Bennett Christiansen of Kittery Point, Maine, has been sharing with NRCM his stunning photographs from around the state for many years, since he was a teenager. About his latest photo, he writes, “While engaging in the art of photography the past decade, I consistently found myself enticed by this scene by the Cutts Island Trailhead in Kittery Point. To me it represents the gateway into the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, many parcels of wild land along the southern coast of Maine that I’m lucky to have as one of my playgrounds for creativity and an escape into the outdoors.
On the right zone of the daily tide cycle, the reflections are crystal clear, and on the right night of the year, the northern oriented window has provided me with excellent views of the aurora borealis.
On this particular evening, I sought to capture the sense of everlasting calmness this place often evokes. The tranquility of the water and the woods, and the clouds drifting through the blue overhead. There is a street lamp a ways behind my vantage point, which I usually am not too fond of, but in this instance it filled the shoreline rocks with a cast of orange that complements the surrounding sapphire tones quite nicely. After selecting the perfect grouping of stones atop the mud, I set my camera’s shutter speed to shoot a two-minute-long exposure. The result was a soothing image of time passing by as twilight transitioned to night.”
Cutts Island trailhead, Kittery Point, Maine. Photo by Bennett Christiansen
