Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
My very favorite lighthouse on the planet is Heceta Head on the central Oregon coast. I’ve visited the light ever since I was a little boy and my wife and I return to the coast fairly regularly. There is a very nice B&B at the keepers house and we stayed there for our anniversary in 2010. We walked up to the light one evening as the fog rolled in. I chose this frame for the tiny bit of light hitting the top of the tree on the hillside behind. I also wanted to bring out the power of the light as it tried to penetrate the mist. >=))>
Feedback Requests
The light rotates slowly creating the effect that the beams are larger than they really are. Does that work for you?
Pertinent Technical Details
Sony A700
Minolta 24-85 @ 40mm
ISO 800, 1 sec @ f5.6
I really like how you capture the beams of light coming from the lighthouse. I have no issue with the fact that the beams are moving. At your shutter speed it is barely noticeable. An overall eye catching image. Well done!
@Youssef_Ismail there are actually six beams shining simultaneously from this light. The Heceta Head light is all white but some like the inside view of the Umpqua River light have red beams as well. The light is one intense bulb that is refracted through the Fresnel prisms and projected out. Each individual lighthouse has a unique prism arrangement and rotation speed so that ships can identify which light they are seeing and navigate appropriately.>=))>
@WillR That’s the most efficient design at the time. Fresnel lenses were placed in lighthouses as early as 1823 and to my knowledge that was the prevalent design going forward. Most of the Oregon coast lights were built in the late 19th century and all of them utilize Fresnel lenses. The Fresnels minimize the light dissipation and therefore let the light project much further than with a simple condensing lens. Each light may have a different number of facets, rotation speed and colors so that each light is completely unique. >=))>
Bill, I remember this view. Your ability to get the beams shining in multiple direction makes the scene special. The view into the interior (below the light) and the bit of light on the tree top are the kind of extras that make return views fun.
