Lighthouse of Cape Spartel Photo

Photographer’s Note

Cape Spartel marks the entrance of the Gibraltar strait, the narrow stripe of sea that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea and separates North West Africa from the South West Europe (Iberian Peninsula). It lies some Kms West of Tangier on a scenic hilly and wooded area. South of it there are a couple of large scenic beaches and the locally famous Caves of Hercules.

It is frequently and wrongly referred as the northernmost point of Africa.

The haze on the horizon makes it invisible on the photo, but on clear days one can see the Spanish coast West of Tarifa.

The lighthouse was built by a Moroccan King on the mid 19th century.

Spartel is also the name of a sea bank that is located in front of the cape. It was an island until the 12000 years ago, a fact that originated a couple of recent theories claiming that it could be the actual location of the fabled Atlantis.

Weblinks to more info: Wikipedia/Tangier, Lexicorient/Tangier, Wikipedia/Spartel bank, showcaves.com/Caves of Hercules, Lexicorient/Caves of Hercules.

Location (latitude, longitude): 35.79112,-5.92375

pboehringer, siolaw, cuneyt-sb, feather, riclopes, cunejo200, batalay, jwmunro, maltese, adores, paura, axiotea, Greg1949, Photo65Net, gbeli, cobbydale, ChrisJ, zeca, robertosalguero, JCG, xuaxo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

siolaw (26392) 2007-03-31 23:53

Ola Jose,
A good compo, POV and framing, with fine soft colors and sharpness... An interesting example of Moorish style architecture well presented.
Um abraco
Laurent

pboehringer (770) 2007-03-31 23:53

Perfect execution, Jose. The light is right on spot. The composition with the lighthouse placed slightly to the right and overseeing the sea in the distance is excellent. My own feeling just asks for a slight touch of more contrast, but that is my own taste.
TFS, Peter

jmcl (14289) 2007-04-01 1:49

Hi José,

Wondrous ..
you have composed this lightouse .. the hill .. the sea .. in the perfect way to give the sense of this place standing and watching infinity .. and then you add in that light .. which in addition to being beautiful is so thoughtful as well .. a dawn or sunset for the whole of the endless universe. .. what a sense of how this place must have felt to people for millennia

take care,

John

[2]

rl245267 (788) 2007-04-01 2:42

Hi Jose,

This is a fantastic view. There is something interesting about lighthouses. You have captured this one well with the grassy cliffs in front of the lighthouse and the sea behind it. I like the note as well. It is too bad that the haze blocks the view of the Spanish coast. If this is not the northern most point of Africa what is? I would guess that it would be somewhere in Tunisia.

regards,
Rob

cuneyt-sb (6559) 2007-04-01 3:24

Hi Jose
I love sunshine at lighthouse, great capture of timing,
Good POV and sharp image you captured
TFS/Kind regards

UnTrained (0) 2007-04-01 4:52

Olá José,
very nice view of a bit famous place. Wonderful view over the slope to the lighthouse. I don't want to raise onbe technical aspect especially, as the work very good together to emphasise the beauty of this place. You really took the right time of the day.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

feather (51026) 2007-04-01 5:22

Excellent quality, light, sharpness and detail in this one. The light coming from the left was perfect and your composition works well with the strong diagonal of the hillside topped by the lighthouse.
Good work
Kath

[2]

riclopes (33487) 2007-04-01 5:38

Olá José, se me dissesses que esta era em Portugal, eu era capaz de acreditar. Aquele suave estilo árabe no 'encabeçamento' do farol e a presença das palmeiras, não seriam tão difíceis de encontrar por cá, especialmente no sul.
Boa foto. Está 'nice' e 'beautiful' e não há assim mais a acrescentar...como dizes na tua intro ;-)
Um abraço,
Ricardo

cunejo200 (7247) 2007-04-01 8:45

Hello Jose,
The lighthouse is beautifully showcased with good balance in this composition. There is good sharpness and colors of the vegetation and trees on the f/g. A high quality image. Best wishes, Danilo

RADEEH (2780) 2007-04-01 10:39

Hi Jose
The PoV is interesting, the composition of this place with the cliff and the structure is excellent. The golden light falling all over the cliff is brilliantly captured. The fencing going through the bottom of the place is eye catching. Great composition of a a magnificent place. TFS
Regards
Radeeh

batalay (21821) 2007-04-01 10:40

Hello José,

Informative note accompanying a compelling photo. The diagona nature of the topography, the general composition, the contrast in light and shadow, and the saturation are good.

Here is some additional information -- going way way back. The Mediterranean is a hydrologically deficit sea. The only sizeable river flowing into it is the Nile. Six million years ago the European and African continents converged at the Straits of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean dried up. The Black Sea and Lake Ohrid (Macedonia) remained wet, with rivers flowing into them. (The Black Sea has the Danube, Dniester, and the Dnieper (perhaps one more). This lake was sweetwater. One million years later, the straits opened up again and the most dramatic waterfalls imagainable, created by the Atlantic pouring into the Mediterranean Basin filled up the basin in about a hundred years.

The Mediterranean and Black Sea, however, remained separated until about 7500 years ago, when the water level rose in Istanbul, and broke through the land bridge, creating the Bosphorus. It filled up the remnant of the freshwater lake, a small area inside the basin of the Black Sea.

There were villages around that sweetwater lake, and the people had to move onto higher land in Anatoliawithin a few weeks or months. Althought I've been involved with a search of Noah's Ark on Mt. Ararat, I could never accept it. However, the flooding of the Black Sea I can accept as the basis behind the story of a Universal Flood. Robert Ballard the discoverer of the Titanic and the Bismark, discovered some evidence of the civilization that existed around the original freshwater pond, scores of kilometers north of the Black Sea Coast of Turkey.

Sorry for the earful. It was all precipitated by your teaching me about Cape Spartel.

Regards,
Bulent

[2] +

Gustaw (21670) 2007-04-01 11:12

Hallo my friend!
Interesting view from Marocco. In my coloection is 100 photos from Marocco. But I not been in Tanger. It is pity. Interesting view, good composition, nice colours, good light.
Marek

clnaef (6289) 2007-04-01 11:13

Bonjour,
Belle composition bien cadrée et bien exposée.
Bonne journée.
clnaef

jwmunro (6357) 2007-04-01 16:58

Hello Jose -

This is a well seen image. The warm evening light on the Moorish light is appealing and really makes the image. I like how you placed the light on the right third but, IMO it is a tad high in the scene as the antenna on the light is pushing up against the margin of the image. Also, the horizon is ever so slightly skewed but is not a real sticking point. Adding the the shrubbery to the lower right anchors the image while the sea and sky are balanced with the land. Well done!

Thank you for sharing

John

maltese (21615) 2007-04-01 17:05

Hello Jose
Une très agréable composition, avec cette diagonale qui descnet ver la mer. Une très belle lumière qui met bien en valeur ce phare,c'est très bien vu
Amicalement
Hervé

sothy81 (8574) 2007-04-01 17:55

Hi Jose,

This is a very nice photo. The castle looks real nice here. A breathtaking photo indeed. Beautiful lighting there. Very sharp too. Sothy

lucasgalodoido (17675) 2007-04-01 19:23

Olá Rui!
Interessante esse farol, pois parece haver uma contrução junto a ele, aqui no Brasil constroem apenas a Torre do farol e pronto.
Boa cores!
Parabéns e Abraço!

adores (16033) 2007-04-01 19:44

Alô José!
Uma foto diferente de Marrocos mas bonita. Acho que é a primeira foto que vejo deste farol.Conseguiste uma composição muito boa e a luz ficou óptima!
Anabela

paura (40841) 2007-04-01 21:06

José,
O céu ficou com cor um pouco estranha. Eu tenho muito esse tipo de problema quando fotografo no Rio de Janeiro. Não sei exatamente como resolver. Penso que é decorrente de uma determinada caracteríscida da atmosfera. Eu tenho idéia de que um filtro polarizador pudesse ajudar, mas a minha máquina não permite esse tipo de acoplamento. O ponto de tomada está excelente. O farol e a mata próxima são realmente bonitos. O único problema da foto foi o que escrevi anteriormente, que obviamente não é decorrente de falta de qualidade do bom fotógrafo que você é.

Paulo

Greg1949 (8641) 2007-04-02 6:06

Jose, been throught here a couple of dozen times on a ship and of course never saw this. It is a fine picture, detailed and colorful and crisp, nice capture.

Greg

axiotea (16665) 2007-04-02 6:23

Bonjour josé,
The beautiful light is illuminating nicely the light house and the surrounding vegetation. Colors are naturally rendered and the framing well done. An informative note too...
Cheers
Marilyn

jhm (85052) 2007-04-02 7:06

Hi Jose,

A lovely diagonal composition, with the lighthouse placed slightly to the right, and overseeing the sea in the distance is excellent, also the vegetation in foreground make this picture attractive. TFS.

Regards,
John.

vincz (19085) 2007-04-02 8:22

Excllenet composition with beutiful colours. The yellow of the lighthouse brings an unusal touch to this marine landscape. It reminds me of some places in Brittany but the palm trees arond the light house definitely tell that is much further south. The light is beautiful there.

nisko (2461) 2007-04-02 9:11

Hi jose,
Wonderful photo! Great colours,great light and point of view helps so much!What if you cut a bit down?..lets see...i make a WS..
thanks for sharing..
best regards

[workshop] [compare]

Photo65Net (43106) 2007-04-02 13:26

Bonsoir Jose,
A nice catch. The POV you choose is perfect, using the picture diagonal to bring the eye to the lighthouse.
Colors and tones are nice too, a beautiful one.
Regards,
JB.

gbeli (2026) 2007-04-02 13:56

Hello Jose
I like your photo very much.
Nice colors and POV.
Probably it would be better, if you had raise the camera little more in order to add some sky and reduse some green area.
Regard

cobbydale (1928) 2007-04-03 17:58

A very nice composition Jose! Perfect placement of the lighthouse and I really like the greenery in the lower half of the shot. Nice and sharp throughout too.
TFS. Leon.

Benedict (7062) 2007-04-03 19:37

lighting and clarity at their best!! so picturesque! more of this stuff, jose!!
benedict

ChrisJ (71614) 2007-04-03 21:16

Ola Jose

A nice colour combination of the honey yellow lighthouse against the blue sky. Superb sharpness & nice diagonal layers from the vegetation. Tfs!

sebcz (2345) 2007-04-04 9:49

Hi Jose!
Nice place. I would probably show more sky and less green, but take is as an option rather that nitpick:)
Seb

zeca (20026) 2007-04-04 23:54

Oi José!
Uma linda foto, amigo! A luz está fantástica com o dourado da tarde. Para mim faróis são sempre objetos muito fotogênicos, especialmente bem enquadrados como você nos apresenta aqui. O horizonte presente não nos deixa esquecer da utilidade vital do farol. Muito boa a composição! Parabéns!
Abraço,
Zeca

capthaddock (28640) 2007-04-05 13:08

Hi Jose - the lighthouse sure has a wonderful setting, i likle how the architecture style is similar to moroccan minarets, the light is also good here.

robertosalguero (110) 2007-04-07 1:21

Very unusual shape for a lighthouse tower. The colour of it is also not the common white colour that is used in North America. Very nice picture Jose. Lighthouses are beautiful structures that, even when not in use, create such interesting things to adorn the scenery. Good colours and sharpness to show us this beautiful scene. Thanks.

Roberto

JCG (26635) 2007-04-12 14:10

Hi José,

A superb catch of sight where I appreciate the light of end of day which brings sublimes and subtle colors. I feels all calms it place, it is very pleasant, I like very much. Beautiful and interesting realization supplemented well by the note. Thank you José.

With all my friendships,

Jean-Charles

Standa (1861) 2007-05-10 18:23

Hi Jose,
I like the composition of this beautiful place. Colours are well balanced, framing and DOF are splendid.
Regards,
Stanislav

banyanman (7743) 2007-07-27 9:21

The late afternoon sun has provided you with the perfect opportunity to compose this picturesque scene in a lovely soft light. Jose. There is a very slight tilt to the right, but it is quite minor so I don't think many will notice it. Cheers . . . David

xuaxo (6083) 2007-10-11 13:51

Olá José,
Gosto muito de faróis e este ficou muito bem acompanhado pela vegetação, nomeadamente as palmeiras. Que pena não ter um céu azulinho.
Um abraço,
F

Photo Information

Copyright: Jose Pires (stego) (22514)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-08-06
Categories: Architecture
Camera: Olympus E-300, 14-45 mm Zuiko Digital
Exposure: f/9.5, 1/250 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Map: view
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Travelogue: Morocco 2006
Theme(s): Lighthouses / Phares, Lighthouses II, Lighthouses III, !Top rated ex [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-03-31 23:24