Maine to Canada
A perfect location for a photography adventure

Maine to Fundy Trail Canada

Start at Acadia National Park and travel up to Fundy Trail, Canada. Are you ready for a Maine and Canada Travel Photography Adventure? This is an incredible photography trip to take in the spring, summer, or fall months. We like summer best, so we can photograph our puffin friends.

Keep in mind that our trip was in 2012, so some of the minor details may have changed.

Maine is the least densely populated U.S. state east of the Mississippi River. It is called the Pine Tree State; about 83% of its land is forested It has several unique geographical features. Machias Seal Island and North Rock, off its easternmost point. Also in this easternmost area in the Bay of Fundy is the Old Sow, the largest tidal whirlpool in the western hemisphere.

We were unable to travel as far as Fundy National Park but we highly suggest that if you can that you do not skip this location.

Milky Way Photographers – This is some of the darkest skies on the planet. Try to plan your trip around the new moon.

One final tip. You will see one image where we had a dirty sensor. Can you spot it? If you live near Canon in Jamesburg, New Jersey, you can stop by and have your sensor cleaned in about an hour. When dirt gets on the sensor, you will see a circle in the images.

Machias Seal Island

Machias Seal Island is an island in the Gulf of Maine, about (9.9 mi) southeast from Cutler Maine. This area is a popular place to go on Puffin tours. The season starts in May and runs through mid-August. There is also a great lighthouse to photograph that was constructed there in 1832.

West Quoddy Head

Maine has almost 230 miles of coastline (and 3,500 miles of tidal coastline). West Quoddy Head is the easternmost piece of land in the lower 48. Along the famous rock-bound coast of Maine are lighthouses, beaches, fishing villages, and thousands of offshore islands, including the Isles of Shoals, which straddle the New Hampshire border. There are jagged rocks and cliffs and many bays and inlets. Inland are lakes, rivers, forests, and mountains.

First Stop – Acadia National Park, Maine USA

A top ten photography location

First incredible photography location, you must see Acadia National Park. Plan on a good full three days to photograph this fantastic location. If your family is with you and they are not photography buffs, there is still plenty going on here.

Acadia National Park is our number two pick on the continent for a photography location. You can also visit our Acadia National Park Photography Hot Spot Locations to see more details. Acadia – Jordon Pond – Acadia Thunder Hole – Acadia Bass Harbor Lighthouse – Maine Photography Hot Spots

Fees & Reservations: All entrance fees are valid for seven days. Everyone visiting Acadia National Park needs to pay the entry fees other than visitors who are 15 years or younger; they can enter the park free of charge. Fees for the Park

Don’t be fooled by the Acadia N.P. General information page. It has a moose on a web page. Don’t plan on seeing any moose here. You have to go north for that.

Less than 2.5 hours away is Campobello Island. You are sure to find eagles here!

Bangor International Airport is 48 miles from Acadia National Park. You can rent a car and head out on your journey. You can also fly into Hancock County, Bar Harbor, Maine, but you will pay more. Plan on spending a few days in Acadia National Park to cover all the photography here. We covered every last spot in four days. But we are obsessive photographers staying in one spot for hours at a time. Be sure to do all of the islands. Route 102 goes around the west side of the aisle in a loop, and there are many spots along the way to photograph. This is the spot the sun hits first in the USA in the morning. You just have to be somewhere on the east side of the park on the water for an incredible experience and photography. We sometimes use HDR for sunrise/sets.

After Acadia National Park head northeast to set sail on a puffin tour near Machias Seal Island. A great stop on your travel photography adventure!

photography magazine extra eyes photo tours pam goodyer

Next Stop – Campobello Island,

New Brunswick, Canada

In the easternmost town in the USA, Lubec, Maine, you will see The Quoddy lighthouse. Plan a quick visit here; then it’s just a short distance to the Canadian border over The Roosevelt International Bridge. Campobello Island has two lighthouses, eagles, and whales. Plan to stay in Campobello for a day.

We stayed in the Pollock Cove Cottages, which we loved. A beautiful family runs it, and it’s on the water for sunrise photography. Nine Eagles flew by in the morning, among other birds. The next night we camped at Herring Cove Provincial Park, where we had a rustic cabin on the water at a meager price. A good day here and an overnight stay is very worth your while so as not to miss sunrise and sunset photography. Don’t forget to hit Roosevelt Provincial Park. It is just beaming with beautiful flower colors. You can take a ferry over to Deer Island, and from there, take another boat to the mainland where you can head to your next stop St. Martin and Fundy Trail.

Campobello Island – You can photograph lighthouses, eagles, whales and more.

Campobello Island is a great place to explore

All of the boat docks and rugged coastal points are worth seeing. The colors seemed to be dynamic everywhere that we explored on this particular sunny day.

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Mulholland Point and Roosevelt House

Be sure to bring your zoom lens to Mulholland Point on Campobello Island. There were several eagles and many seals to photograph along the bay at the foot of the lighthouse. The colors of the houses across the bay also can be an exceptional background for your images. Roosevelt’s House is excellent for macro photography. As the pictures show there are many flowers to photograph. The red building is not only educational on the inside but a dynamic photography subject with its bright red outside. A general rule of thumb in photography is, shoot anything red.

Roosevelt Campobello International Park

Parc international Roosevelt de Campobello

459 NB-774, Welshpool, NB E5E 1A4, Canada

The Park is open for the season from mid-May until mid-October. From sun-up to sundown.

Mulholland Point Lighthouse

Mulholland Point Lighthouse was built in 1885. Although the lighthouse is not open to the public you can walk around the where there is a marine Life exhibit in old fishing shed, many harbor seals and some pretty great colors for dynamic photography.

Location: On the west side of Campobello Island about 1/4 mile north of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Bridge near Welshpool, NB

Next Stop St. Martin and Fundy Trail

St. Martin is a charming little town along the Bay of Fundy coastline, which is your next stop on your travel photography journey. You can explore the sea caves and photograph a covered bridge and a small lighthouse on land while passing through this little town. They have some cute little inexpensive cabins with TVs, beds, and heat to stay in if you are on a budget. There are two campgrounds on the beach, which is also an excellent location for sunrise photography.

After that, it’s time to head up to Fundy Trail.

Boat hop a few islands after seeing Campobello and head up to Fundy Trail and Fundy National Park

You can photograph Campobello Island for a day, then head to St. Martin and Fundy Trail. You can save some time by taking a Ferry to Deer Island then driving north to the next ferry to the mainland. The island has some boat docks along the way, and we only passed one little country corner store. When we got to the ferry, we did find some new photography material as we wandered around the backside of the restaurant while waiting for the boat.

There is a lighthouse to photo along the boat ride that you will pass. When you roll into Main Street in St. Martin, you can’t miss the sea caves. There is a restaurant here, but we did not stop. It’s such a small town that closes down at five, so be sure to eat. We stayed in a small cabin with a bed, tv, and heat on the beach for about 40 bucks before driving to Fundy Trail the next morning.

Don’t miss this incredible spot just a short distance from the suspension bridge on Fundy Trail. This stop is towards the back of the park on your travel photography journey. You will see a big parking lot. You will recognize the area from our slideshow pictures below. There are a lot of colors and textures along this short walk near the stream that leads to The Bay of Fundy. One of the best spots in the Park. The slideshow has several images from this central area in the park.

Toward the end of Fundy Trail to the right of the suspension bridge along the Bay of Fundy.

When you get to the bridge area on Fundy Trail be sure to head all the way over to the coast to see the incredible view. There is a lot of colors and angles to photo along the very short walk. Be careful. There are lots of rocks and limbs.

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How to Shoot Milky Way and Night Sky Photography

What you will need:

Light pollution map – light pollution map

Camera – You will need a camera to control your ISO, shutter speed, and aperture manually.

Lens – A fast wide-angle lens of 1.4 – 2.8 is ideal. If you use a 3.5 or higher (slower lens), you will have to increase the ISO. The higher the ISO, the more grain or digital noise or grain will appear in your photos.

Tripod – A good sturdy tripod is essential for night photography. If it gets windy, you will need a sturdy one. Keep that in mind, when you buy one, it should be sturdy enough to withstand the wind but small enough to fit in your suitcase.

Sky Map – Sky Guide is available through the iTunes Store for $1.99. It has a 5 out of 5-star rating on both the current (3.2) version (1200+ ratings) and all previous versions (8600+ ratings).

Flashlight – Our choice is Coast brand for flashlights. The ideal flashlight will have high lumens, and you will be able to zoom in and out on the amount of light emitting from the flashlight. Get the HP7, PX45, or the G50. Ideally, go with the HP7.

Moon Phaze Map – The best time to go is during a new moon, and you want to be in the darkest area possible. The week before the new moon, when the moon has not risen, is a perfect time to go, so be sure to check the moonrise chart to see when the moon will be up.

Remote Shutter Release – When painting with light and you want to go over a 30-second exposure, you must have a shutter release to use your bulb mode. When exposing your pictures in general, you can use the remote release, or you can use your camera’s built-in two-second timer.

Use a Tripod – First of all; you must be on a tripod. A good sturdy tripod is necessary if it is windy. If the tripod moves, your picture will blur.

Focus – Use live view. To focus in the dark, use your camera’s live view, hit the zoom button, and focus on a bright star. You can also use the infinity setting on your lens but do several test shots to see if it is accurate. It can be off a little on some lenses. You can also light it up with a flashlight, focus, then gently, without touching the focus ring, put the camera in manual focus so it will not search for the focus. You would have to do this each time you move your camera to take your next angel.

Camera Settings

ISO – Start with ISO 1600 – 3200. This is just a common starting point, and you will adjust from here.

Shutter Speed – Remember, the earth is rotating. If you leave the shutter open for too long, you will see star trails that will not make for a crisp image. We want crisp non-star trail images. Here is the formula to avoid star trails. The 500 rule – Divide 500 by the focal length of your lens. So, if you have a 24mm lens on a full-frame camera, you will set your shutter speed to 20 sec. (500/24 = 20.83). If you are using a crop sensor camera, first do the math of the crop sensor to find the focal length. Cannon is 1.6, Nikon is 1.5. Convert to full-frame focal length, then use the formula. Nikon 18mm x 1.5= 27mm – 500/27 = 18.51 seconds.

Aperture – Depth of field isn’t critical on these shots, but letting the light into the camera is; therefore, you should shoot wide open if. If the depth of field is essential to you, try not to go too high. (wide open =the lowest aperture your camera will allow). You will have to increase the ISO some, which will give you digital noise.

When in live view mode, you can change your white balance settings and see what it will look like. You can shoot in shade or cloud mode as a standard-setting and adjust things later.

When to view the Milky way

The best images are usually of the dense part of the Milky Way. We can see this part of the milk way in the southern sky. During March, April, and May, the milky way rises above the horizon in the pre-dawn hours. In June, at about 10:00 p.m., you will see the milky way. From July until October, you can see the milky way as soon as the sunsets, and it becomes dark enough to see, which is about an hour after sunset. In November, the milky way no longer comes above the horizon. You will have to wait until March if you want to stay away really late or get up early to see her again.

See our Milky Way Hot Spot Locator and our Night Photography Information.

Maine to Canada