The large glacial erratic - a granite boulder dropped here when the Wisconsinan Ice Sheet receded about 20,000 years ago - is named "Pulpit Rock." The legend as shown in the foreground sign is that Roger Williams used the rock when preaching to the local Indian tribe - presumably the Narragansett Indians - while he was on Prudence Island. Williams certainly spent time on Prudence Island. In fact, he owned virtually half of the island at one time, and his descendents still live here. That he preached to the Indians, though, is highly unlikely. Williams was not known for preaching. In fact, he strongly supported the right for anyone to hold to their own religious beliefs. (That, in part, is what got him in so much trouble in Massachusetts.) So the legend is cute and it makes for interesting local lore, but it's unfortunately highly unlikely to be true. It's a nice rock, though, and from the back it really does resemble a pulpit.
Post processing consisted of a Topaz Adjust "Highlight Recovery" filter. To sharpen the image slightly, I added a desaturated layer of a Topaz Adjust "Detail Medium" filter using a soft light blend mode with a high pass filter at 4 pixels. I also made a slight levels adjustment for contrast.
@ladycee Thanks, Connie! I'm fascinated by history, as you may have noticed. LOL @allisonrap Thanks, Allison! New England does have a fascinating history. @calm Thanks, Cathy! The light was in a great spot for this one, fortunately. @melorac Thanks, Carole! I do enjoy writing about why I took a particular photo. @tabithasyear Thanks, Tabitha! I liked the shadows as well. They added a bit of mystery to it.
April 23rd, 2012
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
@allisonrap Thanks, Allison! New England does have a fascinating history.
@calm Thanks, Cathy! The light was in a great spot for this one, fortunately.
@melorac Thanks, Carole! I do enjoy writing about why I took a particular photo.
@tabithasyear Thanks, Tabitha! I liked the shadows as well. They added a bit of mystery to it.