Popham Beach Life Saving Station

I've wanted to get an image of this iconic building at Popham Beach for a long, long time. This morning, I almost missed my chance. I got hung up capturing the northern lights and then chatting with a friend, which nearly derailed my plan to venture over here. It's serendipitious, though, because the pre-dawn, nautical twilight that I thought would ruin my photo actually helped me immensely in capturing this image. The very faint glow on the horizon at 4:30 AM signaled the first stage of sunrise. As it brightened, the stars began to fade, but it also cast this mysterious glow on the landscape at the same time. The glow shone on the Life Saving Station and lit up the beautiful dunes and grasses in the foreground, making this capture much more powerful than anything I could have captured in the dark of full night.  I can't get over how sharp this came out. This is a 30 second exposure at f/2.8! ISO 3200! It's simply amazing how good these modern cameras can be at gathering light. I can't wait to see prints of this one.

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Filename: Popham Beach Lifesaving Station
Copyright: Benjamin Williamson
Image Size: 3648x5472 / 32.1MB; 1883-1971 Astrophotography Attraction Bed and Breakfast Coast of Maine Fort Popham Historic Hunniwells Beach Landmark Landscape ME Maine Maine Art Maine Gifts Maine Landscape Art Maine Landscape Photography Maine Photography Maine Scenic Photography Mid-Coast Maine Midcoast Maine Milky Way New England Night Photography Night Sky Phippsburg Popham Beach Scenery Scenic Tourism Tourist U.S. Life Saving Station Vacation
Contained in galleries: Archive, Night Sky

I've wanted to get an image of this iconic building at Popham Beach for a long, long time. This morning, I almost missed my chance. I got hung up capturing the northern lights and then chatting with a friend, which nearly derailed my plan to venture over here. It's serendipitious, though, because the pre-dawn, nautical twilight that I thought would ruin my photo actually helped me immensely in capturing this image. The very faint glow on the horizon at 4:30 AM signaled the first stage of sunrise. As it brightened, the stars began to fade, but it also cast this mysterious glow on the landscape at the same time. The glow shone on the Life Saving Station and lit up the beautiful dunes and grasses in the foreground, making this capture much more powerful than anything I could have captured in the dark of full night.  I can't get over how sharp this came out. This is a 30 second exposure at f/2.8! ISO 3200! It's simply amazing how good these modern cameras can be at gathering light. I can't wait to see prints of this one.