The Wandering Photographer

Dunes and Beaches of the Sleeping Bear

Some of the worlds most beautiful beaches and dunes can be found along the Eastern coast of upper Lake Michigan in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The park was designated a National Lakeshore in 1970 and administration was assigned to the National Park Service.

From the NPS website:

"The Park was established to preserve the 'outstanding natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena...for the benefit, inspiration, education, recreation, and enjoyment of the public.' "

The Park includes thirty-five miles of Lake Michigan Coast almost exclusively made up of ancient dunes and wonderful beaches. The park also encompasses a number of historic sites, including the Port Oneida Rural District and a nineteenth century US Lifesaving Station at Glen Haven.

The dunes are named after the "Legend of the Sleeping Bear" and the park took its name from the legend as well.

The heart of the park however are the dunes. Here is a few more views from various points along the shore.

It is no wonder that "Dr. Beach" named the beaches of Sleeping Bear Dunes as the best beaches on the Great Lakes.

Hope you enjoyed his look at one of Michigan's wonders.

© 2011 Tim Marks

Great Lakes Lighthouses: Old Mission Point Lighthouse

Last week I wrote about The Grand Traverse Lighthouse on Lake Michigan at the entrance to Grand Traverse Bay. Today I'd like to show you some images of The Old Mission Point Light on Old Mission Peninsula near Traverse City.

The lighthouse sits 14-1/2 miles South South East across the Grand Traverse Bay from the Grand Traverse Light and 16 miles North of Traverse City at the tip of Old Mission Peninsula.

Built in 1870, the light was intended to guide ships into the West arm of Grand Traverse Bay. The Light is no longer active as it was replaced by a Beacon 2-1/4 miles off shore.

One of the interesting factoids about Old Mission Point is that it is located almost exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole, very near 45° North latitude. A coordinate reading taken form a Delorme software atlas puts it at N44° 59.5' (44.99°).

Old mission Point Lighthouse, another great reason to visit Pure Michigan.

© 2010 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Great Lakes Lighthouses: Grand Traverse Light Station in Northport, MI

One of the grand Lake Michigan lighthouses sits at the entrance to Grand Traverse Bay at the tip of Michigan's "little finger." Built in 1852 and rebuilt and relocated in 1858 the Grand Traverse Light guided ships through the Manitou Passage as they headed to the Straits of Mackinaw and Lake Huron or Lake Superior.

Sitting on the grounds of Leelanau State Park, the light houses a museum and gift/book shop. The light and the surrounding beach is a great place to spend a few hours with a camera at any time of year.

When we visited this past July the landscaping was in full bloom.

 

The grounds are nicely landscaped and well kept up, however, the plaster seagull is a bit kitschy.

 

Winter is another great time to visit the light as this shot from February 2007 shows.

Another Winter view of this grand light.

Next time you are in Northern Michigan be sure to drop by a lighthouse. There is bound to be one nearby.

You can see my earlier post about photographing the nearby Point Betsie Lighthouse here.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved

Barns and Farms: Port Onieda Rural Historical District

In the mid 19th century a number of sturdy immigrant families settled and built farms along lake Michigan near Pyramid Point. By 1862 the people had built a dock and named their small settlement Port Onieda after one of the first ships to visit the village, the SS Onieda. By 1908 all of the original farms, except one, in Port Onieda had been abandoned. New families arrived and the village thrived until World War II. Today only a few families live in the immediate area.

Today the village is being restored as one of two historical districts by the National Park Service, in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I had the chance to spend an afternoon driving around the village and photographing some of the wonderful farm ruins and relics. I hope you enjoy the results.

The outhouse on the Carsten Burfiend Farm c. 1893

 

Here is a close up of closure hardware on one of the Burfiend farm out buildings

 

A small shed on the Martin Basch Farm c.1880s

 

A detail from the Miller Barn c. 1855. the Miller Barn is also shown in the picture at the top of this post.

 

This one is the detail of a shed on the Echart Farm built about 1862.

 

Detail of the old farm house on the Eckhert property. Obviously this one needs work.

 

This historical site is well worth the visit. I could easily spend hours here making images of an interesting past that was an important part of the Northern Michigan experience.

The Sleeping Bear Dunes are located in Benzie and Leelanau counties in Northern Michigan. the National lakeshore is a treasure of natural beauty and historic discovery. Visit them on the web at www.nps.gov/slbe/index.htm

© 2010 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Ohio's Cedar Falls in Hocking Hills State Park

You may remember my post about Upper Falls at Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills State Park. Well, Upper Falls is only one of a number of falls in the park. Today I want to highlight Cedar Falls.

Cedar falls is probably the most photographed falls in the park. Therefore it can difficult to get a unique view, but any view will be wonderful.

Waterfalls are often best shot on cloudy days. The contrast and colors are often better and it is easier to use slow shutter speeds to get that great silky look to the water.

I didn't have one this day but it is helpful to have a neutral density filter in order to lengthen the exposure even more. Most of these were shot at around 1/5 to 1/2 second. Two seconds or more would be even better. You can get some silkiness even at 1/20 to 1/30 second.

Views of the entire falls are important and lovely but make sure you zoom in and get detail shots. They often turn out to be the best of the day.

Of course you have to realize that you aren't going to be the only people taking shots. This couple was having as great a time as I was. I'm sure they got some shots they can be proud of.

Hocking Hills State Park is located near Logan, Ohio. Logan is located on US 33 about an hour Southeast of Columbus between Lancaster and Athens, Ohio. A visit to Ohio University in Athens is well worth the side trip.

Keep on shootin'!!!

Thanks to Debbie at Delicious Baby for facilitating Photo Friday.

© 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Glen Haven Michigan: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

One of the jewels of Northern Michigan is the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, part of the U.S. national park system. The lakeshore encompasses the natural beauty of sweeping sand dunes and wooded forests as well as abandoned villages turned into museums. One of those abandoned towns is Glen Haven.

Glen Haven was settled in 1851 when C. C. McCarty built a saw mill and inn on the Lake Michigan beach near Glen Arbor, MI. By 1878 Glen Haven had become a harbor for steam ships to replenish their supply of wood fuel. D. H. Day continued development of the community and by 1920 Day had established a fruit canning company near the beach.

The Cannery building is now a boathouse museum with a number of interesting vessels on display. With the extension of the railroad to Glen Haven the shipping dock went unused and closed in 1931.

Glen Haven continued to be a tourist destination until the 1970s when the National Park service bought up what was left in the village. The inn Closed in 1972. NPS has restored a number of the buildings as museums and tourists continue to visit especially in the summer.

The General store has been restored and serves as an exhibit and visitor's center. Other buildings that have been restored include the blacksmith's shop.

All of the vintage hardware in the restored buildings is made on site in this working blacksmith's shop. During the summer visitors can watch skilled smiths and apprentices make hooks, hinges and other iron products for restoration use.

Glen haven gives all the opportunity to learn about the life of loggers, sailors and tradesman in Northern Michigan. Insights about fishing, farming and tourism are ours for the asking.

Source material from the National Park Service web site

© 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved

A Photo Walk around Millennium Park, Chicago

In July I had the opportunity to spend some time in Millennium Park in Downtown Chicago. This is a great place to make some images and spend some down time people watching.

Here we have people cooling off in the Crown Fountain. The pictures on the pillars change though out the day.

When I was there, a Chinese sculpture exhibit was on display.

The J. Pritzker Pavilion was designed by Frank Gehry and is a favorite spot for afternoon concerts.

And of course, Chicago’s famous “Bean,” the Anish Kapoor sculpture “Cloud Gate.”

Walking around any downtown area is bound to produce a number of fine images. Try it in your town before the weather gets too bad.

© 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Photo Friday: What a Difference a Day Makes, Signal Hill, St. John's Newfoundland

Boy, what a difference a day makes.  After a 2000 mile drive, including five hours on a ferry and a good night’s sleep, we awakened to a fog shrouded St. John’s, Newfoundland.  We decided to go ahead and do some sightseeing anyway.  We made our way up to Signal Hill and its iconic Cabot Tower at the entranced to the harbor.

Nikon D1x, Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 30mm, ISO 125, 1/250 @ f/9

Here is a view of Cabot Tower hidden by the fog.  We spent some time inside the tower talking to the Parks Canada rangers and learning about the hill and tower.  It was here in 1901 that Guglielmo Marconi received the first ever transatlantic wireless transmission (the Morse code for the letter S sent continuously).  

When we departed from the tower and returned to our car, we found a man holding a television camera marked with the logo of the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC).  It seems that he noticed Dominique’s bright yellow Pontiac Aztek with the Michigan License plates and wanted to interview us.  He asked if, after driving so far, we were disappointed about the weather.  Of course, we told him that we were having a great time and that we knew that Newfoundland weather was unpredictable and changeable (we’re used to that here in Michigan).

Nikon D1x, Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 24mm, ISO 200, 1/160 @ f/14

The weather did change and the next day we went back and re-toured the historical site.  We had a chuckle with the ranger when he told us he had seen us the night before on the news.  Unfortunately we hadn’t gotten a chance to see the news that night and missed our TV debut.

Thanks to Debbie of Delicious Baby for organizing Photo Friday and spreading such wonderful images across the Web.

© 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Photo Friday: Detroit – Ontario Underground Railroad Memorial

Nikon D300,  Nikkor 12-24mm f/4 @ 14mm, ISO 200,  1/250 @ f/11

In the years leading up to the Civil War, Detroit was the last stop on an arduous and dangerous journey to freedom for many people.   The Underground Railroad was a secretive web of brave Americans who dedicated their lives to helping slaves escape captivity and make their way to freedom in Canada.  Detroit was an important “station” on the way.

Nikon D300,  Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 @ 27mm, ISO 200,  1/200 @ f/10

On October 20, 2001 two memorials, by artist Ed Dwight, were installed on the banks of the Detroit River, one in Detroit (Hart Plaza) and one in Windsor, Ontario.  The purpose of the installation was to remember and memorialize the slaves and “conductors” of the Underground Railroad. 

Nikon D300,  Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 @ 55mm, ISO 200,  1/125 @ f/10

The sculpture on the Detroit side shows nine slaves and a conductor, the conductor is pointing toward Windsor and freedom for the slave family.

Nikon D300,  Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 @ 56mm, ISO 200,  1/160 @ f/10

The Sculpture tugs at the viewer’s heart and expresses feelings of fear, uncertainty, hope and freedom.  The mother protectively hugging her child is particularly moving.

I have not had the opportunity to go over to Windsor to see the other portion of the memorial but I plan to soon.

I am honored to have one of my images of the memorial on display at the Bean & Leaf Café in Royal Oak, MI during the months of August and September.

Thanks to Debbie of Delicious Baby for organizing Photo Friday and spreading such wonderful images across the Web.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved

Copper Harbor Lakescapes

The Keweenaw Peninsula is as far from Detroit as you can drive and still be in Michigan.  At the tip of the Keweenaw is the tiny town of Copper Harbor (year round population 75).  The town sits on Gitchigumi (Lake Superior) and is the gateway to Isla Royale National Park.  We spent some time there in 2006 and I got some very nice “lakescape” shots while hiking along the town maintained trail on Hunter’s Point.

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 78mm,  ISO 100,  1/640 @ f/5.6

As we got out to the lake the rocky beach was still shrouded by fog, presenting us with the opportunity for this eerie picture.

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 65mm,  ISO 100,  1/1000 @ f/5.6

Turning 180 degrees dished up this classic beach scene.  The brown pebble beach, deep blue sky and lake and the dense forest is quintessentially Upper Peninsula.

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 60mm,  ISO 100,  1/30 @ f/13

Just up from the beach the large rock formations were made up of many minerals including quartz, iron and, surprise, copper.

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 200mm,  ISO 100,  1/750 @ f/6.3

As we hiked, the wind kicked up and confronted us with this view.  I think the waves add a dynamic element to the image.  By the way, these are very small waves for Lake Superior.  The power of the lake is legendary as recounted in the Gordon Lightfoot hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 32mm,  ISO 100,  1/13 @ f/4

After a post hike dinner at one of the local restaurants, we returned to our 1950s style motel and were blessed with the scene above.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a day.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved