I was UP THERE up there
Full Moon outside of The Bingham Motor Inn
The adventures continue. This past week I visited my 3rd and 4th islands of the year and drove way up north on Route 201, aka Moose Alley to shoot the smallest, most intimate wedding I've ever shot.
Friday I headed out to Peaks Island for a fun wedding. I've shot on Peaks many times but this was the first time this year. The venue, The Inn on Peaks, is one of the best. I always love shooting there.
I chilled out and edited that weekend then Monday made the drive up to the town of Caratunk, Maine. Being up there feels like you're as far north as you can go but if you look at it on a map you'll see that it's basically in the middle of Maine. There just isn't much else up there. It's 50 miles from the Canadian border, or at least one of the 24 border crossings in Maine.
The couple getting married hired me for proposal pictures exactly a year earlier and they had a crazy time trying to plan a wedding with a ton of family influence and pressure. Their solution was to hold a small Vietnamese tea ceremony for their family at home, then have an intimate ceremony in the woods. It was an honor to follow them on their journey through it all, even though they scrapped a plan to elope in Italy and to bring me along, lol.
There were only two guests, the groom's brother and and bride's best friend. We day was very casual. It was at Maine Lakeside Cabins and there was only one other cabin on the property that was rented a few hundred yard away. It was so quiet and peaceful. Route 201 ran by the property but only a handful of cars went by the entire day. Each time it was jarring. Sometimes the Maine woods freak me out but sometimes it's really nice.
After the wedding I drove 20 minutes south to Bingham to stay at The Bingham Motor Inn, one of the few hotels in the area. I didn't want to drive home that night, the road is called Moose Alley for a reason, even though everyone assured me that it's not moose season, I still didn't want to risk it.
The inn had pretty spotty reviews so I wasn't expecting much. Most reviews called it "dated," "no frills," and "smelly." There didn't seem to be any other guests and the office was in a house on a property separate from the inn. The lights were off and there was a sign on the door to call if you needed anything because no one was there even though I had a reservation. I called and the lady on the phone said she would be right there. It's so dark and quiet out there. It was pretty eerie. I waited for over 10 minutes and then a car comes screeching up out of nowhere. A lady in an oversized purple tie dye Kiss t-shirt got out and let me into the office.
The office was filled with what I would deem as TOO MUCH taxidermy. There was some on display, then the second half of the office had dozens of other pieces just piled up. I was starting to worry about the condition of my room.
After a lengthy check-in process, the woman complained about the new computer system and renovations, I finally got into my room I was shocked to find that it was newly fixed up and looked like a (slightly unfinished) Ikea display room. It looked like no one had ever stayed there before. It was a big surprise. Not to be too precious about things but it's always a relief to not stay in a smelly hotel room.
A few days later I made a trip to Great Diamond Island with a couple and wedding planner for a wedding that is happening there in a couple of weeks. We were going to check it out and do a few engagement shots. It was fine, it was brief and I haven't edited the pictures yet. Use your imagination.
This weekend I'm shooting weddings in Cape Neddick and Boothbay Harbor. Should be a little more traditional. No clever ending this week. Talk to you later.