Maine in the Fall

Mt Katahdin and the West Branch of Penobscot River as Seen from Abol Bridge

Nikon D800, Nikon 14-24b f2.8 @16MM f8, 1/400 ISO 100

Joan and I traveled to Maine with friends Kim and Gary Amatrudo to spend a week photographing scenery and moose.  Well, the moose were very uncooperative this trip and so we got lots of gorgeous fall pics.  We had a couple of days before the leaves started to fall that provided rich, saturated colors.  We arose early each morning to look for moose and to catch the sunrise on Mt Katahdin. Here is a sunrise on Katahdin as seen from Sunday Pond. 

Nikon D800, Nikon 14-24 f2.8 @16MM f8, 1/6, ISO100

We hiked about a mile back in to one of our favorite scenic and moose places and caught the golden light of early morning on the mountain.  Shortly after the golden light disappeared-we had a beautiful reflection of the mountain in the pond. 

Nikon D800, Nikon 24-120 f4 @ 24MM f8, 1/8 ISO 200

Nikon D800, Nikon 24-120 f4 @ 24MM f8 1/100 ISO 200

One day we had nice cloud cover so that we had filtered light to shoot some leaves up a back road without the distracting light shafts coming through the foliage.

Nikon D800, Nikon 24-120 f4 @66MM f8 1/6 ISO200

On teh way home we stopped at a couple of Lighthouses.  here is a view of Pemaquid from the rock ledges below the light house. 

Nikon D4, Nikon 14-24 f2.8 @17MM f8 1/200 ISO 200

Until next time

Jim Borden 

Scenics and Light

Nubble Lighthouse and High Tide as evening approaches

I just returned from a trip to Maine looking for Moose, birds and scenics.  It was cloudy and rainy for almost the entire trip-but that did not dampen my spirits.  My professional photographer friend Mark Picard once told me "there is no such thing as bad lighting-we just have to figure out how to use the light we have".   I got to experience much of that on this trip.  On my way to the North Woods I stopped at Nubble light and had planned on getting the moonrise over the light at 10 PM. The afternoon started with clear skies and there were a few other photographers there snapping away.  The tide was going out and the skies were almost cloudless.  this can make a good image-but not a stunning image for me.

As the afternoon wore on, the clouds started moving in and some photographers packed up and left.  I thought the clouds added "character" to the scene.  I expanded my view by using a wider setting on the lens so I could capture more of the interesting clouds.

By 7:30 in the evening all of the other photographers had packed up and gone and just prior to the rain, I thought the lighthouse had more character yet depicting why lighthouses existed.

I should have used more lens correction on this shot as the lighthouse looks slightly tipped due to the edge effects of the wide angle lens. 

The following afternoon found me photographing the "Cribworks" on the West Branch of the Penobscot River under stormy skies with friend Chris White.  I will make a separate blog entry describing the "flow" of the water in photographs. 

Thursday morning brought more fog and mist and this image of a moose in a misty pond shows moose life in reality.

The next morning we were in the North Maine Woods paddling a remote stream looking for moose.  It was a peaceful setting.

On the way out of the woods I stopped again in Millinocket for the night (I highly recommend the Big Moose Inn). The following morning I had intended to head for home but met  friend Lee Cordner at breakfast and decided to spend some time photographing with him. We stopped on the Abol Bridge over the West Branch of the Penobscot River to view Mt Katahdin. This image may lack a central, strong subject-but I liked the reflection of the clouds on the river.

I proceeded from Millinocket to the coast to visit a couple of lighthouses on the way home. The fog rolled in again as I approached Pemaquid Light and I decided to stop anyway. It was a beautiful afternoon there with the fog and the in rushing tide crashing on the rocks. 

My last evening in Maine was once again spent at Nubble light. The tide was at high mark as the "golden hour" approached and the skies had character. 

Until Next Time.

Jim Borden

Maine Fall Foliage

West Branch Penobscot River from Abol Bridge

Winding Road in Maine North Woods

Doubletop in Baxter Park from Marsten Parking Area

Sandy Stream Pond from Big Rock

Newsoundehunk Stream from Marsten in Baxter Park

Newsoudehunk Fields in Baxter Park

Pretty Maple leaves near Millinockett ME

Sunset as Seen from Abol Bridge West of Millinockett ME

King of the Road in Maine North Woods

Until next time

Jim Borden

2011 in Images

2011 was a year of expanding my boundaries with photography.  I have historically focused on wildlife and birds and once in a while fit in people, scenics and landscapes.  This past year I branched out into doing more scenics and landscapes and added photographing from a kayak as a means to find more interesting subject matter. The time in the outdoors is peaceful and enjoyable and I am looking forward to another enjoyable year in 2012.

A sampling of the 2011 images are shown here.  For a gallery of some of my memorable images from 2011  click here.

Enjoy

Until next time

Jim Borden

Click here for more camera critters.