St. Joseph North Light from the South

This winter hasn't been as cold as usual.  As such, my favorite wither light area didn't have the usual ice formations in February.  Taking a photo from the north has very little ice.  Taking photos from the south, Silver Beach park, there was ice in the protected area south of the inlet barrier.  But past the barriers, there is no ice.  There are nice ice formations on the rails that protect the walkways to the light, and the farther from land you go, the more ice.  Sort of makes sense?   For as many people that were out on a day trip like myself, I'm pleasantly surprised there weren't as many walkers to the light.  Granted the walkway was very icy, however there are usually some people with questionable courage.  They must have stayed home.
I was happy to go visit the area last weekend.  First time I've been out there in winter without a flat sky and a lot of wind.  And like the shots from Reno with the clear blue skies, I find a little cloud action would be welcome.  
But because it was clear, I still stuck around.

St. Joseph North Light from the South

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

160 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/8, ISO 100

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

It's always a good day, even without clouds.

I shouldn't be surprised - the D780 takes a good picture

Saturday was made to order for a day trip.  Perfect Michigan winter sky.  Temps above freezing.  Light breeze.  And two pieces of equipment to test/play with.
First, the D780.  For the day I had it matched up with the 70-300.  (I typically don't change lenses out in the field so testing with the 200-500 will come later.)  I wanted to use the Live View option but never did.  Optical View Finder all the way.  But what I did get to play with was multiple forms of Auto Focus.  I usually shoot with single point but with the Live View there are multiple options, much improved due to the Z6.  And so I didn't play with the Live View Auto Focus modes, but did play with more in the OFV.  Interesting to watch the points move with the sea gulls.  Technology.  And truth be told, the D500 has the same options and I just got stuck on single point.  But that is getting away from the point, the photos from the D780.
Magnifying to 100%, looking at photos from the D7200, D500 and D780 I can really tell the difference (Improvement) between the D7200 and D780.  The D500 is a different animal.  In 'normal lighting' it is tough to tell the difference.  Since I was shooting with Auto ISO today, the cameras did a lot of the work.  But definitely the ISO was lower for the day on the D780.
So, some of today's fun.
The St. Joseph North Pier Light is one of my favorite shots.  And it looks like the house has been painted recently.  My last shots has some 'rust' colored spots on the white paint.  Also the roof looks a lot brighter.  All in all it looks good.  The last time out was the first adventure with the D500.  Great proving grounds.

St. Joe's Light in February - No Ice

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

220 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/8, ISO 200 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

While walking around, there was a local doing some fishing.  I saw on of the rods against the ice encrusted rail.  Great subject picture.  There is a lot to like here.  The detail in the reel and that part of the rod is really great.  That ice, so cool.  (Sorry...)

Fishing Pole on Ice

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

95 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/8, ISO 100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Meanwhile at the South Haven light.  There is some ice on the south side, somewhat protected from water movement I guess.  It was fun to move around, anticipating the waves for timing and position.  Would have been really nice with some bigger waves, but I'll take this action.

South Haven Splash

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

220 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/8, ISO 110 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Coming up soon, the work with the 200-500.  Spoiler alert, it all worked.

Point Iroquois Lighthouse at Dusk

In May of 2011, we took a short trip to the UP.  We were staying in SSM as usual.  One of our day trips was to head up to Whitefish Point.  On the way to Whitefish Point is the Point Iroquois Lighthouse.  Point Iroquois is where the western end of the St. Mary's River and Lake Superior intersect.  The light was to guide Great Lake freighters going downbound to the Soo locks.
The original lighthouse was completed and started operation in June of 1856.  In 1870, the original lighthouse was torn down and the current lighthouse was completed and in operation.  This was the time of the Great Lakes industry boom.  The Great Lakes was the place to be.
The tower height is 65 feet.  The original light was a fourth order Fresnal with a signal visible to 13 miles.  The current lighthouse was in operation for 93 years until it was deactivated in 1963.
In the early 1990's, the entire location was renovated.  When we visited, the grounds and house were in excellent shape.
Getting back to the day trip, because this was taken at dusk.  We stopped at the lighthouse early in the morning and enjoyed the clear view and fresh lake air.  After our stop here, we headed up to Whitefish Point for a few hours.  From WFP, we were off to Tahquamenon Falls for a few hours.  (The days are long at this time of year.)  From the Falls, we headed back to the Soo.  While we were passing Point Iroquois for the second time of the day, we saw there were no other visitors and the sun was setting behind the house.  Excellent photo opportunity.
This is a three shot HDR image.  I've played with this scene over the years and from what I can see I always tried to 'over' HDR it.  This shot on its own stands up well.

ISO 400, f/5, (1/15, 1/60, 1/250 HDR), 24 mm

NIKON D90/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

HDR - Photomatix 6.1.1

No halos on the roof line.  There is a slight halo between the left chimney and tower, but not enough to really annoy me.  This is exactly what I want HDR to do for me these days, just balance the light.
But.
It is just another lighthouse photo.  There are lots of these on hundreds of post cards.
Dare to be different.

That's different.

Big Bay Lighthouse in the Moonlight

In February of 2010, I took a trip up North.  Northwest of Marquette is the Big Bay Lighthouse.  When I got there, it was cold and windy.  February, northern Michigan and it's cold?  Who would guess?
But a day seeing a new lighthouse and not at work is a good day, right?
I was there in the early afternoon, but lots of cloud cover.  The wind was was working the water really well.  There is a lot of character in this shot.
I used this image one year for a Christmas card.
I needed a creative entry for the Club meeting.  Since this month's subject is winter, I've tried to keep the images cold.  I thought of this one, it has the potential to look, well cold.   But to be creative, I needed to add something.  Maybe add the Loch Ness monster added in the water would do it?  Creative, not fanciful.  

ISO 100, f/14, 1/100 sec, 18 mm

NIKON D80/18.0-105.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

I'm struggling a bit with the final light level.  It looks different in the PS viewer vs what is on the web.  I've had to lighten it a few times.  But this is where it is.  The creative part is adding the moon rays.  Interesting process.  Next step will be adding sun rays to an image, but this just wasn't the one.  There's always next month.

Cold Passage in B&W

For the club meeting this week, this month's subject is winter.  I already had two entries ready, one of the Tahquamenon Falls with a lot of ice and one of St. Joseph North Pier Light with a fair amount of snow and ice.  I was looking for a couple of winter shots that could be converted to for the monochrome category.   I found an interesting angle for the often photographed St. Joe's light.  Lots of good ice on the rail, and a different side of the walk way that I usually don't show.  The B&W angle is very interesting.

ISO 400, f/16, 1/200 sec, 31 mm

NIKON D90/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

Looking for the second entry in the category, I found some shots of a laker taken from the Mackinac side of the straights.  This was taken on a short trip up north in January 2015.  It looks cold.  Both shots look cold.
When I saw this image, I knew where I wanted to go.  Make it look historic.  I wanted to keep it mostly B&W, and not add any off coloring like I've used in the past.  I think this image can carry the load without any distractions.

ISO 400, f/9, 1/1600, 200 mm

NIKON D90/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

That just screams Great Lakes in the winter!
Actually both shots do.

Crisp Point - 2009 (Again)

Back in the day, the Crisp Point Lighthouse was not easy to get to.  The road signs were mostly hand written.  I found it using some obscure directions found in a local lighthouse book.  The dirt roads at the time were not maintained in the winter.  And were not repaired in the summer.  But once you got there, it was Michigan beautiful.
I've been there a couple of times in the past few years, on an ATV.  The area is somewhat commercialized.  There is a new(er) souvenir building with modern rest rooms.  There are walkways around the area to aid in the reduction of erosion.  The improvements have been done very nicely, and to keep with the theme, very understated.
Back to 2009.  I was in the D80 phase of life.  Beginner.  Still feeling my way around.  How I have the RAW file for this still baffles me.  Back then, I knew what a RAW file was, but I really didn't know what a RAW file was - if you know what I mean.  If I remember correctly, I was bouncing back and forth between RAW and JPG or some combination.  I still have the D80.
From the XMP file, it looks like I was using a kit lens as well - no VR.  Was I ever that young?
In my folder for this image, I have many iterations.  I published this once before, in 2011 here.  Most of the images are heavily saturated.  The grunge period.  Other forms of Photomatix, when Photomatix was younger as well.
There are some photos that just stand the test of time.  There are few that I tend to return to over the years, to see if my tastes or software can make a noticeable change.  Two of these photos are the Rt 381 and Southwestern PA barn.  
This grunge image, looking at the XMP file was created in April of 2010.

Well, that will hurt your eyes.  Ha.  Looks like I had figured out how to get a signature block in the image as well.  Yep, that's mine.
So here is a current revisit.  Current software.  Current tastes.

ISO 400, f/10, 1/400 Sec, 18 mm

NIKON D80/18.0-135.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

Winter Shots - St. Joseph North Pier light - 2015

In January of 2015, I braved the cold temps and winds to get some photographs on the St. Joseph North Pier light.  This is one of my favorite places to hit up when I get the itch to day travel and take a few shots.  Lots of lines and subjects.
For this December's club meeting I need two winter shots.  Going back in my history, I might find a few.  This will be one and I have an idea for for the second.  It will be pure Michigan.
Returning to this shot.  There's a lot to like.  The ice formations are really good, lots of potential to work with.  The red of the rear light breaks up the image a bit.  The ice formation on the front light gives an interesting illusion the light is leaning, not quite straight.
The overall light is odd.  I think it has to do with the light reflecting off the snow.  Looks very pastel.  
This is a quick edit with PS to get some idea of the image out of the camera.  Yes, those are two brave souls out in front of the front light.  I'm not sure if they survived the day or not.

This needs to look a bit harder, get some contrast added.  That helps because it will also give some definition to the snow and ice.  The sky has enough definition to pass.  If I make it look really harsh, which isn't bad for my tastes, the result may not be suitable for the masses.
I worked my usual processing with PS and On One.  The product hadn't left the pastel state enough for me.  With a rare combination of left and right brain working together, I added some NIK filtering.  Played with the sliders until I got the look I was going for.

ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/640 sec, 150 mm

D90/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

That looks like a Michigan winter day, noon .

Grand Haven Light - Looking Inland

It's been a few years since I've been to the Grand Haven Lighthouse.  And wow, there have been some changes.  Most notably a lot of the old iron was removed and the jetty was resurfaced.  As to the old iron, this was a structure connecting the lighthouse and the back light.  It was eye-sore beautiful.  The resurfaced jetty or walkway from shore was just great.  Sure, I like worn structures but this new look was great.
During my visit, there wasn't much action going on.  No waves.  Lots of people getting a nice autumn walk in.  In a few weeks, this area won't be as pleasant.  Too bad it's so far away, at some point I'll want wave action!
I usually don't like to have people in my photographs.  Today was a bit different in that there were people fishing and they looked to be part of the scenery.  To me they are interesting, not eye distracting.
In the original image, there were two couples at the base of the light that I need to remove.  If I was going to leave people in the shot, why remove them?  Well, I always like a good challenge.  And they were also catching my eye.  One person had on a lime green coat that just didn't look right against the red light.  Off to the side, OK.  Not so much where they were.
I would have liked more color in the trees and I really thought this time of year the colors would have exploded.  But they are as they are.
This photo, from concept to post processing was an interesting journey.  On site, there was sun at my back, there was some color in the trees and there was a great sky/cloud pattern.  What's not to like?  The dynamic contrast of my eye exceeded that of the camera.  The sun shining on the red light and the white objects just off the beach were pretty much blown.  The fix is exposure compensation.  For this image, I dialed in a -1 or under-exposed by one stop.  That gives the original image a very dark look.

This definitely was not what I saw that afternoon.  And this is why we shoot RAW.  Recovering from a underexposed shot like this is not much of a challenge.  As long as there is color information on a pixel, the image can be processed.  When in doubt, shoot dark.
The challenge was I did not want a universal sunlight effect.  The sky/clouds still needs to be somewhat dark.  Additional sunlight on the red light would be too much.  Just wanted to highlight the trees, and if there was some golden color, get it to come out.
For targeted work like this, I use On One.  All the universal work and object removal was done with Photoshop.
I joke with my photo club that I don't like to take more than five minutes on any shot.  This was fun.  I worked on it for over two days, on and off.  Not that the final image is multiple hours of work, but I did bits and pieces - deleted and started over again and did bits and pieces and deleted and...  you get the idea.
Once I had everything worked out, start to finish was probably ten minutes.  One of the time contributors was an error on my part.  This was taken with the D500 on the first day.  I missed the setting to compress (lossless) the RAW file.  This file is huge and it does add some time for each process.  Quoting HJS, "DOH!"

ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/800 sec, 36 mm (EC -1)

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

That's a lot closer to what I saw.  The trick is to not overdo the highlights.  You can make it look very fake, very quickly.  Which I did a few times.

It's Sunny Somewhere (The D500 initial outing)

I've been home bound the past two weekends, for the real job .  This weekend, the weatherperson responded to my cabin fever by providing a nor'easter on the east coast drenching all my favorite photo haunts.  And it's pretty much peak color weekend.  Thanks Weatherperson.
When life deals you lemons, you change the scenery.  Took me 450 miles, but I found the Michigan sun.
The D500 arrived Friday.  It was not going to stay in the house for very long.  At the very least, I had to see if the focus worked, right?  The QXD card is still in the mail so I had to use an 'old' SD card.  It was landscape shooting, set to 3 PFS.  I was sure there would be no buffer issues.
My favorite area to photograph is east of here, and not really good today.  So I headed west to Benton Harbor and the light at St. Joe's.
Prior to shooting, things I like about the D500.  Uses the same battery as my D7200.  The menus are basically the same, or similar enough I can use it today.  (The book is on the way as well.)  Things I don't like.  The USB connection is different.  (Would have been nice if they were the same.)  Also the question of a remote shutter release.  The D7200 unit is $25.  The D500's - substantially more.  Change is good I tell myself.
So I ran away from the rain today to view a few lighthouses, or lights on the western side of the state.  My first stop was the light on the northern pier of St. Joseph's.
I have many photos of the area in the winter, such as this one from 2015 - st-joseph-light-january-2015 and this one with some nice wave action st-joes-light-and-waves.
Today, upper 40s and a light wind.  I could walk all the way out to the front light.

ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/1600 sec

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

First test passed.  It works in sunlight with no pressure.

St Joe's Light and Waves

Looking again to photos from the March 2010 Michigan west coast lighthouse tour, the first stop was in St. Joseph, Michigan.  The light is one of my favorite subjects.  They are fairly unique.  I've been there on multiple occasions.  What I can say about the area, if it is nice outside the photos will be very boring.  Consequently, the more interesting the photo, the more challenging the weather conditions.  I'll give the weather a 5 on the scale, for being windy.  (And cold...)

Spoiler alert.  This is a combination of two images.  The main shot of the water and buildings is one image and the sky is another.  Both images were taken within minutes of each other and from the same location.  The only difference was zoom.  In both shots, the particulars AUTO, ISO 200, f/13 and 1/320.  In the original image of the water and buildings, the sky was just plain flat.  Could not do a thing with it.  I found another image from the same environment with some definition in the sky.  Time to combine.

In each image, I create multiple exposure levels.  For the water and building, I created 5 images covering two full stops above and two stops below the original exposure.  For the sky I created 3 images to cover two stops above and two stops below the original exposure.  For each image, I put them through Photomatix - giving each image the same settings.  I used On One to mask the sky in the original image and combine the second image below it.

In this case it all worked.  The mask creation was simple - mostly straight lines.

I really like the water and wave colors here.  It is difficult to leave the rust colors of the building alone.  Any additional saturation borders on obscene.  I struggle with the red roof.  In reality it isn't so bright.  I tried to leave it alone and let the water carry the image.  Just didn't work for me.  So there is just a little pop there.

Grand Haven Light

Way back in March of 2010 I visited the west side of Michigan, theoretically on a lighthouse tour.  Not kidding myself, it was not a warm journey.  The temperature was very, very brisk.  The good news, I did have to 'remove' many tourists from any images.
Given the file number of the image, I was just starting with the D90.  Which also means, every shot I was taking at the time, I was learning something.  And this shot is no different.
The shot is late afternoon/early evening.  
I was walking on the concrete pier toward the light (west!).  I have many shots from this time, but since I was shooting into the sun in this one, the camera was really confused.  Back in those days, I was shooting in AUTO mode.  I'm fairly certain, even in MANUAL I couldn't have done much better.  In these situations, a three shot minimum HDR would have done the best.  Again, lesson learned.  But another lesson, when in doubt, shoot dark.  Shooting dark allows more colors to be reclaimed.
The setting sun is in direct line with the light.  Under normal circumstances, this spells disaster.  Without the help of software, this doesn't work.  I used my main three packages to get this done.
First, the particulars.  This was taken with a Tamron 18-270 lens.  I wound up trading that in shortly after the purchase for a Nikon lens.  Another story, another time.  ISO 200, f/9 and 1/500.
The original Nikon JPG looked something like this.

Dark, eh?

That was one confused camera.

Staying in the 2010 age, my primary editing packages would have been Adobe Elements and Photomatix.  And I like the grunge look.  Really grunge.

Using these two packages and my taste at the time, I came up with this.

I created multiple images, each with a different exposure using the RAW Editor.  I probably did three images.  I used Photomatix to blend the three images to one image and played with the setting until I came up with this.  This is still one of my favorite 'artistic' shots.

Fast forward to 2017.  Software updates.  Process improvements.  Taste changes.

My goal for this was to get the light color (red) to come out, keep some definition of the sky/clouds and water.  Everything else should fall into place.  And I'd like to take some of the saturation/grunge out if it.

The creation process was along the same lines as in 2010.  I created five different exposures in the RAW editor.  I combined the images in Photomatix.  Using one of the presets, I came really close to what I wanted.  I like the darker version, as opposed to dark version, but I still couldn't get the red of the light right.  I tried a new trick.  Using On One, I combined the post Photomatix image with one of the lighter images created in RAW.  I masked out the light on the darker image, allowing the lighter light to show.  I changes some of the tone settings to get a slightly warmer feel.

I like this version.  There's more time invested in this edition than in previous versions, but that's OK.  It's all a learning experience.

Cape Neddick (Nubble) Lighthouse - 2015

This is almost a re-do of a post from 2010 of the Cape Neddick Lighthouse in Maine.  Here is the original post.  This is not quite the same photo, but is the same angle - an just more of the overall environment.  My re-do won't go far in a competition, it has one fatal flaw.  The white color off of the house and side of the light is almost too much.  Every photo should have some white - in this case that's too much.
But this effort was to learn a few things.  I wanted to see if the removal of larger objects would negatively impact what tone compression does to a photo.  I've removed small objects before, but in this one I'm going for what I would call more major restoration of an area.
I also have a version of what Nikon would do with my image.  I quit doing the Nikon JPG thing some time ago, this could be interesting.
So here is the original Nikon image:

From the histogram, you can see what Nikon is doing to this image.  Centering the light.  I'm certainly not complaining or criticizing.  Just another reason to do what we do.
Below is the RAW image.  On this image, I've pointed out some distractions that really should be removed.  And this is the point of this exercise.
On the left side in the center, there is a power line and some other equipment.  The power line runs to the house.  To me that is distracting.  There is also a small flood light just to the right of the light tower.  That too has to go.  And lastly, there is an orange lobster trap buoy just above the rocks in the water.  If the buoy was in the middle of the waterway, I might leave it, but the subject is the lighthouse.  It must go as well.  This is the RAW image - with the objects to be removed listed.

Here you can really tell what Nikon did when processing the RAW image to a JPG.  The process moved the light to the left and highlighter the reds to match the greens and blues.

So I removed the items called out above - and this is what I have.

I tried different methods, both erasing with the application filling in the areas and clone stamping.  I went with the clone stamping on all removals.  Seems to take a little more time but works out better when done.
Next I put this image through the HDR processing.  In the original posting, I was going through my 'grunge' phase.  Now I favor a bit more realistic scene and that's what I'm aiming for now.  Here is the image with tone compression.

My overall light is spread out across the colors - and I like that.  There are no tell tale halos that I need to address, and I like that more.
My final touches are to add a bit more green to the vegetation, darken the sky a bit and warm the image up just a bit.  And this would be the final image:

From the original Nikon JPG, I have better detail in the rocks close to the water and better greens on the hill.  

And finally, with my size for the blog and signature block:

Rockland Breakwater Light - 2015 Edition

In the high school graduation time of year, 2010, I had the chance to explore the Maine coast and some of the light houses.  This is the Rockland Breakwater Light.  The light sits at the end of a long jetty.  When I was there, it was a crappy, cold, windy and rainy day.  But even in those conditions, it had a beauty of its own.  

I liked playing with this photograph because with a little effort, the sky will not be flat and the water has some definition.

The original post can be found here: Previous Post.

The Original Post Image:

Generally, overall I like what was done with the image.  I like everything except the halo in the sky between the house structure and the sky.  So in 2015, I should be able to come up with something where the halo is non-existent.

The original base of this image is a combination of two photographs.  In each of the two photographs, there is an imperfection (unwanted human) that I didn't want in the final product.  The two photographs were fairly similar with respect to the position of the structure and took just a small amount of adjusting to line up.  The two original images are:

 I've circled the objects that need to be removed.  I used the top image as the primary image.  I put the bottom image underneath the top image.  After I lined the two up, I used a masking brush to remove the unwanted object at the top of the stairs.  Everything around that area lined up perfectly.  I now had my base image to work with.

My plan was to put this through Photomatix and concentrate on everything but the sky.  Experience tells me that the sky is where most of the halo caused by tone compression will occur.  I'd like to keep the sky, but it doesn't do the day justice.  It was much darker.  This is what Nikon think the image should look like - and why you should take Nikon out of the equation by shooting in RAW.  Here is what I have after tone mapping with Photomatix.

I didn't have to do too much with this, but I did get great colors on the water, jetty and the building.  There is still too much halo in the sky - and it is too light for what I want.  The sky must go!  The sky colors are fairly consistent making for easy removal.  The removal between the railings and the fence around the light were tricky and just took some time.  I found a bolder, darker sky from my stock photos and added it in.  

I should be able to get some great definition out of this.  I did some gradient work on the sky, with it starting dark overhead and getting lighter toward the horizon.  I also tried to gradient blur it as well, so the clouds in the distance aren't quite as sharp as those overhead.  I did some selective lighting, either bringing up or removing light on the building.  The overall image is darker, but yet not.  It's a little clearer and sharper.  Here is the final product.

The sky and the water match.  Little bit of light from the clouds and little bit of light on the water.  (That's why I can't go with a nice blue sky, the water would be a dead giveaway.)  I'd go with this version on personal preference.  The image appears much cleaner.

St. Joseph Light from Pier

In the summer, I've been out to the light.  All the way out.  In the winter?  Probably not.  But I could get out about half way from the shore.  It was very icy - but walkable.  (Note to self, get the cleats you can put on your shoes and keep them in the truck.)  There were some brave souls who made the walk - I just saw a lot of cold water at the end of the slide.

But I could get out close enough to the ice that had formed on the walkway structure.  The ice is certainly fun to photograph.

1/640 f/6.3

ISO 200

Focal Length 150mm

Focal Length (35mm) 225 mm

St. Joseph Light - January 2015

On all my previous trips to St. Joseph (all 2 of them), both lights were either iced or ice free.  This time - I really lucked out with half and half.  My favorite features are the definitions in the ice - and the structure colors of the rear light.  I'd like a bit more red in the building but much more than this really begins to look over saturated.  One of the interesting quirks of shooting around snow, is the camera gets fooled by the extra light - and the image comes out a bit darker.  And for me, that's OK.

1/640 f/6.3

ISO 200

Focal Length 150mm

Focal Length (35mm) 225 mm

St. Joseph South Light in Winter

I had to spend a week in Chicago for work this month.  As I'm not liking flying much anymore, driving to Chicago is very doable being around four hours to make the trip.  Driving to Chicago takes me past some of the lower Lake Michigan lighthouses.  One of my favorite locations is the St. Joseph lights.  This light is very distinctive and in winter can have a whole new personality.

This is a picture of the south navigation aid to the St. Joseph channel.  I really like the ice formations.  This photo was taken around noon.  And it wasn't that dark.  I like the final contrast change between the sky and the snow/ice.  One of the other nice features is the broken ice in the channel.  To me - screen saver quality!

1/640 f/6.3
ISO 200
Focal Length 170mm

Focal Length (35mm) 255 mm

Crisp Point Lighthouse - 2009

This is one of my favorites of Crisp Point.  The whole area is a great place to take photos, not only of the lighthouse but of all the natural landscape.  The area is not littered with lots of traffic - you just don't come across this place.  It is a destination.  And even with the best of directions, good luck.  A GPS helps.

In the foreground are the remains of a pier.  What stories this pier could tell! 

Now to the photo stuff.  This is one of the first photos I really had to THINK about what the final image would look like.  Depth of field is everything here - as well as the angle of the shot.  To say I was grounded would not be stretch of the imagination.  To a certain extent I was very lucky.  It was a mostly cloudy day and for about 30 minutes the sky cleared a bit to what is shown here.

1/400 f/10
Auto
ISO 200
Focal length 18 mm (27 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)

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)