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My great grandma, Martha Delite Shoup Benson, grew up in this house on Hansen Road in eastern Mason County. The house is still in pretty good shape, but the barn has seen better days. I wish I could travel back in time and have my great-grandma and her siblings give me a tour of the homestead in all of its glory.

Wednesday December

Country Strong

Country Strong_Vertical Crop

Barn on Tuttle Road

One of the most rewarding aspects of driving through the countryside from Point to Point is discovering and rediscovering, the many picturesque farms. Some retain much of the appearance they had a century ago. A traditional farm on Hawley Road, south of Scottville, was aglow as the sun dropped beneath the clouds just before setting.

My wife Debbie is busy studying for one of her nursing classes so I decide to take a Sunday drive northeast through the countryside. Forty-five minutes later, near Natahka in the southwest corner of Lake County, I am attracted to a birch tree and rustic wood structure that have beautifully grown old together. F14.0 at 1/80, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 80 mm

Cows curious about a visitor lined a fence while two others checked things out from the flapped doorway that allowed them to go in and out of their barn as they pleased. I always looked forward to seeing the cows at a farm along Fountain Road in northern Mason County.

My dad and I always like to have strong immediacy in our photographs. With my wide-angle lens, I got very close to this frozen fruit tree and then made the barn a much smaller part of the composition. The final photograph is an environmental portrait of Cherry Basket Farm near Omena, Michigan in Leelanau County.

I am grateful to have made this picture of one of my favorite barns. Like other vintage wooden barns, this one, on Beaune Road in Hamlin Township, fell victim to the ravages of time and northern Michigan weather and is no longer standing.

The architecture of this barn was simply exquisite when it was built more than a century ago just north of the Village of Omena near Northport, Michigan. Now the barn serves as the centerpiece of Cherry Basket Farm, which hosts weddings, private parties, and other events. As an outdoor photographer and lover of classic Michigan barns, I am grateful that the creative use of the barn and other structures on the site enables the owner, Epicure Catering, to maintain the farm in such pristine condition.

After five unsuccessful photo trips to the Schwass farm in Riverton Township, south of Scottville, I thought I was never going to take a good photograph of their winter squash. The challenge was to make a picture that would stir the viewer's emotions the way they had described the experience to me. On the sixth trip, a golden luminescence from the setting sun gave me the feeling they must have had. I was glad for the tips and my perseverance.

I have driven by this barn on US-10 multiple times a year my entire life and have never seen it look as good as it did today. Julia, Ethan, and I were on our way to visit my cousin and her family in Lake Fenton when I had to pull over and walk in the deep snow to make this image. I used the fence to create leading lines

On our way to an indoor water park in Frankenmuth, Michigan, this red barn and its silver metal roof glistened in the sunlight. I pulled off into the ditch and quickly made this image, so we weren’t late to the water park. Frankenmuth is definitely one of Michigan’s coolest towns!

For some reason this photograph reminds me of The Wizard of Oz. This farm on the way to Grand Rapids looks like it has survived a few big storms over the years. Shortly after I made this image, a large thunderstorm struck.

When I saw the clouds on this afternoon I went in search of a picture in the countryside. After driving up and down rural roads for a time, I remembered a farm northeast of Scottville I had photographed one winter's day. As it came into view, I knew I had found my picture. The scene reminded me of the "Wizard of Oz" before the tornado takes away Dorothy's home.

Jim and Donna Shoup own and operate Weldon Creek Farms east of Custer, Michigan. They have raised 11 kids at the farm and now have 31 grandkids and two great grandkids who can often be found working hard and having fun there. Our assistant manager, Rachel Gaudette, is their youngest child. Their barn is an American classic and has stood the test of time.

I have driven past this barn on Fountain Road a thousand times and always wanted to make a good photograph of it, but was never inspired. Today, on another skiing venture to Crystal Mountain, the snow, sunlight and clouds were all I needed to get me out of my truck and shooting. F7.1 at 1/200, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

Having a strong foreground close to the camera is vitally important to a composition, especially with wide-angle lenses. Even though the farm field didn't have much snow left, the snowdrift in the foreground was several feet deep. I walked up and down the road looking for a section of the snowdrift that had dynamic lines and deep shadows, then finally found this composition.

An old barn and old tree hang onto life together in a farm field along M46 in Michigan's Thumb region. I am struck by the contrast between the old farm structure and adjacent gnarled tree and the shiny new farm structures and manicured young spruce trees in the distance.