The history of this light is very interesting. It was originally built in 1855 on a bluff 100 feet east of it’s present location. The first tower was 28 feet in height, but because it was on the bluff, it towered 107 feet above Lake Michigan.

In the 1870′s, shore erosion along the bluff caused 16 feet of the lighthouse’s front yard to fall to the the beach below, so the government decided to rebuild the lighthouse 100 feet farther inland. The new lighthouse was finished in 1887 and was 39 feet tall. The keepers quarters were built the next year in 1888.

At the turn of the century another problem hit the lighthouse, the trees in Lake Park began to block the light and ships on the lake could no longer see it. So instead of cutting the trees down, congress in all of it’s wisdom, stopped funding for the lighthouse and it was shut down in 1907. Later that year an organization in Milwaukee went to work to get the light back on. In 1909 a bill was passed and in 1912 work began on a 35 foot steel structure next to the lighthouse. When that structure was finished, the old light tower and it’s lens were rebuilt on top of it to create the 74 foot tower we see today. The lighthouse remained in operation by the US Coast Guard until 1994. The lighthouse is currently owned by Milwaukee County and leased by the North Point Lighthouse Friends.

This photo didn’t take much thought, the composition was right there in front of me. The trees grow in such a way that the lighthouse is perfectly framed by them. Whether the trees grow like that naturally, or have been trimmed that way, I don’t know. It sure makes for a great photo though.

I knew immediately that this was going to be a black and white image. I wasn’t looking to give it an old time feel, I just wanted a nice black and white photo. The contrast of the white house and tower work great with the dark trees. Though the sky is overcast and washed out, it isn’t as much of an issue in black and white as it is in color. I really like how this image turned out.

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Thankfully, Lynne saw three of the ships anchored outside of the Kenosha Harbor as she was driving to work one morning. She called me to let me know they were there. If she hadn’t called, I would have never known. One of the ships anchored offshore was the HMS Bounty, my favorite. This image was made about an hour after I got there. The Bounty had  set three sails and was beginning to pull out.

A few days after I shot this, I began to play around with a black and white version of it. I was happy with that version, but it just didn’t seem to be finished to me, so I left it for a few days. When I looked at the black and white a few days later I realized what was missing, the red in the lighthouse. The Kenosha Pierhead Lighthouse is one of many lighthouses on Lake Michigan painted in red, it’s kind of a trademark of these lights. The lighthouse just didn’t look right in the black and white version. I didn’t want to bring out all of the red, so I brought back just a little of it. I also brought back some of the color in the Bounty. Overall I wanted the image to have an aged appearance to it.

I love shots like this because it’s impossible to tell if it was taken yesterday, or a hundred years ago.

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]]> http://sbdigitalarts.com/hms-bounty-and-kenosha-pierhead-lighthouse/feed/ 0 http://sbdigitalarts.com/port-washington-maritime-heritage-festival/ http://sbdigitalarts.com/port-washington-maritime-heritage-festival/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:52:14 +0000 Steven http://sbdigitalarts.com/?p=740 This past weekend was the annual Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival. The festival is a celebration of Wisconsin and Lake Michigan’s maritime tradition. While there is plenty to do at the festival, the biggest attractions are the tall ships. This year they had five tall ships at the festival, the Lynx, Unicorn, Roseway, Pride of Baltimore II and the star of the show, the Bounty.

While I had been looking forward to the festival all summer, I was especially excited about it after seeing all of these ships in Sturgeon Bay 10 days earlier. At that time I was able to photograph the ships under sail, this time I’d be able to get up close and personal with them. They didn’t disappoint. It was especially exciting to board three of the ships, including the Bounty. Walking the decks of these grand ships provides thousands of photo opportunities. The longer I stayed on board, the more things I saw to photograph.

It was a truly magical day. Here is a slide show of my best images from Sunday. I highly recommend that you watch it full screen by clicking the icon in the lower right corner. I will of course have many more photos to share with you once I have a chance to fully dive into them and bring out my artistic interpretations. Until then, enjoy the slide show.

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2010 Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival – Images by Steven Bourelle

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The Bounty is a replica of the original Bounty that was part of the British Navy in 1787. She was built in 1960 for MGM Studios for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty. The original drawings from the British admiralty archives were used in the building of the ship. She is currently owned by the HMS Bounty Organization LLC, and is used for educational purposes and the teaching of square rigged sailing.

The Bounty has also been in many other movies. She played a roll in Pirates of the Caribbean II, and was also in the modern version of Treasure Island, just to mention a couple.

My next rendezvous with the Bounty will be in Port Washington this weekend. I’m so looking forward to seeing her close up and walking her decks. I’m sure there are hundreds of photos just waiting to be taken on the wonderful ship.

To learn more about the HMS Bounty, visit her web site at TallShipBounty.org

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Recently though, that has begun to change. One of the main reasons is that I now visualize the final image better. I no longer just see a bell hanging there. I now see the final image of the bell done in a sepia tone with a vignette around it and the background blurred just right. By seeing the final image in my head, I’m better able to compose what’s in front of me.

This bell is from the tall ship Roseway. We had the pleasure of watching her dock in Sturgeon Bay the night before the Green Bay Tall Ship Festival, Parade of Sail. We then had the chance to get up close and photograph her. This bell and the ropes hanging near it caught my eye right away. I shot a number of different compositions, this one was my favorite.

I’m looking forward to seeing the Roseway again this weekend at the Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival. I’m sure that she has many more images as nice as this one just waiting to be captured.

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Though I have seen and photographed a number of tall ships in the past, this was my first time seeing them with their sails up. It was a very cool experience to witness the beauty of these magnificent ships up close like this. I also had a good time talking to the nice folks who were around us. All in all it was a great way to spend a morning.

Here’s a slide show of my best images from the day. To view the photos full screen, click the icon in the bottom right corner. To view the image captions, move your mouse pointer over the image. By clicking the image, you will be taken to it’s gallery page where prints and downloads can be purchased.

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2010 Green Bay Tall Ships Parade of Sail – Images by Steven Bourelle

Here is a listing of the 12 ships that we saw on Thursday, along with links to their web pages.

• The Appledore IV
• The Bounty
  
• The Denis Sullivan
• The Europa
  
• The Friends Good Will
• The Lynx
• The Niagara
• The Pride of Baltimore II
• The Roald Amundsen
• The Roseway
• The Royaliste
• The Unicorn

I’ll be posting more about the ships, along with more photos in the coming days, so make sure to check back for that.

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I’ve been going through the photos that I shot at the festival last year, trying to create unique images of the beautiful ships that were there. One of the biggest problems I faced last year was the light, it was horrible. There was a thick haze on the day we were there and it created very harsh lighting conditions. The original version of this image is a perfect example of that. The sky was washed out and everything had a grayish cast to it. It just didn’t look very good.

As I began to work on this version of the image though, I realized I could use that bad light to my advantage. By washing out the image even more, I was able to create a very simple scene of two ship heading out into the foggy unknown. To me this image sets my imagination on fire. Where are they going? What are they doing? Will they return?

I love that I was able to take an image that I was initially disappointed in, and turn it into an image that I’m very proud of. By working with what I was given on that day, and using a little imagination, I now have a very cool image.