When you were growing up, did you ever read about a far off place? Somewhere that you thought was too good to be true? When I was living out my childhood and teen years in Coastal New Jersey, I would dream about travels and far off adventures constantly. Magazines (the instagram of the 70s) provided some window into the world outside of Ocean County NJ. I read Field and Stream, Outdoor and Yankee magazine just to name a few.
There were always plenty of articles on Maine. Even though Maine is just an 8 hour ride from NJ, it felt like the other side of the world to me. I had built up my vision of Maine as an idyllic wonderland. Even in my late twenties as I started to make my way in the world and took my first steps towards the lifestyle that I am lucky enough to have, I felt that my expectations for Maine might be a bit unrealistic.
Could any place really be as magical as I had imagined Maine to be? Alas it’s all true! From the minute I first crossed the Piscataqua River Bridge for the first time in 1993 to our most recent trip in the Fall of 2018, Maine has exceeded my expectations every time and without fail. It doesn't matter if it is 5 below or 90 degrees, Maine never disappoints.
One favorite place is Port Clyde and the Marshall Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse was made famous in the Forrest Gump movie. It was the scene where Forrest ended his long jog.
Compositionally the lighthouse has several advantages. The long walkway leading up to the light itself. The working light that isn’t so bright it washes out your exposure (not that you couldn’t deal with this with a composite). Most importantly there is almost unlimited access to the surrounding area. Being able to move around to get the composition you want is an often overlooked feature to any great location. I am not much into climbing over fences or trespassing or endangering myself or my potential rescuers just to get a shot.
This first image which is a 3 shot HDR composite was taken in May of 2017. This was just our second trip to the light. We had to wait about an hour to get some light and color on the clouds but we were ready when the light popped off for just a few minutes of color. So much of photography is just showing up and waiting around. Having the ability to wait for the right conditions is one of the most powerful tools a landscape photographer has.
Marshall Point Light - Three image HDR
The second image was taken the same day about 90 minutes later in blue hour. One of my favorite concepts of photography is learning when to break the rules. You are not really supposed to have your main subject dead center in the frame, but with all the leading lines in this image, it works for me.
Marshall Point Light - 2 Second exposure, f11, ISO 100. Canon 5D Mark III, 24-70 2.8 Mark II
This last image was taken in October of 2018 pre dawn. The red glow on the white railing is my red headlamp. I took many shots that morning with the lamp on in both red and white light modes as well as off. I prefer this one as I like the contrast with the blue sky.
Marshall Point Light before Dawn. 15 Second exposure, f5.6, ISO 800. Canon 5D Mark III, 24-70 2.8 Mark II
What is your favorite image? Let me know in the comments below!
If you are interested in seeing more images of Marshall Point click the link below:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kyle-lee?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=921291