The Story: Conimicut Point at Sunrise
Conimicut Point Park in Warwick, Rhode Island is a small stretch of shoreline tucked along Narragansett Bay, just a few miles from home. Even though it was well into March, winter hadn’t fully loosened its grip. Ice still clung to the edges of the beach, catching the first light of morning.
Sunrise at Conimicut Point is often subtle rather than dramatic — soft pastels instead of blazing color, gentle light instead of spectacle. That quiet mood was exactly what drew me there that morning.
Finding the Foreground
As I wandered the shoreline searching for a strong foreground element, I noticed a sculpted piece of shoreline ice resting near the curve of the beach. With a wide-angle lens, I could see how that gentle bend would lead the eye toward the lighthouse in the distance.
Conimicut Point has a quiet geometry to it — the sweep of sand, the distant light, the open water of Narragansett Bay. I wanted the foreground ice to anchor the composition while allowing the sunrise to unfold softly behind it.
The Lesson: Stillness
But something felt off.
When I reviewed the images on the back of my camera, the water was full of motion — textured, active, restless. It didn’t match the feeling of the morning.
The scene had been calm. Almost meditative.
Yet my photographs carried too much energy.
That’s when I reached for my 10-stop neutral density filter. By extending the exposure to four full minutes, the movement in the water dissolved into something smoother and more reflective. The long exposure transformed the scene into what it had felt like standing there: quiet, balanced, still.
Long exposure seascape photography isn’t just about technique. It’s about intention. It’s about matching your photographic choices to the emotional tone of the moment.
At Conimicut Point that morning, stillness wasn’t just something I saw.
It was something I needed to create.
Reflections on Stillness
One of my favorite things about photography is when I can walk back to the car feeling content — when I know I’ve created a photograph that captures how I feel inside. It doesn’t always work out that way, but when it does… that feeling is magical.
This is the lesson of Conimicut Point: stillness isn’t just a technique — it’s a mindset. Matching your photographic choices to the emotion of the moment allows you to convey not just a scene, but a feeling.
Technical Details
- Camera / Lens: Canon 7D with Sigma 10-20mm
- Settings:
- Aperture: f/8.0
- Shutter Speed: 240 seconds (4 minutes)
- ISO: 400
- Filter: Lee 10-Stop Neutral Density Filter
- Light: Early morning, soft natural light
- Approach: Wide-angle composition with shoreline ice as a foreground anchor, using a long exposure to smooth the water and emphasize stillness.
- Tip: When photographing a calm scene, consider whether motion in the frame supports or contradicts the emotion you want to express. A long exposure can translate internal stillness into visual form.
Practice This Yourself
Try this exercise:
- Find a calm, quiet scene — a beach, lake, or shoreline works well
- Identify a foreground element that leads the eye
- Use a long exposure to smooth water or movement to match the mood you feel
- Walk away and see if the resulting image captures the emotion you intended
Photography is as much about internal stillness as it is about external observation.
A Place to Rest Your Eyes
In a world that asks us to move faster and feel less, the ocean does the opposite. This photograph was made slowly, with intention — a moment of balance and breath captured at sunrise along Narragansett Bay.
If this scene speaks to you, the Conimicut Point sunrise photograph is available as a fine art print in the Seascapes collection.
A Place to Rest Your Eyes
In a world that asks us to move faster and feel less, the ocean does the opposite. These photographs are made slowly, with intention — moments of balance, breath, and light captured so they can live on your wall and quietly do their work. For collectors and care-focused spaces alike, this is art meant to be felt before it’s noticed.
From printer to wall—farm to table for your soul.