This collection of photographs, created in 2019 by Portland Press Herald photographers, are some of our best. They represent a cross section of Maine and, more specifically, its people: a homeless teen in Biddeford, an elderly boxer fighting Parkinson’s disease, a high school athlete claiming victory, a group of supporters celebrating a new mayor. Take a long look at the faces. Read the words of the photographers who captured the scenes. Enjoy these truly Maine moments.
Photographers are hesitant to admit it, but luck plays a big role in our daily work. It was nearing sunset when my editor called with an assignment. Her voice was doubtful. She needed me to check out the seemingly improbable reports of an “ice disk” rotating on the Presumpscot River in Westbrook. I’ll try, I said, but I expected to be delayed by the afternoon commute and it was getting dark fast. As luck would have it, traffic was light and when I arrived, I was surprised to see the tipsters were right. The angle was too low to get a decent view of the disk, but, as luck would have it, I noticed a parking garage on the other side of the river. I arrived there just a few minutes after sunset, enabling me to capture a long-exposure image to give the photo sense of motion – something that wouldn’t have been possible in broad daylight. As luck would have it, the light was so perfect, I was able to set the ISO to achieve the crispest image possible (ISO 50) and set the aperture to achieve nearly the greatest depth of field possible (f18). These lighting conditions lasted for a few scant minutes.
When a family member reached out about Mary and Millie’s 100th birthday celebration, I immediately volunteered to photograph their party. The twins immigrated from Italy to Portland with their parents in 1929 and it was so much fun to watch them look through old photos and talk about the past. Amelia "Millie" Pizzo Lane passed away on Nov. 27. I’m so happy I was there to document their last birthday together.
This isn’t the photo I was looking for when I got down low to frame the angler with his gear in the foreground. I was shooting him tending his traps, peering through the hole in the ice, when I noticed a dog running over and quickly adjusted the shot to accommodate the additional subject. I find the spontaneity and energy of dogs, especially when they interact with people, can elevate ordinary photos. This dog gave me a more dynamic composition and reminded me of why I enjoy photographing man’s best friend.
I was assigned to mayoral candidate Kate Snyder’s campaign party on election night when she became the first woman elected mayor of Portland. I was getting plenty of typical images of Snyder shaking hands and hugging supporters when one of them announced that current mayor Ethan Strimling had delivered a concession speech. This was Snyder’s reaction to that moment. There were high fives and her supporters were chanting “Kate, Kate, Kate!”
Reporter Gillian Graham and I had been looking to do a story on a high school marching band competition since 2018, but it wasn’t panning out. Then, she told me Biddeford was competing in the 2019 finals after not having a marching band at all for 10 years. We met the kids and band director at a practice, then came back on the day of the competition and followed them for the whole day.
On an early unseasonably warm March morning, my son’s babysitter arrived at my Peaks Island home full of excitement. The full moon was out, she said, casting a streak of reflected light across a calm, windless Casco Bay. “You have to take a picture,” she said. What set the morning apart, was the glassy stillness of the sea. There wasn’t a single ripple to mar the pure, straight reflection of white moonlight on blue water. Then a water taxi approached, slowly overtaking us and disrupting the otherworldly calm in its literal wake. I felt something akin to grief. My perfect moment was soon to be spoiled by roiling water and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I nearly walked away, but then noticed the moon’s reflection bending gently across the crests and troughs of disturbed water. “That’s different,” I thought, and rattled off some frames.
This portrait of Sam Campbell was part of a larger project on homeless students I worked on with reporter Gillian Graham. Sam was a senior at Biddeford High School at the time and one of more than 1,400 homeless Maine students. We followed Sam for a couple of months as he went from school in Biddeford to walking the streets of Portland searching for his next apartment. Despite Sam’s struggles, he was willing to share his story and let us tag along. Sam graduated from Biddeford High School in the spring. I chose to make this portrait at dusk to get a sense of night, but still have some available light to give the shadows detail.
When I first read the assignment about people with Parkinson’s taking boxing lessons to combat the degenerative disease, I was a bit perplexed. After five minutes at Coastal Fit in Cape Elizabeth, I understood. People in varying stages of the disease showed focus and dexterity as they did short, intense periods of boxing exercises. This photo of Susan Anderson punching a speed bag is one of my favorites. I love her determination and focus. Anderson said the program has helped her. "I’ve gotten better on my feet and it helps my core. You’ve got to get strong and stay strong. Dealing with Parkinson’s is like swimming against the current, but the current is moving faster than you are."
Late in the first half, as the sun set on the state’s first eight-man football game, I was able to capture this photo moments before Old Orchard Beach sacked the Telstar quarterback in the end zone. I spent the season photographing the Old Orchard Beach team, trying to see if eight-man football looked different than traditional 11-man football. But at the end of the day, it just looked like football, including in the weight room. I like the layers in this frame, with the athletes in the foreground and background all focused on their workouts.
Late in the first half, as the sun set on the state’s first eight-man football game, I was able to capture this photo moments before Old Orchard Beach sacked the Telstar quarterback in the end zone. I spent the season photographing the Old Orchard Beach team, trying to see if eight-man football looked different than traditional 11-man football. But at the end of the day, it just looked like football, including in the weight room. I like the layers in this frame, with the athletes in the foreground and background all focused on their workouts
Portraits are my favorite assignments. But that doesn’t make them easy. It often takes a full hour to make a good portrait. This surprises a lot of people. Many of them expect the immediacy of a cellphone shot. Instead, I show up on their doorstep like I’m moving in, laden with a camera bag, tripod, light stands and umbrellas. I tell people portraits are a three-step process. First, I walk around with one eye open to find the right background and composition. Next – the lengthiest step – I tinker with lights. And finally, I ask people to step into the frame. In this case, even though I arrived ready for an elaborate setup, the story changed my thinking. It was about how a family saves money on exorbitant Central Maine Power bills, so their single solar-powered bulb was the only light I needed.
I think Route 113 through Evans Notch in western Maine is one of the most scenic drives in the state. I often hike in the mountains around the notch so when I was asked to look for foliage photos, it was the first place that came to mind. I had photographed this farmhouse once before in early winter with snow covering the mountain behind it, so I wanted to see what it would look like at the height of foliage season. As I rounded the corner and the farmhouse came into view, I was stunned at the intensity of the colors.
On this day, my job was made easy by an expressive first-grader. A group of nurses was holding a vaccination clinic at South Portland’s Brown Elementary School and we needed a photo to accompany reporter Joe Lawlor’s data-driven article. I wasn’t expecting the assignment to be such a vicarious experience, but Lula stole the show. For adults who forget what it’s like to get a shot as a child, this photo brings it all rushing back.
“We need a feature!” Every photographer dreads hearing these words from their photo editor from time to time. I like cruising for feature photos, but when you have been doing this for close to three decades like I have, it can be hard to find something unique. On this gray October morning, I drove by one of our go-to spots at Higgins Beach in Scarborough. A lone surfer out on the water coaxed me from my car. After shooting a few frames of the surfer, this flock of sanderlings flew between me and the water. With my camera set on auto focus I was able to capture this image before the birds flew off to another part of the beach. I like the clean background and although it is a color image, the lack of color makes it feel like a black and white.
It is the moment we wait for. The final seconds of the final game. For the players, waiting to rush the field, and the photographers, waiting to capture the moment, the last seconds seem to tick away in slow motion. And then … an explosion of emotions. It happens fast, and can be over before you know where to point your camera, so you have to make quick decisions. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. It also helps to have a little luck, like when a player turns to look at the scoreboard while rushing to join his teammates.
I’ve photographed prom every year I’ve worked at the paper and I love the unchanging ritual of it all. Every year I choose a different school. This year, I photographed Oxford Hills’ prom at a beautiful summer camp on Long Lake. I was outside taking photos on the deck at dusk when I turned and saw LauraBeth Miller in her green dress. The blue tones of dusk were reflected in the window and I thought it looked beautiful. I had no idea if the photo would work, but I tried it, and this quiet moment is one of my favorite prom photos of the past three years.
I knew this assignment would be a good candidate for my fish tank rig. The setup is simple: I place my camera in the bottom of a $10 aquarium tank, putting the lens against the glass on one side, then I run a remote trigger cord up to the rim of the tank. I then push down on the tank, trying to keep the waterline in the middle of the lens so that it shows the scene both above and below. What I didn’t anticipate was the sheer number of alewives that would be coming up through the fishway.
Okay, this is a weird picture, but weird can be really great, right? Jackson Nalli and his buddies had just started trick-or-treating and were excitedly running from house to house. As you can imagine, Jackson’s costume wasn’t built for speed. It was magical watching him bound down the street hollering, “wait up guys!” I like the pop of color against the monochrome surroundings of a quiet street.
