the scene
Near the end of June 2024, I had accepted an offer for a new job out in Denver and it affirmed that this summer would be my final one living directly in Boston.
I had to make it a great one – and as such earlier on in May I’d created a “bucket list” of sorts of all the things that I wanted to accomplish before I left. High on that list was visit the Boston Harbor Islands. On June 30th, I finally had the pleasure of going.
After a quick thirty minute ride over, we reached Spectacle Island. The ride there was quick and calm – and the day was colder than many others that week which would make for good hiking. After departing the boat we had about an hour and a half on the island before our return ride so my cousin and I began to hit the trails.
the trails
The island is home to 114 acres of natural beauty with beaches, trails, and and woodland groves. As we hiked around the island we learnt about it’s history. It had originally been a land-fill which during the big-dig was repurposed to be a dumping ground for the dirt being dug from the tunnel.
As it was done, the city began turning this islands into a home for a wide variety of fauna both local to the area and from elsewhere which had been deemed resilient enough to survive in Boston’s harbors. While I was out there I’d brought my Fujifilm X100VI with me and was shooting in primarily the Classic Negative film simulation. I adore the way that this sim reproduces green tones in images.
When I was presented with such a lush environment it was a no-brainer what simulation I’d be using. As we hiked through the island I saw quite a few scenes that struck my fancy. I knew that with such flat light I’d be fighting an uphill battle to capture a compelling image. While I don’t think I failed to do that, I don’t think any of the images I walked away with were my ‘best’ work.
The two favorites of mine were the two images encompassing these paragraphs. In the above shot, the border shared between the ferns meeting the grass is on full display. And as you most likely know I love to photograph detailed sceens such as this.
In the shot below, we focus on a bigger scene. The tree and bush standing alone in a grove of grass are the main subject against a gray sky. I like how monochromatic the scene feels even though it is a fully colored scene. I think it works well.
Eventually, we did have to head home though and we began walking back towards the pier. As we were walking there were many patches of wildflowers that I tried to shoot, and my favorite scene was the one below. I like the way that the tree in the background breaks the horizon from being otherwise flat and monotonous.
Would I recommend a visit to the Harbor Islands?
TLDR: Yes but bring something to do while you relax there.
The Harbor Islands are fun, but if you’re being honest there’s not a ton to do on the island. If you’re in moderate shape you can hike the whole perimeter (at least for Spectacle) in just over thirty minutes.
What we did was hike the perimeter and then relax on the south summit overlooking the harbor for half an hour while we had some snacks and water and that was really nice. It was good being out in nature and hiking even if it were just a short and quick thing as well.
If you get to go to the island on a warm day then I’d have loved to go swimming on the island and I think that could provide some entertainment as well. But as it stood, where the weather when we went was cold, it wasn’t the best of days to swim.