Friday, October 3, 2014

"Photos at the Playground" Portrait Event. Sunday October 5

Paul Richard Wossidlo Photography: Photos at the Playground &emdash; This coming Sunday I will be at the Swisshelm Park Playground from 11:30 am until 3;30 pm.  I'm offering outdoor portrait mini-sessions for your kids (both 2-legged and/or 4-legged). Sessions will be 10-15 minutes, approximately 20-30 photos. Photos will be posted to a password-protected online gallery for you to review and order. Fee for the session is $15 (cash or check). Post a comment on the Facebook page for the event and the fee drops to $10 (a 33% savings).

The Swisshelm Park playground is at the corner of Onondago Street and Nightingale Way, which is just off the intersection of Commercial Street and Whipple Street.

I'll see you at the playground on Sunday!

Saturday, June 28, 2014

2014 Swissvale Mile

Paul Richard Wossidlo Photography: 2014 Swissvale Mile &emdash; Saturday June 28, 2014 marked the inaugural running of the Swissvale Mile. This is a family-friendly and pet-friendly fundraiser for the Swissvale K-9 unit. For a first-time event, there was a nice turnout (both the two-legged and four-legged variety) and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The walk through the streets of Swissvale was led by Swissvale's K-9 officer, Brando (pictured at left). To see more photos, please click HERE. You can download a free web-sized image from the gallery. If you wish to purchase prints or a full-sized download, use the coupon code "Brando" to save 15% on your order until July 4th.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

2014 ECS Graduation Ceremony

Paul Richard Wossidlo Photography: ECS Graduation 2014 &emdash; Last night my son graduated from 8th grade at the Environmental Charter School at Frick Park.  His class is the first graduating class from the school, which he has been attending since it opened in 2007.  The graduation ceremony was held at Phipps Conservatory, which was a beautiful and appropriate venue for the school to use.  The ceremony was nicely done, with the teachers providing their insights on each of the 58 graduates.  The keynote speaker was Saleem Ghubril (pictured above), the Executive Director of Pittsburgh Promise, who gave one of the most inspiring commencement speeches I've heard (and I've heard a lot, since I photograph a number of college graduation ceremonies every year).

I'd like to thank the teachers and administrators at ECS for all their hard work, and contributing to much to my son's education and growth.  He's become quite the young scholar, and I think they've prepared him well for his future educational experiences.

Photos from the graduation can be found HERE.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

2014 PIIN Banquet

The 2014 banquet for the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN) was held this past Sunday at the Westin Convention Center Hotel.  This is my second year photographing the event.  PIIN is an alliance of religious groups, organized labor, and others engaged in social activism.

Photos from the event can be found HERE.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Celebration of Friends

Paul Richard Wossidlo Photography: Celebration of Friends &emdash; Last Thursday I photographed the annual "Celebration of Friends" presentation put on by the Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh, which was held at the JCC in Squirrel Hill.

Friendship Circle is a non-profit organization that unites high-school age Jewish teens with young members of the Jewish disabled community.  My son KJ, who has autism, has been attending for several years.  There are a variety of sponsored activities that support a wide range of interests.  KJ always looks forward to getting the postcard in the mail announcing upcoming activities.

Last Thursday's presentation was an end of year wrap up to recognize everyone's efforts.  Especially those students who are graduating seniors, and will be moving on from Friendship Circle.  This year's colors are purple and gold, as you can tell from the photos.

Photos from the event can be found here.   The password is "volunteers", because they are the ones who make Friendship Circle work as well as it does.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

The Pittsburgh Marathon

Paul Richard Wossidlo Photography: Pittsburgh Marathon &emdash; Sunday, May 4th, was the Pittsburgh Marathon. I was lucky enough to get a chance to photograph it this year.

For the last couple of years I've been working for a national company that photographs graduation and commencement ceremonies around the country. They have a sister division that covers major marathons and similar events. I was contacted mid-week because they needed additional photographers to help cover the Pittsburgh Marathon.  This is a huge production from the photography side.  They had a total of 37 photographers, and they expected to have over a quarter-million photos when we were finished.

My assignment was to photograph the runners after the race, in front of a Pittsburgh Marathon backdrop. There were ten of us assigned to do this, each with our own backdrop set up after the finish line. As the runners finished, we invited them to come over for an official portrait. Having 10 stations meant the runners shouldn't have to wait long. This type of assignment doesn't depend on a photographer's technical expertise. But it does depend on the photographer's ability to interact with their subject and get a great photo quickly. I found that a simple "How'd you do?" was a great way to start (they just finished a race, after all).

Things started rather slowly, but once more people started finishing, we got very busy, very quickly.  All 10 backdrops had multiple runners waiting to get their photo taken.  The most amazing moment for me: photographing a woman who was 5 months pregnant and still completed the race!   The weirdest/funniest moment was the two girls who came up for a photo together, and they couldn't decide which was their good side.   Really??? You just finished running 13  miles.   Your "good side" disappeared 10 miles ago!

Things were going smoothly for the first three hours, then the wind started to pick up, amplified by the concrete canyon we were in.  Our backdrops were attached to PVC frames, which were zip-tied to the temporary crowd-control fences that were set up.  The backdrops were like giant sails, and one by one they blew over, until only two of the original ten were still standing.

Thus ended my day photographing the Pittsburgh Marathon.  All in all, a great time, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Spectrum Charter School 15th Anniversary Dinner

Paul Richard Wossidlo Photography: Spectrum 15th Anniversary &emdash; This past weekend was the fifteenth anniversary for Spectrum Charter School in Monroeville.  Spectrum is a high school specifically set up for autistic students, and my son KJ is graduating from there this year.  The dinner was both a fundraiser for the school (with a variety of raffle and silent auction items), as well as an opportunity to recognize board members, staff, students (past and present), and their parents.  The food was excellent, and everyone had a great time.  Of course, they asked me to photograph the event for them.  Photos from the event can be found HERE. The password is "puzzle".

Sunday, April 6, 2014

2014 ECS Bloomin' Bash

Paul Richard Wossidlo Photography: ECS Bloomin' Bash 2014 &emdash; This past weekend was the "Blooming Bash" fundraising gala for the Environmental Charter School arts programs.  This is our third year participating in this event.  It is always a lot of fun, and everyone has a good time.  Even though our youngest is graduating this year, we're looking forward to doing this again next year.  We had a photo booth set up (backdrop, flash umbrellas, and goofy props) and printed 4x6 prints on the spot using the Epson PictureMate printer.  The PictureMate is great for this, because the prints come out fast, and are waterproof and smudgeproof.  Photos from the event can be found here.