Stonington Fishing Shacks
Last September, I spent a week in Maine. I had wanted to visit Stonington, a classic lobster fishing village on Deer Isle. I decided to book two nights in town, hoping to get some interesting photos of the lobster fleet, any nearby lighthouses, etc.
I was staying right on Main Street, which ran along the water, and what I quickly learned was that Stonington ran on “lobsterman’s time” as I will call it. Each morning by 3:30 a.m. I could hear the lobsterman’s pickup trucks racing through town to the docks. The small convenience store opened at 4:00 a.m. and the auto and boats part store opened at 5:00 a.m. Everything was shut down by 8:00 p.m.
I walked to the docks each morning trying to get a good sunrise. Though I got some good photos, which I will probably share in a future post, a real burner of a sunrise didn’t materialize while I was there. Still, I enjoyed taking photos of the boats as well as the town and its wonderful older buildings.
I drove out of town a few miles during the day and found what I thought was pretty traditional, idyllic Maine scene — a few fishing shacks clustered together on the water. Though I often wait until sunrise or sunset to capture scenes like this, the light during midday was quite pleasant, and the photo has an almost painterly feel.
Stonington Fishing Shacks
For this photo, I also had the advantage of a high tide, which simplified things a bit. I went back later, and captured a good sunset, but the water was much lower and there were more rocks and various tidal plants to contend with. I think I prefer the daytime shot, but I may share the sunset in the future.
