Author Archives: Howie Motenko

Deer Brook Bridge Light Painting

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Fair weather has returned to the shoots.

This was our first attempt at lighting a bridge with multiple barrels. Deer Brook Bridge has two barrels, with a stream running through it. Given last week’s rain, we asked folks to wear waterproof shoes – they might be standing in the stream.

The necessary technology to run the shoot continues to grow. We have added walkie talkies for improved communication. Tom reminded us on the hike in that is was much more simple at the beginning, just a camera and a tripod. Now we’re using a tethered laptop, the walkie talkies, we have much more light power,  and of course, the treats have to be carried in as well. Actually, here’s the checklist we review before leaving the house.

When we arrived at the bridge, there were already 5 new folks there! Tom was video taping this shoot to document the process, so we headed down under the bridge to set up our tripods while Brenda got people set up with lights.

The pre-shot, with painters looking over the edge:

Deer Brook Pre Shoot

Notice the angle of the pre-shot is different from the angle of the final shot. With the challenge of the double barrel, I found it difficult to keep folks hidden in both barrels. I had to adjust the camera angle in the middle of the shoot to hide the people, not an easy feat while standing in the middle of a stream and being tethered to a computer.

The final shot:

 

Deer Brook Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

The shoot went smoother than usual, only needing to rearrange one person to even out the light. We think this was due to the number of people who showed up that night. We’re thankful for all 27 participants! The largest assembly of people for a bridge shoot yet.

Click on the video below, taken by Tom Lawrence, to see the light painting:

 

The light painters:

Deer Brook Bridge Light Painters

We welcomed six new light painters and all enjoyed Brenda’s apple cupcakes for a snack. For the raffle, Catie’s name was pulled first and she wasn’t there to win. Then, Jim’s name was pulled and he won the extra big print of Hadlock Brook Bridge. Then, come to find out from Kim at work, Catie hadn’t been at the previous bridge shot, it was Emma, and she was here too. So she should have won. To make up for it, we gave her a metal print. She’s the first person to own an official metal print, the chosen medium to display the prints at the end of the project.

 

Dual Bridge Scouting

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Tom, Marguerite, and I decided to scout two bridges in one afternoon. We wanted to see Deer Brook Bridge and Chasm Brook Bridge. There’s no safe approach for either of these bridges with snow on the ground. We need to fit them into the rotation before the snow falls.  We’re saving easy drive-up and shoot bridges (Eagle Lake, Jordan Pond Road, Duck Brook and even Stanley Brook) for the snow.

The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed our hike and bridge scouting. We all took plenty of photos too. There was a heavy rainfall over the past couple of days, giving us opportunities to shoot waterfalls. After 1.2 miles we arrived at Deer Brook Bridge and I determined the best position for the camera. I must haven taken 30 shots and about 5 different angles / locations.  I finally settled on what I think captures the unique features of this bridge. I left thinking we’re gonna need lots of folks – this will be the first attempt at shooting a double arched bridge. I hope we can hide the people and light the underside of both arches.

We continued on to Chasm Brook Bridge as Tom announced, “It’s about the same distance we’ve already hiked.”  Basically, we were halfway there. So another 1.2 miles and more stops to take pictures along the way. When we arrived, both Tom and I hiked up to the waterfalls and snapped a few shots. Here’s the one I took.

The first place my tripod landed to shoot the bridge was the location to capture the image.  Snapped a couple of shots, showed Tom and packed up to head home. It was about six hours from start to finish – boy, I’m a slow walker. On a personal note, I came up with a new configuration for holding my camera and tripod in my backpack. It’s a more efficient way to pack and unpack the gear. I was considering a new backpack – for now, I’ll give this a try and see how it works out.

Hadlock Brook Bridge Light Painting

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The project is at the halfway point! Eight bridges and one gatehouse to complete the project. I’m hopeful for continued good weather and community support, both are essential for the April deadline. This project has turned me into a part-time weather bug meteorologist, watching the doppler radar to determine if it will be raining 2 hours before the shoot. As it turned out the rain had mostly passed by the time the shoot was scheduled. Basically it was soggy and foggy, which made for a great little waterfall under the bridge. The riverbed was completely dry two weeks earlier when we did the scouting trip.

Here’s the pre shot.

Hadlock Brook Bridge

There was a fantastic turnout for our first Saturday afternoon, given the soggy, foggy weather with 19 light painters including 6 new folks. Tom rode his bike with an attached wagon carrying the treats and extra flashlights. I was trying to capture the environment surrounding the bridge, so there were lots of light painters in the forest lighting trees and some lighting the waterfall too. After a few tweaks to compensate for different lights and the fog diffusing the light, here’s the final image we were able to create.

 

Hadlock Brook Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

The light painters with some fog in the shot.

Hadlock Brook Bridge light painting acadia national park

We all enjoyed Brenda’s raspberry thumbprint cookies, my special request. And boy did those cookies go fast – no extra to take home. Matt was the second name drawn and won the raffle of Jordan Pond Gatehouse print, the first person drawn wasn’t there this time.

Jordan Pond Gatehouse Painting

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We were invited by Linda and Alex to light paint the Jordan Pond Gatehouse. Wow, 32 people participated, a record number of participants attending a painting event. We asked folks to spread the word and they did. A BIG thank you to the 17 first time light painters; we really needed you. And we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Linda and Alex for inviting us to their home, the gatehouse. I am truly amazed by the positive community response to this project. Three months ago, I would have never thought 31 other people would have joined me on a rainy Wednesday evening to shine their flashlights on the gatehouse. But they did; it’s a lot of fun and everyone shares in the success of the final image.

The pre-shot.

The set up went smoothly and we started shooting the gatehouse. As the first image appeared on my computer, I was struck by how bright one area was. It turned out Carol purchased a new flashlight that is incredibly bright. I thought I had bright flashlight! Let’s just say I can’t hold a light to Carol’s. After some rearranging of lights and folks, we were able to capture this image. The blue light of twilight really came through in the shot, even though the skies were gray and rainy.

 

Jordan Pond Gatehouse Light Painting Acadia National Park

The group shot in the breezeway.

Brenda outdid herself by baking two treats, a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies (my request) and Oh Henry Bars. Folks enjoyed them, there were no cookies left and only a couple of Oh Henry Bars. Jeannine won the raffle of the Cliffside Bridge print and Cort won the raffle of the Bubble Pond Bridge print.

With all the interest and participation of new folks, we’re looking forward to our next painting: Hadlock Brook Bridge scheduled on Saturday, October 20. We’re changing to Saturdays for the fall and winter because of the earlier sunset times.

Cliffside Bridge Painting

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“It’s raining, are we still going out tonight?” That question was asked many times during the day. As it turned out, the rain stopped about an hour before the bridge shoot. The shoot was a go! Walking up to the bridge, a few of us remarked how nice it was to be on the carriage roads that evening. Given the earlier rain we wouldn’t have considered going out that evening, if not for the bridge shoot. We arrived early in preparation to climb under the bridge and down the cliff during daylight. The project continues to grow with three new bridge painter joining us. Everyone was comfortably in place well before dusk, then we waited …

The before shot.

After a couple of shots we quickly realized how ginormous this bridge is. We needed more light, we could have used a few more light painters. Brenda knew what to do, “everyone gets two lights” and she passed out more strobe flashes and flashlights to folks. Now with double-fisted lights we were able to create this incredibly magical image.

 

Cliffside Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

Just as we were wrapping up the last shot, we heard a voice from the bridge above asking, “Which way to Jordan Pond?” Our first thought was, “What does this fellow think we’re up to, under the bridge – illuminating the bridge with flashlights.” After letting that thought pass, we determined that he got lost running. We offered to lead him to Jordan Pond when we were finished. I never heard the final part of the story, but I think someone offered Jim a ride back to his car near Eagle Lake.

The group shot under the barrel against the cliff.

Brenda baked Congo Bars, enjoyed by all (including the lost runner, Jim). We had a double raffle: Kevin won the Jordan Pond Dam Bridge print and Tom won the Little Harbor Brook Bridge print.

Lunch with Friends

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We had a lunch meeting with Lisa and Aimee from Friends of Acadia. We discussed my offer of donating the proceeds from the Northeast Harbor Library show in May and how they could help us promote the show. They shared some great ideas on to help us spread the word, as well as suggestions for hosting an opening and closing event for the show. Lisa and Aimee are super nice, we had a very productive lunch meeting. Afterward, I thought how nice it is to be working with such a professional group within the community.

Little Harbor Brook Bridge Painting

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Our sixth bridge painting started from a completely different angle and had three unique challenges: Tuesday, Two sides, and Technology.  I often ask myself, “Will there ever be a time we can roll up to a bridge and just shoot it?” Maybe after shooting two-thirds of them; currently we’re only one-third of the way there.

The first challenge: shooting on Tuesday. Brenda was traveling out of state on Wednesday, so we moved the regularly scheduled bridge shot from Wednesday to Tuesday.  Knowing that this might disrupt some folks schedules we opted for a small bridge. Little Harbor Brook Bridge is the smallest of the carriage road bridges (Jordan Pond Dam is equal in length). If we had a smaller gathering, we would still be able to paint the bridge. This part of the plan worked out as expected, we had 11 bridge painters – thankfully enough to paint both sides of the bridge.

The second challenge: painting two sides of the bridge. As discussed in the recon mission post, I wanted to capture both walls of the bridge, something we’ve never tried before. Just like the recon shot, I extended the tripod by taping our hiking poles to the tripod legs with gaffers tape. But no one was willing to hike a seven foot ladder into the woods for 3.5 miles (in and back), though Tom and Cort carried a step stool. With the camera extended about 8 feet above the ground, I knew there was no way I could: look through the view finder, make adjustments and review the shots. It was time to pull in some technology.

The third challenge: introducing a tethered laptop to camera. The night before I was evaluating different software for the iPad and laptop, downloaded an iPad app that required WiFi – that’s not happening in the middle of Acadia National Park. Finally, found some tethering software by Nikon that would work. Now we’ve added another piece of equipment, a laptop, to bring to each location. It was a real joy to adjust the camera setting on the laptop and view the images on the 15-inch screen, rather than the back of the camera’s 3-inch screen. I was able to identify lighting corrections with greater detail.

The before shot.

I was told that when I was trying to guide folks in directing their lights by saying, “A little higher, just to the left, more to the left, okay now down a bit, that’s it right there!” Folks on the other side of the bridge couldn’t see what was going on, but they sure thought I was getting my back scratched. That’s a hoot! Challenges not withstanding, we were able to light both walls of the bridge creating the image below. A big thanks to the light painters, both the 4 new painters and the veterans. A big congratulations to Barbara who joined us as a light painter, only days after finishing the Appalachian Trail and breaking the record as the oldest female through-hiker. She started hiking on March 3rd in Georgia.

 

Little Harbor Brook Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

The light painters group shot. I got to paint the bridge for the group shot.

We all enjoyed lemon squares baked by Brenda.  I forgot to bring the photo to raffle. I was a bit distracted with the new addition of a laptop in the shoot.  Brenda and I did the drawing at home that evening and Linda won the West Branch print.

Jordan Pond Dam Bridge Painting

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Brenda and I sat down about a week ago and asked each other, “How many more bridges and gatehouses are there to photograph?” and “How many months are left before the May show?” Just then I realized what Brenda had been saying for sometime; we might not finish the project at the rate we’re going. It seemed so simple when we started: 17 bridges and plenty of time. But after sitting down with a calendar and considering: holidays, earlier sunsets, and rescheduling for weather – the thought that we will be cutting it close is a big concern. Now, we’re going push for one extra bridge in September, October and maybe even November to give ourselves a buffer just in case the perfect schedule starts to deteriorate.

Okay, let’s try squeezing in Jordan Pond Dam in between the every-other-week shoot. It’s small and easily accessible, we won’t bother with the usual reconnaissance mission. We’ll shoot from the hip and hope for the best. Brenda had a vision of getting the Bubbles behind the bridge. Tom and I looked at the bridge and figured out that we couldn’t get the Bubbles, but we could include the all important ‘U-Shaped Valley’. The only way to capture the u-shaped valley was to gain elevation in the middle of Jordan Stream. That meant we would need ladders: one for the camera (notice tripod taped to ladder) and one for me.

We contacted a few “hard-core light painters” and asked if they would help us with this extra bridge; we only needed a hand full of painters. I asked folks to come a bit earlier to sort out how we were going to shoot the bridge, given no recon mission. They showed up even earlier, which was great. Tom and I started setting up the ladders and camera, while lots of folks were hiking over the bridge wondering what was going on.  Just then a fellow with a camera and tripod was coming by asked, “Are you painting?” I shouted, “Brenda give that guy a flashlight!” Justin stuck around for a few minutes and then decided to continue with his own plans of light painting around Jordan Pond. He meet up with us at the end of the shoot and we shared pictures.

The before shot.

 

After a few attempts of sorting out the lighting details and positions, here’s the shot we came away with. This image does a great job of incorporating the environment. The light painters did a fantastic job! I think it’s beautiful.

 

Jordan Pond Dam Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

Of course the group shot of the painters. I was painting the bridge in the group shot.

We all enjoyed watermelon cubes and Molasses Krinkle cookies baked by Brenda.

Welcome

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Welcome to the new website and blog.  While actively posting about the project, I will also attempt to retro-post, based on my memory of events from the last three months. There are more pages to come: News, Milestones, The Shoot, Recipes, and Contact.