Light the Way

I've been playing around with PhotoShop Elements, using pictures I've taken over the years of various lighthouses. Thought it might be something to show for Outdoor Wednesday, hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.

I've always been fascinated by lighthouses, and starting with a trip to Maine a few years ago, I began photographing the ones we came across in our travels. Monday I started playing around with PhotoShop Elements, and trying out different filters. Each of these pictures has had the ink outlines filter applied.

Here is the original of the first photo, which was taken at Pemaquid Point, not too far from Boothbay Harbor, Maine. This was one of the last rolls of film I took with my old Canon AE-1.

We took a sailing trip from Boothbay Harbor to took at lighthouses that you can't get to from land. Unfortunately, just as we set sail the winder on my camera broke, so I don't have any pictures from those island lighthouses. Shortly after that trip, I got my first digital camera.

Below is the artistic version, using the ink outline filter.

Pemaquid Point, Maine

This photograph of the lighthouse at Bass Harbor Head, on Mt. Desert Island near Bar Harbor, was made on an earlier trip to Maine. I actually made three trips to Maine that year, while LBeau was working on a paper mill project in central Maine. What a beautiful part of the country.

Bass Harbor Head

These next two photos were made in April of 2008. I went to Los Angeles with LBeau for a concrete convention, and afterward we spent a few days traveling as far north as Monterey on the Pacific Coast Highway. The first is the Piedras Blancas Light Station just north of San Simeon. It is no longer operated, and you will notice that the lens has been removed.

Piedras Blancas Light Station

We were able to get a close up view of Point Pinos Lighthouse at Pacific Grove, California.

Point Pinos Lighthouse

This past spring and early summer, we've been up and down the Atlantic coast from Annapolis to Savannah. These trips gave me an opportunity to add to my lighthouse photos. On the way to our son's graduation from St. John's, we took a side trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where I photographed the Bodie Island Light Station.

Bodie Island Light Station

We also spent a couple of days with my cousin in Accomac, Virginia, and drove out to Assateague Island. The red and white lighthouse is in the process of being spiffed up, and will get a new coat of paint.

Assateague Lighthouse

Finally, before returning home from a trip to Savannah in June, we drove out to Tybee Island and made a special point of getting a close up look at the Tybee Island Light Station.

Tybee Island Light Station

From the East Coast to the West Coast, I hope you've enjoyed this mini-lighthouse tour.