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Crisp, haze-free air, brilliant light, billowy clouds - all the ingredients that made for a good day for photography - were present on this fine October morning. Throw in the Ludington North Breakwater, lighthouse, and the carferry Badger, and it gets even better. The final ingredient - a location from which to take the photo - brings the mixture together to make a picture better than the sum of its parts.

Todd Reed

Au Train Falls is my favorite waterfall to photograph because you can stand right in the water. That helps photographers create strong immediacy and make the viewers of the work feel like they are really there experiencing the waterfall for themselves. My camera and lens got very wet, but that is the reason for insurance! F22 at 1/5, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

Bending against a brisk October breeze but not breaking, dune grass withstands another "northwester" along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Park Effect

Waves blast skyward upon striking the Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse during a fall gale. I have waited patiently for the magic storm light to show up and intensify the view.

Fisherman's Sunrise

Fall in Mason County

Grandiose

Bass Lake Splendor

October 25 2013

Todd Reed

I watched in awe for two hours as wave after enormous wave slammed into the Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse on February 24, 2019. I have rarely witnessed or photographed bigger or more frequent waves exploding against the seemingly invincible structure. Many of my several hundred exposures show water flying up to 100 feet in the air and the lighthouse nowhere to be seen. Persistence paid off when I finally caught one huge descending wave still higher than the lighthouse as the next one shot skyward above the lighthouse during its ascension. I had never seen two waves tower above the Ludington lighthouse at once. I was fortunate to artistically document the rare moment.

I spent years on Coast Guard boats watching Lake Michigan waves curl and break. Their power and beauty demanded my attention then and commanded me to photograph them.

I spent years on Coast Guard boats watching Lake Michigan waves curl and break. Their power and beauty demanded my attention then and commanded me to photograph them.

17-Nov

365 Week 41

October Light

October 10 2012

I was mesmerized by the clouds tonight and loved how they all seemed to be radiating out from the sun. I noticed how it looked like the sun had a giant set of wings. After realizing that, I tried for over 20 minutes to capture a wave that would look like a reflection of the clouds. The last wave I shot before the rain started pouring had the shape of wings I was looking for.