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...
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. [...]
I have had this image of pond skating at Redd's in mind for years and was so thrilled to have finally captured it. In 2010, Vincent Laforet captured an aerial image of skaters at Rockefeller center from a helicopter and what struck me about the shot was the shadows telling the story of what each skater was doing. I considered hiring my own helicopter or plane for a similar image over Redds Pond but that held too many complications and variables. A few years ago, drones came on the market but the early ones had cameras better suited for video [...]
This was truly a frozen New Years Eve sunset as I braved an insanely cold wind coming off the frozen harbor to capture my last sunset of 2017. I decided to head out in part to capture the chunks of ice that had formed along this part of the harbor and hoped the clouds would break for a nice sunset to help say 'Goodnight 2017'. I started off shooting around 3:40pm and only lasted 10 minutes before the cold forced me to retreat into the car. Despite dressing warmly in multiple layers, the 20 mph winds (and -15F wind chills) [...]
I went out last night with camera and drone in hand hoping for good light at sunset to capture aerial views of Marblehead. I decided to try my luck at Redd's Pond and was disappointed with the light but happy to find the first freeze of the season had created a perfect layer of ice above the water. While the ice wasn't thick enough to stand on, it did serve as a beautifully reflective surface and, as luck would have it, a Christmas tree was glowing in the window of one of the red houses across the pond. With the [...]
On Friday, March 13th, I drove home by way of Leggs Hill Road and noted the ice along the Forest River had started to break up into large chunks. I decided to return to the spot at sunset to capture the unique view before the upcoming warmth and rain obliterated this remnant of the Winter of 2015. When I arrived at Leggs Hill Road closer to sunset, I found the view looking back toward Lafayette Street to be drab due to the overcast conditions. However the view toward Loring Avenue held far more promise and was one I had never [...]
It seems like forever since the ice at Redd's Pond has been visible, let alone skate-able. Before all of this snow, we actually had perfect conditions for ice formation and I took my kids to skate on Redd's Pond on several occasions. This image comes from New Years Day when I returned to Redd's Pond to find it empty near sunset with great light reflecting off the red house named Pond View and Old Burial Hill. The ice acted as a mirror to perfectly reflect the house, light and clouds with the setting moon just visible. The seams in the ice added [...]
Today is my 40th birthday. In the past, I have made it a point to capture the sunrise on my birthday each year and I have ended up with some favorite images to start each new year of life. This year with forecasts for cloudy skies on Wednesday morning and overcast conditions for today, I opted to shoot the sunrise a day early. I started off intending to shoot from Hammond Park but it was closed off by a literal mountain of snow. I was able to get close to the waters edge and found an incredible scene of a [...]
It's become a tradition for me to share my annual New Year's Day slideshow and this year's 10-minute show received an incredible welcome. Another part of the day's tradition is going out to shoot. I've captured some incredible sunrises on New Year's Day in the past few years but couldn't motivate for the early morning awakening this year. Instead, I drove around as sunset approached searching for a new composition. With the recent cold temperatures, I thought I might find some frozen waters but struck out along the shore. I then stopped at Black Joe's and Redd's ponds and found [...]