NH Coast & Fuji X100V — Coasting Toward Blue

I fell in love with New Hampshire’s coastline 30 years ago, when I attended college in nearby Durham. A few years later, I was thrilled to begin my career and adult life teaching and living within walking distance of the beach. I eventually moved inland, only to move back a few years later—and then back inland once again. But my love for the coast draws me back again and again.

So when the opportunity to get out with my best friend and our cameras on a cold and overcast March day, we both immediately opted for the coast, knowing we’d enjoy the drive and find inspiration there. While I took both a film camera and my digital Fuji X100V, I opted to use only the X100V and, to add another constraint, shoot only in black in white (film simulation: Acros + Y). Our adventure began at Odiorne Point State Park in Rye, included a stop at Rye Harbor State Park, and then ended at North Beach in Hampton, where I captured the fish houses that I never tire of photographing.

Perhaps my favorite image of the day is one I didn’t take. With the wind whipping and the cold settling into my body within seconds, I instinctively grabbed my hood and pulled it up. Too cold to harness the the strands of hair going this way and that—my “octopus hair”—I was more concerned about blocking the wind. And in that moment, my friend captured what is now one of my favorite portraits—bright eyes, wide smile, wild hair: yup, that about sums me up.

And while I do love of a few of the images I made that day, I love them more because of the day itself—each image recalls a piece of conversation, a shared laugh, a memory of a day very well spent. That’s the power of a photograph—to capture a moment and make it live forever.