Top 10 of 2019 – #10 – Last Night at the Carnival

I've gone out to capture the annual carnival at Devereux Beach for each of the past 10 years and have tended to shoot the rides in fog or reflected in rain puddles rather than focusing on the people who attend. This year, I made it a point to include teenagers in my shots - perhaps because I now have one teen and one tween. On this night, I had been walking around to find some interesting compositions when I stopped in front of the Music Fest ride. This scene seemed to perfectly capture our annual carnival as it exists in [...]

By Eyal Oren|2019-12-21T21:08:52-05:00December 22nd, 2019|Categories: Favorite|Tags: carnival, favorite|0 Comments

Top 10 of 2018 – #1 Abbot Hall Caked in Snow

This is my favorite image captured in 2018. On March 14th, I had gone out with my Phantom 4 Pro drone to shoot the streets of downtown Marblehead with a fresh coat of snow. I launched the drone shortly before 7am and quickly found that the morning sun was shining on Abbot Hall and illuminating its face now caked in snow. I adjusted the height of the drone to get this centered view and then saw the flash of light in the distance created by the sun reflecting off the buildings in Boston. I've since printed this image a few [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-12-16T12:54:24-05:00December 28th, 2018|Categories: Favorite|Tags: Abbot Hall, aerial, favorite, snow|10 Comments

Top 10 of 2018 – #2 A Right Whale comes to Marblehead

In April, a pod of right whales visited Marblehead and residents were treated to the sight of whales off Devereux Beach and the Neck for days on end. I remember being at my son's baseball game when I received a call about a right whale off the coast of the Neck. As luck would have it, I had brought my drone and longest lens with me and drove straight to the Neck. When I arrived on Ocean Avenue, I found the whale too far offshore and quickly launched the drone. I found her easily and shot some images and video [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-12-16T12:54:04-05:00December 27th, 2018|Categories: Favorite|Tags: aerial, favorite, rainbow, whale|5 Comments

Top 10 of 2018 – #3 Under the Canopy at Harris Street

I've captured the cherry blossoms at Harris Street cemetery every year since we moved to Marblehead in 2008. The patch has had some great years and a few not so good ones. On the morning of April 27, I found picture perfect conditions and discovered a new composition using the arcing branch of the first tree to frame the two trees in the background. As a perennial favorite destination and for the discovery of a new composition, this view of the cherry blossoms under the canopy at Harris Street is my third favorite image of 2018.

By Eyal Oren|2018-12-16T11:54:31-05:00December 26th, 2018|Categories: Favorite|Tags: cherry blossoms, favorite, Harris Street Cemetery|7 Comments

Top 10 of 2018 – #4 Sunset Sky over Fort Beach

Merry Christmas everyone! Today we continue with the top 10 of 2018 countdown and this image of an incredible sunset sky over Fort Beach. I remember that I was at Crocker Park on the night of July 3rd enjoying music with friends when these clouds passed overhead and the sun dipped lower in the sky. It seemed as though the sunset might offer great opportunities so I excused myself and headed down to Front Street. I lucked out with the location of this monstrous cloud and was able to use the water of Fort Beach to reflect the brilliant sunset [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-12-16T12:53:36-05:00December 25th, 2018|Categories: Favorite|Tags: favorite, Fort Beach, sunset|10 Comments

Top 10 of 2018 – #5 Oceanside at Front Street

I'm not sure if this image is necessarily a 'best of' or more of a memorable shot for the amount of power (and subsequent damage) that it captures. On March 3rd, a major Nor'Easter was finally moving offshore after slamming New England with record wind and storm surges. This area of Front Street would end up sustaining incredible damage as did other ocean facing spots around town. Before anyone could assess the damage from the storm however, it's waves were on full display at high tide and many people had gathered on Front Street to marvel at the power of [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-12-16T13:02:19-05:00December 24th, 2018|Categories: Favorite|Tags: favorite, Front Street, lighthouse, ocean, storm, waves|12 Comments

Top 10 of 2018 – #6 Waterside Foliage

My sixth favorite image of 2018 is also the one taken most recently. On October 17th, I visited Waterside Cemetery and found this tree at peak foliage. I decided to capture a shot of it backlit by the morning sun and, by decreasing the aperture to f/22, was able to create a sunstar effect from the sun poking through the leaves. For this year's very short foliage season and the backlighting of this tree at peak foliage, this is my sixth favorite shot of 2018.

By Eyal Oren|2018-12-16T13:36:49-05:00December 21st, 2018|Categories: Favorite|Tags: favorite, foliage, Waterside Cemetery|10 Comments

Top 10 of 2018 – #7 Unbelievable Moonrise

I captured two images on January 1, 2018 that would end up being among my favorites of the year. This one of the first supermoon of the year ascending in the sky over Chandler Hovey Park was made possible with a new lens I had acquired just a short while previously. I was actually standing in my book designer's backyard near Skinner Head (Gregory Street and Catherine Lane) to capture this view of the full moon. Thanks to a 400mm lens and 5,000 feet between me and the lighthouse, the moon appeared larger than life due to a compression artifact. [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-12-16T13:46:54-05:00December 20th, 2018|Categories: Favorite|Tags: favorite, full moon, lighthouse, moonrise|11 Comments

Top 10 of 2018 – #8 Three Volleys on Old Burial Hill

On February 3rd, Glover's Regiment marched to Old Burial Hill to commemorate the life of John Glover on his birthday. I had never joined the Regiment on this annual march and was thrilled to be able to join the procession this year. We started off at Old Town House and made our way up Washington Street. The post-sunset march made photo opportunities difficult and I had only managed a few 'keepers' by the time we reached Old Burial Hill. Once there, Seamus Daly gave a speech over Glover's tombstone and I spotted this potential composition with lamps set on the [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-12-16T13:54:21-05:00December 19th, 2018|Categories: Favorite|Tags: favorite, Glover's regiment, Old Burial Hill|12 Comments

Top 10 of 2018 – #9 Milky Way over Marblehead Neck

This was one of those images that took a lot of planning and easily could have amounted to nothing in the end. I had decided to capture the Milky Way early in 2018 and visited various locations in town with an app to help me plan out compositions and timing. I found that I had a small window between April and August and needed to shoot on a new moon to maximize my chance of capturing the Milky Way. April and May came and went with cloudy conditions. Finally, on June 15th, conditions were perfect and I headed down to [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-12-16T14:04:10-05:00December 18th, 2018|Categories: Favorite|Tags: favorite, Marblehead Neck, Milky Way|8 Comments