Photography is all about conveying a sense of place, emotion, storytelling, etc.  I love this shot as it almost immediately suggests some mystique and a story.  Curious to hear your reactions to the image – taken in the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse.

Great Island Common is one of my favorite coastal destinations.  I went out one misty and stormy afternoon to find some waves in Rye, and after getting a few shots I was pleased with, I decided to pack it up and head home.  On my way, Great Island Common was calling out to me, so I had to swing by to check out the scene.  Whaleback light was lovely in the distance, and the waterfront was interesting with a foggy presence in the air.  Portsmouth Harbor Light was the winning shot from the afternoon, with a processing that seemed to fit the weather.

This solitary window on the side of the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse opens my imagination to what it must have been like to be a lighthouse keeper back in the old days.  What a view to survey the waterfront and enjoy all the water traffic, especially when old freighters or old cutter ships made their way upriver towards the Portsmouth docks or further upriver to Dover.  I went with a black & white processing on this shot, as the grey skies didn’t present much interesting color, but it simplified the shot down to what really mattered to me – the interesting curve of the sheathing around the tower and the window.

A simple shot of a perfectly New England scene – Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse at dusk.  The day’s last night is just kissing the window of the lighthouse as it watches over Portsmouth Harbor.  Kittery can be seen in the distance with some of the late afternoon’s rich sunlight hitting the homes on the shore.  Another shot from the inspiring Great Island Common in New Castle.

As I wrote yesterday, New Hampshire has the smallest coastline of any oceanfront state in the US.  One of the treasures along our coast is the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse.  I decided to head over to the open house hosted by the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse.  These great folks host an open house on Sundays throughout the summer…and I was happy to take advantage.  I’d been to a tour a few years back before I bought my beloved Canon 5d Mark II….and had been itching to get back to shoot the interior ever since.  Since the lighthouse is located on an active Coast Guard station, it had pretty tight security due to the significance of this somber weekend.

The lighthouse is just awesome…I’ll stay away from the technical aspects of the lighthouse and encourage you to take a tour to hear more about it.  The staircase is a marvel as seen from below with its rich brick walls and industrial stairs.  I’ll feature more from my stop later in the week…but for now I’ll let you enjoy the stairs and the window.

I’ve always enjoyed my sunset stops over at Great Island Common in New Castle.  I was struck by the gorgeous orange glow of sunset this particular night, with not much going on in the sky for clouds…it still managed to be a subtle yet stunning sunset.  The light was hitting this walkway so it was catching parts of the wood – so I headed right over.  I am always a fan of symmetry, so when a scene presents itself like this – I go for it with the shot.

One of the neat parts about this particular image is the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse that is tucked under the railing on its left side.

I didn’t let the rainy day on Saturday morning keep me from making a quick trip over to Great Island Common to see what I might find.  I found a steady drizzle and some interesting clouds – and Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse across the way.  A subtle shot….later this week I’ll feature a video I made of little snippets of the water rolling on shore and some other neat seacoast scenes.  It was too bad the sun didn’t want to break for a minute or two while I was out there – I guess I’ll just have to head back.