Photographing a Lighthouse

Can anyone tell me the best way, to photograph a lighthouse, with the intention of

capturing the Light? What exposure? Time of Day?(obviously when its dark)

Filters? Thanks for any advice!

I think I would wait for misty weather. The mist would need to be thin enough to see the lighthouse, and thick enough to reflect the light and reveal the beam. As for exposure I would go for trial and error and bracket well. If you are using a digital camera you can check the exposure as you go.

Sounds like you want to capture the light from the lighthouse so I would look to begin shooting just after sunset. No need for filters. Exposure, like choice of lens, will vary depending on the image you are trying to create and how much light is available.

Well, it really depends. From what I've seen most lights are not 'on' during the day. So as night approaches, the lights activate. Nite time produces one type of shot, bright light and dull scene. It comes out nicer at dusk/dawn where you can balance the sky with the foreground and not have the light blow out everything. A longer exposure gets at least one full blink or flash in of the fresnel lens. (~2-5 sec) Fog, as mentioned, gives an ethereal light and is fitting; afterall the lighthouse is there to be a beacon to avoid issues at night and with a horn/bell during fog. I've never been able to be at the light in the right fogginess yet. (only can visit at vacation time with a cranky spouse) Below is one example, poor as it may be, at sunset/early dusk. Jim M.<div></div>

Another way after dusk, and a very long exposure. In NJ.<div></div>

And to bore everyone :-) ... a full frontal daylight shot is still cool too, in its own way.<div></div>

Not boring at all, Jim. Good pics...and advice. I might try the same.

Colin, good Advice, but I am 600 miles to the nearest ocean :D, hopefully when I am on vacation I will see those weather conditions, that would be great.

 

Bruce, thanks for your input, I really appreciate any suggestions!

 

Jim, Thanks for your advice and all three of your photos are beautiful! I agree with Elmo, not boring at all, the daytime one is good to!

 

I go to Cape Hatteras every year, but until this year, I just had a point and shoot camera, so I am excited to see what kind of results I can get with my dslr in the manual mode.

Christa,

 

Unfortunately I don't have an example to post (I'm still waiting for the film to come back from the developer) but the coolest shot I ever saw of a lighthouse was taken at dusk/night with a long exposure (anywhere from 4 minutes to 2 hours, taking reciprocity failure into account -- not a problem with digital I think). The photographer let the light beam 'pass' once at the beginning of the exposure, then everytime the light passed thereafter he blocked the lens with a black card to get the ambient light without burning out the film with a long white streak from the lamp. It also helped that it was quite misty outside. I hope this explanation makes sense. I've been recently spending a lot of time on the coast and have been trying different things to get interesting shots of lighthouses in 'lighthouse mode'.

 

Check out Jean Guichard, a French photographer who specializes in lighthouses. He doesn't have many shots of the light itself, but has great examples lighthouses captured during the day, usually during stormy weather.

 

http://www.jean-guichard.com/boutique/index.php?main_page=index

 

Cheers.

When setting exposure, consider that the whole scene will be significantly less bright than the light's beam. If you happen to capture the beam while metering, it can drastically change the way the light is read. I have had several incidences of train pictures where capturing headlights or ditchlights "fooled" the metering.

I find bad weather can help with an image of a lighthouse, as this is where they really shine, if you will forgive the pun. There are many great photos of them taken on sunny days, but the ones that stand out for me are the dreary days. This one was taken yesterday in the rain, but it's light wasn't lit I am afraid.<div></div>

One quick suggestion. If you bracket, get one shot of the lighthouse, and one of the light, than you can combine them in Photoshop and get a very cool picture of the lighthouse without the light over powering the picture.

 

<a href=" title="Magnificent Light by cyreb7, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2108/2042814724_6de3ca9dc3.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="Magnificent Light" /></a>

Rachelle, I hope to see your photos soon. I did look at the link you posted, great photos on the site! Thanks for the tip, I think I will try a few exposures using your suggestion.

 

Craig, thanks for your advice, that will be a good point to remember.

 

Mark, I like your lighthouse photo.

 

I am going to write all of these down on Notecards before my trip.

Bryce,

Cool photo, thanks for the tip!

You have now a good hand of tips. Misty hearher (Collin) is one of them. Unfortunately, you may not have it when you need. Bruce tip - just after sunset - is another good one. In fact, if you want to capture the lighthouse light, Bruce touch the hart of the question: light balance between the light and the background. If take the picture to late, sky will be to dark an if you expose to get a good lighthouse light everything else will be near black. You must take the picture when there is yet some light in the sky. This will let you have a good reading of the lighthouse light against the sky and a fast enough exposure to freeze the light. The "good amount" of skylight is a job to your eye... and some try and error work. D'ont forget to bracket the exposition, this will give to you more chances to get the picture you like and un our days photoshop let you combine the best parts of diferent exposures (if you like the method). Unfortunately I d'ont know how to post here a image as an exemple, but if you want you can find it in my potfolio here in photo.net. I take the picture with a Nikonos V, Ektachrome 100 ISO, and an exposure betwen 1/8 sec and 1/30 sec (I d'ont remember), slow enough to capture skylight and fast enough to freeze the lifhthouse light.

Hope to be helpful

You have now a good hand of tips. Misty hearher (Collin) is one of them. Unfortunately, you may not have it when you need. Bruce tip - just after sunset - is another good one. In fact, if you want to capture the lighthouse light, Bruce touch the hart of the question: light balance between the light and the background. If take the picture to late, sky will be to dark an if you expose to get a good lighthouse light everything else will be near black. You must take the picture when there is yet some light in the sky. This will let you have a good reading of the lighthouse light against the sky and a fast enough exposure to freeze the light. The "good amount" of skylight is a job to your eye... and some try and error work. D'ont forget to bracket the exposition, this will give to you more chances to get the picture you like and un our days photoshop let you combine the best parts of diferent exposures (if you like the method). I take the picture with a Nikonos V, Ektachrome 100 ISO, and an exposure betwen 1/8 sec and 1/30 sec (I d'ont remember), slow enough to capture skylight and fast enough to freeze the lifhthouse light.

Hope to be helpful

Sorry for the error. I found how to post the picture wen I subnit the post. When I try to correct the nessage I send it a second time. If you can, please delete the first one. Regards

Another option is to visit on a sunny day, stand in the shadow of the lighthouse with the sun shining through the lighthouse lens at the top - see example in my single photos section in my portfolio. I have better examples but only this posted. best regards

Well, you can simply time the light and be quick on the shutter release, as in this picture.<div></div>

Or, you can watch the sun closely and hope that you can get yourself into the right place.<div></div>

Thanks Carlos, Donnie, and Terry, all of your suggestions and tips are great, and I will make a note of all of these.And thanks for sharing your photos, they All are very good.