Michael Rickard's photostream  

Tremont, Maine

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In 2010 I was very excited after several years of trying to finally get to witness a sunset at the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. For several years I braved the crowds at the lighthouse in the evenings in an effort to get the sunrise shot that I wanted but it never panned out. Either there were no clouds in the sky or it was too overcast. The clouds in the late afternoon at Bass Harbor have a way about them... My experience was they always blew through the area before the sunset leaving a drab clear sky or it was so overcast you could not even see the sun. Well finally in the fall of 2010 I decided to try yet again. I got into position early and waited for a couple of hours for the sun to start dropping. I cautiously watched the clouds as some building of them took place in the afternoon. I was hoping they would not blow through... and they did not. As a matter of fact they built up so much that I thought the sunset was going to be completely hidden. I watched and waited as the photographers kept arriving and claims were staked on the flat rock I was on. We managed to fit three of us on the small acreage of the rock. All of us watched in amazement as the clouds starting building up so much that we almost packed it in. Then at the last moment the sun peaked through a small slice in the clouds that opened up right at the horizon. The sky exploded into color for several minutes so I grabbed a couple of quick exposures like the one above. When I knew I got the shot I turned my attention to some longer exposures. The one below is one example of the longer exposure (66 seconds). Unfortunately I forgot to turn on the auto noise reduction so it was riddled with noise. If anyone knows any different techniques to rid an image of the specks of noise in long exposures other than the spot healing tool and clone tool, please let me know!! Anyway, I thought I would post these just to showcase how a longer exposure can drastically change the image. The image below is posted further back in my photostream, by the way. Both images were shot with my Canon 5d Mark II, 24-70 f/2.8 lens at 24 mm. The shot above had a shutter speed of one half second, and like I stated earlier the shot below was a 66 second exposure. I had to use a solid neutral density filter on the one below to get the shutter speed up to where I wanted it.

Fort Williams Park near Portland, Maine

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Sure, I know there is a lot of art it photography. Knowing the right combinations of aperture and shutter speeds, getting the right angle, having patience for the sky, sun, clouds, waves, water, animals and birds to cooperate and the list goes on. But to be able to pick up a brush and go to town, well, that is just something completely different. I give a lot of credit to this artist, for sure. I am sure he was here for hours trying to get his painting just right, and the only thing I did was wait for his hat hat to be somewhat centered between the flagpole and lighthouse buildings. I did not interrupt him, so I cannot tell you his name but the painting speaks for itself. This was just a snap using my Canon 5d Mark II as I walked by him.

Eastport, Maine

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Whenever we travel to Lubec, Maine, we rarely travel to Eastport. It is one of those places where its a ten minute boat trip or 40 minutes by car. I mean you can see one town from the other town... But there is so much to do around the Lubec area we never make it over to Eastport. We did travel there many years ago, and I knew of the Fisherman's Statue along the water near the harbor but I never knew its history. On the base the statue stands is a plaque which reads, "This statue was built in 2001 for Fox Television's filming of its reality mini-series, Murder in Small Town X. Restored in 2005 with donated funds and services, the statue is now a tribute to Angel Juarbe, Jr., the New York City fireman who won the $250,000 grand prize in the mini-series and soon after lost his life as one of the first responders to the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001." In 2011 when this photo was taken, ten years after the attacks, we traveled over to Eastport and I looked at the statue which quite honestly I had forgotten about. I read the plaque about Angel and thought how can I get a good shot of this memorial? We walked through a lot of stores and I noticed many postcards of this thing. Some were up close shots of the fisherman's head and the fish itself, different angles of the statue etc. But they were all taken in bright, harsh afternoon light. So I got an idea about the sunrise. I knew where the sun would be coming up and thought the only thing I need to cooperate is the sunrise itself. Everything else would be up to me. So, it took two mornings and a couple of 40 minute drives to Eastport from Lubec, but this is what I ended up with. This is for Angel Juarbe, Jr... the only thank you I know how to give. Others live on to see new mornings and sunrises thankful there are those like you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

San Franciso, California

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Sorry I have not posted in a while, but I recently changed job functions at work. For those of you that don't know I'm with the Maryland State Police currently holding the rank of sergeant. For the past ten years I have been assigned to our collision reconstruction/traffic homicide unit. A very challenging and stressful position. I recently was reassigned to a different unit (which is a good thing). Less stress, but much longer days due to the commute (115 miles one way). That leaves me with a whole bunch of less time to work on my photos in my queue that need "developed". I soon hope to be at a local barrack and when that happens my days should get back to normal. Until then I may be scarce around these parts. Anyway, here is a shot from San Francisco back in November of last year. My wife needed to attend a conference out there, and she did not want to go alone. And who am I to disappoint? This was the first trip to San Francisco for both of us, and we cannot wait to return. I found this location at Marshall Beach by accident, really. I was driving around one morning trying to figure out where to go for a sunrise. I knew about Hawk Hill and the Marin Headlands, but I wanted to find somewhere on the San Francisco side of the bridge to get some shots, too. That led me to looking around this area thus finding Marshall Beach. What a fabulous place to spend some time, both at sunrise and during the day. After doing a search on Flickr for Marshall Beach I found a bunch of shots from this area, so this is by no means unique. But, for me it’s very exciting knowing I had the opportunity to visit and make an image I can call my own. And, of course, to share it on here with all of you. I was out before the sun came and got to the beach. I was hoping for a bit of fog, but I had no such luck. As I was shooting and the sun began to break the skyline, the clouds lit up for a brief and shining moment. I grabbed some shots, but I was not happy with the way they were turning out. I wanted to smooth out the water just a tad, so I set the shutter speed just a bit on the slow side at 1/8 of a second. As I said, I was just looking to smooth the water just a bit. I also had several shots with the white foam on the beach not looking quite right. But in this shot I liked the long, smooth curve with the even tone of white extending all the way from the breaking of the waves to the top of the beach head. I also liked the way the sun illuminated the towers on the bridge. This was the last shot I took before the colors disappeared, and the only shot with the nice even tone of the water. I hope you enjoy the shot; let me know what you think. I always enjoy your feedback. Hope to "see" everyone soon when I get back to posting regularly.

Other than photography, one of my favorite past times.