Ryan Zipp Photography

Ryan Zipp Photography Photographer Ryan Zipp adventures around New England & beyond with his camera capturing the best of what the natural world has to offer.

“Milk Over Witch’s Island” On my trip to Boothbay Harbor for Labor Day 2020 I had planned on shooting a variety of subje...
09/08/2026

“Milk Over Witch’s Island” On my trip to Boothbay Harbor for Labor Day 2020 I had planned on shooting a variety of subjects but the Milky Way was low on the list. Due to the more than half full moon that would be rising not long after 9pm I knew there would be such a short window of time before the milky goodness would be washed out by the moon’s appearance. I decided to find a spot where I could shoot sunset and then give it a shot anyways though right after.
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Only 15 minutes from Boothbay Harbor lies a special small harbor in the Cape Newagen section of the town of Southport. Standing on a wooden platform at a town landing you look out a several small islands, including one directly in front of you with a stunning red house sitting right on the shore facing you. An added fact about this house is that it was once owned by actress Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Margaret and her son bought the 20 acre Cape Island in 1961 which included this 1852 farmhouse.
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She would row out to the island by herself, endearing her to the local fishermen who loved how this famous actress had adapted to Maine life. It has been dubbed “Witch’s Island” by some and referred to as such to this day! I had previously attempted to shoot the night sky here in July but strong winds made it impossible. This time around even with a short window I couldn’t have had more perfect conditions.
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Clear skies and zero wind allowed me to capture this image without the boats being blurry from drifting. The water was so calm I even had reflections of stars & part of the Milky Way show up! For the sky I stacked 15 images at 15 seconds each and 1 image for the foreground. All shot on my Canon R5 & Canon 16-35 2.8 III lens all the way wide at 16mm.
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“Good Morning PTown” I always consider the time in early September until the very end of the month to be somewhat of a “...
09/02/2026

“Good Morning PTown” I always consider the time in early September until the very end of the month to be somewhat of a “Second Summer” here in New England until I begin heading plenty north to commence foliage chasing. This year the first trip of that kind for me takes place at the start of October & I’ll be enjoying less busy Summer vibes until then.
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Back in 2019 I kicked off this season by heading to Provincetown for Labor Day weekend to focus my camera on a town that I had only previously stopped through for limited scenes the year before. I’m always somewhat torn with shooting the same typical Instagram worthy spots that everyone else does in a location, but I love seeing if I can put my own personal spin on it. This cottage set back from Commercial St on the water is arguably the most photographed spot in PTown and upon first glance it was easy to see why.
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A white picket fence, brick walkway, flowers lining the way on both sides, welcoming bench, flower boxes on every window and of course the vivid colors of the stars & stripes as the centerpiece. It doesn’t get much more “New England Summer” as this scene right here! I had walked by on Saturday afternoon, but with the sun coming from over my shoulder it created such harsh shadows that I decided to come back the following morning to try again.
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After shooting sunrise at MacMillan Pier i got back over to the cottage at 7:45am. The lighting and overall vibe was definitely better than the afternoon before, but I wanted to try to capture the sun rays peaking over the house to the left and it wasn’t in position yet. Walking down this street in early morning is such a peaceful experience in stark contrast with the afternoon & evening craziness, so I decided to walk down further and come back again to check on the sun’s position.
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Just under an hour later it was exactly where I had hope it would be and I was able to snap a few images that would give my personal flavor to this iconic scene. It took 3 diff stops at this spot in a 16 hour stretch to get the image I had pictured in my head, but I was ecstatic to make it happen and be able to share with you guys.
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“Sunflower Storms” Throwback to late August of 2022 of several dramatic images taken at the local sunflower field not fa...
09/01/2026

“Sunflower Storms” Throwback to late August of 2022 of several dramatic images taken at the local sunflower field not far from my house. Every day I pass a farm field that that usually plants sunflowers at some point during August through October, so I’m able to always keep an eye out for when they’ll be blooming.
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Luckily on this particular day I had my cameras with me in the car and as I got closer to the field in the way home I began to see lighting in the distance. Hoping that the rain would hold out long enough for some photo opps, I got out and setup at the field to see what kind of dramatic action I could capture at this amazing location. I’d always been drawn to this lone tree here in the field so I knew that my ideal composition would include it and focused my attention in that direction.
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With lighting going off randomly across the entire sky it was nearly impossible to time it, especially with a specific location in mind. But I knew I had to remain patient if I was to have a chance at the finished product that was sketched in my head. As I was waiting a grouping of 8 Canada Geese came flying over me into the field and I captured them in this first image before they dropped down. ~
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The clouds in the upper part of the sky only became more intense as time rolled on and I excitedly hoped I would be able to pull off the shot. I can’t tell you how many frames I fired off in anticipation of the next strike, but it took me a fair amount of time to go through each one after getting back home haha. Luckily I got a keeper that captured two lightning strikes in my scene (photo #2) and couldn’t have been happier that it paid off.
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“Follow The Setting Sun” I know many have started posting previous years foliage images, but I typically don’t consider ...
08/31/2026

“Follow The Setting Sun” I know many have started posting previous years foliage images, but I typically don’t consider it to be officially official in my head until I celebrate my birthday on Sept 30th. In recent years I started posting them on the official fall equinox & will likely start mixing some in earlier this year to help inspire plans for you guys to start getting ready for this upcoming magical season.
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For today I wanted to share another favorite throwback that keep the Summer vibes going just a little bit longer. Tucked away in the beautiful section of Weekapaug in Westerly, RI lies Fenway Beach. A smaller beach compared to others nearby, but complete with amazing sand and shoreline views. I loved the overall vibe of the beach, with plenty of surfers young and old were making use of the moderate sized waves that day. This boardwalk entering the beach from a parking lot was my main target for photos at this location back in August 2019 when I headed there to scout out the location earlier in the afternoon.
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With colorful bins lining each side filled with personal beach items of nearby residents, it made for an amazing composition. I got back about a half hour before sunset to get in position and cross my fingers for a magical display of colors. As I drove over the sky was filled with these amazing patterns of small puffy clouds and luckily a number of them stayed for the main event. I always love when an initial plan in my head comes together perfectly and I return home with the amazing images that I hoped for.
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08/30/2026

The 10 hour long Grand Procession of Saint Anthony around the North End in kicked off this morning at Noon on Endicott Street. The statue is carried throughout the streets by eight men at a time until the festival’s closing ceremony at 9:30pm.
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The Saint Anthony’s Feast has been celebrated annually since 1919 and is the largest Italian Religious Festival in New England. All entertainment & vendors are free throughout the entire festival. Of course there is no shortage of amazing food vendors and I took full advantage sampling some of it while capturing the event.

“Magical Cape Vibes” As I work to go through new content that I’ve captured later this Summer I wanted to share some mor...
08/28/2026

“Magical Cape Vibes” As I work to go through new content that I’ve captured later this Summer I wanted to share some more great photos I captured last August from a magical night out at Race Point Beach that had all the elements, including a stunning rising full moon. I arrived a half hour before sunset to see the glowing orb already beginning to make its descent towards the horizon. Quickly made my way around a number of different scenes to capture what intrigued me and then began the walk down towards the ocean.
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Make sure to swipe through this carousel post to view all of my favorites from the night. A number of RVs were setup at the end of the beach, complete with beach bonfires and pups on watch. It didn’t take long for the sun to reach the ocean and I stopped to take it all in alongside a crowded beach. About a dozen seals floated by super close to shore as well while this was all going on and only added to these magical vibes.
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I knew that after the sun went down I’d have a chance at getting the full moon rising, but a composition involving a foreground would be tougher. I waited it out and in my general position to get it rising up over the dunes and the Old Harbor Life-Saving Station. Luckily my planning worked out and I was treated to the glow of the moon lighting up the scene in front of me.
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This was a tough image to capture because of the different exposures needed to get the moon and rest of the scene. I had to take two frames back to back and then merge together later for what my eyes actually saw. I recently spent a weekend out in Provincetown to see the new Bourdain biopic “Tony” that was filmed there and capture content related to the film. I’ll be sharing more from that trip coming up on Sunday so keep an eye out!
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“Cape Ann Moonrise” I’m currently standing on the shore in coastal Connecticut looking at a cloud covered sky in the dir...
08/27/2026

“Cape Ann Moonrise” I’m currently standing on the shore in coastal Connecticut looking at a cloud covered sky in the direction of the rising full moon. It’s not looking too promising for later tonight when the eclipse will be happening but trying to still hold out some hope. Wanted to share a favorite Summer lunar throwback of mine since tonight is leaning towards a strikeout.
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Back in July 2023 I had a plan to capture the 4th fireworks in 4 different locations on consecutive nights. Due to weather and other circumstances I was only able to shoot them on the first night over the Boston Harbor. The fireworks in Gloucester had been canceled early on in the day due to possible storms, but it ended up being a really nice evening by the water there. Having already booked a room in town for the night I had to stay the course and spent the evening down there anyways. Just in case the sky would allow a clear enough window to see the rising full moon I got in position with my camera setup.
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Roughly 2/3 of a mile away from a spot on the walkway along the harbor there sits Ten Pound Island Lighthouse. The 39 ft tall conical cast iron tower was built in 1881 to replace the original stone version first erected there in 1821. Rising after sunset July’s full moon was also considered a supermoon, where the moon appears larger and brother than a regular full moon. Named the “Buck Moon” because the antlers of male deer are in full growth mode at this time of year.
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In order to capture a full moonrise scene after sunset you generally have to capture two separate exposures and then merge together in post as I did here. When exposing for the lighthouse and boat, the moon was a bright glowing orb without any detail. And when exposing for the moon as soon here the rest of the scene was totally dark. Both exposures were taken at 500mm on my Canon RF 100-500 L lens paired with a R5 camera body. Although the fireworks were canceled this full moonrise scenic image was the best consolation prize I could ask for!
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“Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse” Later tonight there will be a rare event happening in the night sky that only occurs every so...
08/27/2026

“Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse”
Later tonight there will be a rare event happening in the night sky that only occurs every so often. A 96.2% lunar eclipse is upon us and now it’s up to Mother Nature if the conditions will be clear enough to witness it. Unfortunately as of now it’s looking like it will be mostly cloudy during the timeframe of this event here in Connecticut, but we shall see what happens!
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You can check online for times near you but here in CT the partial eclipse phase begins at 9:23pm, with peak maximum eclipse at 12:12 am, and then ending around 3:00 am. This will make the full Sturgeon Moon look heavily dimmed & coated in a rusty coppery-red glow, with only a thin bright sliver remaining visible since it is not a total eclipse.
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I’ve had the privilege of capturing this entire stunning display several times previously and wanted to share my series of the blood moon lunar eclipse from back on 01/20/19. I started capturing the moon just before 10pm while it was in its full brightly lit phase while being layered up to maintain warmth in single degree temperatures. A little after 10:30pm the moon began to enter Earth’s inner shadow and started to look like something took a bite out of it.
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I continued to capture the process along the way and around 11:40pm the moon turned red as it was completely covered by Earth’s umbrella shadow. The final image of the blood red moon at the top right of this composite was taken at 12:10am when the moon reached the darkest part of Earth’s shadow. I had previously photographed a blood moon eclipse in September of 2015 and captured a similar compilation of the phases, but I always enjoy documenting these amazing events and taking in the wonders of the night sky.
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