I just returned from a day trip to Boston to reconnect with friends. We met at the Jay Maisel workshop two summers ago at Maine Media, and a few of the lessons we learned in his class were still front of mind. Jay set a few rules up front:
- “No pack mules!” This meant going out with only one lens and not carrying the entire equipment closet on your back.
- “Do your visual pushups.” Take photographs daily. Photography is like a language, and if you don’t use it you lose it.
I didn’t really follow either of these rules today. I showed up with my Canon and 3 lenses in a small backpack, and I haven’t been dong my pushups. But I did go with enthusiasm and an open mind.
We trekked through several neighborhoods, including Back Bay, Beacon Hill, North End, and South End. Remarkably, my favorite images of the day are from City Hall, a large and imposing building located in downtown Boston, and a few other public buildings constructed in roughly the same era. I really liked the shapes and textures these buildings presented, even though they are likely considered ugly monstrosities locally.
All of these images were taken on a Canon 5DM3, processed lightly in Adobe Lightroom, then converted to B&W and tweaked a bit in the VSCO app on my iPhone.
It was a great day doing visual pushups. And funny, I only used one lens the whole day.
PS. Be sure to check out my friends, too: RJ Lynch and Karen Bobotas
The Light Diaries 
Great point of view, Sandy!
Beautiful gallery 🙂