Philly Photobloggers

We had our first gathering on Saturday. It was awesome. It was incredible to meet all these local photobloggers whose work I've admired over the past year here in Philadelphia. We gathered at Jack's Firehouse right across the street from Eastern State Penitentary - our photo destination.

We chatted about our gear, technique, goals and much much more.

I took a ton of shots, I've never been there before. Al Capone spent a year there. It was incredible walking through this decaying structure. We spent almost three hours in there and afterwards, we all sat down for a rest at our starting point. We're planning another outing, when, we don't know. Wanna come on out with us? Lemme know and I'll be sure to keep you in the loop.

Here's everyone's photoblogs who made it out. Please take a click over to their sites, they each have a wonderfully distinctive eye.

Alec Long - Shutter And Pupil. Alec came armed with his D70 and a bevy of lenses, the kit 18-70, a 70-300 and his 50 prime. He also packed a big time Bogen ballhead tripod. I've been admiring his work for several months now. He does a lot of home studio lighting work. I never liked setting up all the lights, but I do love to see others' work and his is wonderful. His most recent shots of his trips to the Outer Banks are wonderful. If you want to take a mini vacation right now from your world, take a click on over there, he really takes you there.

Jorj Bauer - Jorj.org. Jorj came packing a Digital Rebel and an awesome IS tele zoom lens, the first one I've seen up close. The one lens that I think Nikon is missing is one to compete with Canon's 17-85 IS; that's just such a great range and it's so flexible because of its IS capabilities. He was also paking a nice bracket holder for his external flash and a nice monopod. His wife Susan and newborn son Jake came out to Jack's but split as we were headed into the depths of ESP - that Jake's got some killer sunglasses. I've only recently discovered his work, but have found some of his shots covering some of the same territory as mine. It's always wonderful to come across another person who sees the area you're shooting so often, to see it through their eye is refreshing. He's got some wonderful shots of Philly and beyond.

Kathleen Connally - A Walk Through Durham Township, Pennsylvania. Kathleen came packing her trusty D100 and an envious 17-35 which was the lens to have when Nikon went digital. It's a real beauty of a piece of glass. I've been looking at her work the longest out of this group. Her shots of Durham Township just a little over an hour outside of Philly are amazing. We live in such a diverse area here. It's relaxing to take a trip to her neck of the woods, above the fray. Cows, bales of hay and open plains make up a good portion of her shots. All of them incredible. She sits atop the photoblog world from Durham Township; it's well earned and well deserved. I had emailed with her a couple of times months ago discussing this very outing and to see it come to fruition with Alec's organization was amazing.

Matt O'Sullivan - The Narrative who was in town all the way from Toronto. Matt came with his 10D and a couple of lenses I didn't get close enough to inspect; it was some big glass. I'm not familiar with his work, but Canada's got some amazing photobloggers out there. The group in Toronto is just as strong as those I've seen in NY and SF. It was a pleasure to go out shooting with him and he's earned himself another viewer stateside.

Justin Smith - World of Juice. Justin came with his D70 and the kit lens. What's amazing about Justin is that he just went to his prom — his high school prom. He's got an amazing eye at seventeen [holy fuck I sound like a 1068 year old fart]. He's staying local for college and he's going to study photography in some form or another. I'm excited to see his work every day.

Trevor Jordet - GroovyThing. Trevor came with his D70, but couldn't stay for the trip to ESP, he had to run. I've only become aware of his site in the last few days as the organization of this outing was in it's final stages. He's got some great shots of downtown and up by his neck of the woods in Norristown. And not only are you treated to his eye, but also his Flash skills while looking at his photos. He's got a nifty coding piece where you can actively scroll though his images. I'll surely be back, and often, to see his work.

Tony & Anne Green - Merecat. Tony came with his Leica rangefinder [with real 35mm film inside!] and Anne came with her D70 [it's one of the most popular consumer cameras in THE WORLD]. It was a pleasure to finally get to shoot with Tony after the several times we've spoken over pints at the Philly blogger meets. And it was wonderful to meet Anne as well after seeing her on Tony's site. Tony hasn't posted in awhile and I love his stuff. I keep egging him on to post, but he's got "important" stuff to do around the house. Whatevs. Hopefully he'll be posting images from this outing so that I can see the feeling that you can only get from shooting film.

and me

Our shots of ESP should be up in the coming days, but stick around for their other amazing stuff.

As for me, I'm headed over to the race in the morning.

Comments

[Juice]

Yup, it sure was a good time. Thanks for the compliments. Don't feel like an old fart. How old are you anyway? 25? I'll be 25 in like a week...don't even worry about it.

[flawd logic]

Hey, I'm a Philly photoblogger (or at least i try to be) - How do I get in on this?

[btezra]

~good to know that a great time was had by all on the 'other side' of our grand commonwealth...!~