366 Days of Beauty in the Year 2020 by Brad Reed and Rachel Gaudette

I love the intricate details on old vases and glassware. It is a forgotten art.

Work has been very busy this month. Thanksgiving week is always a juggling of kids, work, and planning and prepping for Thanksgiving dinner. My energy is running low. The kids will be leaving tomorrow for a long weekend at their dad’s. It is always difficult when they are gone, and especially difficult when it is over a holiday.

Julia, Ethan, and I put our Christmas tree up tonight along with our stockings. This is a closeup image of a snowflake on my Christmas stocking.

I did the last few work projects, and then hit the stores for Thanksgiving groceries. I helped my mom get the farmhouse ready for dinner tomorrow before I went home. The house is especially quiet without the kids here. Lately, I can feel the depression trying to pull me in. I had decided earlier in the day that I was done with the 366 Project. I am not happy with the photos lately; 40 minutes before today was out, I forced myself to make an image.

My dad taught me a long time ago that you need to learn to see like your camera sees. Using my 85mm prime lens with a huge aperture opening of F1.4, I was able to make the green pine trees in my backyard look like a completely black background as I made this image on my back deck. I am proud to be a part of a 4th generation Anheuser-Busch wholesaler family, so I made this image to honor my family.

Happy Thanksgiving! Or at least it’s supposed to be “happy.” I received a call this morning that Joshua (and all of us) are quarantined due to close contact with COVID-19. Not only are my kids gone, but now I am spending Thanksgiving alone. Sometimes it seems like life hits you harder when you’re already down. Thankfully, I have the material needed for Kasey’s hamster cage; it will give me something to keep my mind busy.

After delivering a few large canvases to some customers in Pentwater, I noticed this old church and started photographing it. The historic building is now a museum. I look forward to taking the time someday to go through the museum.

After several days of staying in the house, I left tonight and headed into Custer. I knew they had Christmas decorations up. Even though my photos don’t show it lately, I have still tried to put my whole heart into it. There are just some days your heart feels small, and that’s all you can give.

For years, we would call my dad “Mr. Safety” and poke fun at him about it. Well, today I was glad some of that preparedness rubbed off. Two young men fell off the breakwall into Lake Michigan. I had three life jackets and 300 foot of line in the back of my truck that the police and firemen used to help rescue both men. After that craziness, I found this picture in front of where I was parked at Stearns Drive

The last two days I have focused on working on Kasey’s hamster cage. I found this heart at the bottom of her cage. I am ready for the kids to come home tomorrow. It has been a long several days. COVID-19 has hurt those that struggle with mental illness. It has not been an easy year for most.

I almost lost one of my boots in the mud while shooting this photo with my iPhone. We dug this pond at our hunting property. Our land has a lot of clay in it. That clay and mud is very difficult to navigate through, but I was determined to get the reflections in this photograph. To get the reflections to look the way I wanted, I had to get down to the water’s edge..

As I was driving on Old US-31 through the Pere Marquette River Flats, I spotted this mature bald eagle. I pulled over and knew if I waited long enough, the bird would eventually fly away. I wanted to capture that moment just as it took flight. The five-minute wait was worth it.

I took time to just enjoy having the kids home tonight. Kasey made a delicious meal she calls “Kasey’s combobulation.” It was great just to concentrate on them and nothing else. It did mean I was on the search for a photo later in the evening, but to me that was worth it. We received this jar as a gift. Kasey keeps her tea in it.

With the stress and fear that COVID-19 has created for everyone worldwide, it sure is nice to be able to drive down to Ludington’s Stearns Beach and watch a calming sunset. This pandemic has proven to me that Ludington is “Home” for me and where I belong.

The sunshine is a welcome sight today! I love long casting shadows.

Bob and Nancy Buchert are the newest owners of the home at 607 W. Pere Marquette in Ludington. This is the blue home on the corner of Pere Marquette and Ferry Street that I grew up in. While chatting with Bob and Nancy tonight in the front yard of their newly redone home, I noticed the magic light hitting the old birch trees in the backyard. I remember climbing these trees often as a kid.

The kids and I have still been at home quarantining, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get our Christmas tree up. It is filled with a lot of special ornaments, including my very first Christmas ornament. I always must put this one on the tree, and it must have a light behind it for it to shine bright.

Our assistant manager, Hannah Ruhlig, recently told me about a home near her house that was decorated in tons of Christmas lights. Tonight, while trying to figure out what to photograph, I remembered the house. I drove there and struck up a conversation with the owner, Bill Olson. Then I went to work making this image.

The light was bland today, and it didn’t appear as if there would be any color for sunset. I took a walk around the yard to see what I could see. I am always amazed at pine trees and their structure.

We had a dramatic sky tonight over Lake Michigan. As often happens, the afterglow was even better and more colorful than the sunset at the first curve at Ludington State Park.