My first morning in Acadia, as I was shaking off the stiffness of my long drive to Maine from Pennsylvania, I visited a place called The Tarn,. It’s located right along the main road and looked interesting. so I stopped to get a better look. The mountains rise very steeply here on both sides of the road, boasting nice fall foliage. The Tarn itself, is a large pond at the base of one of those mountains and there are trails that go around the pond making access pretty easy. What makes The Tarn an interesting pond are the tall grasses growing out of it in irregular clusters, giving the pond a beautiful texture, and in a breeze, a relaxing, wavy movement. Lilly pads grow in the multitude of pools between the clusters of grass, and I thought I might make a nice image if I could catch one of the pools in the right light. It turned out that light never really materialized the way I had hoped, but I still got a few photos that morning. To me they have a pleasing, subdued look to them,. with a hint of mystery, and they seem to elicit a spirit of calmness in me, which was the way I felt that morning.

Next, after The Tarn, I headed south on the loop and found a place to park a couple of miles past the Sand Beach and about a mile south of Thunder Hole, both of which are very popular tourist attractions, especially in the summer. Even in late October, parking lots in those places were packed, and cars were overflowing onto the road.

The light was already bright, creating deep shadows, so I decided to dispense with my photo gear, and just hike along the Ocean Path. It was a beautiful trail, overlooking the rocky shoreline, with long views of the ocean and cliffs. as it ascended and descended, twisting among the gnarly wind-stunted evergreens, rocks and colorful ground cover at the top. The trail was nicely constructed, often with large rock steps and an occasional railing looking over a cliff. The roar of the sea was ever present, and gulls were soaring in the sea-breeze above, and hunting below, for small marine creatures on the beaches of millions of rocks, smoothed by many millennia of tidal waves.

When I finally found myself on one of those beaches, the first thing I noticed, was the noisy sound of the slippery wet stones moving around under my weight, and walking on the rocks is a bit like walking on the dry part of a sandy beach- the part that was above the high tide, where the sand is deep and your feet sink into it with every step. It’s different from the sand, in that I had to adjust my balance with each step, because they were slippery, and because the rocks shifted irregularly, not smoothly and predictably, like deep sand. To me, the most amazing aspect of these beaches however was unexpected and more subtle…

The smooth rocks are more than a visual treat. If you can go to a beach where it is quiet, where the waves are still powerful enough to break over the beach, but the roar isn’t deafening. If you stand quietly and get used to the ambient noise of the place… You would notice a faint rumbling coming from what seems like the inside the Earth, travelling through your body, and finally touching your auditory nerves. You would notice that it happens whenever a wave breaks on the beach, and you would begin listening for it, hoping to better understand the sound. You would begin to realize that it is the sound of water and rock, giving birth to sand- The deep, hollowish subdued rumbling of hundreds or perhaps thousands of rocks striking each other at the same time is reminiscent of the sound of bowling pins hitting each other, though lower pitched, and muffled. It is a surreal sound… cacophanous, but calming all the same. I pray that you sometime, have the opportunity to experience that wonderful sound.

It was on this trail I met a fellow photographer from Toronto, who arrived a day before the workshop he was attending for the week. We shared stories and since I was not carrying my camera, I watched him as he investigated his options of subject and technique. He seemed a bit dazzled by the choices, and I enjoyed simplifying them for him- explaining my thought process. He told me that he appreciated my comments, and asked me many questions. I really enjoyed sharing my observations, and seeing the satisfied look on his face when he looked at the results on the back of his camera.

But talking about photographs, though satisfying, isn’t as good as taking them, and I was seriously ready to get some frames under my belt! When we reached the trail’s end and hiked back in the direction of the car, I split off and retrieved some gear. I pulled out a lens I thought would be good for the subjects I’d seen, grabbed the camera and tripod, and walked fast to catch up with my friend. We walked down to where his car was, at Sand Beach, taking photos as we went along. I was surprised by the colors and textures that were available on the coastline in broad daylight, and quite pleased with some of the images I captured that afternoon, despite the super-high-contrast scenes caused by the vivid sunlight..

Acadia - Part 3

Acadia - Part 4

Acadia - Part 2