Abbot Hall Caked with Snow

That was quite the mid-March storm with blizzard conditions and over a foot of snow having fallen throughout the day on Tuesday. Having seen the snow stick to everything it touched, I had a few ideas for the morning and woke before sunrise to drive downtown. The roads were well plowed but still a bit tough to drive on and there was little space to park downtown while leaving rooms for the plows to finish working. I found a spot in front of Coffey's and took out the drone first to scout out the sunrise. I flew straight up and [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-03-14T08:09:06-04:00March 14th, 2018|Categories: Aerial|Tags: Abbot Hall, aerial, Phantom 4 Pro, snow|16 Comments

Pond Skating on New Years Day

I have had this image of pond skating at Redd's in mind for years and was so thrilled to have finally captured it. In 2010, Vincent Laforet captured an aerial image of skaters at Rockefeller center from a helicopter and what struck me about the shot was the shadows telling the story of what each skater was doing. I considered hiring my own helicopter or plane for a similar image over Redds Pond but that held too many complications and variables. A few years ago, drones came on the market but the early ones had cameras better suited for video [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-01-01T16:56:40-05:00January 3rd, 2018|Categories: Aerial|Tags: aerial, frozen, ice, people, Phantom 4 Pro, Redd's pond|62 Comments

First Snow of the Season

There's something magical about the first snow of the season. After shooting around town as the snow fell yesterday, I woke early to capture the picture perfect snow in the light of morning. Given the relatively warm temperatures, the snow had stuck to all of the tree branches and I knew it would make for a pretty scene. Also, as we did not have a ton of snow, there would be little of the brown sand littering the roads to ruin the contrast of white snow and black asphalt. I ended up following the same route as yesterday - shot [...]

By Eyal Oren|2017-12-10T09:24:49-05:00December 10th, 2017|Categories: Aerial|Tags: Abbot Hall, aerial, Phantom 4 Pro, snow|55 Comments

Welcome to the Neck

The Mathers family recently moved to this beautiful house on Marblehead Neck where the causeway splits into a Y. As the calendar turned to December, they hired a local landscaper to decorate their grand tree and serve as a welcome to drivers crossing the causeway onto the Neck. I first heard about the tree before actually seeing it because the Mathers family were sent a letter disparaging the holiday display. With the community offering their support of the family and their grand tree, I had to see it for myself. I drove home from work tonight and headed directly across [...]

By Eyal Oren|2017-12-08T18:14:54-05:00December 8th, 2017|Categories: Aerial|Tags: aerial, causeway, holiday, light, Marblehead Neck, tree|34 Comments

Thanksgiving Football in Marblehead

One of my favorite Marblehead traditions is the annual Thanksgiving football game pitting Marblehead against Swampscott. I've attended every game with my son since moving here in 2008 and have captured a few photos of the action on the field in years past. As I left the house for the game this year, I made sure to pack the drone as the weather conditions seemed perfect. We arrived and watched the game unfold with Swampscott taking an early lead only to watch as the Marblehead Magicians clawed their way back and then sprinted ahead for good. At half time, I [...]

By Eyal Oren|2017-11-27T22:08:01-05:00November 28th, 2017|Categories: Aerial|Tags: aerial, Magicians Football, Marblehead high school, Phantom 4 Pro|0 Comments

Peak Color at Ware Pond

On Saturday afternoon, I took advantage of relatively calm conditions to fly over Ware pond in hopes of capturing some fall foliage. Marblehead was between storms and I knew that the coming one with 50-70MPH gusts would destroy what little foliage was to be found around town. As luck would have it, the trees surround the water were displaying peak color (though more than a few bare branches could be seen as well). For a lackluster year of foliage hunting, this was about as nice of a scene as I could have hoped for.

By Eyal Oren|2017-10-29T21:28:34-04:00October 30th, 2017|Categories: Aerial|Tags: aerial, drone, Fall, foliage, Phantom 4 Pro|3 Comments

The Beach at Brown’s Island

Grace Oliver Beach was my first stop on Sunday morning and I launched from the entrance to Crowninshield Road from which I could explore Doliber's cover and Brown's Island. I was hoping for more color in the dense tree cover at Brown's but found only a hint of yellows and oranges. Instead of focusing on foliage, I decided to fly higher and capture the whole of the island while focusing more on the beach at Brown's Island as well as the shallow waters. Sunday may have been the final day of this Indian summer as a cold front was due [...]

By Eyal Oren|2017-10-22T22:31:15-04:00October 27th, 2017|Categories: Aerial|Tags: aerial, beach, Brown's island, Doliber cove, drone, Phantom 4 Pro|39 Comments

Spotting Foliage on the Neck

I mentioned yesterday that I had gone out for a second time on Sunday in the hopes of spotting foliage from above and flew my drone from Riverhead Beach. I spotted a tree sporting bright orange leaves almost immediately and headed across to Marblehead Neck for a closer look. I explored the tree you can see near the water between piers from various angles and heights. This one was taken at nearly 400 feet above the ground and offered a view of the full depth of the Neck with some foliage apparent near the bird sanctuary. I made sure to [...]

By Eyal Oren|2017-10-22T22:17:50-04:00October 25th, 2017|Categories: Aerial|Tags: aerial, drone, Fall, foliage, Marblehead Neck, Phantom 4 Pro, trees|4 Comments

A River Runs Through It

This is just about the exact opposite of yesterday's image of Abbot Hall with brilliant red foliage. I had gone out for a second time at 5:00pm hoping the early evening light would help with what little foliage was to be found. I flew my Phantom 4 Pro out from Riverhead Beach to mid-harbor and then came back and over the causeway headed for Goldthwait Reservation. I wondered what a direct aerial image of the marsh might look like and was not disappointed with the views. I flew over the marsh for a while exploring the patterns below. From above, [...]

By Eyal Oren|2017-10-22T22:03:38-04:00October 24th, 2017|Categories: Aerial|Tags: aerial, black and white, drone, Goldthwait, Phantom 4 Pro|0 Comments

Fall in the Air over Seaside Park

On Sunday, I watched the sky fill with clouds in the morning but then show signs of breaking up in the afternoon. I had to pick up my son on the Neck and so I threw the drone in the car and stopped at Seaside Park after picking him up and forcing him to join me. I was surprised to find another drone at the park - this one was a racing model flown by a boy with first person view goggles on. I was a bit jealous as I set my much larger drone down and flew it in [...]

By Eyal Oren|2017-10-16T22:32:18-04:00October 18th, 2017|Categories: Aerial|Tags: aerial, boats, drone, Fall, foliage, Marblehead Harbor, Phantom 4 Pro, Seaside park|0 Comments