OK, I've got it down to just three lights near me.... but you have to allow me a ferry ride across the lake for one of them, ok? Otherwise, I'd have to consider where I can be in a day by jet and then the list becomes TOO long!

As any of you who know where I live may already be aware, the South Haven Lighthouse is in the process of being declared surplus property by the USCG. The Michigan Maritime Museum, with the backing of the City of South Haven, is in the process of starting the studies that will hopefully lead to the acquisition and preservation of the SHLH. Both MMM and the City of South Haven are committed to preserving this light.

Hence, #1 on my list of lights, I'd like to see HL produce a minature of is South Haven, Michigan.

Departing somewhat from the trend with this thread, I'm an obsessed lighthouse photographer, hence I can't be happy just generating a list for the wackos here on HL... it HAS to have photos!

So, for South Haven, here are a couple from my collection:

The first photo is a winter photo that appeared on the cover of Lighthouse Legacy last year, and is for those of you who live in the south and need to have your winter lighthouses vicariously!



Continuing in that vein, the second photo below I was fortunate enough to have showcased on the cover of the LH Depot catalog last month.



Maybe I'm crazy (my wife thinks so), but my passion for photographing lighthouses extends to photographing them in extreme conditions, which includes in the midst of the gales that often sweep across Lake Michigan. These storms can be fierce at times. I've seen near hurricane force winds (60-70 mph) on occasion and waves in the 6-12 foot range are not uncommon, with waves as large as 20 feet occasionally seen along the lower peninsula coast. During a lull in a gale when I was photographing at South Haven in late November last year, I had set up to photograph the lighthouse as a particularly frothy wave was sweeping up the channel separting me from the light where I stood on the north pier. As chance would have it, a sea gull "posed" for me at precisely the instant I tripped the shutter. Hi there, Jonathan Livingston Seagull!



Another fasination is waves breaking at the lights... and I've had a particular desire to catch one lit by the light of the setting sun. This is the best such effort to date...



Finally, to close my endoresment for an HL minature of South Haven, I suppose it's time to bring this to a close with a sunset photo. This shot was taken last Monday as the sun pillar that I photographed (see thread "Whetting the appetite..." in the General Forum for more of these) was fading away.



Hope you all enjoy having a couple of photo endorsements for new additions to the HL family of lights!

Gary

[This message has been edited by lighthouse_photo (edited 02-10-2002).]

#2 On my list: Little Sable Point.

Continuing on up the Michigan Coast about 2 hrs there are beautiful sand dunes around Silver Lake where the Little Sable tower is located. A set of barrier dunes separates it from the parking lot and the lighthouse stands right on the beach. It is a beautiful red brick tower that would look great, I think, modeled with the dunes in the background.

This first image was shot just after sunrise on the way home from a photo trip to Door County, Wisconsin, and shows the lighthouse across an expanse of sand looking to the south, with the barrier dunes to the left.



The west side of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, is occasionally referred to as "The Sunset Side." A long standing desire of mine was to get some good shots of Little Sable at sunset and I finally got the opportunity last April. I was over in Michigan's thumb and photographed Pointe aux Barques one morning. The weather turned a little stormy as I drove up to Tawas Point and then Sturgeon Point, prompting me to make the rash decision to drive completely across the state to get to Little Sable to shoot the sunset. Quite a drive, but I made it. The photo below made the long drive more than worth the effort involved as far as I'm concerned!



This is #2 in my list of 3 favorite nearby lights. #3 coming up!

Gary

#3 Sturgeon Bay North Pier Light - here's where the ride across the lake on the SS Badger comes in 'cause I don't like driving around the bottom of the lake and through Chicago to get there. HL has already done a great job with the other light at the Sturgeon Bay CG station. My favorite however, it of course the North Pier light which has been incredibly good to my photographically.

The first photos I shot of it were taken last summer around 3 in the afternoon - yes I know, not the preferred time to take photos, but when you're excited because you just got there... well, you know... A beautiful catwalk leads out along the pier from the CG station along the North Pier. The first segment of pier ends and the catwalk doglegs across a narrow channel to a second isolated and inaccessible pier, making the overall channel a little wider. These photos were taken from near the end of the pier and show the catwalk crossing the little channel to the light.





Dawn is probably my favorite time to photograph Sturgeon Bay's North Pierhead light. The photo below was taken just as the sun was rising from the mists out over Lake Michigan last June.



You don't often see vertical panorama shots except for lighthouses. This particualr shot was taken last October on my second Door County photography expedition. I was trying to capture the north pierhead light and the reflection of the red light in the lantern room reflecting on the channel set against a back drop of the sunrise. The bright star in the upper right of the image is Venus. Morning Stars might be an appropriate title for this.



A little later that same morning...



[img]http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028661/1000028661_23200274232PM0.3153192.jpg[img]

Finally, to set the sun on this stage, Sturgeon Bay's North Pierhead light is on what might be referred to as the "Sunrise Side" of Lake Michigan so colorful sunset photos are not going to be common for most of the lights. This photo was a 4 min exposure that I've posted on here before, but it's what passes for my sunset photo of Sturgeon Bay North Pierhead light.



Hope everyone enjoys these photos and will forgive me for combining my over exuberance for photographing the lights with the wish list for new HL minatures.

Gary



[This message has been edited by lighthouse_photo (edited 02-10-2002).]

Gary,

No apologies needed.

OVER EXUBERANCE=GREAT PHOTOS

Really enjoyed your photos. Keep them coming!

Bert

As much as I've seen all these photos before, Gary, I don't tire of seeing them! Seems to me you've made some excellent points towards an "argument" to having these 3 lighthouses as collectible miniatures.

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Terry (Teresa) Forrest

SPLENDID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ron

Now that's what I call a wish list!

Great pictures once again Gary!

OUTSTANDING!!!!!

These pictures are incredible. You, Sean, and Paul need to hold a seminar.
how about a photography seminar at Rosemont?

Sign me up if you are!
I can use all the pointers I can get.

Dale

Ditto!!

One more view of the North Pierhead light looking out the length of the north pier. This was shot probably about 2 in the afternoon, which ISN'T the time for good photos and color, but I wanted the strong lines of shadow from the catwalk on the pier, so there's no other time to take this shot. If the sun had been a little further west, just enough to light the front of the lighthouse toward me...... Oh well....



The last time I was in Door County in October, the grounds of the CG station were closed to the public, which is a shame. As soon as I get the chance, I'll start to explore the possibilities of getting on the grounds to photograph from the north pier.

Gary

Another very good photo as I said earlier this morning. I love the long perspective on the catwalk, and of course, as you very well know, the lovely shades of blues in it!Certainly additional "fuel" to the argument of having this lighthouse as one of the collectibles!!

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Terry (Teresa) Forrest

Your work is wonderful!! Thanks for taking the time ti share it with us. Now if I could only get my flash to work!!!!

Fantastic! Great Pictures....

Rusty