In this space, many times over the years, I have mentioned some of my favorite places to visit and revisit. Well, Sheepscot is one of those places.
Twenty-five or so years ago while doing some promotional work for AGFA, I met an outstanding salesperson, photographer and ex-employee of Fuji, a company well known in the film and camera world. We chatted and visited and kept in touch. Fuji made a camera that I always wanted to try out (back in the film days) called a GX617. It was a medium format panoramic hulk of a thing that used roll film and cut a negative that was/is two and a quarter inches by almost seven inches – a beautiful thing, especially when viewing transparency (slide) film.
Anyway, I had a private customer request for a panoramic view and this camera would be just the ticket so I called my ex-Fuji buddy and asked if he could help me “mooch” the “GX” for a couple weeks. He had some serious connections at Fuji and arranged for me to “borrow” the camera. I did the private job quickly then had the camera for almost two weeks of adventure.
During that time I made a black and white panoramic image at Ocean Point which became a triptych display on the back wall of Boothbay Region High School theatre auditorium. And far as I know it is still there but the last time I visited it had been autographed by some of the resident students. One of the other images I made was from the exact same spot as this week’s adventure photo in Sheepscot. Something about this view conjured my sense of Zen, drawing me back year after year. This year was no exception. Only this time I made the visit with one of my electronic cameras from the exact same location of years ago with the Fuji equipment.
It’s a wonderful spot and especially interesting to see during various tides as the flats are exposed during low tide and then rising water brushes the shore moving the grasses gently with the wind. There’s a little boardwalk out near the road that is just the same as it was back when I made the big panoramic photo. The view out across is pretty much the same with maybe an updated building or two. The King’s Highway is not far off but on the other side of the road and back up off the water.
Enjoy a pleasant cruise if you have some spare time. Quiet and nice.