Local Food

There is nothing better then being able to go to the backyard garden and pick your own veggies for dinner.  The taste of garden fresh carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and everything else completely trumps any supermarket produce you can find.  We often have a garden here but not this year.  Between two busy schedules and having a toddler running around the house, time seems to be in short supply for getting the garden all set up.  Thankfully we have Anna and Ben as neighbors just three houses down the street.  Their raised bed gardens are the envy of the neighborhood as far as I am concerned.  Luckily they seem to grow more then they can eat and we are often blessed with "would you like some of this or that".  Ben is tired of carrots...  hell yeah, bring it on.  The other day we were chatting while Anna was working in the garden and she said, how about some carrots?  We brought those carrots home, Kathrina cleaned them up and they were some of the best I have had in a very long time.  The urban garden is a great thing and we are so spoiled to be able to have friends and neighbors that will share their locally grown food.  One bite is all it takes to say, wow... this is what I have been missing!

Curve Appeal

I just visited my friend Rick Nelson who is an architect for the Knickerbocker Group in Boothbay.  In addition to the work he does as his day job he has been building and designing his own home located on 17 secluded acres in Edgecomb.  Sonne Ledge is an incredibly energy efficient and very livable home design that has an organic feel, uses the latest green building techniques and materials and blends in beautifully with the wooded landscape where it is situated.  I first met Rick on a camping and mountain biking weekend to the Northeast Kingdom Trails in East Burke, VT.  On the bike in the woods, Rick is fantastically fast and very well skilled at handling the most challenging trails with ease.  His skills have been well honed from all of the mountain bike races he competes in locally.  It must be all of that time in the woods on the bike that helps him integrate his home designs seamlessly into the landscape.  I have quickly become a big fan of his work!  As the photos show, there is still plenty of work to be done outside but the interior is coming along nicely.  Stay tuned for more images of the progress.

Riding in the Rain

With the month of June and the start of July being one of the wettest on record here in Maine and New England it is easy to get stir crazy after a long winter.  It did not take long to realize that it was just going to rain and I had better get used to it.  On location in Wolfeboro, NH and rained out from a day of shooting James had luckily brought his mountain bike.  James is a photographer and regular assistant of mine and we have spent countless days together on location.  The schedule for James kinda looked like this, ride in the rain and then a good nap! Those lazy days of summer... might as well get them while you can!

Whistler Launch

On a cold, wet and windy day this past May I decided to make the trek up to Lyman Morse in Thomaston to be a part of the launching of Whistler, their newest Hunt designed 54' Jet Boat.  The launch of a newly built boat is always a special occasion.  Lyman Morse has a long tradition of building and launching some of the finest boats here along the Maine coast.  I assured myself before I left Portland that if I made the trip I would not be disappointed and that getting drenched by the rain storm and chilled by the wind would all be worth it in the end when I was editing my images from the trip.  I was right.  It was worth the effort.  Maine, Boats, Homes and Harbors Magazine thought as well as they published a selection of images on their web site. (here)

Sitki Gulergun's Art

Sitki Gulergun is an incredibly talented textile designer, painter and artist located in Chappaqua, NY.  His textile work has been used extensively on fabrics  for clothing and accessories produced by Ralph Lauren.  Sitki is also my cousin through marriage.  I love his work and the fact that we are related is just a bonus.  This past Fall I traveled to NY several times to photograph a new series of paintings he was working on.  This American flag is part of his Modern Constructivist series.  Sitki is also working on an amazing project call "Art is not Blind", producing paintings for those that have lost their sight or are visually impaired.