Mackinac City with Nightingale, 300ZX and gluwater

pathfinder

Last weekend Nightingale and I made a run to northern Michigan to shoot with 300zx and gluwater. Planned to capture a few night shots of the Mackinac Bridge and what else presented itself. Temperatures to be in the 30's early in the morning ( thats barely above freezing for you 'gus : )

We arrived Friday afternoon and hooked up with 300zx and gluwater and we all decided to head up into the UP and look at Tahquamenon Falls. It is the 2nd largest waterfall east of the Mississippi. You can read about it here - http://www.exploringthenorth.com/tahqua/tahqua.html

We took several shots from varying angles under an overcast sky. I was very concerned that the shots would not be sharp even shooting on a tripod as the ground could be felt shaking underneath our feet from the power of the waterfall. But the tripod seemed to do its job and I got a few frames that I enjoyed. If you look carefully at the far edge of the fall you can see a fence to give you some idea of the size of the falls.





By the time we finished shooting here the light was failing and we decided to stop for supper at the restauraunt in the Tahquamenon state park. Usually I don't find these facilities that exciting, but this turned out to be a microbrewery with some interesting customers. This was shot at ISO 1600 - it was really dark in there but ..."Bartender!! One more round for my new friends!!"




The next two mornings were spent shooting the Big Bridge at Mackinac City - 3,800 feet long suspended between the two towers. The total span is longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. Four lanes wide, with the two center lanes made of open mesh steel grating, so motorcyclists can look through the road they are riding on and see the water 155 feet below. While the bike has that lovely squirmy feel it gets when riding on engraved roadways or steel grating. :

Here is the bridge before sunrise - notice the lights of the bridge reflected in the water.



Here is the bridge a little later - it seemed there was always a group of shooters out there in the morning light despite the cold wet breeze from Lake Huron. Here are a group of ladies we saw shooting the bridge.



Saturday we rode the ferry to Mackinac Island for some more oportunities.

I wil have to complete this thread a little later.

pathfinder

The ferry service to Mackinac Island is exceptional - three different firms, at least, transport tourists to the Island and back. We rode with Sheplers



The waterfront is under constant surveillance by the gulls on both shores - the mainland and the island. I used a 135mm lens on a 20D to capture a few images of the gulls in flight. I can't usually get BIFs with a short tele like a 135. But gulls are obliging if nothing else.



One gull on the dock while we were waiting to board the ferry seemed possessed. But it let us board anyway...



After arriving, we wandered around abit while 300zx got his bearings as our fearless tour guide. And we wandered into the Butterfly pavillion.. I did not have a macro lens - just a 135, but it seemed to suffice. Very warm and humid in the butterfly pavillion. The lenses steam up easily inside and out if they are not sealed. :cry 300zx, gluwater and Nightingale suffered this ignominy.



We finally got our lenses dried out and wandered on to Fort Mackinac. http://www.mackinacparks.com/parks/fort-mackinac_6/

300zx and gluwater shot a few shots.....



And then shot a few more...



They seemed to be having fun. We wandered around the island a little longer and then returned to the mainland for some sunset shots.

This is the color of the water and sky for a brief time that evening - not PS'd





The next day, Sunday, 300zx and gluwater had to return to the real world of jobs and work, while Nightingale and I returned to the UP and the Whitefish Point Shipwreck museum. If you are a SCUBA diver, or find shipwrecks fascinating, this is a worthwhile place to visit. There is a lovely stretch of beach to walk also. http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/

There is a series of buildings, museums, and a real lighthouse.







We finished the day by walking around Mackinac City and enjoying the sights. I did see something new also - a Harley-Davidson Road King that was pulling a canoe on a trailer. I've not seen that previously. I thought I'd seen everrything you could do with a motorcycle. NOT!!



There was a stiff breeze and the flags were flying...




Nightingale fed some gulls also Saturday afternoon.




I'll close with another shot of the bridge at night



I am interested in comments and sugestions for improvement as usual.

gus

All good mate but ...wow #2 & #5 How did you process that bridge like that in #5 ?

pathfinder

Thanks 'gus - I appreciate your stopping by, and i'm glad you liked my Tahquamenon Falls and the Mac Bridge shots.
The fall foliage responds very nicely to slight steepening of the A and B channels ( A steeper than , but the foliage really didn't need much processing and the water really had that much tannin ( brown color ) in the falls.
The early morning bridge shot with the ladies in the red coats is pretty much as I saw it. I did take a pass through LAB, but I could have accomplished the same in RGB - the sky really was that magenta that morning.


Have you ever seen a motorcycle pulling a canoe on a trailer??

morrisphotography2003

You just gave us a lot to look forward to, we are heading that way in two weeks. By the way those are some realy great shots of Rootbeer Falls and The Mack. Bridge.

Bob.

gus

pathfinder wrote:

Have you ever seen a motorcycle pulling a canoe on a trailer??

Its asking for trouble i recon..but i dont know your roads. Do it here & a roo will take you out before you get 100 miles. Most of them go behind you.

pathfinder

morrisphotography2003 wrote:

You just gave us a lot to look forward to, we are heading that way in two weeks. By the way those are some realy great shots of Rootbeer Falls and The Mack. Bridge.

Bob.

I didn't know they call them RootBeer Falls, but I can see why

Two weeks from now, I doubt there will be many leaves left on the trees in the UP at all. They were just at their peak or slightly past when I was there last weekend Oct 7,8,9. Have a safe trip and a good time.

iceman17

Wow Pathfinger,that was a cool series.Regarding the brewery and kids,well all I can say is they start them out at an early age down there dont they:D .Great shots,every one of them.Its like I went on the trip with you guys....Thanks.

Motorcycles and canoe's, didn't see that one comming thats for sure.Thanks for posting these.I do enjoy seeing different parts of the USA...ice

gubbs

Hi PF

Looks like a great weekend,
No 2 is gorgeous and I love the pastel skies!

T(h)orsten

All great. No2 and final bridge shot are my favourites!

pathfinder

Gus:
"Its asking for trouble i recon..but i dont know your roads. Do it here & a roo will take you out before you get 100 miles. Most of them go behind you"

In Upper Michigan, deer are very common, and they do interact with vehicles including motorcycles. But it would be neat to have a canoe at times while travelling by motorcycle.


Iceman:"Regarding the brewery and kids,well all I can say is they start them out at an early age down there dont they"

That's the funny thing - In Indiana, where I live, children are not allowed in the same room as a bar. If a restaraunt has a bar, it must legally be in a seperate rooom from the dining area if children are allowed in the dining area. So, to see kids sitting at the bar, kind of struck my funny bone. But they were just waiting on their parents to leave, not really being served. But I thought it was a cute picture.

Gubbs:"Looks like a great weekend,
No 2 is gorgeous and I love the pastel skies!"

Thanks Gubbs. There was that very brief period - maybe 5 or 10 minutes - when the sky was this shading from turquise to magenta. Very cool. You can see some of it in the reflections in the water beneath the gull here also




T(h)orsten:"No2 and final bridge shot are my favourites!"

The bridge is a great subject as the light and the weather changes. Glad you liked the shots. I agree I think I like the last bridge shot the best.


I have one more shot to post that requires explanation. We stopped at a Cider Mill in Michigan on the way to Mackinac City, and about 9 am, in a partly cloudy sky, the sun peaked through the clouds, and I saw this sundog. These are hard to identify at times - I could ONLY SEE each colored end of the arcs, but I wanted to see if I could capture anything more. I was not very successful, but if you look carefully, you can just make out the entire superior arc of the rainbow like sundog.

USAIR

Awesome photos too many to good ones to pick favorite

The reflection from the bridge is very strange kinda a UFO feel to it.
Also nice to see some more Dgrinners too

Thanks
Fred

Nikolai

Great post and awesome pictures!
Thank you so much for sharing!
Great you guys could get together like this:-)
Cheers!

DavidTO

pathfinder wrote:

Fantastic.

ramdisk

I was up in Munising on the week-end of the 10th and the colors were maybe 50%, I'm glad where you were they were good. I like the last shot of the bridge. I know wish that I would of stayed for nite shots of the Big Mack, well maybe next year...............

rutt

Jim, these are all really good. The moon with the flags is especially good. I've tried hard to catch that moon in daytime with something interesting in the foreground. This shot works very well because the mood looks like it's the right size.

The falls with the fall colors shots are also very fine. The tripods and LAB curves were working for you there!

pathfinder

rutt wrote:

Jim, these are all really good. The moon with the flags is especially good. I've tried hard to catch that moon in daytime with something interesting in the foreground. This shot works very well because the mood looks like it's the right size.

The falls with the fall colors shots are also very fine. The tripods and LAB curves were working for you there!

The flags and the moon shot is a straight shot with a 20D and a 135mm lens. No compositing, it's just as I saw it through the viewfinder in the late afternoon sunlight. The fall scenes are just ideal material for LAB as you know.

No one has commented on the sundog - It is poor artistic quality, I realize, but I could not see any of the arc with the naked eye at all - just the colored ends - but I still have not created the image I was hoping for yet.

And I have one candid shot that reminds me of lots of yours...Taken on the ferry ride to the island

rutt

pathfinder wrote:

The flags and the moon shot is a straight shot with a 20D and a 135mm lens. No compositing, it's just as I saw it through the viewfinder in the late afternoon sunlight.

Thanks, it's a very nice portrait. I guessed about the short tele and the moon. Hmm....

Andy

fun time, excellent piccies thanks jim for sharing!
again, though, you could have gotten a *mint* rating, if you'd have featured more of the lovely nightingale than just her fingertips

pathfinder

andy wrote:

fun time, excellent piccies thanks jim for sharing!
again, though, you could have gotten a *mint* rating, if you'd have featured more of the lovely nightingale than just her fingertips

So sorry boss, she was jus' too busy playing with the seagulls!!

[imgl]http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/40310506-M.jpg[/imgl]


[imgr]http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/40311109-M.jpg[/imgr]

gluwater

Very nice Jim. Any chance we'll get to see what Nightingale shot? I still haven't been able to go through any of my shots sigh, but hopefully a couple will be as nice as yours. Great shot of the falls from our vantage points there. I like the shot of the little French girl, I tried to get one of her and her two sisters also on the ferry but alas I only had my 50mm on at the time. I'm glad to see you got some gull shots that you were trying for. I especially like the one you posted in another thread with the bridge behind it. Great fun meeting you and Nightengale, hopefully we can do it agian sometime before the 2006 shootout.

Phil U.

Looks like a great trip. Certainly got some nice shots. I really like the second shot of the falls and the diving outfit in the museum.

GREAPER

Great Set Pathfinder, I cant believe I missed this thread when you first posted it.

I wanted to go along on this trip, but it was not to be. I dont know how I managed to get so busy, but it's hard to make time for a little weekend trip.

I am really sorry I missed it. you got some great shots and it looks like you all had fun.

pathfinder

Phil, I'm glad you enjoyed the images. I have several more of the museum I did not work up, because they were mostly for my auxilliary memory. Here is another hard hat (1 atmosphere) diving suit just for you...

[imgl]http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/40470242-L.jpg[/imgl]

Nick, Nightingale and I had a great time with you and Gary. You were great hosts!! : I'll have to prod Nightingale to post her shots - she gets feeling overwhelmed a little sometimes i think - I'll encourage her, and when she posts you can all encourage here:):

Greaper, I'm sorry you could not attend. Had I thought you were considering coming, I would have badgered you until you cave'd, dude!! You missed a good time and good compnay. Maybe next time anyway.

vangogh

pathfinder wrote:

I know someone who put a trailer on the back of his Laverda Jota that he'd rebuilt! We had great fun seeing people's expressions as we arrived at the race track!!

saurora

Looks like a fun time! So many great shots and such a variety. The shots of the falls are beautiful! I have never been to that part of our country and it surprises me to still see so much color in the leaves of the trees. I can't imagine how beautiful this area must be in the Fall. Love the one-legged, demonic seagull. The bridge pictures are great. I like seeing the 2 ends of the rainbow...almost better than seeing the entire thing! Great people shots, the little girl is especially nice. Thanks for posting so many...I feel like I've been somewhere today!!!!