Those of you who read this blog know I love the coast of Maine. I grew up sailing there, and as I near the coast, the salt air brings with it memories of harbors and little coves, “fish shacks” where we get the freshest seafood, tiny islands we had to ourselves, and sleepy little towns that are now tourist destinations and the ones I try to avoid in favor of ones that are still sleepy.

We had a full house for our Summertime on the Maine Coast, and as happens in our groups, the laughter started right away. Another great group that made some wonderful photographs.

When one thinks of Maine, one invariably thinks of lobsters. One of our favorite locations is one of those still-sleepy pockets. We go there every time we are in Maine, as we have gotten to know the local fishermen whom we can now consider our friends. The past two workshops there, we have had a lobster fest down on the pier, cooked by our friends, with corn on the cob, BBQ, and other goodies.

The local summer kids love it here, too, and how could they not? They can run around without their parents having to worry about them, and they have a great time, especially picking up lobsters that are clearly not part of their normal daily lives!

Arnie and I talk about photographing people engaged. We want a sense of who they are.

Dave caught a magical moment, as the brother was curiously inspecting the hard shell of the lobster, then converted it into a lovely black and white.

Jeff made this photo of the sister holding the “larger-than-life” lobster, its claws ready to grab hold of something, well away from her body.

One of the characteristics of the Maine coast is the contrast between the craggy rocks and the ocean. We encouraged people to photograph it.

Lauren did a long exposure as the light was fading, and smoothed out the water for an eerie effect around the dramatic rocks slipping down into the sea.

Brad spent a long time down near the water waiting for the right combination of surf as it tumbled over and around the rocks

If you look carefully, you will see the same, still pool in both.

One cannot come to Maine and not photograph lighthouses. Arnie and I keep challenging our participants to make their photographs different. We talk about leading elements.

George chose to do an HDR image, using the fence as his lead-in. (High dynamic range blends several exposures together to get details out of both the lights and shadows.)

Jeanne used a railing and cat walk to lead her viewers’ eyes down to the lighthouse. There’s a story here about the light, but first, the photograph.

And now, the story before we continue with our Same Place — Different View.

We were photographing in a harbor where artists have painted for centuries. As the late-afternoon light got better, we headed over to the lighthouse. The sun dipped down towards the horizon, and the light came on … briefly. After not too long, it went out! I have never seen that happen with that lighthouse over the decades, but I found out later that occasionally this occurs. Frustrated, other people packed up and left, escaping the mosquitoes and midgies (no see-ums) that came out.

What to do? It was a no-brainer for Arnie and me. After all, we had spent decades photographing for clients who expect you to get the shot. No ifs, ands, or buts. No excuses. No second chances. Even dire illness and death wouldn’t count!

And no, the light was not added in Photoshop or any other program. The light in Jeanne’s lighthouse and those others in the Student Gallery is real. It just doesn’t happen to be the one that was designed to go with the lighthouse! Arnie made it happen along with the help of Gav, one of our “spousal units,” as we affectionately call our guest spouses. How did we do it? Ingenuity that our workshop participants gleefully witnessed!

Now, back to more photograph comparisons…

Sometimes when our participants draw a blank in what to photograph, we point them to the most unlikely subjects. After all, photography is about seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. I love rust and shapes. Textures. They make wonderful photographs. The Maine coast is more than just boats and harbors, and I pointed out a strange-and-wonderful piece on one of the piers.

Cindy had a great time with it and really learned to use her tripod and ball head (the real kind, not those two-handled wanna-bes) to get what she wanted.

Hazel saw us, and being a forensic investigator, came over to see what we had found. Her photograph is completely different and also very effective.

One does not always have to show the whole object to tell the story. Arnie and I pointed out details to our participants, including the various patterns of lines on boats and docks. Lines for non-sailors is just another word for ropes.

Nikki found a line that attached a buoy to its anchor on the deck forward of a pilot house and made a very pleasing composition.

Ruth found one in a dinghy down on one of the floats and worked the scene until she came up with what she wanted.

Every lighthouse has its own look. For us sailors, before the days of GPS, Loran, and even short-wave radios (yes, that’s how I first learned to navigate using technology), it quickly let us know where we were along the coast. The lighthouses are always a friendly sight. We usually ask everyone during our coastal workshops to make a photograph of the lighthouse with their own unique vision.

Alice did one using the signature picket fence, texture, and shadows cast by the lightkeeper’s house for her photograph.

Linda, on the other hand, used the tell-tale texture of the lighthouse and windows for her elegantly simple image.

For those who missed the link above, check out the student gallery page for more of their images. As always, we are very impressed with the work they did.

Meanwhile, we are in Week Four of our 11-week, 11K-mile workshop trip. MooseCat is quite happy with Robbie, our house sitter, and Sara, our office assistant, whilst we are away. We are wondering if he’ll deign to talk to us when we return. Robbie keeps sending reports that “MC” is trying to steal his girlfriend away. MooseCat is such a charmer. Robbie, watch out!

We’ve added Sicily as an add-on to our European workshops next summer. For more information on that, see our BCPA News page.

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