On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
JanieM
I’m writing this on the Sunday before the election, hoping we still have an intact democracy by the time you read it. I’m also taking a break from deep thoughts about learning to be a photographer. I’ll come back to that eventually, but right now we’re going to take a whirlwind trip past some of my familiar haunts in central Maine.
The view from my window after an early March snowstorm. We planted the grove of evergreens not long after we moved in, with a few additions over the years. The tracks are from deer. We had one winter when cross-country skiers decided that the back field was quite attractive, so for the first time in thirty-odd years we put up No Trespassing signs. The skiers endangered plantings that they couldn’t see under the snow, and anyhow, it’s our back yard. They really ought to ask.
A conflab on the barn roof.
The barn from the back at sunset.
Fall color below the Mill Stream dam.
Downtown Augusta at 9:15 on a summer morning. I can’t even remember what I was doing there; I’m usually not even out of bed at that hour.
Skywalkers on the Memorial Bridge in Augusta.
A bit of swampy forest near Sebago Lake last December. That patch of ground was completely dry in this summer’s drought conditions.
Fall color and early morning mist at the Readfield Town Beach on Maranacook Lake.
Three bridges over the Kennebec in Augusta.
I would say the deer are visitors, but I’m pretty sure they think the place is theirs.
Baud
Especially beautiful because LePage got his ass kicked.
OzarkHillbilly
It is theirs, they just tolerate you.
Anyway
Lovely pics, as usual. Enjoyed this set a lot. “Golden hour” is aptly named …
JPL
What lovely photos.
Torrey
Wonderful pictures. I keep thinking how great it would be to have a calendar with your pictures. I’ve probably missed some backstory, but have you taken photography classes or have you just been taking pictures long enough to know what works? (“Just”–ha! As if practice and experience are simple matters.)
Anyway, thank you for these.
pieceofpeace
Soothing area for taking in its peaceful appearance, including Augusta shots. Thanks!
Denali
So nice to see your lovely photos. I am sorry to see BJ going along with the rest of the media and posting photos of TFG’s announcement. Why isn’t he is jail already. Does he really make that much money for the media? Rant over.
Steve from Mendocino
I’ve always loved that shot of downtown Augusta, but you know that. The geometry of the reds spinning off from the green of the video game door is a delight. The past two years of editing your photos has brought me pleasure that I haven’t had since art school. Thank you so much for putting up with me.
Yutsano
I should make it a point to go back to New England sometime soon. I could try for a long weekend in the fall (maybe Canadian Thanksgiving) and rent a car and just cruise around. Or maybe pop into the big service centre in Andover and see what that’s like. The lush is so wonderful!
JanieM
@Baud: And there was rejoicing….
@Torrey: Thanks, and if I ever put together a calendar, you’ll hear about it here. I’ve enjoyed taking pictures for a long time, but I didn’t get serious until Steve from Mendocino waved at me here at OTR almost exactly two years ago, and took my photography education in hand. And not only my education — I take the pics, he does the post-processing, so the pictures are a team effort.
@Steve from Mendocino: If there’s any “putting up with,” it’s mutual. Mostly we have fun, so thanks back atcha.
UncleEbeneezer
That pic with the trees by the pond is probably me my fave but they are all great. Love the downtown Augusta shots too. Though I grew up just down the road in Topsfield, MA, we never explored ME very much besides the occasional trip to Kittery, and my very long college-age trek up to Limestone for a Phish festival (it was a blast but SO FAR!!). Hopefully when we move back East we will be able to get to Acadia NP and Maine in general.
JanieM
@UncleEbeneezer: “it was a blast but SO FAR!!” — lol. Yes, for a New England state Maine is big. I feel like I live pretty far north (3 hours north of Boston), but there are another five hours of driving north of me to get to the Madawaska/Fort Kent area. When I was in grad school, the job board had perpetual notices about jobs at UMaine-Fort Kent and U of ND at Grand Forks. Now I have a better idea why.
If you get to Maine and want to call for a meet-up, I’d love to get together.
Skepticat
I’m about to move from the coast to farther inland, lake country. Not that I ever forgot, but driving around southern Maine hunting for a new home reminded me over and over how beautiful my home state is.
munira
Love the misty colors and the water reflections. The deer here think they’re pets. They don’t even run when they see me.
C Stars
Intensely lovely, just what I needed this morning. Thank you.
Also, I only see two bridges!
JanieM
@C Stars: I was wondering if anyone would comment on the bridges! Thanks for noticing. :-)
The nearest bridge is pretty clear. The second bridge is the old railroad bridge behind it — dark rusty metal. The third bridge is the furthest away and the newest — you can see two of the supports, whitish in color, mixed in with the railroad bridge supports, and the thin line of white that crosses the cross-hatches of the railroad bridge in the center of the picture is the surface of that third bridge
ETA: The Memorial Bridge in #6 is behind me as I’m taking the picture of the other 3.
C Stars
@JanieM: Ohhh, now I see it. And, looking closer, I also see the reflections of all the bridges in the water. So perhaps there are six bridges!!
stinger
Lovely lovely lovely. My niece has just moved from what I’ve thought of (since visiting her there) as the most beautiful state, Virginia, to what I think of (since looking at your OTR photos) as the second most beautiful state! I hope I get to visit her *there* some day.
TKH
That Readfield image brings back memories of canoe trips in Northern Ontario in late September/early October. So great to quietly glide across a lake with fog all round and then the bank withe the colorful leaves appearing. A great time in my life. Thanks!
Tehanu
Great photos, thanks for sharing them with us.