Point Cabrillo Light Station
- Robert Delaunay.
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Another shot from the Point Cabrillo Light Station along the Mendocino coast of Northern California. This little lighthouse is located in such an interesting location that the photo opportunities here are just endless. The first time we were here was during sunset and as soon as I noticed the Fresnel lens in the lighthouse I decided to come back once night falls to get the strong beam these lenses are known to cast against the night sky.
When we returned after dinner I was not disappointed, the lighthouse indeed had a blindingly strong beam from nearby and any type of star photography was gone as the light from the lighthouse was just two strong. I was not discouraged though as there was still some light in the sky that my camera could see and I used it to shoot the strong light beam of the lighthouse against the colors in the sky.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
The first time I laid eyes on the Point Cabrillo lighthouse, I knew I was a fan. As a lighthouse lover, this particular fall had everything, a unique architecture, fantastic landscape with photo possibilities from north and south vantage points, and tons of character. I spend the whole sunset here, capturing some good sunset shots of the lighthouse. Thankfully we had a fogless evening and I thought I could push my luck and get away with a night sky shot as well. It took some doing, but I convinced my wife to return to the lighthouse after dinner.
I was not a great night sky photographer in 2016, but my enthusiasm more than made up for my lack of skills. I had this great shot in mind of the lighthouse with the lit beam against the starry sky and, if possible, the Milkyway core. Things didn’t go according to my plan. First, the milky way rises from the eastern sky, so I would have to wait till 3-4 am to get the milky way where I wanted. Secondly, I didn’t have a wide enough focal length for the image I had in mind. But none of these was the biggest hurdle. That was my utterly baffled mind when I dialed in my settings and got a shot I was not expecting. After I got back home, I realized why the faint light from the lighthouse beacon was overpowering the scene. Thankfully I had taken enough shots to try some composites, and this one seems to work, not exactly the image I had in mind but close enough.
- Henry David Thoreau.
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My second post from Point Cabrillo light station. This lighthouse was not part of our initial plans when we made the trip. But after the first day we realized how far Point Arena is from our campground we were forced to look for alternatives near Fort Bragg, and by total accident, we saw a picture of this location, and as soon as I realized there was a lighthouse close to our campground, the plan was decided.
When we got to the light station, I was a bit surprised how photogenic this little lighthouse was; it could be shot from north, south, and east. I posted a shot earlier which was from the north; this shot is more from the south-west of the light station. The fog coming in from the ocean diffused the sunset nicely and gave some beautiful colors in the sky, so I decided to include the cliffs to the south of the light station to provide the image with a bit of depth and to emphasize the diminutive size of the lighthouse.
- Margaret Mead.
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It’s almost a year and a half since I took this picture during a camping trip to the Mendocino coast. We spend 4 nights by the ocean camping inside a cool forest under gigantic trees. The initial plans we made for exploring the beach and some of the coastal formations fell through when we learned about the summer fog and the issues with Tide timings.
Fortunately, my love for lighthouses came to rescue and we decided to spend a nice sunset at the Point Cabrillo lighthouse. This little lighthouse provided so many interesting photos. I hope you enjoy the shot as much as I did spending time at this beautiful little nook of California.
- Aeschylus.
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Another shot of the beautiful and photogenic Point Cabrillo lighthouse along the Pacific coast near the charming town of Fort Bragg. We planned this as a last minute trip and were not very successful getting hold of a hotel room for our stay. So we decided to car camp rather than stay home and found a trailer park near the coast that had camping sites available.
It was a really pleasant trip and we managed to explore the Mendocino Coast. I had some shots of the coast planned but the summer fog and the tide timings were difficult to coordinate. Point Cabrillo lighthouse was one of the redeeming spots along the coast, It has a ridiculous number of interesting viewpoints. This one is a panorama shot I made in front of the lighthouse about 5 minutes after the sun went completely down and everyone left the sport for the parking lot.
- Walt Whitman.
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I have been a little behind with posting pics to Flickr recently due to an unplanned visit from my family and frankly taking them around along with working full time has taken most of my time. With my family leaving soon I should be able to get some free time to work on some of the undeveloped images in my computer from our recent trips.
This shot is from our trip to Mendocino coast in California. This was taken near the Point Cabrillo lighthouse as I was wandering around for good view points. We had a pretty cloudless sky that day which would normally make unbearably strong light at the beginning of golden hour but due to the marine layer which the California coast is famous for, the light was wonderfully diffused and warm. While walking around I saw these colorful flowers by the cliff north of the lighthouse with a nice view of a rocky cove. The colors on the water and the light on the rocks were unbelievable. This one was taken with a .6 ND Grad to balance the light with the sky and the darker foreground but other than that not much was needed for this scene.
- Henry J. Kaiser.
When looking back at the images I have taken, Point Cabrillo light station is quickly gaining the spot of the best lighthouse I have visited in my short photography career. I remember that my wife and I had an incredibly stressful spring at work that year and decided to take a short road trip to Northern California. We booked a spot at a campground for five days, and pretty much winged the whole trip plan. I found Point Cabrillo light station quite by accident. Our main target was the Point Arena light and the glass beach near Fort Bragg.
But once I saw the signs for a new lighthouse, I couldn’t resist, and once I saw the lighthouse and its surroundings, I knew it would be a fantastic spot. The cliffs looked spectacular and provided some excellent compositional opportunities. Thankfully the day we were there, the coastal fog was very faint, which provided a natural Orton effect once the sun went down. My intention for this shot was to capture the light beam from the light station alongside the beautiful pastel colors in the sky.
- Samuel Johnson.
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On Memorial day weekend when the opportunity came to do an extended trip, my wife and I scoured over the internet for a cheap hotel deal but was rather unpleasantly surprised to learn that even our two week advance booking strategy wouldn’t get us anywhere. So after much deliberations and discussing the proximity of wine country nearby I managed to convince my wife to go on a four day camping trip to the beautiful Mendocino coast.
As a lighthouse lover, one of my primo spots was the Point Cabrillo lighthouse located very close to Fort Bragg, CA on a piece of stunning coastline. We were right on time for a sunset shot when we reached the parking lot but the light house is a good mile away from the lot and low summer fog in the horizon made the sunset a bit earlier than predicted by the various apps I use. And as I reached the lighthouse the setting sun was painting the lighthouse in glorious golden hues and I happily snapped away. This was one of the best shots I got from my initial location.
Thanks to all Phoide contributors to Point Cabrillo Light Station!
Most notably Sandeep Thomas.