Wednesdays in Marblehead

Capturing the Beauty of the Town of Marblehead, MA. All images here: http://wednesdaysinmhd.com

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

A Sunrise Like Gold https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/07/02/a-sunrise-like-gold/ Friday night, I set the alarm for 4:30am after checking a few sources and realizing I had a 50-50 chance of a solid sunrise. I woke with the alarm and really, really did not want to get out of bed. When I finally did, I cursed ridiculousness of these early Summer sunrises and dutifully got in the car. As I drove, I saw the first hint of light overhead and quickly decided on Hammond Park as my destination. I arrived just as the sky began to explode in shades of pink and purple and headed down to the float to capture it. I shot a few different angles and then spotted the sun starting to rise immediately behind Marblehead Light. As it did, the sunrise painted the sky and water like gold and I used a tighter composition focused on the nearest sailboat to fully capture the light. I don't shoot the sunrise often but when I am treated to a sight such as this it really does make it worth it... *As it happened, Vance Joy's Like Gold came on my Pandora station as I was working on this photo and I had to use the title of his song for this image. If you haven't heard it or the rest of his work, it's worth a listen. #Boats, #MarbleheadHarbor, #Sunrise #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Crocker Park Concerts - Marblehead Festival of Arts https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/07/01/crocker-park-concerts-marblehead-festival-of-arts/ Last night, I flew my drone across Marblehead harbor for this aerial view of the Crocker Park concerts.  I had gone out to shoot the sunset and was torn between heading the Crocker Park to capture it over the Neck while listening to some good music or shooting from the Neck and using the drone to capture the view at Crocker Park. I ended up deciding on the latter and was thankful for the flexibility that the drone offers. I was quite literally shooting sunsets with the real camera while taking photos of the Crocker Park concerts all while taking in competing music from Crocker Park and the band playing at the Eastern Yacht Club (oh and quickly shooting an iPhone video when the sunset cannons fired). The good part of this very extended Festival of Arts schedule is that concerts will continue at Crocker through Wednesday. Here is the schedule: Concerts at Crocker Park   #Aerial, #CrockerPark, #FestivalOfArts, #Sunset #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Fighting along Front Street https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/28/fighting-along-front-street/ I received an email this morning from the Glover's Regiment physician (and fellow Georgetown Medicine alumni) reminding me that the Regiment will be having their annual encampment on July 7th. That immediately reminded me of a few images I captured of a battle being reenacted with fighting along Front Street. As was typical back in the day, these soldiers lined up to fire their rifles and I was able to line up my shot with the lighthouse situated just behind the smoke and fire. #FrontStreet, #GloverSRegiment, #Tradition #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Flares around the Harbor https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/27/flares-around-the-harbor/ I'm not sure about anyone else but time seems to be flying by as we approach the Fourth of July. The Festival of Arts begins this weekend and fireworks are due to be fired over the harbor in one week! I decided to look back in my 'to be published' folder for images from past Julys and found this shot of the harbor illumination with lit flares around the harbor leading up to the fireworks show. The harbor illumination is my favorite part of the night as it is such a unique Marblehead tradition. If you want to scout out locations for watching this year's festival, you can visit my past fireworks shots here: Marblehead Fireworks & Harbor Illumination #Boats, #HarborIllumination, #MarbleheadHarbor #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Rain Cloud at Sunset https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/26/rain-cloud-at-sunset/ The thunderstorms that passed through on Sunday night put me in mind of late July evening in 2015 when my family and I returned from dinner to find that a storm had just passed through town. We drove across Lafayette just before sunset and I spotted this incredible cloud formation in the distance. I convinced my family to join me and considered myself lucky for having the forethought to put my camera gear in the trunk. We ended up chasing the light to Front Street where I jumped out to capture the rain cloud at sunset appearing to drench Marblehead Neck. I shot frame after frame of this cloud formation from various angles and until the sun went down. My family wasn't thrilled but here I am still sharing images from that night and reliving it in the telling three years later... #DramaticSky, #MarbleheadHarbor #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Streaks of Light to Start the Day https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/25/streaks-of-light-to-start-the-day/ I was busy this weekend revamping my website and would greatly appreciate your thoughts on the All Photos and Best Of sections. Each gallery should open quickly and every image now offers print options (vs the prior convoluted format). As the rebuild took several hours on each day, I haven't had a chance to shoot new images and thus went to the To Be Published archive for this sunrise shot from late April. From the start of dawn at 5:33am until the sun rose at 5:52am, I came away with 14 image that differed in their composition and light. This is the 4th one I've shared from this morning. At this point the pinks and purple clouds that colored the sky had begun to move and formed into streaks of light. I zoomed out to capture the full view of the clouds in the sky and strong reflections in the water. #MarbleheadHarbor, #Sunrise #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Sunset on the Water https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/21/sunset-on-the-water/ I mentioned in Tuesday's image of sunset captured on Sunday that I had flown my drone to try for aerial views while also taking turns shooting the scene from the ground. This image was taken 10 minutes prior to yesterday's when the sun had just started to drop and painted the horizon in a soft glow. I made sure there were no boats nearby and descended to a little over 50 feet above sea level to capture a view of sunset on the water with Marblehead Light marking the opening of Marblehead harbor. I'm curious which you prefer - this low aerial shot or the ground one? #Aerial, #ChandlerHoveyPark, #Lighthouse, #MarbleheadHarbor, #Sunset #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Milky Way over Marblehead Neck https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/20/milky-way-over-marblehead-neck/ I've tried capturing stars and the Milky Way from within Marblehead a few times over the years but never could get the right mix of perfect conditions, a strong foreground and...aiming the camera in the right direction! Turns out the Milky Way was not quite where I had assumed and, with the naked eye, one can't see it anyway. In March, I headed out to Fort Beach and scouted out the location of the Milky Way over Marblehead Neck during each new moon taking place from Spring through Fall. As luck would have it, we had cloud cover in April and May and so it wasn't until a day or two after the new moon on June 15th that I was finally able to try to capture this image. I headed to Fort Beach around 11:30pm and used an app called Photo Pills to help me spot the otherwise invisible group of stars. With the location of the Milky Way midway over the Neck, I realized I would need to shoot a panorama in order to capture it in the composition I had in mind. Luckily this was a very calm evening and thus there was little to no movement in the boats as I captured six vertical images at 5 second exposures. I worked on the final image for a while before I could finally see the Milky Way pop out of the night sky. #Lighthouse, #MarbleheadNeck, #MilkyWay, #Night, #Stars #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Sunday Sunsets at the Lighthouse https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/19/sunday-sunsets-at-the-lighthouse/ Sunday was a very full day with my family enjoying perfect weather on Father's Day. After dinner, I decided to head out to Chandler Hovey Park on the chance of capturing a nice sunset to cap the weekend. I arrived at the start of this show and shot it from the air and ground almost simultaneously. This was my favorite image from the ground and reminded me that there is no better way to end a weekend in Marblehead than enjoying sunday sunsets at the lighthouse. #ChandlerHoveyPark, #Lighthouse, #Sunset #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

The Beach on Cove Lane https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/14/the-beach-on-cove-lane/ I've visited the beach on Cove Lane many times since first wandering down this public way on Marblehead Neck. Today's image comes from almost exactly three years ago when I made my way onto the Neck near sunset and found the beach deserted and with calm waters. The lone boat and hint of fog made for a very calm mood that night which hopefully carries forward in the final shot. #Beach, #CoveLane, #Lighthouse, #MarbleheadNeck #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Sunset Panorama - Corinthian Lane https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/13/sunset-panorama-corinthian-lane/ I missed a pretty nice sunset the other night and had been disappointed until I looked into my 'to be posted' folder and found this beauty from September 2016. I can still remember the feeling of being out on Corinthian Lane and capturing shot after shot during a sunset that only got stronger with each passing minute. At its peak, I decided to try to capture the full view in this sunset panorama that takes in the whole of the harbor, Marblehead's skyline and parts of the Neck as well. #MarbleheadHarbor, #Panorama, #Sunset #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Pollen in the Harbor https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/11/pollen-in-the-harbor/ It's not often that my work as an Allergist syncs with my photography but such was the case on Sunday when I spotted pine pollen in the harbor. We had been invited to a friend's graduation party and I had brought along my camera just in case. Coming off a very busy Spring pollen season, I wondered if this might be one of those years where the pine pollen falls in such quantities to literally color the water green. As we made our way to the backyard and this view of Marblehead Harbor, I was pleased to see just what I had hoped - milky green water in the foreground contrasting with the deep blue water of the rest of the harbor. Thankfully, pine is a far bigger problem for cars than humans with the heavy pollen causing few symptoms but necessitating frequent car washes. Congratulations again Danny and the rest of the Marblehead Senior class! #MarbleheadHarbor #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Best of Show - Marblehead Festival of Arts 2018 https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/08/best-of-show-marblehead-festival-of-arts-2018/ Thank you everyone!!! I received a call last night informing me that 'Storm over the Harbor' won Best of Show at the 2018 Marblehead Festival of Arts. I had a hard time choosing my entries this year and, thanks to your votes, this ended up being one of my two entries. This is my first time winning Best of Show for a color image (I won in 2012, 2013 and 2017 for Black and White entries). Hope you will be able to make it out for this year's Festival.  Awards ceremony takes place Friday, June 29th at Abbot with a preview of exhibits starting that night. The Festival continues through the Fourth of July with photography being exhibited at Old Town House. #BestOfShow #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Stormy Weather at Dawn https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/07/stormy-weather-at-dawn/ Today's image comes from a dawn outing at the end of October 2016. I was stuck on a name for this image until I zoomed in and read the name of the boat with the red hull - Stormy Weather. I couldn't help but play with that name in the title to share this beautiful pink-orange dawn over  Gerry Island and First Harbor. #Boats, #Dawn, #LittleHarbor #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Paddle before Moonrise https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/06/paddle-before-moonrise/ Last week, I had gone out to Fountain Park to capture the full moon rising over Fort Sewall and the homes along Little Harbor. As I waited for the sun to set, I noted a soft glow on the houses facing the harbor and then saw a small motor boat and a kayak enter the frame. I captured this shot just as both were crossing over the light reflecting in the still waters. It's funny how different this image appears from the moonrise of last week with a nearly identical composition but with a change in light and focus for the viewer's eye. #Boat, #Lighthouse, #LittleHarbor, #People #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Racing in Front of the Boston Yacht Club https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/05/racing-in-front-of-the-boston-yacht-club/ With sailboats crisscrossing Marblehead Harbor and flying colorful sails, is it any wonder that I have many photos to share from a late April afternoon shooting the Jackson Cup? As the sailboats moved in their lanes back and forth in front of the Boston Yacht Club, I tried to time the shutter and composition to include boats at various positions in the frame while including as much of the BYC's nameplate as possible. This frame accomplished that task and seems to capture the beauty of racing inside our harbor. #BostonYachtClub, #JacksonCup, #Sailboat #Marblehead

[wednesdays-in-mhd]

Clouds in the Sky and Boats in the Water https://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2018/06/04/clouds-in-the-sky-and-boats-in-the-water/ In September 2013, I had spotted an impressive cloud forming overhead and raced out to the causeway from where I was able to capture the cumulonimbus cloud over a Marblehead harbor packed full with boats. It had been my goal to capture images of Marblehead outside of the golden hours of sunrise and sunset and I was pretty happy with how this image came out. I decided to get ahead of the cloud by driving up to Chandler Hovey Park and, as I arrived, the sky had taken a turn for the worse. I looked up at the darkening sky and saw an incredible shelf cloud had formed. That shot was so unique that I had to share it immediately and this image has sat in the 'to be published' folder until today.  If you haven't seen the shelf cloud, here is the panorama of it: #Boats, #Clouds, #DramaticSky, #MarbleheadHarbor #Marblehead