Posts in Category: Maine
Off Mount Agamenticus. Happy Columbus Day!
Mount Agamenticus facing north.
Mount Agamenticus, at a majestic 692 feet, would be barely a hill anywhere but on the southern coastal plain of Maine. In fact, it would take 5 Mt. As, stacked, to meet the British standard for a mountain, and Britain is not known for its tall mountains. Still, sitting where it is, with its far flung toes in the sea on one side, and the relative flat of the coastal plain all around it, it provides impressive views. On a clear day you can see Boston to the south, the coast from the Isles of Sholes off Portsmouth New Hampshire as far north as Cape Elizabeth, and the Presidential Range, including Mt. Washington, far to the north and west. I, along with several hundred other folks, was inspired to brave Route 1 Columbus Day weekend traffic and the twisty drive up the mountain to see what fall was looking like from Mt. A. When I left the mountain at about 11, there were cars circling the parking lot looking for a space. Two things to note in the sweep panorama above. 1) we do not have a lot of maples in Maine, and therefore not a lot of color, compared to, say, Vermont, and 2) southern Maine, the most populated area of the state, anywhere in-land from the coast, looks pretty much like unbroken forest as far as the eye can see. It is almost, even on Columbus Day, as though Columbus had never sailed…or that is the way it looks from the majestic heights of Mount Agamenticus (ignoring, of course, the parking lot). 🙂
Sony Alpha NEX 5t with 16-50mm zoom. Sweep panorama. Processed in Lightroom.
Fall Fatigue? Happy Sunday!
Along Route 9 in Kennebunk ME
“If your eye is generous then your whole being is full of light.” Jesus
Are you getting tired of fall color yet? Buck up! In Maine we have two fall color seasons. Right now the color is mostly maple and a little birch. Just about when the last maple leaves fall to the ground, the oaks will turn a brief red, and than shade to deep cooper. We have weeks to go 🙂 This is a favorite stop for photography. While I was there, for 10 minutes on a Saturday morning, at least 3 other cars stopped. They did not all have out of state plates either. This pond is not on the main route through southern Maine. You have to know it is there, or have taken the scenic route to Kennebunkport from Wells. Once you see it during any decent fall, though, you will very likely be back for more! I check back often (it is only a few miles from the front door) just to see the changes in color day to day and what the sky is doing. What is happening here is a narrow front passing through, pushing out a film of cloud ahead of it. I like this scene best with clouds in the sky to balance the landscape. I have toyed with the placement of that single tall pine on the right. For this shot, I angled the camera up to get the full height in…sometimes I keep the shot level and lop the top of the pine off…that keeps the angles more natural…but then you have to deal with the truncated pine. Dilemma. The color is the star of the show anyway. I will probably go back a few more times this week, so you may see other pine variations…and certainly the color will change, as trees loose their leaves and others turn. And I can always hope for new skies.
The generous eye…the eye that sees the light and beauty…the spirit…in everything and everyone, can look at the same scene day after day and always find something new. No such thing as fall fatigue. You can never have too much fall color, anymore than you can have too much beauty. We are full of light in the way a bucket under a flowing tap is full, water splashing over the edge and always making room for more. If I catch a splash and share it in this image…well, that is just what I do. That is generosity in my eye. Praise be to the Creator, the one light, infinitely generous. Happy Sunday!
Close in with a Saffron-winged Meadowhawk
Saffron-winged Meadowhawk. Fernald Brook Pond, Kennebunk ME
In the cooler weather of fall the Meadowhawks are spending more time in sitting in the sun during the day…soaking up heat. They are more approachable this time of year. This shot was taken at 48mm equivalent field of view from about 6 inches. And even then the bug did not fly. It was still there when I left. It is a Saffron-winged Meadowhawk, a species I had never seen in Maine (or anywhere else) until this summer…and this summer they are everywhere I go. It was, in fact, one of two dragonflies I photographed in a few days in the thumb of Michigan. Everywhere!
Sony HX90V. 1/320th @ ISO 80 @ f4.5. Processed and cropped slightly for scale in Lightroom.
Reflected Glory
Fernald Brook Pond, Route 9, Kennebunk ME
If I live to be a hundred (and we stay in Maine) I imagine I will still be visiting this pond every fall to see what the color looks like in reflection. Sheltered as the pond is, it has to be blowing a gale before anything disturbs the mirror of the surface. This still autumn afternoon the trees are, if anything, even more brilliant in the polarized reflection in the pond.
Sony Alpha NEX 5t in-camera HDR. Nominal exposure 1/200th @ ISO 100 @ f9. Processed in Lightroom.
Fishing Old Falls Pond
Old Falls Pond on the Mousam River, West Kennebunk ME
Yes, fall is coming on strong now here in southern Maine. I drove out to the Kennebunk Plains and Day Brook Pond yesterday, and then around to Old Falls and Old Falls Pond on the Mousam River. There was a friendly fisherman at Old Falls Pond and I asked if I could include him in the view. He makes it a classic calendar or magazine cover shot. Maybe on the Post, painted by Norman Rockwell. 🙂
Sony Alpha NEX 5t with 16-50mm zoom @ 24mm equivalent field of view. In-camera HDR. Nominal exposure 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f9. Processed in Lightroom.
The Texture of Fall
Maple Leaf. Kennebunk Maine
Full Fall has finally come to southern Maine. We are not yet at peak color, but it looks now like we might make it by Columbus Day…which would put us right back on schedule 🙂 Both of my Point and Shoots are malfunctioning at the moment (I actually canceled a trip to Panama, at least in part, because my workhorse cameras have gone lame…one is in the shop and the other will go in this week) so I am shooting with my Sony Alpha NEX 5t. I had forgotten what a nice camera it is. It certainly captures all the subtle texture and delicate color of this fallen leaf (if delicate is a work you can use to describe red).
This is an in-camera HDR at 63mm equivalent field of view using the 16-50mm zoom on the NEX. Nominal exposure was 1/80th @ ISO 320 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
Harvey Ried on Banjo
Harvey Ried. Punkinfiddle Festival, Laudholm Farms, Wells ME
The yearly Punkinfiddle Festival at Laudholm Farms in Wells Maine is a celebration of harvest and folk music, and a fund-raiser for the Wells National Estuarine Research Center. Lots of kids activities. And music on the porch of the Education Building. This is Harvey Ried, a well known local musician with several albums and several books of Autoharp and Banjo instruction. He and his wife, Joyce Anderson, play a variety of folk and old-time music on the fiddle (Joyce), guitar, autoharp, and banjo (Havey).
Sony HX90V in Superior Auto. Processed in Lightroom.
Monarch in Asters
Monarch, East Point, Biddeford Pool, Maine
East Point in Biddeford Pool Maine forms one boundary where the Saco River (or perhaps more exactly, Saco Bay) meets the open Atlantic. It is directly across a narrow channel from Wood Island and Wood Island Light. Perhaps because it sticks out into the ocean a ways and has some interesting vegetation, it is always a good spot to find butterflies, and Monarchs in the fall in particular. This seems to be a particularly large specimen, caught foraging among the New England Asters growing along the edge and in the under-story of a large stand of wild rose and other plants. From the overall brightness of the bug I am tempted to say it is freshly emerged, but in this close view you can see some wear on the wings…which might make it a migrant from further north.
Sony HX90V at 1440mm equivalent field of view (using 2x Clear Image Zoom). 1/250th @ ISO 320 @ f6.4. Processed in Lightroom.
Harvest!
Farmer’s Market Stand, Common Ground Fair, Unity ME
The Common Ground Fair draws organic farmers and gardeners from all over New England. There are two Farmer’s Markets: one near the Pine Gate and one near the Rose Gate. I have always been attracted to the displays of color and texture in fresh fruits and vegetables put out for sale in open markets like this. Such a lot of goodness!
Sony HX90V in Superior Auto. Processed in Lightroom.
Supermoon / Blood Moon
Blood Moon/Supermoon. Kennebunk ME
Last night there was a huge fellowship of moon watchers…people all over the world stood outside (or went to the beach for the dark sky as we did) to watch a fairly unique supermoon eclipse of the moon…a Blood Moon. Today social media is flooded with photos taken from around the globe. The moon probably had better viewing ratings than the Superbowl last night!
This is my shot. Nikon P900 at about 1800mm equivalent field of view. 1/6th second at ISO 1600 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom.
Bonus collage:
Blood Moon eclipse. Kennebunk Maine