St. George Island Autumn

St. George Island is just an hour and 45-minute drive from my home, making it a frequent and cherished destination. I often stay at the campground on the island’s eastern end, where the unique terrain of sand dunes, trees, plants, and natural habitats captivates me every time. No matter how often I visit, the landscape continues to surprise me, offering new inspiration for my photography.

For this image, I used my favorite medium-format walk-around camera, the Hasselblad 907x 50c. Its digital back is a versatile tool that I also pair with my technical cameras. The lens, a Hasselblad XCD 45/4 P, is the most affordable in the XCD lineup and an ideal match for the camera. As the first lens in Hasselblad’s “P” series, designed for portability, it feels tailor-made for my preferences. I’ve always been drawn to lightweight, compact lenses—perhaps influenced by my experience with small lenses in large-format photography. It might sound counterintuitive, but if you’ve ever handled a Schneider 35mm f/5.6 Apo-Digitar XL Lens with a Copal #0 Shutter, you’ll understand. That tiny yet stellar lens is a staple in my ALPA camera kit.

The 45P provides a 36mm equivalent focal length—not quite wide, not quite normal—a versatile middle ground that I love for walk-around shooting.

As our biking adventure on the island neared its end, the sunset began to drape the sky in warm, radiant hues. Safely tucked in the bike’s rear basket was my camera bag with camera and lens. Alongside it, my RRS Pocket Tripod—a compact yet robust tool capable of supporting up to 15 pounds—proved a perfect match for my traditional shooting style.

This image was captured along the road leading to a beach trail. To achieve the perfect angle, I mounted the camera on the pocket tripod and carefully balanced the setup on top of a sturdy fence post. It was a bit unconventional, but it worked perfectly for capturing the scene!

The vibrant vegetation on the dunes, especially a striking orange bush, instantly drew my attention. To capture the scene as I envisioned it, I used bracketing—a critical technique when shooting directly into the sun to avoid unwanted silhouettes. This approach allowed me to manage the sky and foreground separately during post-processing, using different exposures to recreate what I saw in the moment. By spacing five brackets at 2/3-stop intervals, I ensured I had plenty of lighting options to achieve the perfect balance.

It was a quintessential fall day on the island, with the warmth of the season meeting the crispness of the approaching twilight. I hope this image conveys a bit of the serenity I felt as I watched the sun dip below the horizon, giving way to the soft embrace of evening.