Good places around Boston for photo ops??? (Quincy, Revere: hotel, townhouses)

[jayangel]

My wife and I will be visiting Boston in August and we wanted to do an "engagement" style photo session in urban Boston. Just wanted to know all the good areas for photo ops, when people see the pics, we want it to be automatically known that we're in Boston! We've looked at pics online and we love the architecture, the scenery, Boston definitely has some European flavor...but we don't know the names of any of these areas to tell the photographer!

Any photographer recommendations are welcome also!

[xS☺B☺s]

The Public Garden is the obvious choice. Comm Ave, Old North Church, Columbus Park, Charles River, Beacon Hill, Statehouse, Old Statehouse, Harvard, MIT ...

Look at my pix in the Photo thread. See something you like, ask me.

[mllanes]

boston commons is good. get a pic on the commons with the state house in the background

[holden125]

Originally Posted by Bostonian08

The Public Garden is the obvious choice. Comm Ave, Old North Church, Columbus Park, Charles River, Beacon Hill, Statehouse, Old Statehouse, Harvard, MIT ...

Look at my pix in the Photo thread. See something you like, ask me.

These are all good. In addition to Comm Av, try a side street in the Back Bay (like Marlborough St) or Beacon Hill (Acorn St. is a famous cobblestoned street).

For the Charles River, you can go on the Longfellow Bridge, which has a view of the esplanade and the Back Bay skyline. Also on Memorial Drive near MIT, which is directly across from the Back Bay skyline, and the Harvard (Mass. Av.) bridge, which has a view of the river, the Back Bay and Beacon Hill with the State House dome. Piers Park in East Boston also has a good skyline view, as does the walkway on the water near the Moakley federal courthouse (or the Moakley Bridge next door).

Otherwise: Quincy Market. Outside (or, even better, inside) Fenway Park. Near or in a popular T station. Near the USS Constitution in Charlestown. Near the MFA on Huntington Avenue. Copley Square, in front of Trinity Church and the Hancock building. Christian Science Plaza (a reflecting pool next to the church has views of the Prudential tower). Top of the Prudential tower looking down on the city. Duck Boats. Old Granary Burying Ground ('til death do us part') and Park Street Church. On the Greenway near the Custom House tower. Marshall Street near the Union Oyster House and Green Dragon.

For a more gritty Boston feel, on any block of three deckers.

[bronty]

I personally like the Financial District, near the Langham hotel.

[lrfox]

^I like that area too. A lot of people write it off as merely a business district, but the architectural blend is quite striking. The curving urban canyons of the Financial District are unique to Boston and a bit of lower Manhattan.

Holden's suggestions are excellent. I think Copley Square is perfect. While you're at it, take a walk inside the Boston Public Library (facing the Western edge of the plaza). Absolutely gorgeous. Get your photo taken in there. One area I like to go on weekends when the sky is clear is the top level of the parking garage at 100 Clarendon St. right across from the Hancock. There are usually no cars on the roof and the view is stunning. It's a unique vista (the Hancock towers over you) and you feel like you have this massive footprint in the heart of the city all to yourself.

I live in Mission Hill and the Mission Church always stands out as incredibly striking to me. I think it may just be me because when I try to explain it to friends they kind of respond with "yeah, yeah, yeah." Anyway, whether you're Catholic or not, it's a beautiful facility.

I'd also suggest North Square or the Paul Revere Mall/ Old North Church in the North End. North Square is one of my favorite urban spaces anywhere. Paul Revere's old home is right there too. It's very unique to Boston. Some of the old streets in Charlestown (not far from the U.S.S. Constitution) have an incredibly colonial feel too.

I could go on... there are so many.

[jayangel]

Wow, so many great suggestions! Thanks to all of you!

[holden125]

Originally Posted by lrfox

^I like that area too. A lot of people write it off as merely a business district, but the architectural blend is quite striking. The curving urban canyons of the Financial District are unique to Boston and a bit of lower Manhattan.

Yeah, I agree. Also Post Office Square, and Water St and Batterymarch near the Hungarian uprising monument.

Originally Posted by lrfox

Holden's suggestions are excellent. I think Copley Square is perfect. While you're at it, take a walk inside the Boston Public Library (facing the Western edge of the plaza). Absolutely gorgeous. Get your photo taken in there.

True. The staircase inside and the courtyard are amazing. I don't know if it fits with your engagement theme, but a very cool picture is the wrought-iron lamps on the BPL with the Hancock tower and Copley Plaza Hotel behind.

This photographer, Della Huff (who, alas, has moved to LA), took some great photos of many of the places we've mentioned. Look through her stuff and you'll get an idea of what we're talking about.

Boston Public Library at Night photo - Della Huff photos at pbase.com

Beantown Photo Gallery by Della Huff at pbase.com
Boston Fine Art Prints Photo Gallery by Della Huff at pbase.com
Boston Stock Images Photo Gallery by Della Huff at pbase.com

Originally Posted by lrfox

One area I like to go on weekends when the sky is clear is the top level of the parking garage at 100 Clarendon St. right across from the Hancock. There are usually no cars on the roof and the view is stunning. It's a unique vista (the Hancock towers over you) and you feel like you have this massive footprint in the heart of the city all to yourself.

Sounds great!

Originally Posted by lrfox

I live in Mission Hill and the Mission Church always stands out as incredibly striking to me. I think it may just be me because when I try to explain it to friends they kind of respond with "yeah, yeah, yeah." Anyway, whether you're Catholic or not, it's a beautiful facility.

I love that church too. It's also a great spot because of the view over the city from the playground next door. I wonder if you could get the basilica and the city view in the same photo.

Originally Posted by lrfox

I'd also suggest North Square or the Paul Revere Mall/ Old North Church in the North End. North Square is one of my favorite urban spaces anywhere. Paul Revere's old home is right there too. It's very unique to Boston. Some of the old streets in Charlestown (not far from the U.S.S. Constitution) have an incredibly colonial feel too.

Yes. Some of my favorite streets in Charlestown are: Monument Av, Warren St, Common and Park Sts, and Putnam St. A special gem is Pleasant St at the corner of the Bunker Hill Park. The street is very narrow and drops dramatically down a hill, leaving a view of old wood-frame houses and the Zakim Bridge and Hancock Tower in the background. It really combines several features of the Boston landscape.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I could go on... there are so many.

Ain't that the truth!

[ogre]

One scene that I think really says "Boston" is a view up the river that centers on the Longfellow Bridge. A view of that old stone arch span shot at a moment when there is a red line train crossing the bridge, as in the pic in this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lo...ru_chopped.jpg, but with a more panoramic perspective that includes some of those old brick townhouses along the riverfront, is the quintessence of Boston.