Hurricane Arthur: Photographs of Provincetown, Cape Cod
"You're crazy, you're nuts, you're going to ruin your camera," Sue said. I tried to explain to her that the Canon Camera and lens that I was shooting with, Canon 5d Markii and a 70-200mm F2.8, are weather sealed and that unless I dropped it the ocean, it could handle some rain falling on it. I stood on the concrete landing, just above the boat launch around the corner from Commercial St in Provincetown. We parked to eat lunch. We had a great view of the bay, watching the boats as the fought to stay above the white capped waves the wind was creating. In between quickly chewing bites down, I spotted a guy walking from the shore right into the water. I dropped my slice and pointed out the window, past the rain drops and off into the distance. He was wadding over towards a small boat being moored. With him he was caring a set of wheels. I couldn't believe eyes. The wind was fiercely blowing as the rain beat down on the car. Occasionally a gust would create enough turbulence the car would teeter in its space.
Hurricane Arthur, Provincetown MA
One of warnings that we kept hearing was to be careful for the undercurrents and how powerful the water would be. As we dinned on our pizza, we watched him make his way over to the boat. He was a considerable distance from where we were, but enough that my lens at max length would capture a decent shot. What I didnt not expect was that he would be swimming, pulling the boat and wheels with him, towards us, to exit the water off the ramp we were parked next to. The moment he reached the boat is when I shoved my last bite into my mouth. Reaching over my shoulder and grabbing my camera, I ejected myself out of the car and into the rain. Standing in the pouring rain for nearly five minutes, i became drenched. At one point Sue opened the door and tried to speak over the rain and wind, saying something about how wet I would be and how I would get that in the car. I stood with my back towards the rain. The wind wiped it against me with as much force as it could give. The rain drops pierced my skin, at least thats how it felt, as it fell. I pulled up the camera and looked down the barrel of the lens as the man made his journey towards us. The power and strength this man had was unreal. His boat was consumed with water, weight, an anchor, weight, wheels, weight, the weight of the boat. He swam against the waves, wind, and falling rain.
Hurricane Arthur
Eventually he was able to get his boat past the rocks and began a slow walk towards the ramp. I began to worry a bit, in that even a short amount of time his strength could have been challenged to the point of exhaustion and fatigue. I kept pressing the shutter and watching him get closer and closer. At the foot of the ramp he began to have a tough time, but was able to push through and get the boat onto the wheels. Ethics and morals were being tossed around my brain, like a hurricane. Pun intended. If I saw him in any sort of distress, I would drop the camera and be at his him in seconds. He was well aware of the fact that I was photographing him. He glanced over at me at on point during his trek and showed a faint sign for admiration, as if he knew why I was photographing him, or if he knew that he was in the position to be photographed. It was a hurricane and he entered the water to spare his boat from becoming a victim of Arthur, and an expensive fossil.
Hurricane Arthur
I knew I had made the money shot/s. It was time to head back. It was time to get back to my lap top and edit and get these to someone who could share them. While packing for our trip, Sue asked why I felt the need to always bring my lap top. Now she knows. I have tried to explain to her that there might be that one time, that single moment, when something happens and I capture it, photograph it, it is a story that needs to be shared. She understood very well after the photographs appeared in a gallery on "Wicked Local Truro" the news outlet for the outer most portion of the cape, Provincetown and Truro. "Gallery of Photos." When I was in college, my professor would tell us stories of photographers that captured "THEE" image that gets circulated around the Associated Press, leaving the photographer with an incredible pay day to follow. While those days aren't as frequent, not that our world is short of any tragic events on the daily, but the way the world of news and media is valued and treated is different. Regardless of the changes in media, having the right resources, such as my camera and machine to edit, I can still quickly provide images, from almost anywhere. It took about two hours before I was back to my laptop. It killed me to be that patient, but being 30 mins from the house in that weather, and still wanting to meander a bit, made it process to get back. Based on the time, I knew I had a very small gap. Most publications can still insert a cover image between 7-9pm. With my email blast I was able to connect with one editor at "The Wicked Local" she was delighted and pleased that I sent her the photos.
Gallery owner uses bucket to clear water that was flooding her store front as man on a bike passes by.
The photo of the gallery owner, above, shows just how awful the rain was that fell. It had only been raining a short time before I stumbled upon this scene. Standing in ankle deep water, she used a bucket to slow the progress of the flooding in her storefront. This was one of the first images I made as we entered the beginning of Commercial Street. Fierce winds, rain, thunderstorms, all the elements of a hurricane beat down on the cape for a day. The next day was filled with sun, soft clouds, the day after the storm was beautiful, the contrast of what I have shown you above. I survived my first hurricane.
A few more photos can be seen in my Flickr Gallery
Cape Cod: Photography
For the past three years, Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer for Sue and I. This past weekend was not the same as the preceding years. The weather as sub-par and made for a mediocre trip. Mediocre isn't the correct word that I would like to use, but it is the only way I can quickly describe our trip. The last two years it has always been 10-20 degrees warmer. Enough that I would trudge my way into the still cold waters of the Atlantic. On the ocean side, the water temp is still relatively cold. It was my own ritual within our growing tradition. This year I did not swim with the sharks, befriend the seals, or test the waters of the Atlantic. Instead, I read. Reading is one my favorite things to do on the Cape, (sounds like a dating profile list of things to pass the time but it is true) aside from make photographs of the landscape, towns, beaches, people. Reading on the beach is one of the only places I can get into a good book un-interrupted. I read a lot for my business, business interests, blogs, etc when I am working, but with all the technological interruptions, emails, texts, phone calls, it gets hard to focus. With the summer heat, the light wind flapping sounds of the umbrella, the sounds of the passing tides, pages turn quickly as the stories come to life.
Even though this weekend went by quickly, I was still able to find peace. My phone stays off. Interruptions come in the form of children running by, breaking for lunch, or taking a stroll a mile out into the bay at the peak of low tide. I took a walk on Saturday when the sun came out. I left my book behind to get a tan while I strolled down the bayside's coast. I had one agenda, make some photographs. I did just that. When the mind is free of burdens, stressors, work, it is free to think freely and explore. As a creative person, this means that my mind goes to ideas with the creative gears turning. I have been working on article for a photography blog/publication that I firmly believe can be an eye opener for some. My walk was a moment of clarity. As I returned to where Sue was sitting a thought came to mind. It was a simple idea that turned into a two paragraph spread for the article.
As the summer progresses by, each month, June, July, August, are all different. The summer heat of July is more intense than June or August. The daylight, evening sunsets of each month bring their own hue and saturation as the temperature influences the colors of the fading days. As a photographer, I am fortunate enough to be able to observe these changes so closely. Memorial Day weekend is the start of these awesome changes. I look forward to each month at the cape, observing and capturing these changes. For me, Cape Cod is in my DNA. As a child, my family vacationed on the outer cape. I know without a down I ingested enough sand to have had a few grains bond to my DNA on a molecular level, making the cape a part of who I am. While I am expanding and adding locations to my passport and travel itinerary, I still feel the cape will always be on of my favorite places to go back to until my life is over. It sounds sad saying it that way, but when a place is a part of who you are, you cant help feeling that it will be with you until you are no more.
Here are a few photos I made this past weekend.
Photographing Cape Cod: The End of Summer
The sun is setting over the horizon. Groups of people are vacating the beaches. For many, this is the last weekend of summer. The start of September marks the beginning of school, a time of new beginnings.. Summer loves are parting ways, saying good byes as they leave their memories on the beaches, in the back yards, under the star-lit firework filled skies, or where ever it is they met and fell in love. For some, the summer love that was created will go on to last a life time. At times I have entertained the idea that I could have been on the beach, next to two people that just met, was next to them when they found the love of their life. Or, we could have been next to a couple that was just about to say their final good bye, as they went into the world finding their own places separate from each other.
The only thing that will remain as an attachment to their relationship are the memories they created and that one last summer they shared before heading home, off to college, or the transition into a new life and career after the last summer post college. Labor Day weekend truly is the last weekend of summer for most people. As the schools start up, college students move back to campus, after school sports start up, life is about enter a new season.
Like a silhouette in the sunset, summer becomes a fast growing memory as the days shorten, the nights become crisp with cool air, and the sun no longer kisses our skin like it did a mere few days ago. August is usually the month I begin to look forward to October. Fall is a favorite season of mine, even though I love summer. There are elements of each season that please me, but with Summer, I cant find any fault like I can for parts of winter and spring. Fall is usually always beautiful, even when it rains out. And as most New Englanders know, the fall can be a real wet season.
For me though, as the summer days fold up and mother nature calls it a day, I am reminded of so many fond moments over the last few months. A hot air balloon ride, lots of time on Cape Cod, day trips, beach trips, warm nights and drought like conditions are a few elements that furnished some great memories. Each moment began with a day, most typically on that day my camera was in hand. But as the time passes, I may forget what really helped make that day so special, but at least in having a photograph I will never forget that moment because of what I saw through the lens. There are some photographs that will correlate with memories, but even when those memories are locked away tight in the back of my mind, the still frame of the image will remind me of the most simplest of things, I was there, then, at that moment.
I have a new collection of photographs from Cape Cod. Some are places I've re-visited, places from my childhood. Most though, are from places I have yet to be to or things I have not seen on the cape. The landscape, like the shrinking shore, has changed in many ways. Having been here as a child and into my early teen years and again as an adult, I can see the changes. I am neutral to them, not saying things are good, bad, better than they were, but different. My affection for Cape Cod will never die, as I think about a future that involves more time on the cape.
Photographing the cape can be very simple, do not fall into the tourist traps, the cliches that make up tourism, and make images that show the moment while still capturing the essence that is the cape. Cape Cod has its own lifestyle, and that is something I strive to capture. To humor myself at times, the tourists become a subject matter. It is entertaining to watch them band together and pull out their cameras, electronic devices, tablets, and smart phones to make images of that oh so familiar place, object, or seagull.
When I travel, even to a place I frequent, I know I am not a tourist, but when a camera is seen in my hands, there is an automatic preconceived notion that I am as much of a tourist as the rest of the people surrounding me. But truth be told, I am a photographer with a clear focus to document the moment, the location, the people, and share those images through blogs, articles, publications, and exhibitions.
As we look out onto the horizon, we say good bye to another day. The final days of summer are marked with conversations about what we've done, saw, felt, and missed out on doing. A laundry list of places and things not accomplished will have to wait till next summer as we back up the memories into our visual cortex, storing them in a mental photo album. Next summer will be greater than summer.
My final thoughts on this subject include, a quote. From my girlfriend Sue: "Would you say you had a lot of firsts with me this summer?" The answer was simple. "Yes. Yes I did." To that I say, thank you Sue. Thank you for a great summer of memories and photographs.
Photographs of Cape Cod: Summer Adventures
July is going to end in a few days. Well, more like 2 days. Summers in New England progress fast. If we have an off summer, where the weather isn't the best, (rain and storms) it makes for an even faster summer. This year has been great. I have a nice tan going. I have made some great photographs. I have been on some great shoots. And I have been visiting the Cape as often as I can. (Cape Cod that is) Which includes two trips to Marthas Vineyard. Both trips to the vineyard were by foot and bike. Instead of taking a car over, my lovely girlfriend and I, first time, took our bikes over and rode around the island. It was fun, adventurous, and pleasant. The second time we went with her sister and husband. That was even more fun. If you dont plan on spending the night and are on vacation at the cape and happen to have bikes, save some money, get some exercise and explore the island by bike. You wont regret it. The images in the gallery below are from Marthas Vineyard. They are just a few of the many photos I have made this summer. They are a meer sample of what I have been working on. By the close of the season, the end of summer, and our last trip out there, I will have produced an entire series, a body of work accompanied by an essay. I currently have 12 images on display for The Easthampton Art Walk in Easthampton, MA. When we stay at the Cape, we stay in Eastham, Ma. Eastham has beautiful beaches, beautiful homes, great places to eat, and is a picturesque town to visit. Next to Eastham is the well known town of Wellfleet. An even more beautiful town with just as amazing beaches. Both Sue and I have personal history at the Cape. We both grew up vacationing there. Sue's family had a place there and I would go with my parents every summer till I reached my teen years. Then it was no more vacations for me. (Found other things to do, being a teenager and all.)
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More Cape Cod photos to come! Check back for an update and a link to my flickr page.
Cape Cod: Fourth of July and some Photos
This year I spent my fourth of July at the Cape. I was just out there a few weeks ago, and was back to celebrate the birthday of our America. American flags flew with pride and splendor. Towns were filled with people showing their pride with reds, whites, and blues. Flag tee shirts, flags, stars and stripes, and any other fashion accessory that you could imagine was displayed in a patriotic manner. I had unfortunately needed to return on the 4th and was unable to make it to any fireworks that night. However, on Monday night I had the privilege of seeing them from First Encounter Beach in Eastham Mass. Having spent and hour as Chef Jeff, grilling and cooking, I prepared a picnic to eat beachside while we waited for the sun to set. It was beautiful. It was a bucket list item, thats for sure. I have always wanted to put together a "fancy" picnic to have on the beach and watch the fireworks. Along with my grilling, we were joined by Amherst Farms Winery. A great little start up winery in Western Ma, (Amherst to be exact). It was a great evening and an even greater sunset. The fireworks were a slight distance away, but nevertheless, they were spectacular. Until the Friday before, June 29th, I had never turned my camera to the fireworks displays that I attended. It never really interested me as much as it did to just watch them. As I am fascinated by light and the different ways light is created, in this instance, by things that explode and blow up. Now, I realize that sounds kind of bad. I do not like things being blown up nor do I use explosives. But come on now, its fireworks. If you dont like fireworks, then you have some weird phobia that is kind of unconstitutional. Or you dont like loud and obnoxious sounds of explosions, which that is ok.
The display that we watched went of from Rock Harbor. Rock Harbor is a nice little harbor. It has one rock in it that stands up right just off the shore. But they know how to light a mean firework. I am sure the hundreds of others that lined the beach to watch would agree. Below are a few photos from our time out there.[gallery link="file" columns="4"]