I traveled to Rockport last weekend to attend a Sunday meeting of the New England Photography Guild. This gave me an opportunity to do some photography in Gloucester and Rockport Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning. I rarely get to these spots so this was a special bonus on top of a great meeting. I believe I have only been in Gloucester once in the last 20 or more years.
Iconic spots are icons for a reason — they are beautiful. I’m not into photographing icons, though I will take a few photos if I happen to be there anyway. If I do photograph an icon I try to get shots that are different from most of the others that have been created over the years by many talented photographers, tourists with iPhones, and talented photographers with iPhones. The above is my rendering of Motif #1 — from behind in very early light. It is a 4 second exposure processed to simplify the image and obscure small details.
This was a strange trip photographically because it started and ended with bird photos taken with a short lens, and in between a lighthouse photo taken with my “bird lens”.
But I should start at the beginning with my arrival at Stubby Knowles Landing in West Gloucester. I stopped to photograph the scene and only later noticed that my photo included a Great Blue Heron flying toward me.
I did see the GBH in time to get a few photos as it flew past.
I stopped at Stage Fort Park and ate the salad I had brought with me. It had only just stopped raining and the light was soft with overcast and some fog. These are a few photos from there.
I rarely photograph an ocean lighthouse, although I have photographed the three on Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire. I did photograph Nubble Light with the Milky Way one night during a rare trip to the coast in 2014. But on this short trip I photographed four in Gloucester and Rockport. The first was the Eastern Point Light from the Dogbar Breakwater that protects Gloucester Harbor. Perhaps someday I will go back when the light is better.
From there I headed to Bearskin Neck in Rockport just as the sun came out. I walked to Motif #1 and it started to rain. Back to the car for 10 minutes. The rain stopped and the sun came out again. Back to Motif #1… The pair of photos below show the difference that light can make to a photo. The left was taken as it started to rain and the right after the sun came out.
While it was raining and before I headed back to my car, I got this photo.
As the sun broke out I looked around for a rainbow. I saw a faint one the lasted only about 2 minutes before fading.
With the sun back out I took a conventional photo of Motif #1. I couldn’t resist.
The sky had some drama, so I took a photo of the distant Straightsmouth Island Light on Straitsmouth Island. I believe most people call this lighthouse the Straitsmouth Island Light.
I checked into the Airbnb I had reserved for the night and asked for advice for a sunrise location. My host suggested the sun rising behind the Twin Lights on Thacher Island. I went to check them out. At this point the wind had picked up and tree branches were coming down. I saw a huge one smash a fence along Route 127A as I drove by.
While looking for a decent spot to photograph the twin lights, I got another photo of Straitsmouth Island Light from the opposite side.
I could not find a good place to park for the twin lights, but I managed a couple of quick photos anyway. I decided this might not make a good sunrise spot.
I took yet another photo of Motif #1 before a last photo of the day in the yard of my Airbnb.
My plan for sunrise, formulated in the middle of the night, was to head to the end of Bearskin Neck and photograph the Straitsmouth Island Light using a very long lens. The forecast called for a clear sky, so I expected no clouds. What I did expect was a bright red/orange sky well before dawn. I put my “bird lens” on a tripod, but a lobster boat came into the scene before I could use it. I photographed the passing boat handheld at ISO 6400.
Then a second lobster boat cruised out of the harbor past Ship’s Mast Light.
After all this action, I was finally able to take the shot I came for. It is a 6 second exposure at a focal length of 550mm.
Around 6 AM I took some more photos around Rockport Harbor. In one the effect of the strong wind overnight can be seen.
It was still early, so I headed to Gloucester. On the way I got this photo at a small pond.
At the State Fish Pier I watched fishermen fast and furiously pulling in mackerel. With 5-6 hooks on their lines, they landed a bunch every few minutes. I took this pair of photos partly for a photography course I am teaching. The lesson for the week was the many things you can do with a variable focal length lens when combined with an accessory you all have. What is that accessory? And what did I do to get the pair of photos below?
One definition of perspective is the size relationship of objects in your photos. Based on this definition, you cannot change perspective by just changing your focal length. Perspective does not change unless you use that all important accessory — your feet. You need to move your feet, often a lot. The photo on the left above was taken at 70mm. The photo on the right was taken at 250mm. When I took the second photo I moved away perhaps 20 yards. Note how this minimized the scope of the background and simplified it.
At around 8 AM I returned to the Airbnb, the Smith House, for coffee, fruit, and a great blueberry muffin served by my host, George. This is place to stay in Rockport that I highly recommend — quiet, almost back in the woods, and a short drive to that icon in Rockport Harbor. Here are a few photos. The barn was in the back of the yard. The cream for my coffee came out of the cow’s mouth.
Before heading to the meeting I decided to play tourist and take a photo of that “shack” with my iPhone. Here it is.
With still a little time, I stopped at Front Beach not expecting much. To my surprise I found a lingering warbler, a beautiful Northern Parula. I got a quick shot with my short lens before it flew out of sight.
We had a wide ranging discussion at the NEPG meeting. It was a very stimulating meeting among a group of photographers with both shared and divergent interests. Leaving the meeting I took one last photo from near my car. Then I battled the Route 128 traffic heading back to the woods of NH.
Rockport and Gloucester were great, but it is wonderful to be back home where the morning rush hour only lasts for about 30 minutes and only in 2 or 3 places.