Port Sanilac Light placement and the unique shape were dictated by and created because of budgetary constraints (Congress appropriated only half the money requested). Designed by Eleventh District Engineer Captain Charles E. L. B. Davis, the design has been called "both unique and architecturally significant in its elegance." The tower is white with a red roof. This "handsome" lighthouse shares its design with only one other, Ile Aux Galets, also known as Skilligallee Island Light, on Lake Michigan. The Port Sanilac Light tower is capped with a cast iron lantern room, which still houses a fourth order Fresnel lens manufactured by Barbier and
Colour cast used to reduce the blueish tint caused by daylight. Blue filters reduce the orange colour caused by incandescent light. A variety of coloured filters in varying degrees of intensity are available. Kodak's amber filters, for example, vary from palest yellow ("81C") to deepest amber ("85B"). A photographer chooses which filter to use based on the quality of the ambient light. Colour temperature meters can read the temperature of the existing lighting conditions and guide the selection of the filter. Clouded sky, for example, requires a paler amber than clear blue sky. If a filter is unavailable, flash is an alternative