With over 35,000 images shot last year there’s bound to be some I missed. I’m kinda bummed that some of my old stuff wasn’t shot in RAW. Not that they aren’t goo images, I just can’t do as much with them with all the stuff I’m learning. Oh well.
This was a side trip that I took on the way down to shoot the VA Beach Shamrock 1/2 Marathon last year. It also sparked my interest in visiting more lighthouses.
A little hint of what’s coming next…
Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.
After a while, it becomes difficult to tell what’s up and what’s down. 219 steps to the top of the St. Augustine Lighthouse.
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“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”
– Aristotle Onassis
So I’ve had this urge to photograph lighthouses for a while now so it’s always awesome when I get to visit a new one. Now, apparently, I need to get this same image at every lighthouse I visit. Be sure to check out my other lighthouse images (and more to come from St. Augustine).
The St. Augustine Lighthouse is St. Augustine’s oldest surviving brick structure. | Order a print of this image.
Aside from all the obvious benefits of cycling all these years, I’ve also become conditioned to being awake for the wee hours of the morning. It also comes in handy as a photographer.
Like I said, spend the rest of the weekend shooting the good stuff. | Order a print of this image.
The current Cape Henry Lighthouse from inside the stairwell of the original.
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I’ve had plenty of people tell me that my photos remind them of postcards. To be honest (and absolutely no offense intended), that’s more of an insult than a compliment – and here’s why (at least from a photographer’s perspective). One of the main goals of any professional photographer is to be different, to separate their work from all others. A postcard is a tourist souvenir that simply showcases where you are. You can share it with others or keep it for your scrapbook. Point is, it’s usually a simple image of the surrounding area – nothing incredibly creative (keep in mind I’m strictly talking about the image postcards, not the creatively designed ones). So even though I wouldn’t mind if my images landed on postcards some day, a significant part of me lashes out inside when I hear “your photo belongs on a postcard.”
Now here’s the disclaimer…
In my early days I actually used to go straight to the postcard racks to see if I could recreate the images I found there and I usually could. Fast forward to today and you’ll still find me looking at the racks, but now I look to make sure I’m NOT shooting the same stuff. Sure, everybody wants to take the pretty images of any locale. So once you’re done shooting like everybody else, take the tourist hat off and BURN IT. Then spend the next 15 minutes or day or weekend shooting unique images.
The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.
– G.K. Chesterton
The symbolic passing of the torch. The original Cape Henry Lighthouse (1792) stands in the foreground and the current (and fully automated) lighthouse (1881) stands behind it.
The two Cape Henry Lighthouses standing side by side in VA Beach.
Cedarmeade Studios 