LOCATION: Biddeford Pool Date: October 19 Time: 8:30 a.m. Equipment: 40mm lens “I’d come here the day before in the late afternoon to do some scouting and noticed that the marsh shot would be better in the morning. I came back then for sunrise on the water … Autumn is the most challenging season to […]
By Mel Allen
Aug 08 2011
LOCATION: Biddeford Pool
Date: October 19
Time: 8:30 a.m.
Equipment: 40mm lens
“I’d come here the day before in the late afternoon to do some scouting and noticed that the marsh shot would be better in the morning. I came back then for sunrise on the water … Autumn is the most challenging season to photograph. When everything is falling into place, it’s my favorite time. The chill, the shorter days, mist on the water in early morning, all make for great photo experiences. But falling into place happens maybe 50% of the time if I’m lucky.”
Mel Allen is the fifth editor of Yankee Magazine since its beginning in 1935. His first byline in Yankee appeared in 1977 and he joined the staff in 1979 as a senior editor. Eventually he became executive editor and in the summer of 2006 became editor. During his career he has edited and written for every section of the magazine, including home, food, and travel, while his pursuit of long form story telling has always been vital to his mission as well. He has raced a sled dog team, crawled into the dens of black bears, fished with the legendary Ted Williams, profiled astronaut Alan Shephard, and stood beneath a battleship before it was launched. He also once helped author Stephen King round up his pigs for market, but that story is for another day. Mel taught fourth grade in Maine for three years and believes that his education as a writer began when he had to hold the attention of 29 children through months of Maine winters. He learned you had to grab their attention and hold it. After 12 years teaching magazine writing at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, he now teaches in the MFA creative nonfiction program at Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Like all editors, his greatest joy is finding new talent and bringing their work to light.
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