Faulkner's Island Landscape
As the Stars and Lights project continued to grow more lighthouses were being researched to shoot. In the fall of 2015 I began looking at a lighthouse on an island off Guilford, Connecticut and found it was cared for by a small group of dedicated volunteers called the Faulkner Light Brigade. Their president thought there'd be no issue with a nighttime visit to the island but mentioned it should first be cleared by the US Fish and Wildlife ranger who quickly denied the request. The island is a bird sanctuary for rare and endangered birds and since their office has deemed photography as a commercial venture, it would take three years to complete a Commercial Photographers Permit with no guarantee of it getting approved. However, the ranger offered, Connecticut law allows access on any waterfront up to the mean high tide mark. It would take another two years before weather, tides, lunar schedules and my own personal one would allow for this shoot. My buddy Sean and I put the whaler in at the Guilford town boat ramp and motored to the island around sunset on this warm early spring night. The water temperatures were still quite cold and safety was paramount especially at night. There were no signs of birds as I rowed the inflatable to shore while Sean stayed anchored in the whaler. While he lit the scene with the dimmed LED light, I stayed within twenty feet of the water so not to compromise the mean tide law. While it would have been much different being allowed closer access to the lighthouse, we came away with some nice seldom seen images despite the increasing clouds.
April 17, 2017 9:33pm 68° 5 mph wind
Nikon D4, 14mm lens ISO 1250 f2.8 20secs
