A Lighthouse Caught My Attention

Coquille River Lighthouse - Oregon

Coquille River Lighthouse – Oregon

Portland Head Light - Maine

Portland Head Light – Maine

Whaleback Light - Maine

Whaleback Light – Maine

Pt Reyes - CA

Pt Reyes – CA

Lately in a quest to push my painting skills and to venture along a slightly different path than my usual humorous one, I’ve turned toward the ocean and related items, like lighthouses. Those lone beacons have so many stories to tell and yet, without research, all I can do is guess at the number of times they have successfully warned sailors of the cloaked danger of shoreline. 

According to wiki.answers.com… “Different lighthouses are different shapes and sizes and are all painted with different paint schemes. This way they can be distinguished from each other. When a mariner sees a tall lighthouse with black and white stripes that are spiraled from the top down, they know that they are off the North Carolina coastal town of Buxton and they are passing Diamond Shoals. The next lighthouse up the coast is painted with black and white rings. Knowing how far apart the houses are, mariners can tell how fast they are going as they pass them. All lighthouses display a light pattern that is unique from all the others in the area.”

Finding a unique visual angle provides obstacles such as the limitation of viable lookout points, making my photos pretty much the same as anyone else’s. If I can’t show a unique visual viewpoint, then I need to foster a unique experience in some other way.

My goal was to instill a particular emotion for the viewer of each lighthouse, or at the very least, show a different time of day or year.