Five Frames of Hidden Art from Boston

In August of 2018 I was in Boston again for, wait for it…, a scientific meeting. I was mostly loose for a couple of days when I wasn’t attending to the science. Here are five frame of arty stuff from around town.

Through a Window

I took this photo in the World Trade Center stop on the Silver line. I had ridden the “T” over from my hotel to go to the convention center where I was going, gasp, to actually attend some of the meeting that brought me to Boston.

Crane, Reflected

I shot this in the Seaport District as I was wandering over to the Harborwalk Lookout Terrace. A good friend had taken us to dinner in the area and we walked over to the Lookout Terrace afterward. The area looked interesting, so I wanted to go back and shoot!

Terrace, Reflected

This is the top of the Harborwalk Lookout Terrace reflected on Boston Harbor shot from a pier at Fan Pier Marina. My photo, Red Boat, was taken just a few steps away.

Door 199

I found Door 199 in an alley in Back Bay. I was headed toward the Charles River to walk around the Charles River Lagoon. I was intending to cross over Storrow Drive on the pedestrian bridge that is near Dartmouth Street. Before I got to the pedestrian bridge, I stumbled onto door 199. I like the brick and the mysterious door and window.

Brick Reveal

I found these exposed brick near some steps on the Charles River Lagoon. I liked the contrast of the white concrete with the red of the bricks.

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Bonus Frame – Duck Boat

Meet Charlie River. She is a Duck Boat (not to be confused with a Swan Boat (see Five Frames From Five Cities and Gimpressionist Swan Boat)). Charlie River is named for the Charles River, which in that part of the world separates Boston from Cambridge. All the Duck Boats have fanciful Boston-related names like Beacon Hilda (Beacon Hill), Longfellow Bridget (Longfellow Bridge), or Symphony Hal (Symphony Hall). I caught Charlie River waiting for guests at the Prudential departure location, which was near my hotel.

The Duck Tours toodle around the streets of Boston while the ConDUCKtors point out the sights. Then, SPLASH!, into the Charles River for a quick nautical tour of things along the river. I worked in Cambridge for thirteen years and never took a Duck Boat ride. My wife and I finally went on one a few years ago and it was fun. I enjoyed the dry part of the tour more than I expected. After the splash, the Duck Boat went past my old place of work, which is right on the river. It was fun to see my building from the water side.

At $45.99 per adult, it ain’t cheap. The Swan Boats, at $8.00, are a better value. But heck, I paid a lot more than that for the privilege of visiting Harry Potter in Orlando (see Five Frames of the Wizarding World) so give it a go! Of course, you’ll have to wait for COVID-19 to let go of us.

I once bought a duck call in a sporting goods store with the express idea of harassing the Duck Boats. One fine spring evening just after work, I was crossing the Longfellow bridge and a Duck boat crossed beneath me. I whipped out my duck call and quacked.

There was a young couple sitting on a raised seat in the back of the Duck Boat and she whipped her head around. She spotted a gull flying overhead. She was pointing it out to her boyfriend when I quacked again. She spotted me. I waved. They waved and laughed.

Quack, quack, y’all.

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Other shots of Boston can be found in the links mentioned above and: Five Frames of Boats from Boston, Five Frames from Boston, Five Frames from Five Cities, Five Frames of People from Five Cities, Five Frames of Pipes from Five Cities, and Five Frames of Shiny.

All of the photos in this post were taken with a Canon 6D wearing the Canon 24-70 f2.8 zoom lens. The photos were processed from RAW files using Darktable, a free program for Windoze, Mac, and Linux.