Continuing the Adventures

West Quoddy Light Station Viewed from Liberty Point

We left the motel at 4 AM to travel onto Campobello Island and went to Liberty Point, which is the southern most tip of the island, to photograph the sunrise.  However, nature was against us, and we had fog.  But, there was still a lot to photograph.  Across Lubec channel, the candy striped West Quoddy light station could be visualized through the fog.  A portion of a cliff, rock face was made up of a rhyolite dike of iron pyrite which gave it a reddish color.  Looking at the scene, I decided I I saw the water flowing over the rocks and decided to photograph the scene with a slow shutter speed to blur the water.  Exposing the scene, so my histogram was to the right without touching the right edge and when I looked at the picture on my computer, I decided to utilize Topaz Impressions and convert the picture as a watercolor.

Rhyolite Dike and Water

Harebells

Beachhead Iris

Because Liberty Point gets a lot of fog and salt air, which cause the trees to lose their leaves/needles and turning the trunks and limbs white.

Trees

We next drove down to Con Robinson Point, and as we were slowly driving in I noticed a snowshoe hare feeding in the grass.  Stop the cars, the participants got slowly out and were able to to photograph the very cooperative hare.

Snowshoe Hare

The Path at Con Robinson Point

In the afternoon, we was supposed to go on a whale watch.  It was canceled supposedly due to high winds and thunderstorms (never occurred).  So after lunch we drove down to Truscott Maine, where on the side of the road, there was an old house and then front of the house was a large stand of Fireweed.  This presented many different opportunities for photographs.  We finished the day down at Beal Island, which contains the lobstering fishing village of Beals.  I also spent some time talking with Merle Beal, who was a lobstermen all his life.  Despite a slight drizzle and clouds, everybody had a good time.

Old House with Fireweed and Lupines with Seed Heads

Lobster Traps

Lobstering Equipment

Lobster Trap

Merle Beal

Next morning, we left again for Cutler for a second trip to Machias Seal Island.  I have to give you some information about Machias Seal Island.  The island is about 10 miles southeast from Cutler Maine and the sovereignty of the island is disputed.  Both United States and Canada claim the island.  Ambiguities in the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary war along with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 left Machias Seal Island in a gray zone.  The Canadians to maintain their interest in the island keep the lighthouse manned.  In fact, it is the only manned lighthouse on the Atlantic coast of Canada.  The island is also a sanctuary for seabirds and the Canadian wildlife service administers the refuge.  The number of visitors daily to the island is limited.

We traveled out on a calm sea and in the fog to Machias, where after we landed, the fog cleared and presented great light for photography.  We changed which set of blinds, we utilized to give everybody a different perspective from the first day.  Besides the Atlantic puffins and razorbills, the blind that I was in also had a large number of common murres around it.

Lighthouse Keeper

Machias Light in the Fog

Northern Gannet

Northern Gannet, Razorbills and Common Murres

Atlantic Puffin Landing

Photographing in the Blind

Arctic Tern

Common Murres

Razorbills and Common Murre

Common Murre Landing with a Fish in Its Mouth

Atlantic Puffins

On leaving the island, the fog returned and we traveled first around the island and then to not rock to photograph the seals in the fog.

Gray Seals

After returning back to Cutler, we went to the motel where we rested until suppertime and then travel to West Quoddy light for sunset.  Again, it was very foggy, so that was no sunset.  We were able, after it got dark, to photograph the light beams coming from the lighthouse.  We also had a pair of visitors, two American porcupines.  So ended another great day in Down East Maine

West Quoddy Light and the Flags Whipping in the Wind

West Quoddy Light Beams Shining through the Fog

American Porcupine

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Preliminary to the Start of the down East Photography Workshop

View along Route Nine, in Amherst

On Tuesday, July 23 I left early in the morning to travel to Lubec, Maine to meet by coleader John Slonina a day earlier than the start of the Down East Maine Workshop.  Normally my route takes me through Ellsworth, Maine and up route 12 Downeast Maine.  However, this time the GPS rooted me around Ellsworth and down Route 9 and then down to Machias.  Along Route nine, in Amherst, Maine.  There was a nice scene of a meadow with a river running through it and the mountains with clouds in the background.  When I reached Machias, I had to stop at Helen's Restaurant, which when we were up last year had burned down just before we arrived, for a bit of food.  Helen's is known for its pies.

After arriving in Lubec at the motel, I settled in and when John arrived and after he settled in, we went to scout the local sites again to decide the itinerary for the upcoming workshop.  Our first stop was West Quoddy Light Station, and then we traveled across the Roosevelt international Bridge onto Campobello Island, New Brunswick.  Our first stop was Eagle Hill Bog.  Eagle Hill Bog is one of the many bogs in the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.  Approximately one third of the 2800 acre natural area in the park is composed of raised heath-covered bogs.  The reason we stopped there.  It is a great place for macro photography with a variety of different specialized plants including pitcher plants, sheep laurel, swamp pink orchids, cloud-berry and many other interesting plants.

Our Motel

West Quoddy Light Station

Sail Rock and Grand Mahan Island in the Background

Pitcher Plan Flower with a Pale Laurel beside It

Swamp pink Orchid

Next stop was Herring Cove Park, where I tried a different technique to photograph the daisies.  I used a wide angle lens held it underneath the daisies press the focus button, and press the shutter.  It took a few times to get the picture that I wanted.  It gives a different view of flowers.

Daisies from underneath

Then arriving at the very tip of Campobello Island at East Quoddy Light Station, where off in the distance you could see rain clouds and there was a rainbow right near the lighthouse.  After the light Station, we went for supper at Family Fisheries Restaurant & Take Out, which I recommend.

East Quoddy Light Station with a Rainbow

To finish off the day we photographed the sunset at Mulholland Light on Campobello and then travelled back across the bridge to West Quoddy Light to photograph it in the civil twilight.

Mulholland Light at Sunset

West Quoddy Light Station in Civil Twilight
So ended the day one.

Down East Maine Coast Photo Tours and Workshops

East Quoddy Light

John Slonina and I led a photo tour and workshop to the down East Maine coast, and Campobello Island from July 25-28.  Normally, John limits his group size to six so that everybody gets personalized attention, plus he supplies, transportation on the overnight to was.  However, on this trip, since I was co-leading we were able to take nine participants and we utilized two vehicles.  This tour also included accommodations, but not meals.  Since part of the time we were going to go into Canada and visit Campobello Island, all participants needed their passport.

Meeting at the hotel on the afternoon of the first day, after a brief introduction and making sure that everybody had their passport we left Machias and traveled up to Campobello Island to the very top, where we had a great time photographing East Quoddy Light.  On the way back, we stopped and photographed a number of old boats stranded on the beach.  After passing through customs, we traveled into Lubec for our supper and afterwards returned to our hotel.

Group at East Quoddy Light with John answering a question

Old beached boat

The next morning, we left at 4 AM to get the sunrise at West Quoddy Light and then photographed along the trails at West Quoddy State Park, capturing the vistas of the granite cliffs and the Atlantic ocean.  During all the stops, John and I answered questions, advised people about change in their perspective and working a scene, by taking pictures, not only horizontal, but vertical, high and low perspectives and including other elements in the scene.  After we finished the morning shoot, we traveled back into Lubec for breakfast, then returned to the hotel to rest before we left to come back to Lubec to go on a whale watch.

Photographing West Quoddy Light

West Quoddy Light ( not taken this trip)

Sunrise on Coast Guard Trail West Quoddy State Park

Granite Cliffs of West Quoddy State Park

Leaving Lubec harbor on the while watch vessel, we traveled up the Bay of Fundy in Passamaquoddy Bay looking for whales and photographing the shoreline.  We had a great look at both gray and harbor seals and did see some harbor porpoises.  The trip took us up to the head harbor passage, and we were able to see East, Quoddy light and photograph it from the ocean side.  An interesting landmark was Friars Rock on Campobello.  This rock formation was created by being hit with cannonballs fired from a fort on the American side of the bay.  However, we finished the trip put out seen any whales, but, all the other sightings were great.  Arriving back at Lubec, it was suppertime and afterwards back to the hotel for night sleep prior to our trip out to mid Machias Seal Island the next day.

Friars Rock

Gray and Harbor Seals with Eastport Maine in the background

East Quoddy Light from the ocean side

Bald Eagle on the cliffs on Campobello Island

Roosevelt Memorial Bridge with Campobello on the left and Lubec on the right

 I reported out our trip to Machias Seal Island, in a previous blog.  The only problem we had on that trip was a couple of people who got seasick.  Most of the group that was on the boat with us came back and shared supper with us in Machias.

Loading the boat for the trip to Machais Seal Island

Atlantic Puffins

I am sorry to say that one of the people who got seasick on the trip was still feeling very dizzy the next morning, so we did take her to the emergency room at the local hospital where she was treated with great care and when she was feeling better brought back to the hotel and since she was feeling better and she said she could travel, I tried to catch up with the group as they were headed home, stopping at various locations such as Beale Island, a working lobstering village, Corea harbor and the Schoodic Peninsula portion of Acadia National Park.  I finally caught up with the remnants of the group at the Peninsula.

Corea Harbor in the fog

 After leaving the park, we started the trip home.  It was a great group and the whole experience was a lot of fun.



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