14th FLOOR Views Boston
# 01 Sharing Stories and Images from our Hi-Rise Home in the Boston Seaport
Life’s got a funny way of shaking things up, doesn’t it? 🪇
I’m David Rosen, a guy who’s spent the last few years on sabbatical, learning and re-discovering the possibilities of photography. I have been engaged in classes, Boston Camera Club events, collaborating with other photographers, and of course satisfying my thirst as a life-long learner.
My current photography habits emphasize my efforts to build an evolving body of work. In which genre or type? I am in a divergent phase and not sure... of any, yet!
When I am not traveling, I spend time around many neighborhoods and sections of Boston, including where I live, in the Seaport District. My routine has me Photo-walking 2-3 days a week, for 4-5 hours, putting in 10,000-20,000 steps a day on average. When on Holiday, I am lucky that my wife and I are aligned, and tend to walk and tour cities, towns, and country around the world and kibbitzing with people constantly. (You will rarely, if ever, find us sitting on a beach, or laying out, for good or bad).
But then, May happened.
Recently, in May, while on a three-city vacation meeting up with friends I had an accident playing Pickleball. I tore my Achilles tendon, ~ 5 cm, which is apparently a big deal. (See my Previous Substack on Charleston).
Two Boots and a Cast: When I got back home to Boston, five days later, I had an x-ray. And then, the Doctor put me into a boot up to my knee. I still hobbled around on it for a week, and was scheduled for an MRI to see more about the actual damage that was done.
I got the MRI and met with the Orthopedic Surgeon to get the good news (not!). My Doctor, on the spot, had me placed in a cast from my foot to my knee. with my foot stuck in a downward point. ~I was not able to walk on it and my foot was fixed in a downward point, like a ballerina.
Then two weeks ago, after the cast was removed, I was put into a new boot, again up to the knee, and again my foot is suspended in a downward point. No walking, just crutches or my shiny racing green Knee Roller. Voila, my latest Self portrait.
I just kicked off this publication Substack (imagefrontiers.substack.com), aiming for bi-weekly posts, while secretly hoping to over-deliver and sneak in weekly ones. A busted tendon could’ve derailed that, but it sparked an idea instead.
~And then it struck me. I have built an interesting body of work just in our 14th Floor home/office here in Boston. I have accumulated many images and stories over living here for 6 years from within our home looking out, or on our balcony (sometimes looking in). Why not share the last five years of Boston through our 14th-floor windows and balcony?
Voila! THE "14th FLOOR Views Boston Series" begins. Sharing my photographs, visual snacks of the Boston weather, with storms and puffy clouded clear skies, changing seasons, Cityscape views of downtown Boston sunsets, and High-rise rooftop restaurants and parties. And from the perched view, captures of various activities and events such as local road races, and parades, and protests and celebrity peeping at the Federal Courthouse, mainly from our Seaport apartment balcony.
As you see my pictures, and read the story, I’m curious: what do you want to see from this perch? What should my follow-on expose’s in this series show and discuss?
Leave comments below to guide me...
I have culled from thousands of shots over the 5+ years we have lived here to give you some ideas of what I’ve captured and hope they resonate with you. I have much more to share and will include in future posts. Would you hang any of these on your walls?
Our Transition from Suburban 2 Acres to City living in Boston 🏢
Our lifestyle is so different than our previous 30 years after getting married and raising a family. We downsized from a 2 acre, >5,000 square foot home in New Jersey to our 14th Floor home in Boston with less than 1400 Square Feet. Boston has a small downtown compared to New York or Chicago where I have also lived. But our view and ability to get out on the balcony, helped us survive Covid and tight quarters when both kids lived with us at the time. Even our Dog, Stan Lee Rosen loves a good snooze on the balcony.
Boston is a great walking city, and living on the waterfront never seems to get old or difficult, even in the heart of winter and in the middle of nor'easter storms. We live and work on the 14th Floor of a 20 story building in Boston’s Seaport District. We are so fortunate to have South, Southeast, West, and North facing amazing views… three sides, unusual for an apartment.
Views of South Boston and Beyond: 🧭
South with views of the Blue Hills, South Boston, Fort Point and other areas heading south and hugging the bay., and of course the Seaport.
I love it during the holldays, especially July 4th and New Years Eve. The city at night not only lights up, but it GETS LIT! Our view affords us the ability to see many of the cities surrounding Boston with our extreme horizon. This picture below captures at least 8 towns South of Boston simultaneously shooting their July 4th best.
Its also fun watching the parties and events at the “No Tell” Yotel Hotel. The roof top is below us and there are company events there, when the weather is good, all the time.
Our view from the balcony also stretches east to the commercial peers where cruise boats embark and commercial freighters off-on-load. While seeing the weather changing, I saw the sun, just after the rain, and knew something special would happen.
But remember, this is Boston… If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.
You never know who is going to marching down Seaport Boulevard, Its very attractive with its wide streets, bike lanes, and room for races and parades. And even some parades get interesting.
I later found out it was people concerned about Boston becoming the culture from “A Handmaid’s Tale” a series now on Hulu. While I was to slow to get good focus, its an interesting shot… RED!'
Boston Cityscape Facing West
AS we swing from the Sourth and South East, we face the city directly, nearly unobstructed. We see a panoramic view of downtown Boston, including the Fort Point, the Boston Tea Party, downtown leather and financial districts and reaching up to Chinatown, Copley Plaza, the Prudential Center, and the Hancock. As we are facing West, we get some amazing views at the end of the day with the Sun declining and reflecting off the buildings as it heads down the horizon at sunset. And the amazing Blue Hour that follows is stunning.
FIrst looking up, we always pay attention to the Boston Tea Party! Constant re-enactments of “insurrection” and bails of tea being thrown into the channel. Its a sight to see in-person from the walkway, and even boats and jet-skis.
Glancing up again, we see the full downtown skyline. during the day, night or at golden hour, its a pretty view and always changing.
And, remember if you don’t like the weather…
14th Floor VIEW Vindow Vashing
Its never easy to keep our view clear, especially from inside our home. Like other buildings, we have window washers who risk their lives to maintain our buildings and keep the dust and film off of our building facades. Just a few days ago, it was time for spring, get ready for summer clearn-up.
Northern Views of Boston Harbor
To our North, from our master bathroom window and our balcony, we have an unobstructed view of Boston Harbor (In Boston, its pronounced, "HaaaaaaBaaaaa"), the boat piers and moorings, and East Boston. While we also see a few 20 story buildings between us and the water, our view is unobstructed, including seeing the top and main entrance to Boston’s Federal Courthouse.
And another fine “Tall Ship” sails by fairly often. The Coast Guard tall ship sailing on its own power (engines), out to sea for a run. Just caught it in time with its flotilla escorts and captured the Coast Guard helicopter with it.
And finally, we are amazed at the fireworks that are fired directly from barges in Boston Harbor. Most of the time they are anchored/moored directly in our path. These shots are from August Labor Day fireworks in 2023.
Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) — or Unintentional?
The fireworks before this one, I was shooting pictures from the balcony. I shifted suddenly and hit my camera while it was on the tripod. I looked at the screen on the back my my camera and saw what happened. While I didn’t do much at that time but take note, I started learning more about ICM and my first attempt, Unintentional Camera Movement. I have had some fun playing with different effects and the picture on the left keeps inspiring me to practice and try more. Is it weird? or Kewl?
This is the First in The Series. It’s About the Moments that Make Me Grab my Camera Towards:
Western sunsets turning Boston’s skyline into a painting.
Panoramas from South Boston to the Blue Hills.
Harbor life—boats, helicopters, and waves.
Newsy bits like courthouse protests or college scandal crowds.
Weather’s drama: snowstorms, fog, or big puffy clouds.
Seaport races and club crowds spilling onto wide streets.
Fireworks exploding right in front of us from harbor boats.
Window washers, dangling like urban acrobats on glass towers.
What I’ve Learned… So Far.
I have been soaking in a lot of learnings since I started photography when I was 14 and more intensely in the near past about photography. So here are some learnings I thought to introduce while preparing and editing this post:
Always have a camera close by. ~My favorite setup, goto lens is the Canon RF 24-70MM F2.8 L lens on my Canon R6 Mark2 body. The glass and optics are the best I have used. With this setup, I am ready for nearly everything. I can easily capture low light night shots and zoom in to 70mm.
Shooting Out the Window Is Challenging: Shooting Self-Portraits or Portraits of Others is still problematic especially in the open, facing south and west. Look out for Peak lighting and shadows whether you want them for affect or want to avoid them on faces. Shadows can add drama or ruin a face, depending on what you’re after.
Seagull Visitor Checking Me Out at My Desk at Work. April 2023. Have a good zoom ready for getting close from high up. The 14th floor altitude hides people’s details, so I lean on my Canon RF 100-400mm to pull them closer. It’s like street photography from a bird’s perch. Contrary to my Street Photography friends views to only use prime lenses (35MM mainly), I embrace the compression in order to gain the details. However, I try to provide context to the visual storytelling by having wider views along with the zoom views. (Is that the multi-personality, I am a Gemini coming out)?
Red Sails In Boston Harbor with a Red Fireboat. June 2021. Its Your Vision and Your Choice. You can chase the scene exactly as it is—colors, textures, shadows—or let your vision shape the shot. There’s a whole spectrum between, and it’s ours to play with as the artist, creative, photographer or hack (like me). We are the ones who put our hearts, minds, and yes wallets into our images, which makes them ours. In an online event with my camera club, I showed a cityscape similar to the first picture of this post.
One of the members, swore the Federal Reserve building’s color was “wrong” as it had too green of hue on the gray/white façade, and suggested I should fix it. I didn’t argue, but I thought: this is my picture, not an architectural baseline, and this is what I remembered and even tweaked the white balance to match.
( as a side note, I learned another important point in a printing class I took. Our teacher asked us to take 4-5 “white” objects and place them on a table with each other. Write down what we see in terms of describing the color of white on each one. And then see what happens when you print what you captured. An EXTREMELY Revealing Exercise I will discuss in another article).Be prepared for anything… I use my Canon Phone app to trigger my self-portraits and add a 2 second delay on it so I can set it down and not have it in the image. It’s a great setup and avoids the typical, 10 second delay, press the trigger and run to get in the shot method. I bring this up because while I was shooting the self-portrait at the top of this post, A Coast Guard chopper buzzed directly behind me while I was shooting. As it was moving fast, I pressed the trigger on the phone, hoping it would capture the copter behind me. But I missed it. The lesson? Keep delays short or shoot bursts for surprises like that. This is how close they come to the 14th Floor Views of Boston.
Many helicopters fly between us and the city, up the Boston Tea Party Channel. Coast Guard, News Copters, Military, Private, and Hospital Helos all visit us.Its cool to watch and capture as they fly at our level or slightly above.
Coast Guard Helicopter Flying in the Tea Part Channel . January 2024. Again, don’t let the wide angle (24mm) fool you. While are vision is closer to a 50mm lens view of the world, the noise and the sights never get old.
Capture Some Images in consistent Intervals over Time. Create bodies of work of the same shot, different time. Same frame, different day—hues, shadows, and weather shift in ways that surprise you. It’s like watching the city breathe. There are many photographers that take daily shots, from the same location, same angle for years. There are always amazing things that happen in those series.
Create a Body of Work in Lightroom or Similar Cataloguing Apps. (And there are many free to paid options I have tried over time). The strong value of using applications like Lightroom, (my GoTo for even great, easy editing too), is its ability to find and select pictures across your body of work quickly. I have over 170,000 images, and now adding over 20,000 images a year. You can find pictures by date, the same months over years, by location, or if you create good habit, by keywords embedded with your images. In this case, I tagged my 14th Floor views with a keyword of "Balcony (on import) and boom—2,000+ images appeared in a smart collection. It’s like a digital shoebox for my 170,000 photos, making it easy to find shots by date or place.
To Geek Or Not To Geek? 🤓
I got a bit geeky there, didn’t I? I’m a tech guy at heart, but I am unsure whether to release the Kraken here or not. I see a lot of content, and appreciate the learnings on techniques, gear, and workflow considerations across the who spectrum of activities in Photography. Dare I go there? Should I dive deeper into the tech or keep it light?
Wrapping Up ✍️
Rate this post with a quick emoji in the comments: 😊 (loved it), 😐 (it was okay), or 😞 (not for me)! Your stories inspire me, and I can’t wait to hear how you capture your travels.
So, What are You Getting from me and this Publication?
The views from our home and balcony have shown me how to find images and create stories without going too far. (In fact, one assignment I enjoyed from a Street Photography class I took, was based on shooting images no more than 100 feet from our doors. Its amazing what you can see when you do that. Perhaps another post? You tell me). Here is what I presented:
A torn Achilles flipped my street photography into a balcony adventure.
14th Floor Views Boston shares five years of Boston’s sunsets, harbors, and quirks.
Lessons from 1.5 years: keep a camera handy, play with light, and choose your vision.
These shots tell stories of weather, crowds, and city life from above.
I want your input to shape this series—let’s make it ours.
I’m here to share, learn, and maybe help you see your own world differently. I’m not the touchy-feely type, but I love collaborating more than going solo. Critique my shots, share your own, or tell me what sparks you—or when in Boston, perhaps doing a Photowalk together when I’m mobile again. What makes a great picture in my mind… it’s the moment we connect over a shared view.
What’s your 14th floor?
Let’s Connect
What do you want to see from the 14th floor—fireworks, storms, or window washers?
How much gear talk is too much? Apps, lenses, or keep it artsy?
Got a view from your own “14th floor”? Share it or riff on mine!
Thinking of printing, street photography, techniques, business, Substack or a taking a Photowalk? Let’s chat!
All photographs and images were taken and produced by me, David Rosen. Feel free to share this post by linking to it, re-stacking, or creating notes to spread the word! The images may not be reproduced or distributed without my explicit permission. If you would like to use the photos be glad to accommodate you, so please contact me at Click@davidrosenphoto.com. Thank you for supporting my work—subscribe or share to stay connected with my photography journey.
In the first weeks after moving to Chicago, we lived in a high rise (18th floor or so) while waiting for our container to arrive. Coming from a small German town, I was blown away by it. On the third day a tornado came through, which I had never experienced before. There were a lot of firsts for me living in a high rise downtown Chicago. Happy memories. Thank you for the spark to remember them.
I especially love the window cleaners!
David, thanks for sharing these vibrant photos! I particularly enjoyed the similar images (not the enviable harbor shots) to the ones I shot while living in a Boston high-rise.