Close but no cigar - photographing the Fastnets

The Fastnets 

I suspect that when the Astronomer Royal, Sir Robert Ball, got his photos back from the pharmacy (ask your parents, kids) in 1903, he'd have been kicking himself. So close, but not quite the effect he'd been looking for. Feck! he probably said, causing his wife to look up from the stove in horror.
It could have been entitled Birth of a Lighthouse, a moment in time when the shell cracked and a brand new baby lighthouse stood up and yelled for its mother.
It could have been entitled Hybrid Lighthouse, a photo for all time seemingly showing one lighthouse constructed in two different styles. Maybe the constructors divided into two, and one team started at the top and the other team at the bottom and it was only when the teams met, they realised they had been working from two different plans. 
It could have been entitled Death of a Lighthouse, the old 1854 structure being sucked, kicking and streaming, down the throat of a new monster emerging from the depths.
Instead, it was a once-in-a-lifetime shot that should have been taken a few yards to the right. The old lighthouse should have been central to the new one half-built. 


Sir Robert Ball

We must admit though that Sir Robert (or Bobby, as he became known when he went into comedy with Tommy Cannon - again, ask your parents) was new to the photography game and part of the lure of accompanying the Commissioners of Irish Lights on their annual lighthouse inspections was being able to try out his new toy. We should also admit that the photo would have been taken from a boat (probably the Ierne) and anybody who has tried to snap an object from a boat knows that the image bobs out of view between clicking the button and the photo registering. 
Never mind, Mrs Ball would have said, sliding some more eggy soldiers onto his plate. Better luck next time. 
Bobby would have cringed. He knew that that bird had flown,

The new and old lighthouses prior to the lantern being erected on the former

All photos can be found in the National Library of Ireland's Irish Lights collection.

PS I hope nobody is still trying to figure out how to build a lighthouse from the top downwards.


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