Film shots from the straits of Mackinac

A few weeks ago, my buddy Marc Akemann and I were on a road trip to Photostock and then to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I have already posted a few digital shots on the previous post, but I haven't said much about shooting the film cameras.  We had some great fog conditions for photographing the Mackinac Bridge, which is itself a marvel.  It's 5 miles long, and the main towers are 552 feet above the water.  Prior to its opening in 1957, one had to take a car ferry across the straits, and the Upper and Lower peninsulas were certainly separated economically and culturally as well as physically.  The Mighty Mac changed all that, as the UP became more of a tourist destination, and not just a place for hunters and fishermen to visit. You can see many of the old places along US-2 that have survived from the late 1950s-early 60s.  That is another project someday-- before its too late-- to document the tourist-oriented business along US-2 between St. Ignace and Manistique.

Marc and I had the opportunity to photograph the Mackinac Bridge from several vantage points NW and SW of the bridge, and I have already photographed it numerous times from the NE and SE side.  This time though, we had the added attraction of some foggy weather over the straits, and it resulted in some different shots for me.


It seems that cellphones have replaced point and shoots for most people.  Nikon N2000 with 35mm f/2 lens. That 35 has become my carry-around lens now.

I haven't been using my Pentax 6x7 as much as I should be, but when I do, I am almost always pleased with my results.  This was taken with Ilford XP-2 film. I probably had at least one filter on the lens -- a red filter.

Taken with my Nikon FM2N, 50mm 1.4 lens, on Arista 100 film.  Funny thing is that I brought the FM2N as a backup to my N2000 and N90s.  I finished up the roll that was on it, which turned out to be the trip from December 31 that Marc and I took along the Raisin River!  Maybe I have too many cameras...

Taken from the NW side of the bridge which gives a pretty good viewpoint. A tern was hunting in front of me and kept diving into the lake to catch fish. You can see it on the left side of the photo.  This was Fuji 400 ISO color film, arguably not the best choice for this subject.  A finer-grained film such as Kodak Ektar would be a better choice.

Film drying.  I shot quite a bit of Polypan-F on the trip, and am really pleased with the negatives I got from it.  I'll have another entry about shooting at Fayette State Park, which I highly recommend as a photo destination!