The Challenges of Mississippi and Alabama

 We did manage to find the clouds on our lighthouse-hunting tour of the Gulf Coast - Gulfapalooza 2011 - but only for about half a day.  Probably should have stayed an extra day to shoot Biloxi Mississippi's charming lighthouse in better light, but we had no idea how long the rest of the lights on our list would take.

 I actually kind of like a lighthouse against a stormy sky.  Lighthouses were invented for such weather.

 Cupola!

 This graffiti-covered concrete beacon by no means counts as a lighthouse, but we needed to kill some time in Biloxi to give the clouds a chance to move on.  So, here you go.

 The only Alabama lighthouse we had a chance of shooting lies a couple of miles offshore, at the mouth of Mobile Bay.  Without an aircraft or a boat, the best vantage point from which to photograph the light is Fort Morgan.  

 Forts are cool.

 ...and spooky.

 450mm lens and all, this is as close as we could get to the light.  That's an oil rig, to the left of the tower.

 One of the light's original Fresnel lenses, at home in the fort's museum.

 And another.

Next up - the Florida panhandle has some photogenic and accessible lighthouses.

Not Sure What's More Tchefuncte - The Boat, The Light Or Walking In Ryan Reynolds' Footsteps

October 2011. We crossed Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans to the North Shore - 23 miles; one of the longest over-water bridges on earth - to shoot the Tchefuncte River Lightouse (on B&W 35mm film, above). We found a very cool spot which, unbeknownst to us at the time, had been a movie set.

Just across the cove from the lighthouse, this abandoned push barge served as the backdrop to the scene in the "Green Lantern" in which Ryan Reynolds' character finds himself drawn to the site of Abin Sur's wrecked spaceship. It's a strange and spooky scene.

Even the ruins of the pier are creepy.

The broken chunks of concrete wouldn't be spooky on their own, but in context...

The light at dusk. It is midway through a major restoration. The tower is finished. Hopefully within the next couple of years, the pier and keeper's house will be fully restored, as well.

The next morning. Even in the sun, it's a sad and broken scene.

And nearly transparent.

Dragonfly! (yes, I need a macro lens)

Spanish moss!

With framing!

Fully-zoomed.

The road from Madisonville, LA to this point is probably only about five miles, but the last one is pretty rough for a car not made for 4-wheeling. My car made the trip just fine (in first gear for most of it), but she is NOT amused.

Bye!