Cape Agulhas Lighthouse

Cape Agulhas Lighthouse stands at the southernmost tip of Africa, on the rocky edge of the village of L'Agulhas. This tall red and white stone tower rises over a dark shoreline and the open sea where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. The tower itself is the perfect shooting subject with its bright paint job that pops against a blue sky, grey storm clouds, or a sky full of sunset colour. You can easily get low among the rocks to set the lighthouse against a big sky, and move around to put foreground texture in front of it. A wide lens is the best one to to have here for the tower, the foreground, and the sweep of sky and sea, with a 24-70mm for tighter framing and a longer lens for details or to compress the coastline. Sunrise and sunset both work well here. A low morning sun spreads across the red tower and warms it against the sky, and a sunset behind the lighthouse creates a clean silhouette. Plus this is usually a stormy stretch of coast so if you are lucky it will deliver you some dramatic skies and heavy surf that will create moody frames. Sometimes the top of the tower is accessible and you can capture a wide view over the coastline and the meeting of the two oceans. Since the lighthouse sits inside Agulhas National Park there is an entry fee and set opening hours for the park and the tower climb, so make sure to plan around them. The coastline and the southernmost marker outside are open and free to wander at anytime. After you are done capturing the lighthouse be sure to include the rusting Meisho Maru shipwreck in this photography outing. (L'Agulhas, Western Cape, South Africa)