Maine Landscapes
knapph
Registered Users Posts: 142 Major grins
My wife and I often take photos at Portland Head Lighthouse. During the summer and fall there are so many photographers there it can be difficult to find a good place to put a tripod. (If you want to get away from the many people posing for photos with the Lighthouse in the background, someone who wants to get some nice shots can walk north on the cliff trail and there are several places to get out on the rocks to get a good view of the lighthouse.) Rarely are we ever there without a few other photo types around somewhere. At sunrise there are people waiting to get into the park when the gates are opened.
Anyway, I have been there twice when I was the only person in the park, as far as I could tell. The first time was on a July morning at sunrise and again recently during a snow storm. In the July visit I was taking my wife to the airport for a very early flight and I decided since I was going to be up anyway, I might as well get some sunrise shots. When I took the luggage to the car, things looked good; the sky was very clear with nice stars and there was a hint of clouds to the east over the ocean. When we went back outside to get in the car to leave, I heard the fog horn from the Portland Head Light. Things were beginning to not look so good for sunrise photos - fog at the coast. I dropped my wife at the airport at about 4:30. Sunrise was at about 5:20 so I had just enough time to get to the lighthouse and get setup. As I got closer to the coast, the fog got thicker and thicker. By the time I got to Fort Williams Park, the location of Portland Head Lighthouse, the fog was too thick to see if the gates to the park were open. I drove slowly up to the entrance and the gates were open. When I got to the lighthouse I could barely see it was there in the fog. For some reason there was no one else around. I walked over to the south side of the lighthouse to see what I could see. No hope of a sunrise shot but the light in the lighthouse was making a very nice beam in the fog. New goal - get the light beam. I setup and started trying to capture the beam. I ended up making high speed shots just as the beam was rotating toward me. Later I was able to stack the beams when I got them in the same position. The light came up enough at sunrise to reveal the lighthouse buildings so I was getting more than just the beam suspended in midair. I was there about 45 minutes and did not see another person. Very nice.
I like to get shots of the lighthouse in all kinds of weather and we were having some of that recently. A storm had moved up the coast and we were getting "a bit" of snow. When I was clearing the driveway I was looking at the sky and the snow was almost like looking into fog. After taking my wife to work I went back home to get a camera, tripod, and the dog. Time for a trip to Portland Head. What I forgot about this trip was that a gentle breeze with light light floating snow at my house might not be the same at the coast. What I found at the lighthouse was a snow sleet mixture being driven off the ocean by a traditional Northeast gale. Well I'm there, and the only one again for some reason, might as well see what I can get. This was not a time to go out shooting from the rocks the ocean was pounding on so I went to the place everyone with a camera heads when they get to the lighthouse. I got the tripod legs buried in the snow enough so that the camera would not blow over and jammed my Smugmug hat onto my head to keep it from blowing off (wrong hat for that day). I mentioned this was a Northeast wind didn't I? Well the shot of the lighthouse from this location is to the northeast; almost directly into the wind. As soon as I got the lens hood on I saw I was going to have a challenge. I had a weather cover on the camera but the front of the lens was very exposed. There was a not too small snow drift building up inside the lens hood. I thought about going over to the other side of the lighthouse and shooting from there with the wind to my back but I did not bring my microspikes for my boots and the trail to get to the other side is steep and icy. Time to make the best out of the location I had. The lighthouse looked great - low contrast with a lot of snow on the rocks going down to the ocean. No light beam this time. So, I got the camera setup and put it into high speed shooting mode. I like that mode. My idea was that I would clean the lens fire off a burst of shots, etc, etc. I hoped I would be able to combine the shots in Photoshop and blend out the snow and ocean spray. Once again there was no one around; however, this time it was just too uncomfortable to stay around and enjoy it.
Anyway, I have been there twice when I was the only person in the park, as far as I could tell. The first time was on a July morning at sunrise and again recently during a snow storm. In the July visit I was taking my wife to the airport for a very early flight and I decided since I was going to be up anyway, I might as well get some sunrise shots. When I took the luggage to the car, things looked good; the sky was very clear with nice stars and there was a hint of clouds to the east over the ocean. When we went back outside to get in the car to leave, I heard the fog horn from the Portland Head Light. Things were beginning to not look so good for sunrise photos - fog at the coast. I dropped my wife at the airport at about 4:30. Sunrise was at about 5:20 so I had just enough time to get to the lighthouse and get setup. As I got closer to the coast, the fog got thicker and thicker. By the time I got to Fort Williams Park, the location of Portland Head Lighthouse, the fog was too thick to see if the gates to the park were open. I drove slowly up to the entrance and the gates were open. When I got to the lighthouse I could barely see it was there in the fog. For some reason there was no one else around. I walked over to the south side of the lighthouse to see what I could see. No hope of a sunrise shot but the light in the lighthouse was making a very nice beam in the fog. New goal - get the light beam. I setup and started trying to capture the beam. I ended up making high speed shots just as the beam was rotating toward me. Later I was able to stack the beams when I got them in the same position. The light came up enough at sunrise to reveal the lighthouse buildings so I was getting more than just the beam suspended in midair. I was there about 45 minutes and did not see another person. Very nice.
I like to get shots of the lighthouse in all kinds of weather and we were having some of that recently. A storm had moved up the coast and we were getting "a bit" of snow. When I was clearing the driveway I was looking at the sky and the snow was almost like looking into fog. After taking my wife to work I went back home to get a camera, tripod, and the dog. Time for a trip to Portland Head. What I forgot about this trip was that a gentle breeze with light light floating snow at my house might not be the same at the coast. What I found at the lighthouse was a snow sleet mixture being driven off the ocean by a traditional Northeast gale. Well I'm there, and the only one again for some reason, might as well see what I can get. This was not a time to go out shooting from the rocks the ocean was pounding on so I went to the place everyone with a camera heads when they get to the lighthouse. I got the tripod legs buried in the snow enough so that the camera would not blow over and jammed my Smugmug hat onto my head to keep it from blowing off (wrong hat for that day). I mentioned this was a Northeast wind didn't I? Well the shot of the lighthouse from this location is to the northeast; almost directly into the wind. As soon as I got the lens hood on I saw I was going to have a challenge. I had a weather cover on the camera but the front of the lens was very exposed. There was a not too small snow drift building up inside the lens hood. I thought about going over to the other side of the lighthouse and shooting from there with the wind to my back but I did not bring my microspikes for my boots and the trail to get to the other side is steep and icy. Time to make the best out of the location I had. The lighthouse looked great - low contrast with a lot of snow on the rocks going down to the ocean. No light beam this time. So, I got the camera setup and put it into high speed shooting mode. I like that mode. My idea was that I would clean the lens fire off a burst of shots, etc, etc. I hoped I would be able to combine the shots in Photoshop and blend out the snow and ocean spray. Once again there was no one around; however, this time it was just too uncomfortable to stay around and enjoy it.
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Stephanie
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography