Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve

Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve sits on the shores of Lake Erie just outside of the city of Cleveland. It’s a perfect blend of nature, peace, calm and beauty. Home to rare plant species and animals it’s a protected piece of land for man and animal to enjoy.

One of the highlights of the preserve is the beautiful boardwalk that bisects the area and leads you down to the beach. At the end of the boardwalk is a gazebo with areas to sit and rest and observe the area. The boardwalk puts you in the middle of the open area and allows you to enjoy it from a unique perspective that doesn’t harm the nature around you. 

There is such a feeling of peace, calm and relaxation being out on the boardwalk surrounded by the open space. You’ll immediately feel like you’ve been transported to another place completely detached from the outside world. It’s a unique self contained area that gives you a feeling of isolation from other areas of the park.

This boardwalk is also perfect for any number of photo opportunities with the surrounding area providing the ideal backdrop.

The prime landmark in the area is the lighthouse. It was a bit further away than we thought and we weren’t prepared for the hike in sand that it would require to reach it. We realized that we should have followed the beach down to the lighthouse instead of cutting across the field.

I was able to get a few decent shots of the lighthouse in the background. I wasn’t able to get close shots, but the ones that I did get were good enough.

HOW TO GET THERE:

You can reach the park from Route 2 in Mentor. You can get off on the Heisley Road exit#220 and head north. The street will take you right into the park. Once you’re in the park, you’ll want to head to the east end of the park. Take the walkway that borders the beach east until it runs into the Nature Reserve.

PHOTOGRAPHY STUFF

With such a bright day and clear blue sky, it served as the perfect companion to the surrounding colors. The blue of the sky with light streaks of white clouds melded perfectly with the tans and the greens of the grasses and the tan of the boardwalk.

Selecting the right colors to wear on a photoshoot taking into consideration the background colors will add to how well the photos come out. It was by accident that the colors matched so perfectly with my son’s outfit and the colors of the surrounding area. It came out so well, it caused me to take note for future photo shoots.

F stop was at 8 and when editing I noted that it gave me the look that I wanted. I was happy that I was able to capture the exposure in camera and didn’t edit most of the photos’ exposure after the fact. 

I had to adjust for highlights to bring out the detail of the clouds a bit more on several of the photos. The brightness at times produced a light blue color in the sky and almost washed out the clouds. 

The ISO was at 100 for most photos. I adjusted between 120 and 400 due to the intermittent cloud cover and varying light.

Shutter speed was between 1/320 and 1/400.