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Frozen Lighthouse

NIKON D5600

settings

Aperture f/11 ISO 100 Shutter 1/1.25 Focal Length 14/1

upload_date

Apr, 2019

Views

354

Likes

+33

Awards

Contest Finalist in Lighthouse Beauty Photo Contest

Peer Award

Absolute Masterpiece

Top Choice

Magnificent Capture

Outstanding Creativity

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 20 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at Tiscornia Park in St. Joseph Michigan.

Time

This photo was taken at sunset or a bitter cold night on Lake Michigan. I had to wear ice spikes on my shoes and hike across mounds of ice on the pier, climb down on frozen water and walk past the first lighthouse because the path to get around it was frozen over, and then climb back up onto the pier. The sky began to turn many shades of pink and purple that cascaded off of the lighthouse.

Lighting

It took maximum effort to even get to this spot. Michigan had just experienced some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded during the Polar Vortex in February of 2019. The day before we saw wind chills approach -50 degrees. I knew after it was over a trip to the lake was going to be a must and I took a half day off work just to experience this. I had to climb over mounds of ice and walk across the frozen lake to get here and the effort was well worth it.

Equipment

This was shot with a Nikon D5600 and sat on a tripod

Inspiration

Michigan winters can be harsh, especially by the lake. I have seen many great photos of similar shots in the past and I wanted to be able to capture one of my own. Despite the harsh temperatures and snow and ice, winter time in Michigan provides some great photo opportunities.

Editing

I generally use Lightroom for all of my editing so it was no different with this shot. However, because of the intense sunset sky full of pinks and purples, I had to do very little with this photo.

In my camera bag

I always have my camera and I recently switched to a more versatile 18-400 lens. I then keep some ND filters for long exposures during the daytime. I then also keep my lensball handy to switch it up when I want to.

Feedback

First of all be safe. If I didnt have my spikes, I never would have made it to this spot. Take extreme caution when climbing and walking over frozen waters and it is probably best not to go alone. As far as the shot is concerned, make sure you have a steady tripod and use the lighting to your advantage and always remember different angles and perspectives. The last piece of advice I would give is to have patience. I was out in the cold for about 6 hours before getting this capture and it was well worth the extra layers of clothing and frozen fingers.

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Frozen Lighthouse

Behind The Lens

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