Anyone who knows me knows I have a love for lighthouses. I’ve photographed more than 50 of them across the United States — from rocky coastlines to quiet bays, from massive towers to small river lights barely anyone visits. They’ve always felt like storytellers to me, standing watch over time.
Today’s post is something completely different.
This isn’t a photo. It’s a raw, unedited drone flight, straight from the card. At the beginning you’ll see me — yellow shirt, standing near the river — and from there the drone takes off on over a mile-long glide toward Haceta Head Lighthouse on the Oregon Coast.
I shot this earlier this year (2025) while I was in Oregon visiting the Supra lockbox headquarters in Salem. I carved out a few days this trip to get out and photograph the coast — something I love to do every time I’m in the Pacific Northwest — and spent the entire afternoon photographing and filming around this lighthouse. No filters. No edits. Just the place as it was.
Oregon has become a special place to me. I’ve spent countless days over the last decade exploring its coastlines — the cliffs, the waves, the fog banks rolling in over the pines. There’s a rugged beauty here that feels alive, and every time I come back I’m reminded why I love photographing this part of the world.
I wanted to share this clip not just to show the lighthouse, but to give people a sense of where I work when I’m out exploring. The wind, the water, the landscape… and that long, slow flight out to a place that feels completely timeless.
More lighthouse content coming — I have years of it. But this one felt worth sharing today.
Originally shared on Instagram on November 22, 2025. Photography and story by Mark Middleton.