Freeze Frame

Some 50,000 drivers and 90,000 Red Line passengers cross the Longfellow Bridge every day, catching one of the best views around of Boston's skyline and MIT's campus as they traverse the Charles River. Built in 1906, the bridge has deteriorated badly in recent years, and it is undergoing a major face lift. But as well known as the views from the bridge are, fascinating views of the bridge itself, and its unmistakable granite "salt and pepper shaker" columns, are more unusual.

This aerial shot by Globe photographer David L. Ryan, the son of another longtime Globe photographer, William L. Ryan, was taken last month, just a few minutes into Ryan's 7:20 a.m. flight from Boston to Albany, New York. He used a 28-70mm zoom lens, he says, to capture as much as he could of the river and the banks on both the Boston and Cambridge sides.

"What catches my eye is the way the water has cracked away from the bridge," Ryan says of his shot. "On the bottom of the picture, streaks or lines show what I guess is ice being blown by the wind." He pauses before noting the one other element that caught his eye, a familiar sight in Boston. "The little yellow cab," he says. "It's the only real color in the shot."