He fell in love with Cincinnati while studying for his masters at Xavier University. Michael Poggioli spent four years in the Queen City, exploring his love of street photography and the city he called home, in-between his psychology coursework and his job at a Vine Street coffee shop. Poggioli's unique stylized photos of the city are stunning, exploiring the city's iconic landmarks, including Carew Tower, Fountain Square and Cincinnati Union Terminal. He takes readers to heights for views the public can't see: top of the Roebling, above Great American Ball Park, and high above the Ohio River and neighborhoods without use of a drone. Using light to its fullest, he brings out the golden colors of twilight, the morning glow and nighttime views so spectacular, it makes one wonder how he does it. Michael explains how he got to Xavier, how he shot the images and how those who love the Queen City can take home a piece of home.
Click here for info on Michael and his book
See Cincinnati Dreaming & Buy Now
Click here for info on Michael and his book
See Cincinnati Dreaming & Buy Now
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This week on iHeart Sinsey.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You know, President Thomas Jefferson once said the Ohio River
is the most beautiful river on Earth.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Pretty bold.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
From the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, Cincinnati's uniqueness
stood out. Meanwhile, rich builder John Roebling his iconic blue
Robling Bridge a critical crossing between the Queen City and Covington, saying, quote,
it will possess great claims as a national monument, as
a splendid work of the modern engineering and construction, it
will stand unrivaled upon the continent end quote. Cincinnati's beauty
(00:35):
is still celebrated in a new table book coming out
this week, photographed by Mike Pijoli, a Xavier University grad
student from New York who studied by day and cataloged
the town by early morning and twilight. Cincinnati Dreaming is
coming out Tuesday, and later we'll switch gears and talk
about learning the trades while getting paid. A local nonprofit
(00:57):
called Building Value has a program to teach people how
to work in construction while getting paid for it.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
And there's a lot of opportunity for people to start
careers in plumbing, electrical carpentry, steel cement.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Today Cheryl Woodhouse is here to talk about the program
that hires out demolition and deconstruction teams and has a
retail store to reuse much of what would normally go.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
To a landfill. Now on iHeart Cincy with Sandy Collins.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Mike Pajolie, Welcome to iHeart Cincy, and I'm talking to
you from the Cincinnati studios where you used to live
down the street from us Heerra a few years ago.
And you have photographed Cincinnati and published a new book
which we want to talk about today. And I really
want to encourage listeners to if you love Cincinnati or
(01:46):
you know someone who loves Cincinnati, this is going to
be a spectacular table book for them.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's called Cincinnati Dreaming.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So Mike, welcome to the show, and appreciate you taking
your time today.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Of course, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
And it's a pleasure to be on your show.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So for anybody who knows anything about photography, capturing a moment,
the beauty of a scene, of feeling, it is not
an easy thing to do. It's just more than pointing
and shooting. And your images of the city of Cincinnati
in this new book are absolutely stunning. You have a
real love for this town and you can feel it.
(02:26):
You grew up in New York, and then I understand
you went to Xavier to study psychology.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I did.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yes, I studied clinical psychology at Xavier for four years,
but originally from New York, just outside the city.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
And once you got here, you saw all the beautiful
architecture and such.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Were you a photographer before that?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I had been dabbling. I lived in Chicago before I
moved to Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
I was a first grade teacher for a few years
when I decided to kind of shift careers. But yeah,
I was kind of taking pictures in Chicago, just kind
of roaming the streets, taking pictures of whatever interested me.
So Cincinnati was kind of like a continuation, kind of
(03:13):
a whole new playground to take pictures in.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
So we're talking twenty fifteen when you got here.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Mm hmm, yeah, twenty middle of twenty fifteen, and so.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
For four years you were here roaming about with your
camera right before COVID hit. You got out pretty quick,
right before the whole thing shut down.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yes, Mike.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
If I were going to summarize your style, I mean,
you use this beautiful use of light, even on these
overcast cruddy days that we have in Cincinnati. You make
it just look so beautiful and compelling. And I read
in your book he said you developed your stylized approach
by attempting to cast the city in sunrise, sunset, and
(03:55):
twilight from as many angles as possible. Mike, that sounds simple,
and you do it so masterfully.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Well, thank you, you know it does. You're right, it
does sound simple. But I found, you know, just in
terms of timing the sunrise, the sunset, and the twilight,
you know, the very specific times. So I have to
kind of really plan my day to make sure I
was in the exact location.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
I wanted to be at those like crucial moments.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I've realized that a lot of life, you know, maybe
not sunrise as much, but you know, I had to
be pretty mindful of my schedule to be out and
about at those times. But to me, they're just like
the most beautiful times of the day and you get
some of the best light, the best lighting conditions.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Is that called the golden hour or what is that
called in photography?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, there's the golden hour, So you get that that
the best kind of like that golden light that's just
kind of casting on to me, it makes like everything
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Oh, and your book is full of it. It is
just stunning.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Yeah, so that's that's really what I was going for.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
And what you don't see and in the book is
the probably dozens, maybe even in the hundreds of failed attempts.
I'm the weather rights and checking the weather app and uh,
you know, a lot of duds.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It's interesting that you said that because I wrote a
question about you know, how hard was it to discard
X amount of photos from all of your all of
your shoots to come up with these particular ones. I
know in journalism they call that if you've overwritten. I
think they call it kill your children, just you know,
get rid of And that's not literal, that's just you know,
(05:52):
you've you've you've created these things and now you've got
to take them back.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
How hard was it for you to edit this down?
Speaker 4 (05:58):
To?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
How many pictures are in the book? One hundred and
two hundred?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
How many they're all be man, Actually forget the exact count.
It's definitely maybe like one hundred fifty ish, could somewhere
somewhere around the Yeah, quite a.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Few, quite a few.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Fortunately, there's so many that you think it's going to end,
and it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And that's the good, that's the icing on the cake.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Because there's so much more For people that grew up
in Cincinnati had moved away, this book would be a
fantastic book for them to relive, you know, their time here.
You make it really look like New York. And you
said that a lot of your feelings of walking through
the city gave you those feelings as well.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
I think my first exposure to downtown, well, I was
working at the Starbucks at Fourth and Vine my first
year in grad school, you know, just to help pay
the rent. And it was a perfect location because when
I got off, I could just you know, stroll around.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
I was already in downtown.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
So, you know, one of my first days walk down
to the Robling and that it just it was like
this really bright but foggy day and just it's kind
of shrouded in fog.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
It was just so cool, like kind of mysterious looking.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
But it just made it took me back kind of
like like I've seen this bridge before. This looks like
the Brooklyn Bridge. Why why does this seem so familiar?
I think that just added to the familiarity of the city.
It just kind of felt a little bit more like home.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
And for those who don't know the story, most people
do is that John Robling built this bridge before he
built the Brooklyn Bridge.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And I love the imagery that you have. You you
focus a lot on.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
The Robling Bridge from all different angles too. This is
one of the questions that I have for you is
that you know, I see pictures that appear to be
from on top of the bridge.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Did you really get up there? Because I thought that
was a no noe, Mike.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I did get up there without it. I don't have
a drone. And it was legal. It was done legally.
I think it was in twenty sixteen or seventeen. I
was part of the Roland Committee. I was a judge
for their photo contests, so we were able to bring
up the winners and so as a perk of being a.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Judge, was able to go up That is brilliant.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, it was amazing. I wish, you know, I have daydreams.
I wish I could go back up there, but.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I know it's very hard to get up legally, of course, right,
even illegally, it's hard to get up there.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Well, there was a guy I think it was last year,
and I don't have all the facts, but some guy
was up there and taking, you know, pictures and draw
all the attention of the police and everybody else because
you know, he was posting them on Instagram.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I think it was, and they're like, you know, that's
that is very, very dangerous.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
So it's good to hear that you had a legal
right to be up there, and you took some pictures
of northern Kentucky there in Newport, and also of the
city from the Roebling which are just beautiful as well.
But you also have a lot of other really high
images of Great American Ballpark from above the entrance on
(09:16):
the ground level of the ballpark, so it kind of
lays out in front of you as if if you
were to go off of the side of the building,
you would land right in front of the building and
you could just walk into Great American Ballpark. How did
you get some of these really interesting angles? Were you
in other buildings or can you tell us your super
secret sauce?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
How did you do it?
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Well, I'll say that at that time I was very
active on Instagram, posting on Instagram, so you get the
attention of different like hotels, and you know other different
you know, organizations or companies that want to promote the
cross promote by like sharing one of your asking hey
(09:57):
can I share your photo on our pay.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
There's all kind of a give and take there.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
So I also just got to meet a lot of
great other photographers and folks who had you know, inside
scoops and inside connections. So another photographer friend had a
connection to go up I forget what it's called right now,
is something like river.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
There might be the word river in it.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
He said, Hey, we got to invite to go to
the top of this building right across from the stadium
for sunrise.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Are you in?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
It's like of course. So it's kind of little things
like that. I was able to get access to those
like more unique advantage points through the people I met
through photography, which is another I think, really awesome aspect of.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Being a photographer.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
If you just joined us, I'm speaking with Mike Pajoli.
Then he is a former Cincinnati resident. He went to
school here at Xavier studying psychology. He's from New York
and he's just published a new book called Cincinnati Dreaming,
which is just one of the most beautiful and stylized
coffee table books that I have seen.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Especially.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I'm from fifty miles north of here and in Dayton,
and have enjoyed the last six years here and it's
just so beautiful. Even though I don't have the childhood
memories or the college memories, I do have a great
appreciation for all of these beautiful architectural wonders and all
these buildings, all these different neighborhood feels. So you left
(11:41):
here after you graduated, and now you're a psychologist?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Is that, Krek? A clinical psychologist?
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I am, yes, clinical psychologists and I moved because of
my My training took me to an internship at the Asheville,
VA Veterans Hospital, and so that is where my career
took me. And so I'm in Asheville now and practicing
as a clinical psychologist.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
But Cincinnati, you know, it has a huge place.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
In my heart. And you know, my wife's family is
still in Cincinnati, so we visit quite often. Actually we're
going this weekend.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Do use any special filters or special effects anything after
in production that causes these gorgeous colors? Or is it
literally just the golden light in your eye?
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
So yes, I do absolutely prioritize like a certain type
of light.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
It kind of just sets the groundwork. But then I
do some editing.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
I have a couple like little filters in I edit
Adobe Light Room. I have a couple of filters that
will kind of emphasize the kind of the darker blue
in the shadows and kind of like turn some of
that golden light a little bit more of a golden
orange kind of hue.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
And I love that.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
For me, it's like the complimentary colors of blue and
orange kind of bring those out. So this is kind
of a little bit about my editing process.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I got to ask for all the photo nerds, what
kind of camera are you using?
Speaker 4 (13:25):
So I'm definitely loyal to Cannon.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
So I've been rocking the Canon five D Mark three
for quite a bit. I love that thing is a
little bulky, so have my eyes on the mirrorless soon.
But that's been doing it. But another thing I'll say
is getting out my little soapbox here. I think anyone
can take great pictures even with your iPhone. There are
(13:51):
quite a few photos in the book I believe I
took with my iPhone. Actually, wow. So I think there's
that quote the best camera that you have is the
one that you have with you.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Yes, that's kind of like my stance there.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So most of the photos that you've shot of Cincinnati
in this new book called Cincinnati Dreaming there you know, daytime, nighttime,
bet good weather. But there are some beautiful winter shots
here of Spring Grove, of the of the bridge, some
rainy streets that gives it that big New York City feel.
(14:29):
Tell me about the difference in shooting in the gray
of winter versus when do you how do you compensate
since you don't have that golden light?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Really?
Speaker 4 (14:40):
M m, yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
I mean, I I think I would always still look
for those opportunities.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
There's there's something.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
About the golden light hitting hitting the snow. And there
are actually quite a few that didn't make the cut
in the book. That was very you know, very difficult
to make those decisions. Something I love about photography is
it forces you to just be in the moment and
be flexible and adapt to whatever the conditions are, try
(15:09):
to make the best of them. You know, I would
kind of maybe try to make the composition focus a
little bit more heavily on like symmetry leading lines. You know,
the blue of the rogueling really kind of stands out
with with when everything else is kind of neutrally colored.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
So just kind of coming back to working.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
With what you got and are you self taught?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Mike.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
I took one black and white photography elective in college,
just one, and it was great. I would say, you know,
before psychology, I was an architecture major for a year
and a half, and a lot of the first year
really front loaded the importance of you know, design, you know, composition.
(16:00):
Actually did a lot of art classes, so I think
just really being mindful of how to put a composition
together that I think, out of anything, supt with me
the most.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
I'd say, also, just there's a.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Huge photography community and connecting with others, learning from others
was huge for me and kind of forced me to
kind of challenge myself too, And so that's been a big.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Part of it.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And for those who were sad to see the sky
Star Wheel go away, they'll be happy to know that
you have it beautifully represented in your book that went away.
And I mean eighteen nineteen, when was it. I think
it was right before I got here in Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
You know, I'm not positive it might have been right
maybe before COVID, but that was so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
That just adds such a great decision. You can even
make the Big Mac Bridge look interesting. That's just when
I saw this one picture of the Big Mac and
it just looked like literally the Golden Arches, you know,
and I was like, wow, he makes that old, worn
out bridge look just so artistic and beautiful. So you're
(17:15):
hoping to sell this book? And are you on a
nationwide outlay of this book? Are they going to publish
it nationwide or is it a regional thing right now?
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Yeah, I think it's going to be nationwide.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Folks can order it from the Trope publisher website, I
think if you just.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Type in like Cincinnati Dreaming Trope.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
But I think it's also on Amazon, and I know
the price is usually a little lower there, and I
think eventually it should be internationally available as well if
folks are interested.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
So are you interested in continuing to move in this direction?
Or is this just something that is important to you
as your psychology and you're going to do them together
or you thinking it might lead to two bigger things.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
That's a really good question. I think I've struggled with
that a little bit. You know, when you when you
love something so much it's such a passion. I'm not
sure what would happen if I, like got to a
point where I had to rely on it for you know,
an income and you know, financial stability. I don't know
(18:24):
if I'd want to put that pressure on it. At
the same time, you know, it means I have less
time to dedicate to it, So I think I think
that's an ongoing thing. You know, if I could, I
would be a traveling photographer, going to city by city
and just getting to.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Know it through the lens. That that would be the dream.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Well, you know, I heard a song today from Maretha
Franklin on my way into work, and she had a
great line I've never heard before. And I'm going to
tell you this because this is great advice for you
and for me and for everybody. In the song, she's
talking about whether or not she's found someone that she loves,
but it's really good for any person seeking their passion.
And the line is keep cooking and keep looking mm hm.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
And I said, oh my gosh, that's the best line
that should be on a T shirt.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Keep looking and keep cooking, and so I'm sure that's
what you're going to be doing with this beautiful book.
It's called Cincinnati Dreaming and it is Mike Pajoli who
is a former Xavier graduate here in Cincinnati who's put
this beautiful picture book out with the stunning views of
Cincinnati and the Tri state area. Thanks so much for
(19:37):
your time, good luck with it on the sales side
of it, and I hope it leads to great things
for you.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Yeah, thank you so much, Sandy for your time and
to talk about Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
My hope is this book really is.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
It shows it's a reflection of how much like I
came to know and really to fall in love with
the city and I never expected it.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Well, that's why we call this iHeart Cincy because we
do love Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
We've gone more coming up.
This week on iHeart Sinsey.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You know, President Thomas Jefferson once said the Ohio River
is the most beautiful river on Earth.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Pretty bold.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
From the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, Cincinnati's uniqueness
stood out. Meanwhile, rich builder John Roebling his iconic blue
Robling Bridge a critical crossing between the Queen City and Covington, saying, quote,
it will possess great claims as a national monument, as
a splendid work of the modern engineering and construction, it
will stand unrivaled upon the continent end quote. Cincinnati's beauty
(00:35):
is still celebrated in a new table book coming out
this week, photographed by Mike Pijoli, a Xavier University grad
student from New York who studied by day and cataloged
the town by early morning and twilight. Cincinnati Dreaming is
coming out Tuesday, and later we'll switch gears and talk
about learning the trades while getting paid. A local nonprofit
(00:57):
called Building Value has a program to teach people how
to work in construction while getting paid for it.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
And there's a lot of opportunity for people to start
careers in plumbing, electrical carpentry, steel cement.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Today Cheryl Woodhouse is here to talk about the program
that hires out demolition and deconstruction teams and has a
retail store to reuse much of what would normally go.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
To a landfill. Now on iHeart Cincy with Sandy Collins.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Mike Pajolie, Welcome to iHeart Cincy, and I'm talking to
you from the Cincinnati studios where you used to live
down the street from us Heerra a few years ago.
And you have photographed Cincinnati and published a new book
which we want to talk about today. And I really
want to encourage listeners to if you love Cincinnati or
(01:46):
you know someone who loves Cincinnati, this is going to
be a spectacular table book for them.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's called Cincinnati Dreaming.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So Mike, welcome to the show, and appreciate you taking
your time today.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Of course, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
And it's a pleasure to be on your show.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So for anybody who knows anything about photography, capturing a moment,
the beauty of a scene, of feeling, it is not
an easy thing to do. It's just more than pointing
and shooting. And your images of the city of Cincinnati
in this new book are absolutely stunning. You have a
real love for this town and you can feel it.
(02:26):
You grew up in New York, and then I understand
you went to Xavier to study psychology.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I did.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yes, I studied clinical psychology at Xavier for four years,
but originally from New York, just outside the city.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
And once you got here, you saw all the beautiful
architecture and such.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Were you a photographer before that?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I had been dabbling. I lived in Chicago before I
moved to Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
I was a first grade teacher for a few years
when I decided to kind of shift careers. But yeah,
I was kind of taking pictures in Chicago, just kind
of roaming the streets, taking pictures of whatever interested me.
So Cincinnati was kind of like a continuation, kind of
(03:13):
a whole new playground to take pictures in.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
So we're talking twenty fifteen when you got here.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Mm hmm, yeah, twenty middle of twenty fifteen, and so.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
For four years you were here roaming about with your
camera right before COVID hit. You got out pretty quick,
right before the whole thing shut down.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yes, Mike.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
If I were going to summarize your style, I mean,
you use this beautiful use of light, even on these
overcast cruddy days that we have in Cincinnati. You make
it just look so beautiful and compelling. And I read
in your book he said you developed your stylized approach
by attempting to cast the city in sunrise, sunset, and
(03:55):
twilight from as many angles as possible. Mike, that sounds simple,
and you do it so masterfully.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Well, thank you, you know it does. You're right, it
does sound simple. But I found, you know, just in
terms of timing the sunrise, the sunset, and the twilight,
you know, the very specific times. So I have to
kind of really plan my day to make sure I
was in the exact location.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
I wanted to be at those like crucial moments.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I've realized that a lot of life, you know, maybe
not sunrise as much, but you know, I had to
be pretty mindful of my schedule to be out and
about at those times. But to me, they're just like
the most beautiful times of the day and you get
some of the best light, the best lighting conditions.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Is that called the golden hour or what is that
called in photography?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, there's the golden hour, So you get that that
the best kind of like that golden light that's just
kind of casting on to me, it makes like everything
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Oh, and your book is full of it. It is
just stunning.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Yeah, so that's that's really what I was going for.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
And what you don't see and in the book is
the probably dozens, maybe even in the hundreds of failed attempts.
I'm the weather rights and checking the weather app and uh,
you know, a lot of duds.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It's interesting that you said that because I wrote a
question about you know, how hard was it to discard
X amount of photos from all of your all of
your shoots to come up with these particular ones. I
know in journalism they call that if you've overwritten. I
think they call it kill your children, just you know,
get rid of And that's not literal, that's just you know,
(05:52):
you've you've you've created these things and now you've got
to take them back.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
How hard was it for you to edit this down?
Speaker 4 (05:58):
To?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
How many pictures are in the book? One hundred and
two hundred?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
How many they're all be man, Actually forget the exact count.
It's definitely maybe like one hundred fifty ish, could somewhere
somewhere around the Yeah, quite a.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Few, quite a few.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Fortunately, there's so many that you think it's going to end,
and it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And that's the good, that's the icing on the cake.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Because there's so much more For people that grew up
in Cincinnati had moved away, this book would be a
fantastic book for them to relive, you know, their time here.
You make it really look like New York. And you
said that a lot of your feelings of walking through
the city gave you those feelings as well.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
I think my first exposure to downtown, well, I was
working at the Starbucks at Fourth and Vine my first
year in grad school, you know, just to help pay
the rent. And it was a perfect location because when
I got off, I could just you know, stroll around.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
I was already in downtown.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
So, you know, one of my first days walk down
to the Robling and that it just it was like
this really bright but foggy day and just it's kind
of shrouded in fog.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
It was just so cool, like kind of mysterious looking.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
But it just made it took me back kind of
like like I've seen this bridge before. This looks like
the Brooklyn Bridge. Why why does this seem so familiar?
I think that just added to the familiarity of the city.
It just kind of felt a little bit more like home.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
And for those who don't know the story, most people
do is that John Robling built this bridge before he
built the Brooklyn Bridge.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And I love the imagery that you have. You you
focus a lot on.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
The Robling Bridge from all different angles too. This is
one of the questions that I have for you is
that you know, I see pictures that appear to be
from on top of the bridge.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Did you really get up there? Because I thought that
was a no noe, Mike.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I did get up there without it. I don't have
a drone. And it was legal. It was done legally.
I think it was in twenty sixteen or seventeen. I
was part of the Roland Committee. I was a judge
for their photo contests, so we were able to bring
up the winners and so as a perk of being a.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Judge, was able to go up That is brilliant.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, it was amazing. I wish, you know, I have daydreams.
I wish I could go back up there, but.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I know it's very hard to get up legally, of course, right,
even illegally, it's hard to get up there.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Well, there was a guy I think it was last year,
and I don't have all the facts, but some guy
was up there and taking, you know, pictures and draw
all the attention of the police and everybody else because
you know, he was posting them on Instagram.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I think it was, and they're like, you know, that's
that is very, very dangerous.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
So it's good to hear that you had a legal
right to be up there, and you took some pictures
of northern Kentucky there in Newport, and also of the
city from the Roebling which are just beautiful as well.
But you also have a lot of other really high
images of Great American Ballpark from above the entrance on
(09:16):
the ground level of the ballpark, so it kind of
lays out in front of you as if if you
were to go off of the side of the building,
you would land right in front of the building and
you could just walk into Great American Ballpark. How did
you get some of these really interesting angles? Were you
in other buildings or can you tell us your super
secret sauce?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
How did you do it?
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Well, I'll say that at that time I was very
active on Instagram, posting on Instagram, so you get the
attention of different like hotels, and you know other different
you know, organizations or companies that want to promote the
cross promote by like sharing one of your asking hey
(09:57):
can I share your photo on our pay.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
There's all kind of a give and take there.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
So I also just got to meet a lot of
great other photographers and folks who had you know, inside
scoops and inside connections. So another photographer friend had a
connection to go up I forget what it's called right now,
is something like river.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
There might be the word river in it.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
He said, Hey, we got to invite to go to
the top of this building right across from the stadium
for sunrise.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Are you in?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
It's like of course. So it's kind of little things
like that. I was able to get access to those
like more unique advantage points through the people I met
through photography, which is another I think, really awesome aspect of.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Being a photographer.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
If you just joined us, I'm speaking with Mike Pajoli.
Then he is a former Cincinnati resident. He went to
school here at Xavier studying psychology. He's from New York
and he's just published a new book called Cincinnati Dreaming,
which is just one of the most beautiful and stylized
coffee table books that I have seen.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Especially.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I'm from fifty miles north of here and in Dayton,
and have enjoyed the last six years here and it's
just so beautiful. Even though I don't have the childhood
memories or the college memories, I do have a great
appreciation for all of these beautiful architectural wonders and all
these buildings, all these different neighborhood feels. So you left
(11:41):
here after you graduated, and now you're a psychologist?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Is that, Krek? A clinical psychologist?
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I am, yes, clinical psychologists and I moved because of
my My training took me to an internship at the Asheville,
VA Veterans Hospital, and so that is where my career
took me. And so I'm in Asheville now and practicing
as a clinical psychologist.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
But Cincinnati, you know, it has a huge place.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
In my heart. And you know, my wife's family is
still in Cincinnati, so we visit quite often. Actually we're
going this weekend.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Do use any special filters or special effects anything after
in production that causes these gorgeous colors? Or is it
literally just the golden light in your eye?
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
So yes, I do absolutely prioritize like a certain type
of light.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
It kind of just sets the groundwork. But then I
do some editing.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
I have a couple like little filters in I edit
Adobe Light Room. I have a couple of filters that
will kind of emphasize the kind of the darker blue
in the shadows and kind of like turn some of
that golden light a little bit more of a golden
orange kind of hue.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
And I love that.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
For me, it's like the complimentary colors of blue and
orange kind of bring those out. So this is kind
of a little bit about my editing process.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I got to ask for all the photo nerds, what
kind of camera are you using?
Speaker 4 (13:25):
So I'm definitely loyal to Cannon.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
So I've been rocking the Canon five D Mark three
for quite a bit. I love that thing is a
little bulky, so have my eyes on the mirrorless soon.
But that's been doing it. But another thing I'll say
is getting out my little soapbox here. I think anyone
can take great pictures even with your iPhone. There are
(13:51):
quite a few photos in the book I believe I
took with my iPhone. Actually, wow. So I think there's
that quote the best camera that you have is the
one that you have with you.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Yes, that's kind of like my stance there.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So most of the photos that you've shot of Cincinnati
in this new book called Cincinnati Dreaming there you know, daytime, nighttime,
bet good weather. But there are some beautiful winter shots
here of Spring Grove, of the of the bridge, some
rainy streets that gives it that big New York City feel.
(14:29):
Tell me about the difference in shooting in the gray
of winter versus when do you how do you compensate
since you don't have that golden light?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Really?
Speaker 4 (14:40):
M m, yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
I mean, I I think I would always still look
for those opportunities.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
There's there's something.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
About the golden light hitting hitting the snow. And there
are actually quite a few that didn't make the cut
in the book. That was very you know, very difficult
to make those decisions. Something I love about photography is
it forces you to just be in the moment and
be flexible and adapt to whatever the conditions are, try
(15:09):
to make the best of them. You know, I would
kind of maybe try to make the composition focus a
little bit more heavily on like symmetry leading lines. You know,
the blue of the rogueling really kind of stands out
with with when everything else is kind of neutrally colored.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
So just kind of coming back to working.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
With what you got and are you self taught?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Mike.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
I took one black and white photography elective in college,
just one, and it was great. I would say, you know,
before psychology, I was an architecture major for a year
and a half, and a lot of the first year
really front loaded the importance of you know, design, you know, composition.
(16:00):
Actually did a lot of art classes, so I think
just really being mindful of how to put a composition
together that I think, out of anything, supt with me
the most.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
I'd say, also, just there's a.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Huge photography community and connecting with others, learning from others
was huge for me and kind of forced me to
kind of challenge myself too, And so that's been a big.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Part of it.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And for those who were sad to see the sky
Star Wheel go away, they'll be happy to know that
you have it beautifully represented in your book that went away.
And I mean eighteen nineteen, when was it. I think
it was right before I got here in Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
You know, I'm not positive it might have been right
maybe before COVID, but that was so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
That just adds such a great decision. You can even
make the Big Mac Bridge look interesting. That's just when
I saw this one picture of the Big Mac and
it just looked like literally the Golden Arches, you know,
and I was like, wow, he makes that old, worn
out bridge look just so artistic and beautiful. So you're
(17:15):
hoping to sell this book? And are you on a
nationwide outlay of this book? Are they going to publish
it nationwide or is it a regional thing right now?
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Yeah, I think it's going to be nationwide.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Folks can order it from the Trope publisher website, I
think if you just.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Type in like Cincinnati Dreaming Trope.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
But I think it's also on Amazon, and I know
the price is usually a little lower there, and I
think eventually it should be internationally available as well if
folks are interested.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
So are you interested in continuing to move in this direction?
Or is this just something that is important to you
as your psychology and you're going to do them together
or you thinking it might lead to two bigger things.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
That's a really good question. I think I've struggled with
that a little bit. You know, when you when you
love something so much it's such a passion. I'm not
sure what would happen if I, like got to a
point where I had to rely on it for you know,
an income and you know, financial stability. I don't know
(18:24):
if I'd want to put that pressure on it. At
the same time, you know, it means I have less
time to dedicate to it, So I think I think
that's an ongoing thing. You know, if I could, I
would be a traveling photographer, going to city by city
and just getting to.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Know it through the lens. That that would be the dream.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Well, you know, I heard a song today from Maretha
Franklin on my way into work, and she had a
great line I've never heard before. And I'm going to
tell you this because this is great advice for you
and for me and for everybody. In the song, she's
talking about whether or not she's found someone that she loves,
but it's really good for any person seeking their passion.
And the line is keep cooking and keep looking mm hm.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
And I said, oh my gosh, that's the best line
that should be on a T shirt.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Keep looking and keep cooking, and so I'm sure that's
what you're going to be doing with this beautiful book.
It's called Cincinnati Dreaming and it is Mike Pajoli who
is a former Xavier graduate here in Cincinnati who's put
this beautiful picture book out with the stunning views of
Cincinnati and the Tri state area. Thanks so much for
(19:37):
your time, good luck with it on the sales side
of it, and I hope it leads to great things
for you.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Yeah, thank you so much, Sandy for your time and
to talk about Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
My hope is this book really is.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
It shows it's a reflection of how much like I
came to know and really to fall in love with
the city and I never expected it.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Well, that's why we call this iHeart Cincy because we
do love Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
We've gone more coming up.
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