2017 Retrospective 2

Portland Head and ram Island Lighhouses

Christmas Day 2017, Grayson, Abby and Susan

Visiting the photographic highlights of 2017 is lovely way to get through the cold dark months of winter.  It is also a ready source of blog material as I’m preoccupied with my current Introduction to Lightroom course and trying to prepare for this spring’s Introduction to digital Photography course, and the Spring Waterfall Workshop (tentatively scheduled for May 18-20).  With that necessary apology, here are five more adventures from 2017, a year made possible in no small part by my fully-function artificial left hip.

Porcupine Falls

Porcupine Falls

I thought I had the region thoroughly covered, and so it was exciting, and a little annoying, when, this year, I discovered a new waterfall to explore.

Porcupine Falls is part of the 355 acre John and Rosemarie Calhoun Family Forest in Gilsum New Hampshire.  The forest is now managed by the Monadnock Conservancy and is a peaceful woodland with a well maintained trail leading to the interesting chutes and cascades of Porcupine Falls.  

The site includes a sturdy wood bridge which spans White Brook just below the falls and above a lovely pool.  

Porcupine Falls is a beautiful and easily accessible addition to my growing list of my regions waterfalls.

Conservation Photography

California Brook Clean-Up

The Monadnock Conservancy is a strong local advocate for conservation.  As a land trust, the Conservancy “works with communities and landowners to conserve the natural resources, wild and working lands, rural character and scenic beauty of the Monadnock region”.  This year the conservancy staff and board ask me to give a presentation about conservation photography.  Sitting around my dining room table, we discussed how photography can help celebrate the special natural beauty of

Friedsam Town Forest 

our region and to illustrate the important the work that is done by the conservancy and other conservation organizations to protect these priceless resources for generations to come.  We also covered a broad range of their general questions about photographic techniques and best practices for the recording, storing, archiving, transmitting and printing of digital images.  This coming year I plan to dedicate my 2019 New England Reflections Calendar to support the work of the Monadnock Conservancy.

Shows

Prime Roast, Keene NH

“Show the Work” has always been my moto and goal to promote my photography, especially throughout my home region.  Again in 2017, I have taken every opportunity to display my photography in a range of venues, from galleries and windows along the street, to restaurant, cafes and the walls of local businesses.  Where-ever there is an open wall, my pictures have been visible.

Bellows Walpole Inn

Art in the Park

Showing the Work and then Some

• Bellows Walpole Inn
• Brewbaker’s Café
• Art in the Park
• Keene Art Walk
• Keene Family YMCA
• Syd’s Carpet and Snooze Room
• Prime Roast Café

Savings Bank of Walpole

In addition to periodic shows my work continues to be visible as permanent instillations in various businesses around town.  My favorite remains the SavingsBank of Walpole which has chosen to use my images to highlight their focus on the local community

Six Lighthouses of Portland

Portland Head Lighthouse

Portland Maine is famous for the magnificent Portland Head Lighthouse.  Built in upon the orders of President George Washington, it was completed in 1791 and is widely considered to be the most beautiful lighthouse on the Maine coast.    For me, Portland Head light is a must visit anytime I get to the area, but it is not the only lighthouse guarding Portland’s rocky coast.

Spring Point Ledge Light

There are five other lighthouses ranging from the isolated and abandoned Rear Range Tower of the Twin Lights, to little Bog Light at the head of the channel to Portland Harbor.

Bug Light

On a trip to the Maine coast this summer, I decided to spend an afternoon cruising the seven miles of coastline, south to north, visiting each of the six lighthouses.  Some like the Twin Lights are not easily approachable, but five of the six are still operational. It was a great exploration and all the details, including the and GPS locations are detailed in my New Hampshire Photography Guild article, and my Getting it Right in the Digital Camera supplemental blog.

Ram Island Light

Holiday Lights

Radio City Bulbs

The End of the year always provide the opportunity to rediscover the magical beauty of holiday lights.  This year I was called on to refocus my attention on the opportunities and challenges of night photography when I was asked to discuss these topics for the South Shore Camera Club in Quincy Massachusetts.  Given the time of year the group was particularly interested in the technical aspects of capturing holiday lighting.  It was a great excuse to get out and shoot, especially in late November, when I was visiting my son Jeremy in New York City, and had the chance to photograph the amazing illuminations.  

Central Square Keene

Closer to home, this year’s Christmas tree in Keene’s Central Square was one of the fullest in many years.  The tree was missing its peak, but otherwise I was able to capture a perfect “Winter Wonderland” image of the square.

• Photography of Holiday Lights
• Pictures of the Holidays

I’m having such a great time reviewing my 2017 highlights I will continue this self-indulgent exercise for at least one week longer.  There are more adventures to review and, of course, I haven’t even mentioned our amazing family trip to Italy!

Jeff Newcomer, NEPG

www.partridgebrookreflections.com
603-363-8338

Portland’s Six Lighthouses : A Gallery

Portland Head Light

Portland Maine has six Lighthouses protecting its rocky coast.  This week, in a blog article for the New England Photography Guild, I highlighted each of these beacons.  Radar and GPS have revolutionized the process of coastal navigation, but, especially for smaller craft, they have not replaced the importance of Lighthouses in lighting the way to safe harbors.  Photographically, New England’s lights are one of my favorite subjects whenever I get back to the coast.

Check out my Guild article for details about each of Portland’s six Lighthouses.  They range from the isolated and abandoned Rear Range Tower of the Twin Lights, to the majestic Portland Head light, arguably the most impressive example of New England’s coastal beacons.  Here, To supplement my article, I have collected a few more of the many images of these lighthouses that I have captured over the years.

You can check out the locations on my map and follow the GPS locations.  I decided to tour the lighthouses from south to north starting with the most challenging ones to approach, the Twin Lights.

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1-2)  Twin Lights, Cape Elizabeth

43.5643N, 70.1989

Only one of the two Twin Lights is still functioning and both are on private property.  Both were built around 1828.  In 1924, the government dismantled the West (Rear Range) Tower.  It is closed off and now is a private residence.  The other light is closer to the shore and, although it is still operating, it can’t be closely approached.  

Rear Range Tower - Inactive

East Tower - Active

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3) Portland Head Lighthouse, Cape Elizabeth

43.6232N, 70.2079W

The Portland Head Lighthouse was commissioned by President George Washington and completed in 1791. It is the oldest lighthouse in Maine.  Sitting heroically on a rocky point extending toward Portland’s main shipping channel, it is easy to see why it is the most photographed lighthouse in New England.

Obviously, it is one of my most photographed Lighthouses.

 

 

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4) Ram Island Light

43.6314N, 70.1876W

Across the entrance to Portland Harbor from Cape Elizabeth and Portland Head Light, is Ram Island Lighthouse.  Built in 1905, It sits precariously on a ledge that threatens the northern side of the harbor channel.  The lighthouse can be photographed from Fort Williams Park with dramatic images often including Portland Head Light in the frame.

Distant Ram Island Light

 

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 5) Spring Point Ledge Light

43.6499N, 70.2255W

Located next to the Campus of Southern Maine Community College, Spring Point Ledge Light was built in 1897 to mark a dangerous Ledge which lies to the west of Portland’s main shipping channel.  Originally built on a caisson in open water, in 1951, the lighthouse was attached to the mainland with a 600 foot granite breakwater and can be viewed from the beach or breakwater.  

 

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6) Bug Light

43.6556N, 70.2349W

Little Portland Breakwater Light, which is also called “Bug Light”, was built in 1875 to mark the entrance to Portland Harbor. Bug Light Park includes a memorial to the New England Shipbuilding Corp shipyard.  During WW II, the massive yard constructed over 200 of the Liberty Ships that were so crucial in transporting American industrial output across the Atlantic.  Now, all that is left is a skeletonized bow,  representing one of the ships.

 

 

 

Liberty Ship Memorial

• Portland's Six Lighthouses
  (New England Photography Guild Article)

Jeffrey Newcomer

www.partridgebrookreflections.com

603-363-8338