The theme of a recent “”Christian Photographers on Facebook” photo contest was Lighthouses. I usually enter one or two photos in each week’s contest, but the real value (for me) comes in learning from the other entries. I partly understand the technical side of photography, but have much more to learn when it comes to picture composition and the creative side of photography.
For your interest, here are two of the photos I submitted for the Lighthouses contest theme:
Point Reyes Lighthouse on a calm, sunny day. This is a great spot to look for Gray Whales during their annual migration along the Pacific coast. You can also sometimes see giant sunfish looking like round light patches just under the surface of the water. If you have visited this spot, you probably recall descending over 300 steps to get down to this view. Then you had to hike back up those steps to get back to the path to the parking lot. Another view of the Point Reyes Lighthouse, taken from part way up the access path. The large building to the right of the lighthouse used to house machinery to power the foghorn. I think the original equipment may have used a steam engine (need to check my history on this), and this was replaced later by a diesel generator. In either case, fuel had to be brought down the path from up on top, so the operators built a track with rails on each side of the staircase so they could lower supplies on a wheeled cart. Nice as long as the cart didn’t get away from you on the steep slope.Pigeon Point Lighthouse, south of Half Moon Bay and north of Monterey Bay. The two-chimneyed building at the foot of the lighthouse provided office space and workspace for the lighthouse operator. Like the Point Reyes Lighthouse, the original oil-burning and then electric bulb light sources were eventually replaced by automated electric lights designed to blink the same coded signals as used in the original designs. This is another good place to watch for marine wildlife.Another view of Pigeon Point Lighthouse. I believe that this is now a state park, and the lighthouse is being refurbished so that visitors can climb the spiral staircase inside all the way to the top of the tower. I have been up there once, before it was closed for safety reasons, and the view was spectacular!Lighthouse (I don’t know the name) on the north end of Kauai, in the Hawaiian Islands. The coded signal for this lighthouse was two quick flashes every 15 seconds, or something like that. You can see the huge Fresnel lens inside the top of the lighthouse; this lens focused the light into a strong beam that could be seen for perhaps 15-20 miles out to sea, and rotated to generate the flashes. The Point Reyes and Pigeon Point lighthouses had similar Fresnel lenses with rotation mechanisms, although theirs might have been slightly larger. Back in the 1920s, this lighthouse saved the first attempt to fly from Oakland, CA to Honolulu, Hawaii. A military plane took off from California bound for Honolulu, but their navigation systems failed part way through the flight, and it was too cloudy for celestial navigation. After at least twenty hours of flight, hoping to find Honolulu, they spotted the characteristic flash of this lighthouse to their south, and realized they were passing the north side of the Hawaiian Islands. Once they knew where they were, they changed course and made it to Honolulu before running out of fuel. Barely.
Did you know there’s some sort of program where you can sign up to be caretaker at a lighthouse for a week or two? In case you and Dorcas are looking for a unique vacation. An old Rolla friend has done it.
Did you know there’s some sort of program where you can sign up to be caretaker at a lighthouse for a week or two? In case you and Dorcas are looking for a unique vacation. An old Rolla friend has done it.
That is a great idea; thanks! Have you tried it?