Category Archives: Bridge Painting

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.

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.

West Branch Bridge Painting

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Our fourth bridge painting. The single greatest concern and challenge was getting everyone safely in place. After the recon-mission, we realized that we would need ropes on each end of the bridge to assist folks(including me) down into the ravine. On one side we tied a rope to a tree and on the other side we tied it to one of Rockefeller’s teeth. I said it was like flossing his teeth. We asked everyone to arrive earlier than usual to traverse the terrain in daylight. We had fifteen light painters including five first-time painters; thanks for spreading the word. Here’s the before shot.

After switching lights and adjusting the lighting a few times, here’s the final image.

 

West Branch Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

Everyone made it safely in and out of the ravine and we took the group shot on top of the bridge.

We enjoyed Brenda’s home-baked brownies (Howie’s recipe). I heard afterwards that Kevin doesn’t usually like brownies, but this time he had two!  Lenny won the raffle of a Hemlock Bridge print. We all enjoyed the walk back as the carriage road was glowing with an almost full moon and the evening temperature was delightfully cool.

Hemlock Bridge Painting

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Our third bridge painting and the largest undertaking to date.  This is a large bridge and we needed a lot of light painters.  We put out the word and we had 11 first-time light painters! Brenda felt a bit frazzled with having to explain the process to the first-time folks, coordinate everyone and run back and forth every time I needed a light adjustment. It was all worth it, in the end we were rewarded with another beautiful image. Kim was stoked to use her new 3 Mega Lumen Q-Beam flashlight, she affectionately refers to as her ‘deer jacking’ light. We had some trouble lighting the background tress, but Joel figured out the problem and changed his angle. Everyone did a great job of hiding just out of sight. Here’s the before shot.

Here is the final shot.  This is the first bridge shot taken with my new full frame camera. This project pushed me to a full frame camera sooner than I expected.  I’ve been hearing rumors of the D600 coming out around December or January, but I (uh, I mean the project) couldn’t wait.  These images deserve a full frame camera.

Hemlock Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

 

Here are all the light painters.

We held the first raffle of the previous bridge print and Kim won! Gayle came to visit and brought a couple of quarts of blueberries. So, Brenda and Gayle baked blueberry and oatmeal cookies for the snack.

Cobblestone Bridge Light Painting

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After our success at the first bridge, we set our sights high and tackled Cobblestone Bridge next. Partly because it is a favorite of so many, and partly because we wanted to see if we could be successful shooting a large bridge. We scouted it out with the help of Tom and his sister who was visiting. She gave us some hints on lighting, since she has worked in theater in the past.

The before shot.

Cobblestone Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

The night of the shoot, we were happy to see 15 light painters. Brenda’s sister and nephews were visiting, that’s three extra people we could count on. Brenda was still new at setting up the light painters, but with the help of Tom, we got everyone set.  We had to reposition a few people, and rearrange lights some, but we ended up getting a great shot.

Cobblestone Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

I set my camera in the middle of the stream to get the shot. There is no way we could have done this shot in the spring – I would have ended up under water!

 

The light painters.

Cobblestone Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

We all enjoyed whoopee pies made by Brenda and her sister; a family recipe.

 

Bubble Pond Light Painting

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Our first bridge painting was a humble beginning. After scouting out Bubble Pond with Tom and Brenda, we decided that my crazy idea of light painting all of the carriage road bridges might actually work, however unsure of the concept and process that would unfold. We’d figure it out as we pressed the shutter release.

The before shot.

Bubble Pond Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

That night we had 7 light painters show up, mostly friends from work. Brenda positioned people where we thought they should go, and tried the shoot. We had to reposition Joel after we asked him to run back and forth over the top of the bridge and that didn’t really work. We were very happy with the results, considered the image a success and looked forward to the next bridge light painting.

Bubble Pond Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

 

We decided to document the light painters with a self portrait of sorts after every shoot: have them hold their lights on themselves. Our first shot of the light painters (and the only light painter picture with Howie).

Bubble Pond Bridge Light Painting Acadia National Park

We enjoyed Brenda’s first homemade treat: chocolate chip cookies, along with watermelon slices.