Minnesota – Split Rock Lighthouse (Re-post)

(This post originally published in August, 2010)

Over the past week, I have been photographing in Minnesota. My wife’s family had a family reunion this past weekend and we decided to travel several days prior to the reunion, so that I could photograph some of the landscapes and wildlife on the trip. The first day was spent along the “North Shore” area of Minnesota; the North Shore is the shoreline along Lake Superior, in northern Minnesota.

One of the highlights of this area is a well-known lighthouse, known as Split Rock Lighthouse. This lighthouse turns 100 years old this year and was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1969, the time it was placed out of service. We drove by this landmark on our first evening in Minnesota. Unfortunately, there are limited views of the lighthouse, due to the heavy tree growth and the windy roads (note: you can walk right up to the lighthouse, but I was looking for an “environmental” look, capturing the entire area). I’m sure that if I had more time, I would have been able to find some more views, but on a whirlwind tour of the area, this would have to work. This view seemed to be the best I could find:

Split-Rock Lighthouse

 

After photographing the lighthouse, we drove a few miles to the north and checked in to our motel. We arose at 4:30am the next morning and drove back to the lighthouse view so that I could get some images in the early morning sunrise. Here are a few of my favorites:

Split-Rock Lighthouse at sunrise

 

Split-Rock Lighthouse at sunrise

 

In addition to the wonderful early morning light, we were also able to view/photograph the lighthouse as fog crept up the rock wall that sits below the lighthouse:

SplitRock Lighthouse at Sunrise in the fog

 

 

 

SplitRock Lighthouse at sunrise in the fog

 

 

Split-Rock Lighthouse at sunrise in the fog

 

On our next trip to this locale, I plan on doing some more in-depth research and see if I can find some more interesting views. And in the next Minnesota trip post, I will cover some of the waterfalls of the North Shore area.

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