Cape Cod Explorations

Cape Cod Explorations

May 08, 2018

I found myself on Cape Cod for a few hours not too long ago, and while I didn't know what I might photograph, I had packed my full seascape kit and drone just in case.  Luckily, with some local knowledge from friend and fellow photographer Cody DeGroff, we explored a few spots throughout Orleans and Chatham with an eye on the sky for sunset.

The tide continued to drop as we drove around, finally settling on Skaket Beach in Orleans to photograph sunset.  I had been immediately captivated by the flats and patterns in the sand that stretched for the better part of a mile out into Cape Cod Bay.  I took the opportunity for a quick drone flight while the sun was high, and set up my tripod for a seascape once the dusk colors started making their appearance.

Compared to the rocky shoreline of Rhode Island, I find something almost mystical about dunescapes.  And this spot was more of a flat space than a dunescape, but it still felt mesmerizing with all the lines and wrinkles the water had formed in the sands. The tidal waters had played with this stretch of coastline like putty, ever changing the landscape with every ebb and flow of the tide.

Within minutes of the sun sinking below the horizon that tide had changed, and it was as if a faucet had been turned on as water started rushing towards me.  Any longer than 20 second exposures and I would be standing in water, blindly altering my composition with every frame hoping to get the shot I had in mind without getting stranded in salt water.  It's for this very reason I always recommend packing rainboots for shooting seascapes (although this evening I wasn't following my own advice).

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