Canoes, Kayaks, and Ruins
19 July 2014 -- 200/365
Cumberland, Rhode Island
According to several "what to do in Rhode Island" sites, there is a Riverfest festival in Woonsocket today, the highlight of which is a series of canoe races down the Blackstone River. Unfortunately, none of the sites, including the main Riverfest webpage, thought to include the time of these races. Well, since the festival started at 11:00, I headed to the Manville Dam around noon, hoping to catch the first of the canoes coming towards the finish area. There was not a soul in sight. I decide to walk around the area for a bit, looking for a photo opportunity, when I heard some thrashing about in the underbrush beneath the bridge that spans the Blackstone River. It turns out there were a handful of canoeists and kayakers (not associated with Riverfest) completing a portage around the Manville Dam. They were just putting back into the river, so I was able to setup for this photo as a group of them past through the remains of an old bridge. The canoes all took the low road, passing very close to shore, but the kayakers held to the center of the river, thus affording me a decent composition.
Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, details, regions, contrast, boost black, and protect highlights. A levels adjustment was added in PSE.
it looks like a great place to kayak