Derek grew up in New York, while spending part of his summers in Maine, where he developed an appreciation for its wild landscape and natural beauty. Moving from a metropolitan area to the wide-open spaces of Maine felt like an escape to an earlier time when life was simpler, he says. The air seemed pure and the dark night skies were both quiet and alive. After graduating from the University of New England in Biddeford, Derek started his photojournalism career at a newspaper in White Plains, NY. In 2004, he moved to Scarborough and joined the staff at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He lives with his wife and three children in Scarborough. His favorite assignments are photographing the outdoors of Maine, especially along the coast, and covering local sporting events.
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PublishedFebruary 24, 2022
Photos: Maine high school basketball tournament
High school basketball players made the shots and our photographers caught the action. Here are some of our favorite photos from Maine’s high school basketball tournament, February 23, 2022.
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PublishedJuly 12, 2021
In photos: Maine summer in full swing
It begins unofficially after Memorial Day, with flowers in full bloom in June and ever-lengthening hours of sunshine. July brings the heat, warmer ocean water in the southern part of the state – and the tourists. It begins to slip through our fingers in August, all too soon. Summer in Maine.
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PublishedMay 3, 2021
In photos: Scenes of April give way to flowers of May
Our photographers capture the dreary and the glorious of April before it finally yields to the sunshine of true spring.
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PublishedApril 25, 2021
In photos: After 30 years and counting, Becky’s Diner is still going strong
Becky’s Diner is an example of the resilience of the Portland restaurant community, where so many establishments have struggled during the pandemic – but are hanging on.
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PublishedMarch 15, 2021
In photos: Let there be light
Daylight saving time started again on Sunday, leading to dreams of those long summer nights in Maine, when the sun doesn’t set until after 8 p.m. There’s a bipartisan bill in Congress now, called the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, sponsored by politicians as different as U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., that would make DST permanent. If it passes, we would not switch our clocks back in the fall. Meanwhile, Press Herald photographers took advantage of our lengthening days to look for beautiful light.
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PublishedFebruary 22, 2021
In photos: A winter wonderland just outside your door
It’s February, it’s cold, we’re in the middle of a worldwide pandemic (as if you could forget) and that spells cabin fever. So here are some photos to remind you of the many ways that Maine is a perfect place to be living through this. It’s a winter wonderland just outside your door.
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PublishedFebruary 15, 2021
In photos: Ice, an otherworldly beauty
Love it or hate it, winter is here, in all its icy glory. When you are freezing outside – your feet like stone, your fingers like marble – consider the miracle of ice. Water, liquid and gas, made solid. Look closely and you’ll find its otherworldly beauty.
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PublishedFebruary 8, 2021
In photos: Mittens and Mainers, what’s not to love?
Warm woolen mittens are one of our favorite things, and they got special attention when Sen. Bernie Sanders wore them, sitting in a folding chair looking grumpy, at President Biden’s inauguration. Sanders’ mien and mittens, in the photo by photographer Brendan Smialowski, went viral, making the Twitter universe, and many others, happy for many cold winter days. The mittens were famously given to Sanders by Vermonter Jen Ellis, a former Mainer. Ellis learned to sew at Mahoney Middle School in South Portland, taught by home economics teacher Jeannette Collett. Here are a few Mainers with their mittens, including Collett, who is wearing her very own pair of Jen Ellis mittens.
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PublishedFebruary 7, 2021
Watch: Freeport church rings bell to commemorate those lost to COVID-19
More than 463,000 have died from COVID-19 in the United States, including 635 in Maine.
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PublishedDecember 21, 2020
In photos: Lighting up the night
The winter solstice, the day with the fewest hours of sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere, takes place at 5:02 a.m. Dec. 21. The long nights of a pandemic have been made beautiful, though, with holiday lights throughout our cities and towns. Many people put their displays up earlier than usual this year as a way to bring joy and help dispel the gloom of a difficult year. Press Herald photographers recorded some of the colorful beauty.