When you saw the title of this blog story, I’ll bet you thought it would be illustrated with images of picturesque lobster boats, lobster traps, and so on. Well, there are plenty of those in Stonington, at the foot of Deer Isle, facing Penobscot Bay.

Stonington Harbor © Harold Davis

Stonington is a true working harbor, and a little off the beaten track of tourists to Acadia National Park, with an industrial-scale lobster operation. At dusk, when the tide was low, I wandered some of the rundown piers, and admired the still reflections in the waters of the Atlantic.

Pier, Stonington Harbor © Harold Davis

Setting up my tripod amid tall grass and old lobster traps, I ignored the mosquitoes buzzing my ankles, and focused on the pilings and stone walls across the inlet from Stonington’s commercial fishing pier.

The observatory at the top of the bridge across the Penobscot Narrows bills itself as the highest bridge observatory in the world. Be that as it may, on a rainy day the lines and shapes of this interesting bridge became an abstract from above, particularly when crossed with the wake of a motor boat.

Penobscot Crossing © Harold Davis

Today I took my workshop class on a field trip to Isleboro, a short ferry ride from the Maine mainland. One of the techniques I asked the group to practice was intentionally hand-holding long exposures for a blurred look. This kind of blurring becomes one possible tool in the in-camera digital toolbox—tack sharp is not the only aesthetic choice when we make images. As an example, here is a long exposure image of the Isleboro ferry coming into the dock.

Isleboro Ferry © Harold Davis

Exposure data: Nikon D810, 28-300mm lens at 90mm, six seconds at f/25 and ISO 64, +4 neutral density filter, circular polarizer, hand held; processed in Photoshop, Nik Silver Efex, and Perfect B&W.