Tag: lighthouse

Digital · Phonecam · Photography

Lighthouse spiral

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It’s very rare that I use my phone’s camera for any creative photography. I’ll take pictures of my family, selfies, and photos of “stuff”, such as a book I might want to read at some point, or maybe some random oddity I spot while out and about, but it’s unusual for me to take a picture with the same intent I would when using a dedicated camera.

Today’s picture is one of those rare exceptions where I used my phone to take a picture with creative intent. I visited the seaside town of Withernsea this weekend gone – a place I have not visited before – and shot a bunch of photographs on film, and these will hopefully be shared in due course.

As Withernsea has a lighthouse (now a museum), this was an obvious attraction, and I made a number of pictures of it from various vantage points. One place where my film cameras were not up to the job, however, was inside the lighthouse tower itself. Maybe if I’d had a tripod and a cable release, I could have worked something out, but I didn’t. So my only option was my phone, and on this occasion it served me very well, with this resulting image of the inside of the tower looking up at the underside of the flag-draped spiral staircase being the result.

I did climb the staircase – quite a hairy experience given my mild, but still quite quite present, fear of heights – and was interested (and a little scared!) to discover that the metal railings you can see in the picture were not always present – there just used to be a rope!

Lighthouse spiral

Samsung Galaxy S25+.

Taken on 25 July 2026

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Punta Carena lighthouse

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I’ve recently re-scanned some older negatives from when my wife and I visited Sorrento in Italy in 2018. While I was happy with my scans at the time, I can produce much better results now and I also realised that a lot of the pictures I’d taken were never uploaded, including the one posted here today.

This isn’t Sorrento, but the south-western point of the island of Capri, named Punta Carena, upon which stands this lighthouse. The photo was taken from the boat we were on which circled around the island before heading to port.

There’s a nice sense of scale to the picture, I think, with the foreground coast, the lighthouse, and then the dramatic cliffs beyond.

Mountains of Capri and the Punta Carena lighthouse

Olympus OM-1 and G-Zuiko Auto-W 28mm f/3.5 on Kodak Ektar. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 21 August 2018

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Big propeller

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I think this ship’s propeller was placed here for decorative purposes, rather than some sort of commemoration, but it made for a striking sight.

The three people give a nice sense of scale. They also kept wandering into my shots of other things, such as the fort I posted pictures of yesterday, which was a bit frustrating as they would stand there for several minutes admiring whatever my subject was while I waited to take my picture. Obviously, they had every right to do so, but it felt like some sort of minor karmic retribution for something I must have done wrong at some time.

Big propeller

Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 2 October 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Far d’Artrutx

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All taken the same evening as yesterday’s picture, these four shots show the Far d’Artutx lighthouse at the south-western point of Menorca.

The light was dropping and I was shooting 100asa film (which I’d rated at 80asa) so I had to use a slower shutter-speed to get a wide enough aperture for the camera to allow me to get the pictures. Some of them are slightly soft as a result, although not to the extent that they are ruined or anything.

The last one of the four, and my favourite, is pretty sharp though. It looks almost like a moonlit scene, although the effect is a result of the sun lighting up some high cumulus through a gap in the lower clouds.

The road to the lighthouse
Out of the foliage
Far d'Artrutx lighthouse
Blue hour light

Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 29 September 2025

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

A trip to Spurn Point (part 6)

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And so we reach the final set of pictures from my trip to Spurn Point.

The first three pictures are of the lifeboatmen’s (lifeboatpersons?) houses that were visible in my picture from the top of the lighthouse in yesterday’s post. They were built in 1975 and replaced the original cottages that dated to 1819. There are now no lifeboat crews based at Spurn with the service being covered from Grimsby and the new inshore lifeboat station at Cleethorpes.

Lifeboat crew houses
Lifeboat crew houses-2
Spurn Point buildings

And then a final set of pictures featuring the lighthouse. The first shot is probably my favourite of the whole trip. The Ultramax has produced some subtle but nice colours. The window at the top of the lighthouse is tinted and opens into the upper floor of the building (below the light) where there is a display on view.

Views of Spurn Point lighthouse
Views of Spurn Point lighthouse-3
Views of Spurn Point lighthouse-4
Views of Spurn Point lighthouse-5

So that’s the final post in this set. Spurn (and the Holderness coast) is somewhere I’d wanted to visit for a long time, and it’s somewhere I’d like to return to. There are lots more pictures to be had. Maybe I’ll get another chance next year.

Olympus 35 RC and Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 24 August 2025

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

A trip to Spurn Point (part 5)

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On to the final set of black and white photos I made at Spurn Point. Following directly on from yesterday the first two images are of the views from the top of the lighthouse. It’s not possible to go outside and you have to stand on the platform where the light itself once stood in order to see out of the windows properly, but the views are good. I actually quite like the effect of the “leading” on the glass.

This first shot is the view looking back up the spit towards the Holderness coast (where the land disappears off the left middle edge of the frame). You can see the road, plus the sandy eastern beach, and the tidal mud flats to the west.

From whence I came

Looking the other way (roughly south east) gives a view of the tip of the point with the Humber estuary and the Lincolnshire coat beyond. The road is clearly visible as it makes it’s way to the former lifeboatmen’s houses. The sea traffic tower stands in the middle of the scene, and one of the Humber sea forts can be found at upper right.

Spurn Point

Looking to the west give a view of the old lighthouse with its water tank cap. Some people were digging for bait on the mudflats and their electric bike can be seen.

The old lighthouse

After descending the steep steps of the lighthouse (not easy with a heavy backpack and a tripod!), I treated myself to an ice-cream and then set of towards the tip of the point, first following the road towards the sea traffic tower..

To the end of the land

Beyond the tower the land gives way to dunes and a series of sandy footpaths. There are numerous ex-military buildings in various states of repair in this area.

Bunker and lighthouse

As I reached the beach at the end of the point I turned round and took this photo looking back the way I’d come.

Structures

The beach at the end of the point shows clear signs of the tidal forces that come into play when the water is high, the sand sculpted into channels and craters. The fisherman who I’#’d earlier seen digging bait can also be seen putting it to use.

Tidal lands

And the final shot from this roll shows a freighter heading up the estuary past the end of the point. This is a relatively small vessel and much larger ships pass through this channel.

Alignment

The final set of Spurn Point photos to come tomorrow, this time in exciting colour! 🙂

Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Fujifilm Acros. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 24 August 2025

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

A trip to Spurn Point (part 4)

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Other than a couple of electric bikes, the only mode of vehicular transport I saw while walking to the end of Spurn Point was this Unimog all-terrain truck, which carries passengers from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust centre to the lighthouse.. It has to traverse the soft sands of the beach at the neck of the point until it can rejoin the remaining road that hasn’t been washed away by the sea. Here it is heading back north.

Unimog departure

There are a number of trails leading from the beach, up over the dunes, and to the road. This one looks a little overgrown.

Dune grass

After crossing the road I stuck to the western side of the spit which is mostly flat, grassy terrain with a scattering of gorse and some bird-watching shelters overlooking the tidal mud flats of the estuary.

Given the length of the walk to the end of the point, it’s good to see a bench along the way. My telephoto lens has compressed the distance a little and it’s further to the lighthouse from the bench than it might appear in this shot.

Bench on the point

Also present are the reamains of some WW2-era tank traps.

Tank trap

IAs I got closer to the lighthouse I made a number of photographs.

Lighthouse #1
Lighthouse #2
Lighthouse #3

More to come tomorrow, including views from the top of the lighthouse!

Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Fujifilm Acros. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 24 August 2025