Last Light
The old Point Gellibrand Pile Light, looking SE from Shelly Beach, Williamstown.
Burnt down June 23 1976 (in a rush by authorities to forestall a campaign by locals to restore it, after it was hit by a 7,000 tonne vessel because the lighthouse fog horn was not working).
A member in the previous generation of my extended family went to school with children who lived on the lighthouse. She said she envied them because they were excused from school on days the sea was rough. No such luck on a day like this...
Looking at the proofs nearly fifty years ago, I didn’t think this shot justified a print (hand held in dwindling light, probably wide open at F1.8). However it has grown on me — it is perhaps of historic interest, and it captures the atmosphere of the place at dusk. (It just resolves a Pacific Gull at the southern [RH] end of the reef. 🔍😀 ) The thin GAC strip manages to convey a sense of receding depth away from the viewer, at least to someone who knows the area. (If the sea looks silvery, it is maybe because all the darkrooms of Melbourne drained into the bay...😉 )
Petri FT EE F1.8 55mm, Kodak Tri X
Last Light
The old Point Gellibrand Pile Light, looking SE from Shelly Beach, Williamstown.
Burnt down June 23 1976 (in a rush by authorities to forestall a campaign by locals to restore it, after it was hit by a 7,000 tonne vessel because the lighthouse fog horn was not working).
A member in the previous generation of my extended family went to school with children who lived on the lighthouse. She said she envied them because they were excused from school on days the sea was rough. No such luck on a day like this...
Looking at the proofs nearly fifty years ago, I didn’t think this shot justified a print (hand held in dwindling light, probably wide open at F1.8). However it has grown on me — it is perhaps of historic interest, and it captures the atmosphere of the place at dusk. (It just resolves a Pacific Gull at the southern [RH] end of the reef. 🔍😀 ) The thin GAC strip manages to convey a sense of receding depth away from the viewer, at least to someone who knows the area. (If the sea looks silvery, it is maybe because all the darkrooms of Melbourne drained into the bay...😉 )
Petri FT EE F1.8 55mm, Kodak Tri X