Whenever we dive Duck Island at the Isle of Shoals, the seal interactions are always a surprise. Some days they keep a respectful distance and vanish the moment you turn around, while other days you get treated to an up-close show.

Our September 12 dive definitely fell into the second category.

I love the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, NH. Built in 2013, this bridge replaced an older bridge of the same name. During our stay in Portsmouth last July, I wanted to capture a photo of the sunset behind the bridge to show off its very cool structure. After some exploration, I settled on taking this photo from Four Tree Island (attached to the larger Pierce Island).

When I’m not taking photos, I love to scuba dive. It’s a great sport that takes us to amazing places where we often encounter some incredible things underwater. Recently, we took a trip to the Isle of Shoals, which is a small group of islands that span the border of Maine and New Hampshire in the Gulf of Maine. These islands are a summer haven for seals who haul out onto the rocky shores and rest – especially on Duck Island on the northern part of the chain.

In 2013, when I was still living in Massachusetts, my mother came to visit to see the fall color. There were a lot of options for places to go, and after some research we picked out New Hampshire’s Kancamagus highway, a route that is world renowned for its fall foliage. We drove up together, along with my dogs, and decided on a hike to Champney Falls along the way.