Heaven's Eyes

This is new having just been taken today (December 30, 2007). This time of year, whenever there is a chance to see sunlight I grab my camera and head out. So, after hiking around along the Boardman River and not seeing anything that I wanted to shoot (photographically that is), I headed for Lake Michigan. It was a nice day for a drive - the roads were mostly free of ice and snow for a change. That and the temps. for this time of year were pretty good. I was not sure that I would find anything inviting at the beach, but lo and behold heaven's eyes were beaming down. Of course I had to avoid getting the the footprints in the snow in my image. That makes it doubly tough to get a good composition. Using a 3 stop GND (graduated neutral density) filter to hold back some of the light in the sky and a +1 EV this is close to what I saw.

Platte River at Lake Michigan

Here is another image from Christmas Day. It is the Platte River as it empties into Lake Michigan.

New Images

Season's Greetings everyone. This is a difficult time to get good photographs in Northern Michigan. There are very few hours of daylight and very few days that are not cloudy and gray. I had hoped for some sun peeking through the clouds on Christmas Day so I headed to the Lake Michigan Shore. Here are a couple of the images that I got. I will try again when the light is better. These have potential with the right light. Here is the Point Betsie Lighthouse overlooking Lake Michigan.

Red Barns and Beaches

Some days are just meant to be photography days and today was one of them. November light can really be special in Northern Michigan. The low sun angle combined with patchwork clouds makes for soft light and dramatic skies. Using the morning light I captured this photo of a red barn near Traverse City. I go by this spot quite frequently. Usually there are cows in front of the barn and I was hoping that would be the case again this morning. Alas, they were out in the pasture. This evening found me over at the Sleeping Bear Dunes along the Lake Michigan shore. Surprisingly the wind was hardly blowing and it felt rather warm for mid-November. The light was good and I like the image that I got. I will however probably hope for another chance to get even better skylight and light on the dune in the background. Maybe next year. Winter is just around the corner and although it can be beautiful on the lakefront in winter, the conditions are usually extremely harsh. Fingers, toes and camera batteries do not last too long when it gets like that. . When the winning image from the Picture Your Place Contest is web published I will provide a link to it. It is however, the image that is on the home page of my web site. Questions or comments are always welcome on my blog.

Award Winner

Exciting news is just in. I have been selected as a winner in the Picture Your Place contest. The photo of a sunset at Lake Michigan http://www.tomhaxbyphotos.com/galleries/MichiganHTML/MIGalleryHTML_25_SunsetRock.html
won in the category of Places of Natural Beauty. The award will be presented at a reception Wednesday night at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center http://www.gtheritagecenter.org/museum.asp beginning at 6:30 p.m. Awards will also be given out to the other winners in the other categories.

Visit at the Downtown Frame Up

I will be exhibiting and selling my photos at the Downtown Frame Up gallery at 145 E. Front Street in Downtown Traverse City on Friday, November 16th from 5:30-9:00 P.M. and Friday, November 30th from 6 - 9 P.M. This is part of "Holiday Magic 2007" sponsored by the Downtown Development Authority and the Downtown Traverse City Association.

The Downtown Frame Up owned by Sandy and Jeff Wagner will be offering special sales on framing and merchandise. A free shuttle will be provided by BATA and will run every 15 minutes from marked stops throughout Traverse City.

These will be fun-filled evenings with lots of surprises for shoppers and I hope that you can make it.

Visit Booth at Traverse City Arts and Crafts Show

I will have a booth at the annual Traverse City Arts and Crafts Show http://www.artcentertraversecity.com/this Friday November 9th from 5-9 pm and and Saturday November 10th from 9 am to 4 pm. The show will be at the Park Place Hotel at 300 East State Street in Traverse City. For more information on the hotel and directions see http://www.park-place-hotel.com/ . I will have cards, photos and CD's with a slideshow of more than 50 of my images. I will also be sharing a booth with Holly Nelson owner of Gallery 31 http://www.gallery31.net/ . I look forward to seeing folks there.