Our eager group of young photographers maneuvered down the short path toward an eastward view of the old, historic lighthouse at Acadia National Park. None of us had been to that location before, so we were anxious with anticipation of what might be awaiting us!

Location #1 – Bass Harbor Head Light

Rounding the corner, we were greeted with . . .

. . . well, this was how one CAPTURE Maine student craftily rendered the scene in front of us with some pretty slick photo editing skills. 🙂 But the reality was, the scene that greeted us more accurately looked something like this:

The subject was iconic, the famous Bass Harbor Head Light just outside of Acadia National Park. A great place for photos! But the morning lighting was colorless and ordinary. A creative mind needed to be employed here. A good composition needed followed up with either a peachy sky, or, for a more natural approach, a solid B&W edit.

The perspective from the other side of the lighthouse where another path led, the story was the same. An iconic place, but colorless and ordinary, a scene I think looked best in B&W.

Unless you were able to find a colorful subject passing by!

Location #2 – Hadlock Falls

We quickly decided to move on to another location in Acadia. This time, we would shoot for a subject more suited for cloudy skies!

A good, half-mile hike brought us in to Hadlock Falls. A hidden gem on Mt. Desert Island!

When we first arrived at the falls, the flowering trees that surrounded it really caught my attention. However, as I was busy interacting with other students I never got around to trying to frame up something with them. Well then to my surprise, I saw the below photo submitted by Elizabeth for the conclusion slideshow! Evidently, there was another brain around there that thought like mine.

We all wished there had been more water on the falls. But one thing we were super grateful for, there was no water pouring on us from the sky!

My original plan for the CAPTURE Maine workshop was to spend Friday getting to know our cameras at the host family’s home before heading for Acadia on Saturday to put what we had learned into practice at a photogenic location. But after looking at the forecast for the weekend, we decided we would have to make a major change. Both days called for rain. Friday had a much lower percentage. And there was even a possibility of broken clouds! We could spend Saturday diving deep into the ins and outs of effective post-processing. So, the decision was made to put all our eggs into Friday’s basket and spend the entire day at Acadia.

Location #3 – Jesup Path

From Hadlock Falls, we made our way to Jesup path, stopping at a fantastic overlook along the way. The clouds were breaking!

At Jesup path, the sunlight came and went at random, giving a variety of options to the photographers’ whims. When the sun was out, the bright green grass radiated with a springy glow.

When the sun went behind the clouds, you could opt for a little bit more of a moodier mood.

Location #4 – The Beehive in Acadia

After a short rest to fuel up our growling tummies, we headed off for the big hike of the day: climbing the Beehive. On the strenuous hike up, we noticed the clouds starting to roll back in.

At the top, I was sitting down to catch my breath and scope out a place to take the group photo when one of the students appeared out from behind the bushes in front of me.

“Hey James, there’s a huge white cloud further ahead. You need to come and see it!”

“Aren’t all clouds white?” I thought, as I picked up my weary legs again.

But this turned out to not just be your ordinary white cloud! Emerging from the forest on the other side of the mountain top, the stunning, sun-kissed landscape spread out before us.

The wonder only lasted for a few more minutes.

On the way back down the mountain, it started sprinkling. A real storm was threatening to share its pent-up repository upon us. But we kept shooting! To a hearty photographer, clouds and mist are fantastic complements to a well-crafted photograph!

Thankfully, the rain never really came. We were as dry as a barrel when we reached the bottom of the Beehive (except for perhaps our shoes).

Location #5 – Sand Beach in Acadia

Before heading home from Acadia, we made sure to make some stops along the coast. We were all pretty tired by this point, and darkness would be coming quickly, but the Lord was continuing to hold off the rain and we would take pictures as long as we could.

The diffused light on Sand Beach was amazing!

Location #6 – Thunder Hole in Acadia

And to finish off the day, we made one final stop to listen to the rain-less thunder at Thunder Hole.

As a landscape photographer, one thing I love about rocky coast is the abundance of leading lines. In the following photo, you can see that I found a nice one that led to a prominent outcropping.

But I felt like there was something I could do to make this photo better! I asked my favorite photographer model to help. And for a “dangerous” mission like this, he gladly obliged.

Finally, it started to actually rain. But not before it was too dark to shoot anyway. Saturday could come with it slate gray skies, cutting rain, and scholarly counsel meetings around electronic devices. We had had a great, photographic Friday enjoying the natural exquisiteness of Acadia National Park, complete with Heaven’s special touches of clouds, mist, and partly sunny skies.

There are a ton more photos that I and the students took on our adventurous CAPTURE Maine escapade to the coast at Acadia National Park. To view our best photos from the workshop, you can visit www.lenspiration.photos/2025capturemaine!

After the workshop, Julianna and I headed south to rest up and prepare for the next few excursions. On the way, we stopped at a very iconic location, and in this next blog post I offer my 6 first impressions of it from a landscape photographer’s perspective.