LI inspires Sean Mills' photography

Sean Mills is eager for spring’s arrival. Though an early riser, the Jericho high school teacher says it will start getting easier to get to work on time. “In the winter the sun rises late,” he explains of his yearslong habit of getting up before the crack of dawn to catch the first light of day with his camera lens.

The symbiotic relationship between the photographer’s morning ritual and his so-called day job extends further. “As an earth science teacher, I use my knowledge of the environment to predict the times and locations with the best photographic opportunities,” he says. “I am constantly evaluating the wind speed, cloud cover, moon phases, sunrise locations, etcetera.” Conversely, Mills often uses his photo shoots to enhance his lessons. “Earth science is very visual. I use the images to show the kids all kinds of phenomena.”

Now, the audience for his eye-catching photographs is reaching beyond the classroom. "The World Through the Eyes of Photographer Sean Mills" at the Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s Educational and Cultural Center in Stony Brook through March 15 is the venue’s first exhibition dedicated to the medium. Mills will be there at 2 p.m. Saturday to talk about his work.

“Everybody nowadays has a cellphone and on any given day you can see 20 to 30 people taking a picture of the sun setting over the Stony Brook harbor,” notes Gloria Rocchio, president of the organization. “But Sean has a very special talent and knowledge of what it takes to make a photograph.”

Rocchio’s assertion is made clear here in an image of Stony Brook’s historic Gamecock Cottage taken by Mills at dusk. “This was a late summer shot, when the sun sets just behind the cottage,” the photographer recalls. “The cumulus clouds, which are very dense and reflect light, made for a colorful sky that night and the calm winds provided the reflections in the water.”

Similar conditions account for the sharp mirror image of the pediment of the local post office in a parking lot puddle after a rainfall. “The Village of Stony Brook has been a real source of inspiration for me,” says Mills.

The native Long Islander also lists Babylon, Northport, Mattituck, Oyster Bay, Greenport and Montauk among his photographic hot spots. In portraying Montauk’s iconic lighthouse against the night sky, his scientific acumen once again informed the dramatic, almost otherworldly image. “The challenge with these types of shots is that you can’t leave the shutter open too long, or else the Earth’s rotation will cause the stars to show streaks. But it was too dark for a fast shutter speed,” he explains. “I had to find the right shutter speed to capture the image.”

As indicated in a handful of photographs here, Mills has also drawn on his geological and atmospheric expertise when taking pictures beyond the immediate region. In shots of Canada’s Lake Moraine, for example, he relies on a bit of cloud cover and low winds to capture the reflections of deposit-formed alluvial fans that create the ethereal appearance of diamonds in the exquisite blue-green waters. The effect, says Mills, is simple. “You just have to know where — and when — to look.”