Summer

The shadow of the 112-foot-tall Big Point Sable Lighthouse is cast on dune land north of the lighthouse. The pristine view northward from atop the light tower reveals part of the thousands of acres of protected state and federal land along the Lake Michigan shoreline north of the lighthouse.

I was excited to discover the colorful rocks on the bottom of Lake Superior at Twelve Mile Beach would reflect on the underside of the surface of the water. Once I made this discovery using my underwater camera housing, I quickly tried to build a composition in my mind that would be powerful and unique. After having the vision, it was just a matter of changing my location and waiting for a big enough wave.

Monarch Mondays

Hunters Point Park in Copper Harbor

I was photographing Bass Lake and the famous Three Sisters landmark hills across the lake when two real sisters turned the shoreline into their stage. I kept shooting as Natalie and Tessa Reichel performed. I enjoyed the show and hoped my picture would show the grace of these free spirits.

Distortion is not a bad thing in photography; you just need to be aware it is happening and compose strong images working with the distortion. My underwater camera housing is set up to use my old Nikon D7000 camera body along with a fisheye 10-17mm lens. I made this image at 11mm knowing it would be greatly distorted, but I really liked the end result.

I have now photographed this old McCormick Deering tractor in all four seasons. My dad and I got to meet the family that owns this tractor and the farm it sits on near the Sleeping Bear Dunes. This tractor is a great piece of Michigan history!

Storm clouds loom over the Pere Marquette River on a summer morning. Storms usually bring the best clouds and the best light.

Passing by Whitefish Point

Ludington State Park

Oriole Pride

 Several times this summer, if the conditions looked right, I would make the drive back into town from my home in Fountain. Some days would be a dud, and I would get frustrated for spending the extra gas money to make the 50 mile round trip. Other days, it paid off. I was excited that this day, I not only made an image I was proud of, but I had brought in my two kiddos and my niece along for the ride. We made a lot of fun memories that night too!

There is something about empty chairs on Lake Michigan waterfront that makes people want to be in them. These chairs, positioned at Pentwater Yacht Club, provide a view straight out of Pentwater harbor.

Rachels Happy Place

Over The Top

Porky Pine

 

I love calm mornings when the water is so still it appears to be a steel-blue mirror. On an early morning adventure these lily pads near the Lost Lake Trail quickly grabbed my attention. I set up my tripod in the water and carefully composed the photograph while making certain that none of the reflections of the flowers were cut off. Once the ripples were gone and the water returned to its mirror-like state, I gently clicked the shutter.

Moonlight bathes Hamlin Lake on one of those nights so tranquil not even a fish appeared to be stirring. The setting was the Middle Bayou, one of my favorite spots on Hamlin Lake. I once lived there and when I go back to get to see pictures past as well as present.

On an August evening during a photo trek to Big Point Sable Lighthouse I faced a momentary dilemma. I was shooting an extremely dramatic sunset over Lake Michigan to the west when I looked back to the east to see if the sky was "painting" the lighthouse with its brilliant color. As I turned what caught my eye was not the lighthouse-bathed in pink but the moon rising over a gorgeously "painted" dune just north of the lighthouse. The light was splendid and momentary. I knew there was not time to shoot all three pictures. While I was vacillating, my wife was decisive, declaring: "Shoot the moon!" So, I did. Thank you, Debbie!