Abstract

This is the second day I have been home sick on the couch with bronchitis and I am getting restless. A few moments ago I snuck outside with my camera and photographed the morning light hitting the frost on the hood of my red truck. Shhhh, don't tell Betsy! F9.0 at 1/200, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

 

A water drop is about to fall from a small branch and my macro lens made an ordinary scene look extraordinary.

 

Cool barn! The repetitive patterns provided by this weathered old barn's board and batten siding, tin roof and screened window catch my eye for the first time even though I have passed by the barn before while driving on Gordon Road near Scottville. F4.0 at 1/800, ISO 800, 300 mm lens at 300 mm

Coast Guard Motor Life Boat 44345 is revered by many members of the Reed family. She always took care of her crew and brought them back to shore safely, including my dad. Sadly, she is sitting outside on blocks waiting for a home at the future maritime museum in Ludington. It kills me to see such a fine vessel in less than perfect condition. F2.8 at 1/200, ISO 1000, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

Heaven on Hamlin Workshop 2022

Using my new macro lens and three stacked extension tubes, I was able to make the ice on a blue plastic chair behind the gallery look unique today.

The proof is in the pudding! The Ludington, Michigan area has been proclaimed by several national publications as one of the best places in America to view a sunset. This sunset afterglow confirms their findings.

 

I love finding heart shapes in nature. When I got home today from work and was walking towards my house, I spotted this deer print that looked like a heart. I knew I had found my photo of the day!

Clouds are your friends. I preach this to my photography students at West Shore Community College more than they want to hear it. Clouds can add great ingredients to outdoor photographs. Sometimes, like on this fall evening, they make powerful subjects by themselves. At times clouds appear heaven sent. This one, over Lake Michigan, looked like an angel to my wife and me. We named it "Robbie's Cloud" in memory of an angel in our lives.

Yesterday, while driving through Stearns Park Beach, I noticed a mixture of sand, snow, ice and rocks along the side of the road that looked very cat-like. I put my heavy cold-weather gear on and shot this photo. Seeing it today on the computer, I am shocked at how much it looks like a puma. F22.0 at 3.0, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

I love making abstract art with my camera. With the limestone rock covered in ice, the gold sunshine danced in front of my lens. Moving one inch in either direction totally changed the look and feel of the photograph. I like how this composition feels.

While standing on the frozen shores of Lake Michigan at the First Curve beach inside Ludington State Park, I am amazed to see how much ice has frozen to the old jetties. I keep thinking to myself that the jetties now look like two polar bears side by side. F9.0 at 1/5, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

 

 

I keep trying to edit this picture out. I enjoyed making the picture of the riveted keel of a rental boat on the Hamlin Lake shoreline at Ludington State Park. I like the resulting image, yet I did not feel comfortable with including it in this book. My son and shooting partner, Brad, loves the image. He sees abstract pictures almost everywhere he looks and shoots many of them. Getting out of your comfort zone can be uncomfortably good. So the picture stays.

I was on the hunt for beach glass on this chilly morning. I hiked a great distance, armed and ready with my camera and ring flash. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a single piece. Determined to make the trek worth it, I found this heart-shaped rock. I loved the bubbles of water as the waves receded.

Floating lazily down the Sauble River toward Lake Michigan, a maple leaf drifts over rocky shallows. They say good things happen to those who wait; finding a good backdrop and waiting for the subject to come into it is relaxing and often rewarding.