Any time you go out intentionally seeking interesting photographs, you need some luck. This past July I was on our boat for nearly two weeks and took fewer than ten photographs that I thought had real merit. Then in August, while anchored in Sandy Bay, Rockport, MA, I accidentally woke up at 5:30 and noticed a crimson dawn breaking. I hustled into some clothes, grabbed my gear and headed off in the dinghy. The sunrise was superb and I got half a dozen keepers in just a few minutes.

After the sunrise I headed towards Rockport harbor so see if there were any interesting early morning shots there. On the way over I changed my mind and decided to go out to Straitsmouth Island and see if the the lighthouse there would yield any good photos. I got a few decent shots from the dinghy but nothing spectacular. While heading back to the boat, I noticed a mooring ball on the north side of the island. The island has no anchorage—the shore is all boulders and rough surf—getting ashore wasn't in my plans. But, a mooring ball would only have one purpose—provide a place to anchor a boat while someone went ashore. I looked around to see if there was a usable landing, and there was. It was only a rope hanging down into a small opening in the rocks with a ledge you could scramble onto, but it was enough to tie my small inflatable dinghy to. I was able to get onto the island without soaking anything more important than my shoes.

Once ashore, the lighthouse, the keeper's house and a kerosene storage building all provided interesting subjects and the early morning light was still sublime. I was able to get at least another half-dozen keepers and couple of truly outstanding shots.

Considering that I took fewer than a hundred shots in all and was back aboard our cruising boat in less than two hours, the number of keepers was impressive. Sometimes you just need to get lucky.

Rockport and Straitsmouth Collection