This beautiful arched bridge is located in the lovely village of Somesville - the first town established on Mt. Desert Island
Mt. Desert Island has a very interesting history and the village of Somesville is intimately involved in that history. Although frequented by native Americans, there is little evidence of long-term settlement by them on the island. When the French arrived in the 1600s they attempted to establish a colony here, but were pushed out by the British. The area remained contested for the next 150 years or so. When the British defeated the French in Quebec in 1759, French influence ended and the area opened to English settlement. The Somes and Richardson families moved up from Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1760 to live on the island. They sailed to the head of what is now known as Somes Sound and settled in the area that is now known as Somesville.
This unique and lovely bridge is found by the main road leading through town and is by no means difficult to access. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful structure and demands to be photographed. We were fortunate to pass by while some brilliantly colored foliage was still on the trees surrounding the bridge. It was a windy day when this image was taken, but the banks of the stream helped block the wind and allowed a reflection to quickly reform once the breeze died down.
This image is a blend of five files shot with one stop of exposure between each. This was necessary to capture the extreme latitude of light between the highlights in the sky and the shadows near the tree line. In an ideal world, there would have been some high clouds and little wind. However, those weren’t the conditions and the multiple exposures were necessary. Although an overcast sky would have generated much more even light, I love the way the bright sunshine makes the reds and yellows in this scene pop. The contrast of the white bridge with the brilliant fall colors makes for a lovely image.
Rick Holliday 