Flint River Walking Bridge

This is a walking bridge across the Flint River in a county park.  The area is really nice and a favorite photo shoot destination.  With the recent snow, the bridge is looking really nice.  Not many people around - in fact none.  The park is closed to traffic although snowmobiles are allowed.  So it was a nice hike out here.

We finally have some blue sky - first time we've seen the sun in a week.  There are a lot of small trees around - which takes away from the scene to me.  I thought I'd post this shot because of the sun - pretty bright.  I had some different angles but I like the sun position and the reflections on the glass.  I'll probably enter this in a club competition - just to get a discussion going.

1/100, 1/320
Aperture Priority
ISO 400 f/5.6
Focal length 70 mm (105 mm for 35mm film)

South Haven Light in January

This is the South Haven Light - in January.  Lots of ice build up here - and it was snowing heavily.  The lake effect was producing lots of squalls.  And it was cold.  On this trip i learned a lot about shutter speed and what it does with the snow patterns.  This weekend, the snow was horizontal.  I had to keep the speed down a bit because I wanted to keep the DOF a large as possible.  So the snow isn't showing the travel pattern - but they are large.

1/320 f/16
Aperture Priority
ISO 400
Focal length 130 mm (195 mm for 35mm film)

St. Joseph Light in January

It was COLD.  Really COLD.  Last year I was out on the west coast of Michigan in late March and at that time all the ice was gone.  I think it is still growing at this time of year.  Unfortunately it was snowing all the time - I'd say lake effect was in full motion.  It is really tough to separate the sky and ice and snow.  This shot cleaned up well.  The front range light is covered/caked in ice - and that was the point of the day.  The shot may be on the dark side, but adding any more flattens everything.  And in a weird coincidence, this light is actually on the right side of the histogram!

1/320 f/16
Aperture Priority
ISO 400
Focal length 170 mm (255 mm for 35mm film)

Tahquamenon Falls Trail

This is the trail to the Tahquamenon Falls from the upper falls lot.  There was a fair amount of snow.  I didn't expect to see the amount of leaves that survived fall.  I like the texture of the trail and the clouds in the sky.  I might work this a little more to get the green of the trees in the background to come put a bit more.

1/160 f/18
Aperture Priority
ISO 100
Focal length 25 mm (37 mm for 35mm film)

Algoma (Essar) Steel - Redux

I really like the B&W effect on this shot.  What I didn't like on the previous shot was some of the sky in the center right of the photo was washed out - no definition.  The effect may work at some point - but I wanted more definition in the sky.  The other shot is a single HDR photo.  This shot is seven different exposure levels - and the sky came out much better.  There is a lot more definition.  Seven levels is the most I've ever tried before.  I like this much better.  New Trick.

Algoma (Essar) Steel

This is a photo from last - well now two - year.  The Soo Lock Boat tour includes a pass through the Algoma (Now Essar) Steel property,  Depending on what time of day you get through there - a lot can be going on.  Anything from freighters to large equipment to gas blow offs can happen.  So what happened here?  Not much going on - but great backlighting!  So I was cruising through some old photos and thought this might be good in B&W.  Exceeded my expectations.

1/640 f/13
Auto
ISO 400
Focal length 32 mm (48 mm for 35mm film)

Whaleback Light

This is a shot of Whaleback Light at the head of the Portland River from Fort Foster park.  A bit deceptive, but the light is a fair distance away from land.  This was an interesting shot with the light between the trees.

The real story about this shot is the processing.  I'm trying to frame the shot better by lining up major points of the shot into the rule of thirds.  The water level fits in nicely for the rule.  The trees could go either way, but this line up seems to work for me.

1/200 f/9
Aperture Priority
ISO 200
Focal length 85 mm (127 mm for 35mm film)

Rockland Breakwater Light II

Wow - that is dark.  Certainly the day was dark - it was threatening to rain most of the time.  If it wasn't threatening to rain - it was raining.  So I'll go back to - Well everyone has a sunny photo of this.  

This is a single photo HDR.  I had forgotten this series until I saw one of the breakwater photos used as a screen saver this afternoon.  I do like the photos of the lighthouse.  The rust drainage on the wall is very interesting.  (Note to self - next time take a close up or what you like.......)

1/100 f/11
Aperture Priority
ISO 200
Focal length 38 mm (57 mm for 35mm film)

Bike in Woods - Winter

This is the same bike I photographed earlier in the year.  To get to the location was easier earlier in the year - it is just off a trail that is easily accessible.  This time of year, the best term I can use is trudge.  I had been thinking about this shot for a few days and was not disappointed.

(1/320, 1/640, 1/160)   f/10
Aperture Priority (HDR)
ISO 400
Focal length 70 mm (105 mm for 35mm film)