Evocative landscape and artistic photography.
Archive for May, 2007
Rounded Relaxation
May 29th
This shot was taken on the North End Harborwalk in Boston (where else?). I almost walked right by this area before an open gate caught my eye and led me here. I’m not sure who the property belongs to, but I am sure I photographed it from many angles and liked this one the best. 
Bare Necessities
May 29th
Sound, rhythm, music
Painted and played
To the beat of the sun
Reflecting off of the sea
World fades to black
Time stops
For every note
Is an eternity
Nothing matters
Guitar in hand
Shades tightly poised
Strumming for all, yet heard by one
Sound, rhythm, music
Painted and played
To the beat of the heart
Reflecting off of the soul.
Longfellow Reflections
May 27th
I took this shot a few days ago from the Longfellow bridge in Boston. I wasn’t going to post it because of some posterization in the sky, but it’s been my desktop wallpaper for a while now so I must at least like something about it.
Divided Memories
May 16th
Since it was pouring and there was a tornado warning outside today I figured I’d get a little creative indoors… DISCLAIMER, this gets a bit deep.
Divided Memories
Memories have their way of trickling into our dreams when we least expect them, slowly transforming our interpretation of reality. The bad ones sometimes serve as warnings of the past about to manifest in the present, while at other times they serve only to torment our every thought with no tangible purpose whatsoever. But the memories we cherish most are as much in our hearts as they are in our minds, for without the heart a memory is nothing more than a remembrance of what was with no impact on what is. The heart is what allows us to transcend the fleeting moments of life and carefully sew the frayed threads together into the very fabric of who we are. A fabric which, although far from perfect upon close inspection, is the only thing we have that makes us all unique… the only thing that makes us all human.
This fabric is ever changing and ever lasting, continuously torn, divided, and sewn back together by the hard-won lessons of life’s less pleasurable, but oh so necessary experiences. A conglomerate of dos and don’ts, should haves and could haves. Those who spend their lives dwelling on these things will become prisoners of their own shortcomings, brooding incessantly about the human condition. But those who give these imperfections no more power than they deserve, and use them only to improve their craft, will create a life whose potential for greatness is limited only by the number of threads left in their time on this earth. And even when they are gone, their souls will be sewn into the fabric of generations to come, repeating the cycle that is and always will be, life.
Trainset
May 15th
I’ve been abnormally quiet for the past few weeks because of camera problems, but my D200 is finally back and I’m ready to get started again, especially with the summer fast approaching. The dust problem is still there, but I don’t care at this point – it’s much better than it was and it still takes great pictures which is all that really matters. This shot was taken on the Longfellow bridge in Boston. The day started off rather cloudy, but gave way to this gorgeous sunset.
Trainset
The wind howls through time
Past my face and into the dusk
Collapsing the light onto itself
In a vortex of blissful surrender.
Breath by breath
I breathe the stillness of the moment
Breath by breath
I breathe the fury of the wind.
The argument is ended sharply
By the pulsating sound of steel
Against steel, reverberating
Into the fading light.
I close my eyes in anticipation
Waiting for the night to come
And take one last breath
Before the day is done.
Beacon Hill
May 6th
Here are a few more shots from the same day as the Boston Public Garden photos taken on Beacon Hill. I could take photos of this damn hill all day it is so picturesque and I’m certainly not the only one as the streets are crawling with tourists and other photographers like myself this time of year.
The Joys of Boston Parking
This first shot is a tribute to all that is the wonderful experience of parking in Boston. Those who have ever driven through Beacon Hill know that finding a free parking spot is about as likely as lightning striking the same spot… five times. And even if you do find one it has likely been vacated because it will be turning into a tow zone the next day due to some very, very cryptic street cleaning schedules (first and third *insert day of the week here* of every month, second and fourth *insert day of the week here* of every month). I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve found parking on this hill, and I’ve been living here for a year now. Most of the time I just give up and drive to my parent’s house (not even in Boston btw) or I find a meter… or if it’s after 4 PM I can park in my garage (full time parking in the garage would cost me a whopping $450 per month). It seems as though the owner of this sign had a few run-ins with parking-spot-seekers like myself. My guess is that one too many people parked in front of this guy’s driveway. And apparently one parking-spot-seeker thought the sign a tad too elitist and decided to write profanities over said sign (if you must see what it says you can look at the full sized version, but it’s quite offensive so I don’t encourage anyone to do so). I post it here only for comic relief.
Flowery Alcove
This particular street on Beacon Hill is undoubtedly the most gorgeous, as flowery trees like these ones pretty much engulf the buildings. I setup my tripod in the middle of the road to take this shot, but that’s ok because the streets are so narrow that it is impossible for cars to drive any faster than 3 miles per hour and so I would have had time to pack up my tripod, put away my camera, and fly to Paris well before a car would have ever come close to hitting me. Anyway, I digress – The owner of this alcove is a very lucky person. Imagine waking up to the sight and smell of these flowers every morning then walking down this street to go to work…
Flower Sills & Car Grills
Flowers on the right, cars on the left (notice no free spots) and a completely uneven brick sidewalk absolutely rife with the imperfection that makes it so beautiful. If there is a place that looks any more like Europe in the US, I’d be hard pressed to find it. I am convinced that there are some sort of chemicals emanating from the streets of Beacon Hill because it is nearly impossible to walk through them without smiling at every person you see. People are just friendlier on the hill, I love it. Dog owners even pick up their dog’s “dirt” and put it in a plastic bag. You won’t see that in Europe!
For my Boston readers out there, I recently discovered a Boston based blog / fun news site of sorts that has been linking to my site occasionally. Upon perusing the site a bit more it turns out that it contains some very interesting content. I can relate to a lot of the topics being posted and if you live in the Boston area I’m sure you can too. Check it out HERE.
Boston Public Garden
May 5th
Yesterday was another incredible day in Boston. Spring here just keeps getting nicer. The most interesting part about the Boston Public Garden is the number of different people who are seen walking around. They range from business men, to mothers, to lovers, to musicians, to painters, to photographers. Here are a few shots from this beautiful place.
Spring Trophy
Draped Island
Swan’s Home
Colorful Bunch
Come and Gone
May 3rd
This title doesn’t really have anything to do with the photo, but it does have to do with my circumstances. My D200 finally arrived from the Nikon service shop yesterday after a week of patient waiting. Thinking all my dust problems were gone I went outside to happily start shooting on a gorgeous May afternoon. Upon looking through the viewfinder I became horrified to find that there was STILL dust on the focusing screen, even though Nikon said it had been replaced. I began using my air blower in an attempt to get rid of the dust, but it was not to be – the most prominent pieces would not leave. And so it is with great frustration and only one hour’s use that I send this camera back to Nikon again for service. At least they are paying for shipping this time. Let us truly hope that second time, rather than third, is a charm. I am going to switch over to my D50 for the next week… I can’t go another week without taking any photos.
I did manage to snap one shot before my dust discovery robbed me of my picture taking will. No poem this time, I’m still trying to relieve myself of my pissed-offed-ness. Anyway, there are worse things in life, so no big deal. I sat under this tree for 20 minutes before the wind died down enough to allow me to bracket the shots. It was a great 20 minutes.
Come and Gone
