HDIC Rules: Always Look Up

I’ve talked about many of rules before, such as always shoot in color and integrity before photography.  One of the other rules is “Always Look Up”.  Essentially, make sure to be observant.  If I wasn’t looking up, I would never have found this birds nest:

An American Robin perches on its nest.

This must have been right after the eggs hatched.  I was surprised by how close I could get to the nest without Mama and Papa robin screeching or attacking me (for the record, I was not attacked, and I had no intentions of trying to get them to attack me).

A picture taken with my GoPro, you can see the nest and the birds in the V of the tree.

By the time I was following them regularly, the chicks were already very large.  There were four of them. All very hungry, and all very crowded.

Four robin chicks.

I was fortunate to be around for several feedings, so I got to see some really cool things.

Feeding time for one of the chicks at the nest.

Well, all four birds fledged last week, so the nest is empty now, but it certainly was a fun week or so watching them on a daily basis.

A chick, looking like it was going to fly.

I’m still by the nest pretty frequently, watching it slowly weather away.  For those wondering, the nest was located by the George Westinghouse monument in Schenley Park.

The tree the nest was in, with the Westinghouse pond on the left.

So next time you’re out on the town, remember to look up!

---

All images copyright 2018 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions

For the Glory of Carnegie: Buggy

Every spring, Carnegie Mellon University hosts a carnival for its student, staff, faculty, and alumni.  This festival has all kinds of different activities, many of which I’ll be talking about in future blog posts.  One of the biggest events, though, is called Buggy or Sweepstakes.

A Buggy coming up the final leg of the track.

The idea behind this is simple, build a Buggy, roll it down a hill, and push it back up.  The fastest time wins.  Now, let’s throw into the mix that someone has to be in the Buggy during the race.

A driver inside of the Buggy.

This person, while cramped into the small Buggy is responsible for steering and controlling it at all times, going at a maximum speed of around 35 miles per hour.

A Buggy going through the drop test to test the breaks.

The student groups all scout out campus for the smallest and strongest people to participate on their race day teams.

Three Buggies with the Hill One Pushers

The race day setup is pretty simple, a track on three streets in Schenley Park and on the CMU campus.  The track goes right in front of Phipps Conservatory as well.

A Buggy passes in front of Phipps Conservatory.

Buggy takes place during a two day event.  The first day (Friday) is preliminary races to qualify for the final round on Saturday.  On Saturday, the team with the fastest time wins!

A Buggy heading back up the hill.

Another Buggy as the Hill 2 pusher starts his role.

Even though I was on Pitt’s campus for many years, I never knew anything about Buggy, and let’s just say, I was missing out!  It is a great time with many amazing photo opportunities!

A Buggy crosses the finish line.

~AMH

---

All of these images were from the preliminary races.  I’ll be posting more soon of the final races.
All images copyright 2018 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions

HDIC Important Dates: March 12th

March 12th isn’t the most important day in the world to everybody.  For us, it is a significant date, though- it is the date that we took our first published picture!  I remember both the day I took it and the day that I got the publication notice well.

It was a Thursday during Spring Break.  I decided to go do a sunset photo shoot at the Monroeville Community Park (where I do a lot of different shoots at).  I made it up to the park and immediately went to the gazebo area.  I fired off some shots and then started to walk around.  I didn’t get far before I ran into a friend who I hadn’t seen since graduation two years earlier.  I ended up spending the rest of the sunset evening talking to him and his family.

Well, since it was such a special day, I have continued to go back every March 12th to Monroeville Park, trying to replicate the image.  Here’s the four images from 2015-2018:

I also particularly like this set of images that I thought you guys may enjoy:

What do you guys think?  Are there any special days for you?  Let us know in the comments!

~AMH

HDIC Events: PM Mirror Presents February Showcase

Hey everyone,

I had a really cool photography opportunity last week that I want to share with you guys.
I’ve written before about a band that I photograph, The Lone Pines.  Well, they were invited to perform on a Facebook 360 Live Stream by fellow Pittsburgh musician, PM Mirror.  They asked me to come out with them to get some photos and videos.

The 360 degree camera used during the live stream.

The evening had three different musical groups perform at a studio in Pittsburgh called Studio Me.  The night started out with James Drakes and Jonathan Fisher of the James Drake and the Chris Taylor Trio.

James and Jonathan perform at Studio Me.

After their performance, The Lone Pines took the stage.  They performed one new song and a collection of older songs of theirs. 

The Lone Pines performs their original song “Me and the Radio”

They also included a cover of The Lumineer’s “Flowers in Your Hair”, which you can watch here:

The last performance of the night was PM Mirror himself.  He played mostly original songs, but did play a cover of the Jonas Brother’s “Burnin’ Up” to end his set.

PM Mirror re-tuning his guitar before playing “Burnin’ Up”

After his performance, all the artists and attendees had a little “campfire chat” with the viewers of the live stream.

It was a really cool experience being able to photograph three groups in one evening.  It’s also cool that, if you re-watch the 360 live stream, you can see me doing my photography stuff in it!
PM Mirror puts these on every month, so if you have an interest in local Pittsburgh musicians, be sure to follow his Facebook page.

~AMH

---

All images shot on a Canon Rebel T7i with a variety of lenses. 
All images copyright 2018 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions