At Stage Harbor Lighthouse

For this Stage Harbor lighthouse photograph I arrived late at Harding's beach parking lot; the sun was already setting. I immediately was side tracked by a hand full of kite surfers. It was a struggle to freeze the surfers because of their fast speed and my camera's low shutter speed. I adjusted my camera ISO setting to allow for faster shutter speeds and continued shooting. Although there was some waste produced in the end I got the shots of the Nantucket Sound kite surfers hat I was hoping for. Meanwhile the tide was coming in strong and I was a little worried about getting back in the dark after shooting the lighthouse. Nonetheless I decided to continue along the narrow Harding's beach. During the next 30 minutes on my way out to the lighthouse I was accompanied by a couple of seagulls, calmly sailing above me. As I was closing in on my final destination, the sun already in its last stretch of setting, I captured various compositions of my main subject for this night. From the dozen images of the lighthouse the one above is most appealing to me because of its dramatic cloud formation and the last daylight hitting the lighthouse and landscape. It simply captures best what I experienced that evening. After packing up my gear and shouldering my tripod I discovered a dirt road nearby that directly leads from the lighthouse to the parking lot. This was definitely a relief and much easier to follow than the route on the beach. While strolling back along the dirt road, getting in reach of the parking lot, the sound of reggae and rock music broke through the night; a local cover band was giving its best on stage in the parking lot ... one great night!