Douglas Shoop Photography

I had the opportunity to walk through an old Paper Mill recently. I didn't have much time, no tripod, and the lighting was dismal, but I managed to grab this shot of the old drying line boilers. I think that's what they were. I envisioned this photo in B&W from the get go. Most likely 100+ years old. I'm hoping to document the plant before it becomes history. Enjoy.

Today was so wonderfully beautiful out, I thought I'd post a photo of a cloudy, cold day in Amish Country to get me back to reality that it's still March. This photo was taken in Millersburg, OH after a fresh snow. This is the heart of Amish country in Ohio. I visit there every time I'm back in OH to see my family. There is something about their simplistic lifestyle that is so pure and endearing. The rolling fields are neatly manicured and the roads are clogged with horse and buggy travelers. Almost makes you feel embarrassed to be driving a car. Enjoy

Waterfall in Glen, NH. Getting to this vantage point was not easy, but sure got the blood flowing as fast as the water was rushing. Artistic help from Photoshop of course.  I've been experimenting with some of the built in filters in CS4, and this is where I found that look of a painting on canvas.  Enjoy.

As I burrowed myself in the hot sand - (pity me) I took this photo of these beautiful flowers seemingly growing out of the very dry sand. Amazing how they adapt to the dry climate. Taken on the beautiful island of Roatan, off the coast of Honduras. One of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Enjoy.

In honor of Oreo's 100th Anniversary. You can have the last two. Didn't have time to post yesterday as I recovering from a sugar high. Enjoy.

I think this photo speaks for itself.

Ok, it's a popular spot, but the overlook at Mt. Washington can provide a great view for some spectacular sunsets. This one had a cool cloud formation that almost looked like a giant shrimp net reaching out to catch you. Enjoy.

We finally got some snow here in Boston, and before it melted, I caught these dead flowers outside the office with what looks like cotton sprinkled on the top. I also see dandelions ready to shed their seeds. Enjoy.

I was photographing a 40th anniversary party at a restaurant and looked outside to see they still had their Christmas lights up. The new LED's give a bluish white color and w/o the autofocus, make for a nice effect. Enjoy.

MMMMMMM, yea, lots of M's. I was taking some macro photos of flowers when I spotted the candy jar and couldn't resist. The blue ones are just as good as the red ones. Enjoy.

The irony here is that I can't stand the smell of these flowers.  My allergies aside, they are quite beautiful.  So taking some macro shots of these lily's caused me some discomfort, but I held my nose and fired away.  Enjoy the colors.

I had some time to take some macro photos last week from the various flowers that were part of Valentines day around here. I'll share a few more soon, but this one, tweaked in lightroom is my fav.

I've been sitting on this photo for a while, not sure what to do with it, so I gave it the old photoshop paint job. Enjoy.

She looked to the west and saw the light.  Enjoy.

I was in Boston last weekend at North Station ready to board the commuter rail home and looked up, and sure enough, the curved off ramp from Rt93 framed the Bunker Hill Bridge nicely. I didn't have my tripod so I stood as still as possible and at 1/10 of a second, made this shot. It had a yellow cast from the HID lights, so I took off some of the silly color cast and It almost looks like I caught a glimpse of a UFO in the shot. I always look up. Enjoy.

Oh, I wish I were standing in the warm Gulf water right now. Memories of our trip to Marco Island where we took this sailboat to a shell island. This sea grass nicely close to the edge gave me a flowing curve to play off the sailboat. Enjoy.

Just about to leave work and glanced out the window, grabbed the old camera at work and shot this sunset through the trees. Aren't Lightroom's sliders fun? Reduced clarity, increased saturation and vibrance. 30 seconds, done. Loved the colors this way. Enjoy.

I was looking for the full moon tonight but the clouds are messing up the deal.

I caught this sunrise from the deck of our cruise ship the last day of the trip in Ft. Lauderdale. It looked like a bunch of explosions over the horizon as the sun peeked around the cloudbursts.  Enjoy.

Remember that show. I have a vague memory of it being on TV when I came home from school as a kid and was always frightened by Barnabas Collins. He was the first real vampire character, 40 years before Twilight.

It kind of looks like it might be from a church, but this is a shadow from an old bridge.

This old car was sitting in the middle of a golf course between holes. Very strange place for it and I am thinking it was there before the course was built around it. Or, perhaps its just a really old golf cart. It looks so gangsta. DroidX photo. Enjoy.

My first real digital camera was a Canon Powershot G1. 3MP of fun. I still have it and use it on job sites on occasion. No filters, no ND filters, just catching the sun in Harbor Town on Hilton Head at the right time. We vacationed there for years in a row when the kids were young. Love that place. Enjoy.

Close up of a 100 year old rivet that's showing signs of age.  Enjoy.

 

I'm having a hard time grappling with this one!

These things are very large and intimidating, knowing they lift things up and put them down. I mean really, really, heavy things. Enjoy.

This is pretty cool. I'm working with a company called Community Connection, our local phone book company to provide cover photos for a handful of their 2012 phone books around Massachusetts. It started out with my town, Medford. It looks like I'll be doing other cities and towns as well. This is my first one. - A photo of the Mystic River in Medford Square. Enjoy.

The Wheels of Life keep rolling on.

Actually, these are some rusty ball bearing type rollers on a seldom used conveyor. Loved the pattern and specular quality they had. Enjoy.

A group of orchids resting in a bowl of water.  Enjoy.

I don't have the luxury of taking tons of photos with gorgeous models, so when my daughter has her girlfriends over, I coax them into a photo shoot.  This is my daughter's good friend from across the country who came in December to visit during the holidays.  The weather was very crappy, rainy, overcast, misty, and foggy, so I brought a reflector down by the Mystic River, and made the best of the giant soft box from the sky.  I'm lucky all her girlfriends love the camera.  Enjoy.

Lately, I'm in this kick wherein I look every day to see what nature has left me to photograph over night. A 2" snowfall on the patio outside my office left these patterns of snow mounds between the brick pavers and sand joints. Only possible because they retain heat differently. Waiting for the sun to melt off the thin spots and leave the snow hills.    Enjoy.

We've all seen ice sculptures, but this is natures way of painting the water. This is ice on the Mystic River that seldom forms unless it's below 15 degrees. It looks like it was painted by the guy from PBS with the giant afro and soft voice. Remember that guy? He always painted those pristine, yet fake landscapes from nowhere. I loved watching him. I can hear him describing his techniques on this one. Enjoy.

 

We finally had our first snow in New England. I wouldn't call it much of anything, but I thought I'd post this pic of the Mystic River from one of last year's snowstorms to get us in the mood for more. It's going to be 45 today, so it won't last long. Enjoy.

Fall sunset over the Mystic River. The bridge in the background is the Orange Line commuter rail. Enjoy

A beautiful old train station converted into a senior center here in Medford. I just love the hand hewn wood columns that evoke the feeling of a tree. Also the rusticated stone treatment on the facade. So glad they didn't tear this gem down. Enjoy.

Winter Survivor. I always thought these winter weeds were quite delicate. Enjoy.

North End, Boston. I used a filter in Photoshop on an HDR photo to give it a painterly look. Mikes Pastry is a famous pastry that, as you can see, is quite popular with the tourists. Enjoy.

I pick things up and put them down!

Yea, this looks like a lot of wheels, but this is the small version of the machine that lifted the 800 Ton bridge a few weeks back. This machine is specially made in Germany for heavy construction lifting. The other unit had 120 wheels, each individually operated by computer. Each wheel can turn 45 degrees and lift hydraulically about 24". It moves really, really slow, but it lifts things that the largest cranes in the world can't lift. It's pretty cool. Enjoy.

I think this looks a bit like a nighttime photo of the milky way, but it's actually a photo of tiny molten steel sparks spraying from a welder's torch bouncing off a rustic stone wall. Enjoy

Central Park last Fall. How is this possible it's in the middle of the greatest city in the world? Enjoy.

This is a struggling dandelion that bloomed earlier in the week. This is blasphemy having dandelions in the yard on January 1, we are supposed to have snow. Enjoy.

Hey, can you hook me up?
I tried to get the angle w/o the tree in the background, but I just wasn't 10' tall.  While the sun had just set, I loved the shadow from the crane and the construction lights providing some rim light on this beauty on a 30 ton crane. Enjoy.

Simple, yet elegant. From the "They don't make them like they used to" department. This underside of a train bridge is the last photo taken before it was demolished a few weeks ago. I was fortunate to be there documenting the demo and reconstruction work, and have other cool photos to share from this project.

I just love the patterns of rivets in this 1890's era bridge. Enjoy

Stayed up till 1:30 am working on this shot.  Santa had just visited.  The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, the kids were all nestled, snug in their beds and their nutjob dad was fiddling with lighting the living room just right.  Merry Christmas.  Enjoy.

There is a drive through theme park of lights somewhere near Alliance, OH that we happened on a few years ago. Thankfully there was a nice snow cover and some really cool lighting displays. Merry Christmas to all. Enjoy.

This is just crazy. New England, three days before Christmas and it was 55 out today. Almost balmy. To get myself in the spirit of Christmas, I thought I'd post this ice mosaic that formed on my car earlier in December on one of the few cold nights. I love the way nature forms it's own patterns. It looks like leaves on the roof, but it's only ice crystals forming on the metal. Pretty cool. Enjoy.

Turn your head, you just might see a better shot.

I pass by this building every day on my way to work and never really thought much about it till I visualized it in portrait mode. I think the column, the arches, the horizontal rusticated limestone, the arched brick and the green shrub make for a very compelling composition, when cropped out of the building. The cross on the column capital gives it away that it's a church. Enjoy.

Sunrise over Dorchester, MA. If any of you know about Dorchester, MA, it's reputation for crime and murders precedes it, but on this one morning last weekend, while I was standing on a rooftop taking photos of a construction project, for over 20 hrs. straight, in the 20 degree weather, I captured this beautiful sunrise.

The silhouette of the church and another structure located in the town square could only be seen from my vantage point. I was happy to make it off the roof without incident, because it was a sheet of frosty ice. Enjoy.

I caught this bird while taking photos of a pond for a local magazine. An unexpected find near the outlet stream, hunting for fish.

Off to a 3 day straight photo shoot of a train bridge replacement, south of Boston. First time at it, so it should be fun. Enjoy.

OMG, I'm in the middle of a rollover.

Sort of. My 16 Yr. old daughter was logging some driving time and I was goofing around w/ the camera. I learned this trick from +Rick Sammon years ago at a photo workshop. Set the shutter on 1/15 of a second turn and shoot, wait to you get a good one. You aren't typically going at 40MPH when you do this, but try it standing still. It works great with flowers and colorful things. Thanks Rick for the fun technique. Enjoy.

I was at a 2 yr old's birthday party and found this photogenic young lady ready and willing to pose for some glamour shots. She was so cute and the light coming in from the window was perfect. I wish all the kids I photographed were as helpful as she. Enjoy.

Don't you just love the impromptu family moments. I had taken the tripod on vacation and was photographing some sunset photos and we all decided to jump in the frame and act goofy. This was taken on Marco Island, FL. Enjoy.

Ok, so I'm walking to my home office after dinner and I caught this sunset over the neighbors roof and thought the beautiful blue sky with the Christmas lights wrapped around the porch column looked cool. Isn't it great to take a photo when you are least expecting to make one? Enjoy.