Tag: lighthouse

This House is on fire

This house is on fire - La Lanterna, the historic lighthouse of Genoa
La Laterna | Genoa | 2024

This house is on fire – as a lighthouse should be. Only that the backlighted illumination of Genoa’s historic lighthouse, La Lanterna, is natural, with the sun setting directly behind the almost 500 year old structure guiding to the entrance of the port of “La Superba”, as Genoa is also known since medieval times. The photo is a throwback to last November, when, during the first days of the month, the sun is setting directly behind the Lanterna, with 77 meters height the tallest lighthouse in the Mediterranean and still the second tallest in Europe.

The Significant Other and I left Austria on New Year’s Day to spend the last days of our Christmas break at our “Southern Home” in Genoa on the Ligurian Coast in Italy, enjoying the perfect weather, as beautiful as on that November day when I captured the lighthouse on fire with my iPhone 14 Pro while strolling along the Porto Antico.

I hope you all had a great start into 2025.

Wish you a great Friday

Marcus

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La Lanterna – revisited

Lanterna - Genova's historic lighthouse
La Lanterna | Genoa | 2004

With the two-week holiday break behind us, The Significant Other and I returned to the jobs that pay the bills today. But we’re still fueled by the memories we made visiting with friends in the Austrian and Swiss alps and, in between, spending the first days at our new “second home” in Genoa. As decoration for our living room we decided to put up a large photo of Genoa’s historic lighthouse – La Lanterna – printed on a 47×32 inch (120×80 cm) canvas.

One of my favorite images of La Lanterna is one I took back in 2004 during a winter sunset with my first digital camera, a Minolta Dimage A1. Revisiting the image in Lightroom Classic, I realized that the quality of a 18 year old digital photograph might not be up to todays standards, and could be unsuitable for a large scale print. Thankfully, Lightroom Classic offers the possibility to upscale any image to double its original size, so I could increase resolution to a modern 5210×3840. Changing the calibration process (in the development module) from the original V1 to the current V5, I was also able to use the modern day capabilities of Lightroom to clean up the noise in the original photograph and enhance clarity and the colors. Exporting the old image to its 2023 clone, I got a clean 10,4 MB file with 300dpi, perfect for a large print.

La Lanterna, as we still see it today, was built in its current shape in 1543, replacing a previous structure on the same rock. It is the world’s third oldest lighthouse and, for more than 350 years, was also the tallest lighthouse in the world.

Have a great start into the week!

Marcus

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Guiding Light

Heceta Head Lighthouse on the Oregon Coast under the night sky
1 sec | f/1.2 | ISO 400 | 17mm

Throwing another image of the Heceta Head Lighthouse (see yesterday’s post with the photographs from below and across here) at you doesn’t really do justice to the splendid day I spent yesterday on the Oregon coast. I enjoyed sunshine, pristine beaches, colorful towns and saw about twenty Grey Whales from the shore.

Continue reading “Guiding Light” →
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Highlight of my week

Heceta Head Lighthouse on the Oregon Coast at dusk
1/10 sec | f/4 | ISO 200 | 75mm

It was a long trip from Nuremberg across the big ocean to Portland earlier this week. A total of 27 hours travel time. Followed by two days of intense work. But I treated myself to weekend trip to the Oregon Coast, leaving the office in time to arrive for sunset at the Heceta Head Lighthouse near Yachats.

Continue reading “Highlight of my week” →
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First and Last

Sunrise Rainbow | 2018 | Depoe Bay
Sunrise Rainbow | 2018 | Depoe Bay

My Saturday spent at the coast of the great Pacific Ocean wasn’t all that bad. There was magic in the early morning, and there was magic at the end of the day. It started with a magnificent rainbow, that appeared out of nowhere behind the rugged shoreline of Depoe Bay when the sun came up behind the hills. I captured it with my iPhone Xs. I did have my Olympus PEN-F with the 12-40mm F/2.8 with me, but the 12mm wasn’t wide enough to capture the rainbow in its entirety. So I reverted to my iPhone for a panoramic shot. I got lucky that I even captured a crashing wave while panning. Where there is a rainbow there is also rain. It was the first time, but not the last on this day, that I got thoroughly soaked. The early bird got really wet before getting back to the place where I was staying.

Sunset Lighthouse | 2018 | Yaquina Head
Sunset Lighthouse | 2018 | Yaquina Head

Also the last photo of the day I took with the iPhone. Image quality has become so good, that I don’t bother shooting several photos for a panoramic view with my cam and stitching them later in Lightroom. I simply use my phone with one easy pan. When taking this last photo of the day with the magic evening light behind Newport’s Yaquina Head Lighthouse, I was once more thoroughly wet, as I got caught by a passing intense shower while being down below at the tide pools below the cliffs.

I have to admit there were not too many days of my photographic career where the first and last images of the day where similar memorable. Obviously, there where plenty more photos taken during my day on the coast, but this is for another post.

Wish you a great Sunday!

Marcus

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Favorite Place

Lanterna di Genova
Lanterna | Genova | 2004

The Weekly Photo Challenge calls to depict a “Favorite Place“,  an image of a happy place  or a faraway location you return to again and again.

The city that has a special place in my heart, a city I return to again and again, is Genoa. “La Superba”, as the city on the Ligurian Riviera is also called, was our home from 2001 to 2005, and where we have many very good friends.

Typically the first place we head to, when visiting, is the “Porto Antico”, the old port, that dates back to Roman times. Towering above the harbor basin is “La Lanterna”, the historic lighthouse, and the principal landmark of Genoa.

For centuries the tallest lighthouse in the world, it is, at 249 feet (76 m), still the fifth tallest lighthouse.  Considered as a whole with the natural rock on which it stands, its height is even 383 feet (117 m), making it the second tallest lighthouse in the world. Originally constructed in 1161, it was rebuilt in 1543 in its current structure, making it the world’s third oldest existing lighthouse. One of its keepers was Antonio Colombo, uncle of explorer Christopher Columbus, who was born in Genoa in 1451.

Sitting in on of the bars at the Porto Antico, looking at the Lanterna, sipping a cocktail and enjoying a warm sunset, there are not many places on this planet that mean more to me than this one.

Have a great Thursday!

Marcus

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