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Watching a new day dawn on Hamlin Lake awakens my senses. On a spring morning I set up my tripod and then sat back to relax until just before sunrise when the light jolted me into action.

My whole life it has been a dream of mine to fly in a fighter jet. Today, my dream still has not come true. I made this photograph of the T-38 Talon that is on permanent display along US 10 in front of the Mason County Airport. F8.0 at 1/200, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

After lying down in ice-cold water while making photographs at Au Train Falls, it warmed my soul to see the giant smiles on the faces of Rachel Gaudette and Sarah Genson. Great photography adventures bring joy to all of us. F2.8 at 1/80, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 20mm

Some say that when I am editing photos and weeding out the keepers, I have a heart of stone. When I found this rock on the beach along the shores of Lake Superior near the Hurricane River Outlet, it made me chuckle and it reminded me to be a little more sensitive to people's feelings when editing their work. I am ruthless to myself, which is fine, but I shouldn't have a heart of stone when editing other people's images. F9 at 1/250, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 50mm

Wednesday May

Betsy, Sean, the kids, and I are making the most of this strange and scary time in our world. What better way to social distance than to take daily hikes. We are blessed to live so close to the Ludington State Park. Our adventure today took us down a long trail off of Piney Ridge Road and we came across this scene at least a mile from where we parked.

I don't often find myself making time to photograph sporting events, but the 365 Project once again is forcing me to experiment with new subjects. Tonight my dad and I had an art event at the Muskegon Lumberjacks hockey game. After the event we shot some photos. The game was very intense and a few fights broke out. F4.5 at 1/250, ISO 400, 80-200 mm lens at 200 mm

Normally my dad is standing on soft sugary sand along the shorelines of Lake Michigan, but today he is standing on the famous sandstone beach along the shoreline of Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. On most March days the Lake Superior shoreline would still be covered in ice, but today the temperature is over 80 degrees. We took advantage of the warm weather and sunshine with our cameras. F9 at 1/125, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

My Grandmother Benson and my mom taught me early in my life to appreciate the beauty of pussy willows. They are simply beautiful and the memories they bring back are even more beautiful. F2.8 at 1/320, ISO 200, 80-200 mm lens at 200 mm

Ansel Adams believed in having at least one small area in each of his prints that was pure white or without tone and at least one small area of pure black. I love the range of tones in this image of the sandstone shoreline near Munising, Michigan. F9 at 1/125, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

Our new 600 mm telephoto lens has been fun to experiment with. Large telephoto lenses have a very shallow depth of focus and only show a narrow degree of the horizon. This allows the photographer to isolate specific parts of a scene. In this photo, the big lens allowed me to capture the seagull as it flew over the prettiest section of the light show. F5.6 at 1/1250, ISO 500, 600 mm lens with 1.4 extender at 850 mm

The shoreline near Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior is diverse and varied in height, textures, and color. As I was walking along the shoreline the little rock that was trapped in this s-shaped cavern caught my eye. With the bright mid-day sunlight and the range of tones from very dark to bright, I knew this photo would look best in black and white. F9 at 1/40, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 38mm

I have loved this barn in Hart since the days I first saw it as a young boy riding along with my dad on his truck as he delivered Budweiser, Drewrys and Pfeiffer's beer to the nearby Walker's tavern. Today the barn looks picture perfect. F16.0 at 1/125, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 145 mm

Summer has not yet come to Silver Lake Sand Dunes but the world-class views have never left. This evening I am appreciating, by my lucky self, a dunetop view of untracked rows of wind-driven sand stretching toward Lake Michigan. I feel this is one of the best views in Michigan and the world.

The 80-degree weather today along the shoreline of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior was good for my soul. With the low angle of the March sun, I was able to capture all the shadows of each beautiful rock and the majestic looking piece of driftwood. The shadows and the warm quality of light are my favorite parts of this photograph. F8 at 1/200, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 34mm

Another concept that my dad, Rachel, and I try to use in our compositions is to make sure that the different layers of our images overlap. With this scene, I tried to make sure that the top of the dune overlapped visually into the water. I then made sure the dune grass was high enough into the background layer of the clouds, but not appearing to merge. The tips of the grass fit just right.

I have been forcing myself to get better at using an external flash unit with my camera. The ultimate goal for most landscape photographers that use flash is to create art that looks and feels naturally lit. This photo is not perfect in terms of the flash, but I am getting better and growing as an artist. F9.0 at 1/250, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

Growing up we had a beautiful yellow Labrador Retriever named Sundance. She loved to spend time along the shores of Lake Michigan. Like many labs, she had an amazing ability to retrieve sticks. Sundance however, had a unique ability to retrieve rocks thrown into Lake Michigan. Somehow she could find the exact rock you had thrown on the lake bottom. These rocks on Lake Superior reminded me of Sundance and made me miss her. F8 at 1/80, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 50mm

The kids and I took a trip into Ludington for the sunset tonight. Although there was only a small portion of vibrant color, I like the mysterious feel.

Workshop at LSP