In an effort to simplify my life (and yours), I’ve moved this blog to Pine Tree Photography. I felt it just fit in better over there. It’ll still have the same kind of stuff (well, maybe with links to buy photos instead of just looking at them on Flickr), but it’s just in a new place.

If you look at this sort of stuff in a browser, head here:

http://blog.pinetreephotography.com

If RSS is your flavor of choice:

http://blog.pinetreephotography.com/feed/

Thanks!

They missed out.

I am not one of those people.

Over the last month I’ve had the pleasure of visiting the Deer Isle/Stonington area twice. Unless you’ve got a boat, you’ll need to cross the Deer Isle Bridge (above) before you can explore the islands.  The Deer Isle Bridge is one of the most recognizable crossings in Maine, and it’s oft been noted for its similarity to the old Waldo-Hancock Bridge. I love it.

Of course, following Route 15 back from Deer Isle and Stonington leads you through Bucksport, the Penobscot Bay/River town across the water from the massive yet beautiful new Penobscot Narrows Bridge from Verona Island to Prospect.

That is why I do not cover my eyes.

I’ve taken a fair amount of bridge photos over the years. If you’d like to check out more from my trips to Stonington, take a look through the August 31st and September 14th sets.

I must’ve walked back and forth across the Railroad Stage field at least forty or fifty times over the span of the weekend. While Junk Yard Band was doing one of their sets, I saw the young girl above totally rocking out. Looked like fun.

Complimenting Hector del Curto’s Eternal Dance Quartet were Sara Grdan and Ivan Terrazas of Feraltango. On top of being wonderful dancers, they seemed like fun people in general.

When they weren’t in “costume,” I had a chance to watch them as part of the Perfect Partners panel. This collection of musicians and dancers explained how music and dance were intertwined in different genres. After Sara & Ivan did a little basic tango instruction, Haitian dancer and choreographer Sheila Anozier provided a short Haitian dance demonstration to the music of Bonga Jean Baptiste.

The photo of Sheila above is one of my very favorites from the Festival. I’ve always loved seeing musicians that appreciate other genres. This weekend, I saw a member of the Quebecois group Genticorum watching del Curto’s tango quartet perform. I saw members of the CASYM Steel Orchestra move to the sounds of Johnny Hiland’s country guitar. And I saw Sara intently watching and smiling at Sheila’s Haitian dancing. The Festival isn’t just an appreciation of music; it’s an appreciation of culture from around the world.

They, of course, managed to take some wonderful shots. I wouldn’t expect anything less from them.

I have a strange fascination with photographing photographers. It’s amazing to watch different techniques, especially when it involves watching the differences between a person with a $100 point-n-shoot camera compared to someone who does this for a living.

I’ve poked a fair amount of fun at Kevin for the access he gets around the festival in years past. I actually had a second to do the whole “hey, nice work,” thing to him this year, so now I don’t feel quite so bad about joking around… not that I really ever felt that bad about it in the first place.

My friend Jeff managed to get a very nice shot of the two superstars along with Bangor radio and business Jill-of-all-trades Deb Neuman. Jeff goes right up to people and asks to take pictures of them. I opt for a bit more of a candid approach. I’m just stealthy like that.

The first rule of the Folk Festival: if you don’t like crowds, go on Sunday. If you do, well…

That’s right! It’s almost time for the American Folk Festival. A week from tonight, I’ll join a five-digit number’s worth of other people cramming along the Bangor waterfront to see a ton of great music in three-day festival form. And preparations are already underway!

New this year: a moved Kenduskeag Dance Pavilion, a (finally) repaired wood fence along the railroad line, and a mysterious fenced area near the Heritage Stage. Want to see more? Check out some other pictures I took. If you’re going to the festival, don’t forget to add your photos to the AFF group on Flickr!

The best parts of wedding photography: without fail, there are a couple of very cute kids, people in really beautiful outfits, and an opportunity to have lots of fun with posed pictures of the bride and groom. If it wasn’t for that pesky ceremony part…

Here’s my entry:

I know what you’re saying. Flowers? Aren’t flowers, y’know, overdone in just about every single possible way?

Well, yes. See, it was a pretty crappy day here in Bangor. It rained for a good portion of the day, and frankly I wasn’t prepared for it. I was hoping to catch a couple shots of the Penobscot Theatre’s outdoor production of “Guys & Dolls” this evening, but alas, it was moved inside. While I feel completely comfortable lugging my dSLR into, say, Hauck Auditorium at the University of Maine, I’ve always felt a bit uneasy about bringing it into the Bangor Opera House. (There would have been some great shots during and after the production that I at least should’ve captured with my point and shoot, but…)

So yes, flowers. I’m new to these photo project things. It’s something.

The weather lately has been unusual here… even by Maine standards. Strong thunderstorms, sudden heavy downpours, and skies that just can’t decide what they want. I, of course, had to take a couple pictures:

The skies tonight gave me a wonderful opportunity to try out my new Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS that I received after helping out Sara and Greg with their wedding. Thanks, guys! I’m loving the lens so far.

If it were still roaming the forests of Maine, it would most likely be letting out that famous cry of the moose; you know, the, um, “mooooooooose” sound, I guess.

While I drown myself in wedding photo enhancements, I thought I’d post a couple photos I took at the meetup this weekend.

We started our lighthouse tour at Pemaquid Point Light. While it’s not my favorite light on the coast, the rock formations leading to the light are amazing. It’s well worth the trip to see for yourself.

It has its drawbacks, though; the rocks at Pemaquid are one of the few places I can really see myself using an ultra-wide angle lens. Alas, there are other items on the list above it.

Why a photo blog, you ask?

As I was darting over Pemaquid Point and Marshall Point rocks this weekend at my first-ever Flickr meetup, I realized that a lot of the photos trapped on my computer at home had stories to tell. And doggone it, I was a pretty good person to tell those stories.

Welcome to my stories.