I’m in a photography club, 52 Frames, to help me keep up with shooting. Because it’s so easy to let life get in the way. This week we are shooting music…How does one see music rather than hear it?
I may have gone more literal with this one, but that’s okay. I took this assignment as a chance to work on my street portraiture. So far most of my street photography has been candid, so here was my chance to engage with my subject.
I initially went into Harvard Square; it’s always bustling with activity and creative people. I thought that going out on a Friday evening there would be lots of interesting subjects that could fit my challenge for the shoot. However, after fueling with sugar and iced tea, and wandering all over, there was nothing happening. Thankfully the T stop right there made it easy for me to change artistic direction! So on the redline I went, heading towards Downtown and Boston Common.
Flour Harvard Square, it was as good as it looked. My advice, get it warmed, chef’s kiss!
I started off at Downtown Crossing, figuring I could follow the freedom trail. If I were performing I would gather where the tourists were. As I approached Dock Square I could hear music and someone on a microphone.
In Dock Square I could see a crowd gathered around a group of dancers, and the dancers talking people into dancing with them. It was very fun.
They were a fun group and great at their craft. But I wasn’t sure they were what I was after. While they were fun to watch, I wasn’t getting many good shots. I had the wrong lens for this spot. I brought my 70-300mm and I was too close to my subjects.
The Breeze Team Boston, they hang out at Dock Square on State Street right before you come into Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market. They were very entertaining!
I headed towards Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. I remembered seeing many musical acts in this area on previous trips, so I was pretty confident I would find something interesting happening. And with this area being more open, and artist tending to be solo acts, I felt they would be better suited to what I had for lenses.
After a few minutes walking I found two violinists performing in Quincy Market. They both were great. The first was playing in great light. She was facing into the sun and the light was highlighting her face. It was beautiful light.
Deena Corkindale @deenastunes she was in the perfect spot for light!
The second was so expressive. She was much more comfortable in front of the camera. She PERFORMED! It was beautiful to watch. You could see the emotion as she played. She was an absolute joy to photograph.
Vivian Luo @violinviiv she was a joy to shoot, so expressive and didn’t mind at all.
After exploring Quincy Market, I had read about a free concert in Boston Common at a place called Uncommon Common. So decided to head to the Common and see what else was going on. On my way, I came across this drummer, who was great. He was so energetic and a fun challenge to keep up with.
Dante McIntyre of the band The Band Granite @dantedrumss and @thebandgranite I wished the light was better so I got more shots of him, he was also wonderful to shoot, so energetic, got lots of attention from passerby.
UnCommon Corner was a cute bar with an artist playing acoustic. Have a few shots of him, he saw me and made sure to look into my lens which was very cool! He was very good, and folks should go see him play.
Nate Ramos @nateramosmusic on the UnCommon Corner Stage @uncommonstage
Overall a fun photo walk. I had to work for it but I think I’ll have a few options for my submission which is a good problem to have. Final photo count on this walk - 1015 🤣
