Dickens Preserve & New Harbor

October 29, 2013

Continuing with my recent photography workshop on Block Island as part of Profundo Journeys, after our first sunrise shoot at North Light, we had a few hours of down time and then it was back to business!  Shortly after lunch we took a field trip to the Dickens Preserve on the western side of the island.  This sprawling landscape provides hiking trails throughout a large portion of preserved land, and I walked down the part of the preserve that was absolutely overflowing with golden rod!  I guess this is one of the benefits at coming at this time of year, you get to see some color.

I never have considered myself much of a landscape photographer but I really gave myself the challenge of deep depth of field and composing with nothing but the lines created by the hilly landscape.  The complimentary colors of yellow and blue were just wonderful and while I broke my rule and first played with some shallow depth of field which you can see in the first frame.  I was rather pleased with the results of the deep depth of field images!  



As it got later in the day, about 3pm, we went straight to our next location for dusk and sunset, New Harbor.  In the heart of the island is a little center of town called New Harbor, which is different from the bustling downtown of Old Harbor where the majority of ferries land, however New Harbor has the larger anchorage.  When I was cruising with my family last year and we made a quick stop in New Harbor.  While I didn't spend much time on land then, I got a new perspective of New Harbor this year.  I walked around for a while and actually went all the way over to Fred Benson and Kids Beach closer to Old Harbor.  But as the sun sank lower I knew I wanted to get back harborside for sunset.  I took some long exposures of Payne's and then from their dock overlooking the Oar bar and restaurant, and the rest of the harbor.  While not every shot was successful there's something about the last image included here that I just love!






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