One of the many great things about Portsmouth is the abundance of delicious options to eat & drink.  This spring/summer, Congress Street welcomed a new establishment in the Worth Block – The Portsmouth Baking Company.  It took me a while to finally make it inside, but once I did – I instantly knew this place was something special. The design inside is simply beautiful.  I had peeked inside a couple times this past week, and was surprised to see a flat screen TV with a live feed to the bakery visible from the street.  It’s a neat feature that allows people to see what’s going on in the kitchen as the staff makes the delicious bread.

The massive wooden table at center in the shot above is a sight to behold.  The seating along the wall towards the front is comfy with a unique patterned fabric.  Every little detail has been carefully thought through.  To top it all off, there is an overhead train that brings fresh bread samples from the kitchen in the back to the massive cupboard in the front, so that patrons can try the multitude of offerings.  The fact that their cupcakes are delicious and ridiculously tempting solidifies this as a must visit location, so head on over and see for yourself.

What a difference half a year makes!  The shot above was taken during the afternoon lull in this week’s big winter storm, after most of the snow had fell…but the air was still frigid and the wind was still ridiculous as you can see on the surface of the water.  This public dock is one of my favorites to shoot in Prescott Park and overlooks the Memorial Bridge…so sometimes it’s worth venturing down to see what I can come up with.  Prescott Park is a pretty cool place regardless of season, and there’s a quiet element of magic after a fresh snowfall.

In a sharp contrast, the shot below was taken from the very same spot in June of 2010, with some rich colors from a beautiful sunset.  Makes me appreciate Portsmouth that much more for its versatility.  More great shots through the rest of the week from today’s fresh snowfall!

As I was revisiting the archives this evening – this majestic sky caught my eye and I thought it was time to further investigate this set of brackets.  The late evening had some nice soft light on the Wentworth-Coolidge as it sat perched on the coast of the Piscataqua and got a bit of a facelift.  I can’t get enough of the mustard clapboards and the rich green grass.

Also – I wanted to give everyone a heads up that they’ll have an opportunity on Thursday night at The Music Hall’s Scene @ Five event to purchase raffle tickets to win a 20″x30″ print and possibly more pieces as well!  ALL PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT THE MUSIC HALL and another local non-profit yet to be determined.  I hope you’ll consider buying a ticket or three…to support our local organizations that give so much back to the community!

Here’s a shot back from this summer’s adventures in Boston, with 5 bracketed exposures that were taken during the Worldwide Photowalk held in Boston’s Seaport District, which was led by none other than the talented Brian Matiash.  This building was pretty interesting, with a gorgeous and unique overhang and a relatively quiet afternoon with few people strolling about.  I always enjoy hanging around new places that intrigue me, and I loved the colors of the building (the Institute of Contemporary Art building on the waterfront)…which is appropriately coolly designed for its contents.

Photography is always a fun challenge because it forces you to select what moment you want to capture, and/or what you want to include in your frame.  Sometimes movement and composition come together in a shot, but this time it was more the static lines of the stair case and the exterior lines of the building that made for a nice dynamic set against a summer blue sky.

San Francisco is the hilliest (funny title, right?) city in the United States.  Oddly enough, I grew up next to what is often referred to as the second hilliest place in the US  - Fitchburg, MA.  But nevermind that for now – the shot above captures a typical streetscape in San Fran – ridiculous slopes and cars parked at angles so steep that you can barely believe they don’t roll right over.  This isn’t really quite a case of that, but walking up the hills over and over again will definitely give you some sore legs, and make for fun driving.

Below is an architectural detail that typifies what you might see on any random street in the city.  Richly detailed masonry and fire escapes adorning the sides of a building.  The blue sky and the clouds caught my eye, and the symmetry and the patterns of the buildings made for a great detail shot.

For today’s post we head back to Portsmouth.  The Sheafe Warehouse in Prescott Park sits alongside the Piscataqua River along with several piers/docks.  I headed to the waterfront for one of the last sunsets of the summer season before the official arrival of Fall.  I’m glad I did – I was lucky to catch some interesting light on one last patch of clouds that was blowing through the sky.

Check back tomorrow for some gorgeous shots from our Golden Gate Bridge sunrise adventure.

Another San Francisco icon – Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.  The 210 foot tower sits atop the affluent neighborhood – with the land gifted to the city in the early 1900s by a wealthy socialite who enjoyed chasing fires (according to Wikipedia), Lillie Coit.  The tower is a monument to the city’s firefighters, who took on special meaning after the intense fires that followed the 1906 earthquake.

I’ll share this little tidbit of info from wikipedia, mostly because I found it quite entertaining: “Lillie Coit was one of the more eccentric characters in the history of North Beach and Telegraph Hill, smoking cigars and wearing trousers long before it was socially acceptable for women to do so. She was an avid gambler and often dressed like a man in order to gamble in the males-only establishments that dotted North Beach. Coit was reputed to have shaved her head so her wigs would fit better.”  Whatever the history and whatever Lillie’s true habits were, the tower is a gorgeous addition to the SF skyline.