“Settling Down” – It was a mid-August day that started out stormy and windy. I’d almost given up on getting any photos for the day. Then things began to clear up.
So I headed northwest to Grand Haven to see if I could capture some wave action. The waves were ok, but not quite what I was looking for, and the light wasn’t very good. (Certainly not like this).
Searching for Light
So then I headed north along the coast of Lake Michigan, stopping at several places. I made a stop at Duck Lake State Park. I liked what I saw, but the light wasn’t doing much. Maybe in another hour when the sun starts to set. I decided to head just a little further north and check out White River Light Station. Again, no luck. All of these places have good compositions to shoot, but the light just wasn’t doing it for me.
I was feeling a little anxious that I had wasted the day. Not sure why I felt that way. I’d seen some great places, felt the wind in my face as it came in off of Lake Michigan, everything was quite peaceful. I just needed to settle down and enjoy the experience of being there, wherever ‘there’ might be. Realizing this, I calmed down and began to enjoy things a whole lot more.
I decided to head back to Duck Lake State Park and see if the sunset would give me any light. As I arrived, the wind and the waves began settling down, and as the evening wore on, they became quite peaceful, gently lapping the shoreline.
As the sunset approached, as usually happens, the crowds began to gather to watch it. The great compositions that I had picked out were now filling up with people. Oh well. Again, I told myself to settle down and enjoy the show, which I did. The horizon was turning a beautiful orange fading into a little bit of pink overhead.
Settling Down
I love Lake Michigan sunsets, even when there are hardly any clouds because the afterglow seldom disappoints. That’s when I took this picture; “Settling Down”. The sun had already set, and I was actually packing up to leave, and as I was walking back to my car I saw this tree with the glow behind it. I’d seen the tree before, but now was seeing it in a new light. Gorgeousness.
I just had to time the shot properly, avoiding cars driving by, people walking by, and at one point, a couple of people walked right over to the tree and sat down beside it. No problem, I just repositioned slightly so that they were hidden by the taller beach grass.
It was all good… The scene was utterly peaceful… Gently lapping waves on the beach… The colors in the sky… The glow on the horizon… I settled in and just enjoyed the rest of the light.
