Mighty Mac

Mighty Mac

The Mackinac Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the non-contiguous Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Designed by engineer David B. Steinman, the bridge (familiarly known as “Big Mac” and “Mighty Mac”) connects the city of St. Ignace on the north end with the village of Mackinaw City on the south. It is the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western hemisphere.

The bridge opened on November 1, 1957, ending decades of the two peninsulas being solely linked by ferries. A year later, the bridge was formally dedicated as “the world’s longest suspension bridge between anchorages”. This designation was chosen because the bridge would not be the world’s largest using another way of measuring suspension bridges, the length of the center span between the towers; at the time that title belonged to the Golden Gate Bridge, which has a longer center span. By saying “between anchorages”, the bridge could be considered longer than the Golden Gate Bridge and also longer than the suspended western section of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. (That bridge has a longer total suspension but is a double bridge with an anchorage in the middle.)

At 8,614 feet (2,626 m), the Mackinac Bridge is the longest suspension bridge with two towers between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere

The bridge is not pronounce like it is spelled. To pronounce it like a yupper, try it this way: Macinaw. By the way, a yupper is a person from the upper peninsulas.

This is a night shot. As you can tell, the lights that run up to the top of the two towers are out. That is because they shut the lights off to save the state money after 2 AM. I was passing through around 4 AM on this trip. It was very dark with the storm clouds all around. I left the shutter open for 10 to 30 seconds at F/13 to capture this shot. I said 10 to 30 due to the fact it is a HDR merged photo using Photomatixs. I must have taken about 30 shots before I was able to hold the camera on the tripod still enough with 30 MPH winds. Gusts around 40. Got this series of shots to create this one photo though.

I did receive a question on what I applied to the picture to get it so blue. It is so blue due to the fact that when I took the picture I set the white balance to Tungsten (light bulb) which shifts white to blue and since the lights on the bridge were Tungsten light bulbs, it kept the bridge properly light balanced. The picture was taken in raw, so I could shift it back. But I like it this way better.

Nikon D300
Shutter Speed: 20 seconds
ISO: 250
Aperture: F/12
White Balance: Tungsten
Lens: 18-200mm VR (Active)

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Mighty Mac belongs to the following groups:

After Dark, Bridges, Light In The Darkness, Michigan Outdoors, Night Photography, Nikon DSLR Users Group - 2 uploads per 24 hours, Out of the Blue (75%+ Blue), Panoramas - 3:1 minimum ratio and Timelapse/Long Exposure Photography Available for sale as

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