HIGHLAND (CAPE COD) LIGHTHOUSE
NORTH TRURO, MA.
When I visited this little lighthouse, the spring flowers were much in evidence and the tourists were doing their thing. Photographing lighthouses can be difficult, if for no other reason, than the hordes of folks all over the place. Just getting a clear shot can be a challenge, forget about getting the lighting right. Therefore, in this image I have emphasized the flowers and used the lighthouse as a background, thus eliminating the people factor around the house. In addition this one sits on the edge of a golf course---------so Fore!
The view from ocean side cliffs is dramatic and the whole complex is easy to find. N. Truro is most of the way out or up the Cape and is probably close to forty miles out to sea from the mainland, so it is a area rich in maritime history. This old 1910 postcard attests to the dangers in the storm ridden area and depicts the lighthouse on the cliff doing its thing.
The old images I use are mostly old postcards which are all out of copyright due to age. The dates of the images mentioned are either found in the style of the card or actual postmarks on the cards themselves. One image may have been used on different card styles over a thirty or forty year period, thus making the actual view perhaps older than the card itself. In either event it does give us the ability to come pretty close to what the view actually looked like way back then.
Further out the Cape on Route 6 are the dunes at Provincetown which are nothing short of those you would find in the Sahara desert. They are huge, hard to climb but well worth the effort. If you go to photograph them, take along another person to put in the frame just to explain the scale of the size of the place.
Cape Cod is a lovely place to visit and there are over a dozen lighthouses to find, some more accessible than others. But as one can imagine the place reeks of maritime history. This lighthouse was one of the most powerful sentinels in the country with visibility of over 40 miles and even further on a good clear night. It was also the first flashing white light in the U.S. which distinguished it from Boston Light (the first lighthouse in the country). The first tower in this area was a 30-foot brick tower built in 1791. That tower was replaced in 1857 and equipped with a huge first order Fresnel lens. The first light was 500 feet from the edge of the cliff upon which it was built, and by 1996 the ocean was as close as 40 feet. It was moved in 1996 to the current location, which is over 400 feet from where it had stood. More importantly it is a considerable distance from the edge of the slowly eroding cliffs.
NORTH TRURO, MA.
When I visited this little lighthouse, the spring flowers were much in evidence and the tourists were doing their thing. Photographing lighthouses can be difficult, if for no other reason, than the hordes of folks all over the place. Just getting a clear shot can be a challenge, forget about getting the lighting right. Therefore, in this image I have emphasized the flowers and used the lighthouse as a background, thus eliminating the people factor around the house. In addition this one sits on the edge of a golf course---------so Fore!
The view from ocean side cliffs is dramatic and the whole complex is easy to find. N. Truro is most of the way out or up the Cape and is probably close to forty miles out to sea from the mainland, so it is a area rich in maritime history. This old 1910 postcard attests to the dangers in the storm ridden area and depicts the lighthouse on the cliff doing its thing.
The old images I use are mostly old postcards which are all out of copyright due to age. The dates of the images mentioned are either found in the style of the card or actual postmarks on the cards themselves. One image may have been used on different card styles over a thirty or forty year period, thus making the actual view perhaps older than the card itself. In either event it does give us the ability to come pretty close to what the view actually looked like way back then.
Further out the Cape on Route 6 are the dunes at Provincetown which are nothing short of those you would find in the Sahara desert. They are huge, hard to climb but well worth the effort. If you go to photograph them, take along another person to put in the frame just to explain the scale of the size of the place.
Cape Cod is a lovely place to visit and there are over a dozen lighthouses to find, some more accessible than others. But as one can imagine the place reeks of maritime history. This lighthouse was one of the most powerful sentinels in the country with visibility of over 40 miles and even further on a good clear night. It was also the first flashing white light in the U.S. which distinguished it from Boston Light (the first lighthouse in the country). The first tower in this area was a 30-foot brick tower built in 1791. That tower was replaced in 1857 and equipped with a huge first order Fresnel lens. The first light was 500 feet from the edge of the cliff upon which it was built, and by 1996 the ocean was as close as 40 feet. It was moved in 1996 to the current location, which is over 400 feet from where it had stood. More importantly it is a considerable distance from the edge of the slowly eroding cliffs.
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