Highland Light, North Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

What is it about lighthouses? The romance of the sea? A welcoming beacon signaling safe harbor? A cautionary beacon warning of dangerous land?

Highland Light in North Truro on Cape Cod is easily accessible in the Cape Cod National Seashore. Unlike Race Point Light, Wood End Light, or Long Point Light, when visiting Highland Light, one can drive right up almost to the front door. No stumbling around in the sand when you leave after dark.

Highland Light is the oldest and tallest on Cape Cod.  The original wood version was authorized by George Washington in 1797. In summer months, for a few dollars, it is possible to climb the stairs up to the top......



....and see the view and the actual light itself.



We arrived for sunset but, alas, the existing sky was a bit flat and mostly overcast so I modified it in post-processing to this freakishly apocalyptic version.



Back to "normal" view, here is the perspective toward the west and the mostly hidden sunset......



.....and the eastward view. Pretty spot - and my shoes stayed dry the whole time. The grounds are open year-around.

Highland Light, North Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

The challenge in making pictures of such an often-photographed lighthouse is to make the image somehow different and more interesting than hundreds or thousands of others that are similar.  I used the long shadows of people to try to achieve that goal. 

In 1797, President George Washington authorized a light to be located here on the Cape. It was the first lighthouse on Cape Cod.

Highland Light (previously known as Cape Cod Light) is easily accessible within  the grounds of the Cape Cod National Seashore.

My favorite part of this image is not what you might think at first glance - what I really like is the shadow of the jumping woman's body on the picket fence.

If I had a lower angle of view so the woman's figure was completely against the sky, this could have been a great image.

The last blast of the setting sun is reflected in a window.

The after-sunset glow.

A touch of moon and a few pink clouds.

Unique photos or not, Highland Light is a beautiful place to visit on the Cape.

Beach Cottages, North Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

These summer beach cottages line the sand in North Truro on Cape Cod - the water's edge is perhaps five yards/meters off screen. The first few cottages were begun more than 80 years ago and now, Day's Cottages, are very popular summer rentals. On the day of my visit, they are all boarded up for another harsh winter to come and go before next summer's vacationers return to frolic.  [I used the Graphic Pen special effect in Photoshop Elements to modify both images.]

A slightly different view of the same cottages - I also reversed the image horizontally.