Eastern Maine Camera Club

The Blue Hill Fair is a win, win place to photograph. You will find lots of quality things to take pictures of from farm animals to people.  The non-photographers will enjoy the sites and (Mike) the food.  " A Down to Earth Country Fair. Always scheduled around Labor Day weekend".

As many know I am a horse girl from way back.  When Mike and I got married, instead of building a house, we built a barn.  The horses lived downstairs and we lived upstairs.  We had a plexiglass window in the living room floor to keep an eye on the pregnant mare when she was going into labor.  That said, I love workhorses!  My favorite place to see workhorses is at the Blue Hill Fair.  The most interesting part is seeing how loved they are.  Last year there was a very elderly, very frail, farmer with over 2 tons of horses.  I bet he didn't weigh 120 pounds. When he was done with his pull the crowd gave him a standing ovation.  It was impressive.

In addition there are many other things to photograph, sheep, oxen pulls, cattle, night lights on the rides, dogs, and lots of people.  Check out the schedule on the website.

http://www.bluehillfair.com

Photographers Tip

Keep an eye on the background.  I have liked to stand at the gate where the animals come in and out.  In this spot I have a clear view of the horses coming towards me with just a food stand in the background to show we are at a fair,  I use a fast shutter speed (over 500) and shoot near f 5.6 to blur the background.  I use my ISO to bring the shutter speed over 500.  You will need to do this on a grey, overcast day.  Why a fast shutter speed?  In shooting animals I am looking for sharpness.  In my opinion, the horses have a lot of moving parts that look wrong when they are blurred.  My opinion,  your photos you do what you like.  Bring your longest lens but don't sweat only having a short lens.  You are able to get close.

Beware! There is lots of dust.  I wrap my camera in a towel when I'm not using it.

Have fun!

Hastings Falls

Taking I 95 North a couple of hours from Bangor into Aroostook County you will come to the town of Patten and the interesting Patten Lumber Museum  just outside the town. The Museum is home to many outbuilding depicting the life of the men who lived in the Maine woods cutting trees/lumber to be shipped all over the world.  I always marvel at how difficult a lumberman’s life was.

Traveling farther north to the Hastings Falls Rd in Merrill, ME is the very unique Hastings Falls.  The Hastings Falls Rd is an ok road but I’m not sure I’d bring anything with a low clearance.  The road sort-of-ends and becomes a 4 wheeler trail.  The hike is approximately a 1/2 mile, easy to follow and not too steep until you get to the falls.  Where I shot the pool at the bottom of the falls was steep but there were sturdy trees to brace on. Hastings Falls isn’t big, but it is very much worth photographing.  What I loved about the falls, was the large river eddy flowing in a circular upstream direction.

Photography Tip.

I think all waterfalls are best on an overcast day.  That being said we were here in the afternoon on a cloudy day,  I would wait until the sun was behind the cloud to shoot. I used a neutral density filter to give myself control over exposure and the creative control over shutter speed. The slow shutter speed was able to slow up the eddy enough to show a full swirl.  I changed my ISO and F stop to try different shutter speeds.  My favorite was 5 seconds.

18mm lens was on a tripod using a polarizer and a 10 stop ND filter.  

5 seconds at F/11. 50 ISO

You read it right, the 2019-2020 Camera Club Season is upon us.  Please read this seasons Welcome Letter (below) from our President, Liz Champeon.  If you're interested in joining us this year here's a link to the membership form you'll need.  Fill it out and mail it in, or bring it to the first meeting.   

Click here for the Membership Form

As always, if you have questions, use this link to the contact us form to contact us!

Use this link to download a pdf copy of the letter.  

Eastern Maine Camera Club is starting a new Blog series highlighting places to shoot around Maine and beyond.  The hope is to create ideas of where to find a place to make your creative side be very happy.  Maine is a beautiful place.

Maine Forest and Logging Museum. "Located on Blackman Stream in Bradley, Leonard’s Mills is at the actual site of an early pioneer settlement, identified by the remains of a stone dam and the foundations of several houses. Today, Leonard’s Mills is “alive” once again, as the Museum is represented by an authentic reconstruction of a logging and milling community of the 1790s." 

Photo Tips

The grounds are open every day during daylight hours. Blackman Stream winds through the grounds with a historic mill and covered bridge.  Bring a polarizer.  The stream makes a nice leading line to the buildings.  On Thursday mornings until October the buildings are open.  I have practiced HDR in the building.  Bring a tripod.

Directions

From Bangor and Brewer, take ME Route 9 from Brewer 4 miles towards Eddington. Turn onto ME Route 178 and follow towards Milford for another 4.5 miles. A large sign will be on the left but the entrance and Government Road will be on the the right directly across from the sign.

The Bangor State Fair Photo Contest has wrapped up  for 2019.  If you'd like to see the results you can find them here: 

2019 Bangor State Fair Photo Contest Winner

We had a great turnout this year in our new venue; 237 entries!  Thank you all for participating!