PHOTOS: Plein Air Painters at Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Plein air is the art of painting in the wide, open air; often recreating actual scenes that lie before your very eyes.

Half Moon Bay is home to a talented group of local plein air painters. They take outings to various sites around the area each Wednesday morning, and are always more than happy to share their work with anyone who might appreciate it.

Here, see photos by member Eric Greenhut taken during one of the group's most recent outings to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero - one of the tallest lighthouses in America. Pigeon Point has been in existence since 1872 and is still used by the Coast Guard to this day. Though the lighthouse has been closed to the public for the past 10 years - a section of the exterior fell off in 2001 and the government has yet to re-evaluate its structural integrity - the lighthouse can still be viewed from the grounds.

The Half Moon Bay Plein Air Painters are a friendly group that get together weekly, paint in each other's company, and share their work with each other and learn from one another. Painting locations each week are e-mailed out in advance. If you'd like to find out where the group will be next, send an e-mail to eric@ericgreenhut.com.