LVachon

@lvachon.bsky.social

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I might post some pictures I take here

The core of the Milky Way galaxy shines brightly behind some pine trees.
The four masted Esmeralda of Chile visits Boston Harbor
Andrew McAllister, a stout tugboat festooned with American Flag theming, heads across Boston Harbor in front of the downtown skyline.
A wide angle view of South Station (center), the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (left), and One Financial Center (right). Scattered showers make for a glossy wet ground and dramatically lit clouds in the summer afternoon sun.
Boylston St, Boston, Massachusetts. A brick sidewalk along the public garden. Tall trees on the left, their foliage above, a wrought iron fence to the right.
A pigeon struts in the sun of Dewey Square, Boston
The port city of Boston, Massachusetts. This scene shows the civil war era fort on the left, the cargo port next to it, and the towering skyline behind it. A boat speeds by, leaving a wake across the frame
A white, tan, and black pigeon with slight green iridescence looks angry about the lack of seed they're getting.
Dozens of overlapping salty bootprints add an interesting texture to this matte black train floor.
A harbor seal lazily lounges while floating upside down.
The morning winter's light filters through the bare trees and tall pines. A pine needle and leaf covered trail ascends the hill in front of us. The trail is cut into steep terrain, the land rises to the left and falls to the right.
A widefield photograph of the skies around the Andromeda galaxy. This is a few shots from my Canon DSLR stacked in a (mostly futile) attempt to reduce noise. This was my star tracker's first long-distance adventure and I'm happy with it's portability and quick setup.
A wide angle view from the top of Bald Rock on Mt. Cheaha. A scraggly tree is in the foreground while the land drops sharply behind it. A partly cloudy sky and the Alabama fall foliage extend to meet each other at the horizon.
The RS-25 or SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) was used in a trio on the Space Shuttle and now powers the SLS (Space Launch System) core. These engines are remarkably reliable workhorses that helped build and supply the ISS as well as send hundreds of astronauts into orbit.
A shot of the night sky, full of stars, in the general neighborhood of Andromeda, sitting top-center. This was taken with an old unmodified DSLR and a DIY star tracker mounted to an Amazon Basics tripod 20 miles from Boston. You don't need fancy equipment or exotic locales to do this, mostly just knowledge and patience.
A golden sky streaked with puffy clouds covers the calm waters of the Charles River on a late October evening.
Boston Harbor near the New England Aquarium rises right up to the edge of the wharf today. Usually the ocean is 3 to 12 feet lower than right now, so this view is a bit unusual for a Bostonian familiar with the area.
A Bostonian pigeon stands expectancy upon some bricks by the wharf, awaiting their rations of bird seed.
Several pigeons proudly perch upon a plinth in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Lookup upstream on the Charles river in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts just north of the Longfellow Bridge during a mostly cloudy sunset of orangey-pink. The river is filled with pleasure craft of all shapes and sizes, most are sailboats darting back and forth across the basin.
Several cormorants perch upon a pier over the bay. One of them is just landing, it's wings spread out wide.
A shot looking across the valley down the length of the Wachusett Dam from a few feet below it's lip. Large stone bricks make up the structure of this massive dam embedded in the grassy hillside.
A thundering torrent of whitewater barrels down a rocky chasm in the forest. The Wachusett Dam spillway is mostly carved out of the bedrock, and it makes for a great show.
A faint reflection of sunlight peeks over the horizon. The silhouette of Memorial Bridge in Springfield Massachusetts separates sky and water, the last bits of light in a growing darkness.
The Connecticut river winds it way through the hills, forests, and farmlands of Hadley and Northampton Massachusetts on a partly cloudy Saturday morning.
A scenic vista from the mountain top, looking over a meandering river, partly sunny skies, and the full summer's glory of trees.
This photo shows what this mount can do in mediocre conditions. A dense field of stars and the Milky way galaxy partially obscured by the streaky dark ghosts of trees that were in the way. The stars are nice and round, the focus is decent if not perfect, the framing is okay. I'm very happy with this shot, I didn't expect this much success so soon.
A towering wisp of grey cloud rises in the morning sun against a blue-grey sky
A pretty pigeon perches on a park bench, looking at the camera with it's vibrant orange eyes. Iridescent green and purple coloring adorns its neck, and its wings are a complex pattern of black and white.
A neighborhood of East Boston is spread before us on a hazy summer afternoon. The skyscrapers of downtown reflect the setting sun against a pale orange sky.
The Veil Nebula is a growing shockwave of compressed ionized gas that is slowly expanding outward from it explosive origin as a supernova about 10-20k years ago. Pictured here is a portion of the western end of that nebula. Filaments of red and cyan gas and dust swirl around and form a glowing "front". A bright star is in the center of frame, it is unrelated to the nebula and is in reality much closer to us. I like that star though because it makes this shot very easy to frame up.
An American Bullfrog sits half submerged in a lily pad filled pond. Evening light bounces off nearby trees and reflected in the water's smooth surface. The frog is looking very Kermit-like with it's spherical bulging eyes and big mouth. This one is also sporting a healthy pair of froggy cheeks in the back.
A dragonfly sits perched upon a twig over a pond filled with lily pads, and a at least bull frog which has noticed its presence. The two seem locked in a staredown, daring each other to move first. Personally, my bet is on the dragonfly.
A lush green swamp in the middle of a fern carpeted forest. A small stream leads off to the left,small ferns catch the dappled morning light, and young trees stand around the marshy clearing that lights the scene.
The Milky Way galaxy from Granville, MA on July 26th, 2025. Countless stars and the haze of the galaxy fill the frame. The bottom right has dark ghostly artifacts from where the trees were in the (many) source images that make up this shot.
A great blue heron sits perched on a gnarled old tree branch sticking out over the river.
Trees and ferns growing out of a swampy river are reflected in the dead-still water.
A sleeping baby goat. It is mostly black with brown streaks and a white patch on its head. Most of its peers were climbing everything in sight, this little one was easier to photograph, heh.
Two people walk along the shore line of Long Sands Beach in York, ME shortly after sunrise on a mostly cloudy day. Shafts of orange sunlight can be seen over the horizon, but the morning overcast lingers on land.
NGC 6503 is a dwarf spiral galaxy about 21 million light years away in the Draco constellation. Seen here in an amateur photograph surrounded by a field of local stars. This took 5h of shooting, of which about 4.5h was used in this stack. Shot with a Canon EOS700D thru an 8" scope from the suburbs of Boston. Stacked with Deep Sky Stacker, tweaked in Gimp.
The sen sets over a parts cloudy sky and my local reservoir
Oreo the tuxedo cat claims his spot upon my bed.
A coyote watches us from among the trees. They are waiting for us to leave so they can rejoin their pack mates on the other side of the trail.
Ponkapoag pond under an overcast sky. A large boulder and some tree branches frame the photo.
Twin platforms flank a set of double tracked rails that extend into the inky blackness of night. The rails are well polished by frequent use, and the station's mix of orange and blue lights provides interesting contrast in their reflections.
A solitary pink "lady slipper" orchid sprouts from the fallen leaves of the forest floor.
A large black watersnake sits coiled around some branches, resting above the water's surface.
A little garter snake rustles through the leaves.
A small forest path curves through an undergrowth of ferns. Some breaks in the canopy let sunlight and blue sky in occasionally.
An American opossum looks at the camera from the other side of a fence. He is in a precarious position, a sheer 20'+ drop on one side, scary traffic on the other, and a fence he can't quite squeeze under in between. I managed to grab him and place him on the other side of the fence, where he scurried off to safer grounds. Over the decades I've sadly failed to help many critters in need, succeeding with this one was very satisfying.
A very wooly sheep in a grassy field approaches the camera.
A stand of mixed deciduous and pine trees at the edge of a grassy field. The sun is high, the sky is blue, and my belly is full of ice cream. On days like these there's nowhere else on Earth I'd rather be than home in New England.
A forest of pine trees stretches out in front of us. Pine needles and very short brush line the forest floor this early in the season. If I had to bushwack somewhere, this terrain is nearly ideal.
A 15mph wind tries to raise some chop in Assonet Bay. I've seen this bay be as smooth as glass, so this is "rough seas" for me.
Five pigeons sit perched on a neighborhood powerline with the moon in the background. There are little treats for those who look up.
Budding trees in the distance are silhouetted by a dramatic blue, pink, and orange sunset.
A Northern Flicker rests up the grass in the late afternoon sun.
The moon from 42N on April 30th, 2025 in it's waxing crescent phase.