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Signs from Above

 

Jagged icicles in the foreground create a unique look at the Lake Michigan shoreline. The ice formation changed before my eyes with each powerful wave that pummeled the shore.

Edges of Light

When the owners of Patton's Junk Yard, on Stiles Road in Riverton Township, granted me permission to photograph the yard I had no idea of the history that lay within. It became apparent that most of the vehicles and machinery reflected a long ago era. I found a delivery truck with "Old Tyme Milling Co." painted on its weathered side. I took many photographs, but I liked this closest, simplest shot that summed up Patton's Junk Yard. The old-fashioned junk yard, with all its relics, has disappeared.

The bow of the commercial fishing tug Judy Ann cuts through the water as the vessel heads for the chub fishing grounds far offshore on Lake Michigan. The tug was operated by Ron Walters and his father, Jim, for many years. It was the last commercial gill net fishing vessel to operate out of Ludington. I miss seeing the sturdy old boats operated by the Walters, Cloutiers, and others plying in and out of the harbor, unloading their catches or working on their nets.

Butterflies have fascinated my six-year-old daughter Julia since she was about a year old. She often tells my wife, Betsy, and me that if she only had one wish in life it would be to grow a pair of butterfly wings and be able to fly. When I spotted this butterfly shape on some tree bark, I immediately thought of Julia.

My kids love collecting stones. I am not sure where this one came from, but I loved the textures, colors, and patterns in it.

A sign of times past, this sign once advertised a Ludington retail fish business on the waterfront where commercial fishing vessels once docked. The original location of the building and the fish tugs is now the site of Ludington Municipal Marina.

An outdoor photographer is dwarfed by the large Northern Michigan bog he is exploring on a winter morning. The bog lies along US131 north of Manton, Michigan.

Did you know Michigan has a jungle within its borders? This frozen jungle is located on a window of the logging museum in the Hartwick Pines State Park. My daughter Julia came up with the name for this image of the frosty window.

One of Michigan's best assets are the pristine forests that cover the state. I love watching how the forests change as you move farther north in Michigan. These trees at Wilderness State Park look more rugged and "Northern" than the trees to the south in Ludington.

Wilderness State Park near Mackinaw City is one of Michigan's best-kept secrets. With Lake Michigan as its border, the Wilderness State Park is a glorious glimpse of what Michigan may have looked like 100 years ago. Wild, pristine, diverse, and glorious are just a few words that come to mind when trying to describe Wilderness State Park. I look forward to spending quality time exploring more of the park in the future.

I have been trying to make an image of the ice formations for a while. I have never been happy with the outcome. Tonight, I worked this scene and finally was rewarded!

Muddy snow-filled puddles can be a photographer's dream. I took this photo after work today in the middle of Stearns Park. F2.8 at 1/100, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 26 mm

For more than a quarter century, I have watched a once impressive farm north of Custer fading away. The painstakingly trimmed house where a proud family once lived was among the first buildings ravaged by the elements, vandals, and scavengers. The house has collapsed since I recorded this scene. Despite the decay of the old farm, I still find it sadly beautiful and continue to watch and record its slow death.

Dick and Kathy Bourgault left us so many beautiful pieces of art in the house when we bought it from them. This window art is one of them.

Perhaps erected in a vain attempt to keep sand from blowing toward a nearby summer cottage, fencing looked more like a snow sculpture on a January morning at Epworth Heights resort.

One of my favorite solar lights looks like a disco ball. With my camera on my tripod, I gently spun my light creating movement in my piece.

By setting my camera directly on the ice that had built up on the Manistee pier, I could capture the sun dancing on the ripples. Generally, we use tripods, but sometimes the only way to get the immediacy in our photographs, is to improvise.