Photo Recap: The Women's March in Philly

So today I joined upwards of 50,000 men, women, and children at the Women's March here in Philadelphia early this morning. Of course people were marching in cities all over the country and  world, with global sister marches happening in Paris, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Bangkok, Delhi and Capetown - to name a few. This was my first time marching in such a large event so I didn't really know what to expect.  When I was in college, I attended Barack Obama's first inauguration which clocked in at a smooth 1.8 million people. Thinking back to that event as I prepared for today, I remember that even though the inauguration crowds were massive and a bit daunting, there was an awesome spirit of hope, inclusion, and solidarity. The best part about it was that it brought together so many people from all different backgrounds, ages, etc. for one common purpose. I knew I had to make plans to go to the march today, even if trekking all the way to D.C. for the main event wasn't going to be a realistic option. I'm so glad that I did!

My four-day work week was super busy so I had zero time to fashion up my own sign ahead of the event. Lucky for me, Amberella (a local street-artist whose work I secretly fan-girl over) let her IG followers know that she was giving out a limited batch of goth heart signs to both D.C. and Philly marchers. Pieces of her goth hearts series are all over the city (and country), usually in the most unassuming of places. I always get excited when I randomly stumble upon one here in Philly. The city had some *awesome* hand made signs out there on the parkway. I mean, wow! I tried to get a few photos of the crowds and the friends I met up with along the way:

My coworker Hayley made this lil' gem:

This guy told me that even though he didn't have a sign, he wanted to, "walk in her shoes" today.  And walk he did, I mean, I probably couldn't take more than three steps in those heels! 

I got a lot of really nice compliments on the jacket I wore today, which I literally just DIY-ed last night. I bought a $13 bomber jacket, and then printed up some iron-on images to go on the back and front of the jacket. It took me a couple of minutes to think about what I wanted to print on the back, but when I eventually narrowed my options down, I went with the name of one of my favorite Janelle Monae songs. I was really happy with how it came out considering I didn't have a lot of time to make it!

P.S. If you haven't heard it before, the video is below for your viewing pleasure! 

Until next time,

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A Visit to Czerw's: The Finest Homemade Polish Kielbasa

If you ever find yourself passing through the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, you better include a stop at Czerw's (pronounced 'CHEVZ'). If you don't ever find yourself passing through Port Richmond, then you absolutely should, because Czerw's is the kind of local spot that puts us on the map. No, seriously! I spoke to the owner and he told me that he has people come from all over the country just to bring back some authentic Polish food with them. It's THAT good. I find myself stopping at Czerw's from time to time because it's about a 3-4 minute walk from our house here in Port Richmond. This week I had a coworker (who lives in south Philadelphia) who asked that I stop in and pick up a few packages of pierogies for her.

Czerw's has a deep seated history here in Philadelphia that dates back to 1938. The image below hangs right next to the front door when you walk into Czerw's. Jan Czerw is the fellow in the top hat, standing next to the horse-drawn carriage. When you visit Czerw's in person, you'll quickly realize that there probably hasn't been too much that has changed since grandfather Czerw owned and operated the joint. There's no fancy bells and whistles or frills, just a well-stocked meat case, a refrigerator filled with fresh, handmade pierogies and a small selection of jarred tomatoes, pickles and sauces. I can totally understand why the family has decided to keep the place mainly in it's original condition, after all - why should you bothering fixing something that's working when it's not broken?

This was a slightly different visit for me since I had some time to take a few photos and chat with the owner, a living relative of Jan Czerw. One of the things I noticed on this visit was the small selection of pig tchotchkes on top of the meat case. Cute, right? 

You enter Czerw's through an unassuming aluminum door (to the left of the picture above) that more times than not has a paper sign attached to it with the store's hours. When I showed up on Monday, there was a sign that said that they were sold out because of the Easter holiday. When I came back later in the week, everything was pretty much stocked back up. My favorite things to order are the smoked kielbasa, Polish slim jims, smoked bacon and of course...the handmade pierogies which come in a variety of delicious flavors. After you have some authentic Polish food like this, it's really hard to go back to the store-brought stuff. It's pretty much all amazing - I haven't had anything I haven't liked so far. That open door to the right is where they do the meat smoking. The owner (who is legitimately the nicest person I have ever met in Philadelphia) took me into the back to check out where the magic is made. Vegetarians beware though...I'll let the pictures do the talking.

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Digital Beginnings Workshop at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center

On Saturday I attended a three-hour photography workshop called "Digital Beginnings".  The workshop was held at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center located in the beautifully post-industrial Crane Arts building. I had been considering signing up for a workshop for quite some time now but the $60 price point made me reconsider. I was poking around on Living Social one day a few weeks ago when lo and behold a 50%-off workshop deal popped up! The workshop ended up costing me about $28 and there were exactly 5 other people in the class, which made it even cooler.  My instructor was super friendly and helpful and we were given a full print-out of the presentation to take notes on. I am beyond excited to FINALLY understand the basics of owning and operating a digital SLR. Seriously though, why did I wait so long to sign up for something like this?

So the workshop included a really good overview of aperture, lighting, shutter speed, camera modes, ISO, focal length, correct exposure and also discussed the different advantages of shooting in different file formats. Some of the other things we discussed were the differences between medium and large format digital SLRs, the difference between Canon and Nikon cameras and how to properly take care of and store your lenses. According to the PPAC's website, "this workshop is the first step in gaining control over your photography" and I definitely feel like I finally understand some of the reasons my photography has been so mediocre over the past few years! After about two hours of a detailed presentation from our instructor, we were taken outside to put some of our newly acquired skills to the test.  

Ok so there wasn't a whole lot to take pictures of right outside of the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, but one of the things I was really focusing on after the presentation was apeture, "bokeh" (basically my new favorite word - it's the art of having a blurry background and a sharp foreground, you see this effect on a ton of blogs) and composition. I have gotten really frustrated at how blurry my photos have been lately, especially when I take them at events for work. This class made me realize that just playing around with the settings in my camera is way different from actually knowing what settings do what. Once you know the basics, it is actually pretty easy to get a nice, sharp picture. I took all of these photos during the workshop and even though I didn't have the most inspiring subject matter, I think they came out really great.

Our instructor gave us some fun, little "photo challenges" while we spent time outside. They included having us all take pictures of the same thing from a variety of different angles (I didn't know that you don't actually have to always have the light aimed directly at your object - switching it up can produce some really subtle effects!), incorporating shadows and making sure we were using the right settings for our subject matter.  I was the only person in the class with multiple lenses and one of the things I made sure I did was leave with a solid understanding of what lenses to use for different purposes. I took all of these photos with about three different lenses. Spring is starting to bloom here in Philadelphia so luckily there were some pretty flowers and blossoms to focus on!
  

This is the only photo I took while I was inside the PPAC. The space also doubles as an art gallery  and event space and also features different local artists and exhibitions.

When I left the workshop, I was so excited to keep taking pictures.  This class was a serious game changer and I am totally going to make use of the Living Social deal (which is still going on!) and buy another few classes.  It has been the best $28 I have spent my money on in a very long time.  I want to eventually feature more mural artwork on the blog so I tested my skills out at this really cool one located at 3rd and Girard in Northern Liberties. 

After this one workshop, I'm definitely looking forward to attending a few more and featuring some more high quality photography on the blog. Until next time!

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