Living in New England there is a never ending array of old lighthouses up and down the coast.  As a photographer, I have been continuously drawn to lighthouses of New England as a source of inspiration.  There is something about these old buildings standing at the edge of the ocean and standing against the never ending erosion that comes from the sea.   As many people in this area, I started with pictures of Nubble Light at Cape

Neddick Maine.  Multiple times a year we make the trek up to Cape Neddick to crawl around the rocks and watch the waves crash against the island that sits just off shore where the lighthouse sits.  As usual there are always those pictures I have grabbed where I have soaked another pair of shoes since I don’t always pay attention to the waves (well actually I am paying attention to the waves and that’s why the shoes get soaked, the shot is more important than dry socks).

Portland Head Light is probably even more iconic in New England than even Nubble Light.  A truly beautiful location at Fort Williams State Park in Portland, ME.  It may be a couple of hour drive from northern Massachusetts, but it’s well worth the trip.  The original lighthouse began construction in 1790 and it’s been continually operated since then, and is still under control of the Coast Guard.  There have been some truly beautiful images of Portland Head.  I’ve been happy with a few I’ve been able to obtain, one of which is found here.  This picture was taken in mid-October while a front was moving through Portland.  This was actually around noon but the sun came in and out and the clouds suddenly came in while the sun was still around.  So there was some fairly dramatic light.

There are a large number of other lighthouses up and down the New England coast and I have even scratched the surface pictures.  One that I particularly like is off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire at the Isle of Shoals.  This is White Island Lighthouse and it’s one of those remote lighthouses that you wonder how it’s held together.  In fact if you look closely at the lighthouse you can see that a covered walkway from the lighthouse to the lightkeepers house has been recently destroyed by storms.  I like the black and white treatment because I feel it gives some nice drama for an image that was taken in the middle of the day.

One of my favorite towns on the coast in Massachusetts is Marblehead.  And Marblehead does have it’s own iconic lighthouse.  Unfortunately it may be one of the most utilitarian (but ugly) lighthouses you can find.

So the best thing to do is surround the picture of the lighthouse with Marblehead Harbor and you’ll be fine.  The above picture was taken around sunset on the 4th of July in 2012.  Marblehead lights up the edges of the entire harbor prior to the fireworks display that goes off from a barge at the mouth of the harbor.  Fortunately there’s plenty of places around the harbor at Marblehead to get pictures of the lighthouse but still show all the interesting sites around the town.

Finally, I’ll end with a location and time of the year that I particularly like.  Every year at Nubble Light in Maine they decorate the lighthouse for Christmas.  A few years ago I was able to get some pictures while the lighthouse was lit and I have included one of those pictures below.

  You can find other pictures of New England Lighthouses here. To end, I am offering a calendar for sale at the following location.  I am planning on sending all profits from the sale of this calendar to the American Red Cross to help with relief from Hurricane Sandy.  I hope you can take a look and consider purchasing.  They would make nice Christmas gifts.