The Baldhead Island lighthouse stands not far from the chapel where my nephew and his bride were married. We had (on purpose) arrived on the island with time to spare before the ceremony, so I was able to make a few photographs. I was taken with the variety of textures created by wear and patching of the concrete walls. The early afternoon sun made the lighter patches really stand out. This is the kind of subject that works really well in black and white, also. In either case we want to make the whitest patches really glisten, and let the grass go as bright as we can without wiping out all detail, to produce the (accurate) impression of bright, hot sunlight.

The camera was the first truly pocketable one I have ever had since the Leica IIIc with the 35mm lens. I liked that camera because is was a true classic, beautifully and cleverly designed and built, was built the same year I was, and despite the fact that a little of the chrome had worn from the top (sort of like me), still functioned perfectly (I hoped like me). As time went on and my eyes functioned less perfectly, I could no longer read the numbers to adjust the shutter and lens aperture, without juggling eyeglasses, so in time I said a fond goodbye. These pictures were made with a Panasonic Lumix, which has a Leica Vario-Elmar lens, so the tradition continues. This model is one of the few small digitals that allows some manual control of adjustments.

Baldhead Light Textures