Steven December 3rd, 2010
As I sit here this morning waiting for the first winter storm of the 2010 winter to begin, I can’t help but think back to two years ago today. It was snowing that day and I decided to drive out to Petrifying Springs Park here in Kenosha. What I found there was a wonderland of winter beauty. The trees were covered with a light frosting of snow, the Pike River was perfectly still and the reflections were amazing.
On that day I shot many beautiful images, but this one was my favorite. In fact, I consider it one of my top images of all time.
When I look at this image now, the feelings of awe and peacefulness that I had on that day come rushing back to me. It was a very magical day.
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Steven July 16th, 2010
Last Saturday, July 10, we had some thunderstorms roll through the area. We didn’t see any rain here at the house, but just to the north of us a decent sized storm went through in the evening. As sunset approached, I realized that the storm had made it’s way over Lake Michigan and was now directly east of us. Thinking that there might be some good rainbows around, I headed out to find them.
I didn’t have to go far. Just as I pulled out of the driveway a nice rainbow appeared over the lake. Unfortunately there aren’t any clear views of the lake near our house, so I headed south to the beach hoping that the rainbow would hold that long. As I drove I kept catching glimpses of the rainbow and realized it was a full one. I stepped on the gas a little harder and prayed that the rainbow would hang on and that there weren’t any cops in the area.
When I got to the beach, there was the full rainbow in all it’s glory. I jumped out of the truck, grabbed the camera, opened up the tripod and lined up my shot just as the rainbow began to fade. This image is the result. It’s the only good shot I got before the rainbow was gone. It’s not the completely full rainbow I had hoped for, but it’s the closest I’ve ever came to a full one.
Steven July 1st, 2010
The tall ship Friends Good Will sails out of South Haven Michigan. It’s a replica of the 19th century sloop that was originally built in Detroit MI in 1811 and served both the United States and the British in the War of 1812. During the war, it was captured by the British and then recaptured by the Americans. It then ran aground in Buffalo and was burnt to the waterline to keep it from being captured by the British again.
The Friends Good Will is owned by the Michigan Maritime Museum and is used as a floating classroom to help educate people about Lake Michigan’s maritime history.
This photo was taken at the 2010 Port Washington Pirate Festival in Port Washington WI. Also in the photo is Port Washington’s famous art deco lighthouse.
This was the second time I photographed this ship. The first time was at the 2009 Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival. The light was horrible that day and I wasn’t at all happy with my photos. This second time the light was much nicer and I got some fine photos of this beautiful ship. This image is an artistic representation of one of those photos.
Steven June 29th, 2010
The Lake Michigan fishing village of Port Washington is one of my favorite towns in Wisconsin. It has a wonderful harbor and downtown area and holds many festivals there throughout the summer. Sitting on top of a hill, overlooking downtown Port Washington, is St Mary’s Catholic Church. This beautiful church was built in 1882 by Luxembourg emigrants.
On our first trip to Port Washington, we drove up to the church to photograph it. I took this picture at the time. I never really cared for the color version of this image, so I decided to try it as a black and white, I still didn’t care for it. Then I decided to try sepia and there was the look I wanted. I feel the sepia image captures the beauty and feeling of the church, it seems to radiate an aura that the color and BW image just didn’t have.
