On September 2nd, I chased some promising clouds out to Ferry Lane but the promised lightning show never materialized. Instead, I decided to find some interesting compositions in the blue hour shortly after sunset. I took advantage of the clouds and still conditions to capture this view at mid-harbor of boats filling every mooring and the Eastern Yacht Club shining across the water.
Last night, a deluge of rain poured down on Marblehead beginning at around 6pm. I was watching the radar as it looked like the rain might clear right at sunset and provide perfect conditions for a rainbow. Sure enough, the rain tapered down just before 7 (sunset is at 7:20pm right now) and I drove off to a spot along the harbor. I ended up at the end of Ferry Lane and sat in my car as the last drops fell and saw the sky brighten up only to then hear the sunset cannons fire telling me that the clearing [...]
The internet is a strange and wonderful thing. I was looking for an image to share and stopped at this one of a brilliant pink and blue sky captured at dawn in mid-April. I shared two other images from this morning but, between the changing light and flexibility of composing with a zoom lens, had a number of 'keepers' from the morning. When it came time to come up with a title, I was lost. I decided to type in 'sky-blue pink' into Google and ended up going down a rabbit hole starting with finding it to be a modern [...]
On Wednesday night, I had headed out to Crocker Park as sunset neared hoping for some good light to shine behind Abbot Hall. While the light built up to a peak looking back toward town, I kept looking over my shoulder at the developing golden glow on Marblehead Harbor. As the sunset cannons fired, I raced to the spot from which I could capture the boats reflecting the beautiful glow of sunset with a hint of pink-purple in the night sky. As soon as I reached my spot for this composition, I spotted a dad and his kids taking turns jumping [...]
On Friday night, I headed out at sunset hoping to catch a beautiful sunset light up the evening sky. Clouds had filled the sky as the day progressed but a small break near the horizon offered the chance for sunlight to shine through and set the clouds on fire. As luck would have it, the break in the clouds closed as the sun set and I had to make due with a more subdued blue light in the night sky. As it happened, Marblehead Harbor was very calm and I decided to close down the aperture on the camera and [...]
This image comes one week before yesterday's and a dawn outing on State Street. The forecast for light clouds raised my hopes for a good sunrise and I set my alarm clock to try to take advantage of the conditions. I started off on State Street in the pre-dawn blue hour and found one house with holiday lights encircling the door. I moved to the edge of the sidewalk for this image of the street winding toward the harbor and the shining star hanging overhead from a crane.
I usually like to wait a little while after taking and sharing an image to decide if it has 'legs' and will remain a favorite for years to come. In the case of this image of Mud Puddle Toys and the corner of Pleasant and Washington Streets, I knew the moment I clicked the shutter. The response to the image was overwhelming and confirmed my early feelings. Here is #10 in the Top 10 of 2015 Countdown.
The morning of Sunday, August 24 ended up being a very productive one. My wife and kids were out of town and I decided to wake up before 5:00am to capture the dawn from Crocker Park. Between 5:18 and 5:58, I captured a number of images from Crocker Park including views looking out over a full Marblehead Harbor with the sun rising near Marblehead Light. This is the last image I have to share from the set. I had never taken an image from this position before and sought to include the nearby tree as well as the float at [...]
In early September, I had woken up early enough to capture Marblehead harbor in the blue hour. I drove down State Street to Front Street and parked at the Landing from where I walked around the corner and found this vantage point. The waters were incredibly still and, for some reason, all of the lights were on at the Corinthian Yacht Club at 5:45am when I clicked the shutter. The golden glow of those lights complemented the blues in the sky and water with the bright green light of Marblehead Light reflecting in the still waters.
It's interesting to watch the traffic in Marblehead Harbor during the morning blue hour as the sunrise approaches. On this particular Sunday, I had gone out in hopes of interesting skies left over from the intense lightning storm that seemed to signal the end of Summer. While the scene before me was calm and peaceful, I quickly lost hope for a brilliant sunrise that would explode in colors over the harbor. Instead, as I waited on the light, I noted someone waiting at the end of a float at State Street landing. With the minimal light, I had to shoot [...]