An Island of Lighthouses
…or should I say without lighthouses because that could be a very real possibility after May 31st. This deadline is the day the federal government will stop maintaining the majority of the lighthouses that currently surround our coast. We were reminded again this week that communities must step up to support the maintenance if we wish for these buildings to remain standing. Some very prominent and iconic lighthouses are on the demolition chopping block.
The Lighthouse map issued by the Prince Edward Island Lighthouse Society has 63 listed in total making it the highest concentration of lighthouses in any province or state in North America. 21 are already decommissioned, 13 are listed as private and only 3 not accessible by car. 9 are opened to the public.
Today’s Image – St. Peter’s Harbour Lighthouse
With upwards of 60 lighthouses and ranges around our small coastline – not all of them are still in great shape. Particularly the one just west of Greenwich. It has for sure seen better days. Nested in the dunes, this lighthouse is accessible by an unpaved road or a long walk on the beach.
Processing Artistry – PhotographyBB Magazine
90% of all the images I publish have very basic post processing. My workflow is often simply running through the Lightroom development panel from bottom to top adjusting color, contrast and taking full advantage of the histogram before exporting for web. However, on occasion, the image is still missing something but shows potential. And that’s when I send the file to Photoshop to start experimenting.
The December issue of PhotographyBB Magazine is out and I was kindly asked by Dave Seeram to contribute a guest post-processing article describing this very situation. The image I decided to use was of an abandoned pier on the North Shore of Prince Edward Island.
Get the free December 2011 Issue of PhotographyBB Magazine
If you would like to attempt the steps on your own as practice, I’m making the original raw DNG file for your own personal use available for download. (Lightroom’s “Zeroed” preset applied)
And I feel it’s necessary to note that while some editing should be expected, several changes were made to the copy using the first-person context which left me scratching my head. I’ve never been fond of the word “punch” to describe an image but the editor decided I should say it twice…. ah well.
Today’s Image – Abandoned Pier
Located near the St. Peters Lighthouse at N 46 26.555 W 62 44.495, several rows of posts remain at the entrance to St Peters Harbour.