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Roadside fruit and vegetable stands are among my favorite photographic muses. This stand along M22 in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is one of my favorites to see and - when everything appears extraordinary - to photograph.

Many of my summer evenings in Ludington are spent with family and friends. I had not shot any photographs for a few days, so on this evening, my wife, Betsy, and I politely excused ourselves from a family gathering and drove to the First Curve at the Ludington State Park. A delicate blade of dune grass first caught my eye. I lay down on my stomach and started shooting. Summer

 

Tulip Time in Holland, Michigan is always a fun and beautiful celebration to be a part of. Team Reed loves to explore all the public tulip gardens with our cameras. We recommend photographing the tulips with the largest telephoto lens that you can so that you can have a super shallow depth of field. I shot these with a 600mm lens with a 1.4 extender at 850mm.

 

I can get lost every spring in the beauty of gardens full of tulips in Holland, Michigan. I love studying all that color and finding the picture within the picture - a tulip or two that stands out in the crowd.

 For years I have wanted to visit Cherry Point Farm’s lavender labyrinth located in Shelby, Michigan. On July 21st, I decided to head south a little bit and soak up the lavender. While it wasn’t peak timing, I was still able to make an image that I loved, and the experience was well worth the short drive. I look forward to taking my kids back to share the labyrinth with them!

Star Trillium

 

 

 

 

I was running out of daylight yesterday and worried that I would have to shoot my photo of the day for the 365 Project in the dark, when the sun broke through the thick cloud layer and cast magic light along the Lake Michigan shoreline. I quickly found some beautiful grass to frame my photograph. F2.8 at 1/6400, ISO 640, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

 

The Orchard at my parent’s farm may not be what people typically think of when they hear the word “orchard”. A lot of them assume we have several acres of trees, and although it might be small compared to many, it’s ours. The lilac bushes that surround the orchard might not be world class, but they’re ours. The tire swing hanging in the middle of these might seem ordinary to others, but not to us. My family has made many memories while playing baseball in the orchard, hide and seek in the lilacs, and of course being pushed on that tire swing. They’re one of the first things you see when turning into the driveway after a long day of traveling, and once your headlights hit them, you can breathe a sigh of relief because you’re “home”. Now, as my siblings and I have our own children, they too know that feeling, and are busy making their own memories in the orchard, lilacs, and Papa’s tire swing (as my two kids call it). These memories will last forever, and will continue to grow for generations to come. 

Yellow Flowers in Fog on Stiles Road

Sleeping Bear Dunes

Everyone loves seeing apple blossoms decorate the countryside of the Lake Michigan shoreline counties in springtime, but I am among the many who get just as excited to see the apple trees loaded with apples ready for harvest at the end of summer and during fall.

Nothing pops out of the countryside more than bright red Michigan tart cherries. They are so bright and shiny they glow in the daylight. I never get tired of taking photographic road trips through the orchard country of Michigan's West Shore counties.

Brad maneuvered our shallow draft photo shooting boat to help me compose this image of one of the most beautiful coves on Hamlin Lake. The shelter building near where the Island Trail meets the Ridge Trail is in the background. On windy days, the cove provides welcome shelter from the waves that often quickly kick up. Thankfully, Hamlin Lake was in a tranquil mood this summer morning.