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Weekend Photography...
Saturday, March 26th...
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It didn’t take long to determine the angle I hoped to achieve to photograph the steel structure couldn’t be found from the top of the entrance road. I’d have to walk Route 100
to learn if there was a place to set up, a dangerous possibility with the amount of traffic on this road – I gave up this idea. There were other possibilities of course and I
took advantage of them.
In recent history I’d made changes to my imaging system for this type of shooting. Today this effort was paying dividends with ease of set up. Much of my accessory support equipment is from Really Right Stuff, a specialty firm in San Luis Obispo, California. Because I’d been using one of their full sized ballheads, a BH-55 LR – a wonderful device, and supporting components for several years, I purchased accessories to build on this system. Using a PCL-1 panning clamp on the ballhead I’d put together what they’ve entitled a Pro Omni Pivot Package. This isn’t dedicated to the tripod and can be taken off the ballhead should it be required for general use. This set up is ideal for single and multiple row panoramas, a form of photography I do often. Of course none of this does much when exposing for my Bird Photography Index – my 600mm lens for this venue is set up in a dedicated tripod system. As I looked at the large crane with a boom at probably 180 or 200 feet above me, I knew that this would be a good test subject for my TS-E 17mm lens – I set up to take some exposures… Crane and Boom - Falmouth, Maine...Canon 1Ds Mark III/TS-E 17mm f/4L at f/16, varied exposures for HDR, ISO 100 |
At the Presumpscot River...
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I liked the detail exhibited in the crane images in High Dynamic Range. The photograph at right turned out well, but the following image below is one of my favorites from this session.
This image made a terrific 16X24 inch print…
View at The Bridge Site - Falmouth, Maine...Canon 1Ds Mark III/TS-E 17mm f/4L at f/16, varied exposures for HDR, ISO 100 |
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Final Views from the Bridge Construction...
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On To Fort Popham - Sunday, March 27th...
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I expected this morning to be chilly and as windy as the day before, really too much wind to not be problematic for multiple exposures. All the same I’d be out and doing something
photographically. After driving through Bath approaching the Kennebec River I started looking for the lighthouses along the river. I believe I viewed them all and thought about
making a stop or two but didn’t because of time and finding a place to get off the road. An investigation for another time I thought. I did make one stop before arriving at Fort
Popham. I noticed a turn-off overlooking a scenic stop and pulled off the road. The tree line across the water was interesting and I decided to take some exposures of the scene
both in single and HDR shots. I also noticed some duck activity at this stop, Black Ducks among a few other species, but I didn’t pull the long lens out due to the distance they
were from my position…
View Along the Road - Phippsburg, Maine...Canon 1Ds Mark III/EF 70~200mm f/2.8L at 70mm, 1/8 second at f/16, ISO 100 |
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It was still early, about 0730 hours, when I drove by the closed gates of Popham Beach State Park. I was already chilled from the one stop I’d made and pleased to have the heat
in my vehicle put the feeling back into my hands. As I pulled into the parking area at Fort Popham there were already a few cars in residence – yikes, these folks are early
risers. I parked and walked towards the fort entrance – closed and locked this time of year. I was disappointed to see the sun rising behind the fort so quickly. Although early
still, I thought it may be too late already to photograph the front of the entrance while standing before it. The tide was out though, which allowed one to walk the elevation
facing the water. At high tide the water comes right up to the granite installation, so I considered this a fortunate circumstance. Soon enough I’d made lens selections, re-packed
a camera bag, grabbed my portable stool and starting walking the grounds…
Pond Island Light from Fort Popham...Canon 1Ds Mark III/EF 600mm f/4L + 1.4X = 840mm; 1/80 second at f/16, ISO 100 |
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Seven Exposure Composite View in HDR - Fort Popham, Phippsburg, Maine...
Canon 1Ds Mark III/EF 70~200mm f/2.8L at 70mm, various exposures at f/16, ISO 100
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Not far from shore near the fort's seaward elevation, a group of Common Eiders were swimming in place while facing into the wind. I’ve been around these
birds quite a bit, but this was the first time I recall hearing their cooing. It was melodic and quite interesting to experience. I emailed Linda Welch, a biologist
with the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge about this – she and staff work with eiders often and I’d been around these birds previously along with
them. Linda informed me this is heard during breeding season and agreed it was unusual when a group of the eiders gathered…
Common Eiders - Phippsburg, Maine...Canon 1Ds Mark III/EF 600mm f/4L + 1.4X = 840mm; 1/320 second at f/10, ISO 100 |
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Unlike many of the fortifications I’d visited recently around while photographing,
Views around the Port in Portland Harbor, Fort Popham was of more recent construction. The entrance to the Kennebec River and approaches to
Augusta were deemed important to fortify for protection of commerce of the State and Union. A Third System fort was authorized at the site in 1857, during a time of ambitious coastal defense planning. It was constructed and
placed in service in 1862 to protect against Confederate incursion during the American Civil War. Looking at it today one can easily envision what a formidable position this would have been when fully staffed with ordnance
in place. Designed to mount forty-two large caliber canons in three tiers, the fort was half-moon in shape with walls of granite construction. An attacking force, even employing rifled ordnance, would have had a difficult
time forcing a passage with the potential counter-battery fire the fort could offer. As can be viewed presently, only two tiers able to mount thirty-six canons were in place before the construction effort was abandoned
after the Civil War. A wall enclosed the front, landward elevation, making it a true fort as opposed to a battery, and the installation commanded an imposing view of the river approaches. The fort was garrisoned during the
Civil War, for a time during the Spanish American War and later for a time in World War One. The property was sold to the State of Maine in 1924 and is now known as Fort Popham State Historic Site, under the auspices of the
Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands. If you’ve never taken the time to investigate this site I urge you to do so – it’s an interesting facility in a beautiful setting.
Gunports in HDR - Fort Popham...Canon 1Ds Mark III/EF 70~200mm f/2.8L at 70mm, various exposures at f/16, ISO 100 |
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Exterior Views Around the Fort...
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My intention was to stop by Popham Beach State Park to photograph Sequin Island Light and the expansive beach before returning to Portland. In the end result I did visit the beach, however, my photographic
session ended at Fort Popham… The chilly wind had not abated all morning and I’d been taking precautions as much as possible to prevent it from impacting the various exposures. I was shooting at low ISO
ratings with slow shutter speeds and constricted f stops as much as possible – all aspects to make camera motion or shake problematic. Near the end of the session I was shooting from the uneven ledge towards
the fort and beach. Due to the wind I had the tripod low to the ground. My 1DS camera is weighty with a lens mounted so positioning is important to prevent the combination from being top heavy. Dropping the
center of gravity aids in stopping wind action against the system, and when I could, employed my portable stool triggering the shutter with an electronic cable release. I was seated and prepared to shoot a
bracket, obtained critical focus, test exposures behind me, etc, all that was left was to shoot the sequence. I was sitting behind the tripod, my eye at the viewfinder, when I observed a couple with a dog
running onto the beach into the frame. Because this was an HDR bracket people moving about is not desirable. I moved my head left and up to check out the scene, when a major gust of wind struck the
tripod. In a flash my camera fell forward following the downhill pitch of the ledge. It landed lens first striking hard – the front element of the bulbous TS-E 17mm leading the way. Although it didn’t
shatter, the lens was scratched badly and the camera was displaying an error message when checked. I had multiple cameras and lenses available and could have changed equipment by going back to my vehicle, but by this
time I was cold, had taken many exposures, and was ready to call it a day…
Ledge and Sand - Phippsburg, Maine...Crop from an HDR Sequence |
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The Aftermath...
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Kiro
April 2011
April 2011