I recently helped out with the North Canton Area Chamber of Commerce's event called "North Canton Gone Mad," featuring a Mad Men themed evening of music, food, drinks, raffles, dancing, costumes and games. Attendees to the event were encouraged to dress up in period attire and most guests complied with gusto!

Music was provided by Wesley Bright and the Hi-Lites, who played two sets. They got the crowd into the music and had a good sized crowd dancing for most of the night. When the crowd was too tired from dancing they lounged on the fantastic chairs and sofas brought in by Main Street Modern.

The back room featured four gambling tables with fake Las Vegas style chips, including Craps, Blackjack and Roulette.

Food for the evening was provided by Ermanno's Legendary Pizza with items such as salad, pasta, meatballs and, of course, pizza. There was also a dessert table with items baked by members of the Chamber and volunteers and ice cream served up by Almost Heaven.

For the photos, I had decided to attempt a style that would be roughly similar to the style of the times. I did use a digital camera, but I only used two lenses for the entire evening, and no flashes. I used a Nikon 24mm F2 Ai lens from around 1979 and a Nikon 85mm F2 lens from 1977, both manual focus and aperture lenses. These are the oldest lenses that will work properly with my modern digital Nikon SLR and are similar to what a journalist would use in the '60s on a Nikon F or F2 film camera.

I also mainly used a custom black and white setting that I had developed that emulates Kodak Tri X, a common high speed film used by journalists in the '50s and '60s that is known for its grainy appearence and high contrast. It was introduced in 1954 for 35mm cameras. Because of these choices, I felt it gave the pictures an authentic moody, nightclub type feel.

Amanda Johnson was also on hand with a vintage photo booth. She has posted the pictures here.

Check out my pictures and let me know what you think!  If you took some pictures that evening, feel free to add them to the gallery!