I shot this image today inside the lighthouse at NAS Pensacola. The quarters are pretty cramped so I first pulled out the 18mm and when I peered through the viewfinder I heard this voice in my head saying..............NAAAAAAAAAAH! it had a good graphical effect but there was just something missing. So I grabbed the 16mm fisheye and the voice said "THAT'S IT!" The bent straight lines really make this image. They are in direct opposition to the ridges in the Fresnel lens. What I found so amazing about this entire thing was the size of the two bulbs. They were maybe 1" in diameter and maybe 3" long. I asked the keeper, is that ALL? He told me, that ships can see them 30 miles away with no problem. The bulbs are 1000W each. The Fresnel lenses (which are the original ones from 1859 when the lighthouse was built) still do such a fantastic job that a huge lamp is not needed. The first "lamp" was actually a kerosene burning lantern!
As I was up there, I thought to myself, now THIS PLACE would be a really cool place to sit out a hurricane!!! When the eye hit you could go outside onto the catwalk around it and look around. As soon as the wind starts picking up again, time to go back inside!
As I was up there, I thought to myself, now THIS PLACE would be a really cool place to sit out a hurricane!!! When the eye hit you could go outside onto the catwalk around it and look around. As soon as the wind starts picking up again, time to go back inside!
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