Lobster Pots, Stonington Maine

Once again you are planning a trip away from home.  How do you maximize your photo opportunities?  One way is to use one of the various guidebooks put out for just about all of the popular photography locations.  While we were planning our Maine vacation I wanted to make sure I found all of those ideal locations.  I bought Monkman’s book, The Photographer’s Guide to Acadia National Park.  My intent was not to reproduce their pictures exactly, but to put myself in those picturesque spots and then “make the image my own” as they say.

As an example, an image similar to the one on the left appears on page 87 of the Monkman book.   I thought this scene had potential so we drove out to Stonington one day.  It took some cruising around the streets of Stonington to find this spot.  Once we found the location, instead of trying to reproduce their image exactly, I changed my viewing angle to get the image on the right.

I have my image on the enlarged to 16 x 24.  One women bought a copy, exclaiming that it was “visually stunning”.  Well, a bit of an exaggeration, but a nice compliment.

Don’t feel like you are “cheating” by using guide books.  Think of it as “optimizing” your time in a new location.  I seriously doubt I would have stumbled upon this location by just wandering around Maine.  And what a great image I would have missed!