The national food media has been giving little Portland, ME, a lot of attention lately, and for good reason! First, Bon Appetit’s October issue named Portland this year’s “Foodiest Small Town in America.” And yesterday, the New York Times ran a long, photo-laden piece starting on the front page of the Dining & Wine section called “In Portland’s Restaurants, A Down East Banquet” that focuses on the collective nature of the burgeoning food scene here. As many of you already know, I was the lucky photographer who took the images for this article.
I spent two days with the reporter, Julia Moskin, visiting restaurants, markets and shops. We had a jam-packed schedule that usually allowed for about 30 minutes in each locale. This was an excellent test of my ability to get high-quality images in a short time period while working with available props and light. I sent in dozens of images and while the Times managed to run a large number (15 in the online slideshow, another 5 embedded in the online story, and 12 in the print version), there are, of course, some other images I really like that weren’t included. I thought I’d share some of those with you here. Hope you enjoy them!
(Full disclosure: the preponderance of Scratch Baking Co. images is because a) I had a lot of time there with unfettered access (the owners are my friends as I live a block away and worked there for a spell) and b) because I’m addicted to their bread and bagels!)

Wild Maine blueberries from Beth’s Farm Market for sale by Wealden Farm in the parking lot of Rosemont Bakery & Market.

Allison Reid, co-owner and baker at Scratch Baking Company, sprinkling flour on dough that will be shaped into baguettes.
Oooh, thanks for sharing more. Love these! I especially love the blueberries. Also, now I want a bagel.
Glad you like. I know, it was nice of the Wealden Farm folks to use those lovely oilcloths on their tables!
Stacey! your pictures you took are fabulous and it makes me want to come back to Portland soooooo bad!! OMG the food just looks so fabulous. Hopefully I will be back next year to see you guys again and eat lots of great treats 🙂
Thanks, Sally! You’re always welcome. In the meantime, the image of you that will stick in my head is when I looked out the door and saw you in our car totally engrossed in a bag packed full of goodies from the bakery! I think maybe there was some drool involved too (just kidding!).