The other way to use a tide pool

 

I showed you an image of Pemaquid Lighthouse before (click HERE for the older post). This one was made the evening before the first one. This beautiful lighthouse is one of the most iconic places at the coast of Maine, great for photography at sunrise and sunset. Having enough time on hand I experimented a lot with perspectives, exposures, and depth of field. If you follow my blog regularly you may have read yesterday about the interesting role the tide pools can play at low tide for your photography. Finding a tide pool that reflects the subject, which is without any doubt the lighthouse in this image, can make for a much more interesting photo than the one that another photographer makes just three feet away from you. Well, I can promise you this will not be the last picture of Pemaquid Lighthouse I may publish here in the blog. It is way too pretty... ;-)

Light in the tide pools

 

We were extremely blessed with the weather during our trip to Maine. It was very mild the whole time and most days there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. As you know, we photographers don't really like this, because a plain blue sky during the day provides less chances to make dramatic images that tell a story. But it wasn't a hopeless case. There are ways to find light if we keep our eyes open.

The constellation of the moon made sure that we had low tide in the morning. This can make sometimes for a not so pleasant foreground but it also allows to go closer to the water and leaves tide pools between and on the rocks along the shore. And this is where you can make the click. If no wind ripples the water you can enter a world of colors and interesting subjects below the water surface. Beside all kinds of shells, colorful stones, seaweed, and the occasional crab can be found. If you can keep reflections out of the frame you have your image that tells the story about the life and beauty in these tide pools.

You know it is fall, if ...

 

You know it is fall, if you pull in your driveway after a long return trip from Maine and the road is completely covered with leaves. I skip to show you a picture about this mess (I didn't even make one ;-)  ). You know it is fall after you wake up the next morning and the bird bath is covered with a thin ice crystal that looks like a Christmas ornament, a safe sign for the first night frost. And you know it is fall when at the same time the early morning sun back-lights the leaves of the grapevine on the balcony.

I love the quality of light that autumn brings us and I thought I share this with you before I may post a few more images from our travels to the coast of Maine. I hope you enjoy...

Maine style

 

I'm sure I will post more about the New England architecture here sometime but I like to share with you today this nicely decorated house that we saw this morning. We are wrapping up our trip to Maine at Acadia National Park and this image was made at Bass Harbor near our current campsite.

The early bird makes the click

 

I was hoping I can show you images from our Maine adventure on a daily basis but the weather has been gorgeous the whole time so far (some rain is in the forecast as I write this). We really started out almost every day before sunrise in order to catch the first morning light and we never returned to the campsite before it was pitch dark. This is the only way to make images like the one of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse I like to show you today. It was still half an hour before the first sun hit the American continent but I like the blue hour as much as the actual moment of sunrise. More to come, so please stay tuned....

It's all about lobsters... :-)

 

We spent the first three days in the region around Freeport, Maine. Everything here seems to rotate around lobsters. Beside eating them every day (yes, you read this right!! :-) we spent quite some time in the little harbors with their lobster wharfs to watch and photograph the lobster boats going in and out. Before they leave the dock they take big plastic barrels full of fish that are used as bait on board. When they come back the lobster men can hopefully unload boxes full of lobster. It doesn't get easier to see if they loose or make money...

We had great weather so far with killer light in the mornings and evenings. It isn't difficult to make an image that can tell a story. Watching the highlights on the boats is essential for the story telling. It is very easy to blow them out and have a picture that looks just "blahhh". I can promise you that I will post more photos of the lobster boats in the next time. They all look different and are such a great subject that tells the story about the life along the Maine coast. More to come...

Lovely coast of Maine

 

The first three days at the coast of Maine were really lovely. The days started out very foggy but became warm and clear during the late morning. We explored the area around Freeport with its bays and little wharfs. Everything is colorful and it is not difficult to find interesting things to put the lens on. Most things here have to do with catching lobsters. Every restaurant has lobster on the menu in different variations and many people here try to make a living from this industry. I love to watch the lobster boats, even if they are just moored in a harbor. None of them look alike and even in the fog they make for a nice photography subject.

Stop at Niagara Falls

 

My German photography friend Maren guessed it right already, our next stop on the way to Maine was Niagara Falls. We are really not big fans of going to places with a lot of tourists but it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. The main vacation season is over and the falls were not so crowded with people as we expected.

If something had really impressed me there, it was the vast amount of water that shoots down Niagara Falls every second. Beside all the touristy stuff, Niagara Falls is still an impressive place that shows the beauty and the forces of nature.

The falls have been photographed many million times and there was not much to add from my side. We went there late morning, which is not the best time for landscape photography anyway, but some clouds made at least for interesting backgrounds and a constant change of light.

We are enjoying the coast of Maine since three days already and if time and internet availability allow, I will post here again soon. Please stay tuned for more...

Lake Erie sunset

 

Another great sunset finished off our second day of driving to the coast of Maine. This image was made at Lake Erie in Evangola State Park, not very far from Buffalo, NY. I have seen Lake Erie only from an airplane so far and now enjoyed just being at another one of the Great Lakes. Not many people think camping in a tent is unbeatable, like us, but we had almost the whole campsite and the lake shore to ourselves. Stay tuned for more images of the adventures of our journey...

Start in the sand

 

Yippee yeah!! We are finally on vacation and reached the wonderful coast of Maine. We took several stops on the way up here to make the long drive a little more pleasant. The first one was at the famous Indiana Dunes on the South side of Lake Michigan. We are very flexible with our plans because we stay in our little tent. You know already how much I dislike landscape images without a single cloud in the sky. Well, I tried to work with this as good as possible... ;-)

I will probably not post every day here but hopefully can let you participate along our journey a few times. So please stay tuned...