I'm always drawn to offshore, wave-swept lighthouses like Minot's. I'm fascinated by the lives the keepers led at these places. Lighthouse keeping at these places was rough, physically and psychologically -- not the romantic picture many people have of the job.
I took this photo during a sunset cruise I narrated for the Thacher Island Association a couple of years ago. We left Gloucester, Mass., at 6 p.m. and got to Boston Light about sunset, and it didn't look like we'd have time to make it all the way to Minot's, a few more miles south, off the shores of Scituate and Cohasset. But the captain decided to go for it, and we still had some light left when we got to Minot's, as you can see. Because the light was so low, my photos were very noisy -- I had to reduce the noise in Photoshop in order to make this photo presentable. But I did very little manipulation of the color -- this is a pretty accurate picture of the beautiful sunset that evening. You can see the Boston skyline in the distance.
I never get tired of clambering round on the rocks at Pemaquid Point looking for good photographic views. I'd say it's one of the top 5 lighthouses in New England, photogenically speaking.
I ran a poll over the past week or so asking, "In the next year, which of the following are you most likely to do?" Here are the results: Visit one or more lighthouses within a couple of hours of home - 72% | |||
Visit one or more lighthouses more than a couple of hours away - 81% Take a lighthouse cruise - 72% Take a lighthouse bus or van tour - 18% Read a book about lighthouses - 72% Read about lighthouses online - 81%
These results aren't very surprising, but I am disappointed that only 27% said they'd volunteer. Granted, only 11 people responded, and that's not a very representative sampling. Still, I'd be more optimistic about the future of lighthouses if more people realized that preservation takes time and effort. I should have also included "Donate money to a lighthouse organization" as one of the options. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who professes to love lighthouses needs to do something for their preservation, whether it's a donation of time or money. It doesn't have to be a huge amount of money -- every dollar counts. |
I've visited West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, at the easternmost point of the U.S. mainland, many times over the years. I've been there at sunrise and sunset, in sun, fog, rain, and snow. The day I took this photo in June 2004, the weather was gorgeous and the sky was photogenic. I haven't been to West Quoddy in two or three years and I miss it.
I took this photo of one of Maine's prettiest lighthouses at sunset on a very cold day a couple of years ago.
