PORT CLINTON — When David Zapatka kneeled down under the stars at the foot of the Port Clinton Lighthouse on Aug. 23, his knees pressing into the sand and his camera nestled on a folded towel, he was not only recording history; he was also making history. Zapatka has embarked on an extraordinary journey to photograph America’s remaining lighthouses from a vantage point that was impossible for well over two centuries.

He wants to capture them in the dead of night.

With his camera, Zapatka is photographing the lighthouses as early lightkeepers would have seen them — almost. As he checked shot angles and adjusted camera settings on that mild summer night, he worked under the same sky that 19th century Port Clinton lightkeeper Robert Waterfield worked under as he hauled oil and polished lenses. Both have seen the Port Clinton Lighthouse blanketed by a darkness softened by a million stars.

Yet the photos Zapatka took reveal a nighttime world never seen by him or Waterfield because his camera can tell a more detailed story.

“The camera captures what the eye can’t see,” Zapatka said.

When he arrived at the Port Clinton Lighthouse, Zapatka used a stargazing app to locate the Milky Way, chose a spot to best capture the stars, used subtle lighting techniques to highlight details in the sand without creating distraction, and positioned and repositioned his camera to best capture the lighthouse and night sky without the noise of city lights. Then he snapped photos using a long exposure technique.

In the end, Zapatka created an image unique to history and unknown to the human eye, yet possibly the lighthouse’s most accurate likeness. The photo showed the lighthouse in its true glory, ardently at work under the gaze of the Milky Way.

“There are no nighttime photographs of lighthouses in history. This wasn’t possible with film,” Zapatka said.

The Port Clinton Lighthouse was the 195th lighthouse Zapatka has photographed at night as part of USA Stars and Lights, a United States Lighthouse Society (USLS) photography project that has taken Zapata to 19 states. He initially embarked on his lighthouse journey alone, but the project was adopted by USLS when it recognized the photos’ historic significance. Zapatka serves as an ambassador of USLS.

As of Aug. 23, the Port Clinton Lighthouse was only the second Ohio lighthouse photographed by Zapatka. The Marblehead Lighthouse was the first.

Zapatka was aided in his work on Aug. 23 by Port Clinton Lighthouse Conservancy board member Geoff Mendenhall, who prepped the lighthouse prior to Zapatka’s visit so its light could be regulated according to Zapatka’s needs.  

“I used a variable voltage transformer to adjust the AC line voltage to the lamp in the Port Clinton Lighthouse Fresnel lens,” Mendenhall said. “The light output of the Fresnel had to be greatly reduced from normal, to match its intensity with the stars he was trying to capture in the photos. The normal light level would overpower the starlight and wash out the time exposure photos he was taking.”

Zapatka discovered the Port Clinton Lighthouse when Mendenhall called and asked him to add Port Clinton to his list.

“He wanted to come this month around the new moon when the weather is clear to capture the stars. This week met all his requirements for his trip from his home in Rhode Island to Port Clinton,” Mendenhall said. “I was thrilled that he came to photograph our lighthouse and to be able to meet him and help him.”

In addition to a new moon, those requirements include low tide, an unmoving slack tide and a cloudless sky. Zapatka is hoping to capture all of the remaining lighthouses under those same conditions.  He has more than 600 to go, and for a few days, the Port Clinton Lighthouse was his favorite.

“My favorite lighthouse is always the next one,” he said.

Zapatka has published two books featuring his lighthouse photography, “Stars & Lights: Darkest of Dark Nights,” and “USA Stars & Lights: Portraits from the Dark.” Prints of his photos can be purchased at www.starsandlighthouses.com.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty atsheritrusty4@gmail.com.