More Grand Haven

I thought I'd post another view of the sunset. The only thing slightly different with this image from the one previously posted (aside from the camera angle) is the white balance of the camera was set to "cloudy" rather than "auto" on the camera. This resulted in a much more subtle tone of purples, blues and pink in the sunset colors.

A Lesson in Patience...

Click on image above to see full screen...

On Thursday evening, I decided I'd had ENOUGH of being in front of the computer all week. Plus - with school now out - the boys are getting on each others' nerves a bit already, and that meant they were getting on "Mom's nerves" by the time supper rolled around!

So I told Russ I had to head out for a bit to catch a few moments of peace and quiet. The winds were VERY strong that day, so I thought I'd go see what Lake Michigan was looking like. I figured there might be a few great big waves out on the lake.

I headed to Grand Haven and strolled down the pier. When I left Rockford, it was quite sunny. When I arrived, it felt about 20 degrees cooler, and it was completely overcast. I was fairly disappointed - there didn't appear to be chance whatsoever at a sunset. I walked out to the end lighthouse and back - making sure to stay on the channel side due to the large waves coming up over the pier. But it was too dark and gray for any photo ops.

On the return trip, I got to the beach and all of a sudden - the sun slipped down for about 10 minutes from the cloud cover, and turned the sky an amazing color of which I can't even describe. A photo doesn't quite even do it justice. I did not use any filters or anything special for the photo - no polarizer, nothing. Just a tripod, and I metered the camera on the sky adjacent to the setting sun. The pool of water collected on the beach was a perfect reflector to repeat the fantastic hue of the sky.

I learned something here - don't give up! Be patient until you are CERTAIN there's no chance of a change in the weather conditions. If I had went back to the car, this image would have been lost.

New Theme Pack Cards Available

Festival 2007 was a great success - and again - a heartfelt thank you to everyone! I was amazed how many people stopped by to offer their kind words of encouragement and support, and flattered by your compliments.

I want to take a moment to introduce a new product I'm offering that was created especially for the Festival event - themed photo card packs. These packs offer six popular images of a particular subject matter, and are available for $25.00 a box.

The cards are presented in a nice clear plastic box, suitable for gift-giving. Each card is individually shrink-wrapped as well, with a coordinating envelope. You might not want to give these cards away - feel free to frame them up in your own 5x7 frame!

Available gift packs include:

• Birds
• Butterflies
• Critters
• Lighthouses
  

Look for more theme packs later to come soon! Click on the images below to see what cards are include in the sets.

The Experiment...

I've been experimenting with panoramic photography after attending a George Lepp seminar in December. It got my mind really going about trying some new photography techniques, and I've started trying out a few of my ideas.

Attached is an image I shot last November, but lacked the skill and knowledge to stitch together until I went to his seminar. So I pulled up these images tonight and worked them up.

This photo of Holland Harbor at Lake Michigan was created by stitching 9 images together into one large panoramic print. The final Photoshop file size is 161 MB!!! As a JPEG, it is about 15 MB, and prints as a 36" wide by 6" high print.
Any thoughts? Please click on the image to view it a bit larger, as the online version doesn't contain the amount of detail needed to appreciate it.

What to have some real fun? Click here and the photo will "play" so you can virtually move through the horizon!

An Evening Road Trip...

I finally made it over to the Muskegon State Park area last night! I must say - it was lovely there, and I can't believe I've never been there before now.

I had both boys with me, so I couldn't exactly get to the places I'd like to be for THE ultimate photography image. Trying to push my youngest son Lucas through the sand in a stroller didn't quite make for the best of photo outings.

It was a great evening for a stroll. There weren't even any clouds! I like to have a bit of something in the sky when I do a lake scene, so again, not the best photo ops. Still - it's a very nice area, and I know I'll be back when I get the chance.

We spotted terns, herons, swans and a crazy little raccoon who was dangling himself by his hind paws into a trash bin, happily munching on french fries he discovered. We had to laugh when we noticed he had a collection of fast-food paper bags in the rocky areas beneath the boardwalk pier.