575 - Boston
Today’s photography theme is electricity. Which means my Prius picked the perfect day to demonstrate it’s electrical shortcomings.
I’m never lost on the irony. In fact, sometimes I look for it so deeply that it passes the point of irony and becomes my reality.
My objective for the day was to find neon signs scattered around the Boston area, and make a mini series based around it. Because guess what? I felt like it.
And thus began my quest for illuminated glory. I had a good idea where a few were based on my food delivery shenanigans, but there truly no way to know where they’d all be, unless I decided to spend years in this gracious metropolis of lights.
So I turned to an old friend. Reddit.
One of the best resources online for local, community based information. Within hours, I was greeted with dozens of neon recommendations from Boston locals.
I decided to dive right into the list, and spent the next 4-5 hours driving around the city picking and choosing my favorites. At the end of the day, I ended up with six signs.
Now, I realize there’s probably many more signs in the Boston area that I missed, but, like an old neon sign at 1AM, I was burnt out. Here were my top shots:
“Rosebud”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 2000 ~ 24mm ~ f/6.3 ~ 1/125s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
“Leon’s”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 2000 ~ 24mm ~ f/4 ~ 1/160s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
“Shell”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 3200 ~ 12mm ~ f/5.6 ~ 1/25s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
“Bottled Liquors”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 2000 ~ 12mm ~ f/6.3 ~ 1/125s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
“Coolidge Theater”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 2000 ~ 24mm ~ f/7.1 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Each photo came with its own unique set of challenges, but most of them were traffic-based. Since I chose to do this on a Saturday night for some ungodly reason, people and cars were the main issue.
I often had long periods ranging from ten minutes to an hour where I’d just be standing in the cold, waiting for a clearing. Lots of cursing was involved. But I plowed through it. IN THE NAME OF NEON.
Until the Hong Kong eatery, that is:
“Hong Kong”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 2000 ~ 24mm ~ f/6.3 ~ 1/100s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
My last photo of the night. Purposely, and unpurposely.
Before I get into this, you should know that tonight was probably the coldest temperature I’d experienced in 3+ years. Since I started living on the road, whenever it gets cold, I generally go South.
But Boston had held my attention for some reason, so here I was, shooting in the freezing cold at 1:30AM.
This also meant my Prius was shooting in the freezing cold at 1:30AM. And at its core, the Prius is a warm-blooded creature. It wasn’t cut out for these kinds of shenanigans. So in the name of the last light of the night, it let out its final cry.
When I got back into my car, (illegally parked on a popular street at Harvard University, mind you,) it was completely dead.
Nothing worked. No headlights, no dash, no locks, no battery.
I let out a curse in the name of all things education-based.
Come morning time, this street was going to be a raging metropolis of Sunday tourists. I needed to figure this out right now.
I eventually deducted that I had no choice but to call Roadside Assistance. A cold hour and half later, my car was being jumped and the heat started pumping. By 3:30AM, I was parked in front of an AutoZone, ready to have my battery checked first thing in the morning.
But when I walked in at 9AM, the lazy fuck working there told me he couldn't check the battery because “it was way too cold outside, man.” Bruh… it’s Boston. It’s always fucking cold outside.
But he refused.
I went back to my Prius, which in the meantime, had died again. FUCK.
So I went right back into the store, bought a jump start kit, got my car running, then returned it. Because fuck AutoZone.
Next I drove down the street to Advanced Auto Parts, where an actually helpful employee checked my battery and gave me the results I needed. “Dead as goddamn doornail.”
Perfect. You’d think I’d be livid at this point, but I was actually relieved. Had it not been the battery, I’d have had take it to a shop. I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with another mechanic shmuck for the next week and a half.
Instead, I spent the next hour replacing the battery in the parking lot myself, then drove off like nothing happened. That’s how we fucking do it.
Once night rolled around, I decided to hit up one more neon spot. Currently my list sat at six, which was a number that didn’t sit right in my head. I needed the lucky number seven… because it’s neon for god’s sake.
I decided to go to the Paramount Theater downtown. I’d stopped by the night before, but it was too late when I got there, and all the lights were off.
Tonight I popped in at 9PM, and walked away with this beauty:
“Paramount”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 3200 ~ 12mm ~ f/4 ~ 1/250s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
The magnum opus of this shoot. The new battery in my car somehow powered the insane amount of lights in this final shot.
A beauty of epic proportions.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
*Please note this page contains affiliate links.
