I was told before shooting the story to focus on the camp food, and having spent many a summer at camp–first as a camper and later as a counselor–I thought I knew what to expect–s’mores, shepherds pie and spaghetti night. 

 Boy, was I wrong.

Omigosh, this was a camp food experience like no other. Think rosemary focaccia, beet salad and blueberry cobbler from scratch.  And, everyone insisted that I not go home hungry. I can’t remember the last time I was fed so well on an assignment!

The new structure, which is located adjacent to Fort Knox, carries Route 1 traffic across the Penobscot River near Bucksport. Well, more precisely, it’s between the communities of Prospect and Verona Island.

More than just a bridge, it’s an engineering marvel, a work of art. The 2000-plus-foot-long cable-stayed bridge (in the style of Boston’s Zakim Bridge) sports one of only four bridge observatories in the world, yes, in the world. And, of the four, it’s the only one in the United States. The 420-foot observatory towner, fashioned after the Washington Monument, which was made with granite quarried nearby, offers incredible panoramic views in all directions. On a clear day visitors can see The Camden Hills, Acadia and even Katahdin.

Kudos to the Maine Department of Transportation, to Figg Engineering Group and to whoever it was who came up with the ingenious idea of incorportating an observation tower into the new bridge. In its first season the observatory drew almost twice as many visitors as officials had been anticipating. I guess that shows that lots of folks are smitted, or at the very least intrigued.

I was fortunate to be asked to shoot photos of the bridge and observatory for a story that appears in Down East Magazine’s Vacation Planner issue. The issue won’t be on magazine stands until the middle of March, but subscribers are getting a sneak preview as the magazine is already showing up in mailboxes. If you are a bridge aficionado or just enjoy great views, check out Jeff Clark’s story in the magazine.

And, we’re not talking the kind that navigate a keyboard with ten fingers. We’re talking ten toes on an honest-to-goodness surfboard.

My assignment yesterday was to accompany a trio of Bowdoin College students who would make their college mascot (a polar bear) proud by surfing in icy waters before their first class.

I met the trio on campus before sunrise and we drove to an undisclosed beach–Maine surfers zealously guard the location of their favorite beaches, so I’m not going to give up their secret. The photos are slated to run in a future issue of Bowdoin Magazine.

Nevermind that yesterday was the first day of February, that the wind chill was 13 degrees, and that when I gathered my gear the night before I couldn’t find the handwarmers that slip into my winter shooting gloves. Nevermind that when we got to the beach we found the access gate temporarily closed, leaving us with a half-mile jog down a slippery ice-encrusted road to the water. This is Maine surfing at its finest, in the winter when waves peak, so you ignore the “challenges” and simply forge ahead.

As crazy as it might seem for anyone to hit a Maine beach on the first day of February, much less stick a toe in water as cold as 34 degrees, two other surfers joined the Bowdoin trio about 9 a.m. And, we saw a handful of walkers on the beach. All to prove that Mainers are a hardy lot!

I’m hoping to catch up with the trio for more photos next time they go out. I’m also hoping that next time my ten fingers will hang a bit more comfortably; as soon as I got home I surfed over to LLBean to order more handwarmers. Here’s hoping they arrive before the next big wave.

So, with that usual bit of anticipation I have been waiting for the latest issue of Maine Boats & Harbors to arrive so I could see the article on the Phippsburg cottage I photographed for the magazine back in late October. It was the first architectural shoot I had done for the magazine, and I wanted it to look good!

The issue arrived earlier this week, but with a bit of a surprise: the magazine is now sporting a new name. As the letter from publisher John Hanson explained, a combination of factors led to the magazine’s newly expanded name of Maine, Boats, Homes & Harbors.

Of course there have been dozens of home stories in the magazine before mine, but it was sort of fun to note that I photographed the first home to appear in the magazine after Homes was officially added to the masthead.

It was a beautiful house, a fun assignment, and the article turned out lovely. I hope many more follow.