View Finders

(gentle music) - [Narrator] Voyage Charters shares the blue waters of the British Virgin Islands and offers private sailing vacations aboard ships like the Summer Breeze, a six cabin, all electric catamaran.

It's your voyage.

Make the best of it.

(ethereal music) (gentle music) - [Narrator] Sigma is proud to support photographers and filmmakers around the world.

And we believe creativity and sustainability go hand-in-hand.

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(pensive music) The truth lies West.

- [Narrator] Georgia College and State University provides over 40 graduate program offerings including doctorates in nursing and education.

Learn more at gcsu.edu.

- [Narrator] Troncalli Subaru is a proud sponsor of View Finders.

(wind howling) (bells chiming) (light folk music) (waves crashing) (light folk music continues) ♪ Oh there's a river ♪ ♪ That winds on forever ♪ ♪ I'm gonna see where it leads ♪ ♪ Oh there's a mountain ♪ ♪ That no man has mounted ♪ ♪ I'm gonna stand on the peak ♪ ♪ Out there's a land ♪ ♪ That time don't command ♪ ♪ Wanna be the first to arrive ♪ ♪ No time for pondering ♪ ♪ Why, I'm a-wandering ♪ ♪ Not while we're both still alive ♪ ♪ To the ends of the earth ♪ ♪ Would you follow me ♪ ♪ There's a world that was meant ♪ ♪ For our eyes to see ♪ - The only national park in the Northeast.

- One of the smallest but most popular parks in the National Park system.

- With 45 miles of carriage roads weaving throughout the park.

- This is Acadian National Park.

I'm Paul.

- I'm Chris.

- [Both] And we're the View Finders.

(lively country music) (lively country music continues) (lively country music fades) (airplane engine whirring) (lively bright music) (lively bright music continues) (seal grunts) (seagull calling) (lively bright music continues) - Acadia is one of the most unique national parks in the United States where you can really embrace that main rugged coastline with the granite and the pine.

We also have these really serene freshwater ponds that allow you to kind of feel a little bit more of that coziness that kind of comes with Maine.

And we also have these beautiful mountains all around us that give you this landscape, these views that you really aren't gonna be able to find anywhere else in the northeast.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) ♪ All inside ♪ ♪ Our Amsterdam she hides ♪ ♪ Watery eyes ♪ ♪ That howling wind ♪ ♪ She's waving hi ♪ ♪ Her other hand's in mine ♪ - Alright, so I'm putting myself in a little bit of harm's way here and in fact, I've already gotten my... Ooh!

(waves crashing) My foot soaked.

And my gear a little wet with salt water.

Not good.

It is such an iconic spot here in Acadia and it is stunningly beautiful.

(waves crashing) My foot is soaked 'cause I'm down here almost at the water level.

The waves are crashing in, coming right under my lens and the sun is coming up there on the horizon.

Oh God.

Hold on.

So anyway, (waves crashing) I don't want my gear to get ruined.

It's gotten a little splashed, but I mean, how often are you here?

This is an incredible location and we're getting a good sunrise.

(camera clicks) ♪ She's growing tall and fine ♪ ♪ She's got my back ♪ ♪ She'll follow me down every street ♪ ♪ No matter what my crime ♪ (gentle music) (seagulls crying) Hey Paul, what do you think about this spot?

- [Paul] It looks really nice out here, man.

You don't get to see this every day.

- [Chris] There's so many compositions.

Everywhere I look is a new shot.

- Yes sir.

- I mean, I'm getting, I'm getting literally multiple portfolio shots this morning and that is ultra rare.

How are you approaching it?

- I was focusing on some birds just now, some seagulls out here.

I wanted to get them in motion.

- [Chris] Yeah.

- That wasn't working out too well.

But I got some standing still and I'm really getting that light reflecting off the water, hitting the rocks.

- There's so much movement, so much motion that it just, I think it transforms the image and it's just stunning.

I feel like I'm just sitting on the edge of the world.

♪ All in time ♪ ♪ Our Amsterdam she flies ♪ ♪ Hoarding the kites ♪ (waves crashing) ♪ That howling wind ♪ ♪ She'll take everything ♪ ♪ But she's easy on the eyes ♪ (camera clicks) (gentle music) (camera clicks) (gentle music) (camera clicks) (gentle music) (truck engine whirring) (gentle music continues) ♪ Well the churches and trains ♪ ♪ Well they all look the same to me now ♪ ♪ They shoot you some place ♪ - Conservation is really at the core of what we're trying to do here at Acadia National Park.

So we do that in a lot of different ways.

So a really unique program, I think, that we have actually here at the Jordan Pond is we have a buoy that we will put out once a year in the deepest part of the left pond.

And there is a sensor that goes all the way down to the bottom that allows us every meter to be able to take readings of pH and oxygen levels and temperature.

And that tells us a lot about what's actually going on behind the scenes that you can't really see when you're looking at some of these natural resources.

So having that information means that if the climate continues to change and if we hit a point where there could be some danger to some of our resources because we have had this long-term monitoring program in place, we'll be able to sense that pretty immediately and then be able to jump into action to hopefully continue to preserve these resources.

- Just a playground out here.

I mean, there are just so many different rock formations, different compositions you can create here.

What I'm trying to do though is keep the rocks in my foreground.

(water sloshing) And keep the mountain out there in the background and get some movement with the clouds and the sky.

So of course I got my circular polarizer on there and then I also have my ND6.

I wish I had something stronger but I didn't bring it on this trip.

Whenever you travel, take everything you got, okay.

It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it 'cause that's where I am now.

So the longest I'm able to go right now, taking my aperture all the way down to like F22, a small pinhole in that aperture ring that allows a very small amount of light to go through at a particular time.

(water sloshing) This was a great location.

- So we're here at Jordan Pond.

It's very cool and windy, but it's beautiful.

Got the clouds, blue sky, lots of colors, the base of the mountains.

And so what I'm trying to do, I mean this is the place where you see so many photos of this location, but the wind has kind of turned up some bubbles and those bubbles are moving with the wind.

And so to kind of add a little bit of a different wrinkle to my photograph, I'm trying to embrace those bubbles and get some streaks.

And it's challenging sometimes 'cause I have to get the shutter speed just right.

I settled on about one to two seconds, seemed to be like the sweet spot for those bubbles moving and creating streaks towards the camera, which created a bit of almost a leading line out towards the distant mountains.

And I think it's gonna come together pretty well.

But yet again, Acadia delivers.

It's just everywhere you look, there's a photograph.

(camera clicks) (gentle music) (camera clicks) (gentle music) - This national park has actually made up a lot of lands that were donated to the federal government.

So different individuals, different organizations who had land that they felt like should be preserved, when the National Park Service was established in 1916, they donated those lands and this became a national park from that point forward.

- Getting ready to celebrate our 40th anniversary, that's gonna be in just a few years.

We were founded in 1986 by a group of volunteers who really wanted to help the park.

They went on a hike, realized that there were some things that needed to be done and they knew the park couldn't do it alone.

So they started a volunteer group and that has grown over the years and I'd like to think that we're within the top five or 10 friends groups in the nation.

- So the park has a really, I think, unique mission behind it.

And that really ties back to this idea of philanthropy and a community of people wanting to preserve this incredibly special place.

- We had a campaign years ago ago called Acadia Trails Forever.

And that was a public private partnership between the federal government and private philanthropists, friends of Acadia.

And the goal was to restore the trail system in Acadia and it worked.

We raised $11 million and created the first endowed trail system in the country.

(upbeat country music) (waves crashing) (upbeat folk country music) (upbeat folk music continues) (waves crashing) (upbeat folk music continues) - Sometimes in life, Mother Nature does give you a warning.

It's a matter of whether you want to pay attention to it.

♪ Standing in your doorway ♪ ♪ Cast a shadow on the wall ♪ ♪ I can hear a kestrel call ♪ ♪ Sunlight laughing ♪ ♪ Laughing through the window pane ♪ ♪ All is here is gone again ♪ ♪ Misty morning ♪ ♪ Misty morning ♪ ♪ Misty morning rain ♪ (upbeat folk music continues) - Okay folks, this is just one spot where because of the shot, you gotta take the risk.

- [Chris] Yeah.

- So I'm gonna snap it, hopefully get a good one and get outta here.

- (laughs) Gotten what I call my base image.

And it can be really useful in certain situations where you've got people coming in and outta your shot.

Like there's a whole group of people over here and then Paul wanted to get closer.

I didn't want to impede him.

So I've photographed the lighthouse exactly how I want it, but it could take me a little time to get the perfect wave crash over these rocks.

And so what it's gonna allow me to do, since I'm not moving my camera, it's sitting on my tripod, I can seamlessly blend the two images together.

I can take my time waiting for the perfect wave crash without inconveniencing people, asking them not to step into my shot, things that I would not want to ever do.

But I can still get the image I want.

In fact, ooh, that one was really good right there.

(camera clicks) ♪ Misty morning ♪ ♪ Misty morning ♪ ♪ Misty morning rain ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ All is gone then here then gone then here then gone again ♪ ♪ Here and gone again ♪ ♪ Here and gone again ♪ (upbeat folk music) (camera clicks) (upbeat folk music) (camera clicks) (upbeat folk music) ♪ Child of the mountains ♪ ♪ Swear I felt it from the first ♪ ♪ Smiling eyes quench my thirst ♪ ♪ Heal all my ancient hurts ♪ ♪ Every kindness that you show ♪ ♪ Deeper than these roots will grow ♪ ♪ Misty morning ♪ ♪ Misty morning ♪ ♪ Misty morning rain ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ All is gone then here ♪ (camera clicks again) ♪ Then gone then here then gone again ♪ ♪ Here and gone and again ♪ - The carriage road system, I think, is one of the best parts about Acadia National Park.

These were a system of roads that were made for not motor vehicles.

So the idea was the Rockefellers were, you know, they didn't really like having some of the vehicles all around.

So they wanted a place that they could go and explore the park without motor vehicles driving by them all the time.

- One of the most remarkable things about the carriage roads that really add to their beauty and to their use is that they were placed and designed in ways that it would enhance the framing of the environment around it.

So specific viewpoints were sought out and carriage roads were brought through there, as well as having an attention to minimizing impact of the roads construction.

So they fit well with the park itself.

Yet, you can still accessibly see quite a bit of it.

- Alright everyone, we are at Maine State E-Bike in downtown Bar Harbor, and we are about to do a one lens challenge, (Paul chuckle) for the simplicity of riding a bike and taking pictures at the same time.

- Exactly, no big bags on this.

- Exactly.

We got a lens of our choice.

I'm going with, let's see, I've got the 24-70.

- Ah!

- What are you going?

You're going 24-70?

- 24-70.

- It's a good- - [Both] It's a versatile lens.

- I got that.

I got a polarizer on and that's it.

So the challenge to myself is what type of good composition can I get on this bike tour?

We're super excited about it.

You ready, man?

- Yeah, man.

Let's go.

- All right, let's do it.

♪ Walking on a dream ♪ ♪ How can I explain ♪ ♪ Talking to myself ♪ ♪ Will I see again ♪ ♪ We are always running for the thrill of it ♪ ♪ Thrill of it ♪ ♪ Always pushing up the hill ♪ ♪ Searching for the thrill of it ♪ - This is basically my tripod.

I found this little nook in this rock so that I can shoot at roughly a second and a half to two seconds.

The reason why I'm wanting to do it, there's actually some swirling bubbles in this creek that goes under this really kind of historic bridge in the park.

And I want to get a good shot and this is normally gonna be a tripod shot for me, but due to my one lens challenge idea that I forced Paul into (chuckles), I do not have my tripod.

And so I'm having to adapt.

(camera clicks) This is Duck Brook Bridge.

It's one of the Rockefeller bridges, (camera clicks) 17 of them, 16 of which were financed by John D. Rockefeller Jr.

It is a concrete steel-reinforced bridge with the outside faced with local granite quarried right here on the island.

Something interesting is that the stone cutters that were making the bridge actually became so skilled that Rockefeller requested that they kind of mess up a little bit to give a more natural look on the outside.

- Kind of like the red mixed with the brown or against the brown and the yellow and the orange, and the green.

♪ Thought I'd never see ♪ ♪ The love you found in me ♪ ♪ Now it's changing all the time ♪ - [Chris] All right, so we're doing an update on the one lens challenge.

- Yeah, not really good.

I'm not really feeling it right now.

(Chris laughs) I mean, if you live in Atlanta and you shoot birds, I'm trying to get a shot of a mallard duck and I've been trying for the longest.

Can't get it in Atlanta 'cause it's so hard to get.

There's one here.

(duck grunting) That's just been sitting there for like the last three or four minutes.

- [Chris] He is, he's perfect.

- [Paul] Posing, with his reflection in the water.

- [Chris] He looks like a decoy.

- On the branch that you can use as a leading line up to him.

And he's just posing and- - He's not a fan.

- I don't have a- - He's not a fan.

- 150 to 600 lens to nab him.

I got a 24-70, which means I'm gonna have to crop in really tight on it.

- [Chris] Yep, yeah.

- But, good grief.

He's just there just- - [Chris] All right, so.

- For the taking.

- In summary, Paul, I hear you.

You're wishing you'd gotten this duck shot and you think the challenge has prevented that from happening?

- Man, I came all the way to Maine.

(Chris laughs) All the way to Maine.

- I'm just curious how long I'm gonna hear about this- - All the Maine to see one of these things.

- I feel like this is gonna be brought up for years.

(bright upbeat music) ♪ Is it real now ♪ (camera clicking) ♪ Two people become one ♪ ♪ I can feel it ♪ (camera clicking) ♪ Two people become one ♪ - One thing that's important to mention is before you visit any national park, but really Acadia, especially during peak season, it's so important to plan your day.

- When you read a guidebook about Acadia, there are like five big things that everybody does.

You know, they go to Thunder Hole, they go to the top of Cadillac, they go to the lighthouse, they go on the Park Loop Road, they go to Jordan Pond house.

Those are the, I think, the big five.

But I always encourage people, one, those are gonna be crowded places.

Get away from the crowds.

Find your own place.

There are places you can go every sunny Sunday in August, (waves crashing) August is our biggest month, that you can go and you still won't see people.

So don't let the crowds frighten you.

Find your own place in Acadia.

Everything's amazing.

♪ Heaven knows I love to hate ♪ ♪ Myself more on certain days ♪ (water lightly rippling) ♪ Fractured bone is bound to break ♪ (folk music) (water lightly rippling) ♪ Talk too much, you stay the same ♪ - What I got going on here is I'm doing a couple of long exposures.

I've gotten as far as maybe a minute, I think, on one of the shots to kind of give some movement to the sky.

I like the way the sun was setting in the background there.

- First got here, I walked out on this beach and I was like, "I don't know."

I didn't know if there was gonna be anything.

But the light is changing.

It's beautiful.

The clouds are lighting with kind of some pink and orange undertones.

- And the clouds were like almost perfect to give us some really good color.

And I wanted to capture that motion in the sky.

I also smoothed out the water with that long exposure.

- But what's really interesting about this, I've never really experienced it before on a shoot, the tide is coming in on me very quickly, so quickly that I was standing, taking a shot on one of these rocks and it filled in behind me and I had to actually step through the water to get out of it.

But it's changing my composition and so it's offering me new rocks as it comes in, surrounding those with water, having to move backwards on the beach.

And so the rock arrangement in my foreground is changing constantly.

I'm getting like probably when this is all said and done, five, six, seven, eight different compositions as I move backwards and I'll get to choose my favorites.

♪ It's a long way back ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ A short way home ♪ ♪ I had a dream, then it left me alone ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ I felt a shiver ♪ ♪ Then it withered away ♪ (folk music) ♪ It's a long mistake ♪ ♪ You never made ♪ ♪ I love my bed ♪ ♪ Then they took it away ♪ ♪ I felt a shiver ♪ ♪ And that's all that it takes ♪ (folk music) - And so here we are, top of the Cadillac Mountain for sunrise.

It's almost like one of those must-do bucket list activities here in Acadia.

It's really cold.

I'm looking for a composition.

The sun should be up in the next like 20 minutes or so.

There's a lot of kind of different terrain up here.

I needed a foreground.

I found this kind of pool of water that's remaining from early rainfall.

And so I'm gonna set this in my foreground and then whatever the sky does will be the result.

- What I'm trying to do here is I'm trying to create a shot that's a little different than what someone would come up with on the cell phone.

So what I want to concentrate on more than the grand view are the small detail items.

And I think you can get that by concentrating on the foreground.

So up here, I found a few elements up here that we can probably play around with to create some interest in the photo.

So I'm gonna wait a little bit, kind of survey the land here and then stay warm.

And when I get ready, we'll stop pulling the trigger.

(camera clicks) ♪ I felt a shiver ♪ ♪ And that's all that it takes ♪ (camera clicks) (folk music) (upbeat folk music) - [Chris] This bring back memories?

- Yes, it sure does.

(laughing) - A little forge?

First time camping.

- [Paul] I remember that.

- This is camping.

It's just a little different type of camping here.

- [Both] It's luxurious camping.

- [Paul] It's like taking a Hampton Inn room and just putting a tent around it when you think about it.

- Yeah, it was a really nice time here at- - Yeah, yeah.

- What did you think?

- Like, I'd like to hear your impressions 'cause you've never been here before.

- No.

I was impressed with the color I saw up here.

Like I said, I haven't been to this part of the country northeast in some years.

- Yeah.

- And I was just impressed with the color.

I mean, we get the color, you know where we're from, but it's just different up here.

- [Chris] Yeah.

- [Paul] It's just totally different.

- It was popping.

And then also just the juxtaposition of rugged coastline with those waves (waves crashing) Just crashing.

- [Paul] Yeah.

- And all of the photography that provided us.

And then come inland just a little bit and you're on these trails through the woods and mountains and lakes, and again, the color and then the like, kind of secluded harbors.

It was all just so beautiful.

It was all, it had this quintessential New England vibe to it (Paul laughs) in a lot of ways.

And man, we just had a great time.

I can't wait to see all the pictures I took.

- Me, neither.

And we also had some good food up here.

- [Chris] We did.

- [Paul] Yeah.

- [Chris] We did.

I mean, we kicked it off with lobster.

We did some steak.

We did some clam chowder.

- Yeah, finally got that.

- I mean, ran the full gamut.

So I would call this a very successful trip.

- Definitely.

- I want to come back, maybe different season, maybe a little warmer.

It's been chilly for me.

This Georgia boy has been putting a lot of layers on, on these shoots.

You know that movie, "Christmas Story?"

- Yeah.

- Where the kid's mom put so many jackets on, he can't put his arms down.

- That was you?

- I feel kind of like that.

We got more views ahead for us.

But this one's, I'll remember- - A plus.

- For a long time.

A plus.

♪ Hollows in the woods call out ♪ ♪ Trails up mountains climb ♪ ♪ Waves and sand keep beating time ♪ ♪ Mossy blankets, swirl and streams ♪ ♪ Over rocks and dirt ♪ ♪ Run at pace with all the earth ♪ ♪ Could we capture nature's wonder ♪ ♪ Find our way to getting lost ♪ ♪ Freeze a frame to save forever ♪ ♪ Adventure worth the cost ♪ ♪ Bees and dandelion grain ♪ ♪ Dance in sun-soaked fields ♪ ♪ Wind and gleam together yield ♪ ♪ Pocket worries fade to dim ♪ ♪ Wait on focus new ♪ - [Narrator] Voyage Charters shares the blue waters at the British Virgin Islands and offers private sailing vacations aboard ships like the Summer Breeze, a six cabin, all electric catamaran.

It's your voyage.

Make the best of it.

(ethereal music) (gentle music) - [Narrator] Sigma is proud to support photographers and filmmakers around the world.

And we believe creativity and sustainability go hand-in-hand.

(gentle music) (waves crashing) - [Narrator] Every explorer seeks their own path, (pensive music) and the promise of what's to come.

(pensive music) The truth lies West.

- [Narrator] Georgia College and State University provides over 40 graduate program offerings, including doctorates in nursing and education.

Learn more at gcsu.edu.

- [Narrator] Troncalli Subaru is a proud sponsor of View Finders.

(gentle music) (lively music)