Surfers in Maine

On our way to Nubble lighthouse we came across some surfers battling the waves in Maine. We decided to just come back after going to the lighthouse as it was getting dark. We took a couple of shots of the lighthouse and then came back to see take shots of the surfers again. As always, the weather was still icky. Rained like three quarters of the day and when we got to our destination it was still raining. 

The bad weather didn't stop the surfers from enjoying themselves in the water catching some waves. So I parked the car, attached my 400mm to my 5D MK2, and headed towards the surfers. The sea was kind of rough near the shore. Carrying my camera body with a big lens attached while carrying my Lowepro 300 with expensive equipment in it, I just decided to stay near the shore. I wouldn't wanna risk being pushed by a big wave and falling down on the water and having equipment on my back while were in Maine. Besides, the 400mm gives me enough reach to capture surfers that were around half a mile away from where I was standing.

 I shot frame by frame and got great results from my setup. Though I wished I had a faster camera like a 1D...the 5D MK2 still performed very well. It was overcast and rainy...my camera did give me good results even if I had to increase the ISO setting for some shots. That's the advantage of a full frame camera to a non full frame one.

After shooting, my camera and lens was drenched in rain. I trust the sealing in it so I wasn't worried at all. While we were walking towards our car a surfer asked me who I was shooting for...I just said, It's just for me. How I wish I was shooting for a sports mag or something.

Biddeford pool Maine

All the equipment were soaked in the rain but were still good. Thanks to their excellent seals.

On our third day in Maine, the weather was still not cooperating but that didn't stop us from going around to explore the beautiful scenery around us. We went to Biddeford pool to hang out and take shots of the beach on this rainy day. It was a pretty good experience.

I had to use an ND4 filter for this shot to slow down my shutter speed to get the slow water flow effect. It was pretty overcast but I still was getting a lot of light from the sky. 

It was pretty good because there was no lightning. Only rain...lightning would have changed the game and we wouldn't have gone out. I wouldn't recommend going out to shoot in a thunderstorm...I break this rule sometimes as I can get really awesome lightning shots in a thunderstorm.

Houses by the shore. I wonder how much it costs to own one?

I was alternating between my 17-40 f/4L and my 70-200 f/2.8 lens. It's awesome to take really wide angle shots of the shoreline with everything in it but the scene from faraway rocks and structures made me swap lenses. It takes skills to swap lenses in rain and water without getting stuff in your sensor.

The rocks near the beach has stuff in it, probably seaweed which gave it a little texture.

I just can't stop taking shots of the rock up close. They kinda looked prehistoric.

We came back days later only to be stuck in a thunderstorm in the parking lot of the beach. We just wished that we saw the beach on a very sunny day at least once. We had fun in this place though. 

A close up of the houses near the beach.

Nubble lighthouse

A close up view of the Nubble lighthouse

On our third day in Maine last June we decided to drive to Nubble lighthouse in York Beach Maine. It was about a 20 minute drive from where we were staying. The weather was still rainy as it was the past few days, though that still didn't stop us from going down and taking photos of this magnificent lighthouse.

At the side of the lighthouse where I mostly photographed most of my shots.

This time I brought along my huge bag filled with photographic goodies from lenses to wireless triggers. 2 particular lenses were very useful that day for me. My favorite 70-200 IS USM became my main lens that day. The 17-40 f/4 L was an awesome companion to it for the wide angle shots of the beach.

A very close up of the lighthouse itself

The 70-200 was perfect in zooming in at the lighthouse. It was across from where we were standing and it has restricted access. Only people that work in the lighthouse are the only ones permitted to cross to get to it. That does not stop me from using the 70-200's awesome reach to get really close to the lighthouse. It was just enough to fill the frame with the lighthouse without me moving back. 

Swapped the 70-200 with my 17-40 to capture the lighthouse and the sea.

The 17-40 enabled me to capture the lighthouse and the sea in one shot. I was hoping to get a photo of the raging sea and the lighthouse together, and my ultra wide angle let me to do that. I actually filmed a couple of videos of the sea with it too. On situations where you don't know how far your subject is away from you, like in our case because it's our first time in this area, it's really helpful to bring multiple lenses. 

On the other side of the lighthouse was this. An awesome view of a structure and the raging sea.

Man the place was great and had a ton of photo opportunities. We were going from side to side taking shots everywhere we look. We really didn't mind the overcast sky as it added drama to our shots. Well, that's what my wife told me, lighthouses and storms do look good together on photos. After we came back home I was looking at my shots and she was right.

I had to take a portrait orientation shot of the lighthouse of course. 

It was getting late so we headed out and ate. It also loked like a bad storm is headed our way so we called it a night. We had dinner and promised to return another day to take shots of the lighthouse at night.

Cape Porpoise Maine

By the dock. It was empty when we arrived. 

Our 2nd day in Maine was stormy. After arriving the day before and deciding to just stay indoors the rest of the day, we decided to drive around the area and explore. Weather wasn't cooperating but it really didn't matter. We were determined to take some photos of the area no matter what. So I packed up my camera gear and off we went. I packed my bag with the 5D MK2 and my favorite lens for landscapes...my 17-40mm f/4 L.

Lobster cages everywhere...Maine isn't called the lobster capital for nothing.

We went to this dock and started taking shots. There was no one there, we weren't sure if it was the weather or if it was something else. That didn't stop up from taking shots around though. It was overcast so I set my camera to aperture priority and set a wide aperture to keep up with a reasonable shutter speed.

Took this from the top of the dock to get the maximum view of the sky and the sea.

I zoomed in to 40mm to get this shot. It's not as wide as the other ones.

The temperature was around maybe 65 degrees and it was really windy. it was good we bought windbreakers with hoods before we went out. The rain was non stop. The shots show that the sky was really dark. 

The restaurant at the side of the dock. I guess the sell buoys too.

The other side of the dock. That building on the right I think is a restaurant.

After about an hour, we decided to wrap it up as our equipment were drenched in rain. Again, it's the perfect time to be using the weather sealed Canon L lenses. My wife was using a Canon Rebel XT with a 28-135 lens and that did survive the rain too. Although it's not really advisable to use non sealed equipment in the rain but I guess we were lucky.

Going around a dock in Kennebunkport Maine

One of my favorite first shots in Maine

So we arrived in Kennebunkport Maine and I have packed more camera equipment than clothes...very typical for photographers. We arrived in our cottage late in the afternoon and then walked around the downtown looking for a place to eat. I then found one of the docks near the restaurant where we had our first Maine dinner.

So I take out my camera, with the 17-40mm attached. and started to take shots. we just went on walking around the dock area looking for some interesting subjects to photograph. The 17-40mm f/4 L when attached to a full frame body gives you excellent point of views if you know how to compose properly. It's also an excellent lens to walk around with in any weather as it is weather sealed. It was raining a bit when I did these shots so the weather sealing was an excellent feature. 

It is the same boat as the one above, although I tried to capture the water reflection too at the bottom.

 I love taking pictures of docks and bridges because they are actually excellent in giving you nice perspectives.

Maine is an excellent place to capture marine photos. They have docks, boats, wildlife, and everything you can think of when it comes to the sea. I took advantage of that by taking with me wide angle lens, a telephoto and a super telephoto, and boy did I use all of them.

 Taken before we headed out for dinner that day.

A rusty piece of machinery. Gives the photo a bit of interest.

These are just the first batch of photos that I took. There are many more to come in my upcoming posts!

What has happened in June 2012

A ton of stuff has happened to me at the beginning of the month.

I got married to my fiancee of almost 4 years. I have pictures from that.
We went to Maine. I have pictures from that.
We went out for a whale watching tour. I have pictures from that.
We saw surfers by the beach. I have pictures from that.
I acquired a ton of new equipment. I'll review those, no pictures as of now.

Anyway, it has been a busy June for me. I had taken around 2800 photos from our last trip. When you go to Maine make sure you pack a ton of disk space like we did, and also a raincoat and a camera rain cover.

I'm in the process of processing all the photos that we took from the wedding and the trip. For now I'll leave you a lovely picture of one pretty scene we saw by the coast when we were on our trip.

Taken with my 5D MK2 with my 17-40L

A bloody hand and little people

Couple of months ago I entered a photo contest with an open subject. The contest was also judged by a single judge although the top 25 entries were to be picked by a voting public. The instruction was pretty simple...impress the judge with a simple but powerful image that catches the eye. I usually don't enter contests that are picked by a voting public at the same time free, as these two things together create a bit of a problem for photography contests. The thing is, I wanted to create a photo project for myself so I might as well enter it at the same time, so I chose to create this image and enter it.

The setup was simple. I needed a white background and lots of blood...fake blood that is. So I went to the grocery store for some ingredients. I got colorless syrup that acts like a base for the blood and red food coloring. I mixed them up together with water until I got the consistency that I wanted. Problem is, the blood looked transparent red, so I read online that to make it more realistic you add chocolate syrup which I did. I finished my blood mix and was ready to go.

So I went up the studio and prepared my shot. I prepped my light table and all the stuff that I will need. I bought some little people from the hobby store and arranged them around the jar that I'm using. 

Fot this shot I chose to use my Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro. It's the sharpest lens I own so that's a no brainer if I'm willing to get all the sharpness I want for the shot. I attached it to my full frame body and then attached a wireless shutter release. I then attach it to a tripod then pre focused on my jar. I then attached a wireless flash trigger on the body to trigger the lights. 

I used two lights on each side. The light on the left of my had acted as my main light and the opposite became the fill. I then overpowered the flash at the bottom of the table to overexpose the bottom of the table where my jar is located. I also did the same thing on the light behind the table to make the background overexposed. I then set my aperture to f16...the maximum I get without underexposing my shot. Then the shutter to 125th/sec. 

I then practiced some shots with the fake blood pouring out of my hand. I then chose the best one.

My entry didn't win. Although I had lots of fun doing it.