... our plan had been to be at houston brook falls to photograph the sunrise reflecting from an ice covered rocky cliff face, but the heavy overcast brought us to postpone that for another day and instead head south to the coast ... this was the perfect route to make a breakfast stop at one of maine's most famous landmarks ...
... "why, of course we can make a sandwich for your breakfast," answered our friendly server, so i decided to make the morning another stop on my quest for the perfect turkey club sandwich ...
... "stop the car," i yelled ... fortunately, being well used to my visual idiosyncrasies, john slowed us to a safe location along a side road ...
... open water after all the recent unseasonal warmth, but in the 20°f air this was the exact moment to witness the stream freezing over ...
... again, the color, john was used to my routine ...
... me, working the scene ...
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| BY JOHN MEADER |
... downeast ...
... friendship, maine, how absolutely charming ...
... exploring roads neither of us had ever traveled, as we came over a little rise john jammed the brakes hard when he saw where the pavement was heading ... how wonderful, that on every wanderabout there's always something new and unique to be discovered ... for sure, at a different time of day i will be returning to this spot so that i can complete the route ... (also, i suppose i just can't resist asking, is this sign really necessary, and, of the people who do need it, should i be concerned) ...
... i had no idea until john informed me ...
... not having seen or thought of wyeth's "christina's world" in many years, when i started to work up my images in photoshop i was impressed with the accuracy of my visual memory ... the house and horizon match perfectly, the differences being the result of wyeth altering details to meet his compositional needs ... i think if i had had my 12mm wide-angle on the camera i would've come pretty close to the angle of view, too ... fascinating ...
... it appears that the farnsworth museum is restoring the house, which is a good thing but i'll be a bit saddened when they cover or paint these weathered clapboards ...
... another case where a new bridge will be safer, more durable and efficient ... it will also be boring ... little children will neither hold their breath nor raise their feet while being driven across its span ... lacking vertical structure, on dark moonless nights no teenager will ever dream of ascending to forbidden heights ... never will a bird joy in finding it a place to build a nest ... as bridges go, a better bridge, for sure—but i'm not so sure it is progress ...
... we visited the mighty breakwater in rockland ... from where i took this picture it is one mile to the lighthouse ... on this day, wind chill below zero and freezing salt mist flying across the headland, it was quite easy to resist the urge to walk out along the granite slabs ...
... i saw this little guy scurrying along the breakwater ... examine the preceding photograph, see if you can "find the mink" ... i cursed to myself, "wrong spot, wrong lens," but was pleased that john was within a few feet of the animal with a nice telephoto affixed to his cannon ... i crossed my fingers he would take advantage of his good fortune, which he did ...
... a few minutes later he gave my vantage a try ... when looked up a thought came to me ...
"Find a way or make one."
ROBERT PEARY
... as a child the "flying horse" was a favorite ...
ROBERT PEARY
... as a child the "flying horse" was a favorite ...
... our last stop on the wanderabout was the the little mini-gorge within which cascades the pratt brook ...
... there's a certain deja vu echo to be found when someone captures me within a scene i am in the process of capturing ...
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... concerned for my core temperature during our outing, john had encouraged me to don his fabulous l.l.bean winter coat ... when we got back to my apartment i returned it to him ... doing so i cannot honestly say which caused more regret, the realization of how toasty-warm it had kept me or the acknowledgement to myself that wearing a "maine guide" patch, no matter how unearned, had, indeed, for a moment make me feel just a tiny bit cool ...
... overcast, cold with a bitter biting wind—what a most wonderful day ...