In 2014, I had my older Canon camera modified to allow me to capture images in infrared. On June 15, 2014, I decided to bike the rail trail looking for images to capture as the infrared filter makes foliage a bright white and turns blue skies nearly black. I stopped at this fork in the road with the uphill path to the left leading up to Village street and the bridge beyond showing that road.
As the calendar turns to April, I have started to look past the left over snow and forward to the coming spring. In my mind, nothing says spring like cherry blossoms in full bloom and that thought brought me to this infrared image of the Harris Street Cemetery cherry blossoms from 2014. I had converted my old Canon camera to shoot infrared when I upgraded to a full frame one. The infrared modification allowed me to capture brilliant foliage that showed as bright white against light pink grass and bluish sky. For the past few years, this crop of cherry [...]
In May 2014, I was still getting the hang of capturing these black and white infrared images when I drove by Seaside Park and had to stop and take a few shots. I had quickly learned that foliage against blue skies made for a great combination in infrared and this scene before me offered the best of both. Though the bases had not yet been placed in position, the grandstand at Seaside Park stood perfectly centered in its dark wood color amidst a sea of foliage that shone white in this final image. The grass similarly glowed and was broken [...]
In early April 2014, I received my modified Canon 50D from a shop specializing in infrared photography. They added a filter in front of the camera's sensor that only let infrared light in. As green objects reflect a lot of infrared and blue absorbs a significant amount, a black and white infrared image features dark black skies and brilliant white grass and foliage. With this in mind, my very first stop was the Tedesco Country Club. I stopped here and found a composition with the road to Tedesco passing a beautiful crop of trees. The end result was exactly what [...]
I haven't shared an infrared image of Marblehead in some time and thought I would go with this one to finish off the week. In mid-June, I had taken to my bicycle with only the infrared camera in hand to capture images of Marblehead in this unique light. The conditions were perfect with deep blue skies and big white cumulus clouds that I knew would translate well into black and white images. At one point I had made my way to Fountain Park and found this clearing in the trees from which I could see Little Harbor in the mid-ground [...]
Thought I would end the week with this image of Black Joe's Pond taken with the aid of a modified dSLR. The camera was adjusted so that it would record infrared light. The result is that foliage appears bright and the sky and water are rendered quite dark. When converted to black and white, the effect is even more dramatic. The only problem with choosing black and white for this image is that the red house at the far end of Black Joe's pond seemed to disappear. I decided to selectively restore the color there to it's natural red.
I haven't shared an infrared black and white image of Marblehead in some time and figured it would be a nice change of pace from the recent sunsets. In mid-June I went out on a bike ride around town with my modified infrared camera and found perfect conditions for capturing infrared images of Marblehead. This image comes from the start of the bike ride when I found a great tree trunk bent at a funny angle along the Rail Trail. The beauty of infrared is found when capturing foliage and seeing the leaves take center stage with brilliant whites. The [...]
On Wednesday, June 17, I was invited to a home with a widow's walk located on Marblehead Neck. I was thrilled for the opportunity to reignite the dormant 'From the Rooftops' series that typically appears on Thursday. Since my last outing at the Jeremiah Lee Mansion, the opportunities seemed to have dried up. I drove over the causeway and marveled at the clouds forming on what would end up being a near-90 degree day. I was welcomed into the home and we made our way to the rooftop widow's walk. The view was incredible and the breeze refreshing (did I [...]
One of my overriding goals and principles for Wednesdays in Marblehead has been to capture aspects of the town in such a way as to shed new light on them. When I showed the mockup of my book to Bette Hunt, she gave me the nicest compliment by having just that reaction - seeing this town of hers in a new light (and I even stumped her on one image location). Five years later, I found that there were certain spots that escaped my ability to capture them properly. During the Winter as I worked on the book and was [...]