571 - Pemaquid Point
Today I braved the storm of the century.
See, I’ve shot in a number of storms before, but never one at the sea. Out here, it’s a totally different animal. Waves pummel your ear drums, rain cuts though your clothing like ice, and salty air violently protrudes the holes in your face.
In retrospect, I should have prepared for this shoot a little better, but my excitement got the best of me. Here I was in my Jesus sandals balancing on slippery rocks with an a7rIII. You’d think I’d have learned by now.
If you recall, just two weeks ago my a7rIV fell in a river at Castle in the Clouds. But the catch is that it magically revived itself a day or two ago. So, I felt a little entitled to being reckless with my (now) backup camera. And when I say “magically revived itself,” I mean it. This thing went from full underwater submersion and not turning on, to glitching out after 30 seconds, to working like nothing happened.
No idea how. But I’ll take it.
Back to the storm. Today’s name of the game was Pemaquid Point, which is a mini peninsula off the coast of Maine famous for its lighthouse. One thing I’ve started to realize about Maine coastal photography, is that it almost always centers around lighthouses.
I suspect this is because the east coast shoreline is significantly more boring than the west coast, so photographer’s had to find something to fill in the gap.
So here I was, aiming at a lighthouse. But this one seemed different. The reason I was here, despite Desert Storm Ground Zero, was because the thing sat in a bed of rocks that looked ridiculous.
I could just tell from looking online that I’d have a field day at this place. But I didn’t think it’d be this kind of field day.
On a normal day, hopping across these rocks would be akin to playing hopscotch. But today, it was playing with the devil. Waves were battering around me, small crevasses threatened to snap my leg, and the rain came down in full force. A weathered “DANGER” sign now loomed far behind me.
I took a second to gather my thoughts. The crazy thing about photography culture is that there’s a massive amount of rhetoric online about “not risking your life for a shot.”
But I find this odd. Think about all of the extreme activities out there where people risk their lives everyday. Motorsports, skydiving, mountaineering, backcountry skiing, hunting, fighting, ultramarathons… Why can’t this same mindset be applied to photography? Photos for the thrill of it?
Beautiful Landscapes with a Touch of Adrenaline™. Maybe there’s too many old people in this field.
I took my time navigating the treacherous rocks, and tried to ignore my rain jacket that wasn’t holding off the rain. My camera had a rain fly on it which helped to protect it, but I still had to be extremely careful with getting any source of water on the front of the lens, or any shots I took would be ruined.
I decided my goal would be to quickly gather three compositions, then get out of there as fast I could.
And by composition two, I started to realize that this place was turning into a frozen hell. I was absolutely soaked, cold as anything, and wanted nothing more than to return to my warm, dry Prius.
But there was one more shot I had to get. The final boss. I landed on this composition, which turned out to be my favorite:
“Loot of the Storm”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 1600 ~ 12mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Never in my life did I feel more like a pirate after getting that shot. Searching for my own, modern form of gold on a rowdy coastline. A seagull screeched overhead, unimpressed with my bounty. Well fuck you too.
My next adventure is pretty much the complete opposite of this one. Calm shorelines and a colorful sunrise. Nature’s got a weird way of balancing things out like that.
Oh wait, I almost forgot! Speaking of balance, I got a neat shot on the drive in to this lighthouse:
“Life/Death”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 1600 ~ 86mm ~ f/5.6 ~ 1/250s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
I swear fall’s never going away. See you next time.
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