Cape Arago Lighthouse

The first Cape Arago Lighthouse (there actually ended up being three) was first illuminated in 1866, having been built on a small island 2.5 miles north of the cape for which it is named. The island was called Chief’s Island by the Coos tribe of Native Americans who lived in the area. The lighthouse was decommissioned on January 1, 2006, when the light was turned off for the last time. In 2013, the lighthouse was given to the Confederated Tribes (consisting of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Tribes). For more detail and stories about the interesting history of this lighthouse see this article from lighthousefriends.com.

It is quite difficult to get close to the Lighthouse and he best view of it can be had from a small area just off the road, only a minute or so drive from Sunset Bay. That way you get to see two fantastic sites in a short period of time.

While taking this photo it felt like I was standing in a scene straight out of a nautical painting of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The fact that I arrived just as the sun was directly illuminating the distant lighthouse itself added to that feeling. My goal was to use post-processing to transmit that feeling. I had to experiment with it quite a bit to get it there ,but it now expresses (at least to me) how it felt on the side of the road that morning.

Cape Arago Lighthouse © Howard Grill

However, as I look back on this image…..I like the original photo as well, so I thought I would also show that one (after processing to adjust the tones etc) below:

Cape Arago Lighthouse © Howard Grill

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