Reborn

I have always been inspired with people going for their dreams. This past year has been very tough for me, and it all seemed to change this week. All at once. 

After nearly 300+ applications, 7 job interviews, I am proud to announce I have landed a new job. For the sake of keeping this blog about my photography, I will spare you the details, but I will be selling cars, hopefully a lot of cars. So if you are in Cleveland, need a new ride, hit the contact tab at the top of the blog, I will fill you in on the details. 

Secondly, I got a call today that has me really stoked. Since being unceremoniously ripped from the job I had, I have been focused on taking my photography to the next level. I wanted to hopefully build it up to the point where if my unemployment benefits ran out, I had a way to make money until I could get a job. Well this focus has taken me on some sweet trips, awesome experiences, and more importantly made some awesome new friends. 

Well I submitted my work to an art show called RAW. RAW is a nationwide community of artists that are all wanting to make a break of some kind. They want to show their work and are having a hard time finding places that might want to open their doors to show their work. I totally dig people who are unknown and want to break out, so what better way to do that than getting together and highlighting each other. 

Well I am proud to say that I have been booked into the Cleveland show May 30, 2013. What does this mean? It means I have a space to showcase my work for the first time next to other artists. I have a chance to sell my work. I have a chance to make this cool hobby I have to start paying for itself. The only thing I need to do is sell 20 tickets. Totally doable. 

So here are the details. 

RAW: Cleveland

May 30th

The Avenue Taphouse 

18206 Detroit Ave

Lakewood, Ohio 

8pm-1am

Tickets: $15.00 

buy the tickets through my RAW profile to show you're supporting me and bam, come enjoy the show. 

There will be dancers, bands, photographers, painters, film makers, fashion artists, make-up artists, and more. I am stoked to see you there! 

Family

(L:R) Sherman, David, Elaine, and Newman

You never know what you'll run into when you do a photo shoot with a family, especially when the kids are two huge Great Danes named Newman and Sherman.

I was asked to take some photos of the family this past week and I was excited to do it, but very sad when I found out Newman's condition. He has been favoring his front paw when his Mom took him to the vet. The diagnosis was bone cancer. Newman was just placed on a clock. So when Elaine called and asked if I was available, I made sure I was. Newman and Sherman are two great dogs with a great family and I was very honored to be asked to document their family. 

With any group of dogs, you are always in for an adventure, especially after a rainy week, and especially when there are mud puddles around. I came home a lot dirtier than when I left and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Besides, if I had fallen in the mud, David was a fireman so I knew I would be saved while Elaine laughed at me. 

Thank you again Elaine and David for calling. Newman and Sherman were good dogs, or like you said, Newman is security and Sherman is PR. 

I posted more from this shoot here. 

The Township 5: Video

Olmsted Township Fire Department from dlayphoto on Vimeo.

I couldn't just sit around and watch this happen. I couldn't watch 5 guys get laid off because the powers that be were sacrificing safety for financial solvency. I couldn't watch 5 guys go through what I went through nearly a year ago and get fired, laid off, or whatever buzzword is happening to denote that you are no longer working where you work. It was a travesty in my eyes to just sit back and watch it happen, especially because some of these guys were some of the first firefighters I ever shot, while on-scene for a live fire training. I had to do something.

So when I called and asked to come out and get some photos, Olmsted Township Fire welcomed David Lay and I with open arms. Our mission was to show what would happen when 5 guys were no longer there to keep the fires out and get the sick to the hospital. I was shooting the stills, David was shooting the video. We wanted to show you the faces of the men leaving, because they are not just a number on a community's spread sheet, they are a person, with a family, and with a major mission to serve the community regardless of the politics involved with their employment.

Take a look at the video, share it, because this is a problem in not only the small community of Olmsted Township, but all over the United States. Awareness is what will save us. 

The Township 5

Drew Bacik, one of five firefighters losing their jobs effective April 1st.

Emergencies don't care about manpower at the fire station before they tear into your lives like a size 21 scalpel. Emergencies don't care that your Board of Trustees in your small township just cut 5 firefighters from your fire department in addition to the 2 vacancies that exist before they burn your house down at 2 in the morning while Miss Smith across down is in full cardiac arrest. Emergencies don't pick a good time to happen; they just do and when you find yourself as the main character in the horror movie of life, you expect someone to come help you when you pick up the phone and call 911. 

In Olmsted Township there's a very dangerous situation happening. The fire department is facing cuts as the Board of Trustees try and balance the books. If you ask the fire department you'll hear that the Board of Trustees are being unreasonable and are raging war on public safety. If you listen to the Board of Trustees you'll hear that this is just a cut to balance their budget and the fire department has forced them to do this because they will not make certain concessions. 

I'm not here to argue one side or the other, but just give you the facts. The only part of the Township that is facing cuts to balance the budget is the fire department and police department. Thankfully the police department and the board of trustees have been able to work something out to stave off their cuts to the end of the year, but the fire department hasn't been so lucky. 

The fire department has lost a chief and letters have gone out to 5 firefighters that they will also lose their jobs. But what does this mean? This means that for 10 sqaure miles, there could only be 3 guys on average at the station to help nearly 13,000 residents without a leader filling the white hat. As far as call volume, at an annual rate of 2200 calls a year, that is an average of 6 calls a day. So there is a very real possibility that the 3 guys covering the station will have to choose which call is most important to respond to; and who knows how fast another fire station from another community could respond, and if they are even available.  

This is a very potentially dangerous situation for not only the residents, but also the fire department. Hopefully 11th hour negotiations will be fruitful and are able to save these 5 firefighter's jobs, because if they don't, staffing levels will drop to a very dangerous level.  We all know emergencies don't care about staffing levels before they ruin your day.

Update 3/28/2013 8:30am: Olmsted Township Board of Trustees, last night, announced that they are rescinding the resolution for layoffs in the fire department. Trustee member Scott Ross read the statement before a large crowd of community members and area firefighters. The statement said, "Negotiations with the Firefighters Local 2845 have made progress and they are on the verge of an agreement."

Let's hope that this is the start of a healing process for the community of Olmsted Township and a pathway to bring Olmsted Township Fire Department to full staffing very very soon. 

Unexpected Value

image: Semantics are Important

I have been listening to more and more podcasts since I moved my AppleTV from the bedroom to the living room. The AppleTV just makes it easy to listen to podcasts while I do things around the house and most of the time when there is a  podcast I really like, I listen to it like families used to listen to radio during prime time.

Yesterday, little did I know, Gilgamesh Taggett, creator of Semantics are Important slipped in, at the end of his podcast, an unexpected plug about a short film I did for my wife. His words were very kind and I still can't get over that someone, outside my immediate circle of friends, took something from the whole thing, but what made it even more special was that it came at the end of an hour long talk on value.

After the weird day I had, it felt good to listen to a podcast that I could relate to and at the end, came with an endorsement for work that I've done.

Semantics are Important (Vulgar Ramblings of a Deranged Mind) uploads every Monday. Episodes average around an hour. It isn't for everyone, but I find that listening to him gets my brain working. Sometimes I agree with the stuff he says, sometimes I don't. I invite you and challenge you to listen to this week's episode on Value. You can find him on iTunes by searching for "Semantics are Important".

Sentenced

My first post on this blog was in reference to the shooting in Chardon a year ago accompanied by the above photo. It was a terrible scene in Chardon on the February day, but in the end something was inherently different about this school shooting from others. The shooter was captured, plead guilty, and convicted. Yesterday he was sentenced to three life sentences for killing Daniel Parmertor, Russel King Jr., and Demitrius Hewlin in cold blood.

The court room was a mess and the judge, according to an official statement, didn't see the shirt he was wearing or stop the lewd behavior which was meant to shock and disrespect the families of these boys who are now with huge holes in their hearts.

Little has been said about the kids who were killed other that they were young boys who died way too young. But if you ask people about who this killer was they can tell you over and over his life story. Where he came from, what kind of trouble his family was in, and what kind of monster this person was.

The scary part about this monster is that, like the Joker in Batman, some people just want to see the world burn. There is no rhyme or reason to what they do. They are just monsters and yet, we can't stop talking about them.

The bigger story that is often missed is that the three boys who passed away saved more lives than their killer took from this world. Through organ donation they were able to save others. It was a brave thing their families did and a decision not to be made lightly. But from 3 victims, 16 were saved with their life saving organs. Finding a silver lining in a tragedy is tough, but Daniel, Demitrius, and Russel did not die in vein and their legacy lives on, in the bodies of the ones they saved.

View from Engine 4

In Cleveland St. Patrick's Day is a party that would rival any city in terms of pure debauchery. It is a weird family party mixed with binge drinking and green everything. This all culminates into a large parade which last multiple hours through the heart of Downtown Cleveland. In other words, this is a bar's black Friday if I may be so bold. The way to clear out the coolers of old beer that was left over from the winter and what better way to mask the skunked flavor than to color it green?

Like many people I often relive this day in pictures the next day. Seeing what people saw and listening to stories from the day, often in a haze of a hangover. But rarely do I ever see a well thought about picture. Only recently did I start to follow some great photographers and they always put out great photos, but they are often from the sidelines. Very artful compositions, but always from the curb looking into the parade. 

So when I was invited on a ride with Engine 4 in the parade I jumped at the opportunity to bring sweet photos from inside the parade. I hung off the running boards of the rig, I stood on the roof, and even laid down on the bed, just to get interesting poses. 

The one I loved the most was hanging off the driver's side running board, holding onto a rail, leaning out to get a good shot of "BROWN" on the side of the rig and yet, capture the crowd all in the same shot. Some of them fell short, but some came out well. 

I am proud of this set.