Little Sable Point Light

Our last and final stop for the mini-lighthouse tour was within Silver Lake State Park, about 30 mins north of Muskegon, MI. This lighthouse was really hard to get to considering we had no idea that you had to have a parking pass to park right by it, so we parked a bit down the beach and "tried" to walk the beach to it. Little did we know that it was like a tornado out there. All day the wind would pick up each one we stopped at, and this one was by far the worst.

We walked down a little bit and the loose sand kept blowing so strong that gusts of sand would just pelt us over and over again. Todd had to stand in front of me with his back to the wind so that I could get my camera ready and then he'd lean over a bit holding on to me really tight because I couldn't even hold my camera straight. You can even see in the photos that the white blur in the sand was all the loose sand blowing right towards us. Let's just say we couldn't even walk up that close to it because the combination of the wind and sand made it almost impossible to even get near it. Good thing for telephoto lens's. Gotta love that 70-200mm.

These are the best I could do from the distance, but it was such a fun trip! We've gotten 4 down... 100 and something left in Michigan to see! Haha... maybe one day we will see them all.

Manistee North Pierhead

Our third stop was in Manistee, MI. This lighthouse was my absolute favorite, but also very challenging for me for a couple reasons:

1. We were racing against time because half the sky was blaaaa the other half was amazing, plus the wind was picking up even more.
2. In order to get out to this one you had to walk along the amazing LONG catwalk, which having heavy winds and nothing but water surrounding you can make someone a bit nervous. I thought I was going to fly into the water with my camera... I didn't care about myself too much, I know how to swim, but my camera I was concerned about, HA!
3. Being surrounded by all water and having a HUGE imagination that I have added to my slight nervousness, and I didn't know how deep it was and to be honest, water that I can't see the bottom kind of just creeps me out. But I survived!

The lighthouse itself had so much character to it, just sitting out in Lake Michigan by itself, such a peaceful feeling. It was old and rusted, yet amazingly beautiful. The waves would come in and the wind would blow, and those sounds combine can put you right to sleep. I find myself being so attracted to these structures for some unknown reason, maybe the thought that they are usually on the coast near water, or that you can only find them near the water, or something to do with being by water and I find bodies of water so peaceful, even if it can make me nervous! Ha... I'm not sure that makes sense, but oh well! They are beautiful and I love them!

Happy Wednesday!

Point Betsie Lighthouse

Our next stop was Point Betsie Lighthouse which is right by the Michigan Dunes and also fairly close to Traverse City. As we pulled up literally within SECONDS fog started rolling in and we didn't know if we were going to stay dry or not. It was the most erie feeling, but looked really cool! Not only did the fog roll in, but the wind got even stronger. I couldn't believe that just a few minutes before we got there, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I guess those clouds were the storm we got Sunday. It's a possibility because it looked pretty crazy, and the storm we got was pretty crazy!

Enjoy... and the one tomorrow was my favorite of the day!

Charlevoix South Pierhead

Our first stop was in Charlevoix, MI. Like I said earlier, this lighthouse was literally right by our hotel. We walked down in the morning, and the sun was still rising all the way. But it was so nice because the sky was extremely blue! It was beautiful! The only pitfall was the wind. I've come to realize that no matter where you are on the coast, it's going to be windy. We got lucky and there was a tour boat going out, which they use a draw bridge to get out into the lake... pretty cool!

Enjoy... and see you tomorrow!

Aubrey's Wedding/Lighthouse Mini-Tour

This past weekend we made our way up to Charlevoix, MI for a "Destination" Wedding of one of my good friends from college Aubrey Pepper. It was one of the most beautiful and intimate weddings we've ever been to. They originally wanted to have their wedding in Ireland, which if you've ever been to Ireland is absolutely beautiful. It's funny because both Aubrey and I went to Ireland in college on a photo trip, and it's filled with stone buildings, green everywhere, country, and just breathtaking scenery. But instead of traveling overseas they found this place up north called Castle Farms, which is an old castle that the owners restored and is used for numerous things, and has such a Irish feel to it. It was so good to see her, and a couple other friends from school. I even got to see and hang out with my good friend Bratch and her boyfriend Frank (my photo didn't turn out of us all so I have none to post, but it was great to see them all) Both Todd and I had such a great time! Congratulations Aubrey and Ryan... we are so happy for you guys!!!!


(The photo was taken by our point and shoot camera, and it was not being very cooperative, half of the photos I took did not turn out, but usually if we are not shooting the wedding we do not bring our "other" camera)

Since we were going up North and the wedding was on a Friday, we decided to make a weekend out of it. Last summer when we went to North Carolina, I saw my first lighthouse EVER, in person that is. I never really thought too much about them until I stood right in front of one and was amazed by its beauty. I fell in love with them and have wanted to see more since then! So we decided to drive down the west side of Michigan and visit just a couple of the many lighthouses in our state. I never knew there were so many. I found out that there are at least 100 different ones. I couldn't believe it! We picked a couple of the cool ones, and I will be posting each day a different lighthouse, so come back often this week and see where we went and what we saw. I wanted to visit more, but there's only so many you can visit in one day. I'm sure there will be more trips to see them and more photos to show of them.

Here is a map of our trip.... the blue is our trip on Friday and the pink is our trip Saturday



...and a preview of the first lighthouse we saw which was in Charlevoix, right by our hotel that we stayed at. Gotta love the wind blown hair and sun blaring in our faces huh?! That's what you have to do to get the photo you want right? haha!

Mr. & Mrs. O'Malley

Does life get any better?

We have had the best couples this year! Maybe not the best weather this year, but hey I'm ok with it if we contiune working with such awesome couples. It called for rain yet again, but luckily it stopped before we went out to do photos... which was so nice!

If you remember Quinn and Julie from their engagement session back in December, yes it was freezing, but they were troopers and we bared the cold together. We had been looking forward to this wedding for a while now because they were absolutely the sweetest couple and having such a sweet couple makes you really look forward to working with them again.

Quinn and Julie were married at the 1st United Methodist Church in Dearborn, MI and their reception was at the beautiful Lovett Hall at the Henry Ford Estate. Both venues were excellent places and just right down the road from each other. Their day was beautiful and we had such a great time. They had so much unique things added to their day to make it more intimate and personal. I thought that they did a wonderful job and it was such a beautiful wedding!

Congratulations Quinn and Julie, thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your day... we had so much fun and are thrilled for the two of you! Enjoy Mexico... ;)




I loved that Julie put this shamrock on her garter, hence the Irish last name "O'Malley"... how cute!



Getting help with her dress... she was so excited!



She was such a gorgeous bride... despite the tornado-ish wind... I think the wind effect adds to this photo... just lovely!





And all of her girls were awesome...



Quinn was very handsome as well...





And all of his guys were awesome...











After they were announced husband and wife, and they made their way down the aisle, the whole crowd just cheered so loud... I've never head anything like it, that just goes to show that everyone was so excited for them and it was definitely meant to be!



Such a wonderful couple, on a beautiful day!

Coming this week... Mr. & Mrs. O'Malley

I will be posting later this week... as I finish up the last wedding, here is one to tide you over for a couple days.

Happy Monday... can you believe it's June?