Well, maybe. I didn’t make as many Acadia images as I intended. But I headed for Otter Rocks on our first day and made this image.
I’ve photographed this tree several times over the years and am always amazed that it’s still there although a bit smaller each time. Besides the branches not quite reaching as far as they used to and a few now missing, what made this different was people. Seen in the second brighter image below which I lightened a bit to show the beach chairs, these folks walked in and plopped down in front of me. Now I understand the park belongs to everyone and photographers are no better than anyone else, but I felt this was pretty inconsiderate. I painted the tree with a bit of light from a flash light and would have been hard to miss waving it up and down in the dark. As you can see in the larger first image, I was able to remove them in Photoshop but just the same… I am non-confrontational so mumbled to myself, packed up and moved on to another composition. As I was composing this, I had to wait for a cruise ship to move out of the frame and once that happened the people showed up. Grumble, grumble..
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Beautiful shot and worth all the effort. One must become adept at OPOP removal as a landscape photographer. (Other People On the Planet)
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I took a lot of heat for expressing my feelings on this from members of a Facebook group. Guess it is obnoxious to complain about people for some of us. I know I should expect there to be people in a National Park and I do but… Anyway, an example of why I try to go places that other people are not likely to be found.
Thanks, Michael.In the end I am happy with the shot.
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I absolutely understand. I have no idea what the Facebook people are all about. One of the reasons I’m not on Facebook. End of rant.
You can only imagine what it was like when we got to the Seven Sisters with Rachael Talibart on the hottest day of the entire summer and there were thousands of people there trying to escape the heat. Not exactly great for landscape photography. Her attitude was, “Well, embrace it. This is what stretches your creativity.”
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I understand that philosophy, but it’s not me.
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I did get some pretty interesting ICM shots out of the deal.
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There is always a certain group, that is entitled to more than you. Being in a tourist area I see it first hand much too often.
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As a photographer I try to be mindful of my own expectation of entitlement and not let it get away from me. But we are seeing more and more that many people have no regard for others.
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That’s a great sunrise picture. Too bad Photoshop couldn’t have removed the actual people, not just their image.
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Both this and the following morning had thick cloud banks on the horizon. In this case that cloud bank was lit from below which created nice hues to work with.
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I hear you. It has to be especially frustrating when you begin to see people around a special tree you’ve developed a relationship with over the years, one in a place where you expect to be alone. Who knows what they were thinking, or not thinking? I’m beginning to see a bit of trash every now and then on the beaches near here where I don’t think I saw any just a year ago. That’s worse, of course. In any case, hopefully, there will always be places where you can be alone in nature. I think it’s not just about people being in a photograph, it’s about how we feel when we can go back to that more primitive sense of enjoying the outdoors alone. Those are my thoughts. 🙂
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As I mentioned above, these experiences are why I try to go places without much visitation. We love Acadia so go there annually when we can, but dealing with other people is not one of my pleasures in nature. I am not antisocial per se, but when I am enjoying the natural world people make it more difficult. As far as trash goes, it is getting worse. I try to pick it up when I can but there are times when I need a barrel instead of a bag.
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Sigh.
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Stunning!!!
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Thank you, M.B.Curious…my wife, Mary Beth, has been called M.B. for years. Is that you also?
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Nope! 🙂 Good guess, though! 🙂
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A beautiful scene with those magnificent colors. I can well understand your frustration when folks plopped themselves down in view of your composition. It seems that there is hardly anyplace on earth that is free of human intrusion.
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None of the popular and easily accessed to be sure. But we’ve seen the reports of remote places being trashed or disfigured for personal recognition. And some people are just plain malicious for their idea of fun. We are a pox upon the earth, some of us anyway.
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I like the implied connection between the hard rocks and the tough little tree. Both are wearing away through time — the tree more quickly than the rocks — and together they serve as an interesting memento mori. To be honest, I find the inclusion of the people interesting from that point of view. Those soft little creatures will be gone far sooner than the rocks, and perhaps even before the tree.
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Yeah, others see no problem with the people being there and, as I mentioned to Michael above, I took some heat over my displeasure. They weren’t gone soon enough. But I do understand that for many people a human presence in a picture makes it easier to connect.
I guess the time will come that I’ll go and find the tree gone although I am sure the rocks will endure beyond my time. If many more branches fall the park administration may deem it a hazard. I’ll just keep enjoying it’s presence until that time.
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Of course, the other side of this coin is that I make it a point to go to places where other people generally aren’t, or visit the popular places at odd times. I’ve been on a couple of guided walks that were true highlights of my time in nature, despite forty or more being in the group, but that’s the exception rather than the rule, partly because we were divided up into smaller groups.
But for the most part, alone is best for me, partly because I’m still so slow and klutzy when it comes to taking photos that I always feel a pressure — real or not — to get a move on. I can be a little envious of the photos others snap with their phones, which seem to turn out so well with no effort, but I’d rather learn to do it myself rather than depend on Apple’s technology. Of course, I can’t afford a smart phone, so there’s that! As the old song has it, “if you can’t carry around the one you want, love the one you can carry around!”
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That is pretty much my practice as well. Acadia is the exception. I rarely run in to any one on my hikes in Quabbin or elsewhere. Part of that is the time of day. Rarely are there people hiking the trails at 5 a.m. and, if there is anyone, he or she is most likely a fellow photographer.
Occasionally I can walk right up to a subject and my first impression turns out to be the better composition, but most often it requires walking around and reviewing on the LCD to fine tune things. And just as often I will have included something distracting. If it is a rock or some other movable object then that is quickly accomplished but often it requires a change of position, sometimes just an inch, to remove or hide the offending item. All that “klutziness” is part of our development as photographers.
I do a fair amount of iPhone photography (I refuse to term it “iPhonography”), more often to aid in using iNaturalist for identification but sometimes expediency if it is just for sharing on Facebook. If I replace my phone, which I have been considering, you are welcome to my present one.. The camera woks even if you don’t splurge for a data plan.
Nice reference to Stephen Stills. 🙂
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I knew you’d get the Stephen Sills reference. Such a good song. Your offer’s generous, but you might want to hang on to that old phone. Redundancy, and all that. I’ve got an old point-and-shoot that I really don’t like, but when my Canon had to go in to the camera doctor, it was good to have a backup.
I actually met a person last weekend who still carries the same phone I do — a Samsung flip phone, small enough for the smallest pocket and mostly impervious to things like dust and water. Sometimes, I even remember to take it with me…
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The offer will stand if you change your mind. I can only have the one since my employer pays the activation and monthly fee, data plan etc. The phone is mine but she provides all else. In exchange she gets to call me at any time with questions or for a good scolding. 🙂
I still have my 40D in case the 5DII has to go in for service. I generally only use it for insect shots in the yard but lately the SX-60 has been doing that. If the phone goes down I revert back to the days when we didn’t have them. A welcome relief from being in constant contact with the rest of the world. Then the SX-60 will travel with me.
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With Earth becoming so small, common consideration is more important than ever. Sadly, though, it seems to be nearly extinct.
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Agreed. I do experience considerate people more often than not. But as with many things it is the less considerate that sticks in the mind and more often than in the past. Or at least a curmudgeon like me thinks so.
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Perhaps more than a curmudgeon you are simply a considerate person…
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Thanks. Guess I am simply curmudgeonly. If I were more considerate I wouldn’t complain so much. LOL
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