Fall Foliage 2018 Acadia National Park Day 1
26th November 2018
Fall Foliage in Acadia National Park 2018
Acadia is one of the best outdoor photography experiences on the East Coast. Yes, it is crowded. A little less in fall than summer. Making the trip is still worth it for the outdoor photographer. There is so much diversity in one compact space. In this one place you can find orange and pink granite peaks, alpine vegetation, a delightful contrast between colorful hardwood and spruce forests, dramatic seas cliffs, and the ever moving ocean. Unlike most of the trees choked locations in the East, there is a lot of open space and sky at Acadia. There are many iconic over photographed spots here obviously. But there are also so many opportunities to find something unique. In this blog post I will share my favorite photos from a 3 day, 3 night trip and tell the story of how I followed the weather and light to make images. For the sake of readability, I am breaking this up into 3 separate posts, even though it is all one trip.
Day 1
After spending the previous afternoon driving up to Acadia in a steady rain and sleeping at Blackwoods Campground, I was ready to start the photo adventure. The morning was still cloudy and misty. No sunrise obviously. The focus for the day was clearly going to be making forested foliage shots, since the even cloudy light would be best for that. The foliage was still a little pre-peak, but there were pockets of very nice color.
Bubble Pond
One of the popular areas for forested foliage shots is Jessup Path. The area was mobbed with tourists and photographers, including several photo workshop groups. The birches are the attraction here.
I liked the following images, even though it was a little too crowded for my taste. It was windy so I used a slower shutter speed to let the leaves blur.
A few more shots from the Jessup Path area:
Next up was a trip to Hadley Falls and Bald Mountain.
Hadley Falls is the highest waterfall in Acadia and no secret. I was joined by a few other photographers, but was happy that no one had taken what I considered to be the best spot on the bridge to frame the falls with colorful foliage.
There is also a cool perspective of Hadley Falls underneath one of Acadia's many famous cobblestone bridges.
After taking these well-known shots, I went exploring off trail in the area and found this cool spot:
Even though it was still cloudy and I decided to check out some of the high country and headed up the often open ledges of Bald Mountain. The blueberry bushes were a fiery red and made for nice framings:
Around sunset time, the skies finally began to break. I decided to check out a fairly well known beach to photographers. I won’t label this in words, but you will know where I went if you are familiar with the area.
After having the spot to myself for half an hour, two other photographers showed up to do some long exposure shots. I decided to leave them alone and head up the cliffs on an unmarked, abandoned trail along the coast that I knew about and was rewarded with a great experience. After all, I am striving to find more unique places. No one around. This was what I was seeking.
Dramatic section of the abandoned trail:
I really enjoyed this unique perspective and awesome clouds and lighting for sunset! I was really happy with this image:
I made it off the unmarked trail before it got dark, and barely made it up the rest of the short regular trail before needing a headlamp. I spent a chilly night hanging around camp eating dinner in the damp air listening to the clanking of a buoy in the distance while planning for the next day.
Acadia is one of the best outdoor photography experiences on the East Coast. Yes, it is crowded. A little less in fall than summer. Making the trip is still worth it for the outdoor photographer. There is so much diversity in one compact space. In this one place you can find orange and pink granite peaks, alpine vegetation, a delightful contrast between colorful hardwood and spruce forests, dramatic seas cliffs, and the ever moving ocean. Unlike most of the trees choked locations in the East, there is a lot of open space and sky at Acadia. There are many iconic over photographed spots here obviously. But there are also so many opportunities to find something unique. In this blog post I will share my favorite photos from a 3 day, 3 night trip and tell the story of how I followed the weather and light to make images. For the sake of readability, I am breaking this up into 3 separate posts, even though it is all one trip.
Day 1
After spending the previous afternoon driving up to Acadia in a steady rain and sleeping at Blackwoods Campground, I was ready to start the photo adventure. The morning was still cloudy and misty. No sunrise obviously. The focus for the day was clearly going to be making forested foliage shots, since the even cloudy light would be best for that. The foliage was still a little pre-peak, but there were pockets of very nice color.
Bubble Pond
One of the popular areas for forested foliage shots is Jessup Path. The area was mobbed with tourists and photographers, including several photo workshop groups. The birches are the attraction here.
I liked the following images, even though it was a little too crowded for my taste. It was windy so I used a slower shutter speed to let the leaves blur.
A few more shots from the Jessup Path area:
Next up was a trip to Hadley Falls and Bald Mountain.
Hadley Falls is the highest waterfall in Acadia and no secret. I was joined by a few other photographers, but was happy that no one had taken what I considered to be the best spot on the bridge to frame the falls with colorful foliage.
There is also a cool perspective of Hadley Falls underneath one of Acadia's many famous cobblestone bridges.
After taking these well-known shots, I went exploring off trail in the area and found this cool spot:
Even though it was still cloudy and I decided to check out some of the high country and headed up the often open ledges of Bald Mountain. The blueberry bushes were a fiery red and made for nice framings:
Around sunset time, the skies finally began to break. I decided to check out a fairly well known beach to photographers. I won’t label this in words, but you will know where I went if you are familiar with the area.
After having the spot to myself for half an hour, two other photographers showed up to do some long exposure shots. I decided to leave them alone and head up the cliffs on an unmarked, abandoned trail along the coast that I knew about and was rewarded with a great experience. After all, I am striving to find more unique places. No one around. This was what I was seeking.
Dramatic section of the abandoned trail:
I really enjoyed this unique perspective and awesome clouds and lighting for sunset! I was really happy with this image:
I made it off the unmarked trail before it got dark, and barely made it up the rest of the short regular trail before needing a headlamp. I spent a chilly night hanging around camp eating dinner in the damp air listening to the clanking of a buoy in the distance while planning for the next day.