Sometimes you just know when you get “the shot”. I have been fortunate to know this several times over the past 20 years or so with my fine art work, drum corps and wedding shots. Acorn Street, is one of “those shots” in my fine art portfolio.
I was reading a magazine or watching TV one day and I noticed a scene unfolding in front of me. The more I think of it, I must have been reading something because I do recall staring at this image for quite some time. It was a night shot in the historic Beacon Hill section of Boston. I don;t know the exact location I was looking at, but I had to go check this place out.
BING! Attraction point #1; it’s historic.
BING, BING! Attraction point #2; it’s been shot at night. This was something new I wanted to explore.
A quick search of MapQuest, and I was out the door with camera bag, tripod and a snack in tow. 45 minutes later I’m cruising through the oldest part of Beacon Hill and loving every doorway, iron gate and lamp post. This area was a snap shot in history. Every building must have had a story or two to tell.
Finding a place to park, I grabbed my gear and wandered the streets. I snapped a few images – mostly because I wanted to remember what I was looking at and come back to it. Then I came to the top of Acorn Street. Looked down the cobblestone way and noted every shadow cast by the street lamps. Noted every cobble has a sparkle or glisten to it. One doorway about 30 yards down was flying an American flag. How perfect is this?
I set up my tripod and camera, and began experimenting with the light. It was the summer, daylight still evident at 8pm. So I took my time and waited for the sun to drop, shadows to grow and street lamps to fully illuminate the way. I was looking for the deep wash of golden light in this scene. I also hoped that the summer breeze would hold steady just enough to get a slight waving in old glory.
I took several shots over the course of an hour. Finally settling on a 20 second exposure at f/6.7 at ISO 100. Colors popped. Lights beamed. Details were vivid.
You could almost hear horse hoofs and carriage wheels on the cobble stone. Quiet conversations of a colonist to his politician neighbor. Did Sam Adams or any of the other notable Revolutionist Bostonians walk this street? It felt so in that moment.
I knew I had the shot long before I downloaded images on my computer. I just knew this one worked.
I was right.
Acorn Street has shown very well for me in 2 shows now and I have sold reprints countless times. It prints very well on Crystal Archive paper and frames itself well in gold tones, wood tones and even industrial brick tones.
Love places old and historic. Check out Acorn Street and the Beacon Hill section of Boston. Not that close by? Get in touch, Acorn Street would look great on your walls!