Sunrise at The Fastnet Lighthouse - Sea Area Fastnet

THE PHOTOGRAPH

The most iconic lighthouse in the world? 

But getting out to photograph it on a February morning isn't easy. I had a few weeks in Ireland with my camera, and this was at the top of the list. (I'm working on a Black and White photography book "The Shipping Forecast", and there was no way this book can go to press with out a shot of the Fastnet Rock and Lighthouse).

Any way, a dozen phone calls to charter a power boat, yacht, fishing boat - anything- and I was getting nowhere. So I drove the five hours to the nearest harbour Baltimore, a beautiful spot a long way from anywhere at the southern tip of Ireland only to find all of the boats lifted out of the sea for the winter. Nooo...

All, that is, except one well used little fishing boat bobbing bravely away. It turned out this belonged to the local bar and hotel owner Youen Jacob. He wasn't hard to track down, and a couple pints later this brilliant man, out of the goodness of his heart and taking pity on a fellow photographer, had agreed to drag himself out of bed at 5am on a winter morning and run me out into the cold Atlantic ocean for a dawn photo shoot of the Fastnet Lighthouse. What a man!



It was drizzling as we set out, but dolphins kept us company and the sea was kind. And finally the sun broke through...Wow. Thank you Youen.

HOW WE MAKE THE PICTURE

We build everything ourselves in the gallery. The photograph is printed on the very best archival matte canvas, hand coated in a matte varnish we import from America, and then left flat to dry for a few days. This means the picture can be cleaned with a damp cloth, and the great thing about a matte finish with no glass is that you have no distracting glare or reflections. It's a much more direct experience.

Whilst the print is drying we can get on with making the stretcher frame and the tray frame that the finished canvas will drop into. The tray frame is then either hand painted or stained and waxed.

Next the canvas is stretched over the stretcher frame. After that, we carefully paint the canvas edges with several coats of the same paint used on the tray frame, so they match perfectly. Then we assemble the canvas and frame, put a hanging wire on the back, and attach a Certificate of Authenticity.

Finally Neil writes the days weather forecast in silver on the canvas, along with the longitude and latitude of the location the photo was taken. Also signing front and back  adding the title and edition number.

We use the very best materials, and I would expect my pictures to look exactly the same in 100 years. They won't fade in our lifetime. 

BUYING OPTIONS

This picture is available as a framed stretched canvas, and comes in three sizes as detailed below. A shipping charge of £35 is added at checkout for the larger sizes, and £20 for the smaller one.

Large Stretched Canvas Framed in a Tray Frame: £450

Limited Edition of 150

Framed Size 77cm by 77cm (canvas 71cm cm by 71cm)

XL Stretched Canvas Framed in Tray Frame: £575

Limited Edition of 50

Framed Size is 93 cm by 93 cm  (canvas size is 87cm by 87cm).

Small Stretched Canvas Framed in a Tray Frame: £160

Limited Edition of 250

Framed Size 38 cm by 38cm (canvas 32cm by 32cm)

Canvases can be rolled and shipped abroad unframed. Please get in touch for a quote.

Feel free to call Neil on 07957 473693 with any more questions, or email us at neil@neilwilliams.co.uk