Normally I dislike shooting lighthouses when there are people milling in the shot, but I really had some good success one September day in Ferrysburg. We had a storm rolling north to south along Lake Michigan and it whipped up some fearsome waves in the Grand Haven area.



I had a great time watching the wind carry over the pier. When boogie boarders started to walk along the pier so they could ride the wake in. First I grumbled, then I saw an opportunity as they walked in the mist. I snapped several pictures over the next couple hours of these guys as the lighting changed. First, sunblocked with diffuse lighting, and indirect, finally a spotlight of direct lighting on the pier.

Diffuse lighting... 5pmish



Indirect lighting... Rays of light striking the clouds as holes begin to open... 6pmish



Spotlighting... Direct light striking the pier illuminating the subject but little else. 7pmish



I have shots of the pier without these guys as well as shots of the Grand Haven lighthouse being hit by waves, but the best shots of that day happened to be the ones that had a strong human element. Something that I never expected. (For the technical junkies. Nikon n65, Tamron 75-300, fuji 100, no filters as they were wet and sandcovered by this point)
JB

Wow - v. impressive.

For a moment there I thought the guy in the second photo was reading the newspaper.

T

Great pictures JB! That first one really caught my attention. I agree with you that sometimes the human element is great in pictures. The picture with the three guys in it is really great, for that matter they all are. For whatever reason, I try to get pictures of lighthouses without people in them, and I seldom venture out in storms. Learning a lot here this morning. It maybe time to see about changing that idea.

Bert

PIP (people in pictures) is nice if you choose to compose the pic that way. PIP can be a real headache if you are trying to compose some great pics of the lighthouse and surroundings only. Sometimes people can turn a great shot into something you don't desire.

As for your pics, JWB, they are super. You really made good use of the young lads in the photos. Great work! Lets see more of it in the future.

Bob

Nice shots, John. I keep hoping I'll be up at GH some time when I can shoot big waves from the Ferrysberg side! I particularly like the lighting and spray blowing off the top of the wave in the first shot you posted. Nicely done!

Gary

The Grand Haven south pier is also a good place to occasionally shoot surfers when the waves kick up. These pics are ancient history, more or less, and were shot during a gale in April, 1996. These were shot very late in the day, probably around 4 PM. The light was pretty low and sand/spray were blowing everywhere and I've no doubt that the water droplets and grit on the front of my filter softened the image somewhat, along with the blowing rain and spray. These were taken with a Nikon N90/Tamron 200-400 mm f5.6 zoom lens shortly after I bought the N90 body. These were shot on the old Fuji Provia 400 slide film.





Generally spaking, I'm not nuts about PIP, but occasionally they do add interest to a photo, e.g. watching the sunset, fishing, surfing, or whatever.

Gary

Positives to people:
They add size perspective,
If done right, they add interest to a photo.

Negatives to people:
They can distract from the photo,
They are unpredictable,
They can fool the auto focus or if they are in the wrong spot can make a super photo a flawed one.

Honestly, with as many people that are always running around near the lights, it has challenged me to find compositions with as little human impact as possible. Because of that, I have become a better photographer learning to study my subject before willy nilly shooting. Having said that, this is one case where I think I actually captured people in my shots where they added to the scene. Thanks guys for your comments.
JB

I found there are two ways to help prevent PIP:

Visit the lights off-season, especially when it's cold;

Bide your time and wait until the people move out of your composition.

Bob

Some really great shots JWB. What's that in the sky in picture #2?

I often enjoy having people in my Lighthouse pictures...

Thats the Scavenger of the Skies, the Seagull in pic number 2.

JB

LOL! I had to laugh when I quickly read the next post below Paul's picture of Bill.

At first glance, I thought you were referring to Bill until I saw "in pic number 2."

Any reference to Mr. Younger as a seagull and scavenger of the sky, is strictly coincidental. Therefore, no black rectangle was placed over Mr. Younger's eyes.

Bob

Thanks JWB. I looked at that object the first time, decided it just couldn't be what I first thought. Then I went back and looked again and I KNEW it couldn't be. I looked a little more then just gave up and asked.

I'm sure glad I did. It looked to me like a Walleye thrown into the sky by the lake's fury. Looks like a rather long, skinny fish, tail towards us!

Maybe I need my eyeglass prescription checked...

I thought it looked like a fish too Lamar, or some sort of boomerang with porcupine quills.

Nice photos JWB, thanks. When the people are sillouettes it's really kind of neat. In the latter photos the people are starting to resemble those lawn ornament thingies!

I've been missing out on alot of great photo posts here lately, starting to catch up a bit. Changing diapers seems to be my latest hobby.

Excellent shots JB! About the only photo I had that I liked people in was a close up of Marblehead one day, while tons of people were climbing it. Not as dangerous as JB's subjects, but I guess someone could have fallen off from the mad rush to climb it? Does help with scale, but they all look a little bored.

I so enjoy your shots of the different angles, times of the year and the superb action of some. Keep them coming.

Our condolences, Rod, on the changing diapers gig. Just don't think of how all of those diapers you're changing equates to money NOT going for that fast Canon glass!

Gary