The Boston Herald sent me to Boylston St. this morning for a very special event. Adrianne Haslet-Davis, Boston Marathon bombing survivor, was to dance at the marathon finish line this morning with her partner Shane Crellin, of Carver,MA. The dance was part of a video ad campaign for Oberto Beef Jerky. Here are my photos of the dance as well as a light moment when Adrianne was greeted by a nearby construction crew.
Boston Fire Commissioner Joseph Finn, Boston Fire Fighters Local 718 President Richie Paris, and members of Boylston street’s Engine #33 and Ladder #15 came to 286 Beacon St. to commemorate the 2:40pm alarm of fire, one year ago today, that would turn into an inferno taking the lives of fire Lt. Edward Walsh, and firefighter Mike Kennedy. James Welsh, of Engine #33, spoke briefly while reading from a prepared text. as a burst of heavy rain pushed through, lasting only a few minutes. A moment of silence was then observed and then firefighters Joe Ford and Tim Freda placed flowers on the front stairs of the building. Here are some photos I snapped today. More in the Boston Herald, including a video.
I get asked sometimes if a photo is “real”, that is, has it been photoshopped, or is the photo a multiple exposure. I do not use those techniques. Sometimes I get asked about the size of the moon, or sun in a certain photo. Why is it so large? Well, usually when I take a photo of the sun or moon, they are usually positioned low to the horizon anyway. When the moon or sun is low to the horizon, they appear bigger to the human eye. Here is a good explanation from the good people at Old Dominion University. The lens one uses also makes the object appear bigger. This photo was snapped using a Canon 100-400mm lens. 1/30th of a second at F5.6 at 5000 ASA (ISO), on December 26, 2014 at 9:49pm. The moon moves fast and is considerably brighter than the city. This city angle is not as bright as other angles, so my unique problem was to get somewhere in the middle regarding exposure. Give enough to the city in exposure without blowing out the moon. A bonus, especially for Boston, was the nice green tail of the Aer Lingus shamrock, below left. Copies for purchase, of this, and of all my photos, can be found here.
From an apartment building fire in Lowell that killed 7, to a Back Bay brownstone that killed two brave firefighters, the tragic moments from my 2014 were plentiful. A Revere tornado in the summer is still causing pain to the homeless victims. A sunrise shines off of windows on Drydock Ave. There were also happy outcomes, like Sylvie, the Southie Husky who ended up stuck in ice off Castle Island and who was rescued by Boston firefighter Sean Coyle. Many of these photographs were taken during my 6:30am shift for the Boston Herald. There are also some aviation photos here, my passionate pastime. Thanks for viewing and being a friend. Please check out my new website.
Yesterday afternoon, at 4:22pm, I photographed British Airways FL BA197, a 747-400, traveling at 500 kts and 38,000 ft above my driveway in Winthrop, Massachusetts, with a Tail # G-CIVW, flying from London to Houston. I used a 1600mm lens on a tripod at 1/640th of a second at F11 at 10,000 ISO (asa). Tonight, 24hrs and 5 minutes later, I photographed the same flight number, this time at 38,000′, and traveling a little slower, at 443 kts. This time I used the photography method called “panning.” I used a tripod, 1600mm lens, and an ISO(ASA) of 1250. My camera settings were 1/15th of a second at F11. The plane was also a 747-400 but the tail # was G-BYGD. It is amazing that tonight’s flight was only 5 minutes later than last night’s, given that this bird is 3300 miles from London. Below top is last night’s flight. Below bottom is tonight’s flight.
Allison Williams, star of tonight’s live NBC broadcast of Peter Pan, and daughter of NBC news anchor Brian Williams, is seen at the 2011 Nantucket Film Festival. I was covering the film festival with Laura Raposa, former Inside Track columnist at the Boston Herald. Williams was nice, personable. One could see her stardom coming. Brian is quite personable and extremely funny, usually telling jokes on the red carpet. I took a family portrait and emailed it to Jane Williams, Brian’s wife, who, I believe, used the photo for their Christmas card.
A huge Airbus A380 double-decker airliner 7.2 miles above Boston, a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner gliding into Boston, and another Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner landing with the Boston skyline in the background, were just some of the fun snaps I took this week.
I am honored to have been chosen by Donald Winslow, NPPA magazine editor, to be worthy of an article about my position at The Boston Herald, as “The Last Cruiser.” Thank you NPPA and Herald, and Boston area fire, police and EMS personnel, for all you do. Please NOTE, it appears that the browser FireFox, for some reason, temporarily delays the opening of the following link. Sorry.
<https://nppa.org/
I was assigned to cover the training flyover of five F15 fighter jets this morning. My Boston Herald editors and I thought it would make for a good photo(s). I positioned myself on the Boston University Bridge, as the preflight details suggested a straight line from point A, the Massachusetts’ State House, to point B, Fenway Park. The sky was haze filled, harsh and backlit when I arrived on the bridge. I was carrying an 800mm lens and a 100-400mm lens. The flyover was late by about one half hour. I noticed many pigeons above me as they were perched on the bridge looking at their new roommate, me. Two thoughts came to my mind. Would they affect my photos in anyway, good or bad, and would one of them relieve him or herself atop my head? The jets never did line up with city landmarks like I had hoped they would, and as they were exiting the area, over my head, I switched to the 100-400mm Canon lens. I snapped overhead photos, silhouettes, really, and then I noticed that one of my new friends, in a blink of an eye, had flown into my photo. Please see my other photos from the flyover, including people onto of skyscraper rooftops.
