I made more than one mistake when I first posted this! As documented in the replacement post and below, I was in wrong place. Then I spelled Stacy Boulevard Stacey Boulevard! And, it's not Stacy Boulevard, but Western Avenue, but I don't take complete credit for that one. They're one divided street, named Stacy Boulevard (west bound) and Western Avenue (east bound, go figure!)

Original Blog Post for 25 July 2025

Infrared Panoramic Photograph of Harbor and Harborside Street, Esplanade, and Garden.

Stage Fort (Park) across Gloucester Harbor, 2025 (Infrared)

Color Panoramic Photograph of Harbor and Harborside Street, Esplanade, and Garden..
Stage Fort (Park) across Gloucester Harbor, 2025 (Color)

Gloucester, Massachusetts, 25 July 2025 It's the second time I've leaned hard on earlier art from the 19th and early 20th Centuries in this blog. You can find the first one here in my Blog Archive. (I was a little surprised to be reminded how long ago I posted that one, and by extension, how long I've been doing regular posts. Six and a half years now!) This photo follows on to the painting below by Fitz Henry Lane, one of the painter laureates of Gloucester, which also claims John Singer Sargent and Edward Hopper, along with many other luminaries of the brush, pencil, and printing plate.

19th Century Landscape Painting of Beach, Harbor, and Harbor Mouth.
Stage Fort across Gloucester Harbor by Fitz Henry Lane, 1862

I think I was fairly close to the point that Lane chose as the vantage for his luminous painting of the harbor, but it's hard to tell. First, there have been a few changes in the shape and usage of the land since his time! That undeveloped beach is now a very urban center of Gloucester life. And... I have no idea how precisely he reproduced the scene he was recording. He didn't move major elements around for the sake of composition, the way Constable did, but he might very well have adjusted the perspectives to suit his vision. That's harder to do with a camera than a paintbrush, but there are ways, there are ways...

I published two versions of the panoramic view I captured. I think the infrared version is a stronger photo, but I worried that it might not be clearly readable as a similar view to the Lane painting. I asked Julee for a second opinion, and she said "Why post them both?" Not one to turn down advice from the Beloved Spousal Unit I went ahead and did. The top one is infrared, and a ten frame stitched panorama, and the bottom one a color six frame stitched panorama. Why so many more pictures making up the first? I may have overlapped more, and the infrared version is a little wider, but there's also a duplicate frame buried in there. Since it doesn't affect the outcome there's no need to dig it out.

Now that I've spent a day with these images I'm wondering if Lane was further down the waterfront closer to Stage Fort Park. I will be going back to Stacey Boulevard soon and see.