I’ve seen so many great photos of Portland Head lighthouse in Maine so I took the opportunity of leaving a day early before the Out of Acadia workshop started to visit. I arrived in the day with a clear blue sky with no clouds likely for sunset. I took a lot of shots, capturing the waves crashing. The shot below was a few minutes before sunset. I used a shutter speed of 1.3sec, focal length 20mm, f16, ISO 100.
The sky went pink for a brief spell but not exactly dramatic. This was a small lighthouse I could see in the distance, captured with a 400mm lens. I’m pretty sure it is Ram Island Ledge Light.
I went for some food in a local bar in South Portland. A couple of women, out having a few Friday night drinks started talking to me and told me that it was going to be raining in the morning then proceeded to freak me out asking if I had researched bed-bugs for the motel I was staying. Thanks! I didn’t sleep that night.
When I “woke up” before sunrise it was raining but there looked like some breaks in the clouds. I was thinking of getting back in bed then thought of the possible bed-bugs and decided to get dressed and go and see how the sunrise was. I thought the gate to the park may be closed but fortunately it was open. The rain was still coming down but I could see some color forming on the horizon so I joined a couple of other guys and set up the tripod and camera. I wanted to get a long exposure with the water being slowed using my trusty Lee filters but there was too much rain and couldn’t keep them dry enough so I shot without.
The sun came up and the sky turned a beautiful red color, the light hitting the red rocks. The color lasted for a matter of minutes then back to grey. I was so happy that I’d made my way out even if I did get wet. I’m used to that now. Here is the shot I like the best. Shutter speed 0.4sec, f16, ISO 250, focal length 16mm
I processed the shot in Lightroom for basic changes then in Photoshop using Lumenzia to bring out some of the shadows on the rocks below the lighthouse.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Happy shooting to you all!