Newport Rhode Island Photo Tour – Travel Photography – 2nd Edition

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Here is the 2nd installment of our Newport Rhode Island Photo Tour.  I am donning the hat of the unofficial “Visit Rhode Island” Liason.

A classic sailboat docked at Bowen’s Wharf is a common site here.  Sailing is definitely a huge part of Newport’s identity.  You see sailboats and referencing to sailing at every turn.  We even got a chance to watch the local sailing school in action with teeny tiny sailboats (so cute!).

We stayed at the Newport Beach Hotel & Suites which was AWESOME!  (Scott always plans the most awesome trips with stays at really nice hotels & suites).  And one of the best features of this beautiful hotel was their rooftop deck with firepit and hot tub!  We didn’t use the hot tub but we did use the deck and fireplace every night!  Our room had direct access to the rooftop and we were often the only ones there so I would plug the ipod radio up outside and blast our playlist while we hung out.  We made smores, danced, colored, had drinks, got silly, and relaxed while watching the sun sets and loving every minute of our family time together.

Rooftop views of the sunset over Newport Pond…

This is The Marble House.  Arguably Newport’s 2nd most extravagant mansion right behind The Breakers.  Although I imagine both would be strong runners to the title of Amerca’s most extravagant mansions.  This was the 2nd and last mansion we toured.  Both were built in the late 1800′s during the ”Gilded Age”.  Both are now owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County which has done such a spectacular job in preserving and restoring these dazzling and priceless diamonds from ruin and then allowing the public to enjoy them too.  Again no interior photography was allowed (bummer).  But the rooms and furnishings were opulent & breathtaking to say the least, the exterior of the mansion looks very drab and boring in comparison.  Way too rich for my blood but the setting is perfect for a gal to imagine herself as Cinderella.

A little history on The Marble House.  It was a gift from William K Vanderbilt to his wife Alva who was at the time a leader in the Woman’s Suffrage movement.  Alva soon divorced her husband and remarried a Belmont but kept the house even though she did not live in it.  Architect Richard Morris Hunt who also designed The Breakers was commissioned to create The Marble House and although smaller, I think personally the interiors are even more grand.  The mansion back in 1888 cost $11 million to build. 

More on The Marble House.

The Japanese Tea House is also a part of the The Marble House and was built for the original owner Alva Vanderbilt.  During the summer you can apparently have tea here.

A view of Narragansett Bay, off in the distance you can see The Claiborne Pell Bridge aka Newport Bridge.  I was able to cut some of the reflections of the water out with a polarizing filter.

Several of these images were taken with a super wide angle lens which had a lens hood on it.  Adding a vignette post processing I know is a common tactic many photographers use (often times way over used in odd or unflattering ways).  However vignettes do occur naturally when shooting frames usually at the widest zoom and capturing part of the lens hood.

Newport Rhode Island Travel Photographer – Harrisburg Photographer – Grace Lightner Photography