Belle Isle Adventure

On a cool and brisk Saturday morning I ventured out to Belle Isle on the Detroit River before sunrise. I had a sunrise composition that I had already planned out. I knew within about 15 feet where I was going to set my tripod.

But Travis how did you know exactly where you were going to be?

I had planned everything out using Google Earth. By using the function that shows the placement of the sun in the sky, combined with the 3D model, I was able to see the placement of the William Livingstone Memorial Light against the rising sun. With that I was able move around in ground-view and see how the sun rises in relation to the lighthouse.

So I arrive on the island at 6:15 am. The sun was set to rise at 7:19am. That gives me time to set up and shoot a little bit and experiment during blue hour. Unfortunately the sunrise produced very little color. I checked SunsetWX's website and it predicted a bad sunset. But you can't learn to make good photos if you only go out when its supposed to be perfect conditions. You might be always waiting for those perfect conditions. Its always good to be able to work the conditions or opportunities you have.

So I took a handful of shots of the lighthouse. I happened to turn around and looked behind me and notice that a full moon was setting. I shot a couple wide angle scenes of the moon and zoomed in and got a few photos of the moon in some holes in the trees.

I remembered that if I was on the other side of the island that the full moon would be over the Detroit skyline. I hurried up and got to my car and started to drive to the other side of the island. By the time I got there the moon had set behind some clouds in the distance. I took a couple of photos of the skyline and then returned back to my car.

I decided I was going to explore the island a little and take advantage of any photo opportunity that I could benefit from the low sun and long shadows of the morning. On my drive, around the island I spotted a tall flag pole with just enough wind that the

American Flag was prominently flying. I decided I wanted a shot with a high f stop to get that sunburst effect of the sun. I have done this before but latly with the lens I primarily shoot with It hasn't produced a very good effect. I normally have a good all around 18-270mm Tameron lens when I walk around. I usually get very good photos out of it. It might be a little soft but its a good all around lens to be ready for multiple situations when walking around. It does not tho produce a good starburst effect when stopped down so far. I grabbed my 24mm and 60 mm Canon prime lenses and put them in my coat pocket. I figured between one of them I will be able to get that effect well. The 60 mm produced the best shot. I bracketed all of my compositions to make sure I could capture the details of the flag in post processing.

After leaving the flag pole I continued around the island and was looking for a bridge that is called the Graffiti Bridge. It is an old covered bridge that is covered with graffiti. I found it but when I walked to it the only way to get was to go through a hole in a fence and I couldn't climb through with my backpack on. I plan to go back and sneak in with just my camera. The bridge is only about 20 yards from the fence and you could easily go in and out with out any worries and capture some cool photos.

On my way back to my car from the bridge I managed to capture some ducks in the air that flew by real fast. I was lucky that I was keeping my camera in continuous shooting mode with brackets. I snapped off 6 shots quickly while following them like you do skeet shooting. I think all 6 shots were within a half second of each other and that was all the time I saw them. I heard them flying through the woods and when they were over the road I was on I let the shutter loose. With the Canon 7D MK II being able to shoot 10 frames a second and its amazingly quick focus it makes easy work of capturing birds flying by.

Next I drove around a little and worked my way to the building they call the Casino. I really like the building. On our wedding day, my wife, I and our wedding party waiting at this building for it to quit down pouring. Our photographer captured some awesome shots of us at the building while we were staying dry.

I had seen earlier driving by it an interesting bridge over a pond near the Casino. I figured I could would be able to incorporate all 3 of those into one shot. I parked on the far side of the building and walked around it taking different shots and even including the skyline in a shot. When I got over to the bridge I tried some shots from the bridge and even looking across the bride but they were not that compelling. Finally I saw walked away from the bridge and got down to the pond and found a shot that really made use of the space. The way it composed you could not see the parking lot between the bridge and building because you were so low that the hill on the other side blocked the pavement and there wasn't any cars in between. It just sorta of all fit together like the park in that area was designed for that view.

After shooting around the Casino I headed back to my car and headed home eager to see on screen that magic I had captured.

I enjoy that every time I go on a photo walk that it becomes sort of its own adventure. The early morning sunrises bring a sense of calmness in this chaotic world. I find it more refreshing that watching the sunset. Its awesome watching the day wake up. Its starts out quiet and slowly you start to hear the birds start chirping. The lakes and ponds are smooth like glass. In the distance you can hear a fish jump out of the water. Even in the city of Detroit there is still a place that you can experience this.