Mark Llobrera

Maine 2025

Published in #family, #photography, #photos, #travel

The family and I spent our traditional early-summer week in Freeport, Maine. I’m glad I got up early the day after arrival to grab a sunrise photo, because the fog rolled in later in the week and didn’t leave.

A sunrise with a tree silhouetted against purple/pink clouds.
Sunrise near Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park

These were just test shots with our kids in the garden but we didn’t get light like this again:

Two sisters in a garden, backlit by the low evening sun.
Two sisters in a garden, backlit by the low evening sun.

Jordan and I ended up taking a few walks when it wasn’t raining, and we saw this lil’ friend hiding near a frog pond:

A deer peeks out from behind high reeds and tall grass.
Oh, hello
A small white building with the sign “Wolfe Neck Club”.
The “L” is still hanging on.

We had a good meal at Scales in downtown Portland.

Oyster bar.
A half dozen oysters on ice.

Also: a Red’s Eats lobster roll

A lobster roll.

A study in fog #

The big visual theme: fog. In past years we would often get some early in the morning and it would burn off during the day. This year it was more of a constant presence. It did make for some very dramatic photos, and I enjoyed using a Tri-X film simulation for many of these shots. I think I’ve found a good balance of film sims for my X100VI.

A small lighthouse at dusk.
Bug Light Park in South Portland. Shot using a modified Fuji Pro 400H film sim.

Two views of my favorite osprey tree. In the second you can see the fog revealing just a peek of the far coast.

Black and white photo of a tree silhouetted against dense fog on the water.
Black and white photo of a tree silhouetted against dense fog on the water. In the distance the coastline can barely be made out.
A small island pokes out from the water, surrounded by dense fog.
Symmetry

We spent one afternoon on the beach at Reid State Park. I messed up the white balance on the second shot but I kept it — it makes me think of the Fremen of Dune, waiting to snag a sandworm.

Young women in the surf with a backdrop of fog.
Four cousins stand in the very far distance, rendered in an orange cast.

After the beach we went for lobster at Five Islands Lobster Co. just a few miles down the road from Reid.

A seagull flows low over boats and islands shrouded in fog.
You have to trust that there are islands in the frame
A young woman in a rust-colored cardigan and jeans looks out on a foggy bay.
Em looking out on the water
Two trays with steamed lobsters.
Lobster lineup

Seaglass Hunting #

During low tide we’d walk down to the shore and pick seaglass, everyone trying to find the rarer blue/pink varieties.

Two women comb for seaglass on a coastline covered in yellow seaweed.
Goldenrod seaweed coastline
Seaglass chips arranged in a line.
Some early finds

Wrapping Up #

Em is a rising junior, so in our last few days we squeezed in a campus tour of Bowdoin College, where her aunts and uncles on Jordan’s side all went to school.

Two towers of Bowdoin Chapel, visible behind trees.
Bowdoin Chapel

Afterwards we stopped in at Maine Beer Company for pizza and to pick up some beer-infused mustard for home.

Entryway to Maine Beer Company.
A man tends to a pizza oven.
Sausage pizza.

The way home was marked by thunderstorms — by the time we drove through New York and New Jersey it was clear it was going to be a slog. Parts of the NJ Turnpike turned into a parking lot due to flooding, and we got off at one point to grab dinner and hope it would clear up. Total travel time: fifteen hours. (I was so thankful to my past self for building in a buffer vacation day before returning to work.)

More photos on Flickr.