9/12/20 Fort Georges

It wasn’t intentional, but our day started early. We woke up at around 5:45 AM, early enough that the sun wasn’t up, so we decided to head outside to watch it rise over the bay. It was a very peaceful and quiet way to start off.

It was a lot colder than we were expecting so early in the morning, but a warm drink and every layer we had brought up to Maine made it manageable. I don’t know why, but I always feel like sunrises have the best color. We had a really nice time taking that color in and watching it give way to a beautiful blue sky day.

Once we had a chance to get some breakfast and pack a lunch, we packed the paddle boards on to the motor boat and headed to Fort Georges. The fort was built in the late 1800s in order to help defend Portland. It sits on a tiny rocky island right across the main shipping channel from Portland harbor. The ride down from Mere Point is about 15 miles, but it went by quickly. The perfectly calm water made it comfortable too. Once there we anchored and hopped on the paddle boards for the short trip to the fort.

We spent about an hour wandering around the inside of the fort. The main structure is in surprisingly good shape for the age. Clearly solid granite makes a durable building material. Many parts of the fort were open to explore, including some of the living quarters, gun batteries, and powder magazine. The many tiny gun windows all had great views of the channels and boats around Portland.

The highlight of the fort itself was probably the roof view. From here you had the perfect view of Portland itself, as well as the inside of the fort. This was also the home of the only remaining gun that we saw. Once we had our fill of the city view, it was back down the stairs and out of the fort.

At this point I wandered around the small portion of the island that was not part of the fort itself. Like most islands around here it is mostly rock and seaweed, but it was also home to a small sandbar. The sandbar is clearly the most popular place to hang out, and there were a couple of small motor boats pulled up on it while we were there. I had to pay attention though because the sandbar ended up completely under water while I took my photos. Fortunately it wasn’t too deep when I headed back to the paddle board.

We ended up relaxing on the boat for a while and had a nice floating picknick lunch. With the wind starting to pick up a bit we made our way back towards Mere Point. Compared to the morning we had a low key afternoon, and even managed a nap to make up for the early morning. To close out the day we had a classic Mere Point sunset. All in all it was one of my favorite days of the summer.

9/8/20 Mere Point

Today I have a batch of unrelated photos from our stay at Mere Point. As usual I spent plenty of time wandering around the point with my camera, so these are the odds and ends. As much of a pain as 2020 has been, the weather in Maine just kept delivering. The temperatures were very pleasant, the water was calm. This sunset summed up the days well.

There were also some special guests on the bay while we were there. The Infinity and it’s tender ship, Intrepid, spent a couple days anchored between the islands within view of the shore. We took the boat out one morning to cruise around them a bit and get a closer look. These boats are shockingly large. It is hard to imagine having the means to own something like this. I guess I should just try founding a company like Harbor Freight…

8/21/20 Sudbury Reservoir

After all of the fun I have had with sunset photos recently, I’ve been keeping an eye out for the ideal cloud conditions for that great color. When a promising evening presented itself I hopped in the car and headed over to the Sudbury Reservoir to find a good view. I walked along the path at the water’s edge where there are a number of really pretty spots like this one:

I passed a number of the sunset views that I have used in the past in search of something a little different. In the end, I never found anything quite as good as what I had used before, so I ended up having to wade out into the water a bit to get an unobstructed view.

Once the colors started to fade I hiked back to the car along the larger path. It may not have been the most photographically productive walk, but it was a beautiful and relaxing evening.

Below I have a couple other photos I took on the walk, as well as a few from some other trips around town around this time.

Mere Point Sunsets – Week 3 – 6/19/20

Well, here we are on the third and final set of sunset photos from our summer trip to Mere Point. The first photo is from an evening we spent at the end of the point with some family, a rare treat this summer. As you can see, the horizon had some thick clouds, but we were still treated to some excellent color, and the ocean delivered some great foreground scenery as well.

After that evening, the weather finally decided to mess with my routine. We ran into a string of dreary days that left us inside more often. I got some chances to get out and take some photos, but none of them would really be called a “sunset”.

Once the weather started to clear up though, it really came through with a couple of incredible evenings. This first evening came after a full day of thick fog. Most of the islands were completely invisible. Just before sunset it cleared up though, and I had the end of the point all to myself. I quite liked this view of the kayakers returning from their foggy paddle. Shortly after this was taken they called me over to confirm where they were, as apparently the fog had confused them. Fortunately, they had navigated correctly and were headed for the boat ramp just a few minutes paddle away.

The next day unfolded along similar lines, though it didn’t look as promising. The fog was just starting to clear as the sun was going down, so I decided to get out for a short boat ride. Fortunately I grabbed the camera, because I ended up floating into the middle of the sunset itself. The thin clouds and fog were all around me lighting up everything in vivid pinks, oranges, and yellows. Up above, the blue sky was showing through. The sun lit up the clouds all around me in amazing ways. I had a ton of fun taking the photos, at least until my camera battery died.

I’ve thrown a few more shots in here as well. All of these were at least taken around sunset, though some are not quite on theme. Still, I thought they were worth sharing.

Mere Point Sunsets – Week 2 – 6/12/20

With this week’s sunset photos I really aimed to branch out and get to some different parts of the point. The first photo is actually right near where last week’s were taken, but I thought a different angle served this one well. The sunset produced a beautiful orange glow, but there were simply not enough clouds to really make is spectacular. As a result, I stayed focused on the rocks and waves.

The next evening was another middling sunset. The colors never really came through the way I wanted them to, and the clouds that did light up were off in a strange direction. I did my best to take them in from a new angle, this time a little further down the east side of the point.

Given my results on the east side, I decided to try finding a spot on the west side. This little cove created some great lines in the image, and I was able to incorporate some of the boats moored just offshore. The water was calm and quiet this evening, enough so that I could see it slowly drain as the sun went down.

I have to admit, this one is a bit of a lie. Though this sunset was the next chronological entry, it is not actually at Mere Point! On this evening I decided to make a sunset crossing out to Sister Island to see the sunset from there. I ended up perched on top of a large rock at the south end of the island where I took in this view. I don’t think the photo really does it justice. On the other hand, maybe I was just mixing up the adventure with the beauty of it and it did not look as good as it felt in the moment. Shortly after the sun dipped down I raced back across the bay and made it home just before it got completely dark.

After the adventure the previous night, I returned to something a little more tame. Though it didn’t take much to earn the view, this sunset really turned out to be a beauty. As the sun faded behind the horizon the colors just kept getting better. This photo was probably taken 20 minutes after the sun set, but I just couldn’t help but sit by the water and take it in. Hope you enjoy it too!

Mere Point Sunsets – Week 1 – 6/6/20

One of my favorite things to do as we spend time at Mere Point is to watch the sun set. Because the end of the point, just a short walk away, offers such an expansive view of the bay and the surrounding islands it almost always looks great. During our extended stay in Maine in June I tried to get out to see that sunset almost every night. And now, after an unacceptably long delay, I’m sharing my experiences on those evenings.

First up, we have the evening of June 6th. This sunset was initially somewhat disappointing with thick clouds near the horizon keeping the glow to a minimum. However, as you can see, it came through in the end.

The next evening offered another set of mixed results. The clouds were again thicker than would be ideal, but just as the sun dipped down to the horizon it lit up the underside of the clouds with a soft pink glow that reflected down to the water. I really liked how the perfectly smooth tide pool gave a view of the cool gray clouds overhead as well.

The next evening the clouds looked much better, and I decided to return to that same tide pool to see if I could catch it with better lighting. In the end I’m not sure if it’s a better or worse picture, but it is certainly interesting as well.

The more time I spent at the end of the point the more I tried to mix up the angles I was capturing. After all, no matter how interesting the sunsets, they will all start to look boring if they keep repeating the same shot. Given that, I spent some time the next evening capturing this view looking at the dock to the north west. I love the way the setting sun was lighting up the seaweed and rocks.

The next couple nights were spent with other activities including everyone’s favorite: the zoom calls. However given how the first few days of sunset hunting came out, I was hooked.

Newer Posts