I chase and photograph thunderstorms. Every thunderstorm that I can chase, I chase. July 28, 2014 was a day off from work, which afforded me the opportunity to storm chase. The storm cells that the weather radar showed just after 9am that morning, looked like a good possibility for me. I drove to Bayswater St. in East Boston thinking I could shoot the Boston skyline with any lightning that might be occur. It did not occur. The storm’s energy seemed to shift quickly toward the northeast, over what appeared to be the Revere, Saugus, Everett area. I then drove to Morton St. in Winthrop, which gives a nice view of Revere. Photos of daytime lightning are very difficult to achieve, especially during haze and heavy rain, so this was not turning out too well for me. I did, however, notice the very turbulent sky above Revere. I snapped a few photos. Shortly thereafter I got a tip that Revere had a lot of damage near the lower Broadway area, near city hall. I headed out toward Broadway and Tafts St., arriving in short order. The extent of the damage was shocking. I started taking photos and then moved toward Revere Beach Parkway. There I saw several homes with rooftops blown off. It was then, after seeing the angle of the fallen trees and calling up a high school weather class memory, that I guessed it might have been a tornado that socked this area. If fallen trees are angled in several different angles, then most likely it was a tornado. If the trees are lined up in the same way, then it was straight line winds that tore through the area. Here are some of the cloud formations just prior to, and after the tornado, and also the damage caused by it.
Posts Tagged ‘Boston Herald’
7 years ago: The Revere tornado. Early moments of my photo coverage.
by markadmin Posted: Wednesday, 7/28/202111 years ago today, a unique water rescue for Somerville firefighter Mike Marino & Mass State Police.
by markadmin Posted: Saturday, 7/10/2021 It was 11 years ago today that Christine Desrochers-Broderick, clinging to the roof of her submerged car, was rescued by off-duty Somerville firefighter Michael Marino in the Assembly Square underpass at Mystic Ave. It was not long after that all three of us were contacted by The Weather Channel, to “star” in their (then) new show, Twist of Fate. Here is my blog dispatch from that day.
I came upon this dramatic scene after completing news coverage of a long, hot, then very rainy immigration rally in Boston. The police scanner was crackling something about a person or persons stuck under the Assembly Square underpass at Mystic Ave. I drove to an area near the courthouse where I saw troopers feverishly trying to enter the water and gain access to the serious situation that was unfolding. I noticed a young couple sitting on the curb and I turned to see that their car’s roof, about an inch of it, was still visible. Within a few minutes the tunnel was almost 80% filled with water maybe 10 feet high. I had to kneel down to see what was unfolding about 70 yards into the tunnel. There I could see a woman atop of what appeared to be her car. I returned to my car to get my 800mm telephoto lens, snapped a few photos there and then ran like hell to the other side of the underpass. That is where I saw troopers Joe Kalil and Stephen Barnes and Somerville firefighters Jack Betkwith, LT Michael Anzalone and off-duty firefighter Michael Marino. I positioned myself on McGrath Highway above the rescue and pointed my 70-200 mm lens through the chain link fence. The troopers and the firefighters worked in unison to perfection. The only problem was, would my lens stay dry enough in the rain to capture the rescue? I borrowed the corner of a passerby’s dry shirt to use to clean my lens since my clothes were drenched. Lucky for me that the man didn’t think I was nuts when I asked him: “may I use your shirt to clean my lens?” Then, out the rescuers popped with one cold and wet Christine Broderick, as they guided her through the water that now contained mostly raw sewage.
On June 24, 1994 Boston fire Lieutenant Steven F. Minehan, of Boylston street’s Ladder 15, died in a 9-alarm fire in Charlestown after he became trapped in a large warehouse while searching for other firefighters who had become trapped. I had been a staff photographer at the Boston Herald for almost 15 months that night when the police/fire radio scanners broke the silence of what had been a quiet evening on my 5pm-1am shift. John Landers Jr., then Herald night desk photo editor, and I heard the initial call for help from Minehan as John dispatched me to the scene. Below are my photos from that night and from Lt. Minehan’s funeral. Over the years I have been lucky to be able to call Lt. Minehan’s wife Kathy a friend. She is a very kind and considerate soul. RIP Lt. Minehan. My photos from that night are seen below. The photo of Lt. Minehan, at very bottom of page, is courtesy of Bill Noonan.
23 Years ago today, the Oklahoma City Bombing: My experiences and photographs.
by markadmin Posted: Thursday, 4/19/2018In 1997 I was sent with Boston Herald columnist Peter Gelzinis to cover the 2nd anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building. In 2001 we returned to the bombing site to provide coverage of the moment that Oklahoma City bomber/murderer Timothy McVeigh was executed (in Indiana). While we were there, on both trips, Peter introduced the Denny family to our readers and to me. Peter had met the Dennys only hours after the actual bombing when he and Herald photographer Matthew West were dispatched to the horrific scene. In 1995 Rebecca Denny, then age 2 years, and her 3 year old brother Brandon Denny, were severely injured in the explosion while they were attending the building’s day care center. On June 11, 2001, the day that Timothy McVeigh was executed in Terre Haute Indiana, many victims and relatives, including the Dennys, marked this moment by returning to the now beautiful grounds and memorial of the Murrah federal building’s footprint. Here, beginning with a 1997 black & white photo of The Survivor Tree, are some of my photos from my two memorable trips. On a personal note, it is heartening to see that from senseless tragedy, good and decent people rise from the ashes and quickly turn the narrative positive. Also, I feel blessed to have met the Denny family.
My Boston Herald photo coverage of Saturday’s 5-alarm fire in Revere caught the attention of several readers of my blog, and of the Herald. Here is most of my photo shoot from Saturday evening’s fire at Sozio Appliance, a fixture on Squire road for many decades. Here is the Herald story from Kathleen McKiernan, and, as always, reader feedback is very much appreciated..
Bernard Cardinal Law is dead. My photo coverage of him during clergy abuse crisis.
by markadmin Posted: Wednesday, 12/20/2017The Boston Herald Extra edition published Friday the 13th of December, 2002, showing my photo of Bernard Cardinal Law just hours before he announced his resignation from the Archdiocese of Boston. My photo & this Extra, was then replaced with the moment he resigned, which was then captured by the Herald’s Matt Stone. Below are some of my Boston Herald photos of Bernard Cardinal Law.
Photographing the Solar Eclipse with a twist: The world’s largest passenger plane.
by markadmin Posted: Monday, 8/21/2017I was not planning on spending too much time, or thought, on today’s Solar Eclipse, due to a wrist fracture that I sustained covering the controversial protests on Boston Common two days ago. I decided I would try to set up my heavy gear in my Winthrop,MA driveway. With some help from my neighbor Ron, my set up of a Canon 800mm lens and a large tripod was complete with seconds to spare before the solar show. Stuart Cahill, a colleague of mine at the Boston Herald newspaper, had already made me an improvised solar filter for my large lens, and I had already obtained nerdy solar glasses for my eyes. I was amazed at how good the filter worked on my lens. I started to shoot photos every 4 minutes, or so, and was excited with what I had. There was one thing that I really wanted, though. I had expected that there would be an opportunity to get a high altitude airliner through the sun, or more correctly stated, through my view of the sun. I was not disappointed, though it came very late in the eclipse, and did just barely sneak into my view of the sun. I watched as one after another high altitude airliner, most flying from Europe to NYC, just missed the sun. I remember thinking that I wished air traffic controllers in Nashua,NH., would turn them just a little for me. It was getting late and clouds and haze were moving in front of my view of the sun. I noticed the flight tracking systems that I use, flightradar24 and planefinder, were showing an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, over the Massachusetts/NH border, and heading my way. The plane was at a flight level of 40,000′ and traveling at 446 knots. The Etihad Airlines plane was flying from Abu Dahbi to New York city. It was almost directly over Tufts University when I watched as the plane disappeared into the blinding rays of the sun. I shot a heavy handed burst of several photos. I only knew of my success as I looked at the back of the Canon digital camera a few seconds after the moment of impact. The spots on the sun are not dust, they are sun spots, or storms on the sun itself as I understand it. This was a once in a lifetime photo for me, on a couple of fronts. First, and most important, was the rarity of today’s solar eclipse. Second, this is the first time I have photographed an airplane thru the sun, as I usually concentrate my aviation photography on the moon and an airplane, as seen in my aviation photo link above. Also, this is the first time I have captured the A380 thru the sun or the moon. The sky is black due to the heavy filter I was using to safely photograph the sun.
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Springfield/Monson tornado 6th anniversary: Boston Lightning from that day, June 1, 2011
by markadmin Posted: Thursday, 6/1/2017I 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.
Neil Fingleton, Britain’s tallest man at 7 ft 7 in, dies. My 1999 experiences with him
by markadmin Posted: Sunday, 2/26/2017Neil Fingleton, “Game of Thrones” actor and one of the tallest people in the world at 7 feet 7 inches, died yesterday at the age of 36, reportedly of a heart attack. See Worcester Telegram story here. In 1999, I spent several weeks with Neil as he completed his senior season on Worcester’s Holy Name High School basketball team. I had heard about Neil and wanted to do a picture story/photo essay about him for the Boston Herald. I took my idea and petitioned his coach, Worcester sport’s legend J.P. Ricciardi, who later became a Major League Baseball executive. I met with Coach Ricciardi at a coffee shop in Worcester. He made it clear that he did not want Neil’s height to be exploited. I was given a thumbs up to meet Neil and to get his blessing on the project. He was all in. Neil was a bit shy at first, but we quickly took a liking to each other. The last time I spoke to him, he had called me at the Herald in 2007 or 2008 and alerted me to his new career in the entertainment business. He said he was traveling to Boston to promote a show he was in, and asked if I wanted to cover the event for the Herald. We never connected. Below are my photographs from my time with Neil. May he rest in peace.
Two years ago 18 year old Neil Fingleton traveled to Worcester,MA. from his home in Durham, England to learn a game he had never played. In several days he will have come full circle when he announces his decision to accept a full Basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina.
My year in Boston photos: Memorable, sometimes sad moments from 2016
by markadmin Posted: Wednesday, 12/21/2016I was a witness to many memorable events in 2016, from several nasty building fires, to extreme weather, to a tragic trench collapse. Here are some of these moments. Photos taken on and off my Boston Herald news photographer shift. Thank you to the Herald, and to my subjects, many of whom are first responders.