Point Betsie Lighthouse

With a foreground this beautiful, why not make it the subject and let the foghorn building and lighthouse at Point Betsie Light Station serve as the background? One of the most important questions a photographer should ask is, "What exactly is exciting to me about this scene?" Answer that and then emphasize it. That was the mental process that has led me to this composition.

I felt like I was on an ice sculpture-lined path as I made this image of Point Betsie Lighthouse on January 5, 2017. I am never visually disappointed visiting Point Betsie; I always find photographic opportunities there. This was one of those “Bad Is Good” days for outdoor photography. Wind, Lake Michigan waves and near-zero temperatures had created this icy visual path to one of my favorite lighthouses. I was far too exhilarated by this frozen view to think about being cold as I alone appreciated and studied nature’s artwork and worked to make it the star of my picture show.

Frozen Aquarium

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.

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.

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.

Sunshine, blue skies, and melting snow along the Lake Michigan shoreline north of Point Betsie: March is looking lamb-like today. I am especially intrigued by the light dancing on the water covering the rocks, so I decide to emphasize the foreground.

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

Winter Workshop

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

If you like to photograph ice, and also lighthouses, drive a few miles north of Frankfort, Michigan to Point Betsie Light Station in January or February. The combination of various ice sculptures, sand, wind, and clouds made this cold January morning a fantastic time to be shooting the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The air was cold, the water was frosty, the clouds were subtle yet beautiful. What a fantastic day to be capturing the Lake Michigan shoreline and Point Betsie Lighthouse! I was glad to have my waterproof boots on as I worked hard to compose this image. The ice-covered stump made an interesting complement to the lighthouse in the background. Now it’s just waiting for the right wave to complete the photo.

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.

It looks to me like a Michigan gator is about to chomp Lake Michigan this morning at Point Betsie north of Frankfort. You never know what you are going to find on a Great Lakes shoreline. Sometimes I get way too serious and intense about photography. This discovery is definitely brightening and lightening my photo day.