Posted by Toni Lankerd on March 3, 2010 at 10:27 AM
Congratulations to Steven Kahn for his EP in the Macro gallery, Iris Abstract 2!
Excellent work, Steven!
By the way....your image of the sunset of the Grand Haven Lighthouse on your web site is one of the best I've seen!
Posted by Brian Vance on March 3, 2010 at 12:09 PM
Congrats, Steve! The image is well deserving of the honor, and I'm glad to see you using the dead of winter around these parts so productively. Gorgeous composition and use complimentary colors.
Posted by Joe Paratore on March 3, 2010 at 1:03 PM
Steve Congrats! Just one outstanding image very well deserved.
Love this shot a lot. Belongs in a gallery. Fine art photography at it's best
Posted by Steven M Kahn on March 3, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Thank you Tony, Brian, Joe. Fellow Michiganders!
Tony, the image from Grand Haven has a story. Maybe some time I can share it.
I have a 20"x30" brush stroke textured print hanging of the Grand Haven Lighthouse in our living room. And that is too small for my taste. This one begs to go bigger.
For a brief period of time I tried my hand as a "producer" (insurance agent) for The Duck. I had by a stroke of luck (a result of photography related circumstance) the opportunity to "go fishing" for a targeted client audience from Muskegon to Traverse City in December (2006). I decided to pack my camera in the off chance that if I didn't get any nibbles from the target audience, if circumstances permitted, the trip would not be a waste if I got lucky with a photo op. The weather on the trip up to Traverse City was typical Michigan weather - overcast and dreary, but on the warm side for December and it was foggy, misty or rainy. Nothing inspiring on the way up. No nibbles either. The weather on the return trip started out like the weather up. Just not as gloomy, and drier. But as I was heading south, the weather began to take a turn for the better. I was beginning to see hope. And not to concerned with not getting any nibbles. Getting close to Muskegon I had to make a choice. Head home on I-96. Or continue south and visit one last potential client. The breaking clouds helped me make up my mind. Decided to head south to Grand Haven. It was a race. Was close to Grand Haven when the clouds broke and the sun came out. Decided to first hit the beach. Pulled into the parking lot by the entrance to the pier and grabbed my tripod and camera and remote release. I had an idea of what I was looking for. Found a dune that would hide the beach but gave me a view of the pier and the lights. Set up my camera and began to fire. I was wearing a flannel work shirt and jeans and hiking boots. And it got raw quick. I thought I had my shot and walked back to the car. Packed my tripod and for some reason decided to check the images.
Turned the camera back on. Pressed the review button.
NOTHING!
What the ....?
After a few seconds of bewilderment, I popped the latch for the CF card.
NO CARD!!! I had gone out there without a card. My camera was set to show the capture without a card in place! My heart sank! A range of emotions flashed through me.
Looked out.
Screw the cold.
Grabbed my camera. Put a card in it. Made sure it was blank. Formatted it for safety sake. Grabbed my tripod and remote release and trudged back out and found the spot I shot from just a short while before. Fired away. And probably lucked out. The sun was in a better position and the sky was looking sweet. Got just as cold quicker. Did a quick check to see that I had images. I did. Trudged back to the car again, calm now. I had some images. I packed away my tripod and started the car. And looked at the images once again. And I stayed in the parking lot until the lighthouse lights came on and the catwalk lights illuminated. Came home.
Processed the images. Found my favorite. And processed it. The image has earned a merit from PPA.
I still chuckle thinking about this situation.
And hangs proudly on our wall. Some day I will get it printed larger.
Attached is the image Brian. I did post it on NPN last year.
Posted by Joe Paratore on March 5, 2010 at 7:34 AM
awesome image . Steven ....and great story.Way to hang in there and not give up. I sure ... not having a card in you camera has happen to every photog. at least one time or another.Once shot 36 frames (film) on a pair of loons so
I thought
Joe I can so relate. Really sucks when you do that at a wedding. When you're the photographer! Glad I no longer shoot weddings. I remember an occassion or two in the good old film days when I didn't quite engage the leader quite right and the film didn't advance. That hasn't happened to me since shooting digital, but other "stupid" things I have done. Joe, while I felt like c***, the setting just begged for me to go out again, and for the better, because I would not have captured this sunset if I had the card in the first time. While it was gorgeous, it was also COLD.
Posted by Toni Lankerd on March 5, 2010 at 9:08 AM
Well worth going back out in to the cold for, Steven! I'm very familiar with the dune you were on..been on it several times myself for compositions of the pier and lighthouse. You not having the card in your camera in the first place just tells me it was meant to be...you ended up getting the best lighting because of that! This image is awesome...you even got both lights on at the same time!
Thanks for sharing the image with all of us and the story behind it!
Posted by Brian Vance on March 5, 2010 at 10:46 AM
Steve, thanks for sharing the story and the image. I think we have all 'been there, done that' at one time or another. You can set your camera to give you a warning if there is no card. Its not the default setting, though, you have to hunt for it in the menus (Canon).
I know the dune too - shot from nearly the same place in January - sans the great light. It was cold and windy out on the lake, and I thought I was crazy for being out there. But then a guy in a wet suit came walking down to the parking lot from the pier....yes, he had just been SWIMMING!
Toni, Brian, I can chuckle now thinking back to this experience. But when I first discovered the error of my way, I was not amused. I know there is a setting that you can enable to warn you that you are attempting to capture an image without the presence of a card in place, but I don't have that feature enabled.
The unvailing situation as I was heading back home made the fishing trip for possible clients woth it. Had it not been for that exercise, i would not have been in Grand Haven to capture that image. So the minor set back of the first trek out to shoot was worth it in the end.
There is another soul out there with me. He was walking the pier as I was shooting. He was dressed better for the weather conditions. I was dressed for travelling in a car. Could have grabbed my Carhart and gloves, but that would have just layered me down.
Uh, Tony, would you not hold the image in such high regard if I say that I painted in the lights. To both the end light house and the twoer as well as the lights on the catwalk? That was "fun". I had stayed after capturing the image to warm up and see what the pier looked like with the night lights on, so I had an idea of what I should paint in. The lights just said to me to paint them in.
Posted by Toni Lankerd on March 5, 2010 at 11:10 PM
Steven, between you and me..I've done the same thing once in a blue moon! The thought did cross my mind that you could possibly have painted the lights in, but I do know that approximately every other cycle, both lights come on at once...and that's the thought I went with. It makes no difference to me!
Discussion
15 repliesExcellent work, Steven!
By the way....your image of the sunset of the Grand Haven Lighthouse on your web site is one of the best I've seen!
Love this shot a lot. Belongs in a gallery. Fine art photography at it's best
Tony, the image from Grand Haven has a story. Maybe some time I can share it.
I have a 20"x30" brush stroke textured print hanging of the Grand Haven Lighthouse in our living room. And that is too small for my taste. This one begs to go bigger.
For a brief period of time I tried my hand as a "producer" (insurance agent) for The Duck. I had by a stroke of luck (a result of photography related circumstance) the opportunity to "go fishing" for a targeted client audience from Muskegon to Traverse City in December (2006). I decided to pack my camera in the off chance that if I didn't get any nibbles from the target audience, if circumstances permitted, the trip would not be a waste if I got lucky with a photo op. The weather on the trip up to Traverse City was typical Michigan weather - overcast and dreary, but on the warm side for December and it was foggy, misty or rainy. Nothing inspiring on the way up. No nibbles either. The weather on the return trip started out like the weather up. Just not as gloomy, and drier. But as I was heading south, the weather began to take a turn for the better. I was beginning to see hope. And not to concerned with not getting any nibbles. Getting close to Muskegon I had to make a choice. Head home on I-96. Or continue south and visit one last potential client. The breaking clouds helped me make up my mind. Decided to head south to Grand Haven. It was a race. Was close to Grand Haven when the clouds broke and the sun came out. Decided to first hit the beach. Pulled into the parking lot by the entrance to the pier and grabbed my tripod and camera and remote release. I had an idea of what I was looking for. Found a dune that would hide the beach but gave me a view of the pier and the lights. Set up my camera and began to fire. I was wearing a flannel work shirt and jeans and hiking boots. And it got raw quick. I thought I had my shot and walked back to the car. Packed my tripod and for some reason decided to check the images.
Turned the camera back on. Pressed the review button.
NOTHING!
What the ....?
After a few seconds of bewilderment, I popped the latch for the CF card.
NO CARD!!! I had gone out there without a card. My camera was set to show the capture without a card in place! My heart sank! A range of emotions flashed through me.
Looked out.
Screw the cold.
Grabbed my camera. Put a card in it. Made sure it was blank. Formatted it for safety sake. Grabbed my tripod and remote release and trudged back out and found the spot I shot from just a short while before. Fired away. And probably lucked out. The sun was in a better position and the sky was looking sweet. Got just as cold quicker. Did a quick check to see that I had images. I did. Trudged back to the car again, calm now. I had some images. I packed away my tripod and started the car. And looked at the images once again. And I stayed in the parking lot until the lighthouse lights came on and the catwalk lights illuminated. Came home.
Processed the images. Found my favorite. And processed it. The image has earned a merit from PPA.
I still chuckle thinking about this situation.
And hangs proudly on our wall. Some day I will get it printed larger.
Attached is the image Brian. I did post it on NPN last year.
I thought
Thanks for sharing the image with all of us and the story behind it!
I know the dune too - shot from nearly the same place in January - sans the great light. It was cold and windy out on the lake, and I thought I was crazy for being out there. But then a guy in a wet suit came walking down to the parking lot from the pier....yes, he had just been SWIMMING!
The unvailing situation as I was heading back home made the fishing trip for possible clients woth it. Had it not been for that exercise, i would not have been in Grand Haven to capture that image. So the minor set back of the first trek out to shoot was worth it in the end.
There is another soul out there with me. He was walking the pier as I was shooting. He was dressed better for the weather conditions. I was dressed for travelling in a car. Could have grabbed my Carhart and gloves, but that would have just layered me down.
Uh, Tony, would you not hold the image in such high regard if I say that I painted in the lights. To both the end light house and the twoer as well as the lights on the catwalk? That was "fun". I had stayed after capturing the image to warm up and see what the pier looked like with the night lights on, so I had an idea of what I should paint in. The lights just said to me to paint them in.