• finding a swimming hole
  
• trying to be the most beautiful girl eating a kebab (St. George's in Tremont is having a kebab festival this weekend. Sadly, Flight of the Conchords won't be there.)
• polkaing
• getting lost in the corn
• stomp & circumstance
• reading about the perils of pebbles
  
• remembering the France of 1968 (ok, so this technically doesn't start until the 26th, but I'm so excited about it I had to mention it)

Select Restaurants recently tapped Twist Creative and Taxel Image Group for their new Pier W ad campaign. I’ve wanted to write about this ad series for a while. The ads are finally beginning to appear around town in print, billboards and airport displays.

The creative team at Twist came together with us to stage an exciting couple of days of studio photography that  yielded five new ads, two of which I can show here today.  During the entire process, from choosing colors themes and props, to creating edgy viewpoints and lighting, designers Christine Wisnieski and Mark Nizinski communicated their new vision for Pier W.  Will Green, Select’s ad man, watched and smiled as the imagery evolved.

A couple of winters ago, Laura and I ventured to Pier W in the middle of a snowstorm. We were crazy to do it, but duty called (Laura was ‘on the job’). Sitting in the Pier W dining room, alone but for one other couple and a minimum staff, we had a fabulous meal, watching the storm blow tons of snow in off of Lake Erie seemingly right into our laps.

Cheers, Pier W!

BT

“What if this life should prove to be a dream,-
A slumber journey to a fancied sphere:
Would the return to consciousness redeem
The loss, eternal, of the dreamland here?

What if the scenes and friendships that seem real,
Were but vision of a reverie:
Would the awakening again reveal
The picture of the dreamland mystery?

Or would the thoughts reflected in review
Of the dream incidents recalled again,
Forever pass away as most dreams do,
And naught of dreamlands memories remain?

What if a choice were offered from above,
To live on earth or dwell with The Supreme,-
Forgetting all the ties, endearments, love,-
In this strange life, if it should prove a dream!

What if the future life, too, were denied
Returning glimpses of the dreamland shore.-
What could the God of all above provide
In lieu of the lost dream—to dream no more.”

Albert Anthony Augustus
Cleveland, Sept. 10th, 1925

Lake View Cemetery has been a focus of my personal photography for ten years. Each visit to explore the architecture, history, horticulture, and geology of this wondrous Cleveland destination yields surprise and reward in the form of new impressions and inspiration. The collection of photographs that has amassed since 1999 will soon be published by The Kent State University Press in cooperation with Cleveland State University as part of their Sacred Landmark Series.This week’s discovery of the Augustus family strikes a particular cord of reality. The questions posed by Albert Anthony Augustus in 1925 are timeless and haunting in a most personal way.

BT

I was hanging out with award winning author and Cleveland native son Steven Szilagyi last week. Steven is the author of Photographing Fairies, the delightful and mindful fantasy novel about a photographer who is certain that fairies exist. Steven’s novel became a movie in 1997, directed by Englishman Nick Willing. So what does all of this have to do with The Cleveland Clinic? For his day job, Steven is Senior Writer, Executive Communications, for The Clinic. The Clinic is launching a new ad campaign featuring the new and almost completed Heart and Vascular Institute. 

Steve was my escort and guide for this assignment. Together we found our way around the massive construction site of the new institute from bottom to rooftop. Steve encouraged me to look at this challenge with different ‘eyes’ then I would for the traditional architectural photography assignment. Here I’ve chosen to present some of the ‘out takes’ from even a little different perspective still- in Black and White.

Yes, I’m certain that fairies exist, as well!

Thanks, Steven.

BT

The website of Les Dames D’Escoffier Cleveland was launched recently. These distinguished and accomplished women from the fields of food, wine, and hospitality join together to promote quality and sustainability in their culinary endeavors. 

The Les Dames website was designed by Dame Shara Foldi of Unity Design and photography was contributed by Taxel Image Group. The photographs on the website were made for several magazine projects in collaboration with Dame- Carla Snyder, author and teacher.

Of special note is the Les Dames d’Escoffier’s Green Tables Project including the Cleveland chapter’s contributions to the Tremont Urban Learning Garden, a food-growing project for at-risk city teens, since 2006, and the Countryside Farmers’ Markets Jr. Chef Program. In her seasonal dishes, Dame chef Heather Haviland uses produce grown next door to the Tremont cafe Luckys.

BT

Summa Heath Systems announced the launch of the Virtues Restaurant website last Thursday. The website, designed and built by B3 Interactive and photography by Taxel Image Group, is a testament to creativity and innovation in new media. 

Virtues is a great dining experience in the heart of the Summa Heath System’s Akron City Campus. Read more about Virtues here.

BT

  The three leafed red ’shamrock’ of the Oxalis family is often associated with The Holy Trinity.  Another title for this series images is ‘Joyous’, which is often the outcome of being touched, as I was and am by them.

Making a photograph according to standards and principles that make the image representative of quality and integrity are attributes of craftsmanship.  Recently I received several emails concerning the appearance of the word ‘craftsmenship’ in the Taxel Image Group logo.  Frankly, until that time I had no idea that there was no such word as ‘craftsmenship’.  All things being equal, I was under the impression that men (and women) could exhibit ‘craftsmenship’.  Apparently I was mistaken.  Men (and women) may be craftsmen… as they practice craftsmanship.  My sincere thanks to my friends and colleagues (there are three of you) who very astutely noticed this error in the practice of the craft of language and writing. 

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of this blog.  This has been a truly rewarding adventure.  Thanks to all who have commented- just a few brave ones.  Your encouragement is appreciated.

Cheers,

BT      

• check out the American Greetings Fine Art Show
• get the dirt on Roman Polanski
• fete the burning river
• ride the tour de towpath
• drink & read (I'm definitely fitting in time for this one ... but I'm reading something light. No death, dying, or dystopia.)

Been a busy week on the ODNR website. Besides a new format, they’ve posted a bunch of press releases like this:

OHIO STATE PARKS SEEKING PHOTOS AND MEMORIES OF STATE PARK VISITS
Deadline for ‘Kids Exploring the Outdoors’ Photo Contest is Nov. 5

a

State Park Photo Contest