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This is by far the roughest water and biggest waves I have attempted to photograph in using our underwater housing. Using over six hundred feet of strong line, a full body survival suit, and being tied off to one of the picnic tables at the water’s edge on Stearns Beach in Ludington, I ventured out into an angry, but beautiful Lake Michigan. I got pounded and tossed around, but it paid off.

We had a dramatic sunset tonight in Ludington. I knew I might get drenched making this image at the end of the North Inner Pier by the green light, but it was worth the risk. Luckily, the storm light appeared and the rain was only a light sprinkle.

If you look closely, you will see a Lake Michigan surfer riding a wave off of Stearns Beach in downtown Ludington. I had fun watching the few daring surfers today as they worked hard to get into position to catch the perfect wave.

After work I made a drive to the Ludington State Park to enjoy the shoreline for a bit. This huge piece of driftwood was a great accent piece and counterpart to the jetty.

The low clouds were a seamless backdrop to the dune grass at the Ludington State Park this afternoon.

With the super high-water levels on Lake Michigan, it has transformed the shorelines. My Uncle Budde didn’t realize he had a very old sea wall out in front of his deck. For decades, the sea wall had been covered in sand. The high water has washed enough sand away, that parts of the sea wall are now exposed.

We had a dramatic sky tonight over Lake Michigan. As often happens, the afterglow was even better and more colorful than the sunset at the first curve at Ludington State Park.

I stayed up late tonight trying to photograph the Northern Lights out at the Ludington State Park. Unfortunately, the Northern Lights did not appear, but the lights of Wisconsin were visible, along with thousands of stars.

Before work this morning, I took a nice drive around the Ludington State Park. It was great to have a few minutes of peaceful quietness before starting the workday. This interdunal pond matched my peace.

Nikon D810. F22.0 at 1/60, ISO 100. 24-70mm lens at 24mm. December 14, 2020 at 1:28pm.

I got up early this morning to be able to shoot a sunrise photo. I drove to the Ludington State Park in the dark and waited to see if the sunrise would be any good. Luckily for me, it was a gorgeous sunrise today.

This is the first good photograph of a Petoskey stone I have ever made in the Ludington area. This was in front of my Uncle Budde and Aunt Sheryl’s house on Lake Michigan, which is just north of Stearns Beach. I lay on my stomach in a puddle to make this image. I wanted the clouds and sky reflected in the thin layer of water that was on the sand.

It has been a while since I had my toes in the water. That didn’t quite happen tonight either, but I did have my boots in the water! With no snow, it doesn’t feel very much like winter here, more like a long fall.

Little did I know that as I was photographing this tree during an extraordinary sunset at my Uncle Budde and Aunt Sheryl’s house on Lake Michigan, Rachel was also photographing trees miles away at her family’s farm.

Dynamic angles make photographs more exciting and interesting. They also often create triangles. I photographed this mostly frozen tree along the Lake Michigan shoreline tonight and purposely tried to compose it in a way to show off the dynamic angles and the large triangle at the base of the photograph.

366 Days. Impossible. That is what I thought when Brad asked me to join him on this project. There were days I didn’t think I would make it. Couldn’t make it. I took solitude at the beach tonight, on New Year’s Eve. Reflecting on the past year. On our 366 Project, on COVID-19, on the goods and bads. At 5:05pm, I made my last and final image. I did it!