Portland Head Light, Maine

I was going through older images looking for ones with snow in them and I came across this series of the Portland Head Light (Lighthouse).  Some shoots are memorable for one reason or another and this was one of them, especially considering I forgot what I did yesterday. ;-)  

We rented a small beachside cottage in Old Orchard Beach for the winter and while that may sound exotic, the place is a ghost town in the winter (just us and some sea gulls).  We thought it would be cool to experience one of these brutal Maine winters we kept hearing about.  So we parked the RV and moved in late October.  It wasn't until early December before we got our first good snow storm.  Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out for me to go photograph the lighthouse right after the storm, but I figured hey this Maine, it's just getting started...NOT.  It's now February and we need to head back to Florida at the beginning of March and there's barely been a snow flake a flying.

Ironically after months of uninspiring winter photographic opportunities I decided to head down to Boston and attend a one day photography workshop (I think it had to to do with making better prints or something like that?)  That day a massive winter storm decides to head our way, with over a foot of snow in 24 hours expected.  All of the instructors at the workshop were trying to wrap things up early, so everyone could get home or catch their flights out before the airports closed.  I made it back to the cottage in plenty of time before the storm really kicked in.

Here's the what I wrote on our personal blog the next day:

"Feb 12th  Well it's 15 degrees, we're under a winter storm warning, we have about 10 inches of snow so far and still another 6 to 7 hours before it's over.  Now this is why we came to Maine for the winter!!!!!"

Adam & Alex shoveling snow

Anyway, the storm passed later in the day and I wasn't going to miss photographing the lighthouse this time.  I had all my gear ready and I headed out well before sunrise the next morning.  After a brief stop at Tim Horton's drive thru (best coffee ever) for breakfast, I arrived at the lighthouse with nice fresh untouched snow, unbelievably clear skies, not a soul around and freaking cold (6 degrees).

Here's one of the first shots of the morning before the sun came up, with beautiful Blue Hour light.

Portland Head Light, Blue Hour

As the sun rose, I moved around the lighthouse to get different points of view and the best light.

Portland Head Light at Sunrise

The next one is one of my all time favorites and the only one from that day I processed until yesterday (oh yea, that's what I did yesterday) :-)

Portland Head Light at Sunrise

Portland Head Light at Sunrise