At the Sal y Dulce Festival

The Shutterbugs and I were excited to be at this year's Sal y Dulce Colombian Holiday Festival which was sponsored by Acción Colombia. Check out the cool pix!

Closing Reception of 2 Cultures

My Shutterbugs were on hand to help me celebrate the closing of my latest exhibition, "Two Cultures," at the Light Room Gallery. In May of next year the gallery will be hosting a show of the Shutterbugs' work along with their partners from Grupo Flormorado in Colombia. Stay tuned for more info!

Bake Sale!

For a whole week the Shutterbugs had a bake sale to raise money for our trip to Colombia. Thanks to all the parents, teachers, and students who participated!

Shutterbugs Jashira, Aunna, and Seanna at our Bake Sale.

Wissahickon Walk

After visiting the seniors at the Germantown Adult Center I took the Shutterbugs to one of my favorite places in Philadelphia, Forbidden Drive, which runs alongside the Wissahickon River in Fairmount Park. Walking along this path it is easy to forget that you are still in Philadelphia as here are no cars honking or whizzing by, just the peaceful sounds of nature.

Working with Seniors

For the past 2 months the Shutterbugs have been working on an intergenerational project with a wonderful group of seniors from the Germantown Adult Center. In this exciting project the students will document photographically the life journey of their partner senior. Their final projects will be exhibited in the Spring along with other projects from around the city.

Students and seniors getting to know one another.

Teaching seniors how to edit photos and make slideshows.

Stetson Art Teacher Mary Pat Coyle teaches students and seniors how to make image transfers with liquid starch.

Below: Seniors show off their artwork.

Shutterbugs at Hispanic Choice Awards

Members of the Shutterbugs and I at this year's Hispanic Choice Awards on Oct. 11,  at the Kimmel Center.

Shutterbugs meet Colombia partners on Skype!

Last week marked the historic beginning of the cultural exchange between the Stetson Shutterbugs and my students of Grupo Flormorado in La Florida, Colombia. The students got to meet and talk to each other for the first time using Skype. Starting next week they will be paired with a parter and start their exchange of words, photos, videos and stories! Check out this short video snippet of their first meeting!

Shutterbugs and Stetson in Puerto Rican Parade

The Shutterbugs were proud to march alongside Stetson and ASPIRA staff at this year's Puerto Rican Parade!

Shutterbugs at Feria del Barrio

The Shutterbugs were out in force at this year's Feria del Barrio, which was sponsored as always by Taller Puertorriqueño. Pictured from L to R are, Asia, Tony Rocco, Francheska Robles, Mary Pat Coyle, Walter Acosta and Jonathan Sanchez. Thanks to Ryan Brandenberg for the photo!

My interview at my first exibit

When the guy interviewed me for his video about Northern Liberties that will soon be up on youtube it made me really happy because I know people are going to see our blog and start supporting us.

Get off my car

During our exhibit we were outside and then a police car parked near a fire hydrant.So while the police guy was inside getting pizza my friend Gennyliz decided to give the officer a ticket for parking near a fire hydrant.I took this picture while she was putting the ticket with Rashawn and then the officer came and looked at them and smiled. I added the thought bubble because he looked like he was thinking "Get off my car" and I added the smiling face because he looked happy not mad.

P.S. thanks to all the people who came to our exhibit and supported us all the way and thanks to all the people who are still going to see our work at the Rustica Pizzeria.

our photo shoot

when mr.Rocco was inside talking me & a couple of girls went outside with the camera & played model here are a couple of the pictures :D

An inivitation

The Stetson Shutterbugs Photography Club will be showcasing their work this Friday from 4 - 6PM at Rustica Pizza, located at 2nd and Poplar Sts. The exhibition will demonstrate several of the photographic processes the students have learned, including pinholes, photograms, and digital imaging. The Shutterbugs would like to thank everyone that made this show possible, including Stetson Charter School, Arts Rising, The Light Room, Rustica Pizza, Christpher Co., Cheltenham Camera Club, and all the generous photographers who donated us equipment. We hope you can join us!

For more information about the exhibition email instructor Tony Rocco at chicodecali@yahoo.com.

look at my contact sheets

Here is a photo of Ivelise looking amazed as she looks through her images on her first contact sheet.

Developing our first Film/Contact Sheets

Here is Jashira practicing
loading film with her eyes closed.

Here is a picture of one of our first contact sheets.

Mr. Rocco took us out around the neighborhood with our cameras to take pictures of things that we see every day in our community. Then we developed our first negatives in our darkroom. After that we made our first contact sheets by shining light through our negatives with the enlargers.

The beauty of nature

Mr.Rocco gave us an assignment to pick a picture so, I picked this picture from the Internet because it caught my eye when I first saw it. The elephants are just hanging out in the wild. Also the picture has a lot of bright colors and it makes the elephants pop out more. It looks so beautiful!

Virgin Mary Is Coming For You

My assignment was to look for a picture on the Internet that caught my attention. I picked this picture because it caught my attention and I love how supposedly the image of Virgin Mary is almost coming out of a tree. The image has the same colors like the Virgin Mary. It looks like the Virgin Mary is coming for you out of a tree. If look at the light in the picture it looks like that picture was token on a cloudy day.

Taking A Break

The reason i put the title Taking A Break is because we were walking around every where.Then we took a break and i thought since we're here lets take the picture.

The reason you couldn't see me or the person with me in the picture unless you look directly at parts of the picture.Is because We moved after a few minutes next to where we were sitting originally to make it as we were in both places at the same time. Thanks for your time.

favorite photo

This was an assignment ,Mr.Rocco told us to find a picture we like and tell him what we admire about the photo. I love this picture because it shows my favorite bird in my favorite color.No human was in the picture and the focus was all on the bird that is why I love this picture.

My favorite picture assignment

Mr.rocco told us to find a picture that we found interesting so i went online and. I picked this picture because well it's kinda hard to explain. It kinda reminded me about how beautiful nature truly is when it is uninhabited by humans it's such a peaceful moment. And i think it's so hard for a photographer to capture such a serene detailed moment. thats why i picked this picture.

First Friday in Old City!

Today the Shutterbugs had their first art gallery experience when we went to First Friday in Old City to see an exhibition of photographs by Al Wachlin, Jr.,  co-president of The Light Room (which has donated much equipment and supplies to the Shutterbugs). First Friday is a FREE monthly event where all the galleries in Old City have openings showcasing new art. The event attracts thousands of people and creates a festival type atmosphere. Check out the images and video below!

Here are the Shutterbugs along with teacher Mr. Rocco and staff from Rustica Pizza in Northern Liberties. Rustica Pizza is a sponsor of the Shutterbugs (and has great pizza!).

Walter photographing some sculpture in Northern Liberties.

Shutterbugs with photographer Al Wachlin Jr. at his opening in Old City.

Artsy bike rack.

Cool photo of the famous Christ Church in Old City.

You meet lots of interesting people at First Friday. Isn't Christmas in December?