With the snowy weather of the past week and the drastic changes in temperature we’ve been having, the weather ends up giving us a few gems in terms of scenes with interesting light and dynamics. The sun was peeking out mid-day while the fog over the Middle Bridge and the downtown area was still strong.  The glassy look to the water helps make this mirrored scene a bit more interesting while the fog made sure it still had a few elements of mystery.

One of my favorite times of year is winter, but not for the same reasons as many other New Englanders (like skiing, etc.).  Winter is one of my favorite times of year because of the increased commercial freighter traffic on our waterways…when on certain days I can be driving home for lunch, and spot massive ocean traveling ships by the pair.  In this mid afternoon shot, a freighter is docked at the Granite State Minerals terminal as well as the State terminal a bit further up river. The crystal clear blue skies are a bit of a departure from my usual moody skies and sunsets…hope you enjoy!

A Moran Towing tugboat escorts the Rhourd Enouss from Monrovia back towards the Atlantic Ocean.  The lighting was not great mid-day, but the view was still awesome as this massive vessel was guided by the Roderick McAllister (in from New York, NY).

The Maori Maiden was a very interesting freighter, thanks to its bright green and yellow decking and baby blue exhaust tower.  Looking forward to tracking a new set of ships that will be in and out of Portsmouth through the winter months.  The salt piles are currently tall, but will wane as the winter weather begins to rear its ugly head, which can only mean more river traffic.  It’s a nice distraction during what becomes a long and cold march towards spring.

A new freighter has been in port for the last few days.  The empty sand and salt depot is now a distant memory, and it’s chock full of materials ready to head throughout New England.  The HERON from Nassau is a very cool looking ship – you might not know it from this angle, but it has two huge structures on its deck that look like cages – compared to the freighters I’m more used to seeing, which have their own cranes on their decks.  I’ll feature a few more shots later this week so you can have a glimpse of what makes this ship a bit different.  I loved the late day light on the ship’s hull and the closeup of the upper decks.

A large part of the Granite State Minerals operation relies heavily on this piece of earth.  The sand/salt that is delivered and then loaded into trucks and shipped has to be weighed before it can hit the road.  I was struck by the view on my way home this afternoon, with the pastel colored sky and the size of the sand/salt piles as they grew. I didn’t feel like changing the lens I had on my camera so I ended up with this wide angle shot that  captures the view from the Market Street entrance and lens some scale to the scene.

BOLD arrived on the Portsmouth state pier this week, and I loved the rich blue hull.  Normally, I can’t get a good shot of something so far away…as the State Pier is a good distance from a clear viewing angle.  This time was different – as I’m fortunate to be borrowing a 100mm-40mm lens for a bit, and it is able to get a little extra distance to capture the full magnitude of the ship, and of the Piscataqua River Bridge hovering above it.