Linda’s Monthly Monday Morning Moaning’s
This mornings moaning’s is written with great excitement as it’s finally here! This book that has a years worth of work and research is ready for the public. Because of my love of photographing the many lights in our area, I decided to try my hand at a vintage look of these lights. I really had no idea just how fascinating it would be. Many of the lights we see today are restored, but in a smaller versions. The money, basically from donations would be cost prohibited in restoring these lights to their ‘original’ foot print, that was used when the lights had real function for maritime navigation.
Researching for the vintage postcards became the most important part of the project, always looking for ‘one that might be even more perfect’ was always part of the project. Many trips to post card conventions, yes there is such a thing, bidding in actions for cards, that you can’t image anyone else but you could possibly want, but does, became front and center, and needing at least 220 different images in the form of postcards was the main portion of time and cost spent. With great frustration, I was too find that although the popularity of our Great Lakes and the lights that protect them, I would have some very difficult times in acquiring the cards needed to fully capture, especially some of the really big lights.
I found at one convention where I spoke to a gentleman selling cards, about my frustration in coming across some really important lights, and finding nothing available, mind you, I am referring to vintage cards, not the present day colorful images. There happened to be a man sitting and talking with this same gentleman, and he asked me if I could give him an example of the lights I was interested in, and off the top of my head I stated that Sturgeon Point Light Station on Lake Huron was one. He asked if I was willing to use a scanned image, and at this point that had to be an option for me. He showed me his iPad and brought up his scanned images of the Sturgeon Point Light, all 13 of them!! I looked at the gentleman and said, “so you are the one who has them all”! He was extremely kind and sent me all 13 scanned images for me to choose what I could best use. Crediting this gentleman for the use of his images was the least I could do and I am hoping he enjoys the book I have sent him. After the book was turned in, I was able to bid on a number of the same images for my own collection, now.
I continued to plug away looking for the postcards I really wanted to use and finally came to the point where the book needed to be sent off to the publisher, and where we couldn’t find postcards we inserted a few vintage Coast Guard images in order to include the lights where finding the cards had been difficult. I know sooner sent the finished copy off to the publisher, it was like the flood gates opened and I started seeing the postcards come up for auction, I had been looking for all along! Soon I was contacting the publisher with requests to replace images with vintage postcard images, and Arcadia was very king in allowing me to add these long after our edits were in the process. So today, long after I ‘needed’ to find them, I still look and bid on cards when they become available.
On Sunday the 12th of June, I hope you can join us at the ‘Wee The People’ Meeting Hall in Armada, a lovely restored 1888 building for an Open House Book Launch from 1:00-4:00. I have great hopes this book with show my love of lighthouses and the vintage looks that show how the lights looked when they were so important to maritime navigation.
You are cordially invited:
On that ‘wee note’ till next month, Monday July 4th.
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Linda Osborne Cynowa 