Beavertail is a great location for sunset HDR Seascape Photography
As a photographer living in Rhode Island, I am blessed to have many great locations to practice my fine art photography. One of my favorite places to visit is Beavertail State Park. Located on Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay, the park is on the southern tip of the island and offers breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean, ideal for seascape photography.
Sunset at Beavertail State Park
As is often the case with my photography I head out to shoot with an image in mind, and this night was no exception. My goal was to photograph the lighthouse itself, but the sky was lacking any clouds to add interest to the scene. As I looked at the sunset, I realized that the golden light was doing magical things on the rocks along the shore. I quickly regrouped and changed my vantage point to allow me to create the seascape image that you see above.
In a way that is one of the true joys of photography. Heading out with a plan in mind, then getting to the location and finding that for whatever reason it just isn’t going to work. It can be less then optimal light conditions, too much wind, a boring sky, or even construction at a site. It becomes a challenge – knowing that a photograph is there, and that you need to find it. It is these moments that you just take a deep breath, turn your back on your plans and open your eyes to new possibilities!
Shooting into the sunset presents some unique challenges, as the extreme range from highlight to shadow is greater then a camera can normally capture. Using graduated neutral density filters on the front of the lens is one very popular technique to help reduce the brightness in the sky. Another popular technique, know as HDR, involves taking multiple photographs at different exposure levels and then blending the multiple images into one photograph that contains the full range of tones in the scene.
In order to capture as much detail in the dark rocks as possible, without blowing out the highlights in the sunset I decided that I would take multiple bracketed images and blend them into a single HDR seascape photograph. For me there is no right or wrong way, and one way is not better then another. I simply find that looking at a scene I have a feel as to which technique will work better for me.
I hope that you enjoy this image of the sunset at Beavertail. You can view and purchase my work through my fine art print gallery here on the website. Thanks again for stopping by!