Lessons Learned: Work the subject

On my second morning in Maine, my first in Castine, I rose before dawn and took a walk down the path by the Dyce's Head lighthouse. It was a foggy, wet day, and a gentle mist filtered through the trees overlooking the Penobscot River.

There are a multitude of subjects there. The lighthouse itself is one of Maine's best known. The rocky shoreline offers another look at classic Maine. Hundreds of tiny plants, dripping in mist condensation with glistening beads of water hanging from their leaves and branches, add to the list of photo opportunities.

I got them all, including this colorful composition of white birch tree trunks against the brilliant hardwood leaves and earth tone underbrush.

My Lesson Learned that morning was to take advantage of everything a location has to offer. The only thing missing was the lighthouse keeper, and since the Dyce's Head lighthouse is no longer in service, there was no way I could bring home that image. But I got the rest.