Two and a half minutes - that's how long this image took to produce. I had set out at the end of May to photograph Preston beach at sunset. The clouds and sunset didn't offer much so I decided to simplify the scene by composing it for a long exposure black and white image. The rocks in the foreground balance out the houses beyond. The long exposure turned the ocean into a mirror to reflect the light in the sky.
When I started this project almost two years ago, I did so in large part to learn more about my new town. As the shoots progressed, I found that Marblehead really did have everything I could ask for as a landscape photographer - ocean, harbor, beaches, ponds, boats, great architecture. You name it and I could find it...well, except for waterfalls. On Father's Day, I went out to Castle Rock with the kids and was surprised to see large waves crashing to shore. I had planned to walk down to the water with them but the seas were too rough [...]
This day has put me in a monochrome mood and this is a recent favorite in black and white. I was out at Preston beach at the end of May shooting the sunset and some long exposures when I saw this guy make his way out to the edge of the rocks. I ran across the beach to try to place him in alignment with the distant island. The sea was calm and the sky cloudless so I focused on the main elements with a plan to convert this to a black and white image. I love how you can [...]
After four straight days of grey skies and rain, the sky finally cleared and the sun shone on a Tuesday night. After putting the kids to bed (a bit early) I left the house in search of images. I found a few nice clouds along Devereux beach and then drove out to the newest public pier in town during the blue hour. I started off shooting this pier from the other side but didn't like the houses in the background or the distant oil refinery on the Salem side. In a stroke of genius, I walked to the other side [...]
On the same day that I would capture a long exposure image of Our Lady Star of the Sea, I managed to get this image of clouds streaking over Grace Community Church. I had driven down Pleasant Street on countless mornings hoping to capture this church in the early morning light and without cars stopped in front. I was thwarted on each attempt by parents dropping off kids at the daycare. I therefore had very little hope of shooting the full facade of this church at noon on this very windy day but, lo and behold, there it stood [...]
It's Tuesday and time for another Long Exposure image. In mid-February, I drove out at sunset with the the aim of shooting some long exposure images. The sky held promise with scattered clouds and the sunset did not disappoint. This was the outing in which I captured one of my favorite images - Doaks Lane Sunset. Immediately before that image, I had captured this one. The tide was just perfect for me to walk down to the beach and navigate to these rocks. I set up the tripod and opened the shutter for 118 seconds to get this image. As in the [...]
Last week, I received an email from a local magazine asking if they could interview me for an upcoming issue. I was floored by the request and happily agreed to meet at Chandler Hovey park with the reporter and his photographer. We had been under boring grey skies all week but the staff photographer asked me to bring my gear as he wanted a situational portrait. I complied and decided to go about with some long exposure images. When I arrived, I noted that the tide against the rocks looked like tendrils and sought to find a composition that would [...]
Last weekend, I had set out for Fort Sewall in order to shoot the rise of the supermoon. Rather than the expected view, I ended up with a thick fog bank to contend with. I stood there for a while with a few others wondering if the fog would lift in town. When it only seemed to worsen, I shrugged it off and decided to make the most of what I was given. I walked around Fort Sewall looking for photos that could only be taken in the fog. As I turned from the overlook after shooting Gerry Island, I [...]
I finally have my days straight so let's get back to Long Exposure Tuesday. I was out on the Neck in search of flowers earlier in the Spring and made my first stop at the right of way on Parker Lane. I explored the water and rocks and noted the pier jutting out to my left. As I made my way back to the car, I saw the owner of the house and asked permission to shoot from the top of the pier. He graciously obliged and I spent a few moments looking for the perfect composition. This ended up [...]
So I seemed to have mixed up my days this week - From the Rooftops (well, from the air) was posted on Tuesday instead of Thursday so I'm swapping in a Long Exposure today (which normally would go on the Tuesday)... With that figured out, on to today's image. Back in mid-February, we had a warm spell and I was just getting the hang of these long exposure images. I was waiting for high tide around sunset and was rewarded on this day with those conditions and just enough clouds in the sky to make that interesting. I set up [...]