Sunset Skypools

We never expected a sunset as we left the dock in the fog. While we were on the water, the conditions continually improved as the fog lifted. By the time sunset was happening, there was a thin wisp of fog just below the western mountains of Acadia National Park. We had a great opportunity to include skypools in the foreground of this sunset shoot. And an added bonus of soft light at the base of the mountains provided a thin veil of fog. To learn how to create images like this, consider taking my sunset cruise photography workshop off Mount Desert Island. 

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 35mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO 400, 5/21/14, 7:29 PM

Sunset skypools with the Western Mountains of Acadia National Park, Maine


Who's Ever Heard Of Skypools?

They're cool oval shaped colors that appear on the surface of water reflecting the colors in the sky. Yesterday evening I was out on our boat exploring options for the Sunset Cruise Safari and came across some outrageous skypools (link scientifically explains the phenomena) just off Mount Desert Island. My shutter continued snapping away for at least 30 minutes - I'm crazy for this kind of abstract photography! Below is a potpourri of shots taken yesterday, including a sunset. To learn how to create images like these, consider taking one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park. 

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/1600 sec, ISO 400, 5/21/14, 7:19 PM

Skypools just off Mount Desert Island, Maine

The Katherine Louise lobster boat out of Southwest Harbor, Maine

Katherine Louise lobster boat out of Southwest Harbor, Maine

Skypool sunset, Mount Desert Island, Maine

Mount Desert Island western mountains silhouette by the  sunset with foreground skypools.

Contrails lit up by the sunset. My camera was pointed up, down, sideways and all-around. 

Contrails lit by sunset off Mount Desert Island, Maine

Skypools 2 off Mount Desert Island, Maine

Another favorite skypool from yesterday, this one has a bit more tension.

Ending the series with a quiet lobster buoy.

Quiet lobster buoy off the coast of Mount Desert Island, Maine

 

Burnt Coat Harbor Light - Night Sky

Having the wonderful opportunity to start a new light painting project with community of Swan's Island earlier in the evening, I was hoping to capture the night sky afterward (in the wee morning hours). Hopped in bed around 11:00 pm with heavy cloud cover. Woke up around 1:00 am to check the cloud cover, no clouds and the moon was setting - great conditions for night sky photography. Drove around Swan's Island concluding with the lighthouse as the last stop. I was able to frame the Milky Way arching over Burnt Coat Harbor Light. This was literally the last shot of the evening. Special thanks to Rob for hosting us on the Sunbeam and Heather for providing island transportation. To learn how to create images like this, consider taking one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park. 

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/2.8, 20 secs, ISO 2000, 5/8/14, 3:33 AM

Night Sky, Burnt Coat Harbor Light, Swan's Island, Maine

Spectacular Cadillac Sunrise

Timeline - Alarm: 3:53 am, Woke up: 4:07 am, In car: 4:22 am, At Cadillac: 4:38 am, Sunrise: 5:20 am.

The sky looked very promising for a beautiful sunrise as we drove up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park this morning. Sure enough, there was a nice blanket of clouds glowing red as the sun rose above the horizon. I took this shot using a 3-stop neutral density reverse gradient filter (handheld). There's a brief window of a couple minutes to capture the sun just at the edge of the horizon. After that the light changes immediately and the moment is gone. So I like to arrive about 40 minutes early to: scout a location, set up, and have all the camera settings adjusted to capture the moment. This was the last MDI Photo Club outing of the season and a very successful one at that! Some Cadillac Mountain sunrises are spectacular, while others are ho-hum, thankfully today's was extra-spectacular. To learn how to create images like this, consider taking one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park. 

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 16-35mm @ 16mm, f/22, 2 sec, ISO 100, 5/3/14, 5:18 AM

Sunrise, Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine

Hulls Cove Beachscape

After driving a mile past this scene and debating with myself the entire mile if I should stop to take a photograph or continue on to my destination, I turned the car around and headed back. They say take the shot when you see it, never say 'oh, I'll come back and take that picture'. I saw something from the road that looked promising, but I didn't know exactly what it was. Arriving at Hulls Cove in Bar Harbor, I walked down to the beach and started shooting. Seven compositions later I honed in on the final shot expressing what drew me here. Below I walk you through my seven compositions to experience my thought process as I composed this final image. To learn how to create images like this, consider taking one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Fujifilm X100S, 23mm, f/8.0 (&B there), 1/160 sec, ISO 200, 4/23/14, 11:42 AM

 

Beachscape, Hulls Cove Beach, Bar Harbor, Maine

 

My first shot and what I liked: soft light, streams forming s-curves, interesting foreground rock with repeating patterns of green algae in background rocks, simple ocean (not distracting). I didn't like the shallow depth of field. Hmm, nothing special.

Hulls Cove Beach, Composition 1

Hulls Cove Beach, Composition 2

Let's try looking down to simplify the image, with less information. Ughh, it looks worse.

Looking down didn't work, let's try looking up. Nope. If there was an interesting sky with puffy clouds or an amazing sunrise, this would work. We're not there yet.

Hulls Cove Beach, Composition 3

Hulls Cove Beach, Composition 4

Okay, this is starting to feel right. Better angle and increased depth of field. But it could still be better, let's try changing perspective.

I climbed up on the foreground rock. I wanted to hold my camera high above my head and point down at the sand as my main subject of the image. It's starting to take shape. Let's now try a vertical shot.

Hulls Cove Beach, Composition 5

Hulls Cove Beach, Composition 6

Wow, that's it! Now for some fine adjustments. See the rock in the upper right corner. I want to see the whole rock with some ocean to buffer it on the right. Believe me when I tell you, it took a few shots. Holding the camera above my head implies I 'recompose' (without looking at the back or the viewfinder) and check. Over and over, until I get it just so.

Bingo, that's the one. Now climb down from the rock and snap a couple of other shots that didn't amount to much.

Hulls Cove Beach, Composition 7

Hulls Cove Beach, Final Composition

Here's the final image after some post processing in Lightroom and with Nik Software. I love using the stream as leading lines. From left to  right: leading from foreground rock to repeating rocks in background, leading from mid-image to the background ocean, and leading to the lone rock at the shoreline.