Happy Birthday America (Belated)

So my 4th of July like most of my colleagues was spent shooting photos. I was stationed at the Hatch Shell to photograph the Boston Pops concert featuring Toby Keith. Huge crowds camp out all day to try and get a spot close to stage. The concert concludes with a huge fireworks display that you can't see from in front of the stage. So once the fireworks start up, the thousands and thousands of people that were camped in one spot for 10 hours rush to the banks of the Charles River to see the show. What remains is a bit surreal looking. Maybe a few hundred people wandering around or staying in their lawn chairs looking up at a big screen to see the fireworks broadcast as smoke and confetti drift through the air.

Here is a little before:

Boston, MA - July 4, 2010: Thousands of spectators in front of the Hatch Shell cheer on as the fireworks portion of the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular is set to begin.  Photo by Matthew Healey

....and after.

Boston, MA - July 4, 2010: A few hundred spectators remain in front of the Hatch Shell to watch the fireworks on a big screen as the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular draws to an end.  Photo by Matthew Healey

Boston, MA - July 4, 2010:  William Guarente of Arlington, cheers in front of the Hatch Shell while watching the fireworks display on a big screen as the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular draws to an end.  Photo by Matthew Healey

Sorry, no cheerleaders this time

I just had a few rolls of 120 film developed and wanted to share. Yes film, yes big film. No I can't develop my own, and I feel shame for that. But the good folks at Hunt's Photo did a pretty darn good job and they don't charge you an arm and a leg.

The first photo is from a Holga. A cheap plastic camera that shoots 120 film. The lens is terrible, you can't really focus it, and the shutter and aperture are always f11 at 1/100th second. With practice, you can get some nice stuff from a Holga. Or in my case, with luck. This is one of the only ones that came out, and I really dig it. Shot on 1600 film last year I think.

The second two come from the same roll on a real working TLR (twin lens reflex) camera.  Has shutter and aperture controls.  And it works great.  The first shot was taken outside a rally for President Barack Obama at a high school in Nashua, New Hampshire.  I ended up losing the names of the women.  They knew they weren't getting into the school but were still hoping to see the president.

The last one is from the NHL 2010 Bridgestone Winter Classic at Fenway Park between the Flyers and the Bruins.  I wish I had more interesting stuff from there but I did have a game to shoot.

Let me know what you think.

Boston, MA - 2009???: Boston Red Sox shortstop Dustin Pedroia takes the field during a game at Fenway Park.  Photo by Matthew Healey.

Nashua, NH - Februrary, 2 2010: Two women stand on a curb in front of Nashua North High School in the hopes of seeing President Barack Obama.  Photo by Matthew Healey

Boston, MA - January 1, 2010: The Boston skyline looms over Fenway Park as the Boston Bruins take on the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Fenway Park.  Photo by Matthew Healey.