Hilton Head Island, part of South Carolina’s Lowcountry region, is widely known for its twelve miles of pristine beaches and its golf courses. The Hilton Head Rear Range Lighthouse overlooks the award-winning Arthur Hills Golf Course at the Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort. The range light station was decommissioned in 1932. In the mid-1980s, the lighthouse was incorporated into the new golf course.

Hilton Head Rear Range Lighthouse. USLHS photo by Mike and Carol McKinney

In 1985, the lighthouse was restored along with an oil house and cistern, and the grounds were opened to the public. Greenwood Communities and Resorts has completed a new renovation, which included repainting and the replacement of doors and windows. Clark Sinclair has been a member of the Palmetto Dunes staff since 1983 and has been teaching golf since 1986. He’s also a point person for the lighthouse.

Mike Leonard lives in Yarmouth, Maine. His work is frequently seen in books, magazines, annual reports, brochures, textbooks, in television segments, and nationally on the Weather Channel. Mike offers workshops on digital photography, which you can read about on his website at phototourismbymike.com

Mike Leonard

In this first installment of Photo Tips with Mike Leonard, Mike gives some helpful hints for better digital photography of lighthouses -- or any other subject.

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