Trust Your Photographic Instincts

Witnessing a sunrise is always very special but becomes magical in Maine Acadia National Park. This time I was destined to capture one of these moments with my camera and made my way out to famous Monument Cove in the early wee hours. I was one with nature and deer were greeting me along the scenic Acadia National Park park loop road. I figured somewhere in the woods a black bear or an owl must watch me pass by. While driving to my location I was thinking of climbing down to Monument Cove to shoot abstracts of Green Pebbles at sunrise. But as often in my photography, after arrival, I changed plans and followed my photographic instincts. Instead of stumbling down into the cove I decided to make my way over to the granite rocky seacoast above the cove. After capturing First Light, I made my way farther along the coastline, looking for other interesting foreground features that make for great photography. Not far from my original location, I found this tiny evergreen tree that looked like a cute little Bonsai tree in this grand Maine landscape. The tree made for a perfect foreground subject that conveys depth and perspective of the rigid seacoast. The beautiful morning light was still striking the Evergreen tree, granite rock formation and Otter Cliff in the far distance when I set up my camera and tripod for one more shot. In this seacoast photography image I had set the focal length to 28mm and the aperture to f/14. Combined with an ISO100 setting these settings provided a 1/30 second exposure time. I underexposed by 2/3 stops to saturate colors. During post processing I slightly adjusted contrast, lighting, and color saturation before sharpening and saving the image. So glad I once again trusted my photographic instincts ...