This theme was about facades of buildings and the outward appearance they project. I love photographing architecture, so to make this more of a challenge, I decided to limit myself to just the front. Not geometric details, or shots looking up, but just the view from the sidewalk. Boston actually has a lot of different architectural styles from neighborhood to neighborhood, so it wasn't too hard to find a good variety.
These photos are from the Back Bay, South End, Fenway district and Kenmore. As usual, half the places were ones I had in mind, and the others were ones I stumbled upon along the way. There obviously was no shortage of subject matter, so these nine are a very select edit of what I shot.
The hunt for red (and yellow and orange) October
This theme was all about the new season. The beginning of October meant summer is officially and fully over, so I decided to embrace it photo-wise. Fall is also my favorite season: dressing in layers, cool sunny days, football Saturdays, a bounty of farm produce, and those colors! Sometimes it's hard work finding signs of fall foliage in the city, especially when the coast is a bit behind the peak season inland. But I lucked out (and maybe also timed this theme) that another instameet was scheduled during the same week with @IGBoston.
I had a great time at the last meet-up and had been looking forward to another one for a while. This is the first one that worked out schedule-wise, and it was planned for the Arnold Arboretum. A literal tree reserve on the outskirts of the city, what better place to find foliage?! It's also a very different subject matter than I normally focus on and gave me a chance to take more portraits and pictorials. I included my favorite shot below, and you can see all the photos from the meet on my Instagram feed.
All the other photos below are from my neighborhood or a quick jaunt to an apple orchard about 20 miles from the city. I wanted to keep it as local as possible, even though there are more beautiful colors out west of the city. I feel like there are so many more fall photos to take, but alas, my time frame is over, and it's on to another theme!
Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
This theme was a suggestion from a photographer friend of mine: to just focus on one street. So I picked Tremont Street, about a block from my apartment, and the main thoroughfare through the South End. It has endless options for subject matter, from its restaurants and shops, to plazas and small parks, but I tried to stick to a fairly small portion, about half a mile total. They're not the most consistent group of images when shown together, but I tried to have a variety of subjects and compositions, and it definitely represents the street and neighborhood well.
The only time I strayed from this defined area was for a challenge by the Instagram group IGBoston. In order to become a member with them, you need to submit your gallery and then complete a challenge shot they pick out for you. They asked me to post a photo of one of Boston's grand public fountains, and luckily there's a good one (and only one) along Tremont Street in the Boston Common. I came away with a shot I really liked, that still fit in well with the other Tremont photos, and brought me into IGBoston.
Big news! The Shop is here!
After a lot of prep work picking the right images, and maybe a webinar or two about selling your artwork, the Shop is live on my site! I've curated sets of 3, 6 and 9 photos pulled from my theme series on Instagram (and featured here on the blog). These are my favorites, but I'm happy to create custom designs and sizes as well! Please take a look and let me know what you think, suggestions for future themes, or even donate if you're lacking wall space.
Be on the lookout for new additions in the near future, and maybe a special promotion or two for fall. Enjoy!
Feelin' the Blues
I always go back to color themes when I'm feeling a bit uninspired. After a busy summer, I had gotten behind on my schedule and wasn't easily finding photos I was happy with. I decided to pick a color again since those had been reliable in the past. But blue was tricky, because I only wanted to do one sky or water photo. It seemed there weren't a lot of other possibilities.
I was starting to feel discouraged again about a lack of blue subject matter, but I finally had the time one afternoon to just go wander, always the best cure. By only walking a few blocks, I found a ton of great options and ended the theme on a stronger note. This is a fun set, with a good variety between full-frame color and individual objects. Enjoy!
