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After getting several notices on our phones the last few days that the Northern Lights might be out on Sunday night and early Monday morning, my dad picked me up from my new house in Ludington around 9pm. We drove to Point Betsie Lighthouse just north of Frankfort, Michigan. Shortly after getting on location and figuring out where we wanted to shoot, my dad and I noticed a large white pillar of light appearing to the left of the lighthouse. A few moments later, the colors of the Northern Lights appeared. Luckily, my camera was taking an almost three-minute exposure during this time. By the end of the long exposure, the pillars were gone and the colors faded quickly. My dad and I stayed until 2am hoping they would come back. Once the clouds rolled in, we headed home with giant smiles on our faces because we were pretty sure we each got at least one nice photograph!

The brilliantly colored rocks along the Lake Michigan shoreline at Point Betsie Lighthouse make the perfect foreground for our photographs. Today, with several workshop students, we found a storm pool just south of the lighthouse. I lay on my stomach and put my tripod very low to capture the reflection of Point Betsie Lighthouse in the storm pool. The light rain we had a few minutes earlier made all the rocks wet, which in turn made them more colorful.

Foggy Day at Point Betsie

Lilacs at Point Betsie

I was horribly disappointed today when my dad and I made it to the shoreline at Point Betsie Lighthouse just north of Frankfort, Michigan and found Lake Michigan flat as could be. It was beautiful, but I needed some rolling waves in order to make the image I had created in my head a few days earlier. As I was preparing to shoot Plan B, my dad pointed out that a large sportfishing boat was screaming by just offshore and was creating a large wake. I rushed to get into position and set my underwater camera to the correct settings; then it was just a matter of timing.

Waves rush ashore at Point Betsie Light Station on a late winter afternoon. Point Betsie is one of Michigan's most distinctive and beautiful lighthouses.

Point Betsie Light Station looks brand new following an exterior restoration project. The interior of the lighthouse is also being restored but on this bright winter afternoon I am delighted to see the outside looking so good.

My photographer son Brad and I study light as intensely as some people study engineering. We cannot build strong photographs without excellent light quality. Today, May 7, my birthday treat is amazing light and amazing color along the Lake Michigan shoreline at Point Betsie. What a gift Mother Nature has presented!

I feel like I am in a sculpted ice tunnel as I make this January image of Point Betsie Lighthouse. I am never disappointed visiting Point Betsie and this morning I am far too exhilarated by this frozen view to think about being cold.

Lake Michigan at Point Betsie Lighthouse is so crystal clear on this hot summer day that I want to reach down and take a drink. I concentrate instead on trying to make an image of the lighthouse that emphasizes the clarity of the water and beauty of the rocky shore. F20 at 1/250, ISO 400, 14-24mm lens at 21mm