"Stars and Lights" - A Breathtaking Collection of Photos by David Zapatka

I feel so lucky to work in the creative world. I recently attended a meeting about filming a documentary for the Rare Disease United Foundation at the Wickford Art Association. At this meeting, I met a local North Kingstown photographer who works as a cameraman for national TV networks named David Zapatka. After the meeting, David showed me and the other meeting attendees his collection of work, including his website of lighthouse photography.

What I saw was awe inspiring. Images I've seen up close and personal in New England photographed in such a way that I felt like I was seeing them for the first time. My family and I have been to the Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown countless times, including the wedding of my sister Erin, yet when I saw David's Beavertail collection I saw images that were as fresh as if I had never been there. He has used nature's backdrops - a star-filled night sky or a recent snow fall, even the Milky Way Galaxy. This is a professional photographer who takes his time to get the perfect shot and wow, every picture just gets better and better.

I asked David about his collection and what is in his near future for the collection. You can view his collection and even order prints of his work on his website www.starsandlighthouses.com. Thank you to David Zapatka for the information and the images.

"Stars & Lights" is a small project I stumbled onto and has taken on a life of its own but certainly not without my own passion. Now, I'm traveling further to shoot them and hopefully will head to Stratford, CT to shoot a Coast Guard owned lighthouse there. Up to this point the furthest I've traveled for the lighthouses has been the Vineyard and Old Saybrook, CT. But, I've run out of local lighthouses to shoot and have captured all of the RI ones but for Sakonnett which I hope to shoot this summer. I'll also be heading to Provincetown, likely waiting until the Milky Way reappears this summer, to shoot the three lighthouses there. Then, throughout the summer, will be shooting from the boat once again but only during favorable sea and celestial conditions.

- David Zapatka, via email