Spring is in the Air

Five years after moving to Marblehead in 2008, I stumbled upon the three cherry blossom trees at the Harris Street Cemetery. I've gone back each year to capture them in full bloom and, despite the small space, am thrilled to keep finding new compositions as the blooms and light change slightly each spring. This was the earliest I had ever captured the cherry blossoms in full bloom (in 2013 they didn't reach peak until April 21st!). However, with this year's mild winter and spring, it wasn't a surprise to find the trees had reached peak on April 6, 2020. This [...]

By Eyal Oren|2020-04-08T16:28:31-04:00April 9th, 2020|Categories: Spring|Tags: cherry blossoms, Harris Street Cemetery, sun star|1 Comment

Waterside Foliage

It's been a while since I actually went out on a Wednesday in Marblehead to capture images around town. The name of the site got its name from my day off of my 'real' job but I tended to shoot whenever the light was good and it worked out between the home and work schedule. Yesterday, I dropped the kids off at their respective schools and headed out to Waterside Cemetery where I had scouted a tree nearing peak foliage a few days previously. I found the tree to have reached its peak color with very little in the way [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-10-17T19:09:57-04:00October 18th, 2018|Categories: Fall|Tags: Fall, foliage, sun star, tree, Waterside Cemetery|50 Comments

Shining through the Blossoms

On April 27th, I returned to the Harris Street cemetery hoping that the rainfall from the day before had resulted in even more color being displayed than on my previous visits. Sure enough, the cherry blossoms were radiant in pinks and purples and I spent an hour before work exploring various compositions in the cemetery. One thing my prior gear had not been capable of capturing is a proper sun star. With my move to Sony, I made sure that at least one of my new lenses could do justice to this trick of the light created by closing down [...]

By Eyal Oren|2018-05-09T21:52:42-04:00May 11th, 2018|Categories: Spring|Tags: cherry blossoms, gravestone, Harris Street Cemetery, sun star|5 Comments

Top 10 of 2016 – #7 – Smoke on the Water – Fire in the Sky

I don't think I've ever had a situation like this one where one of the last images captured in December immediately cements a place in the Top 10 list. I had another image of sea smoke in this #7 spot but the combination of sea smoke, a sun star (formed by the break in clouds partially obscuring the morning sun) and that red glow behind Marblehead Light made this one an instant favorite. #7 on the Top 10 of 2016 is this image of smoke on the water and fire in the sky captured on December 16.

By Eyal Oren|2016-12-18T10:20:19-05:00December 22nd, 2016|Categories: Favorite|Tags: Chandler Hovey park, favorite, lighthouse, sea smoke, sun star, sunrise|0 Comments

Smoke on the Water – Fire in the Sky

This morning, air temperatures of 2F and water temperatures of 50F held the promise of sea smoke to make up for the otherwise miserable cold. Any chance to see, let alone photograph, smoke on the water will get me out of the house and so, bundled in layers, I headed out. I drove around trying to find the perfect spot and made my way just before dawn to Fort Sewall. I was perched there braced against the wind gusts hoping for good light when I started to see breaks forming in the clouds. Sure enough, as the sun rose behind [...]

By Eyal Oren|2016-12-16T17:09:34-05:00December 16th, 2016|Categories: Sunrise|Tags: Chandler Hovey park, dawn, lighthouse, sea smoke, sun star, sunrise|31 Comments

Last Rays of Light over Marblehead Harbor

Today's image comes from the end of August and a trip to the float at the end of the Pleon Yacht Club's pier. I had gone out in hopes of nice sunset colors as a mild storm developed after what had been an unusually dry and warm Summer. As the waters of Marblehead harbor were relatively calm, I tried my hand at shooting from water level and getting this unique view of boats moored in the harbor. As the sun dipped lower in the horizon, I composed this image to capture the last rays of light over Marblehead Harbor with [...]

By Eyal Oren|2016-11-06T12:03:28-05:00September 14th, 2016|Categories: Sunset|Tags: boats, Marblehead Harbor, sun star, sunset|0 Comments

Snowy Sunrise at Castle Rock

I've made it a point the last few years to go out on the morning of my birthday to capture the sunrise. As I was born in mid-February, that means I have a pretty good chance of capturing a snow filled scene. Such was the case in 2014. On February 19, I headed out with a plan to capture a snowy sunrise at Castle Rock. It had snowed the night before and I hoped the snow would remain undisturbed for my morning shoot. I was thrilled to see this blanket of snow at Castle Rock as well as the almost [...]

By Eyal Oren|2016-01-24T10:57:28-05:00January 27th, 2016|Categories: Sunrise|Tags: Castle Rock, snow, sun star, sunrise|0 Comments

Sunstar at Marblehead Light

So the theme for the week seems to be ultra wide shots taken with the new Canon 11-24mm lens I received on loan for the week. Right after capturing the facade of the new Glover School, I headed out to Chandler Hovey Park with a few compositions in mind. I had heard that the Canon 11-24mm was capable of producing beautiful sunstars with 18-points and so I found this spot from which I could include all of Marblehead Light in the frame. I positioned the camera just on the edge of the shadow so that the sun abutted the lighthouse. This [...]

By Eyal Oren|2015-09-16T07:20:53-04:00September 16th, 2015|Categories: Chandler Hovey park|Tags: Chandler Hovey park, lighthouse, sun star|0 Comments

Spring Arrives in Marblehead

After a very long Winter and slow start to Spring, the view of cherry blossoms in bloom at the Harris Street cemetery was a very welcome sight to behold. Since living in Washington, DC, I've equated the start of Spring with the arrival of cherry blossoms. When I found this collection of cherry blossom trees in Marblehead several years ago, it became my go-to location for capturing the beautiful trees and signaling that Spring had arrived in Marblehead. I had made a few passes down Harris Street to check the progress of the trees this year and, on Tuesday night, [...]

By Eyal Oren|2016-11-06T12:04:06-05:00April 29th, 2015|Categories: Flowers|Tags: cherry blossoms, Harris Street Cemetery, Spring, sun star|0 Comments

Sun Star and Sea Smoke at Castle Rock

Yesterday morning's sea smoke was responsible for one of the most frenetic and harried photo shoots I have ever had. I mentioned in yesterday's post that I had crossed the causeway a little after 6:30 and noted sea smoke coming off the Atlantic ocean as well as within Marblehead Harbor. Over the next hour, I shot at Castle Rock (twice), Corinthian Lane (once) and Foster Street (twice). Each outing lasted 10 minutes and was followed by a mad dash to the next location. With temperatures of -4F and wind chills of easily -20F, I could not stand more than 10 [...]

By Eyal Oren|2016-11-06T12:04:14-05:00January 9th, 2015|Categories: Sunrise|Tags: Castle Rock, sea smoke, sun star, sunrise|0 Comments