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What a start to our trip! Brad and I and all five kids are on our way to the Upper Peninsula for a long weekend. We stopped to stretch our legs at Otsego Lake. The kids could run and climb trees, while Brad and I each made an image in a location we’ve never visited before.

Not far from Roselawn, Indiana on County Road 1000 there is a full-size John Deere tractor that sits atop a silo. Julia and I pulled into the farmer's yard for a closer look. The clouds and sky were perfect for a photograph. F7.1 at 1/400, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

All five of our kids spent time photographing and wading into Au Train Falls this afternoon. After they had all gotten their shots, I took our underwater housing and my tall rubber boots and I got into the waterfall as well. With my camera almost half underwater, I finally captured an image I had built in my head almost a year earlier.

The colorful, atmospheric sunrise this morning stops me in my tracks. The sun is coming up through waves of fog rising over Pere Marquette Lake. I am glad I got out early to catch this one. F4.0 at 1/1250, ISO 100, 500 mm lens at 500 mm

Laughing Whitefish Falls is one of my favorite places. The walk to the fall itself is a stunning forest. The cascade of the falls isn’t straight down, which I like. And the pool at the bottom has great moss-covered rocks. It was a wonderful experience to share with all five kids.

Ethan and I went out to the end of the dock at Cartier Park to see what the mist and fog looked like over Lincoln Lake with Epworth in the background. At first the view was rather ordinary, but within a few minutes the sunlight broke out of the clouds and the view became extraordinary. F7.1 at 1/40, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

Rachel and I were so excited to finally be able to take all of our kids to 12 Mile Beach to see the white birch maple forest. We all had fun exploring the colorful forest with our cameras. After that shoot, the kids were tired, so Julia and Kasey stayed back and watched the boys while Rachel and I went over the dune onto the Lake Superior shoreline. This is the same spot where I captured “Exhilarating” in 2014.

Who's watching over Bass Lake this morning? A manmade owl looms large as it faithfully performs its duty of trying to keep birds off a dock. I can't resist featuring the owl in one of my shots of the dock, lake and Three Sisters hills. F11.0 at 1/50, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 12 mm

Before we headed back toward Mackinaw City, we had to take the kids to Miners Castle Rock. Unfortunately, it was very cold here today. I had to increase my ISO even though it was sunny out, to raise my shutter speed enough that the tree was mostly still in the center of the image. Then it was just waiting for white caps to be in the right places.

This is the second photo in the 365 Project that I have made of the pumpkin patch and farm along Chauvez Road south of Ludington. I have been by at least five other times, but the light was never good enough. Early this morning however, the light was fantastic. F10.0 at 1/160, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 20 mm

On the long drive home today from Mackinaw City, we stopped at the Buckley Manistee River High Rollway to photograph the fall color. This is the best vista for fall color that we have ever found in the lower peninsula of Michigan. The color was phenomenal today and all of our kids really enjoyed this Pure Michigan experience.

I have been trying to make an image of this tunnel of trees near the Conrad family farm at the east end of Conrad Road for several years. This evening, on my way home from a United Way fundraising event, I round the corner from Gordon Road and there it is, the picture I had envisioned for so long. F11.0 at 1/50, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 80 mm

We were going to head to Mackinac Island, but the cold weather made us change our minds. Instead, we headed towards home with a stop at the Buckley Manistee High Rollway. The last time I was here, it was blowing snow. Today it is much different. The weather is warm, and the kids loved the view!

My brother-in-law, Ben Verduin, and his wife Emily were married last summer at St. Cecilia Music Center in downtown Grand Rapids. Tonight as we all walked past the iconic building together on our way to dinner we noticed this tree that looked like it had been dipped in florescent paint. F6.3 at 1/160, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 32 mm

It was rough and windy today on Lake Michigan and I was glad I was on shore and not a crewmember aboard the Manitowoc. The dramatic light was nice to document one of my favorite lower lakers on all of the Great Lakes.

Kevin and Nancy Hansen's farm on Victory Drive was one of several farms on this year's Mason County Barn Tour. I am attracted to one of many farm implements on display that were used for several decades by Kevin's grandfather. F10.0 at 1/160, ISO 200, 12-24 mm lens at 22 m

Part way through the day, Brad suggested I take a drive to look for a photo. I didn’t have a destination in mind, other than south of town. I ended up passing a cemetery, with a brilliant tree near the road. As much as I love the turning of leaves, the greens, and yellows, like this, are my favorite. .

My wife's aunt, Robin Mulder, took Betsy and me to Ludema's Floral and Garden store in Grand Rapids to pick out flowers for my mother-in-law Sharon Verduin who had surgery today. The moisture in the greenhouse made my lens fog up, but I feel that added to this photograph of chrysanthemums. F16.0 at 1/200, ISO 250, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

For years Julia and Ethan went to Elaine Buskirk’s daycare in Ludington. They are old enough now that they don’t need to go to daycare, and we always miss seeing Elaine. While driving in our old neighborhood near Lakeview School today, I spotted one of Elaine’s cool Halloween pumpkins in her front yard. Elaine’s sister makes these entertaining Halloween decorations.

I love the sense of adventure and scale of this image as I compose it in my viewfinder. Brad and I call this kind of shot "the little person in the big world." Lake Michigan is definitely a big world. F7.1 at 1/2000, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 155 mm