Brookline PD Bike Force

Did you know that Brookline PD has a bike patrol? On my walk today I was happy to find Fred Amendola and Patrick Elwood patrolling Beacon Street on their bikes. I love it.




Fred Amendola




Patrick Elwood and Fred Amendola.

The Chappy Wrap

A few favorites from a recent product shoot, the cozy and cuddly ChappyWrap [link].









































That's a wrap.

Island Music

Gleanings from a recent visit to Island Music.





Yummy guitars.



Sign of the cross.



Testing the merchandise.



Lovely Katrina.

Something Out of Nothing

I had an hour to kill yesterday afternoon between dropping my bouzouki off in Arlington and my session at Tommy Doyle's. Not much going on in Cambridge on a Wednesday, it seems - compared to the weekends when Harvard Square is a-bustle with musicians and people - but still, it is important to get out there with my camera and keep the juices flowing; an activity that has mostly eluded me of late. As is often the case, this was an exercise to see how much I can make out of nothing.

A Fun New Slide Show

Here's a slide show I had a blast creating, using a set of stills I shot at a recent music gathering and overdubbing with a sound track from the same evening. This was my first crack at something I've had in mind since high school (a very long time ago). Can't wait to do more of this.

Green Line, Saturday Night

A random shot from my ride downtown on the C-Line last night (headed down to The Littlest with my fiddle), without a lot of effort. It might be fun sometime to spend a couple of hours in the underground and see what I come up with, though this genre has been pretty much covered already by some of the Greats, such as Walker Evans and Bruce Davidson. Nevertheless, people are people, and the possibilities are endless.

Brookline Snow

I have sorely neglected VBP - not for lack of ideas, but more due to a shortage of hours in the day.

I do love snow, and we got a heap last Tuesday night and Wednesday in Brookline. I even managed to get out in it with the G12 to grab a taste of the day; as always, I wish I had had more time. It sometimes seems as if I spend more time behind the scenes, indoors on my computer, than I do outside with my camera.  It was a wet, heavy snow, about a foot and a half, I think, when all was said and done.

Here are a few shots from my beloved Coolidge Corner, slightly re-worked since I originally posted them on Edgartown News. I am thoroughly enjoying my new-found opportunity (have I mentioned lately how glad I am to be finished with school?) to re-immerse myself in my photography - my first love, really, especially black and white. I am devouring every Photoshop course and tutorial I can get my hands on and loving every minute of it.






Intersection of Harvard and Beacon. The automobile traffic was at a minimum, with a predominance of pedestrians, most on a snow holiday.







This woman had only a newspaper with which to shield herself from the wind and snow and only reluctantly allowed me to assist her across the slippery train tracks (why does the T have that slippery rubber surface on the crosswalk, I wonder?).


Coolidge Corner T-stop, looking in-bound towards Kenmore Square. Pelham Hall on the left, Trader Joe's and the post office on the right.

The old SS Pierce building, now Walgreen's, at the intersection of Beacon and Harvard. I think the building is registered as a historic landmark. I do remember its having been SS Pierce when I lived in Brookline back in the 60s - I remember that it was kind of a gourmet grocery store, with wine and spices.



Beacon Street, looking west, and outbound.


T-stop, looking out-bound.



Snowed in.



Beacon Street, near Dunkin' Donuts. The shop owners do a decent job of clearing the sidewalks, but because the walkways are narrower with the snow piled up on the sides, and I happen to walk much faster than most people, I do most of my walking in the bike lanes (facing traffic, of course).



This was the third bicyclist I saw in the half an hour I was out and about. Notice that she has only temporarily dismounted and is poised to hop on and keep riding (which she did as soon as she got across the tracks and onto Beacon Street). At one point she gave me a really funny look, as if I was the weird one.


This is one of my favorites from this day - the woman in black totally makes this photo work. And yes, this was one of those times that I was able to see what I wanted - I saw that woman and waited for her to walk into position. I love her.






This shot I thought for sure would be a throw-away, but this may be my favorite from the day. I love the "in your face" feel of this one (literally), and the motion.






Under the awning, corner of Beacon and Pleasant. At first I shot with the light behind me, towards the building, but quickly realized it would be a better photograph with the light coming through the ice.