS39SANRUKODMC7S/NZ6_7617.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.7.20 VICTORY! Joe Biden won the presidency. The redneck Trump train has derailed miserably and it’s a great relief to see a fascist pile of garbage sink into oblivion. It was announced today while we were setting up a new TV in the living room. We were so thrilled, we got a bottle of champagne out of the fridge, fired off the cork from the front porch, and went out with Chelsea to the Avenue to drink the day away. We went home at 7 PM and passed out after Biden’s victory speech. We weren’t even hung over the next day. It was a perfect Saturday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1604939625056-X6K3ZKOOBXXFQ1OGXRHK/IMG_6428.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.8.20 CHOO CHOO The weather was perfect today, so we worked in the yard and grilled out for dinner. I heard the train coming from Dayton, so I ran down to the steps to catch a photo of the engine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605067707423-FSSF015GDE9GJ52AEOSD/NZ6_7633.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.9.20 Bereft of Balke’s See my blog post for more on this photo: https://bit.ly/3n7NRrC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605067787056-ZV503O4M8UKCHXJQS5PO/NZ6_7711.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.10.20 Flow Photographed Flow Koffee + Kombucha in Newport today. The owner was nice and they serve Coffee Emporium coffee. I’ll probably go there this weekend if I need a cup of joe instead of making it at home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605150332761-RUVZJJV3W0FMOIFQB40Z/DSC_1948.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.11.20 Night in the Dining Room We have a stained glass window in the dining room that’s backlit by a light under the balcony outside. I love walking into the dining room at night because the amber yellow glass casts a warm hue on part of the room, and specifically on this money tree that’s sitting on the hutch beneath it. I wanted to get a photo of it because it’s the little things like this that bring me a weird amount of happiness when I see them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605234465744-CZWGFADQT3LIH1X0MNRW/NZ6_7762.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.12.20 Cookies Are Cookin’ Do I need a caption for this? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605305073025-90VUDCH24CV86SV0ZYU7/NZ6_8004.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.13.20 Holiday Junction Photographed CMC’s Holiday Junction this morning. Always fun to see the trains up and running. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605419227793-BZEQ7W3HV0Z2WYGO7A3V/IMG_6464.jpeg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.14.20 Holy Meal Ashley made my favorite meal for dinner: enchiladas. She makes the best enchiladas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605507548602-ZRVUUNL4HRNK6Y1IPVTQ/NZ6_8186.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.15.20 Caught In the Rain We went for a walk this morning and noticed some ominous clouds ahead. Figuring we had a better chance of making it to the Bellevue Beach Park gazebo, we hustled toward the river in hopes of avoiding getting caught in the rain. We just barely made it. The wind blew the rain through the area quickly and we only had to hang tight for about 10 minutes. I took a photo of Ashley and Myrtle as the sun started to emerge from behind the clouds again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605583918789-A5WTKE96J1F0GX4517WY/NZ6_8214.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.16.20 Return to the Beach After yesterday’s neary-soggy encounter at Bellevue Beach Park, we caught a glimpse of a nice sunset from there tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605746088437-I1Z2KS92H9VZQ69KOSR6/IMG_6481.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.17.20 Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 I think I may have COVID. Ashley was exposed to it last week and she’s possibly asymptomatic. I, however, am not feeling great. If this is COVID, my symptoms are light. Either way, we got a test done at a clinic tonight, and I’ll know my results in 3-5 days. Until then, I’m staying away from literally everyone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1605746092095-6CMQGME1QOB5QSFTMO6A/NZ6_8230.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.18.20 Mask Required Feeling a little better today, so I went on a walk with Ashley and the dog at dusk. After the walk, I felt worse, so now I’m relaxing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102343719-MWYE34SYPE27L2C710BG/IMG_6499.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.19.20 Ugh I do not feel well. Spent the day on the couch and in bed. Still awaiting test results. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102340481-KD1IR6DA26BIAOJKFL2R/IMG_6503.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.20.20 Shameless Satisfaction Feeling better today and learned I do not have COVID after all. Thank goodness. But the reason I took a photo of the sink is because I’ve fallen into a habit that I very much enjoy—doing dishes at night. “Enjoy” and “doing dishes” aren’t typically two things that unironically belong in the same sentence, but I’ve found clearing the sink and running the dishwasher before bed while listening to podcasts to be a centering task that puts my mind at ease as I wind down for the night. And when we wake up, all the dishes are done. It’s a win-win. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102355434-76EU9NHBG2YOAKJ8GN1A/NZ6_8239-HDR.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.21.20 I caved and we put up the tree early. Fuck it, rules don’t apply this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606102351935-XSTJOLMM3P29FUT5AUOS/IMG_6529.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.22.20 A Girl and Her Bear Snuck a photo of this moment tonight. We’ve been doing absolutely nothing for the last 24 hours. Myrtle and Ashley were basically attached at the snoot all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606255692542-6T1TPEZLLPHQ6R64WPM4/NZ6_8241.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.23.20 Sunset Took a walk before sunset and managed to snap a photo of the only bit of color in the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606256052873-RZMLM9FABVQWG125M65U/IMG_6548.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.24.20 Proper Framing We took a piece of art to get framed down at Frame and Hang on the Avenue today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606366782327-XZ2CO895NB75QBEX6BLN/NZ6_8283.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.25.20 Bizarre Bazaar Photographed a shop in Anderson called Bizarre Bazaar this afternoon. It’s a family-run shop full of gifts, knick knacks, and more. Very eclectic mix of stuff with loads to see. They’re heavy on Christmas stuff and this was one of the pieces I saw. The little skaters moved around on the surface of the ice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606529888653-B5PQVK8RMCXSTB660QQT/IMG_6556.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.26.20 Thanksgiving For Two We didn’t go to Thanksgiving with our extended families this year because of COVID, so we bought a take-and-bake Thanksgiving meal from Arnold’s Bar & Grill. It was really good, and even though not seeing more people during a holiday was a bummer, I still had a really good Thanksgiving. It was very relaxing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606529383863-J5SLPQTYWPDYX8WR1G5P/NZ6_8379.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.27.20 Christmas 2020 I take a photo of Myrtle every Christmas and we make it into a card and send it out to our friends and family. This is 2020’s photo. The fireplace isn’t actually lit, I just put a Lumecube in there with an orange gel to simulate fire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606661726413-RMRSQJL14G2U5R7GMD6K/NZ6_9217.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.28.20 Shop Small Saturday We went down to the Avenue and shopped for gifts for Christmas at various stores. It was nice to know our money was going right back into the local economy and helping the mom and pop shops of Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606706491790-JJUBIPG0MOE9CVZS0XJ6/NZ6_9290.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.29.20 Spectacularly Festive The Purple People Bridge is all done up for the holidays and it looks great. I kind of hope they keep the purple and white bulbs on it even off season. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606796941084-0IA758VAHN3ASNSW3CZQ/NZ6_9394.jpg daily-photos-nov-2020 - 11.30.20 Going Up? I took on another monthly building for Jake. Since I finished the Camp Washington property this month, I picked up another in Brighton to fill its place. It stands on the corner by itself by a private fenced-in lot. He gave me the passcode to get into the building so I could get pre-construction photos of the joint. After carefully exploring all three floors of the eerily quiet building, I dug deep to find the courage to descend into the darkened basement. This is always my least favorite thing about photographing old properties that are in the midst of transformation. With two flashlights in tow, I photographed the basement with my back to the nearest wall for security. I’m so unnerved by the dark because my subconscious cannot get rid of the feeling that I’m not alone in a place like that. Though unlikely, it’s not impossible for someone to find their way into a building and wait behind a corner, especially if they’re frightened themselves by my being there. Anyway, I stepped down into the elevator shaft and pointed upward to get this shot. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-dec-2020 daily 0.75 2020-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1606873045821-8YHC2QUH9RNXORQZFOSO/NZ6_9504-HDR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.1.20 Skywalking In the Living Room I went to see the in-progress work on the Peters Cartridge Factory apartments this morning. My favorite apartment was this one. It had a window into the old skywalk that connects to the other building across the road. They bricked over the other end of the skywalk and added a window for this unit to look into it. While it’s no longer accessible, I thought it was neat that they at least cared enough to put a window there. Who needs art on the wall when you have an interesting piece like that on the wall? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607011178556-V2OJED5OM7MBOZVJKM83/NZ6_9561.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.2.20 He Munch The neighbor behind us threw their pumpkins into their backyard for the squirrels, so I got out the 600mm Tamron and snapped a photo of one enjoying himself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607052525456-0O8HX6UD8NBCTJMN783O/IMG_6616.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.3.20 An Anniversary 3 years ago today, we let Myrtle into our home and she quickly became our world. Here’s a photo of her wanting to come inside after being on the balcony for 5 minutes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607318670468-PHQMQCHMI9XJ0QNFBF26/NZ6_9628-2-HDR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.4.20 Forest Avenue I photographed a house on Forest Avenue for a realtor today. It was built in 1989 and designed by the owner, who recently moved out of state. It has a crazy southerly view. Too bad it was a gloomy day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607318667781-MF6UO446OBYKCF3DR4E0/IMG_6634.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.5.20 Ashley’s Flag Ashley loves flags, so she got a Christmas flag to put on the pole out front. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607318665075-VAWGX7MTQ5OEX3JUQWAX/IMG_6646.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.6.20 Myrtle’s Big Day In Ashley has a migraine for the majority of the day and stayed in bed. Myrtle, loving the chance to snuggle with her mom, took full advantage. I tucked them in and put the sleeping mask over Myrtle’s eyes and took a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607400410895-G22SDSAH0XBXZ77666OG/DSC_1971.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.7.20 Night Stocking Just a quiet scene in the dark. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607485500803-PLD9LTXDFCBJBBUH9HWZ/NZ6_9782-HDR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.8.20 The Edgar I got an email from a friend who works for Rookwood Properties last week. She asked if I’d like to feature one of their properties on Refined. The property was Lytle Tower—the place where I spent maybe the most transformative years of my adult life. They rebranded it “The Edgar” recently with all new signage and renovated apartments, so it was worth looking into. I’d been back to Lytle several times over the years since I’d moved out, but every time I go in there, it’s just as sweet as the last time. I love that building with every ounce of my being and always will. Though I didn’t get to see my former apartment (maybe one day!), I got to photograph three units on the second, fifth, and twelfth floors. There’s something magnetizing about this place; and I may be one of the only people in the world who feels that way. It just feels like I have a special kinship with it that I don’t have anywhere else in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607615645645-RYQI6D3VI4VU879GM9GM/IMG_6675.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.9.20 Weird Corner Just a weird corner of Bellevue that I frequently pass when walking to and from the Avenue. I wonder what the story is behind the tire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607615643152-U86Y7O14TMW3NXHK4NQL/IMG_6683.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.10.20 Foggy Morning Went to drop Myrtle off at daycare this morning and was stunned by how foggy it was on the Kentucky side of the river. As soon as we crossed over the bridge into Cincinnati, the fog was gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607917718703-01HDFUXE3XTDUHFMYEN5/IMG_6698.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.11.20 Campbell County Courthouse I’d never been inside, but we needed to get our licenses changed, so we went to the Campbell County Courthouse for the first time. However, after being stopped at the metal detectors, we were informed that we needed an appointment before being allowed to go further (COVID restriction). So even though I’ve been inside the front doors, I still don’t feel as though I’ve truly been inside yet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607917718257-4UX8EXJ4R9MV8NJMDTES/IMG_6733.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.12.20 Sunset Walk We walked down to the Ameristop for provisions and took the long route home because my knee hurt too much to take the stairs. Glad we did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607917719811-SH3WWT8E62IR4UZJIU56/IMG_6739.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.13.20 Art Glove Guy Oh god, I’m art glove guy now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1607961716314-7X3TZENHHJA3ZQ5TBO1R/NZ6_9875-HDR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.14.20 Making WFH Work Ashley’s frequently on work calls and I’ve made the mistake of barging into her office while she’s on a call during quiet moments when no one’s talking, so I got her a little remote-controlled “ON AIR” sign that she turns on whenever she’s not to be disturbed. We used magnets to affix it to the desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608097078665-IEJL4JWGPRZOU1D5UOYC/alexis.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.15.20 Extinct Birds Today I worked for the Cincinnati Museum Center to produce images for a book they intend to publish. I met Cody Hefner at the Geier Center and started off by heading to their zoology department where they had an ark of taxidermied animals. Everything from mice to full-sized lions were accounted for, as well as a huge skull and prehistoric bones. The image I needed to make had to be portrait orientation and include extinct birds. I do not remember the full names of the parakeet and warbler, but that’s a passenger pigeon in the background. Cincinnati was the final resting place for Martha, the last passenger pigeon in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608171810897-R6EL3GXOAC4SU7NNXD9G/IMG_6756.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.16.20 Ick Bad day. Feeling ill again. Taking drowsy meds and in bed by 9:30. Try again tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608267090649-TEY1ZZ806M634ZR585IB/IMG_6762_jpg.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.17.20 An Observation This was perhaps the least productive day I’ve had in weeks. I worked the bare minimum then did nothing worth doing for the remainder of the day. During the hours spent waiting to go back to bed, I noticed this shape at the top of the lamp in my office. It screws onto the shade to keep it from coming off. It’s shaped vaguely like a lightbulb, though it’s smaller, coarsely textured, and opaque. In silhouette, they are the same, but in reality, they are opposites. The lightbulb is a symbol of an idea; a eureka moment. This is the symbol of my lack thereof. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608440107746-7D9F51D8E2RX6VXXBV6Y/NZ6_0094.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.18.20 Duveneck The Art Museum reached out to me last-minute about covering their new Frank Duveneck exhibit. This is a bust of him in the Cincinnati Wing, which they repainted specifically for this show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608440108232-J9AD4UHXXAIJNNRSXEP9/IMG_6811.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.19.20 Aimless Wanderers Ashley had errands to run by herself today, so I took the dog on a walk. Since it was just the two of us, and since we have no plans anyway, we got down to the Avenue and I decided to just keep walking. For about three hours, she and I walked through Downtown, over the Roebling, into Covington, over the Licking, through Newport, and back to Bellevue totaling over seven miles in all. It was actually really nice to just go with the flow and not worry about the destination or the time. It’s good to let yourself float through a chunk of the day on occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608523759161-ZYFDPNPWUYRSQP3LFVMC/IMG_6849.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.20.20 Plant Stands I’ve been making these plant stands over the course of a week. In total, I’ve made four tall stands and one short stand. Each one has gone to a relative (or is going to go to a relative soon) as a gift. Ashley found this design online and asked me to build a couple, but after I got the hang of making the first two, I wanted to make more. I borrowed a mitre saw, a band saw, and a nail gun from my father to see if that would make the process of making them easier, and it definitely did. I’m going to figure out what it costs to make each one and build that into the price so I can cover the cost of construction and sell them for charity or something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608609268490-HE4EKD9WO42ZTF3KDGQX/IMG_6854_jpg.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.21.20 Head Scritches A really adorable kitty scratches her head on a bowl. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1608733792851-8HTG7C7CZK4Z2EM2EIFX/IMG_6866.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.22.20 Sun In the Heart of the Home I love all the natural light our kitchen gets in the morning. I liked this particular little vignette. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039028284-3OI4JJ159EH1QEIYNW11/IMG_6877.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.23.20 Rosie My in-laws’ dog, Rosie, is staying at our house this week. She’s very small and very cold. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039032167-JTCW6OD2A17FHDRS8V7E/IMG_6889.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.24.20 A Festive Door Just a tastefully festive door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039036043-6NV6KUFN66YDFWH90UQN/IMG_6890.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.25.20 Come Prepared Christmas requires preparation. Having a good knife on hand to tackle over-wrapped gifts is essential. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609039042433-OOSWTKC6M22D1VFR89OL/IMG_6912.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.26.20 Chillin’ Ashley chilling, both figurative and literally, by a fire with a beer in hand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609119769860-219IR4VZMIEW83AAZUN1/IMG_6922.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.27.20 IT Helper Ashley’s grandfather got a wireless speaker for Christmas and can’t figure out how to set it up on his phone. To help him with phone issues, I made a holder that will hold his iPad (left plank) to point at his iPhone (right plank) when both are placed on the holder. He can then FaceTime me on the iPad and turn the camera around to point through the hole at his iPhone. Because he shakes so badly, I thought the holder would eliminate the shake and allow me to remotely help him figure out his phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609215911124-3B1DUVO25W6IOSA80RTQ/image-asset.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.28.20 Height Helper Sometimes one must build a bridge before they can dam the river. While painting the bathroom this week, I found my step ladder was too large to get into a corner of the room because the shower stall was in the way. There was no way I could get up to the corner and finish the trimming unless I had another 12 inches in height. So, in order to finish painting, I had to build a step stool that would be small enough to fit into the tight space while giving me the necessary leverage I needed. This is the stool I came up with to finish the job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609276331947-25UG2WD6HBQNDOHZ71G2/IMG_6929.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.29.20 Well, Shit Car’s dead. Went to pull it out of the garage and it wouldn’t start. It sounds like it wants to start, but just won’t. We had to have a tow truck come and take it to the mechanic Downtown. With a full-to-the-brim week ahead of me, this isn’t good. I can’t Uber because of COVID, so I guess I’ll be walking everywhere. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609357542118-GZBOCCSX2AANGP9E83R0/NZ6_0133.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.30.20 Sweet Little Stranger Because the car’s in the shop, I needed to walk to Mt. Adams from my home in Bellevue for work this morning. On the first leg of my trip, I came across this sweet little pup on Taylor Avenue. Her tail flipped back and forth like she wanted it to fly off her butt, instantly melting my heart. When I made eye contact with her, she started throwing her front paws down and wiggling her head—that type of dog behavior that suggests she desperately wants to be pet but is too overcome with excitement to hold it together. As I raised my camera to take her photo, she became shy and looked away. It looks like she’s stoic in the photo above, but she was anything but at the moment this was taken. Her nose touched my hand as I reached through the fence to give her a scratch on her snout and appease that mile-a-minute tail. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609480693331-ROQV0A0ZJTUBHYG1MR69/NZ6_0397-HDR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2020 - 12.31.20 A Big Empty Building 2020 has packed its shit and is moving out. I photographed a 900K condo on Race Street and this empty building on Central Avenue. Of everything I saw today, this room with the good light was my favorite. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jan-2021 daily 0.75 2021-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609562366048-QXSAQASKMGD2FG713AOT/NZ6_0433.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.1.21 Delayed Introduction It rained on and off the whole day as I sat in my chair plugging away at a full list of work. Myrtle went outside three times to use the bathroom; three more times than I went outside. In fact, I didn’t even shower until 2:30 PM this afternoon because there was no impetus to do so. As such, I’ve yet to be acquainted with the outside world of 2021. This is perhaps the first time in my life that I haven’t even left the house on New Years Day. Intellectually I know superstitions and looking for “signs” in unrelated facts is totally foolish, but I cannot help but wonder if today’s horrible weather and lack of interaction with the outside world isn’t indicative of how this year will go. Hopefully that’s just my quarantine brain talking aloud. Because I didn’t go anywhere, I put my camera on the roof to get an atmospheric shot of the tree next door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609607638383-ARZIS4S6075F4QRQFTML/IMG_6969.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.2.21 As Good As It Gets We love our weekend ritual of seeking coffee outside the house. It hasn’t happened every weekend during the pandemic, but today it did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609713304128-ONCBEQFKZU91N1BKDMLJ/DSC_1975.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.3.21 Accidental Accuracy I could lie and say this photo is blurry because it’s an artistic reflection of the constant cloudy weather that’s always muddying up outdoor photos, but it’s truly just a reflection of my ineptitude behind the camera this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609859657865-0UE7T0AFPG88OC9NE9WM/IMG_6993.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.4.21 Un-Full-Phil-led I saw a commercial for a Papa John’s stuffed crust pizza. Against my better judgment, I fell for the marketing scheme and ordered one for carryout. I got the pizza home and ravenously devoured my first piece. The crust was the only redeeming quality as the pizza itself was largely flavorless and boring. Has Papa John’s always been terrible? Whatever the answer, I will not be getting another one. Frozen stuffed crust pizza is better than this dreck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609900395814-T3RAE8YFDQC3PSO2HVLQ/NZ6_0437.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.5.21 Enchanted Artifact This brass medallion is something we pulled from an abandoned trailer in middle Kentucky years ago. Recently it received a nice cleaning with Brasso to polish off the green patina that had formed in several spots over the years. I dramatically lit it because I thought the texture and shape would make for good shadows, and it didn’t disappoint. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609983334109-Q9L916UU8BV5DVCLM4N1/NZ6_0452.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.6.21 A Failed Coup A mindless hive of cultists descended on the Capitol Building today, lured by a dim insect lamp at the top. The United States' current and outgoing president decided to encourage his most loyal cultists, each with a questionable amount of grey matter between the ears (a requisite to be in the club), to march on the Capitol Building to protest the presidential election he fairly lost but refuses to admit. Unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation due to his infantile mind, he incited a mob that chose violence in an effort to stop the certification of president-elect Biden's confirmation as the 46th president of the United States. The horde clashed with security on the steps of the Capitol before eventually breaking into the building. The Capitol was evacuated. The mob lingered in the halls of the Capitol and accomplished nothing but embarrassing themselves before being removed by remaining forces. A woman was shot and killed during the assault on the building; it's unclear at this time if she was among the cultists. News organizations aren't saying it at the moment, but it's an attempted coup and should be treated as such. Afterward, to cover his own ass, the outgoing president told everyone to go home before telling him he "loved" them and that they are "special." I shudder to think what would happen if people of color showed the same amount of aggression toward the Capitol Building. This is a historic day and not in a good way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610078335903-4T8RN8GPO8CN6NTB695N/IMG_7061.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.7.21 I Can See Clearly Now When we moved into our house this summer, I was clearing out the room that would become my workshop and found these old glasses beneath the old workbench. Designed with plastic on the sides to help shield the eyes, the glasses are big and non-prescription so as to fit the face of practically anyone who wears them. Thankfully my own prescription is light enough that I can work without glasses if I want, so I cleaned them up tonight with Windex and Brasso to make them look cleaner. There are scratches on the lenses and arms, but all of the corrosion was wiped away with the dirt. I like to imagine what these glasses saw before they fell under the old workbench. I wonder how old they are and who bought and wore them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610167390573-GDFFSSY9SXDC0XJL3Q8K/IMG_7089.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.8.21 A Technological Step Up I’m not one to need the latest and greatest technology anymore, though I do like to stay semi-current. My iPhone XS served me well enough to not make me want to upgrade when subsequent models hit the market over the last couple of years. However, I upgraded to an iPhone 12 Pro this week due having upgrades available and a high trade-in value for the XS, and Ashley was still on an iPhone 7 from what felt like 20 years ago at this point. The feature I was most interested to try was Night Mode on the Pro’s camera. While not fully manual, you can set it to do long exposures if the conditions are dark enough while shooting in RAW. My bathroom has a small light in it, so I decided to try out the long exposure feature to see how well it worked. I didnt use a tripod for the 5 second exposure and was surprised by how sharp the computer ended up making the final image. I realize there’s probably some quick realignment happening in the processing of the image to account for hand shake. It was an impressive outcome for a more-complex-than-usual photo. Having come from the days of cellphone use before cameras were even included, it blows me away how great the cameras on phones have become. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610251694557-PZRV98WV69GDY6IA7S75/IMG_7094.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.9.21 Special Seat Months ago, I made a wall-mounted vanity for Ashley to do her makeup and morning routine outside of our small bathroom. During that time, she was using a footstool as a chair, but the footstool was large and blocked the air duct to its right. With the temperatures dropping, this caused the flow of warm air in the room to lessen. Long story short, we looked for a chair at a ton of different places to replace the footstool and came up empty. So I built her a custom seat this afternoon using the same wood I used for the vanity. For this project, I really wanted to avoid seeing screws or nails on the finished product as much as possible. Except for some nail gun finishing nails on the legs, I achieved it while maintaining structural integrity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610338115226-WI4BY7RSU10TNXF7WFH6/IMG_7098.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.10.21 Today’s Project My sister moved to Washington Courthouse, OH recently. She bought a house with many rooms for her, her significant other, and his daughter. The house needs a little updating in a few places (what homes don’t?), mainly on the cosmetic side of things. In my laundry room, I built an over-the-machine shelf to hold laundry detergent and towels. She liked the idea, so I went up to Washington Courthouse and made her a shelf of her own. The cabinet on the left side of the machines boxes in water pipes and valves—things she shouldn’t need to get to often, but will still allow her access should she need access. I designed the cabinet around the pipes to conceal them since they’re the first things you see on the wall when you walk into the room. While I wanted to do 45º cuts, my mitre saw would chew through only about seven inches, and these were 1x8 boards. Because the 45º setting wasn’t able to be mirrored on the saw/s settings, I decided to just make it easy and go with 90º cuts. Glad I did in the end because it made it far easier to make overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610415392472-C8XWFPF4USDYEMJ4OHML/NZ6_0471.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.11.21 Is There a Draft in Here? I haven’t been to the barber in months. Ashley has been cutting my hair on the deck so I can avoid having my face close to someone else’s due to COVID. But it’s as frigid as can be at the moment, so cutting hair on the deck isn’t an option. Shaving my head for the second time and not worrying about getting a style right was the only logical next step. I love choosing not to have hair for a variety of reasons, but I definitely underestimated how much of a draft I’d feel just sitting in the house. The last time I did this, we were living in the apartment—a much newer, warmer space. With the exception of taking this photo (linked my phone with the camera so I could take it), I had a soft hat on all day out of necessity. Don’t shave your head in the middle of winter, kids. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610505594990-Q2BOK1MIUYYWEDSP21NC/NZ6_0475.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.12.21 On the Market I photographed 111 E Elder today. It's going to stay a commercial rental space and has three interested parties according to the owner. It's relatively move-in-ready at the moment, so whoever does decide to set up shop won't have to majorly renovate it before opening their doors. Fingers crossed they can find a tenant. I don't like seeing empty storefronts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610598174883-7DRESMMX6ZK2LPJJY92I/IMG_7130.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.13.21 Oddities In Dayton On a walk through Dayton, KY this morning, I passed this odd little building on the Avenue with a fun color scheme, some heavy vine action, and an odd plinth on the front lawn. Dayton is strange and filled with interesting stuff like this. I want to photograph more of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610656046641-0SP2NO099E1313MU7E0E/NZ6_0573-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.14.21 Return to Forest Avenue I returned to the Forest Avenue house for updated photos this morning because the sun was shining. The realtor asked if I could go back on a sunny day to update the images because when I went last time, the sky was grey. This view is from the living room, which points due north and frames the city skyline perfectly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610769607769-C1FVEAXRCYYPQXJA4YJK/NZ6_0614.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.15.21 Words to Live By Listened to the radio a lot today. There was a doctor on All Things Considered who advocated for unconditional love for family members caught up in a popular conspiracy theory whose name finds itself between the P and the R in the English alphabet. It’s easy for all of us to mock them and ridicule their decision to choose misinformation over facts, but the doctor said the best way to get through to those people isn’t to bully them or insult their intelligence. What they believe is based in emotion; the only way to combat what they believe must be done with counter emotion. Citing facts from the sources between-P-and-R claims are wrong will make your relative believe you’re a dupe who’s misinformed yourself. Offending them with accusations will make them retreat further into their madness. Accountability, she said, is with the leaders and the creators of the conspiracy who enabled this, not the family member who believed it. I’m not sure how much of what she said is believable, and thankfully I don’t know anyone personally who believes in that conspiracy, but I like the approach of unconditional love. Being a nice human makes everything better, even if just a little, tiny bit. You don’t have to fix or cure everything, but there’s never a situation where being kind isn’t helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610859174320-BFZQCJ9ZOCEEZ970M7LT/IMG_7161.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.16.21 Quiet Night I spent the majority of the day building shelf inserts for improved kitchen storage, making plant stands, and messing around with my new router. I am never truly happy these days for a variety of reasons, namely because of the pandemic and my lack of social life, but working in my workshop of little projects makes me feel better while doing them. When I have those days, though, I don’t really think about photography. So tonight, before I go to bed, I tried out the night mode on my phone and snapped a photo of the yard behind ours. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610941197980-KTMVVSNSVZ7YQ4O9VMW5/IMG_7165.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.17.21 Mobile Solutions Built a combination mobile cutting station and storage rack today. Around noon, I got the idea to make what is essentially a mobile work station and put it together in the garage. Because I do the majority of my cutting with a mitre saw, I have been using sawhorses with a piece of wood as a table in the garage instead of using it on my workbench because the saw throws so much dust into the air. The garage is far easier to clean up after the job is finished due to there being very little in it, but it’s a hassle to set up the sawhorses and board every time I use the saw. This allows me to wheel my saw and tools out on one mobile cart when I need to cut without setting anything else up. Everything is contained in one unit on wheels (that lock when I need them to). And because I still don’t know how else I want to use the space in my workshop, the storage in the cart is great because I can move everything around where I want it. The flexibility and utility really improve my whole setup considerably. I may mess around and put a piece of 1x2 around the top to make the work surface look a little nicer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611023579509-C1WFZWHDV1ARAPGPSFFO/IMG_7170.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.18.21 Bird Feeder Ashley saw a bird feeder online and was going to buy it, but after looking at how basic the design was, I told her I could make it instead. So tonight I did just that. I used spare wood and plexiglass leftover from other projects to build the housing. The black chain, hook, and birdseed required a trip to Lowe’s, but overall the whole thing was cheap to make. There’s a caged suet hanging from the bottom of it, too. Just hope a squirrel doesn’t take the whole thing out. I reinforced the grip of the chain to the hook with a black zip tie, so hopefully that maintains its balance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611098551994-N274WOL3J1VN4VMIB5H4/IMG_7188.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.19.21 Midwest Winter Winter in the Midwest is a drug. It can go days, even weeks, without sustained direct sunlight, muting my soul’s chant to keep going. I want to sleep, and when I can’t sleep, I want to hide away in a windowless room to open up the possibility that maybe it’s sunny beyond those walls if I can’t see it isn’t. And then we’ll get a sunny, beautiful day that reminds me of the little things I knew I missed but didn’t realize how much I truly did. Sunlight on the bathroom wall, a patch of radiant hardwood floor, a reflection in the eyes off a glass picture on a shelf, a golden and purple sky on an old building as I take an evening walk, sunlight through the fabric of an American flag; it’s all so beautiful and I take it for granted in the summer months. Only when we’re deprived of it does it feel so potent when it returns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611204694994-24MO0SFNP8AP3JRJB652/NZ6_0653.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.20.21 Return to Pride The White House and the seat of our federal government have finally been filled with adults for the first time in four years. I can fly the country’s flag on my home without feeling ashamed again, and I’m thankful for the step forward we’ve taken today. Time to get back to what’s right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611275632123-PCCAQDTGRVOYCRXEGIBZ/IMG_7215.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.21.21 I Am 35 Today I turned 35 today. Took the day off. Walked to the Honduran coffee shop. Walked the dog. Cleaned the house. Got a COVID test. Are Skyline Chili. Had lemon cake. Built a shelf for under the sink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611411678455-887E669OWVTX3TSA12YM/IMG_7236.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.22.21 Gettin’ Goetta Had to get some goetta from Eckerlin’s this morning and stopped to get a photo of the approach to Findlay since it was such a nice day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611543342243-5K5STAYOYAOJDRGJ5TGM/NZ6_0697.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.23.21 Red River Gorge We went to Red River Gorge last night and rented a cabin on the mountain. We hiked 7 miles today, then went back to the cabin to relax. This is a four minute exposure of the cabin under moonlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611543338188-GDU1MI7Y70MX3YEMSL0H/IMG_7295.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.24.21 Optimizing Existing Furniture After getting back to Cincinnati, I immediately resumed workshop activities by building a plant stand and this piece of furniture that’s made to custom fit an existing filing cabinet. The cabinet is this ugly grey thing I bought years ago that I’ve always wanted to spruce up but could never figure out exactly how to do so. Ashley throws a bunch of loose papers that need to be sorted onto the top of the filing cabinet, so I built a frame around the cabinet with tiny little half-inch slots where she can organize her loose documents that need to be filed while simultaneously providing an attractive slatted aesthetic. The structure is made more stable once the cabinet is inserted thanks to the tight fit and base board that pulls the bottom of the walls together. I also experimented with wood glue and joining dowels to avoid showing screws and nails so the whole thing would look more finished. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611584992910-QLV4RPOQYY06DJUIZ2IL/NZ6_0707.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.25.21 They’ve Found It Last week, I made a bird feeder and hung it on a hook in the backyard. For days, the birds ignored it. Friday, however, they started congregating on it. And now the tree rodents have discovered it, too. They hop on the birdbath and stretch over to it, hopping up once they’ve gotten ahold of its side. Initially, I was annoyed that the squirrels were getting into the birdseed, but honestly, if it makes their little lives better, so be it. I cannot imagine being an outdoor creature with it being so cold and gloomy all the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611717732543-J40VIADIFRHBYNXWB5BE/Oakley+Fish+House-Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.26.21 Not a Vampire This image is actually two in one. I stood in the center of the mirror to get the foreground straight-on, then turned around and took a photo of the wall behind me. Then, in Photoshop, I removed myself from the mirror and replaced that area with the image of the reflected wall. In the end, I was able to simulate taking an impossible photo. I made this for the architect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611887325474-651VSNP91PH04LPV97RU/IMG_7325.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.27.21 Repurposed Content I shot a coworking space in Brighton for work today, and in the men’s bathroom, there was a sink that was once used in a darkroom from somewhere else. It has a beautiful stained basin from all the chemicals that were flushed through it over the years. I thought it was interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611887327718-W1JJB4IANWP4JNIMCRB6/IMG_7368.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.28.21 Remnants Went back to Peters Cartridge today to get photos of finished common areas for an upcoming piece on Refined, and while there, I snapped a photo of an exterior door that’s obviously no longer in use. Seeing that place teeming with life is so strange but in the best way possible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611947750632-UCVJ0FZ59S3BD40SJ2DR/NZ6_0873.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.29.21 New Digs Ronny’s moving into an apartment above the Bay Horse tomorrow. I met up with him on my lunch hour and he gave me a tour of his place before everything’s moved in. We’re going to work on building him some custom shelves and such so maximize the use of his space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612137608731-ILBBM8XE4D28D95588A4/IMG_7393.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.30.21 The Weasel Watch My sister’s dog, Luna, is a little wiener dog. She wanted Luna to be able to see outside at the house, so I built her this little platform with a cabinet built into the bottom. She has stairs already that will go against the left side of the cabinet. I built the cabinet to fit the dimensions of those stairs. My sister loves Lord of the Rings, so I made the door to the cabinet round, like a hobbit door. They both liked it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612137609099-R7VNJA9S6U1Y4P38C7UJ/IMG_7456.jpg daily-photos-jan-2021 - 1.31.21 History Revealed 3CDC purchased “the Chong building” on Race Street Downtown and started removing the brick facade. Underneath is a beautiful Victorian framework that was hidden for decades. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dailyphotosall2021 daily 0.75 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609562366048-QXSAQASKMGD2FG713AOT/NZ6_0433.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.1.21 Delayed Introduction It rained on and off the whole day as I sat in my chair plugging away at a full list of work. Myrtle went outside three times to use the bathroom; three more times than I went outside. In fact, I didn’t even shower until 2:30 PM this afternoon because there was no impetus to do so. As such, I’ve yet to be acquainted with the outside world of 2021. This is perhaps the first time in my life that I haven’t even left the house on New Years Day. Intellectually I know superstitions and looking for “signs” in unrelated facts is totally foolish, but I cannot help but wonder if today’s horrible weather and lack of interaction with the outside world isn’t indicative of how this year will go. Hopefully that’s just my quarantine brain talking aloud. Because I didn’t go anywhere, I put my camera on the roof to get an atmospheric shot of the tree next door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609607638383-ARZIS4S6075F4QRQFTML/IMG_6969.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.2.21 As Good As It Gets We love our weekend ritual of seeking coffee outside the house. It hasn’t happened every weekend during the pandemic, but today it did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609713304128-ONCBEQFKZU91N1BKDMLJ/DSC_1975.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.3.21 Accidental Accuracy I could lie and say this photo is blurry because it’s an artistic reflection of the constant cloudy weather that’s always muddying up outdoor photos, but it’s truly just a reflection of my ineptitude behind the camera this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609859657865-0UE7T0AFPG88OC9NE9WM/IMG_6993.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.4.21 Un-Full-Phil-led I saw a commercial for a Papa John’s stuffed crust pizza. Against my better judgment, I fell for the marketing scheme and ordered one for carryout. I got the pizza home and ravenously devoured my first piece. The crust was the only redeeming quality as the pizza itself was largely flavorless and boring. Has Papa John’s always been terrible? Whatever the answer, I will not be getting another one. Frozen stuffed crust pizza is better than this dreck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609900395814-T3RAE8YFDQC3PSO2HVLQ/NZ6_0437.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.5.21 Enchanted Artifact This brass medallion is something we pulled from an abandoned trailer in middle Kentucky years ago. Recently it received a nice cleaning with Brasso to polish off the green patina that had formed in several spots over the years. I dramatically lit it because I thought the texture and shape would make for good shadows, and it didn’t disappoint. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1609983334109-Q9L916UU8BV5DVCLM4N1/NZ6_0452.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.6.21 A Failed Coup A mindless hive of cultists descended on the Capitol Building today, lured by a dim insect lamp at the top. The United States' current and outgoing president decided to encourage his most loyal cultists, each with a questionable amount of grey matter between the ears (a requisite to be in the club), to march on the Capitol Building to protest the presidential election he fairly lost but refuses to admit. Unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation due to his infantile mind, he incited a mob that chose violence in an effort to stop the certification of president-elect Biden's confirmation as the 46th president of the United States. The horde clashed with security on the steps of the Capitol before eventually breaking into the building. The Capitol was evacuated. The mob lingered in the halls of the Capitol and accomplished nothing but embarrassing themselves before being removed by remaining forces. A woman was shot and killed during the assault on the building; it's unclear at this time if she was among the cultists. News organizations aren't saying it at the moment, but it's an attempted coup and should be treated as such. Afterward, to cover his own ass, the outgoing president told everyone to go home before telling him he "loved" them and that they are "special." I shudder to think what would happen if people of color showed the same amount of aggression toward the Capitol Building. This is a historic day and not in a good way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610078335903-4T8RN8GPO8CN6NTB695N/IMG_7061.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.7.21 I Can See Clearly Now When we moved into our house this summer, I was clearing out the room that would become my workshop and found these old glasses beneath the old workbench. Designed with plastic on the sides to help shield the eyes, the glasses are big and non-prescription so as to fit the face of practically anyone who wears them. Thankfully my own prescription is light enough that I can work without glasses if I want, so I cleaned them up tonight with Windex and Brasso to make them look cleaner. There are scratches on the lenses and arms, but all of the corrosion was wiped away with the dirt. I like to imagine what these glasses saw before they fell under the old workbench. I wonder how old they are and who bought and wore them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610167390573-GDFFSSY9SXDC0XJL3Q8K/IMG_7089.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.8.21 A Technological Step Up I’m not one to need the latest and greatest technology anymore, though I do like to stay semi-current. My iPhone XS served me well enough to not make me want to upgrade when subsequent models hit the market over the last couple of years. However, I upgraded to an iPhone 12 Pro this week due having upgrades available and a high trade-in value for the XS, and Ashley was still on an iPhone 7 from what felt like 20 years ago at this point. The feature I was most interested to try was Night Mode on the Pro’s camera. While not fully manual, you can set it to do long exposures if the conditions are dark enough while shooting in RAW. My bathroom has a small light in it, so I decided to try out the long exposure feature to see how well it worked. I didnt use a tripod for the 5 second exposure and was surprised by how sharp the computer ended up making the final image. I realize there’s probably some quick realignment happening in the processing of the image to account for hand shake. It was an impressive outcome for a more-complex-than-usual photo. Having come from the days of cellphone use before cameras were even included, it blows me away how great the cameras on phones have become. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610251694557-PZRV98WV69GDY6IA7S75/IMG_7094.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.9.21 Special Seat Months ago, I made a wall-mounted vanity for Ashley to do her makeup and morning routine outside of our small bathroom. During that time, she was using a footstool as a chair, but the footstool was large and blocked the air duct to its right. With the temperatures dropping, this caused the flow of warm air in the room to lessen. Long story short, we looked for a chair at a ton of different places to replace the footstool and came up empty. So I built her a custom seat this afternoon using the same wood I used for the vanity. For this project, I really wanted to avoid seeing screws or nails on the finished product as much as possible. Except for some nail gun finishing nails on the legs, I achieved it while maintaining structural integrity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610338115226-WI4BY7RSU10TNXF7WFH6/IMG_7098.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.10.21 Today’s Project My sister moved to Washington Courthouse, OH recently. She bought a house with many rooms for her, her significant other, and his daughter. The house needs a little updating in a few places (what homes don’t?), mainly on the cosmetic side of things. In my laundry room, I built an over-the-machine shelf to hold laundry detergent and towels. She liked the idea, so I went up to Washington Courthouse and made her a shelf of her own. The cabinet on the left side of the machines boxes in water pipes and valves—things she shouldn’t need to get to often, but will still allow her access should she need access. I designed the cabinet around the pipes to conceal them since they’re the first things you see on the wall when you walk into the room. While I wanted to do 45º cuts, my mitre saw would chew through only about seven inches, and these were 1x8 boards. Because the 45º setting wasn’t able to be mirrored on the saw/s settings, I decided to just make it easy and go with 90º cuts. Glad I did in the end because it made it far easier to make overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610415392472-C8XWFPF4USDYEMJ4OHML/NZ6_0471.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.11.21 Is There a Draft in Here? I haven’t been to the barber in months. Ashley has been cutting my hair on the deck so I can avoid having my face close to someone else’s due to COVID. But it’s as frigid as can be at the moment, so cutting hair on the deck isn’t an option. Shaving my head for the second time and not worrying about getting a style right was the only logical next step. I love choosing not to have hair for a variety of reasons, but I definitely underestimated how much of a draft I’d feel just sitting in the house. The last time I did this, we were living in the apartment—a much newer, warmer space. With the exception of taking this photo (linked my phone with the camera so I could take it), I had a soft hat on all day out of necessity. Don’t shave your head in the middle of winter, kids. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610505594990-Q2BOK1MIUYYWEDSP21NC/NZ6_0475.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.12.21 On the Market I photographed 111 E Elder today. It's going to stay a commercial rental space and has three interested parties according to the owner. It's relatively move-in-ready at the moment, so whoever does decide to set up shop won't have to majorly renovate it before opening their doors. Fingers crossed they can find a tenant. I don't like seeing empty storefronts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610598174883-7DRESMMX6ZK2LPJJY92I/IMG_7130.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.13.21 Oddities In Dayton On a walk through Dayton, KY this morning, I passed this odd little building on the Avenue with a fun color scheme, some heavy vine action, and an odd plinth on the front lawn. Dayton is strange and filled with interesting stuff like this. I want to photograph more of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610656046641-0SP2NO099E1313MU7E0E/NZ6_0573-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.14.21 Return to Forest Avenue I returned to the Forest Avenue house for updated photos this morning because the sun was shining. The realtor asked if I could go back on a sunny day to update the images because when I went last time, the sky was grey. This view is from the living room, which points due north and frames the city skyline perfectly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610769607769-C1FVEAXRCYYPQXJA4YJK/NZ6_0614.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.15.21 Words to Live By Listened to the radio a lot today. There was a doctor on All Things Considered who advocated for unconditional love for family members caught up in a popular conspiracy theory whose name finds itself between the P and the R in the English alphabet. It’s easy for all of us to mock them and ridicule their decision to choose misinformation over facts, but the doctor said the best way to get through to those people isn’t to bully them or insult their intelligence. What they believe is based in emotion; the only way to combat what they believe must be done with counter emotion. Citing facts from the sources between-P-and-R claims are wrong will make your relative believe you’re a dupe who’s misinformed yourself. Offending them with accusations will make them retreat further into their madness. Accountability, she said, is with the leaders and the creators of the conspiracy who enabled this, not the family member who believed it. I’m not sure how much of what she said is believable, and thankfully I don’t know anyone personally who believes in that conspiracy, but I like the approach of unconditional love. Being a nice human makes everything better, even if just a little, tiny bit. You don’t have to fix or cure everything, but there’s never a situation where being kind isn’t helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610859174320-BFZQCJ9ZOCEEZ970M7LT/IMG_7161.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.16.21 Quiet Night I spent the majority of the day building shelf inserts for improved kitchen storage, making plant stands, and messing around with my new router. I am never truly happy these days for a variety of reasons, namely because of the pandemic and my lack of social life, but working in my workshop of little projects makes me feel better while doing them. When I have those days, though, I don’t really think about photography. So tonight, before I go to bed, I tried out the night mode on my phone and snapped a photo of the yard behind ours. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1610941197980-KTMVVSNSVZ7YQ4O9VMW5/IMG_7165.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.17.21 Mobile Solutions Built a combination mobile cutting station and storage rack today. Around noon, I got the idea to make what is essentially a mobile work station and put it together in the garage. Because I do the majority of my cutting with a mitre saw, I have been using sawhorses with a piece of wood as a table in the garage instead of using it on my workbench because the saw throws so much dust into the air. The garage is far easier to clean up after the job is finished due to there being very little in it, but it’s a hassle to set up the sawhorses and board every time I use the saw. This allows me to wheel my saw and tools out on one mobile cart when I need to cut without setting anything else up. Everything is contained in one unit on wheels (that lock when I need them to). And because I still don’t know how else I want to use the space in my workshop, the storage in the cart is great because I can move everything around where I want it. The flexibility and utility really improve my whole setup considerably. I may mess around and put a piece of 1x2 around the top to make the work surface look a little nicer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611023579509-C1WFZWHDV1ARAPGPSFFO/IMG_7170.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.18.21 Bird Feeder Ashley saw a bird feeder online and was going to buy it, but after looking at how basic the design was, I told her I could make it instead. So tonight I did just that. I used spare wood and plexiglass leftover from other projects to build the housing. The black chain, hook, and birdseed required a trip to Lowe’s, but overall the whole thing was cheap to make. There’s a caged suet hanging from the bottom of it, too. Just hope a squirrel doesn’t take the whole thing out. I reinforced the grip of the chain to the hook with a black zip tie, so hopefully that maintains its balance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611098551994-N274WOL3J1VN4VMIB5H4/IMG_7188.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.19.21 Midwest Winter Winter in the Midwest is a drug. It can go days, even weeks, without sustained direct sunlight, muting my soul’s chant to keep going. I want to sleep, and when I can’t sleep, I want to hide away in a windowless room to open up the possibility that maybe it’s sunny beyond those walls if I can’t see it isn’t. And then we’ll get a sunny, beautiful day that reminds me of the little things I knew I missed but didn’t realize how much I truly did. Sunlight on the bathroom wall, a patch of radiant hardwood floor, a reflection in the eyes off a glass picture on a shelf, a golden and purple sky on an old building as I take an evening walk, sunlight through the fabric of an American flag; it’s all so beautiful and I take it for granted in the summer months. Only when we’re deprived of it does it feel so potent when it returns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611204694994-24MO0SFNP8AP3JRJB652/NZ6_0653.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.20.21 Return to Pride The White House and the seat of our federal government have finally been filled with adults for the first time in four years. I can fly the country’s flag on my home without feeling ashamed again, and I’m thankful for the step forward we’ve taken today. Time to get back to what’s right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611275632123-PCCAQDTGRVOYCRXEGIBZ/IMG_7215.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.21.21 I Am 35 Today I turned 35 today. Took the day off. Walked to the Honduran coffee shop. Walked the dog. Cleaned the house. Got a COVID test. Are Skyline Chili. Had lemon cake. Built a shelf for under the sink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611411678455-887E669OWVTX3TSA12YM/IMG_7236.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.22.21 Gettin’ Goetta Had to get some goetta from Eckerlin’s this morning and stopped to get a photo of the approach to Findlay since it was such a nice day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611543342243-5K5STAYOYAOJDRGJ5TGM/NZ6_0697.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.23.21 Red River Gorge We went to Red River Gorge last night and rented a cabin on the mountain. We hiked 7 miles today, then went back to the cabin to relax. This is a four minute exposure of the cabin under moonlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611543338188-GDU1MI7Y70MX3YEMSL0H/IMG_7295.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.24.21 Optimizing Existing Furniture After getting back to Cincinnati, I immediately resumed workshop activities by building a plant stand and this piece of furniture that’s made to custom fit an existing filing cabinet. The cabinet is this ugly grey thing I bought years ago that I’ve always wanted to spruce up but could never figure out exactly how to do so. Ashley throws a bunch of loose papers that need to be sorted onto the top of the filing cabinet, so I built a frame around the cabinet with tiny little half-inch slots where she can organize her loose documents that need to be filed while simultaneously providing an attractive slatted aesthetic. The structure is made more stable once the cabinet is inserted thanks to the tight fit and base board that pulls the bottom of the walls together. I also experimented with wood glue and joining dowels to avoid showing screws and nails so the whole thing would look more finished. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611584992910-QLV4RPOQYY06DJUIZ2IL/NZ6_0707.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.25.21 They’ve Found It Last week, I made a bird feeder and hung it on a hook in the backyard. For days, the birds ignored it. Friday, however, they started congregating on it. And now the tree rodents have discovered it, too. They hop on the birdbath and stretch over to it, hopping up once they’ve gotten ahold of its side. Initially, I was annoyed that the squirrels were getting into the birdseed, but honestly, if it makes their little lives better, so be it. I cannot imagine being an outdoor creature with it being so cold and gloomy all the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611717732543-J40VIADIFRHBYNXWB5BE/Oakley+Fish+House-Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.26.21 Not a Vampire This image is actually two in one. I stood in the center of the mirror to get the foreground straight-on, then turned around and took a photo of the wall behind me. Then, in Photoshop, I removed myself from the mirror and replaced that area with the image of the reflected wall. In the end, I was able to simulate taking an impossible photo. I made this for the architect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611887325474-651VSNP91PH04LPV97RU/IMG_7325.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.27.21 Repurposed Content I shot a coworking space in Brighton for work today, and in the men’s bathroom, there was a sink that was once used in a darkroom from somewhere else. It has a beautiful stained basin from all the chemicals that were flushed through it over the years. I thought it was interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611887327718-W1JJB4IANWP4JNIMCRB6/IMG_7368.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.28.21 Remnants Went back to Peters Cartridge today to get photos of finished common areas for an upcoming piece on Refined, and while there, I snapped a photo of an exterior door that’s obviously no longer in use. Seeing that place teeming with life is so strange but in the best way possible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1611947750632-UCVJ0FZ59S3BD40SJ2DR/NZ6_0873.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.29.21 New Digs Ronny’s moving into an apartment above the Bay Horse tomorrow. I met up with him on my lunch hour and he gave me a tour of his place before everything’s moved in. We’re going to work on building him some custom shelves and such so maximize the use of his space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612137608731-ILBBM8XE4D28D95588A4/IMG_7393.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.30.21 The Weasel Watch My sister’s dog, Luna, is a little wiener dog. She wanted Luna to be able to see outside at the house, so I built her this little platform with a cabinet built into the bottom. She has stairs already that will go against the left side of the cabinet. I built the cabinet to fit the dimensions of those stairs. My sister loves Lord of the Rings, so I made the door to the cabinet round, like a hobbit door. They both liked it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612137609099-R7VNJA9S6U1Y4P38C7UJ/IMG_7456.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 1.31.21 History Revealed 3CDC purchased “the Chong building” on Race Street Downtown and started removing the brick facade. Underneath is a beautiful Victorian framework that was hidden for decades. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612234756338-ER7T0I0JSNFD82E4OLCS/IMG_7470-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.1.21 Think Like a Proton As seen in Galactic Chicken while waiting on carryout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612280926445-0PNBGV8ABUQ3JBYNZ6W3/DSC_2075.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.2.21 A Bird’s Life These starlings on a telephone wire looked pretty in the sun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612389251783-ZQOZNERIIIQ73BZQV5N9/IMG_7482.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.3.21 A Stinky Visitor These stupid stink bugs keep getting into the house and flapping around quiet rooms. I scoop them up and throw them back out to winter as punishment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612553420532-UK4LUQ8T94KAS7MWSKQW/IMG_7488.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.4.21 TOOL WORLD I spend too much time and money at Lowe’s, but dammit, I love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612585666512-MS4YWXOXH7IJGT5P36Y3/NZ6_1038.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.5.21 Winter Sunset Returned to the house I’ve shot twice for a real estate listing to get sunset shots of the city. This house has a great view of Downtown from the backyard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612660362046-DLTL2F81RQSTNT9YPOCR/IMG_7499.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.6.21 Back to Basics I made a camera obscura today out of wood, a convex lens, and a piece of tracing paper. It was fun to see the science of transmitting an image onto a flat surface first hand in its most basic form. The viewing port is large enough to put my phone up to it and take a photo of the image it creates. The image is actually reversed in reality, but I flipped it in post to illustrate the scene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612754515568-V1YW1A7QZZQ5A2XTX8LM/IMG_7515.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.7.21 Don’t Look Behind You… We took a walk and checked out the high school’s track and field area. There was a mural of a tiger punching through the wall, so we had little Myrtle sit in front of it while we took her photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612845834448-7DEQ5NHL0L6TMQ35BDMV/IMG_7540.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.8.21 Oh I was building a bird house in the workshop for the last five hours. The window in there doesn’t actually let me see clearly outside, and since it’s been dark for hours, I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening outside. I came upstairs and BOOM—at least four inches of snow and continuously falling. Myrtle wanted to go check it out with me on the porch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613015241333-RBDMM1JN0BZEHVOKNZDC/IMG_7551.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.9.21 There’s a Staircase Under Here Somewhere It snowed an ungodly amount last night. We woke up to eight inches this morning. Everything was covered. Whatever work the plows did wasn’t enough. I got out early to shovel our driveway, alley, stairs, and sidewalk. While out there, I did the neighbors’ properties as well, and one of the neighbors and I tag teamed the public staircase that leads to Taylor. I was exhausted by the end of the morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613015238012-A7G6N9W8WY7CX2EC1JD1/IMG_7593_jpg.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.10.21 Pretty Market While on a shoot near Findlay Market today, it started snowing again. This time I wasn’t at home to enjoy it. While the market was beautiful, it took me a half hour just to get from OTR to Bellevue because traffic was so slow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613190981622-W5OORYBW3TNRDAR9N4Z3/IMG_7615.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.12.21 He Chonk This massive icicle formed on the roof. Since there’s no gutter there, it dramatically grew in scale over night. I ended up shattering it later in the afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613190983683-DEV9LR51RDGQWPWL2YWA/IMG_7605.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.11.21 Miamitown I went out to Miamitown to do a piece on an art studio and stumbled upon this beautiful, dilapidated building on my way back to the car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613270673506-5O990WSYYUH1N15HVLJV/IMG_7626.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.13.21 Dropping Off I helped three different friends accomplish projects today. The first in my list was Downtown. I made a friend a few things for his apartment above the Bayhorse, and while dropping it all off at the door to take upstairs, I snapped a photo of the scene. The back of the old Fort Washington Hotel has a great faded ad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613337709906-OB23KTKNBOHNMWXGVIO0/NZ6_1200.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.14.21 Only Half There I’m tired of being at my computer. Despite building a nice desk and improving what I already have, I rarely ever want to be here. What was once my hub for creativity has turned into a place that represents irritation, stagnation, and a constant reminder of my own failings. I’m burned out on several things that keep me glued to this device to the point where I relish the chance to clean a bathtub or rearrange chemicals under the kitchen sink over spending additional time in front of these screens. I’ve said before how much more satisfying building with my hands is than anything I do on the computer, but it goes even beyond that. Literally any physical activity that keeps me away from this desk is preferable. I do not know how to rekindle or refresh my passion for what I used to do. Time off merely reminds me of how much happier I am when not working at this desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613449152980-9061CAE3FUN9NABS20PK/IMG_7802.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.15.21 A Surprising Adventure Today I did something that made me feel good. I left my home in Bellevue around 2:30 PM, walked Downtown, and spent the next several hours documenting the city under a level 2 snow emergency. Very few cars were on the road, and even fewer people were out walking. The city was quiet and calm, save for the frozen rain pelting me in the face the entire time. I took my Z6 and my iPhone and walked to Mt. Adams, then to Eden Park, then to Mt. Auburn and Prospect Hill, then to Over-the-Rhine, and finally to Downtown. Travis joined me for a while before heading home a couple of hours later. Ronny and Egypt said hello and walked with me for a couple of blocks, too. I visited many major landmarks: Music Hall, Fountain Square, GABP, and finally the Roebling Bridge, where I snapped an accidentally eerie photo of a woman who looks like a ghost trudging through the snow in the foreground. Without her, this photo would be less impactful, so thank you, random woman, for conspiring to make this image better. Overall, I walked about 9 miles over 5 hours. My beard was a solid sheet of ice by the time I hobbled up my front steps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613618738765-BECPCH0IF7PMK2AFNNPQ/IMG_7860.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.16.21 Snow-Covered Just a shot from our bedroom. Love the untouched snow on all the roofs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613618736041-IJM5Q7ZRLC64YTMM202U/IMG_7883.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.17.21 Persistent This bastard has been my project all week. I knock him down, he re-forms. Repeat the process every day. Only rising temps will rid us of him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613883121289-WWUL1OB8X6RTUC6CAQ29/IMG_7905.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.18.21 Landing Confirmed Watched NASA’s Perseverance land on Mars while I worked this afternoon. Seeing the scientists and engineers erupt into excitement upon confirmation that it was safe on the surface was so fun to see. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613883124072-UHD3YMS4IZ9K613ZE1WY/IMG_7927.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.19.21 Snowy Sunset Just a nice winter scene in Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613883126851-68K82BTM5R42CCM2OAQ0/IMG_7938.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.20.21 ReUse Center We went to South Fairmount today to get a couple of old metal cabinets for a project we’re putting together, and the ReUse Center is truly something to behold in person. I will be spending more time here in the near future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613963734545-UFXRIXTVDDOENULL9ADB/IMG_7965.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.21.21 New Point of Interest Yesterday’s trip to the ReUse Center was today’s DIY project. I stood these metal cabinets up and affixed them to two long 2x4s, which were then screwed into the wall. Then I made a little base upon which both cabinets sit so as to place all of the weight on the legs of the base instead of the wall. I raised the whole thing up off the floor to avoid it getting wet in the event the house ever floods. We’re building a stockpile of emergency items, such as a wind-up radio and water, in the event we lose power for several days like the people of Texas did this past week. I do not expect the entire cabinet to be filled with emergency items, but it’s a good thing to have handy in the event anything happens. We also put a ton of magnets on the front and sides of it to dress it up a little. We’re both happy with how it turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614142028256-UDB0F5LCS2B9XGMOR5PH/Bi%27%27s+Funwheel-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.22.21 Bill’s Funwheel Local 91.7 WVXU broadcaster Bill Rinehart has a catchphrase he frequently uses while doing the news in the late afternoon. He announces debris in the road when it impairs traffic in a signature way that many who listen enjoy. It’s become a running joke with listeners of the station, so I spent a couple days building a wheel with some of the things that could (and have) been in the road. I painted little illustrations on each pie piece and wood-burned his catchphrase into the base. Colored pencil was used to do the news chevron at the bottom, and a white paint pen was used to do the lettering on either side of it. I will give it to him tomorrow. Hope he likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614142028255-E9D1HSNI2MHGN7JJ2TPZ/IMG_8016.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.23.21 Cincinnati Weather A few days ago, you couldn’t walk on the sidewalks because of all the snow and ice. Nearly all of it’s gone because of rising temperatures. We decided to take the dog down to Darkness, drink a couple beers, and enjoy the mild weather while we have it. I didn’t end up taking a single photo with my camera because we lost light too quickly. Looking very forward to spring and summer when we can be outdoors more often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488080810-J4FWYB302LZU66N8CS0W/IMG_8033.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.24.21 Around the Bend Had to go get some exteriors of these apartments for an upcoming piece and waited until the streetcar rounded the corner to add a little motion to the otherwise static image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488080453-39D09Q85IKN903U03TC6/IMG_8123.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.25.21 A Trip to the Museum I went to both the Taft Museum and CAM today to photograph two different exhibits for an upcoming piece on Refined. Ericka met me there and is writing both pieces. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488083429-MVEYPYXNB9KS4CKR314C/NZ6_1429.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.26.21 Goodnight Moon Room Months of relentless nostalgic feelings led me to a truly remarkable quirk of NKY today. I should wait until the piece is up, but I can't help it: a bookstore has a room dedicated to Goodnight Moon & it's set up almost exactly like it is in the book. It's been here for 30 years. If I had children, I would take them here after reading them the book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488082426-LZD2XYZIPC5WQ3GAW5OJ/IMG_8190.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.27.21 Stop For Coffee Deeper Roots opened a new spot on West Fourth Downtown, so we stopped in to get a cup before our eye appointments. I really can’t wait to spend time hanging out in here once COVID is no longer a constant threat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614565319659-U4YMDT5N3RIRTZ87UROP/IMG_8200.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 2.28.21 Keeping My Spot Warm For Me Early this morning, at 12:49 AM, I went to get into bed and Myrtle was sleeping in my spot like a human. She was using my pillow for her head and everything. She knows the drill, though, so as soon as I made my way over to her, she got up and moved. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895173273-MZD5F9M53N551OAJXTRU/IMG_8213.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.1.21 Art With Heat Messed around with the wood-burning pen for a little bit in the workshop this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895174387-LKBELJQZQ3YHVQFDZAK5/IMG_8214.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.2.21 The Little Things I really love when the sun streams into the living room through the stained glass windows and catches the tip of the plant on the mantle. It’s those little things that make the every day beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895183486-JDYOFQCD66C39TCM7W4F/IMG_8228.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.3.21 High Water The river’s up. It was to be expected, though. With all the snow and rain we’ve had, it’s a wonder it didn’t flood sooner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614909039573-9R0N0L8XYDMP05OQF6OU/IMG_8245.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.4.21 Moment of Zen Woke up to sunshine. That was about as good as it got today. Pictured is sunset. This afternoon, I had some news come my way that I can’t talk about here, but needless to say it was less than positive. Feeling like I need a nice long rest to just figure things out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614998868337-3VTY5OKF2AIGY2Y89QMO/IMG_8266.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.5.21 Hard Reset Today was a horrible day. Need to reset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615092984733-ZPJLPTYWL8MZ5N4D504W/IMG_8282.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.6.21 Little Details Got coffee at Deeper Roots this morning. Along the path of walking there, I noticed this little series of details on the south side of Fourth Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615421996502-W34DBCH5225EVY38VL6B/IMG_8308.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.7.21 My Girls The girls’ wholesome ritual before bed every night: Ashley gets into bed and Myrtle sits on her. After a long day of napping, it’s all Myrtle wants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615421996495-ZE1PKEFM1USKB5QLHFQ2/NZ6_1694-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.8.21 Lee Street I photographed the inside (and outside) of this 3-unit house in Covington for a realtor. I did the interior yesterday and made morning/night shots today. It’s in a spot with a lot of electrical wire and posts blocking an otherwise clear line of sight, but I like the way it looks at night with all the elements together. The warm streetlight really makes the whiteness of the bulbs inside look extra cool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615422000050-GC48ZYY41WP6KRGLRMW7/IMG_8318.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.9.21 Ross Street This reminds me of the Family Matters opening for some reason. It feels appropriately “neighborhood-y,” with old houses on an old street in an old part of the area by the river. With the sun going down, it just makes me think of summer and how nice it’ll be when sunsets like this happen at 8:30 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615422001268-ZMKBJQ4WPCR5II62M89H/IMG_8341.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.10.21 Chris Glass Chris is endlessly fascinating to me. He’s incredibly good at photography and design—so much so, it makes me wonder what I need to do to reach a level even remotely close to where he is. I love talking to him because he’s able to make me think about concepts in new ways I really haven’t before. Today, we talked about memory (among many things) and how we both struggle with recalling specifics like names and the like, and how our respective daily photo projects are a guide to coaxing those memories back. I told him about how I struggle remembering the plot of movies and shows, and he talked about how my brain might be compartmentalizing that information in a way that suggests it’s not as important as other things. That actually never occurred to me, and it made me feel a little better about my poor memory overall. Perhaps I can’t remember most of <insert movie here> because it’s not as important to me as remembering the time I went into the Cincinnati subway with permission from City Hall. I always come away from our conversations feeling inspired. Not many others do that for me like Chris. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615479463280-IITPWTAWJT2SEGMEYBW2/IMG_8342.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.11.21 The Price of Good Light Went to Urbana to get my cup of coffee this morning. Ashley and Myrtle went along for the ride. As we walked back to our car, we strode up 13th Street and I saw this beautifully lit scene. I kept walking. “Fuck it, I don’t have anywhere to be right now” popped into my head, and I turned around to snap a quick photo. When the sun’s low on the horizon, it makes inner city buildings look exquisite. All it cost me was 10 steps backward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615823219951-WW6CR7037AVX14RB8FTM/NZ6_2020.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.12.21 Jake I’ve been working with Jake on a project for a year and a half, and it’s finally coming to an end soon. While on the job today, his family dropped by. Watching him interact with his girls was heartwarming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615823131374-AW5V4NN3LR21SHO90XUJ/IMG_8364.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.13.21 Relearning Social Events I went to an outdoor wedding for a couple I didn’t know tonight. Ashley went to high school with the bride, but they live in DC, so I’ve never met her. The wedding was difficult for me because after a year of not being around a large gathering of people all at once, it was nigh impossible to quiet the alarm bells in my brain and relax. The noise coupled with the social expectations of being present and engaged was too much for me. I retreated to the bathroom stall once to get a moment alone, and another time I just went outside to calm my nerves. I was thrilled to go home after it was socially acceptable so I could decompress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615823267235-M0EKBH2I0EHH74O3CMUW/IMG_8368.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.14.21 Julian & Kokenge Company, Then & Now While at the Taft Museum of Art, at the Walk This Way exhibit, I saw this postcard of the Julian & Kokenge Company from around 1906. The description read: “In 1906, Cincinnati was abuzz with talk of the new factory built by Julian & Kokenge, makers of ladies’ fine shoes. Constructed at the corner of Fourth and Lawrence Streets and catty-corner to Lytle Park, it was one of the most modern plants in the city. … The Julian & Kokenge building towered over the two-story Literary Club nearby, as it still does today.” After leaving the museum, I walked over and found a similar vantage point to showcase how it has (and hasn’t changed) in a hundred years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616030589109-S45X2QMYRB3ZUY55SUAH/IMG_8383.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.15.21 Great-Great Grandparents I do not remember what my grandmother (Sherry) told me their names were, and for that I feel ashamed. Let’s call them John and Jane. What I do remember is Sherry telling me that these were her paternal grandparents and that she wasn’t sure if it was an arranged marriage or not. According to Sherry, Jane wasn’t happy in the marriage and often told Irma, Sherry’s mother and my great grandmother, that she wished she’d never gotten married. This would apparently upset Irma greatly because of what it implied about her own existence. When John died in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918—an event that has received increased attention over the last year—Sherry said that Jane was angry that she was left with two children and no one to bring home the bacon. It’s such an odd thing to think these two may never have been truly happy together in their time, and perhaps this was one of the only times in their lives that their photograph was taken. Was this their wedding day? Where did they go to have their photo taken? Who was the photographer behind the lens? There are so many questions that will never be answered about these two. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616030602434-40MMFBDUW223MUB6KEQ9/IMG_8393.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.16.21 Porch Hangs Erica and Tyler are in from DC. They’re staying with Erica’s mother, Sue, in Florence. Because they are good people and we do not get to see them enough, they were kind enough to come over and sit with us (from a safe distance) on the porch. They brought Louie, their adorable little hound dog who quivered in fear both times the train roared by. We ate pizza, drank beer, and talked about everything from our daily lives to politics until the sun went down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616030604699-ZXQDME1N4R8RFGNIUFQW/IMG_8421.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.17.21 Trying Not to Let It Get To Me The last time I’ll ever see my office at Local 12. Today I cleaned out what little remained in this room. The depressing manifest included two dead plants, a heavily worked PC keyboard from 2008 that unexpectedly retired in 2020, some files from four years ago, all three thank you cards I ever received, four press lanyards, a business card holder without relevant business cards to hold, a thermos with pre-pandemic water in it, and a pen. I left the station mug. Before I exited, I looked at my whiteboard with goals I’d written in black marker in 2018. Each goal was a number: 2 million, 2.5 million, 3 million, 3.5 million, 4 million. Every one of them was crossed out in red. I’d achieved great things with this publication even if SBG didn’t agree. Sales wasn’t my priority; I did my part of the job, and I did it with everything I had in me. It was part of my identity. What Sales failed to do isn’t a failure I share. Recognizing that is crucial to getting over this. While they may still be involved, they’ve lost the soul that made Cincinnati Refined what it was up until recently—Katie, the freelancers, myself, and the trust we gained from our readers along the way. I’ll never root against them, but decency doesn’t come with an obligation to root for everyone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616462530535-U96JET3LQ9KB06KPVSD9/NZ6_2144.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.18.21 Relieved of Duty Because there is too much to say here, I wrote about it in this blog post: https://bit.ly/3cMxNbf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616462529038-JWH45SBF5OX7801BB8YI/IMG_8508.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.19.21 A Beautiful Door Today’s a new day. I’m striking out on my own. No more page views to worry about. No more corporate entity letting me work myself into being laid off without warning. Today I did a freelance job at Findlay Market and passed this beautiful door at 1830 Race Street. Like it was ripped from a castle or something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616365564962-ELNAC4DB837WKJ04KKHZ/IMG_8513.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.20.21 Every Hour’s Golden Hour We have a yellow stained glass window on the staircase that I can never get enough of. Every time the light hits it (usually in the morning), I admire the warm glow it produces on the stairs and wall below it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616365566629-T8XUG5W85O09LCGNV6PY/IMG_8544.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.21.21 Doin’ It Myself Working in the yard is cathartic. After two trips to Lowe’s and absolutely roasting the top of my head because I keep forgetting I am bald now, I successfully completed two outdoor projects and I feel satisfied. One of the projects isn’t photogenic, but this one—a fire pit I dug and constructed in the back yard—is. We had a metal fire cage that was left by the previous owner, but the bottom rusted out after the last bonfire, so I junked it and made this. Going to test it out tomorrow, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616462113131-G08VOK0Y21RPRXVBZ5TK/1010+Community+Room+%26+Roof+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.22.21 Rooftop Shoot I was hired by GBBN to make a few photos of people on the rooftop at 1010 On the Rhine this evening. My contact, the other “Cincy Phil” on Instagram, gathered several people from the GBBN office to be the people in the photos. When we got there, a woman was reading her book and Phil asked her if she’d like to participate in the photoshoot. She agreed, and we made photos with her and the others in various places around the rooftop to showcase its splendor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616541700999-AIZRD917LH1C2UFZ7CR7/summer+fanny+pack-035-Edit.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.23.21 Summer Ready Bought a fanny pack with credit we had left over at REI. I don’t like putting my wallet, keys, and phone in my pocket during the summer, and when I don’t have a camera bag, I have to suck it up. First-world problems, I know. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to compile a few items and make a little spread. I digitally enhanced basically everything in this photo to make it look better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616727429217-7VG6CM6VI0KBBOXKKQRF/NZ6_2339-Pano.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.24.21 Old Married Couple I have no evidence to prove it, but this pair on 8th Street in Covington will likely not stay in this condition for long. Seems like it’s a street seeing some change, and with that change will likely come a remodel for these. Glad I got ‘em before they got a fresh coat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616727427057-W6XCMO9D9OV10LVOMTOK/NZ6_2477-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.25.21 Lee Street I spent the entire day working on a single photoshoot. This house on Lee Street is going on the market soon, so I did exteriors yesterday while it was nice before returning to do the interior today. I cannot tell you how much color correction I had to do this this one. Blue, natural light and warm incandescent lighting make for a headache in post, but when it’s all done, it’s worth it. Really pumped to send these to the owner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616823742704-R37VIUXIXKVB2WB0AKHA/IMG_8636.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.26.21 Pretzel Snoot Just having fun with pretzels and wide angle camera mode. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616888828738-ZVCOX4CCSUBUU0P0GHNY/IMG_8658.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.27.21 Evening Light Light on the mantle. Not feeling great at the moment. Rio died today. She was an old dog but she went suddenly downhill over the last week and my parents had to put her down after exhausting several medicines and treatments. It was clear she was never going to get better. I know her suffering and my parents’ suffering is over, but it still sucks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616950949766-I68SOE66Z8XGFNN22GFW/IMG_8665.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.28.21 Clothesline Laundry Myrtle ate a stick and barfed all over the bed the next morning. Our comforter and a big blanket of hers took the brunt of it. Both were too big for our washing machine, so a trip to the laundromat was needed. I had to take a photo on the sly because it’s a small place and everyone in there was maskless. I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617243317343-AAZYJUTTBP9T6SQCYSFW/IMG_8681.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.29.21 The Tailored Man Another job in Findlay Market this morning. Mondays at the market are weird without all the shoppers. It was a ghost town occupied only by city workers and clean-up personnel. As I walked back to my parked car, I stopped to admire The Tailored Man. I’ve always liked this one because it doesn’t look like its taller neighbors. The half-round terracotta roof tiles give the squat little building an exotic look. The well-worn mural on the side stands in stark contrast to the newer ArtWorks murals on nearby structures, giving it a wholly different vibe than its neighbors. With morning light baking on its facade, it looks wonderful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617243322334-5VYNWTPX94PCXB1JNHKM/NZ6_2915-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.30.21 Wallace Shot this home in Wallace Woods today for Rebecca. It was apparently built in the early 1910s. It feels nice to have color in photos again, and that purple tree next to the house couldn’t have looked better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617243317346-0BYHAGOF8U0K8Y0N51ZA/IMG_8689.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 3.31.21 The Columns Jake and Miriam wanted to get cracking on The Columns’ Instagram account, so today I did their first post (@thecolumnscincy). I shared a few in-process photos of it and posted it to my own channels to drive people to it. Hopefully they find my involvement beneficial to growing their audience. I think this place is going to be a big deal for weddings and gatherings once it’s open. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617301100521-XMGJL7Z6NDNGW7R9J6IK/IMG_8692.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.1.2021 CUF Photographed 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617414219450-APZQH7X68786WMQSHIQX/NZ6_3113.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.2.21 A Hamilton Barn Drove 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617508896219-R91YS7DUPHXC8CGG7WD8/NZ6_3226.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.3.21 Matt’s Reno Matt 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617577078121-QNC1280R5YF502OE4TS3/IMG_8737.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.4.21 Time For a Cut Myrtle 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617676755038-W97YQ9KPWKN1O1PGAHBD/NZ6_3428.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.5.21 Pooch Perch I 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617761203734-8DMQJFPB70YW74B3PR5L/NZ6_3458-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.6.21 The Coveted Shot Returning 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617932408997-NPZL69RB8DCGUNOVZNL6/NZ6_3470.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.7.21 A Necessary Return Yesterday, 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617932409270-TN0F4N2B2G7SB1U4CZVW/NZ6_3556.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.8.21 Tim & Kim Photographed 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618060252198-V1CG3TJ09K9KE7S7ELWS/NZ6_3907.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.9.21 Motor City Went to Detroit. Will be here until Sunday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618251481941-868YS6FBV0OSKMFZHU6L/NZ6_3964.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.10.21 Lee Plaza We 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618251482517-D2T39L4I90K3GN4WIZH8/NZ6_4115.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.11.21 Boblo Island Amusement Park Canada 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618285590445-AOWBRQ28XN4TZ8M5YV68/NZ6_4147.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.12.21 New Glass After 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618369671537-781VDN9484BTGW1S24FB/NZ6_4210.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.13.21 Foiled Plans Went 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618505494409-ZJ4G0ESYGFGZZ5OFTWW6/NZ6_4318.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.14.21 A New Spot Cody 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618521451366-M8P0HC71ZMSEXIICDQ49/NZ6_4351.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.15.21 Under Pressure While 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 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618627226098-O304ZSOABB612UGYV15J/NZ6_4635.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.16.21 Cat In the Pack This 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618714107173-LMWWWN2DJ7YERFVDMGXZ/NZ6_5005.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.17.21 Polka Dot Alley We 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618798215401-XOYJ6I5LTFY3GZFWOSOX/NZ6_5032-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.18.21 Blissfully Naive I’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618879358183-5M77E775AC9HYZII7ZGO/NZ6_5214.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.19.21 Have 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618948648242-A3WUY58GD4EA90I1E9XT/NZ6_5275-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.20.21 A Walk In the Cloudless Sky Hello 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619054976310-59I7IVHFGYUJO8E8X0Z5/NZ6_5321.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.21.21 Soul-Soothing Work Since 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404825624-Z1DWWD39EKQWMIB3WH0B/Midway+Cafe+-+Phil+Armstrong-9.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.22.21 Back to It Today 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404821427-4BOZ9WHKVNC8PNQ8SH41/IMG_9214.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.23.21 Yard Work My 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404821428-JQY1EOCDWXK6QQMHW10I/IMG_9223.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.24.21 Good Night, Hard Morning Ashley 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404824282-E1QRDYVE7U0H8NAL8AO5/IMG_9236.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.25.21 Clean Laundry Down on the Farm Cody’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619488625531-5211OJUWPZALQQB5OMMO/20210426-NZ6_6966-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.26.21 Empty Houses and Podcasts I 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619618891554-LSSB9K3DJQ3P070JGCY1/NZ6_7086-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.28.21 A Neon Visitor Found 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619656577585-83KZOFE033TFE4STGEMQ/NZ6_7120-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.28.21 Surprise Window I 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619748451776-XVNJNMCK8Y7NOGXBYJQP/IMG_9320.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.29.21 Wasted Day 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619927651929-DRP8COW9XJVH28ROTPGE/IMG_9329.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 4.30.21 The Bay Horse Is Back Over 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619927728523-TO2YIP8B9BC4ZE5G4M31/NZ6_9288.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.1.21 West End Pride Had the opportunity to photograph FC Cincinnati Foundation’s West End Pride teams kick the soccer ball around inside FC Cincinnati’s new stadium this afternoon and evening. Ronny needed help photographing this event because he broke his arm weeks ago, so I said I’d fill in. It was a volunteer gig, but I don’t mind because the work was so enjoyable. Seeing the kids have a good time running up and down the field and just generally being kids about all of it made the day fun. At the end of the evening, after all the kids finished their games, they had a little “kick around” with preschoolers that absolutely melted my heart. It was honestly one of the cutest things I think I’ve seen lately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620004424539-JY90TMCGWGXBB6H44AGT/NZ6_9775.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.2.21 An Unexpected Plus Went back to the FCC stadium this morning to photograph the inside just for fun, and they unexpectedly had a helicopter drop a bunch of tiny soccer balls onto a target on the field below. It is my understanding that it was practice for some sort of promotional event later on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620179353425-6HA5DBDPAXELX1PXK36Z/IMG_9393.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.3.21 The Stand-Off of the Apricot Beasts So intense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620179353741-7MMBBVPZG8TWRXAQZRKZ/IMG_9400.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.4.21 Fully Vaxxed My arm is sore and I’m probably going to feel poorly tomorrow, but it’s worth it. I will have another major layer of protection against this virus. Ready to get back to 100% normal sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620270835540-BHLY79238CE9X9FRMJHB/IMG_9405.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.5.21 A Treat This right here is a soft serve peanut butter and chocolate ice cream from the Bellevue Ameristop. It was my late evening treat after successfully navigating some pretty bad second dose symptoms. As I slid feverishly into bed last night, the worst chills I’ve ever experienced snaked down my spine and rattled my teeth. Sleep came in 20 minute intervals, each with their own psychotic series of lights and sounds that undid any rest I might’ve received had I not been sick. My joints hurt, my head throbbed, and my strength was sapped until about 4 PM today. I’d turned the corner by about 7 PM and managed a walk and a trip to get tacos. As I write this at 11:15 PM, I feel perfectly fine. So glad my body’s working on the antibodies to this virus now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620349484938-77FVGHQLRB5NDJNCPYWI/IMG_9464.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.6.21 Ashley’s Mother’s Day Surprise Two months ago, Ashley’s mom told me she wanted to secretly come up for Mother’s Day. She lives in Florida, so Ashley doesn’t get to see her but a couple times a year. Even though they’re very close and talk multiple times a day on the phone, we managed to keep it a secret. Today, I covertly picked her up and we snuck her into the house without Ashley knowing. I set up my iPhone on the mantle and pressed record and called for Ashley to come downstairs. This is the still frame when she realized her mom was sitting on our couch. She was stunned and overjoyed with a few tears and many hugs. It’s one of the most heartwarming videos I’ve ever recorded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620444206135-N9ZADUNYN5HDB9B9HC3Z/IMG_9468.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.7.21 This Belongs in a Museum The Wendy’s in Kenwood has this kick ass sign on the side of the building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620656586872-JXC2T00FG0F49BZDMYC2/IMG_9484_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.8.21 Maggie Ashley’s boss asked her to take her dog out while she was out of the house all day, so we made a trip down to Union, KY. Maggie is a Newfoundland puppy and is extremely strong—so strong, Ashley couldn’t walk her. I had to take the reins of the slobbery, sweet beast. We walked down to their subdivision’s communal gazebo and I did my best to snap her photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620656587128-1WK31URZEQHCW8G48JQS/IMG_9498.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.9.21 Stumbled Upon I took a wrong turn in NKY earlier today and stumbled upon this mural by an acquaintance, Josh Stout. Since no one was behind me, I stopped in the middle of the road and snapped a quick photo. He and I were planning on doing a little artistic collaboration and this will be my submission, making this collaboration EXTREMELY meta for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620702992747-RVYF62OWNKGOJBTD8SLN/IMG_9527-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.10.21 An Old Friend? Wrote about this here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620768188490-BYB3XYMG7C05OKZ17JZN/NZ6_0276-HDR+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.11.21 Before and After Had the rare opportunity to photograph both a before AND after apartment renovation situation in Dayton, OH this morning. Without revealing the name of the complex, the apartments in this community are undergoing a significant update and the owners had both empty unfinished and finished apartments ready to photograph. I tried my best to capture each image from the same general perspective to best illustrate the improvements the renovation will have on the aging units. The tricky part was wrapping my brain around finding consistency in perspective as the unfinished and finished apartments were actually mirror images of one another. I inverted the unfinished photos in post to match the finished photos so the client could see them as plainly as possible side by side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620872139444-G487ADHI2OREOEJA5UL9/IMG_9587.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.12.21 Lil Clippy Ear We see this little clipped ear orange cat on this block often. Today he let me approach him and give him scratches on his head. As I was petting him, I lowered my phone and got this quick image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620965028244-GR1FBRGZXDRPSKKD52CV/NZ6_0627-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.13.21 Ovation Phase One Travis and I checked out PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation this evening under the UrbanCincy media credential. I wrote about it for their site, but it’s not going live until I can add the show lineup that PromoWest is releasing tomorrow. This is going to be a really great place to see a show, and I’m excited to witness how it will benefit Newport and the surrounding region once it’s alive with music. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621049136251-4M4D8D9I53BFI7J90FEJ/IMG_9679.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.14.21 Self Portrait My grandmother gave me a box of my old doodles and artwork from when I was a kid. Found this one dated June 7, 1995. Perhaps a self portrait? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621281374529-3LVDUP4JKZ0503ZYDBBS/IMG_9718.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.15.21 Weird Fantasy While getting coffee this morning, I saw this camper parked nearby. The drapes were drawn and I wondered if someone was inside. In any case, I have a combination fantasy/loathing for these. In one way, I absolutely hate them because they’re these gas-guzzling, monstrously stupid vehicles that are expensive and bad for the environment. In another way, I absolutely want to travel in one because it has all the creature comforts I’d need to comfortably see the contiguous 48 without booking a place to stay. I will never buy one, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t take the opportunity to use one at some point in the future. Maybe if they made an electric version that had less of a carbon footprint? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621281374743-85BLEANH6SGA6RIB7316/IMG_9750.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.16.21 Sprinkles Sarah surprised everyone by bringing a tiny puppy to my parents’ get together this afternoon. Named Sprinkles (her step daughter’s name of choice), she’s a little dachshund puppy who largely slept the whole time were were with her. I took her outside and observed/loved on her in the grass for a little bit. She’s so cute I can’t stand it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621298171953-SOI26TTQZCO9S854RKIW/IMG_9785.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.17.21 Aw, Nuts A rainy, lazy Monday. Feeling a little mentally bad today because I didn’t have anything to work on (for money). I spent some time on the porch this morning and finished a book, then did some other odds and ends things to fill time. I opened the door at one point and saw a squirrel left a dug-up peanut on the stoop. Not multiple nuts or anything. Just one single nut. Anyway, highlight of the day, I guess. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621372433954-PW2AQ4522WWG80Z6U3WB/NZ6_0727.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.18.21 The Hunt for Hollywood Video Chris Glass (hi, Chris) posted about this abandoned Hollywood Video on his site the other day and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. While I could’ve probably just asked him the address, I wanted to see if I could figure out where it was on my own, so I searched for it on Google and found a video. The video didn’t give the address, but I figured out where it was based on clues in the background and used Google Maps to pinpoint its location. Hollywood Video was the place we frequented most often of the two big video rental stores, and seeing those little faded searchlights protruding from angular mountains brought me back a little bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621772995295-RC16ITMXL13XXTNMUSQB/NZ6_0880.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.19.21 Columbus Went with Chris to Columbus today and saw lots of neighborhoods. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621772988771-SGEBG68TEV6140F5A8NH/IMG_9896.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.20.21 Monochrome Echo Had a little time between a meeting and a job, so I popped up to Mt. Echo Park and snapped a photo of the skyline this morning. I chose to make it B&W in post because I thought it looked neat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621773032589-KKIY2X07RXQH3P8IOEDG/IMG_9916.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.21.21 Sleepy Pup She went in the sprinkler then fell asleep on the stoop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621772984249-6POOAM6VCASITFJMACLG/NZ6_1150.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.22.21 Cogswood Drive I went to Asheville and had to snap a photo of the skyline. There’s no park with an overlook that I could find, so I went up to Cogswood Drive and shot through the trees from the car. It was a little awkward as it’s just a winding residential street. I’m sure the people who live up there are sick of people like me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621994722529-WYG7K2WROYP80A8YB98Q/IMG_0007.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.23.21 Black Mountain Apple Maps steered us in the wrong direction and landed us in Black Mountain, about 16 miles east of Asheville. Instead of rerouting, we stayed and found a dog park, a creek, a brewery, some shopping, a dog shop, and loads of charm. I take that back, Apple Maps got us where we needed to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621994725004-VBOYDXCT2IGKWK27XOPG/NZ6_1413.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.24.21 Chimney Rock We went out to Chimney Rock and climbed to the top. The view was breathtaking as was the amount of tourists (like us). I ended up taking a group photo for the people in this photo with one of their phones and I’d forgotten how much joy it brings me to do that for total strangers. It’s honestly one of my favorite things in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621994722338-ZI1QE3I7DX5J3983FVPP/IMG_0144.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.25.21 BOY FOR HIRE Just loved this goofy ad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622078910322-RYFWJDY8JP6UMO6L4KCH/NZ6_1551.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.26.21 Home We’re home from our trip. It’s really good to be back. Traveling soothes the soul and opens my mind, and it always makes me appreciate home even more than I already did. No, this place doesn’t have year-round nice weather or an infinite number of dog-friendly restaurants and shops. No, this place doesn’t have mountains to climb and crystal clear lakes. We could do better about a lot of things, to be quite frank, and could learn a thing or 22 about how other cities have solved for X. But this place has my heart for an innumerable number of reasons that I’m not required to list here. So instead, here’s just one of them: the big, beautiful tree that shades our house from the sun half the day and looks positively divine against a Pepto Bismol sunset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622174797710-HELCFTPJ4NSWRZURP39U/20210527-NZ6_1568.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.27.21 Moonville Wrote about my day trip to Moonville on the blog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622248466468-TGACPVL57IDCNQLABH6X/NZ6_1709.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.28.21 She Got Swag We bought a couch last year and it still hasn’t arrived. Because it’s going to be longer than the IKEA couch we have, we weren’t going to be able to have the floor lamp in the corner anymore, so I had an idea to get a swag light to take care of the illumination in that part of the room. It arrived and I installed it this evening. Ashley likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622340404114-IBFEEIF261CYUJ1QIUCI/IMG_0284_jpg.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.29.21 Jay Jay’s in town for a speaking gig at his alma mater. We was gracious enough to let us have him for the evening, so we went to Jack Brown’s on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine for a burger. I miss having Jay local, but I’m glad he’s thriving in Philly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622514014816-6JW7ULKQP5KQ5CE7JBEW/IMG_0307.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.30.21 Allie & Travis’ Wedding I’m writing this the day after the wedding because I was too busy having a blast at it last night. Loads of friends together and laughing, drinking, and by the end of the night dancing. I do not dance, but I took many videos of it on my phone and will relive the happy chaos for years to come. While I wish I could go back and relive the night again, I am glad it’s over for one selfish reason—this octagon I built for their backdrop no longer has the ability to give me nightmares. You see, Allie asked me if I would build them an octagon to serve as their backdrop for their ceremony months before the wedding. They’d hang flowers on it and it would hold a special meaning that was personal to them. Seeing the opportunity to help friends, I agreed. However, after months of stressing over the design and fearing it could possibly collapse under its own weight, I was ready to be rid of that anxiety once I knew the scary part was over. It now is, and I’m happy to report it stood proudly and served its purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622514014666-9YRS89GPVE78582BFQMC/NZ6_1929-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 5.31.21 Stained Glass on Wallace Avenue I spent a long time photographing this house in Wallace Woods today. It has a magnificent stained glass window on the staircase. The whole landing glows with this handsome amber hue. The listing should go live tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622653166498-SGQ31QY80TB9MVGA3KTD/BTS+DeLorean+Shoot+-+20210601+-19.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.1.21 DeLorean Shoot Ryan Lewis, a filmmaker I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few times over the last couple of years, reached out to me about doing a little behind-the-scenes photos on a shoot he was doing in Over-the-Rhine this afternoon. The set involved a DeLorean done up to look like the time machine from Back to the Future. I cannot reveal the client or product, and unfortunately this film isn’t intended for public consumption, but it was fun for the hour and a half I was there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622772891527-TRYFY5TGBOAERK0IL2AI/IMG_0364.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.2.21 Finished Lettering Awhile back, I made and had printed a custom decal to go on my workshop door. The idea was to make this door look like the door to a detective’s office in a film noir movie (I cut a piece of plexiglass and frosted it with an after-market “ripple” decal to act as the “glass”). The lettering was black, and after fitting it to the door, I didn’t like that I couldn’t easily see it against the dark background. So, instead of ordering a new one, I gingerly hand painted every black letter with white acrylic paint instead while listening to a podcast. I like this result better. Did I mention I’m unemployed? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622772890141-25XA20SXP6IOZ0GX48QH/cards-051-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.3.21 New Cards I needed to print something out. Seeking to knock two things out at once, I went to the Campbell County Library and got my library card there before using the printer. This was my first time back inside a library in over a year, and I missed being in a space dedicated to the three ‘Rs: reading, researching, and relaxing. I wanted to stay in that space and inquired about their local history and genealogy department. The librarian told me the Kenton County Library had all their resources and that Campbell had gotten rid of theirs. So I went to the Kenton County Library and got a card there before poking around on their computers for a bit. I made this photo by suspending the cards with fishing line and tape then digitally removing the line in Photoshop. Did I mention I’m unemployed? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622955019738-7D11MLIOKGSW30S0W7YI/IMG_0400.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.4.21 Found One In the backyard. First one I’ve seen in Bellevue. Myrtle wanted to sniff it, so I let her and she didn’t try to eat it. Thankful my snooty dog doesn’t have a taste for these bugs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622955019661-LS2AK3TA9AF2SL7V0D1E/NZ6_3227.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.5.21 “HAY, GUYS.” Saw this dog on Pleasant Street today. He was woofing at us because Myrtle was there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623163873977-K9NFXOWPNJXFU49Q1LGN/IMG_0452.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.6.21 Pool Pawty Ashley bought Myrtle a little pool to cool off in this summer. Quinn, Steve’s dog, came over and we had a little cookout on the deck before we rip it up in the next couple weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623163876143-CJRKIWBPTCUWEVM7YC42/IMG_0468.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.7.21 A New Low I had the evening to myself as Ashley was at a fancy work dinner Downtown. To balance our lives, I sought out fast food that she likely wouldn’t be thrilled to eat. I went to the Jack in the Box in Pleasant Ridge because I always want it to be good but it rarely ever is. After a disappointing burger, I continued my quest for bad food and went to White Castle for the 1921 Slider. These were much better and improved my evening of poor choices in food, though the success of washing the Jack in the Box out of my mouth was short-lived as I sat staring at two Diet Cokes in differently branded cups. I don’t think I’ve gone through two drive thrus back to back like this. I am 35 years old and should know better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623289820608-XTALXWG3CL60W9G2L3AX/IMG_0479.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.8.2021 Lucius Q it wasn’t either of our first time back in a restaurant, but it was our first time as just us. We went to Lucius Q—the place that catered our wedding. I got the Fuego and she got the nachos with the veggie mix. It was just as good as we remembered it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623289824510-C43CG7BTWP8NMD6KQ6XN/NZ6_3817.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.9.2021 Risk Vs. Reward I hate that I took a chance behind the wheel, aiming my camera with one hand through the passenger window while going at least 50 on a two-lane road in Carrollton, KY. I hate that I see so much good shit while driving and have no way to safely pull over to get a photo. And I hate that this dangerous thing I did ended up getting me the exact image I wanted, reinforcing the bad behavior. Sure, we can pretend I’ll never do it again as I have too many times already, but we both know that’s be a lie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623386085124-FB334UQ2ZSMO4BVWLLMS/NZ6_3999.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.10.21 Baby Deer Ashley was losing her mind because this fawn across the street was separated from her mom by the flimsiest fence known to man. The fawn figured out how to get in by walking a little further to gate. Mama deer was keeping her eye on me while I snapped photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623475766478-ZJ3YPHMN480BAK2AQ78Y/IMG_0604.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.11.21 ATOBTTR Mike got us tickets to the Reds game tonight. It was our first time back inside the park since the 2019 season. In fact, it was my first game since Marty’s last. I wasn’t even married back then! Anyway, I took a photo of Votto and Suarez fist bumping, a photo of my friends with the fireworks behind them, and several slice-of-life photos in the park, but none of them were as fun as this extremely goofy moment when the leaning tower of plastic cups made its way down to our seats to retrieve its next length. If you can believe it, this was only about half the size it would eventually become. It was all over Twitter tonight and I’m sure it made its way to other platforms. Tip of the hat to you, cup people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623642223006-ZBJGP2XO1WZUPRBK5A0V/NZ6_4021.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.12.21 Court Street Plaza Opening The ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Court Street Plaza was this morning. We were baking in the sun (it’s a LOT of concrete), so we sat under the shade with Myrtle and enjoyed Diet Cokes from Avril Bleh’s outdoor stand. As I people-watched with my pop, I saw one of my favorite strangers. I hadn’t seen him in over a year and worried if he was okay. He briefly chatted with us and pet Myrtle, then walked over to a nearby couple with their dog. I want his life story, but I don’t want to impose. I’ve spoken to him several times, but I never want to make him feel like I want something from him, so I let him choose when he wants to talk. It’s always pleasure when I do get to see and speak with him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623642223789-DD6KEBH1SJZLTMU6K355/NZ6_4091.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.13.21 Northern Liberties Tour The OTR Museum reached out to me a few weeks ago about taking their Northern Liberties Tour. I’ll have a blog recap in the coming week about it. Essentially, it’s a small group tour with information about tenement life north of Liberty Street with fun facts about German culture and how Over-the-Rhine came to be. The price of the ticket goes to fund the OTR Museum’s ongoing fundraising goal to open the museum at some point in (what seems like) the distant future. Hopefully I’m wrong about that and it’ll open sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623733069437-DOQJK4H4BRUU1V2ZCPUS/20210614-IMG_0704.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.14.21 Unexpected Hike I waited until the evening to work in the yard. The air was considerably cooler and had a nice breeze to it, unlike the last two days. After pushing the manual mower over my tiny lawn, we gave Myrtle a back porch hose bath that went surprisingly well and much faster than trying to wash her in the tub. To avoid having a wet dog in the house, we took her on a walk to let the air dry her as much as possible. After walking a few blocks, we realized we were being followed by Chelsea and Vince. The four of us wandered around Bellevue together, checking in at Bellevue Beach Park before heading over to the Dayton flood wall. It was there that I snapped a photo of this charming sign for Queen City Riverboats. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623808913379-2Y5NBYFIBGKS620TPZG8/IMG_0712.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.15.21 Bellevue Blueberry Meghal always posts in the Bellevue Facebook page which soft serve ice cream he has in stock for the day. When it’s a good flavor, it goes fast. The blueberry soft serve is one of those flavors. Thankfully, I got a cone to finish off the evening before it was gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623898728451-V0RTI8JUDH3G0EROVTB3/NZ6_4236.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.16.21 Observations While Lounging I photographed RoadID’s new headquarters in Covington today for Hub + Weber, but I chose this photograph of a tight crop of my home’s staircase because it was ever more memorable (to me) than today’s job. While laying on the couch trying hard to lift my eyelids every so often, I noticed the sun was pouring through the staircase’s yellow stained glass window. The light was hitting the back of the spindles on the staircase in such a way that I couldn't discern the negative space between them from the solid, white spindle at first glance. In this photo, the ombre yellow is the back of the spindle, the darker space to the right of each is the side of the spindle, and the whitest white space is the negative space. I grabbed my Z6 nearby and zoomed in on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623938356325-1D5OANCGOHNS4J1L2NPR/NZ6_4284-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.17.21 Saying ‘Hello’ to Breakfast Ghost Don’t know why I made this. I have been doing this for 900 days in a row. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624048197296-YVFKIGNFV5ALHERDOQSH/NZ6_4897-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.18.21 The Hustle Four photoshoots today. Three real estate, one lifestyle for a local publication. For being “unemployed,” I am working a lot today. This was from one of the shoots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624234625413-R5FJAR9YEE3281CST4GN/IMG_0866-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.19.21 Demo Day We spent the entire day demolishing the old deck. I ran a chainsaw through many of the floor boards with help from my father and Steve. My mother and Ashley took away the scrap and put it in the dumpster we rented and placed in the alley. We made the final cut at around 8:30 PM—just before we lost too much light. I have a few more things to do to clear the way before we begin building the new deck, but I think the hard part is over. I am sore already. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624234624691-D8FTP26SNFN288A3LRL1/IMG_0882.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.20.21 Holding Sprinkles My body feels like it’s 90 years old from yesterday’s demo day, but I wasn’t sore enough to bend down and pick this sweet little puppy up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624324752818-31H8AIJIFOEPRZ8Q8AOY/NZ6_4971-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.21.21 M1 Back in early May, my 2018 MacBook Pro wouldn’t seemingly hold a charge for any substantial length of time. Since I usually work with it docked, I hadn’t noticed. So, seeing an opportunity to improve my situation, I went to Apple, talked with them about trade-in value, and decided to upgrade to the new Apple M1 iMac. I got it in green because I love nature and thought it would contrast nicely with the pine desk (and everyone else wants that blasted yellow one anyway). The screen is substantially better than the second one I had running with my laptop, so I just nixed the dedicated second screen all together and plan to sidecar my iPad when I really need the extra screen real estate. This is a photo of my setup now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624421881339-KU0W4LEG3N6YOF5I91OY/NZ6_5177.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.22.21 Cleveland I met Chris in Columbus and together we went to Cleveland for the day. We stopped off in Sugarcreek and saw some of Amish country along the way. Chris isn’t a fan of Cleveland in general, but I like it well enough. Riding the red line to Ohio City from Tower City Center was a highlight, as well as seeing the Cleveland Arcade, which is now a Hyatt (pictured). I think it would be cool to go back for a weekend and see more of it relatively soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624497704764-59WKCSGECH3X62YBNIZA/LAS+-+Ron+Jones+Quartet+-+Phil+Armstrong+-21.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.23.21 Ron Jones Quartet The Longworth Anderson Series tapped me to photograph their events for the year. The first one I shot was this evening at campSITE in Camp Washington. The Ron Jones Quartet played in the bandstand to dozens of people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624584074782-G2VEIVKKVNAW0ZDHQUM2/IMG_0970.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.24.21 A Tall Platter For a Mighty Dog My sister rescued a full-grown German Shepard recently. As she’s used to having dachshunds, this is her first dog of a larger size. As such, she needed a tall platform so the dog wouldn’t have to eat off the floor and to raise the food out of snoot range of the dachshunds. I told her I’d make her one if she gave me dimensions. I haven’t been woodworking as much lately because the price of wood has skyrocketed due to the pandemic, so it was fun to dig into an afternoon project again. Every piece of wood is a scrap piece I had lying around from previous jobs, and I didn’t use any nails or screws in order to preserve the smooth aesthetic. Connector dowels and wood glue are keeping it together. I also got to use my router, which makes every project more fun by default. The plan is to use stain left over from the last project to give it a handsome, dark brown color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624848595545-VDAXO5HW565N4XJ7LBMB/IMG_0978.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.25.21 The TPS Hotel Luminaut, an architecture firm I regularly work with, tapped me to photograph the new TPS Hotel at 7th and Race Streets. We went into the Kinley across the street to get a quick photo. This isn’t one I’ll probably turn in, but the perspective was absolutely perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624848591653-O06X3JFFP1FCBQ2CY69O/Streaming+Things+Couch+Reactions+-+Phil+Armstrong+-44.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.26.21 Streaming Things My friend Steve (left) produces a local podcast about films and TV shows you can stream on any number of services. He wanted to get some promotional photo content together for social media and whatnot, so I photographed the three-man crew before and during their regular Saturday night recording. It was a load of fun and I would love to do more podcast photography (not a phrase I’d ever thought I’d type). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624848592259-E67JNI5K2KM1SPN58AWA/IMG_1028.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.27.21 The Levee’s Changed Long story short, I am not feeling like myself lately. Today, especially. My meds aren’t handing me the easy-breezy 24 hours I’d hoped they would, and I’m considering asking my doctor to increase my dosage. One thing I’ve found in the past to help get me out of a funk is to go for a walk. Ashley suggested we check out what’s changed at the Levee, so we took a stroll through the outdoor area with Myrtle. I was impressed with how the box park elevates the attractiveness and utility of that specific part of the Levee, and it got me thinking about how much better THIS Newport on the Levee is compared to the one of the last decade (and prior). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624969775160-U72S6QITLC127F8B6RZ2/NZ6_7348-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.28.21 Airbnb Work Photographed three Airbnbs. The AC wasn’t on in the one pictured and I had a really hard time focusing on the work because it reached almost 90ºF today. I tried fiddling with the gauge to bump up the air, but it’s digital and I couldn’t figure it out. It was a beautiful Airbnb regardless of how it felt in that moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625017676043-2CRT86L5HM1GKA2U5JL5/IMG_1064.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.29.21 The Gift That Keeps on Giving One evening in 2014, I went to the Pendleton Art Center for Final Friday. While there, I looked out of a window on the 6th or 7th floor and saw a beautiful sunset with Cincinnati in the background. I got out my phone and took a photo. Years later, as I gained some followers on Instagram, a company called SOURCE Cincinnati reached out to me about purchasing imagery for their marketing purposes. I sold them that photo and several others. Over the years, I’ve seen the photo pop up again and again on media promoting the city, and it never fails to give me a little kick whenever I stumble across it in the wild. Today, I was waiting on tacos at Mazunte and saw it on a Spanish language paper near the entrance. Someone told me it’s on a billboard on I-75. I really would like to get a photo of that if I can. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625109368573-TYY22P0X70HZN1WTLTFB/NZ6_7479.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 6.30.21 The Gift That Keeps on Giving Pt. 2 “Someone told me it’s on a billboard on I-75. I really would like to get a photo of that if I can,” I said in yesterday’s caption. I wasted no time getting that photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625193037456-49I10GWHPNVOFEUA3IW8/NZ6_7669-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.1.21 Brighton A good corner of Brighton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625275453943-YXNF9ASZMY5QJDU57BPB/NZ6_7747.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.2.21 Silver Grove Dari Bar I helped dig holes and fill them with wood and cement all day. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful and I’m not too tired from it. I think the key is drinking lots of water and taking a rejuvenating shower afterward. Despite needing to build a deck, I also need to do my photo jobs, though. One of the jobs involves the Silver Grove Dairy Bar. I went out to it this evening to get a few shots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625349393036-YRCEOE455XZE9R1RSPRH/NZ6_7885-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.3.21 Disappearing Camera in Northside Job in Northside this morning before getting back to work on the deck. It’s a beautiful renovation on Cherry Street. I had to get this done today because the couple sold the house and will be transferring keys to the new owners early next week. They wanted to document all the fine work they did, and fine work it is. I don’t know what the new owners paid for it, but I can imagine it’d be well out of my own price range. I did my patented disappearing camera trick for this bathroom photo. When it works, it’s very satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625461706899-WTE4NQ7LG4BFKO96X2ZS/NZ6_8149.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.4.21 A Gift From the Past Ashley’s grandfather, Ray, gave us some old artifacts and family heirlooms this week while he’s been popping over to check out the deck construction. Today he gave me an envelope with a 1941 Reds schedule inside. The folded piece of paper is old and fragile, and I can’t help but imagine the tree that was cut down so many years ago to make it. On the reverse side is an advertisement for a restaurant that once stood at 9 East Eighth Street—a building that no longer exists and has been replaced by a parking lot across the street from the Public Library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625535011930-HRRKNIA7BF775AINLGYD/IMG_1118.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.5.21 Hidey Hole I took precisely one photo today, and it was this one. I am tired in every conceivable way at the moment and just don’t have it in me to do anything more. Despite my mental and physical fatigue, I am worried about Myrtle. She is suddenly very sensitive to firework noise and has been having a rough go of it the last week. To mitigate her stress, I tried building her a bed full of blankets in our tiny closet. I then draped another blanket over her to make her feel more enclosed and cozy. Thankfully, this little hovel of hers seems to be helping soothe her anxiety. Last night she stayed in this spot after being coaxed out of the basement and seemingly got some sleep. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625623188546-9M2RV6FEAROG892SPPGS/Pep.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.6.21 Brushley Day five of deck-building. It should be usable tomorrow if everything goes according to plan. Anyway, I needed to do some quick portrait stuff for my in-laws and Ashley was my stand-in while she got ready to go to dinner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625706422778-074CLRC51X6ERRHASKCQ/NZ6_8162.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.7.21 An Interesting Juxtaposition I have been photographing the TPS Hotel for Luminaut on and off for weeks now. Today I needed to get some exteriors for them, and zoomed in on the transition between the massive infill and the older building. Personally, I love what they did with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625797940767-CQAPH8YJSBD9P8SNGEYR/IMG_1190.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.8.21 Sitting In Darkness On My New Deck After seven days, a few minor injuries, and endless sweat followed by rejuvenating showers, I have built a free-standing deck off the back of my house with help from my father-in-law and my father. Today I added the railings and topped them with solar lights, finalizing the deck’s aesthetic (for now). I need to wait a few months before I can stain the wood the same color as the grey composite boards on the floor. Anyway, I still have to build another piece that stands next to the deck, so a full photo of everything is still incoming and this little sliver is all I’m willing to share for the moment. I took this with my iPhone in what looked to my eye to be near total darkness, and somehow that little palm computer lightened it enough to make it a decent, albeit grainy, image overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626093837292-3OQP54OIRTRA77UO7XA6/LAS%2520-%2520The%2520Newbees%2520-%2520Phil%2520Armstrong%2520-14.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.9.21 The Newbees [The original caption to this photo was lost] I shot the Newbees show at Union Hall tonight. It was the smallest show I’ve ever been to. They sounded really good regardless of the audience size. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626093706952-OV26R5EXVC0RJN0BDESN/IMG_1226.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.10.21 Laying Sod [The original caption for this photo was lost] I laid a bunch of sod yesterday and it looks great. I hope it takes. The area where I put it was dug up for the deck construction and looked awful before the sod went in. Myrtle, of course, loves it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626093835807-1TLP6O18I7L6CETA3H87/IMG_1262.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.11.21 Bellevue Ameristop There was a lobster roll food truck in the parking lot of Ameristop today. As far as I can tell, it is the first time that parking lot has seen a food truck. And based on the way people reacted to it, the truck was a huge success. I waited a half hour for a Maine-style lobster roll before getting to enjoy it. The wait was worth it and I hope they do this again. After I ate my roll, I went into the Ameristop and got ice cream from Meghal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626143485467-VYND2JJU1M6ZLEYO7X1Q/NZ6_9094.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.12.21 Alternate Modes of Transportation When I arrived in Denver, I relished the chance to ride into the city on the train. The route ended at the beautiful Union Station. The area was bustling with activity, though I don’t know how much of that was due to the All-Star Game that’s also happening at the same time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626302791791-4NQUG48OAVKNJTL1TK1V/NZ6_9476.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.13.21 Not the Skyline I Wanted While doing my job in Highland, I was on the 14th floor when I happened to catch a view of the city below. I took my shot and was pleased that at least I got the outline, but it’s not the skyline shot I wanted. The haze was so bad, you couldn’t even see the mountains. I guess this just means I’ll need to come back again with Ashley during non-wildfire season. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626303124849-PL1RLWOQBP5DINVN1307/NZ6_9640.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.14.21 The L Line Rode the L Line from 25th & Welton back into downtown this morning. Much like our own Cincinnati streetcar, it was nice to hop on and relax while I made it around town. I liked this specific shot because I caught a bike in frame with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626452893645-U3IERVSMISM72SLASQAQ/NZ6_9783-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.15.21 Dusk For the architect. Several frames edited and merged into one with Photoshop’s sky replacement adding additional mood. I don’t usually like doing this much processing, but marketing photography is different from conventional documentation. Polish is harder to achieve in the real world, especially in an uncontrolled environment, thus it requires an increased level of attention in post-production. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626489500137-VI5FZPUKUWRGZ1Y31NU5/IMG_1526.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.16.21 Constant Incoming Anxiety A storm was rolling in behind me when I took this quick photo on my phone. The wind was blowing so hard at certain points, I almost dropped my phone. Clutching it tighter in my hand, I waited for some people to meet me at ICON. There, they’d go over photoshoot details for a Foo Fighters concert I’ll be photographing soon. It’s going to be a long day and I’m going to be on my feet for all of it, so I’m wary of the assignment. This happens constantly—I accept a job, then I get extreme anxiety about it leading up to the day while making sure I do not communicate that feeling to anyone else. I know I am capable of doing this job because I’ve done stuff like this countless times before. I know event photography is within my wheelhouse, but even though I intellectually know it to be true, there’s a part of my brain that just doesn’t allow me to feel comfortable about any of it. It wants to tell me I’m going to fail this time. Then, I do the job and the client is pleased, I get my invoice, and life goes on. Repeat cycle. I’m not certain I’ll ever get over feeling this way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626660501643-9E4FXTDOME4LGW7MNL9O/NZ6_0171-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.17.21 JCC Had a job at the JCC tonight. I don’t really feel like talking about it. Amid the chaos of running around trying to snap candid moments of well-dressed people laughing, I stopped to get a photograph of this section of the outdoor courtyard. I like the script on the sign and the shape of the building behind it. Reminds me of Crosley Tower in a way. I generally find non-Christian iconography and architecture to be more interesting, but I wonder if that’s a grass-is-always-greener bias. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626660501197-OYHKDQFG9YF66X1PBYM7/IMG_1537.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.18.21 Wiener Ramp My sister’s wiener dog, Luna, is having back trouble. According to her, she’s not acting like her usual self and has noticed she doesn’t do certain things that would otherwise place strain on her back, like sitting upright to beg for treats. She lives in a ranch style house but has two steps leading off her back door to the patio where the dogs run through to get to the backyard. Luna is having trouble navigating those steps, so she asked me to build her a little ramp. I used two 1x6 planks and some leftover plywood she had in her shed for the base, then used a 1x2 with a dowel rod for a railing (to visually guide her down the ramp). I also cut up a rubber outdoor mat into strips and fastened it to the surface to give her traction. Luna understood immediately how to use it and stopped doing the stairs within moments of the “grand opening" of the ramp. It turned out well and I’m glad she doesn’t have to place undue stress on her back any longer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626746615913-NGTA8QG3SI10YIUAOF6U/IMG_1553.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.19.21 Unwell Last night, I felt something creeping up on me somewhere in my subconscious. This morning, I woke up feeling unwell. Not physically, but mentally. I got on social media and it ramped up that feeling ten fold, forcing me to delete whatever I had on my phone entirely to get away from it. For the rest of the day, I stayed analog—a strategy I use from time to time to mend myself when I feel this way. I worked in my workshop, chainsaw’d an old wooden pallet, handled some household chores and organizational tasks, and cancelled my only photoshoot so I could lay on the couch, eat pizza, drink beer, and watch Star Trek. As the evening wore on and the sun subsided, I burned a bunch of cardboard I had collected in my basement. Something in me at the moment is extremely anti-social and anxious, and I wish I knew why my chemical imbalance causes this. I feel like a crazy hermit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626835755259-HQ202EH2CUVIK0FYMTHH/IMG_1565.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.20.21 Solo Work My mood from yesterday carried over into today, but I made an effort to be more social through electronic mediums. Anyway, I spent the day figuring out a few upcoming jobs, sweating over not receiving return emails, and wondering if I know what I’m doing with my career. Then I proceeded to eat Gold Star in my car before shooting an incredibly gorgeous Airbnb at 7 PM in Over-the-Rhine by myself. The image is from that shoot. Also, the richest person in the world spent a colossal amount of money to fuel his ego with an 11-minute sub-orbit flight instead of using that money for literally any other useful, benevolent purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626892555049-6HRM4SVOOXA0P7SV1RVQ/Casio-010-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.21.21 Dumbing It Down In the last six months, I’ve grown weary of always being connected. My best days are when I choose to avoid the Internet for the majority of my waking hours, and I slowly started to realize that wearing a smart watch kept me further connected. Text messages, emails, calls—my wrist would buzz all day. It started to wear on me mentally. Then, after I updated to the iOS 15 beta and my watch fell out of sync with my phone, I decided I’d had enough. This was my chance to return to a time when my wrist was merely a timepiece and not a computer. I bought this $20 Casio that looks almost identical to a watch I wore as a kid and it came in the mail today. It tells time, has a stopwatch, an alarm, and gives me the date. It’s all I need and all I want. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627051973884-RDTXOG5ZGR49ASWRBURY/NZ6_1336.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.22.21 The Strip Filling my eyeballs with as much optical cotton candy as is legally permitted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627115474258-NR1KP4YF0P3EKZH3YYQ7/NZ6_1766.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.23.21 Oatman’s Burros We drove from Las Vegas into California to see some interesting roadside locales, many of which were abandoned. The high temperature of the morning reached somewhere around 107ºF, and it’s reasonable to assume it was higher when we stopped in Ludlow in the middle of the afternoon. At several stops, I could feel the heat cooking the bottoms of my shoes when I stepped out onto the blacktop. As the evening crept closer, we headed south into Arizona and stopped in an old former mining town called Oatman. While the town is primarily focused on tourism based on its history, wandering donkeys are a big part of its charm. We weren’t even fully in Oatman the first time we ran across the friendly souls standing in the middle of the street to stop traffic and sniff around for food. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627223009298-NYUSN6Y32XROPZPEWM78/NZ6_2245.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.24.21 Valley of Fire We piled into the rental car and headed out to see Hoover Dam this morning. From the bridge above it, I marveled at its size and tried to photograph it in a way that really highlighted its magnitude. From there, we drove deep into the Valley of Fire. I was struck by the vibrancy of the rocks and the dramatic shapes they took over the countless number of years they were formed. It was hot, and I am glad we had the fortune of an air-conditioned vehicle to keep us comfortable between stops; I cannot imagine how the hikers fared on their own air-conditioned-less walks through the park. The landscape was unlike anything I’d seen with my own eyes—the PNW certainly didn’t have a desert when I was out west last time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627344576344-IYCGKR3EBO5VZT4M9YL6/IMG_1781.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.25.21 Neon Museum It was a slower day today than it has been over the last several days. With half our party having returned home, Justin and I worked in a coffee shop for a bit before finally heading to the Neon Museum in Downtown Las Vegas. Similar to the American Sign Museum back home, it features a collection of old signs in various states of preservation. Some light up and look generally well kept while others are rusted out and leaning against larger signs. The whole museum is outdoors and didn’t allow professional cameras inside, so I resorted to taking photos on my phone before it overheated in the sun and shut down. Also, one of the employees at the museum saw my Donatos shirt and revealed he’s originally from Dayton, OH. We had a reasonably long chat (in the shade) about Ohio and how he got to Las Vegas (his wife found a work opportunity here). We ate at Del Taco before heading back to the hotel at around 6 PM. I am incredibly tired. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627491262963-N75BAUQO49FNCP9VG6CH/Untitled-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.27.21 Event Work Shot an event for a company in a place for money today. This is the only photo I’m probably allowed to share from it because it doesn’t identify anyone or the company. If you’ve been here, you’ll know the venue. It went well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627525245572-G67U7EGMD1JJ4J7OYJEQ/NZ6_3963.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.28.21 ICON’s First Show I made better photos than this tonight, but I think this is the only one I can technically share since it’s outside the venue. Long story short, GBBN hired me to do a lifestyle shoot of everyone using the space on the first show night. For reasons, I couldn’t shoot while the band was onstage, so I had to get what I could while I had the chance. This wasn’t communicated to us beforehand, so it was a little disheartening. Since I wasn’t allowed to shoot after the band started, I just left. I don’t really care about Foo Fighters as is, and I really wanted chili, so I biked home on a RedBike and stopped at Gold Star. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627612937480-9DNL1SRH26BMYUWM51GM/IMG_1845.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 7.29.21 The Fruits of Today’s Labor My iCal was totally free today for the first time in weeks. Instead of napping, I spent the entire day putting together the second installment of my Las Vegas trip series. I only left the house to walk the dog and get pepperoni for a homemade pizza. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801239142-ND0HCSSSC35QTHOHOXUU/Untitled-191.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.1.21 New Spaces We checked out the new space at Eden Park this morning after getting coffee from Unataza. If you walk this loop five times, it equals a mile. There’s a little bridge over a small pond, a gazebo, a basketball court, and a play area for kids. It’s mostly straw at the moment, but I can visualize what it’ll look like in a few years’ time, and I’m sure it’ll look great. Overall good use of this space compared to the empty field that preceded it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801239485-CCDH2SZ4TG76B4PEYKXI/Untitled-192.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.2.21 Car Wash Northern Kentucky has a lot of really good stuff like this. Too new to be retro, but too crusty to look new. I’m carrying my mirrorless around with me less and less these days since I use it full time for work now, and I’m thankful my iPhone will at least shoot in RAW. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801244250-UL4V7Q53FHLQ9HP8X3WZ/Untitled-193.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.3.21 A Cup Had dinner with Katie, my former colleague, and her fiancée. We talked about what we’re doing post-publishing life and how we navigated our being laid off. She told me about how immediately after we were let go, Local 12 hired someone to fill her position. My first reaction, I admit, was quiet fury. How dare they get rid of us and have the balls to hire someone new into her position like that. It was a slap in the face. Then, after the initial shock wore off, I remembered what someone said to me Friday night in reference to this new era of Refined: “It’s…not good.” They told me this while at the Five Points show I was photographing, and at the time it largely fell on deaf ears. I didn’t care to hear about the site; I haven’t even returned to it since March 9th, and unfollowed it on all channels. But hearing about her position being filled juxtaposed with what that person said to me, I realized everything was fine for us. I realized what Local 12 did was throw away something good and hired individuals to ride the coattails of the success we earned so they can produce sub-par content driven by the Sales team. Not having my name attached to something that lame is a major relief. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801244249-7WCIYIVY9SEQ9EW0H62Y/Untitled-194.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.4.21 A Little Party I photographed a small gathering at the Art Museum tonight. The artists of Future Retrieval had a meet and greet and a dozen people showed up. They mostly stayed in the courtyard, thank god. My flash was dead and it wouldn’t have helped me anyway because I couldn’t use it in the gallery due to the no flash photography policy. This ended up being an unintentional long exposure due to how dim it was in the exhibit. I didn’t feel like shooting at 10000 ISO, so I went with 1250 with a 1/4 sec shutter. Had to prop up on the corner of a door frame to ensure it was sharp enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801469654-A2YCPD1U1M7QGPYT53WP/IMG_1926.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.5.21 Yard “Helper” Little baby doodle girl has been in the yard with me for the last two days while I built the raised flower bed. She thinks that by placing her ball directly in the path of where I’m working, I will play fetch with her. Well, jokes on me because I throw that thing whenever it’s in the way, and she gets what she wants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801249419-0YCRDVWGQHGG8VY3D4Q1/Untitled-195.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.6.21 First Friday Met up with some old coworkers at Darkness and had many beers before retiring to my house a few blocks south to continue the party on the deck. It was First Friday in Bellevue, which means there was a greater number of people roaming the Avenue. It’s always so nice to see so many people out and about. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801249420-0ZP0FCH16OHMTD7R4XIH/Untitled-196.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.7.21 80s Night at Bircus Jenny, one of my old coworkers who I met up with last night (left in photo), is in an 80s cover band. They played at Bircus tonight, so we all went to go see her do her thing. I was unaware of how awesome Bircus had grown over the years since I was last there. It was a load of fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801254480-YWVU8MT43W410GI6VB45/Untitled-197.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.8.21 Stricker’s Grove We went to Stricker’s Grove with some friends today. Drank my weight in tiny cups of Mountain Dew, won at mini-golf, ate a green snow cone, rode the Tornado twice, and finished off a roll of film. All of it for $15, too. Good day overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801254484-N2CM9PSXEWL5V3XWJODM/Untitled-198.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.9.21 Dusty Evening There’s something about summer skies when they’re like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801503161-MYUIGH2AY4AZ6WLM7S2Z/NZ6_6381-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.10.21 Ingalls Years ago, I would sit in Bruegger’s Bagels in the Ingalls Building on Sunday mornings and drink my coffee with the paper. Today, I downed a coffee on the sidewalk and photographed it as a boutique hotel. I think it’s been about 6 years since I last stepped foot inside the world’s first reinforced concrete skyscraper. Luminaut hired me to photograph their finished work inside the hotel, starting with the common areas. The staircase was probably my favorite feature due to its gradual upward curve around the hanging chandelier. They did a tremendously good job combining Ingalls’ original architecture with a modern aesthetic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801234929-F6FSEK6X0ZKED6QHK6M9/Untitled-190.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.11.21 Late Bloomer This monstrosity was left hanging on the underside of the porch. It’s so alarmingly large, I thought it was a tarantula at first glance. While I haven’t seen Brood X cicadas in well over a month at this point, there is still a cicada presence around these parts. I am guessing this is one of those seasonal, annual ones that’s unassociated with the 17-year emergence. Either way, they missed the party. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628818358185-FV6FJXUBOQWLW94QLRFV/Untitled-200.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.12.21 It’s Too Hot Out Here After spending most of the day indoors due to excessive heat and humidity, Ashley and I went out on the deck after the sun went down just to exercise the dog. While outside, we noticed a massive cloud seizing with lightning in the far distance. Seeing no storms on the weather radar, we assumed this was the result of heat lightning. I’d already brought my camera down to get a photo of the moon, so I started firing at the cloud hoping to score a well-lit frame. Somewhere in those 400 shutter clicks, I got what I came for. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628910735156-QLLUZQ6DENJIP9U84THX/Untitled-201.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.13.21 A Curious Friend This little stray let me pet her tonight. She reminded me of a cat we had for a couple of days when I was very young. My parents found a little black kitten outside our house during a big storm and brought her inside to keep her safe. They called her Stormy at the time, presumably because either my sister or I wanted to name her. We ended up giving her away to someone because half of us are allergic to cats, but she made enough of an impression on my young mind that I still think about her to this day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629080177821-5QDUYOZYKNC0DQQ5G2LU/IMG_2034.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.14.21 Boba Bottom “There is no greater joy than having two layers of popping boba at the bottom of your cup.” -Abraham Lincoln https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629080590647-0BMOLL275SHX6FP46V6H/IMG_2075.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.15.21 Community Service I started the day scaling my neighbor’s house to climb in her window so I could unlock her door for her. The day then proceeded to be filled with yard work, but not my own—Ashley and I cleared the neglected, empty lot across the street if the tall grass and overgrown weeds. I also repaired the old fence so it stood upright and removed what felt like miles of vines that had snaked their way through the chain links over the years. I then mowed my neighbor’s lawn and trimmed around the landscaping, burning through three rechargeable batteries to so do. I am tired but in such a way that feels really good. It feels nice to feel useful in a community. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629249098753-8I5QQ4EZG3OYYNCM0GJX/IMG_2080.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.16.21 Waiting Patiently The scene whenever Ashley leaves the car. If there’s an open window, Myrtle’s head will be through it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629249418631-SXUNV3G6TJ2N0UOOUK77/IMG_2087.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.17.21 Routing New Grooves I got a commission to make a thing for someone and I got to use my router. This was a plunge cut I’ve never done until today. It doesn’t look like much, and really it isn’t much, but it took some work to line it up properly and build a suitable fence to keep the router stable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629340367541-I82CNFWKQX3QX75CA6DQ/NZ6_7143-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.18.21 My Grandfather’s Collection My dad and I drove out to see my grandfather today. It's been years since I'd seen him, and it was great to reconnect. He has an incredible collection of milk bottles in a room above his garage that he's been working on for over 30 years. There are bottles from farms in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and many other states, including a bottle from Honolulu, where he lived for two years. His collection had bottles from as far away as England, the paper caps that used to keep them sealed, and various other bits of paraphernalia relating to the industry. It's one of the most unique collections I've seen. Three generations of Armstrong men sat in that room and discussed various topics for a while before heading downstairs to check out his workshop—an addition I don't remember from the last time I was at his house in the late-90s/early-2000s. It was a great afternoon overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629471111480-2OPVWG42XOGV9F0SHEDV/Untitled-206.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.19.21 Every Piece Is Important Ashley had a fancy work dinner at Jeff Ruby’s tonight, leaving myself and the dog to figure out our night together. Following tradition, that means I order a pizza and give the occasional pepperoni to Myrtle while watching TV. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629631748789-JAQ9ZDQOXUNTM23MFZ82/Untitled-208.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.20.21 Backdrops Kendal Floral paid me to create large images for three backdrops they were going to put up during the Wellness Festival at Smale Park. I used Adobe’s Super Resolution feature to get them as large as possible and sent them the files to pass along to their printer. While the warmth of the images looks a little cooler than I’d intended, they turned out good overall. I was surprised by how sharp they were at that size. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629631747107-UAQCR82CY3DWQYP2I0YB/Untitled-207.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.21.21 Oneonta Train Station Chelsea and Vince got married along the river at the Inn at Oneonta tonight. After the cake was cut and everyone started dancing, that was my cue to begin an hours long solo journey around the property to check out what I could find. Little sitting areas were scattered throughout and tucked away in places one might miss if they weren’t looking carefully. It was easy to get turned around until I got the lay of the land. The highlight for me was this old train station that stood directly opposite the reception area. The inside left a lot to be desired, but it was still interesting to check out. I ended up sitting on the station platform until everyone was finished. Being the designed driver isn’t the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629688474116-MZQ9J8CO8K5ZAQW98EG5/NZ6_7845.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.22.21 Tremendous Prep Work Despite staying out late at the wedding last night, I had a bright and early 8 AM shoot at ICON at Smale Park. GBBN wanted photos of crews offloading for a show, and they set up a time to photograph Brad Paisley’s load-in. While the Foo Fighters’ security were difficult to work with, Paisley’s didn’t have nearly as many restrictions, making it considerably easier to do my job. I stood in the sun for two and a half hours photographing people offload semis, put lights together, video boards, string cables and chains from the rafters above, and various other show-related activities. In the time I was there, the stage went from relatively empty to almost completely filled. According to a crew member, most of the people there were locals hired to set up the show by Paisley’s crew. It’s amazing how many hands it takes to set up something like this. I understand why tickets to big shows have high price tags now that it’s obvious how many people it takes to make it happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629775276700-MFKB0YYFA11AECVQQ2GR/IMG_2178.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.23.212 Productive Days Aren’t Always Photographic Some days you wake up early to photograph crews unloading multiple semis worth of AV equipment for a well-known artist, and other days you spend all day editing images of a three-story condo you shot days ago only have time to take a picture of your bathroom. This isn’t an image anyone but I will look at twice, and that’s fine. Every time I walk into the kitchen at the end of the night to place my glass into the sink and head up to bed, I catch a glimpse of this room—the one I spent Christmas of last year lightly renovating—and it makes me feel accomplished in a very small way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629860100237-P44JGBP1ZGP87T0YQQ2A/The+Pitch+Cincy+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.24.21 The Pitch Cincy Working with Luminaut is so satisfying because even though their expectations are high, the challenging jobs they give me end up leveling up my knowledge of architectural photography faster than anything else I do. They gave me their rendering and I recreated it as closely as I could, then I spent time cleaning it up in Photoshop. I remove a lot of small stuff from images like this when I get it into my computer just to give it an extra clean look before I give it to them, but this one took a little extra effort to get right because the screens above the bar were not on when I took the photo. The process of digitally adding the images, which I pulled from my archive to get around any licensing issues, was easy despite taking time. The job took me the entire day to shoot and process, but I got it done and sent it back to them already. When I’m able to turn something around in a little over 12 hours, it’s very satisfying; the client gets what they need quickly and I get to clear it from my job queue without sacrificing quality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630010189552-T7PSS0WJDOU3DQ94ZWYT/NZ6_8178.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.25.21 A Familiar Billboard While headed out of Downtown this morning, I noticed a billboard with an image I made for the Cincinnati Art Museum. It will always be a little awesome to see something I worked on blown up and printed this large. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284583906-UA9AR56QLFXPZ2S2Y45Z/IMG_2206.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.26.21 IRL Mods I’ve always wanted a magazine rack to hold the issues I’m currently reading. Instead of getting one, I end up stacking them on my bedside table where I’d rather place my water at night. While looking online for a design I could make with wood, I came upon a Wayfair entry that had the above side table with a U-shaped bit attached to the legs. I already had that exact table sans U-shaped bit, so I modified the one I had to match the one I saw online using scrap wood and leftover grey paint. I also put my iPad into it at night since the charger is nearby. The satisfaction of making something 200% more functional while scratching a builder itch without purchasing anything additional cannot be overstated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284585044-VKYNNJ99LN695Y2FP4KT/IMG_2220.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.27.21 Late Evening Dari Run At the start of summer, I was made aware of the Silver Grove Dari Bar by way of an assignment from Fort Thomas Matters. Our empty fridge left us with little choice but to seek out food tonight, and as it was raining buckets, the car was the only option. Not wanting to hit a drive thru, we opted to revisit the drive-in Dari Bar and had burgers, fries, fried cheesy hash browns, and a cherry shake. The bad weather staved off most of the clientele for the night, leaving us as one of only a handful of cars there to get food. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284592612-MJ35BZFKNLQ4OGU31WSE/NZ6_8201.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.28.21 She Went Swimming! Myrtle went swimming in a hidden watering hole in Mariemont today. She was so happy, she cried as she held her stick in her jaws and paddled back to us. Never have I ever seen a dog love swimming as much as she does. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284599510-E3VHCUTZ8SMVRLTNCGW1/IMG_2246-Edit+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.29.21 Upgraded Teleconferencing Background Since moving into our home a year ago, I’ve done little to my office besides reworking my desk. Today, I changed the wall directly behind me to be more colorful and visually interesting. It took 2.5 coats of paint and one pine board with a couple of brackets to get it to where I wanted it. While the second visual doesn’t adequately capture it, the room is darker and has more of a lounge vibe to it after the sun goes down. I envision this space being better suited to late-night Star Trek episodes and reading in my chair than it was before, as well as a better background for when I need to hop on a teleconferencing call. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630468576773-UWYQCX1K4JSR6R72YHRS/1+Alexander+Circle+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.30.21 1 Alexander Circle Photographed 1 Alexander Circle in Fort Thomas today. Essentially a mansion, the property was in a very bad state until a developer swooped in to fix it up. Among the many features that make it appealing, its abundance of pocket doors is the quality I think I’m attracted to most. It’s too big of a house for me, but if I could take a few of these pocket doors and put them in my own home, I would. Photographing them is always a little awkward, but I’ve found that going at them at an angle and removing about 20% of the door from the frame is effective in showcasing its purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630468577998-7SH1RO5UXEBJDIN37EOJ/IMG_2262.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 8.31.21 Brand Management No matter how boring it is today, always photograph brands on shelves for tomorrow. Some of the best photos I’ve seen are ones that include logos from bygone eras and forgotten products. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630547265535-OI7HU6YBCPGNZBRWX5OH/NZ6_8890-Edit-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.1.21 Local Guide When I have downtime, I like to hop on Google and review businesses and places I’ve been. Whether it be a small coffee shop or a well-known landmark, if I’ve been there and had an experience worth remembering, I will likely write about it and include photos. The reason I do this is to boost the places and small businesses I like with positive reviews so the owners feel good and hopefully get additional customers. Sure, I’ve written a few reviews that weren’t glowing, but those are the exception to the rule. Simply leaving a Google review can help or hurt a small business in a big way, especially if you add to a cacophony of like-minded reviewers. Because of this diligent pursuit of opining online, Google sent me a little pin to commemorate my contributions. I’m often unaware of what I will review before I write about it, and often forget what I’ve reviewed in the past until I go back and look at my contributions. To illustrate this point, I made this photo using the pin itself. The “man” faces away from the frame where the viewer cannot see to represent my own inability to guess what I’ll review next. The long shadow is representative of one’s ability to cast a relatively big impression on a small business when they review it on Google. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630639062551-5GHLSP1RLNBVSCXTBYT2/1%2520Alexander%2520Circle%2520-%2520Phil%2520Armstrong%2520-94.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.2.21 Reshoots I returned to the mansion in Fort Thomas today for reshoots. The stager apparently didn’t satisfy the realtors’ expectations, so some rooms were redecorated and new photos were required. There wasn’t much to stage in the master bathroom, but I did miss taking a photo of the pocket door up there the first time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630720439331-GNLJY3BH3N7M31RFSTZU/NZ6_9243.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.3.21 Aerial Surprise First Friday in Bellevue was dog-themed this month. While a few places had offerings for dogs, the overall event was relatively lackluster. We still enjoyed a burger and beer while out, and we saw some people Ashley knew, so it was worth it. We decided to just walk home and have a beer on our porch once we were satisfied we’d gotten everything out of the event we wanted. On our walk home, we saw a cat at the top of a roof, then realized there were others hanging out up there, too. In total, we saw four kittens hanging out up there. It looks like they get up there by way of a tall fence next to a lower roof at the back of the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630897709732-UY2JXE8ZKLMIB2MAM5IM/LAS+-+Meshell+Ndegeocello+-+Phil+Armstrong+-117.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.4.21 Longworth-Anderson Series Shot a pre-show cocktail hour and some of the show itself at Memorial Hall. The lighting in the lobby on the first floor was atrocious enough to make me work double time to get a single image in focus and crisp enough to pass along to the client. Not a fun one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630897707596-IPHIKUN94H5VJXTC0XP3/NZ6_0424.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.5.21 A Pleasant Surprise There were no Labor Day fireworks on the river in 2020, so we didn’t know if the house we moved into had a view of them. This year, while avoiding crowds, we figured we’d stay home and answer that question. The worst we could do is not see them for one year. We were pleasantly surprised that we could, indeed, see them after all. We often remark how much we love our house, but tonight it was the gift that kept on giving. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631039342042-8PLM8MZXX4J80WHNH541/IMG_2334.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.6.21 Bender Mountain For Labor Day, we got up early and went out to Bender Mountain in Delhi for a hike. Since neither of us had been before, it was a new experience that led us through the woods and along trails of varying levels of difficulty. While not the best-maintained preserve we’ve been to, it was great to explore uncharted territory with Myrtle. This woman was meditating at what seemed to be the highest point on the hill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631066204017-TNBGOXUGCLT1353VWZSB/IMG_2350.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.7.21 Summer Nights with the Girls Since buying our home in Bellevue, one of my favorite things is to sit with Ashley and Myrtle on the porch in the evenings. We drink beer or have ice cream and watch passersby as they come up and down the steps. Deer and rabbits frolic and forage before settling down for sleep in the empty lot’s tall grass across the street. The wind gently rustles the leaves above and around us while lightly spinning our hanging ferns. I often lay on the swinging bench while Ashley sprawls out on the couch. We don’t work on the porch. We don’t worry about anything on the porch. The porch is just our little space to watch the sunset and bask in the moment sans-responsibilities. It’s our own little corner of the world with a view of downtown in the distance, and it’s perfect for us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631152314487-OA95FVKJF2JUEGYTUJPT/NZ6_0542.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.8.21 Lafayette Bloom’s Empty A job took me over to the West End this afternoon. After doing what needed done, I took a stroll up Baymiller to get fresh photos of the school there. Lafayette Bloom was never my school when I was the right age to attend it, but it’s one I feel a connection to despite our lack of personal history. When I first started exploring the West End, it was the crown jewel of places that intrigued me. How could such a massive, architecturally beautiful building designed barely a hundred years earlier be so devoid of life today? The reasons, from what I’ve read, are many, and it officially closed its doors to what little students remained in 2006 after attempting to stay open from originally shutting down in 2000. Now it just sits waiting for either redevelopment, demolition, or years of continued neglect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631213316415-G03R01P2WKKGZHSDYBBE/G90+Engineering+Machine+Photo+-6.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.9.21 Machine-Like Precision I was hired to photograph a machine that makes pins for a well-known device. The machine’s newness needed to be captured before it becomes scratched and greasy through daily operation. Using the method of photo stacking, I hit every point of focus from the tip of the ramp to the back of the drill and layered it all in Photoshop. I positioned the metal pins at several points along the ramp using heavy magnets stuck to the underside of the ramp to keep them still while giving the impression of a downward slide without the motion blur that would call for a higher ISO to get right. The shot took awhile to set up, but I’m really happy with the end result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631331190284-J7CEUTAT2FYKMCG0EOX8/IMG_2430.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.10.21 Untitled Armstrong Projects My neighbor fosters dogs. When the shelter she works with has dogs who need homes, they contact her to see if she can take them in. Yesterday she received a call about a four month-old puppy, and when she went to pick her up, a box of seven very young dachshund/beagle puppies came in while she was there. Seeing no other choice, my neighbor took them in with the intention of finding them homes. My parents, who lost their dog in March, have been considering if they wanted to get a new dog, and seeing an opportunity to put one of these puppies into a good home, I asked them if they were interested. Much to my surprise, they wanted TWO puppies—one to keep the other company! They came over this evening to meet the litter and picked these two little girls out from the pack. They’re thinking of naming them Lilly and Rosa, but that could change. We’re going to take them to my parents’ house on Sunday where they’ll stay. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631414006582-SD3UN363CQ63PJQJIN5Q/IMG_2472.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.11.21 Intention My intention was to spend today doing things that made life worth living. Small things that mean a lot, like walking Myrtle with Ashley down by the river and getting coffee from two different shops in the morning. Methodically scouring the Cincinnati ReUse Center and buying hardware for future projects I haven’t yet started for a low price. And, of course, picking up Steve and going to my sister’s house for a birthday party for her 10 year old dog in Washington Courthouse. I barely looked at the internet, nor did I listen to much radio or watch any TV specials—there’s no chance any of it would make me feel good. I acknowledged what today was in private and proceeded to not let it define the rest of the day for me. In this photo, Myrtle and Kiran, my sister’s step-daughter, posed along the fence. Both of them are adorable and filled my day with happiness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631504278264-N162ZZ4B67DY00W9O1Q0/IMG_2482.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.12.21 A Familiar-ish Face Dog and cat photos end up being my photo of the day so often because they are always a delight. This one came up to me while on a walk this morning. I gave him/her a little attention and moved along after snapping a quick photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631590541925-17LRJ0RDPANBHQQPUHGG/PCFA+-+Phil+Armstrong+-66-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.13.21 Five In One Five images of cyclists enjoying the Loveland Bike Trail shopped into one image by the Peters Cartridge Factory Apartments. Before I was finished gathering the necessary material to make this composite, a woman came up and told me she was going to call the police on me for taking photos of “nude people in their apartment.” She was kidding, thankfully, and just needed help removing her bike from the rack on the back of her car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631848137077-XXGWEZFHPRZD7OUJGFQ1/NZ6_1882.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.14.21 Seen Better Days Photographed a place today that at one time looked to be a beautiful, magnificent house built for a single family. Today, it’s subdivided into multiple apartments. While the apartment I photographed left much to be desired, it did have a few touches of character that I thought were pretty, such as the floor in the bedroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631848117439-GV805CI4JT2Q5YEA74Q0/IMG_2551.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.15.21 Decisions, Decisions… Myrtle and I sat on the floor and played with a bunch of her toys while we watched TV tonight. I gotta train her to put all this crap away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631848123179-I8WESEGV9TULPZH0MOOK/LAS+-+Watkins+Family+Hour+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.16.21 Fat Head My shot list included getting images of the food and drink at the event tonight. Instead of shooting it in the tub, I asked the bartender to hold up a can for a more interesting composition. Fat Head’s is a Cleveland-based brewery that started in a little saloon in Pittsburgh in 1992. Ironically, today’s photo is #992! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631930695217-XRJ4VADEMK8MNV85GSEY/IMG_2571.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.17.21 The Evening Express We took a walk up O’Fallon hill this evening to catch a glimpse of Cincinnati at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful but I wasn’t able to properly capture it because I left my damn memory card in the computer, rendering my Z6 useless. Instead, I opted for a grainy image on my phone. On the way down, we crossed over the Van Voast bridge and I caught the train rolling through. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632107100526-1I5C1CO1SLI626CI6DFZ/Ericka%27s+Wedding+at+Spring+Grove-45-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.18.21 Ericka’s Elopement Ericka, a friend I used to work with regularly when I ran Refined, eloped with her fiancé, Jared. They got married in Spring Grove Cemetery in a hidden spot I didn’t even know existed until I got there. I don’t normally photograph weddings, but I agreed to photograph hers because it was so relaxed. It was literally just myself and the person marrying them. Afterward, we took a few photos around the area. I think I was there for 20 minutes total. Fastest wedding ever. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632107100741-8EF55BPFRIIJ4ATRSYOY/IMG_2589.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.19.21 What’s Not There I have a tendency to maximize a space’s efficiency. Having lived in small spaces for the majority of my adult life, it’s been necessary to utilize every nook and cranny if I want to hold onto my things without cluttering it up. When we bought the house, we suddenly had double the amount of room to fill with our lives—and things. I put an heirloom side table into this small corner next to my office door when we moved in. The little table fit perfectly and became a rendezvous point for my wallet, face masks, magazines, AirPods, and other mobile essentials throughout the day. As many times as I’d clean it off to avoid it looking messy, my items would respawn the next day. Today I took a long, hard look at that table and wondered if I truly needed it there. Having determined I didn’t, the table went into the closet. The corner was meant to be empty. It’s meant to be a zone where clutter won’t exist and the path from the hallway into the office is less obstructed than before. I placed emptiness in this corner the same way I did a side table. It’s an intentional absence that adds to the overall aesthetic and vibe of the room the same way a painting on the wall or a chair would. It is intentional, intangible, functional decor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632362954574-C6FIDE58CX564XDE52OK/Christ+the+King+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.20.21 Overcast Shoot Did some exteriors for Luminaut of an addition they made for a church in Mt. Lookout. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast and there’s a good chance I’ll need to reshoot it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632362961161-4Z9D1C466ZDK8ULWFQZS/Luminaut+Office+Photo+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.21.21 The Nauts Luminaut office photo taken inside the Courtyard Marriott, which they designed. This was the fun take. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632362954569-3CGUZV00ELUYHHFDLG2X/IMG_2622.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.22.21 Bayhorse Reunion Met up with Travis, Ronny, and Justin tonight for a couple of beers at the Bayhorse. Had to convert this to B&W because the lighting in the back room isn’t ideal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632456207966-I87MK9FZL8XL9JLCA2Q7/IMG_2632.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.23.21 Undergrowth I have a tendency to look down at my shoes when not moving. If I didn’t, I’m not sure I would’ve noticed this trapped sewer plant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632542701805-K901JKYIQNBOGPCQM65K/NZ6_4402.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.24.21 Number Error I spent the day thinking it was a milestone for the daily photo project. I thought today was going to be my 1000th post. Another image was supposed to mark that special occasion after carefully considering what I should do halfway through the evening and making the trek up a hill to capture it. But after I’d made both the post and the image, I realized I’d messed up the count somewhere along the way and today was actually only day 998. I’m honestly embarrassed that anyone may have seen it through an RSS feed that snatched it before it was deleted. But I figure it’s best to be up front about failures like that, so now you know. Here’s a sunflower from a trip to a farm I went to today. I lit it with a flash so I could get the face of it while backlit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632631302549-LY7GJ488130DICY0UNEX/NZ6_5496.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.25.21 Iconic Work Night Spent over 5 hours shooting at ICON tonight for GBBN. Show shoots are usually kind of a tough thing for me to do because the lighting is all over the place and crowds can be unpredictable, but everything about tonight was good. I had a great time shooting this space with show goers in it while two excellent bands provided the soundtrack to the evening. This was one of my final photos of the night. The group pictured wanted their photo taken together. I was running an interval at the time and let it take their photo then cancelled the interval, but not before miming my finger on the shutter. One guy caught on and yelled, “he faked it!” Of course, he was right, but I was delighted to prove him wrong since the interval actually did take their photo, just seconds before I mimed it. One of the girls snapped my LCD screen with her phone to “save” the image. It was all pretty funny—both the situation and proving that guy wrong even though he was technically, kind of right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632708985436-K7LCO3373YO5XL8YHS0J/NZ6_4421-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.26.21 One Thousand Days I made a photo today using a split diopter that I thought was fun and creative. However, I didn’t choose it for today’s photo. The image you see here was made two days earlier, when I thought I was on day 1000. However, I realized I had miscounted somewhere along the way, and instead I was only on day 998. The intentionality was there, but my accounting was not. I still made a photo today and preserved my daily goal, it just won’t be seen here. This image was made for day 1000, and I cannot let my accounting error ruin that. I chose this scene for two reasons. First, the inaugural daily photo was taken from my window in the city at night, and I wanted to pay homage to that image by incorporating the city after dark. Secondly, I wanted to invite my new home into this moment in my life. By filling the frame half with Cincinnati and half with Bellevue, I feel like both places are equally represented. No matter who comes into or leaves my life, no matter what my career looks like, no matter the state of my mental or physical health, and no matter what life throws at me, I know I get to make a photo. Much is different today than it was over two and a half years ago, but this daily photo project has been one of the only reassuring constants in an ever-changing world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633014904357-GTBWUZNITT4MQ3XTLCH2/IMG_2718.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.27.21 Sleepy Girls My parents’ puppies are staying with us overnight. This is them cuddled up in a corner of their crate. They always have to be cuddling with each other when they’re resting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633014898630-AX1EOO17ZOX1NKJ1CBPT/217+E+26th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.28.21 A 1928 Beauty I’m shooting this Covington house tomorrow. Due to a tight deadline, I needed to get night photos of it tonight. I did a quick walkthrough and it was gorgeous with loads of character intact. It would be easy to gut this house and white box it, but they didn’t, and I really love how much century-old charm is still has. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633014898466-F78B11PYHYBVA5NH2773/217+E+26th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 9.29.21 Phone Booth Shower Last night, I published a photo of a house I was going to shoot the next day. This is from that house. There’s a lone shower in the hallway, apart from the nearby bathroom, which has a shower of its own. I photographed it this way to illustrate how it’s just in the middle of a hallway instead of inside a bathroom. I’m guessing there was a layout change sometime during the course of history that alienated this shower from the original bathroom because I cannot imagine why it would be placed here otherwise. Regardless, I think this is the thing I love the most about this house. This isn’t something I’ve ever seen during my years of photographing old homes, and I’m fairly certain I will not see this again. Because of its peculiar placement in the hallway, it has the vibe of a phone booth over a shower. Personally, I think the tile is both inside and out is spectacular. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633209943313-DIK50UBC0RAJ1BM5OE6N/IMG_2732.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 Miscalculations I wanted to build an upright rolling cabinet that could slide under my bench. The design is simple and I was able to use a fair amount of scrap wood to cut down on the cost. However, after I’d assembled it and rolled it up to the edge of the bench, I missed the mark by a half inch. Normally I’d be irritated with myself, but it made me laugh aloud. After taking this photo, I flipped it over and rethought the mounting situation to lower it just enough to fit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647292989-64VUE0PMZUHPYVMTY2GZ/NZ6_6246.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.1.21 First Friday in the River Town Tonight was First Friday in Bellevue. Obviously Halloween themed this month, loads of kids and parents were out and about gathering free candy from boutique owners and other small businesses. I went to the top of The Fairfield Venues for a moment to get a shot from up there during sunset, and though the streets don’t look crowded in the photo, they were bustling within the hour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647299123-AQMML1EH2DET81K935KI/NZ6_6255.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.2.21 Train Wreck of a Trip to Metamora Last year, we went to Metamora during Canal Days & it was one of those magical autumn experiences that I looked forward to recreating this year. I placed it on my calendar weeks in advance to ensure we didn’t miss it. Between the trains, the canal, the easy-going people and cute little shops, and all-around pleasant vibe of the place, I’d hoped to have a similar experience this year with the photogenic scenery. That, sadly, wasn’t in the cards. Today we went and it was truly awful. It was uncomfortably crowded to the point where simply walking was stressful, especially since we had Myrtle in tow. The boats in the canal and scenic vignettes we enjoyed last year were replaced by tents of cheap sunglasses and trump shit in every direction. It felt like a crowded county fair in the middle of aggressive, conservative nowhere instead of the peaceful little canal town we enjoyed so much last year. It was a total letdown and we didn’t spend more than an hour before we decided it wasn’t worth staying and left. On the way out, I got to take this photo of a very slow-moving train, which was nice. If we ever go back to Metamora, it won’t be during this unfortunate festival. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647292603-W1KFXQL77D1GFMZQE423/IMG_2771.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.3.21 Night Walk Plainly and simply put: we took a walk around the neighborhood at night. Nothing else to it than that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647298881-HU1RWXAKR4HCMGJMO2CX/NZ6_6277.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.4.21 New Spots I didn’t drink coffee here today, but I plan to soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647301627-SL2QLUE03A4ZHCKJUENX/NZ6_6337.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.5.21 Schmetterling We ate breakfast outside in this little garden cafe called The Birds Nest in Nashville, IN. Butterflies and bees hopped from flower to flower as we sipped coffee and Myrtle sat patiently for a bit of our leftovers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647303267-B7D8H7COHIKDFCKHP60A/NZ6_6510.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.6.21 Bloomington’s Fountain Square In the afternoon, Bloomington became our unintended destination. We ate fries and enjoyed a flight of beer at The Tap before further exploring the area. Bloomington’s Fountain Square is pretty architecturally interesting with loads of 19th and early-20th Century buildings surrounding the Monroe County Courthouse. Ashley shopped at a place called Lola’s, and we went inside a sporting goods store that gave Myrtle the biggest piece of beef jerky she could handle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647305577-0TQ0PWTG4HTAVK4DJRCA/NZ6_6549.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.7.21 Columbus’ Churches Eliel Saarinen’s First Christian Church in Columbus, IN is depicted in today’s photo. Before driving back home, we stopped in Columbus, IN—a city known for its wealth of unique Modernist architecture by several prominent architects throughout the last 100 years. I paid for a map of the area at the Visitor’s Center before heading out on foot to see several of the city’s iconic buildings. The doors on this church are so boldly different than any other I’ve seen, yet it’s of the WWII era. Saarinen’s unique design speaks to the timelessness of the structure, bolstering the reputation the city’s earned as a place of such profoundly interesting architecture. We only spent a few hours in Columbus before heading home, but it won’t be the last time I visit; I’d like to do a guided tour next time and get deeper perspective on each of these places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004918204-LOI9X34EEJFNSY0Q086U/IMG_2833.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.9.21 Wild Night at Riverside Marina Even though I took this photo on the Friday the 8th, I am writing this caption on 10th for a good reason. Ashley and I went out with our neighbors and ended up drinking ourselves into oblivion like we haven’t done in years. I don’t remember waving goodbye to my own car still parked in the lot as we got a ride home, but I’m sure I did it. We had an incredible night…until we got home… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004919380-FIULLT6R74HGF13U5MML/NZ6_6990.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.9.21 Oof Friday night’s wild ride abruptly turned vomitous® by the time we got home. While I managed to keep my booze down, Ashley was not so lucky. I’ll spare you the details because they’re pretty bad. I ended up walking back to the bar in the morning because I didn’t feel physically able to ride my bike, and I do not think I’ve struggled with a 3.5 mile walk more in my life. The heat and duration of the walk allowed my body to sweat out whatever remaining Patron and Blue Moon I had flowing through my system. When I finally pulled the car into the garage, I celebrated by promptly going back to bed, where Ashley had been between bouts of explosive runs to the bathroom. Together, we popped Advils and drank Pedialyte packets for the rest of the day. I managed to get over my hangover in the mid-afternoon, but Ashley was out for the count until the next day. I don’t think either of us will touch alcohol again for a week or two… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004918485-69TIV8AFN69OY4D12MUE/lego%2Bstudio%2Bsession%2B-%2Bbat%2Blords%2Bcastle%2B1997%2B-12.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.10.21 New Way to Play Weeks ago, I hastily gathered all the Lego I still had from my childhood at my parents’ house and brought it to my own home. While I loved the idea of building old sets I’d purchased in the 90s, I struggled with what I’d do with the sets once they were built. I don’t have the old desire to play with them, and I don’t have a desire to necessarily build them all to display them. So after some thought, I realized I could “play” with them by practicing studio photography and Photoshop—something constructive in addition to fun. I found a database of set directions online and put together a set I got for Christmas in 1997. It’s a tall castle with a dungeon in the tower. Shining a book light through the windows and using photo stacking, I created a scene inside the dungeon then added effects in post to give it the ambiance I wanted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004924915-M3PMHDEBLT1GMION5QZP/NZ6_7112.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.11.21 Julie, Your Ride’s Here I wonder what the backstory is to this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634100676261-RRV4H4KQSROCBEGCZKE7/lego+studio+session+-+pirates+ambush+1997+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.12.21 The Treasure Hunter’s End After building a large white backdrop studio table out of scrap wood last weekend, I’ve been looking forward taking product photos of various things to sharpen my skills with Photoshop. I researched another Lego set that I had as a kid, built it, modified it, then came up with a little story scene. The set, called Pirate’s Ambush, is from 1997, and depicts a two-tower arrangement with a dropping net in the middle on the original box. The pirates sit atop the structure, and the Spaniard (?) sits in the boat, ready to be ambushed. The scene I came up with is similar, though there’s additional danger in the water and the perspective is more dramatic. I lit the scene with a Lumecube on one side, arranged some warm lighting from the other side, and photo stacked 35 images. In Photoshop, I overlaid the background with an image I made years ago of the sun over the ocean and added clouds from another image from that same area. I then cleaned up several imperfections in the bricks, touched up the edges, added gleaming light to multiple surfaces, and added a static animation effect to the gator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634330935999-CHCDM6JY5BWY7CQI7101/IMG_2874.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.13.21 Little Olive We had dinner at the Germans’ house tonight. Their little dog, Olive, is a chihuahua mixed with a pug. She’s super sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634330936009-5EXO34W899H4PVXDMBPX/IMG_2884.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.14.21 Mobile Studio Moved the studio setup from the finished side of the basement to the unfinished side, right next to my workshop. I figured it would be easier and out of the way there. I had to move a few things around to get the bikes that were in this corner out of the way, but I’m glad I finally have a little corner within which I can do my thing. I think I will end up needing to cut a bigger piece of plywood for the base at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634330943648-AIZX4ZQ5LRIFRHYWJB9J/NZ6_7704-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.15.21 Faux Commercial To bolster my portfolio with new product work, I decided to start using the studio on objects I have lying around the house. Apple has some of the best product shots, but it’s clear they use digital rendering instead of actual photography to make them. However, I wanted to create something Apple-like, so I got my iPad out, suspended the Pencil at an angle using fishing line, and photo stacked it all in post to create this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634526156988-PFPLNT7PRMYWQPHBWRT0/IMG_2922.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.16.21 Darkened Memorial Hall Ever wonder what Memorial Hall looks like with most of its lights off? Here you go. Using the iPhone’s low light mode, I was still able to get a pretty bright image, but in reality, the scene was quite dark. Save for the light coming in from the other hall and the windows, everything was turned off for the performance just beyond the curtains. I thought it looked pretty neat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634526309301-3BEMSEIAGA28KMO7J3MH/IMG_2927.jpeg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.17.21 Rocking Chair Portrait We were sitting in the bedroom for a moment and I liked the light coming in through the window. You can see Myrtle in the foreground waiting for our next move. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634617628613-735RB1ALNCNAJ4WZ1FUU/lego+studio+sessions+-+flower+bouquet-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.18.21 Flower Bouquet Ashley’s Lego bouquet with a little bee I improvised. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634695481065-EUJTSJJJ3KI3VELID1D7/NZ6_8266.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.19.21 Alternate Ways to Communicate When your spouse is on a work call and they can’t look at their phone, you get creative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634825693699-PXQ8JF1QI84K3SJBPVGH/400+E+13th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-22.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.20.21 13th Street A view looking west on 13th Street. From a job I did today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635066180731-GE9IK4FYKUP3OUADJVG5/26+W+15th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.21.21 Street Art A section of 15th Street between Goose Alley and Race Street is closed to cars. It’s painted with a series of bright, colorful shapes and has tables outside of B&A Kitchen. While no one else was enjoying the space when I took this photo, I certainly was. I was there to shoot two AirBnbs and wanted to get a few shots of the surrounding area because, in my opinion, it added to the value of staying in that location. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635066180643-FNN8W0VQAFCDP670AVUS/IMG_2968.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.22.21 A Soggy, Beautiful Night Ashley and I tried several times to hang out with friends tonight, but everyone was busy. So instead, we sat in the car and had burgers from Bebo on Court Street. Wanting to hang with Myrtle, she came along for the ride and licked at the air as we scarfed down our food. I didn’t expect a whole lot from the restaurant, but it was decent. The value vs. the quality and quantity of food we got was good. Though it was misting outside at the time, we parked and took a nice walk through Over-the-Rhine, eventually settling in for a beer at The Porch in Washington Park. As we went to leave, I thought this scene was particularly beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635066183158-R4VSSI32STNWN8REA0EC/IMG_2983.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.23.21 Petri’s The girls and I went to Nomad for coffee and breakfast this morning. Afterward, we did a little quick shopping on the Avenue and found ourselves inside a floral shop called Petri’s. I’d never been inside before today. We purchased a few small things including a plant Ashley wanted and some potting soil. They let Myrtle come inside the shop instead of making us wait outside while Ashley did her shopping. She always likes sniffing around and checking things out. A business that allows me to bring my pup inside always increases its return-ability. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635124645849-6CHJYTCDGRBBC06VMJ64/IMG_3039.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.24.21 Dealer of Destruction Chris asked me the other day, “when will I see you again?” We resolved to spend some time together today, in Dayton. Ashley and I went up at noon and met him at a delicious restaurant in the Oregon District called Lily’s. After eating, the rain drove us indoors to the free Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum. Inside, we looked at everything from the Wright Brothers’ first airplane to more modern ones, like the stealth B-2 bomber. The WWII section was the most familiar of the war planes to me, but that’s not saying a lot; I do not know my model designations well. I knew a few of them, like the plane that dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki, but I got a pretty fresh education overall. The space section had some really neat stuff, and we got to tour several presidential planes, including the one LBJ was on when he took the oath of office after JFK’s assassination. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635196010361-6PPUQ87QV0PIMW4IDA9J/soundcore+q30.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.25.21 Soundcore Q30 As someone who uses earplugs to sleep and earbuds for work, I have grown weary of shoving objects into my ears to aid in my daily routine. And as someone who isn’t an audiophile and cannot tell a high-end set of speakers from a consumer brand when they aren’t placed side by side, I don’t require the biggest and best equipment to listen to podcasts. Therefore, I bought myself a set of over-the-ear headphones that are under $100. Some research online suggested the Soundcore Q30 headphones were among the finest pair for the right price. Naturally, I wanted to photograph them on my white background soon after opening the box and digitally manipulated the image in Photoshop later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635278455047-YNFF4ADPLGZU0REM85ST/NZ6_9211-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.26.21 Toothpaste Trial Feeling the stress of uncertainty with several jobs and waiting on information about the logistics of each one, I decided to do some work around the house to keep myself occupied. After completing my tasks, I wanted to practice some additional product photography. I’ve already done several electronics, so I set my sights on something more mundane. I photographed the tube and toothbrush simultaneously, then added toothpaste in post. The background was also edited from the default white. There was no point to any of this besides just trying out new things and adding work to a growing portfolio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635377004017-MRQIIFGT7XP801PEJ0C0/NZ6_9836.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.27.21 Old Work Anew Had a long shoot at JRG Lofts today. Worked from 10:30 AM to 5 PM. As I was knocking out their shot list, I wandered into their mailroom to see a picture I knew would be hanging on the wall. In July 2016, I took a photo of the Roebling Bridge during Golden Hour. I recently sold the image to a designer who had it printed and framed for placement in the JRG Lofts mailroom. It was nice to see something I made five years ago take on a new life in a new place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635684484576-55KLSIRSXDN736WJ17SW/IMG_3073.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.28.21 Forgetting to Do the Homework I spent the entire day editing photos from yesterday’s job. I still have days of work ahead of me, honestly. It’s a huge project that will require an unusually high amount of touching up. As such, I didn’t even think about Photo of the Day until about 11:45 PM. Like a bad student, I quickly took a photo of the closest thing to me when I realized I hadn’t completed the day’s assignment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635684487724-PWJ50D1BM9FF4HS6WUC2/IMG_3082.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.29.31 Chateau Spooky Saw this house on Dunlap Street and thought it was excellent. Best Halloween decor in Over-the-Rhine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635684488395-1N4ZH15AZ3BU5UPFBYTA/IMG_3103.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.30.21 Manny’s Crazy Eyes Forgive the quality of this photo; it is a still from a video of Manny, the neighbor’s dog, playing with Myrtle in our front yard. Still plugging away with editing the JRG Lofts project, I’ve had little time to do anything else for any length of time, so I’ve been unable to get a very good image in the past few days. I loved Manny’s crazy eyes in this, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988132766-KQ5UV8S35NV1SDLNEXL1/IMG_3115.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 10.31.21 Sarah’s Halloween Wedding Along with mom, dad, my grandmother, and Ashley, I rode to Hocking Hills to a cabin on the precipice of a ravine for Sarah’s wedding to Kyle. It was very relaxed and we ate some great lasagne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988003944-FPJGIR7ZSFCBXOZTKG1K/Kelsey+%26+Max-12.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.1.21 Max and Kelsey’s Announcement My neighbors, Max and Kelsey, are from Kansas. To announce their pregnancy to their friends back home on social media, I worked with them to get a pleasant few images. We went down to the riverfront in Newport and snapped several photos with the city in the background. Manny, the dog featured just a few days ago in this daily photo project, made an appearance in a cute bib. We had a good time and it was nice to get out of my photo-bubble for once. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988006083-A079B349ABTN7QFTUUBI/NZ6_0554-HDR-Edit-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.2.21 Night Market While the rest of Cincinnati went to Lucius Q to congratulate Aftab Pureval on his election win, I was quietly doing a job just opposite the market. This image is a composite. The shutter speed to get low ISO detail in the market was too slow for the streetcar, so I bumped it up to a higher ISO and speed when it rolled by, then combined the two in post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988003443-NX1RG0D9D48RJ5TSS2OI/IMG_3146-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.3.21 HBD Ashley She’s 33 today. Her mom and I made her a cake! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342867898-ILOIJVC7AKDKB6C2UQDR/254+Mohawk+-+Phil+Armstrong-62.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.4.21 Haunted Terlet Photographing some soon-to-be-renovated buildings in Over-the-Rhine for a client. The building’s are stabilized but still pretty rough around the edges. One I shot today was almost entirely dark inside its back half, so I had to use my flashlight to get some of the shots. When I poke my head around one of the corners, I saw this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342867966-O6UV6VS40O37DR5KN4J1/IMG_3165.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.5.21 Muralized Ashley stood in front of one of the new murals on the side of the Kroger HQ building downtown. We went to Teak for dinner and she had a lackluster meal, sadly. She was really looking forward to it and everything. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342871704-01FAOSY1YM82NP6FTYPJ/IMG_3182.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.6.21 Antler Jealousy Myrtle and Fletcher each wanted the antlers to chew on. Fletcher had them for the majority of the time, but when he wasn’t looking, Myrtle swooped in to claim them for herself. As she was chewing, Fletcher was nearby while trying not to let on that he was eagerly waiting for her to drop them. They both refuse to take them from the other when they’re actively chewing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342872295-4ULR7H4202JMWXCB6GEC/NZ6_1311.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.7.21 City in the Clouds On our weekly walk to Unataza this morning, fog had settled in the river valley and made for some interesting views. This little section of building caught my eye as it appeared to come directly out of the clouds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636515678761-VDDRCB4Y5Y2WCHVOBT9B/230+Covington+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-65.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.8.21 Covington Avenue Shot this lovely house at the end of a stretch of Covington Avenue tonight for a realtor. The inside was even nicer than the outside. I got really lucky with that sunset, too. One of the best shoots I’ve had in awhile because the house didn’t require Photoshopping extraneous elements out of the rooms or recoloring walls/ceilings. The whole thing was set up and decorated perfectly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636515678764-XR9FFXDTLKGRXBRD7JTA/John+Hiatt+and+The+Jerry+Douglas+Band+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.9.21 The Unknown Artist Shot a pre-show and stage show for the Longworth Anderson Series tonight at Memorial Hall. As always, a musician set up in the first floor lobby area while everyone mingled with their pizza and drinks. I didn’t catch his name (I’ve emailed my contact to get that info), but this was one of the few frames with flash and I’m pleased with how it turned out. I don’t normally like flooding a crowded room with flash when covering an event because it’s jarring to a lot of people, so I use it conservatively. Memorial Hall’s first floor is horrible for event photography, making the choice to resist spamming flash difficult. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636694032914-LIM4TQ7ZK1A51S3P60G6/The+Lofts+%28Rookwood+Properties%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.10.21 Fiery Foliage Went to Crescent Springs for a job this morning and I saw this extremely red tree. Against the blue sky, I thought it was magnificent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636694031461-86HHGW1RDIB20V6WA6BM/IMG_3226.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.11.21 Facepalm After falling in love with DS9, I decided to watch TNG. Unfortunately, my obsession with completionism prevents me from skipping to the good seasons, so I’m currently choking down the first one. Despite seeing Armin Shimmerman in an early episode, as well as Colm Meany in small support roles, I haven’t seen an episode yet that’s given me any sense of understanding the appeal of TNG, but everyone says it’s the “best Star Trek” so I’m going to stick with it. Once Riker grows a beard, it’ll be smooth sailing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118179726-OMM9OHOOWJNN1OVS24QQ/Crescent+Ridge+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-58.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.12.21 Odd Job Had an odd job today. I was tasked with photographing an apartment community, but it wasn’t a bougie, new development or that I typically get. Just a simple, honest apartment complex with little-to-no frills. About the only thing I could do to make it look even remotely above average was shoot across the lake at these trees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118185533-0J2NXKH859D7ZIEUJAJ1/LAS+-+Shake+%26+Holla+Tour+-+Phil+Armstrong+-76.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.13.21 Final LAS of the Year Shot my final Longworth-Anderson Series concert of the year. It was the most energetic one I shot in 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118179244-QO8AWKW9HTRL9QMMIS3X/IMG_3264.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.14.21 Fletcher’s Back We got to watch Fletcher overnight. He’s such a sweet little dog. Super affectionate and playful, and he gets along with Myrtle well. They played together, slept near each other, and cuddled with Ashley together. I wish he was our dog! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118183289-P1F17WRSRFVRY69U7YXE/IMG_3297.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.15.21 A New Project In An Old Place The city hired me to make something creative for First Friday, and it’s a doozie. I spent the last few days designing it based on their original idea by mapping out every piece in Procreate and putting together an extensive PDF that I can both give to others and reference for the build. Since my home is too small for the build, they’ve given me a key to do what I need inside the old Marianne Theater on the Avenue. Every time I enter, I have to walk into blackness (no windows—it’s a movie theater) in order to get upstairs to the breaker box on the second level. Once there, I can turn on the string lights they’ve haphazardly strung through the main areas of the theater. Those brief series of moments when I have to willingly step into pitch blackness inside that massive auditorium to make my way to the stairs in order to throw the switch to turn everything on, a little part of me fears that I’ll see something or someone waiting around a corner. I try not to let the imaginary monster chase me up the stairs as I did when I was a kid, but I’d be lying if I said I made it a leisurely climb. That fear of the dark, though muted in adulthood, never truly went away for me. As soon as I hear the switch snap in the metal box and see the string lights flicker to life, the fear immediately dissipates and I resist scoffing at my own foolishness, knowing full well that I will repeat the process tomorrow. I go back downstairs and look around the room—one that’s seen better days—and I marvel at its tired, neglected beauty before taking drill to screw and hitting play on another episode of Heavyweight to drown out the lonely stillness of that place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118183297-714PA7D81IUKF1AJC40F/IMG_3324.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.16.21 Progress I’m not ready to reveal the master plan just yet, but I can share the progress. Working alone inside the old theater, I have a frame and the front cladding on, but I still have much to do. I have a job at noon tomorrow, which will cut into my project time, but I plan on finishing the carpentry within the next few days. Then, I need to paint and shingle it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546146204-5AQQ0BPOCAEJ45X5NQXR/IMG_3340.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.17.21 Nice Night for a Walk It was a warm, windy night—perfect conditions for a dog walk. The light from the moon, ever-muddied by the comparatively simple camera of a smartphone, lit the streets when streetlights were too far spaced apart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546146055-7M3S2ENREAMYT4IP2O6D/IMG_3378.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.18.21 Team Puppy I chose Team Puppy. Together, we battled the mighty Myrtle for rag-rope supremacy. I don’t remember who won because I was too busy trying to get a photo of it all in relatively low light conditions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546139619-EC96RNZN83G888SY4EDG/The+Dublin+Defense+-+Phil+Armstrong+-12.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.19.21 The Dublin Defense Fighting a headache and weary from a day of physical labor down at the Marianne Theater, I went to see my friend’s 80s cover band at Bircus and snapped photos for them. I hope she likes them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546139701-W8ZFFSKTAY4B44O1PFET/Glendale+Lyceum+Event+-+11.20.21+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.20.21 At the Glendale Lyceum There was a 1920s-style, bootlegger-themed, black-tie event at the Glendale Lyceum tonight. I was hired to photograph part of the night for those hosting. Before everyone arrived, I snapped a few photos of the space because it was so beautifully arranged. Once everyone started arriving, it was immediately apparently I’d underdressed. I guess I missed the memo about what to wear. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637547165396-GVKMH8LZSBDN164E3FGD/IMG_3431.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.21.21 Sinus Infection? It’s not COVID. It’s probably a sinus infection. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637634508694-VRC8SHE2TCAEU497EY4E/IMG_3439.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.22.21 Therapy Bear Feeling poorly, I rested on the couch today to regain my health for the rest of the week. As a result, little Myrtle cuddled up with me for a bit when she was finished trying to get me to play tug-of-war with her. It was nice not working on anything for a day. It is 9:30 PM as I write this, and I’m feeling better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110048456-WXO65VCNO53OB3WJ6XG0/IMG_3454.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.23.21 Hidden Things in the Courthouse There’s a railing under this staircase in Courthouse for two reasons. First, it’s there to protect someone bonking their head on the underside of the staircase. Second, and more interestingly, it’s there to keep people off the floor because it’s hollow beneath. This is where one of the failed Cincinnati Subway staircases once emerged from the floor. It was bricked up long ago for obvious reasons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110048880-HVLIUS008IKOK7Y91KMU/IMG_3485.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.24.21 Let There Be Light Adding lights to the structure today. One step closer to completion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110052710-JQ3X18NWRLE4QRS4QYNF/IMG_3497_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.25.21 Covington on Thanksgiving Steve didn’t have a plate for Thanksgiving due to COVID exposure, so we brought him one. His street looks best at night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110052701-NPXA26I1UTQDI854PPM7/IMG_3510.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.26.21 Tree’s Up The day after Thanksgiving can only mean one thing: Christmas decorating time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110054395-635H2EUEZNXTDAQI2B42/IMG_3520.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.27.21 Our Little Family Just a scene from the staircase. The painted plaque was given to my parents when they were married in 1984. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638245754055-R1OFVF2IOQ8E6V8Q9WDA/IMG_3531.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.28.21 Paint Day Myself, Ashley, and others all piled into the Marianne to paint the structure today. While 90% of it is finished, I still need to worry about a few small areas. And then there’s the matter of disassembly and transportation to the location on the Avenue. I am looking forward to making something small in my workshop again… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638246005814-08TMMZS7HZIPMZGX5FQP/NZ6_6324.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.29.21 Accidental Portrait I shot two apartments and two houses today. I was setting up a shot in one of the bathrooms when I misfired and got myself in the mirror. As I write this, my knees and back are sore from getting down on the floor to achieve the proper camera level, but it is my eyes that truly need rest. The faster I finish this caption, the faster I can go to bed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638936121274-2N1QETSJLRWNJLTZ71O1/IMG_3560.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 11.30.21 DIY Flight Boards With us both fully vaccinated and with nearly all of our friends and family following suit, we're gearing up to have people over more often inside since the weather is cooling down. Dinner parties in mind, we thought it would be fun to bring a little brewery hospitality to our own kitchen by making our own flight boards and getting a bunch of unique beer to share with guests when they come over. This is the first of four I plan to make. The edges are routed on the top and bottom, as well as the holes for the flight glasses to add better grip and style. It's unstained in this photo, but I plan to use leftover stains from past projects to give each one a different color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935767031-2EXPG53W4INUGR167SE1/IMG_3592.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.1.21 Color and Angles Spent the day inside the Marianne Theater building the second of the placemaking projects: an outdoor chalkboard. This is a zoomed photo of a section of the board from behind. I just liked the starkness of the colors. The ceiling in there is a beautiful dusty yellow and I caught it from just the right angle to not see any of its details besides color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935767633-UAUGAIPN7T39Y7VFGG2R/IMG_3607.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.2.21 Mr. Slug Just a slug sliding down the edge of a stone step. I like the shape and translucency of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935770242-RK5HBQYCARW2FF6MTJN9/IMG_3639.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.3.21 Big Friday Night What a day! I was able to remove and install my two placemaking projects with help from city council members and others. First, I disassembled the chalkboard and reassembled it under the marquee of the Marianne. A volunteer decorated it with garland and painted sticks. Then I disassembled the InVue structure and had to move it a few blocks away using the Mayor's personal truck. We reassembled it on the front lawn of one of the Mayor's properties that faces the Avenue. Took me pretty much the entire day to get it all broken down, moved, and set back up, but it was worth it. The way this little city comes together in such a personal way to accomplish something stands out as one of the best things about living here. There's no divide between residents and local government; everyone knows each other, likes each other, and helps each other. Ashley and Myrtle joined me on the Avenue after dark and we drank a few beers at Darkness, went over to a friend's house, then met some new people who live in the neighborhood who seem cool. Before calling it a night, Ashley added what brings her joy to the chalkboard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935774509-9LWYG84YBQVIDGHR9YDU/Marlene%27s+Baby+Shower+-+12.4.21+-89.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.4.21 Westin Shower I shot a baby shower for someone I know today. First I've ever done. It was a little stressful because she's a highly skilled photographer with many years in the business who knows her shit, and I didn't want to let her down. Unfortunately, the room everyone was in had horrible mismatched fluorescent lighting with a bold beam of natural light streaming through the doorway, so it was difficult to find the right angle on everything. I ended up dual-wielding with a 35mm and an 85mm and opened the aperture between ƒ/1.8 and 2.2 for most shots just to make sure they were crisp in that dark space. I think they turned out alright overall, but I'm nervous about sending them to her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935771543-FBG6RE3MD5SUR6OSPKIR/Lacey+and+Jordan+Christmas+-+12.5.21+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.5.21 Parks' Christmas Photo My neighbors asked if I would do their Christmas card photo with their son and five dogs. While it took a little effort to wrangle the pups and keep the little guy happy, I think it turned out well. They were pleased with the set, and that's really what matters most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935776012-J4C557M1WZZFS18XGYY9/NZ6_8183-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.6.21 We've Done This Five Years In a Row It's Myrtle's Christmas photo time! I actually comped her into this scene; the background was shot at a low-grain ISO 50 and she's at a high-grain ISO 4000. Flash wasn't getting me the effect I wanted, so to preserve the glow of the tree, I shot the scene without her at ƒ/11 ISO 50 first, then shot it again with the faster, grainer setting to make sure she was sharp. I then layered both images and pulled her and a bit of the bed into the low-grain image to create the desired image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935777474-UF6E0DUHRCRY9ZK1S0LI/NZ6_8210.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.7.21 InVue Finally got a photo of the InVue structure I made over the last two weeks with Ashley and Myrtle tonight. You stand where the 'i' is to become part of the message. Bellevue's social media hashtag is #InVue. It's just supposed to be a fun little interactive public piece that both represents Bellevue and presents a photo op. I may do a blog post about making it at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639108699539-V3DHNXL7ERNHEK8J55M4/NZ6_8366-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.8.21 Clinging to Autumn Had a couple of jobs Downtown today. One was on 12th Street. The top floor has a tremendous view. You can’t see a lot of it in this photo, but it snowed overnight, casting rooftops and shaded areas in a nice white powder. It was cold enough to keep the majority of it around until afternoon, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639108688550-56CZT904HIJ6PADIFX6V/NZ6_8408-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.9.21 DIY Organization When I first started making things in the workshop, I made a quick little two-half shoe rack that ended up being crooked. I pegged the plywood wall with screws to hold and hang bike supplies, bungee cords, and other miscellaneous items, too. I didn’t like the way it looked and wanted to make something more finished—more permanent and functional. Over the weekend, I made this organizer with built-in shoe rack to make better use of the space. It’s far cleaner and functional than what was there, and I got to play around with making cabinets, which I’m still trying to perfect (they’re hard). The right side of the unit also has a single key hook and a small shelf; this is where I will now put my wallet and keys since I always leave them upstairs and have to backtrack to get them before going into the garage. This feature alone will save me hours over the course of my lifetime, I’m sure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639243851136-U23645KLSI7FV1ACKYUE/IMG_3704.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.10.21 Affordable Luxury I installed a bidet on the upstairs toilet. It doesn’t require a separate power source, nor does it have the bells and whistles of the finest bidets one would find in a luxurious AirBnb begging for easy five-star reviews. Instead, it’s a simple add-on with two settings and works like a charm. Its simplicity is the best thing about it, really. At the low, low price of $40, even a middle-class guy like me can feel like a rich person with elevated hygiene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639500689053-P184F8D808E5HCF7MZ41/IMG_3708.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.11.21 Night on Vine Street We attended a surprise birthday party for a friend on the third floor of the Color Building on Vine Street tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639500690538-7IGGA7UL94A36GUP9YBY/IMG_3717.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.12.21 The Puppies There is no away team for the crew of the USS Puppy. The crew of this ship share coordinates at all times. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639500691468-KXU1UFOGJU6UJTUR43C8/NZ6_8571.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.13.21 It’ll Do For Now I’m not a “car guy.” In my adult life, I don’t think I’ve coveted a single car. Sure, I like some more than others, like that little Smart Car or various electric vehicles that would make me feel less guilty to drive, but they’re not my passion. They are, however, something Ashley thinks about. She’s not ready to go full electric, and she really loves camping, so she talked me into trading in our 10-year-old Hyundai for a new Subaru Crosstrek. There’s a tent that attaches to the back of it that will make camping more comfortable and spacious. I’m looking forward to going out West with it next year, if we have the time off to do so. Anyway, we don’t actually get the car for another two months due to the supply chain woes everyone’s facing, so I got her a little ornament for the tree of the exact car in the same color to hold her over until then. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639596877823-BJNSK8CQZZIEOY6UPWV8/Memorial+Hall+Improvements+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.14.21 Improvements I was tasked with highlighting a few improvements made to Memorial Hall, one of which is the lighting on the stairs. My mission was two-fold: highlight the feature and show how it interacts with the building. For this composition, I figured it would be good to have a direct line of sight on a light strip in the foreground and while simultaneously showing the effect of the strip in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101548701-CWH1R3C0UI3BH7FW24BO/Art+Museum+Event+12.15.21+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.15.21 New Exhibitions I shot the opening of a new exhibit at the Art Museum tonight. There were quite a few people mingling in the lobby and in the exhibition hall before casually making their way to the hallway with the two spiral staircases. Food and drink were served over live music. It was a pleasant event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101548817-1IKKUB6VQCPOUC8XZNRQ/IMG_3772.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.16.21 My Camera Case The upright cabinet fits into a nook in my office. I have battery powered lights on three of the shelves to illuminate the lenses, bodies, and assorted photographic accouterments that I only turn on when I need them. I took this photo with my phone because everything else that COULD take a photo is in this case. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101550446-MHURLUS3WLGIZS5VXVNL/IMG_3777.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.17.21 Poorly Continuing the tradition of taking a photo of the beautiful translucent pills I take when I’m ill. Hoping this is a 24-hour bug and nothing more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101551692-61JK9ZZR5EYEAGS0B99H/IMG_3781.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.18.21 Surprise Cookies Allie and Travis stopped by to drop of Christmas cookies! I am feeling much better than I did yesterday, so I had a couple. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101552409-T906SUF6QXMWTAU9VY9I/IMG_3796.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.19.21 Off Limits We are watching Ashley’s aunt’s dog, Fletcher, for several days. We also had friends come over with their dog, Louie, for dinner. The dog count tonight was three. To avoid losing any of them, I closed all of the doors upstairs then realized I’d never closed all the doors up there before. It looked strange to see everything shut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101553595-63RECMWBBEM0430Y73IU/IMG_3804.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.20.21 Atop His Perch If he’s not sitting on my lap with his chin precariously close to the steering wheel, Fletcher likes to perch at the opposite end of the vehicle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559443445-D9QK1NB77G510YSFHD68/IMG_3829.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.21.21 Buddies Our last full day with Fletcher. He and Myrtle get along well enough to hang out on the couch together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559437952-QFG0I7J2D0YYL99WF38W/IMG_3850.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.22.21 The Pains of Inlaying Building a very large cabinet for a friend. The dimensions he gave me are non-standard, so I had to glue several boards together end to end in order to make each side large enough. I don’t want to add anything to the profile of the wood, so in order to strengthen the entire structure, I inlaid a thin strip of wood perpendicular to the seams as I would a normal structural cross piece. The trench was dug with a plunge router and finished with wood fill where the inlaid piece of structural wood didn’t fit perfectly snug. It’s a lot of work and I don’t particularly love doing it, but it will make the whole side sturdier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559457981-YAW7EVW1PG20S66S3TBR/IMG_3856.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.23.21 Long Day In the Shop I am happiest when by myself in my shop. Something about it just puts me at peace. I listen to my podcasts while I work and lose track of time before Ashley ends up calling me. Sometimes I feel guilty that this is where I feel my best because it’s so solitary and anti-social, but I am an introvert at heart and being productive in a space I can completely control without outside interference is the purest dose of dopamine I get. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559460461-IBKZG9UFAK2RLXS5G3MA/IMG_3863.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.24.21 Couple of New Dogs Saw two dogs I’d never met before tonight. They are both very sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559470661-48SA77D9ZWHR12DHF9M8/IMG_3893.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.25.21 The Weirdest Christmas I power washed the entry to my home in a t-shirt, then drove north through a minor thunderstorm to my sister’s house. This doesn’t feel like Christmas in the Midwest. Scientists say the climate of the world is changing—growing hotter with every passing year—and today strongly suggested they’re right. How could anyone not think about it when the biggest winter holiday of the year feels more like a temperate beach day than a winter wonderland? With the impending heating of the planet at the back of my mind, this rainbow was bittersweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559576737-GHTB82G4M2D8SFRGR8NU/IMG_3941.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.26.21 Porch Cooking Ashley was gifted a propane camping stove for Christmas because we plan on camping more over the upcoming year. The grill being the only experience we have with gas-powered units, we thought we’d give it a test drive tonight by cooking dinner on the porch in the seasonable weather. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640707274528-T3JTQDD6OG2MYZ51V1K9/IMG_3951.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.27.21 Bleakness We went to a park in Alexandria this morning to walk Myrtle and get some fresh air. The weather, though overcast and ugly, was surprisingly warm again, making my jean jacket all but unnecessary after a few meters of an uphill hike. We came upon this body of water that’s surrounded by hills—one of which is a low dam wall. The leafless trees emerged from the green-tinted water in an interesting way, and the sideways hourglass of the landscape made for a nice symmetrical, natural image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640995349516-H6GPFCUPQDPHRH4J3HK6/NZ6_9381.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.28.21 Harper’s Weekly, 1884 This is a photo of the front page of an original Harper’s Weekly that published in 1884 after the riot in Cincinnati that took down the Courthouse. I was given this paper to photograph for a client. It’s not often that I get to handle something so incredibly old, and I was stunned at how well-preserved it was considering its age. It’s remarkable how old papers like this offered such vivid illustrations of the subjects they tackled. Can you imaging commissioning original artwork of this quality for a weekly publication today? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640995346688-LRKX86LB7Y1QH18O62PD/Mont+Michel+-+2+combo.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.29.21 Mont Michel Rookwood Properties is a client I’ve consistently worked with over the years. Back in 2019, they hired me to photograph every one of their properties around the Cincinnati area, and later brought me back to photograph before/afters of the apartments they’re renovating. I shot Mont Michel in Clifton back in May, and today I returned to get post-renovation photos from the same angles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640995350530-IVZ4CTYCTCKC5OXRY56C/NZ6_9580-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.30.21 The Subway Entrance That Never Was I am working with Hamilton County to document areas of the Courthouse for a history book that one of the judges is putting together. One of the areas is the basement where, behind a large HVAC system, sits a bricked-over doorway that supposedly leads into the abandoned Cincinnati subway system. While the subway tunnels, as I understand it, never extended as far down as the Courthouse, the building was apparently designed to usher people to and from the nearest platform to the street above. Riders would depart the subway here, go up a series of stairs that would’ve been located in the dark corner of the bottom image, and emerge in the lobby in the top image. The staircase would’ve come up where the gold railings are today (they’ve been since tiled over). The bottom image is a composite of four images stuck together; that corner of the basement is dark, so I lit it with my Lume Cube in four different, then spliced each image together in post. I’m going to contact an acquaintance who knows a lot about the subway and see if he can validate the info above after the new year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641085897823-SZE0787HZSYH0SWYHY2Q/NZ6_9605-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2021 - 12.31.21 The Porch To avoid getting COVID, we stayed in again this NYE. Our plans for a bonfire with friends had to be cancelled because of the threat of rain, sadly. However, I told Ashley we shouldn’t let the end of the year slide by us this time, so we sat on the porch and watched the ball drop with a few beers. Myrtle was terrified because fireworks were being launched around us. Goodbye, 2021. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-feb-2021 daily 0.75 2021-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612234756338-ER7T0I0JSNFD82E4OLCS/IMG_7470-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.1.21 Think Like a Proton As seen in Galactic Chicken while waiting on carryout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612280926445-0PNBGV8ABUQ3JBYNZ6W3/DSC_2075.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.2.21 A Bird’s Life These starlings on a telephone wire looked pretty in the sun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612389251783-ZQOZNERIIIQ73BZQV5N9/IMG_7482.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.3.21 A Stinky Visitor These stupid stink bugs keep getting into the house and flapping around quiet rooms. I scoop them up and throw them back out to winter as punishment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612553420532-UK4LUQ8T94KAS7MWSKQW/IMG_7488.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.4.21 TOOL WORLD I spend too much time and money at Lowe’s, but dammit, I love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612585666512-MS4YWXOXH7IJGT5P36Y3/NZ6_1038.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.5.21 Winter Sunset Returned to the house I’ve shot twice for a real estate listing to get sunset shots of the city. This house has a great view of Downtown from the backyard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612660362046-DLTL2F81RQSTNT9YPOCR/IMG_7499.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.6.21 Back to Basics I made a camera obscura today out of wood, a convex lens, and a piece of tracing paper. It was fun to see the science of transmitting an image onto a flat surface first hand in its most basic form. The viewing port is large enough to put my phone up to it and take a photo of the image it creates. The image is actually reversed in reality, but I flipped it in post to illustrate the scene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612754515568-V1YW1A7QZZQ5A2XTX8LM/IMG_7515.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.7.21 Don’t Look Behind You… We took a walk and checked out the high school’s track and field area. There was a mural of a tiger punching through the wall, so we had little Myrtle sit in front of it while we took her photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1612845834448-7DEQ5NHL0L6TMQ35BDMV/IMG_7540.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.8.21 Oh I was building a bird house in the workshop for the last five hours. The window in there doesn’t actually let me see clearly outside, and since it’s been dark for hours, I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening outside. I came upstairs and BOOM—at least four inches of snow and continuously falling. Myrtle wanted to go check it out with me on the porch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613015241333-RBDMM1JN0BZEHVOKNZDC/IMG_7551.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.9.21 There’s a Staircase Under Here Somewhere It snowed an ungodly amount last night. We woke up to eight inches this morning. Everything was covered. Whatever work the plows did wasn’t enough. I got out early to shovel our driveway, alley, stairs, and sidewalk. While out there, I did the neighbors’ properties as well, and one of the neighbors and I tag teamed the public staircase that leads to Taylor. I was exhausted by the end of the morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613015238012-A7G6N9W8WY7CX2EC1JD1/IMG_7593_jpg.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.10.21 Pretty Market While on a shoot near Findlay Market today, it started snowing again. This time I wasn’t at home to enjoy it. While the market was beautiful, it took me a half hour just to get from OTR to Bellevue because traffic was so slow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613190981622-W5OORYBW3TNRDAR9N4Z3/IMG_7615.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.12.21 He Chonk This massive icicle formed on the roof. Since there’s no gutter there, it dramatically grew in scale over night. I ended up shattering it later in the afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613190983683-DEV9LR51RDGQWPWL2YWA/IMG_7605.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.11.21 Miamitown I went out to Miamitown to do a piece on an art studio and stumbled upon this beautiful, dilapidated building on my way back to the car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613270673506-5O990WSYYUH1N15HVLJV/IMG_7626.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.13.21 Dropping Off I helped three different friends accomplish projects today. The first in my list was Downtown. I made a friend a few things for his apartment above the Bayhorse, and while dropping it all off at the door to take upstairs, I snapped a photo of the scene. The back of the old Fort Washington Hotel has a great faded ad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613337709906-OB23KTKNBOHNMWXGVIO0/NZ6_1200.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.14.21 Only Half There I’m tired of being at my computer. Despite building a nice desk and improving what I already have, I rarely ever want to be here. What was once my hub for creativity has turned into a place that represents irritation, stagnation, and a constant reminder of my own failings. I’m burned out on several things that keep me glued to this device to the point where I relish the chance to clean a bathtub or rearrange chemicals under the kitchen sink over spending additional time in front of these screens. I’ve said before how much more satisfying building with my hands is than anything I do on the computer, but it goes even beyond that. Literally any physical activity that keeps me away from this desk is preferable. I do not know how to rekindle or refresh my passion for what I used to do. Time off merely reminds me of how much happier I am when not working at this desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613449152980-9061CAE3FUN9NABS20PK/IMG_7802.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.15.21 A Surprising Adventure Today I did something that made me feel good. I left my home in Bellevue around 2:30 PM, walked Downtown, and spent the next several hours documenting the city under a level 2 snow emergency. Very few cars were on the road, and even fewer people were out walking. The city was quiet and calm, save for the frozen rain pelting me in the face the entire time. I took my Z6 and my iPhone and walked to Mt. Adams, then to Eden Park, then to Mt. Auburn and Prospect Hill, then to Over-the-Rhine, and finally to Downtown. Travis joined me for a while before heading home a couple of hours later. Ronny and Egypt said hello and walked with me for a couple of blocks, too. I visited many major landmarks: Music Hall, Fountain Square, GABP, and finally the Roebling Bridge, where I snapped an accidentally eerie photo of a woman who looks like a ghost trudging through the snow in the foreground. Without her, this photo would be less impactful, so thank you, random woman, for conspiring to make this image better. Overall, I walked about 9 miles over 5 hours. My beard was a solid sheet of ice by the time I hobbled up my front steps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613618738765-BECPCH0IF7PMK2AFNNPQ/IMG_7860.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.16.21 Snow-Covered Just a shot from our bedroom. Love the untouched snow on all the roofs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613618736041-IJM5Q7ZRLC64YTMM202U/IMG_7883.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.17.21 Persistent This bastard has been my project all week. I knock him down, he re-forms. Repeat the process every day. Only rising temps will rid us of him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613883121289-WWUL1OB8X6RTUC6CAQ29/IMG_7905.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.18.21 Landing Confirmed Watched NASA’s Perseverance land on Mars while I worked this afternoon. Seeing the scientists and engineers erupt into excitement upon confirmation that it was safe on the surface was so fun to see. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613883124072-UHD3YMS4IZ9K613ZE1WY/IMG_7927.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.19.21 Snowy Sunset Just a nice winter scene in Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613883126851-68K82BTM5R42CCM2OAQ0/IMG_7938.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.20.21 ReUse Center We went to South Fairmount today to get a couple of old metal cabinets for a project we’re putting together, and the ReUse Center is truly something to behold in person. I will be spending more time here in the near future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1613963734545-UFXRIXTVDDOENULL9ADB/IMG_7965.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.21.21 New Point of Interest Yesterday’s trip to the ReUse Center was today’s DIY project. I stood these metal cabinets up and affixed them to two long 2x4s, which were then screwed into the wall. Then I made a little base upon which both cabinets sit so as to place all of the weight on the legs of the base instead of the wall. I raised the whole thing up off the floor to avoid it getting wet in the event the house ever floods. We’re building a stockpile of emergency items, such as a wind-up radio and water, in the event we lose power for several days like the people of Texas did this past week. I do not expect the entire cabinet to be filled with emergency items, but it’s a good thing to have handy in the event anything happens. We also put a ton of magnets on the front and sides of it to dress it up a little. We’re both happy with how it turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614142028256-UDB0F5LCS2B9XGMOR5PH/Bi%27%27s+Funwheel-1.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.22.21 Bill’s Funwheel Local 91.7 WVXU broadcaster Bill Rinehart has a catchphrase he frequently uses while doing the news in the late afternoon. He announces debris in the road when it impairs traffic in a signature way that many who listen enjoy. It’s become a running joke with listeners of the station, so I spent a couple days building a wheel with some of the things that could (and have) been in the road. I painted little illustrations on each pie piece and wood-burned his catchphrase into the base. Colored pencil was used to do the news chevron at the bottom, and a white paint pen was used to do the lettering on either side of it. I will give it to him tomorrow. Hope he likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614142028255-E9D1HSNI2MHGN7JJ2TPZ/IMG_8016.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.23.21 Cincinnati Weather A few days ago, you couldn’t walk on the sidewalks because of all the snow and ice. Nearly all of it’s gone because of rising temperatures. We decided to take the dog down to Darkness, drink a couple beers, and enjoy the mild weather while we have it. I didn’t end up taking a single photo with my camera because we lost light too quickly. Looking very forward to spring and summer when we can be outdoors more often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488080810-J4FWYB302LZU66N8CS0W/IMG_8033.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.24.21 Around the Bend Had to go get some exteriors of these apartments for an upcoming piece and waited until the streetcar rounded the corner to add a little motion to the otherwise static image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488080453-39D09Q85IKN903U03TC6/IMG_8123.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.25.21 A Trip to the Museum I went to both the Taft Museum and CAM today to photograph two different exhibits for an upcoming piece on Refined. Ericka met me there and is writing both pieces. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488083429-MVEYPYXNB9KS4CKR314C/NZ6_1429.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.26.21 Goodnight Moon Room Months of relentless nostalgic feelings led me to a truly remarkable quirk of NKY today. I should wait until the piece is up, but I can't help it: a bookstore has a room dedicated to Goodnight Moon & it's set up almost exactly like it is in the book. It's been here for 30 years. If I had children, I would take them here after reading them the book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614488082426-LZD2XYZIPC5WQ3GAW5OJ/IMG_8190.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.27.21 Stop For Coffee Deeper Roots opened a new spot on West Fourth Downtown, so we stopped in to get a cup before our eye appointments. I really can’t wait to spend time hanging out in here once COVID is no longer a constant threat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614565319659-U4YMDT5N3RIRTZ87UROP/IMG_8200.jpg daily-photos-feb-2021 - 2.28.21 Keeping My Spot Warm For Me Early this morning, at 12:49 AM, I went to get into bed and Myrtle was sleeping in my spot like a human. She was using my pillow for her head and everything. She knows the drill, though, so as soon as I made my way over to her, she got up and moved. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-mar-2021 daily 0.75 2021-03-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895173273-MZD5F9M53N551OAJXTRU/IMG_8213.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.1.21 Art With Heat Messed around with the wood-burning pen for a little bit in the workshop this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895174387-LKBELJQZQ3YHVQFDZAK5/IMG_8214.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.2.21 The Little Things I really love when the sun streams into the living room through the stained glass windows and catches the tip of the plant on the mantle. It’s those little things that make the every day beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614895183486-JDYOFQCD66C39TCM7W4F/IMG_8228.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.3.21 High Water The river’s up. It was to be expected, though. With all the snow and rain we’ve had, it’s a wonder it didn’t flood sooner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614909039573-9R0N0L8XYDMP05OQF6OU/IMG_8245.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.4.21 Moment of Zen Woke up to sunshine. That was about as good as it got today. Pictured is sunset. This afternoon, I had some news come my way that I can’t talk about here, but needless to say it was less than positive. Feeling like I need a nice long rest to just figure things out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1614998868337-3VTY5OKF2AIGY2Y89QMO/IMG_8266.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.5.21 Hard Reset Today was a horrible day. Need to reset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615092984733-ZPJLPTYWL8MZ5N4D504W/IMG_8282.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.6.21 Little Details Got coffee at Deeper Roots this morning. Along the path of walking there, I noticed this little series of details on the south side of Fourth Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615421996502-W34DBCH5225EVY38VL6B/IMG_8308.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.7.21 My Girls The girls’ wholesome ritual before bed every night: Ashley gets into bed and Myrtle sits on her. After a long day of napping, it’s all Myrtle wants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615421996495-ZE1PKEFM1USKB5QLHFQ2/NZ6_1694-HDR.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.8.21 Lee Street I photographed the inside (and outside) of this 3-unit house in Covington for a realtor. I did the interior yesterday and made morning/night shots today. It’s in a spot with a lot of electrical wire and posts blocking an otherwise clear line of sight, but I like the way it looks at night with all the elements together. The warm streetlight really makes the whiteness of the bulbs inside look extra cool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615422000050-GC48ZYY41WP6KRGLRMW7/IMG_8318.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.9.21 Ross Street This reminds me of the Family Matters opening for some reason. It feels appropriately “neighborhood-y,” with old houses on an old street in an old part of the area by the river. With the sun going down, it just makes me think of summer and how nice it’ll be when sunsets like this happen at 8:30 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615422001268-ZMKBJQ4WPCR5II62M89H/IMG_8341.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.10.21 Chris Glass Chris is endlessly fascinating to me. He’s incredibly good at photography and design—so much so, it makes me wonder what I need to do to reach a level even remotely close to where he is. I love talking to him because he’s able to make me think about concepts in new ways I really haven’t before. Today, we talked about memory (among many things) and how we both struggle with recalling specifics like names and the like, and how our respective daily photo projects are a guide to coaxing those memories back. I told him about how I struggle remembering the plot of movies and shows, and he talked about how my brain might be compartmentalizing that information in a way that suggests it’s not as important as other things. That actually never occurred to me, and it made me feel a little better about my poor memory overall. Perhaps I can’t remember most of <insert movie here> because it’s not as important to me as remembering the time I went into the Cincinnati subway with permission from City Hall. I always come away from our conversations feeling inspired. Not many others do that for me like Chris. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615479463280-IITPWTAWJT2SEGMEYBW2/IMG_8342.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.11.21 The Price of Good Light Went to Urbana to get my cup of coffee this morning. Ashley and Myrtle went along for the ride. As we walked back to our car, we strode up 13th Street and I saw this beautifully lit scene. I kept walking. “Fuck it, I don’t have anywhere to be right now” popped into my head, and I turned around to snap a quick photo. When the sun’s low on the horizon, it makes inner city buildings look exquisite. All it cost me was 10 steps backward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615823219951-WW6CR7037AVX14RB8FTM/NZ6_2020.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.12.21 Jake I’ve been working with Jake on a project for a year and a half, and it’s finally coming to an end soon. While on the job today, his family dropped by. Watching him interact with his girls was heartwarming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615823131374-AW5V4NN3LR21SHO90XUJ/IMG_8364.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.13.21 Relearning Social Events I went to an outdoor wedding for a couple I didn’t know tonight. Ashley went to high school with the bride, but they live in DC, so I’ve never met her. The wedding was difficult for me because after a year of not being around a large gathering of people all at once, it was nigh impossible to quiet the alarm bells in my brain and relax. The noise coupled with the social expectations of being present and engaged was too much for me. I retreated to the bathroom stall once to get a moment alone, and another time I just went outside to calm my nerves. I was thrilled to go home after it was socially acceptable so I could decompress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1615823267235-M0EKBH2I0EHH74O3CMUW/IMG_8368.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.14.21 Julian & Kokenge Company, Then & Now While at the Taft Museum of Art, at the Walk This Way exhibit, I saw this postcard of the Julian & Kokenge Company from around 1906. The description read: “In 1906, Cincinnati was abuzz with talk of the new factory built by Julian & Kokenge, makers of ladies’ fine shoes. Constructed at the corner of Fourth and Lawrence Streets and catty-corner to Lytle Park, it was one of the most modern plants in the city. … The Julian & Kokenge building towered over the two-story Literary Club nearby, as it still does today.” After leaving the museum, I walked over and found a similar vantage point to showcase how it has (and hasn’t changed) in a hundred years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616030589109-S45X2QMYRB3ZUY55SUAH/IMG_8383.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.15.21 Great-Great Grandparents I do not remember what my grandmother (Sherry) told me their names were, and for that I feel ashamed. Let’s call them John and Jane. What I do remember is Sherry telling me that these were her paternal grandparents and that she wasn’t sure if it was an arranged marriage or not. According to Sherry, Jane wasn’t happy in the marriage and often told Irma, Sherry’s mother and my great grandmother, that she wished she’d never gotten married. This would apparently upset Irma greatly because of what it implied about her own existence. When John died in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918—an event that has received increased attention over the last year—Sherry said that Jane was angry that she was left with two children and no one to bring home the bacon. It’s such an odd thing to think these two may never have been truly happy together in their time, and perhaps this was one of the only times in their lives that their photograph was taken. Was this their wedding day? Where did they go to have their photo taken? Who was the photographer behind the lens? There are so many questions that will never be answered about these two. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616030602434-40MMFBDUW223MUB6KEQ9/IMG_8393.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.16.21 Porch Hangs Erica and Tyler are in from DC. They’re staying with Erica’s mother, Sue, in Florence. Because they are good people and we do not get to see them enough, they were kind enough to come over and sit with us (from a safe distance) on the porch. They brought Louie, their adorable little hound dog who quivered in fear both times the train roared by. We ate pizza, drank beer, and talked about everything from our daily lives to politics until the sun went down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616030604699-ZXQDME1N4R8RFGNIUFQW/IMG_8421.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.17.21 Trying Not to Let It Get To Me The last time I’ll ever see my office at Local 12. Today I cleaned out what little remained in this room. The depressing manifest included two dead plants, a heavily worked PC keyboard from 2008 that unexpectedly retired in 2020, some files from four years ago, all three thank you cards I ever received, four press lanyards, a business card holder without relevant business cards to hold, a thermos with pre-pandemic water in it, and a pen. I left the station mug. Before I exited, I looked at my whiteboard with goals I’d written in black marker in 2018. Each goal was a number: 2 million, 2.5 million, 3 million, 3.5 million, 4 million. Every one of them was crossed out in red. I’d achieved great things with this publication even if SBG didn’t agree. Sales wasn’t my priority; I did my part of the job, and I did it with everything I had in me. It was part of my identity. What Sales failed to do isn’t a failure I share. Recognizing that is crucial to getting over this. While they may still be involved, they’ve lost the soul that made Cincinnati Refined what it was up until recently—Katie, the freelancers, myself, and the trust we gained from our readers along the way. I’ll never root against them, but decency doesn’t come with an obligation to root for everyone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616462530535-U96JET3LQ9KB06KPVSD9/NZ6_2144.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.18.21 Relieved of Duty Because there is too much to say here, I wrote about it in this blog post: https://bit.ly/3cMxNbf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616462529038-JWH45SBF5OX7801BB8YI/IMG_8508.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.19.21 A Beautiful Door Today’s a new day. I’m striking out on my own. No more page views to worry about. No more corporate entity letting me work myself into being laid off without warning. Today I did a freelance job at Findlay Market and passed this beautiful door at 1830 Race Street. Like it was ripped from a castle or something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616365564962-ELNAC4DB837WKJ04KKHZ/IMG_8513.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.20.21 Every Hour’s Golden Hour We have a yellow stained glass window on the staircase that I can never get enough of. Every time the light hits it (usually in the morning), I admire the warm glow it produces on the stairs and wall below it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616365566629-T8XUG5W85O09LCGNV6PY/IMG_8544.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.21.21 Doin’ It Myself Working in the yard is cathartic. After two trips to Lowe’s and absolutely roasting the top of my head because I keep forgetting I am bald now, I successfully completed two outdoor projects and I feel satisfied. One of the projects isn’t photogenic, but this one—a fire pit I dug and constructed in the back yard—is. We had a metal fire cage that was left by the previous owner, but the bottom rusted out after the last bonfire, so I junked it and made this. Going to test it out tomorrow, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616462113131-G08VOK0Y21RPRXVBZ5TK/1010+Community+Room+%26+Roof+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.22.21 Rooftop Shoot I was hired by GBBN to make a few photos of people on the rooftop at 1010 On the Rhine this evening. My contact, the other “Cincy Phil” on Instagram, gathered several people from the GBBN office to be the people in the photos. When we got there, a woman was reading her book and Phil asked her if she’d like to participate in the photoshoot. She agreed, and we made photos with her and the others in various places around the rooftop to showcase its splendor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616541700999-AIZRD917LH1C2UFZ7CR7/summer+fanny+pack-035-Edit.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.23.21 Summer Ready Bought a fanny pack with credit we had left over at REI. I don’t like putting my wallet, keys, and phone in my pocket during the summer, and when I don’t have a camera bag, I have to suck it up. First-world problems, I know. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to compile a few items and make a little spread. I digitally enhanced basically everything in this photo to make it look better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616727429217-7VG6CM6VI0KBBOXKKQRF/NZ6_2339-Pano.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.24.21 Old Married Couple I have no evidence to prove it, but this pair on 8th Street in Covington will likely not stay in this condition for long. Seems like it’s a street seeing some change, and with that change will likely come a remodel for these. Glad I got ‘em before they got a fresh coat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616727427057-W6XCMO9D9OV10LVOMTOK/NZ6_2477-HDR.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.25.21 Lee Street I spent the entire day working on a single photoshoot. This house on Lee Street is going on the market soon, so I did exteriors yesterday while it was nice before returning to do the interior today. I cannot tell you how much color correction I had to do this this one. Blue, natural light and warm incandescent lighting make for a headache in post, but when it’s all done, it’s worth it. Really pumped to send these to the owner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616823742704-R37VIUXIXKVB2WB0AKHA/IMG_8636.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.26.21 Pretzel Snoot Just having fun with pretzels and wide angle camera mode. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616888828738-ZVCOX4CCSUBUU0P0GHNY/IMG_8658.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.27.21 Evening Light Light on the mantle. Not feeling great at the moment. Rio died today. She was an old dog but she went suddenly downhill over the last week and my parents had to put her down after exhausting several medicines and treatments. It was clear she was never going to get better. I know her suffering and my parents’ suffering is over, but it still sucks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1616950949766-I68SOE66Z8XGFNN22GFW/IMG_8665.jpeg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.28.21 Clothesline Laundry Myrtle ate a stick and barfed all over the bed the next morning. Our comforter and a big blanket of hers took the brunt of it. Both were too big for our washing machine, so a trip to the laundromat was needed. I had to take a photo on the sly because it’s a small place and everyone in there was maskless. I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617243317343-AAZYJUTTBP9T6SQCYSFW/IMG_8681.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.29.21 The Tailored Man Another job in Findlay Market this morning. Mondays at the market are weird without all the shoppers. It was a ghost town occupied only by city workers and clean-up personnel. As I walked back to my parked car, I stopped to admire The Tailored Man. I’ve always liked this one because it doesn’t look like its taller neighbors. The half-round terracotta roof tiles give the squat little building an exotic look. The well-worn mural on the side stands in stark contrast to the newer ArtWorks murals on nearby structures, giving it a wholly different vibe than its neighbors. With morning light baking on its facade, it looks wonderful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617243322334-5VYNWTPX94PCXB1JNHKM/NZ6_2915-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.30.21 Wallace Shot this home in Wallace Woods today for Rebecca. It was apparently built in the early 1910s. It feels nice to have color in photos again, and that purple tree next to the house couldn’t have looked better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617243317346-0BYHAGOF8U0K8Y0N51ZA/IMG_8689.jpg daily-photos-mar-2021 - 3.31.21 The Columns Jake and Miriam wanted to get cracking on The Columns’ Instagram account, so today I did their first post (@thecolumnscincy). I shared a few in-process photos of it and posted it to my own channels to drive people to it. Hopefully they find my involvement beneficial to growing their audience. I think this place is going to be a big deal for weddings and gatherings once it’s open. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-apr-2021 daily 0.75 2021-05-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617301100521-XMGJL7Z6NDNGW7R9J6IK/IMG_8692.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.1.2021 CUF Photographed 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617414219450-APZQH7X68786WMQSHIQX/NZ6_3113.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.2.21 A Hamilton Barn Drove 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617508896219-R91YS7DUPHXC8CGG7WD8/NZ6_3226.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.3.21 Matt’s Reno Matt 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617577078121-QNC1280R5YF502OE4TS3/IMG_8737.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.4.21 Time For a Cut Myrtle 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617676755038-W97YQ9KPWKN1O1PGAHBD/NZ6_3428.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.5.21 Pooch Perch I 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617761203734-8DMQJFPB70YW74B3PR5L/NZ6_3458-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.6.21 The Coveted Shot Returning 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617932408997-NPZL69RB8DCGUNOVZNL6/NZ6_3470.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.7.21 A Necessary Return Yesterday, 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1617932409270-TN0F4N2B2G7SB1U4CZVW/NZ6_3556.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.8.21 Tim & Kim Photographed 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618060252198-V1CG3TJ09K9KE7S7ELWS/NZ6_3907.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.9.21 Motor City Went to Detroit. Will be here until Sunday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618251481941-868YS6FBV0OSKMFZHU6L/NZ6_3964.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.10.21 Lee Plaza We 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618251482517-D2T39L4I90K3GN4WIZH8/NZ6_4115.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.11.21 Boblo Island Amusement Park Canada 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618285590445-AOWBRQ28XN4TZ8M5YV68/NZ6_4147.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.12.21 New Glass After 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618369671537-781VDN9484BTGW1S24FB/NZ6_4210.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.13.21 Foiled Plans Went 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618505494409-ZJ4G0ESYGFGZZ5OFTWW6/NZ6_4318.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.14.21 A New Spot Cody 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618521451366-M8P0HC71ZMSEXIICDQ49/NZ6_4351.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.15.21 Under Pressure While 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 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618627226098-O304ZSOABB612UGYV15J/NZ6_4635.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.16.21 Cat In the Pack This 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618714107173-LMWWWN2DJ7YERFVDMGXZ/NZ6_5005.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.17.21 Polka Dot Alley We 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618798215401-XOYJ6I5LTFY3GZFWOSOX/NZ6_5032-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.18.21 Blissfully Naive I’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618879358183-5M77E775AC9HYZII7ZGO/NZ6_5214.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.19.21 Have 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1618948648242-A3WUY58GD4EA90I1E9XT/NZ6_5275-HDR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.20.21 A Walk In the Cloudless Sky Hello 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619054976310-59I7IVHFGYUJO8E8X0Z5/NZ6_5321.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.21.21 Soul-Soothing Work Since 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404825624-Z1DWWD39EKQWMIB3WH0B/Midway+Cafe+-+Phil+Armstrong-9.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.22.21 Back to It Today 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404821427-4BOZ9WHKVNC8PNQ8SH41/IMG_9214.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.23.21 Yard Work My 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404821428-JQY1EOCDWXK6QQMHW10I/IMG_9223.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.24.21 Good Night, Hard Morning Ashley 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619404824282-E1QRDYVE7U0H8NAL8AO5/IMG_9236.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.25.21 Clean Laundry Down on the Farm Cody’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619488625531-5211OJUWPZALQQB5OMMO/20210426-NZ6_6966-HDR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.26.21 Empty Houses and Podcasts I 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619618891554-LSSB9K3DJQ3P070JGCY1/NZ6_7086-Edit.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.28.21 A Neon Visitor Found 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619656577585-83KZOFE033TFE4STGEMQ/NZ6_7120-HDR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.28.21 Surprise Window I 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619748451776-XVNJNMCK8Y7NOGXBYJQP/IMG_9320.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.29.21 Wasted Day 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619927651929-DRP8COW9XJVH28ROTPGE/IMG_9329.jpg daily-photos-apr-2021 - 4.30.21 The Bay Horse Is Back Over 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. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-may-2021 daily 0.75 2021-06-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1619927728523-TO2YIP8B9BC4ZE5G4M31/NZ6_9288.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.1.21 West End Pride Had the opportunity to photograph FC Cincinnati Foundation’s West End Pride teams kick the soccer ball around inside FC Cincinnati’s new stadium this afternoon and evening. Ronny needed help photographing this event because he broke his arm weeks ago, so I said I’d fill in. It was a volunteer gig, but I don’t mind because the work was so enjoyable. Seeing the kids have a good time running up and down the field and just generally being kids about all of it made the day fun. At the end of the evening, after all the kids finished their games, they had a little “kick around” with preschoolers that absolutely melted my heart. It was honestly one of the cutest things I think I’ve seen lately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620004424539-JY90TMCGWGXBB6H44AGT/NZ6_9775.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.2.21 An Unexpected Plus Went back to the FCC stadium this morning to photograph the inside just for fun, and they unexpectedly had a helicopter drop a bunch of tiny soccer balls onto a target on the field below. It is my understanding that it was practice for some sort of promotional event later on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620179353425-6HA5DBDPAXELX1PXK36Z/IMG_9393.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.3.21 The Stand-Off of the Apricot Beasts So intense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620179353741-7MMBBVPZG8TWRXAQZRKZ/IMG_9400.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.4.21 Fully Vaxxed My arm is sore and I’m probably going to feel poorly tomorrow, but it’s worth it. I will have another major layer of protection against this virus. Ready to get back to 100% normal sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620270835540-BHLY79238CE9X9FRMJHB/IMG_9405.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.5.21 A Treat This right here is a soft serve peanut butter and chocolate ice cream from the Bellevue Ameristop. It was my late evening treat after successfully navigating some pretty bad second dose symptoms. As I slid feverishly into bed last night, the worst chills I’ve ever experienced snaked down my spine and rattled my teeth. Sleep came in 20 minute intervals, each with their own psychotic series of lights and sounds that undid any rest I might’ve received had I not been sick. My joints hurt, my head throbbed, and my strength was sapped until about 4 PM today. I’d turned the corner by about 7 PM and managed a walk and a trip to get tacos. As I write this at 11:15 PM, I feel perfectly fine. So glad my body’s working on the antibodies to this virus now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620349484938-77FVGHQLRB5NDJNCPYWI/IMG_9464.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.6.21 Ashley’s Mother’s Day Surprise Two months ago, Ashley’s mom told me she wanted to secretly come up for Mother’s Day. She lives in Florida, so Ashley doesn’t get to see her but a couple times a year. Even though they’re very close and talk multiple times a day on the phone, we managed to keep it a secret. Today, I covertly picked her up and we snuck her into the house without Ashley knowing. I set up my iPhone on the mantle and pressed record and called for Ashley to come downstairs. This is the still frame when she realized her mom was sitting on our couch. She was stunned and overjoyed with a few tears and many hugs. It’s one of the most heartwarming videos I’ve ever recorded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620444206135-N9ZADUNYN5HDB9B9HC3Z/IMG_9468.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.7.21 This Belongs in a Museum The Wendy’s in Kenwood has this kick ass sign on the side of the building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620656586872-JXC2T00FG0F49BZDMYC2/IMG_9484_jpg.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.8.21 Maggie Ashley’s boss asked her to take her dog out while she was out of the house all day, so we made a trip down to Union, KY. Maggie is a Newfoundland puppy and is extremely strong—so strong, Ashley couldn’t walk her. I had to take the reins of the slobbery, sweet beast. We walked down to their subdivision’s communal gazebo and I did my best to snap her photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620656587128-1WK31URZEQHCW8G48JQS/IMG_9498.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.9.21 Stumbled Upon I took a wrong turn in NKY earlier today and stumbled upon this mural by an acquaintance, Josh Stout. Since no one was behind me, I stopped in the middle of the road and snapped a quick photo. He and I were planning on doing a little artistic collaboration and this will be my submission, making this collaboration EXTREMELY meta for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620702992747-RVYF62OWNKGOJBTD8SLN/IMG_9527-2.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.10.21 An Old Friend? Wrote about this here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620768188490-BYB3XYMG7C05OKZ17JZN/NZ6_0276-HDR+copy.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.11.21 Before and After Had the rare opportunity to photograph both a before AND after apartment renovation situation in Dayton, OH this morning. Without revealing the name of the complex, the apartments in this community are undergoing a significant update and the owners had both empty unfinished and finished apartments ready to photograph. I tried my best to capture each image from the same general perspective to best illustrate the improvements the renovation will have on the aging units. The tricky part was wrapping my brain around finding consistency in perspective as the unfinished and finished apartments were actually mirror images of one another. I inverted the unfinished photos in post to match the finished photos so the client could see them as plainly as possible side by side. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620872139444-G487ADHI2OREOEJA5UL9/IMG_9587.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.12.21 Lil Clippy Ear We see this little clipped ear orange cat on this block often. Today he let me approach him and give him scratches on his head. As I was petting him, I lowered my phone and got this quick image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1620965028244-GR1FBRGZXDRPSKKD52CV/NZ6_0627-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.13.21 Ovation Phase One Travis and I checked out PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation this evening under the UrbanCincy media credential. I wrote about it for their site, but it’s not going live until I can add the show lineup that PromoWest is releasing tomorrow. This is going to be a really great place to see a show, and I’m excited to witness how it will benefit Newport and the surrounding region once it’s alive with music. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621049136251-4M4D8D9I53BFI7J90FEJ/IMG_9679.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.14.21 Self Portrait My grandmother gave me a box of my old doodles and artwork from when I was a kid. Found this one dated June 7, 1995. Perhaps a self portrait? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621281374529-3LVDUP4JKZ0503ZYDBBS/IMG_9718.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.15.21 Weird Fantasy While getting coffee this morning, I saw this camper parked nearby. The drapes were drawn and I wondered if someone was inside. In any case, I have a combination fantasy/loathing for these. In one way, I absolutely hate them because they’re these gas-guzzling, monstrously stupid vehicles that are expensive and bad for the environment. In another way, I absolutely want to travel in one because it has all the creature comforts I’d need to comfortably see the contiguous 48 without booking a place to stay. I will never buy one, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t take the opportunity to use one at some point in the future. Maybe if they made an electric version that had less of a carbon footprint? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621281374743-85BLEANH6SGA6RIB7316/IMG_9750.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.16.21 Sprinkles Sarah surprised everyone by bringing a tiny puppy to my parents’ get together this afternoon. Named Sprinkles (her step daughter’s name of choice), she’s a little dachshund puppy who largely slept the whole time were were with her. I took her outside and observed/loved on her in the grass for a little bit. She’s so cute I can’t stand it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621298171953-SOI26TTQZCO9S854RKIW/IMG_9785.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.17.21 Aw, Nuts A rainy, lazy Monday. Feeling a little mentally bad today because I didn’t have anything to work on (for money). I spent some time on the porch this morning and finished a book, then did some other odds and ends things to fill time. I opened the door at one point and saw a squirrel left a dug-up peanut on the stoop. Not multiple nuts or anything. Just one single nut. Anyway, highlight of the day, I guess. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621372433954-PW2AQ4522WWG80Z6U3WB/NZ6_0727.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.18.21 The Hunt for Hollywood Video Chris Glass (hi, Chris) posted about this abandoned Hollywood Video on his site the other day and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. While I could’ve probably just asked him the address, I wanted to see if I could figure out where it was on my own, so I searched for it on Google and found a video. The video didn’t give the address, but I figured out where it was based on clues in the background and used Google Maps to pinpoint its location. Hollywood Video was the place we frequented most often of the two big video rental stores, and seeing those little faded searchlights protruding from angular mountains brought me back a little bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621772995295-RC16ITMXL13XXTNMUSQB/NZ6_0880.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.19.21 Columbus Went with Chris to Columbus today and saw lots of neighborhoods. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621772988771-SGEBG68TEV6140F5A8NH/IMG_9896.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.20.21 Monochrome Echo Had a little time between a meeting and a job, so I popped up to Mt. Echo Park and snapped a photo of the skyline this morning. I chose to make it B&W in post because I thought it looked neat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621773032589-KKIY2X07RXQH3P8IOEDG/IMG_9916.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.21.21 Sleepy Pup She went in the sprinkler then fell asleep on the stoop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621772984249-6POOAM6VCASITFJMACLG/NZ6_1150.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.22.21 Cogswood Drive I went to Asheville and had to snap a photo of the skyline. There’s no park with an overlook that I could find, so I went up to Cogswood Drive and shot through the trees from the car. It was a little awkward as it’s just a winding residential street. I’m sure the people who live up there are sick of people like me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621994722529-WYG7K2WROYP80A8YB98Q/IMG_0007.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.23.21 Black Mountain Apple Maps steered us in the wrong direction and landed us in Black Mountain, about 16 miles east of Asheville. Instead of rerouting, we stayed and found a dog park, a creek, a brewery, some shopping, a dog shop, and loads of charm. I take that back, Apple Maps got us where we needed to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621994725004-VBOYDXCT2IGKWK27XOPG/NZ6_1413.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.24.21 Chimney Rock We went out to Chimney Rock and climbed to the top. The view was breathtaking as was the amount of tourists (like us). I ended up taking a group photo for the people in this photo with one of their phones and I’d forgotten how much joy it brings me to do that for total strangers. It’s honestly one of my favorite things in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1621994722338-ZI1QE3I7DX5J3983FVPP/IMG_0144.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.25.21 BOY FOR HIRE Just loved this goofy ad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622078910322-RYFWJDY8JP6UMO6L4KCH/NZ6_1551.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.26.21 Home We’re home from our trip. It’s really good to be back. Traveling soothes the soul and opens my mind, and it always makes me appreciate home even more than I already did. No, this place doesn’t have year-round nice weather or an infinite number of dog-friendly restaurants and shops. No, this place doesn’t have mountains to climb and crystal clear lakes. We could do better about a lot of things, to be quite frank, and could learn a thing or 22 about how other cities have solved for X. But this place has my heart for an innumerable number of reasons that I’m not required to list here. So instead, here’s just one of them: the big, beautiful tree that shades our house from the sun half the day and looks positively divine against a Pepto Bismol sunset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622174797710-HELCFTPJ4NSWRZURP39U/20210527-NZ6_1568.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.27.21 Moonville Wrote about my day trip to Moonville on the blog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622248466468-TGACPVL57IDCNQLABH6X/NZ6_1709.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.28.21 She Got Swag We bought a couch last year and it still hasn’t arrived. Because it’s going to be longer than the IKEA couch we have, we weren’t going to be able to have the floor lamp in the corner anymore, so I had an idea to get a swag light to take care of the illumination in that part of the room. It arrived and I installed it this evening. Ashley likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622340404114-IBFEEIF261CYUJ1QIUCI/IMG_0284_jpg.jpeg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.29.21 Jay Jay’s in town for a speaking gig at his alma mater. We was gracious enough to let us have him for the evening, so we went to Jack Brown’s on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine for a burger. I miss having Jay local, but I’m glad he’s thriving in Philly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622514014816-6JW7ULKQP5KQ5CE7JBEW/IMG_0307.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.30.21 Allie & Travis’ Wedding I’m writing this the day after the wedding because I was too busy having a blast at it last night. Loads of friends together and laughing, drinking, and by the end of the night dancing. I do not dance, but I took many videos of it on my phone and will relive the happy chaos for years to come. While I wish I could go back and relive the night again, I am glad it’s over for one selfish reason—this octagon I built for their backdrop no longer has the ability to give me nightmares. You see, Allie asked me if I would build them an octagon to serve as their backdrop for their ceremony months before the wedding. They’d hang flowers on it and it would hold a special meaning that was personal to them. Seeing the opportunity to help friends, I agreed. However, after months of stressing over the design and fearing it could possibly collapse under its own weight, I was ready to be rid of that anxiety once I knew the scary part was over. It now is, and I’m happy to report it stood proudly and served its purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622514014666-9YRS89GPVE78582BFQMC/NZ6_1929-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2021 - 5.31.21 Stained Glass on Wallace Avenue I spent a long time photographing this house in Wallace Woods today. It has a magnificent stained glass window on the staircase. The whole landing glows with this handsome amber hue. The listing should go live tomorrow. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jun-2021 daily 0.75 2021-06-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622653166498-SGQ31QY80TB9MVGA3KTD/BTS+DeLorean+Shoot+-+20210601+-19.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.1.21 DeLorean Shoot Ryan Lewis, a filmmaker I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few times over the last couple of years, reached out to me about doing a little behind-the-scenes photos on a shoot he was doing in Over-the-Rhine this afternoon. The set involved a DeLorean done up to look like the time machine from Back to the Future. I cannot reveal the client or product, and unfortunately this film isn’t intended for public consumption, but it was fun for the hour and a half I was there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622772891527-TRYFY5TGBOAERK0IL2AI/IMG_0364.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.2.21 Finished Lettering Awhile back, I made and had printed a custom decal to go on my workshop door. The idea was to make this door look like the door to a detective’s office in a film noir movie (I cut a piece of plexiglass and frosted it with an after-market “ripple” decal to act as the “glass”). The lettering was black, and after fitting it to the door, I didn’t like that I couldn’t easily see it against the dark background. So, instead of ordering a new one, I gingerly hand painted every black letter with white acrylic paint instead while listening to a podcast. I like this result better. Did I mention I’m unemployed? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622772890141-25XA20SXP6IOZ0GX48QH/cards-051-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.3.21 New Cards I needed to print something out. Seeking to knock two things out at once, I went to the Campbell County Library and got my library card there before using the printer. This was my first time back inside a library in over a year, and I missed being in a space dedicated to the three ‘Rs: reading, researching, and relaxing. I wanted to stay in that space and inquired about their local history and genealogy department. The librarian told me the Kenton County Library had all their resources and that Campbell had gotten rid of theirs. So I went to the Kenton County Library and got a card there before poking around on their computers for a bit. I made this photo by suspending the cards with fishing line and tape then digitally removing the line in Photoshop. Did I mention I’m unemployed? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622955019738-7D11MLIOKGSW30S0W7YI/IMG_0400.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.4.21 Found One In the backyard. First one I’ve seen in Bellevue. Myrtle wanted to sniff it, so I let her and she didn’t try to eat it. Thankful my snooty dog doesn’t have a taste for these bugs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1622955019661-LS2AK3TA9AF2SL7V0D1E/NZ6_3227.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.5.21 “HAY, GUYS.” Saw this dog on Pleasant Street today. He was woofing at us because Myrtle was there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623163873977-K9NFXOWPNJXFU49Q1LGN/IMG_0452.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.6.21 Pool Pawty Ashley bought Myrtle a little pool to cool off in this summer. Quinn, Steve’s dog, came over and we had a little cookout on the deck before we rip it up in the next couple weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623163876143-CJRKIWBPTCUWEVM7YC42/IMG_0468.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.7.21 A New Low I had the evening to myself as Ashley was at a fancy work dinner Downtown. To balance our lives, I sought out fast food that she likely wouldn’t be thrilled to eat. I went to the Jack in the Box in Pleasant Ridge because I always want it to be good but it rarely ever is. After a disappointing burger, I continued my quest for bad food and went to White Castle for the 1921 Slider. These were much better and improved my evening of poor choices in food, though the success of washing the Jack in the Box out of my mouth was short-lived as I sat staring at two Diet Cokes in differently branded cups. I don’t think I’ve gone through two drive thrus back to back like this. I am 35 years old and should know better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623289820608-XTALXWG3CL60W9G2L3AX/IMG_0479.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.8.2021 Lucius Q it wasn’t either of our first time back in a restaurant, but it was our first time as just us. We went to Lucius Q—the place that catered our wedding. I got the Fuego and she got the nachos with the veggie mix. It was just as good as we remembered it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623289824510-C43CG7BTWP8NMD6KQ6XN/NZ6_3817.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.9.2021 Risk Vs. Reward I hate that I took a chance behind the wheel, aiming my camera with one hand through the passenger window while going at least 50 on a two-lane road in Carrollton, KY. I hate that I see so much good shit while driving and have no way to safely pull over to get a photo. And I hate that this dangerous thing I did ended up getting me the exact image I wanted, reinforcing the bad behavior. Sure, we can pretend I’ll never do it again as I have too many times already, but we both know that’s be a lie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623386085124-FB334UQ2ZSMO4BVWLLMS/NZ6_3999.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.10.21 Baby Deer Ashley was losing her mind because this fawn across the street was separated from her mom by the flimsiest fence known to man. The fawn figured out how to get in by walking a little further to gate. Mama deer was keeping her eye on me while I snapped photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623475766478-ZJ3YPHMN480BAK2AQ78Y/IMG_0604.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.11.21 ATOBTTR Mike got us tickets to the Reds game tonight. It was our first time back inside the park since the 2019 season. In fact, it was my first game since Marty’s last. I wasn’t even married back then! Anyway, I took a photo of Votto and Suarez fist bumping, a photo of my friends with the fireworks behind them, and several slice-of-life photos in the park, but none of them were as fun as this extremely goofy moment when the leaning tower of plastic cups made its way down to our seats to retrieve its next length. If you can believe it, this was only about half the size it would eventually become. It was all over Twitter tonight and I’m sure it made its way to other platforms. Tip of the hat to you, cup people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623642223006-ZBJGP2XO1WZUPRBK5A0V/NZ6_4021.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.12.21 Court Street Plaza Opening The ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Court Street Plaza was this morning. We were baking in the sun (it’s a LOT of concrete), so we sat under the shade with Myrtle and enjoyed Diet Cokes from Avril Bleh’s outdoor stand. As I people-watched with my pop, I saw one of my favorite strangers. I hadn’t seen him in over a year and worried if he was okay. He briefly chatted with us and pet Myrtle, then walked over to a nearby couple with their dog. I want his life story, but I don’t want to impose. I’ve spoken to him several times, but I never want to make him feel like I want something from him, so I let him choose when he wants to talk. It’s always pleasure when I do get to see and speak with him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623642223789-DD6KEBH1SJZLTMU6K355/NZ6_4091.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.13.21 Northern Liberties Tour The OTR Museum reached out to me a few weeks ago about taking their Northern Liberties Tour. I’ll have a blog recap in the coming week about it. Essentially, it’s a small group tour with information about tenement life north of Liberty Street with fun facts about German culture and how Over-the-Rhine came to be. The price of the ticket goes to fund the OTR Museum’s ongoing fundraising goal to open the museum at some point in (what seems like) the distant future. Hopefully I’m wrong about that and it’ll open sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623733069437-DOQJK4H4BRUU1V2ZCPUS/20210614-IMG_0704.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.14.21 Unexpected Hike I waited until the evening to work in the yard. The air was considerably cooler and had a nice breeze to it, unlike the last two days. After pushing the manual mower over my tiny lawn, we gave Myrtle a back porch hose bath that went surprisingly well and much faster than trying to wash her in the tub. To avoid having a wet dog in the house, we took her on a walk to let the air dry her as much as possible. After walking a few blocks, we realized we were being followed by Chelsea and Vince. The four of us wandered around Bellevue together, checking in at Bellevue Beach Park before heading over to the Dayton flood wall. It was there that I snapped a photo of this charming sign for Queen City Riverboats. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623808913379-2Y5NBYFIBGKS620TPZG8/IMG_0712.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.15.21 Bellevue Blueberry Meghal always posts in the Bellevue Facebook page which soft serve ice cream he has in stock for the day. When it’s a good flavor, it goes fast. The blueberry soft serve is one of those flavors. Thankfully, I got a cone to finish off the evening before it was gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623898728451-V0RTI8JUDH3G0EROVTB3/NZ6_4236.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.16.21 Observations While Lounging I photographed RoadID’s new headquarters in Covington today for Hub + Weber, but I chose this photograph of a tight crop of my home’s staircase because it was ever more memorable (to me) than today’s job. While laying on the couch trying hard to lift my eyelids every so often, I noticed the sun was pouring through the staircase’s yellow stained glass window. The light was hitting the back of the spindles on the staircase in such a way that I couldn't discern the negative space between them from the solid, white spindle at first glance. In this photo, the ombre yellow is the back of the spindle, the darker space to the right of each is the side of the spindle, and the whitest white space is the negative space. I grabbed my Z6 nearby and zoomed in on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1623938356325-1D5OANCGOHNS4J1L2NPR/NZ6_4284-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.17.21 Saying ‘Hello’ to Breakfast Ghost Don’t know why I made this. I have been doing this for 900 days in a row. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624048197296-YVFKIGNFV5ALHERDOQSH/NZ6_4897-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.18.21 The Hustle Four photoshoots today. Three real estate, one lifestyle for a local publication. For being “unemployed,” I am working a lot today. This was from one of the shoots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624234625413-R5FJAR9YEE3281CST4GN/IMG_0866-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.19.21 Demo Day We spent the entire day demolishing the old deck. I ran a chainsaw through many of the floor boards with help from my father and Steve. My mother and Ashley took away the scrap and put it in the dumpster we rented and placed in the alley. We made the final cut at around 8:30 PM—just before we lost too much light. I have a few more things to do to clear the way before we begin building the new deck, but I think the hard part is over. I am sore already. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624234624691-D8FTP26SNFN288A3LRL1/IMG_0882.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.20.21 Holding Sprinkles My body feels like it’s 90 years old from yesterday’s demo day, but I wasn’t sore enough to bend down and pick this sweet little puppy up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624324752818-31H8AIJIFOEPRZ8Q8AOY/NZ6_4971-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.21.21 M1 Back in early May, my 2018 MacBook Pro wouldn’t seemingly hold a charge for any substantial length of time. Since I usually work with it docked, I hadn’t noticed. So, seeing an opportunity to improve my situation, I went to Apple, talked with them about trade-in value, and decided to upgrade to the new Apple M1 iMac. I got it in green because I love nature and thought it would contrast nicely with the pine desk (and everyone else wants that blasted yellow one anyway). The screen is substantially better than the second one I had running with my laptop, so I just nixed the dedicated second screen all together and plan to sidecar my iPad when I really need the extra screen real estate. This is a photo of my setup now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624421881339-KU0W4LEG3N6YOF5I91OY/NZ6_5177.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.22.21 Cleveland I met Chris in Columbus and together we went to Cleveland for the day. We stopped off in Sugarcreek and saw some of Amish country along the way. Chris isn’t a fan of Cleveland in general, but I like it well enough. Riding the red line to Ohio City from Tower City Center was a highlight, as well as seeing the Cleveland Arcade, which is now a Hyatt (pictured). I think it would be cool to go back for a weekend and see more of it relatively soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624497704764-59WKCSGECH3X62YBNIZA/LAS+-+Ron+Jones+Quartet+-+Phil+Armstrong+-21.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.23.21 Ron Jones Quartet The Longworth Anderson Series tapped me to photograph their events for the year. The first one I shot was this evening at campSITE in Camp Washington. The Ron Jones Quartet played in the bandstand to dozens of people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624584074782-G2VEIVKKVNAW0ZDHQUM2/IMG_0970.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.24.21 A Tall Platter For a Mighty Dog My sister rescued a full-grown German Shepard recently. As she’s used to having dachshunds, this is her first dog of a larger size. As such, she needed a tall platform so the dog wouldn’t have to eat off the floor and to raise the food out of snoot range of the dachshunds. I told her I’d make her one if she gave me dimensions. I haven’t been woodworking as much lately because the price of wood has skyrocketed due to the pandemic, so it was fun to dig into an afternoon project again. Every piece of wood is a scrap piece I had lying around from previous jobs, and I didn’t use any nails or screws in order to preserve the smooth aesthetic. Connector dowels and wood glue are keeping it together. I also got to use my router, which makes every project more fun by default. The plan is to use stain left over from the last project to give it a handsome, dark brown color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624848595545-VDAXO5HW565N4XJ7LBMB/IMG_0978.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.25.21 The TPS Hotel Luminaut, an architecture firm I regularly work with, tapped me to photograph the new TPS Hotel at 7th and Race Streets. We went into the Kinley across the street to get a quick photo. This isn’t one I’ll probably turn in, but the perspective was absolutely perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624848591653-O06X3JFFP1FCBQ2CY69O/Streaming+Things+Couch+Reactions+-+Phil+Armstrong+-44.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.26.21 Streaming Things My friend Steve (left) produces a local podcast about films and TV shows you can stream on any number of services. He wanted to get some promotional photo content together for social media and whatnot, so I photographed the three-man crew before and during their regular Saturday night recording. It was a load of fun and I would love to do more podcast photography (not a phrase I’d ever thought I’d type). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624848592259-E67JNI5K2KM1SPN58AWA/IMG_1028.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.27.21 The Levee’s Changed Long story short, I am not feeling like myself lately. Today, especially. My meds aren’t handing me the easy-breezy 24 hours I’d hoped they would, and I’m considering asking my doctor to increase my dosage. One thing I’ve found in the past to help get me out of a funk is to go for a walk. Ashley suggested we check out what’s changed at the Levee, so we took a stroll through the outdoor area with Myrtle. I was impressed with how the box park elevates the attractiveness and utility of that specific part of the Levee, and it got me thinking about how much better THIS Newport on the Levee is compared to the one of the last decade (and prior). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1624969775160-U72S6QITLC127F8B6RZ2/NZ6_7348-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.28.21 Airbnb Work Photographed three Airbnbs. The AC wasn’t on in the one pictured and I had a really hard time focusing on the work because it reached almost 90ºF today. I tried fiddling with the gauge to bump up the air, but it’s digital and I couldn’t figure it out. It was a beautiful Airbnb regardless of how it felt in that moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625017676043-2CRT86L5HM1GKA2U5JL5/IMG_1064.jpg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.29.21 The Gift That Keeps on Giving One evening in 2014, I went to the Pendleton Art Center for Final Friday. While there, I looked out of a window on the 6th or 7th floor and saw a beautiful sunset with Cincinnati in the background. I got out my phone and took a photo. Years later, as I gained some followers on Instagram, a company called SOURCE Cincinnati reached out to me about purchasing imagery for their marketing purposes. I sold them that photo and several others. Over the years, I’ve seen the photo pop up again and again on media promoting the city, and it never fails to give me a little kick whenever I stumble across it in the wild. Today, I was waiting on tacos at Mazunte and saw it on a Spanish language paper near the entrance. Someone told me it’s on a billboard on I-75. I really would like to get a photo of that if I can. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625109368573-TYY22P0X70HZN1WTLTFB/NZ6_7479.jpeg daily-photos-jun-2021 - 6.30.21 The Gift That Keeps on Giving Pt. 2 “Someone told me it’s on a billboard on I-75. I really would like to get a photo of that if I can,” I said in yesterday’s caption. I wasted no time getting that photo. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jul-2021 daily 0.75 2021-07-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625193037456-49I10GWHPNVOFEUA3IW8/NZ6_7669-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.1.21 Brighton A good corner of Brighton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625275453943-YXNF9ASZMY5QJDU57BPB/NZ6_7747.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.2.21 Silver Grove Dari Bar I helped dig holes and fill them with wood and cement all day. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful and I’m not too tired from it. I think the key is drinking lots of water and taking a rejuvenating shower afterward. Despite needing to build a deck, I also need to do my photo jobs, though. One of the jobs involves the Silver Grove Dairy Bar. I went out to it this evening to get a few shots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625349393036-YRCEOE455XZE9R1RSPRH/NZ6_7885-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.3.21 Disappearing Camera in Northside Job in Northside this morning before getting back to work on the deck. It’s a beautiful renovation on Cherry Street. I had to get this done today because the couple sold the house and will be transferring keys to the new owners early next week. They wanted to document all the fine work they did, and fine work it is. I don’t know what the new owners paid for it, but I can imagine it’d be well out of my own price range. I did my patented disappearing camera trick for this bathroom photo. When it works, it’s very satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625461706899-WTE4NQ7LG4BFKO96X2ZS/NZ6_8149.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.4.21 A Gift From the Past Ashley’s grandfather, Ray, gave us some old artifacts and family heirlooms this week while he’s been popping over to check out the deck construction. Today he gave me an envelope with a 1941 Reds schedule inside. The folded piece of paper is old and fragile, and I can’t help but imagine the tree that was cut down so many years ago to make it. On the reverse side is an advertisement for a restaurant that once stood at 9 East Eighth Street—a building that no longer exists and has been replaced by a parking lot across the street from the Public Library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625535011930-HRRKNIA7BF775AINLGYD/IMG_1118.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.5.21 Hidey Hole I took precisely one photo today, and it was this one. I am tired in every conceivable way at the moment and just don’t have it in me to do anything more. Despite my mental and physical fatigue, I am worried about Myrtle. She is suddenly very sensitive to firework noise and has been having a rough go of it the last week. To mitigate her stress, I tried building her a bed full of blankets in our tiny closet. I then draped another blanket over her to make her feel more enclosed and cozy. Thankfully, this little hovel of hers seems to be helping soothe her anxiety. Last night she stayed in this spot after being coaxed out of the basement and seemingly got some sleep. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625623188546-9M2RV6FEAROG892SPPGS/Pep.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.6.21 Brushley Day five of deck-building. It should be usable tomorrow if everything goes according to plan. Anyway, I needed to do some quick portrait stuff for my in-laws and Ashley was my stand-in while she got ready to go to dinner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625706422778-074CLRC51X6ERRHASKCQ/NZ6_8162.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.7.21 An Interesting Juxtaposition I have been photographing the TPS Hotel for Luminaut on and off for weeks now. Today I needed to get some exteriors for them, and zoomed in on the transition between the massive infill and the older building. Personally, I love what they did with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1625797940767-CQAPH8YJSBD9P8SNGEYR/IMG_1190.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.8.21 Sitting In Darkness On My New Deck After seven days, a few minor injuries, and endless sweat followed by rejuvenating showers, I have built a free-standing deck off the back of my house with help from my father-in-law and my father. Today I added the railings and topped them with solar lights, finalizing the deck’s aesthetic (for now). I need to wait a few months before I can stain the wood the same color as the grey composite boards on the floor. Anyway, I still have to build another piece that stands next to the deck, so a full photo of everything is still incoming and this little sliver is all I’m willing to share for the moment. I took this with my iPhone in what looked to my eye to be near total darkness, and somehow that little palm computer lightened it enough to make it a decent, albeit grainy, image overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626093837292-3OQP54OIRTRA77UO7XA6/LAS%2520-%2520The%2520Newbees%2520-%2520Phil%2520Armstrong%2520-14.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.9.21 The Newbees [The original caption to this photo was lost] I shot the Newbees show at Union Hall tonight. It was the smallest show I’ve ever been to. They sounded really good regardless of the audience size. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626093706952-OV26R5EXVC0RJN0BDESN/IMG_1226.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.10.21 Laying Sod [The original caption for this photo was lost] I laid a bunch of sod yesterday and it looks great. I hope it takes. The area where I put it was dug up for the deck construction and looked awful before the sod went in. Myrtle, of course, loves it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626093835807-1TLP6O18I7L6CETA3H87/IMG_1262.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.11.21 Bellevue Ameristop There was a lobster roll food truck in the parking lot of Ameristop today. As far as I can tell, it is the first time that parking lot has seen a food truck. And based on the way people reacted to it, the truck was a huge success. I waited a half hour for a Maine-style lobster roll before getting to enjoy it. The wait was worth it and I hope they do this again. After I ate my roll, I went into the Ameristop and got ice cream from Meghal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626143485467-VYND2JJU1M6ZLEYO7X1Q/NZ6_9094.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.12.21 Alternate Modes of Transportation When I arrived in Denver, I relished the chance to ride into the city on the train. The route ended at the beautiful Union Station. The area was bustling with activity, though I don’t know how much of that was due to the All-Star Game that’s also happening at the same time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626302791791-4NQUG48OAVKNJTL1TK1V/NZ6_9476.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.13.21 Not the Skyline I Wanted While doing my job in Highland, I was on the 14th floor when I happened to catch a view of the city below. I took my shot and was pleased that at least I got the outline, but it’s not the skyline shot I wanted. The haze was so bad, you couldn’t even see the mountains. I guess this just means I’ll need to come back again with Ashley during non-wildfire season. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626303124849-PL1RLWOQBP5DINVN1307/NZ6_9640.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.14.21 The L Line Rode the L Line from 25th & Welton back into downtown this morning. Much like our own Cincinnati streetcar, it was nice to hop on and relax while I made it around town. I liked this specific shot because I caught a bike in frame with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626452893645-U3IERVSMISM72SLASQAQ/NZ6_9783-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.15.21 Dusk For the architect. Several frames edited and merged into one with Photoshop’s sky replacement adding additional mood. I don’t usually like doing this much processing, but marketing photography is different from conventional documentation. Polish is harder to achieve in the real world, especially in an uncontrolled environment, thus it requires an increased level of attention in post-production. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626489500137-VI5FZPUKUWRGZ1Y31NU5/IMG_1526.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.16.21 Constant Incoming Anxiety A storm was rolling in behind me when I took this quick photo on my phone. The wind was blowing so hard at certain points, I almost dropped my phone. Clutching it tighter in my hand, I waited for some people to meet me at ICON. There, they’d go over photoshoot details for a Foo Fighters concert I’ll be photographing soon. It’s going to be a long day and I’m going to be on my feet for all of it, so I’m wary of the assignment. This happens constantly—I accept a job, then I get extreme anxiety about it leading up to the day while making sure I do not communicate that feeling to anyone else. I know I am capable of doing this job because I’ve done stuff like this countless times before. I know event photography is within my wheelhouse, but even though I intellectually know it to be true, there’s a part of my brain that just doesn’t allow me to feel comfortable about any of it. It wants to tell me I’m going to fail this time. Then, I do the job and the client is pleased, I get my invoice, and life goes on. Repeat cycle. I’m not certain I’ll ever get over feeling this way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626660501643-9E4FXTDOME4LGW7MNL9O/NZ6_0171-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.17.21 JCC Had a job at the JCC tonight. I don’t really feel like talking about it. Amid the chaos of running around trying to snap candid moments of well-dressed people laughing, I stopped to get a photograph of this section of the outdoor courtyard. I like the script on the sign and the shape of the building behind it. Reminds me of Crosley Tower in a way. I generally find non-Christian iconography and architecture to be more interesting, but I wonder if that’s a grass-is-always-greener bias. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626660501197-OYHKDQFG9YF66X1PBYM7/IMG_1537.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.18.21 Wiener Ramp My sister’s wiener dog, Luna, is having back trouble. According to her, she’s not acting like her usual self and has noticed she doesn’t do certain things that would otherwise place strain on her back, like sitting upright to beg for treats. She lives in a ranch style house but has two steps leading off her back door to the patio where the dogs run through to get to the backyard. Luna is having trouble navigating those steps, so she asked me to build her a little ramp. I used two 1x6 planks and some leftover plywood she had in her shed for the base, then used a 1x2 with a dowel rod for a railing (to visually guide her down the ramp). I also cut up a rubber outdoor mat into strips and fastened it to the surface to give her traction. Luna understood immediately how to use it and stopped doing the stairs within moments of the “grand opening" of the ramp. It turned out well and I’m glad she doesn’t have to place undue stress on her back any longer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626746615913-NGTA8QG3SI10YIUAOF6U/IMG_1553.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.19.21 Unwell Last night, I felt something creeping up on me somewhere in my subconscious. This morning, I woke up feeling unwell. Not physically, but mentally. I got on social media and it ramped up that feeling ten fold, forcing me to delete whatever I had on my phone entirely to get away from it. For the rest of the day, I stayed analog—a strategy I use from time to time to mend myself when I feel this way. I worked in my workshop, chainsaw’d an old wooden pallet, handled some household chores and organizational tasks, and cancelled my only photoshoot so I could lay on the couch, eat pizza, drink beer, and watch Star Trek. As the evening wore on and the sun subsided, I burned a bunch of cardboard I had collected in my basement. Something in me at the moment is extremely anti-social and anxious, and I wish I knew why my chemical imbalance causes this. I feel like a crazy hermit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626835755259-HQ202EH2CUVIK0FYMTHH/IMG_1565.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.20.21 Solo Work My mood from yesterday carried over into today, but I made an effort to be more social through electronic mediums. Anyway, I spent the day figuring out a few upcoming jobs, sweating over not receiving return emails, and wondering if I know what I’m doing with my career. Then I proceeded to eat Gold Star in my car before shooting an incredibly gorgeous Airbnb at 7 PM in Over-the-Rhine by myself. The image is from that shoot. Also, the richest person in the world spent a colossal amount of money to fuel his ego with an 11-minute sub-orbit flight instead of using that money for literally any other useful, benevolent purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1626892555049-6HRM4SVOOXA0P7SV1RVQ/Casio-010-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.21.21 Dumbing It Down In the last six months, I’ve grown weary of always being connected. My best days are when I choose to avoid the Internet for the majority of my waking hours, and I slowly started to realize that wearing a smart watch kept me further connected. Text messages, emails, calls—my wrist would buzz all day. It started to wear on me mentally. Then, after I updated to the iOS 15 beta and my watch fell out of sync with my phone, I decided I’d had enough. This was my chance to return to a time when my wrist was merely a timepiece and not a computer. I bought this $20 Casio that looks almost identical to a watch I wore as a kid and it came in the mail today. It tells time, has a stopwatch, an alarm, and gives me the date. It’s all I need and all I want. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627051973884-RDTXOG5ZGR49ASWRBURY/NZ6_1336.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.22.21 The Strip Filling my eyeballs with as much optical cotton candy as is legally permitted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627115474258-NR1KP4YF0P3EKZH3YYQ7/NZ6_1766.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.23.21 Oatman’s Burros We drove from Las Vegas into California to see some interesting roadside locales, many of which were abandoned. The high temperature of the morning reached somewhere around 107ºF, and it’s reasonable to assume it was higher when we stopped in Ludlow in the middle of the afternoon. At several stops, I could feel the heat cooking the bottoms of my shoes when I stepped out onto the blacktop. As the evening crept closer, we headed south into Arizona and stopped in an old former mining town called Oatman. While the town is primarily focused on tourism based on its history, wandering donkeys are a big part of its charm. We weren’t even fully in Oatman the first time we ran across the friendly souls standing in the middle of the street to stop traffic and sniff around for food. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627223009298-NYUSN6Y32XROPZPEWM78/NZ6_2245.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.24.21 Valley of Fire We piled into the rental car and headed out to see Hoover Dam this morning. From the bridge above it, I marveled at its size and tried to photograph it in a way that really highlighted its magnitude. From there, we drove deep into the Valley of Fire. I was struck by the vibrancy of the rocks and the dramatic shapes they took over the countless number of years they were formed. It was hot, and I am glad we had the fortune of an air-conditioned vehicle to keep us comfortable between stops; I cannot imagine how the hikers fared on their own air-conditioned-less walks through the park. The landscape was unlike anything I’d seen with my own eyes—the PNW certainly didn’t have a desert when I was out west last time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627344576344-IYCGKR3EBO5VZT4M9YL6/IMG_1781.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.25.21 Neon Museum It was a slower day today than it has been over the last several days. With half our party having returned home, Justin and I worked in a coffee shop for a bit before finally heading to the Neon Museum in Downtown Las Vegas. Similar to the American Sign Museum back home, it features a collection of old signs in various states of preservation. Some light up and look generally well kept while others are rusted out and leaning against larger signs. The whole museum is outdoors and didn’t allow professional cameras inside, so I resorted to taking photos on my phone before it overheated in the sun and shut down. Also, one of the employees at the museum saw my Donatos shirt and revealed he’s originally from Dayton, OH. We had a reasonably long chat (in the shade) about Ohio and how he got to Las Vegas (his wife found a work opportunity here). We ate at Del Taco before heading back to the hotel at around 6 PM. I am incredibly tired. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627491262963-N75BAUQO49FNCP9VG6CH/Untitled-1.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.27.21 Event Work Shot an event for a company in a place for money today. This is the only photo I’m probably allowed to share from it because it doesn’t identify anyone or the company. If you’ve been here, you’ll know the venue. It went well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627525245572-G67U7EGMD1JJ4J7OYJEQ/NZ6_3963.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.28.21 ICON’s First Show I made better photos than this tonight, but I think this is the only one I can technically share since it’s outside the venue. Long story short, GBBN hired me to do a lifestyle shoot of everyone using the space on the first show night. For reasons, I couldn’t shoot while the band was onstage, so I had to get what I could while I had the chance. This wasn’t communicated to us beforehand, so it was a little disheartening. Since I wasn’t allowed to shoot after the band started, I just left. I don’t really care about Foo Fighters as is, and I really wanted chili, so I biked home on a RedBike and stopped at Gold Star. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1627612937480-9DNL1SRH26BMYUWM51GM/IMG_1845.jpg daily-photos-jul-2021 - 7.29.21 The Fruits of Today’s Labor My iCal was totally free today for the first time in weeks. Instead of napping, I spent the entire day putting together the second installment of my Las Vegas trip series. I only left the house to walk the dog and get pepperoni for a homemade pizza. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-aug-2021 daily 0.75 2021-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801239142-ND0HCSSSC35QTHOHOXUU/Untitled-191.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.1.21 New Spaces We checked out the new space at Eden Park this morning after getting coffee from Unataza. If you walk this loop five times, it equals a mile. There’s a little bridge over a small pond, a gazebo, a basketball court, and a play area for kids. It’s mostly straw at the moment, but I can visualize what it’ll look like in a few years’ time, and I’m sure it’ll look great. Overall good use of this space compared to the empty field that preceded it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801239485-CCDH2SZ4TG76B4PEYKXI/Untitled-192.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.2.21 Car Wash Northern Kentucky has a lot of really good stuff like this. Too new to be retro, but too crusty to look new. I’m carrying my mirrorless around with me less and less these days since I use it full time for work now, and I’m thankful my iPhone will at least shoot in RAW. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801244250-UL4V7Q53FHLQ9HP8X3WZ/Untitled-193.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.3.21 A Cup Had dinner with Katie, my former colleague, and her fiancée. We talked about what we’re doing post-publishing life and how we navigated our being laid off. She told me about how immediately after we were let go, Local 12 hired someone to fill her position. My first reaction, I admit, was quiet fury. How dare they get rid of us and have the balls to hire someone new into her position like that. It was a slap in the face. Then, after the initial shock wore off, I remembered what someone said to me Friday night in reference to this new era of Refined: “It’s…not good.” They told me this while at the Five Points show I was photographing, and at the time it largely fell on deaf ears. I didn’t care to hear about the site; I haven’t even returned to it since March 9th, and unfollowed it on all channels. But hearing about her position being filled juxtaposed with what that person said to me, I realized everything was fine for us. I realized what Local 12 did was throw away something good and hired individuals to ride the coattails of the success we earned so they can produce sub-par content driven by the Sales team. Not having my name attached to something that lame is a major relief. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801244249-7WCIYIVY9SEQ9EW0H62Y/Untitled-194.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.4.21 A Little Party I photographed a small gathering at the Art Museum tonight. The artists of Future Retrieval had a meet and greet and a dozen people showed up. They mostly stayed in the courtyard, thank god. My flash was dead and it wouldn’t have helped me anyway because I couldn’t use it in the gallery due to the no flash photography policy. This ended up being an unintentional long exposure due to how dim it was in the exhibit. I didn’t feel like shooting at 10000 ISO, so I went with 1250 with a 1/4 sec shutter. Had to prop up on the corner of a door frame to ensure it was sharp enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801469654-A2YCPD1U1M7QGPYT53WP/IMG_1926.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.5.21 Yard “Helper” Little baby doodle girl has been in the yard with me for the last two days while I built the raised flower bed. She thinks that by placing her ball directly in the path of where I’m working, I will play fetch with her. Well, jokes on me because I throw that thing whenever it’s in the way, and she gets what she wants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801249419-0YCRDVWGQHGG8VY3D4Q1/Untitled-195.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.6.21 First Friday Met up with some old coworkers at Darkness and had many beers before retiring to my house a few blocks south to continue the party on the deck. It was First Friday in Bellevue, which means there was a greater number of people roaming the Avenue. It’s always so nice to see so many people out and about. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801249420-0ZP0FCH16OHMTD7R4XIH/Untitled-196.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.7.21 80s Night at Bircus Jenny, one of my old coworkers who I met up with last night (left in photo), is in an 80s cover band. They played at Bircus tonight, so we all went to go see her do her thing. I was unaware of how awesome Bircus had grown over the years since I was last there. It was a load of fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801254480-YWVU8MT43W410GI6VB45/Untitled-197.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.8.21 Stricker’s Grove We went to Stricker’s Grove with some friends today. Drank my weight in tiny cups of Mountain Dew, won at mini-golf, ate a green snow cone, rode the Tornado twice, and finished off a roll of film. All of it for $15, too. Good day overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801254484-N2CM9PSXEWL5V3XWJODM/Untitled-198.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.9.21 Dusty Evening There’s something about summer skies when they’re like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801503161-MYUIGH2AY4AZ6WLM7S2Z/NZ6_6381-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.10.21 Ingalls Years ago, I would sit in Bruegger’s Bagels in the Ingalls Building on Sunday mornings and drink my coffee with the paper. Today, I downed a coffee on the sidewalk and photographed it as a boutique hotel. I think it’s been about 6 years since I last stepped foot inside the world’s first reinforced concrete skyscraper. Luminaut hired me to photograph their finished work inside the hotel, starting with the common areas. The staircase was probably my favorite feature due to its gradual upward curve around the hanging chandelier. They did a tremendously good job combining Ingalls’ original architecture with a modern aesthetic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628801234929-F6FSEK6X0ZKED6QHK6M9/Untitled-190.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.11.21 Late Bloomer This monstrosity was left hanging on the underside of the porch. It’s so alarmingly large, I thought it was a tarantula at first glance. While I haven’t seen Brood X cicadas in well over a month at this point, there is still a cicada presence around these parts. I am guessing this is one of those seasonal, annual ones that’s unassociated with the 17-year emergence. Either way, they missed the party. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628818358185-FV6FJXUBOQWLW94QLRFV/Untitled-200.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.12.21 It’s Too Hot Out Here After spending most of the day indoors due to excessive heat and humidity, Ashley and I went out on the deck after the sun went down just to exercise the dog. While outside, we noticed a massive cloud seizing with lightning in the far distance. Seeing no storms on the weather radar, we assumed this was the result of heat lightning. I’d already brought my camera down to get a photo of the moon, so I started firing at the cloud hoping to score a well-lit frame. Somewhere in those 400 shutter clicks, I got what I came for. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1628910735156-QLLUZQ6DENJIP9U84THX/Untitled-201.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.13.21 A Curious Friend This little stray let me pet her tonight. She reminded me of a cat we had for a couple of days when I was very young. My parents found a little black kitten outside our house during a big storm and brought her inside to keep her safe. They called her Stormy at the time, presumably because either my sister or I wanted to name her. We ended up giving her away to someone because half of us are allergic to cats, but she made enough of an impression on my young mind that I still think about her to this day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629080177821-5QDUYOZYKNC0DQQ5G2LU/IMG_2034.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.14.21 Boba Bottom “There is no greater joy than having two layers of popping boba at the bottom of your cup.” -Abraham Lincoln https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629080590647-0BMOLL275SHX6FP46V6H/IMG_2075.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.15.21 Community Service I started the day scaling my neighbor’s house to climb in her window so I could unlock her door for her. The day then proceeded to be filled with yard work, but not my own—Ashley and I cleared the neglected, empty lot across the street if the tall grass and overgrown weeds. I also repaired the old fence so it stood upright and removed what felt like miles of vines that had snaked their way through the chain links over the years. I then mowed my neighbor’s lawn and trimmed around the landscaping, burning through three rechargeable batteries to so do. I am tired but in such a way that feels really good. It feels nice to feel useful in a community. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629249098753-8I5QQ4EZG3OYYNCM0GJX/IMG_2080.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.16.21 Waiting Patiently The scene whenever Ashley leaves the car. If there’s an open window, Myrtle’s head will be through it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629249418631-SXUNV3G6TJ2N0UOOUK77/IMG_2087.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.17.21 Routing New Grooves I got a commission to make a thing for someone and I got to use my router. This was a plunge cut I’ve never done until today. It doesn’t look like much, and really it isn’t much, but it took some work to line it up properly and build a suitable fence to keep the router stable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629340367541-I82CNFWKQX3QX75CA6DQ/NZ6_7143-HDR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.18.21 My Grandfather’s Collection My dad and I drove out to see my grandfather today. It's been years since I'd seen him, and it was great to reconnect. He has an incredible collection of milk bottles in a room above his garage that he's been working on for over 30 years. There are bottles from farms in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and many other states, including a bottle from Honolulu, where he lived for two years. His collection had bottles from as far away as England, the paper caps that used to keep them sealed, and various other bits of paraphernalia relating to the industry. It's one of the most unique collections I've seen. Three generations of Armstrong men sat in that room and discussed various topics for a while before heading downstairs to check out his workshop—an addition I don't remember from the last time I was at his house in the late-90s/early-2000s. It was a great afternoon overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629471111480-2OPVWG42XOGV9F0SHEDV/Untitled-206.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.19.21 Every Piece Is Important Ashley had a fancy work dinner at Jeff Ruby’s tonight, leaving myself and the dog to figure out our night together. Following tradition, that means I order a pizza and give the occasional pepperoni to Myrtle while watching TV. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629631748789-JAQ9ZDQOXUNTM23MFZ82/Untitled-208.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.20.21 Backdrops Kendal Floral paid me to create large images for three backdrops they were going to put up during the Wellness Festival at Smale Park. I used Adobe’s Super Resolution feature to get them as large as possible and sent them the files to pass along to their printer. While the warmth of the images looks a little cooler than I’d intended, they turned out good overall. I was surprised by how sharp they were at that size. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629631747107-UAQCR82CY3DWQYP2I0YB/Untitled-207.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.21.21 Oneonta Train Station Chelsea and Vince got married along the river at the Inn at Oneonta tonight. After the cake was cut and everyone started dancing, that was my cue to begin an hours long solo journey around the property to check out what I could find. Little sitting areas were scattered throughout and tucked away in places one might miss if they weren’t looking carefully. It was easy to get turned around until I got the lay of the land. The highlight for me was this old train station that stood directly opposite the reception area. The inside left a lot to be desired, but it was still interesting to check out. I ended up sitting on the station platform until everyone was finished. Being the designed driver isn’t the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629688474116-MZQ9J8CO8K5ZAQW98EG5/NZ6_7845.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.22.21 Tremendous Prep Work Despite staying out late at the wedding last night, I had a bright and early 8 AM shoot at ICON at Smale Park. GBBN wanted photos of crews offloading for a show, and they set up a time to photograph Brad Paisley’s load-in. While the Foo Fighters’ security were difficult to work with, Paisley’s didn’t have nearly as many restrictions, making it considerably easier to do my job. I stood in the sun for two and a half hours photographing people offload semis, put lights together, video boards, string cables and chains from the rafters above, and various other show-related activities. In the time I was there, the stage went from relatively empty to almost completely filled. According to a crew member, most of the people there were locals hired to set up the show by Paisley’s crew. It’s amazing how many hands it takes to set up something like this. I understand why tickets to big shows have high price tags now that it’s obvious how many people it takes to make it happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629775276700-MFKB0YYFA11AECVQQ2GR/IMG_2178.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.23.212 Productive Days Aren’t Always Photographic Some days you wake up early to photograph crews unloading multiple semis worth of AV equipment for a well-known artist, and other days you spend all day editing images of a three-story condo you shot days ago only have time to take a picture of your bathroom. This isn’t an image anyone but I will look at twice, and that’s fine. Every time I walk into the kitchen at the end of the night to place my glass into the sink and head up to bed, I catch a glimpse of this room—the one I spent Christmas of last year lightly renovating—and it makes me feel accomplished in a very small way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1629860100237-P44JGBP1ZGP87T0YQQ2A/The+Pitch+Cincy+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.24.21 The Pitch Cincy Working with Luminaut is so satisfying because even though their expectations are high, the challenging jobs they give me end up leveling up my knowledge of architectural photography faster than anything else I do. They gave me their rendering and I recreated it as closely as I could, then I spent time cleaning it up in Photoshop. I remove a lot of small stuff from images like this when I get it into my computer just to give it an extra clean look before I give it to them, but this one took a little extra effort to get right because the screens above the bar were not on when I took the photo. The process of digitally adding the images, which I pulled from my archive to get around any licensing issues, was easy despite taking time. The job took me the entire day to shoot and process, but I got it done and sent it back to them already. When I’m able to turn something around in a little over 12 hours, it’s very satisfying; the client gets what they need quickly and I get to clear it from my job queue without sacrificing quality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630010189552-T7PSS0WJDOU3DQ94ZWYT/NZ6_8178.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.25.21 A Familiar Billboard While headed out of Downtown this morning, I noticed a billboard with an image I made for the Cincinnati Art Museum. It will always be a little awesome to see something I worked on blown up and printed this large. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284583906-UA9AR56QLFXPZ2S2Y45Z/IMG_2206.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.26.21 IRL Mods I’ve always wanted a magazine rack to hold the issues I’m currently reading. Instead of getting one, I end up stacking them on my bedside table where I’d rather place my water at night. While looking online for a design I could make with wood, I came upon a Wayfair entry that had the above side table with a U-shaped bit attached to the legs. I already had that exact table sans U-shaped bit, so I modified the one I had to match the one I saw online using scrap wood and leftover grey paint. I also put my iPad into it at night since the charger is nearby. The satisfaction of making something 200% more functional while scratching a builder itch without purchasing anything additional cannot be overstated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284585044-VKYNNJ99LN695Y2FP4KT/IMG_2220.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.27.21 Late Evening Dari Run At the start of summer, I was made aware of the Silver Grove Dari Bar by way of an assignment from Fort Thomas Matters. Our empty fridge left us with little choice but to seek out food tonight, and as it was raining buckets, the car was the only option. Not wanting to hit a drive thru, we opted to revisit the drive-in Dari Bar and had burgers, fries, fried cheesy hash browns, and a cherry shake. The bad weather staved off most of the clientele for the night, leaving us as one of only a handful of cars there to get food. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284592612-MJ35BZFKNLQ4OGU31WSE/NZ6_8201.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.28.21 She Went Swimming! Myrtle went swimming in a hidden watering hole in Mariemont today. She was so happy, she cried as she held her stick in her jaws and paddled back to us. Never have I ever seen a dog love swimming as much as she does. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630284599510-E3VHCUTZ8SMVRLTNCGW1/IMG_2246-Edit+copy.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.29.21 Upgraded Teleconferencing Background Since moving into our home a year ago, I’ve done little to my office besides reworking my desk. Today, I changed the wall directly behind me to be more colorful and visually interesting. It took 2.5 coats of paint and one pine board with a couple of brackets to get it to where I wanted it. While the second visual doesn’t adequately capture it, the room is darker and has more of a lounge vibe to it after the sun goes down. I envision this space being better suited to late-night Star Trek episodes and reading in my chair than it was before, as well as a better background for when I need to hop on a teleconferencing call. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630468576773-UWYQCX1K4JSR6R72YHRS/1+Alexander+Circle+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.30.21 1 Alexander Circle Photographed 1 Alexander Circle in Fort Thomas today. Essentially a mansion, the property was in a very bad state until a developer swooped in to fix it up. Among the many features that make it appealing, its abundance of pocket doors is the quality I think I’m attracted to most. It’s too big of a house for me, but if I could take a few of these pocket doors and put them in my own home, I would. Photographing them is always a little awkward, but I’ve found that going at them at an angle and removing about 20% of the door from the frame is effective in showcasing its purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630468577998-7SH1RO5UXEBJDIN37EOJ/IMG_2262.jpg daily-photos-aug-2021 - 8.31.21 Brand Management No matter how boring it is today, always photograph brands on shelves for tomorrow. Some of the best photos I’ve seen are ones that include logos from bygone eras and forgotten products. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-sep-2021 daily 0.75 2021-09-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630547265535-OI7HU6YBCPGNZBRWX5OH/NZ6_8890-Edit-3.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.1.21 Local Guide When I have downtime, I like to hop on Google and review businesses and places I’ve been. Whether it be a small coffee shop or a well-known landmark, if I’ve been there and had an experience worth remembering, I will likely write about it and include photos. The reason I do this is to boost the places and small businesses I like with positive reviews so the owners feel good and hopefully get additional customers. Sure, I’ve written a few reviews that weren’t glowing, but those are the exception to the rule. Simply leaving a Google review can help or hurt a small business in a big way, especially if you add to a cacophony of like-minded reviewers. Because of this diligent pursuit of opining online, Google sent me a little pin to commemorate my contributions. I’m often unaware of what I will review before I write about it, and often forget what I’ve reviewed in the past until I go back and look at my contributions. To illustrate this point, I made this photo using the pin itself. The “man” faces away from the frame where the viewer cannot see to represent my own inability to guess what I’ll review next. The long shadow is representative of one’s ability to cast a relatively big impression on a small business when they review it on Google. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630639062551-5GHLSP1RLNBVSCXTBYT2/1%2520Alexander%2520Circle%2520-%2520Phil%2520Armstrong%2520-94.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.2.21 Reshoots I returned to the mansion in Fort Thomas today for reshoots. The stager apparently didn’t satisfy the realtors’ expectations, so some rooms were redecorated and new photos were required. There wasn’t much to stage in the master bathroom, but I did miss taking a photo of the pocket door up there the first time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630720439331-GNLJY3BH3N7M31RFSTZU/NZ6_9243.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.3.21 Aerial Surprise First Friday in Bellevue was dog-themed this month. While a few places had offerings for dogs, the overall event was relatively lackluster. We still enjoyed a burger and beer while out, and we saw some people Ashley knew, so it was worth it. We decided to just walk home and have a beer on our porch once we were satisfied we’d gotten everything out of the event we wanted. On our walk home, we saw a cat at the top of a roof, then realized there were others hanging out up there, too. In total, we saw four kittens hanging out up there. It looks like they get up there by way of a tall fence next to a lower roof at the back of the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630897709732-UY2JXE8ZKLMIB2MAM5IM/LAS+-+Meshell+Ndegeocello+-+Phil+Armstrong+-117.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.4.21 Longworth-Anderson Series Shot a pre-show cocktail hour and some of the show itself at Memorial Hall. The lighting in the lobby on the first floor was atrocious enough to make me work double time to get a single image in focus and crisp enough to pass along to the client. Not a fun one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1630897707596-IPHIKUN94H5VJXTC0XP3/NZ6_0424.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.5.21 A Pleasant Surprise There were no Labor Day fireworks on the river in 2020, so we didn’t know if the house we moved into had a view of them. This year, while avoiding crowds, we figured we’d stay home and answer that question. The worst we could do is not see them for one year. We were pleasantly surprised that we could, indeed, see them after all. We often remark how much we love our house, but tonight it was the gift that kept on giving. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631039342042-8PLM8MZXX4J80WHNH541/IMG_2334.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.6.21 Bender Mountain For Labor Day, we got up early and went out to Bender Mountain in Delhi for a hike. Since neither of us had been before, it was a new experience that led us through the woods and along trails of varying levels of difficulty. While not the best-maintained preserve we’ve been to, it was great to explore uncharted territory with Myrtle. This woman was meditating at what seemed to be the highest point on the hill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631066204017-TNBGOXUGCLT1353VWZSB/IMG_2350.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.7.21 Summer Nights with the Girls Since buying our home in Bellevue, one of my favorite things is to sit with Ashley and Myrtle on the porch in the evenings. We drink beer or have ice cream and watch passersby as they come up and down the steps. Deer and rabbits frolic and forage before settling down for sleep in the empty lot’s tall grass across the street. The wind gently rustles the leaves above and around us while lightly spinning our hanging ferns. I often lay on the swinging bench while Ashley sprawls out on the couch. We don’t work on the porch. We don’t worry about anything on the porch. The porch is just our little space to watch the sunset and bask in the moment sans-responsibilities. It’s our own little corner of the world with a view of downtown in the distance, and it’s perfect for us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631152314487-OA95FVKJF2JUEGYTUJPT/NZ6_0542.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.8.21 Lafayette Bloom’s Empty A job took me over to the West End this afternoon. After doing what needed done, I took a stroll up Baymiller to get fresh photos of the school there. Lafayette Bloom was never my school when I was the right age to attend it, but it’s one I feel a connection to despite our lack of personal history. When I first started exploring the West End, it was the crown jewel of places that intrigued me. How could such a massive, architecturally beautiful building designed barely a hundred years earlier be so devoid of life today? The reasons, from what I’ve read, are many, and it officially closed its doors to what little students remained in 2006 after attempting to stay open from originally shutting down in 2000. Now it just sits waiting for either redevelopment, demolition, or years of continued neglect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631213316415-G03R01P2WKKGZHSDYBBE/G90+Engineering+Machine+Photo+-6.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.9.21 Machine-Like Precision I was hired to photograph a machine that makes pins for a well-known device. The machine’s newness needed to be captured before it becomes scratched and greasy through daily operation. Using the method of photo stacking, I hit every point of focus from the tip of the ramp to the back of the drill and layered it all in Photoshop. I positioned the metal pins at several points along the ramp using heavy magnets stuck to the underside of the ramp to keep them still while giving the impression of a downward slide without the motion blur that would call for a higher ISO to get right. The shot took awhile to set up, but I’m really happy with the end result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631331190284-J7CEUTAT2FYKMCG0EOX8/IMG_2430.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.10.21 Untitled Armstrong Projects My neighbor fosters dogs. When the shelter she works with has dogs who need homes, they contact her to see if she can take them in. Yesterday she received a call about a four month-old puppy, and when she went to pick her up, a box of seven very young dachshund/beagle puppies came in while she was there. Seeing no other choice, my neighbor took them in with the intention of finding them homes. My parents, who lost their dog in March, have been considering if they wanted to get a new dog, and seeing an opportunity to put one of these puppies into a good home, I asked them if they were interested. Much to my surprise, they wanted TWO puppies—one to keep the other company! They came over this evening to meet the litter and picked these two little girls out from the pack. They’re thinking of naming them Lilly and Rosa, but that could change. We’re going to take them to my parents’ house on Sunday where they’ll stay. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631414006582-SD3UN363CQ63PJQJIN5Q/IMG_2472.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.11.21 Intention My intention was to spend today doing things that made life worth living. Small things that mean a lot, like walking Myrtle with Ashley down by the river and getting coffee from two different shops in the morning. Methodically scouring the Cincinnati ReUse Center and buying hardware for future projects I haven’t yet started for a low price. And, of course, picking up Steve and going to my sister’s house for a birthday party for her 10 year old dog in Washington Courthouse. I barely looked at the internet, nor did I listen to much radio or watch any TV specials—there’s no chance any of it would make me feel good. I acknowledged what today was in private and proceeded to not let it define the rest of the day for me. In this photo, Myrtle and Kiran, my sister’s step-daughter, posed along the fence. Both of them are adorable and filled my day with happiness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631504278264-N162ZZ4B67DY00W9O1Q0/IMG_2482.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.12.21 A Familiar-ish Face Dog and cat photos end up being my photo of the day so often because they are always a delight. This one came up to me while on a walk this morning. I gave him/her a little attention and moved along after snapping a quick photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631590541925-17LRJ0RDPANBHQQPUHGG/PCFA+-+Phil+Armstrong+-66-2.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.13.21 Five In One Five images of cyclists enjoying the Loveland Bike Trail shopped into one image by the Peters Cartridge Factory Apartments. Before I was finished gathering the necessary material to make this composite, a woman came up and told me she was going to call the police on me for taking photos of “nude people in their apartment.” She was kidding, thankfully, and just needed help removing her bike from the rack on the back of her car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631848137077-XXGWEZFHPRZD7OUJGFQ1/NZ6_1882.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.14.21 Seen Better Days Photographed a place today that at one time looked to be a beautiful, magnificent house built for a single family. Today, it’s subdivided into multiple apartments. While the apartment I photographed left much to be desired, it did have a few touches of character that I thought were pretty, such as the floor in the bedroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631848117439-GV805CI4JT2Q5YEA74Q0/IMG_2551.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.15.21 Decisions, Decisions… Myrtle and I sat on the floor and played with a bunch of her toys while we watched TV tonight. I gotta train her to put all this crap away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631848123179-I8WESEGV9TULPZH0MOOK/LAS+-+Watkins+Family+Hour+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.16.21 Fat Head My shot list included getting images of the food and drink at the event tonight. Instead of shooting it in the tub, I asked the bartender to hold up a can for a more interesting composition. Fat Head’s is a Cleveland-based brewery that started in a little saloon in Pittsburgh in 1992. Ironically, today’s photo is #992! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1631930695217-XRJ4VADEMK8MNV85GSEY/IMG_2571.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.17.21 The Evening Express We took a walk up O’Fallon hill this evening to catch a glimpse of Cincinnati at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful but I wasn’t able to properly capture it because I left my damn memory card in the computer, rendering my Z6 useless. Instead, I opted for a grainy image on my phone. On the way down, we crossed over the Van Voast bridge and I caught the train rolling through. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632107100526-1I5C1CO1SLI626CI6DFZ/Ericka%27s+Wedding+at+Spring+Grove-45-2.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.18.21 Ericka’s Elopement Ericka, a friend I used to work with regularly when I ran Refined, eloped with her fiancé, Jared. They got married in Spring Grove Cemetery in a hidden spot I didn’t even know existed until I got there. I don’t normally photograph weddings, but I agreed to photograph hers because it was so relaxed. It was literally just myself and the person marrying them. Afterward, we took a few photos around the area. I think I was there for 20 minutes total. Fastest wedding ever. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632107100741-8EF55BPFRIIJ4ATRSYOY/IMG_2589.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.19.21 What’s Not There I have a tendency to maximize a space’s efficiency. Having lived in small spaces for the majority of my adult life, it’s been necessary to utilize every nook and cranny if I want to hold onto my things without cluttering it up. When we bought the house, we suddenly had double the amount of room to fill with our lives—and things. I put an heirloom side table into this small corner next to my office door when we moved in. The little table fit perfectly and became a rendezvous point for my wallet, face masks, magazines, AirPods, and other mobile essentials throughout the day. As many times as I’d clean it off to avoid it looking messy, my items would respawn the next day. Today I took a long, hard look at that table and wondered if I truly needed it there. Having determined I didn’t, the table went into the closet. The corner was meant to be empty. It’s meant to be a zone where clutter won’t exist and the path from the hallway into the office is less obstructed than before. I placed emptiness in this corner the same way I did a side table. It’s an intentional absence that adds to the overall aesthetic and vibe of the room the same way a painting on the wall or a chair would. It is intentional, intangible, functional decor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632362954574-C6FIDE58CX564XDE52OK/Christ+the+King+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.20.21 Overcast Shoot Did some exteriors for Luminaut of an addition they made for a church in Mt. Lookout. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast and there’s a good chance I’ll need to reshoot it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632362961161-4Z9D1C466ZDK8ULWFQZS/Luminaut+Office+Photo+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.21.21 The Nauts Luminaut office photo taken inside the Courtyard Marriott, which they designed. This was the fun take. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632362954569-3CGUZV00ELUYHHFDLG2X/IMG_2622.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.22.21 Bayhorse Reunion Met up with Travis, Ronny, and Justin tonight for a couple of beers at the Bayhorse. Had to convert this to B&W because the lighting in the back room isn’t ideal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632456207966-I87MK9FZL8XL9JLCA2Q7/IMG_2632.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.23.21 Undergrowth I have a tendency to look down at my shoes when not moving. If I didn’t, I’m not sure I would’ve noticed this trapped sewer plant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632542701805-K901JKYIQNBOGPCQM65K/NZ6_4402.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.24.21 Number Error I spent the day thinking it was a milestone for the daily photo project. I thought today was going to be my 1000th post. Another image was supposed to mark that special occasion after carefully considering what I should do halfway through the evening and making the trek up a hill to capture it. But after I’d made both the post and the image, I realized I’d messed up the count somewhere along the way and today was actually only day 998. I’m honestly embarrassed that anyone may have seen it through an RSS feed that snatched it before it was deleted. But I figure it’s best to be up front about failures like that, so now you know. Here’s a sunflower from a trip to a farm I went to today. I lit it with a flash so I could get the face of it while backlit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632631302549-LY7GJ488130DICY0UNEX/NZ6_5496.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.25.21 Iconic Work Night Spent over 5 hours shooting at ICON tonight for GBBN. Show shoots are usually kind of a tough thing for me to do because the lighting is all over the place and crowds can be unpredictable, but everything about tonight was good. I had a great time shooting this space with show goers in it while two excellent bands provided the soundtrack to the evening. This was one of my final photos of the night. The group pictured wanted their photo taken together. I was running an interval at the time and let it take their photo then cancelled the interval, but not before miming my finger on the shutter. One guy caught on and yelled, “he faked it!” Of course, he was right, but I was delighted to prove him wrong since the interval actually did take their photo, just seconds before I mimed it. One of the girls snapped my LCD screen with her phone to “save” the image. It was all pretty funny—both the situation and proving that guy wrong even though he was technically, kind of right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1632708985436-K7LCO3373YO5XL8YHS0J/NZ6_4421-HDR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.26.21 One Thousand Days I made a photo today using a split diopter that I thought was fun and creative. However, I didn’t choose it for today’s photo. The image you see here was made two days earlier, when I thought I was on day 1000. However, I realized I had miscounted somewhere along the way, and instead I was only on day 998. The intentionality was there, but my accounting was not. I still made a photo today and preserved my daily goal, it just won’t be seen here. This image was made for day 1000, and I cannot let my accounting error ruin that. I chose this scene for two reasons. First, the inaugural daily photo was taken from my window in the city at night, and I wanted to pay homage to that image by incorporating the city after dark. Secondly, I wanted to invite my new home into this moment in my life. By filling the frame half with Cincinnati and half with Bellevue, I feel like both places are equally represented. No matter who comes into or leaves my life, no matter what my career looks like, no matter the state of my mental or physical health, and no matter what life throws at me, I know I get to make a photo. Much is different today than it was over two and a half years ago, but this daily photo project has been one of the only reassuring constants in an ever-changing world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633014904357-GTBWUZNITT4MQ3XTLCH2/IMG_2718.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.27.21 Sleepy Girls My parents’ puppies are staying with us overnight. This is them cuddled up in a corner of their crate. They always have to be cuddling with each other when they’re resting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633014898630-AX1EOO17ZOX1NKJ1CBPT/217+E+26th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.28.21 A 1928 Beauty I’m shooting this Covington house tomorrow. Due to a tight deadline, I needed to get night photos of it tonight. I did a quick walkthrough and it was gorgeous with loads of character intact. It would be easy to gut this house and white box it, but they didn’t, and I really love how much century-old charm is still has. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633014898466-F78B11PYHYBVA5NH2773/217+E+26th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 - 9.29.21 Phone Booth Shower Last night, I published a photo of a house I was going to shoot the next day. This is from that house. There’s a lone shower in the hallway, apart from the nearby bathroom, which has a shower of its own. I photographed it this way to illustrate how it’s just in the middle of a hallway instead of inside a bathroom. I’m guessing there was a layout change sometime during the course of history that alienated this shower from the original bathroom because I cannot imagine why it would be placed here otherwise. Regardless, I think this is the thing I love the most about this house. This isn’t something I’ve ever seen during my years of photographing old homes, and I’m fairly certain I will not see this again. Because of its peculiar placement in the hallway, it has the vibe of a phone booth over a shower. Personally, I think the tile is both inside and out is spectacular. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633209943313-DIK50UBC0RAJ1BM5OE6N/IMG_2732.jpg daily-photos-sep-2021 Miscalculations I wanted to build an upright rolling cabinet that could slide under my bench. The design is simple and I was able to use a fair amount of scrap wood to cut down on the cost. However, after I’d assembled it and rolled it up to the edge of the bench, I missed the mark by a half inch. Normally I’d be irritated with myself, but it made me laugh aloud. After taking this photo, I flipped it over and rethought the mounting situation to lower it just enough to fit. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-oct-2021 daily 0.75 2021-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647292989-64VUE0PMZUHPYVMTY2GZ/NZ6_6246.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.1.21 First Friday in the River Town Tonight was First Friday in Bellevue. Obviously Halloween themed this month, loads of kids and parents were out and about gathering free candy from boutique owners and other small businesses. I went to the top of The Fairfield Venues for a moment to get a shot from up there during sunset, and though the streets don’t look crowded in the photo, they were bustling within the hour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647299123-AQMML1EH2DET81K935KI/NZ6_6255.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.2.21 Train Wreck of a Trip to Metamora Last year, we went to Metamora during Canal Days & it was one of those magical autumn experiences that I looked forward to recreating this year. I placed it on my calendar weeks in advance to ensure we didn’t miss it. Between the trains, the canal, the easy-going people and cute little shops, and all-around pleasant vibe of the place, I’d hoped to have a similar experience this year with the photogenic scenery. That, sadly, wasn’t in the cards. Today we went and it was truly awful. It was uncomfortably crowded to the point where simply walking was stressful, especially since we had Myrtle in tow. The boats in the canal and scenic vignettes we enjoyed last year were replaced by tents of cheap sunglasses and trump shit in every direction. It felt like a crowded county fair in the middle of aggressive, conservative nowhere instead of the peaceful little canal town we enjoyed so much last year. It was a total letdown and we didn’t spend more than an hour before we decided it wasn’t worth staying and left. On the way out, I got to take this photo of a very slow-moving train, which was nice. If we ever go back to Metamora, it won’t be during this unfortunate festival. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647292603-W1KFXQL77D1GFMZQE423/IMG_2771.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.3.21 Night Walk Plainly and simply put: we took a walk around the neighborhood at night. Nothing else to it than that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647298881-HU1RWXAKR4HCMGJMO2CX/NZ6_6277.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.4.21 New Spots I didn’t drink coffee here today, but I plan to soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647301627-SL2QLUE03A4ZHCKJUENX/NZ6_6337.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.5.21 Schmetterling We ate breakfast outside in this little garden cafe called The Birds Nest in Nashville, IN. Butterflies and bees hopped from flower to flower as we sipped coffee and Myrtle sat patiently for a bit of our leftovers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647303267-B7D8H7COHIKDFCKHP60A/NZ6_6510.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.6.21 Bloomington’s Fountain Square In the afternoon, Bloomington became our unintended destination. We ate fries and enjoyed a flight of beer at The Tap before further exploring the area. Bloomington’s Fountain Square is pretty architecturally interesting with loads of 19th and early-20th Century buildings surrounding the Monroe County Courthouse. Ashley shopped at a place called Lola’s, and we went inside a sporting goods store that gave Myrtle the biggest piece of beef jerky she could handle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1633647305577-0TQ0PWTG4HTAVK4DJRCA/NZ6_6549.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.7.21 Columbus’ Churches Eliel Saarinen’s First Christian Church in Columbus, IN is depicted in today’s photo. Before driving back home, we stopped in Columbus, IN—a city known for its wealth of unique Modernist architecture by several prominent architects throughout the last 100 years. I paid for a map of the area at the Visitor’s Center before heading out on foot to see several of the city’s iconic buildings. The doors on this church are so boldly different than any other I’ve seen, yet it’s of the WWII era. Saarinen’s unique design speaks to the timelessness of the structure, bolstering the reputation the city’s earned as a place of such profoundly interesting architecture. We only spent a few hours in Columbus before heading home, but it won’t be the last time I visit; I’d like to do a guided tour next time and get deeper perspective on each of these places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004918204-LOI9X34EEJFNSY0Q086U/IMG_2833.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.9.21 Wild Night at Riverside Marina Even though I took this photo on the Friday the 8th, I am writing this caption on 10th for a good reason. Ashley and I went out with our neighbors and ended up drinking ourselves into oblivion like we haven’t done in years. I don’t remember waving goodbye to my own car still parked in the lot as we got a ride home, but I’m sure I did it. We had an incredible night…until we got home… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004919380-FIULLT6R74HGF13U5MML/NZ6_6990.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.9.21 Oof Friday night’s wild ride abruptly turned vomitous® by the time we got home. While I managed to keep my booze down, Ashley was not so lucky. I’ll spare you the details because they’re pretty bad. I ended up walking back to the bar in the morning because I didn’t feel physically able to ride my bike, and I do not think I’ve struggled with a 3.5 mile walk more in my life. The heat and duration of the walk allowed my body to sweat out whatever remaining Patron and Blue Moon I had flowing through my system. When I finally pulled the car into the garage, I celebrated by promptly going back to bed, where Ashley had been between bouts of explosive runs to the bathroom. Together, we popped Advils and drank Pedialyte packets for the rest of the day. I managed to get over my hangover in the mid-afternoon, but Ashley was out for the count until the next day. I don’t think either of us will touch alcohol again for a week or two… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004918485-69TIV8AFN69OY4D12MUE/lego%2Bstudio%2Bsession%2B-%2Bbat%2Blords%2Bcastle%2B1997%2B-12.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.10.21 New Way to Play Weeks ago, I hastily gathered all the Lego I still had from my childhood at my parents’ house and brought it to my own home. While I loved the idea of building old sets I’d purchased in the 90s, I struggled with what I’d do with the sets once they were built. I don’t have the old desire to play with them, and I don’t have a desire to necessarily build them all to display them. So after some thought, I realized I could “play” with them by practicing studio photography and Photoshop—something constructive in addition to fun. I found a database of set directions online and put together a set I got for Christmas in 1997. It’s a tall castle with a dungeon in the tower. Shining a book light through the windows and using photo stacking, I created a scene inside the dungeon then added effects in post to give it the ambiance I wanted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634004924915-M3PMHDEBLT1GMION5QZP/NZ6_7112.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.11.21 Julie, Your Ride’s Here I wonder what the backstory is to this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634100676261-RRV4H4KQSROCBEGCZKE7/lego+studio+session+-+pirates+ambush+1997+-1.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.12.21 The Treasure Hunter’s End After building a large white backdrop studio table out of scrap wood last weekend, I’ve been looking forward taking product photos of various things to sharpen my skills with Photoshop. I researched another Lego set that I had as a kid, built it, modified it, then came up with a little story scene. The set, called Pirate’s Ambush, is from 1997, and depicts a two-tower arrangement with a dropping net in the middle on the original box. The pirates sit atop the structure, and the Spaniard (?) sits in the boat, ready to be ambushed. The scene I came up with is similar, though there’s additional danger in the water and the perspective is more dramatic. I lit the scene with a Lumecube on one side, arranged some warm lighting from the other side, and photo stacked 35 images. In Photoshop, I overlaid the background with an image I made years ago of the sun over the ocean and added clouds from another image from that same area. I then cleaned up several imperfections in the bricks, touched up the edges, added gleaming light to multiple surfaces, and added a static animation effect to the gator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634330935999-CHCDM6JY5BWY7CQI7101/IMG_2874.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.13.21 Little Olive We had dinner at the Germans’ house tonight. Their little dog, Olive, is a chihuahua mixed with a pug. She’s super sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634330936009-5EXO34W899H4PVXDMBPX/IMG_2884.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.14.21 Mobile Studio Moved the studio setup from the finished side of the basement to the unfinished side, right next to my workshop. I figured it would be easier and out of the way there. I had to move a few things around to get the bikes that were in this corner out of the way, but I’m glad I finally have a little corner within which I can do my thing. I think I will end up needing to cut a bigger piece of plywood for the base at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634330943648-AIZX4ZQ5LRIFRHYWJB9J/NZ6_7704-Edit.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.15.21 Faux Commercial To bolster my portfolio with new product work, I decided to start using the studio on objects I have lying around the house. Apple has some of the best product shots, but it’s clear they use digital rendering instead of actual photography to make them. However, I wanted to create something Apple-like, so I got my iPad out, suspended the Pencil at an angle using fishing line, and photo stacked it all in post to create this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634526156988-PFPLNT7PRMYWQPHBWRT0/IMG_2922.jpeg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.16.21 Darkened Memorial Hall Ever wonder what Memorial Hall looks like with most of its lights off? Here you go. Using the iPhone’s low light mode, I was still able to get a pretty bright image, but in reality, the scene was quite dark. Save for the light coming in from the other hall and the windows, everything was turned off for the performance just beyond the curtains. I thought it looked pretty neat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634526309301-3BEMSEIAGA28KMO7J3MH/IMG_2927.jpeg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.17.21 Rocking Chair Portrait We were sitting in the bedroom for a moment and I liked the light coming in through the window. You can see Myrtle in the foreground waiting for our next move. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634617628613-735RB1ALNCNAJ4WZ1FUU/lego+studio+sessions+-+flower+bouquet-1.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.18.21 Flower Bouquet Ashley’s Lego bouquet with a little bee I improvised. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634695481065-EUJTSJJJ3KI3VELID1D7/NZ6_8266.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.19.21 Alternate Ways to Communicate When your spouse is on a work call and they can’t look at their phone, you get creative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1634825693699-PXQ8JF1QI84K3SJBPVGH/400+E+13th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-22.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.20.21 13th Street A view looking west on 13th Street. From a job I did today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635066180731-GE9IK4FYKUP3OUADJVG5/26+W+15th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.21.21 Street Art A section of 15th Street between Goose Alley and Race Street is closed to cars. It’s painted with a series of bright, colorful shapes and has tables outside of B&A Kitchen. While no one else was enjoying the space when I took this photo, I certainly was. I was there to shoot two AirBnbs and wanted to get a few shots of the surrounding area because, in my opinion, it added to the value of staying in that location. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635066180643-FNN8W0VQAFCDP670AVUS/IMG_2968.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.22.21 A Soggy, Beautiful Night Ashley and I tried several times to hang out with friends tonight, but everyone was busy. So instead, we sat in the car and had burgers from Bebo on Court Street. Wanting to hang with Myrtle, she came along for the ride and licked at the air as we scarfed down our food. I didn’t expect a whole lot from the restaurant, but it was decent. The value vs. the quality and quantity of food we got was good. Though it was misting outside at the time, we parked and took a nice walk through Over-the-Rhine, eventually settling in for a beer at The Porch in Washington Park. As we went to leave, I thought this scene was particularly beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635066183158-R4VSSI32STNWN8REA0EC/IMG_2983.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.23.21 Petri’s The girls and I went to Nomad for coffee and breakfast this morning. Afterward, we did a little quick shopping on the Avenue and found ourselves inside a floral shop called Petri’s. I’d never been inside before today. We purchased a few small things including a plant Ashley wanted and some potting soil. They let Myrtle come inside the shop instead of making us wait outside while Ashley did her shopping. She always likes sniffing around and checking things out. A business that allows me to bring my pup inside always increases its return-ability. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635124645849-6CHJYTCDGRBBC06VMJ64/IMG_3039.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.24.21 Dealer of Destruction Chris asked me the other day, “when will I see you again?” We resolved to spend some time together today, in Dayton. Ashley and I went up at noon and met him at a delicious restaurant in the Oregon District called Lily’s. After eating, the rain drove us indoors to the free Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum. Inside, we looked at everything from the Wright Brothers’ first airplane to more modern ones, like the stealth B-2 bomber. The WWII section was the most familiar of the war planes to me, but that’s not saying a lot; I do not know my model designations well. I knew a few of them, like the plane that dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki, but I got a pretty fresh education overall. The space section had some really neat stuff, and we got to tour several presidential planes, including the one LBJ was on when he took the oath of office after JFK’s assassination. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635196010361-6PPUQ87QV0PIMW4IDA9J/soundcore+q30.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.25.21 Soundcore Q30 As someone who uses earplugs to sleep and earbuds for work, I have grown weary of shoving objects into my ears to aid in my daily routine. And as someone who isn’t an audiophile and cannot tell a high-end set of speakers from a consumer brand when they aren’t placed side by side, I don’t require the biggest and best equipment to listen to podcasts. Therefore, I bought myself a set of over-the-ear headphones that are under $100. Some research online suggested the Soundcore Q30 headphones were among the finest pair for the right price. Naturally, I wanted to photograph them on my white background soon after opening the box and digitally manipulated the image in Photoshop later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635278455047-YNFF4ADPLGZU0REM85ST/NZ6_9211-Edit.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.26.21 Toothpaste Trial Feeling the stress of uncertainty with several jobs and waiting on information about the logistics of each one, I decided to do some work around the house to keep myself occupied. After completing my tasks, I wanted to practice some additional product photography. I’ve already done several electronics, so I set my sights on something more mundane. I photographed the tube and toothbrush simultaneously, then added toothpaste in post. The background was also edited from the default white. There was no point to any of this besides just trying out new things and adding work to a growing portfolio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635377004017-MRQIIFGT7XP801PEJ0C0/NZ6_9836.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.27.21 Old Work Anew Had a long shoot at JRG Lofts today. Worked from 10:30 AM to 5 PM. As I was knocking out their shot list, I wandered into their mailroom to see a picture I knew would be hanging on the wall. In July 2016, I took a photo of the Roebling Bridge during Golden Hour. I recently sold the image to a designer who had it printed and framed for placement in the JRG Lofts mailroom. It was nice to see something I made five years ago take on a new life in a new place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635684484576-55KLSIRSXDN736WJ17SW/IMG_3073.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.28.21 Forgetting to Do the Homework I spent the entire day editing photos from yesterday’s job. I still have days of work ahead of me, honestly. It’s a huge project that will require an unusually high amount of touching up. As such, I didn’t even think about Photo of the Day until about 11:45 PM. Like a bad student, I quickly took a photo of the closest thing to me when I realized I hadn’t completed the day’s assignment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635684487724-PWJ50D1BM9FF4HS6WUC2/IMG_3082.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.29.31 Chateau Spooky Saw this house on Dunlap Street and thought it was excellent. Best Halloween decor in Over-the-Rhine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635684488395-1N4ZH15AZ3BU5UPFBYTA/IMG_3103.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.30.21 Manny’s Crazy Eyes Forgive the quality of this photo; it is a still from a video of Manny, the neighbor’s dog, playing with Myrtle in our front yard. Still plugging away with editing the JRG Lofts project, I’ve had little time to do anything else for any length of time, so I’ve been unable to get a very good image in the past few days. I loved Manny’s crazy eyes in this, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988132766-KQ5UV8S35NV1SDLNEXL1/IMG_3115.jpg daily-photos-oct-2021 - 10.31.21 Sarah’s Halloween Wedding Along with mom, dad, my grandmother, and Ashley, I rode to Hocking Hills to a cabin on the precipice of a ravine for Sarah’s wedding to Kyle. It was very relaxed and we ate some great lasagne. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-nov-2021 daily 0.75 2021-11-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988003944-FPJGIR7ZSFCBXOZTKG1K/Kelsey+%26+Max-12.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.1.21 Max and Kelsey’s Announcement My neighbors, Max and Kelsey, are from Kansas. To announce their pregnancy to their friends back home on social media, I worked with them to get a pleasant few images. We went down to the riverfront in Newport and snapped several photos with the city in the background. Manny, the dog featured just a few days ago in this daily photo project, made an appearance in a cute bib. We had a good time and it was nice to get out of my photo-bubble for once. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988006083-A079B349ABTN7QFTUUBI/NZ6_0554-HDR-Edit-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.2.21 Night Market While the rest of Cincinnati went to Lucius Q to congratulate Aftab Pureval on his election win, I was quietly doing a job just opposite the market. This image is a composite. The shutter speed to get low ISO detail in the market was too slow for the streetcar, so I bumped it up to a higher ISO and speed when it rolled by, then combined the two in post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1635988003443-NX1RG0D9D48RJ5TSS2OI/IMG_3146-2.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.3.21 HBD Ashley She’s 33 today. Her mom and I made her a cake! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342867898-ILOIJVC7AKDKB6C2UQDR/254+Mohawk+-+Phil+Armstrong-62.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.4.21 Haunted Terlet Photographing some soon-to-be-renovated buildings in Over-the-Rhine for a client. The building’s are stabilized but still pretty rough around the edges. One I shot today was almost entirely dark inside its back half, so I had to use my flashlight to get some of the shots. When I poke my head around one of the corners, I saw this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342867966-O6UV6VS40O37DR5KN4J1/IMG_3165.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.5.21 Muralized Ashley stood in front of one of the new murals on the side of the Kroger HQ building downtown. We went to Teak for dinner and she had a lackluster meal, sadly. She was really looking forward to it and everything. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342871704-01FAOSY1YM82NP6FTYPJ/IMG_3182.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.6.21 Antler Jealousy Myrtle and Fletcher each wanted the antlers to chew on. Fletcher had them for the majority of the time, but when he wasn’t looking, Myrtle swooped in to claim them for herself. As she was chewing, Fletcher was nearby while trying not to let on that he was eagerly waiting for her to drop them. They both refuse to take them from the other when they’re actively chewing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636342872295-4ULR7H4202JMWXCB6GEC/NZ6_1311.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.7.21 City in the Clouds On our weekly walk to Unataza this morning, fog had settled in the river valley and made for some interesting views. This little section of building caught my eye as it appeared to come directly out of the clouds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636515678761-VDDRCB4Y5Y2WCHVOBT9B/230+Covington+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-65.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.8.21 Covington Avenue Shot this lovely house at the end of a stretch of Covington Avenue tonight for a realtor. The inside was even nicer than the outside. I got really lucky with that sunset, too. One of the best shoots I’ve had in awhile because the house didn’t require Photoshopping extraneous elements out of the rooms or recoloring walls/ceilings. The whole thing was set up and decorated perfectly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636515678764-XR9FFXDTLKGRXBRD7JTA/John+Hiatt+and+The+Jerry+Douglas+Band+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.9.21 The Unknown Artist Shot a pre-show and stage show for the Longworth Anderson Series tonight at Memorial Hall. As always, a musician set up in the first floor lobby area while everyone mingled with their pizza and drinks. I didn’t catch his name (I’ve emailed my contact to get that info), but this was one of the few frames with flash and I’m pleased with how it turned out. I don’t normally like flooding a crowded room with flash when covering an event because it’s jarring to a lot of people, so I use it conservatively. Memorial Hall’s first floor is horrible for event photography, making the choice to resist spamming flash difficult. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636694032914-LIM4TQ7ZK1A51S3P60G6/The+Lofts+%28Rookwood+Properties%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.10.21 Fiery Foliage Went to Crescent Springs for a job this morning and I saw this extremely red tree. Against the blue sky, I thought it was magnificent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1636694031461-86HHGW1RDIB20V6WA6BM/IMG_3226.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.11.21 Facepalm After falling in love with DS9, I decided to watch TNG. Unfortunately, my obsession with completionism prevents me from skipping to the good seasons, so I’m currently choking down the first one. Despite seeing Armin Shimmerman in an early episode, as well as Colm Meany in small support roles, I haven’t seen an episode yet that’s given me any sense of understanding the appeal of TNG, but everyone says it’s the “best Star Trek” so I’m going to stick with it. Once Riker grows a beard, it’ll be smooth sailing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118179726-OMM9OHOOWJNN1OVS24QQ/Crescent+Ridge+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-58.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.12.21 Odd Job Had an odd job today. I was tasked with photographing an apartment community, but it wasn’t a bougie, new development or that I typically get. Just a simple, honest apartment complex with little-to-no frills. About the only thing I could do to make it look even remotely above average was shoot across the lake at these trees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118185533-0J2NXKH859D7ZIEUJAJ1/LAS+-+Shake+%26+Holla+Tour+-+Phil+Armstrong+-76.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.13.21 Final LAS of the Year Shot my final Longworth-Anderson Series concert of the year. It was the most energetic one I shot in 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118179244-QO8AWKW9HTRL9QMMIS3X/IMG_3264.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.14.21 Fletcher’s Back We got to watch Fletcher overnight. He’s such a sweet little dog. Super affectionate and playful, and he gets along with Myrtle well. They played together, slept near each other, and cuddled with Ashley together. I wish he was our dog! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118183289-P1F17WRSRFVRY69U7YXE/IMG_3297.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.15.21 A New Project In An Old Place The city hired me to make something creative for First Friday, and it’s a doozie. I spent the last few days designing it based on their original idea by mapping out every piece in Procreate and putting together an extensive PDF that I can both give to others and reference for the build. Since my home is too small for the build, they’ve given me a key to do what I need inside the old Marianne Theater on the Avenue. Every time I enter, I have to walk into blackness (no windows—it’s a movie theater) in order to get upstairs to the breaker box on the second level. Once there, I can turn on the string lights they’ve haphazardly strung through the main areas of the theater. Those brief series of moments when I have to willingly step into pitch blackness inside that massive auditorium to make my way to the stairs in order to throw the switch to turn everything on, a little part of me fears that I’ll see something or someone waiting around a corner. I try not to let the imaginary monster chase me up the stairs as I did when I was a kid, but I’d be lying if I said I made it a leisurely climb. That fear of the dark, though muted in adulthood, never truly went away for me. As soon as I hear the switch snap in the metal box and see the string lights flicker to life, the fear immediately dissipates and I resist scoffing at my own foolishness, knowing full well that I will repeat the process tomorrow. I go back downstairs and look around the room—one that’s seen better days—and I marvel at its tired, neglected beauty before taking drill to screw and hitting play on another episode of Heavyweight to drown out the lonely stillness of that place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637118183297-714PA7D81IUKF1AJC40F/IMG_3324.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.16.21 Progress I’m not ready to reveal the master plan just yet, but I can share the progress. Working alone inside the old theater, I have a frame and the front cladding on, but I still have much to do. I have a job at noon tomorrow, which will cut into my project time, but I plan on finishing the carpentry within the next few days. Then, I need to paint and shingle it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546146204-5AQQ0BPOCAEJ45X5NQXR/IMG_3340.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.17.21 Nice Night for a Walk It was a warm, windy night—perfect conditions for a dog walk. The light from the moon, ever-muddied by the comparatively simple camera of a smartphone, lit the streets when streetlights were too far spaced apart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546146055-7M3S2ENREAMYT4IP2O6D/IMG_3378.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.18.21 Team Puppy I chose Team Puppy. Together, we battled the mighty Myrtle for rag-rope supremacy. I don’t remember who won because I was too busy trying to get a photo of it all in relatively low light conditions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546139619-EC96RNZN83G888SY4EDG/The+Dublin+Defense+-+Phil+Armstrong+-12.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.19.21 The Dublin Defense Fighting a headache and weary from a day of physical labor down at the Marianne Theater, I went to see my friend’s 80s cover band at Bircus and snapped photos for them. I hope she likes them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637546139701-W8ZFFSKTAY4B44O1PFET/Glendale+Lyceum+Event+-+11.20.21+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.20.21 At the Glendale Lyceum There was a 1920s-style, bootlegger-themed, black-tie event at the Glendale Lyceum tonight. I was hired to photograph part of the night for those hosting. Before everyone arrived, I snapped a few photos of the space because it was so beautifully arranged. Once everyone started arriving, it was immediately apparently I’d underdressed. I guess I missed the memo about what to wear. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637547165396-GVKMH8LZSBDN164E3FGD/IMG_3431.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.21.21 Sinus Infection? It’s not COVID. It’s probably a sinus infection. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1637634508694-VRC8SHE2TCAEU497EY4E/IMG_3439.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.22.21 Therapy Bear Feeling poorly, I rested on the couch today to regain my health for the rest of the week. As a result, little Myrtle cuddled up with me for a bit when she was finished trying to get me to play tug-of-war with her. It was nice not working on anything for a day. It is 9:30 PM as I write this, and I’m feeling better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110048456-WXO65VCNO53OB3WJ6XG0/IMG_3454.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.23.21 Hidden Things in the Courthouse There’s a railing under this staircase in Courthouse for two reasons. First, it’s there to protect someone bonking their head on the underside of the staircase. Second, and more interestingly, it’s there to keep people off the floor because it’s hollow beneath. This is where one of the failed Cincinnati Subway staircases once emerged from the floor. It was bricked up long ago for obvious reasons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110048880-HVLIUS008IKOK7Y91KMU/IMG_3485.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.24.21 Let There Be Light Adding lights to the structure today. One step closer to completion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110052710-JQ3X18NWRLE4QRS4QYNF/IMG_3497_jpg.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.25.21 Covington on Thanksgiving Steve didn’t have a plate for Thanksgiving due to COVID exposure, so we brought him one. His street looks best at night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110052701-NPXA26I1UTQDI854PPM7/IMG_3510.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.26.21 Tree’s Up The day after Thanksgiving can only mean one thing: Christmas decorating time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638110054395-635H2EUEZNXTDAQI2B42/IMG_3520.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.27.21 Our Little Family Just a scene from the staircase. The painted plaque was given to my parents when they were married in 1984. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638245754055-R1OFVF2IOQ8E6V8Q9WDA/IMG_3531.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.28.21 Paint Day Myself, Ashley, and others all piled into the Marianne to paint the structure today. While 90% of it is finished, I still need to worry about a few small areas. And then there’s the matter of disassembly and transportation to the location on the Avenue. I am looking forward to making something small in my workshop again… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638246005814-08TMMZS7HZIPMZGX5FQP/NZ6_6324.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.29.21 Accidental Portrait I shot two apartments and two houses today. I was setting up a shot in one of the bathrooms when I misfired and got myself in the mirror. As I write this, my knees and back are sore from getting down on the floor to achieve the proper camera level, but it is my eyes that truly need rest. The faster I finish this caption, the faster I can go to bed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638936121274-2N1QETSJLRWNJLTZ71O1/IMG_3560.jpg daily-photos-nov-2021 - 11.30.21 DIY Flight Boards With us both fully vaccinated and with nearly all of our friends and family following suit, we're gearing up to have people over more often inside since the weather is cooling down. Dinner parties in mind, we thought it would be fun to bring a little brewery hospitality to our own kitchen by making our own flight boards and getting a bunch of unique beer to share with guests when they come over. This is the first of four I plan to make. The edges are routed on the top and bottom, as well as the holes for the flight glasses to add better grip and style. It's unstained in this photo, but I plan to use leftover stains from past projects to give each one a different color. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-dec-2021 daily 0.75 2021-12-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935767031-2EXPG53W4INUGR167SE1/IMG_3592.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.1.21 Color and Angles Spent the day inside the Marianne Theater building the second of the placemaking projects: an outdoor chalkboard. This is a zoomed photo of a section of the board from behind. I just liked the starkness of the colors. The ceiling in there is a beautiful dusty yellow and I caught it from just the right angle to not see any of its details besides color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935767633-UAUGAIPN7T39Y7VFGG2R/IMG_3607.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.2.21 Mr. Slug Just a slug sliding down the edge of a stone step. I like the shape and translucency of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935770242-RK5HBQYCARW2FF6MTJN9/IMG_3639.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.3.21 Big Friday Night What a day! I was able to remove and install my two placemaking projects with help from city council members and others. First, I disassembled the chalkboard and reassembled it under the marquee of the Marianne. A volunteer decorated it with garland and painted sticks. Then I disassembled the InVue structure and had to move it a few blocks away using the Mayor's personal truck. We reassembled it on the front lawn of one of the Mayor's properties that faces the Avenue. Took me pretty much the entire day to get it all broken down, moved, and set back up, but it was worth it. The way this little city comes together in such a personal way to accomplish something stands out as one of the best things about living here. There's no divide between residents and local government; everyone knows each other, likes each other, and helps each other. Ashley and Myrtle joined me on the Avenue after dark and we drank a few beers at Darkness, went over to a friend's house, then met some new people who live in the neighborhood who seem cool. Before calling it a night, Ashley added what brings her joy to the chalkboard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935774509-9LWYG84YBQVIDGHR9YDU/Marlene%27s+Baby+Shower+-+12.4.21+-89.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.4.21 Westin Shower I shot a baby shower for someone I know today. First I've ever done. It was a little stressful because she's a highly skilled photographer with many years in the business who knows her shit, and I didn't want to let her down. Unfortunately, the room everyone was in had horrible mismatched fluorescent lighting with a bold beam of natural light streaming through the doorway, so it was difficult to find the right angle on everything. I ended up dual-wielding with a 35mm and an 85mm and opened the aperture between ƒ/1.8 and 2.2 for most shots just to make sure they were crisp in that dark space. I think they turned out alright overall, but I'm nervous about sending them to her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935771543-FBG6RE3MD5SUR6OSPKIR/Lacey+and+Jordan+Christmas+-+12.5.21+-1.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.5.21 Parks' Christmas Photo My neighbors asked if I would do their Christmas card photo with their son and five dogs. While it took a little effort to wrangle the pups and keep the little guy happy, I think it turned out well. They were pleased with the set, and that's really what matters most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935776012-J4C557M1WZZFS18XGYY9/NZ6_8183-Edit.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.6.21 We've Done This Five Years In a Row It's Myrtle's Christmas photo time! I actually comped her into this scene; the background was shot at a low-grain ISO 50 and she's at a high-grain ISO 4000. Flash wasn't getting me the effect I wanted, so to preserve the glow of the tree, I shot the scene without her at ƒ/11 ISO 50 first, then shot it again with the faster, grainer setting to make sure she was sharp. I then layered both images and pulled her and a bit of the bed into the low-grain image to create the desired image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1638935777474-UF6E0DUHRCRY9ZK1S0LI/NZ6_8210.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.7.21 InVue Finally got a photo of the InVue structure I made over the last two weeks with Ashley and Myrtle tonight. You stand where the 'i' is to become part of the message. Bellevue's social media hashtag is #InVue. It's just supposed to be a fun little interactive public piece that both represents Bellevue and presents a photo op. I may do a blog post about making it at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639108699539-V3DHNXL7ERNHEK8J55M4/NZ6_8366-HDR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.8.21 Clinging to Autumn Had a couple of jobs Downtown today. One was on 12th Street. The top floor has a tremendous view. You can’t see a lot of it in this photo, but it snowed overnight, casting rooftops and shaded areas in a nice white powder. It was cold enough to keep the majority of it around until afternoon, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639108688550-56CZT904HIJ6PADIFX6V/NZ6_8408-HDR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.9.21 DIY Organization When I first started making things in the workshop, I made a quick little two-half shoe rack that ended up being crooked. I pegged the plywood wall with screws to hold and hang bike supplies, bungee cords, and other miscellaneous items, too. I didn’t like the way it looked and wanted to make something more finished—more permanent and functional. Over the weekend, I made this organizer with built-in shoe rack to make better use of the space. It’s far cleaner and functional than what was there, and I got to play around with making cabinets, which I’m still trying to perfect (they’re hard). The right side of the unit also has a single key hook and a small shelf; this is where I will now put my wallet and keys since I always leave them upstairs and have to backtrack to get them before going into the garage. This feature alone will save me hours over the course of my lifetime, I’m sure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639243851136-U23645KLSI7FV1ACKYUE/IMG_3704.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.10.21 Affordable Luxury I installed a bidet on the upstairs toilet. It doesn’t require a separate power source, nor does it have the bells and whistles of the finest bidets one would find in a luxurious AirBnb begging for easy five-star reviews. Instead, it’s a simple add-on with two settings and works like a charm. Its simplicity is the best thing about it, really. At the low, low price of $40, even a middle-class guy like me can feel like a rich person with elevated hygiene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639500689053-P184F8D808E5HCF7MZ41/IMG_3708.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.11.21 Night on Vine Street We attended a surprise birthday party for a friend on the third floor of the Color Building on Vine Street tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639500690538-7IGGA7UL94A36GUP9YBY/IMG_3717.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.12.21 The Puppies There is no away team for the crew of the USS Puppy. The crew of this ship share coordinates at all times. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639500691468-KXU1UFOGJU6UJTUR43C8/NZ6_8571.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.13.21 It’ll Do For Now I’m not a “car guy.” In my adult life, I don’t think I’ve coveted a single car. Sure, I like some more than others, like that little Smart Car or various electric vehicles that would make me feel less guilty to drive, but they’re not my passion. They are, however, something Ashley thinks about. She’s not ready to go full electric, and she really loves camping, so she talked me into trading in our 10-year-old Hyundai for a new Subaru Crosstrek. There’s a tent that attaches to the back of it that will make camping more comfortable and spacious. I’m looking forward to going out West with it next year, if we have the time off to do so. Anyway, we don’t actually get the car for another two months due to the supply chain woes everyone’s facing, so I got her a little ornament for the tree of the exact car in the same color to hold her over until then. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1639596877823-BJNSK8CQZZIEOY6UPWV8/Memorial+Hall+Improvements+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.14.21 Improvements I was tasked with highlighting a few improvements made to Memorial Hall, one of which is the lighting on the stairs. My mission was two-fold: highlight the feature and show how it interacts with the building. For this composition, I figured it would be good to have a direct line of sight on a light strip in the foreground and while simultaneously showing the effect of the strip in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101548701-CWH1R3C0UI3BH7FW24BO/Art+Museum+Event+12.15.21+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.15.21 New Exhibitions I shot the opening of a new exhibit at the Art Museum tonight. There were quite a few people mingling in the lobby and in the exhibition hall before casually making their way to the hallway with the two spiral staircases. Food and drink were served over live music. It was a pleasant event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101548817-1IKKUB6VQCPOUC8XZNRQ/IMG_3772.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.16.21 My Camera Case The upright cabinet fits into a nook in my office. I have battery powered lights on three of the shelves to illuminate the lenses, bodies, and assorted photographic accouterments that I only turn on when I need them. I took this photo with my phone because everything else that COULD take a photo is in this case. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101550446-MHURLUS3WLGIZS5VXVNL/IMG_3777.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.17.21 Poorly Continuing the tradition of taking a photo of the beautiful translucent pills I take when I’m ill. Hoping this is a 24-hour bug and nothing more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101551692-61JK9ZZR5EYEAGS0B99H/IMG_3781.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.18.21 Surprise Cookies Allie and Travis stopped by to drop of Christmas cookies! I am feeling much better than I did yesterday, so I had a couple. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101552409-T906SUF6QXMWTAU9VY9I/IMG_3796.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.19.21 Off Limits We are watching Ashley’s aunt’s dog, Fletcher, for several days. We also had friends come over with their dog, Louie, for dinner. The dog count tonight was three. To avoid losing any of them, I closed all of the doors upstairs then realized I’d never closed all the doors up there before. It looked strange to see everything shut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640101553595-63RECMWBBEM0430Y73IU/IMG_3804.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.20.21 Atop His Perch If he’s not sitting on my lap with his chin precariously close to the steering wheel, Fletcher likes to perch at the opposite end of the vehicle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559443445-D9QK1NB77G510YSFHD68/IMG_3829.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.21.21 Buddies Our last full day with Fletcher. He and Myrtle get along well enough to hang out on the couch together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559437952-QFG0I7J2D0YYL99WF38W/IMG_3850.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.22.21 The Pains of Inlaying Building a very large cabinet for a friend. The dimensions he gave me are non-standard, so I had to glue several boards together end to end in order to make each side large enough. I don’t want to add anything to the profile of the wood, so in order to strengthen the entire structure, I inlaid a thin strip of wood perpendicular to the seams as I would a normal structural cross piece. The trench was dug with a plunge router and finished with wood fill where the inlaid piece of structural wood didn’t fit perfectly snug. It’s a lot of work and I don’t particularly love doing it, but it will make the whole side sturdier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559457981-YAW7EVW1PG20S66S3TBR/IMG_3856.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.23.21 Long Day In the Shop I am happiest when by myself in my shop. Something about it just puts me at peace. I listen to my podcasts while I work and lose track of time before Ashley ends up calling me. Sometimes I feel guilty that this is where I feel my best because it’s so solitary and anti-social, but I am an introvert at heart and being productive in a space I can completely control without outside interference is the purest dose of dopamine I get. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559460461-IBKZG9UFAK2RLXS5G3MA/IMG_3863.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.24.21 Couple of New Dogs Saw two dogs I’d never met before tonight. They are both very sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559470661-48SA77D9ZWHR12DHF9M8/IMG_3893.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.25.21 The Weirdest Christmas I power washed the entry to my home in a t-shirt, then drove north through a minor thunderstorm to my sister’s house. This doesn’t feel like Christmas in the Midwest. Scientists say the climate of the world is changing—growing hotter with every passing year—and today strongly suggested they’re right. How could anyone not think about it when the biggest winter holiday of the year feels more like a temperate beach day than a winter wonderland? With the impending heating of the planet at the back of my mind, this rainbow was bittersweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640559576737-GHTB82G4M2D8SFRGR8NU/IMG_3941.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.26.21 Porch Cooking Ashley was gifted a propane camping stove for Christmas because we plan on camping more over the upcoming year. The grill being the only experience we have with gas-powered units, we thought we’d give it a test drive tonight by cooking dinner on the porch in the seasonable weather. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640707274528-T3JTQDD6OG2MYZ51V1K9/IMG_3951.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.27.21 Bleakness We went to a park in Alexandria this morning to walk Myrtle and get some fresh air. The weather, though overcast and ugly, was surprisingly warm again, making my jean jacket all but unnecessary after a few meters of an uphill hike. We came upon this body of water that’s surrounded by hills—one of which is a low dam wall. The leafless trees emerged from the green-tinted water in an interesting way, and the sideways hourglass of the landscape made for a nice symmetrical, natural image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640995349516-H6GPFCUPQDPHRH4J3HK6/NZ6_9381.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.28.21 Harper’s Weekly, 1884 This is a photo of the front page of an original Harper’s Weekly that published in 1884 after the riot in Cincinnati that took down the Courthouse. I was given this paper to photograph for a client. It’s not often that I get to handle something so incredibly old, and I was stunned at how well-preserved it was considering its age. It’s remarkable how old papers like this offered such vivid illustrations of the subjects they tackled. Can you imaging commissioning original artwork of this quality for a weekly publication today? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640995346688-LRKX86LB7Y1QH18O62PD/Mont+Michel+-+2+combo.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.29.21 Mont Michel Rookwood Properties is a client I’ve consistently worked with over the years. Back in 2019, they hired me to photograph every one of their properties around the Cincinnati area, and later brought me back to photograph before/afters of the apartments they’re renovating. I shot Mont Michel in Clifton back in May, and today I returned to get post-renovation photos from the same angles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1640995350530-IVZ4CTYCTCKC5OXRY56C/NZ6_9580-Edit.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.30.21 The Subway Entrance That Never Was I am working with Hamilton County to document areas of the Courthouse for a history book that one of the judges is putting together. One of the areas is the basement where, behind a large HVAC system, sits a bricked-over doorway that supposedly leads into the abandoned Cincinnati subway system. While the subway tunnels, as I understand it, never extended as far down as the Courthouse, the building was apparently designed to usher people to and from the nearest platform to the street above. Riders would depart the subway here, go up a series of stairs that would’ve been located in the dark corner of the bottom image, and emerge in the lobby in the top image. The staircase would’ve come up where the gold railings are today (they’ve been since tiled over). The bottom image is a composite of four images stuck together; that corner of the basement is dark, so I lit it with my Lume Cube in four different, then spliced each image together in post. I’m going to contact an acquaintance who knows a lot about the subway and see if he can validate the info above after the new year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641085897823-SZE0787HZSYH0SWYHY2Q/NZ6_9605-HDR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2021 - 12.31.21 The Porch To avoid getting COVID, we stayed in again this NYE. Our plans for a bonfire with friends had to be cancelled because of the threat of rain, sadly. However, I told Ashley we shouldn’t let the end of the year slide by us this time, so we sat on the porch and watched the ball drop with a few beers. Myrtle was terrified because fireworks were being launched around us. Goodbye, 2021. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jan-2022 daily 0.75 2022-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641085930511-ML7GPATVRA7AKGXOUXNM/NZ6_9614.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.1.22 Rene and Cody Rene is in town from Germany. He, Cody, Chelsea, and Vince stopped by for a porch hang. It’s nice to see Rene and to see Cody so happy. A good start to 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641161122686-3L4EIGDE3PMI2BKMOQ36/NZ6_9625-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.2.22 A Quick Refresh Though I’ve already talked about my DIY flight boards on here, I took a new photograph of them for a project I put the finishing touches on today. Photo-stacked six images together. Hopefully the project brings about a new start for 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641250293406-LSA0H0DXTJG00E6W195D/NZ6_9638.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.3.22 An Evening Walk It was the first sunny, nice day we’ve had in ages, so Myrtle and I took a little walk through the neighborhood. At one point, we entered an area I hadn’t walked before and followed the road to the end where Tom Rechtin stands. The parking lot has a decent view of the city, and with this old car (don’t ask, I don’t know what it is) parked in the foreground, I thought it made for a fine photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641352787906-WK2V4O1HXBJYXF6X7J9M/NZ6_9704-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.4.22 The Garage Shot a rentable space in Dayton, KY today almost a year to the date of the last time I shot it. This time, I focused on getting images for the owners. The space offers technology solutions to both virtual and in-person meetings (among other things), and to illustrate that fact, I took this shot trio to showcase some of the equipment available. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641492385879-7XVJNXYS8WZOZ80U45OE/NZ6_0193.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.5.22 Xing Did a shoot today in Reading and it took me over the I&O train tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641585174735-YL0YODXYQ360RVDR91Y4/NZ6_0208.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.6.22 Thursday Spent the day mostly indoors because the weather was so cold. When snow started falling later in the afternoon, my interest in leaving the house froze completely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641585259006-GGCA55YW8DIIHMTGWNJO/NZ6_0348.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.7.22 Return to Roebling I don’t remember the last time I walked in the middle of the bridge, but today I had a quick, frigid job that took me out onto its grated decking. After taking a few photos for the client I was working with, I snapped one for myself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641841987882-37U5XL80XJXI4M5B1DFR/IMG_4060.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.8.22 A Cold Beckon Gave a little knock to the fishes beneath this frozen lake to make sure they were still swishing around and successfully resisted the urge to walk out onto the ice, not because it was dangerous (it was), but because the view ten feet forward wouldn’t be dramatically different from that along the shore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641841987581-MO45ABR1FF1ZL833WMI6/IMG_4084.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.9.22 A Man’s Memories Ashley’s grandfather is understandably sentimental about his family. From the early 1960s until the 1990s, he documented the same events many did during their lives: birthdays, Christmas, vacations, military service, etc. He shot a lot of it on 35mm color slides and has shoeboxes of memories stacked in a closet. This year for Christmas, he was gifted an illuminator. We set it up and used the tiniest magnifying glass to inspect these tiny celluloid fragments of his past. I am going to help him digitize each of these slides so he can view them on his iPad, so I took a stack home with me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641852527023-PHN5Q377KIYLF5MIPQPS/NZ6_0575.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.10.22 Over-Engineering At Its Dumbest Long-story short, I made a little wooden glare shield that balances on the top of my iMac because the desk light interferes with it. The picture is hazy and contrast looks like it is turned way down due to the glare from the light. Sure, a post-it would’ve done the trick, but where’s the fun in that? I used some scrap in the workshop and made a little rounded shield with an arm that juts off the back and connects to a counter balance weight. I stained it and added a coat of polyurethane to it just to make this ridiculously over-engineered solution “pretty.” Knowing me, I will probably come up with another design in a month and redo the whole thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641962354763-QMNFXLN64QR0YEZR97S1/NZ6_0625.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.11.22 Something New of Something Old Ashley’s grandfather gave me a bunch of his old 35mm color slides he shot in the early 60s not because I asked for them, but rather because giving them to me was the alternative to throwing them in the trash. The stack of about 50 slides aren’t his treasured memories—they were the rejects in the shoebox that holds 60 years of images. I took them because the thought of them rotting in a landfill made me crazy, and also because I wanted to see if I could come up with a decent way to digitally “scan” them. Today, using my ever-useful scrap pile, I built a crude apparatus to hold a single slide over a light source, clamped it to my workbench, and added three magnification diopters to the end of a 35mm lens to achieve a good macro focus. With a remote shutter snaking off the tripoded camera so I didn’t disrupt the static setup with every snap, I began “scanning” his slides. Once into a rhythm, I got through the pile in minutes. Afterward, I started looking for compositions that would make for fun double exposures and made this new image from two separate events in two different years. The top image looked to be a faux Wild West town. The bottom appears to be from Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295293509-4UK5F80PUXX4LLEDWMCU/NZ6_0655.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.12.22 Covington Cross Section Seeing different decades of interesting, beautiful architecture in one frame is why this view appealed to me so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295288897-X9D6WBVBBJSJRMTZQHLD/Cobblestone+OTR+-+Phil+Armstrong+-215.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.13.22 Voted Best Cocktail Photographed Cobblestone OTR this morning for the owner. They wanted new photos of the space as well as some promotional images of a margarita that was voted the best in city by CityBeat last year. It was nice to get to try my hand at arranging and lighting drinks again. I think this one was the result of 9 stacked images to achieve the perfect level of focus from front to back of glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295288943-L82EFOC3L9SL1S5VSS2M/IMG_4241.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.14.22 Re-Racking Feeling the emotional toll of this pandemic tonight. I feel like I may be the only person on Earth who doesn’t have a pre-existing condition that’s making a concerted effort to stay home to avoid getting and spreading COVID at this point. The amount of FOMO I have at the moment has risen past levels I didn’t previously think could be surpassed, but here we are. Tonight I spent my Friday night listening to podcasts and building a new organizing rack tailored to the hand tools I use most often. Would I rather be out with friends? Yeah. But unfortunately I have jobs to do and I cannot get them done, and subsequently get paid, if I contract this thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295293083-73SYJBRK8LPI50WLGK2N/NZ6_0970.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.15.22 Mammoth In the Backyard It’s rare you get a juxtaposition this extreme. Newport, E 2nd Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642428253683-B7VRV797RY3Q2YD5M4DR/2F236C87-20E6-48F8-9B75-E136D6BB719D.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.16.22 Two Hour Update Ashley wanted to spruce up the landing that leads to the basement, by the alley door. She saw an image on Pinterest of a green lower wall and a wallpapered upper wall separated by a raw board with coat hooks. We already had the green paint from the bathroom renovation we did in December 2020, and the coat hooks were previously attached to the white piece of trim that was already there. All we had to do was buy a single board and the wallpaper. I’ve never wallpapered before, and I grossly underestimated how difficult it is to do, especially when the pattern goes down to the edges and lining the seams up perfectly is essential to making it look good. As a result, I don’t know if I want to wallpaper anything ever again; that little bit of wall was so unpleasant to work with, it turned me off of doing it in the future. You don’t realize how not-flat your wall is until you try to add a pattern to it. The whole thing took two hours from the left image to the right image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642479282661-9Y1IOT7WG2HW8S085B2M/IMG_4272.jpeg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.17.22 New Year, New Direction Today I started a new part-time job with Single Batch Designs in Covington. They primarily make custom high quality wood furniture inside a shop on Scott Street. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying building as an amateur for the last year or so, and instead of pursuing another job doing what I’ve already done in the past, I wanted to take my career in a new direction. I’m still going to be doing freelance photography every week, but I’m going to make learning from and assisting professional woodworkers a bigger past of my routine. Working with my hands has been something I’ve really valued since getting into DIY projects around the house, and it makes sense to fill my time doing more of it while getting a paycheck for it. I really like the owner, John, and his co-worker, Joe, already. Both of them seem like affable, easy-going dudes who have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to their craft. To say I’m excited about what we’ll make together is an understatement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642697928121-PXP87ZL1GNKJ5XGWWP7N/3102+Rogers+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-245.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.18.22 This Old House A photo of an old house that appealed to me while on a real estate photo job in Covington. I liked the flakiness of the white paint and the brilliant blue accent colors. It wasn’t clear if the house was occupied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642697928124-HRYKBB93855VEV6R2KA3/IMG_4299.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.19.22 Sanding Down Familiar Tables Spent the morning and early afternoon sanding down some tables from Elusive Cow—a restaurant down the street from my house. We’ve probably sat at each of these tables before while drinking $2 beers on Thursdays and scarfing down loaded nachos and fries. I learned a lot about sandpaper grit levels and proper sanding techniques, which I then applied to another personal project when I got home this evening. I’ve only been there two days so far, and already I’ve learned a lot. Really cannot wait to get back to the shop next Monday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642734551895-OMZ1EC66SUZ3HH1TGAEE/Crescent+Ridge+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-91.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.20.22 Garden Apartments Real estate photography for basic suburban garden apartment complexes isn’t as glamorous as some of the other shoots I get to do, but it’s a good way to make a little money while keeping the editing skills sharp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642800002226-36QXOJPKNG64K1Y6XJVU/NZ6_1405-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.21.22 Self-Replicating Been wanting to try out a composite on the stairs. I couldn’t get it all tack sharp and in focus even at ƒ/22, but you can only do so much when photographing yourself alone. I am 36 today and will probably spend another year at home instead of with friends because of this pandemic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591258755-GAUFLZW1ZS2W79M63DZI/IMG_4331.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.22.22 New Relevance Thank you, phonebook-makers, for sending me a phonebook. It is very handy for catching errant drips of paint when I’m putting the finishing touches on a project. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591260700-RWNHBUVRNGC6J258DGPX/IMG_4339.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.23.22 Key Rack Justin gave me the idea to make a MCM-inspired key rack for his home. So as a trial run, I made one for our own home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591261234-EQY93LS9EQ3CC08I5LLG/IMG_4356.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.24.22 ‘69 Chevy Single Batch Designs has a neat old truck they use for moving big slabs of wood around. Today, we moved a big piece from the basement to the main floor for processing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591251245-1WCEG7CASPTJO8LF1NQU/NZ6_1781.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.25.22 Cincy From Newport Found a new view of the city from Newport today while on a job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591262618-2S0NHRMQQBITLLV9KY5N/IMG_4397.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.26.22 Finished Product A finished Indonesian Monkey Pod table. We’re driving it to Jacksonville, FL over the weekend in a couple of weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591258183-NYRZ21MCZ25M22ZOQ7SR/Cobblestone+OTR+-+Phil+Armstrong+-242.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.27.22 12th and Race at Night From a job I did tonight at Cobblestone OTR. I love whenever the streetcar rolls into frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591254482-MWUTDE75MO7BSNIFWZQB/IMG_4430.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.28.22 Cutest Care Package My sister’s step-daughter sent me a care package for my birthday last week. Included was fake poop (to fool me), a dollar (to buy myself something nice), chocolate coal (because I’m naughty), her school photo, a picture she drew, and a teddy bear to help me in my workshop. This is maybe the cutest thing in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591255053-E9B4MHSO7XMN63DM846P/MercLib+-+January+2022+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.29.22 The Stacks Had a shoot at the Mercantile Library today. The spiral staircase makes me dizzy, but I managed to situate the tripod on the steps and do a panorama of the stacks using my trust old manual PC lens. The aspect ratio is weird because of that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591250741-J64BU2Y0QZXUJ56OEMPI/NZ6_2420-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.30.22 One of Those Days Having one of those days where I feel very disconnected from society. I wouldn’t voice this opinion anywhere online but here, but I’m not interested in football and considering what’s happening with the home team at the moment, I feel even more lost for not having any enthusiasm for it. I do not muster fake emotions well, so I cannot pretend I’m excited by it. It’s great for Cincinnati, it’s great for my dad who’s been a fan for over 30 years, and it’s nice to see so many are pleased and having a good time, but I don’t feel anything for it otherwise. I honestly think this pandemic and the social barriers its presented over the last two years has broken me in deeper ways than I realize, and this current situation is bringing that to a head in a very clear and troubling way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643728651578-2I5SRYMWLEH8EMJVDN6N/IMG_4465.jpg daily-photos-jan-2022 - 1.31.22 Flaming Away the Bubbles Had a really great day in the shop. Spent a lot of time doing resin touch-ups on a piece of (what I think is) walnut. The cracks in this piece are so faint and small, I had to lay a perimeter of hot glue around the cracked areas before filling it with resin. The hot glue cures and creates a ‘dam’ of sorts, allowing the resin to pool up over the surface of the crack without spreading far from the affected area before eventually finding its way down into the hairline crevasse. As the resin sinks into the wood, the air trapped within bubbles to the surface. A blowtorch is used to pop them and smooth out the surface of the resin while it hardens. This part of the woodworking process feels less like work and more like art. Everything about it really scratches an itch I didn’t realize I had until I started doing it. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-all-2022 daily 0.75 2023-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641085930511-ML7GPATVRA7AKGXOUXNM/NZ6_9614.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.1.22 Rene and Cody Rene is in town from Germany. He, Cody, Chelsea, and Vince stopped by for a porch hang. It’s nice to see Rene and to see Cody so happy. A good start to 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641161122686-3L4EIGDE3PMI2BKMOQ36/NZ6_9625-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.2.22 A Quick Refresh Though I’ve already talked about my DIY flight boards on here, I took a new photograph of them for a project I put the finishing touches on today. Photo-stacked six images together. Hopefully the project brings about a new start for 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641250293406-LSA0H0DXTJG00E6W195D/NZ6_9638.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.3.22 An Evening Walk It was the first sunny, nice day we’ve had in ages, so Myrtle and I took a little walk through the neighborhood. At one point, we entered an area I hadn’t walked before and followed the road to the end where Tom Rechtin stands. The parking lot has a decent view of the city, and with this old car (don’t ask, I don’t know what it is) parked in the foreground, I thought it made for a fine photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641352787906-WK2V4O1HXBJYXF6X7J9M/NZ6_9704-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.4.22 The Garage Shot a rentable space in Dayton, KY today almost a year to the date of the last time I shot it. This time, I focused on getting images for the owners. The space offers technology solutions to both virtual and in-person meetings (among other things), and to illustrate that fact, I took this shot trio to showcase some of the equipment available. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641492385879-7XVJNXYS8WZOZ80U45OE/NZ6_0193.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.5.22 Xing Did a shoot today in Reading and it took me over the I&O train tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641585174735-YL0YODXYQ360RVDR91Y4/NZ6_0208.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.6.22 Thursday Spent the day mostly indoors because the weather was so cold. When snow started falling later in the afternoon, my interest in leaving the house froze completely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641585259006-GGCA55YW8DIIHMTGWNJO/NZ6_0348.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.7.22 Return to Roebling I don’t remember the last time I walked in the middle of the bridge, but today I had a quick, frigid job that took me out onto its grated decking. After taking a few photos for the client I was working with, I snapped one for myself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641841987882-37U5XL80XJXI4M5B1DFR/IMG_4060.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.8.22 A Cold Beckon Gave a little knock to the fishes beneath this frozen lake to make sure they were still swishing around and successfully resisted the urge to walk out onto the ice, not because it was dangerous (it was), but because the view ten feet forward wouldn’t be dramatically different from that along the shore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641841987581-MO45ABR1FF1ZL833WMI6/IMG_4084.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.9.22 A Man’s Memories Ashley’s grandfather is understandably sentimental about his family. From the early 1960s until the 1990s, he documented the same events many did during their lives: birthdays, Christmas, vacations, military service, etc. He shot a lot of it on 35mm color slides and has shoeboxes of memories stacked in a closet. This year for Christmas, he was gifted an illuminator. We set it up and used the tiniest magnifying glass to inspect these tiny celluloid fragments of his past. I am going to help him digitize each of these slides so he can view them on his iPad, so I took a stack home with me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641852527023-PHN5Q377KIYLF5MIPQPS/NZ6_0575.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.10.22 Over-Engineering At Its Dumbest Long-story short, I made a little wooden glare shield that balances on the top of my iMac because the desk light interferes with it. The picture is hazy and contrast looks like it is turned way down due to the glare from the light. Sure, a post-it would’ve done the trick, but where’s the fun in that? I used some scrap in the workshop and made a little rounded shield with an arm that juts off the back and connects to a counter balance weight. I stained it and added a coat of polyurethane to it just to make this ridiculously over-engineered solution “pretty.” Knowing me, I will probably come up with another design in a month and redo the whole thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641962354763-QMNFXLN64QR0YEZR97S1/NZ6_0625.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.11.22 Something New of Something Old Ashley’s grandfather gave me a bunch of his old 35mm color slides he shot in the early 60s not because I asked for them, but rather because giving them to me was the alternative to throwing them in the trash. The stack of about 50 slides aren’t his treasured memories—they were the rejects in the shoebox that holds 60 years of images. I took them because the thought of them rotting in a landfill made me crazy, and also because I wanted to see if I could come up with a decent way to digitally “scan” them. Today, using my ever-useful scrap pile, I built a crude apparatus to hold a single slide over a light source, clamped it to my workbench, and added three magnification diopters to the end of a 35mm lens to achieve a good macro focus. With a remote shutter snaking off the tripoded camera so I didn’t disrupt the static setup with every snap, I began “scanning” his slides. Once into a rhythm, I got through the pile in minutes. Afterward, I started looking for compositions that would make for fun double exposures and made this new image from two separate events in two different years. The top image looked to be a faux Wild West town. The bottom appears to be from Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295293509-4UK5F80PUXX4LLEDWMCU/NZ6_0655.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.12.22 Covington Cross Section Seeing different decades of interesting, beautiful architecture in one frame is why this view appealed to me so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295288897-X9D6WBVBBJSJRMTZQHLD/Cobblestone+OTR+-+Phil+Armstrong+-215.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.13.22 Voted Best Cocktail Photographed Cobblestone OTR this morning for the owner. They wanted new photos of the space as well as some promotional images of a margarita that was voted the best in city by CityBeat last year. It was nice to get to try my hand at arranging and lighting drinks again. I think this one was the result of 9 stacked images to achieve the perfect level of focus from front to back of glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295288943-L82EFOC3L9SL1S5VSS2M/IMG_4241.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.14.22 Re-Racking Feeling the emotional toll of this pandemic tonight. I feel like I may be the only person on Earth who doesn’t have a pre-existing condition that’s making a concerted effort to stay home to avoid getting and spreading COVID at this point. The amount of FOMO I have at the moment has risen past levels I didn’t previously think could be surpassed, but here we are. Tonight I spent my Friday night listening to podcasts and building a new organizing rack tailored to the hand tools I use most often. Would I rather be out with friends? Yeah. But unfortunately I have jobs to do and I cannot get them done, and subsequently get paid, if I contract this thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642295293083-73SYJBRK8LPI50WLGK2N/NZ6_0970.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.15.22 Mammoth In the Backyard It’s rare you get a juxtaposition this extreme. Newport, E 2nd Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642428253683-B7VRV797RY3Q2YD5M4DR/2F236C87-20E6-48F8-9B75-E136D6BB719D.jpeg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.16.22 Two Hour Update Ashley wanted to spruce up the landing that leads to the basement, by the alley door. She saw an image on Pinterest of a green lower wall and a wallpapered upper wall separated by a raw board with coat hooks. We already had the green paint from the bathroom renovation we did in December 2020, and the coat hooks were previously attached to the white piece of trim that was already there. All we had to do was buy a single board and the wallpaper. I’ve never wallpapered before, and I grossly underestimated how difficult it is to do, especially when the pattern goes down to the edges and lining the seams up perfectly is essential to making it look good. As a result, I don’t know if I want to wallpaper anything ever again; that little bit of wall was so unpleasant to work with, it turned me off of doing it in the future. You don’t realize how not-flat your wall is until you try to add a pattern to it. The whole thing took two hours from the left image to the right image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642479282661-9Y1IOT7WG2HW8S085B2M/IMG_4272.jpeg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.17.22 New Year, New Direction Today I started a new part-time job with Single Batch Designs in Covington. They primarily make custom high quality wood furniture inside a shop on Scott Street. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying building as an amateur for the last year or so, and instead of pursuing another job doing what I’ve already done in the past, I wanted to take my career in a new direction. I’m still going to be doing freelance photography every week, but I’m going to make learning from and assisting professional woodworkers a bigger past of my routine. Working with my hands has been something I’ve really valued since getting into DIY projects around the house, and it makes sense to fill my time doing more of it while getting a paycheck for it. I really like the owner, John, and his co-worker, Joe, already. Both of them seem like affable, easy-going dudes who have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to their craft. To say I’m excited about what we’ll make together is an understatement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642697928121-PXP87ZL1GNKJ5XGWWP7N/3102+Rogers+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-245.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.18.22 This Old House A photo of an old house that appealed to me while on a real estate photo job in Covington. I liked the flakiness of the white paint and the brilliant blue accent colors. It wasn’t clear if the house was occupied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642697928124-HRYKBB93855VEV6R2KA3/IMG_4299.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.19.22 Sanding Down Familiar Tables Spent the morning and early afternoon sanding down some tables from Elusive Cow—a restaurant down the street from my house. We’ve probably sat at each of these tables before while drinking $2 beers on Thursdays and scarfing down loaded nachos and fries. I learned a lot about sandpaper grit levels and proper sanding techniques, which I then applied to another personal project when I got home this evening. I’ve only been there two days so far, and already I’ve learned a lot. Really cannot wait to get back to the shop next Monday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642734551895-OMZ1EC66SUZ3HH1TGAEE/Crescent+Ridge+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-91.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.20.22 Garden Apartments Real estate photography for basic suburban garden apartment complexes isn’t as glamorous as some of the other shoots I get to do, but it’s a good way to make a little money while keeping the editing skills sharp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1642800002226-36QXOJPKNG64K1Y6XJVU/NZ6_1405-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.21.22 Self-Replicating Been wanting to try out a composite on the stairs. I couldn’t get it all tack sharp and in focus even at ƒ/22, but you can only do so much when photographing yourself alone. I am 36 today and will probably spend another year at home instead of with friends because of this pandemic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591258755-GAUFLZW1ZS2W79M63DZI/IMG_4331.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.22.22 New Relevance Thank you, phonebook-makers, for sending me a phonebook. It is very handy for catching errant drips of paint when I’m putting the finishing touches on a project. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591260700-RWNHBUVRNGC6J258DGPX/IMG_4339.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.23.22 Key Rack Justin gave me the idea to make a MCM-inspired key rack for his home. So as a trial run, I made one for our own home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591261234-EQY93LS9EQ3CC08I5LLG/IMG_4356.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.24.22 ‘69 Chevy Single Batch Designs has a neat old truck they use for moving big slabs of wood around. Today, we moved a big piece from the basement to the main floor for processing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591251245-1WCEG7CASPTJO8LF1NQU/NZ6_1781.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.25.22 Cincy From Newport Found a new view of the city from Newport today while on a job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591262618-2S0NHRMQQBITLLV9KY5N/IMG_4397.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.26.22 Finished Product A finished Indonesian Monkey Pod table. We’re driving it to Jacksonville, FL over the weekend in a couple of weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591258183-NYRZ21MCZ25M22ZOQ7SR/Cobblestone+OTR+-+Phil+Armstrong+-242.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.27.22 12th and Race at Night From a job I did tonight at Cobblestone OTR. I love whenever the streetcar rolls into frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591254482-MWUTDE75MO7BSNIFWZQB/IMG_4430.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.28.22 Cutest Care Package My sister’s step-daughter sent me a care package for my birthday last week. Included was fake poop (to fool me), a dollar (to buy myself something nice), chocolate coal (because I’m naughty), her school photo, a picture she drew, and a teddy bear to help me in my workshop. This is maybe the cutest thing in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591255053-E9B4MHSO7XMN63DM846P/MercLib+-+January+2022+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.29.22 The Stacks Had a shoot at the Mercantile Library today. The spiral staircase makes me dizzy, but I managed to situate the tripod on the steps and do a panorama of the stacks using my trust old manual PC lens. The aspect ratio is weird because of that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643591250741-J64BU2Y0QZXUJ56OEMPI/NZ6_2420-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.30.22 One of Those Days Having one of those days where I feel very disconnected from society. I wouldn’t voice this opinion anywhere online but here, but I’m not interested in football and considering what’s happening with the home team at the moment, I feel even more lost for not having any enthusiasm for it. I do not muster fake emotions well, so I cannot pretend I’m excited by it. It’s great for Cincinnati, it’s great for my dad who’s been a fan for over 30 years, and it’s nice to see so many are pleased and having a good time, but I don’t feel anything for it otherwise. I honestly think this pandemic and the social barriers its presented over the last two years has broken me in deeper ways than I realize, and this current situation is bringing that to a head in a very clear and troubling way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643728651578-2I5SRYMWLEH8EMJVDN6N/IMG_4465.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 1.31.22 Flaming Away the Bubbles Had a really great day in the shop. Spent a lot of time doing resin touch-ups on a piece of (what I think is) walnut. The cracks in this piece are so faint and small, I had to lay a perimeter of hot glue around the cracked areas before filling it with resin. The hot glue cures and creates a ‘dam’ of sorts, allowing the resin to pool up over the surface of the crack without spreading far from the affected area before eventually finding its way down into the hairline crevasse. As the resin sinks into the wood, the air trapped within bubbles to the surface. A blowtorch is used to pop them and smooth out the surface of the resin while it hardens. This part of the woodworking process feels less like work and more like art. Everything about it really scratches an itch I didn’t realize I had until I started doing it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643775760135-P34FAXSC22RT9E2SCDPY/IMG_4481.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.1.22 Some Things Never Change At 14, I started working at Meijer. I did it for three years straight—practically a lifetime to a teenager’s developing, stupid brain. I made barely any money, made a lot more friends, earned a couple enemies, learned how to drive a car in the parking lot, met my first girlfriend and did first-girlfriend stuff in that same car, learned how to navigate messy interpersonal relationships, and lived the normal life of a suburban teen hell-bent on figuring himself out in that airplane hangar of a superstore. While I didn’t go back to my home store tonight, I visited another location that looked almost identical to it even though it’s been 22 years since I first clocked in. This hilariously out-dated sign still hangs proudly (?) from the ceiling as if to reassert Meijer’s grasp on modernity. Even though I was only in there for one item, walking through the aisles, it still managed to conjure unconscious hints of every conceivable emotion within me simply because when I originally forged my relationship with it, I was feeling the full spectrum constantly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643929114567-L42P0JGCNIPRHDE2QU3B/Monkey+Pod+Table+-+February+2022+-+Phil+Armstrong+-34.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.2.22 Low ISO, High Grain The monkey pod table Single Batch Designs recently finished was in need of some high-resolution photos taken before being shipped to Jacksonville. I did my thing for about an hour and made some quality content for use on the website and Etsy shop. This one, a study of the grain on the most intricate part of the table, is probably my favorite of the bunch; I had to cover the area with a piece of plywood clamped between two ladders and several packing blankets before being able to get the glare off it for the photo, and lit it by bouncing flash off the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643929113331-HYWRYO7AI17JOII4ORNA/NZ6_2672.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.3.22 Nope. It has been sleeting the entire day. Thankfully, both of my appointments were cancelled so I didn’t have to brave the roads in these conditions. While I don’t like to not leave the house for an entire day, I keep telling myself that I’m doing my civic duty by staying home so as to not become a burden to others. I intentionally focused this shot on the pillars to make the background in the “frame” out of focus to emphasize that staying in was my intention today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289005156-MTU72UNLA7RC7CVWRZNY/IMG_4537.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.4.22 Snow Trek Having to make it to the shop this morning wasn’t as easy as usual. After yesterday’s colossally obnoxious weather event, it snowed several inches, compounding the ice problem with a thick layer of heavy powder. Not having much faith in my car’s ability to navigate the roads, I decided to hoof it through Bellevue, Newport, and Covington on foot. The walk is 3.1 miles from my home, and it took me about an hour to get there. As expected, the roads and sidewalks were horrible, and I was glad I didn’t take the car out of the garage. Crossing the MLK bridge between Newport and Covington was the worst part because I had to walk in the street due to snow piles on the sidewalk. I left the shop later on and walked back home, making the journey a satisfying 6.2 miles round trip. It felt great to get some physical exercise like that in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289016308-N671N1V3V1RMJ0N2YFVK/knobs+vertical+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.5.22 Polishing My Knob I refinished the garage door’s knob and plate hardware this afternoon. Years of dirt, oil, and grime had marred the steel considerably, leaving otherwise functional decor in a less-than-appealing state. I gave them a CLR bath, scrubbed them with wire brushes, and polished them off with Brasso. Even did the screws! This is a before and after. I’m going to be doing this to all of the door hardware that’s original to the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289005616-01QYTH1ICG3770EZ71AB/IMG_4582.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.6.22 Skeletal Remains Yesterday’s DIY project spurred another one today, this time with the bathroom door hardware. I got a little ambitious and pulled the old mortise lock out of the door, too, just to see how it operated. Upon removal of the top plate, I noticed a loose piece of metal stuck in the lock and realized it was the tip of the skeleton key. It looks like someone many years ago snapped the key in the lock and no one bothered to remove the tip from the hole. That’s honestly awesome for me because now I have the template for making a new one, which I intend to do once I get a blank skeleton key. Looking forward to trying to recreate it and make this a usable lock again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289008642-SA47RNN8R4I7Y1E2Z49Q/IMG_4622.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.7.22 NKY Transit Ashley rides the 12 bus home on Mondays. I was nearby her stop when she was being dropped off. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805769221-8N5IAQ2DYU0P8LJ3NGSH/LAS+-+Anais+Mitchel+-+Phil+Armstrong-35.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.8.22 Back to Memorial Hall The LAS series fired up again, so it was back to Memorial Hall for the first show of the year. They bands sounded good, and the crowd was noticeably younger this time around. If there was a show to see in this series, I think I would’ve chosen this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805763787-7HLA33QYCBIGMP2GIX2B/IMG_4640.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.9.22 Minor Prep I modified a simple wooden box that we got in the mail for a delivered item so it can serve as a cheap and easy tool chest for the car. Sometimes when I’m out, I run into a situation where I need a tool of some sort and I just don’t have the right one. Since I have spares in the workshop, I threw the more commonly used tools into the chest that might be useful later. It will probably get a few more before it goes to the trunk of the car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805764217-J12FD08MDUISXRFJTETS/IMG_4656.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.10.22 College Hill The old Hollywood Theatre in College Hill. Had a shoot out nearby there today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805773517-JVR5DGHJKGKU64TL2CPQ/NZ6_3339-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.11.22 Delivered! We started the van at 4:15 AM and hit the road by 4:30. Joe and I drove this monkey pod table from the shop in Covington to Amelia Island—a sleepy coastal city about a half hour outside of Jacksonville, Florida. Though we didn’t get there until 7 PM, the trip was pretty easy despite being hung up in traffic a few times and seeing the end of a high speed chase in Atlanta. Joe and I talked the entire time and I got to know his story about life in Scotland as well as what he’s been doing the last few years here in America. He took the first leg of the trip before I took over and hauled us the rest of the way. John and Brittany met us at the client’s property to help unload the table, which took two hours from parking the van to pulling out of the driveway. It was a long day, but we finished it with a pint and a plate at a beachside restaurant near the hotel they’d booked for us. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I didn’t wake up until 7 AM the next morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805778495-PP5O95706BHR87SJ2U4S/NZ6_3375-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.12.22 Amelia Island Despite the leftover fatigue from yesterday’s long day, I awoke early to walk the beach just outside my hotel for a half hour. There were few people around, the air was about 60ºF, the sea lapped peacefully at the shoreline, and I empathized with the people who go south for winter in that moment. I like looking at, smelling, listening to, and absorbing the beach just shy of actually going into the ocean. I met up with the rest of the crew and we walked to a Cuban coffee shop for a cup and a breakfast empanada. We did a little quick sight-seeing around town before hopping in the van for the return trip back to Covington at noon. Instead of going back through Atlanta during rush hour, we rerouted through South Carolina. It snowed as we made our way through the Blue Ridge Mountains in the dark, and the air returned to a familiar stinging iciness the closer we got to home. Joe and I rolled into the shop at 2 AM, deposited the van, and each went home. Bed rarely looked so nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644806333086-ZHKDW8LQYHQP6W8L7BLX/IMG_4707.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.13.22 Diseased Brain Joe mentioned that Menard’s has a good lumber yard while we were driving yesterday. Having never been to one, I put a pin in that and resolved to visit one when I got back home. I woke up in a funk I couldn’t shake—likely partially due to residual fatigue from driving and socializing so much over the course of the previous two days, and likely because I have a diseased brain that sometimes can’t think or act like a normal, positive person without medication. Anyway, instead of joining the city in the communal celebration happening, I decided to take this stupid brain to Menard’s for a bit and check out that lumber yard. Joe wasn’t wrong about it. When I got home, I felt ill and I’ve been sort of haunting the house doing little things here and there to keep myself busy until inevitably passing out sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow I will feel better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158840998-SAMB55WGM29C9YXBUOSA/IMG_4722.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.14.22 Accidental Plans Ashley and I don’t care about or celebrate Valentine’s Day, so we didn’t have plans to go out to eat tonight. In fact, I stayed home from work today because I was feeling under the weather (it’s not COVID), resulting in even less of a chance of doing anything special. After feeling better, I decided I needed to be productive and got cracking on some household projects I’ve been meaning to do, one of which was snaking the shower drain to improve drainage. In the midst of that process, I discovered a plumbing issue that resulted in having to cut water at the main to the entire house until I could fix it. Long story short, we went out to eat because the house didn’t have running water for awhile and we both needed to use the bathroom. Another romantic one for us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158736858-OKHJT74R2WEQZE645OYZ/IMG_4739.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.15.22 The Crosstrek Honestly, I’m not a car guy. Sure, I like to look at some older cars and admire the design of neat concept cars from past and present, but almost nothing gets me excited about standard vehicles. Like football, it just doesn’t hit me the same way as others. That said, owning a new car with all the features of a new car in 2022 is…something to behold. I don’t actively dislike getting into the car anymore. We traded in the Elantra for a new 2022 Subaru Crosstrek, which we picked up today after ordering it in December of last year. We plan to use this vehicle to travel the US and camp where we can with Myrtle when we get the opportunity to do so. Its first big trip will be to Philadelphia and DC this spring. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158737477-UPUINC5CHG145VCQYO3E/IMG_4764.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.16.22 The Perfect Bagel Sandwich Sorry for the food post. Lil’s Bagels on Greenup Street has this wicked good bagel sandwich called The Lil. It’s an everything bagel with lox, chive spread, capers, red onion, and fresh dill. It’s one of those menu items that I think about even when I’m not hungry because it’s so delicious. I don’t know who originally figured out this wonderful combination of flavors, but if I ever do, I’ll be sure to eat another one in their honor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158739522-9SZ80WS7QASQFVV9WM3R/IMG_4776.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.17.22 Destructive Downpour Steve’s had a really rough go of it lately. Today, he discovered his car’s wiper blades weren’t working and had to Uber to work since it was raining. I picked him up at 5 PM so he didn’t have to Uber back, and while on our ride home, the rain started coming down with increased severity. Thankfully, we’d already exited the highway and made it to the streets of Bellevue when it happened. Then, after several minutes of wet hell reigning down on the car, the storm eased and we watched rivers of brown water gush violently down the sidewalks and through intersections, finding their way into sewer grates and holes in the ground. A little up the road, we saw the very old retaining wall by the elementary school had collapsed under the deluge of rain water. It was especially unnerving because those steps to the left of it are where I sometimes take Myrtle to play off leash to let her run. I hope we don’t have rains like this going forward… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645331073152-Q6CNQWPHUN8DAYTAHM7T/IMG_4791.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.18.22 Dissatisfied I’m trying to prep for tomorrow’s big shoot and this one will not leave me alone. She’s already been walked, fed, exercised, and gone on a car ride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645331075195-75KMIAY1Q9B5VNEDZKU3/NZ6_3508-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.19.22 Boardroom Had a pretty big shoot out in West Chester today. This isn’t the final edit for this particular image, but it’s close. I’m going back to it tomorrow to do exteriors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645406933763-EZIJPENW8SE7CMOGEFT6/NZ6_3730-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.20.22 Two Good Jobs Legit nothing makes me happier than doing photos or building something for someone. That feeling of being useful in ways I know how has become more and more crucial to maintaining a positive daily mood. And today I got to do both. Our neighbors had their son baptized this morning at the Catholic church down the street and asked if I’d document the ceremony. They’re great people with big hearts, so it was more a treat for me than anything else, plus I got to spend some time observing a culture I wouldn’t normally get to see. Their little baby is cute and seemed interested in my camera’s flash, which made it easy to get him to look up at me no matter what was happening. Then, I went up to my sister’s house and built some basic shelving in her garage with my dad so she has more storage. It felt really good just to spend a day doing projects like that. If I didn’t have to worry about making money, I would just do this type of thing every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645676117173-DMH7DJAEMLAMEIBAQCH7/IMG_4815.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.21.22 Got the Bike Out It was warm today. So warm, it became a bike-to-work situation. Having not ridden my folding bike for over a year, I had to literally dust it off and pull it out of storage. Took me 20 minutes to get to work, and aside from the bridge over the Licking River, the ride went well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645676115502-P7DOLVI5VL6HG0NZHAYM/504+E+12th+-+Neat+Suites+-+Phil+Armsrtrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.22.22 AirBNB Day The rain cancelled one of my morning shoots, but I managed to keep the other two on the schedule. Shot two AirBNBs—one in Pendleton and one in Covington—for the same company. The one pictured was on the third and fourth floors of a building on 12th Street in Pendleton. It had five beds in it, three of which looked to be queen-sized. The place was decorated well and had nearly everything one could want in an urban dwelling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645676115380-W9QK2U65GE0NLPOK2F7S/CAM+Event+2.23.22+-+Phil+Armsrtrong+-63.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.23.22 Little Jobs Before Invasion We were able to ship four of five pieces of countertops back to a job site for a high-profile client. I spent the morning sanding the remaining trim pieces while Joe sprayed lacquer on the rest. Then, I had to shoot an event at the Cincinnati Art Museum tonight. Two hours photographing people in nice dresses and suits and the new exhibits upstairs. I got home to process everything and checked the global news to see if anything was happening in Ukraine, and it sadly looks like everything’s kicking off. Can’t really believe this is happening. Feeling tremendously sad for the people of that country while also selfishly feeling fortunate we do not border Russia. Not looking forward to reading about how this will unfold in the coming days/weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645933192220-YMFLUU03KTBV425Z2PGI/NZ6_4602-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.24.22 Langsam Had a shoot in UC’s Langsam library for a client today. We staged photos. I’m not usually a director, but occasionally it’s fun to do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645933184190-BDBKVAVB568NC3CPTS00/IMG_4845.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.25.22 Wrong way! I took a similar photo back in the early days of camera phones but lost it to the ether at some point. Had to pick up a table in a small town east of Detroit and bring it back the same day. 8 hours in the van in total. Michigan was about 10 degrees colder than NKY. A nice guy named Bill who I’d not met until we hopped in the van together shared my love of 90s ska and punk, so we listened to that and we ate at a drive-in A&W. Not a bad day of work overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645933190960-MUBZVNE59MTT6ZJJFRS7/NZ6_4630.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.26.22 Not a Banksy Spongejoe isn’t my jam, but I like that someone turned this hunk of concrete into him. Covington is good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631013434-TBL2JAJJHSQCJGUQD2CN/1707+Pleasant+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.27.22 And They Don’t Stop Coming I had three shoots today—a Sunday. After a very, very busy week and weekend, I’m pretty tired. This image may look pretty straightforward, but it isn’t. Good interior photography accounts for all the clashing light sources both within and from outside. Inside light is generally orange/yellow, and outside light always registers blue. To make the image look “correct,” you have to manually adjust the white balance for each surface, which takes a lot of masking. Thankfully, almost everything on-trend is black and white, so the edits are a little less complicated. Regardless, one image can take upwards of a half hour to manually correct, and that’s why professionals in this field charge what they do; it’s not about simply taking a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631014663-EX2MAYJ20FGLOU0O65AR/IMG_4881.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 2.28.22 15th and Scott This building is less than a block from the shop. The light was hitting it just right on my bike ride home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631203510-LBXXOHODBG7X3O8O2Z7Q/NZ6_5305.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.1.22 Hoops From a quick trip over to Covington for a client. Thought the juxtaposition of the backboard and hoop with Covington’s and downtown’s tallest was nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631188607-ENENR18HUNVW415HWASL/IMG_4959_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.2.22 Welding We had to make some feet for the massive drum sander, so Joe and I gathered some scrap in the shop. Joe welded each piece together and I filmed/photographed it for Single Batch’s Instagram. Continually impressed with how the iPhone 12 Pro can shoot RAW images that actually look halfway decent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631190951-YXA255HFCRBHDTXAAWNY/IMG_5012.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.3.22 Impromptu Chris Visit I scheduled a job with a client in Dayton, so I told Chris I’d meet him for dinner that evening. As the date approached, however, the client ended up cancelling the shoot. I still went up (with Ashley) to have dinner and drinks with him, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631193112-3J120LTMPKURFID9KC42/IMG_5024.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.4.22 Bockfest Returns After skipping 2021, Bockfest made its return. We met up with friends at The Drinkery and took our bock beer-filled cups out to the sidewalk to watch the parade. It seemed like the parade this year was shorter than usual, but it wasn’t a problem—we just went back to drinking indoors as soon as we could. This was the first Bockfest I haven’t shot (that was actually held) since 2015 or so. It felt weird and liberating not to be working it. It ended up being a very fun night overall, which I didn’t know I truly needed after the insanely packed last two weeks I’d had with work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631188830-TVLHYGKV3Y4GSL2F7S8L/411+Rawson+Woods+Lane+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.5.22 MCM Real Estate Fighting a low-grade hangover from the evening before, I summoned all my strength and presentability and went to Clifton to shoot a beautiful MCM house that overlooked a bird sanctuary. While I generally do not find these homes especially comfortable or homey, this one stood out as the exception to the rule. I could understand why someone would want to live here beyond simply appreciating the Usonian design. It was more than the prestige of the architect—more than a photogenic talking point. It felt good in there. I still maintain that the mood of houses of this type are inherently dependent on the outside environment, and since we had a staggeringly warm and beautiful day today, I attribute at least half of that feeling to the weather. The double-edged sword hit right this time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631193122-T38LKVM2HOOP14D75SKL/IMG_5042.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.6.22 A Bit Off For the first time in weeks, I didn’t have to do a shoot, go to the shop, or have plans with anyone. Today, I finally had a day to catch up on the projects that’ve been waiting for me for what feels like forever. As an introvert, I relish these days because I get to be productive in ways that satisfy my soul. As a result, I only took one photo today: this frustratingly crooked little building in Dayton, KY while getting my Sunday coffee. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646802914764-VPU4ES7NLWX5WLNXIR0Q/411+Rawson+Woods+Lane+-+Phil+Armstrong+-57.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.7.22 Return to Rawson I returned to that lovely Usonian house to get photos of it lit up at night. As one would expect, the backyard had the best view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646802915104-32OPA735N8QE3M1DMFIM/425+Wallace+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-123.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.8.22 Statement Piece The forecast was cloudy, and my 3 PM shoot was “95% sure to be cancelled” because of it. As such, I took to meeting friends for street hot dogs and a cup of coffee afterward. When I saw the sun peeking through the clouds around 1:30, I knew that 5% would come back into the fold, and sure enough, I got the call that we were back on—from 2 to 4 PM instead. Fleeing friends in a hurry, I managed to make it to the property relatively on time. We had about two hours of sun for the shoot, so I moved quickly. The 19th century house was large and full of photogenic details, one of which was this incredible stained glass window that straddled the landings on the central staircase. Though some would consider the wallpaper busy, I personally loved how unabashedly bold it was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646882079768-JCF4KOW8P9DRP7ZQTRKC/425+Wallace+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-148.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.9.22 Another Day, Another Night Shoot Returned to yesterday’s house to get night shots for the listing. What stood out to me most was how visible the stars were during a minute long exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480342239-L9D945T89N5IDF191PL0/7+W+7th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1007.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.10.22 Pining for Z9 Did a shoot this morning in [redacted] for [redacted], which offered up some new angles on old favorites. Specifically, I got to see the Provident Camera ad from eye level for the first time. The artist, Gus Holthaus, signed his work in the lower left of the ad if you look closely. I shoot with Nikon myself and have been quietly salivating over the new Nikon Z9 each day since it was announced. This ad did nothing to mitigate that persistence of thought. The camera is upwards of $5K, so it’s not something I can just go get without some serious saving first. My Z6 will have to do for now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480341946-7V5YGQ6ET5RTS6ZZEP47/IMG_5124.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.11.22 Walknuckles Years ago, an arborist friend of mine, Vince, showed me a pair of wooden knuckle dusters he carved out of the remains of a felled tree. While I’m not predisposed to violence, I AM predisposed to appreciating complicated hand-made shapes, so the image of those knuckles burned itself into my brain. Since learning more about woodworking, I decided to try my hand at making my own set this even using some walnut scrap. They’ll never be used in the traditional sense, but I enjoyed figuring out how to shape them using a combination of power and hand tools. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480345362-FSDAJIIGM7YWH0G8TNXA/IMG_5147.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.12.22 Chisholm For President Netflix are shooting a TV show based on Shirley Chisholm in Cincinnati. As such, period-specific vehicles and signage are scattered around town. Today, they were setting up to film on Court Street near Vine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480345362-1SR4XBRU364WBUQBT75W/IMG_5176.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.13.22 Birthday Boy Dad turned another year older on Friday, so we had a small get together for him at his house. His cake had blue frosting and fish-shaped sprinkles. This will be the last birthday of his that we’ll celebrate in Milford as they’re planning to move house to Morrow this summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480347876-NKZRYJHK3S926G9BELEW/IMG_5182.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.14.22 Cat. Cat. I’m a kitty cat. And I meow, meow, meow. And I meow, meow, meow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480240668-W3K70ZFKMLKX6VY2SVDU/3979AEDB-2163-454E-A9BB-CF6D2F90FD47.PNG daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.15.22 The Best Day Oddly had the entire day off. No photo jobs, no shop work, nothing to catch up on. Nothing. So, instead of staying inside all day, I hopped on my bike and rode around town. I left my house in Bellevue and went down Riverside Drive to Columbia Tusculum. From there, I went up into Hyde Park and hopped on Wasson Way, then rode the path from end to end. I hit up Xavier University, East Walnut Hills, Eden Park, rode to Over-the-Rhine, went Downtown, then headed back over the Purple People Bridge before going home. I couldn’t decide on which photo from the day I wanted to post here, so I made a little collage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480232756-PO2ZUHEE49NUPEFSSXNN/IMG_5255.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.16.22 Perfect Light Incoming spring has given me perfect weather, and DST has given me perfect light in the living room. I just love the way the sun comes into this room at this time of day. The whole corner glows. The clock’s wrong in the photo; it’s actually 7:10 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979304862-BE8BYCBT37MTKBDUWMJ2/NZ6_6733-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.17.22 Empty Had a job down in Williamstown, Kentucky this morning. About 45 minutes south of home, it’s a small town with a blink-and-you-miss-it retail corridor, some quaint homes, and this seemingly abandoned church. I’m certain there is more to it than that, though—I only saw a brief sliver before heading back to Cincinnati after my job was finished. On the way out of Williamstown, I stopped at a gas station to purchase a drink for the road and fill up my tank. Since I was going to have to go inside to get the drink, I chose the “pay inside” option at the pump, but the attendant didn’t turn it on for me. Confused about what was happening at the pump, I went in and got the drink from the cooler then headed to the counter to pre-pay instead. The attendant looked me dead in the eyes and said, “I’m not turning on that pump for you. I don’t know who you are and I can’t be too careful these days.” He eventually turned it on for me after I put $20 on the pump. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979304856-1Z600PUE8QSXZOS3RDVN/NZ6_6889-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.18.22 1986 Avion We went up to Hocking Hills for a weekend away. We’re staying in this updated 1986 Avion trailer on someone’s property. They rent it out through Airbnb, and it was considerably cheaper than nearby cabins (and, quite frankly, more fun). Sadly, we learned the pipes burst on the way up, so we don’t have running water. It’s not a big deal, though. We brought a five-gallon container. Hopefully the rain stays away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979310876-EVCJPCHDKM83BH8N2KUU/NZ6_6953.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.19.22 Trails New and Old We hiked Hocking Hills’ trails and saw several sights familiar to us from our last trip up, as well as a few others that were new to us. The rained stayed away in the morning, but started up around mid-afternoon. It continued through to the evening, ruining our plans to make a bonfire, cook our dinner over it, and roast s’mores. Instead, we managed with the help of the Avion’s stovetop. It always seems to do this when we come here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979310433-ADLHN5TWM1QEKV6SS51B/NZ6_6994.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.20.22 Ash Cave Ash Cave was the last hike we did before returning to Cincinnati the last time we came to Hocking Hills. Repeating that itinerary, we’ve unintentionally made it tradition. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979306605-K8HX942U1DJ0IK7ZOD2Q/IMG_5331.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.21.22 Equalizing Woke up and felt strange before realizing we didn’t get to Unataza yesterday, as our Sunday routine dictates, because we were traveling back from Hocking Hills. This morning, I stopped in for a cup before going into the shop. Felt better after having it. It’s all psychological and I recognize it as such. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648006667713-S6B8WNS5V13G0A10SPZI/CAM+Event+3.22.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.22.22 Strike a Pose Former Senator Eric Kearney mimicked the pose in the portrait during tonight’s Cincinnati Art Museum event. I got a photo of Jan Michele, the current Vice Mayor of Cincinnati to whom he’s also married, in a separate photo right after this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648269119546-CHX7SS4K2NWEIHL4HFHK/IMG_5375.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.23.22 Spring is Trying Spring is desperately trying to happen. Today was beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648269118732-GECDCH5QWAZAK4AAC7O5/IMG_5385.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.24.22 Court Parked in the garage for my afternoon shoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648269121467-K700RVKGZYXQZFK9CR0Q/ZFC_0019-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.25.22 First Thing’s First I bought a new camera for work. Having been a fan of my Nikon Z6 for a couple years now, I wanted to stick with the Z series, so I added the Nikon Z fc to my lineup. It gallivants as a fusion of retro style with modern capabilities and runs on the proprietary Nikon software I’ve gotten very used to learning over the course of the last ten years. I chose this model because I thought it would be helpful to have a second mirrorless I could rely on without breaking the bank. It’ll allow me to avoid running my Z6 workhorse to death when possible, and will fit well on my other side when dual wielding at events. It’s smaller than my Z6 (cropped sensor), it’ll take the glass I already have in my case, it’s extremely lightweight, and fits into a small bag better than almost every other camera I own. One of the first proper photos I made with it is this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648567435880-NYD6DCVRF6366XCDQV09/ZFC_0062.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.26.22 Spring is Still Trying It’s 40 degrees in late March. For some reason, it feels much, much colder. Perhaps it’s because we had a few extremely nice days prior to now and got into the mindset of warm weather as the default. We were wrong. I sincerely hope our flowers and all the blooms around town don’t die from freeze. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648567437907-8PRBKYRM59M17Q8KS136/IMG_5440.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.27.22 Where Careers Went to Die After a northern-suburb food tour with some friends concluded, we schlepped over to the nearly abandoned Forest Fair Mall. Inside, we stealthily took photos despite the security guard’s warnings. While it was never my first mall of choice due to its proximity to Milford, it was a place I went to fairly often in its heyday and on into its slow decline. I think the last time I went there for actual shopping was around 2008 or so. The mall had a Showcase Cinemas inside that was infamous within the company for being the place where management careers went to die. Having been part of the management structure of that company for a time, I remember the camaraderie shared between the local cinema managers—with the exception of Forest Fair. I could name the managers at all other local theaters, but not this one. It was a social abyss. Before Rave Cinemas bought Showcase, I was told the only reason Forest Fair was still an active theater was simply because they weren’t paying rent. It was presumably able to break even only because the mall so desperately didn’t wish to see another tenant leave. It’s my understanding that the final days of that cinema occurred before the Rave acquisition took place, and it makes sense seeing as how nothing inside has the Rave branding. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648567441278-I8HJPQOFRI8Z013C8PCK/IMG_5491.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.28.22 Saturation +100 We oiled some butcher boards at the shop today, and I liked this one the best. It’s a collection of different tree species glued together. After applying the oil, the colors come alive as if you just artificially upped the color saturation in Photoshop. The strip of purple heart on the left edge is the most striking species in this board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648606172319-UP0H7OJQA4UVQJBI67HB/SPUN+4033+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.29.22 SPUN’s New Home Judi at SPUN asked if I’d photograph their new shop for their website, so I went over to Northside to check it out. It looks amazing. Visual overload in the best way imaginable; there are no muted colors or minimalist sensibilities here. Dominic had a vision for the space and absolutely knocked it out of the park. You’d be hard pressed to find a bolder bike shop from an aesthetic perspective than this place. I spent hours photographing little details such as the Day of the Dead skull within the gear above. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648780438786-93CM6GF0VKS59MPS0DS0/ZFC_0113.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.30.22 A Perfect Evening on the Ave After Ashley got off work, we walked down to the Avenue with Myrtle because the weather was so nice. While we don’t drink during the week very often, we popped into Darkness for a pint and a plate and ran into some friends sitting outside. We joined them and had a really good impromptu hang-out that lasted until the sun went down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648780437486-VHKNMT40B5RXJWFIHVFU/819+Greer+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 3.31.22 Timesink This morning I photographed a house in Covington for a listing. Because the skies were grey and unattractive, it made photographing the home particularly challenging. Some people think overcast is best for indoor photography, but I disagree completely. My favorite sessions include loads of sunlight streaming through the windows to make rooms feel warm and inviting. This image of the staircase, despite having no windows in frame, was heavily affected by the light from outside. So much so, I had to manually repaint the walls and desaturate the spindles to make it look true to form. It took probably 40 minutes from start to finish to finalize this one photo—which will likely be passed by quickly as people scroll through the gallery—but I enjoy spending time on images that aren’t usually in those standard galleries. In my mind, the oddball photos few would take time to shoot and edit are the ones that make prospective buyers subconsciously flag the home as unique. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648854837013-FOFTQJNXLZ234BULT0A1/ZFC_0138-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.1.22 Weakest Link Bad self-esteem day. One day after a client paid me a priceless compliment, I am feeling pretty low about myself. I made small mistakes today at the shop that are still driving me crazy even though they aren’t big deals in the grand scheme of things. From not sanding a piece properly and having my coworker show me what I did wrong in front of the new guy to stupidly hitting my head on the swinging door while trying to vacuum up the wide belt, I just always feel like the weakest link even though I genuinely am trying to give it my 100%. I feel like the weakest link in a lot of areas in my life, and I wish I were better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247145333-KBX2DVCYHR3C2ZWRD9CZ/ZFC_0153.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.2.22 Saturday Walk The corner of Division and Washington, Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247144832-DRE6J54FV6V807EMJV8A/ZFC_0162.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.3.22 Sunday Walk Fairfield Avenue, Dayton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247147063-KNZH3DN7CLNHUD6CFNCI/ZFC_0172.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.4.22 Monday Walk Washington Avenue, Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247677475-NPL3ZPVFB7SL26V7GS6V/ZFC_0210.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.5.22 Tuesday Walk Blue/orange lighting in the wild. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649732598933-6EV5NYU225NRQTGFXKHN/IMG_5561.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.6.22 Wednesday Walk Really looking forward to planting our gardens this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649732600051-7Y8YZCFQQ1V41UDB3IOV/ZFC_0220.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.7.22 Thursday Walk A stranger on a bike with a speaker playing music stopped a few feet in front of me to look at this view. I think he was curious about why I was taking a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649732601925-8XAIF0DKQL456SBLZ2EJ/ZFC_0221.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.8.22 Friday Walk Covington, midday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649734126815-6Z5O99QAYLDO6K5O4222/1302+Main+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.9.22 Surrealism I’m now entering a point in my career where I am being paid to shoot houses I’ve already shot years ago because ownership has changed hands. This feels wild to me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649734127062-ZV1P33AFF24STEZUU2MZ/ZFC_0258-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.10.22 Simplicity I wanted to shoot a scene with ambiguous meaning. Something two people can end on different meanings while looking at the same photo. It’s minimal, but I think there’s enough there to tell a story or convey meaning. The tall/short elements at either end of the staircase, two of which are separated and two joined. The lower third as contrasted with the higher third. The flock of birds. The simple color palette. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649734128567-DRT9UGSNDLKJ8LC4HXJ0/ZFC_0302.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.11.22 Return Visitor A little black cat has begun claiming our porch every night. So much so, we’ve laid out towels for her so she’s warm. She’ll wait until after the sun goes down to cozy up on a cushion and clean her fur before curling into a ball to sleep. Every night, it’s kind of like Christmas Eve as a child—we eagerly wait for this mysterious cat to pay us a visit as if she were Santa Claus. Since it’s not set in stone what time she’ll arrive, usually a few fruitless trips to the window take place before we see her. When we do, there’s an exhilarating hushed excitement that sweeps over us… because there’s a cat on the porch. I’m not saying it makes sense to be this delighted by a stray cat wandering into our little corner of the world, but it’s very much a real part of my nightly routine now, and I’m cherishing it while it lasts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379429079-ZXU8BGLICO1M7KW6VT7M/IMG_5594.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.12.22 Climbing Man A squirrel navigates a partition jungle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379432204-HSB0JKTQSXCQ2R7J19XO/IMG_5605.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.13.22 It’s Always This Way Needed to make a fix on the fly. Dug into the emergency toolbox I keep in the car and prematurely patted myself on the back for being prepared. Of course, the T20 was missing—that’s the one I needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379429083-YN8VL6Q7ZWOXVAQY9I27/318+W+6th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-71.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.14.22 Remy I shot a beautiful house on 6th Street in Covington today. There, an 8-month-old doodle named Remy lived. He and I were unsurprisingly obsessed with each other, and though I wanted to make him the centerpiece of every listing photo, I had to play by the (dumb) rules and make sure he wasn’t in any of them. That didn’t stop me from taking a few outtakes, however. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379426825-HZML71TMVOIO1S4P97DZ/67173322142__38E032B3-E99F-45D4-9D69-DB9B97A793C1.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.15.22 Bill & Phil Bill and I took the Sprinter up to Michigan and back today to deliver a table to a client. We cranked the punk and hardcore we loved in our late-teens and early-twenties the whole way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379432508-ULEAXGQ1HREEG4IHWHC4/IMG_5644.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.16.22 Steve’s Improv Troupe Steve is taking improv classes. He successfully completed his 201 course and did a show with his troupe. Proud of him! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379435242-K1DQPTZ94MDQ00TVL3XA/IMG_5649.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.17.22 Grand Plans Ashley has decided we are participating in three local farmer’s markets this summer. Her plan is to have me build and finish a series of hand made plant stands (pictured) and flight boards to sell. I made a prototype today and have notes about what I will do differently going forward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379435466-U4U5GWAXH2YZRKKFBH6X/IMG_5656.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.18.22 Snail’s Eye View Myrtle goes crazy whenever I come home from being out. Sometimes I lay on the floor and just let her lick my face to get it out of her system. While on the floor this particular time, I took a photo after I mentioned a treat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650416555558-21S9Q1UCRP2QHULKKKFY/NZ6_8878.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.19.22 Tuesday Coffee When our work schedules allow it, Justin, Travis, Ronny, and I get together for midday coffee at a local coffee place. Today, we got together at Urbana in Pendleton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650591799590-3YO3GWHUR0XG7D02WC1J/IMG_5678.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.20.22 Preservation? A friend asked me to build him a step stool using wood that was pulled from his house. The house was built in the 19th century, and the wood he gave me is presumably from the 1800s. None of the pieces he had were milled to any workable degree, especially for finished furniture. The hole-filled pieces, still covered in bark, were riddled with old nails buried deep into their edges. After carefully planing each piece down to a workable size, I had to address the unavoidable cracks, holes, and inclusions leftover. One of the support planks had a massive hole after the knot fell out of it during processing, and because every piece of the buffalo needs to be used for this project, there was no cutting it short to avoid the hole. As such, I created a form around the edges and poured clear resin into the hole, then let it dry over night. After sanding it all down, the hole is properly plugged and acts as a translucent, sturdy feature instead of an obstacle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650591800553-N73MGATHOA5OZSWJK2VM/ZFC_0445.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.21.22 Shelby Street and the Unnamed Alley We wanted to take Myrtle on a nice walk this evening but sought a change of scenery. As such, we drove over to Covington to walk Riverside Drive and its adjacent streets. I always liked the bend at the Licking River where Riverside becomes Shelby, as well as this beautifully imperfect brick-lined alley that isn’t named on Google Maps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650769744906-8BR2BAWSZSNYM48GFK56/IMG_5735.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.22.22 Explosive Ride After getting home around 10:30 PM, I decided to take the bike out for the first time in weeks since the weather was so wonderful. Approaching the Purple People Bridge, I noticed all the lights were off, which was strange since it’s usually lit at night for the pedestrians who use it to cross between NKY and Cincinnati. As soon as I took notice of the lights, fireworks began across the water— routine Friday night fireworks after a Reds home game. I stopped to take a photo when I could see the barge on the water actively launching them opposite Smale Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650769744594-XAR9F7YF6QMJSBBY680B/IMG_5746.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.23.22 Refining My Space I’d been planning to replace my desk for months. Figuring I could make one of my own for about $250, I went to the store and priced all the wood I’d need as well as the metal required to keep it together underneath. The plan to make my own desk from scratch was so set in stone, I was just waiting to find the time to start on it…which is why I ended up finding a kit online for $250 and bought that one instead. Time is my most valuable commodity, and with all the woodworking projects I have lined up at the moment for family and friends, I have none to spare for my own. But I’m not complaining because I really like this desk over my old one, and it only took an hour and a half to assemble out of the box. (It’s melamine with a veneer, but it’s surprisingly sturdy and attractive despite not being solid wood all the way through.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650851932239-1L33RRHU2PAEKPV8BXYH/ZFC_0473.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.24.22 The Hunt Ashley, Cody, and I went to the Burlington Antique Show this morning. It being the first show of the year, there were quite a few really great pieces for sale, including an incredible 1940s cedar chest in pristine condition that we ended up picking up for our bedroom. While I didn’t go to the show with anything specific in mind, I kept an eye out for photography equipment, but didn’t run into too many things. The above photo and a beat up Minolta were about it. Regardless, we still saw an abundance of eclectic stuff during a perfect weather day before loading the Subaru absolutely full of ours and Cody’s treasures. While the show next month will likely not be as fruitful, I’m still looking forward to returning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651117032277-RPWW7SQSOXSJSZM8R45Y/IMG_5794.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.25.22 Demonstration Mike and Maria came over to retrieve the step stool I spent two months making for them using wood they gave me that was originally part of the first floor structural joists in their mid-1800s house on Court Street. Thankfully, Mike posed for a demonstration photo before leaving. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651117034817-3AA3PPBN8OLY72TWLWW9/NZ6_9022.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.26.22 Ault Park I hadn’t been back to Ault Park in awhile. A client asked to do headshots in the park at 9 AM, so while I waited for them to arrive, I snapped a few quick photos to make sure my settings were correct and everything was ready for the shoot. This was the first image of the day—the headshots are more interesting, but I don’t want to share those since I don’t have their permission. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651117058539-2CYX9GMH272KPZXIEG8E/NZ6_9603.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.27.22 Noticed Something New Across Grant Street from Memorial Hall. For some reason never noticed that boarded up outdoor staircase before. In other news, really pleased to see green on trees again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651196523157-GYK4IWZY1FEXTPXSMQZA/The+Foundry+-+Phil+Armstrong-8.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.28.22 Bringing Renderings to Life Architectural photography is my favorite version of what I do. It’s slow and methodical, technical and precise, and rewarding when it works and frustrating when you haven’t cracked the right perspective. GBBN hired me to do some work inside and out of 3CDC’s newest project, The Foundry. Formerly a Macy’s department store, book shop, and restaurant, it’s now office space for Deloitte with a few other tenants that are still in the process of building out their space. While the exterior has yet to be finished, I was tasked with coming up with a suitable shot of the building sans-box trucks. I waited almost a half hour for one to move to start getting photos. This is actually a composite of about six images of people spliced together to get the right balance of pedestrians with minimal overlap. Overall, I like how it reads like a render an architect would send to publications as proof of concept, except everything in the shot exists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651628803807-BBJWT5QFRD7K0Y9G1YBH/IMG_5822.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.29.22 The Henrys Katie, my former coworker, married her fiancé, Ryan, at the Monastery in Mt. Adams tonight. Hiring Katie back in 2018 to help me run Cincinnati Refined was the best professional decision of my career at that publication. I could not have asked for a better person to do her job, and seeing her enjoy her happy day with her partner was heartwarming. While I didn’t get to talk to her at the wedding, I’m really looking forward to having dinner with them when they get back from their honeymoon. She sat us at a table with Rob Braun, Sheila Grey, and Bob Herzog, so I got to catch up with all of them again, which really made me feel better about everything that happened with…everything. I specifically talked to Bob about Star Wars and we realized we have the exact same opinions about the franchise, hot takes and otherwise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651628803805-1NEEOYDOHV55QNVCDJFG/IMG_5828.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 4.30.22 Leveling Up It weighed a total of 113 lbs, and getting into the back of the Subaru wasn’t exactly easy, but I finally got the tool I’ve so desperately wanted for two years: a table saw. After researching online, I went with the DeWalt 10” contractor saw with the fold-up rolling stand. I messed around with it all day. My neighbor who always brings us unsolicited delicious pie was curious about what all the commotion was, so I made her a plant stand after ripping a 1x10 piece of pine into strips, which I couldn’t have done without the saw. I wish I could spend every day making stuff for my friends in my garage, honestly. It’s soul-soothing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629209774-3NM6JIBX9L3GJY78PVQ9/IMG_5861.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.1.22 Perspective I was asked to photograph a wedding proposal in Twin Lakes Park, just north of Eden Park, this late-afternoon. The client was going to stop into the park with his girlfriend after a quick jaunt through Krohn Conservatory. Forgetting how well-attended and lively Twin Lakes Park gets during nice days, I rediscovered how barbecues, loud music, and a perpetual cloud of marijuana fills the park with a jubilance you don’t find in neighboring Eden Park while sitting on a bench waiting for them to arrive. While the vibe was one of easy-going good times, it didn’t fit the romantic setting he desired when he popped the question. When the client realized the mood of the park contrasted with his plan, he diverted us to Eden Park instead. I like this photo because the quiet serenity in frame belies the party happening all around me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629210711-5CZCL2GRRNJC612UFT7F/IMG_5876.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.2.22 Finished Piece I did minimal work on this piece in the shop. It’s a reclaimed bench top with a resin insert within which old tools were delicately placed and suspended. The clients, who have a home in Cincinnati, are bigger deals than the ones we usually get, so everything had to be just right for this one. It took over a month to set the tools, get the resin poured just right, and polish it to a near-flawless sheen. It will be delivered tomorrow. Hoping they choose me to photograph their home when the contractors finish up their work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629212981-NJNBR3BVTFM5BDK6Y4AO/IMG_5892.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.3.22 Narrowing Boundaries It stormed on and off all day. Both of my shoots were cancelled as a result. I don’t often get political with these daily uploads, but likely anyone reading this is probably also politically progressive, so strap in for a moment. There’s been some pretty horrific news coming out of Washington today about possibly overturning a 50-year-old Supreme Court decision, which will ultimately limit the freedoms of women to govern their own bodies if it comes to pass. It’s shameful, disgusting, and hypocritical of the crowd who protested and cried when it came to vaccine mandates to legalize this type of repression. It fills me with anger to see a handful people at the top of the government control such an intimate, personal choice billions of people in this country should be entitled to make for themselves. Conservatives and the dusty crypt keepers running this country drive me absolutely crazy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651719416239-P1MGN9VXJUGFQ8ZM8O6Z/IMG_5937.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.4.22 Modern Approach to Avian Dining I built a bird feeder last year for our yard that’s done well to keep our feathered friends’ appetites at bay (when we remember to fill it). However, time and harsh weather haven’t been kind to it, and since that original build, I’ve learned much about proper sanding techniques as well as how to better stain and seal wood for outdoor use. With the recent acquisition of the table saw, it felt necessary to try again. Taking inspiration from a contemporary design I found on Amazon, I put together this simple little feeder and hung it from the eaves over the back door. With the added protection from rain and two coats of polyurethane, I’m more confident that this one will last longer than last year’s. Then again, if I get to build a new bird feeder every year and play with new designs, I won’t be upset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651804505753-8APPKP2IR4WN9ND8VSJO/NZ6_0683.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.5.22 Cinco Left a Cinco de Mayo party to shoot another one down the street. This was my favorite image from the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324348019-W3M9DYUQKIKM5QIFGK68/Heart+Ball+Decor+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.6.22 Heart Ball Worked a dirty day in the wood shop then changed clothes and immediately went to the Duke Energy Convention Center to photograph the glitzy decor of the Heart Ball for a client. This is one of my favorite types of assignments because it’s so damn easy. Just get in, enjoy the decor without the pomp and circumstance (or really any lengthy human contact), and move along home before the whole thing starts. When you spend all day socializing as an introvert who struggles with basic interpersonal relationships as a result of a long pandemic, these types of assignments are perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324356083-XPPJLAKBM2AKFQ5W11Y9/910+Russell+Street-+Phil+Armstrong+-25.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.7.22 White Balance: Impossible Shot this house in Covington this morning. It was absolutely impossible to balance in post. I used flash to maintain true colors, and even still I managed not to properly balance the colors. This was as close as I could get; the blue outside light, the hot orange chandelier light, the multi-colored stained glass window, and the bold wallpaper made for an impossible task. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324348918-5LDG6NQL9T3D418AWWO8/IMG_5991.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.8.22 Always WIth Her Ball One of Myrtle’s favorite things is chasing her ball in the back yard. I didn’t want a huge yard to mow when we were looking to buy a house, but I wanted enough grass so she could frolic and play with ease. Every time I push the mower around, she finds a way to place the ball in the path of the blades so I kick it out of the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324352532-XPOR7TJZEOZM6TYBSA4V/IMG_6022.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.9.22 Bark in the Park We went to Bark in the Park with Justin and Annie tonight. The pups walked the field before the start of the game, past adoring fans (all 20 of them) and a consummate amount of press feverishly snapping photos from the press trench (is that what it’s called?). We had a great time overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324352927-E8JKKHEMQYAFFR30AQOJ/NZ6_1508.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.10.22 Testing Testing 123 Had to do a big group photo on the Memorial Hall stage this afternoon. Making people wait while I fiddle with settings on my camera is a nightmare scenario, so I got there early, put boundary tape down on the floor, and did a few test photos to make sure I had everything situated before placing them on stage. Having no one to photograph, I stepped in front of the lens to see how the lighting would look when the flash fired. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324356789-Z01LPR87N8FY441N91GK/ZFC_1308.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.11.22 Tigerfest Bellevue Plaza is currently filled with carnival rides, games, and food kiosks at the moment. I like seeing that big empty parking lot filled with fun for a few days. Relieves the dullness of that corner of the neighborhood regardless of how you feel about pop-up carnivals. As the sun was setting, a brilliant red and purple sky glowed in the distance, painting a perfect back drop for the showcase of blinking lights and backlit signs. It’s impossible to deny the charm of a hot evening at a carnival. I was getting flashes of childhood emotion left and right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932743516-H6OYEWJKDGZO3WBMNN5R/3638+Amberson+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-28.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.12.22 Little Details This morning’s job took me to an Airbnb in Oakley. While the house was nice enough, I didn’t get to do many detail shots that I really enjoyed. This is the only one that I really like enough to consider adding to my daily photo archive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932745212-JS0GGVIUS698SCDVZ83W/Art+in+Bloom+-+Phil+Armstrong+-137.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.13.22 The Treefolk The Cincinnati Art Museum hired me to shoot a gala to kick off Art in Bloom this evening. The usual CAM crowd was there—people I’ve photographed many times before, all dressed in new outfits. I have proof of that detail, after all. These tree people, standing probably 9 feet tall on stilts, blew me away. Every time they lumbered toward me down one of CAM’s cavernous hallways, I couldn’t help but marvel at the illusion they’d put together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932747821-PLYQ2ARM3I8TLUV5C3QU/Art+In+Bloom+Outdoor+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-37.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.14.22 Party on the Steps An outdoor event at the Art Climb brought a steady amount of people out of the museum to enjoy a DJ, some food trucks, and a good climb down the Cincinnati Art Museum’s front stoop. Little ones made their own potted flower arrangements to the left while adults paid Esoteric Brewing to pour them a cold one six feet to the right. There wasn’t a lot in the way of candids to get, so I gathered courage to ask people for posed portraits to satisfy my photo contract with the museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932751264-OVKEEIC2R5ETIFG94YRA/IMG_6145.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.15.22 Manny We’re watching Manny for the weekend so our neighbors can return to their home in Kansas for one of their graduations from med school. He found the snoot hole I cut in the fence for Myrtle, who still doesn’t seemingly care that much about its existence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932747840-Q1YGVMXDA6XVDB949J9B/Art+Museum+Exhibit+GBBN+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.16.22 Art Museum: Round 4 Lest you believe I work part time at the Art Museum, this shoot wasn’t for CAM but rather for GBBN. They had a hand in designing this exhibit and wanted to document it for their portfolio. To showcase the size and scale of the space, we placed models on different planes and in various states of activity: sitting, standing, and motion. I used to dread using models for shoots because I’m as good a director as Worf is as Chief of Security on the Enterprise-D, but I’ve come around on it over the last couple of years. It was my fourth day in a row at CAM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932751221-0K6DOKTNYHAHCFYAU8WQ/IMG_6182_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.17.22 Unataza Reopens My favorite coffee shop, Unataza Coffee, moved across the street to a bigger, better space that was formerly occupied by Purple Poulet. Ale, the owner, and Katie, one of the baristas, were there and welcomed us when we went in for a latte. I’m really impressed with the new shop’s communal possibilities as it can now seat so many more people than the previous location. Also, this is a small thing but it faces south, allowing direct morning sunlight to fill the front of the shop which always makes a coffee shop feel special to me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932753010-V9QZ72T1EQ5NGOIH10GA/IMG_6209.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.18.22 Z9 Buying a new camera is always a special, exciting thing. Not long ago, I picked up a Nikon Zfc as my second shooter and everyday carry due to its small size and reliability. Normally, that would be it for me for a year or two, but the opportunity to buy a Nikon Z9 presented itself and I jumped on it. I’d been hitting the upper limit of what my Z6 could do for me over the last couple years, feeling the edges of its capabilities most doing event photography. Seeing as how that’s become a larger part of my work life and since I am doing freelance as my career now, my small business needed the next logical step before it could produce better work. The Z9 is weirdly hard to buy at the moment; Nikon isn’t cranking them out like they have other camera bodies in the past. My (dare I say) friend, Peter, at Procam let me join a wait list, which paid off today. Having messed around in settings for a few hours and dabbled with the dynamics of the perpendicular grip, I can honestly say this is by far the beefiest camera I’ve ever used let alone owned. Also, I’m good on buying new bodies for a long, long time now. Its maiden voyage will be in a house in Covington tomorrow for a listing. I think we’re going to make good stuff together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653014253950-GVNTJQJSZBVIM8JB0EOV/DSC_0594-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.19.22 Spring Storm The plan was to get night shots of a house I photographed earlier today, but that didn’t happen because a massive storm blew into town. Storms, when not tornadoes, are one of the most exciting, enjoyable natural phenomenons. I have a vivid memory of being young and sitting on the porch with my dad while watching what I thought back then was the biggest storm I’d ever seen, but without any fear. I was filled with nothing but wonder and the nervous excitement of climbing a hill on a rollercoaster. That positive childhood memory influenced my affection for most storms from that point on. Now that I have a home with a covered porch, I relive that excitement whenever the skies open up. Tonight’s tempest was the definition of the word; high winds, torrential downpours, and nary a darkened corner of the sky for more than a few seconds at a time. It was raucous, it was dramatic, and it was everything I like about non-threatening storms. Seeing an opportunity to test out the Z9, I freehanded it, firing in bursts to get a glowing frame with the treeline and streetlight within it. Of course, as soon as I stopped firing to check my levels, a perfect bolt appeared right where I was previously shooting, and I cursed myself for not being clairvoyant enough to capture it. I tried in vain for about 15 more minutes to see if it would return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969162510-KWIDSP9O3ESW6NBL47T3/ZFC_1560-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.20.22 Break Time! Whenever I feel tired and worn out, I take a break from the internet and it sorts me out without fail. Something about being totally in the moment alone with your thoughts and actions while disconnected from the global discourse is restorative, and frankly novel, in prescribed doses. I’ve been working a lot recently, and it’s time I log off for a little break from the web—including posting the daily photo project. I’m still going to do the daily photo, but I’m going to hold onto them until I’m finished with this break and post them all at once. If you’re reading this in the archive, you won’t notice, but if there’s anyone out there who reads this daily, you’ll be seeing the above image for a little bit. I promise not to do more than 10 days. Going to spend a little time reading, seeing people, and recharging. Au revoir! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968989680-MFP0ZHSS937QAR1HQZVD/ZFC_1647.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.21.22 A Day in PGH We’re going on a road trip. First stop: Pittsburgh! We went to PGH a couple years ago before the pandemic and found it to be particularly enjoyable. I wanted to stop by the Episode I vending machine up in Mount Washington while visiting, so we took the incline up the hill and my wife questioned her marriage vows when she saw the reason I dragged her to this place. I have a funny-ish story about the vending machine, but I’m going to blog about it when I get the chance. We finished the night with a walk around Point State Park and a random nap in the grass simply because we were tired. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968993483-NDX947RO8T0832Q9ZW0Y/ZFC_1675.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.22.22 Adieu to the Strip We only planned to be in Pittsburgh for a day before venturing on to Philadelphia. Before leaving the city completely, we had breakfast at a diner on the The Strip before wandering around for a little bit. Unfortunately, our early-riser nature meant almost nothing was open, save for a few shops. I sent my father, a diehard Bengals fan, this photo and asked him if he needed anything from the store while I was out. He asked for a Terrible Towel for post-bathroom cleanup. Classic dad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968994455-6XV2GTJD1WD14HFWEAQZ/ZFC_2024.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.23.22 Full Day in Philly We’ve never been to Philly before. After two different friends from Cincinnati relocated there over the years, we decided now’s the time to make the trip. While we arrived yesterday, today was our first full day in the city. After riding the metro and walking over 30K steps through Old City, Center City, and South Philly, we managed to get a glimpse of the skyline from the South Street Bridge before heading back for dinner. Though the weather was perfect and made traipsing around Philly a relative breeze, we still welcomed our showers and beds by the night’s end. We’re staying with our friends, Jay and Lauren, in their home near the Tacker-Morris station in South Philly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968999521-IHTT1YCK69GIZ5200J7E/ZFC_2152.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.24.22 Markets, Metro Rides, and More The day started with a trip to see City Hall and nearby Love Park. From there, we walked over to Reading Terminal Market and ate a bunch of stuff, including a roast pork. I think the cheesesteak we ate at Jim’s in South Philly yesterday was better than Philadelphia’s porcine sandwich underdog, but I still enjoyed it regardless. We then met up with our friend, Tiffany, in Rittenhouse Square and she took us over to West Philly via the South Street Bridge. We saw her alma mater, rode the metro all the way to the western boundary of the city, then walked to her apartment to see where she lived. Her neighborhood has a different vibe than South Philly, but that’s not a critique. The city is full of character depending on which neighborhood you’re in. We also managed to find time to sit in the grass in a park, though we didn’t sleep in it like we did in Pittsburgh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968999971-6TEUIUGH2SRJZ1ZWI9VY/ZFC_2351.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.25.22 Eastern State Penitentiary We did a LOT today, but I’ll stick to talking about the best thing for this post. Everyone takes this photo inside Eastern State because it gives the viewer a proper sense of scale, a look at the current state of the building, and conveys the inherent eeriness of a long-shuttered hell hole where inmates suffered for over 150 years. I think this is the most memorable museum I’ve ever been to (yes, recognizing the recency bias, but the statement holds). We put on headphones and tuned our on-demand radios to the narration—something I’ve never done in a museum or other attraction before. That method of personal storytelling is super effective at completely immersing the visitor in the history of the space. We spent a couple hours scouring the halls of this dreadful-yet-alluring artifact of American history; I shot many photos throughout the place because it was so hauntingly photogenic. It’s easily the best attraction we’ve seen so far in Philadelphia. I find it hard to believe anything will beat it on this trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969005260-UEQTPO2Y28ASNQ3O8OGN/ZFC_2636.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.26.22 Philly > Annapolis > DC Bidding our Philly friends goodbye early in the day, we set out toward DC to meet up with other friends who live there. On the way, we detoured to Annapolis and did a trolley tour of the city to get a sense of what it’s all about (mainly a naval academy, but also some George Washington-era stuff). The weather wasn’t ideal, but it didn’t rain, so it could’ve been worse. I ate a really good crab cake at a restaurant a block away from the harbor, and the town has a very wealthy coastal feel to it (or at least the parts we visited). We only spent about three hours in Annapolis before moving onto DC. It’s a fine place to visit once, but I don’t think I need to see Annapolis again in this lifetime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969005247-UCFM02VRF94ECJCNX4BO/ZFC_2746.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.27.22 Surprise Villain We arrived in DC late yesterday. Today we shook our fists at the grey, dull skies that threatened rain and tried to find interesting indoor things to do. Though I’m not religious, I enjoy seeing inside houses of worship, mainly as an appreciator of elaborately designed spaces that can’t reasonably be recreated today due to the cost of labor and materials. The National Cathedral ticked all the boxes. We wandered around taking photos and admiring all the fine details both inside and out. If you look closely through all of the religious iconography and standard flourishes common in Catholic architecture, you’ll see surprisingly fun stuff scattered throughout. I found a little vignette of a cat eyeballing mice, both carved in stone, in a dimly lit corner of the cathedral. Some column toppers outside had interesting faces and characters doing different things, like a squirrel fighting off birds for a nut. Also, on the exterior, several grotesques were added high above the ground—including DARTH VADER’S HEAD. Google it and read about why he’s up there. Seeing a pop-culture icon jutting off a cathedral of this size and importance blew my mind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969010835-2PNYEZWEPFA4NABSD30S/ZFC_2803.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.28.22 Very American We walked down to the National Mall from our friends’ apartment to see the Capitol. We’d not been since 2016, but the last time we were there, it was covered in scaffolding. I got my photo of it unobstructed from the other side, but I prefer this photo because it speaks to what it’s actually like being there. If you’re not bombarded by tie dye USA shirts or weed print bucket hats, you get the American food and pop vendor. When in Rome! The man in the trailer sold me a 16-oz Diet Coke for $3. No, I didn’t try the food, but if I were hungry enough, I would’ve definitely gotten a hot dog. We did a bunch of other good stuff today, including seeing a botanical garden, the Library of Congress, a cat on a leash, and the DC Metro (not in that order). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969011292-7CLER719V6TGUZCS2TT0/IMG_6517.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.29.22 The Long Drive Home After traveling many miles and spending over a week seeing cities while visiting friends, it was time for us to return home. This trip was incredible; we got to see old friends, a brand new city, and revisit favorites we’ve been to before. Not only that, but staying offline and in the moment was restorative in way’s I’d forgotten. I feel like a new man coming back to Cincinnati. This was the only photo I took all day because I drove straight home from DC. It’s of the coffee shop we visited before heading out on the road, and I only took it because I like reviewing everything on Google no matter how small a part it played on my day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969015163-UQBW5EPT7APSTL8DGU02/IMG_6528.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.30.22 Playing Catch-Up We slept in this morning. Apparently traveling takes it outta you. Still, we saw the start to our day around 9 AM, which included a trip to the hardware store for a few things. While we were on our trip, our yard got a little out of control, so we spent the day cleaning it up and adding some new landscaping, including this bed of boxwoods and other plants to delineate where our front yard is in relation to our neighbors’. We don’t know who’s moving in next, and a fence seems aggressive, so this felt like an aesthetically pleasing and tasteful way to say, “I take care of this part and you do that bit.” The heat and physical labor was uncomfortable yet satisfying. We drank a lot of beer and cocktails on the trip and it felt good to just sweat everything out while replacing it with water. By the end of the day, we had a freshly cared for yard, a sunburn, and some light soreness in our muscles to go along with our pride for what we’ve built. It’s good to be back home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654134573985-KLAHMRPA648875EN3SPH/Baymiller+Slaughterhouse+-+Phil+Armstrong+-78.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 5.31.22 I’m Off Beef I photographed a former slaughterhouse in the West End this afternoon. The client is going to gut it and make it into something new—probably a warehouse space with accompanying second floor offices. According to him, they’d already gotten in and removed some of the gnarlier stuff before it was my time to come in, but it was a difficult shoot nonetheless. I am omnivorous, but after seeing the kill room with left over infrastructure, I think I’m going to stop eating beef entirely. It was hard to think about before I saw everything, but this shoot may have done me in permanently. In two hours, a lifetime of willful ignorance was almost entirely undone. It’s not that there were bodies left or anything in that room, but the outlines of cleanup and processing were still visible, and I found myself thinking hard about what these creatures’ last moments were like in that horrible room. To date, I do not think I’ve ever photographed a place that’s seen more intentional death than that one. I’m not willing to say I will be 100% able to resist eating a burger in the future, but I will 100% struggle with it knowing that a place like this is where cows meet their fate. Anyway, I didn’t want to spring a gruesome photo on you, but I didn’t want to archive something devoid of the reality of that place, either. This feels like the proper balance between the two. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654134650967-BHBU3AEKNCOD87SMM4QA/IMG_6561.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.1.2022 No Loafing A much lighter sign than the one in yesterday’s image. We were walking on Taylor Avenue this evening when I looked up and saw this very old sign. In faded letters, it reads “NO LOAFING $25 REWARD for information leading to arrest & conviction of anyone defacing or damaging this property.” It’s located on the front of 348 Taylor Avenue—a building I read was once Bellevue Town Hall (and mentioned in this blog post). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482365118-2QDP2IGZ1Z6MPVMNN5VH/231+Grove+-+Phil+Armstrong+-30.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.2.22 Unexpected Win In my haste to get out of the door to my morning shoot, I left the connector plate for my tripod at home, rendering it useless. To make matters worse, the skies opened up on my drive to the Wyoming house. Without a stable platform from which to shoot in a darker-than-normal atmosphere, I started sweating. Would I be able to successfully get my shots without shooting with obnoxious grain? I normally shoot at ISO 32 and bracket my shots for later HDR conversion, but I would have to do it all handheld. It wasn’t ideal. However, I’m pleased to say the shoot ended up being really good. The Z9 is unstoppable. I managed to keep every shot between ISO 1000 and 2500, and the combinations even with all that grain weren’t glaringly fuzzy when I got it into Lightroom. I unexpectedly proved to myself that a tripod, while very much preferred for listing photography, isn’t actually necessary for these quick house shoots. That opens the door to a faster workflow, which I wouldn’t have been brave enough to test out had I not been forced to do so. Still, I will continue to use my tripod when I have it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482245539-BXBRH43TEUZ7QCZ75Z0P/IMG_6567.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.3.22 Yin and Yang When I awoke this morning, I was totally deaf in my left ear. It feels like I have an ear plug buried deep in my ear canal that I can’t remove, but the ear itself is free of debris; I confirmed this with an unplanned doctor visit late this morning. He said it’s clean in there, but suspects I have blockage in a tube somewhere in my head. For my troubles, he prescribed me a hearty dose of antibiotics to kill whatever’s in there and reopen the blocked passage. The good news, though, is that Judy made me a WHOLE RHUBARB PIE THIS MORNING. She’s made this pie in the past, and I believe with every tastebud on my tongue that it’s the best one I’ve ever had. Reader, I wish you could taste this thing. Our symbiotic neighbor relationship—one in which I help her with her house and yard while she makes me pies—is my favorite thing about living on our street. Thankfully, my ear being totally blocked doesn’t affect my sense of taste. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482220628-X4N81B10GQ5U8SVK4XA8/IMG_6570.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.4.22 HOE of KY Sometimes you take only one photo a day and it ends up being an image you took because you’re immature and thought it was funny. And then it becomes catalogued in your very personal and important photo project, cementing your immaturity forever. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482219706-8KC17FMB8V3FCTHC41VI/NZ9_3421.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.5.22 The Moat In 1884, the verdict of a murder trial turned the city upside down and an angry mob burned down the courthouse. After a replacement courthouse was built and stood standing for a couple of decades, it was torn down to make way for a more permanent structure—the one we still use today. Keeping in mind what happened to the courthouse of 1884, the redesign built in defenses that would all but ensure the new courthouse wouldn’t meet the same fiery fate. Ornamental balustrades on an elevated plaza would give the high ground to soldiers firing at mobs, narrow outdoor walkways several stories above the street on the building would give line of sight and extended range for rifle fire, bars over windows on the street level protected against forced entry, and sunken moats were built on two sides of the building to prevent short ladders from being placed there. The building is as much a monument to fear of the public as it is a center of justice. You can still see the moats and other defensive elements of its architecture today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654573759092-8OAT30H9T9HPI6MWOP6Z/IMG_6581.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.6.22 Switching Back to Stereo Last Friday, I mentioned going randomly deaf in my left ear and seeking the help of a doctor to figure out what was going on. Long story short, the doc, who graced me with his presence for maybe 60 seconds total, was lazy and threw pills at me when he should’ve seen I had something in my ear blocking the canal. After three days of being deaf, I decided to try Debrox again late last night, and lo and behold, a piece of a clay ear plug I tried months ago flushed out of my ear (that’s a long story and not worth elaborating here). As soon as it came out, I swear I could hear stardust in space scattering across an asteroid a thousand lightyears away. My left AirPod’s leave of absence ended and was called back to join the right pod for duty on the front lines today. The joy of being able to simply hear in stereo again surprised me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654655564532-7YXMK5R7208W3CBHOP1T/Art+Museum+Event+6.7.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-18.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.7.22 3D Tracking Nikon’s 3D tracking detection isn’t something I’ve used until the Z9. While it’s been embedded in the system since at least the D750 (or at least that was my first Nikon to have it), it never clicked with me until seeing it in action on the Z9. This photo is a completely unedited JPG straight out of the camera. Truly couldn’t be happier to be shooting with equipment capable of producing something this surreal in low light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654871386696-4BGHP426GHNI32UZFN8Q/ZFC_3009-Pano-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.8.22 Delivery to Rochester Drove this beautiful piece of West African khaya up to Rochester for a client. The trip was surprisingly quick, clocking in at around 8 hours. Bill and I unloaded the van, leveled it on the rug, dusted it off, and I took a photo of it in the space for John’s website/Instagram. After the job was done, Bill and I sought out a Rochester garbage plate (Google it) and stayed at a weird little roadside hotel that was recently converted to a Best Western. Overall, it was a nice day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654871388161-8FBPI7DJUG8WUTQR1PWX/ZFC_3039-Pano.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.9.22 While You’re Up There While in Rochester, we were also tasked with getting photos of a previous woodworking project John had delivered at some point in the past. Because the Z fc has a cropped sensor, I had to do a three-panel pano and merge in Lightroom to get all of the table into one shot. As such, the aspect ratio isn’t what I’d normally go for, but it’s fine for John’s purposes. On the way back, we detoured and stopped in PGH to pick up building materials for the shop, ate a Primanti Bros. sandwich, and got back to Cincy around 8:30 PM. It was a LONG day of driving, but a good one. I would like to be done traveling for a little bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655091874302-PH8H1UN2724WB8M5KWIF/IMG_6660.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.10.22 Everything Is Alright I’ve spent the majority of my life not liking going to shows for myriad reasons, but when my friend Mike told me Motion City Soundtrack were going to be playing the entirety of Commit This To Memory at Bogarts, I threw my reservations to the wind (and took some meds to lower my anxiety). Mike and Steve went with me and we spent the evening enjoying the songs we loved when we were 18 all over again. The show was incredible and I’m wondering if maybe I just need to A) only go to see the bands I love instead of bands I don’t know or care about, B) stand in the back with a beer, and C) just go with Mike and Steve since they’re on the same page. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655091877732-KVY3N5JW1180THPWZD8F/IMG_6670.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.11.22 Attention Needed Ashley is out of town, so I’m single dog-dadding at the moment. Our upcoming farmer’s market material isn’t going to build itself, so I spent the day working on making the components for 15 plant stands while Myrtle slept on the porch alone. Having worked many hours below her toiling away in the garage, I eventually felt horrible about not spending more time with her, so we went on a nice walk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655091877512-JAW0I6NAJ4TNGNSTOOGT/NZ9_5116-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.12.22 Birding House finches are trying desperately to roost in my ferns. This morning, Myrtle and I went out on the porch with coffee and a podcast and I photographed them on electrical wires as they stared me down, unsure of what I was doing in *their* space. It felt good to use the 600mm again; I haven’t had a reason to bust out that lens in a long time. Really need to get back into birding. It’s so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655221000837-7E7U2ECR8A182LN728YK/IMG_6708.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.13.22 Subterranean Safety After sweating out a full 5 lbs of water from riding my bike to and from the shop, I showered and made an easy ravioli meal before sitting down with Myrtle on the couch. As the TV played an episode of Star Trek: Discovery, I practically inhaled my meal while transfixed on the story playing out on screen. I didn’t notice how dark it was getting outside nor Myrtle’s attention to the windows. At some point, the wind blew the porch ferns enough to catch my eye and I suddenly realized we were on the precipice of a big weather event. As is the custom, the porch became my perch upon which to feel the cold front wipe away the thick stickiness of the day until the threat of being struck my lightning made it untenable. I was only inside for a brief time before the power went out and Myrtle retreated to the basement. I joined her with battery powered lanterns until the storm passed. We were without power for a couple hours before it popped back on—something I’ve not experienced in our house in the two years we’ve lived here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655220918741-S6ENNY71X1535ZVYUL9N/IMG_6718.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.14.22 Dogs Toilet I love wholesome graffiti. The drawing of the happy dog face sealed the deal for me. Posting this early in my day because it will certainly not get any better than this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655352856419-UWLM3YNXB6Y1FQR4XOAS/IMG_6730.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.15.22 A Fruitful Harvest If there’s one good thing to come out of this diabolical heatwave, it’s this. My garden is growing and ripening at an accelerated rate. I gave everything a drink and plucked this tomato when I got home from the shop. It’s stem mates aren’t far behind. Growing your own food is deliciously satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693712697-GIMZI3V6QFV4VQ0GC29Z/NZ9_6201.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.16.22 Lo-Fi I tie up/hide ugly wires when doing real estate photos. While shooting a place in Covington this afternoon, I had to use my watch to keep hold of a bundle because I forgot my twist ties and the cords were laying all over the floor. There’s a first time for everything! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693716592-SGFCBJPX0LRMSP89HKB3/IMG_6750.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.17.22 One Last Go Our wonderful neighbors, Max and Kelsey, are moving back to Kansas City in a week. As physicians, where they get placed after school is based upon where doctors are needed. They put in for Wichita and got KC. We knew the day would come when they’d be moving from the day we met them; it was always their intention to be closer to their parents after finishing school and residency in Cincinnati. Their son was born here, so they have a special connection to this place and promise they’ll return some day. We promised them we’d go see them in KC at some point in the near future, too. To savor their in-person friendship, we got together with them and another neighbor couple to have one last night out together. The night ended with drinking hard seltzers until late, all of our dogs co-mingling, laughing and being as raucous as we wanted since everyone who lived around us was there on our porch. Nights like these—the ones where a little bit of the neighborhood hangs out together—are the ones I remember most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693716589-EB1EXK23VC854HJJLF3O/IMG_6759.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.18.22 Lucky Says ‘Hello’ Good old Lucky. He’s 14 years old and will wander up the street to sniff every stoop whenever he gets out of Lacey and Jordan’s house. He was checking me out earlier this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693720258-2TMLIU29TAD0IEQQ1BG8/Riverview+Animal+Hospital+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.19.22 Riverview Animal Hospital Spent the last two days working on materials for our upcoming farmer’s market and did little in the way of serious photography. After seeing my father for dad-day, I had to go get a photo of the new animal hospital down on Donnermeyer for the architect. I shopped out the telephone pole shadows and overhead wires to give it a cleaner look. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655811386237-2ZXHRD0MGK8KHILMDDUO/NZ9_6338.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.20.22 Unexpected Half Day iCal told me I had a full day of work, but I had a hunch something was off. I texted my morning client to casually confirm our appointment and they cancelled last minute due to a positive COVID test. Praising myself for having good instincts, already parked and settled downtown, and having sent the dog to daycare for the morning, I had a little time before my next shoot. No sense in going home. I’d brought my half-read library book with me, it’s due date today, and decided maybe instead of giving up on it, I’d read a chapter or two more. It wasn’t an overly good book, so I didn’t have much interest in finishing it, but I had nothing else to do until my next appointment. I sat in Ziegler Park while dogs occasionally ran up to drop a snoot on my arm as their owners yelled apologies from across the lawn and recalled their pooches with the toss of a ball the opposite way. Walkers lapped my perch and a few mothers with strollers stopped to rest under the shade tree I’d commandeered while I finished the other half the book. Much to my surprise, I liked it well enough to consider reading the next book in the series. The photo is from 15th and Vine Street—my second shoot of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655865744625-LN4HAB4J3FHLEV4SLQZQ/NZ9_6694.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.21.22 Limited Years ago, Arcadia Publishing approached me about possibly writing a book about historic Cincinnati hotels. At the time, I was very into researching Cincinnati’s downtown legends like the Sinton and the Gibson and had quite a bit of surface research completed. While we ultimately decided not to pursue working together, my love of hotels remains. In Hamilton, a group is rehabbing an enormous former paper mill building into a hotel and mixed-use space and hired me to come up to photograph the areas that are customer-facing and ready for business. The three historic buildings comprise a whopping 1.2 million square feet in total, a fraction of which I saw this afternoon. The hotel is still under construction, but rooms are presently available to rent in key areas. The event space and retail/restaurant/brewery spaces are incoming but should be completed within the next couple of months I’m told. While the shoot was formulaic and unfortunately didn’t give me much latitude for creativity, it was nice to see an old building saved and modernized for hospitality instead of demolished for a new build. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430049099-DL6JJ6T2MUZGZE08EQO1/NZ9_6922.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.22.22 Alien Landscapes We have a load of rough sawn wood in the shop at the moment for a big job for a multi-national corporation headquartered in Manhattan. We intend to work it into finished product over the course of the next two months. One of the pieces has a bit of live edge that looks like an alien landscape, and I couldn’t help but imagine Commander Riker standing at the edge of one of these cliffs and yelling “ANYBODY” into the echo-y cavern below. I wanted to do a focus-stacked image, but I didn’t set the step depth correctly, so I couldn’t manufacture the finished image the way I wanted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430050640-H11GV8TKWEK31ET8R31T/NZ9_7073.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.23.22 Alice OTR Alice OTR had its soft opening tonight. One of the owners, Seth, invited me to grab a few photos of the space. Four years ago, I took photos of it before it was a bar, so I lined up my shots with the previous ones to illustrated how far it has come. Seems like it’ll be a good place to enjoy a weekend night on Main Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430053374-8LEU5MFGNJQIKZFDG2LZ/IMG_6882.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.24.22 Needed Calm After a Historically Bad Day After women in the United States of America were stripped of their right to choose what to do with their bodies by five pathetic conservative assholes in Washington DC today, I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. It’s sickening that we’re living in a regressive country led by a minority of Christians who feel it necessary to foist their religious beliefs on the entire population despite crying like babies whenever others don’t want to. “Separation of church of state” is the biggest lie I’ve ever been told. Bunch of sickening, lizard-brained hypocrites who believe a magical man in the sky means half the population shouldn’t have a say in what to do with their own bodies. Anyway, we had a dinner date with neighbors on the schedule, so we kept our plans in an effort to feel something besides despair for the evening. The night ended with drinks on their porch. That calm was medicine I didn’t know I needed until I got it. I won’t stop feeling angry about what’s happening in our country, but for a few hours, I could get away from my frustration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430055094-C3631A304B6RVS2KYIBO/ZFC_3047-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.25.22 A Good Distraction Went to a dog party. Not feeling overly social from the news of yesterday, I took a jazz gummy and drank a few beers to put myself at ease. The party was a good distraction for another night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430059132-UJXZFR27NYVYBGEMMPRM/IMG_6907.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.26.22 Partied Too Hard Myrtle played so hard at the dog party last night, she wanted to rest on the floor of Unataza this morning instead of begging for treats. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430060105-2AWCPTQHQ8NH68GY2X45/IMG_6920.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.27.22 The AA Bike Lane Not really sure where the AA Highway ends and Licking Pike/Lowell Street begins, but there’s a bike lane on it. Convenient if traveling between Covington and Newport. I use it to get to and from the wood shop. It’s unprotected, but I feel better using it than cycling in traffic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656559632322-X3QF7XHO0NI83O0CIF9B/IMG_6926.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.28.22 Made in Bellevue We’re preparing to participate in our first local farmer’s market. I’m building 15 plant stands and 18 flight boards to sell at the Bellevue Beach Park on July 17th. Each item will be branded with this custom text. It’s taken a month of my spare time to cut the pieces for 15 plant stands (several of which have been stained and assembled), and I haven’t even started on the flight boards yet. It’s going to be a long month, but I’m determined to build it all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656559633497-412OSDUWLNEHDMBE3QW3/ZFC_3142.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.29.22 4 to 4 I have never seen FCC win a game and tonight they made sure I kept the tradition alive with a tie. We went with Maria and Mike—they have season tickets and were gracious enough to bring us. Despite being not-a-sportsman, I yelled myself hoarse because the game was so close. Of all the games I’ve been to (which is, like, five) I think this one was the most exciting overall. I managed to get a few frames with my Nikon Z fc while there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657680225197-PFY4UM5NLTKLVI4ILFWT/Fourth%2Band%2BWalnut%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 6.30.22 Fourth & Walnut The owners of Fourth & Walnut Center plan to turn the Daniel Burnham-designed former office tower into apartments. They asked me to get a few exteriors. The tricky thing about getting exteriors of tall high-rises in the business district is the angle; no wide angle lens has the perspective control able to get a good architectural shot from the street at that close of a distance. So converging lines keep converging. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886466-LPJ2FZDLMIHZACHK0978/NZ9_7505-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.1.22 A Very Long Day Today was a very, very long day. I thought I was waking up early to drive a finished table to the mountains in North Carolina, but instead the table wasn’t finished and the crew had to spend the first half of the day sorting that out. What was once an 8 AM departure turned into a 4 PM, and after working a full day in the shop, the last thing I really wanted to do was carefully drive a $16K piece of eucalyptus six hours south. Luckily, John decided to drive the whole way and paid little attention to the speed limit, ensuring my sustained heart rate of a thousand beats per minute for the duration of the drive. Long story short, it was a stressful ride that culminated in a somewhat dangerous climb up a dirt and gravel road in the pitch black mountains at 11 PM, but we were also served homemade surf & turf, and that lifted our spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886719-NY7G46BX5P0ZJYOTXVCT/NZ9_7556-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.2.22 Eucalyptus: Delivered The table we delivered to North Carolina in its space inside the home. The customers were happy with how it turned out and John got to absorb their compliments in person for a change. It looks really nice in the room they chose. Anyway, I drove all the way back to Cincinnati alone and enjoyed the slower pace, lighter van, and six straight hours of podcasts without interruption. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679883907-WPDSJZSFQSLWDL05H8AT/IMG_7008.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.3.22 Scaredy Pups Justin, Annie, and Charlie came over this evening for a nice cookout and porch hang. Charlie, their pup, is also very afraid of fireworks, so when the neighborhood began launching them at 6 PM, both dogs went downstairs to get away from the noise. We built Myrtle a little tent to keep her cozy and safe, but Charlie wanted his own space by the washing machine. Poor pups. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679884175-3YXYW7AQDEMAWAONVHPY/IMG_7050.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.4.22 Boom! Allie and Travis moved into a beautiful 4-story building on 12th Street recently. They invited us over to see their new place, and for dinner and deck hangs (they have two rooftop decks). The enormous, relatively recently rehabbed house is beautiful, and they’re slowly filling it with new furniture to make it even more comfortable. Really, truly happy for them. I was having a horrible mental health day, so I took a larger-than-normal jazz gummy, loaded up on beer, and did my best to be a normal person while enjoying the pleasant evening air with my friends. A semi-professional firework show sprang up a block away, which we were able to watch from a great vantage point after a hurried climb up the stairs to the top roof deck. Wish I’d brought my Z fc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679884765-T4OTX678QXAG2UXUW72Y/IMG_7094.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.5.22 Good Corner Coffee and quiet and sunlight and air-purifiers. Just a good corner of the desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886090-3RL3RNQPU93DY7GY26BW/Joseph%2BUrban%2BExhibit%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-22.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.6.22 Joseph Urban Shot the Joseph Urban exhibit opening at the Cincinnati Art Museum tonight. I got to get a few clean shots with a tripod of the space before everyone came in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679887064-TFYSLR5MSHOPNYMWZV1Z/Tuco%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-12.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.7.22 Tuco’s Margarita Went out to see Justin’s new taco and margarita place in Harrison. I shot the space and made this image of a margarita on the bar. The red neon lights across the dining area reflected off the high gloss countertop making for a neat effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679884994-NGSR5WKN6AZ09RDA96E2/IMG_7126.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.8.22 Shitty Chives & Onion Found this bag with a dead wasp marked “Chives & Onion” in the shop today. Not sure what it’s about, but it was weird enough that I had to take a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679885441-Z7IU52U8YC1DTG0DSU2V/IMG_7135.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.9.22 Killing Time Our errand run turned into a visit to Ault Park because we were up too early to actually do any of the errands. We literally had to burn an hour, so we just hiked around in the misty rain for awhile. The weather was horrible the rest of the day, so I spent the majority of it building flight boards for next weekend’s show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679883238-VB1GCNSW0HBO3HXYX4HS/1183%2BTorreys%2BDr%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-1b-2-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.10.22 Torreys Drive I shot this house with a crazy good view of Covington and Downtown throughout the day. I did the primary interior photos early in the morning and came back for a Golden Hour shot of the view. Thankfully the unit was empty and staged so I didn’t have to coordinate with the owner. Whoever buys this place will have one helluva place to drink a cup of coffee in the morning and enjoy a beer in the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679885921-XZV8QHAE9YDMQF5LQTHD/IMG_7156.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.11.22 Stand-In Had a weirdly hard day at the shop and didn’t take any photos except this one of my little trio of small cacti on the windowsill in the bathroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679883369-Z3LFZKBKGN59IE7JC85W/1864%2BLeona%2BDr%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong-16.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.12.22 Cozy Covedale This morning’s job took me over to Covedale. The modest midcentury house has a little screen-in back patio with a sofa, some chairs, and a TV. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657947198464-K3MK3R5N3F0ONGFTAQNH/IMG_7171.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.13.22 Longboat The 11th Street Bridge between Newport and Covington is the literal and figurative hump of my ride between my house and the wood shop. Between the severity of the incline and the speed at which traffic flies by me as I’m pushing myself to make it up and over, it’s the moment in the ride I mentally prepare for as soon as I leave my driveway. Occasionally, I’ll find reason to stop at the peak of the hump because of something interesting on the river below. While riding over it this morning, I heard shouting and stopped to see what was happening. As it turns out, several longboats of rowers were making their way north toward the delta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657947198466-EFE06VRG0PMCVZCTUXCZ/Tuco%27s+Cantina+-+Phil+Armstrong-15.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.14.22 Tacos Make Everything Alright Got stood up at my morning shoot. Followed the college rule where you wait 20 minutes for the professor to show up before acknowledging you did your due diligence and leaving without a second to spare. The client texted to apologize later, but I moved on with my other jobs and didn’t go back. Time is simultaneously the most valuable and scarce resource I have, and I don’t appreciate wasting it. Oddly enough, I recognized in retrospect that the universe was seemingly trying to send me a message before I showed up for the shoot: I couldn’t pay to park through the EZ Park app or at the meter for unknown reasons, so I chanced a ticket. As parking fees are non-refundable, I got out of needlessly spending $3. My final shoot of the day was at Justin’s new taco and marg place in Harrison, OH. Failing to nab an interesting photo of the queso, I asked one of his servers to lend a hand for an “action shot” to liven it up a little. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657947200482-ETS3R10ZID1QHDK0O4T4/IMG_7212.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.15.22 Sample Stains Feeling like a friggin’ wood stain advertisement end cap over here. Ashley thinks our impending farmers market presence will yield a level of business we aren't prepared for, so she’s going to take custom orders for customers who don’t snag one of the existing plant stands and/or flight boards before they sell out. While I’m not as optimistic about the demand for our goods, I indulged her and made a display board of the stains we’ll offer if someone wants to order one. Of course, these custom orders are in addition to the goods I will have to make to replenish our supply for the August and September shows. I also have to build a crib for my incoming niece at some point before September. Will I ever have free time again? Will I ever be social with friends and escape the confines of my garage? Will we fail to sell any of this stuff and end up embarrassed about ourselves? Only time will tell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462623602-BOX0WG512ATSXTUBDV5A/IMG_7243.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.16.22 Good Night Out Hung out with the NKY crew tonight on the Avenue. Our lack of sobriety made the horrible forecast for tomorrow’s market a little less awful. I have a feeling we will either be selling in the rain or not at all. Fingers crossed it doesn’t get cancelled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462623781-PMZ94EMK8NACTMU6Q425/IMG_7262.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.17.22 Alternate Plans When we woke up to thunder and lightning, we knew the farmer’s market was cancelled. Then an email confirmed it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad. As much of a pain in the ass this whole thing has been to prep for, I was really looking forward to sitting with a coffee and being present while Ashley sold all the work. Instead, we had a whole day open up, so I reorganized the workshop to fit my table saw and got the router table up off the floor. I also cleared a few shelves for future tool purchases. Also tried out the phone holder I mounted months ago that was intended to be used for a timelapse I never ended up doing. Do I still look young? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462627254-D8QVYA00YK8ET4ROZ1TU/IMG_7265.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.18.22 Leaving My Mark I have no idea why the quality of this image is so bad. Anyway, I scratched a Starfleet badge into resin before sanding it off. It’s the only photo I took all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462628214-KQPQ5QBRBZC14JFQAX3T/1415+Vine+Street+Apt+401+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.19.22 Parvis Lofts Two AirBnBs today. Both tiny. This one was in the Parvis Lofts building on the 1400 block of Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine. I lived alone in a place this tiny for years and loved it, but I can’t help but feel like having a house with several rooms is more to my taste these days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462631146-SM6U4YQCDXB6C9JZJ91X/IMG_7346.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.20.22 Surprise Storm It was late. I was reading something on my phone when I noticed a flicker from the window beside me. Looking up, I gazed hard into the mottled texture of the privacy glass and saw a flash beyond it. Then another. And another. The irregular strobe of the lightning storm to the north bounced bright light off the house behind ours and had caught my attention. Per the standing rule, to the porch I went. Light off, butt in chair, eyes wide to the sky. Bolt after bolt illuminated the clouds above in a silent, stunning display. I sat there in the humidity and insects and watched the whole system crackle and burn its way from west to east for about a half hour. It was one of those magical, unexpected natural phenomenons that only happen on a summer night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462633903-LZY2KME224493MYO5R5J/Blome+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.21.22 Heatwave Yesterday’s heatwave continued into today, albeit slightly less aggressively. Work took me out early to a mansion in Indian Hill to photograph an outdoor patio that included a very nice pool. Luminaut did the whole thing and needed shots of the space for their portfolio. The water looked so refreshing when contrasted with the summer heat, I almost fantasized about what it would be like to get in. Almost. Fun fact about me: I haven’t been in a pool in 22 years. The last time was sometime around late 2000 when we had to swim in Phys Ed during freshman year of high school. The horrible awkwardness of stripping down in front of peers—both boys and girls—was enough to turn me off of ever going to a pool party for the rest of my life. I am a land-lover in the truest sense of the word. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803933960-52OQIUWZDSK1EK5OZM3O/IMG_7396.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.22.22 Questioning My Choices I got a “You up?” text around midnight from a buddy who lives in Columbus. He was in town and wanted to drop by. I was, indeed, still up after spending the evening working on a custom set of flight boards for a friend, so I went out on the porch to await his arrival. Meanwhile, little doodle bear sat with her ball and wondered why the hell I was on the porch in the wee hours of the morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803934395-BAAR8FVGYK762T9PZ4EA/IMG_7411.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.23.22 Hendrix We had an impromptu play date with Myrtle’s dog friends at Fido Field this morning. Hendrix, this dappled dachshund, is always a friendly little dude and will run up to you for a scratch under his snoot if you crouch down near him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803937902-CRI443BHXKCJPGEHX9VH/IMG_7422.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.24.22 Bellevue Farmer’s Market WOW, what a day! The farmer’s market down at Bellevue Beach Park was a smashing success. This being our first ever time as a vendor, we really didn’t know what to expect. After a sweaty setup and some fumbling around with the presentation (did I mention it was hot already?), we sold through all of the plant stands and half of the flight boards by the end of the day. Loads of pre-orders came in, too, from people who wanted to buy specific things in stains and sizes we’d already sold. All in all, we made probably triple what we spent to do this and got to enjoy interacting with our neighbors and friends who dropped by to support us. Our next market is in three weeks which means I will be spending beaucoup time in the shop banging out more stands and possibly a few new items to see if they’re in demand. It was one of the best Sundays I’ve had in a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803938034-0U4Z0OS9K2XXXNA71BOK/IMG_7441.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.25.22 Neglected Desk There’s a growing pile of mail I need to address on my desk. So much of my time has been spent behind the table saw, I’ve barely sat down at the computer. In fact, last time I spent any time here was Thursday of last week when I had to review photo work for Luminaut. It’s a strange feeling to be disconnecting from digital work in favor of the analog, but it’s certainly not a bad thing. I used to occasionally disconnect to give myself a break, but those breaks have quietly strong-armed themselves into a regularity that borders on routine at this point. Considering how much better I feel on days when I don’t doom scroll morning, noon, and night, perhaps I’ve subconsciously grounded myself from the internet on occasion as a self-preservation measure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327673116-YAU9BMVYETM6VR7OLQQ8/2455+W+McMicken+-+Phil+Armstrong+-31.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.26.22 Dilapidated and Sad Shot two vacant properties today: one in CUF and another in northern Over-the-Rhine. Both were in bad shape, but the one on McMicken was worse for wear (pictured). I used to spend time a block away from the building about 10 years ago because I knew someone who lived there. Not a lot has changed in that time. The basement had a crumbling wooden cooler from the turn of the century that leaned heavily to one side in the thick, black darkness. Aside from that feature, a few old fireplaces, and some staircases that lead into nothingness, the building was pretty empty. It seems to have good bones, though. The other building—a multistory apartment building on Ravine—had been empty for a decade and not updated since probably the early 90s. It was also the first time I photographed an abandoned space that had suffered a fire; one of the top floor units was charred and black with soot. Finger streaks could be seen on the walls and the call box by the front door was melted and warped. It honestly gave me the willies seeing the place trapped in that state. I photographed the space as fast as possible to get out of there and didn’t look back. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327674245-YR2J3RKJFLKD8DJ5O294/NZ9_0441.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.27.22 Solar Powered What I thought would be a milk-run shoot of a house in Fort Wright ended up being a milk-run shoot of a house in Fort Wright that also had solar panels mounted to the roof. I’ve been doing this for years and haven’t once been able to include a feature image of roof-mounted solar panels. All houses should have this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327676525-VYSCYENZ58UQIL92NP35/Maketewa+Country+Club+-+Phil+Armstrong+-35.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.28.22 FOUR! I’m working with an interior designer on custom artwork for a local country club. She has a plan for the images she wants and has tasked me with executing her vision. While I’m a hired gun for this sort of thing, I prefer to be given the latitude to be creative when I can be, and so far she’s been amenable to that within the state parameters. This particular day saw a tournament of golfers converge on 18 holes around 1 PM at the club. Beforehand, the players warm up by swatting golf balls into the distance from a spacious, manicured practice range. Having never shot golf before, today I learned that courses like this lend themselves well to high-contrast low shots. As the hills rise to meet the sky, I can seek out a low perspective to enhance the drama of that juxtaposition when a player is in frame. Also, while I was crouched, a groundhog spilled out of the bushes behind me, realized I was about four feet from him, and sauntered quickly away. I got a photo of the little guy, too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327677220-H4N2S308621GQGKQ574D/IMG_7519.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.29.22 Grote One of my oldest friends, Mike Grote, came down and walked to Tuba Baking Co. with Ashley and I. We enjoyed the German-inspired menu, walked it back off on the trip home, then spent the evening under the glow of the porch string lights. Our discussion covered everything from what we used to do back in high school to looking up a friend’s former house on Zillow to see if there were any interior photos from a past sale (there were). It was a good night. Mike’s a good dude. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327680049-18JM3BYJZ80RG7PWNHDO/BBRiverboat+-+Phil+Armstrong+-20.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.30.22 River Cruise If I didn’t already have too many irons in the fire already, I agreed to write a sponsored piece for Link NKY to make sure I added another one. The piece will be about BB Riverboats’ river tours and my experience going on one as a NKY resident. The owners granted me two complimentary tickets to do the Sightseeing & Music Tour this evening, so I naturally took Ashley with me. This isn’t the platform upon which I am paid to tell you about the tour, but I will say the weather tonight was absolutely perfect for riding on a boat on the river. The sunset was even more incredible as we approached the dock at 9:15 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327681503-8BIVSCKVBPMDC7AMW3Y3/2247+Genevieve+Dr+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.31.22 An Underestimated Beaut Someone new reached out to me about shooting a rental in Covington. The house, a modest 1960s ranch, was just past the Peaselburg sub-neighborhood of Covington and up a hill. I didn’t know anything about this house before I walked in, and considering how beautiful it ended up being, I thoroughly enjoyed opening the door to the surprise. Whenever I get to go hard on decor photos, it’s a satisfying shoot. This one, staged by a woman named Kathleen whose work I’ve shot before, was the perfect amount of photogenic. The 1960s house coupled with today’s MCM-inspired, on-trend decor made for easy, enjoyable compositions that I hope will catch the eye of a prospective renter for the client. I got positive feedback after I sent her the finished gallery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659403531255-2639Z60UH8ENHG7WKKCK/IMG_7579.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.1.22 The Buck Stopped There There’s a buck that hangs out around our house. He trots around in the woods nearby, occasionally walking the public steps to get to the hole in the chainlink fence that leads to an empty lot next to the nearby train tracks. He eats the fruit from the tree and grazes on who knows what in the tall grass while two babies frolic (yes, frolic) around and play with each other. His antlers, both dull and furry with only a few points, set him apart from the many females who hang out with him. I saw him resting under an evergreen with a baby deer yesterday evening and got his photo with my Z9. Today’s capture was with my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659578304653-IG0K28VM1SF95TIY6NM9/750_4794-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.2.22 Four Years Apart Have I ever done a before/after for the daily photo? The daily photo bible states I cannot post an old photo in place of a new one, a film photo from a different day, a digital illustration, or a screenshot of something, but what about an old shot along with a new shot? I think it counts. The top image is from the first floor of the flat iron building at the top of Sycamore Hill in Mt. Auburn, and the bottom image is what it looks like today. The building is now home to a cafe called (you’d never guess) Flatiron Cafe. I originally shot it in August of 2018 when The Port stabilized it. It’s really cool to see a preservation success story like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659578678225-HO7PPMR7A8QTTZVG1CKM/IMG_7616.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.3.22 Resin Coasters Tried out something new. Broke apart a sliver or walnut, made a form, and submerged the shards into clear resin. Waited 24 hours for the resin to cure, broke the form, rounded the edges, and polished it smooth. Might make more at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659672183541-0Z251Y3PHMTYG6410TZE/NZ9_2584.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.4.22 Catalogued It’s generally not difficult to aim a wide angle lens at a room and get a shot that conveys what the space is about. It’s useful when depicting the interior of a place in a matter-of-fact way, and if you play with the angle through micro-adjustments, you can come up with really nice, artful photos of that space. Personally, I find using a telephoto more challenging and rewarding when it comes to real estate. I use one when I’m through with the wide angle shots and need to concentrate on lifestyle/decor content. It’s great for little vignettes that speak to the interior design more than the architecture, though there’s always room to capture both simultaneously if you find a good angle to do so. This is mostly a decor shot geared toward a feeling of cleanliness and style more than anything else. I have a lot to learn about styling scenes, but I’m usually trying my best to make photos worthy of a furniture catalogue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659796953537-6I4T6XF31TG86EDUEBN1/ZFC_3265.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.5.22 Do Not Pet Every intention I had of getting work done for the upcoming farmer’s market was dashed when I realized 1) it was First Friday on the Avenue, and 2) I had the entire day tomorrow to work on it, meaning I didn’t need to toil alone in the shop tonight after all. We joined our neighbors and walked to the festivities, enjoyed a few drinks and some food, and hit a couple of bars on the wall back home. This little dog, who looks cute enough, was growling at me while I stood nearby his yard at one of the bars. Using my most soothing voice, I tried to reassure him I wasn’t a threat and began to offer my hand as an olive branch to peace before he bared his teeth and I understood he was dialed to only protect his yard. There would be no petting this adorable little bear trap this day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659849714357-W99FI25JU3SWGARQZHN7/Screen+Shot+2022-08-07+at+1.08.24+AM.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 7.6.22 True Believer Today’s checklist: Provided tech support to Ashley’s grandfather. Drank a cup of coffee from my favorite mug. Hand-sanded vertical plant stand legs. Listened to the Bouncing Souls’ first four albums. Built a crude drying rack for stained plant stand components. Ate two bacon double stacks and chicken nuggets from Wendy’s. Applied pre-stain conditioner to components and double checked pre-orders. Successfully stained 12 stands using six different finishes. Went to Lowe’s for another can of English Chestnut. Finished listening to the rest of the Bouncing Souls’ discography. Toyed with wood glue versus CA glue + activator to see which would hold better (settled on a mix of the two). Cleaned up shop and watched Star Trek: Voyager The Killing Game, Parts 1 & 2. Finished the evening watching a video of a chaotic 2005 Bouncing Souls show on YouTube. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659927856838-3VEPF936G4UJIRJW0SKO/ZFC_3280-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.7.22 Rad Find The plan was to work a half day at the shop today because our big Pfizer job is nearing its deadline and there’s some concern about our ability to meet it on time. But Ashley was having an emotional day, and seeing how upset she was, I didn’t feel right leaving her all alone at home with nothing to do on a Sunday. I texted John and told him I’d do overtime tomorrow in order to have today off and he understood. We loaded up the pup and went to a couple of parks before randomly stumbling upon a walkway that led to a public pool in Covington filled with dogs. It was the final day of the season for the pool, so the pool staff pulled a reverse-Baha Men and let the dogs in. Myrtle, being part fish, dragged us around to the entrance to get inside and hop in the pool. Needless to say she had the time of her short little life fetching ball in the water with all the others. It was a boatload of fun watching all the dogs do their thing and seeing Myrtle having a blast. On the walk back, I stopped to get a shot of my unironic favorite Covington building (pictured). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660096999439-DPMJ6112UI0ZSLAGVZZK/IMG_7688.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.8.22 15 Hours Bourbon at the 13 hour mark. Pizza delivery sometime thereafter. A round of High Lifes and Nespresso coffee at 14 hours. It was a long, productive day at the wood shop. Our big Manhattan project is due Friday with quite a bit of work left to finish. John, Joe, and I took the last chopper out of the jungle at 11 PM, hours after the others had pushed the limits of putting their marriages and relationships with their children at risk by staying late to get it done. Three measuring cups—once destined to briefly hold resin before melting from an inevitable exothermic reaction—found themselves a more glamorous fate by holding ice cold pours of Old Forester to be cheers’d by three exhausted, dust-covered men. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660097002646-I6QP6AUTF4A3IPTJ6LBP/1625+Mansfield+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.9.22 A Very Odd Coincidence Something strange happened today. As usual, I found myself on Twitter this morning and saw a photo I made years ago included in a semi-viral tweet about Cincinnati. The photo was of four colorful row houses at the base of Prospect Hill lined up neatly with the city in the background. I considered interacting with the tweet and pointing out that, yet again, my work has been divorced of credit, but decided to move on with my day. The account was one of those high-follower, faceless reposters that subsides on making inane claims solely for engagement. It wasn’t really worth the effort, and after yesterday’s 15-hour day, I was spent. Also, it’s Twitter; who gives a shit. Anyway, a long story short, I went about my shoots for the day and ended up in Prospect Hill for my final assignment before heading home. It was then I realized that the house I needed to photograph for the owner was, in fact, one of the same houses in that semi-viral tweet from earlier that day. It was a fantastically weird coincidence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660187420403-3XQ3DQMSPFLWSR2ICRJR/IMG_7696.jpeg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.10.22 Thief! Something (or someone?) has found the tomatoes. Our ripest candidate was stolen from its bed sometime in the night, and this grizzly murder scene was left for us to discover. Suspects so far: the squirrel, the raccoon, a very nimble deer able to hop privacy fences, a vegetarian cat, and me in a hungry fugue state. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660278829338-RW099UE4NZYOBJ6QOOW1/IMG_7700.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.11.22 A Cooler Drop Visited the Dalton Street Post Office for the first time in awhile. It took me a year, but I finally finished a roll of film that needed to be mailed out for developing. First full roll I’ve finished since summer of last year. My schedule has been too full of actual photo work for clients over the last year and I haven’t focused on analog photography for myself as a result. I don’t like putting rolls of film in outdoor mailboxes during extreme temperature months for obvious reasons, so I went to Dalton Street to make sure the drop was cool. I could simply drop it off at the post office down the street from my house, but Dalton is just too much fun to visit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660371725315-GK5D7PWZ84X6M8O6I36A/Art+Museum+Event+8.12.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-86.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.12.22 Pones Rode my bike up to the Art Museum this evening to photograph an event. I got there early to ensure I had enough time to cool down and clean myself up after riding up the hill (Ashley had the car and I wasn’t willing to pay $26 for a Lyft). Adequately cooled and with my Z9 slung over my shoulder, I hit the Grand Hall floor to document the evening. No speakers, no special exhibits, and no presentations tonight. Just gaiety and food and 1920s attire. Four dancers from Pones, a local performing arts group, circled the main hall before making their way to the courtyard. The low light inside wasn’t great for capturing their movements, so their move outdoors was beneficial for my task. I met Kim, one of the dancers later on, and she said they intentionally hammed it up for the camera, which in turn made for better photos. I’m not a dancer, but the joy they wore on their faces while dancing was intoxicating. Caught myself grinning ear to ear because they all seemed to be having the most amount of fun out of everyone at the party. Also, tonight was the first time I shot an entire event not in RAW format. I went fully JPG and trusted myself with the settings instead of relying on the safety net of the latitude RAW provides for post-production. It turned out great, and I didn’t have enormous files to sift through afterward. I think I’ll be shooting in that smaller file size more often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660533929421-Y05WK9MIGV117KPIIIIZ/NZ9_5483-Enhanced.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.13.22 Surprises “Woah, I think there’s a groundhog eating an apple over there,” Ashley said, kneeling with her elbows on the windowsill, eyes behind binoculars pointed at the wooded lot across the street from our house. I ran to get the Tamron and quickly assembled my rig, propping it up on the frame of the window without a screen for added vibration reduction. It was a cute little surprise that made the afternoon special. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660533929707-5TAGUWG7ORMU492BYMD3/IMG_7739.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.14.22 Old Habits Yesterday I got a surprise text from my neighbor, Kevin Wright, asking if I wanted to have a few drinks on his porch that evening. With cheese coneys and a bottle of Uncle Nearest in hand, we ate and drank Highlifes and bourbon until 2 AM. His Boston-born neighbah, Charlie, wandered over at some point and we talked about everything from what our lives were like as kids to raising a new generation as adults (they’re both fathers). We also talked about something that I don’t talk enough about on here: how the pandemic has caused many of us to suffer from, at times, debilitating anxiety. While I don’t have panic attacks, I am really, really struggling with being social at the moment. The pandemic feels like it unraveled the years of work I did to come out of my introverted comfort zone and be someone people wanted to be around. Occasionally I can set the anxiety aside, but porch hangs are more my lane than crowded bars at the moment. I hide away in my house and build things in the workshop by myself, then I come upstairs long after Ashley went to bed to play this dumb Star Trek game on my computer like I’m 17 again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660842931484-RNCLD9S4RT4L2L5CR1A7/207+Garrard+Street+%28Exteriors%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-30.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.15.22 Wringing Out the Schedule I need to go to South Bend and Ann Arbor tomorrow for work. Luminaut hired me to photograph a few projects they recently completed. So naturally, I’m getting my rental car, gear, and bag ready while also working a full day at the wood shop before doing a quick shoot in Covington this evening for Rebecca. Absolutely every minute of today has been filled with something to do and it feels like I’m wringing out a bone dry wash cloth to get even a single drop of water out of it at this point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660842941985-K77L2HUTY2O4F2F2L4G8/ZFC_3342.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.16.22 The Graduate As previously mentioned, I went to South Bend to do some photography for Luminaut. After shooting the renovated facility and packing up the rental, the trip extended over to Ann Arbor where I stayed the night in preparation to shoot two facilities nearby in the morning. They booked my hotel for me in advance—I stayed at The Graduate on E Huron Street. The hotel has a turn-of-the-20th-century-college theme to it that makes for a great mix of style and sophistication while remaining comfortable and fun. If you ever have a trip planned near or in Ann Arbor, I highly recommend this hotel. I don’t always enjoy drinking in the evenings as my default activity like many others do, but I still managed to check out the hotel bar off the lobby. These booths were absolutely perfect. Sadly, my hotel stay was only for one night. Were it required, I would’ve enjoyed staying another night to bask in the opulence of the hotel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660842942613-BWM72S526I01YYPRTYYU/NZ9_5953-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.17.22 Finding the Right Angle The day consisted of shooting two final facilities for Luminaut in Ann Arbor, one of which had this lovely card game room adjacent to a small bar area. I had to figure out a way to show both areas together while finding a way to illustrate their relative separateness. This angle—one that shows the card table in the foreground and the bar area in the mid and backgrounds while the patterned chairs and color palette tied them together—seemed to make for the best composition. After finishing up with both facilities, I drove back to Cincinnati and collapsed on my couch around 7 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660884087925-I4AZ8LQKEGPMUZYJKDTD/ZFC_3386.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.18.22 Crumbling Labyrinth Monmouth Street in Newport has this series of concrete staircases between 11th and 12th Streets on either side of the busy road. I haven’t done any research on them, but they look to be of WPA-era construction. I think they’re beautiful, personally, but they’ve been so neglected and forgotten that they’re almost useless at this point. The staircases either rise directly into chainlink fences to keep people from using them or they lead to sidewalks that end without a convenient way back down on the other side. The overhead lights built into the structure are rusted out, and several pieces of its concrete construction have seen better days. It’s clear that over the years intentional efforts have been made to discourage their use entirely, and instead of removing them, they exist as inefficient vestiges from a different time. The sidewalk next to each staircase is the only serviceable feature to get you from one block to the next. I’m going to try to find photos of it during its heyday when the stairs still led somewhere and the lighting worked. I bet it was gorgeous. It’s a shame we can’t care for pedestrian infrastructure the way we do cars. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660968389188-JWA21HH2VB8CRKQLH5H6/IMG_8167.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.19.22 Quiet On the Set Steve needed help building and hanging custom sound panels in the podcast studio he’s developing in his second room. We made the frames in my garage last week, he upholstered and stuffed them with insulation, and tonight we carefully attached them to the wall. I’m not an audio engineer, but when you walk into a room with sound deadening panels, you feel it. His show, Streaming Things, took off like a rocket when he and his cohosts recently reviewed every episode of the latest season of Stranger Things. Due to their newfound popularity (they broke the top 250 of all shows on iTunes last month), they’ve made some pretty serious money and have reinvested it into making the show sound even better. I’ve been friends with Steve for nearly 20 years, and over the decades I imagined it would only be a matter of time before his talents took him into the limelight on a global scale. It’s nice to see it finally happen for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661274211554-04BLUJVRMS00RZJDSOOE/IMG_8173.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.20.22 Zablong-Gone I never ate here. Heard it wasn’t very good. And yet, before the pandemic, it always looked relatively busy during the work week. Guessing the pandemic killed it. The name sounds like an action word in colorful lettering within a spiky bubble layered behind a hero in a cowl in a retro comic book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661274212940-IFHZX777KMICMFYL0HS2/IMG_8206.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.21.22 Drenched We went for a long walk this evening and got absolutely soaked through when a rainstorm popped up before we could get home. The one time we don’t check the weather app first, it bites us. It was uncomfortable at first, but after giving up on any attempt to stay dry, we embraced the shower and enjoyed it (or at least Myrtle and I did). Ashley’s smile says “yay” but her furrowed brow says “I hate this.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661274214028-O27RSWZKCJ0WRXSNBAHU/IMG_8215-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.22.22 iPhone’s Macro Setting A few weeks ago I got a new iPhone 13 Pro and didn’t realize it comes with a macro camera setting until I accidentally activated it at work. I’ve always wanted to buy a macro lens for my Nikon, but the applications for it are minimal. Can’t justify the spend. Anyway, I watched a YouTube video of a guy getting his ears cleaned in a parlor in Chinatown (NYC) last night and it was more satisfying than I could've possibly imagined, so I went back to using q-tips again even though I know it’s bad for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661437632158-GZIHYI7EAOJPFEJHE0Q2/3536+Vine+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-17.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.23.22 Right Frame of Mind I really like this podcast about the supernatural that’s hosted by Glynn Washington of Snap Judgment. While I don’t believe in any of it, I get a genuine thrill listening to ghost stories from people who believe them. While I was shooting this old-house-turned-new-Airbnb in Avondale today, I started listening to an episode about a scary ghost in an old house that terrorized a family and I had to switch over to another show. It was spooking me out too much. I guess you don’t have to believe to be creeped out! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661437632640-WGXYV188ZNUK5Y98DN52/IMG_8244.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.24.22 Cookout To celebrate the hard work and end to the big NYC job, the guys at the shop had a cookout on the driveway. We smoked meats, fried a chicken, and dined on various hearty sides before digging into coconut cake and fried sweets for dessert. I fought a food coma for nearly two hours before finally driving home and collapsing on the couch in exhaustion. I didn’t get a good photo of the food because I was too hungry to stop and capture it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661565073971-Y48JZ0JF0HYMPY0U3440/ZFC_3408.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.25.22 New View A relatively long walk up Lincoln while dodging deer with the dog along the way. My barber, Travis, told me it was a good view a couple months ago, but I didn’t see it for myself until recently when I drove down from Ft. Thomas. He was right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661565074698-EV0ER0FQ4H5JZMPGL51W/ZFC_3411.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.26.22 Tuba Tuba Baking Co. in Dayton, KY had a special tonight that’s lentil Cincinnati chili with onions and cheese over spatzle and it’s incredible. Best veggie chili I’ve had. It’s basically a fancy 3-way. We ate in the biergarten while a man in lederhosen played the accordion and sang in German. I could’ve eaten another whole plate of the spatzle, if I’m honest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661733222440-NGV8ZA1CP3HQRI8I7HFC/IMG_8286.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.27.22 The Bus We had plans downtown and rode the newly reinstated Southbank Shuttle. TANK, much like Metro, has infrequent service on regular routes, but the Southbank Shuttle does a loop every 15 minutes between Covington, Newport, and Bellevue. It’s handy because it’s only a dollar and we can get to the city’s core in no time flat. Much better than driving and parking, honestly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661733230296-TBAQVVCLJ352VZGWOTJY/key+holder.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.28.22 New Offerings We have one final farmer’s market next month, and I’m honestly a little tired of making plant stands. As such, I’m trying to come up with some new ideas for the next show. This door-side item holder was relatively simple to make and I think I’m going to make three of them for the next show. They’re made from oak, so it’s better wood stock than the pine I normally use to make stuff. The only issue is I will need to sell them for a little more because the price of the wood is higher. I thought the rounded edges on the platform and the shelf over the wood dowels gave it more personality than a simple plank with pre-made metal hooks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662090867911-Y2XB8HYYLOH1KZIHD0FS/ZFC_3424.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.30.22 Butternut I photographed this place months ago in the morning and didn’t care for how the light was hitting it when reviewing the images. Since I’d gone to Queensgate yesterday, I was reminded to return to Butternut to get the same photo but in evening light instead. The result was better this time around. It only has a single 11-year-old review on Yelp. Ted S. gave it one star because his wife's hamburger buns molded before Independence Day. "The outlet refunded her money, but the damage was done," he wrote. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662090867339-1170CXG8MJSKXTLC2L6T/IMG_8359.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 8.31.22 Being “Quiet” Ashley had a very important phone call this evening, so it was my job to keep this monster silent and away from her so she could focus. We went upstairs and played with toys on the rug while the sun set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662091119776-L6FMH0LUH7Q0YSHM2Y6N/NZ9_8069-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.1.22 Invisible Makeover Union Terminal was lit up teal tonight for the start of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. They posted this overly spectacular, edited image on their Instagram announcing the fun lighting, and while I didn’t believe it was going to be as amazing as the post suggested, I thought it could be cool to photograph. When I got to the museum, though, the lighting was extremely subtle to the naked eye—I almost didn’t stop to take the photo because it was so minimal and faint. There was a different hue to the building, but it wasn’t like the projection mapping project they did for a week back in 2019. I debated whether or not to even bother taking photos, but seeing as how I’d made the trip and had my gear with me, I reasoned it was worth taking a few shots. Thankfully, the long exposures brightened the color in a way my eye couldn’t see in person. Despite that, I didn't think they'd turn out while I was on site, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got them into a computer later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489755979-XK4P8HJN96P21JB59XBP/NZ9_8102-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.2.22 Old Work, New Photos John and his former business partner made these metal room dividers with built in pocket doors for Tano Bistro in Loveland a few years back. We’re trying to update his website with new photos of past projects to help showcase his body of work in order to attract new clientele. We did a few different angles, but I think I like this one the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489755340-OSALUWPD3GNLL55TYV21/IMG_8438.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.3.22 Party On the Ave Catherine’s birthday is tomorrow, so we went out and drank on the Avenue to celebrate. I played ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ on TouchTunes and Ashley had a billion craft beers. Once leaving the Avenue, a group of us decided to walk the alleys to The B List where we would resume drinking. Kevin, my neighbor up the street, expressed his desire to not keep going, but we begged him to follow us. He obliged, and while walking the darkened streets to get to the next bar, he said, “When was the last time you were ghosted?” Fueled by several beers up to that point, I replied “2014” and didn’t think twice about it until I looked back and Kevin had completely vanished. It was one of the smoothest quiet exits I’ve ever seen anyone do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489757621-S9TI3D2LGBDEVGV5MU3R/IMG_8453.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.4.22 A Nook There’s very little to say about this image aside from this is where I prefer to sit and read. I neglected my photographic duties in favor of spending the majority of the day building in the garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489759935-KM7PFIN8I0GQF4LRZWES/IMG_8459.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.5.22 Jazz +50% Ashley got a bunch of festive plants from a supplier earlier this year that had a bunch of non-floral decor stuffed into each pot. Loving stupid little lights like this, I snagged them from the plant and hid them away in my workshop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869294372-3ALZCEVFS67NNLVKDUBL/ZFC_3435-Pano.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.6.22 Good Ride Moment We walked to Dixie Chili for gyros but I wasn’t finished enjoying the beautiful weather. After arriving back home, the urge to hop on my bike hit me and I soon found myself pedaling north toward the river. After whizzing around the neighborhood for a bit, the sun began to set. There’s a little dead end at the end of Lafayette where you can get this great view. Thankfully I had the wisdom to bring my Nikon Z fc with me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869300062-WPFM7QBUEZYGDQA032TR/IMG_8499.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.7.22 TRAIN! Always like seeing a train, even when it’s stopped on the tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869300194-8C3XHW62DL8OH8VN8C47/IMG_8522.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.8.22 Ipe Table We delivered a nice outdoor ipe table to a Single Batch Designs client this afternoon. We had to deliver it in pieces because, when assembled, the table was too heavy to lift without devoting substantial people power to the delivery. And of course it had to be delivered to the roof of the garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869293338-HBXXG5RMLKTA2U7IH0BG/IMG_8577.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.9.22 The Littlest Kroger I thought the Bellevue Kroger was small, but I think the one on Madison Ave in Covington takes the cake. It’s not as nice as other Kroger stores, but it DOES have some fun artwork on the exterior. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869286875-8KQW6V1HD5HBASDATG8H/ZFC_3449.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.10.22 The Stray The plan was to talk about how I have assembled all the necessary technology to do movie nights in my back yard using a projector and how excited I am about that prospect. I was going to talk about how I had Steve over and we tested it out by watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. But instead, I am going to talk about this extremely cute stray I saw on a walk today. She just kept rolling around begging for pets. I obliged, of course. I’m not a monster! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663040080716-XKQTXEM5NN4P49316OSU/IMG_8605.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.11.22 What’s Over There? Summers on the porch are a staple of our home. It rained today, and though I managed to stay in the garage making stuff for the upcoming farmer’s market for the majority of the day, I found a little time to spend on the porch in the evening when the sun came back out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663040082492-F0T9MAPW2QW4F9TMQ5OM/IMG_8625.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.12.22 H&H Joe and I went over to Hierophany & Hedge today to figure out some specs for woodwork we’ll be doing both inside and out of the shop. The owners are super friendly and outlined what they needed inside their truly incredible shop. Have you been inside this place? The level of detail and love that went into designing this place is unreal. While my interests in fiction generally skew toward starships and the future, this shop made me reminisce about playing old school RPGs when I was younger and the fun those fantasy worlds brought me at the time. Seeing their passion so vividly represented in a thoughtful, cinematic space endeared them to me despite not knowing them personally. What they’ve built is a creative’s dream. NKY is lucky to have such a unique store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663295208028-8MZ1Y3EKHM9B0R14LPAZ/Opportunity+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.13.22 Opportunity House My friend Cody and his architectural firm recently renovated a dorm for NKY called Opportunity House. I don’t have all the specifics, but the dorm is reserved for students who meet a certain financial criteria. There’s 16 mini apartments in the building with a communal space on the lower level (pictured). I dug the primary color scheme and finishes that are friendly to college-age students. The apartments themselves were honestly way nicer than anything my friends lived in when I was in school. His firm, Hub+Weber, did a great job modernizing a horrible, dark building into an inviting, comfortable space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663295207746-1IPV9B3UMGTBQ5X5IWZP/NZ9_9117-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.14.22 Rooftop Perspective I’m working with a designer in Mt. Adams to capture her space during Golden Hour. I plan to revisit the space multiple times throughout different seasons to capture as much of it as possible. This is the rooftop. It goes without saying how incredible the view was. You should see the rest of the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663295208813-X85QPKYRM4CYF1VLIUNC/NZ9_9311.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.15.22 Backward Arby’s Sure, the law office was nice and I was hired to photograph it, but I really wanted to get an action scene of the street below from this perspective. While no one was paying attention, I snapped one. People in Bellevue complained about this Arby’s originally because a parking lot didn’t separate the front door from the street and it became known colloquially as the Backward Arby’s. I’m unsure if form-based code makes this location still “controversial.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663432126918-GRYTXQ9V5EMYRLLCWQNH/NZ9_9482.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.16.22 An Accident I think this adequately represents where I am at the moment. After working all day at the shop then going to shoot a show at Memorial Hall, this accidental frame while the camera dangled off to my side sums it up. I’m pretty tired after this busy week and mistakes are bound to happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896305318-ANA0O98DAFEFJ26BG569/ZFC_3457.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.17.22 Re-Exploring We wanted a low-key night that involved some exercise with the dog, so we walked Eden Park. Then, when we got home, I went for a nice night ride on the Dayton Levee wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896301380-GWA0NVAG1RKOXALF1O96/IMG_8706.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.18.22 Bonnie This Scottish highland mini cow was at the Bellevue Farmer’s Market while we were there today. She was as soft as she looks. We didn’t sell out, and I think we maybe sold the least amount of stuff this month, so I guess that first show was a bit of a fluke. Overall, I’m glad we did it, but I’m relived it’s over. A break from making those stands is much needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896305786-725SPE4JOCVAKA02XM73/CAM+Event+9.19.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-92.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.19.22 Urban Deer Tonight’s Art Museum event was more of the same, but upon leaving, I noticed three deer roaming through the landscaping at the top of the front drive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896309165-5UVYANM61E8AHC8DIE99/IMG_8775.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.20.22 She’s Injured Little Myrtle hurt her paw playing the other day and she’s still recovering. She’s been on the couch or in bed for most of her days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896315638-XRBIHK7XWUDZ24ZPDUQI/ZFC_3467-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.21.22 Stephen King’s The Mist While taking Ashley to work this morning, a thick fog reduced visibility to a degree I haven’t seen in awhile. After dropping her off, I went back and got my bike and headed down to the river to get photos of the USS Nightmare while it was shrouded in the mist for an upcoming piece I wrote for Link NKY. While there, I took some other photos of the scene; I like this one specifically. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896315838-8GESA4Z63QA8G0Y32OBI/ZFC_3484.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.22.22 First Day of Autumn A little double exposure to kick off the autumn season. I absolutely love this time of year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664161512920-HKI63D1TX4HN2145RWSP/ZFC_3498.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.23.22 Maple Table We made this simple maple table for a local law firm. The table’s different from the other stuff we’ve made because it features two data centers equipped with ethernet, USB, HDMI, and a few other plugs on either end. I wasn’t sure how it’d look when we finally put them in, but I think it looks decent overall. The convenience of having those power sources will be great when people need to present with laptops and whatnot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664161513130-SBNHUT222151IG7JVUSU/IMG_8859.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.24.22 Drink With a Vue We went to Drink With a Vue with some of our neighbors, and it was one of the best nights I think I’ve had in a long while. Not only did we support our neighborhood’s beautification group by buying a ticket to the event, but we also got to drink beer and eat food with friends in a picturesque setting in our own neighborhood on the river. The way the event coordinators had the tree lit up while illuminated riverboats quietly floated by as the sun went down…it all seemed like a dream at times. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in awhile, either. We all clicked in a really great way. No awkwardness or egos or drama. Just a really good time with friendly, fun people. We went to two afterparties and continued drinking before stumbling home, chugging a liquid IV, and hoping we wouldn’t feel as if we overshot our house and passed out on the train tracks the next day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664161517674-02A5XJWJ9ISDT1N6WJ9R/IMG_8889.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.25.22 Ye Olde Foote Church House I can’t believe this old church on Foote is a house. It’s wild to me that anyone lives in a whole ass church. Of course, if given the opportunity and if I were in the market, I would totally live in an old church house. That belfry would be my private study, I imagine. The front door, which rises well above the street, looks mean though. Might have to come up with a way to soften the angry “eyebrows” of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664287869708-DKGIFV7Q7UQYK7FP8K8V/NZ9_2182-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.26.22 Poplar Table Took photos of this beautiful poplar coffee table the woodworkers at Single Batch Designs made. It’s made from reclaimed poplar and features repurposed elevator shaft hardware on the sides. We delivered it to the client immediately after photos were finished. She was thrilled with how it came out. It doesn’t phase some of the older guys at the shop, but I get a kick out of it when the client loves a thing we made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664506044995-0J21UDOGIHLB3WEM7B3P/216+E+Liberty+Street+%231+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.27.22 A “Cool” Solution There’s a building on Liberty Street that apparently once housed a butcher at street level. Inside, an overly ornate wooden cooler decorated with tile and mirror and frosted windows was once used to store the freshly butchered meat. A scale for weighing (and presumably pricing) the meat still hangs from the side. Recently, the owner renovated the front room and the room with the cooler into a single-bedroom Airbnb and turned the old cooler into the bathroom! Instead of meat, it now stores a sink, shower, and toilet accessible by the original door on the side. I’ve seen a dozen of these old coolers in other buildings both occupied and abandoned, but I’ve never seen one repurposed like this. Above is a door opened/door closed comparison. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664506044995-P9BU9PSJ82UVF179K7MH/IMG_8957.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.28.22 M. Bohlke Corp John and I took the van to Bohlke’s in Fairfield today. We were picking up an order of sapele and managed to take a quick stroll though the enormous airplane hangar of carefully stacked wood. This place has hundreds of millions of dollars of product inside—everything from affordable boards someone like me would be able to purchase to staggeringly expensive species that cost upwards of $100 per board foot due to their scarcity and desirability. The sheer size of this place was surreal. The whole time I was aware that my fledgling knowledge of woodworking probably didn’t permit me to fully appreciate everything I was seeing inside, but regardless of that ignorance, I was awestruck. Even with neat piles arranged just so, you could still easily drive a truck down the aisles. They’ve been in business since the late-60s and have managed to become one of the biggest purveyors of wood in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664506079236-XG1612YKBH6RKI8K72TX/IMG_8963.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.29.22 Tyler Saw my friend Tyler today. He’s an extremely talented illustrator who recently worked on a project for one of the biggest companies on the planet. I won’t talk more about that here because it’s not my news to share, but I’m proud to know him and thankful he met up with me to catch up over coffee. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665266069377-QO6S3U4Y1NV4BMONSY6Q/IMG_8974.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 9.30.22 <Pause> Over the next few days, I’ll be taking photos but waiting to publish them here until probably mid-week. Taking a short break from the internet. See you soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330207417-D9PVSFE6E40T5N2URJQE/IMG_8984.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.1.22 Journey Ahead I haven’t mentioned it here until now because it’s been an evolving situation over the last few days, but it’s time to commit it to this record. Hurricane Ian devastated my in-laws’ city of Fort Myers the other day. They’re physically alright, but they’re in need of help. Their house was badly damaged by wind and water, their vehicles were totaled by an insane storm surge, and they have a lot to fix and figure out both for themselves and for their neighbors. Long story short, we’re flying into Miami, gathering supplies and a rental car for them, and driving to them tomorrow. The next five days are likely going to be rather difficult. The photo is of a Georgian suburb as we flew into Atlanta for a layover. I do not remember taking this photo. I’m not bringing a proper camera because I’m there to work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330208738-SM4VDZKX8KR7OBMIOGCI/IMG_8991.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.2.22 Necessary Repairs We drove to Fort Myers early in the morning. Ashley knows some people in Miami who very graciously gathered supplies for us before we headed out—gasoline cans, food, bottled drinks, batteries, etc. We loaded up the rental and sped toward the devastated city with a pit in our stomachs. The two hour trip went quickly until we finally reached the outskirts of Fort Myers where stop lights failed to direct traffic and piles of debris lined the cleared roads. The closer we got, the more mangled the buildings and signs. There seemed to be no pattern to the destruction; a McDonalds sign would be shredded to ribbons right next to a car wash with only a little roof damage, followed by an RV park that clearly wasn’t reopening any time soon. It took us 30 minutes to drive six miles to their house because of the unstable traffic flow. When we finally got there, we immediately got to work on cleaning up the yard, tarping the damaged roof, and assisting elderly neighbors with their own homes. The only good thing about this horrific storm is it decided to hit in late September and not the middle of July when the temperature is at its peak. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330211178-68EBH1N1UPNCOKO2KSD7/IMG_9016.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.3.22 A Day of Tireless Errands We spent the day ripping baseboards off the walls and drilling holes in the drywall to force circulating air through it. They got almost an inch of water during the peak of the storm surge and water was still puddled behind the walls. I am thankful they replaced all their flooring with ceramic tile last year because this would’ve been so much worse with any other flooring material, especially carpet. We saw plenty of homes with soaking wet, putrid rolls of carpet stashed by the street. We delivered goods to a couple in need who got six feet of water in their home, had to shore up some contractural stuff with Hertz, and ran to the hardware store to replace the power tools they lost in the flood. It was a long, hard day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330211794-NYZN7PW7MABN66WOUH3Q/IMG_9037.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.4.22 Another Long Day There’s little else to say that I haven’t already said in previous posts. More errands and work on the house. More people in need to stop and help and sort out. They have a generator powering theirs and their two neighbors’ fridges, and the fans are still blowing on the walls to try and dry them out, but there is no grid power. We’re doing laundry in a bucket on the driveway while Chinook helicopters fly large storage containers to and from Fort Myers Beach—the epicenter of the devastation. We’re just waiting on insurance adjusters, grid power to kick back on, and so many other things we can’t control. Tomorrow we leave this place and head back to Cincinnati. I hope we don’t leave them stranded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330212893-Q9O9OJAX4A9LE248LZBC/IMG_9099.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.5.22 Goodbye, Fort Myers We’re tired. We’re also going home. Because there was little else for us to do to my in-laws’ house this morning, we took them to Naples to eat lunch in a restaurant in an effort to claw back a little normalcy after a terrible week. It was more for their peace of mind than our own. We said our goodbyes to Fort Myers, picked up a lift from Naples to Miami, and flew home on a direct flight to CVG. I know this will sound dramatic, but it felt a bit like the end scene of Jurassic Park when they’re all helicoptering off the island with the nightmare behind them. Thankfully, two hours after we left, they got grid power back and their home would start to feel somewhat normal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330214159-NNIIFI1RPH6FR2JFCN2W/IMG_9189.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.6.22 Anniversary Safely back in Cincinnati, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary with a huge dinner at Walt’s Hitching Post. The bread (pictured) is the stuff of dreams. I’m certain, if there is such a place, they serve this in Heaven. We ate so much (not just bread, other menu items), we barely made it home before going to bed and passing out around 9 PM. After the week we had, we needed to catch up on sleep. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330216372-77KDM6S8A6Z2ZBIA8LW8/NZ9_3127-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.7.22 Routine Resumed The crisp autumn air felt so good on my bike ride into the wood shop today. Pedaling through an old neighborhood decked out in Halloween decor while making my way toward a job I enjoy was something else. It was so nice to be back in town. I felt thoroughly satisfied when I arrived on Scott Street in Covington and greeted my coworkers. I felt like I hadn’t been there in ages even though it had only been a week. Joe finished the credenza he was building so I took some shots of it in the “studio.” This one had drawers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665331282582-PJPRCEZDY113Q9WM55U4/ZFC_3594.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.8.22 Big Bone Lick Buffalo We went to Big Bone Lick State Park this morning to see the buffalo that live there. The last time we went was March 7th, 2020. I got a much better photo that time (you can see it in the archive if you navigate back to that day). They were too far away this time and I only had a 28-200mm on hand. That said, I got to see a baby buffalo! He settled down into the spot next to his father immediately after this photo was taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665331283663-WXKIEQHA2JFJJVH9AV91/ZFC_3612.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.9.22 Five Years Old Myrtle is five years old today. I love this little creature more than most people. She’s a constant source of hilarity, companionship, sweetness, and fun. As is custom, we made a little birthday portrait before heading out for the day. Also, Tiffany and Steven get married tonight! Looking forward to that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665452790928-171OD2GZMDWV5V77Q9BS/IMG_9249.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.10.22 Gutierrez Deli John and I delivered a credenza to a client then slipped over to Gutierrez Deli for burritos. Stores like this—the ones with barely any organization and piles of produce stacked on top of carts on either side of tight, cozy aisles—are my favorite. They’re such a refreshing change from the impersonal, sterile, highly-efficient supermarkets we’ve grown to accept as normal. I got a bag of Cheetos torciditos (cheese with a hint of chili behind them) and a pina colada aloe drink with my burrito. Whatever the burrito lacked in seasoning it made up for in quantity. There was no leaving Gutierrez Deli with a stomach half-filled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665541759470-O62N9016OHPM4RJZID86/IMG_9288.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.11.22 That Time Eyeball Lights Made Me Feel Good When I was little, Halloween was one of the most exciting times of the year. My otherwise neutral environment grew more colorful as the calendar marched steadily toward October 31st—the leaves blushed, porch decor went wild, and the evening light changed in a way I couldn’t explain. October ushered in an atmosphere of cartoonish fun with just a dash of fear sprinkled in for good measure. Fear of the little-too-scary mask in the pop-up Halloween store. Fear of the impending winter. Fear of this new school thing that I didn’t entirely enjoy for reasons. Subconsciously micro-dosing fear was energizing, though. While I slow cooked in the Halloween broth that was blow-up skeletons and plastic jack-o-lantern buckets from McDonalds, I planned my costume for The Big Night® at the end of the month and hoped to hell the weather held out so I didn’t have to wear that fucking coat over it. The grim reaper does NOT look good in a puffy blue winter coat! While I haven’t trick-or-treated for many years, I still feel a pang of that familiar fearful excitement this time of year when I see certain decorations, and I absolutely love when it happens. For half of a fraction of a millisecond, I feel the childhood wonder that grown-up Phil doesn’t experience anymore. These little eyeball lights—an innocuous enough Halloween decoration—got me tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665873338462-1XUEPJSIWCL7WE78DAAG/NZ9_3477.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.12.22 Bass Summer Kodama plays bass with Ada Lea at Memorial Hall on Wednesday, October 12th. The band performed about six songs before Calexico took the stage. Photographed for the Longworth-Anderson Series. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665873339284-0IDGNLFF2U5PGWRYNJMA/John+Arthur+Flats+Ribbon-Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.13.22 Glass Sighting There’s a standing rule for this photo project: if the day’s activities involve crossing paths with Chris Glass, he must be included in that day’s published photo. He’s the only other person I know who’s committed to a daily photo project, and I read his website religiously (chrisglass.com). I ran into him organically at the ribbon-cutting for the new John Arthur Flats in Northside today. Yes, BLINK returns tonight after a three year hiatus, but I like Chris more than BLINK. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665873342398-HE3UMMPV094LKLGO7YKN/NZ9_4875.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.14.22 BLINK 2022 I think the experience of BLINK 2022 is best summed up by this quote from Zan McQuade on Instagram: “I walked 6 miles to see some art but honestly it was too many people and not enough art.” I’ve been out in it both nights so far, and the American Building’s projection is the only one that really stands out to me. I don’t want to be negative about the festival on social media, but her quote is perfect. I believe, at this point, BLINK is a festival of diminishing returns. The first year was absolutely incredible and one of my favorite nights I’ve ever had in the city happened that first evening. I photographed the hell out of the first and second years, even selling images to create an official BLINK book, but this year I just haven’t really found much worth shooting aside from this. A lot of it is derivative and not as clever as previous years or simply retreads of previous years’ content. And there are noticeable absences, like the Roebling Bridge not being lit up in any BLINK way. There are a few projections that simply lay animations over murals that don’t seemingly pay any attention to the contours of the mural itself, and there are issues with drone shows being late and projections not even happening (re: the Kenner mural on Court Street). I’ve seen all that OTR and Downtown have to offer, so tomorrow night I will check out Covington’s collection of projections and hope those are better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665016440-E9F3CF2T1OIBEZE67ND3/NZ9_5097.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.15.22 Saturday Night Blinking Covington didn’t offer anything better, really, with the exception of Mother of God Church. That projection was easily the best one of BLINK 2022 (even better than my pick for favorite from the previous night). However, what Covington lacked in blow-your-mind-Blinkness it made up for in being more chilled out than downtown and OTR, which is why Myrtle joined us for our adventure. A random lady gave us a glow stick for her to wear, we got coffee and hot chocolate, and ended the night by sitting at Covington Landing and watching the drone show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665040132-QJ0F83D96GUSFGBGVP0P/IMG_9407.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.16.22 Solo Jazz Italian Ice I saw this while at a stoplight in Morrow, OH. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665069242-C42457MYLNJ3G0JMI2WT/IMG_9413.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.17.22 Album Art? I feel like if you slapped an explicit tag on this image, it would make for a satisfactory album cover. Also, it was 11:50-something and I realized I’d not bothered to make an image that day while laying bed. Not my most inspired, but it’s honest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665043105-B0CD0S74DY453DNWUYE4/NZ9_5160.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.18.22 Forgotten Office I went back to the former slaughterhouse on Baymiller today to get updated photos for the client. This abandoned office looks exactly the same as it did when I visited in May. I doubt anyone’s even walked into it since I was last there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665046068-LN6DQE0GGVXC9TWHRASY/IMG_9422.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.19.22 Colossal Hassle It took seven men to carry a 12-foot-long maple table up five flights of stairs, myself included. We made a custom conference table for a client in the Republic Bank building in Covington for their new office space they’re building out. And that wasn’t the only thing we carefully lugged up the stairs: a smaller conference table and two side tables also made the long trip up to the top. Of course the elevator had to be broken. In a moment of quiet rest to catch my breath, I took advantage of the view and snapped a few photos. I will likely never be up here again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665070972-0WS5OJTFMB1FYDBZMUZ9/IMG_9436.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.20.22 Flower Pressing Ashley’s been collecting and pressing flowers recently. She started putting flowers onto paper and into frames tonight for the first time. I really like this new hobby of hers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665084725-RN3AG8XSA54CTXOR6HUH/IMG_9457.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.21.22 Long Day, Longer Cornstalks We delivered a bunch of mahogany tables we made in the shop to Fifty West Brewing during the day. That evening, I went to Memorial Hall and had a bad experience with the volunteer staff there while shooting a show for the concert organizer. Then, I hung out in a corn field. It was a helluva full and weird day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665103573-RE1ZJ2EC2TQ7I1ML38XB/IMG_9468.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.22.22 The Wall Been wanting to do this for months and finally got to execute on the idea. I designed and built a retaining wall in my front yard using old railroad ties today. My dad came down and helped me haul bags of gravel and rock from the store as well as lift the 200-pound timbers into place. He had to leave in the early afternoon, so I finished it up on my own. It took pretty much the entire day to get it level, secured, and stacked in the photo above. I only really ran into one issue while building it, but a longer drill bit solved that and it all came together rather elegantly afterward. It’s sturdy, secured with a deadman, leaves room for gas line access, and elevates the front yard for future plantings (this week’s project). I’ve hated our ragged front yard for months, so finally getting a chance to build this wall and take the first step toward getting rid of all the useless grass is so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665107547-9006BJ10IML29TO30HPV/Sharon+Woods+-+Phil+Armstrong+-85.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.23.22 Sharon Woods Sharon Woods in autumn is some of the best fall foliage I've seen this year. This year's season has been among the best in recent memory. I took a boatload of photos in the park, so choosing just one for this project was tough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665109173-4P7BBGUHQ60ZPNL6XO7Q/ZFC_3636.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.24.22 A Walk Through Newport We walked through East Newport this evening to get a little exercise in with the dog while searching for a place to eat. The autumnal sights and smells didn’t disappoint. Ever the sucker for Halloween decorations, I enjoyed the creepy moving animatronic on the roof of this gorgeous house. There are a dozen other photos from the walk I wish I could share here, but this is the one for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666756540734-KBIMW2X0FW6R09HIHJ36/DSC_6339.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.25.22 Bold Shooting a space with fun colors and bold patterns is so much more fun than documenting empty rooms. Sure, it’s harder and takes longer to properly white balance, but the results are always better. If you’re flipping a house or want to showcase a rental, always stage it if it’s within budget. I can’t think of a time when leaving it empty is better for photos. People’s imaginations aren’t always up to your own, and seeing a furnished space can make the difference for a prospective buyer or renter. With the right designer or someone with an eye for decor, a good room becomes great. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103954786-51DGHASXKKWLYSBXNS26/IMG_9572.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.26.22 Newport’s Frankenstein I don’t know what this is, but it’s a monstrosity. Saw it while walking to work today and had to take a photo. RIP to what was probably a beautiful building at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103945961-GEYIJOFAXWW1HFLV3EMB/A+New+View+-+Phil+Armstrong+-81.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.27.22 Party at the Art Museum Shot another event at the Art Museum tonight. This one was localized in the Great Hall, aka my nemesis. It’s very hard to photograph people in this space because it’s naturally dimly lit, so I’m often shooting as wide open as possible at 10,000 ISO. And the ceiling is so high up that it’s almost impossible to bounce enough light for portraits with flash. The only time I have any luck is when I can bounce it off the wall. That said, if I’m trying to photograph someone in the middle of the room, forget it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103956972-61703L0GC5GW356LWK6R/IMG_9607.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.28.22 Phil’s Ill In case you didn’t get the title, it’s “ill.” As in: I am unwell. Truth be told, I started feeling ill two days ago and managed to take enough meds to get through the Art Museum event last night, but only barely. My energy is gone, but a COVID test returns a negative result. Had to cancel today’s work and focus on resting. As such, I phoned it in today with this project. Forgive me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103960069-IHS5IRC18V0QQEMH0IJB/The+Lone+Below+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.29.22 Final Curtain Call Tonight was the final Longworth-Anderson show at Memorial Hall for the year. It was also my final shoot for them. I’ve been doing work with the organization for two years, and after this last year, I’m ready to move onto other things. It’s been a pleasure working with them, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I like shooting shows at this venue, but I’m tired of the formula. With it being the same thing every time, I don’t look forward to doing it anymore. I’m not a fan of repetition in life in general. And I’ve missed things I’ve wanted to go to this year as a result of having to shoot these shows (like the BLINK bike ride and a free show at Cincy Shakes). I’m really looking forward to reducing the amount of nights I work and being more available for events I want to go. I think it’ll help guide me back to a healthier work/life balance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667314617311-Q9NPO4GMJF7ZO5CH6Q4Z/IMG_9627.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.30.22 Update to the Wall The grass in the front yard is gone, replaced by plantings and pinestraw. Though it took a few days over two weekends to complete, I’m very satisfied by what we’ve managed to create here, and I’m so glad we did this ourselves instead of waiting for and paying a landscaper to do it for us. No longer will I have to look at a patchy front yard devoid of purpose; it’s now something I take personal pride in and it will be home for pollinators in the spring while improving the overall first impression of the house. I sat on the wall and drank a beer in quiet victory after everything was planted and done. It feels truly wonderful to make changes to your home without having to ask permission or wait on someone to do the work for you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667314632959-9PMYRP86QE2Y1C2A71Z2/ZFC_3665.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 10.31.22 Happy Halloween! We had about 35 kids show up this year and I actually ran out of candy by 7:30. Note to self: don’t start giving out handfuls until 7:15 at the earliest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667612543138-YVYQIB0P5WUW6X692DX5/HaNoBe+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.1.22 HaNoBe Apts Worked with GBBN today to photograph a couple of model units inside College Hill’s new HaNoBe Apartments building. GBBN always likes to add people to their photos, so we had a few different people using the spaces in a way that illustrates “living” without it looking cheesy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667612722313-TANYDRSBG4RV5B0JO2G9/IMG_9671.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.2.22 Ipe Flights I was given a design for a quick and easy flight board and tasked with making 25 of them for a cidery in Norwood that’s yet to open. I made the prototype today and will be building the rest this weekend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667704437797-RLEC08231AM0VFN4CB6M/ZFC_3672.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.3.22 HBD Ashley She’s successfully entered her mid-30s and there are great things on the horizon. One thing is she’s quitting the job she hates so she can start fresh somewhere else, I’m very happy for her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667704439848-DJ5SMT56FAT5CJD019X5/IMG_9680.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.4.22 Morning Over the River While riding my bike into the shop today, I was rolling through the parking garage in Bellevue when I was struck by the wonderful view over the river. The stillness of the water coupled with the warm tones of autumn and morning light was perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667704447379-7REC1IIPNDJ2N5SDV4H3/myrtle+mayor.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.5.22 Root for Snoot! I’m allowing myself Photoshopped images so long as they were made that day. Ashley’s parents are in town and we were joking about political yard sign slogans. Someone came up with “root for snoot” as Myrtle’s slogan were she to run for pawffice. (One of Myrtle’s thousands of nicknames is Snoot). I couldn’t get the image of a vintage-style political poster featuring Myrtle’s disembodied head out of my mind , so I threw something together to scratch the itch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667877138046-FLIU5RZXHSNAAGW423ZT/IMG_9697.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.6.22 A Full Day I saw friends from Philadelphia, ate outdoors at a good restaurant, walked Myrtle in the sun, helped a neighbor install a push-in fence, rode my bike to see other friends, frequented a few pubs and rooftops, then did an absolutely glorious night ride through Downtown and Covington to help a coworker at the shop before riding home with a drained headlamp on my bike. It was a phenomenal day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667877138567-ZKMQQVSYIF39XDXOQ3IY/DSC_9463-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.7.22 Install Day Last night, a friend asked me how work was going and I was able to say with a straight face that I genuinely love it. While photography has been my regular thing for years, I’ve also been working with Single Batch Designs for the last 11 months. Every day I wake up and get to go to that shop, I enjoy it. I get to work with talented and likable dudes who make incredible things, and then we get to deliver them to the client with pride. This photo is from today’s install. From left: Joe, Brad, John, and Joe. Not pictured: Anthony and Keith. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668090562542-O75UV5HCHU6KS52A8GD0/DSC_9677-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.8.22 Hyde Park Cozy Photographed an apartment building with something like six units in it in Hyde Park. It had that beautiful mix of 1930s style with a hefty dose of coziness. Warm wood floors, loads of ornate trim (but not too ornate), cute little nooks to sit in, and miniature versions of areas usually reserved for large homes, like a dedicated foyer. The whole place just made me feel warm and welcome. I get the same feeling from my house, but if I were single and living alone in one of these units, my natural inclination to be a recluse would become unstoppable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668090561864-WSKQO28JE9NULA5ZOXR2/IMG_9767.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.9.22 Careful Restoration We’ve been working on and off to restore the wooden facade of Hierophany & Hedge in Covington for about two weeks. After only a couple of years, the storefront has taken a beating from the weather, as did the opposite side that faces Braxton. It’s taken a lot of sanding, stain, and varnish to get it looking great again, and even a few passersby have commented on how nice it looks. We’re trying to get it all done before the unseasonably warm autumn we’ve had scrams for good, so the process has been challenging. Personally, I find this work satisfying, though I can imagine how much harder it would be if it were done in the middle of summer or winter. The whole thing should be finished within the next week or so. I decided to place a sepia filter on this one because I thought it looked good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668366937678-U6MZTHV0W1XGSLZWXZBG/DSC_0048-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.10.22 Bethesda Hospitals aren’t generally a place I prefer spending my time. I will likely live some of my worst days, if not the remaining days, of my life in one. That’s sadly yet to come. Today’s shoot led me to Bethesda North where a new area was renovated for…hospital things. Truthfully, I don’t know much about medical wings and their uses, so I just made the photos I needed and didn’t ask questions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668366942876-WGZ2ZFBBA0DAIYSRAGOD/DSC_0857.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.11.22 CAM Gala After spending the day battling what I think was food poisoning, I managed to take enough meds and drink enough water to drag myself to photograph CAM’s annual gala. The museum was absolutely decked out in colorful decor. It’s honestly never looked better. Each area had a different color and the Great Hall was a mix of them all. Dinner was served to guests, they had a DJ at the top of the stairs doing his thing, and waitstaff walked around offering drinks and treats throughout the evening. After a cursory review of the photos of the evening, I am satisfied that I covered the night adequately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668486255248-6MO3UHW6QSAC34V3COCS/IMG_9806.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.12.22 Important Hardware Store Development She has discovered that Lowe’s has clothes now. This was a bigger news story than the fact that it practically blizzard-ed today. Or that my shoot this evening started by me overhearing an attendee say the work I did for them last year was horrible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668486255246-18H3NYV5DXFTBAS5ZCOA/IMG_9816.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.13.22 Patience is a Myr-tue Chose this photo solely for the title pun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668486257528-A8DVFHWGRBLBL3GWI20A/IMG_9834.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 Macro View of Childhood If you recognize this, you were probably told to stop looking at it lest you ruin your vision. I recently picked up a small tube TV from a friend as my toxic impulse for nostalgia yearned for something from before. The familiar gummy button, the high frequency tone upon it powering on, the static that prickles your finger tips when you wipe away dust from the corner of the convex glass; all of it part and parcel of using supremely outdated but effortlessly charming technology. No cold efficiency, unparalleled visual fidelity, or Borg-like connectivity. Just warm, fuzzy, blissfully dumb 240p. The flag from a time when I didn’t give a shit about anything but what these little micro lights synchronized for my entertainment. When I stare into it now, I feel a little bit of that carefree feeling again, lest I continue to ruin my vision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668658156147-7JMJ80DYVTQ1JEKDTEPV/NZ9_2811-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.15.22 Plan B The plan was to hook a Roku up to this old TV so I could watch Star Trek the way I remember originally seeing it. However, no modern Roku apparently supports a 4:3 ratio. I successfully got it to work using an HDMI to AV adapter, but the feed is squished and dark. Unwatchable, sadly. But I was determined to make this TV work for me regardless. Plan B was to dust off my childhood PlayStation and see if I couldn’t have a little fun that way. I found all five games I still had for it and fired it up. The disc drive is a little louder than I remember it being, but only at startup. Honestly, playing Mega Man 8 on this thing is so much more wholesome and enjoyable than I ever realized it could be. (Also, yes, I lit this with green and purple for effect.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668658156288-DVTJTGBEAMYXP7IN7IQ7/IMG_9847.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.16.22 Welding A shot of Anthony welding. I hid my eyes behind my phone’s screen to protect my vision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668745276331-D6505NZQJZ6OUUHO5CM6/DSC_2876.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.17.22 Bi-Lighting I wanted to play around with dramatically lighting something tonight before bed. I didn’t spend the time to figure out the shadows, though, and I should’ve done better about dusting it off before lighting it. My Lume Cube (yellow) is great when I can match the output on my off-camera strobe (purple), but finding that point between is tricky sometimes. Because I’ve been working so much and because I’ve always wanted two flashes for better ways to light things this way, I actually ordered a new flash. When paired with the other one and set to the right receiver channel, I should be able to fire both at the same time. Looking forward to trying some portraits and coming up with easier ways to dynamically light objects for effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178932008-L7W9X4U20XHVR1V0XJ53/IMG_9872.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.18.22 Finished Products If you go to Northwood Cider Co. and get a flight, you’ll be serves four small glasses on one of the flight boards I made for them. Had I been told the proper glass size, the grooves would’ve actually fit the glasses, too. Regardless, it was cool going up to the bar top we made and installed, ordering a flight from the barkeep who has no idea of my relationship to this place, and enjoying some beverages on finished work that I did alone on a mild, windy Saturday several weeks ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178933325-ZLHT17SVD4Z4HQQAAIXX/IMG_9877.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.19.22 Alternate Use I turned our inoperable fireplace into a cozy little nook for plants after cleaning out the soot and grime and installing a grow light to the flue hatch. Since it’s unusable in its current state and we have no intention to use it for gas or wood-burning logs, it made sense to turn it into something useful. I’m pretty happy with the end result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178934562-J169V3OTUSJG8SVSA6JC/IMG_9900.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.20.22 Impossible-to-Erase Tree I love it when nature has a chokehold on human development, no matter how small it is. There’s an electrical wire on Ward Ave with two bits of tree lumped around it. Obviously the tree grew around the wire over the years and when the tree was removed, the pierced sections of branches couldn’t be safely discarded without potentially damaging the wire in the process. Seeing no other route but to avoid a headache down the line, the lumps of branches were left in place to rot on the wire 20 feet above the sidewalk. Normally the remnants of a felled tree are a stump in the ground. This tree did things differently. On the plus side, this is an all-natural and accidental way to keep ice from collecting on the wire during snowstorms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178936711-H6CL0KS20UF9J8FXOL4A/IMG_9916.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.21.22 Night Ball Ashley’s on something like five medications at the moment to solve a sinus and chest congestion issue, so instead of taking up space in the bed (and listening to her hack up a lung/blow her nose all night), we agreed that I would sleep downstairs on the couch to give us both a chance to have the best possible night of sleep. After tucking Myrtle into her dog bed and settling into the couch for the night, I closed my eyes and drifted toward slumber. I heard Myrtle stir and move around a bit, then go still. It was typical of her behavior, so I dismissed it. After a few minutes of not hearing anything, though, I got the feeling I was being watched. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw before me a blanket-draped Myrtle with a ball in her mouth staring intently. It was clearly NOT bedtime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178939338-K0CZJQ4H2UBV6U80DBJR/305+Overton+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.22.22 The Details 305 Overton Street in Newport was one of two of my assignments today. The owner apparently recently passed away and a relative, the executor of her will, is selling the property. East Newport is one of the nicer areas of NKY, so I don’t expect it to last long once it hits MLS. It needs work, and there’s a lot to update bathroom/kitchen-wise, but the thing it has in spades is old-house beauty. While the fireplaces in this house are designed more like altars of worship than places to burn wood for warmth, there’s a fair amount of positively jaw-dropping stained glass on the first and second floors. The second story room in the front (pictured) had the most stained glass contained to one area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669260626929-JRIK38L498HDROWN7FZQ/DSC_3380-Edit-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.23.22 Little White-Wall Lies One of my favorite things to do is fake the number of items or people in a single frame. We only had one stool for this table shoot, but I moved it around the scene and spliced it all together in post to get what you see here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669516612262-3YM0KJZFHOT135OOZF49/IMG_9965.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.24.22 New Addition to the Pack My sister had a baby recently. This was our first family gathering with her present. She’s very cute and doesn’t really fuss at all. I’m really interested to see who she becomes as she grows up and starts developing her own identity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669516613775-QJAOXIQMNJOFP6NSUBUB/IMG_0007.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.25.22 Ash for Ash Vince gave me two rough pieces of ash a few months back and I’ve been meaning to find a project for them. Ashley came up with an idea for the kitchen, so I sanded them down, attached them into an L configuration, routed a channel for a piece of 1/8th inch steel underneath them to give the joint added strength, and routed the edges. Both pieces were stained and treated with Danish oil, and now it’s drying. Also, I have to keep taking Dayquil or else I feel like I’ve been hit by a train. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669516615910-6V02BT38KJYSKL8KR9FX/ZFC_3692.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.26.22 First Annual Christmas Tree As I understand it, Bellevue had to take down a pine tree in one of the parks and instead of pitching it, they put it up on the Avenue and decorated it for Christmas. It’s the first annual Christmas tree for the city, which implies this will become a yearly tradition. I imagine future trees will come from elsewhere, but it’s neat that Bellevue’s first tree was grown locally and has been part of the city for years. It’s really cute and I love that they did this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669697116389-ITETCV0FCD988TLB6DNE/IMG_0062.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.27.22 Milestone Achieved This isn’t going to look like much, but it’s a big deal to me. While cutting straight lines and finding angles is hard, it’s even harder to make a decent curve in woodworking let alone a circular shape. Having no lathe to turn wood on, I’ve been weary about trying to cut something circular lest I ruin a good piece of wood. But tonight, after making a frame for Ashley, I decided to give it a whirl. Using the bandsaw, I cut a really good oval out of this block of wood. Relief cuts helped along the way, and after getting the rough shape, I proceeded to sand the sides down and route the edges to give it a nice, smooth surface on all three sides. Overall, the process went easier than I’d thought it would and it’s emboldened me to keep doing it. This will eventually become the top of a step stool once I make legs for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669697122498-NQ2JSWXM9P6T9N6SMWZW/DSC_3436-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.28.22 Just Having Fun On the 17th of this month, I mentioned my desire to have fun lighting objects with gels from two sides. My new flash came in and works well with the one I was using previously. Using a transmitter that sits in the hot shoe atop my Z9, I can fire both strobes simultaneously, each with a different colored gel loaded on them. Tonight, I wanted to experiment with it a little more so I grabbed a miniature Genius of Water statue I have on the shelf and tried lighting it multiple ways. This activity is so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669868404366-WGJFCEFJXZMAX3M5QZ35/324+W+7th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.29.22 Moving On There’s a man living on 7th Street in Covington who is moving to another, much larger home in a nearby neighborhood with his significant other. He didn’t give me all the details, nor did I ask for them, but he made it clear he was going to miss his bachelor pad. He’s bummed he won’t be close to the bars and nightlife he said he conveniently frequented while living in his house. I actually know the house he’s moving to (I shot that one too, oddly enough), but I think my attempts to speak highly about where he’s moving hit like a “you’ll get over it” to the widow at her husband’s funeral. I’m sure it’ll pass for him, but deep down I understood what he was going through. I’ll always have a soft spot for my old 4th Street apartment—my final residence before cohabitation. When a place is yours, it hits different. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669868405065-JTY8LYKDN2407D758DBT/IMG_0117-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 11.30.22 The Worst Part of My Ride The 11th Street Bridge in Covington sucks. I hate riding it every time I go into the shop. There was a high-profile killing of a bicyclist on it this past summer that rocked the community and spurred interest in reclaiming one of the four lanes of traffic for a protected bike lane. While that will not come to pass for awhile, I have to ride on the lone sidewalk to get as far away from the +40mph drivers as possible. When someone else is riding the opposite direction or someone’s walking, I have to get off and walk my bike to get past them, sometimes on the shoulder to allow enough room. Of course, this bad bridge is preferable to Covington’s other bridge on 4th Street. That one’s somehow even more aggressive to anything that isn’t a car. Is it too much to ask for a single, safe way for cyclists to cross the Licking River? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669952357624-HL4CZR857Q7A07GGVYVK/2235+Jo+Ann+Place-+Phil+Armstrong+-23.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.1.22 Vampiring Again Practicing the mirror trick again on yet another little house in the area. I think I do the mirror trick on about two out three places I shoot now. Didn’t even bother with a second image for the camera replacement on this one; it was clean enough to remove without much effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670211197941-XCO9Z1RZY43T6E6K1RJ1/DSC_4075-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.2.22 Clones I had an all-day shoot in Hamilton, OH today that didn’t go as planned. The details aren’t interesting and can be spared for the sake of this entry, but know it was not I who was unprepared for the shoot. Anyway, while waiting for people to show up to pose for a few shots, I tested my flash to see how it would illuminate bodies in different positions in the room. The end result of this preparation combined with boredom is what you see above. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389085142-DQIS1P1X3XIW21SJ115L/IMG_0181.jpeg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.3.22 Never Not Pretty One of the greatest privileges of my life is having fresh cut flowers in our home at any given time. Because of Ashley’s role in the floral world, we’re always endowed with a fresh bouquet somewhere in the house. The flowers won’t last forever, nor will this privilege, so I’m enjoying it while it lasts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389079616-XYCI231TMYJCDK9DM0WC/IMG_0182.jpeg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.4.22 Beginning to Look a Lot Like…You Know Eclectic Christmas trees, a Santa that’s older than almost everyone I know, and a blurry iPhone photo because I spent the day working with my hands and not my camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389081998-XAGV3MZMYL34V0RMHLH9/ZFC_3727-Edit.jpeg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.5.22 Sapele Mahogany Swing Joe and Joe made this handsome outdoor swing out of sapele mahogany. It was finished today and we strung it up for photos before shipping out to the client later this week. The chains are rated for a much heavier load and look a little proportionally goofy, but that will change when it gets to the customer. No, I didn’t try it out; if the button on my pants or something left a scratch, I’d never forgive myself for making an avoidable and pointless mistake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389087591-35GTMXHPE9HBCR0XRWGQ/IMG_0218.jpeg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.6.22 Design & Plan & Build Against my better judgment, I’ve agreed to do a carpentry project for a video production company in Norwood. They need four floating, ornate walls to use as backdrops for an upcoming shoot later this month which means planning and building needs to happen ASAP. My build days are next week, so today I’ve been sketching out schematics and measurements, figuring out the budget and materials list, and compiling it all for the client. As the rain pours loudly right outside my window, I sit quietly with schematics on my iPad, eating pizza and downing Coke, Deep Space Nine playing in the other room, and a sense that this will be a fun portfolio piece once it’s all done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670465041730-FQSFH8BH82228SDCCWHF/DSC_4226-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.7.22 Myrtle Christmas 2022 Tonight marks the sixth year we’ve done a Myrtle Christmas card photo. The placement of the tree is different this year, but the spirit is the same. I don’t think I’ll ever top the composition of the 2020 photo, but I like the way this one is lit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162215664-GZ8I0PZ4K2XMC73ATMZV/209+6th+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong-44-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.8.22 A Beautiful Sconce I shot a beautiful house in Dayton, KY today that had a load of gorgeous old house features, including this darling wall sconce in the hallway upstairs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162216095-TZONXHEEJG0L7JCOUYMB/IMG_0303.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.9.22 Fresh Coat I have a grey metal filing cabinet for important documents that bore me to death. Over the years, the cabinet has been dented and scratched during its many moves. It’s not overly attractive, and after growing tired of seeing an ugly grey cabinet in the office, I painted it white. Thin coats dry quickly, so I managed to do it all in one evening. It looks far better now than it ever did in grey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162218883-L9AWWXSU6YPEKIBRY62Z/IMG_0284.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.10.22 Holiday Bright Ride Having missed the 2022 Blink communal ride, I vowed to make sure I didn’t miss the holiday version. While it made me a little nervous riding around the basin during the height of traffic on a Saturday night, being in a big group was a lot of fun. It was also Santacon, so everywhere was packed with drunken Santas who largely cheered us on from the sidewalks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162220185-32DG48I5JU88BIJWF8WD/IMG_0299.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.11.22 Found a 4 in the Wild The title says it all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162221452-YIK21BKXU0EAKBCEESDQ/IMG_0309.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.12.22 Ice Cream Time She got to sit in the front seat since Ashley’s on a work trip. This is a look of confusion. Truth be told, I had her up front because I had a bunch of tools taking up the back and boot, so this was the only available seat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162222795-VRU96UO0SFHRSGY02WLH/IMG_0312.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.13.22 Floating Wall Progress Last year, I did a carpentry project for the City of Bellevue and worked on a big structure inside an abandoned theater for a week. This year, I’m building floating walls to use as stylish backdrops for RESLV, a local video company (that also employs Steve), and I’m building it in the garage of their historic firehouse-turned-office. I got all four frames finished and one face put together, but there’s still a lot of work left to do. I’ll resume building on Thursday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162228440-3F95693V870JFK6G8G6L/NZ9_5436.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.14.22 A Long, Crazy Day Myrtle went to daycare, I went to the wood shop for the final time this year, we had our work party at Elusive Cow and B-List, then I went to the Art Museum and shot the opening of the new Bollywood exhibit, then I went to the mayor of Bellevue’s house for a gathering because I was appointed to the Code Enforcement Board earlier that night, then I went to a friend’s house for late-night beers before going home at midnight and collapsing in a heap of exhaustion. It was an insane day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162227599-O09GPO71H8WWUBVHT2JY/IMG_0334.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.15.22 Ready For Color Because Myrtle’s in daycare, I woke up and went straight to RESLV to keep working on the floating wall project. It’s a massive load off my conscience when I know she’s not at home by herself and bored. I worked from about 9 AM until 7:30 PM on these walls and made it to a good stopping point before cleaning up my mess and heading home. I’ll paint them tomorrow and move them upstairs to the video studio. Will sleep very well tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671504624765-4V9TEJKJFWDY31JA7GIU/IMG_0336.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.16.22 Hansman’s Sometimes when I go to Unataza, I continue further east to Hansman’s where I grab a hot biscuit/egg/cheese/sausage or goetta sandwich out of the warmer for a couple of of bucks. It’s by no means a healthy breakfast but it hits the spot, and it’s very close to what I always envisioned a perfect quick neighborhood breakfast could be. Sometimes the biscuits are fresh and crispy. Other times they’re softer from sitting in the warmer. Make sure to always read the label to confirm the one you’ve grabbed has cheese. For less than $3, you can’t go wrong. Oh, and while I’m not a start-the-morning-with-a-donut kind of guy, I have been swayed a few times by what’s behind the counter glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671504624708-00QADLYHT396T67FL5M5/IMG_0370.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.17.22 Christmas Parties I took a break from working today and instead ran errands all over town before going to two different Christmas parties. Both were a lot of fun, and I wish I could’ve split myself in two to enjoy each more fully. At one point, we played a drinking card game that was so raucous and fun, I wondered why it wasn’t part of every gathering with friends. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671504627253-SXSSHVRLDIM45XZYI4EL/IMG_0379.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.18.22 Yet to Descend From what I’ve read online, there is a tradition where all the people and animals in a Nativity scene sit and stare at an empty cradle until December 25th. On that day, a tiny baby JC is added to complete the Biblical scene. The Nativity miniature we had in our house as kids just had the the baby glued into the cradle already, so this tradition was new to me. While at Ashley’s grandparents’ house, I noticed their baby wasn’t in the cradle yet and it made me laugh that he just has to jazz-hands at the ceiling for an entire month one floor up from where he will eventually land. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671505289794-AEHCQ71Q1YPEQJ27XE6F/IMG_0380.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.19.22 Project Complete It took me two extra days, but I got them done. The floating walls are in the studio, painted, and ready for use. Happy with how they turned out and quietly excited to see them in action at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856706170-XGHH9XN21DY9TJTY4RY0/IMG_0394.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.20.22 Over the River and Through the Bridge To a Christmas party we go. (I wasn’t driving.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856706879-PPRX2D5BPSPHCA6Q2D43/2201+Reading+Road+Unit+2+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.21.22 Still Moment During a Busy Day Three rentals today, all for the same client. The big house in Mount Auburn was my favorite, and the two apartments on Reading Road were nice enough. I always like seeing what decor the owners choose to tchotchke up the joint. Didn’t think much of this shot when I took it, but after getting it into Lightroom later, the color stood out to me. Also did the rest of my Christmas shopping, so I’m ready for a bourbon and egg nog to wind this day down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856708190-3DFINXL96F88U1A2YF6J/IMG_0436.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.22.22 Impending Cold There’s a colossal winter storm raging outdoors at the moment. Thankfully, we retrieved Ashley’s mom from the airport before the blizzard made roads impassable. I don’t like cutting it close like that. The best thing one can do during a weather event is stay put inside and keep off the roads. One less potential headache for emergency crews. Anyway, we outran the fast-approaching snowflakes and made it home safely, and now we’re waiting for subzero conditions to turn our home into a delicate fortress of warmth that could topple any moment if the power decides to go out. Earlier today, I thought the approaching storm was sort of exciting. I’ve since changed my tune. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856711697-F9R361ZZ22NH9QYJ1EJQ/ZFC_3746.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.23.22 -20ºF I was outside for a total of 2 minutes today. The flag pole had been torn from its screws in the brick by the 50 mph winds, so I had to take it the rest of the way off the column to keep it from banging about. Everything is covered in snow—including our covered porch—but that’s not the issue. With the windchill, it feels like -20ºF out right now (without, it’s -1ºF). While outside for that brief time, I felt my nose hairs freeze and my mustache harden with ice. Continually blinking away the sting of the cold, my lungs lightly burned every time I took a breath. Though the sun was shining brightly, I don’t think I’ve ever felt cold like that in my life. I went back inside and worked on photo editing for the rest of the day. As I write this, we haven’t lost power (knock on wood), but our water pressure is very low. I think there’s a water main issue somewhere up the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671989927229-3PCRVAG698Y2DXHD72SN/IMG_0442.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.24.22 Neighborhood Announcement A neighbor on our street has a proclamation. He’s fed up with this cold, and for once, I don’t blame him. While I wouldn’t choose Florida, I wouldn’t mind being in a warmer place at the moment. Honestly, this Christmas kinda sucks, and I don’t think it’s solely because of the storm. I am fortunately/unfortunately someone who enjoys their regular life, and this week disrupts that with obligations based in social traditions for the sake of a figure I do not worship and a religion I do not follow. I know the holiday season is more than that, but aside from seeing my family for an evening, I do not enjoy this time of year overall. It’s not sappy Hallmark thing for me like it is for others. I recognize my flaw of wanting to be contrarian by default, and maybe it’s partially that which makes me feel this way, but I can’t say for sure. Just feeling overwhelmingly detached and introverted this year—more so than other years. And with every passing year, Christmas kind of becomes more depressing as people’s lives change, their opinions grow stronger, they pass away, they get divorced, and other factors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672022870235-WFKAU4F6S5MBL3ZCEBJT/ZFC_3778.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.25.22 Sisters Kiran and Esmeray on Christmas night (my sister’s kids). Esmeray is a very relaxed baby, and Kiran is all personality. I get it when people say “this is a very fun age” because Kiran says some of the funniest stuff without even meaning to, and she says it so innocently. She one time called lasagne “crazy pizza” and it makes me laugh every time I think about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627878925-NEH4HN5AE489SCPOL7TJ/IMG_0485.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.26.22 The Floor It feels amazing to lay on the floor sometimes. Just flattening my back out and completely at rest. This view doesn’t last long before a doodle dog wanders over delighted to see someone beneath her default height. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627879330-ILMOAQOSRV3N4IXD0AR0/IMG_0496.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.27.22 True Lies Kevin and I walked down to The Garage in Dayton and had a private showing of True Lies over beer and Taqueria Nogal takeout. I’d never seen it before and he swore it was worth a watch. He wasn’t wrong—truly fun and stupid and exactly what I wanted. It’s a shame James Cameron didn’t let his hair down more with fun movies like that instead of going the ultra-serious route. Was walked back home just before midnight and enjoyed a quiet stroll through the neighborhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627539228-MVBWXHV29MN80NN0TZ0R/IMG_0504.JPG daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.28.22 Toys Were Us Took a trip out to Xenia to check out a lumber yard and then wandered around to a few other shops I’ve been meaning to check out before landing at Rockler in Tri-County. Beside Rockler is a big empty former Toys R Us. The contrast of the missing sign held my gaze for awhile. It’s sad to see a rejection of fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627882900-5FMM76SGO8DCGWCWGIK1/IMG_0518.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.29.22 Mobile Countertops Testing an idea I had for increasing the amount of counter space when we have company. I made an L-shaped countertop that we can simply place over the existing structures to better serve dishes when we have people over for a meal or potluck. Since our kitchen is little, making use of every available inch is crucial. The doorway it blocks is the path to the basement, which guests have no reason to access. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627884279-0XCBNHD773JUOP18QBWJ/IMG_0544.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.30.22 Party Night! Rene’s in from Germany, so we got the gang together for cards and drinks and general merriment! I need to be better at taking real photos of people instead of bad forward-facing camera photos on a timer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672629323788-JCR18FUMCHIW4OB4ZRA6/ZFC_3808-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2022 - 12.31.22 Calendar Reset We went to a neighbor’s house for light bites and a beer. We then met up with Steve and his new girlfriend downtown for Mexican. Then we met up with Justin and Annie and the rest of their crew for drinks at Fifty Fifty Gin Club to ring in the new year. While there, Justin asked me if I would be a groomsman in his wedding. Of course I said yes. He’s one of the best people I know. I’m honored to be part of his and Annie’s upcoming day, and it was a perfect way to end the year. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/woodworking daily 0.75 2022-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/fe713b9d-7bb7-4882-9f8e-f7b2a2387c50/Untitled_Artwork.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/91ead122-081f-4842-b844-2d520008637c/NZ6_8210.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1c156738-23a9-45fb-a362-3fe2f4f1ce08/NZ6_8201-HDR.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/dddafb07-f572-44cd-aa65-eb890bac6328/NZ6_8206-HDR.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/bfcd4b41-7f8c-4ae3-9789-91fbfac3084d/InVue+Schematics.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/c4cd7659-1c35-4d23-9a46-cb1f26bb0ce6/NZ6_0231.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/cc73b09c-b2d2-4a3b-aaf8-0de9e7c3b2d4/NZ6_0244-Edit.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/ad9c75e3-d1e6-4261-b4c1-a2b608c28743/NZ6_0251-Edit.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/6a6fe4be-4455-471e-8e76-5ea533fc53cc/NZ6_9625-Edit.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out My wife and I like to sample different kinds of beer when we go out. To bring the fun home, she asked me to build us a set of six four-glass boards we can use when we have people over. Using my surplus of scrap wood, I put together these simple boards and routed the edges to give them a finished look. Each of them were stained with different colors to make them unique. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/ef31c390-b102-46bc-aa89-331820252ac2/IMG_7520.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/a07dcdfa-4f75-4486-9ba3-2a70e6517569/IMG_7496.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/3fcd2232-c922-4db2-b7e6-0c4d4a648dc6/IMG_7499.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/29a9fe88-38aa-49f4-92cc-dc4f73ab58d0/E2rP-LxXEAcq3wA.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641155052554-R1PR4R2BAKYYZDBO3UCU/EjNfFL-XgAAZ4kY.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641155056778-7V6A2RHUFGONEEVI5TQ1/IMG_1537.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641155056782-JYUIT4PBUG6PSD3OYK8T/IMG_3900.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641155060200-APPH8BGEFLR4SS8IP06X/IMG_7393.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/a689a01b-bb14-4857-8f58-f207fc484786/IMG_1977.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/f8f65d9a-a520-4403-b8ad-9f9c8b4713c0/NZ6_1072.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/f695837f-4156-4ab4-b365-5e8b2d5ae19a/IMG_7170.jpg Woodworking - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641156755142-FA7KE0UEO3S53XPSJJX8/IMG_7094.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641156766259-JO65BTB9LL902PY1V1YK/EjG7CxWWsAAT0LL.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641156755763-DEH43PGXDIHPXOQCGDMP/IMG_3664.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641156759364-8G0TJO76Q6OA8YCYV5S1/IMG_3960.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641156764208-JDLNW3N6OUBEPA0QNYCE/IMG_3980.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641156764826-HMNKPAF7KQAB2KM846IY/IMG_6727_jpg.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641156759230-DYH1UA1JZK737R1HAIZ3/IMG_2732.jpg Woodworking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1641156863033-ISMQW2O5I7VN1PH0DDQI/IMG_7295.jpg Woodworking http://www.philarmstrongart.com/resume daily 0.75 2022-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/930ff9b7-cbd5-4936-88c8-29875b7aaae6/Screen+Shot+2022-01-02+at+4.14.05+PM.png Resume - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-feb-2022 daily 0.75 2022-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643775760135-P34FAXSC22RT9E2SCDPY/IMG_4481.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.1.22 Some Things Never Change At 14, I started working at Meijer. I did it for three years straight—practically a lifetime to a teenager’s developing, stupid brain. I made barely any money, made a lot more friends, earned a couple enemies, learned how to drive a car in the parking lot, met my first girlfriend and did first-girlfriend stuff in that same car, learned how to navigate messy interpersonal relationships, and lived the normal life of a suburban teen hell-bent on figuring himself out in that airplane hangar of a superstore. While I didn’t go back to my home store tonight, I visited another location that looked almost identical to it even though it’s been 22 years since I first clocked in. This hilariously out-dated sign still hangs proudly (?) from the ceiling as if to reassert Meijer’s grasp on modernity. Even though I was only in there for one item, walking through the aisles, it still managed to conjure unconscious hints of every conceivable emotion within me simply because when I originally forged my relationship with it, I was feeling the full spectrum constantly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643929114567-L42P0JGCNIPRHDE2QU3B/Monkey+Pod+Table+-+February+2022+-+Phil+Armstrong+-34.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.2.22 Low ISO, High Grain The monkey pod table Single Batch Designs recently finished was in need of some high-resolution photos taken before being shipped to Jacksonville. I did my thing for about an hour and made some quality content for use on the website and Etsy shop. This one, a study of the grain on the most intricate part of the table, is probably my favorite of the bunch; I had to cover the area with a piece of plywood clamped between two ladders and several packing blankets before being able to get the glare off it for the photo, and lit it by bouncing flash off the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1643929113331-HYWRYO7AI17JOII4ORNA/NZ6_2672.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.3.22 Nope. It has been sleeting the entire day. Thankfully, both of my appointments were cancelled so I didn’t have to brave the roads in these conditions. While I don’t like to not leave the house for an entire day, I keep telling myself that I’m doing my civic duty by staying home so as to not become a burden to others. I intentionally focused this shot on the pillars to make the background in the “frame” out of focus to emphasize that staying in was my intention today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289005156-MTU72UNLA7RC7CVWRZNY/IMG_4537.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.4.22 Snow Trek Having to make it to the shop this morning wasn’t as easy as usual. After yesterday’s colossally obnoxious weather event, it snowed several inches, compounding the ice problem with a thick layer of heavy powder. Not having much faith in my car’s ability to navigate the roads, I decided to hoof it through Bellevue, Newport, and Covington on foot. The walk is 3.1 miles from my home, and it took me about an hour to get there. As expected, the roads and sidewalks were horrible, and I was glad I didn’t take the car out of the garage. Crossing the MLK bridge between Newport and Covington was the worst part because I had to walk in the street due to snow piles on the sidewalk. I left the shop later on and walked back home, making the journey a satisfying 6.2 miles round trip. It felt great to get some physical exercise like that in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289016308-N671N1V3V1RMJ0N2YFVK/knobs+vertical+copy.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.5.22 Polishing My Knob I refinished the garage door’s knob and plate hardware this afternoon. Years of dirt, oil, and grime had marred the steel considerably, leaving otherwise functional decor in a less-than-appealing state. I gave them a CLR bath, scrubbed them with wire brushes, and polished them off with Brasso. Even did the screws! This is a before and after. I’m going to be doing this to all of the door hardware that’s original to the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289005616-01QYTH1ICG3770EZ71AB/IMG_4582.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.6.22 Skeletal Remains Yesterday’s DIY project spurred another one today, this time with the bathroom door hardware. I got a little ambitious and pulled the old mortise lock out of the door, too, just to see how it operated. Upon removal of the top plate, I noticed a loose piece of metal stuck in the lock and realized it was the tip of the skeleton key. It looks like someone many years ago snapped the key in the lock and no one bothered to remove the tip from the hole. That’s honestly awesome for me because now I have the template for making a new one, which I intend to do once I get a blank skeleton key. Looking forward to trying to recreate it and make this a usable lock again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644289008642-SA47RNN8R4I7Y1E2Z49Q/IMG_4622.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.7.22 NKY Transit Ashley rides the 12 bus home on Mondays. I was nearby her stop when she was being dropped off. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805769221-8N5IAQ2DYU0P8LJ3NGSH/LAS+-+Anais+Mitchel+-+Phil+Armstrong-35.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.8.22 Back to Memorial Hall The LAS series fired up again, so it was back to Memorial Hall for the first show of the year. They bands sounded good, and the crowd was noticeably younger this time around. If there was a show to see in this series, I think I would’ve chosen this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805763787-7HLA33QYCBIGMP2GIX2B/IMG_4640.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.9.22 Minor Prep I modified a simple wooden box that we got in the mail for a delivered item so it can serve as a cheap and easy tool chest for the car. Sometimes when I’m out, I run into a situation where I need a tool of some sort and I just don’t have the right one. Since I have spares in the workshop, I threw the more commonly used tools into the chest that might be useful later. It will probably get a few more before it goes to the trunk of the car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805764217-J12FD08MDUISXRFJTETS/IMG_4656.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.10.22 College Hill The old Hollywood Theatre in College Hill. Had a shoot out nearby there today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805773517-JVR5DGHJKGKU64TL2CPQ/NZ6_3339-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.11.22 Delivered! We started the van at 4:15 AM and hit the road by 4:30. Joe and I drove this monkey pod table from the shop in Covington to Amelia Island—a sleepy coastal city about a half hour outside of Jacksonville, Florida. Though we didn’t get there until 7 PM, the trip was pretty easy despite being hung up in traffic a few times and seeing the end of a high speed chase in Atlanta. Joe and I talked the entire time and I got to know his story about life in Scotland as well as what he’s been doing the last few years here in America. He took the first leg of the trip before I took over and hauled us the rest of the way. John and Brittany met us at the client’s property to help unload the table, which took two hours from parking the van to pulling out of the driveway. It was a long day, but we finished it with a pint and a plate at a beachside restaurant near the hotel they’d booked for us. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I didn’t wake up until 7 AM the next morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644805778495-PP5O95706BHR87SJ2U4S/NZ6_3375-HDR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.12.22 Amelia Island Despite the leftover fatigue from yesterday’s long day, I awoke early to walk the beach just outside my hotel for a half hour. There were few people around, the air was about 60ºF, the sea lapped peacefully at the shoreline, and I empathized with the people who go south for winter in that moment. I like looking at, smelling, listening to, and absorbing the beach just shy of actually going into the ocean. I met up with the rest of the crew and we walked to a Cuban coffee shop for a cup and a breakfast empanada. We did a little quick sight-seeing around town before hopping in the van for the return trip back to Covington at noon. Instead of going back through Atlanta during rush hour, we rerouted through South Carolina. It snowed as we made our way through the Blue Ridge Mountains in the dark, and the air returned to a familiar stinging iciness the closer we got to home. Joe and I rolled into the shop at 2 AM, deposited the van, and each went home. Bed rarely looked so nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1644806333086-ZHKDW8LQYHQP6W8L7BLX/IMG_4707.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.13.22 Diseased Brain Joe mentioned that Menard’s has a good lumber yard while we were driving yesterday. Having never been to one, I put a pin in that and resolved to visit one when I got back home. I woke up in a funk I couldn’t shake—likely partially due to residual fatigue from driving and socializing so much over the course of the previous two days, and likely because I have a diseased brain that sometimes can’t think or act like a normal, positive person without medication. Anyway, instead of joining the city in the communal celebration happening, I decided to take this stupid brain to Menard’s for a bit and check out that lumber yard. Joe wasn’t wrong about it. When I got home, I felt ill and I’ve been sort of haunting the house doing little things here and there to keep myself busy until inevitably passing out sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow I will feel better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158840998-SAMB55WGM29C9YXBUOSA/IMG_4722.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.14.22 Accidental Plans Ashley and I don’t care about or celebrate Valentine’s Day, so we didn’t have plans to go out to eat tonight. In fact, I stayed home from work today because I was feeling under the weather (it’s not COVID), resulting in even less of a chance of doing anything special. After feeling better, I decided I needed to be productive and got cracking on some household projects I’ve been meaning to do, one of which was snaking the shower drain to improve drainage. In the midst of that process, I discovered a plumbing issue that resulted in having to cut water at the main to the entire house until I could fix it. Long story short, we went out to eat because the house didn’t have running water for awhile and we both needed to use the bathroom. Another romantic one for us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158736858-OKHJT74R2WEQZE645OYZ/IMG_4739.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.15.22 The Crosstrek Honestly, I’m not a car guy. Sure, I like to look at some older cars and admire the design of neat concept cars from past and present, but almost nothing gets me excited about standard vehicles. Like football, it just doesn’t hit me the same way as others. That said, owning a new car with all the features of a new car in 2022 is…something to behold. I don’t actively dislike getting into the car anymore. We traded in the Elantra for a new 2022 Subaru Crosstrek, which we picked up today after ordering it in December of last year. We plan to use this vehicle to travel the US and camp where we can with Myrtle when we get the opportunity to do so. Its first big trip will be to Philadelphia and DC this spring. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158737477-UPUINC5CHG145VCQYO3E/IMG_4764.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.16.22 The Perfect Bagel Sandwich Sorry for the food post. Lil’s Bagels on Greenup Street has this wicked good bagel sandwich called The Lil. It’s an everything bagel with lox, chive spread, capers, red onion, and fresh dill. It’s one of those menu items that I think about even when I’m not hungry because it’s so delicious. I don’t know who originally figured out this wonderful combination of flavors, but if I ever do, I’ll be sure to eat another one in their honor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645158739522-9SZ80WS7QASQFVV9WM3R/IMG_4776.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.17.22 Destructive Downpour Steve’s had a really rough go of it lately. Today, he discovered his car’s wiper blades weren’t working and had to Uber to work since it was raining. I picked him up at 5 PM so he didn’t have to Uber back, and while on our ride home, the rain started coming down with increased severity. Thankfully, we’d already exited the highway and made it to the streets of Bellevue when it happened. Then, after several minutes of wet hell reigning down on the car, the storm eased and we watched rivers of brown water gush violently down the sidewalks and through intersections, finding their way into sewer grates and holes in the ground. A little up the road, we saw the very old retaining wall by the elementary school had collapsed under the deluge of rain water. It was especially unnerving because those steps to the left of it are where I sometimes take Myrtle to play off leash to let her run. I hope we don’t have rains like this going forward… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645331073152-Q6CNQWPHUN8DAYTAHM7T/IMG_4791.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.18.22 Dissatisfied I’m trying to prep for tomorrow’s big shoot and this one will not leave me alone. She’s already been walked, fed, exercised, and gone on a car ride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645331075195-75KMIAY1Q9B5VNEDZKU3/NZ6_3508-HDR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.19.22 Boardroom Had a pretty big shoot out in West Chester today. This isn’t the final edit for this particular image, but it’s close. I’m going back to it tomorrow to do exteriors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645406933763-EZIJPENW8SE7CMOGEFT6/NZ6_3730-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.20.22 Two Good Jobs Legit nothing makes me happier than doing photos or building something for someone. That feeling of being useful in ways I know how has become more and more crucial to maintaining a positive daily mood. And today I got to do both. Our neighbors had their son baptized this morning at the Catholic church down the street and asked if I’d document the ceremony. They’re great people with big hearts, so it was more a treat for me than anything else, plus I got to spend some time observing a culture I wouldn’t normally get to see. Their little baby is cute and seemed interested in my camera’s flash, which made it easy to get him to look up at me no matter what was happening. Then, I went up to my sister’s house and built some basic shelving in her garage with my dad so she has more storage. It felt really good just to spend a day doing projects like that. If I didn’t have to worry about making money, I would just do this type of thing every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645676117173-DMH7DJAEMLAMEIBAQCH7/IMG_4815.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.21.22 Got the Bike Out It was warm today. So warm, it became a bike-to-work situation. Having not ridden my folding bike for over a year, I had to literally dust it off and pull it out of storage. Took me 20 minutes to get to work, and aside from the bridge over the Licking River, the ride went well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645676115502-P7DOLVI5VL6HG0NZHAYM/504+E+12th+-+Neat+Suites+-+Phil+Armsrtrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.22.22 AirBNB Day The rain cancelled one of my morning shoots, but I managed to keep the other two on the schedule. Shot two AirBNBs—one in Pendleton and one in Covington—for the same company. The one pictured was on the third and fourth floors of a building on 12th Street in Pendleton. It had five beds in it, three of which looked to be queen-sized. The place was decorated well and had nearly everything one could want in an urban dwelling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645676115380-W9QK2U65GE0NLPOK2F7S/CAM+Event+2.23.22+-+Phil+Armsrtrong+-63.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.23.22 Little Jobs Before Invasion We were able to ship four of five pieces of countertops back to a job site for a high-profile client. I spent the morning sanding the remaining trim pieces while Joe sprayed lacquer on the rest. Then, I had to shoot an event at the Cincinnati Art Museum tonight. Two hours photographing people in nice dresses and suits and the new exhibits upstairs. I got home to process everything and checked the global news to see if anything was happening in Ukraine, and it sadly looks like everything’s kicking off. Can’t really believe this is happening. Feeling tremendously sad for the people of that country while also selfishly feeling fortunate we do not border Russia. Not looking forward to reading about how this will unfold in the coming days/weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645933192220-YMFLUU03KTBV425Z2PGI/NZ6_4602-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.24.22 Langsam Had a shoot in UC’s Langsam library for a client today. We staged photos. I’m not usually a director, but occasionally it’s fun to do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645933184190-BDBKVAVB568NC3CPTS00/IMG_4845.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.25.22 Wrong way! I took a similar photo back in the early days of camera phones but lost it to the ether at some point. Had to pick up a table in a small town east of Detroit and bring it back the same day. 8 hours in the van in total. Michigan was about 10 degrees colder than NKY. A nice guy named Bill who I’d not met until we hopped in the van together shared my love of 90s ska and punk, so we listened to that and we ate at a drive-in A&W. Not a bad day of work overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1645933190960-MUBZVNE59MTT6ZJJFRS7/NZ6_4630.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.26.22 Not a Banksy Spongejoe isn’t my jam, but I like that someone turned this hunk of concrete into him. Covington is good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631013434-TBL2JAJJHSQCJGUQD2CN/1707+Pleasant+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.27.22 And They Don’t Stop Coming I had three shoots today—a Sunday. After a very, very busy week and weekend, I’m pretty tired. This image may look pretty straightforward, but it isn’t. Good interior photography accounts for all the clashing light sources both within and from outside. Inside light is generally orange/yellow, and outside light always registers blue. To make the image look “correct,” you have to manually adjust the white balance for each surface, which takes a lot of masking. Thankfully, almost everything on-trend is black and white, so the edits are a little less complicated. Regardless, one image can take upwards of a half hour to manually correct, and that’s why professionals in this field charge what they do; it’s not about simply taking a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631014663-EX2MAYJ20FGLOU0O65AR/IMG_4881.jpg daily-photos-feb-2022 - 2.28.22 15th and Scott This building is less than a block from the shop. The light was hitting it just right on my bike ride home. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-mar-2022 daily 0.75 2022-03-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631203510-LBXXOHODBG7X3O8O2Z7Q/NZ6_5305.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.1.22 Hoops From a quick trip over to Covington for a client. Thought the juxtaposition of the backboard and hoop with Covington’s and downtown’s tallest was nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631188607-ENENR18HUNVW415HWASL/IMG_4959_jpg.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.2.22 Welding We had to make some feet for the massive drum sander, so Joe and I gathered some scrap in the shop. Joe welded each piece together and I filmed/photographed it for Single Batch’s Instagram. Continually impressed with how the iPhone 12 Pro can shoot RAW images that actually look halfway decent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631190951-YXA255HFCRBHDTXAAWNY/IMG_5012.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.3.22 Impromptu Chris Visit I scheduled a job with a client in Dayton, so I told Chris I’d meet him for dinner that evening. As the date approached, however, the client ended up cancelling the shoot. I still went up (with Ashley) to have dinner and drinks with him, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631193112-3J120LTMPKURFID9KC42/IMG_5024.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.4.22 Bockfest Returns After skipping 2021, Bockfest made its return. We met up with friends at The Drinkery and took our bock beer-filled cups out to the sidewalk to watch the parade. It seemed like the parade this year was shorter than usual, but it wasn’t a problem—we just went back to drinking indoors as soon as we could. This was the first Bockfest I haven’t shot (that was actually held) since 2015 or so. It felt weird and liberating not to be working it. It ended up being a very fun night overall, which I didn’t know I truly needed after the insanely packed last two weeks I’d had with work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631188830-TVLHYGKV3Y4GSL2F7S8L/411+Rawson+Woods+Lane+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.5.22 MCM Real Estate Fighting a low-grade hangover from the evening before, I summoned all my strength and presentability and went to Clifton to shoot a beautiful MCM house that overlooked a bird sanctuary. While I generally do not find these homes especially comfortable or homey, this one stood out as the exception to the rule. I could understand why someone would want to live here beyond simply appreciating the Usonian design. It was more than the prestige of the architect—more than a photogenic talking point. It felt good in there. I still maintain that the mood of houses of this type are inherently dependent on the outside environment, and since we had a staggeringly warm and beautiful day today, I attribute at least half of that feeling to the weather. The double-edged sword hit right this time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646631193122-T38LKVM2HOOP14D75SKL/IMG_5042.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.6.22 A Bit Off For the first time in weeks, I didn’t have to do a shoot, go to the shop, or have plans with anyone. Today, I finally had a day to catch up on the projects that’ve been waiting for me for what feels like forever. As an introvert, I relish these days because I get to be productive in ways that satisfy my soul. As a result, I only took one photo today: this frustratingly crooked little building in Dayton, KY while getting my Sunday coffee. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646802914764-VPU4ES7NLWX5WLNXIR0Q/411+Rawson+Woods+Lane+-+Phil+Armstrong+-57.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.7.22 Return to Rawson I returned to that lovely Usonian house to get photos of it lit up at night. As one would expect, the backyard had the best view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646802915104-32OPA735N8QE3M1DMFIM/425+Wallace+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-123.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.8.22 Statement Piece The forecast was cloudy, and my 3 PM shoot was “95% sure to be cancelled” because of it. As such, I took to meeting friends for street hot dogs and a cup of coffee afterward. When I saw the sun peeking through the clouds around 1:30, I knew that 5% would come back into the fold, and sure enough, I got the call that we were back on—from 2 to 4 PM instead. Fleeing friends in a hurry, I managed to make it to the property relatively on time. We had about two hours of sun for the shoot, so I moved quickly. The 19th century house was large and full of photogenic details, one of which was this incredible stained glass window that straddled the landings on the central staircase. Though some would consider the wallpaper busy, I personally loved how unabashedly bold it was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1646882079768-JCF4KOW8P9DRP7ZQTRKC/425+Wallace+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-148.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.9.22 Another Day, Another Night Shoot Returned to yesterday’s house to get night shots for the listing. What stood out to me most was how visible the stars were during a minute long exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480342239-L9D945T89N5IDF191PL0/7+W+7th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1007.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.10.22 Pining for Z9 Did a shoot this morning in [redacted] for [redacted], which offered up some new angles on old favorites. Specifically, I got to see the Provident Camera ad from eye level for the first time. The artist, Gus Holthaus, signed his work in the lower left of the ad if you look closely. I shoot with Nikon myself and have been quietly salivating over the new Nikon Z9 each day since it was announced. This ad did nothing to mitigate that persistence of thought. The camera is upwards of $5K, so it’s not something I can just go get without some serious saving first. My Z6 will have to do for now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480341946-7V5YGQ6ET5RTS6ZZEP47/IMG_5124.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.11.22 Walknuckles Years ago, an arborist friend of mine, Vince, showed me a pair of wooden knuckle dusters he carved out of the remains of a felled tree. While I’m not predisposed to violence, I AM predisposed to appreciating complicated hand-made shapes, so the image of those knuckles burned itself into my brain. Since learning more about woodworking, I decided to try my hand at making my own set this even using some walnut scrap. They’ll never be used in the traditional sense, but I enjoyed figuring out how to shape them using a combination of power and hand tools. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480345362-FSDAJIIGM7YWH0G8TNXA/IMG_5147.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.12.22 Chisholm For President Netflix are shooting a TV show based on Shirley Chisholm in Cincinnati. As such, period-specific vehicles and signage are scattered around town. Today, they were setting up to film on Court Street near Vine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480345362-1SR4XBRU364WBUQBT75W/IMG_5176.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.13.22 Birthday Boy Dad turned another year older on Friday, so we had a small get together for him at his house. His cake had blue frosting and fish-shaped sprinkles. This will be the last birthday of his that we’ll celebrate in Milford as they’re planning to move house to Morrow this summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480347876-NKZRYJHK3S926G9BELEW/IMG_5182.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.14.22 Cat. Cat. I’m a kitty cat. And I meow, meow, meow. And I meow, meow, meow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480240668-W3K70ZFKMLKX6VY2SVDU/3979AEDB-2163-454E-A9BB-CF6D2F90FD47.PNG daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.15.22 The Best Day Oddly had the entire day off. No photo jobs, no shop work, nothing to catch up on. Nothing. So, instead of staying inside all day, I hopped on my bike and rode around town. I left my house in Bellevue and went down Riverside Drive to Columbia Tusculum. From there, I went up into Hyde Park and hopped on Wasson Way, then rode the path from end to end. I hit up Xavier University, East Walnut Hills, Eden Park, rode to Over-the-Rhine, went Downtown, then headed back over the Purple People Bridge before going home. I couldn’t decide on which photo from the day I wanted to post here, so I made a little collage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647480232756-PO2ZUHEE49NUPEFSSXNN/IMG_5255.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.16.22 Perfect Light Incoming spring has given me perfect weather, and DST has given me perfect light in the living room. I just love the way the sun comes into this room at this time of day. The whole corner glows. The clock’s wrong in the photo; it’s actually 7:10 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979304862-BE8BYCBT37MTKBDUWMJ2/NZ6_6733-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.17.22 Empty Had a job down in Williamstown, Kentucky this morning. About 45 minutes south of home, it’s a small town with a blink-and-you-miss-it retail corridor, some quaint homes, and this seemingly abandoned church. I’m certain there is more to it than that, though—I only saw a brief sliver before heading back to Cincinnati after my job was finished. On the way out of Williamstown, I stopped at a gas station to purchase a drink for the road and fill up my tank. Since I was going to have to go inside to get the drink, I chose the “pay inside” option at the pump, but the attendant didn’t turn it on for me. Confused about what was happening at the pump, I went in and got the drink from the cooler then headed to the counter to pre-pay instead. The attendant looked me dead in the eyes and said, “I’m not turning on that pump for you. I don’t know who you are and I can’t be too careful these days.” He eventually turned it on for me after I put $20 on the pump. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979304856-1Z600PUE8QSXZOS3RDVN/NZ6_6889-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.18.22 1986 Avion We went up to Hocking Hills for a weekend away. We’re staying in this updated 1986 Avion trailer on someone’s property. They rent it out through Airbnb, and it was considerably cheaper than nearby cabins (and, quite frankly, more fun). Sadly, we learned the pipes burst on the way up, so we don’t have running water. It’s not a big deal, though. We brought a five-gallon container. Hopefully the rain stays away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979310876-EVCJPCHDKM83BH8N2KUU/NZ6_6953.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.19.22 Trails New and Old We hiked Hocking Hills’ trails and saw several sights familiar to us from our last trip up, as well as a few others that were new to us. The rained stayed away in the morning, but started up around mid-afternoon. It continued through to the evening, ruining our plans to make a bonfire, cook our dinner over it, and roast s’mores. Instead, we managed with the help of the Avion’s stovetop. It always seems to do this when we come here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979310433-ADLHN5TWM1QEKV6SS51B/NZ6_6994.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.20.22 Ash Cave Ash Cave was the last hike we did before returning to Cincinnati the last time we came to Hocking Hills. Repeating that itinerary, we’ve unintentionally made it tradition. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1647979306605-K8HX942U1DJ0IK7ZOD2Q/IMG_5331.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.21.22 Equalizing Woke up and felt strange before realizing we didn’t get to Unataza yesterday, as our Sunday routine dictates, because we were traveling back from Hocking Hills. This morning, I stopped in for a cup before going into the shop. Felt better after having it. It’s all psychological and I recognize it as such. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648006667713-S6B8WNS5V13G0A10SPZI/CAM+Event+3.22.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.22.22 Strike a Pose Former Senator Eric Kearney mimicked the pose in the portrait during tonight’s Cincinnati Art Museum event. I got a photo of Jan Michele, the current Vice Mayor of Cincinnati to whom he’s also married, in a separate photo right after this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648269119546-CHX7SS4K2NWEIHL4HFHK/IMG_5375.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.23.22 Spring is Trying Spring is desperately trying to happen. Today was beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648269118732-GECDCH5QWAZAK4AAC7O5/IMG_5385.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.24.22 Court Parked in the garage for my afternoon shoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648269121467-K700RVKGZYXQZFK9CR0Q/ZFC_0019-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.25.22 First Thing’s First I bought a new camera for work. Having been a fan of my Nikon Z6 for a couple years now, I wanted to stick with the Z series, so I added the Nikon Z fc to my lineup. It gallivants as a fusion of retro style with modern capabilities and runs on the proprietary Nikon software I’ve gotten very used to learning over the course of the last ten years. I chose this model because I thought it would be helpful to have a second mirrorless I could rely on without breaking the bank. It’ll allow me to avoid running my Z6 workhorse to death when possible, and will fit well on my other side when dual wielding at events. It’s smaller than my Z6 (cropped sensor), it’ll take the glass I already have in my case, it’s extremely lightweight, and fits into a small bag better than almost every other camera I own. One of the first proper photos I made with it is this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648567435880-NYD6DCVRF6366XCDQV09/ZFC_0062.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.26.22 Spring is Still Trying It’s 40 degrees in late March. For some reason, it feels much, much colder. Perhaps it’s because we had a few extremely nice days prior to now and got into the mindset of warm weather as the default. We were wrong. I sincerely hope our flowers and all the blooms around town don’t die from freeze. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648567437907-8PRBKYRM59M17Q8KS136/IMG_5440.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.27.22 Where Careers Went to Die After a northern-suburb food tour with some friends concluded, we schlepped over to the nearly abandoned Forest Fair Mall. Inside, we stealthily took photos despite the security guard’s warnings. While it was never my first mall of choice due to its proximity to Milford, it was a place I went to fairly often in its heyday and on into its slow decline. I think the last time I went there for actual shopping was around 2008 or so. The mall had a Showcase Cinemas inside that was infamous within the company for being the place where management careers went to die. Having been part of the management structure of that company for a time, I remember the camaraderie shared between the local cinema managers—with the exception of Forest Fair. I could name the managers at all other local theaters, but not this one. It was a social abyss. Before Rave Cinemas bought Showcase, I was told the only reason Forest Fair was still an active theater was simply because they weren’t paying rent. It was presumably able to break even only because the mall so desperately didn’t wish to see another tenant leave. It’s my understanding that the final days of that cinema occurred before the Rave acquisition took place, and it makes sense seeing as how nothing inside has the Rave branding. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648567441278-I8HJPQOFRI8Z013C8PCK/IMG_5491.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.28.22 Saturation +100 We oiled some butcher boards at the shop today, and I liked this one the best. It’s a collection of different tree species glued together. After applying the oil, the colors come alive as if you just artificially upped the color saturation in Photoshop. The strip of purple heart on the left edge is the most striking species in this board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648606172319-UP0H7OJQA4UVQJBI67HB/SPUN+4033+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.29.22 SPUN’s New Home Judi at SPUN asked if I’d photograph their new shop for their website, so I went over to Northside to check it out. It looks amazing. Visual overload in the best way imaginable; there are no muted colors or minimalist sensibilities here. Dominic had a vision for the space and absolutely knocked it out of the park. You’d be hard pressed to find a bolder bike shop from an aesthetic perspective than this place. I spent hours photographing little details such as the Day of the Dead skull within the gear above. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648780438786-93CM6GF0VKS59MPS0DS0/ZFC_0113.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.30.22 A Perfect Evening on the Ave After Ashley got off work, we walked down to the Avenue with Myrtle because the weather was so nice. While we don’t drink during the week very often, we popped into Darkness for a pint and a plate and ran into some friends sitting outside. We joined them and had a really good impromptu hang-out that lasted until the sun went down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648780437486-VHKNMT40B5RXJWFIHVFU/819+Greer+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg daily-photos-mar-2022 - 3.31.22 Timesink This morning I photographed a house in Covington for a listing. Because the skies were grey and unattractive, it made photographing the home particularly challenging. Some people think overcast is best for indoor photography, but I disagree completely. My favorite sessions include loads of sunlight streaming through the windows to make rooms feel warm and inviting. This image of the staircase, despite having no windows in frame, was heavily affected by the light from outside. So much so, I had to manually repaint the walls and desaturate the spindles to make it look true to form. It took probably 40 minutes from start to finish to finalize this one photo—which will likely be passed by quickly as people scroll through the gallery—but I enjoy spending time on images that aren’t usually in those standard galleries. In my mind, the oddball photos few would take time to shoot and edit are the ones that make prospective buyers subconsciously flag the home as unique. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-apr-2022 daily 0.75 2022-04-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1648854837013-FOFTQJNXLZ234BULT0A1/ZFC_0138-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.1.22 Weakest Link Bad self-esteem day. One day after a client paid me a priceless compliment, I am feeling pretty low about myself. I made small mistakes today at the shop that are still driving me crazy even though they aren’t big deals in the grand scheme of things. From not sanding a piece properly and having my coworker show me what I did wrong in front of the new guy to stupidly hitting my head on the swinging door while trying to vacuum up the wide belt, I just always feel like the weakest link even though I genuinely am trying to give it my 100%. I feel like the weakest link in a lot of areas in my life, and I wish I were better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247145333-KBX2DVCYHR3C2ZWRD9CZ/ZFC_0153.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.2.22 Saturday Walk The corner of Division and Washington, Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247144832-DRE6J54FV6V807EMJV8A/ZFC_0162.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.3.22 Sunday Walk Fairfield Avenue, Dayton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247147063-KNZH3DN7CLNHUD6CFNCI/ZFC_0172.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.4.22 Monday Walk Washington Avenue, Bellevue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649247677475-NPL3ZPVFB7SL26V7GS6V/ZFC_0210.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.5.22 Tuesday Walk Blue/orange lighting in the wild. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649732598933-6EV5NYU225NRQTGFXKHN/IMG_5561.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.6.22 Wednesday Walk Really looking forward to planting our gardens this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649732600051-7Y8YZCFQQ1V41UDB3IOV/ZFC_0220.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.7.22 Thursday Walk A stranger on a bike with a speaker playing music stopped a few feet in front of me to look at this view. I think he was curious about why I was taking a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649732601925-8XAIF0DKQL456SBLZ2EJ/ZFC_0221.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.8.22 Friday Walk Covington, midday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649734126815-6Z5O99QAYLDO6K5O4222/1302+Main+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.9.22 Surrealism I’m now entering a point in my career where I am being paid to shoot houses I’ve already shot years ago because ownership has changed hands. This feels wild to me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649734127062-ZV1P33AFF24STEZUU2MZ/ZFC_0258-Edit.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.10.22 Simplicity I wanted to shoot a scene with ambiguous meaning. Something two people can end on different meanings while looking at the same photo. It’s minimal, but I think there’s enough there to tell a story or convey meaning. The tall/short elements at either end of the staircase, two of which are separated and two joined. The lower third as contrasted with the higher third. The flock of birds. The simple color palette. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1649734128567-DRT9UGSNDLKJ8LC4HXJ0/ZFC_0302.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.11.22 Return Visitor A little black cat has begun claiming our porch every night. So much so, we’ve laid out towels for her so she’s warm. She’ll wait until after the sun goes down to cozy up on a cushion and clean her fur before curling into a ball to sleep. Every night, it’s kind of like Christmas Eve as a child—we eagerly wait for this mysterious cat to pay us a visit as if she were Santa Claus. Since it’s not set in stone what time she’ll arrive, usually a few fruitless trips to the window take place before we see her. When we do, there’s an exhilarating hushed excitement that sweeps over us… because there’s a cat on the porch. I’m not saying it makes sense to be this delighted by a stray cat wandering into our little corner of the world, but it’s very much a real part of my nightly routine now, and I’m cherishing it while it lasts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379429079-ZXU8BGLICO1M7KW6VT7M/IMG_5594.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.12.22 Climbing Man A squirrel navigates a partition jungle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379432204-HSB0JKTQSXCQ2R7J19XO/IMG_5605.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.13.22 It’s Always This Way Needed to make a fix on the fly. Dug into the emergency toolbox I keep in the car and prematurely patted myself on the back for being prepared. Of course, the T20 was missing—that’s the one I needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379429083-YN8VL6Q7ZWOXVAQY9I27/318+W+6th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-71.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.14.22 Remy I shot a beautiful house on 6th Street in Covington today. There, an 8-month-old doodle named Remy lived. He and I were unsurprisingly obsessed with each other, and though I wanted to make him the centerpiece of every listing photo, I had to play by the (dumb) rules and make sure he wasn’t in any of them. That didn’t stop me from taking a few outtakes, however. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379426825-HZML71TMVOIO1S4P97DZ/67173322142__38E032B3-E99F-45D4-9D69-DB9B97A793C1.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.15.22 Bill & Phil Bill and I took the Sprinter up to Michigan and back today to deliver a table to a client. We cranked the punk and hardcore we loved in our late-teens and early-twenties the whole way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379432508-ULEAXGQ1HREEG4IHWHC4/IMG_5644.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.16.22 Steve’s Improv Troupe Steve is taking improv classes. He successfully completed his 201 course and did a show with his troupe. Proud of him! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379435242-K1DQPTZ94MDQ00TVL3XA/IMG_5649.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.17.22 Grand Plans Ashley has decided we are participating in three local farmer’s markets this summer. Her plan is to have me build and finish a series of hand made plant stands (pictured) and flight boards to sell. I made a prototype today and have notes about what I will do differently going forward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650379435466-U4U5GWAXH2YZRKKFBH6X/IMG_5656.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.18.22 Snail’s Eye View Myrtle goes crazy whenever I come home from being out. Sometimes I lay on the floor and just let her lick my face to get it out of her system. While on the floor this particular time, I took a photo after I mentioned a treat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650416555558-21S9Q1UCRP2QHULKKKFY/NZ6_8878.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.19.22 Tuesday Coffee When our work schedules allow it, Justin, Travis, Ronny, and I get together for midday coffee at a local coffee place. Today, we got together at Urbana in Pendleton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650591799590-3YO3GWHUR0XG7D02WC1J/IMG_5678.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.20.22 Preservation? A friend asked me to build him a step stool using wood that was pulled from his house. The house was built in the 19th century, and the wood he gave me is presumably from the 1800s. None of the pieces he had were milled to any workable degree, especially for finished furniture. The hole-filled pieces, still covered in bark, were riddled with old nails buried deep into their edges. After carefully planing each piece down to a workable size, I had to address the unavoidable cracks, holes, and inclusions leftover. One of the support planks had a massive hole after the knot fell out of it during processing, and because every piece of the buffalo needs to be used for this project, there was no cutting it short to avoid the hole. As such, I created a form around the edges and poured clear resin into the hole, then let it dry over night. After sanding it all down, the hole is properly plugged and acts as a translucent, sturdy feature instead of an obstacle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650591800553-N73MGATHOA5OZSWJK2VM/ZFC_0445.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.21.22 Shelby Street and the Unnamed Alley We wanted to take Myrtle on a nice walk this evening but sought a change of scenery. As such, we drove over to Covington to walk Riverside Drive and its adjacent streets. I always liked the bend at the Licking River where Riverside becomes Shelby, as well as this beautifully imperfect brick-lined alley that isn’t named on Google Maps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650769744906-8BR2BAWSZSNYM48GFK56/IMG_5735.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.22.22 Explosive Ride After getting home around 10:30 PM, I decided to take the bike out for the first time in weeks since the weather was so wonderful. Approaching the Purple People Bridge, I noticed all the lights were off, which was strange since it’s usually lit at night for the pedestrians who use it to cross between NKY and Cincinnati. As soon as I took notice of the lights, fireworks began across the water— routine Friday night fireworks after a Reds home game. I stopped to take a photo when I could see the barge on the water actively launching them opposite Smale Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650769744594-XAR9F7YF6QMJSBBY680B/IMG_5746.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.23.22 Refining My Space I’d been planning to replace my desk for months. Figuring I could make one of my own for about $250, I went to the store and priced all the wood I’d need as well as the metal required to keep it together underneath. The plan to make my own desk from scratch was so set in stone, I was just waiting to find the time to start on it…which is why I ended up finding a kit online for $250 and bought that one instead. Time is my most valuable commodity, and with all the woodworking projects I have lined up at the moment for family and friends, I have none to spare for my own. But I’m not complaining because I really like this desk over my old one, and it only took an hour and a half to assemble out of the box. (It’s melamine with a veneer, but it’s surprisingly sturdy and attractive despite not being solid wood all the way through.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1650851932239-1L33RRHU2PAEKPV8BXYH/ZFC_0473.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.24.22 The Hunt Ashley, Cody, and I went to the Burlington Antique Show this morning. It being the first show of the year, there were quite a few really great pieces for sale, including an incredible 1940s cedar chest in pristine condition that we ended up picking up for our bedroom. While I didn’t go to the show with anything specific in mind, I kept an eye out for photography equipment, but didn’t run into too many things. The above photo and a beat up Minolta were about it. Regardless, we still saw an abundance of eclectic stuff during a perfect weather day before loading the Subaru absolutely full of ours and Cody’s treasures. While the show next month will likely not be as fruitful, I’m still looking forward to returning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651117032277-RPWW7SQSOXSJSZM8R45Y/IMG_5794.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.25.22 Demonstration Mike and Maria came over to retrieve the step stool I spent two months making for them using wood they gave me that was originally part of the first floor structural joists in their mid-1800s house on Court Street. Thankfully, Mike posed for a demonstration photo before leaving. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651117034817-3AA3PPBN8OLY72TWLWW9/NZ6_9022.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.26.22 Ault Park I hadn’t been back to Ault Park in awhile. A client asked to do headshots in the park at 9 AM, so while I waited for them to arrive, I snapped a few quick photos to make sure my settings were correct and everything was ready for the shoot. This was the first image of the day—the headshots are more interesting, but I don’t want to share those since I don’t have their permission. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651117058539-2CYX9GMH272KPZXIEG8E/NZ6_9603.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.27.22 Noticed Something New Across Grant Street from Memorial Hall. For some reason never noticed that boarded up outdoor staircase before. In other news, really pleased to see green on trees again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651196523157-GYK4IWZY1FEXTPXSMQZA/The+Foundry+-+Phil+Armstrong-8.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.28.22 Bringing Renderings to Life Architectural photography is my favorite version of what I do. It’s slow and methodical, technical and precise, and rewarding when it works and frustrating when you haven’t cracked the right perspective. GBBN hired me to do some work inside and out of 3CDC’s newest project, The Foundry. Formerly a Macy’s department store, book shop, and restaurant, it’s now office space for Deloitte with a few other tenants that are still in the process of building out their space. While the exterior has yet to be finished, I was tasked with coming up with a suitable shot of the building sans-box trucks. I waited almost a half hour for one to move to start getting photos. This is actually a composite of about six images of people spliced together to get the right balance of pedestrians with minimal overlap. Overall, I like how it reads like a render an architect would send to publications as proof of concept, except everything in the shot exists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651628803807-BBJWT5QFRD7K0Y9G1YBH/IMG_5822.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.29.22 The Henrys Katie, my former coworker, married her fiancé, Ryan, at the Monastery in Mt. Adams tonight. Hiring Katie back in 2018 to help me run Cincinnati Refined was the best professional decision of my career at that publication. I could not have asked for a better person to do her job, and seeing her enjoy her happy day with her partner was heartwarming. While I didn’t get to talk to her at the wedding, I’m really looking forward to having dinner with them when they get back from their honeymoon. She sat us at a table with Rob Braun, Sheila Grey, and Bob Herzog, so I got to catch up with all of them again, which really made me feel better about everything that happened with…everything. I specifically talked to Bob about Star Wars and we realized we have the exact same opinions about the franchise, hot takes and otherwise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651628803805-1NEEOYDOHV55QNVCDJFG/IMG_5828.jpg daily-photos-apr-2022 - 4.30.22 Leveling Up It weighed a total of 113 lbs, and getting into the back of the Subaru wasn’t exactly easy, but I finally got the tool I’ve so desperately wanted for two years: a table saw. After researching online, I went with the DeWalt 10” contractor saw with the fold-up rolling stand. I messed around with it all day. My neighbor who always brings us unsolicited delicious pie was curious about what all the commotion was, so I made her a plant stand after ripping a 1x10 piece of pine into strips, which I couldn’t have done without the saw. I wish I could spend every day making stuff for my friends in my garage, honestly. It’s soul-soothing. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-may-2022 daily 0.75 2022-05-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629209774-3NM6JIBX9L3GJY78PVQ9/IMG_5861.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.1.22 Perspective I was asked to photograph a wedding proposal in Twin Lakes Park, just north of Eden Park, this late-afternoon. The client was going to stop into the park with his girlfriend after a quick jaunt through Krohn Conservatory. Forgetting how well-attended and lively Twin Lakes Park gets during nice days, I rediscovered how barbecues, loud music, and a perpetual cloud of marijuana fills the park with a jubilance you don’t find in neighboring Eden Park while sitting on a bench waiting for them to arrive. While the vibe was one of easy-going good times, it didn’t fit the romantic setting he desired when he popped the question. When the client realized the mood of the park contrasted with his plan, he diverted us to Eden Park instead. I like this photo because the quiet serenity in frame belies the party happening all around me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629210711-5CZCL2GRRNJC612UFT7F/IMG_5876.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.2.22 Finished Piece I did minimal work on this piece in the shop. It’s a reclaimed bench top with a resin insert within which old tools were delicately placed and suspended. The clients, who have a home in Cincinnati, are bigger deals than the ones we usually get, so everything had to be just right for this one. It took over a month to set the tools, get the resin poured just right, and polish it to a near-flawless sheen. It will be delivered tomorrow. Hoping they choose me to photograph their home when the contractors finish up their work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651629212981-NJNBR3BVTFM5BDK6Y4AO/IMG_5892.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.3.22 Narrowing Boundaries It stormed on and off all day. Both of my shoots were cancelled as a result. I don’t often get political with these daily uploads, but likely anyone reading this is probably also politically progressive, so strap in for a moment. There’s been some pretty horrific news coming out of Washington today about possibly overturning a 50-year-old Supreme Court decision, which will ultimately limit the freedoms of women to govern their own bodies if it comes to pass. It’s shameful, disgusting, and hypocritical of the crowd who protested and cried when it came to vaccine mandates to legalize this type of repression. It fills me with anger to see a handful people at the top of the government control such an intimate, personal choice billions of people in this country should be entitled to make for themselves. Conservatives and the dusty crypt keepers running this country drive me absolutely crazy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651719416239-P1MGN9VXJUGFQ8ZM8O6Z/IMG_5937.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.4.22 Modern Approach to Avian Dining I built a bird feeder last year for our yard that’s done well to keep our feathered friends’ appetites at bay (when we remember to fill it). However, time and harsh weather haven’t been kind to it, and since that original build, I’ve learned much about proper sanding techniques as well as how to better stain and seal wood for outdoor use. With the recent acquisition of the table saw, it felt necessary to try again. Taking inspiration from a contemporary design I found on Amazon, I put together this simple little feeder and hung it from the eaves over the back door. With the added protection from rain and two coats of polyurethane, I’m more confident that this one will last longer than last year’s. Then again, if I get to build a new bird feeder every year and play with new designs, I won’t be upset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1651804505753-8APPKP2IR4WN9ND8VSJO/NZ6_0683.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.5.22 Cinco Left a Cinco de Mayo party to shoot another one down the street. This was my favorite image from the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324348019-W3M9DYUQKIKM5QIFGK68/Heart+Ball+Decor+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.6.22 Heart Ball Worked a dirty day in the wood shop then changed clothes and immediately went to the Duke Energy Convention Center to photograph the glitzy decor of the Heart Ball for a client. This is one of my favorite types of assignments because it’s so damn easy. Just get in, enjoy the decor without the pomp and circumstance (or really any lengthy human contact), and move along home before the whole thing starts. When you spend all day socializing as an introvert who struggles with basic interpersonal relationships as a result of a long pandemic, these types of assignments are perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324356083-XPPJLAKBM2AKFQ5W11Y9/910+Russell+Street-+Phil+Armstrong+-25.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.7.22 White Balance: Impossible Shot this house in Covington this morning. It was absolutely impossible to balance in post. I used flash to maintain true colors, and even still I managed not to properly balance the colors. This was as close as I could get; the blue outside light, the hot orange chandelier light, the multi-colored stained glass window, and the bold wallpaper made for an impossible task. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324348918-5LDG6NQL9T3D418AWWO8/IMG_5991.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.8.22 Always WIth Her Ball One of Myrtle’s favorite things is chasing her ball in the back yard. I didn’t want a huge yard to mow when we were looking to buy a house, but I wanted enough grass so she could frolic and play with ease. Every time I push the mower around, she finds a way to place the ball in the path of the blades so I kick it out of the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324352532-XPOR7TJZEOZM6TYBSA4V/IMG_6022.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.9.22 Bark in the Park We went to Bark in the Park with Justin and Annie tonight. The pups walked the field before the start of the game, past adoring fans (all 20 of them) and a consummate amount of press feverishly snapping photos from the press trench (is that what it’s called?). We had a great time overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324352927-E8JKKHEMQYAFFR30AQOJ/NZ6_1508.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.10.22 Testing Testing 123 Had to do a big group photo on the Memorial Hall stage this afternoon. Making people wait while I fiddle with settings on my camera is a nightmare scenario, so I got there early, put boundary tape down on the floor, and did a few test photos to make sure I had everything situated before placing them on stage. Having no one to photograph, I stepped in front of the lens to see how the lighting would look when the flash fired. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652324356789-Z01LPR87N8FY441N91GK/ZFC_1308.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.11.22 Tigerfest Bellevue Plaza is currently filled with carnival rides, games, and food kiosks at the moment. I like seeing that big empty parking lot filled with fun for a few days. Relieves the dullness of that corner of the neighborhood regardless of how you feel about pop-up carnivals. As the sun was setting, a brilliant red and purple sky glowed in the distance, painting a perfect back drop for the showcase of blinking lights and backlit signs. It’s impossible to deny the charm of a hot evening at a carnival. I was getting flashes of childhood emotion left and right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932743516-H6OYEWJKDGZO3WBMNN5R/3638+Amberson+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-28.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.12.22 Little Details This morning’s job took me to an Airbnb in Oakley. While the house was nice enough, I didn’t get to do many detail shots that I really enjoyed. This is the only one that I really like enough to consider adding to my daily photo archive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932745212-JS0GGVIUS698SCDVZ83W/Art+in+Bloom+-+Phil+Armstrong+-137.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.13.22 The Treefolk The Cincinnati Art Museum hired me to shoot a gala to kick off Art in Bloom this evening. The usual CAM crowd was there—people I’ve photographed many times before, all dressed in new outfits. I have proof of that detail, after all. These tree people, standing probably 9 feet tall on stilts, blew me away. Every time they lumbered toward me down one of CAM’s cavernous hallways, I couldn’t help but marvel at the illusion they’d put together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932747821-PLYQ2ARM3I8TLUV5C3QU/Art+In+Bloom+Outdoor+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-37.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.14.22 Party on the Steps An outdoor event at the Art Climb brought a steady amount of people out of the museum to enjoy a DJ, some food trucks, and a good climb down the Cincinnati Art Museum’s front stoop. Little ones made their own potted flower arrangements to the left while adults paid Esoteric Brewing to pour them a cold one six feet to the right. There wasn’t a lot in the way of candids to get, so I gathered courage to ask people for posed portraits to satisfy my photo contract with the museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932751264-OVKEEIC2R5ETIFG94YRA/IMG_6145.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.15.22 Manny We’re watching Manny for the weekend so our neighbors can return to their home in Kansas for one of their graduations from med school. He found the snoot hole I cut in the fence for Myrtle, who still doesn’t seemingly care that much about its existence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932747840-Q1YGVMXDA6XVDB949J9B/Art+Museum+Exhibit+GBBN+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3-2.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.16.22 Art Museum: Round 4 Lest you believe I work part time at the Art Museum, this shoot wasn’t for CAM but rather for GBBN. They had a hand in designing this exhibit and wanted to document it for their portfolio. To showcase the size and scale of the space, we placed models on different planes and in various states of activity: sitting, standing, and motion. I used to dread using models for shoots because I’m as good a director as Worf is as Chief of Security on the Enterprise-D, but I’ve come around on it over the last couple of years. It was my fourth day in a row at CAM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932751221-0K6DOKTNYHAHCFYAU8WQ/IMG_6182_jpg.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.17.22 Unataza Reopens My favorite coffee shop, Unataza Coffee, moved across the street to a bigger, better space that was formerly occupied by Purple Poulet. Ale, the owner, and Katie, one of the baristas, were there and welcomed us when we went in for a latte. I’m really impressed with the new shop’s communal possibilities as it can now seat so many more people than the previous location. Also, this is a small thing but it faces south, allowing direct morning sunlight to fill the front of the shop which always makes a coffee shop feel special to me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1652932753010-V9QZ72T1EQ5NGOIH10GA/IMG_6209.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.18.22 Z9 Buying a new camera is always a special, exciting thing. Not long ago, I picked up a Nikon Zfc as my second shooter and everyday carry due to its small size and reliability. Normally, that would be it for me for a year or two, but the opportunity to buy a Nikon Z9 presented itself and I jumped on it. I’d been hitting the upper limit of what my Z6 could do for me over the last couple years, feeling the edges of its capabilities most doing event photography. Seeing as how that’s become a larger part of my work life and since I am doing freelance as my career now, my small business needed the next logical step before it could produce better work. The Z9 is weirdly hard to buy at the moment; Nikon isn’t cranking them out like they have other camera bodies in the past. My (dare I say) friend, Peter, at Procam let me join a wait list, which paid off today. Having messed around in settings for a few hours and dabbled with the dynamics of the perpendicular grip, I can honestly say this is by far the beefiest camera I’ve ever used let alone owned. Also, I’m good on buying new bodies for a long, long time now. Its maiden voyage will be in a house in Covington tomorrow for a listing. I think we’re going to make good stuff together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653014253950-GVNTJQJSZBVIM8JB0EOV/DSC_0594-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.19.22 Spring Storm The plan was to get night shots of a house I photographed earlier today, but that didn’t happen because a massive storm blew into town. Storms, when not tornadoes, are one of the most exciting, enjoyable natural phenomenons. I have a vivid memory of being young and sitting on the porch with my dad while watching what I thought back then was the biggest storm I’d ever seen, but without any fear. I was filled with nothing but wonder and the nervous excitement of climbing a hill on a rollercoaster. That positive childhood memory influenced my affection for most storms from that point on. Now that I have a home with a covered porch, I relive that excitement whenever the skies open up. Tonight’s tempest was the definition of the word; high winds, torrential downpours, and nary a darkened corner of the sky for more than a few seconds at a time. It was raucous, it was dramatic, and it was everything I like about non-threatening storms. Seeing an opportunity to test out the Z9, I freehanded it, firing in bursts to get a glowing frame with the treeline and streetlight within it. Of course, as soon as I stopped firing to check my levels, a perfect bolt appeared right where I was previously shooting, and I cursed myself for not being clairvoyant enough to capture it. I tried in vain for about 15 more minutes to see if it would return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969162510-KWIDSP9O3ESW6NBL47T3/ZFC_1560-Edit.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.20.22 Break Time! Whenever I feel tired and worn out, I take a break from the internet and it sorts me out without fail. Something about being totally in the moment alone with your thoughts and actions while disconnected from the global discourse is restorative, and frankly novel, in prescribed doses. I’ve been working a lot recently, and it’s time I log off for a little break from the web—including posting the daily photo project. I’m still going to do the daily photo, but I’m going to hold onto them until I’m finished with this break and post them all at once. If you’re reading this in the archive, you won’t notice, but if there’s anyone out there who reads this daily, you’ll be seeing the above image for a little bit. I promise not to do more than 10 days. Going to spend a little time reading, seeing people, and recharging. Au revoir! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968989680-MFP0ZHSS937QAR1HQZVD/ZFC_1647.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.21.22 A Day in PGH We’re going on a road trip. First stop: Pittsburgh! We went to PGH a couple years ago before the pandemic and found it to be particularly enjoyable. I wanted to stop by the Episode I vending machine up in Mount Washington while visiting, so we took the incline up the hill and my wife questioned her marriage vows when she saw the reason I dragged her to this place. I have a funny-ish story about the vending machine, but I’m going to blog about it when I get the chance. We finished the night with a walk around Point State Park and a random nap in the grass simply because we were tired. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968993483-NDX947RO8T0832Q9ZW0Y/ZFC_1675.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.22.22 Adieu to the Strip We only planned to be in Pittsburgh for a day before venturing on to Philadelphia. Before leaving the city completely, we had breakfast at a diner on the The Strip before wandering around for a little bit. Unfortunately, our early-riser nature meant almost nothing was open, save for a few shops. I sent my father, a diehard Bengals fan, this photo and asked him if he needed anything from the store while I was out. He asked for a Terrible Towel for post-bathroom cleanup. Classic dad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968994455-6XV2GTJD1WD14HFWEAQZ/ZFC_2024.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.23.22 Full Day in Philly We’ve never been to Philly before. After two different friends from Cincinnati relocated there over the years, we decided now’s the time to make the trip. While we arrived yesterday, today was our first full day in the city. After riding the metro and walking over 30K steps through Old City, Center City, and South Philly, we managed to get a glimpse of the skyline from the South Street Bridge before heading back for dinner. Though the weather was perfect and made traipsing around Philly a relative breeze, we still welcomed our showers and beds by the night’s end. We’re staying with our friends, Jay and Lauren, in their home near the Tacker-Morris station in South Philly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968999521-IHTT1YCK69GIZ5200J7E/ZFC_2152.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.24.22 Markets, Metro Rides, and More The day started with a trip to see City Hall and nearby Love Park. From there, we walked over to Reading Terminal Market and ate a bunch of stuff, including a roast pork. I think the cheesesteak we ate at Jim’s in South Philly yesterday was better than Philadelphia’s porcine sandwich underdog, but I still enjoyed it regardless. We then met up with our friend, Tiffany, in Rittenhouse Square and she took us over to West Philly via the South Street Bridge. We saw her alma mater, rode the metro all the way to the western boundary of the city, then walked to her apartment to see where she lived. Her neighborhood has a different vibe than South Philly, but that’s not a critique. The city is full of character depending on which neighborhood you’re in. We also managed to find time to sit in the grass in a park, though we didn’t sleep in it like we did in Pittsburgh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653968999971-6TEUIUGH2SRJZ1ZWI9VY/ZFC_2351.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.25.22 Eastern State Penitentiary We did a LOT today, but I’ll stick to talking about the best thing for this post. Everyone takes this photo inside Eastern State because it gives the viewer a proper sense of scale, a look at the current state of the building, and conveys the inherent eeriness of a long-shuttered hell hole where inmates suffered for over 150 years. I think this is the most memorable museum I’ve ever been to (yes, recognizing the recency bias, but the statement holds). We put on headphones and tuned our on-demand radios to the narration—something I’ve never done in a museum or other attraction before. That method of personal storytelling is super effective at completely immersing the visitor in the history of the space. We spent a couple hours scouring the halls of this dreadful-yet-alluring artifact of American history; I shot many photos throughout the place because it was so hauntingly photogenic. It’s easily the best attraction we’ve seen so far in Philadelphia. I find it hard to believe anything will beat it on this trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969005260-UEQTPO2Y28ASNQ3O8OGN/ZFC_2636.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.26.22 Philly > Annapolis > DC Bidding our Philly friends goodbye early in the day, we set out toward DC to meet up with other friends who live there. On the way, we detoured to Annapolis and did a trolley tour of the city to get a sense of what it’s all about (mainly a naval academy, but also some George Washington-era stuff). The weather wasn’t ideal, but it didn’t rain, so it could’ve been worse. I ate a really good crab cake at a restaurant a block away from the harbor, and the town has a very wealthy coastal feel to it (or at least the parts we visited). We only spent about three hours in Annapolis before moving onto DC. It’s a fine place to visit once, but I don’t think I need to see Annapolis again in this lifetime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969005247-UCFM02VRF94ECJCNX4BO/ZFC_2746.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.27.22 Surprise Villain We arrived in DC late yesterday. Today we shook our fists at the grey, dull skies that threatened rain and tried to find interesting indoor things to do. Though I’m not religious, I enjoy seeing inside houses of worship, mainly as an appreciator of elaborately designed spaces that can’t reasonably be recreated today due to the cost of labor and materials. The National Cathedral ticked all the boxes. We wandered around taking photos and admiring all the fine details both inside and out. If you look closely through all of the religious iconography and standard flourishes common in Catholic architecture, you’ll see surprisingly fun stuff scattered throughout. I found a little vignette of a cat eyeballing mice, both carved in stone, in a dimly lit corner of the cathedral. Some column toppers outside had interesting faces and characters doing different things, like a squirrel fighting off birds for a nut. Also, on the exterior, several grotesques were added high above the ground—including DARTH VADER’S HEAD. Google it and read about why he’s up there. Seeing a pop-culture icon jutting off a cathedral of this size and importance blew my mind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969010835-2PNYEZWEPFA4NABSD30S/ZFC_2803.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.28.22 Very American We walked down to the National Mall from our friends’ apartment to see the Capitol. We’d not been since 2016, but the last time we were there, it was covered in scaffolding. I got my photo of it unobstructed from the other side, but I prefer this photo because it speaks to what it’s actually like being there. If you’re not bombarded by tie dye USA shirts or weed print bucket hats, you get the American food and pop vendor. When in Rome! The man in the trailer sold me a 16-oz Diet Coke for $3. No, I didn’t try the food, but if I were hungry enough, I would’ve definitely gotten a hot dog. We did a bunch of other good stuff today, including seeing a botanical garden, the Library of Congress, a cat on a leash, and the DC Metro (not in that order). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969011292-7CLER719V6TGUZCS2TT0/IMG_6517.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.29.22 The Long Drive Home After traveling many miles and spending over a week seeing cities while visiting friends, it was time for us to return home. This trip was incredible; we got to see old friends, a brand new city, and revisit favorites we’ve been to before. Not only that, but staying offline and in the moment was restorative in way’s I’d forgotten. I feel like a new man coming back to Cincinnati. This was the only photo I took all day because I drove straight home from DC. It’s of the coffee shop we visited before heading out on the road, and I only took it because I like reviewing everything on Google no matter how small a part it played on my day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1653969015163-UQBW5EPT7APSTL8DGU02/IMG_6528.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.30.22 Playing Catch-Up We slept in this morning. Apparently traveling takes it outta you. Still, we saw the start to our day around 9 AM, which included a trip to the hardware store for a few things. While we were on our trip, our yard got a little out of control, so we spent the day cleaning it up and adding some new landscaping, including this bed of boxwoods and other plants to delineate where our front yard is in relation to our neighbors’. We don’t know who’s moving in next, and a fence seems aggressive, so this felt like an aesthetically pleasing and tasteful way to say, “I take care of this part and you do that bit.” The heat and physical labor was uncomfortable yet satisfying. We drank a lot of beer and cocktails on the trip and it felt good to just sweat everything out while replacing it with water. By the end of the day, we had a freshly cared for yard, a sunburn, and some light soreness in our muscles to go along with our pride for what we’ve built. It’s good to be back home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654134573985-KLAHMRPA648875EN3SPH/Baymiller+Slaughterhouse+-+Phil+Armstrong+-78.jpg daily-photos-may-2022 - 5.31.22 I’m Off Beef I photographed a former slaughterhouse in the West End this afternoon. The client is going to gut it and make it into something new—probably a warehouse space with accompanying second floor offices. According to him, they’d already gotten in and removed some of the gnarlier stuff before it was my time to come in, but it was a difficult shoot nonetheless. I am omnivorous, but after seeing the kill room with left over infrastructure, I think I’m going to stop eating beef entirely. It was hard to think about before I saw everything, but this shoot may have done me in permanently. In two hours, a lifetime of willful ignorance was almost entirely undone. It’s not that there were bodies left or anything in that room, but the outlines of cleanup and processing were still visible, and I found myself thinking hard about what these creatures’ last moments were like in that horrible room. To date, I do not think I’ve ever photographed a place that’s seen more intentional death than that one. I’m not willing to say I will be 100% able to resist eating a burger in the future, but I will 100% struggle with it knowing that a place like this is where cows meet their fate. Anyway, I didn’t want to spring a gruesome photo on you, but I didn’t want to archive something devoid of the reality of that place, either. This feels like the proper balance between the two. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jun-2022 daily 0.75 2022-06-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654134650967-BHBU3AEKNCOD87SMM4QA/IMG_6561.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.1.2022 No Loafing A much lighter sign than the one in yesterday’s image. We were walking on Taylor Avenue this evening when I looked up and saw this very old sign. In faded letters, it reads “NO LOAFING $25 REWARD for information leading to arrest & conviction of anyone defacing or damaging this property.” It’s located on the front of 348 Taylor Avenue—a building I read was once Bellevue Town Hall (and mentioned in this blog post). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482365118-2QDP2IGZ1Z6MPVMNN5VH/231+Grove+-+Phil+Armstrong+-30.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.2.22 Unexpected Win In my haste to get out of the door to my morning shoot, I left the connector plate for my tripod at home, rendering it useless. To make matters worse, the skies opened up on my drive to the Wyoming house. Without a stable platform from which to shoot in a darker-than-normal atmosphere, I started sweating. Would I be able to successfully get my shots without shooting with obnoxious grain? I normally shoot at ISO 32 and bracket my shots for later HDR conversion, but I would have to do it all handheld. It wasn’t ideal. However, I’m pleased to say the shoot ended up being really good. The Z9 is unstoppable. I managed to keep every shot between ISO 1000 and 2500, and the combinations even with all that grain weren’t glaringly fuzzy when I got it into Lightroom. I unexpectedly proved to myself that a tripod, while very much preferred for listing photography, isn’t actually necessary for these quick house shoots. That opens the door to a faster workflow, which I wouldn’t have been brave enough to test out had I not been forced to do so. Still, I will continue to use my tripod when I have it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482245539-BXBRH43TEUZ7QCZ75Z0P/IMG_6567.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.3.22 Yin and Yang When I awoke this morning, I was totally deaf in my left ear. It feels like I have an ear plug buried deep in my ear canal that I can’t remove, but the ear itself is free of debris; I confirmed this with an unplanned doctor visit late this morning. He said it’s clean in there, but suspects I have blockage in a tube somewhere in my head. For my troubles, he prescribed me a hearty dose of antibiotics to kill whatever’s in there and reopen the blocked passage. The good news, though, is that Judy made me a WHOLE RHUBARB PIE THIS MORNING. She’s made this pie in the past, and I believe with every tastebud on my tongue that it’s the best one I’ve ever had. Reader, I wish you could taste this thing. Our symbiotic neighbor relationship—one in which I help her with her house and yard while she makes me pies—is my favorite thing about living on our street. Thankfully, my ear being totally blocked doesn’t affect my sense of taste. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482220628-X4N81B10GQ5U8SVK4XA8/IMG_6570.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.4.22 HOE of KY Sometimes you take only one photo a day and it ends up being an image you took because you’re immature and thought it was funny. And then it becomes catalogued in your very personal and important photo project, cementing your immaturity forever. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654482219706-8KC17FMB8V3FCTHC41VI/NZ9_3421.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.5.22 The Moat In 1884, the verdict of a murder trial turned the city upside down and an angry mob burned down the courthouse. After a replacement courthouse was built and stood standing for a couple of decades, it was torn down to make way for a more permanent structure—the one we still use today. Keeping in mind what happened to the courthouse of 1884, the redesign built in defenses that would all but ensure the new courthouse wouldn’t meet the same fiery fate. Ornamental balustrades on an elevated plaza would give the high ground to soldiers firing at mobs, narrow outdoor walkways several stories above the street on the building would give line of sight and extended range for rifle fire, bars over windows on the street level protected against forced entry, and sunken moats were built on two sides of the building to prevent short ladders from being placed there. The building is as much a monument to fear of the public as it is a center of justice. You can still see the moats and other defensive elements of its architecture today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654573759092-8OAT30H9T9HPI6MWOP6Z/IMG_6581.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.6.22 Switching Back to Stereo Last Friday, I mentioned going randomly deaf in my left ear and seeking the help of a doctor to figure out what was going on. Long story short, the doc, who graced me with his presence for maybe 60 seconds total, was lazy and threw pills at me when he should’ve seen I had something in my ear blocking the canal. After three days of being deaf, I decided to try Debrox again late last night, and lo and behold, a piece of a clay ear plug I tried months ago flushed out of my ear (that’s a long story and not worth elaborating here). As soon as it came out, I swear I could hear stardust in space scattering across an asteroid a thousand lightyears away. My left AirPod’s leave of absence ended and was called back to join the right pod for duty on the front lines today. The joy of being able to simply hear in stereo again surprised me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654655564532-7YXMK5R7208W3CBHOP1T/Art+Museum+Event+6.7.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-18.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.7.22 3D Tracking Nikon’s 3D tracking detection isn’t something I’ve used until the Z9. While it’s been embedded in the system since at least the D750 (or at least that was my first Nikon to have it), it never clicked with me until seeing it in action on the Z9. This photo is a completely unedited JPG straight out of the camera. Truly couldn’t be happier to be shooting with equipment capable of producing something this surreal in low light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654871386696-4BGHP426GHNI32UZFN8Q/ZFC_3009-Pano-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.8.22 Delivery to Rochester Drove this beautiful piece of West African khaya up to Rochester for a client. The trip was surprisingly quick, clocking in at around 8 hours. Bill and I unloaded the van, leveled it on the rug, dusted it off, and I took a photo of it in the space for John’s website/Instagram. After the job was done, Bill and I sought out a Rochester garbage plate (Google it) and stayed at a weird little roadside hotel that was recently converted to a Best Western. Overall, it was a nice day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1654871388161-8FBPI7DJUG8WUTQR1PWX/ZFC_3039-Pano.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.9.22 While You’re Up There While in Rochester, we were also tasked with getting photos of a previous woodworking project John had delivered at some point in the past. Because the Z fc has a cropped sensor, I had to do a three-panel pano and merge in Lightroom to get all of the table into one shot. As such, the aspect ratio isn’t what I’d normally go for, but it’s fine for John’s purposes. On the way back, we detoured and stopped in PGH to pick up building materials for the shop, ate a Primanti Bros. sandwich, and got back to Cincy around 8:30 PM. It was a LONG day of driving, but a good one. I would like to be done traveling for a little bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655091874302-PH8H1UN2724WB8M5KWIF/IMG_6660.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.10.22 Everything Is Alright I’ve spent the majority of my life not liking going to shows for myriad reasons, but when my friend Mike told me Motion City Soundtrack were going to be playing the entirety of Commit This To Memory at Bogarts, I threw my reservations to the wind (and took some meds to lower my anxiety). Mike and Steve went with me and we spent the evening enjoying the songs we loved when we were 18 all over again. The show was incredible and I’m wondering if maybe I just need to A) only go to see the bands I love instead of bands I don’t know or care about, B) stand in the back with a beer, and C) just go with Mike and Steve since they’re on the same page. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655091877732-KVY3N5JW1180THPWZD8F/IMG_6670.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.11.22 Attention Needed Ashley is out of town, so I’m single dog-dadding at the moment. Our upcoming farmer’s market material isn’t going to build itself, so I spent the day working on making the components for 15 plant stands while Myrtle slept on the porch alone. Having worked many hours below her toiling away in the garage, I eventually felt horrible about not spending more time with her, so we went on a nice walk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655091877512-JAW0I6NAJ4TNGNSTOOGT/NZ9_5116-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.12.22 Birding House finches are trying desperately to roost in my ferns. This morning, Myrtle and I went out on the porch with coffee and a podcast and I photographed them on electrical wires as they stared me down, unsure of what I was doing in *their* space. It felt good to use the 600mm again; I haven’t had a reason to bust out that lens in a long time. Really need to get back into birding. It’s so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655221000837-7E7U2ECR8A182LN728YK/IMG_6708.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.13.22 Subterranean Safety After sweating out a full 5 lbs of water from riding my bike to and from the shop, I showered and made an easy ravioli meal before sitting down with Myrtle on the couch. As the TV played an episode of Star Trek: Discovery, I practically inhaled my meal while transfixed on the story playing out on screen. I didn’t notice how dark it was getting outside nor Myrtle’s attention to the windows. At some point, the wind blew the porch ferns enough to catch my eye and I suddenly realized we were on the precipice of a big weather event. As is the custom, the porch became my perch upon which to feel the cold front wipe away the thick stickiness of the day until the threat of being struck my lightning made it untenable. I was only inside for a brief time before the power went out and Myrtle retreated to the basement. I joined her with battery powered lanterns until the storm passed. We were without power for a couple hours before it popped back on—something I’ve not experienced in our house in the two years we’ve lived here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655220918741-S6ENNY71X1535ZVYUL9N/IMG_6718.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.14.22 Dogs Toilet I love wholesome graffiti. The drawing of the happy dog face sealed the deal for me. Posting this early in my day because it will certainly not get any better than this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655352856419-UWLM3YNXB6Y1FQR4XOAS/IMG_6730.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.15.22 A Fruitful Harvest If there’s one good thing to come out of this diabolical heatwave, it’s this. My garden is growing and ripening at an accelerated rate. I gave everything a drink and plucked this tomato when I got home from the shop. It’s stem mates aren’t far behind. Growing your own food is deliciously satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693712697-GIMZI3V6QFV4VQ0GC29Z/NZ9_6201.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.16.22 Lo-Fi I tie up/hide ugly wires when doing real estate photos. While shooting a place in Covington this afternoon, I had to use my watch to keep hold of a bundle because I forgot my twist ties and the cords were laying all over the floor. There’s a first time for everything! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693716592-SGFCBJPX0LRMSP89HKB3/IMG_6750.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.17.22 One Last Go Our wonderful neighbors, Max and Kelsey, are moving back to Kansas City in a week. As physicians, where they get placed after school is based upon where doctors are needed. They put in for Wichita and got KC. We knew the day would come when they’d be moving from the day we met them; it was always their intention to be closer to their parents after finishing school and residency in Cincinnati. Their son was born here, so they have a special connection to this place and promise they’ll return some day. We promised them we’d go see them in KC at some point in the near future, too. To savor their in-person friendship, we got together with them and another neighbor couple to have one last night out together. The night ended with drinking hard seltzers until late, all of our dogs co-mingling, laughing and being as raucous as we wanted since everyone who lived around us was there on our porch. Nights like these—the ones where a little bit of the neighborhood hangs out together—are the ones I remember most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693716589-EB1EXK23VC854HJJLF3O/IMG_6759.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.18.22 Lucky Says ‘Hello’ Good old Lucky. He’s 14 years old and will wander up the street to sniff every stoop whenever he gets out of Lacey and Jordan’s house. He was checking me out earlier this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655693720258-2TMLIU29TAD0IEQQ1BG8/Riverview+Animal+Hospital+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.19.22 Riverview Animal Hospital Spent the last two days working on materials for our upcoming farmer’s market and did little in the way of serious photography. After seeing my father for dad-day, I had to go get a photo of the new animal hospital down on Donnermeyer for the architect. I shopped out the telephone pole shadows and overhead wires to give it a cleaner look. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655811386237-2ZXHRD0MGK8KHILMDDUO/NZ9_6338.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.20.22 Unexpected Half Day iCal told me I had a full day of work, but I had a hunch something was off. I texted my morning client to casually confirm our appointment and they cancelled last minute due to a positive COVID test. Praising myself for having good instincts, already parked and settled downtown, and having sent the dog to daycare for the morning, I had a little time before my next shoot. No sense in going home. I’d brought my half-read library book with me, it’s due date today, and decided maybe instead of giving up on it, I’d read a chapter or two more. It wasn’t an overly good book, so I didn’t have much interest in finishing it, but I had nothing else to do until my next appointment. I sat in Ziegler Park while dogs occasionally ran up to drop a snoot on my arm as their owners yelled apologies from across the lawn and recalled their pooches with the toss of a ball the opposite way. Walkers lapped my perch and a few mothers with strollers stopped to rest under the shade tree I’d commandeered while I finished the other half the book. Much to my surprise, I liked it well enough to consider reading the next book in the series. The photo is from 15th and Vine Street—my second shoot of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1655865744625-LN4HAB4J3FHLEV4SLQZQ/NZ9_6694.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.21.22 Limited Years ago, Arcadia Publishing approached me about possibly writing a book about historic Cincinnati hotels. At the time, I was very into researching Cincinnati’s downtown legends like the Sinton and the Gibson and had quite a bit of surface research completed. While we ultimately decided not to pursue working together, my love of hotels remains. In Hamilton, a group is rehabbing an enormous former paper mill building into a hotel and mixed-use space and hired me to come up to photograph the areas that are customer-facing and ready for business. The three historic buildings comprise a whopping 1.2 million square feet in total, a fraction of which I saw this afternoon. The hotel is still under construction, but rooms are presently available to rent in key areas. The event space and retail/restaurant/brewery spaces are incoming but should be completed within the next couple of months I’m told. While the shoot was formulaic and unfortunately didn’t give me much latitude for creativity, it was nice to see an old building saved and modernized for hospitality instead of demolished for a new build. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430049099-DL6JJ6T2MUZGZE08EQO1/NZ9_6922.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.22.22 Alien Landscapes We have a load of rough sawn wood in the shop at the moment for a big job for a multi-national corporation headquartered in Manhattan. We intend to work it into finished product over the course of the next two months. One of the pieces has a bit of live edge that looks like an alien landscape, and I couldn’t help but imagine Commander Riker standing at the edge of one of these cliffs and yelling “ANYBODY” into the echo-y cavern below. I wanted to do a focus-stacked image, but I didn’t set the step depth correctly, so I couldn’t manufacture the finished image the way I wanted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430050640-H11GV8TKWEK31ET8R31T/NZ9_7073.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.23.22 Alice OTR Alice OTR had its soft opening tonight. One of the owners, Seth, invited me to grab a few photos of the space. Four years ago, I took photos of it before it was a bar, so I lined up my shots with the previous ones to illustrated how far it has come. Seems like it’ll be a good place to enjoy a weekend night on Main Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430053374-8LEU5MFGNJQIKZFDG2LZ/IMG_6882.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.24.22 Needed Calm After a Historically Bad Day After women in the United States of America were stripped of their right to choose what to do with their bodies by five pathetic conservative assholes in Washington DC today, I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. It’s sickening that we’re living in a regressive country led by a minority of Christians who feel it necessary to foist their religious beliefs on the entire population despite crying like babies whenever others don’t want to. “Separation of church of state” is the biggest lie I’ve ever been told. Bunch of sickening, lizard-brained hypocrites who believe a magical man in the sky means half the population shouldn’t have a say in what to do with their own bodies. Anyway, we had a dinner date with neighbors on the schedule, so we kept our plans in an effort to feel something besides despair for the evening. The night ended with drinks on their porch. That calm was medicine I didn’t know I needed until I got it. I won’t stop feeling angry about what’s happening in our country, but for a few hours, I could get away from my frustration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430055094-C3631A304B6RVS2KYIBO/ZFC_3047-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.25.22 A Good Distraction Went to a dog party. Not feeling overly social from the news of yesterday, I took a jazz gummy and drank a few beers to put myself at ease. The party was a good distraction for another night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430059132-UJXZFR27NYVYBGEMMPRM/IMG_6907.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.26.22 Partied Too Hard Myrtle played so hard at the dog party last night, she wanted to rest on the floor of Unataza this morning instead of begging for treats. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656430060105-2AWCPTQHQ8NH68GY2X45/IMG_6920.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.27.22 The AA Bike Lane Not really sure where the AA Highway ends and Licking Pike/Lowell Street begins, but there’s a bike lane on it. Convenient if traveling between Covington and Newport. I use it to get to and from the wood shop. It’s unprotected, but I feel better using it than cycling in traffic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656559632322-X3QF7XHO0NI83O0CIF9B/IMG_6926.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.28.22 Made in Bellevue We’re preparing to participate in our first local farmer’s market. I’m building 15 plant stands and 18 flight boards to sell at the Bellevue Beach Park on July 17th. Each item will be branded with this custom text. It’s taken a month of my spare time to cut the pieces for 15 plant stands (several of which have been stained and assembled), and I haven’t even started on the flight boards yet. It’s going to be a long month, but I’m determined to build it all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1656559633497-412OSDUWLNEHDMBE3QW3/ZFC_3142.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.29.22 4 to 4 I have never seen FCC win a game and tonight they made sure I kept the tradition alive with a tie. We went with Maria and Mike—they have season tickets and were gracious enough to bring us. Despite being not-a-sportsman, I yelled myself hoarse because the game was so close. Of all the games I’ve been to (which is, like, five) I think this one was the most exciting overall. I managed to get a few frames with my Nikon Z fc while there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657680225197-PFY4UM5NLTKLVI4ILFWT/Fourth%2Band%2BWalnut%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-5.jpg daily-photos-jun-2022 - 6.30.22 Fourth & Walnut The owners of Fourth & Walnut Center plan to turn the Daniel Burnham-designed former office tower into apartments. They asked me to get a few exteriors. The tricky thing about getting exteriors of tall high-rises in the business district is the angle; no wide angle lens has the perspective control able to get a good architectural shot from the street at that close of a distance. So converging lines keep converging. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jul-2022 daily 0.75 2022-07-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886466-LPJ2FZDLMIHZACHK0978/NZ9_7505-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.1.22 A Very Long Day Today was a very, very long day. I thought I was waking up early to drive a finished table to the mountains in North Carolina, but instead the table wasn’t finished and the crew had to spend the first half of the day sorting that out. What was once an 8 AM departure turned into a 4 PM, and after working a full day in the shop, the last thing I really wanted to do was carefully drive a $16K piece of eucalyptus six hours south. Luckily, John decided to drive the whole way and paid little attention to the speed limit, ensuring my sustained heart rate of a thousand beats per minute for the duration of the drive. Long story short, it was a stressful ride that culminated in a somewhat dangerous climb up a dirt and gravel road in the pitch black mountains at 11 PM, but we were also served homemade surf & turf, and that lifted our spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886719-NY7G46BX5P0ZJYOTXVCT/NZ9_7556-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.2.22 Eucalyptus: Delivered The table we delivered to North Carolina in its space inside the home. The customers were happy with how it turned out and John got to absorb their compliments in person for a change. It looks really nice in the room they chose. Anyway, I drove all the way back to Cincinnati alone and enjoyed the slower pace, lighter van, and six straight hours of podcasts without interruption. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679883907-WPDSJZSFQSLWDL05H8AT/IMG_7008.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.3.22 Scaredy Pups Justin, Annie, and Charlie came over this evening for a nice cookout and porch hang. Charlie, their pup, is also very afraid of fireworks, so when the neighborhood began launching them at 6 PM, both dogs went downstairs to get away from the noise. We built Myrtle a little tent to keep her cozy and safe, but Charlie wanted his own space by the washing machine. Poor pups. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679884175-3YXYW7AQDEMAWAONVHPY/IMG_7050.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.4.22 Boom! Allie and Travis moved into a beautiful 4-story building on 12th Street recently. They invited us over to see their new place, and for dinner and deck hangs (they have two rooftop decks). The enormous, relatively recently rehabbed house is beautiful, and they’re slowly filling it with new furniture to make it even more comfortable. Really, truly happy for them. I was having a horrible mental health day, so I took a larger-than-normal jazz gummy, loaded up on beer, and did my best to be a normal person while enjoying the pleasant evening air with my friends. A semi-professional firework show sprang up a block away, which we were able to watch from a great vantage point after a hurried climb up the stairs to the top roof deck. Wish I’d brought my Z fc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679884765-T4OTX678QXAG2UXUW72Y/IMG_7094.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.5.22 Good Corner Coffee and quiet and sunlight and air-purifiers. Just a good corner of the desk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679886090-3RL3RNQPU93DY7GY26BW/Joseph%2BUrban%2BExhibit%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-22.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.6.22 Joseph Urban Shot the Joseph Urban exhibit opening at the Cincinnati Art Museum tonight. I got to get a few clean shots with a tripod of the space before everyone came in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679887064-TFYSLR5MSHOPNYMWZV1Z/Tuco%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-12.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.7.22 Tuco’s Margarita Went out to see Justin’s new taco and margarita place in Harrison. I shot the space and made this image of a margarita on the bar. The red neon lights across the dining area reflected off the high gloss countertop making for a neat effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679884994-NGSR5WKN6AZ09RDA96E2/IMG_7126.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.8.22 Shitty Chives & Onion Found this bag with a dead wasp marked “Chives & Onion” in the shop today. Not sure what it’s about, but it was weird enough that I had to take a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679885441-Z7IU52U8YC1DTG0DSU2V/IMG_7135.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.9.22 Killing Time Our errand run turned into a visit to Ault Park because we were up too early to actually do any of the errands. We literally had to burn an hour, so we just hiked around in the misty rain for awhile. The weather was horrible the rest of the day, so I spent the majority of it building flight boards for next weekend’s show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679883238-VB1GCNSW0HBO3HXYX4HS/1183%2BTorreys%2BDr%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong%2B-1b-2-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.10.22 Torreys Drive I shot this house with a crazy good view of Covington and Downtown throughout the day. I did the primary interior photos early in the morning and came back for a Golden Hour shot of the view. Thankfully the unit was empty and staged so I didn’t have to coordinate with the owner. Whoever buys this place will have one helluva place to drink a cup of coffee in the morning and enjoy a beer in the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679885921-XZV8QHAE9YDMQF5LQTHD/IMG_7156.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.11.22 Stand-In Had a weirdly hard day at the shop and didn’t take any photos except this one of my little trio of small cacti on the windowsill in the bathroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657679883369-Z3LFZKBKGN59IE7JC85W/1864%2BLeona%2BDr%2B-%2BPhil%2BArmstrong-16.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.12.22 Cozy Covedale This morning’s job took me over to Covedale. The modest midcentury house has a little screen-in back patio with a sofa, some chairs, and a TV. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657947198464-K3MK3R5N3F0ONGFTAQNH/IMG_7171.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.13.22 Longboat The 11th Street Bridge between Newport and Covington is the literal and figurative hump of my ride between my house and the wood shop. Between the severity of the incline and the speed at which traffic flies by me as I’m pushing myself to make it up and over, it’s the moment in the ride I mentally prepare for as soon as I leave my driveway. Occasionally, I’ll find reason to stop at the peak of the hump because of something interesting on the river below. While riding over it this morning, I heard shouting and stopped to see what was happening. As it turns out, several longboats of rowers were making their way north toward the delta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657947198466-EFE06VRG0PMCVZCTUXCZ/Tuco%27s+Cantina+-+Phil+Armstrong-15.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.14.22 Tacos Make Everything Alright Got stood up at my morning shoot. Followed the college rule where you wait 20 minutes for the professor to show up before acknowledging you did your due diligence and leaving without a second to spare. The client texted to apologize later, but I moved on with my other jobs and didn’t go back. Time is simultaneously the most valuable and scarce resource I have, and I don’t appreciate wasting it. Oddly enough, I recognized in retrospect that the universe was seemingly trying to send me a message before I showed up for the shoot: I couldn’t pay to park through the EZ Park app or at the meter for unknown reasons, so I chanced a ticket. As parking fees are non-refundable, I got out of needlessly spending $3. My final shoot of the day was at Justin’s new taco and marg place in Harrison, OH. Failing to nab an interesting photo of the queso, I asked one of his servers to lend a hand for an “action shot” to liven it up a little. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1657947200482-ETS3R10ZID1QHDK0O4T4/IMG_7212.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.15.22 Sample Stains Feeling like a friggin’ wood stain advertisement end cap over here. Ashley thinks our impending farmers market presence will yield a level of business we aren't prepared for, so she’s going to take custom orders for customers who don’t snag one of the existing plant stands and/or flight boards before they sell out. While I’m not as optimistic about the demand for our goods, I indulged her and made a display board of the stains we’ll offer if someone wants to order one. Of course, these custom orders are in addition to the goods I will have to make to replenish our supply for the August and September shows. I also have to build a crib for my incoming niece at some point before September. Will I ever have free time again? Will I ever be social with friends and escape the confines of my garage? Will we fail to sell any of this stuff and end up embarrassed about ourselves? Only time will tell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462623602-BOX0WG512ATSXTUBDV5A/IMG_7243.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.16.22 Good Night Out Hung out with the NKY crew tonight on the Avenue. Our lack of sobriety made the horrible forecast for tomorrow’s market a little less awful. I have a feeling we will either be selling in the rain or not at all. Fingers crossed it doesn’t get cancelled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462623781-PMZ94EMK8NACTMU6Q425/IMG_7262.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.17.22 Alternate Plans When we woke up to thunder and lightning, we knew the farmer’s market was cancelled. Then an email confirmed it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad. As much of a pain in the ass this whole thing has been to prep for, I was really looking forward to sitting with a coffee and being present while Ashley sold all the work. Instead, we had a whole day open up, so I reorganized the workshop to fit my table saw and got the router table up off the floor. I also cleared a few shelves for future tool purchases. Also tried out the phone holder I mounted months ago that was intended to be used for a timelapse I never ended up doing. Do I still look young? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462627254-D8QVYA00YK8ET4ROZ1TU/IMG_7265.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.18.22 Leaving My Mark I have no idea why the quality of this image is so bad. Anyway, I scratched a Starfleet badge into resin before sanding it off. It’s the only photo I took all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462628214-KQPQ5QBRBZC14JFQAX3T/1415+Vine+Street+Apt+401+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.19.22 Parvis Lofts Two AirBnBs today. Both tiny. This one was in the Parvis Lofts building on the 1400 block of Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine. I lived alone in a place this tiny for years and loved it, but I can’t help but feel like having a house with several rooms is more to my taste these days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462631146-SM6U4YQCDXB6C9JZJ91X/IMG_7346.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.20.22 Surprise Storm It was late. I was reading something on my phone when I noticed a flicker from the window beside me. Looking up, I gazed hard into the mottled texture of the privacy glass and saw a flash beyond it. Then another. And another. The irregular strobe of the lightning storm to the north bounced bright light off the house behind ours and had caught my attention. Per the standing rule, to the porch I went. Light off, butt in chair, eyes wide to the sky. Bolt after bolt illuminated the clouds above in a silent, stunning display. I sat there in the humidity and insects and watched the whole system crackle and burn its way from west to east for about a half hour. It was one of those magical, unexpected natural phenomenons that only happen on a summer night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658462633903-LZY2KME224493MYO5R5J/Blome+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.21.22 Heatwave Yesterday’s heatwave continued into today, albeit slightly less aggressively. Work took me out early to a mansion in Indian Hill to photograph an outdoor patio that included a very nice pool. Luminaut did the whole thing and needed shots of the space for their portfolio. The water looked so refreshing when contrasted with the summer heat, I almost fantasized about what it would be like to get in. Almost. Fun fact about me: I haven’t been in a pool in 22 years. The last time was sometime around late 2000 when we had to swim in Phys Ed during freshman year of high school. The horrible awkwardness of stripping down in front of peers—both boys and girls—was enough to turn me off of ever going to a pool party for the rest of my life. I am a land-lover in the truest sense of the word. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803933960-52OQIUWZDSK1EK5OZM3O/IMG_7396.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.22.22 Questioning My Choices I got a “You up?” text around midnight from a buddy who lives in Columbus. He was in town and wanted to drop by. I was, indeed, still up after spending the evening working on a custom set of flight boards for a friend, so I went out on the porch to await his arrival. Meanwhile, little doodle bear sat with her ball and wondered why the hell I was on the porch in the wee hours of the morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803934395-BAAR8FVGYK762T9PZ4EA/IMG_7411.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.23.22 Hendrix We had an impromptu play date with Myrtle’s dog friends at Fido Field this morning. Hendrix, this dappled dachshund, is always a friendly little dude and will run up to you for a scratch under his snoot if you crouch down near him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803937902-CRI443BHXKCJPGEHX9VH/IMG_7422.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.24.22 Bellevue Farmer’s Market WOW, what a day! The farmer’s market down at Bellevue Beach Park was a smashing success. This being our first ever time as a vendor, we really didn’t know what to expect. After a sweaty setup and some fumbling around with the presentation (did I mention it was hot already?), we sold through all of the plant stands and half of the flight boards by the end of the day. Loads of pre-orders came in, too, from people who wanted to buy specific things in stains and sizes we’d already sold. All in all, we made probably triple what we spent to do this and got to enjoy interacting with our neighbors and friends who dropped by to support us. Our next market is in three weeks which means I will be spending beaucoup time in the shop banging out more stands and possibly a few new items to see if they’re in demand. It was one of the best Sundays I’ve had in a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1658803938034-0U4Z0OS9K2XXXNA71BOK/IMG_7441.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.25.22 Neglected Desk There’s a growing pile of mail I need to address on my desk. So much of my time has been spent behind the table saw, I’ve barely sat down at the computer. In fact, last time I spent any time here was Thursday of last week when I had to review photo work for Luminaut. It’s a strange feeling to be disconnecting from digital work in favor of the analog, but it’s certainly not a bad thing. I used to occasionally disconnect to give myself a break, but those breaks have quietly strong-armed themselves into a regularity that borders on routine at this point. Considering how much better I feel on days when I don’t doom scroll morning, noon, and night, perhaps I’ve subconsciously grounded myself from the internet on occasion as a self-preservation measure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327673116-YAU9BMVYETM6VR7OLQQ8/2455+W+McMicken+-+Phil+Armstrong+-31.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.26.22 Dilapidated and Sad Shot two vacant properties today: one in CUF and another in northern Over-the-Rhine. Both were in bad shape, but the one on McMicken was worse for wear (pictured). I used to spend time a block away from the building about 10 years ago because I knew someone who lived there. Not a lot has changed in that time. The basement had a crumbling wooden cooler from the turn of the century that leaned heavily to one side in the thick, black darkness. Aside from that feature, a few old fireplaces, and some staircases that lead into nothingness, the building was pretty empty. It seems to have good bones, though. The other building—a multistory apartment building on Ravine—had been empty for a decade and not updated since probably the early 90s. It was also the first time I photographed an abandoned space that had suffered a fire; one of the top floor units was charred and black with soot. Finger streaks could be seen on the walls and the call box by the front door was melted and warped. It honestly gave me the willies seeing the place trapped in that state. I photographed the space as fast as possible to get out of there and didn’t look back. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327674245-YR2J3RKJFLKD8DJ5O294/NZ9_0441.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.27.22 Solar Powered What I thought would be a milk-run shoot of a house in Fort Wright ended up being a milk-run shoot of a house in Fort Wright that also had solar panels mounted to the roof. I’ve been doing this for years and haven’t once been able to include a feature image of roof-mounted solar panels. All houses should have this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327676525-VYSCYENZ58UQIL92NP35/Maketewa+Country+Club+-+Phil+Armstrong+-35.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.28.22 FOUR! I’m working with an interior designer on custom artwork for a local country club. She has a plan for the images she wants and has tasked me with executing her vision. While I’m a hired gun for this sort of thing, I prefer to be given the latitude to be creative when I can be, and so far she’s been amenable to that within the state parameters. This particular day saw a tournament of golfers converge on 18 holes around 1 PM at the club. Beforehand, the players warm up by swatting golf balls into the distance from a spacious, manicured practice range. Having never shot golf before, today I learned that courses like this lend themselves well to high-contrast low shots. As the hills rise to meet the sky, I can seek out a low perspective to enhance the drama of that juxtaposition when a player is in frame. Also, while I was crouched, a groundhog spilled out of the bushes behind me, realized I was about four feet from him, and sauntered quickly away. I got a photo of the little guy, too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327677220-H4N2S308621GQGKQ574D/IMG_7519.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.29.22 Grote One of my oldest friends, Mike Grote, came down and walked to Tuba Baking Co. with Ashley and I. We enjoyed the German-inspired menu, walked it back off on the trip home, then spent the evening under the glow of the porch string lights. Our discussion covered everything from what we used to do back in high school to looking up a friend’s former house on Zillow to see if there were any interior photos from a past sale (there were). It was a good night. Mike’s a good dude. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327680049-18JM3BYJZ80RG7PWNHDO/BBRiverboat+-+Phil+Armstrong+-20.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.30.22 River Cruise If I didn’t already have too many irons in the fire already, I agreed to write a sponsored piece for Link NKY to make sure I added another one. The piece will be about BB Riverboats’ river tours and my experience going on one as a NKY resident. The owners granted me two complimentary tickets to do the Sightseeing & Music Tour this evening, so I naturally took Ashley with me. This isn’t the platform upon which I am paid to tell you about the tour, but I will say the weather tonight was absolutely perfect for riding on a boat on the river. The sunset was even more incredible as we approached the dock at 9:15 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659327681503-8BIVSCKVBPMDC7AMW3Y3/2247+Genevieve+Dr+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg daily-photos-jul-2022 - 7.31.22 An Underestimated Beaut Someone new reached out to me about shooting a rental in Covington. The house, a modest 1960s ranch, was just past the Peaselburg sub-neighborhood of Covington and up a hill. I didn’t know anything about this house before I walked in, and considering how beautiful it ended up being, I thoroughly enjoyed opening the door to the surprise. Whenever I get to go hard on decor photos, it’s a satisfying shoot. This one, staged by a woman named Kathleen whose work I’ve shot before, was the perfect amount of photogenic. The 1960s house coupled with today’s MCM-inspired, on-trend decor made for easy, enjoyable compositions that I hope will catch the eye of a prospective renter for the client. I got positive feedback after I sent her the finished gallery. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-aug-2022 daily 0.75 2022-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659403531255-2639Z60UH8ENHG7WKKCK/IMG_7579.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.1.22 The Buck Stopped There There’s a buck that hangs out around our house. He trots around in the woods nearby, occasionally walking the public steps to get to the hole in the chainlink fence that leads to an empty lot next to the nearby train tracks. He eats the fruit from the tree and grazes on who knows what in the tall grass while two babies frolic (yes, frolic) around and play with each other. His antlers, both dull and furry with only a few points, set him apart from the many females who hang out with him. I saw him resting under an evergreen with a baby deer yesterday evening and got his photo with my Z9. Today’s capture was with my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659578304653-IG0K28VM1SF95TIY6NM9/750_4794-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.2.22 Four Years Apart Have I ever done a before/after for the daily photo? The daily photo bible states I cannot post an old photo in place of a new one, a film photo from a different day, a digital illustration, or a screenshot of something, but what about an old shot along with a new shot? I think it counts. The top image is from the first floor of the flat iron building at the top of Sycamore Hill in Mt. Auburn, and the bottom image is what it looks like today. The building is now home to a cafe called (you’d never guess) Flatiron Cafe. I originally shot it in August of 2018 when The Port stabilized it. It’s really cool to see a preservation success story like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659578678225-HO7PPMR7A8QTTZVG1CKM/IMG_7616.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.3.22 Resin Coasters Tried out something new. Broke apart a sliver or walnut, made a form, and submerged the shards into clear resin. Waited 24 hours for the resin to cure, broke the form, rounded the edges, and polished it smooth. Might make more at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659672183541-0Z251Y3PHMTYG6410TZE/NZ9_2584.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.4.22 Catalogued It’s generally not difficult to aim a wide angle lens at a room and get a shot that conveys what the space is about. It’s useful when depicting the interior of a place in a matter-of-fact way, and if you play with the angle through micro-adjustments, you can come up with really nice, artful photos of that space. Personally, I find using a telephoto more challenging and rewarding when it comes to real estate. I use one when I’m through with the wide angle shots and need to concentrate on lifestyle/decor content. It’s great for little vignettes that speak to the interior design more than the architecture, though there’s always room to capture both simultaneously if you find a good angle to do so. This is mostly a decor shot geared toward a feeling of cleanliness and style more than anything else. I have a lot to learn about styling scenes, but I’m usually trying my best to make photos worthy of a furniture catalogue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659796953537-6I4T6XF31TG86EDUEBN1/ZFC_3265.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.5.22 Do Not Pet Every intention I had of getting work done for the upcoming farmer’s market was dashed when I realized 1) it was First Friday on the Avenue, and 2) I had the entire day tomorrow to work on it, meaning I didn’t need to toil alone in the shop tonight after all. We joined our neighbors and walked to the festivities, enjoyed a few drinks and some food, and hit a couple of bars on the wall back home. This little dog, who looks cute enough, was growling at me while I stood nearby his yard at one of the bars. Using my most soothing voice, I tried to reassure him I wasn’t a threat and began to offer my hand as an olive branch to peace before he bared his teeth and I understood he was dialed to only protect his yard. There would be no petting this adorable little bear trap this day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659849714357-W99FI25JU3SWGARQZHN7/Screen+Shot+2022-08-07+at+1.08.24+AM.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 7.6.22 True Believer Today’s checklist: Provided tech support to Ashley’s grandfather. Drank a cup of coffee from my favorite mug. Hand-sanded vertical plant stand legs. Listened to the Bouncing Souls’ first four albums. Built a crude drying rack for stained plant stand components. Ate two bacon double stacks and chicken nuggets from Wendy’s. Applied pre-stain conditioner to components and double checked pre-orders. Successfully stained 12 stands using six different finishes. Went to Lowe’s for another can of English Chestnut. Finished listening to the rest of the Bouncing Souls’ discography. Toyed with wood glue versus CA glue + activator to see which would hold better (settled on a mix of the two). Cleaned up shop and watched Star Trek: Voyager The Killing Game, Parts 1 & 2. Finished the evening watching a video of a chaotic 2005 Bouncing Souls show on YouTube. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1659927856838-3VEPF936G4UJIRJW0SKO/ZFC_3280-2.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.7.22 Rad Find The plan was to work a half day at the shop today because our big Pfizer job is nearing its deadline and there’s some concern about our ability to meet it on time. But Ashley was having an emotional day, and seeing how upset she was, I didn’t feel right leaving her all alone at home with nothing to do on a Sunday. I texted John and told him I’d do overtime tomorrow in order to have today off and he understood. We loaded up the pup and went to a couple of parks before randomly stumbling upon a walkway that led to a public pool in Covington filled with dogs. It was the final day of the season for the pool, so the pool staff pulled a reverse-Baha Men and let the dogs in. Myrtle, being part fish, dragged us around to the entrance to get inside and hop in the pool. Needless to say she had the time of her short little life fetching ball in the water with all the others. It was a boatload of fun watching all the dogs do their thing and seeing Myrtle having a blast. On the walk back, I stopped to get a shot of my unironic favorite Covington building (pictured). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660096999439-DPMJ6112UI0ZSLAGVZZK/IMG_7688.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.8.22 15 Hours Bourbon at the 13 hour mark. Pizza delivery sometime thereafter. A round of High Lifes and Nespresso coffee at 14 hours. It was a long, productive day at the wood shop. Our big Manhattan project is due Friday with quite a bit of work left to finish. John, Joe, and I took the last chopper out of the jungle at 11 PM, hours after the others had pushed the limits of putting their marriages and relationships with their children at risk by staying late to get it done. Three measuring cups—once destined to briefly hold resin before melting from an inevitable exothermic reaction—found themselves a more glamorous fate by holding ice cold pours of Old Forester to be cheers’d by three exhausted, dust-covered men. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660097002646-I6QP6AUTF4A3IPTJ6LBP/1625+Mansfield+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.9.22 A Very Odd Coincidence Something strange happened today. As usual, I found myself on Twitter this morning and saw a photo I made years ago included in a semi-viral tweet about Cincinnati. The photo was of four colorful row houses at the base of Prospect Hill lined up neatly with the city in the background. I considered interacting with the tweet and pointing out that, yet again, my work has been divorced of credit, but decided to move on with my day. The account was one of those high-follower, faceless reposters that subsides on making inane claims solely for engagement. It wasn’t really worth the effort, and after yesterday’s 15-hour day, I was spent. Also, it’s Twitter; who gives a shit. Anyway, a long story short, I went about my shoots for the day and ended up in Prospect Hill for my final assignment before heading home. It was then I realized that the house I needed to photograph for the owner was, in fact, one of the same houses in that semi-viral tweet from earlier that day. It was a fantastically weird coincidence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660187420403-3XQ3DQMSPFLWSR2ICRJR/IMG_7696.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.10.22 Thief! Something (or someone?) has found the tomatoes. Our ripest candidate was stolen from its bed sometime in the night, and this grizzly murder scene was left for us to discover. Suspects so far: the squirrel, the raccoon, a very nimble deer able to hop privacy fences, a vegetarian cat, and me in a hungry fugue state. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660278829338-RW099UE4NZYOBJ6QOOW1/IMG_7700.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.11.22 A Cooler Drop Visited the Dalton Street Post Office for the first time in awhile. It took me a year, but I finally finished a roll of film that needed to be mailed out for developing. First full roll I’ve finished since summer of last year. My schedule has been too full of actual photo work for clients over the last year and I haven’t focused on analog photography for myself as a result. I don’t like putting rolls of film in outdoor mailboxes during extreme temperature months for obvious reasons, so I went to Dalton Street to make sure the drop was cool. I could simply drop it off at the post office down the street from my house, but Dalton is just too much fun to visit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660371725315-GK5D7PWZ84X6M8O6I36A/Art+Museum+Event+8.12.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-86.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.12.22 Pones Rode my bike up to the Art Museum this evening to photograph an event. I got there early to ensure I had enough time to cool down and clean myself up after riding up the hill (Ashley had the car and I wasn’t willing to pay $26 for a Lyft). Adequately cooled and with my Z9 slung over my shoulder, I hit the Grand Hall floor to document the evening. No speakers, no special exhibits, and no presentations tonight. Just gaiety and food and 1920s attire. Four dancers from Pones, a local performing arts group, circled the main hall before making their way to the courtyard. The low light inside wasn’t great for capturing their movements, so their move outdoors was beneficial for my task. I met Kim, one of the dancers later on, and she said they intentionally hammed it up for the camera, which in turn made for better photos. I’m not a dancer, but the joy they wore on their faces while dancing was intoxicating. Caught myself grinning ear to ear because they all seemed to be having the most amount of fun out of everyone at the party. Also, tonight was the first time I shot an entire event not in RAW format. I went fully JPG and trusted myself with the settings instead of relying on the safety net of the latitude RAW provides for post-production. It turned out great, and I didn’t have enormous files to sift through afterward. I think I’ll be shooting in that smaller file size more often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660533929421-Y05WK9MIGV117KPIIIIZ/NZ9_5483-Enhanced.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.13.22 Surprises “Woah, I think there’s a groundhog eating an apple over there,” Ashley said, kneeling with her elbows on the windowsill, eyes behind binoculars pointed at the wooded lot across the street from our house. I ran to get the Tamron and quickly assembled my rig, propping it up on the frame of the window without a screen for added vibration reduction. It was a cute little surprise that made the afternoon special. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660533929707-5TAGUWG7ORMU492BYMD3/IMG_7739.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.14.22 Old Habits Yesterday I got a surprise text from my neighbor, Kevin Wright, asking if I wanted to have a few drinks on his porch that evening. With cheese coneys and a bottle of Uncle Nearest in hand, we ate and drank Highlifes and bourbon until 2 AM. His Boston-born neighbah, Charlie, wandered over at some point and we talked about everything from what our lives were like as kids to raising a new generation as adults (they’re both fathers). We also talked about something that I don’t talk enough about on here: how the pandemic has caused many of us to suffer from, at times, debilitating anxiety. While I don’t have panic attacks, I am really, really struggling with being social at the moment. The pandemic feels like it unraveled the years of work I did to come out of my introverted comfort zone and be someone people wanted to be around. Occasionally I can set the anxiety aside, but porch hangs are more my lane than crowded bars at the moment. I hide away in my house and build things in the workshop by myself, then I come upstairs long after Ashley went to bed to play this dumb Star Trek game on my computer like I’m 17 again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660842931484-RNCLD9S4RT4L2L5CR1A7/207+Garrard+Street+%28Exteriors%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-30.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.15.22 Wringing Out the Schedule I need to go to South Bend and Ann Arbor tomorrow for work. Luminaut hired me to photograph a few projects they recently completed. So naturally, I’m getting my rental car, gear, and bag ready while also working a full day at the wood shop before doing a quick shoot in Covington this evening for Rebecca. Absolutely every minute of today has been filled with something to do and it feels like I’m wringing out a bone dry wash cloth to get even a single drop of water out of it at this point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660842941985-K77L2HUTY2O4F2F2L4G8/ZFC_3342.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.16.22 The Graduate As previously mentioned, I went to South Bend to do some photography for Luminaut. After shooting the renovated facility and packing up the rental, the trip extended over to Ann Arbor where I stayed the night in preparation to shoot two facilities nearby in the morning. They booked my hotel for me in advance—I stayed at The Graduate on E Huron Street. The hotel has a turn-of-the-20th-century-college theme to it that makes for a great mix of style and sophistication while remaining comfortable and fun. If you ever have a trip planned near or in Ann Arbor, I highly recommend this hotel. I don’t always enjoy drinking in the evenings as my default activity like many others do, but I still managed to check out the hotel bar off the lobby. These booths were absolutely perfect. Sadly, my hotel stay was only for one night. Were it required, I would’ve enjoyed staying another night to bask in the opulence of the hotel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660842942613-BWM72S526I01YYPRTYYU/NZ9_5953-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.17.22 Finding the Right Angle The day consisted of shooting two final facilities for Luminaut in Ann Arbor, one of which had this lovely card game room adjacent to a small bar area. I had to figure out a way to show both areas together while finding a way to illustrate their relative separateness. This angle—one that shows the card table in the foreground and the bar area in the mid and backgrounds while the patterned chairs and color palette tied them together—seemed to make for the best composition. After finishing up with both facilities, I drove back to Cincinnati and collapsed on my couch around 7 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660884087925-I4AZ8LQKEGPMUZYJKDTD/ZFC_3386.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.18.22 Crumbling Labyrinth Monmouth Street in Newport has this series of concrete staircases between 11th and 12th Streets on either side of the busy road. I haven’t done any research on them, but they look to be of WPA-era construction. I think they’re beautiful, personally, but they’ve been so neglected and forgotten that they’re almost useless at this point. The staircases either rise directly into chainlink fences to keep people from using them or they lead to sidewalks that end without a convenient way back down on the other side. The overhead lights built into the structure are rusted out, and several pieces of its concrete construction have seen better days. It’s clear that over the years intentional efforts have been made to discourage their use entirely, and instead of removing them, they exist as inefficient vestiges from a different time. The sidewalk next to each staircase is the only serviceable feature to get you from one block to the next. I’m going to try to find photos of it during its heyday when the stairs still led somewhere and the lighting worked. I bet it was gorgeous. It’s a shame we can’t care for pedestrian infrastructure the way we do cars. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1660968389188-JWA21HH2VB8CRKQLH5H6/IMG_8167.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.19.22 Quiet On the Set Steve needed help building and hanging custom sound panels in the podcast studio he’s developing in his second room. We made the frames in my garage last week, he upholstered and stuffed them with insulation, and tonight we carefully attached them to the wall. I’m not an audio engineer, but when you walk into a room with sound deadening panels, you feel it. His show, Streaming Things, took off like a rocket when he and his cohosts recently reviewed every episode of the latest season of Stranger Things. Due to their newfound popularity (they broke the top 250 of all shows on iTunes last month), they’ve made some pretty serious money and have reinvested it into making the show sound even better. I’ve been friends with Steve for nearly 20 years, and over the decades I imagined it would only be a matter of time before his talents took him into the limelight on a global scale. It’s nice to see it finally happen for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661274211554-04BLUJVRMS00RZJDSOOE/IMG_8173.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.20.22 Zablong-Gone I never ate here. Heard it wasn’t very good. And yet, before the pandemic, it always looked relatively busy during the work week. Guessing the pandemic killed it. The name sounds like an action word in colorful lettering within a spiky bubble layered behind a hero in a cowl in a retro comic book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661274212940-IFHZX777KMICMFYL0HS2/IMG_8206.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.21.22 Drenched We went for a long walk this evening and got absolutely soaked through when a rainstorm popped up before we could get home. The one time we don’t check the weather app first, it bites us. It was uncomfortable at first, but after giving up on any attempt to stay dry, we embraced the shower and enjoyed it (or at least Myrtle and I did). Ashley’s smile says “yay” but her furrowed brow says “I hate this.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661274214028-O27RSWZKCJ0WRXSNBAHU/IMG_8215-2.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.22.22 iPhone’s Macro Setting A few weeks ago I got a new iPhone 13 Pro and didn’t realize it comes with a macro camera setting until I accidentally activated it at work. I’ve always wanted to buy a macro lens for my Nikon, but the applications for it are minimal. Can’t justify the spend. Anyway, I watched a YouTube video of a guy getting his ears cleaned in a parlor in Chinatown (NYC) last night and it was more satisfying than I could've possibly imagined, so I went back to using q-tips again even though I know it’s bad for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661437632158-GZIHYI7EAOJPFEJHE0Q2/3536+Vine+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-17.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.23.22 Right Frame of Mind I really like this podcast about the supernatural that’s hosted by Glynn Washington of Snap Judgment. While I don’t believe in any of it, I get a genuine thrill listening to ghost stories from people who believe them. While I was shooting this old-house-turned-new-Airbnb in Avondale today, I started listening to an episode about a scary ghost in an old house that terrorized a family and I had to switch over to another show. It was spooking me out too much. I guess you don’t have to believe to be creeped out! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661437632640-WGXYV188ZNUK5Y98DN52/IMG_8244.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.24.22 Cookout To celebrate the hard work and end to the big NYC job, the guys at the shop had a cookout on the driveway. We smoked meats, fried a chicken, and dined on various hearty sides before digging into coconut cake and fried sweets for dessert. I fought a food coma for nearly two hours before finally driving home and collapsing on the couch in exhaustion. I didn’t get a good photo of the food because I was too hungry to stop and capture it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661565073971-Y48JZ0JF0HYMPY0U3440/ZFC_3408.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.25.22 New View A relatively long walk up Lincoln while dodging deer with the dog along the way. My barber, Travis, told me it was a good view a couple months ago, but I didn’t see it for myself until recently when I drove down from Ft. Thomas. He was right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661565074698-EV0ER0FQ4H5JZMPGL51W/ZFC_3411.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.26.22 Tuba Tuba Baking Co. in Dayton, KY had a special tonight that’s lentil Cincinnati chili with onions and cheese over spatzle and it’s incredible. Best veggie chili I’ve had. It’s basically a fancy 3-way. We ate in the biergarten while a man in lederhosen played the accordion and sang in German. I could’ve eaten another whole plate of the spatzle, if I’m honest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661733222440-NGV8ZA1CP3HQRI8I7HFC/IMG_8286.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.27.22 The Bus We had plans downtown and rode the newly reinstated Southbank Shuttle. TANK, much like Metro, has infrequent service on regular routes, but the Southbank Shuttle does a loop every 15 minutes between Covington, Newport, and Bellevue. It’s handy because it’s only a dollar and we can get to the city’s core in no time flat. Much better than driving and parking, honestly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1661733230296-TBAQVVCLJ352VZGWOTJY/key+holder.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.28.22 New Offerings We have one final farmer’s market next month, and I’m honestly a little tired of making plant stands. As such, I’m trying to come up with some new ideas for the next show. This door-side item holder was relatively simple to make and I think I’m going to make three of them for the next show. They’re made from oak, so it’s better wood stock than the pine I normally use to make stuff. The only issue is I will need to sell them for a little more because the price of the wood is higher. I thought the rounded edges on the platform and the shelf over the wood dowels gave it more personality than a simple plank with pre-made metal hooks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662090867911-Y2XB8HYYLOH1KZIHD0FS/ZFC_3424.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.30.22 Butternut I photographed this place months ago in the morning and didn’t care for how the light was hitting it when reviewing the images. Since I’d gone to Queensgate yesterday, I was reminded to return to Butternut to get the same photo but in evening light instead. The result was better this time around. It only has a single 11-year-old review on Yelp. Ted S. gave it one star because his wife's hamburger buns molded before Independence Day. "The outlet refunded her money, but the damage was done," he wrote. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662090867339-1170CXG8MJSKXTLC2L6T/IMG_8359.jpg daily-photos-aug-2022 - 8.31.22 Being “Quiet” Ashley had a very important phone call this evening, so it was my job to keep this monster silent and away from her so she could focus. We went upstairs and played with toys on the rug while the sun set. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-sep-2022 daily 0.75 2022-09-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662091119776-L6FMH0LUH7Q0YSHM2Y6N/NZ9_8069-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.1.22 Invisible Makeover Union Terminal was lit up teal tonight for the start of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. They posted this overly spectacular, edited image on their Instagram announcing the fun lighting, and while I didn’t believe it was going to be as amazing as the post suggested, I thought it could be cool to photograph. When I got to the museum, though, the lighting was extremely subtle to the naked eye—I almost didn’t stop to take the photo because it was so minimal and faint. There was a different hue to the building, but it wasn’t like the projection mapping project they did for a week back in 2019. I debated whether or not to even bother taking photos, but seeing as how I’d made the trip and had my gear with me, I reasoned it was worth taking a few shots. Thankfully, the long exposures brightened the color in a way my eye couldn’t see in person. Despite that, I didn't think they'd turn out while I was on site, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got them into a computer later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489755979-XK4P8HJN96P21JB59XBP/NZ9_8102-HDR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.2.22 Old Work, New Photos John and his former business partner made these metal room dividers with built in pocket doors for Tano Bistro in Loveland a few years back. We’re trying to update his website with new photos of past projects to help showcase his body of work in order to attract new clientele. We did a few different angles, but I think I like this one the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489755340-OSALUWPD3GNLL55TYV21/IMG_8438.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.3.22 Party On the Ave Catherine’s birthday is tomorrow, so we went out and drank on the Avenue to celebrate. I played ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ on TouchTunes and Ashley had a billion craft beers. Once leaving the Avenue, a group of us decided to walk the alleys to The B List where we would resume drinking. Kevin, my neighbor up the street, expressed his desire to not keep going, but we begged him to follow us. He obliged, and while walking the darkened streets to get to the next bar, he said, “When was the last time you were ghosted?” Fueled by several beers up to that point, I replied “2014” and didn’t think twice about it until I looked back and Kevin had completely vanished. It was one of the smoothest quiet exits I’ve ever seen anyone do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489757621-S9TI3D2LGBDEVGV5MU3R/IMG_8453.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.4.22 A Nook There’s very little to say about this image aside from this is where I prefer to sit and read. I neglected my photographic duties in favor of spending the majority of the day building in the garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662489759935-KM7PFIN8I0GQF4LRZWES/IMG_8459.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.5.22 Jazz +50% Ashley got a bunch of festive plants from a supplier earlier this year that had a bunch of non-floral decor stuffed into each pot. Loving stupid little lights like this, I snagged them from the plant and hid them away in my workshop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869294372-3ALZCEVFS67NNLVKDUBL/ZFC_3435-Pano.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.6.22 Good Ride Moment We walked to Dixie Chili for gyros but I wasn’t finished enjoying the beautiful weather. After arriving back home, the urge to hop on my bike hit me and I soon found myself pedaling north toward the river. After whizzing around the neighborhood for a bit, the sun began to set. There’s a little dead end at the end of Lafayette where you can get this great view. Thankfully I had the wisdom to bring my Nikon Z fc with me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869300062-WPFM7QBUEZYGDQA032TR/IMG_8499.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.7.22 TRAIN! Always like seeing a train, even when it’s stopped on the tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869300194-8C3XHW62DL8OH8VN8C47/IMG_8522.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.8.22 Ipe Table We delivered a nice outdoor ipe table to a Single Batch Designs client this afternoon. We had to deliver it in pieces because, when assembled, the table was too heavy to lift without devoting substantial people power to the delivery. And of course it had to be delivered to the roof of the garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869293338-HBXXG5RMLKTA2U7IH0BG/IMG_8577.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.9.22 The Littlest Kroger I thought the Bellevue Kroger was small, but I think the one on Madison Ave in Covington takes the cake. It’s not as nice as other Kroger stores, but it DOES have some fun artwork on the exterior. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1662869286875-8KQW6V1HD5HBASDATG8H/ZFC_3449.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.10.22 The Stray The plan was to talk about how I have assembled all the necessary technology to do movie nights in my back yard using a projector and how excited I am about that prospect. I was going to talk about how I had Steve over and we tested it out by watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. But instead, I am going to talk about this extremely cute stray I saw on a walk today. She just kept rolling around begging for pets. I obliged, of course. I’m not a monster! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663040080716-XKQTXEM5NN4P49316OSU/IMG_8605.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.11.22 What’s Over There? Summers on the porch are a staple of our home. It rained today, and though I managed to stay in the garage making stuff for the upcoming farmer’s market for the majority of the day, I found a little time to spend on the porch in the evening when the sun came back out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663040082492-F0T9MAPW2QW4F9TMQ5OM/IMG_8625.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.12.22 H&H Joe and I went over to Hierophany & Hedge today to figure out some specs for woodwork we’ll be doing both inside and out of the shop. The owners are super friendly and outlined what they needed inside their truly incredible shop. Have you been inside this place? The level of detail and love that went into designing this place is unreal. While my interests in fiction generally skew toward starships and the future, this shop made me reminisce about playing old school RPGs when I was younger and the fun those fantasy worlds brought me at the time. Seeing their passion so vividly represented in a thoughtful, cinematic space endeared them to me despite not knowing them personally. What they’ve built is a creative’s dream. NKY is lucky to have such a unique store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663295208028-8MZ1Y3EKHM9B0R14LPAZ/Opportunity+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.13.22 Opportunity House My friend Cody and his architectural firm recently renovated a dorm for NKY called Opportunity House. I don’t have all the specifics, but the dorm is reserved for students who meet a certain financial criteria. There’s 16 mini apartments in the building with a communal space on the lower level (pictured). I dug the primary color scheme and finishes that are friendly to college-age students. The apartments themselves were honestly way nicer than anything my friends lived in when I was in school. His firm, Hub+Weber, did a great job modernizing a horrible, dark building into an inviting, comfortable space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663295207746-1IPV9B3UMGTBQ5X5IWZP/NZ9_9117-HDR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.14.22 Rooftop Perspective I’m working with a designer in Mt. Adams to capture her space during Golden Hour. I plan to revisit the space multiple times throughout different seasons to capture as much of it as possible. This is the rooftop. It goes without saying how incredible the view was. You should see the rest of the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663295208813-X85QPKYRM4CYF1VLIUNC/NZ9_9311.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.15.22 Backward Arby’s Sure, the law office was nice and I was hired to photograph it, but I really wanted to get an action scene of the street below from this perspective. While no one was paying attention, I snapped one. People in Bellevue complained about this Arby’s originally because a parking lot didn’t separate the front door from the street and it became known colloquially as the Backward Arby’s. I’m unsure if form-based code makes this location still “controversial.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663432126918-GRYTXQ9V5EMYRLLCWQNH/NZ9_9482.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.16.22 An Accident I think this adequately represents where I am at the moment. After working all day at the shop then going to shoot a show at Memorial Hall, this accidental frame while the camera dangled off to my side sums it up. I’m pretty tired after this busy week and mistakes are bound to happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896305318-ANA0O98DAFEFJ26BG569/ZFC_3457.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.17.22 Re-Exploring We wanted a low-key night that involved some exercise with the dog, so we walked Eden Park. Then, when we got home, I went for a nice night ride on the Dayton Levee wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896301380-GWA0NVAG1RKOXALF1O96/IMG_8706.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.18.22 Bonnie This Scottish highland mini cow was at the Bellevue Farmer’s Market while we were there today. She was as soft as she looks. We didn’t sell out, and I think we maybe sold the least amount of stuff this month, so I guess that first show was a bit of a fluke. Overall, I’m glad we did it, but I’m relived it’s over. A break from making those stands is much needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896305786-725SPE4JOCVAKA02XM73/CAM+Event+9.19.22+-+Phil+Armstrong+-92.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.19.22 Urban Deer Tonight’s Art Museum event was more of the same, but upon leaving, I noticed three deer roaming through the landscaping at the top of the front drive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896309165-5UVYANM61E8AHC8DIE99/IMG_8775.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.20.22 She’s Injured Little Myrtle hurt her paw playing the other day and she’s still recovering. She’s been on the couch or in bed for most of her days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896315638-XRBIHK7XWUDZ24ZPDUQI/ZFC_3467-Edit.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.21.22 Stephen King’s The Mist While taking Ashley to work this morning, a thick fog reduced visibility to a degree I haven’t seen in awhile. After dropping her off, I went back and got my bike and headed down to the river to get photos of the USS Nightmare while it was shrouded in the mist for an upcoming piece I wrote for Link NKY. While there, I took some other photos of the scene; I like this one specifically. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1663896315838-8GESA4Z63QA8G0Y32OBI/ZFC_3484.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.22.22 First Day of Autumn A little double exposure to kick off the autumn season. I absolutely love this time of year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664161512920-HKI63D1TX4HN2145RWSP/ZFC_3498.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.23.22 Maple Table We made this simple maple table for a local law firm. The table’s different from the other stuff we’ve made because it features two data centers equipped with ethernet, USB, HDMI, and a few other plugs on either end. I wasn’t sure how it’d look when we finally put them in, but I think it looks decent overall. The convenience of having those power sources will be great when people need to present with laptops and whatnot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664161513130-SBNHUT222151IG7JVUSU/IMG_8859.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.24.22 Drink With a Vue We went to Drink With a Vue with some of our neighbors, and it was one of the best nights I think I’ve had in a long while. Not only did we support our neighborhood’s beautification group by buying a ticket to the event, but we also got to drink beer and eat food with friends in a picturesque setting in our own neighborhood on the river. The way the event coordinators had the tree lit up while illuminated riverboats quietly floated by as the sun went down…it all seemed like a dream at times. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in awhile, either. We all clicked in a really great way. No awkwardness or egos or drama. Just a really good time with friendly, fun people. We went to two afterparties and continued drinking before stumbling home, chugging a liquid IV, and hoping we wouldn’t feel as if we overshot our house and passed out on the train tracks the next day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664161517674-02A5XJWJ9ISDT1N6WJ9R/IMG_8889.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.25.22 Ye Olde Foote Church House I can’t believe this old church on Foote is a house. It’s wild to me that anyone lives in a whole ass church. Of course, if given the opportunity and if I were in the market, I would totally live in an old church house. That belfry would be my private study, I imagine. The front door, which rises well above the street, looks mean though. Might have to come up with a way to soften the angry “eyebrows” of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664287869708-DKGIFV7Q7UQYK7FP8K8V/NZ9_2182-Edit.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.26.22 Poplar Table Took photos of this beautiful poplar coffee table the woodworkers at Single Batch Designs made. It’s made from reclaimed poplar and features repurposed elevator shaft hardware on the sides. We delivered it to the client immediately after photos were finished. She was thrilled with how it came out. It doesn’t phase some of the older guys at the shop, but I get a kick out of it when the client loves a thing we made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664506044995-0J21UDOGIHLB3WEM7B3P/216+E+Liberty+Street+%231+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.27.22 A “Cool” Solution There’s a building on Liberty Street that apparently once housed a butcher at street level. Inside, an overly ornate wooden cooler decorated with tile and mirror and frosted windows was once used to store the freshly butchered meat. A scale for weighing (and presumably pricing) the meat still hangs from the side. Recently, the owner renovated the front room and the room with the cooler into a single-bedroom Airbnb and turned the old cooler into the bathroom! Instead of meat, it now stores a sink, shower, and toilet accessible by the original door on the side. I’ve seen a dozen of these old coolers in other buildings both occupied and abandoned, but I’ve never seen one repurposed like this. Above is a door opened/door closed comparison. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664506044995-P9BU9PSJ82UVF179K7MH/IMG_8957.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.28.22 M. Bohlke Corp John and I took the van to Bohlke’s in Fairfield today. We were picking up an order of sapele and managed to take a quick stroll though the enormous airplane hangar of carefully stacked wood. This place has hundreds of millions of dollars of product inside—everything from affordable boards someone like me would be able to purchase to staggeringly expensive species that cost upwards of $100 per board foot due to their scarcity and desirability. The sheer size of this place was surreal. The whole time I was aware that my fledgling knowledge of woodworking probably didn’t permit me to fully appreciate everything I was seeing inside, but regardless of that ignorance, I was awestruck. Even with neat piles arranged just so, you could still easily drive a truck down the aisles. They’ve been in business since the late-60s and have managed to become one of the biggest purveyors of wood in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1664506079236-XG1612YKBH6RKI8K72TX/IMG_8963.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.29.22 Tyler Saw my friend Tyler today. He’s an extremely talented illustrator who recently worked on a project for one of the biggest companies on the planet. I won’t talk more about that here because it’s not my news to share, but I’m proud to know him and thankful he met up with me to catch up over coffee. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665266069377-QO6S3U4Y1NV4BMONSY6Q/IMG_8974.jpg daily-photos-sep-2022 - 9.30.22 <Pause> Over the next few days, I’ll be taking photos but waiting to publish them here until probably mid-week. Taking a short break from the internet. See you soon. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-oct-2022 daily 0.75 2022-10-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330207417-D9PVSFE6E40T5N2URJQE/IMG_8984.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.1.22 Journey Ahead I haven’t mentioned it here until now because it’s been an evolving situation over the last few days, but it’s time to commit it to this record. Hurricane Ian devastated my in-laws’ city of Fort Myers the other day. They’re physically alright, but they’re in need of help. Their house was badly damaged by wind and water, their vehicles were totaled by an insane storm surge, and they have a lot to fix and figure out both for themselves and for their neighbors. Long story short, we’re flying into Miami, gathering supplies and a rental car for them, and driving to them tomorrow. The next five days are likely going to be rather difficult. The photo is of a Georgian suburb as we flew into Atlanta for a layover. I do not remember taking this photo. I’m not bringing a proper camera because I’m there to work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330208738-SM4VDZKX8KR7OBMIOGCI/IMG_8991.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.2.22 Necessary Repairs We drove to Fort Myers early in the morning. Ashley knows some people in Miami who very graciously gathered supplies for us before we headed out—gasoline cans, food, bottled drinks, batteries, etc. We loaded up the rental and sped toward the devastated city with a pit in our stomachs. The two hour trip went quickly until we finally reached the outskirts of Fort Myers where stop lights failed to direct traffic and piles of debris lined the cleared roads. The closer we got, the more mangled the buildings and signs. There seemed to be no pattern to the destruction; a McDonalds sign would be shredded to ribbons right next to a car wash with only a little roof damage, followed by an RV park that clearly wasn’t reopening any time soon. It took us 30 minutes to drive six miles to their house because of the unstable traffic flow. When we finally got there, we immediately got to work on cleaning up the yard, tarping the damaged roof, and assisting elderly neighbors with their own homes. The only good thing about this horrific storm is it decided to hit in late September and not the middle of July when the temperature is at its peak. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330211178-68EBH1N1UPNCOKO2KSD7/IMG_9016.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.3.22 A Day of Tireless Errands We spent the day ripping baseboards off the walls and drilling holes in the drywall to force circulating air through it. They got almost an inch of water during the peak of the storm surge and water was still puddled behind the walls. I am thankful they replaced all their flooring with ceramic tile last year because this would’ve been so much worse with any other flooring material, especially carpet. We saw plenty of homes with soaking wet, putrid rolls of carpet stashed by the street. We delivered goods to a couple in need who got six feet of water in their home, had to shore up some contractural stuff with Hertz, and ran to the hardware store to replace the power tools they lost in the flood. It was a long, hard day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330211794-NYZN7PW7MABN66WOUH3Q/IMG_9037.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.4.22 Another Long Day There’s little else to say that I haven’t already said in previous posts. More errands and work on the house. More people in need to stop and help and sort out. They have a generator powering theirs and their two neighbors’ fridges, and the fans are still blowing on the walls to try and dry them out, but there is no grid power. We’re doing laundry in a bucket on the driveway while Chinook helicopters fly large storage containers to and from Fort Myers Beach—the epicenter of the devastation. We’re just waiting on insurance adjusters, grid power to kick back on, and so many other things we can’t control. Tomorrow we leave this place and head back to Cincinnati. I hope we don’t leave them stranded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330212893-Q9O9OJAX4A9LE248LZBC/IMG_9099.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.5.22 Goodbye, Fort Myers We’re tired. We’re also going home. Because there was little else for us to do to my in-laws’ house this morning, we took them to Naples to eat lunch in a restaurant in an effort to claw back a little normalcy after a terrible week. It was more for their peace of mind than our own. We said our goodbyes to Fort Myers, picked up a lift from Naples to Miami, and flew home on a direct flight to CVG. I know this will sound dramatic, but it felt a bit like the end scene of Jurassic Park when they’re all helicoptering off the island with the nightmare behind them. Thankfully, two hours after we left, they got grid power back and their home would start to feel somewhat normal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330214159-NNIIFI1RPH6FR2JFCN2W/IMG_9189.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.6.22 Anniversary Safely back in Cincinnati, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary with a huge dinner at Walt’s Hitching Post. The bread (pictured) is the stuff of dreams. I’m certain, if there is such a place, they serve this in Heaven. We ate so much (not just bread, other menu items), we barely made it home before going to bed and passing out around 9 PM. After the week we had, we needed to catch up on sleep. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665330216372-77KDM6S8A6Z2ZBIA8LW8/NZ9_3127-Edit.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.7.22 Routine Resumed The crisp autumn air felt so good on my bike ride into the wood shop today. Pedaling through an old neighborhood decked out in Halloween decor while making my way toward a job I enjoy was something else. It was so nice to be back in town. I felt thoroughly satisfied when I arrived on Scott Street in Covington and greeted my coworkers. I felt like I hadn’t been there in ages even though it had only been a week. Joe finished the credenza he was building so I took some shots of it in the “studio.” This one had drawers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665331282582-PJPRCEZDY113Q9WM55U4/ZFC_3594.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.8.22 Big Bone Lick Buffalo We went to Big Bone Lick State Park this morning to see the buffalo that live there. The last time we went was March 7th, 2020. I got a much better photo that time (you can see it in the archive if you navigate back to that day). They were too far away this time and I only had a 28-200mm on hand. That said, I got to see a baby buffalo! He settled down into the spot next to his father immediately after this photo was taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665331283663-WXKIEQHA2JFJJVH9AV91/ZFC_3612.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.9.22 Five Years Old Myrtle is five years old today. I love this little creature more than most people. She’s a constant source of hilarity, companionship, sweetness, and fun. As is custom, we made a little birthday portrait before heading out for the day. Also, Tiffany and Steven get married tonight! Looking forward to that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665452790928-171OD2GZMDWV5V77Q9BS/IMG_9249.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.10.22 Gutierrez Deli John and I delivered a credenza to a client then slipped over to Gutierrez Deli for burritos. Stores like this—the ones with barely any organization and piles of produce stacked on top of carts on either side of tight, cozy aisles—are my favorite. They’re such a refreshing change from the impersonal, sterile, highly-efficient supermarkets we’ve grown to accept as normal. I got a bag of Cheetos torciditos (cheese with a hint of chili behind them) and a pina colada aloe drink with my burrito. Whatever the burrito lacked in seasoning it made up for in quantity. There was no leaving Gutierrez Deli with a stomach half-filled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665541759470-O62N9016OHPM4RJZID86/IMG_9288.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.11.22 That Time Eyeball Lights Made Me Feel Good When I was little, Halloween was one of the most exciting times of the year. My otherwise neutral environment grew more colorful as the calendar marched steadily toward October 31st—the leaves blushed, porch decor went wild, and the evening light changed in a way I couldn’t explain. October ushered in an atmosphere of cartoonish fun with just a dash of fear sprinkled in for good measure. Fear of the little-too-scary mask in the pop-up Halloween store. Fear of the impending winter. Fear of this new school thing that I didn’t entirely enjoy for reasons. Subconsciously micro-dosing fear was energizing, though. While I slow cooked in the Halloween broth that was blow-up skeletons and plastic jack-o-lantern buckets from McDonalds, I planned my costume for The Big Night® at the end of the month and hoped to hell the weather held out so I didn’t have to wear that fucking coat over it. The grim reaper does NOT look good in a puffy blue winter coat! While I haven’t trick-or-treated for many years, I still feel a pang of that familiar fearful excitement this time of year when I see certain decorations, and I absolutely love when it happens. For half of a fraction of a millisecond, I feel the childhood wonder that grown-up Phil doesn’t experience anymore. These little eyeball lights—an innocuous enough Halloween decoration—got me tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665873338462-1XUEPJSIWCL7WE78DAAG/NZ9_3477.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.12.22 Bass Summer Kodama plays bass with Ada Lea at Memorial Hall on Wednesday, October 12th. The band performed about six songs before Calexico took the stage. Photographed for the Longworth-Anderson Series. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665873339284-0IDGNLFF2U5PGWRYNJMA/John+Arthur+Flats+Ribbon-Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.13.22 Glass Sighting There’s a standing rule for this photo project: if the day’s activities involve crossing paths with Chris Glass, he must be included in that day’s published photo. He’s the only other person I know who’s committed to a daily photo project, and I read his website religiously (chrisglass.com). I ran into him organically at the ribbon-cutting for the new John Arthur Flats in Northside today. Yes, BLINK returns tonight after a three year hiatus, but I like Chris more than BLINK. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1665873342398-HE3UMMPV094LKLGO7YKN/NZ9_4875.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.14.22 BLINK 2022 I think the experience of BLINK 2022 is best summed up by this quote from Zan McQuade on Instagram: “I walked 6 miles to see some art but honestly it was too many people and not enough art.” I’ve been out in it both nights so far, and the American Building’s projection is the only one that really stands out to me. I don’t want to be negative about the festival on social media, but her quote is perfect. I believe, at this point, BLINK is a festival of diminishing returns. The first year was absolutely incredible and one of my favorite nights I’ve ever had in the city happened that first evening. I photographed the hell out of the first and second years, even selling images to create an official BLINK book, but this year I just haven’t really found much worth shooting aside from this. A lot of it is derivative and not as clever as previous years or simply retreads of previous years’ content. And there are noticeable absences, like the Roebling Bridge not being lit up in any BLINK way. There are a few projections that simply lay animations over murals that don’t seemingly pay any attention to the contours of the mural itself, and there are issues with drone shows being late and projections not even happening (re: the Kenner mural on Court Street). I’ve seen all that OTR and Downtown have to offer, so tomorrow night I will check out Covington’s collection of projections and hope those are better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665016440-E9F3CF2T1OIBEZE67ND3/NZ9_5097.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.15.22 Saturday Night Blinking Covington didn’t offer anything better, really, with the exception of Mother of God Church. That projection was easily the best one of BLINK 2022 (even better than my pick for favorite from the previous night). However, what Covington lacked in blow-your-mind-Blinkness it made up for in being more chilled out than downtown and OTR, which is why Myrtle joined us for our adventure. A random lady gave us a glow stick for her to wear, we got coffee and hot chocolate, and ended the night by sitting at Covington Landing and watching the drone show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665040132-QJ0F83D96GUSFGBGVP0P/IMG_9407.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.16.22 Solo Jazz Italian Ice I saw this while at a stoplight in Morrow, OH. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665069242-C42457MYLNJ3G0JMI2WT/IMG_9413.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.17.22 Album Art? I feel like if you slapped an explicit tag on this image, it would make for a satisfactory album cover. Also, it was 11:50-something and I realized I’d not bothered to make an image that day while laying bed. Not my most inspired, but it’s honest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665043105-B0CD0S74DY453DNWUYE4/NZ9_5160.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.18.22 Forgotten Office I went back to the former slaughterhouse on Baymiller today to get updated photos for the client. This abandoned office looks exactly the same as it did when I visited in May. I doubt anyone’s even walked into it since I was last there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665046068-LN6DQE0GGVXC9TWHRASY/IMG_9422.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.19.22 Colossal Hassle It took seven men to carry a 12-foot-long maple table up five flights of stairs, myself included. We made a custom conference table for a client in the Republic Bank building in Covington for their new office space they’re building out. And that wasn’t the only thing we carefully lugged up the stairs: a smaller conference table and two side tables also made the long trip up to the top. Of course the elevator had to be broken. In a moment of quiet rest to catch my breath, I took advantage of the view and snapped a few photos. I will likely never be up here again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665070972-0WS5OJTFMB1FYDBZMUZ9/IMG_9436.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.20.22 Flower Pressing Ashley’s been collecting and pressing flowers recently. She started putting flowers onto paper and into frames tonight for the first time. I really like this new hobby of hers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665084725-RN3AG8XSA54CTXOR6HUH/IMG_9457.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.21.22 Long Day, Longer Cornstalks We delivered a bunch of mahogany tables we made in the shop to Fifty West Brewing during the day. That evening, I went to Memorial Hall and had a bad experience with the volunteer staff there while shooting a show for the concert organizer. Then, I hung out in a corn field. It was a helluva full and weird day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665103573-RE1ZJ2EC2TQ7I1ML38XB/IMG_9468.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.22.22 The Wall Been wanting to do this for months and finally got to execute on the idea. I designed and built a retaining wall in my front yard using old railroad ties today. My dad came down and helped me haul bags of gravel and rock from the store as well as lift the 200-pound timbers into place. He had to leave in the early afternoon, so I finished it up on my own. It took pretty much the entire day to get it level, secured, and stacked in the photo above. I only really ran into one issue while building it, but a longer drill bit solved that and it all came together rather elegantly afterward. It’s sturdy, secured with a deadman, leaves room for gas line access, and elevates the front yard for future plantings (this week’s project). I’ve hated our ragged front yard for months, so finally getting a chance to build this wall and take the first step toward getting rid of all the useless grass is so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665107547-9006BJ10IML29TO30HPV/Sharon+Woods+-+Phil+Armstrong+-85.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.23.22 Sharon Woods Sharon Woods in autumn is some of the best fall foliage I've seen this year. This year's season has been among the best in recent memory. I took a boatload of photos in the park, so choosing just one for this project was tough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666665109173-4P7BBGUHQ60ZPNL6XO7Q/ZFC_3636.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.24.22 A Walk Through Newport We walked through East Newport this evening to get a little exercise in with the dog while searching for a place to eat. The autumnal sights and smells didn’t disappoint. Ever the sucker for Halloween decorations, I enjoyed the creepy moving animatronic on the roof of this gorgeous house. There are a dozen other photos from the walk I wish I could share here, but this is the one for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1666756540734-KBIMW2X0FW6R09HIHJ36/DSC_6339.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.25.22 Bold Shooting a space with fun colors and bold patterns is so much more fun than documenting empty rooms. Sure, it’s harder and takes longer to properly white balance, but the results are always better. If you’re flipping a house or want to showcase a rental, always stage it if it’s within budget. I can’t think of a time when leaving it empty is better for photos. People’s imaginations aren’t always up to your own, and seeing a furnished space can make the difference for a prospective buyer or renter. With the right designer or someone with an eye for decor, a good room becomes great. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103954786-51DGHASXKKWLYSBXNS26/IMG_9572.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.26.22 Newport’s Frankenstein I don’t know what this is, but it’s a monstrosity. Saw it while walking to work today and had to take a photo. RIP to what was probably a beautiful building at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103945961-GEYIJOFAXWW1HFLV3EMB/A+New+View+-+Phil+Armstrong+-81.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.27.22 Party at the Art Museum Shot another event at the Art Museum tonight. This one was localized in the Great Hall, aka my nemesis. It’s very hard to photograph people in this space because it’s naturally dimly lit, so I’m often shooting as wide open as possible at 10,000 ISO. And the ceiling is so high up that it’s almost impossible to bounce enough light for portraits with flash. The only time I have any luck is when I can bounce it off the wall. That said, if I’m trying to photograph someone in the middle of the room, forget it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103956972-61703L0GC5GW356LWK6R/IMG_9607.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.28.22 Phil’s Ill In case you didn’t get the title, it’s “ill.” As in: I am unwell. Truth be told, I started feeling ill two days ago and managed to take enough meds to get through the Art Museum event last night, but only barely. My energy is gone, but a COVID test returns a negative result. Had to cancel today’s work and focus on resting. As such, I phoned it in today with this project. Forgive me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667103960069-IHS5IRC18V0QQEMH0IJB/The+Lone+Below+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.29.22 Final Curtain Call Tonight was the final Longworth-Anderson show at Memorial Hall for the year. It was also my final shoot for them. I’ve been doing work with the organization for two years, and after this last year, I’m ready to move onto other things. It’s been a pleasure working with them, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I like shooting shows at this venue, but I’m tired of the formula. With it being the same thing every time, I don’t look forward to doing it anymore. I’m not a fan of repetition in life in general. And I’ve missed things I’ve wanted to go to this year as a result of having to shoot these shows (like the BLINK bike ride and a free show at Cincy Shakes). I’m really looking forward to reducing the amount of nights I work and being more available for events I want to go. I think it’ll help guide me back to a healthier work/life balance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667314617311-Q9NPO4GMJF7ZO5CH6Q4Z/IMG_9627.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.30.22 Update to the Wall The grass in the front yard is gone, replaced by plantings and pinestraw. Though it took a few days over two weekends to complete, I’m very satisfied by what we’ve managed to create here, and I’m so glad we did this ourselves instead of waiting for and paying a landscaper to do it for us. No longer will I have to look at a patchy front yard devoid of purpose; it’s now something I take personal pride in and it will be home for pollinators in the spring while improving the overall first impression of the house. I sat on the wall and drank a beer in quiet victory after everything was planted and done. It feels truly wonderful to make changes to your home without having to ask permission or wait on someone to do the work for you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667314632959-9PMYRP86QE2Y1C2A71Z2/ZFC_3665.jpg daily-photos-oct-2022 - 10.31.22 Happy Halloween! We had about 35 kids show up this year and I actually ran out of candy by 7:30. Note to self: don’t start giving out handfuls until 7:15 at the earliest. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-nov-2022 daily 0.75 2022-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667612543138-YVYQIB0P5WUW6X692DX5/HaNoBe+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-7.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.1.22 HaNoBe Apts Worked with GBBN today to photograph a couple of model units inside College Hill’s new HaNoBe Apartments building. GBBN always likes to add people to their photos, so we had a few different people using the spaces in a way that illustrates “living” without it looking cheesy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667612722313-TANYDRSBG4RV5B0JO2G9/IMG_9671.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.2.22 Ipe Flights I was given a design for a quick and easy flight board and tasked with making 25 of them for a cidery in Norwood that’s yet to open. I made the prototype today and will be building the rest this weekend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667704437797-RLEC08231AM0VFN4CB6M/ZFC_3672.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.3.22 HBD Ashley She’s successfully entered her mid-30s and there are great things on the horizon. One thing is she’s quitting the job she hates so she can start fresh somewhere else, I’m very happy for her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667704439848-DJ5SMT56FAT5CJD019X5/IMG_9680.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.4.22 Morning Over the River While riding my bike into the shop today, I was rolling through the parking garage in Bellevue when I was struck by the wonderful view over the river. The stillness of the water coupled with the warm tones of autumn and morning light was perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667704447379-7REC1IIPNDJ2N5SDV4H3/myrtle+mayor.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.5.22 Root for Snoot! I’m allowing myself Photoshopped images so long as they were made that day. Ashley’s parents are in town and we were joking about political yard sign slogans. Someone came up with “root for snoot” as Myrtle’s slogan were she to run for pawffice. (One of Myrtle’s thousands of nicknames is Snoot). I couldn’t get the image of a vintage-style political poster featuring Myrtle’s disembodied head out of my mind , so I threw something together to scratch the itch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667877138046-FLIU5RZXHSNAAGW423ZT/IMG_9697.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.6.22 A Full Day I saw friends from Philadelphia, ate outdoors at a good restaurant, walked Myrtle in the sun, helped a neighbor install a push-in fence, rode my bike to see other friends, frequented a few pubs and rooftops, then did an absolutely glorious night ride through Downtown and Covington to help a coworker at the shop before riding home with a drained headlamp on my bike. It was a phenomenal day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1667877138567-ZKMQQVSYIF39XDXOQ3IY/DSC_9463-2.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.7.22 Install Day Last night, a friend asked me how work was going and I was able to say with a straight face that I genuinely love it. While photography has been my regular thing for years, I’ve also been working with Single Batch Designs for the last 11 months. Every day I wake up and get to go to that shop, I enjoy it. I get to work with talented and likable dudes who make incredible things, and then we get to deliver them to the client with pride. This photo is from today’s install. From left: Joe, Brad, John, and Joe. Not pictured: Anthony and Keith. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668090562542-O75UV5HCHU6KS52A8GD0/DSC_9677-Edit.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.8.22 Hyde Park Cozy Photographed an apartment building with something like six units in it in Hyde Park. It had that beautiful mix of 1930s style with a hefty dose of coziness. Warm wood floors, loads of ornate trim (but not too ornate), cute little nooks to sit in, and miniature versions of areas usually reserved for large homes, like a dedicated foyer. The whole place just made me feel warm and welcome. I get the same feeling from my house, but if I were single and living alone in one of these units, my natural inclination to be a recluse would become unstoppable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668090561864-WSKQO28JE9NULA5ZOXR2/IMG_9767.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.9.22 Careful Restoration We’ve been working on and off to restore the wooden facade of Hierophany & Hedge in Covington for about two weeks. After only a couple of years, the storefront has taken a beating from the weather, as did the opposite side that faces Braxton. It’s taken a lot of sanding, stain, and varnish to get it looking great again, and even a few passersby have commented on how nice it looks. We’re trying to get it all done before the unseasonably warm autumn we’ve had scrams for good, so the process has been challenging. Personally, I find this work satisfying, though I can imagine how much harder it would be if it were done in the middle of summer or winter. The whole thing should be finished within the next week or so. I decided to place a sepia filter on this one because I thought it looked good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668366937678-U6MZTHV0W1XGSLZWXZBG/DSC_0048-Edit.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.10.22 Bethesda Hospitals aren’t generally a place I prefer spending my time. I will likely live some of my worst days, if not the remaining days, of my life in one. That’s sadly yet to come. Today’s shoot led me to Bethesda North where a new area was renovated for…hospital things. Truthfully, I don’t know much about medical wings and their uses, so I just made the photos I needed and didn’t ask questions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668366942876-WGZ2ZFBBA0DAIYSRAGOD/DSC_0857.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.11.22 CAM Gala After spending the day battling what I think was food poisoning, I managed to take enough meds and drink enough water to drag myself to photograph CAM’s annual gala. The museum was absolutely decked out in colorful decor. It’s honestly never looked better. Each area had a different color and the Great Hall was a mix of them all. Dinner was served to guests, they had a DJ at the top of the stairs doing his thing, and waitstaff walked around offering drinks and treats throughout the evening. After a cursory review of the photos of the evening, I am satisfied that I covered the night adequately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668486255248-6MO3UHW6QSAC34V3COCS/IMG_9806.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.12.22 Important Hardware Store Development She has discovered that Lowe’s has clothes now. This was a bigger news story than the fact that it practically blizzard-ed today. Or that my shoot this evening started by me overhearing an attendee say the work I did for them last year was horrible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668486255246-18H3NYV5DXFTBAS5ZCOA/IMG_9816.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.13.22 Patience is a Myr-tue Chose this photo solely for the title pun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668486257528-A8DVFHWGRBLBL3GWI20A/IMG_9834.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 Macro View of Childhood If you recognize this, you were probably told to stop looking at it lest you ruin your vision. I recently picked up a small tube TV from a friend as my toxic impulse for nostalgia yearned for something from before. The familiar gummy button, the high frequency tone upon it powering on, the static that prickles your finger tips when you wipe away dust from the corner of the convex glass; all of it part and parcel of using supremely outdated but effortlessly charming technology. No cold efficiency, unparalleled visual fidelity, or Borg-like connectivity. Just warm, fuzzy, blissfully dumb 240p. The flag from a time when I didn’t give a shit about anything but what these little micro lights synchronized for my entertainment. When I stare into it now, I feel a little bit of that carefree feeling again, lest I continue to ruin my vision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668658156147-7JMJ80DYVTQ1JEKDTEPV/NZ9_2811-2.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.15.22 Plan B The plan was to hook a Roku up to this old TV so I could watch Star Trek the way I remember originally seeing it. However, no modern Roku apparently supports a 4:3 ratio. I successfully got it to work using an HDMI to AV adapter, but the feed is squished and dark. Unwatchable, sadly. But I was determined to make this TV work for me regardless. Plan B was to dust off my childhood PlayStation and see if I couldn’t have a little fun that way. I found all five games I still had for it and fired it up. The disc drive is a little louder than I remember it being, but only at startup. Honestly, playing Mega Man 8 on this thing is so much more wholesome and enjoyable than I ever realized it could be. (Also, yes, I lit this with green and purple for effect.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668658156288-DVTJTGBEAMYXP7IN7IQ7/IMG_9847.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.16.22 Welding A shot of Anthony welding. I hid my eyes behind my phone’s screen to protect my vision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1668745276331-D6505NZQJZ6OUUHO5CM6/DSC_2876.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.17.22 Bi-Lighting I wanted to play around with dramatically lighting something tonight before bed. I didn’t spend the time to figure out the shadows, though, and I should’ve done better about dusting it off before lighting it. My Lume Cube (yellow) is great when I can match the output on my off-camera strobe (purple), but finding that point between is tricky sometimes. Because I’ve been working so much and because I’ve always wanted two flashes for better ways to light things this way, I actually ordered a new flash. When paired with the other one and set to the right receiver channel, I should be able to fire both at the same time. Looking forward to trying some portraits and coming up with easier ways to dynamically light objects for effect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178932008-L7W9X4U20XHVR1V0XJ53/IMG_9872.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.18.22 Finished Products If you go to Northwood Cider Co. and get a flight, you’ll be serves four small glasses on one of the flight boards I made for them. Had I been told the proper glass size, the grooves would’ve actually fit the glasses, too. Regardless, it was cool going up to the bar top we made and installed, ordering a flight from the barkeep who has no idea of my relationship to this place, and enjoying some beverages on finished work that I did alone on a mild, windy Saturday several weeks ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178933325-ZLHT17SVD4Z4HQQAAIXX/IMG_9877.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.19.22 Alternate Use I turned our inoperable fireplace into a cozy little nook for plants after cleaning out the soot and grime and installing a grow light to the flue hatch. Since it’s unusable in its current state and we have no intention to use it for gas or wood-burning logs, it made sense to turn it into something useful. I’m pretty happy with the end result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178934562-J169V3OTUSJG8SVSA6JC/IMG_9900.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.20.22 Impossible-to-Erase Tree I love it when nature has a chokehold on human development, no matter how small it is. There’s an electrical wire on Ward Ave with two bits of tree lumped around it. Obviously the tree grew around the wire over the years and when the tree was removed, the pierced sections of branches couldn’t be safely discarded without potentially damaging the wire in the process. Seeing no other route but to avoid a headache down the line, the lumps of branches were left in place to rot on the wire 20 feet above the sidewalk. Normally the remnants of a felled tree are a stump in the ground. This tree did things differently. On the plus side, this is an all-natural and accidental way to keep ice from collecting on the wire during snowstorms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178936711-H6CL0KS20UF9J8FXOL4A/IMG_9916.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.21.22 Night Ball Ashley’s on something like five medications at the moment to solve a sinus and chest congestion issue, so instead of taking up space in the bed (and listening to her hack up a lung/blow her nose all night), we agreed that I would sleep downstairs on the couch to give us both a chance to have the best possible night of sleep. After tucking Myrtle into her dog bed and settling into the couch for the night, I closed my eyes and drifted toward slumber. I heard Myrtle stir and move around a bit, then go still. It was typical of her behavior, so I dismissed it. After a few minutes of not hearing anything, though, I got the feeling I was being watched. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw before me a blanket-draped Myrtle with a ball in her mouth staring intently. It was clearly NOT bedtime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669178939338-K0CZJQ4H2UBV6U80DBJR/305+Overton+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.22.22 The Details 305 Overton Street in Newport was one of two of my assignments today. The owner apparently recently passed away and a relative, the executor of her will, is selling the property. East Newport is one of the nicer areas of NKY, so I don’t expect it to last long once it hits MLS. It needs work, and there’s a lot to update bathroom/kitchen-wise, but the thing it has in spades is old-house beauty. While the fireplaces in this house are designed more like altars of worship than places to burn wood for warmth, there’s a fair amount of positively jaw-dropping stained glass on the first and second floors. The second story room in the front (pictured) had the most stained glass contained to one area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669260626929-JRIK38L498HDROWN7FZQ/DSC_3380-Edit-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.23.22 Little White-Wall Lies One of my favorite things to do is fake the number of items or people in a single frame. We only had one stool for this table shoot, but I moved it around the scene and spliced it all together in post to get what you see here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669516612262-3YM0KJZFHOT135OOZF49/IMG_9965.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.24.22 New Addition to the Pack My sister had a baby recently. This was our first family gathering with her present. She’s very cute and doesn’t really fuss at all. I’m really interested to see who she becomes as she grows up and starts developing her own identity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669516613775-QJAOXIQMNJOFP6NSUBUB/IMG_0007.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.25.22 Ash for Ash Vince gave me two rough pieces of ash a few months back and I’ve been meaning to find a project for them. Ashley came up with an idea for the kitchen, so I sanded them down, attached them into an L configuration, routed a channel for a piece of 1/8th inch steel underneath them to give the joint added strength, and routed the edges. Both pieces were stained and treated with Danish oil, and now it’s drying. Also, I have to keep taking Dayquil or else I feel like I’ve been hit by a train. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669516615910-6V02BT38KJYSKL8KR9FX/ZFC_3692.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.26.22 First Annual Christmas Tree As I understand it, Bellevue had to take down a pine tree in one of the parks and instead of pitching it, they put it up on the Avenue and decorated it for Christmas. It’s the first annual Christmas tree for the city, which implies this will become a yearly tradition. I imagine future trees will come from elsewhere, but it’s neat that Bellevue’s first tree was grown locally and has been part of the city for years. It’s really cute and I love that they did this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669697116389-ITETCV0FCD988TLB6DNE/IMG_0062.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.27.22 Milestone Achieved This isn’t going to look like much, but it’s a big deal to me. While cutting straight lines and finding angles is hard, it’s even harder to make a decent curve in woodworking let alone a circular shape. Having no lathe to turn wood on, I’ve been weary about trying to cut something circular lest I ruin a good piece of wood. But tonight, after making a frame for Ashley, I decided to give it a whirl. Using the bandsaw, I cut a really good oval out of this block of wood. Relief cuts helped along the way, and after getting the rough shape, I proceeded to sand the sides down and route the edges to give it a nice, smooth surface on all three sides. Overall, the process went easier than I’d thought it would and it’s emboldened me to keep doing it. This will eventually become the top of a step stool once I make legs for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669697122498-NQ2JSWXM9P6T9N6SMWZW/DSC_3436-Edit.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.28.22 Just Having Fun On the 17th of this month, I mentioned my desire to have fun lighting objects with gels from two sides. My new flash came in and works well with the one I was using previously. Using a transmitter that sits in the hot shoe atop my Z9, I can fire both strobes simultaneously, each with a different colored gel loaded on them. Tonight, I wanted to experiment with it a little more so I grabbed a miniature Genius of Water statue I have on the shelf and tried lighting it multiple ways. This activity is so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669868404366-WGJFCEFJXZMAX3M5QZ35/324+W+7th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.29.22 Moving On There’s a man living on 7th Street in Covington who is moving to another, much larger home in a nearby neighborhood with his significant other. He didn’t give me all the details, nor did I ask for them, but he made it clear he was going to miss his bachelor pad. He’s bummed he won’t be close to the bars and nightlife he said he conveniently frequented while living in his house. I actually know the house he’s moving to (I shot that one too, oddly enough), but I think my attempts to speak highly about where he’s moving hit like a “you’ll get over it” to the widow at her husband’s funeral. I’m sure it’ll pass for him, but deep down I understood what he was going through. I’ll always have a soft spot for my old 4th Street apartment—my final residence before cohabitation. When a place is yours, it hits different. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669868405065-JTY8LYKDN2407D758DBT/IMG_0117-Edit.jpg daily-photos-nov-2022 - 11.30.22 The Worst Part of My Ride The 11th Street Bridge in Covington sucks. I hate riding it every time I go into the shop. There was a high-profile killing of a bicyclist on it this past summer that rocked the community and spurred interest in reclaiming one of the four lanes of traffic for a protected bike lane. While that will not come to pass for awhile, I have to ride on the lone sidewalk to get as far away from the +40mph drivers as possible. When someone else is riding the opposite direction or someone’s walking, I have to get off and walk my bike to get past them, sometimes on the shoulder to allow enough room. Of course, this bad bridge is preferable to Covington’s other bridge on 4th Street. That one’s somehow even more aggressive to anything that isn’t a car. Is it too much to ask for a single, safe way for cyclists to cross the Licking River? http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-dec-2022 daily 0.75 2022-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1669952357624-HL4CZR857Q7A07GGVYVK/2235+Jo+Ann+Place-+Phil+Armstrong+-23.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.1.22 Vampiring Again Practicing the mirror trick again on yet another little house in the area. I think I do the mirror trick on about two out three places I shoot now. Didn’t even bother with a second image for the camera replacement on this one; it was clean enough to remove without much effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670211197941-XCO9Z1RZY43T6E6K1RJ1/DSC_4075-Edit.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.2.22 Clones I had an all-day shoot in Hamilton, OH today that didn’t go as planned. The details aren’t interesting and can be spared for the sake of this entry, but know it was not I who was unprepared for the shoot. Anyway, while waiting for people to show up to pose for a few shots, I tested my flash to see how it would illuminate bodies in different positions in the room. The end result of this preparation combined with boredom is what you see above. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389085142-DQIS1P1X3XIW21SJ115L/IMG_0181.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.3.22 Never Not Pretty One of the greatest privileges of my life is having fresh cut flowers in our home at any given time. Because of Ashley’s role in the floral world, we’re always endowed with a fresh bouquet somewhere in the house. The flowers won’t last forever, nor will this privilege, so I’m enjoying it while it lasts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389079616-XYCI231TMYJCDK9DM0WC/IMG_0182.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.4.22 Beginning to Look a Lot Like…You Know Eclectic Christmas trees, a Santa that’s older than almost everyone I know, and a blurry iPhone photo because I spent the day working with my hands and not my camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389081998-XAGV3MZMYL34V0RMHLH9/ZFC_3727-Edit.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.5.22 Sapele Mahogany Swing Joe and Joe made this handsome outdoor swing out of sapele mahogany. It was finished today and we strung it up for photos before shipping out to the client later this week. The chains are rated for a much heavier load and look a little proportionally goofy, but that will change when it gets to the customer. No, I didn’t try it out; if the button on my pants or something left a scratch, I’d never forgive myself for making an avoidable and pointless mistake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670389087591-35GTMXHPE9HBCR0XRWGQ/IMG_0218.jpeg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.6.22 Design & Plan & Build Against my better judgment, I’ve agreed to do a carpentry project for a video production company in Norwood. They need four floating, ornate walls to use as backdrops for an upcoming shoot later this month which means planning and building needs to happen ASAP. My build days are next week, so today I’ve been sketching out schematics and measurements, figuring out the budget and materials list, and compiling it all for the client. As the rain pours loudly right outside my window, I sit quietly with schematics on my iPad, eating pizza and downing Coke, Deep Space Nine playing in the other room, and a sense that this will be a fun portfolio piece once it’s all done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1670465041730-FQSFH8BH82228SDCCWHF/DSC_4226-Edit.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.7.22 Myrtle Christmas 2022 Tonight marks the sixth year we’ve done a Myrtle Christmas card photo. The placement of the tree is different this year, but the spirit is the same. I don’t think I’ll ever top the composition of the 2020 photo, but I like the way this one is lit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162215664-GZ8I0PZ4K2XMC73ATMZV/209+6th+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong-44-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.8.22 A Beautiful Sconce I shot a beautiful house in Dayton, KY today that had a load of gorgeous old house features, including this darling wall sconce in the hallway upstairs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162216095-TZONXHEEJG0L7JCOUYMB/IMG_0303.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.9.22 Fresh Coat I have a grey metal filing cabinet for important documents that bore me to death. Over the years, the cabinet has been dented and scratched during its many moves. It’s not overly attractive, and after growing tired of seeing an ugly grey cabinet in the office, I painted it white. Thin coats dry quickly, so I managed to do it all in one evening. It looks far better now than it ever did in grey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162218883-L9AWWXSU6YPEKIBRY62Z/IMG_0284.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.10.22 Holiday Bright Ride Having missed the 2022 Blink communal ride, I vowed to make sure I didn’t miss the holiday version. While it made me a little nervous riding around the basin during the height of traffic on a Saturday night, being in a big group was a lot of fun. It was also Santacon, so everywhere was packed with drunken Santas who largely cheered us on from the sidewalks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162220185-32DG48I5JU88BIJWF8WD/IMG_0299.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.11.22 Found a 4 in the Wild The title says it all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162221452-YIK21BKXU0EAKBCEESDQ/IMG_0309.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.12.22 Ice Cream Time She got to sit in the front seat since Ashley’s on a work trip. This is a look of confusion. Truth be told, I had her up front because I had a bunch of tools taking up the back and boot, so this was the only available seat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162222795-VRU96UO0SFHRSGY02WLH/IMG_0312.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.13.22 Floating Wall Progress Last year, I did a carpentry project for the City of Bellevue and worked on a big structure inside an abandoned theater for a week. This year, I’m building floating walls to use as stylish backdrops for RESLV, a local video company (that also employs Steve), and I’m building it in the garage of their historic firehouse-turned-office. I got all four frames finished and one face put together, but there’s still a lot of work left to do. I’ll resume building on Thursday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162228440-3F95693V870JFK6G8G6L/NZ9_5436.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.14.22 A Long, Crazy Day Myrtle went to daycare, I went to the wood shop for the final time this year, we had our work party at Elusive Cow and B-List, then I went to the Art Museum and shot the opening of the new Bollywood exhibit, then I went to the mayor of Bellevue’s house for a gathering because I was appointed to the Code Enforcement Board earlier that night, then I went to a friend’s house for late-night beers before going home at midnight and collapsing in a heap of exhaustion. It was an insane day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671162227599-O09GPO71H8WWUBVHT2JY/IMG_0334.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.15.22 Ready For Color Because Myrtle’s in daycare, I woke up and went straight to RESLV to keep working on the floating wall project. It’s a massive load off my conscience when I know she’s not at home by herself and bored. I worked from about 9 AM until 7:30 PM on these walls and made it to a good stopping point before cleaning up my mess and heading home. I’ll paint them tomorrow and move them upstairs to the video studio. Will sleep very well tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671504624765-4V9TEJKJFWDY31JA7GIU/IMG_0336.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.16.22 Hansman’s Sometimes when I go to Unataza, I continue further east to Hansman’s where I grab a hot biscuit/egg/cheese/sausage or goetta sandwich out of the warmer for a couple of of bucks. It’s by no means a healthy breakfast but it hits the spot, and it’s very close to what I always envisioned a perfect quick neighborhood breakfast could be. Sometimes the biscuits are fresh and crispy. Other times they’re softer from sitting in the warmer. Make sure to always read the label to confirm the one you’ve grabbed has cheese. For less than $3, you can’t go wrong. Oh, and while I’m not a start-the-morning-with-a-donut kind of guy, I have been swayed a few times by what’s behind the counter glass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671504624708-00QADLYHT396T67FL5M5/IMG_0370.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.17.22 Christmas Parties I took a break from working today and instead ran errands all over town before going to two different Christmas parties. Both were a lot of fun, and I wish I could’ve split myself in two to enjoy each more fully. At one point, we played a drinking card game that was so raucous and fun, I wondered why it wasn’t part of every gathering with friends. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671504627253-SXSSHVRLDIM45XZYI4EL/IMG_0379.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.18.22 Yet to Descend From what I’ve read online, there is a tradition where all the people and animals in a Nativity scene sit and stare at an empty cradle until December 25th. On that day, a tiny baby JC is added to complete the Biblical scene. The Nativity miniature we had in our house as kids just had the the baby glued into the cradle already, so this tradition was new to me. While at Ashley’s grandparents’ house, I noticed their baby wasn’t in the cradle yet and it made me laugh that he just has to jazz-hands at the ceiling for an entire month one floor up from where he will eventually land. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671505289794-AEHCQ71Q1YPEQJ27XE6F/IMG_0380.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.19.22 Project Complete It took me two extra days, but I got them done. The floating walls are in the studio, painted, and ready for use. Happy with how they turned out and quietly excited to see them in action at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856706170-XGHH9XN21DY9TJTY4RY0/IMG_0394.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.20.22 Over the River and Through the Bridge To a Christmas party we go. (I wasn’t driving.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856706879-PPRX2D5BPSPHCA6Q2D43/2201+Reading+Road+Unit+2+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.21.22 Still Moment During a Busy Day Three rentals today, all for the same client. The big house in Mount Auburn was my favorite, and the two apartments on Reading Road were nice enough. I always like seeing what decor the owners choose to tchotchke up the joint. Didn’t think much of this shot when I took it, but after getting it into Lightroom later, the color stood out to me. Also did the rest of my Christmas shopping, so I’m ready for a bourbon and egg nog to wind this day down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856708190-3DFINXL96F88U1A2YF6J/IMG_0436.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.22.22 Impending Cold There’s a colossal winter storm raging outdoors at the moment. Thankfully, we retrieved Ashley’s mom from the airport before the blizzard made roads impassable. I don’t like cutting it close like that. The best thing one can do during a weather event is stay put inside and keep off the roads. One less potential headache for emergency crews. Anyway, we outran the fast-approaching snowflakes and made it home safely, and now we’re waiting for subzero conditions to turn our home into a delicate fortress of warmth that could topple any moment if the power decides to go out. Earlier today, I thought the approaching storm was sort of exciting. I’ve since changed my tune. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671856711697-F9R361ZZ22NH9QYJ1EJQ/ZFC_3746.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.23.22 -20ºF I was outside for a total of 2 minutes today. The flag pole had been torn from its screws in the brick by the 50 mph winds, so I had to take it the rest of the way off the column to keep it from banging about. Everything is covered in snow—including our covered porch—but that’s not the issue. With the windchill, it feels like -20ºF out right now (without, it’s -1ºF). While outside for that brief time, I felt my nose hairs freeze and my mustache harden with ice. Continually blinking away the sting of the cold, my lungs lightly burned every time I took a breath. Though the sun was shining brightly, I don’t think I’ve ever felt cold like that in my life. I went back inside and worked on photo editing for the rest of the day. As I write this, we haven’t lost power (knock on wood), but our water pressure is very low. I think there’s a water main issue somewhere up the street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1671989927229-3PCRVAG698Y2DXHD72SN/IMG_0442.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.24.22 Neighborhood Announcement A neighbor on our street has a proclamation. He’s fed up with this cold, and for once, I don’t blame him. While I wouldn’t choose Florida, I wouldn’t mind being in a warmer place at the moment. Honestly, this Christmas kinda sucks, and I don’t think it’s solely because of the storm. I am fortunately/unfortunately someone who enjoys their regular life, and this week disrupts that with obligations based in social traditions for the sake of a figure I do not worship and a religion I do not follow. I know the holiday season is more than that, but aside from seeing my family for an evening, I do not enjoy this time of year overall. It’s not sappy Hallmark thing for me like it is for others. I recognize my flaw of wanting to be contrarian by default, and maybe it’s partially that which makes me feel this way, but I can’t say for sure. Just feeling overwhelmingly detached and introverted this year—more so than other years. And with every passing year, Christmas kind of becomes more depressing as people’s lives change, their opinions grow stronger, they pass away, they get divorced, and other factors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672022870235-WFKAU4F6S5MBL3ZCEBJT/ZFC_3778.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.25.22 Sisters Kiran and Esmeray on Christmas night (my sister’s kids). Esmeray is a very relaxed baby, and Kiran is all personality. I get it when people say “this is a very fun age” because Kiran says some of the funniest stuff without even meaning to, and she says it so innocently. She one time called lasagne “crazy pizza” and it makes me laugh every time I think about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627878925-NEH4HN5AE489SCPOL7TJ/IMG_0485.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.26.22 The Floor It feels amazing to lay on the floor sometimes. Just flattening my back out and completely at rest. This view doesn’t last long before a doodle dog wanders over delighted to see someone beneath her default height. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627879330-ILMOAQOSRV3N4IXD0AR0/IMG_0496.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.27.22 True Lies Kevin and I walked down to The Garage in Dayton and had a private showing of True Lies over beer and Taqueria Nogal takeout. I’d never seen it before and he swore it was worth a watch. He wasn’t wrong—truly fun and stupid and exactly what I wanted. It’s a shame James Cameron didn’t let his hair down more with fun movies like that instead of going the ultra-serious route. Was walked back home just before midnight and enjoyed a quiet stroll through the neighborhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627539228-MVBWXHV29MN80NN0TZ0R/IMG_0504.JPG daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.28.22 Toys Were Us Took a trip out to Xenia to check out a lumber yard and then wandered around to a few other shops I’ve been meaning to check out before landing at Rockler in Tri-County. Beside Rockler is a big empty former Toys R Us. The contrast of the missing sign held my gaze for awhile. It’s sad to see a rejection of fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627882900-5FMM76SGO8DCGWCWGIK1/IMG_0518.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.29.22 Mobile Countertops Testing an idea I had for increasing the amount of counter space when we have company. I made an L-shaped countertop that we can simply place over the existing structures to better serve dishes when we have people over for a meal or potluck. Since our kitchen is little, making use of every available inch is crucial. The doorway it blocks is the path to the basement, which guests have no reason to access. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672627884279-0XCBNHD773JUOP18QBWJ/IMG_0544.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.30.22 Party Night! Rene’s in from Germany, so we got the gang together for cards and drinks and general merriment! I need to be better at taking real photos of people instead of bad forward-facing camera photos on a timer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672629323788-JCR18FUMCHIW4OB4ZRA6/ZFC_3808-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2022 - 12.31.22 Calendar Reset We went to a neighbor’s house for light bites and a beer. We then met up with Steve and his new girlfriend downtown for Mexican. Then we met up with Justin and Annie and the rest of their crew for drinks at Fifty Fifty Gin Club to ring in the new year. While there, Justin asked me if I would be a groomsman in his wedding. Of course I said yes. He’s one of the best people I know. I’m honored to be part of his and Annie’s upcoming day, and it was a perfect way to end the year. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jan-2023 daily 0.75 2023-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672631628200-RCM8EDI8Z3TUXE3Z6TID/DSC_6948-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.1.23 Four Years: Complete No one cares about this, but yesterday I completed four full years of this daily photo project. That’s 1461 photos over as many days. It’s been a rewarding daily exercise wandering around trying to figure out what to shoot each day and pair it with a journal of thoughts, feelings, and/or brief recounting of events. (Note: I didn’t journal for the first eleven months of 2019 as the photos only existed on Twitter at that time and later migrated to this archive in December of that year when I knew I wanted to keep it going.) It is cliche to say something like “so much life has been lived in the last four years” and talk about COVID and marriage and moving and all that, so I won’t. Today’s photo was the result of hopping on my bike in search of something interesting to photograph after a day of being cooped up building a cross cut sled for my table saw in my garage. 9th and Elm Streets is a photogenic corner from a certain perspective. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672754966817-CCSATTOFBJH210QTP58T/DSC_6962-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.2.23 Quiet Ride It was another fine night to hop on the bike and go for a ride. “Avoid Downtown because of the game,” Ashley warned. Not heeding her warning at all, I went directly Downtown and didn’t see much in the way of activity above 6th Street. It’s so odd how one corner of the core can be bustling, and then you go one more street north and it just deadens to silence. While many would find this sort of thing unappealing, I live for it. One of my favorite things about not living in a popular American city is how you can find relative peace in the urban core if you know where to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673016759065-1R7J6ZF30MOT06U1Q90Q/ZFC_3878-Pano-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.3.23 Saint Bernard Church Rode around Dayton, KY this evening. Here’s Saint Bernard Church. The lighting on it coupled with the rich muddiness of a freshly drained sky was too good to roll past without stopping for a photo. According to its website, this is the third church built (1914) on this spot. The parish outgrew the first one and the second one was destroyed by flood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673016758802-6K1DWL92PZF477HJWSGJ/IMG_0623.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.4.23 Going Screenless After some deliberation and realizing that every place to sit faced one direction (toward a screen), I moved the TV out of the living room entirely. I want the living room to be a place to relax without everyone having to stare into the corner. The result is a more inviting, more conversation-inducing, overall better place where we can sit with others and talk without a screen taking up a fifth of the space. (I’m in the process of configuring a media room elsewhere in the house.) Shaking the convention of a TV being the centerpiece of a room has not only made our space feel bigger, but also sets the social tone that room deserves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673015640503-BNEE6LTMHFZGYKIAENDS/ZFC_3906.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.5.23 Final Piece of the Puzzle Ashley’s been working on a vintage flower poster puzzle over the last few days. I initially resisted doing any of it for some reason, but eventually the call to place a few pieces overcame me and I ended up doing quite a bit of it. I’m not a total monster, though, so I left the final piece for her to place and we made this dramatic photo to document its completion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364453286-1SB5BZDR9EV11BLYT43R/IMG_0662.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.6.23 The Coziest Patio in Cincy Mt. Adams is just fine. It has great views of the surrounding area, it’s a challenging hike (in a good way) depending on the street, and its close proximity to Eden Park is probably its highlight feature. As far as dining and drinking goes, however, it leaves a lot to be desired. That said, probably the coziest bar in the entire city is Blind Lemon’s. I’ve never been to Blind Lemon in the summertime because it’s always been a winter bar in my mind, and because of its unintentional seasonal exclusivity, it’s a personal treat. The Blind Bailey’s (Bailey’s, coffee, cocoa) is light on booze and a great way to end the night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364453069-WG4XJMCGJV8IG88F258M/IMG_0668.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.7.23 Lost Treasures of Cincinnati Currently reading Amy E. Brownlee’s ‘Lost Treasures of Cincinnati’ whenever I have a moment to sit down on the couch. It’s full of info about long-gone places that used to speckle our urban landscape. The biggest gut-punch was a blurb on Sixty Second Shops: a series of hamburger stands that existed near every streetcar stop and served what we commonly know now to be Frisch’s Big Boy’s signature burger without the branding. And these shops were open 24 hours a day, too. TAKE ME BACK. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364457083-KIVBBV8S7D4C4YM7J499/ZFC_3911.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.8.23 Moxy If you’re local, this image will likely be burned into your screen before long because everyone will be posting it. Moxy, a new bakery and coffee shop in Findlay Market, has a beautiful and small space right next to The Columns on the south side of the market, and this view is the stand-out angle in mine and many others’ opinions. They serve Urbana Coffee and make their own sweet and savory baked goods in the shop. It’s really good and I plan to go back often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364456364-2MNW9DULTH9Q4LI8ARBL/ZFC_3931.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.9.23 Return to the Shop I haven’t been in the woodshop in Covington for weeks due to the holidays and building its website last week, but today I returned. It was really nice to be back in there with John and Anthony doing odd jobs around the space to prep for all the work we’ll be doing over the next few months. I never stopped building and doing woodworking during my time off, so I didn’t feel out of practice, but my legs at the end of the day were sore from all the stairs and lifting and running around. The pain was of the pleasant variety, though. I think about this all the time, but it hit me especially hard when I got home: I don’t think I will ever choose to go back to a desk job if I can help it. Physically working all day brings me a level of satisfaction I just don’t get at a desk. Of course, my mind could change at some point, but that’s how I feel at this moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708684029-UXH1EERQTT3IEUUF2Q05/IMG_0690.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.10.23 Technology is Rad Myrtle and I went on a night walk this evening to stretch our legs. I took my camera and tripod with me so I could find today’s photo while walking the neighborhood. I found something I liked, got my tripod set up, mounted the camera, and aimed toward my subject when I realized I’d left the memory card at home. I quickly searched my bag to see if past Phil was kind enough to future proof this type of situation, but he hadn’t. On the way back to the house, I stopped and took this image on my phone without a tripod. The scene was dark enough that I couldn’t see half the details this image later revealed while I was there taking it, and I’m now marveling at the technology baked into my iPhone. I’ve probably said it several times before on previous images, but I am routinely impressed by how far phone cameras have come since my first camera phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708687180-JCDLB9SSBZEAJMOLAGXG/IMG_0693.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.11.23 Covington’s Architecture The wood shop is a block away from the Madison Road Kroger in Covington. Sometimes I walk over to it to get food for lunch. While on my way back, I stopped to admire this beauty across the street. Covington has a great deal of beautiful old houses that rival Cincinnati’s stock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708691304-Y5FEYYIS62Z2KOWHGN13/IMG_0714.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.12.23 Woodburn Exchange Single Batch Designs has the commission for a hanging steel structure inside the upcoming Woodburn Exchange. Today we made templates based on where the bolts are currently hung from the ceiling. Those bolts will be the connection points for the structure. The project was over my head (literally and figuratively), but Joe knew what he was doing, and that’s what ultimately matters. I provided physical assistance and little else; this project hasn’t been something I’ve been involved with, so I know next to nothing about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708691429-8D34XEW1KEVOBN2ZJ41S/IMG_0728.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.13.23 The Power of Saddlebags Because I’m using my bike more and more, I needed a way to transport my dailies to and from my destinations without strapping them to my back every time. Saddlebags were the answer. I was able to stuff everything I needed into the two pockets and ride to work unencumbered this morning. It was really nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168238758-ZDL8EQVQEU8LQMGAE0Y8/DSC_3943-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.14.23 Fresca Went out with Travis and Rob tonight. We hit up a load of bars and places of interest outside the core, including Hi-Mark in the East End. I really liked this corner with the vintage Fresca sign. We played skeeball and moved around to a few other places before heading back downtown to meet up with Justin on a very raucous Main Street at The Drinkery for likely one of the last weekends we’ll have at that place before it becomes a new bar. Shutting down a place like that and staying after the lights come on is such an odd feeling; there’s no Semisonic or fanfare for a job well done staying out this late. The party just abruptly stops and everyone shuffles out without a backing track. Picked up my bike from Travis’ and rode home in the 24ºF early morning air. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. I think that was because having a good night out with the guys warms the heart in ways I can’t get in any other fashion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168193197-LT4I3WNHF2LX0UEBGUHN/IMG_0750.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.15.23 Assistant Wood Handler My neighbors asked if I would build them a porch gate like the one I have on my porch, so I went to Home Depot to pick up a couple of 2x4s. Since they’re eight feet long, they have to stretch from the back hatch through to the front seats. At one point, Ashley squealed as she looked in the back seat. Turning around, I wasn’t prepared for the cuteness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168193350-MNM5ED5RL1Y5BB8NBAKZ/IMG_0759.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.16.23 Staying HBO Current Steve has a podcast called Streaming Things in which he and his co-hosts talk about the movies and TV shows they’re streaming week to week. I don’t often listen anymore because I never know what they’re talking about since I spend 99% of my movie/TV show time watching old Star Trek, but today I decided I’d watch HBOs new apocalyptic drama The Last of Us to stay current with the podcast. This series is brutal and hard to stomach because of the amount of trauma it deals with. It started as a video game in 2013, released a sequel years later, and is now being adapted for TV. I played both games in years past, so I’m familiar with the story already, and I think that’s why this is a hard watch. 10 minutes into the show, I could feel my chest tightening and the anxiety washing over me. Not-so-fun fact: at the start of the pandemic when everyone was asked to stay inside, I downloaded the first one again as something I could do to pass time, and I couldn’t have picked a worse story to devour during the uncertainty of a real-world viral plague. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168210456-7J65VC5AF0UH4F4E6OR6/DSC_3972.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.17.23 Golden Hour in Newport After a day of photoshoots downtown, I raced home in perfect weather and got Myrtle out of the house. We took a walk to Reser Bicycle Outfitters to get chain oil then made our way back home before dark. It was nice to stretch our legs together. (Ashley’s in Miami for work.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168201641-OCBUHUYAM257RA18JXDJ/IMG_0797.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.18.23 Free Pallet Among the many great things about Covington is its consistency of being an excellent place for free junk removal. While we place free items on the sidewalk for others, it’s actually nice for us to see something cumbersome removed without any effort on our part. Our trash becomes someone else’s treasure. In this case, a Mega Pallet probably contains at least a couple hundred bucks of lumber that we will not use, and instead of trashing it or burning it, someone else might find it useful. I’m not in the shop tomorrow, but I suspect Mega Pallet will have been re-homed by Friday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530893562-STGKJZ1R66PDDN0H40H7/IMG_0814.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.19.23 A Short Window Working from home today was hard not because of the workload but because of the beautiful weather we were experiencing in the middle of January. I made mental plans to walk Myrtle and ride my bike after work in the spring-like air. It was going to be great—until I checked my weather app. Spring weather also brings spring storms, and we were due for a round of heavies around 3 PM. Deciding work could wait, I put Myrtle’s collar on and we set out on a pleasant hour long walk around the neighborhood. It felt amazing to be out without a jacket on. Within a half hour of us returning home, the sky darkened and started pouring rain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530894526-ZBKZNP0BL2WTMGTQQCRK/DSC_3987.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.20.23 Milton’s Paul and Kristen were in town, so a small group got together for drinks. We ended the night upstairs at Milton’s, pumping token after token into Touchtunes from our phones and playing ridiculous songs to lightly troll everyone downstairs. Until about the time we left, we had the whole floor to ourselves. It was really nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530898765-VWZWVSEECVRTHYO7J0GD/DSC_4023.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.21.23 Wise Guys I turned 37 today. The exciting part is I got to check out the movie set they’re putting up on 8th Street. The movie’s called ‘Wise Guys’ and stars Robert DeNiro. As far as I can tell, it’s set in the 50s or early 60s. False storefronts went up over Arnold’s, Algin, and John Schneider’s building across the street. Period-specific cars filled the parking lot across from The Renaissance, which look amazing against the backdrop of a preserved Cincinnati. I get why they film mid-century flicks here. Let’s hope the movie itself is decent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530898767-ZHK83NSL07QMEXNQSF9R/IMG_0915.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.22.23 I Did Nothing Today Here’s a photo of part of a metal picture I have hanging on my wall. It snowed like hell over night, but I didn’t get any photos of it today. Instead, I did nothing. I sat around, watched TV, and waited for the new episode of The Last of Us to hit my feed. I cannot remember the last time I did so little in a single day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530901559-KQZAUA95TXKK3QZGEBIP/DSC_4041.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.23.23 Punk Rock Kitchenette Last summer I cleaned and organized the kitchenette at the shop. I made a shelf for our mugs and such so we could keep the counter clear for use and put away anything that wasn’t used regularly. To encourage my coworkers to maintain the space, I made a modest “NO CLUTTER” sign. Surprisingly, they verbally committed to keeping it clean. Sometimes all it takes is a reset to kick us into better habit-forming behaviors, right? Well, that same sign has since been graffitied and buried in what it exists to dispel. I tried! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674790121732-HIG7JIB29BVDV988JY06/IMG_0934.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.24.23 Alterations To complete our TV room in the finished side of the basement, we bought a sleeper couch to replace the queen bed that was down there. But when the delivery people came, we discovered the couch was too wide to fit through the second door. At least it got INTO the house, though? Defeated in the moment, I told the men to drop it off on the unfinished side and let me deal with it. After some brainstorming, I removed 10 inches of wall and part of the door frame to get it into place. So yeah, the couch is nice, but now I have to rebuild part of the wall and door frame… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674790123184-7LMCCIBVWFUXB8YFB1BE/DSC_4056.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.25.23 (Usually Correct) Assumptions My car does this thing where it guesses where I’m going and pre-loads directions when I get in and engage Apple CarPlay. Unataza is almost always its guess on weekdays, and nails it every time on Sundays. It’s scary how AI recognizes life patterns and then holds the mirror up to your gobsmacked face in chilling-yet-helpful ways like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674790124373-GT2WI3Y4QZBC3OJZ3WNG/IMG_0966.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.26.23 Local Government I was nominated for and voted onto the Bellevue Code Enforcement Board late last year. Tonight was my first official meeting (they gave me a little name card and everything). This marks my first foray into local government. While I cannot say I’ve ever envisioned this path for myself, this position kind of snuck up on me and I took it as a way to be more involved in our city. I have no aspirations for Council or anything, but I figured I could maybe be of some use in this small capacity. The highlight of the meeting was taking the Kentucky Judicial Oath of Office which ends with a hilarious bit about promising not to duel anyone: “I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within this State nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second in carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God.” Also, I walked nearly 11 miles and 21,000 steps today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675024398756-NMVYAQI34OXJQ6UPIJLO/IMG_1005.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.27.23 In For the Evening Had a pretty stressful day at work. Came home, changed, cracked a beer, and sat on the couch with Myrtle all night. Normally I’d be out on a Friday evening, but tonight I just wanted to quietly rest with a little Star Trek, carryout, and this fluffy creature who likes being covered in blankets like a baby. (Because that’s what she is.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675024400740-VH872ZN7A3B9VPX3150P/DSC_4065-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.28.23 Incredible Exercise Day Since I started wearing a smart watch again to motivate me into exercise, I’ve begun filling my hours with walks and rides in order to see my stats improve. I guess I love data more than actually being healthy in this moment, but I’ll take it. After walking 3.5 miles in the morning, I set out on a 20 mile bike ride in the afternoon. The weather was incredibly mild and sunny, making for perfect ride conditions all around. I zipped through Dayton, KY before heading over the bridge to ride to the East End, back downtown, over to Queensgate, and back over the bridge to Newport. I stopped for photos along the route and saw a friend on his bike down by the river. After putting my bike away for the day, I felt absolutely unstoppable instead of tired. The physical and mental high I had after that ride is one of the greatest feelings I’ve had in a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675182761876-RVC1TTS2A5D4V6NQKW65/IMG_1028.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.29.23 81 His birthday party was overshadowed by the football game, so while half the eyes in the room were glued to a TV in the corner, we celebrated Ashley’s grandfather’s 81st birthday. No one likes the cake he asks for every year except me and him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675182764138-Y63RKL67EVA7NLM4Z8KZ/IMG_1038-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.30.23 Walking Along Scott Street I spend half my week at 15th and Scott Streets in Covington. On days I don’t pack a lunch, I will go out in search of a place to grab a bite. Since motivating myself with a smart watch again, I’ve been walking to get food more often and record my path. Unfortunately, that usually means having to walk about a mile north to the area around Hotel Covington to get anything quick and easy. Along the route are many old buildings in various conditions; many are dilapidated and in need of repair while others are in good shape. I’m instinctively drawn to the more rundown due to their unique visual flavor, but it’s a double-edged sword. I wish they were in better shape overall and the people who lived there weren’t subjected to poor living conditions. I don’t make a habit of photographing places in poor conditions if I think someone is currently living there because I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Since this one looked freshly vacated judging by the boards on all the openings, I didn’t think it would hurt to get a quick snapshot. It’s a beautiful building despite its current state and at one time I’m sure it was a desirable place to live for many. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675223601867-2JQR9CR7KJ512YWC93WC/DSC_7698-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2023 - 1.31.23 Oakland No, not the Oakland Roman Mars describes as having a beautiful downtown. Oakland Avenue in Covington. I shot this house for my favorite realtor, Rebecca, today. It’ll hit the market on Thursday, I think. Shooting exteriors in the winter here is so difficult and today’s grey skies didn’t help the overall look of every shot, but I did my best. Aside from rigging the whole place with massive temperature controlled lights pointing into the house from the outside to create artificial sunlight, there’s little I can do about the lackluster conditions of the day. With a little post-production work on them, they feel warmer and more like how the house would feel during a not-as-grey day. Hoping my part of this process helps them sell it within their preferred timeline. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-all-2023 daily 0.75 2023-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672631628200-RCM8EDI8Z3TUXE3Z6TID/DSC_6948-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.1.23 Four Years: Complete No one cares about this, but yesterday I completed four full years of this daily photo project. That’s 1461 photos over as many days. It’s been a rewarding daily exercise wandering around trying to figure out what to shoot each day and pair it with a journal of thoughts, feelings, and/or brief recounting of events. (Note: I didn’t journal for the first eleven months of 2019 as the photos only existed on Twitter at that time and later migrated to this archive in December of that year when I knew I wanted to keep it going.) It is cliche to say something like “so much life has been lived in the last four years” and talk about COVID and marriage and moving and all that, so I won’t. Today’s photo was the result of hopping on my bike in search of something interesting to photograph after a day of being cooped up building a cross cut sled for my table saw in my garage. 9th and Elm Streets is a photogenic corner from a certain perspective. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1672754966817-CCSATTOFBJH210QTP58T/DSC_6962-HDR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.2.23 Quiet Ride It was another fine night to hop on the bike and go for a ride. “Avoid Downtown because of the game,” Ashley warned. Not heeding her warning at all, I went directly Downtown and didn’t see much in the way of activity above 6th Street. It’s so odd how one corner of the core can be bustling, and then you go one more street north and it just deadens to silence. While many would find this sort of thing unappealing, I live for it. One of my favorite things about not living in a popular American city is how you can find relative peace in the urban core if you know where to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673016759065-1R7J6ZF30MOT06U1Q90Q/ZFC_3878-Pano-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.3.23 Saint Bernard Church Rode around Dayton, KY this evening. Here’s Saint Bernard Church. The lighting on it coupled with the rich muddiness of a freshly drained sky was too good to roll past without stopping for a photo. According to its website, this is the third church built (1914) on this spot. The parish outgrew the first one and the second one was destroyed by flood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673016758802-6K1DWL92PZF477HJWSGJ/IMG_0623.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.4.23 Going Screenless After some deliberation and realizing that every place to sit faced one direction (toward a screen), I moved the TV out of the living room entirely. I want the living room to be a place to relax without everyone having to stare into the corner. The result is a more inviting, more conversation-inducing, overall better place where we can sit with others and talk without a screen taking up a fifth of the space. (I’m in the process of configuring a media room elsewhere in the house.) Shaking the convention of a TV being the centerpiece of a room has not only made our space feel bigger, but also sets the social tone that room deserves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673015640503-BNEE6LTMHFZGYKIAENDS/ZFC_3906.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.5.23 Final Piece of the Puzzle Ashley’s been working on a vintage flower poster puzzle over the last few days. I initially resisted doing any of it for some reason, but eventually the call to place a few pieces overcame me and I ended up doing quite a bit of it. I’m not a total monster, though, so I left the final piece for her to place and we made this dramatic photo to document its completion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364453286-1SB5BZDR9EV11BLYT43R/IMG_0662.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.6.23 The Coziest Patio in Cincy Mt. Adams is just fine. It has great views of the surrounding area, it’s a challenging hike (in a good way) depending on the street, and its close proximity to Eden Park is probably its highlight feature. As far as dining and drinking goes, however, it leaves a lot to be desired. That said, probably the coziest bar in the entire city is Blind Lemon’s. I’ve never been to Blind Lemon in the summertime because it’s always been a winter bar in my mind, and because of its unintentional seasonal exclusivity, it’s a personal treat. The Blind Bailey’s (Bailey’s, coffee, cocoa) is light on booze and a great way to end the night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364453069-WG4XJMCGJV8IG88F258M/IMG_0668.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.7.23 Lost Treasures of Cincinnati Currently reading Amy E. Brownlee’s ‘Lost Treasures of Cincinnati’ whenever I have a moment to sit down on the couch. It’s full of info about long-gone places that used to speckle our urban landscape. The biggest gut-punch was a blurb on Sixty Second Shops: a series of hamburger stands that existed near every streetcar stop and served what we commonly know now to be Frisch’s Big Boy’s signature burger without the branding. And these shops were open 24 hours a day, too. TAKE ME BACK. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364457083-KIVBBV8S7D4C4YM7J499/ZFC_3911.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.8.23 Moxy If you’re local, this image will likely be burned into your screen before long because everyone will be posting it. Moxy, a new bakery and coffee shop in Findlay Market, has a beautiful and small space right next to The Columns on the south side of the market, and this view is the stand-out angle in mine and many others’ opinions. They serve Urbana Coffee and make their own sweet and savory baked goods in the shop. It’s really good and I plan to go back often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673364456364-2MNW9DULTH9Q4LI8ARBL/ZFC_3931.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.9.23 Return to the Shop I haven’t been in the woodshop in Covington for weeks due to the holidays and building its website last week, but today I returned. It was really nice to be back in there with John and Anthony doing odd jobs around the space to prep for all the work we’ll be doing over the next few months. I never stopped building and doing woodworking during my time off, so I didn’t feel out of practice, but my legs at the end of the day were sore from all the stairs and lifting and running around. The pain was of the pleasant variety, though. I think about this all the time, but it hit me especially hard when I got home: I don’t think I will ever choose to go back to a desk job if I can help it. Physically working all day brings me a level of satisfaction I just don’t get at a desk. Of course, my mind could change at some point, but that’s how I feel at this moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708684029-UXH1EERQTT3IEUUF2Q05/IMG_0690.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.10.23 Technology is Rad Myrtle and I went on a night walk this evening to stretch our legs. I took my camera and tripod with me so I could find today’s photo while walking the neighborhood. I found something I liked, got my tripod set up, mounted the camera, and aimed toward my subject when I realized I’d left the memory card at home. I quickly searched my bag to see if past Phil was kind enough to future proof this type of situation, but he hadn’t. On the way back to the house, I stopped and took this image on my phone without a tripod. The scene was dark enough that I couldn’t see half the details this image later revealed while I was there taking it, and I’m now marveling at the technology baked into my iPhone. I’ve probably said it several times before on previous images, but I am routinely impressed by how far phone cameras have come since my first camera phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708687180-JCDLB9SSBZEAJMOLAGXG/IMG_0693.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.11.23 Covington’s Architecture The wood shop is a block away from the Madison Road Kroger in Covington. Sometimes I walk over to it to get food for lunch. While on my way back, I stopped to admire this beauty across the street. Covington has a great deal of beautiful old houses that rival Cincinnati’s stock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708691304-Y5FEYYIS62Z2KOWHGN13/IMG_0714.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.12.23 Woodburn Exchange Single Batch Designs has the commission for a hanging steel structure inside the upcoming Woodburn Exchange. Today we made templates based on where the bolts are currently hung from the ceiling. Those bolts will be the connection points for the structure. The project was over my head (literally and figuratively), but Joe knew what he was doing, and that’s what ultimately matters. I provided physical assistance and little else; this project hasn’t been something I’ve been involved with, so I know next to nothing about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1673708691429-8D34XEW1KEVOBN2ZJ41S/IMG_0728.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.13.23 The Power of Saddlebags Because I’m using my bike more and more, I needed a way to transport my dailies to and from my destinations without strapping them to my back every time. Saddlebags were the answer. I was able to stuff everything I needed into the two pockets and ride to work unencumbered this morning. It was really nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168238758-ZDL8EQVQEU8LQMGAE0Y8/DSC_3943-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.14.23 Fresca Went out with Travis and Rob tonight. We hit up a load of bars and places of interest outside the core, including Hi-Mark in the East End. I really liked this corner with the vintage Fresca sign. We played skeeball and moved around to a few other places before heading back downtown to meet up with Justin on a very raucous Main Street at The Drinkery for likely one of the last weekends we’ll have at that place before it becomes a new bar. Shutting down a place like that and staying after the lights come on is such an odd feeling; there’s no Semisonic or fanfare for a job well done staying out this late. The party just abruptly stops and everyone shuffles out without a backing track. Picked up my bike from Travis’ and rode home in the 24ºF early morning air. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. I think that was because having a good night out with the guys warms the heart in ways I can’t get in any other fashion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168193197-LT4I3WNHF2LX0UEBGUHN/IMG_0750.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.15.23 Assistant Wood Handler My neighbors asked if I would build them a porch gate like the one I have on my porch, so I went to Home Depot to pick up a couple of 2x4s. Since they’re eight feet long, they have to stretch from the back hatch through to the front seats. At one point, Ashley squealed as she looked in the back seat. Turning around, I wasn’t prepared for the cuteness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168193350-MNM5ED5RL1Y5BB8NBAKZ/IMG_0759.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.16.23 Staying HBO Current Steve has a podcast called Streaming Things in which he and his co-hosts talk about the movies and TV shows they’re streaming week to week. I don’t often listen anymore because I never know what they’re talking about since I spend 99% of my movie/TV show time watching old Star Trek, but today I decided I’d watch HBOs new apocalyptic drama The Last of Us to stay current with the podcast. This series is brutal and hard to stomach because of the amount of trauma it deals with. It started as a video game in 2013, released a sequel years later, and is now being adapted for TV. I played both games in years past, so I’m familiar with the story already, and I think that’s why this is a hard watch. 10 minutes into the show, I could feel my chest tightening and the anxiety washing over me. Not-so-fun fact: at the start of the pandemic when everyone was asked to stay inside, I downloaded the first one again as something I could do to pass time, and I couldn’t have picked a worse story to devour during the uncertainty of a real-world viral plague. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168210456-7J65VC5AF0UH4F4E6OR6/DSC_3972.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.17.23 Golden Hour in Newport After a day of photoshoots downtown, I raced home in perfect weather and got Myrtle out of the house. We took a walk to Reser Bicycle Outfitters to get chain oil then made our way back home before dark. It was nice to stretch our legs together. (Ashley’s in Miami for work.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674168201641-OCBUHUYAM257RA18JXDJ/IMG_0797.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.18.23 Free Pallet Among the many great things about Covington is its consistency of being an excellent place for free junk removal. While we place free items on the sidewalk for others, it’s actually nice for us to see something cumbersome removed without any effort on our part. Our trash becomes someone else’s treasure. In this case, a Mega Pallet probably contains at least a couple hundred bucks of lumber that we will not use, and instead of trashing it or burning it, someone else might find it useful. I’m not in the shop tomorrow, but I suspect Mega Pallet will have been re-homed by Friday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530893562-STGKJZ1R66PDDN0H40H7/IMG_0814.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.19.23 A Short Window Working from home today was hard not because of the workload but because of the beautiful weather we were experiencing in the middle of January. I made mental plans to walk Myrtle and ride my bike after work in the spring-like air. It was going to be great—until I checked my weather app. Spring weather also brings spring storms, and we were due for a round of heavies around 3 PM. Deciding work could wait, I put Myrtle’s collar on and we set out on a pleasant hour long walk around the neighborhood. It felt amazing to be out without a jacket on. Within a half hour of us returning home, the sky darkened and started pouring rain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530894526-ZBKZNP0BL2WTMGTQQCRK/DSC_3987.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.20.23 Milton’s Paul and Kristen were in town, so a small group got together for drinks. We ended the night upstairs at Milton’s, pumping token after token into Touchtunes from our phones and playing ridiculous songs to lightly troll everyone downstairs. Until about the time we left, we had the whole floor to ourselves. It was really nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530898765-VWZWVSEECVRTHYO7J0GD/DSC_4023.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.21.23 Wise Guys I turned 37 today. The exciting part is I got to check out the movie set they’re putting up on 8th Street. The movie’s called ‘Wise Guys’ and stars Robert DeNiro. As far as I can tell, it’s set in the 50s or early 60s. False storefronts went up over Arnold’s, Algin, and John Schneider’s building across the street. Period-specific cars filled the parking lot across from The Renaissance, which look amazing against the backdrop of a preserved Cincinnati. I get why they film mid-century flicks here. Let’s hope the movie itself is decent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530898767-ZHK83NSL07QMEXNQSF9R/IMG_0915.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.22.23 I Did Nothing Today Here’s a photo of part of a metal picture I have hanging on my wall. It snowed like hell over night, but I didn’t get any photos of it today. Instead, I did nothing. I sat around, watched TV, and waited for the new episode of The Last of Us to hit my feed. I cannot remember the last time I did so little in a single day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674530901559-KQZAUA95TXKK3QZGEBIP/DSC_4041.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.23.23 Punk Rock Kitchenette Last summer I cleaned and organized the kitchenette at the shop. I made a shelf for our mugs and such so we could keep the counter clear for use and put away anything that wasn’t used regularly. To encourage my coworkers to maintain the space, I made a modest “NO CLUTTER” sign. Surprisingly, they verbally committed to keeping it clean. Sometimes all it takes is a reset to kick us into better habit-forming behaviors, right? Well, that same sign has since been graffitied and buried in what it exists to dispel. I tried! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674790121732-HIG7JIB29BVDV988JY06/IMG_0934.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.24.23 Alterations To complete our TV room in the finished side of the basement, we bought a sleeper couch to replace the queen bed that was down there. But when the delivery people came, we discovered the couch was too wide to fit through the second door. At least it got INTO the house, though? Defeated in the moment, I told the men to drop it off on the unfinished side and let me deal with it. After some brainstorming, I removed 10 inches of wall and part of the door frame to get it into place. So yeah, the couch is nice, but now I have to rebuild part of the wall and door frame… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674790123184-7LMCCIBVWFUXB8YFB1BE/DSC_4056.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.25.23 (Usually Correct) Assumptions My car does this thing where it guesses where I’m going and pre-loads directions when I get in and engage Apple CarPlay. Unataza is almost always its guess on weekdays, and nails it every time on Sundays. It’s scary how AI recognizes life patterns and then holds the mirror up to your gobsmacked face in chilling-yet-helpful ways like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1674790124373-GT2WI3Y4QZBC3OJZ3WNG/IMG_0966.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.26.23 Local Government I was nominated for and voted onto the Bellevue Code Enforcement Board late last year. Tonight was my first official meeting (they gave me a little name card and everything). This marks my first foray into local government. While I cannot say I’ve ever envisioned this path for myself, this position kind of snuck up on me and I took it as a way to be more involved in our city. I have no aspirations for Council or anything, but I figured I could maybe be of some use in this small capacity. The highlight of the meeting was taking the Kentucky Judicial Oath of Office which ends with a hilarious bit about promising not to duel anyone: “I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within this State nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second in carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God.” Also, I walked nearly 11 miles and 21,000 steps today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675024398756-NMVYAQI34OXJQ6UPIJLO/IMG_1005.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.27.23 In For the Evening Had a pretty stressful day at work. Came home, changed, cracked a beer, and sat on the couch with Myrtle all night. Normally I’d be out on a Friday evening, but tonight I just wanted to quietly rest with a little Star Trek, carryout, and this fluffy creature who likes being covered in blankets like a baby. (Because that’s what she is.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675024400740-VH872ZN7A3B9VPX3150P/DSC_4065-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.28.23 Incredible Exercise Day Since I started wearing a smart watch again to motivate me into exercise, I’ve begun filling my hours with walks and rides in order to see my stats improve. I guess I love data more than actually being healthy in this moment, but I’ll take it. After walking 3.5 miles in the morning, I set out on a 20 mile bike ride in the afternoon. The weather was incredibly mild and sunny, making for perfect ride conditions all around. I zipped through Dayton, KY before heading over the bridge to ride to the East End, back downtown, over to Queensgate, and back over the bridge to Newport. I stopped for photos along the route and saw a friend on his bike down by the river. After putting my bike away for the day, I felt absolutely unstoppable instead of tired. The physical and mental high I had after that ride is one of the greatest feelings I’ve had in a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675182761876-RVC1TTS2A5D4V6NQKW65/IMG_1028.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.29.23 81 His birthday party was overshadowed by the football game, so while half the eyes in the room were glued to a TV in the corner, we celebrated Ashley’s grandfather’s 81st birthday. No one likes the cake he asks for every year except me and him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675182764138-Y63RKL67EVA7NLM4Z8KZ/IMG_1038-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.30.23 Walking Along Scott Street I spend half my week at 15th and Scott Streets in Covington. On days I don’t pack a lunch, I will go out in search of a place to grab a bite. Since motivating myself with a smart watch again, I’ve been walking to get food more often and record my path. Unfortunately, that usually means having to walk about a mile north to the area around Hotel Covington to get anything quick and easy. Along the route are many old buildings in various conditions; many are dilapidated and in need of repair while others are in good shape. I’m instinctively drawn to the more rundown due to their unique visual flavor, but it’s a double-edged sword. I wish they were in better shape overall and the people who lived there weren’t subjected to poor living conditions. I don’t make a habit of photographing places in poor conditions if I think someone is currently living there because I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Since this one looked freshly vacated judging by the boards on all the openings, I didn’t think it would hurt to get a quick snapshot. It’s a beautiful building despite its current state and at one time I’m sure it was a desirable place to live for many. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675223601867-2JQR9CR7KJ512YWC93WC/DSC_7698-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 1.31.23 Oakland No, not the Oakland Roman Mars describes as having a beautiful downtown. Oakland Avenue in Covington. I shot this house for my favorite realtor, Rebecca, today. It’ll hit the market on Thursday, I think. Shooting exteriors in the winter here is so difficult and today’s grey skies didn’t help the overall look of every shot, but I did my best. Aside from rigging the whole place with massive temperature controlled lights pointing into the house from the outside to create artificial sunlight, there’s little I can do about the lackluster conditions of the day. With a little post-production work on them, they feel warmer and more like how the house would feel during a not-as-grey day. Hoping my part of this process helps them sell it within their preferred timeline. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675365900281-VQDSRBGJQC6FKBNS2KK1/NZ9_8760.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.1.23 The Reward For Muscling Through It While helping flip a heavy slab of wood at the shop today, I tweaked my back to the point where standing and walking was too much and had to drive home to lie down. This isn’t the first time this has happened, but the thing that worried me most was that I had an event to shoot at the Art Museum later in the evening. I laid flat and rested for the rest of the afternoon and managed to feel better enough to hobble my way through the event and get the job done. I think I managed to keep it together without anyone knowing, but there’s no way to be sure. Anyway, while there, I stumbled upon this incredible piece by artist Emily Brock entitled ‘Deli—Going to Lunch” (1991). According to text, it’s a “slumped, cast blown and lampworked glass” sculpture of a recently vacated deli counter. I initially marveled at the technical beauty of the piece before considering the point the text below it made about the scene appearing hauntingly empty. The table looks freshly used, complete with a napkin on the floor, with a discarded apron on the floor behind the counter, but everything else seems to be perfectly in place. After reading that, I briefly imagined it being within The Last of Us’ fictional world on outbreak day and enjoyed the idea that two disparate works of art could be accidentally linked by head cannon like that. That was my reward for sucking it up and working the event despite the physical pain and discomfort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675526506449-488EDMLUI4OHW0S6V946/IMG_1060.jpeg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.2.23 Ill-Advised Walk Woke up with the pain in my back still screaming at me, so I had to make the unfortunate call to delay today’s shoot to next week. Ashley’s on a work trip, though, so Myrtle looks to me for food and nourishment (and entertainment). While I can walk, and while it doesn’t cause me great harm in the moment to do so, I pay for it later. I took her on a slow walk around the neighborhood to stretch her legs and I think she appreciated it. Ordered a pizza when I got home, watched Star Trek: First Contact and an episode of TNG before going to bed. Tomorrow I see a doctor for this and I hope it helps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675526508736-WLDF2UOV97JJOIWR4QJC/IMG_1076.jpeg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.3.23 The Doctor Day two and a half of this back pain. Went to see a chiropractor in Alexandria and the waiting room was perfect. Between the fake plant casting a shadow on the ceiling to the tropical fluorescent light inserts, the wallpaper, framed photos, and stack of magazines, I felt transported straight back to the 90s. It was comforting in all the right ways. The doctor gave me some info on what’s happening with my back and adjusted my spine. I felt surprisingly great after the visit, but then I took Myrtle on a long walk down by the riverfront and regretted it later. I am unable to sit and chill with ease. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675794348316-QNUOQP8WHNYRG101XYG4/IMG_1099.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.4.23 Getting Back Out There I decided to go out tonight with friends for a few drinks after being largely sedentary at my house for the last few days. The night ended at cozy Jerry’s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675794348650-L8BKGNU3KP07W2VZCFUI/IMG_1105.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.5.23 She’s Onboard Despite wearing an Apple Watch years ago and deciding to go back to it recently, it took Ashley’s boss flashing one on her wrist to persuade Ashley it was time to get one, too. As we approached the glass mouth of the well-lit Apple cave, I had the sad realization that I am not cool enough to influence my wife. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675794351094-HTO4ARCBLAF1W3LHXGO8/IMG_1113.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.6.23 Charles My back is feeling better, but I’ve contracted flu. I wish I had a better photo for the day because it’s an important one. I learned late yesterday that my grandfather passed away the night I was out with friends. He and I reconnected briefly back in 2021 (August 18th) after a long time without contact and went out to dinner once after that a little while later. It was nice seeing him and catching up on what he’s been up to over the years. Honestly, it meant a lot to me that we could get together and carry on after so many years apart. But I never felt I really knew him well as an adult; most of our time spent together was when I was young and still figuring out the world. I have vivid, positive memories of being with him through my childhood, and I’m grateful for those times. When he was present and engaged, he was a fun and interesting guy. One of the flaws of Armstrong men is our predisposition to find the path that requires the least amount of interpersonal conflict, which sometimes isn’t the best route. I won’t go into why my dad and I didn’t have a regular relationship with him here, but it goes without saying that the three of us clicked pretty well that day in his garage in 2021. Unfortunately that would be the last time three generations of Armstrong men would be together in the same place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250569069-U8YDQAONNVFY843DZTZZ/IMG_1114.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.7.23 Clay & Leah Had a video meeting with Clay and Leah today in what would be the first time the three of us sat and talked in real time “face to face” in years. I’ve obviously had a great deal of contact with each of them individually over the years, but this was the first time since 2016 the three of us got together at the same time. We talked about some work we’ll be tag-teaming for Clay’s business and reminisced briefly on our days at CR. I owe these two a great deal for believing in me way back in mid-2016 when they got me involved in CR. It changed the trajectory of my career and life for the better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250571945-MHVBAQ1ZSC1MGKN9F6W4/IMG_1128.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.8.23 The Search For a Fridge Today’s big task involved finding a cheap replacement fridge for the shop. John and I took the van out to a few reuse places and settled on a simple 6-foot tall $200 white fridge from Building Value in Northside. Pictured is the Reuse Center in South Fairmount, which never fails to be photogenic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250564814-HSTNR2SHDP6LNHE6OF06/DSC_4162.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.9.23 Mandrake Ashley and I are headed on a dual work trip to Columbus and Indianapolis over the next two days. She has stores to visit and I have a shoot just outside of Indy, but we’re going to squeeze in some fun while at it. Today we went to Columbus and I met up with Chris at North Market across from our hotel while she took the rental car to go do her thing. He and I bopped around town taking photos and swapping opinions on everything from what’s happening in current Star Trek shows to making a comprehensive list of every country he’s visited (95 and counting). We ended up at the Mandrake Rooftop for cocktails and caught the sun going down. There was already a wind advisory in place due to a front moving through the region, but on the 10th level it was even windier. If not for the camera’s wrist strap hugging my arm tightly, I don’t think I would’ve attempted to raise my gear into the air to clear the perimeter glass to get this shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250565326-C6N460BVV3PRYRAXEFTN/DSC_4187.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.10.23 Bottleworks & More Indy was our destination on day two. We checked into the Le Meridien downtown and Ashley went off to check stores while I walked around. It was a grey, ugly morning, so an indoor activity was first on my list. I walked Circle Center Mall next to our hotel and lamented its starkly obvious decline in the face of today’s digital retail revolution. Despite some recognizable brands and stores, it’s largely filled with one-off salons, trinket stores with forgettable names, an empty Regal Theater lobby, and a surprisingly active food court. If you’re reading this, you’re most likely my age or older and understand first hand what malls once felt like and how sad it is to see them gasp for air like this. Anyway, both the Soldiers & Sailors Monument and Indiana War Memorial were both closed, so I checked out Indy’s City Market (not great) before heading to Mass Ave (fine) and ending up at the Bottleworks Hotel and The Garage Food Hall (very good). Later, we had several fruity cocktails at Inferno Room in Indy’s Fountain Square neighborhood (also good) and called it an early night around 10 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250568291-6FBZJ2UXRSQLGP1B7TCI/DSC_4221.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.11.23 Pizza & Libations Remember when I said this was a dual work trip and then I spent the last two days messing around while Ashley visited stores? Today was my day to shine. On our way out of Indy, we went south to Bargersville so I could photograph a bar back and overhead surround that Single Batch made. Because I wasn’t involved in this project, I don’t know the details of how it was installed, but John needed photos of it for his portfolio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250573292-YNE8P7XE02P5AURMZVS1/IMG_1275.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.12.23 22K Steps I walked all over NKY and downtown today for a mix of business and pleasure. My shin muscles are barking at me, but it felt good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676338461160-IV24N182FA1I2V8I9M05/DSC_4235-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.13.23 Trophy Pizza Justin’s brand new pizza place, Trophy Pizza, in Evendale opened within the last week. He’s been working on it for awhile now and it’s so good to see his business busy and thriving already. It sells NYC-style slices you can eat in the dining room or take to go, and you can also order whole pies (as well as several other menu items). It’s delicious and I’m not saying that just because he’s a good friend. Get yourself over to Trophy Pizza and taste it for yourself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037293708-ZSWFZ2L6Z3T0QICO4P4U/IMG_1323.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.14.23 In Need of TLC This part of Central Parkway has always been a mess. A variety of beat up cars have been parked prominently in view of the Parkway in the past, though right now there doesn’t seem to be any behind the rickety old chain link fence. There used to be a “support troops” above the pro-police sign, but I guess that’s gone now. I imagine the owner of this unsightly property had a falling out with the US Army (or more likely it just blew off the building). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037294062-S9LH89ZKW2CGE63NU0XH/IMG_1328.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.15.23 The Truck John’s confident in this old beater’s ability to maintain modern highway speeds and not explode. I, however, am less so. I admit I know next to nothing about cars nor do I really care about them beyond choice models‘ aesthetics and their ability to make travel easier, so maybe my fear of this ‘69 Chevy somethingorother is illogical. Regardless, it didn’t break down or explode on the highway and we got what we needed with fewer than 10 Boomers asking us if John would sell it to them, so overall it was an easy trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037297246-U03CQR7DI1TJWXSOUB3Y/IMG_1358.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.16.23 Plant Wall We rearranged our bedroom furniture and changed up the layout, resulting in a very barren wall. Today I got the components for simple shelving and installed everything so she could decorate with plants. The wall adds a whole new level of coziness to the room, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037298615-QIQSZJOZT46APQ4RKF4Z/FpNvGLUXEAQQ4pT.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.17.23 The Only Opera I Like It was a stressful day on site at the Woodburn Exchange installing metalwork. Even though Joe did the majority of the heavy stuff, I was trying my best not to let my worry show as we hoisted precious steel into the air with rickety crank lifts. Keeping that stress bottled for the sake of getting it done without issue took its toll on my nerves, so when I got home, I just wanted to go to Elusive Cow, sit at the bar, enjoy a beer and some food, and go home. Some Bellevue neighbors came in part way through our meal at the bar and sat next to us, which was nice. We chatted for a bit before Ashley and I continued on our way. As we walked home, I remembered Schneider’s was selling their famous Opera Creams and went in for a 1/2 pound box. As a bonus, the owner gave us two freshly made cherry cordial opera creams for free. “They’re still cooling, so save them for Sunday,” he said. “They’ll taste their best if you wait two days.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037305614-5S6LE5NZOB58U01THTQ4/IMG_1382.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.18.23 Mittenfest We went to Mittenfest today and the only photo I took was this one. We went with Steve and Erica even though neither of them especially enjoy beer. They were good sports about it and we still had a wonderful time. And any time we can bring little Myrtle to an event, it’s a good one. The amount of people in the park was honestly astonishing; I didn’t expect a February event like this to be so well-attended. Then again, it was the picture of beautiful weather. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037308265-G9NZU212WZX6YMZ36OYK/1124+Holman+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.19.23 “Microphone Check, One, Two, What Is This?” Had to set up a step-and-repeat without a backdrop for an event I shot at the Kenwood Country Club tonight. Whenever I have to do this, I arrive early to figure out the lighting so I don’t have to waste anyone’s time when they step into Phil’s Photo Zone®. This was the test shot for that setup. I don’t feel comfortable sharing any of the photos from the actual event itself since it was a private affair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037315507-959IU5HA5C6QD8P7IWDY/IMG_1397.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.20.23 Austinburg Covington has all these little sub-neighborhoods with their own signage and boundaries. From Austinburg to Peaselburg and all the other little pockets of identity scattered throughout NKY’s massive riverside neighborhood, I feel like I could walk all of it and still not see enough. I work closest to Austinburg, and while out on a lunch-time walk, I wandered past its mosaic-tiled sign about two blocks up from the shop. In a perfect world where I had infinite time to do everything I wanted, finding and cataloging every neighborhood and sub-neighborhood sign would be a fun photo project. I’ve had the idea for years to do it with Cincinnati, and I even started doing it at one point, but the sheer number to find and photograph as well as the size of the area I’d have to cover would take me longer than I’d like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037315680-4WKVRQTFVSR943QN454A/DSC_0004-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.21.23 Not Enough Clays I’m in the process of creating a group photo for the medical practice Clay works for, but the tricky thing is getting nine very busy doctors into a space at the same time. So, in order to make a seamless group photo with schedules that never align, I’m going to photograph nine people at different times over two sessions with the same lighting and splice each of them into the same photo in a different position. Clay was my stand-in for this process and I made this test composite as proof of concept. While I’m not new to crafting this type of image, the stakes are far higher for this than they’ve ever been and I need to make sure I get this right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677121894889-XDEBET407UT18VQR5T8U/IMG_1427.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.22.23 Infinity Rose Apparently this rose will last indefinitely. Ashley got it in Miami. If I remember (the critical part of this), I will check back in on this rose a year from today to see if this infinity rose has, indeed, lasted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677208380760-YS9OL25SKSQM1A7QHXLG/DSC_4241.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.23.23 Beautiful Day for a Ride After my second shoot of the day was cancelled by the client, I made the executive decision to not be inside for the remainder of the day. It was too beautiful to waste it indoors. Vince and I met up at Yeatman’s Cove and rode around Cincinnati, tagging the end of Mill Creek before heading northward to Northside and continuing on through Spring Grove Cemetery. We checked out a greenhouse his buddy maintains nearby, ate a blood orange straight off the tree, and headed back to Northside Yacht Club for a beer before riding the evening light home to Bellevue. In all, I did 27.5 miles and it felt amazing. I wish I could do long rides in perfect weather every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556392545-ENXTZ5N6I0LY6VVMSE9D/Sam%27s+Proposal+-+Phil+Armstrong-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.24.23 A Proposal Sam (kneeling) proposed to Sophie at the edge of Smale Park tonight. He asked me to photograph the moment for him, so I sat in the dark far enough away that she wouldn’t see me and snapped several frames the moment he popped the question. Sam is Steve’s good buddy from college and I know him primarily through Steve, but I’m thankful he felt comfortable enough in our friendship through association to ask for my help capturing this moment for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556392546-RDD9CPCW8WXO3JE9ZYFT/IMG_1478.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.25.23 The Last Moment of Sobriety I am writing this entry two days after the day in which this photo was taken because Saturday night wreaked havoc on my liver to an obnoxious degree. Kevin organized a movie night that started with a bunch of guys from the neighborhood meeting up for drinks at several bars before our 8:30 PM showing at the theater. The back of Miller’s Fill In has this amazing duckpin bowling machine from the Stone Age that we played for awhile before heading onto our next location. It would be the last thing I’d see and do before being unable to walk a straight line for the remainder of the evening. We laughed our asses off at Bridgeview, reclined with triple bourbons during a movie about a cocaine bear, stumbled upon margaritas just before closing time, and narrowly lost to strangers in a rousing game of doubles’ billiards in Bellevue’s smokiest bar before essentially crawling back to Grandview Avenue where we all lived. It was one of those nights where it felt like it just went on forever and ended with a bang commensurate with the rest of the evening. My body, not wanting to ruin a good time and being extremely cool about it, waited until the next day to have a talk with me about my choices. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556395338-6JHMWOUPBBS8T5SJ19ML/IMG_1483.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.26.23 The Only Relief Here’s a picture of Myrtle looking radiant in the back seat of the car, hoping we give her a taste of a burger. Ashley took me to get Wendy’s because I was hungover from last night’s Cocaine Bear bonanza and I needed fast food to absorb whatever was making my stomach feel like it was navigating the ocean during a hurricane. I lost an entire day to self-inflicted sickness but the night before was amazing, so it was worth 24 hours of blech. Myrtle, in all her fluffy splendor, temporarily took my mind off my illness and recklessness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556395777-M76304RT2T8PFGTHJEB0/IMG_1489.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.27.23 Weirdos The statues flanking the main staircase of the Scottish Rites building on Madison Ave in Covington are the goofiest sphinxes I’ve ever seen. They have these Art Deco bodies with heads that don’t seem to match. Their strange style leaps out at me every time I walk past and look at the building. Scottish Masons and their organizations remain a mystery that I could probably just read up on and understand more fully, but whenever I do my brain completely zones out and I get lost in alternate thought. It may be that I’m just simply not interested in the subject. Regardless, these weirdos are totally up my alley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677644328592-3WTU3IG6OGVX6KA13LRS/Group+Photo+%28sRGB%29-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 2.28.23 Solitary Group Photo I’m proud of this photo for a specific reason. On the surface, it just looks like a regular group photo of nine people dressed identically against a neutral architectural backdrop. But here’s the thing: none of these people were in the room together when I took their photo. Every one of them was alone in the room. Because of conflicting schedules, we couldn’t get anyone together at the same time, so I set up lights and a tripod and had each of them come in and pose in nine different positions during several blocks of time over two weeks. Then, in post-production, I composed them all together to create the group photo. I’m still tweaking it, so this isn’t the final version just yet, but it’s very close. I’ve done this in the past with myself in various poses for fun, but this is the first time I’ve used that practice professionally. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056514874-CELBFPJJDTCSO6MSD73Z/IMG_1521.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.1.23 A Haiku The weather’s divine Stretched legs, sniffing everything Sunset with a view https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056515900-S2TLDL4P368Z9AFH6PVV/IMG_1529.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.2.23 A Thomasson Bellevue has a boatload of “Thomassons”—leftover bits of architecture that once served a purpose but have been made obsolete by redesign or demolition of the structure they originally serviced. These types of clues about the built history of a place are really fascinating. Clearly these steps once led up to a house that’s no longer there and now they angle up to the broad side of a fence without a gate. They serve no purpose, but they remain like a scar on the landscape, reminding passersby of what was once there. The coolest thing about these artifacts from a different time is they aren’t intentionally created in the form they eventually assume. An authentic Thomasson is only the byproduct of change, progress, tragedy, and/or mistakes. That misdirected intentionality is weird and uncommon and, as I said, really fascinating to me. While not beloved and protected like many historic buildings, I believe these obsolete relics from the past add a gargantuan amount of flavor to a place since they cannot be authentically replicated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056518703-ZMTEP2B3DUTMILTP2BV2/IMG_1540.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.3.23 The Start of a Bad Day I’m writing this entry on Sunday the 5th because Friday into Saturday wasn’t ideal. At 4 PM on Friday, we delivered tables to Fifty West despite inclement weather and had to unload everything in the pouring rain and assemble it all under a tent that wanted to blow away with every strong gust of wind. While I internally disagreed with the timeline of delivery, I wasn’t in charge and quietly did what I needed to in order to get the job done. Assembly of the tables took longer than I expected, and I was released about 6 PM—well past the time I was supposed to be at the pub with my buds for Bockfest. On the way home, Ashley informed me that we lost power due to the storm and we were one of 13 people in all of Bellevue without it. Feeling no sense of solidarity and realizing I would have to stay home in the dark so as to not abandon my dog alone in a pitch black house during high winds, I shriveled into frustration. Though Bockfest was cancelled for the evening, I felt an incredible sense of FOMO as my friends still (rightly) enjoyed going out. My clothes were soaked, my spirit was dashed, and the uncertainty of when electric would return forced an early bedtime. There was no point in prolonging this bad day further and I looked forward to hopefully getting power back by morning. (I didn’t get it until late Saturday.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056520327-R9KIVX9KTR7K8GS5DM1E/DSC_4253.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.4.23 Bockfest I’ll quickly skim over the bad bits and get to the good stuff. Woke up, no power, no shower, no productivity like I’d planned, and ended up going to Bockfest to try to enjoy the festival despite the previous night’s foiled plans. Met up with Travis and Allie with bock beer in hand, ate a big pretzel, and absorbed more friends into the outdoor party as they trickled into Findlay Playground over the afternoon. The day shift folks went home around 5 PM while the rest of us hit up Kanji for dinner (pictured). I didn’t mean for this photo to be a long exposure when I set it up, but I like the accidental effect regardless. It reminds me of how a memory sometimes appears as it’s rendering the finer details in my head. Chris is flipping me off as Rob takes a drink of his beer. Travis stands up off his stool, other Rob turns to face the camera, and Ronny continues telling a story, oblivious to the prolonged shutter snap. Spending quality time with these dudes honestly made up for the previous days’ misfortunes and I felt a lot better. We stayed out late into the next morning and I walked home to avoid paying $30 for ride share. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678112305015-3PN17F66GS5XSR3IJV6L/IMG_1561.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.5.23 6th Street at the DECC “Old Cincinnati” to me isn’t Over-the-Rhine’s well-preserved architecture. It’s not 4th Street’s enduring role as a channel of M-F business, nor is it the riverfront’s refusal to move on from riverboat iconography. “Old Cincinnati” to me is more that 1960s-1990s aesthetic that can still be found all over Downtown. It’s what I remember most from being down here as a child. The convention center is a good example of that outdated and untrendy visual style. The surrounding area still has bits and pieces of that era stand, too, from the cerulean blue Skywalk system maps that are hilariously incorrect as of 2023 to faded indoor and outdoor artwork, like Shapes Park. While it’s an eyesore to most, I personally find it endearing. Yes, nostalgia is a toxic impulse and I know my love of these outdated things is fueled almost entirely by it, but I cannot deny my feelings. When I see that style in other cities, I don’t have the same love for it. It’s recognizable, but it’s devoid of the emotion I feel for it when it’s in Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678217316689-KTQC6MWEZ14A5Y6832R0/IMG_1568.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.6.23 Marco’s Market I’ve purchased unwanted but enjoyable beef jerky just to meet the $5 amount for a Diet Coke in this place. It’s as you’d expect it to be inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678246309547-2WE93PTRHHVRHJO5G6TE/The+Rye+-+Unit+E+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.7.23 No One’s Around I saw a guy I know at Bockfest on Saturday. During our conversation, he described himself as an “extroverted introvert.” What he means is he’s able to be social and have a good time with others, but his natural inclination is to hang by himself. That resonated with me as I knew this was also true for my own personality. Anyway, while I feel like my shoot at The Rye for Rookwood Properties went well, I only spoke to one person face to face all day. Very few people live in the building at this point, so I didn’t run into a soul while inside. Ashley’s in California for work, I only spoke to three people over text, and even on my walk with Myrtle this evening the streets were light with pedestrians. This image, which was taken at noon on 7th Street, is even devoid of life. It just seemed like I was floating through the world totally alone for hours. I’d been fighting a weird anxiety all day brought on by mistakes I’d made within the first hour of being awake, but as I sat with my thoughts about everything later on, it struck me that the anxiety was more likely caused by loneliness. I didn’t recognize it initially because I rarely feel that emotion. Maybe I’m less an extroverted introvert and more an extroverted part-time introvert after all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638739664-XZANUETCQXVM6SDZHIIG/IMG_1642.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.8.23 The Relentless Sickness of 2023 Not sure what’s happening, but I feel like I’ve been sick more this year than the last several combined and it’s only March. I missed work today as a result of severe body aches, fatigue, and fever with coughing and nose-blowing as attending symptoms. Yesterday I had a sneaking suspicion something was coming, so I went to the store and got fruit, meds, and Gatorade to ward off the coming illness. I feel like a third Ohio train derailed and launched over the river onto my face. The photo is of an apple I weakly consumed after splitting it with a handy slicing tool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638740342-IM3ZOEO6QNUK1Y9TZ9KZ/IMG_1650.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.9.23 Inner Light Since Ashley’s gone and I’ve only left the bed to re-medicate and re-hydrate, Myrtle is itching to do anything but rest. I feel horrible for her because I know she’s antsy, but I literally cannot move around for very long before getting exhausted and feeling worse. So as I sit and watch Captain Picard experience a lifetime on Kataan over the course of 25 minutes in order to preserve a lost people’s history and culture, she stares at me with her ball in her mouth, silently begging for a toss. I gave in at some point, but in my weakened state, it led to a strained muscle before having to go back to resting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638742255-LGDVWB9INRI9YDNMNURR/IMG_1652.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.10.23 On the Mend I don’t have a test to use to confirm, but I think this was COVID. The body aches lasted three days—something I’ve never had happen before. This would explain the symptoms, too. If this was COVID, this would be the first time I’ve experienced it all pandemic. It’s very on-brand for me to be late to the party on most things, so getting it way after it’s popular isn’t shocking. Drawing back the blinds to see outside, I was thankful a beautiful spring day wasn’t taunting me as I laid recovering. Thankfully, by midday I’d gotten a large amount of my strength back and the body aches disappeared. Think I’m on the mend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638743037-E8Z7PBGCXKN4O6XBYZUG/IMG_1660.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.11.23 The Outside I’m 80% back to normal today and managed to get outside for a bit. I did a little bit of yard work, cleaned the kitchen, and worked on some small stuff in the basement before becoming winded and having to sit down. I took it easy the rest of the day. This will be the last time I talk about this specific stupid sickness on here. I’m tired of it demanding my attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678674832315-62NP0EVMXXJ4VRV3KUNA/DSC_4257.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.12.23 Season Finale Today was a lazy day of couch-sitting and TV-watching as I build strength to return to the shop tomorrow. Because the weather was cold and dreary, the choice to do nothing was made easier. I watched the Last of Us season finale and was surprisingly lukewarm on it. I don’t really know what I was expecting; I’m familiar with the source material, and it stayed true to that, but with a runtime of not even 45 minutes, it didn’t quite scratch the itch like I thought it would. Quantity doesn’t mean quality, but I can’t help but think maybe a little extra meat on the episode’s bones would’ve helped guide it into A+ territory. I hopped on Reddit soon after watching it to see what everyone else thought, and only a few have mentioned being disappointed by the short episode. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678843932517-HUTDQZRASTRW6RIQDP6F/DS9-143-Edit+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.13.23 Tiny Wormhole Protector A couple years ago, I got this Deep Space Nine ornament for my Christmas tree. I liked it so much, I kept it in my office after the tree went back in its box. It’s detailed enough that I thought it could pass for the “real thing” at first glance if placed under the right lighting conditions. I set up a tripod and off-camera flash and proceeded to toss it into the air 128 times before I finally got a frame I liked. Now if I could just figure out a good way to put a wormhole, some color definition, and maybe a sliver of Bajor peeking into frame without digitally editing them in, maybe I can go back in time and work with the model makers and directors of photography to work on an actual episode. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678844646627-XDHTWC1UT3CVIOUXLZ1T/DSC_1538-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.14.23 Return to Spooky Nook Business took me out to Hamilton where I photographed a hotel, a sporting complex, and a mixed use space for Spooky Nook today. I worked with them mid-last year to create images for their hotel, but additional photos of two other spaces needed to be handled for that side of the project. The sporting complex, in addition to a massive food court, fitness center, arcade, and additional undeveloped space featured two enormous gymnasiums—one that was 90,000 square feet and another that was a whopping 100,000 square feet. The bigger of the two had 14 basketball courts lined back to back with a second story observation deck. The gym was so large, we had to keep triggering the automated lights by running to the other side of the floor because they were on short timers to keep as energy efficient as possible. Their website claims it’s the largest sports complex in the nation and second-largest convention center in Ohio, and after seeing it in person, I believe it. As the buildings were once home to the Champion Paper Mill, it’s still a very industrial space despite the renovations that’ve taken place over the last five years. If you ever find yourself in Hamilton, you’d do well to check this place out. As far as adaptive reuse goes, this one’s pretty wild. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367971862-SYVF9ZOFH9KZG8B91E5D/Roberto+Lugo+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-72.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.15.23 Roberto Lugo The Cincinnati Art Museum’s artist in residence at the moment is Roberto Lugo, a well-known and respected potter, social activist, and educator from Philadelphia. An event in his honor was held this evening in the Great Hall and adjacent gallery. While photographing the event for the museum, I was lucky enough to grab a quick portrait of Roberto while he wears a CAM hoodie in his workshop during his time in Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367977800-QJ6RMH225Y72XTZ5C517/2243+Francis+Ln+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.16.23 Francis Lane I worry quite often about what I’m doing with my photography on a week to week basis. I don’t get to walk around for hours as a hobby photographer because I have so much on my plate each day. Taking care of work, catching up on house projects, running errands, taking care of the dog, exercising, being social, and so many other things cut into that time I used to have. It worries me that I’m not feeding my soul with photography as often as I used to. But a large part of that worry is greatly minimized when I’m able photograph someone else’s project, give them the images, and they confirm they’re pleased with what I’ve done. A simple “we’re happy with these” is all it takes to remind myself that even though my career’s changed over the years and I don’t have the life I used to, I’m still able to do something genuinely useful for somebody else. In this case, I feel good about delicately capturing the work and effort two people put into transforming an old house with outdated finishes into something new. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367975085-O72LFQQIWI3DZMLBF3SH/IMG_1690.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.17.23 St. Patrick’s Day St. Patrick’s Day is the Santacon of late winter and going out to popular bars on the holiday isn’t something I overly enjoy. Despite that, in an effort to be social and accommodating, I drank Irish beer and went to the B-List with coworkers during the day. I enjoyed their company but didn’t especially dig being in the bar with the standard St. Patrick’s Day crowd. I could feel myself slowly shutting down during the course of the day, so I briefly sought refuge in the bathroom to have a minute to myself so I could plan a graceful way to leave—ironically, the opposite of an Irish goodbye. This photo is from when I stood studying the graffiti by the toilet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367978145-UY3MEPG5HO5MZ1OCBBQ8/The+Rye+-+Common+Areas+-+Phil+Armstrong+-82.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.18.23 A Model Pup Continued my photo work at The Rye this morning. I needed to get a photo of the dog wash station, but I thought it would be better to have someone model it for the image. Found the perfect little furry face for the job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367975100-HWA4F3PW27P6WV2I3ZVL/IMG_1704.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.19.23 Meatball Meatball is the Unataza Coffee mascot as far as I’m concerned. He’s almost always there on the weekend when we go in for our weekly coffee and breakfast. It’s to the point now where when I walk in, he sees me and stands up because he knows I’m going to come right over to pet him. He’s a sweet little guy with a handsome wardrobe and I love him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367972133-XNBATGHORCSTXQJUKTB9/IMG_1711-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.20.23 Sunshine It’s always so wonderful when I come down the stairs in the morning and the room is filled with sunshine. The bay window in our dining room lets in loads of morning light and it’s one of the best things about our house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679542290119-5T5XSG9J3A6ZFKLG7IY2/IMG_1720.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.21.23 Enjoy This Neon I didn’t have a burger, but I did have a delicious carne asada rice bowl. Met up with the guys for a little vacation planning in May at Bebo’s on Court Street. We’re going to San Francisco before making our way down to LA. It should be a very fun trip and I’m excited to see new places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679542289491-4BKUHC7MHP5P54LRI1J1/IMG_1747.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.22.23 Trestle Bridge Buddy On today’s dog walk, we stumbled upon a herd of deer on the public steps. They scattered in two directions when they saw us: one group went back into the thick of the woods while the others leapt onto the train tracks to avoid us. The train track group wandered toward the trestle bridge to put further distance between us, so we quickly made our way down the stairs to avoid making them more anxious. After we’d descended the stairs, the deer confirmed we were no longer a threat and backtracked to the steps. The “caboose” of the procession of deer made her way over to the edge of the trestle bridge before joining the rest and gave us a hard stare from above. I figured at least one of them would eyeball us from the high ground and made sure I was in place when they wandered into frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679719582828-6LFEI1VPRSC17ZBL4SDE/The+Rye+Ribbon+Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.23.23 The Rye Ribbon Cutting A photo of my friend, Annie, shaking hands with the mayor of Cincinnati, Aftab Pureval, as Rookwood Properties president Fred Kanter stands in the background. The official dedication of downtown’s newest apartment building, The Rye, was held today and a ceremonial ribbon cutting took place in the lounge on the first floor. Food and rye whiskey were served one floor above in apartment 205—one of the largest units with a great view of the corner of 7th and Main Streets. Quite a few people came out to celebrate the building’s transformation and take a tour of several floors and units. In other news, I managed to accidentally utilize a wide variety of different travel methods in a single day: I drove my car, took a bus, used ride share, rode my bike, and walked a bunch to get everywhere I needed to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679719582863-2CF5PNGL6SD59HAJ620Y/DSC_4263-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.24.23 Ash Table This ash table will be sent to a home in Wisconsin. One of the few round tables we’ve done while I’ve worked in this shop. I was going to post one of the detail shots I like better than this overall view, but I think the overall view is critical to appreciating the details in the long run. Without context, the details don’t have the same punch. We reinforced this particular piece with three c-channel steel beams countersunk into the bottom of the piece, which will prevent it from cupping/warping. I actually learned about that exact issue the hard way when I made that mobile counter top late last year out of ash; it warped almost instantly and I had to harvest some thin steel from my old desk legs to provide support. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679877943890-6T6FUNOYO6VEA4U0WRRM/IMG_1799.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.25.23 Sunset Perch She likes to sit on our bed and look out the window at the people walking by. This evening, while I went up and down the stairs working on an office project, she sat and stared out the window at the street below. She folds her paws, cuddles up between pillows, and simply exists in a comfortable, safe space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679877945330-6NG1UWFF0UUUVRY7K8Q8/DSC_4354-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.26.23 Built-Ins For the longest time, I’ve wanted to turn this weird little unusable nook in my office into built-in shelving. Yesterday, I finally did it. Measuring and cutting pieces was surprisingly difficult because the wall, in typical old house fashion, isn’t at all straight any way you measure it. Cutting the custom pieces (no right angles) for each level took hours of fine tuning until they managed to fit snugly in place. I cut a 1-inch hole at the back of each shelf so electronic cables could be run through the levels without showing in the front. Painted them the same color as the walls so they blended in. I’m happy with how they turned out and glad to have this project behind me. Also, I like having the TV within view for those heavy editing and exporting days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679971641905-STBKPLDSE2XHU8CQBJOG/DSC_4365.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.27.23 The High Ground It’s not unusual to see a cat on a walk where I live. Strays will lay on the sidewalk and only move if you have a curious dog with you. Outdoor cats who belong to someone in the neighborhood strut around with their collars on and act like you’re in their way (they aren’t wrong). No matter what’s wrapped around their neck or whether the tips of their ears are still intact, cats are everywhere all the time stalking the streets of Bellevue. This evening, as I walked Myrtle down Taylor toward the park, I heard meowing. Looking around, I didn’t immediately see where the sound was coming from. Every porch was empty, but the meowing continued, growing louder with every step. I craned my neck to see up into tall bushes, then arched down to see if there was a cat in the landscaping. As the meowing grew louder, I became more deliberate in my search and equally unnerved that the phantom meowing seemingly belonged to no one. Then, as the meowing crescendoed, I stopped in my tracks and jokingly looked upward in desperation despite the absurdity of the situation. To my surprise and amusement, peering back at me over the gutter above was a black, fluffy cat jabbering away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680235553367-61RDSGVGMTRJO57JL0PI/DSC_4401-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.29.23 The 2nd Best Photographer in Cincinnati, Says CityBeat Travis, my barber, submitted me for CityBeat’s Best of Cincinnati annual voting event this year. I didn’t know he was doing it, and when he asked me if I was going to vote for myself in the Best Photographer category, I didn’t know what he meant. He explained and I thanked him for being kind enough to do that despite my personal belief that I don’t belong in the top three in that category considering the monumental talent around this city. When I saw Catie was in the running, I made the decision to vote for her because she’s wonderful at what she does. Of course, I threw myself a vote every few days just to prevent myself from receiving an embarrassing single digit total by the end. After voting closed and over a month passed, I’d honestly forgotten all about it until, while working in the shop today, John yelled from his office, “Cincy Phil, number two photographer in Best of Cincinnati.” I thought he was joking, so I asked him to show me. When he did, I couldn’t believe my luck. There are so many photographers I’d put well ahead in that category (namely all of my friends), but I’m going to just be thankful and enjoy this moment of recognition, however misguided it may be. It feels great to be surprised like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680235519130-E1FJUUM3WZ43FNFLTDZD/DSC_4023-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.30.23 Impromptu H&H James from Hierophany & Hedge reached out to me yesterday about doing a few quick photos of the shop for an online travel guide listing. After doing headshots at Luminaut and before heading to Welcome House for Hub+Weber, I squeezed in the trip to H&H for a quick little showcase of the space and its visually complex wares. I cannot begin to describe how fun it is to photograph a place like this. The whole day could be allocated to making images in this space and I’d still not be able to get everything I’d want. He said they’ll want a longer, more formal shoot down the line, so I’m looking forward to returning at some point. He and Jordan are such passionate, interesting, visionary people. It’s always a pleasure getting to talk to them and work on their projects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680482917247-9VXOATTNQ9TJK97PTVFL/DSC_4410-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 3.31.23 End of an Era I didn’t plan to go out this Friday, but Justin mentioned it was his last day co-owning The Drinkery, so I couldn’t help but brave the stormy weather and go spend some time with him and the others in the space one final time. After the bar became increasingly crowded after midnight, we ended up wandering around before ending at Youyu in the Hard Rock Casino. The food was surprisingly good—I’d never eaten there before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680482757684-AVX2LITCFKBJI80U5T0L/DSC_4413.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.1.23 The Temperature Deception The 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680483956717-8Q2DPGGBDQRK4KXP1V92/IMG_1934.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680575496795-M0VRLFCW6HUZ7IRP8ATR/DSC_4480.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.3.23 Streaming All the Things Dropped 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680659211156-M1SJJO016UACE9QLLY9O/DSC_4507-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.4.23 UBBC It’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680839567291-P8QWBRKX9U94D9ICZ6NS/IMG_1971.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.5.23 Cats/Dogs We 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680839567950-2QUKGAYB34SN0SJF6HBB/DSC_4428-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.6.23 A Tale of Two Houses Rebecca 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680925891082-U3ITSERTNMV9JZAEACWC/Nation+Kitchen+%26+Bar+Westwood+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.7.23 Carrie Had 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681177697568-WBA6DFQDNZYK4UFNPW1M/IMG_2010.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.8.23 A Long, Productive Day My 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681177699615-XCP2GGSBWZMS8JFSY4SE/IMG_2035_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.9.23 Easter Bear It’s spring and the Christian icon (not Myrtle) has a holiday again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681353749382-50MS1ZA0ATHRR1JR7NRA/IMG_2111.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.10.23 Vibrant Spring Evening An evening walk with Myrtle and a colorful scene on Covert Run. Not much more to say about it, really. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681353751121-0D8I76QEZFFVOULJI0AO/IMG_2083.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.11.23 Toilet Time Years 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681353752634-166ORGPJ0YWD30Z8TNKX/DSC_4568-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.12.23 New View From 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752072231-3P2Q6ACWNTZNMOER7852/IMG_2127.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.13.23 Jerry’s with Justin He 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752072808-CJDEHJ0JPEJ0EPQCRXBL/IMG_2137.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.14.23 Galactic Cantina Despite 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752075520-7MDXCRU04MM3HQ7ZORW1/IMG_2169.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.15.23 Baeten’s Nursery Ashley 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752076284-Y7RSCRPPXOAOEIZSWB13/DSC_5813.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.16.23 Hard 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681946998649-ZJ5N9IQJFQR86PYE2GII/DD21A51B-7C99-431E-BFC1-570778DF4560.jpeg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.17.23 Best of Bellevue Mayor 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681946998919-ZF6OJUTEDMF2VJI7ZYZW/F17CAAAD-BCF4-48F1-B0FB-36657B079A52.jpeg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.18.23 My Stupid Inuury For 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681947007521-HKGUE33YENJDLS54DCUJ/NZ9_6816.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.19.23 Kit Justin 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388915505-G6MWVO49C9NXR3OVECLA/NZ9_6829-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.20.23 Vesper Institute A 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388909886-44DFNE77OPZ045UCZC2V/IMG_2229.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.21.23 A Box With Jack In It There’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!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388906634-NZY3EVLQ8BDQ98A91I4C/DSC_4585.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.22.23 Maysville, KY Though 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388913545-LFZEJXSAEK334N3M7279/IMG_2287.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.23.23 “Take My Picture So I Can See It” She didn’t end up buying the hat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388913286-DGPIB5TBH8OO7MOML7MJ/DSC_4670-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.24.23 Transit Treats Cool 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682896590651-NHKLKF18AB6WCHR13TXP/Screen+Shot+2023-04-25+at+11.17.07+PM.png daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.25.23 Adobe’s Denoise AI Adobe 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682896582747-3YH61QQLL3XQFN68FOXS/DSC_4690-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.26.23 I Cannot Explain This I cannot explain this strange scene in someone’s yard on Taylor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682897055024-98HJQIQ7MXBSL7OBKLW4/DSC_8483-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.27.23 In Situ Went 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682900981255-OCVRML2XVVI7LHH2P0LY/DSC_4778-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.28.23 Simple DIY Organization Solution Ashley 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682904543385-9JREUZMC8XL9Q40PRAWV/DSC_4692-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.20.23 Two Tulips Two tulips, alone in an entire yard, propping each other up. On 6th Avenue in Dayton, KY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682904544911-R3KGL1APD433H40JWJJC/DSC_4761.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 4.30.23 Cincinnati Southern Railway It’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683081165370-679IOB02LHUR7VJ6FACO/IMG_2370.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.1.23 Milkshakes It’s adorable the way she sits and waits for any interaction with the drive-thru attendant. Sometimes it works out in her favor. Other times she’s ignored. Tonight, she was offered a hot dog at Gold Star when we went to get milkshakes, but I told them she’d already had dinner. I’m a horrible wingman for this dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683081166232-UPJUE0O18EADN0ZV8LUN/PonderRose-Enhanced-SR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.2.23 Not a Real Ad I can’t remember how it came up exactly, but I made a joke to Travis the other day about how Ponderosa should’ve sold rosé wine and branded it PonderRosé. It’s not a great joke, I know. Couldn’t get it out of my head (there’s not a lot of space in there), so in my off hours today, I decided to make a print ad for this fictional product. To start, I used Adobe Firefly’s generative AI to produce “a bottle of rosé with two glasses next to it on a beige back drop” and then took it into Photoshop from there. I looked at old print ads from the 1980s, watched a few Ponderosa commercials on YouTube, and determined I’d go with the Ponderosa tagline and logo from 1986. From there, I chose a proper font, mimicked text placement I saw on a few other ads from around that time, and copied a second tagline verbatim from a 1986 ad for Ponderosa to add to the bottom in a different font. After all that, I added some artificial grain, lowered contrast, played with the curve, and manually blurred the whole thing 10% to make it look aged. Now my stupid and pointless vision is reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683252707908-DKCNB5Y96NCLX2NC8L1T/DSC_8756-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.3.23 Good Shadows Man, I love fire escape shadows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683252707871-7HHVDTK4ZLCEKCNP1EOB/IMG_2384.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.4.23 A Cat That Made Me Gasp This cat made me gasp. What an insanely beautiful creature. I also love how her (taking a guess she’s a girl) fluff ever so slightly hangs over the edge of the platform. Her little apricot nose on the bed of soft white fur makes for an adorable combination. I would’ve loved to have given her a little scratch on her striped head, but she was on someone’s porch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683368482507-NXC0TCQ7OGOLOHDJR0CQ/IMG_2399.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.5.23 Kiran’s 7! My niece turned 7 yesterday. We went to HBH and sat outside in the beautiful weather to celebrate. Then we all went back to our house and she got a Slip ‘N Slide and some glitter markers for the occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258630453-QTYIZ3SOX5WXVKCXP4G4/ZFC_4932-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.6.23 California: Day 1 For Justin’s bachelor party, Travis planned a trip for everyone to California—specifically San Francisco. Justin wasn’t due to fly in until late tomorrow, so Travis, Ronny, and I flew out by ourselves and started exploring the city. Staying in Cole Valley, we had our options of nearby neighborhoods to check out. Since there was a film store in the Castro District, we walked down and explored that area first. The vintage streetcars that run up and down Market Street obviously caught my eye. The whole neighborhood feels alive with loads of people walking around on the street, riding bikes and MUNI, and skateboarding. Oddly enough, there were cars on the street driving around without people in them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258618696-ZD1KQPY7XRYBN1B4XZD6/ZFC_5296.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.7.23 California: Day 2 San Francisco is the prettiest city I’ve visited. I’m sure there are European cities I’ve not visited that would take the cake, but in terms of domestic travel, SF is the most beautiful. We hiked up to Twin Peaks for an aerial view of the city before walking down to Noe Valley and Mission for a burrito. We checked out Salesforce park and rode the gondola, wandered past the Ferry Building, saw these painted ladies from Alamo Square Park (there’s a dog in one of the top windows if you look closely), and had dinner/drinks in Haight-Ashbury afterward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258618794-O0FXRNX292NKHXQBGMLK/ZFC_5349.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.8.23 California: Day 3 With Justin finally in tow, we hit up numerous parts of the city. Since he hadn’t seen Castro yet, we did that first (pictured), then rode MUNI downtown to the Ferry Building. Side note: SF’s MUNI is the cleanest public transit I’ve ridden—maybe even cleaner than DCs. We rode a streetcar up to Fisherman’s Warf and snapped photos of Alcatraz, the seals, and everything in-between. While there, I got my In-N-Out fix, we walked up to Lombard Street, and back down before catching a ride to Haight-Ashbury. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258622728-ZPV5FXTUI7Y7MS0QSUTL/ZFC_5778.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.9.23 California: Day 4 Big day today. We checked out Chinatown, which was incredible, before heading over to Little Italy for pizza. I snapped the bulk of my photos for the day in Chinatown because everything there was so gorgeous. I debated making one of those photos today’s image, but what we did later was too important to not feature: The Golden Gate Bridge. It’s uncommon for me to be truly gobsmacked by a man-made structure these days as I’ve seen many truly gorgeous and impressive structures, but GG got me. It’s unlike any bridge I’ve personally seen. No, it’s not the longest or tallest I’ve seen, but for some reason it feels like it’s the most striking I’ve personally seen. Maybe it’s because it’s been so thoroughly featured in pop culture? Regardless, viewing it from the Presidio and then again from Battery Spencer across the bay on the other side is a top-notch experience. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258623028-7QRIMPQ6QSAJ4WH95DJM/ZFC_5881.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.10.23 California: Day 5 We took BART over to Oakland to check a little bit of that city out. The morning was overcast and Oakland isn’t the beauty queen SF is, so I didn’t take many photos for the first half of the day. Eventually, as we sat at a lightly Star Trek-themed brewery and waited for Rob to join our party, the sun came out and we made our way into downtown where I saw this marvelous old theater. We went back to SF, had dinner at House of Prime Rib, drank a few beers at a couple of bars, then went back to the Airbnb to prep for our departure on the PCH the following day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258626792-Y34PT7R1T1W2FGA9KBUK/ZFC_6086-Pano.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.11.23 California: Day 6 We awoke early and Travis picked up the rental car for our trip south to Los Angeles. Breakfast was at the Pacifica Taco Bell Cantina (highly recommended). We stopped along the route to admire the view a few times before eventually stopping in Santa Cruz for a little amusement park fun for an hour. The century-old boardwalk right on the coast was filled with rollercoasters and other rides, as well as a full arcade and carnival game kiosks. The Great Dipper, the coaster on the boardwalk, was a surprisingly fun ride. We briefly stopped in Monterey after that, then traveled further south on the PCH to Bixby Creek Bridge in Big Sur. Mountains on the beach—what more can I say? It was incredible. We spent a good deal of time there snapping photos and soaking up the view. We had drinks at Nepenthe, back-tracked to Monterey for dinner, then took the 101 down to Morro Bay (part of the PCH was closed due to landslides) where our next Airbnb waited for us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258626739-O56EHDXTZH7GGZZFHWJP/ZFC_6226.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.12.23 California: Day 7 After coffee in Morro Bay and breakfast at The Madonna Inn, we traveled onward along the PCH and stopped in Solvang, a Danish architecture-filled city. Apparently near the beginning of the 20th century, a group of Danish-Americans sought to recreate the small town in their image and started adding the distinct Danish architecture right after WWII. The result is a tourist attraction today. Very few of its residents are actually Danish, however. After we left Solvang, we headed straight for Los Angeles hoping to catch a glimpse of the sunset in a prominent place before it disappeared for the day. We managed to find a place in Santa Monica with a relatively decent view, had dinner at Dear John’s in Culver City, and drinks at Tiki-Ti in Los Feliz. Sadly, I couldn’t spend more time in LA due to my 6 AM flight the next day, and since it was 1 AM by the time we were leaving the tiki bar, I decided to go straight to the airport. My California trip was coming to a close. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258629525-4D11GQ13KE9R9RL6Q0CX/ZFC_6289-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.13.23 California: Day 8 After the guys dropped me off at LAX at 1:30 AM, I quickly realized that TSA wasn’t open and I couldn’t get to my gate to post up and sleep a few hours before my flight. What few seats LAX had before each terminal were taken by sleeping passengers draped in hoodies and blankets, some snoring. I tried finding a place on the hard floor to post up, but I couldn’t sleep. Instead, I wandered around the airport, taking photos of the drop off areas and the Theme Building at the front (pictured). Around 4 AM, TSA opened and I groggily went through. I began to feel the effects of having been up for over 20 hours at that point. A man loudly snorting snot back up into his nose every 3 seconds kept me from hanging out at my gate, so I continued to wander around until boarding. I flew into Charlotte, got some food, and rode another plane to CVG. Myrtle was enthusiastic about seeing me after a week apart, and Ashley was happy to see me, too. I managed to stay up until 10 PM that evening, inching my consecutive waking hours up over the 40 hour mark. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed up for so long at one time in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258634418-VC2PUNISFLZ02DPU4RMS/IMG_2775.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.14.23 Back to Life After sleeping in to take a bit of the edge off the previous day’s record-breaking wakefest, I got to work on some house projects that needed doing before hosting a Mother’s Day gathering. After everyone left, I began the dreaded process of sectioning off the back yard so we can plant grass seed in the spots where it never properly grew. Though half the yard is off limits for Myrtle at the moment, I’m hoping the new grass will pop up quickly and we can use 100% of it again. You can’t really see the spots from this image, but they’re there. Now to keep the birds and squirrels off the seed before it can take root! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258631666-EVDE6BBD5BQFPTTDDYU6/IMG_2781.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.15.23 Much-Needed Playtime Love playing with this little monster. We bought her a new frisbee then took her to two parks to play with it this evening. I missed her while I was on my trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684291107534-AEVIMU939AL972POA96K/IMG_2817.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.16.23 Iridescent Shapes One of those aftermarket window clings during a sunset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684422960182-SBIHU46RZTWOW0FCW328/IMG_2823.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.17.23 Travel Ready Up until now, I’ve used a backpack to carry my gear to and from shoots. While it’s worked out well for me, it became a bit of an issue when I got my Z9. In short: the Z9 is large enough that putting it in the bag is a hassle. Justin picked up a Pelican case for his gear for our California trip and I liked how he was able to consolidate his gear into one hard shell to keep it safe and organized during transport. So instead of dealing with the hassle of the bag for my shoots, I’ve converted to storing my most commonly used camera gear in a hard case, though mine’s a $100 knock-off from Harbor Freight instead of a proper Pelican brand. The pull-apart foam was relatively easy to adjust for each piece, though I wish I’d had some practice before I started getting into it. There are a few things I would’ve done differently in retrospect when setting up this case, but it’s good for now. I can always order new foam if I need to redo the configuration. It’s small enough that it’ll fit in an overhead on a plane but big enough that I fit everything plus a 24-200 telephoto under Godox flash on the left. If only I could’ve gotten my tripod in it… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684461597575-G51J7ONVCGRCUUXU4M9H/DSC_9307-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.18.23 Another One Tom Covert does incredible renovations. Every time he texts me with a new house he’s ready to have photographed for a listing, I make sure I’m available because they’re always so, so good. He likes to purchase dilapidated houses no one wants and spends time remaking them into glorious dream homes. I photographed his first project on Philadelphia years ago for the publication, and since then I’ve had the privilege of working with him on all his other projects when they’re ready. This one, located on 8th Street just off Mainstrasse, is his newest flip. This bathroom was probably my favorite part of the redesign. He’s a preservationist at heart and spends time making sure the hardware and other elements of the build are custom and usually historic. In this particular house, he was able to salvage the majority of the original wood floors. For the planks he had to replace, he salvaged old wood from other historic properties he’s worked on and integrated them into this property’s renovation to match the era and aesthetic. I really appreciate that level of care and attention to detail from someone flipping homes, especially on this level. This property was in bad shape (it’s right next to his last project—see daily photo entry from 4.6.21) when I saw it last. Now, it’s ready to hit the market for hundreds of thousands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684640536934-0B6KSLLEN186EG1XKLHQ/IMG_2852.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.19.23 Deprivation Streak Continues This isn’t an interesting fact, but it’s the only thing I feel like mentioning at the moment. It’s been 23 years since the last time I put on swim shorts and got into a pool. Even then, I was forced to get in if I wanted to pass physical education. Maybe it was the awkwardness of stripping down during a pivotal teenage year in front of the opposite sex. Or maybe it was enduring aggressive towel whippings in the locker room from peers I didn’t want to be around in the first place. Probably a bit of both, if I’m honest. Regardless, it put me off being in bodies of water and I haven’t had a desire to do it again since. Next time I’m in a bad mood and need to divulge another strong opinion, I’ll commit my hot take about the beach and boat culture to this archive to further solidify my reputation as a land-loving curmudgeon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684640538439-M76VM9QJVL5T7431CQA7/IMG_2865.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.20.23 Oops! It was one of those days where the daily photo project got away from me and the only image I have to show for it is this one: a throwaway snap of a tree I was trying to identify using Apple’s onboard plant identification tool in Photos. (It’s a Japanese tree lilac, apparently.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048919243-PN5VWHRGV58Q821WOGTM/DSC_0499-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.21.23 Class of 2023 From 11 AM until 8 PM, I photographed graduation parties. Needless to say, I feel like a hollow skeleton typing this entry; reviewing over 3,100 images will be tomorrow’s task. The two people who hired me to photograph their events are very kind and I like working with them, though I wish I had a day between the parties. It’s a lot to manage memory card and battery-wise, as well as physically. When the day was done and I’d packed my gear into the car, I lowered the windows and cranked some ska like I was a teen again as I hit the freeway. Working around newly graduated high schoolers made me feel youthful by association, I suppose. As I reflected back on the day’s work, I realized the people I was tasked with photographing were likely born in 2005—the year after I donned a mortar board and accepted my own high school diploma. It’s surreal to think I’ve aged this much in what seems like such a short time. It will never get easier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048923413-2XK5M1LF8UDID78YCF37/IMG_2909.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.22.23 Always Go Inside Needed to mail something after attending a meeting with a client in the West End, so I dropped by the Dalton Street Post Office. I never use these post office mailboxes in the parking lot because going inside the building is quick, easy, and far more beautiful than this drive-up shelter. While inside, I thought I’d throw together a little highlight reel of the building’s attractive Art Deco features and post it to the Internet, which people seemed to like. I hope it inspires at least one person to ditch the parking lot for a trip inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048919788-UBT2MD5WSVHDPS9QRZYO/DSC_2355-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.23.23 Grand Ballroom Ashley’s in Miami for work and my knee is experiencing another wave of pain from the injury I sustained last month. It wasn’t an ideal day to leave the dog home alone for long hours while hobbling around inside the massive Spooky Nook events center in Hamilton, but duty called. They needed shots of their ballrooms, conference spaces, and some other stuff. I do not think I will ever be finished photographing this space for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048923455-OHAXY7BGYHVX6M55C8XQ/200+W+Pike+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-37.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.24.23 200 W Pike Hub+Weber Architects are moving out of their home at 200 W Pike Street in Covington. I’d been in their office many times over the last several years for both work and pleasure (Cody works there), but this time I wasn’t photographing something for them; I was photographing the office for the owner of the building so he can list it. Rebecca, the realtor, tapped me on the shoulder last week and scheduled a post-workday shoot of the space and the other offices located inside the building. It’s hard to believe I will likely never have another night to enjoy a beer under the abandoned train platform behind the building, but all good things come to an end. I hope whoever buys the property takes care of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330555116-VL7Z9F7I4NL4XPM9OFL7/IMG_2975.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.25.23 Art By Friends Steven and Tiffany made some really cool linocut pieces and sent them to me! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330555766-DQBGZK9NG9XIDW50ZSZL/200+W+Pike+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-59.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.26.23 Listing Photo Insurance Awhile back I learned an invaluable lesson when it comes to listing photography: dramatic night shots are always a good idea. Not every place looks great at night, and it may not always be worth it, but when a place has the right lighting, you gotta go back for it. 200 W Pike is one of those places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330556964-0A5DTTDPXZ3WJGZNGFH6/ZFC_6511-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.27.23 Trying New Things We rode our bikes down to Manhattan Harbor Marina and drank beer/ate fried food next to the river. While I don’t think it’s going to be my local weekly haunt, it was nice to switch things up and hang out in a place we’re not used to frequenting. We watched dozens of boats dock at and depart from the pier near our table while a cover band played hits from the last 40 years through speakers deafeningly loud enough to almost completely drown out table conversation. When the dock began rhythmically undulating beneath us and the string lights over our heads jostled about due to number of people dancing, we figured our time at the marina had come to an end. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330565340-GOD7Q18XEYU7SQFAXKRS/DSC_2748-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.28.23 The Balcony It’s a great night for a little TV on the balcony (while a concerned dog keeps an eye on things). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685586899911-FOY298M1WWXD6BLBO5KB/IMG_3054.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.29.23 Summer’s Here It’s Memorial Day. I went to two parties: one in the morning where I took this picture of John’s dog, Gus, enjoying the splash pad, and another in the evening where half of us wore black shirts for some reason (unplanned) and I used wide angle mode on my iPhone to take a bad photo of the group. Ashley and I rode bikes, drank beer, and enjoyed the first day of summer with friends. What I really want to talk about here, though, is that Squarespace now offers generative text by filling out a brief prompt about your subject. For kicks, I had it create text about this image using details I fed it. What it wrote was grammatically correct and read perfectly fine, but it wasn’t the tone I wanted at all. In fact, it was so sugary sweet and patriotic, it made me a little sick. After the initial revulsion had passed, I found comfort knowing the machine cannot reach into my head. Yet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685586898881-1T6OZZK4MI9WXZWK81OX/ZFC_6591-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.30.23 Never Stay In the Hotel Flew to Denver early this morning for a shoot. Luminaut sent me out two years ago in July to shoot some stuff they designed, and I returned today to capture the work that’s been done since. The shoot went surprisingly quickly and I found myself with the entire afternoon and evening to wander Denver with no agenda. The increased altitude coupled with having not gotten much rest the night before and stormy-looking skies had me dragging my feet on urban exploration. Staying in Highlands was the right call—it’s a cool neighborhood that’s walkable and has great views of the city, and I didn’t want to waste it napping at the hotel. Long story short, I managed a hybrid schedule of resting in the hotel room and going out to snap some photos and explore the area on and off through the day. In the evening, I took a walk over to LoDo from Highlands via a really neat pedestrian bridge and checked out the beautiful Commons Park, wandered over the Millennium Bridge, and eventually ended up at Union Station to watch the trains. Had I let fatigue win, I wouldn’t have experienced any of that and I would’ve missed out on the best photo opportunities I’d gotten that day. As I followed the setting sun back to the hotel with a rapidly dying camera battery, I thanked my gut for urging me out of the hotel. There’ll be time to sleep later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685586897943-LUM9F0UOON7HH2UHXR1Z/IMG_3140.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 5.31.23 Weirdest Date Ever? As I was coming back from my work trip to Denver today, Ashley was leaving for Dallas for her work trip. Oddly enough, we were in CVG at the same time going opposite ways. I suggested we meet and eat a Bloomin Onion at the airport Outback Steakhouse as a joke. It was the “petals” version, meaning it wasn’t presented in the typical outward bloom configuration, but it tasted the same. This is probably our weirdest date in the eight years we’ve been together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685668312500-H2RJBLJ30P3JOSUJ81LG/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-135.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.1.23 Middletown’s Carnegie Occasionally I get to photograph historic places that have been forgotten, abandoned, and left to rot. Photographing these spaces is always a mixed bag for me; while I love capturing an old space after its heyday and before further transformation, it’s also incredibly sad that these places have been neglected. Tack on the varying threat of physical harm while navigating these spaces as well as the rush of excitement and it’s a rollercoaster of emotion every time. Today, I photographed the empty Carnegie Library in Middletown for its owner, an affable architect who had big plans for it up until recently. While it’s in less than stellar shape, I could tell the owner worked to mitigate the ailing condition of this place. This one wasn’t left to rot when it came under his possession. He cares about every inch of it and has a vision for what it can be one day despite it all. Regardless, he’s selling it after five years of trying and failing to convince the city to help him get it off the ground. His passion for this building is commensurate with the hurt in his voice when he speaks of selling it. Despite his efforts and thorough plans to breathe life back into this important piece of built history, he’s concluded he’s no longer the one to do it. I appreciate people like him—people who care about the past and seek to preserve a piece of it so the future can be a little brighter. I truly wish it had worked out for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016817189-VXYQ0LFC1BVTCENO3KJJ/IMG_3170.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.2.23 Tiffany & Justin Justin and Annie get married tomorrow. Tonight was the rehearsal and dinner at The Columns—a place I photographed nearly every month over the course of two years during its development. It was really nice to get to enjoy it as a guest for once. Anyway, Tiffany and Justin (pictured) are two of my best friends and getting a photo of them together in their respective elements was a great little bonus today. As a groomsman in the wedding, I’m really looking forward to being even a tiny part of Justin and Annie’s big day while we party with our friends. Tiffany and Steven are staying with us at our house, making the whole weekend even more fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016817810-HFQ4909NAAAXD4TH2OKB/IMG_3183.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.3.23 Mr. Kohl Justin is a married man! All the groomsmen got together mid-morning at Netherland Plaza to get suited up, drink bourbon, and take photos with Justin on his wedding day. As we approached go-time for the ceremony, we cleared our heads, got into position, and stood like statues off to the side while Justin and Annie were legally and spiritually joined on the altar by her Rabbi brother. Afterward, we gathered in the reception hall and had an absolute blast raising Justin and Annie into the ceiling during the Hora dance. The wedding was by far the most lavish, energetic, and fun wedding I think I’ve ever attended, and knowing I got to be a special part of it was truly an incredible feeling. By the end of the night, with my aching body fighting fatigue, I collapsed into bed happy and satisfied that all of Justin and Annie’s friends and family were able to give them the day they’ve wanted for so long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016820698-B67PGUGPIY3KJS1DQ2F7/IMG_3186.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.4.23 One More Round at the Netherland A post-wedding brunch was held in the Continental Room the next morning. We groggily took our house guests to Unataza (that Sunday ritual is important) before heading over to the Netherland one last time. After breakfast, Tiffany and Steven’s plane failed to arrive, rerouting them back to our house for one more evening. Sitting on the porch with a pizza and good friends until the sun goes down is a top-three activity, in my opinion. I was so wrapped up in being present with them, I actually forgot to take a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016815257-03HTFDV77DY7AQGT68GC/DSC_3770-Enhanced-NR-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.5.23 Canadian Wildfires Reuters reports the wildfires spreading through Canada are on track to be the worst the country has ever experienced. 120,000 people have been displaced at the time of this writing, and thousands more are under evacuation orders. Quebec, northeast of Ohio, is experiencing the worst of the fires. They’re so intense, we’re seeing smoke from all the way up north travel down to us. That smoke thickens the sky with a heavy haze and morphs the sun into a dim, red glowing orb you can stare at directly without hurting your eyes. I truly feel awful for everyone directly affected up there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601406607-ZQWVF0OYRGO3GHTBAS0G/ZFC_6615.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.6.23 Little Known Garden I still need to hit this place up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601403186-HCMM0XOVA7VRPFJ5W65Y/DSC_4512-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.7.23 Lingering Haze The air quality is still pretty abysmal here. After photographing an event at CAM, I rushed home, got Myrtle, and we drove up to 15th Street in Newport to check out the view before it disappeared for the evening. I figured it would look wild. It would later grow dimmer and redder as it sunk into the horizon. I tried getting over to another vantage point before it went down, but there wasn’t enough time. If you’re worried you don’t have enough time to catch the sunset in a specific location, you were too late 10 minutes ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601400211-U6ARPSXI6QV2RY4L1CCK/ZFC_6625.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.8.23 River City Sunset Some good light bouncing off The Fairfield tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601406363-E13F9TGI3QD7RFYIE55A/IMG_3263.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.9.23 Congrats, Keith & Marissa Keith and Marissa did the coolest thing I’ve seen at a wedding lately: they told the officiant to ask everyone to put away their phones for the ceremony. It was awesome and so much more enjoyable than watching friends get married through cousin Bridget’s, neighbor Larry’s, and Aunt Petuna’s video app raised high into the air despite the fact that a professional photographer is paid to document the event. They also had these cute custom drink stirrers made with their cat’s face on them. It makes me retroactively regret not doing this for my own wedding years ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601400041-DVHS1BQK9RL01UKU1IEF/ZFC_6637.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.10.23 Tarbell Sighting Met up with friends in Northside today for a photo walk. We got coffee at Collective, walked around the neighborhood a bit, had a less-than-stellar but not wholly unexpected experience with a rude barista at <redacted> who seemed to really dislike us for some reason, and ended up with beer and loaded fries at NSYC before heading home. Oh, and we saw Jim Tarbell en route to Ruth’s. Good morning and afternoon overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601403469-TMRJ2I4R58A3P20KNJET/Art+Amplified+-+Phil+Armstrong-216.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.11.23 Art Amplified ArtWorks hired me to photograph their first annual Art Amplified event that took place over the course of a whole day around Over-the-Rhine. Live painting and drawing, music, and dancing at Alice, drinks and yoga at Somerset, dinner at Somerhaus with Wildweed in the kitchen and Revel on the wine, and a glorious post-sunset projection show by Brave Berlin. Dan and I climbed up to the neighboring Roadtripper’s roof for the projection and accompanying photo and only left when it began raining around 10 PM. While it was a long 12-hour day, I had a blast working with good people and photographing a fun, colorful, memorable event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686709723766-UOG0J9OIPUETHUANKKKH/IMG_3371-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.12.23 So Dramatique Monday ennui has returned for the most pampered, spoiled labradoodle in the Greater Cincinnati Area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686709726084-MF6T9G9L2YM1RVYLEBVV/ZFC_6675-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.13.23 A Wild Bush Void Appears It’s been a day of cats in Bellevue. Saw this little one on my walk to the coffee shop this morning, and then a chatty orange guy wandered up on our porch and taunted Myrtle behind the storm door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141033529-O7D46ITZ31PQH2311Z7B/ZFC_6714-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.14.23 She’ll Beg a Food Truck Miller’s Fill-Inn, which was recently purchased and renamed to The Fill-Inn, had a food truck parked beside it over the last few days. We went down for burritos and quesadillas and Myrtle, in a move that surprised even me, begged at the window of the truck. We’ve been to countless food trucks with her over the years but I’ve never seen her sit beside the window like she did with this truck. Apparently she really liked the smell of the food they were cooking. To be fair, the food was exceptional and I totally understand her determination to try to cop a scrap from it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141024975-J86NMLV5OIZIU6PBN2GZ/IMG_3506.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.15.23 Podcasting Steve invited me onto his podcast, Streaming Things, to discuss the first episode of season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We’ll be recording a show every week recapping new SNW episodes as they air, and the show we record will drop the day after. He’s not only doing SNW with me, though. His schedule is so full at the moment with shows to watch and cover that he has to organize them on a large calendar on the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141030237-GMB8AV2P1LMB9ZQQ72OA/IMG_3521.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.16.23 Factory 52 While in Norwood for something else, I went over to Factory 52 to scope it out for an upcoming job. I hadn’t been there since Travis and I photographed the soon-to-be-demolished buildings back in March of 2020—the last thing we did together before all hell broke loose. The whole area is impressive with a popular brewery, a food hall that’s going in nearby on the property, retail shops, and plenty of walkable areas with card sculptures and colorful murals. I want to go back to enjoy it instead of just doing recon soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141025293-94WKTWVJFLCTBYWOPV0N/Cooper+Group-+Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.17.23 Chipotle Evolves Maybe this isn’t anything new, but I didn’t realize Chipotle was putting in drive-throughs for pick-up orders until today. This one, a new location, is in Pleasant Ridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141037377-WI342J92B8ME5WFLBVA2/ZFC_6763-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.18.23 Rescuing Beauty After working outside all day and riding our bikes (even with Myrtle!) around town, we ventured down to the train tracks to pick these brilliant red flowers that sprang up at the edge of the gravel. Ashley’s been eyeing them for a week from the bridge above that leads us to our street. “I need to get down there and see what those are soon,” she’d say. Today was the day. She took them home, put them in a glass milk pint, and staged them on the dining table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687234664452-UIWQJAF8XKBELZRHSNBX/ZFC_6782-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.19.23 Single Exposure Didn’t leave the house today. Enough desk work kept me busy. Got as far as the porch before deciding today wasn’t a day to interact with the world beyond. I used the rain to justify being a hermit and thanked it for giving my garden a free drink and my water bill a break. This slower pace and insularity contrasts heavily with the previous few weeks but is by no means unwelcome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687406562537-2Z4SFP02QAQDQSMJCX9U/IMG_3602.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.20.23 Most Important Origin Work took me two streets over from the childhood house I consider to be the most important of my life. If ever a physical place could be infused with my memories, this modest little place at the end of a cul-de-sac on the east side of Cincinnati could scarcely contain the volume I keep with me today. With the exception of the first few months, I spent seven years of my life under this roof learning everything from how to walk to how to play. We moved out of it in 1993, but this place—more so than anywhere else my parents moved us—was always home to me. It’s where I played my first Nintendo, rode my first bike, saw my first baby bunny, picked up my first cicada, got my first insect sting, met my only sibling, made my first friend, rode my first school bus, suffered my first illness, ate my first gummy shark, saw my first movie, and the place where I remember feeling joy for the first time. I remember learning how morning light could pass through a translucent Lego brick and cast a colored shadow on the baseboard in the hallway—the same hallway that, at night, was the scariest route from the kitchen to the bathroom while invisible monsters nipped at my heels, always one step from “getting me.” I remember the nook by the china cabinet that I’d stand in and wait for my mom to come out of the bathroom in the morning so we could eat breakfast. I remember watching Nick at Night on the cabinet TV downstairs, the smell of my dad’s electric train set in the corner, and reading a book about dinosaurs at night in my room. The back yard was enormous and the street was never-ending in length to my child’s mind. It was, for a time, the center of my universe. When I walked that same street today, it felt remarkably tiny. My universe has greatly expanded in 30 years. It was comforting to see the house is in good shape and taken care of. Maybe one day I will get the chance to walk through it again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687406562188-A3NSJ7PEIEOGT18XGYWZ/NZ9_7084-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.21.23 Chihuly The show-stopping Chihuly sculpture, Rio Delle Torreselle Chandelier, suspended above the front desk at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Every time I see it, I cannot help imagining how anxiety-inducing the install was for this beautiful, fragile work of art. There has to be someone in that museum who can retell the story about that process. Apparently it’s dusted once a year by two conservationists working from either side of the piece. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829868525-WHPMC9P96IN6ZDMGXWVL/IMG_3620.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.22.23 Rest in Peace As I sat down across from Steve in the podcast studio, I placed my phone with the Notes app already on the screen in the cradle across from the microphone. Headphones went on, I adjusted the glass of wine on the coaster in front of me, and Steve’s finger hovered over the bright red ‘record’ button on the control panel. It was in that moment that I saw a notification that Ashley was calling. I was not prepared for the sounds that would come from the other end of the line. Every time I asked her what was happening, I grew exponentially more panicked when she couldn’t coherently express the reason for the sorrow she was experiencing. After a grueling eternity of confusion and fear, she momentarily overcame her sobs to tell me one of her relatives unexpectedly died—someone she’d seen merely 24 hours prior at another relative’s funeral. Podcasting was no longer on the itinerary. Instead, we focused on easing her grief. A UDF milkshake. Some funny dog videos on Instagram. Listening, not talking. An early bed time. Linda was a great person and one of my favorites from Ashley’s side of the family. She never had a bad thing to say about anybody. She was always pleasant. Always kind, never rude or in a bad mood. Always lighthearted. She didn’t seemingly buy into the bullshit others tried feeding her, and she lived life in a way that makes a lot of sense to me. We will miss her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829865053-MLTKLSAHJQ1S49W33Z7E/ZFC_6784.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.23.23 The Jackalope Does anyone remember how America’s Funniest People had a supremely unfunny bit that involved Dave Coulier doing a little voice for a character called the Jackalope? Its catchphrase was something akin to “fast as fast can be, you’ll never catch me!” Anyway, I cannot see rabbits with antlers without thinking of it and I will probably take that to my grave. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829865249-1J9C47Q7MHL2JWT6AEY3/ZFC_6794-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.24.23 Schwartz’s Point We finally went to a show with a group of friends at Schwartz’s Point tonight. After a nice dinner at Kanji, we all walked over to claim our reservation and began chipping away at the drink minimum. I like jazz well enough, but it’s not something I turn on when I want to focus on the music. It’s always been pleasant background noise. But as I watched the drummer use various instruments to make different sounds at intervals I couldn’t anticipate, and as the upright bass player picked away at nearly silent strings in an irregular fashion, I felt myself appreciate the genre more than I had before. That said, every jazz song begins sounding different from the one played before it prior to becoming completely indistinguishable from the others by the end. I do not have an ear for it, but I do like it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829870387-FNVDAXQ06UJHRI0H3AF0/ZFC_7052-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.25.23 Day Trip “Are you up for a day trip?” Chris asked over text. I absolutely was. Our destination: Gary, Indiana—birthplace of the Jackson Five, home to one of the largest steel manufacturers in the country, and once known in newspaper headlines as ‘the murder capital of the United States.’ If you know little about Gary, read up on it. The tale of its seemingly overnight founding, its rise to prominence in the 1960s, and its eventual slide into population decline and urban decay due to myriad factors is a tragic one. You can find articles online as recently as last year saying it’s the most depressing place to live in the country despite once being a place people poured into looking for work. Yes, Gary has work to do before it can reclaim its mantle as a desirable place to live. But according to Chris, someone who has visited many times over the last few decades, it’s looking a little better than it did before. The statistic that always fueled my curiosity about Gary was how 20% of it is abandoned—a number I can’t confirm but sadly seems accurate after having driven through a large swath of it. I’m not someone who breaks into abandoned places for photos, but I do like photographing these forgotten and neglected places from the sidewalk. I’m debating whether or not I should do a blog post about the city and what I saw, but I want to make sure I’m respectful about it. After seeing Gary, we popped up to Chicago for a couple hours before heading home. This pleasant little scene of kids tossing football with Chicago in the far distance across Lake Michigan at Rainbow Beach Park was the surprise frame I didn’t expect to get today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184695456-OGB7OFBDY7YDFB22KB1A/IMG_3703.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.26.23 No More Concessions There are signs that say we’re not allowed to walk our dog around Bellevue High School’s football field, but we did it anyway. Considering the state of the track, the rusting equipment on the weedy field, and the neglected buildings, I don’t think our dog is going to have a negative impact on this place. It’s a shame it’s been left to rot like this; especially since it’s still actively used every year. There just isn’t money allocated to address it. Hell, the football program this past year was in danger of dissolving. I didn’t grow up here and don’t know what it looked like 20+ years ago when I would’ve been in high school, but I imagine it was better than it is today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184706043-A20QQB0O7BMC9HILLCEX/ZFC_7144.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.27.23 Riding With the UBBC It is my estimation that riding bikes with someone you like is the best way to experience being on a bicycle. It’s even better when your respective paces match each other and no extra effort is made to keep up on either side. When I ride with Bob and the UBBC, I get to experience that feeling. Though the air was becoming polluted with Quebec smoke, the UBBC still met in Washington Park and set course for Eli’s BBQ in the East End. The leisurely ride was pleasantly unburdened by the usual cavalcade of drivers hell-bent on making our ride more dangerous than it should be. Leading the pack, Bob and I discussed everything from bike rides to friends to the pros and cons of social media and everything in between. Of course, the BBQ at Eli’s was a highlight, too. And bonus: I think I’ve finally found the best way to use my Nikon while riding. It involves a lot of blind firing and timing, but the treat of later discovering what I managed to catch on the ride is a novelty worth repeating. I split off and took the Purple People Bridge back over to NKY on our way back, burning my lungs with the worsening air as I picked up the pace in a rush to get home to see Myrtle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184695456-DJANO3IYROYWRMPMF8X0/IMG_3741.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.28.23 Visibility Issues As mentioned in yesterday’s post, the air quality in our region is growing worse. In fact, it didn’t even seem this bad a month ago when the fires smoked us out the first time. The news said Chicago had the worst air quality of any city in the world yesterday; I’m betting Cincinnati is up there today. Normally I’d plan to stay indoors on a day like this and rely on the luxury of breathing central air, but I had to leave to assist Justin with taking his first professional headshot for someone in West Chester. Afterward, he treated me to Trophy Pizza and I went home to avoid being out in the air any longer. Before heading back, I stopped on O’Fallon to observe the visibility to downtown. As you can see, it’s not good. With thousands of fans coming to Cincinnati for the outdoor Taylor Swift shows this weekend, I’m worried the air quality will still be horrible. That is obviously the secondary concern. The fires in Canada, not the smoke in Cincinnati, is the biggest issue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184701248-7GEB410JX8ZP3C1IH3ZZ/ZFC_7156-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.29.23 Swiftly Approaching Cincinnati is gearing up for a Taylor Swift two-day visit at Paycor Stadium. As such, Taylor-mania is in full force. Bellevue even renamed Taylor Avenue temporarily to give her a nod. I knew she was one of the biggest acts of the modern age, but I don’t think Cincinnati’s had this big a performer visit since Paul McCartney played GABP in 2011. I have no opinion on Taylor Swift, but I’m genuinely happy so many are jazzed about her visit. It’s good to see people excited about something fun, and the economic impact she’ll bring to the region is wonderful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184702917-TDUBCK9VXRTRV70EV4KH/NZ9_2316-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 6.30.23 The Full Spectrum The day began with a job photographing a dental implant presentation given by a Brooklyn surgeon in a classroom on the east side. The day ended with a rowdy, fun-filled drag performance in Eden Park. It’s a pain in the ass sometimes, but being a freelance photographer is a load of fun on days like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688267585494-DJJ3H9M9YTBY99VCO8KT/ZFC_7280.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.1.23 Soiled Safe Space We took Myrtle to Hueston Woods this morning so she could swim in the lake. Unfortunately, it rained this morning and the beach turned into grainy mud. Myrtle didn’t care, though. Every time she ran into the water to retrieve her frisbee, she flew past Ashley and ran straight to me—the person NOT throwing the toy for her and who found dry, clean refuge on a picnic blanket in the nearby grass. Uncomfortable in her water-logged state, a vigorous shake followed as did a few expletives from yours truly. My safe space had been compromised. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615666602-J523J12XRCDS12RUTIDI/IMG_3848.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.2.23 Dog Friend We went to a baby shower and Ashley became this dog’s BFF by the end of the night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615670968-CQ33L1FOUHRGIXD258OQ/IMG_3854.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.3.23 Hamburbers and Sandwiches Went over to RESLV to give Steve a hand on a project and came across this door a block away. Need to go back and see if this is an active restaurant or a remnant from another time. (NOTE: I didn’t mean to misspell hamburgers in the title, but that’s how it was originally published, so that’s how it will remain.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615671183-R7SOZXCDG35CT1JSCUHK/IMG_3895.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.4.23 Fireworks With Friends Travis and Allie hosted a great Fourth of July gathering this evening. We lit sparklers on the roof and twirled them around to celebrate freedom or whatever. It was a great time and I’m lucky to have so many good people in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615675424-ZU2M4NE09JUGILY37DXP/ZFC_7461-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.5.23 Turning Point I’ll make this brief because I’m already sick of talking about it. Monday, while I was helping Steve, my knee finally decided to call it quits. I’d been having trouble for months, but this time it was fully done. I’m in constant pain unless I’m standing (yes, standing). If I lay down, it aches. Unless I sit at the edge of the seat, a shooting pain goes up my leg. The x-ray reveals nothing beyond “it’s not arthritis” but the ortho doc says he thinks it’s a torn meniscus. Whether surgery is in my future is TBD. Starting physical therapy next week and returning for another visit in three weeks. Being unable to live normally is awful. No bike rides. Can’t drive without horrible pain. Can’t take a walk with Myrtle. Can’t do stairs well. And losing a large portion of the money I’ve worked so hard this year to make to meet the deductible has me in the dumps. Really hope this thing can be solved sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688734324922-SESYU4IH432CQFO7JKVK/NZ9_2705-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.6.23 A Little Help For a Little One Steve’s dog, Pippin, had major back surgery a few months ago. As a result, Pippin can no longer jump up on the couch or do stairs. As a little dog, everything is too high for him and he needs help. When I was over there the other day, Steve kept having to lift him up on the couch when he wanted to sit with us. This little dog ramp I made should solve this issue. I had almost all of the materials already on hand, so with the exception of the cheap carpet (which I have loads more of), I didn’t spend an additional dime on this project. Standing doesn’t hurt my leg nearly as bad as sitting, so finding a project that I can work on that won’t stress the knee is critical right now. Maybe I’ll make more of these at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688915231396-YQWX7QQMECRWI52EAJQ0/ZFC_7494.jpeg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.7.23 Stunning Sunset On the River We met up with my father’s cousin, Justin, and his partner, Bill, for dinner at the new Cuban joint on the Levee. It’s called Amador and it’s owned/operated by the Pesola Group—same people responsible for Revolution Rotisserie and Milkman. Long story short, the food and ambiance were equally fantastic. Highly recommend you check it out regardless if you’ve had Cuban-inspired cuisine or not. The view of downtown from the dining room makes the interior pop, especially at sunset. Afterward, we got a couple of mixed drinks from one of the bars in the box park and enjoyed the scene pictured. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688915234311-CQZ0JMTD06BE43QPI8ZB/ZFC_7665-Enhanced-NR.jpeg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.8.23 Night Out Bad decisions were made. Or were they? Should I be going out on a Saturday night and putting added stress on this knee? Should I be ordering drinks when I’m on meds? Should I be spending money on food and drink when I have impending medical bills? No, I probably shouldn’t. The alternative, responsible thing would be to stay home and ice this joint in solitude. But making bad decisions is relative. What I gained—a fun, memorable night out with friends—is worth more to me than the alternative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197937186-VQEVBD6L6RMY3Z4G5I4N/ZFC_7669-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.9.23 Ya Love To See It Ashley and Allie went to the Post Malone show, so Travis and I decided to hit up a few places while we waited to pick them back up. Wandering Monsters in Anderson had its grand opening this weekend. After a flight of beer there, we drove over to Factory 52. It being Sunday night, though, everything was closed—except for one place. I never thought I’d see Jeni’s in Cincinnati. With UDF and Graeter’s reigning supreme in the local ice cream department, it seemed unthinkable a challenger would dare try to scoop out a piece of the market. People were lined up around the building for it, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197936941-7CDIHILHR30EVUVSRJUK/ZFC_7670.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.10.23 The Loyal I didn’t go on a walk tonight; it was more of a slow hobble. The knee is fractionally better than before, and I got a little too confident about it, so I took the dog on a hobble. The last two blocks were painful. Photographed the outside Bellevue’s dive bar on Foote, The Loyal Cafe. It was recently forced to comply with the no-smoking ordinance the city passed. I’ll check it out at some point now that I don’t have to inhale an ashtray while inside. It always stank from the outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197943343-3IGKIHHZ42WS87CZHRDE/ZFC_7702-Enhanced-NR+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.11.23 Jake at Binski’s Met up with Jake, Ronny, and Rob at Binski’s in Camp Washington tonight. Great bar, will return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197944997-8TD0DLZPB0MZSRSZROJQ/112B+Winding+Way+-+Phil+Armstrong-10.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.12.23 Devou Dwelling It’s gotten noticeably hotter over the last 24 hours. After sweating through my shirt taking photos of the community pool, I photographed this condo in Devou Park for Rebecca’s listing. It doesn’t have a city view, but the view of the woods is nice. It’s a two bed, one bath with a balcony and garage space. I like the lofted ceiling and high windows that draw in extra natural light to fill the living room. The accent wall really takes the room up a notch, too. This was my first job while managing knee pain and it went alright. I think I can do this without too much trouble. Photographing events, though, will probably be a lot harder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689452806234-DOLE34PS4O3WYVMJQEQC/DSC_3083-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.13.23 Four Stories A four-story house in Mt. Adams with a good view of Over-the-Rhine needed photographing. The building, likely built in the 1800s, had been heavily modified to support more modern living. The humidity outside was brutal, increasingly invading the house the higher I climbed the staircase. It’s a good reminder that, despite technological advancements in micro-climate control, nature will always find a way to get you. Also, my knee has made noticeable strides in getting better today. Even managed to walk the dog (slowly) for a few blocks. Feels good to be seeing progress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689452745434-0667SW3Y920TCSMUEXNK/DSC_3673+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.14.23 Two Decades of Great Signage Since moving across the river three years ago, I’ve been meaning to photograph two unique signs in Highland Heights: La Ru Lanes and E-Jay Plaza. The former looks like it was designed and built in the 60s, and the latter looks like it could belong to either the late-80s or early-90s. I honestly don’t know which one I like more. They might be equally as appealing to me but for different reasons. La Ru has two things I love: blinking carnival bulbs and MCM geometry. The bulbs on the acute triangle remind me of being a kid and running around Kings Island at night, riding as many rides as possible before crossing the never-ending parking lot to find Dad at the pick up area reading a book under the cab’s dim, yellow dome light. And the bulging, unevenly lit rectangle with big, plastic lettering reminds me of when I’d go out to change the theater’s marquee as an early 20-something. E-Jay has two things I love: cool blue and hot orange neon, and that signature squiggle inherent in that era’s aesthetic. Maybe it’s revisionist history, but I feel like that Memphis Design/Solo Jazz style of loud, squiggly colors and shapes were crucial to making childhood in the 90s feel so visually unique. Every era has its aesthetic, and while that one could be argued as garish and might prove unpopular after the 90s revival moment we’re experiencing fades, I’ll always have a soft spot for it. Pardon my nostalgia. I haven’t verbally talked to anyone but Myrtle in almost two days (Ashley’s out of town again). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689702442065-RR639GGNZA67YRKWSUJZ/ZFC_7715-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.15.23 Chestnut Street Cemetery While on a walk with Myrtle, I revisited the Chestnut Street Cemetery: the oldest Jewish cemetery both in Cincinnati and west of the Allegheny Mountains. It’s one street over from the Betts House—Cincinnati’s oldest surviving structure. About 100 people are interred in this small, fenced-in corner of the West End. It’s also believed that Joe Jonas from Plymouth, England, was the first Jewish settler in Cincinnati. I don’t know why he died in Mobile, Alabama. The cemetery is truly a blink-and-you-miss-it phenomenon. The headstones are old, weathered, and hidden behind a stone wall. The only way to see them is from the corner. A double-sided historic marker with information about the cemetery stands just outside the fenced section. I knew it was here from spending so much time on Clark Street about 10 years ago, but I never photographed it until today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689702435904-YO6IYFKVS8P7NZYHWDXI/IMG_4160.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.16.23 Fixing Past Mistakes If you go back to the January 24th entry of this year, I mentioned having to remove part of the basement wall to move the new sleeper couch I bought into the room. It wasn’t the best solution at the time, but it had to be done. Today, with the help of my father-in-law, we reframed the doorway and added two bifold doors to separate the finished and unfinished sides of the basement. I still need to add trim and paint/stain everything, but the hard part is over. I didn’t have time to take many photos, but I wanted to spotlight my miter saw; this MVP helped me cut and complete this project. Without it, the job would’ve been much harder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689702436103-UYKKLLNQ3SK2AFSW54NC/DSC_3875-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.17.23 Getting Lucky Whoever said a black cat crossing your path is bad luck clearly didn’t appreciate how adorable black cats are. This little one was at the end of the alley before coming nearer to me when I pspsps’d at them a few times. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135274404-W6WC6IHJG6KXIR64G5B1/IMG_4188.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.18.23 Obligatory Bee-On-Flower-in-Summer Photo This bee was unconcerned about the close proximity of my iPhone’s camera while taking its photo. I think it was too lost in the sauce to notice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135274709-Y8ND0IVD7SYIKS4S0F8Z/IMG_4203.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.19.23 MRI Got an MRI done on my knee. They had me change into paper shorts, gave me headphones, and slid me 80% of the way into a noisy tube for 30 minutes. The white noise I had them play wasn't loud enough to mask the sounds of the machine, but it did help a bit. In fact, I was so comfortable that I kept fighting the urge to fall asleep so I wouldn't twitch and ruin the image. I could look out the window for "entertainment" because my head wasn't inside the machine. Still, I wish they'd given me a magazine or something to read. Anyway, I didn't take any photos because I wasn't allowed to have anything in the room with me. Here's the waiting room where they were playing King of Queens on a TV in the corner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135281716-9HY73P51SAYZX7ROSE53/Pride+Mural+BTS+-+Phil+Armstrong-47.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.20.23 Love Birds ArtWorks is in the process of creating an elevated Pride-themed mural above Queen City Radio, and they brought me along to photograph the process for them. I climbed a couple of stories of scaffolding to get up on the bar's roof, and from there, I climbed more scaffolding to photograph the artists doing their thing. Choosing just one photo for this project was challenging because almost every frame was filled with an abundance of color and positivity. I chose this one because I couldn't believe these adorable pigeons were "kissing" just like the muralized people in the background. It was also challenging to choose a photo of the day today because we went to Travis and Allie's house later that evening to watch the Ludacris show on the lawn of Hard Rock Casino from their rooftop. The view from that height offered a perfect, almost completely unobstructed look at the stage. I took my Tamron 150-600 with me and got a few decent shots of the performance. If you don't pay to see a show and manage to see it from outside the venue, does that still count as "going to see Ludacris?" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135277630-H8V2RYJIP2MN5B8PWTCM/IMG_4290.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.21.23 Vingt-Trois et Moi My sister did 23andMe and got me thinking about how my own results might turn out compared to hers. So I paid $100 to spit into this tube! I will report back in a few weeks when I get my results. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135279590-Y7OYUMDRPET9WMSP42E3/IMG_4304.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.22.23 Barbie Fever The marketing campaign for the Barbie movie is honestly impressive. I cannot think of a film with such a weird and powerful push to get people into theaters in a while. In contrast to Oppenheimer, the film is seemingly unserious about itself, though still very serious about making big box office numbers on opening weekend. It’s pretty fun to see little pop-up photo boxes and memes being shared for this lighthearted affair. While I’m neither opposed to seeing it nor willing to spend the money on a ticket, I figured I’d commemorate this particular moment in pop culture by photographing my favorite Barbie-pink house on Berry Street that’s totally unaffiliated with the studio and accidentally prescient at this moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690387465236-2B7EEKJC3Q8DQHPQKJZT/ZFC_7755.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.23.23 Where Are All the Butterflies? Is it just me or do you see fewer butterflies these days? Maybe I’m misremembering, but I recall seeing far more of them every year than I do now. When I see them in the wild now, it honestly stops me in my tracks because they’re no longer a common sight. One of the big reasons we ripped out the grass in our front yard last year was to plant flowers and create a pollinator sanctuary to hopefully attract more bees and butterflies. While this one wasn’t in my front yard, I hope to see more of them this summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690387475091-X30044NBFBVM912WUYHX/slammer-180-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.24.23 Guilt-Free Pog The first thing I ever remember stealing as a kid was a pog with a cat face on it. Little cardboard discs with graphics on them were all the rage in the early- and mid-nineties. Instead of baseball cards, we saved money for this stupid game. Sometimes kids would even gamble with them, though I never did because no one cared enough about taking my pogs. I stole that cat pog from a friend down the street. It was so desirable because I had very few "official" pogs of my own compared to my friends (I cut up shoeboxes and drew the artwork on my pogs to build my library early on). Stealing that pog filled me with a tremendous amount of guilt, though. Every time I looked at that tiny cat face, it made me sick. Those adorable kitty eyes that initially made me take it eventually filled me with a sinking feeling in my gut and made playing with it unbearable. Whenever a slammer exploded a stack and the cat pog bounced free of the pile, I was judged anew. And I knew I deserved it. The cat pog that "fell off the back of a truck" eventually bounced its way into the garbage can so I could avoid continuing to feel guilt. I told this story to Tiffany and Steven last month, and they sent me this holographic cat slammer (it's surprisingly heavy!) they found on eBay as a joke. To me, though, it's the guilt-free version of that childhood treasure, and I unironically love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690387465349-XZNTRI173O7ZHK8HWW4I/County+Garage+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong-18.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.25.23 New View They’re building a tall parking garage by Findlay Market at the moment. As it goes up, so too does a south-facing ArtWorks mural. Working alongside the apprentices and the project coordinators, I photographed the progress from the multi-story scaffolding erected next to the wall. It was my job to document the process for ArtWorks, but I couldn’t help but grab a quick skyline shot from a new perspective at the top of the scaffolding. As someone with a relatively healthy fear of heights (don’t come at me with an ‘actually, it’s a fear of falling’), being up that high without much to keep me from falling over the edge was a bit scary. The best part about this is once the garage is open, everyone can get up here and get the same shot. I’m going to try to get one at night next time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773767456-WOXPOT53FUQHWW25YY4M/IMG_4496.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.26.23 Libel Is it libel if I take a photo of graffiti someone else did and publish it? While throwing something away next to the coffee shop, this caught my eye. I won’t speculate further. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773786139-QXY074NC1YSUSOZ5OP5F/IMG_4494_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.27.23 Tiki Night Tiki night at Japp’s with Travis and Rob. It began thunderstorming pretty fiercely as I was leaving. Thankfully Ashley came to pick me up so I didn’t have to manage a streetcar and a bus in the rain without an umbrella. The lightining was spectacular! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773786135-XCJT3VYG4GKJIKFBJ9WX/IMG_4504.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.28.23 Blurry Malort Shot Blurry malort shot both because it’s out of focus and because my vision blurred from the foul taste when I took this shot. Binski’s does it in a clean ashtray (never used except for malort), making it awkward to take. Pretty sure a quarter of it landed in my beard instead of my mouth. A bunch of us gathered for Lammi’s birthday and drank Old Style and High Lifes while laughing about bad toilet experiences and playing dominoes. Eventually, the majority of the group landed at Camp Washington Chili for a late-night meal. I took precisely one photo because I was enjoying myself too much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773747435-6X5RKOD7JYPLROX54VZJ/IMG_4516.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.29.23 Surprise Visit From An Angel Ashley, Maria, Kenzie, and Aaron went to the 50 Cent show at Riverbend, so Mike (husband of Maria) and I hung out while we waited to pick them back up. We smoked cigars, ate sushi, listened to a mix of 80s/90s hip-hop and punk, and were about to hit up the barcade on Walnut before the ladies summoned us back to the river to collect them. After picking them up, we went to Kenzie and Aaron’s house for a nightcap and saw this beautiful cat on the shed next door. She emerged from the darkness and sat pretty up there for us to gawk at her. At one point, she came close enough that I could pet her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773759746-17N06OUH18U0PXA95I5T/ZFC_7787.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.30.23 The Empty Speedway While at Binski’s Friday night, Travis and Ronny discussed going down to the Kentucky Speedway to photograph it for a story Ronny’s putting together. With one of Ronny’s friends, Matt, in tow, we went down early-ish in the morning before it got too unbearably hot and wandered around outside the fence. I’ve never been interested in racing like this, but seeing the speedway essentially abandoned. While it’s clear someone is still cutting the grass around the speedway, it’s also apparent this is no longer a place where people come together to watch an event. I don’t know all the specifics of the place, but I imagine everything I need to know will be in Ronny’s upcoming piece about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690911010261-C7NZKAUEE7G01PN5KKOI/ZFC_7817.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 7.31.23 The Old Switcheroo While at Friendship Park, this engine roared slowly down the track before stopping shy of the switch. The man pictured climbed down, pulled the lever, and another man still inside the engine inched forward. It parked briefly in the middle of the driveway cars use to enter the park parking lot. Successfully switched over, the engine reversed and went onto the other set of tracks that run parallel to the set it had just ridden and proceeded back from whence it came. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691001829311-8L3MZOWH1MZJXR3AH2OJ/ZFC_7836.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.1.23 Familiar Fourth Street “Home” has been talked about a lot during this project over the last few years. From seeing my childhood home in Eastgate to photos within my current home and everywhere in between, I have strong connections to physical places and locations that mean something to me. Fourth Street is one of them. It’s where I moved when I decided to become an urban dweller. It’s the street where I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. It’s where I met Ashley. It’s where I used to work before making a huge career shift. It’s where I learned photography. It’s the street that also, unfortunately, saw some of the hardest days of my life. Fourth Street was the chrysalis where I found my wings. That place just feels so right to me. It’s not the busiest street downtown, nor is it the quietest, and it boasts everything from museums to restaurants to parks to high-rise living to coffee shops and bars. But very few care about it as a destination because it’s not Vine Street in OTR or 6th Street two blocks away. There are few things more personal and beautiful to me than when the summer sun sets and casts its Golden Hour light on Fourth Street. While I no longer have an address at the corner of Fourth and Broadway, I still feel tremendous comfort there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691092190820-080DXNUD6BCCZ4WE865H/drinks.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.2.23 Alive & Well Aaron with Hickory Wald contacted me about photographing their new Clifton bar, Alive & Well, on Telford. I photographed exceptionally colorful cocktails for their marketing purposes as well as the bar itself before their friends and family night event today. Not pictured: a cocktail made with Graeter’s raspberry sorbet that I must return for. It looked delicious. I’m going back tomorrow to do night shots of the space. I will most likely choose one of those as my photo of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423970703-OFCDYV30AQJM3TPBBXK7/Alive+%26+Well+-+Phil+Armstrong-43.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.3.23 Alive & Well: Part II As promised, here’s the evening photo of the outside of Alive & Well. I returned around 9 PM and photographed the outside before doing some lifestyle shots of people in the bar with drinks inside. Truth be told, this particular shoot made me nervous; lifestyle isn’t my strong suit, especially when the parameters of the shoot require approaching strangers and asking them to pose for manufactured candids. That said, I think I did an adequate job, and all that’s left to do now is to send them to the client. Hopefully they are satisfied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423943310-IRA7USDCSWIK2JSFI6YW/IMG_4599.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.4.23 Dinwiddie Is No Longer Thinkin’ Arby’s While headed to Indiana Dunes State Park for the weekend, I saw this abandoned Arby’s off the exit in Dinwiddie, IN. The lighting was perfect at the time, so I pulled over for a quick photo. I didn’t inspect it closely enough to determine how long it’s been empty, but the building looks to be in generally good shape. The style is that of the older aesthetic I’m most familiar with from the 90s and early 2000s. Modern Arby’s are boxy and have the look of every other fast food chain. I miss the days when these brands had specific building styles that became synonymous with their logo. Pizza Hut’s style was so iconic, the blog Used to Be a Pizza Hut is dedicated to documenting their reuse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423943589-X2PVNKKC6UOR5CIPY9JW/ZFC_7870-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.5.23 Rained-Out Weekender We planned a beach day where I sit under an umbrella and Ashley and Myrtle swim in Lake Michigan. We got to do that for about an hour and a half before a storm slowly crept into the area and gently forced everyone off the beach. Myrtle enjoyed her time playing in the lake despite the brevity of her visit. We spent the rest of the day driving around, trying to find something to do with a dog that wasn’t outside. We managed to find one restaurant with covered outdoor seating that allowed dogs. Truth be told, the weather ruined the whole day, and I’m not pleased. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423947268-LZOMYS7SFCSD55W5T0E6/ZFC_7879-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.6.23 We’ll Try Again Later I thought I’d get shots of sandy dunes tufted with wisps of long grass and twisted, skinny trees under cerulean skies. I thought I could photograph the lake with Chicago’s skyline in the distance. All of that would’ve been possible had it not rained almost the entire time. One of the only times it didn’t completely soak us was this morning. Though it drizzled, we managed a short walk along the Portage Lakefront Park & Riverwalk before hiking a trail further southwest at West Beach. Myrtle got to hop into the lake for a bit and get one last swim in before we accepted the fact that additional incoming rain meant driving home was the only logical option. Though this trip to Lake Michigan left much to be desired, we will try again in autumn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762246729-Z6JW00BZWC83Y45WV1KX/IMG_4654.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.7.23 Indecisive Skies The sky couldn’t figure out whether or not to rain today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762253340-OMTAIABU0OFBVEO7Q0U2/IMG_4668.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.8.23 Real Adults Now Our solid wood bed frame with a headboard was delivered today. I haven’t had a proper bed frame since I was a child. For my entire adult life, I’ve slept on a metal frame with box springs and no headboard. It was perfectly fine, but deciding to upgrade the bed makes being in it all the more relaxing (and looks nicer, too). It sits about 10 inches lower than it previously was, and though I thought that would take some getting used to, I ended up preferring it closer to the floor. I’ve already smashed my shin into the corner of it because I’m not used to it sticking out that far. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762247432-UH31GBZJ0SOHC17Y4BPN/Baymiller+Slaughterhouse+-+Phil+Armstrong+-20.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.9.23 Sun In An Empty Room Self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762254538-DHI45322XXD6P6INHNN5/ZFC_7988.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.10.23 Triple XXX Family Restaurant After finishing a photoshoot for Luminaut in Lafayette, Indiana, I stopped by Triple XXX Family Restaurant before returning home. Claiming to be the oldest-operating drive-in restaurant in Indiana and the last of the original Triple XXX Thirst Stations in the US and Canada, the diner is a Purdue staple that goes back generations. As soon as I posted it to my Instagram story, a dozen people replied with their own high praise and positive experiences. It opened in 1929 as a simple root beer stand, then added a food menu later as it grew in popularity. The building changed over the decades and evolved into what it looks like today, complete with neon signage on the roof and thick, plastic, backlit signage hanging off the corner. I had the Duane Purvis burger—a regular cheeseburger with peanut butter slathered over the patty—and two frosty mugs of root beer. The burger was incredible, but the root beer was the best I’ve ever had. I wish this place were closer to my home because there’s nothing more refreshing on a hot day than that glass of root beer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692039904391-K1TAQ74VBJIPEZRAUZDV/ZFC_8001.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.11.23 An Actual Sunset I lightly raged about fake skies in real estate listings recently on Threads. This trend where photographers take daylight photos and then someone else replaces the sky with an obnoxious mismatched sunset is weird. Speaking to two other real estate photogs, they do the on-site work and then another company “improves” the images for the realtor by implementing bad HDR and replacing the sky with more dramatic options that don’t correspond with the lighting in the original image. Look, I realize most people do not care about the way these listings look online, and I’m not actually upset about it, but it does blow my mind that anyone would think they look good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692039898869-2DV67UHEIWP9H38BKRK7/IMG_4719.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.12.23 3D Wooden Map Got this incredible 3D wood map of Cincy and NKY made by Creative Cypress Co. at the City Flea this morning. Maps are so neat and I appreciate how this one adds another dimension to such a familiar place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692039900405-UX5STZP0KNUNSTE7O9NA/IMG_4732.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.13.23 Faded Ad While in Harrison, OH today, I saw this faded ad in a shop window and liked how it contrasted with the vibrant flowers in the foreground. I wonder when this photo was taken, where it was taken, and what their lives are like today. Based on the fashion and the aesthetic of the card, I bet I was roughly their same age when this was made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692118999516-X8JM5GGLD3Y38IXEBD5P/ZFC_8007-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.14.23 14-30mm Z-Mount Since 2017, I’ve used the same f-mount Tokina wide-angle lens for nearly all of my architectural and real estate photography. It was a relatively inexpensive lens that returned solid results in many situations and enabled frames that were otherwise impossible with the 24mm. It’s served me well and helped me build my portfolio and small business considerably over the last several years. Today, I upgraded. The Nikkor S-Line, optimized for full-frame cameras, offers a slim form factor with superior optics, so I went with the 14-30mm f/4 wide angle. Since it has the same mount shared with the Z9, I no longer have to use the adaptor, reducing the overall physical size and weight of the camera. I’m really happy with the images it produces so far. The sharpness at the edges of the frame is noticeably better than the Tokina I was using. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631799568-1ZDCRPOYSH0H72TY4Q06/IMG_4741.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.15.23 Empty I was meeting some friends at Binski’s at 7 PM, and when I walked into the bar, the entire place was empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631799130-NMLE6GPMTKT8G70PRCTX/Bellbrook+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.16.23 Bellbrook Went on an up-and-back roadtrip with Luminaut to photograph a senior care center in Rochester, MI. The center, four hours from home and about 30 minutes outside Detroit, was freshly renovated with Luminaut’s vision for each space. Pictured is the main seating area next to the lobby where residents can put together puzzles, socialize, and relax after a meal at the adjacent food hall. The 15-hour work day was a long one, but I had a good time overall. Traveling for work, regardless if I stay the night somewhere or not, is almost always fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631800453-VR7WVEI442QF3ZSS1SAL/IMG_4763.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.17.23 Glowing Sky An evening walk with Myrtle led to this beautiful, glowing sky. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631802044-MMYVB05NBVFVLQDPNA0T/The+Fill-In+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.18.23 The Fill-Inn Did a little lifestyle photography for The Fill-Inn in Bellevue. The owners recently purchased the dive bar from the previous owner and want to promote it as a place to watch Bengals games and hang out. From pool to a vintage bowling machine to a golf video game, it has quite a few little games to play during commercial breaks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631800953-A8I0ZTTANFVEM2VVRYRH/IMG_4801.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.19.23 Jurassic Birthday Steve’s been my friend for 20 years. We formally met and became buds in the summer of 2003 when we went with a mutual friend to King’s Island. Shortly after that, we stayed close and remained in each other’s orbit for two decades. Steve went through a few big life changes over the last several years. Changes that, frankly, weren’t easy on him. But over the previous year, he’s found joy and success in various ways and seems happier now than he has been. His significant other, Erica, wanted to surprise him with a birthday party for their one-year together. I offered my backyard as the venue and suggested we screen Jurassic Park (one of Steve’s favorite movies) using the projector. She bought a bunch of dinosaur-themed decorations, bought all the food and drinks, invited a few people, and we set it up without him knowing. Everyone successfully surprised him, and between the food, drink, company, and entertainment, Steve had a great night. I did a terrible job documenting everything because I was too into enjoying the party, so please accept this grainy screenshot from a video I took that evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692802940416-RS318D30KSBHXIMYGR27/ZFC_8013.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.20.23 Social Obligations: Fulfilled After last night’s party, breakfast with friends, and a visit from my family this afternoon, I was ready to go to bed at 5 PM. An introvert like me can only do so much before he becomes too exhausted to keep going. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692802940061-UYRKA4G01I758NV9CTZ7/IMG_4818.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.21.23 Play? Any time I rest on the couch, I get some sort of toy in my face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692802941357-S9CD1JLM1GDTBVWF85N7/ZFC_8018.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.22.23 QCR Sign Myrtle and I went for a walk despite the heat. She hadn’t done anything all day, and I hadn’t left the house since Sunday, so it was time to get out and stretch our legs. When we have no destination, I let her lead the walk. She makes it up as she goes, choosing whichever path has the most intriguing smells at that moment (and, I noticed, whichever has the most shade). She led us down to the river where Queen City Riverboats are moored. This old sign is fun. Sadly, after putting in about a mile and a half of walking, my knee started to ache. First time in weeks it has been in pain. I will need to take it easier tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692840340109-0MKXIGUK75CU3JEIM681/IMG_4841_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.23.23 I’m Sorry, Mind and Body Little Caesar’s makes a pretzel crust pizza so I had one DoorDashed to my house because I am a pig who likes eating trash, apparently. After that, I watched Star Trek V (the one where they fight God and Spock pinches a horse) with Myrtle. Truly not taking care of my body or mind tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692923170233-1N59B7EO8Z3A2WGFAW4T/NZ9_0376.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.24.23 Popping Boba I ordered from Poke Hut tonight and treated myself to a little boba tea. Eating all the leftover boba in one big go at the end is akin to peeling the white icing off a bunch of Oreos and stacking them into one mega-Oreo. The way light passes through these delicious blueberry fruit juice balls was beautiful, so I laid them out on a plate and flooded them with flash from one side. Afterward, I enjoyed them all at once. In retrospect, it looks like these boba balls are heading toward the light! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433176035-7ZYBNSPI8P7ZIH2X7C13/ZFC_8023-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.25.23 View of the Roebling The guys and I stopped by the rooftop bar at the AC Hotel at the Banks this evening for a beer. The conversation, drinks, and view were top-notch. Also, the BBQ Chicken place down on the west side of 4th Street is great. Hope they stick around because I plan on going back. Give it a visit if you’re in town. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433164950-9UNBCO7AWYVKSZCF37K9/IMG_4901.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.26.23 FCC Wins It! Maria and Mike took us to a soccer game this evening. While FCC lost to Miami a few days before, they kicked NYC’s butt in this game 3-0. Within the first few minutes, Cincinnati scored a goal and scored twice more in the second half. They’re now 16-3-3 in the league. The game was a load of fun despite not following soccer any other time of the year. I keep telling myself that I need to try to really dig my claws into a local sporting team, but I always end up just watching Star Trek or something instead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433175960-BPPMI4QC33L4OFSTCBZ6/Pride+Mural+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-48.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.27.23 Love Wins ArtWorks’ ‘Love Wins’ mural was recently completed and a dedication party was held at Queen City Radio this afternoon. Designed by Matthew Dayler (left) of Chroma Projects, the mural was painted by 12 apprentices joined by 20 P&G employees under the instruction of Daniel Baker (right) and Orion Inez. I photographed the party for ArtWorks and got another chance to get up on the roof of the building so I could get some footage of the details up close. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433163286-1GM86LXPUMT8CJEKOO7Y/142+Peete+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.28.23 Peete Street Petite Photographed an adorable <600 square foot home on Pete Street in Over-the-Rhine this afternoon. The house was built in 2017 and features one loft bedroom, a finished basement, two full bathrooms, a patio area, and a driveway. The kitchen (pictured) was my favorite room in the house for obvious reasons. This house isn’t for someone with loads of stuff. Ideally, this place is for a minimalist or someone who doesn’t have a bunch of material objects. I think I could’ve lived here comfortably before I met Ashley, but I don’t think I could do it now with another person and a dog in my life. There’s something so appealing to me about small spaces like this, especially when they’re beautiful and modern. While my apartment on 4th Street wasn’t this modern, it was a little smaller than this place and I lived comfortably there for years. This will be a long-term rental that the owners plan to put on the market shortly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433181881-O6JKDS4X3VDVMMAR6LHE/ZFC_8037-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.29.23 Murmuration I was attempting to photograph the new mural going in by Sycamore Place Lofts when a sizable murmuration of birds flew into frame from behind it. It’s nice when nature helps make a straight-forward image better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693445761573-6L4MRZDTTI9XTICXCY6W/ZFC_8051-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.30.23 M2 Air As my surgery date inches closer, so too does my worry about how I will work from my desk. I have a nice iMac and a great iPad Pro that take care of almost everything I need, but in order to keep my leg elevated post-op, I will need to work from the couch or from bed. And the work I’ll be doing exists largely in Adobe Premiere Pro, which iPad cannot run. To ensure I do not miss out on work, I picked up a MacBook Air with the M2 chip that will allow me to work from wherever without limitation. I didn’t necessarily WANT another MacBook after ditching my old one for the iMac, but now that I am fully mobile without limitations on what I can use application-wise, it is a relief. Tiffany and Steven, who recently moved to San Jose because he got a job at Apple, were able to get me their employee discount on it. I really appreciate them being so kind and helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887292093-6LMZACBOER0HR0ENDRIK/ZFC_8310-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 8.31.23 The Biggest Surprise After Ashley and I landed in LaGuardia Airport and met up with Aaron and Chris, we went to our Airbnb in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood and dropped off our luggage. After that, we started what will be a four-day excursion through NYC. I won’t outline the entire trip in these daily posts; I’m going to publish an actual blog post about the whole trip sometime after it’s over. NYC is the last major US city that I’ve been planning to visit but haven’t gotten to yet. Honestly, I’ll be glad when this trip is over so people stop exclaiming, “WHAT!? YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO NEW YORK?” like I just revealed I’m an alien from another dimension. Nothing about NYC is surprising to me. The culture, the aesthetic, the pros and cons—all of it has been documented in excruciating detail by generations of Americans and visitors for decades. Walking through Park Slope was lovely and matched the image I had of it in my head perfectly. I’m glad I visited Brooklyn Heights, took that iconic shot of the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo, walked to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge, saw Wall Street, the Oculus, the 9/11 memorial, and gazed out for miles from atop One World Trade during sunset. I’m thankful to have stepped foot in Times Square at night and seen the billboards, the impossibly long lines at street vendor carts, and ridden both the air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned subway trains. All of it, while absolutely awesome to experience firsthand, was unsurprising. However, the only thing that truly surprised me was Grand Central Station. As a teenager, I had an oversized black and white photo of the station taken in probably the 40s on my wall. I knew Grand Central was beautiful, but seeing it with my own eyes was unreal. It was more grand, more jaw-dropping, more enormous, more everything. It totally blew me away and I didn’t expect that to be the thing that got me during my first trip to New York. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887458860-V5DDIE5OG5JC9KJ3FQVH/ZFC_8726.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.1.23 Bustin’: It Makes Me Feel Good I cannot begin to describe how much good shit I saw today. From climbing the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty to eating pizza in the East Village, walking the mammoth streets of SOHO to eating one of the finest cannoli I’ve ever had in Little Italy, it was a very full day. Manhattan’s Chinatown is one of the most fun and photogenic places I’ve ever photographed, and walking the Highline to the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere made for one helluva night. But the thing I adored most today was checking off something I’ve had pinned for awhile in Tribeca: Hook & Ladder 8, otherwise known as the Ghostbusters firehouse. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters were two of my earliest childhood fascinations. While both were centered in New York, the Ghostbusters’ firehouse was something I really wanted to see. Today, I got that chance. Not only did I get to see and photograph it from all sides, but I also bought a shirt and a sticker from a firefighter who tends to a merch board under a small Ghostbusters shrine within the first 10 feet of the entrance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887458853-GICTFXPBL01FVE9GH5OY/ZFC_9161-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.2.23 Entertaining Tourists After Chris, Aaron, and Ashley decided to get a second massage in Manhattan’s Chinatown, we headed to Union Square before walking through the Flatiron District and Gramercy Park, then up 5th Avenue. We saw 30 Rock, I flipped off Trump Tower, ate some mediocre street food, and we found our way to Central Park before Ashley needed to lay down in the grass to rest her aching back from the previous two days of walking a total of nearly 30 miles. The plan was to walk the park to Harlem, but it wasn’t in the cards for Ashley. While in the park, I saw a boatload of activity from bubble blowers to rollerbladers, musicians, photoshoots, and more. Despite everyone doing borderline crazy activities in public, they remained practically invisible and oblivious to everyone around them. This woman was riding a Segway around the Bethesda Fountain plaza trying to put this snake over people’s shoulders. I never saw her take any money from anyone, so I really don’t know what the end goal was for this. People-watching in New York is unparalleled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887467516-TZMZHTUEL3FRUQ1HRVUJ/ZFC_9268-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.3.23 Subterranean Retail We’d spent enough time in Manhattan on this trip already, so we checked out Williamsburg before heading east toward Queens. Jackson Heights, which has been dubbed “the most culturally diverse neighborhood in New York, if not on the planet” by the NYT, was incredible to visit due primarily to how different it felt from the other areas we’d visited thus far. It was all street vendors, local markets, textile dealers, fruit stands, and I didn’t hear a word of English from anyone outside our group the entire time I was walking around. It was truly awesome. One of the things I like about Queens is how much of it boasts elevated railroad tracks. The subway is great, but it’s fun to get to look out at the neighborhood below when riding. However, we stumbled upon these subterranean shops within one of the stations (I forget which one) and I thought it was extraordinarily cool that retail like this survives and thrives despite being totally invisible from street level. After leaving Jackson Heights, we ended up meeting Paul and Kristen in the quiet, almost suburban neighborhood of Forest Hills before heading to Flushing for dinner and then Kew Gardens to see Paul’s house. The subway trip back to Brooklyn was a little bit of a hot, disgusting nightmare, and I’ve never felt more relieved to take a shower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887466567-UN6QAAZCLR1JSM4TQD01/ZFC_9334-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.4.23 Departing LaGuardia Our trip to NYC came to an end this morning. Chris flew home around noon, so Aaron and Ashley and I went to a cafe for a little bit before Ubering to LaGuardia for a 2:30 PM return flight to Cincinnati. As the plane took off, I was delighted to see that the city could be seen from my side of the plane. Though shooting through greasy thick glass doesn’t make for the best image, I’m happy I got to see the city one last time from the air. This was an incredibly fun and fulfilling trip. Counting down the days I get to go back and dig deeper into more of the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289097227-R7U68AAPJ79ZPT35861X/IMG_5268.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.5.23 An Oddity We went to Fresh Thyme to do the big shop and I noticed the carts have a little cup holder at the ‘nose’ of the cart. I’m guessing this is so you can enjoy a beverage while shopping, but it makes me think the design assumes you’ll be towing the cart instead of pushing it? Why else would the cup holder be at the opposite end of the vessel from where the driver is supposed to propel it? Is this even a cup holder or something else? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289085514-SSTSO60DFBY1CICMHARC/DSC_2277-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.6.23 Lifestyle Photography Back to work today. Did a photoshoot with a local architect this morning at UC. The task was to capture the food court in action with students doing their thing in different spaces. While this is largely unedited and needs a load of additional touching up, it’s indicative of the goal of this project. I have a lot of work ahead of me with this shoot. Since almost no one in the food court was aware of what we were trying to do, it was difficult to get it perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289086159-5HFQJJD2ER0OHIOQFIHD/IMG_5305.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.7.23 Can’t Win Them All Met up with Travis at Binski’s for a little happy hour hang that turned into an 11 PM Camp Washington Chili run. We discussed NYC and the greatness of Chris Glass (hello if you’re reading this, Chris). Rob and Jake (Dust Village) joined later on. It was a good time in a good bar. Also, I recently learned a guy I’ve hung out with in group settings over the years doesn’t like me! I don’t see him much anymore due to past drama with mutual friends, and I’m 99% certain I haven’t done anything personally to earn his ire, but it was interesting to know there is someone out there with this feeling. I’ve been told it’s more of a him-problem than it is a me-problem. You can’t win them all. I suppose I will do my best to avoid contact going forward since it’s unwanted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289089935-A332BLJNNRVR6F1I69K1/IMG_5312.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.8.23 That Bad Arcade Game You Always Play Ashley, Travis, Ronny, and I went out to a few bars and one restaurant in Over-the-Rhine before landing at Level 1—the barcade that replaced 16-Bit. We landed at the Turtles arcade game that I’ve played many times for the last 30+ years and always forget is not good. Nostalgia is a helluva drug. We liked this game as kids, but it isn't very good. The last few times I’ve run into it in arcades, I merrily take the controls, ready to relive childhood only to quickly remember how bad it actually is. On coin operation, I rarely made it to scene 2 before my turtle died, and, quarter-less, I was forced to walk away. These machines were programmed to eat coins with floppy hitboxes and confusion-inducing overcrowding of enemies on screen. Since Level 1 has it on free play mode, we kept smashing the credit button for lives and it didn’t matter. After 30 minutes of slapping two buttons and moving a joystick around, dying 300 times, and walking away to get a beer only to return to discover our turtles were still alive, we beat the game. The ending was wholly unsatisfying, of course. But that cityscape on the controller panel is so good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694380931448-ERXVZU8V3Q8T5FOCK783/ZFC_9407-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.9.23 1820 Vine I led friends from La Ofrenda to Somerset and stopped at the corner of McMicken and Vine. I’ve always admired this flatiron building but haven’t been able to get a photo I really like of it before. When the firetruck started inching closer into frame, I knew this was my chance. The oddly shaped sign jutting from the side of the building used to say “GROCERY” at the top and “OHIO LOTTERY” at the bottom with a bottle of Coca-Cola in between. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694404173420-V44KZNJ1MAPIDWURMUK6/ZFC_9478.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.10.23 Stark Street The weather was exceptional for a bike ride this evening. Having added new stickers to my bike that I’d acquired over the last couple of months, I wanted to get out and enjoy the exercise before the doc cuts me open next week. I initially felt discomfort while riding in that leg, but after about 15 minutes of pedaling, it quieted down enough. With the Zfc in my bag, I set out across NKY and eventually found my way to Cincinnati. Took a circuitous route fueled entirely by whichever direction had the least amount of traffic and best scenery in that moment. Saw three classic cars parked on three different streets. Before heading home, I made a stop at the Square to refill my water bottle and marvel at how good I felt physically and mentally. I think this is why dogs like to play so hard; when you physically exercise, you feel so much better in every way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694486822096-3YXGAKI3QWUPS812OTBB/The+Lofts+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.11.23 Sit Down What a day. Let me get the less-than-good news out of the way first. My main client owes me a considerable amount of money from unpaid invoices from the last several months and it's causing me some financial stress as a result. Then, I managed to muck up my shoot schedule for another client today and showed up at the wrong property at the wrong time, causing a level of professional embarrassment I didn’t expect to endure this afternoon. Finally, after stressing about money and looking the fool, some rude teens on the street mocked my bald spot—a physical issue I have no control over and about which I’m very insecure—while I was walking into the post office and minding my own business. I do not get emotional often, but today’s onslaught of stresses and insecurities really managed to pry open something I wasn’t expecting to confront. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694566921542-Q31M07JHCWLU9UNV6GKW/NZ9_2612-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.12.23 Yard & Company’s New Digs Kevin asked me to photograph Yard & Company’s new home base on Pleasant Street. It has some neat features their designer included, like this ‘portal’ between rooms. The colorful, industrial space is versatile in utility with loads of room to spread out and work or convene for meetings. There’s also a flex space with a garage door that opens up to the street behind the muralized sliding barn doors in the background of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074291095-055YWHPQGCG1EZQTD86Y/IMG_5414.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.13.23 That Feeling When… …you’re an orange ball and a big grizzly bear is about to chomp on you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074290320-STOU0BS3AY92CM5HXFYC/ZFC_9521.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.14.23 Shut ‘Er Down This week has been an unusually difficult one—money stresses, incorrect schedules, hurt feelings, and two divorce announcements in the family (not Ashley and I). To top it off, a pipe burst in my basement this morning! Hopefully that’s the encore to the shit show. Here’s the artist formerly known as The Chong bathed in Golden Hour light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074195549-EMMPSAUSHVRFV22WPQ06/IMG_5465.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.15.21 Pizza Hunting Ashley, a work-from-home employee, was sitting on the porch doing the aforementioned work from the comfort of the porch when I heard her say, “Oh yeah, that’s the one I want. Dr. Dre.” Thinking she was celebrating the end of the workweek early with a classic hip-hop album or playlist, I looked up to see which she was about to play. Neither. She was researching which Dewey’s pizza she wanted that evening… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074195650-ZEDDGZ8EVZ18QJU03Y93/IMG_5513.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.16.23 Final Bike Ride For a Little Bit Erica retrieved her bike from her previous household last week and posted about wanting to ride. We made a plan to convince our significant others, Steve and Ashley, to join us and scheduled a ride along the bike trail starting at Lunken Airport. From there, we’d ride straight to Fifty West for burgers and drinks before returning to Lunken and never touching a city street with car traffic. It was SO FUN. They are not avid riders, so we took it slow and steady. Steve rented an electric Red Bike as he was the only one who didn’t own a bike. The path wound through the woods, over the glistening river, and I used the Beechmont connector for the first time since it was built (pictured). The trail had minimal bicycle and pedestrian traffic along the way. I’m used to having to watch my back for cars and had forgotten how peaceful a trail ride could be. I also forgot how soon the sun has begun to set as summer winds down. We ended up having to ride through the night back to Lunken. My lights were bright enough to lead the way, and Steve’s Red Bike also did a decent job of illuminating our path, so it wasn’t difficult. We probably weren’t supposed to be on the trail after dark, but it was still a load of fun riding with three people I genuinely love to pieces. (Riding bikes with Steve specifically was an unofficial bucket list item for me.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074202697-KACC9DPZT3KCTEJJ8C7A/IMG_5556.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.17.23 Garden Spider After volunteering to hold a 5-foot python over my shoulder at the farmer’s market in the park this morning, we visited Mom and Dad’s house. Myrtle swam in their community pool as it was the final day of the season, and was open to dogs, too. While in their backyard, I saw this wicked garden spider perched in the middle of a web it made between two bushes. Getting close enough to take a macro photo of it required a level of bravery I’m unaccustomed to having. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074203275-C91PCGHCNIGZPXV17UOL/IMG_5562.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.18.23 Incapacitated For a Bit “It’ll be either a quick recovery or you’ll be off your feet for six weeks,” the doc told me in July when he set up my surgery date. “It depends on what procedure we need to do, and we can’t know that until we get in there." Thankfully, I will be back on my feet within probably a week due to it being the “easy” procedure. Glad this is over. I haven’t had surgery since 1995. It was strange getting undressed, putting on surgical clothing, and having my knee shaved. Getting the IV placed and having to quietly (re: anxiously) wait to be wheeled into operating room #9 was uncomfortable, too. It was strange being physically strapped to the bed, my arms spread, and watching masked strangers stare down into my eyes as they administered the anesthesia, waiting for me to fade. Unlike the first time I was put under, it didn’t happen in the blink of an eye; I felt a minor passage of time while in that state. Despite it all, it went as smoothly as possible, and I’m thankful to be over this hump. I’ll be on my couch trying not to be extremely online if you need me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695241276714-8PDB07IQFTCWMGGYABQX/IMG_5580.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.19.23 Creative Solutions Never underestimate the usefulness of a high-quality shirt with a breast pocket, especially when you do not have available hands to transport items between rooms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695418582611-MMISVRJ98ZJCC2MMCX4Q/IMG_5588.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.20.23 My Nemesis I lived in mid-rise buildings with elevators for years. Would’ve been nice to have this procedure done then and not now when everything is separated by these pesky things. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695418582611-M5U5FPCZYIKJ35SZ3DY7/IMG_5598.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.21.23 Playtime Ashley left for Key West today, so it’s me and Myrt for the rest of the week and weekend. As I’m still couch-ridden and largely immobile, Myrtle has become extra stir crazy. I put a blanket over her and she got up, turned around, and started blindly trying to bite my hand. As you can tell from her expression, she was in a silly mood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695418585744-IRL2HGZUS6M4XAJ1WBLF/IMG_5603.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.22.23 Sorry I apologize for the dip in quality of this project over the last week. Very little is happening right now. My family came down today, but I forgot to take a photo. I could talk about the unusual-for-me amount of TV shows and movies I’m watching, but that’s probably not worth reading. This project will likely be boring over the next couple weeks unless recovery speeds up a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695669802824-85PB5EG53DJ182Y15HBY/IMG_5619.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.23.23 The Porch The porch is effortlessly zen during comfortable sunset evenings. With the beautiful weather today, it wasn't easy to want to stay inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695669801980-OZK2X1OW3G8UM97TKREX/IMG_5673.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.24.23 Geode Esme, my niece, had her first birthday party today. Steve drove me up to my sister’s house in Washington Courthouse to celebrate. While there, Kiran, my other niece, cracked open some fresh geodes and wanted to show me. She is so sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695997982626-LZBONUI43KEMXOF4BTZD/ZFC_9614.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.25.23 The Culprit Doc took pictures while inside my knee last week and assures me this little piece of the meniscus was the culprit. He trimmed it off, allowing the rest of the meniscus to avoid tearing further. I think this is the most intimate image of myself I’ve ever put on the internet. Yes, I spot-lit the printout and took a photo of it. No, I have nothing more interesting to photograph at the moment. Yes, I did spend a few minutes fussing over the blown-out portions of this image thinking I had my camera settings wrong when, in fact, the original image featured peaked highlights already. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695997983399-97GWE37ZEYDS3FMKUD22/IMG_5684.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.26.23 Ellie the Podcaster Steve wanted to podcast about No One Will Save You, and since the WGA is finished striking, we are apparently allowed to talk about it on-air. Ellie joined us for the majority of the show. It made the whole experience 200% cuter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695997986260-IDSHXRSM56HPHBY84ZTT/ZFC_9566.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.27.23 Cat Walk Myrtle has been extremely bored lately. We toss ball in the backyard, but it’s not enough. She wants to explore, sniff, and walk around the neighborhood. After a few PT sessions and some ibuprofen, I felt strong enough to try walking down to the Avenue and back with her. Of course, it’s not a selfless act; I really wanted to get out of the house and hopefully photograph something other than a box of cereal. Along the walk, this cat came out of the bushes and meowed for pets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696023047190-JJQ654197KUNNX7LUYVK/ZFC_9577-Enhanced-NR-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.28.23 Good Burl After PT this morning, I stopped by the shop to photograph a table John and the boys finished. This walnut burl “cookie” has been in the shop since last summer, so it’s kind of wild that it’s finally finished. It was for a client who was in no rush, apparently. They had some difficulty finishing it but finally figured it out. I think they said this will be an entry table for a foyer in someone’s house. Imagine: a foyer with enough space for a bespoke piece of furniture like this. Ah, to be wealthy… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696363924888-4VIWA9RA1E9PV5GKHHFA/ZFC_9619-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.29.23 Night On Vine Went and checked out Bee’s OTR—the new BBQ spot from Madisonville that went into the former Pontiac space on Vine Street. My expectations were somewhere in the middle range as I expected it to be good but not blow my mind. I was pleased to discover it exceeded my expectations. Afterward, we wandered over to Lost & Found. Along the way, I took a photo of the Cincinnati Color Building which I’ve found ironically named since it was painted beige after being white for as long as I remember it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696363926035-W9SHEV3RN8YUQJIXKDSV/ZFC_9628-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 9.30.23 September 30th It’s my favorite month of the year. We put up decorations the day before. Also, I rode an electric RedBike home tonight from downtown and it was perfectly fine. I think I’m successfully good to ride now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696364427316-1KBGM71DYEFS7JCLJGWW/ZFC_9630.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.1.23 Porch Decor Put the Grim Reaper out on the porch this year next to the string lights. Thought the contrasts on its face were neat! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696364428175-RIT7KRK2SSDK3YWIJA0M/ZFC_9634.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.2.23 East Row Walk I walked almost three miles this evening. From my home to the East Row in Newport and back. It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on that part of Newport as autumn begins because the trees start turning quicker than you’d think, and catching them at their peak is a simple pleasure I look forward to every year. Though the trees have yet to really turn, this odd piece of architecture stood out to me while perusing the neighborhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696795986978-DC5EGCLHCNN3PNBRKAP2/IMG_5731.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.3.23 Vintage Halloween Chelsea and Vince have this incredible vintage molded-plastic statue in their front yard. She said it once belonged to her grandfather. We have almost no extra storage space for Halloween or any other seasonal decor, but if I found this in the wild for a reasonable price, I wouldn’t think twice about getting it and finding a place for it in the basement for 11 months out of the year. It’s just too fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696795995553-GQI29FKGZKKUVBLPG7R8/ZFC_9646.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.4.23 Quiet Block We’ve been eating at home a lot lately to save money and be healthier. Ashley got this fantastic cookbook written by an influencer she follows on Instagram, and his recipes are wonderful. Nothing we’ve eaten out of this cookbook yet has been anything but delicious. That said, we do crave the opportunity to go out to eat. Tonight, we walked down to the Avenue, found a bench, and waited for Chelsea to join us on our walk to Los Potros—a Mexican joint that opened up over the summer in Dayton. I wasn’t inspired to photograph anything at the restaurant, but I liked looking at this corner as we waited on the bench. It was busier than this photo suggests; I just waited for a split second of emptiness to get my frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696795989529-08YL9W02A4NK1M5LVMQQ/IMG_5746.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.5.23 Shop Small I think I’m in a little bit of a creative funk. I haven’t found a lot to photograph lately that’s not Myrtle. I hope I'll figure this out as I get back to physical photoshoots for work. Whenever this happens, I remember all the other times it’s happened and feel relieved that it will eventually pass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696796000035-QLV60AKRAOT679NBT62A/ZFC_9676-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.6.23 Fall Fest Remember two days ago when I posted a photo of the empty street corner? This photo from tonight is one block south of that corner. Scores of people showed up to Bellevue’s Fall Fest for drinks, food, live music, hay rides for kids, and local goods vendors. Even beyond this closed-off portion of Washington Street, the sidewalks were packed with people wandering from shop to shop and bar to bar, many with DORA cups in hand. It was heartening to see so many come out, and I’m not sure I can think of another time when Bellevue was this busy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696796004593-HC68TB93CMFYOO9QJ2GL/ZFC_9681-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.7.23 Halloween House I cannot remember the last time I had nothing to do on a Saturday night. Ashley was out, and after texting three friends to see if they wanted to get together without any success, it was time to stay in and catch up on some of my shows. But being someone who cannot sit still and has had an abundance of sitting still time lately, I needed to get out. With fully pressurized bike tires and safety lights glowing brightly on the front and back of my bike, I set out to ride to one of my favorite Halloween locations: The J.C. Baum House. The owners started putting up a killer Halloween display a few years ago, and ever since seeing it for the first time, I’ve made a mental note to return to see it each year. As expected, this year’s display was incredible. From the oversized monsters to the dynamic, colorful lighting, I’ve seen no other house in the area that does Halloween as lavishly and fun as this one. None of it is gory and horrifying. It’s tongue-in-cheek without being goofy. I hope whoever lives here does this for years to come. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696815805410-8MHJULM1EH6IRXM8GUNW/NZ9_3610-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.8.23 Autumn Is Finally Here The weather’s cooled, the leaves are falling, and the smell of bonfires fills the air all around the neighborhood. I hope this season lasts as long as possible before winter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696900585777-E2885UUEIPCDL52YR0BQ/Untitled-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.9.23 6 Years Old She went to Pets Mart and got two treats, then she got a pup cup and a little bit of chicken at the drive-thru, then we went on a walk and ran around the empty lot up the street. Not a bad birthday celebration for this little pup! Glad I got the top image when I did because the bottom image more accurately illustrates her mood this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919992285-UABPOQOSA27RN90XBAK7/NZ9_5044-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.10.23 Skyline Shot GBBN sent me to Louisville this morning for a shoot inside a hospital. We only had two hours to get everything we needed before we had to be out, and today was the last day possible to get in and grab photos before they started using the space full-time. Despite the pressure to get it right in so little time, I think we did well overall. Afterward, I headed toward downtown and stopped at Royals Hot Chicken for a tasty sandwich and mac and cheese in a neighborhood called NuLu. I haven’t looked it up at the time of this writing, but I suspect it’s one of those marketing terms used to rebrand a gentrifying area. Despite the few times I've visited, I didn’t have a skyline shot of Louisville. Before heading home, I drove across the bridge and stopped at Ashland Park on the Jeffersonville side for a photo. Unfortunately, it was noon, so the lighting wasn’t ideal. I don’t think Louisville has an especially impressive skyline compared to nearby cities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914241423-BAMP2SXOGXWQ5X03VA13/207+Sterrett+-+Phil+Armstrong+-191.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.11.23 Back At It It’s been a little bit since I’ve done a proper real estate listing photo shoot. Rebecca needed this beauty in Wallace Woods photographed, so I did my thing and returned later for a night shot. I’ve adopted a new-to-me thing recently where, instead of increasing clarity on my shots, I actually reduce it by -10 to give elements a slightly ethereal glow. This image benefitted from it, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697920014800-9GAWOCIEGY2XB3X6A2W6/NZ9_5529.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.12.23 Yard’s 5-Year Anniversary Yard & Co. made it five years and built a new headquarters on Pleasant Street recently. This evening was the celebration for both the anniversary and the new digs. The party was well attended despite what this image suggests; I got an early start photographing it then shifted from documentarian to party-goer as more and more people showed up. Half of Bellevue’s local government showed up (Kevin and Joe are Bellevuians) which was nice to see. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914262710-M4HQGJMMUHYVPIT1N4G2/IMG_5867.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.13.23 Friday the 13th We were supposed to camp this evening, but forecasted rain convinced us otherwise. It was a bit of a relief for me. Ashley’s the only one between the two of us who wants to sleep outside. Knowing I had a bed waiting for me at the end of the evening was a nice feeling. Instead, we went to Chelsea and Vince’s house for a bonfire in 80-degree weather and ate Indian food. We successfully made it back to the house without getting rained on, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914275281-DF0LE9SIHDKC822AFDI3/IMG_5940.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.14.23 Happy Birthday, Annie My friend Annie had a 35th birthday party at her house this evening. It was 1960s-themed, so I wore a suit, broke out the old Raybans, and did my best to fit in. Everyone else was dressed much more period-appropriate than I did, including Ashley. The party was a lot of fun. They had an open bar with a bartender who kept making me tiki drinks and Old Fashioneds all night. Dessert was a delicious cake of some sort. Overall, it was one of the best birthday parties I’ve attended in the last several years. While I usually scoff at costume parties like this (I hate buying stuff I’ll only use once), it ended up being uniquely memorable, and I get why switching things up this way elevates the experience. While I’m not yet ready to reveal it, the fun of this costume party has emboldened me to construct another one for two more parties later this month. It’s going to be much more elaborate than simply putting on a suit… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914182470-FTD2YAVXK6MD6V5NOHAO/IMG_5946-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.15.23 Sunday Brunch Went to brunch with friends this morning. One of them is moving to Germany to be with his partner, and that partner is currently in town one last time before the move. We had brunch at Alcove on Vine Street. I guess I should’ve photographed them this one final time, but I think that would’ve made me feel a sense of loss. I know I’ll see them both again, and I’m genuinely happy they are finally going to be together permanently, but I am quietly sad I will see less of them going forward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914108578-GOCIBTBAXZ3W9C0GEDQD/IMG_5950.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.16.23 Secret Project There are two Halloween parties I’m scheduled to attend at the end of the month. To participate, I’m building a costume out of wood. If I can make it work the way I want it to, I think it’ll look pretty awesome and make people laugh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914108335-54ZXHI4D19K7FIVHLGK3/IMG_5967.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.17.23 Needy Ashley’s out of town on a work trip, so this one is extra needy. We throw ball, play tug with her toys, and I give her endless pets, but it’s never enough. Unless I direct her to go lay down, she will just stand and stare at me like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919956958-ADCX9SWGLS5NTIJUPYU6/IMG_5973.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.18.23 Ashamed of Myself Had an errand to run in Oakley and was influenced enough by some guy on Instagram to want to try the Burger King Ghost Pepper Whopper—you know, the one with the orange bun and black sesame seeds for Halloween. But, to my surprise, the east side of Cincinnati within the loop appears to be a Burger King dead zone, so I opted for nearby Swenson’s instead. Long story short, my meal wasn’t great, and after eating a sub-par burger, I didn’t feel remotely sated. That stupid orange bun Whopper was still weighing heavily on my mind. My urge to try it hadn’t been distracted by throwing the Swenson’s stick in the other direction. Knowing Ashley was out of town and no one would notice, I resolved to drive to a Burger King, get a second dinner, and finally scratch the itch. It wasn’t good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697920010922-UEUF44XZX8F2NWR4KTSI/NZ9_6593-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.19.23 Thanks, Dumb Luck Steve and I drove to Nashville to work with his video production company on a piece about a family with an important story about Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I won’t go into the story's details here, but it’s a good one and I’m excited to see how the video turns out when it’s finished. After filming the family all evening, we decided to go down to the river to get b-roll of Nashville’s downtown with the drone. When we arrived, weather conditions weren’t optimal, so he postponed the flight. Under spitting rain and flashes of lightning, it wasn’t a good idea to risk the drone for a night shot. But since we were already there, I thought I’d get a quick night shot from the pedestrian bridge. It wasn’t clear when I’d be back in Nashville again, and this seemed like a good photo op. I set up rather quickly and programmed a 13-second exposure on manual. Removed my hat and placed it over the camera's body to keep it out of the rain, hit the shutter, and squinted through the tiny drops that began collecting on my glasses. I turned to talk to Steve for a second and thought I saw a flash in the distance out of the corner of my eye. The sudden realization that I might’ve just gotten something special struck me like a jolt of electricity. When the exposure was finished and the screen refreshed with the latest image, I couldn’t believe what I’d accidentally gotten. I wish I could say I’d planned this and figured the storm in the distance would yield the perfect image-maker at that moment, but my ambitions weren’t that high. I’ve only been a photographer for about a decade, and I’ve rarely gotten lightning in any images during that time. It’s hard enough to time it right, but making it fit perfectly into a composition that makes sense is even more complicated. This is one of my favorite images I’ve ever made, and I have dumb luck to thank for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919976802-SHZY73TEJRU2C8PYJRMC/NZ9_7429.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.20.23 Kentucky Stonehenge Steve and I stayed the night in Nashville, woke up early to do more filming, and began the journey back to Cincinnati around midday. Along the way, we decided to stop in Munfordsville, KY, to see something called “Kentucky Stonehenge.” We briefly looked at the Google listing but didn’t want to ruin the surprise. It seemed more fun to know it existed without knowing any details beyond the address. Since it was along the route home, it made sense to stop and check it out. After all, stopping for roadside attractions in small towns is the hallmark of an American road trip. When we got there, Kentucky Stonehenge revealed itself to be situated in someone’s yard. Feeling a bit awkward and like we were intruding, I questioned our decision to stop but ultimately ignored my reservations about it. Steve parked the van next to the hand-made “parking” sign and what I can only describe as a donations urn. Apparently, this unique place was built at some point by a man who passed away in 2022. According to a news report detailing his passing, the builder said he was initially told by God to build a cross out of rocks, then moved on to building Stonehenge sometime thereafter. The domain for Kentucky Stonehenge is no longer active, unfortunately, so I don’t know the entire history of the place. All I know is WNKY reported that it took him five years to build it, he was very interested in rocks (obviously), and the Facebook page for Kentucky Stonehenge was created in 2013. Anyway, check it out if you’re ever passing by Munsfordville. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919938744-NLOPGTJ084Q1IVQGMMEJ/IMG_6057.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.21.23 Leo’s and Dominoes Sometime after seeing Kentucky Stonehenge, Ronny texted to say he and the guys were going to Uncle Leo’s to play Dominos and drink beer into the wee hours of the morning. Though exhausted from traveling and working over the last two days, I am not accustomed to saying “no” to friends when spontaneous plans arise. Since my folks were watching Myrtle and Ashley was still away, it seemed like a perfect night to go out without any responsibility. Hopped in the car, picked up a Crave Clutch of White Castle sliders, and hit up Leo’s. We played 20 rounds of Dominoes late enough into the night that this image was taken sometime around 1 AM—two hours before I’d eventually go home. Though the image was spiritually October 20th, the time code makes it an October 21st photo. I’m counting it as such. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279635799-RD7I9L4Q4EFTW9G1OQN3/ZFC_9744-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.22.23 Work Prep Got a late start today. Yesterday, I avoided being social and just worked on some projects around the house while I had it entirely to myself. My costume is coming along, finished some leftover photo work, and repaired something for my sister. After Friday’s nearly 23-hour day, I was ready for some downtime. Today was much the same. I have to go to Indy tomorrow to do headshots for an entire office of architects, so I devised a plan: use my laptop and tether the camera straight to it so I can show everyone their headshot before they leave. Ideally, this will ensure everyone comes away from the experience feeling like they contributed and had some creative influence on the process. The tether method allows me to show them a live feed of what the camera sees and how their headshot will turn out after taking it. Hopefully, that means they will be satisfied with how they look overall. Loaded up the cart with all my gear, and ready to get this done tomorrow. Fingers crossed, this process goes smoothly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279632919-QTQDYQV6791QM92DNVM9/ZFC_9753-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.23.23 Successful Process Showing everyone their headshot as they were taken proved to be a success. One person complimented the setup and was vocal about how much she liked seeing the headshots live. That went a long way to getting people loosened up and comfortable enough to be themselves and not worry about what they’ll look like later. Many asked to do several versions before getting the one they wanted, tweaking their poses bit by bit until they found a frame they liked. Only three people didn’t seem overly enthused about the results, but I chalk that up to them not enjoying getting their photo taken more than anything else. The best part? When I got home, all the images were loaded and ready to make final adjustments. All rejected frames were removed, and only the flagged images were saved. The process cut down on time, ensured people were as satisfied as possible with their headshots, and allowed delivery of these final images to the client later that evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279630478-SQXZ2A8ZSPX6QK6PWIPY/IMG_6103.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.24.23 Wally Lunch Met up with Wally for lunch and he took me by his studio at Curiosity on Main Street. We chatted about tech and process, eventually ending up on the differences between DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro. Their office is moving next year and Wally’s pumped about how the new studio space will be set up, so he made this foam diorama to scale as a way to visualize where everything will go. “Better than drawing it out,” he said. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279637045-GCYGIMP1ROE44JGR3RFK/ZFC_9738.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.25.23 Costumes “Can I take your picture?” “Sure!” (Snap) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691477114-8M8ROKG5T4XT39B12NA2/ZFC_9760.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.26.23 Egypt It was the final Tiki Night of the year (and apparently for the foreseeable future) at Japp’s this evening. Travis, Rob, and I met up for some tropical cocktails and, through the deployment of mutual friends texting him, coaxed Ronny out to meet us. He brought his very sweet and happy little dog, Egypt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691470794-YCB0DKI6B868GIR32TZI/IMG_6131.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.27.23 Bob’s Not a Dog Guy We went to a Cincinnati-themed costume party at Caitlyn and Brendan’s house in CUF this evening. Everyone had creative costumes that alluded to several Cincinnati things, from brands to murals and more. My costume was a cumbersome Carew Tower outfit that involved a 2D version of the building with a hole my face could poke through and shoulder straps on the opposite side that I wore as a reverse backpack. Bob and Erin-Marie joined the party at some point in the night, and Caitlyn’s pup (dressed as a cheese coney) stood patiently by Bob’s feet as he snacked. Bob is unabashedly not-a-dog-person, making the moment even funnier to me. I wish I’d gotten a clearer photo of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691477151-8DHIS1RIF9306X00SFOV/IMG_6161.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.28.23 Halloween Shenanigans What an evening! Mike and Maria hosted a killer party at their place, complete with spooky decor and loads of food and drink. Everyone showed up in costume and had a blast, including us. I made use of my Carew Tower for the second night in a row, which probably covers the cost of making it at this point. As the night descended into increasingly un-sober silliness, we made the collective decision to head out to Longfellow to finish out the evening. Mike dressed as Leatherface. Before the evening was through, Maria managed to snag his mask and try it on for size. I would be willing to bet money she doesn’t remember taking this grainy photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691564502-DCYAKD5RG5NU90LSUHK9/IMG_6167.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.29.23 Sky Roof Sights Just a moment during my day when I looked up and saw something out of the ordinary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698692163101-QN4AL24LAG0YI7YVARSN/NZ9_8410.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.30.23 Truly Unnerving Photographed a doctor training session this morning. They were using these dummies as a way to get the hang of doing CPR and fitting breathing apparatuses. I find them unnaturally creepy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698893797918-X8WMZ10KT4AABHB2IF7F/ZFC_9766-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 10.31.23 Only Treats, No Tricks It was something like 40ºF outside, but dammit, I passed out candy to any kid brave enough to wander through the unseasonable cold. Ashley and Myrtle shivered on the porch above while I stood at the base of the stoop with the bowl of treats so no one had to climb up to us (and risk tripping in a costume). We only had about 30 people show up this year due to the weather. That means I need to eat half a bowl of Snickers, Almond Joy, and Twix for the next month. My life’s so hard. Thus ends another Halloween. I’m sad to see it go this year—more so than usual. This month’s busy schedule makes me feel like I didn’t soak it in like I have in the past. There’s always next year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698894745990-KDSD67O07ZN2HM4BTRLS/Screenshot+2023-11-01+at+11.02.14%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.1.23 Gambled and Lost “Are you okay with the cars in the foreground of this shot? I don’t want to sink time into the Photoshop if I have to return for another shot,” I asked the architect over email. Usually I get a response rather quickly, but it’d been 30 minutes with no reply. Energized and ready to move forward, my impatience told me to go ahead and start removing all power lines, poles, and shadows. This would be one of the more challenging jobs I’ve done lately, so I thought that if I got started ASAP, I could get it back to the client sooner. Three hours later, at around the 80% finished mark, the architect replied and said they weren’t into the red car. Having gambled and looking more and more like I was going to lose hours of productivity, I tried changing the color of the red car so it would disappear more into the bottom of the frame. No dice. I’ll have to return and get a new image entirely. I’m wondering if I can’t splice a new car over the existing car, though. It’ll be tough, but I’m up for the challenge… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480286651-UKR0AHDLDM0ZWV8JH2LI/ZFC_9779.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.2.23 RIP As seen in Linden Grove Cemetery in Covington. I needed to photograph a storefront with very specific lighting, but the sun wasn’t in the right position when I made it over there. To burn some time until I could take the photo, I rode around the city and enjoyed the fresh air. This was taken during that hour and a half of aimless exploration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480280674-WFIZO2UPGPPEBVFY2RBD/IMG_6255.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.3.23 3 Years of Scrap It’s Ashley’s birthday. We went out to eat at Nada then came back to the house for a bon fire. I had 5 buckets of offcuts and scrap from woodworking projects over the years that were taking up space in my workshop. They met a fiery end in the pit and fueled our evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480287017-5Z6O2OJKRLAYRR2UU26K/NZ9_9707.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.4.23 Oops! Sometimes you don’t have a remarkable image for the day and all you have to post is an accidental long exposure of something indistinguishable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480283493-TB4MF4VHUP8QX0PJBKFD/IMG_6262.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.5.23 Toy Bin For a Dog I’m making Myrtle a new toy bin for the living room. The basket we have for her now is too deep for her to get at the toys at the bottom. This stylish trough will spread the toys out and the shallow container will be better for reaching toys at the bottom. I’m making it out of poplar and pre-made wooden legs I got on Amazon (didn’t feel like trying and failing to make legs this time). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480280252-9LVCTRXLX4LKHIACIRPU/H%26H+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.6.23 Updated Night Shot The fine folks at H&H wanted refreshed images of their storefront for the media. I did Golden Hour the other day, and tonight I stopped by to get night shots with the store lit from within. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480289681-CMHZCBKJQM2V8558OOYL/IMG_6295.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.7.23 It’s Been Awhile Having no ability to record audio at a professional level and needing to figure that out before next week, I decided to pick up a set of Rode Wireless Pro mics. Not wishing to wait for delivery, this gave me the opportunity to go to Microcenter—a store that’s been around for as long as I can remember and still thoroughly enjoy. I cannot tell if Microcenter is self-aware or not, but its aesthetic inside and out screams late-90s to me. While it carries modern products, the inside of the store still feels like it’s trapped during the age of dial-up, Windows 95, Sega Genesis, and off-white CRT monitors that will inevitably flicker and buzz at some point. I genuinely love being able to pick up tech while getting a subtle dose of nostalgia during the ride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699589881415-I7TDTDY94173H66NA401/NZ9_1611.png daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.8.23 Four Men Three men lean in around a circular table to listen to a story a fourth man is telling. Seconds later, everyone erupts into laughter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699589874461-6A7BZ2CHICC4HQHQAJW5/ZFC_9851-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.9.23 Rode Wireless Pro I finally have good lavalier mics. Going to be using them this weekend for a video shoot inside a grocery store. Combining them with DaVinci Resolve, I feel confident I can make something slick for the client. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172585598-2YVC4IB3D2DLYY6W92I2/IMG_6314.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.10.23 Second Story Second Story in Covington is a great bar that I want to return to more often. I’m short on words at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172598866-CKUPZMKZIOVJ3OFXO42X/ZFC_9907.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.11.23 La Grange Ashley and I went to La Grange, KY this morning. She saw an article about it recently in Southern Living and thought it looked cute. She knew I would be interested in it because a freight train runs right along it’s Main Street. We took Myrtle with us and were surprised to learn every shop we went into allowed dogs inside—a small luxury we appreciate immensely. The local mercantile clerk said trains run through town on average about 12 times a day. At the time we spoke to her, she said we were “due for one” since she hadn’t seen one for several hours. Eagerly awaiting the photo opportunity a train passing through town would offer, I plotted the corner I’d run to when I heard the distant wail of its horn. We were there for three and a half hours. No train ever came. I couldn’t believe our luck. Guess we’ll just have to go back. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172595161-84X1I6C46LB2EBPQ02SI/NZ9_2013.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.12.23 Video-Making and the Floral World I guess I’m a professional videographer now. A prominent floral supplier (not Ashley’s company) hired me to co-direct and film a floral-based video for them using a display at the Newport Kroger store. The video will be used internally for training purposes. While it certainly won’t be interesting to many, I hope whoever watches it will find it helpful and engaging for the 60 seconds we aim to cut together. It's a tiny little project, and I’m thankful I get to work on something bite-sized to kick off this new career angle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172585548-J5LTIPPDQW3U39G1HRC4/IMG_6405.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.13.23 Video-Making and the Mural World Worked on finishing the first draft of a two-minute mini-documentary about the Cincinnati Pride mural ArtWorks made over the summer. I photographed the process months ago and recorded video while there. Using interviews with horrible audio from the dedication ceremony in September, I was able to put together a decent little video about it for ArtWorks. Waiting to hear back about further edits. I made the jump from Adobe Premiere Pro to DaVinci Resolve recently. After speaking with professionals in the industry, it’s clear many are either Premiere die-hards or making the jump to Resolve. Very few contemporary videographers and editors I’ve spoken to are using Final Cut any longer. The ones who are tell me they’re eyeballing their strategy to transition to Resolve. Before I get more into this, I decided I should probably hoist sails the way the industry’s blowing to make it easier on myself down the road. The best thing about Resolve is it’s a one-time fee of $300 for the full software without a monthly charge. Remember when using software wasn’t based on a subscription service? While there is a learning curve, I’m finding the all-in-one software remarkably easier to use overall than Premiere. I’ve already been able to create effects in Resolve that I couldn’t begin to tell you how to make in Premiere. This faster pipeline to make better, more polished content faster only reinforces my desire to keep using it. The amount of YouTube tutorials available, too, has been very helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172588959-0XEK17KL86EVA6VQ94KL/IMG_6407.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.14.23 Never Did This Before There are moments when we can say for certainty that we haven’t done something before, and that novelty makes us pause to appreciate uncharted territory, however mundane it may be. Placing a sealed bottle of red wine in the cup holder of the car is one of those times for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172595391-UMXZ3O1MJK5MRLNO3CUR/NZ9_2042.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.15.23 The Bellevue Hill Park ‘N Tag The pavilion in Bellevue Hill Park is looking far more colorful than normal. I’m of two minds about this. On one hand, I think graffiti is an art form that enhances a space or wall considerably when done well. There are many examples of photogenic graffitied walls and buildings throughout the world that I appreciate. On the other hand, this specific mid-century pavilion was beautiful already without spray paint, and the graffiti here doesn’t do it for me at all. I wonder if anyone’s planning to remove this or if this will remain a canvas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593952182-RXO1XINVV0R9BRRB003T/CUF+Murals+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.16.23 Murals in CUF A client needs photos of several newer murals around CUF, so I went out on foot to grab as many as I could. The light wasn’t right for a couple of them, but I think this one turned out well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593951700-I62HSD2OZOT05PJIN0KO/CAM+Gala+2023+-+Phil+Armstrong+-241.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.17.23 CAM Gala 2023 What a night! The Art Museum had me photograph their annual end-of-year gala again. This year, I brought along a second shooter, Justin, to assist with coverage. The 2023’s theme was ‘We’ll Always Have Paris.’ The approach to the Great Hall (the one with the Steinberg mural) had street lamps with warm, flickering bulbs and two artificial trees that felt like they belonged on either side of a city street. A mime (pictured) wandered through the crowd and interacted in ways you’d imagine, often making an effort to photo-bomb my portraits. A man playing accordion in a beret slowly made his way through all the rooms, filling each one with Parisian tunes. Everyone was in great spirits and no one turned down the chance to be photographed. We worked for five and a half hours, capturing everything we could. As usual, the Great Hall is difficult to photograph due to its high ceilings that don’t bounce flash as easily as other rooms, but I think we still managed to gather a healthy gallery of images the museum will like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593958946-6BK2JW9LQ70G9LMX4SW1/IMG_6452-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.18.23 Nailed By Buttonz I spent the entire day processing and editing CAM photos from last night. Tonight, though, we went to Kiki in College Hill to get ramen. This is a few doors down. I wonder if the goat was actually at the photoshoot or if it was edited in later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593962857-3UVWA012X5KYJN1S6R1L/ZFC_9963.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.19.23 Out For a Walk CAM photos from Friday were still in need of processing, so I spent a good deal of the day doing that. Feeling bad for a very bored Myrtle, we did make time to walk her and get her out of the house. We’ve been treating her with kid gloves lately due to her still healing after her surgery. She wants to play and rough house, but we’re not taking a chance on her opening up that wound and having to return to the vet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593963486-V8BASV5P6UV0SPZDWIHL/ZFC_9999-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.20.23 The Antiques We have this antique phone desk in my dining room that we placed an old rotary phone on. It’s not plugged in, nor does it have a wire any longer. It’s a color we liked (guessing it was manufactured in the 70s?), and thought it would look nice on this desk as a piece of idle decor. We found the phone at an antique show a couple of years ago, and the desk is a piece of furniture my grandmother once had in her hallway. I remember doing my math homework on it once when I was young. I like furniture that exists to serve a need that no longer exists. Even cordless phones were popularized in the 80s. The concept of needing a place to sit down where the telephone had to stay, while not something alien to my generation, is still wild. (We had a rotary in our household up until the 2000s.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700594470650-U335IWDA9IFNZAHLMVG9/ZFC_9976-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.21.23 Lego Orchid Ashley got a neat Lego orchid for her birthday. I saw Chris Glass using construction paper as a simple mobile backdrop in Spring Grove Cemetery years ago, so I attribute learning the technique to him. He is inadvertently the creative director of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187966364-ZB31VU3GYEV6SVUCRKJQ/Sigma+Chi+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.22.23 Frat House This image took me somewhere around 3 hours to fully touch up. Removing conduit and utilities, track lighting installed in the wrong place, and color correcting using over ten different masks made crafting this particular shot a long, arduous task. All in all, I’m pleased with how it turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187970782-LRTLBZ55N5M31VSUKJ4Z/IMG_6499.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.24.23 Made a Turkey I was in charge of acquiring, cooking, and serving the turkey this year. For my first time ever, I think it went pretty well. I’m notoriously bad at cooking anything, so the fact that I managed to produce a decent turkey was a small miracle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187974018-J50R7WDIRQGV6NWN7DZY/IMG_6508.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.25.23 Rosemary Margarita Ashley made a rosemary margarita for a get-together we had this evening at our house. It was so pretty, I thought it should be commemorated with a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187966425-QUB89PAVRTTV6AR3ZIEC/ZFC_0005.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.25.23 Pub Mix Contest Allie and Travis hosted a party in which everyone made their own pub mixes, and attendees could give each a try. The mixes ranged from savory to sweet, with some spicier than others. I couldn’t decide whether I preferred the savory or sweet mixes more, honestly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187971572-K919KPTLOXBD120AMC3T/IMG_6515.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.26.23 Picture This Took this sign as a directive. Also, I do not feel well, and I’m going to bed early. Think I caught a bug over the weekend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187975134-WLUDQ0DA0DISRBIWN8OM/IMG_6523.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.27.23 Snoot Stand A nasty cold took me out late last night and kept me in bed for the first half of the day before I managed to get downstairs to the couch. I had to cancel work and focus on recovery. Between bouts of heavy eyelids and sinus pressure, I watched TV and threw the many toys Myrtle delivered to the edge of the cushion beside me. When Ashley joined me on the couch, Myrtle decided snuggle time was more important than playtime. I sometimes like to put my hand beneath her chin and hold her little head up. She lay with her head in my hand for 15 minutes before I could no longer support her weight and gently let her go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701488851192-6WFWRZSDUQE93AHJ0ZG2/IMG_6530.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.28.23 Fell Off a Cliff Despite feeling well enough to sit at my desk and hammer out a half day of work, I started feeling absolutely horrible around 6 PM and made the decision to go to bed early. Fever kicked in, body aches, constant coughing and nose-blowing. The only reprieve I found from the symptoms was a video on YouTube where a guy built a log cabin under a large rock using only an axe, a saw, and some nails. Ashley decided to sleep in the basement to keep herself out of range of my coughing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701488850558-1PVXQNO5DE61HN2ER1A5/IMG_6540.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.29.23 Sleeping Buddy Last night’s sleep, if you could call it that, was awful. Fever dreams kept me waking up every 30 minutes or so, and my chest felt like it was on fire when I coughed. When dawn arrived, I managed to relax enough that I could get about an hour of sleep. Spent the rest of the day in bed and on the couch with no work done. Ashley didn’t fare well in the basement and wanted the bedroom again, so we swapped places. Myrtle, in a surprising move, decided to sleep with me this evening. I think she can tell something’s wrong. Need to kick this thing before an event I need to shoot Friday night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701488795617-9L0FYSS9D7QPUHUTHN0I/IMG_6541.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 11.30.23 Bland Meal Fruit and vegetables? Check. Carbohydrates and protein? Check. Hydration? Check. This is possibly the healthiest meal I’ve eaten as of late, and since I taste nothing anyway due to this virus, the urge to eat anything fattening and delicious is wholly unappealing. I did go to the doctor today and get prednisone for whatever’s attacking me. They COVID tested me again and it’s negative. Starting to feel like I have a handle on this thing now. Should be good for tomorrow’s event. I sat in front of the TV and watched three hours of Bar Rescue, ate my Bland Meal, and went downstairs for another night in the basement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701489219259-0MVRSUTDAB0TOO8M0XAH/NZ9_7645.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.1.23 Back In the Saddle The steroids the doctor gave me, coupled with some supplemental OTC meds, got me back to 80% of my old self. I was able to make it to the event in Walnut Hills after all. I masked up to ensure I didn’t spread anything to anyone else and had a good time interacting with real people again. The event was at ArtWorks’ V2 gallery on McMillan and featured a collection of young artists’ works. They spoke about who they were and what inspired their art, then ended with an open floor of people checking it all out. It felt nice to get back into it after a week at home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920114408-0EZWIYGA3YSSLZIHGVPK/ZFC_0010-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.2.23 Ralphie Ornament Our friends, Maria and Mike, have been part of our lives essentially since we got Myrtle. Maria has a dog boarding and daycare business that she runs out of their home downtown, and Mike works for MedVet. When we got Myrtle back in 2017, we wanted to socialize her with other dogs but in a smaller, more controlled setting than a regular daycare. Maria was the perfect person to offer that service as she only watched five dogs at a time. A couple of years ago, after the passing of their dog Bella, they adopted a sweet little Norwich Terrier called Ralphie. He’s an absolutely adorable and playful little pup with an aggressively cute head-to-body ratio who Myrtle loves to rough house when they’re together. Ralphie’s their only dog at the moment, so to thank them for being hugely important people in Myrtle’s life, I made them a little wood-burned ornament of Ralphie for their tree. The backing he’s glued onto is a combo of walnut, maple, and poplar. We put a message on the reverse side for them and Ashley will be giving it to them when she drops off Myrtle for a night of boarding (we’re both going on separate work trips). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920120373-85J6MIQ2BMNI8N9C5L9Z/Millersburg+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.3.23 Arrival In Millersburg A work trip took me to Millersburg, KY today. I was hired by Yard & Co. to accompany them on an excursion where they met with an architect from Seattle in Millersburg to discuss the development of a pocket neighborhood within the ailing small town. We got there as the sun was going down and took a quick walk down to the village green—their version of the town square. Tonight I will photograph a Christmas event at the local inn. Tomorrow I will walk the majority of Millersburg and photograph anything of architectural interest. The footprint is small and won’t take longer than a couple of hours. After that, I’ll be heading to Paris, KY before eventually ending in Bardstown by nightfall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920118359-4HOCU4QBG1YDU6543SZ2/Millersburg+-+Phil+Armstrong+-95.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.4.23 Central KY The morning started in Millersburg. I stayed at the Mustard Seed Inn last night and was tasked with photographing the city’s architectural makeup when I got up. Though I have many examples of beautiful old architecture in the town, this image of a man driving this old tractor resonated most with me. Right after I snapped the photo, he raised what looked to be a liquor bottle to his mouth and took a swig. After two hours of documentation, my work partner, Chris, and I drove to Paris, KY, where we documented Main Street and some surrounding areas. While there, I ran across a rental store called Movieland with an extremely faded storefront. The posters in the front windows advertised movies from 2017, hinting that it likely closed that year. When I looked inside, tidy racks of DVDs appeared frozen in time as if the closure was sudden. Paris had a statue of Secretariat, a cheap-looking Eiffel Tower monument, and a building with a plaque that claimed it was “the world’s tallest three-story building.” After leaving Paris and returning to Millersburg to rendezvous with the rest of the team, we headed to Bardstown. The crew found their way to a bourbon bar, then a tavern, then back to another bar before heading to the Motor Inn, where we had a reservation for the night. I’m still not feeling well and cannot taste anything, so to let my body recover, I drank water and ate salad. The Motor Inn wraps around a central pool and common area. Once they were checked in, everyone went out and built a fire and continued to enjoy a bottle of bourbon. Sadly, I called it a night because of my lingering sickness and didn’t join them. Instead, I drained my head of about 10 lbs of snot and tried falling asleep between coughing fits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920118165-7WW5FFY6MLNY9OPD3S24/Midway+-+Phil+Armstrong+-24.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.5.23 More Central KY We woke up in Bardstown, got breakfast, and documented the historic district on foot. After several hours, we got in the rental and headed to Danville. In Danville, the crew got what they described as the best donut they’d ever had (I didn’t partake once again because I still could not taste anything), and we walked around checking out its historic district’s commercial corridor and surrounding residential streets. We also took a shortcut through a cemetery with an array of headstones with some of the boldest designs I’d seen outside of Spring Grove Cemetery. Once finished in Danville, we drove to Midway. Much like La Grange, Midway features a rail line that bisects their historic downtown area, though less tightly than La Grange. I asked the barista at the coffee shop how often it rolls through, and she said “about every hour.” While walking and documenting Midway, I kept listening for an approaching train. I walked further up the hill into the residential part of Midway and photographed several houses and historic buildings. I still hadn’t heard or seen the train when I got back downtown. The evening had arrived, and our trip back to Cincinnati was in order. As soon as we left, the other car of Yard people said the train came through. I’m beginning to think I’m cursed when it comes to seeing trains in small KY cities. Once back in Cincinnati, we all went to Alcove and had one final meal together before going our separate ways. It was a great trip full of fun, easy photography that I enjoyed, a boatload of genuine laughs, and two very nice overnight stays in comfortable, alternative accommodations. That said, I’m looking forward to sleeping in my bed, not having to excuse myself every 12 seconds to blow my nose, and letting my social battery recharge by not saying a word to anyone for 24 hours. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920114812-1YH3PZEYLYJ36ZKDUCUL/ZFC_0030-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.6.23 Myrtle Christmas 2023 Ashley’s on a work trip, so it’s just me and Myrt. We hadn’t yet done her Christmas card photo, and with the big day rapidly approaching, it was up to me to handle it alone this year. I was having trouble coming up with a different concept from previous years. While sitting on the couch brainstorming and watching Bar Rescue, Myrtle walked over to the toy bin I made her a few weeks ago and got out one of her toys. The idea came to me at that moment. She’s been a good girl all year, and that toy bin was just large enough (and sturdy enough) to hold her. After a handful of Cheerios and some quick training, she got up in the bin. I surrounded her with toys, found a static winter image on YouTube, and took my shot. Submitted it to the printer and should get them all later this week. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438863167-X3VJQVWLH4EDL6EKC2J1/IMG_6643.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.7.23 Stoplight Entertainment Whenever I’m in the car, I plug my phone into the dash with a 6-inch cable to stream audio and enable Carplay. I never want to be distracted while driving, and the cable prevents me from fiddling with my phone because it’s too short to move around. Occasionally, though, I unplug it for a photo. While at a stoplight today, I saw this dog in the car behind me. It’s not a good photo, but it was a nice moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438869823-VXWLM03CEU41U3F7WTGD/NZ9_8653-Enhanced-NR-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.8.23 6th and Main Christmas at the corner of 6th and Main downtown. This handsome building has been home to several things over the years, but I think Richter & Phillips is doing the best job of highlighting its architectural features by continually lighting it up every December. During the holiday season, the wreaths emblazoned into the facade above the second-floor windows feel especially festive, and I love the way they’ve strung the three strands of lights between them like ribbons. Lining the perimeter of each window and the bottom of the roofline is an excellent touch, as well. I look forward to seeing this every year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438868853-EGBHIMUSWXAE81OI78WM/ZFC_0035.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.9.23 Leaf Jail Maximum security prison for only the most unbe-leaf-ably horrible offenders. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438863317-HI40GZYTNM54PX7QAY0M/IMG_6687.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.10.23 Ding-Dongs Went over to my parents’ house to see them and work on refinishing a used crib my sister bought on Facebook marketplace for $25. The person who sold it to her lived within 2 miles of my house, making me the designated crib-transporter since my sister lives an hour north and has enough on her plate. While at my parents’ house, these two ding-dongs sat patiently on the downstairs steps waiting for me to finish and come back upstairs to pet and play with them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007475842-AA4L0P2P7TNEKQ4D3WM2/Screenshot+2023-12-13+at+3.23.39%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.11.23 Unflattering Surveillance This is kind of a weird entry. I didn’t take this photo directly, but I am responsible for it. For a while now, I’ve wanted to place outdoor cameras in several spots around our house to keep an eye on the porch, backyard, and alley because I like the option of having a record if I ever need it. After months of on-and-off research and YouTube reviews of several brands, I decided to bite the bullet on a bundle deal of Arlo Pro 4 cameras from Best Buy that wirelessly connect to Wi-Fi and are powered by rechargeable batteries. They’re not the latest models Arlo offers, but the price for the number of cameras and batteries was right. After charging them, finding the optimal positions, and installing the mounting plate, I brought each one online. Doing so was as easy as putting a battery in and adding it to the network via the Arlo app. Once added, I adjusted the settings to record when needed. A ‘feed’ tab in the app collects moments of activity based on those settings and stores clips for 30 days. While reviewing the feed, I screenshot the first moments the porch camera came online. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007475440-SLXMYA6M6ZFOO5Y53USB/121+E+15th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-41.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.12.23 The Narrow Staircase Rebecca, the realtor I work with, had me photograph 121 E 15th Street in Covington this evening. When I arrived at 4 PM, the light outside was already fading. I quickly got what I could and moved indoors to grab interiors with what little light we still had. The house is old. The owner says he found it on a Sanborn map from the 1860s, which would probably make it pre-Civil War. Rebecca has a local researcher looking into its history for the listing, so I will learn more later this week. The house has been updated since it was built and retains very little original character today—except this gnarly staircase leading to an unlit, dusty attic space. The staircase is narrow, only widening to about 16 inches at most. For the photo, I used my phone’s flashlight to lighten it up and give it definition. It makes a 90-degree left turn up to the attic space, which rises to a reasonable standing height. I didn’t photograph the attic as I had to finish my job with the light I still had, but it was creepy. It’s interesting to think about all the people who’ve climbed these stairs over the long lifespan of this building. All the kids who might’ve played up there and/or were likely too afraid to. All the owners who stored their seasonal decorations at the top of the steps and had to wander up with a flashlight to retrieve them each year. All the cats that found their way inside and realized this was a secret space where no one would bother them. Also, did I mention this opens up to the primary bedroom? The headboard of the bed is against this wall. Not at all unnerving! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007477606-EBQ0BX61UNF03HPD8P33/Clearly+Indigenous+Opening-+Phil+Armstrong+-96-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.13.23 Indigenous Dancers The Cincinnati Art Museum’s latest exhibit, Clearly Indigenous, showcases a collection of Native American glass artwork. To memorialize opening night, organizers brought in indigenous dancers to perform in the Great Hall. Three people dressed in traditional Native American attire performed to the sound of chanting and rhythmic drum beating. As I was so caught up in making sure the images were focused and I had my composition right, I missed the title of the chanting man. However, something he said during his speech struck me. He said that as the dancers perform, their vibrations find their way deep into the soil. Those vibrations connect with the mycelium network, granting positive effects to the earth. He speculated that the land beneath the Cincinnati Art Museum hasn’t had this healing touch in a long time. As I watched them perform, I couldn’t help but feel like I was witnessing something truly special—maybe even more special than I currently understand it to be. While I photographed this performer at f/4, I wasn’t satisfied with the level of bokeh. Her dress clashed too much with the audience behind her. To give it a more f/2.8 look, I utilized Adobe’s Lens Blur feature to increase the contrast a little bit more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007470321-XNF6FWD7EYVTR6ZFUTLL/Rookwood+Holiday+Party+2023+-+Phil+Armstrong+-75.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.14.23 Holiday Parties That Aren’t My Own Annie asked if I would photograph the Rookwood holiday party this year. I always like working for them when the chance arises. Their party this year was held at Velocity Esports, which was most recently Rotolo, at Newport on the Levee. Everyone ate and hung out, bowled as much as they wanted, and bought raffle tickets for prize baskets. There was an awards ceremony to honor several spectacular employees, as well as a rundown of a few bits of news the company had for future projects. I stayed for a little over two hours, got my shots, then made my way out. While on the walk home, I couldn’t help but think about how the freelance career path is an oddly lonely one at times. Sure, I get to work with loads of people throughout the year and I’m never truly working by myself when I’m doing events, real estate, architecture, or headshots. But the holiday party isn’t something I get to do anymore. While the corporate job I had years ago nixed the after-hours party in favor of a cheap long lunch hour in a conference room, it was still nice to have a brief window of time when everyone would stop working and just hang out together. If I were a Rookwood employee, I would’ve enjoyed going to Velocity with my coworkers and spending an afternoon together. It’s probably a grass-is-always-greener thing, but it bummed me out a little thinking that I haven’t had that in several years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703008915515-96TEZEGVQQSC73EK55T0/NZ9_2017-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.15.23 A Polaroid Instance ArtWorks’ Harmonies: Mural Studio Gallery opening was held tonight at Bricker Graydon on Main Street. Young artists’ works were hung around the perimeter of the space and open to the public to come in and check out. Someone there was using a Polaroid instant camera to the delight of the artists and their friends/families. Maybe I should get one and offer this to clients? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703008917047-1LDPEI3Q04A9AU9LQKXT/ZFC_0073-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.16.23 Christmas Drinks Ashley and Chelsea had an idea to make special Christmas drinks. I was tasked with riding to Party Source and loading up a backpack full of 750ml bottles of various spirits and mixers to deliver to them. While the drink they planned didn’t aesthetically work out the way they wanted, they still had a good time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703029293741-VVQ0K5HO0CPIYVC74LD3/IMG_6762.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.17.23 Dark Skies While heading for coffee, the sky looked dark and scary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703029293786-M3RVJL8H1O1SPT6L016Q/IMG_6774.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.18.23 Case Reorganization Back in May, I bought a hard case for my essential work equipment. The foam it came with was scored in a grid pattern so you can pull it apart in the shape you wanted. Fast forward seven months and the pull-apart foam that came with the case wasn’t holding its original shape. The custom voids I’d created for each piece of equipment had begun to take on a life of their own against my wishes. I wanted to redo my case but didn’t want to use that flimsy pull-apart foam again, so I got a denser, non-scored block to work with. It required manually cutting the shapes I wanted, but it looks and feels much better than before. It should withstand wear and tear for longer than the other foam. By storing the Z9 body apart from the lenses, I could get a third lens in the box without leaving anything out from before. The result is better organization, additional capacity, and an overall cleaner case that suits my operation better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781477310-UK53U29NZSLIOZZJJIE8/ZFC_0080-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.19.23 Main Street Glow Just a quiet scene on Main Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781481048-DY3BVP05JTNZPAJ4VYLM/NZ9_2080-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.20.23 Game Table Composite Single Batch built an awesome custom game table for a client and needed photos for their portfolio before it left the shop. The reason this fairly simple composition is interesting (to me) is because so much of it was pieced together later in Photoshop. The wood rails and the beer were actually in place for the photo. I only had a sample of the green felt, so I placed it beneath the beer. After I got home, I brought the green felt to the edges of the table, took a photo of a royal flush from the same angle, and found a pair of die online. Shadows were added, the lighting values were adjusted until they looked right, and I added a little tinge of red to the shadow of the die. Improvising like this is fun. When you don’t have everything for the shoot, it’s an exciting challenge to figure out how to add it later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781492031-LR77441EX0J1FQNG3JBK/ZFC_0091.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.21.23 Errands With a View We had to run to the Zoning & Planning office inside the Campbell County Admin Building on Monmouth to submit an application to have our fence replaced with a new one. I usually hate doing this sort of thing, but the view from the third floor makes the trip more bearable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781486932-Z25GWOWWX8ECF5934ST6/IMG_6826.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.22.23 Horror Santa Found this dirty, cybernetically enhanced Santa at the antique mall. I didn’t buy it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781483486-LVA53P8VBLDCSJAP3NDD/ZFC_0105.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.23.23 Morning Walk Through Eden Park It was a nice morning, so we got coffee and went for a stroll through Eden Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703854970489-TFSPTHCCHWC55AVMVOF9/ZFC_0107.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.24.23 Little Library Find I don’t know why, but the “Revised Edition” made me laugh. I’m imagining a critical piece of info was omitted in the original version, ultimately leading to the deaths of millions of Bonsai trees, and the publisher had to run another printing to save leafy lives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703854971199-IRZF0ENS81322UV3A53P/IMG_6868.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.25.23 The Attic Christmas at my sister’s house devolved into climbing a ladder and peering into the attic to see what was up there after she said she’d never had the courage to do so. Short answer: nothing fun. A lot of insulation, a roll of carpet, and some bifold doors that hadn’t seen the light of day in years. I’m considering shopping in a creepy man deep in the background and texting her with some version of “I was looking at those photos again and didn’t notice this guy at the time.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704121562863-JPQ5Q8WX9OAKJAZ2S6QV/IMG_6875.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.26.23 Clear Coat I’ve been wanting to free up space on the landing of the stairs to the basement. It has a mishmash of stuff that doesn’t aesthetically go together but serves a purpose. I made this shoe rack with a drawer to replace all of it and make that corner look more presentable overall. The design is based on a Wayfair listing, and I slightly altered the look of the drawer by adding a knob and staining it a dark espresso instead of keeping it yellow pine. When making stuff solely for my home, I don’t care about design theft. The dimensions are custom to the corner I intend to place it in, and it adds more shoe storage for Ashley’s collection by adding another shelf and expanding the width another six inches. I finished it with a protective clear coat and set it on the porch to dry. It’s still wet in this photo, so it will look less glossy and more even later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704121564130-GYAVCPGU9AUTR8GPU4CU/ZFC_0109-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.27.23 Good Corner For a Plastic Plant The new shoe rack I talked about in yesterday’s post is dry and ready for placement on the landing. After loading it up with all of Ashley’s shoes, we looked for something decorative to place on the top shelf. While there’s a door to the alley with a window next to it that we never open, we’re not certain a plant would survive in that spot. Thankfully, Ashley’s Lego orchid is low maintenance and works well in that corner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704121563954-62KWQYX15REYKMXTIUG2/NZ9_2134-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.28.23 Neewer Grip The Nikon subreddit clued me into the Neewer Z fc grip a few weeks ago. It improves the camera's ergonomics by adding a little bump-out on the shutter side to improve grip and an Arca mount on the bottom. The mount also adds several screw holes for mounting accessories such as video lights and external microphones. While I love my Z fc as my everyday camera, my only complaint has been how easily it is to drop. I usually wear a wrist or neck strap when I use it because the older-style body is flat enough that I often don’t trust my own grip on it. While I’ve yet to drop it, my heart skipped a beat several times when it came close. The mount takes care of this issue by better filling my palm and adding weight to the entire body thanks to its metal construction. And while I value a camera’s optics over its physical aesthetic, I don’t think the grip detracts from how the body looks. In fact, after putting it on, it’s challenging to imagine the Z fc without the bump-out now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704159096799-D6BWNIBF0ZZWOFQQ03LY/IMG_6912.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.29.23 Perimeter Enhancement When we bought our house, the backyard was surrounded by a rotting, worn-out fence. Over the course of the last three years, it only grew worse. Bits of the bottom on the alley side began turning green and crumbled apart. The old gate sagged and barely saw any use due to its poor placement. I never managed to get one of the panels back into place after removing it when we had materials dropped off for our deck project years ago. The entire thing was nearing the end of its natural life. It’s apparently a slow time for fencing companies. After accepting a quote, we were shocked when they fit us in before the end of the year. They ripped down the old fence in less than an hour and spent the rest of the day casually destroying the yard and giving the vertical 4x4s concrete shoes. They say this will be finished tomorrow, but I’m skeptical. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704159100263-DZMSKRO6SSZ1817UJE3V/ZFC_0227-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.30.23 Second Christmas My sister’s stepdaughter didn’t have Christmas with us this year. To make up for it, we did Christmas together a week later. Ashley and I went all in on her gifts and got her a light-up Razor scooter, a Barbie Dream Boat, and some other smaller gifts. She seemed pretty excited by all of it. Watching a kid open presents and temporarily lose their minds with excitement is a special joy. I fondly remember that feeling from when I was a kid. Not sure I’ve felt it since. Ashley helped her put together the boat during a quieter moment. It was adorable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704159094861-0ERL8SZGMFZYJX0V2WI2/IMG_6963.jpg daily-photos-all-2023 - 12.31.23 Five Years I’ve officially kept this daily photo project going for five years as of tonight. It started as a Twitter project and morphed into something that later moved entirely to this site. I gave every photo a name from the start, but I didn’t start journaling with each one until December 1 of that first year when I knew I’d have room to give each image additional context. Feeling a mix of pride and hopelessness at the moment about it. Looking back on everything I did and experienced through those years, it’s easy to ignore the dangerousness of the rose-tinted glasses through which I view them. Did life peak already, or does it just seem that way? The pandemic and being laid off aside, I’ve had some incredible times since I started this. Sticking with a project for five years like this feels like an accomplishment, but it’s also a sad reminder that those moments were fleeting. Allie and Travis graciously hosted a party to ring in the New Year. Here’s a Polaroid of me holding a plate of cheese balls from the evening; imagine the cheese balls are all the photos I’ve put on this site for the last five years, and it makes some kind of sense. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-feb-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675365900281-VQDSRBGJQC6FKBNS2KK1/NZ9_8760.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.1.23 The Reward For Muscling Through It While helping flip a heavy slab of wood at the shop today, I tweaked my back to the point where standing and walking was too much and had to drive home to lie down. This isn’t the first time this has happened, but the thing that worried me most was that I had an event to shoot at the Art Museum later in the evening. I laid flat and rested for the rest of the afternoon and managed to feel better enough to hobble my way through the event and get the job done. I think I managed to keep it together without anyone knowing, but there’s no way to be sure. Anyway, while there, I stumbled upon this incredible piece by artist Emily Brock entitled ‘Deli—Going to Lunch” (1991). According to text, it’s a “slumped, cast blown and lampworked glass” sculpture of a recently vacated deli counter. I initially marveled at the technical beauty of the piece before considering the point the text below it made about the scene appearing hauntingly empty. The table looks freshly used, complete with a napkin on the floor, with a discarded apron on the floor behind the counter, but everything else seems to be perfectly in place. After reading that, I briefly imagined it being within The Last of Us’ fictional world on outbreak day and enjoyed the idea that two disparate works of art could be accidentally linked by head cannon like that. That was my reward for sucking it up and working the event despite the physical pain and discomfort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675526506449-488EDMLUI4OHW0S6V946/IMG_1060.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.2.23 Ill-Advised Walk Woke up with the pain in my back still screaming at me, so I had to make the unfortunate call to delay today’s shoot to next week. Ashley’s on a work trip, though, so Myrtle looks to me for food and nourishment (and entertainment). While I can walk, and while it doesn’t cause me great harm in the moment to do so, I pay for it later. I took her on a slow walk around the neighborhood to stretch her legs and I think she appreciated it. Ordered a pizza when I got home, watched Star Trek: First Contact and an episode of TNG before going to bed. Tomorrow I see a doctor for this and I hope it helps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675526508736-WLDF2UOV97JJOIWR4QJC/IMG_1076.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.3.23 The Doctor Day two and a half of this back pain. Went to see a chiropractor in Alexandria and the waiting room was perfect. Between the fake plant casting a shadow on the ceiling to the tropical fluorescent light inserts, the wallpaper, framed photos, and stack of magazines, I felt transported straight back to the 90s. It was comforting in all the right ways. The doctor gave me some info on what’s happening with my back and adjusted my spine. I felt surprisingly great after the visit, but then I took Myrtle on a long walk down by the riverfront and regretted it later. I am unable to sit and chill with ease. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675794348316-QNUOQP8WHNYRG101XYG4/IMG_1099.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.4.23 Getting Back Out There I decided to go out tonight with friends for a few drinks after being largely sedentary at my house for the last few days. The night ended at cozy Jerry’s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675794348650-L8BKGNU3KP07W2VZCFUI/IMG_1105.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.5.23 She’s Onboard Despite wearing an Apple Watch years ago and deciding to go back to it recently, it took Ashley’s boss flashing one on her wrist to persuade Ashley it was time to get one, too. As we approached the glass mouth of the well-lit Apple cave, I had the sad realization that I am not cool enough to influence my wife. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1675794351094-HTO4ARCBLAF1W3LHXGO8/IMG_1113.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.6.23 Charles My back is feeling better, but I’ve contracted flu. I wish I had a better photo for the day because it’s an important one. I learned late yesterday that my grandfather passed away the night I was out with friends. He and I reconnected briefly back in 2021 (August 18th) after a long time without contact and went out to dinner once after that a little while later. It was nice seeing him and catching up on what he’s been up to over the years. Honestly, it meant a lot to me that we could get together and carry on after so many years apart. But I never felt I really knew him well as an adult; most of our time spent together was when I was young and still figuring out the world. I have vivid, positive memories of being with him through my childhood, and I’m grateful for those times. When he was present and engaged, he was a fun and interesting guy. One of the flaws of Armstrong men is our predisposition to find the path that requires the least amount of interpersonal conflict, which sometimes isn’t the best route. I won’t go into why my dad and I didn’t have a regular relationship with him here, but it goes without saying that the three of us clicked pretty well that day in his garage in 2021. Unfortunately that would be the last time three generations of Armstrong men would be together in the same place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250569069-U8YDQAONNVFY843DZTZZ/IMG_1114.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.7.23 Clay & Leah Had a video meeting with Clay and Leah today in what would be the first time the three of us sat and talked in real time “face to face” in years. I’ve obviously had a great deal of contact with each of them individually over the years, but this was the first time since 2016 the three of us got together at the same time. We talked about some work we’ll be tag-teaming for Clay’s business and reminisced briefly on our days at CR. I owe these two a great deal for believing in me way back in mid-2016 when they got me involved in CR. It changed the trajectory of my career and life for the better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250571945-MHVBAQ1ZSC1MGKN9F6W4/IMG_1128.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.8.23 The Search For a Fridge Today’s big task involved finding a cheap replacement fridge for the shop. John and I took the van out to a few reuse places and settled on a simple 6-foot tall $200 white fridge from Building Value in Northside. Pictured is the Reuse Center in South Fairmount, which never fails to be photogenic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250564814-HSTNR2SHDP6LNHE6OF06/DSC_4162.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.9.23 Mandrake Ashley and I are headed on a dual work trip to Columbus and Indianapolis over the next two days. She has stores to visit and I have a shoot just outside of Indy, but we’re going to squeeze in some fun while at it. Today we went to Columbus and I met up with Chris at North Market across from our hotel while she took the rental car to go do her thing. He and I bopped around town taking photos and swapping opinions on everything from what’s happening in current Star Trek shows to making a comprehensive list of every country he’s visited (95 and counting). We ended up at the Mandrake Rooftop for cocktails and caught the sun going down. There was already a wind advisory in place due to a front moving through the region, but on the 10th level it was even windier. If not for the camera’s wrist strap hugging my arm tightly, I don’t think I would’ve attempted to raise my gear into the air to clear the perimeter glass to get this shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250565326-C6N460BVV3PRYRAXEFTN/DSC_4187.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.10.23 Bottleworks & More Indy was our destination on day two. We checked into the Le Meridien downtown and Ashley went off to check stores while I walked around. It was a grey, ugly morning, so an indoor activity was first on my list. I walked Circle Center Mall next to our hotel and lamented its starkly obvious decline in the face of today’s digital retail revolution. Despite some recognizable brands and stores, it’s largely filled with one-off salons, trinket stores with forgettable names, an empty Regal Theater lobby, and a surprisingly active food court. If you’re reading this, you’re most likely my age or older and understand first hand what malls once felt like and how sad it is to see them gasp for air like this. Anyway, both the Soldiers & Sailors Monument and Indiana War Memorial were both closed, so I checked out Indy’s City Market (not great) before heading to Mass Ave (fine) and ending up at the Bottleworks Hotel and The Garage Food Hall (very good). Later, we had several fruity cocktails at Inferno Room in Indy’s Fountain Square neighborhood (also good) and called it an early night around 10 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250568291-6FBZJ2UXRSQLGP1B7TCI/DSC_4221.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.11.23 Pizza & Libations Remember when I said this was a dual work trip and then I spent the last two days messing around while Ashley visited stores? Today was my day to shine. On our way out of Indy, we went south to Bargersville so I could photograph a bar back and overhead surround that Single Batch made. Because I wasn’t involved in this project, I don’t know the details of how it was installed, but John needed photos of it for his portfolio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676250573292-YNE8P7XE02P5AURMZVS1/IMG_1275.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.12.23 22K Steps I walked all over NKY and downtown today for a mix of business and pleasure. My shin muscles are barking at me, but it felt good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1676338461160-IV24N182FA1I2V8I9M05/DSC_4235-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.13.23 Trophy Pizza Justin’s brand new pizza place, Trophy Pizza, in Evendale opened within the last week. He’s been working on it for awhile now and it’s so good to see his business busy and thriving already. It sells NYC-style slices you can eat in the dining room or take to go, and you can also order whole pies (as well as several other menu items). It’s delicious and I’m not saying that just because he’s a good friend. Get yourself over to Trophy Pizza and taste it for yourself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037293708-ZSWFZ2L6Z3T0QICO4P4U/IMG_1323.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.14.23 In Need of TLC This part of Central Parkway has always been a mess. A variety of beat up cars have been parked prominently in view of the Parkway in the past, though right now there doesn’t seem to be any behind the rickety old chain link fence. There used to be a “support troops” above the pro-police sign, but I guess that’s gone now. I imagine the owner of this unsightly property had a falling out with the US Army (or more likely it just blew off the building). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037294062-S9LH89ZKW2CGE63NU0XH/IMG_1328.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.15.23 The Truck John’s confident in this old beater’s ability to maintain modern highway speeds and not explode. I, however, am less so. I admit I know next to nothing about cars nor do I really care about them beyond choice models‘ aesthetics and their ability to make travel easier, so maybe my fear of this ‘69 Chevy somethingorother is illogical. Regardless, it didn’t break down or explode on the highway and we got what we needed with fewer than 10 Boomers asking us if John would sell it to them, so overall it was an easy trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037297246-U03CQR7DI1TJWXSOUB3Y/IMG_1358.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.16.23 Plant Wall We rearranged our bedroom furniture and changed up the layout, resulting in a very barren wall. Today I got the components for simple shelving and installed everything so she could decorate with plants. The wall adds a whole new level of coziness to the room, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037298615-QIQSZJOZT46APQ4RKF4Z/FpNvGLUXEAQQ4pT.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.17.23 The Only Opera I Like It was a stressful day on site at the Woodburn Exchange installing metalwork. Even though Joe did the majority of the heavy stuff, I was trying my best not to let my worry show as we hoisted precious steel into the air with rickety crank lifts. Keeping that stress bottled for the sake of getting it done without issue took its toll on my nerves, so when I got home, I just wanted to go to Elusive Cow, sit at the bar, enjoy a beer and some food, and go home. Some Bellevue neighbors came in part way through our meal at the bar and sat next to us, which was nice. We chatted for a bit before Ashley and I continued on our way. As we walked home, I remembered Schneider’s was selling their famous Opera Creams and went in for a 1/2 pound box. As a bonus, the owner gave us two freshly made cherry cordial opera creams for free. “They’re still cooling, so save them for Sunday,” he said. “They’ll taste their best if you wait two days.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037305614-5S6LE5NZOB58U01THTQ4/IMG_1382.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.18.23 Mittenfest We went to Mittenfest today and the only photo I took was this one. We went with Steve and Erica even though neither of them especially enjoy beer. They were good sports about it and we still had a wonderful time. And any time we can bring little Myrtle to an event, it’s a good one. The amount of people in the park was honestly astonishing; I didn’t expect a February event like this to be so well-attended. Then again, it was the picture of beautiful weather. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037308265-G9NZU212WZX6YMZ36OYK/1124+Holman+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong-1.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.19.23 “Microphone Check, One, Two, What Is This?” Had to set up a step-and-repeat without a backdrop for an event I shot at the Kenwood Country Club tonight. Whenever I have to do this, I arrive early to figure out the lighting so I don’t have to waste anyone’s time when they step into Phil’s Photo Zone®. This was the test shot for that setup. I don’t feel comfortable sharing any of the photos from the actual event itself since it was a private affair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037315507-959IU5HA5C6QD8P7IWDY/IMG_1397.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.20.23 Austinburg Covington has all these little sub-neighborhoods with their own signage and boundaries. From Austinburg to Peaselburg and all the other little pockets of identity scattered throughout NKY’s massive riverside neighborhood, I feel like I could walk all of it and still not see enough. I work closest to Austinburg, and while out on a lunch-time walk, I wandered past its mosaic-tiled sign about two blocks up from the shop. In a perfect world where I had infinite time to do everything I wanted, finding and cataloging every neighborhood and sub-neighborhood sign would be a fun photo project. I’ve had the idea for years to do it with Cincinnati, and I even started doing it at one point, but the sheer number to find and photograph as well as the size of the area I’d have to cover would take me longer than I’d like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677037315680-4WKVRQTFVSR943QN454A/DSC_0004-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.21.23 Not Enough Clays I’m in the process of creating a group photo for the medical practice Clay works for, but the tricky thing is getting nine very busy doctors into a space at the same time. So, in order to make a seamless group photo with schedules that never align, I’m going to photograph nine people at different times over two sessions with the same lighting and splice each of them into the same photo in a different position. Clay was my stand-in for this process and I made this test composite as proof of concept. While I’m not new to crafting this type of image, the stakes are far higher for this than they’ve ever been and I need to make sure I get this right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677121894889-XDEBET407UT18VQR5T8U/IMG_1427.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.22.23 Infinity Rose Apparently this rose will last indefinitely. Ashley got it in Miami. If I remember (the critical part of this), I will check back in on this rose a year from today to see if this infinity rose has, indeed, lasted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677208380760-YS9OL25SKSQM1A7QHXLG/DSC_4241.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.23.23 Beautiful Day for a Ride After my second shoot of the day was cancelled by the client, I made the executive decision to not be inside for the remainder of the day. It was too beautiful to waste it indoors. Vince and I met up at Yeatman’s Cove and rode around Cincinnati, tagging the end of Mill Creek before heading northward to Northside and continuing on through Spring Grove Cemetery. We checked out a greenhouse his buddy maintains nearby, ate a blood orange straight off the tree, and headed back to Northside Yacht Club for a beer before riding the evening light home to Bellevue. In all, I did 27.5 miles and it felt amazing. I wish I could do long rides in perfect weather every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556392545-ENXTZ5N6I0LY6VVMSE9D/Sam%27s+Proposal+-+Phil+Armstrong-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.24.23 A Proposal Sam (kneeling) proposed to Sophie at the edge of Smale Park tonight. He asked me to photograph the moment for him, so I sat in the dark far enough away that she wouldn’t see me and snapped several frames the moment he popped the question. Sam is Steve’s good buddy from college and I know him primarily through Steve, but I’m thankful he felt comfortable enough in our friendship through association to ask for my help capturing this moment for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556392546-RDD9CPCW8WXO3JE9ZYFT/IMG_1478.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.25.23 The Last Moment of Sobriety I am writing this entry two days after the day in which this photo was taken because Saturday night wreaked havoc on my liver to an obnoxious degree. Kevin organized a movie night that started with a bunch of guys from the neighborhood meeting up for drinks at several bars before our 8:30 PM showing at the theater. The back of Miller’s Fill In has this amazing duckpin bowling machine from the Stone Age that we played for awhile before heading onto our next location. It would be the last thing I’d see and do before being unable to walk a straight line for the remainder of the evening. We laughed our asses off at Bridgeview, reclined with triple bourbons during a movie about a cocaine bear, stumbled upon margaritas just before closing time, and narrowly lost to strangers in a rousing game of doubles’ billiards in Bellevue’s smokiest bar before essentially crawling back to Grandview Avenue where we all lived. It was one of those nights where it felt like it just went on forever and ended with a bang commensurate with the rest of the evening. My body, not wanting to ruin a good time and being extremely cool about it, waited until the next day to have a talk with me about my choices. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556395338-6JHMWOUPBBS8T5SJ19ML/IMG_1483.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.26.23 The Only Relief Here’s a picture of Myrtle looking radiant in the back seat of the car, hoping we give her a taste of a burger. Ashley took me to get Wendy’s because I was hungover from last night’s Cocaine Bear bonanza and I needed fast food to absorb whatever was making my stomach feel like it was navigating the ocean during a hurricane. I lost an entire day to self-inflicted sickness but the night before was amazing, so it was worth 24 hours of blech. Myrtle, in all her fluffy splendor, temporarily took my mind off my illness and recklessness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677556395777-M76304RT2T8PFGTHJEB0/IMG_1489.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.27.23 Weirdos The statues flanking the main staircase of the Scottish Rites building on Madison Ave in Covington are the goofiest sphinxes I’ve ever seen. They have these Art Deco bodies with heads that don’t seem to match. Their strange style leaps out at me every time I walk past and look at the building. Scottish Masons and their organizations remain a mystery that I could probably just read up on and understand more fully, but whenever I do my brain completely zones out and I get lost in alternate thought. It may be that I’m just simply not interested in the subject. Regardless, these weirdos are totally up my alley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1677644328592-3WTU3IG6OGVX6KA13LRS/Group+Photo+%28sRGB%29-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2023 - 2.28.23 Solitary Group Photo I’m proud of this photo for a specific reason. On the surface, it just looks like a regular group photo of nine people dressed identically against a neutral architectural backdrop. But here’s the thing: none of these people were in the room together when I took their photo. Every one of them was alone in the room. Because of conflicting schedules, we couldn’t get anyone together at the same time, so I set up lights and a tripod and had each of them come in and pose in nine different positions during several blocks of time over two weeks. Then, in post-production, I composed them all together to create the group photo. I’m still tweaking it, so this isn’t the final version just yet, but it’s very close. I’ve done this in the past with myself in various poses for fun, but this is the first time I’ve used that practice professionally. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-mar-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056514874-CELBFPJJDTCSO6MSD73Z/IMG_1521.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.1.23 A Haiku The weather’s divine Stretched legs, sniffing everything Sunset with a view https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056515900-S2TLDL4P368Z9AFH6PVV/IMG_1529.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.2.23 A Thomasson Bellevue has a boatload of “Thomassons”—leftover bits of architecture that once served a purpose but have been made obsolete by redesign or demolition of the structure they originally serviced. These types of clues about the built history of a place are really fascinating. Clearly these steps once led up to a house that’s no longer there and now they angle up to the broad side of a fence without a gate. They serve no purpose, but they remain like a scar on the landscape, reminding passersby of what was once there. The coolest thing about these artifacts from a different time is they aren’t intentionally created in the form they eventually assume. An authentic Thomasson is only the byproduct of change, progress, tragedy, and/or mistakes. That misdirected intentionality is weird and uncommon and, as I said, really fascinating to me. While not beloved and protected like many historic buildings, I believe these obsolete relics from the past add a gargantuan amount of flavor to a place since they cannot be authentically replicated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056518703-ZMTEP2B3DUTMILTP2BV2/IMG_1540.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.3.23 The Start of a Bad Day I’m writing this entry on Sunday the 5th because Friday into Saturday wasn’t ideal. At 4 PM on Friday, we delivered tables to Fifty West despite inclement weather and had to unload everything in the pouring rain and assemble it all under a tent that wanted to blow away with every strong gust of wind. While I internally disagreed with the timeline of delivery, I wasn’t in charge and quietly did what I needed to in order to get the job done. Assembly of the tables took longer than I expected, and I was released about 6 PM—well past the time I was supposed to be at the pub with my buds for Bockfest. On the way home, Ashley informed me that we lost power due to the storm and we were one of 13 people in all of Bellevue without it. Feeling no sense of solidarity and realizing I would have to stay home in the dark so as to not abandon my dog alone in a pitch black house during high winds, I shriveled into frustration. Though Bockfest was cancelled for the evening, I felt an incredible sense of FOMO as my friends still (rightly) enjoyed going out. My clothes were soaked, my spirit was dashed, and the uncertainty of when electric would return forced an early bedtime. There was no point in prolonging this bad day further and I looked forward to hopefully getting power back by morning. (I didn’t get it until late Saturday.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678056520327-R9KIVX9KTR7K8GS5DM1E/DSC_4253.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.4.23 Bockfest I’ll quickly skim over the bad bits and get to the good stuff. Woke up, no power, no shower, no productivity like I’d planned, and ended up going to Bockfest to try to enjoy the festival despite the previous night’s foiled plans. Met up with Travis and Allie with bock beer in hand, ate a big pretzel, and absorbed more friends into the outdoor party as they trickled into Findlay Playground over the afternoon. The day shift folks went home around 5 PM while the rest of us hit up Kanji for dinner (pictured). I didn’t mean for this photo to be a long exposure when I set it up, but I like the accidental effect regardless. It reminds me of how a memory sometimes appears as it’s rendering the finer details in my head. Chris is flipping me off as Rob takes a drink of his beer. Travis stands up off his stool, other Rob turns to face the camera, and Ronny continues telling a story, oblivious to the prolonged shutter snap. Spending quality time with these dudes honestly made up for the previous days’ misfortunes and I felt a lot better. We stayed out late into the next morning and I walked home to avoid paying $30 for ride share. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678112305015-3PN17F66GS5XSR3IJV6L/IMG_1561.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.5.23 6th Street at the DECC “Old Cincinnati” to me isn’t Over-the-Rhine’s well-preserved architecture. It’s not 4th Street’s enduring role as a channel of M-F business, nor is it the riverfront’s refusal to move on from riverboat iconography. “Old Cincinnati” to me is more that 1960s-1990s aesthetic that can still be found all over Downtown. It’s what I remember most from being down here as a child. The convention center is a good example of that outdated and untrendy visual style. The surrounding area still has bits and pieces of that era stand, too, from the cerulean blue Skywalk system maps that are hilariously incorrect as of 2023 to faded indoor and outdoor artwork, like Shapes Park. While it’s an eyesore to most, I personally find it endearing. Yes, nostalgia is a toxic impulse and I know my love of these outdated things is fueled almost entirely by it, but I cannot deny my feelings. When I see that style in other cities, I don’t have the same love for it. It’s recognizable, but it’s devoid of the emotion I feel for it when it’s in Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678217316689-KTQC6MWEZ14A5Y6832R0/IMG_1568.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.6.23 Marco’s Market I’ve purchased unwanted but enjoyable beef jerky just to meet the $5 amount for a Diet Coke in this place. It’s as you’d expect it to be inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678246309547-2WE93PTRHHVRHJO5G6TE/The+Rye+-+Unit+E+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.7.23 No One’s Around I saw a guy I know at Bockfest on Saturday. During our conversation, he described himself as an “extroverted introvert.” What he means is he’s able to be social and have a good time with others, but his natural inclination is to hang by himself. That resonated with me as I knew this was also true for my own personality. Anyway, while I feel like my shoot at The Rye for Rookwood Properties went well, I only spoke to one person face to face all day. Very few people live in the building at this point, so I didn’t run into a soul while inside. Ashley’s in California for work, I only spoke to three people over text, and even on my walk with Myrtle this evening the streets were light with pedestrians. This image, which was taken at noon on 7th Street, is even devoid of life. It just seemed like I was floating through the world totally alone for hours. I’d been fighting a weird anxiety all day brought on by mistakes I’d made within the first hour of being awake, but as I sat with my thoughts about everything later on, it struck me that the anxiety was more likely caused by loneliness. I didn’t recognize it initially because I rarely feel that emotion. Maybe I’m less an extroverted introvert and more an extroverted part-time introvert after all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638739664-XZANUETCQXVM6SDZHIIG/IMG_1642.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.8.23 The Relentless Sickness of 2023 Not sure what’s happening, but I feel like I’ve been sick more this year than the last several combined and it’s only March. I missed work today as a result of severe body aches, fatigue, and fever with coughing and nose-blowing as attending symptoms. Yesterday I had a sneaking suspicion something was coming, so I went to the store and got fruit, meds, and Gatorade to ward off the coming illness. I feel like a third Ohio train derailed and launched over the river onto my face. The photo is of an apple I weakly consumed after splitting it with a handy slicing tool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638740342-IM3ZOEO6QNUK1Y9TZ9KZ/IMG_1650.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.9.23 Inner Light Since Ashley’s gone and I’ve only left the bed to re-medicate and re-hydrate, Myrtle is itching to do anything but rest. I feel horrible for her because I know she’s antsy, but I literally cannot move around for very long before getting exhausted and feeling worse. So as I sit and watch Captain Picard experience a lifetime on Kataan over the course of 25 minutes in order to preserve a lost people’s history and culture, she stares at me with her ball in her mouth, silently begging for a toss. I gave in at some point, but in my weakened state, it led to a strained muscle before having to go back to resting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638742255-LGDVWB9INRI9YDNMNURR/IMG_1652.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.10.23 On the Mend I don’t have a test to use to confirm, but I think this was COVID. The body aches lasted three days—something I’ve never had happen before. This would explain the symptoms, too. If this was COVID, this would be the first time I’ve experienced it all pandemic. It’s very on-brand for me to be late to the party on most things, so getting it way after it’s popular isn’t shocking. Drawing back the blinds to see outside, I was thankful a beautiful spring day wasn’t taunting me as I laid recovering. Thankfully, by midday I’d gotten a large amount of my strength back and the body aches disappeared. Think I’m on the mend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678638743037-E8Z7PBGCXKN4O6XBYZUG/IMG_1660.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.11.23 The Outside I’m 80% back to normal today and managed to get outside for a bit. I did a little bit of yard work, cleaned the kitchen, and worked on some small stuff in the basement before becoming winded and having to sit down. I took it easy the rest of the day. This will be the last time I talk about this specific stupid sickness on here. I’m tired of it demanding my attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678674832315-62NP0EVMXXJ4VRV3KUNA/DSC_4257.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.12.23 Season Finale Today was a lazy day of couch-sitting and TV-watching as I build strength to return to the shop tomorrow. Because the weather was cold and dreary, the choice to do nothing was made easier. I watched the Last of Us season finale and was surprisingly lukewarm on it. I don’t really know what I was expecting; I’m familiar with the source material, and it stayed true to that, but with a runtime of not even 45 minutes, it didn’t quite scratch the itch like I thought it would. Quantity doesn’t mean quality, but I can’t help but think maybe a little extra meat on the episode’s bones would’ve helped guide it into A+ territory. I hopped on Reddit soon after watching it to see what everyone else thought, and only a few have mentioned being disappointed by the short episode. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678843932517-HUTDQZRASTRW6RIQDP6F/DS9-143-Edit+copy.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.13.23 Tiny Wormhole Protector A couple years ago, I got this Deep Space Nine ornament for my Christmas tree. I liked it so much, I kept it in my office after the tree went back in its box. It’s detailed enough that I thought it could pass for the “real thing” at first glance if placed under the right lighting conditions. I set up a tripod and off-camera flash and proceeded to toss it into the air 128 times before I finally got a frame I liked. Now if I could just figure out a good way to put a wormhole, some color definition, and maybe a sliver of Bajor peeking into frame without digitally editing them in, maybe I can go back in time and work with the model makers and directors of photography to work on an actual episode. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1678844646627-XDHTWC1UT3CVIOUXLZ1T/DSC_1538-HDR.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.14.23 Return to Spooky Nook Business took me out to Hamilton where I photographed a hotel, a sporting complex, and a mixed use space for Spooky Nook today. I worked with them mid-last year to create images for their hotel, but additional photos of two other spaces needed to be handled for that side of the project. The sporting complex, in addition to a massive food court, fitness center, arcade, and additional undeveloped space featured two enormous gymnasiums—one that was 90,000 square feet and another that was a whopping 100,000 square feet. The bigger of the two had 14 basketball courts lined back to back with a second story observation deck. The gym was so large, we had to keep triggering the automated lights by running to the other side of the floor because they were on short timers to keep as energy efficient as possible. Their website claims it’s the largest sports complex in the nation and second-largest convention center in Ohio, and after seeing it in person, I believe it. As the buildings were once home to the Champion Paper Mill, it’s still a very industrial space despite the renovations that’ve taken place over the last five years. If you ever find yourself in Hamilton, you’d do well to check this place out. As far as adaptive reuse goes, this one’s pretty wild. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367971862-SYVF9ZOFH9KZG8B91E5D/Roberto+Lugo+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-72.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.15.23 Roberto Lugo The Cincinnati Art Museum’s artist in residence at the moment is Roberto Lugo, a well-known and respected potter, social activist, and educator from Philadelphia. An event in his honor was held this evening in the Great Hall and adjacent gallery. While photographing the event for the museum, I was lucky enough to grab a quick portrait of Roberto while he wears a CAM hoodie in his workshop during his time in Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367977800-QJ6RMH225Y72XTZ5C517/2243+Francis+Ln+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.16.23 Francis Lane I worry quite often about what I’m doing with my photography on a week to week basis. I don’t get to walk around for hours as a hobby photographer because I have so much on my plate each day. Taking care of work, catching up on house projects, running errands, taking care of the dog, exercising, being social, and so many other things cut into that time I used to have. It worries me that I’m not feeding my soul with photography as often as I used to. But a large part of that worry is greatly minimized when I’m able photograph someone else’s project, give them the images, and they confirm they’re pleased with what I’ve done. A simple “we’re happy with these” is all it takes to remind myself that even though my career’s changed over the years and I don’t have the life I used to, I’m still able to do something genuinely useful for somebody else. In this case, I feel good about delicately capturing the work and effort two people put into transforming an old house with outdated finishes into something new. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367975085-O72LFQQIWI3DZMLBF3SH/IMG_1690.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.17.23 St. Patrick’s Day St. Patrick’s Day is the Santacon of late winter and going out to popular bars on the holiday isn’t something I overly enjoy. Despite that, in an effort to be social and accommodating, I drank Irish beer and went to the B-List with coworkers during the day. I enjoyed their company but didn’t especially dig being in the bar with the standard St. Patrick’s Day crowd. I could feel myself slowly shutting down during the course of the day, so I briefly sought refuge in the bathroom to have a minute to myself so I could plan a graceful way to leave—ironically, the opposite of an Irish goodbye. This photo is from when I stood studying the graffiti by the toilet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367978145-UY3MEPG5HO5MZ1OCBBQ8/The+Rye+-+Common+Areas+-+Phil+Armstrong+-82.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.18.23 A Model Pup Continued my photo work at The Rye this morning. I needed to get a photo of the dog wash station, but I thought it would be better to have someone model it for the image. Found the perfect little furry face for the job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367975100-HWA4F3PW27P6WV2I3ZVL/IMG_1704.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.19.23 Meatball Meatball is the Unataza Coffee mascot as far as I’m concerned. He’s almost always there on the weekend when we go in for our weekly coffee and breakfast. It’s to the point now where when I walk in, he sees me and stands up because he knows I’m going to come right over to pet him. He’s a sweet little guy with a handsome wardrobe and I love him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679367972133-XNBATGHORCSTXQJUKTB9/IMG_1711-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.20.23 Sunshine It’s always so wonderful when I come down the stairs in the morning and the room is filled with sunshine. The bay window in our dining room lets in loads of morning light and it’s one of the best things about our house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679542290119-5T5XSG9J3A6ZFKLG7IY2/IMG_1720.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.21.23 Enjoy This Neon I didn’t have a burger, but I did have a delicious carne asada rice bowl. Met up with the guys for a little vacation planning in May at Bebo’s on Court Street. We’re going to San Francisco before making our way down to LA. It should be a very fun trip and I’m excited to see new places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679542289491-4BKUHC7MHP5P54LRI1J1/IMG_1747.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.22.23 Trestle Bridge Buddy On today’s dog walk, we stumbled upon a herd of deer on the public steps. They scattered in two directions when they saw us: one group went back into the thick of the woods while the others leapt onto the train tracks to avoid us. The train track group wandered toward the trestle bridge to put further distance between us, so we quickly made our way down the stairs to avoid making them more anxious. After we’d descended the stairs, the deer confirmed we were no longer a threat and backtracked to the steps. The “caboose” of the procession of deer made her way over to the edge of the trestle bridge before joining the rest and gave us a hard stare from above. I figured at least one of them would eyeball us from the high ground and made sure I was in place when they wandered into frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679719582828-6LFEI1VPRSC17ZBL4SDE/The+Rye+Ribbon+Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.23.23 The Rye Ribbon Cutting A photo of my friend, Annie, shaking hands with the mayor of Cincinnati, Aftab Pureval, as Rookwood Properties president Fred Kanter stands in the background. The official dedication of downtown’s newest apartment building, The Rye, was held today and a ceremonial ribbon cutting took place in the lounge on the first floor. Food and rye whiskey were served one floor above in apartment 205—one of the largest units with a great view of the corner of 7th and Main Streets. Quite a few people came out to celebrate the building’s transformation and take a tour of several floors and units. In other news, I managed to accidentally utilize a wide variety of different travel methods in a single day: I drove my car, took a bus, used ride share, rode my bike, and walked a bunch to get everywhere I needed to go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679719582863-2CF5PNGL6SD59HAJ620Y/DSC_4263-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.24.23 Ash Table This ash table will be sent to a home in Wisconsin. One of the few round tables we’ve done while I’ve worked in this shop. I was going to post one of the detail shots I like better than this overall view, but I think the overall view is critical to appreciating the details in the long run. Without context, the details don’t have the same punch. We reinforced this particular piece with three c-channel steel beams countersunk into the bottom of the piece, which will prevent it from cupping/warping. I actually learned about that exact issue the hard way when I made that mobile counter top late last year out of ash; it warped almost instantly and I had to harvest some thin steel from my old desk legs to provide support. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679877943890-6T6FUNOYO6VEA4U0WRRM/IMG_1799.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.25.23 Sunset Perch She likes to sit on our bed and look out the window at the people walking by. This evening, while I went up and down the stairs working on an office project, she sat and stared out the window at the street below. She folds her paws, cuddles up between pillows, and simply exists in a comfortable, safe space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679877945330-6NG1UWFF0UUUVRY7K8Q8/DSC_4354-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.26.23 Built-Ins For the longest time, I’ve wanted to turn this weird little unusable nook in my office into built-in shelving. Yesterday, I finally did it. Measuring and cutting pieces was surprisingly difficult because the wall, in typical old house fashion, isn’t at all straight any way you measure it. Cutting the custom pieces (no right angles) for each level took hours of fine tuning until they managed to fit snugly in place. I cut a 1-inch hole at the back of each shelf so electronic cables could be run through the levels without showing in the front. Painted them the same color as the walls so they blended in. I’m happy with how they turned out and glad to have this project behind me. Also, I like having the TV within view for those heavy editing and exporting days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1679971641905-STBKPLDSE2XHU8CQBJOG/DSC_4365.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.27.23 The High Ground It’s not unusual to see a cat on a walk where I live. Strays will lay on the sidewalk and only move if you have a curious dog with you. Outdoor cats who belong to someone in the neighborhood strut around with their collars on and act like you’re in their way (they aren’t wrong). No matter what’s wrapped around their neck or whether the tips of their ears are still intact, cats are everywhere all the time stalking the streets of Bellevue. This evening, as I walked Myrtle down Taylor toward the park, I heard meowing. Looking around, I didn’t immediately see where the sound was coming from. Every porch was empty, but the meowing continued, growing louder with every step. I craned my neck to see up into tall bushes, then arched down to see if there was a cat in the landscaping. As the meowing grew louder, I became more deliberate in my search and equally unnerved that the phantom meowing seemingly belonged to no one. Then, as the meowing crescendoed, I stopped in my tracks and jokingly looked upward in desperation despite the absurdity of the situation. To my surprise and amusement, peering back at me over the gutter above was a black, fluffy cat jabbering away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680235553367-61RDSGVGMTRJO57JL0PI/DSC_4401-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.29.23 The 2nd Best Photographer in Cincinnati, Says CityBeat Travis, my barber, submitted me for CityBeat’s Best of Cincinnati annual voting event this year. I didn’t know he was doing it, and when he asked me if I was going to vote for myself in the Best Photographer category, I didn’t know what he meant. He explained and I thanked him for being kind enough to do that despite my personal belief that I don’t belong in the top three in that category considering the monumental talent around this city. When I saw Catie was in the running, I made the decision to vote for her because she’s wonderful at what she does. Of course, I threw myself a vote every few days just to prevent myself from receiving an embarrassing single digit total by the end. After voting closed and over a month passed, I’d honestly forgotten all about it until, while working in the shop today, John yelled from his office, “Cincy Phil, number two photographer in Best of Cincinnati.” I thought he was joking, so I asked him to show me. When he did, I couldn’t believe my luck. There are so many photographers I’d put well ahead in that category (namely all of my friends), but I’m going to just be thankful and enjoy this moment of recognition, however misguided it may be. It feels great to be surprised like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680235519130-E1FJUUM3WZ43FNFLTDZD/DSC_4023-HDR.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.30.23 Impromptu H&H James from Hierophany & Hedge reached out to me yesterday about doing a few quick photos of the shop for an online travel guide listing. After doing headshots at Luminaut and before heading to Welcome House for Hub+Weber, I squeezed in the trip to H&H for a quick little showcase of the space and its visually complex wares. I cannot begin to describe how fun it is to photograph a place like this. The whole day could be allocated to making images in this space and I’d still not be able to get everything I’d want. He said they’ll want a longer, more formal shoot down the line, so I’m looking forward to returning at some point. He and Jordan are such passionate, interesting, visionary people. It’s always a pleasure getting to talk to them and work on their projects. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680482917247-9VXOATTNQ9TJK97PTVFL/DSC_4410-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2023 - 3.31.23 End of an Era I didn’t plan to go out this Friday, but Justin mentioned it was his last day co-owning The Drinkery, so I couldn’t help but brave the stormy weather and go spend some time with him and the others in the space one final time. After the bar became increasingly crowded after midnight, we ended up wandering around before ending at Youyu in the Hard Rock Casino. The food was surprisingly good—I’d never eaten there before. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-apr-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680482757684-AVX2LITCFKBJI80U5T0L/DSC_4413.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.1.23 The Temperature Deception The 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680483956717-8Q2DPGGBDQRK4KXP1V92/IMG_1934.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680575496795-M0VRLFCW6HUZ7IRP8ATR/DSC_4480.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.3.23 Streaming All the Things Dropped 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680659211156-M1SJJO016UACE9QLLY9O/DSC_4507-Edit.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.4.23 UBBC It’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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680839567291-P8QWBRKX9U94D9ICZ6NS/IMG_1971.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.5.23 Cats/Dogs We 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680839567950-2QUKGAYB34SN0SJF6HBB/DSC_4428-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.6.23 A Tale of Two Houses Rebecca 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1680925891082-U3ITSERTNMV9JZAEACWC/Nation+Kitchen+%26+Bar+Westwood+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.7.23 Carrie Had 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681177697568-WBA6DFQDNZYK4UFNPW1M/IMG_2010.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.8.23 A Long, Productive Day My 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681177699615-XCP2GGSBWZMS8JFSY4SE/IMG_2035_jpg.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.9.23 Easter Bear It’s spring and the Christian icon (not Myrtle) has a holiday again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681353749382-50MS1ZA0ATHRR1JR7NRA/IMG_2111.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.10.23 Vibrant Spring Evening An evening walk with Myrtle and a colorful scene on Covert Run. Not much more to say about it, really. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681353751121-0D8I76QEZFFVOULJI0AO/IMG_2083.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.11.23 Toilet Time Years 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681353752634-166ORGPJ0YWD30Z8TNKX/DSC_4568-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.12.23 New View From 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752072231-3P2Q6ACWNTZNMOER7852/IMG_2127.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.13.23 Jerry’s with Justin He 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752072808-CJDEHJ0JPEJ0EPQCRXBL/IMG_2137.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.14.23 Galactic Cantina Despite 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752075520-7MDXCRU04MM3HQ7ZORW1/IMG_2169.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.15.23 Baeten’s Nursery Ashley 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681752076284-Y7RSCRPPXOAOEIZSWB13/DSC_5813.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.16.23 Hard 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681946998649-ZJ5N9IQJFQR86PYE2GII/DD21A51B-7C99-431E-BFC1-570778DF4560.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.17.23 Best of Bellevue Mayor 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681946998919-ZF6OJUTEDMF2VJI7ZYZW/F17CAAAD-BCF4-48F1-B0FB-36657B079A52.jpeg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.18.23 My Stupid Inuury For 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1681947007521-HKGUE33YENJDLS54DCUJ/NZ9_6816.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.19.23 Kit Justin 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388915505-G6MWVO49C9NXR3OVECLA/NZ9_6829-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.20.23 Vesper Institute A 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388909886-44DFNE77OPZ045UCZC2V/IMG_2229.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.21.23 A Box With Jack In It There’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!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388906634-NZY3EVLQ8BDQ98A91I4C/DSC_4585.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.22.23 Maysville, KY Though 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388913545-LFZEJXSAEK334N3M7279/IMG_2287.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.23.23 “Take My Picture So I Can See It” She didn’t end up buying the hat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682388913286-DGPIB5TBH8OO7MOML7MJ/DSC_4670-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.24.23 Transit Treats Cool 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682896590651-NHKLKF18AB6WCHR13TXP/Screen+Shot+2023-04-25+at+11.17.07+PM.png daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.25.23 Adobe’s Denoise AI Adobe 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682896582747-3YH61QQLL3XQFN68FOXS/DSC_4690-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.26.23 I Cannot Explain This I cannot explain this strange scene in someone’s yard on Taylor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682897055024-98HJQIQ7MXBSL7OBKLW4/DSC_8483-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.27.23 In Situ Went 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682900981255-OCVRML2XVVI7LHH2P0LY/DSC_4778-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.28.23 Simple DIY Organization Solution Ashley 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682904543385-9JREUZMC8XL9Q40PRAWV/DSC_4692-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.20.23 Two Tulips Two tulips, alone in an entire yard, propping each other up. On 6th Avenue in Dayton, KY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1682904544911-R3KGL1APD433H40JWJJC/DSC_4761.jpg daily-photos-apr-2023 - 4.30.23 Cincinnati Southern Railway It’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. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-may-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683081165370-679IOB02LHUR7VJ6FACO/IMG_2370.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.1.23 Milkshakes It’s adorable the way she sits and waits for any interaction with the drive-thru attendant. Sometimes it works out in her favor. Other times she’s ignored. Tonight, she was offered a hot dog at Gold Star when we went to get milkshakes, but I told them she’d already had dinner. I’m a horrible wingman for this dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683081166232-UPJUE0O18EADN0ZV8LUN/PonderRose-Enhanced-SR-2.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.2.23 Not a Real Ad I can’t remember how it came up exactly, but I made a joke to Travis the other day about how Ponderosa should’ve sold rosé wine and branded it PonderRosé. It’s not a great joke, I know. Couldn’t get it out of my head (there’s not a lot of space in there), so in my off hours today, I decided to make a print ad for this fictional product. To start, I used Adobe Firefly’s generative AI to produce “a bottle of rosé with two glasses next to it on a beige back drop” and then took it into Photoshop from there. I looked at old print ads from the 1980s, watched a few Ponderosa commercials on YouTube, and determined I’d go with the Ponderosa tagline and logo from 1986. From there, I chose a proper font, mimicked text placement I saw on a few other ads from around that time, and copied a second tagline verbatim from a 1986 ad for Ponderosa to add to the bottom in a different font. After all that, I added some artificial grain, lowered contrast, played with the curve, and manually blurred the whole thing 10% to make it look aged. Now my stupid and pointless vision is reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683252707908-DKCNB5Y96NCLX2NC8L1T/DSC_8756-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.3.23 Good Shadows Man, I love fire escape shadows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683252707871-7HHVDTK4ZLCEKCNP1EOB/IMG_2384.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.4.23 A Cat That Made Me Gasp This cat made me gasp. What an insanely beautiful creature. I also love how her (taking a guess she’s a girl) fluff ever so slightly hangs over the edge of the platform. Her little apricot nose on the bed of soft white fur makes for an adorable combination. I would’ve loved to have given her a little scratch on her striped head, but she was on someone’s porch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1683368482507-NXC0TCQ7OGOLOHDJR0CQ/IMG_2399.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.5.23 Kiran’s 7! My niece turned 7 yesterday. We went to HBH and sat outside in the beautiful weather to celebrate. Then we all went back to our house and she got a Slip ‘N Slide and some glitter markers for the occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258630453-QTYIZ3SOX5WXVKCXP4G4/ZFC_4932-Edit.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.6.23 California: Day 1 For Justin’s bachelor party, Travis planned a trip for everyone to California—specifically San Francisco. Justin wasn’t due to fly in until late tomorrow, so Travis, Ronny, and I flew out by ourselves and started exploring the city. Staying in Cole Valley, we had our options of nearby neighborhoods to check out. Since there was a film store in the Castro District, we walked down and explored that area first. The vintage streetcars that run up and down Market Street obviously caught my eye. The whole neighborhood feels alive with loads of people walking around on the street, riding bikes and MUNI, and skateboarding. Oddly enough, there were cars on the street driving around without people in them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258618696-ZD1KQPY7XRYBN1B4XZD6/ZFC_5296.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.7.23 California: Day 2 San Francisco is the prettiest city I’ve visited. I’m sure there are European cities I’ve not visited that would take the cake, but in terms of domestic travel, SF is the most beautiful. We hiked up to Twin Peaks for an aerial view of the city before walking down to Noe Valley and Mission for a burrito. We checked out Salesforce park and rode the gondola, wandered past the Ferry Building, saw these painted ladies from Alamo Square Park (there’s a dog in one of the top windows if you look closely), and had dinner/drinks in Haight-Ashbury afterward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258618794-O0FXRNX292NKHXQBGMLK/ZFC_5349.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.8.23 California: Day 3 With Justin finally in tow, we hit up numerous parts of the city. Since he hadn’t seen Castro yet, we did that first (pictured), then rode MUNI downtown to the Ferry Building. Side note: SF’s MUNI is the cleanest public transit I’ve ridden—maybe even cleaner than DCs. We rode a streetcar up to Fisherman’s Warf and snapped photos of Alcatraz, the seals, and everything in-between. While there, I got my In-N-Out fix, we walked up to Lombard Street, and back down before catching a ride to Haight-Ashbury. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258622728-ZPV5FXTUI7Y7MS0QSUTL/ZFC_5778.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.9.23 California: Day 4 Big day today. We checked out Chinatown, which was incredible, before heading over to Little Italy for pizza. I snapped the bulk of my photos for the day in Chinatown because everything there was so gorgeous. I debated making one of those photos today’s image, but what we did later was too important to not feature: The Golden Gate Bridge. It’s uncommon for me to be truly gobsmacked by a man-made structure these days as I’ve seen many truly gorgeous and impressive structures, but GG got me. It’s unlike any bridge I’ve personally seen. No, it’s not the longest or tallest I’ve seen, but for some reason it feels like it’s the most striking I’ve personally seen. Maybe it’s because it’s been so thoroughly featured in pop culture? Regardless, viewing it from the Presidio and then again from Battery Spencer across the bay on the other side is a top-notch experience. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258623028-7QRIMPQ6QSAJ4WH95DJM/ZFC_5881.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.10.23 California: Day 5 We took BART over to Oakland to check a little bit of that city out. The morning was overcast and Oakland isn’t the beauty queen SF is, so I didn’t take many photos for the first half of the day. Eventually, as we sat at a lightly Star Trek-themed brewery and waited for Rob to join our party, the sun came out and we made our way into downtown where I saw this marvelous old theater. We went back to SF, had dinner at House of Prime Rib, drank a few beers at a couple of bars, then went back to the Airbnb to prep for our departure on the PCH the following day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258626792-Y34PT7R1T1W2FGA9KBUK/ZFC_6086-Pano.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.11.23 California: Day 6 We awoke early and Travis picked up the rental car for our trip south to Los Angeles. Breakfast was at the Pacifica Taco Bell Cantina (highly recommended). We stopped along the route to admire the view a few times before eventually stopping in Santa Cruz for a little amusement park fun for an hour. The century-old boardwalk right on the coast was filled with rollercoasters and other rides, as well as a full arcade and carnival game kiosks. The Great Dipper, the coaster on the boardwalk, was a surprisingly fun ride. We briefly stopped in Monterey after that, then traveled further south on the PCH to Bixby Creek Bridge in Big Sur. Mountains on the beach—what more can I say? It was incredible. We spent a good deal of time there snapping photos and soaking up the view. We had drinks at Nepenthe, back-tracked to Monterey for dinner, then took the 101 down to Morro Bay (part of the PCH was closed due to landslides) where our next Airbnb waited for us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258626739-O56EHDXTZH7GGZZFHWJP/ZFC_6226.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.12.23 California: Day 7 After coffee in Morro Bay and breakfast at The Madonna Inn, we traveled onward along the PCH and stopped in Solvang, a Danish architecture-filled city. Apparently near the beginning of the 20th century, a group of Danish-Americans sought to recreate the small town in their image and started adding the distinct Danish architecture right after WWII. The result is a tourist attraction today. Very few of its residents are actually Danish, however. After we left Solvang, we headed straight for Los Angeles hoping to catch a glimpse of the sunset in a prominent place before it disappeared for the day. We managed to find a place in Santa Monica with a relatively decent view, had dinner at Dear John’s in Culver City, and drinks at Tiki-Ti in Los Feliz. Sadly, I couldn’t spend more time in LA due to my 6 AM flight the next day, and since it was 1 AM by the time we were leaving the tiki bar, I decided to go straight to the airport. My California trip was coming to a close. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258629525-4D11GQ13KE9R9RL6Q0CX/ZFC_6289-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.13.23 California: Day 8 After the guys dropped me off at LAX at 1:30 AM, I quickly realized that TSA wasn’t open and I couldn’t get to my gate to post up and sleep a few hours before my flight. What few seats LAX had before each terminal were taken by sleeping passengers draped in hoodies and blankets, some snoring. I tried finding a place on the hard floor to post up, but I couldn’t sleep. Instead, I wandered around the airport, taking photos of the drop off areas and the Theme Building at the front (pictured). Around 4 AM, TSA opened and I groggily went through. I began to feel the effects of having been up for over 20 hours at that point. A man loudly snorting snot back up into his nose every 3 seconds kept me from hanging out at my gate, so I continued to wander around until boarding. I flew into Charlotte, got some food, and rode another plane to CVG. Myrtle was enthusiastic about seeing me after a week apart, and Ashley was happy to see me, too. I managed to stay up until 10 PM that evening, inching my consecutive waking hours up over the 40 hour mark. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed up for so long at one time in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258634418-VC2PUNISFLZ02DPU4RMS/IMG_2775.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.14.23 Back to Life After sleeping in to take a bit of the edge off the previous day’s record-breaking wakefest, I got to work on some house projects that needed doing before hosting a Mother’s Day gathering. After everyone left, I began the dreaded process of sectioning off the back yard so we can plant grass seed in the spots where it never properly grew. Though half the yard is off limits for Myrtle at the moment, I’m hoping the new grass will pop up quickly and we can use 100% of it again. You can’t really see the spots from this image, but they’re there. Now to keep the birds and squirrels off the seed before it can take root! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684258631666-EVDE6BBD5BQFPTTDDYU6/IMG_2781.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.15.23 Much-Needed Playtime Love playing with this little monster. We bought her a new frisbee then took her to two parks to play with it this evening. I missed her while I was on my trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684291107534-AEVIMU939AL972POA96K/IMG_2817.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.16.23 Iridescent Shapes One of those aftermarket window clings during a sunset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684422960182-SBIHU46RZTWOW0FCW328/IMG_2823.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.17.23 Travel Ready Up until now, I’ve used a backpack to carry my gear to and from shoots. While it’s worked out well for me, it became a bit of an issue when I got my Z9. In short: the Z9 is large enough that putting it in the bag is a hassle. Justin picked up a Pelican case for his gear for our California trip and I liked how he was able to consolidate his gear into one hard shell to keep it safe and organized during transport. So instead of dealing with the hassle of the bag for my shoots, I’ve converted to storing my most commonly used camera gear in a hard case, though mine’s a $100 knock-off from Harbor Freight instead of a proper Pelican brand. The pull-apart foam was relatively easy to adjust for each piece, though I wish I’d had some practice before I started getting into it. There are a few things I would’ve done differently in retrospect when setting up this case, but it’s good for now. I can always order new foam if I need to redo the configuration. It’s small enough that it’ll fit in an overhead on a plane but big enough that I fit everything plus a 24-200 telephoto under Godox flash on the left. If only I could’ve gotten my tripod in it… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684461597575-G51J7ONVCGRCUUXU4M9H/DSC_9307-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.18.23 Another One Tom Covert does incredible renovations. Every time he texts me with a new house he’s ready to have photographed for a listing, I make sure I’m available because they’re always so, so good. He likes to purchase dilapidated houses no one wants and spends time remaking them into glorious dream homes. I photographed his first project on Philadelphia years ago for the publication, and since then I’ve had the privilege of working with him on all his other projects when they’re ready. This one, located on 8th Street just off Mainstrasse, is his newest flip. This bathroom was probably my favorite part of the redesign. He’s a preservationist at heart and spends time making sure the hardware and other elements of the build are custom and usually historic. In this particular house, he was able to salvage the majority of the original wood floors. For the planks he had to replace, he salvaged old wood from other historic properties he’s worked on and integrated them into this property’s renovation to match the era and aesthetic. I really appreciate that level of care and attention to detail from someone flipping homes, especially on this level. This property was in bad shape (it’s right next to his last project—see daily photo entry from 4.6.21) when I saw it last. Now, it’s ready to hit the market for hundreds of thousands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684640536934-0B6KSLLEN186EG1XKLHQ/IMG_2852.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.19.23 Deprivation Streak Continues This isn’t an interesting fact, but it’s the only thing I feel like mentioning at the moment. It’s been 23 years since the last time I put on swim shorts and got into a pool. Even then, I was forced to get in if I wanted to pass physical education. Maybe it was the awkwardness of stripping down during a pivotal teenage year in front of the opposite sex. Or maybe it was enduring aggressive towel whippings in the locker room from peers I didn’t want to be around in the first place. Probably a bit of both, if I’m honest. Regardless, it put me off being in bodies of water and I haven’t had a desire to do it again since. Next time I’m in a bad mood and need to divulge another strong opinion, I’ll commit my hot take about the beach and boat culture to this archive to further solidify my reputation as a land-loving curmudgeon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1684640538439-M76VM9QJVL5T7431CQA7/IMG_2865.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.20.23 Oops! It was one of those days where the daily photo project got away from me and the only image I have to show for it is this one: a throwaway snap of a tree I was trying to identify using Apple’s onboard plant identification tool in Photos. (It’s a Japanese tree lilac, apparently.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048919243-PN5VWHRGV58Q821WOGTM/DSC_0499-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.21.23 Class of 2023 From 11 AM until 8 PM, I photographed graduation parties. Needless to say, I feel like a hollow skeleton typing this entry; reviewing over 3,100 images will be tomorrow’s task. The two people who hired me to photograph their events are very kind and I like working with them, though I wish I had a day between the parties. It’s a lot to manage memory card and battery-wise, as well as physically. When the day was done and I’d packed my gear into the car, I lowered the windows and cranked some ska like I was a teen again as I hit the freeway. Working around newly graduated high schoolers made me feel youthful by association, I suppose. As I reflected back on the day’s work, I realized the people I was tasked with photographing were likely born in 2005—the year after I donned a mortar board and accepted my own high school diploma. It’s surreal to think I’ve aged this much in what seems like such a short time. It will never get easier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048923413-2XK5M1LF8UDID78YCF37/IMG_2909.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.22.23 Always Go Inside Needed to mail something after attending a meeting with a client in the West End, so I dropped by the Dalton Street Post Office. I never use these post office mailboxes in the parking lot because going inside the building is quick, easy, and far more beautiful than this drive-up shelter. While inside, I thought I’d throw together a little highlight reel of the building’s attractive Art Deco features and post it to the Internet, which people seemed to like. I hope it inspires at least one person to ditch the parking lot for a trip inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048919788-UBT2MD5WSVHDPS9QRZYO/DSC_2355-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.23.23 Grand Ballroom Ashley’s in Miami for work and my knee is experiencing another wave of pain from the injury I sustained last month. It wasn’t an ideal day to leave the dog home alone for long hours while hobbling around inside the massive Spooky Nook events center in Hamilton, but duty called. They needed shots of their ballrooms, conference spaces, and some other stuff. I do not think I will ever be finished photographing this space for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685048923455-OHAXY7BGYHVX6M55C8XQ/200+W+Pike+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-37.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.24.23 200 W Pike Hub+Weber Architects are moving out of their home at 200 W Pike Street in Covington. I’d been in their office many times over the last several years for both work and pleasure (Cody works there), but this time I wasn’t photographing something for them; I was photographing the office for the owner of the building so he can list it. Rebecca, the realtor, tapped me on the shoulder last week and scheduled a post-workday shoot of the space and the other offices located inside the building. It’s hard to believe I will likely never have another night to enjoy a beer under the abandoned train platform behind the building, but all good things come to an end. I hope whoever buys the property takes care of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330555116-VL7Z9F7I4NL4XPM9OFL7/IMG_2975.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.25.23 Art By Friends Steven and Tiffany made some really cool linocut pieces and sent them to me! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330555766-DQBGZK9NG9XIDW50ZSZL/200+W+Pike+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-59.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.26.23 Listing Photo Insurance Awhile back I learned an invaluable lesson when it comes to listing photography: dramatic night shots are always a good idea. Not every place looks great at night, and it may not always be worth it, but when a place has the right lighting, you gotta go back for it. 200 W Pike is one of those places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330556964-0A5DTTDPXZ3WJGZNGFH6/ZFC_6511-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.27.23 Trying New Things We rode our bikes down to Manhattan Harbor Marina and drank beer/ate fried food next to the river. While I don’t think it’s going to be my local weekly haunt, it was nice to switch things up and hang out in a place we’re not used to frequenting. We watched dozens of boats dock at and depart from the pier near our table while a cover band played hits from the last 40 years through speakers deafeningly loud enough to almost completely drown out table conversation. When the dock began rhythmically undulating beneath us and the string lights over our heads jostled about due to number of people dancing, we figured our time at the marina had come to an end. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685330565340-GOD7Q18XEYU7SQFAXKRS/DSC_2748-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.28.23 The Balcony It’s a great night for a little TV on the balcony (while a concerned dog keeps an eye on things). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685586899911-FOY298M1WWXD6BLBO5KB/IMG_3054.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.29.23 Summer’s Here It’s Memorial Day. I went to two parties: one in the morning where I took this picture of John’s dog, Gus, enjoying the splash pad, and another in the evening where half of us wore black shirts for some reason (unplanned) and I used wide angle mode on my iPhone to take a bad photo of the group. Ashley and I rode bikes, drank beer, and enjoyed the first day of summer with friends. What I really want to talk about here, though, is that Squarespace now offers generative text by filling out a brief prompt about your subject. For kicks, I had it create text about this image using details I fed it. What it wrote was grammatically correct and read perfectly fine, but it wasn’t the tone I wanted at all. In fact, it was so sugary sweet and patriotic, it made me a little sick. After the initial revulsion had passed, I found comfort knowing the machine cannot reach into my head. Yet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685586898881-1T6OZZK4MI9WXZWK81OX/ZFC_6591-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.30.23 Never Stay In the Hotel Flew to Denver early this morning for a shoot. Luminaut sent me out two years ago in July to shoot some stuff they designed, and I returned today to capture the work that’s been done since. The shoot went surprisingly quickly and I found myself with the entire afternoon and evening to wander Denver with no agenda. The increased altitude coupled with having not gotten much rest the night before and stormy-looking skies had me dragging my feet on urban exploration. Staying in Highlands was the right call—it’s a cool neighborhood that’s walkable and has great views of the city, and I didn’t want to waste it napping at the hotel. Long story short, I managed a hybrid schedule of resting in the hotel room and going out to snap some photos and explore the area on and off through the day. In the evening, I took a walk over to LoDo from Highlands via a really neat pedestrian bridge and checked out the beautiful Commons Park, wandered over the Millennium Bridge, and eventually ended up at Union Station to watch the trains. Had I let fatigue win, I wouldn’t have experienced any of that and I would’ve missed out on the best photo opportunities I’d gotten that day. As I followed the setting sun back to the hotel with a rapidly dying camera battery, I thanked my gut for urging me out of the hotel. There’ll be time to sleep later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685586897943-LUM9F0UOON7HH2UHXR1Z/IMG_3140.jpg daily-photos-may-2023 - 5.31.23 Weirdest Date Ever? As I was coming back from my work trip to Denver today, Ashley was leaving for Dallas for her work trip. Oddly enough, we were in CVG at the same time going opposite ways. I suggested we meet and eat a Bloomin Onion at the airport Outback Steakhouse as a joke. It was the “petals” version, meaning it wasn’t presented in the typical outward bloom configuration, but it tasted the same. This is probably our weirdest date in the eight years we’ve been together. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jun-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1685668312500-H2RJBLJ30P3JOSUJ81LG/Middletown+Carnegie+Library+-+Phil+Armstrong+-135.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.1.23 Middletown’s Carnegie Occasionally I get to photograph historic places that have been forgotten, abandoned, and left to rot. Photographing these spaces is always a mixed bag for me; while I love capturing an old space after its heyday and before further transformation, it’s also incredibly sad that these places have been neglected. Tack on the varying threat of physical harm while navigating these spaces as well as the rush of excitement and it’s a rollercoaster of emotion every time. Today, I photographed the empty Carnegie Library in Middletown for its owner, an affable architect who had big plans for it up until recently. While it’s in less than stellar shape, I could tell the owner worked to mitigate the ailing condition of this place. This one wasn’t left to rot when it came under his possession. He cares about every inch of it and has a vision for what it can be one day despite it all. Regardless, he’s selling it after five years of trying and failing to convince the city to help him get it off the ground. His passion for this building is commensurate with the hurt in his voice when he speaks of selling it. Despite his efforts and thorough plans to breathe life back into this important piece of built history, he’s concluded he’s no longer the one to do it. I appreciate people like him—people who care about the past and seek to preserve a piece of it so the future can be a little brighter. I truly wish it had worked out for him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016817189-VXYQ0LFC1BVTCENO3KJJ/IMG_3170.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.2.23 Tiffany & Justin Justin and Annie get married tomorrow. Tonight was the rehearsal and dinner at The Columns—a place I photographed nearly every month over the course of two years during its development. It was really nice to get to enjoy it as a guest for once. Anyway, Tiffany and Justin (pictured) are two of my best friends and getting a photo of them together in their respective elements was a great little bonus today. As a groomsman in the wedding, I’m really looking forward to being even a tiny part of Justin and Annie’s big day while we party with our friends. Tiffany and Steven are staying with us at our house, making the whole weekend even more fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016817810-HFQ4909NAAAXD4TH2OKB/IMG_3183.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.3.23 Mr. Kohl Justin is a married man! All the groomsmen got together mid-morning at Netherland Plaza to get suited up, drink bourbon, and take photos with Justin on his wedding day. As we approached go-time for the ceremony, we cleared our heads, got into position, and stood like statues off to the side while Justin and Annie were legally and spiritually joined on the altar by her Rabbi brother. Afterward, we gathered in the reception hall and had an absolute blast raising Justin and Annie into the ceiling during the Hora dance. The wedding was by far the most lavish, energetic, and fun wedding I think I’ve ever attended, and knowing I got to be a special part of it was truly an incredible feeling. By the end of the night, with my aching body fighting fatigue, I collapsed into bed happy and satisfied that all of Justin and Annie’s friends and family were able to give them the day they’ve wanted for so long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016820698-B67PGUGPIY3KJS1DQ2F7/IMG_3186.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.4.23 One More Round at the Netherland A post-wedding brunch was held in the Continental Room the next morning. We groggily took our house guests to Unataza (that Sunday ritual is important) before heading over to the Netherland one last time. After breakfast, Tiffany and Steven’s plane failed to arrive, rerouting them back to our house for one more evening. Sitting on the porch with a pizza and good friends until the sun goes down is a top-three activity, in my opinion. I was so wrapped up in being present with them, I actually forgot to take a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686016815257-03HTFDV77DY7AQGT68GC/DSC_3770-Enhanced-NR-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.5.23 Canadian Wildfires Reuters reports the wildfires spreading through Canada are on track to be the worst the country has ever experienced. 120,000 people have been displaced at the time of this writing, and thousands more are under evacuation orders. Quebec, northeast of Ohio, is experiencing the worst of the fires. They’re so intense, we’re seeing smoke from all the way up north travel down to us. That smoke thickens the sky with a heavy haze and morphs the sun into a dim, red glowing orb you can stare at directly without hurting your eyes. I truly feel awful for everyone directly affected up there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601406607-ZQWVF0OYRGO3GHTBAS0G/ZFC_6615.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.6.23 Little Known Garden I still need to hit this place up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601403186-HCMM0XOVA7VRPFJ5W65Y/DSC_4512-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.7.23 Lingering Haze The air quality is still pretty abysmal here. After photographing an event at CAM, I rushed home, got Myrtle, and we drove up to 15th Street in Newport to check out the view before it disappeared for the evening. I figured it would look wild. It would later grow dimmer and redder as it sunk into the horizon. I tried getting over to another vantage point before it went down, but there wasn’t enough time. If you’re worried you don’t have enough time to catch the sunset in a specific location, you were too late 10 minutes ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601400211-U6ARPSXI6QV2RY4L1CCK/ZFC_6625.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.8.23 River City Sunset Some good light bouncing off The Fairfield tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601406363-E13F9TGI3QD7RFYIE55A/IMG_3263.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.9.23 Congrats, Keith & Marissa Keith and Marissa did the coolest thing I’ve seen at a wedding lately: they told the officiant to ask everyone to put away their phones for the ceremony. It was awesome and so much more enjoyable than watching friends get married through cousin Bridget’s, neighbor Larry’s, and Aunt Petuna’s video app raised high into the air despite the fact that a professional photographer is paid to document the event. They also had these cute custom drink stirrers made with their cat’s face on them. It makes me retroactively regret not doing this for my own wedding years ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601400041-DVHS1BQK9RL01UKU1IEF/ZFC_6637.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.10.23 Tarbell Sighting Met up with friends in Northside today for a photo walk. We got coffee at Collective, walked around the neighborhood a bit, had a less-than-stellar but not wholly unexpected experience with a rude barista at <redacted> who seemed to really dislike us for some reason, and ended up with beer and loaded fries at NSYC before heading home. Oh, and we saw Jim Tarbell en route to Ruth’s. Good morning and afternoon overall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686601403469-TMRJ2I4R58A3P20KNJET/Art+Amplified+-+Phil+Armstrong-216.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.11.23 Art Amplified ArtWorks hired me to photograph their first annual Art Amplified event that took place over the course of a whole day around Over-the-Rhine. Live painting and drawing, music, and dancing at Alice, drinks and yoga at Somerset, dinner at Somerhaus with Wildweed in the kitchen and Revel on the wine, and a glorious post-sunset projection show by Brave Berlin. Dan and I climbed up to the neighboring Roadtripper’s roof for the projection and accompanying photo and only left when it began raining around 10 PM. While it was a long 12-hour day, I had a blast working with good people and photographing a fun, colorful, memorable event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686709723766-UOG0J9OIPUETHUANKKKH/IMG_3371-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.12.23 So Dramatique Monday ennui has returned for the most pampered, spoiled labradoodle in the Greater Cincinnati Area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1686709726084-MF6T9G9L2YM1RVYLEBVV/ZFC_6675-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.13.23 A Wild Bush Void Appears It’s been a day of cats in Bellevue. Saw this little one on my walk to the coffee shop this morning, and then a chatty orange guy wandered up on our porch and taunted Myrtle behind the storm door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141033529-O7D46ITZ31PQH2311Z7B/ZFC_6714-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.14.23 She’ll Beg a Food Truck Miller’s Fill-Inn, which was recently purchased and renamed to The Fill-Inn, had a food truck parked beside it over the last few days. We went down for burritos and quesadillas and Myrtle, in a move that surprised even me, begged at the window of the truck. We’ve been to countless food trucks with her over the years but I’ve never seen her sit beside the window like she did with this truck. Apparently she really liked the smell of the food they were cooking. To be fair, the food was exceptional and I totally understand her determination to try to cop a scrap from it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141024975-J86NMLV5OIZIU6PBN2GZ/IMG_3506.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.15.23 Podcasting Steve invited me onto his podcast, Streaming Things, to discuss the first episode of season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We’ll be recording a show every week recapping new SNW episodes as they air, and the show we record will drop the day after. He’s not only doing SNW with me, though. His schedule is so full at the moment with shows to watch and cover that he has to organize them on a large calendar on the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141030237-GMB8AV2P1LMB9ZQQ72OA/IMG_3521.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.16.23 Factory 52 While in Norwood for something else, I went over to Factory 52 to scope it out for an upcoming job. I hadn’t been there since Travis and I photographed the soon-to-be-demolished buildings back in March of 2020—the last thing we did together before all hell broke loose. The whole area is impressive with a popular brewery, a food hall that’s going in nearby on the property, retail shops, and plenty of walkable areas with card sculptures and colorful murals. I want to go back to enjoy it instead of just doing recon soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141025293-94WKTWVJFLCTBYWOPV0N/Cooper+Group-+Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.17.23 Chipotle Evolves Maybe this isn’t anything new, but I didn’t realize Chipotle was putting in drive-throughs for pick-up orders until today. This one, a new location, is in Pleasant Ridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687141037377-WI342J92B8ME5WFLBVA2/ZFC_6763-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.18.23 Rescuing Beauty After working outside all day and riding our bikes (even with Myrtle!) around town, we ventured down to the train tracks to pick these brilliant red flowers that sprang up at the edge of the gravel. Ashley’s been eyeing them for a week from the bridge above that leads us to our street. “I need to get down there and see what those are soon,” she’d say. Today was the day. She took them home, put them in a glass milk pint, and staged them on the dining table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687234664452-UIWQJAF8XKBELZRHSNBX/ZFC_6782-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.19.23 Single Exposure Didn’t leave the house today. Enough desk work kept me busy. Got as far as the porch before deciding today wasn’t a day to interact with the world beyond. I used the rain to justify being a hermit and thanked it for giving my garden a free drink and my water bill a break. This slower pace and insularity contrasts heavily with the previous few weeks but is by no means unwelcome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687406562537-2Z4SFP02QAQDQSMJCX9U/IMG_3602.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.20.23 Most Important Origin Work took me two streets over from the childhood house I consider to be the most important of my life. If ever a physical place could be infused with my memories, this modest little place at the end of a cul-de-sac on the east side of Cincinnati could scarcely contain the volume I keep with me today. With the exception of the first few months, I spent seven years of my life under this roof learning everything from how to walk to how to play. We moved out of it in 1993, but this place—more so than anywhere else my parents moved us—was always home to me. It’s where I played my first Nintendo, rode my first bike, saw my first baby bunny, picked up my first cicada, got my first insect sting, met my only sibling, made my first friend, rode my first school bus, suffered my first illness, ate my first gummy shark, saw my first movie, and the place where I remember feeling joy for the first time. I remember learning how morning light could pass through a translucent Lego brick and cast a colored shadow on the baseboard in the hallway—the same hallway that, at night, was the scariest route from the kitchen to the bathroom while invisible monsters nipped at my heels, always one step from “getting me.” I remember the nook by the china cabinet that I’d stand in and wait for my mom to come out of the bathroom in the morning so we could eat breakfast. I remember watching Nick at Night on the cabinet TV downstairs, the smell of my dad’s electric train set in the corner, and reading a book about dinosaurs at night in my room. The back yard was enormous and the street was never-ending in length to my child’s mind. It was, for a time, the center of my universe. When I walked that same street today, it felt remarkably tiny. My universe has greatly expanded in 30 years. It was comforting to see the house is in good shape and taken care of. Maybe one day I will get the chance to walk through it again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687406562188-A3NSJ7PEIEOGT18XGYWZ/NZ9_7084-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.21.23 Chihuly The show-stopping Chihuly sculpture, Rio Delle Torreselle Chandelier, suspended above the front desk at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Every time I see it, I cannot help imagining how anxiety-inducing the install was for this beautiful, fragile work of art. There has to be someone in that museum who can retell the story about that process. Apparently it’s dusted once a year by two conservationists working from either side of the piece. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829868525-WHPMC9P96IN6ZDMGXWVL/IMG_3620.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.22.23 Rest in Peace As I sat down across from Steve in the podcast studio, I placed my phone with the Notes app already on the screen in the cradle across from the microphone. Headphones went on, I adjusted the glass of wine on the coaster in front of me, and Steve’s finger hovered over the bright red ‘record’ button on the control panel. It was in that moment that I saw a notification that Ashley was calling. I was not prepared for the sounds that would come from the other end of the line. Every time I asked her what was happening, I grew exponentially more panicked when she couldn’t coherently express the reason for the sorrow she was experiencing. After a grueling eternity of confusion and fear, she momentarily overcame her sobs to tell me one of her relatives unexpectedly died—someone she’d seen merely 24 hours prior at another relative’s funeral. Podcasting was no longer on the itinerary. Instead, we focused on easing her grief. A UDF milkshake. Some funny dog videos on Instagram. Listening, not talking. An early bed time. Linda was a great person and one of my favorites from Ashley’s side of the family. She never had a bad thing to say about anybody. She was always pleasant. Always kind, never rude or in a bad mood. Always lighthearted. She didn’t seemingly buy into the bullshit others tried feeding her, and she lived life in a way that makes a lot of sense to me. We will miss her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829865053-MLTKLSAHJQ1S49W33Z7E/ZFC_6784.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.23.23 The Jackalope Does anyone remember how America’s Funniest People had a supremely unfunny bit that involved Dave Coulier doing a little voice for a character called the Jackalope? Its catchphrase was something akin to “fast as fast can be, you’ll never catch me!” Anyway, I cannot see rabbits with antlers without thinking of it and I will probably take that to my grave. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829865249-1J9C47Q7MHL2JWT6AEY3/ZFC_6794-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.24.23 Schwartz’s Point We finally went to a show with a group of friends at Schwartz’s Point tonight. After a nice dinner at Kanji, we all walked over to claim our reservation and began chipping away at the drink minimum. I like jazz well enough, but it’s not something I turn on when I want to focus on the music. It’s always been pleasant background noise. But as I watched the drummer use various instruments to make different sounds at intervals I couldn’t anticipate, and as the upright bass player picked away at nearly silent strings in an irregular fashion, I felt myself appreciate the genre more than I had before. That said, every jazz song begins sounding different from the one played before it prior to becoming completely indistinguishable from the others by the end. I do not have an ear for it, but I do like it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1687829870387-FNVDAXQ06UJHRI0H3AF0/ZFC_7052-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.25.23 Day Trip “Are you up for a day trip?” Chris asked over text. I absolutely was. Our destination: Gary, Indiana—birthplace of the Jackson Five, home to one of the largest steel manufacturers in the country, and once known in newspaper headlines as ‘the murder capital of the United States.’ If you know little about Gary, read up on it. The tale of its seemingly overnight founding, its rise to prominence in the 1960s, and its eventual slide into population decline and urban decay due to myriad factors is a tragic one. You can find articles online as recently as last year saying it’s the most depressing place to live in the country despite once being a place people poured into looking for work. Yes, Gary has work to do before it can reclaim its mantle as a desirable place to live. But according to Chris, someone who has visited many times over the last few decades, it’s looking a little better than it did before. The statistic that always fueled my curiosity about Gary was how 20% of it is abandoned—a number I can’t confirm but sadly seems accurate after having driven through a large swath of it. I’m not someone who breaks into abandoned places for photos, but I do like photographing these forgotten and neglected places from the sidewalk. I’m debating whether or not I should do a blog post about the city and what I saw, but I want to make sure I’m respectful about it. After seeing Gary, we popped up to Chicago for a couple hours before heading home. This pleasant little scene of kids tossing football with Chicago in the far distance across Lake Michigan at Rainbow Beach Park was the surprise frame I didn’t expect to get today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184695456-OGB7OFBDY7YDFB22KB1A/IMG_3703.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.26.23 No More Concessions There are signs that say we’re not allowed to walk our dog around Bellevue High School’s football field, but we did it anyway. Considering the state of the track, the rusting equipment on the weedy field, and the neglected buildings, I don’t think our dog is going to have a negative impact on this place. It’s a shame it’s been left to rot like this; especially since it’s still actively used every year. There just isn’t money allocated to address it. Hell, the football program this past year was in danger of dissolving. I didn’t grow up here and don’t know what it looked like 20+ years ago when I would’ve been in high school, but I imagine it was better than it is today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184706043-A20QQB0O7BMC9HILLCEX/ZFC_7144.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.27.23 Riding With the UBBC It is my estimation that riding bikes with someone you like is the best way to experience being on a bicycle. It’s even better when your respective paces match each other and no extra effort is made to keep up on either side. When I ride with Bob and the UBBC, I get to experience that feeling. Though the air was becoming polluted with Quebec smoke, the UBBC still met in Washington Park and set course for Eli’s BBQ in the East End. The leisurely ride was pleasantly unburdened by the usual cavalcade of drivers hell-bent on making our ride more dangerous than it should be. Leading the pack, Bob and I discussed everything from bike rides to friends to the pros and cons of social media and everything in between. Of course, the BBQ at Eli’s was a highlight, too. And bonus: I think I’ve finally found the best way to use my Nikon while riding. It involves a lot of blind firing and timing, but the treat of later discovering what I managed to catch on the ride is a novelty worth repeating. I split off and took the Purple People Bridge back over to NKY on our way back, burning my lungs with the worsening air as I picked up the pace in a rush to get home to see Myrtle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184695456-DJANO3IYROYWRMPMF8X0/IMG_3741.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.28.23 Visibility Issues As mentioned in yesterday’s post, the air quality in our region is growing worse. In fact, it didn’t even seem this bad a month ago when the fires smoked us out the first time. The news said Chicago had the worst air quality of any city in the world yesterday; I’m betting Cincinnati is up there today. Normally I’d plan to stay indoors on a day like this and rely on the luxury of breathing central air, but I had to leave to assist Justin with taking his first professional headshot for someone in West Chester. Afterward, he treated me to Trophy Pizza and I went home to avoid being out in the air any longer. Before heading back, I stopped on O’Fallon to observe the visibility to downtown. As you can see, it’s not good. With thousands of fans coming to Cincinnati for the outdoor Taylor Swift shows this weekend, I’m worried the air quality will still be horrible. That is obviously the secondary concern. The fires in Canada, not the smoke in Cincinnati, is the biggest issue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184701248-7GEB410JX8ZP3C1IH3ZZ/ZFC_7156-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.29.23 Swiftly Approaching Cincinnati is gearing up for a Taylor Swift two-day visit at Paycor Stadium. As such, Taylor-mania is in full force. Bellevue even renamed Taylor Avenue temporarily to give her a nod. I knew she was one of the biggest acts of the modern age, but I don’t think Cincinnati’s had this big a performer visit since Paul McCartney played GABP in 2011. I have no opinion on Taylor Swift, but I’m genuinely happy so many are jazzed about her visit. It’s good to see people excited about something fun, and the economic impact she’ll bring to the region is wonderful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688184702917-TDUBCK9VXRTRV70EV4KH/NZ9_2316-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2023 - 6.30.23 The Full Spectrum The day began with a job photographing a dental implant presentation given by a Brooklyn surgeon in a classroom on the east side. The day ended with a rowdy, fun-filled drag performance in Eden Park. It’s a pain in the ass sometimes, but being a freelance photographer is a load of fun on days like this. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jul-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688267585494-DJJ3H9M9YTBY99VCO8KT/ZFC_7280.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.1.23 Soiled Safe Space We took Myrtle to Hueston Woods this morning so she could swim in the lake. Unfortunately, it rained this morning and the beach turned into grainy mud. Myrtle didn’t care, though. Every time she ran into the water to retrieve her frisbee, she flew past Ashley and ran straight to me—the person NOT throwing the toy for her and who found dry, clean refuge on a picnic blanket in the nearby grass. Uncomfortable in her water-logged state, a vigorous shake followed as did a few expletives from yours truly. My safe space had been compromised. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615666602-J523J12XRCDS12RUTIDI/IMG_3848.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.2.23 Dog Friend We went to a baby shower and Ashley became this dog’s BFF by the end of the night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615670968-CQ33L1FOUHRGIXD258OQ/IMG_3854.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.3.23 Hamburbers and Sandwiches Went over to RESLV to give Steve a hand on a project and came across this door a block away. Need to go back and see if this is an active restaurant or a remnant from another time. (NOTE: I didn’t mean to misspell hamburgers in the title, but that’s how it was originally published, so that’s how it will remain.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615671183-R7SOZXCDG35CT1JSCUHK/IMG_3895.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.4.23 Fireworks With Friends Travis and Allie hosted a great Fourth of July gathering this evening. We lit sparklers on the roof and twirled them around to celebrate freedom or whatever. It was a great time and I’m lucky to have so many good people in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688615675424-ZU2M4NE09JUGILY37DXP/ZFC_7461-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.5.23 Turning Point I’ll make this brief because I’m already sick of talking about it. Monday, while I was helping Steve, my knee finally decided to call it quits. I’d been having trouble for months, but this time it was fully done. I’m in constant pain unless I’m standing (yes, standing). If I lay down, it aches. Unless I sit at the edge of the seat, a shooting pain goes up my leg. The x-ray reveals nothing beyond “it’s not arthritis” but the ortho doc says he thinks it’s a torn meniscus. Whether surgery is in my future is TBD. Starting physical therapy next week and returning for another visit in three weeks. Being unable to live normally is awful. No bike rides. Can’t drive without horrible pain. Can’t take a walk with Myrtle. Can’t do stairs well. And losing a large portion of the money I’ve worked so hard this year to make to meet the deductible has me in the dumps. Really hope this thing can be solved sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688734324922-SESYU4IH432CQFO7JKVK/NZ9_2705-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.6.23 A Little Help For a Little One Steve’s dog, Pippin, had major back surgery a few months ago. As a result, Pippin can no longer jump up on the couch or do stairs. As a little dog, everything is too high for him and he needs help. When I was over there the other day, Steve kept having to lift him up on the couch when he wanted to sit with us. This little dog ramp I made should solve this issue. I had almost all of the materials already on hand, so with the exception of the cheap carpet (which I have loads more of), I didn’t spend an additional dime on this project. Standing doesn’t hurt my leg nearly as bad as sitting, so finding a project that I can work on that won’t stress the knee is critical right now. Maybe I’ll make more of these at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688915231396-YQWX7QQMECRWI52EAJQ0/ZFC_7494.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.7.23 Stunning Sunset On the River We met up with my father’s cousin, Justin, and his partner, Bill, for dinner at the new Cuban joint on the Levee. It’s called Amador and it’s owned/operated by the Pesola Group—same people responsible for Revolution Rotisserie and Milkman. Long story short, the food and ambiance were equally fantastic. Highly recommend you check it out regardless if you’ve had Cuban-inspired cuisine or not. The view of downtown from the dining room makes the interior pop, especially at sunset. Afterward, we got a couple of mixed drinks from one of the bars in the box park and enjoyed the scene pictured. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1688915234311-CQZ0JMTD06BE43QPI8ZB/ZFC_7665-Enhanced-NR.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.8.23 Night Out Bad decisions were made. Or were they? Should I be going out on a Saturday night and putting added stress on this knee? Should I be ordering drinks when I’m on meds? Should I be spending money on food and drink when I have impending medical bills? No, I probably shouldn’t. The alternative, responsible thing would be to stay home and ice this joint in solitude. But making bad decisions is relative. What I gained—a fun, memorable night out with friends—is worth more to me than the alternative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197937186-VQEVBD6L6RMY3Z4G5I4N/ZFC_7669-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.9.23 Ya Love To See It Ashley and Allie went to the Post Malone show, so Travis and I decided to hit up a few places while we waited to pick them back up. Wandering Monsters in Anderson had its grand opening this weekend. After a flight of beer there, we drove over to Factory 52. It being Sunday night, though, everything was closed—except for one place. I never thought I’d see Jeni’s in Cincinnati. With UDF and Graeter’s reigning supreme in the local ice cream department, it seemed unthinkable a challenger would dare try to scoop out a piece of the market. People were lined up around the building for it, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197936941-7CDIHILHR30EVUVSRJUK/ZFC_7670.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.10.23 The Loyal I didn’t go on a walk tonight; it was more of a slow hobble. The knee is fractionally better than before, and I got a little too confident about it, so I took the dog on a hobble. The last two blocks were painful. Photographed the outside Bellevue’s dive bar on Foote, The Loyal Cafe. It was recently forced to comply with the no-smoking ordinance the city passed. I’ll check it out at some point now that I don’t have to inhale an ashtray while inside. It always stank from the outside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197943343-3IGKIHHZ42WS87CZHRDE/ZFC_7702-Enhanced-NR+copy.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.11.23 Jake at Binski’s Met up with Jake, Ronny, and Rob at Binski’s in Camp Washington tonight. Great bar, will return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689197944997-8TD0DLZPB0MZSRSZROJQ/112B+Winding+Way+-+Phil+Armstrong-10.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.12.23 Devou Dwelling It’s gotten noticeably hotter over the last 24 hours. After sweating through my shirt taking photos of the community pool, I photographed this condo in Devou Park for Rebecca’s listing. It doesn’t have a city view, but the view of the woods is nice. It’s a two bed, one bath with a balcony and garage space. I like the lofted ceiling and high windows that draw in extra natural light to fill the living room. The accent wall really takes the room up a notch, too. This was my first job while managing knee pain and it went alright. I think I can do this without too much trouble. Photographing events, though, will probably be a lot harder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689452806234-DOLE34PS4O3WYVMJQEQC/DSC_3083-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.13.23 Four Stories A four-story house in Mt. Adams with a good view of Over-the-Rhine needed photographing. The building, likely built in the 1800s, had been heavily modified to support more modern living. The humidity outside was brutal, increasingly invading the house the higher I climbed the staircase. It’s a good reminder that, despite technological advancements in micro-climate control, nature will always find a way to get you. Also, my knee has made noticeable strides in getting better today. Even managed to walk the dog (slowly) for a few blocks. Feels good to be seeing progress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689452745434-0667SW3Y920TCSMUEXNK/DSC_3673+copy.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.14.23 Two Decades of Great Signage Since moving across the river three years ago, I’ve been meaning to photograph two unique signs in Highland Heights: La Ru Lanes and E-Jay Plaza. The former looks like it was designed and built in the 60s, and the latter looks like it could belong to either the late-80s or early-90s. I honestly don’t know which one I like more. They might be equally as appealing to me but for different reasons. La Ru has two things I love: blinking carnival bulbs and MCM geometry. The bulbs on the acute triangle remind me of being a kid and running around Kings Island at night, riding as many rides as possible before crossing the never-ending parking lot to find Dad at the pick up area reading a book under the cab’s dim, yellow dome light. And the bulging, unevenly lit rectangle with big, plastic lettering reminds me of when I’d go out to change the theater’s marquee as an early 20-something. E-Jay has two things I love: cool blue and hot orange neon, and that signature squiggle inherent in that era’s aesthetic. Maybe it’s revisionist history, but I feel like that Memphis Design/Solo Jazz style of loud, squiggly colors and shapes were crucial to making childhood in the 90s feel so visually unique. Every era has its aesthetic, and while that one could be argued as garish and might prove unpopular after the 90s revival moment we’re experiencing fades, I’ll always have a soft spot for it. Pardon my nostalgia. I haven’t verbally talked to anyone but Myrtle in almost two days (Ashley’s out of town again). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689702442065-RR639GGNZA67YRKWSUJZ/ZFC_7715-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.15.23 Chestnut Street Cemetery While on a walk with Myrtle, I revisited the Chestnut Street Cemetery: the oldest Jewish cemetery both in Cincinnati and west of the Allegheny Mountains. It’s one street over from the Betts House—Cincinnati’s oldest surviving structure. About 100 people are interred in this small, fenced-in corner of the West End. It’s also believed that Joe Jonas from Plymouth, England, was the first Jewish settler in Cincinnati. I don’t know why he died in Mobile, Alabama. The cemetery is truly a blink-and-you-miss-it phenomenon. The headstones are old, weathered, and hidden behind a stone wall. The only way to see them is from the corner. A double-sided historic marker with information about the cemetery stands just outside the fenced section. I knew it was here from spending so much time on Clark Street about 10 years ago, but I never photographed it until today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689702435904-YO6IYFKVS8P7NZYHWDXI/IMG_4160.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.16.23 Fixing Past Mistakes If you go back to the January 24th entry of this year, I mentioned having to remove part of the basement wall to move the new sleeper couch I bought into the room. It wasn’t the best solution at the time, but it had to be done. Today, with the help of my father-in-law, we reframed the doorway and added two bifold doors to separate the finished and unfinished sides of the basement. I still need to add trim and paint/stain everything, but the hard part is over. I didn’t have time to take many photos, but I wanted to spotlight my miter saw; this MVP helped me cut and complete this project. Without it, the job would’ve been much harder. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1689702436103-UYKKLLNQ3SK2AFSW54NC/DSC_3875-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.17.23 Getting Lucky Whoever said a black cat crossing your path is bad luck clearly didn’t appreciate how adorable black cats are. This little one was at the end of the alley before coming nearer to me when I pspsps’d at them a few times. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135274404-W6WC6IHJG6KXIR64G5B1/IMG_4188.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.18.23 Obligatory Bee-On-Flower-in-Summer Photo This bee was unconcerned about the close proximity of my iPhone’s camera while taking its photo. I think it was too lost in the sauce to notice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135274709-Y8ND0IVD7SYIKS4S0F8Z/IMG_4203.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.19.23 MRI Got an MRI done on my knee. They had me change into paper shorts, gave me headphones, and slid me 80% of the way into a noisy tube for 30 minutes. The white noise I had them play wasn't loud enough to mask the sounds of the machine, but it did help a bit. In fact, I was so comfortable that I kept fighting the urge to fall asleep so I wouldn't twitch and ruin the image. I could look out the window for "entertainment" because my head wasn't inside the machine. Still, I wish they'd given me a magazine or something to read. Anyway, I didn't take any photos because I wasn't allowed to have anything in the room with me. Here's the waiting room where they were playing King of Queens on a TV in the corner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135281716-9HY73P51SAYZX7ROSE53/Pride+Mural+BTS+-+Phil+Armstrong-47.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.20.23 Love Birds ArtWorks is in the process of creating an elevated Pride-themed mural above Queen City Radio, and they brought me along to photograph the process for them. I climbed a couple of stories of scaffolding to get up on the bar's roof, and from there, I climbed more scaffolding to photograph the artists doing their thing. Choosing just one photo for this project was challenging because almost every frame was filled with an abundance of color and positivity. I chose this one because I couldn't believe these adorable pigeons were "kissing" just like the muralized people in the background. It was also challenging to choose a photo of the day today because we went to Travis and Allie's house later that evening to watch the Ludacris show on the lawn of Hard Rock Casino from their rooftop. The view from that height offered a perfect, almost completely unobstructed look at the stage. I took my Tamron 150-600 with me and got a few decent shots of the performance. If you don't pay to see a show and manage to see it from outside the venue, does that still count as "going to see Ludacris?" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135277630-H8V2RYJIP2MN5B8PWTCM/IMG_4290.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.21.23 Vingt-Trois et Moi My sister did 23andMe and got me thinking about how my own results might turn out compared to hers. So I paid $100 to spit into this tube! I will report back in a few weeks when I get my results. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690135279590-Y7OYUMDRPET9WMSP42E3/IMG_4304.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.22.23 Barbie Fever The marketing campaign for the Barbie movie is honestly impressive. I cannot think of a film with such a weird and powerful push to get people into theaters in a while. In contrast to Oppenheimer, the film is seemingly unserious about itself, though still very serious about making big box office numbers on opening weekend. It’s pretty fun to see little pop-up photo boxes and memes being shared for this lighthearted affair. While I’m neither opposed to seeing it nor willing to spend the money on a ticket, I figured I’d commemorate this particular moment in pop culture by photographing my favorite Barbie-pink house on Berry Street that’s totally unaffiliated with the studio and accidentally prescient at this moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690387465236-2B7EEKJC3Q8DQHPQKJZT/ZFC_7755.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.23.23 Where Are All the Butterflies? Is it just me or do you see fewer butterflies these days? Maybe I’m misremembering, but I recall seeing far more of them every year than I do now. When I see them in the wild now, it honestly stops me in my tracks because they’re no longer a common sight. One of the big reasons we ripped out the grass in our front yard last year was to plant flowers and create a pollinator sanctuary to hopefully attract more bees and butterflies. While this one wasn’t in my front yard, I hope to see more of them this summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690387475091-X30044NBFBVM912WUYHX/slammer-180-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.24.23 Guilt-Free Pog The first thing I ever remember stealing as a kid was a pog with a cat face on it. Little cardboard discs with graphics on them were all the rage in the early- and mid-nineties. Instead of baseball cards, we saved money for this stupid game. Sometimes kids would even gamble with them, though I never did because no one cared enough about taking my pogs. I stole that cat pog from a friend down the street. It was so desirable because I had very few "official" pogs of my own compared to my friends (I cut up shoeboxes and drew the artwork on my pogs to build my library early on). Stealing that pog filled me with a tremendous amount of guilt, though. Every time I looked at that tiny cat face, it made me sick. Those adorable kitty eyes that initially made me take it eventually filled me with a sinking feeling in my gut and made playing with it unbearable. Whenever a slammer exploded a stack and the cat pog bounced free of the pile, I was judged anew. And I knew I deserved it. The cat pog that "fell off the back of a truck" eventually bounced its way into the garbage can so I could avoid continuing to feel guilt. I told this story to Tiffany and Steven last month, and they sent me this holographic cat slammer (it's surprisingly heavy!) they found on eBay as a joke. To me, though, it's the guilt-free version of that childhood treasure, and I unironically love it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690387465349-XZNTRI173O7ZHK8HWW4I/County+Garage+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong-18.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.25.23 New View They’re building a tall parking garage by Findlay Market at the moment. As it goes up, so too does a south-facing ArtWorks mural. Working alongside the apprentices and the project coordinators, I photographed the progress from the multi-story scaffolding erected next to the wall. It was my job to document the process for ArtWorks, but I couldn’t help but grab a quick skyline shot from a new perspective at the top of the scaffolding. As someone with a relatively healthy fear of heights (don’t come at me with an ‘actually, it’s a fear of falling’), being up that high without much to keep me from falling over the edge was a bit scary. The best part about this is once the garage is open, everyone can get up here and get the same shot. I’m going to try to get one at night next time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773767456-WOXPOT53FUQHWW25YY4M/IMG_4496.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.26.23 Libel Is it libel if I take a photo of graffiti someone else did and publish it? While throwing something away next to the coffee shop, this caught my eye. I won’t speculate further. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773786139-QXY074NC1YSUSOZ5OP5F/IMG_4494_jpg.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.27.23 Tiki Night Tiki night at Japp’s with Travis and Rob. It began thunderstorming pretty fiercely as I was leaving. Thankfully Ashley came to pick me up so I didn’t have to manage a streetcar and a bus in the rain without an umbrella. The lightining was spectacular! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773786135-XCJT3VYG4GKJIKFBJ9WX/IMG_4504.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.28.23 Blurry Malort Shot Blurry malort shot both because it’s out of focus and because my vision blurred from the foul taste when I took this shot. Binski’s does it in a clean ashtray (never used except for malort), making it awkward to take. Pretty sure a quarter of it landed in my beard instead of my mouth. A bunch of us gathered for Lammi’s birthday and drank Old Style and High Lifes while laughing about bad toilet experiences and playing dominoes. Eventually, the majority of the group landed at Camp Washington Chili for a late-night meal. I took precisely one photo because I was enjoying myself too much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773747435-6X5RKOD7JYPLROX54VZJ/IMG_4516.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.29.23 Surprise Visit From An Angel Ashley, Maria, Kenzie, and Aaron went to the 50 Cent show at Riverbend, so Mike (husband of Maria) and I hung out while we waited to pick them back up. We smoked cigars, ate sushi, listened to a mix of 80s/90s hip-hop and punk, and were about to hit up the barcade on Walnut before the ladies summoned us back to the river to collect them. After picking them up, we went to Kenzie and Aaron’s house for a nightcap and saw this beautiful cat on the shed next door. She emerged from the darkness and sat pretty up there for us to gawk at her. At one point, she came close enough that I could pet her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690773759746-17N06OUH18U0PXA95I5T/ZFC_7787.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.30.23 The Empty Speedway While at Binski’s Friday night, Travis and Ronny discussed going down to the Kentucky Speedway to photograph it for a story Ronny’s putting together. With one of Ronny’s friends, Matt, in tow, we went down early-ish in the morning before it got too unbearably hot and wandered around outside the fence. I’ve never been interested in racing like this, but seeing the speedway essentially abandoned. While it’s clear someone is still cutting the grass around the speedway, it’s also apparent this is no longer a place where people come together to watch an event. I don’t know all the specifics of the place, but I imagine everything I need to know will be in Ronny’s upcoming piece about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1690911010261-C7NZKAUEE7G01PN5KKOI/ZFC_7817.jpg daily-photos-jul-2023 - 7.31.23 The Old Switcheroo While at Friendship Park, this engine roared slowly down the track before stopping shy of the switch. The man pictured climbed down, pulled the lever, and another man still inside the engine inched forward. It parked briefly in the middle of the driveway cars use to enter the park parking lot. Successfully switched over, the engine reversed and went onto the other set of tracks that run parallel to the set it had just ridden and proceeded back from whence it came. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-aug-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691001829311-8L3MZOWH1MZJXR3AH2OJ/ZFC_7836.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.1.23 Familiar Fourth Street “Home” has been talked about a lot during this project over the last few years. From seeing my childhood home in Eastgate to photos within my current home and everywhere in between, I have strong connections to physical places and locations that mean something to me. Fourth Street is one of them. It’s where I moved when I decided to become an urban dweller. It’s the street where I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. It’s where I met Ashley. It’s where I used to work before making a huge career shift. It’s where I learned photography. It’s the street that also, unfortunately, saw some of the hardest days of my life. Fourth Street was the chrysalis where I found my wings. That place just feels so right to me. It’s not the busiest street downtown, nor is it the quietest, and it boasts everything from museums to restaurants to parks to high-rise living to coffee shops and bars. But very few care about it as a destination because it’s not Vine Street in OTR or 6th Street two blocks away. There are few things more personal and beautiful to me than when the summer sun sets and casts its Golden Hour light on Fourth Street. While I no longer have an address at the corner of Fourth and Broadway, I still feel tremendous comfort there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691092190820-080DXNUD6BCCZ4WE865H/drinks.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.2.23 Alive & Well Aaron with Hickory Wald contacted me about photographing their new Clifton bar, Alive & Well, on Telford. I photographed exceptionally colorful cocktails for their marketing purposes as well as the bar itself before their friends and family night event today. Not pictured: a cocktail made with Graeter’s raspberry sorbet that I must return for. It looked delicious. I’m going back tomorrow to do night shots of the space. I will most likely choose one of those as my photo of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423970703-OFCDYV30AQJM3TPBBXK7/Alive+%26+Well+-+Phil+Armstrong-43.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.3.23 Alive & Well: Part II As promised, here’s the evening photo of the outside of Alive & Well. I returned around 9 PM and photographed the outside before doing some lifestyle shots of people in the bar with drinks inside. Truth be told, this particular shoot made me nervous; lifestyle isn’t my strong suit, especially when the parameters of the shoot require approaching strangers and asking them to pose for manufactured candids. That said, I think I did an adequate job, and all that’s left to do now is to send them to the client. Hopefully they are satisfied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423943310-IRA7USDCSWIK2JSFI6YW/IMG_4599.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.4.23 Dinwiddie Is No Longer Thinkin’ Arby’s While headed to Indiana Dunes State Park for the weekend, I saw this abandoned Arby’s off the exit in Dinwiddie, IN. The lighting was perfect at the time, so I pulled over for a quick photo. I didn’t inspect it closely enough to determine how long it’s been empty, but the building looks to be in generally good shape. The style is that of the older aesthetic I’m most familiar with from the 90s and early 2000s. Modern Arby’s are boxy and have the look of every other fast food chain. I miss the days when these brands had specific building styles that became synonymous with their logo. Pizza Hut’s style was so iconic, the blog Used to Be a Pizza Hut is dedicated to documenting their reuse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423943589-X2PVNKKC6UOR5CIPY9JW/ZFC_7870-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.5.23 Rained-Out Weekender We planned a beach day where I sit under an umbrella and Ashley and Myrtle swim in Lake Michigan. We got to do that for about an hour and a half before a storm slowly crept into the area and gently forced everyone off the beach. Myrtle enjoyed her time playing in the lake despite the brevity of her visit. We spent the rest of the day driving around, trying to find something to do with a dog that wasn’t outside. We managed to find one restaurant with covered outdoor seating that allowed dogs. Truth be told, the weather ruined the whole day, and I’m not pleased. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691423947268-LZOMYS7SFCSD55W5T0E6/ZFC_7879-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.6.23 We’ll Try Again Later I thought I’d get shots of sandy dunes tufted with wisps of long grass and twisted, skinny trees under cerulean skies. I thought I could photograph the lake with Chicago’s skyline in the distance. All of that would’ve been possible had it not rained almost the entire time. One of the only times it didn’t completely soak us was this morning. Though it drizzled, we managed a short walk along the Portage Lakefront Park & Riverwalk before hiking a trail further southwest at West Beach. Myrtle got to hop into the lake for a bit and get one last swim in before we accepted the fact that additional incoming rain meant driving home was the only logical option. Though this trip to Lake Michigan left much to be desired, we will try again in autumn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762246729-Z6JW00BZWC83Y45WV1KX/IMG_4654.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.7.23 Indecisive Skies The sky couldn’t figure out whether or not to rain today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762253340-OMTAIABU0OFBVEO7Q0U2/IMG_4668.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.8.23 Real Adults Now Our solid wood bed frame with a headboard was delivered today. I haven’t had a proper bed frame since I was a child. For my entire adult life, I’ve slept on a metal frame with box springs and no headboard. It was perfectly fine, but deciding to upgrade the bed makes being in it all the more relaxing (and looks nicer, too). It sits about 10 inches lower than it previously was, and though I thought that would take some getting used to, I ended up preferring it closer to the floor. I’ve already smashed my shin into the corner of it because I’m not used to it sticking out that far. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762247432-UH31GBZJ0SOHC17Y4BPN/Baymiller+Slaughterhouse+-+Phil+Armstrong+-20.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.9.23 Sun In An Empty Room Self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1691762254538-DHI45322XXD6P6INHNN5/ZFC_7988.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.10.23 Triple XXX Family Restaurant After finishing a photoshoot for Luminaut in Lafayette, Indiana, I stopped by Triple XXX Family Restaurant before returning home. Claiming to be the oldest-operating drive-in restaurant in Indiana and the last of the original Triple XXX Thirst Stations in the US and Canada, the diner is a Purdue staple that goes back generations. As soon as I posted it to my Instagram story, a dozen people replied with their own high praise and positive experiences. It opened in 1929 as a simple root beer stand, then added a food menu later as it grew in popularity. The building changed over the decades and evolved into what it looks like today, complete with neon signage on the roof and thick, plastic, backlit signage hanging off the corner. I had the Duane Purvis burger—a regular cheeseburger with peanut butter slathered over the patty—and two frosty mugs of root beer. The burger was incredible, but the root beer was the best I’ve ever had. I wish this place were closer to my home because there’s nothing more refreshing on a hot day than that glass of root beer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692039904391-K1TAQ74VBJIPEZRAUZDV/ZFC_8001.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.11.23 An Actual Sunset I lightly raged about fake skies in real estate listings recently on Threads. This trend where photographers take daylight photos and then someone else replaces the sky with an obnoxious mismatched sunset is weird. Speaking to two other real estate photogs, they do the on-site work and then another company “improves” the images for the realtor by implementing bad HDR and replacing the sky with more dramatic options that don’t correspond with the lighting in the original image. Look, I realize most people do not care about the way these listings look online, and I’m not actually upset about it, but it does blow my mind that anyone would think they look good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692039898869-2DV67UHEIWP9H38BKRK7/IMG_4719.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.12.23 3D Wooden Map Got this incredible 3D wood map of Cincy and NKY made by Creative Cypress Co. at the City Flea this morning. Maps are so neat and I appreciate how this one adds another dimension to such a familiar place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692039900405-UX5STZP0KNUNSTE7O9NA/IMG_4732.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.13.23 Faded Ad While in Harrison, OH today, I saw this faded ad in a shop window and liked how it contrasted with the vibrant flowers in the foreground. I wonder when this photo was taken, where it was taken, and what their lives are like today. Based on the fashion and the aesthetic of the card, I bet I was roughly their same age when this was made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692118999516-X8JM5GGLD3Y38IXEBD5P/ZFC_8007-Edit.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.14.23 14-30mm Z-Mount Since 2017, I’ve used the same f-mount Tokina wide-angle lens for nearly all of my architectural and real estate photography. It was a relatively inexpensive lens that returned solid results in many situations and enabled frames that were otherwise impossible with the 24mm. It’s served me well and helped me build my portfolio and small business considerably over the last several years. Today, I upgraded. The Nikkor S-Line, optimized for full-frame cameras, offers a slim form factor with superior optics, so I went with the 14-30mm f/4 wide angle. Since it has the same mount shared with the Z9, I no longer have to use the adaptor, reducing the overall physical size and weight of the camera. I’m really happy with the images it produces so far. The sharpness at the edges of the frame is noticeably better than the Tokina I was using. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631799568-1ZDCRPOYSH0H72TY4Q06/IMG_4741.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.15.23 Empty I was meeting some friends at Binski’s at 7 PM, and when I walked into the bar, the entire place was empty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631799130-NMLE6GPMTKT8G70PRCTX/Bellbrook+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.16.23 Bellbrook Went on an up-and-back roadtrip with Luminaut to photograph a senior care center in Rochester, MI. The center, four hours from home and about 30 minutes outside Detroit, was freshly renovated with Luminaut’s vision for each space. Pictured is the main seating area next to the lobby where residents can put together puzzles, socialize, and relax after a meal at the adjacent food hall. The 15-hour work day was a long one, but I had a good time overall. Traveling for work, regardless if I stay the night somewhere or not, is almost always fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631800453-VR7WVEI442QF3ZSS1SAL/IMG_4763.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.17.23 Glowing Sky An evening walk with Myrtle led to this beautiful, glowing sky. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631802044-MMYVB05NBVFVLQDPNA0T/The+Fill-In+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.18.23 The Fill-Inn Did a little lifestyle photography for The Fill-Inn in Bellevue. The owners recently purchased the dive bar from the previous owner and want to promote it as a place to watch Bengals games and hang out. From pool to a vintage bowling machine to a golf video game, it has quite a few little games to play during commercial breaks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692631800953-A8I0ZTTANFVEM2VVRYRH/IMG_4801.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.19.23 Jurassic Birthday Steve’s been my friend for 20 years. We formally met and became buds in the summer of 2003 when we went with a mutual friend to King’s Island. Shortly after that, we stayed close and remained in each other’s orbit for two decades. Steve went through a few big life changes over the last several years. Changes that, frankly, weren’t easy on him. But over the previous year, he’s found joy and success in various ways and seems happier now than he has been. His significant other, Erica, wanted to surprise him with a birthday party for their one-year together. I offered my backyard as the venue and suggested we screen Jurassic Park (one of Steve’s favorite movies) using the projector. She bought a bunch of dinosaur-themed decorations, bought all the food and drinks, invited a few people, and we set it up without him knowing. Everyone successfully surprised him, and between the food, drink, company, and entertainment, Steve had a great night. I did a terrible job documenting everything because I was too into enjoying the party, so please accept this grainy screenshot from a video I took that evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692802940416-RS318D30KSBHXIMYGR27/ZFC_8013.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.20.23 Social Obligations: Fulfilled After last night’s party, breakfast with friends, and a visit from my family this afternoon, I was ready to go to bed at 5 PM. An introvert like me can only do so much before he becomes too exhausted to keep going. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692802940061-UYRKA4G01I758NV9CTZ7/IMG_4818.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.21.23 Play? Any time I rest on the couch, I get some sort of toy in my face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692802941357-S9CD1JLM1GDTBVWF85N7/ZFC_8018.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.22.23 QCR Sign Myrtle and I went for a walk despite the heat. She hadn’t done anything all day, and I hadn’t left the house since Sunday, so it was time to get out and stretch our legs. When we have no destination, I let her lead the walk. She makes it up as she goes, choosing whichever path has the most intriguing smells at that moment (and, I noticed, whichever has the most shade). She led us down to the river where Queen City Riverboats are moored. This old sign is fun. Sadly, after putting in about a mile and a half of walking, my knee started to ache. First time in weeks it has been in pain. I will need to take it easier tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692840340109-0MKXIGUK75CU3JEIM681/IMG_4841_jpg.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.23.23 I’m Sorry, Mind and Body Little Caesar’s makes a pretzel crust pizza so I had one DoorDashed to my house because I am a pig who likes eating trash, apparently. After that, I watched Star Trek V (the one where they fight God and Spock pinches a horse) with Myrtle. Truly not taking care of my body or mind tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1692923170233-1N59B7EO8Z3A2WGFAW4T/NZ9_0376.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.24.23 Popping Boba I ordered from Poke Hut tonight and treated myself to a little boba tea. Eating all the leftover boba in one big go at the end is akin to peeling the white icing off a bunch of Oreos and stacking them into one mega-Oreo. The way light passes through these delicious blueberry fruit juice balls was beautiful, so I laid them out on a plate and flooded them with flash from one side. Afterward, I enjoyed them all at once. In retrospect, it looks like these boba balls are heading toward the light! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433176035-7ZYBNSPI8P7ZIH2X7C13/ZFC_8023-HDR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.25.23 View of the Roebling The guys and I stopped by the rooftop bar at the AC Hotel at the Banks this evening for a beer. The conversation, drinks, and view were top-notch. Also, the BBQ Chicken place down on the west side of 4th Street is great. Hope they stick around because I plan on going back. Give it a visit if you’re in town. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433164950-9UNBCO7AWYVKSZCF37K9/IMG_4901.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.26.23 FCC Wins It! Maria and Mike took us to a soccer game this evening. While FCC lost to Miami a few days before, they kicked NYC’s butt in this game 3-0. Within the first few minutes, Cincinnati scored a goal and scored twice more in the second half. They’re now 16-3-3 in the league. The game was a load of fun despite not following soccer any other time of the year. I keep telling myself that I need to try to really dig my claws into a local sporting team, but I always end up just watching Star Trek or something instead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433175960-BPPMI4QC33L4OFSTCBZ6/Pride+Mural+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-48.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.27.23 Love Wins ArtWorks’ ‘Love Wins’ mural was recently completed and a dedication party was held at Queen City Radio this afternoon. Designed by Matthew Dayler (left) of Chroma Projects, the mural was painted by 12 apprentices joined by 20 P&G employees under the instruction of Daniel Baker (right) and Orion Inez. I photographed the party for ArtWorks and got another chance to get up on the roof of the building so I could get some footage of the details up close. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433163286-1GM86LXPUMT8CJEKOO7Y/142+Peete+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.28.23 Peete Street Petite Photographed an adorable <600 square foot home on Pete Street in Over-the-Rhine this afternoon. The house was built in 2017 and features one loft bedroom, a finished basement, two full bathrooms, a patio area, and a driveway. The kitchen (pictured) was my favorite room in the house for obvious reasons. This house isn’t for someone with loads of stuff. Ideally, this place is for a minimalist or someone who doesn’t have a bunch of material objects. I think I could’ve lived here comfortably before I met Ashley, but I don’t think I could do it now with another person and a dog in my life. There’s something so appealing to me about small spaces like this, especially when they’re beautiful and modern. While my apartment on 4th Street wasn’t this modern, it was a little smaller than this place and I lived comfortably there for years. This will be a long-term rental that the owners plan to put on the market shortly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693433181881-O6JKDS4X3VDVMMAR6LHE/ZFC_8037-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.29.23 Murmuration I was attempting to photograph the new mural going in by Sycamore Place Lofts when a sizable murmuration of birds flew into frame from behind it. It’s nice when nature helps make a straight-forward image better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693445761573-6L4MRZDTTI9XTICXCY6W/ZFC_8051-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.30.23 M2 Air As my surgery date inches closer, so too does my worry about how I will work from my desk. I have a nice iMac and a great iPad Pro that take care of almost everything I need, but in order to keep my leg elevated post-op, I will need to work from the couch or from bed. And the work I’ll be doing exists largely in Adobe Premiere Pro, which iPad cannot run. To ensure I do not miss out on work, I picked up a MacBook Air with the M2 chip that will allow me to work from wherever without limitation. I didn’t necessarily WANT another MacBook after ditching my old one for the iMac, but now that I am fully mobile without limitations on what I can use application-wise, it is a relief. Tiffany and Steven, who recently moved to San Jose because he got a job at Apple, were able to get me their employee discount on it. I really appreciate them being so kind and helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887292093-6LMZACBOER0HR0ENDRIK/ZFC_8310-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2023 - 8.31.23 The Biggest Surprise After Ashley and I landed in LaGuardia Airport and met up with Aaron and Chris, we went to our Airbnb in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood and dropped off our luggage. After that, we started what will be a four-day excursion through NYC. I won’t outline the entire trip in these daily posts; I’m going to publish an actual blog post about the whole trip sometime after it’s over. NYC is the last major US city that I’ve been planning to visit but haven’t gotten to yet. Honestly, I’ll be glad when this trip is over so people stop exclaiming, “WHAT!? YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO NEW YORK?” like I just revealed I’m an alien from another dimension. Nothing about NYC is surprising to me. The culture, the aesthetic, the pros and cons—all of it has been documented in excruciating detail by generations of Americans and visitors for decades. Walking through Park Slope was lovely and matched the image I had of it in my head perfectly. I’m glad I visited Brooklyn Heights, took that iconic shot of the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo, walked to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge, saw Wall Street, the Oculus, the 9/11 memorial, and gazed out for miles from atop One World Trade during sunset. I’m thankful to have stepped foot in Times Square at night and seen the billboards, the impossibly long lines at street vendor carts, and ridden both the air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned subway trains. All of it, while absolutely awesome to experience firsthand, was unsurprising. However, the only thing that truly surprised me was Grand Central Station. As a teenager, I had an oversized black and white photo of the station taken in probably the 40s on my wall. I knew Grand Central was beautiful, but seeing it with my own eyes was unreal. It was more grand, more jaw-dropping, more enormous, more everything. It totally blew me away and I didn’t expect that to be the thing that got me during my first trip to New York. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-sep-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887458860-V5DDIE5OG5JC9KJ3FQVH/ZFC_8726.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.1.23 Bustin’: It Makes Me Feel Good I cannot begin to describe how much good shit I saw today. From climbing the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty to eating pizza in the East Village, walking the mammoth streets of SOHO to eating one of the finest cannoli I’ve ever had in Little Italy, it was a very full day. Manhattan’s Chinatown is one of the most fun and photogenic places I’ve ever photographed, and walking the Highline to the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere made for one helluva night. But the thing I adored most today was checking off something I’ve had pinned for awhile in Tribeca: Hook & Ladder 8, otherwise known as the Ghostbusters firehouse. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters were two of my earliest childhood fascinations. While both were centered in New York, the Ghostbusters’ firehouse was something I really wanted to see. Today, I got that chance. Not only did I get to see and photograph it from all sides, but I also bought a shirt and a sticker from a firefighter who tends to a merch board under a small Ghostbusters shrine within the first 10 feet of the entrance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887458853-GICTFXPBL01FVE9GH5OY/ZFC_9161-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.2.23 Entertaining Tourists After Chris, Aaron, and Ashley decided to get a second massage in Manhattan’s Chinatown, we headed to Union Square before walking through the Flatiron District and Gramercy Park, then up 5th Avenue. We saw 30 Rock, I flipped off Trump Tower, ate some mediocre street food, and we found our way to Central Park before Ashley needed to lay down in the grass to rest her aching back from the previous two days of walking a total of nearly 30 miles. The plan was to walk the park to Harlem, but it wasn’t in the cards for Ashley. While in the park, I saw a boatload of activity from bubble blowers to rollerbladers, musicians, photoshoots, and more. Despite everyone doing borderline crazy activities in public, they remained practically invisible and oblivious to everyone around them. This woman was riding a Segway around the Bethesda Fountain plaza trying to put this snake over people’s shoulders. I never saw her take any money from anyone, so I really don’t know what the end goal was for this. People-watching in New York is unparalleled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887467516-TZMZHTUEL3FRUQ1HRVUJ/ZFC_9268-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.3.23 Subterranean Retail We’d spent enough time in Manhattan on this trip already, so we checked out Williamsburg before heading east toward Queens. Jackson Heights, which has been dubbed “the most culturally diverse neighborhood in New York, if not on the planet” by the NYT, was incredible to visit due primarily to how different it felt from the other areas we’d visited thus far. It was all street vendors, local markets, textile dealers, fruit stands, and I didn’t hear a word of English from anyone outside our group the entire time I was walking around. It was truly awesome. One of the things I like about Queens is how much of it boasts elevated railroad tracks. The subway is great, but it’s fun to get to look out at the neighborhood below when riding. However, we stumbled upon these subterranean shops within one of the stations (I forget which one) and I thought it was extraordinarily cool that retail like this survives and thrives despite being totally invisible from street level. After leaving Jackson Heights, we ended up meeting Paul and Kristen in the quiet, almost suburban neighborhood of Forest Hills before heading to Flushing for dinner and then Kew Gardens to see Paul’s house. The subway trip back to Brooklyn was a little bit of a hot, disgusting nightmare, and I’ve never felt more relieved to take a shower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1693887466567-UN6QAAZCLR1JSM4TQD01/ZFC_9334-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.4.23 Departing LaGuardia Our trip to NYC came to an end this morning. Chris flew home around noon, so Aaron and Ashley and I went to a cafe for a little bit before Ubering to LaGuardia for a 2:30 PM return flight to Cincinnati. As the plane took off, I was delighted to see that the city could be seen from my side of the plane. Though shooting through greasy thick glass doesn’t make for the best image, I’m happy I got to see the city one last time from the air. This was an incredibly fun and fulfilling trip. Counting down the days I get to go back and dig deeper into more of the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289097227-R7U68AAPJ79ZPT35861X/IMG_5268.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.5.23 An Oddity We went to Fresh Thyme to do the big shop and I noticed the carts have a little cup holder at the ‘nose’ of the cart. I’m guessing this is so you can enjoy a beverage while shopping, but it makes me think the design assumes you’ll be towing the cart instead of pushing it? Why else would the cup holder be at the opposite end of the vessel from where the driver is supposed to propel it? Is this even a cup holder or something else? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289085514-SSTSO60DFBY1CICMHARC/DSC_2277-Edit.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.6.23 Lifestyle Photography Back to work today. Did a photoshoot with a local architect this morning at UC. The task was to capture the food court in action with students doing their thing in different spaces. While this is largely unedited and needs a load of additional touching up, it’s indicative of the goal of this project. I have a lot of work ahead of me with this shoot. Since almost no one in the food court was aware of what we were trying to do, it was difficult to get it perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289086159-5HFQJJD2ER0OHIOQFIHD/IMG_5305.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.7.23 Can’t Win Them All Met up with Travis at Binski’s for a little happy hour hang that turned into an 11 PM Camp Washington Chili run. We discussed NYC and the greatness of Chris Glass (hello if you’re reading this, Chris). Rob and Jake (Dust Village) joined later on. It was a good time in a good bar. Also, I recently learned a guy I’ve hung out with in group settings over the years doesn’t like me! I don’t see him much anymore due to past drama with mutual friends, and I’m 99% certain I haven’t done anything personally to earn his ire, but it was interesting to know there is someone out there with this feeling. I’ve been told it’s more of a him-problem than it is a me-problem. You can’t win them all. I suppose I will do my best to avoid contact going forward since it’s unwanted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694289089935-A332BLJNNRVR6F1I69K1/IMG_5312.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.8.23 That Bad Arcade Game You Always Play Ashley, Travis, Ronny, and I went out to a few bars and one restaurant in Over-the-Rhine before landing at Level 1—the barcade that replaced 16-Bit. We landed at the Turtles arcade game that I’ve played many times for the last 30+ years and always forget is not good. Nostalgia is a helluva drug. We liked this game as kids, but it isn't very good. The last few times I’ve run into it in arcades, I merrily take the controls, ready to relive childhood only to quickly remember how bad it actually is. On coin operation, I rarely made it to scene 2 before my turtle died, and, quarter-less, I was forced to walk away. These machines were programmed to eat coins with floppy hitboxes and confusion-inducing overcrowding of enemies on screen. Since Level 1 has it on free play mode, we kept smashing the credit button for lives and it didn’t matter. After 30 minutes of slapping two buttons and moving a joystick around, dying 300 times, and walking away to get a beer only to return to discover our turtles were still alive, we beat the game. The ending was wholly unsatisfying, of course. But that cityscape on the controller panel is so good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694380931448-ERXVZU8V3Q8T5FOCK783/ZFC_9407-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.9.23 1820 Vine I led friends from La Ofrenda to Somerset and stopped at the corner of McMicken and Vine. I’ve always admired this flatiron building but haven’t been able to get a photo I really like of it before. When the firetruck started inching closer into frame, I knew this was my chance. The oddly shaped sign jutting from the side of the building used to say “GROCERY” at the top and “OHIO LOTTERY” at the bottom with a bottle of Coca-Cola in between. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694404173420-V44KZNJ1MAPIDWURMUK6/ZFC_9478.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.10.23 Stark Street The weather was exceptional for a bike ride this evening. Having added new stickers to my bike that I’d acquired over the last couple of months, I wanted to get out and enjoy the exercise before the doc cuts me open next week. I initially felt discomfort while riding in that leg, but after about 15 minutes of pedaling, it quieted down enough. With the Zfc in my bag, I set out across NKY and eventually found my way to Cincinnati. Took a circuitous route fueled entirely by whichever direction had the least amount of traffic and best scenery in that moment. Saw three classic cars parked on three different streets. Before heading home, I made a stop at the Square to refill my water bottle and marvel at how good I felt physically and mentally. I think this is why dogs like to play so hard; when you physically exercise, you feel so much better in every way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694486822096-3YXGAKI3QWUPS812OTBB/The+Lofts+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.11.23 Sit Down What a day. Let me get the less-than-good news out of the way first. My main client owes me a considerable amount of money from unpaid invoices from the last several months and it's causing me some financial stress as a result. Then, I managed to muck up my shoot schedule for another client today and showed up at the wrong property at the wrong time, causing a level of professional embarrassment I didn’t expect to endure this afternoon. Finally, after stressing about money and looking the fool, some rude teens on the street mocked my bald spot—a physical issue I have no control over and about which I’m very insecure—while I was walking into the post office and minding my own business. I do not get emotional often, but today’s onslaught of stresses and insecurities really managed to pry open something I wasn’t expecting to confront. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1694566921542-Q31M07JHCWLU9UNV6GKW/NZ9_2612-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.12.23 Yard & Company’s New Digs Kevin asked me to photograph Yard & Company’s new home base on Pleasant Street. It has some neat features their designer included, like this ‘portal’ between rooms. The colorful, industrial space is versatile in utility with loads of room to spread out and work or convene for meetings. There’s also a flex space with a garage door that opens up to the street behind the muralized sliding barn doors in the background of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074291095-055YWHPQGCG1EZQTD86Y/IMG_5414.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.13.23 That Feeling When… …you’re an orange ball and a big grizzly bear is about to chomp on you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074290320-STOU0BS3AY92CM5HXFYC/ZFC_9521.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.14.23 Shut ‘Er Down This week has been an unusually difficult one—money stresses, incorrect schedules, hurt feelings, and two divorce announcements in the family (not Ashley and I). To top it off, a pipe burst in my basement this morning! Hopefully that’s the encore to the shit show. Here’s the artist formerly known as The Chong bathed in Golden Hour light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074195549-EMMPSAUSHVRFV22WPQ06/IMG_5465.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.15.21 Pizza Hunting Ashley, a work-from-home employee, was sitting on the porch doing the aforementioned work from the comfort of the porch when I heard her say, “Oh yeah, that’s the one I want. Dr. Dre.” Thinking she was celebrating the end of the workweek early with a classic hip-hop album or playlist, I looked up to see which she was about to play. Neither. She was researching which Dewey’s pizza she wanted that evening… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074195650-ZEDDGZ8EVZ18QJU03Y93/IMG_5513.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.16.23 Final Bike Ride For a Little Bit Erica retrieved her bike from her previous household last week and posted about wanting to ride. We made a plan to convince our significant others, Steve and Ashley, to join us and scheduled a ride along the bike trail starting at Lunken Airport. From there, we’d ride straight to Fifty West for burgers and drinks before returning to Lunken and never touching a city street with car traffic. It was SO FUN. They are not avid riders, so we took it slow and steady. Steve rented an electric Red Bike as he was the only one who didn’t own a bike. The path wound through the woods, over the glistening river, and I used the Beechmont connector for the first time since it was built (pictured). The trail had minimal bicycle and pedestrian traffic along the way. I’m used to having to watch my back for cars and had forgotten how peaceful a trail ride could be. I also forgot how soon the sun has begun to set as summer winds down. We ended up having to ride through the night back to Lunken. My lights were bright enough to lead the way, and Steve’s Red Bike also did a decent job of illuminating our path, so it wasn’t difficult. We probably weren’t supposed to be on the trail after dark, but it was still a load of fun riding with three people I genuinely love to pieces. (Riding bikes with Steve specifically was an unofficial bucket list item for me.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074202697-KACC9DPZT3KCTEJJ8C7A/IMG_5556.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.17.23 Garden Spider After volunteering to hold a 5-foot python over my shoulder at the farmer’s market in the park this morning, we visited Mom and Dad’s house. Myrtle swam in their community pool as it was the final day of the season, and was open to dogs, too. While in their backyard, I saw this wicked garden spider perched in the middle of a web it made between two bushes. Getting close enough to take a macro photo of it required a level of bravery I’m unaccustomed to having. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695074203275-C91PCGHCNIGZPXV17UOL/IMG_5562.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.18.23 Incapacitated For a Bit “It’ll be either a quick recovery or you’ll be off your feet for six weeks,” the doc told me in July when he set up my surgery date. “It depends on what procedure we need to do, and we can’t know that until we get in there." Thankfully, I will be back on my feet within probably a week due to it being the “easy” procedure. Glad this is over. I haven’t had surgery since 1995. It was strange getting undressed, putting on surgical clothing, and having my knee shaved. Getting the IV placed and having to quietly (re: anxiously) wait to be wheeled into operating room #9 was uncomfortable, too. It was strange being physically strapped to the bed, my arms spread, and watching masked strangers stare down into my eyes as they administered the anesthesia, waiting for me to fade. Unlike the first time I was put under, it didn’t happen in the blink of an eye; I felt a minor passage of time while in that state. Despite it all, it went as smoothly as possible, and I’m thankful to be over this hump. I’ll be on my couch trying not to be extremely online if you need me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695241276714-8PDB07IQFTCWMGGYABQX/IMG_5580.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.19.23 Creative Solutions Never underestimate the usefulness of a high-quality shirt with a breast pocket, especially when you do not have available hands to transport items between rooms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695418582611-MMISVRJ98ZJCC2MMCX4Q/IMG_5588.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.20.23 My Nemesis I lived in mid-rise buildings with elevators for years. Would’ve been nice to have this procedure done then and not now when everything is separated by these pesky things. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695418582611-M5U5FPCZYIKJ35SZ3DY7/IMG_5598.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.21.23 Playtime Ashley left for Key West today, so it’s me and Myrt for the rest of the week and weekend. As I’m still couch-ridden and largely immobile, Myrtle has become extra stir crazy. I put a blanket over her and she got up, turned around, and started blindly trying to bite my hand. As you can tell from her expression, she was in a silly mood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695418585744-IRL2HGZUS6M4XAJ1WBLF/IMG_5603.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.22.23 Sorry I apologize for the dip in quality of this project over the last week. Very little is happening right now. My family came down today, but I forgot to take a photo. I could talk about the unusual-for-me amount of TV shows and movies I’m watching, but that’s probably not worth reading. This project will likely be boring over the next couple weeks unless recovery speeds up a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695669802824-85PB5EG53DJ182Y15HBY/IMG_5619.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.23.23 The Porch The porch is effortlessly zen during comfortable sunset evenings. With the beautiful weather today, it wasn't easy to want to stay inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695669801980-OZK2X1OW3G8UM97TKREX/IMG_5673.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.24.23 Geode Esme, my niece, had her first birthday party today. Steve drove me up to my sister’s house in Washington Courthouse to celebrate. While there, Kiran, my other niece, cracked open some fresh geodes and wanted to show me. She is so sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695997982626-LZBONUI43KEMXOF4BTZD/ZFC_9614.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.25.23 The Culprit Doc took pictures while inside my knee last week and assures me this little piece of the meniscus was the culprit. He trimmed it off, allowing the rest of the meniscus to avoid tearing further. I think this is the most intimate image of myself I’ve ever put on the internet. Yes, I spot-lit the printout and took a photo of it. No, I have nothing more interesting to photograph at the moment. Yes, I did spend a few minutes fussing over the blown-out portions of this image thinking I had my camera settings wrong when, in fact, the original image featured peaked highlights already. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695997983399-97GWE37ZEYDS3FMKUD22/IMG_5684.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.26.23 Ellie the Podcaster Steve wanted to podcast about No One Will Save You, and since the WGA is finished striking, we are apparently allowed to talk about it on-air. Ellie joined us for the majority of the show. It made the whole experience 200% cuter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1695997986260-IDSHXRSM56HPHBY84ZTT/ZFC_9566.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.27.23 Cat Walk Myrtle has been extremely bored lately. We toss ball in the backyard, but it’s not enough. She wants to explore, sniff, and walk around the neighborhood. After a few PT sessions and some ibuprofen, I felt strong enough to try walking down to the Avenue and back with her. Of course, it’s not a selfless act; I really wanted to get out of the house and hopefully photograph something other than a box of cereal. Along the walk, this cat came out of the bushes and meowed for pets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696023047190-JJQ654197KUNNX7LUYVK/ZFC_9577-Enhanced-NR-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.28.23 Good Burl After PT this morning, I stopped by the shop to photograph a table John and the boys finished. This walnut burl “cookie” has been in the shop since last summer, so it’s kind of wild that it’s finally finished. It was for a client who was in no rush, apparently. They had some difficulty finishing it but finally figured it out. I think they said this will be an entry table for a foyer in someone’s house. Imagine: a foyer with enough space for a bespoke piece of furniture like this. Ah, to be wealthy… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696363924888-4VIWA9RA1E9PV5GKHHFA/ZFC_9619-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.29.23 Night On Vine Went and checked out Bee’s OTR—the new BBQ spot from Madisonville that went into the former Pontiac space on Vine Street. My expectations were somewhere in the middle range as I expected it to be good but not blow my mind. I was pleased to discover it exceeded my expectations. Afterward, we wandered over to Lost & Found. Along the way, I took a photo of the Cincinnati Color Building which I’ve found ironically named since it was painted beige after being white for as long as I remember it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696363926035-W9SHEV3RN8YUQJIXKDSV/ZFC_9628-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2023 - 9.30.23 September 30th It’s my favorite month of the year. We put up decorations the day before. Also, I rode an electric RedBike home tonight from downtown and it was perfectly fine. I think I’m successfully good to ride now. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-oct-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696364427316-1KBGM71DYEFS7JCLJGWW/ZFC_9630.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.1.23 Porch Decor Put the Grim Reaper out on the porch this year next to the string lights. Thought the contrasts on its face were neat! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696364428175-RIT7KRK2SSDK3YWIJA0M/ZFC_9634.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.2.23 East Row Walk I walked almost three miles this evening. From my home to the East Row in Newport and back. It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on that part of Newport as autumn begins because the trees start turning quicker than you’d think, and catching them at their peak is a simple pleasure I look forward to every year. Though the trees have yet to really turn, this odd piece of architecture stood out to me while perusing the neighborhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696795986978-DC5EGCLHCNN3PNBRKAP2/IMG_5731.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.3.23 Vintage Halloween Chelsea and Vince have this incredible vintage molded-plastic statue in their front yard. She said it once belonged to her grandfather. We have almost no extra storage space for Halloween or any other seasonal decor, but if I found this in the wild for a reasonable price, I wouldn’t think twice about getting it and finding a place for it in the basement for 11 months out of the year. It’s just too fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696795995553-GQI29FKGZKKUVBLPG7R8/ZFC_9646.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.4.23 Quiet Block We’ve been eating at home a lot lately to save money and be healthier. Ashley got this fantastic cookbook written by an influencer she follows on Instagram, and his recipes are wonderful. Nothing we’ve eaten out of this cookbook yet has been anything but delicious. That said, we do crave the opportunity to go out to eat. Tonight, we walked down to the Avenue, found a bench, and waited for Chelsea to join us on our walk to Los Potros—a Mexican joint that opened up over the summer in Dayton. I wasn’t inspired to photograph anything at the restaurant, but I liked looking at this corner as we waited on the bench. It was busier than this photo suggests; I just waited for a split second of emptiness to get my frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696795989529-08YL9W02A4NK1M5LVMQQ/IMG_5746.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.5.23 Shop Small I think I’m in a little bit of a creative funk. I haven’t found a lot to photograph lately that’s not Myrtle. I hope I'll figure this out as I get back to physical photoshoots for work. Whenever this happens, I remember all the other times it’s happened and feel relieved that it will eventually pass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696796000035-QLV60AKRAOT679NBT62A/ZFC_9676-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.6.23 Fall Fest Remember two days ago when I posted a photo of the empty street corner? This photo from tonight is one block south of that corner. Scores of people showed up to Bellevue’s Fall Fest for drinks, food, live music, hay rides for kids, and local goods vendors. Even beyond this closed-off portion of Washington Street, the sidewalks were packed with people wandering from shop to shop and bar to bar, many with DORA cups in hand. It was heartening to see so many come out, and I’m not sure I can think of another time when Bellevue was this busy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696796004593-HC68TB93CMFYOO9QJ2GL/ZFC_9681-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.7.23 Halloween House I cannot remember the last time I had nothing to do on a Saturday night. Ashley was out, and after texting three friends to see if they wanted to get together without any success, it was time to stay in and catch up on some of my shows. But being someone who cannot sit still and has had an abundance of sitting still time lately, I needed to get out. With fully pressurized bike tires and safety lights glowing brightly on the front and back of my bike, I set out to ride to one of my favorite Halloween locations: The J.C. Baum House. The owners started putting up a killer Halloween display a few years ago, and ever since seeing it for the first time, I’ve made a mental note to return to see it each year. As expected, this year’s display was incredible. From the oversized monsters to the dynamic, colorful lighting, I’ve seen no other house in the area that does Halloween as lavishly and fun as this one. None of it is gory and horrifying. It’s tongue-in-cheek without being goofy. I hope whoever lives here does this for years to come. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696815805410-8MHJULM1EH6IRXM8GUNW/NZ9_3610-2.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.8.23 Autumn Is Finally Here The weather’s cooled, the leaves are falling, and the smell of bonfires fills the air all around the neighborhood. I hope this season lasts as long as possible before winter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1696900585777-E2885UUEIPCDL52YR0BQ/Untitled-1.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.9.23 6 Years Old She went to Pets Mart and got two treats, then she got a pup cup and a little bit of chicken at the drive-thru, then we went on a walk and ran around the empty lot up the street. Not a bad birthday celebration for this little pup! Glad I got the top image when I did because the bottom image more accurately illustrates her mood this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919992285-UABPOQOSA27RN90XBAK7/NZ9_5044-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.10.23 Skyline Shot GBBN sent me to Louisville this morning for a shoot inside a hospital. We only had two hours to get everything we needed before we had to be out, and today was the last day possible to get in and grab photos before they started using the space full-time. Despite the pressure to get it right in so little time, I think we did well overall. Afterward, I headed toward downtown and stopped at Royals Hot Chicken for a tasty sandwich and mac and cheese in a neighborhood called NuLu. I haven’t looked it up at the time of this writing, but I suspect it’s one of those marketing terms used to rebrand a gentrifying area. Despite the few times I've visited, I didn’t have a skyline shot of Louisville. Before heading home, I drove across the bridge and stopped at Ashland Park on the Jeffersonville side for a photo. Unfortunately, it was noon, so the lighting wasn’t ideal. I don’t think Louisville has an especially impressive skyline compared to nearby cities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914241423-BAMP2SXOGXWQ5X03VA13/207+Sterrett+-+Phil+Armstrong+-191.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.11.23 Back At It It’s been a little bit since I’ve done a proper real estate listing photo shoot. Rebecca needed this beauty in Wallace Woods photographed, so I did my thing and returned later for a night shot. I’ve adopted a new-to-me thing recently where, instead of increasing clarity on my shots, I actually reduce it by -10 to give elements a slightly ethereal glow. This image benefitted from it, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697920014800-9GAWOCIEGY2XB3X6A2W6/NZ9_5529.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.12.23 Yard’s 5-Year Anniversary Yard & Co. made it five years and built a new headquarters on Pleasant Street recently. This evening was the celebration for both the anniversary and the new digs. The party was well attended despite what this image suggests; I got an early start photographing it then shifted from documentarian to party-goer as more and more people showed up. Half of Bellevue’s local government showed up (Kevin and Joe are Bellevuians) which was nice to see. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914262710-M4HQGJMMUHYVPIT1N4G2/IMG_5867.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.13.23 Friday the 13th We were supposed to camp this evening, but forecasted rain convinced us otherwise. It was a bit of a relief for me. Ashley’s the only one between the two of us who wants to sleep outside. Knowing I had a bed waiting for me at the end of the evening was a nice feeling. Instead, we went to Chelsea and Vince’s house for a bonfire in 80-degree weather and ate Indian food. We successfully made it back to the house without getting rained on, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914275281-DF0LE9SIHDKC822AFDI3/IMG_5940.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.14.23 Happy Birthday, Annie My friend Annie had a 35th birthday party at her house this evening. It was 1960s-themed, so I wore a suit, broke out the old Raybans, and did my best to fit in. Everyone else was dressed much more period-appropriate than I did, including Ashley. The party was a lot of fun. They had an open bar with a bartender who kept making me tiki drinks and Old Fashioneds all night. Dessert was a delicious cake of some sort. Overall, it was one of the best birthday parties I’ve attended in the last several years. While I usually scoff at costume parties like this (I hate buying stuff I’ll only use once), it ended up being uniquely memorable, and I get why switching things up this way elevates the experience. While I’m not yet ready to reveal it, the fun of this costume party has emboldened me to construct another one for two more parties later this month. It’s going to be much more elaborate than simply putting on a suit… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914182470-FTD2YAVXK6MD6V5NOHAO/IMG_5946-2.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.15.23 Sunday Brunch Went to brunch with friends this morning. One of them is moving to Germany to be with his partner, and that partner is currently in town one last time before the move. We had brunch at Alcove on Vine Street. I guess I should’ve photographed them this one final time, but I think that would’ve made me feel a sense of loss. I know I’ll see them both again, and I’m genuinely happy they are finally going to be together permanently, but I am quietly sad I will see less of them going forward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914108578-GOCIBTBAXZ3W9C0GEDQD/IMG_5950.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.16.23 Secret Project There are two Halloween parties I’m scheduled to attend at the end of the month. To participate, I’m building a costume out of wood. If I can make it work the way I want it to, I think it’ll look pretty awesome and make people laugh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697914108335-54ZXHI4D19K7FIVHLGK3/IMG_5967.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.17.23 Needy Ashley’s out of town on a work trip, so this one is extra needy. We throw ball, play tug with her toys, and I give her endless pets, but it’s never enough. Unless I direct her to go lay down, she will just stand and stare at me like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919956958-ADCX9SWGLS5NTIJUPYU6/IMG_5973.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.18.23 Ashamed of Myself Had an errand to run in Oakley and was influenced enough by some guy on Instagram to want to try the Burger King Ghost Pepper Whopper—you know, the one with the orange bun and black sesame seeds for Halloween. But, to my surprise, the east side of Cincinnati within the loop appears to be a Burger King dead zone, so I opted for nearby Swenson’s instead. Long story short, my meal wasn’t great, and after eating a sub-par burger, I didn’t feel remotely sated. That stupid orange bun Whopper was still weighing heavily on my mind. My urge to try it hadn’t been distracted by throwing the Swenson’s stick in the other direction. Knowing Ashley was out of town and no one would notice, I resolved to drive to a Burger King, get a second dinner, and finally scratch the itch. It wasn’t good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697920010922-UEUF44XZX8F2NWR4KTSI/NZ9_6593-2.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.19.23 Thanks, Dumb Luck Steve and I drove to Nashville to work with his video production company on a piece about a family with an important story about Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I won’t go into the story's details here, but it’s a good one and I’m excited to see how the video turns out when it’s finished. After filming the family all evening, we decided to go down to the river to get b-roll of Nashville’s downtown with the drone. When we arrived, weather conditions weren’t optimal, so he postponed the flight. Under spitting rain and flashes of lightning, it wasn’t a good idea to risk the drone for a night shot. But since we were already there, I thought I’d get a quick night shot from the pedestrian bridge. It wasn’t clear when I’d be back in Nashville again, and this seemed like a good photo op. I set up rather quickly and programmed a 13-second exposure on manual. Removed my hat and placed it over the camera's body to keep it out of the rain, hit the shutter, and squinted through the tiny drops that began collecting on my glasses. I turned to talk to Steve for a second and thought I saw a flash in the distance out of the corner of my eye. The sudden realization that I might’ve just gotten something special struck me like a jolt of electricity. When the exposure was finished and the screen refreshed with the latest image, I couldn’t believe what I’d accidentally gotten. I wish I could say I’d planned this and figured the storm in the distance would yield the perfect image-maker at that moment, but my ambitions weren’t that high. I’ve only been a photographer for about a decade, and I’ve rarely gotten lightning in any images during that time. It’s hard enough to time it right, but making it fit perfectly into a composition that makes sense is even more complicated. This is one of my favorite images I’ve ever made, and I have dumb luck to thank for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919976802-SHZY73TEJRU2C8PYJRMC/NZ9_7429.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.20.23 Kentucky Stonehenge Steve and I stayed the night in Nashville, woke up early to do more filming, and began the journey back to Cincinnati around midday. Along the way, we decided to stop in Munfordsville, KY, to see something called “Kentucky Stonehenge.” We briefly looked at the Google listing but didn’t want to ruin the surprise. It seemed more fun to know it existed without knowing any details beyond the address. Since it was along the route home, it made sense to stop and check it out. After all, stopping for roadside attractions in small towns is the hallmark of an American road trip. When we got there, Kentucky Stonehenge revealed itself to be situated in someone’s yard. Feeling a bit awkward and like we were intruding, I questioned our decision to stop but ultimately ignored my reservations about it. Steve parked the van next to the hand-made “parking” sign and what I can only describe as a donations urn. Apparently, this unique place was built at some point by a man who passed away in 2022. According to a news report detailing his passing, the builder said he was initially told by God to build a cross out of rocks, then moved on to building Stonehenge sometime thereafter. The domain for Kentucky Stonehenge is no longer active, unfortunately, so I don’t know the entire history of the place. All I know is WNKY reported that it took him five years to build it, he was very interested in rocks (obviously), and the Facebook page for Kentucky Stonehenge was created in 2013. Anyway, check it out if you’re ever passing by Munsfordville. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1697919938744-NLOPGTJ084Q1IVQGMMEJ/IMG_6057.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.21.23 Leo’s and Dominoes Sometime after seeing Kentucky Stonehenge, Ronny texted to say he and the guys were going to Uncle Leo’s to play Dominos and drink beer into the wee hours of the morning. Though exhausted from traveling and working over the last two days, I am not accustomed to saying “no” to friends when spontaneous plans arise. Since my folks were watching Myrtle and Ashley was still away, it seemed like a perfect night to go out without any responsibility. Hopped in the car, picked up a Crave Clutch of White Castle sliders, and hit up Leo’s. We played 20 rounds of Dominoes late enough into the night that this image was taken sometime around 1 AM—two hours before I’d eventually go home. Though the image was spiritually October 20th, the time code makes it an October 21st photo. I’m counting it as such. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279635799-RD7I9L4Q4EFTW9G1OQN3/ZFC_9744-HDR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.22.23 Work Prep Got a late start today. Yesterday, I avoided being social and just worked on some projects around the house while I had it entirely to myself. My costume is coming along, finished some leftover photo work, and repaired something for my sister. After Friday’s nearly 23-hour day, I was ready for some downtime. Today was much the same. I have to go to Indy tomorrow to do headshots for an entire office of architects, so I devised a plan: use my laptop and tether the camera straight to it so I can show everyone their headshot before they leave. Ideally, this will ensure everyone comes away from the experience feeling like they contributed and had some creative influence on the process. The tether method allows me to show them a live feed of what the camera sees and how their headshot will turn out after taking it. Hopefully, that means they will be satisfied with how they look overall. Loaded up the cart with all my gear, and ready to get this done tomorrow. Fingers crossed, this process goes smoothly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279632919-QTQDYQV6791QM92DNVM9/ZFC_9753-HDR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.23.23 Successful Process Showing everyone their headshot as they were taken proved to be a success. One person complimented the setup and was vocal about how much she liked seeing the headshots live. That went a long way to getting people loosened up and comfortable enough to be themselves and not worry about what they’ll look like later. Many asked to do several versions before getting the one they wanted, tweaking their poses bit by bit until they found a frame they liked. Only three people didn’t seem overly enthused about the results, but I chalk that up to them not enjoying getting their photo taken more than anything else. The best part? When I got home, all the images were loaded and ready to make final adjustments. All rejected frames were removed, and only the flagged images were saved. The process cut down on time, ensured people were as satisfied as possible with their headshots, and allowed delivery of these final images to the client later that evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279630478-SQXZ2A8ZSPX6QK6PWIPY/IMG_6103.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.24.23 Wally Lunch Met up with Wally for lunch and he took me by his studio at Curiosity on Main Street. We chatted about tech and process, eventually ending up on the differences between DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro. Their office is moving next year and Wally’s pumped about how the new studio space will be set up, so he made this foam diorama to scale as a way to visualize where everything will go. “Better than drawing it out,” he said. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698279637045-GCYGIMP1ROE44JGR3RFK/ZFC_9738.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.25.23 Costumes “Can I take your picture?” “Sure!” (Snap) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691477114-8M8ROKG5T4XT39B12NA2/ZFC_9760.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.26.23 Egypt It was the final Tiki Night of the year (and apparently for the foreseeable future) at Japp’s this evening. Travis, Rob, and I met up for some tropical cocktails and, through the deployment of mutual friends texting him, coaxed Ronny out to meet us. He brought his very sweet and happy little dog, Egypt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691470794-YCB0DKI6B868GIR32TZI/IMG_6131.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.27.23 Bob’s Not a Dog Guy We went to a Cincinnati-themed costume party at Caitlyn and Brendan’s house in CUF this evening. Everyone had creative costumes that alluded to several Cincinnati things, from brands to murals and more. My costume was a cumbersome Carew Tower outfit that involved a 2D version of the building with a hole my face could poke through and shoulder straps on the opposite side that I wore as a reverse backpack. Bob and Erin-Marie joined the party at some point in the night, and Caitlyn’s pup (dressed as a cheese coney) stood patiently by Bob’s feet as he snacked. Bob is unabashedly not-a-dog-person, making the moment even funnier to me. I wish I’d gotten a clearer photo of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691477151-8DHIS1RIF9306X00SFOV/IMG_6161.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.28.23 Halloween Shenanigans What an evening! Mike and Maria hosted a killer party at their place, complete with spooky decor and loads of food and drink. Everyone showed up in costume and had a blast, including us. I made use of my Carew Tower for the second night in a row, which probably covers the cost of making it at this point. As the night descended into increasingly un-sober silliness, we made the collective decision to head out to Longfellow to finish out the evening. Mike dressed as Leatherface. Before the evening was through, Maria managed to snag his mask and try it on for size. I would be willing to bet money she doesn’t remember taking this grainy photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698691564502-DCYAKD5RG5NU90LSUHK9/IMG_6167.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.29.23 Sky Roof Sights Just a moment during my day when I looked up and saw something out of the ordinary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698692163101-QN4AL24LAG0YI7YVARSN/NZ9_8410.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.30.23 Truly Unnerving Photographed a doctor training session this morning. They were using these dummies as a way to get the hang of doing CPR and fitting breathing apparatuses. I find them unnaturally creepy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698893797918-X8WMZ10KT4AABHB2IF7F/ZFC_9766-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2023 - 10.31.23 Only Treats, No Tricks It was something like 40ºF outside, but dammit, I passed out candy to any kid brave enough to wander through the unseasonable cold. Ashley and Myrtle shivered on the porch above while I stood at the base of the stoop with the bowl of treats so no one had to climb up to us (and risk tripping in a costume). We only had about 30 people show up this year due to the weather. That means I need to eat half a bowl of Snickers, Almond Joy, and Twix for the next month. My life’s so hard. Thus ends another Halloween. I’m sad to see it go this year—more so than usual. This month’s busy schedule makes me feel like I didn’t soak it in like I have in the past. There’s always next year. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-nov-2023 daily 0.75 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1698894745990-KDSD67O07ZN2HM4BTRLS/Screenshot+2023-11-01+at+11.02.14%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.1.23 Gambled and Lost “Are you okay with the cars in the foreground of this shot? I don’t want to sink time into the Photoshop if I have to return for another shot,” I asked the architect over email. Usually I get a response rather quickly, but it’d been 30 minutes with no reply. Energized and ready to move forward, my impatience told me to go ahead and start removing all power lines, poles, and shadows. This would be one of the more challenging jobs I’ve done lately, so I thought that if I got started ASAP, I could get it back to the client sooner. Three hours later, at around the 80% finished mark, the architect replied and said they weren’t into the red car. Having gambled and looking more and more like I was going to lose hours of productivity, I tried changing the color of the red car so it would disappear more into the bottom of the frame. No dice. I’ll have to return and get a new image entirely. I’m wondering if I can’t splice a new car over the existing car, though. It’ll be tough, but I’m up for the challenge… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480286651-UKR0AHDLDM0ZWV8JH2LI/ZFC_9779.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.2.23 RIP As seen in Linden Grove Cemetery in Covington. I needed to photograph a storefront with very specific lighting, but the sun wasn’t in the right position when I made it over there. To burn some time until I could take the photo, I rode around the city and enjoyed the fresh air. This was taken during that hour and a half of aimless exploration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480280674-WFIZO2UPGPPEBVFY2RBD/IMG_6255.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.3.23 3 Years of Scrap It’s Ashley’s birthday. We went out to eat at Nada then came back to the house for a bon fire. I had 5 buckets of offcuts and scrap from woodworking projects over the years that were taking up space in my workshop. They met a fiery end in the pit and fueled our evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480287017-5Z6O2OJKRLAYRR2UU26K/NZ9_9707.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.4.23 Oops! Sometimes you don’t have a remarkable image for the day and all you have to post is an accidental long exposure of something indistinguishable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480283493-TB4MF4VHUP8QX0PJBKFD/IMG_6262.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.5.23 Toy Bin For a Dog I’m making Myrtle a new toy bin for the living room. The basket we have for her now is too deep for her to get at the toys at the bottom. This stylish trough will spread the toys out and the shallow container will be better for reaching toys at the bottom. I’m making it out of poplar and pre-made wooden legs I got on Amazon (didn’t feel like trying and failing to make legs this time). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480280252-9LVCTRXLX4LKHIACIRPU/H%26H+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.6.23 Updated Night Shot The fine folks at H&H wanted refreshed images of their storefront for the media. I did Golden Hour the other day, and tonight I stopped by to get night shots with the store lit from within. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699480289681-CMHZCBKJQM2V8558OOYL/IMG_6295.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.7.23 It’s Been Awhile Having no ability to record audio at a professional level and needing to figure that out before next week, I decided to pick up a set of Rode Wireless Pro mics. Not wishing to wait for delivery, this gave me the opportunity to go to Microcenter—a store that’s been around for as long as I can remember and still thoroughly enjoy. I cannot tell if Microcenter is self-aware or not, but its aesthetic inside and out screams late-90s to me. While it carries modern products, the inside of the store still feels like it’s trapped during the age of dial-up, Windows 95, Sega Genesis, and off-white CRT monitors that will inevitably flicker and buzz at some point. I genuinely love being able to pick up tech while getting a subtle dose of nostalgia during the ride. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699589881415-I7TDTDY94173H66NA401/NZ9_1611.png daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.8.23 Four Men Three men lean in around a circular table to listen to a story a fourth man is telling. Seconds later, everyone erupts into laughter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1699589874461-6A7BZ2CHICC4HQHQAJW5/ZFC_9851-Edit.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.9.23 Rode Wireless Pro I finally have good lavalier mics. Going to be using them this weekend for a video shoot inside a grocery store. Combining them with DaVinci Resolve, I feel confident I can make something slick for the client. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172585598-2YVC4IB3D2DLYY6W92I2/IMG_6314.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.10.23 Second Story Second Story in Covington is a great bar that I want to return to more often. I’m short on words at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172598866-CKUPZMKZIOVJ3OFXO42X/ZFC_9907.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.11.23 La Grange Ashley and I went to La Grange, KY this morning. She saw an article about it recently in Southern Living and thought it looked cute. She knew I would be interested in it because a freight train runs right along it’s Main Street. We took Myrtle with us and were surprised to learn every shop we went into allowed dogs inside—a small luxury we appreciate immensely. The local mercantile clerk said trains run through town on average about 12 times a day. At the time we spoke to her, she said we were “due for one” since she hadn’t seen one for several hours. Eagerly awaiting the photo opportunity a train passing through town would offer, I plotted the corner I’d run to when I heard the distant wail of its horn. We were there for three and a half hours. No train ever came. I couldn’t believe our luck. Guess we’ll just have to go back. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172595161-84X1I6C46LB2EBPQ02SI/NZ9_2013.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.12.23 Video-Making and the Floral World I guess I’m a professional videographer now. A prominent floral supplier (not Ashley’s company) hired me to co-direct and film a floral-based video for them using a display at the Newport Kroger store. The video will be used internally for training purposes. While it certainly won’t be interesting to many, I hope whoever watches it will find it helpful and engaging for the 60 seconds we aim to cut together. It's a tiny little project, and I’m thankful I get to work on something bite-sized to kick off this new career angle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172585548-J5LTIPPDQW3U39G1HRC4/IMG_6405.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.13.23 Video-Making and the Mural World Worked on finishing the first draft of a two-minute mini-documentary about the Cincinnati Pride mural ArtWorks made over the summer. I photographed the process months ago and recorded video while there. Using interviews with horrible audio from the dedication ceremony in September, I was able to put together a decent little video about it for ArtWorks. Waiting to hear back about further edits. I made the jump from Adobe Premiere Pro to DaVinci Resolve recently. After speaking with professionals in the industry, it’s clear many are either Premiere die-hards or making the jump to Resolve. Very few contemporary videographers and editors I’ve spoken to are using Final Cut any longer. The ones who are tell me they’re eyeballing their strategy to transition to Resolve. Before I get more into this, I decided I should probably hoist sails the way the industry’s blowing to make it easier on myself down the road. The best thing about Resolve is it’s a one-time fee of $300 for the full software without a monthly charge. Remember when using software wasn’t based on a subscription service? While there is a learning curve, I’m finding the all-in-one software remarkably easier to use overall than Premiere. I’ve already been able to create effects in Resolve that I couldn’t begin to tell you how to make in Premiere. This faster pipeline to make better, more polished content faster only reinforces my desire to keep using it. The amount of YouTube tutorials available, too, has been very helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172588959-0XEK17KL86EVA6VQ94KL/IMG_6407.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.14.23 Never Did This Before There are moments when we can say for certainty that we haven’t done something before, and that novelty makes us pause to appreciate uncharted territory, however mundane it may be. Placing a sealed bottle of red wine in the cup holder of the car is one of those times for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700172595391-UMXZ3O1MJK5MRLNO3CUR/NZ9_2042.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.15.23 The Bellevue Hill Park ‘N Tag The pavilion in Bellevue Hill Park is looking far more colorful than normal. I’m of two minds about this. On one hand, I think graffiti is an art form that enhances a space or wall considerably when done well. There are many examples of photogenic graffitied walls and buildings throughout the world that I appreciate. On the other hand, this specific mid-century pavilion was beautiful already without spray paint, and the graffiti here doesn’t do it for me at all. I wonder if anyone’s planning to remove this or if this will remain a canvas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593952182-RXO1XINVV0R9BRRB003T/CUF+Murals+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.16.23 Murals in CUF A client needs photos of several newer murals around CUF, so I went out on foot to grab as many as I could. The light wasn’t right for a couple of them, but I think this one turned out well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593951700-I62HSD2OZOT05PJIN0KO/CAM+Gala+2023+-+Phil+Armstrong+-241.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.17.23 CAM Gala 2023 What a night! The Art Museum had me photograph their annual end-of-year gala again. This year, I brought along a second shooter, Justin, to assist with coverage. The 2023’s theme was ‘We’ll Always Have Paris.’ The approach to the Great Hall (the one with the Steinberg mural) had street lamps with warm, flickering bulbs and two artificial trees that felt like they belonged on either side of a city street. A mime (pictured) wandered through the crowd and interacted in ways you’d imagine, often making an effort to photo-bomb my portraits. A man playing accordion in a beret slowly made his way through all the rooms, filling each one with Parisian tunes. Everyone was in great spirits and no one turned down the chance to be photographed. We worked for five and a half hours, capturing everything we could. As usual, the Great Hall is difficult to photograph due to its high ceilings that don’t bounce flash as easily as other rooms, but I think we still managed to gather a healthy gallery of images the museum will like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593958946-6BK2JW9LQ70G9LMX4SW1/IMG_6452-2.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.18.23 Nailed By Buttonz I spent the entire day processing and editing CAM photos from last night. Tonight, though, we went to Kiki in College Hill to get ramen. This is a few doors down. I wonder if the goat was actually at the photoshoot or if it was edited in later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593962857-3UVWA012X5KYJN1S6R1L/ZFC_9963.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.19.23 Out For a Walk CAM photos from Friday were still in need of processing, so I spent a good deal of the day doing that. Feeling bad for a very bored Myrtle, we did make time to walk her and get her out of the house. We’ve been treating her with kid gloves lately due to her still healing after her surgery. She wants to play and rough house, but we’re not taking a chance on her opening up that wound and having to return to the vet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700593963486-V8BASV5P6UV0SPZDWIHL/ZFC_9999-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.20.23 The Antiques We have this antique phone desk in my dining room that we placed an old rotary phone on. It’s not plugged in, nor does it have a wire any longer. It’s a color we liked (guessing it was manufactured in the 70s?), and thought it would look nice on this desk as a piece of idle decor. We found the phone at an antique show a couple of years ago, and the desk is a piece of furniture my grandmother once had in her hallway. I remember doing my math homework on it once when I was young. I like furniture that exists to serve a need that no longer exists. Even cordless phones were popularized in the 80s. The concept of needing a place to sit down where the telephone had to stay, while not something alien to my generation, is still wild. (We had a rotary in our household up until the 2000s.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1700594470650-U335IWDA9IFNZAHLMVG9/ZFC_9976-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.21.23 Lego Orchid Ashley got a neat Lego orchid for her birthday. I saw Chris Glass using construction paper as a simple mobile backdrop in Spring Grove Cemetery years ago, so I attribute learning the technique to him. He is inadvertently the creative director of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187966364-ZB31VU3GYEV6SVUCRKJQ/Sigma+Chi+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.22.23 Frat House This image took me somewhere around 3 hours to fully touch up. Removing conduit and utilities, track lighting installed in the wrong place, and color correcting using over ten different masks made crafting this particular shot a long, arduous task. All in all, I’m pleased with how it turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187970782-LRTLBZ55N5M31VSUKJ4Z/IMG_6499.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.24.23 Made a Turkey I was in charge of acquiring, cooking, and serving the turkey this year. For my first time ever, I think it went pretty well. I’m notoriously bad at cooking anything, so the fact that I managed to produce a decent turkey was a small miracle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187974018-J50R7WDIRQGV6NWN7DZY/IMG_6508.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.25.23 Rosemary Margarita Ashley made a rosemary margarita for a get-together we had this evening at our house. It was so pretty, I thought it should be commemorated with a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187966425-QUB89PAVRTTV6AR3ZIEC/ZFC_0005.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.25.23 Pub Mix Contest Allie and Travis hosted a party in which everyone made their own pub mixes, and attendees could give each a try. The mixes ranged from savory to sweet, with some spicier than others. I couldn’t decide whether I preferred the savory or sweet mixes more, honestly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187971572-K919KPTLOXBD120AMC3T/IMG_6515.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.26.23 Picture This Took this sign as a directive. Also, I do not feel well, and I’m going to bed early. Think I caught a bug over the weekend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701187975134-WLUDQ0DA0DISRBIWN8OM/IMG_6523.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.27.23 Snoot Stand A nasty cold took me out late last night and kept me in bed for the first half of the day before I managed to get downstairs to the couch. I had to cancel work and focus on recovery. Between bouts of heavy eyelids and sinus pressure, I watched TV and threw the many toys Myrtle delivered to the edge of the cushion beside me. When Ashley joined me on the couch, Myrtle decided snuggle time was more important than playtime. I sometimes like to put my hand beneath her chin and hold her little head up. She lay with her head in my hand for 15 minutes before I could no longer support her weight and gently let her go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701488851192-6WFWRZSDUQE93AHJ0ZG2/IMG_6530.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.28.23 Fell Off a Cliff Despite feeling well enough to sit at my desk and hammer out a half day of work, I started feeling absolutely horrible around 6 PM and made the decision to go to bed early. Fever kicked in, body aches, constant coughing and nose-blowing. The only reprieve I found from the symptoms was a video on YouTube where a guy built a log cabin under a large rock using only an axe, a saw, and some nails. Ashley decided to sleep in the basement to keep herself out of range of my coughing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701488850558-1PVXQNO5DE61HN2ER1A5/IMG_6540.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.29.23 Sleeping Buddy Last night’s sleep, if you could call it that, was awful. Fever dreams kept me waking up every 30 minutes or so, and my chest felt like it was on fire when I coughed. When dawn arrived, I managed to relax enough that I could get about an hour of sleep. Spent the rest of the day in bed and on the couch with no work done. Ashley didn’t fare well in the basement and wanted the bedroom again, so we swapped places. Myrtle, in a surprising move, decided to sleep with me this evening. I think she can tell something’s wrong. Need to kick this thing before an event I need to shoot Friday night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701488795617-9L0FYSS9D7QPUHUTHN0I/IMG_6541.jpg daily-photos-nov-2023 - 11.30.23 Bland Meal Fruit and vegetables? Check. Carbohydrates and protein? Check. Hydration? Check. This is possibly the healthiest meal I’ve eaten as of late, and since I taste nothing anyway due to this virus, the urge to eat anything fattening and delicious is wholly unappealing. I did go to the doctor today and get prednisone for whatever’s attacking me. They COVID tested me again and it’s negative. Starting to feel like I have a handle on this thing now. Should be good for tomorrow’s event. I sat in front of the TV and watched three hours of Bar Rescue, ate my Bland Meal, and went downstairs for another night in the basement. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-dec-2023 daily 0.75 2024-01-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701489219259-0MVRSUTDAB0TOO8M0XAH/NZ9_7645.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.1.23 Back In the Saddle The steroids the doctor gave me, coupled with some supplemental OTC meds, got me back to 80% of my old self. I was able to make it to the event in Walnut Hills after all. I masked up to ensure I didn’t spread anything to anyone else and had a good time interacting with real people again. The event was at ArtWorks’ V2 gallery on McMillan and featured a collection of young artists’ works. They spoke about who they were and what inspired their art, then ended with an open floor of people checking it all out. It felt nice to get back into it after a week at home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920114408-0EZWIYGA3YSSLZIHGVPK/ZFC_0010-HDR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.2.23 Ralphie Ornament Our friends, Maria and Mike, have been part of our lives essentially since we got Myrtle. Maria has a dog boarding and daycare business that she runs out of their home downtown, and Mike works for MedVet. When we got Myrtle back in 2017, we wanted to socialize her with other dogs but in a smaller, more controlled setting than a regular daycare. Maria was the perfect person to offer that service as she only watched five dogs at a time. A couple of years ago, after the passing of their dog Bella, they adopted a sweet little Norwich Terrier called Ralphie. He’s an absolutely adorable and playful little pup with an aggressively cute head-to-body ratio who Myrtle loves to rough house when they’re together. Ralphie’s their only dog at the moment, so to thank them for being hugely important people in Myrtle’s life, I made them a little wood-burned ornament of Ralphie for their tree. The backing he’s glued onto is a combo of walnut, maple, and poplar. We put a message on the reverse side for them and Ashley will be giving it to them when she drops off Myrtle for a night of boarding (we’re both going on separate work trips). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920120373-85J6MIQ2BMNI8N9C5L9Z/Millersburg+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.3.23 Arrival In Millersburg A work trip took me to Millersburg, KY today. I was hired by Yard & Co. to accompany them on an excursion where they met with an architect from Seattle in Millersburg to discuss the development of a pocket neighborhood within the ailing small town. We got there as the sun was going down and took a quick walk down to the village green—their version of the town square. Tonight I will photograph a Christmas event at the local inn. Tomorrow I will walk the majority of Millersburg and photograph anything of architectural interest. The footprint is small and won’t take longer than a couple of hours. After that, I’ll be heading to Paris, KY before eventually ending in Bardstown by nightfall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920118359-4HOCU4QBG1YDU6543SZ2/Millersburg+-+Phil+Armstrong+-95.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.4.23 Central KY The morning started in Millersburg. I stayed at the Mustard Seed Inn last night and was tasked with photographing the city’s architectural makeup when I got up. Though I have many examples of beautiful old architecture in the town, this image of a man driving this old tractor resonated most with me. Right after I snapped the photo, he raised what looked to be a liquor bottle to his mouth and took a swig. After two hours of documentation, my work partner, Chris, and I drove to Paris, KY, where we documented Main Street and some surrounding areas. While there, I ran across a rental store called Movieland with an extremely faded storefront. The posters in the front windows advertised movies from 2017, hinting that it likely closed that year. When I looked inside, tidy racks of DVDs appeared frozen in time as if the closure was sudden. Paris had a statue of Secretariat, a cheap-looking Eiffel Tower monument, and a building with a plaque that claimed it was “the world’s tallest three-story building.” After leaving Paris and returning to Millersburg to rendezvous with the rest of the team, we headed to Bardstown. The crew found their way to a bourbon bar, then a tavern, then back to another bar before heading to the Motor Inn, where we had a reservation for the night. I’m still not feeling well and cannot taste anything, so to let my body recover, I drank water and ate salad. The Motor Inn wraps around a central pool and common area. Once they were checked in, everyone went out and built a fire and continued to enjoy a bottle of bourbon. Sadly, I called it a night because of my lingering sickness and didn’t join them. Instead, I drained my head of about 10 lbs of snot and tried falling asleep between coughing fits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920118165-7WW5FFY6MLNY9OPD3S24/Midway+-+Phil+Armstrong+-24.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.5.23 More Central KY We woke up in Bardstown, got breakfast, and documented the historic district on foot. After several hours, we got in the rental and headed to Danville. In Danville, the crew got what they described as the best donut they’d ever had (I didn’t partake once again because I still could not taste anything), and we walked around checking out its historic district’s commercial corridor and surrounding residential streets. We also took a shortcut through a cemetery with an array of headstones with some of the boldest designs I’d seen outside of Spring Grove Cemetery. Once finished in Danville, we drove to Midway. Much like La Grange, Midway features a rail line that bisects their historic downtown area, though less tightly than La Grange. I asked the barista at the coffee shop how often it rolls through, and she said “about every hour.” While walking and documenting Midway, I kept listening for an approaching train. I walked further up the hill into the residential part of Midway and photographed several houses and historic buildings. I still hadn’t heard or seen the train when I got back downtown. The evening had arrived, and our trip back to Cincinnati was in order. As soon as we left, the other car of Yard people said the train came through. I’m beginning to think I’m cursed when it comes to seeing trains in small KY cities. Once back in Cincinnati, we all went to Alcove and had one final meal together before going our separate ways. It was a great trip full of fun, easy photography that I enjoyed, a boatload of genuine laughs, and two very nice overnight stays in comfortable, alternative accommodations. That said, I’m looking forward to sleeping in my bed, not having to excuse myself every 12 seconds to blow my nose, and letting my social battery recharge by not saying a word to anyone for 24 hours. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1701920114812-1YH3PZEYLYJ36ZKDUCUL/ZFC_0030-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.6.23 Myrtle Christmas 2023 Ashley’s on a work trip, so it’s just me and Myrt. We hadn’t yet done her Christmas card photo, and with the big day rapidly approaching, it was up to me to handle it alone this year. I was having trouble coming up with a different concept from previous years. While sitting on the couch brainstorming and watching Bar Rescue, Myrtle walked over to the toy bin I made her a few weeks ago and got out one of her toys. The idea came to me at that moment. She’s been a good girl all year, and that toy bin was just large enough (and sturdy enough) to hold her. After a handful of Cheerios and some quick training, she got up in the bin. I surrounded her with toys, found a static winter image on YouTube, and took my shot. Submitted it to the printer and should get them all later this week. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438863167-X3VJQVWLH4EDL6EKC2J1/IMG_6643.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.7.23 Stoplight Entertainment Whenever I’m in the car, I plug my phone into the dash with a 6-inch cable to stream audio and enable Carplay. I never want to be distracted while driving, and the cable prevents me from fiddling with my phone because it’s too short to move around. Occasionally, though, I unplug it for a photo. While at a stoplight today, I saw this dog in the car behind me. It’s not a good photo, but it was a nice moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438869823-VXWLM03CEU41U3F7WTGD/NZ9_8653-Enhanced-NR-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.8.23 6th and Main Christmas at the corner of 6th and Main downtown. This handsome building has been home to several things over the years, but I think Richter & Phillips is doing the best job of highlighting its architectural features by continually lighting it up every December. During the holiday season, the wreaths emblazoned into the facade above the second-floor windows feel especially festive, and I love the way they’ve strung the three strands of lights between them like ribbons. Lining the perimeter of each window and the bottom of the roofline is an excellent touch, as well. I look forward to seeing this every year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438868853-EGBHIMUSWXAE81OI78WM/ZFC_0035.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.9.23 Leaf Jail Maximum security prison for only the most unbe-leaf-ably horrible offenders. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1702438863317-HI40GZYTNM54PX7QAY0M/IMG_6687.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.10.23 Ding-Dongs Went over to my parents’ house to see them and work on refinishing a used crib my sister bought on Facebook marketplace for $25. The person who sold it to her lived within 2 miles of my house, making me the designated crib-transporter since my sister lives an hour north and has enough on her plate. While at my parents’ house, these two ding-dongs sat patiently on the downstairs steps waiting for me to finish and come back upstairs to pet and play with them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007475842-AA4L0P2P7TNEKQ4D3WM2/Screenshot+2023-12-13+at+3.23.39%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.11.23 Unflattering Surveillance This is kind of a weird entry. I didn’t take this photo directly, but I am responsible for it. For a while now, I’ve wanted to place outdoor cameras in several spots around our house to keep an eye on the porch, backyard, and alley because I like the option of having a record if I ever need it. After months of on-and-off research and YouTube reviews of several brands, I decided to bite the bullet on a bundle deal of Arlo Pro 4 cameras from Best Buy that wirelessly connect to Wi-Fi and are powered by rechargeable batteries. They’re not the latest models Arlo offers, but the price for the number of cameras and batteries was right. After charging them, finding the optimal positions, and installing the mounting plate, I brought each one online. Doing so was as easy as putting a battery in and adding it to the network via the Arlo app. Once added, I adjusted the settings to record when needed. A ‘feed’ tab in the app collects moments of activity based on those settings and stores clips for 30 days. While reviewing the feed, I screenshot the first moments the porch camera came online. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007475440-SLXMYA6M6ZFOO5Y53USB/121+E+15th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-41.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.12.23 The Narrow Staircase Rebecca, the realtor I work with, had me photograph 121 E 15th Street in Covington this evening. When I arrived at 4 PM, the light outside was already fading. I quickly got what I could and moved indoors to grab interiors with what little light we still had. The house is old. The owner says he found it on a Sanborn map from the 1860s, which would probably make it pre-Civil War. Rebecca has a local researcher looking into its history for the listing, so I will learn more later this week. The house has been updated since it was built and retains very little original character today—except this gnarly staircase leading to an unlit, dusty attic space. The staircase is narrow, only widening to about 16 inches at most. For the photo, I used my phone’s flashlight to lighten it up and give it definition. It makes a 90-degree left turn up to the attic space, which rises to a reasonable standing height. I didn’t photograph the attic as I had to finish my job with the light I still had, but it was creepy. It’s interesting to think about all the people who’ve climbed these stairs over the long lifespan of this building. All the kids who might’ve played up there and/or were likely too afraid to. All the owners who stored their seasonal decorations at the top of the steps and had to wander up with a flashlight to retrieve them each year. All the cats that found their way inside and realized this was a secret space where no one would bother them. Also, did I mention this opens up to the primary bedroom? The headboard of the bed is against this wall. Not at all unnerving! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007477606-EBQ0BX61UNF03HPD8P33/Clearly+Indigenous+Opening-+Phil+Armstrong+-96-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.13.23 Indigenous Dancers The Cincinnati Art Museum’s latest exhibit, Clearly Indigenous, showcases a collection of Native American glass artwork. To memorialize opening night, organizers brought in indigenous dancers to perform in the Great Hall. Three people dressed in traditional Native American attire performed to the sound of chanting and rhythmic drum beating. As I was so caught up in making sure the images were focused and I had my composition right, I missed the title of the chanting man. However, something he said during his speech struck me. He said that as the dancers perform, their vibrations find their way deep into the soil. Those vibrations connect with the mycelium network, granting positive effects to the earth. He speculated that the land beneath the Cincinnati Art Museum hasn’t had this healing touch in a long time. As I watched them perform, I couldn’t help but feel like I was witnessing something truly special—maybe even more special than I currently understand it to be. While I photographed this performer at f/4, I wasn’t satisfied with the level of bokeh. Her dress clashed too much with the audience behind her. To give it a more f/2.8 look, I utilized Adobe’s Lens Blur feature to increase the contrast a little bit more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703007470321-XNF6FWD7EYVTR6ZFUTLL/Rookwood+Holiday+Party+2023+-+Phil+Armstrong+-75.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.14.23 Holiday Parties That Aren’t My Own Annie asked if I would photograph the Rookwood holiday party this year. I always like working for them when the chance arises. Their party this year was held at Velocity Esports, which was most recently Rotolo, at Newport on the Levee. Everyone ate and hung out, bowled as much as they wanted, and bought raffle tickets for prize baskets. There was an awards ceremony to honor several spectacular employees, as well as a rundown of a few bits of news the company had for future projects. I stayed for a little over two hours, got my shots, then made my way out. While on the walk home, I couldn’t help but think about how the freelance career path is an oddly lonely one at times. Sure, I get to work with loads of people throughout the year and I’m never truly working by myself when I’m doing events, real estate, architecture, or headshots. But the holiday party isn’t something I get to do anymore. While the corporate job I had years ago nixed the after-hours party in favor of a cheap long lunch hour in a conference room, it was still nice to have a brief window of time when everyone would stop working and just hang out together. If I were a Rookwood employee, I would’ve enjoyed going to Velocity with my coworkers and spending an afternoon together. It’s probably a grass-is-always-greener thing, but it bummed me out a little thinking that I haven’t had that in several years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703008915515-96TEZEGVQQSC73EK55T0/NZ9_2017-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.15.23 A Polaroid Instance ArtWorks’ Harmonies: Mural Studio Gallery opening was held tonight at Bricker Graydon on Main Street. Young artists’ works were hung around the perimeter of the space and open to the public to come in and check out. Someone there was using a Polaroid instant camera to the delight of the artists and their friends/families. Maybe I should get one and offer this to clients? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703008917047-1LDPEI3Q04A9AU9LQKXT/ZFC_0073-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.16.23 Christmas Drinks Ashley and Chelsea had an idea to make special Christmas drinks. I was tasked with riding to Party Source and loading up a backpack full of 750ml bottles of various spirits and mixers to deliver to them. While the drink they planned didn’t aesthetically work out the way they wanted, they still had a good time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703029293741-VVQ0K5HO0CPIYVC74LD3/IMG_6762.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.17.23 Dark Skies While heading for coffee, the sky looked dark and scary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703029293786-M3RVJL8H1O1SPT6L016Q/IMG_6774.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.18.23 Case Reorganization Back in May, I bought a hard case for my essential work equipment. The foam it came with was scored in a grid pattern so you can pull it apart in the shape you wanted. Fast forward seven months and the pull-apart foam that came with the case wasn’t holding its original shape. The custom voids I’d created for each piece of equipment had begun to take on a life of their own against my wishes. I wanted to redo my case but didn’t want to use that flimsy pull-apart foam again, so I got a denser, non-scored block to work with. It required manually cutting the shapes I wanted, but it looks and feels much better than before. It should withstand wear and tear for longer than the other foam. By storing the Z9 body apart from the lenses, I could get a third lens in the box without leaving anything out from before. The result is better organization, additional capacity, and an overall cleaner case that suits my operation better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781477310-UK53U29NZSLIOZZJJIE8/ZFC_0080-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.19.23 Main Street Glow Just a quiet scene on Main Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781481048-DY3BVP05JTNZPAJ4VYLM/NZ9_2080-Edit.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.20.23 Game Table Composite Single Batch built an awesome custom game table for a client and needed photos for their portfolio before it left the shop. The reason this fairly simple composition is interesting (to me) is because so much of it was pieced together later in Photoshop. The wood rails and the beer were actually in place for the photo. I only had a sample of the green felt, so I placed it beneath the beer. After I got home, I brought the green felt to the edges of the table, took a photo of a royal flush from the same angle, and found a pair of die online. Shadows were added, the lighting values were adjusted until they looked right, and I added a little tinge of red to the shadow of the die. Improvising like this is fun. When you don’t have everything for the shoot, it’s an exciting challenge to figure out how to add it later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781492031-LR77441EX0J1FQNG3JBK/ZFC_0091.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.21.23 Errands With a View We had to run to the Zoning & Planning office inside the Campbell County Admin Building on Monmouth to submit an application to have our fence replaced with a new one. I usually hate doing this sort of thing, but the view from the third floor makes the trip more bearable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781486932-Z25GWOWWX8ECF5934ST6/IMG_6826.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.22.23 Horror Santa Found this dirty, cybernetically enhanced Santa at the antique mall. I didn’t buy it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703781483486-LVA53P8VBLDCSJAP3NDD/ZFC_0105.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.23.23 Morning Walk Through Eden Park It was a nice morning, so we got coffee and went for a stroll through Eden Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703854970489-TFSPTHCCHWC55AVMVOF9/ZFC_0107.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.24.23 Little Library Find I don’t know why, but the “Revised Edition” made me laugh. I’m imagining a critical piece of info was omitted in the original version, ultimately leading to the deaths of millions of Bonsai trees, and the publisher had to run another printing to save leafy lives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1703854971199-IRZF0ENS81322UV3A53P/IMG_6868.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.25.23 The Attic Christmas at my sister’s house devolved into climbing a ladder and peering into the attic to see what was up there after she said she’d never had the courage to do so. Short answer: nothing fun. A lot of insulation, a roll of carpet, and some bifold doors that hadn’t seen the light of day in years. I’m considering shopping in a creepy man deep in the background and texting her with some version of “I was looking at those photos again and didn’t notice this guy at the time.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704121562863-JPQ5Q8WX9OAKJAZ2S6QV/IMG_6875.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.26.23 Clear Coat I’ve been wanting to free up space on the landing of the stairs to the basement. It has a mishmash of stuff that doesn’t aesthetically go together but serves a purpose. I made this shoe rack with a drawer to replace all of it and make that corner look more presentable overall. The design is based on a Wayfair listing, and I slightly altered the look of the drawer by adding a knob and staining it a dark espresso instead of keeping it yellow pine. When making stuff solely for my home, I don’t care about design theft. The dimensions are custom to the corner I intend to place it in, and it adds more shoe storage for Ashley’s collection by adding another shelf and expanding the width another six inches. I finished it with a protective clear coat and set it on the porch to dry. It’s still wet in this photo, so it will look less glossy and more even later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704121564130-GYAVCPGU9AUTR8GPU4CU/ZFC_0109-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.27.23 Good Corner For a Plastic Plant The new shoe rack I talked about in yesterday’s post is dry and ready for placement on the landing. After loading it up with all of Ashley’s shoes, we looked for something decorative to place on the top shelf. While there’s a door to the alley with a window next to it that we never open, we’re not certain a plant would survive in that spot. Thankfully, Ashley’s Lego orchid is low maintenance and works well in that corner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704121563954-62KWQYX15REYKMXTIUG2/NZ9_2134-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.28.23 Neewer Grip The Nikon subreddit clued me into the Neewer Z fc grip a few weeks ago. It improves the camera's ergonomics by adding a little bump-out on the shutter side to improve grip and an Arca mount on the bottom. The mount also adds several screw holes for mounting accessories such as video lights and external microphones. While I love my Z fc as my everyday camera, my only complaint has been how easily it is to drop. I usually wear a wrist or neck strap when I use it because the older-style body is flat enough that I often don’t trust my own grip on it. While I’ve yet to drop it, my heart skipped a beat several times when it came close. The mount takes care of this issue by better filling my palm and adding weight to the entire body thanks to its metal construction. And while I value a camera’s optics over its physical aesthetic, I don’t think the grip detracts from how the body looks. In fact, after putting it on, it’s challenging to imagine the Z fc without the bump-out now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704159096799-D6BWNIBF0ZZWOFQQ03LY/IMG_6912.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.29.23 Perimeter Enhancement When we bought our house, the backyard was surrounded by a rotting, worn-out fence. Over the course of the last three years, it only grew worse. Bits of the bottom on the alley side began turning green and crumbled apart. The old gate sagged and barely saw any use due to its poor placement. I never managed to get one of the panels back into place after removing it when we had materials dropped off for our deck project years ago. The entire thing was nearing the end of its natural life. It’s apparently a slow time for fencing companies. After accepting a quote, we were shocked when they fit us in before the end of the year. They ripped down the old fence in less than an hour and spent the rest of the day casually destroying the yard and giving the vertical 4x4s concrete shoes. They say this will be finished tomorrow, but I’m skeptical. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704159100263-DZMSKRO6SSZ1817UJE3V/ZFC_0227-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.30.23 Second Christmas My sister’s stepdaughter didn’t have Christmas with us this year. To make up for it, we did Christmas together a week later. Ashley and I went all in on her gifts and got her a light-up Razor scooter, a Barbie Dream Boat, and some other smaller gifts. She seemed pretty excited by all of it. Watching a kid open presents and temporarily lose their minds with excitement is a special joy. I fondly remember that feeling from when I was a kid. Not sure I’ve felt it since. Ashley helped her put together the boat during a quieter moment. It was adorable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704159094861-0ERL8SZGMFZYJX0V2WI2/IMG_6963.jpg daily-photos-dec-2023 - 12.31.23 Five Years I’ve officially kept this daily photo project going for five years as of tonight. It started as a Twitter project and morphed into something that later moved entirely to this site. I gave every photo a name from the start, but I didn’t start journaling with each one until December 1 of that first year when I knew I’d have room to give each image additional context. Feeling a mix of pride and hopelessness at the moment about it. Looking back on everything I did and experienced through those years, it’s easy to ignore the dangerousness of the rose-tinted glasses through which I view them. Did life peak already, or does it just seem that way? The pandemic and being laid off aside, I’ve had some incredible times since I started this. Sticking with a project for five years like this feels like an accomplishment, but it’s also a sad reminder that those moments were fleeting. Allie and Travis graciously hosted a party to ring in the New Year. Here’s a Polaroid of me holding a plate of cheese balls from the evening; imagine the cheese balls are all the photos I’ve put on this site for the last five years, and it makes some kind of sense. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-all-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704205935076-006CVURKTZMVYEDNMMZL/ZFC_0304-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.1.24 Quiet Loss A friend who's been extremely important to me for many years seems less interested in our friendship these days. Somewhere along the way last year, I think something shifted. I can't pinpoint what happened or why. Regardless, I believe I’m slipping into a depression over it. I haven't felt this kind of loss and sadness in ten years. Waking up sick to my stomach about it every day sucks. The only thing that really helps is being around other people and Ashley. The last thing I want is to make this worse by approaching them about it. I genuinely love them and never want to upset them. But I also can't keep muscling through pangs of nausea every day as the texts and DMs I sent to spur conversation about common interests or inquiring about when we can get together are left on read while their social media feed updates regularly. It doesn’t take a scholar to understand what’s the priority. Writing this out and publishing it here helps me process my feelings. It eases the pressure of sorting through everything in my head. I’m going to try not to mention this again here, but please bear with me while I navigate this. I’m not myself without them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704243997152-XR1Q1GZOSGEL7E4LJTDO/ZFC_0312-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.2.24 Bath Time Liters of last year’s grime circled the drain so this pooch could have a fresh scent for the new year. All clean and neat now. She’s the sweetest little dog. Last night, as I lie awake in bed, she cuddled up to me, plopped down in the crook of my neck, and proceeded to lick my forehead for about 10 minutes. I read somewhere that dogs do this because it reminds them of being a puppy. No idea if that’s what Myrtle thinks, but I let her do it when I know I’ll be showering in short order. And truth be told, it was comforting to have a small creature give me her undivided attention for a few minutes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704398545682-MO4DKSQPR5S2RLDYBJYS/GBBN+-+TriHealth+BNorth-046-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.3.24 First Shoot of ‘24 It felt really, really great to get back to photographing places for people today. Getting out of the house and distracting myself with work and a new location was hugely beneficial. GBBN did more work at TriHealth Bethesda North and needed photos for their portfolio before it opened to staff and the public. The spaces are what you’d expect in a modern hospital, but the design team ratcheted up the lighting and finishes without going overboard in several key areas. I don’t know how they’d describe this style, but to me, it felt like a fusion of Scandinavian design and a hint of the USS Enterprise, especially in areas with a central desk. This image doesn’t precisely illustrate that description well, but it was the easiest to edit and publish for today’s post. We planned to do a one-point of this space, but I suggested we pivot to two-point for a more interesting shot. With consensus reached, I did a clean version and placed the models. Blended the two in post for a finished image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704423533654-U3O40WCQ1YDLAZOR623A/NZ9_2301-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.4.24 Mirror Trick: Revisited In the world of rental and real estate photography, the person behind the lens is often left uncredited. This doesn’t bother me personally because the paycheck and the satisfaction of doing the work are all I ever want. The only time I ever get a nod is when something hits the media and the realtor or owner is kind enough to include my name. Elusive credit aside, one thing I do as a sort of signature is what you see above. I take a photo straight into a mirror, then remove the camera afterward in Photoshop. I imagine most people will scroll past it without noticing, but my goal is to get at least one person to stop and wonder about it for a minute. There are other photographers doing the same work will take the shot just below the bottom of the mirror frame, and I don’t blame them. Sometimes, I don’t bother with it myself. It’s a lot of extra work for no monetary benefit. But this is the only way I’ve found to inject my own personality into an otherwise straightforward and rigid corner of the industry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704517280065-CCKLNRM81LDAK6HPOV3Y/814+Madison+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.5.24 Will Work For Art My office is in the process of being rearranged for the 40th time, though not to the degree it has been in previous years. It is just too tempting not to move things around to feel a sense of excitement about its freshness. One of the biggest things I’m excited about, besides once again having a corner with a lounge chair where I can read, is the chance to fill half a wall with art I’ve yet to procure. In the meantime, I’m putting in the hours to fund this initiative. Today I put down the video work for a couple hours and did a very quick and easy job on Madison for a developer—an empty storefront in need of quality photos for its listing. I plan to spend every penny I earn doing this quick job on artwork. Instead of going out tonight, I stayed in and processed all the photos so I could get them back to the client ASAP. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704686736495-0BG66Z7KBGZJZHZX8O69/ZFC_0337-Enhanced-NR-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.6.24 We Were Promised Snow It’s an exciting time before the first snowfall of the season. When meteorologists name the storm, it’s even more exciting. For the last several days, they said we’d be getting at least an inch starting in the early hours of the morning. The promise of waking up to snow-covered rooftops, railings, and trees loomed large in my imagination, as was the promise that the streets were too warm for it to impede travel. That, to me, is the perfect winter storm. But when I woke this morning, the familiar grey of January, complete with its signature wet dullness, met my disappointed gaze. The meteorologists were right about one thing: the streets were decidedly too warm to hold snow. We took Ashley’s grandfather to Union Terminal to see the model trains and watch the Omnimax film about the Rocky Mountain Express. Seeing the snow-covered miniature was about as close as I’d get to real winter today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704687329564-DY5UPQRKEJXHYLPOISQK/IMG_7026.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.7.24 A Tale of Two Jungles Apathetic about the Bengals as I am, a trip to Jungle Jim’s during their final home game proved successful. Normally, a trip to this place (the original Fairfield location) on a weekend could be reasonably categorized as pre-meditated self-harm, but going during a football game or other major local event thinned the crowd such that it was bearable. Still, as a rule, no matter where you stand in Jungle Jim’s, you are most certainly in the way. We got out of the store with a load of good food and wine for less than $80. The bargain aisle with items about to reach their sell-by date was an essential stop. Among several great finds, we snagged a yardstick-length baguette for a dollar from that section. I think we’re going to make it a habit to visit at least once a month instead of once a year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704763268652-QFYRR5WPQNUCSZ48GX9Z/ZFC_0350-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.8.24 Over-Engineering Simple Solutions My Godox flash and Z9 battery chargers sit side by side on a table in my office. The Godox charger (left) can stay plugged in without a battery with no issue, but if there’s no battery on the Z9 charger (right), the base makes an annoying rhythmic clicking sound when plugged in. As such, I have to either unplug it at the outlet or disconnect the cord from the base and risk losing it down the back of the table, which always happens. I managed to keep them together using a twist tie for a while, but that was inelegant. I needed the satisfaction of wasting an hour or two fixing the issue. Could this first-world problem be solved by playing with my tools? Of course, it could. This square piece of Bastogne walnut had been collecting dust in my scrap pile for two years. It was the perfect specimen to act as the decorative base that would solve my problem and also prove, yet again, that saving scrap proves useful at some point. I traced the profile of the Z9 charger, added an extra 10mm to the length, and carefully spent an hour delicately routing a channel a half-inch deep for it to sit within. Then, I switched to a smaller bit and routed a channel for the cord off the back. The channel is tight on the profile of the cord, holding it firmly in place. That extra 10mm allows the base to slide away and toward the cord within the confines of the channel, disconnecting and reconnecting it without it moving or dropping behind the table. I also routed a spot for the Godox charger because why not. Rounded the corners for decoration, softened the edges, and sanded it to a buttery smooth grit. Now I have a custom, dedicated charging station instead of a twist tie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704893776411-U4FRRPQKGX41ZGF1XP6Z/NZ9_2531.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.9.24 The Shell Rebecca said she had a shell of a house for me to photograph for an upcoming listing. “It’ll take you 20 minutes,” she said. No stranger to shooting vacant places, I’m not used to shooting houses in that condition for her. She usually sets me loose on expensive houses that are either magazine-worthy or could be magazine-worthy if given some updates. The shell was located on Greer Street in Covington. I’d shot a couple of other places on Greer over the years, but none in this condition. It was as she described: stripped down to the original beams with natural gaps in the original wooden slats to the outside. Plywood patched several busted windows and shored up deadly gaps in the floor. The ceilings were high and airy on the first level; I could easily imagine how a spiral staircase would be the centerpiece of the front room if a renovation included it. While on the second level, I looked down at the floorboards and noticed inked text on an old piece of paper. I pulled it out and discovered a small mass of old pieces of newspaper featuring ads and articles, ripped to shreds but still legible. The fonts looked like what the Enquirer used for several decades in the middle 20th century, the shoes and top hat seemed to be from around that era, and the bus looked like it was from the ‘40s. I googled the “Brownie 620” (more commonly written out as Brownie Six 20, I discovered later), and all but confirmed these were probably from the late 1940s. It was only after getting home and looking at the scraps on the bigger screen that I noticed the "1948” near the left side tear on the shoe ad. I thought it was notable that 75 years ago, a camera flash’s selling point was that it “enables you to take pictures indoors as simply as snapshots outside,” and there I was aiming an advanced optical computer at this old ad for defunct tech while indoors and without flash. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704933939920-MJID9C3MZOJDMOC12AB9/ZFC_0351-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.10.24 Clean Slate When I updated to an iPhone 15 Pro earlier this month, I brought all my iPhone 13 Pro baggage with me. Normally, I’m good about offloading my photos and videos onto an external drive, but I got away from it over the last year. The annoying “your iCloud storage is full” message was driving me nuts enough to sit down and just transfer everything. It feels great to have a totally clean phone with the possibility of filling it up again with brand-new images I’ve yet to make. After offloading everything, I went down a rabbit hole of watching old videos I took of friends and family from 10 years ago that I saved on the drive. Instead of feeling good that I’d captured all that I did, I fixated on the fact that I didn’t record more. Maybe this year I’ll spend more time recording my surroundings in addition to photographing them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705080894857-IIEJ6EY7DND2DXF84OBM/NZ9_2708-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.11.24 School With a View Hub+Weber did the 3rd-floor renovation of Newport Central Catholic. While it isn’t 100% ready and requires a return trip this upcoming Monday, we took advantage of the good weather (hard to come by this time of year) and got a few staged shots around the lingering construction that included the absolutely incredible view. Had the views from my own high school been this breathtaking and not of woods and a parking lot, I’m fairly certain my GPA would’ve been far worse as I’d have surely spent the majority of class daydreaming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705189811752-2U49P8LMT79KAR1MSP1O/ZFC_0353.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.12.24 Afterthought to Hold a Coffee I needed a very small side table to set my drink on next to my chair, so I went down to the workshop, dug through my scrap, and found a nice chunk of monkey pod and a plank of red oak. I cut them into circles on the band saw, beveled the edges with a 45-degree router bit, sanded everything to a nice smoothness, drilled a hole in each piece, and stuck a dowel between them. Added a medium stain so the oak would better match the monkey pod, and finished it with Danish oil. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705372727299-THN1FMZFQC8B19U5UKE6/IMG_7087.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.13.24 The Night of the Tree The forecast called for high winds as a winter storm approached the Midwest. When I went to bed, I opted not to turn on the white noise so I could keep an ear on what what happening outside. My relationship with violent wind has never been a good one; it’s always scared me to varying degrees, and deep down, I think I had a feeling something was going to happen. Around 1:30 AM, I awoke to still silence. Feeling more comfortable with the seemingly calmer situation outside, I reached to turn on the white noise. Within a second of my reach, I saw a bright flash and felt an enormous bang from next door. I swore it hit me in the head for a split second. The power instantly went out. Ashley awoke and asked worriedly, “What was that?” To be honest, I thought our neighbor’s house got hit by lightning. I got up to check the house by iPhone flashlight. When I got to the front window, I looked out and saw a flashlight bouncing over branches I didn’t recognize in a place I’m not used to seeing them at the end of the street. Suddenly it hit me: the old, impossibly tall tree next door had fallen. I went outside and saw my neighbor already out with a flashlight. The wind picked up, and flurries of snow swirled around downed wires and a heavy transformer on the sidewalk—the reason we no longer had power. That wasn’t lightning, I heard; it was the flash of electrical systems being brutally severed from the pole as the tree barrelled toward Earth. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and no private property suffered significant damage. The tree had fallen on a sign and a chainlink fence and barely crossed the train tracks. Emergency crews responded. Duke came out hours later and got our power back on. A train loudly obliterated the dead wood on the tracks around 3 AM without losing momentum. I slept for maybe 2 hours overall. The next morning, I surveyed the damage. The tree was blocking the public steps, but aside from that, it wasn’t posing much of a threat. It was the talk of the street all day. I’m going to have an abundance of firewood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705372726042-TW21IEF8T9R54KH6DSO2/IMG_7137.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.14.24 Needy Puppy The chaos of the tree falling might’ve given Myrtle temporary trauma. She watched in confusion and fear from the storm door window as Ashley and I were out in the street during strange hours the night before and couldn’t relax until the following morning. Ashley’s unfettered anxiety about the situation was also contagious to our empathetic dog. She spent yesterday and today more clingy than usual. I couldn’t sit without her periodically coming up for reassurance that everything was okay. This is an observation, not a complaint. It’s no trouble soothing a fearful dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705373084846-MLRUJWQ7DQ1P4XIDLTGR/Hub%2BWeber+NCC-019-HDR-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.15.24 Return to Class We returned to Newport Central Catholic to get additional classroom shots for Hub+Weber this morning. This image is comprised of eight different frames using a combo of focus stacking and HDR. Every pixel in frame was adjusted to reflect optimal color and exposure in order to come up with a highly polished photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705523579553-AF2LQYSXMWCKWLB8SI9M/Kemba+Branch-109-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.16.24 Vine Street Kemba 16 Points Solutions combined two different storefronts on Vine Street into one space for Kemba Credit Union. Their existing branch on Vine Street, a few doors up from this space, will be moving to this new address within the coming weeks. The time was right to get in and grab photos before IT installed 50 miles of computer wire that I’d inevitably have to Photoshop out. The space was perfectly clean and arranged, which cut down on the shoot time considerably. I also didn’t have anyone forgetting that photos are being taken and walking into every shot (a more common occurrence than you’d think on most shoots). Oddly enough, the color scheme for this project looks similar to that of the school I posted yesterday. Same architect, so I guess there’s a reason. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889536202-ZFMLL4CKPV3PRME1LL6S/IMG_7170-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.17.24 Splitting Logs at Sunset Grabbed some of the leftover tree from the street, cut it with a chainsaw, and split the logs with an axe before filling up the rest of the wood rack. By the time I was finished, the sun was beginning to set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889536197-W2SYBC2JK2HJVZ4KKWVY/IMG_7184-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.18.24 Nary a Granule Wasted Bellevue Animal Hospital made sure only the width of their storefront was properly salted. The narrowness of the deliberate dispersal pattern made me laugh. Absolutely no one will be slipping here unless they step one inch outside of this exact profile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889540463-NJHWIDEZ06SXPC1ZXE9H/IMG_7204-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.19.24 iBirding I set up a semi-elaborate way to watch the birds using my iPhone, a tripod, and my Apple Watch. While the image quality leaves a lot to be desired, I still think it’s a nice scene overall. Fun little experiment using ones and zeros! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889541305-M0LPIEYDV9Y624022PE4/IMG_7274-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.20.24 Western Bowl We went with friends to Western Bowl for a few games of ten-pin. Everyone, with the exception of Brendan, was bad at it to various degrees. I don’t think anyone scored above 100 except him. The guys did better than the girls, but not significantly. The alley itself was great mainly due to its unchanged decor. It seemed to be in various states of disarray depending on where you looked, but the late ‘80s and early ‘90s aesthetic persists in key corners. Some very fun neon behind glass block was a standout, as was the carpeting and locker areas. I’d like to go back sometime with a proper camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889545463-W9LW1WXMUF5TVX7KF9XZ/ZFC_0508-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.21.24 38 For whatever reason, I get sad around my birthday. Yesterday, I felt it growing, and today, the feeling peaked. When I woke up, I had no desire to talk to anyone or do anything. The thought of staying in bed and sleeping until tomorrow was more attractive than any other activity. But I knew I couldn’t do that. The texts were already coming through, and I should be lucky to have anyone remember let alone care enough to acknowledge it. Anyway, I won’t go into all that here. Just recognizing the feeling so I can move on from it. I knew my melancholy would prevent me from doing anything photographically interesting, so I forced myself up to an irresistible and familiar perch with a camera in my bag. Tomorrow will be better, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239306220-H6CX8OZ3RX58GYU1Z36N/NCC+-+Phil+Armstrong+-17.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.22.24 When Patience Pays Off I returned to NCC for Hub+Weber one final time to get the remaining images they needed without construction hampering every shot. This time, I got there after school had let out for the day. The goal for this final round of photos was to capture a sunset in the new corner classroom and adjoining communal study area. Tanner from H+W met me there at 4 PM. We did a few other shots on the list during the waning hours of the afternoon, but our efficiency led us to post up without anything to do for about an hour before sunset. It wasn’t a big deal; I set up my phone and ran a 4K timelapse into my 2 TB SSD while we waited. Finally, as the sun set on a perfect winter day, it illuminated the city and the rooms with a beautiful golden glow. I was glad we waited. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239312067-0JU14MDJF1M5FGSWNJJS/NZ9_2838.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.23.24 Important Flower Business Sunshine Bouquet had more videos for me to film for Kroger. I met them at the Newport store this rainy, miserable evening. We did a few how-to videos for the floral employees. Talmadge had planned every shot, so I just had to execute his vision. We did a piece on color-blocking displays (pictured), among other things. Overall, I think it went well using a combination of the Z9 and my iPhone 15 Pro recording ProRes to the SSD. I feel more confident about videography now that I’ve done it a bit and have good enough tools to do the work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239310852-2CZ8PPIJUFCMX4SMWWHB/NZ9_2861-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.24.24 Metal Tables A custom metal table Single Batch Designs made for a client in Las Vegas. John said he’s not driving it out there. It’ll be third-party shipped there this week. Seems like a missed opportunity to go to Vegas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239306221-RHM8I54XD6O4DBQ9CFPD/IMG_7338.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.25.24 Office Buddy It’s been raining for days, and everything’s sopping wet. Even the porch, which is totally under cover, is damp all over. Despite the rain, the air is warm enough to crack the windows, letting in much-needed fresh air. All my work was at my desk today. Myrtle had a very lazy, very boring day as a result. She was so bored she got up in my chair and stared at me for about an hour toward the end of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706499186986-POGRP3XN71Q5E650C5UY/NZ9_3023-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.26.24 V2 Gallery and a Night Out Went up to Walnut Hills to photograph a gallery opening for ArtWorks. Afterward, I met Ashley, Chelsea, and Vince at the new food hall at the Levee, and I was honestly impressed with it. The burger I got from Four Mile Pig was excellent. The bar made me a lackluster drink, and the service still had some kinks to work out, but if they manage to get those two things fixed, I think it’ll last. At least, I hope it lasts. The more food halls, the better. Afterward, we walked to a brewery and went to Coaches before finishing the night at The Fill Inn. We did our usual four games of bowling on the 1969 Champagne bowling machine, and the girls did Shania Twain on karaoke. I recorded all of it on VHS-C with my family’s old camcorder and plan to digitize it tomorrow during my downtime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706499188243-BV82AFMDR5HX14ZB7HDI/ZFC_0544-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.27.24 Worth the Hangover Hungover today. We had too much fun last night. To make matters worse, Ashley scheduled an annual vet visit for Myrtle at 8 AM on a Saturday morning. As I summoned every ounce of will power to not lay down on the check-up table and close my eyes as the doctor told us all about our beloved dog’s health, I fantasized about the moment I’d get home, undress, and get back into bed to sleep this off. When I awoke in the afternoon after living the dream, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. No big deal, though; we had planned to stay in, save money, and relax inside. The cold, blustery, rainy night worsened as the evening went on, reinforcing our decision not to bother going out. I connected the camcorder to the TV, loaded old tapes Ashley’s family recorded in the early 90s, and we enjoyed laughing at how Ashley tried to get the spotlight from her younger brother (a toddler at the time), and was routinely scolded for it. The photo is of the myriad digital storage options I have sitting in my desk at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706499196483-00PS9ACDCCTUN8AJ6NV4/ZFC_0537-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.28.24 Nostalgia for Sumer Reading One summer, when I was young, I spent summer nights reading Goosebumps stories in my bedroom under a booklight after my parents thought I’d gone to sleep. The streetlight from the cul-de-sac outside let in a little extra light, and I remember laying on my stomach close enough to the window to feel the breeze gently passing through. To add even more sugar to this sweet memory, what seemed like thousands of fireflies off at the edge of the woods across the street blinked in a chaotic and calming pattern, totally out of sync with the chorus of crickets and a few frogs echoing in surround sound. It was one of those things that, even in the moment, felt special, and I still think about it often all these years later. When I accidentally stumbled upon this scene tonight, that memory came back once more. No, I wasn’t reading in my bed in my parents’ house in 1995, nor was it summer or firefly season, but the lighting was very similar. Were it not totally weird, I’d return to that house, stand on the porch, and take a photo toward the street during the summer months to more accurately capture that feeling again. This will have to do, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706637456468-TUJ75PMEY2IRFBGCHB78/ZFC_0662.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.29.24 Plugs Every variation of cable in my office, individually photographed and edited together. (I didn’t leave the house today.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707086177814-JTIXEVXLVITLF9SQEE6M/IMG_7392.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.30.24 Unknown Store It rained all day again. I had to go to Harbor Freight to pick something up. This store was next to it. I have no idea what this place sells, and I’m not going to Google it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707086430280-L18T3UBAWWR9W0EI1INS/IMG_7395.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 1.31.24 Memento When the tree next door fell, our neighbors asked if I could cross-section one of the larger branches for them. They wanted to use it as a centerpiece for their table and as a memento of what was once right outside their living room window. I cut it, sanded it, and finished it with Danish Oil. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707094009217-P6KQ036O0HNJP4UHORQX/IMG_7433.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.1.24 Sleeping’s Dangerous Now Woke up with a stabbing pain in my neck near my clavicle. No idea what I did in my sleep to deserve this, but hoo-boy. It’s not a pain I’m familiar with in that area, and apparently every muscle connected to my neck, chest, and shoulder requires that area to move around. It hurts to type this if my body shifts even an inch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707094780211-8RN5P9QJKDOOZMO1VX4R/Oswalt-046-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.2.24 Unused Unused still from a job I did this morning. We realized only after we arranged the scene and snapped the frame that neither the architect nor construction company had anything to do with it. We were effectively showcasing someone else’s work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707146091145-JD8B9LC743T3XUV5NPBQ/ZFC_0578-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.3.24 ‘90s Party Maria and Mike threw a ‘90s & early-2000s-themed party tonight at their place. Everyone dressed in “retro” clothes, danced, smoked, drank, and had a good time. I found a purple/green flannel with a colorfully embroidered Cincinnati t-shirt at the vintage shop down on the avenue for the occasion. As I’m not a dancer, nor did I particularly feel like losing my ability to drive home, I focused on photography and videography for the night. I recorded the night on tape with my camcorder and shot a few frames on my Nikon throughout the night. The video was particularly fun to watch afterward as it looked authentic to the time period. Maybe at some point I’ll throw together a VHS highlight reel from all the different events I’ve recorded and will record this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707334922188-XUQRWT7SI0KO5EWPUXXP/ZFC_0611-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.4.24 Pizza Ding-A-Ling Went with Travis and Ronny to Connersville to eat at Mr. Pizza (aka Pizza King). Its gimmick is you sit in a booth and order menu items using a landline that connects to the kitchen instead of having someone take your order in person at the table. The pizza was fine. It's not bad, but there's nothing to write home about, either. I won’t be craving it like I do other pizzas. Honestly, the best thing I had was some Texas toast with cheese and garlic on top. Afterward, we photographed some old train cars and an engine that looked like it was straight out of the 1800s rusting on the side of the road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707334921500-IZIHTIO95L9ROZS6YR1U/ZFC_0652-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.5.24 New-to-Me Perspective A realtor called me about photographing a house near my own. In fact, it’s just three streets east. I won’t be photographing the interior due to scheduling conflicts associated with the moving list date, but I managed to get them three night shots from the top deck of the place. It was fun to see the city from a slightly different perspective. I like how the homes in the foreground are prominent in the lower half of the frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707334925253-OLM530ZP8R497RFCZZ4V/ZFC_0694.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.6.24 Sunset Walk Myrtle and I took a walk right after work before the sun set. As we neared the river, the sunlight was growing warmer and more dramatic. Knowing she’d like to run around in the grass, we headed closer to the river’s edge to a secluded patch of grass. It’s not a popular walking spot, making this a perfect place to let her off leash for a little energetic dog time. I snapped a few shots and liked how this one came out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707405658931-PXWS9ZV1G531ZSJ7XYP5/NZ9_5355-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.7.24 Reptilian Guest Photographed a dinner tonight at the Cincinnati Art Museum that featured, among other speakers, Thane Maynard, the director of the Cincinnati Zoo. He brought a tiny alligator called Cruncher (I think?) with him to show attendees. It’s funny how adults attending a formal dinner quickly give up all pretenses and slip into their inner child at the sight of an animal. It was cute to see everyone so enamored by a relatively calm alligator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707838048061-PSZCXOAWA60CWMP978T0/Valentines+Day+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.8.24 Flat Lay A flat lay I photographed for Luminaut. They intend to post it for Valentine’s Day on their social channels. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707841497166-EZEQOMTXFZEUEXHG5MKL/GBBN+%28TriHealth+8th+Floor%29-149-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.9.24 Hospital Photography Worked with GBBN on more photos of the renovation of the 8th floor of Bethesda North today. Contrary to what this photo suggests, it was still under construction and required quite a bit of piecing together/Photoshopping elements out to make a clean final photo. I still have work to do on this one, but it’s 90% there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707841996275-JDZHGRRU5TK85W94N3WC/IMG_7506.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.10.24 EconoPark Ashley needed to be picked up from CVG after her multi-day work trip. Passed this on the way to the Shell station to get gas and had to snap a quick photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707841997692-4E1VH2CQXQ4E3Z7H461H/IMG_7509.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.11.24 Uninspired We went to a boring park in Cold Spring that surrounded a lake behind a Cracker Barrel, and there was nothing else to look at besides this gazebo. I knew this would probably be my only option for an interesting photo of the day. Sadly, it’s not that interesting, and only after getting onto the publishing platform did I realize that I’ve shot everything very symmetrically over the last four days. Need to break the habit and get more creative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707843293307-8TGTYP195SM0JBCP7H1H/IMG_7552.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.12.24 Sad State One of my greatest regrets regarding documentary photography is not properly getting into it before Carew Tower’s mall was turned into a garage. I didn’t really understand how to photograph a space properly until about 2014, and by that point, the mall was closed. But I’d walked through it frequently and eaten there a dozen times before its closing, and I remember its bleak emptiness fondly for some strange reason. Back in 2012, I used to walk the Skywalk every day on my lunch hour. I knew every little shop and restaurant along the two disconnected routes. They were familiar places I seldom went into, but I relied on them for some strange sort of stability during a challenging and uncertain time in my life. The Carew Tower and the many shops and places to eat were my favorite leg of the journey because it felt like the most “alive” part of the daily Skywalk journey. Hathaway’s Diner, Radio Shack, Auntie Anne’s, Smoothie King, Appointments, the I Love Cincinnati Shop, Back Rubs by Mary, Morton’s, Elite Nails, TJ Maxx, the food court with its multi-story skylit atrium, and so many other little things about it made that stretch feel unique. Barely any of those places are still there. The Skywalks are largely closed; the last connection built in the mid-90s between the Carew Tower and Macy’s was demolished during the pandemic. I didn’t appreciate any of this to the degree I should’ve at the time because I was so overwhelmed with sadness, but through rose-tinted glasses, I miss them. It makes me sad that the Tower is so empty today. It wasn’t even “bustling” when I frequented it daily, but comparatively, it was. I could go on and on about all my specific memories of it, but I’ll end it with this one. Maybe my fondest memory of the mall was the moment I found a piece of art that I just had to have behind a pane of glass in what I believe was a former Foot Locker. It was a painting of the Cincinnati skyline by a local artist with a space in the Pendleton Art Center. I emailed her about it and met her on the mall's second floor to buy it. She wrapped it up for me, and I took it home on the bus. The massive piece was wedged carefully between my knees as I sat at the back of the 30x express bus to Mt. Washington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707868184916-LW0UKGF1NSNYDSVQ6YTA/ZFC_1511.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.13.24 The Yellow Truck Apparently, when I was little, I told my relatives at one point that I wanted to own a yellow truck when I grew up. Not a yellow dump truck, but a yellow pick-up truck. I probably meant an early ‘90s Ford Ranger because that’s the model my dad drove, but I can’t help but wonder if little Phil would’ve seen this vehicle and liked it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708012154509-5P9V9N44J5X2A1RKBDGT/ZFC_1519-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.14.24 Meaningless When an inanimate object tells a sad story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708391349694-5YK723QA348X28B6FY8B/IMG_7628.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.15.24 Lint In today’s modern age, just about everyone has a camera in their pocket. As such, the inside of pockets have never been better documented. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708391527613-IMMZ9V7F0A589D703DIR/IMG_7603.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.16.24 Cyclones Game It’s been a minute since I’ve gone to a Cyclones game. They lost, but it was fun to watch regardless. We Googled how much the average player makes per season in the ECHL, and it’s shockingly low. I spent the rest of the game thinking about how these men make ends meet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708393077922-RPQ6142TPKCKSG50DVXH/ZFC_1565.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.17.24 Weekender About a month ago, we planned a weekend away with the dog. Asheville is always a great option because the city and surrounding area are so dog-friendly, and with numerous outdoor hikes, it’s the perfect setting for a weekend full of fun. Pictured is the Grove Arcade in the center of Asheville’s urban core; it’s filled with shopping and dining, a brewery, apartments, and offices, and an adjoining outdoor area usually full of market vendors when the weather’s warm. We took Myrtle to the brewery for a pint, then wandered around the area to see what we could find food-wise. We’d planned for the cold weather but didn’t factor in the wind. Most covered patios already had people with dogs, so finding a place that wasn’t so crowded and out of the wind was key. We returned to Pack’s Tavern—a place we’d been to on our last trip—for dinner, and it was the perfect warm place to sit down with Myrtle and not bother anyone. We plan to hike tomorrow, hit up a few places for food and drink, and check out the River Arts District. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708393080938-EHSVUXM329O4TBQGY510/ZFC_1749.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.18.24 River Arts District We’d planned to hike Mt. Pisgah, but the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway is closed mainly due to mudslides and snow, preventing us from getting to the desired trailhead. We wanted a hike with some sort of vista since winter isn’t the prettiest time of year to trek through the woods, so we opted to return to Chimney Rock as we did during our last visit. While some of it was closed due to falling ice, we still managed to climb to the top and get a good look at the surrounding area. Afterward, we played with Myrtle in the creek, checked out some shops, and then had a delicious glass of wine in the sun. After that, we returned to Asheville and wandered around its River Arts District. RAD for short, the River Arts District is a photogenic, industrial part of AVL that feels like a combination of Smale Park, Northside, and Camp Washington (if I had to draw a Cincinnati equivalent). It’s full of graffiti, loads of art studios/shops, and a pretty robust skate park in one corner. It’s bisected by train tracks and seems like it’s growing based on the massive new apartment buildings popping up around the area. Pictured is a telephone pole by the skate park with the most shoes on wires I’ve ever seen in one place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708393085558-NFJ3OQR4CBECGJI9J84J/ZFC_1803.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.19.24 Temporarily Closed We stayed one exit down from downtown to save a little money on this trip. Instead of staying in a hotel for over $200 a night in the core, we found a four-star option for a total of $300 for two nights eight minutes away. Since AVL is a car city and we’d be using our car to get around anyway, it made sense to save on lodging. Anyway, this place (which I won’t mention through text to avoid SEO, and I’ll explain why in a minute) was a quarter mile down the hill from us. It’s temporarily closed while a chain that specializes in buying one-of-a-kind, run-down motor inns across the US renovates it. Built in the 1930s, it’s been a staple of the city’s tourism culture for nearly 100 years. I read the new owner plans to save the neon and characteristic signs, remove 10 rooms to accomodate a new communal space, and aims to do all of this by spring of this year. Based on how empty it was, I do not see that timeline happening. The reason I’m not naming it to avoid search results is because I wasn’t supposed to be on the property taking photos. I saw the D3 eating up solar energy and blinking its blue police light up by the office, but I didn’t really pay it much attention. Then, it suddenly activated and blasted its speakers about trespassing and my being recorded. I’d already gotten my shots at that point, so I simply walked back off the property. I don’t expect anything to come of it, but better safe than sorry. By the way, does anyone know what this aesthetic is called? It’s like a 1960s/1970s rustic kitsch that often toes the line between mid-century camping culture, Tudor architecture, and with a touch of medieval English style that used to be more popular in past decades. Thick wooden beams, chunky stone, yellow mottled glass in metal squared light fixtures, stucco walls, etc. Parts of Kings Island used to have this look back when I was young. I’ve always adored it and am at a loss for what to call it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708524476825-RCENF0LCFRT2QWYOL3VR/IMG_7690.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.20.24 Norwood’s Wacky Police Station It will never not amuse me that Norwood’s police station looks like a Lego set from the ‘80s that doesn’t actually exist. I feel like I should, at some point, build this virtually in Bricklink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708612080809-GZ7R2ON0A9RB9DAMD21N/ZFC_1950.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.21.24 Doodle Delivery During today’s warm and seasonable afternoon, I opened the back door to allow the screen door to let in some fresh air. I was toying with my camera in the dining room when I heard Myrtle start huffing and puffing outside. Curious, I got up and walked over to see the mailman delivering my mail. She wanted a treat from him, so she jumped up on the fence to make herself known. I opened the screen and snapped a photo at the moment of treat delivery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154379876-VQ1KK2Y6TYUUTUZYUZU7/CNU+-+2.22.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.22.24 CNU Charrettes The Congress of New Urbanism hired me to film and photograph “charrettes” taking place in Norwood, Camp Washington, Xenia, and Amelia over the next few weeks. The purpose of these meetings is to have out-of-town architects and urban planners meet with local officials in each community to develop plans for projects such as bike lanes (for Norwood). During that process, the meetings welcome individuals from the community to drop in and give their input to better align the projects with what residents want/need. I’ve been filming and photographing Norwood’s events all week, and today is the final day I’m working on it before I ship off to Palm Springs tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154386049-WYJK9T2YI1O8J29L22LI/ZFC_2017-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.23.24 Palm Springs Justin’s 40th birthday led a group of us out to Palm Springs, CA, this weekend. He is a Midcentury Modern fan obsessed with Southern California, so he wanted to spend his special day somewhere he’d love with his friends. As I’ve only seen 8,000 photos of that one house with that one car with that one mountain in the background and never been to PS myself, I went in gleefully blind. I find it more fun to go to a place with no expectations and experience it without knowing everything about it, especially when it’s a trip that isn’t about me picking the itinerary. The flight in was nice, my hotel (The Cole) is perfect for what I need, and it’s within walking distance of Justin’s nearby Airbnb. I met up with everyone around 2 PM; we went to an open house and then walked to dinner and drinks afterward. My first impression of PS was good! The desert landscape with a beautiful mountain backdrop? Gorgeous. The abundance of midcentury architecture is lovely to see, though I’m finding it’s not hitting me quite like I thought it would. I initially thought it was just because everything is MCM here and style fatigue was the culprit, but I didn’t feel that way walking past identical brownstones all over Brooklyn. Maybe I just prefer the dense verticality of late 19th/early 20th-century architecture over one-story suburban single families built after WWII? Regardless, it’s a postcard-pretty city with many old cars and a palpable feeling that the 1960s never truly left. I can see why Justin likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154385605-MPNVE7VEMCO0CNXNQFV0/ZFC_2030.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.25.24 L3 It’s Justin’s 40th birthday! We met up and walked around a rich neighborhood full of perfectly manicured MCM houses, and Justin got to photograph a bunch of places he’s been itching to get on film for a while. There was some time by the pool, too, but I didn’t get in due to the usual insecurity reasons. Before I met up with everyone this morning, I walked to get coffee and came across this hilariously named hotel. I still cannot believe this is a real hotel. Also, PS is less walkable in the area where I’m staying than I thought. While there are sidewalks in some places, the streets are often 45 mph, and sometimes the sidewalks just end without warning, forcing you to either walk in an unmaintained dirt lot or on the street itself. None of the neighborhoods have sidewalks, either. I keep having this experience where I think I can let my guard down, but then I have to walk in the street for a block as a Porsche races past at an obnoxious speed. The more I stay in PS, the more it feels like Fort Myers in the sense that there’s very little density of housing (maybe even less), it isn’t overly pedestrian-friendly, it has as many parking lots as it does single-family houses, and appears to be mostly a suburban retirement community. That said, I still prefer it over Fort Myers due to the better landscape and architecture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154389957-AIOAD4T0QOSUXTU0YCL3/ZFC_2056.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.25.24 A Reminder While walking another rich neighborhood filled with houses that could easily be featured on the front of Architectural Digest, I started to wonder if I liked MCM at all. Logically, I know I do. But emotionally, I wasn’t connecting with it. I’m at the mecca of this architectural style, and I feel as though I’ve seen it all before. It didn’t give me that sense of wonder I normally get. Analyzing this as I walked through the neighborhood, I realized that contrast is key. The sign pictured above was the only thing I saw in any of these neighborhoods that added any contrast. When everything is perfect and manicured, none of it feels authentic. It all feels more like a movie set than an actual place. And with very few people out walking or on their porches, these neighborhoods felt soulless to me despite being in an aesthetically pleasing setting. But maybe that’s the point of Palm Springs? It’s a place where people go to relax in solitude compared to LA, not necessarily a place where community is the focus. It’s a place where you get scolded by a woman in a visor for being “too loud” while having a conversation at the community pool at 3 PM on a Saturday (that actually happened). Regardless, I’m just glad Justin is having fun in this place and his birthday is going well. That’s all that truly matters to me on this trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154380077-2S01KSM0NBMGSSFTTZBP/IMG_7773.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.26.24 Rollercoaster Travel Day I’m writing this entry a day later than the intended date. Honestly, I had a rollercoaster of a day traveling back to Cincinnati. PSP, the Palm Springs airport, was nice to fly into, but it wasn’t nice when leaving. Between lousy cell service, a lack of seating and dining areas, gates sequestered into tiny rooms with crowds blocking the doors to those rooms, and wifi that wouldn’t even reach the pictured grassy area in the middle of this small airport, it’s a bad place to wait for a plane. My delayed flight meant I had 30 minutes to catch my connection at DFW that evening. To say I was worried is an understatement. The gate I was flying into was two terminals over from where I needed to leave. However, I think what happened next could be considered in some circles as karma at play. As I boarded, I saw an older man sitting beside his wife in my window seat. I asked him to check his ticket, and he revealed he was supposed to be in the middle seat across the aisle. They all started slowly getting up, and I realized I had to just let him keep the seat. If I sucked it up and sat in that middle seat instead, we could speed up boarding and take off faster. I told him I’d move to his seat instead. I think this is where I earned enough good karma to make the connection. My new seatmates thanked me and said I was a good person. They welcomed me into their row. The older man thanked me, as did the nearby flight attendant. My seatmates asked me about my tight connection, and I explained my stressful situation. When we landed, the guy next to me on the aisle immediately stood and let me out. They all wished me luck, and a few others in rows ahead of me who heard my situation back in PSP let me past them, too. Then, I looked at my app and realized my departure gate had moved to the same terminal I was arriving at, thoroughly cutting down on the time it’d take to make the connection. The gratitude I felt at that moment for everyone who helped me, as well as that stroke of good fortune, was immeasurable. I still had to run like hell to make the flight, but I didn’t have to spend the night curled up in a corner in Dallas. I’ve never been happier to get onto a plane in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154935826-2YUIORU1PVNUX2K8SV86/CNU+-+2.27.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.27.24 Back to Reality Today was good. I managed to get home around 1 AM this morning after yesterday’s long travel day and slept well in my own bed. I got coffee at my favorite little shop and enjoyed the overcast skies and spring-like temps. I know I’m in the minority, but I love where I live and always feel good when I get to come home. Travel is amazing, and I always want to go see other places, but I do not experience the despair so many feel when they return home. Work took me to Xenia where I filmed and photographed planners for CNU. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709320390597-79XNAI8LK9RL5392I78B/Whitfield+Lovell+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-85.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.28.29 Accidental Collaboration While photographing the new Whitfield Lovell opening at the Cincinnati Art Museum tonight, I was trying to get a photo of this man observing the work. Right before I snapped the photo, though, he turned around and moved into place, sort of bridging the art on the wall with the 3D space we were in. I liked the way his face turned the same way as the other portraits on the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709322295499-TGRY045EB22Z8P46SPW7/NZ9_9828.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 2.29.24 Xenia’s Hannaford There’s a reason the Greene County Courthouse in Xenia, OH, looks so much like Cincinnati’s City Hall: it was designed by the same architect, Samuel Hannaford. It was completed in 1902 and has stood at the corner of Main and Detroit Streets ever since. Getting a clean photo of this building is challenging due to overhead utilities, but this view offered a relatively unobstructed view. I don’t know if I’ve ever written about this on here before, but I have an extreme phobia of tornadoes. To me, Xenia has and always will be the city flattened in 1974 during the Super Outbreak. It scares me to such a degree that I cannot even look at a photo of the tornado itself without my blood running cold and my heart rate ramping up. While searching for a map of the storm's path that day, I had to stop because seeing a black and white photo in my periphery or through my fingers blocking the image from view like a child watching a scary movie was too much. It’s a real phobia, and I cannot explain why it afflicts me since I’ve never been a victim of one personally. The reason I searched for something so anxiety-inducing was because I wanted to get an idea of how close it came to damaging this building that day. I can imagine people in the tower looking out at the black, deadly, giant monstrosity swirling in the distance before racing down to the lowest level for shelter and hoping their lives would be spared. The storm that day was rated F5 on the Fujita scale—among the largest in size and fastest in speed in recorded history. The fear those people must’ve felt in that moment shakes me to my core when I think about being in their position. It’s been well over 40 years since that day, and I know Xenia is more than its distant tragedy. But like any mention of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii or the World Trade Center in Manhattan, it’s hard not to instantly think of the worst thing you’ve heard about that place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512801041-VV441V05ZR61X05ZTXD0/IMG_7794.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.1.24 Went to Ruby’s I’ve lived in Cincinnati my entire life and had never been to Jeff Ruby’s. I appreciate a good meal, but I don’t believe the more you pay for a meal, the better it is. This experience was great because I confirmed what I already suspected: it is a delicious steak with equally good sides, but it’s not worth the price you pay for any of it. The entire meal was excellent, and I definitely appreciated the experience of eating here, but I never need to return on my own dime. I do not need hype or the illusion of status to properly season a cut of meat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512801304-1QTZDV7Y9NB89JHWSJ1G/ZFC_2233.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.2.24 It’s John Yung’s World… …we’re just living in it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512803967-RQ9OY0S6WT5JWYLUFXT8/ZFC_2235.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.3.24 Solid Improvement When we left for coffee this morning, the area was foggier than I’ve seen it in a while. It was hard to see even two blocks forward from where we stood. The sun was nowhere to be found, the air was cool, and it looked to be another gloomy winter day suffocating the traces of spring we’ve had lately. Flash forward to about 3 PM and I emerged from Steve’s windowless basement apartment after spending 5 hours in his podcast studio to find the sky was crystal clear and blue, the air was warmer than I thought possible for this time of year, and I was very late to the beautiful spring day party. Solid improvement! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179351689-CV2QQAGH1T6W8PEQR0JY/ZFC_2261.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.4.24 Statehouse From Above Stopped in Columbus on my way to Ann Arbor for work. Saw Chris. He took me up to the top of the tallest skyscraper in the city with 360 views of the entire area. You can even faintly see the Appalachian Mountains from that vantage point. I thought this was a neat look at the Statehouse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179343658-HLGYJ5RYGR7T02OIBLW6/IMG_7835.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.5.24 Passing Through Ypsilanti Population 21,464 as of 2008. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179344568-A3YWVNYIGKHAMZ9QY47K/IMG_7858.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.6.24 The People Have Spoken Everyone wants it. Even the coffee shop poll results say so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179348668-QUJLS36PZ7QUYGFJ63QX/IMG_7893.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.7.24 “This Is Better Than Real Bowling” Quote by Ronny Salerno at The Fill-Inn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179341831-22INIR1N3RRGMSCHK9UR/512+W+7th+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.8.24 Vampire From a real estate shoot I did today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710295448183-T6SWSUCBWJXZMJ6Q0A6G/ZFC_2345-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.9.24 Tiki Night Travis and Allie hosted a tiki night at their house this evening. Travis made a menu of tiki drinks and proceeded to play bartender all evening much to all of our delight. The fluffy banana he made me (three separate times) was honestly one of the best tiki drinks I’ve had. It was the perfect amount of creamy, sweet, and boozy. I took a very grainy 12800-ISO photo of the group and ran it through Adobe’s AI denoise feature to help clean it up, but it still didn’t turn out great. I’ve found that the smaller the person’s face is in the image and the higher the grain, the more the details start to get totally lost in the AI denoise and replaced with plastic-y approximations that make familiar faces horrifying. After a few iterations, I settled on less correction and more grain to find a decent balance. I’m still routinely blown away denoise works as well as it does. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710295443989-KPL56SDUKZ9APNWNX9SM/635+Sixth+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-46.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.10.24 New Apartments Orleans Development recently renovated the building at the corner of 6th and Berry Streets in Dayton, KY. They put a handful of apartments into the upper floors, including two lofts that divide a prior “great room” that the building originally featured on the second floor. Looking at the windows from the exterior gives you a feel for how tall those apartments are. They hired me to photograph three units in the building and get some exteriors as well. I went in the morning and evening to get a few different options with different lighting. I wish the sun were further south to give the avenue-facing side more direct, hard lighting, but it is what it is. Maybe I’ll go back in the summer and see if the lighting is markedly different just for fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710295443251-TP5T180EK0DKYJ8TXNLS/IMG_7907.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.11.24 Girling Around I have number of photos of Ashley and Chelsey inspecting each others’ eyes over the years for some reason. Often times they’re helping each other put in eye drops. Tonight, I added to my strange collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774970439-BEJQKFZN2HV8EWHGFSY2/Untitled-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.12.24 Algin’s New Look I went to Algin to buy a chair for my office. As soon as I walked in, I ran into Alan, the owner. He’s always been an affable, genuinely pleasant guy to talk to. We wasted no time touring the multi-story building's current layout. While much of it looks as good as ever, a few things changed on the upper floors. Most notably, the floor that used to have a billion used chairs collected from shuttered offices and schools looks totally different. I took the image on the top back in 2015. Now, it’s a showroom for Algin’s live edge, exotic slabs. They’re unfinished, and that’s the point: they sell to those who want to finish them in their own shops. Usually, I wouldn’t publish an old photo for this daily photo project, but I think the before/after here is especially interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774962716-B8RLPRQZ7QTWOLMNB5NI/512+W+7th+-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.13.24 Magnolia Not sure this will make the listing, but it was too pretty not to snap a photo while photographing a house earlier today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774968901-UJOC5KDV3ACR3EQFYA4H/Kemba+Blue+Ash+%28Before%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-29.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.14.24 Old Vault 16 Point Solutions plans to renovate an old 1980s US Bank in Blue Ash. Before starting demolition of the interior, though, they had me come out and document it so we could do a nice before-and-after comparison once it’s finished. The building itself is pretty unremarkable, but I always like seeing a vault. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774987664-LAGUW19RN82W0AKX14ML/ZFC_2377.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.15.24 Old Vault We've been trying to get more into wine lately since Ashley has grown mildly allergic to craft beer. It was fitting that we return to the winery where we got married at the end of 2019—right before the pandemic kicked off. Helps that it's one of the most photogenic places in the neighborhood. This is a view of the street from the second-floor window. The hazing at the top isn’t an editing choice; the pane of glass caused the distortion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774965746-YT3O8BSGQZ8RFAPJ3MF9/IMG_7957.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.16.24 Building a Bench Ashley has been talking about a potting bench since we moved into the house in 2020. This year, I’m determined to make it a reality. After battling back a ridiculous onslaught of pop-up ads on a DIY blog, I downloaded plans for an elaborate 7’x8’x2.5’ bench with storage on the bottom, an awning on top, and a slatted backing. It all stands on eight stone pavers with river rock covering the ground beneath for adequate drainage. Long story short, I worked basically all day on acquiring materials and building what you see here. This bench will also double as a serving station when we have backyard parties. Once finished, I think this thing will be a hugely functional addition to the house. I wish I had more time to finish it. We’d planned to go out later, but I started feeling mega sore after stopping for the day. I guess I haven’t been regularly working the muscles required to assemble this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774985019-TF298B48RCA9C6IIUYNL/ZFC_2393.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.17.24 BK A Portrait of BK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710966575840-2DRLB676LNWWM5NMCTPJ/IMG_8020_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.18.24 Appreciating Artistry A few years ago, we found this beautiful 1940s cedar chest with its original tag inside at an antique show in Burlington. We got it for $100. It’s very well maintained though not pristine, adding character to the piece overall. Someone stuck wheels on it at some point, but I don’t think that was a bad decision (the thing weighs something). Anyway, sometimes I look over at it and marvel at the artistry it took to put it together. The angles of the wood, the waterfall edge, the details in the handle on the lift. It’s all so good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710966575916-0VIRJCOFJK5A8ZDPMMN9/IMG_7986.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.19.24 Patiently Waiting Myrt hurt her paw today while playing with her puppy friends. We’re going to have to take her to the vet tomorrow to get it looked at. She’s not showing any signs of distress, but it’s pretty bad. We have it wrapped up so she doesn’t lick it. Ashley was out doing her pilates class and Myrtle sat patiently on our bed waiting for her to return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710966580346-Q2BHVL580I0MXNFXK6NG/ZFC_2405-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.20.24 Sign Garden Had a small photo job at Cincinnati's American Sign Museum this morning. Took a moment on the way out to really appreciate the magnificence of its "sign garden" on the side of the building. This place is such a neat, special attraction in our city. I like that they have intentionally left gaps in the metal skeleton for future additions. I wonder how this overall display will change in the coming years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711140943038-L4Q61ETEVRVJQEKPHEHG/ArtWorks+Bond+Hill+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong+-59.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.21.24 Building Community Together ArtWorks and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission dedicated three new murals inside the Bond Hill Community Center today. Artist Ciara LeRoy (pictured) designed all three murals and produced them with help from ArtWorks apprentices. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478449233-S0NWAJRH22KNU5SAPYIB/IMG_8043.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.22.24 Big Old Baby The face of a dog who knows we’re about to leave her alone on a Friday night. It’s almost enough to want to stay in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478449233-HND4RJZCV04NZ1AY36HT/IMG_8058.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.23.24 Kawa One of my favorite restaurants we went to on our honeymoon was this little conveyor belt sushi place somewhere near our hotel in Seattle. Since then, I’ve wanted to go back to a conveyor belt sushi place, but Cincinnati hasn’t traditionally had one, and I just didn’t look for any when in other cities. Thankfully, that changed recently when Kawa Revolving Sushi opened on Montgomery Road. Long story short, I loved this place. The novelty of the conveyor belt in the booth, the little monorail and semi-truck that drives around on top delivering special dishes, the robots that deliver drinks to your table; all of it was splendidly fun and unique. I ate way more than I should’ve, and aside from whatever a “dofu skin” is, I enjoyed every plate I grabbed off the belt. The revolving sushi model’s strength is its immediacy of delivery and small portions that encourage variety. Ashley said the bathrooms were straight out of a horror movie, but the restaurant itself was clean and neat. Half of me is annoyed this is 30 minutes away from home, and the other half is glad it is so I don’t spend all my money there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478453736-AOU1WCHMEMO5F1YA2XDL/IMG_8063.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.24.24 Build’s Done Continuing on from my photo post from the 16th, I’ve finished the build of the bench. All that’s left to do is paint, stain, and shingle it at this point. And also add rocks below it. Hopefully I can get to that soon. I wish I could say I was totally happy with it, but there are some squaring issues that make me want to pull out my hair. Regardless, the bench is level. I guess that’s something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478454095-KGRVTAAEIBXLHQURS602/NZ9_3274.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.26.24 Vince Two massive trees have fallen around our house over the last three years. Each time one comes down and misses something (or someone), I think about how lucky we are that it missed us. The neighbors have a massive tree in their backyard that hangs over our yard in addition to theirs. Since the last tree fell in January, we’ve been nervous about this one, and so have they. It’s extremely tall and sways heavily during high winds, especially since the one that fell in January blocked much of the westerly winds. I’m not sure we’d be unscathed if it decided to fall. Vince is an arborist, so I told my neighbors about him and how he could probably remove some of the height to greatly reduce the chance of something bad happening. They heeded the warning and hired him to remove the branches that could impact our properties. I took some photos of him from my office balcony while he did his thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711678400478-OF96TAP4B6DNVHABBBJN/IMG_8082.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.26.24 Who Ya Gonna Call? Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was fun, but it didn’t hit me the way Afterlife (2021) did. Bill and I saw it this evening at the AMC in Newport. The last time I hung out with him was to see the previous movie. I think we’ve unintentionally made a tradition that I hope will continue with another GB movie in the future. Please, more of this series with this cast. Didn’t take any photos today except this image of the standee for the movie. I loved being on standee building duty when I worked for Showcase years ago. Like Lego, the instructions for the builds were fun to page through and piece together bit by bit. When we got one that had a lot of complicated geometry and layering to it, I always appreciated the artistry of the design more than the simple flat standees. Someone had to figure out the origami of placing tabs in specific places to fit into slots on other parts to create something with dimension and make the printed images pop enough to entice someone to plop down $12.50 for a ticket. I remember building one with a werewolf that was wildly complicated; maybe it was Van Helsing? Or some other monster movie that’s been forgotten? Either way, it looked incredible after it was built despite being for a movie that probably didn’t break box office records. The thing you don’t realize until you’ve spent hours building a complicated standee is how dry your hands get by the end. It’s essential to moisturize afterward to avoid them cracking and bleeding. This Frozen Empire standee, while not overly complicated, was a good shape. Back in September, I visited the firehouse in Tribeca that the Ghostbusters use for exterior shots and it was a special part of that trip for me. I liked that this standee mimicked the architecture of that building. I couldn’t tell if the lights were supposed to light up or not. And, of course, Slimer and Ecto-1 are on it. That improves anything, in my opinion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711678397782-01UNJYDDS8IHGESDLY0A/Aqua+on+the+Levee+Unit+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.27.24 Aqua Photographed an apartment in Aqua on the Levee today. Nothing more to say about it than that, really. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711678397783-HRFFGYJRR6IYQDTUQY3B/Aqua+on+the+Levee+Unit+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.28.24 People On Peculiar Perches Mike and I attended Opening Day. We walked over the bridge, watched some of the parade, then went to the game. It was honestly the best Opening Day I think I’ve had in a long time, if not ever. I didn’t take a boatload of photos of the parade, but I was struck by the creative ways some people found to elevate their line of sight over a very crowded Fifth Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539156080-IHHLHORDZ3CNQF3BM95M/Sawdust+-+Phil+Armstrong+-88.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.29.24 Daniel My Friday was crazy with two events and one house to photograph. While on my first event of the night, I ran into Daniel at ArtWorks’ V2 Gallery in Walnut Hills. Took his photo, drove him over to the CAC for another event, then went up to CAM to photograph Art After Dark before calling it an evening. We’re planning to ride bikes together soon! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539158311-R2WVM23UR3CJ923A9TEX/Art+Possible+Ohio+3.30.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-68.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.30.24 Art Possible Ohio After shooting Art After Dark for the museum last night, I returned this afternoon to photograph an event organized by Art Possible Ohio—an organization that works “with artists of all ages who have disabilities to advocate for accessibility and inclusivity, advance careers in the creative sector, build community, and improve the academic achievement of Ohio’s students through arts integration,” as their website says. CAM has a great exhibit at the moment called “Accessible Expressions Ohio” that showcases work from artists from around the state, and this specific event was to celebrate and recognize everyone who was involved in making that exhibit a reality, including the artists themselves. This band (pictured) performed in the gallery beside the new exhibit for a couple of hours, as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539154386-6KJ63JDEANT3VGTTZAZI/IMG_8142.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 3.31.24 Leaf Head A leaf fell off one of our plants. I rested it gently on her head. She waited patiently for the photo. She’s a great dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539283580-WL6PTBBJGQYQ5KVRPXCN/861+Belle+Ridge+Loop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.1.24 Belle Ridge Photographed a designer house in Bellevue off Covert Run. These are new builds that utilize high end finishes and fixtures with a modern-inspired architectural style and the ability to modify the house to include an elevator into the floor plan later if the owner wishes. The green marble island and backsplash with the stained poplar woodwork were especially eye-catching and something I haven’t seen before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539283226-MUN7XVKOKRDKUQ60GGJB/IMG_8129.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.2.24 Hunkering Down When the NWS warns the country several days in advance that weather conditions will be severe, it’s not a good sign. On Sunday, we started hearing rumblings about how bad it could get on Tuesday evening. On Monday, the threat persisted. By this morning, both local and national meteorologists were stressing how bad the 5-6 PM hour could be for Cincinnati. I began charging my devices, moving critical paperwork and hard drives to a safe location in the basement, prepping our storm shelter area in my workshop, and battening down the hatches on the porch and deck. By noon, I was more or less ready for it. At 5 PM, we turned the TV to one of the local news stations to keep tabs on the storm as it filtered into the area. It didn’t hit us until about 5:30 or so, and Ashley and Myrtle eventually made their way to the basement when it started getting rough outside. I stayed upstairs and watched as the street outside turned to a river with the buckets of rain we received all at once. It was tense for about 15 minutes, but the storm passed faster than I thought it would. Afterward, a brilliant sunset lit up the front of the house. We walked to the B-List for a post-storm drink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669753687-2DLLS83T81FHZ4AJ3J0D/ZFC_3345.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.3.24 AM Leafy-o It’s that time of year when the AM radio-capable device finds a more accessible location in the office since the MLB makes it impossible to watch games without spending a bunch of money. This year, though, it has to share space with a houseplant who has agreed to share its 8”x8” area of the credenza. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669754403-AXIMS2RXGMVRAQL8A62O/6139+Plymouth+-+4.4.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-14.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.4.24 K A R A T E When I lived in Mt. Washington, I entertained the idea of learning karate for all but 12 seconds before laughing at the idea of myself in a gi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669759970-HJZGMNHVXKEN77NGDBHL/IMG_8226.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.5.24 New Mug Given to me as a gift by a friend of a friend. It kind of resembles my Zfc! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669763846-3L3IEBXIX1A2KESYGC1Q/ZFC_3297-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.6.24 Game Show Battle Room There’s this really fun attraction in Sharonville right now called Game Show Battle Room. It’s in the same complex as Microcenter. You and your people split into teams and play renamed-for-legal-reasons versions of Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, Price is Right, and Plinko. The room is led by a professional host, it has a producer manning the lights, music, scoreboard, and game screen, and each team competes to earn the most points across all four games. The whole thing lasts an hour. We played guys vs girls and had an absolute blast. The girls beat us by a single point in a truly neck-and-neck game of skill and luck. We held our own for the majority of the game, but a game-winning Plinko disc drop by Rachel at the very end put the girls over the top and earned them the trophy. It was honestly so much fun and I’m already ready to go back for another game. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669760803-0EANCQO0FL6SNFD2QBHI/IMG_8194_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.7.24 Lunar Capitalism One of my favorite things is when makeshift markets pop up in parking lots and along roadsides to shill topical wares in an effort to squeeze a few coins out of an event, especially when it’s for something like an eclipse. Part of me desperately wants to support them because they’re dumb and schlocky, but the other part of me almost always says ‘no.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712673185586-C79MEVS764RGVIQVIB6C/ZFC_3343-Enhanced-NR+10.27.51%E2%80%AFAM.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.8.24 Totality Witnessing a cosmic event with boots on Earth isn’t something that happens many times in one’s life. While this wasn’t my first eclipse (I documented the 2017 one in a blog post), this was my first time seeing it from within the full shadow. I can’t accurately describe how strange and beautiful it was, but I can say that it was something I’ll never forget. We decided to go up to Hueston Woods—the place where Myrtle’s swam and played several times—to see the eclipse. The news warned of horrible traffic, so we left at 8 AM. That turned out to be well before everyone else left, apparently. When we arrived at 9 AM, practically no one was there. We set up camp out of the back of our car, poured a couple of mimosas, and waited patiently for darkness. People trickled into the park until about 3 PM when we noticed it was quieter than it had been. No cars were running and everyone was in position, glasses on, staring up at the sky. “It's an orange moon!” A bespectacled little girl said to her mother who replied to her in a language I didn’t recognize. People from around the world came to the path of totality to see this. It was awe-inspiring. I set up a camera to shoot at a 10-second interval and pointed it toward where Ashley and I would be (we put Myrtle in the car with the windows down). Since I didn’t have a filter for my camera, I didn’t bother shooting the eclipse itself until totality. An hour leading up to the eclipse, we felt like we had ever-darkening sunglasses on. When darkness finally fell, the ground looked like it rippled and a cool wind rushed through the woods. The horizon looked like sunset and the void where the sun should be looked wild. It was in that moment that I understood why ancient civilizations without an understanding of this brand of science would be concerned. I stopped the interval and took a photo at 40mm during totality next to a tree to give the composition something unique. Three whole minutes. That’s all it was. But I will say there was more emotion and excitement in that three minutes than many others I’ve had in my life. I’m not sure I’ll ever see another one of these in my lifetime, so I’m thankful I experienced this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713229031726-47Q6HCLD176W1L1CTXUG/861+Belle+Ridge+Loop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-60.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.9.24 Outer Glow Photographed one of those high-end Bellevue houses at night for the listing because it had special exterior lighting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231528792-01SZZ6EZ39ZC2BPF8OB2/New+Acquisitions+4.10.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-35.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.10.24 New Acquisitions New acquisitions arrived at CAM recently and the curators hosted an event for Founders members. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231524272-BT8VBVN6JT26DWQYIKOB/IMG_8235.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.11.24 Liberty Hill Went to record a quick interview with John Yung for a CNU project up at his house. The way these streets ramp up the hill at such a steep grade is reminiscent of the way so much of San Francisco looks. Of course I dig it, but I also wonder how accessible any of these homes are if they’re accessible at all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231524272-2H00P2IKDHSHU383KYO6/IMG_8246.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.12.24 Fruit Stripe It wasn’t often that we got sugary gum as kids, but when we did, I remember absolutely loving Fruit Stripe gum. The cartoon zebra on the package, the green-yellow-red packaging, the aroma released straight out of the paper wrap, the way it folded effortlessly when it was fresh and the way it shattered like chalk when it wasn’t; it was a whole experience. Even talking about it right now is making my mouth water. It lost flavor within about 10 chomps, but those 10 chomps were magical. I have a memory of standing in the middle of the back yard during summer, staring at the tree line in the distance, chewing this gum while my dad mows the grass. All of that is to say this rainbow reminded me of that gum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231528792-AEMST9XTX8V2YKKQFNQQ/IMG_8284.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.13.24 Staining and Painting Phew! The potting bench and outdoor bar top is almost finished. Spent a long time staining and painting this sucker today before going to Travis and Allie’s for a tiki drink night where I shot film and recorded on VHS, removing the ability to post anything from that here. I got dirty and gross, but I think it’s turning out well. Also need another row of shingles since the pack I bought was barely short. I also need to add rocks to the base to help with drainage and keep the contents inside the cabinets up off the dirt beneath. The finish line is ahead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713233530657-ZSYEN47YZHLBWJLOVB1E/IMG_8260.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.14.24 Sunday Evening The only images I made today were on a roll of Kodak I’m trying to finish, so I quickly documented my Sunday evening. Ashley’s back in Minneapolis for work, so it’s just me and this little fluffy nerd. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713233531212-SRA7AY1N5MPD8F4DQ7IX/ZFC_3467-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.15.24 Skyline Jay Jay’s in from Philly. He came in a few nights ago and we made lunch plans at the 4th Street Skyline. He got a 5-way with a coney all the way. I got my 4-coney all the way standard. We caught up and it was nice to see him again. He’s getting a second dog this summer! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713491685577-SE6PC24RQ9T716D6RX7W/220+Wallace+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-41.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.16.24 220 Wallace Today’s real estate job was straightforward enough, but I think the thing that keeps me coming back to the exteriors is the perfect lighting and the feeling that we’re at peak spring at the moment. Spring feels like it’s fully shaken off the lasting tendrils of winter that keep snaking back into the forecast, and photographing the pastel yellow house under a brilliant blue sky while lightly sweating reinforced it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713491685053-IDJGUC1J1JV199IMJX34/IMG_8323.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.17.24 Born From Awkwardness I went over to Steve’s house to watch a movie. He planned ahead and DoorDashed wings for the time I’d arrive. When I got there, the Dasher was in the process of ringing his doorbell to complete the drop. Instead of awkwardly interrupting the exchange by standing behind the Dasher, I ducked around the corner of Steve’s building to burn 60 seconds and let that transaction complete itself. The only reason this image exists is because of my awkwardness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713491689173-VJDHIVA8AKWBCLIT5C92/NZ9_8803.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.18.24 Purple People Perspective I had a shoot at Aqua on the Levee this morning, and while photographing the rooftop communal space, I snapped a photo of the Purple People Bridge from a perspective I’ve never seen before. It’s always a thrill to get up in the air and photograph something you know well from a new vantage point. Side note: I hope they figure out which paint swatch works best soon so they can finish repainting the bridge. It’ll look incredible once fully lavender’d. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713818631117-UG2Q68PG88JRJGTJT1RS/IMG_8322.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.19.24 Rum for President The only acceptable version of this sign. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713818634697-KJ588NS8H4GOF4Y4D4WH/ZFC_3504-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.20.24 Evening Game We went with Chelsea and Vince to the game this evening. Before walking over, though, we hit up The Galley at the Levee—the food hall and bar they opened late last year. The cheesesteak I got was delicious (with actual wiz!), as were the mixed drinks we all ordered. After a day spent working in the yard in the sun, it was nice to sit and relax in the sun with the promise of a baseball game we were sure to win ahead in the schedule for the evening. After we got there and found our seats, we stayed put for about 6 innings before abandoning our seats for hot dogs. We watched as a food service worker accidentally dropped what was probably $100 in nacho chips out in the fan zone, get visibly angry, and storm away with what remained in the plastic container before another worker casually walked up and started sweeping the pile into a tiny dust bin. Before leaving, I stopped at the pro shop and bought a hoodie to help keep me warm for the rest of the game and the long walk home. It was a good day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713818630965-KB8UMS1ICBRM03Q5HW8S/IMG_8369.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.21.24 Profitable Ride The unmistakable yellow-green of crumpled US currency flashed by in a blur as I kept my eyes glued to the pavement looking for pot holes beneath my wheels. I quickly weighed whether or not traffic was heavy enough to double back and get it before ramping both wheels up onto the curb and speeding back to the spot, hoping what I saw was real and still there. I thought it was a five at first, but was delighted to discover it was four times more. Without thinking, and worried someone would yell at me for stopping in the street, I pocketed the crumple and raced home. When I got there, I looked at it again to confirm what I found was real. Myrtle wanted to inspect, too. It pays to ride your bike! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714072513686-TQ29A6GNI1VM8N24DAQW/ZFC_3519.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.22.24 Mycelial Network Yesterday while drinking bourbon on the porch, Kevin told me about a park up the street that I didn’t know about. Tonight I persuaded Ashley to walk up there. We scoured the trails with an off-leash Myrtle, found a wooden bridge, a clearing with deer, and an orange tennis ball that Myrtle enjoyed chasing. It made for a good Earth Day evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714072513075-X8DTNMF8UH9DPTILBAI8/IMG_8391.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.23.24 Purple Reward My photoshoot got pushed to tomorrow, so I spent the day working in the garden. I removed more grass from the left side of the yard and planted tulip bulbs for next year, transplanted some small greens, and put a large purple smoke bush in the corner of the yard where our compost bin used to be. I also laid down more pine straw in the front yard, mowed the little bit of grass we have, and edged it all with the trimmer after moving fresh compost to the raised vegetable and spice bed. While I was working in the yard, my purple clematis bloomed a second time. It felt like a little reward for taking care of everything. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714072517587-LTPMH5OFT10PK4NLRKD1/801+Mt.+Hope+-+Phil+Armstrong+-29.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.24.24 Mt. Hope Photographed the third floor of this beautiful building in Price Hill. It’s one block west of Oldenview Park and shares the spectacular view of Downtown from the turret. The day was full of sunshine and blue skies, making for better images and a more enjoyable afternoon when reviewing everything later on the computer. When spring shows up after months of working around grey skies and naked trees, it’s a creative relief. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407759016-K9EOG1GZGMQ622D7XM0G/Art+In+Bloom+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-98.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.25.24 Return of Art In Bloom Every two years, Art in Bloom returns to the Cincinnati Art Museum. The exhibit pairs custom floral arrangements with selected works of art on display throughout various galleries in the museum, all made by creatives in Cincinnati and beyond. With well over 50 arrangements scattered throughout two floors of the building, there’s a lot of new brand stuff to enjoy paired with artwork you’ve seen on display before. Prior to the show’s opening to the public on Friday, the museum held a private event to kick everything off. In addition to food, drink, a live band, costumed dancers (pictured), and access to the entire building to see the show early, invitees got to see the entire exhibit looking its absolute best—these are floral arrangements, afterall, wither slowly with every passing hour. To my untrained eye, I likely won’t notice, but to Ashley’s, I’m sure it will be. We plan to see it together on Saturday morning before Asian Food Fest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407763871-XDSIVKGH3J3YODQW32P1/NZ9_1330-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.26.24 Changing of the Guard To celebrate the Red Door Project’s 10th anniversary, the initiative was passed on to ArtWorks during a ceremony at the Art Academy’s SITE1212 that involved the literal red door being handed to ArtWorks’ CEO, Colleen Houston. While I’ve never participated in Red Door due to a lack of believing in my own work, I was able to support it by purchasing one of my friends’ prints during a show a couple years after it kicked off. It’s a great way to pick up something unique and original when you’re looking to jazz up a room. The show’s founder, Barabara, received a bouquet of flowers as well as a beautiful turnover cake (get it?) that Dominique made for the occasion. I spent about an hour and a half grabbing stills of people hugging, cheersing, admiring the artwork that was up for bids, and the ceremonial hand-over. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407764058-FM38FDAE0TVF1BJKW4IZ/ZFC_3620.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.27.24 Market Morning We spent the morning eating breakfast at Goose & Elder, perusing the market, drinking coffee, climbing the steps to the Art Museum for Art In Bloom, then went to Asian Food Fest with friends in the early afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407758733-OY4X8NL1B0TQWFPCU7IE/IMG_8408.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.28.24 First Cookout of 2024 Worked in the yard for most of the day planting new plants and flowers in the garden, as well as getting our tomatoes and herbs into the raised beds. By evening, we were ready to break in the new outdoor bar with a proper cookout. Chelsea and Vince dropped by with an appetizer and some delicious homemade slaw. We cooked hot dogs, mets, and brats to go along with maple-bacon baked beans and a macaroni and cheese recipe I came up with a few years ago. The bar was big enough to hold everything with ease, and dishing up was easier than it ever was indoors. Really glad we have this amenity in the back yard now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714408000432-VXIPX65J5MJUCN2PH1YN/ZFC_3653.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.29.24 Vinny da Climbah Vince was hired by the city to take down a massive tree that’s causing issues to nearby infrastructure. It’s a shame this beautiful tree has to go, but I get it. After watching two trees narrowly miss my own house after falling during the last 3 years, I don’t blame anyone for wanting to be proactive. Since it’s about a block and a half from my house, I walked down to check it out after hearing the chainsaws buzzing in the distance from my office. As I approached the scene, he was in the perfect position for a good contrast-y photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714661398235-T9TM1NMWUQWZEH5ON9DS/Z9Tether008.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 4.30.24 The Photo Worth $3000 A photo of the moment I began to realize I was about to save myself $3000. No, this isn’t staged. Back in September of last year, I got a Macbook Air with the M2 chip to use as my mobile editor and “big” screen in the field. Using Lightroom Classic’s tethering option, I’d take a photo and it would blow into the editor so the client could view what I was seeing on the bigger screen. The only problem is the laptop could barely handle Lightroom Classic without beach balling with every action. When you have to make the client wait for your laptop to do a basic task, it’s not a great look. It was obvious I needed more than 8gb of RAM (or as Apple now calls it: Unified Memory). A quick trip to Apple’s website to look at what a MacBook Pro with a beefed-up M3 chip cost resulted in a thousand-yard stare. I weighed my financial options. It was possible, but I’d be hurting afterward. Flash forward to a couple hours of research later and I loaded NX Tether—a tethering software designed for Nikon cameras by the company itself—to my Macbook Air. I took my first test shot (pictured) and it ran flawlessly without any hiccups. Blowing it into NX Studio, the software’s companion editor, was smooth as silk and nearly instant. I didn’t need to used Lightroom Classic at all. I could keep my $3000. NX Tether and Studio completely solved my issue for free. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714661474405-7JGV968YA74GQ2VYZ7WC/IMG_8441.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.1.24 One Stop Shop She wanted a bottle of rose to drink on the porch this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011371025-GNEQHXAT3VNILHDV1PW3/Last+Scouts+at+MOTR+5.2.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-66.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.2.24 The Last Scouts Travis’ new band, The Last Scouts, played their inaugural show at MOTR tonight. They did a solid 45 minutes and sounded awesome. The stage was tight and getting photos of Travis was tricky, but I managed to optically scooch between the frontmen for a few Trav-focused frames. Looking forward to their next show at the Oxford Wine & Craft Beer Festival on June 1. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011371058-BPX9JA8VVD4KGK7S17I0/ZFC_4563-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.3.24 Brendan’s Night Out Brendan and Caitlynn are getting married in 8 days. The girls went out and did karaoke, so we went out with Brendan for a short photo walk, Camp Washington Chili pizza at Taglio (to die for), and drinks at Level One (formerly 16-Bit) to wrap up the evening. It’s impossibly hard to get a crisp image without resorting to unimaginable grain in an arcade, but Adobe Denoise worked its magic and turned out a decent version of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011376763-AQ90VSV9TM3PKSSG75NR/IMG_8467.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.4.24 Backyard Romps Kiran’s 8th birthday is today. To celebrate, everyone came down to our house for a backyard gathering complete with pizza, fizzy drinks, and a pinata filled with candy for the birthday girl. I was so concerned about having everything in place, I didn’t take many photos. The pinata was strung on a string at the end of a pole that I held up, so I couldn’t get any photos of that, either. I did capture this sweet moment where Esmeray, Kiran, and my mom were playing together, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011375559-SBEVBWV2GYE7F6ZQ46U0/ZFC_4566-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.5.24 De Mayo of the Cinco Variety For Cinco de Mayo, we walked down to Los Potros and dined/drank on their exquisite patio. For the first time ever, it was nearly full—a phenomenon I haven’t personally seen this restaurant experience. The energy was much improved with people around. Afterward, we walked a little further into Dayton before casually making our way to the B-List for a night cap (or two). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715130245929-4J8ZAJQ6VT52ZL9KPRQP/IMG_8486.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.6.24 Don’t Get Up, Myrt “I’m not getting out of this bed unless the promise of cheese or throwing ball is on the table.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715444060367-2TP3CU6JURWTQM215TPU/327+Elm+Street+Unit+3+-+Phil+Armstrong+-4.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.7.24 Shoot Before the Storm I had to photograph two Airbnb units in Ludlow today. While there, I got an alert that the weather was about to take a turn; a huge storm with a bright red front on the radar was incoming. My car was parked two blocks away and it didn’t look like I was going to finish before it hit my location, so I went and moved the car right up behind the building in the alley just beyond the door you see in this image. It wasn’t exactly a proper parking spot, but I took a chance anyway. Just as the final frames were in motion, I looked west out of the window and saw a navy blue wall of clouds in the distance. Lightning and thunder began, and the window of time I had to finish was just about up. As I loaded my gear into the car mere feet from the door, rain began pouring in buckets. The drive home was chaotic and slow with visibility not much greater than a single block in some instances. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715444066097-JGPHQZSJOV0PG2VWJUTH/Shanghai+to+Ohio+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-59.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.8.24 From Shanghai to Ohio From Shanghai to Ohio: Woo Chong Yung opened tonight at the Cincinnati Art Museum to a small, intimate crowd. There were four performances beforehand, one of which involved this sword master. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715444062648-3SQKR20TLL5Y60H33MZG/Ronny+and+Egypt+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.9.24 Ronny and Egypt A portrait of Ronny and Egypt in front of what remains of the mural on the side of Holiday Spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055368409-WRDGULS8T24ZK2SS1YM1/IMG_8586.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.10.24 Good Light After visiting Studio Kroner for Brad Davis’ art show, I saw this scene across the street and thought it was photogenic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055366616-3U3JMCXQNBJZ1HG48F0J/IMG_8605.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.11.24 Calm Before the Party We stopped by The Lodge in Dayton, KY this morning to check out a pop-up farmer’s market. I dug the eclectic decor on the way out the door. Tonight is Caitlyn and Brendan’s wedding. It’s going to be a load of fun with good friends. Cannot wait to celebrate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055368612-738BDDJPPHW80XAVBYHK/IMG_8644.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.12.24 Legendary Hangover This grainy image taken at 12x on my iPhone from within a moving vehicle is the best I can do in my current state. I am extremely nauseous and want to lie still for an eternity. However, it’s Mother’s Day, and I have a mother to visit. Apparently, if you combine an open bar with endless cabernet and friends getting married, I have no choice but to let loose and over-indulge. The wedding was so fun. I don’t remember getting home or anything about the end of the night, but everything leading up to it was incredible. While on the way to mom’s house—with Ashley at the wheel and a 5-gallon bucket wedged between my legs—I saw this blimp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055363927-H9X2R4CQGJ2ZPR2XKKTH/Yard+Party+5.13.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.13.24 CNU Yard Party Congress for the New Urbanism is holding its annual conference in Cincinnati this week, and to kick off the festivities, Yard & Co. hosted a party at its headquarters on Pleasant Street. I was originally scheduled to photograph two of the three days of CNU’s events, but about an hour before I went to photograph this party for Yard, I received an email from them saying they “accidentally hired someone else” and that I wouldn’t be needed. So now I have two days open with no work this week. I’ll keep my real opinion about working with CNU out of print, but all I’ll say here is that I won’t be working with them again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055363287-6OLKXBPPMD28PQZG28D4/IMG_8677.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.14.24 XTREME FASHIONS I don’t know if there’s an architectural term for it, but I love how this corner shop has a little detached display case in lieu of a structural pillar with a walkway separating it from the front door. It’s xtremely unique and fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055862264-3MHC87JQ530XO0H1L2PQ/IMG_8687.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.15.24 Building a Mountain Had to go to Home Depot for something and stopped to marvel at the colossal mound of dirt across the highway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716169153196-W2FKSEYF3SD28K6D967C/IMG_8773-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.16.24 Dahlia Work took me to an early-childhood school in Anderson where I was tasked with capturing the way adorable little kids play on the playground for a creative agency. It’s not something I’m used to doing, but I treated it like any other event and the photos turned out nicely, I think. I shouldn’t share any of those images here for privacy reasons, but rest assured I got about 10 frames out of the hundreds that I took that I think are great. It’s hard to keep them in focus, but it’s not difficult to capture pure, innocent joy. Super thankful I got to work on that project. So here’s a freshly watered dahlia in my backyard instead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390372839-RDG8CD9VS9R9EFBVV6R1/IMG_8791.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.17.24 Evening Surprise In January, a large tree fell in our neighbor’s side yard. I documented it in this daily photo project at the time (the date was the 13th), and despite crews cleaning up the street that weekend, the bulk of the tree lay across the public steps for months afterward. It screamed, “We cannot possibly impede people turning around on this dead-end street in their cars, but everyone who uses the sidewalk and steps can be patient.” It's not a great look for the city, to be honest. Anyway, that was winter. It’s late spring now. As the sun’s arc slowly changes as the year wears on, so do the highlights and shadows in my home. We used to get sun through this amber-colored window on the steps in the morning when the sun would illuminate the alley. Now that the tree in the neighbor’s side yard is gone, we get a glorious encore in the evening. It’s so beautiful to me. My mood has always been susceptible to change based on the lighting in the room I’m in. This is like a concentrated injection of serotonin straight into whatever lobe of my brain is feeling poorly at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390371974-M8RH4XGEDJ1L1W0CS7E9/ZFC_4658.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.18.24 Perennial Event This morning, the vacant lot across the street from my house hosted an awesome pop-up. Local artist Devan Horton assembled a seed planting and painting event that included coffee, art, live music, and local plants for sale. She infused paper with flower seeds before the event, and people would paint whatever they wanted before planting the seeds in the lot. I used to try my best to maintain this vacant lot in past years, but I was the only one doing it and couldn’t keep it up. I’m so glad someone else took some initiative and got permission to do something with it. I popped down for a coffee, and Ashley painted/planted. We sat on the porch from 9 AM to 4 PM, enjoying the festivities. It was a treat to listen to music and wave to neighbors (and meet new ones) so close to home. If I'm honest, I would love to see this lot programmed regularly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390369992-JVTYQXQFD38ZJ44HVZXR/ZFC_4681.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.19.24 FPV Flying Steve needed to practice flying an Avata 2 drone, so we went to Devou Park, found a quiet spot, and fired it up. He needs to master it before a job in June for a big client. The benefit of an FPV drone is how precise it can be flown, allowing dynamic and fast recording from perspectives only tiny drones can offer. To practice precise flying, he flew it between our legs a few times, around tree trunks, and between us as we sat at a picnic table. If I were ever to get a drone and acquire a license, I think I’d like one of these. They’re so small and easy compared to other drones. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390364821-86OBUES0KMRGFRJBD9U0/1001+Russell+St+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.20.24 Seminary Square From a real estate shoot in Seminary Square today. There were two lovely cats and a good dog inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390363941-756LWNHH8Q9LY3BYJ2N8/IMG_8815_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.21.24 Pendleton Slice The morning was surprisingly sweltering for spring. I went out to photograph murals for ArtWorks and snapped this photo on the way back to my car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716489752015-XYWEMCLON947Y7E27EN4/IMG_8840.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.22.24 Planning Stage We’re planning a New England vacation this August. This first stop is Boston. I spent hours looking stuff up and figuring out what we could do in a day and a half there before realizing that a return trip was required. There’s no way to even remotely scratch the surface of a city that size in such a short amount of time. We went to a wine tasting at Merchant’s Club later in the evening. Our planning efforts followed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716563186543-TYSM8CBDA4GYHZHPD9W9/NZF_0023-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.23.24 B&W Mode Nikon put a B&W option on the mode dial of the Nikon Zf (full frame version). Figuring I'd use it once and dismiss it as gimmick, I was thoroughly surprised when I didn't want to stop using it. Especially on overcast days, seeing images in monochrome as they're snapped kind of wedged a new layer of vitality into photography for me. The best part: if shooting RAW, images retain all color info behind the preview, so if you decide you want to re-colorize them, you can. Due to this novelty, I’ll probably be posting more B&W images. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996069594-1V8SGX49ZG4DE6UMWEV9/NZF_0902.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.24.24 Sunset on the August Ferry We took the ferry from Higginsport over to Augusta tonight to eat and drink at Beehive Tavern. We didn’t have to take the ferry, but it was a picturesque evening on the water and seemed like a fun idea. After arriving on the southern shore minutes before one of the last rides of the evening, I turned to face the boat one more time and snapped a photo of others loading up to head north. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996072232-1LKTNU367IV82IHOI3E3/NZF_0937.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.25.24 The Ripley Sticks Last night, we went to Augusta, and today, we went out to Ripley—a relatively tiny blip in the sticks in Ohio. Vince co-owns a farm out there with acres of land, some of which is shrouded in forest. We packed up our camping gear, loaded Myrtle into the car, and ventured out over grassy hills until we found our spot at the edge of the woods. We met up with Vince and Chelsea, set up camp, placed fold-out chairs around the fire, and began slamming Pacificos like we’d just returned from war. Homemade burgers eventually made their way to our plates, followed by brownies. We saw loads of stars and a rising moon that looked bigger and more orange than usual. By midnight, we were all tired enough to climb into our tents, fire up the battery-operated fan for white noise and air circulation, and saw logs until morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996070566-S50ZTAZK11DU4C7ZQO4G/NZF_1035.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.26.24 Hidden Rot-Gut After waking up in the woods, we boarded a UTV to explore the area further and check out some different vantage points. With Vince at the wheel, we snaked around the property, exploring the ruins of 1800s single-room schoolhouses, secluded hand-built log cabins, and other areas of interest. At one point, we came upon an old stone carving engraved with a crow that almost resembled a tall headstone. Though it wasn’t to mark a person's grave, it was a marker to remember a fellowship of forest lovers. At the base of the marker was a stone box with a flat rock on top. Vince lifted the rock, revealing a deep cavity with an old bottle of bourbon bearing a weathered label. “We all know this is here,” Vince said, talking about everyone who co-owns the property. Even still, the look of the bourbon and the condition of the bottle didn’t fill me with confidence that it was potable. Vince proved me wrong, however. He unscrewed the cap, carefully eased the bottle back, took a swig, and blinked at the ground a few times while holding back a grimace. He returned the bottle to its hiding spot, hopped back aboard the UTV, and we headed back to the campsite. He suffered no ill effects from the drink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996065650-PWJA84LHJGJYPTMJEP6A/NZF_1057.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.27.24 Overlook After returning from our overnight in the country, I felt the urge to enjoy urbanity from the comfort of my bike. With no destination and impulsively choosing when and where to go as I approached every corner, I eventually found myself bypassing the blockade at the top of the Brighton Approach and riding down as far as possible to this point. I’d never gotten a photo of this place before tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996065318-TNTL122SGUQZ2T8DZV6B/NZF_1059.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.28.24 Porch Cats This B&W mode on the Nikon Zf is too fun. I haven’t shot many color images lately as a result. This novelty may pass sooner than later, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts. It just makes viewing the world a little weirder; familiar things look and feel different in real time, adding a level of freshness I didn’t realize I needed until I saw it. Seeing these scenes through the EVF in B&W is even better than the stills themselves. There’s just something special about it. Monochrome cats, unsurprisingly, look great in monochrome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537562810-S8NZ7GP55N12PLX3Q5QP/NZF_1062.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.28.24 Peeking Through Down by the tracks, from the public steps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537566586-FSQRDGQSTUW8KGUWRIIF/Z9Tether154.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.29.24 Portrait of a Doodle Had a hard day today. Lost my biggest client due to them pivoting away from what I was working on in favor of something less labor intensive. Stuff they can do on their own. It’s not a good feeling. But there’s a possible portrait job on the horizon that I’m aiming for, and it requires some pretty dramatic lighting, so I tested out a new setup in my basement to see if I could make it work. Taking my own portrait is difficult, so I had fluff ball sit in for me. I like doing this style of bold, color-rich, contrast-y portraits. They feel very late-90s to me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537567200-82HG3F8HSNSY33D1RT03/NZF_1102.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.30.24 Paddock Hills Mural Photographed for ArtWorks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537562577-FLDNBL67P5U98TPTT2F8/Z9Tether390_01-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 5.31.24 Practice Makes Portrait More portrait practice, this time on people! Erica (pictured) and others stood in for a few snaps so I could figure out the lighting for this possible upcoming gig. I would normally move the key light to fill more of the face, but the example image they provided was lit more like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624031900-9A8O8DPQ2L03PZ9MPL5B/NZF_1124-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.1.24 A Wet Oxford Beer & Wine Festival Travis’ band, The Last Scouts, played a show on a much larger stage than their first gig at MOTR. This one was in Oxford, OH at the Craft Beer & Wine Festival. They sounded great, as usual. It rained on and off the whole time we were there, so I didn’t grab many photos, sadly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624028503-DHS59X5ZMJ89CVQ41HTB/NZF_1287.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.2.24 Combining Two Hobbies Into One Tiffany and Steven randomly sent me this Lego camera set. It was such a pleasant surprise. I cleared my evening to build it and had an enjoyable hour of relaxation snapping together bricks and listening to a podcast about ghosts. Finally got around to photographing it on the white backdrop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624028516-Z0TLV9Y34VAJA12IBEJP/1734+E+Boat+Run+Road+-+Phil+Armstrong+-39.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.3.24 Airbnb Decor Just some decor from an Airbnb I photographed today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624021652-EXMSD6N7Z5EEJ3DD1I8A/NZF_1255-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.4.24 Riverwalk The work I had lined up for today fell through. Seems to be happening more and more lately. Hopefully my luck will turn around sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624021107-Q6IGQIWXK7F5LBE772H8/NZF_1341.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.5.24 A Slow Dismantling of Something Huge A few months back, I treated myself to the enormous 40-inch-long Lego Saturn V rocket. It was the first set I’d bought in probably 20 years. Putting it together was a joy; even though I could’ve totally knocked the whole thing out in one night, I spaced the experience out over a few days. I took photos of it in stages today. The way the Saturn V rocket broke apart in stages to reach the moon was wild. The set does a good job highlighting each of these stages in the build, and that thoughtfulness was one of the reasons I was drawn to it. The disposable sections worked so hard for such a brief time, designed to be cast aside after use. They just kept getting smaller and smaller, providing stepping stones into space until humanity achieved what was thought to be impossible for ages. Long story short, I feel like the Saturn V rocket breaking apart at the moment. It’s been another truly frustrating day of cancellations. From canceled doctor visits to losing that portrait job to someone else that I was banking on later this month, I am feeling increasingly small while careening into unfamiliar territory. I just hope that there will be something big that will make this rough trip worthwhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291791239-0K698QRNF40GVJ1VA85C/IMG_9032.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.6.24 Oops This project has been dour lately due to myriad career-based issues. It will turn around eventually, but I’m still in the thick of it for now. If there are any regular readers out there, hang tight while I navigate everything. After a successful photoshoot for Model Group this morning, I went home and mentally prepped to photograph an event at a local museum this evening. When I got there, I set up, talked to staff, and started doing my thing. Then, someone came up and asked if I was certain I was supposed to photograph the event. Questioning myself, I quickly checked my email and realized I had the date wrong. Tonight wasn’t my night. They invited me to stay and enjoy the exhibit, but I was too embarrassed. I went home. When I got through the garage door, Myrtle greeted me, and I sat down on the floor to give her a few good pets. Then, I lay down and observed the ceiling for a while. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291792446-TAQ28TGG15PEC2LDFMQV/IMG_9035.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.7.24 Full Day A lot happened today. I started working as an assistant to a local photographer I admire. Her studio is in Mohawk. I ran a few errands for her, including going to Kenwood to pick up a brand-new M3 MacBook Pro for her. Watching someone with a different process do their thing in a controlled space is fascinating. I learned a lot about how she lights her subjects, and I’m interested in learning more as I continue working with her whenever she needs me. Unfortunately, I blasted my head on a door about an hour into the job. The knot on my forehead stings to the touch, but the skin didn’t break. The slight headache doesn’t seem to be serious enough to seek medical attention, though. Anyway, when I got home, I took Myrtle on a walk. As we made our way up the street, I noticed the open lot where she likes to run was dug up, and the large magnolia tree that stood on the corner was gone. I guess they’re beginning construction up there. I think we’re both disappointed that she can’t enjoy the lot anymore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291798731-0V14PCBCKSD9DS6DDW38/IMG_9045.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.8.24 R&R After briefly getting a few things done around the house, fatigue overtook me, and the head injury I received yesterday seems a bit worse than I thought. I have a minor sensitivity to blinking light, and I cannot explain why I’m so sapped for energy. Of course the knot hurts, but that’s to be expected. The plan to celebrate a friend’s birthday tonight wasn’t in the cards for me. I texted her and apologized for canceling, and explained my situation. She was understanding, of course. The rest of the evening was spent laying on the couch, watching TV and resting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291794059-OIRH12307VBGOM0YOSBM/NZF_1380.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.9.24 Went On a Walk My head is on the mend. Ashley thinks it’s a mild concussion, but I don’t. Anyway, I think I’ll be back in working order by tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291798730-MGOU0MDDTAN7KZARL5NP/711+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-32.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.10.24 Texture I’m still feeling slightly exhausted due to the head thing, but I was well enough to photograph two spaces today. One was an elegant, beautifully decorated condo full of natural sunlight in Covington. The other was a dark, empty, dilapidated former law office (pictured). I liked the texture and color of the second floor. The owner said her father, who passed away in April, once ran his firm in this building. After he retired, he would infrequently come to the building to do desk work, but it was otherwise empty and unmaintained for about 20 years. As I considered my age and how quickly time passes, I realized this space was likely in good condition the year I graduated high school in 2004. In what still feels like a short amount of time, it took a dive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291796788-D245GO3KZ7B0RADJ11XN/IMG_9088.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.11.24 Dumb Project I’m building something very dumb for Kevin. It’s a board that holds a single beer on top and suspends three beers beneath it using lid snaps screwed into the bottom. He saw someone make it on Instagram and asked if I’d make him one using materials found in his garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291796042-88KZ3N1S7H7C628ABPDV/NZF_1620.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.12.24 New Baby My nephew was born on Monday. They took him home last night, so we visited him for the first time tonight. I snapped a few photos, marveled at the tininess of a 3-day-old baby, and played with Kiran and Esmeray. Kiran took a moment to feed and gently bounce her baby brother when he fussed. It was very sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256641730-36RHMJAAYA2F3DZDIQXB/Img005.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.13.24 Green Friend This is the Zf I’ve been shooting with lately. It is all black by default, but I chose to go with the moss green variant to give it a little personality and separate it aesthetically from my other bodies. Plus, I really just love green equipment (my iMac is also green). I really loved the contrast of the silver and black of the Zfc, so I wanted something similar for this camera. Overall, I’m super happy with how this thing handles. It has all the character I loved about the Zfc with the functionality of a full-fledged Z-series camera. It’s not a substitute for the Z9, but I feel like it’s the perfect companion. I’ve used it multiple times as a second body when shooting events, and it’s served me better than I could’ve imagined. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256651509-Q6IZY3I6BTN3FX8JM3AK/NZF_2630.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.14.24 Central Parkway A scene from Central Parkway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256647679-ZPBAYZ3LCAZ9WCJP72QP/NZF_1716_0866-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.15.24 Can't Pass Up Good Light We’ve been keeping the blinds closed in the evenings lately so our bedroom isn’t sweltering by the end of the day. While walking past the doorway this evening, I caught a glimpse of the room lit with filtered golden hour light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256646447-FR6WKX9Z8OXOYF7NRZ42/NZF_1684_0874-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.16.24 Deer Have Returned It’s been awhile since the deer have been seen hanging out across the street in the vacant lot. Tonight, though, this doe made a comfortable little spot for herself near the tree line and sat quietly in the shade. I haven’t used my Tamron 150-600mm in a long time, but I slapped it on the Zf and snapped a few frames. After using S-series Nikon glass, and after fiddling with this Tamron lens for years, I just have to face facts that it’s just never going to be as sharp as I want. That’s okay, though. It’s a hobby lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256649694-JKZ65RM3D2HAWXWNGSJW/NZF_1731.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.17.24 Queensgate A shot looking east on Gest Street toward downtown from Queensgate. This pocket of fast food and USPS mail vans surrounded by barbed wire fencing with faded skyscrapers in the background caught my eye. You can see the smog and heat advisory in this photo if you look long enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256643184-XWRA8IM9SD465D415VKF/NZF_1362.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.18.24 Beauty in Simplicity I thought this sewer grate surrounded by lush vegetation was strikingly beautiful. Something about the muted, warm metal colors contrasting against the soft, verdant leaves that envelope it. Maybe this isn’t relatable, but I stood and looked at it for longer than normal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261288310-1GHB7ZBF9AXBZXJWT6ME/ArtWorks+Office%2C+2460+Gilbert+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.19.24 1000 & 1 Colors ArtWorks are moving to a new building on Gilbert Avenue in Walnut Hills. They’ve been renovating it for some time now, and they wanted a quick in-process shot of the exterior (and some interiors). I stood in the median and got a decent shot straight on without any cars. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261287936-Q2WFW8NFWV1J8V898L6K/ArtWorks+Findlay+Garage+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-38.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.20.24 Hand Models Dean Zaidan, owner and founder of Dean's Mediterranean, and Nicole Holloway, Findlay Market Center Associate, each have a literal hand in the creation of this mural by Greta McLain at 1810 Logan Street in Cincinnati. The artist used their hands as models for this beautiful new four-story piece a block from the market. Photographed today for ArtWorks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261350275-VSCSBNLF55EIR8SRMBAP/NZF_2627.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.21.24 Salvation Army While on an errand run to Kroger, I stopped and admired the view from the parking garage. Also, I kind of love the Salvation Army building’s exterior. It doesn’t look like anything else in the neighborhood near it. Hope it sticks around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261292358-88RNT5KI7IXNLWEEOVIR/IMG_9143.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.22.24 River of Tears Ashley and I went to Roebling Books this morning for coffee and a breakfast sandwich. As we sat down, Rock Neelly (pictured) approached us and introduced himself as a local author whose novel was for sale. He outlined a thriller set in Cincinnati that sounded interesting, and since I’m currently between books, I thought it made sense to pick it up. Then I briefly explained my daily photo thing and asked if he’d be my subject for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261293053-10BB09BZN4UVHLFNU61L/IMG_9167.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.23.24 Remembering My Friends This photo has nothing to do with what I want to talk about. I just didn’t know what else to photograph to mark a 20-year anniversary of a tragedy. On June 23rd, 2004, four of my friends were in a car accident in New York. Two of them, Tyler and Craig, succumbed to their injuries and passed away. Ryan survived, but was badly hurt and spent a long time in recovery. Mark walked away from the crash because he was the only one who had a seatbelt on at the time. We’d just graduated high school. To kick off summer vacation, they all went on a trip together. They asked me to go with them, but I didn’t due to working a summer job. It was the first time I’d ever lost anyone I was truly close to, and it was nearly impossible to process that loss in a mature, adult way. Being 18 and largely a dumb teenager, I did my best to understand and manage my grief, but it was confusing and horrible in a way I can’t really describe. Some of the extended friend group stuck together for a while because I imagine none of us wanted to be alone with how we felt. But after the initial shock became a “normal” part of our reality, I started feeling guilt and shame for not being better and more present during that time. That shame never left and it still ties my stomach into knots as I write this. The details of the days afterward are a collage of awful snapshots. Visiting their families and seeing them weep, participating in their funerals, asking Mark about the specifics of what happened at his house when he finally made it back, visiting Ryan after he was moved out of the ICU, looking up at the stars and trying to find meaning in any of it. After the first few years, I stopped talking about it on social media because it felt attention-seeking and shameful, exacerbating my perpetual feeling of guilt. I didn’t want to make it personal in a large public forum. Sometimes I worry my lack of public acknowledgment will be perceived as forgetting about them, but I have to remind myself that everyone processes loss in their own way. Some want to shine a spotlight on it for others to see, and others prefer to quietly observe. This is a quiet space for me and the only place I feel some measure of comfort speaking about it. Thinking of everyone today. I miss Tyler and Craig. None of us will ever know who they would’ve grown up to be. I am supremely ashamed of myself for not keeping up relationships with Ryan, Mark, or Tyler and Craig’s families. I think about all of them often despite being an awful individual. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858840650-F8G1DGI6J0EAAY7RUZH7/NZF_2686-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.24.24 The Highway A view of I-471 from Highland Avenue bridge, looking toward downtown. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858841139-K3BO1YD1XV155MGFZQ9Q/NZF_2710-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.25.24 Dining Room Tables Popped into Single Batch to photograph some new tables they created. I like the darker one in the foreground the best. It has a really nice round bevel on the underside that separates it from the 90º angle the other one has. I also really like the contrasting stripe of the wood on the leg. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858848146-E7GAGEVL7BS4WNNF8VGU/NZF_3109-Pano.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.26.24 A Moment Too Beautiful Couldn’t believe how beautiful this moment was upon leaving the Art Museum this evening. I had to stop and park for it. I made a larger panoramic photo of it, but this 16x9 slice showcases the main highlights of the full image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858848225-J6KHGA24DC6GNK3UM486/NZF_3128.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.27.24 Naivety Myrtle in her element. She ran around this field and had a blast before laying down to catch her breath. I’m very sad and stressed at the moment about the state of my country, but seeing her enjoy her off-leash freedom without a care in the world was the moment of reprieve I desperately needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858853013-ADWW3Q5M9EPQV8V8K847/NZF_3152.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.28.24 Coffee With Justin Justin and I met up this morning for coffee at Collective Espresso in Newport. I wanted to check out the custom soft shutter release buttons that he put on his cameras because I’m thinking of outfitting my Zf with one but needed to see how they felt in person. I think they add comfort to the snap, but I’m not sure I have the money at the moment to drop on a frivolous purchase. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858855777-C2G10NBX8D1NEZ0PDRG5/Summer+Fundraiser+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-128.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.29.24 The Importance of Community Reading the news and posts from people online has driven me into a very fearful place. I’m not sure I fully grasp the severity of our situation in this country at the moment, but I’m growing sicker over it. I had to photograph another event at the Art Museum tonight. 30 minutes before going in, I had a panic attack because of this boiling fear. It was difficult pulling myself together enough to continue with work, but I managed. As soon as I went in and started seeing people having fun and smiling, the anxiety I felt subsided. It's astonishing how good for the psyche it is to just be in the same space as a bunch of other happy people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858853292-WEQ0C856F4LXXW3OMJ0C/NZF_3561.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 6.30.24 Riverside The weather was too exquisite to not enjoy a bike ride this evening. I am still quietly grappling with the dredged up grief of the 20th anniversary of my friends passing away (see last Sunday’s post), as well as fighting back the terror I feel as a result of the developing current political situation in our country. This bike ride was an attempt to exercise and get my mind off all of it. I paused here because I thought the image of these two sitting together by the river without a soul in sight was a moment of authentic zen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719971737647-QPKAFR7TFB556YQ7MXQU/NZF_3578.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.1.24 Purple People Preventer The Purple People Bridge, my personal favorite access to Downtown on bike and on foot, has been closed on the Cincinnati side for weeks due to debris that fell from one of the struts. This has happened before, and the bridge reopened fairly quickly last time, so I’m hoping for the same this time. Instead of taking this bridge, I have to use the Taylor-Southgate Bridge and hope it isn’t full of pedestrians when crossing. It’s much harder to navigate around people and dogs in a space like that than it is the wide deck of the PPB. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719971737301-165VRIYZI5W98A7Q45JJ/NZF_3584-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.2.24 Four Years Four years ago today, we closed on our house. Besides the workshop I built before we moved in, my office was the first room I started putting together. There’s actually a photo of this room from almost the same exact perspective from August 19th, 2020 in the archive if you care to see how much it’s changed. My desk moved from the corner and sits on the left wall today. A lounge chair with a gallery wall backdrop (that I’m still building) now occupies that space. I just added to the collection a print of a painting of Deep Space Nine by Jenny Johnson, and a photo of a Saturn V rocket (photographer listed as NASA) on the launchpad at dawn from the late 1960s. There have been other changes, but they’re all out of frame and no one actually cares about this but me. Cheers to four years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448159571-BEPLJUFP51FJTG3Y7DFA/IMG_9265.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.3.24 Malt-Makers We went to the wine night at Merchant’s Club and then to Vince and Chels’ house for homemade malts. This scene looks like it’s a staged stock photo, but it’s not. I love that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448147393-17TTKCDXUOF4RZKZES14/IMG_9267.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.4.24 Sleeping Giant I took this photo of the AF-10 Twin that I’ve yet to load with film to send to a friend, but I never sent it. This Fourth of July feels scary and sad; I contemplated going to Northside for the parade but didn’t go. There is a parallel between intentions and lack of follow-through that I’m just now realizing as I type this. Later on in the day, we had an impromptu cookout with a few people and that felt nice. I only shot film, so I have nothing to show from that event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448179526-ZKH0APY5M5ZZ0CZ2ZLA4/Z9Tether539.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.5.24 Practice Justin and I have a shoot next Thursday for a children’s product line. Before we do the shoot, however, I needed to get a white seamless, two c-stands, and figure out how to light it. I brought everything over to his place and we practiced how we think it will go based on what we know of the product. The closest thing we could find in his house to the product we’d be shooting was this dog toy. He stood in as my model for the test shots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448173841-PAJMNY7VY77OP48TW444/NZF_3702.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.6.24 Good Moment After playing around with a large-format camera with the guys, we met up with our wives and proceeded to day drink at various places around Over-the-Rhine. It was a perfect day to be out and about. I caught this brief moment by chance and love how it feels. It’s also special to me because I was using a fully manual SLR 35mm PC lens strapped to my Zf with an adaptor, so the fact that I caught it in focus is a minor miracle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448159161-JV1V2LCRU3PMFVRU511Y/NZF_4017.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.7.24 Bass Island To make up for being out of the house yesterday for an extended period, we spent the day playing and hanging out with Myrtle. She was extra antsy this morning after a weekend of less-than-usual activity, so to wear her out, we took her to do her favorite activity: swimming. Bass Island, the part of the Little Miami River behind 50 West, is always a good spot to toss a toy and let her paddle around. It’s good for me, too, because I can stay completely dry while watching her do her thing. Ashley said the water felt amazing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177886839-I3J7I02LG45OE3YW16DY/CityBlock+Cincinnati+-+Phil+Armstrong-18-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.8.24 CityBlock Went out to the west side today. CityBlock, a Brooklyn-based outfit placing new clinics all over the US, brought their first location to Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177877372-0LTG9PCKMCD9YQ6PDTXQ/ArtWorks+-+7.9.24+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.9.24 Muralin' A still from a scene on 12th Street where ArtWorks apprentices are painting an enormous Jerry Springer mural. I was about four or five stories up some scaffolding photographing the apprentices for the organization. It took some getting used to the height, and even though I overcame my sky-legs after about 10 minutes, I wasn’t ever fully comfortable being up that high. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177883056-DV3LNX3YE3UG5NR45ZH9/ArtWorks+-+7.10.24+-+Phil+Armstrong-13.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.10.24 Interior Designing Went out to a warehouse in Camp Washington today to document ArtWorks apprentices working on the early stages of an offsite mural. From what I understand, they will be doing this particular piece on a transferable surface, then it will be transported and installed at the site after it’s completed. They do this when the site is unsafe for muralists due to traffic, overhead power lines, or other unavoidable obstacles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177887213-W45ESQDRIUDK7TTHWVIU/Bloomie+Final+-+Phil+Armstrong-7.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.11.24 Bloomie I did a proper studio shoot today. A friend of friend owns The Calm Caterpillar, a brand that offers products and techniques to help calm children at home and school. Some of their products include Calmee, a large plush caterpillar that’s designed to stretch while a child breathes in and out, and the upcoming Bloomie, a handheld plush that also helps with breathing techniques to assist with overcoming big emotions. This was the first time I’d ever worked on product with young models. Aside from a few technical hiccups, I think the session went really well, and I hope I get to do this again for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177882971-U1YWTM7I6PZFF0XR93E6/ArtWorks+Kroger+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.12.24 Kroger Mural A new mural inside Kroger HQ. Photographed for ArtWorks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177877548-0PCJOUP55YIWBR484549/509+Short+Pershing+-+Phil+Armstrong-18.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.13.24 Short Pershing I had to photograph a house in Covington, but I thought it would show better at night than during the day because of all the unique lamps throughout the house. The owner agreed, so I went over to the house around 10 PM and spent two and a half hours on it. The house was staged and unoccupied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002913958-IRRJ1LLXOTN3HDQEQH0B/NZF_4248.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.14.24 Miniature Things Chelsea and Vince are out of town. They asked if we would come over and feed their cats once a day. I forgot about this miniature squirrel and basket they have on their windowsill, and it made me laugh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002915733-KT7Z3IBQMAR7KGU89BKP/NZF_4254.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.15.24 Morning on Fourth Assisting in the studio this week. I won’t be working on anything for my portfolio, but I will try to keep the daily photo thing interesting regardless. Then again, it’s debatable whether or not I’ve achieved seven days of good posting outside a vacation in years. I went into the studio this morning an hour early by accident. Holding a rapidly emptying cup of iced latte, it made sense to go get another one from Deeper Roots on Fourth Street. I love this particular block specifically because, if you look to the south side of the street, I don’t imagine it looks markedly different than it did half a century ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002911427-28VDPN3EVOHNB8W38SRX/NZF_4245.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.16.24 Flora Found this large mushroom while on a walk. I had a 35mm Zuiko strapped to my Z f using an adaptor that converts OM lenses to the Z mount. It’s fully manual, but with focus peaking turned on, I can get a pretty decent image if I spend extra time fussing with it. It is not practical compared to using a regular autofocus lens, but it does force slower, more deliberate frames, and that exercise is enjoyable from time to time. Plus, the lens itself is physically heavy and beautiful, so I like how it feels in hand despite having inferior efficiency. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002916731-5VZULA4379ATIH9F94Q5/NZF_4263.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.17.24 Art of Transitions I’ve had work down on this block on and off for years, and even though the steps always reek of urine, I love how they offer a nice transition between two differently elevated streets. The artwork that’s popped up there is a bonus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002912886-TZAG61Y16A2NU2EA22BV/IMG_9416.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.18.24 Central Parkway Bike Lane Some people hate how the bike lane ramps up on the sidewalk along this stretch of Central Parkway, but I think it’s the most enjoyable part of the ride. I wish they would find a way to do this more often; it’s not fun riding in traffic, and if it doesn’t impede pedestrians, that’s a win-win. Being off the street, away from cars, and on a bike path separate from the sidewalk is optimal, in my opinion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002918244-4SOYJ728RO1RLA6J5FIU/NZF_4277.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.19.24 End-of-Week Corndog Neither of us felt like making the meal kit in the fridge, so we went down to the Silver Grove Dari Bar, counted our coins, and bought what we could with the money we had. I am pleased to say the corndogs were delicious. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004081357-XCPDE48BQSD3U3B4KEZ8/34+W+Crittenden+Ave-Covington%2C+KY%2C+United+States+-+Phil+Armstrong-12.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.20.24 Easy Work Photographed a house for a listing this morning, and the owners staged it beautifully. It was so perfect, I didn’t move anything in any of the rooms to make them look better. They just had it all sorted before I showed up. That attention to detail and considerate preparation was greatly appreciated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004091333-1BALIEI17UFGSWNTTB2L/Bellevue+Farmer%27s+Market+-+Phil+Armstrong-10.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.21.24 Bellevue Farmer's Market First market of the year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004096854-NS02XST4JKUA9RGQXSKZ/PWMA+Dayton+-+Phil+Armstrong-+2a.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.22.24 Dayton Office Drove up to Dayton for a photoshoot in a freshly renovated office for an interior designer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004123428-76TD76XTSBFNSN2CHYO5/NZF_4479.JPG daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.23.24 World Famous Tower Tree On the drive back from a job in Indy, I saw a VISIT GREENSBURG billboard that advertised the “world famous tower tree.” Small town oddities are among my favorite things, so I detoured. Back in 1870, residents noticed a tree growing out of the roof of the courthouse tower. That tree was removed, but another one started growing on the southwest side. The city apparently leaned into the weird charm of the situation, and made it a thing. It’s a Mulberry tree that’s been there for a century now. I love the iconography they’ve chosen for their signage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004129742-2BP65SF3XUJ3EWP2JMNQ/Bellevue+Olympics+-+Phil+Armstrong+-42-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.24.24 The Olympics Bellevue hosted a relay race for neighborhood kids at the beach park this evening to kick off the Paris Olympics. I’ve been working with the city to get them new images for the website, so I joined to document the occasion. Unfortunately, about halfway through the event, the sky opened up and drenched everyone who wasn’t under the awning or gazebo. It’s funny because I think the adults were the only people irritated by the weather. All the kids were out running around with their friends in the rain without hesitation. Despite everything we teach them about how to exist and behave in our society, kids can still teach us a thing or two about living. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004136642-RI279S9ZEAMTIF4JJE8R/One+Highland+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.25.24 One Highland I’m working for the architect of One Highland in Fort Thomas. They wanted an image of this building at Golden Hour for their portfolio but haven’t found someone to do it how they wanted. The above image is a composite of seven frames to get all the elements in place. While none of these people were together simultaneously, they’re genuine in their placement and movements. All I did was incorporate them all into the same image to present a curated sense of liveliness. I like it because even though every element in the image is real, it has the polish of a rendering. The sky in the image was added, as well. The actual sky, while the same color and tone, was featureless and devoid of any texture. It didn’t have the drama I wished it had. To fix this, I scoured my archive and found an image I took at a Florida beach in 2017, copied it, and replaced the featureless sky with these wispy clouds. I chose this sky specifically because the angle of light was the same between them. Overall, I think it turned out well, and I really enjoy making these types of images despite the technical challenge of doing so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722536396179-O7RQ19LWBU0RNW8DLXNK/NZF_5054-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.26.24 Cheers! We went to see a comedy show in Dayton, KY and ended up drinking with friends and the owners of Tuba afterward. We did shots of Underberg—a post-drink digestif bitter—after our beer, and I memorialized the occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722536395998-M735DLLYWHX1XG2MABCA/NZF_5315-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.27.24 Tiki Nite Travis and Allie hosted a tiki drink night at their place. We had a fantastic evening with good food, drinks (of course), and laughs aplenty. I recorded much of the night on VHS and snapped photos throughout. It was difficult to choose just one image, but I think this one sums up the silliness well. Jonas the cat is very much in love with the taste of coconut creme, so everyone with a drink in their hand became a temporary curiosity to him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722536399711-C035B8M9MJJGMZCNI1HG/NZF_5360-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.28.24 Molting On our walk to Unataza this morning, I stopped to check out this cicada mid-molting process that landed on our stoop. I guess it was originally stuck to the brick above and had come loose at some point during the shifting weight of the bug. I’ve found discarded exoskeletons over the years, but I’ve never been able to photograph a cicada during its transformation before. Oddly enough, the day before I found some old Zeikos macro diopters hidden away in my cabinet that screw perfectly onto my 28mm lens, so I was able to get really close to this thing to capture finer details. Had I not found them beforehand, I couldn’t have taken this image the same way. The whole thing seemed like the universe planned this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722604223242-VZPYI6MTWZUWI1GBXNVS/Session-092-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.29.24 CY-Z I picked up a $14 CY-Z mount converter so I could slap this Carl Zeiss 45mm on my Zf, and wanted to document it. 45mm is a fantastic focal length for street photography. I think this will be a regular combo in my bag every day despite it being a fully manual lens. The physical size of the lens coupled with the optics make for a great Zf load out. I photographed it on a white backdrop while it sat on a clear acrylic platform. I intentionally blew out the highlights to make the texture of the background and platform disappear into the background. It has an unintentional Photoshopped look to it, though. I think seeing a soft shadow on the surface would’ve added something to this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722604224030-UMAUVY7KNI01KVC8DBUJ/NZF_5431-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.30.24 Oregon Trail? While working a job in Mt. Washington, I passed this covered wagon on the side of the road that had a FOR SALE sign on it. Unable to let go of the idea of stopping to document it, I parked in the apartment complex across the street and walked over to snap a few frames. There’s no information about why it exists and only lists a phone number. It’s not every day you see something like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722623816245-GF43Q8Z3S1SW728C1FO5/IMG_9533.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 7.31.24 Rexy Steve finally moved in with Erica! They are renting a cute little house over in Fairfax. I’m thrilled to see them join houses and cohabitate after living apart for as long as they did. I sweatily helped them move stuff into the house, dispose of a couch, and return the U-Haul this afternoon. Among the many things moved was Rexy, Steve’s heavy dinosaur lawn ornament. It’s followed him from home to home over the years, usually outfitted in a wardrobe of rotating seasonal attire like Christmas lights on a house. Rexy even once served as a hostile message board after Steve moved into his last apartment, and a jilted ex-girlfriend, who assumed the previous resident still lived there, would leave threatening messages taped to its face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722624030282-15A0D3XIAKTR38EL5UG0/IMG_9536-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.1.24 Decades Apart Ashley found a screw embedded into the back tire of the car this morning, so I took it downtown to the mechanic on Court Street to have it assessed and fixed. While waiting, I took a stroll around the area, stopping in for an iced latte at Coffee Emporium, checking out the new Library lobby, and snapping a few familiar frames with a relatively new camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722627044293-SRBH56SZAKA2QHBOIST8/IMG_9556-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.2.24 Travel Tetris I travel with the absolute bare minimum I need to comfortably enjoy my trip. Being physically unburdened with stuff makes moving around new places a lighthearted adventure. This past February, I took only a backpack to Palm Springs; not bothering with the overhead on those flights or rolling a bag through airports was freeing in a surprisingly exciting way. It’s dramatic, but I felt a little bit like a nomad. While I can’t get away with that level of minimalism for this upcoming excursion, I’m keeping my loadout simple. Clothes for eight days with room to spare for an extra pair of shoes. No iPad or laptop. One camera, one lens, one book to pass the time. OOO auto-reply set. A strong desire to completely unplug, including from this project. The above is all I’m taking with me. See you when I return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560776723-1BATK4HJTOP8BOAUM6W8/NZF_5715-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.3.24 Wheels Down In Boston Ashley and I are headed on a New England vacation for the next week. First stop: Boston! We’ve never been to this historic American city before despite having several friends tell us how great it is. When we arrived, we dropped off our bags at the hotel in the North End before heading out on the town to soak up the atmosphere, eat pizza, and check out some of Boston’s popular attractions. Pictured: walking through Quincy Market. Tomorrow we will be spending all day checking things out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560777579-D5Q7TSN5OCESGPP30QSG/NZF_5917.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.4.24 Digging Deeper Into Boston Today’s itinerary included a stop to see Fenway, a ride to the top of Prudential Tower to check out the observation deck, shopping on Newbury Street, my first lobster roll and clam chowder of the trip, a stop to see Boston Public Library, riding the subway, walking Fan Pier Park, dodging rain drops by ducking into random pubs, and dinner at Boston’s oldest continually operating restaurant, Union Oyster House, where I had my second lobster roll and clam chowder. Afterward, we wandered back to the hotel through the North End and happened upon the kick off for an Italian-American festival/feast that honors a Catholic saint. Men in matching white shirts lifted an effigy to Saint Agrippina lined with dollar bills and carried it down to a nearby bar. The whole thing seemed like more of an Italian Bockfest celebration than a religious event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560778194-U5A315DDSMHWKLAM8WEB/NZF_6218.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.5.24 On the Road to Bar Harbor We said goodbye to Boston, hopped in the rental car, and headed toward Bar Harbor in Maine. Along the way, we stopped at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire since it’s one of the only places in that entire state that touches the ocean. It was too MAGA for my taste, and the boardwalk reflected that sentiment by being trashy and devoid of anything original, so we didn’t get a magnet to commemorate the visit and instead only spent an hour there before moving on to our first stop in Maine: Nubble Lighthouse (pictured). After enjoying the rocky beach with a decidedly more sane crowd, we continued on to Bar Harbor. We ended the night with my third lobster roll and clam chowder of the trip at Galyn’s. It was getting dark when we arrived, but we still managed to check stuff out until it began raining. Tomorrow we check out Acadia National Park! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560779282-9GGEAP6DK1I2ZH8TZZJU/NZF_6458.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.6.24 Acadia + Bar Harbor Bar Harbor is busy this time of year. Maine is an ideal place to go in the summer to avoid the heat, and everyone got the memo to bring their children, apparently. Crowd annoyances aside, we quickly managed to figure out the ideal itinerary: do everything early in Acadia when everyone’s still in Bar Harbor, go back to Bar Harbor in the afternoon when everyone goes to Acadia, then go back to Acadia in the evening when everyone’s tired from hiking and back in Bar Harbor. This meant early breakfasts and dinners, but we kinda loved switching things up. Neither of us are especially hardcore night owls anymore, which helped us tackle sunrise with ease. Beating crowds and wandering misty forests in relative solitude (pictured) was the perfect intro to this magical national park. We explored the town, the park, and took a great boat ride tour around the coves and narrows surrounding Mt. Desert Island. I even managed to see a few bald eagles, though my shots were from too far away to really get anything good. More on all of this in a later blog post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560779519-WB0UH3VGY7JPIERO8A1Y/NZF_7613-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.7.24 A Very Full Day We managed to the top of Cadillac Mountain by 6:30 AM for a just-after-sunrise look at the island from its highest peak. Apparently it’s so high and so fast northeast, the top of the mountain is the first place anyone in the United States can see a sunrise every day between October and March. The view was breathtaking despite how chilly it was (I was in a t-shirt because it’s August and I didn’t expect Maine to freeze my ass like that). A little later, we did a four-hour, 20-mile, bike ride tour through Acadia along the carriage pathways that Rockafeller Jr. commissioned a hundred years before. We saw loads of incredible stuff on the ride, including beaver lodges, snapping turtles, stone bridges, and stopped at several truly awe-inspiring overlooks with vistas I couldn’t properly convey in a photograph. We stopped to pick and eat wild Maine blueberries and blackberries at one point, too. After dinner, we wandered around Bar Harbor before getting in the car and driving to the other side of the island to see the Bass Harbor Head Light Station (pictured). Getting a decent image involved waiting a long time for a parking spot, then carefully climbing down boulders to the edge of the crashing sea. It was more harrowing than I anticipated, but I’m really happy I braved the terrain to get the shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560780651-6N0ODWVHRLNNP724F28C/NZF_7829.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.8.24 Camden We got to know Bar Harbor pretty well over the last two and a half days of walking and driving the island. By the time we were scheduled to leave, it felt right that we’d continue on. Another day in Acadia would’ve been nice, but there was more of Maine to see. Our next stop: south to Camden. We planned to stay in Camden solely because Ashley found an absolutely incredible seaside motel with a private balcony that faced the water. We knew nothing about Camden itself; the whole reason for the stop was because the lodging was too good to pass up. After picking our jaws up off the floor when we saw our room (it was so good, I cannot wait to blog about it), we headed into Camden proper for a look around. I’d eaten more lobster rolls, fish, and various other seafoods than I could recall up to this point, and I wasn’t planning on stopping. I got another lobster roll for lunch and enjoyed it immensely. We hit up a few shops along their quaint retail corridor, pet a really cute doodle in a pet shop, had drinks at a random bar, and decided we wanted to take it easy that evening. We picked up some food at a cute little corner store and went back to the motel to enjoy the room’s balcony with a view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560781111-4HKIMCFIES2QPABWHL4B/NZF_8267-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.9.24 Journey to Portland Despite our sunrise being muddied by hurricane remnants (there’s truly no escape from Florida, even as far north as Maine), we managed to have a nice coffee on the balcony. It was REALLY hard to say goodbye to this motel when we finally checked out. Honestly, I thought Ashley was going to cry when we were packing up. We didn’t even have a full 24 hours there before we were scheduled to continue onto our final destination: Portland, Maine. Seeing a break in the rain, we briefly stopped in Pemaquid to see an old lighthouse on the edge of a cliff. The photos I got there are moody due to the misty and windy conditions. When I do my later blog post, I’ll publish some of those. We also briefly stopped in Freeport so Ashley could visit the L.L. Bean campus. I’ve never seen a town so completely fueled by the economy of a single enterprise. It was like the biggest outdoor shopping center you can think of, but instead of existing in the middle of a massive parking lot it’s built into the middle of small-town-America along a pedestrian-heavy Main Street. I can appreciate it for what it is, but driving through all that was stressful. I’m glad that was a short stop on the journey. By the time we finally arrived in Portland, the mist and fog had set upon the city. As we walked Old Port, we could barely make out ships in the distant harbor, and tops of taller buildings were obscured in cloud cover. Eventually, though, the conditions cleared and we had an overcast but pleasantly cool night to wander around. The Airbnb was nice, but I think we were still thinking about that damned motel in Camden. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560781655-31GKKXUAXQHF687YPLIF/NZF_8379.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.10.24 The Final Day There was a diner a block from where we were staying in Portland called Becky’s. It’s exactly my kind of place: a no-frills greasy spoon diner once visited by Guy Fieri, relatively cheap compared to all the other restaurants we’d frequented during this trip, and a family-run affair that’s wholly local to Portland. The equation can be replicated elsewhere, but it won’t be truly be Becky’s. It was a great way to kick off our final day on vacation. While there, we bought tickets to a boat ride later that morning. After walking more of Old Port before the scheduled departure, we found our captain and ship, and boarded with a small crew of other sea-farers. In contrast to the large, modern boat we rode in Bar Harbor, this ship was tiny and old. So old, in fact, it was built in 1935 and was the oldest commercial vessel still operating in Maine (or so the captain said). There may have been another qualifier in that claim, but I didn’t catch it if there was. I loved this boat. Christened “Ruth,” it was big enough to comfortably hold all ten or so of us, and if you didn’t feel like being in direct sun for the whole trip, you could sit under the partially shaded area under its hard top toward the front of the vessel. Made of wood, loud, and lacking the ability to navigate any size wave without riding over it like a rollercoaster cart, Ruth had a feeling of authenticity that big modern ships lack. I’d never been on one like it before. After a cruise around the bay, we hopped aboard Portland’s narrow-gauge railroad for a short ride along the coast and back. The rest of the afternoon saw Portland exploration on foot, Ashley went back to the Airbnb for a nap, and I slowly burned all my skin off wandering in direct sun without sunscreen. By dinner time, we were ready to finalize the trip in a way only Ashley and I could think of: going back to that damned diner for the second time in one day. I’d eaten enough fish and lobster to keep me satisfied for the week, and a nice burger sounded too good to pass up. I hadn’t had one since we left the Midwest a week before. Becky’s, with its classic American diner menu that included lobster specials, was wholly Maine. It was wholly Portland. It was just a quiet, sure-fire delicious way to end a wonderful New England vacation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560776584-X21UJHCSS5U3NQAQ3J2F/IMG_9715.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.11.24 The Spoils of Travel Whenever I go anywhere, I like to get a magnet for my fridge and a sticker for my bike. We’ve amassed a pretty sizable collection at this point, and every time I look at the side of the fridge and see all these mementos from places we’ve been, it makes me happy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723561224343-ZN6NMJ2BGHBH0E4RSSAM/401+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-6.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.12.24 401 Scott Street Back to work today. I went over to this corner to photograph Orleans’ recent work. I spent hours removing stoplights from this image to give it a cleaner look. The utilities on the side are in shadow, and the focus is on the face of the building, so I didn’t bother removing those. The only thing I wish I’d had was a cloud-filled sky instead of total clarity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723681215373-FS9OQ5PMU7H9TQ807LXO/NZF_8925-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.13.24 Evening Stride Snapped this photo on the avenue while walking Myrtle. I was actually aiming for the corner to do a little slice with the sunset, but the cyclists pedaled into frame, improving it greatly. Thanks, cyclists! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723681216153-TZOCYPLE7RBTMYLT2EOJ/NZF_8946-Edit-Edit+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.14.24 SSD I had to get an 8Tb external SSD for file backups. It shipped to my porch while I was in the studio today. When I opened the parcel and saw a box half its size, I couldn’t believe it. Then I opened the smaller box and found this little stick that’s half the size of THAT box. It was like holding the most expensive nesting doll I’d ever seen. Anyway, I have to back up years of files onto this thing from my 8Tb external HDD to make sure I have coverage in case anything fails. My HDD has been slow and weird lately, and it has me slightly spooked. It’s going to be a long process of reviewing files, reorganizing, deleting, and figuring out how to keep them synced with the same content regularly. This isn’t my area of expertise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723916916509-AAUYRH24TXWXFGTQYQ9H/IMG_9769.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.15.24 Missed Connection We’re a one-car couple. We’ve been a one-car couple for our entire relationship. In the event we both need a car, I take a bus or use ride share. The amount of money we save every year more than makes up for paying the occasional fare. Today was one of those days. Ashley dropped me off at the studio where I had a 10-hour day with Marlene. Afterward, I planned to take the 6 bus from Mohawk to downtown, then transfer to the Southbank Shuttle to get me to Bellevue where I’d walk the rest of the way home. No big deal and less than $4 to get home without having to walk the entire way. Well, it didn’t work out as I’d planned. After picking up the 6 and riding to Fountain Square, I forgot that the Southbank also has routes to Covington. I blindly got onto that bus instead of the Bellevue-bound one and realized too late that I was headed to the wrong city when I looked up from my phone at about the mid point crossing Clay Wade Bailey. So I walked 2.5 miles home from Covington instead. No AirPods, either. Just the sounds of my surroundings to keep me entertained. This image is from that walk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723916917451-208GDDULTC1XOR85WROO/IMG_9776.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.16.24 Surprise Downpour While drinking an old fashioned at Rosedale, a pop-up shower drenched Over-the-Rhine, forcing everyone under cover. We uncharacteristically had Myrtle with us, so we couldn’t run inside to seek shelter. This leaky awning in the courtyard worked fine, but we still managed to get a little damp. After the storm passed, the puddle that had formed on the patio remained until a bar tender cleared the drain that was dammed up with leaves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724121541336-9JOY3HDS4KLP0VEBMA86/NZ9_5602-Enhanced-SR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.17.24 Liminal Space I had to go to Dayton, OH this morning to photograph a few places for a client. None of the locations were anything to write home about. Just a bunch of bland office parks that they needed documented for whatever reason. On the back of one of them, though, I found this staircase. I stopped the car and had to get a photo. It was too good to pass up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724121544294-OEMOH3YX600YIG4FF2V8/NZF_8952.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.18.24 Social Battery I suffered maybe the worst nightmare I’ve ever had in my life last night. It felt so real, I wasn’t entirely convinced it didn’t happen. I got up, splashed water on my face, and tried to calm down. The rest of the night saw lesser bad dreams that continued ruining my sleep, but not to the severity of the first one. It was such a bad night, Sunday ended up being awful. We went to Unataza and I could barely muster the energy to order or be social. We then went to the Bellevue Farmer’s Market where I snapped this single photo and did my best to be friendly to familiar neighbors, but my social battery was spent. Nowhere felt right except isolating on the couch in the basement in front of the TV. We left the market pretty quickly and I did just that the rest of the day. Not a great feeling, but when you have this personality, you know when you’ve reached maximum interaction and need solitude to recover. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724121539354-F79MYMVRW5QLWVD2BG2J/DSC01211.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.19.24 Optical Throwback Unearthed my old Sony Cyber-Shot from 2008 today while looking for something else. It was the first digital camera I ever bought myself. Back then, it was better than any phone camera on the market, and it had a smaller form factor than the family digital camera my dad had. I wasn’t a photographer back then, but I took it to friend gatherings, the zoo, a convention in Orlando, and other places to document momentous events. I charged the battery and took it out on a walk this evening. The image quality, as you might expect, isn’t great, but it’s also not awful. It produces images that have that early-2000s digital camera look. White balancing is hit or miss. Loads of chromatic aberration. I can’t believe the image above turned out as well as it did considering I was shooting into the sun. Myrtle rolling around in the grass during a sunset while a random dude on a gas-powered bike loudly farts by in the background. Sure, there’s no definition in the sky and it’s about as sharp as a balloon sword you’d get at the circus, but I think that’s part of this artifact’s charm. Overall, it’s a nostalgic novelty that I’m glad I accidentally rediscovered on World Photography Day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724721673006-WZK9GHSFN0A9A8EZS22O/NZF_9024.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.20.24 Park Sittin' I went down to the park to take some photos for the City of Bellevue and snapped this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724721672956-VUHQ651WR9GQW985DWBK/NZF_9018.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.21.24 Sticking Around Summer is approaching its end, but these sunflowers are still going strong. Time is meaningless to plants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724721674843-0G2HWI9JI5TSMBVB5XBW/NZF_9056-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.22.24 Swampwater Grillin' Steve and Erica kept telling us that Swampwater Grill was good. I’d avoided it for years because the name was such a turn-off, but they were right. It’s good. Plus, we all got Bahama Mamas to drink, so that’s fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725045585121-2N2V9GSWGSPSPJN4ALPJ/NZF_9078.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.23.24 New Buffalo Allie, Travis, Ashley, and I all road-tripped up to New Buffalo, Michigan, for a weekend away this evening. Caitlyn and Brendan joined us later that night once they were off work. The drive there wasn’t bad because we stopped halfway at a drive-up fast food place called Mr. Weenie and ate various styles of hot dogs. Our Airbnb is spacious, with a big porch and several floors of bedrooms. The rules are strict, but it’s okay. The only one we’re breaking is smoking the weed we bought at a dispensary out on the porch. I’m looking forward to hanging out and relaxing with everyone tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725045587307-JQ7M0V6RLIOUI93YOYD9/NZF_9100.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.24.24 Wandering the Beach The beach in New Buffalo isn’t huge, but it’s relatively light on crowds compared to nearby shorelines. The girls went down to relax and hang out by the water, but some Christians lightly shamed them for not getting baptized as adults when they offered. I cannot stand people who can’t mind their damned business and leave people alone. Travis, Brendan, and I wandered around the town in the heat, going into a few shops, stopping for coffee at a hotel, and checking out a view of the harbor from atop a building. We reconvened with the girls in the afternoon and spent time at the Airbnb drinking, smoking, and snacking. We went to a rooftop for dinner and enjoyed a sunset with drinks before our entrees were brought out. It was a very low-key, relaxing day. After dinner, instead of going out, we all stayed at the Airbnb and watched Matilda (1996). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725045588833-R4WTX46CSUG7JZ3VLPV2/NZF_9211.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.25.24 Group Photo Allie and Travis planned to continue to Grand Rapids and Detroit, but the rest of us had to return to Cincinnati because we had to work the next day. We ate breakfast together and took this group photo with my Zf on a timer balanced on my bag on top of Travis’ car. Before we returned, the four of us stopped at Indiana Dunes and did an hour-long hike that culminated in getting ice cream from a food truck. We also randomly came across a classic Pizza Hut in Rensselaer, IN, on our drive back around lunchtime. I swear, stuffed crust pizza and breadsticks taste better under a glass Pizza Hut lamp with inverted trapezoid windows at the end of the table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725046561285-8CG9QOGWIBMUU9S6BOGR/513+Short+Pershing+-+Phil+Armstrong+-20.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.26.24 513 Shot a house in Covington today with this beautiful custom stained glass transom window. The address was the same as Cincinnati’s area code. Such a cool feature. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725046561403-MYBYPRXKP0OZHH7Z6EHB/TriHealth+Liberty+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.27.24 TriHealth Liberty GBBN had me photograph a new unit in a new hospital in Liberty Township this morning. There weren’t windows on three of the four sides of the unit, making for easy white balancing and less post-processing. Despite the lack of natural light, though, the space felt bright and airy. Hospitals can look so sterile and sad, but this one was colorful and open with attention to thoughtful decor. I really liked this shot of the photograph wall they put together behind the central nurse’s station. The different colored borders around the tiles was a nice touch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725230774014-OQO0IXQDFZ9PPIYHB8R4/NZF_9723-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.28.24 Not Even Google Translate To lose weight and keep active in a more comfortable way, I purchased a compact treadmill online. I’ll use it on days that are too hot, days that are too cold, rainy days, and days when I’m feeling anti-social. I can watch TV while I use it, too, so maybe I’ll get fitter the more I want to mentally escape. Anyway, the instruction manual is hilariously poorly translated. It gave me a good laugh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725230772527-OTCRCV7YZIZKCB2LOQWB/NZF_9719.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.29.24 Zelda II After seeing a Thread referencing someone beating Zelda II without cheats or a walkthrough, something in me desperately wanted to play it again. I couldn’t help but feel completely overwhelmed with the idea that I had to boot that stupid game up even though I never finished it in the first place. Digging through boxes of old video game stuff was tiresome, but seeing the familiar glint of that gold cartridge within the black NES game sleeve was rewarding. My childhood NES, though still in my possession, is so old that I didn’t dare try to resurrect it. I decided to use a console I bought in the early 2010s—the RetroN 3, a combination NES/SNES/Genesis player. You can pop any game from those consoles into this one, plug an original controller into one of three sides, and play it like normal. I don’t know anything about modulation, but it looks and sounds exactly like I remember it, so it’s probably close to 1:1 with the NES. The console booted up perfectly when paired with my little Philips TV that I got a while back from Lee. When the title screen and familiar music popped up in a blink, excitement washed over me. It may be the first time since the late-80s that anyone’s felt excitement concerning Zelda II. I remember my dad brought home this game from work. I think one of his coworkers gave it to him because they didn’t like it. Not having many games back then, anything new to us was exciting. We spent hours failing miserably to decipher this impenetrable, difficult cartridge and never getting very far after finding a town with invisible enemies. A quick Google suggests this game is widely hated by fans of the series, but it’s the only Zelda game I’ve ever played. Nostalgia is a toxic impulse, but one I’m willing to indulge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324811224-1K87JDP0IUTGUCNU8BZC/Art+After+Dark+8.30.24+-035.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.30.24 Finesse As far as Art After Dark events go, I don’t remember any of them being as well attended as tonight’s. BlaCk OWned put together a show called Finesse, with models wearing their fall collection and strutting around a figure-eight runway. The courtyard was jam-packed with people there to see the fashion show set to a soundtrack provided by DJ Prymtime. A surprising number of other photographers were there shooting video and stills, too, which made the experience more fun. It’s always a relief when I’m not the only chicken running around with their head cut off. Once again, I went into this shoot full of anxiety, but after being in the museum for about 10 minutes, I remember looking around and knowing I was going to be okay. The pressure to do a good job, coupled with general social anxiety and fatigue from the day, had me vibrating with stress. But most of it melts away when I’m in my element. It’s wild how clearly being around others in a positive space is the solution to that bad feeling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324810662-P58Z14HURKMQ9EK5K2HG/IMG_9985.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 8.31.24 Relocated This cactus didn’t seem to like where it was on the shelf in the bedroom, so I moved it to my office where direct sunlight is more plentiful. Hopefully it does better in its new location. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324890870-CVVXXQNU4Q6YK2WL93JE/NZF_0792-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.1.24 Balcony Hangs I went to Caitlyn and Brendan’s house this evening to watch the WEBN fireworks show. They have a killer view overlooking essentially all of downtown from CUF. The small gathering allowed everyone to pile onto the third-floor balcony with the best view of the show when it finally kicked off. I wasn’t going to take photos of the show because I’ve done it in years past. How many shots of fireworks does one need anyway? Unsurprisingly, I still did. It was a new (to me) view of it, and I hadn’t shot the show in years. It felt right. Wedging the Zf against the railing, I let the interval timer run 1-second exposures throughout so I could enjoy the show without fiddling too much with the camera. Though I was able to make a nice final image of the show with the view, my favorite of the evening was this one: a shot of my friends together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725495218787-42WSLOMOJUV6WFTGTD3S/NZF_0801.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.2.24 Cincinnineties Last night, Myrtle spent less-than-desirable time alone while I was at the fireworks watch party in CUF, so to make up for it, we got coffee (for me) and a biscuit (for her) and went to Friendship Park for a nice long walk. As we crossed Sawyer Point, I saw the Cincinnatus statue dressed up for the previous evening's festivities. Wearing a flannel tied around his waist, a sleeveless WEBN top, sunglasses, and holding a 2D cutout of a boombox, the familiar statue looked distinctly 'Nineties’ to mirror the show's theme. I wasn’t the only one in the park to stop to take in the sight, either. A Lycra-clad, sweaty man propped his bike up against the granite dais and raised a generic Android phone toward the scene to take a photo. A woman slowed her run and double-tapped her earbuds to pause her workout and admire the statue. After everyone decided they needed to get their cardio back up and moved along, I slithered into position for a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725496686900-ZHU5S0ES2Z5NQXFS13JT/NZF_0806.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.3.24 Sunrise A view of the sunrise from my office window. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725499420595-XATI54PJ98Q1PVSPM5DN/IMG_1951.jpeg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.4.24 Appreciating Lines Do you ever see this kind of thing? How lines intersect and stay consistent across a notable distance? Do you ever notice the shapes of a place and appreciate how its proportions and features line up perfectly? Do you ever unfocus your eyes by slightly squinting and crossing them so you can better see patterns and lines in physical settings? I really appreciate the consistency of these seven homes. Almost certainly built around the same time, their details differ slightly, but they look to be of the same style overall. It’s so satisfying when you see lovely, independent architecture in abundance. Not brownstones. Not duplexes or apartment buildings. Not row houses. Those all come with a level of consistency baked into their design. These single family houses didn’t need to conform geometry, but they did and it’s special. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725836888435-M65SPYNAUW6840Y863GO/IMG_0107.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.5.24 Moment of Zen I’m working in the studio for Marlene all week. When working for her, I don’t photograph much during the day unless I leave the studio to run an errand. Those days end up looking uninteresting in retrospect. But this is interesting to me. I like how the sun comes in the front window during the summer. When that tree fell this past January, it unlocked a bunch of light on the front of the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725836890252-91RQQ6X2IEJI050UBNOK/NZF_0844-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.6.24 Non-Alcoholics After a successful yet tiring week, we met Chelsea and Vince at their place for some Indian food and drinks—only these drinks weren’t alcoholic. Chelsea’s on some meds at the moment and isn’t mixing it with alcohol. Ashley and I are doing our best to curb our intake as part of a greater effort to lose weight and feel better. Thankfully, they had some NA beers and NA canned cocktails that were surprisingly good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725836889033-DGDFC2RE5BHTYVUQKJMU/IMG_0130.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.7.24 Moths We went to Baeten’s this morning to check out their autumnal offerings. The summer pots on the porch have grown crispy and wilted as they tend to do at the end of the season. It was time to freshen things up with new varieties. It wasn’t a photo-heavy day for me. We didn’t go out, we ate dinner at home, and I sat on the couch all night. While necessary for mental and physical health, these types of days aren’t always photogenic. Thankfully, I got this photo of moths sitting atop this yellow flower at the nursery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270986170-DWFQYQ92SXION4TFSJCB/NZF_0865.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.8.24 Butt's Gone The butt of the Mt. Washington building I’ve been photographing for Jake is gone. They cleaned it out and appear to be rethinking this space. I haven’t spoken to Jake about what this place will be after it’s renovated, and I love the mystery of it. I think I’ll see how long I can go without knowing anything about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270980785-Z79BD8X4PANGV2SOAU7C/IMG_0149.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.9.24 Celebratory Breadstick Ashley got some excellent career news this week, so we went to Nicola’s to celebrate. She’s moving on to work for Sunshine Bouquet with her former boss from Kroger. She’s getting better pay and benefits as a result of the move. Hooray! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270984212-TBKV6PF3G8ZYJP2OB1JH/104+West+Clifton+-+Phil+Armstrong+-63.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.10.24 Andrew's House Andrew Hungerford was the Director of the Know Theater for as long as I can remember. Recently, he relinquished his position there to move back to Los Angeles full-time. He and Elizabeth, his spouse, own a home in Santa Monica and have been living between worlds for years. They’re selling their OTR house that’s subdivided into four apartments and asked me to photograph it for the listing. While I was there, Andrew and I discussed Star Trek, cinema, and a variety of topics. It was great catching up with him, and his house is a beaut. I particularly liked this window on the second floor. I shot it with a very shallow depth of field because I wanted to linger on the tidy handsomeness of the poplar frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270980766-2TIOE5LJT2YT8YOJU468/IMG_0200-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.11.24 Rural Ohio CityBlock, the Brooklyn-based clinic that opened a location in Cincinnati that I shot back in early July, is opening another location in Columbus. They asked me to photograph it before their ribbon-cutting on the 12th. I went up around 2 PM, did my thing, and began driving back after failing to find a hot dog stand that was open and worth going to for dinner. On the drive home, the sun was setting. I know I shouldn’t photograph anything while I drive, and I normally don’t, but I couldn’t help myself this one time. I took a quick iPhone picture out of the moon roof. It was just too pretty to pass up. Also, I think this is the first time I’ve ever traveled on 9/11. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270989362-868N6NPFUMB0PARLQWX4/Courthouse+-127.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.12.24 Weird Day at Work I’ll explain everything, but first, I want to enjoy the absurdity of this image that I made today… …Okay, explanation: I’ve been helping a local judge with images for a book she’s writing about the history of the Hamilton County Courthouse for so long that I think it pre-dates this daily photo project. Over the years, I’ve photographed almost the entire building and made images of archival texts, images, and artifacts. I’ve seen some fantastically interesting stuff during that time. It’s been a fulfilling project for someone like me who genuinely enjoys local history. Anyway, she called me up yet again and asked if I’d photograph old photos someone made of the courthouse during its construction. “Also, I need photos of a few other items,” she said. I didn’t ask her for specifics at that point, but I never in a million years would’ve thought she meant blow-up dolls and a dildo. When I arrived, she presented me with the materials she wanted to be documented, including the promised ‘other items.’ It genuinely caught me off guard. For lack of knowing what else to do, I laughed and asked her why I needed to document these things for this book. She said she needed images of sex toys to illustrate a story about a famous court case that dealt with obscenity and the sale of adult content decades ago when that sort of thing was scandalous enough to be illegal. It made a lot more sense at that point. Then I laughed again, realizing that she had accidentally put her Amazon ‘For You’ algorithm into an excited state of confusion. She left me in the room with the archival photos, rechargeable lithium ion battery phallus, and deflated blow-up dolls (whose names were ‘Ginger’ and ‘Destiny,’ according to their cards). As I organized the materials, I set up the backdrop and snapped the above image to ensure I had a record of this very weird day at work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726451576654-HJZT5N7695XJDB4UJGZW/NZF_0875.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.13.24 Moon Tree Whenever I have business in another city, I try to find something of note to experience while there—a restaurant, an oddity, or anything notable that makes the trip special. It’s important to make the most of travel, even if it’s just an hour away or for something routine. Before heading to Indianapolis early this morning, I scoured the internet for something I could see while there. I’ve been to Indy many times, but I wanted to see something new. After a couple of minutes of research, I realized the thing I needed to see was standing proudly in plain sight. I wasn’t prepared for how special it’d be seeing it up close, however. This is an extraterrestrial being on the lawn of the Indiana Statehouse. It’s one of many Moon Trees planted around the US—trees grown from seeds that went to space, orbited the moon, and were returned to Earth and planted so scientists could study their growth. In 1971, this sycamore tree accompanied the Apollo 14 crew and journeyed further from Earth than nearly every human who has ever lived. Scientists have found no discernible difference between the seeds taken to space and terrestrial seeds. But I love that they thought there could be something special about them besides their trip around Earth’s largest satellite. There’s still so much we don’t know about space, and 50 years ago, we knew even less. No one can blame them for thinking there might be something physically transformative about the journey. Standing under the shade of a tree that began its peaceful life in maybe the most romantic, hostile, outrageous way possible was an indescribable sensation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726451576756-AJEH5LUQ3ZIXAI2XCPLV/Art+Off+the+Walls+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-190.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.14.24 Art Off the Walls Choosing a single image from today was almost impossible. I shot Art Off the Walls for ArtWorks at the Newport Car Barn in West Newport. The fundraising event featured silent and live auctions, food, drinks, a performance by Pones, and a dance floor that ended up being the most fun part of the evening to photograph (as usual). I made portraits in front of murals for Colleen, Jill, Jens, and Kay. I concentrated on getting candids of attendees smiling, laughing, hugging, and having a great time. I sweated through my shirt, capturing as much of the dancefloor as possible in difficult lighting conditions. I did my best not to spend all my time talking with good people I wanted to catch up with while on the job. I ran video the whole event while photographing it to create a Reel for them later. It was a crazy night, to say the least. I settled on this image because it combines so many of the elements I enjoyed from the evening: Pam Kravetz in her custom disco ball outfit, dancers in various levels of costume, the DJ in the background crushing it, the guy in the red shirt and tie who dominated the dancefloor with moves that would make David Byrne blush, and the multicolored lights filling the hazy the room with ambiance. I left shattered from fatigue yet full of creative satisfaction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726451746263-ZUHNPT5JT9EUS01HY8KU/IMG_0300.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.15.24 Waiting For Coffee Title says it all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726543074205-WKXVZ34IM9L7RQNZH6O3/NZF_1548-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.16.24 Never Quite Getting It ArtWorks helped bring world-renowned contemporary artist Shepard Fairey to Cincinnati. He and his team are putting up a three-story mural on the side of MadTree Alcove at 15th and Vine. The whole process will take less than two days. After that, they will wheat paste around town before heading to Dayton, Columbus, and Cleveland to do the same thing. I’ve been a casual fan of Shepard’s work for as long as I remember being interested in design. From OBEY to HOPE, he’s always been in the background of very specific circles I’ve enjoyed. His bold, colorful style is instantly recognizable regardless if you know his name. I went over around 1:45 PM to get a few shots for ArtWorks. The shoot was tricky because he was on a scissor lift between two other people and bags full of discarded stencils and spray paint cans slung from either end. Getting a clear photo was difficult, and the composition wasn’t great when I did. I tried until 7:30 PM to get a good photo. I managed a few, and I think they’re fine, but I was hoping for something staged for ArtWorks’ purposes. I didn’t dare speak to him as he was busy doing the mural, and I didn’t want to get too close to the lift for fear of losing privileges on the ground. He seemed cool to me, and his taste in music was rad, but I didn’t know how far I could go before I’d get told to scram. So, I played it safe and stood at a distance most of the day. He’s the middle person toward the right side of the lift in the photo. They’d completed about 75% of the mural before I left for the day. Apparently, they’ll finish the rest tomorrow morning. He’s planning a talk at the CAC that I may attend. It’s really something to have a working artist of his caliber just doing his thing in a place I intimately know. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726712834430-CRK24Y5VO71UITTWDII0/NZF_1741.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.17.24 Got It Yesterday, I spoke about how I spent hours at 15th and Vine photographing Shepard Fairey and crew painting a mural on the side of Alcove. Despite being around for hours, I hadn’t gotten a solid portrait of him because he was busy on the scissor lift spray painting. The last thing I wanted to do was approach and bother him, so I hung back the entire day. Today, though, I had a brief opportunity to photograph him on the street. I returned to the site around 10 AM to grab more images for ArtWorks, and around 11:30, they all got off the lift and walked a few blocks to the Art Academy where he had an appointment to speak with the students and faculty. During that walk, I went about a half block ahead and photographed him and his crew making their way down Vine with Jill. When they arrived at the AAC, I saw a wall of his posters along the route, recognized the opportunity, and squared up for a shot. At first, I was bummed I didn’t get him in profile, but the more I sit with it, the more I think this is a better photo overall. It’s genuine and imperfect. You can see the idea, but it’s sloppy. It’s a portrait of an artist briefly taking in his work in the medium for which it was designed. And while he’s not anonymous like other street artists, I think it’s appropriate that his identity is a mystery in this photo when considering what he does. There were other photos of him working and a few presenting at the AAC, but this is my favorite of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726712832377-A3LHY3H6FZPGZQ7MNAAJ/NZF_2053.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.18.24 Bi-Color Plant Just playing around with speedlights, gels, and a white backdrop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140769614-M2LHRGON40E2IJABWDGO/NZF_1890.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.19.24 The Lighting Was Good Nothing special. The lighting was just good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140764330-NPX2924BBDYX4C6VSZL4/NZF_2083.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.20.24 Jerry's Justin’s a bachelor this weekend, so he came down and we went to Jerry’s Jug House for a few rounds of drinks. As he was bringing back a couple of rum-based “Cherry Cokes,” I snapped a blurry image that accidentally had every vibe of a drunken, hilarious night out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140767874-IUXZ8JFFO6NUQZ1VM2JT/NZF_2167.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.21.24 Oktoberfest '24 I’ll be honest, I haven’t been to Oktoberfest in years because it’s sucked. Shuffling around sticky asphalt, bumping shoulders with every Cincinnatian possible, baking in the sun on some combination of 2nd, 3rd, or 5th Street—it’s not a recipe for a good time as far as I’m concerned. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a good time in years past, but there was a lot of overlooking the cons to enjoy the pros. It was once a tradition that, while uncomfortable and expensive, I dealt with to be part of the community, but at some point, I gave up caring about it. At best, it was a weekend where the bars I liked had lighter crowds. Caitlyn got a job with the Chamber this year, and she promised us Oktoberfest would be different primarily because of its move to Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove. She was right. We went down and met up with friends. It was a perfect setting for a festival as large as Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. It’s staggering to me that it wasn’t down here every year. The entire operation snaked along the Serpentine Wall, under the Purple People Bridge, and through the forested paths and alcoves of Bicentennial Park. Enormous tents took up space on the lawns but never felt too domineering. The natural shade from the many trees blocked the direct sun, allowing people to sit in the grass and on various bits of park infrastructure unrelated to the festival. They set up stages in areas not in the middle of the critical mass of people. The food vendors were tucked into shaded areas, as were the beer trailers, and the lines to eat and drink were rarely long enough that you felt discouraged from joining a queue. It was spread out enough that people could enjoy themselves while also not leaving wide gaps in programming, all within a beautiful, shaded, visually varied venue. It’s never felt more organic and interesting, seasoned and special. If Oktoberfest is held at the park yearly, I am excited to return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140767563-GMXWFZA4YZJHIXWNZ8MI/NZF_2249.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.22.24 HBD, Unataza! Our favorite little coffee shop, Unataza, turns five this weekend. When we walked in, owner Alejandra offered us celebratory cake. Cheers to another five years! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140764337-EBRR6EABQIB6MAYM1G8U/NZF_2272.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.23.24 Coke Oreos There’s this strange collab happening between Coca Cola and Oreo at the moment. Not only do we have an Oreo-flavored Coke, we also have Coke-flavored Oreos. Mark Borison, Jungle Jim’s wonderful social media and content guy, made a video about them recently, and it’s been on my brain ever since. Seeing no way to rid myself of nagging curiosity, I had to get a bottle and pack to see what was up. The verdict: both are a nice little departure from classic flavors, but they will never replace them. The drink (Zero version) is subtle enough that if you’re not paying attention, you may not immediately taste the difference. It’s without a doubt present with every sip, but if you weren’t expecting it, you might not notice for a second. The Oreos, however, hit you square in the nose as soon as you peel back the packaging. They’re undoubtedly Coke versions of the familiar sweet. I especially liked the custom designs on the red halves of the cookies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727319765398-W4EV8I0DJBS5OVIAQJD1/NZF_2313-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.24.24 Steps Home I use this set of public steps near my house all the time. They help me get from the end of my street to the street below and significantly reduce the time it takes to commute on foot if I need to go anywhere west. After a night out with friends, they dropped me off at the base of the steps, and I walked up to my house as usual. Sometimes I think about the relationship I have with these steps and how they’re important to others, too. I regularly see both kids and adults using them. Hell, even the deer trot up the steps from time to time. My mailman, who has lived in the area his whole life, talked about how he and his friends would run up and down the steps when they were kids, just as I see kids today using them. Painter Harland Hubbard apparently grew up a few doors away from my own back in the early 1900s, and I wonder if these steps were around for when he was still here. The railroad has been here for as long as Sanborn Maps have been around, so it’s possible the stairs have, too. It’s kind of amazing to think of how a simple piece of public infrastructure like a set of stairs can be so important to the daily lives of the people around them, and how they can be tied to fond memories for those who’ve long since moved away. If they were located in Cincinnati, they’d probably have their own Instagram account or something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727319764667-BIM0X8PMXEVHVBUHBUHE/NZ9_9464-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.25.24 Moonlit Evening A scene from this evening’s musical performance before the opening of the new Ansel Adams exhibit at the Art Museum. They hoisted a giant, illuminated moon from the ceiling in the Great Hall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661108904-J0EK05WTNB0AE7JLBE18/IMG_0485.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.26.24 Non-Traditional Mike and I got up early and drove up to Chicago to see the White Sox play their final home game of the season. Neither of us is a White Sox fan, and I’d never been to Guaranteed Rate Field on the south side of Chicago, but we went mainly to see history made…only it didn’t end up that way. The White Sox were on the verge of losing more games in a single season than any other team in the history of Major League Baseball. To say their season had been a disaster is putting it lightly. Very few baseball teams have seen as poor a showing as this 2024 team in Chicago. If they’d lost to the Angels for their final home game, they’d officially set the record, and we wanted to be there for it. No, it’s not a glamorous record to hold, but it’s still significant, and we thought it would be fun to do on a random Thursday. Fortunately for the White Sox, they crushed the Angels after a staggeringly good showing in the 5th inning and managed not to set the record on their home turf. We were a little bummed we didn’t see history made today, but we also had a great time quietly rooting for them to win. Either way, we saw a historically awful team play bizarrely adequately for their final home game of the season. We ate Chicago dogs and pizza, wandered around the ballpark for a bit (pictured is the excellent view of the skyline from an upper level), found some seats on the 1st baseline that weren’t the $7 seats we purchased, and saw a bunch of White Sox fans genuinely cheer for their awful team. We hit up Portillo’s on the way out of Chicago and headed back to Cincinnati before the sunset. It was a good day that I think we’ll both remember for a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661110672-HV32TWPU51Y0698OZBDL/Art+After+Dark+9.27.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.27.24 Indecision I photographed Art After Dark again for the museum. There was a massive party in the Great Hall where rotating DJs on a second story balcony kept the music pumping and everyone dancing. The scene you see above is barely the start of it all; by the time I was contracturally finished at 9 PM, the entire room was shoulder to shoulder with more people coming in to join. I’ve rarely seen a showing at that magnitude. To choose a favorite frame from the evening is an impossible task. If I choose Image A, I’ll look at Images B, C, and D and think those are equally as representative of the evening, albeit in different ways. The indecision is paralyzing. So I chose the very first one on the card from the evening. I’m also choosing it for another reason. I was recently convinced by watching a few different photographers on YouTube that high ISO isn’t the enemy and should be utilized more often. I’d gotten used to using ISO 12800 as my maximum for awhile, but sometimes I needed more. I decided to amp it up to 20000 and see if Denoise could handle it. Short answer: it can so long as I keep the slider no more than 40 during enhance. This photo is an example of how previously unthinkable grain can be mitigated with Denoise in order to get a sharp shot in low light, and I’m thrilled that I have a little more latitude now to get a faster shutter in lower light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661114012-WZEWB9Q0YGFAAFPYE3XX/NZF_2787.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.28.24 Wine Night We went to Chelsea and Vince’s for a wine tasting and got silly by the end of the night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661114151-QCHVSYVB1O88NLPCZDSE/NZF_2803-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 9.29.24 Esmeray's 2nd Birthday Little Esmeray turned two today. We went to celebrate her birthday with everyone up at my sister’s house. After she opened her gift (The Rainbow Fish book), she brought it over to the ottoman and put it down in front of her. She was being so cute. I managed to snap a photo before she moved onto the next thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495522934-RZWG0L0UGXF8E8FVQE3C/Bellevue+Barbershop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-52.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.1.24 Barbershop Boys I’ve been getting my hair cut at the Bellevue Barbershop for years. There’s a reason they’re voted best shop in the region during CityBeat’s annual poll. Today, I had the pleasure of photographing these dudes for the first time. They’re the nicest, most talented crew in the biz. We did a variety of poses and portraits, and choosing just one for this project was challenging. I knew I had to go with a group shot, though. This one was my pick—a photo of them all on the stoop right before I let them know I was about to start snapping. They’re all naturally themselves, which I wanted to convey most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495523206-UQU1I7MSC9U6V1BQM3QB/201+E+Clifton+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.2.24 Corrected Cornice I waited months to photograph this building because the new cornice wasn’t installed. Today, though, I was able to wrap it up. It looks nice! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495542254-74LPUXKCQ0PMVJR3GJEI/The+Thatcher+Ribbon-Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.3.24 Ribbon-Cutting Thatcher Flats in Walnut Hills had its ribbon-cutting today after an hour-long speaker event. Photographed for Pennrose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495531887-XQ56X6FG86H6ZAW6ESPZ/SBD+Metal+Tree+Table+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.4.24 Metal/Wood Single Batch Designs made a really interesting metal and wood table recently. The table legs on either side are shaped like tree trunks with spindly branches that snake around the slab’s edges to hold it in place. The amount of artistry involved with this piece is something I haven’t seen them attempt before. The client’s room where this will live apparently matches the aesthetic well, so I can’t wait to see it in place. I just can’t get over the craftsmanship in a piece like this. It’s totally unique in the way it’s handcrafted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495541385-8SWE09W9R154DUQ4R5JD/Streaming+Things+LIVE+%28Color%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-249.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.5.24 Streaming Things LIVE Earlier this year, Steve candidly told me his New Year resolution was to host a live show for his podcast. He wanted to take the thing he’d been making for years in his home studio and perform it live on stage for as big of an audience as possible, and tonight, he did just that. He spent ten months searching for a venue, scheduling everything, and preparing the show. When he announced it to his listener base, people from around the world started planning to visit Cincinnati to see him and his cohosts do their thing. And since the base had grown so strongly around the show, they also had the benefit of meeting all their online friends in a real space. I can’t adequately describe how good it feels to see your best bud succeed in a creative endeavor on this scale. I’d only met his listener base online. Still, when I saw their faces watching him on stage, laughing at his jokes, and smiling through the whole show, I realized what he’s made and the many connections he’s inadvertently responsible for are extremely important. After the show, I joined the fans for a night out in Cincinnati. I led them on the streetcar to Rhinegeist, and from there, we went to Oddfellows and closed down the bar. None of us said our goodbyes until 3 AM. I’ve never really felt like a genuine part of the community, but after tonight, maybe they’ve accepted me into their ranks. I hope he does this again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495528162-O7L0UAK5PJ5ZPWBYN1H8/Red+Door+Hotel+Cov+-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.6.24 Red Door at Hotel Covington A photo of Gregory Freeman next to his photograph at Red Door Project in Hotel Covington this afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495537400-R0E5LTQ6UNMO6TCVQHR6/Self+Portrait.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.7.24 Self Portrait I have a headshot job in Louisville tomorrow, so I needed to practice my lighting setup before I go down. I didn’t go the whole way with the setup because it would’ve been too much work, so I faked the otherwise pristing paper background with a wrinkly sheet that I had to edit out in post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495527177-XRLKLQ4H3HNQM428W4HT/IMG_0781.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.8.24 Chicago Dogs While in Louisville, I stopped at Lonnie’s for a hot dog. When I looked on the map and realized this place was a mile from my job location, I knew I had to hit it up. The inside is a sun-bleached shrine to Chicago sports and autographed headshots. The owners weren’t rude but also weren’t friendly. It was a no-nonsense place, and the low price I paid for a hot dog, cheese fries, chips, and a drink matched everything about the atmosphere. That is to say, it’s extremely my shit. I want less polished concepts and more authentic hole-in-the-wall joints like this. I wish Lonnie’s was local because I’d be here every other day for sure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728531044128-VGD406R9QY6RYGHC780V/NZF_5079.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.9.24 Birthday Puppy She turned seven today. I cannot believe this dog is SEVEN YEARS OLD. It feels like just yesterday that we brought her home. On her first birthday, I took a grainy iPhone photo of her sitting on the couch and wearing a birthday cap with a treat and candle in front of her. We were in the midst of a move, so half our stuff was packed, and she was confused about everything. I recreated that photo as best I could, sans confusion and move this time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728958203913-WRSGHJM00TZZIJN0LQ7Q/Posing+Beauty+x+Terri+Kern+-+Phil+Armstrong+-11.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.10.24 Taft Museum Opening Photographed the latest exhibition opening at the Taft Museum of Art this evening. If you enjoy photography and fashion, Posing Beauty in African American Culture will be up your alley. Also, I found out this evening that Rick Sofranko reads this Daily Photo Project. Hi, Rich! It’s always so nice to run into you and Susan at these events. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135674584-YTF3MV0P9G2YK08RQSQY/IMG_0936.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.11.24 Goodbye, Millennial Grey When we bought the house, the flippers painted everything grey and white—a neutral combo that’s safe when trying to appeal to unknown buyers. We lived with it for four and a half years before we finally did anything about it. We hired professionals who could do it all in a single day because of the scope of what we wanted done (the entire first floor, staircase wall, and fence). (I’m sorry, but I’m going to talk about watching paint dry in the following entry. You’ve been warned.) We weren’t prepared for how difficult it would be to see the house change colors, though. We were so used to the color scheme (or lack thereof) that seeing bright colors on the walls initially was jarring. Did we pick the wrong colors? Are we that bad at this? Or are we just not used to seeing a very familiar place visually change so drastically? At one point, as the men were painting the wall on the staircase, I quietly regretted making the decision to change any of it, burying my face in my hands and hoping it wouldn’t be as bad tomorrow as it did today. Wet paint looks worse than dried paint, I’ve learned. After a rollercoaster of emotions, I’ve settled on loving our new color scheme. It does look better dried. Our instincts were right; the bold colors we chose made the house feel more like a home. It has more personality and flavor. It feels intentionally decorated in a way I didn’t realize it didn’t before. The dining room (pictured) is my favorite. The greenish-grey we chose is a mood-setter. Since it also serves as the plant room, it feels more vibrant and alive. The living room is now ancestral gold, which for some reason photographs more green than it actually is. And the staircase, which I haven’t photographed yet, is a lovely burnt orange color that enlivens that whole side of the house. Pick bold colors and paint your walls. It absolutely rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135680014-9C18JHU3WAQ3DJ3RJ3XD/NZF_5167.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.12.24 Darkness Brewing The little river town brewery that I like so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135687914-5MSAGMAVGVULVY2SJSSO/Purple+People+Bridge+-+Phil+Armstrong+-18.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.13.24 Purple, People, and Bridge I had a job at the Taft Museum and the weather was wonderful, so I decided to walk over instead of drive. Image from that walk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135676107-UQHRA533Z5M6YN95YC7X/1412+Republic+%23301+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.14.24 On Republic Street Photographed an Airbnb in Mt. Auburn, then went to Over-the-Rhine to photograph a condo for sale in this building on Republic Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135684160-VDLZH2SMGQB91BTIO9FI/UK+Hospital+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.15.24 Hospital Stuff Lexington was my destination today. GBBN recently completed a renovation at a hospital on the UK campus. They wanted images for their portfolio, and since I’ve seemingly become their go-to guy for hospital stuff, they asked me to come down and capture it. We staged architects in scrubs and put them in the scene as usual. What you don’t get a sense of from this image is just how messy the floor was when we showed up. It’s still in the punchlist phase of construction, and we had to move a hefty amount of stuff out of every shot to get little slices like this clean and looking photo-ready. Honestly, though, this wasn’t even remotely the hardest instance of working around construction I’ve had to do before. It looked worse than it ended up being, thankfully. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135680960-N3CBYUM8WTPHAUI4ZE1M/Phronesis+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-33.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.16.24 Phronesis Blink starts tomorrow, so everyone’s gearing up. The Library, in partnership with ArtWorks, held a dedication event for the new, permanent, light-based sculpture ‘Phronesis’ by Jen Lewin Studio out of Brooklyn, NY. The sculpture consists of eight columns that light up in non-repeating, unique patterns. Check it out next time you go to the library. They look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819155095-SKHXT442FZKLG3ASJYKA/Blink+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.17.24 Blink 2024 Thursday night Blink is always my favorite. It’s new again, it’s exciting to run around and see all the new and returning artwork, there’s loads of people walking the streets, and the city’s more alive than usual. While I had criticisms about the previous Blink festival, I think this one is making up for it already. One big thing they’ve done this year is close off whole streets to pedestrians and lining many of them with food trucks. It’s such a simple change, but it makes a huge difference. Bringing projection mapping back to Music Hall for the first time since Lumenocity is a highlight of this year’s festival. I love seeing it all lit up again. It brings back fond memories of standing on Race Street and looking over the fence years ago. When it moved inside Taft, everyone knew something had to change. Also, the skate park just up Pleasant Street. Pleasant Street at Liberty is probably the most alive and unique block (in Cincinnati) this year. It feels fresh compared to other Blinks. Yard & Co. has a really cool alcove to pop into there. (They’re not paying me to say this, it’s just genuinely cool.) There are some great new and returning light installations this year, too, including Crescendo in Lytle Park. It’s a mainstay every year and it rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819152164-8YFQSKFS85QN8JAFDBL3/Blink+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-35.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.18.24 Blinking Twice I went out with Allie, Travis, Rob, and Rachel to see everything again tonight. We stayed Downtown but also hit up a few places in OTR. Music Hall and Cincinnatus aside, I think the projections in past years were stronger, but they’re still all very cool. I mentioned this yesterday, but one of my favorite things about Blink is how the streets are closed and pedestrians can just walk up to food trucks. Court Street had a mini-Asian Food Fest happening on the Kroger block, but across Vine Street, there were plenty of other places to grab a bite and a drink. As the sun was setting, this block looked particularly Sesame Street with all the happy people, dogs, and color lining either side of the street. Sadly, there were no muppets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819151875-EOAZRVHGUPOGYZAVVQ1Z/Blink+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-99.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.19.24 Blinked Thrice The primary approach I’m taking to documenting Blink this year is different than previous festivals. During the first two years, and again for the third, I focused heavily on capturing projections and the artwork itself. This time, I’m trying to capture people and the general feeling of being there in addition to casually shooting the festival. I got my shots in past years, and I’m happy with those. Now, I want to do something different; something unique. Something I can’t recreate if I tried. This was one of those moments. I actually snapped this without looking, from the hip. This group of friends in the Pike Street Arcade set their phone up on the ground against a purse and took a selfie together. I wish I could see their shot because I loved their energy from this angle. If you know any of them, please send them this image. It represents the vibe of Blink: people having fun. No drama. No politics. No anger or fear or resentment. Just everyone walking around, eating food, waving light-up balloons, and having fun. It’s been a hearty breath of fresh air the last three days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819145933-XW820QUN76KLANYTT325/IMG_1040.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.20.24 Blinked Out For the first time, I didn’t go to Blink all four nights. My social battery was spent. I couldn’t do it for a fourth night in a row. With the exception of seeing Newport briefly from the car, I saw every attraction in the 2024 lineup on foot, and got to hang out with Travis and Rob for three nights straight. It was the best time, but I needed a quiet day to myself to reenergize after being in enormous crowds the last three days. Ashley only went the first night and bailed on the rest, so I didn’t feel too bad about not attending the final evening. Instead, I spent a few hours building a TV stand for the living room. I used the legs from a coffee table I was previously using to prop up the TV and added a custom box to the top of them, raising the whole thing about 7 inches total. Stained the box the same color as the legs. I think the TV will now stand at the optimal height for viewing when sitting on the couch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819145934-05PAHAQFERL6PE7YZ43K/IMG_1052.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.21.24 Foggy Morning Had to take Ashley downtown for work this morning, and stopped by the water on the way back to get a photo because the fog was so picturesque. I didn’t mean for this to be the image of the day, but thanks to the juxtaposition, it had to be the one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236578208-II4MKT1H1DCYUCK8CJIS/Cincy+Open+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.22.24 Cincinnati Open Mural Dedication The scene from the Cincinnati Open mural dedication this afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236584504-3XTZLFSVVMI1W7L61ZCG/IMG_1082.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.23.24 Autumnal It’s beginning to feel properly autumnal outside. Normally I’m all about this time of year, and I still am, but I’m also not looking forward to winter this year. Something about it seems like it’s going to be a long one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236576847-8YJQBB6MP3XXCINMDPKT/Banter%2BBrews+10.24.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-49.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.24.24 Challenging Lighting Photographed an event inside the Digital Futures buidling in Avondale early in the morning. I wasn’t prepared for how challenging the lighting would be in this space, though. Between the low can lighting in the ceiling, dark areas inbetween, and the rising sun directly behind the speaker’s podium, it was a constant battle with settings to get exposures between extremes so I had the latitude to adjust them later in Lightroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236571570-23V7NHZUHF7C0X7PKJ2D/Art+After+Dark+10.25.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-95.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.25.24 Costume Party The final Art After Dark of the year was held this evening. While it wasn’t as crowded as last month’s, the museum still had a stellar showing with many attendees in creative costumes. I saw Casey (pictured) and mistook his garb for The Crow (he is actually a black and white photo). I saw the twins from The Shining, David S. Pumpkins, Mothman, the Swedish Chef, a Bob Ross with his date wearing a painting around her face, someone dressed in Starfleet command red, a guy in a hot dog suit, pirates, cowboys, one Cousin It, Cruella DeVille with dalmation, and I even found a Waldo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236585618-DRINDCF336QB89YAUF8W/NZF_8734-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.26.24 Tiki Tiki Bang Bang We wandered into a costume contest at Tike Tiki Bang Bang tonight. It was very crowded, so getting a decent shot was tricky. But I did manage to snag a slice of life while waiting for a dole whip painkiller. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236588097-1YIUY92I7HVZI6DWZQB3/NZF_8746-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.27.24 Coffee Festival Shenanigans After not going for quite a few years, I decided to go to the annual coffee festival at Music Hall this weekend. It’s held in the ballroom on the second floor every year and features a boatload of coffee and coffee-adjacent vendors worldwide. Some are local, some are from other states, and some even come from abroad to give out little samples of their brews hoping people will fall in love and buy bags of beans. There are a fair number of artists who fill in the gaps with their wares, such as pottery and apparel. This is an image from one of the cheekier tables. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236571593-2IE1S1T2LETCNL854VY3/1700+Hanfield+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.28.24 Hanfield Photographed a sun-filled apartment on the second story of a cute building on Hanfield in Northside this morning. The autumn leaves outside the window warmed up the room in a comforting way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730405795545-YT8XOOX9J34M2DZBX8G0/DSC01305.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.29.24 Action Claw! I didn’t win anything. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730405795009-2XCJVAV7IYOTJHOG26YO/Myrtle+ghost.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.30.24 Spooky Ghost! We dressed Myrtle up for Halloween. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731287945904-4FU1KKOKHTF3YE8XE2CY/IMG_1233.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 10.31.24 Almond Joys and Blanton’s While passing out candy tonight to trick or treaters, my neighbor, Shawn, sat with me and graciously shared his bottle of Blanton’s. It’s smooth, sweet, and syrupy in the best ways. Maybe one of the best bourbon’s I’ve had. It’s going to be a pain to go back to my budget options after two glasses of this fine stuff. It paired exceptionally well with all the Almond Joys I pretended were for the kids but conveniently stole from the bucket before passing them out. Though the rain kept many away, we still had about 30 kids show up to collect, including one who said she used to live in my house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731288541514-S2WF2J5Y16TZ1MMDB22G/CAM+Gala+2024+-+6+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.1.24 CAM Gala 2024 While passing out candy tonight to trick or treaters, my neighbor, Shawn, sat with me and graciously shared his bottle of Blanton’s. It’s smooth, sweet, and syrupy in the best ways. Maybe one of the best bourbon’s I’ve had. It’s going to be a pain to go back to my budget options after two glasses of this fine stuff. It paired exceptionally well with all the Almond Joys I pretended were for the kids but conveniently stole from the bucket before passing them out. Though the rain kept many away, we still had about 30 kids show up to collect, including one who said she used to live in my house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731289800816-BSJ34K3KYKBBKMPHCX46/IMG_1235.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.2.24 Hundredths My dad always talked about how he’d like to see time measured in metric. Instead of 24 hours in a day, he envisioned a day that would start at 0 and end at 100. Within that scale would be another 100 markers, like minutes to hours. He called them “ticks and tocks” long before the video app was devised. So something like 5:02 PM could be 65.14 or whatever. I get what he’s saying. Metric makes more sense to me, too, and while ticks and tocks made his children laugh at his nerdiness, at least one of them grew up to appreciate the vision. So when I came across this clock, I scarcely believed my eyes. Was this a prototype for ticks/tocks? After googling what I knew about it and coming up empty, I eventually asked an AI language model. Sometimes I find the conversational approach with ChatGPT to be a good launching point for how to research because it gives me key words to use in googling. All of this to say I learned the hundredths scale on this clock might have been used to accurately calculate payroll, possibly in a factory or office sometime in the middle of the century. It’s easier to calculate a worker’s shift if they clocked in at 7.01 and out at 15.68. No fractions, no hassle, easy hourly rate multiplication. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731289934503-UBTCPCSSFEO8UPMR42CW/IMG_1247.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.3.24 Ashley Turns 36 We went to MRBL for dinner and they brought her out a free dessert after the meal! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731290016284-MAJGSD952YGO3UX6LK1P/IMG_1282.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.4.24 Forgotten It’s an increasingly rare sight to see these in the wild. I wonder when the last time this was turned on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731290020185-UJKX0PDBAPAGPFY5F9SA/IMG_1274.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.5.24 Refinishing Floors Brendan asked if I would help him refinish the floors of his rental property. With the impending election wrecking havoc on my nerves, I jumped at the chance to do something with my hands for the day. The less time I spent online worried about the outcome of this thing, the better my mental health. He already sanded the majority of it with a large rental sander, but we needed to remove the old finish from the perimeter and stain everything before the end of the day. The process went well for the most part. Aside from having to stop briefly so Duke could fix a natural gas leak in the basement, we got it all sanded and stained by 4:30 PM. The Big Mac bridge’s southbound lane closure caused a long, arduous drive home despite being so close to my house. My anxiety about the election returned, fully ratcheted up. I got home, showered, and went to CVS to get both a flu and COVID vaccine. I worry what I’ll wake up to tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731290019844-KTYPDFGQOQWBSGN4ZROG/NZF_9668.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.6.24 No Title/No Caption https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137184177-1Q9QRR0RMKDNWA42J7M5/IMG_1322.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.7.24 No Title/No Caption https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137181693-9BO14UWIDIKMTI20I78W/NZF_9683-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.8.24 DND There’s really nothing to say that hasn’t already been said. Just know I’m ashamed of my country, ashamed to be American, and ashamed I live in a world where hate and idiocy and incompetence rule. I have little faith in the future at this point. Been offline and on DND for days and it’s keeping me sane. This is the last I’ll say about this topic because so much of my energy has been wasted on this catastrophe already. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137177474-2MENB9ES47FU6OEHCBH9/NZF_9724-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.9.24 Dinner Party The biggest downside to our house is that it’s small and not overly conducive to hosting large groups. We’ve taken steps to better host, though, and I think we’ve solved a crucial part of it by making the dining room table twice as big. By getting a fold-up table the same size as our kitchen table and situating both side by side under tablecloths, the seating expanded from six to ten with enough room to comfortably place dishes around the table. Before everything happened this week, we scheduled a Friendsgiving with a few people and hosted it this evening. We agreed to keep the conversation light, which was probably the best thing we could’ve done. We got nine people together in our little dining room to eat a meal Ashley spent the day making. It was a big win for the week. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137189424-Y9694EFCYSVWYRC1Y6C1/IMG_1303.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.10.24 Moon Roof Wasn’t in a photographic mood today. Still offline and on DND mode, and loving it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137172607-FB1Q1MYLJEXFRB9PABZG/27+E+Fourth+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.11.24 Back To It Photographed a renovated building on 4th Street in Covington today. It’s been in the owner’s possession since January 1986 (the same month and year I was born). It was a law office for decades, but when COVID hit, most of the partners left, and he was left with a choice: keep going, sell it, or renovate it for residential use. He chose the latter. The inside looks fantastic. They did a truly outstanding job. I dare say it’s a dream house for someone like me. Google the listing (27 E 4th Street). You won’t regret it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137176716-41W4BR12QJEZYPS1P9N1/1734+E+Boat+Run+Road+%28Sunset%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.12.24 Country Desk From an Airbnb photoshoot I did today in New Richmond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137187521-0TAH4H2BI303TPQKBTMD/Hustle+n%E2%80%99+Bustle+%282024%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.13.24 Expand For Pano Drove around Cincinnati today collecting images of specific murals for ArtWorks. This one on the side of Whole Foods in Rookwood Commons was a standout due to the good lighting. (Click or tap to see the full panorama) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137171603-EP9LQ0MJQKOCJMJ1KGTT/824+Madison+Ave+%282nd+Floor%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.14.24 Galley Kitchen From a photoshoot today for Orleans Development. Galley kitchen with lovely green cabinets and gold hardware. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137187403-OHBG5AFL21126SMZJTU6/IIDA+Awards+11.15.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-235.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.15.24 Timeless Venue I finally got to shoot an event in the rotunda at Union Terminal. It had been on my list for years, but I hadn’t gotten a chance to do it yet. Every image has a perfect background. It is truly a timeless space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138778592-DBSL1QGRH7JY69NECQ9X/Campus+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.16.24 Campus Dedication ArtWorks held a dedication for its new campus in Walnut Hills this evening. The public was invited to check out the new digs in the renovated historic building. The place is as functional as it is beautiful, and I love that so much care was spent bringing a vacant space back online for a new purpose. The top floor has mural and photo studios, the second floor is primarily office space for ArtWorks employees, and the first floor is arranged in such a way that future art galleries and events will be easy to host. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do going forward with this unique and fresh new headquarters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138813955-JOD4LIN4WJ8PVNLL2BRS/IMG_1346.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.17.24 Taking a Stand I just really appreciated ETC’s stand at the Market today. 10/10 presentation. I bet this was fun to figure out and set up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138816940-82PPVXI7VN22QEPJUFYP/Bedroom+Wall.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.18.24 Paint Your Walls After the massive success of getting rid of the Millennial grey by having the first floor painted, I’ve been thinking about how the rest of the house could improve visually. I did an accent wall in the basement that warmed up a corner considerably and added a little more fun to that space, but I felt like there was more to do. Then Ashley suggested I paint one of our bedroom walls a dark charcoal. An accent wall's ability to change a room's feel cannot be overstated. It was perfectly fine before, but it was boring. A remnant of the flippers we bought the house from years ago. Now, it’s an eye-catcher and energizes the space. Or at least I think it does. Painting a wall a dark color is always a little dicey, but this one never receives direct sunlight, so I don’t feel like it’s eating too much of the natural light during the day. Paint your walls. It rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138808973-53IQRSV9NG6XX3I8D3U9/224+E+8th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-53.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 One-of-a-Kind Photographed a house for a listing today, and the owner is into custom tile. They did a whole bunch of colorful and unique tiling indoors, especially around the fireplace and in the kitchen, but I especially liked this address marker on the outside of their house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733706544685-10EGR40L6P148DIP0HC3/IMG_1401.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.20.24 Whatchudoin I lay down for a moment and she decided it was a good time to seek attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733706665780-S62MOOHHHF17S9XBJ4T0/IMG_1423.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.21.24 Late Night Lodging Unataza invited us to their annual Friendsgiving party again, and I actually managed to make it this year (previous years I had to work). It was held at The Lodge down the street from the coffee shop. I’d actually only ever been inside once, and just on the first floor, so it was neat to see the rest of it during Johnny’s tour. I didn’t take many photos today, but I did snap this moment upstairs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733706959230-4W4UZZ2QBI8X9Q8PJ557/Revelance+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.22.24 Revelance Worked with MA Design today to make some polished architectural photos of a project they worked on out in Mason, right by Sonder Brewing. Named Revelance, the two-story building was transformed from a simple gym to a mixed-use property with office space, an event space, a commercial kitchen and dining room, a first-floor bar, a bourbon and cigar room, and a virtual golf room. Oh, and there’s a robot barista right by the front door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707300402-K791NS72N89RKTZTSAYQ/IMG_1467.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.23.24 Hanging Artwork Travis and Allie got a photo for framed for their dining room, so I helped him hang it this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707450761-BYMRJLEP240I0UB9V2LE/IMG_1447.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.24.24 Very Needy I’m feeling somewhat uninspired lately. For some reason, picking up my camera is a chore at the moment. This happens occasionally, and I know it’ll pass, but it’s frustrating dealing with it. This was the only one I took all day; she always has to be touching Ashley if Ashley sits down on the couch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707946593-FQ6GOKNO30QD0ZJMIRXU/IMG_1622.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.25.24 Happy Being Back I'm back in the studio assisting Marlene this week. I haven’t worked with the crew in a while, so it’s nice to see everyone and continue learning through observation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707952453-G1TWUAT957I4R9DLHT3N/IMG_1624.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.26.24 Little Bit of Light The days feel noticeably shorter now. Since the sun goes down around 5:30 PM, enjoying a little natural light while working inside a photo studio all day feels like a triumph. I know I’ve taken this photo (and probably posted this same perspective) before, but it’s the only semi-interesting frame from the day. Also, it took me an hour and fifteen minutes to go the four miles home this evening due to the bridge being out. They say it’ll take until March of next year before using the southbound lane is an option again. I think I will need to start experimenting with alternate routes... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733708706472-5H5GH6EBC2CANWILH0CG/IMG_1637.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.27.24 HISS! Gary wasn’t actually hissing; he was meowing loudly. Vince was patting his butt, and Gary could’ve easily moved off his lap if he wanted. Instead, he acted like a tough guy who secretly wanted more attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733709893822-T1MY36DQCS7ZKVE78FMG/NZF_0986-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.28.24 Weird Thanksgiving We didn’t feel like doing family Thanksgiving this year. Instead, we let the day unfold without a plan. Around 4 PM, we hopped in the car and searched nearly empty streets for an open restaurant. I had a feeling the Chinese place in Fort Thomas that I liked (New Garden) would be open. To our delight, it was. Instead of turkey, we ate sweet and sour chicken, crab rangoon, spring rolls, and rolled our eyes at uninspired fortune cookies for dessert. We tipped way more than usual, and headed back out on the road to find an open bar. The Lytle Park Hotel was open and willing to make us cocktails, so we met Travis and Allie there for a couple of rounds before heading north to Liberty’s on Main Street to end the evening. I think the freshness and impromptu nature of this Thanksgiving stands out as one of my favorites since childhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733932818463-OCYXRWHKRF7RUCQMMXV6/IMG_1651.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.29.24 Leaning Into It Ashley bought this Christmas light dog back in August to put on the porch during the Christmas season. I’ve known for years we were crazy-about-our-dog people, but this takes it to a whole new level. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933576398-LHIW6DWAIB20SIIOWT7B/NZF_1084-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 11.30.24 Ronny Hates Christmas For the last few years, we’ve gone to Overlook Lodge in Pleasant Ridge for their Christmas-themed drink event. Our group of friends finds a date that works for all of us, and we make a reservation to seat all of us together. It’s about an hour long, the drinks are good, and the whole thing ends up pushing me over the line for getting into the Christmas spirit. This year, Ronny and Sydney came with us. Ronny hates Christmas, but he primarily wanted to join because the rest of us went. At the end of our time slot, and to cap the event with a grand finale, a Christmas montage played on the TVs behind the bar, and light foam “snowed” from the ceiling. This frame is from that moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933718093-AOKTQ11VD2K5JYU82ORE/Myrtle+Christmas+2024.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.1.24 Another Year, Another Christmas Photo For the last few years, we’ve gone to Overlook Lodge in Pleasant Ridge for their Christmas-themed drink event. Our group of friends finds a date that works for all of us, and we make a reservation to seat all of us together. It’s about an hour long, the drinks are good, and the whole thing ends up pushing me over the line for getting into the Christmas spirit. This year, Ronny and Sydney came with us. Ronny hates Christmas, but he primarily wanted to join because the rest of us went. At the end of our time slot, and to cap the event with a grand finale, a Christmas montage played on the TVs behind the bar, and light foam “snowed” from the ceiling. This frame is from that moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933717080-GUIMC3EI2PDIN3PJS7WK/CAM+Ground+Level+-+Phil+Armstrong+-17.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.2.24 Architectural Photos For CAM CAM asked me to document their ground level for use in a media press release. I’d been in this space once before last month during the annual CAM Gala, but it was nice to get to spend some quality time carefully and methodically capturing the space. This time of year is sometimes challenging because of holiday decor. While it would’ve been acceptable to photograph the space as-is, I thought it made more sense to de-clutter each shot and prevent shackling the images to a specific season. Overall, I’m glad I did because the shots ended up being evergreen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933715832-H9EVUNSKX06AU61Z4JKK/6139+Plymouth+-+12.3.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.3.24 It’s 5:30 PM Looks more like 9 PM, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933713204-MDNRVFBQRSOQ1NAAX4O2/Winter%E2%80%99s+Night+Founders+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-111.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.4.24 Winter’s Night Event I photographed the Winter’s Night Founder’s Event at the museum this evening. Second job at CAM this week. They did a great job dressing the place up with lights, sculptures, and performers for attendees. Here’s a photo of Rich Sofranko taking a photo for other attendees on one of their phones. Rich is a photographer himself, so they were in good hands. I swooped in behind him to get my own shot after taking this photo; thanks for setting this up for me, Rich. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933711278-CS84TV5IDHA12SLORUQ0/Volkshaus+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.5.24 Volkshaus Opening Volkshaus (123 E McMicken Ave) had its grand opening this evening. I was there to capture images for 8K Construction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933707726-2IBUO2C6XZLGFW65C54Y/Karissa+Morton+%28Queens+x+Kroger%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.6.24 Portait Work I photographed Karissa (marketing material for Kroger). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933706343-K0PNZEE9W7FMX1KEFLN7/Ground+Floor+Ribbon+Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-33.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.7.24 Ground Level Opening After photographing the ground level for CAM this week, I returned to the space this morning to document their formal grand opening ceremony and discovered a very fun photo opportunity by accident. One of the main galleries has an enormous LED screen (I think it’s over 400 inches). It’s so large, I was able to make this portrait of CAM Director Cameron Kitchin speaking at the podium with nothing but the screen as a background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733934475414-LPRPVAG1A8A5ZFWT9F4J/IMG_1750.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.8.24 Tree’s Up Better late than never. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933704022-SNZH62AF9ECTWREUPZJ0/NZF_1508-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.9.24 Colombian Magnet Ashley was in Colombia all last week for work. When she came home, she brought with her this cute little magnet she bought in Bogota. Since I got new studio lights the other day, and having not taken a single photo all day for this project, I decided to set up a backdrop and make something simple. Bright orange construction paper seemed to fit the aesthetic of the magnet best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933704469-DIQDBR9ADCKN6ZIE7CH2/IMG_1770-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.10.24 Return to the Mercantile Library The Mercantile Library reopened after a year-long renovation. The biggest change to the library is the fully functional second floor, which is made accessible by way of the new grand staircase (pictured). I’ve spent countless hours working from this library over the last decade. It’s been a great resource and place to hunker down with assignments. I plan to work from here more often now that it’s open again. Some of my favorite images I’ve ever taken were done in this space, and seeing all the parts I loved preserved while adding to it in a thoughtful way warms my heart. Despite being so old, this place feels totally reenergized and ready to serve for another century. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620812513-YSBLN8QVZ3ZHEL6S33C2/Rookwood+Holiday+Party+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.11.24 Liminal Space Penguin Rookwood Properties held their annual holiday party at the Zoo this year. The party included two animal encounters: one with a tortoise and another with a penguin. A few people showed interest in the tortoise, but the penguin was a huge hit. She waddled around the room trying to find enough personal space to feel comfortable. I’m not sure she ever found it despite everyone keeping an appropriate distance. The keeper with her said she’d never been in that room before, so her visible curiosity and erratic route was probably a result of being overstimulated. At one point, she left the room entirely and went into the hall for a moment for what I assume was to take a penguin breather. (Relateable.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620811006-68NEMWZTD256ZY7BOQQQ/337+Lockwood+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-32.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.12.24 Do Not Disturb While photographing a house for a listing, this precious angel was sleeping soundly in a chair. Thankfully, she hopped up there on the cushion after I’d already finished in that room. I couldn’t forgive myself if I had to disturb her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620805313-2ROFPJXDS329YIWDAETV/IMG_1805.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 Past Expiration The antique mall in Alexandria has several rows of glass cases with locked-up items. A lot of it is jewelry or baseball cards, glass tchotchkes of significance, pins and medals, and a variety of other higher-priced fare. Honestly, it’s the least interesting aisle in the building to me because I prefer the challenge of visually sorting through unobscured junk like a sieve scooping up a pile of river dirt looking for a nugget of precious metal. That’s the fun of going to antique malls; it’s an exercise that sometimes turns up something neat. The cases are all fruit, no labor. These vintage bottles were locked up. The Coke bottle didn’t have a tag that I could see, but after a quick online search, it looks like it may be from the ‘70s. Coke is so old, they were doing throwback promos 50 years ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620801700-ST6NPXL0I9SF2Q2SP4AJ/IMG_1818.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.14.24 Rubber Band-Curious Travis and Allie held a Christmas movie night at their place. Jack and Jonas were very interested in a rubber band for a substantial portion of the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620800630-PH5M50SB3WU77VCOK1T6/IMG_1822.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.15.24 Haunted Hardware I’m building something in my basement and had to make a quick run to the store. When I pulled up, the moon was ominously peeking through the clouds, evoking an October mood despite the season. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734643005023-ZQN2OBHCA60ANEFM75C4/IMG_1838.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.16.24 Cheers Mario gave my regular order (latte with four shots of espresso) an unofficial name. Feels nice to have my own drink! I love this shop so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734643009578-J05VWZD66254P604LQB4/422+Riverside+Drive+-+Phil+Armstrong+-75-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.17.24 The Pointe This house on Riverside Drive in Covington is apparently named ‘The Pointe.’ I wish I knew its history, but Googling only results in a few articles detailing a property line dispute. It sits at the confluence of the Licking River and Ohio River on the Covington side, across the street from the statue of Chief Little Turtle and John James Audubon. The owners are planning to put it on the market in the coming months, so I photographed the interior for the listing. Even though we had a lovely day of sunshine, I thought getting a few exteriors at night would make sense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734809595807-HYHZFF57OXF9PD9W0WU0/NZ9_9078-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.18.24 The Bench For years, I’ve had an office on the second floor where I did all my photography-based work. As I’ve grown in my career, though, I’ve acquired additional gear that has started collecting on other floors, namely the finished basement. A cart, a couple of hard cases for my commonly used kit, studio lights, backdrops, c-stands, different sized bags, straps, etc. Lugging all of this stuff up to the office doesn’t make sense since it’s regularly going back out the door through the basement, so I’ve been storing it in a tidy corner despite the limited space. I never liked that I didn’t have all of it consolidated. It felt messy and spread out even though I did my best to keep it contained. I value intentionality and defined spaces, and keeping half my stuff in a corner never felt good despite it being necessary. So, I built a bench with storage beneath to keep everything that’s not a camera in the same place. It’s still in roughly the same corner, but now it’s organized in an intentional way. The bench, with loads of good lighting, offers a large surface area to work on the computer, clean sensors and camera bodies, and compile all the small tools required for specific photo-related tasks. It provides all the same duties and functionality as my workshop around the corner minus the power tools and saw dust. When I need to build a load out for a job, I throw the case up on the bench directly under the overhead light and put together what I need. When I come home, I pop the memory card(s) out of the camera, slot the batteries on their chargers, and take only the photos upstairs to my office for processing. Everything is streamlined, organized, and optimized for my workflow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734809914250-EXOFP30G0IWGH5EV3HOD/IMG_1850.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.19.24 A Not-Quite-Perfect Circle The river was so still, the reflection of this wounded bridge resulted in almost a perfect circle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734810055087-041VIGYLWR28Z386QY1Q/Bellevue+Barbershop+Santa+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.20.24 A Very Barbershop Christmas Travis from Bellevue Barbershop asked if I would volunteer as the photographer for a photo-with-Santa event he was putting on. I’ve always kind of wanted to do silly work like this since it’s outside what I normally do, so I agreed. I set up two lights: one with a soft box pointed directly at the bench to light the subjects, and another pointed at the ceiling on the other side to give the rest of the room a little bump in ambient illumination. I didn’t worry too much about composition since A) directing children I don’t know is out of my league, B) as a one-person operation, I didn’t have much time to do anything else beyond taking the photo and immediately processing it, and C) these were ultimately free photos. Using the bench for Santa to sit on was a good idea because it was heavy enough to not move, allowing a simple tripod-mounted camera to free up my hands and generate a consistent look for all photos. I tethered straight to my laptop through Lightroom, setup up an auto-edit routine so every image would look the same after it was taken, and texted/Airdropped every image right after they were taken to the parents. The system was good enough for one person to manage, and I think I did a decent job overall. We used the barbershop as the backdrop, naturally. I don’t want to post photos of people’s children, so the photo above is from the lighting and export test right before the first kids went up to get their photos taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532940700-A76MC37385F39C493VLJ/IMG_1877.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.21.24 A Real Big Boy Since all the Frisch’s are closing down, I think it’s appropriate to divulge a Bellevue secret: the Loyal Burger at the Loyal Cafe is essentially a Super Big Boy with tomato added. For less than $8, it’s as much of a steal as it is an enormous, no-frills burger. The Loyal Cafe has been open for years, but I only recently started going. The interior looks like it hasn’t changed in 40 years, the bar always seems to be stocked with the same regulars, they don’t serve a drop of craft beer, and this time capsule of a bar and restaurant has food priced like its 2004 despite being so good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532939391-LKUBDV3J9H3NYM920JF1/IMG_1888.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.22.24 Cat-Sitting While Travis and Allie are on holiday out west, I’m going to be watching their kitties, Jack and Jonas. I plan to visit their house twice daily to check in on them and show them some love. Since their food and water bowls are auto-filled, all I have to do is pet and play with them (aside from litterbox duties). It’s especially fun for me because I genuinely love cats. We can’t have one of our own due to Ashley’s allergies, so this will be a good chance to get some quality kitty time in without making her feel sick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532935525-278JUGQKRE8KPIH0HX4I/IMG_1922.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.23.24 Cat-Sitting II: The Sequel Not a lot going on this week. I haven’t worked in days due to the holiday season, and I’m not doing much else besides building some shelves in the basement, watching the cats, and taking it easy. Here’s Jonas sitting on my lap. Jack is a little freaked out by my being there, but he’ll come around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532936374-USJ8Q15TH83YZOSHZFYL/NZF_1981.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.24.24 TourBox Thoughts I’ve been using a programmable custom controller called TourBox Elite to edit photos in both Lightroom and Photoshop over the last week and a half. This device features a series of oddly shaped buttons, knobs, dials, and wheels to provide a tactile approach with haptic feedback to common tasks within each system. I use the TourBox software to map specific key commands to the TourBox’s array of inputs (like zoom in/out to the dial, or SHIFT to the button on the side), ideally matching tasks and tools to what feels most intuitive to the user. Some buttons can modify the use case for others, such as pressing up on the D-pad to bring up a drop down that the scroll wheel can navigate while the dial modifies the selected values. All of this to say: the TourBox is a physical shortcut device that maps common tasks and tools entirely to the left hand, effectively speeding up edit time and making everything easier in theory. Of course, there is a learning curve to using controllers like this, and I spent hours figuring out what to map and where to put those commands, but I think I’ve reached a point where it’s approaching second nature. I genuinely look forward to using it when in Lightroom, specifically. The ease of switching between iMac and MacBook wirelessly is a big bonus, too. I got the translucent smoke black version because it felt it was more fun than the other colors. I’ll always have a soft spot for devices with semi-transparent shells. The only thing I wish it had was a small amount of onboard memory to store custom layouts. Sometimes I slightly tweak a button’s function while on my iMac and forget to export/import the updated profile so it’s mirrored on my MacBook. If the custom layout could be stored on the controller itself, that would solve this issue. Overall, I like this controller a lot, and I think it’s worth the price (it’s currently on sale for $201). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532930572-NYN4VG5MEYU0KLC7NDJW/IMG_1973.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.25.24 Welcome to Taste My niece got a grocery store playset for Christmas. In addition to plastic bananas and eggs, it came with fake goods emblazoned with bad, generic labels for things like pasta and cereal. My favorite, though, was this juice box that had a hilariously awful translation: “The nourishment is abundant, and feel a class stick! Welcome to taste!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532925762-UDDL1H7DP3ZD8TDZVP03/IMG_2013.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.26.24 Rummikub Chelsea and Vince came over for Indian takeout, coconut daiquiris, and an evening of Rummikub where we all managed to win a round. I put my phone on the floor and used my Apple Watch to take a photo through the glass table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532927541-84IMU0MOAVINUDDKDDTE/NZF_1836-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.27.24 Lounge Scootin’ A person on a small motorized vehicle scoots past a strip club in Newport, KY one evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735580184723-QE1SISHTE49BTX6OYDJH/NZF_1851-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.28.24 Season’s Greetings While walking down Vine Street, a large RV towing a flatbed trailer rolled toward me blasting music at a loud volume. I worried it was going to be some nut job with a bad politcal opinion trying to get attention, but it ended up being a friendly guy handing out boxed menorahs and spreading Chanukah cheer. We made eye contact and he yelled to me over the music “are you Jewish?” I replied that I wasn’t, and he offered me a pamphlet about Judiasm after posing for this photo. I don’t follow any religion, so I must admit that I’m ignorant to the core of the message, but on the surface, he seemed pleasant enough. I didn’t end up reading the literature he gave me. With the Christmas tree and Bengals fervor downtown, the contrast felt notable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735670598622-J6ZWHDMYHVLT433IXKU1/ZFC_4700-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.29.24 Reflection The year is almost over, and as the deluge of end-of-year posts from friends and acquaintances hit the internet, I find myself paralyzed from joining them. 2024 wasn’t the worst year on a personal level, but it certainly wasn’t the best. There were some pleasant highs and some truly awful lows. The good first: my nephew was born, and we had a lovely trip to Maine. I deepened my working relationship with local architects, non-profits, and museums. We had loads of dinner and drink parties with our friends. Steve’s live show at the Woodward was a blast. I started working part-time as an assistant in a proper studio. Driving to see a White Sox game with Mike was super fun. Erica and Steve got engaged. I built some useful stuff for our house. Photographing Shepard Fairey and experiencing Blink 2024 was very enjoyable. And this year I did more event work than ever before. Now, the bad: the election is obviously the centerpiece of what’s wrong with this year. I had to go back to therapy after years of surviving on my own to battle anxiety and depression. I’m embarrassed about picking up smoking full-time again due to stress after years of being clean. I lost my biggest repeat client. My business didn’t make as much money this year due to losing that client. I’m the fattest and grossest I’ve ever felt in my life. I still don’t feel like I’ve recovered from the pandemic professionally and emotionally. Everything is so expensive now, and the future of this country and our planet has never looked worse. Hopefully next year’s end-of-year post will be brighter, though considering what’s ahead, I’m not holding my breath. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735670598416-TTRZMTSX4V9SM2ZMIP9F/NZF_1984-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.30.24 Allen Art Everything seemingly comes with an Allen wrench these days. I save them all in a small box because I never know when I’ll need a specific size for a future project. Our door handle needed adjusting today, so I busted out the collection to find the right size. Afterward, I made a little spread for fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735777036163-K8QJSH0SXBQ3UQFSLOI1/NYE+2024-93.jpg daily-photos-all-2024 - 12.31.24 Five Years Five years of the Daily Photo Project in the books. Originally a Twitter thread (RIP), the project found its permanent home here on this site 11 months after it began. Making an intentional photograph, regardless of its level of quality, has been a satisfying exercise in consistency and structure. Its unintentional benefit as a journal of life has also been rewarding; I’ve consulted the archive countless times to remember when I did something by finding the photo related to it. This photo was taken right after the stroke of midnight, but I’m counting it as the final image of 2024. We had a handful of friends over for a chill NYE party in our house that included dinner, dessert, and a variety of celebratory drinks. The cocktails were cheap, we didn’t have to fight for a booth at a crowded bar, our chances of getting sick were greatly reduced, no one got obnoxiously drunk in public, and my dedicated photo wall (pictured) ended up being more of a hit than I expected. I’m glad this is the image that marks five full years. Having so many friends in one image to cap off half a decade is a fitting tribute. Though the Daily Photo Project is a deeply personal endeavor, I find I like it best when the subject matter is about other people. A tailored portrait, a low-key hang, an adventure, a group photo, a candid, an impromptu capture of someone at an event—anything that involves people. And speaking of people, thank you to everyone who reads this when it updates. I don’t know how many of you there are, and I’m always under the assumption that no one actually reads this, but if you are out there, I want to pass along my appreciation for your interest. Here’s to five more years. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-dec-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933718093-AOKTQ11VD2K5JYU82ORE/Myrtle+Christmas+2024.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.1.24 Another Year, Another Christmas Photo For the last few years, we’ve gone to Overlook Lodge in Pleasant Ridge for their Christmas-themed drink event. Our group of friends finds a date that works for all of us, and we make a reservation to seat all of us together. It’s about an hour long, the drinks are good, and the whole thing ends up pushing me over the line for getting into the Christmas spirit. This year, Ronny and Sydney came with us. Ronny hates Christmas, but he primarily wanted to join because the rest of us went. At the end of our time slot, and to cap the event with a grand finale, a Christmas montage played on the TVs behind the bar, and light foam “snowed” from the ceiling. This frame is from that moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933717080-GUIMC3EI2PDIN3PJS7WK/CAM+Ground+Level+-+Phil+Armstrong+-17.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.2.24 Architectural Photos For CAM CAM asked me to document their ground level for use in a media press release. I’d been in this space once before last month during the annual CAM Gala, but it was nice to get to spend some quality time carefully and methodically capturing the space. This time of year is sometimes challenging because of holiday decor. While it would’ve been acceptable to photograph the space as-is, I thought it made more sense to de-clutter each shot and prevent shackling the images to a specific season. Overall, I’m glad I did because the shots ended up being evergreen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933715832-H9EVUNSKX06AU61Z4JKK/6139+Plymouth+-+12.3.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.3.24 It’s 5:30 PM Looks more like 9 PM, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933713204-MDNRVFBQRSOQ1NAAX4O2/Winter%E2%80%99s+Night+Founders+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-111.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.4.24 Winter’s Night Event I photographed the Winter’s Night Founder’s Event at the museum this evening. Second job at CAM this week. They did a great job dressing the place up with lights, sculptures, and performers for attendees. Here’s a photo of Rich Sofranko taking a photo for other attendees on one of their phones. Rich is a photographer himself, so they were in good hands. I swooped in behind him to get my own shot after taking this photo; thanks for setting this up for me, Rich. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933711278-CS84TV5IDHA12SLORUQ0/Volkshaus+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.5.24 Volkshaus Opening Volkshaus (123 E McMicken Ave) had its grand opening this evening. I was there to capture images for 8K Construction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933707726-2IBUO2C6XZLGFW65C54Y/Karissa+Morton+%28Queens+x+Kroger%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.6.24 Portait Work I photographed Karissa (marketing material for Kroger). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933706343-K0PNZEE9W7FMX1KEFLN7/Ground+Floor+Ribbon+Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-33.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.7.24 Ground Level Opening After photographing the ground level for CAM this week, I returned to the space this morning to document their formal grand opening ceremony and discovered a very fun photo opportunity by accident. One of the main galleries has an enormous LED screen (I think it’s over 400 inches). It’s so large, I was able to make this portrait of CAM Director Cameron Kitchin speaking at the podium with nothing but the screen as a background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733934475414-LPRPVAG1A8A5ZFWT9F4J/IMG_1750.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.8.24 Tree’s Up Better late than never. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933704022-SNZH62AF9ECTWREUPZJ0/NZF_1508-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.9.24 Colombian Magnet Ashley was in Colombia all last week for work. When she came home, she brought with her this cute little magnet she bought in Bogota. Since I got new studio lights the other day, and having not taken a single photo all day for this project, I decided to set up a backdrop and make something simple. Bright orange construction paper seemed to fit the aesthetic of the magnet best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933704469-DIQDBR9ADCKN6ZIE7CH2/IMG_1770-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.10.24 Return to the Mercantile Library The Mercantile Library reopened after a year-long renovation. The biggest change to the library is the fully functional second floor, which is made accessible by way of the new grand staircase (pictured). I’ve spent countless hours working from this library over the last decade. It’s been a great resource and place to hunker down with assignments. I plan to work from here more often now that it’s open again. Some of my favorite images I’ve ever taken were done in this space, and seeing all the parts I loved preserved while adding to it in a thoughtful way warms my heart. Despite being so old, this place feels totally reenergized and ready to serve for another century. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620812513-YSBLN8QVZ3ZHEL6S33C2/Rookwood+Holiday+Party+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-80.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.11.24 Liminal Space Penguin Rookwood Properties held their annual holiday party at the Zoo this year. The party included two animal encounters: one with a tortoise and another with a penguin. A few people showed interest in the tortoise, but the penguin was a huge hit. She waddled around the room trying to find enough personal space to feel comfortable. I’m not sure she ever found it despite everyone keeping an appropriate distance. The keeper with her said she’d never been in that room before, so her visible curiosity and erratic route was probably a result of being overstimulated. At one point, she left the room entirely and went into the hall for a moment for what I assume was to take a penguin breather. (Relateable.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620811006-68NEMWZTD256ZY7BOQQQ/337+Lockwood+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-32.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.12.24 Do Not Disturb While photographing a house for a listing, this precious angel was sleeping soundly in a chair. Thankfully, she hopped up there on the cushion after I’d already finished in that room. I couldn’t forgive myself if I had to disturb her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620805313-2ROFPJXDS329YIWDAETV/IMG_1805.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 Past Expiration The antique mall in Alexandria has several rows of glass cases with locked-up items. A lot of it is jewelry or baseball cards, glass tchotchkes of significance, pins and medals, and a variety of other higher-priced fare. Honestly, it’s the least interesting aisle in the building to me because I prefer the challenge of visually sorting through unobscured junk like a sieve scooping up a pile of river dirt looking for a nugget of precious metal. That’s the fun of going to antique malls; it’s an exercise that sometimes turns up something neat. The cases are all fruit, no labor. These vintage bottles were locked up. The Coke bottle didn’t have a tag that I could see, but after a quick online search, it looks like it may be from the ‘70s. Coke is so old, they were doing throwback promos 50 years ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620801700-ST6NPXL0I9SF2Q2SP4AJ/IMG_1818.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.14.24 Rubber Band-Curious Travis and Allie held a Christmas movie night at their place. Jack and Jonas were very interested in a rubber band for a substantial portion of the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734620800630-PH5M50SB3WU77VCOK1T6/IMG_1822.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.15.24 Haunted Hardware I’m building something in my basement and had to make a quick run to the store. When I pulled up, the moon was ominously peeking through the clouds, evoking an October mood despite the season. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734643005023-ZQN2OBHCA60ANEFM75C4/IMG_1838.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.16.24 Cheers Mario gave my regular order (latte with four shots of espresso) an unofficial name. Feels nice to have my own drink! I love this shop so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734643009578-J05VWZD66254P604LQB4/422+Riverside+Drive+-+Phil+Armstrong+-75-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.17.24 The Pointe This house on Riverside Drive in Covington is apparently named ‘The Pointe.’ I wish I knew its history, but Googling only results in a few articles detailing a property line dispute. It sits at the confluence of the Licking River and Ohio River on the Covington side, across the street from the statue of Chief Little Turtle and John James Audubon. The owners are planning to put it on the market in the coming months, so I photographed the interior for the listing. Even though we had a lovely day of sunshine, I thought getting a few exteriors at night would make sense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734809595807-HYHZFF57OXF9PD9W0WU0/NZ9_9078-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.18.24 The Bench For years, I’ve had an office on the second floor where I did all my photography-based work. As I’ve grown in my career, though, I’ve acquired additional gear that has started collecting on other floors, namely the finished basement. A cart, a couple of hard cases for my commonly used kit, studio lights, backdrops, c-stands, different sized bags, straps, etc. Lugging all of this stuff up to the office doesn’t make sense since it’s regularly going back out the door through the basement, so I’ve been storing it in a tidy corner despite the limited space. I never liked that I didn’t have all of it consolidated. It felt messy and spread out even though I did my best to keep it contained. I value intentionality and defined spaces, and keeping half my stuff in a corner never felt good despite it being necessary. So, I built a bench with storage beneath to keep everything that’s not a camera in the same place. It’s still in roughly the same corner, but now it’s organized in an intentional way. The bench, with loads of good lighting, offers a large surface area to work on the computer, clean sensors and camera bodies, and compile all the small tools required for specific photo-related tasks. It provides all the same duties and functionality as my workshop around the corner minus the power tools and saw dust. When I need to build a load out for a job, I throw the case up on the bench directly under the overhead light and put together what I need. When I come home, I pop the memory card(s) out of the camera, slot the batteries on their chargers, and take only the photos upstairs to my office for processing. Everything is streamlined, organized, and optimized for my workflow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734809914250-EXOFP30G0IWGH5EV3HOD/IMG_1850.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.19.24 A Not-Quite-Perfect Circle The river was so still, the reflection of this wounded bridge resulted in almost a perfect circle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1734810055087-041VIGYLWR28Z386QY1Q/Bellevue+Barbershop+Santa+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.20.24 A Very Barbershop Christmas Travis from Bellevue Barbershop asked if I would volunteer as the photographer for a photo-with-Santa event he was putting on. I’ve always kind of wanted to do silly work like this since it’s outside what I normally do, so I agreed. I set up two lights: one with a soft box pointed directly at the bench to light the subjects, and another pointed at the ceiling on the other side to give the rest of the room a little bump in ambient illumination. I didn’t worry too much about composition since A) directing children I don’t know is out of my league, B) as a one-person operation, I didn’t have much time to do anything else beyond taking the photo and immediately processing it, and C) these were ultimately free photos. Using the bench for Santa to sit on was a good idea because it was heavy enough to not move, allowing a simple tripod-mounted camera to free up my hands and generate a consistent look for all photos. I tethered straight to my laptop through Lightroom, setup up an auto-edit routine so every image would look the same after it was taken, and texted/Airdropped every image right after they were taken to the parents. The system was good enough for one person to manage, and I think I did a decent job overall. We used the barbershop as the backdrop, naturally. I don’t want to post photos of people’s children, so the photo above is from the lighting and export test right before the first kids went up to get their photos taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532940700-A76MC37385F39C493VLJ/IMG_1877.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.21.24 A Real Big Boy Since all the Frisch’s are closing down, I think it’s appropriate to divulge a Bellevue secret: the Loyal Burger at the Loyal Cafe is essentially a Super Big Boy with tomato added. For less than $8, it’s as much of a steal as it is an enormous, no-frills burger. The Loyal Cafe has been open for years, but I only recently started going. The interior looks like it hasn’t changed in 40 years, the bar always seems to be stocked with the same regulars, they don’t serve a drop of craft beer, and this time capsule of a bar and restaurant has food priced like its 2004 despite being so good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532939391-LKUBDV3J9H3NYM920JF1/IMG_1888.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.22.24 Cat-Sitting While Travis and Allie are on holiday out west, I’m going to be watching their kitties, Jack and Jonas. I plan to visit their house twice daily to check in on them and show them some love. Since their food and water bowls are auto-filled, all I have to do is pet and play with them (aside from litterbox duties). It’s especially fun for me because I genuinely love cats. We can’t have one of our own due to Ashley’s allergies, so this will be a good chance to get some quality kitty time in without making her feel sick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532935525-278JUGQKRE8KPIH0HX4I/IMG_1922.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.23.24 Cat-Sitting II: The Sequel Not a lot going on this week. I haven’t worked in days due to the holiday season, and I’m not doing much else besides building some shelves in the basement, watching the cats, and taking it easy. Here’s Jonas sitting on my lap. Jack is a little freaked out by my being there, but he’ll come around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532936374-USJ8Q15TH83YZOSHZFYL/NZF_1981.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.24.24 TourBox Thoughts I’ve been using a programmable custom controller called TourBox Elite to edit photos in both Lightroom and Photoshop over the last week and a half. This device features a series of oddly shaped buttons, knobs, dials, and wheels to provide a tactile approach with haptic feedback to common tasks within each system. I use the TourBox software to map specific key commands to the TourBox’s array of inputs (like zoom in/out to the dial, or SHIFT to the button on the side), ideally matching tasks and tools to what feels most intuitive to the user. Some buttons can modify the use case for others, such as pressing up on the D-pad to bring up a drop down that the scroll wheel can navigate while the dial modifies the selected values. All of this to say: the TourBox is a physical shortcut device that maps common tasks and tools entirely to the left hand, effectively speeding up edit time and making everything easier in theory. Of course, there is a learning curve to using controllers like this, and I spent hours figuring out what to map and where to put those commands, but I think I’ve reached a point where it’s approaching second nature. I genuinely look forward to using it when in Lightroom, specifically. The ease of switching between iMac and MacBook wirelessly is a big bonus, too. I got the translucent smoke black version because it felt it was more fun than the other colors. I’ll always have a soft spot for devices with semi-transparent shells. The only thing I wish it had was a small amount of onboard memory to store custom layouts. Sometimes I slightly tweak a button’s function while on my iMac and forget to export/import the updated profile so it’s mirrored on my MacBook. If the custom layout could be stored on the controller itself, that would solve this issue. Overall, I like this controller a lot, and I think it’s worth the price (it’s currently on sale for $201). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532930572-NYN4VG5MEYU0KLC7NDJW/IMG_1973.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.25.24 Welcome to Taste My niece got a grocery store playset for Christmas. In addition to plastic bananas and eggs, it came with fake goods emblazoned with bad, generic labels for things like pasta and cereal. My favorite, though, was this juice box that had a hilariously awful translation: “The nourishment is abundant, and feel a class stick! Welcome to taste!” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532925762-UDDL1H7DP3ZD8TDZVP03/IMG_2013.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.26.24 Rummikub Chelsea and Vince came over for Indian takeout, coconut daiquiris, and an evening of Rummikub where we all managed to win a round. I put my phone on the floor and used my Apple Watch to take a photo through the glass table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735532927541-84IMU0MOAVINUDDKDDTE/NZF_1836-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.27.24 Lounge Scootin’ A person on a small motorized vehicle scoots past a strip club in Newport, KY one evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735580184723-QE1SISHTE49BTX6OYDJH/NZF_1851-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.28.24 Season’s Greetings While walking down Vine Street, a large RV towing a flatbed trailer rolled toward me blasting music at a loud volume. I worried it was going to be some nut job with a bad politcal opinion trying to get attention, but it ended up being a friendly guy handing out boxed menorahs and spreading Chanukah cheer. We made eye contact and he yelled to me over the music “are you Jewish?” I replied that I wasn’t, and he offered me a pamphlet about Judiasm after posing for this photo. I don’t follow any religion, so I must admit that I’m ignorant to the core of the message, but on the surface, he seemed pleasant enough. I didn’t end up reading the literature he gave me. With the Christmas tree and Bengals fervor downtown, the contrast felt notable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735670598622-J6ZWHDMYHVLT433IXKU1/ZFC_4700-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.29.24 Reflection The year is almost over, and as the deluge of end-of-year posts from friends and acquaintances hit the internet, I find myself paralyzed from joining them. 2024 wasn’t the worst year on a personal level, but it certainly wasn’t the best. There were some pleasant highs and some truly awful lows. The good first: my nephew was born, and we had a lovely trip to Maine. I deepened my working relationship with local architects, non-profits, and museums. We had loads of dinner and drink parties with our friends. Steve’s live show at the Woodward was a blast. I started working part-time as an assistant in a proper studio. Driving to see a White Sox game with Mike was super fun. Erica and Steve got engaged. I built some useful stuff for our house. Photographing Shepard Fairey and experiencing Blink 2024 was very enjoyable. And this year I did more event work than ever before. Now, the bad: the election is obviously the centerpiece of what’s wrong with this year. I had to go back to therapy after years of surviving on my own to battle anxiety and depression. I’m embarrassed about picking up smoking full-time again due to stress after years of being clean. I lost my biggest repeat client. My business didn’t make as much money this year due to losing that client. I’m the fattest and grossest I’ve ever felt in my life. I still don’t feel like I’ve recovered from the pandemic professionally and emotionally. Everything is so expensive now, and the future of this country and our planet has never looked worse. Hopefully next year’s end-of-year post will be brighter, though considering what’s ahead, I’m not holding my breath. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735670598416-TTRZMTSX4V9SM2ZMIP9F/NZF_1984-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.30.24 Allen Art Everything seemingly comes with an Allen wrench these days. I save them all in a small box because I never know when I’ll need a specific size for a future project. Our door handle needed adjusting today, so I busted out the collection to find the right size. Afterward, I made a little spread for fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735777036163-K8QJSH0SXBQ3UQFSLOI1/NYE+2024-93.jpg daily-photos-dec-2024 - 12.31.24 Five Years Five years of the Daily Photo Project in the books. Originally a Twitter thread (RIP), the project found its permanent home here on this site 11 months after it began. Making an intentional photograph, regardless of its level of quality, has been a satisfying exercise in consistency and structure. Its unintentional benefit as a journal of life has also been rewarding; I’ve consulted the archive countless times to remember when I did something by finding the photo related to it. This photo was taken right after the stroke of midnight, but I’m counting it as the final image of 2024. We had a handful of friends over for a chill NYE party in our house that included dinner, dessert, and a variety of celebratory drinks. The cocktails were cheap, we didn’t have to fight for a booth at a crowded bar, our chances of getting sick were greatly reduced, no one got obnoxiously drunk in public, and my dedicated photo wall (pictured) ended up being more of a hit than I expected. I’m glad this is the image that marks five full years. Having so many friends in one image to cap off half a decade is a fitting tribute. Though the Daily Photo Project is a deeply personal endeavor, I find I like it best when the subject matter is about other people. A tailored portrait, a low-key hang, an adventure, a group photo, a candid, an impromptu capture of someone at an event—anything that involves people. And speaking of people, thank you to everyone who reads this when it updates. I don’t know how many of you there are, and I’m always under the assumption that no one actually reads this, but if you are out there, I want to pass along my appreciation for your interest. Here’s to five more years. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jan-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704205935076-006CVURKTZMVYEDNMMZL/ZFC_0304-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.1.24 Quiet Loss A friend who's been extremely important to me for many years seems less interested in our friendship these days. Somewhere along the way last year, I think something shifted. I can't pinpoint what happened or why. Regardless, I believe I’m slipping into a depression over it. I haven't felt this kind of loss and sadness in ten years. Waking up sick to my stomach about it every day sucks. The only thing that really helps is being around other people and Ashley. The last thing I want is to make this worse by approaching them about it. I genuinely love them and never want to upset them. But I also can't keep muscling through pangs of nausea every day as the texts and DMs I sent to spur conversation about common interests or inquiring about when we can get together are left on read while their social media feed updates regularly. It doesn’t take a scholar to understand what’s the priority. Writing this out and publishing it here helps me process my feelings. It eases the pressure of sorting through everything in my head. I’m going to try not to mention this again here, but please bear with me while I navigate this. I’m not myself without them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704243997152-XR1Q1GZOSGEL7E4LJTDO/ZFC_0312-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.2.24 Bath Time Liters of last year’s grime circled the drain so this pooch could have a fresh scent for the new year. All clean and neat now. She’s the sweetest little dog. Last night, as I lie awake in bed, she cuddled up to me, plopped down in the crook of my neck, and proceeded to lick my forehead for about 10 minutes. I read somewhere that dogs do this because it reminds them of being a puppy. No idea if that’s what Myrtle thinks, but I let her do it when I know I’ll be showering in short order. And truth be told, it was comforting to have a small creature give me her undivided attention for a few minutes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704398545682-MO4DKSQPR5S2RLDYBJYS/GBBN+-+TriHealth+BNorth-046-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.3.24 First Shoot of ‘24 It felt really, really great to get back to photographing places for people today. Getting out of the house and distracting myself with work and a new location was hugely beneficial. GBBN did more work at TriHealth Bethesda North and needed photos for their portfolio before it opened to staff and the public. The spaces are what you’d expect in a modern hospital, but the design team ratcheted up the lighting and finishes without going overboard in several key areas. I don’t know how they’d describe this style, but to me, it felt like a fusion of Scandinavian design and a hint of the USS Enterprise, especially in areas with a central desk. This image doesn’t precisely illustrate that description well, but it was the easiest to edit and publish for today’s post. We planned to do a one-point of this space, but I suggested we pivot to two-point for a more interesting shot. With consensus reached, I did a clean version and placed the models. Blended the two in post for a finished image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704423533654-U3O40WCQ1YDLAZOR623A/NZ9_2301-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.4.24 Mirror Trick: Revisited In the world of rental and real estate photography, the person behind the lens is often left uncredited. This doesn’t bother me personally because the paycheck and the satisfaction of doing the work are all I ever want. The only time I ever get a nod is when something hits the media and the realtor or owner is kind enough to include my name. Elusive credit aside, one thing I do as a sort of signature is what you see above. I take a photo straight into a mirror, then remove the camera afterward in Photoshop. I imagine most people will scroll past it without noticing, but my goal is to get at least one person to stop and wonder about it for a minute. There are other photographers doing the same work will take the shot just below the bottom of the mirror frame, and I don’t blame them. Sometimes, I don’t bother with it myself. It’s a lot of extra work for no monetary benefit. But this is the only way I’ve found to inject my own personality into an otherwise straightforward and rigid corner of the industry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704517280065-CCKLNRM81LDAK6HPOV3Y/814+Madison+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.5.24 Will Work For Art My office is in the process of being rearranged for the 40th time, though not to the degree it has been in previous years. It is just too tempting not to move things around to feel a sense of excitement about its freshness. One of the biggest things I’m excited about, besides once again having a corner with a lounge chair where I can read, is the chance to fill half a wall with art I’ve yet to procure. In the meantime, I’m putting in the hours to fund this initiative. Today I put down the video work for a couple hours and did a very quick and easy job on Madison for a developer—an empty storefront in need of quality photos for its listing. I plan to spend every penny I earn doing this quick job on artwork. Instead of going out tonight, I stayed in and processed all the photos so I could get them back to the client ASAP. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704686736495-0BG66Z7KBGZJZHZX8O69/ZFC_0337-Enhanced-NR-3.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.6.24 We Were Promised Snow It’s an exciting time before the first snowfall of the season. When meteorologists name the storm, it’s even more exciting. For the last several days, they said we’d be getting at least an inch starting in the early hours of the morning. The promise of waking up to snow-covered rooftops, railings, and trees loomed large in my imagination, as was the promise that the streets were too warm for it to impede travel. That, to me, is the perfect winter storm. But when I woke this morning, the familiar grey of January, complete with its signature wet dullness, met my disappointed gaze. The meteorologists were right about one thing: the streets were decidedly too warm to hold snow. We took Ashley’s grandfather to Union Terminal to see the model trains and watch the Omnimax film about the Rocky Mountain Express. Seeing the snow-covered miniature was about as close as I’d get to real winter today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704687329564-DY5UPQRKEJXHYLPOISQK/IMG_7026.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.7.24 A Tale of Two Jungles Apathetic about the Bengals as I am, a trip to Jungle Jim’s during their final home game proved successful. Normally, a trip to this place (the original Fairfield location) on a weekend could be reasonably categorized as pre-meditated self-harm, but going during a football game or other major local event thinned the crowd such that it was bearable. Still, as a rule, no matter where you stand in Jungle Jim’s, you are most certainly in the way. We got out of the store with a load of good food and wine for less than $80. The bargain aisle with items about to reach their sell-by date was an essential stop. Among several great finds, we snagged a yardstick-length baguette for a dollar from that section. I think we’re going to make it a habit to visit at least once a month instead of once a year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704763268652-QFYRR5WPQNUCSZ48GX9Z/ZFC_0350-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.8.24 Over-Engineering Simple Solutions My Godox flash and Z9 battery chargers sit side by side on a table in my office. The Godox charger (left) can stay plugged in without a battery with no issue, but if there’s no battery on the Z9 charger (right), the base makes an annoying rhythmic clicking sound when plugged in. As such, I have to either unplug it at the outlet or disconnect the cord from the base and risk losing it down the back of the table, which always happens. I managed to keep them together using a twist tie for a while, but that was inelegant. I needed the satisfaction of wasting an hour or two fixing the issue. Could this first-world problem be solved by playing with my tools? Of course, it could. This square piece of Bastogne walnut had been collecting dust in my scrap pile for two years. It was the perfect specimen to act as the decorative base that would solve my problem and also prove, yet again, that saving scrap proves useful at some point. I traced the profile of the Z9 charger, added an extra 10mm to the length, and carefully spent an hour delicately routing a channel a half-inch deep for it to sit within. Then, I switched to a smaller bit and routed a channel for the cord off the back. The channel is tight on the profile of the cord, holding it firmly in place. That extra 10mm allows the base to slide away and toward the cord within the confines of the channel, disconnecting and reconnecting it without it moving or dropping behind the table. I also routed a spot for the Godox charger because why not. Rounded the corners for decoration, softened the edges, and sanded it to a buttery smooth grit. Now I have a custom, dedicated charging station instead of a twist tie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704893776411-U4FRRPQKGX41ZGF1XP6Z/NZ9_2531.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.9.24 The Shell Rebecca said she had a shell of a house for me to photograph for an upcoming listing. “It’ll take you 20 minutes,” she said. No stranger to shooting vacant places, I’m not used to shooting houses in that condition for her. She usually sets me loose on expensive houses that are either magazine-worthy or could be magazine-worthy if given some updates. The shell was located on Greer Street in Covington. I’d shot a couple of other places on Greer over the years, but none in this condition. It was as she described: stripped down to the original beams with natural gaps in the original wooden slats to the outside. Plywood patched several busted windows and shored up deadly gaps in the floor. The ceilings were high and airy on the first level; I could easily imagine how a spiral staircase would be the centerpiece of the front room if a renovation included it. While on the second level, I looked down at the floorboards and noticed inked text on an old piece of paper. I pulled it out and discovered a small mass of old pieces of newspaper featuring ads and articles, ripped to shreds but still legible. The fonts looked like what the Enquirer used for several decades in the middle 20th century, the shoes and top hat seemed to be from around that era, and the bus looked like it was from the ‘40s. I googled the “Brownie 620” (more commonly written out as Brownie Six 20, I discovered later), and all but confirmed these were probably from the late 1940s. It was only after getting home and looking at the scraps on the bigger screen that I noticed the "1948” near the left side tear on the shoe ad. I thought it was notable that 75 years ago, a camera flash’s selling point was that it “enables you to take pictures indoors as simply as snapshots outside,” and there I was aiming an advanced optical computer at this old ad for defunct tech while indoors and without flash. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1704933939920-MJID9C3MZOJDMOC12AB9/ZFC_0351-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.10.24 Clean Slate When I updated to an iPhone 15 Pro earlier this month, I brought all my iPhone 13 Pro baggage with me. Normally, I’m good about offloading my photos and videos onto an external drive, but I got away from it over the last year. The annoying “your iCloud storage is full” message was driving me nuts enough to sit down and just transfer everything. It feels great to have a totally clean phone with the possibility of filling it up again with brand-new images I’ve yet to make. After offloading everything, I went down a rabbit hole of watching old videos I took of friends and family from 10 years ago that I saved on the drive. Instead of feeling good that I’d captured all that I did, I fixated on the fact that I didn’t record more. Maybe this year I’ll spend more time recording my surroundings in addition to photographing them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705080894857-IIEJ6EY7DND2DXF84OBM/NZ9_2708-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.11.24 School With a View Hub+Weber did the 3rd-floor renovation of Newport Central Catholic. While it isn’t 100% ready and requires a return trip this upcoming Monday, we took advantage of the good weather (hard to come by this time of year) and got a few staged shots around the lingering construction that included the absolutely incredible view. Had the views from my own high school been this breathtaking and not of woods and a parking lot, I’m fairly certain my GPA would’ve been far worse as I’d have surely spent the majority of class daydreaming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705189811752-2U49P8LMT79KAR1MSP1O/ZFC_0353.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.12.24 Afterthought to Hold a Coffee I needed a very small side table to set my drink on next to my chair, so I went down to the workshop, dug through my scrap, and found a nice chunk of monkey pod and a plank of red oak. I cut them into circles on the band saw, beveled the edges with a 45-degree router bit, sanded everything to a nice smoothness, drilled a hole in each piece, and stuck a dowel between them. Added a medium stain so the oak would better match the monkey pod, and finished it with Danish oil. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705372727299-THN1FMZFQC8B19U5UKE6/IMG_7087.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.13.24 The Night of the Tree The forecast called for high winds as a winter storm approached the Midwest. When I went to bed, I opted not to turn on the white noise so I could keep an ear on what what happening outside. My relationship with violent wind has never been a good one; it’s always scared me to varying degrees, and deep down, I think I had a feeling something was going to happen. Around 1:30 AM, I awoke to still silence. Feeling more comfortable with the seemingly calmer situation outside, I reached to turn on the white noise. Within a second of my reach, I saw a bright flash and felt an enormous bang from next door. I swore it hit me in the head for a split second. The power instantly went out. Ashley awoke and asked worriedly, “What was that?” To be honest, I thought our neighbor’s house got hit by lightning. I got up to check the house by iPhone flashlight. When I got to the front window, I looked out and saw a flashlight bouncing over branches I didn’t recognize in a place I’m not used to seeing them at the end of the street. Suddenly it hit me: the old, impossibly tall tree next door had fallen. I went outside and saw my neighbor already out with a flashlight. The wind picked up, and flurries of snow swirled around downed wires and a heavy transformer on the sidewalk—the reason we no longer had power. That wasn’t lightning, I heard; it was the flash of electrical systems being brutally severed from the pole as the tree barrelled toward Earth. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and no private property suffered significant damage. The tree had fallen on a sign and a chainlink fence and barely crossed the train tracks. Emergency crews responded. Duke came out hours later and got our power back on. A train loudly obliterated the dead wood on the tracks around 3 AM without losing momentum. I slept for maybe 2 hours overall. The next morning, I surveyed the damage. The tree was blocking the public steps, but aside from that, it wasn’t posing much of a threat. It was the talk of the street all day. I’m going to have an abundance of firewood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705372726042-TW21IEF8T9R54KH6DSO2/IMG_7137.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.14.24 Needy Puppy The chaos of the tree falling might’ve given Myrtle temporary trauma. She watched in confusion and fear from the storm door window as Ashley and I were out in the street during strange hours the night before and couldn’t relax until the following morning. Ashley’s unfettered anxiety about the situation was also contagious to our empathetic dog. She spent yesterday and today more clingy than usual. I couldn’t sit without her periodically coming up for reassurance that everything was okay. This is an observation, not a complaint. It’s no trouble soothing a fearful dog. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705373084846-MLRUJWQ7DQ1P4XIDLTGR/Hub%2BWeber+NCC-019-HDR-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.15.24 Return to Class We returned to Newport Central Catholic to get additional classroom shots for Hub+Weber this morning. This image is comprised of eight different frames using a combo of focus stacking and HDR. Every pixel in frame was adjusted to reflect optimal color and exposure in order to come up with a highly polished photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705523579553-AF2LQYSXMWCKWLB8SI9M/Kemba+Branch-109-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.16.24 Vine Street Kemba 16 Points Solutions combined two different storefronts on Vine Street into one space for Kemba Credit Union. Their existing branch on Vine Street, a few doors up from this space, will be moving to this new address within the coming weeks. The time was right to get in and grab photos before IT installed 50 miles of computer wire that I’d inevitably have to Photoshop out. The space was perfectly clean and arranged, which cut down on the shoot time considerably. I also didn’t have anyone forgetting that photos are being taken and walking into every shot (a more common occurrence than you’d think on most shoots). Oddly enough, the color scheme for this project looks similar to that of the school I posted yesterday. Same architect, so I guess there’s a reason. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889536202-ZFMLL4CKPV3PRME1LL6S/IMG_7170-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.17.24 Splitting Logs at Sunset Grabbed some of the leftover tree from the street, cut it with a chainsaw, and split the logs with an axe before filling up the rest of the wood rack. By the time I was finished, the sun was beginning to set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889536197-W2SYBC2JK2HJVZ4KKWVY/IMG_7184-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.18.24 Nary a Granule Wasted Bellevue Animal Hospital made sure only the width of their storefront was properly salted. The narrowness of the deliberate dispersal pattern made me laugh. Absolutely no one will be slipping here unless they step one inch outside of this exact profile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889540463-NJHWIDEZ06SXPC1ZXE9H/IMG_7204-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.19.24 iBirding I set up a semi-elaborate way to watch the birds using my iPhone, a tripod, and my Apple Watch. While the image quality leaves a lot to be desired, I still think it’s a nice scene overall. Fun little experiment using ones and zeros! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889541305-M0LPIEYDV9Y624022PE4/IMG_7274-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.20.24 Western Bowl We went with friends to Western Bowl for a few games of ten-pin. Everyone, with the exception of Brendan, was bad at it to various degrees. I don’t think anyone scored above 100 except him. The guys did better than the girls, but not significantly. The alley itself was great mainly due to its unchanged decor. It seemed to be in various states of disarray depending on where you looked, but the late ‘80s and early ‘90s aesthetic persists in key corners. Some very fun neon behind glass block was a standout, as was the carpeting and locker areas. I’d like to go back sometime with a proper camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1705889545463-W9LW1WXMUF5TVX7KF9XZ/ZFC_0508-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.21.24 38 For whatever reason, I get sad around my birthday. Yesterday, I felt it growing, and today, the feeling peaked. When I woke up, I had no desire to talk to anyone or do anything. The thought of staying in bed and sleeping until tomorrow was more attractive than any other activity. But I knew I couldn’t do that. The texts were already coming through, and I should be lucky to have anyone remember let alone care enough to acknowledge it. Anyway, I won’t go into all that here. Just recognizing the feeling so I can move on from it. I knew my melancholy would prevent me from doing anything photographically interesting, so I forced myself up to an irresistible and familiar perch with a camera in my bag. Tomorrow will be better, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239306220-H6CX8OZ3RX58GYU1Z36N/NCC+-+Phil+Armstrong+-17.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.22.24 When Patience Pays Off I returned to NCC for Hub+Weber one final time to get the remaining images they needed without construction hampering every shot. This time, I got there after school had let out for the day. The goal for this final round of photos was to capture a sunset in the new corner classroom and adjoining communal study area. Tanner from H+W met me there at 4 PM. We did a few other shots on the list during the waning hours of the afternoon, but our efficiency led us to post up without anything to do for about an hour before sunset. It wasn’t a big deal; I set up my phone and ran a 4K timelapse into my 2 TB SSD while we waited. Finally, as the sun set on a perfect winter day, it illuminated the city and the rooms with a beautiful golden glow. I was glad we waited. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239312067-0JU14MDJF1M5FGSWNJJS/NZ9_2838.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.23.24 Important Flower Business Sunshine Bouquet had more videos for me to film for Kroger. I met them at the Newport store this rainy, miserable evening. We did a few how-to videos for the floral employees. Talmadge had planned every shot, so I just had to execute his vision. We did a piece on color-blocking displays (pictured), among other things. Overall, I think it went well using a combination of the Z9 and my iPhone 15 Pro recording ProRes to the SSD. I feel more confident about videography now that I’ve done it a bit and have good enough tools to do the work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239310852-2CZ8PPIJUFCMX4SMWWHB/NZ9_2861-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.24.24 Metal Tables A custom metal table Single Batch Designs made for a client in Las Vegas. John said he’s not driving it out there. It’ll be third-party shipped there this week. Seems like a missed opportunity to go to Vegas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706239306221-RHM8I54XD6O4DBQ9CFPD/IMG_7338.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.25.24 Office Buddy It’s been raining for days, and everything’s sopping wet. Even the porch, which is totally under cover, is damp all over. Despite the rain, the air is warm enough to crack the windows, letting in much-needed fresh air. All my work was at my desk today. Myrtle had a very lazy, very boring day as a result. She was so bored she got up in my chair and stared at me for about an hour toward the end of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706499186986-POGRP3XN71Q5E650C5UY/NZ9_3023-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.26.24 V2 Gallery and a Night Out Went up to Walnut Hills to photograph a gallery opening for ArtWorks. Afterward, I met Ashley, Chelsea, and Vince at the new food hall at the Levee, and I was honestly impressed with it. The burger I got from Four Mile Pig was excellent. The bar made me a lackluster drink, and the service still had some kinks to work out, but if they manage to get those two things fixed, I think it’ll last. At least, I hope it lasts. The more food halls, the better. Afterward, we walked to a brewery and went to Coaches before finishing the night at The Fill Inn. We did our usual four games of bowling on the 1969 Champagne bowling machine, and the girls did Shania Twain on karaoke. I recorded all of it on VHS-C with my family’s old camcorder and plan to digitize it tomorrow during my downtime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706499188243-BV82AFMDR5HX14ZB7HDI/ZFC_0544-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.27.24 Worth the Hangover Hungover today. We had too much fun last night. To make matters worse, Ashley scheduled an annual vet visit for Myrtle at 8 AM on a Saturday morning. As I summoned every ounce of will power to not lay down on the check-up table and close my eyes as the doctor told us all about our beloved dog’s health, I fantasized about the moment I’d get home, undress, and get back into bed to sleep this off. When I awoke in the afternoon after living the dream, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. No big deal, though; we had planned to stay in, save money, and relax inside. The cold, blustery, rainy night worsened as the evening went on, reinforcing our decision not to bother going out. I connected the camcorder to the TV, loaded old tapes Ashley’s family recorded in the early 90s, and we enjoyed laughing at how Ashley tried to get the spotlight from her younger brother (a toddler at the time), and was routinely scolded for it. The photo is of the myriad digital storage options I have sitting in my desk at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706499196483-00PS9ACDCCTUN8AJ6NV4/ZFC_0537-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.28.24 Nostalgia for Sumer Reading One summer, when I was young, I spent summer nights reading Goosebumps stories in my bedroom under a booklight after my parents thought I’d gone to sleep. The streetlight from the cul-de-sac outside let in a little extra light, and I remember laying on my stomach close enough to the window to feel the breeze gently passing through. To add even more sugar to this sweet memory, what seemed like thousands of fireflies off at the edge of the woods across the street blinked in a chaotic and calming pattern, totally out of sync with the chorus of crickets and a few frogs echoing in surround sound. It was one of those things that, even in the moment, felt special, and I still think about it often all these years later. When I accidentally stumbled upon this scene tonight, that memory came back once more. No, I wasn’t reading in my bed in my parents’ house in 1995, nor was it summer or firefly season, but the lighting was very similar. Were it not totally weird, I’d return to that house, stand on the porch, and take a photo toward the street during the summer months to more accurately capture that feeling again. This will have to do, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1706637456468-TUJ75PMEY2IRFBGCHB78/ZFC_0662.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.29.24 Plugs Every variation of cable in my office, individually photographed and edited together. (I didn’t leave the house today.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707086177814-JTIXEVXLVITLF9SQEE6M/IMG_7392.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.30.24 Unknown Store It rained all day again. I had to go to Harbor Freight to pick something up. This store was next to it. I have no idea what this place sells, and I’m not going to Google it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707086430280-L18T3UBAWWR9W0EI1INS/IMG_7395.jpg daily-photos-jan-2024 - 1.31.24 Memento When the tree next door fell, our neighbors asked if I could cross-section one of the larger branches for them. They wanted to use it as a centerpiece for their table and as a memento of what was once right outside their living room window. I cut it, sanded it, and finished it with Danish Oil. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-feb-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707094009217-P6KQ036O0HNJP4UHORQX/IMG_7433.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.1.24 Sleeping’s Dangerous Now Woke up with a stabbing pain in my neck near my clavicle. No idea what I did in my sleep to deserve this, but hoo-boy. It’s not a pain I’m familiar with in that area, and apparently every muscle connected to my neck, chest, and shoulder requires that area to move around. It hurts to type this if my body shifts even an inch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707094780211-8RN5P9QJKDOOZMO1VX4R/Oswalt-046-HDR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.2.24 Unused Unused still from a job I did this morning. We realized only after we arranged the scene and snapped the frame that neither the architect nor construction company had anything to do with it. We were effectively showcasing someone else’s work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707146091145-JD8B9LC743T3XUV5NPBQ/ZFC_0578-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.3.24 ‘90s Party Maria and Mike threw a ‘90s & early-2000s-themed party tonight at their place. Everyone dressed in “retro” clothes, danced, smoked, drank, and had a good time. I found a purple/green flannel with a colorfully embroidered Cincinnati t-shirt at the vintage shop down on the avenue for the occasion. As I’m not a dancer, nor did I particularly feel like losing my ability to drive home, I focused on photography and videography for the night. I recorded the night on tape with my camcorder and shot a few frames on my Nikon throughout the night. The video was particularly fun to watch afterward as it looked authentic to the time period. Maybe at some point I’ll throw together a VHS highlight reel from all the different events I’ve recorded and will record this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707334922188-XUQRWT7SI0KO5EWPUXXP/ZFC_0611-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.4.24 Pizza Ding-A-Ling Went with Travis and Ronny to Connersville to eat at Mr. Pizza (aka Pizza King). Its gimmick is you sit in a booth and order menu items using a landline that connects to the kitchen instead of having someone take your order in person at the table. The pizza was fine. It's not bad, but there's nothing to write home about, either. I won’t be craving it like I do other pizzas. Honestly, the best thing I had was some Texas toast with cheese and garlic on top. Afterward, we photographed some old train cars and an engine that looked like it was straight out of the 1800s rusting on the side of the road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707334921500-IZIHTIO95L9ROZS6YR1U/ZFC_0652-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.5.24 New-to-Me Perspective A realtor called me about photographing a house near my own. In fact, it’s just three streets east. I won’t be photographing the interior due to scheduling conflicts associated with the moving list date, but I managed to get them three night shots from the top deck of the place. It was fun to see the city from a slightly different perspective. I like how the homes in the foreground are prominent in the lower half of the frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707334925253-OLM530ZP8R497RFCZZ4V/ZFC_0694.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.6.24 Sunset Walk Myrtle and I took a walk right after work before the sun set. As we neared the river, the sunlight was growing warmer and more dramatic. Knowing she’d like to run around in the grass, we headed closer to the river’s edge to a secluded patch of grass. It’s not a popular walking spot, making this a perfect place to let her off leash for a little energetic dog time. I snapped a few shots and liked how this one came out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707405658931-PXWS9ZV1G531ZSJ7XYP5/NZ9_5355-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.7.24 Reptilian Guest Photographed a dinner tonight at the Cincinnati Art Museum that featured, among other speakers, Thane Maynard, the director of the Cincinnati Zoo. He brought a tiny alligator called Cruncher (I think?) with him to show attendees. It’s funny how adults attending a formal dinner quickly give up all pretenses and slip into their inner child at the sight of an animal. It was cute to see everyone so enamored by a relatively calm alligator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707838048061-PSZCXOAWA60CWMP978T0/Valentines+Day+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.8.24 Flat Lay A flat lay I photographed for Luminaut. They intend to post it for Valentine’s Day on their social channels. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707841497166-EZEQOMTXFZEUEXHG5MKL/GBBN+%28TriHealth+8th+Floor%29-149-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.9.24 Hospital Photography Worked with GBBN on more photos of the renovation of the 8th floor of Bethesda North today. Contrary to what this photo suggests, it was still under construction and required quite a bit of piecing together/Photoshopping elements out to make a clean final photo. I still have work to do on this one, but it’s 90% there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707841996275-JDZHGRRU5TK85W94N3WC/IMG_7506.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.10.24 EconoPark Ashley needed to be picked up from CVG after her multi-day work trip. Passed this on the way to the Shell station to get gas and had to snap a quick photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707841997692-4E1VH2CQXQ4E3Z7H461H/IMG_7509.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.11.24 Uninspired We went to a boring park in Cold Spring that surrounded a lake behind a Cracker Barrel, and there was nothing else to look at besides this gazebo. I knew this would probably be my only option for an interesting photo of the day. Sadly, it’s not that interesting, and only after getting onto the publishing platform did I realize that I’ve shot everything very symmetrically over the last four days. Need to break the habit and get more creative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707843293307-8TGTYP195SM0JBCP7H1H/IMG_7552.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.12.24 Sad State One of my greatest regrets regarding documentary photography is not properly getting into it before Carew Tower’s mall was turned into a garage. I didn’t really understand how to photograph a space properly until about 2014, and by that point, the mall was closed. But I’d walked through it frequently and eaten there a dozen times before its closing, and I remember its bleak emptiness fondly for some strange reason. Back in 2012, I used to walk the Skywalk every day on my lunch hour. I knew every little shop and restaurant along the two disconnected routes. They were familiar places I seldom went into, but I relied on them for some strange sort of stability during a challenging and uncertain time in my life. The Carew Tower and the many shops and places to eat were my favorite leg of the journey because it felt like the most “alive” part of the daily Skywalk journey. Hathaway’s Diner, Radio Shack, Auntie Anne’s, Smoothie King, Appointments, the I Love Cincinnati Shop, Back Rubs by Mary, Morton’s, Elite Nails, TJ Maxx, the food court with its multi-story skylit atrium, and so many other little things about it made that stretch feel unique. Barely any of those places are still there. The Skywalks are largely closed; the last connection built in the mid-90s between the Carew Tower and Macy’s was demolished during the pandemic. I didn’t appreciate any of this to the degree I should’ve at the time because I was so overwhelmed with sadness, but through rose-tinted glasses, I miss them. It makes me sad that the Tower is so empty today. It wasn’t even “bustling” when I frequented it daily, but comparatively, it was. I could go on and on about all my specific memories of it, but I’ll end it with this one. Maybe my fondest memory of the mall was the moment I found a piece of art that I just had to have behind a pane of glass in what I believe was a former Foot Locker. It was a painting of the Cincinnati skyline by a local artist with a space in the Pendleton Art Center. I emailed her about it and met her on the mall's second floor to buy it. She wrapped it up for me, and I took it home on the bus. The massive piece was wedged carefully between my knees as I sat at the back of the 30x express bus to Mt. Washington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1707868184916-LW0UKGF1NSNYDSVQ6YTA/ZFC_1511.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.13.24 The Yellow Truck Apparently, when I was little, I told my relatives at one point that I wanted to own a yellow truck when I grew up. Not a yellow dump truck, but a yellow pick-up truck. I probably meant an early ‘90s Ford Ranger because that’s the model my dad drove, but I can’t help but wonder if little Phil would’ve seen this vehicle and liked it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708012154509-5P9V9N44J5X2A1RKBDGT/ZFC_1519-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.14.24 Meaningless When an inanimate object tells a sad story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708391349694-5YK723QA348X28B6FY8B/IMG_7628.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.15.24 Lint In today’s modern age, just about everyone has a camera in their pocket. As such, the inside of pockets have never been better documented. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708391527613-IMMZ9V7F0A589D703DIR/IMG_7603.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.16.24 Cyclones Game It’s been a minute since I’ve gone to a Cyclones game. They lost, but it was fun to watch regardless. We Googled how much the average player makes per season in the ECHL, and it’s shockingly low. I spent the rest of the game thinking about how these men make ends meet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708393077922-RPQ6142TPKCKSG50DVXH/ZFC_1565.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.17.24 Weekender About a month ago, we planned a weekend away with the dog. Asheville is always a great option because the city and surrounding area are so dog-friendly, and with numerous outdoor hikes, it’s the perfect setting for a weekend full of fun. Pictured is the Grove Arcade in the center of Asheville’s urban core; it’s filled with shopping and dining, a brewery, apartments, and offices, and an adjoining outdoor area usually full of market vendors when the weather’s warm. We took Myrtle to the brewery for a pint, then wandered around the area to see what we could find food-wise. We’d planned for the cold weather but didn’t factor in the wind. Most covered patios already had people with dogs, so finding a place that wasn’t so crowded and out of the wind was key. We returned to Pack’s Tavern—a place we’d been to on our last trip—for dinner, and it was the perfect warm place to sit down with Myrtle and not bother anyone. We plan to hike tomorrow, hit up a few places for food and drink, and check out the River Arts District. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708393080938-EHSVUXM329O4TBQGY510/ZFC_1749.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.18.24 River Arts District We’d planned to hike Mt. Pisgah, but the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway is closed mainly due to mudslides and snow, preventing us from getting to the desired trailhead. We wanted a hike with some sort of vista since winter isn’t the prettiest time of year to trek through the woods, so we opted to return to Chimney Rock as we did during our last visit. While some of it was closed due to falling ice, we still managed to climb to the top and get a good look at the surrounding area. Afterward, we played with Myrtle in the creek, checked out some shops, and then had a delicious glass of wine in the sun. After that, we returned to Asheville and wandered around its River Arts District. RAD for short, the River Arts District is a photogenic, industrial part of AVL that feels like a combination of Smale Park, Northside, and Camp Washington (if I had to draw a Cincinnati equivalent). It’s full of graffiti, loads of art studios/shops, and a pretty robust skate park in one corner. It’s bisected by train tracks and seems like it’s growing based on the massive new apartment buildings popping up around the area. Pictured is a telephone pole by the skate park with the most shoes on wires I’ve ever seen in one place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708393085558-NFJ3OQR4CBECGJI9J84J/ZFC_1803.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.19.24 Temporarily Closed We stayed one exit down from downtown to save a little money on this trip. Instead of staying in a hotel for over $200 a night in the core, we found a four-star option for a total of $300 for two nights eight minutes away. Since AVL is a car city and we’d be using our car to get around anyway, it made sense to save on lodging. Anyway, this place (which I won’t mention through text to avoid SEO, and I’ll explain why in a minute) was a quarter mile down the hill from us. It’s temporarily closed while a chain that specializes in buying one-of-a-kind, run-down motor inns across the US renovates it. Built in the 1930s, it’s been a staple of the city’s tourism culture for nearly 100 years. I read the new owner plans to save the neon and characteristic signs, remove 10 rooms to accomodate a new communal space, and aims to do all of this by spring of this year. Based on how empty it was, I do not see that timeline happening. The reason I’m not naming it to avoid search results is because I wasn’t supposed to be on the property taking photos. I saw the D3 eating up solar energy and blinking its blue police light up by the office, but I didn’t really pay it much attention. Then, it suddenly activated and blasted its speakers about trespassing and my being recorded. I’d already gotten my shots at that point, so I simply walked back off the property. I don’t expect anything to come of it, but better safe than sorry. By the way, does anyone know what this aesthetic is called? It’s like a 1960s/1970s rustic kitsch that often toes the line between mid-century camping culture, Tudor architecture, and with a touch of medieval English style that used to be more popular in past decades. Thick wooden beams, chunky stone, yellow mottled glass in metal squared light fixtures, stucco walls, etc. Parts of Kings Island used to have this look back when I was young. I’ve always adored it and am at a loss for what to call it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708524476825-RCENF0LCFRT2QWYOL3VR/IMG_7690.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.20.24 Norwood’s Wacky Police Station It will never not amuse me that Norwood’s police station looks like a Lego set from the ‘80s that doesn’t actually exist. I feel like I should, at some point, build this virtually in Bricklink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1708612080809-GZ7R2ON0A9RB9DAMD21N/ZFC_1950.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.21.24 Doodle Delivery During today’s warm and seasonable afternoon, I opened the back door to allow the screen door to let in some fresh air. I was toying with my camera in the dining room when I heard Myrtle start huffing and puffing outside. Curious, I got up and walked over to see the mailman delivering my mail. She wanted a treat from him, so she jumped up on the fence to make herself known. I opened the screen and snapped a photo at the moment of treat delivery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154379876-VQ1KK2Y6TYUUTUZYUZU7/CNU+-+2.22.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.22.24 CNU Charrettes The Congress of New Urbanism hired me to film and photograph “charrettes” taking place in Norwood, Camp Washington, Xenia, and Amelia over the next few weeks. The purpose of these meetings is to have out-of-town architects and urban planners meet with local officials in each community to develop plans for projects such as bike lanes (for Norwood). During that process, the meetings welcome individuals from the community to drop in and give their input to better align the projects with what residents want/need. I’ve been filming and photographing Norwood’s events all week, and today is the final day I’m working on it before I ship off to Palm Springs tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154386049-WYJK9T2YI1O8J29L22LI/ZFC_2017-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.23.24 Palm Springs Justin’s 40th birthday led a group of us out to Palm Springs, CA, this weekend. He is a Midcentury Modern fan obsessed with Southern California, so he wanted to spend his special day somewhere he’d love with his friends. As I’ve only seen 8,000 photos of that one house with that one car with that one mountain in the background and never been to PS myself, I went in gleefully blind. I find it more fun to go to a place with no expectations and experience it without knowing everything about it, especially when it’s a trip that isn’t about me picking the itinerary. The flight in was nice, my hotel (The Cole) is perfect for what I need, and it’s within walking distance of Justin’s nearby Airbnb. I met up with everyone around 2 PM; we went to an open house and then walked to dinner and drinks afterward. My first impression of PS was good! The desert landscape with a beautiful mountain backdrop? Gorgeous. The abundance of midcentury architecture is lovely to see, though I’m finding it’s not hitting me quite like I thought it would. I initially thought it was just because everything is MCM here and style fatigue was the culprit, but I didn’t feel that way walking past identical brownstones all over Brooklyn. Maybe I just prefer the dense verticality of late 19th/early 20th-century architecture over one-story suburban single families built after WWII? Regardless, it’s a postcard-pretty city with many old cars and a palpable feeling that the 1960s never truly left. I can see why Justin likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154385605-MPNVE7VEMCO0CNXNQFV0/ZFC_2030.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.25.24 L3 It’s Justin’s 40th birthday! We met up and walked around a rich neighborhood full of perfectly manicured MCM houses, and Justin got to photograph a bunch of places he’s been itching to get on film for a while. There was some time by the pool, too, but I didn’t get in due to the usual insecurity reasons. Before I met up with everyone this morning, I walked to get coffee and came across this hilariously named hotel. I still cannot believe this is a real hotel. Also, PS is less walkable in the area where I’m staying than I thought. While there are sidewalks in some places, the streets are often 45 mph, and sometimes the sidewalks just end without warning, forcing you to either walk in an unmaintained dirt lot or on the street itself. None of the neighborhoods have sidewalks, either. I keep having this experience where I think I can let my guard down, but then I have to walk in the street for a block as a Porsche races past at an obnoxious speed. The more I stay in PS, the more it feels like Fort Myers in the sense that there’s very little density of housing (maybe even less), it isn’t overly pedestrian-friendly, it has as many parking lots as it does single-family houses, and appears to be mostly a suburban retirement community. That said, I still prefer it over Fort Myers due to the better landscape and architecture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154389957-AIOAD4T0QOSUXTU0YCL3/ZFC_2056.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.25.24 A Reminder While walking another rich neighborhood filled with houses that could easily be featured on the front of Architectural Digest, I started to wonder if I liked MCM at all. Logically, I know I do. But emotionally, I wasn’t connecting with it. I’m at the mecca of this architectural style, and I feel as though I’ve seen it all before. It didn’t give me that sense of wonder I normally get. Analyzing this as I walked through the neighborhood, I realized that contrast is key. The sign pictured above was the only thing I saw in any of these neighborhoods that added any contrast. When everything is perfect and manicured, none of it feels authentic. It all feels more like a movie set than an actual place. And with very few people out walking or on their porches, these neighborhoods felt soulless to me despite being in an aesthetically pleasing setting. But maybe that’s the point of Palm Springs? It’s a place where people go to relax in solitude compared to LA, not necessarily a place where community is the focus. It’s a place where you get scolded by a woman in a visor for being “too loud” while having a conversation at the community pool at 3 PM on a Saturday (that actually happened). Regardless, I’m just glad Justin is having fun in this place and his birthday is going well. That’s all that truly matters to me on this trip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154380077-2S01KSM0NBMGSSFTTZBP/IMG_7773.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.26.24 Rollercoaster Travel Day I’m writing this entry a day later than the intended date. Honestly, I had a rollercoaster of a day traveling back to Cincinnati. PSP, the Palm Springs airport, was nice to fly into, but it wasn’t nice when leaving. Between lousy cell service, a lack of seating and dining areas, gates sequestered into tiny rooms with crowds blocking the doors to those rooms, and wifi that wouldn’t even reach the pictured grassy area in the middle of this small airport, it’s a bad place to wait for a plane. My delayed flight meant I had 30 minutes to catch my connection at DFW that evening. To say I was worried is an understatement. The gate I was flying into was two terminals over from where I needed to leave. However, I think what happened next could be considered in some circles as karma at play. As I boarded, I saw an older man sitting beside his wife in my window seat. I asked him to check his ticket, and he revealed he was supposed to be in the middle seat across the aisle. They all started slowly getting up, and I realized I had to just let him keep the seat. If I sucked it up and sat in that middle seat instead, we could speed up boarding and take off faster. I told him I’d move to his seat instead. I think this is where I earned enough good karma to make the connection. My new seatmates thanked me and said I was a good person. They welcomed me into their row. The older man thanked me, as did the nearby flight attendant. My seatmates asked me about my tight connection, and I explained my stressful situation. When we landed, the guy next to me on the aisle immediately stood and let me out. They all wished me luck, and a few others in rows ahead of me who heard my situation back in PSP let me past them, too. Then, I looked at my app and realized my departure gate had moved to the same terminal I was arriving at, thoroughly cutting down on the time it’d take to make the connection. The gratitude I felt at that moment for everyone who helped me, as well as that stroke of good fortune, was immeasurable. I still had to run like hell to make the flight, but I didn’t have to spend the night curled up in a corner in Dallas. I’ve never been happier to get onto a plane in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709154935826-2YUIORU1PVNUX2K8SV86/CNU+-+2.27.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.27.24 Back to Reality Today was good. I managed to get home around 1 AM this morning after yesterday’s long travel day and slept well in my own bed. I got coffee at my favorite little shop and enjoyed the overcast skies and spring-like temps. I know I’m in the minority, but I love where I live and always feel good when I get to come home. Travel is amazing, and I always want to go see other places, but I do not experience the despair so many feel when they return home. Work took me to Xenia where I filmed and photographed planners for CNU. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709320390597-79XNAI8LK9RL5392I78B/Whitfield+Lovell+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-85.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.28.29 Accidental Collaboration While photographing the new Whitfield Lovell opening at the Cincinnati Art Museum tonight, I was trying to get a photo of this man observing the work. Right before I snapped the photo, though, he turned around and moved into place, sort of bridging the art on the wall with the 3D space we were in. I liked the way his face turned the same way as the other portraits on the wall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709322295499-TGRY045EB22Z8P46SPW7/NZ9_9828.jpg daily-photos-feb-2024 - 2.29.24 Xenia’s Hannaford There’s a reason the Greene County Courthouse in Xenia, OH, looks so much like Cincinnati’s City Hall: it was designed by the same architect, Samuel Hannaford. It was completed in 1902 and has stood at the corner of Main and Detroit Streets ever since. Getting a clean photo of this building is challenging due to overhead utilities, but this view offered a relatively unobstructed view. I don’t know if I’ve ever written about this on here before, but I have an extreme phobia of tornadoes. To me, Xenia has and always will be the city flattened in 1974 during the Super Outbreak. It scares me to such a degree that I cannot even look at a photo of the tornado itself without my blood running cold and my heart rate ramping up. While searching for a map of the storm's path that day, I had to stop because seeing a black and white photo in my periphery or through my fingers blocking the image from view like a child watching a scary movie was too much. It’s a real phobia, and I cannot explain why it afflicts me since I’ve never been a victim of one personally. The reason I searched for something so anxiety-inducing was because I wanted to get an idea of how close it came to damaging this building that day. I can imagine people in the tower looking out at the black, deadly, giant monstrosity swirling in the distance before racing down to the lowest level for shelter and hoping their lives would be spared. The storm that day was rated F5 on the Fujita scale—among the largest in size and fastest in speed in recorded history. The fear those people must’ve felt in that moment shakes me to my core when I think about being in their position. It’s been well over 40 years since that day, and I know Xenia is more than its distant tragedy. But like any mention of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii or the World Trade Center in Manhattan, it’s hard not to instantly think of the worst thing you’ve heard about that place. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-mar-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512801041-VV441V05ZR61X05ZTXD0/IMG_7794.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.1.24 Went to Ruby’s I’ve lived in Cincinnati my entire life and had never been to Jeff Ruby’s. I appreciate a good meal, but I don’t believe the more you pay for a meal, the better it is. This experience was great because I confirmed what I already suspected: it is a delicious steak with equally good sides, but it’s not worth the price you pay for any of it. The entire meal was excellent, and I definitely appreciated the experience of eating here, but I never need to return on my own dime. I do not need hype or the illusion of status to properly season a cut of meat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512801304-1QTZDV7Y9NB89JHWSJ1G/ZFC_2233.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.2.24 It’s John Yung’s World… …we’re just living in it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1709512803967-RQ9OY0S6WT5JWYLUFXT8/ZFC_2235.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.3.24 Solid Improvement When we left for coffee this morning, the area was foggier than I’ve seen it in a while. It was hard to see even two blocks forward from where we stood. The sun was nowhere to be found, the air was cool, and it looked to be another gloomy winter day suffocating the traces of spring we’ve had lately. Flash forward to about 3 PM and I emerged from Steve’s windowless basement apartment after spending 5 hours in his podcast studio to find the sky was crystal clear and blue, the air was warmer than I thought possible for this time of year, and I was very late to the beautiful spring day party. Solid improvement! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179351689-CV2QQAGH1T6W8PEQR0JY/ZFC_2261.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.4.24 Statehouse From Above Stopped in Columbus on my way to Ann Arbor for work. Saw Chris. He took me up to the top of the tallest skyscraper in the city with 360 views of the entire area. You can even faintly see the Appalachian Mountains from that vantage point. I thought this was a neat look at the Statehouse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179343658-HLGYJ5RYGR7T02OIBLW6/IMG_7835.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.5.24 Passing Through Ypsilanti Population 21,464 as of 2008. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179344568-A3YWVNYIGKHAMZ9QY47K/IMG_7858.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.6.24 The People Have Spoken Everyone wants it. Even the coffee shop poll results say so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179348668-QUJLS36PZ7QUYGFJ63QX/IMG_7893.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.7.24 “This Is Better Than Real Bowling” Quote by Ronny Salerno at The Fill-Inn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710179341831-22INIR1N3RRGMSCHK9UR/512+W+7th+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.8.24 Vampire From a real estate shoot I did today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710295448183-T6SWSUCBWJXZMJ6Q0A6G/ZFC_2345-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.9.24 Tiki Night Travis and Allie hosted a tiki night at their house this evening. Travis made a menu of tiki drinks and proceeded to play bartender all evening much to all of our delight. The fluffy banana he made me (three separate times) was honestly one of the best tiki drinks I’ve had. It was the perfect amount of creamy, sweet, and boozy. I took a very grainy 12800-ISO photo of the group and ran it through Adobe’s AI denoise feature to help clean it up, but it still didn’t turn out great. I’ve found that the smaller the person’s face is in the image and the higher the grain, the more the details start to get totally lost in the AI denoise and replaced with plastic-y approximations that make familiar faces horrifying. After a few iterations, I settled on less correction and more grain to find a decent balance. I’m still routinely blown away denoise works as well as it does. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710295443989-KPL56SDUKZ9APNWNX9SM/635+Sixth+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-46.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.10.24 New Apartments Orleans Development recently renovated the building at the corner of 6th and Berry Streets in Dayton, KY. They put a handful of apartments into the upper floors, including two lofts that divide a prior “great room” that the building originally featured on the second floor. Looking at the windows from the exterior gives you a feel for how tall those apartments are. They hired me to photograph three units in the building and get some exteriors as well. I went in the morning and evening to get a few different options with different lighting. I wish the sun were further south to give the avenue-facing side more direct, hard lighting, but it is what it is. Maybe I’ll go back in the summer and see if the lighting is markedly different just for fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710295443251-TP5T180EK0DKYJ8TXNLS/IMG_7907.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.11.24 Girling Around I have number of photos of Ashley and Chelsey inspecting each others’ eyes over the years for some reason. Often times they’re helping each other put in eye drops. Tonight, I added to my strange collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774970439-BEJQKFZN2HV8EWHGFSY2/Untitled-1.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.12.24 Algin’s New Look I went to Algin to buy a chair for my office. As soon as I walked in, I ran into Alan, the owner. He’s always been an affable, genuinely pleasant guy to talk to. We wasted no time touring the multi-story building's current layout. While much of it looks as good as ever, a few things changed on the upper floors. Most notably, the floor that used to have a billion used chairs collected from shuttered offices and schools looks totally different. I took the image on the top back in 2015. Now, it’s a showroom for Algin’s live edge, exotic slabs. They’re unfinished, and that’s the point: they sell to those who want to finish them in their own shops. Usually, I wouldn’t publish an old photo for this daily photo project, but I think the before/after here is especially interesting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774962716-B8RLPRQZ7QTWOLMNB5NI/512+W+7th+-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.13.24 Magnolia Not sure this will make the listing, but it was too pretty not to snap a photo while photographing a house earlier today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774968901-UJOC5KDV3ACR3EQFYA4H/Kemba+Blue+Ash+%28Before%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-29.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.14.24 Old Vault 16 Point Solutions plans to renovate an old 1980s US Bank in Blue Ash. Before starting demolition of the interior, though, they had me come out and document it so we could do a nice before-and-after comparison once it’s finished. The building itself is pretty unremarkable, but I always like seeing a vault. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774987664-LAGUW19RN82W0AKX14ML/ZFC_2377.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.15.24 Old Vault We've been trying to get more into wine lately since Ashley has grown mildly allergic to craft beer. It was fitting that we return to the winery where we got married at the end of 2019—right before the pandemic kicked off. Helps that it's one of the most photogenic places in the neighborhood. This is a view of the street from the second-floor window. The hazing at the top isn’t an editing choice; the pane of glass caused the distortion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774965746-YT3O8BSGQZ8RFAPJ3MF9/IMG_7957.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.16.24 Building a Bench Ashley has been talking about a potting bench since we moved into the house in 2020. This year, I’m determined to make it a reality. After battling back a ridiculous onslaught of pop-up ads on a DIY blog, I downloaded plans for an elaborate 7’x8’x2.5’ bench with storage on the bottom, an awning on top, and a slatted backing. It all stands on eight stone pavers with river rock covering the ground beneath for adequate drainage. Long story short, I worked basically all day on acquiring materials and building what you see here. This bench will also double as a serving station when we have backyard parties. Once finished, I think this thing will be a hugely functional addition to the house. I wish I had more time to finish it. We’d planned to go out later, but I started feeling mega sore after stopping for the day. I guess I haven’t been regularly working the muscles required to assemble this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710774985019-TF298B48RCA9C6IIUYNL/ZFC_2393.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.17.24 BK A Portrait of BK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710966575840-2DRLB676LNWWM5NMCTPJ/IMG_8020_jpg.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.18.24 Appreciating Artistry A few years ago, we found this beautiful 1940s cedar chest with its original tag inside at an antique show in Burlington. We got it for $100. It’s very well maintained though not pristine, adding character to the piece overall. Someone stuck wheels on it at some point, but I don’t think that was a bad decision (the thing weighs something). Anyway, sometimes I look over at it and marvel at the artistry it took to put it together. The angles of the wood, the waterfall edge, the details in the handle on the lift. It’s all so good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710966575916-0VIRJCOFJK5A8ZDPMMN9/IMG_7986.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.19.24 Patiently Waiting Myrt hurt her paw today while playing with her puppy friends. We’re going to have to take her to the vet tomorrow to get it looked at. She’s not showing any signs of distress, but it’s pretty bad. We have it wrapped up so she doesn’t lick it. Ashley was out doing her pilates class and Myrtle sat patiently on our bed waiting for her to return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1710966580346-Q2BHVL580I0MXNFXK6NG/ZFC_2405-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.20.24 Sign Garden Had a small photo job at Cincinnati's American Sign Museum this morning. Took a moment on the way out to really appreciate the magnificence of its "sign garden" on the side of the building. This place is such a neat, special attraction in our city. I like that they have intentionally left gaps in the metal skeleton for future additions. I wonder how this overall display will change in the coming years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711140943038-L4Q61ETEVRVJQEKPHEHG/ArtWorks+Bond+Hill+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong+-59.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.21.24 Building Community Together ArtWorks and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission dedicated three new murals inside the Bond Hill Community Center today. Artist Ciara LeRoy (pictured) designed all three murals and produced them with help from ArtWorks apprentices. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478449233-S0NWAJRH22KNU5SAPYIB/IMG_8043.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.22.24 Big Old Baby The face of a dog who knows we’re about to leave her alone on a Friday night. It’s almost enough to want to stay in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478449233-HND4RJZCV04NZ1AY36HT/IMG_8058.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.23.24 Kawa One of my favorite restaurants we went to on our honeymoon was this little conveyor belt sushi place somewhere near our hotel in Seattle. Since then, I’ve wanted to go back to a conveyor belt sushi place, but Cincinnati hasn’t traditionally had one, and I just didn’t look for any when in other cities. Thankfully, that changed recently when Kawa Revolving Sushi opened on Montgomery Road. Long story short, I loved this place. The novelty of the conveyor belt in the booth, the little monorail and semi-truck that drives around on top delivering special dishes, the robots that deliver drinks to your table; all of it was splendidly fun and unique. I ate way more than I should’ve, and aside from whatever a “dofu skin” is, I enjoyed every plate I grabbed off the belt. The revolving sushi model’s strength is its immediacy of delivery and small portions that encourage variety. Ashley said the bathrooms were straight out of a horror movie, but the restaurant itself was clean and neat. Half of me is annoyed this is 30 minutes away from home, and the other half is glad it is so I don’t spend all my money there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478453736-AOU1WCHMEMO5F1YA2XDL/IMG_8063.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.24.24 Build’s Done Continuing on from my photo post from the 16th, I’ve finished the build of the bench. All that’s left to do is paint, stain, and shingle it at this point. And also add rocks below it. Hopefully I can get to that soon. I wish I could say I was totally happy with it, but there are some squaring issues that make me want to pull out my hair. Regardless, the bench is level. I guess that’s something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711478454095-KGRVTAAEIBXLHQURS602/NZ9_3274.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.26.24 Vince Two massive trees have fallen around our house over the last three years. Each time one comes down and misses something (or someone), I think about how lucky we are that it missed us. The neighbors have a massive tree in their backyard that hangs over our yard in addition to theirs. Since the last tree fell in January, we’ve been nervous about this one, and so have they. It’s extremely tall and sways heavily during high winds, especially since the one that fell in January blocked much of the westerly winds. I’m not sure we’d be unscathed if it decided to fall. Vince is an arborist, so I told my neighbors about him and how he could probably remove some of the height to greatly reduce the chance of something bad happening. They heeded the warning and hired him to remove the branches that could impact our properties. I took some photos of him from my office balcony while he did his thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711678400478-OF96TAP4B6DNVHABBBJN/IMG_8082.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.26.24 Who Ya Gonna Call? Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was fun, but it didn’t hit me the way Afterlife (2021) did. Bill and I saw it this evening at the AMC in Newport. The last time I hung out with him was to see the previous movie. I think we’ve unintentionally made a tradition that I hope will continue with another GB movie in the future. Please, more of this series with this cast. Didn’t take any photos today except this image of the standee for the movie. I loved being on standee building duty when I worked for Showcase years ago. Like Lego, the instructions for the builds were fun to page through and piece together bit by bit. When we got one that had a lot of complicated geometry and layering to it, I always appreciated the artistry of the design more than the simple flat standees. Someone had to figure out the origami of placing tabs in specific places to fit into slots on other parts to create something with dimension and make the printed images pop enough to entice someone to plop down $12.50 for a ticket. I remember building one with a werewolf that was wildly complicated; maybe it was Van Helsing? Or some other monster movie that’s been forgotten? Either way, it looked incredible after it was built despite being for a movie that probably didn’t break box office records. The thing you don’t realize until you’ve spent hours building a complicated standee is how dry your hands get by the end. It’s essential to moisturize afterward to avoid them cracking and bleeding. This Frozen Empire standee, while not overly complicated, was a good shape. Back in September, I visited the firehouse in Tribeca that the Ghostbusters use for exterior shots and it was a special part of that trip for me. I liked that this standee mimicked the architecture of that building. I couldn’t tell if the lights were supposed to light up or not. And, of course, Slimer and Ecto-1 are on it. That improves anything, in my opinion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711678397782-01UNJYDDS8IHGESDLY0A/Aqua+on+the+Levee+Unit+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.27.24 Aqua Photographed an apartment in Aqua on the Levee today. Nothing more to say about it than that, really. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1711678397783-HRFFGYJRR6IYQDTUQY3B/Aqua+on+the+Levee+Unit+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.28.24 People On Peculiar Perches Mike and I attended Opening Day. We walked over the bridge, watched some of the parade, then went to the game. It was honestly the best Opening Day I think I’ve had in a long time, if not ever. I didn’t take a boatload of photos of the parade, but I was struck by the creative ways some people found to elevate their line of sight over a very crowded Fifth Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539156080-IHHLHORDZ3CNQF3BM95M/Sawdust+-+Phil+Armstrong+-88.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.29.24 Daniel My Friday was crazy with two events and one house to photograph. While on my first event of the night, I ran into Daniel at ArtWorks’ V2 Gallery in Walnut Hills. Took his photo, drove him over to the CAC for another event, then went up to CAM to photograph Art After Dark before calling it an evening. We’re planning to ride bikes together soon! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539158311-R2WVM23UR3CJ923A9TEX/Art+Possible+Ohio+3.30.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-68.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.30.24 Art Possible Ohio After shooting Art After Dark for the museum last night, I returned this afternoon to photograph an event organized by Art Possible Ohio—an organization that works “with artists of all ages who have disabilities to advocate for accessibility and inclusivity, advance careers in the creative sector, build community, and improve the academic achievement of Ohio’s students through arts integration,” as their website says. CAM has a great exhibit at the moment called “Accessible Expressions Ohio” that showcases work from artists from around the state, and this specific event was to celebrate and recognize everyone who was involved in making that exhibit a reality, including the artists themselves. This band (pictured) performed in the gallery beside the new exhibit for a couple of hours, as well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539154386-6KJ63JDEANT3VGTTZAZI/IMG_8142.jpg daily-photos-mar-2024 - 3.31.24 Leaf Head A leaf fell off one of our plants. I rested it gently on her head. She waited patiently for the photo. She’s a great dog. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-apr-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539283580-WL6PTBBJGQYQ5KVRPXCN/861+Belle+Ridge+Loop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.1.24 Belle Ridge Photographed a designer house in Bellevue off Covert Run. These are new builds that utilize high end finishes and fixtures with a modern-inspired architectural style and the ability to modify the house to include an elevator into the floor plan later if the owner wishes. The green marble island and backsplash with the stained poplar woodwork were especially eye-catching and something I haven’t seen before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712539283226-MUN7XVKOKRDKUQ60GGJB/IMG_8129.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.2.24 Hunkering Down When the NWS warns the country several days in advance that weather conditions will be severe, it’s not a good sign. On Sunday, we started hearing rumblings about how bad it could get on Tuesday evening. On Monday, the threat persisted. By this morning, both local and national meteorologists were stressing how bad the 5-6 PM hour could be for Cincinnati. I began charging my devices, moving critical paperwork and hard drives to a safe location in the basement, prepping our storm shelter area in my workshop, and battening down the hatches on the porch and deck. By noon, I was more or less ready for it. At 5 PM, we turned the TV to one of the local news stations to keep tabs on the storm as it filtered into the area. It didn’t hit us until about 5:30 or so, and Ashley and Myrtle eventually made their way to the basement when it started getting rough outside. I stayed upstairs and watched as the street outside turned to a river with the buckets of rain we received all at once. It was tense for about 15 minutes, but the storm passed faster than I thought it would. Afterward, a brilliant sunset lit up the front of the house. We walked to the B-List for a post-storm drink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669753687-2DLLS83T81FHZ4AJ3J0D/ZFC_3345.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.3.24 AM Leafy-o It’s that time of year when the AM radio-capable device finds a more accessible location in the office since the MLB makes it impossible to watch games without spending a bunch of money. This year, though, it has to share space with a houseplant who has agreed to share its 8”x8” area of the credenza. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669754403-AXIMS2RXGMVRAQL8A62O/6139+Plymouth+-+4.4.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-14.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.4.24 K A R A T E When I lived in Mt. Washington, I entertained the idea of learning karate for all but 12 seconds before laughing at the idea of myself in a gi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669759970-HJZGMNHVXKEN77NGDBHL/IMG_8226.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.5.24 New Mug Given to me as a gift by a friend of a friend. It kind of resembles my Zfc! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669763846-3L3IEBXIX1A2KESYGC1Q/ZFC_3297-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.6.24 Game Show Battle Room There’s this really fun attraction in Sharonville right now called Game Show Battle Room. It’s in the same complex as Microcenter. You and your people split into teams and play renamed-for-legal-reasons versions of Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, Price is Right, and Plinko. The room is led by a professional host, it has a producer manning the lights, music, scoreboard, and game screen, and each team competes to earn the most points across all four games. The whole thing lasts an hour. We played guys vs girls and had an absolute blast. The girls beat us by a single point in a truly neck-and-neck game of skill and luck. We held our own for the majority of the game, but a game-winning Plinko disc drop by Rachel at the very end put the girls over the top and earned them the trophy. It was honestly so much fun and I’m already ready to go back for another game. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712669760803-0EANCQO0FL6SNFD2QBHI/IMG_8194_jpg.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.7.24 Lunar Capitalism One of my favorite things is when makeshift markets pop up in parking lots and along roadsides to shill topical wares in an effort to squeeze a few coins out of an event, especially when it’s for something like an eclipse. Part of me desperately wants to support them because they’re dumb and schlocky, but the other part of me almost always says ‘no.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1712673185586-C79MEVS764RGVIQVIB6C/ZFC_3343-Enhanced-NR+10.27.51%E2%80%AFAM.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.8.24 Totality Witnessing a cosmic event with boots on Earth isn’t something that happens many times in one’s life. While this wasn’t my first eclipse (I documented the 2017 one in a blog post), this was my first time seeing it from within the full shadow. I can’t accurately describe how strange and beautiful it was, but I can say that it was something I’ll never forget. We decided to go up to Hueston Woods—the place where Myrtle’s swam and played several times—to see the eclipse. The news warned of horrible traffic, so we left at 8 AM. That turned out to be well before everyone else left, apparently. When we arrived at 9 AM, practically no one was there. We set up camp out of the back of our car, poured a couple of mimosas, and waited patiently for darkness. People trickled into the park until about 3 PM when we noticed it was quieter than it had been. No cars were running and everyone was in position, glasses on, staring up at the sky. “It's an orange moon!” A bespectacled little girl said to her mother who replied to her in a language I didn’t recognize. People from around the world came to the path of totality to see this. It was awe-inspiring. I set up a camera to shoot at a 10-second interval and pointed it toward where Ashley and I would be (we put Myrtle in the car with the windows down). Since I didn’t have a filter for my camera, I didn’t bother shooting the eclipse itself until totality. An hour leading up to the eclipse, we felt like we had ever-darkening sunglasses on. When darkness finally fell, the ground looked like it rippled and a cool wind rushed through the woods. The horizon looked like sunset and the void where the sun should be looked wild. It was in that moment that I understood why ancient civilizations without an understanding of this brand of science would be concerned. I stopped the interval and took a photo at 40mm during totality next to a tree to give the composition something unique. Three whole minutes. That’s all it was. But I will say there was more emotion and excitement in that three minutes than many others I’ve had in my life. I’m not sure I’ll ever see another one of these in my lifetime, so I’m thankful I experienced this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713229031726-47Q6HCLD176W1L1CTXUG/861+Belle+Ridge+Loop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-60.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.9.24 Outer Glow Photographed one of those high-end Bellevue houses at night for the listing because it had special exterior lighting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231528792-01SZZ6EZ39ZC2BPF8OB2/New+Acquisitions+4.10.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-35.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.10.24 New Acquisitions New acquisitions arrived at CAM recently and the curators hosted an event for Founders members. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231524272-BT8VBVN6JT26DWQYIKOB/IMG_8235.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.11.24 Liberty Hill Went to record a quick interview with John Yung for a CNU project up at his house. The way these streets ramp up the hill at such a steep grade is reminiscent of the way so much of San Francisco looks. Of course I dig it, but I also wonder how accessible any of these homes are if they’re accessible at all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231524272-2H00P2IKDHSHU383KYO6/IMG_8246.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.12.24 Fruit Stripe It wasn’t often that we got sugary gum as kids, but when we did, I remember absolutely loving Fruit Stripe gum. The cartoon zebra on the package, the green-yellow-red packaging, the aroma released straight out of the paper wrap, the way it folded effortlessly when it was fresh and the way it shattered like chalk when it wasn’t; it was a whole experience. Even talking about it right now is making my mouth water. It lost flavor within about 10 chomps, but those 10 chomps were magical. I have a memory of standing in the middle of the back yard during summer, staring at the tree line in the distance, chewing this gum while my dad mows the grass. All of that is to say this rainbow reminded me of that gum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713231528792-AEMST9XTX8V2YKKQFNQQ/IMG_8284.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.13.24 Staining and Painting Phew! The potting bench and outdoor bar top is almost finished. Spent a long time staining and painting this sucker today before going to Travis and Allie’s for a tiki drink night where I shot film and recorded on VHS, removing the ability to post anything from that here. I got dirty and gross, but I think it’s turning out well. Also need another row of shingles since the pack I bought was barely short. I also need to add rocks to the base to help with drainage and keep the contents inside the cabinets up off the dirt beneath. The finish line is ahead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713233530657-ZSYEN47YZHLBWJLOVB1E/IMG_8260.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.14.24 Sunday Evening The only images I made today were on a roll of Kodak I’m trying to finish, so I quickly documented my Sunday evening. Ashley’s back in Minneapolis for work, so it’s just me and this little fluffy nerd. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713233531212-SRA7AY1N5MPD8F4DQ7IX/ZFC_3467-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.15.24 Skyline Jay Jay’s in from Philly. He came in a few nights ago and we made lunch plans at the 4th Street Skyline. He got a 5-way with a coney all the way. I got my 4-coney all the way standard. We caught up and it was nice to see him again. He’s getting a second dog this summer! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713491685577-SE6PC24RQ9T716D6RX7W/220+Wallace+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-41.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.16.24 220 Wallace Today’s real estate job was straightforward enough, but I think the thing that keeps me coming back to the exteriors is the perfect lighting and the feeling that we’re at peak spring at the moment. Spring feels like it’s fully shaken off the lasting tendrils of winter that keep snaking back into the forecast, and photographing the pastel yellow house under a brilliant blue sky while lightly sweating reinforced it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713491685053-IDJGUC1J1JV199IMJX34/IMG_8323.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.17.24 Born From Awkwardness I went over to Steve’s house to watch a movie. He planned ahead and DoorDashed wings for the time I’d arrive. When I got there, the Dasher was in the process of ringing his doorbell to complete the drop. Instead of awkwardly interrupting the exchange by standing behind the Dasher, I ducked around the corner of Steve’s building to burn 60 seconds and let that transaction complete itself. The only reason this image exists is because of my awkwardness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713491689173-VJDHIVA8AKWBCLIT5C92/NZ9_8803.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.18.24 Purple People Perspective I had a shoot at Aqua on the Levee this morning, and while photographing the rooftop communal space, I snapped a photo of the Purple People Bridge from a perspective I’ve never seen before. It’s always a thrill to get up in the air and photograph something you know well from a new vantage point. Side note: I hope they figure out which paint swatch works best soon so they can finish repainting the bridge. It’ll look incredible once fully lavender’d. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713818631117-UG2Q68PG88JRJGTJT1RS/IMG_8322.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.19.24 Rum for President The only acceptable version of this sign. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713818634697-KJ588NS8H4GOF4Y4D4WH/ZFC_3504-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.20.24 Evening Game We went with Chelsea and Vince to the game this evening. Before walking over, though, we hit up The Galley at the Levee—the food hall and bar they opened late last year. The cheesesteak I got was delicious (with actual wiz!), as were the mixed drinks we all ordered. After a day spent working in the yard in the sun, it was nice to sit and relax in the sun with the promise of a baseball game we were sure to win ahead in the schedule for the evening. After we got there and found our seats, we stayed put for about 6 innings before abandoning our seats for hot dogs. We watched as a food service worker accidentally dropped what was probably $100 in nacho chips out in the fan zone, get visibly angry, and storm away with what remained in the plastic container before another worker casually walked up and started sweeping the pile into a tiny dust bin. Before leaving, I stopped at the pro shop and bought a hoodie to help keep me warm for the rest of the game and the long walk home. It was a good day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1713818630965-KB8UMS1ICBRM03Q5HW8S/IMG_8369.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.21.24 Profitable Ride The unmistakable yellow-green of crumpled US currency flashed by in a blur as I kept my eyes glued to the pavement looking for pot holes beneath my wheels. I quickly weighed whether or not traffic was heavy enough to double back and get it before ramping both wheels up onto the curb and speeding back to the spot, hoping what I saw was real and still there. I thought it was a five at first, but was delighted to discover it was four times more. Without thinking, and worried someone would yell at me for stopping in the street, I pocketed the crumple and raced home. When I got there, I looked at it again to confirm what I found was real. Myrtle wanted to inspect, too. It pays to ride your bike! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714072513686-TQ29A6GNI1VM8N24DAQW/ZFC_3519.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.22.24 Mycelial Network Yesterday while drinking bourbon on the porch, Kevin told me about a park up the street that I didn’t know about. Tonight I persuaded Ashley to walk up there. We scoured the trails with an off-leash Myrtle, found a wooden bridge, a clearing with deer, and an orange tennis ball that Myrtle enjoyed chasing. It made for a good Earth Day evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714072513075-X8DTNMF8UH9DPTILBAI8/IMG_8391.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.23.24 Purple Reward My photoshoot got pushed to tomorrow, so I spent the day working in the garden. I removed more grass from the left side of the yard and planted tulip bulbs for next year, transplanted some small greens, and put a large purple smoke bush in the corner of the yard where our compost bin used to be. I also laid down more pine straw in the front yard, mowed the little bit of grass we have, and edged it all with the trimmer after moving fresh compost to the raised vegetable and spice bed. While I was working in the yard, my purple clematis bloomed a second time. It felt like a little reward for taking care of everything. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714072517587-LTPMH5OFT10PK4NLRKD1/801+Mt.+Hope+-+Phil+Armstrong+-29.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.24.24 Mt. Hope Photographed the third floor of this beautiful building in Price Hill. It’s one block west of Oldenview Park and shares the spectacular view of Downtown from the turret. The day was full of sunshine and blue skies, making for better images and a more enjoyable afternoon when reviewing everything later on the computer. When spring shows up after months of working around grey skies and naked trees, it’s a creative relief. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407759016-K9EOG1GZGMQ622D7XM0G/Art+In+Bloom+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-98.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.25.24 Return of Art In Bloom Every two years, Art in Bloom returns to the Cincinnati Art Museum. The exhibit pairs custom floral arrangements with selected works of art on display throughout various galleries in the museum, all made by creatives in Cincinnati and beyond. With well over 50 arrangements scattered throughout two floors of the building, there’s a lot of new brand stuff to enjoy paired with artwork you’ve seen on display before. Prior to the show’s opening to the public on Friday, the museum held a private event to kick everything off. In addition to food, drink, a live band, costumed dancers (pictured), and access to the entire building to see the show early, invitees got to see the entire exhibit looking its absolute best—these are floral arrangements, afterall, wither slowly with every passing hour. To my untrained eye, I likely won’t notice, but to Ashley’s, I’m sure it will be. We plan to see it together on Saturday morning before Asian Food Fest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407763871-XDSIVKGH3J3YODQW32P1/NZ9_1330-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.26.24 Changing of the Guard To celebrate the Red Door Project’s 10th anniversary, the initiative was passed on to ArtWorks during a ceremony at the Art Academy’s SITE1212 that involved the literal red door being handed to ArtWorks’ CEO, Colleen Houston. While I’ve never participated in Red Door due to a lack of believing in my own work, I was able to support it by purchasing one of my friends’ prints during a show a couple years after it kicked off. It’s a great way to pick up something unique and original when you’re looking to jazz up a room. The show’s founder, Barabara, received a bouquet of flowers as well as a beautiful turnover cake (get it?) that Dominique made for the occasion. I spent about an hour and a half grabbing stills of people hugging, cheersing, admiring the artwork that was up for bids, and the ceremonial hand-over. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407764058-FM38FDAE0TVF1BJKW4IZ/ZFC_3620.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.27.24 Market Morning We spent the morning eating breakfast at Goose & Elder, perusing the market, drinking coffee, climbing the steps to the Art Museum for Art In Bloom, then went to Asian Food Fest with friends in the early afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714407758733-OY4X8NL1B0TQWFPCU7IE/IMG_8408.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.28.24 First Cookout of 2024 Worked in the yard for most of the day planting new plants and flowers in the garden, as well as getting our tomatoes and herbs into the raised beds. By evening, we were ready to break in the new outdoor bar with a proper cookout. Chelsea and Vince dropped by with an appetizer and some delicious homemade slaw. We cooked hot dogs, mets, and brats to go along with maple-bacon baked beans and a macaroni and cheese recipe I came up with a few years ago. The bar was big enough to hold everything with ease, and dishing up was easier than it ever was indoors. Really glad we have this amenity in the back yard now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714408000432-VXIPX65J5MJUCN2PH1YN/ZFC_3653.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.29.24 Vinny da Climbah Vince was hired by the city to take down a massive tree that’s causing issues to nearby infrastructure. It’s a shame this beautiful tree has to go, but I get it. After watching two trees narrowly miss my own house after falling during the last 3 years, I don’t blame anyone for wanting to be proactive. Since it’s about a block and a half from my house, I walked down to check it out after hearing the chainsaws buzzing in the distance from my office. As I approached the scene, he was in the perfect position for a good contrast-y photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714661398235-T9TM1NMWUQWZEH5ON9DS/Z9Tether008.jpg daily-photos-apr-2024 - 4.30.24 The Photo Worth $3000 A photo of the moment I began to realize I was about to save myself $3000. No, this isn’t staged. Back in September of last year, I got a Macbook Air with the M2 chip to use as my mobile editor and “big” screen in the field. Using Lightroom Classic’s tethering option, I’d take a photo and it would blow into the editor so the client could view what I was seeing on the bigger screen. The only problem is the laptop could barely handle Lightroom Classic without beach balling with every action. When you have to make the client wait for your laptop to do a basic task, it’s not a great look. It was obvious I needed more than 8gb of RAM (or as Apple now calls it: Unified Memory). A quick trip to Apple’s website to look at what a MacBook Pro with a beefed-up M3 chip cost resulted in a thousand-yard stare. I weighed my financial options. It was possible, but I’d be hurting afterward. Flash forward to a couple hours of research later and I loaded NX Tether—a tethering software designed for Nikon cameras by the company itself—to my Macbook Air. I took my first test shot (pictured) and it ran flawlessly without any hiccups. Blowing it into NX Studio, the software’s companion editor, was smooth as silk and nearly instant. I didn’t need to used Lightroom Classic at all. I could keep my $3000. NX Tether and Studio completely solved my issue for free. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-may-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1714661474405-7JGV968YA74GQ2VYZ7WC/IMG_8441.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.1.24 One Stop Shop She wanted a bottle of rose to drink on the porch this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011371025-GNEQHXAT3VNILHDV1PW3/Last+Scouts+at+MOTR+5.2.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-66.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.2.24 The Last Scouts Travis’ new band, The Last Scouts, played their inaugural show at MOTR tonight. They did a solid 45 minutes and sounded awesome. The stage was tight and getting photos of Travis was tricky, but I managed to optically scooch between the frontmen for a few Trav-focused frames. Looking forward to their next show at the Oxford Wine & Craft Beer Festival on June 1. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011371058-BPX9JA8VVD4KGK7S17I0/ZFC_4563-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.3.24 Brendan’s Night Out Brendan and Caitlynn are getting married in 8 days. The girls went out and did karaoke, so we went out with Brendan for a short photo walk, Camp Washington Chili pizza at Taglio (to die for), and drinks at Level One (formerly 16-Bit) to wrap up the evening. It’s impossibly hard to get a crisp image without resorting to unimaginable grain in an arcade, but Adobe Denoise worked its magic and turned out a decent version of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011376763-AQ90VSV9TM3PKSSG75NR/IMG_8467.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.4.24 Backyard Romps Kiran’s 8th birthday is today. To celebrate, everyone came down to our house for a backyard gathering complete with pizza, fizzy drinks, and a pinata filled with candy for the birthday girl. I was so concerned about having everything in place, I didn’t take many photos. The pinata was strung on a string at the end of a pole that I held up, so I couldn’t get any photos of that, either. I did capture this sweet moment where Esmeray, Kiran, and my mom were playing together, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715011375559-SBEVBWV2GYE7F6ZQ46U0/ZFC_4566-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.5.24 De Mayo of the Cinco Variety For Cinco de Mayo, we walked down to Los Potros and dined/drank on their exquisite patio. For the first time ever, it was nearly full—a phenomenon I haven’t personally seen this restaurant experience. The energy was much improved with people around. Afterward, we walked a little further into Dayton before casually making our way to the B-List for a night cap (or two). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715130245929-4J8ZAJQ6VT52ZL9KPRQP/IMG_8486.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.6.24 Don’t Get Up, Myrt “I’m not getting out of this bed unless the promise of cheese or throwing ball is on the table.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715444060367-2TP3CU6JURWTQM215TPU/327+Elm+Street+Unit+3+-+Phil+Armstrong+-4.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.7.24 Shoot Before the Storm I had to photograph two Airbnb units in Ludlow today. While there, I got an alert that the weather was about to take a turn; a huge storm with a bright red front on the radar was incoming. My car was parked two blocks away and it didn’t look like I was going to finish before it hit my location, so I went and moved the car right up behind the building in the alley just beyond the door you see in this image. It wasn’t exactly a proper parking spot, but I took a chance anyway. Just as the final frames were in motion, I looked west out of the window and saw a navy blue wall of clouds in the distance. Lightning and thunder began, and the window of time I had to finish was just about up. As I loaded my gear into the car mere feet from the door, rain began pouring in buckets. The drive home was chaotic and slow with visibility not much greater than a single block in some instances. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715444066097-JGPHQZSJOV0PG2VWJUTH/Shanghai+to+Ohio+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-59.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.8.24 From Shanghai to Ohio From Shanghai to Ohio: Woo Chong Yung opened tonight at the Cincinnati Art Museum to a small, intimate crowd. There were four performances beforehand, one of which involved this sword master. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1715444062648-3SQKR20TLL5Y60H33MZG/Ronny+and+Egypt+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.9.24 Ronny and Egypt A portrait of Ronny and Egypt in front of what remains of the mural on the side of Holiday Spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055368409-WRDGULS8T24ZK2SS1YM1/IMG_8586.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.10.24 Good Light After visiting Studio Kroner for Brad Davis’ art show, I saw this scene across the street and thought it was photogenic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055366616-3U3JMCXQNBJZ1HG48F0J/IMG_8605.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.11.24 Calm Before the Party We stopped by The Lodge in Dayton, KY this morning to check out a pop-up farmer’s market. I dug the eclectic decor on the way out the door. Tonight is Caitlyn and Brendan’s wedding. It’s going to be a load of fun with good friends. Cannot wait to celebrate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055368612-738BDDJPPHW80XAVBYHK/IMG_8644.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.12.24 Legendary Hangover This grainy image taken at 12x on my iPhone from within a moving vehicle is the best I can do in my current state. I am extremely nauseous and want to lie still for an eternity. However, it’s Mother’s Day, and I have a mother to visit. Apparently, if you combine an open bar with endless cabernet and friends getting married, I have no choice but to let loose and over-indulge. The wedding was so fun. I don’t remember getting home or anything about the end of the night, but everything leading up to it was incredible. While on the way to mom’s house—with Ashley at the wheel and a 5-gallon bucket wedged between my legs—I saw this blimp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055363927-H9X2R4CQGJ2ZPR2XKKTH/Yard+Party+5.13.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.13.24 CNU Yard Party Congress for the New Urbanism is holding its annual conference in Cincinnati this week, and to kick off the festivities, Yard & Co. hosted a party at its headquarters on Pleasant Street. I was originally scheduled to photograph two of the three days of CNU’s events, but about an hour before I went to photograph this party for Yard, I received an email from them saying they “accidentally hired someone else” and that I wouldn’t be needed. So now I have two days open with no work this week. I’ll keep my real opinion about working with CNU out of print, but all I’ll say here is that I won’t be working with them again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055363287-6OLKXBPPMD28PQZG28D4/IMG_8677.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.14.24 XTREME FASHIONS I don’t know if there’s an architectural term for it, but I love how this corner shop has a little detached display case in lieu of a structural pillar with a walkway separating it from the front door. It’s xtremely unique and fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716055862264-3MHC87JQ530XO0H1L2PQ/IMG_8687.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.15.24 Building a Mountain Had to go to Home Depot for something and stopped to marvel at the colossal mound of dirt across the highway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716169153196-W2FKSEYF3SD28K6D967C/IMG_8773-2.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.16.24 Dahlia Work took me to an early-childhood school in Anderson where I was tasked with capturing the way adorable little kids play on the playground for a creative agency. It’s not something I’m used to doing, but I treated it like any other event and the photos turned out nicely, I think. I shouldn’t share any of those images here for privacy reasons, but rest assured I got about 10 frames out of the hundreds that I took that I think are great. It’s hard to keep them in focus, but it’s not difficult to capture pure, innocent joy. Super thankful I got to work on that project. So here’s a freshly watered dahlia in my backyard instead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390372839-RDG8CD9VS9R9EFBVV6R1/IMG_8791.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.17.24 Evening Surprise In January, a large tree fell in our neighbor’s side yard. I documented it in this daily photo project at the time (the date was the 13th), and despite crews cleaning up the street that weekend, the bulk of the tree lay across the public steps for months afterward. It screamed, “We cannot possibly impede people turning around on this dead-end street in their cars, but everyone who uses the sidewalk and steps can be patient.” It's not a great look for the city, to be honest. Anyway, that was winter. It’s late spring now. As the sun’s arc slowly changes as the year wears on, so do the highlights and shadows in my home. We used to get sun through this amber-colored window on the steps in the morning when the sun would illuminate the alley. Now that the tree in the neighbor’s side yard is gone, we get a glorious encore in the evening. It’s so beautiful to me. My mood has always been susceptible to change based on the lighting in the room I’m in. This is like a concentrated injection of serotonin straight into whatever lobe of my brain is feeling poorly at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390371974-M8RH4XGEDJ1L1W0CS7E9/ZFC_4658.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.18.24 Perennial Event This morning, the vacant lot across the street from my house hosted an awesome pop-up. Local artist Devan Horton assembled a seed planting and painting event that included coffee, art, live music, and local plants for sale. She infused paper with flower seeds before the event, and people would paint whatever they wanted before planting the seeds in the lot. I used to try my best to maintain this vacant lot in past years, but I was the only one doing it and couldn’t keep it up. I’m so glad someone else took some initiative and got permission to do something with it. I popped down for a coffee, and Ashley painted/planted. We sat on the porch from 9 AM to 4 PM, enjoying the festivities. It was a treat to listen to music and wave to neighbors (and meet new ones) so close to home. If I'm honest, I would love to see this lot programmed regularly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390369992-JVTYQXQFD38ZJ44HVZXR/ZFC_4681.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.19.24 FPV Flying Steve needed to practice flying an Avata 2 drone, so we went to Devou Park, found a quiet spot, and fired it up. He needs to master it before a job in June for a big client. The benefit of an FPV drone is how precise it can be flown, allowing dynamic and fast recording from perspectives only tiny drones can offer. To practice precise flying, he flew it between our legs a few times, around tree trunks, and between us as we sat at a picnic table. If I were ever to get a drone and acquire a license, I think I’d like one of these. They’re so small and easy compared to other drones. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390364821-86OBUES0KMRGFRJBD9U0/1001+Russell+St+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.20.24 Seminary Square From a real estate shoot in Seminary Square today. There were two lovely cats and a good dog inside. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716390363941-756LWNHH8Q9LY3BYJ2N8/IMG_8815_jpg.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.21.24 Pendleton Slice The morning was surprisingly sweltering for spring. I went out to photograph murals for ArtWorks and snapped this photo on the way back to my car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716489752015-XYWEMCLON947Y7E27EN4/IMG_8840.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.22.24 Planning Stage We’re planning a New England vacation this August. This first stop is Boston. I spent hours looking stuff up and figuring out what we could do in a day and a half there before realizing that a return trip was required. There’s no way to even remotely scratch the surface of a city that size in such a short amount of time. We went to a wine tasting at Merchant’s Club later in the evening. Our planning efforts followed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716563186543-TYSM8CBDA4GYHZHPD9W9/NZF_0023-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.23.24 B&W Mode Nikon put a B&W option on the mode dial of the Nikon Zf (full frame version). Figuring I'd use it once and dismiss it as gimmick, I was thoroughly surprised when I didn't want to stop using it. Especially on overcast days, seeing images in monochrome as they're snapped kind of wedged a new layer of vitality into photography for me. The best part: if shooting RAW, images retain all color info behind the preview, so if you decide you want to re-colorize them, you can. Due to this novelty, I’ll probably be posting more B&W images. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996069594-1V8SGX49ZG4DE6UMWEV9/NZF_0902.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.24.24 Sunset on the August Ferry We took the ferry from Higginsport over to Augusta tonight to eat and drink at Beehive Tavern. We didn’t have to take the ferry, but it was a picturesque evening on the water and seemed like a fun idea. After arriving on the southern shore minutes before one of the last rides of the evening, I turned to face the boat one more time and snapped a photo of others loading up to head north. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996072232-1LKTNU367IV82IHOI3E3/NZF_0937.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.25.24 The Ripley Sticks Last night, we went to Augusta, and today, we went out to Ripley—a relatively tiny blip in the sticks in Ohio. Vince co-owns a farm out there with acres of land, some of which is shrouded in forest. We packed up our camping gear, loaded Myrtle into the car, and ventured out over grassy hills until we found our spot at the edge of the woods. We met up with Vince and Chelsea, set up camp, placed fold-out chairs around the fire, and began slamming Pacificos like we’d just returned from war. Homemade burgers eventually made their way to our plates, followed by brownies. We saw loads of stars and a rising moon that looked bigger and more orange than usual. By midnight, we were all tired enough to climb into our tents, fire up the battery-operated fan for white noise and air circulation, and saw logs until morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996070566-S50ZTAZK11DU4C7ZQO4G/NZF_1035.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.26.24 Hidden Rot-Gut After waking up in the woods, we boarded a UTV to explore the area further and check out some different vantage points. With Vince at the wheel, we snaked around the property, exploring the ruins of 1800s single-room schoolhouses, secluded hand-built log cabins, and other areas of interest. At one point, we came upon an old stone carving engraved with a crow that almost resembled a tall headstone. Though it wasn’t to mark a person's grave, it was a marker to remember a fellowship of forest lovers. At the base of the marker was a stone box with a flat rock on top. Vince lifted the rock, revealing a deep cavity with an old bottle of bourbon bearing a weathered label. “We all know this is here,” Vince said, talking about everyone who co-owns the property. Even still, the look of the bourbon and the condition of the bottle didn’t fill me with confidence that it was potable. Vince proved me wrong, however. He unscrewed the cap, carefully eased the bottle back, took a swig, and blinked at the ground a few times while holding back a grimace. He returned the bottle to its hiding spot, hopped back aboard the UTV, and we headed back to the campsite. He suffered no ill effects from the drink. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996065650-PWJA84LHJGJYPTMJEP6A/NZF_1057.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.27.24 Overlook After returning from our overnight in the country, I felt the urge to enjoy urbanity from the comfort of my bike. With no destination and impulsively choosing when and where to go as I approached every corner, I eventually found myself bypassing the blockade at the top of the Brighton Approach and riding down as far as possible to this point. I’d never gotten a photo of this place before tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1716996065318-TNTL122SGUQZ2T8DZV6B/NZF_1059.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.28.24 Porch Cats This B&W mode on the Nikon Zf is too fun. I haven’t shot many color images lately as a result. This novelty may pass sooner than later, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts. It just makes viewing the world a little weirder; familiar things look and feel different in real time, adding a level of freshness I didn’t realize I needed until I saw it. Seeing these scenes through the EVF in B&W is even better than the stills themselves. There’s just something special about it. Monochrome cats, unsurprisingly, look great in monochrome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537562810-S8NZ7GP55N12PLX3Q5QP/NZF_1062.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.28.24 Peeking Through Down by the tracks, from the public steps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537566586-FSQRDGQSTUW8KGUWRIIF/Z9Tether154.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.29.24 Portrait of a Doodle Had a hard day today. Lost my biggest client due to them pivoting away from what I was working on in favor of something less labor intensive. Stuff they can do on their own. It’s not a good feeling. But there’s a possible portrait job on the horizon that I’m aiming for, and it requires some pretty dramatic lighting, so I tested out a new setup in my basement to see if I could make it work. Taking my own portrait is difficult, so I had fluff ball sit in for me. I like doing this style of bold, color-rich, contrast-y portraits. They feel very late-90s to me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537567200-82HG3F8HSNSY33D1RT03/NZF_1102.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.30.24 Paddock Hills Mural Photographed for ArtWorks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717537562577-FLDNBL67P5U98TPTT2F8/Z9Tether390_01-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-may-2024 - 5.31.24 Practice Makes Portrait More portrait practice, this time on people! Erica (pictured) and others stood in for a few snaps so I could figure out the lighting for this possible upcoming gig. I would normally move the key light to fill more of the face, but the example image they provided was lit more like this. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jun-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624031900-9A8O8DPQ2L03PZ9MPL5B/NZF_1124-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.1.24 A Wet Oxford Beer & Wine Festival Travis’ band, The Last Scouts, played a show on a much larger stage than their first gig at MOTR. This one was in Oxford, OH at the Craft Beer & Wine Festival. They sounded great, as usual. It rained on and off the whole time we were there, so I didn’t grab many photos, sadly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624028503-DHS59X5ZMJ89CVQ41HTB/NZF_1287.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.2.24 Combining Two Hobbies Into One Tiffany and Steven randomly sent me this Lego camera set. It was such a pleasant surprise. I cleared my evening to build it and had an enjoyable hour of relaxation snapping together bricks and listening to a podcast about ghosts. Finally got around to photographing it on the white backdrop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624028516-Z0TLV9Y34VAJA12IBEJP/1734+E+Boat+Run+Road+-+Phil+Armstrong+-39.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.3.24 Airbnb Decor Just some decor from an Airbnb I photographed today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624021652-EXMSD6N7Z5EEJ3DD1I8A/NZF_1255-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.4.24 Riverwalk The work I had lined up for today fell through. Seems to be happening more and more lately. Hopefully my luck will turn around sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1717624021107-Q6IGQIWXK7F5LBE772H8/NZF_1341.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.5.24 A Slow Dismantling of Something Huge A few months back, I treated myself to the enormous 40-inch-long Lego Saturn V rocket. It was the first set I’d bought in probably 20 years. Putting it together was a joy; even though I could’ve totally knocked the whole thing out in one night, I spaced the experience out over a few days. I took photos of it in stages today. The way the Saturn V rocket broke apart in stages to reach the moon was wild. The set does a good job highlighting each of these stages in the build, and that thoughtfulness was one of the reasons I was drawn to it. The disposable sections worked so hard for such a brief time, designed to be cast aside after use. They just kept getting smaller and smaller, providing stepping stones into space until humanity achieved what was thought to be impossible for ages. Long story short, I feel like the Saturn V rocket breaking apart at the moment. It’s been another truly frustrating day of cancellations. From canceled doctor visits to losing that portrait job to someone else that I was banking on later this month, I am feeling increasingly small while careening into unfamiliar territory. I just hope that there will be something big that will make this rough trip worthwhile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291791239-0K698QRNF40GVJ1VA85C/IMG_9032.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.6.24 Oops This project has been dour lately due to myriad career-based issues. It will turn around eventually, but I’m still in the thick of it for now. If there are any regular readers out there, hang tight while I navigate everything. After a successful photoshoot for Model Group this morning, I went home and mentally prepped to photograph an event at a local museum this evening. When I got there, I set up, talked to staff, and started doing my thing. Then, someone came up and asked if I was certain I was supposed to photograph the event. Questioning myself, I quickly checked my email and realized I had the date wrong. Tonight wasn’t my night. They invited me to stay and enjoy the exhibit, but I was too embarrassed. I went home. When I got through the garage door, Myrtle greeted me, and I sat down on the floor to give her a few good pets. Then, I lay down and observed the ceiling for a while. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291792446-TAQ28TGG15PEC2LDFMQV/IMG_9035.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.7.24 Full Day A lot happened today. I started working as an assistant to a local photographer I admire. Her studio is in Mohawk. I ran a few errands for her, including going to Kenwood to pick up a brand-new M3 MacBook Pro for her. Watching someone with a different process do their thing in a controlled space is fascinating. I learned a lot about how she lights her subjects, and I’m interested in learning more as I continue working with her whenever she needs me. Unfortunately, I blasted my head on a door about an hour into the job. The knot on my forehead stings to the touch, but the skin didn’t break. The slight headache doesn’t seem to be serious enough to seek medical attention, though. Anyway, when I got home, I took Myrtle on a walk. As we made our way up the street, I noticed the open lot where she likes to run was dug up, and the large magnolia tree that stood on the corner was gone. I guess they’re beginning construction up there. I think we’re both disappointed that she can’t enjoy the lot anymore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291798731-0V14PCBCKSD9DS6DDW38/IMG_9045.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.8.24 R&R After briefly getting a few things done around the house, fatigue overtook me, and the head injury I received yesterday seems a bit worse than I thought. I have a minor sensitivity to blinking light, and I cannot explain why I’m so sapped for energy. Of course the knot hurts, but that’s to be expected. The plan to celebrate a friend’s birthday tonight wasn’t in the cards for me. I texted her and apologized for canceling, and explained my situation. She was understanding, of course. The rest of the evening was spent laying on the couch, watching TV and resting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291794059-OIRH12307VBGOM0YOSBM/NZF_1380.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.9.24 Went On a Walk My head is on the mend. Ashley thinks it’s a mild concussion, but I don’t. Anyway, I think I’ll be back in working order by tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291798730-MGOU0MDDTAN7KZARL5NP/711+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-32.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.10.24 Texture I’m still feeling slightly exhausted due to the head thing, but I was well enough to photograph two spaces today. One was an elegant, beautifully decorated condo full of natural sunlight in Covington. The other was a dark, empty, dilapidated former law office (pictured). I liked the texture and color of the second floor. The owner said her father, who passed away in April, once ran his firm in this building. After he retired, he would infrequently come to the building to do desk work, but it was otherwise empty and unmaintained for about 20 years. As I considered my age and how quickly time passes, I realized this space was likely in good condition the year I graduated high school in 2004. In what still feels like a short amount of time, it took a dive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291796788-D245GO3KZ7B0RADJ11XN/IMG_9088.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.11.24 Dumb Project I’m building something very dumb for Kevin. It’s a board that holds a single beer on top and suspends three beers beneath it using lid snaps screwed into the bottom. He saw someone make it on Instagram and asked if I’d make him one using materials found in his garage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1718291796042-88KZ3N1S7H7C628ABPDV/NZF_1620.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.12.24 New Baby My nephew was born on Monday. They took him home last night, so we visited him for the first time tonight. I snapped a few photos, marveled at the tininess of a 3-day-old baby, and played with Kiran and Esmeray. Kiran took a moment to feed and gently bounce her baby brother when he fussed. It was very sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256641730-36RHMJAAYA2F3DZDIQXB/Img005.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.13.24 Green Friend This is the Zf I’ve been shooting with lately. It is all black by default, but I chose to go with the moss green variant to give it a little personality and separate it aesthetically from my other bodies. Plus, I really just love green equipment (my iMac is also green). I really loved the contrast of the silver and black of the Zfc, so I wanted something similar for this camera. Overall, I’m super happy with how this thing handles. It has all the character I loved about the Zfc with the functionality of a full-fledged Z-series camera. It’s not a substitute for the Z9, but I feel like it’s the perfect companion. I’ve used it multiple times as a second body when shooting events, and it’s served me better than I could’ve imagined. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256651509-Q6IZY3I6BTN3FX8JM3AK/NZF_2630.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.14.24 Central Parkway A scene from Central Parkway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256647679-ZPBAYZ3LCAZ9WCJP72QP/NZF_1716_0866-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.15.24 Can't Pass Up Good Light We’ve been keeping the blinds closed in the evenings lately so our bedroom isn’t sweltering by the end of the day. While walking past the doorway this evening, I caught a glimpse of the room lit with filtered golden hour light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256646447-FR6WKX9Z8OXOYF7NRZ42/NZF_1684_0874-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.16.24 Deer Have Returned It’s been awhile since the deer have been seen hanging out across the street in the vacant lot. Tonight, though, this doe made a comfortable little spot for herself near the tree line and sat quietly in the shade. I haven’t used my Tamron 150-600mm in a long time, but I slapped it on the Zf and snapped a few frames. After using S-series Nikon glass, and after fiddling with this Tamron lens for years, I just have to face facts that it’s just never going to be as sharp as I want. That’s okay, though. It’s a hobby lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256649694-JKZ65RM3D2HAWXWNGSJW/NZF_1731.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.17.24 Queensgate A shot looking east on Gest Street toward downtown from Queensgate. This pocket of fast food and USPS mail vans surrounded by barbed wire fencing with faded skyscrapers in the background caught my eye. You can see the smog and heat advisory in this photo if you look long enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719256643184-XWRA8IM9SD465D415VKF/NZF_1362.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.18.24 Beauty in Simplicity I thought this sewer grate surrounded by lush vegetation was strikingly beautiful. Something about the muted, warm metal colors contrasting against the soft, verdant leaves that envelope it. Maybe this isn’t relatable, but I stood and looked at it for longer than normal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261288310-1GHB7ZBF9AXBZXJWT6ME/ArtWorks+Office%2C+2460+Gilbert+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.19.24 1000 & 1 Colors ArtWorks are moving to a new building on Gilbert Avenue in Walnut Hills. They’ve been renovating it for some time now, and they wanted a quick in-process shot of the exterior (and some interiors). I stood in the median and got a decent shot straight on without any cars. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261287936-Q2WFW8NFWV1J8V898L6K/ArtWorks+Findlay+Garage+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-38.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.20.24 Hand Models Dean Zaidan, owner and founder of Dean's Mediterranean, and Nicole Holloway, Findlay Market Center Associate, each have a literal hand in the creation of this mural by Greta McLain at 1810 Logan Street in Cincinnati. The artist used their hands as models for this beautiful new four-story piece a block from the market. Photographed today for ArtWorks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261350275-VSCSBNLF55EIR8SRMBAP/NZF_2627.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.21.24 Salvation Army While on an errand run to Kroger, I stopped and admired the view from the parking garage. Also, I kind of love the Salvation Army building’s exterior. It doesn’t look like anything else in the neighborhood near it. Hope it sticks around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261292358-88RNT5KI7IXNLWEEOVIR/IMG_9143.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.22.24 River of Tears Ashley and I went to Roebling Books this morning for coffee and a breakfast sandwich. As we sat down, Rock Neelly (pictured) approached us and introduced himself as a local author whose novel was for sale. He outlined a thriller set in Cincinnati that sounded interesting, and since I’m currently between books, I thought it made sense to pick it up. Then I briefly explained my daily photo thing and asked if he’d be my subject for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719261293053-10BB09BZN4UVHLFNU61L/IMG_9167.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.23.24 Remembering My Friends This photo has nothing to do with what I want to talk about. I just didn’t know what else to photograph to mark a 20-year anniversary of a tragedy. On June 23rd, 2004, four of my friends were in a car accident in New York. Two of them, Tyler and Craig, succumbed to their injuries and passed away. Ryan survived, but was badly hurt and spent a long time in recovery. Mark walked away from the crash because he was the only one who had a seatbelt on at the time. We’d just graduated high school. To kick off summer vacation, they all went on a trip together. They asked me to go with them, but I didn’t due to working a summer job. It was the first time I’d ever lost anyone I was truly close to, and it was nearly impossible to process that loss in a mature, adult way. Being 18 and largely a dumb teenager, I did my best to understand and manage my grief, but it was confusing and horrible in a way I can’t really describe. Some of the extended friend group stuck together for a while because I imagine none of us wanted to be alone with how we felt. But after the initial shock became a “normal” part of our reality, I started feeling guilt and shame for not being better and more present during that time. That shame never left and it still ties my stomach into knots as I write this. The details of the days afterward are a collage of awful snapshots. Visiting their families and seeing them weep, participating in their funerals, asking Mark about the specifics of what happened at his house when he finally made it back, visiting Ryan after he was moved out of the ICU, looking up at the stars and trying to find meaning in any of it. After the first few years, I stopped talking about it on social media because it felt attention-seeking and shameful, exacerbating my perpetual feeling of guilt. I didn’t want to make it personal in a large public forum. Sometimes I worry my lack of public acknowledgment will be perceived as forgetting about them, but I have to remind myself that everyone processes loss in their own way. Some want to shine a spotlight on it for others to see, and others prefer to quietly observe. This is a quiet space for me and the only place I feel some measure of comfort speaking about it. Thinking of everyone today. I miss Tyler and Craig. None of us will ever know who they would’ve grown up to be. I am supremely ashamed of myself for not keeping up relationships with Ryan, Mark, or Tyler and Craig’s families. I think about all of them often despite being an awful individual. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858840650-F8G1DGI6J0EAAY7RUZH7/NZF_2686-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.24.24 The Highway A view of I-471 from Highland Avenue bridge, looking toward downtown. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858841139-K3BO1YD1XV155MGFZQ9Q/NZF_2710-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.25.24 Dining Room Tables Popped into Single Batch to photograph some new tables they created. I like the darker one in the foreground the best. It has a really nice round bevel on the underside that separates it from the 90º angle the other one has. I also really like the contrasting stripe of the wood on the leg. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858848146-E7GAGEVL7BS4WNNF8VGU/NZF_3109-Pano.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.26.24 A Moment Too Beautiful Couldn’t believe how beautiful this moment was upon leaving the Art Museum this evening. I had to stop and park for it. I made a larger panoramic photo of it, but this 16x9 slice showcases the main highlights of the full image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858848225-J6KHGA24DC6GNK3UM486/NZF_3128.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.27.24 Naivety Myrtle in her element. She ran around this field and had a blast before laying down to catch her breath. I’m very sad and stressed at the moment about the state of my country, but seeing her enjoy her off-leash freedom without a care in the world was the moment of reprieve I desperately needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858853013-ADWW3Q5M9EPQV8V8K847/NZF_3152.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.28.24 Coffee With Justin Justin and I met up this morning for coffee at Collective Espresso in Newport. I wanted to check out the custom soft shutter release buttons that he put on his cameras because I’m thinking of outfitting my Zf with one but needed to see how they felt in person. I think they add comfort to the snap, but I’m not sure I have the money at the moment to drop on a frivolous purchase. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858855777-C2G10NBX8D1NEZ0PDRG5/Summer+Fundraiser+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-128.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.29.24 The Importance of Community Reading the news and posts from people online has driven me into a very fearful place. I’m not sure I fully grasp the severity of our situation in this country at the moment, but I’m growing sicker over it. I had to photograph another event at the Art Museum tonight. 30 minutes before going in, I had a panic attack because of this boiling fear. It was difficult pulling myself together enough to continue with work, but I managed. As soon as I went in and started seeing people having fun and smiling, the anxiety I felt subsided. It's astonishing how good for the psyche it is to just be in the same space as a bunch of other happy people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719858853292-WEQ0C856F4LXXW3OMJ0C/NZF_3561.jpg daily-photos-jun-2024 - 6.30.24 Riverside The weather was too exquisite to not enjoy a bike ride this evening. I am still quietly grappling with the dredged up grief of the 20th anniversary of my friends passing away (see last Sunday’s post), as well as fighting back the terror I feel as a result of the developing current political situation in our country. This bike ride was an attempt to exercise and get my mind off all of it. I paused here because I thought the image of these two sitting together by the river without a soul in sight was a moment of authentic zen. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jul-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719971737647-QPKAFR7TFB556YQ7MXQU/NZF_3578.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.1.24 Purple People Preventer The Purple People Bridge, my personal favorite access to Downtown on bike and on foot, has been closed on the Cincinnati side for weeks due to debris that fell from one of the struts. This has happened before, and the bridge reopened fairly quickly last time, so I’m hoping for the same this time. Instead of taking this bridge, I have to use the Taylor-Southgate Bridge and hope it isn’t full of pedestrians when crossing. It’s much harder to navigate around people and dogs in a space like that than it is the wide deck of the PPB. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1719971737301-165VRIYZI5W98A7Q45JJ/NZF_3584-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.2.24 Four Years Four years ago today, we closed on our house. Besides the workshop I built before we moved in, my office was the first room I started putting together. There’s actually a photo of this room from almost the same exact perspective from August 19th, 2020 in the archive if you care to see how much it’s changed. My desk moved from the corner and sits on the left wall today. A lounge chair with a gallery wall backdrop (that I’m still building) now occupies that space. I just added to the collection a print of a painting of Deep Space Nine by Jenny Johnson, and a photo of a Saturn V rocket (photographer listed as NASA) on the launchpad at dawn from the late 1960s. There have been other changes, but they’re all out of frame and no one actually cares about this but me. Cheers to four years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448159571-BEPLJUFP51FJTG3Y7DFA/IMG_9265.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.3.24 Malt-Makers We went to the wine night at Merchant’s Club and then to Vince and Chels’ house for homemade malts. This scene looks like it’s a staged stock photo, but it’s not. I love that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448147393-17TTKCDXUOF4RZKZES14/IMG_9267.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.4.24 Sleeping Giant I took this photo of the AF-10 Twin that I’ve yet to load with film to send to a friend, but I never sent it. This Fourth of July feels scary and sad; I contemplated going to Northside for the parade but didn’t go. There is a parallel between intentions and lack of follow-through that I’m just now realizing as I type this. Later on in the day, we had an impromptu cookout with a few people and that felt nice. I only shot film, so I have nothing to show from that event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448179526-ZKH0APY5M5ZZ0CZ2ZLA4/Z9Tether539.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.5.24 Practice Justin and I have a shoot next Thursday for a children’s product line. Before we do the shoot, however, I needed to get a white seamless, two c-stands, and figure out how to light it. I brought everything over to his place and we practiced how we think it will go based on what we know of the product. The closest thing we could find in his house to the product we’d be shooting was this dog toy. He stood in as my model for the test shots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448173841-PAJMNY7VY77OP48TW444/NZF_3702.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.6.24 Good Moment After playing around with a large-format camera with the guys, we met up with our wives and proceeded to day drink at various places around Over-the-Rhine. It was a perfect day to be out and about. I caught this brief moment by chance and love how it feels. It’s also special to me because I was using a fully manual SLR 35mm PC lens strapped to my Zf with an adaptor, so the fact that I caught it in focus is a minor miracle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1720448159161-JV1V2LCRU3PMFVRU511Y/NZF_4017.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.7.24 Bass Island To make up for being out of the house yesterday for an extended period, we spent the day playing and hanging out with Myrtle. She was extra antsy this morning after a weekend of less-than-usual activity, so to wear her out, we took her to do her favorite activity: swimming. Bass Island, the part of the Little Miami River behind 50 West, is always a good spot to toss a toy and let her paddle around. It’s good for me, too, because I can stay completely dry while watching her do her thing. Ashley said the water felt amazing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177886839-I3J7I02LG45OE3YW16DY/CityBlock+Cincinnati+-+Phil+Armstrong-18-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.8.24 CityBlock Went out to the west side today. CityBlock, a Brooklyn-based outfit placing new clinics all over the US, brought their first location to Cincinnati. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177877372-0LTG9PCKMCD9YQ6PDTXQ/ArtWorks+-+7.9.24+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.9.24 Muralin' A still from a scene on 12th Street where ArtWorks apprentices are painting an enormous Jerry Springer mural. I was about four or five stories up some scaffolding photographing the apprentices for the organization. It took some getting used to the height, and even though I overcame my sky-legs after about 10 minutes, I wasn’t ever fully comfortable being up that high. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177883056-DV3LNX3YE3UG5NR45ZH9/ArtWorks+-+7.10.24+-+Phil+Armstrong-13.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.10.24 Interior Designing Went out to a warehouse in Camp Washington today to document ArtWorks apprentices working on the early stages of an offsite mural. From what I understand, they will be doing this particular piece on a transferable surface, then it will be transported and installed at the site after it’s completed. They do this when the site is unsafe for muralists due to traffic, overhead power lines, or other unavoidable obstacles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177887213-W45ESQDRIUDK7TTHWVIU/Bloomie+Final+-+Phil+Armstrong-7.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.11.24 Bloomie I did a proper studio shoot today. A friend of friend owns The Calm Caterpillar, a brand that offers products and techniques to help calm children at home and school. Some of their products include Calmee, a large plush caterpillar that’s designed to stretch while a child breathes in and out, and the upcoming Bloomie, a handheld plush that also helps with breathing techniques to assist with overcoming big emotions. This was the first time I’d ever worked on product with young models. Aside from a few technical hiccups, I think the session went really well, and I hope I get to do this again for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177882971-U1YWTM7I6PZFF0XR93E6/ArtWorks+Kroger+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong-1.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.12.24 Kroger Mural A new mural inside Kroger HQ. Photographed for ArtWorks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1721177877548-0PCJOUP55YIWBR484549/509+Short+Pershing+-+Phil+Armstrong-18.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.13.24 Short Pershing I had to photograph a house in Covington, but I thought it would show better at night than during the day because of all the unique lamps throughout the house. The owner agreed, so I went over to the house around 10 PM and spent two and a half hours on it. The house was staged and unoccupied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002913958-IRRJ1LLXOTN3HDQEQH0B/NZF_4248.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.14.24 Miniature Things Chelsea and Vince are out of town. They asked if we would come over and feed their cats once a day. I forgot about this miniature squirrel and basket they have on their windowsill, and it made me laugh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002915733-KT7Z3IBQMAR7KGU89BKP/NZF_4254.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.15.24 Morning on Fourth Assisting in the studio this week. I won’t be working on anything for my portfolio, but I will try to keep the daily photo thing interesting regardless. Then again, it’s debatable whether or not I’ve achieved seven days of good posting outside a vacation in years. I went into the studio this morning an hour early by accident. Holding a rapidly emptying cup of iced latte, it made sense to go get another one from Deeper Roots on Fourth Street. I love this particular block specifically because, if you look to the south side of the street, I don’t imagine it looks markedly different than it did half a century ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002911427-28VDPN3EVOHNB8W38SRX/NZF_4245.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.16.24 Flora Found this large mushroom while on a walk. I had a 35mm Zuiko strapped to my Z f using an adaptor that converts OM lenses to the Z mount. It’s fully manual, but with focus peaking turned on, I can get a pretty decent image if I spend extra time fussing with it. It is not practical compared to using a regular autofocus lens, but it does force slower, more deliberate frames, and that exercise is enjoyable from time to time. Plus, the lens itself is physically heavy and beautiful, so I like how it feels in hand despite having inferior efficiency. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002916731-5VZULA4379ATIH9F94Q5/NZF_4263.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.17.24 Art of Transitions I’ve had work down on this block on and off for years, and even though the steps always reek of urine, I love how they offer a nice transition between two differently elevated streets. The artwork that’s popped up there is a bonus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002912886-TZAG61Y16A2NU2EA22BV/IMG_9416.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.18.24 Central Parkway Bike Lane Some people hate how the bike lane ramps up on the sidewalk along this stretch of Central Parkway, but I think it’s the most enjoyable part of the ride. I wish they would find a way to do this more often; it’s not fun riding in traffic, and if it doesn’t impede pedestrians, that’s a win-win. Being off the street, away from cars, and on a bike path separate from the sidewalk is optimal, in my opinion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722002918244-4SOYJ728RO1RLA6J5FIU/NZF_4277.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.19.24 End-of-Week Corndog Neither of us felt like making the meal kit in the fridge, so we went down to the Silver Grove Dari Bar, counted our coins, and bought what we could with the money we had. I am pleased to say the corndogs were delicious. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004081357-XCPDE48BQSD3U3B4KEZ8/34+W+Crittenden+Ave-Covington%2C+KY%2C+United+States+-+Phil+Armstrong-12.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.20.24 Easy Work Photographed a house for a listing this morning, and the owners staged it beautifully. It was so perfect, I didn’t move anything in any of the rooms to make them look better. They just had it all sorted before I showed up. That attention to detail and considerate preparation was greatly appreciated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004091333-1BALIEI17UFGSWNTTB2L/Bellevue+Farmer%27s+Market+-+Phil+Armstrong-10.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.21.24 Bellevue Farmer's Market First market of the year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004096854-NS02XST4JKUA9RGQXSKZ/PWMA+Dayton+-+Phil+Armstrong-+2a.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.22.24 Dayton Office Drove up to Dayton for a photoshoot in a freshly renovated office for an interior designer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004123428-76TD76XTSBFNSN2CHYO5/NZF_4479.JPG daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.23.24 World Famous Tower Tree On the drive back from a job in Indy, I saw a VISIT GREENSBURG billboard that advertised the “world famous tower tree.” Small town oddities are among my favorite things, so I detoured. Back in 1870, residents noticed a tree growing out of the roof of the courthouse tower. That tree was removed, but another one started growing on the southwest side. The city apparently leaned into the weird charm of the situation, and made it a thing. It’s a Mulberry tree that’s been there for a century now. I love the iconography they’ve chosen for their signage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004129742-2BP65SF3XUJ3EWP2JMNQ/Bellevue+Olympics+-+Phil+Armstrong+-42-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.24.24 The Olympics Bellevue hosted a relay race for neighborhood kids at the beach park this evening to kick off the Paris Olympics. I’ve been working with the city to get them new images for the website, so I joined to document the occasion. Unfortunately, about halfway through the event, the sky opened up and drenched everyone who wasn’t under the awning or gazebo. It’s funny because I think the adults were the only people irritated by the weather. All the kids were out running around with their friends in the rain without hesitation. Despite everything we teach them about how to exist and behave in our society, kids can still teach us a thing or two about living. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722004136642-RI279S9ZEAMTIF4JJE8R/One+Highland+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.25.24 One Highland I’m working for the architect of One Highland in Fort Thomas. They wanted an image of this building at Golden Hour for their portfolio but haven’t found someone to do it how they wanted. The above image is a composite of seven frames to get all the elements in place. While none of these people were together simultaneously, they’re genuine in their placement and movements. All I did was incorporate them all into the same image to present a curated sense of liveliness. I like it because even though every element in the image is real, it has the polish of a rendering. The sky in the image was added, as well. The actual sky, while the same color and tone, was featureless and devoid of any texture. It didn’t have the drama I wished it had. To fix this, I scoured my archive and found an image I took at a Florida beach in 2017, copied it, and replaced the featureless sky with these wispy clouds. I chose this sky specifically because the angle of light was the same between them. Overall, I think it turned out well, and I really enjoy making these types of images despite the technical challenge of doing so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722536396179-O7RQ19LWBU0RNW8DLXNK/NZF_5054-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.26.24 Cheers! We went to see a comedy show in Dayton, KY and ended up drinking with friends and the owners of Tuba afterward. We did shots of Underberg—a post-drink digestif bitter—after our beer, and I memorialized the occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722536395998-M735DLLYWHX1XG2MABCA/NZF_5315-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.27.24 Tiki Nite Travis and Allie hosted a tiki drink night at their place. We had a fantastic evening with good food, drinks (of course), and laughs aplenty. I recorded much of the night on VHS and snapped photos throughout. It was difficult to choose just one image, but I think this one sums up the silliness well. Jonas the cat is very much in love with the taste of coconut creme, so everyone with a drink in their hand became a temporary curiosity to him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722536399711-C035B8M9MJJGMZCNI1HG/NZF_5360-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.28.24 Molting On our walk to Unataza this morning, I stopped to check out this cicada mid-molting process that landed on our stoop. I guess it was originally stuck to the brick above and had come loose at some point during the shifting weight of the bug. I’ve found discarded exoskeletons over the years, but I’ve never been able to photograph a cicada during its transformation before. Oddly enough, the day before I found some old Zeikos macro diopters hidden away in my cabinet that screw perfectly onto my 28mm lens, so I was able to get really close to this thing to capture finer details. Had I not found them beforehand, I couldn’t have taken this image the same way. The whole thing seemed like the universe planned this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722604223242-VZPYI6MTWZUWI1GBXNVS/Session-092-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.29.24 CY-Z I picked up a $14 CY-Z mount converter so I could slap this Carl Zeiss 45mm on my Zf, and wanted to document it. 45mm is a fantastic focal length for street photography. I think this will be a regular combo in my bag every day despite it being a fully manual lens. The physical size of the lens coupled with the optics make for a great Zf load out. I photographed it on a white backdrop while it sat on a clear acrylic platform. I intentionally blew out the highlights to make the texture of the background and platform disappear into the background. It has an unintentional Photoshopped look to it, though. I think seeing a soft shadow on the surface would’ve added something to this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722604224030-UMAUVY7KNI01KVC8DBUJ/NZF_5431-2.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.30.24 Oregon Trail? While working a job in Mt. Washington, I passed this covered wagon on the side of the road that had a FOR SALE sign on it. Unable to let go of the idea of stopping to document it, I parked in the apartment complex across the street and walked over to snap a few frames. There’s no information about why it exists and only lists a phone number. It’s not every day you see something like this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722623816245-GF43Q8Z3S1SW728C1FO5/IMG_9533.jpg daily-photos-jul-2024 - 7.31.24 Rexy Steve finally moved in with Erica! They are renting a cute little house over in Fairfax. I’m thrilled to see them join houses and cohabitate after living apart for as long as they did. I sweatily helped them move stuff into the house, dispose of a couch, and return the U-Haul this afternoon. Among the many things moved was Rexy, Steve’s heavy dinosaur lawn ornament. It’s followed him from home to home over the years, usually outfitted in a wardrobe of rotating seasonal attire like Christmas lights on a house. Rexy even once served as a hostile message board after Steve moved into his last apartment, and a jilted ex-girlfriend, who assumed the previous resident still lived there, would leave threatening messages taped to its face. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-aug-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722624030282-15A0D3XIAKTR38EL5UG0/IMG_9536-2.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.1.24 Decades Apart Ashley found a screw embedded into the back tire of the car this morning, so I took it downtown to the mechanic on Court Street to have it assessed and fixed. While waiting, I took a stroll around the area, stopping in for an iced latte at Coffee Emporium, checking out the new Library lobby, and snapping a few familiar frames with a relatively new camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1722627044293-SRBH56SZAKA2QHBOIST8/IMG_9556-Edit.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.2.24 Travel Tetris I travel with the absolute bare minimum I need to comfortably enjoy my trip. Being physically unburdened with stuff makes moving around new places a lighthearted adventure. This past February, I took only a backpack to Palm Springs; not bothering with the overhead on those flights or rolling a bag through airports was freeing in a surprisingly exciting way. It’s dramatic, but I felt a little bit like a nomad. While I can’t get away with that level of minimalism for this upcoming excursion, I’m keeping my loadout simple. Clothes for eight days with room to spare for an extra pair of shoes. No iPad or laptop. One camera, one lens, one book to pass the time. OOO auto-reply set. A strong desire to completely unplug, including from this project. The above is all I’m taking with me. See you when I return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560776723-1BATK4HJTOP8BOAUM6W8/NZF_5715-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.3.24 Wheels Down In Boston Ashley and I are headed on a New England vacation for the next week. First stop: Boston! We’ve never been to this historic American city before despite having several friends tell us how great it is. When we arrived, we dropped off our bags at the hotel in the North End before heading out on the town to soak up the atmosphere, eat pizza, and check out some of Boston’s popular attractions. Pictured: walking through Quincy Market. Tomorrow we will be spending all day checking things out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560777579-D5Q7TSN5OCESGPP30QSG/NZF_5917.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.4.24 Digging Deeper Into Boston Today’s itinerary included a stop to see Fenway, a ride to the top of Prudential Tower to check out the observation deck, shopping on Newbury Street, my first lobster roll and clam chowder of the trip, a stop to see Boston Public Library, riding the subway, walking Fan Pier Park, dodging rain drops by ducking into random pubs, and dinner at Boston’s oldest continually operating restaurant, Union Oyster House, where I had my second lobster roll and clam chowder. Afterward, we wandered back to the hotel through the North End and happened upon the kick off for an Italian-American festival/feast that honors a Catholic saint. Men in matching white shirts lifted an effigy to Saint Agrippina lined with dollar bills and carried it down to a nearby bar. The whole thing seemed like more of an Italian Bockfest celebration than a religious event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560778194-U5A315DDSMHWKLAM8WEB/NZF_6218.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.5.24 On the Road to Bar Harbor We said goodbye to Boston, hopped in the rental car, and headed toward Bar Harbor in Maine. Along the way, we stopped at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire since it’s one of the only places in that entire state that touches the ocean. It was too MAGA for my taste, and the boardwalk reflected that sentiment by being trashy and devoid of anything original, so we didn’t get a magnet to commemorate the visit and instead only spent an hour there before moving on to our first stop in Maine: Nubble Lighthouse (pictured). After enjoying the rocky beach with a decidedly more sane crowd, we continued on to Bar Harbor. We ended the night with my third lobster roll and clam chowder of the trip at Galyn’s. It was getting dark when we arrived, but we still managed to check stuff out until it began raining. Tomorrow we check out Acadia National Park! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560779282-9GGEAP6DK1I2ZH8TZZJU/NZF_6458.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.6.24 Acadia + Bar Harbor Bar Harbor is busy this time of year. Maine is an ideal place to go in the summer to avoid the heat, and everyone got the memo to bring their children, apparently. Crowd annoyances aside, we quickly managed to figure out the ideal itinerary: do everything early in Acadia when everyone’s still in Bar Harbor, go back to Bar Harbor in the afternoon when everyone goes to Acadia, then go back to Acadia in the evening when everyone’s tired from hiking and back in Bar Harbor. This meant early breakfasts and dinners, but we kinda loved switching things up. Neither of us are especially hardcore night owls anymore, which helped us tackle sunrise with ease. Beating crowds and wandering misty forests in relative solitude (pictured) was the perfect intro to this magical national park. We explored the town, the park, and took a great boat ride tour around the coves and narrows surrounding Mt. Desert Island. I even managed to see a few bald eagles, though my shots were from too far away to really get anything good. More on all of this in a later blog post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560779519-WB0UH3VGY7JPIERO8A1Y/NZF_7613-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.7.24 A Very Full Day We managed to the top of Cadillac Mountain by 6:30 AM for a just-after-sunrise look at the island from its highest peak. Apparently it’s so high and so fast northeast, the top of the mountain is the first place anyone in the United States can see a sunrise every day between October and March. The view was breathtaking despite how chilly it was (I was in a t-shirt because it’s August and I didn’t expect Maine to freeze my ass like that). A little later, we did a four-hour, 20-mile, bike ride tour through Acadia along the carriage pathways that Rockafeller Jr. commissioned a hundred years before. We saw loads of incredible stuff on the ride, including beaver lodges, snapping turtles, stone bridges, and stopped at several truly awe-inspiring overlooks with vistas I couldn’t properly convey in a photograph. We stopped to pick and eat wild Maine blueberries and blackberries at one point, too. After dinner, we wandered around Bar Harbor before getting in the car and driving to the other side of the island to see the Bass Harbor Head Light Station (pictured). Getting a decent image involved waiting a long time for a parking spot, then carefully climbing down boulders to the edge of the crashing sea. It was more harrowing than I anticipated, but I’m really happy I braved the terrain to get the shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560780651-6N0ODWVHRLNNP724F28C/NZF_7829.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.8.24 Camden We got to know Bar Harbor pretty well over the last two and a half days of walking and driving the island. By the time we were scheduled to leave, it felt right that we’d continue on. Another day in Acadia would’ve been nice, but there was more of Maine to see. Our next stop: south to Camden. We planned to stay in Camden solely because Ashley found an absolutely incredible seaside motel with a private balcony that faced the water. We knew nothing about Camden itself; the whole reason for the stop was because the lodging was too good to pass up. After picking our jaws up off the floor when we saw our room (it was so good, I cannot wait to blog about it), we headed into Camden proper for a look around. I’d eaten more lobster rolls, fish, and various other seafoods than I could recall up to this point, and I wasn’t planning on stopping. I got another lobster roll for lunch and enjoyed it immensely. We hit up a few shops along their quaint retail corridor, pet a really cute doodle in a pet shop, had drinks at a random bar, and decided we wanted to take it easy that evening. We picked up some food at a cute little corner store and went back to the motel to enjoy the room’s balcony with a view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560781111-4HKIMCFIES2QPABWHL4B/NZF_8267-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.9.24 Journey to Portland Despite our sunrise being muddied by hurricane remnants (there’s truly no escape from Florida, even as far north as Maine), we managed to have a nice coffee on the balcony. It was REALLY hard to say goodbye to this motel when we finally checked out. Honestly, I thought Ashley was going to cry when we were packing up. We didn’t even have a full 24 hours there before we were scheduled to continue onto our final destination: Portland, Maine. Seeing a break in the rain, we briefly stopped in Pemaquid to see an old lighthouse on the edge of a cliff. The photos I got there are moody due to the misty and windy conditions. When I do my later blog post, I’ll publish some of those. We also briefly stopped in Freeport so Ashley could visit the L.L. Bean campus. I’ve never seen a town so completely fueled by the economy of a single enterprise. It was like the biggest outdoor shopping center you can think of, but instead of existing in the middle of a massive parking lot it’s built into the middle of small-town-America along a pedestrian-heavy Main Street. I can appreciate it for what it is, but driving through all that was stressful. I’m glad that was a short stop on the journey. By the time we finally arrived in Portland, the mist and fog had set upon the city. As we walked Old Port, we could barely make out ships in the distant harbor, and tops of taller buildings were obscured in cloud cover. Eventually, though, the conditions cleared and we had an overcast but pleasantly cool night to wander around. The Airbnb was nice, but I think we were still thinking about that damned motel in Camden. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560781655-31GKKXUAXQHF687YPLIF/NZF_8379.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.10.24 The Final Day There was a diner a block from where we were staying in Portland called Becky’s. It’s exactly my kind of place: a no-frills greasy spoon diner once visited by Guy Fieri, relatively cheap compared to all the other restaurants we’d frequented during this trip, and a family-run affair that’s wholly local to Portland. The equation can be replicated elsewhere, but it won’t be truly be Becky’s. It was a great way to kick off our final day on vacation. While there, we bought tickets to a boat ride later that morning. After walking more of Old Port before the scheduled departure, we found our captain and ship, and boarded with a small crew of other sea-farers. In contrast to the large, modern boat we rode in Bar Harbor, this ship was tiny and old. So old, in fact, it was built in 1935 and was the oldest commercial vessel still operating in Maine (or so the captain said). There may have been another qualifier in that claim, but I didn’t catch it if there was. I loved this boat. Christened “Ruth,” it was big enough to comfortably hold all ten or so of us, and if you didn’t feel like being in direct sun for the whole trip, you could sit under the partially shaded area under its hard top toward the front of the vessel. Made of wood, loud, and lacking the ability to navigate any size wave without riding over it like a rollercoaster cart, Ruth had a feeling of authenticity that big modern ships lack. I’d never been on one like it before. After a cruise around the bay, we hopped aboard Portland’s narrow-gauge railroad for a short ride along the coast and back. The rest of the afternoon saw Portland exploration on foot, Ashley went back to the Airbnb for a nap, and I slowly burned all my skin off wandering in direct sun without sunscreen. By dinner time, we were ready to finalize the trip in a way only Ashley and I could think of: going back to that damned diner for the second time in one day. I’d eaten enough fish and lobster to keep me satisfied for the week, and a nice burger sounded too good to pass up. I hadn’t had one since we left the Midwest a week before. Becky’s, with its classic American diner menu that included lobster specials, was wholly Maine. It was wholly Portland. It was just a quiet, sure-fire delicious way to end a wonderful New England vacation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723560776584-X21UJHCSS5U3NQAQ3J2F/IMG_9715.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.11.24 The Spoils of Travel Whenever I go anywhere, I like to get a magnet for my fridge and a sticker for my bike. We’ve amassed a pretty sizable collection at this point, and every time I look at the side of the fridge and see all these mementos from places we’ve been, it makes me happy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723561224343-ZN6NMJ2BGHBH0E4RSSAM/401+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-6.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.12.24 401 Scott Street Back to work today. I went over to this corner to photograph Orleans’ recent work. I spent hours removing stoplights from this image to give it a cleaner look. The utilities on the side are in shadow, and the focus is on the face of the building, so I didn’t bother removing those. The only thing I wish I’d had was a cloud-filled sky instead of total clarity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723681215373-FS9OQ5PMU7H9TQ807LXO/NZF_8925-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.13.24 Evening Stride Snapped this photo on the avenue while walking Myrtle. I was actually aiming for the corner to do a little slice with the sunset, but the cyclists pedaled into frame, improving it greatly. Thanks, cyclists! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723681216153-TZOCYPLE7RBTMYLT2EOJ/NZF_8946-Edit-Edit+copy.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.14.24 SSD I had to get an 8Tb external SSD for file backups. It shipped to my porch while I was in the studio today. When I opened the parcel and saw a box half its size, I couldn’t believe it. Then I opened the smaller box and found this little stick that’s half the size of THAT box. It was like holding the most expensive nesting doll I’d ever seen. Anyway, I have to back up years of files onto this thing from my 8Tb external HDD to make sure I have coverage in case anything fails. My HDD has been slow and weird lately, and it has me slightly spooked. It’s going to be a long process of reviewing files, reorganizing, deleting, and figuring out how to keep them synced with the same content regularly. This isn’t my area of expertise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723916916509-AAUYRH24TXWXFGTQYQ9H/IMG_9769.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.15.24 Missed Connection We’re a one-car couple. We’ve been a one-car couple for our entire relationship. In the event we both need a car, I take a bus or use ride share. The amount of money we save every year more than makes up for paying the occasional fare. Today was one of those days. Ashley dropped me off at the studio where I had a 10-hour day with Marlene. Afterward, I planned to take the 6 bus from Mohawk to downtown, then transfer to the Southbank Shuttle to get me to Bellevue where I’d walk the rest of the way home. No big deal and less than $4 to get home without having to walk the entire way. Well, it didn’t work out as I’d planned. After picking up the 6 and riding to Fountain Square, I forgot that the Southbank also has routes to Covington. I blindly got onto that bus instead of the Bellevue-bound one and realized too late that I was headed to the wrong city when I looked up from my phone at about the mid point crossing Clay Wade Bailey. So I walked 2.5 miles home from Covington instead. No AirPods, either. Just the sounds of my surroundings to keep me entertained. This image is from that walk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1723916917451-208GDDULTC1XOR85WROO/IMG_9776.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.16.24 Surprise Downpour While drinking an old fashioned at Rosedale, a pop-up shower drenched Over-the-Rhine, forcing everyone under cover. We uncharacteristically had Myrtle with us, so we couldn’t run inside to seek shelter. This leaky awning in the courtyard worked fine, but we still managed to get a little damp. After the storm passed, the puddle that had formed on the patio remained until a bar tender cleared the drain that was dammed up with leaves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724121541336-9JOY3HDS4KLP0VEBMA86/NZ9_5602-Enhanced-SR-2.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.17.24 Liminal Space I had to go to Dayton, OH this morning to photograph a few places for a client. None of the locations were anything to write home about. Just a bunch of bland office parks that they needed documented for whatever reason. On the back of one of them, though, I found this staircase. I stopped the car and had to get a photo. It was too good to pass up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724121544294-OEMOH3YX600YIG4FF2V8/NZF_8952.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.18.24 Social Battery I suffered maybe the worst nightmare I’ve ever had in my life last night. It felt so real, I wasn’t entirely convinced it didn’t happen. I got up, splashed water on my face, and tried to calm down. The rest of the night saw lesser bad dreams that continued ruining my sleep, but not to the severity of the first one. It was such a bad night, Sunday ended up being awful. We went to Unataza and I could barely muster the energy to order or be social. We then went to the Bellevue Farmer’s Market where I snapped this single photo and did my best to be friendly to familiar neighbors, but my social battery was spent. Nowhere felt right except isolating on the couch in the basement in front of the TV. We left the market pretty quickly and I did just that the rest of the day. Not a great feeling, but when you have this personality, you know when you’ve reached maximum interaction and need solitude to recover. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724121539354-F79MYMVRW5QLWVD2BG2J/DSC01211.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.19.24 Optical Throwback Unearthed my old Sony Cyber-Shot from 2008 today while looking for something else. It was the first digital camera I ever bought myself. Back then, it was better than any phone camera on the market, and it had a smaller form factor than the family digital camera my dad had. I wasn’t a photographer back then, but I took it to friend gatherings, the zoo, a convention in Orlando, and other places to document momentous events. I charged the battery and took it out on a walk this evening. The image quality, as you might expect, isn’t great, but it’s also not awful. It produces images that have that early-2000s digital camera look. White balancing is hit or miss. Loads of chromatic aberration. I can’t believe the image above turned out as well as it did considering I was shooting into the sun. Myrtle rolling around in the grass during a sunset while a random dude on a gas-powered bike loudly farts by in the background. Sure, there’s no definition in the sky and it’s about as sharp as a balloon sword you’d get at the circus, but I think that’s part of this artifact’s charm. Overall, it’s a nostalgic novelty that I’m glad I accidentally rediscovered on World Photography Day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724721673006-WZK9GHSFN0A9A8EZS22O/NZF_9024.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.20.24 Park Sittin' I went down to the park to take some photos for the City of Bellevue and snapped this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724721672956-VUHQ651WR9GQW985DWBK/NZF_9018.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.21.24 Sticking Around Summer is approaching its end, but these sunflowers are still going strong. Time is meaningless to plants. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1724721674843-0G2HWI9JI5TSMBVB5XBW/NZF_9056-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.22.24 Swampwater Grillin' Steve and Erica kept telling us that Swampwater Grill was good. I’d avoided it for years because the name was such a turn-off, but they were right. It’s good. Plus, we all got Bahama Mamas to drink, so that’s fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725045585121-2N2V9GSWGSPSPJN4ALPJ/NZF_9078.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.23.24 New Buffalo Allie, Travis, Ashley, and I all road-tripped up to New Buffalo, Michigan, for a weekend away this evening. Caitlyn and Brendan joined us later that night once they were off work. The drive there wasn’t bad because we stopped halfway at a drive-up fast food place called Mr. Weenie and ate various styles of hot dogs. Our Airbnb is spacious, with a big porch and several floors of bedrooms. The rules are strict, but it’s okay. The only one we’re breaking is smoking the weed we bought at a dispensary out on the porch. I’m looking forward to hanging out and relaxing with everyone tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725045587307-JQ7M0V6RLIOUI93YOYD9/NZF_9100.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.24.24 Wandering the Beach The beach in New Buffalo isn’t huge, but it’s relatively light on crowds compared to nearby shorelines. The girls went down to relax and hang out by the water, but some Christians lightly shamed them for not getting baptized as adults when they offered. I cannot stand people who can’t mind their damned business and leave people alone. Travis, Brendan, and I wandered around the town in the heat, going into a few shops, stopping for coffee at a hotel, and checking out a view of the harbor from atop a building. We reconvened with the girls in the afternoon and spent time at the Airbnb drinking, smoking, and snacking. We went to a rooftop for dinner and enjoyed a sunset with drinks before our entrees were brought out. It was a very low-key, relaxing day. After dinner, instead of going out, we all stayed at the Airbnb and watched Matilda (1996). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725045588833-R4WTX46CSUG7JZ3VLPV2/NZF_9211.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.25.24 Group Photo Allie and Travis planned to continue to Grand Rapids and Detroit, but the rest of us had to return to Cincinnati because we had to work the next day. We ate breakfast together and took this group photo with my Zf on a timer balanced on my bag on top of Travis’ car. Before we returned, the four of us stopped at Indiana Dunes and did an hour-long hike that culminated in getting ice cream from a food truck. We also randomly came across a classic Pizza Hut in Rensselaer, IN, on our drive back around lunchtime. I swear, stuffed crust pizza and breadsticks taste better under a glass Pizza Hut lamp with inverted trapezoid windows at the end of the table. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725046561285-8CG9QOGWIBMUU9S6BOGR/513+Short+Pershing+-+Phil+Armstrong+-20.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.26.24 513 Shot a house in Covington today with this beautiful custom stained glass transom window. The address was the same as Cincinnati’s area code. Such a cool feature. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725046561403-MYBYPRXKP0OZHH7Z6EHB/TriHealth+Liberty+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.27.24 TriHealth Liberty GBBN had me photograph a new unit in a new hospital in Liberty Township this morning. There weren’t windows on three of the four sides of the unit, making for easy white balancing and less post-processing. Despite the lack of natural light, though, the space felt bright and airy. Hospitals can look so sterile and sad, but this one was colorful and open with attention to thoughtful decor. I really liked this shot of the photograph wall they put together behind the central nurse’s station. The different colored borders around the tiles was a nice touch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725230774014-OQO0IXQDFZ9PPIYHB8R4/NZF_9723-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.28.24 Not Even Google Translate To lose weight and keep active in a more comfortable way, I purchased a compact treadmill online. I’ll use it on days that are too hot, days that are too cold, rainy days, and days when I’m feeling anti-social. I can watch TV while I use it, too, so maybe I’ll get fitter the more I want to mentally escape. Anyway, the instruction manual is hilariously poorly translated. It gave me a good laugh. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725230772527-OTCRCV7YZIZKCB2LOQWB/NZF_9719.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.29.24 Zelda II After seeing a Thread referencing someone beating Zelda II without cheats or a walkthrough, something in me desperately wanted to play it again. I couldn’t help but feel completely overwhelmed with the idea that I had to boot that stupid game up even though I never finished it in the first place. Digging through boxes of old video game stuff was tiresome, but seeing the familiar glint of that gold cartridge within the black NES game sleeve was rewarding. My childhood NES, though still in my possession, is so old that I didn’t dare try to resurrect it. I decided to use a console I bought in the early 2010s—the RetroN 3, a combination NES/SNES/Genesis player. You can pop any game from those consoles into this one, plug an original controller into one of three sides, and play it like normal. I don’t know anything about modulation, but it looks and sounds exactly like I remember it, so it’s probably close to 1:1 with the NES. The console booted up perfectly when paired with my little Philips TV that I got a while back from Lee. When the title screen and familiar music popped up in a blink, excitement washed over me. It may be the first time since the late-80s that anyone’s felt excitement concerning Zelda II. I remember my dad brought home this game from work. I think one of his coworkers gave it to him because they didn’t like it. Not having many games back then, anything new to us was exciting. We spent hours failing miserably to decipher this impenetrable, difficult cartridge and never getting very far after finding a town with invisible enemies. A quick Google suggests this game is widely hated by fans of the series, but it’s the only Zelda game I’ve ever played. Nostalgia is a toxic impulse, but one I’m willing to indulge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324811224-1K87JDP0IUTGUCNU8BZC/Art+After+Dark+8.30.24+-035.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.30.24 Finesse As far as Art After Dark events go, I don’t remember any of them being as well attended as tonight’s. BlaCk OWned put together a show called Finesse, with models wearing their fall collection and strutting around a figure-eight runway. The courtyard was jam-packed with people there to see the fashion show set to a soundtrack provided by DJ Prymtime. A surprising number of other photographers were there shooting video and stills, too, which made the experience more fun. It’s always a relief when I’m not the only chicken running around with their head cut off. Once again, I went into this shoot full of anxiety, but after being in the museum for about 10 minutes, I remember looking around and knowing I was going to be okay. The pressure to do a good job, coupled with general social anxiety and fatigue from the day, had me vibrating with stress. But most of it melts away when I’m in my element. It’s wild how clearly being around others in a positive space is the solution to that bad feeling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324810662-P58Z14HURKMQ9EK5K2HG/IMG_9985.jpg daily-photos-aug-2024 - 8.31.24 Relocated This cactus didn’t seem to like where it was on the shelf in the bedroom, so I moved it to my office where direct sunlight is more plentiful. Hopefully it does better in its new location. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-sep-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725324890870-CVVXXQNU4Q6YK2WL93JE/NZF_0792-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.1.24 Balcony Hangs I went to Caitlyn and Brendan’s house this evening to watch the WEBN fireworks show. They have a killer view overlooking essentially all of downtown from CUF. The small gathering allowed everyone to pile onto the third-floor balcony with the best view of the show when it finally kicked off. I wasn’t going to take photos of the show because I’ve done it in years past. How many shots of fireworks does one need anyway? Unsurprisingly, I still did. It was a new (to me) view of it, and I hadn’t shot the show in years. It felt right. Wedging the Zf against the railing, I let the interval timer run 1-second exposures throughout so I could enjoy the show without fiddling too much with the camera. Though I was able to make a nice final image of the show with the view, my favorite of the evening was this one: a shot of my friends together. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725495218787-42WSLOMOJUV6WFTGTD3S/NZF_0801.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.2.24 Cincinnineties Last night, Myrtle spent less-than-desirable time alone while I was at the fireworks watch party in CUF, so to make up for it, we got coffee (for me) and a biscuit (for her) and went to Friendship Park for a nice long walk. As we crossed Sawyer Point, I saw the Cincinnatus statue dressed up for the previous evening's festivities. Wearing a flannel tied around his waist, a sleeveless WEBN top, sunglasses, and holding a 2D cutout of a boombox, the familiar statue looked distinctly 'Nineties’ to mirror the show's theme. I wasn’t the only one in the park to stop to take in the sight, either. A Lycra-clad, sweaty man propped his bike up against the granite dais and raised a generic Android phone toward the scene to take a photo. A woman slowed her run and double-tapped her earbuds to pause her workout and admire the statue. After everyone decided they needed to get their cardio back up and moved along, I slithered into position for a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725496686900-ZHU5S0ES2Z5NQXFS13JT/NZF_0806.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.3.24 Sunrise A view of the sunrise from my office window. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725499420595-XATI54PJ98Q1PVSPM5DN/IMG_1951.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.4.24 Appreciating Lines Do you ever see this kind of thing? How lines intersect and stay consistent across a notable distance? Do you ever notice the shapes of a place and appreciate how its proportions and features line up perfectly? Do you ever unfocus your eyes by slightly squinting and crossing them so you can better see patterns and lines in physical settings? I really appreciate the consistency of these seven homes. Almost certainly built around the same time, their details differ slightly, but they look to be of the same style overall. It’s so satisfying when you see lovely, independent architecture in abundance. Not brownstones. Not duplexes or apartment buildings. Not row houses. Those all come with a level of consistency baked into their design. These single family houses didn’t need to conform geometry, but they did and it’s special. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725836888435-M65SPYNAUW6840Y863GO/IMG_0107.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.5.24 Moment of Zen I’m working in the studio for Marlene all week. When working for her, I don’t photograph much during the day unless I leave the studio to run an errand. Those days end up looking uninteresting in retrospect. But this is interesting to me. I like how the sun comes in the front window during the summer. When that tree fell this past January, it unlocked a bunch of light on the front of the house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725836890252-91RQQ6X2IEJI050UBNOK/NZF_0844-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.6.24 Non-Alcoholics After a successful yet tiring week, we met Chelsea and Vince at their place for some Indian food and drinks—only these drinks weren’t alcoholic. Chelsea’s on some meds at the moment and isn’t mixing it with alcohol. Ashley and I are doing our best to curb our intake as part of a greater effort to lose weight and feel better. Thankfully, they had some NA beers and NA canned cocktails that were surprisingly good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1725836889033-DGDFC2RE5BHTYVUQKJMU/IMG_0130.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.7.24 Moths We went to Baeten’s this morning to check out their autumnal offerings. The summer pots on the porch have grown crispy and wilted as they tend to do at the end of the season. It was time to freshen things up with new varieties. It wasn’t a photo-heavy day for me. We didn’t go out, we ate dinner at home, and I sat on the couch all night. While necessary for mental and physical health, these types of days aren’t always photogenic. Thankfully, I got this photo of moths sitting atop this yellow flower at the nursery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270986170-DWFQYQ92SXION4TFSJCB/NZF_0865.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.8.24 Butt's Gone The butt of the Mt. Washington building I’ve been photographing for Jake is gone. They cleaned it out and appear to be rethinking this space. I haven’t spoken to Jake about what this place will be after it’s renovated, and I love the mystery of it. I think I’ll see how long I can go without knowing anything about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270980785-Z79BD8X4PANGV2SOAU7C/IMG_0149.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.9.24 Celebratory Breadstick Ashley got some excellent career news this week, so we went to Nicola’s to celebrate. She’s moving on to work for Sunshine Bouquet with her former boss from Kroger. She’s getting better pay and benefits as a result of the move. Hooray! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270984212-TBKV6PF3G8ZYJP2OB1JH/104+West+Clifton+-+Phil+Armstrong+-63.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.10.24 Andrew's House Andrew Hungerford was the Director of the Know Theater for as long as I can remember. Recently, he relinquished his position there to move back to Los Angeles full-time. He and Elizabeth, his spouse, own a home in Santa Monica and have been living between worlds for years. They’re selling their OTR house that’s subdivided into four apartments and asked me to photograph it for the listing. While I was there, Andrew and I discussed Star Trek, cinema, and a variety of topics. It was great catching up with him, and his house is a beaut. I particularly liked this window on the second floor. I shot it with a very shallow depth of field because I wanted to linger on the tidy handsomeness of the poplar frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270980766-2TIOE5LJT2YT8YOJU468/IMG_0200-2.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.11.24 Rural Ohio CityBlock, the Brooklyn-based clinic that opened a location in Cincinnati that I shot back in early July, is opening another location in Columbus. They asked me to photograph it before their ribbon-cutting on the 12th. I went up around 2 PM, did my thing, and began driving back after failing to find a hot dog stand that was open and worth going to for dinner. On the drive home, the sun was setting. I know I shouldn’t photograph anything while I drive, and I normally don’t, but I couldn’t help myself this one time. I took a quick iPhone picture out of the moon roof. It was just too pretty to pass up. Also, I think this is the first time I’ve ever traveled on 9/11. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726270989362-868N6NPFUMB0PARLQWX4/Courthouse+-127.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.12.24 Weird Day at Work I’ll explain everything, but first, I want to enjoy the absurdity of this image that I made today… …Okay, explanation: I’ve been helping a local judge with images for a book she’s writing about the history of the Hamilton County Courthouse for so long that I think it pre-dates this daily photo project. Over the years, I’ve photographed almost the entire building and made images of archival texts, images, and artifacts. I’ve seen some fantastically interesting stuff during that time. It’s been a fulfilling project for someone like me who genuinely enjoys local history. Anyway, she called me up yet again and asked if I’d photograph old photos someone made of the courthouse during its construction. “Also, I need photos of a few other items,” she said. I didn’t ask her for specifics at that point, but I never in a million years would’ve thought she meant blow-up dolls and a dildo. When I arrived, she presented me with the materials she wanted to be documented, including the promised ‘other items.’ It genuinely caught me off guard. For lack of knowing what else to do, I laughed and asked her why I needed to document these things for this book. She said she needed images of sex toys to illustrate a story about a famous court case that dealt with obscenity and the sale of adult content decades ago when that sort of thing was scandalous enough to be illegal. It made a lot more sense at that point. Then I laughed again, realizing that she had accidentally put her Amazon ‘For You’ algorithm into an excited state of confusion. She left me in the room with the archival photos, rechargeable lithium ion battery phallus, and deflated blow-up dolls (whose names were ‘Ginger’ and ‘Destiny,’ according to their cards). As I organized the materials, I set up the backdrop and snapped the above image to ensure I had a record of this very weird day at work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726451576654-HJZT5N7695XJDB4UJGZW/NZF_0875.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.13.24 Moon Tree Whenever I have business in another city, I try to find something of note to experience while there—a restaurant, an oddity, or anything notable that makes the trip special. It’s important to make the most of travel, even if it’s just an hour away or for something routine. Before heading to Indianapolis early this morning, I scoured the internet for something I could see while there. I’ve been to Indy many times, but I wanted to see something new. After a couple of minutes of research, I realized the thing I needed to see was standing proudly in plain sight. I wasn’t prepared for how special it’d be seeing it up close, however. This is an extraterrestrial being on the lawn of the Indiana Statehouse. It’s one of many Moon Trees planted around the US—trees grown from seeds that went to space, orbited the moon, and were returned to Earth and planted so scientists could study their growth. In 1971, this sycamore tree accompanied the Apollo 14 crew and journeyed further from Earth than nearly every human who has ever lived. Scientists have found no discernible difference between the seeds taken to space and terrestrial seeds. But I love that they thought there could be something special about them besides their trip around Earth’s largest satellite. There’s still so much we don’t know about space, and 50 years ago, we knew even less. No one can blame them for thinking there might be something physically transformative about the journey. Standing under the shade of a tree that began its peaceful life in maybe the most romantic, hostile, outrageous way possible was an indescribable sensation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726451576756-AJEH5LUQ3ZIXAI2XCPLV/Art+Off+the+Walls+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-190.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.14.24 Art Off the Walls Choosing a single image from today was almost impossible. I shot Art Off the Walls for ArtWorks at the Newport Car Barn in West Newport. The fundraising event featured silent and live auctions, food, drinks, a performance by Pones, and a dance floor that ended up being the most fun part of the evening to photograph (as usual). I made portraits in front of murals for Colleen, Jill, Jens, and Kay. I concentrated on getting candids of attendees smiling, laughing, hugging, and having a great time. I sweated through my shirt, capturing as much of the dancefloor as possible in difficult lighting conditions. I did my best not to spend all my time talking with good people I wanted to catch up with while on the job. I ran video the whole event while photographing it to create a Reel for them later. It was a crazy night, to say the least. I settled on this image because it combines so many of the elements I enjoyed from the evening: Pam Kravetz in her custom disco ball outfit, dancers in various levels of costume, the DJ in the background crushing it, the guy in the red shirt and tie who dominated the dancefloor with moves that would make David Byrne blush, and the multicolored lights filling the hazy the room with ambiance. I left shattered from fatigue yet full of creative satisfaction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726451746263-ZUHNPT5JT9EUS01HY8KU/IMG_0300.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.15.24 Waiting For Coffee Title says it all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726543074205-WKXVZ34IM9L7RQNZH6O3/NZF_1548-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.16.24 Never Quite Getting It ArtWorks helped bring world-renowned contemporary artist Shepard Fairey to Cincinnati. He and his team are putting up a three-story mural on the side of MadTree Alcove at 15th and Vine. The whole process will take less than two days. After that, they will wheat paste around town before heading to Dayton, Columbus, and Cleveland to do the same thing. I’ve been a casual fan of Shepard’s work for as long as I remember being interested in design. From OBEY to HOPE, he’s always been in the background of very specific circles I’ve enjoyed. His bold, colorful style is instantly recognizable regardless if you know his name. I went over around 1:45 PM to get a few shots for ArtWorks. The shoot was tricky because he was on a scissor lift between two other people and bags full of discarded stencils and spray paint cans slung from either end. Getting a clear photo was difficult, and the composition wasn’t great when I did. I tried until 7:30 PM to get a good photo. I managed a few, and I think they’re fine, but I was hoping for something staged for ArtWorks’ purposes. I didn’t dare speak to him as he was busy doing the mural, and I didn’t want to get too close to the lift for fear of losing privileges on the ground. He seemed cool to me, and his taste in music was rad, but I didn’t know how far I could go before I’d get told to scram. So, I played it safe and stood at a distance most of the day. He’s the middle person toward the right side of the lift in the photo. They’d completed about 75% of the mural before I left for the day. Apparently, they’ll finish the rest tomorrow morning. He’s planning a talk at the CAC that I may attend. It’s really something to have a working artist of his caliber just doing his thing in a place I intimately know. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726712834430-CRK24Y5VO71UITTWDII0/NZF_1741.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.17.24 Got It Yesterday, I spoke about how I spent hours at 15th and Vine photographing Shepard Fairey and crew painting a mural on the side of Alcove. Despite being around for hours, I hadn’t gotten a solid portrait of him because he was busy on the scissor lift spray painting. The last thing I wanted to do was approach and bother him, so I hung back the entire day. Today, though, I had a brief opportunity to photograph him on the street. I returned to the site around 10 AM to grab more images for ArtWorks, and around 11:30, they all got off the lift and walked a few blocks to the Art Academy where he had an appointment to speak with the students and faculty. During that walk, I went about a half block ahead and photographed him and his crew making their way down Vine with Jill. When they arrived at the AAC, I saw a wall of his posters along the route, recognized the opportunity, and squared up for a shot. At first, I was bummed I didn’t get him in profile, but the more I sit with it, the more I think this is a better photo overall. It’s genuine and imperfect. You can see the idea, but it’s sloppy. It’s a portrait of an artist briefly taking in his work in the medium for which it was designed. And while he’s not anonymous like other street artists, I think it’s appropriate that his identity is a mystery in this photo when considering what he does. There were other photos of him working and a few presenting at the AAC, but this is my favorite of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1726712832377-A3LHY3H6FZPGZQ7MNAAJ/NZF_2053.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.18.24 Bi-Color Plant Just playing around with speedlights, gels, and a white backdrop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140769614-M2LHRGON40E2IJABWDGO/NZF_1890.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.19.24 The Lighting Was Good Nothing special. The lighting was just good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140764330-NPX2924BBDYX4C6VSZL4/NZF_2083.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.20.24 Jerry's Justin’s a bachelor this weekend, so he came down and we went to Jerry’s Jug House for a few rounds of drinks. As he was bringing back a couple of rum-based “Cherry Cokes,” I snapped a blurry image that accidentally had every vibe of a drunken, hilarious night out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140767874-IUXZ8JFFO6NUQZ1VM2JT/NZF_2167.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.21.24 Oktoberfest '24 I’ll be honest, I haven’t been to Oktoberfest in years because it’s sucked. Shuffling around sticky asphalt, bumping shoulders with every Cincinnatian possible, baking in the sun on some combination of 2nd, 3rd, or 5th Street—it’s not a recipe for a good time as far as I’m concerned. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a good time in years past, but there was a lot of overlooking the cons to enjoy the pros. It was once a tradition that, while uncomfortable and expensive, I dealt with to be part of the community, but at some point, I gave up caring about it. At best, it was a weekend where the bars I liked had lighter crowds. Caitlyn got a job with the Chamber this year, and she promised us Oktoberfest would be different primarily because of its move to Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove. She was right. We went down and met up with friends. It was a perfect setting for a festival as large as Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. It’s staggering to me that it wasn’t down here every year. The entire operation snaked along the Serpentine Wall, under the Purple People Bridge, and through the forested paths and alcoves of Bicentennial Park. Enormous tents took up space on the lawns but never felt too domineering. The natural shade from the many trees blocked the direct sun, allowing people to sit in the grass and on various bits of park infrastructure unrelated to the festival. They set up stages in areas not in the middle of the critical mass of people. The food vendors were tucked into shaded areas, as were the beer trailers, and the lines to eat and drink were rarely long enough that you felt discouraged from joining a queue. It was spread out enough that people could enjoy themselves while also not leaving wide gaps in programming, all within a beautiful, shaded, visually varied venue. It’s never felt more organic and interesting, seasoned and special. If Oktoberfest is held at the park yearly, I am excited to return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140767563-GMXWFZA4YZJHIXWNZ8MI/NZF_2249.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.22.24 HBD, Unataza! Our favorite little coffee shop, Unataza, turns five this weekend. When we walked in, owner Alejandra offered us celebratory cake. Cheers to another five years! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727140764337-EBRR6EABQIB6MAYM1G8U/NZF_2272.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.23.24 Coke Oreos There’s this strange collab happening between Coca Cola and Oreo at the moment. Not only do we have an Oreo-flavored Coke, we also have Coke-flavored Oreos. Mark Borison, Jungle Jim’s wonderful social media and content guy, made a video about them recently, and it’s been on my brain ever since. Seeing no way to rid myself of nagging curiosity, I had to get a bottle and pack to see what was up. The verdict: both are a nice little departure from classic flavors, but they will never replace them. The drink (Zero version) is subtle enough that if you’re not paying attention, you may not immediately taste the difference. It’s without a doubt present with every sip, but if you weren’t expecting it, you might not notice for a second. The Oreos, however, hit you square in the nose as soon as you peel back the packaging. They’re undoubtedly Coke versions of the familiar sweet. I especially liked the custom designs on the red halves of the cookies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727319765398-W4EV8I0DJBS5OVIAQJD1/NZF_2313-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.24.24 Steps Home I use this set of public steps near my house all the time. They help me get from the end of my street to the street below and significantly reduce the time it takes to commute on foot if I need to go anywhere west. After a night out with friends, they dropped me off at the base of the steps, and I walked up to my house as usual. Sometimes I think about the relationship I have with these steps and how they’re important to others, too. I regularly see both kids and adults using them. Hell, even the deer trot up the steps from time to time. My mailman, who has lived in the area his whole life, talked about how he and his friends would run up and down the steps when they were kids, just as I see kids today using them. Painter Harland Hubbard apparently grew up a few doors away from my own back in the early 1900s, and I wonder if these steps were around for when he was still here. The railroad has been here for as long as Sanborn Maps have been around, so it’s possible the stairs have, too. It’s kind of amazing to think of how a simple piece of public infrastructure like a set of stairs can be so important to the daily lives of the people around them, and how they can be tied to fond memories for those who’ve long since moved away. If they were located in Cincinnati, they’d probably have their own Instagram account or something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727319764667-BIM0X8PMXEVHVBUHBUHE/NZ9_9464-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.25.24 Moonlit Evening A scene from this evening’s musical performance before the opening of the new Ansel Adams exhibit at the Art Museum. They hoisted a giant, illuminated moon from the ceiling in the Great Hall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661108904-J0EK05WTNB0AE7JLBE18/IMG_0485.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.26.24 Non-Traditional Mike and I got up early and drove up to Chicago to see the White Sox play their final home game of the season. Neither of us is a White Sox fan, and I’d never been to Guaranteed Rate Field on the south side of Chicago, but we went mainly to see history made…only it didn’t end up that way. The White Sox were on the verge of losing more games in a single season than any other team in the history of Major League Baseball. To say their season had been a disaster is putting it lightly. Very few baseball teams have seen as poor a showing as this 2024 team in Chicago. If they’d lost to the Angels for their final home game, they’d officially set the record, and we wanted to be there for it. No, it’s not a glamorous record to hold, but it’s still significant, and we thought it would be fun to do on a random Thursday. Fortunately for the White Sox, they crushed the Angels after a staggeringly good showing in the 5th inning and managed not to set the record on their home turf. We were a little bummed we didn’t see history made today, but we also had a great time quietly rooting for them to win. Either way, we saw a historically awful team play bizarrely adequately for their final home game of the season. We ate Chicago dogs and pizza, wandered around the ballpark for a bit (pictured is the excellent view of the skyline from an upper level), found some seats on the 1st baseline that weren’t the $7 seats we purchased, and saw a bunch of White Sox fans genuinely cheer for their awful team. We hit up Portillo’s on the way out of Chicago and headed back to Cincinnati before the sunset. It was a good day that I think we’ll both remember for a long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661110672-HV32TWPU51Y0698OZBDL/Art+After+Dark+9.27.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.27.24 Indecision I photographed Art After Dark again for the museum. There was a massive party in the Great Hall where rotating DJs on a second story balcony kept the music pumping and everyone dancing. The scene you see above is barely the start of it all; by the time I was contracturally finished at 9 PM, the entire room was shoulder to shoulder with more people coming in to join. I’ve rarely seen a showing at that magnitude. To choose a favorite frame from the evening is an impossible task. If I choose Image A, I’ll look at Images B, C, and D and think those are equally as representative of the evening, albeit in different ways. The indecision is paralyzing. So I chose the very first one on the card from the evening. I’m also choosing it for another reason. I was recently convinced by watching a few different photographers on YouTube that high ISO isn’t the enemy and should be utilized more often. I’d gotten used to using ISO 12800 as my maximum for awhile, but sometimes I needed more. I decided to amp it up to 20000 and see if Denoise could handle it. Short answer: it can so long as I keep the slider no more than 40 during enhance. This photo is an example of how previously unthinkable grain can be mitigated with Denoise in order to get a sharp shot in low light, and I’m thrilled that I have a little more latitude now to get a faster shutter in lower light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661114012-WZEWB9Q0YGFAAFPYE3XX/NZF_2787.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.28.24 Wine Night We went to Chelsea and Vince’s for a wine tasting and got silly by the end of the night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1727661114151-QCHVSYVB1O88NLPCZDSE/NZF_2803-2.jpg daily-photos-sep-2024 - 9.29.24 Esmeray's 2nd Birthday Little Esmeray turned two today. We went to celebrate her birthday with everyone up at my sister’s house. After she opened her gift (The Rainbow Fish book), she brought it over to the ottoman and put it down in front of her. She was being so cute. I managed to snap a photo before she moved onto the next thing. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-oct-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495522934-RZWG0L0UGXF8E8FVQE3C/Bellevue+Barbershop+-+Phil+Armstrong+-52.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.1.24 Barbershop Boys I’ve been getting my hair cut at the Bellevue Barbershop for years. There’s a reason they’re voted best shop in the region during CityBeat’s annual poll. Today, I had the pleasure of photographing these dudes for the first time. They’re the nicest, most talented crew in the biz. We did a variety of poses and portraits, and choosing just one for this project was challenging. I knew I had to go with a group shot, though. This one was my pick—a photo of them all on the stoop right before I let them know I was about to start snapping. They’re all naturally themselves, which I wanted to convey most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495523206-UQU1I7MSC9U6V1BQM3QB/201+E+Clifton+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.2.24 Corrected Cornice I waited months to photograph this building because the new cornice wasn’t installed. Today, though, I was able to wrap it up. It looks nice! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495542254-74LPUXKCQ0PMVJR3GJEI/The+Thatcher+Ribbon-Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.3.24 Ribbon-Cutting Thatcher Flats in Walnut Hills had its ribbon-cutting today after an hour-long speaker event. Photographed for Pennrose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495531887-XQ56X6FG86H6ZAW6ESPZ/SBD+Metal+Tree+Table+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.4.24 Metal/Wood Single Batch Designs made a really interesting metal and wood table recently. The table legs on either side are shaped like tree trunks with spindly branches that snake around the slab’s edges to hold it in place. The amount of artistry involved with this piece is something I haven’t seen them attempt before. The client’s room where this will live apparently matches the aesthetic well, so I can’t wait to see it in place. I just can’t get over the craftsmanship in a piece like this. It’s totally unique in the way it’s handcrafted. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495541385-8SWE09W9R154DUQ4R5JD/Streaming+Things+LIVE+%28Color%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-249.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.5.24 Streaming Things LIVE Earlier this year, Steve candidly told me his New Year resolution was to host a live show for his podcast. He wanted to take the thing he’d been making for years in his home studio and perform it live on stage for as big of an audience as possible, and tonight, he did just that. He spent ten months searching for a venue, scheduling everything, and preparing the show. When he announced it to his listener base, people from around the world started planning to visit Cincinnati to see him and his cohosts do their thing. And since the base had grown so strongly around the show, they also had the benefit of meeting all their online friends in a real space. I can’t adequately describe how good it feels to see your best bud succeed in a creative endeavor on this scale. I’d only met his listener base online. Still, when I saw their faces watching him on stage, laughing at his jokes, and smiling through the whole show, I realized what he’s made and the many connections he’s inadvertently responsible for are extremely important. After the show, I joined the fans for a night out in Cincinnati. I led them on the streetcar to Rhinegeist, and from there, we went to Oddfellows and closed down the bar. None of us said our goodbyes until 3 AM. I’ve never really felt like a genuine part of the community, but after tonight, maybe they’ve accepted me into their ranks. I hope he does this again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495528162-O7L0UAK5PJ5ZPWBYN1H8/Red+Door+Hotel+Cov+-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.6.24 Red Door at Hotel Covington A photo of Gregory Freeman next to his photograph at Red Door Project in Hotel Covington this afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495537400-R0E5LTQ6UNMO6TCVQHR6/Self+Portrait.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.7.24 Self Portrait I have a headshot job in Louisville tomorrow, so I needed to practice my lighting setup before I go down. I didn’t go the whole way with the setup because it would’ve been too much work, so I faked the otherwise pristing paper background with a wrinkly sheet that I had to edit out in post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728495527177-XRLKLQ4H3HNQM428W4HT/IMG_0781.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.8.24 Chicago Dogs While in Louisville, I stopped at Lonnie’s for a hot dog. When I looked on the map and realized this place was a mile from my job location, I knew I had to hit it up. The inside is a sun-bleached shrine to Chicago sports and autographed headshots. The owners weren’t rude but also weren’t friendly. It was a no-nonsense place, and the low price I paid for a hot dog, cheese fries, chips, and a drink matched everything about the atmosphere. That is to say, it’s extremely my shit. I want less polished concepts and more authentic hole-in-the-wall joints like this. I wish Lonnie’s was local because I’d be here every other day for sure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728531044128-VGD406R9QY6RYGHC780V/NZF_5079.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.9.24 Birthday Puppy She turned seven today. I cannot believe this dog is SEVEN YEARS OLD. It feels like just yesterday that we brought her home. On her first birthday, I took a grainy iPhone photo of her sitting on the couch and wearing a birthday cap with a treat and candle in front of her. We were in the midst of a move, so half our stuff was packed, and she was confused about everything. I recreated that photo as best I could, sans confusion and move this time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1728958203913-WRSGHJM00TZZIJN0LQ7Q/Posing+Beauty+x+Terri+Kern+-+Phil+Armstrong+-11.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.10.24 Taft Museum Opening Photographed the latest exhibition opening at the Taft Museum of Art this evening. If you enjoy photography and fashion, Posing Beauty in African American Culture will be up your alley. Also, I found out this evening that Rick Sofranko reads this Daily Photo Project. Hi, Rich! It’s always so nice to run into you and Susan at these events. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135674584-YTF3MV0P9G2YK08RQSQY/IMG_0936.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.11.24 Goodbye, Millennial Grey When we bought the house, the flippers painted everything grey and white—a neutral combo that’s safe when trying to appeal to unknown buyers. We lived with it for four and a half years before we finally did anything about it. We hired professionals who could do it all in a single day because of the scope of what we wanted done (the entire first floor, staircase wall, and fence). (I’m sorry, but I’m going to talk about watching paint dry in the following entry. You’ve been warned.) We weren’t prepared for how difficult it would be to see the house change colors, though. We were so used to the color scheme (or lack thereof) that seeing bright colors on the walls initially was jarring. Did we pick the wrong colors? Are we that bad at this? Or are we just not used to seeing a very familiar place visually change so drastically? At one point, as the men were painting the wall on the staircase, I quietly regretted making the decision to change any of it, burying my face in my hands and hoping it wouldn’t be as bad tomorrow as it did today. Wet paint looks worse than dried paint, I’ve learned. After a rollercoaster of emotions, I’ve settled on loving our new color scheme. It does look better dried. Our instincts were right; the bold colors we chose made the house feel more like a home. It has more personality and flavor. It feels intentionally decorated in a way I didn’t realize it didn’t before. The dining room (pictured) is my favorite. The greenish-grey we chose is a mood-setter. Since it also serves as the plant room, it feels more vibrant and alive. The living room is now ancestral gold, which for some reason photographs more green than it actually is. And the staircase, which I haven’t photographed yet, is a lovely burnt orange color that enlivens that whole side of the house. Pick bold colors and paint your walls. It absolutely rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135680014-9C18JHU3WAQ3DJ3RJ3XD/NZF_5167.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.12.24 Darkness Brewing The little river town brewery that I like so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135687914-5MSAGMAVGVULVY2SJSSO/Purple+People+Bridge+-+Phil+Armstrong+-18.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.13.24 Purple, People, and Bridge I had a job at the Taft Museum and the weather was wonderful, so I decided to walk over instead of drive. Image from that walk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135676107-UQHRA533Z5M6YN95YC7X/1412+Republic+%23301+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.14.24 On Republic Street Photographed an Airbnb in Mt. Auburn, then went to Over-the-Rhine to photograph a condo for sale in this building on Republic Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135684160-VDLZH2SMGQB91BTIO9FI/UK+Hospital+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.15.24 Hospital Stuff Lexington was my destination today. GBBN recently completed a renovation at a hospital on the UK campus. They wanted images for their portfolio, and since I’ve seemingly become their go-to guy for hospital stuff, they asked me to come down and capture it. We staged architects in scrubs and put them in the scene as usual. What you don’t get a sense of from this image is just how messy the floor was when we showed up. It’s still in the punchlist phase of construction, and we had to move a hefty amount of stuff out of every shot to get little slices like this clean and looking photo-ready. Honestly, though, this wasn’t even remotely the hardest instance of working around construction I’ve had to do before. It looked worse than it ended up being, thankfully. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729135680960-N3CBYUM8WTPHAUI4ZE1M/Phronesis+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-33.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.16.24 Phronesis Blink starts tomorrow, so everyone’s gearing up. The Library, in partnership with ArtWorks, held a dedication event for the new, permanent, light-based sculpture ‘Phronesis’ by Jen Lewin Studio out of Brooklyn, NY. The sculpture consists of eight columns that light up in non-repeating, unique patterns. Check it out next time you go to the library. They look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819155095-SKHXT442FZKLG3ASJYKA/Blink+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.17.24 Blink 2024 Thursday night Blink is always my favorite. It’s new again, it’s exciting to run around and see all the new and returning artwork, there’s loads of people walking the streets, and the city’s more alive than usual. While I had criticisms about the previous Blink festival, I think this one is making up for it already. One big thing they’ve done this year is close off whole streets to pedestrians and lining many of them with food trucks. It’s such a simple change, but it makes a huge difference. Bringing projection mapping back to Music Hall for the first time since Lumenocity is a highlight of this year’s festival. I love seeing it all lit up again. It brings back fond memories of standing on Race Street and looking over the fence years ago. When it moved inside Taft, everyone knew something had to change. Also, the skate park just up Pleasant Street. Pleasant Street at Liberty is probably the most alive and unique block (in Cincinnati) this year. It feels fresh compared to other Blinks. Yard & Co. has a really cool alcove to pop into there. (They’re not paying me to say this, it’s just genuinely cool.) There are some great new and returning light installations this year, too, including Crescendo in Lytle Park. It’s a mainstay every year and it rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819152164-8YFQSKFS85QN8JAFDBL3/Blink+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-35.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.18.24 Blinking Twice I went out with Allie, Travis, Rob, and Rachel to see everything again tonight. We stayed Downtown but also hit up a few places in OTR. Music Hall and Cincinnatus aside, I think the projections in past years were stronger, but they’re still all very cool. I mentioned this yesterday, but one of my favorite things about Blink is how the streets are closed and pedestrians can just walk up to food trucks. Court Street had a mini-Asian Food Fest happening on the Kroger block, but across Vine Street, there were plenty of other places to grab a bite and a drink. As the sun was setting, this block looked particularly Sesame Street with all the happy people, dogs, and color lining either side of the street. Sadly, there were no muppets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819151875-EOAZRVHGUPOGYZAVVQ1Z/Blink+2024+-+Phil+Armstrong+-99.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.19.24 Blinked Thrice The primary approach I’m taking to documenting Blink this year is different than previous festivals. During the first two years, and again for the third, I focused heavily on capturing projections and the artwork itself. This time, I’m trying to capture people and the general feeling of being there in addition to casually shooting the festival. I got my shots in past years, and I’m happy with those. Now, I want to do something different; something unique. Something I can’t recreate if I tried. This was one of those moments. I actually snapped this without looking, from the hip. This group of friends in the Pike Street Arcade set their phone up on the ground against a purse and took a selfie together. I wish I could see their shot because I loved their energy from this angle. If you know any of them, please send them this image. It represents the vibe of Blink: people having fun. No drama. No politics. No anger or fear or resentment. Just everyone walking around, eating food, waving light-up balloons, and having fun. It’s been a hearty breath of fresh air the last three days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819145933-XW820QUN76KLANYTT325/IMG_1040.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.20.24 Blinked Out For the first time, I didn’t go to Blink all four nights. My social battery was spent. I couldn’t do it for a fourth night in a row. With the exception of seeing Newport briefly from the car, I saw every attraction in the 2024 lineup on foot, and got to hang out with Travis and Rob for three nights straight. It was the best time, but I needed a quiet day to myself to reenergize after being in enormous crowds the last three days. Ashley only went the first night and bailed on the rest, so I didn’t feel too bad about not attending the final evening. Instead, I spent a few hours building a TV stand for the living room. I used the legs from a coffee table I was previously using to prop up the TV and added a custom box to the top of them, raising the whole thing about 7 inches total. Stained the box the same color as the legs. I think the TV will now stand at the optimal height for viewing when sitting on the couch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1729819145934-05PAHAQFERL6PE7YZ43K/IMG_1052.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.21.24 Foggy Morning Had to take Ashley downtown for work this morning, and stopped by the water on the way back to get a photo because the fog was so picturesque. I didn’t mean for this to be the image of the day, but thanks to the juxtaposition, it had to be the one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236578208-II4MKT1H1DCYUCK8CJIS/Cincy+Open+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.22.24 Cincinnati Open Mural Dedication The scene from the Cincinnati Open mural dedication this afternoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236584504-3XTZLFSVVMI1W7L61ZCG/IMG_1082.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.23.24 Autumnal It’s beginning to feel properly autumnal outside. Normally I’m all about this time of year, and I still am, but I’m also not looking forward to winter this year. Something about it seems like it’s going to be a long one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236576847-8YJQBB6MP3XXCINMDPKT/Banter%2BBrews+10.24.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-49.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.24.24 Challenging Lighting Photographed an event inside the Digital Futures buidling in Avondale early in the morning. I wasn’t prepared for how challenging the lighting would be in this space, though. Between the low can lighting in the ceiling, dark areas inbetween, and the rising sun directly behind the speaker’s podium, it was a constant battle with settings to get exposures between extremes so I had the latitude to adjust them later in Lightroom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236571570-23V7NHZUHF7C0X7PKJ2D/Art+After+Dark+10.25.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-95.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.25.24 Costume Party The final Art After Dark of the year was held this evening. While it wasn’t as crowded as last month’s, the museum still had a stellar showing with many attendees in creative costumes. I saw Casey (pictured) and mistook his garb for The Crow (he is actually a black and white photo). I saw the twins from The Shining, David S. Pumpkins, Mothman, the Swedish Chef, a Bob Ross with his date wearing a painting around her face, someone dressed in Starfleet command red, a guy in a hot dog suit, pirates, cowboys, one Cousin It, Cruella DeVille with dalmation, and I even found a Waldo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236585618-DRINDCF336QB89YAUF8W/NZF_8734-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.26.24 Tiki Tiki Bang Bang We wandered into a costume contest at Tike Tiki Bang Bang tonight. It was very crowded, so getting a decent shot was tricky. But I did manage to snag a slice of life while waiting for a dole whip painkiller. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236588097-1YIUY92I7HVZI6DWZQB3/NZF_8746-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.27.24 Coffee Festival Shenanigans After not going for quite a few years, I decided to go to the annual coffee festival at Music Hall this weekend. It’s held in the ballroom on the second floor every year and features a boatload of coffee and coffee-adjacent vendors worldwide. Some are local, some are from other states, and some even come from abroad to give out little samples of their brews hoping people will fall in love and buy bags of beans. There are a fair number of artists who fill in the gaps with their wares, such as pottery and apparel. This is an image from one of the cheekier tables. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730236571593-2IE1S1T2LETCNL854VY3/1700+Hanfield+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.28.24 Hanfield Photographed a sun-filled apartment on the second story of a cute building on Hanfield in Northside this morning. The autumn leaves outside the window warmed up the room in a comforting way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730405795545-YT8XOOX9J34M2DZBX8G0/DSC01305.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.29.24 Action Claw! I didn’t win anything. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1730405795009-2XCJVAV7IYOTJHOG26YO/Myrtle+ghost.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.30.24 Spooky Ghost! We dressed Myrtle up for Halloween. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731287945904-4FU1KKOKHTF3YE8XE2CY/IMG_1233.jpg daily-photos-oct-2024 - 10.31.24 Almond Joys and Blanton’s While passing out candy tonight to trick or treaters, my neighbor, Shawn, sat with me and graciously shared his bottle of Blanton’s. It’s smooth, sweet, and syrupy in the best ways. Maybe one of the best bourbon’s I’ve had. It’s going to be a pain to go back to my budget options after two glasses of this fine stuff. It paired exceptionally well with all the Almond Joys I pretended were for the kids but conveniently stole from the bucket before passing them out. Though the rain kept many away, we still had about 30 kids show up to collect, including one who said she used to live in my house. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-nov-2024 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731288541514-S2WF2J5Y16TZ1MMDB22G/CAM+Gala+2024+-+6+-+Phil+Armstrong+-16.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.1.24 CAM Gala 2024 While passing out candy tonight to trick or treaters, my neighbor, Shawn, sat with me and graciously shared his bottle of Blanton’s. It’s smooth, sweet, and syrupy in the best ways. Maybe one of the best bourbon’s I’ve had. It’s going to be a pain to go back to my budget options after two glasses of this fine stuff. It paired exceptionally well with all the Almond Joys I pretended were for the kids but conveniently stole from the bucket before passing them out. Though the rain kept many away, we still had about 30 kids show up to collect, including one who said she used to live in my house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731289800816-BSJ34K3KYKBBKMPHCX46/IMG_1235.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.2.24 Hundredths My dad always talked about how he’d like to see time measured in metric. Instead of 24 hours in a day, he envisioned a day that would start at 0 and end at 100. Within that scale would be another 100 markers, like minutes to hours. He called them “ticks and tocks” long before the video app was devised. So something like 5:02 PM could be 65.14 or whatever. I get what he’s saying. Metric makes more sense to me, too, and while ticks and tocks made his children laugh at his nerdiness, at least one of them grew up to appreciate the vision. So when I came across this clock, I scarcely believed my eyes. Was this a prototype for ticks/tocks? After googling what I knew about it and coming up empty, I eventually asked an AI language model. Sometimes I find the conversational approach with ChatGPT to be a good launching point for how to research because it gives me key words to use in googling. All of this to say I learned the hundredths scale on this clock might have been used to accurately calculate payroll, possibly in a factory or office sometime in the middle of the century. It’s easier to calculate a worker’s shift if they clocked in at 7.01 and out at 15.68. No fractions, no hassle, easy hourly rate multiplication. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731289934503-UBTCPCSSFEO8UPMR42CW/IMG_1247.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.3.24 Ashley Turns 36 We went to MRBL for dinner and they brought her out a free dessert after the meal! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731290016284-MAJGSD952YGO3UX6LK1P/IMG_1282.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.4.24 Forgotten It’s an increasingly rare sight to see these in the wild. I wonder when the last time this was turned on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731290020185-UJKX0PDBAPAGPFY5F9SA/IMG_1274.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.5.24 Refinishing Floors Brendan asked if I would help him refinish the floors of his rental property. With the impending election wrecking havoc on my nerves, I jumped at the chance to do something with my hands for the day. The less time I spent online worried about the outcome of this thing, the better my mental health. He already sanded the majority of it with a large rental sander, but we needed to remove the old finish from the perimeter and stain everything before the end of the day. The process went well for the most part. Aside from having to stop briefly so Duke could fix a natural gas leak in the basement, we got it all sanded and stained by 4:30 PM. The Big Mac bridge’s southbound lane closure caused a long, arduous drive home despite being so close to my house. My anxiety about the election returned, fully ratcheted up. I got home, showered, and went to CVS to get both a flu and COVID vaccine. I worry what I’ll wake up to tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1731290019844-KTYPDFGQOQWBSGN4ZROG/NZF_9668.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.6.24 No Title/No Caption https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137184177-1Q9QRR0RMKDNWA42J7M5/IMG_1322.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.7.24 No Title/No Caption https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137181693-9BO14UWIDIKMTI20I78W/NZF_9683-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.8.24 DND There’s really nothing to say that hasn’t already been said. Just know I’m ashamed of my country, ashamed to be American, and ashamed I live in a world where hate and idiocy and incompetence rule. I have little faith in the future at this point. Been offline and on DND for days and it’s keeping me sane. This is the last I’ll say about this topic because so much of my energy has been wasted on this catastrophe already. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137177474-2MENB9ES47FU6OEHCBH9/NZF_9724-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.9.24 Dinner Party The biggest downside to our house is that it’s small and not overly conducive to hosting large groups. We’ve taken steps to better host, though, and I think we’ve solved a crucial part of it by making the dining room table twice as big. By getting a fold-up table the same size as our kitchen table and situating both side by side under tablecloths, the seating expanded from six to ten with enough room to comfortably place dishes around the table. Before everything happened this week, we scheduled a Friendsgiving with a few people and hosted it this evening. We agreed to keep the conversation light, which was probably the best thing we could’ve done. We got nine people together in our little dining room to eat a meal Ashley spent the day making. It was a big win for the week. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137189424-Y9694EFCYSVWYRC1Y6C1/IMG_1303.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.10.24 Moon Roof Wasn’t in a photographic mood today. Still offline and on DND mode, and loving it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137172607-FB1Q1MYLJEXFRB9PABZG/27+E+Fourth+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.11.24 Back To It Photographed a renovated building on 4th Street in Covington today. It’s been in the owner’s possession since January 1986 (the same month and year I was born). It was a law office for decades, but when COVID hit, most of the partners left, and he was left with a choice: keep going, sell it, or renovate it for residential use. He chose the latter. The inside looks fantastic. They did a truly outstanding job. I dare say it’s a dream house for someone like me. Google the listing (27 E 4th Street). You won’t regret it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137176716-41W4BR12QJEZYPS1P9N1/1734+E+Boat+Run+Road+%28Sunset%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.12.24 Country Desk From an Airbnb photoshoot I did today in New Richmond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137187521-0TAH4H2BI303TPQKBTMD/Hustle+n%E2%80%99+Bustle+%282024%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.13.24 Expand For Pano Drove around Cincinnati today collecting images of specific murals for ArtWorks. This one on the side of Whole Foods in Rookwood Commons was a standout due to the good lighting. (Click or tap to see the full panorama) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137171603-EP9LQ0MJQKOCJMJ1KGTT/824+Madison+Ave+%282nd+Floor%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.14.24 Galley Kitchen From a photoshoot today for Orleans Development. Galley kitchen with lovely green cabinets and gold hardware. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732137187403-OHBG5AFL21126SMZJTU6/IIDA+Awards+11.15.24+-+Phil+Armstrong+-235.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.15.24 Timeless Venue I finally got to shoot an event in the rotunda at Union Terminal. It had been on my list for years, but I hadn’t gotten a chance to do it yet. Every image has a perfect background. It is truly a timeless space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138778592-DBSL1QGRH7JY69NECQ9X/Campus+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-70.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.16.24 Campus Dedication ArtWorks held a dedication for its new campus in Walnut Hills this evening. The public was invited to check out the new digs in the renovated historic building. The place is as functional as it is beautiful, and I love that so much care was spent bringing a vacant space back online for a new purpose. The top floor has mural and photo studios, the second floor is primarily office space for ArtWorks employees, and the first floor is arranged in such a way that future art galleries and events will be easy to host. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do going forward with this unique and fresh new headquarters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138813955-JOD4LIN4WJ8PVNLL2BRS/IMG_1346.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.17.24 Taking a Stand I just really appreciated ETC’s stand at the Market today. 10/10 presentation. I bet this was fun to figure out and set up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138816940-82PPVXI7VN22QEPJUFYP/Bedroom+Wall.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.18.24 Paint Your Walls After the massive success of getting rid of the Millennial grey by having the first floor painted, I’ve been thinking about how the rest of the house could improve visually. I did an accent wall in the basement that warmed up a corner considerably and added a little more fun to that space, but I felt like there was more to do. Then Ashley suggested I paint one of our bedroom walls a dark charcoal. An accent wall's ability to change a room's feel cannot be overstated. It was perfectly fine before, but it was boring. A remnant of the flippers we bought the house from years ago. Now, it’s an eye-catcher and energizes the space. Or at least I think it does. Painting a wall a dark color is always a little dicey, but this one never receives direct sunlight, so I don’t feel like it’s eating too much of the natural light during the day. Paint your walls. It rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1732138808973-53IQRSV9NG6XX3I8D3U9/224+E+8th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-53.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 One-of-a-Kind Photographed a house for a listing today, and the owner is into custom tile. They did a whole bunch of colorful and unique tiling indoors, especially around the fireplace and in the kitchen, but I especially liked this address marker on the outside of their house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733706544685-10EGR40L6P148DIP0HC3/IMG_1401.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.20.24 Whatchudoin I lay down for a moment and she decided it was a good time to seek attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733706665780-S62MOOHHHF17S9XBJ4T0/IMG_1423.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.21.24 Late Night Lodging Unataza invited us to their annual Friendsgiving party again, and I actually managed to make it this year (previous years I had to work). It was held at The Lodge down the street from the coffee shop. I’d actually only ever been inside once, and just on the first floor, so it was neat to see the rest of it during Johnny’s tour. I didn’t take many photos today, but I did snap this moment upstairs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733706959230-4W4UZZ2QBI8X9Q8PJ557/Revelance+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.22.24 Revelance Worked with MA Design today to make some polished architectural photos of a project they worked on out in Mason, right by Sonder Brewing. Named Revelance, the two-story building was transformed from a simple gym to a mixed-use property with office space, an event space, a commercial kitchen and dining room, a first-floor bar, a bourbon and cigar room, and a virtual golf room. Oh, and there’s a robot barista right by the front door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707300402-K791NS72N89RKTZTSAYQ/IMG_1467.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.23.24 Hanging Artwork Travis and Allie got a photo for framed for their dining room, so I helped him hang it this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707450761-BYMRJLEP240I0UB9V2LE/IMG_1447.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.24.24 Very Needy I’m feeling somewhat uninspired lately. For some reason, picking up my camera is a chore at the moment. This happens occasionally, and I know it’ll pass, but it’s frustrating dealing with it. This was the only one I took all day; she always has to be touching Ashley if Ashley sits down on the couch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707946593-FQ6GOKNO30QD0ZJMIRXU/IMG_1622.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.25.24 Happy Being Back I'm back in the studio assisting Marlene this week. I haven’t worked with the crew in a while, so it’s nice to see everyone and continue learning through observation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733707952453-G1TWUAT957I4R9DLHT3N/IMG_1624.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.26.24 Little Bit of Light The days feel noticeably shorter now. Since the sun goes down around 5:30 PM, enjoying a little natural light while working inside a photo studio all day feels like a triumph. I know I’ve taken this photo (and probably posted this same perspective) before, but it’s the only semi-interesting frame from the day. Also, it took me an hour and fifteen minutes to go the four miles home this evening due to the bridge being out. They say it’ll take until March of next year before using the southbound lane is an option again. I think I will need to start experimenting with alternate routes... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733708706472-5H5GH6EBC2CANWILH0CG/IMG_1637.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.27.24 HISS! Gary wasn’t actually hissing; he was meowing loudly. Vince was patting his butt, and Gary could’ve easily moved off his lap if he wanted. Instead, he acted like a tough guy who secretly wanted more attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733709893822-T1MY36DQCS7ZKVE78FMG/NZF_0986-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.28.24 Weird Thanksgiving We didn’t feel like doing family Thanksgiving this year. Instead, we let the day unfold without a plan. Around 4 PM, we hopped in the car and searched nearly empty streets for an open restaurant. I had a feeling the Chinese place in Fort Thomas that I liked (New Garden) would be open. To our delight, it was. Instead of turkey, we ate sweet and sour chicken, crab rangoon, spring rolls, and rolled our eyes at uninspired fortune cookies for dessert. We tipped way more than usual, and headed back out on the road to find an open bar. The Lytle Park Hotel was open and willing to make us cocktails, so we met Travis and Allie there for a couple of rounds before heading north to Liberty’s on Main Street to end the evening. I think the freshness and impromptu nature of this Thanksgiving stands out as one of my favorites since childhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733932818463-OCYXRWHKRF7RUCQMMXV6/IMG_1651.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.29.24 Leaning Into It Ashley bought this Christmas light dog back in August to put on the porch during the Christmas season. I’ve known for years we were crazy-about-our-dog people, but this takes it to a whole new level. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1733933576398-LHIW6DWAIB20SIIOWT7B/NZF_1084-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-nov-2024 - 11.30.24 Ronny Hates Christmas For the last few years, we’ve gone to Overlook Lodge in Pleasant Ridge for their Christmas-themed drink event. Our group of friends finds a date that works for all of us, and we make a reservation to seat all of us together. It’s about an hour long, the drinks are good, and the whole thing ends up pushing me over the line for getting into the Christmas spirit. This year, Ronny and Sydney came with us. Ronny hates Christmas, but he primarily wanted to join because the rest of us went. At the end of our time slot, and to cap the event with a grand finale, a Christmas montage played on the TVs behind the bar, and light foam “snowed” from the ceiling. This frame is from that moment. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jan-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735853860339-9W6AQ8IJPOPOCSXC27WM/NZF_2013.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.1.25 New Year, Old Hobby Years ago, I used to paint. Aside from a brief flirtation with it again in 2018, I gave it up after I got into photography because I liked the control and immediacy of that medium more than I liked the trial and error of consumable paints. It’s hard to envision something and create it without the aid of an imaging system. I envy those with a firm grasp of analog art; I wish I could do it with ease as I feel like it’s a more challenging skill to learn than others. My sister asked me if I would paint her daughter something from a cartoon she likes. I agreed and picked up my paints for the first time in years. I didn’t get far (I’m very out of practice), but I made a little progress on the sky. It’s far from finished, and I have a lot more to do, but I think it’s an adequate initial effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735853862307-FXSY9HP3TPNV12SELKC6/NZF_2087.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.2.25 The ‘Returning From Lowe’s’ Perspective If I had a drone, this would’ve been photographed already. This view of Cote Brilliante in Newport, with a tiny cameo from the Wiedemann Hill Mansion juxtaposed with the Cincinnati skyline behind it, is nearly impossible to photograph accurately due to where you must stand to capture it. But that’s the thing: unfortunately, there's no good place to stand, and driving is the only option. Before you judge me, I wasn’t driving. Ashley was. I sat in the back seat of the car with a 250mm strapped to my Zf, and I burst-fired as we crossed the Grand Ave overpass—the only public spot with a direct line of sight to this. There’s an apartment building further up the hill in Fort Thomas that would likely offer the optimal frame, but I don’t have access to it. Seeing this every time I come back from Highland Heights or from the 275 loop has taunted me for years, and even though I have an image now, I don’t even think I’ve gotten the shot I want with this. But, it’s a first attempt. There’a another one of these along Columbia Parkway that’s taunted me for even longer. Maybe I’ll see if she can help me work on that one next. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557764054-6SXLFXLIHWUVUGMY5JE1/2143+Hogg+Ridge+Road+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg-43.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.3.25 The Tricky Bonfire I finally got back to work today. This morning, I did a product shoot for a children’s toy brand, but I won’t share those images as they involve child models, and I don’t have permission from the client/parents. I tested my new moonlight setup to see if the results would be better than the last time around. Thankfully, the investment was worth it, and the shoot went smoothly. I think I made some solid images during the session. Excited to put the finishing touches on them and send them over. Afterward, I drove to rural Kentucky for a photo shoot at a rental. A guy I know put the place together after purchasing it last year. One of the big things he wanted to capture was this outdoor fire pit area since one of the perks of staying here is the big yard. I had to wait until the sun set to get the image he wanted, though. The brisk winds made it nearly impossible to light, so we crammed a bunch of cardboard and paper towels into the pit, lit it, and nabbed a few frames before it quickly petered out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557761003-VB7WR5MRK5XXR9OCA62O/IMG_2086_jpg.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.4.25 Scuba + Steve When Ashley said she was going out with the girls, I hit up Steve and Erica to see if they wanted to get together. Their dog, Pippin, is having back issues, so instead of leaving him alone in their house, I drove out to spend some time with them. They live in Fairfax, right around the corner from the since-shuttered Frisch’s Mainliner. Nearby is a place called Tristate Scuba that I’ve always wanted to photograph at night because it has a unique neon sign in the window that lights up a large portion of the front window. It’s gorgeous, in my opinion. The way the colorful tubes illuminate the textures and surfaces of the surrounding equipment and the mannequin in the window is mesmerizing. I feel like a moth to bright light whenever I drive past it. Wanting to finally scratch that itch, I made a pit stop before going to their house to grab some photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557772552-S7UU55W4PX7HH5VSTNUU/NZ9_9433-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.5.25 A Colorful Surprise Last night at Steve and Erica’s house, they presented me with this incredible gift: a custom painting of Myrtle done by Canadian artist Jordan Perkins! Steve, Erica, and Erica’s best friend, Casey, had it commissioned in October as a gift to me after I commented on how much I loved his work when I saw Erica’s portrait of her dog on their wall. Little did I know they would be scheming to gift me one of my own. Of course, I had to set up the backdrop and studio lights for a side-by-side today. I can’t thank them enough for this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557781856-NLZDPG5H1LEUYZJPJX7I/ZFC_4730-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.6.25 A Snowstorm For the Ages Over the last 24 hours, we received nearly 10 inches of snowfall. The city essentially shut down while Winter Storm Blair blanketed the Midwest with more snow than we’ve seen in one day in a long time. We’ve had some decent snowstorms over the last decade, but this one was the biggest. I am of two minds when it comes to snowfall like this. On the one hand, I love how it makes an otherwise average day exciting. It forces us to stay cozy in our homes, make a big meal, and wear sweatpants without intending to go outside. It’s a reason to slow down and enjoy existing in a space cultivated specifically for our comfort and enjoyment. There’s no pressure to go out and worry about anything. Afterward, we get to go outside with our neighbors and dig each other out, further fueling that strong sense of community that attracted us to this neighborhood years ago. Plus, it visually changes the landscape in a beautiful way. On the other hand, it presents challenges that impact the less fortunate. Those without homes and people living somewhere not adequately equipped to handle cold temperatures and 10 inches of snow suffer. People who have to go somewhere, like a vital hospital job, during a blizzard risk their lives. It impairs accessibility for people using wheelchairs and those of us who have trouble physically getting around. Not to mention the economic impact it has on struggling businesses post-holiday season. It’s a double-edged sword. I hope temperatures rise so people aren’t uncomfortable for long, and I hope road crews can clear streets and sidewalks for everyone, but I think it’s going to be a while before that happens. For now, I’m going to appreciate what I like about it and do my best to help neighbors in any way I can. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557882709-HU8ORPNOO3OSK6LA7Y4Q/IMG_2155.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.7.25 A Small Sample This is a sample of how much snow we got. I measured it deeper than this on the deck, but this is still quite a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557772472-NXBP32DDV11LIKTWF588/IMG_2161.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.8.25 Shoveling the Parkway Helping out at the photo studio in Mohawk for the rest of the week. It’s a pre-light day, so I’m getting tasks done before clients arrive tomorrow. One of the things on my list this morning was to shovel Central Parkway so we had parking spaces for them in front of the building. I cleared five spaces of snow and the loading zone, taking about an hour and a half to finish. About halfway through, I removed my coat and hat to keep from overheating, and my hair ended up freezing when the sweat met the cold air. I didn’t mind the workout, and I was getting paid for it, but I could’ve done without all the cars racing by at 45 mph in the lane right next to me. I kept telling myself that I hoped it would be quick if I got hit. Anyway, I took a photo of some of my work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736564085090-QI3THEY0S1K31MHESSHA/NZF_2184-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.9.25 No Service I’ve been wondering about this fake Gulf station for a while. I found the owner on Facebook and tried digging up an email address to ask him about it, but no luck. I need to message him through the site if I want to easily talk to him about it. I’m debating whether or not I want to do that (I really, really hate Facebook). Based on what I read on his profile, this may be a fun retirement hobby for a guy who worked with cars. I made an uncropped version with the orange Gulf sign in the shot, but it deemphasized the snow around the gas pumps, and that’s what I liked best about the image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417563984-R3G5VWHKFWJMW27QNBI6/IMG_2215-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.10.25 Old Reliable It snowed again. I was in Marlene’s studio all day and knew it was coming, so Ashley dropped me off with the intention of me finding my own way home. No sense in her driving back over the bridge to get me if the roads were bad. Plus, finding a place on the street amidst the ever-growing snowbanks squished up along Central Parkway is increasingly difficult. We had plans with the friend group to go to the West Side for dinner, but that was postponed due to snow. After boarding an empty bus, I took a blurry selfie and made it to Bellevue. As I jumped off the Southbank Shuttle to avoid stepping into another snow bank, I heard someone yell my name from a car. When I turned, I saw Rob and Rachel’s iconic Chevy Sonic idling right behind the bus I’d just deboarded. They were headed to the Frisch’s in Bellevue for a final visit to the chain before it closed. Since I was already halfway into the parking lot, I joined them for an impromptu Big Boy dinner, possibly for the last time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417622949-RAOC9S1YJFKE4EL4XPZN/IMG_2222.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.11.25 Rural Drive The scene while driving through rural Ohio coming back from my sister’s house. Ashley was at the wheel, allowing me to take a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417800824-5XNVUOE1W2Z655E87EPZ/NZF_2211-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.12.25 I Barely Know Her! A neon sign in Ludlow, KY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418653956-5MSF47DSTQEDNFX7713R/NZ9_9650.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.13.25 Frost A scene from the third story of a building I was photographing on McMicken. I thought it looked neat in B&W. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417980708-HIS8C5SL8PK7IDUBYLXI/IMG_2274.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.14.25 Architectural Verticality Photographed this stack of different architectural styles while picking Myrtle up from Maria’s house today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418143994-NMH43QLHNSLU5L73QBLJ/IMG_2318.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.15.25 Good Light Opportunity I couldn’t help but photograph Ollie’s and the building next to it while the light was so golden. Say what you will about winter—it has phenomenal sunsets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418338130-OBAPNYH7UGXV3NL5BABC/NZF_2255-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.16.25 He’s Got a Chickeny Ride That Beatles’ song was blaring from a speaker nearby and I couldn’t help but Weird Al the lyrics in my head while I took this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418925672-I04UT2MCMKXJQXXYN2MM/IMG_2350.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.17.25 Optical Pitstop I had a job in Louisville today. The job didn’t start until noon, so I went down a couple of hours early to check some stuff out. One of the stops on my list was Murphy’s Camera on the city's east side. I didn’t buy anything, but I admired what they had. Much of the shop appeared to be a museum to old cameras. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737420428584-Y3R89W3ZTG703S1CVHB1/Alejandra-PhilArmstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.18.25 Alejandra A portrait of my friend and favorite coffee shop owner, Alejandra. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737420589186-4I323OHNZIFWQ6G99Y3W/IMG_2392-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.19.25 TWINS! Myrtle and Maggie (Steve and Erica’s doodle) have matching 80’s-inspired sweaters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737420732871-C9LMNHWPLAMRVJX79DA8/NZ9_0572-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.20.25 Incredible Mural MA Design sent me back to WAVE Foundation’s new space at the Levee to photograph two areas that includes a massive mural painted by Lusso Studios. It spans two hallways and ends in this nook, making it impossible to photograph all at once. The mural depicts beach and underwater scenes filled with marine wildlife, all intricately painted in every color of the rainbow. The attention to detail is truly astounding. If you ever have the chance to visit WAVE for any reason, ask to see this mural. It’s something else. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737600707574-DRRXQO3I2AEYKTQBVJEO/artomat.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.21.25 Birthday Treat When CityBeat reported on the Art-O-Mat, I didn’t even finish reading the short article about it before I emailed ArtWorks to set up my appointment to use it. The colorful, repurposed cigarette machine is filled with mystery artwork, all at a $5 price point. You pay for a token, slot it into the machine, and pull the plunger for the desired artist. I chose an artist I didn’t know: Judy Isaksen (Never 2 Bold Art). After I made my selection, this beautiful little green block with a floral design dropped into the trough below. A nearby yellow table in the sun made for a nice contrasting background for a photo. I couldn’t decide which photo to include for today’s entry, so I made a collage instead. Also, I’m 39 today. My birthday hasn’t historically been a day I relish, but I needed something to look forward to this year. Considering everything that’s happening in the country, a self-indulgent day filled with art, cheese coneys, a haircut and beard trim, and a nice dinner out with Ashley and two of my best friends was the temporary escape I needed. I cannot believe I’m now staring down the barrel of 40. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446944204-5G8MGSBTT39IDBNKPICM/IMG_2470.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.22.25 From Memory Marlene tasked me with repainting several areas in the studio. The cyc and laundry needed a fresh coat of white paint, and the client area floor needed to be repainted with a grey color that closely matched what was there. I took a chip of flaking paint off to match the color but foolishly forgot to take it with me when I left. Once at the store, I realized I didn’t have the chip and would have to match the color from memory. Matching colors has never been an easy task for me. After looking at the samples for several minutes, I guessed that this swatch most closely resembled what was there. Returning to the studio, I held my breath and placed the chip onto the swatch to see how good my visual memory was. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten it right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446968421-2BFBP6VHFTM4M2LXAV7J/Mercantile+Library+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-12.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.23.25 A Portrait of John Faherty Spent the day photographing the Mercantile Library. I got there at 9 AM and spent the next several hours photographing the library itself. The renovation added a second floor that has loads of beautiful areas to sit and read, study, work, and relax within. Those were the primary areas I wanted to capture since I’d already photographed the library extensively years before. After finishing, I spent the next few hours working on what I’d shot. Around the 4 PM mark, they began opening their doors for an event that would eventually host around 600 hundred people. A band played, poetry was read, drinks were served, dancers performed, and the programming schedule for the upcoming year was revealed to excited library members. This is a portrait of Executive Director John Faherty during his first speech this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446947727-S1W36FHFIABOODDUL73P/CSO+1.24.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.24.25 CSO I’ve only ever photographed Music Hall’s interior twice: once during the renovation, and once after it was completed. I remember both times being somewhat rushed, getting what I could in the limited amout of time I had. Both times were for the website back in 2017—long before I understood the principles of professional architectural photography. Today, though, I got to photograph a show for Music Hall itself. I primarily concentrated on close ups of the conductor and the symphony members because that’s what was asked of me. However, I couldn’t help but go wide for a couple of shots for myself. They let me into the sound booth at one point, and I was able to snap a symmetrical angle from the second story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446951426-EK35YG5KACPKXVAZFN3Z/IMG_2509.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.25.25 Not Photoshop Jay sent me a Bloomingfruits sticker that, when hit by direct sunlight through a window, produces a circular rainbow beam pattern on the wall behind it. When I took a photo of it, the image looked like I added a filter over top of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446953852-2S7J4UO75SBTM4J645M9/IMG_2533.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.26.25 Baby Shower Went to Annie and Justin’s baby shower at Alcove today. They got some good stuff to help with raising their upcoming newborn, Archie. Happy for them! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446960864-QHTNWXQPP9K9D5GWV3GH/IMG_2592.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.27.25 Bridge Drama A high-speed chase ended in a collision on the Brent Spence Bridge, then the suspect being pursued jumped down from the deck and onto the lower bridge structure to hide from police. They shut the entire bridge down for hours while they tried to safely remove the guy. Eventually they did, but not before someone with a live feed of the action streamed it on YouTube. The bridge drama in Cincinnati over the last several months is my least favorite thing about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446965409-JREGF3ERLG62MSCU4HW5/IMG_2594.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.28.25 Goodbye, Door Our drafty, old alley door is being replaced today. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s most likely original to the house and I want to preserve it. On the other hand, it’s bad at being a good door. As mentioned previously, it’s drafty, and on sub-zero days, the cold air seeping through the frame is awful. It’s also not going to stop anyone from kicking it in if they tried. We’re having it replaced with a steel door that promises to keep both possible intruders and cold air out. I decided not to save the wood because I already don’t have storage space for it, so I’m making the executive decision to let it go. However, I did peel off the old Radio Shack sticker that someone put on it at some point. That’s too good to throw out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446980137-OFSWMGNVBE9COLC9N9AG/IMG_2610.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.29.25 Floral Arrangement I’ve been in Marlene’s studio all week, so my own photography hasn’t been a priority. (I photographed a sticker on a door yesterday and my iMac screen the day before that.) Today won’t be much better. This is a floral arrangement from the shoot today that I took home to Ashley. It’s the only image I made all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446974784-HHT4VI5O3ZQVXLU1P80M/Mystery+%26+Benevolence+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.30.25 Mystery & Benevolence A still from my time documenting the opening of the Mystery & Benevolence exhibit at the Taft Museum this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446978565-HMRUJNETE77C7K438D2U/NZF_2460.jpg daily-photos-jan-2025 - 1.31.25 Unseasonably Warm In stark contrast to the month’s bitter frigidity, today felt like spring in the best way possible. We took a walk down to Darkness to enjoy a beer before meeting some friends at Loyal. I stopped to photograph the building at the corner of Taylor and Route 8; it has windows now, but I can’t help but feel annoyed that it’s not finished yet. The sidewalks are still closed. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-all-2025 daily 0.75 2026-02-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735853860339-9W6AQ8IJPOPOCSXC27WM/NZF_2013.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.1.25 New Year, Old Hobby Years ago, I used to paint. Aside from a brief flirtation with it again in 2018, I gave it up after I got into photography because I liked the control and immediacy of that medium more than I liked the trial and error of consumable paints. It’s hard to envision something and create it without the aid of an imaging system. I envy those with a firm grasp of analog art; I wish I could do it with ease as I feel like it’s a more challenging skill to learn than others. My sister asked me if I would paint her daughter something from a cartoon she likes. I agreed and picked up my paints for the first time in years. I didn’t get far (I’m very out of practice), but I made a little progress on the sky. It’s far from finished, and I have a lot more to do, but I think it’s an adequate initial effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1735853862307-FXSY9HP3TPNV12SELKC6/NZF_2087.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.2.25 The ‘Returning From Lowe’s’ Perspective If I had a drone, this would’ve been photographed already. This view of Cote Brilliante in Newport, with a tiny cameo from the Wiedemann Hill Mansion juxtaposed with the Cincinnati skyline behind it, is nearly impossible to photograph accurately due to where you must stand to capture it. But that’s the thing: unfortunately, there's no good place to stand, and driving is the only option. Before you judge me, I wasn’t driving. Ashley was. I sat in the back seat of the car with a 250mm strapped to my Zf, and I burst-fired as we crossed the Grand Ave overpass—the only public spot with a direct line of sight to this. There’s an apartment building further up the hill in Fort Thomas that would likely offer the optimal frame, but I don’t have access to it. Seeing this every time I come back from Highland Heights or from the 275 loop has taunted me for years, and even though I have an image now, I don’t even think I’ve gotten the shot I want with this. But, it’s a first attempt. There’a another one of these along Columbia Parkway that’s taunted me for even longer. Maybe I’ll see if she can help me work on that one next. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557764054-6SXLFXLIHWUVUGMY5JE1/2143+Hogg+Ridge+Road+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg-43.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.3.25 The Tricky Bonfire I finally got back to work today. This morning, I did a product shoot for a children’s toy brand, but I won’t share those images as they involve child models, and I don’t have permission from the client/parents. I tested my new moonlight setup to see if the results would be better than the last time around. Thankfully, the investment was worth it, and the shoot went smoothly. I think I made some solid images during the session. Excited to put the finishing touches on them and send them over. Afterward, I drove to rural Kentucky for a photo shoot at a rental. A guy I know put the place together after purchasing it last year. One of the big things he wanted to capture was this outdoor fire pit area since one of the perks of staying here is the big yard. I had to wait until the sun set to get the image he wanted, though. The brisk winds made it nearly impossible to light, so we crammed a bunch of cardboard and paper towels into the pit, lit it, and nabbed a few frames before it quickly petered out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557761003-VB7WR5MRK5XXR9OCA62O/IMG_2086_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.4.25 Scuba + Steve When Ashley said she was going out with the girls, I hit up Steve and Erica to see if they wanted to get together. Their dog, Pippin, is having back issues, so instead of leaving him alone in their house, I drove out to spend some time with them. They live in Fairfax, right around the corner from the since-shuttered Frisch’s Mainliner. Nearby is a place called Tristate Scuba that I’ve always wanted to photograph at night because it has a unique neon sign in the window that lights up a large portion of the front window. It’s gorgeous, in my opinion. The way the colorful tubes illuminate the textures and surfaces of the surrounding equipment and the mannequin in the window is mesmerizing. I feel like a moth to bright light whenever I drive past it. Wanting to finally scratch that itch, I made a pit stop before going to their house to grab some photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557772552-S7UU55W4PX7HH5VSTNUU/NZ9_9433-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.5.25 A Colorful Surprise Last night at Steve and Erica’s house, they presented me with this incredible gift: a custom painting of Myrtle done by Canadian artist Jordan Perkins! Steve, Erica, and Erica’s best friend, Casey, had it commissioned in October as a gift to me after I commented on how much I loved his work when I saw Erica’s portrait of her dog on their wall. Little did I know they would be scheming to gift me one of my own. Of course, I had to set up the backdrop and studio lights for a side-by-side today. I can’t thank them enough for this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557781856-NLZDPG5H1LEUYZJPJX7I/ZFC_4730-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.6.25 A Snowstorm For the Ages Over the last 24 hours, we received nearly 10 inches of snowfall. The city essentially shut down while Winter Storm Blair blanketed the Midwest with more snow than we’ve seen in one day in a long time. We’ve had some decent snowstorms over the last decade, but this one was the biggest. I am of two minds when it comes to snowfall like this. On the one hand, I love how it makes an otherwise average day exciting. It forces us to stay cozy in our homes, make a big meal, and wear sweatpants without intending to go outside. It’s a reason to slow down and enjoy existing in a space cultivated specifically for our comfort and enjoyment. There’s no pressure to go out and worry about anything. Afterward, we get to go outside with our neighbors and dig each other out, further fueling that strong sense of community that attracted us to this neighborhood years ago. Plus, it visually changes the landscape in a beautiful way. On the other hand, it presents challenges that impact the less fortunate. Those without homes and people living somewhere not adequately equipped to handle cold temperatures and 10 inches of snow suffer. People who have to go somewhere, like a vital hospital job, during a blizzard risk their lives. It impairs accessibility for people using wheelchairs and those of us who have trouble physically getting around. Not to mention the economic impact it has on struggling businesses post-holiday season. It’s a double-edged sword. I hope temperatures rise so people aren’t uncomfortable for long, and I hope road crews can clear streets and sidewalks for everyone, but I think it’s going to be a while before that happens. For now, I’m going to appreciate what I like about it and do my best to help neighbors in any way I can. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557882709-HU8ORPNOO3OSK6LA7Y4Q/IMG_2155.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.7.25 A Small Sample This is a sample of how much snow we got. I measured it deeper than this on the deck, but this is still quite a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736557772472-NXBP32DDV11LIKTWF588/IMG_2161.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.8.25 Shoveling the Parkway Helping out at the photo studio in Mohawk for the rest of the week. It’s a pre-light day, so I’m getting tasks done before clients arrive tomorrow. One of the things on my list this morning was to shovel Central Parkway so we had parking spaces for them in front of the building. I cleared five spaces of snow and the loading zone, taking about an hour and a half to finish. About halfway through, I removed my coat and hat to keep from overheating, and my hair ended up freezing when the sweat met the cold air. I didn’t mind the workout, and I was getting paid for it, but I could’ve done without all the cars racing by at 45 mph in the lane right next to me. I kept telling myself that I hoped it would be quick if I got hit. Anyway, I took a photo of some of my work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1736564085090-QI3THEY0S1K31MHESSHA/NZF_2184-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.9.25 No Service I’ve been wondering about this fake Gulf station for a while. I found the owner on Facebook and tried digging up an email address to ask him about it, but no luck. I need to message him through the site if I want to easily talk to him about it. I’m debating whether or not I want to do that (I really, really hate Facebook). Based on what I read on his profile, this may be a fun retirement hobby for a guy who worked with cars. I made an uncropped version with the orange Gulf sign in the shot, but it deemphasized the snow around the gas pumps, and that’s what I liked best about the image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417563984-R3G5VWHKFWJMW27QNBI6/IMG_2215-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.10.25 Old Reliable It snowed again. I was in Marlene’s studio all day and knew it was coming, so Ashley dropped me off with the intention of me finding my own way home. No sense in her driving back over the bridge to get me if the roads were bad. Plus, finding a place on the street amidst the ever-growing snowbanks squished up along Central Parkway is increasingly difficult. We had plans with the friend group to go to the West Side for dinner, but that was postponed due to snow. After boarding an empty bus, I took a blurry selfie and made it to Bellevue. As I jumped off the Southbank Shuttle to avoid stepping into another snow bank, I heard someone yell my name from a car. When I turned, I saw Rob and Rachel’s iconic Chevy Sonic idling right behind the bus I’d just deboarded. They were headed to the Frisch’s in Bellevue for a final visit to the chain before it closed. Since I was already halfway into the parking lot, I joined them for an impromptu Big Boy dinner, possibly for the last time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417622949-RAOC9S1YJFKE4EL4XPZN/IMG_2222.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.11.25 Rural Drive The scene while driving through rural Ohio coming back from my sister’s house. Ashley was at the wheel, allowing me to take a photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417800824-5XNVUOE1W2Z655E87EPZ/NZF_2211-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.12.25 I Barely Know Her! A neon sign in Ludlow, KY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418653956-5MSF47DSTQEDNFX7713R/NZ9_9650.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.13.25 Frost A scene from the third story of a building I was photographing on McMicken. I thought it looked neat in B&W. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737417980708-HIS8C5SL8PK7IDUBYLXI/IMG_2274.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.14.25 Architectural Verticality Photographed this stack of different architectural styles while picking Myrtle up from Maria’s house today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418143994-NMH43QLHNSLU5L73QBLJ/IMG_2318.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.15.25 Good Light Opportunity I couldn’t help but photograph Ollie’s and the building next to it while the light was so golden. Say what you will about winter—it has phenomenal sunsets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418338130-OBAPNYH7UGXV3NL5BABC/NZF_2255-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.16.25 He’s Got a Chickeny Ride That Beatles’ song was blaring from a speaker nearby and I couldn’t help but Weird Al the lyrics in my head while I took this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737418925672-I04UT2MCMKXJQXXYN2MM/IMG_2350.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.17.25 Optical Pitstop I had a job in Louisville today. The job didn’t start until noon, so I went down a couple of hours early to check some stuff out. One of the stops on my list was Murphy’s Camera on the city's east side. I didn’t buy anything, but I admired what they had. Much of the shop appeared to be a museum to old cameras. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737420428584-Y3R89W3ZTG703S1CVHB1/Alejandra-PhilArmstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.18.25 Alejandra A portrait of my friend and favorite coffee shop owner, Alejandra. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737420589186-4I323OHNZIFWQ6G99Y3W/IMG_2392-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.19.25 TWINS! Myrtle and Maggie (Steve and Erica’s doodle) have matching 80’s-inspired sweaters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737420732871-C9LMNHWPLAMRVJX79DA8/NZ9_0572-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.20.25 Incredible Mural MA Design sent me back to WAVE Foundation’s new space at the Levee to photograph two areas that includes a massive mural painted by Lusso Studios. It spans two hallways and ends in this nook, making it impossible to photograph all at once. The mural depicts beach and underwater scenes filled with marine wildlife, all intricately painted in every color of the rainbow. The attention to detail is truly astounding. If you ever have the chance to visit WAVE for any reason, ask to see this mural. It’s something else. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1737600707574-DRRXQO3I2AEYKTQBVJEO/artomat.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.21.25 Birthday Treat When CityBeat reported on the Art-O-Mat, I didn’t even finish reading the short article about it before I emailed ArtWorks to set up my appointment to use it. The colorful, repurposed cigarette machine is filled with mystery artwork, all at a $5 price point. You pay for a token, slot it into the machine, and pull the plunger for the desired artist. I chose an artist I didn’t know: Judy Isaksen (Never 2 Bold Art). After I made my selection, this beautiful little green block with a floral design dropped into the trough below. A nearby yellow table in the sun made for a nice contrasting background for a photo. I couldn’t decide which photo to include for today’s entry, so I made a collage instead. Also, I’m 39 today. My birthday hasn’t historically been a day I relish, but I needed something to look forward to this year. Considering everything that’s happening in the country, a self-indulgent day filled with art, cheese coneys, a haircut and beard trim, and a nice dinner out with Ashley and two of my best friends was the temporary escape I needed. I cannot believe I’m now staring down the barrel of 40. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446944204-5G8MGSBTT39IDBNKPICM/IMG_2470.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.22.25 From Memory Marlene tasked me with repainting several areas in the studio. The cyc and laundry needed a fresh coat of white paint, and the client area floor needed to be repainted with a grey color that closely matched what was there. I took a chip of flaking paint off to match the color but foolishly forgot to take it with me when I left. Once at the store, I realized I didn’t have the chip and would have to match the color from memory. Matching colors has never been an easy task for me. After looking at the samples for several minutes, I guessed that this swatch most closely resembled what was there. Returning to the studio, I held my breath and placed the chip onto the swatch to see how good my visual memory was. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten it right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446968421-2BFBP6VHFTM4M2LXAV7J/Mercantile+Library+Event+-+Phil+Armstrong+-12.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.23.25 A Portrait of John Faherty Spent the day photographing the Mercantile Library. I got there at 9 AM and spent the next several hours photographing the library itself. The renovation added a second floor that has loads of beautiful areas to sit and read, study, work, and relax within. Those were the primary areas I wanted to capture since I’d already photographed the library extensively years before. After finishing, I spent the next few hours working on what I’d shot. Around the 4 PM mark, they began opening their doors for an event that would eventually host around 600 hundred people. A band played, poetry was read, drinks were served, dancers performed, and the programming schedule for the upcoming year was revealed to excited library members. This is a portrait of Executive Director John Faherty during his first speech this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446947727-S1W36FHFIABOODDUL73P/CSO+1.24.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.24.25 CSO I’ve only ever photographed Music Hall’s interior twice: once during the renovation, and once after it was completed. I remember both times being somewhat rushed, getting what I could in the limited amout of time I had. Both times were for the website back in 2017—long before I understood the principles of professional architectural photography. Today, though, I got to photograph a show for Music Hall itself. I primarily concentrated on close ups of the conductor and the symphony members because that’s what was asked of me. However, I couldn’t help but go wide for a couple of shots for myself. They let me into the sound booth at one point, and I was able to snap a symmetrical angle from the second story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446951426-EK35YG5KACPKXVAZFN3Z/IMG_2509.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.25.25 Not Photoshop Jay sent me a Bloomingfruits sticker that, when hit by direct sunlight through a window, produces a circular rainbow beam pattern on the wall behind it. When I took a photo of it, the image looked like I added a filter over top of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446953852-2S7J4UO75SBTM4J645M9/IMG_2533.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.26.25 Baby Shower Went to Annie and Justin’s baby shower at Alcove today. They got some good stuff to help with raising their upcoming newborn, Archie. Happy for them! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446960864-QHTNWXQPP9K9D5GWV3GH/IMG_2592.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.27.25 Bridge Drama A high-speed chase ended in a collision on the Brent Spence Bridge, then the suspect being pursued jumped down from the deck and onto the lower bridge structure to hide from police. They shut the entire bridge down for hours while they tried to safely remove the guy. Eventually they did, but not before someone with a live feed of the action streamed it on YouTube. The bridge drama in Cincinnati over the last several months is my least favorite thing about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446965409-JREGF3ERLG62MSCU4HW5/IMG_2594.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.28.25 Goodbye, Door Our drafty, old alley door is being replaced today. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s most likely original to the house and I want to preserve it. On the other hand, it’s bad at being a good door. As mentioned previously, it’s drafty, and on sub-zero days, the cold air seeping through the frame is awful. It’s also not going to stop anyone from kicking it in if they tried. We’re having it replaced with a steel door that promises to keep both possible intruders and cold air out. I decided not to save the wood because I already don’t have storage space for it, so I’m making the executive decision to let it go. However, I did peel off the old Radio Shack sticker that someone put on it at some point. That’s too good to throw out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446980137-OFSWMGNVBE9COLC9N9AG/IMG_2610.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.29.25 Floral Arrangement I’ve been in Marlene’s studio all week, so my own photography hasn’t been a priority. (I photographed a sticker on a door yesterday and my iMac screen the day before that.) Today won’t be much better. This is a floral arrangement from the shoot today that I took home to Ashley. It’s the only image I made all day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446974784-HHT4VI5O3ZQVXLU1P80M/Mystery+%26+Benevolence+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.30.25 Mystery & Benevolence A still from my time documenting the opening of the Mystery & Benevolence exhibit at the Taft Museum this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738446978565-HMRUJNETE77C7K438D2U/NZF_2460.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 1.31.25 Unseasonably Warm In stark contrast to the month’s bitter frigidity, today felt like spring in the best way possible. We took a walk down to Darkness to enjoy a beer before meeting some friends at Loyal. I stopped to photograph the building at the corner of Taylor and Route 8; it has windows now, but I can’t help but feel annoyed that it’s not finished yet. The sidewalks are still closed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738542303351-QMF0TX0X4UQK03FN4KQM/Last+Scouts+2.1.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.1.25 Southgate House Revival Travis’ band, Last Scouts, performing on stage at Southgate House Revival. They added a new member after two previous members moved on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738543221117-8APGKQKOF7PDRWJHU974/Maria%27s+Baby+Shower+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.2.25 Baby Shower II: The Sequel Last Sunday, we celebrated Justin and Annie as they prepared for their newborn baby’s arrival. Archie, their son, was born healthy and happy on the final day of January. Today, we celebrated Mike and Maria as they prepare for their newborn baby’s arrival! Maria has been in our lives as long as Myrtle, actually. She’s run a doggy daycare out of her house for years, and Myrtle has been going there or seeing Maria in some capacity almost every other week for the last 7 years. Myrtle’s boarded with her when we’ve gone on vacation, Maria was her handler in our wedding, and she’s been one of our best friends for ages. Really happy for them, and excited they get to start a new chapter in their lives with their upcoming little one. It’ll feel strange not to go to another baby shower next Sunday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738641822782-QOJEJ7U4E6FR9H70NPD6/IMG_2646.JPG daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.3.25 Blast From the Past My friend Caitlyn is moving to a new apartment and needs furniture to make the surprisingly large space feel like a home. She’s gotten fantastic deals on antiques from various outlets but needed a few other standard items, namely a couch. Tonight, we gave her the first couch I ever bought: one of those Karlstad IKEA couches in isunda grey. It’s the right size for her place, and we were looking for a good home for it anyway. The timing just worked out perfectly. I had that couch with me for 13 years, and I’m proud that it stayed in such good condition considering it was my main living room couch for an entire decade. I’m delighted she will be able to use it. Anyway, we helped her move the couch and a couple of other pieces of furniture into her new place this evening. While there, she gave us a tour, and I saw this on her wall. It was an interview I did with her back in 2018. We used to do interviews with local photographers every other month or so, and I chose her as one of my features at one point. I’ve never seen anything I’d written etched into brass and placed on a plaque like that before. It warmed my heart that she thought this was special enough to memorialize. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046682253-XHA9MG26FMELJ195X67M/NZF_2968-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.4.25 Split Diopter Fun I use my split diopter so infrequently, I have to relearn its eccentricities whenever I do. It’s a weird optical element that produces a wholly unnatural effect focus-wise, but I really like its unique ability to facilitate storytelling in a single frame. I thought it would be fun to capture a body cleaning. By making the subject and action both in focus despite different depths, the viewer can easily infer what’s going on. The q-tip in hand in the background is understood to be soaked with rubbing alcohol because the other q-tips are sitting next to the bottle in the foreground. And because the diopter produces a nice bokeh on the foreground subject, there’s less of a need to worry about simplifying the background on the left half of the image in order to make the subject pop. It feels a little like an ad for rubbing alcohol in this instance. I’ve always wanted to try it with people, though. Maybe the next time I bust this thing out, I can try for something a little more poignant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046679417-ZVROD8875H5ZR9D44THZ/6139+Plymouth+-+2.5.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.5.25 Coming Along Most of my work this week has been at my desk, but I got to briefly go up to Mt. Washington today to make a new set of progress photos for Jake’s property that he’s flipping. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046672557-6P7B45XGISN86WZMGL36/IMG_2654.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.6.25 The Tiny Fainting Couch Caitlyn bought a hilariously small fainting couch for her apartment. She didn’t realize it was so small until she went to pick it up. It’s more of a foot stool than anything. It may be a good Victorian dog bed. Either way, it’s falling apart at the legs. The connection point for the legs is broken and falling apart due to age and rough use over the years. The wood is splintered and broken, so screwing the legs into it won’t work. I need to cut out the broken wood and replace it with a new foundation piece. Reattaching the legs will be straight forward at that point because they’ll have something solid to grip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046667745-0ZW6I4573XH8KY6221I8/Test-661-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.7.25 Lighting Test Aside from a slight bump in contrast and a little bit of vibrancy added, this image is unaltered. It was achieved by adding pink and yellow gels to two strobes that are pointed at a white backdrop at roughly a 45-degree angle. I intentionally didn’t light the subject (moi). When the lights fire simultaneously, they blend together and create a beautiful gradient background. I’m testing this setup because I have a portrait shoot coming up that will require a fun background like this. I’ve rented studio time up the street at The Lodge so I have more room to move lights around and give the client room to breathe. The rate is reasonable, and the space is excellent; I can’t wait to set up and start making some good stuff. I have a third light on order at the moment. I’ll need it for this shoot. I plan to light the background like it looks above and put a soft box on the subjects/eyelighter below to illuminate their faces, Once I have three studio lights, I feel like I’ll be ready to tackle just about any headshot situation. I made it work with two for a long time, but three will make everything easier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739221454808-8C905OS8WDOYEKWJJMNC/Diffuser+Tests-11-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.8.25 Diffuser Test It’s been kind of blah outside, and I’ve been home more than usual. As such, I’ve been experimenting with tests of my gear (see yesterday’s post) to stay active and keep myself sharp. I decided to illustrate the effects of various diffusing materials with this one. From the way different grids focus the light at specific intervals to how different materials scatter and soften it, choosing the right element to put in front of the flash bulb is key to getting the effect you need. I think instead of using that giant soft box, I’m going to use the plastic and soft cloths for smaller subjects like this. They’re more physically manageable and seem to do the same thing at this scale. The grids are great for controlling light bleed. I’ll use them when I need to carefully light one specific part of a subject without interfering with the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739221461715-7HHO71EVU7ACDUIEX7U8/NZF_2997-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.9.25 Candlestick Maker Ashley loves this local shop called Hoste in Walnut Hills. It’s full of kitchen-related wares and decor items that fit her sense of style. This morning, Hoste held a candle-painting event that Ashley and Allie attended. These are the two designs Ashley made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740065766606-NW9BZWMZLC455EM48DC4/Screenshot+2025-02-17+at+3.48.41%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.10.25 8K Headshots Went over to 8K Construction’s office to do some headshots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740066382114-DTR19E0K7YPNYOM15D1U/NZF_3000.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.11.25 The Cold and Frost Another product shoot I can’t share required a trip out to Indian Hill this morning. After what feels like an endless amount of snow so far this year, we were hit again with another round, albeit far less this time. It complicated the travel/loading/unloading process with all my gear, but thankfully nothing got wet or damaged. After I got home, a chill that seemed to plunge deep within my bones made sure that I would stay in the rest of the evening. Without anything photographically to share for the day, though, I knew I had to do something for this project. I stuck my camera out of the back door on a tripod and captured the cold and frost in what little light remained. The long exposure did a lot to brighten the scene up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740069105816-52VUHI0PQOI4ZKDZR0ZF/Shahzia+Sikander+Exhibit+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-96.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.12.25 Sikander: Collective Behavior Tonight, the Art Museum debuted its newest exhibit, Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior. From the CAM website: “For more than three decades, Shahzia Sikander (born 1969, Lahore, Pakistan) has been reframing South Asian visual histories through a contemporary feminist perspective. Working in a variety of mediums—painting, drawing, print, digital animation, mosaic, sculpture, and glass—she reimagines the past for our present moment. Throughout her practice, she considers diasporic experiences, histories of colonialism, and Western relations with the global south and the wider Islamic world, often through the lens of gender and body politics.” Brooklyn-based Hyperallergic, a publication that covers art news, came to Cincinnati to cover the exhibition’s opening. The museum needed high-quality images for its upcoming piece and asked me to do them. After I shot the exhibit, I photographed the event that followed, which included a meet-and-greet with the artist and a talk between Shahzia and the curator, Ainsley Cameron. Choosing a photo of the day was difficult, but I settled on this one of Shahzia speaking in front of attendees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740070000967-LVHNX4YLKQNDQIR1G930/IMG_2742.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.13.25 r/PerfectFit The title is misleading; despite how it looks, it wasn’t a perfect fit that would be worthy of submission on the r/PerfectFit subreddit. Caitlyn needed help picking up an antique vanity she found on Facebook Marketplace. She didn’t know the exact dimensions, but she knew it was roughly 70 inches tall. At that height, it’d fit in the Crosstrek, but I didn’t ask as many questions as I should’ve about width and depth. After following her to a remote location up a dirt road on a large hill deep in Alexandria, I saw the piece and realized it wouldn’t be as easy as I thought. I had to push the driver and passenger seats up as far as they’d go before the hatch shut. Even still, the piece pressed firmly against both the seats and back door, requiring a bit of muscle to latch it. The real test was getting into the seat and driving 20 minutes to Walnut Hills. Being 6’2”, it was challenging, to say the least. Though the piece fit perfectly snug in the entirety of the car behind me, I was not a perfect fit up front. Though painfully uncomfortable, the trip went smoothly, and we managed to lug this thing up a flight of stairs before setting it down in its final resting place in her new office. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740068587027-WUVSOK97NURDC0YAH4LQ/4024GlenwayStorefronts-PhilArmstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.14.25 Glenway Storefront 8K renovated a building on Glenway that will house a barbershop and a store with apartments above them. They asked me to come out to grab a few photos of the work as well as a portrait of each of the owners of the businesses that will occupy the storefronts on the first floor. I wish I’d gotten the name of the man in photo, but I was having issues with my speedlight and that required all of my attention at the time, and I just wanted to make sure I got the shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740070694961-KD27RBEHML751YON3PXB/Tiny+Minis-99-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.15.25 Tiny Toothpaste Ashley had business in Columbus, Indy, and Louisville over the last few days. She forgot to pack toothpaste before she left, so she went down to the customer service desk at one of the hotels to see if they had any. They gave her the smallest toothpaste money can buy: a 0.17 oz tube weighing 5 grams. She brought home an extra tube to show me, and I thought it was hilarious. I immediately started devising a fun way to showcase this diminutive hygiene product. I placed it on Mytle’s nose and took a photo first, but I wanted to show how small it is next to similarly-sized household products almost anyone would recognize. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740071070767-E9Q55HGCZYRQ3GLAG8IE/IMG_2759.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.16.25 TWUCC Saw this adorable truck with a foreign license plate parked at Lowe’s. Then, I saw the local license plate on the top right corner of the cab: TWUCC. I’m still chuckling about it hours later. If I ever bought a truck, I’d want this. Something small with an open back bed that isn’t so large that you have to climb into it. It’s perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740758580273-GY5Z7KTIG8FZXZZNYQUZ/NZF_3486-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.17.25 Macro: CRT Screen Failing to find anything interesting to photograph today, I got out a bunch of macro diopters, stacked them on top of each other, and started looking at things with textures and translucent properties to see what I could capture. I think I’ve done a close-up of a CRT screen like this before, but I don’t think I’ve done it on the A/V IN screen before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740758676841-XXVA56SDLOHAXWIIRV6G/Altura+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.18.25 Altura Apartments MA Design worked to reimagine a former four-story office building in Mason into a rental community called the Altura Apartments. The massive facility offers your standard new-build apartments in several floorplans named after Italian cities, loads of communal space (including the lounge pictured above), and a vast array of outdoor amenities that we didn’t shoot because there’s snow on the ground and it’s February in Ohio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740759196754-EPB9VIXR323O09Z5WNC8/Streaming+Things+Test+Shots-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.19.25 Steve-ing Things Steve came over to help figure out a complicated lighting setup we plan to use for an upcoming shoot on Friday. We’re photographing him and his co-hosts of the Streaming Things podcast for their social media marketing. This particular shot required four lights: purple and orange on the white backdrop, a neutral white key light on the right side of his face, and a Speedlight outfitted with an orange gel to illuminate his left side. It took about two hours to set up, dial in the way we wanted, and record all the necessary settings to duplicate it later in a different space. It’s times like this that having a dedicated studio would be nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740759870413-TX5BRA2SQRKSRHXTYML9/Rob+Headshots-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.20.25 A Portrait of Rob Rob needed a professional headshot for his job. We made this image then went out to eat wings and drink beer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740760470148-J8VV9O5H3OVDG4VUR7AS/ST+Group-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.21.25 That’s a Wrap! Cast photo after we finished creating all the marketing images for the Streaming Things podcast. I rented out a three-hour block at The Lodge in Dayton, KY, to allow enough time to set up and take proper photos. While we didn’t get to the complicated, colorful photos Steve and I planned a couple of days ago, we did a ton of white background stuff they’ll use. All in all, it was a successful shoot. The Lodge was also a perfect space for something like this. At $30/hr, it’s affordable and convenient. I think I’ll utilize this space again in the future if I need somewhere to set up for something of this scope. Back row: Hatter, Kit, Andy, Jimmy, Alex Front row: Madison, Steve, Erica https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740761106678-MJ74VXT708LPSTF7JOBV/NZ9_5263-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.22.25 Vintage Show A couple weeks ago, I did a shoot at Vintage on Race Street for GBBN. Those shots turned out nicely, but they wanted me to return to the space when it was open so I could capture how the bar looked during a live show. Normally, architectural shoots are slow and methodical, with time to dial in settings and perfectly stage everything. This return visit was anything but normal. I brought Ashley, Allie, and Travis with me to set them up at the corner of the bar. They’d get drinks, and I’d position a tripod across from them, looking at them and beyond toward the stage. However, when we arrived, it was immediately apparent that wouldn’t happen. The bar was crowded and full, with a waiting list of 115 people (roughly two hours). The person I was told to contact about setting this up never got back to me, either. Long story short, I went back to the bar at 9 PM when the show was supposed to begin, explained to the hostess and bouncer why I was there, and did a few handheld shots over my head at a high ISO that I would later correct in post. It wasn’t what I planned, and I honestly felt bad about not being able to control the scene the way I wanted. I did the best I could, considering the situation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740761228407-OG5E23WJLRVKUH1K4YD6/NZF_3492-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.23.25 Macro: LCD I used the diopter set from the other day and photographed this LCD screen from as close as possible. As a kid, it always blew my mind that LCD crystals could cause visible shadows on the backdrop behind it. Polarized light will always be a little bit of a mind-blower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740762349152-24GYNOMXN5Z9LH2D7KJU/NZF_3523-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.25.25 Macro: Flower Staying with the diopter theme of late, I aimed it centimeters away from the center of a flower. I’m less interested in what’s in focus than the pillowy softness of the image around it (and the chromatic aberration that comes with filtering light through so many glass elements). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740762394226-G1RYGB6LLRPVXQ5O2DPH/Shahzia+Sikander+Painted+Windows+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.25.25 The Highest Compliment A couple of weeks ago, I photographed Shahzia Sikander’s new exhibit, Collective Behavior, at the Cincinnati Art Museum. She liked the images so much, she contacted me directly to do more photos for her, specifically of the painted windows she made in a separate gallery. I went to the museum today to capture those windows and a few other pieces for her. I obviously have to make money to stay alive, but it doesn’t drive me creatively. It’s not a motivator beyond sustenance and wanting to live a comfortable life. Hearing that I did a good job from a living artist of her caliber, however, has the opposite effect. It’s more motivating than anything I can think of. I thrive on the quality of work and recognition for doing a good job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740765249411-05KHGJ4AKUJDZ67WBX7I/Wayfarer+x+SBD+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.26.25 The Wayfarer Bar John wanted shots of the bar his shop made for Wayfarer Tavern. They did a tremendous job. I’ve eaten at this place every week since they started serving pizza, and it’s the closest thing I have to a local that isn’t Unataza Coffee a few doors up the block. If you haven’t had their pizza yet, plan a visit. You’ll be more than satisfied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740765545735-AR3VL3TR8KJYHO429ZUQ/MercantileLibrary2.27.25-PhilArmstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.27.25 The Mercantile Librarians Photo of the Mercantile Library crew for the library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740961670701-NH068TYU6XQEJJTMKHEQ/NZF_3584-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 2.28.25 Precipitation Retaliation The annual burning of the papier-mâché snowman to ward off bad weather for next weekend’s Bockfest celebration took place at Northern Row this evening. The Sausage Queen delivered the fatal flame to the lighter-fluid-soaked effigy, nicknamed Frothy the Snowman. It went up in about 90 seconds as the crowd clapped and recorded on their phones. Afterward, I enjoyed a hot poker in my beer as part of the celebration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372033056-4D6E4IE1388FPIQBZSDH/NZF_3642.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.1.25 The Starway What's left of the Starway Drive-In sign (later called the Starway Fun Park). Opened in 1946 with spots for 433 cars, the Starway Drive-In was one of the first of its kind in Kentucky. As the fate of Americana drive-ins took hold over the following decades, the theatre sold in 1991, and a small amusement park opened in its place in 1994. Today, it's no longer in use; only a few original buildings remain. I ran across it on the drive between LaGrange and Frankfort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372025218-586X550IIV7THYT1NJYW/NZF_3498-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.2.25 Macro: Flower II Really need to get better about coming up with creative names. Continuing the macro photo theme with my crazy diopter setup. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372037439-8KFGDYDCLYRYFK979O0K/SBD+Glass+Case+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.3.25 Glass Case Single Batch made this sleek glass case with remote-controlled RGB LED lights housed under an acrylic base. They did the metalwork in-house and had the glass manufactured. I’ve never seen them do work like this before, and it was a treat to get to shoot it for them. 99% of the work I did on this image was just making the walls look clean so as not to distract from the piece itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372016081-4JFUSO76IZY2YJF4G75O/824+Madison+Ave+%28Unit+4%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.4.25 Awaiting Tenants This is one of the stills from a shoot I did in Covington on Madison Ave earlier today. Orleans renovated a building next to its office that houses several apartments of varying sizes. This one is a shotgun-style apartment with the living room in the front, bedroom and kitchen in the middle, and bathroom in the back. The bedroom features a lot of natural morning sunlight, warm wood floors, an ornate fireplace, and beautiful old tile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372032946-GBV3KTIRGM7NFSYSBLWT/NZF_3785.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.5.25 Macro: Snoot My view when she shares my pillow in the morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372024161-20SRSKNPD0VDVXA1Z7ZX/632+Russell+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-13.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.6.25 Germania Hall Rebecca has a listing for a large building on Russell Street in Covington. She paid a local historian to dig up some facts about the place to tell its story and hopefully find a buyer who respects local history. Long story short, the report details its many uses, one of which was a nearly 20-year stint as Germania Hall. The Hall was a meeting place for German-Americans in the late-19th and early-20th century. Featuring a dance hall, saloon, and bowling alley, it was a place where immigrants could gather with their peers in this new country. Sadly, by the time America joined WWI, anti-German sentiment killed Germania Hall and the building underwent a shift to industrial use going forward. It wasn’t until 2015 that it was renovated into the office space it is today. Aside from the tin ceiling on the second and third floors of the main building, much of its original character has been painted over to accomodate modernity. However, I saw this little bit of faded paint on the wall for what appears to be “15¢ Beer” near the back of the second floor, harkening back to its days as a saloon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748896052-TTNAON0PLY53W8TAHK0X/NZF_3833.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.7.25 Return of Bockfest My favorite annual event in Cincinnati is Bockfest for several reasons. The lighthearted, offbeat parade that kicks it off is something I look forward to every year. From the fun float designs to the strategically placed dance troupes in the lineup keep the energy high, the march has more goats and unique spirit than any other in Cincinnati. I also like that the crowds aren’t as heavy as something like the Opening Day Parade. I used to photograph it extensively years ago, but I didn’t bother the last few years. New people are covering it now, and I don’t think the internet necessarily needs my input anymore. Regardless, I still snapped a few frames when I saw someone I knew. Bob (pictured) is in it every year with the cigar club. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748879897-MJW5DTCPW0TCY2GO50OD/IMG_2936.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.8.25 Metro’s Inelegant Logo Paul was in the middle of telling us how he thinks the Cincinnati Metro logo, which is essentially a sloppy blue asterisk, looks like a cat’s butthole. He provided a visual aid and kept switching back and forth between them to make his point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748899464-3LNMLLI6O0KY2EY7O5FT/NZF_3856.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.9.25 Guardians of Traffic After photographing a traveling exhibit for the Cincinnati Art Museum earlier this month, the artist liked what I did so much that she asked me to photograph a companion exhibit of her work at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I threw a change of clothes in a bag, loaded up my gear, and left Cincinnati around 1 PM. When I got to Cleveland, I still had enough light to go check out something I’ve always wanted to see with my own eyes: the Guardians of Traffic on the Hope Memorial Bridge. These massive Art Deco statues stand on either side of the bridge on both ends. I parked at the market and walked about a block where I was able to stand on the sidewalk and photograph the statues with the city behind them. I knew they’d be gorgeous, but they were even more impressive in person. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748887258-7P5O74UPTPACELTJN1KT/IMG_2989.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.10.25 The Horrors of OSR After completing my job in Cleveland and checking out a few other things while there, I decided to stop and tour the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield on the way home. This place has long fascinated me from an architectural and human rights perspective. It’s simultaneously an engineering marvel in the middle of Ohio that’s never been reproduced anywhere else in the world and a horror show with an awful past. I got there an hour before closing time, so I paid the fee to do a self-guided tour and speed run as much of it as possible before the cell doors locked me in for the evening (figuratively, of course). As expected, there are a lot of Shawshank Redemption references throughout the building; that’s a great movie, but I found the Hollywood connection to be the least interesting part of the building, if I’m honest. The scale and design of the former prison intrigued me the most. This place was constructed over several decades and served as a prison from the 1880s to 1990. The east wing features an atrium with six tiers of prison cells—a feature unique to OSR and not replicated anywhere else in the world. Tight, dark corridors and suspended metal staircases snake all over the cell blocks, triggering my fear of heights several times as I wandered. Every corner of this place, despite its architectural beauty, felt desolate and heavy. That’s not a nod to the paranormal; I just couldn’t shake imagining how many people suffered so close together for all those years in the darkened cells I was too superstitious to enter myself. For a large chunk of the tour, I was completely alone with this place and my racing thoughts. Though the prison is well-built and still structurally sound today, there’s no shortage of broken concrete and crumbling brick no matter which way you look. The peeling lead paint on every surface sags and flakes off from years of neglect. The metal bars designed to keep people sequestered in their cells and on the different tiers are rusted and worn from over a hundred years of physical trauma. The cells are barely maintained and tattered beyond livability—a painful reminder of why the prison was permanently closed in 1990. At one point, a guard walked by and told me about the prison's unsolvable roach problem toward the end of its lifespan, too. “It’s a little worse now, but not by much,” he said, looking hauntingly into darkened cell #40 in the east wing. It’s so many things all at once: a massive memento of a violent, crowded hellhole riddled with a century of death and human suffering, a preservation success story despite its dark past, a piece of Hollywood history, and a photogenic goldmine among many other things. Go see it if you can. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580269880-UBPZX6BWWPJCOIQOIUXN/NZF_4243.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.11.25 Canceled Plans As I drove up the steep, winding driveway of the Cincinnati Art Museum, I panicked upon realizing I’d forgotten to load the CF-Express card into my Z9. I could technically try shooting this event entirely on my Zf, but that camera only had one small card loaded into it at the moment, and I feel so much more comfortable with my workhorse for situations like this. Frustrated, I mentally kicked myself for being so forgetful. It was unprofessional and stupid of me to neglect something so routine. My panic quietly turned to confusion as I crested the hill, though. Where was the familiar cadre of valets waiting in the traffic loop ahead? Why were there no cars in the lot? Was the event I was scheduled to photograph canceled, or am I ridiculously early? Checked my phone, and nothing seemed amiss. The arrival time and date were right, but the scene from the parking lot suggested otherwise. Puzzled, I unloaded my camera gear and walked up to the closed front doors. Checked my phone again to see if I’d missed some communication. Nothing. After a while, I got ahold of someone inside, and they had, in fact, canceled the event for that evening without telling me. My memory card mishap was no longer an issue, and I realized my forgetful ass would get away unscathed. Annoyed that I wasn’t getting paid that evening but relieved I’d saved face, I returned home, changed into comfier clothes, and took Myrtle on a beautiful walk by the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580284321-VUUHCONM1OW39YZUKXB1/Untitled-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.12.25 Double Exposures Never paid much attention to the ‘Multiple Exposure’ mode on the Zf. Today, though, I played around with it, and I think it might be a nice tool to catalyze creativity when inspiration fails. You shoot two NEFs, and it automatically generates a JPEG. You can access all three files in your editing software later. Depending on the setting, the system will prioritize light and dark pixels, creating these odd mashups that feel different than traditional double exposures. The DARK setting is the one I think I like the most (bottom two images), but the ADD setting (top left) turned out the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580254217-DSEIJLGOTKTGVUFG4WQL/544+Milton+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.13.25 Prospect Hill’s Incredible View Shot a house on Milton Street with a really nice view today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580261719-EICL8K87E4VIKF8VJJUY/1865+Chase+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.14.25 Retrofit Photographed a renovated corner building on a prominent corner in Northside. The developer is one I’ve worked with in the past. It’s always interesting seeing how they take a historic structure and make it modern. One of the more unique units in the building is this first floor corner apartment that exists in what I assume would’ve been street-level retail or restaurant at one time. With the windows at the top of the wall, the dwelling maintains privacy while allowing ample natural light to fill the space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580277107-XRT546EKVWP0RDOUQYID/NZF_4340-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.15.25 Windy Day The air was warm, and a stormfront threatened to blow into the area later in the evening. We took advantage of the spring-like conditions by going out for coffee and later to Alms Park for a walk. I snapped this photo because the drama of the sky and the swaying pine tree caught my eye. The dynamic range was too much for my camera, but it’s fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580268206-R0JFM4ZYXK2IPK9IRMI3/IMG_3062.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.16.25 David Bow-Wowie Myrt sauntered into my office and stood in the rays of colorful light produced by the sticker on my window. The little line of red light across her eye reminds me of the cover of that one David Bowie album (you know, the one). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580280207-V2369VWJUNTS4PSEWMM8/NZF_4342.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.17.25 Unwanted Don’t know why this chandelier was in the woods by the train tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580254572-U7WAGSMKRW8W7YUGZT8Z/509+Short+Pershing+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.18.25 4 of 3 on Short Pershing Not only have I photographed every house on Short Pershing in Covington, but I’ve now photographed one of those houses twice. I knew I’d likely reshoot a house at some point, but I didn’t expect it to be on the best-hidden street in NKY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580262551-J99I8OEXZJE3413G6JCO/1007DaytonStreet-PhilArmstrong-21.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.19.25 Above the Bar-b-q Photographed a renovated apartment in the West End. The sign for Mom Bell’s Kitchen Bar-b-q still hangs on the side of the building. I wonder how long it’s been gone. A quick search doesn’t reveal much, sadly. A local historian wrote a little piece about it on his website but didn’t uncover anything about Mom Bell. One thing I do know is a sign was once painted above its picture windows advertising a menu item called Tim Austin Champ’s Steak Burger. You can see it on Google Streetview if you look closely. Austin was a boxer from Cincinnati who won several championships throughout the 90s before retiring in the 2000s. I don’t follow boxing, but he seems to have been a pretty big deal. I doubt I'll ever know the story behind this place without speaking to neighbors or anyone old enough to remember the West End in the 90s. Hopefully I meet someone one day who does. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743428493748-KZEEX5NWLD63DAJ5NHRY/Painted+Window+Collage.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.20.25 Caesura A collage of three painted windows at the Cincinnati Art Museum by Shahzia Sikander. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743431992538-PUYVHZYYHINKGJWMFG8O/IMG_3134.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.21.25 Stowaway While sitting on the couch watching TV, we heard something rustling in the plant on the fireplace mantle. Having had a bad experience with a mouse in the house the day before, we assumed another one had gotten in. With Ashley halfway up the stairs in fear, I crept over to the plant, looked inside, and was relieved to see a Lazarus lizard instead. I gently picked up the pot, took it to the porch, and waved the reptile away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432235890-8S0PPVA96A014NXC2H2H/IMG_3148.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.22.25 The Girls Travis has a show at a bar in Ross, OH this evening. Ashley, Allie, Caitlyn, Rob and I all drove out to watch his band play. I didn’t take my camera this time, and I only took one photo (this one) all evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432556292-W97EDYBSPND4W9Y39GPM/IMG_3156.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.23.25 (Eyeballs Emoji) She wanted my avocado toast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432619654-PZHCXVPGRLGRMPJO66VZ/20E24thSt-PhilArmstrong-17.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.24.25 Small But Mighty Shot a house in Wallace Woods this morning that is small on the inside but has a huge backyard. The owner spent years converting the steep-sloping yard into a Japanese garden with cascading wooden walkways, a greenhouse, a fountain, and native Japanese plants and flowers. While it’s unfortunately not the right time of year to showcase how beautiful the garden will be in two months, I got a sense of how peaceful it will be for the future owner should they maintain it the same way. It would be a dream to step into something so well-built. I hope whoever buys it understands what they have. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432949563-40I1U60T4B5BOFHRXDPM/CANstructionPNC-PhilArmstrong-126.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.25.25 CANstruction MA Design and HGC teamed up to create a CANstruction sculpture at the PNC Center this morning. They hired me to produce a time-lapse video and document the 5-hour build. Their sculpture ended up being Hot Wheels-themed, with two cars and a big flame on top. After deCANstruction, all cans will be donated to the Freestore Food Bank. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743433392571-V4CUO1Q0BVJ8EM4EHD3C/IMG_3248.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.26.25 A Good Bread Shop I’m happy this bread shop went in on the Avenue last year. If you ever need good, fresh bread, you know where to get it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743433144767-QCENEIK3D7XJTT4TU7M0/8K+Opening+Day+-+Phil+Armstrong+-146.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.27.25 Another Opening Day The Reds Opening Day Parade, March 27, 2025. I marched with 8K Construction and documented the crew as well as the fans along the route. Sadly, the Reds turned over a one-run lead in the 8th inning later that day and lost to the San Francisco Giants. But at least the parade was perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743433693598-YQ2K99OPT6YZ95SP0BFY/AAD+3.28.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-65.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.28.25 Quiet Contemplation Photographed Art After Dark this evening. I focused on getting images the museum could use all year (not in traveling exhibits) of people enjoying the museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743434058772-7ORAXRFXKTISN5241K9J/NZF_5869.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.28.25 Stalking His Prey This is Jonas’ very serious kebab-wanting face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743434072560-AAREV5I80SWMQ7DU5IBP/NZF_5878-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.30.25 Command Center It’s that time of year again: spring storms that double as tornado factories. Since last year, I’ve made a few improvements to the basement, though. I put a digital antenna on the TV to see local weather broadcasts from a safer position, and I moved my iMac downstairs to keep an eye on the porch and yard through the security cameras. All this would be useless if the power went out, but it’s pretty good otherwise. Ashley joked that I looked like a security guard in a command center watching the cameras with my can of chips. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743534156429-V0CQ7QBE5R9VHFZOM2D6/NZF_5916-Enhanced-NR-1-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 3.31.25 The Greatest Computing Device I read an article today about how the iPad’s future may be in jeopardy thanks to rumors of an upcoming folding iPhone. It’s also rumored that this phone will expand to the size of an iPad Mini. While this new device that sounds bulkier in pocket might excite some, I can’t see moving from my 3rd Gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro for a smaller screen at this time. I’ve probably written about this on here before, but this iPad may be the best Apple product I’ve ever purchased. It’s certainly the only computing device I’ve used for seven years without feeling the need to replace it, and to say I’ve gotten my money’s worth is an understatement. To combat iPadOS updates that tend to slow down older models, I’ve stripped it of all apps save for a few (Safari, Mail, Messages, Procreate, etc). While it’s not a substitute for a real laptop, and though the battery level is roughly 82% of its original capacity, the pencil feature is the main reason I keep it in my daily rotation; I simply can’t draw on my iMac or MacBook like I can on this little iPad. So cheers to you, little iPad, for perfectly filling a niche no other device can. You’ve found your true calling among my digital tools, and until you become too slow to draw or fully bite the dust, you’ll continue to avoid the upgrade cycle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464765780-EA6N31SAY0B9O1ILUAJJ/NZF_6751.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.30.25 I Also Don’t Know This Flower, But It’s Also Pretty Continuing the theme from yesterday’s post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744139752459-ZQX9DHYGYOKWQ77T1KUE/NZF_5967-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.1.25 Post Your Desk This 27 “Apple Studio Display is my last substantial purchase for my photo business (for the foreseeable future). I think I finally have the perfect setup for my needs. The M1 iMac I bought years ago is a fantastic computer that experiences no slowdown save for when I’m trying to batch update images after an event or when I’m trying to make a complicated video in Resolve. Since I’ve been doing more events over the last few years, processing speed has become more of a necessity for getting things done efficiently. While the M1 iMac could undoubtedly do it, my M3 MacBook Pro does it faster. The MacBook was originally primarily intended for on-location tethering, but with its 36 GB of unified memory compared to the iMac’s 16 GB, I found it was the preferred computer for what I needed—it just didn’t have the size screen I preferred. Linking the Studio Display to the M3 is the fast-processing, preferred editing combo I was looking for. As a bonus, all my work is centralized on the M3 so I never have to switch files between two computers again. The M3 sits under the shelf and connects to the display using a Thunderbolt cable. Since it receives power through the same cable, I don’t have to have the power adapter plugged in. Desk components: -Studio Display -M3 MacBook Pro -TourBox Elite controller -Full Apple keyboard -Magic Mouse 2 -Personal fan -Two mood lights -Philips Hue Signe gradient floor lamp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744140200385-G6F9DZ6B724E9KMOW3R7/1818+Race+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.2.25 New Offices Cincinnati Development Fund’s offices are moving to the third floor of 1818 Race Street by Findlay Market. Before they move in, though, 8K Construction wanted some photos of the space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744140393204-5WOF8XYWFB5EUTKBBF4K/Cycle+Thru+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.3.25 Cycle Thru The Cincinnati Art Museum opened its newest exhibit, Cycle Thru, to the press today. They had me come in to take photos of the space for use in marketing. The show has several displays with bikes from different eras, such as the one pictured. Yes, that’s the Pee-Wee Herman bike. It felt nice to be there with the other press people. Reminded me of what I used to do when I worked for the website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744140967923-4NG5STJOOJPK0MP5GPG5/IMG_3431.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.4.25 Perfect Vibe We went out to a couple of bars tonight, one of which was Jerry’s. I’ll never tire of how good it feels inside this place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744142185766-TN5GB1GTWYCPRY42U2DY/CAM+Kids+Day+-+3.5.25+-+Phil+Armstrong-46.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.5.25 Serpentine Photographed CAM Kids Day for the museum this afternoon. Several reptiles and snakes were brought for viewing as part of the programming. I prefer not to post children to this site without permission from their parents, so this is probably the only image I can show from the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834578953-W8TBUJHLDBEMEC1FASZH/NZF_6077.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.6.25 Self Portrait A different kind of front-facing camera photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834587495-33S34PSI1D7L5TM31NUA/315+Orchard+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-16.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.7.25 The ADA Orchard House For nine years, I’ve worked with Rebecca on her listing photos. She’s given me the chance to shoot quite a few lovely places over that time, but there’s something about this one that really grabbed me. I’ll get to why in a second. Orchard was built in 1890, and after 125 years, it got a makeover thanks to the Center for Great Neighborhoods. Its identical twins next door were also renovated, preserving this bit of Covington’s built history. Heather (Covington Uncovered) did a great write up about 315 and the other identical shotgun houses over on her account. One of the reasons this one speaks to me is its ADA accessibility. If you look closely, you’ll see it at the sinks specifically. There’s an easy grade on the exterior that leads up to the door to the kitchen/living room, and aside from the basement, it doesn’t feature any stairs. You don’t often see renovations that have wheelchairs in mind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834588369-DR1E1QQS4UEOADN0PIGN/NZF_6023.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.8.25 Zf Update This firmware 2.0 for the Nikon Zf is nuts. In addition to the JPEG recipes, which I've never used until today, you can set up your camera to automatically upload to Lightroom or Dropbox or other cloud file storage automatically. I shot this photo and it was in Lightroom on my phone in less than a minute. You could spend the day out and about with a color recipe locked and loaded, shoot all day, and review what you did in Lightroom that night without physically connecting your camera to anything. That’s pretty awesome. I think I might start shooting in JPEG with a recipe selected just to switch things up for a bit. I’ve rarely shot anything but RAW because I like the flexibility of the edit afterward, but the appeal of making the creative decision in the moment, while scary, is liberating in a way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834571461-ZOUCC83VQX5FJP486AIA/Studio+Session-070-2-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.9.25 I Would Drive This Marlene has family in Japan. She brought me back this tiny little car during a recent trip there. She likes to guess what her friends would drive and gets them a car that fits their personality. She gave it to me and asked, “Is this a car you’d drive? I feel like this suits you.” “Yes, definitely,” I replied. I have no clue if this is a real car, but it’s my style. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834572934-MDWY0XEDCJA9PWUX1GJY/IMG_3524.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.10.25 Sunbleached Grit I’ve been sick enough over the last two days that it’s caused me to go to bed early, but I’m not sick enough to stop going into the studio for work. It’s the unpleasant in between of wanting to lie still and recover from the pain and chills while being just barely well enough to respect that money doesn’t make itself. With the impending price hike of everything thanks to the president’s tariff debacle, I need every dime I can get. Yesterday was a struggle. Thanks to copious amounts of extra-strength Advil, I managed through a very long day and went to bed almost immediately when I got home. Slept for 12 hours to try to feel somewhat normal for today. Thankfully, that was a good tactic as I am slightly better today. Since it’s a studio day, though, I didn’t shoot much except for this gas station while I was at the pump. I liked the textures and faded colors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834592777-BKVN46DXLUUB54K6B285/NZF_6090.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.11.25 Faux Lomo 100 The idea of film recipes for Fuji cameras once made me roll my eyes. I didn’t get it; why be fake when you could just shoot actual film? You could just as easily and authentically pick up a used camera and a roll of film and do what you want without having to fake it. Shoot digital when you want a digital look and film when you want a film look (if you have both). To some degree, I still hold this opinion, but with less passion now. After playing with the novelty of the Zf’s film recipes, I get why people use them. They’re just fun. In some ways, snapping the image with custom color science applied in the moment and living with the results is more film-like than shooting RAW and tweaking it later. I won’t say it’s a 1:1 comparison, but there’s a commonality if you boil it down to basics. Maybe this is as close as digital gets to the experience before branching out into its own thing? The thought of shooting something professionally with a film simulation doesn’t appeal to me. Still, for personal photography, it might be fun to choose a simulation for the day and run with it to try something different. I once said the B&W mode on the Zf might be a gimmick I grew out of, but I still use it from time to time. This may be the same situation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834593871-4ZI3KQGZGKDGC3UQNVJH/NZF_6110.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.12.25 Dive Bar Found myself listening to a band play at The Fill Inn tonight with Travis. I wanted to test out how quickly I could snap a photo and have it show up in Lightroom using the Nikon cloud connection using my phone’s hot spot. (30 seconds) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834581264-LJLBICMJCTGQYWKM1P2O/NZF_6114.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.13.25 The Coming of Spring Thus begins our annual weekly trek to Baeten’s for new plantings. It’s too early to plant annuals, but we picked up some fresh pine straw for the beds. It felt great to get outside and work in the yard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247570676-M7SCVE0JPM2SSMA69VPQ/728+Garrard+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-56.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.14.25 Tucked Away on Garrard Rebecca had a neat house for me to photograph today. It backs up to the Licking River, but high enough that it won’t flood during the high conditions we recently witnessed. It’s front yard is massive, sloping downward toward the tree-lined street below. A long driveway snakes up the side and ends in a large parking pad behind it. One of the owners is apparently an arborist, so the landscaping is native, healthy, and intentional. Even though I didn’t get to photograph it at full bloom, I can tell this yard will be stunning in early summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247555400-8HMEW5A3AUUCM36U7X14/IMG_3634-Edit-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.15.25 Surreal No idea when I'll be able to share this project, but I'm currently photographing brand product packaging with photos on it that I took, and I had to document the occasion because this is very surreal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247549994-JO9RS1X1QCGLX6NG8FXA/Art+Museum+Event+4.16.25+-+Phil+Armstrong-12.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.16.25 Wine Bike Tonight’s event at CAM celebrated the opening of Cycle Thru! and Tintoretto’s Genesis—two exhibitions that the public is free to enjoy. During the event, this entertainer rode a modified bicycle with wine glasses suspended from a circular holder. The bottles were kept in holders on the front, and a crate suspended off the back behind the seat held additional glasses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247547712-0J4NJLHGHI4W5MLHZKJU/NZF_6153.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.17.25 Morning Walk I’ve probably posted this scene before. Hopefully not, though. I love how this small house along Route 8 is situated mere feet away from this Family Dollar and next to another commercial building. It initially reads as spite house, but if you think about the nature of development, it’s way more likely that the commercial buildings were constructed in place of where homes similar to this one were once standing. And I should mention that I am still playing with the Nikon Zf JPEG recipes. This one is on “Kodak Gold 200.” I like how it gives the light a little extra warmth and alters the blue values accordingly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247532346-Y6V8MJ4C2VNS0Z2WNGNG/NZF_6167.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.18.25 Grill Out I spent the entire day outside. The grass is cut and trimmed. The flower beds have been cleared of dead leaves from the previous fall season. New pine straw has been laid. Mulched the back beds and relaid all the edge bricks. Deep-cleaned the grill. Ashley put together the flower pots for the front and back. I tossed more ball with Myrtle than I ever have in one day. My arms and hands are sore from digging around in the Earth, and it feels amazing. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I genuinely think humans need this connection to the planet to feel right. You don’t need to farm acres of land to get it; you just need a little time to feel that soil under your nails while the sun warms your back every once in a while. The day ended with a boatload of hot dogs on that freshly cleaned grill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247522877-054DORRISRWJG7XWZJ15/NZF_6171.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.19.25 Faux Lomo 100 While visiting a few breweries downtown, I tested the Lomo recipe. Besides Portra 400, I’ve shot more Lomo than any other film stock by several hundred images. That said, I don’t know what Lomo looks like with an overcast sky, so I don’t know if this is accurate. All my shots on actual film were taken in sunny or nighttime conditions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247531246-D65FJYXZRIVJBKRCPCEH/NZF_6177.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.20.25 Spring in NKY I think this faux Lomo recipe makes spring really pop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745504875276-1ROFO1I21ASLGKT5YBPB/NZF_6221.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.21.25 Doughnut Skip Out On West Newport It was a slow Monday afternoon, so I slapped a 40mm on my Zf, hopped on my bike, and took an aimless ride around town. Northern Kentucky has a load of interesting architecture throughout its river cities, but I concentrated on West Newport for most of this particular ride. From the old school corner markets and bars to the finely maintained historic structures, there’s no shortage of texture, color, and visually interesting vignettes in that part of the city. Every time I walk or ride through it, I swear I find something new and beautiful I’ve never seen before or appreciate something I’ve seen but largely overlooked. On one block you’ll see a row of charming, colorful 19th century one-stories and on another block you’ll see an eye-level billboard for McDonald’s in someone’s side yard. The way the sprawling streets end with the Cincinnati skyline makes it unique, too. Every block is brimful of character, grit, and weird beauty the other river cities around it can’t replicate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745504870128-9RBF8X96X90GLRJJJAWJ/NZF_6336.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.22.25 Different Eras While waiting for Ashley to come out of the salon, I saw this classic car driving west on Route 8 and quickly snapped a photo without spending much time lining it up. It was later on that I noticed the driver of the classic car looked to be an older guy, and the driver of the newer car going the opposite direction looked to be a younger guy. There’s probably something to be said about the parallel between the age of our vehicles and ourselves, but I’ll let you come up with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745504872184-TY1GODN21BRR5W6DQYMZ/NZF_6356.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.23.25 Queue ‘Family Matters’ Theme A bridge over train tracks connects Patterson Street from 11th to 13th Street. If you get out and walk on it, you get this unique view of downtown with West Newport in the foreground, completely obscuring the massive river between them. While I’ve taken similar shots from 15th, I’ve never done this particular vantage point before. It reminds me of the first shot of the ‘Family Matters’ intro where the camera slowly elevates to show the Winslow house in relation to Chicago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464795887-4P0HCJGDPDYJ9PF4MKUV/Art+In+Bloom+Arrangement-44.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.24.25 Art In Bloom: Day 1 For the first time in a long time, the Cincinnati Art Museum put on Art In Bloom two years in a row instead of doing it every other year. I was hired to photograph every event during the four-day affair, beginning today. Art In Bloom pairs custom floral arrangements designed by floral artists in the community with existing works in the museum’s collection. This year, the works were assigned to the artists instead of letting them choose their inspiration piece. My tasks today involved photographing every arrangement next to their piece, as well as a soiree at the end of the evening. It’s really hard to choose which pairing I like best, so I’ve chosen to post one that stood out to me. M. Melissa Flohre put together this beautiful arrangement that perfectly mirrors the color palette and shape of the piece they were assigned. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464788460-L57WWF3B7Z1VS9CAXJ1T/AIB+Art+After+Dark+-+Phil+Armstrong-34.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.25.25 Art In Bloom: Day 2 On day 2 of Art In Bloom, I photographed a luncheon and a sugar flower-making workshop throughout the day before ending with covering Art After Dark. In the Fountain Room, a floral bar filled with free stems of a variety of flowers were made available to eager attendees. The line stretched from the floral bar into the hallway with the Miro mural and into the Great Hall. To say it was a popular feature of AAD that evening is an understatement. I was at the museum from 9:45 AM until 7 PM. Afterward, I went to Music Hall to photograph the symphony before finally making it home around 12 hours after starting my day. It was a long one, but I got it done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464787928-60E3BOFCV2M1C4HELC8B/Tea+Party+-+Phil+Armstrong-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.26.25 Art In Bloom: Day 3 So much happened at AIB that I couldn’t easily decide on the photo of the day. This neutral entry will have to do. The main tasks were informational lectures, a tea party, and documenting museum-goers enjoying the pairings. I managed to get out of there before dinner, resulting in a full night of playing catch up on three days’ worth of images. I’m exhausted in the best way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464777727-8NKAUCKT2NZFMFZFGUNU/Drag+Shows+-+Phil+Armstrong-152.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.27.25 Art In Bloom: Day 4 Today might’ve been the craziest day of photographing this event. Shahzia was back in town to film a documentary about her work and current exhibits at both CAM and CMA. She wanted BTS shots of the production, but I also had to photograph two drag shows for the museum simultaneously. To achieve this, I kept running the stairs between Shahzia’s exhibit on the second floor and the lowest level where the drag shows were held. It was wild to switch between a quiet, contemplative exhibit with just a few people and a loud, raucous, high-energy room full of fans and performers. While a load of work, I think it was the most fun I’ve had all weekend. While I’ve photographed drag performances in the past, I relearned something today that I think is worth mentioning. If you’re a photographer and you are given the opportunity to photograph one of these shows, always make sure to photograph the audience. I know the inclination is to focus on the performers, and it’s great to get shots of them doing their thing, but I promise you’ll make some of your best material if you aim for the reactions of the people in attendance. I was smiling ear to ear while reviewing images from both shows simply because the energy and glee in every frame was contagious. To say I’m tired is an understatement, but I cannot think of four days within the last six months when I was as creatively satisfied as I am right now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464775735-NFB9MTGTJX201KAV5AU5/605+Elm+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-50.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.28.25 C.P. Reeves Market While in the backyard of a house I was photographing in Ludlow, I noticed this little market. After finishing the job and packing up my equipment, I walked over to check it out. It ended up being a family-owned market with ice cream, Amish-made treats, and a floral nursery. I sped home, got Ashley, and showed her what I’d found. As expected, she loved everything about it. She ended up purchasing a load of plants and flowers for our garden and we checked out the dog-friendly market. The special thing about this place, though, is she’s actually distantly related to C.P. Reeves. Since they share a last name, she called her grandfather, and he confirmed that C.P. Reeves was his father’s cousin. Our new plan is to get eggs from this market every week because they’re the same price as the dozen you’d get from Kroger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464765618-I61Q22MIPX9OBYTNCEXG/NZF_6747.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 4.29.25 I Don’t Know This Flower, But It’s Pretty Ashley’s in charge of choosing the flowers for the yard. Over the last five years, we’ve invested a load of time and money into filling the front and back yards with as much color and variety as possible. I don’t know what this flower is called, but it’s beautiful. Since she’s the one with the vision for how it’s all supposed to look, it’s always a surprise to me. I never know what’s going to bloom and when. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746465105043-144GVC8D8OXEH18O598M/IMG_3818.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.1.25 Castle Skateland A photoshoot that took me out to Loveland routed me past a place I haven’t seen or thought of in ages. I don’t remember how many times went here, but I have a vivid memory of playing pogs on the floor with people I can’t remember. I would actually love to check this place out again. Maybe I’ll get a pair of rollerblades for old time’s sake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679943392-U324WZSL1EQN8PRE5NIM/NZF_7049.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.2.25 La-Ru Lanes We went to La-Ru Lanes with Chelsea and Vince and bowled a couple of games. The place was pretty dead. Hopefully we went on an irregularly slow night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679928436-CF20AMNMQWXOYOT552V9/IMG_3860.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.3.25 J+J Travis and Allie are out of the country for a bit, so I’m going to pop over to their place and check in on Jack and Jonas while they’re away. Jonas (pictured) is very friendly and always wants attention, whereas Jack is a little more discerning with his time. I have no doubt Jack will be my bud in a few days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679942037-P2INBGDSHFYDVEJGL27E/Eric+40th+Birthday-121.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.4.25 Star Wars Party Eric’s 40th birthday coincided with May 4th—otherwise known as Star Wars Day. Sarah put on a big party for him at the CAC, the theme of which was Star Wars. These were hired actors for the event, so I don’t know their real names, but I thought this candid moment was cute. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679929254-AUH7F86W84U3D710F8O6/IMG_3899.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.5.25 Working From Not-Home Visiting the cats while having the busiest month of the year isn’t a challenge when I can work away from home. Travis has the same Apple Studio Display I do, making it easy for me to bring my laptop over to his house and plug in with minimal recalibration. All I have to do is bring my Tourbox with me, and it’s almost exactly like my setup at home. Jonas is finding ways to stay within my line of sight while I’m there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680091102-F9IQVE1OPY4NO3845355/DSC_5663.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.6.25 Peeking Standpipe Seen while on my way out of shooting an event at the Art Museum tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680266897-I2PSXMTICRNMGW2FDZCI/IMG_3957.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.7.25 Sleeping Like a Person Myrtle sleeping with her head on my pillow like a person. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680411280-JMUQTXNK22Y8GXKR6USG/Perry+Construction+-+Phil+Armstrong-22.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.8.25 Perry Contracting I did a brand/lifestyle shoot for Perry Contracting today. I made portraits of all the staff members, candids of them working in the office, action shots in the workshop behind the front offices, decor that represents their aesthetic (pictured), and more. Thanks to everyone involved, it was a creatively satisfying, easy shoot, and I couldn’t be happier with the images we produced. I can’t wait to see their new website with all the image assets in place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680954364-C4OAHWCJ98J7Y15QFWUF/NZF_7126.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.9.25 The Court Street Bridge They’re replacing the Court Street bridge that crosses Gilbert with a newer one soon. Construction fences are already up, and pedestrians can no longer walk along the deck of the green-clad, vaguely Art Deco-styled part with CINCINNATI emblazoned on the side of the bridge. Mt. Adams is still accessible by way of crossing the street and walking up this crumbling staircase. I documented as much of it as I could. I’m a bit sad it’s going away. It’s not historic, but I always liked its unique design. It stood out when considering other pedestrian bridges in the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680998138-AJ7NI4RJZMWDZ24B31NJ/Art+on+the+Rise+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6654.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.10.25 Art on the Rise A frame from today’s Art on the Rise event at the museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747770788847-3RS0TH99K0ED4PPQPMEO/IMG_4064.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.11.25 Cat Sitting Jonas perched on the living room chair. Probably waiting for me to get up and give him a treat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747770875018-5XPXB4H7HCGCQTAJBITQ/Joseph+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-75.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.12.25 Return to Joseph House Vehr reached out recently and asked if I would provide a bid to do lifestyle images for Joseph House—a home for veterans who need a place to stay while getting back on their feet. I photographed Joseph House last year for MA Design, and Joseph House liked what I did enough to reach out again for this project. I won the bid, we planned the shots we needed for the website, and today we finished day 1 of the multi-day shoot. One of the day’s activities included this sweet therapy doodle. I got a lot of good stuff during this session. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747771168287-GSDP2FKKOSH9DVUOE7UN/Joseph+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-116.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.13.25 Alicia A portrait of Joseph House Executive Director Alicia Patterson. I’ve really enjoyed working with her and the rest of the staff over the last two days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747771649907-236DN4ZKN4N3CL7VYBLW/NZF_7077.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.14.25 Hoop Just some nice light on a basketball hoop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747771750704-I87TQ3KPVE1HE1IJOZU6/Preservation+Awards+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.15.25 Preservation Awards After a long hiatus, I finally got to work with Cincinnati Preservation again. They held their annual Preservation Awards ceremony in Columbia-Tusculum this evening and asked me to photograph the event. The location, inside the Carnegie Library, was perfect for the evening’s festivities. I’d forgotten how many preservationists I know in the city, too, so seeing them all show up and mingle in one place was delightful. In fact, I felt very energized at this shoot because it was the perfect combination of good location, subject matter, and people. I kind of felt like I was at my best, and that felt great during a rather busy, stressful month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748614600033-D395IX88XWWG2ZLORHDC/Red+Door+Project+5.16.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-76.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.16.25 Red Door Project Shot Red Door for ArtWorks this evening. I haven’t been this busy with work since July 2018, when I took over as Managing Editor of the website. I’m short on words and free time, and the backlog of work to get back to clients keeps growing, but I have to grind right now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748614722647-HKYZW1C5FVS4MLY656QG/IMG_4143.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.17.25 The Smallest (New) Truck Ashley and I were a one-car couple for 9 years. It never made sense for us to get a second car. As Ashley works from home, her need for a vehicle has been traditionally very low. That changed recently, and we now need a second set of wheels to alleviate the stress of both needing it during the day. It made the most sense to get a second vehicle that could solve tasks we couldn’t with the one we already have; something that we could use to take our bikes to the trail, haul more than a couple of bags of mulch at a time, and move something that would otherwise be too large for the car. A small truck was the most logical option. I hate large vehicles, and every new truck is huge—or so I thought. After researching my options (including ruling out buying a 20-year-old Ford Ranger), the Hyundai Santa Cruz and the Ford Maverick seemed to be the two highest-rated options for small trucks on the market. I looked at both and decided the Hyundai packed more into the vehicle for the same price as the Ford. It drives like a car but with the hauling capacity of a truck. It looks large in the image, but it’s not. The bed is the right size with the extender cage, and the tonneau cover locks, allowing me to store my gear in the bed without it getting wet or stolen. I’m going to learn how to park it in my driveway better so it doesn’t block the sidewalk, but that will take time and practice. Honestly, I’m not a car guy, but I love this thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748616438495-R9KPIBKMDNYC0FDLBV9X/Kamrassfest+-+Phil+Armstrong+-301.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.18.25 Kamrassfest Shot a retirement party for Rabbi Kamrass at Music Hall this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748616708015-RO5ZJA1DOKHQKVRHKVRX/IMG_4157.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.19.25 Moment of Zen Had a moment to sit on the porch and drink a beer. This is the only image I made all day. Not great, but I’ve been so busy with work lately, I don’t have the motivation to shoot for myself as much as I’d like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748618587661-KE1B5N3GK7KJEYC4XB2G/A1A9A1F2-0D9B-40FF-BF04-3399283B888D_1_105_c.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.20.25 GOOD MORNING, DAD She’s crazy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748619491557-SN5RRZTJI7NL8KPLIS62/Childrens+Hospital+Loveland+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.21.25 Children’s Hospital Loveland GBBN renovated an old CVS into a Children’s Hospital branch in Loveland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748621171898-V673TKW671L3TSLRXRYU/DSC_2027-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.22.25 Green Township Police Department Pepper Construction built a new police station in Green Township. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748621512503-SFF2HP2WODVYQYYEBJ8H/IMG_4175.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.23.25 Golden Hour Walk A quick photo while walking through Over-the-Rhine from Mellotone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748621968311-5RRG2RKH5HFKD1V8HOAK/IMG_4188_jpg.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.24.25 Myrtle Ride Now that we have the truck, we’re able to throw the bikes into the back and drive to a trail. Ashley doesn’t like to ride on the street (understandable), so this gave us a chance to also try out Myrtle’s wagon again in a controlled environment. She didn’t like it for the first bit of the ride, but eventually she got used to it and accepted the fact that she wasn’t going to be in control of her path. Once she relaxed a bit, she seemed fine. It was the first time we’ve all gone on a ride together in a long, long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748622771983-CKOP5LEKD7K626YUS3KH/IMG_4202.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.25.25 Fun With Salts Hosted a backyard grill-out this evening, and toward the end of the night, we threw some color-changing salts onto the fire to change its color. The camera didn’t capture it perfectly, but you get an idea of how blue and green sections of the flames became after administering the salts. I promise I will get through this creative slump soon. I am mildly burned out and picking up a camera for anything feels like work at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748622781501-5OBANLBIT5XI6V0CT27S/IMG_4216.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.26.25 Community Garden Over the Memorial Day weekend, I took some time off work and concentrated on riding my bike, cooking out with friends, and cleaning up a weed-ridden hill at the end of my street all while managing to get mildly sunburned in the process. The hill pictured above was full of weeds. When I say full, I mean it; the whole thing was a mess of tangled undesirable plants, loads of ivy, and a repository for broken pots and discarded rocks. To say it was a mess is an understatement. Over the last two days, Ashley, myself, Judy, and Shaun all volunteered to pull up all the weeds and plant new stuff on the hill to try to make it look more presentable. I used the broken pieces of pottery and rocks to create a barrier between the rest of the weeds and the area we cleared. Lowes had a 5 for $10 deal, so I used my new truck to go get two loads to dump on the hill. By the end of day, we stood at the end of the street, looked down at our work, itched our sunburns, and felt satisfied we made a little corner of Bellevue more beautiful. It’s not perfect, but it’s 100% better than it was. We plan to plant more stuff in the mulched areas as we get them so it will eventually be full of ferns, flowers, and other non-weeds for pollinators and people alike to enjoy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748622780041-Z03XPVGMJVULCY2IRQIZ/YWCA+-+Phil+Armstrong+-159.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.27.25 YWCA GBBN renovated an old building in Avondale, built an addition in the middle of it, and now it’s a place where women seeking shelter can go should they need it. This is a frame from a piece of art that hangs in the lobby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675841926-J0H4SWH5PAQAT1PUNWKE/IMG_4356.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.28.25 Tiny Guard Just a tiny dog in a window. (Sorry for the short captions, but my mind doesn’t have much else to say at the moment.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675838213-ENQA0J63TCBHE6YOK3CY/DSC_2447-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.29.25 Self Portrait The room was well-lit and I was alone, so I stood in front of the lens. This was on the 3rd floor of the building at 4th and Scott in Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675837940-7B80CD3XU7RR70RHVL7Z/AAD+5.30.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-93.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.30.25 Art After Dark Shot Art After Dark again tonight. Great time, as usual! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675842219-E7JXNNPO77Z5YRS8DL1B/NZF_9050.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 5.31.25 At the Gorge We took a trip down to Red River Gorge for some hiking with the dog. We’re staying in a water-tight dome covered with plastic and fabric on the edge of a cliff. The view overlooks a valley below, and the dome has a full bathroom, kitchenette, queen sized bed, fireplace, outdoor deck, and fire pit. I’m not sure I would be comfortable in this during the winter, but during this seasonable time of year, it’s perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675989470-4GPRRA5QX6P4PPRGX6WM/NZF_9080.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.1.25 Kentucky Native Café I know I’m ten years late to the party, but I didn’t expect Kentucky Native Cafe to bring such a strong Portland/Seattle vibe to Lexington. Absolutely loved drinking a coffee here this morning. This place, and the attached florist and nursery, were so magical, it had me double-checking how long of a drive it is to Lexington and back. Definitely going to carve out time to come here multiple more times this summer (also, it’s dog-friendly!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749676173104-0LE63WVDHRASLJQOC9T4/2019+Freeland+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.2.25 Freeman Shot a house on Freeman Ave that’s going to be listed shortly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675975582-OQA8Q8MQ4IIY98T2SJ2T/411+Elm+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-44.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.3.25 Cozy Kitchen There’s a house in Ludlow that’s about to be listed. The owner renovated the interior and rented it out as an Airbnb for years before deciding to sell it. On the second floor at the end of the hallway, she put in a small kitchen that I absolutely adore. It’s not a full kitchen, but for coffee, refrigerated drinks and snacks, and anything you would store on a shelf, it’s perfect. It’s essentially what you’d find in an office (no stove or oven). This would be perfect for a work-from-home person whose computer was in the room beside it. You’d essentially have no need to go downstairs during your workday with this tiny, colorful kitchenette on the second floor. I could imagine wandering down the hall at 11 PM looking for a snack, sitting at the table, and reading something on my phone. Something about it just felt so cozy and inviting. I’m rarely impressed with listings these days, but this one did it for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675976171-HMMAMOZXN8OC7HYQM8Y9/423+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-43.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.4.25 Rookwood Rookwood tile fireplace in a house I photographed for a listing today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675983618-AQ2UM368JI67LXWSOY56/Crafted+World+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-21.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.5.25 Crafted World Photographed the member’s opening for the new Wharton Esherick exhibit at the Taft Museum tonight. Definitely worth checking out if you can. They knocked this one out of the park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749872316205-9SQSURWCFL2JAFPAIKKW/IMG_4461.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.6.25 Pride In My Neighborhood My therapist, back before she left the clinic, reminded me that there’s little I can do beyond voting/canvassing to sway the election. She always told me to “take care to clean my side of the street.” What she meant was that I only have control over my sphere of influence—all the elements of my life that I can change and improve directly. No, I can’t change the outcome of a bad election, but I can help my neighbor plant trees. I can’t suddenly change our government officials, but I can ensure I’m available to help a friend when they’re in need. I can keep my literal side of the street comfortable and inviting, but I can’t make half the country care about the lives of marginalized communities. I’ve struggled with the outcome and reality of the election since the night it was called. I’m full of anger and disbelief that the people around me would choose a regime built on hate, ignorance, fear, and violence. I’ve sunk back into a depression that I cannot shake, no matter how hard I try to distract myself. At this point, I’m just tired of constantly railing against it. I keep telling myself that I need to concentrate on “my side of the street” for the moment. Today, while on a walk, I saw this Pride flag, and it made me feel better for a moment. It was a reminder that, despite how it looks, the world still has normal, accepting, moral people in it who care about others. It’s not devoid of good people entirely; they’re just the minority. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749872630923-TOMGW4GIQP5YKQWOXR1Q/NZF_9200.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.7.25 Boys Night Went out with the guys for High Lifes and wings. It felt good to push the anger I described in yesterday’s post to the back of my mind so I could spend some time laughing with good people. Because these outings are fewer and farther between than I wish they were, I find myself bummed at the end of the night when they inevitably have to end. I guess that’s a sign it’s good for the soul. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282271283-PU5GPQVG52HNLS8ALWZ4/IMG_4465.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.8.25 Burger Hieroglyphics The Subaru left this tire mark in the garage, and I think it looks like a three-patty burger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282275015-WSC0ZQYBNGQRV87NM148/8K+-+Phil+Armstrong+-22.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.9.25 8K Action Went over to a couple of construction sites that 8K are currently working in to grab some in-process shots of the crew doing their thing. The images will be used for marketing purposes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282272347-S3M19CM0GDTI9NAHM7UG/NZF_9275-Pano-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.10.25 Daniel Carter Beard House I had a photo job over on 3rd Street in Covington. The condo wasn’t anything to speak of, but its nearby neighbor sure is. This is where the founder of the Boy Scouts, Daniel Carter Beard, once lived. If you zoom in on the historic marker on the sidewalk, it gives you more history about who “Uncle Dan” was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282276446-U6SNDBY2EPB4FVXAHZYQ/Farm+to+Table+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-129.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.11.25 The Newest Exhibit I spent a LOT of time in Shahzia’s exhibit when Collective Behavior was in the Western & Southern Gallery. Even though I’ve seen many exhibitions in that space over the years, that one is freshest in my mind. Working with her and the museum over the last few months will always hold a special place in my heart. When I saw how the staff totally transformed the space in a matter of 6 weeks into something wholly different and new for ‘Farm to Table: Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism’ exhibit, I could scarcely believe Shahzia’s show was in the same room. I know they build walls and change the layout of this room over and over again. But seeing it so different was wild. The new show is great, obviously. Go see it for yourself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282264447-8G7LWJ0OPOD4MG1NWJCS/IMG_4388.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.12.25 Random Beauty A view of the railing spindles on the staircase that goes upstairs, turned on its side. The terra cotta wall behind them coupled with the yellow light from the sun streaming in through the stained glass window struck me as so beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282263300-4XBEO0OEO9D415PC62PA/IMG_4384.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.13.25 So Close You have to put the lettuce IN the crisper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282259800-YFU7RTZM4JKVV46FT6UY/IMG_4480.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.14.25 Little Es I was showing my niece, Esmeray, herself on my Apple Watch while I tethered it to my phone. We were taking photos until she laughed and said, “Okay, that’s enough,” and ran off to pop a balloon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282259362-FXU5AQLDIUH59U8ZG32I/IMG_4484.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.15.25 EAT PIZZA I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something important here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751220143210-ON08R8A7Y4DH3RCH8PDR/IMG_4516.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.16.25 Shaun’s House Shaun lives in the house parallel to our backyard. I went out on the balcony to get a photo of the sky, and decided to make a quick portrait of the house itself. I’m loving how lush and green everything is right now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751220861265-MJ1BDF4N8M82IJ1JIGJN/IMG_4491.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.17.25 Can of Worms When we had the alley door replaced earlier this year, they removed a chunk of the door frame where the old lock used to be. I finally repaired it with a filler piece, but it had to be painted to match everything. Long story short, when I started scraping the flaking away paint around the area so it would be smooth for the new coat, the rest of the paint started effortlessly peeling away. Removing one piece ended up lifting its neighbor, so on and so forth. Now I’m in a situation where I am stripping the entire door frame down to its raw wood finish. While this is obviously a nice way to extract more character from the originality of the house, it’s also a task I didn’t foresee doing, and I cannot help but think I’ve opened a can of worms for myself rather than fixed a problem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751220902565-2JW2341W6GMIM6VZH2OR/Farm+to+Table+Exhibition+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.18.25 Familiar Work Went back to CAM to slowly photograph the Farm to Table exhibit for their marketing team. I’m sure I’ve said it before on here, but I love working in this museum. Everyone is so nice, the spaces are always perfect, and I get to admire the work of artists while I create something new myself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751310986669-C7C110S74H3VXY53OINT/IMG_4507.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.19.25 Surprise Dog Wash Myrtle was having a grand old time playing in the back yard with her toys and the hose when all of a sudden Ashley and her mom decided to give her a bath. As Myrtle is definitively anti-bath, I’m sure she didn’t appreciate the rollercoaster of emotions going from one activity to the next. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311166508-EGPYOQNUYFQ54MYEA6D0/IMG_4527.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.20.25 Where the Tracks End While up in West Chester, I drove down a nondescript street lined with office parks. At one point, I rolled over some train tracks and instinctively looked either way. That’s when I noticed they ended in brush on one side. I know nothing about the history of these tracks, and I haven’t had time to dig into it yet, but it’s wild to see them suddenly disappear into foliage without warning. They’ve obviously been abandoned, but I wonder for how long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311520583-RM60NLPIIOMDQ0VTUPW1/IMG_4552.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.21.25 Inauguration Ashley’s aunt and uncle were going to pay a hundred dollars to have their old mattress and box springs taken away to the dump. Seeing an opportunity to put the truck to the test, I suggested I come over and take care of it for them so they didn’t have to spend the money. Aside from getting mulch earlier in the summer, this is the first time I’ve used the truck for a distinctly ‘truck’ task. And I have to say it feels amazing. The dump was disgusting, but knowing we saved three figures to do it ourselves was worth it. I hope I get to use the truck again for something else like this soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311779015-TKCFTE6W3S0V02IL625O/NZF_9303.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.22.25 A Scruffy Stray Just a scruffy stray cat I found hiding under a car. He/she didn’t want to be pet, but didn’t move when I got down to grab a photo—so long as I kept my distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311923767-W4FQNFX9G74KQZMATNCC/60EMcMicken300A-PhilArmstrong-7.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.23.25 21 Years 21 years to date of the anniversary of a bad day. Four of my friends in high school took a road trip to Maine and two of them never made it. A third ended up in critical condition but survived. The fourth walked away because he was the only one wearing his seat belt when the crash occurred. I am sure I’ve spoken about it in the past on here, but it’s a tough date and a hard memory to revisit every year. I used to exchange texts with a few people every year on the anniversary just to let them know I’m thinking about them. I don’t remember when we stopped doing that. I don’t plan to talk about it at all today with anyone, honestly, and I’m fine with processing it alone. The core group grew up and apart, and I don’t know where their families are any longer. At this point, I’m not sure revisiting our relationships makes sense due to how much time has passed without contact. I’m not the type to post about it to social media, so I’ll commemorate it here in this personal space. Craig and Tyler, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the accident. I have no idea if we would still be friends 21 years after high school, but I wish your lives weren’t taken from you so soon. I missed you then, and I still miss you now. It’s a travesty that we couldn’t see your lives play out alongside the rest of us. Eighteen is too young to die. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751313202664-TNTY4NM1VUVHA1VW5K9V/IMG_4572.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.24.25 Curiosity While standing on the stoop talking to Vince at his house, this beautiful white stray cat emerged from the greenery and sat staring at Myrtle. I crouched down and tried to coax him out, but he didn’t budge. He was keeping eyes on the dog and not paying much attention to the rest of us. After about three minutes, he retreated back into the greenery and we lost sight of him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751314690745-KB0HW2LS3BCEDE0JCKQX/Xtek+-+Phil+Armstrong+-570.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.25.25 The Hottest Job I’ve Ever Had Xtek, located in Sharonville, makes huge metal parts for huge machines. The factory, originally built in the 50s, is a photographer’s dream. When they said they wanted me to come in and shoot their space and processes for artwork to hang on the wall, I could barely contain my excitement. Unfortunately, we chose to do this during the hottest heat wave we’ve had in ages. When the high is 95ºF and the feels-like temp is over 100ºF, being outdoors is a challenge. When you’re in a factory under those conditions and it doesn’t have air conditioning, the outdoors suddenly feels like the better option. And when you’re standing feet away from a 1700ºF furnace with its lid off and a glowing hot mass of metal is being extracted from it, you become acutely aware that the air around you is probably hotter than anything you’ve ever experienced. I got my shots, but not before losing every ounce of water I had left in my body. When I got home, I immediately showered and threw my clothes in the washer. It was a privilege to get to photograph this place, and I had a blast doing it, but if ever I need to go another round with it, I hope we do it in January. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751317334859-301MCOT6ANERB5U61NIJ/Shahzia+Mural+Progress+-+Phil+Armstrong+-143.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.26.25 Unapologetically Beautiful Shahzia is back in town to help oversee the start of a mural she designed that will be painted on the back of a church on 9th Street. ArtWorks is undertaking the task of getting it done, so she met with the project manager and the rest of the apprentices early this morning. Due to the heatwave, they start at 8 AM and work until noon. The church hasn’t seen an active congregation in years, so they’ve staged their paints and equipment on the second floor while they climb scaffolding on the exterior to do their work. The light in this place is staggering. When it streams through the stained glass, it looks incredible. The hazy effect you see in this image is practical. Since the humidity is so intense, the change from air conditioned truck to hot outdoor air fogged up my lens such that I couldn’t use it immediately. I had to wait for the majority of it to dissipate before snapping a clear shot. I liked this frame because it’s almost completely gone save for the haziness on the left side of the lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751339558404-QH3EHIP6CHGEI9X8AMFF/Art+After+Dark+6.27.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-88.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.27.25 Hilarity in the Galleries For Art After Dark this month, the museum invited six drag queens to lead tours through the galleries. The queens would vamp and make jokes about themselves and the works, keeping the tours light and fun. Several of them were genuinely cracking me up while I was photographing them doing their thing. At one point, the queen was saying something about how the world has had it with mansplaining, and she looked at me and goes, “isn’t that right, Mr. Photographer?” Without missing a beat (I’m very proud of this), I went, “Well, actually…” and raised a finger before pausing and smiling. The whole room erupted into laughter. Felt really good in the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751340176939-J3WJ86DA5HQY29KE1YYO/NZF_9761.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.28.25 Doodle Whisperer We went over to Steve and Erica’s house tonight, and their doodle, Maggie, immediately cuddled up to Ashley. Maggie is normally obsessed with me when I go over, but when Ashley’s around, I’m chopped liver. Reminds me of being home with Myrtle! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751595600019-FDTRLP2SN85G6R7M1KWX/NZF_0817.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.29.25 Covington Transit They leveled the IRS building, opening up a very clear line of sight to the buildings beyond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751596827829-YEG3RGAEA3M98OXO80RM/CMC+June+30+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1513.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 6.30.25 Working at the CMC It’s been three years since I last worked for the Cincinnati Museum Center. Today, however, I got to do so again. My task was to photograph people enjoying the museum throughout the building, capturing happy faces, and experiencing a sense of wonder. I felt a little uneasy at first photographing people. I wasn’t hiding the fact that I was doing it, but I also wasn’t aiming to grab their attention, either. On the back of everyone’s ticket, there’s language that says the CMC is allowed to photograph people without needing a release. For the first half hour, I struggled to get anything good with any confidence. Eventually, I found my stride, got about 40 workable shots, and called it a day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752004773340-LCDP3024A2SEZYGIRSTP/NZF_0933.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.1.25 Planning Process I am building something for someone outside my home. As such, I am taking measures to really plan this one out properly by rendering it in CAD software. The build is simple, but I’d rather have something fully designed on paper before I get into it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752005136183-J2EDNKEH4X7C0Z6IDAE4/In+This+Place+-+Phil+Armstrong-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.2.25 Freedom Center Exhibit Photos I like that I’ve seemingly succeeded in becoming a go-to for exhibit photography for the local museums. Between the Art Museum, Taft, CMC, and Freedom Center, I’ve been fortunate to capture exhibits over the years whenever there’s a need. Today, I photographed the Freedom Center’s new traveling exhibit, Faith & (in)Justice, as well as In This Place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752006223899-49H86WUXALEVMNSCTJYY/NZF_0821.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.3.25 Our Disgusting Government There’s no reality in which I support this administration, its policies, or the people in governmental positions helping to make life worse for so many in favor of the rich few. I used to have hope for the future; that optimism is gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752006877345-F8T35BVLDCUIQQM4A3C7/NZF_0873.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.4.25 Setting Sun We went out to the farm to celebrate Vince’s 40th birthday. He threw a big party with a band, catered food, and launched fireworks for about 50+ people. We set up a tent in the shade of the edge of the woods and camped over night. It was hot until the sun went down, but the portable fan I brought with me took the edge off. Honestly, I thought it would be a more uncomfortable day, but it was quite pleasant. While everyone else also celebrated the birth of our country, I couldn’t help but feel like everyone was missing the point. There’s no reason to celebrate this place right now. The behavior of our government is nothing to be proud of, and I’m embarrassed to call myself American at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752006881198-VBKTW94XJ6AG0Q6QGXV4/NZF_0928.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.5.25 Setting Sun The building next to Allie and Travis’ place looks beautiful in evening light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752796258561-8GEGTMQ8570CY2LDGIMZ/NZF_2633.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.6.25 Psst! Just a fun find in Camp Washington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752796407942-SUJLZQ6LYI3YZH9QTIRI/IMG_4647.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.7.25 The Frame I’m in construction mode, so I am neglecting photography at the moment. The only intentional image I made today is a shot of the progress on the frame of a structure I’m building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752796658576-PM65Q8JUL8U3G66B3TL1/IMG_4663.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.8.25 Surprise! A couple weeks ago, I got a DM from Surprise Surprise Studios inviting me to a pre-release screening of the new Superman movie at Union Terminal. My initial reaction was that it was a scam, but after looking into it a bit more, I realized it was a legitimate invite, and seeing the movie early in the Omnimax theatre was a real possibility. I still have no Earthly idea why I was invited as I’m not an influencer and not in the media any longer. Regardless, I went to the movie, collected a swag bag of promotional materials, and watched the movie on the weirdest, warp-iest screen in Cincinnati. (One of the reasons they held a screening at Union Terminal is because the building itself is prominently featured in one scene.) The movie itself was a lot of fun; not being a Superman fan before, I dig the whole vibe of this iteration. It was great to see it early and in that weird aspect ratio, but I think I’m going to go back and see it again on a normal screen sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752797330496-6LUB3DRUD6TPMW9HY8A0/Mercantile+Apartment+Ribbon+Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong-73.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.9.25 Preservation Dedication The Mercantile Building was dedicated today with a ribbon-cutting that included representatives from Model Group, the mayor and city officials, and John from the Mercantile Library among others. I photographed the event for Model Group. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752797508737-98ZTB2HULPU8IEWYLY7S/Marycrest+-+Phil+Armstrong+-28-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.10.25 Proofs A pre-edited image I made today while up in Livonia, MI for Luminaut. I went up and back in one day, and while it was a tiring 8 hours on the road, I’m glad I took the job. When these are processed to their finished version, I think they’ll look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752797922809-QUJPOU16LCFXZ3DL9QN5/IMG_4698.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.11.25 Paw Pile Zzzzzzz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752798417959-A51T4VZ3WW6DLETNTKV8/711+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-11+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.12.25 A Transformation For the Ages I shot 711 Scott Street 13 months ago (bottom), and then again today (top). The owners transformed a dilapidated, abandoned law firm into a gorgeous house that they intend to place on the market soon. To give you some idea of how vastly it’s changed, take a look at the before/after. It’s the same spot from the same angle. While I liked the previous ceiling, I also understand the desire to take it out and open it up a little better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752798782153-WTFO6EAX1FLEORCSS31X/IMG_4713.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.13.25 The Frame (Part 2) Remember the frame I posted on the 7th? That was part one of a construction project. Part 2 is a frame for a vanity mirror that will be hung above it. This is the raw build lit up as seen in a bad iPhone photo (again, when in construction mode, I don’t have the capacity to do proper photography). I still need to sand and paint it, then install for Marlene. Once everything’s in place, I will post the finished product. This thing has been a bear to build, and I’ve had to construct it out at my parents’ house since they have more room. Without my dad lending a helping hand and me having a truck to bring it back to my place, I don’t know how I would’ve done this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752798858109-X3LVTZFL6ZUF5NMHAVM8/711+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-46.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.14.25 Better Lighting When I did the shoot at 711 Scott the other day, Rebecca didn’t like the overhead lighting, and there wasn’t a bulb in the floor lamp in the living room. I returned today in the evening to re-shoot it after the owner put a new bulb in the lamp. It makes the room feel so much more inviting, in my opinion. Overhead can lighting is the worst. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752799334630-WEBMGX73JIWJ6SC4C9CU/Shahzia+Mural+Progress+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1740.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.15.25 Progress on Shahzia’s Mural Went out for fresh images of the mural Shahzia designed. ArtWorks apprentices are really getting a lot done! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752799665371-MFDX3O3ZGOMKB4PFDAWI/ArtWorks+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2012.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.16.25 Screen Printing ArtWorks has me documenting their apprentices in various locations as they work on separate projects in remote spaces. Today’s trip took me out to Norwood where they were removing glazed works from kilns, carving small figures out of clay, and screen printing intricate designs. Despite being in art club when I was young, I wasn’t a cool art kid. And even at nearly 40 years old, I still look at young artists—the same type of people who I admired back in the late-90s and early-2000s—and think they’re some of the coolest people in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752799725873-IJ224QALQHB8D9G5WP65/ArtWorks+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2066.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.17.25 A Colorful Day at Work Day 3 of documenting ArtWorks artists doing their thing. This time, I went out to Camp Washington to capture what I could. This room was especially colorful, and I really liked this composition specifically. Everything I said about cool art kids yesterday applies to the cool art kids I photographed today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1753276476790-N7JNJKMLCKCWQ48573P5/NZF_3264.jpeg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.18.25 Casa Bonita Rob and Rachel signed up for a reservation for four to Casa Bonita in Denver over a year and a half ago. A few weeks back, they got the email that they could finally fulfill that reservation. Rob had mentioned it to Travis and I after he’d originally submitted their names, and we both said we were committed to joining when he received the green light. So, that’s what we did. We went to Denver for lunch at a Mexican restaurant that shares its DNA with Disneyland. Of course I watched the documentary about the place before we went. The history, the renovation, the new lease on life it received as a result of the two creators of South Park, etc. All of it was fascinating, and seeing two rich dudes dump an endless amount of money into a passion project they know will never be profitable was both satisfying and endearing. One major thing they improved with this new iteration of Casa Bonita was the food. I had the brisket nachos—they were exactly what I’d expect from a place like this. After we fulfilled our hour and fifteen minute dining spot, we wandered around the enormous space taking in all the decor and entertainment. It’s honestly too much to recount here, and I won’t do it justice anyway. It’s just a wild, wonderful place with cliff divers, singing puppets, warm and inviting caves, over-the-top live performances, and false streets that feel real among many other things. All of it stands in stark contrast to reality; leaving the safe, colorful, fantasy world of Casa Bonita and stepping back into an overcast afternoon on Colfax Street in Denver was lightly depressing. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Casa Bonita, please go. It’s an experience unlike many others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1753276479189-5YCHAPW326PAVOIM1DSW/NZF_3426.jpeg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.19.25 The Mountains After an exciting first day in Denver, we headed into the mountains to take advantage of Colorado’s defining feature. Rocky Mountain National Park ended up being an unusually busy spot, and we had to fight hard to find places to park the rental so we could get out and explore. We hiked around Sprague Lake, Bear Lake, Alberta Falls (pictured), and drove up to nearly 12,000 feet at one point to the alpine tundra. The views were understandably breathtaking (both literally and figuratively at that altitude). It was a treat to point a camera in any direction and nail the frame without much effort. I don’t think there’s anything more picturesque in nature than mountains. After a long day in the mountains, we ended up spending $5 to go into an over-100-year-old amusement park that looks like it hadn’t been updated in 60 years. They were weird about photography there, restricting us to only using our phones for images. At one point, I was told not to even use my phone. Luckily, I got what I wanted and they didn’t make me delete any of them. I’ll probably go through those at some point and put them online. It was a truly special place that I’m still in shock exists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1753277072536-TMGZM4XRUQPVHY9GBGP9/NZF_3527.jpeg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.20.25 The Long Trip Back We ate at the highly-regarded Pete’s Kitchen for breakfast. Every time I’m in another city with a 24-hour greasy spoon diner in it, I am reminded of what we don’t have back home. It’s insane that this type of restaurant isn’t commonplace everywhere. We took it easier today. Travis went to the airport around 1 PM, and Rob and Rachel and I chilled on a rooftop with craft beer until leaving for the airport at 4 PM. Our flight was originally scheduled to leave at 8 PM, but it was delayed three times and ended up leaving around 1:30 AM. To say it was a long, frustrating day at DEN is an understatement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754264421092-3LLEJDAZWD2275XGR3JJ/IMG_4998.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.21.25 Technically Technically I took this after midnight in the airport while we were waiting for our plane to figure itself out, so it counts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754265126671-UOZT7HEXKAW90WNE59ZN/Cordova+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3605.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.20.25 Cordova A portrait of William Cordova in front of a mural he designed. Behind him is the ArtWorks team who helped realize the mural. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754265130136-QGXVAKTFTREWS29O1LJM/2028+Russell+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-65.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.23.25 The Firehouse 2028 Russell Street was built as a firehouse many years ago. While I don’t have time to fully research it at the moment, I read that it also served as a corner store, a beauty salon, and a residence prior to its current state. And by current state, I mean it’s filled with raccoon crap and enough graffiti to keep you busy reading for hours. There’s no power, so it’s completely dark inside. I had to use a flashlight to shoot this for the listing. Some of the walls are missing, you can see through the floor to the basement in a couple spots, and I’m positive I took a few lungfuls of black mold by accident. I got in before the heat really rocketed to its peak, but that didn’t stop it from being a furnace in there. It wasn’t a comfortable shoot at all. It’s going on the market for a low price with the understanding that this will require a lot of work to get it ready for habitation. I just hope whoever buys it can fix it up the way it should be. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754266426110-K96FDXE5LOTKMB9CLHMJ/The+Pointe+GBBN+-+Phil+Armstrong+-44-Edit-Edit-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.24.25 The Point An unfinished composite from a shoot I did with GBBN today at The Point in CUF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754266883176-HC4HL1VMJW8J2CA1E27N/DSC_8820.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.25.25 Cancan Dancers For Art After Dark this month, the museum brought down dancers from Dayton for a show. They did about five routines that included a mix of one-on-one pairings to the full troupe. One routine was a tounge-in-cheek act in which either lady was visibly trying to one-up the other. While one would dance, the other would scowl and be dismissive. The crowd ate it up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267190627-PFOETG7JQYSI4IB8YMWT/NZF_3641.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.26.25 The Falls Doing the Heavy Lift Today we embarked upon a road trip that will ultimately lead us to New England with several stops along the way. Unlike last year when we went to Maine, we’re bringing along Myrtle for the ride. Our first stop is Buffalo and Niagara Falls. I’ve only ever read about and seen photos of the Falls, so this was a good opportunity to scratch it off my list. As a fan of parks and the natural beauty of the country around me, I was very excited to see them for myself. I knew the States’ side wasn’t optimal for viewing the Falls before we went, but I was still excited to see what I could from the park in New York. I also knew it would be crowded, but I wasn’t really prepared for how crowded it ended up being. To say there were a lot of people at Niagara Falls is an understatement. If you’re looking for a personal, quiet moment in nature, that ship sailed from Niagara long ago. While we had a good time walking through the park with Myrtle and dodging crowds of tourists to see what we could of the Falls, the city itself was a low-key bummer. Rundown buildings, dirty sidewalks and pedestrian infrastructure, cheap attractions you’d find at a county fairground, and an amount of loud, obnoxious cars a National Park should never experience. I’m positive there’s something in the city that’s worth experiencing outside the Falls, but I’d have to dig for it. I didn’t have that much time there to look for something worthwhile outside the Falls, and since I had Myrtle and Ashley with me it wasn’t going to happen anyway. We were there for probably 2 hours tops before we went to Buffalo to find our hotel. It’s wild that a city like Niagara—a place with so much potential to be incredible—has chosen to be a sad Vegas. Then again, maybe it’s just self-aware. It doesn’t need to be anything but what it currently is; the Falls themselves are such a grand attraction, people will come from around the world to experience it regardless of the state of the city around it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267288795-N7LKPMPI25SV6KCAXP7V/NZF_3822.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.27.25 Into the Hudson Valley After an early departure from Buffalo, we drove toward our next rest spot in Hudson, NY. Along the way, however, I made three stops to photograph oddities on top of things: a large statue of a man sitting atop a five and dime in East Aurora, a tiny house on top of a factory building in Syracuse, and a large dog statue that once sat atop a factory owned by RCA (now defunct) called Nipper. We got to our Airbnb in the woods by mid-afternoon. The place was tucked into woods right next to a very active Amtrak line that saw at least one train per hour. It was a perfect spot to post up between trips up the hill to the city proper, and had room for Myrtle to run around with her ball. Hudson itself is very picturesque. Warren Street appears to be its main thoroughfare with the most shops and restaurants the city had to offer. After reading up on it a bit, it’s apparently referred to as “Williamsburg in the woods” due to all the NYCers who’ve come up and (unfortunately) gentrified Hudson. If you go off of Warren to any of the neighboring streets, you’ll see abandoned houses and boarded up buildings right next to fully renovated and well-maintained ones. It’s very clearly a city that’s been undergoing change for a time. The wealth gap is palpable in a place like this, sadly. Despite the exorbitant prices for everything, we had a good time wandering around and taking in the sights as the sun began going down. Choosing just one image from today was difficult, but I’ve landed on this one because it’s representative of my favorite block of architecture I saw in Hudson. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267393898-EF34KINJPVH69XD9U1PA/NZF_3935.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.28.25 Amtrak, Olana, and More After getting coffee and breakfast, we checked out the Amtrak station in Hudson. A train bound for NYC arrived to pick up passengers while we were there. I lamented the fact Amtrak barely services Cincinnati, and when it does, only once a week at 2 AM. These trains were scheduled for NYC and Toronto among other destinations every hour this morning. It would be a dream to live in the Valley and take a 2-hour ride to Penn Station whenever desired. Hudson hadn’t fully opened up for the day, so we wandered over to Catskill for a bit, but everything was closed there, too. After seeing some wild turkey with their babies, we drove up to Olana—a historic site with an ornate, one-of-a-kind mansion designed by an artist who was part of the Hudson River School of landscape painting in the 19th century (pictured). Once we’d had our fill of Olana, we headed back into town to check out the shops that were now open. We grabbed a drink, bought a few items, then went back to the Airbnb to rest up and get out of the oppressive heat. Later on, we got pizza and ate it in Hudson’s riverfront park on a picnic table. It was a nice way to spend our final evening in the quiet, expensive little city on the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267584375-EYKBUNSVAM35LKJ2RO41/NZF_4015.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.29.25 Return to Camden Last year, we were unexpectedly charmed by a town in Maine called Camden. So charmed, in fact, that we made it the centerpiece of our roadtrip this year because we wanted Myrtle to experience it with us. After leaving Hudson, we drove straight to Camden without stopping so we could have the maximum amount of time there with her. We rented a room at the same motel we did last year because it looks straight out onto Penobscot Bay. The motel was built in the 1930s—back when laws didn’t prohibit lodging from being that close to the shoreline—making it one of the only places you can rent that close to the sea. The room last year was perfect, and this year was no different. Myrtle seemed entranced by the birds and ships on the water when she sat out on the balcony overlooking the water. It was cute to watch her enjoy it in her own way. I took her outside and up on the large rocks for a bit for a closer look (pictured). We eventually went into town and shopped/ate a lobster roll/drank a blueberry beer. The town is small and quaint in a way that, while touristy, doesn’t feel trashy and cheap. Myrtle got into the bay at one point and laid down to cool off. I’m so glad she gets to enjoy Camden with us this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267758852-BHCJB15I7QK23BHQ2W8V/NZF_4038.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.30.25 The Sunrise We Didn’t See Last Year When we went to Camden last year, it was foggy the morning we woke up in our motel room. As such, we didn’t get to enjoy the sunrise on the bay the way we wished we could’ve. This year, however, the weather was clear. We set an alarm for 5:20 AM, rolled out of bed, made coffee in the room, and sat in our chairs on the balcony overlooking the water with Myrtle. I shot a few photos as the sun rose. It was everything I’d hoped it would be. After getting breakfast and letting Myrtle swim at Laite Memorial Beach, we headed up to Camden Hills State Park for a view of the city. Afterward, we met a retired couple who (I think) live on their boat and bop around from port to port along the New England coast with friends. If that’s not the dream, I don’t know what is. Later on, we took Myrtle to a place called Duck Trap River where she could launch off a rocky beach into deep water to fetch her toy. We wore her out to the point where she could barely keep her eyes open in the back of the truck on the ride back to the motel. It was our final evening in Camden, so we went back to the motel room to sit on the balcony and enjoy the time we had left (and let Myrtle rest). A storm inched its way into the bay, so we sat in the dark sipping wine as it lit up the water with flashes of lightning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267915552-K7HEUUBJKHUKBY5IQBI0/NZF_4233.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 7.31.25 Onward to Rhode Island As we tearfully said goodbye to Camden, we pressed onward to Newport, Rhode Island. The drive took about 5 hours total. The rain from last night spread a thick blanket of clouds across New England such that, when we got to Newport, the skies were still flat and dull. Having bookmarked a bunch of stuff for us to see and do on the map, we started by getting hot dogs at Wally’s Wieners on Thames Street. Thames was packed with tourists like us. Unlike Camden, though, I didn’t think it was especially nice. All the shops we saw were some version of beach t-shirt you’d find along a boardwalk in Florida, and because the city was so old, the street was tight and cramped with too many cars running through it. Justin recommended a coffee spot that we stopped to check out. It was good, but way too crowded for comfort. Finding ourselves not enjoying the experience, we sought out some other place on the island to check out. I’d read before we went that the Cliff Walk was a must-do for first time visitors. After parking the car and wandering down to the cliffside, it was immediately clear that this was what we were meant to enjoy in Newport. The Cliff Walk is exactly what it sounds like; a cliff overlooking the sea that the public can enjoy. Old mansions that once housed Vanderbilts and other old-school wealthy Americans lined the walk, providing an interesting architectural element to complement the natural beauty of the cliff. We drove Ocean Avenue, went around Brenton Point State Park, failed to visit Fort Adams State Park because a jazz festival was happening, and ended up going to Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling for dinner. The sky, which had been overcast and threatening rain all afternoon, was beginning to worsen. Exhausted from traveling and being out all day, we decided to call it an early evening and checked into the hotel room where we watched a documentary and fell asleep before 10 PM. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268182486-CMZQ6P2A15D3VX9P7AYH/NZF_4281.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.1.25 One Final Stop I’m sure Newport, RI has more good stuff in it to experience, but aside from the Cliff Walk, we weren’t overly impressed. We awoke to rain, further dampening our experience, and promptly left to head to our final destination: an Airbnb Airstream camper in the woods of Hedgesville, WV. The drive from Rhode Island to West Virginia broke me, honestly. I haven’t been sleeping overly well since our first night in Buffalo, and the fatigue was catching up to me. 7 hours with stop-and-go traffic sprinkled throughout ended up worsening my condition such that I had to have Ashley drive for about 30 miles at one point so I could take a 20 minute nap. We passed through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the tiniest bit of Maryland before finally arriving in West Virginia. By the end of the trip, I was seeing stars in my peripheral vision. The Airstream camper is renovated and cute inside, but as a tall person, I don’t fit into it as well as I’d like. The bathroom is going to be a problem, I fear. After taking one look at the full bed, I realized I’d be sleeping on the couch so Ashley and Myrtle can have room to rest. I wasn’t interested in going out to eat with the dog in tow, and Hedgesville is barely a city with anything in it anyway, so we opted to just go to the local grocery store for food and snacks. Because it rained, the campfire wood was still damp, making it difficult to get a fire going. We managed to get enough of one lit with shreds of sticks and bark from a nearby tree to roast some wieners before it fizzled out. I felt good about our sense of resourcefulness overall. Even despite not being fully prepared to camp, we made it work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268182160-DXLAY1LZJNL5TCQ1K01V/NZF_4376.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.2.25 The Woods of West Virginia I slept like dogshit on the couch, and the shower was a puzzle I wasn’t keen to solve so early in the morning. My body needs a good night’s rest so badly, I think I’d sleep outside on the ground if it meant I could get more than an hour at a time. Might take a Benadryl before bed tonight just so I can muscle through and get some actual rest in before the long drive home tomorrow. There’s next to nothing to see or do in Hedgesville, so we went one town over to Martinsburg—the largest city in the West Virginia panhandle. Even though it has an Amtrak service and hosts the end of MARC, Maryland’s commuter rail whose Brunswick Line ends in Martinsburg, the city still feels very sleepy. We walked around its historic downtown to check out the shops and historic properties, such as the Martinsburg Roundhouse. The roundhouse is apparently the last of its kind and listed on the Register of Historic Places due to being heavily involved in a moment of the Civil War as well as the Railroad Strike of 1877. While there was very little to do in the city, I got a kick out of photographing the oldest part of downtown. The city was founded in the early years of the American Revolution and has a load of old, historic buildings charged with character. There’s no shortage of small-town beauty embedded in all the various styles, and it reminded me of several small Kentucky towns I’ve been to over the last couple years. The city sealed up an apple-shaped time capsule in 1990, so I gave that a look, too (pictured). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268189541-EBHME4UTJAUSZIS386J3/NZF_4394.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.3.25 37% We got up early to embark on the long drive home. The sooner we left, the more of the afternoon we’d have to prepare for work again the next day after nine days off. Our route took us past Pittsburgh. On my list of oddities and unique things to see was the US’ steepest street—the last ‘incline’ I hadn’t yet done in that city. You’d think San Francisco would take the cake, but apparently it’s Canton Ave in PGH. I can’t full convey how thrilling it was to drive up this absurdly built, 37% grade street. I didn’t even really think before I swung into it. I set the truck on sport mode, and hit the gas without going too fast. As soon as all four tires started up the incline, I regretted it, then I felt a wave of excitement, followed by another wave of fear and panic before finally settling down into excitement again. Ashley and Myrtle clung to each other in the back seat, protesting as I inched the pedal closer and closer to the floor. I gripped the wheel tightly hoping that we’d be alright, but truck didn’t struggle for a second. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have worried; if it weren’t traversable, it wouldn’t be open to the public. I parked the car and got out to take a few photos. The stairs are a necessity to get up and down. Even though the vehicle could do it, it’d be a struggle to walk up and down without proper shoes and balance. After leaving Pittsburgh, I drove us home and we arrived by 4 PM. Ashley went to bed super early, and now I am here at my desk, plugging away at this entry and reflecting on the great roadtrip we got to enjoy over the last week with Myrtle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754359347467-9UCL2YMPESVEJ8T9639A/DSC_9066.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.4.25 The District I had a shoot at The District at Deerfield this morning. It’s a new mixed use complex with loads of apartments, restaurants, bars, and future shops out near Fields Ertle. One of the fixtures is Fifty West’s new location. While up on one of the balconies, I took a photo of the space and liked how the rule of thirds worked nicely with the horizon. The property is still under construction, but I think this will be a pretty popular spot a la The Approach at Summit Park, Factory 52, or the Peters Cartridge Factory Apartments. Were I looking for suburban living with a livelier setting, this might be a decent option. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101070849-HICI4V598ASRDL7PKOS1/NZF_4396.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.5.25 Hard as a Feather A metal feather-shaped hangar in the basement under dramatic lighting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101279987-KC0L0CINIJ8EEZQQGTTU/DSC_9087.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.6.25 A Suburban Pool Went out to photograph some properties for Rookwood, one of which had a pool. I thought this frame with the foliage framing it looked nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101486031-AH4IQVSIB9YUJGO35UEJ/DSC_9379-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.7.25 Elm Street, Ludlow A shot of Elm Street in Ludlow from the second story of a house that faces it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101641609-XL9GHU4UV3IHUOF078NL/Calm+Caterpillar+8.8.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-29.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.8.25 The Thinker Eric stood in for a lighting test prior to a shoot with Calm Caterpillar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755717578243-DQQAH66D8P5RNHZ3H22F/IMG_5264.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.9.25 Pool Party Ashley got a foldable pool for Myrtle, and she enjoyed it in the sun on the deck this afternoon. I am fighting a summer cold and have to miss Tiki Night at Travis and Allie’s, unfortunately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755718260068-UY9WG1T7BWNMVLCU4YWV/IMG_5293.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.10.25 Monmouth at Sunset Thought the light was nice on Monmouth tonight. Wish I’d brought my Zf with me instead of using my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755719568525-Q4RHOSDOM99REJD87IF2/NZF_4424-Pano-Pano+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.11.25 At Least I Got a Nice Shot We watched the Reds lose to the Phillies and then couldn’t hear Snoop Dogg playing because they didn’t pipe the sound into the upper deck. It wasn’t a great outing overall, but I did manage to make a couple of panoramas with the Zf at different times of day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755719749853-TUCV9BGUOA2MREIJQKCV/14+W+5th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.12.25 Church For Sale Today’s listing photos were for a church in Covington. The stained glass and woodwork in the sanctuary were beautiful. The rest of it was pretty forgettable. I was in there solo the entire time, and I can’t say I felt especially comfortable being in this large, unfamiliar space alone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720019889-B6XBAD7QDAJQPHG2MF9U/0E7FA0E8-DBD9-4760-A560-0F658A50F986_1_102_o-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.13.25 Nothing Extra I’ve never seen exactly two Lillies sprouting up from the ground without any sort of visible dirt/mulch base. I actually thought these were fake at first glance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720418427-KJYIPKBOS6J4EW4KK70T/166+Van+Voast++-+Phil+Armstrong+-44.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.14.25 166 Van Voast Rebecca had me shoot 166 Van Voast in Bellevue today. There’s nothing more to say about it. If ever I return to a time when work doesn’t consume the largest part of me every day, I will try to say more in these posts. I just don’t have the motivation at present, and I feel like it’s been this way for months. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720463661-SSUC5BPVWTPBEODC9Q1L/Accessibility+Retreat+2025++-+Phil+Armstrong+-49.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.15.25 Accessibility Retreat A frame from today’s Accessibility Retreat at the Cincinnati Art Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720603649-PL2U7O0PJSQQWMQX1D2U/IMG_5324.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.16.25 Morning Light In Grear Alley Snapped a photo while walking up Grear Alley this morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720806563-ZUEAYVN4IHWYC8UY5PI5/IMG_5342.jpeg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.17.25 I Had No Idea I power-washed this wall years ago. Over time, it slowly gathered more and more grime, and I didn’t notice how bad it was until I hit it with the sprayer by accident while doing the stairs nearby. When I saw the bright, warm concrete surface beneath the soot and filth, I knew what I had to do. Needless to say I took care of it, and afterward it looked like a brand new wall. There’s probably a metaphor in here about regular doses of effort keeping the proverbial grime at bay so it doesn’t build up without us noticing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755721341414-GRR8MN6Y8JZ17MY8F4OT/Modern+Shelving+-+1420+Elm+%28Cincinnati%29++-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.18.25 Modern Shelving Modern Shelving, a San Clemente-based company, reached out recently about being their product photographer in the Cincinnati area. They assigned me a job in Over-the-Rhine, I shot the product in the house today, and turned in the photos. Currently waiting to hear back from them. Hopefully this turns into a regular gig. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756477833307-HIZJCLYF5TJRE245E1AI/IMG_5369.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.19.25 Outdoor Art ‘One-Seater Concrete Tree’ by Nacho Carbonell at the Cincinnati Art Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756477947558-PMFTQCDULEJBRSBWZ3ET/IMG_5375.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.20.25 Mattress Shopping Mattresses are expensive, but they’re also one of the most important things for your health, so I guess we’re spending an absurd amount of money on one of the better ones… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478136525-8CFS1RQTN9CVOKXIO3PF/DSC_2034.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.21.25 Do It In Post This little miniature panther was resting outside the front of the house I had to shoot today for a listing. He didn’t seem bothered by me being there, but growled when I went in for a pet on the head. Instead of moving him from the shot, I opted to take the photo with him in it and simply clone stamp him out in Photoshop, which felt wrong to do despite it being necessary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478434387-KWTLDQI0B83YTYAQX1ME/NZF_4781.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.22.25 Chicago Rules Yes, I know Navy Pier is about the most touristy thing you can do outside of taking a selfie at The Bean in Millennium Park or going to the top of Willis Sears Tower. I’d never actually been there before and only ever saw it from some other vantage point. We went up to the Windy City with Travis, Allie, and Caitlyn for the weekend. We saw a show at Second City, walked around Navy Pier and Michigan Ave, and hit up a brewery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478675120-A41V150T19TRORHXRZXT/NZF_4919.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.23.25 Northwest Tower A portrait of Northwest Tower in Wicker Park, built in the late 1920s. Today it’s a hotel called The Robey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478911737-VQ6OMCVKULFDNVR6DMTO/NZF_5147-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.24.25 A Wicker Park Corner As our weekend in Chicago comes to an end, we went back to Wicker Park so the girls could thrift shop again. I have no interest in second-hand pants, so I wandered around the neighborhood snapping a few frames. I liked this busy corner by the L that had loads of people and cyclists navigating the area. I’m eager to come back to Chicago when the opportunity presents itself. It’s a great city full of good stuff to check out, and I’ve barely scratched the surface. Also, it’s fun to hear people drone on about how it’s a lawless hellscape and then witness how pleasant and chill it is first-hand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548678530-H4YC63R3DE5I1KP7OE63/Art+Dinner++-+Phil+Armstrong+-171.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.25.25 Art Dinner Photographed ArtWorks’ Art Dinner this evening at The Standard in Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548686784-ASYTADQ4S2SMC6T0ARRJ/IMG_5463.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.26.25 Baby Announcement Mike and Jenn told me they’re having a baby tonight. I’m excited for them. They’ve been trying for awhile, and it’s finally happened. I don’t have a photo that corresponds to the announcement, so this one of the community garden on McMicken I took while photographing apartments will have to do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548858290-3S9TJOUT8V3NC6KJ4DQL/IMG_5472.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.27.25 The Silhouette Whenever we’re out late, we usually come home to this scene and it makes us laugh every time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548969009-UWY36RB2KONLADALKBXO/GivaudanRestrooms-PhilArmstrong-114.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.28.25 Sure, Why Not When a contractor asks you to photograph the office restrooms they did and they’re willing to pay for your time, you can’t really say no. Or at least I couldn’t. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549140697-O42TZMO313YFMGTEKS28/IMG_5489.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.30.25 Groceries On Two Wheels It was a beautiful day to take the bike out and pick up a few items from the store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549624687-SUGBOCYLN3VS7JTRCXBC/DSC01385.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 8.31.25 Kings Island Went to Kings Island for the first time during the summer season since I was in high school. It was strange going back to a place I went to so much as a kid after so long. I’m actually writing a longer blog post about it, so I’ll keep my thoughts here brief for now. I left my phone at home and just took my old 17-year-old CyberShot with me. It was so beautiful being disconnected from the wider world and living in the moment with my friends. I wish I could do this every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549910316-3CPBP36WDOHXCHNWJ690/IMG_5520.jpeg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.1.25 Asset Creation The aforementioned camera I took to KI yesterday. Took a photo of it for the blog post I’m writing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549918121-YLA02BL0EEGK48X44XP8/711+Scott+Street++-+Phil+Armstrong+-105.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.2.25 Return to Scott Street Night shots for a listing I shot last month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757551759645-71EKRNBP89B1Z9MRILU3/NZF_6861.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.3.25 Still Life Good light in the room tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757551736145-BLLM0JJZNEUL569B9ZT8/IMG_5557.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.4.25 The Frame (Part 3) Back in July, I posted photos of a frame for a vanity I was building for Marlene. Long story short, I never got around to getting a finished photo after I posted about it (check July 7 and 13th in the archives for more). I went to Maine, work was crazy after getting back, and I didn’t have another job in the studio for a little bit. Today, though, I met up with her in the studio to run around and pick up some equipment, and I finally got a finished photo of the whole thing. It’s not a great photo, but I only had a minute to snap something on my phone. I’m really proud of the way it turned out, and she said it’s made a big difference for her hair and makeup crew. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757552485779-GHZP7023LJSKS3BLPERL/RetailProcess-PhilArmstrong.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.5.25 The Bridge 8K spent a year renovating a couple of blighted buildings in Evanston along Montgomery Road. The top photo is a retail space I photographed in September of 2025. The bottom is what that same exact space looks like today from as close to the same perspective as I could get it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757552680211-VTCEBW8GNAZOKUJZR3G2/NZF_6782.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.6.25 Hoary Edge (Thorybes Lyciades) While photographing Art on the Rise this afternoon, I spotted a brown and orange butterfly on a caution sign. I liked how the colors were so similar to one another. Later on, I spent an embarrassing amount of time online trying and failing to identify the insect, losing way too much time looking at butterflies before realizing this was, in fact, a hoary edge moth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757553467069-H9MLM57GU8VCFUZPVG8H/IMG_5627.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.7.25 False Shower I’m making a fake shower for a photoshoot and using these stick-on tiles. Never done this before. Decided to do it outside where I have more room, and the white rubbery tiles reflected the blue sky quite nicely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757553897357-8FEM6JJDHLWGW4478S51/IMG_5649.jpeg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.8.25 The Cycle All I’m doing is working. If I’m not photographing something for someone, I’m building a set for someone else. If I’m not behind a camera, I’m editing what I did behind one earlier in the day. If I’m not editing, I’m answering emails and trying to get my calendar situated. If I’m not doing that, I’m fretting about my backlog of organizational tasks I haven’t done because I’m always so strapped for time. In the off chance I get a free evening, I’m either working on house stuff or trying to catch up on something else. When I do force myself to relax, I feel guilty for doing so. This cycle of productivity is tiring. I would love to be busy, but also not getting my ass kicked every week for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757554446285-6SM6XGSZO67VK9XXTFWL/NZF_6847-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.9.25 Faking It After Making It I was tasked with making a fake shower for a photoshoot. Really all we needed was an embedded shelf and two flat panels with tile. I don’t know how they’re going to be used or for what products, but I built them out of 3/4-inch thick MDF panels, stick-on tiles, and I made the shelf from scrap I had in the basement. I think they turned out well overall. I did a quick setup and shoot to get an idea of how it’ll look. I can’t wait to see how this turns out when the real shoot happens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757554569767-ECS7CWLGAXWOX951KCNA/IMG_5689.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.10.25 Two Cats Just a couple of guys I saw on a walk with Myrtle after a busy day in the studio with Marlene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758897247731-66HIXE7MZF5R0TPQ16DY/IMG_5792.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.11.25 Passing Through Working with Marlene this week and next week. It’s going to be a struggle to find stuff to photograph despite the fact that I’m literally in a studio all week. If you’re new here, I don’t have as much opportunity to find subjects to photograph when I’m helping in her studio. Photography of the studio is largely prohibited (understandably), and since I’m there for 10 hours a day, I have less chance to snap something interesting. The task falls to the evening when I’m off work for the day and have time to do my own thing. I snapped a photo of this corner while at a stop light. The colors on the building have long been attractive to me, and I finally caught in good light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758897266135-LWJ7GXEOJKHUKM9BXPF6/NZF_6890-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.12.25 Oktoberfest Covington We ate at the revolving restaurant in Covington tonight. The food was actually better than I thought it would be. I don’t believe I’ve been in well over 10 years, and hadn’t been since childhood before that. The gimmick of a rotating restaurant wasn’t lost on me. I find that kind of thing delightful and memorable, especially on a night like tonight when the weather was beautiful and we spun around during sunset. Afterward, we wandered down to Covington’s Oktoberfest to check things out. I hadn’t been to Covington’s celebration in a long time, and I was surprised by how enjoyable the whole setup was. Streets were closed, loads of tents with various food, drink, and wares were sprinkled about the park and neighboring streets, booths with games sat illuminated at the edge of the woods (pictured), a band played on a stage, and shops along the celebration opened their doors for the evening. Honestly, though, I think the most memorable thing to me was all the people posted up on their porches. There are many private residences that abut the festival with large porches ready to host parties, and nary a homeowner or renter in the area failed to do so. With dogs on their laps and cans of beer in hand, they appeared to soak up the vibe of Oktoberfest from the comfort of cushioned couches and sturdy railings as visitors like us looked upon their fortune with envy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758898418073-6E0T2V3AVJFGMMKKO02E/IMG_5761.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.13.25 Renewing My Passport I need to get my actual passport renewed. Until that happens, I’m working on this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758899671605-W0DWKTW6DN9AOUUS9SJ4/IMG_5771.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.14.25 Pumpkin Patching Ashley wanted to do her annual porch pumpkin run. We’ve gone to Neltner and other farms in the past, but this year we got them from C.P. Reeves in Ludlow since we discovered that place earlier in the spring. They were shockingly cheap compared to pumpkins we’ve purchased in the past; I’m not sure why they were priced so low considering literally everything else in this country is more expensive now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758899840026-96AIW95FHU81KGUQHA17/Cincinnati+Preservation-+Phil+Armstrong+-79.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.15.25 Cincinnati Preservation A group photo of the Cincinnati Preservation staff at the John Hauck Mansion on Dayton Street in the West End. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758900122247-PQL3UKOKPKHLS7F4QJQD/IMG_5789-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.16.25 Break a Leg! Permission was granted to take this BTS photo. The shelf backdrop I made for this week’s product shoot was erected on set, and I had a moment of pride seeing the work I did under studio lights. UPDATE: The shelf shot ultimately got cut from the final roster of finished images. Hopefully it gets used in another shoot at a later time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758903801831-VTP8K9K3CV4NEEVJ991Z/Rediscovered+Treasures+-+Phil+Armstrong+-50.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.17.25 Rediscovered Treasures After a long 10-hour day in the studio, I went straight up to the Art Museum to photograph the soft opening of Rediscovered Treasures prior to its public debut. As part of the opening, performers danced in flowing garments to an intimate crowd in the P&G Gallery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758904949512-BBDK8MEGRWM79PRWO6V2/IMG_5809.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.18.25 Wake Up Every day I wake up, read the news, have a light panic attack about the direction our country is going, then try through gritted teeth and shot nerves to get on with my day. There’s really no other option. Either stay ill-informed and ignore this slide into fascism, or stay informed and feel ill. If you’re not upset and worried, you’re not paying enough attention. I’ve been desperately trying to keep my shit together. But when I walk down the street and see an American flag proudly hung from a pole after a day of reading about everything, I can’t imagine being anything but contemptuous at this point. Being proud of this awful moment in time is repulsive. Showing support for it by flying a flag is sickening. I’ve never been less proud to live in the United States as I am now, and the bar was already subterranean. Maybe we will one day look back on all this as just another chapter before forward progress again. Maybe this will all come to a head and we can come down from this ever-escalating high of violence and ignorance. People shooting each other, masked agents kidnapping people off the streets, sending weapons to further genocide overseas, and now talk of silencing those critical of the government should be sending shivers down everyone’s spine. Oh, I forgot, no one actually cares about any of that. Maybe we should talk about how the economy sucks, tourism has tanked, and everything costs more than it should despite false promises that it will all get cheaper. Wake the fuck up, America. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758905127746-GC6OML01KMSO2YI96O25/IMG_5821.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.19.25 Absolutely Beat Ashley’s been gone all week, I’ve been working 10-hour days at the studio, and now I have retouch work to do all weekend. No Oktoberfest Zinzinnati for me this year, sadly. Took a photo of this door on the back of the Mohawk building after taking out the trash. Going to go home and try to relax a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758905319234-S2BT32UF0BPW3TOY0M44/IMG_5836.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.20.25 Absolutely Bored I feel so bad for Myrtle. We’ve been on a walk, we’ve played ball a bit, and I’ve taken her to the coffee shop, but she’s so bored. She’s been by herself most of the week due to me having to work all day, and since Ashley’s been gone, she hasn’t received the same level of attention she’s used to. Since I’m at my desk today doing retouch work for Marlene, she’s once again bored. I have to get all this work done, but I feel guilty constantly about not entertaining her the way I wish I could. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758906999840-7A1VF6MH1DUCWD6SD1CH/IMG_5668.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.21.25 Gear Foam After adding the 70-200 Nikkor to my kit, I needed to reconfigure my work case. The new lens was too big to stand vertically and required an updated layout. The new lens, with its fixed f/2.8 aperture, replaces the older 24-200 I used to carry with me. For event work, a faster lens was essential. The case now holds the following: Nikon Z9, Nikon Zf with either 28mm or 40mm lens attached, speedlight, one spare battery for each camera and speed light, 70-200mm, 24-70mm, 14-30mm, 2Tb SSD, USB-C cable, optical trigger, and metal case with business and SD cards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758907508068-QKJ1L07Y9I5ZRHLXXHFR/The+Vineyard+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.22.25 By the Book For the first time in weeks, we’re getting a lot of rain. My plants are loving it, but the downpour has me in my head. I’m not ready for overcast skies to be my daily reality again this winter. I don’t even like summer all that much, really, but this sneak peek at grey grossness has me prematurely missing sunshine. I went up to Dayton, OH to photograph some apartments for Rookwood. There really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about them; pretty run-of-the-mill job, if I’m honest. Nothing to write home about. Felt kind of nice to have an easier day after the last two weeks of non-stop work. This is pretty much the only semi-interesting shot from the whole day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758908205472-HTE9NOM97SCK8K5V0OOP/NZF_7566.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.23.25 Late-Season Baseball We got coneys and went down to the river to eat them. While we sat on the bench, the Reds lost to the Pirates 4-2. Maybe one year soon we’ll make it to the World Series again. Not holding my breath, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759799170345-4GEKK4B61ZWFSCVXK0ES/IMG_5881.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.24.25 Inspi-rock-tion All of them were some form of “you’re doing great, keep it up” that you’ve heard a billion times when it comes to these types of public art initiatives, but one of the rocks simply said ‘punk rock’ and had a drawing of a little face on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759799171320-1FR98ZQQ3BOQ8U92BCRP/IMG_6001.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.25.25 Boldly Gourding Just a nice pumpkin setup. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759799575749-1ZNM0ZDNQ8M9PXSEWVR4/Art+After+Dark+9.26.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-46.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.26.25 NIF-D I didn’t know about this dance crew until tonight when I photographed them at Art After Dark, but NIF-D performed twice in an hour in the Great Hall to a very large crowd. Managing to stay low and in front of everyone watching, I got a lot of good shots that I’m honestly very proud of considering how challenging the lighting was coupled with how quickly everyone was moving. This was my favorite frame of the evening because it accurately captured the joy of many of the performers simultaneously as the routine circles around the woman in the middle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759800201029-YMHULWRXY8F3G45QDD44/InternationalFreedomConductorAwards-PhilArmstrong-154.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.27.25 IFCA Photographed the International Freedom Conductors Awards tonight. The NURFC hired me to cover the red carpet, VIP hour, and full on-stage program. Tamron Hall hosted the evening, and many musical artists such as Canadian-born singer Deborah Cox (pictured) performed in between awards. I had the privilege of sharing photo duties with another local photographer, too, which helped relieve some of the pressure to get everything totally on my own. It’s really difficult to photograph a stage show like this without disturbing anyone when it’s a place the size of the Aronoff, Music Hall, or a venue of equal proportions. I normally sneak into extreme stage left or right, get my shot, then quickly and quietly duck back out into the hall and run around to the other side, as well as find areas on upper floors to get fresh perspectives, without disturbing anyone’s viewing experience. Having someone else there and coordinating with them allowed me more time to get to the spots I needed without running myself ragged. The show went long, but staying until the end was so worth it. Everyone got up out of their seat and danced to the final act, giving me a load of opportunities for energetic, passion-fueled photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759801157218-CBMQ5MRPNC3GV9KZQKFU/IMG_5902.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.28.25 Impromptu Eli’s While listening to an episode of Caleb Hearon’s ‘So True’ (hilarious show), he started talking about BBQ, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Had to go to Eli’s to scratch the itch—and scratch it did. Have you been to Eli’s lately? If not, go remind yourself why it’s the best BBQ in town. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759801489655-4NQ441I96G6T1WV0UBMD/IMG_5908.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.29.25 Myrtle Mondays Ashley works almost exclusively from the porch during this time of year. Since we barely use it in the winter, we savor every moment we can when it’s still seasonable. Myrtle’s grown accustomed to napping on the porch couch all day while Ashley works, but occasionally she’ll hop up in the chair and watch the street, searching for passersby with their own dogs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802192311-SN1TIHT76S7RV4D2NU07/IMG_5913.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 9.30.25 Accidental Vermeer Snapped a photo of this cat in a window while on my way into Unataza, and I cannot help but feel the color palate, softness, hard lighting, and weathered texture has big Dutch-masters-during-the-Renaissance vibes to it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802878488-GP3GNC06YM6N0HU6AZ1G/IMG_5922.jpeg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.1.25 This Startled Me Halloween is upon us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759803930891-DAGZ0AZH484SP9ZK1GT8/Macys+Rookwood+-+Phil+Armstrong-71-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.2.25 Macy’s Rookwood After Bed Bath & Beyond shuttered and left Rookwood, Macy’s entered the space with a non-mall concept store. Perry Contracting, who I was introduced to earlier this year while doing images for their website refresh, hired me to photograph the work they did for the Macy’s buildout. The fitting rooms were one of the main things they made for the store, so we focused on that area of the store, among others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802895013-9UEROZ1V7WD32U7TKORJ/IMG_5978.jpeg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.3.25 It’s Still Too Hot Gotta water the front garden lest it dries and shrivels up. We need rain! Guest appearance by rainbow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802893724-IPXKMCKMMUK5YN3LOYBL/NZF_0303.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.4.25 Little Archie We met up with friends at Liberty’s tonight for a few drinks. Justin and Annie brought little Archie with them, and to no one’s surprise, he was a huge hit. He didn’t fuss or seem bothered by the atmosphere at all, and since they’ve already flown him to Europe and back before his first full year, I imagine there won’t be many settings this little kid will find overwhelming thanks to routine exposure to the outside world. I’m genuinely proud of them for not isolating at home with him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802899046-KKUSZ01Q9F0V4WI8IH16/VAE+-+10.5.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-4.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.5.25 VAE at Memorial Hall The Vocal Arts Ensemble performed at Memorial Hall this afternoon. I was hired by Fanfare Magazine to photograph the show. Shooting well-dressed people in perfect lighting on a striking stage in a jaw-dropping theater lends itself well to good images; so good, in fact, I couldn’t choose one from the show to share here. Instead, here’s a shot I didn’t send to the client that I just liked for my own archive. After all the Longworth-Anderson shows I shot in years past, I’ve walked back and forth through this little bit of Memorial Hall countless times, and it never fails to impress me with its beauty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760636275833-5I7HV4R934O6DF8M1FKX/IMG_6016.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.6.25 Black & White I’m into black and white at the moment, so I’m trying to capture things in monochrome while the mood strikes. This is a standard scene at our house, by the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760636339078-ZZ2ZFFQRPOGVRKF0C57K/IVX+Crescent+Springs+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.7.25 IVX From a shoot I did for a contractor today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760636990600-9PTY3XLOKWHSCC4UQQ32/Recall+Reframe+Respond+-+Phil+Armstrong+-71-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.8.25 Recall, Reframe, Respond It was preview night at CAM for Recall, Reframe, Respond featuring artist Paul Scott. These types of events are so hard to choose from for this project because I rarely think one image encapsulates everything perfectly. There’s rarely a stand-out frame and it requires picking and choosing something general or interesting enough on its own. This was one of those nights. Do I pick a gallery shot? Speaker? Attendee looking intently at a piece behind glass? I chose this one because it was a nice moment between coworkers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760637077930-ENP7L1H2K99RLL9SBULF/Indigo+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-37.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.9.25 Indigo Opening CAM last night, Taft tonight. Shot the opening of Indigo and the Art of Quiltmaking. Referencing what I said yesterday about the difficulty in choosing just one image from these types of events, I thought this photo best represented my mission while there. It showcases the space—the design, color, layout, etc.—while showing how people move through and interact with those spaces all while maintaining their anonymity. It’s as close to a rendering as possible without being generated. A slower shutter speed and a steady hand manages to freeze the motion, illustrating the dynamic relationship between the living person and static place. I also find that changing aspect ratio to something standard but different to get rid of ceilings and floors with little to no information better focuses the eye to what matters. While event photography is all about finding active moments, something like this requires planning for what’s yet to come. You set up in the place and get what you want in frame, then visualize the upcoming moment when someone walks through the door. When that vision becomes reality, you hit the shutter and you have what you came for. That process of visualization and planning, then executing on that plan, is satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760638283334-C9QNPXZ1KEWYMDCBKGTH/Calm+Corner+Kit+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.10.25 Calm Corner Kit Drove out to Amberley to pick up a box of products for Calm Caterpillar to photograph in my home studio. I’ve been working with Sarah on Calm Caterpillar’s product and lifestyle photography for a year and a half, and it’s been fun getting to stretch that creative muscle while seeing those very same shots end up in retail stores and online marketplaces. Because this one featured a variety of products ranging from 2D to 3D, I had to come up with a dynamic way to showcase everything. The plush products, after much fluffing, made sense to go in the back row. The booklets didn’t make sense to just place flat on the seamless, so I used a pane of glass to raise them up at an angle and preserve the natural shadows. I removed the edge of the glass in post. Overall, I’m pleased with how this turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760638920624-SF4OVS54OOD3HI5JR2BI/NZF_1837-Edit+copy.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.11.25 River Roots I’m not choosing today. I refuse. Went down to the River Roots Festival about 2 hours before meeting up with friends. I shot much of it, concentrating on people and the scale of the boats. I may actually end up publishing the whole set to a blog post because it was such a photogenic afternoon. The other day I spoke about framing the shot and waiting for the right moment in the Taft Museum post. Visualizing what I wanted and waiting for that exact moment to happen instead of aiming toward something in progress. All three of these are examples of that. I waited for the boats to line up, the people to align, and motion to naturally happen. The kid, I think, spotted me with my camera and cheesed for it while running into frame. I love it because there’s little chance of identifying him, but you get that sense of childish fun regardless. I shot these in B&W on the Zf’s special setting; the late evening light made for perfect contrast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760639037518-HO86U81GK49R6SY0J0PF/NZF_1841.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.12.25 New Perspective Standing on the Levee Wall will, I suppose, get you ya nearly identical perspective with the right zoom lens, but I shot this from the top deck of the Natchez as it drifted away from the Landing at 40mm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760639257966-JBG92PEXALZ1SY3ECXA6/NZF_1858.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.13.25 Morning Walk I’m not happy with my body at the moment. I feel fat and gross despite knowing I am not currently obese. This weekend, as wonderful as it was, added to my growing size thanks to loads of delicious meals and many beers. The thought of going to the gym sickens me, so I’m doing what I do best: walking. It’s how I stayed thin years ago, and it’s how I will attempt to keep the pounds at bay. With my Apple Watch move goal updated, it’s a matter of making sure I burn more calories a day than I take in—which also means a diet change. Today’s coffee trip was on foot with camera in hand. If I’m going to drink and eat, I need to pay the movement tax. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760640322698-XOQBKXS8LXEELFL3SZD0/NZF_1914-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.14.25 Avondale While shooting a bunch of exteriors around town for work, I photographed this old house near the corner of Reading Road and Glenwood Avenue in Avondale. I don’t remember this one being vacant when I explored the neighborhood back in the mid-2010s. After looking at it on Google Streetview, it looks like it may have been emptied out in the early 2020s. It’s sad. This house is beautiful, and I hope its boarded up windows are temporary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760640428740-ZX3FO4LJNL9HI7FBHCOC/IMG_6141.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.15.25 Getting Out There Day 3 of this diet and exercise thing, and I’m walking more than I have in months. In addition to doing the treadmill in the basement right when I wake up in the morning, I’ve been sprinkling in walks with Myrtle. We did East Newport this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440296997-1OREHX2WVYWTD6LE2QPH/Fountain+of+Love+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.17.25 Fountain of Love Photo of the new mural on Mercer Street for ArtWorks. I covered the dedication today for them. Quite a few people showed up, and everyone was in good spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440289712-1S30WHST33IZDPAWOQCS/The+Children%27s+Theatre+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.17.25 The Children’s Theatre Opening This is about 10 different images composited into one for GBBN. The Children’s Theatre, located in the newly renovated Emery building, had its opening for the families of the contractors and architects who worked on the space. I had an hour to capture as many of these types of scenes as possible. To be honest, I didn’t feel great about it while I was doing it. Too many people standing around, no control over who walks where, and no ability to direct the scene. After a lot of post work, though, I sent the finished photos to GBBN and they were a lot happier with them than I was. That’s a better outcome than the inverse, I suppose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440286070-PIMB5IK905GOL2RQ2SGD/CAMGala2025Red-PhilArmstrong-139.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.18.25 CAM Gala Fourth year in a row covering the CAM Gala. I had Ronny working the step-and-repeat on the red carpet while I shot the rest of the event. It was a really good night overall, and the museum was happy with the work we did. I hope I can get to 10 years covering this event for them. Working for CAM is so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440275554-HU60D4PKD59SX5U22MII/IMG_6157.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.19.25 Reduced to Data After shooting a bunch of stuff last night at the CAM Gala, I took the two cards I filled and Ronny’s card and laid them on my desk to load them into the computer. It was at this point that I really stopped to look at the fruits of our labor: three little electronic chips with a bunch of ones and zeros embedded into them. It’s kind of strange when you think about how much effort you put into something and these are the physical manifestations of that work. All the years of experience and knowledge coupled with the hours of physical and mental labor you put into an evening, and it’s all represented on these three little objects. Strange. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440278456-FMYK54GEHO629HJ5QBDH/Sono+Bello+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.20.25 Invisible Camera Photographed a medical office for a contractor. The bathroom had an attractive sink and backlit mirror. It ended up being one of the better invisible camera photos I’ve made lately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440271796-TSK64C8ZAK0KFOHIT2FV/IMG_6186.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.21.25 Peak Van I don’t know what model this van is, but I do know it rules. Not sure vans got any better than this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440266715-7BGQAS4AIDJMH2LKA14M/IMG_6189.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.22.25 Carl’s Deli Stopped into the market for some stuff, and managed to make it to Carl’s Deli. First time there. Came away happy with a great sandwich. Definitely worth returning to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440263169-E8P6CXRQOHE7FLJFQ1J9/IMG_6198.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.23.25 A Long Walk As I continue to work on losing weight and getting back into some sort of shape, I decided to take Myrtle on a long walk on my day off. I needed to meet up with Amy at the Mercantile Library to go over the details of the event they were holding on the 25th, so Myrtle and I took a leisurely walk from our doorstep to 4th Street. Since the building was recently converted to apartments that allow pets, Myrtle was able to visit the library for the first time. On our way back, she seemed to want to go into the park instead of back on the Purple People Bridge. We walked Sawyer Point, Yeatman’s Cove, and 95% of Friendship Park before beginning the trek back home. By the time we were passing under the autumnal canopy of East Row Newport, I could tell she was slowing down. When I looked at my watch upon arriving back home, we’d walked 10 miles over about four hours. She rested on the couch for the remainder of the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440260963-T8LXXYJNKXP338AOR0DN/Commons+Mural+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-107.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.24.25 Commons Dedication Shahzia Sikander’s ‘Commons’ mural, designed by her and painted by ArtWorks apprentices, was formally dedicated this afternoon. This is a photo of all the artists involved in bringing it to life. The mural is located on the back of an old 9th Street church (the mural is visible from Court Street between Vine and Race Streets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440251408-4XENRNVAALYO99IR72V6/Niehoff+XXXVI+2025+-+Phil+Armstrong+-204.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.25.25 Niehoff XXXVI Novelist Colson Whitehead speaks to a packed ballroom during the Mercantile Library’s annual Niehoff event at the Hyatt Regency. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440248053-9Y22599Y1RVS130EEKE2/Habib+Family+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.26.25 Family Photos I don’t normally do family portraits, but the Habibs are wonderful people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440239857-M3R8A9ZY8FYX79IQV49U/Commons+Mural+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-140.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.27.25 Gold Leaf Paint A close-up of the new gold leaf paint ArtWorks used for Commons. It’s the first mural they’ve done with this type of paint. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440232327-BOL1B434VIZCEPIQLJJD/428+Van+Voast+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.28.25 New View While photographing a house on Van Voast for a listing, I snapped a photo of Mt. Adams from the second floor west-facing window. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440215696-EXFKCWHMUA5E0XNXD2HM/IMG_20251029_145203_771.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.29.25 Insta360 Oh no. I got a 360º camera for work. You know I’m going to play with it, though. This was the first image I snapped after setting it up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440223870-7T4KFU6KKL3D8809OF2T/IMG_6306.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.30.25 Relics I helped Marlene clean up and organize her studio today. Part of my task list included getting rid of some old shelves in order to put up new hooks for diffusers. When I pulled down this one, I liked the old label enough to snap a quick photo. I’ve never heard of “Melatex finish,” but it seemingly held up rather well considering the copyright date listed on the sticker is 1995. I love the stack of CDs and the Sony Walkman with headphones in the image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440220052-OUB9D73XR8XRSUBGF69D/IMG_6337.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 10.31.25 Halloween Hot Dogs Since Halloween was on a Friday this year, we wanted to do it right. We invited friends over, I bought an inflatable hot dog costume, and I grilled hot dogs on the sidewalk for anyone who wanted one. My neighbor, Brad, works for Perfetti, so he supplied us with an enormous case of AirHeads for all the kids. While the turnout was lower than ever this year, I don’t think I’ve had this much fun on Halloween in years. Grilling hot dogs on the street with a beer in hand, seeing neighbors, and laughing with friends while Myrtle wandered around in a little bee costume absolutely ruled. Halloween is on a Saturday next year. I think we’re going to go even bigger with it by throwing a block party and blocking off the end of our street. Stay tuned! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763427642181-SLIVVNFP7YVTYFY6VSYZ/NZF_7146.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.1.25 Ashley’s Pre-Birthday Ashley’s birthday is on the 3rd. Since that falls on Monday and Mondays are generally no fun, we celebrated her today. She planned herself a 3-hour massage, but after that, it was up to me to come up with some stuff to do. Long story short, we shopped, she napped with Myrtle, and I took her out to eat with Allie and Travis at Nada. Afterward, we went over to Orchid at the Palm for a night cap. Also, the Blue Jays lost the World Series. Stupid Dodgers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429195985-YWRLYQ3TKM42P6EWCD5C/Workbench_Screenshot%281%29.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.2.25 Insta360 This will likely be the first in a string of oddly panoramic and warped images made with my new Insta360 camera. I picked this up for work so I can make Matterport walkthrough videos for clients, but I suspect this will quickly become a toy that I use often for my own projects. I bought it last week without really knowing how to use it just yet. Today, though, I dug into the nitty gritty details about shooting, editing in the Insta360 software, and exporting what I’d made. I spent the whole day learning how to use it and experimenting with its features, learning a lot in the process. I feel confident I’ll be able to produce interesting work while having some fun with this thing in the coming months. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429196403-2XINYRWKFIRF9KAQM94O/IMG_6353.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.3.25 Still-Life With Cat Statue As seen at Hoste in Walnut Hills. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429186693-ECTZ1IP2F8O2QLWVHV2V/IMG_6369.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.4.25 Jaws Of Life There was a touch-a-truck event down at the park over the weekend, and part of that whole shebang was a jaws of life demonstration on some junked cars. The annoying part, though, was they just left the aftermath—broken glass and jagged metal and all—in the middle of the park. There was an attempt to caution tape it all off, but…well, you can see in the photo how well that went. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429186553-OGU2ZCKQK3Q2U1MOHN5K/225+Riverside+Drive+-+Phil+Armstrong+-77.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.5.25 Riverside Views Shot a beautiful house on the river in Covington today. The front stoop included a large patio with several groupings of chairs and tables that overlooked the river and Cincinnati skyline. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429174113-JRS3JUB4A33FYZJLYEN7/1714+Vine+Street+1R-+Phil+Armstrong+-12.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.6.25 Small Apartment on Vine Street Self-explanatory, really. No more than 400 square feet. On the 1700 block of Vine Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429174710-42ISQGIKFDWODQOTJINN/Streaming+Things+Live+2025-+Phil+Armstrong+-426.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.7.25 Streaming Things Live Steve, Kit, and Andy brought a community of incredible people from around the world to Cincinnati for another Streaming Things Live show at the Woodward Theater tonight. Huge congrats to the boys, the excellent cohosts who joined them on stage, and (of course) to all the listeners (Fiends) who flew out to support them. And to top things off, Erica and Steve surprised everyone by getting married on stage with Kit and Andy officiating in front of everyone after the show! I was lucky enough to be the photographer for the event again. After the show, and after the wedding concluded, I had nearly everyone pack in tight for a massive group photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429165235-8HP65DLXZA5KSQPMVJ7V/The+Bells+%26+Symphonie+Fantastique+-+Phil+Armstrong+-114.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.8.25 Sleepy Pup at Music Hall While photographing a performance, I saw this service dog sawing logs and thought it was adorable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429152408-BVIY8MZ6JTJTDVHA8UQI/NZF_9487.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.9.25 BRETT! BRETT! BRETT! Erica sent me a last-minute invite to their house to hang out with the few Fiends who were still in town after the Live show this weekend. While everyone has been able to hang out together since Thursday, I’ve been busy with work and haven’t been able to really spend as much time with them as I’d like. Her invite was a chance to get one last visit in before the scatter back across the globe. One of my favorites is Brett. He’s from Sacramento, loves tiki drinks, apparently has a ska band that I’ve demanded to hear since learning about it a couple days ago, and adores cats. He’s awesome, I love hanging out with him, and I really hope to see him again sooner than next year at the inevitable follow-up live show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429157121-A4SDDGLKGGA8YSDO9Y7L/IMG_6458.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.10.25 Surprise Snow Day Winter decided to drop in early despite it being peak autumn at the moment. It’s weird seeing orange and yellow leaves, pumpkins, and mums caked in a light powder. I think it looks nice, really. This is a good reminder that all these leaves will be gone this time next month, and all subsequent snow will fall upon gray and brown branches instead of a colorful canopy of leaves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429145056-VOUHOQQ55DR80CP5AJ1G/NZ9_6150.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.11.25 Aurora Borealis The Northern Lights swung so far south from their usual location, we could see them with the naked eye in the city in Northern Kentucky. Apparently we’re seeing the effects of a solar storm, making the lights visible in places they don’t normally show up. They’re supposed to be just as strong tomorrow. We’re going to go out into the country to try to see them again, but under darker conditions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429144750-HGKKI0LRKX9QK9H1U6SJ/IMG_6483.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.12.25 Louisville Run Well, we didn’t see the Northern Lights last night, sadly. I took my cameras out, including the Insta360 to run a timelapse, and nothing showed up. I had a job in Louisville today. It was unremarkable, save for stopping to watch a demolition crew taking down what’s left of what looked to be an old hospital at one time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429135055-NTQSPTNN5MX7O8F338ZN/50thBirthdayatPrimPhilArmstrong-54.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.13.25 Barbara’s 50th Barbara hired me to photograph her 50th birthday party at Prim this evening. She managed to gather hundreds of well-known business leaders, artists, and people-about-town on a Thursday night to celebrate her milestone. That’s no small feat. Happy birthday to her! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429207968-JOVWJGY8WMM6ZGZ4SS0V/Screenshot+2025-11-16+at+9.47.51%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.14.25 Revisiting Childhood Everyone left town, including Ashley. I asked Ronny if he was free since he was one of the few who didn’t. We made a plan to meet up and check out a bar in Camp Washington, but when he got in the car, the subject of Eastgate Mall randomly popped up. We quickly ditched our plans and set course for my childhood mall that I hadn’t been to in at least a decade. When we got there, it was immediately apparent that Eastgate Mall is not long for this world. Like many of its peers, it’s dying. Though Cincinnati Mills and Tricounty were reduced to rubble within the last few years, Eastgate is still intact with 34 active listed businesses in its directory. 10 years ago, I swear the mall was still half full. Eastgate was a special place to me as a kid and later as a teenager. I have fond memories being there with my parents and friends. When I was a teen, I’d go to Walden Books, Hot Topic, and EB Games every time I visited. I’d wander over to Sears and say hi to my buddy John. Mike and I got kicked out of there once for horseplay. I can’t count the number of dates I had that included walking around that place at some point in the evening. Seeing it desperately holding on today after 30+ years of it feeling alive was disheartening. I documented our walkthrough with my Insta360 wedged in my sling bag. At one point, we sat down in the food court and ate some lo mein from one of the few restaurants remaining. Afterward, we hit up a used video game store that had colorful carpet, music playing from the ceiling, and a couple of customers shuffling through the aisles. It was the only place in the entire building that we went in that had as close to a “mall” vibe as I remember. I know it’s unrealistic to hope that a place like this can return to some semblance of what it was in my memory, but I truly feel like malls dying are a huge loss for society—especially kids. I cannot imaging being a teenager and not having a third space like this. A place where I could spend as little as I wanted and still have a social, public place to hang out indoors. At this point, I’m not even sure I’m ever going to go back before it goes. There was so little to see in there, so little vitality, that the next visit will surely end up being sadder than this one. Not sure I can stomach that a second time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429130860-9IZE655KWEQHFCL3EZJ0/IMG_6548.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.15.25 Myrtle’s Injured Myrtle and I went up to Kevin’s house to throw ball in the alley with his dogs, Taffy and Finn. At some point, Myrtle must’ve pulled a muscle in her leg because she started limping later on in the evening. Since this was the only activity she did all day, I assume that was the cause of the injury. She’s going to rest and take it easy the next few days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606433372-TD08AACE8BURF5AS9KO3/IMG_6584.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.16.25 Trash Can Larry The cat that hangs by the door outside Hansman’s has a collar that says his name is Trash Can Larry and that he’s the Mayor of 5th Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606432106-EAKRJJ5USHC0LX2GJA2M/IMG_20251117_143823_552.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.17.25 Straight Outta Treats I’m still watching Jack and Jonas. Took the 360 camera over and had some fun recording them for Travis and Allie. This still looked like an album cover. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606429851-PQ5TKFFWVR56PAKOPCHZ/ArtWorks+Dinner+11.18.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.18.25 Radha Lakshmi A portrait of artist Radha Lakshmi working on a collaborative piece right before an event at ArtWorks’ creative campus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606427923-S3CYXE3X3UTN3YGHDURY/Mad+Magazine+Exhibit+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-97.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.19.25 Mad Magazine Exhibit Ronny helped me photograph the newest exhibit opening at the museum this evening. They needed someone to man the entrance while someone else did candids. He took on the entrance position. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606425482-SGSXWIPHWTBXQ0JI62Y5/AFP+National+Philanthropy+Day+-+Phil+Armstrong+-83.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.20.25 Last-Minute Awards Daria called me yesterday about adding a last-minute shoot to my schedule this morning. It took place in the ballroom at Music Hall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606420614-VN6RW7TN3RLZ8ZNH6HKQ/Louis+Conducts+Petrushka+%28CSO5%29+-+PhilArmstrong+-50.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.21.25 Louis Langrée Returns The beloved conductor took a break for a year, but his return to Cincinnati was met with an enthusiastic crowd. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606418894-K014GI6Z2F3KUGT8N344/Erica%2BSteve+11.22.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-14.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.22.25 Wedding Pt. II Erica and Steve got married in front of a very, very tiny crowd in the woods of French Park this evening. I was lucky enough to be chosen to do their photos. They were “married” at the live show a couple weeks ago, but that was mainly just for fun for the friends and podcast-listeners. This one was the real deal. It was wonderful and I’m so happy for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606396339-AAZIPK77RELMQSDUAZC4/IMG_6773.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.23.25 Fog on the Water Self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606411839-RHCW6KDV4EP6LSCIB030/144+Fairfield+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-43.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.24.25 John’s House John’s moving, so I photographed his house for him. I really like the house, actually. Were I in the market for one, I’d buy it. One of the things l love doing most is going back for the small details after shooting all the rooms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606411599-U1W1EO5DN9S5UHXKC4CX/IMG_6780.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.25.25 Illustration I’m getting back into analog art and illustration in particular. I have an itch that I haven’t quite been able to scratch lately, and I think it’s because I feel so creatively stunted. Photography is hugely important to me, both as an artist and as a professional, but because it takes up so much of my daily life, I find it exhausting at times. I’m in a private Discord for Steve’s podcast. One of the channels is based around Star Trek. One of the guys in there, Alex, drew his dream crew, and that got me itching to do something similar. I did a classic pile-of-heads illustration of my dream crew, dropped it in Discord, and a fire was lit beneath me. I felt satisfied in a way I haven’t in a while. It made me want to do more. So, I started sketching again. Myrtle is always a go-to for me, so I did this sketch in about 45 minutes this evening. It’s sloppy, but it scratched the itch again. I’m going to keep going with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606406651-Q55DL8UMO0EQ9U6YL9AT/IMG_6787.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.26.25 Sketching Jack A continuation from yesterday. Did a dog, now it was time for a cat. I chose Jack. Probably going to add Jonas, his brother, beneath at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606406727-RYZA4IFN0MGX4ETPVVAW/IMG_6796.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.27.25 Unusually Festive I had a moment of unusual festiveness and suggested to Ashley that we put up the tree and Christmas decor. Normally I wouldn’t do it on Thanksgiving, but here we are. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606397376-FKJRX5OT3PRR6TJ26JO5/NZF_3886.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.28.25 Sorrento’s I’d never been to Sorrento’s until this evening. It was good! The neon outside was a nice touch, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606401828-O1ZUVBAFNO25PQTOTUBZ/825+Mohican+Drive+-+Phil+Armstrong+-24.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.29.25 Mohican Drive Just a shot from an Airbnb shoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606401472-EPCLCMUQVFEZYPYX44KA/IMG_6823.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 11.30.25 Ultimate Relaxation Ashley used to like watching TV in bed, but we haven’t had one in our bedroom for a long time. It’s not a large enough room for a big TV, really. To get around this, I suggested we try setting up the projector we use for outdoor movie nights on the wall for her. There’s no horizontal keystone correction on this particular projector, though. It’s temporarily rigged on a monolight stand while I have another, better projector on order from B&H. The new one will sit on the shelf by the closet and will be able to correct the angle unlike the one we currently have. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334722041-4GDDEXQ4SPLNGOWU3U72/Nights+of+Holiday+Lights+Preview-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.1.25 Holiday Lights Mini-Blink The Art Museum is open late every Thursday and Friday until the end of the year. To help with attendance, a custom projection-mapped show is playing on the north wall of the courtyard. The show is about 4 minutes long and plays every 15 minutes with a full soundtrack synced to the visuals. I photographed it for the museum’s marketing team this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334736779-TBEJHR5K98EFV70S8RI0/The+Bridge+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.2.25 Coming Soon 8K are finishing up an apartment renovation in Evanston and needed to start listing as many apartments as possible. These are rent-controlled units that I think are quite nice, especially for the price and size. While the building is still under a lot of construction, I was able to shoot two apartments without much trouble. The rest will need to be done next month when construction has wrapped and the floors have been cleaned. Also, it snowed again. I like this type of snowfall because it’s light, doesn’t sit atop an inch of ice, and minimally impacts the roads. It’s good coverage, but we’re not all trapped in our homes. It’s beautifully fun and devoid of the worst traits of a heavier storm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334723461-O5YKI7W39VMWNOLIMXNQ/NZF_4152.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.3.25 Unearthing Gameboy The sketchbook I used to have was missing. I’d looked in the art cabinet in the living room, my workshop, and on the bookcase. The only other hiding place it could’ve been was my office closet, but sorting through that mess was a can of worms I wanted kept shut. Alas, the sketchbook was important, and I knew it wouldn’t resurface on its own. I got a fresh can of Coke Zero from the fridge as a salve to soothe the pain in the ass that was to come. Taking a long, refreshing drink, I slammed the quarter-empty can down on my desk, flung open the office door, and cracked my knuckles. After a sweaty 10 minutes of lifting tote after tote, I finally found the sketchbook. Mission accomplished. Cue fireworks and Blue Angels fly-over. The worst part was yet to come, though: putting all this shit back. As I started undoing the progress I’d made, I stopped to look in a couple of totes; every Enquirer on my birthday from 1986 until 2000 my grandmother collected and gave to me, a box of tchotchkes and framed photos, and my surviving collection of retro video games from my childhood. Atop the pile in that last box was my old original Gameboy with Tetris wedged in the slot. I took it out, turned it over in my hands a few times, ran a finger over the screen, and tapped the buttons a few times. The way it felt in hand was immediately recognizable. You don’t forget the shape of a Gameboy like this. It felt lighter, though, so I checked the battery compartment: empty, thankfully. I thanked my past self for not ruining an irreplaceable object like this by carelessly leaving corroded batteries in it for decades. After putting all the totes back in the closet with one less Gameboy in them, I slapped fresh Duracells in the unit and fired it up. The familiar descending Nintendo logo sank from the top frame of the screen and settled in the middle with that iconic “coin” chime. Tetris’ theme began playing shortly thereafter, and it brought me back to sitting in the back room of my grandmother’s house—the one with the ancient TV on the rolling stand and the pull-out couch that would later have a computer in it within a few more years. She gave it to me for Christmas and I remember it being a helluva gift. I knew it was going to be my photo of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334715285-NG67FKJJ5QG4D5Q5G8HH/Myrtle+Christmas+2025.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.4.25 Myrtle Christmas 2025 This is the ninth year in a row that I’ve made a Christmas photo of Myrtle to send out in holiday cards. And, to be honest, I think this one is the best we’ve ever done. Christmas 2017 she was an otherworldly cute puppy. Christmas 2020 had the best classic staging and lighting. 2023 melded my interest in woodworking into the mix by having her sit in the toy box I made for her among all her toys. 2024 was a fresh departure from tradition with a paired-down white backdrop for a more minimal approach. This year, I wanted to get creative with it. I wanted a challenge—something that would stand out and make the recipient stop and actually look at it for more than a couple seconds. I took a box, made a wooden frame out of scrap to put around it so it would keep its shape, and stapled a black piece of cloth with a slit in it to the back. Myrtle stuck her head through the slit and out of the front of the “gift box”, and the goal was to decorate each box with something different. Ashley devised a lot of the art direction within each box while I added small stuff around her work. I moved the camera around four times to achieve the different perspective per quadrant. Even though she’s a very well-trained dog, she has her limits and decided when she was done. We felt like these were the best four options of the many we tried, and I stitched everything together in Photoshop. There was absolutely no AI used for any of this; just good old-fashioned Ps. There is only one object that I added in post from a generic Google image search that wasn’t actually in any of the photos. If you email me your guess, I’ll tell you whether or not you got it right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334727464-A1PQGUR0S652K5JH48JD/NZF_4188.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.5.25 Drafting Table I’m getting back into illustration so much that I went ahead and added a drafting table on the other side of the office. Having a dedicated space to draw, pin up works in progress, and come back to them when I’m able is so much better than clearing my computer desk every time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334730712-I9UPG5F61BA9IABPI58D/NZF_4196.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.6.25 Let There Be Light Added under-the-shelf lighting to these shelves a couple months ago. I had every intention of photographing friends at a gathering that we had at our place today, but I was too busy living in the moment and forgot to take a single photo, so this is what I am submitting for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334712638-RP0N9MQDYDNJX7SF9RAH/IMG_6896.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.7.25 Inspiration Since I’m drawing more, I’m finding it’s easier to get in the headspace of what I want to do by revisiting the works of artists whose styles I emulate closest. That’s not to say I want to copy directly their styles, but their illustrations are closest to how I prefer drawing. Since I’m still refining my approach and process, it’s nice to refresh myself on what they’ve done so I can have a more cohesive vision for what I want to do. Locally, I really love the way Caroline William drew her scenes. Barbara and David Day are also hugely influential. Additionally, old architectural drawings by Samuel Hannaford and his contemporaries are always worth looking back on. I got this book from the Ohio Bookstore years ago. It’s a collection of floorplans and sketches by George Woodward, originally printed in the late 1800s. I find them among the most beautiful sketches of houses and Victorian-era buildings I’ve seen. They’re so technical and precise. While that’s not how I prefer to work (I like Williams’ more loose approach), I can’t get over the shading in his drawings. They add so much dimension and beautifully highlight the many shapes and corners of each building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334735665-ES7PCE9ICTVW0WULANQW/NZF_4214-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.8.25 Upgraded I posted about our bedroom projector on November 30th and talked about how I had an upgrade on order from B&H. Well, that projector was damaged in transit, so I had to send it back. They replaced it with another one that actually works, though. It’s a ViewSonic LX60HD. I set it up on the shelf, manually adjusted the keystones because the auto-correct feature didn’t work, and now Ashley can comfortably watch TV on the biggest “screen” in the house without needing to have anything bigger than this little box on a shelf in the room. Also, I've not had work outside the house for five days, so if this last week of images hasn’t been overly interesting, it’s because I’ve just been puttering around my house doing all my stupid little hobbies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765572979529-TQ3HMLWJOQBJ4G046W3W/IMG_20251212_154218_757-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.9.25 Tiny Planet Workshop Thought I might throw the 360 camera in the workshop and make a tiny planet image to see how it looked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765572986635-E6PPAFCSLO77JZVK4YDZ/NZF_5019.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.10.25 Hit the Lights Photographed my final event of the year at the Art Museum this evening. Attendance was great, remarks were short, and spirits were both high and flowing. As swing dancers kept the energy up, everyone was in an excellent mood sipping mixed drinks and making plates catered by the museum. I’m a bit bummed that this is the final event of the year. Every time I get to work one of these shindigs, I leave feeling really good. Maybe I’ve come to rely on it as a bit of healthy forced extroversion? Whatever I’m mentally grappling with that day is pushed to the distant background when I’m there. Since I’ve been alone a lot lately, I’ve felt disconnected and lonely to a degree I normally don’t, but when I get to go here, it fills up my tank. I’m not due back until the end of January for Art After Dark. By that point, I’ll have left my Thirties and entered a new decade. Feels weird to know this was the final event of the first half of the 2020s, and the last of an era for me personally. I shot this photo because it felt spiritually relevant; the door isn’t fully closed and locked, lights are off just beyond them, but it’s all still visible. I realized this was the last one before a couple of milestones, and that awareness felt much like the door in this scene—not quite ready to be locked, but nearly there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765574593663-F03XCV7ZQHTLQEG4R1DB/Screenshot+2025-12-12+at+4.17.59%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.11.25 Scanned This may be a first for the Daily Photo Project: a screenshot of over 20 scans stitched together using Matterport for a real estate listing. Technically, this a photo of a bunch of photos I made, so I’m counting it. It looks bad from the “dollhouse” view, but the scans are fine. While I do not think scanning a home room by room is an equal substitute for good stills, I think it’s worth acknowledging as a decent way to convey the layout of a space without needing to personally visit it. These walkthroughs are nice for people who want to tour places without needing to spend the time to physically go there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766499710881-7ZQQ814JW9R8O86NIL5L/IMG_6954.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.12.25 Jackson Street Just a photo I took on a walk this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766499784494-OJ82X9U7OWWZQCGVLTG7/IMG_6969.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.13.25 The Great Snow Trek A winter storm rolled through the city this afternoon and evening. All in all, we figure we got about 5 inches within a few hours. The roads were treacherous to navigate, but we weren’t satisfied staying in on a Saturday night. Our insistence on living in a walkable neighborhood proved, yet again, that car-based suburban life isn’t for us. We strapped on our boots, threw on our heaviest coats and hats, and hit the streets on foot to support a few bars and restaurants that we enjoy. We trudged through the snow to Darkness Brewing first, met up with Chelsea there, then marched through falling snow to Wayfarer Tavern. After a pizza and a few drinks, we continued on to Tuba where we were the only customers at the end of the evening. I took a load of photos throughout our journey. Picking one wasn’t easy, but I think this one sums up the vibe rather well. Snowy, deserted streets, a lighted snowflake decoration illuminating the storm, cozy houses blanketed after hours of accumulation, and just a couple of friends navigating it with the promise of pizza and beer at the next stop. 10/10, great night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766500622376-7DD961RHWVONRFF6GU0W/IMG_7001.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.14.25 Scammed! “Did you get stood up?” A stranger asked me as he passed. “Actually, yeah. I think I did,” I replied bewildered and shivering in the light coat I regretted wearing instead of my big winter option. Back at home, I reasoned that I was only walking from my truck to the venue for half a block–it didn’t seem worth it to bulk up for temporary discomfort. A client reached out to me back in early November about shooting their class reunion at The Transept at 6 PM on today’s date. By 6:20PM, I found myself photographing both my watch and the venue as proof of integrity. The inside was dark. No sign of life. Had it been canceled due to snow? Had it moved and no one told me? I wanted to give it 20 minutes before giving up and going home, and this photo was evidence that I was, indeed, there at the date and time if they later accused me of no-showing. With numb fingers, I hammered out an email explaining that I was here despite there being no event, and that I’d given it a reasonable amount of time before leaving. Deep down, I wanted to give them a piece of my mind for ruining my Sunday night this way, but I kept it professional. Cincinnati is a small market, and burning any bridge can lead to disaster. After I got home, I sent a text to the friend who referred the client to me. Long story short, I’d been scammed. There never was an event or real client. After reviewing the email exchange, it became obvious. I felt incredibly stupid for a few hours, but I was overall thankful that I hadn’t lost any money in the process. It was the least painful hard lesson that I could’ve learned. I was also relieved that it wasn’t just a bad person who canceled an event and didn’t tell me. I didn’t give them my bank information for a deposit like they requested, I didn’t pass up other work to do this, and the only real loss involved paying to park and standing outside for a half hour in a light jacket in 10ºF weather. Now that I know I can be scammed, I will be more vigilant in the future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766502811707-6Q2VFPV77KPXL578YPKC/IMG_7004.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.15.25 Brilliant Sunset on a Bad Day We had to take Ashley’s grandfather to the hospital this morning. He’s been suffering with some stuff for a couple months now, and it’s gotten to the point where he needs professional help. Ashley was in the ER with him all day until he was given a hospital bed upstairs. I had a couple of work obligations I couldn’t miss, but I joined them afterward. We’re hoping he can get answers and treatment for his issues so he can go back home. His son gets back tomorrow, which will alleviate Ashley of sole management of his care. He’s 83 and in poor health, but we’re remaining optimistic at the moment. While on my way back to the hospital, I caught this incredible sunset in the most mundane of places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766503168460-1BV6GWHBQI4ID0MVMIS8/IMG_7008.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.16.25 Bad Prognosis The prognosis for Ashley’s grandfather isn’t good. There are still more tests and procedures to be done, but as of this writing, it’s not good. I took a candid of her feeding him tonight, but I don’t want to share that image here. I also can’t get over just how cluttered this hospital is. The nurses’ desk at the center of the floor is covered in everything from computer wires and Christmas decor to oversized Stanley thermoses and more. The ceiling in this place is also noticeably lower than others, making the whole place feel suffocating to a tall person like me. Oversized rolling chairs and equipment stands litter the hallways. There always seems to be lights out no matter where you look. It feels like there’s nowhere to stand without being in someone’s way. If I ever end up in the hospital, I hope it’s never in one like this. I will not heal in a place so brimful of bad lighting and both necessary and unnecessary junk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766503759394-R889D573A6E6XQWL7Z36/IMG_7014.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.17.25 Helplessness Feeling very helpless at the moment. I’m in studio all week with Marlene, and Ashley is essentially living at the hospital with her grandpa whenever she can get away from work. I want to be there, too, but I can’t due to work. I’m not sure what I would be able to do there, but it feels bad not being present. Anyway, here’s another very good winter sunset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766503941509-AFCFX07G7GPRBVZTK9EE/IMG_7025.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.18.25 Wing Night Distraction The boys have had a wing night planned since before all this stuff with grandpa cropped up. After a long week of going back and forth to the hospital and working in the studio, I needed a couple hours of distraction to feel something other than dread and stress. We returned to the worst-named wing joint, Knuk-N-Futz, in Taylor Mill. If you’re looking for good and greasy, this place is it. I didn’t feel like dealing with the mess that comes with eating wings, so I went with boneless this time. No, I don’t feel bad about that decision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766504335115-GOZ5PUPXU6NOMUG3WXKC/B1A330A8-A92A-483D-8948-CD33111903E4_1_105_c-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.19.25 Sprinkles My sister asked me to draw my niece’s dog, Sprinkles, for her for Christmas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766504470430-DPNRB92R425E0X9TPQHQ/IMG_7047.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.20.25 Hospital Gift Shop One more reason I really don’t like this hospital: it has…a gift shop? I’ve been very fortunate to spend very little time in hospitals during my lifetime. As such, I don’t feel like I have a strong sense of the vibe of a place like this. Right now, Ashley’s grandfather is essentially slowly dying in this building, and this cheery gift shop at the elevator bank is a harsh tonal shift I don’t appreciate. My impression of hospitals is that they are a place of serious worry despite their intention to rehabilitate. The inclusion of this shop trying to make more money off of the stressed friends and relatives who are coming to see their loved ones feels gross to me. Also, it illustrates more of that signature clutter that I can’t stand about this place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766505167722-ECJ7MZZ32YQYFDQZEYA7/NZF_5274.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.21.25 Pigeon Forge Ashley and I had a mini-vacation planned for December 21-24. With everything going on with her grandfather this week, we considered canceling it and staying home. But she needed a break from the routine, there were more people up here now to visit with him every day, and there’s honestly little we can do for him now. She decided we should stick with the original plan and go on the trip. Our final destination is a cabin in the woods just outside of Asheville, NC overlooking the French Broad River. Along the way, though, we’re stopping for a night in Pigeon Forge to both break up the drive and see a place we’ve never been to before. Pigeon Forge is honestly better than I expected. With the mountains in the distance and the overwhelming amount of tourist kitsch, it feels like bargain Vegas. I also haven’t looked this up, but I’d be willing to bet there are more go-kart tracks per capita here than anywhere else in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151639136-5E2ABNWQ52FZR88S686E/NZF_5363.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.22.25 Gatlinburg I misspoke in my last entry—I have been to Pigeon Forge. When I wrote that last night, I’d forgotten and it later came back to me. Back then, we also went to Gatlinburg since it was in close proximity. We did the same thing today. From what I remember, not a whole lot has changed since the late-90s; putt-putt golf is still a major presence, there are loads of trinket and fried food shops, and it’s still just as crowded along the main drag. I liked the The Village Shops for its walkable, European-inspired architecture and winding alleyways. Though they were too expensive to ride, I thought the ski lifts looked fun, too. I was surprised by the number of ice cream shops open in winter, but I guess there’s still a demand for it. A Trump “superstore” conveniently shares a building with an adult sex shop, effectively sequestering Gatlinburg’s center of depravity while sandwiched between a “family fun parlor” and something called “Chocolate Monkey.” Even in cold, grey December, Gatliburg’s cup still runneths over with color and an undeniable vibrancy (for better or worse). To a child, the arcades and attractions must be incredible. To an adult, it felt a sliver of Orlando on a budget with National Parks nearby. I won’t say it was great or terrible. It just is what it is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151854174-VS6Z0U9CF8NDM7NDY11M/NZF_5383.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.23.25 Cabin Along the River Ashley found an isolated cabin on a hill along the French Broad River in North Carolina for us to stay in for two nights. After we left Gatlinburg, we drove to a farm in the mountains where a family had built the cabin and rented it out on Airbnb. It isn’t very big, but the large outdoor wrap-around porch is nice considering it’s about 20 degrees warmer down here than it is back home. Our host dropped by to give us fresh eggs, goat milk, and she baked us a loaf of garlic bread in the shape of a heart. The furniture in this place photographs far better than it is to sit on, sadly, but at least the bed is comfortable. Overall, it’s a nice place, and I’m excited to sit and do nothing for a whole day. After her grandfather’s condition worsened, we considered canceling this trip. That was back when she and I were the only two in town who were able to take care of him and her grandmother. Since then, other family members have arrived from Florida and it’s taken the pressure off Ashley. She needed a couple days away from the hospital to de-stress. While the looming fear of him passing away hangs over everyone, there’s little we can do besides wait and hope for the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151850274-ITDRHPQT3238S4DKIWD0/NZF_5405.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.24.25 Recovery After saying goodbye to our cabin, packing up the truck, and setting the GPS for home, we realized we needed coffee. With it being Christmas Eve, our options in rural Madison County were limited. A small town called Marshall was set along our route, though, and we figured that would be our best option. The winding mountain roads snaked alongside the French Broad River for miles until Marshall peeked into view on the other side of a bridge. Once downtown, it became clear our luck was running out. Most everything was closed or shuttered, save for a little mercantile beside an old-timey gas station near the opposite side of the business district. This place was devastated by hurricane Helene last year. Evidence of its recovery is obvious if you’re looking for it. For example. the house pictured was boarded up with debris strewn around it. I imagine it was a casualty of the storm and still isn’t inhabited. With the town sitting so low in the valley and directly on the river, it’s no wonder they suffered when the French Broad rose following record-breaking rainfall. We continued home through rural parts of NC and TN until finally reaching the highway. From there, it was a straight shot home. With everything going on, I had a minor existential crisis concerning mortality somewhere along the way. I finally snapped out of it when Ashley applied lotion to her hands and it made a hilariously cartoonish slathering sound that made me die laughing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151848232-C75IXH6KUY654KEJ7YCV/NZF_5425.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.25.25 Christmas We visited Grandpa in the hospital this morning. It was horrible. His condition has deteriorated so severely that they’re stopping meds and moving him to hospice within the next day. Ashley is a wreck and I feel largely helpless on what to do besides be present for the family. Personally, I didn’t feel like going up to my sister’s for Christmas considering how awful we felt about all of this, but it offered us a distraction nonetheless. The kids enjoyed their gifts. It was nice seeing them open their presents and be carefree for a few hours. It temporarily got my mind off mortality, but it also unfortunately cooked up some new fears and worries unrelated to the Grandpa situation. I don’t know. This is honestly the worst Christmas I’ve ever experienced, and though it could always be worse, I’ve never had one this bad in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151846337-E8WSPALSU5UAIGW8KYSU/IMG_7088.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.26.25 Tear-Down This being the worst Christmas on record, we took down all the decor tonight. We’re sick of seeing it. We lack the Christmas spirit, and we’re sick of our home pretending to be this sugary-sweet holiday thing that it’s just not this year. We didn’t exchange gifts, either. That was also a first for me. As Myrtle tore into her gift (a bag of treats), we packed everything else away and hoped for something better in 202 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151841672-95W9JICQCIU050PAUBLI/IMG_7098.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.27.25 At Peace Ashley’s grandfather, David Buttelwerth, passed away just after noon today. We’d gone over to hospice to sit with him, her grandmother, and her uncle when we very gently and quietly slipped away. To say it was emotional would be an understatement. The last couple of days, he was medicated into comfort and remained unconscious. He suffered for months with back pain that eventually led us to take him to the hospital where we learned he had more going on than previously believed. Without going into details, it was an uphill battle that he couldn’t win. The only solace I take from this whole thing is that he was without pain in his final moments. Dave was with his beloved wife, son, and granddaughter when he passed, and he’s at peace now. I had the honor of knowing him for his final decade. Seeing his relationship with Ashley, it was clear he was a good man, husband, father, and grandfather. Among many things about him, I always admired how he was so focused on his hobbies—birding, puzzling, golf scorecard and stamp collecting, and when he was younger, photography. His family would sometimes give him a hard time about what he was into, but his curiosity and drive to keep his mind active and love what he loved is aspirational to me. He was quietly content and comfortable with himself in a way I hope to learn one day. I’ll miss his smirk when he’d say something sarcastic to someone in the room. I’ll think of him every time I have a Little Debbie or Hostess snack cake. Nary a puzzle will be put together without Dave on my mind. The next time I photograph a bird, I’ll think of him. Following his passing, we took her grandmother back to her condo in Florence. She was quiet and subdued in a way I’ve never seen her before. Time will tell if she’ll be alright or not. We hope she feels supported despite losing him; she has many people around to lean on should she need it. Nothing today felt appropriate for Daily Photo. The only thing I came up with was documenting Dave’s chair—the recliner that no one will dare sit in out of respect for their patriarch. It’s going to be a very hard couple of weeks while we figure out what’s next for Dave’s funeral, Grandma, and everyone who loved him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151841048-TF6I8ZTU01AN0FBGW5UR/NZF_5430.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.28.25 How to Follow? How do you follow an entry like yesterday's? I don’t have a good answer, honestly. Here’s an image of my phone in the smartphone slot of a grocery cart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767323929675-IQLT3E5CUKNDYPH1F855/IMG_7106.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.29.25 The Wendy’s Sunroom Found a Wendy’s that still has one of the old sunrooms. The restaurant’s been updated with new decor and such, but it still maintains this architectural feature. It lacks all of the warmth I remember it having from visiting Wendy’s in my youth, but I guess it gets points for still existing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767323928510-3E1BUA3K3UKM54RI621R/NZF_5534.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.30.25 Forgotten Love Notes I think it was before I got laid off at the website when I found this book of love notes at a boutique in the suburbs. Each page has a different design with everything from a sincere quote (my least favorite) to something cheeky, often with a stupid pun (obviously my favorite). All of the pages are perforated so you can detach them from the book and give them to someone. I used to give them to Ashley around the time we bought the house. It’s kind of fun flipping through it again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767323925591-IAC3T1D5GD1L1UNF18MB/NZF_5439.jpg daily-photos-all-2025 - 12.31.25 End to 2025 Overall, 2025 was a better year than others. Of course, with the end of it being so top of mind and awful, I really have to dig deep and analyze it without just the recency bias coloring my perspective of it. I made more money in 2025 than I ever have before. We went on a really good road trip with Myrtle. We met new people and maintained our strong relationships with those closest to us. I got to see my best friend bring people from around the world together for a live show he designed and then marry one of my other best friends in front of everyone. I shot so many events that I think I might be less of an architectural photographer and more of an event photographer now. I worked with a globally-recognized artist and traveled for work for her. I bought a truck that I genuinely love to drive and realized I am a small truck guy. I got to eat at Casa Bonita in Denver with my friends, and a trip to Chicago in September was a blast. It’s wild how the death of one person in your family, though, really nullifies how you feel about the year overall. I won’t keep harping on this because we still have a lot to do for it, and I know I will speak on it again within the next few days, but all I’ll say is after seeing a man die, I’ve really started seriously thinking about mortality in ways I haven’t before. Nothing is certain, we never truly know how much time we have left, and having a clear vision of what’s to come is optimistically foolish at best. So, as I leave 2025 in the past, I have to remember that I can only guess at what’s to come in 2026 and plan for it accordingly. Hopefully the next year will be as good as the last minus a repeat of that thing at the end. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-feb-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738542303351-QMF0TX0X4UQK03FN4KQM/Last+Scouts+2.1.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.1.25 Southgate House Revival Travis’ band, Last Scouts, performing on stage at Southgate House Revival. They added a new member after two previous members moved on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738543221117-8APGKQKOF7PDRWJHU974/Maria%27s+Baby+Shower+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.2.25 Baby Shower II: The Sequel Last Sunday, we celebrated Justin and Annie as they prepared for their newborn baby’s arrival. Archie, their son, was born healthy and happy on the final day of January. Today, we celebrated Mike and Maria as they prepare for their newborn baby’s arrival! Maria has been in our lives as long as Myrtle, actually. She’s run a doggy daycare out of her house for years, and Myrtle has been going there or seeing Maria in some capacity almost every other week for the last 7 years. Myrtle’s boarded with her when we’ve gone on vacation, Maria was her handler in our wedding, and she’s been one of our best friends for ages. Really happy for them, and excited they get to start a new chapter in their lives with their upcoming little one. It’ll feel strange not to go to another baby shower next Sunday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1738641822782-QOJEJ7U4E6FR9H70NPD6/IMG_2646.JPG daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.3.25 Blast From the Past My friend Caitlyn is moving to a new apartment and needs furniture to make the surprisingly large space feel like a home. She’s gotten fantastic deals on antiques from various outlets but needed a few other standard items, namely a couch. Tonight, we gave her the first couch I ever bought: one of those Karlstad IKEA couches in isunda grey. It’s the right size for her place, and we were looking for a good home for it anyway. The timing just worked out perfectly. I had that couch with me for 13 years, and I’m proud that it stayed in such good condition considering it was my main living room couch for an entire decade. I’m delighted she will be able to use it. Anyway, we helped her move the couch and a couple of other pieces of furniture into her new place this evening. While there, she gave us a tour, and I saw this on her wall. It was an interview I did with her back in 2018. We used to do interviews with local photographers every other month or so, and I chose her as one of my features at one point. I’ve never seen anything I’d written etched into brass and placed on a plaque like that before. It warmed my heart that she thought this was special enough to memorialize. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046682253-XHA9MG26FMELJ195X67M/NZF_2968-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.4.25 Split Diopter Fun I use my split diopter so infrequently, I have to relearn its eccentricities whenever I do. It’s a weird optical element that produces a wholly unnatural effect focus-wise, but I really like its unique ability to facilitate storytelling in a single frame. I thought it would be fun to capture a body cleaning. By making the subject and action both in focus despite different depths, the viewer can easily infer what’s going on. The q-tip in hand in the background is understood to be soaked with rubbing alcohol because the other q-tips are sitting next to the bottle in the foreground. And because the diopter produces a nice bokeh on the foreground subject, there’s less of a need to worry about simplifying the background on the left half of the image in order to make the subject pop. It feels a little like an ad for rubbing alcohol in this instance. I’ve always wanted to try it with people, though. Maybe the next time I bust this thing out, I can try for something a little more poignant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046679417-ZVROD8875H5ZR9D44THZ/6139+Plymouth+-+2.5.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.5.25 Coming Along Most of my work this week has been at my desk, but I got to briefly go up to Mt. Washington today to make a new set of progress photos for Jake’s property that he’s flipping. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046672557-6P7B45XGISN86WZMGL36/IMG_2654.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.6.25 The Tiny Fainting Couch Caitlyn bought a hilariously small fainting couch for her apartment. She didn’t realize it was so small until she went to pick it up. It’s more of a foot stool than anything. It may be a good Victorian dog bed. Either way, it’s falling apart at the legs. The connection point for the legs is broken and falling apart due to age and rough use over the years. The wood is splintered and broken, so screwing the legs into it won’t work. I need to cut out the broken wood and replace it with a new foundation piece. Reattaching the legs will be straight forward at that point because they’ll have something solid to grip. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739046667745-0ZW6I4573XH8KY6221I8/Test-661-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.7.25 Lighting Test Aside from a slight bump in contrast and a little bit of vibrancy added, this image is unaltered. It was achieved by adding pink and yellow gels to two strobes that are pointed at a white backdrop at roughly a 45-degree angle. I intentionally didn’t light the subject (moi). When the lights fire simultaneously, they blend together and create a beautiful gradient background. I’m testing this setup because I have a portrait shoot coming up that will require a fun background like this. I’ve rented studio time up the street at The Lodge so I have more room to move lights around and give the client room to breathe. The rate is reasonable, and the space is excellent; I can’t wait to set up and start making some good stuff. I have a third light on order at the moment. I’ll need it for this shoot. I plan to light the background like it looks above and put a soft box on the subjects/eyelighter below to illuminate their faces, Once I have three studio lights, I feel like I’ll be ready to tackle just about any headshot situation. I made it work with two for a long time, but three will make everything easier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739221454808-8C905OS8WDOYEKWJJMNC/Diffuser+Tests-11-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.8.25 Diffuser Test It’s been kind of blah outside, and I’ve been home more than usual. As such, I’ve been experimenting with tests of my gear (see yesterday’s post) to stay active and keep myself sharp. I decided to illustrate the effects of various diffusing materials with this one. From the way different grids focus the light at specific intervals to how different materials scatter and soften it, choosing the right element to put in front of the flash bulb is key to getting the effect you need. I think instead of using that giant soft box, I’m going to use the plastic and soft cloths for smaller subjects like this. They’re more physically manageable and seem to do the same thing at this scale. The grids are great for controlling light bleed. I’ll use them when I need to carefully light one specific part of a subject without interfering with the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1739221461715-7HHO71EVU7ACDUIEX7U8/NZF_2997-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.9.25 Candlestick Maker Ashley loves this local shop called Hoste in Walnut Hills. It’s full of kitchen-related wares and decor items that fit her sense of style. This morning, Hoste held a candle-painting event that Ashley and Allie attended. These are the two designs Ashley made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740065766606-NW9BZWMZLC455EM48DC4/Screenshot+2025-02-17+at+3.48.41%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.10.25 8K Headshots Went over to 8K Construction’s office to do some headshots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740066382114-DTR19E0K7YPNYOM15D1U/NZF_3000.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.11.25 The Cold and Frost Another product shoot I can’t share required a trip out to Indian Hill this morning. After what feels like an endless amount of snow so far this year, we were hit again with another round, albeit far less this time. It complicated the travel/loading/unloading process with all my gear, but thankfully nothing got wet or damaged. After I got home, a chill that seemed to plunge deep within my bones made sure that I would stay in the rest of the evening. Without anything photographically to share for the day, though, I knew I had to do something for this project. I stuck my camera out of the back door on a tripod and captured the cold and frost in what little light remained. The long exposure did a lot to brighten the scene up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740069105816-52VUHI0PQOI4ZKDZR0ZF/Shahzia+Sikander+Exhibit+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-96.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.12.25 Sikander: Collective Behavior Tonight, the Art Museum debuted its newest exhibit, Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior. From the CAM website: “For more than three decades, Shahzia Sikander (born 1969, Lahore, Pakistan) has been reframing South Asian visual histories through a contemporary feminist perspective. Working in a variety of mediums—painting, drawing, print, digital animation, mosaic, sculpture, and glass—she reimagines the past for our present moment. Throughout her practice, she considers diasporic experiences, histories of colonialism, and Western relations with the global south and the wider Islamic world, often through the lens of gender and body politics.” Brooklyn-based Hyperallergic, a publication that covers art news, came to Cincinnati to cover the exhibition’s opening. The museum needed high-quality images for its upcoming piece and asked me to do them. After I shot the exhibit, I photographed the event that followed, which included a meet-and-greet with the artist and a talk between Shahzia and the curator, Ainsley Cameron. Choosing a photo of the day was difficult, but I settled on this one of Shahzia speaking in front of attendees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740070000967-LVHNX4YLKQNDQIR1G930/IMG_2742.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.13.25 r/PerfectFit The title is misleading; despite how it looks, it wasn’t a perfect fit that would be worthy of submission on the r/PerfectFit subreddit. Caitlyn needed help picking up an antique vanity she found on Facebook Marketplace. She didn’t know the exact dimensions, but she knew it was roughly 70 inches tall. At that height, it’d fit in the Crosstrek, but I didn’t ask as many questions as I should’ve about width and depth. After following her to a remote location up a dirt road on a large hill deep in Alexandria, I saw the piece and realized it wouldn’t be as easy as I thought. I had to push the driver and passenger seats up as far as they’d go before the hatch shut. Even still, the piece pressed firmly against both the seats and back door, requiring a bit of muscle to latch it. The real test was getting into the seat and driving 20 minutes to Walnut Hills. Being 6’2”, it was challenging, to say the least. Though the piece fit perfectly snug in the entirety of the car behind me, I was not a perfect fit up front. Though painfully uncomfortable, the trip went smoothly, and we managed to lug this thing up a flight of stairs before setting it down in its final resting place in her new office. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740068587027-WUVSOK97NURDC0YAH4LQ/4024GlenwayStorefronts-PhilArmstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.14.25 Glenway Storefront 8K renovated a building on Glenway that will house a barbershop and a store with apartments above them. They asked me to come out to grab a few photos of the work as well as a portrait of each of the owners of the businesses that will occupy the storefronts on the first floor. I wish I’d gotten the name of the man in photo, but I was having issues with my speedlight and that required all of my attention at the time, and I just wanted to make sure I got the shot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740070694961-KD27RBEHML751YON3PXB/Tiny+Minis-99-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.15.25 Tiny Toothpaste Ashley had business in Columbus, Indy, and Louisville over the last few days. She forgot to pack toothpaste before she left, so she went down to the customer service desk at one of the hotels to see if they had any. They gave her the smallest toothpaste money can buy: a 0.17 oz tube weighing 5 grams. She brought home an extra tube to show me, and I thought it was hilarious. I immediately started devising a fun way to showcase this diminutive hygiene product. I placed it on Mytle’s nose and took a photo first, but I wanted to show how small it is next to similarly-sized household products almost anyone would recognize. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740071070767-E9Q55HGCZYRQ3GLAG8IE/IMG_2759.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.16.25 TWUCC Saw this adorable truck with a foreign license plate parked at Lowe’s. Then, I saw the local license plate on the top right corner of the cab: TWUCC. I’m still chuckling about it hours later. If I ever bought a truck, I’d want this. Something small with an open back bed that isn’t so large that you have to climb into it. It’s perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740758580273-GY5Z7KTIG8FZXZZNYQUZ/NZF_3486-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.17.25 Macro: CRT Screen Failing to find anything interesting to photograph today, I got out a bunch of macro diopters, stacked them on top of each other, and started looking at things with textures and translucent properties to see what I could capture. I think I’ve done a close-up of a CRT screen like this before, but I don’t think I’ve done it on the A/V IN screen before. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740758676841-XXVA56SDLOHAXWIIRV6G/Altura+Apartments+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.18.25 Altura Apartments MA Design worked to reimagine a former four-story office building in Mason into a rental community called the Altura Apartments. The massive facility offers your standard new-build apartments in several floorplans named after Italian cities, loads of communal space (including the lounge pictured above), and a vast array of outdoor amenities that we didn’t shoot because there’s snow on the ground and it’s February in Ohio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740759196754-EPB9VIXR323O09Z5WNC8/Streaming+Things+Test+Shots-3.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.19.25 Steve-ing Things Steve came over to help figure out a complicated lighting setup we plan to use for an upcoming shoot on Friday. We’re photographing him and his co-hosts of the Streaming Things podcast for their social media marketing. This particular shot required four lights: purple and orange on the white backdrop, a neutral white key light on the right side of his face, and a Speedlight outfitted with an orange gel to illuminate his left side. It took about two hours to set up, dial in the way we wanted, and record all the necessary settings to duplicate it later in a different space. It’s times like this that having a dedicated studio would be nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740759870413-TX5BRA2SQRKSRHXTYML9/Rob+Headshots-1.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.20.25 A Portrait of Rob Rob needed a professional headshot for his job. We made this image then went out to eat wings and drink beer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740760470148-J8VV9O5H3OVDG4VUR7AS/ST+Group-1.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.21.25 That’s a Wrap! Cast photo after we finished creating all the marketing images for the Streaming Things podcast. I rented out a three-hour block at The Lodge in Dayton, KY, to allow enough time to set up and take proper photos. While we didn’t get to the complicated, colorful photos Steve and I planned a couple of days ago, we did a ton of white background stuff they’ll use. All in all, it was a successful shoot. The Lodge was also a perfect space for something like this. At $30/hr, it’s affordable and convenient. I think I’ll utilize this space again in the future if I need somewhere to set up for something of this scope. Back row: Hatter, Kit, Andy, Jimmy, Alex Front row: Madison, Steve, Erica https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740761106678-MJ74VXT708LPSTF7JOBV/NZ9_5263-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.22.25 Vintage Show A couple weeks ago, I did a shoot at Vintage on Race Street for GBBN. Those shots turned out nicely, but they wanted me to return to the space when it was open so I could capture how the bar looked during a live show. Normally, architectural shoots are slow and methodical, with time to dial in settings and perfectly stage everything. This return visit was anything but normal. I brought Ashley, Allie, and Travis with me to set them up at the corner of the bar. They’d get drinks, and I’d position a tripod across from them, looking at them and beyond toward the stage. However, when we arrived, it was immediately apparent that wouldn’t happen. The bar was crowded and full, with a waiting list of 115 people (roughly two hours). The person I was told to contact about setting this up never got back to me, either. Long story short, I went back to the bar at 9 PM when the show was supposed to begin, explained to the hostess and bouncer why I was there, and did a few handheld shots over my head at a high ISO that I would later correct in post. It wasn’t what I planned, and I honestly felt bad about not being able to control the scene the way I wanted. I did the best I could, considering the situation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740761228407-OG5E23WJLRVKUH1K4YD6/NZF_3492-Enhanced-NR-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.23.25 Macro: LCD I used the diopter set from the other day and photographed this LCD screen from as close as possible. As a kid, it always blew my mind that LCD crystals could cause visible shadows on the backdrop behind it. Polarized light will always be a little bit of a mind-blower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740762349152-24GYNOMXN5Z9LH2D7KJU/NZF_3523-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.25.25 Macro: Flower Staying with the diopter theme of late, I aimed it centimeters away from the center of a flower. I’m less interested in what’s in focus than the pillowy softness of the image around it (and the chromatic aberration that comes with filtering light through so many glass elements). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740762394226-G1RYGB6LLRPVXQ5O2DPH/Shahzia+Sikander+Painted+Windows+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.25.25 The Highest Compliment A couple of weeks ago, I photographed Shahzia Sikander’s new exhibit, Collective Behavior, at the Cincinnati Art Museum. She liked the images so much, she contacted me directly to do more photos for her, specifically of the painted windows she made in a separate gallery. I went to the museum today to capture those windows and a few other pieces for her. I obviously have to make money to stay alive, but it doesn’t drive me creatively. It’s not a motivator beyond sustenance and wanting to live a comfortable life. Hearing that I did a good job from a living artist of her caliber, however, has the opposite effect. It’s more motivating than anything I can think of. I thrive on the quality of work and recognition for doing a good job. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740765249411-05KHGJ4AKUJDZ67WBX7I/Wayfarer+x+SBD+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.26.25 The Wayfarer Bar John wanted shots of the bar his shop made for Wayfarer Tavern. They did a tremendous job. I’ve eaten at this place every week since they started serving pizza, and it’s the closest thing I have to a local that isn’t Unataza Coffee a few doors up the block. If you haven’t had their pizza yet, plan a visit. You’ll be more than satisfied. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740765545735-AR3VL3TR8KJYHO429ZUQ/MercantileLibrary2.27.25-PhilArmstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.27.25 The Mercantile Librarians Photo of the Mercantile Library crew for the library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1740961670701-NH068TYU6XQEJJTMKHEQ/NZF_3584-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-feb-2025 - 2.28.25 Precipitation Retaliation The annual burning of the papier-mâché snowman to ward off bad weather for next weekend’s Bockfest celebration took place at Northern Row this evening. The Sausage Queen delivered the fatal flame to the lighter-fluid-soaked effigy, nicknamed Frothy the Snowman. It went up in about 90 seconds as the crowd clapped and recorded on their phones. Afterward, I enjoyed a hot poker in my beer as part of the celebration. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-mar-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372033056-4D6E4IE1388FPIQBZSDH/NZF_3642.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.1.25 The Starway What's left of the Starway Drive-In sign (later called the Starway Fun Park). Opened in 1946 with spots for 433 cars, the Starway Drive-In was one of the first of its kind in Kentucky. As the fate of Americana drive-ins took hold over the following decades, the theatre sold in 1991, and a small amusement park opened in its place in 1994. Today, it's no longer in use; only a few original buildings remain. I ran across it on the drive between LaGrange and Frankfort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372025218-586X550IIV7THYT1NJYW/NZF_3498-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.2.25 Macro: Flower II Really need to get better about coming up with creative names. Continuing the macro photo theme with my crazy diopter setup. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372037439-8KFGDYDCLYRYFK979O0K/SBD+Glass+Case+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.3.25 Glass Case Single Batch made this sleek glass case with remote-controlled RGB LED lights housed under an acrylic base. They did the metalwork in-house and had the glass manufactured. I’ve never seen them do work like this before, and it was a treat to get to shoot it for them. 99% of the work I did on this image was just making the walls look clean so as not to distract from the piece itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372016081-4JFUSO76IZY2YJF4G75O/824+Madison+Ave+%28Unit+4%29+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.4.25 Awaiting Tenants This is one of the stills from a shoot I did in Covington on Madison Ave earlier today. Orleans renovated a building next to its office that houses several apartments of varying sizes. This one is a shotgun-style apartment with the living room in the front, bedroom and kitchen in the middle, and bathroom in the back. The bedroom features a lot of natural morning sunlight, warm wood floors, an ornate fireplace, and beautiful old tile. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372032946-GBV3KTIRGM7NFSYSBLWT/NZF_3785.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.5.25 Macro: Snoot My view when she shares my pillow in the morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741372024161-20SRSKNPD0VDVXA1Z7ZX/632+Russell+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-13.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.6.25 Germania Hall Rebecca has a listing for a large building on Russell Street in Covington. She paid a local historian to dig up some facts about the place to tell its story and hopefully find a buyer who respects local history. Long story short, the report details its many uses, one of which was a nearly 20-year stint as Germania Hall. The Hall was a meeting place for German-Americans in the late-19th and early-20th century. Featuring a dance hall, saloon, and bowling alley, it was a place where immigrants could gather with their peers in this new country. Sadly, by the time America joined WWI, anti-German sentiment killed Germania Hall and the building underwent a shift to industrial use going forward. It wasn’t until 2015 that it was renovated into the office space it is today. Aside from the tin ceiling on the second and third floors of the main building, much of its original character has been painted over to accomodate modernity. However, I saw this little bit of faded paint on the wall for what appears to be “15¢ Beer” near the back of the second floor, harkening back to its days as a saloon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748896052-TTNAON0PLY53W8TAHK0X/NZF_3833.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.7.25 Return of Bockfest My favorite annual event in Cincinnati is Bockfest for several reasons. The lighthearted, offbeat parade that kicks it off is something I look forward to every year. From the fun float designs to the strategically placed dance troupes in the lineup keep the energy high, the march has more goats and unique spirit than any other in Cincinnati. I also like that the crowds aren’t as heavy as something like the Opening Day Parade. I used to photograph it extensively years ago, but I didn’t bother the last few years. New people are covering it now, and I don’t think the internet necessarily needs my input anymore. Regardless, I still snapped a few frames when I saw someone I knew. Bob (pictured) is in it every year with the cigar club. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748879897-MJW5DTCPW0TCY2GO50OD/IMG_2936.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.8.25 Metro’s Inelegant Logo Paul was in the middle of telling us how he thinks the Cincinnati Metro logo, which is essentially a sloppy blue asterisk, looks like a cat’s butthole. He provided a visual aid and kept switching back and forth between them to make his point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748899464-3LNMLLI6O0KY2EY7O5FT/NZF_3856.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.9.25 Guardians of Traffic After photographing a traveling exhibit for the Cincinnati Art Museum earlier this month, the artist liked what I did so much that she asked me to photograph a companion exhibit of her work at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I threw a change of clothes in a bag, loaded up my gear, and left Cincinnati around 1 PM. When I got to Cleveland, I still had enough light to go check out something I’ve always wanted to see with my own eyes: the Guardians of Traffic on the Hope Memorial Bridge. These massive Art Deco statues stand on either side of the bridge on both ends. I parked at the market and walked about a block where I was able to stand on the sidewalk and photograph the statues with the city behind them. I knew they’d be gorgeous, but they were even more impressive in person. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1741748887258-7P5O74UPTPACELTJN1KT/IMG_2989.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.10.25 The Horrors of OSR After completing my job in Cleveland and checking out a few other things while there, I decided to stop and tour the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield on the way home. This place has long fascinated me from an architectural and human rights perspective. It’s simultaneously an engineering marvel in the middle of Ohio that’s never been reproduced anywhere else in the world and a horror show with an awful past. I got there an hour before closing time, so I paid the fee to do a self-guided tour and speed run as much of it as possible before the cell doors locked me in for the evening (figuratively, of course). As expected, there are a lot of Shawshank Redemption references throughout the building; that’s a great movie, but I found the Hollywood connection to be the least interesting part of the building, if I’m honest. The scale and design of the former prison intrigued me the most. This place was constructed over several decades and served as a prison from the 1880s to 1990. The east wing features an atrium with six tiers of prison cells—a feature unique to OSR and not replicated anywhere else in the world. Tight, dark corridors and suspended metal staircases snake all over the cell blocks, triggering my fear of heights several times as I wandered. Every corner of this place, despite its architectural beauty, felt desolate and heavy. That’s not a nod to the paranormal; I just couldn’t shake imagining how many people suffered so close together for all those years in the darkened cells I was too superstitious to enter myself. For a large chunk of the tour, I was completely alone with this place and my racing thoughts. Though the prison is well-built and still structurally sound today, there’s no shortage of broken concrete and crumbling brick no matter which way you look. The peeling lead paint on every surface sags and flakes off from years of neglect. The metal bars designed to keep people sequestered in their cells and on the different tiers are rusted and worn from over a hundred years of physical trauma. The cells are barely maintained and tattered beyond livability—a painful reminder of why the prison was permanently closed in 1990. At one point, a guard walked by and told me about the prison's unsolvable roach problem toward the end of its lifespan, too. “It’s a little worse now, but not by much,” he said, looking hauntingly into darkened cell #40 in the east wing. It’s so many things all at once: a massive memento of a violent, crowded hellhole riddled with a century of death and human suffering, a preservation success story despite its dark past, a piece of Hollywood history, and a photogenic goldmine among many other things. Go see it if you can. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580269880-UBPZX6BWWPJCOIQOIUXN/NZF_4243.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.11.25 Canceled Plans As I drove up the steep, winding driveway of the Cincinnati Art Museum, I panicked upon realizing I’d forgotten to load the CF-Express card into my Z9. I could technically try shooting this event entirely on my Zf, but that camera only had one small card loaded into it at the moment, and I feel so much more comfortable with my workhorse for situations like this. Frustrated, I mentally kicked myself for being so forgetful. It was unprofessional and stupid of me to neglect something so routine. My panic quietly turned to confusion as I crested the hill, though. Where was the familiar cadre of valets waiting in the traffic loop ahead? Why were there no cars in the lot? Was the event I was scheduled to photograph canceled, or am I ridiculously early? Checked my phone, and nothing seemed amiss. The arrival time and date were right, but the scene from the parking lot suggested otherwise. Puzzled, I unloaded my camera gear and walked up to the closed front doors. Checked my phone again to see if I’d missed some communication. Nothing. After a while, I got ahold of someone inside, and they had, in fact, canceled the event for that evening without telling me. My memory card mishap was no longer an issue, and I realized my forgetful ass would get away unscathed. Annoyed that I wasn’t getting paid that evening but relieved I’d saved face, I returned home, changed into comfier clothes, and took Myrtle on a beautiful walk by the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580284321-VUUHCONM1OW39YZUKXB1/Untitled-1.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.12.25 Double Exposures Never paid much attention to the ‘Multiple Exposure’ mode on the Zf. Today, though, I played around with it, and I think it might be a nice tool to catalyze creativity when inspiration fails. You shoot two NEFs, and it automatically generates a JPEG. You can access all three files in your editing software later. Depending on the setting, the system will prioritize light and dark pixels, creating these odd mashups that feel different than traditional double exposures. The DARK setting is the one I think I like the most (bottom two images), but the ADD setting (top left) turned out the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580254217-DSEIJLGOTKTGVUFG4WQL/544+Milton+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-27.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.13.25 Prospect Hill’s Incredible View Shot a house on Milton Street with a really nice view today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580261719-EICL8K87E4VIKF8VJJUY/1865+Chase+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-9.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.14.25 Retrofit Photographed a renovated corner building on a prominent corner in Northside. The developer is one I’ve worked with in the past. It’s always interesting seeing how they take a historic structure and make it modern. One of the more unique units in the building is this first floor corner apartment that exists in what I assume would’ve been street-level retail or restaurant at one time. With the windows at the top of the wall, the dwelling maintains privacy while allowing ample natural light to fill the space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580277107-XRT546EKVWP0RDOUQYID/NZF_4340-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.15.25 Windy Day The air was warm, and a stormfront threatened to blow into the area later in the evening. We took advantage of the spring-like conditions by going out for coffee and later to Alms Park for a walk. I snapped this photo because the drama of the sky and the swaying pine tree caught my eye. The dynamic range was too much for my camera, but it’s fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580268206-R0JFM4ZYXK2IPK9IRMI3/IMG_3062.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.16.25 David Bow-Wowie Myrt sauntered into my office and stood in the rays of colorful light produced by the sticker on my window. The little line of red light across her eye reminds me of the cover of that one David Bowie album (you know, the one). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580280207-V2369VWJUNTS4PSEWMM8/NZF_4342.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.17.25 Unwanted Don’t know why this chandelier was in the woods by the train tracks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580254572-U7WAGSMKRW8W7YUGZT8Z/509+Short+Pershing+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.18.25 4 of 3 on Short Pershing Not only have I photographed every house on Short Pershing in Covington, but I’ve now photographed one of those houses twice. I knew I’d likely reshoot a house at some point, but I didn’t expect it to be on the best-hidden street in NKY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1742580262551-J99I8OEXZJE3413G6JCO/1007DaytonStreet-PhilArmstrong-21.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.19.25 Above the Bar-b-q Photographed a renovated apartment in the West End. The sign for Mom Bell’s Kitchen Bar-b-q still hangs on the side of the building. I wonder how long it’s been gone. A quick search doesn’t reveal much, sadly. A local historian wrote a little piece about it on his website but didn’t uncover anything about Mom Bell. One thing I do know is a sign was once painted above its picture windows advertising a menu item called Tim Austin Champ’s Steak Burger. You can see it on Google Streetview if you look closely. Austin was a boxer from Cincinnati who won several championships throughout the 90s before retiring in the 2000s. I don’t follow boxing, but he seems to have been a pretty big deal. I doubt I'll ever know the story behind this place without speaking to neighbors or anyone old enough to remember the West End in the 90s. Hopefully I meet someone one day who does. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743428493748-KZEEX5NWLD63DAJ5NHRY/Painted+Window+Collage.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.20.25 Caesura A collage of three painted windows at the Cincinnati Art Museum by Shahzia Sikander. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743431992538-PUYVHZYYHINKGJWMFG8O/IMG_3134.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.21.25 Stowaway While sitting on the couch watching TV, we heard something rustling in the plant on the fireplace mantle. Having had a bad experience with a mouse in the house the day before, we assumed another one had gotten in. With Ashley halfway up the stairs in fear, I crept over to the plant, looked inside, and was relieved to see a Lazarus lizard instead. I gently picked up the pot, took it to the porch, and waved the reptile away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432235890-8S0PPVA96A014NXC2H2H/IMG_3148.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.22.25 The Girls Travis has a show at a bar in Ross, OH this evening. Ashley, Allie, Caitlyn, Rob and I all drove out to watch his band play. I didn’t take my camera this time, and I only took one photo (this one) all evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432556292-W97EDYBSPND4W9Y39GPM/IMG_3156.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.23.25 (Eyeballs Emoji) She wanted my avocado toast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432619654-PZHCXVPGRLGRMPJO66VZ/20E24thSt-PhilArmstrong-17.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.24.25 Small But Mighty Shot a house in Wallace Woods this morning that is small on the inside but has a huge backyard. The owner spent years converting the steep-sloping yard into a Japanese garden with cascading wooden walkways, a greenhouse, a fountain, and native Japanese plants and flowers. While it’s unfortunately not the right time of year to showcase how beautiful the garden will be in two months, I got a sense of how peaceful it will be for the future owner should they maintain it the same way. It would be a dream to step into something so well-built. I hope whoever buys it understands what they have. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743432949563-40I1U60T4B5BOFHRXDPM/CANstructionPNC-PhilArmstrong-126.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.25.25 CANstruction MA Design and HGC teamed up to create a CANstruction sculpture at the PNC Center this morning. They hired me to produce a time-lapse video and document the 5-hour build. Their sculpture ended up being Hot Wheels-themed, with two cars and a big flame on top. After deCANstruction, all cans will be donated to the Freestore Food Bank. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743433392571-V4CUO1Q0BVJ8EM4EHD3C/IMG_3248.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.26.25 A Good Bread Shop I’m happy this bread shop went in on the Avenue last year. If you ever need good, fresh bread, you know where to get it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743433144767-QCENEIK3D7XJTT4TU7M0/8K+Opening+Day+-+Phil+Armstrong+-146.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.27.25 Another Opening Day The Reds Opening Day Parade, March 27, 2025. I marched with 8K Construction and documented the crew as well as the fans along the route. Sadly, the Reds turned over a one-run lead in the 8th inning later that day and lost to the San Francisco Giants. But at least the parade was perfect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743433693598-YQ2K99OPT6YZ95SP0BFY/AAD+3.28.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-65.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.28.25 Quiet Contemplation Photographed Art After Dark this evening. I focused on getting images the museum could use all year (not in traveling exhibits) of people enjoying the museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743434058772-7ORAXRFXKTISN5241K9J/NZF_5869.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.28.25 Stalking His Prey This is Jonas’ very serious kebab-wanting face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743434072560-AAREV5I80SWMQ7DU5IBP/NZF_5878-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.30.25 Command Center It’s that time of year again: spring storms that double as tornado factories. Since last year, I’ve made a few improvements to the basement, though. I put a digital antenna on the TV to see local weather broadcasts from a safer position, and I moved my iMac downstairs to keep an eye on the porch and yard through the security cameras. All this would be useless if the power went out, but it’s pretty good otherwise. Ashley joked that I looked like a security guard in a command center watching the cameras with my can of chips. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1743534156429-V0CQ7QBE5R9VHFZOM2D6/NZF_5916-Enhanced-NR-1-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2025 - 3.31.25 The Greatest Computing Device I read an article today about how the iPad’s future may be in jeopardy thanks to rumors of an upcoming folding iPhone. It’s also rumored that this phone will expand to the size of an iPad Mini. While this new device that sounds bulkier in pocket might excite some, I can’t see moving from my 3rd Gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro for a smaller screen at this time. I’ve probably written about this on here before, but this iPad may be the best Apple product I’ve ever purchased. It’s certainly the only computing device I’ve used for seven years without feeling the need to replace it, and to say I’ve gotten my money’s worth is an understatement. To combat iPadOS updates that tend to slow down older models, I’ve stripped it of all apps save for a few (Safari, Mail, Messages, Procreate, etc). While it’s not a substitute for a real laptop, and though the battery level is roughly 82% of its original capacity, the pencil feature is the main reason I keep it in my daily rotation; I simply can’t draw on my iMac or MacBook like I can on this little iPad. So cheers to you, little iPad, for perfectly filling a niche no other device can. You’ve found your true calling among my digital tools, and until you become too slow to draw or fully bite the dust, you’ll continue to avoid the upgrade cycle. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-apr-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464765780-EA6N31SAY0B9O1ILUAJJ/NZF_6751.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.30.25 I Also Don’t Know This Flower, But It’s Also Pretty Continuing the theme from yesterday’s post. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744139752459-ZQX9DHYGYOKWQ77T1KUE/NZF_5967-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.1.25 Post Your Desk This 27 “Apple Studio Display is my last substantial purchase for my photo business (for the foreseeable future). I think I finally have the perfect setup for my needs. The M1 iMac I bought years ago is a fantastic computer that experiences no slowdown save for when I’m trying to batch update images after an event or when I’m trying to make a complicated video in Resolve. Since I’ve been doing more events over the last few years, processing speed has become more of a necessity for getting things done efficiently. While the M1 iMac could undoubtedly do it, my M3 MacBook Pro does it faster. The MacBook was originally primarily intended for on-location tethering, but with its 36 GB of unified memory compared to the iMac’s 16 GB, I found it was the preferred computer for what I needed—it just didn’t have the size screen I preferred. Linking the Studio Display to the M3 is the fast-processing, preferred editing combo I was looking for. As a bonus, all my work is centralized on the M3 so I never have to switch files between two computers again. The M3 sits under the shelf and connects to the display using a Thunderbolt cable. Since it receives power through the same cable, I don’t have to have the power adapter plugged in. Desk components: -Studio Display -M3 MacBook Pro -TourBox Elite controller -Full Apple keyboard -Magic Mouse 2 -Personal fan -Two mood lights -Philips Hue Signe gradient floor lamp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744140200385-G6F9DZ6B724E9KMOW3R7/1818+Race+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-14.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.2.25 New Offices Cincinnati Development Fund’s offices are moving to the third floor of 1818 Race Street by Findlay Market. Before they move in, though, 8K Construction wanted some photos of the space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744140393204-5WOF8XYWFB5EUTKBBF4K/Cycle+Thru+-+Phil+Armstrong-4.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.3.25 Cycle Thru The Cincinnati Art Museum opened its newest exhibit, Cycle Thru, to the press today. They had me come in to take photos of the space for use in marketing. The show has several displays with bikes from different eras, such as the one pictured. Yes, that’s the Pee-Wee Herman bike. It felt nice to be there with the other press people. Reminded me of what I used to do when I worked for the website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744140967923-4NG5STJOOJPK0MP5GPG5/IMG_3431.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.4.25 Perfect Vibe We went out to a couple of bars tonight, one of which was Jerry’s. I’ll never tire of how good it feels inside this place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744142185766-TN5GB1GTWYCPRY42U2DY/CAM+Kids+Day+-+3.5.25+-+Phil+Armstrong-46.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.5.25 Serpentine Photographed CAM Kids Day for the museum this afternoon. Several reptiles and snakes were brought for viewing as part of the programming. I prefer not to post children to this site without permission from their parents, so this is probably the only image I can show from the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834578953-W8TBUJHLDBEMEC1FASZH/NZF_6077.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.6.25 Self Portrait A different kind of front-facing camera photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834587495-33S34PSI1D7L5TM31NUA/315+Orchard+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-16.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.7.25 The ADA Orchard House For nine years, I’ve worked with Rebecca on her listing photos. She’s given me the chance to shoot quite a few lovely places over that time, but there’s something about this one that really grabbed me. I’ll get to why in a second. Orchard was built in 1890, and after 125 years, it got a makeover thanks to the Center for Great Neighborhoods. Its identical twins next door were also renovated, preserving this bit of Covington’s built history. Heather (Covington Uncovered) did a great write up about 315 and the other identical shotgun houses over on her account. One of the reasons this one speaks to me is its ADA accessibility. If you look closely, you’ll see it at the sinks specifically. There’s an easy grade on the exterior that leads up to the door to the kitchen/living room, and aside from the basement, it doesn’t feature any stairs. You don’t often see renovations that have wheelchairs in mind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834588369-DR1E1QQS4UEOADN0PIGN/NZF_6023.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.8.25 Zf Update This firmware 2.0 for the Nikon Zf is nuts. In addition to the JPEG recipes, which I've never used until today, you can set up your camera to automatically upload to Lightroom or Dropbox or other cloud file storage automatically. I shot this photo and it was in Lightroom on my phone in less than a minute. You could spend the day out and about with a color recipe locked and loaded, shoot all day, and review what you did in Lightroom that night without physically connecting your camera to anything. That’s pretty awesome. I think I might start shooting in JPEG with a recipe selected just to switch things up for a bit. I’ve rarely shot anything but RAW because I like the flexibility of the edit afterward, but the appeal of making the creative decision in the moment, while scary, is liberating in a way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834571461-ZOUCC83VQX5FJP486AIA/Studio+Session-070-2-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.9.25 I Would Drive This Marlene has family in Japan. She brought me back this tiny little car during a recent trip there. She likes to guess what her friends would drive and gets them a car that fits their personality. She gave it to me and asked, “Is this a car you’d drive? I feel like this suits you.” “Yes, definitely,” I replied. I have no clue if this is a real car, but it’s my style. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834572934-MDWY0XEDCJA9PWUX1GJY/IMG_3524.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.10.25 Sunbleached Grit I’ve been sick enough over the last two days that it’s caused me to go to bed early, but I’m not sick enough to stop going into the studio for work. It’s the unpleasant in between of wanting to lie still and recover from the pain and chills while being just barely well enough to respect that money doesn’t make itself. With the impending price hike of everything thanks to the president’s tariff debacle, I need every dime I can get. Yesterday was a struggle. Thanks to copious amounts of extra-strength Advil, I managed through a very long day and went to bed almost immediately when I got home. Slept for 12 hours to try to feel somewhat normal for today. Thankfully, that was a good tactic as I am slightly better today. Since it’s a studio day, though, I didn’t shoot much except for this gas station while I was at the pump. I liked the textures and faded colors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834592777-BKVN46DXLUUB54K6B285/NZF_6090.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.11.25 Faux Lomo 100 The idea of film recipes for Fuji cameras once made me roll my eyes. I didn’t get it; why be fake when you could just shoot actual film? You could just as easily and authentically pick up a used camera and a roll of film and do what you want without having to fake it. Shoot digital when you want a digital look and film when you want a film look (if you have both). To some degree, I still hold this opinion, but with less passion now. After playing with the novelty of the Zf’s film recipes, I get why people use them. They’re just fun. In some ways, snapping the image with custom color science applied in the moment and living with the results is more film-like than shooting RAW and tweaking it later. I won’t say it’s a 1:1 comparison, but there’s a commonality if you boil it down to basics. Maybe this is as close as digital gets to the experience before branching out into its own thing? The thought of shooting something professionally with a film simulation doesn’t appeal to me. Still, for personal photography, it might be fun to choose a simulation for the day and run with it to try something different. I once said the B&W mode on the Zf might be a gimmick I grew out of, but I still use it from time to time. This may be the same situation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834593871-4ZI3KQGZGKDGC3UQNVJH/NZF_6110.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.12.25 Dive Bar Found myself listening to a band play at The Fill Inn tonight with Travis. I wanted to test out how quickly I could snap a photo and have it show up in Lightroom using the Nikon cloud connection using my phone’s hot spot. (30 seconds) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1744834581264-LJLBICMJCTGQYWKM1P2O/NZF_6114.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.13.25 The Coming of Spring Thus begins our annual weekly trek to Baeten’s for new plantings. It’s too early to plant annuals, but we picked up some fresh pine straw for the beds. It felt great to get outside and work in the yard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247570676-M7SCVE0JPM2SSMA69VPQ/728+Garrard+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-56.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.14.25 Tucked Away on Garrard Rebecca had a neat house for me to photograph today. It backs up to the Licking River, but high enough that it won’t flood during the high conditions we recently witnessed. It’s front yard is massive, sloping downward toward the tree-lined street below. A long driveway snakes up the side and ends in a large parking pad behind it. One of the owners is apparently an arborist, so the landscaping is native, healthy, and intentional. Even though I didn’t get to photograph it at full bloom, I can tell this yard will be stunning in early summer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247555400-8HMEW5A3AUUCM36U7X14/IMG_3634-Edit-Edit-2.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.15.25 Surreal No idea when I'll be able to share this project, but I'm currently photographing brand product packaging with photos on it that I took, and I had to document the occasion because this is very surreal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247549994-JO9RS1X1QCGLX6NG8FXA/Art+Museum+Event+4.16.25+-+Phil+Armstrong-12.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.16.25 Wine Bike Tonight’s event at CAM celebrated the opening of Cycle Thru! and Tintoretto’s Genesis—two exhibitions that the public is free to enjoy. During the event, this entertainer rode a modified bicycle with wine glasses suspended from a circular holder. The bottles were kept in holders on the front, and a crate suspended off the back behind the seat held additional glasses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247547712-0J4NJLHGHI4W5MLHZKJU/NZF_6153.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.17.25 Morning Walk I’ve probably posted this scene before. Hopefully not, though. I love how this small house along Route 8 is situated mere feet away from this Family Dollar and next to another commercial building. It initially reads as spite house, but if you think about the nature of development, it’s way more likely that the commercial buildings were constructed in place of where homes similar to this one were once standing. And I should mention that I am still playing with the Nikon Zf JPEG recipes. This one is on “Kodak Gold 200.” I like how it gives the light a little extra warmth and alters the blue values accordingly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247532346-Y6V8MJ4C2VNS0Z2WNGNG/NZF_6167.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.18.25 Grill Out I spent the entire day outside. The grass is cut and trimmed. The flower beds have been cleared of dead leaves from the previous fall season. New pine straw has been laid. Mulched the back beds and relaid all the edge bricks. Deep-cleaned the grill. Ashley put together the flower pots for the front and back. I tossed more ball with Myrtle than I ever have in one day. My arms and hands are sore from digging around in the Earth, and it feels amazing. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I genuinely think humans need this connection to the planet to feel right. You don’t need to farm acres of land to get it; you just need a little time to feel that soil under your nails while the sun warms your back every once in a while. The day ended with a boatload of hot dogs on that freshly cleaned grill. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247522877-054DORRISRWJG7XWZJ15/NZF_6171.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.19.25 Faux Lomo 100 While visiting a few breweries downtown, I tested the Lomo recipe. Besides Portra 400, I’ve shot more Lomo than any other film stock by several hundred images. That said, I don’t know what Lomo looks like with an overcast sky, so I don’t know if this is accurate. All my shots on actual film were taken in sunny or nighttime conditions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745247531246-D65FJYXZRIVJBKRCPCEH/NZF_6177.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.20.25 Spring in NKY I think this faux Lomo recipe makes spring really pop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745504875276-1ROFO1I21ASLGKT5YBPB/NZF_6221.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.21.25 Doughnut Skip Out On West Newport It was a slow Monday afternoon, so I slapped a 40mm on my Zf, hopped on my bike, and took an aimless ride around town. Northern Kentucky has a load of interesting architecture throughout its river cities, but I concentrated on West Newport for most of this particular ride. From the old school corner markets and bars to the finely maintained historic structures, there’s no shortage of texture, color, and visually interesting vignettes in that part of the city. Every time I walk or ride through it, I swear I find something new and beautiful I’ve never seen before or appreciate something I’ve seen but largely overlooked. On one block you’ll see a row of charming, colorful 19th century one-stories and on another block you’ll see an eye-level billboard for McDonald’s in someone’s side yard. The way the sprawling streets end with the Cincinnati skyline makes it unique, too. Every block is brimful of character, grit, and weird beauty the other river cities around it can’t replicate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745504870128-9RBF8X96X90GLRJJJAWJ/NZF_6336.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.22.25 Different Eras While waiting for Ashley to come out of the salon, I saw this classic car driving west on Route 8 and quickly snapped a photo without spending much time lining it up. It was later on that I noticed the driver of the classic car looked to be an older guy, and the driver of the newer car going the opposite direction looked to be a younger guy. There’s probably something to be said about the parallel between the age of our vehicles and ourselves, but I’ll let you come up with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1745504872184-TY1GODN21BRR5W6DQYMZ/NZF_6356.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.23.25 Queue ‘Family Matters’ Theme A bridge over train tracks connects Patterson Street from 11th to 13th Street. If you get out and walk on it, you get this unique view of downtown with West Newport in the foreground, completely obscuring the massive river between them. While I’ve taken similar shots from 15th, I’ve never done this particular vantage point before. It reminds me of the first shot of the ‘Family Matters’ intro where the camera slowly elevates to show the Winslow house in relation to Chicago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464795887-4P0HCJGDPDYJ9PF4MKUV/Art+In+Bloom+Arrangement-44.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 5.24.25 Art In Bloom: Day 1 For the first time in a long time, the Cincinnati Art Museum put on Art In Bloom two years in a row instead of doing it every other year. I was hired to photograph every event during the four-day affair, beginning today. Art In Bloom pairs custom floral arrangements designed by floral artists in the community with existing works in the museum’s collection. This year, the works were assigned to the artists instead of letting them choose their inspiration piece. My tasks today involved photographing every arrangement next to their piece, as well as a soiree at the end of the evening. It’s really hard to choose which pairing I like best, so I’ve chosen to post one that stood out to me. M. Melissa Flohre put together this beautiful arrangement that perfectly mirrors the color palette and shape of the piece they were assigned. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464788460-L57WWF3B7Z1VS9CAXJ1T/AIB+Art+After+Dark+-+Phil+Armstrong-34.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.25.25 Art In Bloom: Day 2 On day 2 of Art In Bloom, I photographed a luncheon and a sugar flower-making workshop throughout the day before ending with covering Art After Dark. In the Fountain Room, a floral bar filled with free stems of a variety of flowers were made available to eager attendees. The line stretched from the floral bar into the hallway with the Miro mural and into the Great Hall. To say it was a popular feature of AAD that evening is an understatement. I was at the museum from 9:45 AM until 7 PM. Afterward, I went to Music Hall to photograph the symphony before finally making it home around 12 hours after starting my day. It was a long one, but I got it done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464787928-60E3BOFCV2M1C4HELC8B/Tea+Party+-+Phil+Armstrong-3.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.26.25 Art In Bloom: Day 3 So much happened at AIB that I couldn’t easily decide on the photo of the day. This neutral entry will have to do. The main tasks were informational lectures, a tea party, and documenting museum-goers enjoying the pairings. I managed to get out of there before dinner, resulting in a full night of playing catch up on three days’ worth of images. I’m exhausted in the best way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464777727-8NKAUCKT2NZFMFZFGUNU/Drag+Shows+-+Phil+Armstrong-152.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.27.25 Art In Bloom: Day 4 Today might’ve been the craziest day of photographing this event. Shahzia was back in town to film a documentary about her work and current exhibits at both CAM and CMA. She wanted BTS shots of the production, but I also had to photograph two drag shows for the museum simultaneously. To achieve this, I kept running the stairs between Shahzia’s exhibit on the second floor and the lowest level where the drag shows were held. It was wild to switch between a quiet, contemplative exhibit with just a few people and a loud, raucous, high-energy room full of fans and performers. While a load of work, I think it was the most fun I’ve had all weekend. While I’ve photographed drag performances in the past, I relearned something today that I think is worth mentioning. If you’re a photographer and you are given the opportunity to photograph one of these shows, always make sure to photograph the audience. I know the inclination is to focus on the performers, and it’s great to get shots of them doing their thing, but I promise you’ll make some of your best material if you aim for the reactions of the people in attendance. I was smiling ear to ear while reviewing images from both shows simply because the energy and glee in every frame was contagious. To say I’m tired is an understatement, but I cannot think of four days within the last six months when I was as creatively satisfied as I am right now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464775735-NFB9MTGTJX201KAV5AU5/605+Elm+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-50.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.28.25 C.P. Reeves Market While in the backyard of a house I was photographing in Ludlow, I noticed this little market. After finishing the job and packing up my equipment, I walked over to check it out. It ended up being a family-owned market with ice cream, Amish-made treats, and a floral nursery. I sped home, got Ashley, and showed her what I’d found. As expected, she loved everything about it. She ended up purchasing a load of plants and flowers for our garden and we checked out the dog-friendly market. The special thing about this place, though, is she’s actually distantly related to C.P. Reeves. Since they share a last name, she called her grandfather, and he confirmed that C.P. Reeves was his father’s cousin. Our new plan is to get eggs from this market every week because they’re the same price as the dozen you’d get from Kroger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746464765618-I61Q22MIPX9OBYTNCEXG/NZF_6747.jpg daily-photos-apr-2025 - 4.29.25 I Don’t Know This Flower, But It’s Pretty Ashley’s in charge of choosing the flowers for the yard. Over the last five years, we’ve invested a load of time and money into filling the front and back yards with as much color and variety as possible. I don’t know what this flower is called, but it’s beautiful. Since she’s the one with the vision for how it’s all supposed to look, it’s always a surprise to me. I never know what’s going to bloom and when. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-may-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1746465105043-144GVC8D8OXEH18O598M/IMG_3818.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.1.25 Castle Skateland A photoshoot that took me out to Loveland routed me past a place I haven’t seen or thought of in ages. I don’t remember how many times went here, but I have a vivid memory of playing pogs on the floor with people I can’t remember. I would actually love to check this place out again. Maybe I’ll get a pair of rollerblades for old time’s sake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679943392-U324WZSL1EQN8PRE5NIM/NZF_7049.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.2.25 La-Ru Lanes We went to La-Ru Lanes with Chelsea and Vince and bowled a couple of games. The place was pretty dead. Hopefully we went on an irregularly slow night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679928436-CF20AMNMQWXOYOT552V9/IMG_3860.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.3.25 J+J Travis and Allie are out of the country for a bit, so I’m going to pop over to their place and check in on Jack and Jonas while they’re away. Jonas (pictured) is very friendly and always wants attention, whereas Jack is a little more discerning with his time. I have no doubt Jack will be my bud in a few days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679942037-P2INBGDSHFYDVEJGL27E/Eric+40th+Birthday-121.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.4.25 Star Wars Party Eric’s 40th birthday coincided with May 4th—otherwise known as Star Wars Day. Sarah put on a big party for him at the CAC, the theme of which was Star Wars. These were hired actors for the event, so I don’t know their real names, but I thought this candid moment was cute. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747679929254-AUH7F86W84U3D710F8O6/IMG_3899.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.5.25 Working From Not-Home Visiting the cats while having the busiest month of the year isn’t a challenge when I can work away from home. Travis has the same Apple Studio Display I do, making it easy for me to bring my laptop over to his house and plug in with minimal recalibration. All I have to do is bring my Tourbox with me, and it’s almost exactly like my setup at home. Jonas is finding ways to stay within my line of sight while I’m there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680091102-F9IQVE1OPY4NO3845355/DSC_5663.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.6.25 Peeking Standpipe Seen while on my way out of shooting an event at the Art Museum tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680266897-I2PSXMTICRNMGW2FDZCI/IMG_3957.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.7.25 Sleeping Like a Person Myrtle sleeping with her head on my pillow like a person. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680411280-JMUQTXNK22Y8GXKR6USG/Perry+Construction+-+Phil+Armstrong-22.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.8.25 Perry Contracting I did a brand/lifestyle shoot for Perry Contracting today. I made portraits of all the staff members, candids of them working in the office, action shots in the workshop behind the front offices, decor that represents their aesthetic (pictured), and more. Thanks to everyone involved, it was a creatively satisfying, easy shoot, and I couldn’t be happier with the images we produced. I can’t wait to see their new website with all the image assets in place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680954364-C4OAHWCJ98J7Y15QFWUF/NZF_7126.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.9.25 The Court Street Bridge They’re replacing the Court Street bridge that crosses Gilbert with a newer one soon. Construction fences are already up, and pedestrians can no longer walk along the deck of the green-clad, vaguely Art Deco-styled part with CINCINNATI emblazoned on the side of the bridge. Mt. Adams is still accessible by way of crossing the street and walking up this crumbling staircase. I documented as much of it as I could. I’m a bit sad it’s going away. It’s not historic, but I always liked its unique design. It stood out when considering other pedestrian bridges in the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747680998138-AJ7NI4RJZMWDZ24B31NJ/Art+on+the+Rise+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6654.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.10.25 Art on the Rise A frame from today’s Art on the Rise event at the museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747770788847-3RS0TH99K0ED4PPQPMEO/IMG_4064.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.11.25 Cat Sitting Jonas perched on the living room chair. Probably waiting for me to get up and give him a treat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747770875018-5XPXB4H7HCGCQTAJBITQ/Joseph+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-75.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.12.25 Return to Joseph House Vehr reached out recently and asked if I would provide a bid to do lifestyle images for Joseph House—a home for veterans who need a place to stay while getting back on their feet. I photographed Joseph House last year for MA Design, and Joseph House liked what I did enough to reach out again for this project. I won the bid, we planned the shots we needed for the website, and today we finished day 1 of the multi-day shoot. One of the day’s activities included this sweet therapy doodle. I got a lot of good stuff during this session. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747771168287-GSDP2FKKOSH9DVUOE7UN/Joseph+House+-+Phil+Armstrong+-116.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.13.25 Alicia A portrait of Joseph House Executive Director Alicia Patterson. I’ve really enjoyed working with her and the rest of the staff over the last two days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747771649907-236DN4ZKN4N3CL7VYBLW/NZF_7077.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.14.25 Hoop Just some nice light on a basketball hoop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1747771750704-I87TQ3KPVE1HE1IJOZU6/Preservation+Awards+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.15.25 Preservation Awards After a long hiatus, I finally got to work with Cincinnati Preservation again. They held their annual Preservation Awards ceremony in Columbia-Tusculum this evening and asked me to photograph the event. The location, inside the Carnegie Library, was perfect for the evening’s festivities. I’d forgotten how many preservationists I know in the city, too, so seeing them all show up and mingle in one place was delightful. In fact, I felt very energized at this shoot because it was the perfect combination of good location, subject matter, and people. I kind of felt like I was at my best, and that felt great during a rather busy, stressful month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748614600033-D395IX88XWWG2ZLORHDC/Red+Door+Project+5.16.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-76.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.16.25 Red Door Project Shot Red Door for ArtWorks this evening. I haven’t been this busy with work since July 2018, when I took over as Managing Editor of the website. I’m short on words and free time, and the backlog of work to get back to clients keeps growing, but I have to grind right now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748614722647-HKYZW1C5FVS4MLY656QG/IMG_4143.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.17.25 The Smallest (New) Truck Ashley and I were a one-car couple for 9 years. It never made sense for us to get a second car. As Ashley works from home, her need for a vehicle has been traditionally very low. That changed recently, and we now need a second set of wheels to alleviate the stress of both needing it during the day. It made the most sense to get a second vehicle that could solve tasks we couldn’t with the one we already have; something that we could use to take our bikes to the trail, haul more than a couple of bags of mulch at a time, and move something that would otherwise be too large for the car. A small truck was the most logical option. I hate large vehicles, and every new truck is huge—or so I thought. After researching my options (including ruling out buying a 20-year-old Ford Ranger), the Hyundai Santa Cruz and the Ford Maverick seemed to be the two highest-rated options for small trucks on the market. I looked at both and decided the Hyundai packed more into the vehicle for the same price as the Ford. It drives like a car but with the hauling capacity of a truck. It looks large in the image, but it’s not. The bed is the right size with the extender cage, and the tonneau cover locks, allowing me to store my gear in the bed without it getting wet or stolen. I’m going to learn how to park it in my driveway better so it doesn’t block the sidewalk, but that will take time and practice. Honestly, I’m not a car guy, but I love this thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748616438495-R9KPIBKMDNYC0FDLBV9X/Kamrassfest+-+Phil+Armstrong+-301.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.18.25 Kamrassfest Shot a retirement party for Rabbi Kamrass at Music Hall this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748616708015-RO5ZJA1DOKHQKVRHKVRX/IMG_4157.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.19.25 Moment of Zen Had a moment to sit on the porch and drink a beer. This is the only image I made all day. Not great, but I’ve been so busy with work lately, I don’t have the motivation to shoot for myself as much as I’d like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748618587661-KE1B5N3GK7KJEYC4XB2G/A1A9A1F2-0D9B-40FF-BF04-3399283B888D_1_105_c.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.20.25 GOOD MORNING, DAD She’s crazy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748619491557-SN5RRZTJI7NL8KPLIS62/Childrens+Hospital+Loveland+-+Phil+Armstrong+-55-Enhanced-NR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.21.25 Children’s Hospital Loveland GBBN renovated an old CVS into a Children’s Hospital branch in Loveland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748621171898-V673TKW671L3TSLRXRYU/DSC_2027-HDR.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.22.25 Green Township Police Department Pepper Construction built a new police station in Green Township. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748621512503-SFF2HP2WODVYQYYEBJ8H/IMG_4175.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.23.25 Golden Hour Walk A quick photo while walking through Over-the-Rhine from Mellotone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748621968311-5RRG2RKH5HFKD1V8HOAK/IMG_4188_jpg.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.24.25 Myrtle Ride Now that we have the truck, we’re able to throw the bikes into the back and drive to a trail. Ashley doesn’t like to ride on the street (understandable), so this gave us a chance to also try out Myrtle’s wagon again in a controlled environment. She didn’t like it for the first bit of the ride, but eventually she got used to it and accepted the fact that she wasn’t going to be in control of her path. Once she relaxed a bit, she seemed fine. It was the first time we’ve all gone on a ride together in a long, long time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748622771983-CKOP5LEKD7K626YUS3KH/IMG_4202.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.25.25 Fun With Salts Hosted a backyard grill-out this evening, and toward the end of the night, we threw some color-changing salts onto the fire to change its color. The camera didn’t capture it perfectly, but you get an idea of how blue and green sections of the flames became after administering the salts. I promise I will get through this creative slump soon. I am mildly burned out and picking up a camera for anything feels like work at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748622781501-5OBANLBIT5XI6V0CT27S/IMG_4216.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.26.25 Community Garden Over the Memorial Day weekend, I took some time off work and concentrated on riding my bike, cooking out with friends, and cleaning up a weed-ridden hill at the end of my street all while managing to get mildly sunburned in the process. The hill pictured above was full of weeds. When I say full, I mean it; the whole thing was a mess of tangled undesirable plants, loads of ivy, and a repository for broken pots and discarded rocks. To say it was a mess is an understatement. Over the last two days, Ashley, myself, Judy, and Shaun all volunteered to pull up all the weeds and plant new stuff on the hill to try to make it look more presentable. I used the broken pieces of pottery and rocks to create a barrier between the rest of the weeds and the area we cleared. Lowes had a 5 for $10 deal, so I used my new truck to go get two loads to dump on the hill. By the end of day, we stood at the end of the street, looked down at our work, itched our sunburns, and felt satisfied we made a little corner of Bellevue more beautiful. It’s not perfect, but it’s 100% better than it was. We plan to plant more stuff in the mulched areas as we get them so it will eventually be full of ferns, flowers, and other non-weeds for pollinators and people alike to enjoy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1748622780041-Z03XPVGMJVULCY2IRQIZ/YWCA+-+Phil+Armstrong+-159.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.27.25 YWCA GBBN renovated an old building in Avondale, built an addition in the middle of it, and now it’s a place where women seeking shelter can go should they need it. This is a frame from a piece of art that hangs in the lobby. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675841926-J0H4SWH5PAQAT1PUNWKE/IMG_4356.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.28.25 Tiny Guard Just a tiny dog in a window. (Sorry for the short captions, but my mind doesn’t have much else to say at the moment.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675838213-ENQA0J63TCBHE6YOK3CY/DSC_2447-Enhanced-NR.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.29.25 Self Portrait The room was well-lit and I was alone, so I stood in front of the lens. This was on the 3rd floor of the building at 4th and Scott in Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675837940-7B80CD3XU7RR70RHVL7Z/AAD+5.30.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-93.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.30.25 Art After Dark Shot Art After Dark again tonight. Great time, as usual! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675842219-E7JXNNPO77Z5YRS8DL1B/NZF_9050.jpg daily-photos-may-2025 - 5.31.25 At the Gorge We took a trip down to Red River Gorge for some hiking with the dog. We’re staying in a water-tight dome covered with plastic and fabric on the edge of a cliff. The view overlooks a valley below, and the dome has a full bathroom, kitchenette, queen sized bed, fireplace, outdoor deck, and fire pit. I’m not sure I would be comfortable in this during the winter, but during this seasonable time of year, it’s perfect. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jun-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675989470-4GPRRA5QX6P4PPRGX6WM/NZF_9080.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.1.25 Kentucky Native Café I know I’m ten years late to the party, but I didn’t expect Kentucky Native Cafe to bring such a strong Portland/Seattle vibe to Lexington. Absolutely loved drinking a coffee here this morning. This place, and the attached florist and nursery, were so magical, it had me double-checking how long of a drive it is to Lexington and back. Definitely going to carve out time to come here multiple more times this summer (also, it’s dog-friendly!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749676173104-0LE63WVDHRASLJQOC9T4/2019+Freeland+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.2.25 Freeman Shot a house on Freeman Ave that’s going to be listed shortly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675975582-OQA8Q8MQ4IIY98T2SJ2T/411+Elm+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-44.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.3.25 Cozy Kitchen There’s a house in Ludlow that’s about to be listed. The owner renovated the interior and rented it out as an Airbnb for years before deciding to sell it. On the second floor at the end of the hallway, she put in a small kitchen that I absolutely adore. It’s not a full kitchen, but for coffee, refrigerated drinks and snacks, and anything you would store on a shelf, it’s perfect. It’s essentially what you’d find in an office (no stove or oven). This would be perfect for a work-from-home person whose computer was in the room beside it. You’d essentially have no need to go downstairs during your workday with this tiny, colorful kitchenette on the second floor. I could imagine wandering down the hall at 11 PM looking for a snack, sitting at the table, and reading something on my phone. Something about it just felt so cozy and inviting. I’m rarely impressed with listings these days, but this one did it for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675976171-HMMAMOZXN8OC7HYQM8Y9/423+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-43.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.4.25 Rookwood Rookwood tile fireplace in a house I photographed for a listing today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749675983618-AQ2UM368JI67LXWSOY56/Crafted+World+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-21.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.5.25 Crafted World Photographed the member’s opening for the new Wharton Esherick exhibit at the Taft Museum tonight. Definitely worth checking out if you can. They knocked this one out of the park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749872316205-9SQSURWCFL2JAFPAIKKW/IMG_4461.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.6.25 Pride In My Neighborhood My therapist, back before she left the clinic, reminded me that there’s little I can do beyond voting/canvassing to sway the election. She always told me to “take care to clean my side of the street.” What she meant was that I only have control over my sphere of influence—all the elements of my life that I can change and improve directly. No, I can’t change the outcome of a bad election, but I can help my neighbor plant trees. I can’t suddenly change our government officials, but I can ensure I’m available to help a friend when they’re in need. I can keep my literal side of the street comfortable and inviting, but I can’t make half the country care about the lives of marginalized communities. I’ve struggled with the outcome and reality of the election since the night it was called. I’m full of anger and disbelief that the people around me would choose a regime built on hate, ignorance, fear, and violence. I’ve sunk back into a depression that I cannot shake, no matter how hard I try to distract myself. At this point, I’m just tired of constantly railing against it. I keep telling myself that I need to concentrate on “my side of the street” for the moment. Today, while on a walk, I saw this Pride flag, and it made me feel better for a moment. It was a reminder that, despite how it looks, the world still has normal, accepting, moral people in it who care about others. It’s not devoid of good people entirely; they’re just the minority. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1749872630923-TOMGW4GIQP5YKQWOXR1Q/NZF_9200.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.7.25 Boys Night Went out with the guys for High Lifes and wings. It felt good to push the anger I described in yesterday’s post to the back of my mind so I could spend some time laughing with good people. Because these outings are fewer and farther between than I wish they were, I find myself bummed at the end of the night when they inevitably have to end. I guess that’s a sign it’s good for the soul. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282271283-PU5GPQVG52HNLS8ALWZ4/IMG_4465.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.8.25 Burger Hieroglyphics The Subaru left this tire mark in the garage, and I think it looks like a three-patty burger. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282275015-WSC0ZQYBNGQRV87NM148/8K+-+Phil+Armstrong+-22.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.9.25 8K Action Went over to a couple of construction sites that 8K are currently working in to grab some in-process shots of the crew doing their thing. The images will be used for marketing purposes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282272347-S3M19CM0GDTI9NAHM7UG/NZF_9275-Pano-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.10.25 Daniel Carter Beard House I had a photo job over on 3rd Street in Covington. The condo wasn’t anything to speak of, but its nearby neighbor sure is. This is where the founder of the Boy Scouts, Daniel Carter Beard, once lived. If you zoom in on the historic marker on the sidewalk, it gives you more history about who “Uncle Dan” was. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282276446-U6SNDBY2EPB4FVXAHZYQ/Farm+to+Table+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-129.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.11.25 The Newest Exhibit I spent a LOT of time in Shahzia’s exhibit when Collective Behavior was in the Western & Southern Gallery. Even though I’ve seen many exhibitions in that space over the years, that one is freshest in my mind. Working with her and the museum over the last few months will always hold a special place in my heart. When I saw how the staff totally transformed the space in a matter of 6 weeks into something wholly different and new for ‘Farm to Table: Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism’ exhibit, I could scarcely believe Shahzia’s show was in the same room. I know they build walls and change the layout of this room over and over again. But seeing it so different was wild. The new show is great, obviously. Go see it for yourself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282264447-8G7LWJ0OPOD4MG1NWJCS/IMG_4388.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.12.25 Random Beauty A view of the railing spindles on the staircase that goes upstairs, turned on its side. The terra cotta wall behind them coupled with the yellow light from the sun streaming in through the stained glass window struck me as so beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282263300-4XBEO0OEO9D415PC62PA/IMG_4384.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.13.25 So Close You have to put the lettuce IN the crisper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282259800-YFU7RTZM4JKVV46FT6UY/IMG_4480.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.14.25 Little Es I was showing my niece, Esmeray, herself on my Apple Watch while I tethered it to my phone. We were taking photos until she laughed and said, “Okay, that’s enough,” and ran off to pop a balloon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1750282259362-FXU5AQLDIUH59U8ZG32I/IMG_4484.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.15.25 EAT PIZZA I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something important here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751220143210-ON08R8A7Y4DH3RCH8PDR/IMG_4516.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.16.25 Shaun’s House Shaun lives in the house parallel to our backyard. I went out on the balcony to get a photo of the sky, and decided to make a quick portrait of the house itself. I’m loving how lush and green everything is right now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751220861265-MJ1BDF4N8M82IJ1JIGJN/IMG_4491.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.17.25 Can of Worms When we had the alley door replaced earlier this year, they removed a chunk of the door frame where the old lock used to be. I finally repaired it with a filler piece, but it had to be painted to match everything. Long story short, when I started scraping the flaking away paint around the area so it would be smooth for the new coat, the rest of the paint started effortlessly peeling away. Removing one piece ended up lifting its neighbor, so on and so forth. Now I’m in a situation where I am stripping the entire door frame down to its raw wood finish. While this is obviously a nice way to extract more character from the originality of the house, it’s also a task I didn’t foresee doing, and I cannot help but think I’ve opened a can of worms for myself rather than fixed a problem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751220902565-2JW2341W6GMIM6VZH2OR/Farm+to+Table+Exhibition+-+Phil+Armstrong+-15.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.18.25 Familiar Work Went back to CAM to slowly photograph the Farm to Table exhibit for their marketing team. I’m sure I’ve said it before on here, but I love working in this museum. Everyone is so nice, the spaces are always perfect, and I get to admire the work of artists while I create something new myself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751310986669-C7C110S74H3VXY53OINT/IMG_4507.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.19.25 Surprise Dog Wash Myrtle was having a grand old time playing in the back yard with her toys and the hose when all of a sudden Ashley and her mom decided to give her a bath. As Myrtle is definitively anti-bath, I’m sure she didn’t appreciate the rollercoaster of emotions going from one activity to the next. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311166508-EGPYOQNUYFQ54MYEA6D0/IMG_4527.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.20.25 Where the Tracks End While up in West Chester, I drove down a nondescript street lined with office parks. At one point, I rolled over some train tracks and instinctively looked either way. That’s when I noticed they ended in brush on one side. I know nothing about the history of these tracks, and I haven’t had time to dig into it yet, but it’s wild to see them suddenly disappear into foliage without warning. They’ve obviously been abandoned, but I wonder for how long. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311520583-RM60NLPIIOMDQ0VTUPW1/IMG_4552.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.21.25 Inauguration Ashley’s aunt and uncle were going to pay a hundred dollars to have their old mattress and box springs taken away to the dump. Seeing an opportunity to put the truck to the test, I suggested I come over and take care of it for them so they didn’t have to spend the money. Aside from getting mulch earlier in the summer, this is the first time I’ve used the truck for a distinctly ‘truck’ task. And I have to say it feels amazing. The dump was disgusting, but knowing we saved three figures to do it ourselves was worth it. I hope I get to use the truck again for something else like this soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311779015-TKCFTE6W3S0V02IL625O/NZF_9303.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.22.25 A Scruffy Stray Just a scruffy stray cat I found hiding under a car. He/she didn’t want to be pet, but didn’t move when I got down to grab a photo—so long as I kept my distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751311923767-W4FQNFX9G74KQZMATNCC/60EMcMicken300A-PhilArmstrong-7.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.23.25 21 Years 21 years to date of the anniversary of a bad day. Four of my friends in high school took a road trip to Maine and two of them never made it. A third ended up in critical condition but survived. The fourth walked away because he was the only one wearing his seat belt when the crash occurred. I am sure I’ve spoken about it in the past on here, but it’s a tough date and a hard memory to revisit every year. I used to exchange texts with a few people every year on the anniversary just to let them know I’m thinking about them. I don’t remember when we stopped doing that. I don’t plan to talk about it at all today with anyone, honestly, and I’m fine with processing it alone. The core group grew up and apart, and I don’t know where their families are any longer. At this point, I’m not sure revisiting our relationships makes sense due to how much time has passed without contact. I’m not the type to post about it to social media, so I’ll commemorate it here in this personal space. Craig and Tyler, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the accident. I have no idea if we would still be friends 21 years after high school, but I wish your lives weren’t taken from you so soon. I missed you then, and I still miss you now. It’s a travesty that we couldn’t see your lives play out alongside the rest of us. Eighteen is too young to die. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751313202664-TNTY4NM1VUVHA1VW5K9V/IMG_4572.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.24.25 Curiosity While standing on the stoop talking to Vince at his house, this beautiful white stray cat emerged from the greenery and sat staring at Myrtle. I crouched down and tried to coax him out, but he didn’t budge. He was keeping eyes on the dog and not paying much attention to the rest of us. After about three minutes, he retreated back into the greenery and we lost sight of him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751314690745-KB0HW2LS3BCEDE0JCKQX/Xtek+-+Phil+Armstrong+-570.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.25.25 The Hottest Job I’ve Ever Had Xtek, located in Sharonville, makes huge metal parts for huge machines. The factory, originally built in the 50s, is a photographer’s dream. When they said they wanted me to come in and shoot their space and processes for artwork to hang on the wall, I could barely contain my excitement. Unfortunately, we chose to do this during the hottest heat wave we’ve had in ages. When the high is 95ºF and the feels-like temp is over 100ºF, being outdoors is a challenge. When you’re in a factory under those conditions and it doesn’t have air conditioning, the outdoors suddenly feels like the better option. And when you’re standing feet away from a 1700ºF furnace with its lid off and a glowing hot mass of metal is being extracted from it, you become acutely aware that the air around you is probably hotter than anything you’ve ever experienced. I got my shots, but not before losing every ounce of water I had left in my body. When I got home, I immediately showered and threw my clothes in the washer. It was a privilege to get to photograph this place, and I had a blast doing it, but if ever I need to go another round with it, I hope we do it in January. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751317334859-301MCOT6ANERB5U61NIJ/Shahzia+Mural+Progress+-+Phil+Armstrong+-143.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.26.25 Unapologetically Beautiful Shahzia is back in town to help oversee the start of a mural she designed that will be painted on the back of a church on 9th Street. ArtWorks is undertaking the task of getting it done, so she met with the project manager and the rest of the apprentices early this morning. Due to the heatwave, they start at 8 AM and work until noon. The church hasn’t seen an active congregation in years, so they’ve staged their paints and equipment on the second floor while they climb scaffolding on the exterior to do their work. The light in this place is staggering. When it streams through the stained glass, it looks incredible. The hazy effect you see in this image is practical. Since the humidity is so intense, the change from air conditioned truck to hot outdoor air fogged up my lens such that I couldn’t use it immediately. I had to wait for the majority of it to dissipate before snapping a clear shot. I liked this frame because it’s almost completely gone save for the haziness on the left side of the lens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751339558404-QH3EHIP6CHGEI9X8AMFF/Art+After+Dark+6.27.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-88.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.27.25 Hilarity in the Galleries For Art After Dark this month, the museum invited six drag queens to lead tours through the galleries. The queens would vamp and make jokes about themselves and the works, keeping the tours light and fun. Several of them were genuinely cracking me up while I was photographing them doing their thing. At one point, the queen was saying something about how the world has had it with mansplaining, and she looked at me and goes, “isn’t that right, Mr. Photographer?” Without missing a beat (I’m very proud of this), I went, “Well, actually…” and raised a finger before pausing and smiling. The whole room erupted into laughter. Felt really good in the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751340176939-J3WJ86DA5HQY29KE1YYO/NZF_9761.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.28.25 Doodle Whisperer We went over to Steve and Erica’s house tonight, and their doodle, Maggie, immediately cuddled up to Ashley. Maggie is normally obsessed with me when I go over, but when Ashley’s around, I’m chopped liver. Reminds me of being home with Myrtle! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751595600019-FDTRLP2SN85G6R7M1KWX/NZF_0817.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.29.25 Covington Transit They leveled the IRS building, opening up a very clear line of sight to the buildings beyond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1751596827829-YEG3RGAEA3M98OXO80RM/CMC+June+30+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1513.jpg daily-photos-jun-2025 - 6.30.25 Working at the CMC It’s been three years since I last worked for the Cincinnati Museum Center. Today, however, I got to do so again. My task was to photograph people enjoying the museum throughout the building, capturing happy faces, and experiencing a sense of wonder. I felt a little uneasy at first photographing people. I wasn’t hiding the fact that I was doing it, but I also wasn’t aiming to grab their attention, either. On the back of everyone’s ticket, there’s language that says the CMC is allowed to photograph people without needing a release. For the first half hour, I struggled to get anything good with any confidence. Eventually, I found my stride, got about 40 workable shots, and called it a day. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-jul-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752004773340-LCDP3024A2SEZYGIRSTP/NZF_0933.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.1.25 Planning Process I am building something for someone outside my home. As such, I am taking measures to really plan this one out properly by rendering it in CAD software. The build is simple, but I’d rather have something fully designed on paper before I get into it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752005136183-J2EDNKEH4X7C0Z6IDAE4/In+This+Place+-+Phil+Armstrong-5.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.2.25 Freedom Center Exhibit Photos I like that I’ve seemingly succeeded in becoming a go-to for exhibit photography for the local museums. Between the Art Museum, Taft, CMC, and Freedom Center, I’ve been fortunate to capture exhibits over the years whenever there’s a need. Today, I photographed the Freedom Center’s new traveling exhibit, Faith & (in)Justice, as well as In This Place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752006223899-49H86WUXALEVMNSCTJYY/NZF_0821.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.3.25 Our Disgusting Government There’s no reality in which I support this administration, its policies, or the people in governmental positions helping to make life worse for so many in favor of the rich few. I used to have hope for the future; that optimism is gone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752006877345-F8T35BVLDCUIQQM4A3C7/NZF_0873.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.4.25 Setting Sun We went out to the farm to celebrate Vince’s 40th birthday. He threw a big party with a band, catered food, and launched fireworks for about 50+ people. We set up a tent in the shade of the edge of the woods and camped over night. It was hot until the sun went down, but the portable fan I brought with me took the edge off. Honestly, I thought it would be a more uncomfortable day, but it was quite pleasant. While everyone else also celebrated the birth of our country, I couldn’t help but feel like everyone was missing the point. There’s no reason to celebrate this place right now. The behavior of our government is nothing to be proud of, and I’m embarrassed to call myself American at the moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752006881198-VBKTW94XJ6AG0Q6QGXV4/NZF_0928.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.5.25 Setting Sun The building next to Allie and Travis’ place looks beautiful in evening light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752796258561-8GEGTMQ8570CY2LDGIMZ/NZF_2633.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.6.25 Psst! Just a fun find in Camp Washington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752796407942-SUJLZQ6LYI3YZH9QTIRI/IMG_4647.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.7.25 The Frame I’m in construction mode, so I am neglecting photography at the moment. The only intentional image I made today is a shot of the progress on the frame of a structure I’m building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752796658576-PM65Q8JUL8U3G66B3TL1/IMG_4663.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.8.25 Surprise! A couple weeks ago, I got a DM from Surprise Surprise Studios inviting me to a pre-release screening of the new Superman movie at Union Terminal. My initial reaction was that it was a scam, but after looking into it a bit more, I realized it was a legitimate invite, and seeing the movie early in the Omnimax theatre was a real possibility. I still have no Earthly idea why I was invited as I’m not an influencer and not in the media any longer. Regardless, I went to the movie, collected a swag bag of promotional materials, and watched the movie on the weirdest, warp-iest screen in Cincinnati. (One of the reasons they held a screening at Union Terminal is because the building itself is prominently featured in one scene.) The movie itself was a lot of fun; not being a Superman fan before, I dig the whole vibe of this iteration. It was great to see it early and in that weird aspect ratio, but I think I’m going to go back and see it again on a normal screen sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752797330496-6LUB3DRUD6TPMW9HY8A0/Mercantile+Apartment+Ribbon+Cutting+-+Phil+Armstrong-73.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.9.25 Preservation Dedication The Mercantile Building was dedicated today with a ribbon-cutting that included representatives from Model Group, the mayor and city officials, and John from the Mercantile Library among others. I photographed the event for Model Group. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752797508737-98ZTB2HULPU8IEWYLY7S/Marycrest+-+Phil+Armstrong+-28-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.10.25 Proofs A pre-edited image I made today while up in Livonia, MI for Luminaut. I went up and back in one day, and while it was a tiring 8 hours on the road, I’m glad I took the job. When these are processed to their finished version, I think they’ll look nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752797922809-QUJPOU16LCFXZ3DL9QN5/IMG_4698.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.11.25 Paw Pile Zzzzzzz https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752798417959-A51T4VZ3WW6DLETNTKV8/711+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-11+copy.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.12.25 A Transformation For the Ages I shot 711 Scott Street 13 months ago (bottom), and then again today (top). The owners transformed a dilapidated, abandoned law firm into a gorgeous house that they intend to place on the market soon. To give you some idea of how vastly it’s changed, take a look at the before/after. It’s the same spot from the same angle. While I liked the previous ceiling, I also understand the desire to take it out and open it up a little better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752798782153-WTFO6EAX1FLEORCSS31X/IMG_4713.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.13.25 The Frame (Part 2) Remember the frame I posted on the 7th? That was part one of a construction project. Part 2 is a frame for a vanity mirror that will be hung above it. This is the raw build lit up as seen in a bad iPhone photo (again, when in construction mode, I don’t have the capacity to do proper photography). I still need to sand and paint it, then install for Marlene. Once everything’s in place, I will post the finished product. This thing has been a bear to build, and I’ve had to construct it out at my parents’ house since they have more room. Without my dad lending a helping hand and me having a truck to bring it back to my place, I don’t know how I would’ve done this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752798858109-X3LVTZFL6ZUF5NMHAVM8/711+Scott+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong-46.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.14.25 Better Lighting When I did the shoot at 711 Scott the other day, Rebecca didn’t like the overhead lighting, and there wasn’t a bulb in the floor lamp in the living room. I returned today in the evening to re-shoot it after the owner put a new bulb in the lamp. It makes the room feel so much more inviting, in my opinion. Overhead can lighting is the worst. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752799334630-WEBMGX73JIWJ6SC4C9CU/Shahzia+Mural+Progress+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1740.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.15.25 Progress on Shahzia’s Mural Went out for fresh images of the mural Shahzia designed. ArtWorks apprentices are really getting a lot done! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752799665371-MFDX3O3ZGOMKB4PFDAWI/ArtWorks+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2012.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.16.25 Screen Printing ArtWorks has me documenting their apprentices in various locations as they work on separate projects in remote spaces. Today’s trip took me out to Norwood where they were removing glazed works from kilns, carving small figures out of clay, and screen printing intricate designs. Despite being in art club when I was young, I wasn’t a cool art kid. And even at nearly 40 years old, I still look at young artists—the same type of people who I admired back in the late-90s and early-2000s—and think they’re some of the coolest people in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1752799725873-IJ224QALQHB8D9G5WP65/ArtWorks+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2066.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.17.25 A Colorful Day at Work Day 3 of documenting ArtWorks artists doing their thing. This time, I went out to Camp Washington to capture what I could. This room was especially colorful, and I really liked this composition specifically. Everything I said about cool art kids yesterday applies to the cool art kids I photographed today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1753276476790-N7JNJKMLCKCWQ48573P5/NZF_3264.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.18.25 Casa Bonita Rob and Rachel signed up for a reservation for four to Casa Bonita in Denver over a year and a half ago. A few weeks back, they got the email that they could finally fulfill that reservation. Rob had mentioned it to Travis and I after he’d originally submitted their names, and we both said we were committed to joining when he received the green light. So, that’s what we did. We went to Denver for lunch at a Mexican restaurant that shares its DNA with Disneyland. Of course I watched the documentary about the place before we went. The history, the renovation, the new lease on life it received as a result of the two creators of South Park, etc. All of it was fascinating, and seeing two rich dudes dump an endless amount of money into a passion project they know will never be profitable was both satisfying and endearing. One major thing they improved with this new iteration of Casa Bonita was the food. I had the brisket nachos—they were exactly what I’d expect from a place like this. After we fulfilled our hour and fifteen minute dining spot, we wandered around the enormous space taking in all the decor and entertainment. It’s honestly too much to recount here, and I won’t do it justice anyway. It’s just a wild, wonderful place with cliff divers, singing puppets, warm and inviting caves, over-the-top live performances, and false streets that feel real among many other things. All of it stands in stark contrast to reality; leaving the safe, colorful, fantasy world of Casa Bonita and stepping back into an overcast afternoon on Colfax Street in Denver was lightly depressing. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Casa Bonita, please go. It’s an experience unlike many others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1753276479189-5YCHAPW326PAVOIM1DSW/NZF_3426.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.19.25 The Mountains After an exciting first day in Denver, we headed into the mountains to take advantage of Colorado’s defining feature. Rocky Mountain National Park ended up being an unusually busy spot, and we had to fight hard to find places to park the rental so we could get out and explore. We hiked around Sprague Lake, Bear Lake, Alberta Falls (pictured), and drove up to nearly 12,000 feet at one point to the alpine tundra. The views were understandably breathtaking (both literally and figuratively at that altitude). It was a treat to point a camera in any direction and nail the frame without much effort. I don’t think there’s anything more picturesque in nature than mountains. After a long day in the mountains, we ended up spending $5 to go into an over-100-year-old amusement park that looks like it hadn’t been updated in 60 years. They were weird about photography there, restricting us to only using our phones for images. At one point, I was told not to even use my phone. Luckily, I got what I wanted and they didn’t make me delete any of them. I’ll probably go through those at some point and put them online. It was a truly special place that I’m still in shock exists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1753277072536-TMGZM4XRUQPVHY9GBGP9/NZF_3527.jpeg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.20.25 The Long Trip Back We ate at the highly-regarded Pete’s Kitchen for breakfast. Every time I’m in another city with a 24-hour greasy spoon diner in it, I am reminded of what we don’t have back home. It’s insane that this type of restaurant isn’t commonplace everywhere. We took it easier today. Travis went to the airport around 1 PM, and Rob and Rachel and I chilled on a rooftop with craft beer until leaving for the airport at 4 PM. Our flight was originally scheduled to leave at 8 PM, but it was delayed three times and ended up leaving around 1:30 AM. To say it was a long, frustrating day at DEN is an understatement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754264421092-3LLEJDAZWD2275XGR3JJ/IMG_4998.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.21.25 Technically Technically I took this after midnight in the airport while we were waiting for our plane to figure itself out, so it counts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754265126671-UOZT7HEXKAW90WNE59ZN/Cordova+Mural+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3605.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.20.25 Cordova A portrait of William Cordova in front of a mural he designed. Behind him is the ArtWorks team who helped realize the mural. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754265130136-QGXVAKTFTREWS29O1LJM/2028+Russell+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-65.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.23.25 The Firehouse 2028 Russell Street was built as a firehouse many years ago. While I don’t have time to fully research it at the moment, I read that it also served as a corner store, a beauty salon, and a residence prior to its current state. And by current state, I mean it’s filled with raccoon crap and enough graffiti to keep you busy reading for hours. There’s no power, so it’s completely dark inside. I had to use a flashlight to shoot this for the listing. Some of the walls are missing, you can see through the floor to the basement in a couple spots, and I’m positive I took a few lungfuls of black mold by accident. I got in before the heat really rocketed to its peak, but that didn’t stop it from being a furnace in there. It wasn’t a comfortable shoot at all. It’s going on the market for a low price with the understanding that this will require a lot of work to get it ready for habitation. I just hope whoever buys it can fix it up the way it should be. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754266426110-K96FDXE5LOTKMB9CLHMJ/The+Pointe+GBBN+-+Phil+Armstrong+-44-Edit-Edit-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.24.25 The Point An unfinished composite from a shoot I did with GBBN today at The Point in CUF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754266883176-HC4HL1VMJW8J2CA1E27N/DSC_8820.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.25.25 Cancan Dancers For Art After Dark this month, the museum brought down dancers from Dayton for a show. They did about five routines that included a mix of one-on-one pairings to the full troupe. One routine was a tounge-in-cheek act in which either lady was visibly trying to one-up the other. While one would dance, the other would scowl and be dismissive. The crowd ate it up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267190627-PFOETG7JQYSI4IB8YMWT/NZF_3641.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.26.25 The Falls Doing the Heavy Lift Today we embarked upon a road trip that will ultimately lead us to New England with several stops along the way. Unlike last year when we went to Maine, we’re bringing along Myrtle for the ride. Our first stop is Buffalo and Niagara Falls. I’ve only ever read about and seen photos of the Falls, so this was a good opportunity to scratch it off my list. As a fan of parks and the natural beauty of the country around me, I was very excited to see them for myself. I knew the States’ side wasn’t optimal for viewing the Falls before we went, but I was still excited to see what I could from the park in New York. I also knew it would be crowded, but I wasn’t really prepared for how crowded it ended up being. To say there were a lot of people at Niagara Falls is an understatement. If you’re looking for a personal, quiet moment in nature, that ship sailed from Niagara long ago. While we had a good time walking through the park with Myrtle and dodging crowds of tourists to see what we could of the Falls, the city itself was a low-key bummer. Rundown buildings, dirty sidewalks and pedestrian infrastructure, cheap attractions you’d find at a county fairground, and an amount of loud, obnoxious cars a National Park should never experience. I’m positive there’s something in the city that’s worth experiencing outside the Falls, but I’d have to dig for it. I didn’t have that much time there to look for something worthwhile outside the Falls, and since I had Myrtle and Ashley with me it wasn’t going to happen anyway. We were there for probably 2 hours tops before we went to Buffalo to find our hotel. It’s wild that a city like Niagara—a place with so much potential to be incredible—has chosen to be a sad Vegas. Then again, maybe it’s just self-aware. It doesn’t need to be anything but what it currently is; the Falls themselves are such a grand attraction, people will come from around the world to experience it regardless of the state of the city around it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267288795-N7LKPMPI25SV6KCAXP7V/NZF_3822.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.27.25 Into the Hudson Valley After an early departure from Buffalo, we drove toward our next rest spot in Hudson, NY. Along the way, however, I made three stops to photograph oddities on top of things: a large statue of a man sitting atop a five and dime in East Aurora, a tiny house on top of a factory building in Syracuse, and a large dog statue that once sat atop a factory owned by RCA (now defunct) called Nipper. We got to our Airbnb in the woods by mid-afternoon. The place was tucked into woods right next to a very active Amtrak line that saw at least one train per hour. It was a perfect spot to post up between trips up the hill to the city proper, and had room for Myrtle to run around with her ball. Hudson itself is very picturesque. Warren Street appears to be its main thoroughfare with the most shops and restaurants the city had to offer. After reading up on it a bit, it’s apparently referred to as “Williamsburg in the woods” due to all the NYCers who’ve come up and (unfortunately) gentrified Hudson. If you go off of Warren to any of the neighboring streets, you’ll see abandoned houses and boarded up buildings right next to fully renovated and well-maintained ones. It’s very clearly a city that’s been undergoing change for a time. The wealth gap is palpable in a place like this, sadly. Despite the exorbitant prices for everything, we had a good time wandering around and taking in the sights as the sun began going down. Choosing just one image from today was difficult, but I’ve landed on this one because it’s representative of my favorite block of architecture I saw in Hudson. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267393898-EF34KINJPVH69XD9U1PA/NZF_3935.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.28.25 Amtrak, Olana, and More After getting coffee and breakfast, we checked out the Amtrak station in Hudson. A train bound for NYC arrived to pick up passengers while we were there. I lamented the fact Amtrak barely services Cincinnati, and when it does, only once a week at 2 AM. These trains were scheduled for NYC and Toronto among other destinations every hour this morning. It would be a dream to live in the Valley and take a 2-hour ride to Penn Station whenever desired. Hudson hadn’t fully opened up for the day, so we wandered over to Catskill for a bit, but everything was closed there, too. After seeing some wild turkey with their babies, we drove up to Olana—a historic site with an ornate, one-of-a-kind mansion designed by an artist who was part of the Hudson River School of landscape painting in the 19th century (pictured). Once we’d had our fill of Olana, we headed back into town to check out the shops that were now open. We grabbed a drink, bought a few items, then went back to the Airbnb to rest up and get out of the oppressive heat. Later on, we got pizza and ate it in Hudson’s riverfront park on a picnic table. It was a nice way to spend our final evening in the quiet, expensive little city on the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267584375-EYKBUNSVAM35LKJ2RO41/NZF_4015.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.29.25 Return to Camden Last year, we were unexpectedly charmed by a town in Maine called Camden. So charmed, in fact, that we made it the centerpiece of our roadtrip this year because we wanted Myrtle to experience it with us. After leaving Hudson, we drove straight to Camden without stopping so we could have the maximum amount of time there with her. We rented a room at the same motel we did last year because it looks straight out onto Penobscot Bay. The motel was built in the 1930s—back when laws didn’t prohibit lodging from being that close to the shoreline—making it one of the only places you can rent that close to the sea. The room last year was perfect, and this year was no different. Myrtle seemed entranced by the birds and ships on the water when she sat out on the balcony overlooking the water. It was cute to watch her enjoy it in her own way. I took her outside and up on the large rocks for a bit for a closer look (pictured). We eventually went into town and shopped/ate a lobster roll/drank a blueberry beer. The town is small and quaint in a way that, while touristy, doesn’t feel trashy and cheap. Myrtle got into the bay at one point and laid down to cool off. I’m so glad she gets to enjoy Camden with us this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267758852-BHCJB15I7QK23BHQ2W8V/NZF_4038.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.30.25 The Sunrise We Didn’t See Last Year When we went to Camden last year, it was foggy the morning we woke up in our motel room. As such, we didn’t get to enjoy the sunrise on the bay the way we wished we could’ve. This year, however, the weather was clear. We set an alarm for 5:20 AM, rolled out of bed, made coffee in the room, and sat in our chairs on the balcony overlooking the water with Myrtle. I shot a few photos as the sun rose. It was everything I’d hoped it would be. After getting breakfast and letting Myrtle swim at Laite Memorial Beach, we headed up to Camden Hills State Park for a view of the city. Afterward, we met a retired couple who (I think) live on their boat and bop around from port to port along the New England coast with friends. If that’s not the dream, I don’t know what is. Later on, we took Myrtle to a place called Duck Trap River where she could launch off a rocky beach into deep water to fetch her toy. We wore her out to the point where she could barely keep her eyes open in the back of the truck on the ride back to the motel. It was our final evening in Camden, so we went back to the motel room to sit on the balcony and enjoy the time we had left (and let Myrtle rest). A storm inched its way into the bay, so we sat in the dark sipping wine as it lit up the water with flashes of lightning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754267915552-K7HEUUBJKHUKBY5IQBI0/NZF_4233.jpg daily-photos-jul-2025 - 7.31.25 Onward to Rhode Island As we tearfully said goodbye to Camden, we pressed onward to Newport, Rhode Island. The drive took about 5 hours total. The rain from last night spread a thick blanket of clouds across New England such that, when we got to Newport, the skies were still flat and dull. Having bookmarked a bunch of stuff for us to see and do on the map, we started by getting hot dogs at Wally’s Wieners on Thames Street. Thames was packed with tourists like us. Unlike Camden, though, I didn’t think it was especially nice. All the shops we saw were some version of beach t-shirt you’d find along a boardwalk in Florida, and because the city was so old, the street was tight and cramped with too many cars running through it. Justin recommended a coffee spot that we stopped to check out. It was good, but way too crowded for comfort. Finding ourselves not enjoying the experience, we sought out some other place on the island to check out. I’d read before we went that the Cliff Walk was a must-do for first time visitors. After parking the car and wandering down to the cliffside, it was immediately clear that this was what we were meant to enjoy in Newport. The Cliff Walk is exactly what it sounds like; a cliff overlooking the sea that the public can enjoy. Old mansions that once housed Vanderbilts and other old-school wealthy Americans lined the walk, providing an interesting architectural element to complement the natural beauty of the cliff. We drove Ocean Avenue, went around Brenton Point State Park, failed to visit Fort Adams State Park because a jazz festival was happening, and ended up going to Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling for dinner. The sky, which had been overcast and threatening rain all afternoon, was beginning to worsen. Exhausted from traveling and being out all day, we decided to call it an early evening and checked into the hotel room where we watched a documentary and fell asleep before 10 PM. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-aug-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268182486-CMZQ6P2A15D3VX9P7AYH/NZF_4281.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.1.25 One Final Stop I’m sure Newport, RI has more good stuff in it to experience, but aside from the Cliff Walk, we weren’t overly impressed. We awoke to rain, further dampening our experience, and promptly left to head to our final destination: an Airbnb Airstream camper in the woods of Hedgesville, WV. The drive from Rhode Island to West Virginia broke me, honestly. I haven’t been sleeping overly well since our first night in Buffalo, and the fatigue was catching up to me. 7 hours with stop-and-go traffic sprinkled throughout ended up worsening my condition such that I had to have Ashley drive for about 30 miles at one point so I could take a 20 minute nap. We passed through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the tiniest bit of Maryland before finally arriving in West Virginia. By the end of the trip, I was seeing stars in my peripheral vision. The Airstream camper is renovated and cute inside, but as a tall person, I don’t fit into it as well as I’d like. The bathroom is going to be a problem, I fear. After taking one look at the full bed, I realized I’d be sleeping on the couch so Ashley and Myrtle can have room to rest. I wasn’t interested in going out to eat with the dog in tow, and Hedgesville is barely a city with anything in it anyway, so we opted to just go to the local grocery store for food and snacks. Because it rained, the campfire wood was still damp, making it difficult to get a fire going. We managed to get enough of one lit with shreds of sticks and bark from a nearby tree to roast some wieners before it fizzled out. I felt good about our sense of resourcefulness overall. Even despite not being fully prepared to camp, we made it work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268182160-DXLAY1LZJNL5TCQ1K01V/NZF_4376.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.2.25 The Woods of West Virginia I slept like dogshit on the couch, and the shower was a puzzle I wasn’t keen to solve so early in the morning. My body needs a good night’s rest so badly, I think I’d sleep outside on the ground if it meant I could get more than an hour at a time. Might take a Benadryl before bed tonight just so I can muscle through and get some actual rest in before the long drive home tomorrow. There’s next to nothing to see or do in Hedgesville, so we went one town over to Martinsburg—the largest city in the West Virginia panhandle. Even though it has an Amtrak service and hosts the end of MARC, Maryland’s commuter rail whose Brunswick Line ends in Martinsburg, the city still feels very sleepy. We walked around its historic downtown to check out the shops and historic properties, such as the Martinsburg Roundhouse. The roundhouse is apparently the last of its kind and listed on the Register of Historic Places due to being heavily involved in a moment of the Civil War as well as the Railroad Strike of 1877. While there was very little to do in the city, I got a kick out of photographing the oldest part of downtown. The city was founded in the early years of the American Revolution and has a load of old, historic buildings charged with character. There’s no shortage of small-town beauty embedded in all the various styles, and it reminded me of several small Kentucky towns I’ve been to over the last couple years. The city sealed up an apple-shaped time capsule in 1990, so I gave that a look, too (pictured). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754268189541-EBHME4UTJAUSZIS386J3/NZF_4394.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.3.25 37% We got up early to embark on the long drive home. The sooner we left, the more of the afternoon we’d have to prepare for work again the next day after nine days off. Our route took us past Pittsburgh. On my list of oddities and unique things to see was the US’ steepest street—the last ‘incline’ I hadn’t yet done in that city. You’d think San Francisco would take the cake, but apparently it’s Canton Ave in PGH. I can’t full convey how thrilling it was to drive up this absurdly built, 37% grade street. I didn’t even really think before I swung into it. I set the truck on sport mode, and hit the gas without going too fast. As soon as all four tires started up the incline, I regretted it, then I felt a wave of excitement, followed by another wave of fear and panic before finally settling down into excitement again. Ashley and Myrtle clung to each other in the back seat, protesting as I inched the pedal closer and closer to the floor. I gripped the wheel tightly hoping that we’d be alright, but truck didn’t struggle for a second. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have worried; if it weren’t traversable, it wouldn’t be open to the public. I parked the car and got out to take a few photos. The stairs are a necessity to get up and down. Even though the vehicle could do it, it’d be a struggle to walk up and down without proper shoes and balance. After leaving Pittsburgh, I drove us home and we arrived by 4 PM. Ashley went to bed super early, and now I am here at my desk, plugging away at this entry and reflecting on the great roadtrip we got to enjoy over the last week with Myrtle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1754359347467-9UCL2YMPESVEJ8T9639A/DSC_9066.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.4.25 The District I had a shoot at The District at Deerfield this morning. It’s a new mixed use complex with loads of apartments, restaurants, bars, and future shops out near Fields Ertle. One of the fixtures is Fifty West’s new location. While up on one of the balconies, I took a photo of the space and liked how the rule of thirds worked nicely with the horizon. The property is still under construction, but I think this will be a pretty popular spot a la The Approach at Summit Park, Factory 52, or the Peters Cartridge Factory Apartments. Were I looking for suburban living with a livelier setting, this might be a decent option. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101070849-HICI4V598ASRDL7PKOS1/NZF_4396.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.5.25 Hard as a Feather A metal feather-shaped hangar in the basement under dramatic lighting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101279987-KC0L0CINIJ8EEZQQGTTU/DSC_9087.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.6.25 A Suburban Pool Went out to photograph some properties for Rookwood, one of which had a pool. I thought this frame with the foliage framing it looked nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101486031-AH4IQVSIB9YUJGO35UEJ/DSC_9379-HDR.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.7.25 Elm Street, Ludlow A shot of Elm Street in Ludlow from the second story of a house that faces it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755101641609-XL9GHU4UV3IHUOF078NL/Calm+Caterpillar+8.8.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-29.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.8.25 The Thinker Eric stood in for a lighting test prior to a shoot with Calm Caterpillar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755717578243-DQQAH66D8P5RNHZ3H22F/IMG_5264.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.9.25 Pool Party Ashley got a foldable pool for Myrtle, and she enjoyed it in the sun on the deck this afternoon. I am fighting a summer cold and have to miss Tiki Night at Travis and Allie’s, unfortunately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755718260068-UY9WG1T7BWNMVLCU4YWV/IMG_5293.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.10.25 Monmouth at Sunset Thought the light was nice on Monmouth tonight. Wish I’d brought my Zf with me instead of using my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755719568525-Q4RHOSDOM99REJD87IF2/NZF_4424-Pano-Pano+copy.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.11.25 At Least I Got a Nice Shot We watched the Reds lose to the Phillies and then couldn’t hear Snoop Dogg playing because they didn’t pipe the sound into the upper deck. It wasn’t a great outing overall, but I did manage to make a couple of panoramas with the Zf at different times of day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755719749853-TUCV9BGUOA2MREIJQKCV/14+W+5th+Street+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.12.25 Church For Sale Today’s listing photos were for a church in Covington. The stained glass and woodwork in the sanctuary were beautiful. The rest of it was pretty forgettable. I was in there solo the entire time, and I can’t say I felt especially comfortable being in this large, unfamiliar space alone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720019889-B6XBAD7QDAJQPHG2MF9U/0E7FA0E8-DBD9-4760-A560-0F658A50F986_1_102_o-2.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.13.25 Nothing Extra I’ve never seen exactly two Lillies sprouting up from the ground without any sort of visible dirt/mulch base. I actually thought these were fake at first glance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720418427-KJYIPKBOS6J4EW4KK70T/166+Van+Voast++-+Phil+Armstrong+-44.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.14.25 166 Van Voast Rebecca had me shoot 166 Van Voast in Bellevue today. There’s nothing more to say about it. If ever I return to a time when work doesn’t consume the largest part of me every day, I will try to say more in these posts. I just don’t have the motivation at present, and I feel like it’s been this way for months. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720463661-SSUC5BPVWTPBEODC9Q1L/Accessibility+Retreat+2025++-+Phil+Armstrong+-49.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.15.25 Accessibility Retreat A frame from today’s Accessibility Retreat at the Cincinnati Art Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720603649-PL2U7O0PJSQQWMQX1D2U/IMG_5324.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.16.25 Morning Light In Grear Alley Snapped a photo while walking up Grear Alley this morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755720806563-ZUEAYVN4IHWYC8UY5PI5/IMG_5342.jpeg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.17.25 I Had No Idea I power-washed this wall years ago. Over time, it slowly gathered more and more grime, and I didn’t notice how bad it was until I hit it with the sprayer by accident while doing the stairs nearby. When I saw the bright, warm concrete surface beneath the soot and filth, I knew what I had to do. Needless to say I took care of it, and afterward it looked like a brand new wall. There’s probably a metaphor in here about regular doses of effort keeping the proverbial grime at bay so it doesn’t build up without us noticing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1755721341414-GRR8MN6Y8JZ17MY8F4OT/Modern+Shelving+-+1420+Elm+%28Cincinnati%29++-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.18.25 Modern Shelving Modern Shelving, a San Clemente-based company, reached out recently about being their product photographer in the Cincinnati area. They assigned me a job in Over-the-Rhine, I shot the product in the house today, and turned in the photos. Currently waiting to hear back from them. Hopefully this turns into a regular gig. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756477833307-HIZJCLYF5TJRE245E1AI/IMG_5369.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.19.25 Outdoor Art ‘One-Seater Concrete Tree’ by Nacho Carbonell at the Cincinnati Art Museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756477947558-PMFTQCDULEJBRSBWZ3ET/IMG_5375.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.20.25 Mattress Shopping Mattresses are expensive, but they’re also one of the most important things for your health, so I guess we’re spending an absurd amount of money on one of the better ones… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478136525-8CFS1RQTN9CVOKXIO3PF/DSC_2034.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.21.25 Do It In Post This little miniature panther was resting outside the front of the house I had to shoot today for a listing. He didn’t seem bothered by me being there, but growled when I went in for a pet on the head. Instead of moving him from the shot, I opted to take the photo with him in it and simply clone stamp him out in Photoshop, which felt wrong to do despite it being necessary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478434387-KWTLDQI0B83YTYAQX1ME/NZF_4781.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.22.25 Chicago Rules Yes, I know Navy Pier is about the most touristy thing you can do outside of taking a selfie at The Bean in Millennium Park or going to the top of Willis Sears Tower. I’d never actually been there before and only ever saw it from some other vantage point. We went up to the Windy City with Travis, Allie, and Caitlyn for the weekend. We saw a show at Second City, walked around Navy Pier and Michigan Ave, and hit up a brewery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478675120-A41V150T19TRORHXRZXT/NZF_4919.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.23.25 Northwest Tower A portrait of Northwest Tower in Wicker Park, built in the late 1920s. Today it’s a hotel called The Robey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1756478911737-VQ6OMCVKULFDNVR6DMTO/NZF_5147-Edit.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.24.25 A Wicker Park Corner As our weekend in Chicago comes to an end, we went back to Wicker Park so the girls could thrift shop again. I have no interest in second-hand pants, so I wandered around the neighborhood snapping a few frames. I liked this busy corner by the L that had loads of people and cyclists navigating the area. I’m eager to come back to Chicago when the opportunity presents itself. It’s a great city full of good stuff to check out, and I’ve barely scratched the surface. Also, it’s fun to hear people drone on about how it’s a lawless hellscape and then witness how pleasant and chill it is first-hand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548678530-H4YC63R3DE5I1KP7OE63/Art+Dinner++-+Phil+Armstrong+-171.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.25.25 Art Dinner Photographed ArtWorks’ Art Dinner this evening at The Standard in Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548686784-ASYTADQ4S2SMC6T0ARRJ/IMG_5463.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.26.25 Baby Announcement Mike and Jenn told me they’re having a baby tonight. I’m excited for them. They’ve been trying for awhile, and it’s finally happened. I don’t have a photo that corresponds to the announcement, so this one of the community garden on McMicken I took while photographing apartments will have to do. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548858290-3S9TJOUT8V3NC6KJ4DQL/IMG_5472.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.27.25 The Silhouette Whenever we’re out late, we usually come home to this scene and it makes us laugh every time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757548969009-UWY36RB2KONLADALKBXO/GivaudanRestrooms-PhilArmstrong-114.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.28.25 Sure, Why Not When a contractor asks you to photograph the office restrooms they did and they’re willing to pay for your time, you can’t really say no. Or at least I couldn’t. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549140697-O42TZMO313YFMGTEKS28/IMG_5489.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.30.25 Groceries On Two Wheels It was a beautiful day to take the bike out and pick up a few items from the store. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549624687-SUGBOCYLN3VS7JTRCXBC/DSC01385.jpg daily-photos-aug-2025 - 8.31.25 Kings Island Went to Kings Island for the first time during the summer season since I was in high school. It was strange going back to a place I went to so much as a kid after so long. I’m actually writing a longer blog post about it, so I’ll keep my thoughts here brief for now. I left my phone at home and just took my old 17-year-old CyberShot with me. It was so beautiful being disconnected from the wider world and living in the moment with my friends. I wish I could do this every day. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-sep-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549910316-3CPBP36WDOHXCHNWJ690/IMG_5520.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.1.25 Asset Creation The aforementioned camera I took to KI yesterday. Took a photo of it for the blog post I’m writing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757549918121-YLA02BL0EEGK48X44XP8/711+Scott+Street++-+Phil+Armstrong+-105.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.2.25 Return to Scott Street Night shots for a listing I shot last month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757551759645-71EKRNBP89B1Z9MRILU3/NZF_6861.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.3.25 Still Life Good light in the room tonight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757551736145-BLLM0JJZNEUL569B9ZT8/IMG_5557.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.4.25 The Frame (Part 3) Back in July, I posted photos of a frame for a vanity I was building for Marlene. Long story short, I never got around to getting a finished photo after I posted about it (check July 7 and 13th in the archives for more). I went to Maine, work was crazy after getting back, and I didn’t have another job in the studio for a little bit. Today, though, I met up with her in the studio to run around and pick up some equipment, and I finally got a finished photo of the whole thing. It’s not a great photo, but I only had a minute to snap something on my phone. I’m really proud of the way it turned out, and she said it’s made a big difference for her hair and makeup crew. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757552485779-GHZP7023LJSKS3BLPERL/RetailProcess-PhilArmstrong.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.5.25 The Bridge 8K spent a year renovating a couple of blighted buildings in Evanston along Montgomery Road. The top photo is a retail space I photographed in September of 2025. The bottom is what that same exact space looks like today from as close to the same perspective as I could get it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757552680211-VTCEBW8GNAZOKUJZR3G2/NZF_6782.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.6.25 Hoary Edge (Thorybes Lyciades) While photographing Art on the Rise this afternoon, I spotted a brown and orange butterfly on a caution sign. I liked how the colors were so similar to one another. Later on, I spent an embarrassing amount of time online trying and failing to identify the insect, losing way too much time looking at butterflies before realizing this was, in fact, a hoary edge moth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757553467069-H9MLM57GU8VCFUZPVG8H/IMG_5627.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.7.25 False Shower I’m making a fake shower for a photoshoot and using these stick-on tiles. Never done this before. Decided to do it outside where I have more room, and the white rubbery tiles reflected the blue sky quite nicely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757553897357-8FEM6JJDHLWGW4478S51/IMG_5649.jpeg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.8.25 The Cycle All I’m doing is working. If I’m not photographing something for someone, I’m building a set for someone else. If I’m not behind a camera, I’m editing what I did behind one earlier in the day. If I’m not editing, I’m answering emails and trying to get my calendar situated. If I’m not doing that, I’m fretting about my backlog of organizational tasks I haven’t done because I’m always so strapped for time. In the off chance I get a free evening, I’m either working on house stuff or trying to catch up on something else. When I do force myself to relax, I feel guilty for doing so. This cycle of productivity is tiring. I would love to be busy, but also not getting my ass kicked every week for it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757554446285-6SM6XGSZO67VK9XXTFWL/NZF_6847-Edit-Edit.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.9.25 Faking It After Making It I was tasked with making a fake shower for a photoshoot. Really all we needed was an embedded shelf and two flat panels with tile. I don’t know how they’re going to be used or for what products, but I built them out of 3/4-inch thick MDF panels, stick-on tiles, and I made the shelf from scrap I had in the basement. I think they turned out well overall. I did a quick setup and shoot to get an idea of how it’ll look. I can’t wait to see how this turns out when the real shoot happens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1757554569767-ECS7CWLGAXWOX951KCNA/IMG_5689.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.10.25 Two Cats Just a couple of guys I saw on a walk with Myrtle after a busy day in the studio with Marlene. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758897247731-66HIXE7MZF5R0TPQ16DY/IMG_5792.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.11.25 Passing Through Working with Marlene this week and next week. It’s going to be a struggle to find stuff to photograph despite the fact that I’m literally in a studio all week. If you’re new here, I don’t have as much opportunity to find subjects to photograph when I’m helping in her studio. Photography of the studio is largely prohibited (understandably), and since I’m there for 10 hours a day, I have less chance to snap something interesting. The task falls to the evening when I’m off work for the day and have time to do my own thing. I snapped a photo of this corner while at a stop light. The colors on the building have long been attractive to me, and I finally caught in good light. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758897266135-LWJ7GXEOJKHUKM9BXPF6/NZF_6890-Edit.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.12.25 Oktoberfest Covington We ate at the revolving restaurant in Covington tonight. The food was actually better than I thought it would be. I don’t believe I’ve been in well over 10 years, and hadn’t been since childhood before that. The gimmick of a rotating restaurant wasn’t lost on me. I find that kind of thing delightful and memorable, especially on a night like tonight when the weather was beautiful and we spun around during sunset. Afterward, we wandered down to Covington’s Oktoberfest to check things out. I hadn’t been to Covington’s celebration in a long time, and I was surprised by how enjoyable the whole setup was. Streets were closed, loads of tents with various food, drink, and wares were sprinkled about the park and neighboring streets, booths with games sat illuminated at the edge of the woods (pictured), a band played on a stage, and shops along the celebration opened their doors for the evening. Honestly, though, I think the most memorable thing to me was all the people posted up on their porches. There are many private residences that abut the festival with large porches ready to host parties, and nary a homeowner or renter in the area failed to do so. With dogs on their laps and cans of beer in hand, they appeared to soak up the vibe of Oktoberfest from the comfort of cushioned couches and sturdy railings as visitors like us looked upon their fortune with envy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758898418073-6E0T2V3AVJFGMMKKO02E/IMG_5761.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.13.25 Renewing My Passport I need to get my actual passport renewed. Until that happens, I’m working on this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758899671605-W0DWKTW6DN9AOUUS9SJ4/IMG_5771.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.14.25 Pumpkin Patching Ashley wanted to do her annual porch pumpkin run. We’ve gone to Neltner and other farms in the past, but this year we got them from C.P. Reeves in Ludlow since we discovered that place earlier in the spring. They were shockingly cheap compared to pumpkins we’ve purchased in the past; I’m not sure why they were priced so low considering literally everything else in this country is more expensive now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758899840026-96AIW95FHU81KGUQHA17/Cincinnati+Preservation-+Phil+Armstrong+-79.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.15.25 Cincinnati Preservation A group photo of the Cincinnati Preservation staff at the John Hauck Mansion on Dayton Street in the West End. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758900122247-PQL3UKOKPKHLS7F4QJQD/IMG_5789-2.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.16.25 Break a Leg! Permission was granted to take this BTS photo. The shelf backdrop I made for this week’s product shoot was erected on set, and I had a moment of pride seeing the work I did under studio lights. UPDATE: The shelf shot ultimately got cut from the final roster of finished images. Hopefully it gets used in another shoot at a later time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758903801831-VTP8K9K3CV4NEEVJ991Z/Rediscovered+Treasures+-+Phil+Armstrong+-50.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.17.25 Rediscovered Treasures After a long 10-hour day in the studio, I went straight up to the Art Museum to photograph the soft opening of Rediscovered Treasures prior to its public debut. As part of the opening, performers danced in flowing garments to an intimate crowd in the P&G Gallery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758904949512-BBDK8MEGRWM79PRWO6V2/IMG_5809.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.18.25 Wake Up Every day I wake up, read the news, have a light panic attack about the direction our country is going, then try through gritted teeth and shot nerves to get on with my day. There’s really no other option. Either stay ill-informed and ignore this slide into fascism, or stay informed and feel ill. If you’re not upset and worried, you’re not paying enough attention. I’ve been desperately trying to keep my shit together. But when I walk down the street and see an American flag proudly hung from a pole after a day of reading about everything, I can’t imagine being anything but contemptuous at this point. Being proud of this awful moment in time is repulsive. Showing support for it by flying a flag is sickening. I’ve never been less proud to live in the United States as I am now, and the bar was already subterranean. Maybe we will one day look back on all this as just another chapter before forward progress again. Maybe this will all come to a head and we can come down from this ever-escalating high of violence and ignorance. People shooting each other, masked agents kidnapping people off the streets, sending weapons to further genocide overseas, and now talk of silencing those critical of the government should be sending shivers down everyone’s spine. Oh, I forgot, no one actually cares about any of that. Maybe we should talk about how the economy sucks, tourism has tanked, and everything costs more than it should despite false promises that it will all get cheaper. Wake the fuck up, America. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758905127746-GC6OML01KMSO2YI96O25/IMG_5821.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.19.25 Absolutely Beat Ashley’s been gone all week, I’ve been working 10-hour days at the studio, and now I have retouch work to do all weekend. No Oktoberfest Zinzinnati for me this year, sadly. Took a photo of this door on the back of the Mohawk building after taking out the trash. Going to go home and try to relax a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758905319234-S2BT32UF0BPW3TOY0M44/IMG_5836.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.20.25 Absolutely Bored I feel so bad for Myrtle. We’ve been on a walk, we’ve played ball a bit, and I’ve taken her to the coffee shop, but she’s so bored. She’s been by herself most of the week due to me having to work all day, and since Ashley’s been gone, she hasn’t received the same level of attention she’s used to. Since I’m at my desk today doing retouch work for Marlene, she’s once again bored. I have to get all this work done, but I feel guilty constantly about not entertaining her the way I wish I could. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758906999840-7A1VF6MH1DUCWD6SD1CH/IMG_5668.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.21.25 Gear Foam After adding the 70-200 Nikkor to my kit, I needed to reconfigure my work case. The new lens was too big to stand vertically and required an updated layout. The new lens, with its fixed f/2.8 aperture, replaces the older 24-200 I used to carry with me. For event work, a faster lens was essential. The case now holds the following: Nikon Z9, Nikon Zf with either 28mm or 40mm lens attached, speedlight, one spare battery for each camera and speed light, 70-200mm, 24-70mm, 14-30mm, 2Tb SSD, USB-C cable, optical trigger, and metal case with business and SD cards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758907508068-QKJ1L07Y9I5ZRHLXXHFR/The+Vineyard+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.22.25 By the Book For the first time in weeks, we’re getting a lot of rain. My plants are loving it, but the downpour has me in my head. I’m not ready for overcast skies to be my daily reality again this winter. I don’t even like summer all that much, really, but this sneak peek at grey grossness has me prematurely missing sunshine. I went up to Dayton, OH to photograph some apartments for Rookwood. There really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about them; pretty run-of-the-mill job, if I’m honest. Nothing to write home about. Felt kind of nice to have an easier day after the last two weeks of non-stop work. This is pretty much the only semi-interesting shot from the whole day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1758908205472-HTE9NOM97SCK8K5V0OOP/NZF_7566.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.23.25 Late-Season Baseball We got coneys and went down to the river to eat them. While we sat on the bench, the Reds lost to the Pirates 4-2. Maybe one year soon we’ll make it to the World Series again. Not holding my breath, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759799170345-4GEKK4B61ZWFSCVXK0ES/IMG_5881.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.24.25 Inspi-rock-tion All of them were some form of “you’re doing great, keep it up” that you’ve heard a billion times when it comes to these types of public art initiatives, but one of the rocks simply said ‘punk rock’ and had a drawing of a little face on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759799171320-1FR98ZQQ3BOQ8U92BCRP/IMG_6001.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.25.25 Boldly Gourding Just a nice pumpkin setup. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759799575749-1ZNM0ZDNQ8M9PXSEWVR4/Art+After+Dark+9.26.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-46.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.26.25 NIF-D I didn’t know about this dance crew until tonight when I photographed them at Art After Dark, but NIF-D performed twice in an hour in the Great Hall to a very large crowd. Managing to stay low and in front of everyone watching, I got a lot of good shots that I’m honestly very proud of considering how challenging the lighting was coupled with how quickly everyone was moving. This was my favorite frame of the evening because it accurately captured the joy of many of the performers simultaneously as the routine circles around the woman in the middle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759800201029-YMHULWRXY8F3G45QDD44/InternationalFreedomConductorAwards-PhilArmstrong-154.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.27.25 IFCA Photographed the International Freedom Conductors Awards tonight. The NURFC hired me to cover the red carpet, VIP hour, and full on-stage program. Tamron Hall hosted the evening, and many musical artists such as Canadian-born singer Deborah Cox (pictured) performed in between awards. I had the privilege of sharing photo duties with another local photographer, too, which helped relieve some of the pressure to get everything totally on my own. It’s really difficult to photograph a stage show like this without disturbing anyone when it’s a place the size of the Aronoff, Music Hall, or a venue of equal proportions. I normally sneak into extreme stage left or right, get my shot, then quickly and quietly duck back out into the hall and run around to the other side, as well as find areas on upper floors to get fresh perspectives, without disturbing anyone’s viewing experience. Having someone else there and coordinating with them allowed me more time to get to the spots I needed without running myself ragged. The show went long, but staying until the end was so worth it. Everyone got up out of their seat and danced to the final act, giving me a load of opportunities for energetic, passion-fueled photos. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759801157218-CBMQ5MRPNC3GV9KZQKFU/IMG_5902.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.28.25 Impromptu Eli’s While listening to an episode of Caleb Hearon’s ‘So True’ (hilarious show), he started talking about BBQ, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Had to go to Eli’s to scratch the itch—and scratch it did. Have you been to Eli’s lately? If not, go remind yourself why it’s the best BBQ in town. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759801489655-4NQ441I96G6T1WV0UBMD/IMG_5908.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.29.25 Myrtle Mondays Ashley works almost exclusively from the porch during this time of year. Since we barely use it in the winter, we savor every moment we can when it’s still seasonable. Myrtle’s grown accustomed to napping on the porch couch all day while Ashley works, but occasionally she’ll hop up in the chair and watch the street, searching for passersby with their own dogs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802192311-SN1TIHT76S7RV4D2NU07/IMG_5913.jpg daily-photos-sep-2025 - 9.30.25 Accidental Vermeer Snapped a photo of this cat in a window while on my way into Unataza, and I cannot help but feel the color palate, softness, hard lighting, and weathered texture has big Dutch-masters-during-the-Renaissance vibes to it. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-oct-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802878488-GP3GNC06YM6N0HU6AZ1G/IMG_5922.jpeg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.1.25 This Startled Me Halloween is upon us. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759803930891-DAGZ0AZH484SP9ZK1GT8/Macys+Rookwood+-+Phil+Armstrong-71-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.2.25 Macy’s Rookwood After Bed Bath & Beyond shuttered and left Rookwood, Macy’s entered the space with a non-mall concept store. Perry Contracting, who I was introduced to earlier this year while doing images for their website refresh, hired me to photograph the work they did for the Macy’s buildout. The fitting rooms were one of the main things they made for the store, so we focused on that area of the store, among others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802895013-9UEROZ1V7WD32U7TKORJ/IMG_5978.jpeg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.3.25 It’s Still Too Hot Gotta water the front garden lest it dries and shrivels up. We need rain! Guest appearance by rainbow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802893724-IPXKMCKMMUK5YN3LOYBL/NZF_0303.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.4.25 Little Archie We met up with friends at Liberty’s tonight for a few drinks. Justin and Annie brought little Archie with them, and to no one’s surprise, he was a huge hit. He didn’t fuss or seem bothered by the atmosphere at all, and since they’ve already flown him to Europe and back before his first full year, I imagine there won’t be many settings this little kid will find overwhelming thanks to routine exposure to the outside world. I’m genuinely proud of them for not isolating at home with him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1759802899046-KKUSZ01Q9F0V4WI8IH16/VAE+-+10.5.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-4.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.5.25 VAE at Memorial Hall The Vocal Arts Ensemble performed at Memorial Hall this afternoon. I was hired by Fanfare Magazine to photograph the show. Shooting well-dressed people in perfect lighting on a striking stage in a jaw-dropping theater lends itself well to good images; so good, in fact, I couldn’t choose one from the show to share here. Instead, here’s a shot I didn’t send to the client that I just liked for my own archive. After all the Longworth-Anderson shows I shot in years past, I’ve walked back and forth through this little bit of Memorial Hall countless times, and it never fails to impress me with its beauty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760636275833-5I7HV4R934O6DF8M1FKX/IMG_6016.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.6.25 Black & White I’m into black and white at the moment, so I’m trying to capture things in monochrome while the mood strikes. This is a standard scene at our house, by the way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760636339078-ZZ2ZFFQRPOGVRKF0C57K/IVX+Crescent+Springs+-+Phil+Armstrong+-1.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.7.25 IVX From a shoot I did for a contractor today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760636990600-9PTY3XLOKWHSCC4UQQ32/Recall+Reframe+Respond+-+Phil+Armstrong+-71-2.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.8.25 Recall, Reframe, Respond It was preview night at CAM for Recall, Reframe, Respond featuring artist Paul Scott. These types of events are so hard to choose from for this project because I rarely think one image encapsulates everything perfectly. There’s rarely a stand-out frame and it requires picking and choosing something general or interesting enough on its own. This was one of those nights. Do I pick a gallery shot? Speaker? Attendee looking intently at a piece behind glass? I chose this one because it was a nice moment between coworkers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760637077930-ENP7L1H2K99RLL9SBULF/Indigo+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-37.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.9.25 Indigo Opening CAM last night, Taft tonight. Shot the opening of Indigo and the Art of Quiltmaking. Referencing what I said yesterday about the difficulty in choosing just one image from these types of events, I thought this photo best represented my mission while there. It showcases the space—the design, color, layout, etc.—while showing how people move through and interact with those spaces all while maintaining their anonymity. It’s as close to a rendering as possible without being generated. A slower shutter speed and a steady hand manages to freeze the motion, illustrating the dynamic relationship between the living person and static place. I also find that changing aspect ratio to something standard but different to get rid of ceilings and floors with little to no information better focuses the eye to what matters. While event photography is all about finding active moments, something like this requires planning for what’s yet to come. You set up in the place and get what you want in frame, then visualize the upcoming moment when someone walks through the door. When that vision becomes reality, you hit the shutter and you have what you came for. That process of visualization and planning, then executing on that plan, is satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760638283334-C9QNPXZ1KEWYMDCBKGTH/Calm+Corner+Kit+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.10.25 Calm Corner Kit Drove out to Amberley to pick up a box of products for Calm Caterpillar to photograph in my home studio. I’ve been working with Sarah on Calm Caterpillar’s product and lifestyle photography for a year and a half, and it’s been fun getting to stretch that creative muscle while seeing those very same shots end up in retail stores and online marketplaces. Because this one featured a variety of products ranging from 2D to 3D, I had to come up with a dynamic way to showcase everything. The plush products, after much fluffing, made sense to go in the back row. The booklets didn’t make sense to just place flat on the seamless, so I used a pane of glass to raise them up at an angle and preserve the natural shadows. I removed the edge of the glass in post. Overall, I’m pleased with how this turned out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760638920624-SF4OVS54OOD3HI5JR2BI/NZF_1837-Edit+copy.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.11.25 River Roots I’m not choosing today. I refuse. Went down to the River Roots Festival about 2 hours before meeting up with friends. I shot much of it, concentrating on people and the scale of the boats. I may actually end up publishing the whole set to a blog post because it was such a photogenic afternoon. The other day I spoke about framing the shot and waiting for the right moment in the Taft Museum post. Visualizing what I wanted and waiting for that exact moment to happen instead of aiming toward something in progress. All three of these are examples of that. I waited for the boats to line up, the people to align, and motion to naturally happen. The kid, I think, spotted me with my camera and cheesed for it while running into frame. I love it because there’s little chance of identifying him, but you get that sense of childish fun regardless. I shot these in B&W on the Zf’s special setting; the late evening light made for perfect contrast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760639037518-HO86U81GK49R6SY0J0PF/NZF_1841.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.12.25 New Perspective Standing on the Levee Wall will, I suppose, get you ya nearly identical perspective with the right zoom lens, but I shot this from the top deck of the Natchez as it drifted away from the Landing at 40mm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760639257966-JBG92PEXALZ1SY3ECXA6/NZF_1858.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.13.25 Morning Walk I’m not happy with my body at the moment. I feel fat and gross despite knowing I am not currently obese. This weekend, as wonderful as it was, added to my growing size thanks to loads of delicious meals and many beers. The thought of going to the gym sickens me, so I’m doing what I do best: walking. It’s how I stayed thin years ago, and it’s how I will attempt to keep the pounds at bay. With my Apple Watch move goal updated, it’s a matter of making sure I burn more calories a day than I take in—which also means a diet change. Today’s coffee trip was on foot with camera in hand. If I’m going to drink and eat, I need to pay the movement tax. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760640322698-XOQBKXS8LXEELFL3SZD0/NZF_1914-HDR.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.14.25 Avondale While shooting a bunch of exteriors around town for work, I photographed this old house near the corner of Reading Road and Glenwood Avenue in Avondale. I don’t remember this one being vacant when I explored the neighborhood back in the mid-2010s. After looking at it on Google Streetview, it looks like it may have been emptied out in the early 2020s. It’s sad. This house is beautiful, and I hope its boarded up windows are temporary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1760640428740-ZX3FO4LJNL9HI7FBHCOC/IMG_6141.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.15.25 Getting Out There Day 3 of this diet and exercise thing, and I’m walking more than I have in months. In addition to doing the treadmill in the basement right when I wake up in the morning, I’ve been sprinkling in walks with Myrtle. We did East Newport this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440296997-1OREHX2WVYWTD6LE2QPH/Fountain+of+Love+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.17.25 Fountain of Love Photo of the new mural on Mercer Street for ArtWorks. I covered the dedication today for them. Quite a few people showed up, and everyone was in good spirits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440289712-1S30WHST33IZDPAWOQCS/The+Children%27s+Theatre+-+Phil+Armstrong+-6.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.17.25 The Children’s Theatre Opening This is about 10 different images composited into one for GBBN. The Children’s Theatre, located in the newly renovated Emery building, had its opening for the families of the contractors and architects who worked on the space. I had an hour to capture as many of these types of scenes as possible. To be honest, I didn’t feel great about it while I was doing it. Too many people standing around, no control over who walks where, and no ability to direct the scene. After a lot of post work, though, I sent the finished photos to GBBN and they were a lot happier with them than I was. That’s a better outcome than the inverse, I suppose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440286070-PIMB5IK905GOL2RQ2SGD/CAMGala2025Red-PhilArmstrong-139.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.18.25 CAM Gala Fourth year in a row covering the CAM Gala. I had Ronny working the step-and-repeat on the red carpet while I shot the rest of the event. It was a really good night overall, and the museum was happy with the work we did. I hope I can get to 10 years covering this event for them. Working for CAM is so satisfying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440275554-HU60D4PKD59SX5U22MII/IMG_6157.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.19.25 Reduced to Data After shooting a bunch of stuff last night at the CAM Gala, I took the two cards I filled and Ronny’s card and laid them on my desk to load them into the computer. It was at this point that I really stopped to look at the fruits of our labor: three little electronic chips with a bunch of ones and zeros embedded into them. It’s kind of strange when you think about how much effort you put into something and these are the physical manifestations of that work. All the years of experience and knowledge coupled with the hours of physical and mental labor you put into an evening, and it’s all represented on these three little objects. Strange. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440278456-FMYK54GEHO629HJ5QBDH/Sono+Bello+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.20.25 Invisible Camera Photographed a medical office for a contractor. The bathroom had an attractive sink and backlit mirror. It ended up being one of the better invisible camera photos I’ve made lately. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440271796-TSK64C8ZAK0KFOHIT2FV/IMG_6186.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.21.25 Peak Van I don’t know what model this van is, but I do know it rules. Not sure vans got any better than this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440266715-7BGQAS4AIDJMH2LKA14M/IMG_6189.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.22.25 Carl’s Deli Stopped into the market for some stuff, and managed to make it to Carl’s Deli. First time there. Came away happy with a great sandwich. Definitely worth returning to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440263169-E8P6CXRQOHE7FLJFQ1J9/IMG_6198.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.23.25 A Long Walk As I continue to work on losing weight and getting back into some sort of shape, I decided to take Myrtle on a long walk on my day off. I needed to meet up with Amy at the Mercantile Library to go over the details of the event they were holding on the 25th, so Myrtle and I took a leisurely walk from our doorstep to 4th Street. Since the building was recently converted to apartments that allow pets, Myrtle was able to visit the library for the first time. On our way back, she seemed to want to go into the park instead of back on the Purple People Bridge. We walked Sawyer Point, Yeatman’s Cove, and 95% of Friendship Park before beginning the trek back home. By the time we were passing under the autumnal canopy of East Row Newport, I could tell she was slowing down. When I looked at my watch upon arriving back home, we’d walked 10 miles over about four hours. She rested on the couch for the remainder of the evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440260963-T8LXXYJNKXP338AOR0DN/Commons+Mural+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-107.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.24.25 Commons Dedication Shahzia Sikander’s ‘Commons’ mural, designed by her and painted by ArtWorks apprentices, was formally dedicated this afternoon. This is a photo of all the artists involved in bringing it to life. The mural is located on the back of an old 9th Street church (the mural is visible from Court Street between Vine and Race Streets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440251408-4XENRNVAALYO99IR72V6/Niehoff+XXXVI+2025+-+Phil+Armstrong+-204.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.25.25 Niehoff XXXVI Novelist Colson Whitehead speaks to a packed ballroom during the Mercantile Library’s annual Niehoff event at the Hyatt Regency. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440248053-9Y22599Y1RVS130EEKE2/Habib+Family+-+Phil+Armstrong+-10.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.26.25 Family Photos I don’t normally do family portraits, but the Habibs are wonderful people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440239857-M3R8A9ZY8FYX79IQV49U/Commons+Mural+Dedication+-+Phil+Armstrong+-140.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.27.25 Gold Leaf Paint A close-up of the new gold leaf paint ArtWorks used for Commons. It’s the first mural they’ve done with this type of paint. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440232327-BOL1B434VIZCEPIQLJJD/428+Van+Voast+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.28.25 New View While photographing a house on Van Voast for a listing, I snapped a photo of Mt. Adams from the second floor west-facing window. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440215696-EXFKCWHMUA5E0XNXD2HM/IMG_20251029_145203_771.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.29.25 Insta360 Oh no. I got a 360º camera for work. You know I’m going to play with it, though. This was the first image I snapped after setting it up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440223870-7T4KFU6KKL3D8809OF2T/IMG_6306.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.30.25 Relics I helped Marlene clean up and organize her studio today. Part of my task list included getting rid of some old shelves in order to put up new hooks for diffusers. When I pulled down this one, I liked the old label enough to snap a quick photo. I’ve never heard of “Melatex finish,” but it seemingly held up rather well considering the copyright date listed on the sticker is 1995. I love the stack of CDs and the Sony Walkman with headphones in the image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1762440220052-OUB9D73XR8XRSUBGF69D/IMG_6337.jpg daily-photos-oct-2025 - 10.31.25 Halloween Hot Dogs Since Halloween was on a Friday this year, we wanted to do it right. We invited friends over, I bought an inflatable hot dog costume, and I grilled hot dogs on the sidewalk for anyone who wanted one. My neighbor, Brad, works for Perfetti, so he supplied us with an enormous case of AirHeads for all the kids. While the turnout was lower than ever this year, I don’t think I’ve had this much fun on Halloween in years. Grilling hot dogs on the street with a beer in hand, seeing neighbors, and laughing with friends while Myrtle wandered around in a little bee costume absolutely ruled. Halloween is on a Saturday next year. I think we’re going to go even bigger with it by throwing a block party and blocking off the end of our street. Stay tuned! http://www.philarmstrongart.com/daily-photos-nov-2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763427642181-SLIVVNFP7YVTYFY6VSYZ/NZF_7146.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.1.25 Ashley’s Pre-Birthday Ashley’s birthday is on the 3rd. Since that falls on Monday and Mondays are generally no fun, we celebrated her today. She planned herself a 3-hour massage, but after that, it was up to me to come up with some stuff to do. Long story short, we shopped, she napped with Myrtle, and I took her out to eat with Allie and Travis at Nada. Afterward, we went over to Orchid at the Palm for a night cap. Also, the Blue Jays lost the World Series. Stupid Dodgers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429195985-YWRLYQ3TKM42P6EWCD5C/Workbench_Screenshot%281%29.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.2.25 Insta360 This will likely be the first in a string of oddly panoramic and warped images made with my new Insta360 camera. I picked this up for work so I can make Matterport walkthrough videos for clients, but I suspect this will quickly become a toy that I use often for my own projects. I bought it last week without really knowing how to use it just yet. Today, though, I dug into the nitty gritty details about shooting, editing in the Insta360 software, and exporting what I’d made. I spent the whole day learning how to use it and experimenting with its features, learning a lot in the process. I feel confident I’ll be able to produce interesting work while having some fun with this thing in the coming months. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429196403-2XINYRWKFIRF9KAQM94O/IMG_6353.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.3.25 Still-Life With Cat Statue As seen at Hoste in Walnut Hills. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429186693-ECTZ1IP2F8O2QLWVHV2V/IMG_6369.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.4.25 Jaws Of Life There was a touch-a-truck event down at the park over the weekend, and part of that whole shebang was a jaws of life demonstration on some junked cars. The annoying part, though, was they just left the aftermath—broken glass and jagged metal and all—in the middle of the park. There was an attempt to caution tape it all off, but…well, you can see in the photo how well that went. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429186553-OGU2ZCKQK3Q2U1MOHN5K/225+Riverside+Drive+-+Phil+Armstrong+-77.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.5.25 Riverside Views Shot a beautiful house on the river in Covington today. The front stoop included a large patio with several groupings of chairs and tables that overlooked the river and Cincinnati skyline. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429174113-JRS3JUB4A33FYZJLYEN7/1714+Vine+Street+1R-+Phil+Armstrong+-12.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.6.25 Small Apartment on Vine Street Self-explanatory, really. No more than 400 square feet. On the 1700 block of Vine Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429174710-42ISQGIKFDWODQOTJINN/Streaming+Things+Live+2025-+Phil+Armstrong+-426.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.7.25 Streaming Things Live Steve, Kit, and Andy brought a community of incredible people from around the world to Cincinnati for another Streaming Things Live show at the Woodward Theater tonight. Huge congrats to the boys, the excellent cohosts who joined them on stage, and (of course) to all the listeners (Fiends) who flew out to support them. And to top things off, Erica and Steve surprised everyone by getting married on stage with Kit and Andy officiating in front of everyone after the show! I was lucky enough to be the photographer for the event again. After the show, and after the wedding concluded, I had nearly everyone pack in tight for a massive group photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429165235-8HP65DLXZA5KSQPMVJ7V/The+Bells+%26+Symphonie+Fantastique+-+Phil+Armstrong+-114.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.8.25 Sleepy Pup at Music Hall While photographing a performance, I saw this service dog sawing logs and thought it was adorable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429152408-BVIY8MZ6JTJTDVHA8UQI/NZF_9487.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.9.25 BRETT! BRETT! BRETT! Erica sent me a last-minute invite to their house to hang out with the few Fiends who were still in town after the Live show this weekend. While everyone has been able to hang out together since Thursday, I’ve been busy with work and haven’t been able to really spend as much time with them as I’d like. Her invite was a chance to get one last visit in before the scatter back across the globe. One of my favorites is Brett. He’s from Sacramento, loves tiki drinks, apparently has a ska band that I’ve demanded to hear since learning about it a couple days ago, and adores cats. He’s awesome, I love hanging out with him, and I really hope to see him again sooner than next year at the inevitable follow-up live show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429157121-A4SDDGLKGGA8YSDO9Y7L/IMG_6458.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.10.25 Surprise Snow Day Winter decided to drop in early despite it being peak autumn at the moment. It’s weird seeing orange and yellow leaves, pumpkins, and mums caked in a light powder. I think it looks nice, really. This is a good reminder that all these leaves will be gone this time next month, and all subsequent snow will fall upon gray and brown branches instead of a colorful canopy of leaves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429145056-VOUHOQQ55DR80CP5AJ1G/NZ9_6150.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.11.25 Aurora Borealis The Northern Lights swung so far south from their usual location, we could see them with the naked eye in the city in Northern Kentucky. Apparently we’re seeing the effects of a solar storm, making the lights visible in places they don’t normally show up. They’re supposed to be just as strong tomorrow. We’re going to go out into the country to try to see them again, but under darker conditions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429144750-HGKKI0LRKX9QK9H1U6SJ/IMG_6483.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.12.25 Louisville Run Well, we didn’t see the Northern Lights last night, sadly. I took my cameras out, including the Insta360 to run a timelapse, and nothing showed up. I had a job in Louisville today. It was unremarkable, save for stopping to watch a demolition crew taking down what’s left of what looked to be an old hospital at one time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429135055-NTQSPTNN5MX7O8F338ZN/50thBirthdayatPrimPhilArmstrong-54.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.13.25 Barbara’s 50th Barbara hired me to photograph her 50th birthday party at Prim this evening. She managed to gather hundreds of well-known business leaders, artists, and people-about-town on a Thursday night to celebrate her milestone. That’s no small feat. Happy birthday to her! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429207968-JOVWJGY8WMM6ZGZ4SS0V/Screenshot+2025-11-16+at+9.47.51%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.14.25 Revisiting Childhood Everyone left town, including Ashley. I asked Ronny if he was free since he was one of the few who didn’t. We made a plan to meet up and check out a bar in Camp Washington, but when he got in the car, the subject of Eastgate Mall randomly popped up. We quickly ditched our plans and set course for my childhood mall that I hadn’t been to in at least a decade. When we got there, it was immediately apparent that Eastgate Mall is not long for this world. Like many of its peers, it’s dying. Though Cincinnati Mills and Tricounty were reduced to rubble within the last few years, Eastgate is still intact with 34 active listed businesses in its directory. 10 years ago, I swear the mall was still half full. Eastgate was a special place to me as a kid and later as a teenager. I have fond memories being there with my parents and friends. When I was a teen, I’d go to Walden Books, Hot Topic, and EB Games every time I visited. I’d wander over to Sears and say hi to my buddy John. Mike and I got kicked out of there once for horseplay. I can’t count the number of dates I had that included walking around that place at some point in the evening. Seeing it desperately holding on today after 30+ years of it feeling alive was disheartening. I documented our walkthrough with my Insta360 wedged in my sling bag. At one point, we sat down in the food court and ate some lo mein from one of the few restaurants remaining. Afterward, we hit up a used video game store that had colorful carpet, music playing from the ceiling, and a couple of customers shuffling through the aisles. It was the only place in the entire building that we went in that had as close to a “mall” vibe as I remember. I know it’s unrealistic to hope that a place like this can return to some semblance of what it was in my memory, but I truly feel like malls dying are a huge loss for society—especially kids. I cannot imaging being a teenager and not having a third space like this. A place where I could spend as little as I wanted and still have a social, public place to hang out indoors. At this point, I’m not even sure I’m ever going to go back before it goes. There was so little to see in there, so little vitality, that the next visit will surely end up being sadder than this one. Not sure I can stomach that a second time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1763429130860-9IZE655KWEQHFCL3EZJ0/IMG_6548.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.15.25 Myrtle’s Injured Myrtle and I went up to Kevin’s house to throw ball in the alley with his dogs, Taffy and Finn. At some point, Myrtle must’ve pulled a muscle in her leg because she started limping later on in the evening. Since this was the only activity she did all day, I assume that was the cause of the injury. She’s going to rest and take it easy the next few days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606433372-TD08AACE8BURF5AS9KO3/IMG_6584.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.16.25 Trash Can Larry The cat that hangs by the door outside Hansman’s has a collar that says his name is Trash Can Larry and that he’s the Mayor of 5th Avenue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606432106-EAKRJJ5USHC0LX2GJA2M/IMG_20251117_143823_552.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.17.25 Straight Outta Treats I’m still watching Jack and Jonas. Took the 360 camera over and had some fun recording them for Travis and Allie. This still looked like an album cover. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606429851-PQ5TKFFWVR56PAKOPCHZ/ArtWorks+Dinner+11.18.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.18.25 Radha Lakshmi A portrait of artist Radha Lakshmi working on a collaborative piece right before an event at ArtWorks’ creative campus. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606427923-S3CYXE3X3UTN3YGHDURY/Mad+Magazine+Exhibit+Opening+-+Phil+Armstrong+-97.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.19.25 Mad Magazine Exhibit Ronny helped me photograph the newest exhibit opening at the museum this evening. They needed someone to man the entrance while someone else did candids. He took on the entrance position. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606425482-SGSXWIPHWTBXQ0JI62Y5/AFP+National+Philanthropy+Day+-+Phil+Armstrong+-83.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.20.25 Last-Minute Awards Daria called me yesterday about adding a last-minute shoot to my schedule this morning. It took place in the ballroom at Music Hall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606420614-VN6RW7TN3RLZ8ZNH6HKQ/Louis+Conducts+Petrushka+%28CSO5%29+-+PhilArmstrong+-50.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.21.25 Louis Langrée Returns The beloved conductor took a break for a year, but his return to Cincinnati was met with an enthusiastic crowd. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606418894-K014GI6Z2F3KUGT8N344/Erica%2BSteve+11.22.25+-+Phil+Armstrong+-14.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.22.25 Wedding Pt. II Erica and Steve got married in front of a very, very tiny crowd in the woods of French Park this evening. I was lucky enough to be chosen to do their photos. They were “married” at the live show a couple weeks ago, but that was mainly just for fun for the friends and podcast-listeners. This one was the real deal. It was wonderful and I’m so happy for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606396339-AAZIPK77RELMQSDUAZC4/IMG_6773.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.23.25 Fog on the Water Self-explanatory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606411839-RHCW6KDV4EP6LSCIB030/144+Fairfield+Avenue+-+Phil+Armstrong+-43.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.24.25 John’s House John’s moving, so I photographed his house for him. I really like the house, actually. Were I in the market for one, I’d buy it. One of the things l love doing most is going back for the small details after shooting all the rooms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606411599-U1W1EO5DN9S5UHXKC4CX/IMG_6780.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.25.25 Illustration I’m getting back into analog art and illustration in particular. I have an itch that I haven’t quite been able to scratch lately, and I think it’s because I feel so creatively stunted. Photography is hugely important to me, both as an artist and as a professional, but because it takes up so much of my daily life, I find it exhausting at times. I’m in a private Discord for Steve’s podcast. One of the channels is based around Star Trek. One of the guys in there, Alex, drew his dream crew, and that got me itching to do something similar. I did a classic pile-of-heads illustration of my dream crew, dropped it in Discord, and a fire was lit beneath me. I felt satisfied in a way I haven’t in a while. It made me want to do more. So, I started sketching again. Myrtle is always a go-to for me, so I did this sketch in about 45 minutes this evening. It’s sloppy, but it scratched the itch again. I’m going to keep going with it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606406651-Q55DL8UMO0EQ9U6YL9AT/IMG_6787.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.26.25 Sketching Jack A continuation from yesterday. Did a dog, now it was time for a cat. I chose Jack. Probably going to add Jonas, his brother, beneath at some point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606406727-RYZA4IFN0MGX4ETPVVAW/IMG_6796.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.27.25 Unusually Festive I had a moment of unusual festiveness and suggested to Ashley that we put up the tree and Christmas decor. Normally I wouldn’t do it on Thanksgiving, but here we are. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606397376-FKJRX5OT3PRR6TJ26JO5/NZF_3886.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.28.25 Sorrento’s I’d never been to Sorrento’s until this evening. It was good! The neon outside was a nice touch, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606401828-O1ZUVBAFNO25PQTOTUBZ/825+Mohican+Drive+-+Phil+Armstrong+-24.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.29.25 Mohican Drive Just a shot from an Airbnb shoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1764606401472-EPCLCMUQVFEZYPYX44KA/IMG_6823.jpg daily-photos-nov-2025 - 11.30.25 Ultimate Relaxation Ashley used to like watching TV in bed, but we haven’t had one in our bedroom for a long time. It’s not a large enough room for a big TV, really. To get around this, I suggested we try setting up the projector we use for outdoor movie nights on the wall for her. There’s no horizontal keystone correction on this particular projector, though. It’s temporarily rigged on a monolight stand while I have another, better projector on order from B&H. The new one will sit on the shelf by the closet and will be able to correct the angle unlike the one we currently have. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dailyphotosdec2025 daily 0.75 2025-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334722041-4GDDEXQ4SPLNGOWU3U72/Nights+of+Holiday+Lights+Preview-+Phil+Armstrong+-62.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.1.25 Holiday Lights Mini-Blink The Art Museum is open late every Thursday and Friday until the end of the year. To help with attendance, a custom projection-mapped show is playing on the north wall of the courtyard. The show is about 4 minutes long and plays every 15 minutes with a full soundtrack synced to the visuals. I photographed it for the museum’s marketing team this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334736779-TBEJHR5K98EFV70S8RI0/The+Bridge+-+Phil+Armstrong+-26.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.2.25 Coming Soon 8K are finishing up an apartment renovation in Evanston and needed to start listing as many apartments as possible. These are rent-controlled units that I think are quite nice, especially for the price and size. While the building is still under a lot of construction, I was able to shoot two apartments without much trouble. The rest will need to be done next month when construction has wrapped and the floors have been cleaned. Also, it snowed again. I like this type of snowfall because it’s light, doesn’t sit atop an inch of ice, and minimally impacts the roads. It’s good coverage, but we’re not all trapped in our homes. It’s beautifully fun and devoid of the worst traits of a heavier storm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334723461-O5YKI7W39VMWNOLIMXNQ/NZF_4152.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.3.25 Unearthing Gameboy The sketchbook I used to have was missing. I’d looked in the art cabinet in the living room, my workshop, and on the bookcase. The only other hiding place it could’ve been was my office closet, but sorting through that mess was a can of worms I wanted kept shut. Alas, the sketchbook was important, and I knew it wouldn’t resurface on its own. I got a fresh can of Coke Zero from the fridge as a salve to soothe the pain in the ass that was to come. Taking a long, refreshing drink, I slammed the quarter-empty can down on my desk, flung open the office door, and cracked my knuckles. After a sweaty 10 minutes of lifting tote after tote, I finally found the sketchbook. Mission accomplished. Cue fireworks and Blue Angels fly-over. The worst part was yet to come, though: putting all this shit back. As I started undoing the progress I’d made, I stopped to look in a couple of totes; every Enquirer on my birthday from 1986 until 2000 my grandmother collected and gave to me, a box of tchotchkes and framed photos, and my surviving collection of retro video games from my childhood. Atop the pile in that last box was my old original Gameboy with Tetris wedged in the slot. I took it out, turned it over in my hands a few times, ran a finger over the screen, and tapped the buttons a few times. The way it felt in hand was immediately recognizable. You don’t forget the shape of a Gameboy like this. It felt lighter, though, so I checked the battery compartment: empty, thankfully. I thanked my past self for not ruining an irreplaceable object like this by carelessly leaving corroded batteries in it for decades. After putting all the totes back in the closet with one less Gameboy in them, I slapped fresh Duracells in the unit and fired it up. The familiar descending Nintendo logo sank from the top frame of the screen and settled in the middle with that iconic “coin” chime. Tetris’ theme began playing shortly thereafter, and it brought me back to sitting in the back room of my grandmother’s house—the one with the ancient TV on the rolling stand and the pull-out couch that would later have a computer in it within a few more years. She gave it to me for Christmas and I remember it being a helluva gift. I knew it was going to be my photo of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334715285-NG67FKJJ5QG4D5Q5G8HH/Myrtle+Christmas+2025.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.4.25 Myrtle Christmas 2025 This is the ninth year in a row that I’ve made a Christmas photo of Myrtle to send out in holiday cards. And, to be honest, I think this one is the best we’ve ever done. Christmas 2017 she was an otherworldly cute puppy. Christmas 2020 had the best classic staging and lighting. 2023 melded my interest in woodworking into the mix by having her sit in the toy box I made for her among all her toys. 2024 was a fresh departure from tradition with a paired-down white backdrop for a more minimal approach. This year, I wanted to get creative with it. I wanted a challenge—something that would stand out and make the recipient stop and actually look at it for more than a couple seconds. I took a box, made a wooden frame out of scrap to put around it so it would keep its shape, and stapled a black piece of cloth with a slit in it to the back. Myrtle stuck her head through the slit and out of the front of the “gift box”, and the goal was to decorate each box with something different. Ashley devised a lot of the art direction within each box while I added small stuff around her work. I moved the camera around four times to achieve the different perspective per quadrant. Even though she’s a very well-trained dog, she has her limits and decided when she was done. We felt like these were the best four options of the many we tried, and I stitched everything together in Photoshop. There was absolutely no AI used for any of this; just good old-fashioned Ps. There is only one object that I added in post from a generic Google image search that wasn’t actually in any of the photos. If you email me your guess, I’ll tell you whether or not you got it right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334727464-A1PQGUR0S652K5JH48JD/NZF_4188.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.5.25 Drafting Table I’m getting back into illustration so much that I went ahead and added a drafting table on the other side of the office. Having a dedicated space to draw, pin up works in progress, and come back to them when I’m able is so much better than clearing my computer desk every time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334730712-I9UPG5F61BA9IABPI58D/NZF_4196.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.6.25 Let There Be Light Added under-the-shelf lighting to these shelves a couple months ago. I had every intention of photographing friends at a gathering that we had at our place today, but I was too busy living in the moment and forgot to take a single photo, so this is what I am submitting for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334712638-RP0N9MQDYDNJX7SF9RAH/IMG_6896.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.7.25 Inspiration Since I’m drawing more, I’m finding it’s easier to get in the headspace of what I want to do by revisiting the works of artists whose styles I emulate closest. That’s not to say I want to copy directly their styles, but their illustrations are closest to how I prefer drawing. Since I’m still refining my approach and process, it’s nice to refresh myself on what they’ve done so I can have a more cohesive vision for what I want to do. Locally, I really love the way Caroline William drew her scenes. Barbara and David Day are also hugely influential. Additionally, old architectural drawings by Samuel Hannaford and his contemporaries are always worth looking back on. I got this book from the Ohio Bookstore years ago. It’s a collection of floorplans and sketches by George Woodward, originally printed in the late 1800s. I find them among the most beautiful sketches of houses and Victorian-era buildings I’ve seen. They’re so technical and precise. While that’s not how I prefer to work (I like Williams’ more loose approach), I can’t get over the shading in his drawings. They add so much dimension and beautifully highlight the many shapes and corners of each building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765334735665-ES7PCE9ICTVW0WULANQW/NZF_4214-Edit.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.8.25 Upgraded I posted about our bedroom projector on November 30th and talked about how I had an upgrade on order from B&H. Well, that projector was damaged in transit, so I had to send it back. They replaced it with another one that actually works, though. It’s a ViewSonic LX60HD. I set it up on the shelf, manually adjusted the keystones because the auto-correct feature didn’t work, and now Ashley can comfortably watch TV on the biggest “screen” in the house without needing to have anything bigger than this little box on a shelf in the room. Also, I've not had work outside the house for five days, so if this last week of images hasn’t been overly interesting, it’s because I’ve just been puttering around my house doing all my stupid little hobbies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765572979529-TQ3HMLWJOQBJ4G046W3W/IMG_20251212_154218_757-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.9.25 Tiny Planet Workshop Thought I might throw the 360 camera in the workshop and make a tiny planet image to see how it looked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765572986635-E6PPAFCSLO77JZVK4YDZ/NZF_5019.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.10.25 Hit the Lights Photographed my final event of the year at the Art Museum this evening. Attendance was great, remarks were short, and spirits were both high and flowing. As swing dancers kept the energy up, everyone was in an excellent mood sipping mixed drinks and making plates catered by the museum. I’m a bit bummed that this is the final event of the year. Every time I get to work one of these shindigs, I leave feeling really good. Maybe I’ve come to rely on it as a bit of healthy forced extroversion? Whatever I’m mentally grappling with that day is pushed to the distant background when I’m there. Since I’ve been alone a lot lately, I’ve felt disconnected and lonely to a degree I normally don’t, but when I get to go here, it fills up my tank. I’m not due back until the end of January for Art After Dark. By that point, I’ll have left my Thirties and entered a new decade. Feels weird to know this was the final event of the first half of the 2020s, and the last of an era for me personally. I shot this photo because it felt spiritually relevant; the door isn’t fully closed and locked, lights are off just beyond them, but it’s all still visible. I realized this was the last one before a couple of milestones, and that awareness felt much like the door in this scene—not quite ready to be locked, but nearly there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1765574593663-F03XCV7ZQHTLQEG4R1DB/Screenshot+2025-12-12+at+4.17.59%E2%80%AFPM.png daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.11.25 Scanned This may be a first for the Daily Photo Project: a screenshot of over 20 scans stitched together using Matterport for a real estate listing. Technically, this a photo of a bunch of photos I made, so I’m counting it. It looks bad from the “dollhouse” view, but the scans are fine. While I do not think scanning a home room by room is an equal substitute for good stills, I think it’s worth acknowledging as a decent way to convey the layout of a space without needing to personally visit it. These walkthroughs are nice for people who want to tour places without needing to spend the time to physically go there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766499710881-7ZQQ814JW9R8O86NIL5L/IMG_6954.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.12.25 Jackson Street Just a photo I took on a walk this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766499784494-OJ82X9U7OWWZQCGVLTG7/IMG_6969.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.13.25 The Great Snow Trek A winter storm rolled through the city this afternoon and evening. All in all, we figure we got about 5 inches within a few hours. The roads were treacherous to navigate, but we weren’t satisfied staying in on a Saturday night. Our insistence on living in a walkable neighborhood proved, yet again, that car-based suburban life isn’t for us. We strapped on our boots, threw on our heaviest coats and hats, and hit the streets on foot to support a few bars and restaurants that we enjoy. We trudged through the snow to Darkness Brewing first, met up with Chelsea there, then marched through falling snow to Wayfarer Tavern. After a pizza and a few drinks, we continued on to Tuba where we were the only customers at the end of the evening. I took a load of photos throughout our journey. Picking one wasn’t easy, but I think this one sums up the vibe rather well. Snowy, deserted streets, a lighted snowflake decoration illuminating the storm, cozy houses blanketed after hours of accumulation, and just a couple of friends navigating it with the promise of pizza and beer at the next stop. 10/10, great night. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766500622376-7DD961RHWVONRFF6GU0W/IMG_7001.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.14.25 Scammed! “Did you get stood up?” A stranger asked me as he passed. “Actually, yeah. I think I did,” I replied bewildered and shivering in the light coat I regretted wearing instead of my big winter option. Back at home, I reasoned that I was only walking from my truck to the venue for half a block–it didn’t seem worth it to bulk up for temporary discomfort. A client reached out to me back in early November about shooting their class reunion at The Transept at 6 PM on today’s date. By 6:20PM, I found myself photographing both my watch and the venue as proof of integrity. The inside was dark. No sign of life. Had it been canceled due to snow? Had it moved and no one told me? I wanted to give it 20 minutes before giving up and going home, and this photo was evidence that I was, indeed, there at the date and time if they later accused me of no-showing. With numb fingers, I hammered out an email explaining that I was here despite there being no event, and that I’d given it a reasonable amount of time before leaving. Deep down, I wanted to give them a piece of my mind for ruining my Sunday night this way, but I kept it professional. Cincinnati is a small market, and burning any bridge can lead to disaster. After I got home, I sent a text to the friend who referred the client to me. Long story short, I’d been scammed. There never was an event or real client. After reviewing the email exchange, it became obvious. I felt incredibly stupid for a few hours, but I was overall thankful that I hadn’t lost any money in the process. It was the least painful hard lesson that I could’ve learned. I was also relieved that it wasn’t just a bad person who canceled an event and didn’t tell me. I didn’t give them my bank information for a deposit like they requested, I didn’t pass up other work to do this, and the only real loss involved paying to park and standing outside for a half hour in a light jacket in 10ºF weather. Now that I know I can be scammed, I will be more vigilant in the future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766502811707-6Q2VFPV77KPXL578YPKC/IMG_7004.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.15.25 Brilliant Sunset on a Bad Day We had to take Ashley’s grandfather to the hospital this morning. He’s been suffering with some stuff for a couple months now, and it’s gotten to the point where he needs professional help. Ashley was in the ER with him all day until he was given a hospital bed upstairs. I had a couple of work obligations I couldn’t miss, but I joined them afterward. We’re hoping he can get answers and treatment for his issues so he can go back home. His son gets back tomorrow, which will alleviate Ashley of sole management of his care. He’s 83 and in poor health, but we’re remaining optimistic at the moment. While on my way back to the hospital, I caught this incredible sunset in the most mundane of places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766503168460-1BV6GWHBQI4ID0MVMIS8/IMG_7008.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.16.25 Bad Prognosis The prognosis for Ashley’s grandfather isn’t good. There are still more tests and procedures to be done, but as of this writing, it’s not good. I took a candid of her feeding him tonight, but I don’t want to share that image here. I also can’t get over just how cluttered this hospital is. The nurses’ desk at the center of the floor is covered in everything from computer wires and Christmas decor to oversized Stanley thermoses and more. The ceiling in this place is also noticeably lower than others, making the whole place feel suffocating to a tall person like me. Oversized rolling chairs and equipment stands litter the hallways. There always seems to be lights out no matter where you look. It feels like there’s nowhere to stand without being in someone’s way. If I ever end up in the hospital, I hope it’s never in one like this. I will not heal in a place so brimful of bad lighting and both necessary and unnecessary junk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766503759394-R889D573A6E6XQWL7Z36/IMG_7014.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.17.25 Helplessness Feeling very helpless at the moment. I’m in studio all week with Marlene, and Ashley is essentially living at the hospital with her grandpa whenever she can get away from work. I want to be there, too, but I can’t due to work. I’m not sure what I would be able to do there, but it feels bad not being present. Anyway, here’s another very good winter sunset. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766503941509-AFCFX07G7GPRBVZTK9EE/IMG_7025.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.18.25 Wing Night Distraction The boys have had a wing night planned since before all this stuff with grandpa cropped up. After a long week of going back and forth to the hospital and working in the studio, I needed a couple hours of distraction to feel something other than dread and stress. We returned to the worst-named wing joint, Knuk-N-Futz, in Taylor Mill. If you’re looking for good and greasy, this place is it. I didn’t feel like dealing with the mess that comes with eating wings, so I went with boneless this time. No, I don’t feel bad about that decision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766504335115-GOZ5PUPXU6NOMUG3WXKC/B1A330A8-A92A-483D-8948-CD33111903E4_1_105_c-2.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.19.25 Sprinkles My sister asked me to draw my niece’s dog, Sprinkles, for her for Christmas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766504470430-DPNRB92R425E0X9TPQHQ/IMG_7047.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.20.25 Hospital Gift Shop One more reason I really don’t like this hospital: it has…a gift shop? I’ve been very fortunate to spend very little time in hospitals during my lifetime. As such, I don’t feel like I have a strong sense of the vibe of a place like this. Right now, Ashley’s grandfather is essentially slowly dying in this building, and this cheery gift shop at the elevator bank is a harsh tonal shift I don’t appreciate. My impression of hospitals is that they are a place of serious worry despite their intention to rehabilitate. The inclusion of this shop trying to make more money off of the stressed friends and relatives who are coming to see their loved ones feels gross to me. Also, it illustrates more of that signature clutter that I can’t stand about this place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1766505167722-ECJ7MZZ32YQYFDQZEYA7/NZF_5274.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.21.25 Pigeon Forge Ashley and I had a mini-vacation planned for December 21-24. With everything going on with her grandfather this week, we considered canceling it and staying home. But she needed a break from the routine, there were more people up here now to visit with him every day, and there’s honestly little we can do for him now. She decided we should stick with the original plan and go on the trip. Our final destination is a cabin in the woods just outside of Asheville, NC overlooking the French Broad River. Along the way, though, we’re stopping for a night in Pigeon Forge to both break up the drive and see a place we’ve never been to before. Pigeon Forge is honestly better than I expected. With the mountains in the distance and the overwhelming amount of tourist kitsch, it feels like bargain Vegas. I also haven’t looked this up, but I’d be willing to bet there are more go-kart tracks per capita here than anywhere else in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151639136-5E2ABNWQ52FZR88S686E/NZF_5363.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.22.25 Gatlinburg I misspoke in my last entry—I have been to Pigeon Forge. When I wrote that last night, I’d forgotten and it later came back to me. Back then, we also went to Gatlinburg since it was in close proximity. We did the same thing today. From what I remember, not a whole lot has changed since the late-90s; putt-putt golf is still a major presence, there are loads of trinket and fried food shops, and it’s still just as crowded along the main drag. I liked the The Village Shops for its walkable, European-inspired architecture and winding alleyways. Though they were too expensive to ride, I thought the ski lifts looked fun, too. I was surprised by the number of ice cream shops open in winter, but I guess there’s still a demand for it. A Trump “superstore” conveniently shares a building with an adult sex shop, effectively sequestering Gatlinburg’s center of depravity while sandwiched between a “family fun parlor” and something called “Chocolate Monkey.” Even in cold, grey December, Gatliburg’s cup still runneths over with color and an undeniable vibrancy (for better or worse). To a child, the arcades and attractions must be incredible. To an adult, it felt a sliver of Orlando on a budget with National Parks nearby. I won’t say it was great or terrible. It just is what it is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151854174-VS6Z0U9CF8NDM7NDY11M/NZF_5383.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.23.25 Cabin Along the River Ashley found an isolated cabin on a hill along the French Broad River in North Carolina for us to stay in for two nights. After we left Gatlinburg, we drove to a farm in the mountains where a family had built the cabin and rented it out on Airbnb. It isn’t very big, but the large outdoor wrap-around porch is nice considering it’s about 20 degrees warmer down here than it is back home. Our host dropped by to give us fresh eggs, goat milk, and she baked us a loaf of garlic bread in the shape of a heart. The furniture in this place photographs far better than it is to sit on, sadly, but at least the bed is comfortable. Overall, it’s a nice place, and I’m excited to sit and do nothing for a whole day. After her grandfather’s condition worsened, we considered canceling this trip. That was back when she and I were the only two in town who were able to take care of him and her grandmother. Since then, other family members have arrived from Florida and it’s taken the pressure off Ashley. She needed a couple days away from the hospital to de-stress. While the looming fear of him passing away hangs over everyone, there’s little we can do besides wait and hope for the best. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151850274-ITDRHPQT3238S4DKIWD0/NZF_5405.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.24.25 Recovery After saying goodbye to our cabin, packing up the truck, and setting the GPS for home, we realized we needed coffee. With it being Christmas Eve, our options in rural Madison County were limited. A small town called Marshall was set along our route, though, and we figured that would be our best option. The winding mountain roads snaked alongside the French Broad River for miles until Marshall peeked into view on the other side of a bridge. Once downtown, it became clear our luck was running out. Most everything was closed or shuttered, save for a little mercantile beside an old-timey gas station near the opposite side of the business district. This place was devastated by hurricane Helene last year. Evidence of its recovery is obvious if you’re looking for it. For example. the house pictured was boarded up with debris strewn around it. I imagine it was a casualty of the storm and still isn’t inhabited. With the town sitting so low in the valley and directly on the river, it’s no wonder they suffered when the French Broad rose following record-breaking rainfall. We continued home through rural parts of NC and TN until finally reaching the highway. From there, it was a straight shot home. With everything going on, I had a minor existential crisis concerning mortality somewhere along the way. I finally snapped out of it when Ashley applied lotion to her hands and it made a hilariously cartoonish slathering sound that made me die laughing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151848232-C75IXH6KUY654KEJ7YCV/NZF_5425.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.25.25 Christmas We visited Grandpa in the hospital this morning. It was horrible. His condition has deteriorated so severely that they’re stopping meds and moving him to hospice within the next day. Ashley is a wreck and I feel largely helpless on what to do besides be present for the family. Personally, I didn’t feel like going up to my sister’s for Christmas considering how awful we felt about all of this, but it offered us a distraction nonetheless. The kids enjoyed their gifts. It was nice seeing them open their presents and be carefree for a few hours. It temporarily got my mind off mortality, but it also unfortunately cooked up some new fears and worries unrelated to the Grandpa situation. I don’t know. This is honestly the worst Christmas I’ve ever experienced, and though it could always be worse, I’ve never had one this bad in my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151846337-E8WSPALSU5UAIGW8KYSU/IMG_7088.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.26.25 Tear-Down This being the worst Christmas on record, we took down all the decor tonight. We’re sick of seeing it. We lack the Christmas spirit, and we’re sick of our home pretending to be this sugary-sweet holiday thing that it’s just not this year. We didn’t exchange gifts, either. That was also a first for me. As Myrtle tore into her gift (a bag of treats), we packed everything else away and hoped for something better in 202 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151841672-95W9JICQCIU050PAUBLI/IMG_7098.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.27.25 At Peace Ashley’s grandfather, David Buttelwerth, passed away just after noon today. We’d gone over to hospice to sit with him, her grandmother, and her uncle when we very gently and quietly slipped away. To say it was emotional would be an understatement. The last couple of days, he was medicated into comfort and remained unconscious. He suffered for months with back pain that eventually led us to take him to the hospital where we learned he had more going on than previously believed. Without going into details, it was an uphill battle that he couldn’t win. The only solace I take from this whole thing is that he was without pain in his final moments. Dave was with his beloved wife, son, and granddaughter when he passed, and he’s at peace now. I had the honor of knowing him for his final decade. Seeing his relationship with Ashley, it was clear he was a good man, husband, father, and grandfather. Among many things about him, I always admired how he was so focused on his hobbies—birding, puzzling, golf scorecard and stamp collecting, and when he was younger, photography. His family would sometimes give him a hard time about what he was into, but his curiosity and drive to keep his mind active and love what he loved is aspirational to me. He was quietly content and comfortable with himself in a way I hope to learn one day. I’ll miss his smirk when he’d say something sarcastic to someone in the room. I’ll think of him every time I have a Little Debbie or Hostess snack cake. Nary a puzzle will be put together without Dave on my mind. The next time I photograph a bird, I’ll think of him. Following his passing, we took her grandmother back to her condo in Florence. She was quiet and subdued in a way I’ve never seen her before. Time will tell if she’ll be alright or not. We hope she feels supported despite losing him; she has many people around to lean on should she need it. Nothing today felt appropriate for Daily Photo. The only thing I came up with was documenting Dave’s chair—the recliner that no one will dare sit in out of respect for their patriarch. It’s going to be a very hard couple of weeks while we figure out what’s next for Dave’s funeral, Grandma, and everyone who loved him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767151841048-TF6I8ZTU01AN0FBGW5UR/NZF_5430.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.28.25 How to Follow? How do you follow an entry like yesterday's? I don’t have a good answer, honestly. Here’s an image of my phone in the smartphone slot of a grocery cart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767323929675-IQLT3E5CUKNDYPH1F855/IMG_7106.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.29.25 The Wendy’s Sunroom Found a Wendy’s that still has one of the old sunrooms. The restaurant’s been updated with new decor and such, but it still maintains this architectural feature. It lacks all of the warmth I remember it having from visiting Wendy’s in my youth, but I guess it gets points for still existing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767323928510-3E1BUA3K3UKM54RI621R/NZF_5534.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.30.25 Forgotten Love Notes I think it was before I got laid off at the website when I found this book of love notes at a boutique in the suburbs. Each page has a different design with everything from a sincere quote (my least favorite) to something cheeky, often with a stupid pun (obviously my favorite). All of the pages are perforated so you can detach them from the book and give them to someone. I used to give them to Ashley around the time we bought the house. It’s kind of fun flipping through it again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767323925591-IAC3T1D5GD1L1UNF18MB/NZF_5439.jpg daily-photos-dec-2025 - 12.31.25 End to 2025 Overall, 2025 was a better year than others. Of course, with the end of it being so top of mind and awful, I really have to dig deep and analyze it without just the recency bias coloring my perspective of it. I made more money in 2025 than I ever have before. We went on a really good road trip with Myrtle. We met new people and maintained our strong relationships with those closest to us. I got to see my best friend bring people from around the world together for a live show he designed and then marry one of my other best friends in front of everyone. I shot so many events that I think I might be less of an architectural photographer and more of an event photographer now. I worked with a globally-recognized artist and traveled for work for her. I bought a truck that I genuinely love to drive and realized I am a small truck guy. I got to eat at Casa Bonita in Denver with my friends, and a trip to Chicago in September was a blast. It’s wild how the death of one person in your family, though, really nullifies how you feel about the year overall. I won’t keep harping on this because we still have a lot to do for it, and I know I will speak on it again within the next few days, but all I’ll say is after seeing a man die, I’ve really started seriously thinking about mortality in ways I haven’t before. Nothing is certain, we never truly know how much time we have left, and having a clear vision of what’s to come is optimistically foolish at best. So, as I leave 2025 in the past, I have to remember that I can only guess at what’s to come in 2026 and plan for it accordingly. Hopefully the next year will be as good as the last minus a repeat of that thing at the end. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/archive daily 0.75 2026-03-31 http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dailyphotosall2026 daily 0.75 2026-03-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767406869762-CFPXI4RD2UWL84VC8JJH/NZF_5507.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.1.26 Jack Look at the bokeh in his precious little eyes. Look at the whiskers protruding from his fluffy meat-cheeks. Look at the perfect little ears and his pink chin. He’s the most adorable kitten. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767406871660-82BA8ZT3WYBW53ZWIWKZ/NZF_6047-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.2.26 Afternoon Market Photographed 8K’s newest renovation in the market. I really liked this view from the window of one of the north-facing apartments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365394299-OOWFECLSX1D0PMWM40S3/IMG_7153-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.3.26 Rest in Peace, Dave We attended the funeral for Ashley’s grandfather, Dave, this morning at the Catholic Church he attended for the last +35 years. It was a somber occasion that ultimately allowed his closest relatives and friends to say goodbye and gave them permission to begin the grieving/healing process. When I first met him a decade ago, he was a talkative, curious man who jumped at the chance to show someone new his collection of slide film from his time stationed in Newfoundland, Canada in the late-50s. He loved a special cake that everyone (except me) hated and made eat with him on his birthday. He appreciated the little things in life, like bird watching and receiving a box of chocolate-covered cherries that he could eat while he did a 1000-piece puzzle. But I think the thing that I liked best about him is the relationship he had with Ashley. I wish his last few weeks weren’t so painful and sad, but the fact that so many people visited him in the hospital from miles away is a testament to his character and role as the loving patriarch of his family. I hope that brought him some comfort knowing so many showed up at the end of his story to see him through to whatever’s beyond. RIP, Dave Buttelwerth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365391157-X68NHQ2AKGFH4OX6YUFX/IMG_7161.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.4.26 White Elephant We got invited to Unataza’s end-of-year gathering at Al Lupo in Mt. Adams. Alejandra said there’d be a white elephant exchange if we wanted to participate. Not knowing who was invited, and with 24 hours to figure it out, I figured a drawing of the place we all have a connection to made the most sense. To make it a gift, I found a small frame for it and Ashley bagged it up. Hope whoever gets it likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365389123-YYL4HGC4SCGC4A2Z218D/305+Seitz+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.5.26 House on Seitz From a real estate shoot I did earlier today. The view from the rooftop is phenomenal. I’ll probably publish a photo of that later this week when I return for night shots; the low, midday sun this time of year isn’t ideal when shooting south. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365371341-PTI5Q490FAGUM1QKOIER/IMG_7183.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.6.26 Counting “Lasts” As I inch closer to my birthday, I can’t help but acknowledge the “lasts” of my thirties. My last NYE in my thirties, my last cookout, last time seeing so-and-so, last whatever. Today it was my last haircut. After two and a half months, I desperately needed cleaned up. It felt wonderful to walk out of the barbershop feeling lighter with that familiar cold draft along the top of my ears and neck. I caught myself becoming quietly sentimental about the hair that was left on the floor of the shop knowing it wouldn’t follow me to a new decade. It’s not a feeling I like or want, yet it occasionally happens. As absurd as I know it is, I’ve learned it’s better to let it happen and move on from it instead of trying to stop it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365385398-DS3DUXG74C4GSZ44E97T/The+Port+GBBN+-10-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.7.26 The Port Worked with GBBN on photographing the work they did in Atrium II for The Port’s new offices. This was a really good shoot, and I’m excited to share the full gallery at a later date. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365380443-PKHVHP075TNUM4MZVGU2/305+Seitz+-+Phil+Armstrong+-72.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.8.26 Aforementioned View As I said the other day, I needed to return to the house on Seitz to get night shots of the view from the rooftop deck. I made a 13-panel panorama that I cannot share here in full resolution. I’m trying to figure out a better way to do so. Until then, here’s the “meatiest” frame from that set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365400678-7S6RFIKL5LDGHGLJ6486/Prestige+Properties+%28MA+Design%29-57-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.9.26 Prestige MA Design hired me to photograph their latest work at Prestige Properties’ head office in Oakley. This was by far the stand-out frame from the gallery. Between this and the work at The Port earlier this week, I’m really in an architectural groove. Feels amazing to get to figure out these compositions, direct them, and piece all of it together later. This one took me about an hour and a half to fully finalize. I think the end result was worth it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365371346-XDD1PUXZE6S2697KQ4K8/IMG_7233.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.10.26 BBQ Mirror Went to Eli’s to meet up with Mike, Jenn, and Steve. Took a photo in the mirror of the bathroom because I thought the stickers, wallpaper, frame, scratches in its surface, and the reflected checkered floor made for a colorful, chewy composition. Posted the photo to my IG story, and Ashley replied with “fly’s down,” scaring me into frantically double-checking. I have an annoying habit of accidentally leaving it down, so it was a plausible claim. Anyway, I didn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she got me, so unless she reads this, she’ll never know. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365365203-WWJL31FLQD8VNWNPG3BL/IMG_7244.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.11.26 Mall-Walking We went to the mall today to do some shopping. While there, I stopped to marvel at the beauty of the entrance to this shop. The curved glass, the tile, the hanging lights and foliage, the muted brick and warm, wooden French doors—everything just really caught my eye. I genuinely appreciated the artistry on display. In a mall filled with forgettable entrances to generic shops that I pass right by without looking twice, this one managed to stop me for a few extra seconds. Later on, I posted about appreciating this storefront to Threads, and everyone replied with some version of “this store supports <insert horrible thing here>.” It had been milkshake ducked. Not wanting to invite ridicule for not knowing its backstory, I deleted the post and moved on. After the week of news we’ve had, I can scarcely bring myself to Google a new, awful thing, so I’ll just have to take their word for it. Bad store has good front. That’s it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365364983-VI6JX9MFEQ053MQOL3PT/1564+Banklick+St+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.12.26 Unexpected Places While photographing apartments for Orleans in Ludlow, I got the opportunity to shoot a warehouse in Covington that’s in the process of being renovated. The four-story warehouse and surrounding former scrapyard takes up a whole block of the neighborhood and will bring 39 new units to the area. Right now the building is in the early stages of renovation, so everything is still very raw and untouched. I had a blast shooting it. If I have the chance to share more photos, I will. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997771145-7KKFR9Y3S9EAR9SGOWB0/DSC_0000-71.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.13.26 Avocado Just playing with gels and an old rotary phone. It’s not that deep. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997768974-ABOC5NPPUX6I1QZ19SBH/IMG_7257.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.14.26 New Hues We needed some props to be yellow for a shoot, and I’m surprisingly good at recoloring with spray paint. Why digitally shift it when an analog solution is so easy? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997767259-0P50T4AOBBV3HS1HSEBN/IMG_7267.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.15.26 Running Man This is the end of an arm on a C-stand with a weight on it to help balance the beauty dish on the other end, and I thought it kind of looked like a running man. Thanks for reading this extremely high-art Daily Photo Project. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997764552-ZR1B6RWDIJ0JKD0WMVC4/DSC_0000-20.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.16.25 The Necklace My grandmother passed away in March of 2005. Sometime before, she gifted me this gold necklace that belonged to my great grandfather. A note written in her hand reads: “This necklace was bought in Italy be your great-grandfather when he went to visit relatives (circa 1965)” When she gave it to me, I remember wearing it briefly before getting spooked about losing it and putting it away for the next couple decades. My teenage self didn’t need to be wearing something as valuable as this anyway. I’ve been thinking a lot about her lately (probably due to Ashley losing her grandfather) and decided to get it out again. I think I’m going to wear it for a bit again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997760208-9RQ7BOJYEYXDOORJH87W/IMG_7323.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.17.26 Tim Plays Pool A portrait of my friend Tim playing pool. He sucks as it as much as I do, and I don’t think he’d argue otherwise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997764625-P2WNNOK03R3PL6471K1O/NZF_6726.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.18.25 Reuse When I removed the florescent light boxes from the basement, I saved one of the plastic translucent diffusers because I thought it could be a cool object to pump light through at some point to create a unique backdrop or effect. Tried that today. I set up two speed lights with gels on them and played around with different color combos for a while. The pink/orange duo turned out really well, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997755156-MYIW0OMHS553MCQW0XH5/IMG_7349.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.19.26 I Always Feel Like… …Erica and Steve and Maggie and Grant and Cameron are watching me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997750857-C64GHH91LOF49A16RR3I/DSC_0000-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.20.26 Mid-Century Sci-Fi What little time I have at present has been spent feverishly doomscrolling before throwing my phone into another room and escaping into a book to calm my nerves. After reading Michael Crichton’s ‘Sphere’ last week (good book!), I thought I’d read another first contact story. I won’t do a book report here, but I will say that I think this is my favorite novel I’ve read in a long time. Penned in 1953, some of the language and ideals are dated, but the overall story was absolutely riveting and largely evergreen. I finished it in three sittings because it was so good. The idea that aliens could occupy Earth and force us to sort out our shit in order to live better lives for some unknown purpose that only they understand is extremely appealing right now. The concept of a loss of freedom is broached, but through a modern lens, I think I’d be willing to relinquish freedom in order to live comfortably and war-free in a post-scarcity society than continue to kid myself that I’m “free” while letting the rich minority make all the bad decisions for our species. Best $3.49 I’ve spent in a long time. And no, I’m not going to watch the SyFy original series; the trailer made it clear that the novel and the show are different from one another. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997751309-WWJ5EAK1T1N8C1DBZC2C/IMG_7365.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.21.26 New Decade Today, I enter my Forties. I had a quiet day in the studio where no one knew it was my birthday, I published a blog entry about how good my Thirties were, and then went out to eat with some of my best friends later that evening. Very low-key and with little fanfare—just the way I wanted it. I’d been dreading this birthday for years. I thought I needed to do some big thing for it, like taking a trip or throwing a massive get-together. It felt momentous on a scale that made me uncomfortable. After thinking more about it, I realized that the only way I’d be happy is if I didn’t make a fuss about it. It’s not me. I didn’t want to go all out for it, and I made the choice to do what makes me feel comfortable instead. That intentional decision was in and of itself momentous to me; if I’d done something grand and indulgent, I would’ve felt like I’d lied to myself about what I actually wanted. Instead, I had three bourbon cocktails, ate a bunch of pizza, and got to hang out with people who are important to me. It’s a birthday I’ll remember long into my Fifties, Sixties, and hopefully beyond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997727262-LLS92JAFRBPQEQIHFRCU/IMG_7369.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.22.26 Storm Prepping There’s a huge snowstorm coming this weekend. While many are flocking to the grocery for provisions, I went to the store to get a few new reads. If we’re going to be stuck inside for days on end, I may as well have something to pass the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997746086-Q2T5QBXMN9NEW6XI9NQ5/DSC_0000-82-HDR.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.23.26 Calm Before the Storm This incoming snowstorm is forecasted to be a doozy. While I don’t like severe weather, I have to admit there is a part of me that delights in the excitement of it. I certainly don’t want to lose power, but if I get snowed in for a few days and can’t go anywhere, I think I’ll probably enjoy it. This month has been so insanely busy, a little forced downtime will be welcome. It kind of feels like the walls are closing in on us. Forecasters are constantly changing accumulation predictions for our area. There’s no telling what it’ll do for sure. We will just have to go inside and let the outside world do its thing. Hope our heat stays on, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997746316-KKZZSPHJA3014QFQSH89/IMG_7381.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.24.26 Tarped I tarped my truck before the snow starts. I’m going to pull the tarp back after it stops and collect as much snow as possible in the back bed so it has weight. That will help keep the back tires in better contact with the street, providing improved traction. Plus, cleaning off the vehicle will be a lot easier if it’s not totally covered in snow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997743288-BRA7RLHKM5K70FHM91CC/IMG_7407.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.25.26 The Snowstorm Arrives It snowed all night and all day. Forecasters were right—we got a TON of snow. Ashley measured over 10 inches on the back deck alone. We became stir-crazy and decided to go walking after it stopped snowing. We trudged up the middle of the plowed street with Myrtle, snoot to the ground and tail wagging, leading the way. Barely anyone was out save for the few people actively digging their cars out of the snow banks. Our walk took us further than I anticipated. The air was bitterly cold and the streets were tricky to maneuver, but thankfully none of it was as icy as expected. It’s going to be a challenge digging us out tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997742548-ROS1VZL2QVN7F24RHMTL/IMG_7417.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.26.26 The Great Dig The tarp worked as expected, the ice was minimal, and the snow was heavy and in abundance. Not the worst storm we’ve had to dig out of, but definitely not a walk in the park. Thank goodness we don’t have to go anywhere today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997737281-KAEPIO1PP5AGOAGQULOB/Making+Connections+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.27.26 Making Connections ArtWorks finished a mural at CVG Airport and needed photos of the finished work. There are four triptychs depicting airline travel and related technology. All panels were done offsite and installed later on. They will remain at the airport for the next 12 months before being relocated to another venue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997737852-H7HWAB6PNXUMKVZ8R7PL/IMG_7427.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.28.26 Abysmal Conditions Final week of work at the studio with Marlene, and the City of Cincinnati barely plowed Central Parkway. There’s nowhere to park on the street, so I had to leave the truck on a side street and hike up to the studio. Sure hope they get out here and clear some of this so we don’t have to keep trudging through the snow to get inside the rest of the week. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997730873-FJX4H4PTG9J9XWL3DR4U/DSC_0000-9.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.29.26 Artist’s Interpretation I’m tired of looking at snow already. Here’s an interpretation of what it looks like when Myrtle goes outside to do her business. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997731297-GCYU1S8X42A5VYYZVL62/Slavic+Legends+-+Phil+Armstrong+-74.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.30.26 Slavic Legends Conductor Oksana Lyniv and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997727304-C5KA00573YV7NSXBOUDI/IMG_7467.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 1.31.26 ICE Out A whistle I hope to never have to use. We are living in increasingly scary times, and I’m genuinely worried about where we’re headed as a country. I stand with my fellow citizens, immigrants and all, against the tyranny of this administration and its murderous federal police. An immigrant has never negatively affected my life or the lives of anyone I know. The narrative that they are somehow all criminals who deserve to be locked up, separated from their kids, and sent away is false. I worry about being in crowds since they’re shooting protestors now, but I am ready to do what I can. History will be unkind to these scumbags, we just have to do our American duty to not let fascism take over completely. There are far more of us than there are of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930628319-W0AQ7Z5W7JD0DFEOSA4O/DSC_0000-110-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.1.26 Self-Portrait Set up the backdrop for something and shot a self-portrait while I was at it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930629996-84PRPVWQZI5KJWZX9OXX/The+Bridge+-+Halls+-+Phil+Armstrong-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.2.26 A Lovely Green Staircase Love the color 8K chose for this staircase. The preserved green tile and black and white motif work beautifully with this shade of green. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930625245-6KFRLY4X6AMHZZN2EUNB/Parker-PhilArmstrong-3.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.3.26 A Quick One Perry Contracting had me photograph their work at a dentistry office this morning before the next round of snow hit the Tristate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930625134-DOK7HZRLV16FL9470RDG/IMG_7504.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.4.26 Full Bars As seen walking out of the Cincinnati Art Museum this evening. I like that they’ve lit the trees so prominently along the new driveway up to the roundabout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930620175-L32PE362F1MU1R5BZOM3/336+Elm+Street+-+Apt+2++-+Phil+Armstrong-15.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.5.26 Indoors and Out Had an apartment shoot this morning that took me to a building in Ludlow, KY. Two of the apartments featured lovely colorful stained glass windows (pictured) that enlivened the room considerably. With these being monochromatic, empty apartments, a bold splash of color like this adds a strong sense of character that makes the mood in the room considerably warmer and brighter than the dreary cold beyond. I managed to photograph someone crossing the street as I lined up for a straight shot on the tiny window. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930616331-33Z8Y1B4KF4I2VMZC050/Mahler+Symphony+No+4++-+Phil+Armstrong-37.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.6.26 Mahler Symphony No. 4 Tabita Berglund conducts the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra through Mahler Symphony No. 4. Photographed for Fanfare Magazine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930619060-519HQB1YEYKY03OGS7Q3/IMG_7542.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.7.26 Sunset On Mulberry While waiting on Lammi to come out of his house, Travis, Ronny, and I sat in the car chatting while the sun set to the west. Though it was in the single digits and uncomfortable to spend time outdoors, the warmth of that sunlight on the undisturbed areas of snow at the bottom of frame is undeniably beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268764307-2EY2SIYK5UQKOQ7JZB13/IMG_7541.jpeg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.8.26 Sketching SF Sketching buildings is tedious and I kind of hate it, but it’s the only thing I want to draw. Wish I preferred something else. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268752878-EW1V7VZI8KJGZCT6IBXQ/NZF_7618.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.9.26 Bar Progress Not sure what’s going into the Plymouth Street space in Mt. Washington, but it will have a bar of some sort. I think it’s a coffee shop? Anyway, I’ve photographed the progress on this place on and off for years and it’s wild to see how far it’s come during that time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268774415-K25CZFPDC84BECIG6ES8/NZF_7624.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.10.26 The Great Thaw After what feels like an eternity below freezing without a break, we randomly got a 60ºF day in February. The thaw has begun. Sidewalks have begun reemerging. The streets are no longer lumpy with ice and snow. The air doesn’t burn your lungs when breathing deep. The sun feels like it’s accomplishing something for once. We loved it so much, we went for a walk, stopped for a beer at Darkness, and ended up doing steak night with Chelsea and Vince at Hometown Heroes. It was delicious, cheap, and put me in a meat coma when I got back home. Unplanned, fun evenings like this are essential to fighting winter blues. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268771195-9SQAAGTQYVGVO2W64DU2/NZF_7632.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.11.26 New Plaza Closing down Plum Street and building this plaza next to the renovated convention center is a good move. There is so much more life on this block after removing the Millennium Hotel and making use of that bit of land that was formerly fenced in for years. As I typed that, I realized how empty this photo is. Rest assured there were more people present just out of frame. I dressed improperly for my walk with Myrtle around this stretch, so I didn’t linger. I’ll check it out again once it gets a bit warmer. Curious to see how this block competes with Fountain Square for programming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268767493-DGK42S9ZTHUMO4NK6FY6/1916+Central+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-85.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.12.26 Documenting Kumasi MC You’ve seen this place from Central Parkway before. The Obama mural on the south-facing side makes it instantly recognizable. This place has been empty for over a decade at the time of this writing, but before it was cleared out, it was home to the Kumasi Motorcycle Club. After a series of shootings culminated in the unsolved murder of a man outside the building in 2014, the city shut it down for good. The owner today says the club was started by some Vietnam veterans. After some time, it became a regular hang-out for neighbors. If you search for it, you’ll come across a really good Flickr album of photos of the club and who I assume are its regulars from the mid- to late-2000s. The first floor has a load of hand-painted murals on several walls and part of the ceiling as you walk in. Though a lot of the building’s interior has deteriorated and is in a state of renovation, the amateur quality of the remaining murals is endearing and gives you a sense of what the club used to feel like. The two floors above it are primed to receive new apartments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268753333-7NQNEXLCM4DAH43P3ZB0/IMG_7594.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.13.26 Vitamin D Aisle 4 treats seasonal depression if you stand in it long enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268758758-HPFR4XRX0U3YT9YB4PS1/IMG_7628.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.14.26 Empress Impresses I love all Cincinnati chili and don’t subscribe to the “Skyline is the only good one and everything else is an affront to God” thing half of Cincinnati pretends to believe. Honestly, when someone says Gold Star is trash and Skyline is amazing, I know their opinion can be disregarded; they need attention more than a coney. Neither Ashley nor I celebrate Valentine’s Day, especially now that Ashley’s work is so centered around it. Going to a nice restaurant on Valentine’s Day is a headache, so we normally find something alternative to do every year, if we even remember to do anything at all. This year, we decided to go to a neighborhood chili parlor figuring it wouldn’t be busy. We debated a few options before landing on Empress—the oldest still-operating of the brands with only one location left in Alexandria. The photo sums up the decor perfectly. It looks like an old Taco Bell inside, the food is delicious, and we got out of there having spent $30 total. Definitely headed back sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563703610-78SEUAN2VHNWEH6DXJ9X/IMG_7646.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.15.26 Assistive Access Ashley’s grandmother has inherited her late grandfather’s iPhone. As she’s never used technology more sophisticated than a TV remote in her life, we needed a way to dumb down the smart phone for her. The reason she’s not using a plain dumb phone is because her family would like to send her photos and keep tabs on her location now that she lives alone, so this phone is necessary. There’s a setting on iPhone called Assistive Access that essentially strips down the UI to large, simple icons with limited functionality. Before turning on Assistive Access, the user chooses which apps they want to use and a few other small customization options. When activated, it looks like this. Not all apps are offered in this mode, but nearly all of the primary Apple apps are. Honestly, if I didn’t need access to several third party apps, I think this would be a great way for me to curb looking at my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563702407-V5LIWBQ10537UGKOQXJK/IMG_7650.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.16.26 Repurposed I built this shoe rack for Ashley a couple years ago. In an effort to declutter the basement stair landing and make use of our alley door, we removed it from that area and relocated her shoes by mine near the garage. As such, we suddenly had a handmade shoe rack without a home. I wondered if I could make use of it in my office to hold my camera collection, and sure enough, it worked. The low profile shelves were perfect, and I’m glad I could make use of it once more even if its intended purpose was originally different. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563698545-7K9AMUC78P1FUCFGH67P/A3218723-0483-4078-AC34-FD925EFE8023.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 Rebranding I’ve spent the last several days totally rebranding my business. With design help from Jake Staubitz, we came up with this logo to represent my professional work going forward. Embracing color and a serif typeface was a little scary at first, but his vision coupled with my preferred color palette ultimately ended up with something I never would’ve dreamed up myself. Of course, you’re probably looking at it like, “so what?” And you’re right. But to me—someone who’s stuck with various Helveticas for years—this is a big step in another direction. I didn’t originally want to geolocate my brand, but so much of my work is based here, so I’m leaning into it. Several of my repeat clients know me this way, and it’s snappier than my actual name. Jake’s choice of font flavorfully highlights my irregular schedule of work while maintaining a thoughtful structure overall. I like the offset nature of the ‘c’ and ‘y’, as well as the shrunken ‘i’ in both words. The tail off the bottom of the loop on the ‘p’ is fun, too, and I like that I have two primary colors as well as a monochrome option to both represent where I’ve come from and where I’m going. The logo is simultaneously professional and casual/flexible, accurately describing who I am in this field. Regarding the Pantone image, I knew I wanted my primary color to be green, but I didn’t yet know which shade. Ashley has a massive Pantone swatch set in her office cabinet that I figured I could use for direction. When I sat down with it, I flipped to the greens, and (I’m not kidding you) ‘Myrtle’ was the first one I noticed. I’m not a believer in fate, but when serendipity like that happens, I know not to ignore it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563698170-QJ236WDHQHJX9MKSHK9C/NZF_8135.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.18.26 Edge Inn I liked this bar well-enough. Fine for a Miller Lite. The neon sign outside is too photogenic to ignore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563695703-OAERRCWK1SAEF935KOUE/NZF_8151.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.19.26 Double Exposure Playing around with an in-camera double exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563693560-HCH319YKCSS8HOVRVYRQ/IMG_7671.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.20.26 My Two Loves Chicago hot dogs and Myrtle. Does it get any better? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563689664-AYBY6O57GS20GGE4MVNP/IMG_7683.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.21.26 The Kind You Find At a Second-Hand Store Because I’ve been light on work, I’ve been knocking out a lot of mundane stuff around the house that I’ve been meaning to get to for the last few years. Painting the stairwell, caulking around windows, re-laying floor tile, etc. Since I was on a roll, I figured the upstairs hallway and stairwell could use a fresh coat of paint, too. While we didn’t end up choosing ‘Prince Purple,’ for our hallway, I appreciated Behr’s attempt to avoid a lawsuit and Spirit Halloween this color. I had Raspberry Beret stuck in my head the rest of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563688436-KIVXKGHB8QWXN0U1NAV4/IMG_7695.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 First Financial Center We went to the Home and Garden Show today to look at several contractors we might want to work on our house this summer. While Ashley was excited to look at the booths, I was mainly interested in seeing how the new convention center looked inside. I’m a big fan of the redesign, specifically the corner that looks out on 5th Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563686472-A4XX1EMWVGVKJI6KJFX7/IMG_7699.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.23.26 CMD+Z A past owner of our house painted nearly all the trim in the house white. It kills me because I would much rather it be sealed natural wood. I’ve been considering whether or not to undo all of this without the use of paint stripper, so I’m seeing how difficult it is on a small section of the house. The spindles on our staircase were painted, but the rest of it wasn’t. I figure I’ll start here and see how it goes before committing to other areas of the house. Remove the white paint, sand it down, and reseal. I’m using a heat gun and a scraper to remove the paint in little sections at a time. It’s not a fast or easy process, but I find it oddly meditative and kind of like that it’s going to be involved. It will make the whole project sweeter when it’s finished. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563684757-A9W0CI6T20MQ1FTZ9BKL/IMG_7702.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.24.26 Lombardy Just a nice doorway on West Fourth while I was getting coffee at Deeper Roots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563683185-HXXPLF70DITYDBFHULQB/3MT+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.25.26 3MT Photographed the Three Minute Thesis event up at UC today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563679414-EE9WLJQGLLSKXY562T79/St.+Joseph+Catholic+School+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.26.26 St. Joseph I’ve done a lot of lifestyle stuff for organizations and businesses, but I did my first Catholic school today. St. Joseph Catholic School in Crescent Springs needed new marketing images and asked me to work on a list of shots for them. The images they have currently all feature students who’ve moved on to high school and no longer attend their school. I photographed mass first, then went into the school to make images of kids in classrooms and doing different activities. Thankfully I had a guide with me at all times to let me know what they needed image-wise. I ended up with a gallery of about 100 images for them at the end of the day, and overall it went well. I’m posting this one because it’s back-of-head only. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563675784-M2J17F0JPH0P72L5KFV7/IMG_7749.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.27.26 Late-Night Dogs And a Bar Fight Senate in Blue Ash is closing, making Holiday Spirits the last place it’ll exist going forward. I like the bar well enough, but I think I go there mainly because I can get two corn dogs for less than $10 while I drink a beer. What’s better than that? While we were there, we witnessed the beginning of a bar fight. It quickly got tense around the pool table mere feet from our group, so we closed out and left. We managed to leave before anything really happened besides the standard chest-bumping and a ready-to-strike pool cue was raised in a threatening manner. It’s a bummer when wannabe macho dudes ruin the fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563673587-FD4052A74I6TEAWZ2Y0M/Beethoven+and+Ravel+-+Phil+Armstrong+-53.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 2.28.26 Beethoven & Ravel Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet on stage with the CSO for the evening’s Beethoven & Ravel performance at Music Hall. I noticed he played the piano with one hand only to learn later that the piece was written for Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein who lost his right arm during World War I. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982654494-9I8VSQNP1LIB6WO82R2D/IMG_7763.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.1.26 Anderson Ferry Rode the ferry from the airport to the Cincy side this morning. I wish we had these every few miles all along the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982653727-C5AVAE49TV44CP0VLGBL/Artist+Mike+Agricola+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.2.26 Portrait Work A portrait of artist Mike Agricola in his home studio in Dayton, KY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982642595-PACR77AGDXTKV2WIBXHH/IMG_7838.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.3.26 Carrot Hound She goes mental over carrots. Can’t get enough of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982648429-BMCDN4WL7TYOCSK3G861/Art+of+Collecting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.4.26 Art of Collecting Scene from an event at the Cincinnati Art Museum this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982698193-THAUTVA13P61UL2D8RG6/NZF_0406-2.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.5.26 Enterprise-D Made a card for my friend Brett’s birthday. We’re both Trekkies, so I put the D on the front of his card. I originally messed up the background, so I ended up cutting out the ship and gluing it to a different backdrop. Turned out fine, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982698557-KV4B8LJH7NV7IQBI6P37/NZF_0767.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.6.26 Bockfest 2026 Met up with friends at the parade and enjoyed the first night of Bockfest. I was surprisingly warm for early March. I can’t remember the last time it was this seasonal for this event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982706163-M22VJ8MGV7TP7S426X18/NZF_0809-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.7.26 Dinner Train We went to the Boathouse for dinner and I got to see the passenger train before it chugged away. First time I’ve caught it at night! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982669463-XK2L9NPBDRNPJ88SPZ17/IMG_7895.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.8.26 Merch? I needed new stickers to match my new brand for my cart and equipment boxes, but the smallest amount I could order is 25. So now I have too many of these and I don’t know what to do with them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982694513-J354J4P5RV7H9ZHZS5IF/NZ9_9990.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.9.26 This Place Matters As seen on Holman Street, Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982659755-RNUB2Z70KLFI112OYJZZ/IMG_7793.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.10.26 Destined For Destruction The city paid Vince to clear the brush away from this pedestrian bridge that’s going to be demolished and replaced soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982659544-W66667ZGN7AAK2UPVGOG/IMG_7827.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.11.26 Unicorn Party Ashley got this getup for a party she’s going to next month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982706087-923WS1I1MQTOXW4O79VN/NZF_0863.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.12.26 Macro Brick Slapped a bunch of magnification diopters and took a photo of the brick on the porch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982663948-UMEYRAWXPRRGPIKFYROK/IMG_7841.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.13.26 Getting Answers I have been feeling absolutely awful the last few days. Long story short, I needed a scan to see what’s going on in my abdomen. The good news: it’s nothing serious. The bad news: I don’t actually know what’s wrong with me at this moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982664286-ON1ZAQFC9SOZS3EPQ11S/IMG_7846.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.14.26 Thanks, America! Felt healthy enough to briefly leave the house. Got gas in my vehicle and it’s the most I’ve spent in years. The no-new-war candidate decided that was all bullshit, and now we’re bombing the Middle East yet again. Obviously the loss of life is the main awful issue, and that shouldn’t be minimized in the least. Since half of Americans don’t seemingly understand or care about that, though, maybe spending more at the pumps will knock some sense into them. Who am I kidding? It won’t make a damn bit of difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982669567-R3AF1FDGVR5RHD1QB3WY/IMG_7877.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.15.26 Porch-Sitting Actually felt a little better today and managed to get outside for a bit. At the end of the evening, we sat on the porch and watched the sunset with our novels and reading lights. I wish I could do this daily. Once it gets consistently warmer, I plan to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982715903-WJKG7LT1GFXWCC668O2O/NZF_0869.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.16.26 Drip! Macro photo of a wet snoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982716759-C5FUSG1Q7LFJ64HJ5VIU/NZF_0875.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.17.26 Soon-to-be-Parents This is the last time I’ll see Mike and Jenn as a childless couple. They’re scheduled to have their son in early April, though there’s a possibility of him coming sooner. Transitions in life often don’t have hard lines, and recognizing when there is one is a treat. I wanted to capture that moment before everything changes for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982686313-GLZ8OX77I81ZKYJZ6E9J/NZ9_0704.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.18.26 Final Light I thought this moment at the Cincinnati Art Museum was quietly beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982723135-L4J0PLUEWLF38QVX0Z8O/NZF_0960.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.19.26 Miami: Day 1 We went to Miami for Allie’s birthday. We’re staying in a big house with everyone, and Ashley and I are sharing a room with Justin. We briefly walked around a beachy area before heading to the VRBO. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982727509-XQU0KVZ5SHOD9VNDG1XE/NZF_0966.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.20.26 Miami: Day 2 Interesting porch decor at this house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982730013-SOGFAQMUD5408Y3VME12/NZF_1069.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.21.26 Miami: Day 3 The Art Deco District of Miami has some pretty architecture. We went to Mac’s Club Deuce and it was the best dive bar I’ve been to in a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982733533-WOVA9IMAWY7P2C29RU1C/NZF_1128.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.22.26 Miami: Final Day I’m glad they’re doing this to the pumps. I complained about prices a few days ago on here, and I still don’t think this will make any difference, but I like it when MAGA is given a taste of their own dumb medicine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982673061-ASUAFDEY6MXKY2TS409Q/IMG_7949.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.23.26 Missed Work I had two jobs lined up after getting back from this Miami trip, and I missed both of them due to illness. Really annoyed that I will be missing out on all that work. Not sure what’s up with me, but I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. I laid still for as much of the day as possible, watching Roku City on my side and eating handfuls of pills to make me feel better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982676841-EXJKCISXA7ATMQALQ97S/IMG_7994.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.24.26 Two Days Still feeling the effects of whatever I contracted at the end of the Miami trip and taking it as easy as possible. Baseball comes back in two days; looking very forward to it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982674910-HZ6OY93VL9EM7VOR1CJW/IMG_7983.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.25.26 Left the House, Saw a Clock Feeling a lot better today, thankfully. I ventured out to the Pro Shop down at the ballpark to pick up a jersey for the season. Along the way, I stopped to admire the Verdin Clock Joey Votto gifted the Reds recently. He’ll always be one of my favorites. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982645034-UB8OXUC7T3QDL0TTSHJS/8K+Opening+Day+2026-+Phil+Armstrong+-163.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.26.26 Opening Day with 8K For the second year in a row, I photographed 8K Construction as they marched in the Opening Day Parade. Here’s a shot of Michael looking epic as hell on Race Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982677769-0OQEZHBM7J8TTNJDV1S4/IMG_8012.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.27.26 Exhausted Reds lost on Opening Day, and I feel physically bad again. Probably going to get blood work done soon to see what’s going on in there. I jokingly have a theory it’s related to the weather as it was summer-like yesterday and today it’s back to winter, but there has to be something more going on in there. My mood is poor, as is my mental health today. This is the only photo I took all day: the jersey I bought from the Pro Shop a couple of days ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982681694-UK3S6VLQ16EL0ENSDENP/IMG_8023.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.28.26 Diet Slipping I’ve been generally eating healthy over the last few weeks as I figure out why I feel so poorly all the time, but today I made an exception: I had the cheese coney pizza from Wayfarer Tavern, and it was excellent. Sitting on the porch with the fire going, pizza box on my lap, the Reds on TV, and the sun shining made for a really pleasant evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982682599-S89GN89RSMRANJS6NA3B/IMG_8032.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.29.26 What’s Out There? Myrtle inspects the street from Ashley’s grandmother’s front room couch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982685138-7YVWG0I7QP864FU2ZMZP/IMG_8040.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.30.26 Owen Louis Mike and Jenn had their son, Owen, yesterday morning. He came earlier than they anticipated, and everyone is healthy and happy. Mike asked if we wanted to come meet him while they were still at the hospital. I can’t believe my buddy I’ve known since we were 16 and 17 respectively has a baby now. It’s so surreal (in a good way). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982687438-WX9IZZCYCYQNX93QQCEW/NZ9_3327-Edit.jpg daily-photos-all-2026 - 3.31.26 Sage and His Work Went to Single Batch to shoot some new stuff they’re shipping to Connecticut soon. Sage, one of the guys working in the shop, is an incredible metal and woodworker who repurposed a bunch of steel from a scrapyard in Cleveland into an intricate base for a height-adjustable table. The wheel on the side controls how tall the table stands, and he welded the owner’s name into the bottom of the frame for greater personalization. I set up the camera to capture the piece itself, but snapped a few quick frames early while he was wiping it down. Glad I did; I like seeing the artist with the art. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dailyphotosjan2026 daily 0.75 2026-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767406869762-CFPXI4RD2UWL84VC8JJH/NZF_5507.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.1.26 Jack Look at the bokeh in his precious little eyes. Look at the whiskers protruding from his fluffy meat-cheeks. Look at the perfect little ears and his pink chin. He’s the most adorable kitten. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1767406871660-82BA8ZT3WYBW53ZWIWKZ/NZF_6047-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.2.26 Afternoon Market Photographed 8K’s newest renovation in the market. I really liked this view from the window of one of the north-facing apartments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365394299-OOWFECLSX1D0PMWM40S3/IMG_7153-2.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.3.26 Rest in Peace, Dave We attended the funeral for Ashley’s grandfather, Dave, this morning at the Catholic Church he attended for the last +35 years. It was a somber occasion that ultimately allowed his closest relatives and friends to say goodbye and gave them permission to begin the grieving/healing process. When I first met him a decade ago, he was a talkative, curious man who jumped at the chance to show someone new his collection of slide film from his time stationed in Newfoundland, Canada in the late-50s. He loved a special cake that everyone (except me) hated and made eat with him on his birthday. He appreciated the little things in life, like bird watching and receiving a box of chocolate-covered cherries that he could eat while he did a 1000-piece puzzle. But I think the thing that I liked best about him is the relationship he had with Ashley. I wish his last few weeks weren’t so painful and sad, but the fact that so many people visited him in the hospital from miles away is a testament to his character and role as the loving patriarch of his family. I hope that brought him some comfort knowing so many showed up at the end of his story to see him through to whatever’s beyond. RIP, Dave Buttelwerth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365391157-X68NHQ2AKGFH4OX6YUFX/IMG_7161.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.4.26 White Elephant We got invited to Unataza’s end-of-year gathering at Al Lupo in Mt. Adams. Alejandra said there’d be a white elephant exchange if we wanted to participate. Not knowing who was invited, and with 24 hours to figure it out, I figured a drawing of the place we all have a connection to made the most sense. To make it a gift, I found a small frame for it and Ashley bagged it up. Hope whoever gets it likes it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365389123-YYL4HGC4SCGC4A2Z218D/305+Seitz+-+Phil+Armstrong+-3.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.5.26 House on Seitz From a real estate shoot I did earlier today. The view from the rooftop is phenomenal. I’ll probably publish a photo of that later this week when I return for night shots; the low, midday sun this time of year isn’t ideal when shooting south. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365371341-PTI5Q490FAGUM1QKOIER/IMG_7183.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.6.26 Counting “Lasts” As I inch closer to my birthday, I can’t help but acknowledge the “lasts” of my thirties. My last NYE in my thirties, my last cookout, last time seeing so-and-so, last whatever. Today it was my last haircut. After two and a half months, I desperately needed cleaned up. It felt wonderful to walk out of the barbershop feeling lighter with that familiar cold draft along the top of my ears and neck. I caught myself becoming quietly sentimental about the hair that was left on the floor of the shop knowing it wouldn’t follow me to a new decade. It’s not a feeling I like or want, yet it occasionally happens. As absurd as I know it is, I’ve learned it’s better to let it happen and move on from it instead of trying to stop it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365385398-DS3DUXG74C4GSZ44E97T/The+Port+GBBN+-10-HDR-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.7.26 The Port Worked with GBBN on photographing the work they did in Atrium II for The Port’s new offices. This was a really good shoot, and I’m excited to share the full gallery at a later date. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365380443-PKHVHP075TNUM4MZVGU2/305+Seitz+-+Phil+Armstrong+-72.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.8.26 Aforementioned View As I said the other day, I needed to return to the house on Seitz to get night shots of the view from the rooftop deck. I made a 13-panel panorama that I cannot share here in full resolution. I’m trying to figure out a better way to do so. Until then, here’s the “meatiest” frame from that set. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365400678-7S6RFIKL5LDGHGLJ6486/Prestige+Properties+%28MA+Design%29-57-Edit.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.9.26 Prestige MA Design hired me to photograph their latest work at Prestige Properties’ head office in Oakley. This was by far the stand-out frame from the gallery. Between this and the work at The Port earlier this week, I’m really in an architectural groove. Feels amazing to get to figure out these compositions, direct them, and piece all of it together later. This one took me about an hour and a half to fully finalize. I think the end result was worth it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365371346-XDD1PUXZE6S2697KQ4K8/IMG_7233.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.10.26 BBQ Mirror Went to Eli’s to meet up with Mike, Jenn, and Steve. Took a photo in the mirror of the bathroom because I thought the stickers, wallpaper, frame, scratches in its surface, and the reflected checkered floor made for a colorful, chewy composition. Posted the photo to my IG story, and Ashley replied with “fly’s down,” scaring me into frantically double-checking. I have an annoying habit of accidentally leaving it down, so it was a plausible claim. Anyway, I didn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she got me, so unless she reads this, she’ll never know. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365365203-WWJL31FLQD8VNWNPG3BL/IMG_7244.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.11.26 Mall-Walking We went to the mall today to do some shopping. While there, I stopped to marvel at the beauty of the entrance to this shop. The curved glass, the tile, the hanging lights and foliage, the muted brick and warm, wooden French doors—everything just really caught my eye. I genuinely appreciated the artistry on display. In a mall filled with forgettable entrances to generic shops that I pass right by without looking twice, this one managed to stop me for a few extra seconds. Later on, I posted about appreciating this storefront to Threads, and everyone replied with some version of “this store supports <insert horrible thing here>.” It had been milkshake ducked. Not wanting to invite ridicule for not knowing its backstory, I deleted the post and moved on. After the week of news we’ve had, I can scarcely bring myself to Google a new, awful thing, so I’ll just have to take their word for it. Bad store has good front. That’s it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1768365364983-VI6JX9MFEQ053MQOL3PT/1564+Banklick+St+-+Phil+Armstrong+-19.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.12.26 Unexpected Places While photographing apartments for Orleans in Ludlow, I got the opportunity to shoot a warehouse in Covington that’s in the process of being renovated. The four-story warehouse and surrounding former scrapyard takes up a whole block of the neighborhood and will bring 39 new units to the area. Right now the building is in the early stages of renovation, so everything is still very raw and untouched. I had a blast shooting it. If I have the chance to share more photos, I will. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997771145-7KKFR9Y3S9EAR9SGOWB0/DSC_0000-71.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.13.26 Avocado Just playing with gels and an old rotary phone. It’s not that deep. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997768974-ABOC5NPPUX6I1QZ19SBH/IMG_7257.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.14.26 New Hues We needed some props to be yellow for a shoot, and I’m surprisingly good at recoloring with spray paint. Why digitally shift it when an analog solution is so easy? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997767259-0P50T4AOBBV3HS1HSEBN/IMG_7267.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.15.26 Running Man This is the end of an arm on a C-stand with a weight on it to help balance the beauty dish on the other end, and I thought it kind of looked like a running man. Thanks for reading this extremely high-art Daily Photo Project. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997764552-ZR1B6RWDIJ0JKD0WMVC4/DSC_0000-20.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.16.25 The Necklace My grandmother passed away in March of 2005. Sometime before, she gifted me this gold necklace that belonged to my great grandfather. A note written in her hand reads: “This necklace was bought in Italy be your great-grandfather when he went to visit relatives (circa 1965)” When she gave it to me, I remember wearing it briefly before getting spooked about losing it and putting it away for the next couple decades. My teenage self didn’t need to be wearing something as valuable as this anyway. I’ve been thinking a lot about her lately (probably due to Ashley losing her grandfather) and decided to get it out again. I think I’m going to wear it for a bit again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997760208-9RQ7BOJYEYXDOORJH87W/IMG_7323.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.17.26 Tim Plays Pool A portrait of my friend Tim playing pool. He sucks as it as much as I do, and I don’t think he’d argue otherwise. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997764625-P2WNNOK03R3PL6471K1O/NZF_6726.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.18.25 Reuse When I removed the florescent light boxes from the basement, I saved one of the plastic translucent diffusers because I thought it could be a cool object to pump light through at some point to create a unique backdrop or effect. Tried that today. I set up two speed lights with gels on them and played around with different color combos for a while. The pink/orange duo turned out really well, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997755156-MYIW0OMHS553MCQW0XH5/IMG_7349.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.19.26 I Always Feel Like… …Erica and Steve and Maggie and Grant and Cameron are watching me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997750857-C64GHH91LOF49A16RR3I/DSC_0000-5.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.20.26 Mid-Century Sci-Fi What little time I have at present has been spent feverishly doomscrolling before throwing my phone into another room and escaping into a book to calm my nerves. After reading Michael Crichton’s ‘Sphere’ last week (good book!), I thought I’d read another first contact story. I won’t do a book report here, but I will say that I think this is my favorite novel I’ve read in a long time. Penned in 1953, some of the language and ideals are dated, but the overall story was absolutely riveting and largely evergreen. I finished it in three sittings because it was so good. The idea that aliens could occupy Earth and force us to sort out our shit in order to live better lives for some unknown purpose that only they understand is extremely appealing right now. The concept of a loss of freedom is broached, but through a modern lens, I think I’d be willing to relinquish freedom in order to live comfortably and war-free in a post-scarcity society than continue to kid myself that I’m “free” while letting the rich minority make all the bad decisions for our species. Best $3.49 I’ve spent in a long time. And no, I’m not going to watch the SyFy original series; the trailer made it clear that the novel and the show are different from one another. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997751309-WWJ5EAK1T1N8C1DBZC2C/IMG_7365.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.21.26 New Decade Today, I enter my Forties. I had a quiet day in the studio where no one knew it was my birthday, I published a blog entry about how good my Thirties were, and then went out to eat with some of my best friends later that evening. Very low-key and with little fanfare—just the way I wanted it. I’d been dreading this birthday for years. I thought I needed to do some big thing for it, like taking a trip or throwing a massive get-together. It felt momentous on a scale that made me uncomfortable. After thinking more about it, I realized that the only way I’d be happy is if I didn’t make a fuss about it. It’s not me. I didn’t want to go all out for it, and I made the choice to do what makes me feel comfortable instead. That intentional decision was in and of itself momentous to me; if I’d done something grand and indulgent, I would’ve felt like I’d lied to myself about what I actually wanted. Instead, I had three bourbon cocktails, ate a bunch of pizza, and got to hang out with people who are important to me. It’s a birthday I’ll remember long into my Fifties, Sixties, and hopefully beyond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997727262-LLS92JAFRBPQEQIHFRCU/IMG_7369.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.22.26 Storm Prepping There’s a huge snowstorm coming this weekend. While many are flocking to the grocery for provisions, I went to the store to get a few new reads. If we’re going to be stuck inside for days on end, I may as well have something to pass the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997746086-Q2T5QBXMN9NEW6XI9NQ5/DSC_0000-82-HDR.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.23.26 Calm Before the Storm This incoming snowstorm is forecasted to be a doozy. While I don’t like severe weather, I have to admit there is a part of me that delights in the excitement of it. I certainly don’t want to lose power, but if I get snowed in for a few days and can’t go anywhere, I think I’ll probably enjoy it. This month has been so insanely busy, a little forced downtime will be welcome. It kind of feels like the walls are closing in on us. Forecasters are constantly changing accumulation predictions for our area. There’s no telling what it’ll do for sure. We will just have to go inside and let the outside world do its thing. Hope our heat stays on, though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997746316-KKZZSPHJA3014QFQSH89/IMG_7381.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.24.26 Tarped I tarped my truck before the snow starts. I’m going to pull the tarp back after it stops and collect as much snow as possible in the back bed so it has weight. That will help keep the back tires in better contact with the street, providing improved traction. Plus, cleaning off the vehicle will be a lot easier if it’s not totally covered in snow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997743288-BRA7RLHKM5K70FHM91CC/IMG_7407.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.25.26 The Snowstorm Arrives It snowed all night and all day. Forecasters were right—we got a TON of snow. Ashley measured over 10 inches on the back deck alone. We became stir-crazy and decided to go walking after it stopped snowing. We trudged up the middle of the plowed street with Myrtle, snoot to the ground and tail wagging, leading the way. Barely anyone was out save for the few people actively digging their cars out of the snow banks. Our walk took us further than I anticipated. The air was bitterly cold and the streets were tricky to maneuver, but thankfully none of it was as icy as expected. It’s going to be a challenge digging us out tomorrow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997742548-ROS1VZL2QVN7F24RHMTL/IMG_7417.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.26.26 The Great Dig The tarp worked as expected, the ice was minimal, and the snow was heavy and in abundance. Not the worst storm we’ve had to dig out of, but definitely not a walk in the park. Thank goodness we don’t have to go anywhere today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997737281-KAEPIO1PP5AGOAGQULOB/Making+Connections+-+Phil+Armstrong+-5.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.27.26 Making Connections ArtWorks finished a mural at CVG Airport and needed photos of the finished work. There are four triptychs depicting airline travel and related technology. All panels were done offsite and installed later on. They will remain at the airport for the next 12 months before being relocated to another venue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997737852-H7HWAB6PNXUMKVZ8R7PL/IMG_7427.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.28.26 Abysmal Conditions Final week of work at the studio with Marlene, and the City of Cincinnati barely plowed Central Parkway. There’s nowhere to park on the street, so I had to leave the truck on a side street and hike up to the studio. Sure hope they get out here and clear some of this so we don’t have to keep trudging through the snow to get inside the rest of the week. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997730873-FJX4H4PTG9J9XWL3DR4U/DSC_0000-9.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.29.26 Artist’s Interpretation I’m tired of looking at snow already. Here’s an interpretation of what it looks like when Myrtle goes outside to do her business. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997731297-GCYU1S8X42A5VYYZVL62/Slavic+Legends+-+Phil+Armstrong+-74.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.30.26 Slavic Legends Conductor Oksana Lyniv and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1769997727304-C5KA00573YV7NSXBOUDI/IMG_7467.jpg daily-photos-jan-2026 - 1.31.26 ICE Out A whistle I hope to never have to use. We are living in increasingly scary times, and I’m genuinely worried about where we’re headed as a country. I stand with my fellow citizens, immigrants and all, against the tyranny of this administration and its murderous federal police. An immigrant has never negatively affected my life or the lives of anyone I know. The narrative that they are somehow all criminals who deserve to be locked up, separated from their kids, and sent away is false. I worry about being in crowds since they’re shooting protestors now, but I am ready to do what I can. History will be unkind to these scumbags, we just have to do our American duty to not let fascism take over completely. There are far more of us than there are of them. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dailyphotosfeb2026 daily 0.75 2026-02-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930628319-W0AQ7Z5W7JD0DFEOSA4O/DSC_0000-110-Edit.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.1.26 Self-Portrait Set up the backdrop for something and shot a self-portrait while I was at it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930629996-84PRPVWQZI5KJWZX9OXX/The+Bridge+-+Halls+-+Phil+Armstrong-2.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.2.26 A Lovely Green Staircase Love the color 8K chose for this staircase. The preserved green tile and black and white motif work beautifully with this shade of green. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930625245-6KFRLY4X6AMHZZN2EUNB/Parker-PhilArmstrong-3.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.3.26 A Quick One Perry Contracting had me photograph their work at a dentistry office this morning before the next round of snow hit the Tristate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930625134-DOK7HZRLV16FL9470RDG/IMG_7504.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.4.26 Full Bars As seen walking out of the Cincinnati Art Museum this evening. I like that they’ve lit the trees so prominently along the new driveway up to the roundabout. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930620175-L32PE362F1MU1R5BZOM3/336+Elm+Street+-+Apt+2++-+Phil+Armstrong-15.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.5.26 Indoors and Out Had an apartment shoot this morning that took me to a building in Ludlow, KY. Two of the apartments featured lovely colorful stained glass windows (pictured) that enlivened the room considerably. With these being monochromatic, empty apartments, a bold splash of color like this adds a strong sense of character that makes the mood in the room considerably warmer and brighter than the dreary cold beyond. I managed to photograph someone crossing the street as I lined up for a straight shot on the tiny window. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930616331-33Z8Y1B4KF4I2VMZC050/Mahler+Symphony+No+4++-+Phil+Armstrong-37.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.6.26 Mahler Symphony No. 4 Tabita Berglund conducts the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra through Mahler Symphony No. 4. Photographed for Fanfare Magazine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1770930619060-519HQB1YEYKY03OGS7Q3/IMG_7542.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.7.26 Sunset On Mulberry While waiting on Lammi to come out of his house, Travis, Ronny, and I sat in the car chatting while the sun set to the west. Though it was in the single digits and uncomfortable to spend time outdoors, the warmth of that sunlight on the undisturbed areas of snow at the bottom of frame is undeniably beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268764307-2EY2SIYK5UQKOQ7JZB13/IMG_7541.jpeg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.8.26 Sketching SF Sketching buildings is tedious and I kind of hate it, but it’s the only thing I want to draw. Wish I preferred something else. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268752878-EW1V7VZI8KJGZCT6IBXQ/NZF_7618.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.9.26 Bar Progress Not sure what’s going into the Plymouth Street space in Mt. Washington, but it will have a bar of some sort. I think it’s a coffee shop? Anyway, I’ve photographed the progress on this place on and off for years and it’s wild to see how far it’s come during that time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268774415-K25CZFPDC84BECIG6ES8/NZF_7624.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.10.26 The Great Thaw After what feels like an eternity below freezing without a break, we randomly got a 60ºF day in February. The thaw has begun. Sidewalks have begun reemerging. The streets are no longer lumpy with ice and snow. The air doesn’t burn your lungs when breathing deep. The sun feels like it’s accomplishing something for once. We loved it so much, we went for a walk, stopped for a beer at Darkness, and ended up doing steak night with Chelsea and Vince at Hometown Heroes. It was delicious, cheap, and put me in a meat coma when I got back home. Unplanned, fun evenings like this are essential to fighting winter blues. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268771195-9SQAAGTQYVGVO2W64DU2/NZF_7632.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.11.26 New Plaza Closing down Plum Street and building this plaza next to the renovated convention center is a good move. There is so much more life on this block after removing the Millennium Hotel and making use of that bit of land that was formerly fenced in for years. As I typed that, I realized how empty this photo is. Rest assured there were more people present just out of frame. I dressed improperly for my walk with Myrtle around this stretch, so I didn’t linger. I’ll check it out again once it gets a bit warmer. Curious to see how this block competes with Fountain Square for programming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268767493-DGK42S9ZTHUMO4NK6FY6/1916+Central+Ave+-+Phil+Armstrong+-85.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.12.26 Documenting Kumasi MC You’ve seen this place from Central Parkway before. The Obama mural on the south-facing side makes it instantly recognizable. This place has been empty for over a decade at the time of this writing, but before it was cleared out, it was home to the Kumasi Motorcycle Club. After a series of shootings culminated in the unsolved murder of a man outside the building in 2014, the city shut it down for good. The owner today says the club was started by some Vietnam veterans. After some time, it became a regular hang-out for neighbors. If you search for it, you’ll come across a really good Flickr album of photos of the club and who I assume are its regulars from the mid- to late-2000s. The first floor has a load of hand-painted murals on several walls and part of the ceiling as you walk in. Though a lot of the building’s interior has deteriorated and is in a state of renovation, the amateur quality of the remaining murals is endearing and gives you a sense of what the club used to feel like. The two floors above it are primed to receive new apartments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268753333-7NQNEXLCM4DAH43P3ZB0/IMG_7594.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.13.26 Vitamin D Aisle 4 treats seasonal depression if you stand in it long enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1771268758758-HPFR4XRX0U3YT9YB4PS1/IMG_7628.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.14.26 Empress Impresses I love all Cincinnati chili and don’t subscribe to the “Skyline is the only good one and everything else is an affront to God” thing half of Cincinnati pretends to believe. Honestly, when someone says Gold Star is trash and Skyline is amazing, I know their opinion can be disregarded; they need attention more than a coney. Neither Ashley nor I celebrate Valentine’s Day, especially now that Ashley’s work is so centered around it. Going to a nice restaurant on Valentine’s Day is a headache, so we normally find something alternative to do every year, if we even remember to do anything at all. This year, we decided to go to a neighborhood chili parlor figuring it wouldn’t be busy. We debated a few options before landing on Empress—the oldest still-operating of the brands with only one location left in Alexandria. The photo sums up the decor perfectly. It looks like an old Taco Bell inside, the food is delicious, and we got out of there having spent $30 total. Definitely headed back sooner than later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563703610-78SEUAN2VHNWEH6DXJ9X/IMG_7646.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.15.26 Assistive Access Ashley’s grandmother has inherited her late grandfather’s iPhone. As she’s never used technology more sophisticated than a TV remote in her life, we needed a way to dumb down the smart phone for her. The reason she’s not using a plain dumb phone is because her family would like to send her photos and keep tabs on her location now that she lives alone, so this phone is necessary. There’s a setting on iPhone called Assistive Access that essentially strips down the UI to large, simple icons with limited functionality. Before turning on Assistive Access, the user chooses which apps they want to use and a few other small customization options. When activated, it looks like this. Not all apps are offered in this mode, but nearly all of the primary Apple apps are. Honestly, if I didn’t need access to several third party apps, I think this would be a great way for me to curb looking at my phone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563702407-V5LIWBQ10537UGKOQXJK/IMG_7650.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.16.26 Repurposed I built this shoe rack for Ashley a couple years ago. In an effort to declutter the basement stair landing and make use of our alley door, we removed it from that area and relocated her shoes by mine near the garage. As such, we suddenly had a handmade shoe rack without a home. I wondered if I could make use of it in my office to hold my camera collection, and sure enough, it worked. The low profile shelves were perfect, and I’m glad I could make use of it once more even if its intended purpose was originally different. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563698545-7K9AMUC78P1FUCFGH67P/A3218723-0483-4078-AC34-FD925EFE8023.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 Rebranding I’ve spent the last several days totally rebranding my business. With design help from Jake Staubitz, we came up with this logo to represent my professional work going forward. Embracing color and a serif typeface was a little scary at first, but his vision coupled with my preferred color palette ultimately ended up with something I never would’ve dreamed up myself. Of course, you’re probably looking at it like, “so what?” And you’re right. But to me—someone who’s stuck with various Helveticas for years—this is a big step in another direction. I didn’t originally want to geolocate my brand, but so much of my work is based here, so I’m leaning into it. Several of my repeat clients know me this way, and it’s snappier than my actual name. Jake’s choice of font flavorfully highlights my irregular schedule of work while maintaining a thoughtful structure overall. I like the offset nature of the ‘c’ and ‘y’, as well as the shrunken ‘i’ in both words. The tail off the bottom of the loop on the ‘p’ is fun, too, and I like that I have two primary colors as well as a monochrome option to both represent where I’ve come from and where I’m going. The logo is simultaneously professional and casual/flexible, accurately describing who I am in this field. Regarding the Pantone image, I knew I wanted my primary color to be green, but I didn’t yet know which shade. Ashley has a massive Pantone swatch set in her office cabinet that I figured I could use for direction. When I sat down with it, I flipped to the greens, and (I’m not kidding you) ‘Myrtle’ was the first one I noticed. I’m not a believer in fate, but when serendipity like that happens, I know not to ignore it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563698170-QJ236WDHQHJX9MKSHK9C/NZF_8135.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.18.26 Edge Inn I liked this bar well-enough. Fine for a Miller Lite. The neon sign outside is too photogenic to ignore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563695703-OAERRCWK1SAEF935KOUE/NZF_8151.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.19.26 Double Exposure Playing around with an in-camera double exposure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563693560-HCH319YKCSS8HOVRVYRQ/IMG_7671.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.20.26 My Two Loves Chicago hot dogs and Myrtle. Does it get any better? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563689664-AYBY6O57GS20GGE4MVNP/IMG_7683.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.21.26 The Kind You Find At a Second-Hand Store Because I’ve been light on work, I’ve been knocking out a lot of mundane stuff around the house that I’ve been meaning to get to for the last few years. Painting the stairwell, caulking around windows, re-laying floor tile, etc. Since I was on a roll, I figured the upstairs hallway and stairwell could use a fresh coat of paint, too. While we didn’t end up choosing ‘Prince Purple,’ for our hallway, I appreciated Behr’s attempt to avoid a lawsuit and Spirit Halloween this color. I had Raspberry Beret stuck in my head the rest of the day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563688436-KIVXKGHB8QWXN0U1NAV4/IMG_7695.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 First Financial Center We went to the Home and Garden Show today to look at several contractors we might want to work on our house this summer. While Ashley was excited to look at the booths, I was mainly interested in seeing how the new convention center looked inside. I’m a big fan of the redesign, specifically the corner that looks out on 5th Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563686472-A4XX1EMWVGVKJI6KJFX7/IMG_7699.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.23.26 CMD+Z A past owner of our house painted nearly all the trim in the house white. It kills me because I would much rather it be sealed natural wood. I’ve been considering whether or not to undo all of this without the use of paint stripper, so I’m seeing how difficult it is on a small section of the house. The spindles on our staircase were painted, but the rest of it wasn’t. I figure I’ll start here and see how it goes before committing to other areas of the house. Remove the white paint, sand it down, and reseal. I’m using a heat gun and a scraper to remove the paint in little sections at a time. It’s not a fast or easy process, but I find it oddly meditative and kind of like that it’s going to be involved. It will make the whole project sweeter when it’s finished. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563684757-A9W0CI6T20MQ1FTZ9BKL/IMG_7702.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.24.26 Lombardy Just a nice doorway on West Fourth while I was getting coffee at Deeper Roots. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563683185-HXXPLF70DITYDBFHULQB/3MT+-+Phil+Armstrong+-8.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.25.26 3MT Photographed the Three Minute Thesis event up at UC today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563679414-EE9WLJQGLLSKXY562T79/St.+Joseph+Catholic+School+-+Phil+Armstrong+-47.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.26.26 St. Joseph I’ve done a lot of lifestyle stuff for organizations and businesses, but I did my first Catholic school today. St. Joseph Catholic School in Crescent Springs needed new marketing images and asked me to work on a list of shots for them. The images they have currently all feature students who’ve moved on to high school and no longer attend their school. I photographed mass first, then went into the school to make images of kids in classrooms and doing different activities. Thankfully I had a guide with me at all times to let me know what they needed image-wise. I ended up with a gallery of about 100 images for them at the end of the day, and overall it went well. I’m posting this one because it’s back-of-head only. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563675784-M2J17F0JPH0P72L5KFV7/IMG_7749.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.27.26 Late-Night Dogs And a Bar Fight Senate in Blue Ash is closing, making Holiday Spirits the last place it’ll exist going forward. I like the bar well enough, but I think I go there mainly because I can get two corn dogs for less than $10 while I drink a beer. What’s better than that? While we were there, we witnessed the beginning of a bar fight. It quickly got tense around the pool table mere feet from our group, so we closed out and left. We managed to leave before anything really happened besides the standard chest-bumping and a ready-to-strike pool cue was raised in a threatening manner. It’s a bummer when wannabe macho dudes ruin the fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1772563673587-FD4052A74I6TEAWZ2Y0M/Beethoven+and+Ravel+-+Phil+Armstrong+-53.jpg daily-photos-feb-2026 - 2.28.26 Beethoven & Ravel Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet on stage with the CSO for the evening’s Beethoven & Ravel performance at Music Hall. I noticed he played the piano with one hand only to learn later that the piece was written for Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein who lost his right arm during World War I. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dailyphotosmar2026 daily 0.75 2026-03-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982654494-9I8VSQNP1LIB6WO82R2D/IMG_7763.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.1.26 Anderson Ferry Rode the ferry from the airport to the Cincy side this morning. I wish we had these every few miles all along the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982653727-C5AVAE49TV44CP0VLGBL/Artist+Mike+Agricola+-+Phil+Armstrong+-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.2.26 Portrait Work A portrait of artist Mike Agricola in his home studio in Dayton, KY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982642595-PACR77AGDXTKV2WIBXHH/IMG_7838.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.3.26 Carrot Hound She goes mental over carrots. Can’t get enough of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982648429-BMCDN4WL7TYOCSK3G861/Art+of+Collecting+-+Phil+Armstrong+-40.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.4.26 Art of Collecting Scene from an event at the Cincinnati Art Museum this evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982698193-THAUTVA13P61UL2D8RG6/NZF_0406-2.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.5.26 Enterprise-D Made a card for my friend Brett’s birthday. We’re both Trekkies, so I put the D on the front of his card. I originally messed up the background, so I ended up cutting out the ship and gluing it to a different backdrop. Turned out fine, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982698557-KV4B8LJH7NV7IQBI6P37/NZF_0767.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.6.26 Bockfest 2026 Met up with friends at the parade and enjoyed the first night of Bockfest. I was surprisingly warm for early March. I can’t remember the last time it was this seasonal for this event. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982706163-M22VJ8MGV7TP7S426X18/NZF_0809-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.7.26 Dinner Train We went to the Boathouse for dinner and I got to see the passenger train before it chugged away. First time I’ve caught it at night! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982669463-XK2L9NPBDRNPJ88SPZ17/IMG_7895.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.8.26 Merch? I needed new stickers to match my new brand for my cart and equipment boxes, but the smallest amount I could order is 25. So now I have too many of these and I don’t know what to do with them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982694513-J354J4P5RV7H9ZHZS5IF/NZ9_9990.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.9.26 This Place Matters As seen on Holman Street, Covington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982659755-RNUB2Z70KLFI112OYJZZ/IMG_7793.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.10.26 Destined For Destruction The city paid Vince to clear the brush away from this pedestrian bridge that’s going to be demolished and replaced soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982659544-W66667ZGN7AAK2UPVGOG/IMG_7827.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.11.26 Unicorn Party Ashley got this getup for a party she’s going to next month. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982706087-923WS1I1MQTOXW4O79VN/NZF_0863.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.12.26 Macro Brick Slapped a bunch of magnification diopters and took a photo of the brick on the porch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982663948-UMEYRAWXPRRGPIKFYROK/IMG_7841.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.13.26 Getting Answers I have been feeling absolutely awful the last few days. Long story short, I needed a scan to see what’s going on in my abdomen. The good news: it’s nothing serious. The bad news: I don’t actually know what’s wrong with me at this moment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982664286-ON1ZAQFC9SOZS3EPQ11S/IMG_7846.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.14.26 Thanks, America! Felt healthy enough to briefly leave the house. Got gas in my vehicle and it’s the most I’ve spent in years. The no-new-war candidate decided that was all bullshit, and now we’re bombing the Middle East yet again. Obviously the loss of life is the main awful issue, and that shouldn’t be minimized in the least. Since half of Americans don’t seemingly understand or care about that, though, maybe spending more at the pumps will knock some sense into them. Who am I kidding? It won’t make a damn bit of difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982669567-R3AF1FDGVR5RHD1QB3WY/IMG_7877.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.15.26 Porch-Sitting Actually felt a little better today and managed to get outside for a bit. At the end of the evening, we sat on the porch and watched the sunset with our novels and reading lights. I wish I could do this daily. Once it gets consistently warmer, I plan to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982715903-WJKG7LT1GFXWCC668O2O/NZF_0869.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.16.26 Drip! Macro photo of a wet snoot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982716759-C5FUSG1Q7LFJ64HJ5VIU/NZF_0875.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.17.26 Soon-to-be-Parents This is the last time I’ll see Mike and Jenn as a childless couple. They’re scheduled to have their son in early April, though there’s a possibility of him coming sooner. Transitions in life often don’t have hard lines, and recognizing when there is one is a treat. I wanted to capture that moment before everything changes for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982686313-GLZ8OX77I81ZKYJZ6E9J/NZ9_0704.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.18.26 Final Light I thought this moment at the Cincinnati Art Museum was quietly beautiful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982723135-L4J0PLUEWLF38QVX0Z8O/NZF_0960.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.19.26 Miami: Day 1 We went to Miami for Allie’s birthday. We’re staying in a big house with everyone, and Ashley and I are sharing a room with Justin. We briefly walked around a beachy area before heading to the VRBO. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982727509-XQU0KVZ5SHOD9VNDG1XE/NZF_0966.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.20.26 Miami: Day 2 Interesting porch decor at this house. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982730013-SOGFAQMUD5408Y3VME12/NZF_1069.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.21.26 Miami: Day 3 The Art Deco District of Miami has some pretty architecture. We went to Mac’s Club Deuce and it was the best dive bar I’ve been to in a bit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982733533-WOVA9IMAWY7P2C29RU1C/NZF_1128.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.22.26 Miami: Final Day I’m glad they’re doing this to the pumps. I complained about prices a few days ago on here, and I still don’t think this will make any difference, but I like it when MAGA is given a taste of their own dumb medicine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982673061-ASUAFDEY6MXKY2TS409Q/IMG_7949.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.23.26 Missed Work I had two jobs lined up after getting back from this Miami trip, and I missed both of them due to illness. Really annoyed that I will be missing out on all that work. Not sure what’s up with me, but I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. I laid still for as much of the day as possible, watching Roku City on my side and eating handfuls of pills to make me feel better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982676841-EXJKCISXA7ATMQALQ97S/IMG_7994.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.24.26 Two Days Still feeling the effects of whatever I contracted at the end of the Miami trip and taking it as easy as possible. Baseball comes back in two days; looking very forward to it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982674910-HZ6OY93VL9EM7VOR1CJW/IMG_7983.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.25.26 Left the House, Saw a Clock Feeling a lot better today, thankfully. I ventured out to the Pro Shop down at the ballpark to pick up a jersey for the season. Along the way, I stopped to admire the Verdin Clock Joey Votto gifted the Reds recently. He’ll always be one of my favorites. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982645034-UB8OXUC7T3QDL0TTSHJS/8K+Opening+Day+2026-+Phil+Armstrong+-163.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.26.26 Opening Day with 8K For the second year in a row, I photographed 8K Construction as they marched in the Opening Day Parade. Here’s a shot of Michael looking epic as hell on Race Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982677769-0OQEZHBM7J8TTNJDV1S4/IMG_8012.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.27.26 Exhausted Reds lost on Opening Day, and I feel physically bad again. Probably going to get blood work done soon to see what’s going on in there. I jokingly have a theory it’s related to the weather as it was summer-like yesterday and today it’s back to winter, but there has to be something more going on in there. My mood is poor, as is my mental health today. This is the only photo I took all day: the jersey I bought from the Pro Shop a couple of days ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982681694-UK3S6VLQ16EL0ENSDENP/IMG_8023.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.28.26 Diet Slipping I’ve been generally eating healthy over the last few weeks as I figure out why I feel so poorly all the time, but today I made an exception: I had the cheese coney pizza from Wayfarer Tavern, and it was excellent. Sitting on the porch with the fire going, pizza box on my lap, the Reds on TV, and the sun shining made for a really pleasant evening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982682599-S89GN89RSMRANJS6NA3B/IMG_8032.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.29.26 What’s Out There? Myrtle inspects the street from Ashley’s grandmother’s front room couch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982685138-7YVWG0I7QP864FU2ZMZP/IMG_8040.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.30.26 Owen Louis Mike and Jenn had their son, Owen, yesterday morning. He came earlier than they anticipated, and everyone is healthy and happy. Mike asked if we wanted to come meet him while they were still at the hospital. I can’t believe my buddy I’ve known since we were 16 and 17 respectively has a baby now. It’s so surreal (in a good way). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1774982687438-WX9IZZCYCYQNX93QQCEW/NZ9_3327-Edit.jpg daily-photos-mar-2026 - 3.31.26 Sage and His Work Went to Single Batch to shoot some new stuff they’re shipping to Connecticut soon. Sage, one of the guys working in the shop, is an incredible metal and woodworker who repurposed a bunch of steel from a scrapyard in Cleveland into an intricate base for a height-adjustable table. The wheel on the side controls how tall the table stands, and he welded the owner’s name into the bottom of the frame for greater personalization. I set up the camera to capture the piece itself, but snapped a few quick frames early while he was wiping it down. Glad I did; I like seeing the artist with the art. http://www.philarmstrongart.com/dailyphotosapr2026 daily 0.75 2026-04-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1775143194654-WWB6XH8U0GQK63GE24XQ/NZ9_3530-HDR+copy.jpg daily-photos-apr-2026 - 4.1.26 Parallels This is not a before and after. Two different properties, in two different cities, about 3 miles apart. Both were built long before any of us were here, but they’re both in transition at present. Top: a historic house in Covington freshly stripped nearly to the studs that’s looking for a preservation-minded owner to purchase it. Bottom: a historic firehouse in Over-the-Rhine freshly renovated for life as a short term rental. I photographed them within hours of each other and was struck by their parallels despite their differences. This is partially why I love my job. I get to see both ends of the spectrum of something like this within the same hour. Tomorrow, I’ll do something different. The next day, something else. And then if I’m lucky, I’ll get to do this again at some point. That ever-changing schedule keeps me engaged despite the drawbacks that come with working for yourself. Every day being totally unique is a quality I can scarcely imagine giving up. If I get to do this the rest of my life, I don’t think I’ll ever choose to fully retire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54b19756e4b073e9ca530cd2/1775143158936-638FM0RFLIEYLOZ11PE1/DSC_2197.jpg daily-photos-apr-2026 - 4.2.26 Cat Nap I received this text from Ashley: “Cat in fort.” She was on a work call and couldn’t break away, but she knew I needed to see this. Her office looks out onto the alley and back with a prime view of the fort in our neighbor’s back yard. Avoiding her laptop camera, I silently squeezed in and aimed the J5 with the longest lens I have for it and snapped the photo. It’s not even lunch time and I know nothing else will be better than this. As I write this, the cat is currently on his side snoozing in the fort with one paw stretched over the edge of the platform.