After capturing the view from atop Fort Sewall, I made my way down the stairs and stopped short when I noticed the s-curve of the fence. I decided to use the curve as a leading line which would draw the viewer into the image taking in the new trees planted as part of the renovation before heading off to the distance with boats on their moorings and sunset light in the evening sky.
I first saw the chestnut tree at Crocker Park in full bloom in 2016 and have tried to revisit each May to photograph the flowers on the tree as they serve to perfectly frame the view of Abbot Hall from this spot. On May 22nd, I visited Crocker Park hoping for a great sunset but the clouds didn't quite break as I expected and I was left looking for alternative shots. As luck would have it, the chestnut tree was in bloom and took up much of the frame in this composition to offset the muted sunset. I have a [...]
On December 9, 2017, I captured falling snow on the First Harbor company's Christmas Tree in a boat floating in Marblehead's Little Harbor. That image quickly became a personal favorite - so much so that I never went back to work on images taken the very next morning after the snow had stopped falling. The timing of the snow that year was perfect - allowing me to capture the falling flakes in mid-day and then the Christmas tree with a blanket of snow at sunrise the next morning. Unfortunately, the timing and predicted severity of today's snow storm meant that [...]
On December 9, 2017, I headed down to Little Harbor as the first flakes of snow fell before noon hoping to capture the First Harbor Company's boat and decked out Christmas tree. It was a dark afternoon with little available light due to cloud cover and, when I returned home, I processed my favorite image from the outing true to the conditions of that day. This image quickly became one of my favorites and resonated with many of you who bought it as prints. It graced my calendar a few years ago as well. A few weeks ago, I was [...]
The theme for this week seems to be shaping up as 'images that I wasn't happy with but finally figured out the right processing this weekend'. This black and white image of a weathered tree at Chandler Hovey Park was captured on September 1, 2013. I was drawn to this composition in which the tree is able to steal focus from Marblehead Light in large part due to the curve of the clouds mimicking the canopy of the tree. That being said, the processing never really worked out. I tried this in color and black and white and while the [...]
Look what I found when digging through unpublished images from past Junes - that old tree at the Fort! At the time I didn't think much of this shot with a simple composition split between the tree and a solitary sailboat on its mooring. At the time, I was using the tree to help balance the focal point of the sailboat. Now, seven years after the image was taken in June 12, 2013, the view of the Giving Tree with its full canopy steals the eye and is a wonderful reminder of the majesty of this now lost symbol.
I hadn't been back to Fort Sewall since the day after the storm that took down large pieces of what I affectionately called the Giving Tree. I had woken up early this morning for a different shoot after noticing the Hotel Marblehead's new paint job (watch for that shot tomorrow). I finished shooting from Pleasant Street and was disappointed in the lack of fog or a nice sunrise and was all set to turn back home when I decided to continue down to Fort Beach and see what had become of the tree. Last time I turned onto Front Street, [...]
Since moving to Marblehead in 2008, I must have made the drive up Front Street toward Fort Sewall hundreds of times. Last night as I drove up, I felt like I had been punched in the gut - the tree at the edge of the Fort was broken. There are lots of trees at Fort Sewall but I bet you knew immediately which one I was talking about. The great canopy of Marblehead's Giving Tree was instantly recognizable from land and sea as one looked out toward Fort Sewall. It has formed the focal point of many of my images [...]
One more shot of the full moon that rose on the first day of Spring. I had decided to shoot the moonrise from Fort Sewall and was really hoping it would appear low on the horizon to frame it behind Childrens Island. Thick haze forced me to shoot a different composition which I was happy with and, after capturing the shot, I decided to head back to my car. On the way down the hill, I kept looking back over my shoulder and stopped in front of Fort Beach when I spotted the moon positioned behind the great tree at [...]
The annual Marblehead Epiphany tree burning is tonight at Riverhead Beach. The tradition of lighting collected Christmas trees resumed in 2016 and has been taking place on January 6th every year since (with the one exception last year when it was delayed 2 days due to arctic cold - remember that?) This image was captured last year when the delay meant the tree burning took place under falling snow and made for some incredible photo opportunities. I was set up across the street at the Neckrun Cafe where the slight elevation combined with my longest lens allowed me some really [...]
