Larger Light Looming

As powerful as the Kewaunee, Wisconsin lighthouse lamp may be, it is no match for the power and majesty of the full moon of March 27, 2013.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well this image turned out; at how clearly the Fresnel lens of the lighthouse can be seen.  The surprising part…this photo was taken from the shore.  Anyone familiar with the Kewaunee lighthouse knows the lighthouse sits at the end of a very long pier that extends 750 feet from shore.

To get this image I used a 300mm lens with a 2X teleconverter (effectively doubling the reach of the lens).  It is simply luck that the focus was as sharp as it is since I had to focus manually. (A number of other shots that night were not so sharp.)  Under low light conditions, particularly with the teleconverter, the camera’s auto-focus doesn’t work.

Normally, without the brightness of the full moon behind it, the lighthouse lamp would show up as a big, bright white blob.

To get a better view, click on the image and a larger version will open in another browser window.