Every May, the carnival takes over Devereux beach as a fundraiser for the senior class. Without fail, rain always follows. It was with astonishment then that I saw the clouds clear way and the sun take form over the carnival grounds. A bit of smooth-talking got me a pass from the carnies to the top of the Super Slide and a unique vantage point from which to shoot. Two additional shots follow below.
Only one week left until the overnight parking ban is lifted and the parked cars return. I'm convinced a photographer came up with the ban that extends from the end-of-Fall until early-Spring! It's a wonder to walk these streets in the early morning hours and explore them before the town stirs. On this morning, I walked the length of Washington street to the Old North Church and wandered up and down State and Pleasant streets. Here are the first two images of Old Town House from that walk. The morning light was absolutely perfect on this particular day and turned [...]
In the eight months since this blog began, I have had a number of unique photo opportunities. The Thursday I went up with 'the cranks' is right up near the top of those experiences. We met in the lobby of Abbot hall and headed up an elevator then a set of ladders to the crank room. Abbot's clock and bell are driven by two large, heavy counterweights that need to be raised once weekly in order to keep time. It is the job of the cranks to rotate two wheels on this machine that serves to slowly raise those weights. [...]
It's almost Spring and the snow has melted - that meant a run to the transfer station to deposit branches. Afterwards, I noticed the surreal image of a plastic Santa above the oil drop-off station. With the dark clouds, it seemed a perfect scene to capture. It appears the transfer station will likely show up as another item on the upcoming town override vote so the timing of this shot (following the Glover series) worked out well. Below is an image of the office and the large smoke stack. Not sure when that was last used... Technical: Canon 50D and [...]
This is easily my favorite photo from my morning spent photographing the Glover school. There is so much about this image that I still don't understand: Why a mural of a whale rowing a boat? Why is this little desk pushed up against the wall? At the same time, you can again see signs of the age of the Glover in the huge vent to the right and the green flooring. Below is the teacher's break room. It's a truly tiny space and, when I saw the light coming in and the half-erased words on the chalkboard, I knew that [...]
Ever since I took a tour of the Glover school at the time of the last override vote, I had wanted to come back and shoot the boiler room. These boilers are incredible for their sheer size and age (almost 100 years old). As you can see, there have been modifications made over the years to try to squeeze more heat out of them by adding a blower to the front. The scary thing is that these boilers are one bad part away from the scrap heap. It seems that we've made it through this Winter with them keeping our [...]
Part 2 of the 4-part series from my shoot at the Glover school. Above and below are two of the stairwells in the Glover school. The first struck me as half of the glass panes have been patched up and most are held in place with duct tape. The floors show the toll of a hundred years of little feet walking up and down the stairs. Below you'll find the seal of the town of Marblehead at the top of another set of stairs. Please click the photos to see them bigger and explore the details presented in each image. [...]
I had the distinct privilege and pleasure of spending some time shooting the Glover school this Wednesday. As many of you know, the Glover was built in 1916 and houses grades 1-3. The school's boilers have reached end-of-life and I'm informed that parts are only available from demolitions of buildings of that age in this state. The town of Marblehead voted down a debt override exclusion to allow this building to be rebuilt by a margin of 71 votes. I hope that these images can shed some light on the current standing of the school. While there is an immense [...]
This image was taken as I was exploring Abbot Hall a few weeks ago in hopes of shooting the now removed stained glass panels. Made my way up to the balcony and was struck by the history of this location and that fading hand directing me to the left. Technical: Canon 50D and EF-S 10-22 lens. 6 exposure bracket.
Last week I decided to shoot the stained glass window at Abbot before it was removed for renovation. Turns out I was a week late and will have to wait til Spring to take a picture of the restored glass. While scouting out other shots, I befriended a caretaker of the building and was invited up to the attic for a rare view from the windows there. We chatted for a bit as I shot out of two windows. In this one, you can just make out the lighthouse in the harbor. Unfortunately, the sky was a bright gray but [...]