Muskegon Wedding and Event Photographer Jon Jacobson
Now that we’re in the heart of winter, I’m recalling the day when Michigan license plates included the tagline: Winter Wonderland. Taken from the past several years, these waterfalls are in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Gorge Falls, Bond Falls, Munising Falls and Wagner Falls.
There is so much to say here. This particular gallery is the layout design of a Coffee Table Book I designed as part of the Picture Michigan wedding photography package. It is also a chance to display an entire wedding.
What an incredible day this was for the Bride & Groom — Bill & Marie!
A few years ago, a stranger and I were chatting, and when I mentioned I photograph weddings she posed the question: “I bet you see a lot of dirt and have some ugly stories to tell with all those bridezillas huh?”
Quite the contrary! When I heard this question, my thoughts immediately raced to the last picture in this coffee table book. The band in the background jamming on the final chord of the last song of the night. The day of celebration officially concluded. And there’s the Bride, beaming ear to ear, hugging her dad.
That is a moment in time that will never ever leave me. I still get a little choked up telling that story. There are so many wonderful and magnificent stories I can share with words and have shared with pictures.
At the end of the day it’s a unique sensation of pride and humility for me. I am proud that I was able to be there and record the story. And I am humbled that I was able to be a part of that story, and witness it unfold in front of me.
This one is a unique one. It is a hundred pages. That’s really really big. Most are forty pages. This one has a seamless spread of about 13″x20″. Most have a magazine style seam with a 10″x20″ spread. No matter the size, it is always a gloriously beautiful portrayal of a grand celebration.
The signature at the bottom of each slide is for the website and does not appear in the actual book.
There was a recent online discussion I had seen on the topic of Lightning photography. The word lucky was used to describe somebody else’s shots.
Oh-oh.
Rightfully so, the shooter took issue with the statement. Responding with something to the effect of dragging one’s butt off the sofa and into inclement weather.
This makes for a great photography tip: a) the key to excellent lightning photography is dragging one’s butt off the sofa and into inclement weather. I will offer a few more tips in this post.
The previous two shots are old. Before the days of digital cameras and mobile devices with weather radar. In some ways, as a shooter, this is a little lucky. A unique situation where I was on Mackinac Island, during a storm at sunrise. And a camera with a dozen rolls of film.
Unfortunately, one of the shots was a little over exposed. On the original negative, this cannot be recovered. Now fortunately, the picture at Arnold’s Coal Dock was a much better exposure. Not an exact science, because you never know how far away the next lightning strike with be. So again, a little luck.
Another photography tip: b) Shoot lightning in digital raw. This will give you a little extra latitude in exposure compared to shooting in JPG mode. If your digital raw image was over exposed by a couple stops, it is easy to dial it down with Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw software.
This next shot was in the middle of the day. The most difficult lightning shooting condition is daylight. Essentially, you want to limit as much of the day light through the lens so you can drag the shutter as much as possible. The downside is that you limit the lightning light also.
Some more tips:
c) be safe
d) use a very sturdy tripod and a shutter release cable
e) my settings: I start off at 100 ISO and a 30 second shutter speed. My aperture could be set anywhere between 2.8 and 8.0. Aperture settings will be what experience and my gut tells me.
f) be lucky
These final two shots were on an occasion that I had enough warning that a big storm was coming. So I got my butt off the sofa and headed downtown. And I must say, I was a little nervous when I first stepped out of my car. Dorothy? Toto? is that you?
The first shot was taken at 70 mm. Perfect framing. 15 minutes and 20 shutters later, the second shot was taken at 200 mm. Perfect framing.
So I think the moral of the story is: If you get that killer lightning shot, it’s okay to say, “yeah, I got a little lucky.” If you’re not the photographer, don’t ever say, “you got lucky.”
Hi, remember me? I want to say something funny.
“Introductions are not in order. They’re chaotic.”
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So after a brief period of silence, the Picture Michigan website is back. With a fresh start. Ugh. Fresh start is my way of saying everything from the previous version of the website is gone.
OPPORTUNITY! The blog will showcase past and present projects.
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So what’s up with the picture?
I think I want to say that it’s a definition. “Hi, I’m Jon Jacobson, and this is Picture Michigan.”
It’s a sunset. In black and white.
Perhaps it’s a rebellion against the ubiquitous posts we see on facebook. Like it’s the last sunset we’ll ever see. The reality is that this scene is displayed the way I saw it before I pressed the shutter. The light. The contrast. The drama. Oh, okay, rebellion too. Breaking the rules.
Welcome back! I am genuinely humbled that you’ve joined me. Thank you.
– Jon