Foggy Morning on Casco Bay / December 6, 2016 by Todd Henson

Black and white image of lone sailboat anchored before island in the fog on Casco Bay. Portland, Maine. — A black and white image of a lone sailboat anchored before an island in the fog on Casco Bay, Portland, Maine.

This image, of a lone sailboat in the fog, is one of my favorite views from the train ride on the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad along the Eastern Promenade in Portland, Maine. The morning was very foggy and misty, with brief periods of light rain. Many of the views of the bay were obscured, but I felt the fog added a beautiful sense of peaceful serenity, of calm. I captured some views with large numbers of sailboats anchored on the bay, but I was most drawn to this single boat with the island in the background.

Converting the image to black & white seemed an obvious choice given how little color there was in the scene. I was inspired by Michael Kenna in my post-processing decisions. I wanted to draw attention to the lone sailboat so I increased contrast around the boat by raising the intensity of both blacks and whites. I lightened the horizontal band around the horizon just a touch to draw the eye to that portion of the image. I darkened the island slightly to help it stand out just a bit. And I added graduated filters to both the top and bottom of the image to create darker edges that lightened as they approached the boat, again, drawing the eye more towards that region, and accentuating the patterns in the waves and clouds.

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Ghost Ship of Fort Gorges / November 29, 2016 by Todd Henson

This week I share a single photograph I created in Portland, Maine, from Fort Allen Park. It was a very foggy day. My father and I had just visited the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum, riding the train along the coastline looking out at Casco Bay. We’d seen Fort Gorges appear and disappear in the fog. We’d seen ships docked in the bay, and ships moving through the fog from one ghostly location to another.

We hadn’t necessarily planned to visit Fort Allen Park, and really just happened by it on our way out of town. But when driving by I saw views of Fort Gorges in the fog and thought it might make a nice image. So we turned around and found a place to park and watch the continuously changing scene, a faint drizzle, like the fog, moving in and out.

The fog around Fort Gorges cleared slightly, making it easier to see its walls, trees and bushes growing along the top, a flag pole at the end of the dock, and the openings in the wall to the right where some of the 34 10-inch Rodman guns would have been mounted, facing out into Casco Bay. Smaller window slits can be seen on the wall to the left of the flag pole, on the back side of the fort, along with the entrance at the center of this wall.

A new heavy bank of fog began rolling in from Casco Bay to the right of Fort Gorges, and with it, almost seeming to pull it along, was a lone sailboat, my Ghost Ship of Fort Gorges. It moved slowly into the scene, pulling the fog with it, this ghostly apparition sailing by the old ghost of a fort, a fort where no battles were fought and no soldiers were stationed, obsolete before it could ever be used. A ghost ship for a ghost fort. Ghost Ship of Fort Gorges.

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Coyote Looking Over Shoulder - The Story Behind the Image / August 30, 2016 by Todd Henson

Coyote in a field looking back over its shoulder

Coyote are far more widespread and abundant than we might think. They are sly creatures, able to stay mostly out of view and under our radars, even while living almost next door. I have only rarely seen them and only in one wildlife refuge.

I had spent the afternoon hiking the refuge and photographing anything I could find. It was nearing closing time of the refuge so I started picking up my pace. It’s difficult to photograph here in the afternoon knowing there’s a fixed time when the gates close and I need to be out. If I find something interesting to photograph I want to stay as long as the opportunity holds. But when visiting in the late afternoon I always have to temper my enthusiasm enough to keep moving towards the exit.

Coyote at the end of the trail, watching me

To reach the parking lot I needed to hike along a service road that splits a large field. The refuge personnel had recently mowed this field, so it was easy to spot any sizable creatures hanging out in the field. I didn’t notice anything until I was close to the end of the field where I noticed a coyote standing at the end of the road in front of me.

Up to this point every coyote I had seen had quickly trotted to cover when it realized I’d noticed it. Quite likely, some had seen me and disappeared before I ever noticed them. But this coyote was different. When it noticed me, it trotted out into the field to my left. Perhaps that’s what they always did but I never noticed because the field wasn’t mowed at those times. Eventually it turned and began walking parallel to me but in the opposite direction, limping, as it appeared to have injured a leg. When it was finally perpendicular to me it stopped and turned back the way it came, the direction I was going.

Coyote watching me from the edge of the field

Coyote limping, notice the reddish patch on its rear leg

I didn’t capture a large number of photos since time was short, but I did capture some. In one image the coyote is paralleling me with it’s head forward and its tail raised. In another it stopped and looked directly at me, sniffing, perhaps as curious about me as I was of it. I was watching its behavior closely, in case it began moving towards me, but it never did.

Coyote walking parallel to me, tail straight out

Curious Coyote, watching me and sniffing

The final image is my favorite. The coyote is standing still looking over its shoulder back behind it. I like that pose. It prompts me, and hopefully the viewer, to wonder what the coyote was looking at. Was it looking for prey? Had it just heard a noise, perhaps a motor boat along the river? I’ve no idea, but I’m glad I captured an image that leaves me wondering and thinking. And I’m also thankful I had this opportunity to photograph a coyote. Perhaps I’ll have other opportunities in the future.