Matt Steindl is a freelance photographer based in Pennsylvania. Follow Matt on his Instagram here.
Watching my phone sink to the bottom of a 40-foot lake somewhere in Western Maine was not how I planned to start my seven-day getaway in the US's northeasternmost state. But surrounded by the outdoors, I opted to embrace the disconnect and worry about my phone troubles after I returned home. Luckily, my trusty Leica M6 remained safe and dry, and I had bag full of 35mm film along for the trip.
I didn’t know what to expect from my first visit to Maine, but with a loose schedule and a few areas mapped out, I had high hopes it was the ideal place to close out summer on a good note. When most people think of Maine, they imagine the rocky coastline and small, picturesque fishing villages along the Atlantic. But just 55 miles from Portland is Western Maine, better known as the Lakes and Mountains region, a lesser-visited area that's equally idyllic. This, and a small cabin a few miles from the Mahoosuc Mountain Range, was my base camp for the trip.