My Favorite Fort.
Located along the shore of Gerrish Island in Kittery Point, Fort Foster was once part of the U.S. coastal defense system. Active from 1901 thru 1946, the fort is now part of Fort Foster Park, and managed by the town of Kittery, Maine.
The park is a year ’round favorite with everyone from families to scuba divers, with a beach, playground and walking trails. For the history buffs, there’s something too. Scattered throughout the park are the historic remains of Battery Bohlen and Battery Chapin. In Part 3 I’ll be sharing images of some of these remnants of history.
Photographically Speaking.
For me the park is one of the best seascape photography locations on the southern Maine seacoast. With rocky shore, sandy beaches, and views of Whaleback Lighthouse and the Wood Island Life Saving Station, there’s something to satisfy any seascape photographers desires. One of the best qualities of the park is that due to its location on the southern tip of the island, it has the rare distinction of being a great spot to photograph both sunrise and sunset.
That Glorious Pier.
One of my favorite landmarks located within the park, and the subject of this post, is the pier jutting out from the shoreline and into the Piscataqua River that forms the border between New Hampshire and Maine. This beautifully photogenic pier has been the subject of more than a few photos I’ve made over the years. In fact, because I photograph the pier so often it’s become a personal challenge to try to come up with something different each time.
On, under, or around, about the only preferences I have when photographing near the pier are good light and low, or nearly low tide.
In part 2 I’ll be back at Fort Foster with some rocks and a Lighthouse.
The light in these is wonderful. And the “legs” shot is remarkable and so unexpected. Thank you for sharing all of these!
Thank you Diana.
Whenever I visit Fort Foster, and I go there A LOT, I task myself with photographing the pier and coming up with a unique way of doing it.
As a sucker for anything beach-related, I particularly enjoy your pictures from the shore line and the pier. Always a favorite of mine.
Quick practical question, though : how do you make the sunlight so bright and beautiful instead of the usual flare that often only shows up on the picture ? When I try this kind of composition, there’s either too much or not enough sunlight, and multiples concentric cercles I need to erase upon editing.
Thanks for your intel !
Happy photographing !
The practical part is rather easy. When I shoot a scene like this I will expose for the highlights, not caring at all what happens to the shadow/darker areas. Then when I get the image into Lightroom I’ll push the shadow slider hard right, all the way to 100 if I need to. I have to admit that my Fujifilm cameras handle noise so well that boosting the shadows like this doesn’t introduce any appreciable noise.
As for the lens flare issue, you can do one of two things. You can throw money at it in the form of better and more expensive lenses that have better coatings that help with this. Or, you can stay tuned for an article I’m working on where I’ll show you how you can fix is with your finger or a popsicles stick. For the latter you will need to shoot two images(tripod a must), and you’ll need photoshop.
I like that you have a post coming with tips to fix the lens flare issue ! I’ll stay tuned for that one ! 😉
If you have photoshop it’s actually really easy. I just need to put it all together in a post 🙂
Fabulous series, Jeff. What a picturesque spot. Wishing you an inspiring new year.
What beautiful photos! Your shots always inspire me.
janet
Beautiful spot indeed, Jeff.
What superb light. Great set of images