It's rounding 8pm on the final day of 2015 and the weather is coming around to be more "wintery". Cincinnati saw snow flurries throughout the day, but nothing that stuck. Mother Nature is cutting the city a break and giving its inhabitants a cold but welcoming environment to invite the New Year in.
Batteries prepped, only a single lens on this camera is worthy of my street walks, my trusty 35mm. The 35mm on a Sony CMOS is a 52.5mm Full frame equivalent (for any gear heads reading) and is my absolute favorite as it's nearly an identical real world representation. It's not any wider than life with the naked eye, and not any closer.
I'm wrapping up the year with a venture into the crowds for all the candids one could wish for...
Turns out, it's colder than anticipated and the frozen fingertips are not the business. Plenty of people ventured to the Cincinnati Ice Rink at Fountain Square for fun and games. The crowd watches on as people compete, off the ice, in hoola hoop contests with plenty of bystanders warming themselves up under the space heaters.
After some brief dethawing, Cincinnati's own 16-Bit Bar+Arcade begins to draw a crowd as the time draws nearer to the ball drop. It's always fun running into friends, especially when they don't mind my shutter finger.
If you haven't dropped into this great bar, I can't recommend it enough. Buy a drink, play ALL the games and try not to hog any console. Oh, and if it's the season, keep your best hat on!
Hunger calls and the nice thing about OTR(over-the-rhine) is that you're really only walking two blocks in any direction for great food. My feet land me at Goodfellas Pizza on Main St.. It is a must, with large pizza slices and tremendously scrumptious breadsticks.
Finishing up my meal, a small group wearing New Year's hats venture in. Delighted to find that we have met before on another photo shoot, I'm welcomed into their group for the New Year.
While I tend to adventure solo, with no true plans in mind when it comes to photo nights, I found myself staying put with this newfound group and heading upstairs in Goodfellas to Wise Guys, an old time style bar with a decent view of the activity on the streets below.
After a few trips back and forth between Wise Guys and 16-Bit, the night comes to a close.
Here's to a New Year, complete with random gigs, more photographic inspiration and hopefully a year full of travel. If I had to choose a buzzword for what I envision 2016 to be filled with, I'd have to say Compassion is my choice. Find your buzzword and don't let go of it, in any situation.
Below is a gallery of the location shots from OTR. In order: 16-Bit Bar+Arcade, Goodfellas Pizza, and Wise Guys Bar. Happy New Year ladies and gents!
