Sterling Renaissance Festival 2011

Sterling Renaissance Festival Joust

Singing Pirate

A little known fact about myself is that I have a minor in Medieval and Renaissance studies.  Another one is that I used to work as a squire at the Sterling Renaissance Festival in Sterling, NY (http://www.sterlingfestival.com/).  Today I spent most of the day at the festival after having not been in a number of years.  It was a great experience.  I loved seeing some of the old performers and craftsman I remember from before, and it was cool to see acts and vendors that were new, or at least new to me.  I left with some homemade soap, an awesome hand-made wooden box, and some great memories.  Oh yeah, and some photographs, too.

The Mud Show is always a must see.

Daniel: Duke of Danger!  Handstand, while balancing a mug on his head.

Mud Show Kraken

Mud Show Medusa

To Maine and Back Again

While in Schenectady I photographed
Grace, one of Emily's friends.

I'm on my way back to Syracuse from a week long road trip to Maine.  I will put up more details later, but I want to share a few of the photos I took.  I was in Maine for my third year as an artist-in-residence at the Sweet Chariot Music and Art Festival on Swans Island. 

The rocks on the coastline of Swans Island are unlike anything in Central New York.  These are boulder sized rocks in a puddle made from the low tide.

I love a good camp-fire.  This was taken during my last night on the island.

Overcast, my favorite weather

Emily

Today was overcast and a little rainy.  This type of weather is my favorite for taking outdoor portraits.  Luckily, my girlfriend humors me by modeling when I ask, so we went out to the Goodwill store and bought a couple of dresses (as well as some Conan comic books from the 1970's for only $1 a piece).  The backyard of her summer job field-house is the perfect backdrop for a photo shoot.

Hudson at 19 days

My sister Lindsay, brother-in-law Sean, and nephew Hudson

I've officially been an uncle for 19 days!  Today was Father's Day and the family was together, so we walked down to the park and took some photos.  We also each recorded a little message for Baby Hudson to watch when he gets older.

Rest in Peace Grandpa

Last week my grandpa, Albert Wirkes, passed away.  As a child I loved him like most boys love their grandparents.  I loved him unconditionally and without much thought to whom he really was.  But as I became an adult I started to pay more attention. The last few years taught me that he was a man to look up to.  I want to share with you a few of the details about my Grandpa that are important to me.  I think they say something about who he was and the life he lived.

An accident at birth left him to live the rest of his life with only one eye.  Though it could have, he didn't let that stop him from serving our country during WWII.  He joined the Army Medical Corps and was stationed in Florida and England.  In Florida he chose to serve in the African American unit of the hospital at a time when others wouldn't.  He observed segregation and racism that he would never forget and never understand.

Grandpa was lucky enough to find true love twice.  His fist wife, Carol, passed before I was born.  His second wife, Patty, was the Grandma that I knew.  He cared for them both in health and in sickness, and set an example of what it means to be a true husband.

So what was he like as a grandfather?  He excelled there, too.  I don't remember him ever loosing his temper or speaking badly of others.  When he was present it always seemed to make a family gathering official.  And you knew that he was proud to be a part of his family.  Grandpa was funny and he loved to tell stories, most of them tall-tales about himself.  The best ones never seemed to finish as they were constantly interrupted by laughter, which was often his own.  Grandpa always had a smile for others and a smart line to make you laugh.

These are only a few of my thoughts, but I hope they help to say a little about who he was.  Grandpa Al is now gone, but he lived a good life and touched many people with his service, humor, and love.

A wedding and some babies!

I'm amazed at how fast the last few months have gone by.  I've had a few photo shoots, worked on some really interesting projects for the science museum, been glad to have finally have my girlfriend move back to the state after living in Canada for the last two years.  And just last week my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Hudson, making me an uncle!

Juan and Maria

I liked seeing two priests.  The younger one led most of the ceremony and spoke in both English and Spanish.

Maria and Juan invited me to photograph their Syracuse wedding.  They had already been married for a year or so in the Dominican Republic were Juan is from, but they have recently moved to Central New York and wanted another ceremony.  There baby is soon on its way!

Major digs into his first birthday cake

Major is now One year old!  I've had the pleasure of photographing him twice before this, and it has been great to watch him grow.  His birthday party was a lot of fun and a new kind of photographic challenge for me.  I tried to get right in the mix of things and photograph as much as I could from a low angle.  Happy Birthday Major.

That's my sister Lindsay with her new baby boy, Hundson Nathaniel Angell.  He was four weeks early, but still weighted 8 pounds 2 ounces.  I took these photos after Hudson had just came home from the hospital a couple hours earlier.  I plan on taking lots of photos of him through the years.

A Happy Family: Sean, Lindsay, & Hudson

Recording flute player Rob Benedict

I recently had the pleasure to record a local musician in Syracuse named Rob Benedict.  My DSLR records good video, but has poor sound recording.  The idea of being able to make videos eventually won me over and I purchased a semi-pro microphone that attaches to my camera.  The day after it came in the mail I got a call from Rob saying he had finished recording a few tracks of his first CD.  He was going to bring them to me so I could play his music during planetarium shows at the museum where I work.  I told him about my new mic and he agreed to play a song live for me.  So, after we listened to his CD while under the stars, we recorded the song in the planetarium.  You will notice that I've included some of my nature photography in the video.  Please check it out and I hope you enjoy.

As of writing this I've played his music for around 200 visitors in the planetarium.  During part of each show I sit quietly and let the audience enjoy watching the stars move across the dome for a minute or two.  This is when I've been using his music.  I had previously played some sci-fi sounding stuff, which still works well before the show begins, but visitors have really taken to Rob's flute music.  I never get comments about the sci-fi music, but I've already heard a couple positive ones about Rob's.  So, if you ever come to The MOST in downtown Syracuse, NY and see a planetarium show with me, request Rob's music before the show begins.