Elbee Studio offers editorial portrait, travel, architectural, product and food photography, plus writing & design services for clients in Cleveland, Ohio and beyond.

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Caught up in Walleye Madness

How in the world do you explain a New Year’s Eve event in which a big fish is dropped from a crane at the stroke of midnight? I suppose quirky comes to mind first.

While millions of eyeballs are tuned in to watch a sparkly ball of light descend on a pole in New York’s Times Square, there’s something very fishy going on in Port Clinton, Ohio. However, it’s perfectly acceptable in this small lakeside town that is known as the “Walleye Capital of the World.”

Since its start in 1996, Walleye Madness has grown in popularity as word gets out about its existence. In fact, the travel website TravelAdvisor.com ranked the event as one of America’s Top 10 Quirkiest New Year’s Eve Events for 2010.

After three years working for Lake Erie Living magazine, I felt it was finally time to see what makes Walleye Madness so alluring.

READ MORE . . .

January 2, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Ice-covered lighthouse makes international news

Ice-coved lighthouse on Lake ErieThe Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse has made world news this winter after waves from Lake Erie, propelled by high winds, turned it into an ice structure.

The lighthouse was automated in 1965 and the Fresnel lens was removed and donated to the Great Lakes Science Center, where it is on display.

Now, photos of the lighthouse are on display the world over. After a local photographer took some of the first images of the ice sculpture forming, the lighthouse went viral, appearing on news outlets the world over, including Pakistan.

December 23, 2010 | Categories: Cleveland, Lake Erie, lighthouse, Ohio | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Photo contest finalist

My photo of a Tuareg man in Timbuktu, Mali, has been chosen as a finalist in a Travel & Leisure magazine photo contest and I would appreciate your vote by December 31. The magazine leaves it up to the world at large to vote on the finalists. Unfortunately, that means the photos with the most votes win and not necessarily the best photo.

Given that, I’d be remiss to NOT to lobby for your vote. It will require you to register, but it’s not a long process, especially if you have an OpenID. Click now to vote.

I appreciate your support!

December 10, 2010 | Categories: Mali, Photo Contests, travel | Leave A Comment »

Impressions

Here’s another reason why I hope print publications will never die completely. I love seeing images in print. It’s just not the same when photographs are crammed inside a computer monitor; you can almost hear the pixels crying out for the opportunity to experience offset printing.

When I saw my photo of White Sands National Monument splashed across a spread in the latest issue of New Mexico Magazine, it took my breath away.

I was just as impressed with the winners of the 10th Annual New Mexico Magazine Photo Contest. Not only do I love holding the magazine and flipping through the pages, I also love to see other people’s view of my second home. Tons of visitors see New Mexico in the summer, but most of winning photographs represent a moment in time that the casual tourist may never see, such as a snowstorm in the Sandia Mountains or the expression on a child who has just performed a Native American dance.

The best thing I can hope for is that a photograph, whether mine or someone else’s, will make people want to visit a place or be inspired to take their own photos. Better still, perhaps someone will capture something special on camera and experience the joy of seeing it printed in the pages of a magazine.

In the meantime, show your support for print publications (and for my livelihood). Pick up an issue of New Mexico Magazine, Cleveland Magazine, Lake Erie Living or another favorite read!

December 9, 2010 | Categories: Alamogordo, New Mexico, travel, White Sands | 1 Comment »

Going Up

a man on a freight elevatorI love the old freight elevator in Cleveland’s ArtCraft Building.

I love that the elevator operator’s shirt matched the red walls.

I love the fact that there are still people employed as elevator operators in an age where automation is the rule.

“It’s my second day on the job,” he told me. Only day two, and the guy had already seen plenty of action. The day before, a photographer with a studio in the building photographed a musician and her cello in the elevator. He didn’t bat an eye when I asked if I could photograph him.

I was there to shoot another assignment, but I couldn’t pass this up, because this slice of Americana could be gone tomorrow.

November 21, 2010 | Categories: Portrait | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Aley and Lizzie

Photographing children is always a pleasure, but you have to be quick. Chances are they’d rather be playing something a lot more fun than “picture time,” and they aren’t going to sit still for long. Aley and Lizzie were both very energetic, which made for some wonderful candid shots. Taken November 10, 2010.

November 11, 2010 | Categories: Portrait | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Burn, Baby, Burn

While a wacko pastor in Florida was contemplating the burning of the Koran this week, I was attending a wacky event: the ritual burning of Zozobra in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The burning of the 50-foot-tall marionette signifies an emotional cleansing of gloom; and the sign of better things to come. The event begins with fire dancers taunting “Old Man Gloom,” while he moans and groans feverishly and tries to swat them away. The crowd chants, “Burn Him!”

This ritual goes on, for what seem like forever; but suddenly he seems to self-combust and flames engulf his arms and face. He continues to writhe as his whole body catches on fire, and then he collapses completely. Within a couple of minutes after ignition, Zozobra disappears into a giant bonfire.


The Burning of Zozobra

Zozobra was born in 1924, when Santa Fean Will Schuster created the mythical being for a private party for artists and writers in the community. The idea behind the event is nothing new. In fact, the inspiration for Zozobra came from the Holy Week celebrations of the Yaqui Indians of Mexico, where an effigy of Judas, filled with fireworks, is led around their villages on a donkey and later burned.

These days, the Zozobra Festival has become the year’s largest fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe.

September 12, 2010 | Categories: Events | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

On a row

Katie Spots
In 2010, Katie Spotz became the youngest woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean. This photo was picked up by the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and also featured in an interstitial about remarkable women on Lifetime Television produced by River Street Productions.

Check out the video here.

Find out more about Katie’s journey at http://wwwrowforwater.com.

July 12, 2010 | Categories: Rowing, sports | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

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