Cleveland Christmas 2016 Tremont

The Story:

The last few posts have been describing how I stumbled into a candid portrait of my brother Carl for my parents, and then how I tackled one of my sister.  I was partly working my way in order, and possibly maybe saving the most difficult for last.  My youngest brother Peter is well known in the family for not having a natural smile. Since he was very young, his attempts at smiling for the camera have looked forced.  When he’s actually laughing?  Totally normal smile.  Camera? Weird smile.  Thus, I decided to procrastinate on Peter’s picture.

I was home in Cleveland during the winter of 2016 to visit for Christmas.  We ventured down to the Tremont neighborhood to visit Sokolowski’s University Inn, a legendary family-owned Polish restaurant.  Sokolowski’s typically has a line out the door, so we were happy to find a quiet afternoon because the food was excellent.  Afterwards, we walked down the street to one of the many script “Cleveland” signs about the city.  A boon to social media posts around town to promote the city, this one along Abbey Avenue has a great view of downtown across the Cuyahoga River Valley.

The Shot:

I took shots of the other kids to warm up, trying to find a decent angle.  Typically this sign is crawling with families, but we had again found a lull, which was good for me.  I eventually settled on the focus on Peter with several distinctive buildings in the background but out of focus to give context.  There would be little confusion of where the picture was with the Terminal Tower, Key Tower, and Federal Courthouse as a backdrop.

More importantly, Peter has grown out of the forced smile.  Waiting was, apparently, the key.  The shot is a little skewed to being washed out with the very light clouds and snow on the ground, however it is otherwise a nice picture for my parents.