Portland Head Light

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“Sail on; Sail on ye stately ships.

And with your floating bridge and ocean span.

Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse.

Be yours to bring man near unto man.”

• Longfellow

 

Good morning, The photo theme for today is #LighthouseThursday.

I’ve picked a landmark lighthouse in Maine. The Portland light in  Cape Elizabeth. It was built in 1791

Portland Head Lighthouse

Henry Wadworth Longfellow

Processed photo in Siver Efex software to give it a more antique look

Tourists at the Lighthouse. I always get a kick out of folks using an iPad for photos.

A “Wet Paint” event. Local artist create a painting which will comprise an auction event to raise funds for the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust.

Pemaquid Light

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In the early 1980s we visited our friends in Maine. One of our visits was this wonderful lighthouse on the coast. The kids had a great time climbing over these rocks.

 

Beach Sunday

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Good morning readers, did you have your coffee yet?

The winter continues to be weird here in New Ipswich. It’s January 10th and it is raining, not snowing. Temperatures are comfortably above freezing. It’s not natural.

The photo theme for today is Beach Sunday. I’ve gone into the archives and picked a few analog photos that I took on the West Coast when I was in the Navy. In retrospect I wish I had taken notes about the exact dates and locations for these photos, I can only guess.

Click on any photo to open the Beach Album of photos.

 

California Girls

 

La Jolla

 

A stroll along the Oregon Coastline

 

No Surf

 

Pacific Northwest

 

Along the Pacific Coastline

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In the early 1970s I traveled up the Pacific Coastline from Imperial Beach in California to the Olympic Rain Forest in Washington State. It was an epic trip for me since I love the coast. This photo was probably taken somewhere in Oregon. In retrospect I wish I had taken notes about the photos. Unlike digital photography there are no time stamps or EXIF data.

I’m especially curious which lens I used to get this depth of field. I may have shot this at f/32.

I was dismayed to see that once again our beautiful coastline has been befouled by oil near the site of the historic spill in 1969 (Refugio State Beach). Plains All American subsidiary is responsible for the latest spill in California. It has been responsible for nearly $24 million in property damages in the last 10 years. For this they paid a paltry fine of $284,500 in enforcement actions.

I remember some of the effects of the Santa Barbara spill that occurred in 1969. In 1970-71 I was stationed 229 miles south of the spill at NAS Ream Field in Imperial Beach. I would walk the beach when I was off duty and would occasionally step on an oil blog, a tarry mess that needed to be removed with a solvent. This stuff doesn’t disappear.

By the Sea by John Poltrack on 500px

Halibut Point State Park

Halibut Point State Park is located at the point of Cape Ann. It is located on Gott Avenue in Rockport, MA. Daily Parking fees are $5 for Mass residents and $6 for non-MA vehicles.

It features a panoramic view of the coast from Crane Beach in Ipswich to Mount Agamenticus in Maine. The former granite quarry is amazing.

Fresh and Salt water in close proximity. This is the view of the quarry. It is approximately 60 feet deep at it’s lowest depth.
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A view of the coastline. The granite was quarried here since 1840. Operations ceased in 1929.