These photos were shot on a quick trip up to Coney Island in summer 2025 with my girlfriend.
Being based in Philadelphia, I don’t get up to Coney Island much—usually I stick to the Jersey Shore, which is far closer. Recently, though, we’ve had a few reasons to be in the Brighton Beach area, so we decided to detour and wander around for the afternoon.

The weather was gloomy—unseasonably cold, damp, and overcast—so the black-and-white film did it justice. When I loaded the HP5, I was hoping for bright sun, but got quite the opposite. Still, I’m not disappointed with how the images turned out. The darker exposures really show off the grain in a way I surprisingly don’t hate. There’s just something about these that I really like.

The Birds are World Champions again. Jalen Hurts is MVP, the Chiefs are down, and Philadelphia is on fire (in the good way).

The 2017 Super Bowl parade was one of the greatest days of my life. Nothing will ever fully top that first one—but the 2025 parade came pretty close. The weather was perfect, the city felt electric, and we had a great spot around Broad and Lombard/Pine with a clear view of the route.

These photos were taken in Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Park in the fall of 2024. I love walking through the Wiss—especially in autumn, when the trees are changing colors and the whole valley fills with contrast and depth.

We started at the Wissahickon Regional Rail station and walked almost all the way to Valley Green. The weather was crisp but not too cold. We spent some time near the dog beach, playing fetch with a few very friendly pups. A lot of my favorite frames in this batch are the bridge shots—the way the fall colors frame the structure feels exactly like why I love shooting this place.

I love the Philadelphia Flower Show—it’s one of the most vibrant, overwhelmingly colorful events of the year. The convention center can get a little stuffy, and my allergies definitely don’t love it, but it’s always worth the trip.

This year’s show had a particularly gorgeous set of displays. I brought my Pentax K1000 and decided to give my rarely used Albinar 35mm K-mount macro lens some time in the spotlight. I can’t find much information about the lens online beyond it being a cheaper department-store option, but at this year’s show it absolutely delivered.

Budapest was the final stop of my trip — and a wonderful way to close out an unforgettable journey across Europe. By the time I arrived, I was fully in the groove of solo travel and completely ready to enjoy everything the city had to offer.

I continued my tradition of riding historic transit, starting with Metro Line 1 one of the oldest subway lines in the world and then hopping trams across the city. A lot of my time was spent near Liberty Bridge (Szabadság híd), sitting above the Danube during sunset with a cold Hungarian beer in hand. Those evenings were simple and perfect.