While vacationing in Boothbay Harbor, Maine in August, our family took a 2-day trip to Acadia National Park, several hundred miles north. The National Park is quite a bargain with a 7-day pass at $20, providing access to miles of hiking trails, biking, camping, museums, gardens, and swimming (although the water temperature at Sand Beach is only in the 50s in August).
When checking in to our motel at nearby Bar Harbor, the receptionist at the front desk assured me that Cadillac Mountain is the place to be for great sunrises. After checking out the mountain that afternoon with it’s spectacular sweeping views, it seemed like a good plan and hoped for nice clouds the next morning.
August 26, 2013, 5:37 a.m., panorama consisting of 4 stitched photos, Canon T2i, 17-55 mm at 21 mm, f4.5, 100 ISO, 1/4. Click for more photos
The forecast for the morning was for overcast skies and rain, generally not conducive to landscape photography. I peaked out the window at 4:30 a.m. and saw a glimmer of hope: although the sky was generally overcast, there were a few large horizontal splits in the clouds. If the openings in the clouds held up, the sun rays would bounce off the upper and lower clouds, creating the possibility of a great sunrise.
I drove up the winding Cadillac Mountain road for about 20 minutes, reaching the summit at about 5:30 a.m. My mom, daughter, and I joined dozens of people at the summit as catching the first sunrise in the U.S. is popular among Acadia National Park visitors (actually, the first sunrise in the U.S. can be seen from Cadillac Mountain only in the fall and winter when the sun rises south of due east). We were very lucky that morning as the sunrise was stunning, with an explosion of blue and orange colors lasting about 25 minutes. This photo provides a sweeping view of the sunrise, with Bar Harbor as the backdrop-a very special and memorable moment that was the highlight of our trip. It was a pleasure catching this rare, fleeting, and beautiful event.
August 26, 2013, 5:42 a.m., Canon T2i, 17-55 at 48 mm, f4.5, 100 ISO, 1/25. Click for more photos
I used a Canon T2i SLR mounted on a Manfrotto tripod with 10-22 and 17-55 mm Canon lenses (no filters), 100 ISO at f4.5. I usually use an aperture between f7-11, but wanted a faster shutter speed to prevent camera shake due to windy conditions.
The photos are not souped up Photoshop creations but realistic depictions of the brilliant show that Mother Nature put on that morning. Not much post production work for these as my work focused on selecting from dozens of photos I took that morning, straightening, and cropping.
August 27, 2013. 6:03 a.m., Canon T2i, 17-55 at 48 mm, f11, 400 ISO, 1/800. Click for more photos
After catching a great sunrise from Cadillac Mountain the previous morning, I decided to check out Bar Harbor the next morning. I got to the main dock early and saw fisherman coming in with their catch (mackerel I think). Nice sunrise that morning and I was able to catch the sunrise against the schooner. Click any of the photos for more photos from Maine.