St Augustine Lighthouse -- the inside story

[Dennis Bishop]

I photograph the exteriors of lighthouses, but it's the interiors that really appeal to me. The St Augustine, Florida, lighthouse has 219 steps. I went inside minutes after it opened for the day and heard someone running down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she turned around and ran back up. (Hopefully not because I was there.) I interacted with a number of people on the stairs. Most were walking, some were resting on the landings, but more than one was running.





Nikon D3s, ISO 1250, f/22, -2 exposure compensation, nine-exposure HDR at 1 EV increments, 16mm fisheye

processing highlights

• flipped horizontally for composition
• Topaz Simplify -- saved watercolor preset
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved watercolor wash preset, Hard Light blend mode, masked
• Fractalius -- the usual three saved black & white presets, but an all-time first in blend modes: Multiply/Normal/Screen
• Snap Art -- saved black & white Line Art preset, Multiply
• Simplify -- saved black & white edges preset in two layers, Multiply and a masked Divide layer
• Nik Color Efex -- seven effects
• 2 Lil' Owls Studio -- three layers with the same texture but different blend modes
• gradient vignette -- Multiply
• Alien Skin Eye Candy -- selections on two layers using the Backlight preset in Pin Light blend mode for the light coming in the window
• Nik Silver Efex -- I did save a color version of the image, but wanted to do a black & white from the outset. I always play with colors before the conversion to black & white because of the options that gives in modifying tones.

[Mitch Carucci]

Wonderful composition. My eyes had fun rolling up and down the curves.

[gary ellwein]

Love the sweeping curves. The black and white works nicely with the varying degree of detail. The near totally washed out area at the top keeps catching my eye. Was this an intensely lit area from another window?

[Dennis Bishop]

. . . The near totally washed out area at the top keeps catching my eye. Was this an intensely lit area from another window?

If I remember right, the windows were diagonally opposite each other but offset vertically, so that area is likely what you suggest. Do you find it distracting? I thought it helped balance the light from the window below and provided good tonal contrast for the handrails and balusters, but it could be darkened a bit and still work.

[Nancy Bell]

Fabulous! I love the exaggerated expansion of the walls and stairs due to the fish eye effect! It looks great in this confined situation. Wow, 7 effects from Nik Color Efex alone! I really, really want to stand over your shoulder and watch you create these images. In thinking about Gary's comment about the washed out area near the top, maybe some very fine brick details coming in the right side, going towards the railing but not quite reaching it. That would still provide a nice plain bkgd for the railing. All those curves coming in and out of the image at irregular points add so much visual interest. Well seen, and so well processed a la Dennis!

[Anita Bower]

Excellent. My eyes travel up and down and back up. The railing leads the way, ending with the beautiful details at the top. the processing is just right for the image. I, too, like the fish eye effect.
I have a question about the window--did you process it a bit differently than the rest of the image? I see in your notes that you did do something special for the incoming light, which is very effective--I can see the light rays. The window looks different from the rest of the image, making it stand out somewhat. The lighter area towards the top doesn't bother me.
Running up and down sounds like fun for kids.

[Dennis Bishop]

. . . I have a question about the window--did you process it a bit differently than the rest of the image? I see in your notes that you did do something special for the incoming light, which is very effective--I can see the light rays. The window looks different from the rest of the image, making it stand out somewhat. . . . Running up and down sounds like fun for kids.

Thanks for your comments, Anita and everyone else. There are a few layers in which the window area was treated a bit differently from the rest of the image. The most important were the ones with the incoming light. Additional layers were used to compensate for some of the effects the incoming light layers had on the black outlines around the windows. I think the reason the window stands out, though, is primarily because it's so much lighter than its surroundings (and probably the rest of the image for that matter).

I can't remember if there were any kids inside the lighthouse. The first runner was a woman whom I'd guess was near forty. Later there was a couple who both seemed about thirty, and I saw them several times. I've been in the Marblehead Lighthouse on the Marblehead Peninsula in Ohio a number of times. It has only 77 steps, and I've been surprised when seeing a frantic child being carried down in a parent's arms.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Escher and Kafka-like to me Dennis!. Love the subject, the b and w, and the stairs that seemingly have no end! Well-processed!

[Steve Adkins]

Wonderfully and Masterfully done, Dennis.