Wings on a lake in northern Maine

It's amazing how relaxing and productive it is for me to spend a week on a remote lake in northern Maine. It's also a place where I can pretend to be a wildlife photographer-something that I wish I had done long ago. 
I love to visit Spencer Pond Camps, a place that I've stayed often over the past ten years, and not surprisingly, it happens to be one of my favorite places in the world! Situated on Spencer Pond, which is about 34 miles north of Greenville Maine, on logging roads, the camps are rustic and cozy. The area is full of wildlife, including moose, bear, pine marten's, fisher and deer; and many varieties of birds, including bald eagles, osprey, merlins, owls and others. This year, the loons were especially plentiful and thankfully, very "outspoken"!
While I was able to spend time relaxing and reading, I was usually photographing in the early mornings and into the evenings. I'll share more images in my next post, but for now.....
Each morning before sunrise, I'd climb into one of the kayaks with my camera, binoculars and a bottle of water and head across the pond (only in Maine would it be called a "pond"), to see what I could "see. One morning, as I was paddling back to camp, I happened to have the camera in my lap with the "right" lens, (70-200) and settings, (autofocus and a fairly fast shutter speed), when I noticed a solitary loon flying towards me, coming fairly close off my starboard side. It was a beautiful thing to have seen, and I was lucky to get a few nice images as she flew by.

Here's one of my favorite images from that sequence:

"Flying Loon"

Another evening, as we were watching the early evening sky from our private dock, I had an idea for an image. Needing a willing model, I approached the mother of a young girl whose family was staying in another nearby cabin, and asked if her daughter would be my model.
She was happy to help.
Thank you Veronica!!

"Soaring Veronica"


It's been said that as a parent, you should give your child "wings and a nest". Speaking from the perspective of a son who loved to endlessly wander and explore, I would agree, and I am grateful to my parents for having this philosophy while I was growing up.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

"But, I don't shoot weddings"

A few months ago I received a telephone call from a young man in New Haven who was looking for a photographer to shoot his wedding. He's a teacher & his fiancee is an architect, working at a well-known architectural firm. I'm not a wedding photographer and I haven't shot a wedding since I was in my twenties.

Here is how the discussion went:

groom: "My fiancee and I are looking for a wedding photographer."

jw: "Ok. I can give you the names of a few photographers that I am comfortable recommending."

groom: "No. We want you to photograph our wedding."

jw: "Hmm. How did you find me? Did you really look at my website?"

groom: "We did a search for 'photographers in CT', and we looked at a the websites of few photographers; we like your work."

jw: "I'm flattered, but I don't shoot weddings."

groom: "We know-that's why we want you"

jw: Hmm.
"Thanks, but let me think about this. In the meantime, I'll send you links to a few different wedding photographers. If you get in trouble, and can't  find one who is not busy that day, then call me back."

groom: "ok."

Six weeks later, I got another telephone call from the groom:

groom: "We still want you to photograph our wedding."

jw: " Really?! Let's meet for coffee. Can you come to Guilford?"

So we met.
A very nice couple. Both of them are obviously smart, and creative. He's also very interested in photography.

To make a long story short, since work has been slow, and they agreed to my price, I agreed to shoot their wedding.

It was a very hot, but beautiful wedding day, and for a good part of that day and evening, I photographed their beautiful & fun wedding.

It's all relative, but the weather is brutal here. Especially for an "arctic wolf", as my friend Kelly calls me.
Due to the heat (88-90 degrees), humidity (90-95%), and a camera bag that weighs about 25 pounds, I shower and change clothes two to three times a day.
My typical breakfast consists of dim sum at the same nearby traditional restaurant which my small hotel had recommended. I sit at the same table with a retiree named Mr. Lee, and his wife, and another man whose name I cannot recall, along with three or four others. Mr. Lee speaks English well enough so that he can help me order those dishes which do not include pork or beef.

The waiters now know to deliver my favorite dim sum dishes: a vegetable dish, a prawn dish, and and fish balls. I love the taste of them all! (The manager of my hotel has told me that I MUST try the chicken feet, which is a traditional Cantonese dish. Maybe tomorrow.)

More of my images of Hong Kong will be posted in the next day or two.

The traditional Dim Sum restaurant that I visit for breakfast each morning.

Chicken's Feet

Dim Sum

More later!

Back in Hong Kong

After a four hour mechanical delay, and a sixteen-plus hour flight from Chicago on a tired and well-used 747-200, I arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday night. Paying a bit extra for an exit row made all the difference in the world, as far as legroom was concerned.
It's now 2:00 am on Saturday morning and the first image that I'm posting is an image which I made last night, from the back window of my hotel, 60 West Suites.
I couldn't be happier with my room and my great fortune in finding this hotel in the center of Hong Kong-a city which is notorious for affordable hotels with tiny rooms. When I arrived at 10:30 pm local time, the desk clerk couldn't find my room key and after about twenty minutes I was given the key to room 1504, which is a two bedroom apartment with a small kitchen area. I'm learning that patience is indeed a virtue and in this case I was rewarded with a great "room" with huge windows in front and back.
Typical for this time of year, the weather is hot, humid and very overcast, so after an breakfast of dim sum in a small restaurant nearby, the afternoon was spent walking and riding the trams around the island, trying to reacquaint myself with this incredible city. I think that Hong Kong stimulates more of the human senses than almost any other city that I've visited. The sounds, smells, tastes are incredible!
And of course, there are the things to see and capture....
Over the next eleven days, I will try to share my experiences in this vibrant and exciting city with pictures, as often as I can. Stay tuned.

Soccer being played under the lights, in the middle of Hong Kong.

"Going Back to Hong Kong"

At the time, I was fortunate and I knew it.

From 1991 to 2001, I would get on a plane and fly off to a country or region which sounded exotic and exciting, to make photographs for my Photonica, my wonderfully photographer-friendly stock agency at the time. In addition, a small selection of the images that I would make would also be used for a calendar by the shipping giant, Maersk. A few of the places that I photographed were the Canadian Rockies & Denali, French Polynesia, Patagonia, Western Europe and Africa. Those were definitely the "good old days"!

It was in 1995 that I traveled to Hong Kong and China, when it was still a British colony. Two years later it became one of two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China. (The other is neighboring Macau, which I also visited.)

It was one of my favorite trips, but it was also one of the most difficult, because in those days I would fly into a major city, stay a few nights and plan the next parts of my trip from there. The circumstances were much more difficult in China, as I did not speak Chinese, nor did I have a guide. What an adventure! Fortunately I had worked hard to also get a corporate assignment by researching corporations that were doing business there; I found a client who was involved in the massive construction project that would become Hong Kong International Airport, or Chek Lap Kok Airport. That assignment helped to underwrite the trip.

The stock images from that trip still sell today, but it's been fifteen years, and it's time for another adventure.

On May 9th, I will fly to Hong Kong for two weeks, to make new photographs and to experience this bustling city once again. During my first visit, I was amazed at how dense Hong Kong was, and I was awestruck by the vibrant activity & colorful culture that was everywhere and I'm looking forward to going back.

(This time it will be a pleasure not to worry about hauling lead bags filled with more than 250 rolls of 35 mm film through airports; and the cumulative effect that x-ray machines might have on my film.)

Stay tuned and please email me know if you have any great tips regarding hotels & restaurants.