Trevyn, I, and the pups spent a recent Friday night at Point Beach State Park. I had been planning to go for about a month, with no moon that weekend my hope was to do some star photography. There had been thunderstorms and rain all week and that day was claiming more of the same.  It had only been a little cloudy and warm during the day so we decided to make the hour long trek to the park,  figuring if it did start storming we weren’t too far from home. 

I had never been to Point Beach State Park and what I’m starting to realize, after 34 years of living in Wisconsin, is that we have some amazing state parks. I got my first state park sticker this year and hope to make it to several more through the summer and fall. We hope to go back to Point Beach, sans dogs, to check out their bike trails too.  

When you first pull in to the park all you see is trees, no water. The mosquitoes were bad, accosting us as soon as we got out of the car. Trevyn, I think, was immediately regretting his decision to come along on my little adventure. We followed the dog trail down to the beach. It was a short walk, maybe five minutes, but it was like being transported to the east coast. Having spent a summer near the coast of Maine, many years ago, it was a bit nostalgic. 

As a photographer I was finding all kinds of interesting things to photograph; feathers, weathered branches, the lighthouse, water, and my little family. As you can see by my sandy pups, they were having a fantastic time. Lu trying to chase the water and running like crazy when it would come back to get her. It was a gorgeous afternoon and with mostly clear skies I found a little spot to set up to photograph the lighthouse as darkness started falling. Behind us, in the distance, we could see lightning. The storm never came, but kept on it’s northeasterly track, just passing by us. After I photographed the lighthouse, I went back to the beach to try to capture the storm. In the image below you can see lightning flashing in the clouds. My exhausted bunch slept the whole way home. 

Earlier in the night, around dusk I caught this version of the image above. I always think it’s interesting to see how much the light can change in such a short time.