Lighthouse

Lighthouse is a sample picture included in Windows 7. It was taken by Microsoft employee Tom Alphin at 9:18PM on August 4, 2007, who also took a few Windows 7 Beta wallpapers. It depicts Amphitrite Point Lighthouse near Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada at night.

History
Alphin was visiting Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast in August 2007 for four days, with his family. They were staying in Ucluelet, so Alphin decided to go to the Amphitrite Point Lighthouse and take a photo of it at night, while the sun was setting. He used a Canon EOS Digital Rebel with a Canon 10-22 EF-S lens, and it was taken without a tripod at ISO 100, 1/50 sec, f/6.3, with 17mm zoom. In December 2008, he submitted the image along with 12 others for Microsoft to consider using as wallpapers for 7 Beta. A few of those were used, while they liked the lighthouse image so much they asked him if they could include it as a sample picture in the RTM release. He accepted this request, as he was glad that millions of people around the world would be able to enjoy the image. Microsoft heavily cropped it and removed the antenna in the background.

Alphin has stated he cannot give out the original image due to uncertainty over copyright. He has stated that while he is glad people are moving to Windows 10, he is saddened that his photo is no longer in the limelight.

Revisit
In 2015, Alphin revisited the area and took new images of the lighthouse, including:


 * One where he is standing next to it
 * A panoramic view of the lighthouse and its surroundings
 * A photo of where he placed the tripod, which he had by then (along with a better camera)

He plans to revisit the area someday again.