Wednesday, May 8, 2024

To Maine with a Leica

 Louise picking up shells at Pine Point.

 In 1982 I had just landed the largest contract of my still-young career -- a project to create 25 employee training films for Krystal, the well-known hamburger restaurant chain.

Flush with a down payment on the work, I treated myself to a used but very clean Leica M3 and Louise and I planned a long-awaited vacation.

I borrowed a second Leica, a beat-up but functional M3, from the guy from whom I bought my photo supplies, picked up second-hand 35mm and 90mm lenses, and bought many rolls of Kodachrome 64 film from the photo-supplies man.

Lobster pots on the dock at New Harbor.

I was in the first throes of my love affair with Leica, and determined that this would be an all-Leica trip. The Olympus OM SLRs were left at home, languishing on the shelf. We loaded up our Mercedes 240D, hitched it to our Starcraft popup camper, and headed for Maine with our 14-year-old son.

The lighthouse at Pemaquid Point.

It was a great trip. The weather was perfect for camping, and I fell in love with Maine, a feeling that lasted for many years. We were especially enchanted with the village of Kennebunkport. It was in a little bookstore on the town square that I first discovered the photography and books of B.A. King, a Leica user and the man I consider to have been the greatest unknown American photographer. Sadly, he passed away a few years ago, but his influence on my photography continues to this day. Read more about him here.

Ye Olde Forte Cabins. (I think this was near Kennebunkport.)

To be continued. All photos made with Leica M3 cameras, Kodachrome 64 film.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     travel    Maine      Kennebunkport     Leica M3 cameras     Olympus OM cameras     Kodachrome film     B.A. King

4 comments:

  1. Dave, I really like lighthouse and seashore photos and yours are wonderful. Wife and I took the eastern Lake Michigan lighthouse tour last fall, I would like to live there in season of course!😃

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    1. Thank you, Greg. I don't think my Maine photos are all that wonderful, as I'll detail in my next post. Which unfortunately, did not go up today because I've been sick. I'm better now and will post again Monday.
      I haven't had the opportunity to see the Lake Michigan lighthouses. Haven't seen all of the Maine ones for that matter.

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  2. Thanks for post and images, Dave - the color alone evokes memories from those times!
    I would be interested to follow up B.A.King, but unfortunately the link does not work.

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  3. Those are some clean colors, aren't they, Marcus. My goal with my digital photographs is to have them look as much as possible like my slides.
    B.A. King passed away in 2017. His wife and long-time assistant Regina Zanetti finally closed down the web site in about 2022. King published many books, but never got the acclaim I think he deserved. My favorites are "My Maine Thing" and "This Proud Place." You probably won't find them in Korean bookstores, but abebooks.com has them both. Unfortunately, they aren't cheap

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