Over this past Labor Day weekend, I had the pleasure of joining a group of friends and family who have met each year at the wonderful Michi-Mona-Mac cabins in South Haven, Michigan. It was a wonderful time with this group of folks for the first time over the Labor Day weekend. I had the chance to use the DJI Mavic Pro drone to do some aerial video for our documentary The Sweetwater Seas – North America’s Great Lakes. On this morning it was slightly overcast at sunrise and with little wind.

Using manual settings, I shot at 1/50 of a second, as the frame rate in the end will be 24 frames a second. It is best to try and shoot with double the frame rate to give you a smooth image. Using ISO 100 and adjusting the aperture until I the exposure was accurate. I always use a polarizing filter as well – especially when shooting over water – but in all honesty whether shooting stills or video it is always on my lenses.

I knew several of the shots I wanted to get before starting out, and while I did not do a storyboard before flight, I had mapped it out in my head what I wanted in the finished film. Setting up each shot so I could edit them together later. There are always happy surprises like the folks walking the pier or only one boat coming down the river into the open lake instead of many at a time. I used Adobe Premier Pro to edit the film instead of the DJI software. We shall see if we use any of this is the final film and I am guessing some shots will be used.

I hope you enjoy this small piece!

Cheers,

Richard Mack

Addendum:

Tower Information
Tower Height: 35.00′
Focal Plane: 37′
Active Aid to Navigation: Yes
Latitude: 42.40100 N
Longitude: -86.28800 W

The South Haven South Pierhead Light is a lighthouse in Michigan, at the entrance to the Black River on Lake Michigan. The station was lit in 1872, and is still operational. The tower is a shortened version of the Muskegon South Pierhead Light, and replaced an 1872 wooden tower. The catwalk is original and still links the tower to shore: it is one of only four that survive in the State of Michigan. The keeper’s house is on shore, 2-​¹⁄₂ stories tall, wood with a hipped-roof. It was also built in 1872, and is located at 91 Michigan Avenue onshore, was transferred to the city for preservation in 2000. The Michigan Maritime Museum has renovated the keeper’s house as the Marialyce Canonie Great Lakes Research Library.