On January 9, 2009, a Boston fire crew’s ladder truck, Ladder 26, suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure returning from a call on Mission Hill. Boston fire Lieutenant Kevin Kelley died after the truck slammed into a building on Huntington Ave. It is hard to believe that ten years have passed. Here is a photo of the very solemn moments after Lt. Kelley’s BFD colleagues, Boston EMS, and Boston police officials recovered him from the rubble. Needless to say it was a very difficult photo to snap at the time. There was not a dry eye in the area at that moment. Rest in Peace.
On this date, 10 years ago, Boston fire Lt. Kevin Kelley killed in the line of duty.
by markadmin Posted: Wednesday, 1/9/2019From airplanes to storms, moons to sunsets, all the way to an exciting new job with my new employer NBC10Boston/NECN/TELEMUNDO. These photos span from January 4, 2018, a Winthrop storm photo, to December 31, a newly married couple posing for a wedding photo at FirstNightBoston. My new career started on November 12. I am proud to say that there are 8 photos taken after November 12. Thank you all for your support. Happy New Year!
Arthur Pollock, Boston Herald assistant director of photography, died yesterday. Arthur was a great photographer/morning-desk photo editor, very good person, special friend, loving husband to Judy Cockerton, caring dad to Jesse, Jenna and Brianna, and awesome coworker. I will remember his attention to detail, discipline, (fairly) cool demeanor , and voracious reading skills. He cared about journalism. Arthur would often finish reading the Herald and get halfway through the Globe before the beginning of his morning shift as morning-desk photo editor. His command of nearly every story was second to none at the Herald, including the writing-side editors. He would sometimes compliment or gently criticize a reporter, when warranted. He would even sometimes tell me: “please tell Laura Crimaldi (my wife and Boston Globe reporter) that her story in the Globe was great, today.” When a photographer got a message from Arthur of “congratulations, great photo”, it was known that he truly meant it. He was a great teacher, teaching me the nuances of the morning photodesk as I would often have to fill in for him during his treatments the last year, and teaching me the art/business of photojournalism. I remember his favorite lesson line of “shoot it like you had been contracted by Parade or People Magazine.” In other words, make every shot count. From my first day at the Herald in 1993 until the last day that I saw him in May, he would have an interesting story to tell, telling it with that famous Arthur grin. He was fiercely loyal to the Herald, Jim Mahoney and The Chief, Kevin Cole. The photos above are some of his favorites, including the Dinosaur of Boston, Roller Coaster, and his view of the very sad Challenger explosion in Florida. He covered the Pope, Presidents and travelled the world until becoming more of a presence on the photo desk in the late 90’s. The photo above of Arthur, at right, fixing my tie was taken in the mid 90’s in Warwick,RI. Five Herald photographers had won photo awards and we were in a hotel about to be feted. Arthur knocked on my hotel room door and wanted me to hustle as we were going to be late. He took one look at my tie and said: “Your tie is on wrong”, and proceeded to fix it. Not sure who took the photo but I will treasure it. RIP Arthur.
23 Years ago today, the Oklahoma City Bombing: My experiences and photographs.
by markadmin Posted: Thursday, 4/19/2018In 1997 I was sent with Boston Herald columnist Peter Gelzinis to cover the 2nd anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building. In 2001 we returned to the bombing site to provide coverage of the moment that Oklahoma City bomber/murderer Timothy McVeigh was executed (in Indiana). While we were there, on both trips, Peter introduced the Denny family to our readers and to me. Peter had met the Dennys only hours after the actual bombing when he and Herald photographer Matthew West were dispatched to the horrific scene. In 1995 Rebecca Denny, then age 2 years, and her 3 year old brother Brandon Denny, were severely injured in the explosion while they were attending the building’s day care center. On June 11, 2001, the day that Timothy McVeigh was executed in Terre Haute Indiana, many victims and relatives, including the Dennys, marked this moment by returning to the now beautiful grounds and memorial of the Murrah federal building’s footprint. Here, beginning with a 1997 black & white photo of The Survivor Tree, are some of my photos from my two memorable trips. On a personal note, it is heartening to see that from senseless tragedy, good and decent people rise from the ashes and quickly turn the narrative positive. Also, I feel blessed to have met the Denny family.
My Boston Herald photo coverage of Saturday’s 5-alarm fire in Revere caught the attention of several readers of my blog, and of the Herald. Here is most of my photo shoot from Saturday evening’s fire at Sozio Appliance, a fixture on Squire road for many decades. Here is the Herald story from Kathleen McKiernan, and, as always, reader feedback is very much appreciated..
Bernard Cardinal Law is dead. My photo coverage of him during clergy abuse crisis.
by markadmin Posted: Wednesday, 12/20/2017The Boston Herald Extra edition published Friday the 13th of December, 2002, showing my photo of Bernard Cardinal Law just hours before he announced his resignation from the Archdiocese of Boston. My photo & this Extra, was then replaced with the moment he resigned, which was then captured by the Herald’s Matt Stone. Below are some of my Boston Herald photos of Bernard Cardinal Law.
One of the world’s largest airplanes departs Boston’s Logan Airport today.
by markadmin Posted: Thursday, 10/5/2017The Antonov Design Bureau AN124, a Ukrainian cargo plane with a tail # UR-82008, is seen departing Boston’s Logan International Airport after a surprise and brief refueling stop prior to a flight to the NASA Shuttle Landing Facility (Titusville). My photos from early this morning.
Gisele Bundchen takes Boston area helicopter pilot lessons. 8 years ago today.
by markadmin Posted: Thursday, 9/21/2017Gisele Bundchen.
Some know her as a supermodel, others as the wife of New England Patriot QB Tom Brady, or as a super mom. She has been a champion for the environment, and a spokesperson for the United Nations, and the Brazil olympics. 8 years ago today I knew her as an aspiring helicopter pilot, 6 months pregnant. Good for her, she can do anything. September 21, 2009, a day that most surely will be etched in my mind forever. I arrived at Marshfield Airport at 6am and waited and hoped, on a tip, that Gisele would be flying a helicopter with flight instructor Stuart Matsumoto. All of a sudden, there she was and away she went. Gisele and Stuart stayed up for almost 2 hours before gliding the craft to a perfect landing.
Feeling sad for hurricane-bashed St. Martin/St. Maarten. Remembering the good times.
by markadmin Posted: Wednesday, 9/13/2017I’m seeing more and more dire reports regarding the knockout punch that Hurricane Irma delivered to St. Martin/ St. Maarten. My first trip to this beautiful island was in 2004. I did a travel piece for the Boston Herald. I focussed on the Island’s unique airport that abuts Maho Beach. This is an aviation enthusiast’s paradise. The relatively short runway forces arriving aircraft to make a very low approach over the beach. If you have not seen any photos of the jet arrivals at this beach, then you really are missing something. People come from all over the world to experience the exciting landings and the even more hair raising departures. The second visit that I was lucky enough to enjoy, was with my wife Laura, in 2011. We stayed at Le Petit Hotel, on the French side of the Island. We rented a car and drove throughout the island. The permanent residents were very nice and accommodating. The French side is quiet and very beautiful. We did find a short period of time to view the airplanes at Maho Beach. The temperature was 82 degrees when Laura and I trotted over to the Sunset Beach Bar, the unofficial headquarters of the Princess Juliana Airport fan club. There was a large crowd awaiting the day’s arrivals, and waiting for the larger departing planes so that they could get blown into the ocean by the large jet engine’s fan bladess, a Maho beach tradition. The incoming airplanes arrive only 50 feet-or so overhead of the people watching them. I wish the people of SXM well in their recovery, and look forward to visiting soon.
Photographing the Solar Eclipse with a twist: The world’s largest passenger plane.
by markadmin Posted: Monday, 8/21/2017I was not planning on spending too much time, or thought, on today’s Solar Eclipse, due to a wrist fracture that I sustained covering the controversial protests on Boston Common two days ago. I decided I would try to set up my heavy gear in my Winthrop,MA driveway. With some help from my neighbor Ron, my set up of a Canon 800mm lens and a large tripod was complete with seconds to spare before the solar show. Stuart Cahill, a colleague of mine at the Boston Herald newspaper, had already made me an improvised solar filter for my large lens, and I had already obtained nerdy solar glasses for my eyes. I was amazed at how good the filter worked on my lens. I started to shoot photos every 4 minutes, or so, and was excited with what I had. There was one thing that I really wanted, though. I had expected that there would be an opportunity to get a high altitude airliner through the sun, or more correctly stated, through my view of the sun. I was not disappointed, though it came very late in the eclipse, and did just barely sneak into my view of the sun. I watched as one after another high altitude airliner, most flying from Europe to NYC, just missed the sun. I remember thinking that I wished air traffic controllers in Nashua,NH., would turn them just a little for me. It was getting late and clouds and haze were moving in front of my view of the sun. I noticed the flight tracking systems that I use, flightradar24 and planefinder, were showing an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, over the Massachusetts/NH border, and heading my way. The plane was at a flight level of 40,000′ and traveling at 446 knots. The Etihad Airlines plane was flying from Abu Dahbi to New York city. It was almost directly over Tufts University when I watched as the plane disappeared into the blinding rays of the sun. I shot a heavy handed burst of several photos. I only knew of my success as I looked at the back of the Canon digital camera a few seconds after the moment of impact. The spots on the sun are not dust, they are sun spots, or storms on the sun itself as I understand it. This was a once in a lifetime photo for me, on a couple of fronts. First, and most important, was the rarity of today’s solar eclipse. Second, this is the first time I have photographed an airplane thru the sun, as I usually concentrate my aviation photography on the moon and an airplane, as seen in my aviation photo link above. Also, this is the first time I have captured the A380 thru the sun or the moon. The sky is black due to the heavy filter I was using to safely photograph the sun.
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