One Photo: Penobscot Bay Morning

This is my favorite photo from several trips along the Maine coast this past summer.  The wind was minimal so the reflections in this cove were awesome.  The lobster boat was positioned nicely, though because it was backlit I did lighten it up in Lightroom.  The clouds were magnificent and really lit up when the sun moved high enough to be above them.

The photo was taken an hour after sunrise, which gave the sun time to clear the horizon and disappear behind a bank of clouds.

As far as my gear, I rarely use anything wider than a 24mm equivalent lens (the wide end of my zoom lens).  But in this case I used a 12mm (18mm equivalent) manually-operated Rokinon lens on my Sony a6000 camera.

"Penobscot Bay Morning"

Sony a6000 with Rokinon 12mm F2 lens (18mm equiv.)

Aperture priority @ F5.6. ISO100. 1/800 sec

Processing in Lightroom Classic CC

One Photo: Night becoming Day

After publishing yesterday's post, I noticed this image in my Lightroom catalog.  It was taken seven minutes before the photo "Off to Work" in yesterday's post, and four minutes before official sunrise on a day last month.

As the sun approached its actual sunrise position on the horizon (6:42 a.m.), I watched the clouds above me turn pink. I looked up and a little behind me to see just a wisp of the moon. After a quick "whoa", I aimed the camera upwards and autofocused on the moon.

 I was pleased with the photo because of the transition it captures of night becoming day. I was also happy that I actually saw the moon, as my attention was focused east toward the horizon.

"Night becoming Day"

Olympus E-M1 with 12-100 F4 zoom @ 100mm (200mm-e)

Aperture priority @ F4. Auto ISO 200. 1/200 sec.

Processed in Lightroom Classic

One Photo: Off to Work

My wife and I really enjoy our mornings in Maine.  Part of that is because when we are there, we are *not* going off to work. We are on vacation. Part of it is also due to the peace and quiet we experience, especially in the morning.

We like to get up before sunrise and get a pot of coffee going.  We set ourselves up on the screen porch (the mosquitos can be bad at dawn, unless there is an onshore breeze), sip our coffee, and watch the morning unfold until we decide it is time for breakfast. [We feel that this is a great "living in the moment" experience.]

During our sunrise routine, my camera is always at the ready, as periodically I'll walk down to the shoreline to take sunrise photos. The photo below is one such image.  It was taken on a day last month at 6:45 a.m. According to the PhotoPills app on my iPhone, that was two minutes after official sunrise.  I'm facing south.

We are so remote at this location that there are only two morning sounds: gulls and lobster boats. There are a lot of gulls, but just a few lobster boats.  We see maybe four boats each morning.  We love the sound of their engines as they pass in front of us, going out early to check their traps.

"Off to Work"

Olympus E-M1 with 12-100 F4 zoom @ 100mm (200mm-e)

Aperture priority @ F4. Auto ISO 200. 1/800 sec.

Processed in Lightroom Classic

One Photo: Fall Damselfly

Last month while vacationing in Maine, on a day that was not so pleasant for landscape photography, I decided to look a little "smaller".  I saw a patch of ferns that were turning their rusty brown dying fall colors and I thought I might find a nice composition.  What a thrill it was to get my lens lined up and to see this damselfly perched on a dead fern frond.

Both dragonflies and damselflies pose very nicely.  In fact, if you do disturb them and they fly off, they will often come right back to the same spot.  I've experienced that many times.

Do you know the difference between a damselfly and a dragonfly?

Answer:

A damselfly rests with its wings straight back.  A dragonfly rests with its wings outstretched at a 90 degree angle from its body.

"Damselfly on Fern"

Olympus E-M1 with 12-100 F4 zoom @ 100mm (200mm equivalent)

Aperture Priority at F4.  Auto ISO 200.  1/500 sec

Processed in Lightroom Classic CC

One Photo: Favorite Fall Photo

I didn't get many fall images this year, and I have little hope until next year.  We have had a lot of rain and wind, and I have read that the record high moisture in the air (high dew points) and the longer non-frost season, are not good signs for our maple trees.  And it is the maple tree that gives us our brightest colors.

All that being said, I did like this image taken about a month ago in Maine. Trees near fresh water tend to change colors first.

"Beaver Pond"

Olympus E-M1 with Olympus 12-100mm F4 zoom @70mm (140mm-e)

F8

ISO 500

1/160 sec

Lightroom Classic

One Photo: But thanks to my friend Dennis, two Versions

My friend Dennis commented on the Cadillac Mountain photos included in my last post. He liked the image below, which is presented here pretty much the way I processed it seven years ago in whatever version of Lightroom was then available.

Dennis has a good eye and photographic vision, and he made some processing suggestions that I found worth experimenting with.  The changes, all done in the current version of Lightroom Classic, make this image quite a bit more dramatic.

Based on Dennis' recommendations, in Lightroom I increased the contrast (+41), increased the clarity (+100), and added a slight vignette to darken the corners.  I also warmed the white balance temperature by changing it from 5,100 to 6,500 degrees kelvin.  Instant drama!

[Check out Dennis Mook's blog, especially if you are an Olympus or Fuji user, as Dennis shoots with both systems, with one or more Panasonic lenses thrown in for good measure. Link: https://www.thewanderinglensman.com ]

"Visitors at Cadillac Mountain"

Panasonic G2 with Olympus 14-54mm

 @43mm (86mm-e)

F7.1

ISO 100

1/800 sec

Clear Views atop Cadillac on Mt. Desert Island

My last post, in which I featured a few photos from the top of Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island on a foggy day this October, had me thinking about all the times I’ve been up there when the views were clear. Because today is a rainy, windy and cold Saturday, I decided to go into my archives (i.e. my lightroom catalog) to find a few images from prior years.  

What I noticed is that I have no images taken during the golden hour.  The last time I was there at sunrise was some 20 years ago with a film camera, and I don't know where any of the photos (if any) are.  And I have never been there during sunset.  So, all of these were taken during the challenging conditions of mid-day. 

Here are a few:

The town of Bar Harbor. Cruise ships are a growing occurrence.

The islands are known as the Porcupine Islands, due to their shape and appearance.