Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse

Tall Ship and Ludington Light Vertical

The Ludington lighthouse draws my eye whenever I am near it. So many times, it offers a spectacular picture but, too often, not quite splendid enough to trip the shutter. One foggy summer morning there was no doubt I should shoot.

The Ludington North Breakwater was underwater for a short time on April 13, 2018, at the height of one of the largest meteotsunamis ever observed on Lake Michigan in the Ludington area. I photographed the flooded pier (image top left) from the Ludington beach at Stearns Park moments after a fast-moving hail and rain storm swept ashore. Only nine minutes later, I captured the much lower than normal water level (image bottom left) as the flood waters washed back into Lake Michigan. Notice the shallowness of the water and the amount of boulders visible along the edge of the pier. According to NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), two separate meteotsunamis occurred within a short time. GLERL said the meteotsunamis were caused by “short, extreme bursts of wind and pressure.” The Weather Channel reported that thunderstorms trigger most meteotsunamis. Small meteotsunamis are not unusual but destructive ones like this one tend to happen only once every 10 years on average, according to Eric Anderson of the research laboratory

I never tire of watching the carferry Badger sail into Ludington harbor. Of the thousands of times I have seen this grand ship steam into port, this October evening was one of the most spectacular. My wife and I were enjoying dinner at a relative's Crosswinds Estates home, near the harbor mouth, when the Badger and sunset-lit storm clouds approached Ludington simultaneously. Fortunately, I excused myself from the dinner table long enough to shoot as the ship entered the harbor.

Ludington North Lighthouse

I didn't start out to shoot another ice shot today, but I find this one simply stunning. I shoot some shots with seagulls in the foreground, others with seagulls flying. Then I make this picture with no seagulls because I decide the birds are distracting the viewer from appreciating the beauty of the ice-coated rocks that caught my eye in the first place. F2.8 at 1/320, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 165 mm

The Great Lakes freighter Algorail appeared about to strike the Ludington North Breakwall during an autumn Northwester, but its veteran captain used the powerful north wind and waves on her stern to his advantage. Moments after I recorded this scene, the ship’s bow reached the pierheads, the wheelsman wheeled the ship hard to port, and she advanced ahead while her stern transferred swiftly to the south. The big ship was guided into the harbor as though she were on a curved roller coaster track. It was a masterful piece of sailing.

The sailboat Tranquility sails out of Ludington harbor toward Lake Michigan on one of the many tranquil evenings so far this summer. Even the clouds look tranquil tonight. F4.0 at 1/1000, ISO 400, 12-24 mm lens at 17 mm

Sunset Off of North Inner Pier in Ludington

Sky Drama

More and more often I find myself lying on my stomach to make my photographs. Getting extremely low to the ground or water gives me a fresh perspective on the world and it ensures that my photographs have immediacy which adds emotional impact and drama to a photograph.

The moon setting over the Ludington North Breakwater Light is a view that I never get tired of trying to capture. At first glance you would think this was another sunset photograph until you look at the amount of light hitting the front of the lighthouse. As the sun is coming up, the moon is setting in the distance.

It was a great sailing day in Ludington today. With a stiff and steady wind, I watched several sailboats cruising the lakeshore. I was geeked when one of the bigger sailboats decided to pass the pier heads under full sail.

Spotted Redone

Ion Blasts Ludington

Totality

Amidst the Fury

By using the full manual exposure mode on my camera, I set my shutter speed to a half second so that the motion of the rolling waves would show up in my photograph. With the camera on a sturdy tripod, the rocks and snow in the foreground are both razor sharp because they never moved, but the rolling ice in the channel showed motion.

This scene would look very flat and two-dimensional most days. Except for a few fleeting moments today, the light and shadows cooperated and turned the Ludington shoreline into a beautiful arrangement of lines, shapes, textures, and colors that appears to be much more three-dimensional.