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Manistee

The moon setting in the West and the sun rising in the East created an extraordinary light show before my eyes at the Little Point Sable Lighthouse. The lighthouse has illuminated the most westerly point of land in the lower pennisula of Michigan since it was built in 1874. Little Point Sable Lighthouse is one of only a few brick lighthouses in Michigan still operating.

A cool new tradition in Pentwater every summer night is to give the sun a standing ovation as it dips into the water. I am sure this happens in several Michigan beach towns. It would be fun to try coordinating it statewide on the same evening and make it an annual event.

Who knew that Lake Michigan and Point Betsie Lighthouse could look like a tropical island in the Caribbean? With my cold water survival suit on and almost 300 feet of safety line tying me to the steel jetties in front of the lighthouse, I floated into water that was about 20 feet deep to make this image.

A cool new tradition in Pentwater every summer night is to give the sun a standing ovation as it dips into the water. I am sure this happens in several Michigan beach towns. It would be fun to try coordinating it statewide on the same evening and make it an annual event. D800, F11 at 1/60, ISO 100, 24-70mm lens at 24mm

Round Island Light Near Mackinac Island

Salmon Fishing in July Ludington

Pure Manistee

Tranquil summer evenings on the Lake Michigan waterfront lure boats and people like fish to water. This late July evening in Pentwater was no exception. As in so many other favorite locations along the Lake Michigan shoreline, people and their vessels are drawn back year after year like salmon to their birthplaces.

In 1994, my dad made one of his best-selling photographs of all time. "Storm Light" shows Little Point Sable Lighthouse bathed in the dramatic light of an October storm. Since that time, my dad and I have been working to make a photograph of Big Point Sable Lighthouse with the same quality of light. On the afternoon of November 5, 2007, radiant storm light appeared in front of my camera for less than three seconds as I stood on the blustery shores of Lake Michigan.

The planets Venus (brightest) and Jupiter pop out of a star-filled sky along with Little Sable Point Lighthouse. It is near the end of the twilight "blue hour" artists have long loved to paint and photograph. Tonight, with Venus and Jupiter so rarely close together, I am especially excited to photograph a blue sky. F2.8 at 58 seconds, ISO 1600, 14-24mm lens at 20mm

The lure of a Michigan salmon, steelhead, brown trout, or walleye is irresistible for many anglers, no matter the season. Here anglers pass Big Red Lighthouse in Holland en route to their favorite Lake Michigan fishing grounds. F6.3 at 1/400, ISO 100, 80-200mm lens at 80mm

Big Sable Point Lighthouse stands guard on a massive point of land along the shores of Lake Michigan between Ludington and Manistee. The lighthouse was commissioned by Abraham Lincoln and is a beautiful piece of Michigan history. F6.3 at 1/1600, ISO 800, 70-200mm lens at 100mm

The Big Finish

The White River Light Station near Whitehall, Michigan is a beautiful lighthouse. It also has a very informative museum inside.

When autumn arrives and visitors retreat from the Lake Michigan shoreline, nature's magic light appears more often. On this autumn evening Little Point Sable Lighthouse was glowing with magic light.

If you look closely at this image, you can see a large splash of water between me and the fog building at Point Betsie Lighthouse. The ice-filled wave hit the sea wall first and then went airborne, drenching me, my camera, and everything else in its path.

After nearly two hours of shooting stormy seas battering the Manistee pier, a little sunshine finally finds its way partially through the clouds, providing a wider range of tonal values for the black and white image I want to make of this lakeshore drama. Good light is worth waiting for. The added light also enables me to close my aperture by two more stops to render more of the scene in sharp focus while still stopping action. F11 at 1/800, ISO 800, 80-200mm lens at 200mm

Gitche Gumee