St. Augustine, Florida, November 20-27, 2004

In the late afternoon on Thanksgiving, as the light was getting interesting, we decided to make a foray to the lighthouse in St. Augustine. Photographing lighthouses has been an interest of mine since I got my Digital Rebel, particularly since there are two spectacular examples a short distance from our house. So I was looking forward to the opportunity to shoot some photos of the lighthouse in St. Augustine, which is on Anastasia Island even closer to my parents' house than Twin Lights or Sandy Hook lighthouses are to ours here in New Jersey.

The light was beautiful, but unfortunately for us, it was coming from the wrong direction. Trees block the view of the lighthouse from the west, and of course, late afternoon sunlight comes from the west. The trip was useful, though, because I did discover that there was at least one vantage point from which I could photograph the entire lighthouse without the building being blocked by trees.

Lighthouse in shadow

Turn toward the Matanzas River, on the other hand, and this palm tree was catching that light quite nicely.

A palm tree

So were these boats, not to mention Anastasia Island State Park in the background.

Boats anchored in the river

It was late enough in the afternoon that not everything was catching the light by this time.

More boats, with a gentleman casting off in the foreground

From the other side of the trees, the top of the lighthouse was just about all we could see.

The top of St. Augustine Lighthouse seen from the west

St. Augustine, Florida, November 20-27, 2004 -- St. Augustine Lighthouse, Thanksgiving Day, November 25 and Friday, November 26