The Story
Has a photograph ever made you feel something? Not just looked nice, but actually pulled up a memory — a childhood spot, a smile you didn’t expect. A lot of the time when I look back at my own photographs, I’m not really seeing the image, I’m reliving the morning I made it. That’s probably the part of this I enjoy most.
The Photograph
Conimicut Point in Warwick is a small park on Narragansett Bay, a few minutes from my house. Even well into March, it was still bitterly cold, and I was surprised by how much ice had built up along the beach. I like a strong foreground element, and a chunk of that ice ended up being it — a wide angle lens, and the curve of the beach leading the eye out toward the lighthouse on the horizon.
The water in my early frames had more movement than the quiet, peaceful morning actually felt like. I added a 10-stop neutral density filter, which stretched the exposure to 4 minutes and smoothed the water out completely — softer, calmer, closer to what the morning actually felt like standing there.
My favorite part of this whole thing is walking back to the car knowing I actually got the feeling onto the sensor. Doesn’t always happen. When it does, it’s a good feeling. You can see this photograph, “Conimicut Point Snow Sunrise,” as a print here: Conimicut Point Snow Sunrise.