First Trip for 2006

[shirin]

Thanks to Santa bringing me a new telephoto lens to replace my old one that now makes tons of noise everytime I turn on my camera, I had a great reason to get out and do some lighthousing this past Saturday. I've been rather anxious to try out the new lens since Christmas.

My first lighthousing trip of the year was combined with a railfanning trip with an old friend of mine in Connecticut.

First up was the walk on the breakwater out to the Fayerweather Island light in Bridgeport.









Next stop, Five Mile Point in New Haven. Wasn't too thrilled seeing this light this time as they still had the Christmas lights all over the park and the lighthouse as well as a security camera on the light itself now.



After a stop in Old Saybrook to photograph the train station there and of course an Amtrak train coming through it was off to Groton to see the Avery Point light. This was the highlight of my day now that the light isn't decapitated anymore. Still needs a real door put back in place but I was thrilled to see all the work that has happened since I last visited in the fall.





Our final stop was Mystic. Instead of heading into the Seaport to get a close up view of the replica light there, we went across the way to get a distant shot.

[Grover1]

I see you covered a few kilometers this day ...

Good to see access to Fayerweather Island ... though a while back, last time I went through there that end of the park was overloaded with construction ... a little surprised you didnt follow the curve of the park road over to Tongue Point and shoot the homeliest looking black lighthouse ever

... and thanks for sharing the most recent phots of Avery Point .. its looking real good now ...

Now, if you only would have tried the new telephoto on the Ledge Light in New Haven and then ambled up to Stonington after Mystic ... you would have made MY trip to YOUR state complete ...

Thanks for posting ... Barry

[shirin]

Since we had so much to pack into the day, I opted not to bother with Tongue Point as the best shots really are from the water. Like this one from a couple years back



New London Ledge got left behind as we were shooting straight into the sun by the time we got there. But, the day was clear enough to easily make out Little Gull, North Dumpling and Race Rock. So with the New London Harbor light in there as well, stopping at Avery Point was a multi-light stop.

And for Stonington, we left that for another trip so we could hit the shops and stop for ice cream in Mystic. Nothing better than ice cream for dinner right? We also needed to stop at the Mystic train depot so we wouldn't have made it to Stonington in time to get decent light in the shots anyway.

[beachbum1616]

Shirin,

The last one of Mystic, along with the lantern and moon of Avery Point, and the reflection of Fayerweather Island are my favorites. It is good to hear that others are out lighthousing already. I had a three day weekend this past weekend but decided to stay close to home and get a few things done.

Thanks for passing the photos along.

[Hersh]

You're lucky, I've been stuck insland for so long I almost forgot what it's like to see a lighthouse up close.

I especially like the shot with the moon, I love it when I can work the moon in with a lantern.

[Ross]

Nice lens!

[Larry]

Sweet. I, too, like the moonshot and the reflections shots.

[tekkybob]

Its nice to see Avery Point with the top on, I stop there to check on it when I can.

[shirin]

My favorite of the day was the moon shot as well. And it certainly was nice to be able to take photos without my old noisey lens. It certainly does have an effect on one's mood when photographing with a loud, obnoxious lens. I'm a much happier camper now with this new one.

And yes Mike, I am lucky to live in an area where its nice and easy to get to several lights in a short time. My parents keep asking for me to move to Georgia to be closer to most of my family but how in the world do they expect me to live in a state with only a handful of lights?

[Pharoslvr]

They did a heck of a nice job replicating that new lantern
at Avery Point! Nice woodwork!
Thanks for all the nice photos, Shirin!

Brent

[Leah Loar-Mays]

Shirin, gorgeous photos, as always!! And gee, you must have been a really good girl last year for Santa to bring you that lens..........