This image of the Boston skyline is taken from Fan Pier Park in a revitalized neighborhood of the city along Boston Harbor. Part of the Harborwalk, a 43-mile linear park along Boston’s shoreline, this area is perfect for a stroll with tremendous views, grassy areas, and park benches for relaxing, and plenty of restaurants and cafe’s in the area. The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is located here. The Boston Tea Party Museum is a short walk across Fort Point Channel.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses High-Dynamic Range (HDR) technique and an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance. Prints are available from my Etsy shop.
The Joseph ConradConnecticut Statehood US postage stamp
Inspired by the Connecticut Statehood stamp, I traveled to Mystic Seaport in 2012 to capture a photograph of the Charles W. Morgan, the subject of that stamp. Unfortunately it was being restored at the time so it was surrounded by scaffolding inside a large shipyard building. Getting a nice image proved difficult, so I opted to photograph the Joseph Conrad, another ship in the Mystic Seaport collection.
The Joseph Conrad was built in 1882, in Copenhagen, as a training ship. It was originally named the George Stage, after the son of a prominent ship owner, Frederik Stage. In 1934, after 52 years of service and about to be retired, British Captain Alan Villiers bought and renamed her after Joseph Conrad, the author of popular seafaring novels. Two years and fifty eight thousand miles around the world later, George Huntington Hartford II bought and modernized the Joseph Conrad as a private yacht, sailed and raced her until 1939 at which point ownership was transferred to the US Maritime Commission and used once again as a training ship. Acquired in 1947, The Joseph Conrad now finds its home at Mystic Seaport as an exhibit and training vessel for the Mystic Mariner Program.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance; prints are available from my Pixels shop.
The tugboat Independence moored in the Cape Cod Canal. Buildings and the training ship of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy are seen in the background.
The Independence was built in 2009 by the Derektor Shipyards in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It measures 127′ long and generates 5,400 horsepower from its twin sixteen-cylinder diesel engines. For safety, tugboats generally have two of everything.
Approximately 15,000 vessels use the 7-mile long canal annually. It takes and hour and a half to transit, a much shorter journey than going around the tip of Cape Cod. The majority of the cargo is petroleum products like gasoline and fuel oil carried in long barges that are towed or pushed through the canal, with the assistance of a second tugboat to ensure safe passage.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance. I also processed the image to remove the color in all parts of the image except for the tugboat and water, making it stand out more clearly among the dense array of shapes of the academy buildings and ship in the background. Prints are available from my Pixels shop.
The Wentworth-Coolidge historic site is located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on the shores of Little Harbor. This was the home of Benning Wentworth, the first royal governor of New Hampshire. The Coolidge family owned the property from 1886 to 1954, developing it as a summertime artist community. The Wentworth-Coolidge Commission continues this tradition of sponsoring arts and music events on the site, which includes a short walking trail and is open for house tours.
I’ve taken many photographs of this site, but particularly like the image with the dinghy in the foreground, taken from the Heritage cruise ship operated by Portsmouth Harbor Cruises.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses High-Dynamic Range (HDR) technique and an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance. Available from my Etsy shop.
Wood Island lies in the channel of the Piscataqua River at the mouth of Portsmouth Harbor in Kittery, Maine. This life-saving station, part of a network of facilities built along the east coast to assist sailors in distress (a precursor to the Coast Guard), was built in 1907. Seen here in 2012, the building shows signs of age. Now, the Wood Island Life Saving Station Association has restored the building and is in the process of creating a maritime museum there.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance. Prints are available from my Etsy shop.
First on the Beach captures a beach-goer who arrived to view the beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic, beach umbrella at the ready at Hampton Beach, a barrier beach along the New Hampshire coastline. It’s noted very clean waters and is very popular for swimming and boogie-boarding in the summer.
The Hampton Beach Village District website lists the many concerts and events held on the beach in the summer, including nightly concerts, weekly fireworks displays, and annual sand sculpture competitions. Their live webcam gives you a glimpse of the activity on the beach.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses High-Dynamic Range (HDR) technique and an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance. Prints are available from my Etsy shop.
A lobster boat is moored in the quiet waters of Portsmouth Harbor seen from Goat Island in New Castle, NH. There’s a kayak put-in on this small chunk of land that includes a couple of homes and the Kittery Point Yacht Club. The island provides footings for two bridges that connect Portsmouth with New Castle, a charming village of about one-thousand people. It is the only New Hampshire town situated entirely on an island. Several other islands can be seen in this section of the tidal Piscataqua River.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance; prints are available from my Pixels shop.
This view of the Boston skyline was taken while I was on a Boston Harbor boat cruise. The distinctive arch of Rowe’s Wharf is prominent from this vantage point.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance; prints are available from my Pixels shop.
White Lake is a small, picturesque lake near Tamworth, New Hampshire nestled at the southern edge of the White Mountains. It opens up dramatic views of Mount Chocorua and other peaks of the Sandwich Range, as can be seen in this image where early morning fog settles in the valley below the mountain.
The lake was formed when Ice Age glaciers retreated, leaving a depression that filled with water. The shallow waters appear very clean against a light sandy bottom along most of the lake edge.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses High-Dynamic Range (HDR) technique and an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance. Available from my Etsy shop.
Taken during an early springtime morning in New Hampshire, this image of Portsmouth Harbor lighthouse shows the trees just starting to leaf out in the background. Although the vantage point is Great Island Common in New Castle a half-mile away, a telephoto lens in concert with a tight image crop pulls in the houses across the harbor in Kittery, Maine.
This is the only lighthouse along the New Hampshire seacoast located on the mainland. The original wooden lighthouse was established in 1771, and replaced in 1878 by the current 48-foot cast-iron, brick-lined tower. It is still an active navigational aid outfitted with a fourth order Fresnel lens made of green acrylic, visible for 12 miles.
Part of my portfolio of photographs, this image uses an artistic software filter to impart a painterly appearance.
The photograph was inspired by the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse postage stamp (Scott #4792), part of the New England Lighthouses series issued in 2013.
Dave Thompsen Photography 