cruise ship

Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company & Museum / November 22, 2016 by Todd Henson

Working engine outside the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum (7 image HDR)

While visiting Portland, Maine, my father and I stopped at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company & Museum, off Fore Street, just down from the Portland Ocean Gateway, where cruise ships dock off Casco Bay. This was a small, but very interesting museum that also included a ride on their narrow gauge train.

Serenade of the Seas docked in Portland, Maine, with statue of George Cleeve (5 image HDR)

The ride began at the museum, where we had good views of Serenade of the Seas, a large cruise ship at dock. The train took us down to the Portland Ocean Gateway, where passengers from the cruise ship would enter and exit Portland. Some of the folks on the train were from the ship.

From the dock area the train reversed direction, passed by the museum, and then along the coastline paralleling the Eastern Promenade Trail, through Fort Allen Park. Around Fish Point we had very foggy views of Fort Gorges in the bay. One minute we could see the Fort, the next it was obscured in fog.

The train continued past East End Beach where we saw someone swimming in the cold water, and through the Eastern Promenade, stopping at the old railroad bridge. We were able to disembark from the train and walk around the area. The old bridge had crossed the water to the right side of the Burnham & Morrill Company factory, known for their B&M Baked Beans.

Looking through planks at old railroad bridge with Burnham & Morrill Company factory on distant shore

Old railroad bridge with Burnham & Morrill Company factory on distant shore

After we boarded the train it made its way back through the parks along the Eastern Promenade to the museum grounds. The view continued to change the entire ride, fog moving in and out. Some of the folks on the train were annoyed by this, but I found it fascinating to watch and photograph.

Luggage display in the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum

Interior of passenger train with stove (3 image HDR)

After the train ride we spent some time in the actual museum. It was small, but had a lot packed in the small space, including several full size narrow gauge train cars we were able to walk through.

There wasn’t a lot of light in the cars, but their interiors were very interesting, so I did the best I could to capture what I was seeing. I had to hand hold the camera since I didn’t have the tripod with me, so I raised the ISO on my camera to let me use faster shutter speeds, and captured a number of image sequences where I adjusted the exposure (shutter speed) between each image, holding the camera as still as possible between them.

I knew I would take each image sequence and combine it into a single high dynamic range (HDR) image, where I could better show the interior as I saw it. The camera just wasn’t capable of capturing what my eyes could see. One day cameras may have better dynamic range than our eyes, but for today we need to either decide what we want to compromise on, or capture multiple images and merge them into HDR. I don’t use this technique often, but it is fun and useful every once in a while. I worked to keep the images looking as natural as I could, trying to avoid the over-processed look of many HDR images.

Another interior of passenger train with stove (3 image HDR)

Interior of passenger train with individual seats (3 image HDR)

Horizontal view of passenger train interior (3 image HDR)

When we visited the museum it was located in Portland, but they told us it would soon be relocated to the town of Gray. If you’re interested in visiting be sure to check the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum website for the current status and location.

Train engine inside Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum

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Foggy Views From Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, Maine / November 1, 2016 by Todd Henson

Couple on Cadillac Mountain facing cruise ship in foggy Gulf of Maine

During my vacation in Maine we visited Acadia National Park several times, and drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain twice. Our first day began engulfed in fog. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain, not knowing if perhaps we’d rise above the fog. We reached the summit and found no end to it, a thick blanket of white across the entire sky.

"Islands Galore!" from Cadillac Mountain with view of nothing but fog

Hiking the trails and seeing the signs describing the amazing view from the mountain was a bit of a surreal experience. One sign proclaimed, “Islands Galore!” and showed a view from that location of the many islands in the Gulf of Maine, and yet our view was of the trail, rocks, a few trees and shrubs, and a wall of white. But even in the fog, Cadillac Mountain was a beautiful place, and perhaps much more peaceful than on a clear day. There were far fewer people around, and the fog made it seem there were even fewer. I found it fascinating how the fog moved in and out, how one area that began to clear would fog up again just moments later.

"From Shores to Summits" view of fog from Cadillac Mountain

"From Sea to Shining Stars" view of fog from Cadillac Mountain

At one point there was a larger break in the fog, showing the area around Bar Harbor. We found and followed a trail I thought might provide a view of the scene, but not too far in the fog closed back in, engulfing everything. Along the trail was a sign for a hawk watch. There were two park rangers with posters of the various types of hawks that sometimes frequent that area. Of course, there were no hawks to be seen with fog like this. The scene I was looking for had disappeared before we found any vantage with a view of the gulf, so we wandered back to the car and went on to other sights.

Interesting granite surfaces in the fog on Cadillac Mountain

The following day we tried again, heading up to Cadillac Mountain first thing. On the drive in we passed through more fog. Would today be another day with views of nothing but fog? Perhaps. But there was only one way to know for sure. Driving up the mountain we eventually rose out of the fog. Hiking the same trails as the day before revealed a completely different landscape. This morning we had views of the entire mountain and some of the islands in the gulf enveloped in a layer of fog resting on the water. It was a beautiful sight. Even more amazing was seeing one of the cruise ships anchored in the fog. Strange sight. In two of the photos you can see not only the cruise ship, but also some of the buildings of Bar Harbor towards the left.

View from Cadillac Mountain of Bar Harbor and cruise ship in Gulf of Maine

Granite top of Cadillac Mountain with view of Bar Harbor and cruise ship

My favorite photo is the one I captured of two people standing on the rocks gazing out over the gulf, with the cruise ship anchored below. I had been photographing the cruise ship when I noticed the pair hiking over the rocks. I waited for them to get high enough, then framed the shot with them and the cruise ship.

About an hour later we found a trail behind the small gift store, which we’d overlooked the day before. The trail led up to another nice view where I created a multi-image panorama. The group of people on the left are at the top of Cadillac Mountain by the signs I had photographed in the fog the day before. Some of the islands can be seen in the distance with clouds and fog surrounding them. The light becomes a little harsh towards the right, which was the direction of the sun.

Panorama of Cadillac Mountain overlooking the Gulf of Maine

The weather can change quickly and it can sometimes be difficult to plan ahead too far. For this trip we were very flexible, taking what nature gave us. I really enjoyed it. There was no stress around the need to be somewhere at a particular time. The entire location was new to us, so each area we ventured to had something new and interesting to see. Acadia National Park is an absolutely beautiful location, well worth visiting. I would love to go back, finding different areas, or just revisiting some of the same areas at different times, in different weather. I highly recommend this park.

Panorama of Cruise Ships at Bar Harbor, Maine / October 18, 2016 by Todd Henson

Final stitched panorama showing 3 cruise ships docked at Bar Harbor, Maine, in stormy weather.

The Story

Bar Harbor, Maine, is a popular tourist destination both by land and by sea. On one of the days my father and I spent in the area we saw three cruise ships docked at Bar Harbor. The day had been very drizzly, with clouds at low elevations, low enough they completely engulfed Cadillac Mountain. An overlook on one of the park roads offered a great view of all three cruise ships with parts of Bar Harbor peeking through the tops of the trees. Various islands could be seen further out and the clouds completely filled the sky.

It was a beautiful scene, and I wanted to capture as much of it as possible. The first images I created were with a wide angle lens, trying to get everything in. But then I had the idea to create a multi-image stitched panorama to capture more detail. Rain was moving back in, the winds were picking up, and fog was quickly coming in from the left, so I had to work quickly. I setup the tripod and fired off the shots. In the end I had 13 images to work with. I would later use Lightroom to stitch these together into the final panoramic image.

The final image has been scaled down in size to allow it to load quickly on the website, so it’s hard to appreciate the detail within it. Below, I’ve split the image into three to make it easier to see some of the details. I did have to crop in a little from the full image to split it into three without cutting into the middle cruise ship. Click on each of the three images to see a larger version of each.

The Technique

I set up my tripod, put the 70-200mm lens on my camera and positioned it vertically, set the focal length to 78 mm, and put everything into manual mode. This included setting the white balance (not in auto mode), setting the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, everything. This is done to assure the camera doesn’t change anything that will affect exposure from one image to the next. If the exposure changes between images then we won’t be able to cleanly merge them in software.

My tripod has a bubble level on the collar, where the tripod head mounts. I made sure that was level. This assured the base of the tripod was level and would help me create a level and even panorama. I also put a double axis bubble level on the camera's hot shoe. I used this to assure the camera was level. I was using a ball head, so it would be easy for the camera to not be level even though the base of the tripod was. I tightened the ball head, but loosened the panning base to allow me to rotate the camera left and right, keeping it level. Once I had everything level it was time to shoot.

One of the many tips I’ve picked up from others is to start and end a sequence of images that will all be used together, either for panoramas or HDR, with a photo of my hand. This way I know where the sequence starts and where it ends, making it much easier to pick out the images in Lightroom. I also try to shoot more than I think I’ll need to give me plenty of room to crop if needed, something that is almost always necessary with stitched panoramas.

I started from the left side and created the first image in the sequence. Then I panned the tripod head to the right. I made sure to have plenty of overlap between the first and second images to give the software enough information to line up the images correctly. I continued this process, creating an image, then panning between 1/3 to 2/3 of an image to the right, then creating the next image. In the end I used 13 of the images to stitch the final panorama. This created an image close to 80 megapixels in size using a 12.3 megapixel camera.

The Post-Processing

Post-processing the 13 raw images into the final panorama was actually very easy. In the past Lightroom needed to export the images to Photoshop to merge them. But the process is much simpler now that Lightroom has the ability to merge panoramas itself. You can still use Photoshop for more complicated or troublesome panoramas.

Step 1: Select All The Images

The first step is selecting all the images in Lightroom that will be part of the panorama. This step shows nicely how I overlapped each photo, creating plenty of duplicate content that Lightroom used to properly stitch them all together.

Step 2: Click Photo Merge, Then Panorama

After all the images are selected, right click, then click on Photo Merge and select Panorama.

Step 3: Panorama Merge Preview

A window titled Panorama Merge Preview will pop up. It may take Lightroom a little time to create a preview of the panorama, depending on how many images you have and how large they are. You can see on the right of the window Auto Select Projection is checked, as is Auto Crop.

Step 4: Projections and Cropping

Once the preview is created you can try manually switching between the different projections to see if one does a better job than another, but in most cases Lightroom should be able to choose the best one automatically. You can also try checking and unchecking the Auto Crop box to see how well the images were stitched together.

Step 5: Click Merge

I unchecked the Auto Crop box so you can see the difference. There isn’t much difference in this case, which is great. It means I did a good job of creating images with little distortion and I kept everything very level. You can see a little on the lower right and the upper left that gets cropped. If you prefer, you can use the Boundary Warp slider to warp the image to fill it all in, instead of cropping, but doing so does distort parts of the image. In some cases you won’t notice the difference, but in others the warp might be too obvious and distracting. In this case everything lined up so well I used the Auto Crop box. Click the Merge button when you’re ready for Lightroom to merge the images.

Step 6: Lightroom Creates The Panorama

The pop up will disappear and you’ll be back in the normal Lightroom interface, but notice in the upper left corner the status bar showing it is creating the panorama.