Storm is over

Drove through a very heavy thunderstorm on the way home from Wisconsin on Labor Day. Torrential rain, lots of lightning. As my wife and I approached Port Washington, the rains lightened as the tempest headed out over Lake Michigan. We drove to the Port Washington harbor to see what we could see.

What we saw, just for a few moments, was the sun breaking through the clouds and casting rays over the harbor. Some large drops of rain were still falling as I fired off a half dozen shots. The tricky thing about this kind of shot is to make sure you've exposed properly, otherwise, you get blown out areas of pure white, and nothing in post processing can adequately fix those. I'd fire a shot, take a peek at the image's histogram and note with dismay the large areas of pure white, make an adjustment, meter on a bright but not too bright area of the scene and fire again, all the while hoping the magical view stuck around until I got it right.

Number six was the charm. And then the scene disappeared.

In post processing, where I only adjusted levels, I noticed that the dark areas of the image were riddled with small white spots. I thought to myself that I must have done something to mess up the camera's sensor while changing lenses in the rain. Great. I checked other images taken after this scene, and strangely enough, the spots weren't there. What was up?

It was only after I had meticulouly removed each and every white spot that I concluded that the spots were backlit drops of rain. Oh.

Maybe I should have left them in.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Several reasons why I love Racine, Wisconsin

Photographs © 2010 James Jordan.

Against the storm

The lighthouse at Wind Point, north of Racine Wisconsin, set against a backdrop of turbulent skies.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Cana Island twilight

Another day comes to an end in Door County, Wisconsin. Another night settles in. Another lighting of the lighthouse light. Another winter passing, another spring on its way.

Ironically, the sameness of every passing day provides cover for change to creep in. Little by little, imperceptively, patiently, change squeezes in between the seemingly immutable objects and routines that surround us and settles into place.

Life is funny like that.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Framed

A long time ago, when I was a fledgling graphic designer and commercial illustrator, I landed a gig creating renderings of home designs for a local builder. Looking over the first set of rough drawings, the client said the houses looked good enough, but "you need to find a way to frame the subject to keep the viewer's eye from wandering off the page." We eventually settled on adding strategically placed tree limbs and other landscaping here and there to do the trick.

Taking a long walk on a long pier to get close to the Sturgeon Bay Canal lighthouse, I noticed the meandering overhead catwalk wrapped itself around the edges of the frame in an M.C. Escher-like configuration. Looked good to me. Plus, the Red Rule was calling.

I nestled the lighthouse just right of center -- I often try to imagine diagonal lines crossing the frame from the corners. I'll either place the subject along one of those diagonals, or put them in one of the four "V's" formed by the crossing lines. It's kind of a mashup of the rule of thirds and the golden mean. Weird but it works.

I finished it up with some High-pass post processing, which simultaneously increases and decreases contrast. Weird but it works, too. I'll explain it further sometime when I fully figure it out.

Until then , have a great weekend.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

The moon moved me so I moved it

Some double exposures of the moon and the goings on around the Sturgeon Bay lighthouse. As I packed up to leave, a couple of gentlemen arrived to do some fishing. I was nearly back to my car when I looked out to see them at work (good work if you can get it) on the pier. I zoomed in on them and got a shot or two, then added the moon in post.



While the telephoto zoom compresses and flattens perspective, I like how the waters on the shore side of the pier are calm while the open water beyond tosses and churns. I also like how one guy chose to anchor his net on the pier. It was pretty windy that night.

Photoshop tip: If you have a good shot of the moon in the semi-dark sky, you can select it with the elliptical selection tool, copy then paste it into another photo. This automatically places the moon on its own layer. It will have the dark ring around it from your selection, but not to worry. Select "Lighten" from the layer options menu. Voila. The moon is now seamlessly blended into the picture. You can then adjust the opacity (which will control the brightness of the moon) to your taste. Flatten the image and save.

Photographs © 2010 James Jordan.

... and the moon came up

The not-quite-full moon rises above the north pier lighthouse in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. This shot was one of those mad scramble type deals that happen to me occasionally. The lighthouse sits at the end of one of two piers that flank the Sturgeon Bay ship canal, which technically turns most of the Door County Wisconsin peninsula into an island. While the two piers are just a hundred yards or so apart, to get from one pier to the other requires mad swimming skills, a boat, or a ten minute drive to the nearest bridge and ten minutes back to the lakeshore.

I started out on the pier that the lighthouse sits on and waited for the moon to rise, hoping that the position would allow for a good juxtaposition of moon and lighthouse. Not being sure of exactly where the moon would appear made it a 50-50 choice. (Note to self: as the sun nears the horizon, shadows will point roughly to the point from which the moon will rise -- not exactly, depending on time of year or your location on the planet, but it gets you in the ballpark.)

As it turned out, I decided that being on the same pier as the lighthouse was a) not a good position from which to get the shot I was after and b) too close to the lighthouse to easily get both it and the moon in focus. Sooooo ... Hop in car. Begin the drive to the opposite pier. Make a wrong turn. Waste time backtracking to locate correct road to other pier. Park car. Grab equipment and begin rapid hike to the pier. Forget some equipment. Decide not to go back for it. Run like crazy up the beach to the pier, stopping to shoot along the way. Finally get to opposite pier. See that the moon is now much higher in the sky than I had originally wanted. Set up for the best shot under the circumstances. Take it. Rest. Relax. Enjoy the evening.

What's that about good judgement being the result of experience and experience being the result of bad judgement?

Similar-but-different tale from a guy who spent three decades as a shooter for Life, Sports Illustrated and National Geographic.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Cape Neddick lighthouse

Every once in a while, I have a reason to dig into my archive of negatives and slides to hunt for a picture. I received an e-mail from a gentleman in Iowa looking to purchase prints of lighthouses. He supplied a list of the specific ones he is looking for and I happen to have photos of five of the lighthouses on his list.

The one I had to work hardest to find was this one. It's the lighthouse at Cape Neddick in York, Maine. This shot was taken in August of 2001 during a trip through several New England states. I was still learning the intricacies of exposing film properly, and had the courage (or foolishness) to shoot the entire trip on slide film, which leaves little room for error.

After examining the scanned hi-res file, it looks like the rookie did OK. This shot was a tad overexposed, but it works. Actually, the photo above is a black and white conversion from the color transparency. The color version can be seen here.

Back then, I was about three years into following something inside me that made me want to learn everything I could about photography. I have to say that nearly nine years later, the fire is still there, continuing to push me onward. It's nice to go back every once in a while and take a look at some of the mile markers that have been passed along the way.

Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.

Against the storm

Racine, Wisconsin.

Kitchen sink processing -- five-image HDR from a color RAW file, conversion to black and white (figured out what a blue filter can do) with sepia filter applied. Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.

Taking flight

As the days grow shorter and chillier, migratory species begin to exhibit Zugunruhe, an anxious restlessness that compels them to take flight. The phenomenon will return next year as the days grow longer and warmer.

Photo taken as the restless geese passed the lighthouse at Wind Point, north of Racine, Wisconsin, a symbol of all that is unchangeable and unmoveable.

Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.

Keeping watch

I admire those who don't flinch when things get tough.

The lighthouse tower at Wind Point, north of Racine, Wisconsin. I had gone there hoping to catch the harvest moon rising over Lake Michigan. This works, too.

Five-image HDR from a single RAW file. Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.

An old friend

When I first picked up a camera to begin the task of seriously improving my photography back in 1997, one of my first subjects was the lighthouse at Wind Point, just north of Racine, Wisconsin. I've lost count of the number of times I've returned. I can't recall ever having been disappointed with any of my sessions there.

On a recent visit, my wife and I arrived at sunset as a half dozen windsurfers were packing up and heading home. Brisk winds kicked up some rather large waves on Lake Michigan that day. As the sun descended past a bank of clouds, I was hoping that the sky would burst into a sea of flaming red, but what you see above is as far as things developed. Oh, well. A stack of neutral density filters helped me get a nice long exposure of 20 seconds or so to catch the movement of the clouds behind the lighthouse.

Since I first laid eyes on them 12 years ago, the lighthouse and grounds have undergone several makeovers, most of them to my liking.

Then again, so have I.

UPDATE: This photo was selected as Photo of the Day at the Karma group on Flickr and posted to the Karma POTD blog. Thanks!

Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.

Going back in time, sort of

I was contacted by a woman last week who had seen my photographs of Racine, Wisconsin on Flickr and was interested in purchasing prints. She was searching for photos of various cities in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan for a client who was looking to decorate some office space. I mentioned that I also had photos of Duluth, Ironwood and Wausau. Those cities were on the list, so she requested to see them.

Those photos were taken in the summer of 2004, so I had to do some digging through several years' worth of prints, negatives and CDs (I've only been shooting digital for a year and a half). It was an interesting exercise to see how far I'd progressed as a photographer. There were more than a few "if I knew then what I know now" moments. Missed opportunities. A few gems. A lot of junk.

The photo above was taken before I had completely gotten a handle on the art of exposure. It was taken midday (mistake number one, but our travel schedule didn't allow a visit to Duluth during the golden hours). The day was hot and hazy and I overcompensated for the haziness and overexposed most of the pictures.

Photoshop to the rescue. For this photo of the South Breakwater Lighthouse in Duluth, I brought the midtones down, which helped bring out the details of the pier and lighthouse. The sky and water still had a lot of white, so I created a masking layer. I used one of Photoshop Elements' preset gradients -- a purple to orange blend, set it as a semi-transparent layer over the photograph and voila! Instant mood. Original photo posted at right in the interest of full disclosure.

Cheating? Maybe. Back then, I could have sandwiched a couple of filters over the lens to get basically the same result. I was even carrying a graduated orange filter and blue filter in my camera bag that day.

So I just pulled them out a few years later electronically.

Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.

Cana Island Lighthouse

This was taken last October during the same trip to Door County in which I made contact with the owner of an art gallery in the village of Gills Rock. This photograph and several others of mine will be on display (and hopefully sold) from May through October of this year.

This was taken about 5 o'clock in the morning. The moon was just a couple days past full. Exposure time was about three minutes. The weather was just about perfect. Clear enough to see some stars (six of the seven stars of the Big Dipper can be seen in the upper left), just enough mist to catch the light beam from the lighthouse and a few clouds drifting behind the lighthouse.

The only adjustments I made to this photo (aside from the conversion to black and white) were to remove a telephone pole to the left of the lighthouse and fix a light spot in the lower right corner which was caused when I accidentally shone my flashlight into the lens while checking the time on a small kitchen timer I bring with me on night shoots.

Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.

Making the rounds

I shot this photo of the planet Venus behind the Wind Point Lighthouse in Racine, Wisconsin in June of 2007. You'd think it would be an easy thing setting up a tripod on the beach to line up the tower and planet in a nice arrangement. Nope. I tried a half dozen different positions, taking several shots from each, tweaking the tripod's height and moving ever so slightly left and right trying to get something that worked for me. Then there was the timing of the lighthouse's rotating beam.

People have asked if the points on the planet were added later. Nope. That's just a characteristic of the lens I used. You can see some of the same effect on the tower light. The photo has appeared on a number of astronomy-related web sites and has been used as backgrounds for MySpace pages. I received an e-mail last week from the editor of the Racine Post, an online news site, for permission to run the photo. It seems that the editor in Racine saw the photo on the Earth Sky web site. Venus is about to make a disappearing act as the evening star until 2010, when it reappears as the morning star. The lighthouse adds the "local angle" that all editors seek.

The photo is the lead photo on the Racine Post site and blog today.

Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.

Wave

Lake Michigan can never be confused with a surfer's paradise by any stretch of the imagination, but it can throw up some pretty impressive tubes from time to time. This photo was taken in Door County, Wisconsin in late October, when the approaching winter sent some stiff winds over the Great Lakes. Gusts were clocking in at 40 mph and being out on the beach on a day like that was akin to being sandblasted.

I arrived at the parking lot of the county park that provides this view of the Sturgeon Bay Canal Pier Lighthouse at the same time as a group of four visitors. I hopped out of the car and opened up the rear hatch to prep my camera bag for the trip to the beach. The people in the other car opened their doors, sized up the weather situation, closed the doors and drove off.

Leaning into the wind, I made my way to the beach. I set up the camera on a tripod about a foot off the ground to emphasize the size of the waves. Using a telephoto lens, a large aperture and a fast shutter speed, I was able to place the focus on the waves while throwing the lighthouse behind them slightly out of focus. I used my free hand to try to shield the lens from flying sand, which was plentiful and painful, and shot a couple of dozen exposures, trying to catch the waves just as they were breaking. Most of the shots show water in various stages of mush. This one and a couple of others show some shape to the breakers.

Always happy to provide inspiration My photo of a semi-dilapidated red barn inspired an artist to do a rendering which she posted on her blog.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Peers on a pier

A photo taken on one of those warm hazy days on Lake Michigan when the sky and water merge into a single backdrop of blue. I'm so there.

42 days until spring.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Lights in the darkness

This is the Cana Island Lighthouse in Door County, Wisconsin in the middle of a moonlit night. An exposure of two and a half minutes gathered barely enough light to expose the photo. (Tip: I learned a hard lesson about trusting the bright LCD screen of a digital camera in near darkness - you will always see the photo as brighter than it actually is. Try squinting at the image. It will give you a more accurate rendition.)

A long exposure will give you a photo of motion. In this case, the clouds and stars crisscross each other in the night sky. More subtly, the moonlight creeps along the surface of the lighthouse, shadows slowly shifting as the moon completes its arc across the sky.

Be sure to click on the picture to see it at full size.

Click on this post's headline to see image EXIF data. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

Racks full of postcards draw me like a magnet when I'm out traveling. When my wife notices that I'm no longer walking with her through a store, she knows the first place to look for me. Postcards are a good reference source to see how different photographers approach subjects that have been photographed a million times already.

So, here are some of the things I've learned from postcards about photographing landmarks:

1. Photograph at a time of day when the fewest people are likely to photograph. This is usually around sunrise. Your photo will have a look that relatively few other photos will have.

2. Show the landmark in its surroundings.

3. Isolate the landmark from its surroundings.

4. Photograph the landmark at a time of year when relatively few other people will photograph it. Early spring, peak color in autumn and mid-winter are good choices.

5. If the sky is doing something dramatic ... bonus!

6. Stick to the rules of composition. Or not.

The above photograph of the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse in Door County, Wisconsin is a bit too typical of a "postcard" shot, but it was begging to be taken. Mid-morning on a fall day when the colors had reached their peak. Sun illuminating the lighthouse through a clearing in the surrounding trees. Blue sky creating a contrast of color to the gold and orange leaves. A spot of sunlight hitting the juncture of the split rail fence. I was there with a camera. What else could I do?

Click on this post's headline for image EXIF data. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Cana Island Light

There's something about standing alone on the shore of Lake Michigan in the middle of the night, miles from the nearest town, that puts your senses on full alert. The "fight or flight" response lurks just beneath the surface as your mind nags you about the distinct possibility of a large animal or person with evil intentions emerging from the trees along the shore.

If you can push those thoughts into the background far enough, what's left is a pure appreciation of the sights and sounds of the moment - the light breeze coming off the lake, the sound of waves breaking on the shore, the points of light far away in the night sky and the lighthouse tower, doing the job it was designed to do more than a century ago.

I stood where horrific wrecks and daring rescues took place in days long past. A place where intense storms pummelled the rocky shoreline. But this night was reserved for the contented sigh of the breeze, the blanket of night pulled snug and a light signaling that all was well.

Click on this post's headline for image EXIF data. Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.