November 9, 2016

World Moves Forward

Harbor Springs, Michigan

photography canon 6d, harbor springs, light, michigan, photography, shadow

October 28, 2016

Weekend In Northern Michigan

Last weekend we traveled up to Harbor Springs, Michigan—a beautiful little bayside town along the Little Traverse Bay, on Lake Michigan—to visit family for a birthday party. These little weekend vacations are a nice, quick getaway. We need a distraction from selling the house, and who can say “no” to northern Michigan?

The autumn colors were gorgeous, of course, but so was the light coming in from the big living room window. It’s one of my favorite situations to shoot in; we’re lucky enough to have a big window in our living room back home.

But for this weekend, with all the cousins playing together and quiet fall mornings spent sketching or watching the game, we soaked up all the light and seasonal spirit we could.

photography autumn, family, harbor springs, michigan, photography

August 21, 2013

Shave and a Haircut

Turns out Jordan grew up in the town next to mine growing up, attending a rival high school at about the same time.

But it was his alma mater, his wife’s job, and his own first job in the financial world that brought him up to Harbor Springs, Mich. Now? He’s a barber.

In a tourist town like Harbor Springs, about 10 minutes around the bay from Petoskey, Jordan says his Harbor Barber shop does good business. Fifteen customers a day during the winter, and upwards of 40 during the summer.

He says it’s tiring, being on his feet all day, looking down at customers. But the money is good.

“You can still make a good living doing this,” he said.

Just do the math: $15 for a shave and a haircut. Forty customers a day in the summer.

Jordan says the old straight razors could nick a customer, and then transfer some of the blood onto the leather strap. Cross-contamination. So he uses the disposal razors, but treats them in the old-timey way.

The whole old-timey shave is a novelty, he says. Customers, though, enjoy the ritual: the warm towel, putting your feet up, the patient pace of the job.