Sunrise/Sunset

This week I’ve had some friends from Pennsylvania visiting the area for the first time.   It has been great fun sharing Acadia and Mount Desert Island with “newbies”.   In addition, they are both photography buffs (in fact it has become their second “career”), so we had cameras firing in all directions.

One of my friends wanted to shoot the sunrise in along Ocean Drive the first day after they arrived.   Fortunately the sun is rising later here this time of year (not 4:45 a.m. as it does in June), but it was still an early wake up call with the alarm clock.

Of course cruise ship “season” is in full swing now, and this approaching ship is typical of their schedule – in at sunrise, out by five p.m..

Of course another favorite activity for folks visiting Acadia is to catch either a sunrise or a sunset from the summit of Cadillac Mountain.   Since we had already done sunrise, it was going to have to be sunset for our trip to Cadillac.    So off, we went, all three of us with our warm jackets and camera gear.

ABOVE:  The crowd begins to vie for the best spots.   Luckily, no fights broke out.  🙂

BELOW:  The day ends

It dawned on me (no pun intended), as I was heading back to the car that I this was the first time I could remember consciously making an effort to see both the sunrise and the sunset on the same day.     A nice item to “check off” one’s bucket list.

Acadia’s First Light

The last couple of days (and nights) have been unseasonably warm here in Maine, and with no air conditioning, it makes for uncomfortable sleeping (I detest being hot).   So when tossing and turning  at 3 a.m. this morning, I decided to try and turn a negative into a positive.   I got up and drove  to the Ocean Path to watch the sunrise, which is getting later, it now happens just after 5 a.m..

 

 

The air was already heavy with humidity and the haze (thanks to the big city smog that drifts this way during these conditions) was hanging over the horizon.     Most people who get up (or stay up) to watch the sunrise this time of year choose to go to Cadillac mountain as it is touted as being the first place on the east coast of the United States to see the sunrise.   But I wanted to be along the water, and as it turned out, I had the entire stretch of road and rocks to myself.  I saw one biker as I was entering  the park, then did not see another car or person for the next hour!

 

 

So as I hiked along the ocean path, stopping here and there to photograph the rising sun, it was just me, the seagulls, the crows, ducks, and of course, the mosquitos.

 

BELOW:  The stones of “Boulder Beach” looked very white in the early morning light.

 

If I was going to be awake, what better place to start the new day?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning Glow

Last week I managed to rouse myself and get out to Ocean Drive early enough to enjoy a beautiful sunrise.    As I was making my final trip back to the rocks to pick up the last of my gear (my tea mug and snack bag), I looked south along the trail toward Otter Cliffs and saw a beautiful glow from the recently risen sun.  Having already packed my camera away, I pulled out my smart phone and snapped this picture.   Turned out to be one of my favorites from the morning!

 

Sunrise

With the combination of warm weather and relatively late sunrise times (6:30 ish), I really had no excuse not to set the alarm early and head out to Ocean Drive to watch the sunrise.  Acadia National park is one of the first places on the east coast to experience sunrise, and the fact that I saw not one other person in over an hour really made me feel like the sunrise was all mine.

This is also the first time I attempted to photograph sunrise, and while I wasn’t thrilled with my results, I got a few shots that are pictured below.    Practice makes perfect, and strangely, even after getting up so early, I found myself to be very energetic for the rest of the day!    I’m sure the 75 degree temp that day didn’t hurt; it were as if myself and everyone around me were coming out of hibernation!

If you want to see some AMAZING sunrise photos of Acadia (wonderful photographs period), please visit my fellow blogger, Mainer, and Acadia enthusiast David Patterson’s blog:   www.storiesfromhome.wordpress.com

 

I was intrigued by the almost "borealis" effect in the sky on this exposure.

 

 

 

I liked how the early morning light brought out the pink in the rocks, especially on the mountaintops.

 

That lobster boat went by at just the right time!