Bike Week, Father’s Day, and Good Vibes
The Story of Covered Bridges
Introduction:
My goal every week, since this is now, frankly, my full-time job, is to get out and photograph the New England covered bridges. With a self-imposed one-year limit to shoot all 160 I have on my list, I have to make the absolute most of every single weekend. Even with this past weekend being Father’s Day, I still needed to get out with a camera in hand.
Thankfully, my family is not an early-rising group. I was able to slip out at dawn without causing a fuss, knowing I’d still make it home in plenty of time to enjoy the holiday with them.
The Journey:
Despite living in New Hampshire for nearly 50 years now, I completely forgot to check one key regional element: Bike Week. I was loudly reminded of this fact as I drew closer to my first stop, the Tannery Covered Bridge, and kept passing road signs warning drivers to watch for motorcycles.
I usually take my truck on these scouting trips because I never know where I’ll need to park or what random dirt road I’ll end up down. In the past, I’ve had to park in deep mud patches that made me wonder if the truck would be swallowed whole. But for this trip into the Lakes Region, I decided it felt fitting to cruise around in my SUV instead. It’s a bit better suited to paved roads and would allow me to open the moonroof to enjoy the beautiful morning weather.
Although the photographs I captured felt a bit lackluster when I finally reviewed them at home, it was simply a good day to be out. At all four covered bridges I visited, I had wonderful, brief interactions with people out walking their dogs, or just friendly chats through the open window with drivers waiting for traffic to clear on the single-lane bridges. With all the time we spend reading about the general nonsense in the world today, it is incredibly refreshing to get out and be reminded of how good it feels to just enjoy life.
Eventually, the weather shifted, and rain began to fall while I was photographing the Blair Covered Bridge. It didn’t dampen my mood, though. The rain settled in for the remainder of the trip, forcing the moonroof and windows firmly shut, but that didn’t stop me from blasting a bit of Tom Petty on the drive home. I headed back happy, looking forward to spending a few precious hours with my wife and daughter, time I don’t get as often as I’d like these days.
The Triptych - Squam River Bridge: Happy Saturday
As part of my weekly culling process, I always build a digital triptych (a three-panel image layout) for every bridge I photograph. This exercise forces me to see any compositional issues firsthand and ensures I capture the true spirit of the location.
This week was tough. I didn’t leave the field feeling a strong sense of, “Oh yeah, that’s the definitive shot.” But back at my desk, with a little tweaking of the layout, I settled on the Squam River Covered Bridge. The anchor of the piece is the center panel, which features a memorial cross and a bench inscribed with “Happy Saturday!” If you take the time to research it, you’ll learn about a tragic local event that I won’t dive into here. From a purely photographic standpoint, however, it made for a powerful visual anchor.
Using that emotional center panel as my anchor, I worked to surround it with other components that convey what a peaceful, happy Saturday looks like. On one side, I framed the sandy beach with its raised platform and the lake stretching out into the background. On the other side, I worked hard to capture the local boating dock. I tried getting a few shots of boats passing directly through the bridge framework, but the angles just didn’t cooperate. In the end, I hope I did the location justice and captured the feeling of a quiet weekend morning.
If you want more, please read the full field journal to explore my behind-the-scenes lens notes, discover the bridge’s conflicting history, and view the complete high-resolution triptych on the official site.