Empire Bluffs, looking northward along the shore of Lake Michigan
Aug, 2019Views
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People's Choice in Scenic Lake Michigan Photo Challenge
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on the Empire Bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan, near the town of Empire, Michigan. The photo is taken looking north.Time
I took this photo mid-afternoon after a very long hike to get to the bluffs.Lighting
The sun was unobstructed by any clouds that day, and was bright and warm.Equipment
I took this shot with my hand-held Canon 80D and my EF-S 10-18mm wide angle zoom @ 10mm focal length. No flash or filters were used.Inspiration
I had decided to take the long hike to the Empire Bluffs to get some good photos of the Lake Michigan shoreline from high above the water. I was astounded by how blue and beautiful the water looked, and the sky was the perfect complement. It was well worth the strenuous hike to get there!Editing
I post-processed in Luminar 3, just slightly adjusting the color saturations.In my camera bag
I typically carry my Canon 80D with five lenses (Canon 50mm f/1.8, 10-18mm wide angle zoom, 18-55mm zoom, and 55-250mm zoom, and Tokina 100mm macro prime lens). I also have my Haida M10 pro filter holder with a 10-stop ND and 3-stop GND filter and circular polarizer. Of course, I always have my standard accessories like spare batteries, lens hoods, memory cards, etc., and I carry a Godox V860-II speedlight with MagMod Sphere & MagBeam flash modifiers with color gels and gobos. I also have my trusty tripod!Feedback
My advice is always simple...soak up everything about where you are, and feel the story that starts to reveal itself about your subject and your surroundings. I'm always amazed that eventually a compelling story begins to emerge, and my job then becomes how best to capture that story. Sometimes that's easy to do, sometimes it's damn hard, and sometimes I'm not able to do it at all. It's those times that I just enjoy the story and the moment, and then later it drives me to get better at my craft so in the future I can perhaps succeed.
