Point Iroquois Lighthouse at Dusk

In May of 2011, we took a short trip to the UP.  We were staying in SSM as usual.  One of our day trips was to head up to Whitefish Point.  On the way to Whitefish Point is the Point Iroquois Lighthouse.  Point Iroquois is where the western end of the St. Mary's River and Lake Superior intersect.  The light was to guide Great Lake freighters going downbound to the Soo locks.
The original lighthouse was completed and started operation in June of 1856.  In 1870, the original lighthouse was torn down and the current lighthouse was completed and in operation.  This was the time of the Great Lakes industry boom.  The Great Lakes was the place to be.
The tower height is 65 feet.  The original light was a fourth order Fresnal with a signal visible to 13 miles.  The current lighthouse was in operation for 93 years until it was deactivated in 1963.
In the early 1990's, the entire location was renovated.  When we visited, the grounds and house were in excellent shape.
Getting back to the day trip, because this was taken at dusk.  We stopped at the lighthouse early in the morning and enjoyed the clear view and fresh lake air.  After our stop here, we headed up to Whitefish Point for a few hours.  From WFP, we were off to Tahquamenon Falls for a few hours.  (The days are long at this time of year.)  From the Falls, we headed back to the Soo.  While we were passing Point Iroquois for the second time of the day, we saw there were no other visitors and the sun was setting behind the house.  Excellent photo opportunity.
This is a three shot HDR image.  I've played with this scene over the years and from what I can see I always tried to 'over' HDR it.  This shot on its own stands up well.

ISO 400, f/5, (1/15, 1/60, 1/250 HDR), 24 mm

NIKON D90/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

HDR - Photomatix 6.1.1

No halos on the roof line.  There is a slight halo between the left chimney and tower, but not enough to really annoy me.  This is exactly what I want HDR to do for me these days, just balance the light.
But.
It is just another lighthouse photo.  There are lots of these on hundreds of post cards.
Dare to be different.

That's different.