So some exciting news to announce today! I have a friend who works at the MLB Network in New Jersey and yesterday I received an e-mail from her with a great opportunity. On April 4th, all of the on air personalities with the network will be present in the studio and I will be there as one of the photographers, taking both studio shots and head shots for the website. It is definitely an awesome opportunity to get some valuable experience as well as be in such a professional setting. I can’t wait!
On to today’s shot. As some of you may or may not know, the Civic Arena, old home of the Pittsburgh Penguins is being razed to make room for, well, something. Not quite sure yet what they plan to do with the space, but the deconstruction is well underway. The inside has been almost completely gutted and work began last weekend on the removal of the retractable roof, which has left a gaping hole in the top of the of the Igloo, as it is affectionately called in Pittsburgh (get it? Penguins play in it, rounded like an igloo? Ok good.). While you aren’t able to get too close to it, since it is pretty well barricaded, I had to settle being across the street to capture the above shot, which is a little sad to see. I’ve seen a Staney Cup won in that building (though not the Penguins, the Detroit Red Wings), I got to touch and have my picture taken with the Cup (the following year when the Pens did win it), saw one of my favorite musicians (Eric Clapton) and countless other hockey games and events. It will be sorely missed, as it has been an icon in Pittsburgh for over half a century.
That doesn’t mean that the new home of the Pens isn’t just plain awesome, because it is. State of the art in construction and with a nice shiny glass front, the CONSOL Energy Center is certainly something to marvel at as well, though it certainly is in stark contrast to the stone and steel of the Civic Arena! Hopefully CONSOL will stick around for just as long, if not longer than the good ol’ Igloo.
Thanks for stopping by today everyone. Catch you all tomorrow.
P.S. Punxsutawney Phil the Groundhog saw this shadow this morning, so 6 more weeks of winter for those of us in the Northeast!
Congrats Dave. Well deserved. Terrific images. I am surprised they didn’t dynamite the building as they do in other cities.
Sounds like an exciting opportunity Dave! Its sad to see some of these old landmarks go.
Congrats Dave! Sounds really cool! Awesome shots dude! I agree, I have a ton of memories and had great times at the Igloo as I talked about earlier in the week. It will be missed.
Congrats Dave on this great opportunity! It’s too bad this iconic landmark is being demolished. It’s a sweet looking building.
Too bad you cannot get in there to take a few shots of the crumbling wreckage. Sad to hear this is no longer going to be around.
Congrats! That would be so cool to have that opportunity. It’s really interesting to see old stadiums go down. I remember when they tore down the original Mile-High stadium. Sad to see it go, but now the new stadium is awesome!
Great stuff Dave! Cool reflections in the glass of the second shot 🙂
That’s incredible Dave…Congratulations. Wonderful shots.
Sad to see it go Dave, glad you have a chance to document the igloo before it’s gone
Congrats on that upcoming photo op, Dave! Awesome, man. Wishing you all the best.
Great shots and a very nice write-up. That Consol Center looks really state-of-the-art.
I often wonder how Punxsutawney Phil couldn’t see his shadow with all of those TV cameras and lights. 😉
Nice shots man and a big grats to you!
It looks like that building would have made a great place to visit between it closing and being ripped down, nice shot. Also, congrats on such a great opportunity, and a nice length of time in the distance to do any prep needed 🙂
cool shots my friend, and congrats on the gig, sounds awesome, have fun with it!
Sad to see an old sports arena go but thats life, nothing lasts for ever.
What a great opportunity at MLB, good luck with that Dave!
Sad to see this being torn down, and it will be difficult to build something worth it… Nice shots today. Seems like you have some very fond memories from this stadium.
I really admire your HDR work