Eastern Canada and Maine Locations

<p>My wife and I are looking into a cruise during the fall foliage season. Stops in Canada would be in Quebec City; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Halifax N.S.; and St. John, New Brunswick. In Maine:- Bar Harbor, Rockland and Portland.</p>

<p>Sunrise and sunset photos will be out since we'll have to be on the ship. Figure a day at each stop. </p>

<p>Any suggestions for touring and photography? Thanks.</p>

<p>I've been and photographed in the areas around most of the places you'll land at. I think your issue as a photographer is not just restricted time/wrong time of day but the fact that a cruise ship or two dumps a large quantity of people in a place and the organised tours are busy and don't necessarily allow much time for thoughtful photography. I like most of these places with a car at my disposal and the freedom to go when/where I want. </p>

<p>Charlottetown- possibly the one place I'd suggest spending a bit of time just walking the streets. PEI in general isn't terribly dramatic.scenery-wise and is mostly farmed with small villages and towns. Its not at all unpleasant but finding good photographs in ordinary light is not easy. North Rustico is pleasant- you might get a trip there from Charlottetown.</p>

<p>I must be honest and say that Halifax N.S doesn't float my boat. The waterfront has a lot of bars restaurants and tourist stuff but behind that is not great IMO. Lots of cruise people are piled onto buses and taken for a drive down to Peggy's. Its a pretty place but overrun when there are cruise ships in. If you get onto the rocks and walk beyond the lighthouse you'll lose a lot of the people , but my strategy has always been to stay there and enjoy the early mornings and late evenings and leave the village in the day. If you can get round some of the other villages on the inlets south of Halifax- Prospect for example- so much the better. NS is actually a v good fall foliage destination, though the staying/eating infrastructure is closing by the minute at that time of year outside the main towns. Sadly though you wan't see many of those trees round Halifax, except maybe in a park, and they do have a nice one.</p>

<p>Bar Harbour is a fairly large and brash tourist centre. If you like shopping and eating it's great. The big things are the Acadia NP and there just has to be trips available round the park and the rest of Mount Desert Island . The view from the top of Cadillac Mountain is good too, and not too far away. Its a dawn location really and utterly heaving just before the sun comes up and close to empty a half hour later. But I'f photographed nicely up there in daytime.</p>

<p>Rockland and nearby Camden are both pleasant enough places without tempting you to stay all day. From Rockland you can access the coast along the finger peninsulas to the south west. Then a few miles north of Camden (direction Hope) the road passes a lake on which I've seen exceptionally well coloured trees. There's also Mount Batten/Batty which can be driven up and affords a distant view of Camden in the middle(hopefully) of fall colour.</p>

<p>Portland's a city and big enough so that its a bit of a barrier for short trips outside. Look up Strawberry Banke if you like that sort of thing . Wouldn't surprise me if they ran trips to the LL Bean store at Freeport . If by any chance you're a Stephen King fan the area north east of Portland has a lot of geographical references.</p>

<p>Thanks for the complete details, David. I guess we'll just have to be tourists for the most part and enjoy and shoot what's available to us due to the cruise's itinerary. Relaxing on the boat isn't so bad anyway. It's sometimes nice not to have any objective other than doing nothing like sitting and sipping coffee or tea on the balcony of the stateroom and quietly watching the ocean go by. </p>

There are ferry boat trips to the Casco Bay islands operating out of Portland. Some mailboat trips hit all the

islands. Great Diamond Island has a good restaurant and some old coastal defense forts. Or if you stop at

Peaks Island (the nearest to Portland) and you can walk around the island in an hour or so, there are

several restaurants and another coastal defense fort. But if you are tired of boats you can walk around the

waterfront and to the Eastern Promenade whch is a park with good views looking down on Casco Bay.

(Strawberry Banke is in Portsmouth, NH, not Portland, ME.) Last but not least there is an LL Bean discount

store. Quebec City is probably the most scenic of the stops, it is a walled city with a fort overlooking the

river and there are various military formations taking place daily. The Dufferin Terrace is a walk along the

edge of a bluff looking down over old town and the river. The Chateau Frontenac is an 1800's hotel but

quite spectacular and there is a battle field where the British defeated the French (and both generals were

killed). And you can walk or take a cablecar down to the old town at the river's edge. Have a good trip.

<p>I guess I thought that Strawberry Banke was in comfortable reach for a day trip or even a few hours rrip- takes about 45mins I understand, though its a long time since I was there. But first the OP has to look it up and see whether there's any attraction in living history museum/renovated old buildings. </p>

<p>"Sunrise and sunset photos will be out since we'll have to be on the ship."<br>

Any reason why you can't shoot sunrise and sunset from a ship? Depending on your camera hi iso capability, you can successfully do so if you crank up the speed in lieu of a tripod. Done it often.</p>

<p>I took that cruise a few years back and while it certainly was pleasant and scenic, it was not a great photo op trip. Quebec City is beautiful (if you have a chance, check out Montmorency Falls just outside of the old city -quite pretty, but unfortunately you will be there mid day when the sun will not be your friend.) Spend virtually 100% of your time in the old town. I agree with the assessment of PEI, NS and New Brunswick are just ok spots - pleasant enough, but nothing that is a "must see". And as also mentioned above - most shore excursions are midday and the light will not be flattering. <br>

The thing to see from Halifax is Peggy's Cove lighthouse, but by my conservative estimate, there will be approximately 1.7 million people on the rocks (depending on how many cruise ships are in port that day). By all means go, but you will not have the ability to shoot the iconic lighthouse with just a couple of folks in the shot for scale. When in Bar Harbor, the place to go is Acadia - the crowds there should be slightly smaller. Say around 1.3 million. :) <br>

Portland is a pretty big city - I suggest Portland Head light and the lobster rolls down by the old town. There are actually 2 famous lighthouses in Portland. Portland Head is the main one that has been photographed to death, but is quite stunning in its location. Trying to recall the "other one", but the fact that I cannot would seem to indicate that I was less than impressed.<br>

Best part of the trip will be the foliage and the food. GREAT seafood along the entire route. Lobster in Maine, mussels in PEI and gourmet French cuisine in Quebec. Whatever you do, do not eat in any restaurant within a 20 minute walk of the dock. The uninformed will eat close to the dock. Good food and proximity to the dock are mutually exclusive.</p>

<p>Enjoy the trip and you may end up with some wonderful shots, but I would go with low expectations photo wise - anything that you do get will be a bonus for an otherwise lovely, relaxing trip.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>This is the "other" Portland lighthouse. <br>

http://visitmaine.com/things-to-do/outdoors-adventure/parks-recreation-areas/two-lights-state-park/</p>

<p>The <strong>must see</strong> one is the other </p>

<p>http://www.portlandheadlight.com/</p>

<p>Thanks for all the good tips. Looks like the pressure is off for getting a "great" shot. I was at the Portland Head lighthouse many years ago. My wife had a university class in Saco she was taking, so I had a chance to drive by - at the right time for lighting. Will be staying at the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City the night before we board the ship. Plus the ship stays the following night before embarking. So we'll have a little time in Quebec City to look around. </p>

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