TO MONTAUK: Sept 6
I left the house with an ambitious plan: after closing on the house I would make for Montauk Point to photograph the lighthouse there. But first, I wanted to stop by my old favorite bagel shop and stock up. Not only do I like to stock up on bagels for my freezer at home, but I figured bagels would be a good emergency source of snacking during my Montauk jaunt. I braved legendary Long Island rush-hour traffic to get to the bagel shop at about 4:05, only to learn that my precious time had been wasted: when I arrived, the shop was closed. Arrrrrgh! So, after a quick gas fillup, it was off to Montauk.
After the bagel fiasco, it was getting late so I booked it to Montauk. A crucial decision came when I got to Hampton Bays. I had hoped to stop quickly in Flanders to photograph the so-called “Big Duck”. Not only was it a favorite icon of mine — it is a famous representation of Long Island’s duck farming heritage, and also a favorite example of architectural whimsy — I also knew that there were no examples of the Duck on iStockphoto. Perhaps it’s not allowed for copyright reasons, but I expect that the duck is Public Domain. At the least, it’s public architecture now owned by a public entity. Anyhow, I decided that I couldn’t pass it up and stopped to photograph the Big Duck. The light wasn’t perfect — I don’t expect it ever is, the way the duck is placed. I was pleased with my results and moved on.
By now it was about 6pm, and I was clearly losing the light. Sunset was somewhere around 7:15pm, and I had no idea about the terrain or location around the lighthouse. I was also quite hungry, having acquired no bagels for sustenance.
I stopped to pick up a turkey sandwich to go, and made it to the lighthouse to catch the dying rays of the sun. I did what I could, but it was clear that the most advantageous light comes in the morning, anyway. So I spent most of my efforts at reconnoitering the area, figuring out where would be the best spots to shoot in the morning.
I arrived at my motel around 8:00. The Sail Inn advertises itself as the cheapest motel in Montauk, and I don’t doubt it. The furnishings were barely shipshape enough for some stock self-portraiture I had in mind (hotel guest goes to bed, is what I wound up shooting). The bed quilt in particular was an awful coral design in awful florida pastel colors. Oh, well. What more do I really need in a hotel room, anyhow?
Before going to bed, I set the hotel alarm for 5:30 AM, in preparation for 6:15 sunrise. And I was awakened … at 1:15?! For some reason the hotel alarm insisted on blowing at 1:15, and I couldn’t figure out how to make it work right. Fortunately, I remembered my cell phone has an alarm feature.
MONTAUK: Sept 7
Up bright and early, I made my way to Camp Hero State Park I had checked Flickr the night before, and saw some good sunrise shots taken from that spot. Camp Hero is definitely the “definitive” view of Montauk light. I arrived before 6 AM, and all was quiet … until, at around 6:10, a flotilla of about thirty boats and a helicopter appeared. Apparently, it was fishing season. Later I learned that I had happened upon a fishing contest.
After covering the Camp Hero angle, I moved to the north side of the light. There, I saw at least a dozen anglers fishing off the rocks on shore. At least four people caught giant fish that were at least three feet long. Incredible. I should have asked them to sign model releases; they would be big sellers, for sure. But I just wasn’t in a sociable mood, so I did not.
By 7AM there was a giant cloud settling over Montauk, so I made a beeline for breakfast. Then, with no particular plan, I headed West to Amagansett. Bought some beautiful fruit at the Amagansett Farmers Market, and shot some photos of the Old Hook Windmill. It was then I noticed: hey, the sky is getting pretty great. Maybe time to go back to Montauk.
So back to Montauk Point for a third time. By now it was around 9:30, still good morning light, and a little bit of blue sky behind the lighthouse. I had another reason to go back, though: the lighthouse and museum opened for vistors at 10:30AM. In the absence of compelling reasons to do otherwise, I wanted to visit the museum and go up to the top of the lighthouse.
From there, it was basically a straight shot back home. I took the two Shelter Island ferries and drove to Orient Point, and from there took the ferry to New London. The Orient-New London ferry was a pleasant treat because I got great shots of three lighthouses and got passable shots of two more. So my trip was instantly turned from a one-lighthouse trip to a six-lighthouse trip!
