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Viewing the world through a telephoto lens with a wide aperture creates an impressionistic view of dandelions and one sharp standout.

The nature trails at West Shore Community College abound with outdoor photography subjects. This orange hawkweed stood out along the shore of a pond on the picturesque campus.

It was a magic moment. While photographing a farm surrounded by mustard grass near Fountain, I heard a noise in the opposite direction. I spotted a collie heading my way. Wheeling about, I instantly framed the dog in the viewfinder, panned with him, focused, and shot as he passed by toward the picturesque old farm that may have been his home. It was an unexpected incredible photographic experience.

I saw so many bumblebees on knapweed when I was a boy that I logically named it bumblebee weed. A field of bumblebee weeds was a sure place to capture bumblebees and listen to them buzz in glass jars with holes in the metal lids. Now I become buzzed taking their photographs.

A Delicate Moment

A Hidden Treasure

Butterfly

Fresh Flowers

Fresh Flowers

With a field full of thousands of sunflowers to pick from, I set out to create a picture with only one star of the show. After at least 20 minutes of studying hundreds of sunflowers near the edge of the big field along Conrad Road, I made my choice. I liked how beautiful this sunflower was and the spatial relationship between it and the sunflowers surrounding it.

I hiked the Island Trail at Ludington State Park religiously the spring of 2007, obsessed with finding wild flowers in bloom. After many days of trekking, this wild Iris greeted me on a dewy morning the first week of June in one of the wetland areas of the trail near Hamlin Lake.

Iced

Inspiring Fellowship

Trying to find a good vantage point to make a picture featuring a horse, fall color, and an old barn; I could not find a way to balance the composition or remove clutter. As I was walking away, milkweed stole my attention from the pastoral scene. I learned a long time ago to be alert for pictures other than the ones you anticipate taking.

Living Life

Ludington State Park

My great-grandma, Martha Delite Benson, had a passion for finding small treasures outdoors. She seemed to gravitate toward beautiful objects that most people would pass by. I believe her ability to "go deeper" into the scene and find the less obvious beauty in nature was passed down to my dad and me. As I photographed this delicate starflower at the Ludington State Park in June of 2006, I could not help but grin and think of my Great-Grandma Benson.

I love calm mornings when the water is so still it appears to be a steel-blue mirror. On an early morning adventure these lily pads near the Lost Lake Trail quickly grabbed my attention. I set up my tripod in the water and carefully composed the photograph while making certain that none of the reflections of the flowers were cut off. Once the ripples were gone and the water returned to its mirror-like state, I gently clicked the shutter.

Spring Time on Old 31

Sunny Days