Heceda Head, located north of Florence, OR, is one of my favorite spots on the Oregon coast because of the lighthouse, exceptional vistas, dramatic waves, and beautiful flora. It is also one of the few lighthouses on the Oregon coast where one can climb behind the lighthouse for a unique perspective of the coastline.
To obtain that view, one must climb up the steep, brushy slope immediately behind the lighthouse. There is admittedly not a lot of room to maneuver on that slope, and setting up a tripod to achieve maximum depth of field can be quite challenging. To capture the lighthouse and the coastline, a fairly extreme wide-angle lens is required, in this case, 14 mm, especially if one wishes to capture the salal foliage in the immediate foreground.
The primary view of the coastline from this location is to the south. Typically, sun glare is a potential problem for most of the day, washing out colors and creating extreme contrast. In June, however, when the sun rises from the northeast, glare issues are minimized, especially early in the morning. Therefore, I planned to be there when the sun is as far north as possible, at sunrise. All I needed was clear weather to see as far down the coast as possible, which I was fortunate to obtain.
Of course, wide-angle lenses can make distant objects appear too small in the image. Composing such a shot may require a strong visual element in the foreground to provide interest and help lead the viewer’s eye to the more distant visual elements. The lighthouse provided the visual element I needed to achieve that, given its well-recognized purpose of being seen from afar.
