Max Bittle Photography : New Hampshire Photographer : 618.727.0510

Members of the New Hampshire National Guard 114th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment returned home late last week after serving in Iraq since February of last year. They had a formal ceremony at their headquarters here in Concord two days ago.

I did a long term story on a soldier, Seth Clark, from my hometown five years ago. He was a member of the National Guard and had signed up under the impression that he would never have to go to war. I followed him for a few months as he prepared to ship out to Iraq.

It was sad seeing him go and watching the tears roll down his mother’s face as his bus left the armory early on a cold January morning back in 2005. Seth came home in the spring of 2006. I wrote a long blog post about the whole experience HERE.

I’ve always enjoyed photographing cars and auto body shops. The sights, smells, and sounds at the mechanic’s shop can all be rich in content for a photographer.

Last week I was filling up my tank at the local gas station and I noticed a guy welding out in front of the auto shop next door. I wandered on over to see what was going on. The mechanic, Howard, told me that he and a friend were rebuilding a 1949 Chrysler Windsor. They had completely gutted the car and were working to put a new hand built frame in.

It amazes me how smart mechanics and car restorers are. They look at these complex machines and figure out how everything works. It’s pretty cool.

Several Sundays ago I was sent up north to Lake Winnipesaukee in search of ice sailing, or ice yachting. After driving to a few of the frozen coves, I finally found some ice boats.

In order to get the boat moving the participants need a little luck on their side. First and foremost, they need clean ice, free of snow. Which, in New England, can be very difficult during the winter months. Second, the sailors need wind.

There was plenty of snow-free ice the day I went out, however, the wind was lacking. It would come and go and the sailors would get ready to sail and then it would die down. For more information click HERE

Other sailing pictures can be seen HERE

I’ve shot a lot of skiing lately and absolutely love it. It’s cold and really windy at times, but the creative juices seem to flow up on the mountains. For more picture please click here.

I did a bunch of portraits at the state swim meet yesterday. More to come.

I shot cross country skiing for the first time a few weeks back and last weekend tried it for the first time. It was fun, but conditions were far less than favorable. I fell a bunch, but am ready to get back out whenever we get some fresh powder here.

It’s town meeting season here in New Hampshire.