A Snow Filled Ceres Street
This is hands down one of my favorite views in Portsmouth. The Decks, the stairways on Ceres Street, The Tugboats and a freighter. It doesn’t get much better than this (except during the summers when the hanging garden is in bloom and all of The Decks are open).
On The Decks (Summer in Portsmouth)
In the heart of winter amidst bitter cold and multiple feet of snow – it’s always nice to remember the warmer days in Portsmouth. Summertime is filled with great outdoor activities of entirely different kinds (no jackets/mittens/hats required) – and with many options for having a drink out on the waterfront (complete with an amazing view of sunset). Here’s to warmer days!
The Decks are a great way to spend an afternoon, whether you’re eating, drinking, catching up with old friends, or making new ones. It just so happens that the location of the sunset adds another dynamic to the scene each sunny evening, setting in the west somewhere near the salt piles, the tugboats or the bridges in the distance. When you happen to enjoy a spectacular sunset and a freighter is out in the river, it makes for the perfect scene. No freighter in this shot – I missed it by about an hour, but the sunset from The Decks was phenomenal all the same.
The first decent snow in the seacoast finally arrived on Monday night. Here is a glimpse of The Old Ferry Landing closed for the season, yet festively decorated, and freshly adorned with some light snow.
The season for The Decks is drawing to a close. The Old Ferry Landing has closed for the year…I haven’t seen many folks down at the River House lately, I’ve seen a few folks at Poco’s in their new covered deck and a few die hards at Harpoon Willy’s still venture out (and rumor has it they’re hoping to stay open through Halloween).
I wanted to take a minute to reflect at the past spring/summer/fall season that saw a lot of changes to the Decks. The new pavers were put in throughout the alleyway, and looked pristine for a while (now you wouldn’t guess they’re only a year old with all of the grease and traffic they’ve seen), The River House constructed a second story deck and saw another successful year…and probably the most noteworthy change was the shift of Poco’s deck from on the water to against the building. I’ll always miss the old configuration, but there’s something to be said for eating/drinking in a warmer spot against the building. It’s opened the area up significantly….check out the shots below, which was taken last September just before the old structure came down. Quite an evolution for this little part of town.
The instantly recognizable Moran Towing Tugboats resting at dusk. The workhorses sit patiently waiting for the inclement weather to return, when the freighter traffic picks up steam. I’ve seen them escorting a ship here and there…but the waterfront has been pretty quiet in terms of working waterfront traffic (and usually is during the summer season). Be sure to check the large version of this one out by clicking on the photo.
For the first time in a very long time, I find myself with a backlog of images I’ve edited that I’m really happy with. Usually I’m scrambling to come up with a good shot from a recent shoot, only hours before the next post is due for publishing here on the site. I’m thrilled to have a few days worth ahead of time to share with everyone – and I’m hoping it will allow me more creative flexibility in covering some new territory in the next couple weeks to shoot. I’ll also have some unique NYC shots to share from a trip this weekend that included a city lights harbor cruise and a stop in the madness of Times Square at midnight on Saturday night. For those of you who are Mad Men fans out there – I also snapped a shot of the Time & Life building, which is where the new Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency is located this season. I could spend hours wandering the city & shooting the skyscrapers & streetscapes.
Time has been of the essence recently, and I haven’t been able to stray off my usual path too much. Thankfully, we’ve had some very interesting weather to spice up some familiar scenes. Tonight, on my way home, the sky was pretty overcast and though I wanted to snap off a few shots – I didn’t find too much that was really getting me in the zone. I have a few ideas that I’ll come back to in the next week or so, but I thought it would be a loss for the evening and I’d go to some older material…
Well – on my way back to the car, mother nature must have felt generous because the sun started to peek through a crack in the clouds, making the Bow Street rowhouses glow along with the tugboats on the waterfront. This was taken from the Portsmouth Harbor Cruises dock next to The Oar House….one of my favorite places to shoot. I love all of the variety that summer evenings have to offer, with the extra daylight and the intense clouds/storms that come with the change in New England weather.
I went to the River House for a late dinner on Friday night with my brother to celebrate his birthday. You can sort of see us in the shot above – both with iPhones cranking away, a familiar site for those of you who know us.
I wanted to feature the changing look of the River House’s deck, with the new 2nd-level outdoor deck looking like it’s well on its way to completion. The steel structure that overhangs the alley is up, and I was told last time over there that there will be a great outdoor addition (think cold beer) to the new setup. They’re also working on a second indoor dining room to expand their space. This has become one of my favorite spots for outdoor dining & adult beverages during the spring/summer….and it’ll be interesting to see everything once it’s all finished. Check out the shot below for a “before” of the outdoor area.
I decided to head across the river to see what the evening sunlight might bring. Today’s featured shots are a bit less dramatic than typical photos shared on the site, but I was taken with the beautiful light and how it was hitting the skyline – and thought that the au naturale shots looked better than the dramatic styling (and I need a better zoom lens!).
There was some interesting boat traffic, a fisherman showed up later in the evening – he came underneath the Middle Bridge from further up the Piscataqua to check out the scene near the tugs, hung out for a few – and then headed back up river. A tugboat returned to its resting position after escorting a barge under the Middle Bridge to one of the industrial tenants on the river…and the Sheraton, brick buildings and the Martingale Wharf just looked awesome in the orange glow.
Don’t worry – I got some great HDR shots that will be featured here later in the week….all in all, well worth the trip across the river…I just wish it was a bit warmer outside.
Today’s post features the Portsmouth waterfront once again, this time from the other side of the Moran Towing tugboats. The sun had only a few minutes left before it was completely gone for the day. The scene was pretty subtly lit and gorgeous…and it’s times like that when I never know whether the brackets (multiple exposures) that I capture will produce a shot worthy of posting or not. I was pleased to find out that this combination of three shots happened to add some HDR magic to the scene, with a gigantic glowing orange orb…accentuating the setting sun and subtly lighting the tugs. I hope you enjoy…tomorrow I’ll be featuring more architecture.
This shot was taken from the deck of The River House, which continues to enjoy a great vantage point on the waterfront…and boy am I glad that spring is here, though I am pretty sure I would enjoy a few extra degrees of warmth.
THE DAILY PORTSMOUTH 