Slow Photography # 57: Visions of The Jimmy Buffet Lighthouse

For over a century, the Bird Rock Cay Lighthouse has guided ships through shallow passages. It defies time, standing tall against blue sky and the relentless power of the sea.  

Crooked Island Lighthouse rises 112 feet above Bird Rock Cay.

Queen Isabella.

Next to the lighthouse, we are standing on the windswept shores of the Bahamian island Columbus named after his sponsor, Isabella the Queen of Spain.  

  Just a quarter mile from its northwest shore stands Bird Rock Cay Lighthouse, a magnificent complex completed by the British in 1876. Rumors persist that Jimmy Buffet purchased this island after writing about it in his book, A Salty Piece of Land.

  Approaching Bird Rock Cay and the lighthouse itself, the fragrance of herbs from Crooked Island fades as one gets closer to the tower complex. A fresh mixture of smells pervades the moist air; the subtle scent of rusting iron underlies the smells of kelp. Both scents are born by a light salty breeze. This soft north wind kisses your lips in March, but may painfully split them open in the infamous December gales that blow over Crooked Island.

 The sun overhead is so bright, it seem to enrish the water's surface with a myriad of diamonds.

 Inside the shallows themselves, the Bahama banks that surround Bird Rock Cay roll away to an infinite variety of blue hues. Sky and water appear to be watching, as we slowly row our dinghy to the shore of Bird Rock Cay. Rising above its sturdy concrete foundation, the lighthouse's alabaster tower soars 100 feet high as it punctures the Bahamian sky.

Exposed to decades of salt air, the rusted steps of the lighthouse are slowly crumbling.

  The way is gentle at first. We entering the lighthouse building. Broad concrete steps leading to the tower door.  Once through the door, however, a perilous climb begins. Each iron stair is encrusted with layers of rust. The staircase is and weak enough to invoke prayers for survival and safe passage. Pale blue dust motes float down the stairway into the wide room at the foot of the rusty spiral staircase.
  
  After this breathless ascent, a panoramic expanse rewards the eye. It seems to glow with more hues of blue than the mind can believe.

A view looking Southeast from the upper lighthouse widows walk.

Photography Methods

   These visions of the Jimmy Buffet lighthouse emerged from the practice of Slow Photography. High Dynamic Range (HDR) techniques were used: wide angle lens, five bracketed exposures, and the camera braced against the wall with a small tripod. This ensured that all exposures would be in register before combining them in Photomatix Pro software. Instead of a full size tripod, I took a 12-inch high, bantam-weight Manfrotto tripod because it made the ascent easier and safer than if I'd carried my Gitzo.

The battery powered light was operating in 2012.

 

  Thanks for your visit. Jim