The Iconic Lighthouse

by Editor Kimberly
Edited and published by Yvette Depaepe, the 30st of September 2022

'Lighting of the Lens' by Miles Morgan

There’s a lot behind the ancient mariner rhyme Red Sky at Night, Sailors’ Delight, Red Sky at Morning, Sailors Take Warning, but only if you live in the mid latitudes with weather systems moving in an east/west orientation. Occasionally weather patterns can move from south to north, so you won’t get the visual weather warning.

It’s one thing to check your weather app on your smartphone every morning to see the forecast so you can plan your day. Imagine living in an era where your survival depended on being so in tuned with nature that you could predict with some degree of accuracy whether it was safe to go out on the open sea to fish. Animal behaviour also can be a predictor of oncoming weather; if you see a field of cows lying down, good chance a low-pressure system is moving in with rain on the way.

Our reliance on technology and everything that goes with living in a modern society has dulled most peoples’ connection with the natural world. Nature has a lot to tell us, if we would only slow down and take the time to stop, look and listen. We’re paying for those modern conveniences now, the last 100 years of widening the disconnect between humans and the natural world. Mother Nature it seems has had enough, she’s mad as heck and she’s pushing back. You go girl.

Like red skies and sleeping cows, lighthouses have been another aid to mariners that have their origins as far back as the 8^th century bc with wooden beacon fires lit atop hillsides to guide ships and warn of dangerous coastlines. The ancient Romans built lighthouse towers as part of their empire building efforts across the coastal continent and remnants of some of these or rebuilt versions of same have remained on the same piece of ground for close to a thousand years.

These days the need for lighthouses have diminished somewhat with the electronic navigational aids available to mariners. Many lighthouses are being replaced with smaller beacons and lighted buoys to warn of navigational hazards. However, there are still a few of those iconic lighthouses remaining operational and necessary even today in some parts of the world, many of which have been photographed by our talented and sometimes brave 1x members.

The Portland Head Lighthouse at Cape Elizabeth Maine, the Felgueiras Lighthouse in Porto Portugal, the South Stack Lighthouse in Anglesey, Wales and so many more, have all been photographed in some very original (unique) and creative ways.

A great way to find inspiration and set the bar really high for your own photographic journey is to search key words or locations on 1x. You’ll see how some of the world’s best photographers have pulled off an award-winning shot.

And so, this month, I would like to share some of those with you in the collection I’ve put together below.
Good Light.