{"title":"The Maine Northwoods","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"birch-entwined","title":"Birch Entwined","description":"\u003cp class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap\"\u003eWould I find a tree worth photographing before leaving later that morning?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap\"\u003eI had spent three nights here; the days were shortening, and the sharp cold of the evenings seeped into my breakfast. This would be my final trip before winter set in. Hiking toward the cliffs just after sunrise, I found a quiet meeting point: granite and birch roots interlaced in the earth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap\"\u003eAs I stood there, Robin Kimmerer's words came to mind. In \u003cem\u003eBraided Sweetgrass\u003c\/em\u003e, she recounts a conversation with Cheyenne elder Bill Tall Bull about Potawatomi cosmology, where rocks, mountains, water, and fire are all animate beings imbued with spirit. Remembering her moment of lament for lacking the native language, I recalled his gentle response as he patted his chest: \u003cem\u003e\"You don't have to speak the old language here. If you speak it here… They will hear you.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap\"\u003eAlone, I realized I only needed to respect this place. In the silence of dawn, in the chill, I listened and heard birch and granite speaking— an invitation to witness what had always been.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mike Bither Photography","offers":[{"title":"8 x 12″ \/ Hahnenmuehle Torchon","offer_id":47302122537195,"sku":"588127-31641893-203000-305000","price":119.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"10 x 15″ \/ Hahnenmuehle Torchon","offer_id":47302122569963,"sku":"588127-31641893-254000-381000","price":134.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"16 x 24″ \/ Hahnenmuehle Torchon","offer_id":47302122602731,"sku":"588127-31641893-406000-610000","price":209.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20 x 30″ \/ Hahnenmuehle Torchon","offer_id":47302122635499,"sku":"588127-31641893-508000-762000","price":299.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"24 x 36″ \/ Hahnenmuehle Torchon","offer_id":47302122668267,"sku":"588127-31641893-610000-914000","price":409.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0788\/9433\/4187\/files\/2601-_birchentwined-northwoods-maine.jpg?v=1768834770"},{"product_id":"erratic-birch","title":"Where the Forest Opens","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e I had found the house-sized boulder I was searching for, tucked deep in the Northwoods. But wedged into the depths of the forest, how was I to photograph it?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap\"\u003eScattered across much of the forests of Maine, erratics are the sand-like kernels picked up by glaciers in the last ice age and dropped as they melted and the climate warmed thousands of years ago. Unique among these grains of sand, actually a giant boulder, was a large yellow birch tree, sitting atop, straining toward the sun. Some of its roots dangled below. After circling twice, I sat down, unsettled. No unique perspective was immediately apparent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap\"\u003eThen I saw it from below. The sun greeted me through its leaves. I had found a gangly striving tree appropriating the flat top of the erratic, gaining the room it needed to reach skyward.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap\"\u003eYou couldn't invent this. Here, amidst the scattered giants of stone, a gangly yellow birch has claimed a house-sized erratic as its own, sending roots thirty feet deep into the dark earth to find purchase where none seems possible. It leans back, drinking the light through its leaves while trusting that life persists even in this impossible place. I had found life at the edge thriving.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mike Bither Photography","offers":[{"title":"8 x 10″ \/ Hahnemuehle Photorag Baryta","offer_id":47327579144427,"sku":"581917-31686041-203000-254000","price":119.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"10 x 12.5″ \/ Hahnemuehle Photorag Baryta","offer_id":47327579177195,"sku":"581917-31686041-254000-318000","price":149.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12 x 15″ \/ Hahnemuehle Photorag Baryta","offer_id":47327579209963,"sku":"581917-31686041-305000-381000","price":159.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"16 x 20″ \/ Hahnemuehle Photorag Baryta","offer_id":47327579242731,"sku":"581917-31686041-406000-508000","price":199.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20 x 25″ \/ Hahnemuehle Photorag Baryta","offer_id":47327579275499,"sku":"581917-31686041-508000-635000","price":299.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"24 x 30″ \/ Hahnemuehle Photorag Baryta","offer_id":47327579308267,"sku":"581917-31686041-610000-762000","price":379.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"28 x 35″ \/ Hahnemuehle Photorag Baryta","offer_id":47327579341035,"sku":"581917-31686041-711000-889000","price":549.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0788\/9433\/4187\/files\/2601-_erraticbirch-northwoods-maine.jpg?v=1768834630"},{"product_id":"the-wild-light-of-october","title":"Where Hill and Water Share Breath","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eI waited for sunset from a high overlook with the lake below and autumn gathered all around. I was not disappointed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eI had climbed high up onto some cliffs near my camp. At the top were views of Katahdin, but today I had climbed enough. I was looking for sunset but instead I had found a riot of color spilling across the lake. As the sun descended, the colors deepened and softened. At first my eyes stayed with the trees along the shore, but as evening settled in, the lake quieted down and the first reflections quietly developed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eSo often, it is in the waiting that the land reveals itself. Forest and water speak to me— in their beauty, in persistence and in their simple enduring presence. All I have to do is slow down and be present, honoring the fragile grace of a world that continues to give, even as it asks for our care.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mike Bither Photography","offers":[{"title":"12 x 8″ \/ Canson Baryta Prestige II","offer_id":47328233226475,"sku":"587995-31690087-305000-203000","price":109.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"15 x 10″ \/ Canson Baryta Prestige II","offer_id":47328233259243,"sku":"587995-31690087-381000-254000","price":124.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"24 x 16″ \/ Canson Baryta Prestige II","offer_id":47328233292011,"sku":"587995-31690087-610000-406000","price":189.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"30 x 20″ \/ Canson Baryta Prestige II","offer_id":47328233324779,"sku":"587995-31690087-762000-508000","price":279.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"36 x 24″ \/ Canson Baryta Prestige II","offer_id":47328233357547,"sku":"587995-31690087-914000-610000","price":379.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0788\/9433\/4187\/files\/2601-thewildlightofoctober-northwoods-maine.jpg?v=1768833545"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0788\/9433\/4187\/collections\/de958b5d-d2bf-4d8f-8e68-8a2e2580728e.png?v=1768164056","url":"https:\/\/uz1tcq-a1.myshopify.com\/collections\/the-maine-northwoods.oembed","provider":"Mike Bither Photography","version":"1.0","type":"link"}