Category: Lighthouse Beach Pier

Two Friends, their cameras and the Full Moon…

December 11, 2011
Great Lakes ProjectLake MichiganLighthouse BeachLighthouse Beach PierMoonriseRichard Mack Photographyseeing

Last night we had another full moonrise, and in addition there was a total lunar eclipse, which unfortunately wasn’t visible here in Chicago. But I still made my way down to my favorite beach here in Evanston and the old pier at the north end of Lighthouse Beach. This time I was prodded by a friend of mine to make the journey. Jill Buckner is a photographer who has been working in Atlanta for 20 years and is now splitting her time between Atlanta and Chicago. She wanted to visit the beach with me for a moonrise. I thought why not. It’s cold which will help condition me for the upcoming winter shoots around the Great Lakes and I will have the pleasure of shooting with another photographer who I have never shot with.

It is always interesting to me when you shoot with another photographer, because they may bring fresh eyes to something you look at the same way each time. This can be especially true in the case of a location you have shot repeatedly. As luck would have it the moon came up right on time, yet we were not. So we arrived about 15-20 minutes after it had cleared the horizon. We thought we had more time from looking at the cloud layer out over the lake, which magically disappeared at the time of the rise of the moon. Clearly we should have been on time, especially because the moon was positioned far enough north of east in the sky that it came up right down the pier’s path.

Maybe because of our late arrival we both just went to work rather than looking at the scene and talking about what we would be trying to get in our shots. So you had two photographer’s plying away quietly for the next 70+ minutes through to the darkness if night.

Interestingly we never really crossed paths with each other. She went to one view I another. For me the immediate goal was to get the moon rising over the end of the pier with the posts pointing towards the moon. As the evening went on and darkness fell it was the moon’s glow on the water which came to life and became a stronger element than the moon itself. At this point you are shooting in the dark, with a high ASA – in my case 1600 – but then have noise to deal with in the dark areas of the image. My guess is that if I moved up from the Canon 1Ds III to one of the newer Canon’s like the 5D Mark III which has a much higher ASA scale topping our near 128,000 I would solve this problem.

I look forward to seeing what Jill shot – I’m guessing they are different even though we shot the same place at the same time with similar cameras and equipment. Each of us has their own unique perspective and that is what makes art an individual creative form.


To see more from this evening’s shoot use this link: Moonrise

And to see even more full moon images just search the blog for moon

Cheers,

Richard

 

My 711th Moonrise!

September 15, 2011
eveningGreat Lakes ProjectLake MichiganLighthouse BeachLighthouse Beach PierMoonrisephotography at nightRichard Mack Photography


On Monday September 12, 2011 I watched my 711th moonrise. OK, I haven’t seen all of them but based on a moonrise every 28 days this is my 711th moonrise. I was down at Lighthouse Beach in Evanston, Illinois, my favorite beach which you know if you’ve been reading this blog. Unfortunately, on this night the clouds were coming in once again which blocked the moonrise until it was high in the sky.

 

First shot

Luckily I had come down the night before, which is always the best night to shoot the full moon because it rises about 25 minutes before sunset giving you have enough ambient light to work with to illuminate the scene. As many of you know I have been shooting this scene for a long time. I have been waiting to get the angle of an old pier to line up with the moonrise in just the right way. In the past the moon has either been too far south or too far north and not directly where I wanted it. Then you have the weather which must be just right as well, so for months, maybe even years, I have been trying to get this shot. So on Sunday night I headed down to the lake front to see if this would indeed be the night. The sky was clear so my hopes were high. As luck would have it I was set up and ready to go well before the appointed time of moonrise, and yet I couldn’t find the moon on the horizon. There was still too much moisture along the horizon so the moon wasn’t visible until it was about 10 above the horizon. So my plan to use a long lens to pull the moon in tight against the pier once again has to wait.

Yet it was still a great night to be there as the sunset was a mixture of blues, reds and purples. With the polarizing filter on the colors were enhanced enough to match what it looked like to the eye. I also used my graduated neutral density filter once the darkness fell to balance the brightness of the moon with the rest of the scene. I found this time I didn’t like the results as it took the colors away from the sky around the moon. The darker it got the more the moonshine on the water came out in the shot. But at that point you tend to lose the detail in the moon. And as the exposures get longer than about ½ second you start to see movement in the moon with longer lenses. In the age of film you couldn’t work as long into the darkness as you can these days and still have usable images. With today’s digital cameras and post processing in Lightroom or Photoshop you can adjust RAW files in to get detail our of shadow areas of underexposed files which means you can expose for the highlights and bring back the shadow areas in post. Knowing this I kept making images well into the darkness, an hour past sunset. The two last images are my favorites from the evening.

Almost the last shot...

There are many moonrises in your life and each one is unique because of where you are when you see them. Each is to be savored. Enjoy them.

Peace,

Richard

PS: To see more images from this shoot follow this link: Moonrise at Lighthouse Beach

Changing Your Pre-Conceived Ideas as Needed

April 18, 2011
ExpectationsGreat Lakes ProjectLake MichiganLighthouse BeachLighthouse Beach PierRichard Mack PhotographyRichard Mack's Blog

Since tonight is another Full Moon yesterday I once again ventured down to my favorite place to shoot this, or try to. As past readers know Lighthouse Beach is about a mile from my house so it is very convenient and has the relics of an old pier to work with. Now I have probably shot there dozens of times, certainly in and around the beach in various seasons. I have never been able to get a shot of the Full Moon rising which I have in my head. And last night I was once again thwarted in my attempt as the clouds moved in as the evening wore on. Yet when confronted with the idea your preconceived image will not be had, or even if it is, the thing I always try to do is look for other images. This may sound simple enough and intuitive – of course you should look for other ideas. But you’d be surprised how many folks just give up. “Oh too bad the sunset isn’t nice.” “Boy I wish the clouds were different.” “Where is the wildlife?” “Boy it is a crappy day out!”

Really? Not sure I’ve ever had a day where you couldn’t get something. Might not be what you were thinking when you started but there is always something. So, struck down in my quest to capture the full moon rising over the old pier yet again, I set about making images in the evening light anyway. I noticed that the lake was not dead calm but almost. What caught my eye this night was how even everything was. The light was flat, the lines of the horizon and the flatness of the water played against the clouds above. I kept the color balance close to 6000K which recorded the scene with a slightly bluer color than what my eyes compensated for. Plus you can always change the color balance when processing the RAW files in Lightroom. 

This night was all about the negative space and the lines which made the images come to life. One of my favorites from the evening was this image of the jetty and water. Very minimal yet it strikes me as a fine image. I also played with selecting just a few of the posts and water. Set against what was left of the evening sunset. 

It is all about letting go of your preconceived notions of what you are after and adapting to the conditions you are given. Something it seems is applicable to more than just photography. I was talking to a class of 7th graders the other day before they started out to investigate their neighborhood with fresh eyes and record it for their journals. I mentioned that part of the process is seeing outside your preconceived notions. Change perspective – don’t just put the camera to your face and snap it. Move up, down, side to side, get in close, step back. Get a different perspective and you may be surprised by the results. I used the water bottle sitting on a desk as an example and told them maybe to get in real tight and shoot just the label, or get in tight but include all the folks behind it. I think they might have thought I was nuts when I said you could make an interesting shot of a water bottle. I wonder if any of them did something like that during their assignment. 

Anyway, back to my point of changing your preconceived notions when needed… just because you go out to capture one image, I have found sometimes the best ones are the ones you never thought of until they were in front of you. Be ready and enjoy the moment!

Peace,
Richard

To View more from this evenings shoot use this link: Sunset at Lighthouse Beach

Postscript: The night to shoot the full moon is the night before it is full as it rises at the same time the sun sets, giving you some daylight to work with in the landscape.

Lighthouse Beach Old Pier

August 21, 2010
Great Lakes ProjectLake MichiganLighthouse BeachLighthouse Beach PierPhotographyRichard Mack Photography

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