It has been awhile since my last posting of some new images. I have either been busy shooting, or busy with multiple print orders over the past several weeks – both of which are good things! Recently I had a new experience visiting Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore here in Michigan. This is one of the big attractions of Michigan’s Upper Penninsula (The ‘UP’ as referred to by locals) as it is a segment of approximately 17 miles of shoreline lining Lake Superior with some pretty dramatic cliffs. These cliffs are colored by various minerals and layers of sandstone, in various stages of erosion from the pounding these cliffs take from Lake Superior’s various moods.

Many people that have visited here will be familiar with the boat tours along the coast of these cliffs that run during various times throughout the day. Evening tours are always best because this is when the cliff walls receive late afternoon light. However, you are pretty limited for photography on these tours, your movement around the boat depends on the crowds and the navigation of the captain. I have only kept basic snapshots from the tours that I have been on. This time was completely different in that a few other photographers and I rented a pontoon boat. This enabled us to spend as much or as little time in any particular area, navigate very close to the cliff walls that the larger boats cannot do, and position ourselves in a variety of places normally not available on the tours. This compositional freedom made a significant difference in the types of images you could obtain.

Although you have a tremendous amount of freedom being the captain of your own boat, it is still quite difficult to shoot from. Conditions on Lake Superior can change rapidly from flat calm to rolling swells to white caps depending on the winds and weather. We were very fortunate to have mostly sunny skies and fairly calm waters, but for those used to exact compositions from a tripod, it can take some getting used to.

Having an image stabilized lens also helps – so the Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VR lens became my workhorse lens for this trip in trying to capture patterns on the walls.

I am still editing many images taken over the past few weeks – feel free to stop in the gallery to see new shots that have been added, and drop some comments in my blog. I always enjoy hearing from visitors.