I photographed several Boston storms that day, 6 years ago. I did not go out to the hard hit areas of western Massachusetts, but I did see some tremendous lightning in and around Boston. The top two photos were snapped between 9-10pm from Medford. The bottom photo was snapped in the mid-afternoon from East Boston. The Coast Guard station lightning bolt looks totally fake, or “photoshopped.” Lucky for me, I had another camera rolling video (at bottom) of the same strike.
I tried to photograph lightning late last night during the first and second waves of some pretty hefty thunderstorms. Things did not go as planned, as the lightning became too unpredictable, thus too dangerous. I did get a shot of lightning over the city of Boston, from my perch along the Winthrop coastline. Dejected, I went home and then to bed. Just prior to bed, the weather radar on my trusty iPhone app., was showing a line of heavy storms bubbling-up near the Connecticut/Rhode Island border. These storms appeared to be growing and moving toward Boston. I was too tired and dejected to wait for them, so I wait to bed. Ninety minutes later, at approximately 2:30am, I was awakened by thunder. I noticed that the frequency of the lightning was impressive, with maybe 1 lightning bolt per every 5 seconds. I headed out again but was a bit too late, as I needed some time to get set up (with a tripod, etc,) and to get to my position (trying for a city of Boston skyline foreground). This storm was too fast and the heavy rain, as well, was not helping matters. Finally, thinking the storm was over, it was time to get home and go to bed. Then, my weather app. pointed to some regeneration of the lightning at the tail end, the Southwest end, of the storm. I set up my tripod, Canon EOS 1DX, cable release, and Canon 100-400mm II lens, setting it at 248mm, along the coast of Winthrop. I set the ISO to 50, and my exposure was 5 seconds at F5.6. I do not ever like to “fudge” a photo, so whenever the first burst happens, I then shutdown the camera, thus keeping it real with the one moment of impact. I pointed the camera toward Graves Light lighthouse, and I waited, and waited. Finally, at 3:18am this morning, four large lightning bolts, during a split-second cloudburst, appeared over the Boston Harbor landmark. This photo is almost full frame, as I cropped in from both sides and a little from the top. I have a bit of a too-tight scenario happening at the base of the photo because it was hard for me to tell where the lighthouse and horizon lines were due to the extreme darkness. I was happy nonetheless. Thanks for viewing my site.
Boston moons, airplanes, lightning, weather: Part of my year in photos 2015 included high altitude jets, severe thunderstorms, rising and setting moons, etc. For the News Photography part of my photos of 2015, please click here. I used a Canon 1Dx camera and Canon lenses 800mm lens, a 100-400mm lens and sometimes a 1.4 extender.
May 1-Moon appears tonight as SWISS FL LX52 approaches BostonLogan shortly before sunset.
February 27-Shadows over Boston, as the massive Emirates Airbus A380, Flight EK204, JFK-Dubai, A6-EDM, is seen.
April 13-World’s largest passenger jet over Boston today as lufthansa Airbus 380 flies JFK-Frankfurt. 6 miles up.
01/27/2015-Winthrop,MA. Tuesday afternoon’s high tide, the 2nd in a series of damaging tides that occurred today, during the storm, splashes over the sea wall on the Revere/Winthrop town line on Revere St. Boston Herald Staff Photo by Mark Garfinkel
07/27/2015-Winthrop,MA. Lightning is seen over the Winthrop water tower as a line of heavy thunderstorms moved through the North Shore late Monday afternoon. Boston Herald Staff photo by Mark Garfinkel
September 22-Boston’s newest hood ornament? A Jet departs Boston Logan. I photographed with an 1120mm lens from Winthrop.
August 15-Lightning strikes behind Boston’s Prudential Center tower at 6:13pm.
08/04/2015-Boston,MA. Lightning strikes over Boston’s Financial and Seaport Districts during Tuesday afternoon’s thunderstorm activity. Boston Herald Staff photo by Mark Garfinkel
May 19-Moisture slides, then spins off the wing of an arriving Delta Boeing 757.
September 20- Boston half moon with Tap Air Portugal TP204, Newark-Lisbon, caught over Winthrop. Almost 7 MilesHigh.
June 26- LOT Airlines, JFK-Warsaw 35,175′ high over Winthrop Massachusetts at 583kts.
July 27- British Airways FL BA188, a Boeing 777, from NJ-London, 7 miles high, over Winthrop
November 25-A departing from BostonLogan seen from Winthrop as jet crosses in front of Boston full moon.
July 1- Delta FL DL411, a Boeing 767-400, JFK-Dublin, & the Boston moon
December 19-11:17pm. Shot from Winthrop. Its over Waltham at 34,000′, United Airlines Flight UA924. Washington,DC-London.
November 30-Norwegian Airlines Boeing Dreamliner 787, JFK-London is seen at 34,000′
October 25- Multiple exposure of Boston sunset w/ FedEx Boeing 767 landing at Boston Logan.
01/23/2015-Boston,MA. A high altitude passenger jet crossing in front of tonight’s crescent moon.
October 19- Multiple exposure of Boston sunset w/ Aer Lingus Airbus A330 landing at Boston Logan.
October 10- Boston sunset, as Cape Air heads southbound out of Boston Logan.
09/27/2015-Boston,MA. Tonight’s blood red super moon eclipse is seen at timed intervals.
November 25- A ship enters Boston Harbor as the moon rises in background, as seen through an 1120mm lens.
November 25- The morning’s setting moon is seen over Boston at 5:54am from Deer Island.
May 19, 2015- Brish Airways landing at Logan, with Winthrop in the foreground.
October 9-Close call? Nope.1650′ vertical separation over Boston. British Airways Flight 113 at 38,000′ & Air berlin Flight 7451 at 36,350′
December 5- The massive Airbus A-380, double decker airliner, British Airways BA209 @ 38,000′ over Winthrop.
December 5- British Airways BA209 @ 38,000′ & Southwest Airlines SWA3733 @ 28,000′ cross over Franklin,MA., as seen from Winthrop.
August 29-Moonset, as I photographed it at 5:36am.
August 20, 2015-Winthrop,MA Low level and wind-whipped fog shrouds a jetliner departing from Boston’s Logan International airport.
September 29-Moonset.
October 8-Brookline,MA. From Larz Anderson Park. Sunrise with Moon and Venus, 6:10am.
07/31/2015-Boston,MA. This morning’s full “Blue” moon sets over the city of Boston Friday. Staff photo by Mark Garfinkel
The natural world dominated my August 2015 photos of the month. I photographed lightning, many moons, and more lightning photos, along with coverage of some tragic violence in our area. As always, thanks for viewing my photos. The following were taken during and after my shift as a Boston Herald photographer.
August 20, 2015. Heavy fog over Boston’s Logan airport.
August 20, 2015. Heavy fog over Boston’s Logan airport.
August 29, 2015. Boston’s setting moon, at 5:36am.
August 29, 2015. Boston’s setting moon, at 5:33am.
August 27, 2015. An almost-full Boston moon emerges from behind a colorful cloud at sunset.
August 4, 2015. Lightning strikes over Boston’s Financial and Seaport Districts during Tuesday afternoon’s thunderstorm activity.
August 18, 2015. Lightning strikes over and to the rear of 1 International Place in Boston Tuesday afternoon as a line of thunderstorms pushed through.
August 15, 2015. Lightning strikes in back of Boston’s Prudential Center during a late afternoon thunderstorm.
August 15, 2015. Lightning strikes over a Winthrop neighborhood.
August 15, 2015. Lightning strikes to the rear of South Boston high school.
August 4, 2015. Lightning strikes behind Boston’s Back Bay.
August 4, 2015. Lightning exits Massachusetts’ coast, between Winthrop and Quincy.
August 15, 2015. Late night thunderstorm over Dorchester/Quincy, as seen from Winthrop.
August 4, 2015. Lightning strikes over South Boston during the morning commute.
August 5, 2015. The Winthrop fire department tests a new fire engine as an Air France 747 lands in the background.
08/11/2015-Boston,MA. Boston firefighters watch as a car hangs off a driveway onto Roxbury’s Cedar St. Tuesday afternoon. No serious injuries were reported.
08/13/2015-Boston,MA. People, believed to be friends and/or relatives of one or both of the men gunned down on Ernst St. last night, console each other Thursday afternoon in that Boston neighborhood.
08/29//15-Boston,MA Syla Rapaglia, age 11 years, sits at the makeshift memorial for the child known as Baby Doe, whose body was found at Deer Island on June 25. Skla’s mother organized the 2nd vigil for the missing child, held tonight.
08/07/2015-Boston,MA. Joe Casper, Boston fire dept. acting District Chief, works at the scene of a 3 alarm fire at 6 Waverly St. in Roxbury today.
August 20, 2015. Massport’s fireboat American United in #Boston/Winthrop. Named for 2 airlines in 911 attacks.
Four significant thunderstorms affected the Boston area Tuesday. That’s four separate opportunities for me to photograph lightning during, and then after, my shift as a Boston Herald photographer. I chase most of the thunderstorms that come our way. We in the Boston region experience an average of 30 days of thunderstorm activity per year, according to Wikipedia. A brilliant lightning storm was the first of these Tuesday events, striking during the morning commute. The thrust of the lightning seemed to be affecting South Boston to Quincy, before exiting out over Winthrop, and the open waters. I positioned myself in a safe place in Southie and set up my tripod. I was disappointed with the results. It seemed that every place I pointed my lens at, the lightning would be in a different spot, and then when I corrected to that spot, it would then strike where I had been pointing at earlier. I did, however, get a photo of lightning over Dorchester Heights/Telegraph Hill. The second storm roared out of the Littleton area and moved toward Beverly. I chose to speed toward Marblehead, as I wanted to try for lightning over the historic Abbott Hall. This venture was unsuccessful regarding lightning, however I did capture the ominous clouds exiting Marblehead neck. I then realized that the weather radar was showing a different storm, taking a more southerly track that appeared to be heading for Boston. I viewed the radar and chose East Boston as my best bet to capture lightning over the city. I arrived in Eastie and set up the tripod and started to shoot, framing the city’s Financial and Seaport Districts. This worked well, as in a flash of 1/8th of a second, two large and branching bolts appeared. I was using a Canon 100-400mm at F.6.4 and a 50 ISO speed. The last storm was exiting the region from between Deer Island and Quincy. I chose to turn the camera black and white for this photo. Below are my photos from Tuesday. Thanks for viewing.
Above, lightning strikes in back of Southie’s Telegraph Hill/Dorchester Height, during the first of 4 thunderstorms that affected the region on Tuesday.
Above, lightning strikes over Eastie, Tuesday morning.
Above, the second of 4 thunderstorms exits the region off of Marblehead Neck.
Above, a sailboat escapes the Marblehead lightning, choosing to come into port shortly after the storm.
Above, lightning strikes over the Boston skyline, Tuesday afternoon.
Above, lightning strikes over Boston’s Financial and Seaport Districts during Tuesday afternoon’s thunderstorm activity.
Above, the Tuesday afternoon storm clears over the Tobin Bridge.
Lightning exits the Massachusetts east coast between Winthrop and Quincy, during the last of the thunderstorms, Tuesday evening.
Moons, clouds, rainbows and lightning, oh my, A good few days for capturing the natural, near my home in Winthrop,MA. I even managed to get a British Airways Boeing 777, flying from Newark to London, to cross the moon for me, at 7 miles high 🙂
I was en route from San Francisco to Boston, just about 12 hours ago, when lightning illuminated the skies near Lake Michigan, as I was over Chicago. It was a beautiful scene as the backlit clouds exploded with light, as stars illuminated above. Here are my photos below. The photos were made with a Leica M9 and a 35mm 1.4 lens. The settings were 6 seconds, handheld, at F1.4 at 1250asa.
Lightning, associated with a line of heavy thunderstorms, briefly delayed some flights tonight at Logan airport. The arrivals and departures used many different runway configurations to avoid flying into the storms. Here are four photos where lightning is seen in the same photo as an airplane, from varying distances.
I was not fully prepared to photograph this storm as I did not have all of my camera gear with me.
This was photographed with a Leica M9 and a 35mm lens, hand-held at 1/125th of a second at F11 at 80 ISO.
The lightning is NOT striking near the building. That speck near the bolt is a bird.
I photographed this departing airliner as lightning struck in front and to the west of it today. A fierce explosion of lightning bolts lit up the dark afternoon sky above eastern Massachusetts. See this in Saturday’s Herald.
