... this is a poster i made for a friend ... area 51 is over the ridge to the right ... with the needle of our little matchbox rental car's gas gauge bumping on "e," i snapped this while adrien and i tried to calculate if we had enough gas to make it over the mountains in front of us ... which we did, and then coasted downhill for seemingly forever before we came to a station ...
... the narrows bridge in bucksport ... i don't care much for cable stay spans, but i put my feelings aside while i was shooting ...
... this one i shot through the window of the car as we drove across the span—no, absolutely not, john was driving ...
... result of a trip to bangor and some great fun playing around in photoshop, i'll let you figure this one out ...
... i snapped this one knowing i'd be "interpreting" it ... the final image is the result of "focus stacking" eight images, then adding four separate filter layers ...
... this one's for my friend, c.j. ...
... as i walked across the memorial bridge i noticed the seagulls lining up for the evening meal ...
... from high atop the bridge i found my ancient 300mm f/4.5 nikkor telephoto allowed me to join into the festivities ...
... it was very difficult, hand-focusing the heavy lens while simultaneously tracking the birds ... it didn't help that the light was fading as the sun slowly descended behind the cityscape along the west bank of the kennebec river ...
... others seemed to appreciate a spot that is one of my favorites, except, that is, i can't remember ever having my cell phone out while i was enjoying the evening sitting on the rocky east bank of the river (i didn't notice until i was working up the image) ...
... right below my feet the graceful creatures would rocket out from beneath the memorial bridge's huge arches ...
... at times it was like watching the movie "battle of britain" ...
... for thousands of years before the europeans arrived in the new world the abenakis and penobscots who lived in this area spent evenings doing exactly this—sans pole and monofilament, of course, but they were just as efficient with their self-made tackle ...
... a question on "quora," "why didn't birds evolve propellers" ... an engineer provided a wonderful response, "it's not that nature didn't select for propellers, it's that to this day we've not come up with a structure that can both provide an aircraft's lift while at the same time it also generates the necessary propulsive force" ... so cool ... orville and wilbur spent hours and hours studying birds (they were good students) ...
"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings ..."
JOHN GILLESPIE MAGEE JR.
... before learning to fly a spitfire i think he, too, must have studied birds ...
... my soul has never been much for harboring envy ... this evening, however, my feet most firmly affixed to the earth, soaring with these birds i was envious—most seriously envious, indeed ...
... supper, at last ...
... roger'd asked if i was going to be home ... when i walked up the hill i found him, a conquering hero, fresh from visiting every covered bridge in the state of new hampshire ...
... we sat on the bench in the little park across the street from apartment and chatted while watching the waterville police very respectfully deal with an extremely obnoxious person ... above, well, perhaps this is as close as i'll ever get to taking a picture of a dream ...
“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.”
RICHARD BACH
