My Daily Photo Walk: Life Through My Lens: On the Rocks at Pemaquid Point

There's nothing like getting up at 3:30 a.m. to go and photograph a lighthouse at sunrise. Well, yes there is. Sleeping late is a close second. But this is Maine! And the weather was clear! We had no excuses, so off we went. After all, if you are in Maine, this is one lighthouse not to miss.

The lighthouse at Pemaquid Point sits on an outstanding geological swath of rising sheets of rock so weathered that they look like planks of wood. The ocean crashes upon those rocks, and the lighthouse guides fishermen to safety each night. By morning, it attracts photographers. By day, tourists. All summer, the mosquitoes lie in wait, in droves.

Having recently recovered from a broken ankle, I was somewhat leery of traversing the sheets of rock at Pemaquid in the darkness, but I got halfway across, only to realize that if I stood where I wanted to stand, I would be in the line of sight of another photographer. So, I relented and spent sunrise time at the top of the hill by the lighthouse, feeding the mosquitoes. Thank goodness for long pants, hooded jackets, and bug spray. I practiced, somewhat unsuccessfully, trying to get long exposures to smooth the crashing waves.

I have no idea why this long
exposure turned out green and red,
unless it is refracted light.

I fixed it by turning it black and white

We finished up at 6:30 a.m. and made the hour long trip back to campus in time for breakfast.

My course here at Maine Media Workshops has come to an end. It was fun and I learned a lot. I have a bunch of great prints to bring home. We had a show tonight of student work, and it was a treat seeing what the classes produced, especially the teens. We laughed and laughed at their humorous videos and oohed and aahed over the work of the adult classes. It was a wonderful week of creative learning and fun.