Savage Surf

Everything was in alignment tonight: the light, the tides, the seals, the surf and we were there to capture the moment. It's rare to have perfect conditions when shooting the seals on our Sunset Cruise. Tonight it all came together and presented a beautiful opportunity to shoot the seals with the surf. We were witnessing the surf push the seals off the ledge and into the ocean. After shooting for 20 minutes, all the seals were washed off East Bunker Ledge in Seal Harbor, Maine. To learn how to create images like this, consider attending one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 300mm + 1.4 tc, f/7.1, 1/1250 sec, ISO 800, 7/30/15, 5:45 PM

 

Innocent Seal Pup, East Bunker Ledge, Seal Harbor, ME

Four By Five

Most of my images follow the 2x3 format (aspect ratio). Occasionally I would choose a square, but never really considered other aspect ratios or more importantly which aspect ratio fits which image. The 4x5 format provides a comfortable balance for my latest sunset buoy image taken near Bear Island, Northeast Harbor, Maine. I've added the un-cropped, un-editted image for comparison. Notice the empty space in the sky and water in the 2x3 crop. While the 4x5 crop has interesting textures throughout the entire image - my eyes continually move, rather than the 2x3 crop causing my view to drift to the top or bottom and stopping.

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 21mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO 400, 7/15/15, 8:27 pM

Buoy At Sunset, Bear Island, Maine 

Here is the 2x3 format (unedited) for comparison:

 

Spring Signals

After this long, cold, and snowy winter I headed over to the Asticou Azalea Garden, Northeast Harbor, Maine in search of signs of spring. I grabbed my 1970's (old school) macro lens and rejoiced under the overcast skies (soft light). I enjoy using my macro lens as an exercise in abstract photography - line, shape, form. Gratefully, I found a couple of images that I liked: one color and one black and white. To learn how to create images like this, consider attending one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data (leaves): Nikon D800, 55mm-macro, f/5.6, 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 5/9/15, 9:07 AM
EXIF data (bud): Nikon D800, 55mm-macro, f/5.6, 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 5/9/15, 8:39 AM

Leaves, Asticou Azalea Garden, Northeast Harbor, Maine

Pink Bud, Asticou Azalea Garden, Northeast Harbor, Maine

Cadillac Snowmelt

In spite of the plethora of rock and water photographs, I still enjoy creating my own vision of the spring streams and waterfalls of Acadia National Park. The Cadillac Mountain snowmelt fills this stream for only a few weeks each year. During the summer months the stream bed is dry, except for the occasional heavy downpours when it runs for a couple of days. It looked great in color with the beautiful pink granite, but the black and white image is even stronger with a square crop to accentuate the diagonal composition. To learn how to create images like this, consider attending one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 55mm, f/8 (& be there;-), 1/4 sec, ISO 50, 4/26/15, 5:21 PM

Spring Stream, Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine

Inspirational Glass

As soon as I entered Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit, the notion of camera panning grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. I approach camera panning by varying the exposure time and camera movement. Each subject has a different exposure time and camera movement. In my vigorous camera shaking, I never considered taking a static image - so I've added images from the Chihuly website for your reference (below). I'm sure you can figure out which images match up. To learn how to create images like these, consider attending one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

Glass Waves (top): Nikon D800, 24mm, f/9, 1 sec, ISO 800, 3/30/15, 6:30 PM
Glass Petals (bottom): Nikon D800, 42mm, f/9, 1/4 sec, ISO 800, 3/30/15, 6:43 PM

Glass Waves, Ghihuly Garden and Glass, Seattle, WA

Glass Waves, Ghihuly Garden and Glass, Seattle, WA

Glass Petals, Ghihuly Garden and Glass, Seattle, WA

Glass Petals, Ghihuly Garden and Glass, Seattle, WA

Photos from the Chihuly website of the same subjects, for your reference.

Chihuly Glass Forest, Seattle, WA

Chihuly Glass Forest, Seattle, WA

Chihuly Persian Ceiling, Seattle, WA

Chihuly Persian Ceiling, Seattle, WA