Lighthouse
Billboard Beauty
Someone recently asked me if I sell my photos. Yes I do…anytime I can. I’ve sold a good number of prints in a local store and I’m working on stepping up my game and expanding to other markets.
I recently sold one of my photos to a billboard company that ended with an an unexpected and humorous twist. (At least from my perspective.) Here’s the story…
I’m gaining a little bit of a reputation as a local photographer with some good pictures of this area. Last February, a billboard company called me, looking for a picture of the Algoma lighthouse and harbor. I sent them some samples to choose from. They wanted something that offered plenty of open space for adding their message and was generally blue in tone.
I asked them what the image would be used for and they said their client, Dairy Dreams, wanted a 12 ft by 6ft billboard to use during an open house they were planning in the spring. I thought it would be pretty cool to have one of my images blown up to 12×6 size.
They selected the photo above. I had previously posted a cropped version of this photo on this blog under the title Between a Rock and a Calm Place. (The image to the right.) After we settled on the conditions of use and a price, I re-sized the image to proper proportions for their purposes, sent it to them and asked their design artist to send me a copy of the finished design.
A few weeks later I received email from the designer with an attachment of the billboard image. Needless to say, I was excited to see how they used my photo. I opened it up, looked at it for a moment and then burst out laughing. (See the image below.)
I never would have guessed they would use my clean, serene, harbor scene to promote Biogas Anaerobic Manure Digesters. I guess it fit with the image they are trying to convey about their manure digesting process.
All in all, I was glad to make the sale and happy that a whole new group of people would see my work. My only regret was that I never had the chance to go by during their open house to see it in all it’s full-size glory.
Morning in Blue
I got up earlier than usual Saturday morning with the hope of capturing the dazzling red and orange hues of a Lake Michigan sunrise. As you can see, the clouds were too thick for the sun to break through.
This photo was taken around sunrise (5:10 am) at the harbor in Algoma, WI.
Kewaunee Morning Glory
Sometimes being up before sunrise pays off. As evidence, I offer another image captured last Saturday morning (6/18/11).
This is a pre-sunrise view of the lighthouse and pier that extends into Lake Michigan at Kewaunee, WI. This was taken a little before 5 am. I was on the small beach just south of the pier.
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(Click the image to view a larger version.)
Kewaunee’s Premium Blend
The best part of waking up… The sky provided a blend of beautiful colors, layered from the red of the sun on the horizon to the blue, high in the early morning sky.
I made my way to the shore of Lake Michigan – to the Kewaunee, WI beach – to catch a 5:40 am sunrise on the morning of Saturday, April 30, 2011.
It’s interesting to see the different transformations that the sky goes through in the course of a half hour sunrise. For a different look of the same sunrise, see my previous post “Morning Beam.”
(Click the photo for a slightly larger view.)
Morning Beam
I got up early last Saturday to take sunrise photos of the Kewaunee, WI lighthouse. This is a photo from the end of the shoot. The sun was up enough that it was out of the frame but you can’t miss it’s power by the prominent beam of light.
More from this shoot will be posted in the next few days. Keep checking back or simply subscribe to the RSS feed.
(Click on the image for a larger view.)
Shining Star of Kewaunee
A night view of the Kewaunee, WI lighthouse – on the western shore of Lake Michigan.
A couple of weeks ago, I took a night photo of this same scene I entitled Kewaunee Night-House. There wasn’t much to see, because the lighthouse light overpowered the image.
I decided to try again. This time, in order to brighten the house and balance the bright light, I shined a 2,000,000 candle power spotlight on the lighthouse for about 10 seconds of a 30-second exposure.
This photo was taken from the parking lot of Kewaunee’s beach. I used a 300mm lens on my Sony SLT-A55 stabilized on a tripod inside the open side door of my Dodge Caravan.
I like this image better, but still feel there’s more work to do.
Winter Lighthouse – Algoma, WI
This is pier light at the entrance of the Algoma, WI harbor. This is a photo taken in March of 2007 using my old camera. That camera did some pretty good work.
(Clicking on the image will open a larger version.)
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Between a Rock and a Calm Place
This is an early morning edition of the pier light that marks the harbor entrance at Algoma, WI.
If you follow this blog, you’ll notice it’s one of my favorite subjects.
Cloud Bank Background
When I take photos, I usually take a lot. Then I load them on to my computer and pick out one or two that I like and share them. All the other images from that day are still on my computer. When things are slow – photography wise – I’ll look through some of those photos I passed on the first time around and see if there’s something worth bringing out.
The original image without an effect.
This photograph is one taken in 2009 using my old Kodak EasyShare DX7590. It is the Kewaunee Lighthouse. The lighthouse is actually a supporting actor. I think the clouds are the real star and makes this image a keeper for me. The flock of birds provide a nice accent.
As I often do with photos that don’t quite dazzle me on their own, I added a digital effect to this one using a Photoshop filter.
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