I didn't even know what a "selfie" was

It had been a great day on a wonderful trip.  Raised Spartina'sanchor in Little Pungers Creek on March Island, crossed Kedges Strait to the west side of Smith Island and on the first pass missed Sheep Pen Gut.  Found the narrow opening in the marsh grass on the second pass, followed the narrow channel to Rhodes Point and then over to the town dock at Tylerton.  Lunch - crabcake sandwich of course - at Drum Point Market - then down Tyler Creek to Tangier Sound, north along the eastern shore of Smith Island, finally dropping anchor in Back Cove in marshy Martin National Wildlife Refuge.  After a light dinner I jumped over the side for a swim.  Such a nice moment on the last evening of a wonderful trip - eight days, 220 miles and fair weather all the while - that I decided to take a photograph to remember it by.

I did not know it at the time, probably because I had never heard the term, that I was shooting a "selfie."  Regardless I'm very pleased to see that the picture is being used in a promotion to solicit images for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's "Snapshots to Selfies: 50 Years of Chesapeake Summers."

On a good day, when the light is right and fortune favors me with a nice moment, I sometimes think of myself as a photographer.  As such, the terms "selfie" and "snapshot" make me cringe just a little.  But language is a little like tooth paste, once it is out of the tube there is no way it is going back in.  Selfie and snapshot are here to stay.  Deal with it.

The idea of the exhibit is a great one.  Fifty years of memories on Chesapeake Bay, all caught in photographs.  Just imagine the ragged-edge black and white prints of the 60s, those old faded slides of the of the 70s, the yellow-hued polariods from the "instant" cameras, the instagram photos that are being shot with iPhones as I write.  There have got to be some wonderful photographs out there.

Submitting images for the exhibit is simple enough.  So dig back in into the photo albums and find some nice memories.  Kevin, 20-some years at the mascf, you have got to have some.  All the Chesapeake float guys, you too.  Don't be shy.  Brian, that classic catboat?  Roger, the Herreshoff at Downrigging weekend?  Dave, your Dad working on Sultana?  Stuart, you and Dee on the water with the Muskrat?  Mary Lou and Fred, something from Rock Hall?  Mike, something from one of your many interesting boats?  Eddie, a shot from Mobjack Bay?  Bill, the Piankatank?  Curt, how about something from the hippie days.  And Barry, I promise not to tell anyone about the photo of you on the beach at the grandparents house wearing the white turtle neck and the, uh, peace sign necklace.  (Ooops.)

How they will sort thought all the photographs from five decades on the Bay and her tributaries, well I don't know.  I think they want to boil it down to 70 or so for the exhibition.  I do know that the end result will be an interesting document of our lives on Chesapeake Bay.  Can't wait to see it in 2016.

Here are the basic rules.  For more information visit the museum's site here.

Snapshots to Selfies submissions must:• Document a summer moment
• Be taken during or after 1965
• Feature the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries
• Include a person (no landscapes, please!)
• You can be an amateur or professional photographer

Individuals can submit up to three photos, along with a brief explanation of the stories behind your photos. Photos may be submitted through November 30, 2015.