WEEK 50

OCTOBER 13TH- 19TH

FINAL WEEK

 

I took my last photo for this blog yesterday. Today when I looked out the kitchen window they were sweeping up the yellow leaves from the plaza and it felt like they were clearing props from a stage on closing night. 

So I was trying to decide what grand finale photo I should have for my last week- and decided to go in a different direction. No grand finale- just more photos on the scale that I have been doing all along. Its a week-- Week 50 on Haviland Street.

I want to take a minute to thank everyone that followed this project and those who commented here, on Facebook and to me personally. It has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Sticking with things is not always my strong suit and having stuck with this for an entire year is something I'm proud of. I learned a hell of a lot about photography. I've taken classes and read books but nothing is like getting out and doing it week after week.So in that respect the Project was a rousing success. I think there's at least a few really good photos to be found here. And I think that it's a  nice record of a small street. I hope everyone who has followed has enjoyed it. 

I am coming up with a new project and hope to start soon. I may even post another photo or 2 here if the mood strikes me.

Goodnight Moon

 

One thing I was a little disappointed with over the year is not getting as many shots of my neighbors as I would have liked. But I'm not out there all the time and had to depend on happenstance to see them when I was out with my camera-- so for the last week I invited people from my building to come out if they could for a group shot. Thanks to those who made it. Here's a great shot of some neighbors that mean the world to me. Nothing says Haviland Street to me like the people who live here. 

Neighbors

 

This photo I took twice and one was a screw-up where I focused on the leaves rather than the girl in the red sweater. But I kind of like the result. The foliage is nice and people are in the background. One thing I learned from this project is sometimes mistakes  can work out ok. Never throw anything away. 

Girl in Red Sweater with Leaves

Leaves with Girl in Red Sweater

Here's the leaves in the gutter that were cleaned up today

Fall in the Gutter

October

 

A couple of last twilight black and white shots which I think have been my favorite style . One thing that will be hard to get used to is not constantly looking out the window--wondering, should I grab the camera and head down? It will be a bit of a relief, but I also will miss it. 

Twilight

 

Leave a Light On

One thing I hadn't done was a self portrait-- so here's me-- grim and gritty on Haviland Street. My wife said it should be the photo on the dust jacket of my hard boiled detective novel. Now there's a project. 

Steve on Haviland

And here's my last shot- it's simple, elegant and taken out my kitchen window that has been my eyes on the street for the past year. I don't think I'll ever tire of the view. I'm sure sooner, rather than later, I'll get the urge to grab the camera and head down to the street. 

Good Night Haviland, Good Night Moon

 
 

WEEK 49

OCTOBER 6TH- 12TH

 

I can't believe it--the penultimate week. This week is actually the last week that I haven't done-- I started this blog the week of October 13-20th last year. The first photo I used was taken October 17th. So next week will actually overlap a bit-- a couple of reasons- I took 3 weeks off-- 1 in the spring when I went to Florida and another 2 weeks for my summer vacation. But I wanted a nice even number of weeks--so decided to settle on 50 weeks. 

So here we go-- last Monday was a spectacular sunset. I thought about saving it for my last photo of the project - but that would violate the rule of making sure the photo was taken in the week it's posted. 

So here it is-

Sunset Over The Fenway

Here's a couple of other sunset shots a little more Haviland focused

Black & White Sunset Over Haviland

Sun Setting Over Haviland

 

 

 

The leaves are really starting to change now-- the weather has been great. The is really my favorite time in Boston. 

Changing

 

 

 

A Moment

Beige Day

 

 I used some split toning to exaggerate the colors a bit in this one.

Yellow

 

 

 

This might be my favorite from this week. I love that the street is mostly darkened but just a small bit of sunlight shooting out from the alley. 

Patch

 

I just can't get enough of these chairs--I love shooting them 

 

More Chairs

 
 
 Don't forget to check in next week for the last week.

 

WEEK 48

SEPTEMBER 29th - OCTOBER 5th

 

Quite a bit of rain this past week. I've mentioned this before but over this past year there really hasn't been much rain. Of course, we had 100+ inches of snow, so it's not like we had a California style drought. So I will start off with some rain photos. It was coming down pretty good, so I took them from my kitchen window--I liked the impressionistic feel of the look through the fogged up window. 

Pink Umbrella

Rainy Morning- Kitchen Window

Rainy Window

The leaves are just starting to turn color a little bit-- a yellow tinge that will hopefully burst into color before the Project ends. 

Early Fall-- Haviland

Had to shoot upward a bit to get some of the nice light coming in today. I like this cluster of building just off Haviland. 

Brick Buildings

 

A sign of the best weather being behind us

Covered

 

A few more shots of the people on the street. 

Blue Guitar

Headphones

 

Laptop

 

 
Haviland St is a one way street--it's amazing how many people drive down the wrong way. 

Wrong Way

 
 

WEEK 35

JUNE 15TH- 21ST

 

Here we are 35 weeks down with 15 to go. I have the FujiX100S this week and used that exclusively. Was kind of wandering aimlessly up and down the street looking for inspiration. I wonder if some people that see me often walking up and down the street, camera in hand, are starting to think I'm a bit crazy. 

Some weeks, I feel like I have a sort of plan and some weeks I'm really just winging it-- this was a winging it week. But I think it worked out OK. 

So I used some reflections to try and get some new perspectives. This one is my favorite - I like how the building just appears partially out of the pavement. 

I Want To Live in A Puddle

POTS/STOP

And it wasn't only puddles-

A New Angle On It

This photo was pretty much an accident, but I really like the dream-like quality of it. The fact that his face is cut off  below the eyes adds to that dream quality, I think. I tried playing around with it several different ways to focus on the surreal. I liked 3 different versions and will put all 3 up as a triptych.

Checking His Phone Without Any I's

 


A constant struggle on the street is parking-- especially on street cleaning day-- I really should get a photo of one of the street cleaners-- but BTD is always around. 

Pleading His Case

There are, of course, many homeless people in our neighborhood, but I am very uncomfortable photographing them for the sole reason that they are homeless. The street is their home and there are enough photos of homeless people around. I'm a big believer in being able to shoot what you want in public. But when you shoot someone sleeping on a stoop it feels to me like an invasion of privacy. If someone who happens to be homeless makes an interesting shot AND it isn't  too intimate of a moment I feel like  I could take the shot. I don't have any hard and fast rules here other than going by my gut--if it feels wrong and exploitative I won't do it. That's a reason you haven't seen many homeless shots. But it would not be a true representation to exclude all traces of the homeless population that are a part of Haviland St. So here's a shot of a rather impressive shopping cart full of a man's worldly possessions.

I continue to struggle with this issue and will try and figure out a way to include them in the story of this street without exploiting them. If you have any ideas. please feel free to leave a comment.

Packed

 

Here's another attempt at a new perspective--shooting straight up-

Flower Box

Sun Wall B&W

A peek into the ally that runs parallel to Haviland

Allied Studios

And a shot from my kitchen window

Two Pair

WEEK 3

OCTOBER 27 - NOVEMBER 2, 2014

The fun of a project like this is to see where it takes you. I haven't set up many rules, so this leaves me free to chase my whims. I've been loving my simple 35mm fixed lens. Each time I hit the street this week, I took that along exclusively. The challenge with a fixed lens is there's no zooming in or out- so you have to really think about your framing. It kind of clears your mind, by removing many of the possibilities.  Also, it's a smaller lens and you don't feel like you stand out as much.

I love the guy on the far left--can't tell if he's looking at me or the runner. 

 Mini

 

 

 

 

Being my neighborhood, I really hope I get lots of photos of the people in my neighborhood. Some will be posed, but most will be candid, I think I'll start with my son-

Sam on Haviland

I thought I would get a bunch of good Halloween kids and revelers, but there just weren't that many out.

Halloween Revelers

Spooky

Colorful Bikes

This is my building- or a corner of it

Above

Window Display

Shortcut

WEEK 2

October 20-26 2014

Went out this evening after dark with just a 50mm prime lens. No tripod or flash. I cranked up the ISO so these are a little grainy. Hope to add a few more later in the week, but 4 days of rain forecast. Maybe get some cool rain shots.



 This is the old door for TCs Lounge- Now being rehabbed.

Panda Behind Bars

Panda Bar Decal

Backlit Tree

This next one was pretty much an accident, but I ended up really liking it. 

Crosswalk

 

 

 

 

Not the best photo- way under exposed and needed a lot of work to get it viewable, but it's such a great moment and the ultra graininess gives it a strange retro look. 

Home to Bed