Boston
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Christmas lights along Commonwealth Avenue Mall
The Commonwealth Avenue Mall is a tree-lined avenue which runs parallel to Boylston Street and Newbury street from near Fenway Park all the way through to Boston Common in the north east of Boston. In winter, lights decorate the trees as people and cars move slowly from A to B. This is a 15 second tripod exposure at f/9.
Boston, West__MG_6866_
The Memorial Church at Harvard University, Boston, MA. With a super wide-angle lens (10mm on a 1.6x crop sensor, so 16mm), the architectural details are obviously distorted, but it meant I was able to include the tree branches descending in from the top of the frame, and the same tree's trunk creeping up from the bottom of the frame, almost meeting at the top of the arch. This image was slightly desaturated and given a blue tone to enhance the cold, creepy feel.
An jagged ice sheet mimics the Boston skyline, reflected in the Charles River as the sun sets over the city. The tall building on the left is the John Hancock Tower; the building to the right with antennas is the Prudential Tower. This shot was taken from the Longfellow Bridge, looking south west, after an interminably long wait in the freezing cold for the sun to set low enough for the colours to leak into the ice.
A squirrel cracks nuts in Boston Common, tail flung astern.
Rows of dog tags linked to chains shimmer in the late afternoon light. The memorial is in the grounds of the Old North Church in the North End of Boston, MA.
Note That The Facts Of The Sign Are Sufficient To Deter Without Recourse To Hyperbole
A wall in the vicinity of the USS Constitution, a wooden navy frigate launched in 1979.
Two lovers (?) share a kiss on New Year's Eve 2010 in the middle of Boston Common, overshadowed by the Hancock and Prudential towers. This is a 10 second exposure, so I guess the kiss was too.
The John Hancock Tower appears as a shimmering monolith against the grey and red brick of Boston's other tall buildings. Taken from the Top Of The Hub, Prudential Tower.
The refrozen Charles River fractures at the MIT side, looking back towards the Prudential and Hancock Towers in Boston, MA.
A 3.2 second exposure of the MBTA 'T' transit system, taken from the Longfellow Bridge in Boston, MA. Capturing the end of the train meant it was possible for the tail end to appear partially transparent and fade into the building.
As Opposed To The Major Hooker Entrance?
Joseph Hooker was a major general in the American Civil War, and led the procession at Abraham Lincoln's funeral. Born in Hadley, Massachusetts, he was known as a ladies man - perhaps this is more fitting than it initially seems.
A statue of St Francis of Assisi is decorated with fir branches and holly berries, in the ground of the Old North Church in Boston's North End.
Reflections of buildings seem to encroach every corner of the frame in this view of the perfect grid of mirrored windows which make up the facade of the John Hancock Tower. Soon after its completion, several of the windows became dislodged and fell to the ground.
The twilight view looking east toward John Hancock tower from Top Of The Hub, near the top of the Prudential Tower in Boston, MA. To the left, Boylston Street; to the right, the Massachusetts Turnpike. This was a difficult shot: the restaurant was filling up for dinner just as the light was fading enough to bring out the lights of the buildings and streets, but the bartender kindly allowed me to sneak through the cordon to take a couple of shots. Thick, multiple glazed windows meant there were all kinds of reflections even when shooting with the lens right up to the glass, and in that position it was angled too high to capture the city. I eventually managed to cut out most of the bright reflecting lights with some interesting arm/shoulder shielding while hand-holding the shot for 1/4 second. Having been subjected to the bar's finest cocktails since lunchtime, I was surprised anything turned out at all.
Reflection; The Boats Were Here First
Upturned boats mirror the twin towers of Hancock and Prudential on the Charles River, waiting for the ice to dissolve and for Spring to come again.
Refrozen swirls on the Charles River give texture to a sunset over Boston. In the centre of the frame, the Prudential Tower dominates.
Two side-by-side parking meters indicate either their own state or their views on the external environment. I was unable to find any meter displaying 'LOL'.
We All Love Scratched Metal, Don't Deny It
A yellow fire hydrant pictured from above in the back streets of Boston, MA.
An American flag drifts aimlessly between the buildings of Boston's Back Bay. I don't usually pop colours but didn't mind doing so subtly here - adding the faint colouration almost seems to remove even more life from the scene.
The quadrangle at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Though the light is imperfect here, the long parallel shadows against the angled footways add a sense of disjunction.
The vertical shards of the John Hancock and Prudential Towers are reflected in an ice covered Charles River in Boston, MA. It looked like the river had frozen, melted, and refrozen several times - near the edge of the ice, it was visibly ridged and textured.
A squirrel stares at a not-so-distant camera lens in Boston Common, MA.
A block of birds swoop between the buildings surrounding the Irish Famine Memorial in Boston, MA.
This is Boston fire alarm panel number 4255, which is located on a building close to the entrance of the USS Constitution visitor centre in Boston, Massachusetts. The fire alarm panel is red with a white handle which is pulled and the lever then moved downward to sound the alarm. The panel was manufactured by the Gamewell Company in Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts, date unknown. The system uses telegraph and as such is independent from electrical and telephone lines and risks associated with these in a wide-scale emergency.