The Golden Hour

A Duxbury photographer captures the South Shore landscape at its finest.

Written by Maria Allen
Photography by Michael D’Amore

Michael D’Amore was a senior in high school when he first started getting interested in taking pictures. The Duxbury resident went on to minor in photography at Marist College, where he learned the lost art of shooting with film cameras and developing images by hand. After he graduated, D’Amore continued to pursue photography both as a profession and a hobby. For the past five years, he has worked as a local real estate photographer by day. His true passion, however, is for capturing images of landscapes.

“Being so close to the beach really sparked my love for landscape photography,” says D’Amore, who grew up in Duxbury and still lives in town. “There is something so calming and relaxing about being outside in nature and seeing beautiful moments unfold before you.”

D’Amore’s digital photo albums are filled with dreamy images of the sun setting over Duxbury Beach, the sandy road to Saquish, the Bluefish River, Green Harbor and other scenic South Shore locales. Once he has picked a general location to shoot, D’Amore usually spends about an hour exploring the area, scouting out possible compositions and finding interesting leading lines and foreground elements to make his images more engaging. His favorite time to take photographs is at sunset or sunrise, and he has been known to rush home from work to catch the fleeting light. He also enjoys taking his drone out for a spin to capture images from bird’s eye view.

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D’Amore finds landscape photography to be a meditative activity. Surrounded by the beauty of nature, far from the noise and distractions of modern day life, he is able to breathe deeply and enjoy the peace and quiet. “It’s hard to beat that feeling,” says D’Amore. “You aren’t worrying about anything else; you’re just trying to capture the moment. I get excited when I am out photographing. I feel like a little kid again running around trying to capture a scene unfolding in the best possible composition and light. For me that is what I love so much about photography and what makes me so passionate about it.”

Being able to share his images with friends and family is also rewarding. D’Amore strives to create images that allow his audience to get a sense for what he was seeing and feeling at the moment a picture was taken. They may just inspire the viewer to head outside to experience a bit of nature for themselves.

 

To learn more about Michael D’Amore’s images, visit michaeldamorejr.com.

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