Norah Head Lighthouse

I have been having a break while traveling in Australia to visit family. I did not get the camera out that often while we were down there however I did manage a quick scramble down to the rocks at dusk while I was passing the Norah Head lighthouse. It turned out to be quite a complicated shoot due to rapidly falling light and increasing wave action on the rocks as the tide returned.

For those interested the photo is a combination of two quite different exposures. The first was a long 30 sec exposure taken at f/9 and ISO 1000 to provide good depth of field in the foreground and minimize noise. The long exposure also gives the misty moonlight look to the waves splashing around the rocks in the foreground. The second exposure was much shorter in an attempt to freeze an arc of the light beam as it rotated and was a 2 sec exposure taken at f/4 and ISO 6400. Both shots were taken at 20mm. The shots were then merged using several layers of gradient and luminosity masks in photoshop. I did not bring in any bracketed exposures to increase the dynamic range as I wanted to keep the foreground shadows dark to emphasize the lifesaving effect of the beacon in the fading natural light.

The light house was turned on for the first time in 1903 and eventually de-manned in 1994 after more than 90 years of being staffed. It was originally fitted with a vapourized kerosene lamp and was electrified in 1961. Designed by Charles Assinder Harding it was the last lighthouse ever to be built in the classical style of James Barnet. Harding also designed the lights at Cape Byron and Point Perpendicular.

Back here in Northern BC now and its forecast to be somewhere between -25 and -28 deg C tomorrow; which is a little bit of a shock after the +40 deg C beach weather in Australia!

Rob Downie
Love Life, Love Photography

_{All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com}