Scott Gibson
Photography
Coast of Maine and New Hampshire
Lighthouses, rocky shorelines, secluded beaches, enchanting harbors—all of these are available in abundance on the coast of Maine. The short but scenic New Hampshire coastline is included here as the charming lighthouse of Portsmouth Harbor warrants a visit as well. But Maine is, forgive the pun, the main attraction. With over 3500 miles of coastline, 2000 coastal islands large and small, 6000 lakes and ponds, over 5,000 rivers and streams, and the first national park east of the Mississippi, Maine richly rewards the adventurous photographer.
Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse
The coastline of New Hampshire is only 18 miles in length, tucked in between Massachusetts and Maine. My favorite feature along the coast 
is the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, located at a Coast Guard station at the entrance to the harbor of the Portsmouth at the northern edge of the New Hampshire coastline. The elegant lighthouse is well suited for photography at almost any time of day, although afternoon and sunset are ideal. Plenty of boats come and go through the harbor, so it's not difficult to get a shot of the light with a boat in the background. The lighthouse is located at Fort Constitution on the Piscataqua River off Route 1B in New Castle.
The location at a Coast Guard station can be problematic. The best place to photograph the lighthouse is on the rocks below the seawall. But that area is "behind the blue line" as Melody and I were admonished, and so is closed to the public. That is, of course, unless you get permission from the officer of the day to go down there and take pictures, which we did. So ask for dispensation and then go shoot this classically designed lighthouse.
Cape Neddick Lighthouse
Moving up the coast into Maine, head for Cape Neddick Lighthouse near
York Beach. The lighthouse and residence are situated on a small island off the cape. When the surf is high, you can get some dramatic splashes in the foreground. The lighthouse is served by a state park located on a rocky outcrop that provides the best location for photography. In December the lighthouse and residence are decorated with Christmas light, which make for unusual and very seasonal pictures.
Portland Head Lighthouse
The next lighthouse of consequence is the famed Portland Head
Lighthouse, one of the most photographed lights in the world. Perched on a small peninsula at the inlet to Portland Harbor, this stately light with its elegant residence is as near the quintessential lighthouse as you'll find in the U.S. It is best shot in the morning, especially before the inevitable tourists begin to flock. Off shore you can see Ram Island Ledge Light, so you can put two lighthouses in a single photo.
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is Maine's second most photographed
lighthouse after Portland Head. It stands on the south end of Pemaquid Peninsula on a rocky point that provides much of its scenic qualities. The rocks lie stratified in a way that point up to the lighthouse. In small depressions you can often find pools of water that reflect the lighthouse, further enhancing the scene. The light can be shot either at sunrise or sunset, but I recommend sunrise for the best light and the fewest interlopers juxtaposing themselves between you and the lighthouse. The beauty and uniqueness of the place is sadly proportional to the number of visitors.
Marshall Point Lighthouse
As you go further northeast on Highway 1 you come in short drive to the
small town of Thomaston where you can turns south to get to Marshall Point Lighthouse. You may want to pause at the junction of Highways 1 and 131 to see Montpelier, the mansion of Henry Knox, who served as the nation's first Secretary of War under George Washington. It is now a museum, but the building itself is a beautiful structure very well maintained. Follow Highway 131 down to Port Clyde. From there you will see signs leading you to Marshall Point Lighthouse. This light does not have the rocky majesty of Pemaquid or Portland Head, but it is still a very attractive lighthouse and again can be shot at sunrise or sunset. In fact, this light can be shot from either side as the sun rises or sets. It sits out on a rocky beach and you can shoot back with the rising or setting sun glowing on the light and the rocks, and you can use it as a silhouette if the clouds capture enough light to give a red cast to the sky. If you time it just right and you are quick, you can run from one side to the other and get both effects. Provided, of course, that nature gives you the right lighting. You'll be hard pressed to find a lighthouse that has been more ideally positioned. When we were there, we only got a slim line of red sunset glow, but we could see the remarkable potential.
Rockland Harbor sunrise
Owl's Head Lighthouse near Rockland deserves brief mention. It is a somewhat challenging shot as it is perched high on a hill at the end of a cape, so you can't photograph it from land at a distance. Still, it is a
most attractive light and in the fall you can position some autumn colors in the foreground to enhance it. The town of Rockland is most notable for its clipper ships that come and go at unpredictable intervals. Its harbor is not the most charming in Maine, but it does face east very nicely and hence can offer some great sunrises if conditions permit, as can be seen by the photo I had the good fortune to take while staying there. Five miles up the road at Rockport the harbor is more typically quaint and intimate in the true Maine style. It is not ideally positioned for sunrises or sunsets most of the year, but morning and afternoon shots could evoke that small town ambiance.
Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park and Mt. Desert (pronounced "Dezart") Island where it is located provide a wide spectrum of photographic opportunities. Acadia was the first national park east of the Mississippi and is reputed to be the second most visited park in the U.S. Let's start with the coastline. The favorite spot within the park is near Otter Cliffs on the east side of the island. It's a great spot for sunrises, 
and works well when the weather is calm or with high surf. About a half mile north of Otter Cliffs is a small cove called Monument Cove due to a pillar that has separated from the cliff. It can be photographed from the north or south side with rewarding results. The view from the south affords views of the hillsides in the background that abound with deciduous trees in fall color if you arrive in early October. At the south end near the cliffs themselves is the best place to get the early sun on rounded rocks that form the beach area. After the sunrise glow these rocks are a rather disappointing gray, but with first light they reflect the red light of the rising sun that is reiterated on the cliffs. My alarm didn't go off so I missed that, to my dismay.
Bass Harbor Lighthouse
Outside of the park but still on the coast is the oft-photographed Bass Harbor Lighthouse. This light again can be shot at sunrise or sunset, and
Melody and I discovered that it can be shot from the east or west side to good effect. The evening we were there, Melody took the west side and I took the east at sunset. There was some cloud cover with a gap at the horizon that I was hoping would create a blanket of color in the sky as the sun went down, so I opted for the silhouette shot. Melody took the west side and hit the jackpot. Just before the sun came out from the clouds, a sailboat went
by and Melody was able to shoot it with the lighthouse in the foreground. Then, as the sun went down, the red glow lit up the lighthouse and the rocks below, creating the effect you see here. My shots, on the other hand, were acceptable, but the sky never lit up the way I had hoped. One warning. This is another of those very popular spots that attracts tourists like slot machines in Vegas. Melody's photos were littered with people on the rocks (I was one of them) and by the lighthouse. Very distracting. So we Photoshopped them out. The view from the east, where I was, is not so difficult because the people on the rocks are distant and silhouetted.
Bubble Pond
In the center of the national park is a high, rounded granite peak called Mt. Cadillac. At sunrise you can see far out to sea and overlook the surrounding islands of the area. It's a great sunrise spot, and after the sun comes up you can turn your camera to the low vegetation that blankets the summit area. The granite surface keeps all of the vegetation close to the ground, so the views are uninterrupted by trees. In the fall, the ground-hugging plants turn red and orange and add a wonderful splash of color to the scene.
Back down near sea level, Acadia is blessed with several delightful lakes. My favorite is Bubble Pond because it is sufficiently narrow that you can
shoot across the lake and still get the trees on the opposite side because they are close. Eagle Lake is much larger, but at the north end near the road it has a narrow finger with some spectacular trees in the fall. It's a great place for color around the second week in October. Jenny Pond is somewhat more challenging, but at the south end near the visitor's center are some low bushes that turn color in the fall and make a pretty good foreground. There are several more lakes large and small scattered throughout the park and the non-park areas of the island that we did not explore, but are sure to offer great photo potential.
Don't overlook the small harbors at the villages creatively named Northeast Harbor and Southeast Harbor that are tucked away on the island. The largest town, Bar Harbor, is a tourist mecca and a fun place to shop, but the harbor is not the best for taking pictures.
There are many books that you can buy that will give greater depth than the simple musings I have offered here from a single trip. We used The Photographer's Guide to the Maine Coast by David Middleton and Bruce Morrison and Lighthouses of Maine by Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones to guide us and we recommend them unreservedly. I wrote this photo guide to point out some features that the book didn't note and that I thought would be of interest to photographers. If you found it helpful or think I missed the mark, please