I made it to Salisbury Beach this morning. I took a bunch of pics and I don’t like any of them. I had the ISO set way too high because I set it high when I’m at home and I always forget to lower it when I go outside. It ruined all of my long exposures. Blah.
44/365
I think I prefer the 40mm lens to the 28mm lens for the sun itself, but the 28mm is better for the beach as a whole. That makes sense, right?
I had the ND filter on for a lot of these. Not sure which pic is the first one after I took it off.
From here on the ISO is set to 100 instead of 1600.
Two stops in Maine. First, a scenic view spot in Kennebunkport.
Hey, who lives around here? Oh, only the president Bush family. Too bad they weren’t Democrats like respectable people, but at least they never appeared to be card carrying fascists like a lot of current republicans.
The view from the other side of the house is more impressive, but this is where we stopped so it’s what you get.
Our second stop was a call back to our first trip to Bar Harbor. Back then, 11 years ago, Jen took me to a spot near York Beach that I didn’t even know was there. It was the start of my interest in New England light houses.
Nubble Light House. Last year when I declared I was going to take photos of light houses all summer I managed to get exactly one. This year after I declared I was going to take photos of light houses all summer I got one and then declared I was giving up. Now I have two. Crazy. Also, the right shift key on my MacBook keyboard is sticking or something. That’s why capitalization has been a little screwy of late. Just in case you noticed.
I thought this morning was going to be a bust. I got up to Hampton Beach in plenty of time to catch the sunrise, but there were clouds covering the horizon. Lots of them. I thought I had wasted a morning. I didn’t though. Gravitational lensing and all that? Could be.
I took a few shots before the appointed sunrise time, just because I was there and the ocean was there and we were there together and why not, right?
The waves were super wimpy, but the sky was just spectacular. I set up the tripod and put the digital camera on it for some long exposures. I’m not sure why, but none of them came out. I used shutter priority and set the time to 30 seconds. I didn’t try anything shorter than that so it’s my fault, but at least I can blame the… shit… I forgot to drop the ISO down to 100. I keep it set at 800 when I am at home. Okay. I can’t blame shutter priority, it was all my fault. Sorry about that, folks.
Anyway, I took out the ebay Nikon with Dad’s zoom lens and I was putzing around with that when suddenly I noticed the freakin’ sun was visible, popping out of the water. I guess I didn’t waste the morning after all!
Success! Two sunrise shoots in less than one week. I think I am set for sunrise at the ocean pics for a while then. Excellent.
One thing that’s fun at this spot on Hampton Beach is catching the sun reflecting off the windows across the street. It was less impressive than other visits but it was okay. I was missing my old zoom lens at this point, but I had a zoom on the film camera so I may get a good view when I get the film developed at some point in the vastly distant future.
I took a bunch of sun and water shots with the film camera. I expect they will all suck, mostly because the light meter on the Nikon FG-20 is a bitch to read. Manually focusing with that camera is also a bitch, but everything I was looking at was at infinity so that made it easier. Hopefully everything will come out okay, but we’ll have to wait and see.
I had planned to make a second stop on this morning’s photography adventure. I was going to go to downtown Lowell and walk around with one of the film cameras. Unfortunately for my plans my bladder was kinda full. I changed plans to stop at a spot in Andover where you can get up close to a railroad track, but I needed to change from route 495 South to route 93 South and I accidentally got on route 93 North, which is the way to get home. I was kind of on autopilot because I was listening to the live tracks on the deluxe edition of Rush Permanent Waves because today is Geddy Lee’s birthday and I guess I just distracted myself.
I decided I would go home, pee, and then go out for some car music. When I got home, Jen suggested I go back to bed because it was only 6:30am or so and I was going to need a nap at some point, so I went back to bed for a couple of hours and then did car music.
Success! The cloud cover was non-existent and the weather came through for me! This is Salisbury Beach in Salisbury, Massachusetts. Sunrise was at 5:27am. The first few were before the sun came up. The waves were pretty high for this spot. The tide was pretty high too. I was hoping to be able to go over to the other side of the pier, but I didn’t bother.
To quote Jimi Hendrix, the first rays of the new rising sun
There were film shots too but it could be decades before I get them developed. I used my ebay Nikon with Dad’s zoom lens. That lens really is a piece of shit, but I kinda want to have one full roll shot with it. We’ll see if anything comes out recognizable as sunrise at the ocean pics. I definitely got to get myself a new lens for that camera.
Right then, I have finally done a photo-trip this summer! There were two more quick stops, but you’ll see those in the next post. You might say I have the bug again. There will be more morning photo-jaunts before the weather goes bad. I promise. Sunlight be damned, I am doing more of this!
I’m back from my beach photo stop. I took my first long exposures with my new camera and lens! They are all 30 seconds, and they are all the same view as I didn’t bother moving the tripod much. Enjoy!
It’s quarter past four in the morning. I am up and at ’em. My cameras are packed in a backpack (I don’t have an actual camera bag big enough to fit three camera), the cats’ food bowl has been topped off, I have a full water bottle and a protein bar in a lunch bag, I am finishing off my morning vitamins as I type this, I’ve checked the weather forecast for both Hampton Beach and Salisbury Beach and it’s the same partly sunny for both.
I guess the only thing left to do is decide which beach to drive to and hope the horizon is clear there. Fingers crossed. Also, where do I want to stop for more pictures on the way home? I’m thinking of the Plumb Island lighthouse again. It’s not very impressive as a lighthouse or as a lighthouse setting, but it is a lighthouse and there are some interesting places to stop on the way there and back.
Okay then… I am making the call. We’re going to Salisbury Beach. Time to load up the car and head out. Wish me sunrise luck!
The sunrise at Salisbury Beach will be at 5:27 AM tomorrow. Same with Hampton Beach. The forecast is calling for partly cloudy conditions at both locations. Given the horrid luck I have had with sunrise conditions on days when I don’t have to go to work, I think this is good enough to take a shot.
The battery on my Z5 is charged. There is film in both the K1000 and the FG-20 and I have all three cameras and a couple of extra rolls of film in a backpack all ready to go. My broken tripod is packed up too. Google maps says the drive to Hampton Beach takes 34 minutes without traffic. That means, if I want to be on the beach before the sun comes up with enough time to get everything ready, I need to be on the road by 4:45, which means I need to be out of bed by 4:15 or so.
Holy shit that’s early. I am planning on trying this, but there is a better than even chance that I will sleep right through it and then be mad at myself for the rest of the summer.
I would love to go to the ocean to take some photos this weekend but the forecast is crappy, and it looks like it will remain crappy for all of eternity.
Please, take me back to the ocean. This is in Florida but we don’t have to go that extreme. The Massachusetts coast is perfectly fine. Unfortunately it’s going to rain all weekend so blah.
Inside the Red Head's Head 