A simple shot of a perfectly New England scene – Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse at dusk.  The day’s last night is just kissing the window of the lighthouse as it watches over Portsmouth Harbor.  Kittery can be seen in the distance with some of the late afternoon’s rich sunlight hitting the homes on the shore.  Another shot from the inspiring Great Island Common in New Castle.

Great Island Common in New Castle, NH is a pretty gorgeous place.  Overlooking where the Atlantic Ocean and the Piscataqua River meets, it also features the view of two perfectly New England lighthouses – Whaleback Lighthouse and Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse.  Today’s post features the ring buoy (which I think is funny, because I can’t imagine someone being saved by this little guy – but I’m sure that I’ll be proven wrong (or already have been)) overlooking Whaleback Lighthouse as well as a closeup of the tower.  The shot above is a handheld 3-exposure creation taken with my lovely Carl Zeiss 21mm.

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!

This is one of my favorite shots of Market Square I’ve captured over the past couple years.  It’s a Christmas time panoramic shot featuring a wonderfully wide angle view of Market Street, Daniel Street, a glimpse of the Christmas Tree and of course, Breaking New Grounds.  The sunset this afternoon was just incredible with rich orange tones just reaching over the rooftops of the Congress Street buildings to illuminate the Alie Jewelers building and the Market Street rowhouses in the distance.  You can even see a little tiny bird flying just above the Market Street roadway in the upper left area.  This one will look gorgeous large-scale, and I plan to make some cool huge prints out of it for my house or office.  Hope you enjoy!

In case you’re in a pinch and still have to do some last minute shopping, please consider buying a few prints for your friends and family who love Portsmouth!  I have images from Portsmouth and many other spots throughout the US (NYC, Boston, Yellowstone…).  Happy Holidays to all. Visit http://philipcasecohen.com to review the full gallery…

Here are more shots featured from the jaw-dropping sunset I enjoyed while checking out the Eastern Point Lighthouse on the southern point of Gloucester, MA.  The late afternoon’s sunlight was incredible, despite being just after 4pm, thanks to the angle of the sun early in the day.  The jetty was pretty cool, though Chris and I never strayed too far from the lighthouse itself.  The tower and light of a lighthouse always fascinate me – so I was sure to get a closer shot…which will be featured this weekend!

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!

Digging further through the archives this week, I’ve finally had the time to process a few shots taken with the Carl Zeiss 18mm lens that I rented a few months back during the Worldwide Photo Walk, which I participated in.  The walk meandered through the Seaport District of Boston – and I had some shots that I was really excited about processing, but for one reason or another – I never made it to seeing what the finished product might look like with a few of the exposures.  Part of the problem was that each image looked so good (when I actually came up with a decent composition) thanks in large part to the high quality Zeiss lens, which seems to capture the colors straight from my brain.  This is both a blessing and a challenge for HDR processing, as any combination of multiple exposures with wonderfully represented/saturated colors in each exposure, tends to create an extreme look when I use my typical steps in post-processing.  I think once I get the hang of it, the exposures or “brackets” from each set will provide some incredible color and spatial data…than when combined will create a gorgeous shot, similar to what I’ve found with my Zeiss 100mm Hasselblad shots.  Hope you enjoy

Also – Please take a moment sometime during your day today to reflect and remember the Veterans that have served our country and protected the freedoms that we are so lucky to have here in America.  It definitely wouldn’t be the same place without the sacrifices that so many have made on our behalf.