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Walk to North Neck 11-29-09 :

Walk to North Neck 11-29-09

Updated: Nov 30, 2009 8:29am PST

Coolidge Corner, November 19, 2009 : Paul's birthday. Bored (not that I don't have tons to do - okay, maybe it would be more accurate to say, "unable to focus on what I really should be doing.") and somewhat lonely, I roamed around Coolidge Corner today - a gray day with rain on its way - looking for ways to photograph a neighborhood I see regularly and take for granted. Without trying too hard, how to frame my world and portray it in an interesting way? What if I were trying to explain or give a virtual tour of Coolidge Corner to someone who had never seen this place? What would I like to see if I were missing Brookline? What is the difference between a snapshot and a photograph? Does any of this even matter? Anyway, here are a few reasons I love Brookline. As usual, it's only the tip of the iceberg. Looking at these, I'm thinking of a few more details I should have included. But maybe that's the process: you start somewhere.

Coolidge Corner, November 19, 2009

Paul's birthday. Bored (not that I don't have tons to do - okay, maybe ...

Updated: Nov 19, 2009 3:52pm PST

Beacon Hill, November 18, 2009 : My mother's birthday. I made time in the afternoon for a bike ride, vaguely in search, as always, of the earth-shattering, prize-winning street photograph, but settling for a meandering stroll through Beacon Hill. Nothing earth-shattering or prize-winning going on there, but a pleasant enough walk and as good an escape as any from festering thoughts; exercise and fresh air being cheaper and certainly as good as, if not better than, therapy (learned from my mother). Loved the bricks, the lanterns, the windows and doors, the wrought iron, the close-knit neighborhood feel; the history, all in the shadow of the gold-domed state house. I am left, as usual, with the feeling that I should have taken many more photos. Maybe sometime I'll remember this at the moment rather than later.

Beacon Hill, November 18, 2009

My mother's birthday. I made time in the afternoon for a bike ride, va ...

Updated: Nov 19, 2009 5:56am PST

Cell Phone Photography - based on an assignment to use only my cell phone for street photography for a week. An exercise in seeing: back to basics. :

Cell Phone Photography - based on an assignment to use only my cell phone for street photography for a week. An exercise in seeing: back to basics.

Updated: Nov 06, 2009 4:02am PST

Lawrence, Massachusetts :

Lawrence, Massachusetts

Updated: Nov 01, 2009 6:29pm PST

Boston 10-25-09 :

Boston 10-25-09

Updated: Oct 26, 2009 3:29am PST

Brendan Donovan :

Brendan Donovan

Updated: Oct 22, 2009 2:32pm PST

Oktoberfest :

Oktoberfest

Updated: Oct 12, 2009 3:33am PST

Boys on Bikes : About a mile from my apartment, a fifteen-minute walk, tucked away in the woods between the T tracks and the walkway along the Muddy River, there is a secret dirt-bike course. Legend has it that a Northeastern student dug the first bump in 1994; it has evolved since then into the many-moguled, labyrinthine, somewhat dare-devil course that it is today. This place is magic. It is right next to the Emerald Necklace walkway, but it is hidden behind an embankment and many people walk past it every day without even knowing it is there. Over the bank, itis cool and woodsy, and the sun glimmers through the trees. Then the Green Line rumbles past--a reminder that we're still in the city. I love this place because it calls me back to the days of my childhood, back to the days when kids roamed free; before the days of the car-pool parent, play-dates, and the most ubiquitous intrusion of childhood yet, the wireless umbilical cord known as the cell phone. Today, a perfect May afternoon, I found Jay, Morgan, and Christine at the course. Jay and Morgan are engineer students from Northeastern. They come here to unwind--they leap, they soar, they fly!-- and get their heads out of their books. Morgan, Jay, and Christine most graciously welcomed me into this magic world with my camera (10-D, 24-70 f2.8 lens). I loved it. Thanks! February 2008. Walking down by the Muddy River last week, I discovered that the MBTA has plowed down this course, cut down the trees, replaced the dirt with peastone, and installed a chain link fence. Sad to see.

Boys on Bikes

About a mile from my apartment, a fifteen-minute walk, tucked away in ...

Updated: May 07, 2006 8:04pm PST

Brookline Farmer's Market :

Brookline Farmer's Market

Updated: Oct 05, 2006 8:02pm PST

Bike Ride to Haymarket : Most days, towards the end of the afternoon, no matter how busy I am, or even how little I have accomplished on some days, I get on my bike and explore the city. With my camera, of course. This is my therapy - physical and mental. My body gets a work-out, and my mind is refreshed by getting out of my own space and seeing the landscape zip by - there are many interesting things to see in Boston. Exploring the city gets me out, past the limitations of my thinking and opens new worlds to me. A couple of weeks ago I rode down to Haymarket, the famous out-door market between Government Center and the North End. It was a feast of sights and sounds - people, colors, music, city traffic, vendors hawking their wares, haggling, babies crying, laughter...

Bike Ride to Haymarket

Most days, towards the end of the afternoon, no matter how busy I am, ...

Updated: Nov 05, 2008 5:40pm PST

Veteran's Day 11-11-08 : Veteran's Day, 2008, on the Vineyard. I happened upon the most amazing spectacle - a seemingly endless field of flags, as far as the eye could see, in the Vineyard Haven Cemetery. I stood among these flags - 400, as I would later learn, each flag representing a veteran - and I was struck by two things: the sound of only the wind and the ruffling of the flags; and the way the wind - brisk, out of the northwest - gave life to the flags. Certainly, this would have been an entirely different experience had there been no wind; there was most definitely a spirit in that place. After speaking with Ed Colligan from the American Legion, who told me that every flag represents a serviceman or woman (living or dead), I decided to purchase a flag in the memory of Paul G. Thibodeau, USN.

Veteran's Day 11-11-08

Veteran's Day, 2008, on the Vineyard. I happened upon the most amazing ...

Updated: Nov 13, 2008 3:11am PST

Back Bay, Gray Day, November 7, 2008 : Few things compare with exploring Boston by bicycle, camera close at hand in my waist-pack (oh, okay, exploring the island in the summer with a swim tucked in somewhere along the way is right up there, too). I love the exhilaration of the wind in my face and feeling my body work, feeling my strength. I’ll be sixty in a couple of years, and baby, I’ve still got it! I love the way my bike gives me access to remote and random locations, with no parking issues, and allows me the freedom to explore, like we did as kids - remember the wonder of it all, when the world was new? Sometimes I actually have a destination, such as my ride to Castle Island last week, and sometimes I have only a general idea of where I want to go and end up following my whims and fancies, as in, "Oh, I wonder what's up this street or path." My camera is an extension of my eyes (the G9 is the best thing I've done for myself in a long time - such a great camera, i.e. sharp lens, shoots RAW; compact, making it both light-weight as well as unobtrusive), a tool that enables me to see the world in a fuller way. I am constantly looking for photo possibilities, framing scenes in my mind, on the lookout for patterns, colors, unusual lighting; people. And the more I photograph, the more I see. Friday afternoon was the third day (out of four, so far) of dismal grayness, but I headed out anyway. Rush hour on Friday afternoon is no time to be out on the streets of Boston on a bike, and since I was in Kenmore Square doing an errand, I headed over to the nearby Fens/community gardens, one of my favorite places. It turned out to be a good decision, as it was beautiful. The combination of the gray and the wet made the colors of the late-fall foliage especially saturated and intense. At times, along the river, it felt like riding through the center of a kaleidoscope. And this ride definitely would fall into the “whims and fancies” category, as I rode hither and yon, with no particular purpose except to enjoy being out of my apartment, surrounded by colors and people – and for some reason, the people I met along the way seemed happier and friendlier than usual on this day (post-election relief/pride/joy?). Street photography has changed dramatically since I first picked up a camera almost 40 years ago, especially in the past 7 years, since 9/11. You can't just photograph somebody, as was more possible in the pre-9/11 world. There's an underlying paranoia just about everywhere. It's all okay, though, as I find that people are usually happy and even flattered to be asked for a photo - as well as a bit puzzled, as in, "Why would anyone want to take my picture?" I also enjoy the opportunity to make human contact, which is what street photography is all about, anyway. Loved this ride.

Back Bay, Gray Day, November 7, 2008

Few things compare with exploring Boston by bicycle, camera close at h ...

Updated: Nov 08, 2008 10:55am PST

Charles River, Sunday Afternoon : A classic September Sunday afternoon on the Charles, with sailboats, bicyclists, joggers, baby carriages, lovers...all enjoying the last few warm days of summer. And though I had much work to do, I decided, "If not now, when? The work will always be there - summer will not" - so I grabbed my camera, hopped on my bike, and joined the happy throngs. I'm glad I did. I love Boston.

Charles River, Sunday Afternoon

A classic September Sunday afternoon on the Charles, with sailboats, b ...

Updated: Sep 09, 2008 7:23pm PST

Misc :

Misc

Updated: Jan 12, 2007 1:39pm PST

Emma and Bess :

Emma and Bess

Updated: Aug 24, 2006 8:52am PST

Frog Pond : My first trip out on my new bike, down Beacon Street, through Kenmore Square, along Commonwealth Avenue, around the Public Garden, into the Common, ending up at the Frog Pond. There were a few skaters, though it was 60 degrees today in Boston, January 5, and there was about an inch of water covering the ice. I enjoyed watching the teenagers, flirting and laughing, eventually ending up hand in hand; the aspiring hockey players; parents teaching children; the rail-hangers; all set in the heart of the city, replete with a heavy-metal soundtrack blasting from speakers high in the tree tops.

Frog Pond

My first trip out on my new bike, down Beacon Street, through Kenmore ...

Updated: Jan 05, 2007 12:32pm PST

Fenway Victory Gardens, May '09 : Just a few shots from my bike ride down to Fenway. Low-key day. The Fenway Victory Gardens are coming to life. Today, a mild spring day, I found a fair number of gardeners tending to their small plots, a few people gardening for the first time, others in long-established plots that feature rock gardens and trellises and pools. Overall, a friendly spirit; strangers speaking to one another where otherwise this would not be the case. Lovely. With cheers from Fenway Park wafting through the neighborhood. Go Sox. I returned the next day to try and capture a little more color and detail, though the light was not great - way too sunny - and was hard to get close to many of the flowers because of closed gates.

Fenway Victory Gardens, May '09

Just a few shots from my bike ride down to Fenway. Low-key day. The Fe ...

Updated: May 16, 2009 7:03am PST