Last night I was hoping to shoot from the top of Grosse Pointe Lighthouse but alas, the weather moved in and it was not to be. Yet, because the week has been filled with detailed work I really wanted to get out and shoot, so I headed down to Lighthouse Beach anyway to one of my favorite places the old pier at the end of the beach. I went just before sunset, which sets behind you in this case, to get the dusk look which I have done before. One thing I wanted to do was shoot basically the same shot I’ve done before so I have many years worth of images showing the rise and fall of the lake levels – which are currently high it seems to me.

Of course as I pulled out my camera a light sprinkle began. Figures. Hence the reason I am not at the top of the lighthouse. After shooting my “standard” shot, with the water in motion I began to play. I’ve talked before about getting out of your comfort zone and doing something slightly different than what you’ve done before.

I zoomed in closer to the end of the old stumps out in the water and began a series of images with the sky and pier in different positions. Each exposure was between 8 and 30 seconds which gives you the whispy look to the water. Even though there was a heavy overcast the clouds did add to the shots.

As darkness fell further I moved in even closer to just a few of the piers old stumps and made a few final exposures, the last one being 8 minutes long (top image). Now the water looks like mist or clouds themselves. I was very happy with the results and hope they will make the final cut in my next book 20% on all five of the Great Lakes.

One final note for those interested, yes I shot them all in RAW, always shoot RAW. The color balance started at 5500 but changed over the evening until it was 8000 degrees Kelvin. I know I could have changed this in Photoshop but I like to do as much in camera as possible. By the time I was done shooting it was just over 45 minutes after sunset. I was glad I was able to get out and shoot again. It always seems like it’s been too long when I finally get out there. I’m hoping Monday to get to the top of the Lighthouse and shoot the shot for the city of Evanston. Besides, it’s the perfect night to shoot the full moon rising!

Get out there!

Peace,

Richard