Maine Focus, Day 3, Pemaquid & Owls Head

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Photos from 10-13-13 - Pemaquid Lighthouse

Long before we left home, VB made an event page for the trip, and on it Jakub made a suggestion. There were 4 couples going for 4 days, and he suggested we all take a day to decide where we shoot. My choice was Pemaquid.

No one slept in this day because we might not be back till… well, we didn’t know. Even though it was a bit over an hour away, we were down in the rocks shooting by 6. Before my first shot and before the moment I’d forget about things like eating, I was way too cold to create. So I hustled back to the car for an overkill coat. Comfortably numb, I continued. The others were already down the rocky slope. VB had a great little hands-free light on his forehead similar to what miners would use, and Jakub and Jim both had flashlights. Mine was back in the car and I wasn’t going back again.

I started at the top so as not to stumble into their frames. Then, after 3 shots of being the nice guy, I joined them. My first shot on their level (#4) has Jim in it, and the perpetual puddle. That was the shot I saw so often while searching this lighthouse (minus Jim). It seems that that puddle must always be there, but my good friend Ray Listanski said he was there once and not only the puddle was missing but the fog was far too thick to allow exposure of even the rock. Jim’s flashlight or flash is also in the next shot, and it looks much better than the view he gave me for the other one. Jim reappears in photo 7 almost in two poses during the 10-second exposure. You can also see Yong, or at least her yellow coat in 2 translucent spots, walking toward him. I remember later in the morning when Jakub was right up to the water there shooting waves, and he waited a bit too long to capture one that captured him. The big rock formation to Jim’s left may already have a name, but it reminds me of saddle horns. That sounds like the kind of name that those type formations get, The Saddle Horns. Let’s promote the idea…

Someone somewhere once asked what time the light at the lighthouse goes out. I made a mental note to notice, but my mind isn’t always in charge when there is a camera involved. In photo 11 (6:49) the light was still on, but in photo 18 (7:04) it was out. We could assume it goes out at 7 when the sunrise is 6:56, but I was busy shooting the sun. Looking toward the rising light instead, I was drawn to the lip of rock before me that resembled a crashing wave, and worked on getting it into the shot. Because of some naming error photo 40 is out of sequence; it should be after 13 in order of appearance. So I shot the waverock as the sun gave away its position (#12); then wanted to show more space between the actual crashing waves and the waverock (#13), but needed more sky, and I was losing some of the waverock. Good thing I already had the tilt/shift mounted. With it I was able to get a 3-exposure stitch of the moment the sun finally broke though (#40). The birds on The Saddle Horns in photo 14 were most definitely there to watch the sunrise. Humankind may consider birds inferior because of their little bird brains, but, Man, check out that bird spirit.

Photo 15 could be named Flare & Fellow Fotogs. Jakub got a great shot of a crashing wave backlit by the sun that made it look like a golden wave at Nubble, and he was likely trying for a remake. I, too, was motivated by that shot of his, but settled for the colorful drama of photos 16 & 17. Soon the rays of the sun started shooting upward, and I eventually was led to a small part of the waverock that I hoped would compliment the moment (#19). Others in the group did much better with the occurrence, I’m sure.

After the sun completed its magic moments, I drifted back to the perpetual puddle. There was a couple there from Tennessee. We took turns kneeling down to pay our respects to the iconic scene, that is, kneeling or laying on the rock to line up the reflection and shoot the lighthouse. When done, I made my way back to the top taking 24 & 25 with a puddle substitute, then turned to the beauty and thanked God with a tip of the cap. Don’t laugh. God likes that. (laugh)

Someone mentioned to me when I reached the lighthouse level that the others were in the breakfast building next door. I passed Jim on the way up, I thought, and saw VB sitting behind his tripod with his face glued to the viewfinder over yonder, and I knew Jakub wasn’t thinking of food, so I kept shooting. The only thing that would have broken the spell would have been if I was holding everyone up. Eventually I made it to the back of the property, and needed some attention on my back. While laying in the yard and rolling my old bones over the earth for rejuvenation, I saw shot 33. Photos 34 & 35 were with the SX50 during the breakfast break; then it was down to the Perpetual Puddle for some later light. The whole group is in photo 39, and from there we sketched a plan for the rest of the day.



Photos from 10-13-13 - Owls Head Light

Owls Head Light, operated by the US Coastguard, beat out downtown Boothbay in our choice of where-to-next. It may not have won out by popular vote, but by mistake. Either way, we were destined for a good time.

Like our afternoon beach stroll of yesterday at Camden Hills, today’s visit to Owls Head was at the tourist time of day, which is not the best light for photography. This is the time of day I’m more likely to get Barb in the shot. For photo 5 she stopped in the shadows thinking I was shooting past her and didn’t realize she was the shot. We climbed the steps to the house and waited our turn to climb to the light. I noticed a donation box around back while shooting #7, and inserted a small thank you, thinking I’d really rather thank the sailor who sailed into photos 6 & 7. Once to the perch that houses the actual Fresnel Light, there is a fine view of the ocean, which, of course, was too hot with high light to capture with any kind of interest. The windows were helpfully tinted and a circular polarizer filter could help a little with the glare, but the comparative darkness in the house required a tripod-aided shutter speed. Tripods, of course, were not allowed and VB was guarding mine below, not so much to prevent theft as to prevent accidental damage from wandering tourists. Photos 7, 8 & 9, then, are all handheld.

Whenever I see a lighthouse, let alone stand in one, I think of my friendJack Ryan from Ohio. He is a retired professor (well, he may be retired, but he’s still teaching in all the best ways) and an avid photographer with his wife, Monnie. I call Jack the Lighthouse King. He has more photos of lighthouses than anyone I’ve ever seen, and he has such a mastery of creating inviting compositions (even at the tourist time of day) that it’s easy to see his love for the structures. He’s been published in many publications, including the leader, Lighthouse Digest, and he was the first guy I called when it was decided we’d shoot the coast of Maine. Thanks, Jack. This Fresnel’s for you, buddy.

The evening shots of this day were the ones mentioned above in the Our House part, so for me this night was more about enjoying the photos of others. I find that those long exposures do not connect me with the content in the same way the on-the-go approach does, which is why I felt the chill instead of the thrill, and watching for the right time to stop the bulb exposure was like pacing in the waiting room for the birth of your baby. It’s a good thing the dock we were on was made of concrete and unswayable to my pacing, or the good shots of others I later got to enjoy would have been marred.

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