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

Pastel Colors At Sunrise

A 6:00 a.m photo at the edge of Penobscot Bay, Maine, moments before sunrise.

I generally like sunrises with a bit of drama, such as cloud formations that pick up the morning colors.  But I nevertheless found this more subtle sunrise to bring to me a certain calmness and tranquility.  I think it's all about the range of colors here, and the gentle gradients created by the shifting colors and tones.  It makes me think of pastels... and orange sherbet.

Olympus E-M1 with 12-100 F4 zoom @ 54mm
1/10, F4, ISO 400

After this image, the colors began to fade and I thought the show was all over.  It was my time for a second cup of coffee and I put a couple of more logs on the fire in the cabin.  But 45 minutes after this shot, I looked out on the water again, this time just to the right of the small sail boat, and saw the scene below, with the starboard side of the lobster boat facing east into the sun.

Panasonic GX80/85 with 100-300mm zoom @ 162mm
1/200sec, F5.6, ISO300

Photo Story: Sea Smoke on Penobscot Bay

I don’t claim to be an expert on fog, smoke or steam.  My prior post called “Fog on Penobscott Bay” was about a photo I took one early morning in August.  I did a bit of research online and found that there are several kinds of fog.  My conclusion based on the definitions given, was that the summer fog we experience along the Maine coast is “advection fog”. It requires warm air over cold water.Well, today I explored online the concept of “sea smoke”. I had seen a number of photos of sea smoke, though mostly they were taken along the Maine coast in the winter.  Nevertheless, I was pretty sure that is what I saw one cold morning last October.

Sea smoke can occur when cold air moves over warm water.  (It seems this is the opposite of the conditions that lead to fog.) I think this is what happened in the image shown below. 


This image was taken on a cold October morning.  I am presuming that the air temperature was colder than the water surface temperature.  It was about 6:45 a.m. and the sun had just begun to show itself.  I’m thinking this created the required layer of moisture-saturated air above the water that then cools and condenses. 


Of course I could be wrong about this, but it nevertheless was a pretty picture.

Olympus E-M1

Panasonic 14-140 F3.5-F5.6 

@ 140mm (280mm fffl)

1/2500s

F5.6

ISO 200

Photo Story: Fog on Penobscot Bay

Fog and the Maine coast go together.  This is especially true in the summer, when the prevailing southwest breeze can bring moist warm air off the land which then passes over the cold ocean water, causing the moisture in the air to condense.  If you spend a week on the Maine coast, you will need to be prepared for a few days of fog. Even in summer, this means fleece jackets or wool sweaters, and sometimes both.

I have read that there are several kinds of fog.  From what I can tell, the type of fog I have described above and which is shown in the photo below is called “Advection fog”.  Advection refers to the wind bringing moist air over a cool surface. Advection fog can also occur when warm air passes over thick snow-pack.

Olympus E-M1

40-150mm kit zoom F4-5.6R

@ 102mm (204mm fffl)

1/250s

F8

ISO 320

Into the Fog

The photo was taken in August at 7:00 a.m.  The location was Penobscot Bay.  An hour earlier, the morning was beautifully clear, and I witnessed an outstanding sunrise. I knew that it would be an interesting morning because I also saw in the distance a thin band of fog. It made the horizon look much nearer, and it began coming closer. Then, coming around a point of land to my right, and outside the field of view of the camera, flowed a white “tongue” of fog gliding across the surface of the water.  As you would expect, this did not seem to phase the lobstermen seen here heading out to check their traps. A moment after capturing this image, the lobsterboat disappeared into the approaching fog.  I guess that’s no big deal for those who know the sea. 

Another few minutes went by and then I, watching all of this from a rocky beach, was fully engulfed by fog. It was then time to walk back to the cabin, put on a sweater, and have another cup of coffee.

Below is a black and white version.  It’s the same photo, but converted to black and white in Adobe Lightroom.