Gray's Harbor (Westport Light), Washington at Sunset

[Jen]

After leaving North Head and Cape Disappointment in Ilwaco, I drove two hours north on Highway 101, racing to get to Gray's Harbor by sunset, and also not realizing it was a two hour drive! The drive was gorgeous and I knew if I had stopped to take photos, I wouldn't make Westport by sunset, so onward I drove. It was worth the trip! These were all shot over a 45 minute stretch, beginning from about 10 minutes before sunset and 1/2 hour afterwards. This lighthouse sits about a mile off the water in the middle of the woods.



This one below was one of my favorites due to the cloud formations.





This lighthouse is really a vertical composition, but I managed to stretch the wide angle up close for this last shot.

[Hersh]

Too bad the light sits in the middle of the woods... Makes for tough picture taking sometimes. I think the widest shot is actually the better of the group.

[Jen]

Thanks for commenting, Mike. With this light being in the woods, and as bright as the sky was, it made for a tough metering situation. I had exposed for the sky, and the trees made the bottom portion of the image come out so dark, I ended up having to work them in PS a bit to bring out the detail in the darker areas. I don't think my ND Grad would have helped much, either...

That wide angle shot is growing on me, too...

[Grover1]

Mike,

When surrounded as Jen was, with no water in sight, I use to do whole lots of shoulder shrugging as I started walking in circles around the lighthouse.

Since becoming a participant here, I now see what you and Jen and the other proficient photographers do ... you start looking up for the sky, down for the flowers and out ahead for any wildlife ...

Kind of the "lemonade from lemons" approach ...

Jen,

Thanks for showing us a light we do not ordinarily see.

Barry

[epona]

The wide angle shot is one that I like the best. It is too bad you could not have stopped along the way to take other photos. I know what that is like. You have to get somewhere by a certain time and you cannot stop to take other pictures.

It does seem like you had a lot to deal in even being able to take any shots of this lighthouse at all. Thank you for sharing more about your trip.

[beachbum1616]

I like the third one from the bottom the best. I think this is the first time that I have seen this light. Thanks for giving me a good look at it.