2021 Photos of the Year: Photographers' Choice - Portland Press Herald - Press Herald

bentangos.blogspot.com

Photo by Derek Davis

Basketball official Eric McLain stretches in front of a crowd of cardboard cutouts before the start of a game at Scarborough High School on February 19.

I was not at Scarborough High School to make this image. I was there to cover a game and get action photos, but when opportunities present themselves we have to seize the moment. I expected an action shot would run in the paper, and was surprised to see this one instead. I am sure people reacted to it in different ways. For some, it may have been a sad reminder of the times, while others may have been angered that fans could not attend. Hopefully, most saw the humor. It was probably the only time the team got to play in front of their four-legged companions.

Photo by Ben McCanna

A couple peruse the events schedule at the Ossipee Valley Fair in Hiram on July 8.

Of all the photos I shot in 2021, this is by far my favorite. But it also represents one of my biggest mistakes of the year – I didn’t ask for their names. I initially shot it with a 35 mm lens, but decided it was too wide. I switched to my other camera, mounted with a 50 mm lens on a crop sensor, and took another shot. But that was too tight. By then, the gentleman was aware of my presence, the moment was over and I thought I had missed it. But when I returned to my car and started looking through my photos, this one stood out. In a panic, I searched the fairgrounds for them, but they were gone. I never learned their names, where they live or if they’re married. They look like they have stories to tell, and I dearly wish I’d heard them.

Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette

Amateur astronomers gather at the Eastern Prom in Portland shortly before sunrise on June 10 to watch the first solar eclipse of 2021. It was a partial eclipse, the moon appearing to take a bite out of the sun.

I got up extra early, photographed astronomers peering through telescopes and made photos of the eclipse itself. But I got my favorite image when I stepped away and photographed the silhouettes of the people waiting and watching as the sky began to lighten up.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

South Portland’s Anthony Nixon jumps into a crowd of students celebrating the team’s win over Thornton Academy in the Class A South championship baseball game on June 17.

This was one of my first sports assignments after being fully vaccinated. It was that strange time in June when we thought we might be seeing the light at the end of the COVID tunnel. Watching the kids have fun and celebrate as they would in a normal year was really lovely.

Photo by Gregory Rec

With a mix of snow and sleet starting to fall, a girl looks out the window of a house on Graham Street in Biddeford as carrier Matt Gauthier delivers the mail on April 16.

I love winter in Maine. Really. I learned years ago that to embrace winter, itÕs important to get outside and be active, whether skiing, skating or snowshoeing. That said, when it snows in April, it can be distressing even for winterÕs most ardent fans. I was in Biddeford when it started snowing heavily in April and saw a carrier delivering mail along Graham Street. As I photographed him, I saw this girl in the window of a duplex and quickly ran across the street as the carrier arrived. With her hands to her face, the girl seems to personify what many of us feel when it snows in April.

Photo by Derek Davis

Participants enter the water at East End Beach in Portland before making the 2.4-mile swim to Peaks Island during the 2021 Peak to Peaks Challenge on Aug. 19. Navy SEALs and others with military ties started at the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire at 5:30 a.m., ran 7.6 miles down the Auto Road, and then biked nearly 100 miles to Portland before entering the water. Participants raised more than $90,000 for Camp Sunshine, a retreat for families of children with life-threatening illnesses.

This is an important event that can be challenging to photograph. Even on a nice day, there are no spectators, no kayakers with colorful balloons, just a group of focused athletes with a goal. It was raining hard and I was soaked as participants headed for the beach. I kicked off my shoes and waded in ahead of them, thinking I would see their faces as I captured them entering the water. To my surprise, they all turned and started walking in backward. “Huh? That’s odd,” I thought. Then I realized they had to enter that way because they were wearing flippers. I quickly moved behind them and it made for a much more interesting image. Photographer’s luck!

Photo by Ben McCanna

A snowy owl flies over the Drakes Island neighborhood in Wells on June 16. Snowy owls are common to the area in winter, but rare at this time of year.

I first developed a passion for photography when I was 36. I was a reporter at a newspaper in Colorado, and my boss asked me to shoot photos when our staff photographer quit and the publisher decided not to hire a replacement. At first I was furious. I was bad at photography and wanted to focus on writing. My mom was ill with cancer at the time, and it was stressful and sad because I knew she was dying. I began to realize, however, that every time I lifted the camera to my eye and truly concentrated on the work, the stress and sadness would melt away. It was therapy. I began to crave photo assignments as a means of escape, and that feeling endures more than 10 years later. For this photo, I stood on a beach for two hours, peering through a viewfinder and waiting for a perched owl to take flight. It was bliss.

Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette

Artists and activists gather in Portland on May 25 to mark the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. They are watching a projection by artist Dianne Smith with Indigo Arts Alliance called “Black is Beautiful,” displayed on a building on Congress Street.

I was covering an event on Congress Street in Portland, where about 200 people were marking the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. I photographed several performances, but didn’t have a solid page one photo. With my deadline approaching, my editor allowed me to stay later than we’d planned. The organizers had saved this projection for the end of the event, when the sky had darkened just enough to show the projection. I liked the way the light on the viewer’s hat and the dark blue sky framed the striking images projected on the building.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Carrigain Rowan, 13, and her mother, Erin Rowan, at home in Scarborough on May 20. Carrigain and her mother have been advocating for removal of the book “Freak the Mighty” from the 7th grade curriculum over concerns about how it portrays people with disabilities.

I really loved this portrait when I took it. At first, Carrigain wasn’t sure she wanted to be in a photo and we didn’t push her. Eventually, after chatting for a bit, she sat down next to her mother and this tender moment happened for a spilt second.

Photo by Gregory Rec

Skiffs are tied to a dock in Cape Porpoise Harbor shortly after sunrise on Jan. 15.

I think Cape Porpoise Harbor is one of the most picturesque working harbors on the southern Maine coast. Because I live about seven miles away, I often find myself there when I know the light will be interesting or when lobstermen are either headed out or returning from a day of fishing. Over the years, I have photographed skiffs at this dock from numerous angles, but I like this straight-down view the best. I’m drawn to the repeating shapes of the skiffs and their jumbled pattern in relation to the dock, caused by the ever-changing tide.

Photo by Derek Davis

Dots, a two-year-old springer spaniel, busts out of the long grass while training with his owner, Mike Nolan, at Wildwind Kennels in Knox on Nov. 10. The pair and other teams were training for the National Field Trial Championships.

This was a fun assignment for an Outdoors story, but it was challenging to photograph the dogs in action because they were racing around in the long grass searching for birds. I followed the handlers, trying to stay out of the way. I got a sense that Dots was approaching and decided to focus on the grass in this particular spot, with my finger on the shutter button. Suddenly, a rustle in the grass, a flash of white, and out burst Dots.

Photo by Ben McCanna

Jacob Cowley smiles broadly as he wipes out in choppy, windy conditions at Higgins Beach in Scarborough on May 28. Cowley, who moved to Portland recently, said this was his third time surfing.

This isn’t a particularly sophisticated image. It wasn’t difficult to shoot. It wonÕt win any prizes. But there’s something about Jacob Cowley’s expression that makes this one of my favorite photos of 2021. There he is, a surfing beginner, wiping out on a small wave. Instead of exuding frustration, however, he is beaming with joy. I like to think of this as a metaphor for life: When you’re doing something you love, it’s OK to enjoy small failures.

Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette

The Scarborough High bench reacts as the softball team scores eight runs against South Portland in the bottom of the fifth inning on May 18.

Scarborough was down three runs late when they began their rally. I had plenty of action photos at this point, so I focused on the bench during a big inning when they scored eight runs to defeat South Portland. I had several frames showing one or two players really getting into the game, but in this frame, everyone was reacting. The thing I love most about high school sports is the raw emotion of the young athletes. They play for the love of the game, for their community – your teammates are the friends and neighbors you grew up with. That’s something you don’t see in college or professional sports.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Old Orchard Beach students dance to the cupid shuffle outdoors during the prom at River Wind Farm in Saco on May 15.

Unsurprising to see another prom photo from me, I suppose! I liked this one because it differs from the other prom photos I’ve taken in my five years at the paper. The dancing took place outside as a COVID precaution, so I was able to back up farther than I would indoors. I think the Old Orchard Beach kids were thrilled to have any kind of prom, and I’m glad they let me document another tradition that looks different in the era of coronavirus.

Photo by Gregory Rec

Bryce Barnes walks up a ski trail under the spray of a snowmaking gun at Sunday River in Newry on January 28. After getting the guns running, snowmakers walk through the spray to make sure the mix of water and air is creating perfect snow crystals.

I wanted to photograph an essay on snowmakers at Sunday River, which is well known for its robust snowmaking operation, for years and was finally able to make it happen in late January. When we agreed on a date, I had no idea that it would be on a night with a full moon. At the start of their shift, which is 7 p.m. for the night crew, the moon was hidden behind a thick cloud cover. When the clouds started breaking up about three hours later, the light from the moon really changed the look of the photos I was capturing. It gave definition to the sky and was bright enough to light up the slopes. I gained a deep appreciation for snowmakers on that cold January night. They work in frigid temperatures and constantly battle stuck valves or clogged nozzles, which often require the dexterity of ungloved hands. The next time you get off the lift and are enjoying some fresh-groomed corduroy, take a second to give thanks to the hard-working snowmakers that helped make it possible.

Join our photographers on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at 6:30 p.m. for a virtual conversation about the Press Herald’s Photos Of the Year. Register here.

To buy a print of these photos, go here. Or to browse other photos available for purchase, go to our photo store.

Invalid username/password.

Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

« Previous

2021 Photos Of the Year: A Pandemic Story

Our 2021 Press Herald Photos Of the Year