The Lighthouses of Australia

By Andrew Gregory August 27, 2015
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For two centuries, lighthouses have stood 
as sentinels along the jagged perimeter of Australia. Here are some of the more dramatic ones, in time lapse.

This time-lapse video features some of the most dramatic lighthouses in Australia, of which we have 350 that are still operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

  • Gabo Island lighthouse, which can only be seen from a distance in the opening sunrise shot.
  • Wadjemup lighthouse, Rottnest Island WA. “Wadjemup has an amazing eight beams of light continuously rotating 360 degrees and is probably the most spectacular beam I’ve seen,” says photographer Andrew Gregory.
  • Bathurst Point lighthouse, Rottnest WA.
  • Point Hicks lighthouse, Victoria, a beautiful white lighthouse, with brilliant stars because of the limited light pollution and its proximity to Bass Strait.
  • Cape Byron lighthouse, NSW,  the most easterly point under a full moon
  • Smoky Cape lighthouse, NSW, also a beam that rotates 360 degrees
  • Barrenjoey lighthouse, NSW: the panorama captures the fire that surrounded the lighthouse in October 2013.
  • The last sequence is of Point Hicks lighthouse and covers about 8 hours through the night and over 1000 frames.

It’s difficult capturing the rotating beams with timelapse sequences, says photographer Andrew Gregory. “You have to measure how fast the beams are rotating and calculate your exposures and intervals accordingly.”

Read the full story in #128 of Australian Geographic.