Fall
Into the Wild
This view from high atop Big Point Sable Lighthouse shows the layers of dunes and forest between Lake Michigan and Hamlin Lake and reveals the vastness and beauty of the remote northern area of Ludington State Park. Brad and I climbed to the top of the lighthouse on an early November morning and sat in the dark, anxiously awaiting sunrise. The light and atmosphere that appeared was well worth the chilly wait.
Out of This World
Anyone lucky enough to be standing on the storm-flooded Lake Michigan beach near the Second Curve on October 18, 2007, at 6:49:21 p.m., would have been overwhelmed by the scene before his or her eyes. This was an incredible moment in time, obviously a beautiful, powerful view. But there was something more: an unreal, out-of-this world quality, a feeling that comes to me only when I witness some of the most rare natural phenomenons. A meteotsunami (meteorological tsunami) had flooded the beach.
Regal Hunter
I came upon this scene while hiking along the Coast Guard Trail near Hamlin Lake. Staying as quiet as possible, not to appear threatening to the fearless hawk, I slowly set up my camera and tripod. The hawk accepted my presence and began the grisly process of eating its prey. The fur from the squirrel's beautiful tail fluttered in the wind. As is often nature’s way, the scene was a visual and emotional paradox; so deadly, yet so beautiful. I went away saddened but exhilarated, focusing on the beauty and knowledge that what I had just witnessed was natural and necessary.
In Transition
Nature, in transition between fall and winter, presented a rare double feature on a mid-October day near Hamlin Lake. The earliest snows of the season often cling to the trees the best and hang on long enough to still look pretty when I discover them.
North Country Splendor
Searching for an autumn sunrise on Emerson Lake, in Eastern Mason County. I spotted mist rising through the trees on the opposite side of U.S. 10. Walking about 20 yards into the woods I came upon a lake. According to Stanley Gerybo, owner of the adjacent Fox Lake Resort, the tiny lke is Fox Lake. He and his wife, Justine, have owned it for 33 years. Fox Lake typifies the myriad of sumptuous places, between Big and Little Sable Points, that most people never see. These spots are special to those who own them, or those privileged to see them.
South Wind
Marram grass bends against a south wind as the sun sets on an October evening along the Lake Michigan shoreline at an area of Ludington State Park long referred to as the "Second Curve." The hearty dune grass thrives in an often-severe environment, standing up to the wind and sand that buries it as the grass and its roots slow and stop blowing sand grains.
Drive
At 5:05pm tonight when I left work from our downtown Ludington photo gallery, I looked up at the sky and knew I needed to go shoot the sunset and waves a few blocks away. I parked next to the south concession stand inside of the Ludington City Beach and walked to the edge of the water inside the pier heads. The wind was kicking and the sunset was incredibly intense. After only a few minutes of shooting, I knew I had made my shot. The drive to continually push on a get better as a photographer was ingrained in me by my father. He was right next to me shooting and making his own art. Life is good!
Tree Art
A tree along the nature trail at West Shore Community College stood out from the others because of the artful pattern of fungus on it.