12 from 2012

Me and my boy Jack (8) photographing Lupine in Acadia

It’s that time again. Time to reflect on another year spent making photographs and telling stories about family, friends and the landscape here in Maine. As always, during the past twelve months I had the good fortune to be able to spend some quality family time enjoying Acadia National Park, but we also got ourselves a new puppy this winter. I mention this because as regular readers of this blog will know, the puppy has absolutely captured our hearts (and time), and I haven’t been out with the camera much since the fall.

Much of my photography activity this year was spent exploring and experimenting with black and white imagery, though for this post, I’m only going to include twelve of my favorite color photographs. Maybe I’ll do another favorites post after the turn of the year, this time with black and whites only.

* I added the black and white favorites from 2012 post here: https://storiesfromhome.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/i-fell-in-love/

Anyhoo… if interested in seeing more of my work, check out my “official” site at Acadia and Beyond. Thanks to all of you who spent time reading and commenting here on the blog this past year. I’ve enjoyed “getting to know you” and look forward to what will hopefully be a peaceful and safe 2013. Happy holidays to you and yours, and best wishes for a wonderful New Year!

An icy morning spent at Otter Cliffs in Acadia National Park

Frigid temperatures in Acadia

Acadia wave and shoreline

Schoodic – the quieter part of Acadia National Park

Portland Head Light pre-dawn as a storm moves through

June Lupine in Acadia National Park

The night sky from Sand Beach, Acadia National Park

Stormy morning at Otter Cliffs, Acadia National Park

Raven’s Nest sunset on the Schoodic Penninsula, Acadia National Park

Otter Cliffs sunrise, Acadia National Park

Fall sunrise from the summit of Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park

And finally, our baby… Oliver

Stormy Acadia sunrise

I dipped back into the archives for this one… a spectacular sunrise from the rocky shoreline of the Loop Road in Acadia National Park – and one that doesn’t include our new puppy Oliver! On this particular morning there was a pretty heavy bank of clouds hanging out over the eastern horizon, but the sun was still able to find a sliver of a gap to poke through and illuminate the landscape. Even though this photograph was made a few years back, I can still remember the thrill I felt from being so close to the edge of the ocean.

An autumn path

Just off the Loop Road in Acadia National Park is this picturesque and delightful little path that meanders across the Great Meadow. I’m not entirely sure if this is called the Jesup Path or the Hemlock Path, but what I am sure of is that it is quite beautiful. I had missed the peak of fall foliage when I wandered this path, but there were still some striking autumn leaves adding to what was a classic color palette. Perhaps next year I will get here for the peak of colors, but until then, I’ll just have to settle for remembering what was a wonderfully peaceful morning spent exploring a part of the park that I rarely get to see.

A picture postcard

Here are a couple more images from my morning on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. There is so much to see on this magnificent summit, and for the photographer looking for interesting foreground elements to include in a composition… couldn’t ask for a better place. The ground cover that turns red in the fall is spectacular, and the weathered and shaped slabs of granite are truly impressive. Throw in the picturesque view of Frenchman Bay and the Porcupine Islands and you have, well… a picture postcard.

A brief glimpse of the sun

On a recent visit to Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, the sun briefly peeked out from behind a rather dense cloud bank that was hugging the horizon. The warm light raked across the mountain summit for only a few minutes, before hurriedly diving back behind some more persistent clouds. Before the grey returned to envelope the scene, the rich colors of this majestic fall landscape were momentarily illuminated and highlighted. It might be tough to fully see the detail in these web-sized images, but there are two rather large cruise ships anchored in the vicinity of Bar Harbor. Perhaps you can see why I adore this mountain top and this jewel of a national park so much, and I’m not surprised that Bar Harbor and Acadia have become such chic fall cruise ship destinations, are you?

Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park

I love to be on top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia during the fall. The summit is ablaze with color – the low growing bushes turn bright shades of yellow – and the distinctive red ground cover makes for a very striking scene. Thick clouds rolled over the mountain top on what was a cool and breezy morning, and I was totally mesmerized by the distant views of the Porcupine Islands in Frenchman Bay. The expansive view was perfectly showcased by the rugged and weathered granite slopes of Cadillac, and I had a grand time composing photographs. A fast moving storm front had just swept over the mountain, and although first light was seriously dampened by the leftover clouds, a saturated and lush autumn early morning landscape was left behind… absolutely perfect!

A big wave

Sandy kisses Acadia

Causing havoc and heartache to millions of people, Sandy has proven herself to be one of the most devastating storms to ever collide with the east coast of the United States. Here in Maine and in Acadia National Park, we are some 600+ miles from where Sandy came ashore in New Jersey, and although the impact here was much less severe, we still experienced some seriously high surf and heavy rain. I wandered along the Loop Road totally in awe of the power of this distant but huge storm, and here are a few photographs that hopefully provide an insight into the immense strength of Mother Nature’s fury.

Afternoon de-light ; )

Some say you can’t make a decent photograph outside of the “golden” hours of early morning or late afternoon, and while I enjoy the soft light of the morning as much as the next person, I say that’s not necessarily true. The light around sunrise and sunset can certainly be beautiful, elevating a decent composition to something special, but there are plenty of photographs to be made in the middle of the day.

I really like the textures in these two black and white images of Bass Harbor Light in Acadia National Park. The jagged rocks provide an interesting foreground with lots of lines leading to the lighthouse, the choppy ocean looks alive and full of energy, and the dappled clouds in the sky create a nice backdrop for a classic New England coastal scene.

Like I said… afternoon de-light ; )

The impact of color

If you take a look at my last post, you’ll notice that the color on this particular morning was pretty intense. In fact, it was probably one of the most impressive sunrises I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing in Acadia National Park. The reds, oranges and yellows absolutely lit up the morning sky, and needless to say, I was totally mesmerized by the incredible sight. The explosion of color seemed to last for ages, and as the vibrant light reflected off the ocean and the round rocks at Otter Cliffs, I worked quickly to try and capture the scene with my camera.

Although I am the first to enjoy a good sunrise, I have to admit I was already thinking about how this scene might translate into a black and white photograph. I hoped that the distinct shape of the round rocks would provide a strong anchor for the foreground, that the iconic outline of Otter Cliffs would hold the viewer’s attention in the middle of the scene, and that the light and patterns in the pre-dawn sky would add an interesting backdrop. With the color, I think this is an interesting photograph, but without the color – I personally – find it even more interesting. I’d be curious to hear your opinion.

One to remember

This was a sunrise to remember. Despite the weatherman’s best efforts to dissuade me from getting up early on this particular morning to photograph in Acadia National Park, I of course stuck with the plan and forged ahead. The forecast was for clouds with more clouds, and that was to be followed by even more clouds. As I made the pre-dawn drive to Acadia, I scanned the dark sky – like I always do – for signs of promise, and I was quite surprised to catch the odd glimpse of stars peeking out from behind the clouds. This was one time I was quite happy that the weather forecasters got it wrong!

Sharing the love…

Ever since Lori and I honeymooned in Acadia way back in the summer of 1988, we have always felt a strong bond to the park and Mount Desert Island. On that first visit together, as we hiked and biked our way from inn to inn, we utterly and completely fell in love with the Acadian landscape. Together we explored and enjoyed many of the mountains, coves, ponds and trails… all the while marveling at the striking character of what is an incredibly intimate, yet stunningly beautiful, national park.

In 1995, we made the decision to return and settle in Maine, and to this day, it still feels good to be living as close as we do to a place as remarkable as Acadia. We visit as often as we can and at all times of the year, and we never get tired of experiencing everything that this jewel of a national park offers. We’ve always maintained a personal and private connection with our time spent in Acadia, and despite the fact that nearly 3 million people visit this tiny place every year, we feel as though we can always find a way to make it our own.

Over the years we have always taken great pleasure in sharing our love for Acadia with friends and family as they come up north to visit. We can’t wait to take them to the top of Cadillac to enjoy the sunset, to Bubble Pond late in the afternoon as the water gets as still as glass, or to stroll the Ocean Path as first light washes over the rugged and famous coastline along the Loop Road. Seeing the look of wonder and appreciation on the faces of those witnessing the park for the first time… well, that never gets old. Gratitude is always expressed for the opportunity to experience such a remarkable place, but honestly, we just feel immensely lucky to be able to share this place we love.

Who needs fall colors?

Maine and New England are renowned for the vibrant, colorful display of fall foliage presented annually by Mother Nature around this time. As the days quickly start to get shorter and colder, trees resolutely holding onto their treasure of red, gold, yellow and brown are certainly left vulnerable to any strong storm blowing through. As the seasons transition and the weather takes a turn for the worse, the spectacular display of color signals the beginning of preparations for what is customarily a long, dark winter. Mine was an overdue visit to Acadia today, and I have to admit I was rather disappointed to discover that the fall foliage colors weren’t all that impressive… methinks I missed the peak by a few days this year.

This is looking across Jordan Pond toward the Bubbles on a cloudy and blustery – but very mild – morning. I’m fond of this view across the pond, and I always enjoy scouting the shoreline looking for interesting rocks to include in the foreground. I added a 6 stop neutral density filter to my camera for this one… I was hoping to render the relatively choppy water more smoothly, and I was also hoping to be able to extend the length of the exposure to allow for the fast-moving clouds to streak across the sky. At 11 seconds, the exposure didn’t quite have the impact on the clouds that I was hoping for, but I did like how the scene took on a monochromatic look… aren’t those rocks amazing?

This isn’t my first time photographing this location, and while I do like to explore new places, I also really do enjoy returning to familiar scenes in different conditions and at different times of the year. One of my favorite photographs of this location was made late last winter when the pond was still frozen over, and as I made the image below, I couldn’t help but think about how this year’s fall foliage season is almost gone already, and that it won’t be long now before the already cold water will begin to once again ice over.

Fall foliage in Maine

It’s that time of year again. The mornings and evenings are noticeably crisper and cooler, and the colors of fall are becoming more evident every day. The vibrancy of fall foliage in Maine truly can be a sight to behold, and as always, I’m looking forward to visiting some of my favorite locations.

One of those favorite locations for fall color is the Jordan Pond Stream which runs from Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park to the Atlantic Ocean at Seal Harbor. A rich variety of trees scattered along the stream side trail usually makes for a blaze of color that just begs to be photographed. A wide gravel path follows the stream downhill from the Jordan Pond House for about a quarter of a mile, and as you cross a rustic looking bridge, you can then jump off that path onto a trail that hugs the right hand side of the stream. There are many, many opportunities to enjoy amazing – albeit intimate – landscapes along this trail, and if you stick with it for about a mile, you get rewarded with views of Cobblestone Bridge, probably the most picturesque of the many carriage road bridges in the park.

My guess is that up north around Mount Katahdin the colors are already nearing peak, but it usually takes a little longer for the swath of color to stretch down toward the coastline. The image above of Jordan Pond Stream was made last year on October 14th, and in my experience, that’s usually around the time fall foliage in Acadia peaks. I’ll be checking the weather forecast in the next few weeks looking for misty, rainy, dull and overcast days… days when the subdued light and wet leaves make the colors pop even more than normal. If you are out and about with your camera in search of fall foliage colors, here’s hoping you find what you’re looking for.

Bass Harbor Lighthouse sunset

Bass Harbor Light in Acadia National Park – a neutral density filter and a long-ish exposure (6 seconds) made for a very peaceful sunset scene at my favorite lighthouse. I’ve photographed this lighthouse many times, and it never seems to get old. Though the sunset colors on this particular evening were quite nice, when I converted this scene to black and white I immediately found the photograph more interesting. When this photograph was made, the sun went down way off to the right and behind the lighthouse, though as we enter into the fall season, I’m looking forward to the end of this month when the sun will actually set in view from this spot. I’ll have to see about returning then, and who knows, maybe the pretty colors will trump my fascination with black and white?

The Milky Way in Acadia

Standing on Sand Beach in the pitch dark, I pointed my camera along the familiar Acadia coastline toward where I could just barely make out the Milky Way. I knew it was there, but to the naked eye it was quite faint. However, when the preview from the 25 second exposure displayed on the LCD screen, I was blown away by how much light the camera could gather when you leave the shutter open for an extended period of time.

Some high clouds threatened to obscure the “star” of the show, but since I wasn’t rushing to take advantage of golden hour light before it disappeared, I was able to stand back and wait until the Milky Way was in full view.

I had a hard time focusing accurately with my 17-40mm lens, and since the best I could do with it was f4, the exposure times were stretching into the range of 35-40 seconds and leading to significant movement in the stars. So instead of going wide, I slapped on my 50mm f1.8, set it to f2.2, and shortened the exposure time to 25 seconds. I got a sharper image, less movement in the stars, and my first photographs of the Milky Way in Acadia.

Night sky in Acadia

17mm, f4, iso 2500, 35 seconds

Shooting at night isn’t easy. I had a really hard time getting the focus right on most attempts, and as I fumbled around in the dark trying to deal with technical and compositional challenges, I experimented with a variety of focal lengths, aperture sizes, levels of iso, and the length of each exposure. One of the things I found most exciting was how the camera would, over the length of the exposure, gather much more light than my eye could see. I would stand for 30 seconds or so in total darkness holding the camera shutter open, but when I would get a preview of the image on the back of the LCD, I could “see” the scene quite clearly. Depending on the focal length chosen, an exposure of more than 25 seconds would likely result in bright stars exhibiting “trails” rather than pin-point beacons of light. I’m sure you have seen the effect of very long exposures where the earth rotates while the shutter is open, rendering long and interesting trails of light in the sky… that wasn’t what I was going for here, but it is something I am very interested in trying out sometime soon.

50mm, f2.2, iso 3200, 22 seconds

After the sun goes down…

I’ve always been curious about night photography, but to this point I had never tried it. There were two main reasons why I hadn’t tried shooting the stars… one was that I didn’t have a clue where to start from a technical point of view, and the other was that I knew my overactive imagination would get the better of me, and I would not have the nerve to be out alone in the dark.

That all changed recently however, when Maine landscape photographer Moe Chen mentioned that he was going to be heading to Acadia to shoot the Milky Way. Moe is no stranger to shooting at night, and since he was looking for someone to come along for the ride, I figured it would be a great opportunity to hang out with an accomplished photographer and learn something new. Turns out Moe isn’t too keen on being in the dark on his own either, so in addition to sharing what was an incredibly beautiful night sky, we were able to ease each other’s fear of all things spooky.

Moe had a preconceived plan for his first photograph of the evening, so right as dusk was settling in, we met at the Schooner Head parking lot just off the Loop Road near Sand Beach. The tide was going out, and Moe’s plan involved getting inside a cave so that he could do some light painting and shoot from inside the cave out toward the night sky. I didn’t have suitable footwear to join him in the cave – and to be honest I was a little freaked out about being in a cave in the dark – so I opted to “stand guard” outside instead.

It’s an exhilarating experience being on the edge of the ocean in the dark… your senses definitely heighten, and you become acutely aware of the subtlest of movements and sounds around you. I’d holler in to Moe every now and again just to make sure he knew I was still there (believe me, I know he appreciated the fact that he wasn’t alone), and as I waited for him to do his thing, I began to really notice how the night sky was starting to twinkle. Luckily for me, the Big Dipper was on show in the western sky, and as the last light of the day faded, I made the photograph below. Shooting at f4, iso 1000, with an exposure time of 27 seconds, this was my first photograph of the night sky… I was psyched.

The Big Dipper

Parkman and Bald

A family hike was planned, but as always, deciding just which trail to take amongst the many options in Acadia was the “problem” we faced. Pizza at Rosalie’s in Bar Harbor was already scheduled in as the payoff for dinner, so we knew it was a win-win no matter what trail we decided on!

On this particular day we wanted to try something new… perhaps a trail that we hadn’t explored before. Just recently, Sam and I had hiked up and over the surprisingly impressive Norumbega Mountain, and Lori, Jack and I had also hiked along the side of Norumbega via the Goat Trail toward Lower Hadlock Pond. On both of these hikes each of us had noticed expansive rocky ridges above Upper Hadlock Pond that constituted Parkman and Bald Mountains… so that’s where we decided to go.

The early part of the trail was relatively steep, and after making our way through a typically beautiful Acadia forest, we emerged onto granite ridges that afforded incredible views to the south toward Northeast Harbor and the islands beyond. Giant slabs of granite offered welcome resting places for those who wanted to pause for a while to take a brief break from the hike to enjoy the view.

After summiting Parkman Mountain, we dipped down into a lush and shaded saddle before climbing back up onto the top of Bald Mountain. I couldn’t help but notice how much the terrain reminded me of the high country in Yosemite – other than the lack of an imposing and striking 10,000 ft mountain backdrop! It might not be the high sierra, but the view down the mountain toward Upper and Lower Hadlock Ponds and the islands beyond was pretty cool. Oh yeah… and the pizza at Rosalie’s never tasted better!

Norumbega… the Goat Trail

On a quick run down to Acadia for a morning hike, Sam and I wanted to try something we hadn’t done before, a trail that would take us on a loop rather than a straight up and back route. Norumbega Mountain, which rests along the eastern side of Somes Sound, isn’t the highest and it isn’t the smallest peak on Mount Desert Island, but since it was one we had yet to conquer, away we went. As with seemingly every day this summer, the weather was spectacular… blue skies, white puffy clouds and a cool ocean breeze.

When I saw the name of the trail we would be taking – The Goat Trail – I couldn’t help but wonder if this was going to be one of those quick but arduous climbs to the top of a mountain in Acadia. Relatively speaking, the mountains in Acadia National Park aren’t really that tall, but any time you ascend 1,000 ft in half a mile or so, it will certainly get me huffing and puffing. Although Norumbega is only 852 ft high, choosing the Goat Trail to get to the top makes you feel every one of them. As you climb, you get wonderful views back toward Upper Hadlock Pond and the Sargent/Penobscot Ridge beyond. In front of Sargent Mountain there are several smaller peaks including Parkman, Gilmore and Bald Mountain, and as you make your way toward the summit of Norumbega, you are also treated to views of the western mountains. First there is Acadia and St. Saveur against the shore of Somes Sound, and beyond climbs Beech Mountain, Mansell Mountain, Knight’s Nubble and Bernard Mountain.

The descent through the trees was much more knee-friendly than the way up had been, and on this bright and sunny day the cool shadows from the overhead canopy provided much appreciated shade. As we reached the bottom of the mountain, we emerged from the forest to see the quite spectacular Lower Hadlock Pond where a gentle breeze was blowing across the water. We paused for a while to enjoy the moment and eat our lunch, and once we felt sufficiently refreshed, we started on the trail which veered to the left around the pond. This part of the trail was quite beautiful, with the rocky shoreline of the pond never more than a few yards from us. At the other end of the pond we came upon a pretty waterfall, a scene which might look especially photogenic when the fall foliage season arrives. The stroll back to the car took us along the Lower Norumbega Trail over heavily mossed ground and a stretch of forest that is home some of the tallest trees I have seen in Acadia. As with most Acadia hikes, this adventure afforded typically gorgeous mountain and ocean views, but it was the the variety of terrain we covered that made for a surprisingly different and quite memorable morning.