Amazing Grace 1977
In 1977 I spent two months driving from California to Maine in a Volkswagen van named Amazing Grace. “Gracie” and I left San Diego on March 1st, meandered across the country, and arrived on Mount Desert Island on April 30th. By April 31st I knew I had found my new home. I lived there for the next five months and returned nearly every year until 2013 when I moved here …
George’s Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer was a 17th-century Dutch Master whom many consider to be the greatest painter of all time. I recently studied his work for a class called “Looking at Images” that I took at Acadia Senior College from instructor Lydia Goetze. Coincidentally, I also happened to just see a wonderful documentary called Tim’s Vermeer which chronicled the attempt of Tim Jenison to discover how …
Beech Mountain Loop Trail
Beech Mountain is located on the west side of Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park. With a summit of only 839 feet, it’s not one of the higher peaks, but it has a commanding view, so much so that a fire tower was erected there in the 1960’s. Janice and Emma and I chose this hike today because it was short and we only had a few hours until dark. We drove to the end of Beech Hill Road …
Bald Peak and Parkman Mountain
Acadia National Park is a hiker’s paradise. With more than 20 peaks to climb and some 125 miles of hiking trails ranging in difficulty from easy to difficult, there is something for everybody. In winter even the easiest trail can be dangerous when covered with ice. Today’s hike with Janice and Emma was less than three miles long, but it was probably the most challenging one we’ve been on …
Walking On Water – Echo Lake
Echo Lake is located on the “quiet side” of Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park. All winter it has been, and still is, covered with a thick layer of ice. Today the ice was covered with water. With temps this afternoon approaching 50° F, snow from earlier in the week is now water which is several inches deep in places. Janice and Emma and I drove down to the boat launch at Ikes …
Sargent Mountain, Acadia National Park
Today we hiked to the summit of Sargent Mountain in search of Snowy Owls. With its peak at 1,373 feet, Sargent is the second highest mountain on Mount Desert Island after Cadillac Mountain which is slightly taller at 1,530 feet. Snowy Owls have been sighted this winter on both mountains in Acadia National Park, though we did not see any during our hike on Cadillac last month. But today, …
Ice Fishing on Eagle Lake, Mount Desert Island
This morning the MDI Photo Club met on Eagle Lake to shoot and socialize (translation: take pictures and talk about photography). Located in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert island, this pristine body of water is nearly two miles long and about a half mile wide. This time of year its frozen surface hosts ice fisherman, cross-country skiers, and on this day, a dozen photographers eager …
Southwest Harbor Maine Panorama
Southwest Harbor, Maine is located in the southwest quadrant of Mount Desert Island. Aptly named, it’s area of 22.69 square miles and population of less than 2,000 people are nearly entirely surrounded by Acadia National Park and the Atlantic Ocean. In summer the harbor is full of boats small and large, from kayaks to multimillion dollar yachts. This time of year lobster boats are …
Mount Desert Island in Winter
Mount Desert Island is located on the coast of Maine, about five hours by car driving north from Boston. The most well known attraction is Acadia National Park which welcomes more than two million visitors each year. Nearly all of them come in July, August, and September. In Winter, most people you see live here year round. In summer the island is magical. In winter it is breathtaking, …
Selfie
Though “selfie” is a relatively new term, photographers have been taking self portraits since the 1800’s when the daguerreotype was the latest imaging technology. For my selfie, I wanted to try something I had never done before: photograph a naked model in the shower. Now that I’ve done it, I can honestly say, it’s not as glamorous as it sounds, but it was a lot of fun. Well, it started …