Island Life - Underwater
Taking advantage of the clear water in the shallows of Tangier Sound. Select photographs from this series will be featured in different chapters of my forthcoming book Island Life.
Island Life - Community, Seafood Harvest, Islands of the Past
Continuing to document the communities, commercial fisheries and traditions that make Smith and Tangier Islands unique for my forthcoming book Island Life - release date is October 2021.
Island Life - Nesting Wildlife
Photographing the nesting wildlife on Smith and Tangier Islands while conducting photography workshops in May and June.
Frenchtown, Maryland
Photographs from Frenchtown, a small town on a marsh adjacent to Tangier Sound, the Manokin River and the Annemessex River in Somerset County. I stayed in Frenchtown from May to late June while working on Island Life, other photography projects and while running photography workshops.
Crisfield, Maryland - Crab Packing
On assignment for The Crab Place - an online seafood retailer based in Crisfield, Maryland.
Menhaden Purse Seining
Tidelands, a fishing vessel owned by Omega Protein Co. out of Reedville, Virginia seining for Atlantic Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay near Tangier Island.
Fishing in the Lower Chesapeake Bay
Light tackle fishing for Cobia and Red Drum out of Cape Charles, Virginia.
Eel Grass Restoration - Eastern Shore of Virginia
Photographing an ongoing Eel Grass restoration project for the Nature Conservancy on South Bay near Wreck Island, Virginia.
Deer fawn near my home in Annapolis, Maryland.
Algae Blooms and Fish Kills -Severn River - Annapolis, Maryland
A ‘Mahagony Tide’ caused by a bloom of the algae species Prorocentrum Minimum stained the Severn River and several other rivers that feed into the upper Chesapeake Bay. The algae is not toxic to humans but can be harmful to aquatic environments when present in high concentrations. By blocking light from penetrating through the surface of the water, high concentrations of algae can stifle the growth of underwater grasses. When the algae dies off as it naturally does, the decomposition of the algae can deprive the water of oxygen which kills fish and shellfish. In the Severn River this year, there were multiple fish kills reported up and down the river. The largest fish kill of more than 4,000 individual fish was reported in Spa Creek in late May. The species that fell victim to the lack of oxygen were smaller fish such as juvenile Menhaden and Atlantic Croakers that were unable to escape the ‘bad water’. Other species that thrive in the upper reaches of the Severn such as Pumpkinseed Sunfish were also found dead in large numbers.
This year’s bad water quality comes after an incredible late spring and early summer in 2019. Underwater grasses flourished in the upper reaches of the river last, with some senior scientists and naturalists claiming that the grasses were at their highest levels in more than 30 years.
Coronavirus Impacts on Seafood Industry
Words and photographs for a June 2020 feature in Chesapeake Bay Magazine analyzing the impacts to the Chesapeake Bay seafood supply chain during the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic.
