Travel & Excursions

If this bridge looks familiar to you, this is because the Somesville Bridge is both a popular tourist spot and one of the most photographed and artistically captured bridges here in Maine. As residents and photographers ourselves, it was only natural that we would eventually make our way to the area. The bridge is located in the delightful Village of Somesville on Mount Desert Island. The museum and gardens on the site are maintained by the Mount Desert Historical Society. On this particular day, we were on our way to Acadia National Park and this was a must-stop spot for a wonderful photography opportunity.

If you have ever seen photographs or artistic images of this bridge, you may have taken note of the picturesque quality of the bridge in its setting. My personal favorites are of the photographs taken during the peak fall season and when the bridge and the surrounding area is covered in snow. During the holidays, there is a holiday wreath placed in the middle of the bridge, making for a quintessential New England scene. Unfortunately, by the time we were able to travel to the area, the beautiful foliage of the fall had disappeared and it was too early for the holiday season. Even though this was the case, I believe I was able to capture a few nice photographs from that day. The weather was cooperative and I think the nice lighting had worked in my favor.

The Somesville Museum & Gardens overlooks the ancient mill pond.

The Somesville Museum was constructed in 1981 and provides information about the history of the island and education about the flowering plants and herbs in the area.

Information located in the garden pertaining to the linking of oceans, rivers, and lakes.

The site also has a beautiful heirloom garden that is open from late May through October. There is no admission fee to the site, but donations are welcomed.

The sun shining over the picturesque bridge.

The bridge leads to the 18th century Selectmen’s Building.

The Somesville Bridge sits on the west side of Route 102 south of the intersection of Routes 233 and 3.

A favorite angle among artists and photographers of the popular arched walking bridge reflected in the water.

The Somesville Library is located across the street, behind the mill pond and overlooks Somes Sound. Here is a beautiful view of the library from that day. The library is on the left side of the photograph. I enjoyed this beautiful fall view and the blue skies reflecting off of the water.

This was our first stop of the day and then we made our way to Acadia. I hope you enjoyed these photographs and I will be adding more soon from our day on the coast.

Here in Northern New England, Columbus Day weekend is the peak time for enjoying the beautiful and vibrant colors of the fall season. The colors have been especially exceptional this year and of the three day weekend, Sunday appeared to be the most promising for photography. Along with the beauty of the season, comes overcast days and a lot of rain. Although we had experienced a cloudy morning, the afternoon was filled with delightful sunshine.

We like to get out at least once during the season for apple picking. I particularly enjoy waiting for later in the season, when the leaves begin changing and the weather gets cooler. There are plenty of apple orchards here in our neck of the woods, but we wanted to switch things up for a change and travel farther to the border of Maine and New Hampshire.

We settled on Pietree Orchard located in Sweden, Maine. As we approached the location of the orchard, traffic was being rerouted due to a running race in progress on the local roads. Although we asked for directions from a friendly cop and plugging the address for the orchard into the GPS, we ended up taking the scenic route, aka getting lost and taking the long way. We asked someone else for directions and after what we thought was simple and direct, we still had to work our way around a lake. This turned out to be quite an obstacle in the pursuit of our destination. This made me think of the old saying here in Maine, “You can’t get there from here.” This saying means it is impossible to get to the place you want, even though you can see it clearly. Mind you, we could clearly view the area on the GPS and we still had quite a time getting around the area. With the lake serving as a minor obstacle, it seemed the orchard was in a far-off location that could not be accessed without extensive, complicated directions. Or, maybe it just seemed like that. We ended up driving around in a huge and unnecessary circle in order to get around the lake. No worries though, because we finally made it to the orchard and on the plus side of things, we figured we had seen some nice areas along the way that we would have missed otherwise.

When we arrived at the orchard, we were greeted by partially cloudy skies, with the promise of the sun making an appearance. In my opinion, I think it gives a few of the photographs below a more dramatic effect. The orchard offered a wide variety of pick-your-own-apples as well as a fun hayride. The orchard was quite full of visitors, but everyone was dispersed throughout the area, so it didn’t seem too crowded.

Arriving at Pietree Orchard.

A pick your own apple sign.

The sign for the hayride pickup.

A dirt road with an autumn view of the mountains.

Apples ready for picking.

Walking through the orchard.

An early cloudy afternoon at the orchard.

A cloudy view of the mountains.

The sun peeking out from the leaves of an oak tree.

After picking our apples and photograph taking, we visited the orchard’s farmstand. This area was quite full of visitors enjoying seasonal treats. Along with fresh fruits and vegetables, the orchard also offered fall favorites such as cider, donuts and other homemade goodies.

A variety of fall vegetables available at the farmstand.

A basket of fresh apples.

A variety of colorful fall gourds.

A pile of pumpkins.

After we left the orchard and our drive continued, we stumbled upon a few spots for photography and we had to stop along the way. I always have an appreciation for these unexpected visual treasures. You never know what you will have the chance to see on quiet backroads.

A field with colorful mountains in the background.

A solitary tree.

Fishing on a beautiful fall day.

As we made our way into North Conway, we had to take a narrow and winding backroad to get there. It is quite a steep drive as you ascend it and the descent is pretty steep as well. I suppose this road is not for the faint of heart. It must be driven on slowly using great caution. It used to be much narrower in the past and will be closed during the winter months, because it isn’t maintained. This was one of my favorite areas of the day. This photograph doesn’t capture how incredibly beautiful this road was. The road was called Hurricane Mountain Road. When we drove up toward the top, both sides of the road were lined with parked cars. Later on, we would discover this is where the Conway Common Lands State Forest is located and all of those parked cars belonged to hikers enjoying a moderate 2.3-mile hike on the Black Cap Trail. Even though the road is gated off during the winter, hikers can still take a challenging two-mile hike to the trailhead. The best time to enjoy the trail is May through October. I think we will wait for next October to return to the area.

This is what it looked like we got into North Conway. They don’t show this scene in the brochures! We had not planned on stopping in the town anyway and I am glad we were driving in the other direction. We had no time to waste sitting in traffic. We were after good lighting.

The following photographs are of our afternoon driving along Route 302. The colors were so bright and beautiful and I couldn’t resist snapping away.

This was another unexpected stop along the way. We stopped at the Willey House. This site had restrooms, a gift shop, and a small museum.

Across the street from the Willey House was the Crawford Notch State Park.

A view of the Saco River.

A view of the bridge located in the park.

The park had nice walking paths and a lake. The area also offered a nice hike and scenic views. I like the way the fall foliage and birch trees were reflecting on the water. This area made for a quintessential New England fall scene.

The last stop of the day entailed a short visit to the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.

The Mount Washington Hotel is located near Mount Washington and was designed by Charles Alling Gifford.

A view of the mountains from the golf course.

The hotel’s appearance is very intriguing and on a larger scale, reminded me of the Stanley Hotel, the Colonial Revival style hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. If you recall, the Stanley Hotel served as the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King’s 1977 novel The Shining, as well as the filming location for the 1997 TV miniseries, also written by King. I am very curious to see the inside of the hotel and we will have to come back to the hotel at a less busy time.

Despite the fickle weather of the earlier hours of the day, the abundance of afternoon sunshine gave us an opportunity for a wonderful time of autumn views and photography. We traveled about 280 miles in total and had a glorious day enjoying Northern New England during the peak of the fall foliage viewing season.

Here in Maine, there is an extensive network of ATV trails throughout most of the state. ATV riders can take advantage of multi-use and multi-use rail trails that run through diverse and scenic areas. You never know what you will see while traveling these trails, such as beautiful and seasonal scenery and wildlife. Perhaps, even a possible moose sighting! For more information about ATV riding in Maine, you can check out atvmaine.org. Here you can view maps and find out more information about the ATV Clubs located throughout Maine.

In our neck of the woods, we wanted to check out riding on a few of the trails maintained by the Carrabassett Valley ATV Club. Now that the cooler weather is here, this is the perfect time for riding. Even though autumn just started at the beginning of this week, the stunning colors of autumn have begun to emerge for a couple of weeks now. This is my favorite time of year and it will be over before you know it. Not only is this a great time for riding, but it is also a wonderful time to take advantage of the foliage for photography opportunities.

While living in the southern New York area and Connecticut, we found areas for public riding were and are still quite scarce. When we first moved to Maine, we wrestled with the idea of purchasing a snowmobile or an ATV. We didn’t rush into a decision and years later, we decided that we would go with a 2018 Polaris Sportsman 850 ATV. This serves two purposes, we get to view incredible scenery and also take advantage of photographing areas where we would never be able to reach on foot. The ATV also has enough room for carrying and storing our cameras and equipment. The day only has so many hours in it and this way we can see and cover more area in a shorter amount of time now.

Our travels took us to Sugarloaf Regional Airport in Carrabassett Valley, one of our favorite parts of the state. One of the areas to park for riding is located at the Sugarloaf Regional Airport and just behind the Sugarbowl on Route 27.

A convenient unloading ramp in the parking lot for riders using the trails located at the Carrabassett Valley Multi-Use Trailhead near the north end of the Sugarloaf Regional Airport in Carrabassett Valley.

A southern view of the Sugarloaf Regional Airport.

Here is the beginning of the trail from the parking lot. We first rode on Huston Brook Road and then turned around. The trail got pretty rough and narrow in that section and we changed our minds and decided to head back to ride south instead. I think this would be comfortable for a single rider, but not for two individuals riding on the same ATV.

We then rode south and crossed over Route 27. After riding a bit farther we crossed Route 27 again and made our way to Carriage Road. We have walked on Carriage Road on foot several times, but we were able to get farther this time and experienced the incredible views.

A bog located on the side of the road.

Another view of the bog.

The Polaris Sportsman 850 ATV parked on the side of the road.

The foliage showing a hint of autumn on the side of E Flagstaff Road.

The beginning of the Appalachian Trail from E Flagstaff Road.

An informative sign for thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail.

Stone steps located on the Appalachian Trail.

Making our up way the trail to see a view of Mount Bigelow.

Another magnificent view of Mount Bigelow.

We then rode back down Carriage Road and took a left to take a ride on the Poplar Mountain ATV Trail.

Riding up the Poplar Mountain ATV Trail.

The ATV parked on the side of Poplar Mountain ATV Trail.

A view from the walking trail.

The picnic table located on the way to the scenic view from Poplar Mountain ATV Trail.

Walking the trail along Poplar Mountain ATV Trail.

A scenic mountain view from Poplar Mountain.

Making our way back to Carriage Road.

A view of the woods along the trail.

Crossing over the bridge on the trail.

We then made our way back to the parking lot for the ride home.

It was now time to load the ATV back into the truck. This can be quite tricky, but the mission was accomplished with these Reese ramps.

Loading a Polaris Sportsman 850 ATV into a Ford F250 pickup truck with Reese ramps at the Sugarloaf Regional Airport in Carrabassett Valley, Maine.

The ATV loaded up and ready to go.

After loading the ATV into the back of the pickup truck, we then made our way back home. First, we stopped for coffee at Anni’s Market located on 253 Main Street in Kingfield. We were in luck because they had Carrabassett Coffee Company’s pumpkin spice-flavored coffee. What a perfect ending to a great day and an excellent kick-off for the autumn season.

A few days later, we were both quite sore from our ride. Even though the trails were nicely groomed, we encountered a few rough patches, here and there. It was well worth it though and I can’t wait to hit the trails again.

We set out for the day with nowhere in particular in mind as a destination. Our go-to driving trips usually entail heading up north on Route 27. We didn’t know where the day would take us, but with my camera, a selection of lenses and tripod in tow, I knew I wanted a chance at practicing shooting landscape photographs in aperture priority mode. Route 27 was the perfect place to accomplish this and as always, we had plenty of scenic views to choose from for achieving a fruitful landscape photography session.

As my photographic journey continues, I have found that I’m not always content with the outcome of my photographs. Aperture priority mode is one of four creative exposure modes that give you full creative control over your camera (the others are shutter priority, program auto and manual mode). I decided to give the aperture priority mode on my Canon Rebel T6i camera a try. On the Canon Rebel T6i, aperture priority mode is labeled “Av” (for aperture value or f-number) is located on the mode dial. The aperture controls the brightness of the image that passes through the lens and falls on the image sensor. By changing the f-number, this will change the size of the aperture, then changing the amount of light that passes through the lens.

While shooting in aperture priority, you are able to control how big the opening is. You are also impacting shutter speed. The larger the aperture will be, the more light will pass through the sensor. This is a useful mode to get comfortable with for individuals who are either pursuing photography as a hobby or professionally. Aperture priority is simple to use and allows room for creative expression. When using this mode, you set the aperture as well as the ISO. The camera will then set the shutter speed. This allows for a photograph that is properly exposed. As a result of using this mode, I found that my photographs had more preserved detail had an overall crispness. I feel that the program mode, labeled “P” that I usually use, simply won’t help me achieve the professional-quality photographs that I am looking for.

During this session, I also shot my photographs in camera RAW, which allows for more creative expression while editing in Photoshop. When shooting photographs in JPEG, image information is compressed and lost. Information isn’t compressed with RAW, which allows for the production of higher quality images. Another benefit of RAW includes the ability to correct issues in your images that would otherwise be unrecoverable if photographs that were shot in JPEG format. When you shoot in RAW, all of the data is recorded from the sensor. This gives you access to the highest quality of files for post-processing.

Our first stop for practicing aperture priority included stopping at one of the scenic rest stops located north of the town of Kingfield, Maine. The Carrabassett River runs along Route 27 and after taking a short walk, we found a breathtaking view of Mount Bigelow from an area located along the riverbed. I thought these four photographs were my best out of the few I had taken of the area.

(f/11, 1/60 sec., ISO 100)

(f/11, 1/160 sec., ISO 100)

(f/11, 1/125 sec., ISO 100)

(f/11, 1/160 sec., ISO 100)

We then drove farther up north to Eustis. I was able to get a few photographs of Flagstaff Lake with another view of Mount Bigelow in the distance. I like how these photographs turned out. I enjoy the different shades of blue in the composition and the contrast of the clouds and lake water.

(f/11, 1/200 sec., ISO 640)

(f/11, 1/250 sec., ISO 100)

We then decided to head back south on Route 27 and be on our way back home. We both saw this beautiful view of Mount Bigelow and Flagstaff Lake from the road and decided we had to pull over. If you are wondering how I got all of these different angles of Mount Bigelow, it is because it is a long mountain ridge with several summits. It is one of highest summits here in Maine. Perhaps, I will have the chance to take these types of photographs from the top of one these summits one day!

(f/11, 1/200 sec., ISO 100)

(f/11, 1/250 sec., ISO 100)

(f/11, 1/160 sec., ISO 100)

Well, I hope you enjoyed the view and with some more practice using the aperture priority mode on my camera, I hope to achieve more beautiful landscape photographs such as these.

While visiting Bangor, we decided to go to the Orono Bog Boardwalk in the Bangor City Forest. This was our first time visiting this area of Bangor and we didn’t know what to expect. The Bangor City Forest is also known as Rolland F. Perry City Forest. The park consists of six hundred and eighty miles and includes four miles of access roads and more than nine miles of trails for recreation use. The park is owned by the city of Bangor and is open year-round. I hope you enjoy the views.

The sign located in the Tripp Drive parking lot for the park trail system map.

The trail begins at the Tripp Drive parking lot, next to this covered picnic table.

The East Trail leading from the Tripp Drive gate.

The East Trail is a relatively easy and flat trail leading to the boardwalk.

The boardwalk is about a quarter of a mile from the beginning of East Trail.

Information about the boardwalk located outside of the entrance.

The entrance to the Bangor City Orono Bog Boardwalk.

It was one of those typical hot and humid days in August during our visit. While we were enjoying the beautiful area, we were surrounded by a plethora of pesky mosquitoes. I don’t know if it was the weather or our surroundings, but the area reminded me of a great deal of Florida. While I was in college, I had taken an ecology course in Florida and many of the areas we visited, such as the Florida Keys and the Everglades, looked very similar to this. This also included many experiences with those horrible mosquitoes. If you have ever been to Florida, you know what I’m talking about!

There are many stations along the boardwalk that provide information on the local ecology. Here is the first station.

The boardwalk opened in 2003 and is a collaboration between the city of Bangor, the University of Maine, and the Orono Land Trust.

The boardwalk season is open from May 1st until Thanksgiving weekend or the first snowfall. Those of us living in Maine, know this could be early as October. The boardwalk also provides educational tours during the open season. For more information, you can visit the Bangor City Forest Report.

The boardwalk is 4,200 feet long and allows visitors to enjoy the area, without damaging the integrity of the bog.

Here is another informative station along the way.

After walking under the canopy of trees, visitors are greeted by the open area of the bog. Where the bog is today, was once a lake.

A no picking sign reminding visitors to respect the bog and stay on the boardwalk. In bogs, the water below the surface of the land is highly acidic. This is one of the main reasons why the pine trees in the area survive in the area. The pine trees that thrive here are not much taller than six to eight feet. The acidic component of the water also attributes to the accumulation of peat in the bog. In some places, this can be more than two feet deep.

Even though the bog’s soil is of poor quality, many plants have managed to flourish in the environment.

Another view of the boardwalk in the bog.

The fifth information station along the boardwalk.

A sign displaying water levels in the bog.

Maine blueberries Vaccinium growing in the bog.

The bog encompasses six hundred and sixteen acres on the Bangor and Orono town lines. The bog is home to hundreds of diverse plants and rare bird species of Maine.

A northern pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea growing in the bog. They are also commonly known as the purple pitcher plant, turtle socks, or side-saddle flower. The common name refers to pitcher-shaped leaves. It can be found in peat bogs on the Eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast of the United States, the Great Lakes region, and areas of Canada, Washington state, and Alaska. This is an interesting plant, as it is carnivorous. Similar to other species of this plant, it obtains most of its nutrients through the capturing of prey.

Station seven on the boardwalk.

Opened skunk cabbage Symplocarpus foetidus growing along the boardwalk.

A view of trees and plants growing along the boardwalk.

Fungi growing on a tree stump.

A cedar tree Cedrus libani growing over the boardwalk.

Exiting the boardwalk. The boardwalk forms a loop and you finish where you began your walk.

The boardwalk and the bog turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise and one of those hidden gems that can be found here in the great state of Maine. I hope the next time we are in Bangor, we will have the opportunity to explore some of the other diverse trails in the park. Hopefully, that visit will entail fewer mosquitoes!

We made plans for our annual blackberry picking outing, but it seems Mother Nature had other plans for us. When we arrived at our usual berry picking spot, we discovered many of the blackberries were still green and not ready to pick. Usually, by mid-August, this is primetime for berry picking. I’m not sure why, but this delay could be due to the cold and rainy spring we experienced this year. I suppose we will have to wait a couple of more weeks to fill our “berry coffers” and on the plus side, we may be picking berries well into October. We then had a decision to make, either turn around and go back home or see what other kinds of trouble we could get into for the day.

We had our cameras with us, of course, and we decided to visit Lemon Stream, one of the local and natural highlights of the area. Although I had my camera, unfortunately, I didn’t have my lens filters or tripod. I like to have this equipment with me for planned photography sessions for photographing flowing water. I thought I was taking photographs of berries after all. We will definitely have to come back to the area in the near future. A perfect time will be when the leaves change this autumn. I believe with the nice lighting and the contrast of the autumn colors, this spot will photograph beautifully along with the hue of yellow of the water. While viewing the photographs below, you will notice this hue of yellow in the water. Perhaps, this is how the stream acquired its name. What do you think?

Lemon Stream is a 15.2-mile-long tributary of the Sandy River, located in Franklin County, Maine, and is part of the Kennebec River watershed.

The source of this stream is a spring located at 1,460 feet above sea level between Little Mountain and Caswell Mountain.

A gentle stream of water falling over the rocks.

The beautiful hue of yellow of Lemon Stream.

A natural pooling of water in the bed of the stream.

A view of the rocks along the stream.

A view of the stream shaded by the trees.

Looking down the stream blanketed by shadows and light.

The leaves of a sugar maple Acer saccharum growing alongside the stream.

I hope you enjoyed the view and keep an eye out for more photographs of Lemon Stream this coming fall.