White Caps

Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated. The horizon is not

tilted--the lighthouse really is LEANING! Please check out the every

expanding portfolio. Thanks for stopping by!

Here are some comments and conversations from the first time I posted this shot.

Skotos Gennari, January 07, 2007; 01:55 P.M.

Hi, the tower looks inclined (to the right) to me, try rotating it a little bit, just my two cents.

Tyler Wind, January 07, 2007; 02:01 P.M. (edit | delete)

Thanks for the comments. I blew this up and checked the horizon and there may be a very, very slight tilt (probably not noticable) but the truth is that the lighthouse IS really crooked! It is slowly falling into the sea because the water has erroded the island. I thought about straightening the lighthouse but I figured it was kind of a neat documentary to show it how it actually looks. Thanks for stopping by and leaving some comments!

Landrum Kelly, January 07, 2007; 02:01 P.M.

Not bad, Tyler. Now if you can only get out there when a hurricane is a couple of hundred miles offshore and sending some ten-foot rollers in there. Of course, the water stacking up with an onshore wind will make it darned near impossible to get out there, I would imagine.

Was this shot from Folly Island?

--Lannie

Tyler Wind, January 08, 2007; 01:52 A.M. (edit | delete)

Hey Lannie! This was a particularly challenging shot that doesn't come about very often. I got this one (and many others) just after sunrise the other day...the sun is off to our right as we view this picture which I thought gave a nice glow and reflection to the rocks. Furthermore, the lighting was decent so the lighthouse turned out decently. These rocks are at the north end of Folly beach, at the very tip of the island. If you go down the road to the old base that was closed off when you lived here you come out right at this line of rocks and the sand dunes (pictured in some of my other shots). All the sunrise pictures are taken by walking to the left after you get to the end of the road. The problem with these rocks and getting good waves is that if the tide is too high, the water just washes over the rocks and there is no dynamic splash. Too low and the waves will not hit the rocks. Furthermore, since it is at the very tip of the island there is usually much in the way of waves. So, it has to be pretty choppy to even produce some waves to hit the rocks. I've tried this shot on several occassions but don't think I've ever gotten results as good as these. The other times allowed me to work on my technique and composition so I was able to capitalize this weekend when I finally had good lighting, the right tide level, and rough enough seas to generate some waves. I have seen bigger waves up there, and you are right, if I could catch one of those days it would be even better. I've actually seen a few days where the waves crashed up as high as the lighthouse in the composition. Maybe one day I'll find even better conditions but these shots will have to do for now. I'll try to get a few more uploaded soon--I did about 7 or 8 different compositions, B&W and color, and lastly had 3 variations on my shutter speed for different effects with the water--I ended up shooting a bunch of shots and will try to get a few more uploaded. Thanks again for the comments!

Tyler Wind, January 08, 2007; 01:56 A.M. (edit | delete)

PS

Lannie--By the way, you need to get back down here now that you can walk out to the tip of the island so you can revisit the lighthouse you saw growing up! They just got another 1 million dollar grant from the state and last I heard are supposed to start restoration and stabilization this spring. I wonder if they'll leave it looking old, rusty, and weathered, or if they'll repaint it and whip it back into shape. I could see a plus side to both...what I really wish is that after they get it stabilized that they would put the fresnel lens back in and relight it!

Landrum Kelly, January 08, 2007; 06:45 A.M.

I like it more and more each time I see it, Tyler, all the more because I know those waters. You're right about the naval or coast guard station--it completely blocked land access to this point in the sixties when I last lived in the Charleston area. We were able to get near the Morris Island light by going out into the ocean in small boats and coming back around, but that could be dicey because of currents and shoaling. I frankly don't recommend it, although I have seen people running the waves in treacherous inlets in small boats just for kicks. The one that always scared me the most was Stono Inlet at the south end of Folly. When the tide is going out, you tend to drift down the river toward that big wall of rollers that seem to go on forever in every direction, just beyond the placid waters of the tidal river. (In addition to the hazard of drowning, the sharks just move lazily into the outgoing current to catch anything washing out on an ebb tide. I think that I mentioned this with regard to Tybee Inlet on the south end of Tybee Island near Savannah--but there I was in a kayak, which is even scarier, although I have seen experienced sea kayakers paddle all the way across that inlet on an ebb tide just in front of the breakers. It is either that or go a mile or more out to sea to clear all the hazards of such breaking inlets.)

This was probably risky enough for you--maybe more risky than being in some boats. I never liked picking my way across wet rocks that are put up for erosion control. They put up some rocks like that at Cherry Grove, but the last time I was in that area, the ocean was gobbling up rocks and houses pretty well, since it was on the south side (eroding side) of the inlet, just like here.

The power of the ocean is what makes me sceptical that they will ever be able to secure this light again. I am surprised that it survived Hugo, but it was on the offshore side of Hugo's winds and thus survived. (The Isle of Palms, on the onshore wind side of Hugo, did not fare nearly so well, even though the light on Sullivan's Island survived, even as the bridge to the mainland was destroyed.)

I have always wondered how far down they had to go to anchor this light, but we have been saying that it is a goner for some decades now, and there it is.

I hear that the Corps of Engineers is thinking about building a massive seawall off the Mississippi coast where Katrina came ashore. Idiots. . . . Even if it survived the big blows, it would change the dynamics of coastal waters.

--Lannie

Tyler Wind, January 08, 2007; 10:03 A.M. (edit | delete)

Lannie-I'm glad you like this shot because every time I check it my ratings have dropped like a bag of wet cement! It has been weird because normally after about an hour or so I don't get any more anonymous ratings. But, this shot had been up for about 6 hours and had 8 ratings averaging around 5.5 and then I checked another 6 hours later and it had received another 6 anonymous ratings dropping it to almost 4.5! How did people rate it anonymously that long after posting? Did they go through and rate all 700 postings that were put up or is there a way to rate only landscape shots? I'm not angry or even upset...just curious. To be honest, I still look at this picture and feel it is probably one of my top 3 lighthouse shots so the ratings baffle me but don't bother me.

Climbing on these rocks wasn't bad...I did shoot some shots from the rocks (ie-tripod set up on rocks) but they on the last few rocks as it reaches the sea wall. Aside from getting my a couple drops of water on me if there was a HUGE wave, there was really no risk. I'm not sure if you have or not, but if you haven't checked it out go to www.savethelight.org and check out the plans for stabilization. I'm not an engineer but they sound like they very well may work. They've raised several million dollars now--I wonder how much more it would cost to separate the lighthouse from it's base, use a crane to lower it onto a barge, and float it over to Folly? I know that would be expensive but I can't imagine it would cost much more than building a base that will withstand the erosion. You are right about the tides and waves in this section though...you look out and there are so many different waterways converging that all you can see if lines of white in every direction. Thanks again for the comments--I really do encourage you to make a trip down here (with camera) at some point--I think you'd really enjoy it and I'd be more than willing to give you a personal tour of all the great photo spots that I've found! Take care, Lannie!

J.K. York, January 08, 2007; 10:20 A.M.

Tyler, welcome to the unfair world of what Catalin Soare and I call "the Worms": anonymous raters who will certainly sit and click their way through hundreds of posts with 3/3's. some of them are automated "bots" or macros. ignoring them is essential to one's sanity. years ago this lighthouse was up for sale as it was privately owned. I don't know if it still is. your horizon is pretty level which would indicate that the lighthouse is settling to one side just a bit. your tonal range here is phenomenal. your capture of the foamy break water is perfect against the erosion rocks. i don't think you could do anything to make this shot any better than it already is. bravo Dr. Wind! fine work. regards, J.K.

Tyler Wind, January 08, 2007; 11:55 A.M. (edit | delete)

Thanks for the comments, James! Yes, I know how the ratings go around here sometimes--I was just baffled as to HOW they managed to rate it anonymously 10 hours after posting. But, I guess as you say, they sit and click through hundreds of pictures before the picture even loads onto the screen. I checked and I think there is a very slight lean on the horizon but the lighthouse is definitely leaning a few degrees as well. The lighthouse I believe is still privately owned by the non-profit group Save The Light , a foundation dedicated to preserving this old landmark. However, I think they lease it to the state but that is just a way of jumping through a loop hole so that the Army engineers ca

Well the horizon is tilted about .5deg to the right, which you might want to correct placing emphasis on the leaning lighthouse.

This is a fine composition. The visual impact might be enhanced with some more back ground contrast and better highlight control on the waves in foreground, which appear blown out -- set white point on waves; you may need to try selective levels or dodging on a layer copy.

I usually use a gradient to obscure out of focus parts of the image, as in the lower part here. I think you could crop all but the wave action here.