North Point Revisited

It's been some time since I've visited North Point on Milwaukee's Lake Michigan lakefront.  Sometimes it seems like I'm there every couple of days and then I go months without even driving by.  This morning, I decided to revisit this spot as I have a current portfolio published in Wisconsin Trails magazine.  I'm glad I went.  The surf was rough and I wish I could have stayed until there was enough light to catch the waves crashing against the ice causing classic explosions of water into the air.

Instead, I caught this image looking south toward the city.  The sun won't come up for another half hour or more but there enough color in the sky caused by the reflecting lights of the city.  Good morning Milwaukee.

A New Day

I suddenly realized how long it's been since my last post. Sorry about that!

Well this morning I visited one of my favorite locations . . . North Point. I had no intention of making any photographs but instead, thought I would enjoy a cup of coffee. I'm in a very melancholy mood having just laid my dear sweet dog, Shamrock to rest yesterday. Her time had come and I am at peace with the decision. It was based on her needs and not my own. I will miss her like a child as she's been such a part of the family having lived with us through my real children's formative, teen years. You can see pictures of Shamrock on Flickr.

My friends, old and new have been very supportive. A dear old friend from back east even located the local Humane Society in southern Wisconsin where I found Shamrock to make a donation on her behalf. Times like these are easier with such friends.

I left work early yesterday in the hopes of spending a few more precious moments with Shamrock. We went down to the lakefront. It was an absolutely perfect day. We spend some time walking and sitting but I could tell she was not settled. She was content to just mozy around the grass taking in the various scents of people, places and things. I tried to get her to just sit with me. It was almost as if she was saying, 'it's OK to let me go now' as she continued to be slightly aloof. Her time had come.

So this morning, I returned to this scene content to watch the lake with my morning coffee thinking of Shamrock before heading to work. I was greeted by a wonderful sunrise over the lake. I met some joggers and a close friend. I decided to take a few images, have some nice early morning conversation and then on my way. It was a new day. A new chapter.

Brrrrrr

Brrrrrr, originally uploaded by RJIPhotography.

Winter has arrived and for the second consecutive December, we seem to be getting snow storm after snow storm. Another is on it's way as we speak. This means it's cold outside which translates to ice along Lake Michigan.

So, I visited North Point (again) this past Sunday to find the old pier covered with ice. The four pillars resemble four gnomes marking into the icy waters of Lake Michigan. It was a frigid morning for sure with temperatures in the single digits but I had to continue to play with my Canon 5D Mark II. The detail this camera captures continues to amaze me.

North Point Sunrise 2

North Point Sunrise 2, originally uploaded by RJIPhotography.

Now that I'm itchy to play with my new Canon 5D Mark II, what better place to put it to the test than sunrise at North Point on Lake Michigan in downtown Milwaukee. It's a favorite spot for many local photographers and I often see the same friends also checking out the sunrise. If it's a nice sunrise that morning, the chatter is minimal while we all set up and compose our images. If the sunrise is so, so, we spend the time talking about photography, the weather or whatever strikes us at the moment.

North Point

The CoPA Members Show is just around the corner so I thought I would post the images I'll be showing over the next couple of days.  The first is one of my favorites taken in October of 2007.  It was my intent to go down to Lake Michigan and photograph sunrise of the old North Point pier, just south of Bradford Beach.  It had become a popular spot among the Cream City Photographers crowd on Flickr. 

What I had in mind that day was to catch sunrise with the pier in the foreground using a long exposure to smooth out the texture of the water.  I took several images as the sun got closer to the horizon and I was generally satisfied with the pre-sunrise images.  As the sun broke the Lake Michigan horizon, I shifted to the shoot the pier from the north side.  Immediately, I saw the morning glow on the algae covered wood of the pier.  Using a polarizer and a neutral density filter, I was able to keep the exposure long enough to give me smooth water.  

I shoot a lot of sunrises and sunsets but this day reminded me how important it is to look away from the sun.  In this case, it was a matter of simply looking at how the sun was illuminating the subject I was originally using as a silhouette.  I love the image shown here for several reasons (the texture of the wood and algae), but mostly because I left myself open-minded to shift from my original thoughts about this composition that led to the shot.  On another occasion, I might have missed this shot.