The West Side Market

The West Side Market is an indoor/outdoor marketplace near Cleveland. Opened in 1912, it was one of three markets built to serve Cleveland's growing immigrant population. It continues to offer authentic and culturally-diverse food to Cleveland-area residents. It is a gem of the city.

The crowd in the market was light when I first arrived early on a Sunday morning. As the local churches emptied, the people seemed to pour in. Wanting to get this shot without too much of the crowd, I pulled out a 10-stop neutral density filter. That lengthened my exposures to around three minutes, which would blur out anyone who was walking through the shot. Even with those long exposures, you can still see there is activity around the crépe stand on the lower right of the frame - popular place! 

I shot for three hours and could have easily spent the entire day. As many of Cleveland's older structures are, this place is loaded with character. The building seems to be a cross between a subway station and something you would see in Gotham. The image above really showcases the scale of the marketplace, but most of the character is in the details, as seen in the photos below. I'm almost embarrassed to say that I recently discovered this place, but plan on returning again and again. There are unique food options and good prices can be found. You can even haggle a bit, if that's your thing.

Disappointment in Marblehead...

The Marblehead lighthouse, built in 1820, is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the Great Lakes. Apparently, it is also the location where I test my happiness with equipment.

For years, I shot with one lens on my camera.. an impressive 28-75mm Tamron that gives some Canon L lenses a run for their money. On a crop sensor Rebel, it did a great job and much of my portfolio was shot with that setup. However, it wasn't wide enough. One of the first signs that I felt limited in my equipment is that I couldn't fit the entire lighthouse in my frame, unless I was standing in Toledo.

Recently, I upgraded to a full frame camera and it came with a 24-105 lens. After all that time with my crop sensor, it felt like I could see the entire world at 24mm! While I was shooting four-shot panoramas with my Rebel, with my new setup I could get the entire scene in one frame. Impressive, for sure. I felt like it opened up a new world in landscape photography.

That being said, this was the last shot that I took with my 24-105. First light at Marblehead that day was marvelous. A bright strip of orange light was on the horizon and the lake was as still as I've seen it in quite some time. Still being February, it was only 17 degrees lakeside.. but it was bearable as there was little wind. As the image shows, I could fit the entire lighthouse in the image. However, during the shoot I was scrambling over the rocky shoreline, desperately searching for a location where I could get the foreground rocks AND lighthouse. The light was rising fast and eventually it would be brighter than I wanted. I got this shot, which I do like. The colors reflecting off the still lake really make the shot for me. However, I was slightly disappointed that I couldn't get as much shoreline as I wanted. This shot did not match what was in my head. The 24-105 simply.. wasn't wide enough for my needs.

A week later, a happy Ebayer got the 24-105 and I used that money to buy a 16-35. At press time, this photographer is gaga. I have no doubt in my mind that I made the right decision and am looking forward to seeing how it tests out in Marblehead. The extra 8mm is going to make a world of difference. Stay tuned.

The best still life ever...

The Cleveland Metroparks recently put on an "Owl Hootenanny" event at the North Chagrin Reservation. Various organizations brought in their owl ambassadors to educate the public about the benefits of having birds of prey in their neighborhood. The birds have been injured, often by cars, and are now taken care of in captivity. During the event, they had interesting presentations, featuring about ten owls.

After the last presentation, I noticed a group of people gathering around an area in the nature center. I walked over to see a motionless screech owl sitting on a branch, in a natural-looking setting. I started to take a few shots, thinking that the owl looked pretty great for.. no longer being alive. And then he blinked. Nice! I proceeded to take about 20-30 shots of the owl. Eventually, he grew tired of my presence and furrowed his brow. I took the shot above and then moved along.