Walk the Plank
I wasn’t going to post any more photos from this location, but after developing this one for fun, I liked how it came out so I thought I would share. This photo is more of a hybrid – Everything below the horizon is HDR + Orton while everything above the horizon is just HDR. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry, just enjoy the photo! I named the first photo from this location, “Golden Desire.” I suppose some of you might be wondering how I went from “Golden Desire” to “Walk the Plank” all in the span of a few footsteps. Ok, valid question. Your answer is found in the rotting wood of the dock upon which this photo was taken. See you there!
Golden Desire
Happy Easter everyone! I know this isn’t exactly an Easter shot, but it was taken on Easter so that has to count for something, right? I went on a wonderful drive with my dad to Duxbury beach to take a few pictures before Easter brunch. Although it was a bit cold, the clouds were absolutely spectacular. This shot is another HDR + Orton combo. The Orton effect is really starting to grow on me. Technically I think I was trespassing in order to take this shot, as there was a rusted chain about shin high serving as a barrier. I’d imagine there’s a boat parked at the end of this bridge in the summer. I will attempt to return in a few months time to make sure and perhaps get arrested.
Vanilla Sky
Just when I thought I was going to go an entire day without taking any pictures, my roommate Jerry called to tell me there was going to be a nice sunset on the esplanade (an area directly by the river in Boston). Well, he was sort of right. While we didn’t really get to see the sun set per se, the light scattered by the sunset into the cloud formations above made for a truly beautiful sight. This is sort of like that Tom Cruise movie, “Vanilla Sky,” but without the crazy.
Oh and as for the technique, this would be my first photo which uses Orton – a technique which combines an out of focus image with an in focus one for a very soft and sublime result. I think it suits this shot nicely. For more information see the excellent tutorial written by a fellow photographer here.
Holy Light
Here is another shot of Trinity Church on the left, the Hancock Tower on the right, and in the center, that building which no one knows the name of but which has a pretty light on top of it that changes color with the weather. I only noticed this just now when I uploaded the photo, but if you look closely you will see 3 stars directly above each part of the “trinity.” Creepy but very cool.
Cold and crisp to the touch, I walk slowly through my frozen paradise of spring. The city is empty tonight, save for this lone photographer and the occasional howls of drunken valor muttered from passing cabs. Such bravery is lost in the wind’s grace and melted away by the city lights. But I am no saint myself, for my hands are warmed only by my friend Sam Adams. With a far too confident step I plod through the city looking for my next target.
It is not long before I realize that it is I who is being targeted, my demeanor closely watched, my expressions broken down into their constituent hopes and fears. I stop at this violation and look around me for the culprit, but there is no one around except for the poor souls whose only home on this cold night consists of tattered and torn blankets – reminders of dreams long forgotten. It is only when I stop looking that I begin to see my stalker.
Slowly she materializes before me, revealing first her mysterious expression, carved carefully in ancient stone. Next, I see the makeup she has placed ever so carefully around her face in order to mask her age, but it hardly works. The holy light above illuminates her every imperfection and draws my attention inward, not to her modern adornments, but straight to the heart of her very existence. I love her, you see, my imperfect stalker. I begin to fumble for my camera in hopes of catching my stalker in the act and in the midst I realize that my friend Sam Adams has left, yet my hands are still warm and my thought, clear as the night which surrounds me.
Cold and crisp to the touch, I walk slowly through my frozen paradise of spring. The city is empty tonight, save for this lone photographer and the occasional howls of drunken valor muttered from passing cabs. Such bravery is lost in the wind’s grace and melted away by the city lights. But I am no saint myself, for my hands are warmed only by my friend Sam Adams. With a far too confident step I plod through the city looking for my next target.
It is not long before I realize that it is I who is being targeted, my demeanor closely watched, my expressions broken down into their constituent hopes and fears. I stop at this violation and look around me for the culprit, but there is no one around except for the poor souls whose only home on this cold night consists of tattered and torn blankets – reminders of dreams long forgotten. It is only when I stop looking that I begin to see my stalker.
Slowly she materializes before me, revealing first her mysterious expression, carved carefully in ancient stone. Next, I see the makeup she has placed ever so carefully around her face in order to mask her age, but it hardly works. The holy light above illuminates her every imperfection and draws my attention inward, not to her modern adornments, but straight to the heart of her very existence. I love her, you see, my imperfect stalker. I begin to fumble for my camera in hopes of catching my stalker in the act and in the midst I realize that my friend Sam Adams has left, yet my hands are still warm and my thought, clear as the night which surrounds me.
Church in the City
It was a little chilly tonight, but that’s nothing that a few beers couldn’t fix. After warming myself up I grabbed my camera and tripod and went for a nice walk. I got a few good shots of the Hancock Tower, Trinity Church, and the Pru before my buzz wore off and I started to freeze, but it was worth it. 🙂 It’s 2 in the morning right now so I only have one finished product for you, but I will post the rest tomorrow. Enjoy!
Posted in Boston, Night Tagged with: bike, Boston, boyleston-street, hancock-tower, night, trinity-church
My Street
A cloudy but beautiful night in Boston. Nothing special here, just the street I call home. It was raining earlier and I think they even predicted snow. Lucky for me the weather was warm enough to go outside with my sandals for one shot. And yes, I stood in the middle of the street for a few minutes without getting run over. In this city that is nothing short of a miracle.
Unfinished Verse
Since it has been raining for the past few days, I’ve been getting much more into these indoor creative shots. The overall theme seems to be one of sadness lost in wine. I’m not sad or anything either, these are just the ideas that come to me… strange. There’s a lot going on in this one, but hopefully if you look closely and read my little “shutterscript” below you’ll get the idea.
Tonight I sit to write these lines of love and beauty
To write of the ways I will hold you
And you me, locked in warm embrace
Our hearts combined into molten flesh
Beating as one
Tonight I sit to write these lines of love and beauty
But what beauty is there without your face?
What love without your touch?
What lines without your grace?
Tonight I sit to… mourn
These lines of love and beauty
For they will never be written
Their power never felt
Their subject never held
I was too late, my love
So tonight I will sit
And dream of a time
When I can once again
Write these lines of love and beauty
Tonight I sit to write these lines of love and beauty
To write of the ways I will hold you
And you me, locked in warm embrace
Our hearts combined into molten flesh
Beating as one
Tonight I sit to write these lines of love and beauty
But what beauty is there without your face?
What love without your touch?
What lines without your grace?
Tonight I sit to… mourn
These lines of love and beauty
For they will never be written
Their power never felt
Their subject never held
I was too late, my love
So tonight I will sit
And dream of a time
When I can once again
Write these lines of love and beauty
Sunrise by the Docks
This picture took a lot of effort, not because it was hard to compose or take, but because I had to wake up at 5 in the morning to do it. I’ll tell you one thing – I contemplated not driving into work afterwards and instead, setting up a hot dog stand right by the water to earn a living… at least then I’d see this sunrise every day. There are a few more on the way, but I think they each deserve their own attention so I’ll update this post little by little.
Walk With Me
In the sunrise I find hope
Delivered in streams of gold
Forgotten worries
Subtle memories
Your hand in mine
My eyes in yours
Walking, side by side
Seat by Sunrise
Seat by Sunrise
Cold to the touch
Warm to the soul
Giving pause to lives
Lived lost in goals
Morning Swim
Another Day at the Office
In the sunrise I find hope
Delivered in streams of gold
Forgotten worries
Subtle memories
Your hand in mine
My eyes in yours
Walking, side by side
Seat by Sunrise
Seat by Sunrise
Cold to the touch
Warm to the soul
Giving pause to lives
Lived lost in goals
Morning Swim
Another Day at the Office
Posted in Boston, Sunrise & Sunset
Windows Vista on English
I bought Windows Vista (that’s right, I’m not a MAC user!) yesterday and I discovered this gem of an error message today. I just had to post it.
Posted in Humor
Seaport District: Part 3 – ICA
Ok so this is the last series of photos from my March 24th photo shoot (thank God!). Next time I am going to have to be more selective with the photos I take or hope that it starts raining after the first 300 shots, well before I get to the murderous 500 I took. Yeah 500, one of the beauties of HDR… no, sarcasm. 🙂 I may depart from my HDR streak (Gasp!) soon, just for a bit, to examine the finer things in life, such as post processing in 5 minutes vs. 20 per photo and having enough time to eat…. every other day.
Spirit of Boston
This would be the Spirit of Boston (in case you didn’t see the writing on the boat ;). It is one of the many things us Bostonians here have a strong affinity for, even though most of us have never even been aboard. Count me as one of them! But regardless, it always commands my respect because, well, it’s really the only boat tour in Boston that anyone would want to go on. It looks cool, it sounds cool, and it IS cool… I think. The only thing keeping us land-dwellers away is the exorbitant price. I fear only that once I amass the fortune required to board this jewel, the experience may be less than climactic, but only time will tell.
The next few shots were taken from the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) which is the next big thing since the Spirit of Boston. And no, I haven’t been inside. 🙂 So what do I have for you? Well only the slightly abnormal of course!
Bike by the Sea
Ah yes, a bike by the sea, but so much more. To me this photo conveys the power of perspective, composition, and most importantly, story. I have no idea who this bike belongs to, but I’d imagine that the person was fairly content in riding it down to the ICA in the beautiful spring weather and chaining it to this goergeous spot whose real estate value is probably somewhere near ten thousand times that of the bike. But there are no pesky real estate agents here, only an unsuspecting photographer like myself who decided to capture just a small tiny bit of the story.
Emily Dickinson
This is a poem by Emily Dickinson. I encourage you to view it in full size version so you can read the writing.
The next two photos show the parakeet who dwels right by the ICA and Jerry, my roommate, talking to his new found friend (he doesn’t have many). Jerry is a pretty cool kid though, so I hope you join me in congratulating him for his new relationsihp and I hope you’ll check out his photo stream here. You’ll notice he likes to steal some of my composition ideas, but I forgive him.
Parakeet
Jerry on the Parakeet
For those curious about what the ICA looks like from afar… here it is. There’s some very interesting architecture going on here, but why the parakeet?? I will never understand. Perhaps Jerry does.
ICA
Last (finally!), but not least I have some shots taken a little bit further down the road from the ICA near the federal court house with some pretty conservative views of Boston.
Setting Sail
Light the Way
Earning Respect
This would be the Spirit of Boston (in case you didn’t see the writing on the boat ;). It is one of the many things us Bostonians here have a strong affinity for, even though most of us have never even been aboard. Count me as one of them! But regardless, it always commands my respect because, well, it’s really the only boat tour in Boston that anyone would want to go on. It looks cool, it sounds cool, and it IS cool… I think. The only thing keeping us land-dwellers away is the exorbitant price. I fear only that once I amass the fortune required to board this jewel, the experience may be less than climactic, but only time will tell.
The next few shots were taken from the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) which is the next big thing since the Spirit of Boston. And no, I haven’t been inside. 🙂 So what do I have for you? Well only the slightly abnormal of course!
Bike by the Sea
Ah yes, a bike by the sea, but so much more. To me this photo conveys the power of perspective, composition, and most importantly, story. I have no idea who this bike belongs to, but I’d imagine that the person was fairly content in riding it down to the ICA in the beautiful spring weather and chaining it to this goergeous spot whose real estate value is probably somewhere near ten thousand times that of the bike. But there are no pesky real estate agents here, only an unsuspecting photographer like myself who decided to capture just a small tiny bit of the story.
Emily Dickinson
This is a poem by Emily Dickinson. I encourage you to view it in full size version so you can read the writing.
The next two photos show the parakeet who dwels right by the ICA and Jerry, my roommate, talking to his new found friend (he doesn’t have many). Jerry is a pretty cool kid though, so I hope you join me in congratulating him for his new relationsihp and I hope you’ll check out his photo stream here. You’ll notice he likes to steal some of my composition ideas, but I forgive him.
Parakeet
Jerry on the Parakeet
For those curious about what the ICA looks like from afar… here it is. There’s some very interesting architecture going on here, but why the parakeet?? I will never understand. Perhaps Jerry does.
ICA
Last (finally!), but not least I have some shots taken a little bit further down the road from the ICA near the federal court house with some pretty conservative views of Boston.
Setting Sail
Light the Way
Earning Respect
Posted in Boston
