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| Admiralty Lighthouse, Whidbey Island, WA. |
It's all a matter of perspective.
The Park Service and the lighthouse organization that manages and cares for this structure does an outstanding job. It offers tours on a daily basis and the staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and courteous. The lighthouse appears to be well-maintained and presents itself as a favorable subject for photography, with one exception. Scattered around the grounds close to the structure are a collection picnic tables. The tables do not lend themselves to any desirable photographic composition.While waiting for sunset I evaluated a number of prospective locations from which to capture an image. A few locations minimized the presence of the tables, and I figured with some effort and Photoshop's help I could eliminate them from the final photo. As I explored different vantage points I became aware that if I shot from ground level atop the hill alongside the house I could avoid including the tables. Only problem, to include a sizable portion of sky at this low angle the lighthouse appeared to tilt and recede into the frame. There are ways to correct this situation during post processing but I decided on a more traditional approach, use of a tilt/shift lens.
Through the use of a tilt/shift lens one can adjust for such artifacts in perspective. The low to the ground perspective also offered the opportunity to eliminate a good bit of foreground which lacked any pleasing characteristics. The photo presented is an assembly of 3 images taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera mounted on a Benro tripod using a 20mm lens tilted upwards from vertical and shifted along the horizontal axis. Images were initially assembled and processed in Adobe Lightroom and further modified in Photoshop, largely using Nik plug-in filters to reduce noise and enhance tonal ranges. A final bit of editing was done using Topaz software to accentuate the soft glow on the horizon.
