Little Sable Point Lighthouse

I wanted to photograph Little Sable Point Lighthouse for my photo of the day on Christmas Eve to commemorate the first published photograph my son Brad ever took with a professional grade camera. He made his "Little Sable Christmas Eve" picture on Christmas Eve 1998. F16.0 at 1/10, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 15 mm

An April night at Little Sable Light finds the 108-foot tower standing starkly against the twilight sky. I have made dozens of photo trips to the lighthouse near Silver Lake, often accompanied by my wife Debbie, sons Todd, Brad and Willie, and nephew Ryan. On this night we shot for a couple of hours as the light changed, and different pictures presented themselves. Whenever I go there, I think of the many good times we have shared looking, searching, waiting, talking, and shooting.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, 1999, I was eager to try out the new camera that my dad had bought me for Christmas. He and I drove to one of our favorite places in the world, Little Point Sable Lighthouse. On the way, it began to snow unbelievably large, soft flakes. As soon as we arrived, I stepped out of the truck, set my camera on the tripod and took this photograph before the snow stopped falling.

Little Sable During Advanced Workshop in Morning

After a quick drive in the dark to Little Sable Point Lighthouse, my dad and I were as excited (and loud) as middle-schoolers riding a school bus. We had both just made some fantastic shots of the Northern Lights over Ludington. Our goal now was to get a photograph of the Northern Lights over Little Sable Point Lighthouse. Neither of us have ever had any luck in making that shot before. We have both tried several times, but the Northern Lights either never showed up, or they disappeared before we could make the 35-minute drive. Our luck was about to change. The Northern Lights were much dimmer now and almost invisible to the naked eye. However, like Galen Rowell taught all nature photographers, you have to learn to see like your camera sees. I tried to line up the North Star right above Little Sable Point Lighthouse. I made a few test exposures and then set my camera to F8 at ISO 200. I used my cable release and my iPhone as a timer and took a 32-minute exposure. The stars in the night sky made a perfect circle around the North Star and my camera could easily pick up the color from the Northern Lights. What a magic morning along the shores of Lake Michigan. I made this image at 4:54 a.m. on our 17th Tuesday of 2012. F8 at 32 minutes, ISO 200, 14mm lens at 14mm

The original third-order Fresnel lens shines like new in the lamp house of Little Sable Point Lighthouse. The Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers Association and its several hundred volunteers keep the lighthouse looking shipshape for the thousands of visitors who tour the 1874 structure each year.

My ex-wife Betsy’s husband Sean owns the Sierra Sands Family Lodge in Silver Lake. Julia, Ethan, and their stepbrother Aiden live at the hotel part of the year. Today we decided to watch the Super Bowl at their home inside the hotel. Before the game, I headed to Little Sable Point Lighthouse with my camera to shoot the sunset.

Little Sable Lighthouse

Little Sable Point

Venus and Jupiter have been very close together and bright in the night sky the last month or so and I have finally made a photo of them that I am proud of. Tonight, I took a 28-minute exposure of Little Sable Point Lighthouse and the two planets. Venus is the really bright streak and Jupiter is the dimmer one right next to it. If you look closely at the horizon you can also see the lights from Wisconsin; that only happens a few times a year. F8 at 28 minutes, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

Little Sable During Advanced Workshop in Morning

Underwater Housing at Little Sable

Little Sable

During an early morning workshop shoot, my dad and I took 15 students to Little Sable Point Lighthouse. We love being at the lighthouse as the sun rises above the huge wooded sand dunes to the east. The dunes keep the sun from hitting the lighthouse directly for almost thirty minutes after sunrise. Once the sunlight finally arrives, it can be very dramatic. As Galen Rowell would preach, shoot with your camera from the shadows into the light.

A great challenge for my dad and me is to find new and creative ways to photograph the same subject. Fortunately, the ever-changing skies of the Lake Michigan shoreline work in our favor. On this morning, I had just captured the Little Sable Christmas Eve image and I was determined to find another beautiful photograph of the lighthouse. With the snow no longer falling, I waited for a fleeting moment of sunshine to illuminate the lighthouse against a stormy sky.

Little Sable Lighthouse

The early morning light and beach scene plays against the shape of the Little Point Sable lighthouse.