Sunset Blockade

These clouds acted as a blockade for the sunset. The blocked most of the sunset on the left but left a small opening for this picture. My two favorite parts of this picture are the bright colors from the main sunset and the reflection of the orange across the beach. The reflection showcases the footprints and impurities on the beach and it helps to increase the vibrancy of the sunset.

Evening Flight

I was standing behind a puddle taking pictures of the reflection of the sun off it when this seagull flew right past me. It was incredibly close to me, which allowed for an easier picture. Most of the time I don't have birds close to the camera, but this day I was lucky. The bird acted like it wanted to be in the picture, flying mid-frame with my camera's settings already prepared for this shot.

Oyster Crates

These oyster crates are placed about 100 yards offshore and remain underwater until low tide. To catch the oysters, the crates have to be underwater, which is why they are so far out, but they can't be so far out that low tide doesn't expose them. I combined the crates with the sunset and created this stunning picture. Bright pinks and night blues reflecting and silhouetting the crates.

Reflection

Many times in the past I have taken pictures of sunsets that were reflected off of some water, but this is by far my favorite. There is this small puddle where the water wasn't able to escape reflecting the sun into my camera. There are silhouettes of people standing and watching the sunset. Then there is also the sunset itself, bright colors of orange and blue. I wish I could have shifted a little to the right, but still an incredible picture.

Ocean Sunset

After Boston, we headed to Brewster near Cape Cod. The tides changed 13 feet every day. High tide was around 2pm and the beach was only 20 feet long but by sunset and 8, the beach was as far as the eye could see. There were a few small puddles because not all the water made it out with the tide, but almost all the water was gone.

Water

The next and final place we visited in Boston was this perfectly clear lake. It originated as a glacier then over hundreds of years it melted into this lake. The lake was so clear I could see the bottom ten feet underwater in some spots. I was able to easily see fish and other underwater objects.

Paul Revere's House

A little way down the road we passed by Paul Revere's house. I am a little skeptical about the complete truth if this is his house or not. The left side looks freshly painted and the side panels look new. This could be because they had to remodel it or else it would fall, but the right side looks authentic. There's a green-brown taint on the panels, making it look like something that could have been from the 1700s.

Protecting the Nation

This statue and park in behind the statue mark where the American Revolution started. Both towns, Lexington and Concord, claim to that their town had the first shots, but I believe it is Lexington. On the way back to the car we passed by a cemetery with headstones dated to the early 1800s. It was something not relevant to the revolution, but interesting to see.

Walk in the Park

This is a picture of a big duck followed by many small ducks. I wanted to position the camera as close to the big ducks head as I could, but also have the small ducks in the back. I chose a smaller aperture to have the ducks in the back be in the picture but out of focus.

Paul Revere

This picture is of Paul Revere riding his horse in front of a church. This picture was one of the hardest to take. There were two main things I was focussed about, light and positioning Paul. The light that day was very harsh. There was bright sunlight on the church, but Paul was completely black. While I did lose much information in Paul, I was able to get both objects which is a success. The second thing was positioning. I wanted to get the perfect angle to capture both the church and Paul.

Irish Potato Famine

This is the Boston Irish Famine Memorial. There is another part (not pictured) that shows a prosperous American family walking along next to this struggling Irish family. It opened in 1998 and has an average of 3 million visitors each year. Even from just a simple picture, it is easy to see the struggles it appears they are going through.

Granary Burying Ground 

Our next adventure took us onto the freedom trail and to the Granary Burying Grounds. This cemetery is the resting place for Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Sam Adams. Some of the headstones were dated to the 1700s, but they were actually moved in the late 1900s to accommodate tourists and to create a walkway. While this isn't the original resting place of the headstones, this still was a site that was visited over 300 years ago.

Prudential Tower

Hey! This is my 1000th Post! I looked back at my first picture and I was dated almost 3 years ago. 1000 pictures later and there's a big quality and commentary difference.
Next, we traveled 30 stories high on the observation deck of the Prudential Tower. It was really calm and peaceful up top. You could look down and see the cars and buses without hearing all the city noises. You could also look out and see for miles and miles. One of the things that shocked me the most were the number of trees. I didn't think that there would be as many in such a dense city.

MIT

This picture and the last one sum up our visit to MIT. It wasn't a formal visit, just us walking around and seeing the campus and buildings. I personally like this picture better because of the colors and man taking another picture. First, there are more colors in this picture, which I like. Second, I like how the guy is taking the picture. It shows that this is a popular visiting spot.

Thinking

Continuing our college visits, we next went to MIT. After getting off the bus, I immediately saw this sculpture. It is called 'Alchemist' and is metal letters, numbers, and mathematical symbols to "pay homage to all the researchers and scientists." If I could change one thing about the picture, it would be moving the picture angle. I wish I took the picture head-on and the background was the rest of MIT. The downside of doing so would cause the trees to go away, which do also add an interesting background.

Harvard

Welcome to Boston! There are two parts to this trip. The first is the downtown Boston and surrounding cities and the second is Cape Cod. We started our trip off in Boston and visiting Harvard. I took this picture in the Harvard Yard facing North toward the Harvard Memorial Church. I took this picture because of the architecture that surrounds and makes up the building. Five paths meet at the center point of the yard, there are the four giant columns at the bottom of the church, then steeple on top.

In-Line

This is the final picture from the Northern California series. On the last day, we went on the trolley that goes up Lombard Street and through downtown San Fransisco. During one of our many crossings at streets, I noticed the straight streets and rows of buildings. I liked the architecture and symmetry, so I took many pictures of numerous streets. This one is perfectly centered and has everything I am looking for, now onto Boston and Cape Cod!

Alcatraz

Once we stepped off the boat and onto the island, the wind appeared to die down a little. After stepping into the prison yard, I realized how much wind there was. Also, there was bird poop everywhere, and ten-foot-tall walls surrounded the center. It seemed very hard to escape, and if someone did escape, they would have to swim a mile in freezing cold water with very gusty winds.

Looking Back at Downtown

After the bridge, we headed south and east to Alcatraz. The day was a typical San Fransisco summer day, highs around 80F and clouds in the morning but dissipating by noon or late afternoon. Once we were 2 minutes into the boat ride to Alcatraz, the winds picked up substantially causing the temperature to drop. Disregarding the weather, on the way to the island prison, I turned my camera back to downtown. I used my wide-angle lens, and even then downtown was too big to capture everything.

Looking Beyond

I took pictures of the bridge from many different angles with many different objects in the fore and background. This picture is my favorite of the bridge. I like how there are the flowers as the main focus with the bridge in the background. I also like the color of the flowers and how they are contrasted against the bridge and clouds. The bright colors of the flowers really showcase them next to the dark-colored clouds and bridge.