South Haven Lighthouse
Over thispast Labor Day weekend, I had the pleasure of joining a group of friends andfamily who have met each year at the wonderful Michi-Mona-Mac cabins in SouthHaven, Michigan. It was a wonderful time with this group of folks for the firsttime over the Labor Day weekend. I had the chance to use the DJI Mavic Prodrone to do some aerial video for our documentary The Sweetwater Seas –North America’s Great Lakes. On this morning it was slightly overcast atsunrise and with little wind.
Usingmanual settings, I shot at 1/50 of a second, as the frame rate in the end willbe 24 frames a second. It is best to try and shoot with double the frame rateto give you a smooth image. Using ISO 100 and adjusting the aperture until Ithe exposure was accurate. I always use a polarizing filter as well –especially when shooting over water – but in all honesty whether shootingstills or video it is always on my lenses.
I knewseveral of the shots I wanted to get before starting out, and while I did notdo a storyboard before flight, I had mapped it out in my head what I wanted inthe finished film. Setting up each shot so I could edit them together later. Thereare always happy surprises like the folks walking the pier or only one boatcoming down the river into the open lake instead of many at a time. I usedAdobe Premier Pro to edit the film instead of the DJI software. We shall see ifwe use any of this is the final film and I am guessing some shots will be used.
I hope youenjoy this small piece!
Cheers,
RichardMack
Addendum:
TowerInformation
Tower Height: 35.00'
Focal Plane: 37'
Active Aid to Navigation: Yes
Latitude: 42.40100 N
Longitude: -86.28800 W
The SouthHaven South Pierhead Light is a lighthouse in Michigan,at the entrance to the Black River on Lake Michigan. The stationwas lit in 1872, and is still operational. The tower is a shortened version ofthe Muskegon South Pierhead Light, and replaced an 1872 wooden tower. Thecatwalk is original and still links the tower to shore: it is one of only fourthat survive in the State of Michigan. The keeper's house is onshore, 2-1⁄2 stories tall, wood witha hipped-roof. It was also built in 1872, and is located at 91 Michigan Avenueonshore, was transferred to the city for preservation in 2000. The MichiganMaritime Museum has renovated the keeper's house as the Marialyce Canonie GreatLakes Research Library.