Tag: Lighthouse Page 4 of 7
As I mentioned last week, we recently took a trip out to Lake Michigan to capture the beautify its lighthouses in winter. As we learned last year on our day trip to Muskegon, the weather out there can be unpredictable. When we left our house, the sun was shining. By the time we were west of Kalamazoo, it because obvious that we were travelling at the end of a snow storm. After I returned home, I checked social media and learned that along Lake Michigan it had snowed for eight days straight. Needless to say, the roads were treacherous and the locals must have had a bad case of cabin fever, because shortly after we reached the lighthouse in St. Joseph, it seemed like we we not the only ones to have the idea to explore and photograph the lighthouse.
After we got all the shots we wanted, we decided to head north to South Haven while we still had some daylight. By the time we got there, the sun was setting and if it wasn’t for the lingering snow clouds, it would have been a stunning winter sunset. Alas, with the setting sun, the temperature was dropping and it was time for us to make our way back east. I am very glad we braved the frigid cold and the threat of snow to finally experience the beauty of these lighthouses in the winter when it would have been much easier to stay inside. I will be watching my instagram for the lighthouses to turn into ice castles and I may have to return.
Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.
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By now, I’m sure my regular readers are aware of my love of Michigan lighthouses. Many of my summer days are spent exploring the coastline and its beacons. Until this past weekend, I had never explored them in their winter splendor! So, even though the temperature was in the teens, this weekend I ventured to the west side of the state to see the frozen St. Joseph lighthouse.
This lighthouse is known for its beautiful ice formations in the winter and one shot of it actually showed up as my Windows 10 lock screen the other day. If you haven’t seen any pictures of it, check it out here. Even though it had snowed for the past eight days, there was a path worn through the snow on the pier out to the lighthouse. While it was cold and there were ice floats in the water, the lighthouse wasn’t as covered in ice as I was hoping. I didn’t get the shot that I was hoping for, but I was glad that I ventured out in the cold with my camera!
I encourage you to follow my lead and get out this winter! It is so easy to sit inside out of the cold, but that is not how memories and photos are made! This winter, get outside, explore new places, and go shoot! If you decide to venture out to lighthouses this winter, I suggest bringing along ice cleats (like these ones) so you don’t fall into the lake!
Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.
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On my last post, I shared about our time in Mackinaw City. We were camping at Wilderness State Park which is about twenty minutes outside the city and our way to town we passed a sign for the McGulpin Point Lighthouse. Being fans of lighthouses, we decided to make a stop. This was one of the best maintained lighthouses I have visited. There was barely a scratch to any of the paint, inside or out. You can see in the photo, it is surrounded by a nice little garden. You can even stay in an apartment on the grounds. Where the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse (which is at the base of the Mackinac Bridge) is right in the heart of town, McGulpin Point is tucked away (it is near the Headlands Dark Sky Park). Where the Old Mackinac Point is pricey, McGulpin is donation only. Where the Old Mackinac Point is climbed in a group (and not guaranteed with admission, I must point out), McGulpin is at your own pace, with the ability to stay out on the catwalk and take pictures as long as you would like. From the catwalk, get out your telephoto lens for an interesting perspective on the Mackinac Bridge (my photo was a recent Wordless Wednesday). I was absolutely blown away by this lighthouse! If you are in the Mackinaw area definitely make a point to stop in and check it out and make a donation so they can continue to maintain this gem! You will not be disappointed.
Thanks for stopping by! To plan a visit to McGulpin Point, check out McGulpinPoint.org. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.
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For Labor Day this year we camped at Wilderness State Park near Mackinaw City. There is a lot to see and do in that area and I was excited to spend a long weekend exploring it! We stayed for three nights and I realized that with two summer road trips, three nights was the longest we had stayed in one place on a trip since our cruise in 2015. That is, if you count a cruise as staying in one place. If not, you would have to go back to our Disney World trip in 2014. Obviously, we prefer to move when we travel.
I really enjoyed our stay at Wilderness State Park. We stayed in one of the new tent sites that are right on Lake Huron. It was like having our very own beach! We had a great long weekend and Wilderness was quickly added to our list of favorite campgrounds!
The above photo was taken at the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. Its a picturesque lighthouse that sits right near the base of the Mackinac Bridge in Michilimackinac State Park. If you are in the area, I recommend that you visit the park and the fort there, but I wouldn’t recommend spending your money visiting the lighthouse, and this is coming from someone who LOVES Michigan lighthouses. The thing that threw me about visiting the lighthouse is that climbing the lighthouse is not guaranteed with admission. Luckily, we got to climb but the way they do tours, it was so crowded at the top, it was hard to take pictures and by the time the whole group got up there, I just wanted to go back down. If you are a lighthouse fan like me, go to Michilimackinac State Park and photograph the lighthouse from outside the fence, and if you want to climb a lighthouse, head two miles out of the city to McGulpin Point Lighthouse, which I will review in a later post! Be sure to check back later so you don’t miss it!
Thanks for stopping by! For more information about Wildnerness State Park visit the DNR. To plan your trip to Michilimackinac State Park, visit MackinacParks.com. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.
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Over the summer, Chris and I began a new venture, Guided Photography Tours. As I’m sure you know by now, we enjoy traveling and exploring new places to photograph. Through this project, we hope to share our love of travel and photography with other photographers. Currently, we are offering two classes at our local library: Photography Basics and Better Smart Phone Photography. It has been fun to see our students learn new things and discover new places in their home town. To learn more about Guided Photography Tours and our upcoming evernts, visit GuidedPhoto.com.
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The hottest day of the trip, we got on the Ferry from Ocracoke and began heading south. Our first stop of the day was at the Bodie Island Lighthouse. The lighthouse is located south of Nags Head near Oregon Inlet. Because of the heat, we chose not the climb it, but we did walk out to the marsh overlook.
In 1837, a search began for a spot for another lighthouse along the dangerous Outer Banks. They settled on a location in Pea Island, on the other side of Oregon Inlet because Lieutenant Napoleon L. Coste, the leader of the expedition said “more vessels are lost there than on any other part of our coast.” Soon after construction began, there were major structural problems and within a few years, the tower began to lean and the lighthouse was abandoned. A second lighthouse was commissioned nearby, but only two years later, it was destroyed by Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. The current lighthouse became operational in its current location in 1872.
I really wanted to come back here and attempt to get a night sky shot of the lighthouse, like the Hatteras Lighthouse shot. But, unfortunately, it rained all night long so we missed our chance. I will have to come back and try again another time.
For this stop on our trip, we camped near the lighthouse at Oregon Inlet campground. I was nervous about this campground because there’s a warning on the website about the 24/7 construction that is happening on the Bonner Bridge (the bridge that spans Oregon Inlet) but I didn’t notice either the light or the noise. It is really hard for me to separate my feeling about this campground from the incessant heat that day. At this point in the trip, I learned that I was not made to tent camp on the beach in the summer and I was ready to head back north. The last time we were in the Outer Banks, this was one of my favorite campgrounds.
Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.
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