Outdoors

This photographer captures incredible images of the Port Bruce lighthouse

“Over the years, I have built up a fairly extensive photographic portfolio of the Port Bruce lighthouse,” says photographer Trevor Pottelberg. Trevor specializes in landscape and astro photography, and he has taken photos of beautiful scenes from across Canada, but through all of it, the Port Bruce lighthouse is still one of his favourite places to shoot. “I absolutely love the rocky shoreline, the natural beach, and the rustic pier.”

port bruce lighthouse in moonlight
Trevor Pottelberg

While traditional coastal-style lighthouses may not be a common sight in Ontario, these navigational markers still represent an important part of culture for the lakeside towns of Southwestern Ontario, says Pottelberg.

lakeshore under moonlight
Trevor Pottelberg

And being on the lake’s shore offers a wide variety of situations that Pottelberg can capture. “I’ve photographed this location at sunrise, sunset, during violent wind storms, thunderstorms, during full moons, and under the light of a thousand stars,” he says. ” The area morphs into a completely different environment during each visit.”

lighthouse with a green light at night
Trevor Pottelberg

Pottelberg used a Sony mirrorless camera and a Sony FE 16-35 f.2.8. wide-angle lens, which enables him to capture the foreground and the sky in detail. “I’ve been blown away with the amount of dynamic range that the camera can capture in one single frame,” he says.

orange and blue sky with starts and a green light at the end of a pier
Trevor Pottelberg

And though he’s visited the site many times, the beauty of the Port Bruce lighthouse hasn’t worn off. “The conditions that it has had to endure over the years is unfathomable,” says Pottelberg. “And yet, it stands strong to this day, with it’s green beacon shining out over Lake Erie.”

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