Lessons Learned: Observation

There is no stronger photographer's tool than the simple act of observation. And more often than not, it's that second, harder look that allows us to capture the deeper essence of an image.

In this instance, the site across the bay of predominantly-white lobster boats moored on blue water against the rich background of traditional New England architecture and autumn woodlands first caught my eye and brought my drive to a halt for closer inspection. Those elements alone were interesting enough to support a photograph...

But as I looked for foreground elements to frame that classic image of life on the Maine seacoast (an overhanging branch or an appropriate marine structure), I studied the dock at the bottom of the picture and spied the seagulls mimicking the formation of lobster boats by heading into the wind.

A purely practical mind might remind me that here are real-world reasons for identical behavior of boats and birds. The boats are moored at their bows, so wind will naturally swing the sterns downwind, leaving the bows heading upwind toward their anchor points. And gulls' feathers point toward the backs of their bodies, forming a smooth wind shield that would be blown awry and ineffective, like an umbrella flipped inside-out, if the birds were to face downwind.

But in their painfully practical similarities, I sense the spirit of the entire Maine fishing industry's stoic existance, bravely facing hardship in an act of survival against a harsh world.