It's My Nature » Maine

Reflections on Acadia

Ed — Mon, 24 May 2010 01:20:50 +0000

It was a tough weekend. Between some lousy weather and other commitments, I didn’t get a single image made this weekend. So today I started to look forward to our October 2010 trip to Acadia National Park (ME) and reflect back on our last visit in June 2009. I looked through some of my images from last year and thought “Hey, I can do better than that!” So I took some time this afternoon and reprocessed several of my favorite images using the new tools (particularly Nik Complete) that I did not have a year ago. Here are three of my reworked images.

The first is “Tranquility” and is the view from one of our favorite spots in Acadia – the rocks of Otter Cliffs looking toward Sand Beach. So peaceful. So tranquil. I so much wish I was there right now.

The second image is one I’ve entitled “Melancholy Morning” and is actually the view looking back toward Otter Cliffs from the Cobble Beach.

And the third image is one I’ve simply entitled “Home”. It is the village of Bar Harbor and the mountains of Acadia as seen at sunrise from Bar Island. Over the past 10 years, Bar Harbor has become our home away from home.

The Power of Nik (Razorbills and Puffin)

Ed — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:30:00 +0000

January 2010 Version Above/June 2009 Version Below

RAZORBILLS ABOVE/PUFFINS BELOW

January 2010 Version Above/June 2009 Version Below

Over the past several years I upgraded to Photoshop CS4, added then upgraded Lightroom, added plug-ins like Neat Image and the complete Topaz Suite, none of these has impressed me as much as the Nik Software Complete Collection. For those of you unfamiliar with Nik’s series of plug-ins for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture, let me say this: they are pricey but oh so very impressive in what they allow you to do with an image.

Nik Dfine is the noise reduction plug-in and works almost automatically. Click on it, it opens, assesses the image, filters the noise and all that is left to do is to hit OK. And then it is off to Nik Viveza 2, the color, brightness, contrast, texture enhancing plug-in. A little more work than Dfine but the results are well worth. Color Efex Pro is a plug-in with over 50 different filters that allow you to create all kinds of wonderful effects. Silver Efex Pro may be the best black and white conversion software available. And Sharpener Pro is an excellent image sharpening plug-in.

I don’t work for Nik. I am not a Nik professional. I am not an expert with Nik. I bought Nik Complete out of my own pocket. I’ve only had it a month but it has wowed me. Many, probably all, of my posts from the past month have been touched, in one way or another, by Nik.

The images above were made back in June of 2009 on our trip to Machias Seal Island. In both cases (Razorbills and Puffins), the first image is the image reworked with Nik while the second is the image that I had posted back in June (processed in Lightroom and CS4). To my eye the differences are dramatic. I reworked both images using Dfine to reduce any noise; Viveza 2 with their control point technology to selective manipulate colors, tones, brightnesses and textures; and Sharpener Pro to… well, sharpen the image.

This has got me thinking about the possibility of adding another feature to my website – a “How do you do that?” page where I would select an image and take us through the process, often fairly simple but sometimes not, of getting from Point A (in camera) to Point B (ready for print). That may be coming in the not too distant future so if you are interested, keep an eye out.

Stanley Brook Bridge (Acadia National Park, ME)

Ed — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:57:29 +0000

(Three exposure composite 1/15 sec @ f/11; ISO 640; 0 EV; FL 24mm and two other exposures at +1 and -1 EV.)

Another image resurrected from our June trip to Acadia. This is one of a series of beautiful stone bridges hand made by Mr. John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s workmen along the carriage roads in Acadia National Park. Mr. Rockefeller, out of his own rather ample funds, built and maintained the over 50 miles of carriage roads throughout Acadia. Along those carriage roads (now used primarily by hikers and bikers with an occasional carriage still traveling on several of the roads) are a series of magnificent bridges spanning waterways and crossroads.

Stanley Brook Bridge spans the Stanley Brook entrance to Acadia National Park with the brook on one side and the Seaside Trail connecting the Jordan Pond area to Seal Harbor on the other. The Day Mountain Carriage Road runs across the bridge.

Image made with my Canon 30D; Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens; tripod-mounted.

Tranquility

Ed — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:57:54 +0000

1/50 sec @ f/11; ISO 400; 0 EV; Natural light

This is an oft photographed and oft painted scene – the foot bridge and Selectmen’s House in Somesville, Maine. Somesville is actually the oldest village on Mount Desert Island, home of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We stopped by on our way to Southwest Harbor on what was an overcast and somewhat gloomy day. The rains stopped just long enough for me to get out of the car, get down low to the ground (on a towel I had in the hatch) so I could get the Blue Flag Irises in the foreground, and make a few images.

Image made with my Canon 30D and 24-70mm f/2.8L lens, handheld.

More Puffins from Machias Seal Island

Ed — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:09:50 +0000

“The Maestro”

“The Olympic Diver” preparing for an inward two-and-a-half.

“The Squawker”

“Shy One”

I’ve been working my way through the images made on our recent visit to Bar Harbor/Acadia and Machias Seal Island. Here are a few more Puffin images for your viewing pleasure. (At least I hope you find it a pleasure!)

All images were shot from a bird blind on the island and with my Canon 50D and 300mm f/2.8L IS lens, handheld (mostly balanced on the window ledge).

We’ve done this trip with Bold Coast Tours out of Cutler, Maine for the past two Junes and I can’t say enough good things about Captain Andy and this trip. If you ever have the chance, don’t pass it up.

Mr & Mrs Photographer

Ed — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:23:43 +0000

While I take the time needed to process other images from among the well over 1,000 that I made during our stay in Bar Harbor/Acadia, I thought I would give you this image of my wife and me sitting on a rock atop Cadillac Mountain on our last day of vacation.

I made this image with my 30D and 24-70 f/2.8L lens, tripod-mounted and using the timer function, of course. No HDR composites here, just a single image.

In the background, you can see the village of Bar Harbor, the Porcupine Islands, Bar Island with the exposed sand bar (only at low tide) connecting it to Bar Harbor, and the Schoodic Peninsula. What a beautiful day it was.

The background was so stunning that while there, I ended up taking photos of several other couple for them using their cameras.

Two for the Road

Ed — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:39:38 +0000

(These two images are Copyright Ed Vatza 2009. Usage without my prior written approval is prohibited.)

Well, today is our last day in Bar Harbor. Tomorrow at 0500 we will be on the road and heading back home. Weatherwise, there were some good days and some not so good. But in the final analysis, we got to do most of what we wanted to do. And since we have been coming here regularly since 1999, we will no doubt make a return trip in 2010.

The first image is the view from atop Cadillac Mountain. At a mere 1,530 feet, it is the tallest (eastern) coastal mountain in the U.S. In this image, you can see the village of Bar Harbor as well as the four Porcupine Islands and Bar Island in Frenchman’s Bay. You can actually see the exposed sandbar that connects Bar Island to Bar Harbor at low tide.

The second image is of Bass Harbor Light on the other side of the island in, well, Bass Harbor. We visit this light every year but I was never able to get an image that I was happy with until now. I am really excited about the results I have been getting with three-, five- and seven-image composites using Photomatix HDR software.

Both of these images are seven-image composite HDR images. Hope you enjoy them.

View from Otter Cliffs (Acadia National Park)

Ed — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:39:54 +0000

(This image is Copyright Ed Vatza 2009. Usage without my prior written approval is prohibited.)

A couple of days ago, I posted an image of Otter Cliffs taken from the cobble beach along Ocean Drive in Acadia National Park. Now I am presenting an image I made today that shows the view from Otter Cliffs looking back toward the cobble beach and beyond to Sand Beach, Great Head, Gorham Mountain, the Beehive and Champlain Mountain.

This is a 7-image composite processed with Photomatix HDR software. Image was made using a Canon 30D and Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens; tripod-mounted.

Hope you enjoy the image.

Pink Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)

Ed — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:51:18 +0000

Lady’s Slipper #1 (1/50 sec @ f/4; ISO 800; -1/3 EV; Natural light)

Lady’s Slipper #2 (1/40 sec @ f/5.0; ISO 800; -1/3 EV;Natural light)

(These two images are Copyright Ed Vatza 2009. Usage without my prior written approval is prohibited.)

Vacation is winding down. Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be our last day in Bar Harbor/Acadia. We will be heading home at the crack of dawn on Wednesday. The weather was spotty but it was still great to get away for a while.

Yesterday was devoted to two bird walks as part of the Acadia Birding Festival. It was very rainy and I left the cameras behind and only bringing along binoculars. While walking along the Witch Hole Pond Carriage Road, I spotted two Pink Lady Slippers and made mental notes of where they were located.

I awoke at 0430 this morning and I saw that, while the skies were still overcast, the rain had stopped. I decided to head back out to photograph the Lady’s Slippers.

Backgrounds were tough so I really opened up the aperture shooting at between f/3.5 and f/5.6 and I had to crank up the ISO to 800 in order to get any shutter speed at all.

Images were made with my Canon 30D and Sigma 150mm Macro lens; tripod-mounted.

Note the coloration differences between the two flowers.

Otter Cliffs (Acadia NP) at Sunrise from the Cobble Beach

Ed — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:02:49 +0000

(This image is Copyright Ed Vatza 2009. Usage without my prior written approval is prohibited.)

We were up at 3:15 and scrambling down to the cobble beach along the Ocean Trail around 4:15 this morning. The skies were cloudier than I had hoped for so I decided to shoot some images from which I could then create a composite HDR image of Otter Cliffs and the cobble beach.

This is one such 5-image composite from this morning made with my Canon 30D and 24-70mm f/2.8L lens, tripod mounted.

The HDR composite was made using Photomatix software.

The five images were shot at:

5.0 sec @ f/22; ISO 200; 0 EV
2.5 sec @f/22; ISO 200; -1 EV
10.0 sec @ f/22; ISO 200; +1 EV
1.3 sec @ f/22; ISO 200; -2 EV
20.0 sec @ f/22; ISO 200; +2 EV