When I’m working on a new seascape for the gallery, I almost always head out with a vision of the final photograph already in my mind. I’m far more likely to end up with something worth hanging on a wall if I take an organized approach to it.
I’ll usually scout a location in daylight first, just to get a feel for it — it also makes it a lot safer to be out there once it’s dark and you already know the terrain. An app that shows sun position, a notebook for sketches, and a look at the tide charts round out the prep — there’s nothing worse than getting the perfect composition set up only to realize the rising tide is about to put your camera underwater right when the light gets good.
On a recent summer evening I headed down to Newport Harbor to photograph the setting sun behind the Newport Bridge. I had every intention of making the bridge the dominant element in the shot, and had completely written off including the Goat Island lighthouse.
Then the lighthouse turned on. Nothing unusual about a lighthouse turning on at night — except this one lit up a brilliant green. That settled it: the photograph needed to be of the whole harbor, lighthouse included, not just the bridge. I packed up and moved to a spot where I could fit it all in. The photograph you see here ended up being my favorite from the whole night — the one I had absolutely no intention of taking.
It’s a good reminder that keeping an open mind out there can lead somewhere better than the plan you walked in with. If you’d like to see more from this stretch of coast, take a look at our Newport, Rhode Island page.