Schooner Head Overlook, Acadia National Park, Maine / November 15, 2016 by Todd Henson

House on Schooner Head as viewed from Schooner Head Overlook in Acadia National Park (2 image panorama at 140mm focal length)

Schooner Head Overlook is located in Acadia National Park, on Mount Desert Island, in Maine. From the parking area there’s a nice view of the water, including Egg Rock Lighthouse on an island in the distance. A paved trail winds its way down the side of the slope and ends at a rocky overlook, giving fantastic views of the water and of Schooner Head to the left.

House on Schooner Head as viewed from Schooner Head Overlook in Acadia National Park (140mm focal length)

Schooner Head is not actually part of Acadia National Park. It’s privately owned and populated by several large, expensive houses, one of which is easily viewable from the rocky overlook. It is a beautiful house, no doubt, but is also an indication of what the rest of Mount Desert Island might have looked like if not set aside as a national park. This is such a beautiful island. It would have been a shame if it had become wholly privately owned and inaccessible to the public.

View of Egg Rock Light from parking lot of Schooner Head Overlook. This is an unprocessed image to show how hazy and rainy it was. (400mm focal length)

View of Egg Rock Light from parking lot of Schooner Head Overlook. This is a processed image, where I tried to cut through the mist. (400mm focal length)

The day we visited was overcast, foggy and misty, with brief periods of rain. The view was sometimes obscured by the hazy atmosphere, especially more distant views, such as those of Egg Rock Lighthouse. I used Adobe Lightroom to reduce the haze and reveal more detail of the area, though this can affect image quality when pushed to extremes. But it gives you an idea of some of the views.

Wider view of Egg Rock Light from parking lot, processed to reduce mist. (210mm focal length)

Wider view of Egg Rock Light from base of rocky overlook at the end of the paved trail, processed to reduce mist. (140mm focal length)

I had seen the lighthouse from the parking lot, so I fitted my camera with the 70-200mm lens and a 2x teleconverter to let me capture as much of the lighthouse as possible. Because of the misty air I chose not to change lenses when I reached the rocky outcropping. I would have liked to switch to a wider angle lens to capture a wider perspective of the scene, but didn’t want to risk the inside of my camera and lens getting wet. Thinking back on it I probably should have attempted some multi-image panoramas, but didn’t think of it at the time. The only multi-image panorama I did capture in this spot was mostly by accident. I had created two images with slightly different framing, and was able to combine them in Lightroom to show a slightly wider perspective, which I preferred to either individual frame.

One day it might be nice to return to this area, see what it looks like in different weather. The trail along the rocks continued further than I followed it, and I’d be interested in seeing what else it led to. But due to the wet weather the rocks were sometimes slick. I didn’t like the idea of slipping and falling over the edge to the water or rocks below, so I only went so far before turning around and heading back to the parking lot above.

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River Otter on the Schoodic Peninsula in Maine / November 8, 2016 by Todd Henson

A mother and three young river otter on shore.

We were extraordinarily lucky on a drive through the Schoodic Peninsula portion of Acadia National Park in Maine. We pulled over at an area with a nice rocky beach facing the water on the right. On the other side of the road were trees, but just through the trees my father spotted a small body of water where a stream emptied. He noticed movement in the stream. Swimming down the stream was a mother river otter with three young. They swam so smoothly through the water, it was as if they were water themselves, just waves moving through the larger stream. This is the first time I can recall ever seeing an otter in the wild.

Two river otter swimming. The closer, darker one, is the mother. The other is a young otter.

Four river otter swimming. The mother has turned her head to look our way.

The otters made their way to the far bank of the stream where there was a small opening at water level. They swam through this opening and shortly afterwards came out from the brush to sun themselves in the grass at the top of the bank. Their fur was so coated in oil it made fascinating patterns with the water. As soon as they were onshore they began stretching and playing, and then almost appeared ready to lay down and rest. But before long the mother took them back into the water.

Three river otter have gone through the darker opening at water level and are on shore. A fourth is still in the water.

The three river otter are now on shore, while the fourth is at the opening.

They swam closer towards the road. I had been speaking with another photographer who happened to be in the area when the otters arrived. He said they had seen the otter the day before, and that they had crossed the road towards the ocean. I moved away from the area he said they’d crossed, hoping to give them space to cross again, if they chose to. But instead they came towards the shore exactly where I was. I tried to stay quiet and still, and attempted to capture more images, but the tree branches were in the way, and they didn’t stay still for long. The mother peeked her head up right near the shore, perhaps 8 feet from us, and looked at those of us along the side of the road, then moved back out into the middle of the steam and began taking her young upstream, eventually disappearing around the corner.

Four river otter on shore, stretching and scratching.

This entire experience lasted only 6 or 7 minutes, and we were very fortunate to have seen them. I’m very pleased I was able to capture the images I did, though they aren’t as good as I would have liked. I was excited, and likely shaking, trying to follow their movements without causing too much noise or movement of my own. When we first noticed the otter I had my mid-range telephoto lens, a 70-200, on the camera, so that’s what I started with. After they came ashore I took the time to switch to my longer telephoto, a 200-400mm with a 1.4x teleconverter. This allowed me to zoom in closer to the otter in the latter shots. But it’s a heavy lens, so I might have compromised the sharpness at times through camera movement. My father brought over my tripod, so some of the images were shot from that.

Four river otter relaxing and sunning themselves on shore.

Looking at the images now, I wish I’d used a smaller aperture to get a little more depth of field for the group shots, where all the otter were playing or laying together on shore. My aperture was wide open with both lenses, so my depth of field was as shallow as possible with those lenses at that distance. Sometimes shallow depth of field is a nice thing, but in this case, with multiple animals in a group, more depth of field would have been helpful to try to keep all the animals in focus. In conjunction with stopping down the aperture I should have increased the ISO when I switched to the longer lens. This would have allowed me to use faster shutter speeds and lessen the chance of motion blur. I was shooting at ISO 400, which gave me shutter speeds around 1/2000 at f/2.8 with the 70-200, but only around 1/640 to 1/800 at f/5.6 on the 200-400mm with the 1.4x teleconverter.

I really wish we’d had more time with the river otter. But the longer we aimed our cameras into the trees the more people took notice of us and started coming over to see what was happening. The otters didn’t seem overly bothered by us while they were in the water or on the opposite shore, but they obviously didn’t like the idea of trying to cross the road to the bay with so many of us there. And larger groups of people sometimes cause problems, so it’s probably just as well the otter returned upstream when they did.

Mother river otter posing for the camera.

Seeing these river otter, which I was told is a rare experience, reminded me of a CreativeLive class I purchased and watched, called The Art of Wildlife Photography, taught by Tom Mangelsen, a master at wildlife photography. He was with students along the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. It was a very similar experience to ours, though he knew there were otters in that area and did hope to see them, but didn’t expect to. As it turned out, though, they were able to watch and photograph a large family of 8 or 9 otter as they swam, fished, and pulled the fish up on the shore to eat. I saw his excitement while watching that class, and now my father and I know some of what he was feeling, having had our own opportunity to view and photograph river otter in their environment. It’s not something I’ll forget anytime soon. I hope one day I’ll get another chance to photograph these remarkable animals, and perhaps capture some better images to share.

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Resources From My Library

CreativeLive: The Art of Wildlife Photography with Tom Mangelsen

The Art of Wildlife Photography with Tom Mangelsen. Image credit: CreativeLive — *The Art of Wildlife Photography* with Tom Mangelsen. Image credit: CreativeLive

As mentioned above, the CreativeLive class The Art of Wildlife Photography with Tom Mangelsen is a great resource if you’re becoming serious about wildlife photography and want to learn from one of the best. It was a 2-day class with almost 11 and a half hours of video, both in studio in front of a group of students, and in the field in various locations showing how he approaches subjects and talking you through how he shoots. I purchased this class back in 2014, and I think it’s time I watched it again. Each time I rewatch these types of classes I’m able to pick up more, and there’s always more to learn.

Captured: Lessons from Behind the Lens of a Legendary Wildlife Photographer by Moose Peterson

Buy on Amazon

And for the book lovers there’s Moose Peterson’s book, Captured: Lessons from Behind the Lens of a Legendary Wildlife Photographer. I’ve really enjoyed this book. It’s more than just lessons, it’s stories from Moose’s life on how he got where he is and what it is that drives him. He’s passionate about the wildlife, not just the photography, and I think that’s very important. The book is very easy to read. Moose has written it in a very conversational tone. It’s as if he’s right there in person telling you his stories. A recommended read for any budding wildlife photographer.

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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.