Posted on Sep.01, 2010, under Michigan
(Nikon D700, 170-300mm at 86mm (10 shot panorama), ISO 500, Exposure 1/500 sec @f/16)
The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island is an impressive structure built by the Mackinac Island Hotel Company which was formed by a group including the Michigan Central Railroad, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, and the Detroit and Cleveland Steamship Navigation Company. The idea was to promote tourism to the island in northern Michigan and encourage people to travel using the railroads and steamships of the owning companies. The hotel boasts the longest porch. Of course, these days you have to pay $10 to walk on the porch if you aren’t a guest of the hotel. The hotel maintains some quaint traditions, such as requiring gentlemen to wear coats after 6:30 pm and women to wear dresses or pant suits. Other than the expense, its one of the reasons I’ve never stayed there.
In addition to the hotel building itself, the hotel has some fabulous and famous grounds. The pool and other areas of the hotel were featured in the 1947 film This Time For Keeps starring Jimmy Durante and Esther Williams is filmed on the island and at Grand Hotel. In 1980 the hotel was featured in the film ‘Somewhere in Time’ featuring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.
In keeping with the old time theme of the hotel, I decided to go for a vintage look for my image. The image itself was created from a 10 shots used to create a panorama. I processed the panorama in Photoshop and converted the image to black and white. After saving the image, I used the toning and vignette tools of Lightroom to add the sepia tone and strong vignette. The unaltered original panorama is seen below.
As always, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the image itself or the final processing.
This image can be purchased either by clicking the ‘Buy Print’ link under the image, or by visiting my Imagekind galleries, or at my Fine Art America galleries.
Copyright © 2010 James W. Howe – All rights reserved.
Your consideration of my request is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, please contact me at my email address.
Many thanks,
Bruce McLaren