The Urban Bourbon Trail

The clinking of glasses and sparkling laughter echoing off wood-paneled walls, caramel liquor in shining decanters, and wisps of smoke from a lit cigarette - these were the ghosts I imagined about The Old Seelbach Bar as we began on the Urban Bourbon Trail - similar in conception to the Bourbon Trail, but localized about Louisville.

The Seelbach Hotel has certainly seen its share of celebrities during its storied history and contributed in its own way to Americana - in fact, it served as the inspiration for the hotel where Tom and Daisy Buchanan got married in The Great Gatsby.  I love the Rathskeller Room too - one of their banquet rooms that is modeled (and named) after basement restaurant/bar spaces found under German city halls where council members and other people would congregate to discuss business, politics, and the shenanigans of the day.  For all the progress that has been made, I do love some of the old-world luxury feel from the Art Deco period.

Anyway, from The Seelbach, we wandered to the Maker's Mark Lounge at 4th Street Live and Asiatique.  On Sunday we also made it to Corbett's and Limestone.  I finished out my trip just one stamp shy of a free t-shirt for the Urban Bourbon Trail, a little bit intentionally so I'd have to go back!

Very Art Deco.  Not surprise F. Scott Fitzgerald drew inspiration from this place.
Got some practice with portraiture!  Ashley, rocking her model face, as usual.
Stamp in my passport!
An overhead light in the Rathskeller Room
<3 Maker's, did not <3 the bartender who stamped my passport upside down and made a crappy recommendation for my bourbon tasting flight.
Go big or go home: Pappy Van Winkle, aged 23 years, neat.  Easily the most expensive 2oz I've ever had.

More of the Urban Bourbon Trail
Hours to Date: 60

Portraits 101

I've been avoiding portraiture up until now... for good reason.  Personally, I find portraits to be the most difficult kinds of images to capture well.  The whole point of a "good" portrait is not only to convey the likeness of a person, but more importantly, to capture the personality, mood, the very essence of the individual.  Any powerful photo (of a person or not), should make the viewer feel something... my gut check is that if my reaction is simply "that's nice," it's a snapshot, not a photo.  And it's vastly easier to capture the feeling of a landscape or a still life that doesn't move while you're adjusting camera settings and composing the photo.

Not to mention the fact that we as humans are biologically pre-programmed to recognize and examine faces.  Newborn babies demonstrate a preference for looking at faces or face-like images.  There's even a specific brain area called the fusiform gyrus that is heavily involved in recognizing faces.  Several studies have associated damage to this area with the inability to recognize faces - a condition common enough to have its own name and Wikipedia entry - prosopagnosia.  But the psych major in me digresses.

All that said, the face is ultimately where human emotion is expressed.  According to psychologist Paul Ekman (one of my heroes in the field), there are 6 facial expressions that are universal to humans regardless of cultural upbringing and correspond to the following emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, fear, and surprise... and capturing these emotions genuinely and powerfully is really what a good portrait is all about.

Another added level of difficulty is that portraits are generally posed and most people develop a sort of anxious air about them while they're waiting and wondering what they look like and if their muffin top or wrinkles or whatever their chosen insecurity is showing.  Thus, as the photographer, I'm simultaneously adjusting aperture, shutter speeds, and composing the photo all while trying to engage the person in conversation to keep them distracted and natural as possible.  No wonder many photographers work with assistants to distract their subjects.

In any case... attempt #1 in portraiture yesterday afternoon was pretty weak by my reckoning.  I still consider these to be snapshots, not real portraits, but at least they're good snapshots of Niki and her pup, Woody!!  Thanks, Niki, for being a willing subject!!

A girl and her dog

Woody, the Wonder Pup!

Woody did not understand our attempt at the latest internet craze of dogbeards

Hours to Date: 14