Traveling alone for weeks at a time in wilderness areas while seeking out new images, it's not unusual to find myself thinking about my life and the direction it is going in. There is always doubt about whether one is pursuing the right course in ones life and quite often find myself looking for "signs" to indicate if I'm on the right track or not.

I was seeking just such a sign one rainy day along the Northern Washington coast. The weather had been awful, and I had not taken a single picture in several days. I was starting to feel as if I had wasted my time taking this trip and begun to drive away from this lighthouse located in the coastal town of Port Townsend. As I was driving, I noticed some clearing in the western part of the sky and thought maybe if I went back to the lighthouse I'd get a shot of it with at least some weak sunlight on it.

As I set up, the sky opened up in the west letting the full power of the setting sun illuminate the lighthouse and the squall of rain and hail just behind it. The most spectacular rainbow I'd had ever seen appeared over the lighthouse. Despite the fact that rain and hail where hitting my lens I managed to get off several good shots before the clouds closed in and the rainbow disappeared. I turned to see whether any one else had seen what I had. There was no one. It was my beacon.

The Romance of the Sea Collection is a new series or prints devoted to Tall Ships and nautical related imagery. To view the complete collection visit the click here