Nubble Light: Cape Neddick ME

Nubble Light is one of the most popular tourist attractions in southern Maine. On a sunny day in the summer, you often have to circle the small parking lot for 30 minutes or more to catch a space open, and you have to work really hard to get a shot of the light, on its own little island off-shore, without people in the foreground.

That is why I worked my way down to the very edge of the channel that separated Cape Neddick from the Nubble.

It was an all but perfect day. A few big white puffy clouds behind the light would have been nice, but I was happy with the really amazing waves chasing each other up the channel and crashing against the rocks with huge gouts of spray.

I took 100s of shots, trying to capture a wave at it’s most photogenic, against the lighthouse and its rock as backdrop. Persistence almost always pays off. It did here.

Sony DSC H9. F5.6 @ 1/800 @ ISO 100. Programed Auto. Full wide angle (31mm equiv.) on the zoom.

In Lightroom, I applied some Recovery to bring out detail in the white mass of the wave, and to darken the sky. Added Clarity and Vibrance (which made the blue sky deeper and the red building really pop), and used the Sharpen Landscape preset.

With a subject like this, and such a day, it is then just a matter of timing (and a willingness to scramble around on exposed rock that trembles with every smashing wave).

It is from the Around Home Gallery.