Portland Lighthouse Navigation Museum
Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It overlooks Casco Bay. Completed in 1791.
Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It overlooks Casco Bay. Completed in 1791.
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Nov, 2014Views
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Awards
Winner in Maine Lighthouse Photo Challenge
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Superior Skill
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richardpetersen
December 04, 2014
thank u Jeff! its the first lighthouse built by the new US Congress...
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jsholl1177
October 21, 2015
Great shot!! I was just there in Sept 2015. I got a nice shot of the sunrise from almost the same angle. Check out some of my pictures if your interested.
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Mother_Nature
November 08, 2015
Love this image-So well done, This light guides ship away from Disaster clouds show Bad weather ahead (Congratulations on this image)
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richardpetersen
November 08, 2015
Thnx Doug.....! i worked for a long time on this foto in Lightroom
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texaaronpueschel
October 13, 2020
Give this one the Maine Attraction Award. It would make a fine post card.
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
The chosen location was Portland Head Light which is an historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a head of land at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. It is one of the most photographed light stations in the U.S. Construction began in 1787 at the directive of George Washington, and was completed on January 10, 1791. Whale oil lamps were used in those days, and this lighthouse was no different. The rocks you see have been the demise of several vessels. The 1886 shipwreck on Chistmas Eve of the Annie C. Maguire ranks among the most famous - on a night that "Even Santa Claus Was Afraid to be Out"Time
This photograph was taken on November 9th, 2014 at 12:52:12 pm. That day was a rather overcast day, with the sun popping out periodically.Lighting
Being an overcast day is not my normal choice for great photography day as I usually try and incorporate the puffy clouds and sky to add a nice feel for my photographs. I didn't have the luxury of picking my day and I was with friends. But from what I understand overcast days have their own advantage. So, realizing this I began shooting everything around me.Equipment
I still use an old Nikon D70s which still has the original battery after all these years. This particular shot was taken with a Tamron 28-80mm 177D. This photo was taken incorporating the protective handrail surrounding the cliffs. With so many people around, I felt rather imposing to bring out a tripod.Inspiration
Here, I was trying to squeeze in as much of the light station as possible, all the while capturing the landscape. This was proving to be quite difficult as the angle I had choose was literally on the edge of the opposing cliff. After arriving home, I literally begin deleting hundreds of photos. This ones good, this ones bad. In the end, I wound up with just 3 shots with which I could work with. The photo you see here was taken using a guard rail as a tripod. Once finished with all the deleting and post processing I uploaded the photo here on ViewBug. I went online to put a little backstory on the photo, and then it hit me. All the fantastic photos of this lighthouse had been taken completely on the opposite side of this landmark. You can imagine how I felt.Editing
I usually do post-processing on 99% of my photos mainly just to correct the horizon lines, ha! As well if I see something that captures my interest in a photo I will usually remove some shadows and and enrich the colors just a touch. I prefer to leave as much of the original ambiance as possible, however occasionally I may try to introduce a new color to give the photo a little more personality. Here on this particular shot, i began experimenting with different hues and colors when quite suddenly this flat rusty red just appeared! I enjoyed the contrast between the red and the blue, so I kept that and began working with different cropping styles -thirds, seconds, golden ratios, or just whatever seemed to be the best overall feel for this shot itself.In my camera bag
I am an amatuer photograher so I don't really have a lot cameras and lenses. But, I have an Nikon D70s and 3 lenses. A Tokina 100mm AT-X Pro Prime , a Tamron 28-80mm 177D, and a Tamron 70-300mm 572D. The Tokina is for my macro stuff, the 28-80mm for group shots, and the 70-300mm for just about anything.Feedback
Well I'm no expert thats for sure, that being said, I would suggest to anyone who loves photography to pursue shooting things u enjoy in your free time. Also there are a number of little groups available for free on the internet that often give out free user tips and tricks out there these days. Some of it is repetitive but there is always some little gem of knowledge in those articles. Also take as many shots as u can from different angles and distances, you may never have the time or chance to come across the subject matter again. But, for the most part, enjoy your time in the field. I really enjoy being out in nature and having an activity like photography will drag me out of my cave and off on some little adventure.
