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I lay on my back in my neighbor's front yard to make this photo. She came out to check on me to make sure I was all right. I assured her I was fine, and that the giant tree in her yard captured my attention. F8.0 at 1/160, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 18 mm

One of the treats of going to Michigan's Upper Peninsula is that you can still see large stands of birch trees there. As I drove around a curve on H58

A visitor to Crane Michigan Fruit Orchards, Fennville, enjoys picking from among a crate filled with peaches. Visitors to the u-pick farm may also choose to harvest fruit right from the trees. Visitors come from across Michigan and out of state to enjoy a fruit picking experience and the famous home-cooked meals at the Crane's Pie Pantry Restaurant & Bakery. I definitely will be back!

I feel the spirit of these woods at Hartwick Pines State Park so strongly I am compelled to make an annual pilgrimage to Grayling to revere this place as much as to photograph it. Some of these native white pines tower 300 feet over my head. The view from lying on the ground at the base of one of these monsters is priceless.

A simple composition can be a strong composition. I liked the framing around the sun by the branches of these trees. You don’t always have to include the entire tree in your image, your brain will complete the missing parts.

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

For me, being out in nature is a way to get close to God. Looking out at the woods from inside the log chapel at Hartwick Pines State Park is a more obvious way for me to find God in nature. Being at Hartwick Pines to take in the snowy woods when no one else is here enhances the experience. My favorite poet, Robert Frost, would have loved being here today. I think he might have had similar feelings about this special Michigan place.

So many birch trees in Michigan have fallen victim to disease that I appreciate finding any of them still standing in the woodlands. These birch trees were standing tall along Hamlin Lake.

Watching more and more of the birch trees in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula die from disease and disappear makes me sad. So much beauty lost. This stand of birch still looked attractive when I discovered them along a country road in 2004. When I returned several years later, they were all dead and disappearing. I am grateful for the opportunity to have seen them when they were still alive

So many of Michigan's beach trees are dying because of disease. This giant one just off Nurnberg Road in the Manistee National Forest may not have many years left, but today it looks like the king of the forest.

I have loved this barn in Hart since the days I first saw it as a young boy riding along with my dad on his truck as he delivered Budweiser, Drewrys and Pfeiffer's beer to the nearby Walker's tavern. Today the barn looks picture perfect. F16.0 at 1/125, ISO 100, 80-200 mm lens at 145 mm

October 25 2013

Todd Reed

I could not resist exploring this cave Brad and I found while hiking on Isle Royale. The rugged yet beautiful view looking out of the cave made working my way inside well worth the effort.

17-Nov

If you like rugged places, come to Isle Royale. My son Brad has managed to work his way to the top of a rocky cliff to check out the view. I am appreciating the ruggedness of the view looking upward.

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.

365 Week 41

October 10 2012