Record Breaking Heat

This past week, Pittsburgh broke record that stood for over 100 years!  Temperatures were in the mid 70s in February!  The previous record was in the high 60s, but Pittsburgh just creamed that record.  With the increase in temperatures and no precipitation, people flocked outside during this rare moment.

People at “The Cut” at Carnegie Mellon University.

I took the opportunity to use the nice weather to walk around both my current campus (for my job), and my previous campus (my Alma Mater).  People were out and about, hanging out with friends and soaking up the sun.

A drone flying over “The Cut” at Carnegie Mellon University.

Some of the most popular hang out spots outside on these two campuses are “The Cut” and “The Mall” at CMU, two big green spaces in the middle of campus that form an L shape on campus.  At Pitt, there’s less green space “on campus” so to speak, but then again, there really is no campus grounds for Pitt.  One of the big spots to hang out is Schenley Plaza: a green space that used to be a parking lot for Forbes Field, directly across from the Cathedral of Learning.  It now is home multiple restaurants and hosts many events throughout the year.

Schenley Plaza with flower lights and people sitting on the grass.

Another common area for Pitt students to hang out is the lawn of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall.  This is a memorial hall dedicated to the military members of Allegheny County.  Pitt students may enjoy the museum for free, but anyone may enjoy their lawn.  Often times people will start a Frisbee game or similar.  The lawn also has two cannons and cannon balls that make some cool photo opportunities.

Students hanging out on the lawn of Soldiers and Sailors.

So, next time it’s nice out, get outside and some fresh air instead of staying cooped up inside studying!  You’ll be glad you did!

A squirrel hiding in a tree at CMU.

~AMH

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All images taken in February 2018 at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
All images copyright 2018 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions.

HDIC Events: Playwright Festival 3

I’ve often said that one of the things that I enjoy the most about my photography is how varied it is.  I shoot all kinds of different locations, people, and events throughout the year, and this year has started off no different.

The Studio Theatre in the Cathedral of Learning

Last Sunday, I entered the chamber beneath the Cathedral of Learning (you know, it’s basement), and for the first time ever, entered the Studio Theatre to photograph the Playwright Festival 3, an event put on by the Pitt Performance Collaborative.  This event allows for Pitt writers to submit a play to be judged by a panel where the top three are produced as staged readings.  At the end of the night, the audience votes on which one they enjoyed most, and the three are awarded prizes based on the rankings.

This year, HDIC Productions provided their photography services to the event.  It was so cool to be able to shoot a different type of event than I have ever shot before.
The three plays this year were all very good, but of course, there can only be one winner.  So with that, I’m going to break into the plays and talk a bit about each one and show some photos of it.  I might as well just follow the order of the way that they placed.

3. A Hole Halfway to China in Our Suburban Backyard- By Jessica Simpson
The play focused on a relationship between a man and woman who slowly grow apart when the wife starts digging a whole to china.

2. Anna is a Poet by Peri Walker
This play follows Anna as she discovers her poetry throughout a college class.

1. Waiting Room by Jacob Punturi
The Winner, Waiting Room follows two teens as they wait for new about their grandmother who had been admitted to the ICU.

So, be on the lookout on our other social media channels for more photos soon!  And we look forward to working with the Performance Collaborative again soon!

~AMH

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Images shot on a Canon Rebel T5 and a T7i with a EF 50mm f/1.8 STM or a Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.4 DI II VC Lens.
All Images copyright 2018 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions

Scenic Pittsburgh: When the Rivers Froze

Happy new year everyone!  Sorry I missed last week’s blog post, but I’m back and ready to continue with another installment of Scenic Pittsburgh!

Over the Christmas holiday, Pittsburgh experienced a decent amount of snowfall– enough that we had a “White Christmas” for the first time in many years!

Christmas snowfall, December 2017

What also happened was a very large plummet in temperatures.  I’m talking about temperatures around 0 with wind chills in the negatives (some days up to twenty below).
With the temperatures going down so low for so long, we experienced something that hasn’t happened in probably a few years (at least as far as I can remember it happening)– the three rivers froze!

The Riverquest boat, Explorer, frozen in ice, January 2018

For those of you that don’t know about the history of Pittsburgh, the location for the city was chosen because of the rivers.  The Allegheny to the north, the Monongahela to the south, and then they meet to form the Ohio river, which continues to the Mississippi (We have a nice state park at the point of confluence called Point State Park).

The Point from Mount Washington, January 2018

The rivers are something that is photographed most often in Pittsburgh from any of the wonderful vantage points, see our blog post about Mount Washington.  This past weekend, I spent some time on Mount Washington and on the North Shore photographing the now frozen rivers.  It was a very cold day, but it was well worth wearing multiple pairs of pants and shirts in order to photograph them.

The City of Pittsburgh in view, January 2018

Neville Island and the frozen Ohio river, January 2018

The Allegheny River from the North Shore, January 2018.

Next time you’re in Pittsburgh, take a moment to appreciate some of the views the city has to offer with the majestic three rivers.

~AMH

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All images copyright 2018 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions

HDIC: 2017 in Review

Hey everyone,
This will be our last post before the new year, so I decided that I’d take this week’s post to review the year.

This year, for HDIC Contracted photo shoots, we shot 5,638 photos and videos across 18 events/shoots.

For non-contracted/impromptu photo shoots,  we shot 26,901 photos and videos over 143 events/shoots.

Our Highlights:

In video:
For our video highlights, I’d like to showcase two of our YouTube videos.  The first one is the highlight reel from our biggest contracted photo/video shoot of the year: the Monroeville Public Library Funfest:

The second video is our Welcome to Pitt video for the class of 2021!  This video was one of my favorite to put together, because it combined videos from my four years at Pitt.

In photo:
With over 25,000 photos in a year, it’s hard to limit myself to just a few of my favorite.  When we update our portfolio for December, we’ll include out top 100 photos of the year, but here are some of our favorite now:

A clock at Phipps Holiday Lights 2017.

Hamerschlag Hall and the Cathedral of Learning after Pitt beat Miami

Sunset at the Fountain at Point State Park.

The Controlled Chaos Dance Showcase.

The Lone Pines at the Three Rivers Arts Festival

The Plum Brass Quintet (ft. Jenny Mountz) at Phipps Conservatory’s Holiday Lights

So, you can say we’ve had a successful year!  Here’s to even more success and photos/videos in 2018!

~AMH

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All images and videos copyright 2017 Allen Howard/HDIC Productions