I was not in Alpena for the lighthouse festival this weekend, but in Cheboygan staying with my cousin, who has a nice home and frontage on Lake Huron. These postings are going to be out of order for my weekend up north as I pull the images from CD and convert them over from RAW.

Sunday morning sunrise was spent at Forty Mile Point Lighthouse, just north of Rogers City on Lake Huron. It was a rather stiff morning with temps at 44 degress and a nice 15 mph northwest breeze.


The shoreline here at Forty Mile Point is lovely. This was shot about 1/2 hour after sunrise as a break in the clouds allowed for the sun's rays to stream through.


This was about 45 minutes after sunrise.


The sun finally broke through again for some more dramatic lighting as I moved up the shoreline a bit.

Later that morning, we made a trip to Mackinaw City and I reshot the Old Mackinaw Light. The fog signal building was moved back to the original location as part of the restoration project that the lighthouse underwent. It also sports a new roof and is open for tours.


Look closely at the entrance. One of the staff members was in period dress and sitting on the stoop.


With the fog signal building.


And a fall tree in bloom.

As if the weather wasn't decent all day, it ended with a bang by the somewhat rare opportunity to catch the aurora borealis around 1am at my cousin's house overlooking Lake Huron.


ISO 800, 30 seconds at F2.8 with a 28mm lens.

Just beautiful Jen. You are making me wish it was close to Aug. 2005.

I showed John your last picture without telling him what it was and he knew exactly what he was looking at. Very cool!

Super Nice photos, Jen!

Especially love that Aurora shot!

Jen, did you notice that the big dipper is right in the middle of the aurora picture?

Thanks, guys. Mark, I sure did. Convenient placing, eh?

Thanks for sharing the great pics! I especially like the first one of "Old Mac". That lighthouse looks fantastic!

Bob

Great Shots, Jen!!

Nice photos! I still haven't seen the aurora borealis. I keep hoping for an opportunity when we're up north. Is this something they can predict ahead of time and tell you to watch for it?

Nice set of photos! I like #3 and #6 the best because they show the lighthouses in their natural surroundings.

The aurora photo is awesome! Can't wait to see the aurora in person one day.

Thanks for posting another set of great photos.

Tammy, they can predict auroras to some degree,
Spaceweather has a lot of info about auroras
http://spaceweather.com/

For a current look at the statistical aurora, (And there is a decent one going on right now) at the time of this typing.
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html

Here is a copy of the statistical aurora image I just grabed

The arrow in the picture is pointing at the sun, a strong solar wind with the wind at our back (nighttime) are ideal conditions, little or no moonlight helps too.

Mark,

How high were you when you took that picture? And I don't mean beer.

Tammy,

You WILL see the aurora borealis when you are on your vacation. ENJOY.

Jen,

Once again, your pictures are beyond description. I can't even think of the proper words.

Thanks for the feedback, gang. I also want to say I misspoke myself regarding the fog signal building at Old Mac. I was thinking of the barn that originally went to the lighthouse and has been at the Fort. They were supposed to move it back to the lighthouse in September but hasn't been moved as of yet.

Mark, that is one of the graphs that I use when checking out auroras. Tammy, you can also check Solar Terrestial Dispatch for more good info. This was also my first time seeing the aurora, having wanted to for many years and tracking it online every day for the last 4 months.

Jen, I have seen an aurora 4 times now, and spent about 4-5 years myself trying to catch it on film. my last time was quite out of the ordinary, it was at 4am (midnight being the most likely) and it was near Layfayette, IN. It lasted about 20 minutes, long enough for me to get 22 pictures on film, this picture is not nearly as good on the computer as it is in the prints, I have spent hours trying to scan it to match the prints with little luck. but it was along I-65, you can see the lights of passing traffic. Another problem was I only had my N-65 body and a 24-120 f3.5-5.6 lens, fortunately I did have 400 speed film with me, but the N-65 does not have a bulb setting and a maximum of 30 second exposure, So I could only go 30 sec at f3.5 (not long enough in my opinion) I have since bought a Sigma 24mm f1.8 just for such occasions.

Also, I got the big dipper in mine too.

Great shots all around Jen. That first one made me feel that breeze right here on my computer. Awesome to say the least.

Bert

Tammy, A chance of an aurora is predicted for tonight or tommorow night (22nd or 23rd)

http://spaceweather.com/

And a full lunar eclipse will occure next wednesday night on the 27th

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/13oct_lunareclipse.htm

Mark, thanks for the tip. I bookmarked this site.