564 - Hadlock Falls
And thus, the journey to the heart of Maine begins.
The name of the game is Acadia National Park- a pilgrimage that every landscape photographer must make at one point or another in their careers. If not, it’s rumored the photography spirits exile you to a Dark Room for all of eternity.
And given the positioning of the park relative to the rest of the United States, a trip isn’t exactly easy. Acadia is located in the top right-hand corner of the United States, five hours north of Boston. But the journey is well worth the hassle.
The island hosting the National Park, known as Mount Desert, offers all the quintessential northeast landscapes in one place. Seascapes, woodlands, water, rivers, and mountains are in reckless abundance, just waiting to be explored. It’s a landscape photographer’s dream, especially during the autumn season.
Although it is possible to fly into the park, I always say it doesn’t count unless you drive. So here I was, in my Prius, driving up the coast to Acadia. And I’m not going to lie to you, this whole trip was a gamble. I had no idea what condition the park would be in, as online reports were outdated and all over the place. For all I knew, I could be driving into a post-fall apocalypse.
Two hours before sunset, I arrived.
Since my plan was to be here for a week or two, I decided to start off with a forest hike. I figured it’d be best to tackle the fall stuff early, then hit the coast once things start dying off.
My first destination was Hemlock Falls.
By the way, this is a particularly dark shoot. Unless you’re looking at these photos in the dark, I’d recommend upping your brightness to see the full detail:
“Roundabout”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 50 ~ 24mm ~ f/13 ~ 1/3s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
People often ask how to get unique shots. And an easy answer to that question is strange focal lengths. There’s barely anyone walking around with lenses below 16mm or above 200mm, so shooting in that range is guaranteed to make an image pop.
Or just find a stone bridge to frame your shot.
I also got a horizontal version of the waterfall, for all the cool kids out there that still enjoy desktop wallpapers:
“Crow”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 12-24mm f/4
[ISO 500 ~ 12mm ~ f/10 ~ 1/3s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
The color palette in that scene is ridiculous. It’s almost overwhelming. But I love it.
I decided to keep walking down the trail. Well, I should probably clarify. The pathway I was on was called a carriage trail. It’s basically a fancy trail that connects most of the park together. I’d imagine you can rent carriages, if you’re feeling sophisticated.
Here’s what it looks like:
“Throwback Thurs on a Tues”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 2000 ~ 80mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
And yeah, that’s me walking down the trail extra dramatically. Little throwback to the days when every shot I took was a selfie.
I kept walking, and landed on this little scene:
“Flamethrower”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 1000 ~ 80mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/160s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
I swear my brain is remapped from 500+ adventures. All I see nowadays is strange moments in nature. The whole forest is normal, and my eye immediately diverts to this tiny branch way in the distance.
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY HEAD. I wonder what it’ll be like after 2,000 adventures. Or even 7,000.
It was at this point in the hike when I realized that I needed to make a decision. Call it a day, or head to Hemlock Lake for sunset. The lake was about a mile downstream from the waterfall, but the problem was that sunset was in 20 minutes. This meant I would be showing up right when everything was happening, with little to no preparation.
Challenge accepted.
I flew down the footpath as fast as my little legs would take me, and even got distracted with a red tree along the way:
“One of a Kind”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 2500 ~ 28mm ~ f/6.3 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
These adventures early in the week always have so many photos. I’m usually coming off the weekend and am ready to ROCK.
When I finally arrived at the lake, sunset was in action. The sky was near perfect in color, and judging by the lighting, wasn’t going to be that way for long.
I hustled along the shoreline, trying to find a clearing amongst the brush that I could use for a foreground. I found a set of lily pads that looked nice, walked over, and immediately sunk about 1 foot into water.
The ground here was a straight up booby trap. It looked exactly like solid dirt, and it even had straw over the top of it. But below murked muddy water, that was now all over my shoes.
Fucking great. I looked around. The whole place was a minefield.
I glanced back at the sky. I had to act fast.
I noticed a few fallen trees, and ran across the back of them like a horizontal monkey. That’s when I landed on this composition:
“Devil’s Reckoning”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 12-24mm f/4
[ISO 2500 ~ 12mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/125s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Moments after the sky disappeared. I love the fickle texture of those dead roots. They almost look like devil horns- and when contrasted with those light rays in the sky, it gives a nice heaven/hell juxtaposition. (That’s my favorite word, by the way.)
I snagged one more pic for good measure. Call it an even 7:
“Needle in a Hay”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 12-24mm f/4
[ISO 2500 ~ 39mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/60s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
That shot made me feel uncomfortable. I think its the strong resemblance to needles. I’ll add it to my horror landscape collection.
Anyway. That about wraps up my first day in Acadia. I wish I had a quippy line to end this post, but I can’t think of anything that rhymes with lake besides rake.
Stay tuned.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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