10 Maine Lighthouses near Portland and Acadia National Park /  by Todd Henson

Maine is known for many things, one of which is its lighthouses. I recently visited Maine with my father. We were primarily in the region of Acadia National Park, but also visited the Portland area. I’ve never been all that drawn to lighthouses, but I’ve also not seen all that many. I had planned to photograph both the Portland Head Light and the Bass Harbor Head Light, two of the more well known lighthouses. These are iconic locations, so I figured I’d try to create my own images of them. But the more we saw the more I found myself drawn to lighthouses, and the more we sought them out. In the end I photographed 10 lighthouses along the coast of Maine.

1. Portland Head Light

Portland Head Light, in Maine, with rocky shore and view of Ram Island Ledge Light on an island in the bay

Perhaps the best known lighthouse in Maine is the Portland Head Light, located within Fort Williams State Park in Cape Elizabeth, just south of Portland. The lighthouse is the oldest in Maine and is still in operation. You can watch the light constantly rotate, flashing every few seconds. You can walk up to the lighthouse and the buildings around it, which include a small gift shop. Fort Williams State Park has a number of trails along the coast that give different views of the lighthouse and other sights. Look into the bay and you can also see Ram Island Ledge Light. We were fortunate to have some interesting clouds in the sky during this visit. Other days were completely cloud free.

This photograph of Portland Head Light is available for purchase as wall art or on a variety of products. Additionally, a different view of the lighthouse is available and titled, Keeping Watch.

2. Ram Island Ledge Light

Ram Island Ledge Light, in Maine, with white sailboat in foreground

Ram Island Ledge Light is at the entrance of the Portland Harbor and is visible from Fort Williams State Park and Portland Head Light. It sits on a rocky island in the bay. I was lucky to capture an image of it with a white sailboat passing by in the foreground.

3. Portland Breakwater (Bug) Light

Portland Breakwater (Bug) Light, in South Portland, Maine, with distant view of Fort Gorges to the left in the bay

Portland Breakwater Light, also called Bug Light for its small size, is located on shore at the entrance to Portland Harbor in Bug Light Park, South Portland. It’s at the end of a small rock walkway with a black fence. You can walk right up to and around the lighthouse. There are memorial stones along the length of the walkway. Bug Light is no longer in active use. From Bug Light Park you can see both Fort Gorges in the bay and Spring Point Ledge Light further along the shore.

A black & white version of this photograph of Portland Breakwater Light is available for purchase as wall art or on a variety of products.

4. Spring Point Ledge Light

Spring Point Ledge Light, in South Portland, Maine, with view of Fort Gorges and white sailboat in the bay

Spring Point Ledge Light is very close to Bug Light, near the Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. It is located at the end of a long rocky walkway. You can walk out to and around the lighthouse, though it is not smooth walking, and can be a little nerve racking in a strong wind. I watched as some folks turned around before reaching the lighthouse. We watched people fishing along the rocks at the base of the lighthouse. For the image, I liked how the rocky walkway leads directly to the lighthouse. I waited until the white sailboat was visible and not obscured by the rocks, and made sure Fort Gorges, on the left, was in the frame for a little added interest and context.

A black & white version of this photograph of Spring Point Ledge Light is available for purchase as wall art or on a variety of products.

5 and 6. Cape Elizabeth Light (Two Lights)

The Eastern Tower of Cape Elizabeth Light (Two Lights), in Maine, seen from rocky shore

The Western Tower of Cape Elizabeth Light (Two Lights), in Maine, seen from the grounds of a restaurant

Cape Elizabeth Light is home to two lighthouses known as Two Lights, located in Cape Elizabeth near Two Lights State Park, just south of Portland. The eastern tower is still active, but the western tower is now privately owned. I viewed the western tower from the grounds of a local restaurant, and the eastern tower from the rocky shore just beyond the restaurant. For the eastern tower image, I positioned the yellow foliage between the rocks and the trees to add a little more interest and draw the eye from the rocks up to the lighthouse. For the western tower image I liked the juxtaposition of the lighthouse with the “Thank You Please Come Again” sign from the restaurant.

The photograph of the Eastern Tower of Cape Elizabeth Light is available for purchase as wall art or on a variety of products.

7. Bass Harbor Head Light

Bass Harbor Head Light, in Acadia National Park, Maine

Bass Harbor Head Light is within Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island not far from the village of Bass Harbor. The lighthouse is still in active use but tourists can walk up to the lighthouse, and along a trail to stairs that head down to the rocky shoreline to get different views. I wasn’t able to get good views from the rocky shoreline this trip. Parking is very limited and this is a popular spot.

8. Egg Rock Light

Egg Rock Light on an island in Frenchman Bay, Maine, viewed from overlook in Acadia National Park

Egg Rock Light is on an island in Frenchman Bay, and has a different look than most of the other lighthouses. The lighthouse, itself, is in a tower within the keeper’s house, so it looks like a large house with the light tower at the top. We viewed the lighthouse from Acadia National Park on a drizzly day. Visibility went in and out as drizzle or fog moved through the area. To get a closer view of the lighthouse I used my 200mm lens with a 2x teleconverter.

9. Winter Harbor Light

Winter Harbor Light, on Mark Island, Maine, seen from rocky coast of the Schoodic Peninsula portion of Acadia National Park

Winter Harbor Light is located on Mark Island, not far from the town of Winter Harbor. It’s visible from several locations along the coast in the Schoodic Peninsula portion of Acadia National Park. Winter Harbor Light is no longer in active use and is privately owned. This view of the island was at quite a distance, so I used my longest lens (400mm) with a 1.4x teleconverter to get in closer.

10. Prospect Harbor Point Light

Prospect Harbor Point Light, Maine, with fishing boats in Inner Harbor, viewed from the shore of Prospect Harbor

Prospect Harbor Point Light is located on Prospect Harbor Point, which is a point that extends into Prospect Harbor, separating Sand Cove from Inner Harbor. It’s no longer possible to visit the grounds of the lighthouse, but it is visible from a couple locations. The photo was taken from across Inner Harbor along the shore of Prospect Harbor. I found a location where I could get down to water level, held the camera close to the water and used a wide aperture to give me a shallow depth of field, blurring out the foreground water. I like the effect this gives.

A black & white version of this photograph of Prospect Harbor Point Light is available for purchase as wall art or on a variety of products. Additionally, a different view of the lighthouse is available and titled, Watching Over Prospect Harbor.

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7 Tips For Photographing Insects And Other Little Crawly Things /  by Todd Henson

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Photographing close-ups of insects, spiders, and other little creepy crawly slithery creatures can sometimes be a challenge. But with a little know how and lots of patience and practice it’s possible to create some really pleasing images. Below are 7 tips for creating more successful close-up images.

1. Move slowly to avoid startling the insect or creature. Some insects and creatures are very skittish and will move or flee if they see sudden movement around them.

2. Use a telephoto lens to give yourself working distance. This will also help avoid startling the creatures. The photo of the pair of familiar bluet damselflies was shot with a 105mm macro lens. Sometimes I use longer focal lengths, such as 200mm, 400mm, or more.

Pair of damselfly photographed with a 105mm macro lens.

3. Try to position the camera’s focal plane (effectively the back of the camera) parallel to the subject. This will help keep more of the subject in focus.  Telephoto and macro lenses tend to create shallower depth of field, so keeping the camera parallel to the subject assures as much of the subject as possible is within the acceptable depth of field. In the photo of the damselflies the camera was positioned parallel to the pair, allowing me to capture as much of them in focus as possible.

Notice how little of the snake is in focus. The camera is not parallel to the body of the snake.

Notice how much more of the snake is in focus now that the camera is parallel to the body of the snake.

4. Stop down the aperture (use larger f-stop numbers) to increase depth of field enough to capture as much of the insect in focus as you want. As mentioned, telephoto and macro lenses tend to create shallower depth of field, so stopping down helps increase the depth of field.  But watch your shutter speed as you stop down. If you stop down too much you’ll get a very slow shutter speed and risk a blurry photo.

This assassin bug was shot at f/3.5, a very wide open aperture, using my 105mm macro lens. Notice the very shallow depth of field.

This time the assassin bug was shot at f/14, a much smaller aperture, again using my 105mm macro lens. Notice the much greater depth of field.

5. Increase the ISO, only if necessary, to get a fast enough shutter speed to capture a sharp image. If you increase the ISO too much you may see increased noise in the image, depending on your camera model. But a little extra noise is usually better than a blurry image.

6. Use a tripod, if possible, to help keep the camera steady. This will help create a sharp image, provided the shutter speed is fast enough to freeze any motion in the scene. In some cases it may be better to hand-hold, especially if the insect or creature is moving and you’re trying to track it.

7. Shoot in short bursts, especially if you’re unable to get the shutter speed fast enough, or are shooting hand-held. This can increase the chance of getting a sharp image. Sometimes one of the images in a burst will be sharper than the others. You can delete the others, if you don’t want them.

So grab your camera and give these techniques a try. Go out there looking for damselflies, snakes, or any other insect, creature, or flower you’d like, and create some beautiful images.

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Book Review - The Art of Photographing Nature by Martha Hill & Art Wolfe /  by Todd Henson

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See my review of the updated edition of this book, titled: The New Art of Photographing Nature.

As Martha Hill states in the introduction, this is a book about seeing. It’s about learning how to see a scene, to interpret a scene, to capture that scene in a photograph. And not just a photograph, but a great photograph. It’s about learning the elements that contribute to strong compositions, and how the different choices affect the final image. The book is broken into topics, and for each topic a selection of similar photographs by Art Wolfe are shown. Art Wolfe describes his thoughts about creating the images, and Martha Hill talks about the artistic merit of the photos. Martha Hill was the picture editor of Audubon magazine for 14 years, and Art Wolfe has been photographing and publishing his images for most of his life. His work has been seen in countless publications, including his own books.

I found this book a very effective way of learning about composition in nature photography. I loved the sections that contain multiple similar images and discuss the merits of each. In many cases there is no one best image, but images better suited for one use or another. I also enjoyed the differing perspectives of Art Wolfe and Martha Hill. Art is the artist and Martha is the editor. Each discusses the photos from their unique perspective, and both perspectives have great value. How much value you get from each discussion will depend on your purpose for your own photography.

The Art of Photographing Nature consists of 9 chapters:

  1. Isolating the Subject
  2. Composing the Picture
  3. Defining Your Perspective
  4. The Power of Color
  5. The Elements of Design
  6. Reading the Light
  7. Creative Options
  8. In the Field with Art Wolfe
  9. At the Light Table with Martha Hill
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The sample pages are from chapter 6, Reading the Light, and demonstrate how the different times of the day can affect the quality and character of the light, and thus affect the final photograph. None of the images are necessarily better than the others, but each has a different mood based on the different lighting. The book strives to make you aware of what elements you can use to bring to life the photograph you visualize.

As with so many of my photography books, I keep returning to this one. It’s great to pick a section and re-read it, restudy the photographs. I like to constantly refresh myself on these topics, always hoping to learn something new or further reinforce a subject. Over time I learn and mature as a photographer and I see and appreciate scenes and subjects in new ways, and returning to books like this I’m able to pick up new subtleties I might have missed the first time through.

The topics covered in The Art of Photographing Nature are timeless and just as relevant whether using digital or film gear. If you’re someone who learns from example you might benefit from this book. I continue to find it immensely useful.

The edition of the book I own is from 1993. This edition appears to be out of print and only available used, but I have since purchased a new updated edition published in 2013. See my review of this new edition, titled: The New Art of Photographing Nature: An Updated Guide to Composing Stunning Images of Animals, Nature, and Landscapes.

New edition:
Original edition: