Snowy Sand Beach

Went for a walk on Sand Beach in Acadia National Park yesterday. Getting down the stairs covered with 3 feet of icy snow pack was a challenge; but easy walking on the beach. My friend, George Soules, often comments when seeing my landscape images - you know Joe McNally says, "He hasn't seen a landscape photograph that can't be improved by adding a person."  I am here to say, this snowy landscape image has been improved by adding a puppy (the people help too). And this puppy was moving; he's only standing on two legs in this shot. To learn how to create images like the one below, consider attending one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Fujifilm X100S, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/900 sec, ISO 400, 3/14/15, 12:12 PM

Snowy Sand Beach, Acadia National Park, Maine

Below are my post processing steps for this image:

The original JPG image.

In Nik Color Efex Pro 4, I used the Tonal Contrast filter. I wanted the foggy look for the distant, background mountains, so I only used about 25% of the filter on the Beehive and other mountains.

In Photoshop, I used the Spot Healing Brush (with content aware) to remove some of the really big out of focus snowflakes in the sky.

Nik Sharpener Pro and then in Lightroom:
 • Increased Whites +4
 • Post-Crop Vignette -9
Then the bottom-right corner looked a bit dark - to help that I:
 • Added Graduated Filter to the bottom-right corner, with:
    • Increased Exposure: +0.52
    • Decreased Shadows: -26

Appreciating Photographs

I had the opportunity to visit the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine last weekend. Our group was allowed a rare treat to view and study some photographs in the museum's archived collection. They pulled out boxes filled with prints by: Margaret Bourke-White, Paul Caponigro, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, and Minor White. This was a special moment to study the master prints up close (without glass or frames)  and to immerse myself in their beauty. If given the chance to view master prints, run don't walk - seeing the print in a book or on a screen (website) never does justice to the actual print and all its tonality. Additionally, I spent some time visiting the various exhibits. This shot of a stairwell from the first floor to the ground floor was taken with my little Fujifilm camera. To learn how to create images like the one below, consider attending one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Fujifilm X100S, 23mm, f/8 (&B there ;-), 1/450 sec, ISO 400, 2/28/15, 11:08 AM

Colby College Museum Of Art, Waterville, Maine

Two Perspectives

Two different perspectives of the Jesup Path in Acadia National Park from yesterday's visit. With at least three feet of snow on the path - snowshoes are required! I decided to head out a little before sunset to maximize the golden hour. That didn't pan out, the clouds blew through before the sun reached the golden light. Not to fear, the Jesup Path always has interesting photographic subjects. First, taken about three feet from the ground with a wide angle (16 mm). The starkness of the bare trees against the vibrant cloud filled sky compelled me to capture the scene. Second, looking up a tree with a small telephoto lens (85 mm). I really enjoyed the mushroom patterns scattered over the birchbark trunk. There you have it, changing perspective allows for alternative subjects/compositions. To learn how to create images like these, consider attending one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data (left): Nikon D800, 16mm, f/14, 1/30 sec, ISO 200, 2/22/15, 3:47 PM
EXIF data (right): Nikon D800, 85mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec, ISO 200, 2/22/15, 4:29 PM

Jesup Path, Acadia National Park, Maine

Birchbark Mushrooms, Jesup Path, Acadia National Park, Maine

Frozen Otter Cliffs

Otter Cliffs in Acadia National Park at 110 feet tall are one of the tallest headlands north of Rio De Janiero.  Because of all the recent storms, they are currently coated with sea spray. In the past week with the three storms we've had, the sea spray has blown to the top of the cliffs, creating a frozen cliff face. I captured this image during the MDI Photo Club's monthly outing. The photo club ventured out attempting to capture the cliff face during the morning golden light; we were greeted with calm wind conditions and a (relatively) warm sunrise. To learn how to create images like this, consider attending one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 300mm, f/16, 1/50 sec, ISO 100, 2/7/15, 7:15 AM

Frozen Otter Cliffs At Sunrise, Acadia National Park, Maine

Bucks Harbor Machiasport

Last October, Brenda choose a weekend getaway to Downeast Maine. I'm thinking Bar Harbor is Downeast Maine; turns out there is more Downeast to see. We mostly drove around, allowing me plenty of occasions to stop the car, backup (as we passed an interesting vista), hop out, and take a few pictures. A few pictures meant at least 30 minutes per stop - we didn't get very far.

There are oodles of coves in Downeast Maine to explore and photograph. This image was taken at Bucks Harbor in Machiasport, Maine. Let's just say this wasn't the 'picture-perfect' day with a crisp blue sky, puffy white clouds, and a golden sunset. Sometimes days like these provide the right set of circumstances to capture the feeling or mood of the scene. For me, this image does that. To learn how to create images like this, consider joining one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 24-70mm @ 60mm, f/14, 1/13 sec, ISO 100, 10/18/14, 3:09 PM

Bucks Harbor, Machiasport, Maine


Below are my editing and post processing steps from the raw images to the final image.

The raw image:

In Lightroom: 
 - cropped the green boat from the left side
- applied a graduated filter to the sky

In Nik Color Efex Pro:
 - Added the Tonal Contrast Pro filter
 - Added the Skylight filter

Also used Nik Sharpner Pro:
 - default settings

In Photoshop, I used the content-aware cloning brush to remove all the sensor dust spots from the sky for this final image.