Nubble Light Photo

Photographer’s Note

This is a repost to include the rest of the building on the left...

After leaving Portland Head Light we raced to Nubble Light to catch the sunset. There are three views of the light and I think they are all needed to put the location into perspective and to show the amazing light that played on the light.

Cape Neddick Lighthouse, also known as the Nubble Lighthouse, is located in York Beach, ME. The requests for a light station on the "Nubble" began in 1807. Approval for the light station was made by Congress in 1874, after numerous boating accidents.

1879 Cape Neddick light was built and started operating in July of 1879. The tower stands 41 feet tall (39' to the center of the lantern) and is 88 feet above the ocean. The red beacon of the Nubble flashes at 6 second intervals and can be seen from 13 nautical miles away. The tower is made of cast iron which is lined with brick. Surrounding the tower is a railing that is supported by 12 posts, each being topped with a small cast iron lighthouse. There are conflicting stories over the original color of the tower, some say red some say brown. It was repainted its current color of white in 1902.

In 1911 the walkway that connects the home to the tower was constructed so that during bad weather the keeper could access the tower without going outside. A bell tower was constructed in 1911 and was later replaced by a fog horn in 1961. The horn is activated by the weather and will sound during rainy and foggy periods.

In 1950 the Coast Guard repainted the red house (where a generator is housed) to white. Many people complained and it was repainted its original red color again.

In 1977, NASA sent artifacts into space on board the Voyager II. Among the artifacts that were to teach the extraterrestrial about us was a picture of the Nubble Light.

On July 13, 1987 the lighthouse became automated and the last Lighthouse Keeper of the Nubble, Russell Ahlgrea, moved out. The house is no longer occupied.

The town of York obtained ownership of the lighthouse on December 15, 1997. Although the town maintains the property and owns the island, the beacon itself is still maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.

In 1989 the Historical Preservation Commission restored the building and replaced the two smaller windows at the top of the building with one large one, which was how the house was originally built.

torre, pat0500, avene, crhieatt, delic, angela926, gunbud, scobert, Floydian, Cretense, jlbrthnn, Didi, asajernigan, dareco, fulvio52, meltemi, ryno, PixelTerror, pboehringer, coco, zmey, Charo, claudeD, marcan44, stego, cam, branley, wishlist, jusninasirun has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

torre (891) 2008-05-02 14:55

Hi Greg. Beautiful Lighthouse. Prety colours at the end of day.
Regards
Arlindo

pat0500 (21513) 2008-05-02 14:56

Hi Greg,
Very good framing of the beautiful picture..! Good light and very pretty colours..!
Très belle photo et excellente qualité d'image..!
Well done,
Patrick

crhieatt (5143) 2008-05-02 15:10

Greg,

You know, that thing with the building on the left never bothered me first time around. But I know how it is when you see something in your own photo that you think you could have done better.

But you've started me off now! I've gone and taken out the telegraph pole in the workshop!! :)

Regards
Colin

[workshop] [compare] +

delic (6735) 2008-05-02 15:19

Greg, I think the Nubble is one of the prettiest lighthouses. Perched on the rocky Maine coast, I have always admired its photos. Yours is certainly one of the best. Warm colors make the composition particularly appealing. Regards,
Hakan

azleader (6) 2008-05-02 16:51

Ahhhh... I feel better now. :)

npecanhuk (13845) 2008-05-02 16:56

Hi Greg!
I love this picture of yours for its colors and the shapes, the natural ones and the buildings!
TFS
Congratulations,
Neyvan Peçanhuk - Brazil

angela926 (1882) 2008-05-02 18:22

Hello Greg,
Fantastic shot, excellent composition and point of view, superb sharpness, good depth of field, lovely light and beautiful vivid colors.very informative note.
Angela

gunbud (27833) 2008-05-02 18:32

Hi Greg,
Everything is still perfect in this shot to go along with the bonus building. The light is perfect and you took full advantage to get such clear crisp colors and razor sharp details.
Regards, Tom

scobert (5333) 2008-05-02 19:28

Hi Greg,
Your lighting was made to order! I can't imagine having better lighting for this fabulous image. A beautiful and stunning photograph which looks more like a painting where the artist carefully mixed up the perfect colors on his pallette. Just outstanding work!
Stan

Cretense (56004) 2008-05-03 2:59

Hi Greg!

Fantastic place, excellent photo! Framing and composition are great, but the real magic of the photo lies on these beautiful warm colours! Congratulations!

Hercules

jlbrthnn (37863) 2008-05-03 4:38

Hello Greg,
Once again the quality of image is superb. The buildings laid out well, are like models. An exceptional clearness and colors. I do not think that my criticisms will be useful for you, because I am only one very not tested amateur.
Have a nice day.
Cordially
Joël

dkeus31 (26180) 2008-05-03 4:58

Hi Greg,
the light is superb on this image, the red houses gives a good color touch also
regards
didier

Didi (36078) 2008-05-03 5:09

Hi Greg
Very nice ambiance lights and interesting touch of red with this cabin.
It will be also interesting to have the lighthouse on in the twilight.
Cheers.

asajernigan (14120) 2008-05-03 5:34

Greg,
Wow, another beautiful lighthouse! This is a great shot with excellent composition and POV. The late afternoon lighting brings out nice color and contrast. The diagonal created by the landscape and buildings leads the eye upward to the lighthouse creating nice motion and direction.
TFS,
Asa

dareco (17104) 2008-05-03 5:36

Once again :) the lighting and colors are fabulous in this picture. A really lovely place!!! TFS

Floydian (30970) 2008-05-03 6:17

Hi Greag,
Bathing in warm sunlight, how beautiful. The way the whole place is build with the rocks in the foreground, but also the view upwards from the water, very nice. But it's that light what i like best, lovely warm toning inside.
Great work, great repost, well done.
Regards, Henk

fulvio52 (8314) 2008-05-03 8:02

Yes, buddy. You further improved an already outstanding picture. Getting that little house on the left fully in view is definitely a winner. And the light doesn't cease to amaze me...
Have a great weekend, see ya soon.
Ciao,
Fulvio.

Kielia (8465) 2008-05-03 11:57

Hi Greg,
I agree with Fulvio. This photo is absolutely beautiful and it remindes me of a painting of Edward Hopper: The lonliness....

TfS
Have a nice evening!
Harriet

meltemi (9746) 2008-05-03 22:56

Hello Greg,
this is a real beauty, thanks to the special light you got there. I liked the natural color of sky and cliffs. Sharpness is perfectly balanced and usual perfect clarity .What an ideal place to rejuvenate and enjoy nature ... wonderfully captured.
All the best.
Stella

ryno (4612) 2008-05-04 7:07

Hi Greg, what a beautiful scene. The quality of the light makes this one stand out. It looks like a little toy town. The glint on the lighthouse makes it look like plastic and reinforces this feeling. Very well planned and captured!
Regards,
Ryno

pablominto (40600) 2008-05-04 7:09

Hello Greg,
Better balance in composition, and now we get the feeling the three houses and the tower is part of one unit...
Otherwise as I said last time!
Greetings,
Pablo -

PixelTerror (86060) 2008-05-04 10:59

Hi Greg,
Nice lighthouse and small houses around, you chose your timing well because the evening light warming the structure is a great asset of this image.
Have a nice day JY

pboehringer (770) 2008-05-04 21:55

Greg,
I know that NASA did not send your shot to the galactic emptiness, but this shot certainly would deserve it. Amazing light that you got here. The type of light that I wish that we always would have to take our shots. Exquisite colors in this last light of the day.
Peter

coco (27842) 2008-05-05 13:30

Hi Greg.

This is a nice place and also you made a good composition. But what makes the difference is the beautiful light of the photo.

Well done.

avene (10978) 2008-05-06 7:31

hi Greg,
everything I said about the great colours and gorgeous light when I commented the original post remain true :) but I agree, this version is better in terms of composition, space on the left does make the difference.

have a great weekend,
Kristine

zmey (7250) 2008-05-06 7:32

hello greg

i like this version better. i guess, i would still prefer your camera to look slightly more to the left (to equalize the space to the edge from the lighthouse and the left-most building), but that's me. this complex is very photogenic and the late light is great.

my compliments,
kristaps

Charo (31671) 2008-05-07 3:28

Hola Greg,
Estupenda composición con el faro y las bonitas casas que lo rodean. Excelente luz y colores.
Cordialmente
Charo

batalay (20898) 2008-05-07 17:08

Hello Greg,

A sensational image, augmented with a highly informative and engaging note. I remember the plaque placed on one of the Voyager deep space flights — communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence. As it left the vicinity of Saturn, its speed was 56,000 miles/hour (having left the vicinity of earth at 25,000, it had felt the sling-shot effect of the two massive planets). At 56,000 mile/hour it was to reach a dense star field after ten billion years. I believe, there is extraterrestrial intelligence, but this was not the best way to announce our existence.

Warm regards,

Bulent

claudeD (11312) 2008-05-10 4:32

Hello Greg,

very good evening shot with an excellent composition and fine colors.Thwe light managment is very good .Well done.

With regards from Luxembourg

Jean-Claude

marcan44 (3183) 2008-05-10 13:41

Hi Greg,
very nice shot.
I like the sunset light warming the scene.
Perfect focus and excellent note.
A nice week end.
regards
Mario

stego (22352) 2008-05-10 13:42

Hi Greg,
A very scenic place, wonderfully captured at sunset. The charming shapes of the houses, the warm tones, the clear blue sky, the shining sea below, all make a gorgeous image.
Regards, José.

sacavem (8255) 2008-05-16 7:40

Olá Greg,

Wow ! a very nice lighthouse, you have cropped it very well.
Excellent compo and POV, colours are great, and light.
Regards,
Filipe

cam (8880) 2008-05-17 16:55

Hi Greg
What a beautiful light, a light that makes a great photo. Warm colors all around.
Good composition also , where all the building are detached from the other ones.
Where are you standing? On a boat?

Well done
Charles

branley (3681) 2008-05-21 1:22

Hi Greg, I live close to a couple of lighthouses so it would be churlish to pass this one by. The colours are fantastic and the image well exposed espeially because there's so much white in it. I love the little red hut in the foreground and, unlike my image, you have enough water showing to prove that it's an actual coastal structure! The telegraph pole didn't bother me until Colin mentioned it...but then it is an integral part of the image. It's a superb capture Greg and one for my theme, TE Moments, well seen.

Regards

Stephen

wishlist (4133) 2008-05-22 7:16

Hello Greg,
the amazing light really makes the difference here. The warm and soft tones added a great feeling of relax with the lighthouse dominating the scene. Beautiful compo and stunning result delivered. I like it a lot!
Thanks for sharing it.
Regards,

Igor

johannes68 (2860) 2008-05-25 11:22

Hi Greg,
fantastic light and colours - the red is really popping out of the photo. Overall a very pleasant, warm mood!
Regards, Johannes

jusninasirun (10199) 2008-05-31 21:29

This is brilliant Greg. Shot at 55mm giving the closeness of this wonderful view. Stunning detail and contrasting colors. I like the sharpness of the image being under the beautiful glow. Very well done and thanks for sharing. Will definitely go into my favorite list. Regards. Jusni

jacquest (593) 2008-07-06 15:14 [Comment]

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paulinka (122) 2008-10-16 1:54

Beautiful :)
warm colours, great sharpness. I really like it:)
regards,
paulina.

mafegan (4163) 2009-07-12 5:12

Hello Greg
Brilliant lighting of the setting sun. Perfect detail of a spectacular scene. The final version is probably preferable - athough the powerpole to the left could have been cloned out. Tfs, Marlene