Philadesigns » Photos

Melissa’s 30th

Carl — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:38:04 +0000

I’ve been living a lie for the past two months. In an effort to get Melissa over to Top Hat in Old City for her surprise 30th party, I had to come up with a lavish scheme. So, I invented a character named Sebastian Fruehauf: an award-winning marketing guru from Holland that was now living in Philly and working with struggling restaurants to rebrand them.

I created a GMAIL account and had Sebastian contact me in the hopes of discussing a new web site for Front & Palmer (a site I personally thought needed a boost anyway). Located in Fishtown near our house, Front & Palmer would be a dream client for me. Through a series of GMAIL conversations, I had Sebastian find out that Melissa was a photographer, and that if he needed some professional photos taken, she would be perfect.

Of course, Sebastian was not so responsive. He was a typical busy yet ultra savvy marketing genius that barely had time to email back. But when he expressed interest in Melissa as well, I soon was on the way to setting up the meeting of 7:15 pm, Saturday, July 3rd at Top Hat.

Turns out that Sebastian’s office was located in Old City, and we made sketchy plans to meeting him “sometime at the end of June”. As the end of June approached, Sebastian turned festive and wanted us to meet him for a drink instead. I figured Gigi Lounge, right next to Top Hat, would be ideal. We had a few date changes, but July 3rd got nailed down.

On meeting day / surprise party day, Melissa insisted we walk from Fishtown to Old City. I thought this was odd, since it was so hot, but I made sure we had plenty of time. We decided to cut through the Piazza in Northern Liberties, but a massive concert event slowed us down immensely, and we had to jog around a lot of crowds.

In Old City, amazingly, I realized that we had gotten there too early. Melissa’s friends were still inside Top Hat setting up decorations. So, I faked a semi nervous breakdown and sat on a bench a block away, saying that I needed to get a breather. Finally, I was able to text my buddy Rich the words “5 min” and we headed to Top Hat.

I had explained to Melissa that we weren’t going to Gigi Lounge anymore, and that Sebastian had changed the destination to some other place near Gigi, but I couldn’t remember which one. I walked up the steps of Top Hat and Melissa reluctantly followed. She questioned if we were at the right place. I don’t know, I said. She seemed really agitated with me at this point and I eventually got her to the top doorway where she was afraid to walk through. With both hands at her back, I pushed her in.

Paulette, Melissa, and Allyson

Jonathan of Slingluff Gallery and my Dad.

Dave, Brandi, Alison, Jen, and Jenn

Marc, Brian, and Missy

View more photos!

Kinetic Sculpture Derby

Carl — Sat, 22 May 2010 23:14:27 +0000

Caught some of the Kinetic Sculpture Derby today as we walked around the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival. Below are some snaps and crappy video footage shot on Susquehanna Ave. outside Bella Sera, right before the derby ended in the mud pit.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Christy and Nick’s Wedding

Carl — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:38:47 +0000

Great time last night at Nick and Christy’s wedding at the Ocean Place in Long Branch, New Jersey. Their outdoor beachside ceremony was far from cookie-cutter, tinged with Caribbean sounds, and highly personalized, which for these guys = fun. Here’s some photos from the reception and bonfire on the beach.

A few drinks and the photo booth is always fun.

Their “sign-in book” was a surfboard. Dope.

Celebrity Kids Reunion…

Melissa and Faith jump by the ocean.

Nice-sized bonfire, ready to torch your S’mores.

Not sure who this band was, but they rocked the beach with covers — Hendrix, Zeppelin, and Sublime.

Philly Spring Cleanup

Carl — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:55:05 +0000

I spent a few hours on Saturday working with the Philly Spring Cleanup in Fishtown, trying to get Delaware Avenue off of Berks Street beautified. We bagged a lot of junk, but the many abandoned buildings that seem to be havens for druggies are the main problem of this area. These buildings are unattainable yet encased with so much litter that the wind will eventually bring it to the streets. Hopefully when Sugarhouse gets completed, these eyesores will be removed.

Melissa and Ryann try to figure out what to do with a fallen and crumbling wooden sign.

Melissa strikes a pose while Ryann lines up the sign for the eventual huge job the trash men will have.

Mike and Alison dig into the litter that was mostly intertwined with weeds.

Ryann and his Charlie shirt, Charlie looking at the litter in disgust. Melissa and Alison slack off in the background! ; )

Ryann gets interviewed by Action News…

Action News Video…And We Made It In!

Hipstamatic

Carl — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 20:45:34 +0000

Been playing around with the Hipstamatic iPhone app, a great $1.99 little gem that produces some vintage looking shots. The gorgeous graphical interface was designed to look just like the 1982 original camera, and it is ridiculously fun and simple to use.

Upon buying the app, you get:

3 Lenses

John S
Jimmy
Kaimal Mark II

2 Flashes

Standard
Dreampop

4 Film Types

BlacKeys B+W
Kodak Verichrome
Ina’s 1969
Blanko

Buy Even More Options

With all of those options, there’s loads of shot variations to enjoy. There’s also extra lenses, gels, flashes, and film to that you can buy from the Hipstamatic store to power up your camera even more. The “in-app” store allows you to purchase new items without even leaving the app.

What Does The App Look Like?

Check out this video showing how the Hipstamatic works:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Send Photos

Also within the app, you can send the photos directly to your Facebook and Flickr accounts.

Here are some shots initial shots that I took playing around with the camera. Depending on the lens that you chose, a unique frame border is added to the final result.

Our kitchen with a washed out 70s orange look.

Pensive Santucci wondering what the hell I am doing on my knees holding my iPhone.

Backyard ceramic sun decoration.

Miss Piggy has seen the light!

Groggy pre-coffee me on a Saturday morning.

Who the heck doesn’t have a gnome?

Santucci moments from biting my ankles.

Backyard sky…I know…You’re jealous of the view.

Alley way to heaven?

Someone was throwing out this poor ole plastic Santa, leaving him face down in the litter, awaiting the hands of the trash men.

OK, I know…My photos suck!

Check out these way better examples:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Holy Martyrs Reunion

Carl — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:01:40 +0000

This past January, Greg Lester and I came up with the idea of having a “grade school” reunion. For us, it was the Holy Martyrs 8th Grade Class of 1988. We had a relatively small class back then, of approximately 25 people, and only 9 of us could make it. But, we really didn’t give much notice, and are planning on doing another one soon, possibly this Thanksgiving.

Below is a photos of us, partying it up at the Oreland Inn, in good ole Oreland, PA — home of Holy Martyrs as well as two homes that I lived in as a child. I’m looking forward to exploring my old digs there this spring.

Photo by: Tim Thornton

Enchantment Under The Sea

Carl — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:14:14 +0000

After spending the afternoon catching up with my old friend, Brad, who was visiting from out of town, we all headed to Philebrity’s Enchantment Under The Sea Dance at 2424 Studios. Since it’s walkable, it was doable, as our street, Memphis Street, was shut down due to dangerous jagged ice that was making cars slide off the rode into parked cars. As of the next morning, the ice was still bad, and a garbage truck slammed into a parked Audi.

Melissa darts towards the camera.

PBR was plentiful…until they ran out.

Blood Feathers…the band…good stuff.

Melissa and I…The punch was the way to go.

Melissa

Brad and Melissa walking down the 2nd Street El stop.

More Snow Action

Carl — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:46:48 +0000

Are you sick of snow photos and posts about this? I almost am… After it snowed all day 2/10/10, I had some serious cabin fever and went to lunch at Johnny Brenda’s with Melissa. Here are some photos from the walk down.

Welcome to Fishtown! Stop and smell the roses.

Memphis Street Faux Plow Job

Can’t get more simpler than this sign.

Girard Street, facing “City Center”, as Chef Ramsay likes to say.

Melissa and the Fishtown Market

Melissa walks down Columbia Avenue

Trash Can Eyes

Updated! With Even More Snow Action

Here’s a little clip of Melissa and I walking around the brunt of the storm. We didn’t make it far because it was just too cold to tolerate and our gear was getting wet.

Click here to view the embedded video.

DIY Beer Sled

Carl — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:29:47 +0000

Here is a photo, taken by my wife, of me with the Beer Sled that I made this past weekend during the 28.5″ storm. Just grab a large plastic trash can lid, drill a hole through it with a bore bit, loop in some rope, tie it up and stack two cases to the bad boy! Sure, you can take your 4-wheel drive SUV and do it, but this is a great workout as well.

28.5 Inches

Carl — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:18:30 +0000

The local news was calling for 16 inches of snow tops and we got 28.5 inches on Saturday, February 6th, 2010. The night before, as the storm was just descending on Philadelphia, Melissa and I ventured out with friends Jen & Fred and took in some of Fishtown’s First Friday.

After leaving Atlantis: The Lost Bar, Jen and Melissa celebrate as the snow finally starts sticking to the roads.

After leaving Memphis Tap Room, the snow was really starting to accumulate and walking home got rough.

Melissa stands in front of our house.

Our house is a “Circular Free” property, so don’t go stuffing Chinese restaurant, deli, and pizzeria menus in our box. This also applies to politicians running for office, Jehovah’s Witness, and Girl Scouts.

Melissa cleans off my car the next day. Of course, I don’t plan on driving until all this stuff melts.

Not sure what the heck this pose is all about, but it was brought on my extreme snow chills.

After clearing off the sidewalks, I decided to go get some beers, since we only had 3 bottles of Yards Philly Pale Ale left. Instead of driving, I drilled a hole in a plastic trash can lid and fastened some rope to it. I figure it would be a good size to pull two cases of beer with. We walked several blocks to the Philadelphia Beer Company distributor on York Street and “sledded” the two cases of beer back on the trash can lid. Worked perfectly, and was a nice workout.