Anna Maria, Florida Sunset
The Holidays are upon us and with all the hurry and flurry of the season, I find it an important time to pause and take in moments of joy. For me, that would be sunsets on the quiet beaches of Anna Maria. It’s the best gift I can give myself!
Joy exists in the ordinary.
Captured with an iPhone 11 Pro Max with minor edits in Luminar 4.
Cadillac Mountain Sunrise, Acadia National Park, Maine.
One of my highlights this summer was to experience sunrise on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Overlooking the Gulf of Maine, Frenchman Bay, and Bar Harbor, it is the first sunrise in the United States and an important event for hundreds of people who gather here every day to witness its beauty. We arrived an hour before sunrise, walked a pathway to the highest point seeking a spot to set up my tripod and gear among eager folks bundled up in the cold air. In the darkness, you could see other people spreading out over the rocks, others adjusting their tripods. It was certainly a photographer’s event as we all hunted for our spots. Despite the crowd, which seemed to be 100+, the mountain embraced its feeling of quiet.
As the moment neared, a golden, molten glow appeared in the moments just before the sun actually made its appearance.
This image is a compilation of 6 iPhone X images, stitched together with the app AutoStitch, and the app Distressed FX+ for the final texture.
Pemaquid Point Light, Bristol, Maine
One of my most favorite places to visit is the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in mid-coast Maine. The rock formations are the most famous and with raging seas, a fantastic sight to capture with the lighthouse in the distance. For today’s blog, it isn’t about the rocks or the lighthouse but summer’s end approaching and nature’s preparation for the winter ahead. I thought this image through the window for this week’s theme “dried” illustrated the end of the beautiful flowers and grasses that grace this amazing property.
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Pemaquid, Maine.
This past week, I participated in a 3-day Downeast Maine Magazine photography workshop led by Benjamin Williamson and Kurt Budliger. We had amazing weather and beautiful skies in our ‘quest’ for sunrises and sunsets. The days were long, beginning at 4:30am and ending well past 10pm with afternoon classroom time to preview photos and lightroom editing techniques. Ben and Kurt are awesome photographers and their insights and instructions on landscape photography was superb. I chose the above image for this week’s theme of ‘Quest’ as a representative of the quest for amazing sunrises and sunsets. It was the blue hour of the morning around 5am and I had just arrived at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and began shooting before losing the skies to the morning sunrise.
Nikon d810, 24-70mm, f/10, 24mm, 1/4 second
Wasatch Mountains in Utah.
We were in Utah this past week visiting family and skiing in the Wasatch mountains at Snowbird and Alta. I shot this image with my iPhone from the car coming down the mountain in the late afternoon. I always love the way the mountains frame Salt Lake City as we wind our way down off the mountain. There was nothing special with the original photo so I went to work on the sky. I edited it on my iPhone first with Snapseed to darken the sky and then added the moon with LensLight and some sky dust from the Repix app. Below is the original photo.
Anna Maria, Florida
Our favorite holiday to celebrate with family is Thanksgiving and this year we decided to spend the week at our beach house on Anna Maria. Each evening presented us with a variety of sunsets, never failing to bring out the ‘awws’ in us as we watched our grandson dodge the gentle waves.
I thought the above iPhone image was perfect for this week’s theme as we journey out for another afternoon sunset. Each sunset is always a “Wildcard” as the day turns to dusk.
Tromsø, Norway.
This beautiful, modern, graceful bridge joins the city of Tromsø, Norway, with numerous other islands. Built in 1960, the Tromsø Bridge was the first cantilever bridge to be built in Norway and is typical of Norwegian bridges built high enough to allow big ships to pass under it, like the one I was on when I captured these images. It was dusk and most folks had left the deck. I remained and happened to spot this photographer capturing some last shots. I loved the contrast of his red jacket with the blue twilight.
The surrounding mountains and ocean setting all made for some spectacular photos.
Reena Walkling 