On January 16th, rain fell after days of arctic cold and so, on the 17th, I headed over to Redd's Pond curious what the fallen rain had done to the frozen pond. As luck would have it, the effect was a perfect mirror unmarred by skates or snow. I don't think I've ever seen such a perfect mirror here before.
On Saturday, January 8th, I stopped at Redd's Pond just before sunset wondering if the recent freeze had frozen the pond for the first time this winter. I was thrilled to find smooth ice without any snow on the surface but plenty to be found in and around Pond View to set the scene. With sunset light reflecting off the red house, the ice served to pick up the golden light and diffuse it. Unfortunately, the ice didn't last long and had broken up by the next day. With temps set to hit single digits, I'm sure another freeze is [...]
I went out a few nights ago as Redd's Pond had frozen and skaters were enjoying the timeless joy of skating on the frozen water. I had hopes of capturing a similar scene to this one taken on February 1, 2019 but the light never quite matched the one in this shot. I had a hard time deciding whether to include this image because of the foreground element. I did a bit of research and learned about these 'pond stars' which are formed when snow covers a thin ice layer. My wife thought it looked too ominous against the backdrop [...]
This might be the longest stretch that I have gone without taking a photo of Marblehead in almost ten years. I had influenza for the first time in my life and finally appreciated just how awful that virus can be. We all receive the vaccine annually and, while it is nowhere near 100% effective, my wife and daughter did not get the flu so that was a small win. It took longer than expected to recover from that illness and I had absolutely no interest in venturing out during the recent arctic blast so I was content with letting the [...]
Last winter was marked by nearly three weeks of sub-20F temperatures which led to a frozen Marblehead Harbor. The ice wasn't thick enough to support anyone's weight as it had been during a stretch of the 1970s but the view of ice from Riverhead Beach out past the State Street Landing was impressive. I found the drone to be the best tool to capture the extent of the frozen water and had flown on the morning of January 3rd, 2018 to this spot where two boats appeared to be iced in. The small patches of water helped accentuate the extent [...]
Today's image comes from my 'to-be-posted' archives from January 11, 2015. Many of my favorite images of Redd's come from the month of January when the ice is typically perfect for skating and snow has not yet fallen to affect the surface. I had gone to Redd's on this afternoon to check on conditions and was delighter to find the ice bustling with activity. There were kids and adults skating across the small pond and a pickup hockey game was taking place as well. I decided to set up near the hockey goal and used a slow shutter speed to [...]
A Spring thaw is finally upon us with temps possibly hitting 60 degrees today. That thought put me in mind of this aerial image of Folger Point and Naugus Head taken in early January as arctic air froze the waters in Salem Harbor. At the time, I saw the broken ice near the coast as 'not yet frozen'. Now it seems to represent 'already thawed'. Funny how that works...
As the days (slowly) warm, I didn't want to miss the chance to share images from this arctic winter including the incredible aerial view of a frozen Marblehead harbor. This image was captured in early January after almost two weeks of sub-20 F temperatures led to a nearly complete freeze of the harbor (at least to the BYC/Landing). It never froze enough to support weight as the harbor did in the 70s but the contrast of the iced harbor against the deep blue of the Atlantic ocean on this morning made for a compelling image.
The night before a blizzard quite literally exploded over Marblehead, I went out hoping to capture the sight of a nearly frozen harbor. While Salem harbor had frozen over several days ago, Marblehead's own harbor seemed more stubborn in succumbing to the arctic blast. Earlier on this Wednesday, I had made it out to Riverhead Beach and flew my drone over the newly frozen parts of inner harbor and knew that at least part of our harbor had finally frozen. As sunset approached, I headed across the causeway trying to think of a new vantage point having shot from just [...]
On Tuesday night I decided to head out to Stramski Beach before sunset hoping to capture images of a frozen Salem harbor only to find picture perfect pancake ice all around me. I spent an hour exploring compositions including the Stramski pier and close ups of the ice. As the sun set and the temperature dipped to single digits, the sky lit up with a beautiful and incredibly long sunset. I shot frame after frame but was immediately drawn to this one with the pier and bare trees framing the scene and the pancake ice reflecting the colors of sunset. [...]