Untold tales: NEPA BlogCon 2016 afterparty

October 15, 2016. We had just ended the very successful NEPA BlogCon 2016, and made the hike from Scranton to Pittston for the afterparty at the Susquehanna Brewing Company. Fun fact: most of the time, I really suck at parties and social occasions. I usually find myself tracking down the resident dog and having a lengthy conversation. Unfortunately, there were no dogs at the Susquehanna Brewing Company, just people with whom I should have been able to make easy conversation. Eventually it occurred to me to go out to my car, get my camera, strap it on, and start taking pictures.

Over the afterparty: Creative skywriting, or a bizarre meteorological phenomenon?

I wandered over to the brew vats behind the band in the back room where our party was set up. These fascinated me: great hulking industrial things like the vats of nickel sulfamate I had worked around during my time as a CD Plater. But instead of huge plastic tanks filled with a bright teal liquid, these were gleaming stainless steel tanks filled with beer.

I lined up some photos and thought about Margaret Bourke-White, who turned industrial photography into high art.

I wandered around a bit more, grabbed some pizza and cake, and showed my photos to Karla Porter, one of the organizers of the NEPA BlogCon. Her mother happened to be with  her, and when I told her what I had been doing, she said "You know, if I were taking these photographs I might do them all in black and white."

I stepped back, stunned by the absolute rightness of her observation.

Several other brewpubs have opened in the area. I hope to maybe someday photograph their setups - if they're anywhere near as photogenic as the ones at the Susquehanna Brewing Company.