West Quoddy Lighthouse

West Quoddy Lighthouse

Lubec, Maine

So here it is.....I photograph this scene last October and though it wasn't raining the clouds refused to leave or even part some....the color version wasn't working for me so I decided to go black and white.  I used Nik Silver Efex and with some tweaking I like what I was seeing.  The clouds were looking good and in general the scene popped, but I wasn't completely satified.  In Silver Efex I tried toning, but still wasn't quite what I wanted.  So I tried Topaz Adjust and used the brown tone which is the photograph below.  I know which one I like, but which do you like.  Your input and any comments are truly appreciated.

Have a great weekend...Happy St. Patrick's Day!



My 3 Season Coastal Maine Adventure





Iron Stairs

  




Morning Fog

  



Portland Lighthouse

 



As I have mentioned in previous posts that I am exploring different techniques that I have grown very interested in.  To name a few HDR (High Dynamic Range), Texturing, Hand Coloring, Infrared, and more Black & White.  I also want to try different photographic compositions like, landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, more reflections, more city abstracts.  Just to name a few.  The photographs seen here are some of the concepts I want to improve upon.
So I got to thinking of where to go to get these photos.  I have a couple of shows in Connecticut where I grew up and I know lots of locations there, but I really wanted to get more locations here in Maine since this is where I live and most of my art shows are here.  Have to say that I don't know Maine as well as I should.  So that is why I came up with My 3 Season Coastal Maine Adventure.  I choose 3 seasons, because frankly I am not a winter person, and I spend most of the winter catching up on things.  So March through October I have chosen 10 coastal towns and cities that I will be visiting with the March through October time frame.  I will be scouting out locations in March and regularly visiting these places on Sundays or Mondays when traffic is lowest.  The anticipated towns and cities I plan to visit are Machiasport, Bar Harbor, Stonington, Belfast, Camden, Rockland, Boothbay, Bath, Freeport, Portland.  I will be visiting locations in and around these towns and cities.  This will build my collection of photographs with the objectives above in mind.  And I will also get to know the coastal area of Maine.  If this goes well then next year I go inland to explore. 
This year is all about exploration of my skills as a photographer, myself too and exploring this great state of Maine.  Through my adventure I will be tweeting, posting on facebook and of course blogging.  And as always keep an eye on my website for new photos.
Just some added mentions:  I will be attending both the Rockland Farmers Market and the Newport Farmers Market where I will be selling my cookies and photography. My second job and more avenues to market my photography.