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Winter Therapy

Rachel and I went for a hike together with our cameras today. The sunshine was a welcome treat as we explored the Ludington State Park.

Brad and I are winter persons. We love being outside in the snow, photographing, hiking, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing; you name it. But on a winter day as magical as this, we'd better be shooting pictures. We were, and I am glad we were. Following a deer trail through the pines south of the dam at Ludington State Park led me into a winter world of white.

Todd Reed

Not far from Papa Bill’s house on the corner of Jebavy and Dewey Road, I found this flooded forest. I pulled off the road and got wet feet wading into this newly formed swamp. The image would not have worked if I shot it from five feet farther back. I had to get wet to create the immediacy I needed to put you into the scene.

Weekend Workshop

Crisp Point Munising Taquamenon Laughuing Whitefish Falls

After waiting without success for a pair of sandhill cranes to show up along the Pere Marquette River and resume their courting ritual, I find myself zeroing in on the sun rising in front of the hardwood forest east of the marsh. F5.6 at 1/160, ISO 100, 500 mm lens with 1.4 extender at 700 mm

A Michigan State Policeman pulls up behind us along US10 between Evart and Clare to see if Brad and I need assistance. We don't. We have pulled over to photograph the tapestry of fall colors screaming at us from a bog and woods. We thank the officer for his thoughtfulness and go back to work trying to convey how stunning the woodland scene in front of us looks.

Age and Beauty

A snowboarder cruises through the glades at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort near Thompsonville. Glade skiing and snowboarding has long been popular at ski resorts out West. Crystal Mountain is one of the Michigan ski areas that have developed more ski runs through the woods in recent years. I feel blessed to have been able to enjoy the exhilaration and beauty of skiing at Crystal for more than a half century. Skiing and snowboarding in Michigan rocks!

Birch Forest Trail

Forest Vertigo

The life and death cycle of a forest fascinates me. I have come to realize my life is just a speck in the evolution of any forest. These birch trees at Ludington State Park have fallen victim to birch bark disease. Diseased wood brought to the park by campers has helped spread tree diseases at the park and across much of Michigan. I wonder if birch trees and other diseased trees will stage a comeback generations from now.

Fall color stretched as far as the eye could see, and the morning mist allowed, as I stood in awe at the edge of the Manistee River High Rollway, also known as the Buckley Rollway. This is, without a doubt, the best grand scenic vantage point for fall color I have discovered in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. How is it that I had never been to this magic spot before?

I wonder what the view from the Manistee River High Rollaway looked like in the 19th century when lumberjacks were rolling logs down it. I know for sure the view looks splendid roughly a century and a half later. This lookout near Buckley south of Traverse City belongs on every Michigander's fall color tour bucket list.

I wonder what the view from the Manistee River High Rollaway looked like in the 19th century when lumberjacks were rolling logs down it. I know for sure the view looks splendid roughly a century and a half later. This lookout near Buckley south of Traverse City belongs on every Michigander's fall color tour bucket list. D800, F22 at 0.3, ISO 100, 24-70mm lens at 34mm

Walkway to Fall

Winter Delicacy