Clearing Storm
Monday was dreary and rainy here on the Maine coast. Definitely not one of those days that inspires you to get outside, but the weather forecast was calling for the storm to begin pulling away around sunset. When a storm is clearing out like this, there is a good possibility you can get some spectacular sunset colors, so off I went down to Marshall Point Lighthouse.
Arriving about 45 minutes prior to sunset, I set about looking for an interesting composition. Before I had gotten very far the clouds began to break, revealing some gorgeous golden light on the clouds. I could tell the light was not going to last long, as another bank of clouds stood ready to swallow the sun in a matter of moments. With this in mind I hurried down to the shoreline and set up a simple composition of the lighthouse with the beautiful golden clouds just offset to the right of the tower. The clouds were moving rapidly across the sky and the light was constantly changing. I captured a few different variations of the scene, and before I knew it the sun disappeared behind the next bank of clouds. I love those fleeting moments where the light is changing so fast you just have to react to what is happening around you.
With my first image in the bag I set off onto the rocks below to search for more, hoping the sun would reappear from behind the curtain of clouds. I quickly learned that today was not a day for venturing below the tideline, as all the rocks were covered in a green slime, which happens here from time to time. That green slime is incredibly slick though, worse than ice by my observation, making any attempt to traverse the rocks treacherous, to say the least.
I returned to the walkway that leads out to the lighthouse and stared out toward where the sun would be setting. Dark clouds covered the sky all the way to the horizon, leaving the chances of seeing the sun again pretty slim. The wind, blowing out of the northwest, was really starting to pick up at this point and the air had a definite chill.
After waiting a few more minutes, the cloud bank was still showing no signs of breaking, and any chance for a sunset was all but extinguished. However there was an orange glow, out to the south toward Monhegan Island, which combined with the dark clouds hanging overhead, looked very ominous. I thought it had potential, so I set up my camera and captured a few frames of the scene. I loved the resulting image that seemed to exude a dark and moody atmosphere.
One last glance toward the west confirmed there would be no sunset on this evening, so I packed my gear up and headed for the warmth of the car. Even though I struck out on color, I was more than pleased with the two images I was able to capture on this cold, windy evening along the Maine coast!
Leave a Reply