We bravely booked a mid-winter - definitely
off-season - visit to Portland, Maine, foodie capital of the country it seems. They have over 300 restaurants, which is more restaurants per capita than any other US city, or so we were told. The food did not disappoint us. As an example, beyond the fresh seafood ubiquitously available, we had duck fat poutine fries for lunch at the fabulous Duck Fat restaurant. Unfortunately I did not take any photos of the food, so none to share here.
The weather was downright awful the first day, with sleet and freezing rain all day. We trudged around downtown Portland attempting to visit several art galleries, only to find that art galleries like to close during bad weather. All except the tattoo parlor/gallery, for which I also have no blog worthy photos. The following day, the weather was infinitely better. Actual sunshine, and no precipitation, after the morning drizzle subsided. This is the day a local resident dining beside us at Duck Fat suggested we visit Portland Head Light. Thank you, thank you, for that excellent suggestion! Here I found some worthwhile photo fodder. Portland Head Light / Fort Williams Park is in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Neither Deb nor I had ever been there. We were told it may the most photographed lighthouse in the country. Set on rocky cliffs, it is a classic Maine coastal setting. We experienced breathtaking views, with strong powerful waves, since the prior day's storm was still affecting the surf.
Enjoy my captures below!
We start with a somewhat hazy coastal view looking southerly from the light house.
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| Late Day Surf |
While the lighthouse attached house/building was very clean and attractive looking, we actually expected something more run down and old-looking, which we mistakenly thought was more common among picturesque lighthouses. There's a museum inside, but this wasn't open when we were there. It seems a substantial abode compared to what most lighthouses have to offer.
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| Portland Head Light |
To give some perspective, here's a wide angle view looking straight out to the ocean. Along with the disappearing ocean liner (which was quite huge, when it passed near us a few minutes before this shot), you'll see another lighthouse towards the left side of the horizon, quite some distance out. A bit of Google searching tells me this is the Ram Island Ledge Light Station. Using the Google Maps
measure distance tool, one can calculate that the light house is 1.18 miles away from Portland Head Light.
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| Looking Slightly North of East |
Here's a closer look at Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse, taken with the Oly 300mm (600mm eq.) zoom at 300mm, focused on infinity. I'm pleased with the quality of this given that the lighthouse is 1.2 miles away. The ocean looks rather menacing(?) to me, and I'm glad I wasn't out there clinging to this thing trying not to drown. Many ships have sunk due to hitting the ledge rock in this part of Casco Bay.
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| Ram Island Ledge Light |
Here I'm experimenting with a slower shutter speed to see some spray/splash in a different way. I didn't have a neutral density filter with me, so I wasn't able to hold the exposure for longer than 1/10 second (at f/22) without capturing too much light, but the effect is still there.
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| Smooth Spray |
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| Spritz |
Spray higher than a lighthouse?
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| Crash Boom Bah |
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| Golden Rock |
A short distance north along the walk from Portland Head Light lies a small cove and beach. Deb loved the late sunlight shining through the surf, along with a water
streaking effect on the back side of each wave, as did I.
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| Translucent Surf |
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| Wet Beach Rocks |
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| Wave Level View |
The next two photos show beach rocks taken within full shade and with late afternoon high contrast sun, respectively.
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| Beach Rocks Pose For a Shot |
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| Late Sun Beach Rocks |
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| Sunset Textures |
Here Deb did not know she was posing for my shot.
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| Deb Surveys the Ocean |
The Fresnel lens in Portland Head Light was dutifully rotating to show ships the shoreline. I took a burst of high speed shots to pick out the one I present here, naturally the shot with the light facing directly towards me. If I had an official
poster shot of Portland Head Light, this might be it.
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| Maine Beacon |
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| Symphony in Silhouette |
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| Sunset Silhouette |
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| Sunset Light |
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| Fence and Light at Sunset |
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2017, all rights reserved. Contact me for licensing or to order prints.
