The coast of Maine is one of the most dramatic, rugged locations on America’s Atlantic shore. A good chunk of that coastal expanse, plus adjacent mountains and cliffs, were pieced together to create Acadia National Park, the first national park east of the Mississippi River.

While it’s a great place to enjoy hiking, biking, horseback riding and boating, it’s also a wonderfully challenging location for photographers. Here, within a relatively small area — its nearly 50,000 acres make it the fifth smallest national park in the system — you can find a diversity of landscapes: 26 mountains including the tallest on the east coast; 26 lakes and ponds; 17 stone bridges; a sand beach; a lighthouse; and a fjard (not quite a fjord!).

Here are some tips to help you come home with striking photographs of this wealth of visual riches.